Ironman 70.3 Augusta - nailed it in 05:49:24! Now what?

Pre-race day beer (carbs!)

Yes, all the training has paid off! I worked my butt off for months and have been consistently training or racing for almost two years. It's all led up to a moment that was bigger and better than I could have ever expected. I counted, and it was my 9th multi-sport event in a year and a half (would have been number 10 if weather hadn't cancelled one of them this summer). Starting with sprints and moving up to a couple of olympic distance races, I have been preparing to push myself to the limit for a while. I began running 2 years ago...and this past weekend I earned the title of being an Ironman 70.3 finisher!

Pre-race, nervous but ready to go!

The race went better than I could have ever expected. I had the high hopes of just finishing in as close to 6 hours as I could, but realistically, I was just thinking it'd be great to beat 6 hours 15 minutes. As the race approached, I began to pressure myself. I began wondering just how well I would do...I wanted more than to finish, I wanted to be good. I am extremely competitive with myself, and while it sometimes pays off, I put way too much pressure on myself sometimes. Somehow on race day, I had pushed aside my anxieties. I was rested. I was prepared. I was ready, and I knew it. I had controlled everything that I could, and I could only hope that all other variables would fall into place for me to have a great race. Well, they fell into place, and this ended up being the best race I have ever had. I finished in 05:49:24! I was in the top third of my age group. I almost didn't believe the results when I saw them...yeah, I was shocked.

Gorgeous day for a race!

1.2 mile Swim: 00:31:05 

Couldn't wait to get out of that wetsuit!

The swim was better than expected. The current was a lifesaver for me because I'm not the most confident swimmer in the large mass groups. I got kicked pretty hard in the shoulder a few times in a row, so I had to stop, tread water, and get out of the crowd. I get too anxious when I don't have space to move. Because of the current, our start wasn't a typical mass start. They had us going in off of the dock, and I ended up starting toward the back to avoid the pack. The water temp was right under 70 degrees, I think. The wetsuit was perfect for the swim, and the wetsuit strippers were great. I was a bit slow getting the top half of the suit down though. T1 went well, I took my time trying to make sure I had all of the fuel and everything ready for the bike. At 00:06:46, it was probably my slowest transition ever, but it was worth taking the time to make sure I didn't miss anything.





Bike: 03:03:08 (18.35 mph avg)

The beginning of a long, great ride!

I loved the bike course! Rolling hills, my butt! Those weren't hills... Atlanta has hills, folks. Ok, so maybe a few of the climbs had me working pretty hard, but overall, I felt good on the ride. I had a tough time keeping my HR in zone 2, but my coach was totally right in telling me to keep it out of zone 3, even though I wanted to go faster a few times. By the final bike split, my average speed was 19.81mph for about 19 miles. That is why the HR control was worth it. Each split was faster than the previous, which is something I don't always succeed at...I too often just wanna go all out! The aid stations were great along the bike course, but I have a major issue with getting stuck behind slower riders rolling through... I just need to grab a bottle and go! I had a hard time not wrecking when I got kind of trapped behind a guy who slowed to nearly a stop at a station (as other bikers passed and I couldn't get around).

This happened a number other times on climbs, where someone would slow to a crawl on the climb in front of me. So often, this would happen when there was a pretty good group of riders around and passing was difficult, so I'd get trapped going half the speed I wanted to go! I get more freaked out by going slow than going fast. In my experience, I only fall/wreck when I'm barely moving. By the last split, I just didn't care anymore though. If I wanted to pass and had the speed, I passed...even if it meant pushing up my HR for a minute to accelerate. Overall, I felt great throughout the entire bike ride. I fueled up as planned, didn't fatigue or dehydrate. I did have to make myself take in calories a few times when I didn't feel like it b/c I knew I'd need it for the run.

Hard not to smile when I realized how great I felt!

The next transition was pretty decent. I once again took my time in transition to make sure I was ready for the run. My time for T2 was 00:03:54...again, not my best, but worth the time to get ready for a solid run.










Run: 02:04:31 (9:30/mi) 
(and just 15 seconds longer than my current PR)

Such a great run!

The run course was great too! The spectators here are some of the best, for sure, and it's great because you get to run through the downtown area back and forth around them a few times. The course here is so good that I didn't even mind that it was a double loop. Aid stations on the run were decent, but at a few of them, they didn't seem ready for runners. On multiple occasions, I had to nearly stop just to get a cup of water. Hydration was too important for me to keep running. I didn't want to risk not getting proper hydration and energy at each station. I actually only took in one pack of my energy chews during the run. I sustained myself by drinking water, powerbar perform (love that stuff anyway), and coke! I don't even really drink soda...haven't had a coke in forever, but at the suggestion of another racer, I tried it during the run. I am totally crediting the coke with giving me the energy to get such a decent run time. In hindsight, if I'd known I was going to miss my half marathon PR by only 15 seconds, I would have probably been pushier at the slow aid stations!

 The finish chute was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Turning that last corner...seeing all the Ironman logos and the finish line ahead. All I could do was stop thinking and run. I guess I picked up my pace a good bit at the last little bit there because in all of the race photos, I'm passing people. I do remember passing a few people in my age, and in the results I finished around 15-30 seconds ahead of a few of them. The rush of that last quarter mile was like none other. I was afraid I would start crying in excitement at the finish. I didn't. I think my happiness and sense of accomplishment surpassed that feeling... I didn't know just how well I had done, but I knew I had just had one of my best runs.

Post-race pizza and beer!

So, what now? I have been actively training for something for two years straight, and right now, I have no races on my calendar. I do plan to do some races pretty soon, but there's nothing actually on my calendar. It's weird. Do I go back to strictly being a runner for the next few months until triathlon season returns? Do I continue to obsessively workout? Honestly, I just want to go for a long run right now! I'm still on a bit of a post-race high. I worked so hard to get to this point, and I know the personal challenges I have face in the past couple of years. I don't want to say I beat the odds...but I know myself and know what I've faced. I definitely accomplished something bigger than I thought I would ever attempt. I have not been known to commit to things that require such sacrifice. I tend to put too much pressure on myself and then give up when the pressure becomes too much. Not only did I not give up, I went beyond expectations in so many ways.


 I did sacrifice a lot more than I thought I would, though. In the past 6-7 months, since the beginning of the triathlon push, a lot has changed. Some of the changes were unavoidable. Some could have been handled differently, had I prioritized differently. I regret nothing, but throughout the course of my training, life outside of triathlon world wasn't easy. I now get to return to the mess I left behind, which is less appealing than racing, but it's necessary. Training has been my escape. Running/biking/swimming has honestly been the thing I enjoyed more than anything else lately. When stressed, I would just focus on triathlon instead of life. When angry, all I usually needed was a good workout. When depressed, even if it was tough to get going, I knew a good training session would help. Now, I get to learn how to re-balance my real life and a normal workout routine (as opposed to living the training and letting life fit in between).

FINISHER!

Augusta IRONMAN 70.3

It's the final countdown... (I hope that song is in your head now, you are welcome)  

As my big race day approaches (September 29th!), I thought I'd finally share with the world what's going on and how friends/family can help encourage me along this journey, if you feel so inclined. I know Augusta is a bit of a hike for most, but you can also support me from a distance too! As you can see below from my nerdy statistics below, this race is a bit of an accomplishment, especially for someone who could barely run a mile a few years ago.
 

 

If you are interested in live tracking (online or via mobile), let me know. I will have to give you my bib # and the link to get set up when the time comes. It'll only take a minute to get started, and you'll get updates at each split - swim, bike, and run/finish! If you happen to want to make the trek out to Augusta, let me know as well! I will be there all weekend, so carpooling may not be convenient...but I'd love to have some familiar smiling faces at the finish line!

Just for basic info, I am bib number 2494, and my swim wave begins at 8:56am. (That's nearly an hour and a half after the first wave begins... I'm sure I won't be anxious during this time at all, ha!)

 

 

Here is little bit of background, goals, and nerdy statistics, just for fun!!!

 

IRONMAN is a race brand that is currently made up of two major distances: 
The IRONMAN (the 140.6 distance race) and the IRONMAN 70.3 (also known as long distance or half-Ironman).
The average race time for the IM 70.3 is a little over 6 hours. My ideal goal, other than just to finish, is to complete it in as close to 6 hours and I can...but I know that won't be easy, so I'm just going to do my best to finish! 
NFL player Hines Ward completed his IM 70.3 in just under 5 hours and 55 minutes - and this guy is not only paid to be an athlete, but he also had all the time in the world to train (unlike many of us with full time jobs).

So, that should give an idea of how long and big this race is, but just how big of a deal is it? How many crazy people actually put themselves through months and months of training only to push their body to it's physical/mental limits for hours on end? I did some googling and nerdy research, so here are the statistics. It's done based on world population b/c these are international races, so there's no easy way to distinguish US participation from the rest of the world.   

Number of years 70.3 IM has been running: 7
Number of 70.3 IMs each year: 60
Number of unique participants per IM race: 1,000
This estimate comes to:
  ~420,000 people having completed an IRONMAN 70.3 race
  ~60,000 competing in this distance annually
Considering a world population of ~7,000,000,000...

This comes out to basically: Each year only about 0.00086% of the world's population participates in an IRONMAN 70.3 race.

   About 0.006% of the world has participated in this distance since it's beginning in 2006... FYI, Chuck Norris isn't one of that small percentage!

   Including both IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3, about 0.018% of the world has participated in one or the other distance.
   Add into that the fact that less than 30% of participants are female, and only about 20% are ages 30-34.

At this point, the numbers hurt my brain, but as you can see, it's not every day that someone who claimed to hate running 2 years ago takes on an IRONMAN race. So, being one of the few, I could really use some fans on race day, even from a distance!

After countless months of pushing myself to train 6-7 days a week, and recently up to 15 hours/week for the last month, I am ready to see this madness pay off! 
And if you make it to the actual race, there will be some post-race beer drinking in celebration (after I eat a ton of food and drink a gallon of water, of course)!

Someone recently compared training on this level to having a baby. You prepare yourself mentally/physically/etc for 9 months, by the last few weeks your body is beginning to hate you a bit and you are just ready for day to get here. When the time comes, you spend hours pushing yourself to your physical/mental limits to see all the preparation pay off! (I guess the big difference is that I don't have to pay for my race for the next 18 years!)

 

Another way to support me in my IRONMAN journey is to help me raise funds for Operation IRONFREEDOM through the IRONMAN Foundation and the Scott Rigsby Foundation. It's a great cause that supports wounded soldiers returning from war and their families. To learn more about the cause or donate, click the link below!
http://ironman.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1049523&supid=389742632

Thank you so much for all the support!
 

Also, you should read this guy's story! What an inspiration!