Ironman 70.3 Syracuse - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Our wave was first- right after the pro women. I started right up front, and right along the buoy line. When the gun went off, I sprinted hard. I could only see about 2 people ahead of me, but they were swimming way off to the left, so I would have to veer way off course to get on their feet. I kept an eye on them, but they just weren't swimming anywhere near the buoy line, so I just couldn't risk going all the way over, and besides, they were farther ahead, so I didn't even think I could catch them. I kept expecting at least another girl to be near me, but there was no one. I was completely alone. By the time we got to the first turn buoy, I couldn't see anyone ahead of me either. This was weird. I've never not had someone to follow in the swim before!

I turned at the buoy and was RIGHT in the sun. To make matters worse, there was a slight fog off the water, so it was absolutely impossible to see any buoys. There also weren't any more kayakers around, so I had no idea if I was going in the right direction! I knew the course was a rectangle, so I just trusted myself, and swam as straight as possible into the sun. Along this stretch, I had to stop 3 times to block the sun with my hand and spot the next buoy. I tried to turn at the wrong buoy, but luckily there was a kayaker there to stop me right away and tell me to go one more buoy (I couldn't tell that this one was orange, not red). The sunlight was so bad, and I admit, I got a bit frustrated out there. I had to stop at least once more and actually ask the guy on a jet ski where the buoy was! My goggles were totally fine- it was just impossible to see! I've never felt so lost on a swim before, but I guess if you're in the first wave, and a sort of fast swimmer, then you might get lost!

Trust myself more. Except for the one slight misturn, I was heading in the right direction the entire time. I can swim pretty darn straight, so I should've just pushed on and had faith that the buoys would appear. When I was swimming, I was swimming hard and strong, and felt great, but stopping and feeling slightly panicked took a few minutes off my time.

The wetsuit strippers got my suit off fast, and I ran OK up to T1. My feet were completely numb, which was probably good since we had to run over a parking lot for about 800yards or so. Then the fun began! I really hope someone was videoing T1 as all of us freezing athletes tried to put on arm warmers or tight fitting jerseys on our soaked, numb bodies. THAT was ridiculous! Luckily everyone's T1s are in 3 min range- it takes forever to get arm warmers on!

Turn up the heat to about 65 degrees- not 48! :)

As I was pushing my bike out of transition, it was making some funny noises, but I thought it was just the wet grass getting stuck on the tire (this happens to me a lot at home). I got on and started pedaling hard to try and warm up my freezing cold body parts. My feet were still numb and my muscles felt weird and achey from the cold. I ignored it and just focused on riding my power numbers. I knew they would start pretty high because we would be climbing a ton for the first part of the course. The hills were quite a bit steeper than I expected, but not terrible. The weird part was that I kept hearing funny noises from my bike, whenever I stood, and it kept feeling like something was grabbing my rear tire. I knew I had checked my bike the night before, so I just decided to ignore it.

On the bike course I again found myself all alone. In most races, I have people to catch and pass, so it took a bit more mental focus to stay on point for this one. I didn't see a single other girl out there for the whole ride, and had maybe 2 or 3 dudes pass me- that was it. My power was really high to get up the hills at the beginning, but my legs felt decent, so I just had confidence that my speed would climb back up towards the end of the race. One of the last hills that we hit at the beginning was a steep downhill followed by a steep uphill. Climbing up that hill, I knew for sure that something was wrong with my bike, but I had to wait till I got to the top to figure it out, or else I'd have to walk up that hill. At the top, I just figured my brakes were rubbing, so I opened them up and kept riding- never bothering to spin the wheel, since I could see the space in the brakes. Big mistake.

The rest of the ride was gorgeous- the scenery is amazing, and the roads were in pretty good shape. I just kept focusing on my power numbers, and they were great, right where they should be between 175 and 180, but my speed was LOW. Really, really low. Again, I just figured my speed would come back up in the back half of the course, since that's when it was supposed to be downhill. I wish I could bring this course home with me and train on it every weekend- I loved the challenging hills, and even when we were having a net downhill, there were still a lot of littler ups to keep you working.

Since I was going slower, I knew to eat and drink just a bit more, and also took a few more salt sticks to prepare for the run. At Steelhead, I didn't take enough fluid, because it was cooler, and it made the run pretty hard, so I made sure to not make that same mistake on this very cold day.

Finally we got to the last few miles of the course, and my speed was still hovering below 20mph. Despite the fact that I didn't get passed by any girls on the course, and only a few guys, I was really disappointed in how slowly I went- especially since I was able to maintain the same power I had at Steelhead, and had a way higher power than Musselman, both of which I went WAY faster (3mph faster at Steelhead, but it is uber-flat). I tried hard to keep a positive mental outlook, and was really looking forward to this run!

The volunteers on the course were great, and there were a surprising number of people out there cheering for us! It was awesome to have that much support! There were also a ton of chalk messages on the roads. There were some truly awesome support teams out there! All of these things made my lonely ride more fun :)

Now, the explanation for my bike split: When the race was over, and I was wheeling my bike out of transition, it almost wouldn't budge. Huh. So, I looked down, and saw to my horror (and relief, I suppose) that the rear wheel was rubbing against the frame in the cut out. Ohmygod what a stupid stupid mistake!! It finally dawned on me that I was using a slightly bigger tube than I normally ride, since I broke my old one changing to my Mich Pro3s, and this was the last spare. My rear drop out position was fine for the old tubes, but with a bigger tube, the tire was touching the frame at one part- but only when the tire was pumped up to 110 psi. Since I rode it at 80psi's the night before, I didn't have this problem. What an IDIOT! I was pretty mad at myself, but I also felt better about why my bike speed was so slow, compared to my power numbers. I seriously need a professional bike mechanic to accompany me to every race and take care of me- I have made so many bike maintenance errors, it's not even funny!


Trust my gut!! When it feels like something is grabbing my rear wheel, it probably is! Ha!

I had to be a little careful coming into T2 because my feet were still completely numb. I was super excited to put on my new Zoot Ovwas and get running in them! This was my first race with tri-specific shoes!

A dude caught me in transition, so we headed out on the run together. My feet were numb, so it felt like my feet were amputated, but I ignored it and kept up a good cadence and focused on my breathing. The first mile was downhill, so it felt great to clock a 6:40 mile, but at mile 2, we hit the first hill. Right as I turned into this section, the 2nd place pro was starting her 2nd loop, so she was just ahead of me. I used her to pace off of for the entire first loop, and was extremely happy with myself for keeping her in sight the entire time. My mile spilts were mostly coming in under 7's, and they seemed to be very consistent, despite the rolling terrain.

There were lots of folks out cheering for us, and I got to see the people I knew that were there throughout the course, which was totally awesome. My legs felt pretty fresh, my breathing was great and my stomach was cooperating- YAH!! I was much happier on the run then I've been at nearly any other race, and finally felt like I was having the run I trained for. This course was really hard, but I just thought about running strong on the downhills and flats, and keeping things in check on the uphills. I took in water at every aid station, and perform at every other. On the second loop I had cola and water at every aid station. I only ate 1 gu, and if I did anything wrong, it was not having a second Gu. By the last mile, I got the heavy legs indicating not enough glucose- but that's OK, only my last mile was bad, but up until that point, I ran in control and ran strong. I am very happy with my run! And I LOVED my shoes!

The run course is a really nice course. It goes through a lovely neighborhood that had a lot of people out cheering us on. The hills are hard, but not crazy or anything. As I ran into the finish, the announcer said that I was the first amateur woman to cross the line- sweet! I didn't celebrate yet, because the 30-34 age group started a lot later than me- I would just have to wait!

Not much. This is just about the same time I've run on far flatter courses, so I'm really happy with my pace and effort.

Since Mike is super fast, he finished soon after I did, as well as his friend Matt. I stood around and chatted, then finally found my friend who was there. It took a while, but once they started posting the results, I could confirm that I was in fact 1st Amateur female- by over 10 minutes!! Sweet! If I had been racing pro, I would've been last- but only by 1 second, lol!

Although my time for this race is far off my PR, I still had a very solid race, and placed higher than I have at most other Ironman 70.3 races. Because I placed 1st amateur, I have the option of getting my pro card next year! I will ponder this for the next few months, since I would apply in January, but it is extremely exciting to even have that option. I did not grow up as an athlete, so to have a chance to be a 'pro' triathlete is pretty insane, to me, even if I do come in my last as a pro.

I also want to give credit where credit is due- thank you SO much to Coach Jorge (e3ts.com) for getting me to this point! Jorge has allowed me to continue to improve in training and racing all while being super busy by focusing on quality workouts- no junk miles! And also thank you to my husband and best friend Ryan (yeats) for being the best support and best training partner anyone could ask for.


Stupidity and lack of confidence. I absolutely have to check my bike out 100% before a race- ON RACE DAY- because a mistake like this cost me a lot of time. And I've made stupid mistakes like this before, so I should know better!


This is one of my favorite races on the 70.3 circuit. The course is gorgeous and challenging, the volunteers and spectators were great and the RD's really did a great job with everything. It also had a better vibe than some other 70.3's that I've done- it felt more like a 'local' event, in a really good way- but still had plenty of tough competition and the other details that you'd expect from a WTC event. I highly recommend the race, especially when they move it to June when the temps should be above 50!!