Beach to Battleship Race Re-cap

Hey Hey Hey! How are y’all doing? Things are still just as busy as ever on my end but nonetheless, I still managed to get in my final pre-ironman race this past weekend!…and y’all it went great!!! But before I get ahead of myself, let me back-up a minute to give you the WHOLE race weekend recap.

Wednesday night — Packed my bags (dang I have a lot of Tri gear) then Baby Brother came to town to hang out with me! Woohoo! Taco Mac and baseball, the perfect way to spend the evening.

Thursday — Starts out bright and early loading all my tri gear into little brother’s car and he drove me to work. That was such a treat! I sure did feel spoiled not having to fight my way through traffic alone like I do most days. Then (spoiled again) mom picks me up from work after only a half day at the office. THEN (SPOILED AGAIN) dad drove me (and the rest of the fam) all the way down to Wrightsville Beach.

Once we arrived…. we looked like the three ring circus. I did mention once that I had a lot of tri gear with me right?! Well the truck of the car got jammed!!! AND NO ONE SEEMED TO BE ABLE TO HELP US!! All the being said, all 4 of us were up a creek without a paddle. No one had a tooth brush, change of clothes, anything! We sure did look like a rough bunch by Friday morning….in the same clothes as we wore all day Thursday and Thursday night!

Friday — Lucky for us, the car dealership came through in the clutch and they were able to get the car trunk open. THANK GOODNESS! I was beginning to panic seeing as packet-pickup, and transition drop off all took place on Friday and they were MANDATORY! YIKES! Really should say, “Thanks dad” as he spent ALL morning stranded at the dealership, while the rest of us slept in and I was able to get a short run in on the beach.

Final pre-race workout! A short run along the beach!

Friday post lunch was nice and smooth, Mom and I were able to get my packet and all my gear made it to the correct spot, race day ready. Friday night even capped with a beautiful sunset over the channel.

Saturday — AKA RACE DAY started out bright and early with papa and I heading over to T1 for the final gear drop. Then surprise surprise we got to go back to the condo to hang out for nearly 2 hours!! This never happens race morning but because this race had both a Full Ironman and Half Ironman race, us half people got to ease into the morning with our first wave going off at 8:30!!! I personally didn’t go off till 8:50, probably the latest start to a race I’ve ever had.

12106714_10154270931288852_4672094148255002201_n — Go Purple Caps! 34 and under females

8:50AM — The gun goes off and the mob of 34 and under women are kicking and scratching. Really, can we put in a rule that finger and toe nails must be clipped?! Anyways, the swim went great. With the current the entire way making for a very fast course. With the exception of poor sighting on my part, sighting a paddle boarder instead of a buoy, the swim went flawless! I finished in 34:45 and that even includes a little time out of the water as the timing mat was after the wetsuit strippers and partially up the hill. Also, I have to give kuddos to the volunteers at this locations…they were champs! They were on their game and not afraid to get wet at all, helping pull us out of the water and getting us out of our wetsuits in no time! THANK YOU!!

Transition 1 went smoothly, wetsuit in the bag and helmet on my head and I was on my way with a flying mount to get started on the bike (AKA Stanley).

The bike was probably my best ride of all times. It started out fast and ended even faster. I felt great and was able to stay on top of my fuel (with the exception of missing one gu) making for a great ride. The course was pretty flat and for the first time in my life I was got to ride on the highway!! That was really cool and also really nice as the roads were in great condition. The aid out on the bike was also great, I saw lots of people receiving support with flats and the aid stations were well stocked with very helpful volunteers. I ended up completing the bike in 2:55:23 for an average speed over the 56miles of 19.26mph. Thank you Stanley!

Transition 2…. well, I can’t say it went quite as smoothly as T1. The bike hand-off was pretty cool but getting my run stuff and making my way through the mandatory changing area (even though I wasn’t changing clothes) was a struggle. My run bag was no where to be found for what seemed like forever and the changing area entrance wasn’t marked making for a little confusion. Still nothing to get my panties in a wad about as I was about to deal with a MUCH bigger problem as soon as I stepped out on the run course…..

As is usual for me, my feet will sometimes fall asleep while I am on the bike. You know, the normal tingling but then after wiggling them a little they usually come back to life and are totally fine. Well today, that was not the case. I didn’t think much of it initially as it has happened before where my feet are asleep right at the ball of my foot when I have started the run, but typically by a 1/2 mile in they are completely fine. Not so much, today they didn’t wake up till MILE 4!!!! Then by mile 9 my right foot was asleep again!!!! I had to stop a couple times to walk and shake it out since it would also get a little painful as it feels like you have a ball of sand right under the ball of your foot. This continued all the way to the finish, where even though I felt strong, my face was saying otherwise. Nonetheless, even with a sleepy foot, the 13.1 mile run went great with a finishing time of 1:57:20, an 8:57 pace. The course, was boring at times but the aid stations were great and very lively. I also liked that there were constantly people around you. Although it got a little tight at times, I prefer that over a super spread out course where you can feel like you’re all on your own.

12122664_10154270938533852_410758378353106160_n — High Five!

Overall for the day, I finished in 5:33:23, a nearly 20min personal best, placing 33rd out of 359 female athletes, and first in the 20-24 age group! It was a great race, and I feel strong going into Mexico in just a few short weeks!

8 Point Win

Hello Hello!! I hope you are staying warm and off the roads on this cold, yucky, ICY night!! Today’s post is a quick update of what has been going on with me these last couple weeks….

1. SNOW DAY or should I say ICE DAY!!! Today I didn’t go into either of my jobs since the roads were such a mess. This was a super strange concept for me considering it was a Tuesday and not going into either job only happens like 3-4 times a month!!! That being said my first reaction this morning was “….uhhh what do I do today?!” Not to worry though, I did manage to clean the entire apartment top to bottom, run on the treadmill, run the stairs, sign up for another race, cook a pretty awesome dinner, and still sit on the couch for several hours. Pretty productive day for never leaving my building!

2. Speaking of apartment, it is coming together great! My roommate had furnished most of the apartment before I got here but it feels more and more like home to me everyday.

3. I am still on the Grilled Cheese kick that I talked about yesterday but today I traded out the chicken for a little canned tuna. It was awesome! I wonder what master piece I can pull off tomorrow?!

4. My race calendar is starting to come together for the year. At this point I am going to be running Rock ‘n Roll Raleigh Half Marathon in April, Beach to Battleship Half Ironman in October, and Ironman Cozumel in November. I am looking to add in 2-3 more races between May and September. Maybe a sprint and an international distance triathlon…not sure yet but I do know I need to find a few more to keep myself motivated all the way to the end of November.

5. My car finally has a name!!! I present to you Edna!!! Like the little lady that makes the super hero suits in the movie The Incredibles.

6. Work is super busy and by super busy I just mean I am working all the time. As a mentioned a few months back, I am working at both Jenny Craig and the Y. I love that I am getting to help people achieve their goals but dang it is hard to find a balance sometimes. I am fighting to keep my Sunday’s free as often as possible but that seems to be getting harder and harder to do each week.

7. Cookie butter and cookie butter ice cream might be my new favorite foods. If you haven’t tried them, stay far far away!! They are almost too good to be true!!

8. Did you catch the “us” and the “we” in the grilled cheese post yesterday?! Since “love” is in the title of the blog I guess it is only fair I share the latest update in that category too…..His name is Dylan and we have been on a few dates now. Two of which were to one of my favorite places in Charlotte, Freedom Park. We went there the last two weekends to either throw the frisbee or shoot hoops. Aside from the park we have gone for ice cream, bowling, cooked each other dinner, and checked out Lake Norman State Park for a little hiking. I’ve had a great time on each of these dates and I am really enjoying getting to know him more and more!!

Post hike smiles at Lake Norman State Park 🙂

So there you have it, a life update in 8 short points. And incase you couldn’t figure out why I titled this post 8 Point Win, it is because I am extremely happy with the way things are going these days as I adjust to Charlotte living…. basically it feels like I am winning 😉

Have a Great Day Y’all!

Raleigh 70.3

Ooops! Sorry I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks. I have lots to catch you all up on but let’s start with my “big race.”

5:15… Alarm goes off.

6:00… drop my run gear off at T2. Man working there assures me I am LATE. Panick sets in as we drive to T1, nearly 45min away. When I get there transition is closing momentarily. I quickly set up my bike. I am scrambling and forget the most important part…. I didn’t put my fuel on my bike. Thank godness for another scrambling triathlete that helped me out.

7:00… First wave goes off. Time for me to eat breakfast. Almond butter sandwich and a Gatorade.

7:50… Wetsuit wiggle. The water temp was low enough by less than a degree making for a warm, wetsuit legal race.

8:00… Line up.

8:18… Gun goes off for my wave. I was in the last wave of the day.

Swim starts off great, sighting is easy and I found my groove quickly. All was great till about the last quarter of a mile when my wave caught LOTS of waves ahead of us. It turned into swimming through what I’d imagine swimming through a lake of dead bodies (that occasionally kick really hard) would feel like.

Upon exiting the water I was super excited… They had wetsuit strippers!! Best thing ever! I was out of my wetsuit in about 3seconds!!

T1 was a little slow, as I did take the time to put on socks and had to put all my fuel in my pockets. Something I’d typically already have taped to my bike.

On to the bike… I quickly realize I forgot something important as I see lots of people fixing flat tires on the side of the road… I didn’t put my kit back on my bike! Nerves set in a little but I quickly manage to calm myself. No sense in worrying about something that you can’t change now.

The course starts off with a big climb. About 5miles worth of a climb. I felt good. I just spun my legs all the way to the top. I also felt fast as I was passing tons of people!! An advantage of starting last.

Once the climb is over, into the wind we go! We fought a headwind for quite a while. I felt surpringly good.

At about the half way point the course took a nose dive! It got wayyyy hilly!! Lame right?! I fought though it and still managed to pass quite a few people but man did I slow down. On a positive note, the aide stations were awesome! Never have I seen so much support on the bike.

T2, quite a bit faster than T1. Flying dismount and quick exchange of gear. Did take a second to put on some body glide and a headband… Priorities right?!

On to the run… It sucked!!! The run was a two loop course that passed right by the finish line at the start of loop two… What a tease!!! If you break the run into 4 parts, it was uphill for part 1, downhill part 2, uphill part 3, and downhill part 4.

The initial uphill got me a little, my legs were super tight coming off the bike. I did a little more walking than I would have liked early. I managed to work out the tightness and got though it back to the start of loop two.

Going uphill the second time killed me. I’m sure I looked pitiful cause I sure felt it. It was a battle of wanting to run but my body saying “ehh…better not” (my fellow pitch perfect fans should know this fat Amy quote).

Coming back to the finish line, John managed to see me several times. He kept yelling at me to run. Surprisingly this helped a lot. Still not sure how he managed to not run on the course and see me so many times along a 2mile stretch… Magic?! Regardless it was much appreciated!!

I ended up finished in a time of 5:54:40. It was a little slower than I had hoped but overall I was happy with my performance. Going into my next race, I think I’ll put a little more focus on the run portion.