New Orleans 70.3 Race Report: Rolling with the Punches

Moving is not fun and I apologize this has taken so long... But I'm finally living and settled in down in New Orleans. Here goes:

Race Morning

Race morning was smooth and glitch-less. Having visited the city several times and having Scott who obviously knows the area, we arrived on race morning right on time. Breakfast nutrition was a vanilla ensure and half a Luna bar. We settled into transition quickly and

comfortably organized our respective areas.

Swim

My heat took off right on time: 7:48 am. I got a nice spot right up front. The water was shallow for a while and required several dolphin dives to make it out. I was in the top few girls and felt strong, smooth, and comfortable.That was until I felt the chop...... Although I diligently observed the previous heats, I failed to notice the intensity of the chop and rollers. Oops. It was hard to get down a good rhythm as I was constantly being tossed from side to side. I tried my best to time my breathing with the waves. It seemed to work for the first half. After crossing the halfway mark and making the turn for the second half, I had an extremely difficult time spotting the buoys back. The glare from the sun and un-forgiving chop made it impossible to sight. I tried my best to make a straight track although caught myself too far in and too far out more than once.

I crossed the line. 36:20. Ouch. 4 minutes off my goal.

T1 was smooth and I was off on the "pink hotness".

Bike

I carefully monitored my time and made sure I knew exactly when I needed my first gel. After the washing machine swim, I knew I had to time it correctly. I was determined to nail my nutrition today. 20 minutes into the bike I grabbed my chocolate flavored Power bar gel. Wow-- was I hungry already. As I was so caught up on swallowing the chocolate yumminess, I haphazardly hit some railroad tracks and then a cone straight on.

Down I went....

Shocked at what I just did, I glanced down to both upper extremities and then to both lowers. No broken bones thankfully- just one big gash on my left knee. The blood quickly oozed and dripped down my leg. My mind and body were instantly numbed as I thought was this it?

No way! I was not giving up that easily.

I quickly examined my bike. Everything was intact except for some shredded wires beneath the handle bars. Could ol girl pull me through? Was my bike ride-able? I thought I would give it a shot.

I mounted the pink hotness and continued although I instantly realized I was not able to shift into my big ring. I kept plugging away, praying my pink hotness would pull me through. And she did. Thankfully.

Bike time: 2:46:05 in the small chain ring with a crash.

T2 was speedy and a blur. I felt good just having survived the bike and let out a sigh of relief as I moved onto the run. I took 2 gels with me and figured I could hydrate along the way. I was on to my best event at least I thought so at the time.....

Run

My legs never got moving onto the run. The noon sunshine beat down unforgivably and sucked the life out me and my legs. I felt sluggish, tired, and dehydrated. I couldn't tell exactly if it was nutrition, me knee, the crash, the sun..... Either way it was painfully slow and quite ugly.

Goal run: 1:45. Actual 2:10

Overall goal time: 5:15-5:20. Actual: 5:37

Despite the "mini" crash and not accomplishing my goal time, I still was able to place in the top 10 in my age group. Besides the run, my nutrition plan actually seemed to work. And most importantly, I had FUN!

Goals Accomplished

1. Top 10 Age Group

2. Successful Nutrition (for the most part)

3. Staying positive no matter the end result!

Not Accomplished:

1. Overall Time

I worked so hard for this race and was a little dissappointed with the end result. But with life and with triathlon we all must roll with the punches! Now I'm just hungry for more. I guess I'll have to find another 70.3 before IM Florida. I have some unfinished business. Cheers to 2010 :)