2015 IMTX 70.3 Race Report

Pre-Race

I felt unprepared for the race.  I had only had 1 open water swim and it did not go so well.  I had injured my knee and I hadn’t run for 2 weeks.  I have been working on my dissertation and I’ve just plain been busy. 

 

We decided to drive down to Galveston late Friday afternoon.  We slept late and had a great breakfast at the hotel.  It rained most of the day Saturday, but it finally stopped around 2:00 pm and I went to packet pick-up and bike-check in.  The lines were long and we had to hurry to get ready for our NET dinner.  The NET dinner was the best part of the trip.  We laughed at all the crazy things that had happened to us during training!  It was well worth the trip just to get so see all my NET family!

 

Race Day

I got up at 5:00 a.m. to eat my breakfast, but I was just not feeling it.  I texted Julie to make sure she was awake and she told me that the race was not wetsuit legal but it was wetsuit optional.  I decided not to wear my wetsuit because IMTX will most likely not be wetsuit legal.  Then we got dressed and headed down to the transition area.  It didn’t take me long to get everything set up, it seemed so simple and I was sure I was forgetting something.  The race started at 7:00 am but my wave didn’t swim until 8:08 am.  We hung around the NET tent and watched the Pro’s come in before heading to the swim start.  I found Kelly and we got in line then marched out on the pier.  While we were walking out on the pier the girl behind us was crying.  I don’t know if she was scared or just emotional.  But it kinda unnerved me because I felt so calm.  The swim conditions were horrible last year and there were huge swells.  I still can’t believe that I finished the swim last year, but this year the water was calm. 

 

Swim

We had to jump off a pier and swim out to the start.  The water seemed cold and I immediately put my head in and started blowing bubbles.  I forgot how yucky salt water tasted.  We finally got to start and I immediately got into a good rhythm.  I stayed with the pack for a while and I used them to sight.  Once we got more spread out I starting sighting and I kept a good pace.  I was calm and successfully sighted every buoy.  I only stopped to reorient at the first turn buoy.  The turn is not a 90 degree turn and for some reason it always throws me off so I stopped to make sure I was swimming in the right direction.  I just swam and before I knew it I could see the pyramids at Moody Gardens.  I couldn’t believe that the swim was almost over!  I felt calm and fresh coming out of the water.  My swim time was 49:06 and I was 59^th out of 94 in my age group.  This is a 3 minute PR from last year when the race was wetsuit legal.

 

T1

I was calm and everything just fell into place.  I kept it short and simple.  My T1 time was 3:45.

 

Bike

This year I’ve really improved on the bike and I was ready to see what I could do!  I had a great ride out with little or no wind.  I averaged 19 mph.  My nutrition and hydration was going well.  I had looked at the weather the night before and the forecast gave us a tail wind on the way back in.  On the way out I thought that I was going to have the perfect cycling conditions; a slight head wind on the way out and a tail wind on the way in.  Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.  There was little to no wind on the way out and then a head wind picked up for the ride back.  I was not a happy camper and I tried to stay in aero as much as possible.  I got behind on my hydration.  But I was passing people like crazy which only encouraged me to ride faster!  My new tri bike is small and fast.  My time was 3:08:36 and I averaged 17.82 mph.  I passed 25 people in T1 or on the bike.  I was 34^th in my age group.

 

T2

I was laser focused and everything went smoothly. My time was 2:03.

 

Run

Well, I knew the run would be interesting.  I was hoping that I could run the entire time, I just didn’t know if my heart could take a lot of walking.  For IMTX I have been practicing running at a slower pace.  When I’m running fast and I have to slow down I feel like I might as well just stop (I know it’s just a mental thing).  For me an 8:20 min/mile pace is just not feasible for IMTX, so I’ve slowed my long runs down to a 9:30-10:00 min/mile pace and even this will be ambitious for IMTX.  Now back to the race, my run started off great.  My knee was bothering me but it didn’t really hurt, it just felt tight.  We had been talking about putting ice down our sports bra and pants and I decided to give it a try the first time ice was available and it was a life saver!  My plan was to run to each aid station, walk through the aid station, and then run to the next aid station.  I felt pretty good until mile 8, then my knee started hurting when I had to run up the small hills.  So I decided to walk up the hills.  Around mile 10 my other knee started hurting and I started to catch cramps in my legs and feet.  I was able to fight the cramps off and finish the run in 2:11:14.  Although I didn’t have a good run I passed 8 people in my age group and finished 26^th.  My total time was 6:14:44.

 

Post Race

We met back up at the NET tent, visited, cheered on other athletes, and celebrated.  Later I went back over to the hotel and changed clothes.  Then we headed to my aunt’s house in Crystal Beach.  I was sore, tired, and hungry.  I also found that the salt from the swim chaffed me in unspeakable places, so next year I will use extra Body Glide.  I now remember this happening last year but I forgot.  I hope I read this race report before the race next year!  My aunt laughed at me because it was difficult for me to walk up and down all the stairs at the beach house and restaurant.  Overall, I had a great race and weekend with my family and friends!

 

Monday

OK, I will have to admit that I’m somewhat disappointed in my race because I know that I’m in better shape than I was last year but my time was not better.  However, I feel better today because I have to take into account the race conditions and my recent injury.  For me the race conditions were worse, no tail wind on the bike and a hot, humid run.  Last year I was 43^rd out of 104 in my age group and this year I was 26^th out of 95.  Now, maybe the big dogs (fast athletes) didn’t race because of IMTX, but you can only race who is there.  So I will chalk this up as a great race and big improvement!  Now I just have to concentrate on IMTX!

Lead-Up to Galveston 70.3

I’ve been distracted leaning up to this race (the race is this Sunday!).  Now that it’s only a few days away I’m feeling anxious and unprepared.  A couple of weeks ago I was in a boating accident and I hurt my knee.  I haven’t been able to run.  I’ve also been working on my dissertation.  I successfully defended my dissertation last week but I’ve been making the final edits.  So this race  kinda snuck up on me.  My knee is better but I haven’t run since April 12 and I’m concerned.  I know that I’m going to give it my all this weekend, I’m just plain ole competitive (even if it is with myself).  But I know that the end goal is Ironman on May 16.

The KNEE.  I’m heartbroken about this injury.  I just can’t believe it happened, it seems so unfair.  It appears like this year’s Ironman is going to be like last year; it’s going to be about overcoming obstacles.  But that’s the spirit of Ironman!

Overall, I’m excited about IM 70.3 Galveston.  NET has a huge group racing so it will be fun to get to hang out with fellow athletes and friends.  My wonderful husband and I are also making a long weekend out of it.  We are staying at Moody Gardens and at my Aunt’s beach house.  After months of grueling and time consuming training we are looking forward to this mini vacation!

Ironman Training Update: It’s about the Journey

So April is the hardest month of training, both mentally and physically.  The long workouts are challenging but then planning the time to complete them while trying to avoid this horrible spring weather has turned into a logistics nightmare.  Physically, I’ve been killing my workouts!!!  However, last Saturday I was in a boating accident.  I was thrown from the boat and on the way out I hit my arm and knee.  My shoulder and arm were a little sore but they are OK.  The knee is not doing so well.  It felt fine the morning after and I completed an 18 mile run but then it really started hurting during the next 2 days.  So no running for me. L

I’m a little worried about the knee, but the only thing I can do is ice and rest it and complete more bikes.  This weekend I will be racing the Galveston 70.3 tri.  This is the half ironman distance so I will be swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 and running 13.1.  This is also a recovery week, yes; only in Ironman training is racing half the distance considered an easy workout.  J

 This past weekend we were supposed to complete our longest bike (110 miles).  We planned to complete a group ride in Longview but the weather forecast was not good so me and 2 friends (also training for Ironman) decided to ride in Nacogdoches on Sunday.  Our coach mapped us out a route and we planned to ride the route then complete our first open water swim at 3:00 pm that afternoon.  Well, let’s just say the map/directions were a little off and we ended up down a dirt/gravel road that was closed due to recent flooding.  I think we rode at 5 mph for around 45 minutes and at one point we had to get off to get across the mud and water.  Every time we stopped to regroup and look at the map we were attacked my huge mosquitos.  I can’t believe our tri bikes made it through all that mud.  Sometime during our off road journey my friend made the comment, “Don’t they say it’s not about the race, it’s about the journey?”  Well, we definitely took an unexpected journey but we survived and had some good laughs!

We also got our cleats full of mud and it was difficult to unclip.  I did take a spill at a red light, but I only bruised my arm.  After returning to our coach’s house to get more food/water and wash the mud out of our cleats we rode for another 2 hours then met up at a local lake to swim.  The lake is spring fed and it had just rained a lot so the water was COLD.  It was a shock to the system but I’m glad I got an open water swim completed before Galveston 70.3. 

 

 

 

 

State if Training – My 2nd Month of Ironman Training

As we go into another recovery week my coach asked us to send her a “State of Training” email so I thought I would include my thoughts and feelings here too.

Swim:  I fell stronger than I did last year and my form is better.  Last year I lucked out and the swim at IMTX was wet suit legal.  Wearing a wetsuit makes me faster so I’m not sure if my swim time will be faster this year.  But overall, I’m more confident in the water.

Bike:  This was my weakest discipline last year so I’ve worked very hard on the bike of the last year.  Overall, I’m stronger and more powerful.  I also got a new bike and a great bike fit.  I’m more comfortable so I can ride longer faster.  My only concern is taking in enough fluids and nutrition.  When I work out I do not want to eat.  I’ve been trying different things and I’m starting to feel better about my nutrition. 

Run:  Traditionally, this has been my best discipline and when I only have to run it’s still my strongest.  However, running a marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles is another story altogether.  There are aid stations every mile on the run and we have to run a 3 loop course.  Last year I walked most of the 1^st lap, ran most of the 2^nd lap, and ran about half of the 3^rd lap.  This year, I must stay focused and try to run as much as I can to each aid station.

Overall:  Physically and mentally I’m stronger.  I’m more confident and better prepared.  But, at times I’m starting to get cranky.  I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining but training is so time consuming.  Sometimes, I really have to keep myself in check.  I try to focus on how I feel when I cross the finish line and Mike Reilly proclaims, “You are an Ironman!”

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Triathlon is an individual sport and this fact is magnified for me because I mostly train on my own.  Most of the time this is fine with me because I’m a very independent person and I rarely ask for assistance.  But this past weekend I was reminded how nice it could be to have a little help.

I complete all my long runs on the dirt roads by my house.  Although there is sometimes a little mud, it usually isn’t a problem.  But this spring it has rained a lot and the water was over the road in four places.  I was going to drive down and stash my rubber boots and extra water bottles.  As I was gathering all my equipment my wonderful husband volunteered to drive down, ferry me across the water and post up at different locations as an aid station.  Not only did this make my run easier, it made it more fun! J

 

 

Longview Half Marathon Race Report

This wasn’t a key race for me and I treated it like a training run for Ironman training.  I was tired from the trip to Plano and the hard week of workouts so I wasn’t expecting to set any records.  I also had to do an 80 mile bike ride and 25 minute brick run on Sunday, the day after the race.  Last year I went out really fast and it caught up with me on the second half of the course.  This year I kept a more consistent pace.  While this was by far not my fastest time I’m very pleased with my performance.  Overall, I’m just so much stronger.  I would have never thought that an 8:20 pace would feel so easy!  I ran this race last year and while the course was good it wasn’t great.  This year the course was better.  There weren’t a lot of turns and there were some nice rolling hills.  This race help raise funds for AMBUCS.  I highly recommend adding this race to your calendar for 2016!

Here’s some information about AMBUCS from the Longview Half Marathon website:

AMBUCS (American Business Clubs) is a national service organization composed of a diverse group of men and women dedicated to creating independence and opportunities for people with disabilities.  

This goal is achieved through various projects; three of the main projects of the Longview chapter are: 1) Scholarships for Therapists program which is the largest single private source of educational grants for therapists in the United States, 2) Wheel Chair Ramps; Longview AMBUCS built 22 ramps last year for disabled individuals who qualified, and 3) the biggest of all ; The AMTRYKE which is a unique therapeutic tricycle that can be hand and/or foot driven.  Therapists acknowledge its therapeutic benefits, citing improved motor skills and strength development.  

 AMBUCS chapters raise funds to provide AmTryke tricycles and handicapped access ramps free to individuals who qualify, plus provide scholarships to promising physical and occupational therapy students.  100% of the money raised by AMBUCS is returned to the community through these projects.   

Longview AMBUCS, is one of the most active local clubs in the country.  Last year alone Longview AMBUCS gave away $26,000 in scholarships to local students and gave away 146 AmTrykes in addition to the 22 handicapped access ramps built. 

 The first AmTryke was designed and built by the Longview AMBUCS in 1989, and Longview is nationally known as "the home of the AmTryke." 

For more information, go to www.longviewambucs.com

 

 

 

New Bike and First Ride

I went last fall to the TriShop in Plano, TX to get a proper bike fit.  Although the Javelin fit me better I had the feeling that I would be more comfortable and confident on a new bike.  The Javelin is 8-10 years old and bike technology had come along way.

I decided that with Ironman Texas fast approaching it was not or never!  So I took off work Friday and my grandparents and I headed to Plano at 6:30 a.m. in the pouring rain.  I had already been emailing the Tri Shop and they had my measurements from my last fit.  When we arrived Trent already had a Felt B14 set up for me.  I took my Cobb Fifty-Five JOF and my 650 wheelset.  I used my own wheels because I have a Powertap hub. 

I also got new bike shoes that are tri specific.  I could tell right off that this bike was going to be more comfortable.  Trent Nix, my bike fitter, had been to the wind tunnel with John Cobb the week before and he gave me some pointers.  Overall, I got 5 star service from the Tri Shop!

My First Ride

The weather has been terrible so I’ve only ridden outside twice this year.  A tri bike is more difficult to ride because the steering is touchy.  So I was a little nervous attempting an 80 mile ride outside on a new bike.  I chose to ride a 20 mile route 4 times. So I would ride out 10 miles and back 10 miles to get more nutrition and hydration.  The first 40 miles were pretty easy, the next 20 miles weren’t bad, but the last 20 were more difficult.  Overall, I had a great ride.  More importantly, my legs felt good on my brick run!

 

Pimped out with XLAB bottle cages!