Jason and I headed west to Lawrence Kansas friday afternoon. We were psyched for the race and had a really nice trip down. Despite the fact that he deprived me of icecream (my own damn fault), it was a fairly relaxing drive. We got lucky and found a hotel close to the race site and settled in for the night.
We had a relaxing morning and headed out to find breakfast. With 2 yummy pancakes in my belly I was ready to tackle race registration and bike check in. We got to the race site and hung out for a while. I felt very prepared and tried to just enjoy the scene. I love the way that Ironman organizes their races. It is so nice to show up to a race and know exactly what to expect. I guess they have that whole "branding" thing down pat.
We had a fabulous italian dinner and a relaxing evening. It was so nice to just put my feet up and relax.
To say the least, I had a solid race. I didn't suprise myself in any way, shape or form; but I held up nutritionally and I enjoyed myself. I had a mediocre swim. I felt strong, but like always, I didn't go very fast. Ugggggghhhh! Oh well, one day...just maybe. I came out of the water without any idea how many girls were in front of me. I knew that 1st place would have been about 10 minutes in front of me and without an extremley superior bike ride, I would never catch them.
Again, I had a mediocre bike ride. I thought I was moving, but power data suggested otherwise. I was about 15 watts average below where I know that I should have been riding. I felt good though. The course was oddly hilly, but I felt strong on the hills. I think more bike time is much needed.
My run started off stellar! I was hitting 7:20s for the first few miles and then something happened. I started to have these weird crampy feelings in my shins. The sun had come out and I was struggling. I had about 5 miles of not so hot running. My time slowed down to about 8:30s for a good portion, but then my legs came back at the start of the second loop. I started passing tons of people and I picked the pace back up to 7:45s. I was bummed that I had lost so much time, but I was happy that stuck with it and kept pushing.
My overall time was 5:15. This was nothing for me to brag about and I was happy that it was solid, but sad that I didn't hit my goal time of 4:59. I just want to break that 5 hour mark! It's just a few minutes here, a few mintues there and totally doable. I need to work a little harder and race a bit harder as well. I know that the speed is there, I just need to find it on race day.
I do love this distance and I am signed up for Rhode Island 70.3 in July and Steelhead in August.
I am taking a break from the sprint triathlons this season. I might do 1 or 2, but I am planning on just training hard and long on the weekends to get me ready for the more important races.
The best part of the race was that I got to get my pic taken with Chrissie Wellington, 2 time Ironman World Champion! So cool and I was so star struck:)
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