I was super stoked to race Galveston as I finally decided to
officially sign up in early January. I
was ready to chase that sub 6, and break it.
Also, as an added bonus, it was the only Texas half I had not done yet
(although now I’ll need to put Waco on the list), and it was next to the ocean,
so I was sold! I was so excited to get
going with training, and anxiously looking forward to race day. About a couple months in, a great thing
happened – my husband finally got a new job, and we would be moving in the
summer. Since we’ve been doing the
living apart, commuting thing for his previous job for the past 7.5 years, we
were overjoyed at this opportunity, and he was off to do some training. In the meantime, I ran point on the house
hunting, as well as job hunting for myself.
Of course saying we are grateful for this transition is a vast understatement,
we are beyond ecstatic; however, the process of preparing for this rapidly
approaching transition has been overwhelming at times, in terms of everything that
needs to be done.
So my mentality as I approached race weekend was lukewarm at
best, and to be honest, I almost didn’t even go. So many things on the list that needed to be
done, and the mom guilt was hitting me pretty hard. At the encouragement of my hubs and fam, I
made the trip. I was still pretty “meh”
at check in, a stark contrast in how I was last summer at Buffalo Springs. Whether it was check-in, the hotel, or race
morning, I couldn’t be more stoked, more ready to get after that course. Because I am a control freak perfectionist
that overanalyzes everything, my apathetic attitude really bothered me. As a matter of fact, there had not been a
half (or full) ironman yet where I hadn’t felt something, whether it was
confidence, nervousness, excitement, etc.
Apathetic just isn’t my jam – I’m the #allthefeels girl for crying out
loud. As I talked it out with hubs that
night, he told me to just enjoy the day, that I was there already, so I should
just go out and see what I can do. I
appreciated the pep talk, and I got another one that night from my coach as
well. Coach Dawn told me to disregard my
six hour goal that we had originally discussed back in January. My new goal instead for this race would be to
ask myself “why?” throughout the day.
More specifically, “why am I out here?” and “why do I want to be
here?” Well that’s simple, I’ve been an
athlete for almost three decades now, love to compete, yada, yada, yada. But she didn’t want the response right then,
she wanted it after the race, and she wanted me to really think about it, to
own it, the whole day. Okay. Game on.
The alarm clock sounds at 4 AM, and the day has begun. After I eat and gather my gear, I check out
of the hotel, and drive to transition.
My goal was to be there about 5 AM so I could get a good parking spot in
the lot right next to transition. I
arrived a little after 5, was done setting up my transition area a little
before 530, and was back in my car. So I
should also mention that a little front blew through the day before, so it was
50 degrees that morning, and was not supposed to get much warmer til much later
in the afternoon. So I stayed in my
heated car for about 45 minutes, which seemed to be the thing to do that morning
– just glancing around I could see quite a few athletes in their cars as well
trying to stay warm. I was still feeling
quite “meh” about the day, and just wanted it over with already. And was really not looking forward to the
chilly bike. After transition closed at
645, I still stayed in the area, stretching, and getting ready to drop off my
morning clothes bag. My wave was not
until 744, and while it was a little bit of a walk over to the swim start, I
had plenty of time. Finally, at 730, I
shed the warm sweatshirt, beanie, and tennis shoes, and put them all in my
morning clothes bag. I dropped it off,
and headed to the swim start.
Momentarily I wished I had a sleeved wetsuit for that walk, but once I
started the swim later, I was happy with my sleeveless (well as happy as I
could be, I really don’t like swimming in any wetsuit, lol). As I headed into a sea of pink caps (my
wave), another pink cap was right behind me, and we both commented to each
other how chilly it was. I then found
out that it was her very first half ironman, and told her how excited I was for
her, and to enjoy the day! The other
girls around us had chimed in, and soon everyone was sharing their stories of a
first time, or a tenth time. It was
magical. And as we headed down the pier
there were cheers, whoops, and hollers.
We jumped off the pier, and lined up by the buoy until it was our turn
to go. As we treaded water the cheers
continued, with “let’s go ladies!”, “we got this ladies!”, and “have a great
day out there ladies!” Why do I want to be here? So much this.
So many powerful stories right there all treading water, all sharing
this magical moment before the day.
Stories within a story. I love
that sport really is a microcosm of life.
And we are off. I had
lined up right up front, right next to the buoy. Super smooth start, not really much
thrashing, kicking, people crawling over people, etc. I settled into a rhythm and got to work. Was just looking to hold onto a solid pace
that would set me up for the rest of the day.
I caught the blue cap ladies in front of our wave, then was closing the
gap on the men’s heats that were before that.
I stayed on the buoy line, and most of the time as I rounded the buoys,
I actually would graze it with my left hand, I was that close. At one point one of the guys swam right over
me, and he actually stopped and apologized but I said no worries, and we kept
rolling. It’s all part of the swim, and
at some point we are either getting climbed over, or we are climbing over
someone. Other than that one incident,
this swim was probably the least amount of contact in any of my ironman
events. There just always seemed to be
openings as I was passing, and I really stayed right on the buoy line, where
there seemed to be the least amount of traffic.
Why am I out here? Because I LOVE to swim! And even better, I LOVE to swim in the
ocean!!!!! Well, we were technically in the protected bayou, but it was still
the Gulf. And I LOVE that this sport was
really the gateway into triathlon. Maybe
it would have happened regardless, but when the collegiate teammate who swam circles
around you and an all-around bad ass asks you to join her for a triathlon, you
say YES! And then try to figure out how
you are going to learn to ride a bike afterwards. Eh, minor details. LOL! The video of my 21 year old self trying to
learn how to ride a bike for the first time and falling all over the place
while doing it is absolutely hilarious! I had just a few weeks to figure it
out, and I did, but man that first ride in my first triathlon was one I’ll
always remember. And now, I love the
bike just as much as I love the swim!
Who would have ever thought?! Not me, that’s for sure! My strokes stayed long and smooth as I kept
heading towards shore, was shooting for about 30ish, and felt like I was fairly
on pace. Soon I was standing up in the
sand, and heading towards transition.
First I made a quick stopped to have help with my wetsuit, and then I
was off and running into T1. My fingers
were already a little cold after we exited the warm water, and it took me a bit
to put all my gear on for the bike, but soon I was running for the bike out –
on to the next leg!
Swim: 30:41
T1: 6:10
So I knew the bike was going to be cold. Probably would have been smart to pack a
jacket, but alas, that did not happen (a good lesson in being extra prepared,
which I usually am good at, but definitely dropped the ball this time). Time to suck it up and get it done. I was super stoked to be wearing my SFQ aero
kit for this race – I have only worn two piece tri kits and this was my first
one piece, and it was the most comfortable thing that I have ever raced
in! As we headed out on the bikes it was
pretty crowded, and there were quite a few turns as we headed out to the main
road. Once we got there, I got in aero
and hit it. I made some passes, people
passed me, and we all were flying on the way out! Which was awesome to have the tailwind, but
knew it would be short-lived once we made the turn around. I kept thinking about the warmest places
possible, like IMTX2013, running in the heat of the TX summer, and the
like. And I did feel occasional warm
pockets, not sure if it was real or in my mind, but it was wonderful! I stayed on top of my nutrition, taking my
Infinit, GU chews, and gels. I watched
my heart rate, and with the tailwind it would take some dips, so when that
happened I would click it into a harder gear and push to get the heart rate
back up to zone 2/low zone 3. Mainly I
just tried to stay relaxed, kept my heart rate on target, and my cadence
high. Why do I want to be here? To
challenge myself, to always be able to dig deep when things get hard. And through sport this translates to
life. I love this lesson the most, that
we have more in the tank than we think we do, not just at the end of a long
grueling race, but in that hard, grueling season of life. We are as relentlessly determined to cross
that finish line as we are to rise each time we stumble on the way up to the
summits of our lives. I may not have
been in my usual mindset for race day this time around, but I never
underestimate or take for granted the lessons that this sport (and swimming)
have taught me over the decades. And as
we crossed the bridge heading for the island and the turn around, I sat up, and
smiled and laughed because we were heading right over the ocean! Again, I LOVE the ocean!!!! As we headed onto the island, we also
received some spitting rain to add to the chilly temps and wind. Soon I hit the turnaround, and here came the
wind. I tucked in, head down, clicked to
an easier gear, and kept the cadence up.
By the back half of the ride my fingers were so cold that I could no
longer grab my nutrition in my pockets, and struggled with the Infinit bottle
in my front cage. Luckily, I had a
couple of gels in my bento box left from my training rides, so I was able to
stay relatively on track nutrition wise, which I was very happy about. Even in the winds, I was making great time, and
was so excited that I was heading for a bike PR! The turns back in to transition slowed me
down some (need to work on getting better at those), but I had put enough time
in the bank, so it was just a matter of whether I would get under 3 or not…
Bike: 2:59:52
Heck yessss by 8 seconds!!!!!!
T2: 6:08
Another fairly slow transition, although it had the
potential to be three times that (at least) or more. God Bless this amazing volunteer who was
standing right there as I racked my bike, and as I struggled getting my helmet
unclipped, she asked if she could be of some assistance. I gratefully told her yes, and also joked
that I would probably need help with my shoes too (although totally serious
too, seeing that I had no feeling in my fingers and it would take a bit for the
blood to return and for me to be able to do anything with them). She graciously took off my bike shoes and
socks, then put on my run socks, run shoes, and laced them up. I thanked her repeatedly, I was so grateful
she had been right there as I had come in.
Now it was time for the run! I
really had to pee though! Must find porta potty stat! And I took this as a good sign that I nailed
my nutrition, and was properly hydrated.
Made the quick porta potty stop and headed out on my first loop of the
three loop course. On this first loop, I
also quickly noticed that my lower back was super tight and seizing up on me
some, so I stopped a couple of times to sit and stretch it out, and it seemed
to work itself out. Since I lost some
time on this first loop, I knew I would need to make up time on the next two
loops if I wanted to finish strong. My
goal for the run for this race was 2:10, so it was going to be close! I alternated water and Gatorade, stayed on
top of my gels, and took a banana at almost every station. Why do
I want to be here? Because I
can. Because I have been blessed with
this amazing opportunity. Because there
was a time not too long ago where all I wanted to do was run when I could
not. And maybe I run the shit out of
this thing, or maybe it lasts longer than I could ever imagine, but either way,
I can’t let the fear of “what if” stop me from being right here, right now, in
this moment. So I run hard, and I am
grateful when the wheels start to come off, right around 11.5, where I thought
they probably would. A bout of
tendonitis in my right foot in Feb coupled with the rolling of my left ankle a
week and a half out of this race (I am such a klutz, yes, I tripped over my own
feet), my run training had been sub-par and definitely not where I wanted it to
be. So it was a mile and a half of
putting one foot in front of the other, and gutting it out. I knew I could break 6, but I had to keep
moving forward. And I kept saying to
myself, “just keep moving, just keep moving”, over and over again. And all of the cheers helped so much! This was the most energized HIM run course I
had ever run in! The energy was so
contagious! I felt like even though I
was deep in the pain cave, the last couple of miles flew by! Soon I was rounding that last corner and
heading for the finish chute! I would
break 6 after all, and I was elated and (as per usual) overcome with emotion.
Run: 2:13:05
Overall: 5:55:54
There was quite a bit of reflection out there for me at
Galveston 70.3, and it was an amazing day, crazy weather and all! Why do
I want to be here? To compete. To embrace the obstacles of each and every
race like I would the obstacles in my own life.
To lean into the adversity of a grueling day to grow as an athlete like
I would lean into the adversity of a grueling season of life. To celebrate all the people that have played
a role in my journey, who continue to inspire me along the way. I compete for them, and hope I make them
proud. I have learned so much from three
decades of sport, and I look forward to all I still have yet to learn. Some “whys” might change from season to
season, as far as PRs I’m chasing, but the big “whys” at the core will remain
the same. I’ve known them for quite some
time, we are old friends, but it’s always great to spend some time with them
again.
What are your “whys”?
