well... this is awkward. i meant to write up some kind of race report months ago. like, June. July. even in august, i was still filled with good intentions but its December and, well, here we are. bear with me. details may be fuzzy or may be exaggerated for the betterment of the story. kidding - the details of this race need no exaggeration - the reality of it was ridiculous enough!
brian and i took our first half cross country trip together out to IL/WI in the early part of June. The race was on sunday, june 10th and we drove out thursday evening and stayed overnight in a small town in ohio - we snuck the jazz in to what we thought was a pet friendly hotel (still unclear if it was or not) but she was perfectly well behaved and we dined on buffalo wild wings in the hotel bed before we passed out for the night. we completed the journey friday morning and stayed with my parents that evening, driving up to madison saturday morning.
the intention was to get up and do a shake out ride/run, eat my dad's apple pancakes for breakfast, and head up to madison. we awoke to an epic downpour, so we decided to eat and start the drive up early, hoping to get that ride/run in as soon as we got to madison. we parked at the Alliance energy center (always a welcome site on the IMMOO bike course) and headed to check-in with our bikes. we met up with Dayle (YAY - she was doing the cycling portion of a SOAS relay) and our SOAS teammate, Jess (who happens to be related to some of my college friends/sorority sister) and checked-in with no issues. back to the energy center to head out for our shake-out ride/run. we did about 45 min on the bike along semi-familiar streets and i ran a sub 7:45 mile off the bike, feeling pretty fresh despite the warm weather.
we met the girls for lunch and the fish tacos really hit the spot - that chimichurri... mmmm... then it was off to drive the bike course, check into the hotel, and repack our stuff for the following day. there were a LOT of ups and downs on the course with many abrupt turns at the end of the hills which i knew would be a momentum killer. the roads aren't super smooth, but it was great to be back in the madison area and reflective of the terrain and flow of the full wisconsin course. the belmont stakes was that afternoon, so we watched Justify become the 13th triple crown winner, which was exciting for at least 2/3 of us.
dinner was at the great dane brewing company and we had the Dayle/T must-have of soft pretzels and a bit of beer. i had some sort of thai pasta dish that was very good and then it was back to the hotel to relax and sleep. i remembered my osmo pre-load (so gross yet so effective), hopped in bed, and fell asleep immediately.
RACE DAY:
woke up around 3:45 am to the gentle soothing sound of DOWNPOUR and had my thomas blueberry bagel with peanut butter and a banana. starbucks iced canned coffee for the win (and for the drive over) and we parked at the energy center. thanks to Dayle's presence, it was raining as per usual race morning so we sat in the car for awhile before venturing over to transition.
transition was obviously wet but the grass was still fairly intact at this point. it was pretty obvious that once 1500 people ran up and down the circumference of transition that we would quickly escalate from wisconsin 70.3 to tough mudder 70.3, but there was nothing we could do about that. we did have the foresight to bring garbage bags (thanks Dayle) so that we could keep some stuff dry. the only thing i really cared about was dry shoes and socks for the run so that got wrapped in a bag so i could rip it open during T2. Dayle didn't have a lot of prep to do since she was only biking, so we took advantage of her station under a pop up tent and attempted to put our wetsuits on our very wet bodies.
surprisingly, my stomach was pretty solid. no GI upset at this point, i had stomached my bagel and coffee and was still feeling pretty happy. the rain was a good distraction and it was exciting to be racing with both Brian and Dayle. my mom arrived while we were putting on our wetsuits and it was so good to see her. she is SUCH a trooper.
soon enough, it was time to get to the swim start. it was to be a rolling start by predicted swim time (as most IM races are these days). Bri and i tried to scootch toward the front but i couldn't see any predicted swim time signs. after a short while of standing, the first announcement was made that the swim start was delayed. we immediately sat cross legged in the grass and started chatting with a man next to us. as time passed, i was grateful for the wetsuit to keep me warm, but i was wishing for water. the swim start ended up being delayed by about 45-60 minutes but eventually, we stood and lined up appropriately and it was go time.
SWIM:
Bri and i kissed good bye and wished each other luck. we got into the water at the same time and i figured we'd have about the same swim time. the water was very comfortable and i knew it would be a bit of a shock getting onto the bike with the cooler air temperature. it was a little difficult to sight (foggy) but not too bad. ever since placid, i have this moment after i start swimming where i expect to panic and i have to talk myself down from that. the moment came and went and after a 10 second pep talk, i was totally fine. i knew i wasn't swimming all that fast, but i was trying to keep a good line and keep the systems in check being that this was my first real race of the year.
swim time: 32:06 - 2nd AG, though the first out of the water in the AG later DNF'd.
T1:
exited the swim and ran into T1 through a pit of mud. literally - it was just straight up mud on the way into T1. i saw mom near my bike and waved to her while i was getting everything ready. i wasn't thrilled with the swim, but it wasn't terrible given the conditions of the day. it was a little chilly but at least it stopped raining! the grass was slick but not too muddy at that point and my white cycling shoes were thankful. made the gametime decision of no socks on the bike since everything was soaking wet.
T1 time: 4:02
BIKE:
my goal for the bike was to keep heartrate at the top of zn2. generally, im in high zn1 to low zn2 out of the water and i control heartrate from there. my other goal was AVOID VOMITING. i started using infinite a few weeks prior and so far, i had had pretty good results so this would be my first foray into racing with it. my plan was to take roughly 1 bottle an hour, making sure to take in 3 bottles over the course of the bike and supplement with some honey stinger chews as i saw fit or if i was feeling low or tired.
i settled into a good rhythm and was passing more people than getting passed for awhile. im usually near the front of the swim so quite a few people pass me over the course of the bike. the trick was to hold off the women, though i had no idea what place i was in out of the swim.
bri passed me at some point and mumbled something. it didn't seem like a happy tone and i worried he was having a bad day. turns out he said something like, "hey babe", except i heard "askjkdajfljdfjlf grrrrrrrr". he looked really strong and he quickly rode out of sight.
just as i suspected, the abrupt turns at the bottom of the hills were a killer. as the miles passed, my legs could feel the toll that slowing and accelerating were taking and i was generally just annoyed by the number of turns, the bumpy roads, and lack of solid aero time. i wasn't fazed by the amount of climbing at all and i was happy with my ability to sit right at the top of zn2 without feeling like i was killing myself, but i knew this wouldn't be a quick bike split. i worked on hydrating well, eating a handful of chews, and before i knew it, i was cruising along the path back towards transition.
bike time: 2:50:15 - shockingly, i was 1st AG for the bike split - apparently cycling wasn't the strong leg in my age group this time around (or in general as it was 9th female) which worked great in my favor.
T2:
during my time on the bike, the slick grass that i was run on out of transition was 1000% sloppy mud. i daintily stepped around the deepest areas of mud to rerack my bike and i was thankful for dry shoes and socks. in the same high stepping, slow and deliberate manner, i made my way out of transition while putting on my BASE hat and race belt and passed mom again, giving her all the waves as i set out on the run.
T2 time: 3:04
RUN:
running off the bike felt AMAZING. the fatigue i was feeling in my legs during the bike had faded and i settled into a quick pace along the path. after half a mile, i was running 6:50 pace and knew i needed to slow way down or i would burn out after a few miles. not too many women had passed me on the bike so i hoped i was in the top 5ish in the AG and wanted to maintain or better that imagined position.
i avoided puddles like the plague and got into a nice stride, passing handfuls of dudes. the slight up down up down up down terrain was rhythmic and i used all the downhills to my advantage, picking up my step to gain some speed into the next incline. around mile 6, i ran past a guy who said, "i think you might be in the top 5 for the women". i scoffed and said, "probably not, but thanks for the vote of confidence!" i was pretty confident that wasn't the case, but even so, i picked up my step a little while maintaining my heart rate at the top of zn2/low zn3. it wasn't comfortable by any means, but it was sustainable and i was looking for that strong run-off-the-bike that has been eluding me for years. i started to recognize my surroundings around mile 10 and I started to get excited. soon enough, i could see monona terrace and i felt that swell of pride thinking about that first IM in 2014 and what a magical day it had been. my legs were tightening, but with less than 2 miles to go, i pushed on.
we ran on the path underneath the terrace and headed toward the finish at olin park. i forgot how far it was from the terrace to the park and i tried to push a little early and legs started to fade. i willed my legs to keep going and before i knew it, i was running up a short but punchy uphill to the finish. i couldn't believe my run time - it was a solid 5 minutes faster than my previous handful of 70.3 run splits and a PR by at least 3-4 minutes.
run time: 1:43:17 - 4th AG
overall time: 5:12:44 - 3rd AG, 7th OA
not a blazing fast 70.3, but it was a strong, solid day that i was very proud of. nutritionally, i kept it together and its a wonder how much better you can run and feel when you have calories in your system. who knew? not lionel sanders and myself, thats who.
we all ended up being very happy with the day. Brian had a great overall race (i got him in the swim, but he smoked me on the bike) and Dayle was very happy with her bike split. we got to hang out for a short while until Dayle had to leave to go back home. My mom, Brian, and I waiting around a long time for an anti-climactic awards ceremony and we headed home before the 70.3 worlds slot allocation. apparently it rolled down, but i had no desire to go to south africa with IMWI being a couple weeks after!
stay tuned for more extremely delayed race reports my friends. i'll try to be more entertaining in the ones to come :)
