I have done this race the last two years, so I knew very well what I was in for. The only part of this race that is flat is the swim, and the hills begin as soon as you get out of the water, and have to run up a hill into T1. Sunday morning couldn’t have come fast enough.
I know you can't see me! ;)
Fireball in transition READY to fly
All fueled up and ready to go
I was totally ready to go, and Sunday morning couldn’t come
fast enough. The night before the race always drags on for way too long, but I
think I was asleep by 11. 4am came before I knew it, and I was trying to force
myself to finish my usual pre-race breakfast which never just wants to go down
without a fight. As much as I love
breakfast, race morning breakfast is my least favorite. I was soooo excited but
also nervous because it just has been a while, and I had some big expectations.
Making sure Fireball had a good night sleep and is ready to go!
All business before the race
SWIM: (36:38 – 2min
16 sec faster than last year, 83rd/270 females)
I have been swimming well in the pool, so I was actually
looking forward to seeing what I could do, but although more confident than
ever, the butterflies were there. Butterflies were buzzing around more than ever
because I knew the potential I had, and I just really wanted to get it done. I
owed it to myself and to my super swim coach Karen and of course the mastermind
behind my entire training Jorge. They both have gone above and beyond to get me
to where I was today, and for that I am very thankful. I have only been in open water once this year
prior to race and I almost froze and lasted less than 15 minutes so I really
wouldn't count that as the perfect open water practice. I knew deep down though
that I was capable of a good (for me) swim. Since my wave didn't go off until
40 min after the pro wave, I had plenty of time to squeeze myself into my TYR
Hurricane (that alone is a job of itself), and before I knew it, we were lined
up to go. FINALLY! I did get in a 5 min warm up right before my wave went off
which was definitely helpful. Water was super nice thanks to the heat wave from
the last few days but still wetsuit legal. My wave consisted of all females
35-39 and younger plus the relay folks, so I knew that the overall winner of
this race is most likely going to come from our group or perhaps the 40-44
crowd that started 5 min behind us. There were definitely some speedsters there
too.
Beautiful swim venue
With the sound of the horn, we ran into Lake Quassapaug, and
off we went. The usual kick, push, punch deal went on for a little bit and then I
found myself in the middle of a pretty spread out group. I definitely have some
work to do when it comes to swim starts, but I knew that going in. I didn’t
really worry much about anyone around me and just concentrated on swimming my
own race. As the race went on I realized
I was swimming pretty much next to someone else. That someone else was sighting
frequently, which I was able to see every time I took a breath so I stopped
sighting often which definitely helped my rhythm. Eventually I lost this person
before we got to the first turn buoy, but I was still surrounded by many others
and with the glare in our faces on the 2nd leg of the swim, I pretty
much used the group to guide me to the next turn. It worked for most part, and
there was only one time where I found myself maybe a bit too much on the inside
of the buoys, but nothing too horrible. Before I knew it we were headed back to
shore. I did end up on some feet on the way back albeit very briefly, as I got
kicked in the face and I had all I needed. (thankfully somehow my goggles
stayed on) With goggles still in place, and with only a little leak as a result
of the kick, I left the feet and went on my own marry way towards the finishing
arch. This was seriously the first swim ever, when I didn’t think that the swim
was too long. I felt good, I felt strong, and definitely in control the whole
time. I am pretty sure I was on course the entire time for most part (I may
have taken that first leg a bit too wide), but I am very happy with my mental
headspace and the fact I wasn’t swimming buoy to buoy but rather what I thought
was a straighter shot to the turn buoys and the finish line. I didn’t swim with a watch so I didn’t know
what my swim time was at the time, but I wanted it that way. I felt great
getting out of the water, “Fireball” wasn’t alone in T1 when I got to it, and
that’s all I needed to know. It was time to ride!
How do you get this thing off again?
T1: (1:51, 63rd/270 females)
One word describes T1 – rusty! My wetsuit got stuck a bit on
my timing chip, I fumbled with my garmin and trying to get that on, and finally
I had a hard time snapping in the buckle on my helmet – ugh! I felt like I was
in there FOREVER, but apparently I still passed 20 females in transition so now
I was 63rd instead of 83rd coming out of T1.
BIKE: (2:38:51 – 4min 7sec faster than last year, fastest
amateur bike split by 6+ minutes, 7th overall including PRO’s, 3rd/270 females)
If my quick ride yesterday was any indication of how the
bike would go on race day, I knew it was going to be fast! My legs had plenty
of energy yesterday, and I had a hard time holding them back. My mega legs were
ready to go! I had specific instructions (I do train/race with power), but to
be honest come race day, my power meter is there to hold me back from totally hammering
the uphills and avoiding any crazy
spikes I am certainly very capable off. I don’t spend my ride staring at my
powermeter and riding to numbers at all. I ride by feel and if that means on
the given day I am 5 watts of from my target that’s where I am at, and that’s
where my legs are on that day. I know better by now to no trash my legs on the
bike. With that said, my legs felt absolutely awesome the entire time. I knew some
sub 30 min swimmers that were ahead of me on the bike so when I went by all of
them by mile 20ish on the bike, I knew my swim wasn’t terrible and I was riding
well. By mile 38.6 (The first turn around, I had moved from 63rd
overall female to 7th overall female, and I was still feeling
awesome. There is a reason why the back
of this years medal says: “You Conquered the Mountains of Quassy” but for some
reason, the bike course seemed almost flat.
The first time I did this race 2 years ago, I had felt like
I was climbing to the clouds, but not this time. My legs were on, and the heat
wasn’t affecting me. I did grab water/Gatorade at every aid station and made
sure to cool off and pour an entire bottle of water (not Gatorade) all over
myself. When I went by the last aid station at mile 43, I grabbed a new bottle
of water to have for the rest of the ride, but unfortunately had fumbled it at
mile 45, which meant I was left with no water, and Gatorade only for the last
11 miles. Ugh! Taking in a gel and washing it down with Gatorade is slightly
gross, and I knew I wasn’t quite as hydrated as I would have liked to be going
into the run. I wasn’t exactly dying of thirst, but I am a master of peeing on
the bike (yes – I said it) and normally I am like clock work, so I knew when I
didn’t have to go for the entire 56 miles, I wasn’t quite hydrated enough. However, the thought of more Gatorade wasn’t
appealing either.
I suppose it’s time to stop crying about not riding my bike
enough, which is something that coach Jorge hears from me quite a bit. With the
crappy weather we have had this year, I had honestly not put in very many rides
over 56 miles (I can probably count those on one hand), but the very focused
approach that Jorge takes with me continues to work wonders. My CP continues to improve with 2 very
specific sessions every week (yes only
twice a week – the sessions are no more than an hour, but they are no walk in
the park), and one longer ride on weekends. Now that it’s finally warmer out,
those rides will get longer, and I am certainly excited about that – I do love
to ride my bike afterall, and I can’t wait to continue to improve mega although
there is nothing glorious about that except for a hell of a lot of fun pain
that comes with every one of these sessions. Mega legs definitely do not come
easy, but I know there is more power to be had.
I did leave some time on that course when having to deal
with cars that don’t believe bikers can ride over 45 mph and decide to just
block the road, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I came into T2 as 3rd
overall female and ready to run!
Into T2 I go
I did leave some time on that course when having to deal
with cars that don’t believe bikers can ride over 45 mph and decide to just
block the road, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I came into T2 as 3rd
overall female and ready to run!
T2: (0:45 - 3rd/270 females)
As rusty as I was in T1, my T2 went pretty much perfect.
Well, except for the fact that somehow I tried to put my right show in left
foot and vice versa. Duh! Socks/shoes on, visor/gels in hand and I was out of
there.
Bike racked, shoes on, go, go, go ...
And I am out of there ...
Brian was a GREAT cheerleader!
RUN: (1:38:38 – 1min 32sec faster than last year,7th
fastest amateur run, 2nd/270 females)
Aaaah the run! I have been running much better and stronger
than I have ever been so I am a little bit disappointed with my performance
here. I definitely had hopes for a faster run, but it just wasn’t there on
Sunday. This run course is no joke, and when combined with heat, it becomes that
much harder. I was right where I wanted to be for the first 7ish miles, and my
legs felt great! I didn’t have that brick like feeling getting off the bike at
all, and I was trucking along just fine. I took the first 3 miles a bit easier,
and was saving a little energy for those punishing ups and downs that were
awaiting starting with mile 3.5. I felt great on the ups, and my legs were
responding great, but I was starting to get really hot regardless of my cooling
routine I used when going through every aid station. I would grab water, throw
ice down the shorts, and hold ice in both of my hands to stay cool, which
worked great until about mile 7. I did
however feel quite hungry which was most likely the result of under fueling on
the bike. By mile 7, I had already gone through 2 gels, and from that point on
switched to coke. It was also mile 7
where the heat started to get to me, and the ice down the shorts, hold ice in
hands routine didn’t exactly work for very long. Until mile 7 I was able to
stay relatively cool with whatever I was doing, but by not having an aid
station every mile (yes – I am spoiled from Kona), after mile 7, my hands and
face turned into quite a bit of a heating unit. As in, my hands would get so
hot, I could melt 3 to 4 ice cubes in a few minutes. I could probably fry an
egg in the palms of my hands! This has also happened to me last year in both
Buffalo Springs and Vegas (both silly hot races) so it’s something that I will
work on going forward. My run performance
was affected a bit by the heat, and I didn’t really get to run as hard as I
could have because I was afraid I would melt but I am happy about keeping it
together the way I did for most part. The last 2 miles were tough,
especially with the last one being all uphill. By then it was just about
holding on to whatever pace felt manageable given my state of “hotness” ;). I
know the run was tough for anyone because I think for the first time ever, I
didn’t get passed by anyone on the run (girls or guys), and I had actually made
up a few spots, and ran myself from 3rd overall female out of T2 to
2nd.
I actually got to enjoy the finish line and made myself look presentable!
Not yet almost
Where is that ice tub again?
Once I crossed the finish line, my number one priority was
to cool off! Those ice buckets Rev3 had right at the finish line were a life
saver and honestly I have never been so happy to hop into an ice bath! I sat in
it for quite some time and actually thought that it was quite warm so yeah –
that’s how hot I was. (I strongly dislike cold water and am usually the first
one to complain about being cold so that fact I was loving this ice bath tells
you all you need to know). I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
Ice NEVER felt so warm!
I seriously could have sat in there all day!
That would be a happy me
In the end, my performance was good enough for 2nd
Overall Female and my first ever Top 3 at a 70.3 race, and a 8 min PR on this
course. I finally went under that 5 hours on this beastly course and I am very
happy while also knowing the potential to go faster is 100% there. My final time
was 4:56:42, and I can’t wait till next year because I’ll be back J
Huge thanks goes out to my coaches Jorge and Karen, and the
rest of the support team. You all know who you are. I couldn’t do this without
you! Also, thank you to ALL my teammates/friends for hanging out and cheering
me on throughout the day! You guys were all great!
And here is me on the overall podium along with the quite possibly heaviest and biggest medal I
have ever gotten!
The one on the left is the one everyone received, the bigger one on the right is my 2nd place overall medal
2nd place Overall
Best part is - the two medals can be put together into one what feels like a 50lb medal!
In addition to my medal, I have also received bunch of other
goodies from Rev3 and my teammate/friend Tyler had given me a very cool present
that all you guys should check out! It is a care package for athletes (either
recovery or training) that comes in in 2 different sizes, and besides the great
products that are inside, the package itself is SUPER duper cool.
RacePak - YUM!
I told you the packaging was SUPER duper cool!
You will find these guys at a lot of the local running or
triathlon races, or you can also purchase their product online at www.race-pak.com . It’s worth czeching out
for sure!
Thanks for reading! Next up – Patriot 70.3 in 10
short days!
HUGE CONGRATS TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT. All your hard work paid off!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennifer! I am definitely super happy with the way the race went ,and always hungry for more ;) "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" ... what's up next for you? :)
DeleteGratulujem!!!!
ReplyDeleteHard work is paying off!
I love that you are not afraid to talk about your goals, no matter how lofty they are! When you say it, you believe in it and I think that it helps a lot in achieving those goals.
PS: Wish me luck. Buffalo Springs is in three weeks:) My first ever 70.3!
Moc Dekuji! You will love Buffalo Springs - super well organized race! Let me know if you have any questions as I have done that one last year
DeleteJANA! You rock. Awesome job out there! So impressed and so psyched for you PODIUM SPOT!!! #2 overall ! SO COOL!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary! I have definitely come a long way since the first time I met you at the Westwood pool!
DeleteObrovská gratulace! You are a huge inspiration for me, watching you going or your dreams and goals!!! Great job! Keep it up! Good luck with the following race, I am heading for only a half marathon his weekend :) attempting to get close to 1:30 :)
ReplyDeleteMockrat dekuju. Have a great race and one word of advice - just run relaxed and don't press the pace too much at the start ;) Easily said that done, but works wonders! Not obsessing about my time from mile to mile allowed me to run my 1/2 marathon PR few weeks ago ... I too was just attempting to break 1:30 and ended up with 1:27:xx ... go get em'!
Delete