Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim was definitely choppy with some decent swells from a storm the night before. Ran in past the breakers and started swimming pretty close to the bouys b/c I don't mind the contact. There certainly was a lot of it today! I swallowed a lot of water but just kept sighting every 5th stroke and stayed pretty much on course. Once or twice I found myself outside so I got back in - eventually, I looked up and saw the last bouy before turnaround which I was relieved about. Turns out the other bouy past the one I thought was last was just in the bottom of a trough of waves so that was a pain. It took forever to get to the real last bouy. I was right up on the bouy line to come back in when my suit started feeling really tight and I got all panicky - floated on my back for a bit, adjusted my suit but I still couldn't get comfortable - my HR was sky high so I found a friendly kayaker and hung out for a minute or so on the nose and calmed myself down. Dunno what happened - I wasn't scared or anything - anyway, the return trip felt faster and I was purposely swimming long and slow to try and use myself as a rudder. I coughta few waves on teh way back which was nice. :)

Not get myself so worked up before the race. I was comfortable in the rough water but continually doubt my abilities before races. I can do it and I did.

Got to strippers and let em have a go at me. Worked fine. Got my stuff all together, only touched everything once. I forgot my little gear bag behind the seat so I stashed CO2 and stuff in my jersey pocket. Wound up peeing right in T1 without even thinking about it. Glad that doesn't happen normally :)

Here's where things start going awry. Clipped in, went to check that my computer was zeroed out. No computer. Quick mental check - I def. put it on my bike this morning so it was not in my bag. Unclipped, ran bike back into corral, ran back into T1 and got stopped right before I went back over timing mat. "I lost my" and the volunteer had my computer!!! Thank you, thank you!! Ran back to my bike put on computer, ran back to dismount line and now Im off for good. Started up quite nicely - after a few miles drank some gatorade and promptly threw it and most of the salt water from the swim up. Had a splitting headache and a bit of nausea. The nausea subsided but the headache was there till the 2nd loop of the run. I was doing a nice job - hit mile 10 right at 30 and change. 15 at about 46 mins. then the rollers started. I was dropping into my little chain ring for one of them and when I went back into the big ring it was grinding away. Went back into the little one and tried switching again only to have the entire drive train sieze up going up a hill. Unclipped and couldnt' figure it out right away. Finally saw the front derailleur was down too low and I tried to pull it up and out so I could use the big ring. It worked for a minute but then when I shifted into the little ring, it was not going back into the big ring. Stopped again, tried to fix it but couldn't. Sat sadly on the side of the road for a few minutes. That wasn't doing anythign so I decedied to ride in teh small chainring till I saw Mike at mile 37 - 20 miles away. My seat hadn't stayed put, it dropped about 1/4 inch so my back and legs were sore and I couldn't get much above 22 on the downhills and had nothing going into the hills. Just spin, spin, spin when I could and coast the rest. Saw Mike and really, really had to talk myself into continuing. I was avg. about 16 or so and just going nowhere for the amount of pedaling I felt like I was doing. Talked w/ him for at least 5 mins. and decided that was it. Im done. Then I cried. No reason to quit just b/c I was having a bad day. This was turning into a HTFU kinda race. I stopped whining and left on my bike. About 2 miles later we entered Hope Twp. I thought it was a sign and I got all excited and thought that this was just gonna be a race to show myself that I can think on the fly and do what I need to do when things don't go my way. Rest of the ride was slow but uneventful. I was certainly glad to be stuck in my small ring when the big hill came at 45. End of the ride is bumpy, potholey and has more RR trax than anywhere else in the world. Nutrution was spot on, hydrated enough and didn't feel bloaty like last year.

BIG BIG area. Got to my spot hoping to find my bag just as I had left it, wrapped up tightly to keep everything dry. Instead, find my bag opened with both socks in puddles and my sneaks soaked. Hmmm. Decide on no socks (I ride w/out socks) and hope for the best. Ask a volunteer for vasoline but she had none and advised me against going to medical b/c they may pull me from the race???Plus, I didn't see medical so off I went.

I was assessing my blister situation from the getgo. I was good to mile 2 then started feeling hotspots in my insteps. There was an aid station at 3.5 so I stopped and slathered on vaseline on my insteps which were alerady blistering. Ran most of the first loop minus the aid stations and hill. Saw Mike and Tracey around mile 5 which was a delightful surprise! At the turnaround, my feet were very sore. Did more of a walk less of a run b/c that was much easier on my feet. WOund up meeting a really nice girl around mile 8.5 and we chatted for most of the 2nd loop and walked lots. Mike and Tracey were at their spot and I decided to be a ham and did a leaping jump in the air while Tracey was taking my picture. Landed in a ditch by a manhole, rolled my right ankle, did 2 barrel rolls and popped up and kept going. Complete idiot move on my part (Im prone to those) but at least I wasn't injured. Just embarrassed. Walked w/ Shannon for most of the loop. She stopped for a portapotty break and I continued. Realized if I ran the last 1.5 miles or so I could break 7 hrs. so I ran. ouch.

Got my picture taken, found Mike, took off my shoes to assess the damage. Lotsa blisters - some bloody. Asked a medical guy for a few bandaids but wound up in a wheelchair being whisked to the tent. Again, embarrassing moment. Got em cleaned out and bandaided up and went w/ Mike to find some food.


mini lenders bagels and chips do not qualify as good post race food. Despite all the issues yesterday, Im 100% proud of myself for plugging along and not quitting. Just got back from our LBS to get the bike checked. My frame is cracked!!!!!!! The front derailleur wasn't put on properly which caused some wiggling and vibrations which (according to the bike tech) resulted in a small crack in my frame. They're putting a call in to the QR guy to see what they can do...