Nola 70.3

I started several posts before the race saying, "hey!  I am racing Nola 70.3!  Here is the plan."  But they all went by the wayside, so now I get to jump straight into a race report.

Dave and I are always nice and relaxed in New Orleans.  Isla loves spending time with her grandparents, and we do too.  We got down here early enough that I was not scrambling with race logistics, and I was able to just really relax and spend time with family and friends. 

 Isla just adores her Mema and Papa Joe.  She had a blast. 

Mary and I took in some river views and caught up on life.  I love this little mama so much!  

I was a little nervous before the race.  Coach Muddy and I had several conversations about the race and my approach.  Basically, it was to get a baseline and to re-enter racing.  I had zero time or pace goals.  I honestly don't even know what those mean anymore.  Although I raced a couple of sprints last year, I definitely was not ready to be racing physically or mentally, so the year was not really fruitful and I didn't see progress.  But, now I am in a better routine with work AND Isla has blessed me with more sleep than not these days. (except for last night...up every hour!  ahhh!)

I knew that I was not really ready for a half ironman.  I have only ridden outside 4 x in about 8 months.  That is not just because of the weather, but mainly just because I don't always have the opportunity with Dave's work schedule.  Basically my riding looks like 2-3 rides for 1-2 hours on my trainer squeezed between work and Isla.  It doesn't even remotely resemble my old riding schedule, and that is something I am learning to accept.   Coach Muddy and I talk a lot about acceptance, the journey, and not looking back at what I used to do.  I am not going to lie, it is hard.  But, I am gaining so much in gratitude in exchange.

Race morning I just made sure to say hi to a lot of friends.  I made friends with the guy, Doug, parked next to me as he embarked on his first half IM.  (and he loaned me a battery adapter so I could pump pre-race.  oh yes, I am still dealing with nursing mama hormones and logistics. )  I reunited with old New Orleans friends.  I hugged friends from Tucson camp 2012.  I wished teammates well.  The more camaraderie the better!

Los Locos had a wonderful day with Ward having a solid race, as he always does, and Jamie Turner blowing away the field for 2nd amateur and 2nd AG.

I haven't seen my friend Bill since before Hurricane Katrina.  He used to be the goalkeeper for one of my adult co-ed teams.  I think it is awesome to see all of us beat up soccer players finding triathlon to help us stay in sport.

 Re-united with my camp buddy Kris, who had a big PR for the day.  Yay!

  No race is complete without seeing Keith.  Who DAT!

Swim:  (27:48 on a course that was probably 5 minutes short/ 15th AG)

The swim was wetsuit legal.  After checking with the race director before I jumped in on the exact course, I decided to take a different line than a lot of people.  That is a huge gamble for me, because I am not a swimmer, and I wasn't sure if I should risk losing the benefit of the draft.  But, people seemed to be sighting way off of the best line and were just monkey-see-monkey-do with sighting.   So I took the gamble and swam all by myself with just a few other people towards the first turn.  I was worried I made a huge mistake, when midway through the first section a girl from a wave behind me blew past me.  I could tell she was a real swimmer, and I knew that if  real swimmer took the line I took, then I took the correct line.  The swim was very uneventful for me.  It was my first time in my Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit, which was wonderful.  I had minimal back pain, which was great.  I certainly need more open water and wetsuit practice, as I know I am not swimming near as well in the open water as I do in a pool.  I just feel like I really can't work hard in the open water, and that must be a technique and experience issue.  But, I felt like my sighting was good and I didn't overdo it.  Plus, no panic attacks.  Yea!  I came out of the water 15th in my AG, which is excellent for me in terms of AG rankings. 

The swim is well spaced out and decently easy to navigate with 3 turns shaped like an N.  Hopefully they fix the distance for the following year.  Nothing like a shortened course to put big **** next to your time.

Bike:  2:40:38/ 13th AG

This was the part of the day for me that was all about just being smart and working withing my ability.  I was not catching any girls at all, and I was passed by 3.  Generally I really jump up in my AG on the bike, and I feel strong and powerful.  But, ever since I became a mommy, my bike has kind of dwindled into just an average leg.  It is the result of minimal bike mileage and decreased overall muscle strength, I guess.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get it back.  It is like staring into a black hole.  But, I remembered what Coach Muddy and I discussed prior to the race, and I really just focused on my position, re-learning how to navigate my nutrition, staying out of drafting situations, learning to make good passes, and being grateful that I had the opportunity to ride, etc, etc.  

The course is very flat but very windy.  It was also really heating up on a full sun course with no shade.  I never felt great on the bike, so I just kept a steady effort.  I had my HR monitor, but I only glanced at it from time to time to make sure it was withing a reasonable range.  I lost my bag of salt tabs, etc, which is just what happens when you haven't raced in a while.  (I luckily had an extra one taped to my bike for this very reason).  I didn't pee on the bike, even though I was drinking a ton.  This concerned me a bit, and it was a big clue to me that the heat and humidity were getting high.  This year the headwind was on the way back in to transition.  It made for a long 2nd half for me.  I couldn't really be disappointed in my bike, as it I think it was a fair result for my training.  But..... I sure would like my bike legs to return one day. 

Run:  1:48:15/9th

Interestingly, the minute I started running I thought it was going to be a 1:47-1:48 run day for me.  I feel confident my running is going well and I can run a good half, but a triathlon run really has a lot to do with bike fitness.  Since I could tell my cycling wasn't stellar, I was betting my run would be a little slower too.  I didn't feel great as I started my run.  I knew I had paced appropriately, but I was battling the sun and heat.  I know the plan for these days:  ease into the run, find the effort I can hold the whole time, ice/coke/sponges/water at every station.  

The first half of the run is straight into the headwind. It was tough.  I pretty consistently held an 8:15 pace.  I couldn't wait to get to the turnaround and out of the headwind.  Just the thought of turning around kept me moving.  My feet were killing me...maybe nerve issues from the bike?  I stopped and took off my shoe, just sure that my sock was bunched up and causing a blister.  Nope.  My feet just really hurt, so I just had to keep running.

Rounding the cone to get out of the headwind was wonderful!  Mary was there to cheer me on.  This is me telling her how happy I was to be out of the wind for the first time in hours.

I did what I normally do, which was just hold an even pace through the run.  But, I had to really work for it.  Along with leg cramps and sunburn, I was just overheating.  Temps were somewhere maybe 86 or so, and I hadn't seen a lick of shade for 4+ hours.  The aid stations didn't have a lot of man power, and only about 50% of them had ice and maybe 10% sponges.  Oh, and the coke I drank early on was no where to be found later in the course.  Not a big deal...that is part of racing and you just learn to problem solve.  The biggest difference between myself as a racer when I started vs now is my ability to mentally hold it together and keep pushing through the tough miles.  You know it will eventually end, and the faster you run, the sooner it ends!

I just didn't have the fitness to handle the heat as well as I would have liked.  The more fit you are, the less the heat affects you...at least that is my experience.  There were some women that were really doing an amazing job out there with awesome runs, so kuddos to them!!!  It is quite an inspiring sight to see women just really running fast out there.  

It all ended at 5:02:06.  Given a short swim course, I guess I probably was on pace for somewhere between a 5:07-5:10 half, and that is a fair start, I think.

My little cheerleader actually slept through my finish, but when she woke up, she was happy enough to hug me and claim my medal.  It was fantastic to hold her after I finished.  But, I will say, it is a little hard racing as a mom with your young kiddo there.  As soon as I was done, it was mom-time again.  And I was really tired and not sure if I could be super mom right away.  All I wanted to do was sit down, drink my daiquiri, and stalk Andy Potts when I felt better.

I had the normal post race blues.  I wasn't sure if I had a good race or not.  It took a few days to get back into my daily routine and shed the caffeine/adrenaline/fatigue in my body.  I think overall I had a fair race.  It wasn't amazing, but it didn't suck.  I was glad to get the first race under my belt and work through all of the little mistakes I made from being rusty.  Muddy and I decided that I don't need to to Challenge Knox as I had planned in 4 weeks.  I am just really not fit enough for the half iron distance, and the race was really hard for me.  (they are all hard, of course, but I could just tell I was putting the cart in front of the horse in this case).

I really felt that I put in the best block of training that I possibly could for this race while being a mom, wife, and employee, so that gives me some satisfaction.  There are not a lot of miles in there, but they are the most consistent miles since being pregnant.  So, things are starting to get on track.  Probably the hardest thing for me to figure out at this point is how to find more time for the bike.  Hm...so there is a lot more to work through as I go through this season, but I think I am starting off the year in a good place and we will see where I land this fall.

Happy training and racing to all!  Thanks for the follows and the cheers.

Special thanks to the following for being a part of my race day:  Enell Sports Bras, Wattie Ink, Los Locos, Outdoors Inc, Breakaway Running, Blue Seventy, Speedfil, Powerbar, Herbalife 24, and ISM.