Thursday, September 6, 2018

Ironman Maine 70.3

Half Ironman 70.3          

                            


                                                          Maine August 26, 2018

It has been 3 weeks since my Maine Half Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles), still in awe that I finished and made the bike cutoff.  Last year my Half Ironman (Tinman) was all about finishing the course and there were no specific cutoffs that made me stress out although it was one of my toughest races, was it tough because of the rough waters, wind coming from all directions on the bike or was it tough because I didn’t train as much as I should have for it.

Training for Maine Half Ironman 70.3
Training began in late November of 2017, I had a goal to race again in the NYC Triathlon and do another Half Ironman, although in November I have yet to sign up for the Maine race I was still training for it. I hit the pool several times a week, biked indoors on my trainer and completed outdoor rides when weather allowed it and of course I continued running as I am usually training for a race. As I was training I noticed how my swimming has improved, my endurance on the swim improved and an hour or more didn’t seem so grueling when I was swimming in the pool. As for training on the bike well it was a love/hate relationship, I was able to bike and get the miles in but I felt as if it was a struggle for me as far as speed. I was like the little engine that could “I think I can, I think I can”, come race day my mindset changed to “I know I can, I know I can”, although the weeks prior to Maine I had my doubts on even doing the race because I didn’t want to face disappointment.
I had my team for encouragement, my friends that supported me but still had my doubts. I would go on my Saturday rides and never made it past the Market on 9w because I couldn’t keep up so I was left doing basic route and hill repeats, this was very discouraging to me and I just became frustrated. I did get the workouts in but I wasn’t having fun anymore, my anxiety and stress got to me the last 2 months leading up to the race. When I finished the NYC Triathlon in July, as soon as I crossed the finish line I said I am not doing Maine, although I improved my time from 2 yrs. prior, the bike wasn’t by much and the swim, half way through the swim I was feeling constricted from the wetsuit. My teammate Cari convinced me to meet her for open water swimming at least once a week and the practice in the suit helped a lot.  Although I was getting my swims and my workouts in I still had my doubts on doing Maine, yes I paid for it and I would have lost money but I think would have been crushed after 8 months of training and not finishing. I had another teammate Jose S help me out on the bike and believed in me more than I believed in myself.  Coach Jose helped me out my last few rides also and said I can do it. My other teammate Daphnie who I haven't seen in a while was supportive breaking down my time on race and how I would do in each leg. A couple of weeks before Maine we had a 4 hour time trial in Harriman State Park, 55 miles in the pouring rain, I finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes. I was disappointed then my coach said this course was 1000ft more elevation then Maine and the conditions were not ideal so then I said maybe I can do this.
Everyone had their personal obstacles to overcome in this race whether it was the swim, bike or run, we all had our challenges and anxiety but at the end we persevered.

  

 












Race Week
Since I had my doubts on racing Maine, I didn’t put a lot of thought how I would be able to go and afford it, I am unemployed and didn’t get my unemployment check on time, so I had to scramble for money and had to borrow, luckily the day I arrived in Maine I received my check. I arrived in Maine with my teammate Marysol and her daughters, we checked in to the hotel and then retrieved our bibs. We attended athlete briefing then went to check out the beach and the buoys and swim course, boy did it look far.

 

Day Before Race Day
Went to swim start to practice with my teammates, a lot of anxiety was happening. The waves pushed us around and the water was cold but then after a few dips it felt ok. Coming back from the first buoy I was able to get my rhythm. After the swim I went out for a quick 15 minute bike ride and then a 15 min run with my teammate.  Went back to the hotel room organized my race day gear and nutrition, didn’t take a picture of it which I usually do. I walked to the bike transition to set up my bike and meet with the team for a blessing and words of wisdom from our coach and other teammates. We then went out for a pasta dinner and back to the room to relax. I was walking back to my room I noticed I didn’t have my helmet which I wore when I took my bike to transition, I left my helmet at the restaurant where we ate, had to walk a half a mile back to retrieve it and so glad they had it.
 



Race Day
Swim
The day has come, 8 months of training blood, sweat and tears and some laughs. Ok, may be a bit dramatic with blood, I did cut my ankle with the ring of the bike trying not to fall. I get to bike transition, set up my bike area close to one of my teammates Malibu, which I was happy to be close to a familiar face. We set up our transition together since there was an empty rack for a bike. The moon was still out, the mood was filled with focus, anxiety, fears, nerves, excitement.  I get to the beach and see the most beautiful sunrise, we were able to go and do a warm up swim and had a moment with Cari, my swim buddy aka my bad ass b*tch. The athletes placed themselves in their predicted seeded time. I went way to the back in the 50-55 minute range so I don’t get faster athletes swimming over me or punching and kicking me. The swim was nice, water was clear and only bumped into a few ppl, the turn was a bit harder I couldn’t really see the buoys, they were further apart. The swim back to shore, I used the crowd for sighting because again had a hard time seeing the buoys, need to get my eyes checked. I finally finish the swim and looked at my watch 49 minutes, wow my fastest 1.2 miles, by the time I get to timing chip it was 50 minutes but I’ll take it. I run out of the water and see my team Cheer Squad and coach, it was so awesome to have them out there yelling and screaming. I was side by side with my Malibu coming out of the water, we ran up to timing mat together.  I got the assist to get my wetsuit pulled off by volunteers and she kept going.
 

 

Bike
I get to transition and get ready for the bike. As I pedaled and biked, it was game on, I was in race mode. I celebrated every mile, yelling woohoo or some type of excitement, trying to stay positive throughout. I see Malibu about half way through we played cat and mouse with each other pushing each other on those rolling hills back and forth from then on to the last mile. We were both worried about the time cutoff on the bike and making the 4 hours as our coach wanted us to finish. I forget which mile it was but it was in the 30s and I told her we had 40 minutes to meet the cutoff and we pushed it, we barely had any recovery because of the rolling hills. You would think nice big up hill will have a nice downhill, nope we had to switch gears again to go back up. We saw our other teammate Ali and it felt like a training ride, all of us pushing each other. We were on the turn to the finish and we can see our teammates and coaches yelling and screaming, we made that 4 hour time we were stressing about for months, so glad we had each other through the 56 mile bike course.



Run
Once I was off the bike I had to use the bathroom, I didn’t stop during the bike since I was more on a time constraint. I get to bike transition switch shoes, grab my visor, my fuel belt, race belt and head out for my run, my first goal was to get to a bathroom haha, the first bathroom I see I run in and not sure it was nerves but didn’t have to go after all of that. I drank a lot of everything of the run course, as I noticed I didn’t finish one of my bottles on the bike which was harder to reach for me. The run was a 2 loop course, it was hot by the time I started a lot of people looked like they were struggling. I am a runner and the running I still have to get used to after finishing the bike, its not that easy even as a runner. I get to the trail part of the course and welcomed the shade and ran into another porta potty, as I exit the porta potty the volunteer directs me to keep going at the turn. I see my coach and he said I was doing great on time and I did feel good.  I get to the start of the 2nd loop and notice a 8 mile marker and my watch said 6 miles, I was thinking did my GPS cut off on the trail, why am I missing 2 miles. I get to the trail again and noticed a straightway on trail which I missed the first time since I ran to the bathroom towards the turn and the volunteer directed me the wrong way. So I finally figured out where I missed those 2 miles and that was where the timing chip was. I made ran I ran that part twice to make sure I had run my whole 13.1 miles.  I get to the last half mile or so of the race and not sure if it’s because I am pushing hard or because I drank way too much liquids on the run but was feeling nausea. I see finishers walking back to their bikes with their medals, I see crowds cheering to finish strong, I felt strong except that I don’t want to puke feeling. I get to the Ironman finisher shoot and see everyone cheering, Trihuracan cheer squad in full effect, what a great feeling to cross the finish line. I throw my hands in the air and so proud that I finished and then right before I get my medal I puke haha, at least it was after the cameras.


 
  

Post Race
A few of us went to eat and celebrate, we were all tired but enjoyed each other’s company, shared stories, ate , laughed and was on a ice cream sugar rush dancing outside of a bar lol
This training and race has showed me to not give up on myself, I put in the training and just go for it. “Don’t Limit Your Challenges, Challenge Your Limits”. I can go on and on, I went from barely swimming 1 lap a couple of years ago with nose plugs to swimming 1.2 miles in the ocean. I went from learning how to ride a bike a few years ago and learning how to not stop like the Flintstones to clipping into my bike this past year. There is always room for learning, improving and taking on new challenges.
My next big goal is the Chicago Marathon coming up in a few weeks.

Until next time Happy Running, Swim, Bike, Hike, Dance and Box.