Finally at the dock, I was so excited and high fived all of the volunteers before jumping in. Water was cold and refreshing! Wetsuit felt great! Goggles didn't fog up! With swimming 100% downstream with a current, I knew I was going to fly. And I did. I immediately stopped kicking so I could try to pee - I basically just pee'd the entire swim on and off haha!

Passed a bunch of people just floating on their backs doing double breast stroke, people talking to each other, etc. Had two logs hit me in the face but congratulated myself for not freaking out. Peed some more and some more and some more. Couldn't quite empty my bladder but it was enough to feel a little better. The swim went so fast. Before I knew it, I had swum under the three bridges and could see the exit already! Stumbled a bit on the stairs but had a volunteer pull me out successfully. Glanced at my watch and was shocked to see 21:xx. Crazy!

Nothing - this was a shortened and fast, current-assisted swim. I actually worked to swim and didn't lolly gag, so was pleased with my effort.

Wetsuit strippers were on point and got me out super quick. And right at the swim exit were Atlanta Tri Club people - yay! The steep ramps out of the river had me walking, but after that, I ran the entire way. I ran for 4 minutes straight (.4 miles) to get to my bike, and realized I was about to pee my pants I still had to pee so bad! I looked around and just said oh forget it and let some out right there (shrug!). Never done that before! Put on socks, shoes, helmet and sunglasses before walking my bike to the Bike Out arch. Let the sunscreen people put a thick coat of sunscreen on my arms before heading out (this was application #3 for the day).

Nothing! This was a great time for me considering the .4-mile run.

Ever since my bike fit, where my seat height was raised multiple inches, I've had a ton of anxiety about getting on and off the bike, feeling so high up. I walked my bike well past the mount line to get out of everyone's way, and took my time getting on. Once on the bike, I relaxed, knowing I wouldn't have to unclip until I was back in transition. Still had to pee! Very hydrated I guess.

The first 10 miles out of town is fairly flat, minus some railroad tracks (people lost SO MUCH crap off their bikes!). Passed the Dollar General and was excited to be on some familiar roads having ridden the full version of this course multiple times. The half version makes one different turn at mile 25, and goes straight up a hill that the Facebook groups couldn't stop talking about. So I was keeping my eye on my mileage so I could down shift before the turn.

Made the turn onto Andrews and immediately saw people off the bike and walking. I could see the top of the hill so knew it couldn't be that bad. Just put my head down and kept going. Heard some of the people who were walking justifying over and over why they didn't want to kill themselves here and it was ok to walk. It IS ok to walk, but I also feel like it's not that difficult to look at a bike course elevation and realize that you need to train on hills. EH? This was not a long hill at all. Maybe a minute of climbing. Then you got to BOMB down the other side - so much fun!

After this, we turned back north and I knew we'd have a tail wind the rest of the way - SO NICE. I mean, it was a light breeze by my standards, maybe 10-12 mph, but still, a great aid on the back half. On one of the long downhills, I had to pee so bad (and did NOT want to stop to clip out) so I just stood up and peed myself. I don't love doing that, but I really didn't want to stop - my moving average was looking SO GOOD and I felt SO GOOD. I ended up doing this twice.

There were only 3 aid stations on the whole bike course, which didn't seem like quite enough. I had two ladies ask me where the next aid stations were because they were so far apart. Rode through Chickamauga and I kind of felt like I had missed the spectator party - not many people left, but still fun. Right after that, I was doing a normal gear change and my chain dropped. Don't panic. Got off the bike and was able to quickly get it back on. Whew. No twisted or broken chains today. The stop did drop my average mph under 16, but no worries.

Making the turn for the last 10 miles into town I was so freaking happy. I said for probably the 3rd time, out loud, OMG I LOVE TO RIDE! I was just having so much fun. I was able to get my average back above 16 mph and was so excited riding into transition. I had THE BEST RIDE!

Nutrition: 3 servings Infinite Nutrition (750 calories) and four licks of Base Salt.

Nothing - I rode really well for my abilities. Dropping my chain doesn't phase me anymore, and luckily it was in a safe spot to pull over and fix it quickly. I enjoyed this ride maybe more than any other race I've done. So great.

After unclipping, I immediately took off my bike shoes. I had a touch of hot foot after mile 40, but when my feet hit the ground I had some INTENSE pain. Pretty bad. So I just walked it in to my rack trying to get the blood moving.

At my rack it was easy to put on my running shoes and grab my hat, race belt and water bottle. Jogged to the porta potty inside transition and FINALLY emptied my bladder. FINALLY. First time it had been empty since 6 a.m. Let the sunscreen people put application #4 on my arms, shoulder/back, ears and neck.

Nothing - had to empty my bladder and walk through the hot foot.

Started the run feeling pretty peppy - good sign! I was NOT going to walk the entire run like I did at the full in September. Passed the Atlanta Tri Club cheer squad at the hot corner and got to work with my 4:1 interval. Walked up some of the first hills, but then was determined to stay on my interval. Which was hard, with the temps climbing near 90 degrees.

The exposed sections running on highway were brutal in the sun, but I kept telling myself to take it 4 minutes at a time. Decided to take a lick of Base Salt every 2 miles, and I really think that contributed to me running as much as I did. Miles 2, 4, 6 clicked by. I was taking full cups of Gatorade at every aid station, drinking TONS of water, and really pleased with my ability to keep running. Passed the hot corner and got tri club love again, it was so great they were out there!

2nd loop I knew I'd be slowing down and that was OK. Took some Coke and half a gel somewhere. But around mile 9 I started to lose all my energy. Walking quite a bit more, but still running here and there. Started putting ice in my bra. Took another gel around mile 10 or 11. More walking, but still in good spirits. The last couple of miles were pretty tough on me.

Finally got over the long bridge and started jogging here and there knowing I was close to the finish. Ran past the hot corner one last time and tri club people were STILL out there cheering their hearts out. I thanked all of them for being out there and turned towards the finish. To my surprise, there were lots of people in the chute. I high fived a lot of them! Hit the red carpet and took it in. I'll never get tired of running down that red carpet.

Obviously, run more. Train in more heat. Lose a few pounds. That kind of thing. But knowing I'm really not built to be a runner, I'm always proud of myself for gutting out runs and keeping my spirits up.

Not surprised I was emotional after crossing the finish line and was crying. Mostly grateful tears for being able to do this. I sat down in the shade and let myself cry a little, then pulled it together when my buddy Dane came to say hi and see how I was doing. Then I went to get my morning clothes bag (that I had my phone and car keys in - kind of a dumb risk to take if it had gotten lost!) and went to the food tent. There, my buddy Andrew sat with me and chatted for a long time. Started to feel better after eating the meat out of a BBQ pork sandwich and drinking a can of Coke. Chatted with another super nice guy (who had Type 1 Diabetes and was showing me his battery powered cooler where he carried his insulin!) before getting my bike and everything packed up.

Packing up solo is the worst part of racing alone. It took me awhile to bag up all my crap and figure out how to get it all rolling without dropping anything. Luckily, my parking spot was only a few blocks away so I didn't have to balance things for too long. Changed in the car and thankfully had a pack of wipes so was able to get some of the clumps of sunscreen and salt off of me before heading home. Very tired. So very tired.

Headed out of town and planned to stop for a snack because I was pretty hungry and had to pee again and wanted to take a nap. But decided to call my mom and thank goodness - we talked for literally an hour and 10 minutes and she kept me awake. Got home around 7:30 p.m., took a epsom salt bath and ate most of a pizza I had been saving. WHEW.


It's all on the run where I slow down.


Chattanooga 70.3 is such a lovely race. Downstream swim (upstream portion was cancelled this year), GORGEOUS bike course and an exposed/hot run. The community loves Ironman races and it's a great host city. 100% recommend!