Barb’s Race is a women’s only half Ironman event that takes place in conjunction with the Vineman Ironman in Sonoma County. This was my first half Ironman. I’ve completed 4 sprint distance tris since last year, but no Olympic distance. I registered in April, right after Boston and spent the summer training. When I got laid off from my job at the end of June, I took the opportunity to make training my new job and worked my ass off. I peaked with about 16 hours of training and then tapered for two