June 21, 2021
Hello Friends!
It’s always astonishing to me how many tasks there are to be done, not just leading up to, but immediately following any big event…be it entertaining, vacationing, or RACING!
Just to catch you up, I went to East Freetown, MA to race the Patriot 70.3 Triathlon. Also known as a Half Iron Distance Tri, it consisted of a 1.2 Mile Open Water Swim, 56 Mile Bike, and a 13.1 Mile Run.
Sounds fun, huh?
I drove up Friday at lunch, checked into my hotel, unpacked, and changed into a tri kit before heading off to the Race Venue, which was about 15 minutes away. Went to Athlete Check-in to get my race packet. On the way back to my car I found a couple of my athletes and stopped to chat and make sure they had what they needed. Then I got my bike, racked it in transition, and caught part of the Informational Meeting the Race Director was giving. Then went out for a quick 30 min ride (which turned out to be 45 minutes because I misjudged the mileage around the lake) and a short 10 minute run checking out the transition area and swim start. Headed back to the hotel around 7 PM. Ate dinner, called my husband, prepared race-day nutrition, showered, foam rolled, and repacked the car with what I didn’t need…4 AM always come early!
Slept OK….woke up several times but was able to sleep for the most part. Got up, dressed, hair braided, ate some oats, and left the hotel around 4:30. No traffic on way to the race and got into the parking lot closer to transition.
All the morning things…set up transition, ate, drank, couple of trips to the porta-potty. Found my athletes and got a group picture. Then got my wetsuit on and got in a quick warmup swim at 6:20.
Back to transition, finished up my bagel, and grabbed my electrolytes and water. Lined up with my wave to head to the swim start just before we started to move. Timed it just right without rushing!
Drank my electrolytes on the way to start. Had to wait in line for a bit, so I unzipped my wetsuit and took off my swim cap and goggles. As I got closer to getting in the water, I put myself back together and used the water bottle to get wet again before getting in the water. First time trying this at a race and it was a good idea!
I really liked how the swim start was organized. We entered the water in groups of two every 10 seconds. They had a digital clock to count us down….it also beeped the last few seconds. With the spacing and timing, it was never crowded in the water. Sure, I got swum into a couple of times, but since we had SO MUCH SPACE getting out of each other’s way was easy!
The swim was mostly uneventful. As I was following the orange buoys, I found myself looking up at the orange buoy I THOUGHT was next, looked to the right, and saw the YELLOW buoy that was ACTUALLY next and where I was supposed to turn left. Good thing I saw it….so I corrected my direction sightly. Once I turned and started making my way across to the next yellow buoy and the left turn back to the beach it got a little choppy. So I just slowed down a tiny bit and relaxed, really focusing on swimming STRONG and turning enough to breathe without drinking too much pond water! On the way back I picked up the pace again. I could see to my left where the sun was peaking through the clouds and I thought to myself “it’s going to be a nice day”. Swim time 51:10
Ran out of the water, across the sand, through the kiddie pool to get the sand off my feet, and through the grass to my bike. Felt like my transition was on point without wasting time or rushing. Ran out with my bike…the mount line was so far away! Ran a couple of yards PAST the mount line so I would have plenty of space. Got on my bike and off I went. T1 Time 3:23
The Bike went very well. The route was a little different than what I had practiced. I guess I rode it so early that the online map hadn’t been updated with the changes from 2019. The route was mostly the same….it just missed a couple of rougher road sections and the train tracks…which is what made me realize the course was different. “What do you think about when you are riding for so long?” I was thinking “what the hell happened to train tracks?”
Getting toward the end I did some quick math and knew if I was going to make my bike goal, I was going to need to hustle, while still staying around the RPE of 8/10 that Coach recommended. So I pushed the last couple of hills a little and got to the bike dismount line just in time. Bike time 2:59:40
Again, the run into transition was LONG! But I got there, racked my bike, changed shoes, grabbed my visor, race belt, and handheld water bottle, and took off! T2 time 3:45
The run is where it got interesting! I started strong and don’t think I went out too fast. I was having an issue with my gels bouncing around and my race belt was all twisted. Then one of my gels dropped to the ground. So I stopped, picked it up, and shoved it in my sports bra. I took out the other two and put them in my pockets, realizing that the fourth emergency gel was already lost. Then I unbuckled the race belt, untwisted it, and put it back on. I walked to do all of this to make sure it was done quickly. Got running again. Ran through the mile 1 aid station. Also ran through the mile 3 aid station, grabbing a cup of ice. Good thing. Had a gel at mile four, and by the time I grabbed more ice and water at mile 5 I could tell I was going to need to bring down my body temperature or I was going to have a problem. The next aid station wasn’t until mile 8. EEEK. So I walked a couple of hills. When I got to mile 8, I got my handheld bottle topped off (I spilled some back at mile 5 when I put ice in it, but I was still drinking more than anticipated). I also got water, ice, and some cola. Got running again and 5 minutes later I felt like a new woman! Had a gel at mile 9 which tasted so gross. So at the final aid stations at miles 10 and 11, I just got more water, ice, and cola. Was able to hold it together and run in it, even passing some people! Run time 2:02:09
All in all, super happy with this race. It got hot but I was able to hold it together, listen to my body and do what I was capable of at the moment. And was 49 minutes faster than my previous personal best from Lake George with a finishing time of 6:00:04.
So where do we go from here? A light week to recover and then back at it as I move towards Ironman Florida in November. I can’t wait!
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