Sunday (6/11) was my third 70.3 and the first time I did a 70.3 that was not Ironman branded. I love the Grand Rapids tri (I did the Olympic last year) so I felt comfortable doing a non-branded race. It is also the USAT Athena/Clydesdale championship race and so that is appealing since there is special attention to detail for the national champion athletes.
David and I drove up to Grand Rapids/Ada on Saturday after I did a little shakeout brick at home, showered, and loaded the car. We stopped at Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend for lunch on the way up since I hadn't been to SB in a while and I love that place. I talked to coach Matt about the race on the way up and then we went to packet pickup at the Amway Spaulding campus. I weighed in, got my packet, and we headed to the hotel. We found a great restaurant called the Twisted Rooster for dinner and I had pork lollipops for dinner...so amazing. We also split a gluten free chocolate cake/mousse/cinnamon whipped cream amazing dessert.
Sunday morning I was up early to eat and get ready and we left the hotel about 5:30 - other triathletes were leaving at the same time. David dropped me and my gear off and I headed to transition. I got everything set up, went to the bathroom, and got my wetsuit halfway on. By then it was too close to the end of the swim practice and I hadn't seen David again to hand off my phone so I didn't get in...but I knew the water was 70-73 degrees so that wasn't going to be a problem. This race starts ON TIME. I was in the third wave and we were off at 7:10. It is a wave mass start but it wasn't too bad. There was some swimming on top of people, but that was pretty normal. Sighting was pretty good until we were in bound, then it was a bit hard to see in the sun, but the tinted goggles help and I could see other swimmers. I came out of the water at about the same time as the stragglers from the two men's waves that started at 7:00 and 7:05. It was a pretty solid swim and the wetsuit strippers had me out of my suit and in transition pretty quickly. They are amazing!
My rack was only 4 rows from the bike mount line so that was amazing. The first 15 miles of the bike were fast and fun...just like last year. Then we got into 5 miles of pretty tough hills, cross wind, head wind, and just crazy. After the turn it was better for a mile or a few (tail wind) but then back into the cross wind and the hills. The areas where I should have been in aero I ended up on the drops because the wind felt awful. I still managed to average 15.4 mph on the bike - would have preferred a stronger ride, but the conditions weren't super favorable.
The run was HOT. I mean 85-90 degrees. I started out running but needed to switch to run/walk intervals just before two miles. I did that through about mile 8 then it was a shorter run interval. Then I was walking a lot...and just trying to stay in it. I had started dumping ice and cold water on my head around mile 3 and continued that through the end. Fortunately there are a lot of aid stations and all are well stocked. I was doing well with hydration and nutrition and had implemented the hot weather version of the plan. But after about 5 miles I couldn't handle Gatorade anymore. Switched to all water. I did take salt sticks at 6. I had given two of my extra ones to someone who was struggling and asking everyone for salt. I passed on the cold wet towels at the first opportunity but then realized I needed to take advantage of every opportunity to stay in the race so I was using those too. Somewhere around mile 10 or 11 I noticed my shoes were squishing they were so wet. At mile 12 I tried Pepsi instead of my final Clif shot bloks (I wanted to puke by this time)...but I have never liked Pepsi and hot it is awful.
I was only able to run the blue carpet short stretch to the finish line, but I crossed and threw my arms up. They announced that I was unofficially third master Athena. I got a bottle of water, my championship towel, and medal. I had the guy spraying down athletes spray me for several minutes. I contemplated getting in the little pool at medical but decided not to.
We got my things out of transition and walked to the car (D had moved it closer). Once I was in the air (and sitting) I felt better.
I had missed the awards and somehow I didn't get my finisher visor, but they are sending those to me. We had some good dinner and froyo and then hung out in the hotel pool. In the morning we went for a nice breakfast and drove home. I have been overwhelmed with the social media support.
I finished in 7:46:56 - a 25 minute PR and approximately an hour faster than my first 70.3 in 2014. The victory was in staying in the race even with the very slow run and hot conditions.
David and I drove up to Grand Rapids/Ada on Saturday after I did a little shakeout brick at home, showered, and loaded the car. We stopped at Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend for lunch on the way up since I hadn't been to SB in a while and I love that place. I talked to coach Matt about the race on the way up and then we went to packet pickup at the Amway Spaulding campus. I weighed in, got my packet, and we headed to the hotel. We found a great restaurant called the Twisted Rooster for dinner and I had pork lollipops for dinner...so amazing. We also split a gluten free chocolate cake/mousse/cinnamon whipped cream amazing dessert.
Sunday morning I was up early to eat and get ready and we left the hotel about 5:30 - other triathletes were leaving at the same time. David dropped me and my gear off and I headed to transition. I got everything set up, went to the bathroom, and got my wetsuit halfway on. By then it was too close to the end of the swim practice and I hadn't seen David again to hand off my phone so I didn't get in...but I knew the water was 70-73 degrees so that wasn't going to be a problem. This race starts ON TIME. I was in the third wave and we were off at 7:10. It is a wave mass start but it wasn't too bad. There was some swimming on top of people, but that was pretty normal. Sighting was pretty good until we were in bound, then it was a bit hard to see in the sun, but the tinted goggles help and I could see other swimmers. I came out of the water at about the same time as the stragglers from the two men's waves that started at 7:00 and 7:05. It was a pretty solid swim and the wetsuit strippers had me out of my suit and in transition pretty quickly. They are amazing!
My rack was only 4 rows from the bike mount line so that was amazing. The first 15 miles of the bike were fast and fun...just like last year. Then we got into 5 miles of pretty tough hills, cross wind, head wind, and just crazy. After the turn it was better for a mile or a few (tail wind) but then back into the cross wind and the hills. The areas where I should have been in aero I ended up on the drops because the wind felt awful. I still managed to average 15.4 mph on the bike - would have preferred a stronger ride, but the conditions weren't super favorable.
The run was HOT. I mean 85-90 degrees. I started out running but needed to switch to run/walk intervals just before two miles. I did that through about mile 8 then it was a shorter run interval. Then I was walking a lot...and just trying to stay in it. I had started dumping ice and cold water on my head around mile 3 and continued that through the end. Fortunately there are a lot of aid stations and all are well stocked. I was doing well with hydration and nutrition and had implemented the hot weather version of the plan. But after about 5 miles I couldn't handle Gatorade anymore. Switched to all water. I did take salt sticks at 6. I had given two of my extra ones to someone who was struggling and asking everyone for salt. I passed on the cold wet towels at the first opportunity but then realized I needed to take advantage of every opportunity to stay in the race so I was using those too. Somewhere around mile 10 or 11 I noticed my shoes were squishing they were so wet. At mile 12 I tried Pepsi instead of my final Clif shot bloks (I wanted to puke by this time)...but I have never liked Pepsi and hot it is awful.
I was only able to run the blue carpet short stretch to the finish line, but I crossed and threw my arms up. They announced that I was unofficially third master Athena. I got a bottle of water, my championship towel, and medal. I had the guy spraying down athletes spray me for several minutes. I contemplated getting in the little pool at medical but decided not to.
We got my things out of transition and walked to the car (D had moved it closer). Once I was in the air (and sitting) I felt better.
I had missed the awards and somehow I didn't get my finisher visor, but they are sending those to me. We had some good dinner and froyo and then hung out in the hotel pool. In the morning we went for a nice breakfast and drove home. I have been overwhelmed with the social media support.
I finished in 7:46:56 - a 25 minute PR and approximately an hour faster than my first 70.3 in 2014. The victory was in staying in the race even with the very slow run and hot conditions.
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