When I registered for the Ironman 70.3 Muskoka in Huntsville, Ontario my criteria was a half Ironman around my birthday that wasn't Muncie but I could still drive to, preferably somewhere that wouldn't be crazy hot. I don't even know if I looked at the course profile before I registered. I certainly didn't process that the feet of climb listed was in meters, not feet.
When I started looking at the course profiles and doing the conversions, finishing became a BHAG (big, hairy, audacious, goal). Now, I work with goal setting all the time, it's an occupational hazard. I can set, and achieve, SMAART (specific, measureable, aggressive yet achievable, relevant, and timebound) goals like a champ. The question was - was this really achievable? We are talking about a course with 1,265 METERS of climb on the bike and 250 METERS of climb on the run. And that run is AFTER you've shredded your legs on the bike.
I started training the bike course at The Speed Factory, where I could ride the course on the Computrainer. The first time I BLEW A TIRE ON THE TRAINER...not a tube - a tire. Not a great start to training this. I rode it at least two more times on the trainer. Hard, and average speed was below 11 mph...too slow to make the cutoffs. My only hope was that on the road the downhills are faster. The race at Bonkers didn't help build confidence because I had to walk hills for the first time in a race.
After spring races I knew my swim was in solid shape compared to two years ago and that I could make the 1:10 cut for the 1.2 miles, especially with it being a wetsuit legal swim. My running has been pretty solid and I wasn't overly concerned about the run portion, except how it was going to be off the bike. I figured it would be between 2:45 and 3:00, Matt (Ebersole, coach) said even over 3:00 wasn't a problem. The bike cuts scared me. Dorset near 35K was my biggest concern. I really wasn't sure I would be allowed to finish the race. David and Matt spent a lot of time with the course profiles and tried to reassure me. David, Swati, and I rode hills and tried different strategies the weekend before the race. I had done a hilly brick workout the weekend before that - but Indy hills. When we got to Huntsville and drove the bike course I started to feel better about it. I survived our practice/bike check ride the day before the race too. David had found glass in my tired before we left Indy, so I went into the race with tires (different type) that only had 9 miles on them.
I slept really well before the race and got up with the alarm. Was able to eat and get ready in time. We headed out to the airstrip and needed to get gas in the car (hadn't noticed the day before) - the one place wasn't open yet and of course our debit card wasn't working at the pump (the American cards don't seem to do well at the pumps). Got that taken care of and headed to the airstrip to park and get on the shuttle. David was going to have to take a later shuttle because they needed to get athletes and volunteer there first (good job on their part). I had taken off the Garmin vivoactive watch in the car because I wasn't using it and it only had 40% charge. On the bus I realized that I had left the 910XT on the charger at the hotel. I didn't have my phone with me and there wasn't time for anything to be done about it even if I could have gotten a hold of David. I had to let it go.
Got set up in transition and headed down to the swim start. Once I got down there I went into the water to test the temperature and let the wetsuit fill. Got out, found David and let him know I was "flying blind" with no data for the race. He said just race how you feel...I knew that was my only option. I got lined up with my swim wave and helped some other women with their wetsuits. We had about 5 minutes in the water before the start. We started where you could barely stand or were treading water. The one "disadvantage" of swimming faster now is that I am in "traffic" much of the time, I am still getting used to that, but it's ok. The water was the cleanest I have swam in and very nice. The first part was straight into the sun and even with tinted goggles it wasn't easy to see much, but we all made the turn thanks to the buoys and volunteers. Coming out of the water I had no idea that I had nailed my goal time of 45 minutes, but I felt good about the swim.
Getting from the water exit to transition was a long (1K +/-) steep climb. My wetsuit stripper did great and I headed up the hill. Adrenaline made the climb seem better than it had walking it the day before. Transition went well, but I almost forgot to put all of my bike nutrition in my jersey - that would have been awful.
The ride started out ok and I was feeling pretty good. Pretty early on there was a big descent on rough pavement...my bottle of UCAN (the one I was keeping for the whole ride) started to bounce out of its cage. I positioned my right foot where I could keep it from falling further until I could get my hands off the bars to adjust it safely at the bottom of the hill. It was pretty funny. I made it across the bridge and over the timing mats in Dorset and no one pulled me off the course, so I figured I was doing ok. I settled in for the rest of the ride. There was one spot on the highway with ambulances and police, that's always disconcerting. At the water exchange I figured out that I couldn't get nuun tabs into the bottles they had so I was going to have to stop and have my bottle refilled each time (not a big deal - volunteers were super helpful). We got back into a section with some significant climbs and they felt harder because we had been on the bike for a while. The views were stunning, but that didn't detract from the work. Some of the people with fancy bikes were having mechanical problems or blown tires. A few people were walking hills. After we turned for the last 5K +/- back into transition the hills, which weren't really a huge deal, were really tough at that point. Lots of granny gear gutting it out. Later David said the last climb was tough on everyone. In the last kilometer on the bike I was nearly crying because I had finished the bike course and I hadn't walked my bike at all. I got into T2 and wasn't pulled from the course so I figured I made the cut. I saw David and he said I killed the swim and the bike and just go for a run.
At about 1K out on the run I asked someone what time it was and they said 12:40. I figured on a 3 hour run and was like I will ask someone for the time around 11-12K and see where I was then, knowing I wanted it to be before 2:10. I also figured out that I was actually in a position for a PR, something that was amazing as I was just hoping to finish (finishing in the time limit of 8:44 would have been a PR anyway). The highway part of the run course felt pretty exposed to the sun, but there was out and back traffic and we were having fun/sharing the misery. Once we got in town there were distractions and people were being silly. I was looking for water at one stop and someone handed me Pepsi...I unintentionally knocked it out of her hands. I had a second Pepsi incident at a later stop where there weren't any water cups but I saw a pitcher of water. I poured out a Pepsi and poured myself a water. Before the turn around there was a lady in her 50s who was amusing me a lot...shouting about how she had poured ice in her brassiere. Too funny. After 11K I asked another spectator for the time and she said 1:04...no, maybe 2:04 (time zone issue for her), but I was like it's under 2:10 I'm in good shape. There was more walking hills on the run course than I would have preferred, but my legs were feeling the cumulative fatigue of the day. It was ok. Back on the highway it seemed really warm and there wasn't another water stop in that stretch, which seemed cruel. After the turn we headed down to the lake shore for a bit. A spectator started running in Birkenstocks with one of the athletes...it was funny and pathetic at the same time because he was running better not dressed for it than I was running at that point. The athlete he was running with was swearing about the hills (there was a lot of that) and saying he was going to sell his bike - he was done. I ended up talking to him and his friend after the race, but he was still convinced he was done with tri. Back up to the road into the resort/finish a porcupine crossed in front of me. It really amused me...probably more than it should have. On the last hill I was going to walk and David popped out with his camera...so I kept running until he put it down. He said I was going to make 3 hours for the run. I was wondering how he was going to make it to the finish to get pictures, but I didn't know that we had to run all the way around transition before going to the finish and he had a straight shot. When I got into the chute I found another gear and ran hard to the finish. As I approached the finish I heard them announce me and tell my story and saw that they had the banner/tape up for me. Amazing. I also saw the clock...8:31:41, which meant a finish time of 8:11:41 for me (my swim wave started 20 minutes after the first wave). Much better than I had imagined.
The only thing frustrating about the finish was that there was no banana. All I want at the finish line is water and a banana...no bananas...
When I found out my split times there were several things to celebrate:
When I started looking at the course profiles and doing the conversions, finishing became a BHAG (big, hairy, audacious, goal). Now, I work with goal setting all the time, it's an occupational hazard. I can set, and achieve, SMAART (specific, measureable, aggressive yet achievable, relevant, and timebound) goals like a champ. The question was - was this really achievable? We are talking about a course with 1,265 METERS of climb on the bike and 250 METERS of climb on the run. And that run is AFTER you've shredded your legs on the bike.
I started training the bike course at The Speed Factory, where I could ride the course on the Computrainer. The first time I BLEW A TIRE ON THE TRAINER...not a tube - a tire. Not a great start to training this. I rode it at least two more times on the trainer. Hard, and average speed was below 11 mph...too slow to make the cutoffs. My only hope was that on the road the downhills are faster. The race at Bonkers didn't help build confidence because I had to walk hills for the first time in a race.
After spring races I knew my swim was in solid shape compared to two years ago and that I could make the 1:10 cut for the 1.2 miles, especially with it being a wetsuit legal swim. My running has been pretty solid and I wasn't overly concerned about the run portion, except how it was going to be off the bike. I figured it would be between 2:45 and 3:00, Matt (Ebersole, coach) said even over 3:00 wasn't a problem. The bike cuts scared me. Dorset near 35K was my biggest concern. I really wasn't sure I would be allowed to finish the race. David and Matt spent a lot of time with the course profiles and tried to reassure me. David, Swati, and I rode hills and tried different strategies the weekend before the race. I had done a hilly brick workout the weekend before that - but Indy hills. When we got to Huntsville and drove the bike course I started to feel better about it. I survived our practice/bike check ride the day before the race too. David had found glass in my tired before we left Indy, so I went into the race with tires (different type) that only had 9 miles on them.
I slept really well before the race and got up with the alarm. Was able to eat and get ready in time. We headed out to the airstrip and needed to get gas in the car (hadn't noticed the day before) - the one place wasn't open yet and of course our debit card wasn't working at the pump (the American cards don't seem to do well at the pumps). Got that taken care of and headed to the airstrip to park and get on the shuttle. David was going to have to take a later shuttle because they needed to get athletes and volunteer there first (good job on their part). I had taken off the Garmin vivoactive watch in the car because I wasn't using it and it only had 40% charge. On the bus I realized that I had left the 910XT on the charger at the hotel. I didn't have my phone with me and there wasn't time for anything to be done about it even if I could have gotten a hold of David. I had to let it go.
Got set up in transition and headed down to the swim start. Once I got down there I went into the water to test the temperature and let the wetsuit fill. Got out, found David and let him know I was "flying blind" with no data for the race. He said just race how you feel...I knew that was my only option. I got lined up with my swim wave and helped some other women with their wetsuits. We had about 5 minutes in the water before the start. We started where you could barely stand or were treading water. The one "disadvantage" of swimming faster now is that I am in "traffic" much of the time, I am still getting used to that, but it's ok. The water was the cleanest I have swam in and very nice. The first part was straight into the sun and even with tinted goggles it wasn't easy to see much, but we all made the turn thanks to the buoys and volunteers. Coming out of the water I had no idea that I had nailed my goal time of 45 minutes, but I felt good about the swim.
Getting from the water exit to transition was a long (1K +/-) steep climb. My wetsuit stripper did great and I headed up the hill. Adrenaline made the climb seem better than it had walking it the day before. Transition went well, but I almost forgot to put all of my bike nutrition in my jersey - that would have been awful.
The ride started out ok and I was feeling pretty good. Pretty early on there was a big descent on rough pavement...my bottle of UCAN (the one I was keeping for the whole ride) started to bounce out of its cage. I positioned my right foot where I could keep it from falling further until I could get my hands off the bars to adjust it safely at the bottom of the hill. It was pretty funny. I made it across the bridge and over the timing mats in Dorset and no one pulled me off the course, so I figured I was doing ok. I settled in for the rest of the ride. There was one spot on the highway with ambulances and police, that's always disconcerting. At the water exchange I figured out that I couldn't get nuun tabs into the bottles they had so I was going to have to stop and have my bottle refilled each time (not a big deal - volunteers were super helpful). We got back into a section with some significant climbs and they felt harder because we had been on the bike for a while. The views were stunning, but that didn't detract from the work. Some of the people with fancy bikes were having mechanical problems or blown tires. A few people were walking hills. After we turned for the last 5K +/- back into transition the hills, which weren't really a huge deal, were really tough at that point. Lots of granny gear gutting it out. Later David said the last climb was tough on everyone. In the last kilometer on the bike I was nearly crying because I had finished the bike course and I hadn't walked my bike at all. I got into T2 and wasn't pulled from the course so I figured I made the cut. I saw David and he said I killed the swim and the bike and just go for a run.
At about 1K out on the run I asked someone what time it was and they said 12:40. I figured on a 3 hour run and was like I will ask someone for the time around 11-12K and see where I was then, knowing I wanted it to be before 2:10. I also figured out that I was actually in a position for a PR, something that was amazing as I was just hoping to finish (finishing in the time limit of 8:44 would have been a PR anyway). The highway part of the run course felt pretty exposed to the sun, but there was out and back traffic and we were having fun/sharing the misery. Once we got in town there were distractions and people were being silly. I was looking for water at one stop and someone handed me Pepsi...I unintentionally knocked it out of her hands. I had a second Pepsi incident at a later stop where there weren't any water cups but I saw a pitcher of water. I poured out a Pepsi and poured myself a water. Before the turn around there was a lady in her 50s who was amusing me a lot...shouting about how she had poured ice in her brassiere. Too funny. After 11K I asked another spectator for the time and she said 1:04...no, maybe 2:04 (time zone issue for her), but I was like it's under 2:10 I'm in good shape. There was more walking hills on the run course than I would have preferred, but my legs were feeling the cumulative fatigue of the day. It was ok. Back on the highway it seemed really warm and there wasn't another water stop in that stretch, which seemed cruel. After the turn we headed down to the lake shore for a bit. A spectator started running in Birkenstocks with one of the athletes...it was funny and pathetic at the same time because he was running better not dressed for it than I was running at that point. The athlete he was running with was swearing about the hills (there was a lot of that) and saying he was going to sell his bike - he was done. I ended up talking to him and his friend after the race, but he was still convinced he was done with tri. Back up to the road into the resort/finish a porcupine crossed in front of me. It really amused me...probably more than it should have. On the last hill I was going to walk and David popped out with his camera...so I kept running until he put it down. He said I was going to make 3 hours for the run. I was wondering how he was going to make it to the finish to get pictures, but I didn't know that we had to run all the way around transition before going to the finish and he had a straight shot. When I got into the chute I found another gear and ran hard to the finish. As I approached the finish I heard them announce me and tell my story and saw that they had the banner/tape up for me. Amazing. I also saw the clock...8:31:41, which meant a finish time of 8:11:41 for me (my swim wave started 20 minutes after the first wave). Much better than I had imagined.
The only thing frustrating about the finish was that there was no banana. All I want at the finish line is water and a banana...no bananas...
When I found out my split times there were several things to celebrate:
- I had called my swim time almost perfectly
- T1 was faster than I thought it would be based on the distance and climb up from the water
- I hadn't walked my bike at all
- My bike split was 4:18 - only 18 minutes slower than Muncie on a MUCH tougher course
- I had a solid T2
- The run was under 3:00 on a course where that would have probably been acceptable as a stand alone race. It was also about 25 minutes faster than my run at Muncie
- I had a 37 minute PR
All good news on the road to Louisville 2018.
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