Race Report: Reflections on Raleigh

 

Coming down the finish chute. Rock on! (non-watermarked pictures are on their way)

It's been almost a month, and I've had time to reflect on my Raleigh experience. It still makes me smile to think about it, and I imagine that feeling will last for a while.

Last fall, I decided to sign up for my first 70.3 distance race-- Ironman Raleigh 70.3. It would be the longest race I've attempted, and even though I had 6 months to prepare, it still felt a little daunting.

I decided to pick my races carefully for 2013, and use them as a way to prepare for Raleigh. In order to properly train, I decided to run my first half marathon (which I blogged about here), a sprint triathlon (blog post here), and my first Olympic distance triathlon, Monticello Man.

While I did not blog about Monticello Man Olympic, it turned out to be a great learning experience. It was the first time I had raced at that distance, and I was excited to get in the open water again. Even though the bike course was hilly, I pre-rode it twice, so I knew exactly what to expect-- I can't say how much this really helped! The run for Monticello Man was hilly as well-- I couldn't wait for it to be over!

On May 31^st we packed our bags and headed down to Raleigh. We got there early on Friday and headed straight for packet pick-up. I was impressed by the organization and set up, and we moved through the expo quickly.

Welcome banners in Raleigh. I was very impressed with their city!

On Saturday morning, we drove to the race start venue to check our bikes in to T1. The race would start at Jordan Lake, with a one-loop, 1.2 mile swim. There was lots of conversation and rumors about what the water temperature would be on race day morning. Anything above 76.1 degrees F would not be 'wetsuit legal'.

After riding my bike for a few minutes to ensure that everything was in working order, I racked my bike in T1 and stashed my gear. Because I had registered for the race with an Ironman Foundation slot, I had a sweet transition spot near the "bike out". This is convenient because it means that I will run a shorter distance inside transition with my bike-- not a 'must have', but it is certainly nice!

After dropping our stuff at T1, we drove back to downtown Raleigh, and had the rest of the day to meet up with friends and relax. That evening, we double-checked our run gear and nutrition, and tucked in for an early bed time.

On race day morning, we were up EARLY. I think we both woke up before the alarm! As soon as we got up, the preparation started-- put on timing chip, sunscreen, body glide (on body and inside seams of my kit), mix up nutrition drinks, double check run gear bag, put additional nutrition and breakfast in separate bag.

We headed out the door and over to T2. Transition 2 was in downtown Raleigh, not far from our hotel. We dropped our run gear off in our designated spots in T2 and headed for the shuttle bus to take us to Lake Jordan (about a 40 minute ride).

 

The Swim

It was really exciting to arrive at Lake Jordan and see the transition and swim area swarming with athletes, volunteers, and race staff. I had a great sense of feeling prepared, and I was happy that the day had finally arrived. And, at about 6:30 a.m., they announced the water temperature-- 76 degrees! A cheer went up from the crowd, which means most of us were happy that we were allowed to wear our wetsuits. I had prepared myself mentally to swim without one, but boy, was I glad that I didn't have to!

Photos of Lake Jordan from our visit a month earlier. The boat ramp led down to the beach where the swim start was held.

On race day this beach was packed with racers.

I didn't really start feeling nervous until I had to stand around and wait for my swim wave to begin. The race started at 7 a.m., but I was in wave 13. So, with the waves starting 3 minutes apart, I had a while to wait my turn. I don't think snails move any slower than that clock did. I stood a while with Jim while he waited for his wave to take off (wave 6). After I lost sight of him, I decided to sit down. I still had 40 minutes to wait, so why waste my energy standing?

Finally, my wave was ready to start. We filed into the water and waited for the starting gun (or was it a horn? I can't remember). As I stood there, I tried to take it all in. I thought back to November, when I signed up for this race. I remembered the tenuous “now what have I done?” feeling after signing up, and thinking “well, the only thing I can do about it now is train.” November seemed so long ago. I knew I had done plenty of training, and I was prepared. I remember thinking that I had 7+ hours ahead of me. But first things first-- concentrate on the swim.

I couldn't possibly tell you what went through my mind during that swim. I wish I had a recording of it, though. I remember that as we started out, I was right in the middle of a pack of swimmers. Luckily, it wasn't too jarring (no elbows flying), so I tried to draft and take advantage of my position. I usually draft to the side of another swimmer-- I don't like drafting off the back because I don't want to be that swimmer that is always accidentally tapping someone's feet. It happens, and it's just a hazard of the sport, but I still don't want to be that person.

I think I managed to get a few drafting opportunities along the way, and before I knew it, I was rounding the last turn buoy. The water had started to get a bit choppy, but I was headed into shore for the last 500 meters, so it was less choppy the closer I got.

What a great feeling to exit the water! And my legs didn't feel like jelly, so that was a bonus!

Swim time: 45:49

I was particularly happy with this time, since my pace per 100 meters was 10 seconds faster than my pace at Monticello Man Olympic (a shorter distance).

T1: 3:47

Transition went well. Designated wetsuit strippers helped the athletes off with their wetsuits, so that was a plus. The only thing different about this transition was that we had to put all of our stuff in a gear bag that was provided to us, instead of leaving it on the ground. This is because we were not coming back to this spot-- the bike leg would take us all the way into downtown Raleigh, so the Ironman staff would be packing up all our gear and taking it to a spot downtown where we could collect it later.

Bike

The bike leg turned out to be lots of fun, and not as daunting as the rumors would have us believe. It is so hard to make head or tails of the elevation map provided, since those can be deceiving. Basically, the course had some mixed sections for the first 20ish miles-- some flat, some false, some rolling hills. The last 30 miles did present some larger hills, but they didn't seem too daunting since most of my bike training rides had incorporated hills in some way. I picked up water at each water stop (slowed down and grabbed it from a volunteer), and even grabbed a banana at one stop. I was glad I was able to do this, since I hadn't actually practiced it. At mile 18, I lost a water bottle as I went over the train tracks, so I stopped to pick it up. It was then that I noticed my bike computer stopped working-- the sensor had been knocked off kilter. I tried to fix it, but then decided I would do without it. I usually use my bike computer to keep loose tabs on my pace, just to encourage myself to keep going at a certain rate. Not having that feedback to rely on didn't hinder me really, as I figured I was just going to pedal as fast as I could anyway!

Bike time: 3:47:10

This pace was also faster than my Monticello Man Olympic pace, so I was happy with that.

T2: 3:28

Rounding that last turn and approaching T2 was a fantastic feeling. I dropped my bike off in T2, put on my running shoes, hat, and headed out.

Run

So now here it is. The part of the race I was least looking forward to. Thirteen miles is still a big mental challenge for me. It just seems soooooooo long. BUT, I remember a time only a few years back when THREE miles was an interminable distance. So, I think I have come a long way. So what do I do? I try not to think about it! As I headed out of T2, a ProK teammate, Travis, who came to Raleigh as a spectator greeted me. He ran with me for the bit before circling back to find others. He filled me in on how the other ProKers were doing and helped keep me going.

The run course was an out and back, so I saw lots of other athletes on the way. It was fun to see other ProK teammates as they were headed back in to the finish. The highlight of my day? Somewhere around mile 2 I see my Number One Fan heading back in from the run. He sees me, and comes close to the median in the road so he can stop to talk to me, and offer words of advice: “just concentrate on going from aid station to aid station, take as much ice, water, etc as you need (don't think you can only take one), and remember your training- you've got this!” Now was that awesome, or what? I think if the heat did not have my brain in a state of mental fog, I would have cried happy tears. I think everyone needs a Number One Fan in their life; it makes everything so much better.

A selfie with my Number One Fan after the race.

So, I took those words of advice and followed them closely. I had planned to take ice and water at every station, but it was nice to have a reminder, and especially the advice to take as much as I needed! At every aid station, I took several cups of ice and dropped them down my shirt, pants, and under my hat. I took water to wash down my gel, and I kept taking my salt tabs at regular intervals. Somewhere between miles 4 and 7, instead of going from “aid station to aid station”, it became more like going from “porta john to porta john”. I will spare you the details, but just say that at least the porta johns were there. That has never happened to me before in a race, but hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

The hills on the back side of the run course were a bit of a surprise-- again, the deceiving elevation map had reduced them to blips. Somewhere around mile 9, a ProK teammate, Missy, ran by and slapped me on the butt as she passed. It's nice to have a little humor in the middle of the race! I needed that.

There were noticeably less people and spectators in the last 4 miles of the race. As I neared the finish line, I saw my coach, Karen, yelling and cheering for me as I headed in. It was so great to see her enthusiasm-- she was acting like I felt inside, but couldn't muster much outward enthusiasm myself since I was just concentrating on getting to the finish line. If it hadn't been for all that ice, I would never had made it. The heat really puts a zap on you. Jim and Travis were there too, cheering me in to the finish line, which went right down a main street in downtown Raleigh. What a great feeling that was. I was never so happy to see a finish line. I suddenly didn't care how hot it was. It had been a long day, and I had made it!

Run Time: 2:52:05

Overall: 7:32:19

I think I floated off that "high" of finishing for several weeks. It still makes me smile. What did I do the week after the race? Why, I began to research which 70.3 event I'd like to do next year (what else?)!

I purchased my pictures from Ironman, but the order takes 24 hours to process. so in the meantime, I borrowed some screenshots from the web site.