So, last Saturday, June 2nd I
competed competed completed my first 70.3, Motivation Man or the
HEATFEST that it was. The whole week before we had horrendous weather. We had a tropical storm, tropical depression, I don't know what we had but we had 100% rain and precipitation every day. I was so scared that the event was going to get cancelled, or that the swim was going to get cancelled, and I really wanted to participate in all three distances as it was my very first 1/2 iron man distance!
We got to bike drop off the day before and had to leave our bikes covered in plastic bags to prevent them from getting wet. So this was a first for me as I had never done this before. Thankfully Diane took tape so I could tape plastic lawn bags to my seat and my aerobars.
That evening, Chris and I went to Bellagio for dinner, carbloaded, I was a ball of nerves so I tried to eat as much as I could, had about 2 sips of wine to calm my nerves, and tried to relax:
Do I look a little nervous?
The next morning we were up and going at 5am. Got to transition to set everything up. Luckily there was no rain and no signs of rain. We walked to the intracoastal as our swim wave was off at 6:50. I couldn't really see the buoys. That was my main complain. I had to ask the race director where to swim as I knew I was swimming in a triangle, but I didn't really know where the midpoint of the triangle was. Clearly they did not do such a great job marking the area of where we were swimming (more of that to come later)
Here we go getting ready to swim:
So, from the first buoy to the second buoy I was fine. No problem. I did it in about 7 minutes. Amy even asked me if I was fine, I said sure, no problem, I thought this is great, I'm doing well, no current, not a problem at all, I could see, everything was fine. Then I get to the second buoy or the 45 degree angle in my imaginary triangle. I don't see the other 45 degree triangle. Where do we go? The course description had a little map that apparently marked more buoys. 3 buoys for a 1.2 mile swim is clearly not enough, especially with a cloudy day. Not only that, there were a few boats that were patrolling the area so it reeked of oil and gasoline, I lost my swim cap and I had to fight to put it back on b/c I was not going to swim 1/2 mile with all of my hair all over the place. It was honestly a disaster. Then I hear lifeguards telling us to swim more to this side to avoid the current. I honestly felt that I swam 2 miles. And I never saw my second buoy or my 45 degree angle as my second turning point. A lifeguard just told me to follow the crane by the bridge. Seriously?
So before I realize I am swimming with pink caps, yellow caps, purple caps, green caps, and I realize that I'm way behind as the Olympic swimmers started 15 minutes after we did.
Total time in the water: 1:15.
Total time that I had guesstimated: 1:00
Total time lost: 15 minutes that I had to somewhat make up.
And I still feel that I swam for 2 miles, not for 1.2 miles.
I got to Transition, changed into my cycling shoes, socks, put on my helmet, saw Chris as he was just finishing his swim, and took off on the bike. I was so happy to be on the bike and off the nasty intracoastal, salty, and oily water.
I realized that I was about the only one left for the 1/2 distance and most everyone else was already on the course riding. First 10 minutes in the bike were trying to adjust to the bike, the wind, the ride, etc. I started drinking my
Calories on the bike, saw Chris for about 2 minutes then he passed me, and tried to maintain 16-17 mph on the bike but the wind was a little tough. The Olympic turnaround was rather quick, and then I was out for another 10-15 miles all by myself. Very lonely bike ride, saw my teammates on the other side so I knew the turnaround was coming soon. I stopped at the water exchange station, grabbed a kid so he could help me, grabbed a water bottle and poured it on my aerodrink, grabbed another bottle, mixed it in with my
Calories and also opened and
snacked chews every few miles to make the ride be less boring. I sang
American Pie and Bohemian Rhapsody about 7 times each. I was so happy to see the mile marker going to 30 miles, 40 miles, and slowly approaching the 50 mile zone. I actually passed about 5 people since I was one of the last ones on the swim, but I did take a tiny small advantage in that I'm not too slow on the bike and I had no mechanical issues. I ended up finishing my bike in 3:05 which is an average pace of 17.9 or close to that.
T2 was long and slow since I had to change socks again (my socks were wet) and I was a little bit out of it. I grabbed everything that I needed except sunscreen. Big mistake. I looked at my garmin and thought that if I could actually run the 1/2 in 2:35 I could come in under 7 hours. One can dream right? What I didn't realize was that I was actually starting the run portion at about 11am and the sun was at its strongest. It was a heat fest. I ran for the first 15 minutes and my legs, thighs, and trishorts were completely covered in salt. And it took me about 15 minutes to cover one mile. I knew it was going to be be a long day and my goal of finishing under 7 hours was shot out the window. I slogged, run/walked,walked/run/walked but my stomach was so full from the 3 bottles of calories earlier that I couldn't really handle anything. I saw my teammates Diane and Amy and they both looked strong. I looked weak and tired. Diane gave me a salt pill that was worth gold. Amy had dirt or mud all over her face which was a funny moment. Then Lourdes (she had already finished as she was doing the relay race) decided she'd keep me company and ran about 4 miles with me. Those were the best 4 miles ever. She talked to me about everything and nothing and it made the 4 miles go by a lot quicker.
Here we are running together approaching the 6th mile:
Then I saw Aunt Pattie and Chris's mom and Chris with signs for me as they were all cheering for me so I had to pretend to run hard in that moment and not walk:
Chris yelled at me and reminded me not to quit, that we do not quit, that we keep on going until they pull me off the finish line, and to keep at it, so he gave me some comforting words.
And he left an orange slice, a water bottle, and a banana for me.
Worst thing is I still had another lap to go to all over again. I continued my run, walk, walk, walk, slog, jog, walk, run, and by mile 7 I wanted to cry. Then I remembered my long term goal: Cozumel.
By mile 10 there were very little volunteers left, they had opened the lane to allow traffic back in, and I saw Kike in a bike that was not his. He came to check on me. He poured water on me, gave me tons of water, and biked along with me while I ran my 13 minute pace. I know this is totally not allowed but he at least kept me company and reminded me to use my arms as my arms totally dead right next to me while I was running. By mile 12 I ran a little harder since I knew the end was almost here. I look very bad ass in this picture:
And finally I finished. I was the second to last finisher. I finished the run in 3:17 and my total time for my first 70.3 was 7:47. I finished and that's what counts. And I felt great as I crossed the finish line:
I saw a couple of members from my triathlon group with IVs because they were so dehydrated. Not fun. But all in all, I had a great time, great experience, and I'm ready to get out there and race again, in my new bike of course!
