Gregory Harden's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives
Hello everyone!
I am happy to report that I finished both the Florida Half-Ironman last May 21 and Ironman Canada last August 27.
The Florida ½ Ironman just may have been the tougher of the two… I had yet to recover fully from shoulder surgery. To not reinjure my shoulder, I swam with one arm. I was pretty much the last person out of the water.
I also had yet to start running much prior to the race, as I was still recovering from knee surgery.
I still had a solid 3 hour bike and passed over 250 people on the bike and run.
A Summer of hard training led to better results in Canada. Thankfully, the waters of Lake Okenagan were calm, as they had been choppy the days before. I came out of the water in a little over one hour and a half. Sister Madonna Buder, the 76 year old triathlete-nun, beat me by about 10 seconds. I hope didn’t kick or claw her during the swim! (Sister Buder fell ill and dropped out after the halfway point of the run).
The single loop bike course is renowned for its beauty and difficulty. After the half-way point, there are two grueling climbs –Richter Pass (about 7 miles and 2300 feet) and the shorter but steeper Yellow Lake climb. After 180K of biking, the latter felt more steep then short.
My legs felt pretty strong throughout the race, and my heart rate remained in the desired zones. However, I don’t handle sugary foods very well, and it’s hard to find energy food that doesn’t have any sugar in it! Therefore, I battled headaches, cramps and nausea throughout the day. It was also over 80 degrees, and six hours in the tri position was rough on my back. I finished the bike in 6:45, about 30 minutes slower than I had hoped.
For the run, I ran the first eight miles. After that, I did the “ironman shuffle,” – essentially run-walk. I felt better as I approached the 20 mile mark, where I became to determined to finish under 14 hours… So I ran pretty hard for most of the last six miles and passed a lot of people on the way.
My finishing time was 13:58 – about an hour slower than I had hoped. I hope to race, as oppose to just survive, the next one.
Big props to all the race volunteers and spectators. The whole region embraces this event every year and, without them, I and the 2100 other finishers could never have completed this race.
And finally, I’d like to thank all my donors. Together, we raised over $5,000 for cancer research! I am so touched by everyone’s generosity.
Greg
