Syracuse 70.3

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. The goal of the season was to qualify for Clearwater at this race.

Lofty? Yes.
Realistic? Maybe.

Goal accomplished.

Swim 29:20
Bike 2:52:14
Run 1:44:24
5:10:44
7th/AG (online says 8th, results posted at the race said 7, not sure why they are different?)

(Yes, I got my slot through roll down. Over the year I have debated about only taking a slot if I truly 'qualified.' But you know what? I had the ABSOLUTE best day I could have, and was proud to get that slot and hand over my credit card without any hesitation :)

Swim

It's impossible to go through the day in detail, it just all came together. Choosing mirrored goggles on an overcast, rainy morning was not the smartest decision to start off the day, but it forced me to find feet on the swim. I am pretty sure the swim time include a pretty long run from the water to transition, as my watch read 28:-- when I glanced. I felt strong and kept my effort up over the entire course.

The transition area was pretty huge and my rack was about as far from the bike exit as possible, which include a long run in the grass to the mount line after you exited transition (think this is included in the bike time). I decided to only go with toe warmers and not the planned arm warmers - I was never uncomfortable on the bike in terms of temperature (the pelting rain in my face while descending at 40+ mph, that's another story). It actually ended up being a perfect temperature, with heavy fog and a little bit of rain during the bike course. Other than wet roads, the conditions really couldn't have been more perfect (at least for me).

Bike

Got on the bike and settled in. The course was pretty wicked the first 15 miles. Coach pre-rode the course and warned us not to freak out if it took us an hour+ to ride the first 15 miles. He assured me I could make up the time on the back half of the bike, but if I rode the first 15 too hard, there would be no way to recover.

The bike course was AWESOME. I enjoyed every moment on the bike - it was a complete 180 from Eagleman. It was a perfectly fair mix of climbs, rollers, and flats. There was an incredibly fun section around mile 40-45 of rollers that you could really get your speed up and was through some twisty-turning country back roads. I was actually riding the course with a smile on my face. The course support was surprisingly strong on the bike, despite a foggy, wet morning.

I spun up the larger hills, attacked some, and was confident in my training to pull me through. I rode with my coach's powertap and am excited and interested to look at the data (I didn't ride with any power goals - it was purely to collect data. Although the wattage information was a nice distraction during the ride for a numbers nerd like myself). I did have a little freak out when I started to do some math in my head around mile 20-25 and realized I was on pace for a 3:20+ bike split, but trusted the process and kept at it.

I had a bit of trouble with my nutrition on the bike. I take all liquid calories on the bike, and I think bc it was a bit colder than my last race and most of my longer training rides, I had some trouble getting it all down. I had a little throw-up issue just before the last bottle exchange (mile 40), then due to wet hands couldn't get the water bottle in my cage so I tossed it. I had liquids in my aero drink, but they were mixed with my calories and it became a real challenge to keep taking them in during the last part of the bike. But I still got off the bike feeling 'full' (in a good way, not a bad way) so I wasn't too worried.

For the first time in a race, I took my feet out of my shoes at the very end of the bike, due to the long grassy run back to my rack. I didn't do the flying dismount, but baby steps!! Had a really quick T2, and was off.

Run

I felt great immediately. I had swam sub 30, and biked around 2:50. Barring disaster, I would get a PR. BUT if I could put together the run I have trained for, I knew I could be in for a really great day.

I left T2 with a good friend in my age group and it was painful, but I let her go. I SO SO wanted to go with her, she was running just a *touch* faster than me (ran 2 mins faster in the end). But I had to run MY race, and that mean keeping it under COMPLETE control for the first 5 miles.

The rumor was that this run was downhill. Yes, it was a NET downhill run. However, it was way more than 'undulating' at times. Splits seem to be fast all around, but I thought it was a really tough course - most of the 'net' downhill comes in the first 5 miles, so when you start to try to pick up your pace, you are hit with some climbing and a gradual, long false flat that just sucked the energy right out of you (oh, and running on a 6 lane, straight highway for 8 miles didn't help the energy levels...)

First 5 miles were some of the easiest I have ever run in race. I was running faster than the 'plan' but it felt easy and I knew it was downhill. It was SO SO hard not to try to run with the people flying by me, but I trusted my plan and hoped I would see them again. First five miles clicked off in the blink of an eye:

8:08
7:53
7:49
7:39
7:59

I picked up the effort, and even though my pace didn't fall much (or at all), I was picking people off and starting to catch some people who I had let go in the beginning. I can think of 4 people in particular that FLEW by me in the first few miles and I remember thinking to myself 'WOW, they are SO fast! I wish I was a runner like that, it looks so effortless." Seeing these people coming back to me as I kept steady at my 8ish/mile pace made me smile on the inside :)

7:56
7:54
8:15
8:05
7:55

Miles 6-10 may be the part of the race I am most proud of. I was losing it mentally. Catching people on the run was great, but the pain was creeping in and I was LONELY. It would have been easy to let up, jog it in, and still get a huge PR and have a great race. But I was doing the math in my head and looking at the race clock on my watch and knew if I could keep it together right at 8/miles, that a half marathon PR and sub-5:10 was within my reach.

The last 5k HURT. BAD. But that was the plan. I had caught back up to a women (41) who ran past earlier, and we pushed each other through the last few miles. Mile 11 was a steady climb and then mile 12 included a really sharp down hill. These two combined toasted my legs. But I held it together and tried to keep the smile on my face across the finish line.

8:06
8:18
8:05

I stopped my watches and knew I had done it. I had put together the race I had trained for, run a half marathon PR, and left EVERYTHING on the race course. In terms of my slot, it so didn't matter at that point. A few girls had passed me on the bike, I had passed one on the run, and another flew by on the run -I had no clue where I was in my age group - but it didn't matter.

Post-Race

A few other teammates had a chance at roll down or had gotten age group awards, so I stuck around for the award ceremony. You never know, and truthfully, the sun had come out and I just really didn't want to move from my comfy spot in the grass. The friend who I had left T2 with had gotten 5th in our age group and told me 10 minutes before awards that neither slot in our age group had been claimed.

HOLY CRAP.

And so it rolled down. And I took my slot. And I'm going to Clearwater :)