I picked Galveston as an early season race b/c I figured it would be similar to training conditions where I live in Pensacola FL. Two of my friends who did the race last year confirmed that it was flat n' windy on the bike and blistering hot on the run. Perfect.
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| What a surprise to find out my driving route required a ferry! |
As race day approached, forecasted temperatures kept dropping. Somehow I had the foresight to pack gear for all weather and thank goodness I did because it was a crisp 49 degrees on race morning! I had planned to wear either a speedsuit or a short-sleeved wetsuit, but I was thankful that morning that I had also packed my full-sleeve suit, which looked very professional paired with socks & sandals ;)
The Swim - 1.2 miles - 36:28 (1:53/100 m)
The swim was an in-water start and jumping into the water off the dock felt like jumping into a bathtub! The water was WAY warmer than the air! Boom - the gun fired and my age group took off. The water was rather choppy and crowded. I never found any good feet to draft off of yet never seemed to have clear water either. The course felt long and when I checked my watch it confirmed that I was in there longer than I had expected to be.
Taking off that wetsuit was not warm. Burr!!!! My transition was a little longer b/c I chose to put on my finisher jacket from IM Chattanooga, a headband to cover my ears, and gloves.
The Bike - 56 miles - 2:46:16 (20.22 mph)
The bike was a flat out & back on a road that paralleled the coastline. There was one bridge, but it was not much to write home about - I was expecting something big and scary like Perdido Key Pass, but it was basically a flat little thing over some marshland. On the way out, there was a massive tailwind. It would have been easy to over-do it and pay big time on the return trip, but I forced myself to stay within my goal watts. It started raining about 5 miles out from the turnaround. At first it was lightly misting but later on in the race I noticed that my jacket sleeves were completely saturated. As soon as I turned around the wind whipped hard into my face. I knew it would be a much more grueling trip back to T2. Although the headwind was tough, the worst part was how much colder it felt! I was so thankful I was dressed for winter and have NO IDEA how some people were out there in only a tri suit!!!??? My hands got so numb that I had to stop at the aid station and have a volunteer refill my bottle. My fingers lost the ability to change gears or effectively break towards the end of the ride. However, I was pleased that I was able to maintain the watts I wanted to and didn't die in the last 10 miles.
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| Thank GOODNESS I packed this coat! |
T2 - 3:02
This transition was pretty darn slow b/c my hands were incapacitated d/t cold. Thankfully there was a very friendly volunteer who undid my helmet strap and put on my running number belt for me! Thank you!!!!! I kept my gloves on and headed out on the run.
The Run - 13.1 miles - 1:37:08 (7:24/mi)
At this point it had warmed up to somewhere around 53 degrees - still WAY too cold for a Floridian's blood! I started running and noticed my feet were numb and felt like ice blocks. I started running behind a woman who was clipping of 7:30 minute miles and figured that was a good start. I've been working on regaining speed lately but was really unsure of what I'd be able to do off the bike. After the first loop of the run, my feet and ears had thawed out and I ditched the gloves. I also took a caffeinated gel which was quite possibly the best decision I made the entire race. I felt like I was the run leg of a relay team for the next 4 miles! The effect wore off a little for the third and final loop and I had to dig in to get to the finish. I was pleased that I had been able to maintain slightly sub 7:30 pace and wanted to carry that out to the end.
Total Time - 5:06:36 - 9th of 107 in Age Group
I finished in 5:06:36 and was very pleased with this result. It's the fastest 70.3 I've race in quite a few years and I have good reason to believe the new training platform that I've been using, TriDot, is working quite well. In fact, I have accepted an ambassadorship with TriDot and will be doing a post soon on the ins and outs of this training/coaching software. Overall, it's allowing me to train fewer hours while increasing speed.
Shout out to my friend Sharon for finishing 2nd in her age group!!! Sharon you are a total rockstar and I had such a fun time with you! :)
I'm not quite sure what's next for me but I need to figure it out soon b/c it's driving me crazy. I don't like not having my next race on the docket. I am deciding between doing another Ironman or a couple of 70.3s to build speed and maybe try to qualify for 2019 70.3 worlds in Nice France because I've been DYING to go back to France for quite a few years now! La France me trop manque!
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