Ironman Texas 70.3 Race Report

Prerace:  I slept well the night before the race but I was a little bummed about the horrible weather forecast.  On race morning, I was sooooo nervous!  The thought of swimming that far open water scared me, but John said that you couldn’t tell.

Swim:  A fellow member of my tri club insisted that we get at the front, so we marched right to the front of the line.  I was worried because it still seemed too dark outside to see and the waves looked huge.  I haven’t been more than ankle deep in salt water since I was a little child, so it was quite a shock to the system but I thought water temperature was great.  Usually I do take your advice and get to the front although I have no business being there.  After about 100 yards I feel winded and I get a little panicked.  So I got to the inside back close to the buoys, I decided to start like my warm-up and take it nice and slow.  It does take me a while to get warmed up and it wasn’t especially crowded.  After about 200-300 yards some of the girls around me started panicking and swimming to the paddleboards but I felt fine although the wind and waves kept blowing me around.  This is probably my best open water swim, I sighted good (although I had to stop at times to see the buoys), and I felt confident that I was going to finish the swim.  Mentally, this has probably been one of the toughest things I have done. I was 78^th out of 110 in my age group coming out of the swim.

T1:  I felt great coming out of the water.

Bike:  Well, I lost a water bottle with IM Perform in it right off the bat.  Once we finally got out to the main road the ride out was awesome, we had a tail wind.  I made sure that I got a bottle of IM Perform at the first aid station and I got another water at the second aid station.  I did take some nutrition with me so I only had to get a gel once.  I’m glad that I took stuff with me because the aid stations were short and I didn’t have time to get my water bottle situated and pick up nutrition.  So I learned to stock up even if you don’t need anything right at that moment.  I lost another water bottle around mile 20!  It started to rain around the turn-around but I didn’t feel panicked.  I was dreading the return because I thought I would have a horrible head wind, but it seemed like more of a side wind.  I actually felt stronger the further I went and I even passed some people in my age group.  I rode the fastest that I have ever ridden!  I averaged 18.26 miles and I usually average around 16.5 mph in races and 15 mph on long training rides.  I REALLY liked the flat course and I moved up to 70^th place.

T2:  I was so ready to run, but I got a little confused about where to exit the transition area, there were people running in all directions!

Run:  My feet hurt and they were numb for the first seven miles, but I got feeling back when I walked.  I was a little worried, because running is my thing and I wanted to have a great run, but I decided to trudge through and keep moving!  My plan was to run to each aid station, walk through the aid station and take in nutrition and/or hydration, it worked perfectly.  I didn’t like running 3 loops, I wasn’t sure who I was actually passing and there were a lot of turns.  My goal was to run it under 2 hours, which I thought was a respectable half-marathon time based on my previous races.  I did walk up the hills but I set a goal, like, “When you reach the next cone, you are going to run.”  I had no trouble starting to run again and I even felt like I had a little gas left in the tank to look good and strong when I finished!  I moved up to 43^rd!

Postrace:  I felt nauseous, disoriented, and yucky! I wanted a shower and a bed but I enjoyed visiting with everyone!  I definitely want to take more pictures at IMTX!   The ride home was horrible because the traffic was crazy.  We stopped and got pizza but I really didn’t have an appetite so I only ate 2 pieces.  We finally got home around 9:00 pm and I went to bed around 10:00 pm.  I decided to take Monday off.

 
Monday:  After I woke up and got a cup of coffee in me I was starving.  I ate breakfast, lounged around the house for a while then had lunch with my grandmother and cousin; my grandmother had to pick me up!  I was sore but I felt good once I got up and started to move.  By the time I took a shower that night, I was a little in awe of myself, I can’t believe that I did a IM 70.3 and I broke 6 hours, I’m still on cloud nine!  Lately, I have been in a training funk, I just didn’t want to train anymore; this race is exactly what I needed.  All my hard work paid off, I can’t imagine what IMTX will be like!