Ironman 70.3 Florida

Of all the hobbies I could pick, 70+ miles of swimming, biking, and running is an interesting choice.

All pictures are courtesy of FinisherPix

Anyhoot...here I am cruising along the streets of Haines City, FL. This is clearly early on in the race. I can tell because it's flat and I don't look like I'm sweating buckets. Oh the 'joys' of racing. Personally, I think it takes a lot of courage to race. You're vulnerable, you hurt..am I the only one who feels mentally unstable at times? Yes, you are competing against others, but pushing your mind and body to the limit takes A LOT of work (no matter how fast or slow you are). That's why just getting to the finish line can be a victory in and of itself.

I don't know why but I'm always shocked when I see the stats. 2,152 crazy people! I came in 20th for the women. Not a bad day but not a great day. I'll elaborate...

Out with the old, in with the new

I'm a creature of habit. I don't like change. If it were up to me I'd have the same job, same friends, and be with the same man forever and ever. But I also know that sometimes change is necessary if you want to grow and improve. Hello change! As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a new coach, for the first time in 3 years I decided not to do a March marathon, I've been biking more than ever (and running less than ever), and I also decided to start the season early with a half ironman. Not sure how smart this was but I picked Ironman 70.3 Florida. My early season goal race (Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in June) will be a scorcher so I figured why not start the season with a hot and humid 70.3. What I did not take into account was how hilly the course would be. Who knew Florida had hills?

Athlete Check In

I flew into Orlando on Friday, got my rental car, and went straight to athlete check in because TSA jacked up my bike and I couldn't shift gears! Better to have it all taken care of Friday versus waiting until the day before the race. 

Look who I ran into...

Dave Ragsdale :-) He was the race MC. We met last year when I spoke at the Triathlon Business International Conference. I always feel calmer when I see a familiar face. He warned me of a pretty nasty hill that I'd encounter three times on the run. Thanks for the heads up.

Once I got back to the hotel I did my typical routine: unpack, organize, check the weather 1,000 times, look at the course elevation 1,000, then stare at the ceiling until I've given myself enough anxiety that I call my parents and ask them "why, whyyyy do I do this to myself??"

All the pretty things ❤

The day before the race. Heading to the course site to do a short bike and swim.

Race day... FINALLY

Other than feeling like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown the first couple hours before the start, I love race day! You can't recreate those feelings and emotions. When I asked my Dad last week "why do I get so nervous", he said "it's because you care". So I kept repeating to myself I'm nervous because I care, and caring is a good thing!

The Swim (1.2 miles) - 36:29 ...mehhh

Out of everything I did in the entire race, this is the only thing I'd change. This was my first time doing a self-seeded swim start. I'm used to being assigned a wave and taking off with that group. This time they let us pick our group based on the time we expected to finish the swim. I picked the 35-37 minute group. I thought I'd be quicker but I didn't want to seed myself too far forward and get swam over. In theory this whole self seed thing is a great idea. Unfortunately, people who had no business being in the faster waves...were in the faster waves!! And since this was an "M" shaped swim course and we had to do six 90 degree turns around the buoys = traffic jam, carnage. Who knows how much time I lost, 15 seconds or a minute+, I will never know.

When you hope no one saw you fall, and it's actually captured on camera. Thanks Ashley ;-) Apparently I wasn't the only one who fell in that hole.

Probably thinking "I can't believe I fell"

The Bike (56 miles) - 2:45:26 (20.3 mph) *sigh*

The first 30 miles were glorious. It was flat, overcast, not too hot....I was cruisin. I averaged 21.1 mph through the first timing mat at the 29.3 mile marker. Not competitive, but this was VERY good for me. And then it all went to sh*t.

The good 'ole days when it was still flat.

95% of my bike training has been indoors so I knew this part of the race was going to be a big question mark. But I've been consistent, had some solid TrainerRoad workouts, and my power has jumped a ton this year versus last year. On a side note, I don't have a power meter on my bike. During workouts I use virtual power via TrainerRoad. But when it comes to racing, I'm pretty much riding blind in terms of effort.

Right after the 30-mile marker things started to get difficult and the hills began to appear...and I began to disappear haha. It's actually not funny though. But what can I say. I tried. I really did. My coach told me to ride hard on the flats, easy on the hills. Will someone please explain how you ride easy on hills?? Even when I switch to an easy gear my legs still burn. By the time they recover there's another d*mn hill, and the cycle repeats. And let's talk about going downhill. The way the course was mapped out, when we finally got to ride down a hill, we had to ride our brakes because there was always a sharp right or left turn at the bottom ugh. 

Best part of the ride - wearing my new helmet courtesy of Dr. Michael Reed and his family. THANK YOU!

Back to the bike...when I entered transition 2 I stopped my watch and looked at the time. I'm sure I looked like a sad sad puppy. All that work and I still can't seem to get it together. I will figure it out one of these days. Hopefully sooner rather than later. And when I do, watch out! I came off the bike around 90th place for the women....

The Run (half marathon, 13.1 miles) - 1:33:18

Even though I was pretty far behind I didn't give up hope. The great thing about endurance racing is that it's a longgggg race and anything can happen. As long as you keep moving forward you always have a shot at doing well. It's not over until it's over :-)

The first mile didn't feel great. I felt pretty sick to be honest with you. I think it was the heat. I took in as much water and gatorade as I could through the first aid station and stuffed my race singlet with ice. And then I saw a hill. Oh this is "the hill". This isn't so bad. I can handle this. Umm yeah no. That wasn't "the hill". After a brief incline I saw what everyone was making such a big deal about. It was long, steep, and it hurt AND we would have to do it 3 times (the run course was three loops, we had to pass the finish line 3 times..."my mind is playing tricks on me" ~Geto Boys).

Yes, I wanted to walk each hill, but I promised myself that as long as I was still passing women there would be no walking. I didn't feel like I was moving very fast, but every time I checked my watch it showed that I was under 1:35 half marathon pace and not slowing.

The Last Lap

I heard someone come up alongside of me: "Hi Sika. It's Kevin."

Me: What? (as I stared straight forward and wondered if hearing voices was a symptom of heat stroke)

Kevin: It's Kevin Petty from BTA

Me: (glanced to my right) Oh hiiiiiiii!!! Nice to officially meet you. OMG this is so hard.

Kevin: You're doing good. Keep going. I'll let you do your thing.

And off I went into the distance with a smile on my face. The African American triathlon community may be small but we all know each other ;-)

I made it

Crossing the finish line 70.3 miles later. (That's the gun time. Not my time.)

Ran myself onto the podium.

Thoughts

When I finished and called my parents, I was extremely disappointed. Almost all of the women in the top 20 outbiked me be at least 8 minutes. I started to feel hopeless until I spoke to my coach and he gave me an 'aha moment'. After doing some time comparisons....one of the women who beat me at Ironman 70.3 NC by 8 minutes, only beat me by 2 minutes in Florida. And a few of the women who placed behind me at this race crushed me by 15+ minutes at the World Championships last year. What this tells me is.....I'm closing the gap :-)

Not a bad start to the season. First one down, more to go.

Next Up

An Olympic distance triathlon this Saturday. I love Kinetic Multisport races (formally Virginia Triathlon Series). And then it's on to my first big A race of the year: Ironman 70.3 Eagleman (June 10).