Whitney Rocks!

Introduction by Raja Lahti

San Diego Velo Bella Whitney DeSpain is WAY too modest about her finish at the Barb Half Ironman this past weekend. Whitney is one of the most supportive, energetic, amazing individuals…who has been terrified of water. Fellow bella Courtney Carpenter was her swim
buddy at San Diego International Tri where (I think) Whitney did the entire swim in ackstroke. This weekend she finished a half-ironman! Way to go Whitney!!

******************Her race report****************

by Whitney DeSpain

It went great. The hardest part was being away from Abby. It’s the first time I’ve been away from her for more than a few hours. I had major travel problems (I flew to San Francisco at noon the day before then drove up- MISTAKE!!!) and didn’t eat much or rest at all the day before the race. All of that took a toll, but I still had a ball.

I did the swim in 45 minutes, which was AMAZING for me. I’ve had to work really, really hard to get over my fear of the water, but it’s finally coming together. I think by next summer the swim might be my strongest event. Weird.

My bike split was 3:20 for almost 58 miles (they had to extend the course because of a bridge problem). It was really hilly, but I thought I should have done better. Yesterday I realized my rear wheel was on crooked and it rubbed my brakes and frame the ENTIRE RIDE. Duh. I knew it seemed extra hard. I destroyed the tire, and I’m lucky that it didn’t flat during the race! I’ll be doing more thorough equipment checks in the future.

The run took 2:45. I got a 4 minute penalty for wearing headphones (who knew they actually checked for that stuff?!?!). I didn’t eat enough on the bike, and the last 5 miles were pretty brutal. Still, I was happy to finish in about 7 hours. I’m planning on doing another one next year, then begin training for Ironman Arizona in 2008.

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