Sunday, August 4, 2013

Racine 70.3 Recap!

I wouldn’t say I had an ideal lead up into Racine, but part of that may be inflated in my head as I think I was slightly overdramatic (ok, maybe a lot overdramatic) after more than one failed workouts during a kind of rough block of training. I at numerous times needed to be convinced that I hadn’t just somehow lost all of the fitness from this year and wasn’t just slow now. But, that’s how it felt. I was in a hole and thankfully, I got out in time for Racine. In my state of panic, I think I did what I should do ALWAYS and really focused on diet, rest and recovery. Stretching, foam rolling, ice baths. All that good stuff.

So, the race came and I was excited to see what I could do! The weather looked like it would turn and end up being a PERFECT day for the race… instead of the crazy hot temperatures Racine normally sees. I was excited and looking forward to pushing myself and hopefully putting the whole thing together finally.
Bike racked! Almost as far from bike out as possible. #notwinning
In typical fashion the worse my bike spot, the better the race goes? Unfortunate... but kind of true. 


SWIM:

bike racked!
The swim was ROUGH. And I lined up in the MIDDLE?? What was I thinking? Everyone just kind of got corralled in and somehow I was standing smack dab in the middle of everyone. As I tend to like to avoid people when I swim (I am in no way looking forward to the start of the ironman…), this seemed like a poor choice. But, with only like one panic breastroke… I made it to the first turn buoy and was in a clump. I didn’t have a great line because I kept swimming around people, but managed to stay with the group and come out of the water with maybe 5 girls. 2 minutes  slower than last year… but a slow swim for everyone.

BIKE:
semi decent biking photo! 
I’m a little disappointed in this. I felt like I couldn’t really hold my power were I wanted and it was a little bit all over the place so I didn’t really settle in. The first half was full of passing the age group’s that started earlier so the course was a little bit of a cluster. I had one girl around me towards the beginning that I went back and forth with a little and then I totally lost her pretty early… like mile 15. A girl from my AG flew past me around the half-way point which was  little discouraging because she was in my sights for like 2 seconds and I clearly wasn’t keeping up with her at all. I kept positive and had to be confident that I could put together a solid run at the end and hope I could catch back up. But, alas I plugged on and made my way to the finish. I passed a few girls towards the end that I look up to a lot in racing, so felt like maybe the bike was going okay even if it was slower than last year and a little off target. This was about 2 minutes slower also, due mostly to the wind I think. Power was higher than last year so an improvement anyways. This still needs a little work so I can hang with the top girls there.

RUN:
finish = pain face
Since I finally felt like I had my energy back this week and felt pretty good coming off the bike. I was SO PUMPED for the run. And, I love the cheering sections at Racine especially just out of transition. Though, I tried to focus on not going crazy the first mile, especially with the hills. Mission was to settle in right around 7 minute pace and hopefully just under. I was in a little bit of chase mode. I wanted to catch the two girls I knew were ahead of me and anyone else I could. That required some patience and trusted that it would come if I ran the best I could. I caught Maggie around the turn around and tried to pass decisively, but also keep it together (paranoia from getting re-passed at mile 12 last year when I faded fast)… and caught back up to the well fit girl around the far turn around. I suppose mentally it’s easier to think you’re chasing someone… but really I don’t think I could have run much faster than I did. I was hurting the last 4 miles to not slow down. I maybe did a little for miles 10, 11 and 12. “Faster you run, faster you’re done” became the mantra :) But, kept the pace pretty steady and picked it up a little the last mile.

Overall, it was an 8 minute PR in a 70.3… with a slower swim and slower bike than I did last year.  I finally won my AG instead of getting 2nd and came in as the 2nd overall amateur as well. In a competitive field this year, I’m really happy. The first place girl completely crushed everyone. She had 10 minutes on me… mostly on the bike, but a little on the swim and run as well. For me… It came together… all three legs were solid in a 70.3. I kept it together on the run and had one of my more mentally tough attitudes out there – staying in the moment and not letting up when it started to hurt. HUGE thanks to my coach Scott for dealing with me being more crazy than normal in the few weeks leading up to the race. And, hopefully will keep the panic to a minimum before my first IM in Wisconsin.