Race #2 of the Season: USAT Sprint Nationals

So. I learned back in ... October, maybe? ... that I apparently qualified for USAT Sprint Nationals (and Olympic Nationals, which there was no way in hell I was signing up for that) thanks to my performance at Brineman. Which given that was not my fastest Brineman, I'm guessing it's solely because Brineman was a state championship race.

Therefore, in 19 years of racing triathlon, I finally qualified for something. And with deferring Roth ... why not?

Drove out to Milwaukee and got there Thursday. The reason for getting there so early was in theory to do some open water swim thing on Friday ... but I realized that was paid and that there were times to get in the water for course familiarization that were free, so I did that instead on Saturday. Alas.

Did get registration out of the way Thursday afternoon though.

Thought the hotel was a lot closer than the mile away it ended up being. 

But there were a lot of us triathletes there.

Went back down Friday to get my bike double-checked by Quintana Roo (first race on the new ride!) and then Saturday to do the course swim and then later to check the bike in for the next day.

Enjoy transition, Andarna. 

Went to the Brewers game after check-in which might not have been the best idea, but meh. It also meant that I wasn't doing pre-race breakfast for dinner for the first time in a very long time. Which was purposeful given that I highly, highly doubt I'll be able to do it for Roth next summer.

Race Day

Up early, like always. B found a 24 hour diner right near the hotel so he found us some breakfast which I ate once we found a parking spot near the race site. I realized too late that maybe it would have been smart to prepay for on-site parking, but thankfully street parking in Milwaukee is free on Sundays (... I miss when that was still the case in Denver ...) so we ended up maybe a block, block and a half from transition. Which wasn't bad.

I went and set up my transition zone, taking my bag with me when I left since bags weren't allowed in transition. Having B there (and the car close) was nice since I could just give it to him instead of waiting for the (very long) line at bag check post-race.

 
All set up.

And then it was just waiting ... since I had to be out of transition by 6:30 and I didn't go off until the second to last wave ... at freaking 9am.

I watched and cheered on the other racers, did my pre-race business, ate a protein bar, tried to stay calm, the usual. Two of B's cousins also came to cheer (one from around Madison and the other from Chicago - we also did the baseball game with them), so we met up with them.

EVENTUALLY, it was finally time for me to race.

The Swim:

Those are my blue and magenta tri suit sleeves. Photo courtesy B's cousin Peter.

I'm just above the 4 adjusting my goggles. Photo courtesy B's cousin Peter.

There I go with my awkward swim stroke.

The swim ... was. Felt better than the practice swim I did the day before, but ... I can tell my swim just wasn't what it was in 2019 or even what it had held on to be in 2022. Definitely something that needs to change over the winter. Which just means swimming. A lot.

Time: 20:30 (65th division, 651st gender, 1393rd overall)

T1:

It was a decently long run to transition, but I found my stuff relatively easily. And yes, it was partially because my bike was fairly alone on the racks. It is.

Time: 3:53

The Bike:

Starting the bike. Photo courtesy husband.

I'm on the far right. Husband is far left. Photo courtesy B's cousin Peter.

The bike started off okay. I was able to pick off a few people which felt nice.

About four-ish? maybe? miles in, there was a decent hill and I realized very quickly that I have zero climbing legs anymore. Zero. A few of those people I passed? Yeah, they passed me back.

Same thing happened on the other decent hill (we got to ride part of a highway which, ngl, was pretty dang cool). 

I felt like I was riding pretty well, all things considered (shit training), and I think part of the reason why is the new ride. She really is just faster. Ate a few maple candies and hydrated with my Skratch as I do.

Time: 42:32 (43rd, 391st, 1059th)

T2:

... I am not sharing it with you, but Peter did get a fairly funny photo of me running through transition dealing with all my crap. Still, tried to make it as efficient as possible. Which included me putting the aquaphor on the back of my neck for my wetsuit chafing that I DIDN'T do in T1.

Time: 3:51

The Run:

... I wasn't sure how the run would go. How well I'd be able to run at all. My running has been ... okay, not great. Fairly mediocre if I'm honest with myself, but hey.

I managed. I ate a maple candy or two. And I did my best. Even though it was pretty humid (thankfully the clouds hung around all race to keep it from getting that hot).

B found me by the time I entered the park where the eventual finish line was, though the cousins disappeared by that point, having to have needed to get home for work the next day.

Oh hey. Photo courtesy husband.

There was an out-and-back section that seriously was the longest EVER, but one of the other women out there was high-fiving everyone who ran past and her energy was so outstanding. And necessary.

And although the clouds looked ominous and the rain was threatening ... I finished before the storm came.

Time: 33:44 (72nd, 620th, 1383rd)

Overall Stats:
Time: 1:44:28
67/76 division (F40-44)
578/758 gender
1314/1600 overall
70/76 Team USA rank*

If we talk about my goal for this race - finish above 75% (have 25% of the field below me) at sprint nats - I failed at it. Except within my own gender, which ... kinda. And I know it's my own damn fault, regarding my shit training ... but it still kinda hurts. As it honestly should.

I did get word I automatically qualified for next year (apparently attending nationals qualifies you automatically for the next year), but I am still very undecided if I want to go. It's a month post-Roth and logistically I probably could, but ... eh. We'll see. As of right this second though ... I'm not sure. And I don't really like that this in theory means that I have now officially qualified in perpetuity because really, have I?

But regardless, glad I went, if only for the experience.

And the very Wisconsin cheese medal. 

 

 

 

*to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the Team USA rank is or what it means. And I'm okay with that.

Race #3 of the Season: St. George Marathon

Back about a little over a year ago (two?), I finally seriously started considering running a standalone marathon.

I don't remember if it was due to all the fun tracking friends at Chicago and New York or what, but I decided to go for it. Partially because the thought did scare me, and it's been a long time since I signed up for the big scary goal, so to speak. We all know that I tried for Chicago and didn't get in, so I went with my backup plan, which was St. George.

Early training started out okay ... and then I got sick in early July and training was never the same. 

(Training hasn't been the same since 2021. I'm starting to wonder if it ever will be.)

If I had to guess, I got in maybe 6 or 7 double digit runs throughout the whole training cycle. The longest I got up to was 16 (17, maybe?). The only thing that would save my ass would be, once again, just knowing I can do hard shit - it just hurts a lot worse undertrained.

I booked our hotel in St. George starting Thursday since I thought the 5K B was running was Friday morning - it was Friday night. Oops. It did make things a lot less stressful on Friday, though, with the expo and everything.

As I said in my IG stories - we'll see if this is a true statement by Saturday afternoon.

After the expo, it was mainly resting and eating (... and pooping - nervous colon was acting on overdrive this day) until it was time for B to do his 5K ... which was going to be in the mid-90s, thanks to the temps being slightly unseasonably warmer.

Start line. I was on cheer duty and unfortunately only mostly got video.

We know B doesn't do well in heat, but he had some water with him and knew to take it easy. Wasn't his fastest 5K by any means and the heat did get to him a little, but he finished, so hooray for that.

Then, off to Denny's for some pre-race breakfast-for-dinner and some to go scrambled eggs so I could in theory have some food for my ass-early wakeup call.

Race Day

The alarm came nice and early. I got dressed and prepped my pack. I attempted to eat my reheated scrambled eggs, but maybe only got down a bite or two. I also took some dramamine for the bus ride ... just in case.

My bus time was 5:15 so we left the hotel around 4:55ish in order for B to drop me off. I got on the bus and went up to the chilly and windy start line, 26.2 miles away.

I stayed in my hoodie as long as I could - up until the 15 minute prior mark, when morning clothes had to be dropped off - with the space blanket they gave me wrapped around my knees. I mostly sat by myself, but eventually huddled around one of the campfires and briefly chatted with a few other runners. I dropped off my bag by 6:40 - keeping my space blanket - and decided to try a porta potty stop pre-race. I didn't have to go much, but I went some, and that made me feel better.

They had a small drone show to start which actually did the race countdown and at 7am, the gun went off. I crossed about 8 minutes later.

The first few miles clicked by pretty steadily. I kept to my practice strategy of water every half mile and a swig of Skratch at the mile markers/beeps. I started eating two miles in, with a maple candy, and at 3, a bite of pickle chicken ... rotating those two every mile. (I think it was two in.)

5K mark: 34:51

Sometime early on.

I was a little surprised at how well the early miles felt. It was a gradual downhill, any breeze was (mostly) behind us, it was cool but not cold, and I just steadily made my way down the course.

So steadily, B barely beat me to Veyo.

10K: 1:06:23

Veyo was about 7 miles in and I was able to get a nice high five from the hubs before I started the hellish climb out of town. That I've ridden before, but completely forgot about.

... those would be uphill runners. Photo courtesy B.

It's funny to say at mile 8/9, but the post-Veyo hill really was the beginning of the end for me. Up until this point, I had been walk/running, but definitely mostly running, and the lungs were doing fine and the HR definitely manageable. I still kept to my 20 breath walk breaks going up Veyo ... but if I were to do this again, I wouldn't. I would only run once my HR truly got back recovered again. I think everything got elevated and then it never really wanted to come down.

This hill is like a mile and a half and then the next ... four?ish miles are like straight rollers.

Half-Marathon: 2:31:33

You'd see the star balloons a decent way off, so it was nice to know you were coming on a mile marker. Also, I saw this and was happy to be halfway done but also a little like, still another fucking 13.1?

I think it was some point after this that we got the super fun 6% downhill grade - I am very grateful I'm a decent downhill runner as the gravity on any substantial hill meant I was running - walking was too awkward; the legs were just going to run instead. 

It was also starting to get quite warm at this point, though I was happy with the pace I was maintaining. I kept to the side of the road, running on the painted lines to keep my feet from overheating.

Speaking of my feet ... I was feeling like maybe I was developing some blisters on my bunions (spoiler: I did), but there's nothing to do but keep moving, so that's what I did.

I forget exactly what mile marker this was near - sometime between 17 and 18, I think? - but it was where the wheels really started falling off.

The race had a misting station at the crest of this little hill ... but it didn't really do much. I refilled my Skratch bottle sometime around mile 16 I think and added ice to it when I got that at 19 or 20. The ice bag I got went in my hat for a second, at the back of my neck, down my shorts ... before I put one cube under the hat, saved one for each hand, and put the rest in my bottle.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get ice again. I tried at 22 or 23ish, but the aid stations were out.

I saw B again at 24, I think, and I drank some of the icy cold water that he had. Around 24 was also where I lost my sub-12 pace, unfortunately, unable to keep running much more than a handful of feet before needing to walk, due to heat and feet.

I had the perfect amount of maple candies and pickle chicken, finishing up the last of each in their respective mile (24/25). I probably could have filled my pack a touch fuller in the morning, as I ran out of water at like mile 24.5, but I had enough Skratch to still get me through (and still a few ounces left at the finish).

It was hard, horrible, and brutal - but I did it. And I didn't need to stop for IcyHot (... never used it before; wasn't going to start then) or walk backwards down the hills, like I saw some people doing.

Overall Stats:

Time: 5:21:12

131/197 division (F40-44)

1171/1802 gender

3101/4600 overall

First official race at a distance means an automatic ringing of the PR bell!

Wee, medal. I think B's 5K medal is actually a touch bigger ...

Dead and DONE.

All in all, not too horribly terrible for being undertrained. Despite being labeled as a downhill course, St. George is deceptively hard and terrible ... which everyone I know who's done it previously decided to tell me in commiseration post-race. 

I feel extraordinarily lucky that I was able to manage stairs okay both up and down the day(s) after the race. I even did a stick/puck session in Vegas Sunday night with friends ... though I was a lot slower and the foot blisters were not my friends. The massage I got Monday was probably the worst thing for my recovery as I'm pretty sure the therapist bruised my damn spine as that hurt for like a week after. 

****

So now I've run a marathon ... I do believe that it did technically hurt worse than an Ironman, especially given the comparative effort/time. Running is very stupid ... but I'll still probably do another one eventually. In like another 10 years.

2024 Goals

Well, as opposed to last year, I do have marginally more direction in my goals this year.

The first and foremost being, run my first (standalone) marathon. Which will be St. George (as soon as I'm allowed to register April 1).

I have a loose training plan already and I'll fine tune it as I get to the point where the actual plan would kick in (either 16 or 18 weeks out, probably).

As for the rest of things ... I've joined a hockey team (first game Sunday) ... mostly because B and I are hoping to play in a tournament in Germany over Oktoberfest with the same group I did my Europe hockey tours with back in college.

I have a few tentative races on the schedule, but haven't signed up for anything yet:
- Icebreaker Duathlon in early March (technically a tri, but I don't do pool swim tris)
- Antelope Island Duathlon in early April (are these two races question marks due to weather? Because yes, yes they are)
- Jurassic Run 5K in late June (okay, this one is going on the schedule because it runs through a dinosaur park in Ogden and DUDE SO US)
- Echo Canyon Tri in mid-July
- either Daybreak Tri or Provo Canyon half in mid-August (partially depends on what we do (if anything) for B's birthday)
- East Canyon Half in late August (depends on if I do Provo Canyon)
- Brineman again in early September (depends on if I have the time or if I'm on a plane to Germany at the time)

A cousin also is trying to get me to do the Chicago Triathlon (probably because he couldn't talk me into doing a charity slot for the marathon) which is in late August ... but that's probably gonna be a no.

I also know that balancing a local tri season with hockey and marathon training is going to be interesting - especially because I will have to get creative with runs around the Germany trip if it happens (I've already accepted I'm probably forgoing a long run that week, but the extra rest - and sprint work from hockey! - probably won't be the worst thing). But I've never wanted to be shoved in a box, and 40 apparently is me doing all the things. So it goes.

But. Actual goals:
- Finish my marathon
- Preferably with a respectable time (if I could do around 5, I'd be thrilled)
- Stay healthy and happy with everything
- Not neglect strength and flexibility
- If I do Brineman ... do better than last year

On Pivoting

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I have finally decided that I'm going to run my first marathon in 2024. And yes, I'm going to add the caveat of first standalone marathon, as I have technically schmecnically run four marathons at the end of all my Ironmans.

Years ago, I said the only marathon I really wanted to run was Boston. While I still would love and adore Boston, I realistically know that the odds of qualifying - for me - are ... not good. And yeah, I could try for a charity slot, but I loathe asking people for money, so there's also that.

But obviously, things change. Last year, while virtually cheering on friends and family at the NYC Marathon ... I decided that you know what? Maybe it's time. I haven't had a big, scary goal - one that truly does scare me - in a while and a standalone marathon does scare me.

I crowd-sourced some and got a lot of different responses, but the one that came up a bit more than others and did make the most sense - particularly given the family that runs it (or tries to run it) every year - was the Chicago Marathon.

So, as soon as the lottery opened up this year, I entered it. And yesterday was the day we would find out if our applications were successful.

I ... was not.

I knew this was a possibility. I could in theory take this as a sign that, well, running a marathon isn't for me. However, I also decided on two backup options: the St. George Marathon and the Tucson Marathon.

St. George takes place in early October - usually the week of or before Chicago (week before in 2024) and Tucson in early December (it's actually this weekend).

Both have their perks.

St. George: driving distance, smaller, has won many awards for being well-organized, downhill but not crazily so, can easily sneak down to Vegas after as a reward.

Tucson: technically driving distance, obviously it's in cactusville and we all know how much I love Tucson, also downhill (a little more ridiculous though), I know some people locally.

In looking over what I'm hoping to do for the rest of next year, though, I think ultimately, St. George makes the most sense. So, when registration opens up in April, I'll be on my computer ready to sign up.

(And if I somehow miss out on that? Well, Tucson was still open as of yesterday, so I've got that as a backup to the backup plan.

Race #2 of the Season: Brineman Sprint Triathlon

While I've mostly been dealing with a break from racing due to various reasons, we both decided to race a local sprint triathlon that literally took place a half mile from our house - TriUtah's Brineman.

Brineman has a kids' splash 'n' dash race, a sprint, an Olympic, and a half-distance race. When I was first tossing around the idea, obviously I was thinking the half, sort of mulled over the Oly (even though I'm not the biggest fan of the distance), but ultimately we both settled on the sprint.

We drove down Wednesday night for packet pickup instead of dealing with it race morning as why would we want to go about a mile to packet pickup and then that mile to the race venue and then back to our house (and back again) when we could just avoid going to the stupid nature center until we finished there with the race later that day?

Because the fun, weird thing about this race, is that it takes place on a Friday morning. 

Transition/bike drop off opened up earlier than I thought I had read, so we literally just rolled out of bed and went to drop our bikes and gear off before doing anything (except maybe brushing my teeth). Bikes got dropped and we walked home to make breakfast and do all the things (happily poop in our own toilet, get changed into our tri kits, sunscreen (and bug spray) up ...). With about an hour to go before the start of the sprint, we headed back over to transition.

Been a while since I've set up a transition zone like this ...

Chilling out.

Around about the time the Olympic race went off, we got into our wetsuits and went for a quick little practice dip into the lakes. Oh yeah, the swim takes place in one of the two private waterski lakes that are in our neighborhood. Probably the only time (unless I race again) that I'll be allowed in these lakes. Even though I want to make friends with the kid who was skating on them when they froze over last winter ...

The Swim:

The swim course of the lake was either a half loop (if you were doing the sprint), a full loop (the Olympic), or one of each (the half). We lined up due to estimated 100yd swim pace (I went in around the 2:00-2:20 group iirc? maybe the 1:50-2:00?) ... B actually decided to line up with me. 

The timing mat was a few feet from the actual water so you crossed the mat, gingerly took a few steps on the boat dock, and then popped in the water. I took about two steps off the dock and said "fuck it" and started swimming, though many others around me waded in a bit more.

I think it happened at CdA, but pretty much ever since then (with a few notable exceptions), the swim leg of triathlon has been a non-issue for me. Like, it just is. I don't question my life on it - I just put my head down and swim.

I did, however, feel like I got beat up the most on this swim than ANY OTHER. Early on, I got smacked in the face and my goggles slid just enough to be annoying, but not annoying enough for me to want to stop to tread water to fix them. If it had been a longer swim, maybe, but this short? Eh. I got a forearm to the back, constant smacking of feet and legs and arms, another smack in the face ... it was brutal. I'd do my best to swim away from someone and through a hole and that person would just swim back into me. Like, really? Figure it out.

Other than the physical contact, an uneventful swim except for me almost swimming into a boat dock and having a bit of trouble sighting to the finish due to the sun.

Popped out, saw 15:something on my watch (decently happy with for 750m) ... and proceeded to still have to run a decent stretch back to transition to where the timing mat was. And I did flop off the path on the grass to take my wetsuit off as I knew space in transition was limited.

Time: 17:46

T1:

While I saw B's bike was gone (figures), there were a good chunk of us in our tiny little corner all at the same time. I do think I beat most of the other guys out, though. Did take a second to toss a bit of Aquaphor on my neck even though I didn't really feel like I chafed. It was also nice being on a fence as that's where I tossed up my wetsuit. It was nice and dry by the end of the day.

Time: 2:12

The Bike:

So. We had pre-rode the course (using the very terrible directions on the site) about a week prior. Figured out that the turns that gave us issues would be well-marked on race day and didn't worry about it from there.

The course started off normal - in fact, it started off on my usual ride from the house - but then a little bit after where I thought we should have turned ... we didn't. And kept riding off my usual path. And then we turned toward the Antelope Island causeway ... which I knew that the other two distances did, but not us. We rode over the bumpy dirt section (which, in the final pre-race e-mail, was mentioned as a concern for the half and Olympic distance racers, but not the for the sprint ...), went past the guard gate for a little bit and then flipped it.

So, what was in theory a 12.5ish mile bike turned into a 10.6ish mile bike. Which means the race results have me as a lot faster of a speed than I actually had.

That being said, I did ride it a lot faster than I usually do in training, so that's a plus. I was kind of going all out all day, and my Garmin definitely showed it.

Time: 35:49

T2:

Just as there were a few of us in T1, most of us also all rolled into T2 at the same time, too, including a guy that I had been going back and forth with a little. Which was hilarious.

Mostly uneventful again except trying to figure out where one of my socks went and choosing to not deal with BodyGliding my feet.

I should also say that I saw B very early on in the run as I rolled in, so I knew I wasn't far behind. I also wasn't sure if I could catch him (spoiler: I didn't).

Time: 2:26

The Run:

The elevated heart rate I had all day really came into play on the run as it was a little rough trying to run. I did try to run as much as I could and did my 20 breath walk breaks (as per usual). Mile one was sub-11, which I was very grateful for.

The run goes right behind our house at one point and we put the dinosaurs up in a window so we could see them which made me very happy. Our neighbors also put a sign up which made me crack up:

In-joke. Apparently one of their family members hates encouraging signs, so they do signs more like this when cheering for EVERYONE in the family now. I heard about this and thought it was hilarious and was totally fine with them doing it for us, too.

Mile two was in the 11s, but I was still actually passing some people. I had no idea where I was place-wise or anything, but I did know that I was doing more passing than being passed - even with my walk breaks.

The run was in theory a 5K ... but both B and I definitely had around 3.4 miles instead. While mile 3 was still in the 11s, it was actually faster than mile 2. Race results have me averaging a 12:08/mi, but the race also thinks that my time was for a 5K. Which it totally was NOT.

Perk to B finishing before me - finish shot! He put his phone in his jersey for the run for Peloton app tracking because he is a nerd.

Time: 38:01

Overall Stats:
Time: 1:36:13.78
3/11 division (F40-44)
32/82 gender
107/209 overall

Wait, what's that? Third in my AG? Yep.

Didn't wait for an official medal ceremony, but they accepted my print-out results for my award thingy and then we staged this photo.

Technically schmecnically I was fourth in my age group, but the overall women's winner was also in the 40-44 AG so she got pulled into the overall top three letting me sneak up onto the podium. My first official AG award in a triathlon - I've done it in a 5K and in a few duathlons, but this is a triathlon first for me. Woo!

B was official champion of the house, finishing just under four minutes ahead of me, but he didn't place in his age group, so we both kind of win.

Fun day, and it makes me excited to jump into the local tri scene more next year.

Race #4 of the Season: Ironman Memphis 70.3

I knew after Boulder what I needed to work on. Mainly, riding my damn bike and getting in bike miles.

Did I do those things? Well ... not so much, if you saw my September recap post. Mostly because of my body but also because, well, I'm kind of ready for this year to be done. I released that what will be, will be, and whatever was going to happen was going to happen.

*****

Since apparently every 70.3 this year is on a Saturday (so ... weird ...), we left CO on Wednesday. We left later than we perhaps normally would have for a long drive, but that's because I had a gastro appointment that morning that I really didn't want to cancel. The butt had basically calmed down, but better safe than sorry, right? 

(really, I just need to watch the amount of fat in my diet and keep an eye on things and I probably just had some really annoying parasite that didn't want to leave my colon/stomach. probably nice in there. i dunno.)

Day one was to Tulsa and then on to Memphis. We both somehow messed up our check-in times, but we got checked in no problem and then to a very disappointing merch tent. APPARENTLY there were coffee mugs, but I had no idea about those until someone posted about them post-race. Guess they were all sold out by the end of the first day of check-in. Name tees were also not showing up until sometime the next day. I get supply-chain issues, but geez.

We did a nice little shakeout run along a bit of the run course and I almost died from the humidity. Greeeeat. Although, there are buffalo in Shelby Farms Park, which is cool ... and also why the race shirt has a buffalo on it. Because otherwise I would NOT associate "Memphis" with "buffalo."

Saturday morning we headed over for a pre-race swim in the lake thing ... but I misread stuff and apparently we needed to wear our timing chips for it. Dang it. I knew we had to check-in on Thursday in order to swim on Friday, but that was in order to get a timing chip. Ugh. So no swim for us. Instead of swimming, I left B at the park to wait for the store (and shirts) while I went back over to the hotel to get our bikes and bike stuff to get in a quick ride to make sure everything there was functional before bike check-in.

Ride done ... bikes checked in.

B staring at his bike, knowing this might be the last time he races it in a triathlon ... or at least a long-distance one.

Hopefully see you tomorrow, finish line!

Grabbed lunch after, picked up race food on the way back to the hotel (pickle chicken), and then just chilled out the rest of the day until it was time to walk to Waffle House for pre-race breakfast-for-dinner.

*****

Race Day

While we're smart enough to not check forecasts TOO obsessively, the one fact that we couldn't ignore was that it looked like rain was going to be a thing. It rained the evening before and was raining as we sat outside Waffle House at 4a waiting for the employees to get off break so we could get some breakfast.

(funny note about Waffle House here: we were chatting with some of the others waiting outside with us and one of the guys was race support for another athlete. he then became known as "Waffle House guy" and we actually saw him quite a bit over the course of the day - coming out of the swim and a few times on the run. "Waffle House guy" does have a name - Brian - and he found B on Facebook a few days later.)

Food eventually gotten, we made our way over to Shelby Farms Park. Trans opened at 5a and that's about the time that we pulled into the long train of cars waiting to park. The line was very slowly moving and we considered heading off into the field like a few others were doing ... but then we saw a pickup truck spinning its wheels, seemingly stuck in the mud. Um, we'll wait right here, thanks. In what ended up being a happy stroke of luck, we were guided to park just off the main road (still in the mud) as opposed to the GIANT FIELD OF MUD.

All parked, it was time to walk the mile or so to transition. In the rain.

Rainy walk.

Given the rain, we knew our transition set up would be a bit different - no main trans towel, shoes in plastic bags to attempt to keep stuff marginally dry - and tire pressure would be a bit lower than normal. We also learned that the water temp, despite the rain, went up a degree from the day prior so the swim would not be wetsuit legal (unless you wanted to start at the back, which neither of us really did).

One tiny COVID perk - non-pre-assigned race numbers meant we were right near each other in transition.

We did get word that the race start was delayed, but were unsure as to *why*. Later word is probably because of the parking shitshow and to ensure athletes could actually get into transition and set up.

We did eventually make our way down to the swim start and hang out (in the cold rain) until things got going.

The Swim:

We both seeded ourselves in the 46-50 minute group - me because that's where I live (and it worked out for Boulder) and B because he hadn't swum much. 

Getting in the water took an extra few seconds since we were funneled into small little chutes and released every three seconds. Well, the woman in front of me was still edging her way in when it was my turn and I didn't have a lot of space to hop in. 

Made my way in and started swimming. I think I didn't have my aero top zipped up enough or something because it felt like it ballooned some ... not ideal. Probably created a lot of drag.

Sighting went okay, not great. Part of that was the buoy placement (in talking with other athletes post-race).

Other general swim notes:
- I got beat up the most in that swim than any other IM swim I've done. I discovered bruises on me a few days later that I was like, yep, that's from where I got kicked.
- Amusingly enough, I didn't notice it stopped raining briefly during the swim until I actually noticed raindrops. Which obviously the brain processed as, "oh, it must have stopped raining for a second."
- Buoys were all, on your right until randomly NO LEFT LEFT LEFT and then they were on the left for like the last few?
- Also about those last few buoys - rounding them felt like swimming backwards or being in a giant suction vent trying to suck me back toward the buoy (also not the only person to feel this way)

Other swim note: it was a SLOW HORRIBLE SWIM and not just for me. I saw my watch and was not a happy athlete.

Ugh, FFS ...

Well, time to move on ...

Time: 1:00:04 (61st division, 476th gender, 1502nd overall)

T1:

Run to T1 was long. Actually, for everyone doing this race, transitions were long. AND OMG MUDDY. Okay, the mud was because of the weather, but still.

I do want to pat myself on the back for a quick second as I acknowledged my absolute shit swim and then decided to NOT DWELL ON IT. Or worry about time cuts since "oh shit that was slow and now I have a rainy bike and oh shit it's gonna be slower and oh shit ..." ... because I didn't. At all.

I ran almost all the way into T1 slowing only at the super muddy tight turn into transition since I didn't want to eat it on the grass. I considered wiping a lot of the mud and grass off my feet, but realized it would probably be pointless, so I didn't bother. 

Some volunteers were saying if you have a jacket, put it on ... but the only one I had would have turned me into a sail so I just didn't bother.

I am thankful my cleats didn't pick up too much mud as I was able to clip in at the mount line. Thankfully.

I also, should note, that B did beat me out of the swim (as he does), so I was hoping I'd maybe see him on the bike.

Time: 6:26

The Bike:

So, in all my years of racing, I've never officially had the bike section in the rain. A minor exception to this could be the Big Sky Duathlon from back in ... 2014? ... since it did precipitate on me, but that was mostly hail and snow, NOT rain. Although I did have wet roads. It also misted or ... whatever ... on me at IMoo, but it didn't really truly start raining until deep into the run that day.

So this was a new one for me. I took it easy leaving Shelby Farms Park as was advised, but was able to get up to decent speed fairly early on. I did, however, take corners a lot easier than normal (mostly to start braking sooner). Yay for reading an article about bike racing in the rain the day before!

This picture gives you a good sense of the weather we had for the bike. It wasn't always super pouring rain, but I don't think the rain ever truly stopped while I was out there.

Slow cornering. Trademark wonky helmet. I also know these two photos were from early on in the bike due to my right shoe - hard to tell, but the strap wasn't done and I noticed that early and had to fix it.

Realized early on that I was going to be eating slightly soggy chicken - great. I also didn't eat any of my Bobo's bar until later than I normally would have since I was having issues opening the package in the rain. I didn't open it prior to the bike since I wanted the oatmeal bar to have a chance of NOT completely disintegrating into mush, but the trade-off was attempting to open it with wet hands while riding. My teeth eventually did the job.

In terms of nutrition, I did probably the best I have for a half. We kept being advised to hydrate more than we think we'd need to given the rain, so I drank probably the equivalent of two full bottles of Skratch and 2-3 bottles of straight water (I never drink this much in a half). I ate a full Bobo's bar and almost all of the 1.5 chicken patties I had. 

This might be why I had a really good bike.

I noticed fairly early on that I was having a pretty decent ride. All my five mile beeps were well ahead of where I like them to be (a 20:00 5 mile split means I'm averaging 15mph - I like being under that) and the legs felt pretty good.

The universe maybe tried to mess with that with the wasp sting I got around 20 miles in (maybe sooner - before the first aid station) - I turned some corner and felt a sharp sting in my knee - look down and there was a wasp/yellow jacket (definitely NOT a bee) - brushed it aside, complained ow, but could do nothing but pedal on. Asshole.

Went back and forth with a few people, as you do.

The open course made it a bit interesting at times - I definitely ended up having to pass a car on their left at one point which I was NOT a fan of - and it also meant that I cruised at a lower speed than I maybe normally would have during a few sections to also not pass cars. 

(this also meant that I tried to wave to as many cars as possible as a "hi thanks for not killing me" and "hi thanks for letting me/us use your roads today")

One nice perk about riding in the rain is that all the mud that was on my legs from running into transition? Yeah, it all got washed off.

Other than that, most people were pretty awesome. There were a few idiots - as always - but most of my fellow athletes were nice. Huge shoutout to the guy who warned me about the giant branch in the middle of the road that I wouldn't have seen until it was too late to avoid it. That would have been ugly.

As a race nitpick, I did not see ANY race support/officials on the bike course. No cars with the "IRONMAN SUPPORT" signs in the windshields and no officials on motorcycles. I'm sure they were probably out there, but it was weird to not see a one as I always do. I also do hope that they were ACTUALLY out there as, with the weather, there were a LOT of athletes on the side of the road with flats and other issues.

One of the drier moments.

Sticking my tongue out. As I do.

The thing that most astounded me was how well I was riding. I also never saw B, so I figured he was also having an amazing bike.

I rode so well, as it was, that I ended up getting a 70.3 bike PR by like two minutes.

Time: 3:19:47 (36th, 241st, 1040th)

T2:

Then I got into transition ... and I didn't see B's bike. And I never passed him. Oh ... shit.

I actually dug into my trans bag to check my phone to see if there were any missed notifications from anyone about him. A missed spam call and texts from his mom who was tracking us, but nothing major. Okay, chill out.

I got ready to run somewhat slowly - I didn't bother body gliding my feet as I usually do since there was no way I could get them dry enough for it to matter - and I definitely went to the bathroom as I had been needing to do that for a little while. 

Thankfully, about the time I was attempting to figure my way out of the mud pit that was transition without totally soaking my feet in mud puddles was when B rolled in. Apparently he took a two minute pee break at one of the aid stations and in that two minutes is when I passed him on course. 

We decided to do the run together at that point, so I just hung out until he was ready to go.

Which is why I have the slowest ever (for me) T2.

Time: 11:28

The Run:

It actually did dry out some for us on the run. It rained a little, but for the most part, it was the driest part of the day.

Except for my feet. So many puddles. My feet were so soggy that it actually hurt running on my pruny feet.

The run was two loops and wound its way around Shelby Farms Park. We got to see the buffalo (which was super happy). We had a vague run buddy for a little while - he apparently liked our "run as much as possible and then walk for a count of 20" system - but he wasn't super talkative and we weren't 100% sure why he was sticking with us. He ended up getting slightly ahead of us (and therefore missed when we took a walk break) and then left us for good which both B and I were actually kind of happy with.

I got chips at a vast majority of the aid stations, trying to keep consuming calories. I also did what I forgot to do at Boulder and brought a Skratch packet with me so I could refill my handheld with not just water and ice, but electrolytes too.

B ended up bumming (cold) coffee off one of the aid station volunteers which was somewhat hilarious for all involved.

The back half of the run course wasn't actually three miles - it was like 18 (also corroborated with other athletes). The actual best part of the back half was the St. Jude stretch with pictures of kids when at St. Jude and then later (presumably) in remission.

Loop two was a bit rougher - particularly for B - but we kept together and kept fighting.

I think we saw the photog on the back half of loop one. Obviously there's mature me with the tongue out and I love that B looks like he's dead here.

I might actually like this photo the best for the stoic face of the dude on the left.

While B implored me to leave much earlier (as he often does), I only left him on the final downhill (down and left to the finish), beating him by about the same margin from when I left him at the Saguaro half - 40 seconds.

Beat that woman in the chute running to the finish.

 

Kinda sad I didn't do anything cool - even arms raised - at the finish. Oops.

Time: 2:55:12 (55th, 429th, 1396th)

Overall Stats:

Time: 7:32:55

50/63 division (F35-39)

388/509 gender

1338/1585 overall

In terms of 70.3s, this finished right in the middle. Horrible swim, bike PR, meh run. If I hadn't run the whole thing with B, I definitely would have gone sub-7:30 (if only due to a shortened T2 time), but could I have managed what I did in Boulder? That's a big question and one I don't care to answer. Since I'm thankful I was able to do that run with B, as it might be the last triathlon race run I have the chance to do with him. 

DONE.

Might be the last of these you see from us for quite some time.

The official post-race photo that got sent to the MIL and put on the instas.

*****

Glad I could pull off both my 70.3s this year in decent times and hopefully can get my shit together for IM attempt number 5 next year ...

On Virtual Racing

We're in the middle of a pandemic. We might be nearing the end of it; we might just be gearing up for another wave. WHO KNOWS?

All we athletes know is that we don't have gyms to go to and all of our races are being cancelled.

... or are they?

Enterprising companies started hosting virtual races. Some were just the natural alternative for a race day that could no longer be held. Some just seem ridiculously on brand (see: IRONMAN, Rock 'n' Roll and their swag which includes masks ...). Others are just to give us racing and competitive types (or medal hounds) something to chase after. And some, well, it's just for the community aspect as that's a big reason a lot of us do sport - for the community aspect, and that's been taken away from us.

We can't see our friends at a race, so why don't we do the same race virtually?

... sure, let's go with it.

In any case, I've done three recently. I haven't put them in the race log (... because they're not actually races imho), but I figured I could at least make them into some blog content.

 Race #1: Mother's Day Smashfest Virtual 10K

Smashfest Queen put on a Mother's Day virtual race for either the 5K, 10K, or half-marathon distance. I decided on the 10K because why not. I actually attempted to race the thing, too. 

Race cost some money, for a swag race shirt. That I'll get some time in June. Because SMASH. Part of the fee also went to charity - No Kid Hungry.


With my bib. Yes, I printed all my bibs out. No, I didn't actually wear them running. #selfconscious


Husband got me as our run paths crossed.

I haven't actually raced a 10K in quite some time, so this kinda hurt. And also reminded me why I don't particularly like the distance.

Result: 6.26 mi in 1:05:05

Race #2: Skirt Strong Frickin' Women Virtual 5K

A couple of the current ambassador captains came up with the idea of this virtual race and, as an ambassador myself, of COURSE I was going to do this.

Race was free. It was for everyone. You could walk it or run it or whatever. 


Note the new race hat - it's a T. rex! Thanks to a random friend for introducing me to Bandanna Running in Boise and then Bandanna themselves for shipping to Colorado.





Didn't race this one nearly as hard. Also ran it with B, so that was partly why. Also it's really hard (at least for me) to click into race mode without the whole atmosphere and stuff.

Result: 3.12 mi in 33:03

Race #3: Conquer COVID-19 Virtual 10K

What, another 10K? Yes, I know. B and I both signed up for this one. Since running the Dino Half a few years back, we still get emails from Runtastic Events. With the whole shift to virtual ... they got creative. And really, we just ran this one for the medal.

So yes, we paid for this one. Did not pay extra for the t-shirt. Mostly just paid for the medal. Also had to actually upload results. They also donated $5 from every entry fee to a local running store. I chose Cadence Running Company in Arizona, since apparently that's how I'm getting shoes now.




The ever elusive both feet in the air running shot.




B coming into the "finish."


Done! The medals look like rolls of toilet paper. There's a spinner in the middle that looks like the coronavirus. The stuff on the back is along the lines of that Stay Home logo thing you see on Instagram.


My medal Monday shot. You get a sense of the ridiculousness here.

I will say we signed up for this basically solely for the medal. I'm hoping that, sometime in the future, we can look back on this medal as a humorous reminder of a pretty tough time.

Also B remembered with me why 10Ks suck. We didn't run this one nearly as hard as I did the Smash one the week prior.

Result: 6.21 mi in 1:11:25

*****

I think the virtual races do have a place, but they definitely don't replace actual racing (for me, at least). 

The other thing that's emerging, however, is virtual challenges. One I know a lot of people doing is GVRAT - the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee - run however many miles it is for the length of Tennessee (... somewhere around 1000, I think?) over the course of the summer. I'm not interested in that, but local company 3W Races is doing something on a smaller level - hike, walk, run, and/or bike the length of the Colorado Trail (486 mi) over 90 days (essentially June, July, and August). You can do it with a team or solo - Brandon and I think that we can hit that mileage across all those disciplines easily. 

Check back for the May recap next week to see if we actually pull the trigger on it ...