I singed up for Ironman Racine 70.3 thinking this half ironamn distance race will be the last practice race before my biggest goal for the year Ironman Mont Tremblant. Race date is 4 weeks before the IM so perfect time to test my fitness, dial-in my nutrition and practice my IM pacing and strategy. Race location is also very convenient, only about 1.5 hours drive from Chicago, which means we can actually drive up Saturday afternoon. In the weeks leading to the race, my training was going as planned. Made it to the lake (Lake Michigan that it) once, and boy that was a cold one, been doing my long rides, long runs, etc.
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On Racine's bike course
(July 4th pre-ride) |
We even made it up to Racine on July 4th to ride the bike course and see what's it like. I was looking forward to racing this bike course. Fun rolling course, mostly out of town, windy (as if there is a course in this area that is not windy).
Fast forward to race week, I had two objectives for the race and one big concern. Objective number one was to test out a new nutrition plan. I wasn't happy with how I felt on the bike and run nutrition wise. Then, several weeks before the race, I attended a lecture by Dr. Stacy Sims (the creator and co-founder of Osmo Nutrition) and what I heard just made sense to me, so I decided to give it a go during this race.
This consisted of stop using gels completely and use solid food on the bike (salty balls, as Dr Sims called them, which are yummy and fun to make) with Stinger chews and glucose tablets on the run and of course hydration using Osmo (loved the flavors). Objective number two was the result of a lactate threshold test I did 3 days prior to race day. The goal was to determine pace for IM Mont Tremblant and for Racine. Based on the test, my goal was to maintain normalized power of 160 watts, and not to go lower than 130 watts or higher than 190 watts (unless there is a climb that requires more). Sorry for getting very technical here, yeah, I'm a gear head and tech nerd (the latter, not really), but I've done this last year before my first IM and it worked well to help in determining a good bike pace and help me deal with some of the fears and concerns I was obsessing over. Sounds simple, right? well, that's what I though too. The one big concern (of course there were about 100 smaller concerns that I wont mention, but if you have ever done a race before, you know what I'm talking about), water temperature in the lake!! After the VERY cold winter we had (Polar Vortex - remember? how can I forget) water temperature in the lake is significantly lower than past years. I heard talk about water temp being under 60F in Racine. Ouch. It was definitely cold the one and only time I was brave enough to swim in the lake this year. Those who know me, know that I do not like the cold and have really hard time in cold water (OK, I admit it, I turn purple). I got the advice to use a neoprene cap under the race swim cap and I borrowed one (they were all sold out from the tri shops around Chicago) from a teammate. I ignored the little voice in my head telling me, it's going to be very cold, and decided, I'm swimming no matter what.
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| Bike is racked and ready to roll |
We arrived to Racine early Saturday afternoon, headed straight to the packet pick up, after waiting in line for about 30 min (which ended up I could have passed as they had a separate line for All World Athletes, I sure wish they would have told us that before) I had my race number and packet. The official water temp sign said 62F, I breathed with relief, although deep down inside I was not buying that, as the week before it was in the mid-upper 50s. We headed to transition to mount the bike and check out the layout of the transition (swim in/bike out/run out). With my bike all racked, we headed to the hotel. It felt strange arriving to a race venue only a day before the race. In recent years, we usually end up arriving on Friday, as race venue is further away.
At 4am, my alarm (OK, at least 3 different alarms, I'm a little obsessed about waking up on time) went off, I was up and ready. After having my usual pre-race breakfast and drink, coffee that is, we headed to transition. I was nervous about the swim, both the cold temperatures and was afraid that the lake would be choppy on top of that. We arrived at transition at around 5:30am, sun was rising and everything looked so calm. Well, expect from my nerves.
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| Transition area at 5:30am |
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| Lake Michigan close to swim start |
I set up my transition, and rushed towards the beach, as I really wanted to get in the water before swim start, not before realizing I forgot to take my helmet and glasses out of the bag. Fixed that, and headed out. Quick stop at the port-a-toilets, oops, I realized I forgot my water bottle in transition, quick run to pick it up and there we go, making the 1 mile walk up the beach to swim start. A nice surprise waited when we got close to the water. The lake was calm, not a single wave. I was relieved, now I only have to deal with the 1000 other swimmers in the water and the very cold temp. After putting my wet suit on, I went into the water to help get my body acclimated to the cold, going in I was thinking, hmmm this is not so bad, until I put my head in the water, I couldn't breath. It was COLD, freezing cold. No way its 62F, I'm thinking. I tried again, this time with the neoprene cap, better, but still very very cold. I made the decision to swim with the cap, even though this will be the first time I swam with one. I got out of the water and lined up with my wave. Yellow caps, 7:20am start. I go, no matter what.
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My wave is getting
ready to start |
The Swim:
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Swim Exit
(I was later told that
I looked like a ghost) |
Just on schedule, 7:20am the horn blew and my wave, women 40-44, went off into the water. I positioned myself in the middle (a little more aggressively for me, as I usually go to the far side, as far away from the buoy line as possible). We all started walking into the water, it was too shallow even for dolphin jumps, then started swimming. I tried to put my head in the water, but couldn't breath, water is still too cold. I see the women in front of me all stand up and start walking, I guess it got shallow again. I did the same, a few more steps and here we are in swimming deepness again. I try again, nope, can't put my head in. Oh well, I am not quitting (although the though has crossed my mind), I will swim like an old lady with my head out (or half out, Tarzan style) the whole 1.2 miles if I needed. First buoy come, still being an old lady, on the second too. I am getting passed my swimmers and I see people holding on to the kayaks, I'm thinking, that is NOT going to be me, I will finish this swim. Try again, still can't breath, I try breast strokes, better, but still too cold for normal strokes. I keep thinking, just keep pushing, just get to the next buoy. This race had them numbered, 8 yellow and then 9 orange. I liked that, I was just following the numbers. Finally, buoy number 4, the breakthrough, I am able to swim normally, YAY. I am swimming normally, got into a grove, started to pass people again, and was swimming very close to the buoy line. Happy with the way things are going, I am down to the orange buoys, half way through. I started to look for people's feet to try and draft. Not much success, but I am moving fast (well, it's all relative, fast for me). I couldn't believe it, the turnaround point, I'm almost there, I can see the beach and the swim finish. Time to try and wake up those numb feet (I forgot they were even there), I am kicking harder and moving faster. I can stand, almost at the beach again, I keep swimming until I have to stand. Peek at my Garmin, 43 min. Wow not bad for a swim that started old lady style. I try to run in the water, my hamstrings did not like that, so I walk fast, I'm on the sand, I survived the swim, and in not bad time for me. I run to transition while getting myself mentally ready for the bike.
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| Running out of transition |
The Bike:
The bike started with a short hill coming out of transition. Actually, the mounting line is right at the bottom of the hill and you start right into a climb. I was happy that I had my bike set up to the right gears and quickly jumped on my bike and pedaled up the hill (they should make start like this illegal ;-) not easy when your body is all cold from the swim). Good thing it is a very short hill. At the top, I shift to the big ring and slowly pick up speed to my race pace. I kept looking at my Garmin, making sure that I was pushing 160 watts and staying in the range. The first 10 miles, it was easy to hold my goal pace, as the road was flattish and the surface was relatively good, but after that I started slipping, and it wasn't because my legs couldn't push it, I just can't explain it. Rest of the ride, I was going from being frustrated that my goal NP was slipping away from me to trying to go as fast (speed wise) as I could. I wasn't even paying attention to the view, I was so obsessed with my Garmin and my numbers, that the bike portion just passed me by and I forgot to enjoy it. I was so mad at myself for not making the watts that I lost sight of everything else.
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| Ready to dismount |
This was a new experience for me, as I never rode a race with a power goal in mind and I never tried to maintain that. Not as easy as I though. I will have to work on that for sure. Overall, I was not really happy with my bike time, I felt and still do that I could have done better.
The Run:
I quickly mounted my bike, put my socks and shoes on, race belt, hat and here we go. My goal for the run was to maintain the pace throughout the run and not fade away in the last miles, as happened to me in the part. I was also testing my new nutrition so I was focusing on when to eat, how to carry the food, what works and what doesn't. I had my Garmin set to alert me every 10 minutes, and every beep I took one of my Stinger chews. The run was 2 laps, and was pretty much uneventful. I felt good on the run, was maintaining consistent pace, enjoying the view and even smiling. I even saw some people that I knew. I was also practicing staying in the moment technique and I was focusing on my stride making sure I have fast cadence, relaxed shoulders (yes I have been working on my mental skills). Keeping consistent pace I started passing people that have pasted me earlier. I was happy with my run and on the last 3 miles I started to pick up the pace, and there was the finish line. I felt good and strong when I crossed the line. I head the announcer butcher my last name (again), smiled. Half Ironman number 10 completed. Overall, I could have probably pushed myself harder on the run, yep another thing to add to the long list of things to work on. This wasn't my fastest race, I did not meet my time goal for the bike and overall, but I was happy that I finished, felt strong and I feel better about my big race coming up in 4 weeks.
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| Almost at the finish line |
Thank you Michelle for cheering, supporting (and yes waking up at 4am) and for taking these lovely pictures. Thank you Mike Thomson from Fast & Fit Coaching and thanks to the great people from VQ who cheered on the course and for the all the training.
A few more weeks of training, IMMT here I come.
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