So this November marks my 40th year around the
sun, and I wanted to do something different for the big 4-0. My birthday smashfest each year usually
involved some sort of swim, so I wanted to mix it up this time, and I finally decided
that it would be fun to do three back to back weekends of racing where the run
mileage would total 40! Waco 70.3 was
the perfect way to kick it off because it was also a half ironman that I had
not had the opportunity to race yet! My training was not as optimal as I would
have liked rolling into this race, but I was just so super stoked to have the
opportunity to get out there and race!
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| All checked in and ready to rock n roll! |
The fam and I headed up Saturday, picked up my packet,
racked the bike, and was ready to go.
Race morning alarm clock came early as always, and I am sure glad we started
moving straightaway, because transition would actually close at 645am instead
of 715am, in order for us to have enough time to get to the swim start. We would have to walk the 1.2 mi upstream to
the swim start, since the swim was a point to point, heading downstream in the
Brazos River. The morning was chilly,
mid 40’s, but would warm up, and turn out to be an absolutely gorgeous day! Was so grateful to have my sherpas there at
the swim start with me, so I could shed all of my warm gear at the last
possible moment. The water in the Brazos
was a nice chilly 640F, so even though I do not love wearing
wetsuits for a swim, I was most definitely sporting one for this swim! And I can’t say enough good things about my blueseventy that I wore! I
bought it last spring when I began my Keys training in the ocean before it had
warmed up yet. I usually hate wetsuits
because I feel so constricted when moving my arms, and I want to be able to
feel the water. The blueseventy allowed me to move my arms quite easily, and my stroke did not feel that much different
in it, which was awesome!!! Ok, so back to the swim start…since it was a
rolling swim start, I worked my way up to the under 30 min group, and off I
went! Oh man that first jump in the
river was COLD! I just started moving as
quickly as I could to keep myself as warm as possible. Going into this swim I was a little nervous
for a couple of reasons. First, I just
never know what to expect in cold water.
I’ve always had slow circulation, so blood is shunted from my
extremities rather quickly when I get cold.
Sometimes it takes a long time for that feeling to return. Like white hands and feet, no feeling, can’t
use them. When the blood finally returns
they look all kinds of crazy purple.
Second, about a month out from the race, I randomly started having
issues with my right shoulder. Even
though I’ve been a swimmer my whole life, I’ve never (knock on wood) had
shoulder problems. I don’t even know
what brought it on, it was like one day things felt out of place in there, and
it cracked all kinds of weird whenever I moved it. I figured part of my problem was that after
all of my big training last spring for my swim race in June, I just kind of let
my swim yardage drop off drastically post-swim race, and really hadn’t picked
it up. Once the shoulder started acting
up, I only swam a handful of times, and did band exercises rigorously. Both of those things ran through my mind as I
jumped in for the swim, and fortunately, neither one turned out to be a factor
for me on race day. Sighting the buoys
was super easy during this race since it was just a point to point, so I settled
into a good rhythm and kept the buoys on my right as I headed downstream. Most of the swim was uneventful, except when
the sun really started coming up it was a bit blinding, so just had to make
extra sure I was right on the buoy line and didn’t veer off course! Finally, I was rounding the last buoy and
headed for the swim exit! Hands felt
great, and only my feet were numb, so I counted that as a win! The feet continued to burn as I ran on the
cold ground towards T1, and holy smokes it was a little bit of a run! Almost a half mile! Finally made it into T1, hustled over to my bike,
but apparently that hustle was short lived seeing that it took me 11 minutes in
there! Not really sure what happened, I
know my transitions are not superfast, but man, that’s a donuts and coffee kind
of transition time! I guess with
shedding the wetsuit and adding some of the extra cold gear it took me a little
longer. I was glad I wore the arm
warmers and the extra gloves over the bike gloves, especially for the very
beginning of the bike leg when the air temp was still chilly and the aero suit
had not dried out yet. Couldn't wait to give this bike course a go!
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| Heading out of the swim! Love that wetsuit! |
Swim: 31: 57 T1: 11:20
The bike course was beautiful!!!! We did some gradual climbing out of Waco in
the first half, with some fast flats, as well as a tailwind. I felt great initially, kept my cadence high,
stayed on top of my nutrition, and enjoying the scenery around me! Going in I knew that the bike leg would more
likely be the weakest leg of the three disciplines this go round, because I
simply had not put in the training that I needed to this fall. Life happens and it just is what it is. I was going to get after it, and when my legs
became toast, then I’d cross that bridge when I got there. There were quite a few turns out there, and
turns are not my strong suit, so I definitely lost time whenever I went into
them. Some of the early sections I
settled into a solid rhythm and was hitting some nice numbers, but it wouldn’t
last. Early on in the ride I had noticed
my bike shoes were not as snug as they usually are, I guess I just didn’t
secure them all the way down in T1. I’d
say it was because I was in a hurry but that was clearly not the case with that
stellar *cough* transition time, so I have no idea why I didn’t secure
them. At mile 30 I made a quick
lightning fast stop to secure the shoes and top off my water bottle. Back on the road things were slowing, and I
was getting passed quite a bit. I tried
to mentally stay in the game, but I was fading.
I enjoyed the scenery all around me, and it always seemed to be
changing, so I looked forward to seeing what was around the next corner. There were some sections that were covered in
big trees, like you were riding through a forest, and those were the most
beautiful areas, and I wanted to stop and take pictures of it all! I had heard that although there was the
gradual climb out of town, we would come back the same way, utilizing the
downhill to our advantage, and come screaming back into transition. I was very much looking forward to this part,
although it never really happened quite that way. The back half of the course pretty much felt
like crosswinds/headwinds, and I was fighting for every mile. At about mile 40 my legs were already talking
to me pretty good, and I had to go to the bathroom, but had not mastered the
art of peeing on the bike yet. So at the
mile 45 aid station, I stopped to use the port-o-potty. This stop was not quite as fast as my last
stop (can’t believe I stopped twice!), and looking back I think it might have
squashed any momentum I might have had left.
Miles 45 to 56 was pretty much a death march, and most of the time I
wasn’t going much faster than 12 mph.
The last like 6 or so were straight into the headwind, which had gotten
stronger throughout the day, so I was fighting for every little bit of forward
progress. I had figured this might be
the way the bike would go with my minimal bike training, and for most of the
time that I was in the pain cave, I was able to laugh at myself, and told
myself to suck it up, and get it done. I
must have checked my watch like every minute the last few miles, I could not
wait to get off of the bike! Finally, we
were rolling into T2, and it was time for the run! Yasssssss I had never been so happy to be
done with the bike! But also motivated
to redeem myself on this bike course, because I know I am capable of a much
stronger bike split! A little jog into
T2, quick change into the run gear (“quick” being relative because the
transition was still super slow), and it was time to see what these legs still
had left!!!!
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| Will definitely be back for redemption on the bike! |
Bike T2
3:18:04 9:09
I loved this run!!!!
Don’t get me wrong, this run course was challenging as all get out, but
I just had so much fun out there!!! The
first few miles were fairly flat, I tried to find a good rhythm, and was
shooting for about a 10:30 per mile split.
I was clicking along until I came to the monster hill, that goes up and
up and winds around, and you pretty much aren’t sure if you are ever getting to
the top of this sucker. I continued to
run up this hill – it was a slow run, but a run nevertheless. When I reached the steepest part towards the
very tippy top, I power walked up it and up the next little hill and we were
back on even ground. We did a loop
around a trail and headed towards the next section, and then encountered some
more hills that we would climb. My legs
were on fire. I took my time through the
aid stations, and even though I was still taking my gels, I started eating
several oranges at each aid station as well.
What’s the old adage – what goes up must come down? Hahaha! After running up those hills we were now
screaming down them, and my quads were screaming at me! I heard a fellow competitor shout out to us
as he passed by “You all flatten that hill for us?” We all laughed at that, and continued down
the hill until we reached bottom. At
that point it flattens out again for a few, and up ahead we would be running up a short ramp to
get to the top of the bridge. There were
kiddos at this ramp giving us high fives, and I felt so strong running up that
hill and over the bridge, and on into the next section. The sidewalk section had some small rollers,
nothing too big, but enough to keep us on our toes. After mile 12 you either stayed straight to
the finish, or took a left to run up a hill, and cross over the bridge to start
your second loop. The bridge was so much
fun!!!! I was pumped to tackle the second loop, and even with knowing that the
monster hill loomed in front of me, the legs felt surprisingly strong, so I was
excited to see what I could do. The
first few miles of the flat section I breezed through, and soon it was back to
climbing the monster. My pace was slower
running up this hill the second time around, but I was still determined to run
it, no matter how slow my run became. As
I neared the top and the steepest section, I did another quick power walk up
and over, and then it was the trail section again. As we headed into the next hilly section, I
did a couple of quick power walks this time.
Then it was around the loop, and back down all of the hills. This time as I ran down the hills, I heard
another competitor yell to us as he was going up the monster hill “Galveston! That’s all I’m saying!” Again, everyone laughed, and then kept on
getting after it. Once reaching the
bottom of the hill I was so excited to have a flat section for a little bit, my
quads were tightening up pretty bad, I had gotten them under control the first
loop but they were back with a vengeance. The small hill up the ramp I was barely
jogging up this time, but I kept moving.
Once on the bridge, I tried to hammer out the section like I had on the
previously loop, but my legs just wouldn’t turn over. I reminded myself that I was nearly there,
only about 2 more miles to go, and I could suffer for 2 miles. As I went past mile 12 I was so excited that
I would be going straight this time around instead of heading left, and I could
hear the crowd from the finish line.
Suddenly, I heard a little voice call out “Mom! Mom!” I was ELATED that my crew had found me!!!!! They had been trying to be in the right place
all day on the run using the tracker, but had just been missing me. I stopped and gave my munchkin the biggest
hug, and was overcome with emotion. Gave
them both hugs and kisses, and then headed for the finish. I thought I would be heading up a ramp and
over the bridge that I could see in front of me, but first we had to run past
it to do the LONGEST out and back ever at the end of a race (not really but it sure felt like it - Ha!). This sucker was not very long at all, but
because you are so ready to make the climb to get to that bridge once you
round the corner, it kind of sucks the life out of you just a little bit to
keep running. You could tell by looking
at the faces of everyone heading to the turnaround as you are coming from it
that they are not thrilled to be doing this last little section that seems to
go on forever. Finally, I reached the
ramp that went up to the bridge, and I had the absolute worst quad cramps, and
did a bit of power walking/running, then hit the bridge and I could see the
finish line! I was careful running
across the bridge so that I didn’t trip over any of the boards sticking
out. Gave out lots of high fives as I
went across –it was so cool having a finish line right across the
bridge!!!! I crossed that line, and bday
smashfest weekend #1 was complete!!!! My
crew was waiting for me right after I crossed the line, and we celebrated the
amazing day!!!!
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| Getting after the run! |
Run: 2:23:51 Total
time: 6:34:21
Although this race was about 40 minutes off of my PR, I had
so much fun challenging myself on this course!
I will most definitely be back for some redemption, but overall I was
happy with the day that I had out there!
We had gorgeous weather, a beautiful course, and amazing
volunteers! I was thrilled to have the
opportunity to race, and I soaked it all in and thoroughly enjoyed the
day! And of course the day was made
extra special by my favorite people being there to cheer me on!!! Waco did not disappoint, and I loved loved
that it kicked off my bday triple!!!! More
to come from smashfest weekends #2 and #3!!!!!!
Can’t wait to see what epic adventures the next 40 bring!!!!!!!
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| Loved the bridge finish!!!! |
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| My crew!!! Love them!!! |
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