I signed up for this race only 5 weeks before the race date. I had been given the go ahead to run/walk in middle of August and I wasn’t sure if my body would be up for a race in December. Also, I was having some back issues as I started back to running (which ended up being from a strength imbalance from my injury, even though I *thought* I was doing the right strength moves….just goes to show ya…). So I needed to see if the back stuff would resolve before I committed.
My coach and I decided to use this race as a re-entry/gratitude/bonus race and not do a traditional build. Honestly, we couldn’t have done that anyway because I wasn’t up to speed (pun intended) on running until late October and we didn’t have a ton of time to build the bike mileage. I was okay with all of this, because by the time the race rolled around, I felt ready to race, while also knowing that this probably would not be close to a PR.
The week before the race, I tweaked the arch of my foot (my good foot!) on a run so I was worried and didn’t really run all week until the day before the race. Luckily that resolved, but I definitely need to do some more ankle and foot work because I was neglecting that.
But the biggest issue before the race was my new bike. It was not shifting smoothly especially the front derailleur and the chain would drop often when moving between the big and small ring. Seamus worked on it tirelessly, but it was still dropping on the outside on race day. Anyway, I knew I could stay in the big ring until the back half, when it was hillier but I just had to hope and pray that it would not drop.
The race:
I’ll spare the details of the pre-stuff- we all have our own race dinner and breakfasts and such.
SWIM:
This is hands down the weirdest swim on the 70.3 circuit. It’s in a lake that you are not allowed to swim in any other time because of the alligators. I wasn’t worried about the gators, but the shape of the swim is an M. Which means a crazy number of buoy turns. Water temp was perfect 71 degrees, so obviously wetsuit legal. I lined up between 37-40 minutes because I knew the turns would slow me down, and I’m not a front pack swimmer anyway! I usually get so nervous for the swim, but I was calm and ready to swim. This was a massive win for me. The swim was wild. Everyone was bunched up at the buoy turns and then we were bunched up at weird times during the swim. This was the most contact I’ve ever had… lots of pushing, bumping, hitting. I swam strong (for me) given the conditions and I am actually really proud of my swim because I just kept swimming and felt good the whole way.
Time 40:12 16th in AG
T1- I was racked right by bike out which was awesome! BUT I had to run alllll the way around the whole transition to get to my bike so it would be fair. In bare feet. I was worried about my foot, so I took it easy on the jog.
T1- 4:22
BIKE:
There are a lot of turns on this course and it’s open to traffic the whole way so my head was on a swivel- high alert. The first part of this course heads south and is flat and fast. I was flying with my borrowed disc wheel and it was so fun. We also had a slight tailwind too. Because it was early, there weren’t many cars yet. The hills start at mile 27 and they are not bad, but most of the elevation gain is between miles 27-40, so you are going up and down for a while. I love to climb. I don’t mind hills. But I was worried about my shifting, and I had to get into the smaller ring for some of these hills. The first time was smooth. I tried to keep the chain on the small ring until the next hill, but I was spinning out on the flats, so I shifted and the chain didn’t drop! Yay! Then the second time, I was successful again! But alas, the third time was not so great. The chain dropped right around mile 37 and I had to pull over and fix it, which took me a couple of minutes. Not terrible, but those two minutes ended up being two minutes I needed haha. We had a headwind on the way back, but I also was riding conservatively toward the end. I did not have a ton of long rides in the bank because of the shortened training cycle, and the whole time I had to remind myself to “race where I’m at, not where my ego is.” I flirted on the higher edge of my tempo zone and often went past it, but I knew I had to hold back a bit or I would be trashed for the run, which I knew was going to be hot.
Fueling: I drank every 10 minutes (SOS) ate every 20 (3 clif shot blocks or a gel). Finished 2.5 water bottles. 75 g carbs per hour. Peed twice on the bike!
Time: 2:49:21 8th in AG
T2- 2:48
RUN:
I literally have no idea why they advertise this run as flat. It’s over 500 ft of elevation in 13.1 miles, which is what the BAA half was that I did 3 weeks ago, and they called that hilly haha. It’s also what Maine (old Maine course) was and they advertise that as rolling. However, we all do the same hills, and I don’t mind running hills (in theory not on a hot race course, lol) so whatever. The run is on roads and through developments, so it’s nothing to write home about. I never look at metrics on a 70.3 run. I just lock it in and go. I know the line I can hold and I hold it. Two big things on the run: 1) all my salt tabs and caffeine pills disintegrated in my race belt from pouring water on me, so when I went to take them they were gone! Luckily, I had two powerbar gels that had 200mg of sodium but I usually take in more salt on a hot run. 2) The volunteers on this run course were unreal! They had all of these teenagers working the corners (again lots of turns) and these girls did not stop shouting and cheering and they were amazing. Personal hype women! I saw Seamus on the second loop and he told me I was close to 5th place and to find a woman in a Zoot kit and try to pass her. Well, there are A LOT of zoot kits out there! I did end up passing her and kicked it into as high of a gear as I could. It was hot! Unfortunately, the tracker dropped my at mile 8 so I am sorry to people who were worried about me! I had no idea! At mile 12, I started to get cold (not a good sign) and I thought to myself “I wonder if I am going to be that person that collapses before the finish line and someone has to carry me in?” See? I’m even DRAMATIC when I am racing! But once I crossed that finish line, all was well!
Fueling: 3 gels- every 25 min. Water at aid stations, which I walked through to get hydration in me and ON me. I don’t love gatorade but I took some at one stop. Did not take coke during this race.
Run 1:43:52 6th in AG
Total time: 5:20:33 6th in AG.. ONLY 17 SECONDS FROM 5TH PLACE AND PODIUM. I BLAME THE DROPPED CHAIN. HAHA
Overall, I am so happy. I swam strong and calm; biked hard with what I had in me; fixed a dropped chain (a first for me); and finished with a solid run. not a PR but a HUGE confidence boost for me going into next season and glad I took the leap to do this late season race.
For those thinking of this race – pros and cons:
PROS- warm weather (if you are heat acclimated); wetsuit legal swim; fun bike course; good police presence on bike course at intersections; great volunteers and community support.
CONS: warm weather (if you are not heat acclimated); M shaped swim is wild; lots of cars on the bike course and sometimes in the bike course (like you follow behind them!); some rough roads; hilly run that is just through developments.
If you live in Florida or nearby, it’s definitely worth doing the course. But for us Northerners, only do this race if you REALLY want to race in December (WHICH I DID! Ha!)