Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Pocono 70.3, September 30, 2012

Better late than never!! Here's how my first 70.3 went...


This was my first 70.3! I chose this race because it was in my hometown and my family/friends would be able to watch and cheer me on at different parts of the course. The bike course was practically in my backyard!

Of course I was extremely nervous leading up to this race. I guess it was the fear of the unknown. This is a big distance to accomplish. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. I wasn’t so worried about the swim/bike portion, but I dreaded having to run a half marathon afterwards. Heck, a half marathon is difficult to run by itself, not to mention following a 56 mile bike ride!

Saturday morning I went to packet pickup and then ventured to T1 to drop of my bike and set up that transition. I took some time to walk through transition to familiarize myself with the swim exit, and bike out. I took a stroll down to the water’s edge and checked out the buoys, went over the swim course a few times and then walked from the swim exit into transition and to where my bike was. I wanted to make sure I was very aware of where everything was located and what path I needed to take. Once I felt okay with T1 and it’s set up, I jumped back in my car and made my way to T2.

T2 was located at my alma mater, Stroudsburg High School! I set up my bike-run transition, took note of the bike in and run out sections and drove home for a pasta dinner!

4:30am wake up. I gathered my last minute items, which wasn’t much because everything was already in transition. I went to the shuttle pick up and rode the shuttle to the start. The ride seemed like forever! It must have been my nerves. I got to the swim start and went immediately into transition to check out my bike and other belongings. I had a hard time trusting that everything would be exactly the way I left it the day before. I checked my bike computer, my brakes, my tires, etc. etc. I probably even double checked everything. It was a very cold morning and I knew it was going to be a cold race. I put on my calf sleeves (hot pink of course!) and a pair of arm warmers for the bike. I put my wetsuit on halfway, took my transition bag to the bus and ventured to the swim start.

The swim: You did one clockwise loop around the lap. The buoys were kept to your right. This was not my best swim. My goggles kept fogging, I had to stop and clear them out. I could barely see in front of me and it just seemed like forever. But, then again, it was a 1.2 mile swim! I had a goal time in mind, but that time was based on all of my eggs falling right into the basket. Not on this swim. Swim time: 31:10, 1:36/100 yards.

The bike: I was fairly confident about this bike course. I trained on this course numerous times leading up to race day. I knew every turn and every hill. What I wasn’t prepared for was the weather. I normally do very well in cooler temps therefore I refuse to wear added layers. I had on my tri suit, calf sleeves and arm warmers. I was sure I would be fine. Well, the bike course starts out with a 4 mile decline where I rocked over 30 mph. By the time I got to the bottom, I was an ice cube. My hair may have actually been slightly frozen. The next good chunk of mileage was all flat. I found myself trying to bike harder to get my blood flowing and to hopefully warm up. Wrong again. I don’t remember exactly at what point I started to feel my fingers again, but I remember it was a good chunk into the ride. This course had probably two decent sized hills, but it was mostly a bunch of rollers. About ten miles from T2 at the top of a decent roller, stood my assistant swim coach from college. Now, he’s not just any assistant swim coach. He was probably the toughest swim coach I have ever had. He is both mentally and physically tough. He always knew how to keep me going. He always used to tell me, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going. So… what are YOU going to do??”  And then, shortly after seeing him, I was able to see my parents and sister on the course! It brought such a smile to my face. That long of a race it’s nice to see familiar/supportive faces. Coming into T2 the crowd support was amazing. The course crosses over Main street in Stroudsburg, and let’s just say it was packed! Spectators everywhere. Yet another smile on my face. But that smile quickly faded, after all, it was time to run! Bike time: 3:05:56, 18.07 mph.


The run: I took my hand held fuel bottle with a small bag filled with cliff shot vanilla gels. I exited T2 and set forth on a 13.1 mile run. I knew the run course but can’t say I was as familiar with it as I was the bike course. Around mile 2 I saw my parents on the course. I felt terrible. I thought to myself, “How am I going to get through this?” But I refused to walk. I didn’t care how slow I went, but I wouldn’t walk. “One foot in front of the other, keep moving forward. One step forward is one step closer to the finish.” I can’t tell you how many times I repeated that. Around mile 6 was a doozy of a hill. I felt like I was CRAWLING. But I knew that what goes up must come down. I looked forward to that downhill on the way back, it was an out and back course after all! I took water from every aid station and either drank it or dumped it on me. Yes at this point of the race I was hot. I don’t do well in heat either. Volunteers were also giving out coca cola, but to my luck when I asked for it they ran out. Go figure! I really don’t have much to say about the run other than it was the hardest part of my day. But I was able to suffer through it. Athletes made a left hand turn onto Main Street and looked the finish line dead on. At this point I was too exhausted to bring a smile to my face, but believe me when I say, inside I was smiling. This was such an accomplishment. I failed to mention that before the race I had a goal time in mind for the run. I wanted to run a 2:30 half marathon. I figured with all things considered, I would be happy with 2:30. Well to my surprise… Run time:  2:26:30.
 

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