2013 70.3 World Champsionships Las Vegas
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I had a harder time recovering from Lake Placid than I have in previous ironman races. Swimming and running came after a couple of weeks but the bike took longer, almost 4 weeks. How I was going to race a half ironman in 6 weeks? Would I be able to have any good workouts? Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to do this race. Thankfully I was able to get some quality sbr workouts in the 2 weeks prior to the race. The week of the race I wasn’t able to swim due to the Labor Day holiday and then the pool was closed for maintenance work. With no swimming that meant more time for bike and run workouts. The last workout was on Thursday morning before I left for Vegas.
When I arrived in Vegas on Thursday afternoon I went to check in and then went for a swim. The pool was crowded due to a swim team practice. There were only a few lanes open. Since it was crowded I couldn’t get a workout in, so I just loosened up from the 6 hour drive. Thursday night I picked Stephanie Stevens up at the airport. Friday I went swimming in morning and was able to get in a good workout. Saturday was the only day you could swim at Lake Las Vegas from 6:30 – 8:30am. I decided not to go because it was 30 minutes away and I would have to go back later in the day to check in my bike. With transitions at two different locations it takes longer to get things done. I wanted to make things as simple as possible on Saturday and have time to relax in the afternoon.
I had thought about how I wanted to execute the race but I didn’t write them down until Saturday. This race was about enjoying the day and taking in the experience and not hurting myself with Kona 5 weeks away. Even though I wasn’t rested, I love to race and compete against those in my age group. My goals where to place in the top 10, if I passed someone on the run in my AG they weren’t passing me back, race smart on the bike so I would have a good run, and finish the run strong.
Race Day
I was up at 4am to have a quick breakfast before meeting Annie Stokes in the lobby. She was riding with Steph and I to the swim start. On the way I commented to Steph that I still couldn’t believe that I was racing today. It didn’t feel like it. She said after the race that maybe it was because I didn’t have any pressure on myself to do well and I didn’t have to worry about qualifying for anything.
The week of the race, the weather forecast kept changing. The past two years the weather has been hot. I was actually looking forward to the heat. It would have been good practice for Kona. On Sunday it was raining when we left the hotel it started coming down harder as we got closer to T1.
We arrived at transition with plenty of time to spare. I put air in my tires and my nutrition on the bike. I met Trish Marshall for the first time while we were waiting on the bridge to stay out of the rain. Also saw Patricia Rosen, who we bumped into the day before at Whole Foods. Soon it was time to venture out into the rain to line up in our waves for the swim start.
Swim – 31:01
The water was a good temperature but it is murky and you can’t see anything in front of you. I lined up to the left and in the front and waited for our turn to go. My wave was 26 minutes after the pro men. This was not one of those swims where you wanted to swim on the buoy line. The swim is shaped like a banana. I picked a good line and swam straight to the furthest buoy I could see. I swam hard off the line. I wanted to take advantage of the non-wetsuit swim. It was an uneventful swim but I needed to do a lot more sighting than normal. I started passing people from previous waves but there was enough room so it didn’t feel crowded even at the turns. I lost a little bit of time getting out of the lake. It was backed up at the ramp as volunteers were helping us get out of the water.
T1 – 4:48
It is a long run to get to your bike. You exit on one side of the lake and have to run all the way to the other side. It was raining and muddy. There is a steep hill to get to the bike mount line. I was stuck behind several athletes and we were walking, which slowed me down.
Bike – 3:00:21
It was raining hard at this point. They added a small loop by the lake which included a gradual climb out of T1 and then some sketchy descents which included a roundabout before making the long climb out of Lake Las Vegas. The bike course has lots of big rollers. You are either going up or down. I decided to keep my sunglasses on rather then get pelted in the face and eyes by the rain. The roads were wet which made the descents a little dicey and people were being extra careful. The older age groups went before mine so I was passing people throughout the ride. We had a bit of a headwind from about mile 40-48. During this section it stopped raining. I felt good on the hills but by mile 48, I was getting tired. The last 10 miles into Henderson and T2 is a gradual uphill. The course was long by at least a mile. I’m glad I took my feet out of my shoes before the last turn into T2. Immediately after the last turn the dismount line is right there. I barely had time to stop my Garmin before dismounting my bike and handing it off to the volunteers.
Instead of drinking Perform, I decided to go with Osmo hydration drink. After my races I have had to go to medical due to numbness and tingling in the hand, feet and face. Sometimes I have needed IV fluids and other times I’ve been able to drink either Perform and/or chicken broth. I wanted to try something different so I wouldn’t end up in medical. I really like Osmo Active Hydration. It has a mild flavor and it is easy to drink. I started the bike with Osmo in my Speedfil A2 between the aero bars and in 2 water bottles on the seat and down tube. As I used the water bottles to refill the A2 I discarded them at the aid station. When I finished the Osmo I switched to Perform (1 ½ bottles). I ended up peeing 4 times on the bike which meant lots of coasting. Maybe a bit too much to drink. To eat, I had 1 Powerbar, 1 2/3 Amrita Bar (Pineapple Chia) and 1 Gu gel.
T2 – 1:58
The volunteers had my bag by the time to where it was placed and then headed into the changing tent. Quickly put on socks and shoes. Grabbed the baggie with my watch and flask of EFS and a disposable water bottle 1/4 filled with a mix of OSMO Preload and Active Hydration.
Run – 1:47:43
The sun was starting to come out at the start of the run which made it feel like a sauna. By the start of the 2nd lap the sun was out in full force. I had stuff in both hands so I turned my watch on while it was still in the baggie before stuffing it down my top. I drank what I had in the water bottle and then tossed it at the first aid station. Then I was able to put on my watch and carry the EFS flask in my hand. The run is 3 loops, it starts out with 1 mile downhill, 2 miles uphill, then 2 miles downhill, you finish with 1 mile downhill. From the beginning of the run my legs felt flat. I told myself to be patient and just keep running. It wasn’t until the 4th mile when I was going downhill that my legs felt like they were coming around. I kept telling myself that I was a strong runner. I passed 2 people in my AG, so I thought I was close to a top 10 finish. I felt pretty good until the last 2 miles uphill. I knew once I got to the top of the hill that all I had left was 1 mile downhill to the finish. I just pushed through the pain and just tried to pass as many people as I could during this section. That last mile seemed to take forever.
Overall – 5:25:51, AG 12/97
At each aid station I took a cup of Perform, dumped at least I cup of water on my head and put a cup of ice down my top. I didn’t feel like having any of the EFS gel, it’s a good thing because it slipped out of my hands during the 1st lap. Instead I just had 2 packages of Clif Bloks. On the last lap I started drinking coke. The volunteers at the aid stations were great. Even as the course got crowded on the 2nd and 3rd lap it was easy to get what you needed at each aid station.
After I crossed the finish line, I got my medal and t-shirt and a volunteer took my timing chip before I needed to sit down. The volunteer got me a chair and I had to sit down. She insisted I go to medical. On my way I threw up a bit. I sat in medical for about an hour drinking Perform. My hands, feet and face were numb and tingling. I also started getting chilled and my hands were cold. I had a blanket wrapped around me and they also put one over my head. They gave me some tea but it didn’t taste good but it felt good just holding it in my hands. I saw them give chips to someone else and that sounded good. After eating a few I started to feel better.
While I was looking for Steph, I saw Trish Marshall and then met Jim Cornell because he was wearing an EN tri top.
Steph is a great friend and I love how she is willing to come to these races with me. My kids would love to come to my races but my husband not so much.
Before the race I was wondering if it was a good idea to do this race. Would I have a rough time recovering from this race and how would it affect Kona. It has been a week since the race and I feel good. I was able to get back into training easily. This race was a great confidence booster!
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