As I made my way through town, my first focus was to safely get out of town.
The first few miles are a bit technical and with the wet roads and rain, I
didn’t want my day to be over in the first few miles of the bike. Once I made
my way to the first big climb passed the ski jumps, I felt like I could start
settling into a good routine.
I found myself around a few female professionals and only noticed a few age group riders ahead of me. I knew there was a lot left in the ride/race so I just focused on riding my own race but also using those around me for motivation. There was a female official passing me several times throughout the race – officiating in front of me and behind me so I saw her often throughout the race. Even though I use the other riders for motivation, I made sure to draft legally and to not get too close on the wheel ahead of me. This only applied to the section from Keene to Jay as I spent much of the rest of the first loop by myself.
I made sure to keep up with my nutrition, which is the same that I have practiced in my last few long brick workouts. I recently changed things up starting with the Skratch hyperhydration to front load calories a bit at the start of the ride. Although I didn’t need any Tums, I found myself getting a bit sleepy on the first loop so I was glad that I had the Gu Aminos to give my brain a bit of a boost. Although the light rain was nice to keep me comfortable, the sun came out and it really warmed up. I made not of a the beautiful sun rising from the clouds as I was making my way down the Keene decent. It made me feel like I was in a training ride as the beauty around me was just taking my breath away.
The Keene decent was fun and I was able to really take advantage of that free speed. The scenery was spectacular but for that descend, I really made sure to stay focused on the riders around me as I didn’t want something silly to happen.
The section from Keene to Jay was fast and fun. But I was ready for some more climbing as my style of riding is not so great in flat time trial positions but instead, climbing and changing up my rhythm with resistance of the climb. Once we turned left out of Jay, it felt good to climb again. Those hills are pretty nasty as you just have to grind through them. I had a few guys cheering me on as I was near the front of the female age group race and ahead of a few female professionals.
Overall I felt pretty good throughout the first loop of the bike. It was good that I had rode the climb from Wilmington into town on Thursday as I knew the tougher sections and where I could get aero and pick up more speed. I found myself getting warm so I carefully grabbed water at most of the aid stations after Keene to sip on and to cool myself. I took in a few Clif chews as I could feel myself needing a bit more calories but I made sure to always wash them down with water to help dilute them.
Once I made my way into the transition area, I stopped at special needs to retrieve my two pre-filled bottles (One was a Trimarni bottle filled and the other was a Smart Water 1.8 liter bottle that I could pour the nutrition into my hydration system and then toss that bottle). I had tossed my other bottle previously on the course at the aid station. I always stop at special needs but this stop was a little longer than normal because I had to get off my bike, rack my bike, get my special needs bag from a volunteer and then roll my bike back to the mount line and continue on. The minute I spent there was well-utilized as I could continue with my planned nutrition and I took a few seconds to stretch out and reboot before continuing on to the second lap.
I made my way through the school, which had a few fun turns before descending back to Mirror Lake Drive. Another fun ride through the town and then back out on the second loop.
At this point it was much warmer and the wind had really picked up. Similar to Kona, the wind is very unpredictable in Placid. Karel rode the course on Saturday and he had tailwind from Wilmington to town (the 10+ mile climb) but for us, it seemed like there was wind everywhere and it was rarely at our back on the 2nd loop.
Whereas I felt pretty solid on the first loop, I had a lot more low moments on the 2nd loop. These are expected and I never know how long they will last so my focus was just doing the best that I could despite how I was feeling. The second loop was a lot more lonely for me, even though I was passing athletes on their first loop. I saw a few Trimarnis on the out and back segments and that really picked up my spirits. My low moments were not causing me to contemplate quitting but instead, it was just a feeling of low energy that would come and go. Again, this is completely normal when racing in an Ironman. I stuck with my nutrition plan and just took in a few extra clif chews than I had planned (and washed down with water) to help give me a little boost. I had a bar with me just in case but I relied solely on my liquid calories (and a few clif ginger chews).
I passed my athlete/friend Alvi after the Keene descent (pic above is when he he flew by me on the descent as I was feeling myself getting knocked all around by the wind so I rode much more cautiously than the first loop) and then I was passed by professional Jeannie Hansen. She was riding super strong and my goal was to try to stay with her as long as I could. Having her in front of me was just the motivation that I needed and I found myself getting out of a low and feeling really strong again. Again, I had the official by me but I knew I wasn’t drafting so it didn’t bother me. I am used to having officials by me on the bike as I am usually near the front of the race after the swim (but always getting chased down on the run 😊).
The last segment from Wilmington to town was brutal. The wind was super gusty and it was mostly headwind. As if that section wasn’t hard enough, the wind made it even more difficult. Plus, with only 10-12 miles left in the race, the body and mind play lots of games with you anyways so there was a lot of mental tricks happening to keep myself focused and to continue to ride my bike the best as I could.
I do not chase any metrics when I race but I have a good idea of what I want an effort to feel like for each respective race I do. This past year has included group rides, a gravel race, 70.3 distance races and time trials. All of which have given me a lot of different scenarios to judge my effort, which helps me in long distance racing. I took some risks and biked pretty strong for all 112 miles but I also have a lot of trust in my abilities that even if I bike hard, I know I can find my running legs. Although I may not be fast on the run, I have confidence in my ability to be good at not slowing down (too much) on the run.
I did have metrics on my screen to check-in with every now and then. I used lap time (and hit lap at each segment), current cadence, lap speed, normalized lap power and 10sec power on my screen. I never knew my total time until I stopped my computer in the transition area. When I saw 5:38, I knew it was a hard bike and that it would impact the run times. So any previous running goals were out the window as my new focus was to find my running legs and to never stop caring and to be competitive on the marathon run. When I saw Karel one last time on the bike, he told me that I was winning my age group by over 20 minutes and that I was holding a solid third overall amateur female. I was really holding on to that third place overall amateur slot and it gave me a good boost before I made my way into the transition area.
I was planning to do a flying dismount but with the wet grass in transition area and just being tired from a really challenging 112 mile bike ride, I unclipped and ran my bike through the grass. After a few steps, I regretted that decision and it was really hard to run in my shoes. I eventually started walking as I was just plain tired. When I got to my spot in the transition area, I sat down and had a brief moment of “how in the heck am I going to run a marathon!?!” but I pushed that aside as I put on my running shoes. I had an extra pair of clean/dry socks in my bag but I opted to keep my socks on from the bike. Again, I probably should have changed them after doing a flying dismount and running in my cycling socks.
I always like to go to the bathroom and empty myself as much as possible before the run so I took off my jersey, I grabbed my hat, hydration belt and flasks, sunglasses, watch and cooling towel, and went into the port-o-potty. I know I spent too long in the transition area relative to the other competitors that I was racing against but I needed that extra time to mentally put myself into a place where I would stay committed for the entire run. I felt so much better after I went to the bathroom and much cooler once I took off my jersey. I was happy that I stuck with my plan to just wear my sports bra and use my cooling towel as I have done it in my previous two races and it really makes me feel good to have that cooling towel on my neck and to only wear the sports bra. I am much more comfortable wearing a sports bra when I run.
I saw an unopened plastic water bottle on a table in the transition area so I grabbed it as I was walking out and drenched my cooling towel, had a few sips and poured the rest on my head. Oh that was so refreshing. Once I started running, my legs responded really well and I told myself “all you have left is to run a marathon.”
Stats from my bike computer:
First loop:
Transition to Keene – 17.7 miles, 46.17 min, 161 NP, 22.9 mph average
Keene to Jay – 9.81 miles, 25:37 min, 152 NP, 23.0 mph
Jay to Wilmington – 14.6 miles, 44:33 min, 162W, 19.7 mph
Wilmington to transition – 13.9 miles, 48:13 min, 171W, 17.3 mph
First 56 miles: 2:44, 163 NP, 20.4 mph, ~2600 feet elevation gain, 87 rpm average, max speed 48.1 mph
Nutrition consumed:
-Between the aerobars bottle: 400 calories Skratch Hyperhydration (consumed in first ~75 minutes)
-Hydration system (1.2 liters/40 ounces, 4 scoops INFINIT Trimarni Base Endurance formula Strawberry Lemonade mixed in 1.2 liters of water). Consumed ~10-15 minutes (3-5 gulps) over the rest of the loop.
-Water from most of the aid stations for sipping/cooling.
-2 Clif Ginger chews (washed down with water)
-~7 Gu Aminos
Second loop:
Transition to Keene – 18.0 miles, 49:39 min, 150 NP, 21.7 mph average
Keene to Jay – 9.59 miles, 23:16 min, 157 NP, 24.7 mph
Jay to Wilmington – 15 miles, 47:12 min, 156W, 19.1 mph
Wilmington to transition – 13.6 miles, 53:55 min, 149W, 15.2 mph
Last 56.2 miles: 2:53, 153 NP, 19.4 mph, ~2500 feet elevation gain, 83 rpm average, max speed 41.6 mph
Nutrition consumed (used pre-filled bottles at special needs - Special needs stop: 61 seconds):
-Between the aerobars bottle: 2 scoops INFINIT Trimarni base endurance formula Grape
-Hydration system (1.2 liters/40 ounces, 4 scoops INFINIT Trimarni Base Endurance formula Grape mixed in 1.2 liters of water). Consumed ~10-15 minutes (3-5 gulps) over the rest of the loop.
-Water from most of the aid stations for sipping/cooling.
-3 Clif Ginger chews (washed down with water)
-~5 Gu Aminos
Total nutrition consumed over 112 miles:
~1750 calories
~112 ounce water (+ water from aid stations)
Total according to my Garmin: 112 miles, 5:38.45 time, 158 NP, 6407 elevation gain, 19.9 mph average, 85 rpm average.
Bike time (official): 5:40.48, 1st AG (35-39), 15th overall female, 134th overall