The next day we went to pick up my bike and check in at the
race site. Tribike Transport again had
my bike ready flawlessly, can’t imagine how stressful the day would have been
without them! I discovered some new salt
tablets from a local company called EnergyLab at the race expo – nice
combination of electrolytes in a solid tablet that dissolves really fast,
looking forward to using these in races!
Pro meeting was also fun to attend (I’m still awed by the who’s who in
triathlon at these!). In talking to
other “real” pros I was amazed at the amount of training they do, especially
for the swim, 5000-9000 yards 7 days a week.
I do 3000 yards 3-4 days a week.
Changes will need to be made if I want to keep up in the swim,
clearly! John took me for a nice 10 mile
bike and 3 mile run around the Woodlands to get my legs spun over and ready for
the race, I was feeling good! In the
evening I got to check out Market Street as we headed there for frozen
yogurt. WOW, fancy cars galore;
Lamborghinis, Austin Martins, Rolls Royces, Ferraris! Ok, I had to take a couple photos it was just
insane! Little Canadian girls like shiny
sparkly things!
The day before the race I checked my bike in and relaxed for
a while. I got hooked on the Game of
Thrones books recently. Nothing like a
little savage medieval wartime action reading to get me ready to race Ironman
right? Had a nice pasta dinner with
Rodney and Diana Adkison, kibitzing about the coming race. Rodney and I had a bet going that he would
pass me about mile 50 on the bike….not going to stray from my race plan but
will be fun to see how that plays out with my 10 min head start in the pro
wave!
Race morning was still and quiet, nice temperature and
moderate wind. I got to transition in
good time and made sure my tires were aired up and all my nutrition was in
order. The bike was covered in dew so it
needed drying off, glad I had a towel to do this! The swim start was about a 1 mile walk from
transition and it was nice to loosen up my legs walking there. No wetsuits as the water was comfortable –
bummed I couldn’t race the TYR Freak of Nature, the warm water legal TYR Torque
speed suit is also pretty sweet, and I’m glad I could wear this for some
advantage! The start was in deep water
and I did my best to position myself behind some women so I might catch a draft
as we started – I sprinted but felt like I lost feet very quickly. With the murky water and reduced light it was
hard to follow people, something for me to work on! I concentrated on good, correct stroke and
sighting well, it was nice not to be in the washing machine of the age-group
start but I truly was swimming by myself and it was hard to be motivated until
the super-swimmer age groupers started passing me! My arms became really tired as we started
down a long channel to the transition, definitely increased swim miles are in
order to rectify this, it was hard to keep my stroke correct and even with the
fatigue setting in. FINALLY I was out of
the water and sprinting to my bike! As I
left the transition I saw the clock said 1:14, I was not sure if this was my
time or if I needed to add 10 minutes to this…in both cases not a stellar swim
but I did beat one male pro (technically not last out of the water, you take
what you can get!!).
The bike course was lovely and flat, I tried to keep it calm
for the first 5-10 miles, I had lots of age group men to ride with so I did not
feel all alone, that was nice. I was
riding over 23 miles per hour and feeling solidly within my power zone of
160-170 watts. I could tell that I was
getting a little fatigue at about 40 miles but I still felt relatively good. At the halfway point I was at 2.5 hours
almost exactly. I thought to myself,
holy shit, if I can hold this I will ride 5 hours!! Then came the rolling hills, and the heat of
mid-morning; my legs started to fray and unravel. I could see my power numbers fading and I
started to watch my data more, setting little goals like “keep it over 22 for
another 10 miles” and “just don’t let your average power below 160 watts” ANYTHING
to distract myself from the tired feeling in my legs and my chafed
places!! I caught a few pro women and
felt comforted by the fact that I was definitely suffering in good
company. The last several miles were
downhill and in town, lots of people cheering which was hugely wonderful. I was delighted to reach the bike dismount
line and gave the bike catcher my Valdora (didn’t pee on it this time!! YAY!!).
In the run tent I was told that I was in the top 10 amongst women,
and I was happy and surprised to hear this.
The volunteers were just wonderful.
They had my bag with all my gear and essentially put my shoes and socks
on as well as assisted placement of Vaseline in important anatomic locations
and a sunscreen slathering extravaganza!
I am sure Ironman athletes in the bike-run transition tent have lower
dexterity levels than most toddlers, myself included! I was VERY concerned that I had not seen
Rodney yet and as I started the run I saw Diana and Shanelle, she assured me he
was ok and had a bad swim, I felt better knowing he was ok. Starting the run I clicked off 7:30-7:40
miles. Rodney went by me around 2 miles
in, damn he can run!! At 10 miles I had
averaged 7:43 pace and knew I was doing exactly what I hoped I would pace
wise.
The heat was getting really bad
and I started noticing it as well as the thick humidity in the air that made it
hard to breathe. My hip flexors
tightened up and I started to feel a dreamy state of emotionless haze descend
on me mentally. I looked at my watch and
to my horror I clicked off a 8:30 mile then a 9:15….. I was emulating a zombie and I needed to be
the terminator. I started walking aid
stations and really hitting the ice and cold water to try and wake myself up
and snap myself out of my negative hazy state.
I was passed by a pro women about 5 miles from the finish…..but I was
unable to respond. In hindsight, the
1:30 I lost to her was the difference between 8th and 9th
and $1000 vs. $0. Sigh. Everything in me wanted to quit as I knew the
run was not the one I had hoped to have and I was absolutely in agony every
step (hip flexors so tight I could barely raise my knees, blisters on my feet
screaming every step). As I am sure
anyone who finishes an Ironman knows, there comes a time in the race when you care
about nothing but finishing. Time,
goals, nutrition and hydration go out the window and all you really want to do
is get the thing done! I hung on and got
it done. I did set a 10 minute PR,
finishing in 10:09, and even though the marathon did not go well, the overall
time was respectable for an early season race!!
I had an incredible bike leg, now I just need to improve on either side! I really can’t be disappointed!!
As I finish writing this report two weeks after the race I
am filled with motivation to train more!!
I will step up my swim mileage and frequency, continue to ride with
quality and produce a marathon at the end of my next Ironman that I will be
proud of. I’ve got a sub 10 in me, I
know it!!
A HUGE thank you to the Spechts, my homestay family (pictured below)!! It was so much fun getting to know Cindy,
John, Nicole and Rachel, AND their wonderful dogs (YAY DOGS!). John is planning on signing up for IM Texas
next year, AWESOME! A big thank you to
my sponsors: Endurance Company (I was incredibly prepared for this race and had a 15 minute PR on bike and 10 min PR for the Ironman distance), ABPro sports (I could not have
felt more comfortable in such a stellar race kit, truly triathlon couture!), Tryathletics
(great swim, bike, run gear helps me train and race!), Valdora (my PHX2 was
flawless), XLab USA (the rocket pocket held all my nutrition and the side kick
and gorilla cages never dropped a bottle), TYR (I am a weak swimmer but the incredible Torque speed suit gives me a
huge advantage) and Electrodelytes
(yummo race nutrition). Thank you for
believing in me and supporting my first year of professional racing!
Hopefully the best is yet to come!
