So right after racing Austin 70.3 I ran into my coach as she was walking back into the arena to get her Worlds spot (can I say Bad Ass!) and she told me that my plan was up but to go by feel. I'm so happy she told me that because I could barely move my legs for two days after the race. I did manage an easy spin midweek but I was spending a lot of time with my feet up and sleeping in before work.
Finally Saturday morning comes and Brian and I load up the car and head out to East Texas. This was going to be his last triathlon of the season too so we were both excited. We finally got to Conroe and found the resort and picked up our packets and checked into the hotel. I would totally recommend staying at the resort. The rooms were super nice and we were on the 15th floor so we had a great view. After we settled into the room we headed out to drive the bike course since neither of us was familiar with the area. The landscape is totally different than San Antonio so I was excited to see some new things. What I was not excited for was the wind and the cool temps. I tried to stay optimistic and told myself that the wind would be gone by tomorrow and it would be warmer in the morning. Race morning came and we had a nice, short walk to transition in the resort's parking lot. It was definitely still cool in the morning and still windy. After we racked our bikes and got our timing chip we walked down to the water. They said the water was about 70*, so just warm enough for my sleeveless wetsuit.
Swim: 41:17
The swim was a beach start so when they told you to go, you had to run into the water and start swimming. The water was pretty shallow so you could probably walk a pretty long way out into the water but once the water seemed high enough I started swimming. Everything went great around the first turn and I noticed some waves on the way to the second turn marker. Okay, so far so good. I'm passing people and I'm almost to the second turn. BAM!! a foot right between the eyes. "M*therf*&&er!!" were the words that came out of my mouth as I raised up and reached up to push my goggles back on my face. I shot the kicker a dirty look and continued swimming. I'll be damned if I was going to stop and clear the water out of my goggles. Luckily they weren't filling up with anymore water so it was tolerable. Now I started to notice how choppy the water was. There were swells raising me up and slapping me down. I remember thinking to myself that I was glad that I don't get seasick because the rolling motion could make someone feel queasy. I could have sworn that someone was driving their boat back and forth on purpose stirring up the water to cause waves. Okay, now this is choppy water! But I was very happy that my sighting was on course and I wasn't being pulled all over the place in the water. The rest of the swim was, thankfully, uneventful. I noticed that my arms were feeling kind of tired, which was not a big surprise. I kind of was just taking stock of how I was feeling and was happy that I wasn't feeling too tired.
I ran into T1 and took the time to dry off a little bit and put on my bike jacket. I had made the decision to wear the jacket on the run to the bike when instead of feeling comfortable I was still cold. A lot of the bike course was through the shaded national forest and I didn't want to be cold.
Bike: 3:18:51
My friend, Aixa, had lent me her "magic" wheels. Cute pink Zipp wheels that are autographed by Hilary Biscay and Maik Twelseik. I was really hoping to not let them down. Alas, the bike course is a tale of two journeys. The way out was awesome. The wind was at my bike and I was averaging exactly where I wanted to. I hit the halfway mark about 1 minute under my goal time and I was super stoked about that. But once I turned onto the road headed back, it was straight into a headwind. I tried my best to just tuck in tight and pedal strong, but I could feel my legs just didn't have the power in them that they did last weekend. With about 2 or 3 miles left on the bike I was shifting my front ring and the chain dropped. So I had to stop and fix that, which probably took a couple of minutes. Overall, I'm not too dissatisfied with my bike split, because even though it's not my fastest (or even second fastest) it's way better than it used to be when I first started racing. And just for the record, there were a few F-bombs on the bike course as well. Mostly aimed at the wind and the dropped chain. :)
I was so happy to drop my bike off into T2 and I had a pretty smooth transition from my bike shoes to running shoes. No falling over this time!
Run: 2:05:43
The run. What can I say about this run....it was painful. Luckily this course is flat so I didn't have to worry about hills. I really wanted to go sub 2 hrs on this run but I'm so happy with my time. This course was a 3-loop course, again, and I just remember thinking to myself, "Just get to the third loop". I was not looking at my watch until it beeped to tell me what my mile splits were. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see the low 9-min pace I was running. Okay, maybe this run won't be so bad after all! I again came to the conclusion that a 3-loop run course is just torture. My second lap hurt and I was so happy to start my third loop. There was one F-bomb on the run when my watch lost satellite reception and it pissed me off. I remember approaching the 10 mile mark and the guy I was passing (ha!) said he just wanted a beer. I told him that I just wanted to stop running! I finally saw Brian on the side of the road finished with the race and he looked great! I was so happy to see him. I told him I had a little over 2 miles to go. Once I hit the 12 mile mark I decided to "drop the hammer". I figured I could hang on for a mile to finish strong. This ended up being my fastest split and it felt great to see the legs respond.
Total: 6:12:31
I have never been so happy to be done with a race. Brian was there at the finish line and he came over and gave me the best congratulatory hug ever. That's when I lost it. The tears just came and wouldn't stop. Brian just tucked me under his arm and lead me away to a quiet place and I told him that I was so happy to be done! I was bummed about my bike split but overall I was extremely happy with everything else. A feeling of great accomplishment came over me. I remember looking at him and saying, "I did it". I think I had had doubts in my mind, even after starting the race, of whether I could actually do this or not.
So here completes my Double-Double 70.3 weekends. Thanks to everyone who wished me luck and supported me!! Next year's challenge: IMCdA!!!!
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