Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

They never have enough buoys! I did my best to see where I was going. I feel like I swam fairly straight. I was so fearful of the sea nettles but I never encountered any, thank goodness.

Maybe find the perfect swimmer to draft off of--someone that is just a little faster than me and swims straight.

Had a little trouble getting the wetsuit off. What else is new?

Nothing

I was surprised at the amount of road kill I saw on this course: a fox, a huge snake, a raccoon and 2 other animals I couldn't identify.

I keep so busy during this race between trying to hydrate, calculating when the next bottle exchange was, taking my 3 Endurolytes every hour, and trying to eat. Eating was a bit difficult this race. For some reason, I wasn't hungry but I knew I had a certain amount of calories I had to consume or I'd be paying for it later.

I consumed a pack of Clif Bloks, one Power Bar, and then a half of a yellow Gatorade from the course. I also had the 2 watered down blue Gatorades that I brought with me. I always save one of them for the end section because I know I'll be thirsty and I like that flavor even if it is warm. I grabbed a bottle of water at each bottle exchange and drank lots.

At least four women in my age group passed me on the bike and a lot from the 50-54 age group. I noticed that they seemed to be spinning faster than me so I lowered my gearing and tried to spin more. Who knows if it helped. I came close to my fastest bike ride ever in this race.

A woman passed me that looked familiar and quite strong. I asked her her name and she said Patty. I said Patty What? She said Patty Rosen. I realized that she beat me in IM Louisville and that's why she looked familiar. Actually, she was 1st overall in my AG in Louisville. More to come about her later.

I think my bike training is lacking. Seriously, how often do I bike 56 miles in the aero position? Basically, once a year when I'm at Eagleman. But I'm happy enough with my pace. Faster would be nicer, though.

After dismounting, I started to run with my bike but it was so hard with those cleats and I had a long way to go. I decided to take my shoes off right there and then run through the dirt and grass, all the while thinking 'how dirty am I getting my socks right now?'

Aquaphor my feet to prevent blisters like I do for the full ironman distance races. This would've saved a lot of time on the run and a lot of pain and suffering over the next several days.

I passed one woman in my age group in the transition area. I thought--one down. Then it was off to the run course. I had that little voice in my head pretty quickly saying 'you want to walk, you are soooo tired.' I tried to ignore it, but after about a mile, I walked a few steps. Then a 64-year-old woman passed me and that was the end of the walking. I must've passed her at least 4 times. I know I took at least 3 short walking breaks and she'd pass me every time. Finally, I asked her what pace she was going. She said 9:30, which counted walking through the aid station. I thought that I could deal with that and decided to run with her. But that didn't last very long. I felt she was going too slow. By about mile 2, I felt a cut or something on my toe. I stopped and borrowed someone's chair and took off my sock. Thank goodness that I carry Aquaphor with me. My sock already had blood on it. I coated my one toe and then continued on. Of course, I had to pass the 62 year old again. By mile 3, another toe was getting a hot spot. Why didn't I coat all of the toes while I had my sock off? So I stopped again. I promised myself that once I fixed that toe, I wouldn't have to do any more walking. I kept my promise and didn't walk again. The little voice left for good.

I started to pass people in my age group. By mile 10, I saw Patricia Rosen. I couldn't believe it. I thought I would sneak up behind her and then stay there for awhile. But as luck would have it, she stopped at the aid station and was busy putting ice in her hat and didn't seem to be paying attention. So I snuck around her. I'd like to say I never looked back, but I did. I kept looking for that pink hat. By that point, I thought I might have moved into the Kona position. I thought I was in second place (Chrissy Fuentes already had her slot and was ahead of me). Frankly, that is the only thing that got me through the last 3 miles. I was chanting "Kona" in my head over and over and trying to ignore the cramps that kept trying to debilitate me. They got so bad that I just had to try to keep jogging. I knew if I walked at that point, I might just seize up. I had visions of collapsing running down the home stretch. I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind. I kept saying to myself that this could be it; I could be going to Kona.

I finally made it across the line and the cramps got pretty bad when I stopped. But all I wanted to do was find my results. I saw George and he helped me walk, if you can call it walking. I insisted we go look for the results. When I found them on the side of that truck, I was dismayed to see I was third. I needed to be second. Was I secretly glad that I don't have to spend a small fortune and train like a maniac for the rest of the summer and fall? I tried my best. I'm not disappointed.

I took 2 GUs during the run.

I haven't a clue how to manage this run without cramping. I have cramped every year for four years.

Update: That 64-year-old woman finished about 30 seconds behind me and won the age group. I saw her later on and asked if she was taking the Kona slot. She hadn't even considered it. Crazy, huh!

We hung around for the awards. They were a bit slow moving things along. When I got to the podium for my 3rd place award, I asked Joni Haffner if she was taking the Kona slot. She nodded her head. Then came the hard part--shaking her hand and congratulating her when I really felt like saying "damn it."


Cramps, cramps and more cramps.


I think they do a great job at Eagleman.