There is always so many cool things of "swag" in any Ironman proshop...or village as the race calls it... From cool jackets, to hats, pants, new bike shorts, jersey, you name in... I resisted all urges to buy what I really wanted... Because I will want something in Wisconsin.. And use Travis's home made gift card/ Christmas present.. I headed back, got checked into the hotel... And headed out to dinner.. Great place in a wonderful local brewery....
Perfect timing, as I pulled back into the park, it was time for bike check in.. For any Ironman branded race ( not sure about any other i.e. rev3) you have to check your bike in the day before... I like being early for this.. More than anything because I don't like standing around on my feet, in the heat, the day before a big race...
I wanted to have a quick jog to loosen up our legs a tiny bit, and we wanted to give the open water swim a try Saturday.. But we had about an hour and half to kill.... So I decided to camp out in the back of my car.. It actually was quite pleasant with a nice breeze.. Oh that practice swim... One of my clients, no I take that back many people at work know my high level of phobia that I have with swimming with the fishes.. It is huge, but yet I decide to do these half ironman or full ironman races that take place in open bodies of water... I know this..I will ever try to get more comfortable... But it just doesn't happen.. I wanted 100% dry suit for the start of Sunday. .. However, my lord was there seaweed... This was a picture that was taken the week before the race of wonderful volunteers trying to clean out as much derby as they could...
It didn't matter... I felt like I had creepy crawlers, fish, trees, creature like things all over me... And I was only in there 10-15 minutes... Good thing we did this though so I wouldn't panic nearly as much on Sunday... We tried to find a solid place for lunch instead of previewing the bike course .. Downtown Syracuse pretty much shuts down during the summer... Every place recommend on yelp was closed..it came down to chipotle or jimmy johns... We picked jimmy johns... Got back to hotel, and noticed huuuuuuge volumes of smoke in the area...we were only hoping it wasn't our hotel. It wasn't, it was a chemical spill that turned into a chemical fire in the area...but our hotel was forced to shut off the ac, making our room quite stuffy....we packed our transition bags, and everything else..
.. Went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, and laying in bed by 830. I didn't sleep well .. I was hot.. I was nervous... I was thinking too much... Needless to say the ac kicked back on around 245 am, and my alarm at 345 screamed me to stay in bed... Up and at em... I am glad I left early to avoid traffic ... Body marked and ready to go ...
Swim. Pretty clustered, heart pounding, couldn't get comfortable, tried to slow down thoughts, and just kept getting kicked and slammed... One chic grabbed my swim cap and pushed me back... If you know me.. You know I am competitive, but you probably know I am the girl that would say sorry 100x if I ran right smack I to you... About a quarter way out during the swim I could taste gas fuel... It was awful... All I thought about was don't swallow... But of course, one more kick in the side, and I did... And got a little sick in my mouth... Sounds awful, but honestly, I didn't want to lose my morning food/fuel of nutrition... So I kept saying.. Breathe girl.. Breathe... I was glad the sun was going to be on my left.. I just kept thinking to get to shore as quick as I could without freaking out bc of seaweed forest or gas stuff.... Know what I can control I thought .. T1.. Wow.. Wet suit strippers... Hahah. Not so wow was the gal needing extra help to get mine off... It had to be my huge feet .. Long run up to transition ... Got to my bike... Loaded up, and off I went ..
Bike.. Ohhh the bike... I included a bike profile shot so you know when I say it was hilly
Death Ride, I mean, Good Test Ride |
T2: really I eventful... I wanted my shoes to feel good.. And put on all my goods, including my Girls on the Run shirt, and Tiara... Stopped to pee and off I went
Run.... Wowzah... Killer hills... I was warned by other racers before the race.. But you know I. Cincinnati, we have hills... I have been really pushing my runs.. And feeling good with my runs.. Hahah buuuut not on hills like this... Here is the run profile
Hillariously Hilly |
copied from computer.. will get better quality soon :) |
Overall results and splits are here :
Ironman 70.3 Syracuse 2013 Results |
Looking forward : My Swim, I know I need to keep working on this.. Especially in crazy swims like IMWI mass swim start.. I might have to start taking some boxing lessons for people to get out of my way .. But really need to learn to relax... I need hill work on bike.. Strength going up.. And a hella lot confidence going down... I am grandma breaks going down, and I lose speed and time...just practice and practice... Nutrition was ok... Will have better test in the days to come... And that run... I did chuckle at a man that asked which Ironman I was training for, and he said that marathon run is going to be easier than this...just can't wait to see that course in a couple weeks... Goal is to finish my sponsor letter tomorrow, and get that in the mail soon. And get a nice long shower, and some sleep... Only 72 more days until the big dance ..