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).

Mental Battles

Doesn't working on your weaknesses stink? It's so hard!! It’s much easier sticking with what you know and what you're good at. It can be quite the mental battle. 

For the past three years I spent the months of Jan-Mar prepping for a marathon. And it paid off in a HUGE way. I got my time down from 3:58:05 (9:04/mile pace) to 3:00:06 (6:53/mile pace), PR'd in each race, won back to back marathons, and my confidence level skyrocketed. But then....my heart became invested in another sport - a sport that doesn't come natural to me or feel easy. In fact, it feels more like an uphill battle. Is this why I feel so drawn to it? Because it's a challenge??

Yep. Pretty much.

And so it began...
...the focus on a different sport - triathlon. After my last race (Ironman 70.3 North Carolina in October) it was obvious that the only way I could be remotely competitive is if I became a decent cyclist. I'm not even talking about a 'great' cyclist. When you're as slow as me on the bike, a little goes a longgggg way. The difference in my bike times compared to the other women is massive (frustrating, embarrassing...you get the point).

Top 10 Women at Ironman 70.3 North Carolina. Peep the bike splits.

Lucky for me, the first half of my problem has been solved - equipment and fitting. The second part - becoming a better runner triathlete, well, I'm working on that. And let me tell you, it has not been easy! I'm going to call it "Project: Turn Sika Pro". It's pretty much a situation where you take an average person, with a full time corporate job, and some athletic background, and figure out how to turn them into a very good triathlete.

New coach, new training plan, new focus
One of the first things my coach and I decided was that I would NOT do a marathon this year. So while I'd usually be putting in 60 miles of running a week around this time of year, I'm only doing about 25. Long runs are 10-12 miles. In fact, I had to beg to do a 16-mile group run a few weeks ago. Of all the things I could beg for I never thought a 16-miler would be one of them smh. I'm also riding 4-6 days a week - this has been the hardest adjustment for me. It's not even so much the training, it's the mental side of things. The mind is so complex.

Most recent race: the Maritime 8K

Getting comfortable, being uncomfortable

I thought about naming this blog post "Coming in 4th Place Sucks" (in reference to the 8K I just did). But as I began writing I realized that it's not the place that upset me, but the speed I've lost. I think everyone wants to PR at every race they do (I think this applies to all areas in life). You want to know that you are getting faster. That all the hard work is paying off. And the best measurement for that is time. When your times aren't as fast as they were a mere 9 months ago it can feel like you're going backwards. But this is when perspective helps ;-)

Let's take my last race as an example, the Maritime 8K, where I came in 4th and only managed a 31:13 (6:16 mile/pace...ughhhh). All three women ahead of me and the one behind me were former Division I long distance collegiate runners that still race competitively and focus on ...you guessed it...the run. Now I'm not trying to make excuses but when 50% of your training is on a bike, and you are running under 30 miles a week it's super hard to just go out there and drop 5:50s. You know what I mean? Of course I couldn't see it this way at the time. In fact, after the race I had my usual phone chat with my Dad. I wondered out loud what I was doing, why I was doing this and maybe I needed a break… a long break. I believe I said something to the effect of “maybe I should be doing something else with my life”.

Dad: Like what?

Me: I don’t know? Get married and have babies.

Dad: You have the rest of your life to be miserable. Chase your dreams first.
Me: no words, just lots of laughing and promises that I would not share this convo with my Mom. Oops! Mom - don’t be made at Dad ;-)

My Parents (Valentine's Day weekend)...it can't be all bad, right :-)

Back to the race..
You know what's interesting? I went through the 5-mile mark of a 10K I did a few weeks ago in nearly the same time I crossed the finish line of the 8K.

Exhibit A (10K splits to the left, 8K results to the right)

I think this shows that I have fitness, just lacking the speed (10K splits: 6:05, 6:11, 6:36 - OMG the headwind, 6:12, 6:04). I felt like if I slowed down a touch I could have kept running and running and running at a steady pace. As my friend Crystal said “You’re too much of an endurance athlete for an 8K. In order to run an 8K at your true potential you’d need to ditch the multiple hour bike rides and get on the track”. Touché! Plus, this is what really matters...

Here is a look at my bike power this year versus last year (courtesy of TrainerRoad). As you can see my power (y-axis) has improved a lot over every time interval (x-axis) this year versus last. I still have a long way to go, but this is positive feedback that I'm at least heading in the right direction. Keeping hope alive!!

Saving the best part for last
Even though it was super strange not racing the 4th Annual One City Marathon (I did it the first 3 years), it was pretty sweet not having to deal with the pre-race anxiety and post marathon body aches! After I finished the 8K I got to sit around in the VIP tent and track my friend Ali (we've known each other since we were kids) who came in from New Jersey to race and try to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Of course I sat there nervously refreshing the athlete tracker every 5 seconds to see where she was at and if she was on pace. Just a bit of background on her, she was coming in with a 2:45 marathon PR. But a string of unfortunate events (passing of coach Tom Fleming, stress fracture, etc) kept her out of the marathon for awhile. I knew when she went through the half in 1:18 that she was going to win, PR, and qualify for the Olympic Trials. So I made my way up to the finish line, stared and waited. Then this happened...

Now two Montclair, NJ girls have won this race (hers was way better though) ;-)

She's so tough. She went nearly 5 minutes under the Olympic Trials standard. She could have practically jogged the last few miles and still qualified. Instead she pushed so hard that immediately after crossing the finish line (and giving me a hug) she puked all over the place. Then looked up at me and politely asked for some water. It was epic hahaha.

CONGRATS ALI!! So proud of you.

 

Up Next
3 weeks until I kick off my triathlon season. Why I thought a hilly, hot half ironman was a great way to start off the season I will never know. I do, however, think it will be a great prep race for Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in June. It will also be a good race to test my fitness and see where I'm at and what I need to work on.

I'll be reporting back in 3 weeks....