Ironman World Championships 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was a great swim for me- PR by 3+ minutes, and exactly the pace I knew I was capable of. I started in an aggressive position, and since we were in a wave with the most amount of women, it got really rough out there. I was able to draft occasionally, but I spent more time getting beat up than usual. Those women are rough! There were a few waves at the turn around, but it was my easiest swim so far. I pushed my pace the last half and came out of the water winded, but feeling good with the effort.

Start more to the outside to avoid the blows.

Ran out of the water and straight to the strippers- I've had a hard time with my wetsuit all season. Even the wetsuit strippers had a hard time getting it off. Took almost 1 min to wrangle the darn thing off my feet. Time for a new one! The rest of T1 just takes a while- you have to run around the transition zone a bunch of times.

Get a new wetsuit.

Started off on the bike knowing I was in the middle of the pack of women from my wave start. I knew I had a good swim, so that just meant that there were a lot of fast girls in my age group this year. I started out riding hard, and looking for girls to catch up to. My legs felt a little weak, and I soon realized that my seat was too low. I didn't know it at the time, but it was almost 2 inches lower than it was supposed to be. I don't know when that happened- I pre-rode it and everything felt fine, but it was my fault so I am very frustrated. This mistake will always haunt me.

I worked really hard to pass some women and started moving up in the ranks. A few super fast riders from the men 45-49 blew by, and most of them were riding in draft-legal pace lines. They were so fast that it didn't even give me any advantage. Soon after that, the giant peletons started catching up. These groups would just soak you up like a sponge, since they were 20-30 riders large. I would sit up, ride defensively, and carefully work my way to the back of the pack. It took a lot of effort to NOT be in the pack, but there was no way I was going to cheat, so I made that effort. It is complete BS to say that it is impossible not to draft, you just have to WANT to not draft. Unfortunately, there were at least 5 girls in these groups that I had worked to pass that were now riding 26+ mph, and when they were solo, they were going 21. I tried sooo hard not to let it bother me, but I still have to publicly complain about it. After looking at the results, there were at least 5-6 girls in my AG ahead of me that most definitely cheated.

I kept plugging away, racing legal and adjusting my speed to stay away from the draft packs. Even starting at the back of the race, there were still 7 or 8 peletons of 10+ riders that went by. There were draft marshals, but they saw those peletons ride by from at least 3 different directions from their vantage point and did absolutely nothing. Unreal.

The rest of the ride wasn't memorable- I kept trying to keep my average speed above 23 mph, but the headwinds towards the end of the race picked up significantly and my legs just didn't have the power. I still had a good bike split, but I am disappointed that it wasn't faster, though it was all my own effort :)

The police on the course did an excellent job keeping cars away, but it is not an ideal racing course. Awesome job and thank you volunteers!

Check, re-check and triple re-check my seat height. Obviously, that wasn't the only thing, but it may have cost me about 3-4min. Really bummed.

Gave my bike to someone and ran to the changing tent again. Got my shoes on, visor on, and headed out.

I started off keeping my pace in check, not going too fast and just taking in fluids, assessing the damage from the bike. Things felt OK at first, and the first time up the bridge felt pretty good. I still thought I could PR the run course.

At the aid stations I took in water and put sponges on my head. I kept trying to pick up the pace and increased my exertion, and each time I did, my pace was actually slower. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was 88 degrees when I started the run. I really didn't want the temperature to be a factor for me, but it was. Training in Michigan during the fall is beautiful, I love fall colors to be sure, but unfortunately, it hasn't been above 80 since August :)

I was mentally checked out at this point- I knew I had no chance of placing in my AG, and my bike split wasn't what I wanted, so I had it in my head that I just didn't care. The thing was, though, I was still constantly passing everyone on the course- both men and women. I caught up to and passed almost 5 girls from my AG, and wasn't passed by a single woman out there. I also thought about how disappointed BT would be in me if I just gave up, so I worked as hard as possible to keep going. I put on my 'stonecold-jazz' face (thanks Matt!), sucked it up, and pushed through the heat, negative thoughts and pain. I didn't end up PR-ing the run course, but I got the 7th fastest run split in my AG, including faster than all of the bike cheaters, and managed to pass one other girl in my AG in the finisher's chute.

To be positive, I still overcame the heat and mental demons to run a faster half than 2 out of my other 3 half's this year and that is what I need to take out of this race. To get increasingly competitive, I need to continue to strengthen my mental-race, and not just my physical one, and this was my first race where my head wasn't where I needed it to be. I want to just blame the weather, the cheaters, and my seat-height, but then I wouldn't gain anything from my experience. Overall, it was a 'good' race, but I wanted it to be 'perfect'. I took off 18 min from last year, but I wanted to take off 25. Next year, though, watch out! I will break 4:40! (Just not in Clearwater)

Not race in Florida in November :)

I got my medal and soaked my towel in ice water. I then ate my weight in oreo cookies. Yum!

The rest of the post-race events included many celebratory beers, going to the awards ceremony, than the after party where we danced our legs off and I had my picture taken with the speedy winner, Terrenzo Bozzone. Awesome time!! Helloooo off-season!


Me.

I had an incredible year and improved tremendously due to my coach, Jorge. He had trained me to go faster and I know that I can, it will just have to wait till next year :) I didn't have a horrible meltdown or anything, I just didn't exceed my expectations.


I had an awesome time down in Florida- both hanging out with my parents and making new friends. However, I will not do this race again. I have now raced 2 years in a row, and nothing improved over last year. People come to this race to cheat and set a ridiculous PR. You can ride clean if you chose, but hardly anyone else does- they just don't want to. The race organization is top-notch, but unless the officials actually crack down, or people show up who don't want to cheat, then it is just not worth my money and my energy to try to be competitive at this race. It was worth doing the first time I went, but this year's race left a bad taste in my mouth.