Ironman World Championships 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The past 3 months, I have spent hardly any time in the pool. They didn't turn the heat up at the pool until last week, and I can't stand being cold, so I would just never go. Silly excuse, but since I hate swimming, any excuse is good enough. The farthest I went in this training cycle was 2400 yards, and I only did that once. I fully expected to have a 40 minute swim. Once I got out of the washing machine, though, my stroke fell into place, and my body just took over. My navigation was perfect, I continously pushed my pace and caught up to other girls, and I never felt sore or tired for the whole swim. Once I got out of the water and saw my time, I was thrilled! I swam only 1 minute slower than at Steelhead, and I had put in a lot of swim effort for that race. Sweet!

I guess if I had trained more, I could've gone even faster, but I lost almost no time on the swim, despite putting in the least amount of effort possible.

My wetsuit was soooo stuck. I could not get the velcro unhooked in the back. Such a slow T1!! Ick.

EVERYTHING!

This is my fastest bike average ever! I tried really hard not to get super competitive out there because people were absolutely flying! I know I'm not a strong biker and I didn't want to push too hard and have a crappy run, so I stayed at a comfortable pace. I ate two packets of shot blocks and drank 1.5 water bottles of my gatorade/hammer nutrition, and it felt just right.

The course was super flat. We had a nice tailwind for a really long time, then a bite of a crosswind, then a harsh headwind for the last 13 miles. There were a ton of ridiculously fast people out there, and although the course is notorious for drafting, I really didn't see a whole lot of it. There were two packs of about 7 riders that rode up on me, and both times there were draft marshals there yelling at them. I saw a few guys get penalties right after they passed me, and they deserved them. I didn't draft at all, and spent a lot of the course on my own. I thought I passed more girls than I got passed by, but I couldn't find too many girls in my AG to catch. The one thing I realized on this course is that a flat course doesn't play to my advantages. I need a super hilly course if I'm going to place in my AG ever again, because any time there was a slight hill, I could catch the people that were kicking my butt on the flats.

Overall, I had an awesome time out there and was extremely happy to be at the race. The volunteers and cops did an absolutely phenomenal job controlling traffic and supporting the race, despite it being a very car heavy course. When I got back to transition, I felt ready to run fast. My legs felt great, my stomach was cooperating and the race was almost done!

Get some super sweet race wheels! I felt like I was the only one out there with regular wheels and on this course I think it could've boosted my average a lot! Christmas present, perhaps?!

I swear I spent 2 minutes peeing. At least I was well hydrated!

Be able to pee on my bike.

My legs felt great coming off the bike, and I knew that I had an outside chance of getting my goal of 5 hours, if I had a perfect run. My fastest half-mary is a 1:33, and I knew I'd have to get as close to that as possible. My first mile was ridiculously fast, but felt effortless because everyone else around me was flying. I slowed down after that, but held a steady pace for almost the whole run. Around mile 10, I felt like I was fading, and started doing 8m/m. As soon as I hit mile 12, I saw that I had to run the last 1.1 mile in 7 minutes in order to hit 5. My body really, really wanted to walk, but I decided to go for it and took off sprinting. It was so difficult to get through that last mile without stopping, but once I hit the finish line and saw I had made it, all the pain was worth it.

My nutrition was right on and I drank water at every aid station. It got a bit hot out there, but they had freezing cold sponges at all the aid stations and those were a godsend. The bridge was pretty brutal, but without it, the course would've just been too easy!

Overall, I am thrilled with this run. I pushed just hard enough on the bike and was able to run a pace that was even faster than what my training has been, so that feels awesome!!

Nothing!

I found my mom and we went and got some food. They had a ton of good stuff there- the ironman people sure know how to take care of their athletes!!


Well, I guess I could train more, but right now I'm doing about as much as my schedule can allow. I know I can get even faster in the future, but I am very happy with what I've achieved in the 15 months since I've started this sport!


The race was put on perfectly. There were so many people there from all over the world, and so many world class athletes- it was unreal. The volunteers knew everything you asked them, and if they didn't have an answer, they wouldn't stop hunting someone down until your question was answered. They personally escorted you and your bike to the rack, and after giving them your bags, they made sure you knew exactly how the race was going to look. It was incredible! The course is super fast, and so I guess drafting is inevietable, but from my perspective, it seemed like if you didn't want to draft, you could find a way out of it, most of the time. The course marshals were doing all they could, and I saw people in the penalty tent and people getting penalties. I hope they keep the excitement of a championship race for the 70.3 distance alive and this event continues to live up to expectations. What a great weekend!