WHAT A DAY! Sometimes you just have a feeling heading into a race, like everything is building up to something special. IRONMAN 70.3 North Carolina was that race.
A swim PR, a bike PR, a run PR, AND an open half-marathon PR all added up to an overall race PR of 15 minutes!
The run is the area where we’ve worked the hardest. The hope was 8’45 pace, which is oddly the pace for the only open half marathon I’ve ever done. On Saturday, I did 8’44 at the end of a 70.3!
RACE RESULT: 12th place, 35-39 female
But that doesn’t mean the build up to this race was perfect. My husband, Matt, knows this well when he tried to counsel me a few weeks back as I sat on our driveway discouraged after our last long run when I couldn’t hit my race pace at the right heart rate.
Over the past three and a half years doing triathlon, I’ve learned that the race is simply a celebration. It’s not a test. It’s the result of six months of dedicated work (and years more experience) and, for me, it often doesn’t come together until race day. That’s where great coaches come in.
The weather was perfect. The timing of the month was ideal. The course suited my strengths. Having only done 70.3 races in hot and hilly conditions in Chattanooga, TN. and St. George, UT. I was looking forward to a cool, fast, flat course! That’s part of the reason we passed on a 70.3 World Championship slot this year. I wanted a course where I could test my run fitness.
Me and my then fiancé-now husband, Matt. We actually got married one after the race!
The saltwater swim with current was in a beautiful bay with sailboats in the sunrise. The bike was very crowded, but went into a pretty area outside town with fall leaves. The run was my favorite! We started out by the water with a view of the USS NC battleship and ran through downtown into a shaded neighborhood. I passed by a horse and carriage, twice!
One of my favorite parts of the race was seeing my fiancé, Matt, running out of the swim into transition, ahead of me. He beat me by 30 seconds, and he was VERY excited about it… He’s been working so hard on swimming and I’m so proud of him. He had a huge 25-minute PR and his first sub 5 race!
Matter of fact, our whole Gulf Winds Triathlete group did amazing! Daniel, with an impressive top 25 overall male finish; Beverly coming back from injury with a huge bike PR, and Chuck nailing his nutrition and pacing. Thank you Marjie for carting two babies under two years old all over the course to make sure we had support and friendly faces cheering on the sidelines, while Mom was at home getting everything ready for our wedding next weekend. Annie and Jeff- you’re more than our coaches; you’re our family.
Onward to our next adventure.
