Stephanie Weldon -IMNOLA 70.3 Race Report
First I want to say I signed up for NOLA 70.3 as a prep for IMTX. I did this last year and it seemed to serve me well both physically and mentally as I prepped for TX. A little less than two weeks before NOLA I go a stomach bug and missed a few workouts. My grandfather passed away the same day I was dry-heaving stomach contents and his memorial service was the Thursday before the event. Just a draining several days. But still I felt positive and happy to have a big event scheduled. I'd missed the previous weekend's big rides and knew going into this weekend I had to get some big work done. The plan was to keep teaching my regular fitness classes, keep the regular training week's effort in place but just put Sunday's bike on Saturday and and Saturday's RR on Sunday.
Taught 2 45 minute classes on Friday and got in a 45 minute swim. Then drove 3 hours to New Orleans. Rested and ate well on Friday. Nothing special. Checked in and was in and out of expo in 15 minutes. Easy.
Saturday got in most of what I was supposed to do for Sunday plus a little extra for ease of mind. I rode 180 of 210 minutes on bike at a strong always pushing pace with two stretch breaks in between. I did a 30 minute swim in my wetsuit just for ease of mind and 30 minutes on elliptical to kick out the legs. Nothing fancy or too hard. Just focusing on relaxed sound technique. Felt really good. Checked in bike with ease. Wind was crazy kicking up so there was alot of chatter about wind conditions being dicey for Sunday. Saturday afternoon early dinner and then going through race packing lists and transition checklists. Had my Sunday race day schedule set. I felt really composed and organized.
Race morning woke up nice and early 3:30 a.m. (my usual wake time on race days) ate first breakfast of protein drink, Gatorade, wheat crackers w/peanut butter, and coffee. Showered, got dressed, mixed water bottle/Gatorade mix, loaded up and headed out.
5:00 ish a.m. Arrived at race site. Disappointed at parking situation. 2 lots that were closer to transition were not open (as they had been last year) so was routed to park REALLY far away. It was somewhat close to swim start but not to transition at all. I wondered if I should have just slept in later. Having to park so far away would be an issue later.
Walked my gear over to transition, set-up, talked with some fellow EN'ers and other folks I knew racing. I walked back to my car to put on my wet-suit and realized I'd forgotten to put my watch in transition. I don't usually use a watch and I debated running the extra mile to transition to put it there or not. I didn't take it back but now wish I had.
Standing in line waiting for my wave to go I felt fine. Using visualization to go through swimming technique points. I felt good. I had done this race the past 2 years. I thought I knew what was coming. However the wind was a really big issue today and the chop in the water had many many folks on edge. As I watched a lot of folks struggling in the water I got more nervous. I put on my cap and goggles and as I did my goggles came unthreaded on one side. In my nervousness I had pulled them apart. I frantically tried to put them back together as we "walked the plank" to the dock. The chop in the water looking pretty unsettling at this point. Lots of folks struggling. When I got my goggles back on I was totally pissed....I'd gotten fingerprints on the lenses. Crap. Going to be tough to see. Jumped in the water and immediately goggles took on water. Crappity crap. Tried to tread water to adjust tightness/resistence. Big wave...big gulp of water. It was a disaster. Got the goggles stabilized and took off. The goggles were taking in water every time I tried to breathe (I normally bilateral breathe) that I had to stick to the right side, My heartrate was skyrocketing as I struggled for any kind of rhythm. I felt like I was having to over-rotate in order to breathe and my form was all out of wack! With all that I kept moving forward by trying to stay with a group of ladies. Stay in a pack as Patrick had said in his Kona report. Well then between the 1st and 2nd orange buoys I take a swift kick ankle to the face. My goggles slipped and I felt disoriented. Took in some more water and well from that point on I thought I was done. I was pissed and wanted to quit. Right there. Not because I can't swim but because I thought I was not going to make it. I don't know how but I kept going. I just tried to find another cap to look at and keep going. The box was incredibly small at dark the next several moments . My one thing is going to Kona. I remember wondering if Kona ocean water is like this I'm so screwed but Ive got to keep going. I kept counting 1, breathe, 1 breathe...my heartrate never settling because I was spending more time spitting out water then breathing but I did settle my mind resolved that I was going to finish. Keep going keep going was all I could think. Finish this damn swim.
well I did finish it. ugliest worst time ever...EVER....almost as long as my first Chattanooga full swim??!!! demoralized and pissed I headed to find my bike. I have never loved getting on my bike more than I did this past Sunday. T1 very snappy even though I had to use restroom.
Bike-still pretty disgusted and freaked out over the wretched swim. Knew going into the bike that we would face headwinds the first 28 miles. I spent the first 8 miles settling my hr way down and just riding slow and controlled. Knew also I had to get my head back in the game. That first stretch the wind wasn't bad but then turned south and got blasted. The combination of stomach being so upset from all the water and then having to hold on to the bike with two hands in case of a wind gust made it challenging to eat. I managed a gu the first 45 minutes. Not near enough. HR manageable but figuring my slower power was a combination of wind, over-exertion on swim, and cumulative fatigue from riding pretty good the day before. My execution plan is ALWAYS take it easy the first half I just kept cadence high and settled in. Super conservative just in case tailwind on back half of the bike wasn't all it was hyped up to be. At the turn around at mile 28 it was like the God's breathed life into my bones. The tailwind was a gift from heaven!!!! I was able to push a little more, felt a little confidence coming back and was able to eat more. my bike time 20 minutes off from last year but considering the weather conditions and zero taper/extra effort throughout the week I was not disappointed.
T2 slow but I had to pee again. Grabbed zip-lock bag and took off. Note: endurance nation caps while although cute as hell don't stay on your head during a windy day. But cute none-the-less.
Run-Definitely got myself back on track with the run. However with no watch I was back to perceived exertion and counting steps for my intervals. Approximately 3 minutes strong 30 secs relaxed. Even with some walking intervals I passed a ton of folks on the run and made great time. We had a tailwind the first 6.5 miles and then a headwind the last 6.5. Heartrate and pace exactly where I wanted it and stayed steady until about mile 9. The headwind just beat me down. Cut intervals down but by the end but was happy that I stayed in my box. 2:05:50 my second fastest 70.3 run time....yay for run durablity!!! Execution of run intervals and improved running form. Yay!! A silver lining. 
Overall this was a very very difficult 70.3 for me. It was way more of a mental test than I expected it to be. Probably only second hardest mentally compared to CdL full 2014. Having to dig into the 4th key of race execution so dang early on was tough on the psyche. I was pleased because:
1. I raced according to my principles of execution. Not once did I try to go faster or change anything I needed to do because of others around me.
2. I don't think I hit "the line" so much physically as I did mentally. Just demoralized throughout the day. Frustrated with self. But found mental boosts throughout the day and got stronger throughout the day. Finished strong!
3. Did I race inside the box? yes, I believe so. But that box got dark and suffocating at times.
4. My one thing became really important. But I also had to come up with some other mantras to keep me in the game. it was the first time my one thing seemed like not enough to get through the dark stuff. that was odd for me. Will need to come up with more mental games/mantras/distractions. I do feel I grew and matured as an athlete because of this race!!
My favorite moments: seeing the special needs kids on the course. Made me feel grateful that I could even do this at all. Seeing Steve Gleenson, former NFL New Orleans Saints player on the course and him smiling when I cheered for him and I ran by. He has ALS and has to communicate with a computer and gets around on a wheelchair. Why do I EVER complain....no excuses!! These were a definite boost and roses in my day.
Note: I'm not a techie person and sorry if this is too wordy for some folks and not numbers oriented. I'm working on that but don't go by power. My HR monitor accidentally got left in BFE and the rest is all based off perceived exertion.
Thank you for reading.
Comments
So glad to read your saga, Stephanie. An inspiration to us all. And your strong run should tell you you're right on track for IMTX. Best of luck.