Catherine Branch's Heart O' Dixie Race Report

[Deleted User] · July 26, 2015 9:06AM

Heart O' Dixie, 7/25/15, Philadelphia, MS. .5mi/27.5/7mi.

This was a last minute race for me. Husband and 3 year-old are out of town, and I decided to make the most of it! So total spur of the moment, not really planning it out until I was in the hotel the night before.

First off, let me say that this is a GREAT race. Very low key. Limited to 500 racers, but I think there were fewer than 300 this year, which was the 36th year it's been held. It is one of the first events that kicks off the Neshoba County Fair, which is apparently a huge deal. Tons of campers, camp houses surrounding a dirt race track where they race horses, I think. Saw a bunch of bulls, too. Anyway, a big party atmosphere when you're doing the last mile of the run around the track. Great volunteer support, good community support, and I'm planning on going back next year and maybe making it an A race.

The only bad thing about this race is the course. Not the course itself, which is rolling hills on the bike and seemingly nothing but a series of uphills on the run, but rather the traffic control. There isn't any, and I found myself constantly checking for cars before executing passes on the bike. On the run, we were right on the edge of the road. It wasn't bad enough to make me not do the race again, but I felt like I was depending heavily on the awareness of drivers, especially on the bike. Oh, and T1 and T2 and the finish are all separated, but they have a really good system of minimizing logistics issues. I was a bit worried about it, since I was traveling alone to do the race, but there were 0 issues for me.

On to the report itself!

SWIM

A .5 mile sort-of triangle, with buoys all to the right, in a calm lake. Very murky, but no big deal. Hot. The grapevine said 91 degrees. Found that a little hard to believe, but it was definitely warmer than the pool I swim at, which is usually kept at a balmy 85 degrees. So. 5-second wave start. I planned to just swim easy. Haven't been in the pool as much I should have been, but whatever. Swam a 15:06 (1:42/100 yds!!!!!), which was good enough for first in my AG and 11th female. Passed a lot of people. My 910 told me the course was 0.455mi, which would give me a more realistic 1:53/yds, but either way, I'm thrilled. Maybe I need to become a wannabe fish! In all seriousness, this swim gave me a ton of confidence for my upcoming 1/2-IM, then IMCHOO. I didn't want the swim to end!

BIKE

27.5 mi on one road. Garmin said 27 miles, so maybe a little short. Rolling hills the whole way. Some rollier than others. No traffic control, so awareness or the surroundings was needed. I planned to keep watts between 125 and 135, which I pretty much did. EVERYONE passed me, but I tried to stay ninja and let them go. Tried to keep it easy going uphill and stay consistent going down hill. Ended up with a NP = 136 and a VI of 1.01, so I was thrilled with my execution, especially given how rolling it was and how unused to hills I am. Watts is watts, I guess. Even better, towards the end, I started passing people. I think I should have ridden a little harder overall, given the length of the bike and how fabulous I felt getting off, but I can see how riding this way will make a big difference at longer races. I had already started reeling people in who flew by me early on the bike. Can't wait to see how it works in races 2 and 4 times as long!

Best thing about the ride was that I was riding in new shoes that seem to have fixed my ever-present hotfoot! So YAY!

RUN

This is where I had given the most thought to what I was going to do. I knew it was rolling hills, with the overall profile steadily moving up. I'm in Mobile, so not so used to constant hills. Planned to run between Z1 and Z2 (~12:00 pace), but I wasn't sure how that would work out with the hills. By this point, it was getting hot. First couple of miles were a little fast (~11:30), but they were either flat or a little downhill, so wasn't too worried. Still felt good. The hills really started on mile 3. Pacing went out the window around mile 4, just went on RPE. Felt like I was REALLY slowing down, which I was. I was going uphill! Finally started walking through the aid stations just to get enough fluid in me. Will do a separate nutrition post, but what I thought was working for me on the run clearly isn't. Finished the run in 1:23:01 (11:52/mi). So ... exceeded expectations, but wasn't happy about execution at all. That said, finishing the last mile on the track was pretty cool.

Fourth in my AG, missed third by 42 seconds! Doh! A little sore this morning, but not so bad that I can't jump right back into training tomorrow morning!