Mandy and I flew to San Juan early Friday before the
race. As excited as I was for this race, I was just as nervous. Mostly because
I have never had to take my bike apart,
let alone try to put it back together. I can manage to take the wheels off and
put them back on. That's about my extent. I was nervous to fly with my bike.
When I handed my bike bag to TSA I found myself praying that it would a.) make
it to San Juan and b.) make it there in one piece. I have also never raced a
70.3 this early. Training through a terrible winter I knew I didn't get many
quality outdoor bike miles. Now, add in the heat of the island, I honestly had
no idea how my body would react. I have never raced well in head. So let’s just
say that I had a lot going through my mind that travel day.
After we checked into the hotel and were situated,
we went to the expo to pick up our race bags. The expo was disappointing! Very
small. Limited vendors. We went back to the room and put our bikes together. I
surprised myself, I was able to put Trekie back together!
My coach scheduled me to do a 30 minute run that day
and I am so glad that he did. By the time I got around to running, it was
probably 4pm. It was hot and windy. I was able to scope out the area. Mandy was
on her bike showing me around. I ran over to the swim start, ran by the
transition area and ran part of the run course. It. was. hot! When I was done,
I was drenched in sweat. But like I said, I was glad I had to run, I knew what
to anticipate come race day.
Friday night we walked to Old San Juan for dinner.
The walk was on the run course. I was able to sneak a peek at the first
"dreaded" hill on the course. I remember looking at it and thinking,
"oh crap!" I immediately began to picture myself powering up that
hill and I no longer gave it one more negative thought.
Saturday seemed to come and go. I did an easy swim
in the lagoon to get used to the salt water and took Trekie for a spin to make
sure she was tuned up and ready to rock. All was good.
RACE MORNING:
We woke up at 4am and made our way to the Starbuck's
at our hotel, took breakfast and coffee back to the room and just relaxed. I
loved being this close to the swim start and transition area. I never once felt
rushed on race morning.
After breakfast we made our way to transition to set
up our areas. I forgot how much I love the pre-race whirl. I really think that
was the point where I acknowledged that I was actually racing. I made a mental
note of where my bike was on the rack and then started scoping out the other
gals in my age group. One girl really stood out. She was short, jacked and was
decked out in Brooks gear. She just screamed, "FAST." I knew I would
be seeing her out there on the course.
SWIM:
I went over and over my race plan in my head. Stay
relaxed. Stay positive. Race your own race. Stick to your
hydration/nutrition plan. Most of all, have fun! I was so excited for this
swim. For the first time since racing triathlons, I was in the first swim wave.
I started ten minutes behind the pros. This meant that I would have ZERO
traffic to swim over or around. I couldn't wait. My wave had females 29 and
under and also an older female age group, I think 50+. My plan was to line up
in the front as I always do, take off fast to get ahead and then settle into a
strong, yet comfortable pace. I knew I had a long day ahead of me. I knew I
would be dealing with conditions that I wasn't used to. The last thing I wanted
to do was to come out of the swim tired.
The countdown began from :30.... :15....:10.... and
we were off! I executed my swim plan the way I wanted. There were two or three
other girls who took off with me. Once I felt like I was in the front of the
pack, I settled into that strong/comfortable pace. I worked on staying long and
strong. Sighting wasn't an issue because the water was mostly clear and the buoys
were visible. I worked on staying close to the buoys since in the past I have
had a tendency to swim off course. I couldn't feel a current pushing me one way
or the other. I felt great!
The coolest part about this swim was swimming under
a bridge! The bridge was lined with cheering spectators. I knew they were
there, however, when I was swimming I can't say I remember seeing or hearing
anyone. I was just that focused. Going under the bridge the water was a little
choppy but it wasn’t concerning to me. As I passed under, I was sighting quite
a bit. It was darker and choppier. I could see a swimmer from my wave just
ahead of me. I knew I was somewhere near the front and would be one of the
first few to come out. In the past, I would have used up energy trying to catch
her, but not this race. I was determined to stick to my plan.
The swim exit was a steep ramp with a rubber mat on
it. The ramp was lined with five or more volunteers to help pull the athletes
out of the water and up the ramp. The other side of the ramp was wooden steps!
My legs were a little loosey goosey so I took my time going down those steps.
This was when I glanced at my watch for the first time. Ugh, not a fast swim
split and not one that I was expecting. Not as fast as I wanted to go. I quickly
evaluated how I felt, knew I wasn't taxed, so I found comfort in knowing that I
stuck to my plan. Only option I had was to carry on...
T1:
Remember the girl who I said looked fast in
transition? She blew by me running into T1. She came out of the water right
behind me, but that didn't matter, the chick could run. I could feel myself
getting anxious and almost trying to match her steps. I knew I didn’t want to
plow through the transition run so I talked myself out of it and just kept moving.
The transition run was longer than I would have liked but before I knew it I
was in front of Trekie.
BIKE:
One thing I didn't prepare myself for was the fact
that I would be alone on the bike course for awhile since I was one of the
first few out of the water. I was a bit nervous when I realized I had to
actually follow the arrows on the road instead of other racers. Lucky for me, I
wasn't solo for long as a 50 year old male blew by me about two miles into the bike.
I was definitely feeling good. The course was flat but the roads were rough. There
was a bit of a tailwind, so I was cruising along with little effort.
Then at about 6 miles I was passed by a girl in my
age group. She stood out to me because she was decked out in everything USA.
From now on, I will refer to her as such, "USA.” As she passed me I
thought, "here we go, here comes the cyclists in my age group." But just
as soon as I thought that, USA slowed up in front of me and I was gaining on
her. As with my swim plan, my bike plan was the same. I didn't want to waste
valuable energy trying to catch up to someone who just passed me. However,
catching up to her required little effort and because of the drafting rules, I
had to pass her. This became the theme of the bike leg. USA passed me then
slowed, I passed USA. USA found more energy and passed again. I swear we went
back and forth more than 6 times.
As I said earlier, the bike course was flat. I
worked on staying strong yet relaxed. I stuck to my hydration and nutrition
plan as I have practiced time and time again. I was paying close attention to
how my body felt. Surprisingly, I didn't feel overheated but knew that I was
sweating a great deal. I had salt tabs with me, even thoughI have never
experimented with them. I figured just in case something went drastically wrong
I would have them. The course had two aid stations that you rode through twice.
I grabbed a bottle of water each time. I dumped a little water on me, drank a
little, dumped some more, etc.
At the first turn around on the first loop I
realized I would have a not so nice headwind on the way back. I'm not sure if I
was trying to push harder or what, but shortly after going into the wind I
started to get pain in my hips. I have never had this pain before. Was I
cramping? I didn't think so. Was something out of whack on my bike? Didn't feel
like it. Yet every time I was in aero the pain came right back. The only way I
could ease the pain was to sit up, move around a bit in the saddle and then go
back to aero. Sometimes I found myself sitting up longer than other times. I'm
know this cost me a considerable amount of time but I had to do what I could to
ease the discomfort. I was too afraid to push harder not knowing what I was
dealing with. My goal quickly became to survive those last remaining miles of
the bike, try to recover my legs the best I could and set myself up for a good
run. I remember thinking that I may not be able to even run once I got off the
bike. It hurt that bad.
During this hip pain battle, Mandy came up behind me
and tapped my butt. I found such comfort knowing that she was out there with
me. I really look up to her. She rode by my side for a few seconds and asked
why I was sitting up. I tried to explain the issue to her. However, she had a
race on her hands and was cranking that bike out! She yelled back to me to
drink, I tried to yell back to her that I was. I realized I couldn't dwell on the
discomfort anymore, I had to keep on keeping on. So I started to think about
something else, something positive. So where were those fast biker chicks in my
age group? I realized that besides USA, I had yet to be passed by anyone in my
age group.
As I approached mile 50, USA finally made her move
and passed me for the last time. She took off and I never saw her again. At
this mile my hips were still screaming, but I told myself to just spin myself
home, keep the legs loose, I wasn't breaking any records today.
Little did I know, I was sitting in 3rd coming into
T2. At the start of the bike I was 4th. Somehow, in my pain cave, I managed to
pass someone and hold off the rest of those girls in my age group.
T2:
My dismount was a little shaky. I got off my bike
and thought, "wow my legs don't feel great. My hips feel tight." I
proceeded through T2 as I normally would and started to feel excited to take on
a run course known for its brutality. Bring it on. Let the game begin!
RUN:
The run course starts with an incline. I was
actually thankful for this because I think it helped me to get my running legs
in check. I also realized that I no longer had any hip pain. Jackpot! As I
crested the 2nd little incline within the first mile, someone on the course
yelled to me, " 3rd place female."
I thought," was he yelling at me? No
way." Whether he was yelling to me or not, at that point it became all
business. I was on the hunt and I refused to be the hunted.
I would glance at my watch from time to time but I
was not a slave to it. I knew I was running a great pace, and was running at a
pace I knew I could maintain. As I went through the aid stations I made sure to
slow enough to go right down the line of volunteers. I grabbed everything.
Fluids, fluids and more fluids! I also grabbed orange slices which came in
handy as I ran the hills. I held that orange slice as if my life depended on
it. As I made the turn for the first hill (it seriously looked like it went
straight up, no joke) I buried my head and refused to look for the top. I took
a nibble of the orange slice. Yum, did that orange juice taste great! It took
my mind off of the incline and I swear it helped me grind my gears to the top.
This became the order of events for the run leg. Aid station: grab EVERYTHING.
Big hill: eat, head down, grind! Recover legs at the top. Let legs go for the
downhill. Repeat 4 times.
The course takes runners out and back along a path
that on one side is surrounded by ocean and the other side by a fort wall. My
coach warned me about this part of the
course. He told me that this portion of the course would be hot and to make
sure I had some fluids with me to keep me cool. I grabbed 3 bags of ice at the
last aid station before the wall. I put one
bag in my tri top and one in my tri shorts. The 3rd one I held in my
hand. It's amazing how great the ice made me feel. I trucked on.
As I turned around on the path, I couldn't help but
stare down all the runners coming at me from the opposite direction. So many
people looked like they were suffering. I heard grunts and moans, heavy
breathing, saw a lot of walking and even some tears. It was complete chaos.
Carnage. Yet, I was holding strong. I kept repeating a part of a poem in my
head over and over whenever I saw someone suffering. I knew I couldn’t let
myself get caught up in someone else’s suffer-fest. "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing
theirs..."
As my first lap was coming to an end, I was looking for girls who looked like they were
in my age group, girls who could possibly sneak up on my tail. I didn't see
any, but kept running as if that phantom age grouper was on my heels. From time
to time I found myself smiling and acknowledging that I was doing what I set
out to do. I only had one more loop to run. I only had to run those dreaded
hills one more time!!
At mile 10 and couldn't believe I already had 10
miles under my belt or that I only had a 5k left. Still no one was coming in
the other direction that looked like they were in my age group. I knew I only
had one more hill to climb and it was practically downhill and flat to the
finish. I refused to let up and kept chugging along. Anyone who has raced
triathlons knows the anticipation of the "phantom runner." And
believe me, I still had that anticipation. Whether I was truly sitting in 3rd
place or not, I made sure that I ran like I was.
As I made the final short climb for the last time, I
could see the finish line. I made the turn for home and could see the overall
time on the clock. 5:43. Ok subtract 10 minutes for my starting wave. I
mustered whatever energy I could to try to sprint across the line. 5:33! A new PR!
| 2014 San Juan 70.3 | ||
| Swim | 0:31:54 | 1:31/100 yds |
| T1 | 0:04:31 | |
| Bike | 2:59:05 | 18.76 mph |
| T2 | 0:01:51 | |
| Run | 1:56:14 | 8:52/mile |
| Total | 5:33:35 | |
After finding Mandy at the finish, we used whatever
energy we had left to get our phones to check our results. Neither one of us
truly knew how our races played out. We both tried to bring up the results on
our phones and go figure the site wouldn't load. UGH! The anticipation was
killing us. I checked some of my facebook notifications and text messages but
none of them gave me my finishing results. So, Mandy called her husband. Her
husband confirmed that I indeed finished 3rd! A podium finish! I cried
instantly. Mandy also finished 3rd in her's as well!!!! We both were in tears.
What a sense of accomplishment for us both.
I can’t thank Mandy enough for asking me to race in
Puerto Rico with her. We had the perfect weekend. She is someone that I truly
admire and I learn so much from her. Thank you!!
I chose this race because I felt it gave me a good
opportunity to seal a spot for Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I knew going
into this race that I would have to finish as high as I could within my age
group to give me that opportunity. I knew that my 3rd place finish
would give me a chance. However, at the finish we found out that my age group
had one spot. I could only hope that the 1st and 2nd
place girls either had a spot or didn’t want that spot. The anticipation was
killing me.
Before the awards ceremony I found out that the
first place girl (who was the fastie I saw in transition, the one who sprinted
through T1, the one who I never saw again after that, was from France, went
under 5 hours on this course) claimed the spot. UGH! I was jealous.
Not getting a spot stung certainly stung and at the
awards ceremony, I wasn't even excited to make the podium. I was just so caught
up in not getting a spot. I based my entire performance around the fact that I
didn't get one.
I won't lie it has stung for a while. Nearly two
weeks after the fact it still stings. But as I sit here and I write this I can
say that I have finally come to terms with it. There was absolutely nothing
more that I could have done to give myself anymore of an opportunity to seal a
spot. I executed my race strategy 100% and placed in the top 3. Sealing a spot simply
became a matter of luck and my performance was not and cannot be based around
luck. I have worked hard every day for that 3rd place finish.
In a way I am thankful for that sting of
not sealing a spot. For that sting has sparked my fire and I've got work to
do..
Til next time...
