The foundation: I started training for this back in April pretty much right after recovering from Napa marathon. I put on a some weight marathon training that I knew was not muscle and was not serving me, so I did 8 weeks of the 'Racing Weight' plan to get a little leaner before tri training picked up. That worked really well for me and I wound up dropping 3.4 percentage points in body fat percentage. I was pretty pleased with the results even if it was way too over the top and unnatural for me to sustain for any extended period.
I had also joined a triathlon team, and I highly highly recommend it for anyone thinking about training for one of these (or just a club if you can find one). The riding companionship and the advice was invaluable. The coaching staff was amazing too and pushed me way beyond what I thought I would do - and we got the training schedule one week at a time, so it was good for me not to know what was coming during peak weeks LOL!
Race weekend: I had a busy day at work on Friday, and that was frustrating because I wanted to bust out early to pack, clean my bike, and lube the chain etc. But alas, I didn't have time to do any bike maintenance. The plan was for me to drive down early on Saturday to swim, check in and relax. My friends (the uberman) were coming down for the weekend and would be my sherpas on race day, and then the family would come down for the day on Sunday.
When I got down there Saturday morning, I attached myself to a friendly looking group for a practice swim (there were a ton of people out there practice swimming). I had not swam in the ocean before (other than a ridiculous failed attempt at a practice swim the weekend before) and I wanted to get a feel for how the swells would feel, how to do a running start into breaking surf, what the current might feel like (which way would it push me). That was good and I'm glad I did it.
Then I checked in right at 9am. If anyone does an Mdot race -definitely try to check in as soon as possible - the lines got stupid long. I shopped and racked my bike and said goodby to her and then went to find my friends. Unfortunately, I then discovered that I drove down to Santa Cruz with my husband's car keys. What a PITA that turned out to be - we have no spare key, so it seemed for a while like either they wouldn't come down or rent a car and spend even more money on account of my triathlon habit. I felt terrible. But some friends came through and lent us a car for the day.
Dinner with the team Saturday night (this was the last team race of the season and the A race for 7 of us, so the coaches were there, the racers and a bunch of other team members to man an aid station and cowbell) and went to bed around 10.
Race morning I woke up at 4, had my coffee and oatmeal and Uberman drove me over to transition. He hung out while I set up my stuff and met me to walk down to the beach. It was great having him there - he gave me a lot of encouragement and it made me feel really proud that he was there. Got to the beach just as the pros were starting off, and then I became an excited fangirl and combed the spectators lined up at the surf to see if Lauren Fleshman was there (her husband was racing in the pro wave). Guys. I spotted her right away and went and made a total fool of myself. She was the absolute sweetest person ever and her little boy is so cute. We chatted for a few minutes and then I left her alone and went to start getting in the mindset before my wave was off.
Swim: The water was cold at 61 degrees. And my goggles were leaking at first so I had to stop to fix them. Other than that, totally uneventful swim. I didn't get kicked or elbowed, got only a little seaweed tangling, and I didn't see any sealife. Thank god for that - the race briefing gave us a heads up that the sea lions like to swim under people so if you see a big black shaddow under you, don't freak out. Yeah I would have freaked right the fuck out.
Got out of the swim and ran 4/10 of a mile to transition on pavement in barefeet. Ouch! that really sucked and the super long path to transition cost me a lot of time.
Bike: The bike was great and also uneventful. Very pretty views of the coast on Highway 1, lots of surfers out in the ocean doing their thing, and a pretty detour into the hills a bit. The road was mostly ok with only a few stretches of rough road and two technical downhills with lots of hairpin turns and 180s. I saw on rider crash on one of those turns and she looked in bad shape- I hope she's ok. In general, there were lots of rollers and one major climb. Total elevation gain of about 2500'. I did pretty well, stayed conservative as was the plan and did not push my legs too hard on the climbs. I am not the best cyclist - I'm ok, but not terribly strong on the bike. I worked a lot on it this summer and spend a lot of time in the saddle. I would have liked to see that work translate into a faster pace on race day, but I'll get there. We've got plenty of time and lots of space to grow as a cyclist, which is exciting!
Run: The run was spectacular. I saw Josh and the kids at the start and my teammates about a mile in, which gave me a ton of energy. The course was great - an out and back with 3 or 4 miles on trails on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and the rest on a paved trail or streets. Not too much climbing other than two hills and pretty great support. I also felt fantastic. My running has been amazing all summer. And I felt super strong and consistent on the trail and just went out and ticked off the miles. I passed so many people - so many. I think i was only passed once the entire time. I felt like a total bad ass out there on that run course! I spent a lot of time on the run doing math in my head trying to figure out if I could sneak in under 6 hours. At mile 10, I knew it would be close if I could drop my pace a little. Alas, it was not to be. There was nothing left in my tank at that point and I just could not dig any deeper to find the extra 20sec/mile. I came in at 6:01:05.
The Aftermath: I crossed the finish line and just doubled over. After getting out of the chute, i laid in the sand for quite a while. I was spent so completely. I tried to get food down but that was not happening, then I started shivering uncontrollably. It took a long time for me to feel stabilized and be able to stand and move a while. Now my body hurts everywhere and I'm shuffling around like an old lady. I've got blisters on almost all my toes - there was a ton of sand in my shoes for the run because I didn't take the time to wash my feet after the swim (because of the ridiculously prolonged transition time). And the chafing - oh lord the chafing. Yikes. My neck is chewed up from the cap and wetsuit, my crotch is chewed up from the saddle, and the inside of my knees are chewed up from the run.
But I made it and I'm super proud. My run wound up being less than 5 minutes slower than my stand-alone half marathon PR (what?!). And I know exactly where I need to work, and I've got a minute and five seconds taunting me into training hard this winter!
Thank you again to everyone here for the support and the cheerleading. And to @vtcupcake for being the biggest cheerleader of all - just an amazing friend. I love you to pieces and I can't wait for you to FSU in a couple of weeks!! I know you are going to do amazing and I can not wait! And then ... ironman. Muhahahahaha...
Amazing! Simply incredible! You are do fast! That long T1 is the only reason you were over 6 hours, don't let it bug you. Congratulations on your race and your 70.3 journey!
buffaloeggs.blogspot.com 2016 Races: Hop Hop Half Marathon 2:05:09 Pac Crest Half Ironman 7:13:40 9/10 Aluminum Man Oly Tri 11/27 Space Coast Half Marathon
Congrats ktzmoh, you are amazing. I'm so happy for you that all your hard work and training paid off, you are such an incredible athlete!! Way to kick ass!
that is so, so. SO incredible! All day while G and I were out and about I was talking to him and telling him how amazing you are and I knew you would crush it.
What a great report for an exceptional race! Uneventful is my favorite word to read in a friend's race recap! I am super impressed by your run split. Also, the fact that you left it all out there on your first 70.3 is amazing to me and speaks to trusting your training, your fitness, and having major guts. I really tend to probe for my first few of any distance because I'm afraid I just don't have enough. I'm inspired! Congratulations!
You are seriously amazing. You worked so hard, and I'm glad you had such a great race. You are very inspiring!
PS, how deep was the water that sea lions could swim under you?
I have no idea how fast the water drops off. But the pier in Santa Cruz is famous for the colony of sea lions that lives there - mostly they stay under the pier when there are races like that, but I guess they also sometimes swim under people? They say if you swim there when there isn't all the commotion and ruckus of a race, they will actually pop up to check you out. No thanks. Bye sea lion!
HOLY SHIT!!! You killed it, 1:51:03 half marathon. I'm thinking your next goal should be a BQ
OMG ha! Yeah no. I need to figure out how to run marathons first. I honestly feel like that distance is a such a hard nut to crack for me - I feel strong in my half marathons, and I felt strong the entire 70.3. But something about that 20 mile marathon wall just kills me. At this point I just want to finish a marathon without totally imploding in the last 6 miles or so. We'll see at Napa 2017??