It is Sunday morning and my husband and boys are still sound asleep in their beds at The Chattanoogan Hotel. I woke up this morning at 5:30 am and was still so excited about yesterday’s race experience that I could not go back to sleep. So, I got up, took a shower and started packing all of our stuff for our return flight to Denver tonight from Atlanta. Reflecting back on yesterday, I thought it was a great time to sit down and get my feelings and thoughts down on paper for myself, my coach and whoever else was interested in reading! So, here goes!
I qualified for Ironman 70.3 World Championships last October at Ironman Arizona 70.3. At the time, I had already committed to going to ITU World Championships in Rotterdam as part of Team USA after receiving a slot at 2016 National Championships in Omaha last summer. My immediate reaction was, “Well, this is going to be too much. Two world championships back to back.” So, I pondered the idea as the awards ceremony was going on in Arizona- do it take this slot for IM 70.3 Worlds?? I did not ponder very long. This was my dream race! I had to take this slot! And, so I did! Ironically, I qualified again for Chattanooga in Costa Rica this past June. So, I think fate wanted me to have this opportunity and I decided to make the absolute best of it no matter what was thrown at me on race day.
Now, I have never raced a World Championship event before. Yesterday’s was my first. But, as you can imagine, it is a big deal. The women in my age group are all the best from around the world- the speediest and most talented women in triathlon. I was intimidated for sure but I also told myself that I was here to race MY race. My goals for yesterday were to do the best that I could do for myself regardless of what my time reflected compared to others and what my placement might be in my age group. I was here to race for the experience and truly considered this a “victory lap” for a year of hard work and race success. And, that is exactly what it was for me! An amazing day with fantastic athletes, my family, my best friends and my team mates from Betty Designs.
We arrived in Chattanooga late Wednesday night. I had to be at the race site a few days prior to Saturday to do a lot of organizing and attend meetings. Our hotel was perfectly located only a mile from Ironman Village- close enough that I could walk back and forth but also far enough away that we were not in the midst of triathlon crazy energy 24/7. We could go back to the hotel and the kids could swim and we could hang out in a mellow, quiet atmosphere- well, as quiet as it gets with my kids. My Mom and sister arrived on Thursday night, my mother-in-law and my best friends from high school arrived on Friday afternoon. So, I had a terrific support crew out on the course yesterday!! I also had 22 of my Betty Design team mates racing as well so there was a ton of positive energy surrounding me for the event.
In a nutshell, the day went exactly as I had planned on a course which I knew was going to be extremely hard. Ironman had W45-49 swim LAST yesterday morning so I was not in the water until 8:58 am. It is never ideal for me to start a 70.3 race that late in the morning because it means that I am running at the hottest times of the day and I do not always tolerate heat well. However, as luck would have it, the temperature yesterday was mild and the humidity low so I had the best case scenario given my late race start. I was hoping to finish my swim around 35 minutes even though Ironman had us swimming up river for a big portion of the swim course. The dam was controlled and the current was not swift so I did meet my goal on the swim. It was a rolling start within age groups and we jumped from a dock. I self-seeded towards the front of our group, eager to get in the water and start. I was able to swim in my group and stay with everyone, grab onto some feet for some drafting and also have gals on my right as I breathed so I followed them and let them take the time to site. We stayed right on course and I just focused on strong, long swim strokes to get myself to that swim finish. My breathing felt great, I did not feel tired and I was relaxed in the water. I did exactly what I had hoped and got out of the water at 35:21 The wet suit strippers were there to pull that Roka off of me, I grabbed it, received my bike gear bag and headed to the change tents. The run to transition was long and included a steep walkway which led us up from the river and up to the changing area. I felt good so I ran up the walkway and heard my family cheering for me!! They had gotten to see me before I swam and right as I was transitioning to the bike! Big win on that one!! I sat down, sunglasses and helmet on, bike shoes on, stuffed my swim gear in the bag and took off running up the road to the transition entrance to grab my bike. It was a long transition- running from the river to the change tents and then running in my bike shoes up to the entrance to transition and grabbing my bike and then running all the way to the far end for bike out- according to my Garmin it was a .32 mile run. I got out of there in 3:49 so I was pretty pleased with that. I felt like I hustled and got it done as quickly as I could.
On to the bike! This bike course is the most challenging I have been on. And, I have raced in St. George so that is saying something big. I think the main difference here on the 70.3 WC course is that although I am used to climbing 3600 feet within 56 miles on a training day or in previous races, it is always with the elevation spread out more evenly across the ride mileage. Here, in Chattanooga, the first 22 miles of the bike course was really all climbing and the first 3.5 miles of Lookout Mountain is a STEEP climb. So, if you do not pace yourself, you are depleted for the remainder of your ride and also for your run. And, listen, this run is no joke either, so I made sure I paced well on the bike and my goal was to come into T2 under 3 hours. I would have preferred closer to 2:55 but I also know that holding back a bit more on the bike is only to my personal advantage as it always helps me have a stronger run. The bike course was extremely hard but also very beautiful and had some great shady areas for relief from the temperatures. The only major concern I had is that once we were on the Georgia side of Lookout Mountain, the roads became open to traffic and we often had some dangerous hold ups behind cars blocking the race course on rolling hills and on descents. Some of these women were fearless ( and perhaps a bit reckless in my opinion) passing the cars aggressively as to not slow their bike times. But, as the mother of 3 sons, and one who would like to remain ALIVE to continue to be in their lives, I chose the smarter and safer decision and slowed behind the cars and waited for the safe time to pass. Did this slow my bike split? Yes, no doubt it did. But, it also gave my legs a little relief from the constant power loads and I used that time to my benefit to take in my nutrition and stay on target. I came into T2 with a bike time of 2:59:13 but with an overall power average of 164 watts. So, I was right on the money with my power output and my intensity on the ride and my legs were feeling good coming off the bike! I took in all of my Infinit nutrition on the bike and I was feeling cramp free and ready to run. As I cruised into the last few yards of the bike before dismount, my best friends Tina and Rachel were right there to cheer me on and I was thrilled to see them! I can not tell you how amazing it is to have all of your loved ones on the course for a big race like this. It really meant the world to me to have everyone with me yesterday and get to use this weekend as a true celebration of family, friendship and love.
We had bike catchers in T2 so I handed my bike off to a darling young lady and said my thank yous, I grabbed my run gear bag, had a quick seat and changed into my running shoes and race belt- MHM visor on my head and I was off running. I was pleasantly surprised that my legs felt good and I found a comfortable pace and went running. Tina and Rachel were right there twice on my first mile and I was so happy to see them. They got some great photos of me waving and smiling- I looked so happy- and I never really look happy on the run….lol. So, that was a victory in my mind right there! My run went really well- held a steady pace for the first 7 miles and then started to feel like I was losing it a bit. But, I managed to work hard at regulating my body temperature with ice, taking the fluids I needed at every aid station, taking short walk breaks through the aid stations as needed to reset my run form and keep my heart rate lower. This run course was a 2 loop course with almost 1000 feet of elevation gain. It was no joke. The two big hills on the back side of the loops were killer and there were a few times that I decided to pace better and speed walk up a portion to control my heart rate. You would be amazed- I would get to the top not far behind the ladies who were running and then I would cruise downhill at a great pace feeling good and pass them. It worked like a charm and was a smart strategy for me on those steep run ascents. Especially given my foot, I was super please with my run. I struggled a little bit on the last two miles before the finish. My body just decided that it could not handle anymore Gatorade, chews, coke- nothing- and my stomach was starting to revolt a bit. I kept telling myself, “You’ve got this, Two more miles- no puking, no bathroom stops, just get to that finish line.” I did have to walk for a portion of that mile 11 just to settle my stomach but I started right back up and finished strong. But, I was really focused on that finish. I kept looking for my family as I was coming down the finisher’s chute but they were right at the finish line and I did not see them until I had passed. I was sad about that because I wanted to stop and hug everyone before I crossed the finish line. But, I do think that I was just trying to get there and be strong at the end before my stomach had any more issues. I was thrilled with my run time as I really wanted to break 2 hours on this hilly course and I was not sure I could do it after such a hard bike course and given my foot issues. But, in general, I felt really good on the run and I paced the entire race well so I finished strong and felt pretty good post race. The best news?? NO Cramps!!! Not one the entire run! So, even though my nutrition took a toll on my stomach by the end, it was dialed in well enough to prevent any cramping on the run. Final run time was 1:56:58. On the money again! Yes! Total race time 5:37:34. I was anticipating a 5:45 finish given the challenging nature of this course so I was beyond happy with this time. That put me at #45 in my age group in the world at the Ironman 70.3 distance and also met my goal of being in the top 50. Perfect day in my books!
I found my entire family at the finish line and we took some pictures, gathered my gear bags, returned my bike for transport and headed back to the hotel. I know it had been a long day for everyone out there cheering on the race course and wanted to get everyone back to do something quiet and non-triathlon related for a few hours before dinner. There was napping, swimming, reading, showering, and a little something for everyone on my support crew! We went out to dinner last night at a lovely restaurant called The Meeting Place which is part of St. John’s Restaurant. It was a group of 17 of us celebrating being together with great food, wonderful company and a few surprises from my son and friends at the dinner table in honor of the day. It was happy and lovely and so much fun.
Thank you so much for all of the well wishes and personal messages over the past few days. I truly appreciate all of your love and support. Special thank you to my coach Kathy Alfino who has been working with me for three years and helping me get stronger both physically and mentally. The time and consistency I have put into my training has really paid off the past year especially. Thank you to Mile High Multisport for supporting me as one of their athletes and also as one of their coaches. Thank you to Betty Designs for having me as one of their team mates and showing such friendship and support in all ways women triathlon related. And, most of all, thank you to my amazing husband who coordinated the troops yesterday on the race course so that everyone could see me racing and cheer but also for keeping everyone far away updated through Facebook with details and pictures. Nothing happens for me without him and he makes all of this possible by being so supportive of me and my dreams. Love you, honey. You are the best.
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