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.

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.

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.

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!