Tobacco Road Half Marathon

I signed up for the 2016 Tobacco Road half, but a knee injury that kept me from running in January and February that year led to a deferral, so this race has been on the calendar for a long time.  Initially, as it has been for a few years, the stretch goal was to break 1:30.  That still seems a long way off, so the primarily goal was to run a new personal best (under the 1:31:25 I ran in Utah Valley), which meant a goal pace of about 6:58/mile.  I've run this race twice beore (2014 and 2012), so I knew that despite the description, the course isn't actually flat.  I have been training on the course for months, hoping that with greater familiarity the incline section from about mile 8 to mile 10 would be less miserable.  Unfortunately, though it's only a 1-2% grade, it still slowed me down significantly and it still sucked every single time.  I think that got in my head a bit, and I really started to wonder if I even had a shot at ringing the PR bell.

The race is about a mile from my house, so logistically this couldn't be easier.  Rather than having to be in the parking lot by 5:30 and sit around in the cold, I was able to roll out of the house a little after 6:30.  Margaret and Amanda parked at my house and joined me for the jog over, and it was all pretty relaxed and low key.  My brother had left the house a few minutes earlier and I'd hoped I would catch up to him, but unfortunately I didn't see him on the way and couldn't find him before the start. Everything else went smoothly though, and that was really the only glitch of the morning.

I made my way through the corral and said hello to a few people I know, and then realized I had more than enough time to throw in some strides.  I made my way back out, added a few more minutes to my warm up, and then headed back up toward the start line.  I found Allie and Meredith, who are both far faster but were just out for training runs, so once the gun sounded I was off on my own.

The race starts uphill and heads out on pavement for about two and a half miles before turning onto the packed dirt/gravel of the ATT, heading mostly down on the way out, then mostly up on the way back to Morrisville Parkway (the aforementioned dreaded slow miles), then back to Brooks Park for a downhill finish.  My plan was to start out a little below goal pace, speed up just a bit to bank a little time on the downhill section out the way out, try to hold onto low 7s on the way back up, and then push the pace after turning off the trail.  Everything went according to plan, and I hit the turnaround just past 45 minutes (6:53 average for the first half).  

Once I hit the turnaround, I was a little surprised to see Meredith and Allie right behind me, since the rumor at the start was that they'd be running 7:05 and 7:20 pace, respectively.  Emma was also right behind me, and she and Mere caught up with me shortly after making the turn.  I chatted with them briefly but as we hit the incline they seemed to pick it up and I was rapidly slowing down, so  that was the end of that nice distraction.  I could hear them chatting as they pulled away from me on the lamented uphill section from Wimberly back to Morrisville Parkway, and I would have been silently cursing them if they weren't such nice people ;)

I took a sip of Gatorade at one of the aid stations hoping it would magically give me energy to fly through that section without losing too much time, but as expected, my splits moved up into the 7s. I am usually good about cheering on friends and offering encouragement to anyone who looks like they need it in these out and back races, but I guess I was in the zone because I passed a ton of people I know and never even saw them.  I did have my eye out for my brother and gave him a cheer as he passed, and was able to glimpse a few familiar faces, but for the most part I would hear "Go Kara!" and have no idea who it had come from.  I was actually shocked by how many friends and folks I know were listed in the results - I never even saw most of them!  So if you were out there running or spectating: thank you for the support... the cheers and encouragement meant a lot and were very much appreciated, even though it probably did not seem that way at the time!

When I hit the 10 mile split under 70 minutes (69:57), I knew that I had not lost so much time coming back that a PR was off the table, so that was a nice boost as I got back out to the road.  I don't have much of a finishing kick, and a good race for me usually means holding pace rather than speeding up, but with the help of a nice little downhill stretch through Brooks Park I was able to click off a 6:36 final mile.  With the finish line in sight, a woman who I'd passed a little earlier came out of nowhere.  I gave what I could (6:22 pace for the last tenth) and just edged her out at the line. I had 1:31:15 on my garmin, and though it was only 10 seconds better than Utah, a PR is a PR, and I got to ring the bell on the way out of the finish shoot.  Mission accomplished.

I met up with Alan, cheered on some friends, and waited for my brother to finish (he also ran a PR, despite a recent injury, so that was awesome).  While we were waiting, I checked the results to find that the woman I'd edged at the line (by less than 100th of a second) had started a step behind me, so her chip time was about half a second faster and giving her 2nd place in our age group.  Gah!  Granted, finishing 19th vs 20th of women or 2nd vs 3rd in my age group doesn't really have any significance, but I know I could have found one second somewhere, so it really does irk me a little!

3rd/250 Female 35-39

Though I would've liked to stick around the post-race party, it was a little chilly for my liking, so we headed back home to stretch in the warmth, then celebrated our new personal bests with lunch and beers at the Pit before spending the rest of the day in basketball-watching recovery mode. 

All in all, I'm really pleased with the day.  That 1:29:59 is really far away, but I ran a solid race, confirmed that running a sub-7 half marathon in Utah was not a fluke, saw my brother and some other folks I know run PRs, and am excited to shift focus fully to triathlon training.  

Crystal Coast Half Marathon

I had 12x800 on the schedule for Saturday and after last week's 8x800 was a huge suckfest, I wasn't looking forward to it at all.  Then on Wednesday the Crystal Coast half marathon popped up on my Facebook feed, and after realizing that it was only 3 hours away with a 9am start time, I decided that if I had to run a 12 mile workout, there was no harm in running an extra mile for the added benefits of having people around, a nice flat course, a change of scenery, and bathrooms along the way (which I could have used during that aforementioned 8x800 suckfest on the ATT).

I headed out around 5 am on Saturday morning and even with a coffee + bathroom stop and a gas + bathroom stop, I arrived with more than enough time to spare.  Parking was really easy, and I found a spot a block from the start/finish/registration area.  I walked the block to get my bib and shirt and then went back to the car because it was cold (temps in the 30s with 15-20 mph winds) and waited until about 8:45 to make my way back over to the start.  The park has bathrooms, so I made one more stop (3 bathrooms stops on race morning is usually a good sign, so I was optimistic that the workout was going to go well).  

I met a girl who was planning to start out in the mid/high 8s, which was right around my planned warm up pace, so I asked if I could tag along with her for the first 2 miles.  It was weird lining up for a race start having done no warm up at all, but since it was built into the workout, I didn't do anything prior to the gun.  And after what felt like a long wait because of the cold, we were off.

I ended up running my first two miles with Kristin and Kaz (the director of the Tobacco Road marathon, which I've run several times and is my early season A race), and the miles went by pleasantly and quickly, even if they were a little faster than advertised (8:15-8:20).  As we finished the second mile I wished them luck with the rest of the run and took off to complete my workout (2 x building 400s on 400 recoveries + 12x800s on 400 easy).  

Nice conversational warm up miles

Going into the intervals I was a little worried that I would be playing leapfrog with some people and annoying everyone with what would probably be perceived as my inability to maintain a consistent pace, but it wasn't a huge race and it actually worked out that only a couple of the people that I passed on an interval caught back up to me on my recoveries.  The course is all flat, with the exception of one bridge that you cross around mile 4 and then again at mile 11.  My goal was to keep all of the 800s around 3:15 (Yasso-esque since I'm hoping to break 3:15 at CIM in December), and not worry about the pace on the jogs.   A nice strong tailwind helped me keep my pace over the bridge, and the first 10 splits ranged from 3:11 to 3:19, so I stayed pretty consistent.  I felt like I was running easy in between, but my recovery jogs were all in the high 7s/low 8s, which is about a minute per mile faster than I usually do them.  I was really surprised to be feeling so comfortable, and attributed it to race adrenaline, which was unexpected given that at no point did I have any intention of "racing."  

Up the bridge and into a headwind at mile 11
(It looks like I'm walking, but I really wasn't)

The 11th split was back over the bridge, this time into the headwind, and I gave up on trying to maintain pace on that one (the recovery jog down was actually faster than the "fast" run up), then finished my last 800 and tried to just run easy the rest of the way.  It was tempting to try to catch the guy up ahead of me, but I stuck to the plan (more or less) and finished in 1:35:10.  Results were available immediately, and I learned that my time was good enough for 2nd female and 11th overall.  In hindsight I wish I had gone after that guy to nab a top-10 finish, but I'm still happy with the result.

In the finisher area they had the usual bananas, trail mix, and peanut butter sandwiches, but also oreos, fig newtons, twizzlers, sour candies, jelly beans, animal crackers, etc etc etc. Plus two tickets for free beer and food at the post race party, which was thankfully out of the cold at a bar/restaurant about 2 blocks away.  

My prize was 50% off entry for next year, and I have already registered for 2018. The post-race party was well attended, and people who didn't like the free beer (Goose Island IPA) were giving away their tickets, so by the end we had a pile of them on the table.  Unfortunately I had to drive, but next year I will probably stay at the host hotel so that pile of free beer tickets does not go to waste.

I spent the night in Atlantic Beach, and though it was too cold to spend much time outside, I was treated to a beautiful sunset and a nice relaxing evening, so all in all I am really pleased with the last minute decision and may have to work on turning more of my workouts into adventures :)

Long Course Nationals

Though I failed to meet my first goal of the year (qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship), I still had a chance to meet my second goal: qualifying for the ITU Long Course World Championship in Penticton, Canada.  The qualifying race is the Long Course National Championship, which this year was hosted by MiamiMan.  This is a quite a bit easier than IM 70.3 Worlds qualification because there are 18 spots for my age group instead of just 3, but since it's a national championship, it draws some of the top age groupers in the country, so it was definitely not a given that I'd get a spot.  I also wanted to end my season on a positive note, and I was feeling a bit more pressure than I'd anticipated when I'd decided last December to add this race as my 3rd 70.3 in seven weeks.

I flew down to Miami on Saturday morning and was pleasantly surprised to find that my hotel room was ready at 9:30am.  So I dropped my stuff, changed into my cycling gear, and took the hotel shuttle down to the race expo.  Check in was really fast and easy, which was a pleasant surprise after the hour long line at IMNC.  From there I went over to the Mack Cycles tent to pick up my rental bike.  Since this wasn't an A race and it's only a 56 mile ride, I'd decided to save some money and trouble by renting a bike rather than flying with mine.  I contemplated bringing my wheels because I knew they would be faster and so I would have my power meter, but given my goals for this particular race, ultimately decided the extra few minutes wouldn't be worth the expense of a second checked bag.  I'd emailed my measurements ahead of time, but they hadn't made the adjustments, so that took some time, but eventually I was set up and ready to go out on a test ride. 

My ride for the weekend

By two miles in, I already missed my di2 shifters, aero wheels, and power meter, but overall it was fine and I felt comfortable enough on the bike to be confident that it would get me through the 56 miles.  When I got back to the expo, I racked the bike in transition, sat in on the athlete briefing, and went down to check out the swim course.  

View of the swim from the swim finish

By the time I was wrapping up with that, my dad and Mary were arriving from Punta Gorda, so they picked me up and we went back to the hotel.  The rest of the day was nice and relaxing, and I had plenty of time to review the course maps, get all of my gear together, hydrate, and rest.

Race morning I was awake well before my 4:00 alarm, so I got up, put on my race tats, and went down to get coffee (our hotel kindly offered a continental breakfast starting at 3:45!).  I got the rest of my gear together and my dad drove me down to the expo around 4:30.  It was a beautiful morning, with the supermoon shining brightly and only a nice breeze.  This was the only of my four 70.3 this year that had T1 and T2 in the same location, so it was nice and easy to just set everything up without having to deal with gear bags, drop off, and getting from point to point.  

I made the long walk from transition to the bathrooms a few times, chatted with other athletes, and made my way down to the swim start around 6:15.  There was a bit of a breeze, but nothing awful, and though it wasn't the glass surface that it had been when I viewed the course on Saturday, it was almost as calm as I could hope for in an open water swim.  

I bought a sleeveless wetsuit for this race, knowing that it would probably be too warm for the full suit, so I put that on for the first time (I was already going to be riding a new bike, so why not).  The water temperature was 76, so I was happy to have the sleeveless suit and it felt a lot more comfortable, so I think that was a good decision (mostly - more on that later…).  The swim was two loops, with a short beach run across the timing mat after the first lap, and the first lap was a little different than the second because the start was located in a different location that the lap mat/swim finish.  I was in the second wave, and it seemed odd to being starting so early after being in the 10th wave in Augusta and the 6th wave in Wilmington.  We watched the first wave go out and then were off.  It's a beach start, and I was somewhere in the middle.  I tried to stay calm, but being in such close proximity to so many other swimmers still causes me so much anxiety.  Just after making the first turn, I got hit in the face, just enough to unseal my goggles.  The left one never really sealed right and I had to stop throughout the race to mess with it, but it was mostly ok if I would breathe to the right, so I just stuck with that.  The way out and across seemed to take forever, but the way in was much better, with the only problem being that it was really hard to see the buoys with the sun coming up on the horizon and the steam coming off of the lake.  Even though I finally felt like I settled in, I thought that the first lap would be well over 20 minutes given my anxiety-initated breaststroke breaks at the beginning and fiddling with my goggles.  So it was a pleasant surprise to get out and see 18 minutes.  I really wanted to finish the swim in under 40 minutes, so even with the second loop being a little longer, I was happy that my goal was still within reach.  The second lap was much better, since I had a lot more space and had the confidence boost of finishing the first lap on target even though I'd had some struggles, and I was out for the second time in about 38 minutes.  Even though I'd posted faster swim times in Augusta and Wilmington, those were current-assisted, so it's hard to say what I would have done in still water, and this was by far my fastest half iron lake swim.  

Official time: 38:06 (14th AG, 65th female)

I had a little difficulty getting out of the wetsuit, but was not feeling hugely rushed so I didn't stress out about it.  The transition area was really long (about a quarter mile according to my garmin), and I was fortuitously on the third rack from bike out/bike in, so I was able to do most of that distance carrying my wetsuit as opposed to running with my bike.  When I got to my rack about half were still there, so I figured I was about in the middle of my AG coming out of the swim, which, given the field and my (lack of) swimming ability, I was perfectly happy with.  I took the time to wipe the grass off my feet, put on my bike shoes, and threw on my helmet.  GAH!  My visor was completely dew-covered and foggy, so I couldn't see a thing.  I took my helmet off and tried to dry it with my little towel, but visibility was still not great.  But I could more or less see where I was going, so I called it good enough and hoped it would clear once I got moving on the bike.

T1: 2:53

After a few miles, the bike was through a very rural area of farms and fields.  The pavement wasn't that great, but it was flat and though there was a little wind, it was nothing compared to Wilmington.  The ride was about 13 miles out, two 15 loops, and then the 13 miles back.  The first wave of the swim was open/pro and men 34 and under, and most of the women out ahead were strong triathletes all around, there weren't very many people to chase.  I passed a few people, and some guys from the waves behind me would go flying by, but for much of the first lap I felt like I was out there riding by myself.  Since I normally ride by power but didn't have that data, I settled into just riding comfortably around 20 mph.  My goal was to finish by noon (under 5:20) and at that speed I'd have 1:50 to get through T2 and finish the run, so I didn't really feel the need to push it.  As I started the second lap we merged in with later waves starting their first lap, and suddenly there were a lot more people, which was great because now I'd have people to chase!  Shortly after that merge, I saw my dad and Mary, and that was a nice boost as well.  Just like that I found myself riding along at 22+ and the second lap was much more enjoyable than the leisurely, lonely first one.  I saw my dad and Mary again at the end of the second lap and then headed back toward the zoo.  We'd talked the night before about where they would be on the race course and approximately what time I expected to go by each spot.  I gave a best case scenario estimate of 9:20, which my dad noted on the spectator map, and he told me later than I went by at exactly 9:20!  Once we passed the turnaround for the international race with 11 miles to go, it went from a nice amount of people to chase to insanely crowded.  A few times it was almost like a three-wide paceline, and I threw in a few surges when I could to get out of the congestion and avoid a drafting penalty, even though it was nice to be able to tuck in, especially since it was a bit of a headwind on the way back.  With about 53 miles showing on my watch, one spectator (out of maybe a dozen that I saw the entire time, which included the two who were there to cheer for me!) was cheering to finish strong, only a mile and a half to go and I thought that couldn't be right, but with 54 miles on my Garmin I was at the dismount line. 

Official bike time: 2:38:33 (15th AG, 63rd female)  

Results note: I placed better on the swim?!!?  Though I've improved my cycling considerably over the last two years, I think there's definitely potential for me to pick up some time here, and I'm looking forward to doing some serious work on the trainer this winter!

T2: 1:53

I made a quick shoe change and took off on the run.  Thankfully, my heel pain was at a tolerable level and my knee pain has not returned since it's disappearance at IMNC.  My biggest concern at the moment was the underarm chafing that had resulted from wearing the sleeveless wetsuit for the first time and, only having used a full wetsuit in the past, failing to consider putting glide under my arms.  It had been burning on the bike as I started to sweat, and I assumed they'd have vaseline on sticks or something of that nature at the transition exit.  Unfortunately they had nothing of the sort, so I continued on running with my arms out to avoid further damage.  I'd also assumed they'd have volunteers with sunscreen, since the spf 30 I'd put on pre-race was not feeling particularly effective in the Florida sun, but I had no luck on that front either.  Chicken wings and red shoulders it is, I guess. 

Going into the race I was shooting for something around 1:45.  If I could keep a pace with 7s at the front I'd be happy.  With a couple minutes under goal time from the swim and a few more because of the short bike course, I realized I could run a two hour half marathon and still be done by noon, and that helped me just run comfortably without feeling the need to try to do anything crazy.

The run is two loops on a combination of pavement, gravel, dirt, and grass.  The cool part is that is runs through the Miami Zoo, and in the first two miles I saw antelope, giraffes (two of them were actually running, which was neat), and a few other deer-like animals.  I was feeling very comfortable at a pace in the high 7s, and drank a little water or gatorade on the run at each aid station.  There were a lot of people out because the international was just one loop of the same course, and I tried to say something positive to everyone who passed me, whether they were running really fast or looked like they were struggling.  There was a long stretch without any shade over the last couple miles of the loop, part of which is through a big parking lot and part on grass and dirt, and I was starting to get warm.  By the 6th mile my pace had crept into the 8s, and I decided I'd start walking through the aid stations on the second lap.  The beginning of each lap is definitely the best part, as there is some shade and this time I saw zebras.  I was starting to feel like I was running really slowly, but still saw low 8s on my watch, which was surprising given how I felt.  I walked though each aid station, putting ice in my trisuit and pouring cold water over myself.  I tried to keep drinking fluids but my stomach was unhappy so I probably didn't drink as much as I should have.  I was really starting to feel bad, but somehow passed two women in my age group on the way out to the 10 mile turnaround.  At that point I had gone from feeling really hot to being cold, and realized that I wasn't sweating.  I knew that was not a good sign, but told myself that I only had 5k to go and I was not going to give up in the last 3 miles of what has been a very long season.  I continued to take the walk breaks for ice, but I did not want those two women to pass me back, so even though I really wanted to walk in between aid stations I managed to keep running.  Not running fast, but running.  By the last mile I was convinced that the woman behind me was going to catch me, and was determined to give everything I had to prevent that from happening.  I was audibly breathing (apologies to the guy who was running next to me and probably thought I was having an asthma attack) even though I was running around 8:40 pace, but I managed to keep all of my splits under 9, hold off those two women, and "sprint" to the finish at a sub-7 pace, so despite feeling awful I was really happy with my effort. 

Official run time: 1:47:57 (6th AG, 23rd female)

Finish time: 5:09:23 (7th AG, 23rd female)

Photo of the finish line from Saturday
On Sunday this was a beautiful sight

After a few moments of wondering if I was going to pass out or throw up, I saw my dad and Mary in the finish line bleachers, collected my medal and water (maybe the best water ever), thanked the woman behind me for the motivation (I held her off by only 37 seconds), and wasted no time in getting to my phone to check the results.

I just needed to see that I was in the top 18 in my age group, and the athlete tracker said I was 8th!  It was a great relief and I am so excited to race with Team USA in Canada next summer!  Official results later had me finishing 7th, but in either case I hit all of my goals for this race: (1) Qualify for Penticton, (2) Top 10 in my age group, (3) sub-5:20.  

I returned my rental bike (it's actually really nice to not have to deal with your bike after a race other than to roll it across the transition area), gathered up my stuff, and sat with my family near the finish line for a while.  They had a results area where you could print out your time, so my dad and I walked over there to confirm my placing.  As we were heading back to the finish area, a woman approached me and said, "Thank you for telling me I looked strong out there.  I just finished cancer treatments a few months ago and was feeling rough at the time, and you saying that really inspired me, so I wanted to say thank you for that, it really meant a lot."  I can't imagine a better note to end the season on.  I had a solid race, mentally stayed tough when I felt awful, accomplished all of my goals for the day, got to spend some time with my dad, and had a positive effect on someone else's day.  I couldn't ask for more than that. ♡

Ironman 70.3 North Carolina

After having an amazing, beyond-expectations, did-that-really-happen kind of day at Beach 2 Battleship last year, I was excited to return to Wilmington and try to finally break that 5 hour barrier.  Having raced the full in 10:27, this seemed like a perfectly reasonable goal.  After a slightly disappointing race in Augusta, I was determined to leave it all out there and really give this race everything I had.

After getting on the bus to T1 from my hotel a little before 5am, I had more than enough time to set up in T1 and take the shuttle over to the swim start, and nothing about the morning felt stressed or rushed.  I spent some time in the changing tent to stay out of the cold wind, hopped on the shuttle (my first time on a party bus!), and walked down to the public beach access to watch the sunrise.  It was actually a bit warmer on the ocean side, with beach houses blocking some of the cold wind, and I practically had all of Wrightsville Beach to myself (another first!).  As I watched the sunrise I mentally went over the course, revisited my race plan, and reflected on all of the training I'd put in this year.  It was really a perfect start to the morning and I was feeling calm and confident as I made my way back over to the swim start.

I walked down to a public restroom to avoid the long porta-john lines, put on my wetsuit, and hung out on the street a little ways down from the parking lot where all the athletes were gathered since  it was much warmer out of the wind.  Around 8:00 I walked over to the channel to watch the full distance athletes swim by before being herded back over to the athlete staging area where we were to start lining up by swim wave.  I ate a Clif shot, dropped by morning bag at gear check, and joined the other yellow capped women waiting for the 8:50 start.

Unlike the full, the half is an in-water start.  I got on the outside of the group and my plan was to try to get out hard and settle in so people would have to pass me, rather than my usual approach of starting toward the back and being in the middle of the washing machine.  This started out pretty much as planned, but a stray foot to the face dislodged my goggles and they took in some water on the right side.  I stopped to fix it, but couldn't get them to reseal properly until the 3rd or 4th try.  By then I was pretty much right in the middle of my swim wave and was a little frustrated to have lost time already, but literally just put my head down and forged ahead.

The water was a bit choppier than last year, but didn't seem bad and I felt like I was moving along pretty well.  After making the turn, that quickly changed, and there was pretty significant chop as the wind was blowing directly in our faces.  I had to shift my breathing from bilateral to just one side and tried to time my strokes with the ebbs and flows, but other than taking a few nice mouthfuls of salt water when I looked up to sight, I thought I adjusted to the conditions pretty well (for me, that is - it's all relative).  I noticed a few other yellow caps around and was passed by a couple of swimmers from the wave behind me, but was surprised to see mostly pink, which was the color of the wave that started ahead of me.  I sometimes catch the tell end of preceding waves, but have never found myself in what seemed to be the heart of an earlier swim wave, and that was definitely a good confidence boost after having lost the time with my goggle issues out of the gate.  I'd settled into what felt like a comfortable rhythm with the waves and before I knew it was climbing the ladder onto the pier and my swim was done.  I looked at my watch and saw the time of day rather than my race time - apparently I didn't hit my start button hard enough at the start.  Based on clock time, I knew my swim was around 31 minutes, which was a little slower than my pace last year, but last year we didn't have to deal with any chop or headwind and was only a couple of minutes off of my goal time, so I felt ok about it.

Official swim time: 31:57 (8th AG, 39th female)

I made fairly long run on asphalt, grabbed my bike gear bag, and headed to the changing tent.  Since I didn't actually need to change, I just plopped down near the entrance, threw on my helmet and bike shoes, and started toward the entrance to T1, dropping the bag with my swim gear with a volunteer along the way.  Jogged over to my bike, which was unfortunately racked very far from bike out, and was out of T1 in 5:48.

I got on the bike knowing I was a couple minutes behind my goal scenario, but felt good and was ready to put in some work on the bike.  It was pretty crowded and there are a few sharp turns in the first mile, so I was just trying to spin easy until we got out to the main road for the first long stretch.  After losing the top of my built-in Felt bento box at the Raleigh 70.3 in June (it's a terrible design and I have seen many Felts in transition without bento covers), I have just been setting my stuff in the open space and to date that had been fine.  Unfortunately I hit a bump and two of my three packages of shot bloks and both of my honey stinger waffles went flying.  I thought very briefly about stopping to grab them, but it was crowded and just didn't seem like a viable option.  So 5 minutes into the ride I'd lost almost all of my nutrition and had only the one pack of shot bloks and the powerade zero in my hydration bottle to get me to the first aid station, around mile 28.  Not an ideal way to start at all, but things happen, so I put it out of my mind and refocused on the task at hand.

After all of the turns and congestion of the first mile, the course is mostly nice long stretches of flat road.  I was in swim wave 6 of 10, which is a little better than my recent assignments near the very back, so there were fewer people already on the road and it was less congested than I'd expected.  Though last year there was a little headwind on the way out, this year it was sometimes a challenge to just stay upright.  So my concentration was on fighting the wind and maintaining steady power in the 160s, despite the fact that I felt like I was going nowhere.  

I was steadily moving through the field, but noticed that most of the women I was passing were either the 30-34 age group or in their 50s.  I normally catch quite a few of the women from my age group on the bike, so it was discouraging to only see a couple.  I thought maybe others were dealing with the wind better than I was, or riding to stay on a speed target despite the wind, which I hoped would mean they were working too hard and would come back to me eventually.  It seemed like a really long way to the first water bottle handoff, and I'd been out of fluid and nutrition for quite a while, so I was happy to finally see the aid station.  Unfortunately they didn't have chews or gels, only gatorade and water.  So I grabbed a gatorade, squeezed what I could into my bottle, and soldiered on, telling myself that it wouldn't be as far to the next one, and that this had to become a tailwind eventually (right?).

The ride continued as much of the same - fighting the wind, trying to stay steady, realizing how far behind my time goal I was, and passing a bunch of people but failing to catch any women in my age group.  At the second aid station I grabbed another gatorade and a gel, and was happy to at least get a few more calories into my system.  Finally around mile 42 the headwind and crosswind that I'd been battling for hours became a tailwind.  At the same power level I went from 16-18mph to 26-28mph.  Now this is fun!  Though I was flying by people and knew I was making up time, I was a little frustrated in both my time and in the fact that I had seen very few 35-39s.  But I told myself to stick with the plan and hoped that it would somehow work out.  

Official bike time: 2:47:04 (20.11 mph; 3rd AG, 6th female)

I got off my bike with about 3:24 on the race clock and knew I had no shot at breaking 5 hours, so that was a little disheartening.  I also had no idea how my knee would hold up.  After some pain about two weeks out from the race, I took time off from running in hopes that it would work itself out.  My Thursday test run indicated that it had not, but I tried not to worry about it since at that point it was out of my control.

T2 included a very long, wobbly run in bike shoes, but went smoothly and I was out on the run in 3:47.  As I was running around the bike racks, I realized I'd forgotten to take the ibuprofen that I'd put in my run bag.  I also realized that my knee did not hurt!  After hopping along for 15 painful minutes two days prior, I was really just hoping for tolerable pain… the possibility of running pain-free hadn't even occurred to me, so that was a very pleasant surprise.  I wasn't sure how long it would last, so I decided to go out hard, despite the lack of fuel on the bike.  I figured if my knee locked up, running out of energy would be a lesser problem, and I felt good at the time, so I went with it.  

Hearing friends out cheering and seeing so many people I knew on the course added to the adrenaline, my knee felt ok, and the weather was perfect (in the 60s compared to 90s in both Raleigh and Augusta), and I was determined to leave it all out there, so I just ran.  The first 4 miles averaged just under 7:20, and I still wasn't catching any women in my age group.  Where are they?!  

I started to feel the effects of having done about 4 hours of exercise on very few calories, and decided to walk the aid stations to get in a full cup of coke.  Suddenly it felt like a struggle, and I had to work to keep my legs moving.  My time goal was shot, my body was failing me, and I figured I had to be so far down in the race standings that my chance for a podium or Worlds spot was nil.  As mile splits in the high-8s continued to flash on my watch despite how hard I felt like I was working, I started to think that maybe I'd made a mistake in setting such ambitious goals.  I was running slower than I did last year in the full IM distance and I wondered if I'd already tapped all of my potential.  I regretted having already signed up for the May 70.3 in Chattanooga, thinking maybe triathlon is just not for me.  So those last few miles were tough, both physically and mentally. 

Official run time: 1:45:36 (8:03/mile; 7th AG, 17th female)

I finished the race in 5:14:12, over half of the time that it took me to do the full last year and nowhere near my goal of sub-5.  Part of that was bad conditions, with the wind causing a choppier swim and wreaking havoc on bike times.  Part of that was bad luck, losing nearly all of my nutrition in the first mile of the ride.  And part of it was bad decisions, going out too fast out of T2 and failing to take in more calories sooner on the run.  But I'd finished.

My friend Kate had come down to Wilmington to cheer and then (hopefully) celebrate with me, so after finding her we retrieved my bike and gear bags and went back to the hotel.  I took a shower and then checked to see if results had posted, but the athlete tracker still wasn't working.  I told Kate that based on my time and the fact that I passed very few ladies from my AG on the bike, it was unlikely that I'd be on the podium or have even a remote change at a roll down slot, but that I'd kick myself if I was wrong about that assumption, so we walked back down to the finish area for the awards ceremony.

Results weren't posted anywhere, so it was just a matter of wait-and-see.  When they finally got to my age group, they called 5th place and I recognized the name as the woman who'd placed fifth in Augusta, two minutes ahead of me.  Ugh!  I bet was sixth again!  And then, to my surprise, they called my name.  Fourth.  I'd finally made that Ironman podium!  

It was a crazy feeling to go from thinking I should probably give up because I am not very good at this to standing on the podium a couple of hours later.  That turn an even crazier turn when I found out that my age group had three slots to Worlds.  So if just one of those women had already qualified or didn't want to go, I could walk away from this race with an award and a ticket to Chattanooga.  GAH!  I was initially skeptical because very few slots rolled down in Augusta, but as people in some age groups passed and spots rolled down to 5th or even 7th, I had some hope.  Unfortunately all three of the women ahead of me accepted their slots, but I still felt so much better in knowing that I was at least close.  When results finally came out, I learned that three of top five overall finishers in the race were in my age group, and though I didn't qualify, I was the 9th female overall.  I also realized that with a good run, I would have been in contention for 3rd AG/5th overall (5:09:25).  So though I was still dealing with some disappointment, maybe I hadn't set completely unrealistic goals.  Maybe I do have a chance of doing well at this.  It may not have come as quickly as I would have liked, but it's not out of reach, and that's what I will take away from this and what I will drive me to work even harder in 2017.

Thank you to my dear friends for making it feel like a celebration despite my mixed feelings on the day!

Ironman 70.3 Augusta

Ironman 70.3 Augusta was my second half distance tri back in 2013 and I remember enjoying the current-assisted, wetsuit-legal swim, relatively flat bike course, and super flat run.  So I signed up for this last winter after what was (for me) a successful fall racing season with the goal of breaking 5 hours. Training has gone pretty well, and going into the week I thought this still seemed to be a realistic goal.  However race week brought some unexpected twists, including (1) learning of changes to the bike course that added a little distance along with 700+ feet of elevation gain over the old course and (2) seeing that the forecast was predicting high temperatures around 90.  After racing Raleigh in June and completely blowing up in the heat, I knew I needed to adjust my race plan given the conditions.  I decided on a slightly slower pace and decided ahead of time that I would walk through all of the aid stations to try to keep my core temperature under control and make sure that I was hydrating.  These changes to the plan made it pretty unlikely that I'd finish in under 5 hours, but when life gives you lemons you just try to cross the finish line and not end up in the medical tent. 

Made it to my hotel just in time to see the sunset on Friday night

After driving down to Augusta on Friday, Saturday was pretty low key.  I went for a quick spin to make sure all systems were go with the bike, met up with Tim for lunch and bike check-in, and then met some friends for dinner.  Other than that the day was just spent getting things together, hydrating, and lazing around watching football.

Race gear ready to go

Sunday morning I walked over to the Marriott to catch the bus to T1.  While I was walking I overhead several people saying that the swim wasn't wetsuit legal, but they'd announced the water temp to be 74 on Saturday - a full two degrees below the cutoff - so I thought they must be mistaken.  Unfortunately they were not.  The water temperature had somehow risen to 77 in one day.  Part of the reason I'd chosen this race was the wetsuit-legal swim with the current, so that was really disappointing (and the conversation I had with myself in my head may have contained an expletive or two).  I know that relying on the wetsuit is sort of a cop out, but because I'm not a strong swimmer, the extra buoyancy and improved body position really helps to cut the gap between me and the front of the field. At least we still had the current!

Looking over the swim course from the bridge nearest the start

It was 50 minutes between the pro start and my wave, so we watched the pros go out to try to see what the best line would be.  We were instructed to stay to the right of the buoys but the pros were using both sides, so I decided I'd stay as close to the sight buoys as possible. 

It's an in-water start, and we had to work at treading water and moving backward against the current, which I thought was a great sign.  Unlike my last two 70.3s, which were very choppy, difficult swims with portions against and across the current, the Savannah River was blissfully calm and the point to point swim is with the current the entire time, so I was actually feeling pretty comfortable when the horn sounded.  My comfort was pretty short-lived.  I guess I just need more practice in crowds, but I just can't find a rhythm with people bumping into me from every direction. One woman seemed to be trying to draft off of me and kept grabbing my feet, and it was frustrating me to no end.  Thankfully I was eventually able to find my own space, stayed on my line just right of the buoys, and the second third of the swim went by uneventfully, which for me is a victory.

When I did Augusta 3 years ago, I finished the swim in 30:35.  Originally I thought I'd be able to take a couple of minutes off of that time, but without the wetsuit I wasn't sure how it would go.  So I was content to see 31 minutes on my watch when I exited the water.  Though I had the current to thank for most of it, that is still BY FAR my fastest non-wetsuit open water swim.  

2013: 30:35, 104/159
2016: 31:28, 54/159

I made the run up to T1 and found there were still a lot of bikes on my rack, which made me smile given my questionable swimming ability and my struggles in the early portion of the swim.  I put on my helmet, bike shoes, and sunglasses and was out of T1 in under 4 minutes.

While I was not thrilled about the added elevation on the bike course (hills are not one of my strengths), I was excited to get on the bike.  I'd hit the 56 mile mark at Patriots in about 2:38, and though I was better suited to that course I thought something at least close to PR would be a possibility.  The first several miles were incredibly crowded.  People were riding three wide and it was very difficult to avoid drafting.  There were three women in my age group close by and we played a bit of leap frog for a while as we were weaving in and out of passing lanes, going around people, and avoiding some of the men from the wave behind us that were flying by at mach 7.  Once things started to spread out for a bit, I found that they were pulling away.  I thought about trying to stick with them, but knew it was going to be a long day, especially with the run in the heat, so I decided to stick with my plan to ride around 160-165W and just hope that they'd come back to me later in the race.  I took it easy up the hills, used the 5 mile split beep on my garmin as a reminder to eat a couple of chomps and drink some gatorade, and just tried to ride steady.  I ran out of fluids before both the first and second aid stations, and was disappointed to find that they were so far apart (#1 at almost 20M, #2 around 38M, and #3 at 46M or so... not the best spacing), especially given that temperatures were already in the 80s, but overall I felt ok.  Despite seeing some slow bike splits, I fought the urge to ride harder and actually dialed it back a little as the temperature rose, not wanting a repeat of the Raleigh run disaster.  The last 12 miles or so are mostly flat and downhill, so I was actually able to maintain a decent pace without blowing my legs out.  Overall I'd say it went pretty much to plan, with a final normalized power of 160.  That put it on the low end of my target range and I finished with a an average speed of 20.2 mph, but with the heat that was probably not a bad thing.  Though of course I wish it'd been faster ;)

2013: 2:56:00, 38/159
2016: 2:46:18, 8/159

According to my garmin data, it was 88 degrees and 49% humidity at the start of my run.  My legs felt good and even though my legs wanted to run in the 7:30s (my original target pace), I made a conscious effort to slow down.  I felt that if I could stay in the 7:40-7:50 range with short walks through the aid stations, that would be a solid run given the conditions.  Again, I thought about Raleigh, and though it was awful at the time, at least I learned from my mistake of going out too hard, too soon.  It also helped tremendously that I've been training in the heat for the last 4 months!

As with the bike course, I thought the aid stations were poorly spaced.  While I'm used to having one every mile, several of these were spaced one and a half miles apart or more.  That might not sound like a huge difference, but when it's 90 degrees and sunny, a half mile can feel very long!  I was also disappointed to find that the majority of aid stations were not stocked with ice, especially since they'd known for quite some time that it was going to be an extremely hot day.  Thankfully I still felt (relatively) ok, and though my pace slowed a bit and my walks through the aid stations got progressively longer, most of my splits stayed in (or at least near) my goal.  As I was walking through the second to last aid station, a woman in my age group ran by.  I thought of taking off immediately or speeding up to catch her, but stayed with the plan and it wasn't long until I ran by her and pretty quickly put some space between us.  The last miles were tough, as could be expected, but I managed to finish strong...  a far cry from my last 70.3.  Even with the walking I ended up with an average pace of 7:47 per mile.  Though it's not my fastest half run split, it's not far from my 70.3 PR of 1:40:37 last fall, which was run under more pleasant conditions.

2013: 1:46:09, 14/159
2016: 1:41:59, 3/159

5:06:07

6th Female 35-39

14th Amateur Female of 900+ finishers

Though I was fairly satisfied with my effort and execution, I knew it was unlikely that I'd placed high enough to have a shot at a World Championship spot, but I'd hoped to crack the top 5 and get onto my first Ironman podium.  After getting a massage in the finisher area, I anxiously retrieved my bag from gear check and looked up the results.  Sixth.  For the second straight Ironman 70.3.  Though it's not a terrible finish, I missed out on fourth by three and a half minutes and fifth by only 2 minutes.  So close but so far, and I'm definitely a little disappointed because I know I could have found a few minutes out there, be it not getting frazzled by the foot grabbing in the water, pushing just a little harder on the bike, or not walking through the final aid station on the run.  Thankfully the three Championship slots were accepted by the top three finishers, so I am not beating myself up over missing out on that as I would have if one had rolled down to fourth and been within only a few minutes of my reach.  

I am trying not to dwell on the disappointing parts and to look at the positives as well... Though it wasn't ideally suited to my strengths with the changes to the swim and bike course, I finished less than 9 minutes from a World Championship slot.  I'd started to question whether I'd been overambitious in setting that goal for myself, and though it's still a sizable gap, it is inside the realm of possibility and in that sense I am feeling more confident despite falling a little short this time around.

So now it's back to work and on to Ironman 70.3 North Carolina.  Hopefully I can finally find that fine line between going out too hard and blowing up (Raleigh) and leaving a little too much in the tank (Augusta).  Time will tell... 

Ironman Raleigh

Ironman Raleigh was my first 70.3 back in 2013.  It was a really tough race on a very hot day, and I said I'd never do that one again.  Yet somehow last year I found myself signing up.  I guess it's that selective amnesia that allows us to keep putting ourselves through the same pain!  With the knee injury setting back my running, my longest run had been about 8.5 miles, and I knew the weather was going to pose a challenge. Those concerns left me feeling a bit nervous, but I still came into this with high, though tempered, expectations.

Despite getting up at 3:30 to get to Raleigh and take a shuttle to Jordan Lake, the morning was quite pleasant and I was feeling good going into the race.  After arriving at Vista Point, I got my stuff set up in T1 and then just relaxed and chatted with friends while waiting the 3ish hours until my wave start.

Unfortunately this photo does not reflect actual race conditions

Swim

It's an in-water start, so I found a spot on the inside around the middle of the pack.  I tried to calm my nerves, listened to the countdown, and we were off.  Despite the initial crowding and rush of adrenaline, I felt more calm than I have in previous open water races.  I settled into a comfortable pace and stuck to my line just inside of the sight buoys.  I thought, "wow, this is the best I've ever felt during the swim!" and just continued along.  After making my way around the first turn buoy, that thought quickly disappeared.  That part of the lake was very rough and choppy, and suddenly it felt like a completely different swim.  I tried to time my stroke and breathing with the ups and downs of the waves, and when I'd look up I saw several swimmers holding onto paddleboards and kayaks.  I felt my pace dropping and a mouthful of lake water led to some coughing, but I felt like I was still managing ok. Then *bam* a wave to the face knocked my goggles off of my eyes (but thankfully not off of my head altogether).  I stopped and readjusted them, but couldn't seem to get them quite right and the right side kept taking in water.  I paused a few times to try to adjust them, but didn't have any luck.  Between the waves and trying to use only one eye, sighting was a challenge, so I started to just follow a few people in front of me.  It was slow going, but I thought I must be well over halfway there so thankfully it will be over soon.  A few minutes later, I heard some yelling and looked up to see a volunteer on a kayak heading our way and pointing off to the left.  I stopped swimming for a second and heard that we were going off course.  UGH.  I drained the water from my goggles, spotted the turn buoy we should have been swimming toward, changed course was on my way again.  From that point until I made the last turn was a huge struggle, both mentally and physically.  I was upset with myself for blindly following other people and veering off course, I thought I might actually get sea sick, was coming way out of the water for sighting, and despite making swimming motions I didn't feel like that buoy was getting any closer.  I finally rounded the turn buoy and headed toward shore, thinking surely it would get easier.  Nope.  I kept looking but every time I checked the end still seemed so far away, and my thoughts were punctuated by a lot of words that are not appropriate for a G-rated blog. After what felt like an eternity, I got out of the water.  I saw almost 50 minutes on my watch, so technically I guess it wasn't "an eternity" but it was 8-10 minutes slower than what I'd been hoping for.  On the bright side, the swim was over.

First half: feeling comfortable and swimming well under 2:00/100
Second half: am I even going anywhere?

Official time: 49:33, 45th female 35-39.

I made it to my bike and was surprised that there were others still on the rack as well.  At least I wasn't last.  I probably could have hustled a little more in transition, but made it out and onto my bike in just under 3 minutes.  As disappointed as I was with the swim, I reminded myself that I had a bad swim in Williamsburg as well and still managed to PR there, so I just needed to focus on what I could still control and try to execute the rest of my race according to plan.

Bike 

Thankfully the bike portion of this report is far less eventful.  My plan was to ride around 160W, and with the exception of the last split into downtown Raleigh, they all ranged from 158-164.  The ride starts mostly uphill and includes one 180° turn, so I knew I would be off to a slow start, but because I don't even have speed on my watch display I was able to avoid getting too caught up in that.  Once we made the turn onto 64 I settled in and felt like I was flying as I passed a ton of riders.  I didn't feel like I was working too hard, took in nutrition (3 packages of shot blocks) and hydration (mostly water) throughout, and felt great. There was one incident where I was cut off by another cyclist trying to get water and neither of us were able to grab one, but I managed to snag a gatorade further down the road and we avoided a collision so it all worked out.  I also lost the plastic top to my built in bento box and was stuck in a group of cyclists behind vehicular traffic a few times later in the race, but otherwise it was all smooth sailing.  I ended up averaging 159 watts (exactly the same as in my last half IM) and though it was starting to get warm was feeling optimistic for a decent run.

Official time: 2:41:16 (20.84 mph), moved up to 7th in my age group.

I felt a little unstable running in my cleats, so I took it down to a fast walk until I racked my bike. There were a lot more empty spaces now than there had been bikes on the rack when I left T1, which meant I'd passed a fair number of women in my age group while I was out on the bike and that was a nice confidence boost after the awful swim.  Quickly changed my shoes and was out of T2 in less than 3 minutes.

Run

According to my garmin data, it was 82 degrees with 74% humidity and a "feels like" temperature of 88° when I started my run.  Knowing the weather was going to be a factor, I'd lowered my goals from mid-7s to high-7s in pacing the run.  A smarter person would have started out even more conservatively, as will soon become apparent...

The run is a double out and back, with a turnaround at roughly mile 3.3.  The way out is mostly an incline, then back down to complete the first lap, back up to the turnaround, and finally down to the finish. I felt good coming out of T2 despite it getting warmer and had to make a conscious effort to slow down off the bike (as usual).  I saw several friends out spectating (thanks for cheering!) and focused on just running steady from one aid station to the next with the intention of walking through each one just long enough to take in some fluids and maybe throw some ice in my tri suit.  I figured pacing in the high 7s with aid station walks I could still average in the low-8 minute mile range and put my finish time somewhere in the mid-5:20s.  Not a PR by any stretch, but given the conditions and the math I'd been doing, still a time that I would be happy with.

Part 1: Miles 1-3, from T2 to the turnaround

Some time during the 2nd or 3rd mile, I realized that I'd forgotten to put on my race belt with my bib. I could picture it there laying on the ground in T2 next to my bike, but in my haste to switch shoes and get out on the run, I never put it on.  Once again, my thoughts were primarily filled with expletives and me kicking myself over making such a stupid mistake.  The rules say "Failure to wear race number is STRICTLY PROHIBITED and may result in disqualification.  That capitalization is actually in the athlete guide - I didn't add them for embellishment - and I remembered reading that so I realized that it was a serious mistake. @#$&%!  Ok, just get to the turn around. You will figure this out...

Physical status: Getting hot but feeling ok. Feeling like I should probably eat something but nothing is appealing.
Mental status: Upset with myself and worried about the possibility of being disqualified.
Splits: 7:42-7:57-7:45.

Part 2: Miles 3-6, back toward the finish area

As I made my way back downtown I was more concerned about not getting a DQ than what I was actually doing and was not having much fun at all. My aid station walks were getting a bit longer, as I took the opportunity to cool off with the cold sponges and ice down a bit before resuming my run.  I also started drinking a little coke along with some water, hoping that the calories, sugar, and caffeine would help my energy levels since none of the food options (gels, pretzels, fruit) were even remotely appealing.  I think I was somewhere between miles 4 and 5 when I saw Anne with her bike, and stopped to ask if she might be able to ride down to T2 and ask a volunteer to grab my bib. Unfortunately she had to get to work, so I decided that I would just have to go back for it myself and hope that the race officials didn't notice in the meantime.

Physical status: Increasing temperature and decreasing energy level, but still functioning fairly well.
Mental status: Focused solely on bib retrieval since a decent finish time would be irrelevant if I were DQ'ed.
Splits: 8:05-8:09-8:39

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

From the initial run from T2 to the course (where athletes in earlier waves were already on their second lap when I started), I knew it was a few blocks from transition to the looped part of the course, but I wasn't sure how far.  When the rest of the athletes around me turned left to go back out for lap #2, I took a right and headed back to transition.  I told some volunteers by run out that I'd forgotten my bib and told them my race number and one went off to get it for me.  I found a little spot of shade to stand in while I was waiting, and a few minutes later the volunteer reappeared with my race belt and bib in hand.  With that problem solved, I then faced a new set of problems... including the day growing ever hotter, the task of getting going again after standing still for a bit, and trying to mentally move past the fact that my mistake had cost me valuable time.

Mile 7 moving time: 7:59, elapsed time between 10 and 11 minutes.

Part 3: Miles 8-10, from T2 to the turnaround, take 2

Getting running again was a challenge.  I tried to think of it just as little pieces: run to the next aid station, catch up to the friend you see up ahead, get to the turnaround, but suddenly it was a strugglefest.  My walks through the aid stations were longer and I stopped completely a few times to dump cups of ice water on my head and finish my little cup of coke.  I caught a friend and we tried to encourage one another, but no one seemed to be having much fun by that point.  When I did get running again, my shoes were squishing and squeaking from all the water I'd been pouring on myself, so I stopped and wrung out my socks.  I could see my chance of a good time melting on the asphalt and yet I could not get myself to push any harder.

Physical status: Hit a wall.
Mental status: Hit a wall.
Splits: 9:02-10:11-11:08

Part : Miles 11-13, from the turnaround to the finish line

Once I made the final turnaround I kept telling myself that it was all downhill and I just needed to put one foot in front of the other.  I was disappointed in myself for the day's stupid mistakes (swimming off course, forgetting to put on my race belt) and for not finding a way to push through it.  I took walk breaks, more ice water mini-showers, and sipped more coke.  Around mile 12 a spectator was offering icy pops so I took one.  I slowed to a walk in order to eat it and part of me thought "You're almost done, just toss this and start running," but another part of me said "This is so cold and sweet! It just might be the best thing you've ever eaten in your entire life!"... the latter part won.  With a little less than a mile to go, I started jogging and told myself there would be no more walk breaks, and I actually managed to return my pace to the 8s for the rest of that mile.

Physical status: Hot, tired, ready for it to be over.
Mental status: Overwhelmingly disappointed.
Splits: 9:40-9:43-9:48

After making the last turn, it's about 4 blocks to the finish, and the wind had picked up giving us a serious headwind to run into.  There was a relay runner in front of me and as soon as we turned onto Fayetteville Street her hat blew off and she had to run several yards in the wrong direction to retrieve it.  I needed all the motivation I could find to not just jog it in and I knew she'd be right behind me, so I gave it what I could to finish strong without being passed in the finishing stretch.  My average pace for the last .34 miles was 7:46, and even though that's slower than my open marathon pace, it really felt like I was sprinting.

Official time: 2:00:52, moved up to 6th in my age group.

I was both happy to cross the finish line and unhappy with the way the day played out.  I missed getting in under two hours but somehow actually moved up a spot to 6th in my age group despite all of the walking and the detour.

Final time: 5:37:28

6/79 Female 35-39

78/664 Female

373/2283 Overall

Compared to 2013

Swim: 7 seconds slower this year. That year was wetsuit legal and pretty calm. In hindsight, I'm less disappointed in my time because several good swimmers I know finished in about 40 minutes.

Bike: 23:06 (2.6 mph) faster. The first year I did this I was riding a road bike with clip-on aerobars and thought 56 miles was a long ride. Between that race and this one, I have significantly upgraded my bike and I've ridden nearly 11,000 miles, so it's not surprising that my time would be quite a bit faster even though it felt quite a bit easier.

Run: 2:02 slower. The new course is much flatter and the weather was probably comparable (82 degrees at the start of my run each year, though this year was more humid), so even with the extra quarter mile and waiting for the volunteer to grab my number, I feel like I should have run faster and/or walked less.

Moving forward

I am trying to get over the sting of disappointment from this one and look at it as a learning experience.  I feel that I wasn't as strong as I'd hoped, either mentally or physically, and am still kicking myself because with a decent run I would've found myself on the podium in my age group. Fortunately my two A races for this year are not until the fall, so I have a solid 4 months of training ahead to prepare for those... hopefully my next 70.3 reports will have happier endings!