Lindsay B Liberty 70.3 Race Report
This was my first 70.3 and my performance was good enough to land me 4th in my AG *mutters* so what if there were only 5 people total in my AG?
Swim (Goal: 38:00/ Actual: 48:03): I think there were fewer than 30 women in my wave so I really didn’t have to fight for position or deal with getting kicked/punched in the face at all. We all had room to do our own thing. The swim is where I am most confident. Unfortunately, this swim did not play out as expected. Leading up to the race I was swimming 2x/week and all of my race rehearsal swims were consistently between 36-38 minutes. I was confident I would pull off a 38’ swim. Before we hit the first buoy I was already behind. I was zigzagging all over. I guess in my race prep I didn’t once worry about sighting and I probably should have. The only time I got in open water before the race was the day before for a quick shake out. My stroke felt strong and smooth and the water was calm. It’s hard for me to believe that I was zigzagging around for nearly 10 minutes so maybe something else went wrong here and I just can’t pin-point it.
Side Tangent: I ordered a wetsuit from Xterra back in April. Received an email that it would be shipped by Memorial day. The first week of June rolls around and I have no wetsuit, so I email asking for an update. Receive a generic email that wetsuits will now be shipped June 22 (after race day, bummer, oh well I guess I will rent one). In the same day I receive a personalized email in response to my inquiry from the director of customer service saying “Hi Lindsay, not sure why your wetsuit hasn’t shipped, putting it in for 2 day shipping now”. So I think, oh great! I won’t bother renting one. Never received a tracking #. 4 days later I call and leave her a message & email. No response. The next day I call the general sales line asking whether the wetsuit has shipped and they say we emailed you saying it wouldn’t be shipped until June 22. I explain the other email I received and they confirm that no, no one has shipped the wetsuit but they would be happy to send it today (3 days before the race) but I would have to pay for express shipping.
Anyways, didn’t get the wetsuit in time. I ended up renting one and all worked out fine. Frustrating experience that I just had to vent about.
T1 (2:45): Once out of the water, and up the beach there were some stairs and a bit of a jog into T1 (this probably also added about a min or so to my swim time as I walked up the stairs). Quickly stripped the wetsuit off, put helmet, bike shoes & glasses on and I was off. I was actually surprised by the 2:45 time because it felt like I took forever in there.
Bike (Goal: 3:40:XX/ Actual: 3:42:55): I knew I had a bad swim and would have to make up for it on the bike. There was a 12:30 bike cut off. My swim wave went off at 7:41 and I gotta say I was nervous for the entire bike that I wouldn’t make the cutoff. There were a few hills on the course and I haven’t had a lot of experience with hills here in Chicago so I wasn’t sure how my overall pace would look with the hills added in. Sadly, I don’t train with power so I don’t have any fun numbers to share. A few miles into the ride I saw my mom on the side of the road watching from a gas station & asked her what time it was, 9:13. I thought – OK – you have 3 hours! From that point out I just kept reminding myself that if I kept a 15mph pace up I would be totally fine. Honestly, nothing exceptional in a good or a bad way happened on the bike I just powered through it. I managed to successfully do a bottle exchange for the first time ever! I stuck to my nutrition plan and just kept moving.
T2 (4:00): Happy to be off the bike! Had to pee SO bad. Changed into socks & run shoes, quick stop at the porta-potty and I was off.
Run (Goal: 2:45:XX/ Actual: 3:03:10): Admittedly, I was a little intimidated at the idea of 13 miles but I felt really good starting the run. I noticed about 100 yards out of T2 that I forgot my watch (gah!) The run was a bit hilly as well and after the first two miles I adopted the mantra to walk up any hill, which meant more walk breaks than I was planning and ultimately added about 10 – 15 mins to my total time. However, I think this really helped me to feel comfortable while I was running. The course was an out and back and I could tell about 6 miles in that I was probably just a handful of people left out on the course. Then again, I think there was just slightly over 200 people total doing the race and I was in the 2nd to last wave. I think I got passed by 2 people within the first mile and then after that I didn’t pass a single person and no one else passed me. By mile 9 I felt like I was just out alone for an afternoon run. I turn a corner and I can see the big mile 10 marker a couple hundred feet in front of me and I also see a guy running! Perfect timing! I thought Ok, 3 miles left. Time to race that guy! I passed him just as we were creeping up on mile 11 and we cheered “2 miles left!” together. We stuck close through mile 11 and by the time we hit mile 12 I was ready to lose his a** and cross that finish line so I left him in the dust.
Time: 7:40:49
Overall thoughts:
- I can’t believe I did it! I mean, I can. I knew I would, but being it was the first one there was this tiny bit of doubt in my mind.
- I knew I would be slow and that’s okay. I was hoping to break 7:30, but I will get that next time. Overall I am proud that I executed and that I wasn’t suffering to finish the run. I feel like I could have kept going.
- I was a bit achy the day after but the most amazing thing to me about this race is that I really wasn’t sore. By Monday I felt like my old self. Which I am going to take as a sign that I did a good job preparing my body for the race.
- This lingering fear in the back of my mind since I started training for this race, and deciding to do IMWI in September is that I would get done with the 70.3 and feel completely overwhelmed by the thought of 140.6. The race had the opposite effect on me. I am PUMPED to start training for IMWI. I feel like the 70.3 gave me a confidence boost and also opened my eyes to the things that I need to focus on to get IMWI done. Body comp is going to be a big focus for the next couple months because I am going to need all the help I can get pushing up those IMWI hills. I also want to figure out the swim. I feel like I gave up an easy 10 minutes and I don’t want that to happen next time. Finally, I now know that if I am consistent in my training, nail down nutrition and be mentally prepared to execute I will finish IMWI!
Comments
Swim-- I had the same issues with that swim. You (and I) need to sight a lot more. The time we waste sighting is way more than made up for in not doing the extra distance. Also, the timing mat wasn't until all the way at the top of the hill right at transition, so you probably actually swam ~2 mins faster than your time shows.
Bike-- That bike course was no joke. There were a lot of hills and wind. But be prepared that IM Wisconsin will have bigger and steeper hills so keep the eye on the prize while training and get as much bike work in as you can.
Run-- The run course was a LOT harder than I expected. That is a much more challenging course than IM Wisconsin will be (only half as long). I love that you felt good enough to "race" the guy you found at mile ~10. That shows you were really on your game.
Body Comp-- I know (from the JW challenge) that you are doing a good job at this. BUT... This really needs to be a serious focus for you for the next 3 months. This will help you so much on the bike on those hills and on the run in the last 10 miles. How bad do you want to be an IM? Body comp, body comp, body comp.
You are well on your way to becoming an Ironman. Now you have to trust the plan and do the hard work. You need to make that bike cut-off and a solid swim will give you a head start. Good bike workouts (especially the long rides) and body comp will do the rest.
Awesome, Awesome job girl!!!
Lindsey....Congrats!!! Finishing a HIM is no joke. I'm excited for you that you came away "pumped up" to train for your first IM. That attitude will carry you all the way to the finish line in Madison.
JW gave you some wise comments below. The hills on the IMWI bike course are mostly short and steep but they just keep coming at you. Get as much hill riding during training as you can. And you will find that you are never along on the IMWI run course...spectators (me included ) everywhere to give you mojo. Finally, body comp, body comp. Best of luck in your training!!