Lake Stevens 70.3 - 5:05.08
8/64 AG
36/421 Female
205/1222 Overall
Lake Stevens 70.3 was my first half distance Tri last year
finishing in 5:35. I am in love with Washington, Coach T is
from there, and this course has been my favorite so far so I had to do it
again.
Leading up to the race, I felt the most calm I have
ever before.We got into Washington
Friday night and then spent Saturday doing all the usual pre-race stuff… driving the
course, short shakeout run/ride/swim, and ended the day with dinner with Teresa
and Mark - perfect! Going into this race, I wanted to have a good run. T and I decided to take the bike course more conservative in hopes of accomplishing that goal.
Swim
I was in wave 9 which took off about 30min. after the pro's.
This was my best swim to date. I
really felt great in the water. I think what made the difference in this swim was making sure my mind was continuously focused.
It is very easy to let my mind drift, especially when swimming, and especially when I have the bike and run to think about. Instead, this race I stayed in the moment. When the finish line was in site, I went over what I was going to do in T1 and before I knew it... it was ROCKY time.
Bike
Absolutely gorgeous course... you are basically riding
through a canopy of greenery the entire time. I found the ride more challenging
than St George. I honestly do not know
how I did this course last year on a flat pedal bike!
The plan was to not be in attack mode the entire ride which
was my prior race approach. I made sure
to keep my cadence up, spin up the climbs, and try to keep my heart rate more
even throughout.
Finding what balance I need to
take to have a good run is going to take time… maybe I held back a little too
much on the bike, maybe not… either way, I came off the bike feeling fresh and
ready to run.
Run
Right out of transition I saw my dad which gave me tons of
energy… always does.
This is a 2 loop
course which means a lot of crowd support. Since we were racing where TNMultisports is based, there were many TN athletes out on the course for encouragement.
This is not necessarily a flat course, so my paces were not even/consistence;
but I feel like my effort was.
I never
looked at pace the entire run, only HR. This was the first run off the bike
that my HR was not through the roof coming out of transition.
I was feeling awesome until about mile 10. When I high fived T and Mark
before the second loop I should have took another gel. I think that would have prevented the energy
loss. Going back up the hill at mile12 hurt but crossing the finish line is always worth
it. Especially with the 70.3 distance. I
am addicted to the feeling of finishing on completely empty. Seeing my dad and Teresa's faces
there at the finish was awesome!
It is hard not to get frustrated with yourself when you pour your whole heart and are putting
in the time and not necessarily seeing the results. You cant help but question, 'oh I didn’t train
long enough, go hard enough, give enough.' My head and heart want to be racing with those
top girls but my body just isn’t there yet...
YET!
Big goals take time...
Patients. Consistency. And listening to
coach T.
