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.
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.