Ironman Chattanooga 70.3...I DID IT!!!

I've lost count of all the Ironman races I've been to cheering for Trey...getting the cool backpack, sporting the Ironman t-shirts and that RED CARPET finish.  I remember thinking one day (maybe) it will be me.  I chose Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 to make my debut and what an AWESOME day it was.

We headed to Chattanooga on Thursday, luckily it fit in perfect with Trey's work schedule.  Pulling the camper makes for a longer trip so we basically got to the campsite, grilled and went to bed.

This was a Sunday race so I had a few days to get even more nervous!  Athlete check-in opened on Friday.  Trey was so into this being my first BIG race that he seriously almost forgot he needed to check in too...LOL!  We met Joanna at Ironman Village and got our packet and walked through the Ironman store and just kept on walking.  I wasn't about to jinx myself by buying a shirt when I hadn't even crossed the finish line yet.

They had started setting up the transition area, so we went and found our space.  Trey and I were no where near each other.  I was so happy to see that my bike would be closer to the "Bike Out", which meant I would not have very far to go trying to run in my cycling shoes.

Trey and I then headed to the other side of the bridge to get in the river so I could see exactly what I was getting myself into.  I could tell Trey wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not because if it didn't go well, well then that just wouldn't be a good thing - ha!ha!  I'm happy to say it was not as bad as I had expected it to be...I was assured that everything was going to be just fine.  After that quick dip, I was good.  I knew I could fight that water for 200 yds or so and make it to the turnaround and have smoothe sailing downriver (or so, that's what everyone kept telling me).  We then headed back to the campsite and met up with everyone else that was racing.  We ran out for a quick bite of mexican and went to bed with full belly.

Saturday...busy day - short workout (swim/bike/run) and bike check-in.  We all decided to try to meet up downtown for a quick spin on our bikes to make sure everything was dialed in.  So glad we did, I still have not mastered the front bottle system and found out quickly that my red carpet debut was not the day to try it.  A quick trip to one of the booths in the village fixed that - a cage on the back to hold an extra bottle and I would just stop at an aid station to switch them out.  The last time I reached back ended in a trip over the handlebars, so to play it safe we all agreed I needed to just pull over for a few seconds - I didn't want anything to ruin my day:)  We then went for a quick run, helped set up the tent for our awesome sherpas, and off to bike check in we go.  Racked my bike & studied my landmarks so hopefully I would be able to find my bike among all 2200+ of them.  It was such a relief to not have to worry about my bike on race morning.

RACE DAY...the day you get to show off and prove that your weeks of training has been totally worth it.  I didn't get here by sitting on my booty, missing workouts and not giving 100% on every workout.  It's a roller coaster - good workouts/bad workouts, positive thoughts/negative thoughts, I love my coach/I do not love my coach, this if fun/this is dumb - EVERY emotion and thought imaginable is included in the process of preparing you for YOUR DAY!!!

SWIM...#justgetmeoutofthetennesseeriver - my hashtag leading up to this race...LOL! I still don't like swimming, but I have proven to myself that I can do it!!  I knew from my previous years of coming to the full Ironman here that it is a long morning waiting for the swim start.  After setting up our transition area and making sure everything was ready we all met back at the tent and boarded the shuttle bus together.  Since it was a time trial start we (me, Trey, Joanna, Dave & Therese) decided to all jump in the river together.  This was very calming for me and made waiting in line pass a little quicker.

RFactor Coaching - Coach Rose Wilson...we will make you proud Coach

See you at the FINISH LINE...our first long distance race together

I've got this!!!

And we're off!!

1.2 mile swim..200yds or so upriver then over about 100 yds and then downriver - how hard can that be?? Well, swims are never easy for me but I was relieved to hear that a lot of people said this was not an easy swim.  The downriver swim portion was a cluster, it was so hard to find an area that wasn't covered in flailing arms!  I never really felt the relaxing, just enjoy, you can float part of this swim that everyone assured me I would feel once I turned that buoy.  BUT there was obviously a current because when the volunteer helped me out of the water and I looked down at my watch it said 32 min. and some seconds - WHAT??? Oh no, I must have somehow cut a buoy - ha!ha!  Oh well, I'm on land so who really cares how I got here.  I spotted Jorgia in the crowd and did my usual - "woohoo, I survived another swim" face and made my way to the wetsuit strippers/peelers (who ROCK!), ran up the hill and into transition!

HA!HA!HA!

BIKE...56 miles - here I come!  This is a beautiful bike course once you get out of town.  I knew to play it safe heading out of town, there's a few railroad tracks where everyone seems to lose their water bottles.  So between the tracks & water bottles all over the road I stayed focused trying to make my way out of town.  The bike course was very crowded, I was so paranoid about getting a penalty that I would just sit up when someone came back in front of me after passing me, then I would pass hoping I was really going to be able to make it by them.  I just never really found a comfortable groove on the bike.  AND then to top it all someone came up on me and said I've been chasing you down and guess who it was??? Joanna - the girl last year who would rather do anything but ride her bike. I was like what are you doing and why are you smiling...LOL!  So proud of that girl - I better pick up my bike game because she will be miles ahead of me next race:)  I kept pushing forward and ended up with a pretty good bike which set me up perfectly for a solid run.  I didn't overdo it (I always think about that 13.1 run that is coming up next). I really loved where my bike was racked coming back into transition, just a few steps and I was at my rack.


RUN...13.1 miles of HILLS & HEAT - doesn't that sound fun?  I've been afraid of this heat all week and knew this run was not going to be as fast as I had hoped and probably not a lot of fun.  That first mile did not feel great, but I was able to settle into a groove before the first hill.  I quickly decided after the first hill that it may be a good idea to power walk the hills, I am fortunate in that I love to walk and am able to make a lot of forward movement when I do walk.  My run throughout the course was power walked the hills, walked every aid station (and there were lots of them) and some random 1 min walks thrown in when I felt like it.  This worked great for me!  I really like a two loop run course...there are no surprises on the second time around.  The open highway was the hardest section of the run for me, I seriously thought I was running on the sun - no shade and nothing but concrete.  The cold sponges saved me.  The aid stations were so AWESOME and support and cheers all over the run course! Less than a mile out I walked a little longer on the pedestrian bridge that I really had to, but I just took a moment to take it all in...WOW - I did it!  I started running again, made it off the bridge, got to veer to the left this time and headed to the FINISH LINE where I was welcomed with tons of spectators and cheers!  It was everything I had worked hard for and hoped it would be!!  That's a GREAT feeling!

Here I go...almost 1 mile in and headed toward the hill!

HEY!

FINISH LINE!!

BOOM - YES!!!  5:52:32

Trey met me at the finisher's chute and we hugged like we had not seen each other in years!!  He was as proud of me as I was!!  I actually just rocked that!

I know I keep saying this but it was such a GREAT day...and to top it off Monday was Trey's birthday so we stayed an extra day to celebrate him and another trip around the sun!

Happy Birthday - Red Velvet made by George Moser - oh so delicious!!

DON'T EVER GIVE UP...Lake Logan 70.3

I have always been and try daily to be POSITIVE.  As all of you know I was determined to make it to the start line of this race.  I pushed myself to the limit to make it there and I am positive that all of your cheers and comments helped keep me motivated and got me there.  As most of you will remember I did this race last year as a relay because I was just not ready to tackle the swim..I did the bike/run last year so I knew how hard this course was & knew this probably wasn't the best race to do with an ac joint separation but I was determined and wanted to come back this year and do the whole thing by myself and that is exactly what I did!!!

My workouts leading up to the race were blah..I just felt sluggish and tired and just not right.  Of course, this was causing my mind to creep in and I was just excited to get away and get this party started.  I love a race/camping weekend.  Trey and I came up late Thursday afternoon & had a great dinner at a farm-to-table restaurant in Waynesville.  I had three short workouts on Friday and I felt great, I knew I was ready...some more teammates arrived on Friday afternoon.  We all went to packet pickup and then called it an early night.

RACE DAY...where I was determined to make it to & the day that makes me so nervous!!  The race started at 7:00 but with the mountain roads driving in and transition set up, it is a very early morning wake up alarm.  I slept pretty solid that night til 2:50 and then just started racing the race in my head. Got up at 3:50...cause I am not the get up and get out the door kinda girl...and we were off around 5:00.  Lake Logan always looks so eerie coming up/down the mountain and I immediately spotted the orange triangular buoy and we just kept going down the mountain and I thought my gosh we have to be there soon because that buoy looked REALLY FAR out!!  We got there is plenty of time to do all the pre-race stuff and as I was walking towards the swim start I took a moment to stand on the bridge and look out and take it all in...the sighting buoys seemed to help the triangular buoy not look so far (well, that's what I was telling myself).

Met everyone else at the swim start and it was time to wetsuit up and jump in for a short practice swim.  Joanna and I were not starting the swim together this time and that did not make me happy at all.  I was going off with the Males 50-59!  I realize there are males that can't swim very good either but for some reason this was intimidating me and I was afraid of getting kicked in the shoulder.  Just one more thing in my head to make me nervous about jumping in the lake!  I had no issues at all on the short practice swim, in fact they were announcing "clear the water" and I was still out there...ha!ha!

Sherpa Trey is a nervous wreck!

Complete concentration staring to see how far I have to swim...OMG!!

SWIM...

This is what has kept me from this distance for 2 years and I was determined to tackle this 1.2 miles today!  My plan was to stay in the back and let everyone go and try to find an open area and avoid as much contact as possible...oh and not be last!  Surprisingly enough, I was able to do that for the long trip out to the triangular buoy.   And off I go...

I was so comfortable on this swim, I have no idea what came over me.  I never once doubted that I wasn't going to make it.  I was able to swim pretty much out of the crowd until I got close to the turn around buoy and then it got a little crowded.  I looked around and noticed that I had caught up with some waves that went off before me...what is going on???  I just tried to stay focused and positive and just kept on swimming.  The trip back in was much more crowded and I was getting a little concerned about getting kicked...but I never did.  They weren't kidding when they said the temperature drops about 10 degrees when you go under the bridge....BRRR!!  It gets real shallow there as well and I remember everyone telling me to just keep swimming to the dock, don't try to walk in.  A lot of people were trying to just walk in and falling everywhere.  When I made it to the dock I heard Trey yell...don't grab her right shoulder...his voice was music to my ears.  I had MADE IT!!   Then for another added bonus a girl in a blue cap turned around and it was JOANNA!!!

If you are going to swim, this is a beautiful place to do it!

Brr...about to head under the bridge

Hey Everybody...I just swam 1.2 miles in a lake!!

Have you ever seen anyone this giddy about coming out of the water...ha!ha!  As I was running to transition I knew it was going to be a great day...I could see Joanna up ahead  and I had just conquered my fear of that swim.

BIKE...

This is a hard bike course, around 3300ft. of climbing and a not so fun climb around mile 42 that causes some people to get off their bikes and walk!

HAPPY Girl!

Hey Joanna...wait for me!

I couldn't believe it when I saw Joanna, I knew if we started this bike ride together we would be ending it together.  It was like we were on a training ride together...I think it worked out great for both of us.  I find myself a little timid on the bike now and if you know Joanna, she doesn't really like the bike at all.  So we were basically there for each other.  We had a good ride, I feel like it was paced pretty good to set us up for the dreaded hilly run.

Felt good off the bike, I knew I still had something left for this hilly run.  I loved hearing everyone cheering as I was running back into transition.  Trey was relieved to see me come in, he was starting to get a little worried because my time was slower than last year.

RUN...

I knew EXACTLY how this was gonna feel...3 miles up, back down and around the hot open field, then 3 miles up and back down but this time to the FINISH LINE!!

And OFF I go...ready to tackle the 3 miles up.  My legs felt good but my heart rate was off the charts!!!  I kept telling myself to slow down and settle in.  The first aid station is about 1.25 up the hill and I welcomed it, COLD water and COLD rags, I took one of each at all aid stations even if I didn't feel like I needed it.  I do like a double loop run course and seeing everyone's faces when they are on the downhill portion knowing how much better I will feel when I hit the 3 mile turnaround.  I hit the first turnaround and see Joanna as she was almost to the second aid station and let her know she was almost to the turnaround.  She cracked me up as she said...this is NOT fun!  I totally agreed but I knew it would be over soon.  Trey and some more friends were at the bottom of the hill waiting to cheer me on...its amazing how cheers just make you feel like a rockstar!

Heading down on the first loop!

I told my fans I would see them again in few minutes...after the dreaded trip around the hot open field.  It was so awesome to have people in different areas cheering so it wasn't too bad.

Round 2...saw Trey and told him I may have to walk a bit on this uphill and he yelled NO WALKING, you got this!  Oh shoot..I was really starting to get tired now but I knew once I made it to the top it was all downhill from there and the adrenaline would get me through that field.   I saw Joanna as she was about to make the turn into the field and her feet were hurting.  I told her to try to walk some if she needed to, I think when I said the word "walk" I thought how great that would feel right about now.  I just kept on pushing it up the hill, that turn around marker was the greatest thing I had seen all day, I knew I had it now.  I am loving life now, smiling heading back down and see our Coach coming up the hill, I'm thinking what a nice coach coming up here to cheer me in.  I almost pull my arm out of socket waving HEY COACH and she says "Oh hey, where's Joanna?"...ha!ha! Are you kidding me?  She was worried about Joanna's feet which was a nice "coachy" thing to do.  Believe me, I have given her a hard time about that one!

I am happy to say I was able to finish strong and with a great big smile on my face...I spy one HAPPY GIRL!!

I made it!!

BOOM!!

If you want it bad enough...YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT - don't ever give up!!

I love this picture, gosh this dude was/is so proud of me!

My partner in crime...AWESOME race Joanna!

Coach Rose!!

And we all know post-race makes the race day worth it!!  FUN times back at the camper...laughter is good for everybody.  Trey even got to show off his Boogey Lights!

I knew this race was going to be HARD, but I also know that hard is NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

Swim - 44:17
T1 - 3:17
Bike - 3:39:17
T2 - 1:41
Run - 1:57:13

6:25:43...I'm more than pleased.  I had no idea what to expect and wasn't sure if my shoulder was going to cooperate.  I'm not sure if I was just running on a high all day but I didn't even feel my shoulder not once.  I can feel it today a little though, I am apparently starting to come down from Cloud 9 now.

As always, thanks for your cheers!!!

Next Up:  Greenville Tri Relay - Bella & the Seventy Point Threes

White Lake International Triathlon

I had White Lake on my race calendar last year, but after a very slow start to my swimming career, I decided that I needed to have a few more triathlons under my belt before jumping to an olympic/international distance so soon...so fast forward one year and here I am!!!  I knew I was ready for this race and although 1500m open water scared me, I knew I could do it...I mean I just swam 750m with the gators in Charleston.  I couldn't wait to dip my toes in the crystal clear waters of White Lake:)

We got to White Lake late Thursday afternoon and set up camp at Camp Clearwater...Trey couldn't wait to take the kayak out and I couldn't wait to see the sandy bottom and swim in the clear lake!  My practice swim went great - I was so comfortable and had no issues at all.  My only issue was where in the heck is the sandy bottom and clear water.  I can feel a sandy bottom, but I see greenish brown murky water and smell oil...ugh!  Well, it was late in the afternoon & boats had been out all day, race morning will be different, right???

We had a relaxing evening and took a long walk around the campground and pretty much wondered where in the world are we?  We were basically in a RV subdivision where some people had been there so long the wheels of their camper were embedded in the dirt...and after talking to a few residents, I realize I sound like I am from New York...ha!ha!

Friday morning came and we waited for our HUB teammates to arrive.  Trey was racing the half ironman distance, so we would be racing together.  Once everyone got there we went over to packet picket and for a short practice swim.  Again, everything went good!  YAY...I knew I was ready to rock out 1500m tomorrow morning.  My LONGEST open water swim!!

Race morning came early as always...

Dave, Trey, Me, Joanna, Jimmy (Not sure where Ivor is)

Beautiful morning

The half ironman distance started at 7:00, but the international distance didn't start until 8:30 and my wave didn't go off until 8:40.  Although I was excited to get to watch Trey finish his swim...that is a long time to wait and I knew the temps were just going to start rising, along with race nerves!  It was actually very comfortable temp wise that morning, a little chill in the air.  BUT according to the weather I knew that would change soon.  I saw Trey finish his swim...he had a solid swim but all he told me was that the sun was going to be in my eyes on the way coming in and sighting was going to be hard...kudos to him for not letting me know that I was about to swim out to lake chop that was going to crash over my head.  He was a worried man as he headed out on the bike.

Well, it was getting closer to my wave start time...just time enough to get in the wetsuit and jump in the water one last time.  I was just assuming that crystal clear water must be when we swim out a bit.
I had my partner in crime with me, Joanna, my "sure I will do an international distance triathlon with you, that sounds like a fun idea" friend.  We were in the same wave...we made the decision to try our best to swim this together, thankfully this race had sighting buoys leading up to the triangular ones for the turn.  Our plan was to break the swim down in buoys, assess the situation and keep swimming.

Ironically enough this is pretty much what we looked like out at the 2nd buoy...ha!ha!

We had no idea what we were about to encounter!  We stayed back and let most of the wave go before heading out...probably within 100m we already ran into someone backstroking and then got caught up with everyone.  At first I was thinking-look at us catching up with everyone.  We made it to the first buoy, we were both good but in a huge crowd but continued on.  I remember thinking first of all there is NO clear water, this stuff is green & it smells...what in the world have I gotten myself into.  By the time we reached the the triangle buoy and made the turn we noticed there was a pretty good current & looked a bit wavy!  Here's where the fun really began..it seemed like it took forever to make it to the next sighting buoy...we seriously had a conversation in the water..."what are we going to do?? (ha!ha!)  Joanna had a man leech on to her and I thought she was about to fist punch him if he didn't get off of her.  We made it to the next triangular buoy and knew we were on the homestretch but had no idea how we were going to get there.  The lake was so choppy it felt like ocean waves.  Our next sighting was suppose to be one of those orange squiggly things - where the heck is that thing??  We FINALLY got away from that man and made our way to the pier...I was thinking we may have missed lunch, it felt like we had been out there for hours!!  We made it up the ladder, made sure both of us were okay and made the 300yd run to transition.  I thought to myself that I could have gone the rest of my life without doing that...ha!ha!

Holy Moly - I DID IT!!! & did not enjoy one second of it!

Joanna beat me out of transition and when she came by my rack I remember telling her I really don't want to ride this bike now.  That dang water beat me up!!  But I got myself together and headed out on the bike.

I ROCKED the first 10 miles of this bike, feeling fabulous averaging 21mph and then boom - I hit the wind and it literally stopped me in my tracks...I just pedaled along and watched my efforts get me nowhere.  This bike course had no scenery whatsoever and one road that we were on had divets in the road pretty much every few pedal strokes...Needless to say I was ready for this bike ride to be over.  All in all it ended up going pretty good.  The bike was 28 miles.

Now on to the run..

The run course was awful...out in the blazing sun, running on the shoulder of a highway.  It was an out/back course, so people were running back as you were running forward and you only had the shoulder of the road to get around anyone.  I actually felt good on the run...just hot and ready to see that finish line!!

I'm not sure why this race is advertised as being so great...I can honestly say that there was not one part of it that I really enjoyed.  I'm giddy over that fact that I survived my 2nd open water swim race under difficult conditions, that just gives me more confidence for races to come!  I had a few choice words when this one was over as did everyone else that we talked to after the race.  Trey ended up having a solid half ironman race, but agrees with me about the course!

It is really strange for us both to be racing.  Sunday was our 23rd wedding anniversary - what a way to celebrate!!!!

Team HUB Whitley - 23 years!!

What doesn't kill makes you stronger...I know making it out of that choppy lake sure made my confidence stronger.

YAY - those waves didn't know who they were messing with!

At the end of the day I actually had a good race...finished 5th in my age group out of 9 women.
7th in the swim
3rd on bike
3rd on run

I don't have another race on my calendar until Lake Logan in August.

As always - thanks for your cheers!!