Ironman 70.3 Boulder

I did my first 1/2 Ironman. Whooohoo.
This was a serious challenge. Before the race I was seriously worried I wasn't going to finish. I have not been very good at completing my run training and I have never ran 13.1 miles in my life.
Here is the break down of my Swim, Bike, Run.
The Swim:
My favorite part! I really enjoyed the swim, maybe because I love swimming. I am really not fast at all, it took me 46 mins. I just really like to swim. I got into a rhythm really quickly. I was also not run over by anyone!
The Bike:
I loved the bike course. It is one of my favorite to ride. Except, on race day I was really scared. There were a lot of people riding like they were the most important person out there. They were yelling and passing people with barely any room between them and the other person. I'm sorry but triathletes are infamous for being horrible bike handlers and seeing these people screaming and being so aggressive scared me. Not to mention, at mile 6 I saw the worst crash I have ever seen, in person. I was going to throw up. There was so much blood and seeing the limp bodies of 4 or 5 triathletes laying on the side of the road covered in gravel was sickening. I decided to ride safe rather than FAST for the rest of the 50 miles.
I also saw Craig Alexander running up 36 on the opposite side of the road we were riding on. I was shocked and excited. I have never seen him, in person. It was really cool.

The Run:
Ohhhh the run. I was really worried about this part but I did pretty well. I am not fast but I definitely did not walk most of the time. My nutrition was ON POINT! I think it was all the endurolites and gels I had. I think I ate about 10 gels for the whole race. I really like Strawberry Banana by Powerbar aka Nestle. So, no cramping = good but I was still stupidly slow. But you know what, I did it. It was physically and mentally exhausting but I finished.

The end:
I was so excited I did a kart-wheel over the finish line. Sadly, there was no one to see it. All of my friends had gone and my boyfriend was busy showing his dad around (because his dad was visiting that weekend.)Anyway, I got my medal, a water bottle and my hat. I went straight into transition to see if anyone had called me or was still at the race. Rory had called but he said he wasn't going to make it. My friend Ben had to leave to go meet someone.
All alone I sat in transition trying to get myself to get up and go get some food from the expo area but I had no energy left and I didn't want to carry all my stuff myself. So I sat there for a few minutes and tried to stretch, everything hurt so bad. I started to gather my things and started crying. I was sitting there all alone just crying my eyes out. I had no idea why but I couldn't stop. I then realized it was because I need someone else to help me, someone else to give me the power to get up but I was so exhausted that I just gave up on everything.

I hope to be stronger and faster next time.