Ironman 70.3 Kansas

Despite not having tapered my training in the weeks prior, I felt fairly confident going into my first 'A' race of the season.  I did have 1 reduced training week, but the 2 weeks prior to that were my biggest training weeks to date at 16 hours each and the 2 longest rides I've ever done at 80 miles each.  These training weeks gave me the confidence in my fitness level, but left my legs less than fresh.  Coach Dan explained that because it's early in the season, it is more important to be as fit as possible than to be as fresh as possible and that I will have more taper for my races later in the season.  This is fine with me because, at this point, I need as much time on the bike that I can get!

To go along with the theme of this spring/summer weather, severe storms were forecast for early on race morning to last throughout the day.  They talked about a good chance of hail and tornadoes and I wondered if we would even race.  That type of thought process worked well because it took away some of the nerves and excitement and I slept like a baby for 5 hours until my 3am wake up.  Overnight, the storms decided to change course and passed just to the south of us!  We saw them off in the distance as we drove to the race start.  It was GO TIME!!!

Michael and I at the swim start

We set up T2, then T1.  I got a quick 20 minute warm-up run in and then headed down to the water.  The pros went off at 6:30 and my wave went at 7:06.  

SWIM:  This was the most brutal swim I have ever experienced.  I was kicked and punched like never before at the start.  I swam wide to avoid it as much as possible.  As soon as we got a few yards out, the water got extremely choppy.  I breathe to the left when I race and that's the direction the waves were coming from, so I took in water with almost every breath I took.  To make matters worse, my goggles fogged up- with that and the chop, I had a difficult time sighting and was probably zig-zagging all over the place.  To mentally get through it, I kept telling myself how much better it will be once I hit the turn-around and the waves are coming from the other side.  Well, it only got worse!  The waves were so big and frequent that they were crashing over my head and I was STILL sucking in water.  I tried not to get too negative, but I just could not wait until the swim was over.  It felt like it was never ending, but I knew I would be fine once I got out of the water and on the bike.  My swim split was 39:47- slowest ever and far from my goal of 33-35 minutes.  It was comforting to see/hear later that most people were ~5 minutes slower than usual (including the pros) and there was even talk that the swim course may have been long.

55.9 miles to go!

BIKE:  I was really looking forward to this bike course.  We drove it the day prior and the roads were open, smooth and hilly.  Just the kind of hills I like, too... long and gradual so you can get into a groove.  I stayed in an aggressive position for the downs and really took advantage of every ounce of speed I could get.  I was fairly conservative on the climbs, staying in the saddle, knowing that I have 2.5+ hours of riding ahead of me, as well has 1.5 hours of running.  I did not want to blow up too early.  I felt like I was doing a descent job of pacing.  I started to feel the burn in my legs not too far into the ride and this was a nice reminder that I need to do more training in the aero position.  Those muscles were not used to this.  About halfway through the ride, I made a friend ;)  A 38-yr-old woman passed me and we leap-frogged back and forth for the remainder of the ride.  We'd have a short conversation about the race each time one would pass the other.  A big shout out to Shea for your encouraging words- you rock!  About 3/4 into the ride, I was passed by a 33-yr-old... where did she come from!?  I was shooting for top 3 in my Age Group and didn't know where I stood at that point, but couldn't afford to let one go.  I rode my own race, but kept her in sight.  She was out of the saddle on every hill and I knew she would feel that on the run, so I'd get her back then ;)  My bike split was 2:43:29 (20.55mph), a few minutes off my original goal of breaking 2:40:00.  The winds were tough, but not an excuse.  I still have plenty of room for improvement on the bike.

Mid-way through the run and feeling the burn

RUN:  Ahhh... my comfort zone.  The goal here was definitely sub 7 minute pace.  I felt good for the first half of the run and all of my splits were well below 7 minutes.  I passed a couple girls in my Age Group that I saw, but didn't know how many more were ahead of me.  There were lots of sharp turns and out-and-backs in this 2 loop course, so I had the ability to see who was in front of me as we passed in opposite directions.  I didn't see anyone in my age group within reach and my last 3 miles were a little slower at just over 7 minutes each.  The final out-out-back seemed never ending.  I was so ready to be done at that point and wanted so bad to find that final turn-around.  Once I did, there was a little over a mile to go and I felt like I was dragging it in.  When I came around the final corner and saw the finish, I also found a huge burst of energy and sprinted it in.  Where was that energy 20 minutes ago???  My run split was 1:30:19 (6:53 pace).

Me and Chrissie Wellington at the Finish Line

I crossed the finish and saw Chrissie Wellington, multiple World Champion and 3-time winner at Kansas.  As she put a medal around my neck, I almost started crying and told her it was an honor to meet her and Congratulations on her race.  She was amazing.  I cannot brag enough about her.  She stayed until the final finisher came down the chute and ran along side her for those final meters. 

I finished 5th in my Age Group in a time of 4:56:55, within a minute from the 3rd and 4th place girls.  I had no idea they were right there!  After chatting with the 4th place finisher, also name Adrienne, at the awards... she said the same thing!!

Overall, a fun race and a great day!  We got so lucky with the weather.  Perfect temperature... a little windy... but so much better than hail and tornadoes ;)  It was icing on the cake when I learned that the Ironman podium goes 5 deep (thanks for that info, Michelle).  And turns out the top 2 finishers already qualified for the World Championships at previous races this year, so I got a rolldown slot!  Now I have plenty of motivation to get even faster!

Top 5 Females 30-34

Michael and I with Kristy at the finish

A huge THANK YOU to Kristy, the spectator of the day!  I know I looked mean on the final miles of the run, but I really appreciate you running around all morning cheering and taking pictures.  It was so nice to have a familiar face on the course.  Watch out, Mom and Lindsay, you have some competition for the Best Cheerleader award ;)  And look out for her at future triathlons.  She is an up-and-comer in the 25-29 Age Group... and a FASTY!!

Also, a huge Congrats to Michael on his 2nd Half Ironman finish and 20 minute PR!!  WooHoo!