IMTX: Post Race/Lessons Learned

Alright, where were we?  In the vein of "when the hell will this freaking race report EVER end - rest assured.  This is it.  This is the true navel gaze post - we have already run through the day's swim, bike and run - and now its time for what happened next!

Aside from the fact that I was in total disbelief about my time, post race I just walked around like a
zombie (a really freaking happy one!).  I called my coach and one of my best friends and responded to all the awesome congrats messages (you guys ROCK - THANK YOU for all your love and tracking on race day!).  We grabbed my bike and crap, and headed to the post race tent for some food - which I totally could not eat.  No shocker.  I was totally spent and quite honestly, a mess - but a happy mess! There weas zero doubt I left it all out there on that run course, and that was the goal!

We headed back to the Air BNB for a shower and clean up, and then we passed out hit up the country bar.  What???  I didn't stutter.  There was this awesome looking bar in downtown Houston I was dying to go to, and I promised myself that if I could walk - I would go!  Confession - I am a huge fan of line dancing, and basically any kind of dancing.  What other time to go than post 11 hour race???? (We call this celebratory - and also - Rae is an idiot.  But you knew that).

Honestly, it was a blast.  I jumped in and tried some new dances, and then saw - they had a bull.  OMG.  I have never ridden one, and in the midst of bad decisions, I decided to give it a go!!  I lasted 64 seconds and honestly - once I got on, the realization that the only way off was to fall off was the worst part.  It was a great night and I regret zero of it.  At the end of the day, its all about fun, am I right??

The next morning I was up at stupid o clock (I can never sleep after these things) and started packing up and pulling things together.  The awards banquet was at 11 - and I was kind of unsure if I wanted to go.  It was such a weird feeling - I was so jazzed about my time, and any other year it would have netted me at least top 10.  But with an 18th place finish out of 99 women - I just wasn't sure.  Early odds predicted that there would be about 15 Kona slots (remember this was a championship race) - and this race was perfectly situated for people to accept their slots.  It was 6 months out from Hawaii (perfect timing), an early season race, and clearly everyone had the same mindset.  What the hell - I could take a few hours to have some lunch and cross my fingers!

The ceremony was pretty awesome - if a bit lengthy!  We got to see all the winners, the previous days video, and all the AG winners.  They did World slots for the men first - which took FOREVER - it will be interesting to see how this Nice Worlds goes, but from what I saw, basically, if you wanted in, you were in.

The women- were different.  They started with the oldest AGs and these women were FREAKING fast.  The slowest woman in the 55-59 AG that got a spot finished in...12:30.  Holy moly.  They also - weren't rolling at all.  There was one spot that rolled down in the AG in the 50s and that was it.  I was so nervous.  When we got to my AG there were 16 slots and my heart was totally in my throat.  First place took her slot.  Second place....was last years Kona AG winner and already had a slot.  OMG.  Third place (former pro)....had a slot from qualifying at Arizona 2022.  AND HOLY SHIT..... I WAS IN!!  I'll be honest, everything else was a freaking blur.  When my name was called, I squealed and accepted in a heartbeat!!  I later found out it rolled one more in my AG - and the last woman accepted finished in 11:16.  So I qualified with 5 minutes to spare.  You guys - never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen.  And the time I needed... still baffles me. Honestly - if you told me I needed an 11:15 to qualify back in August, I never would have signed up.  Facts.  Sometimes what you DONT know really is key!  IT'S HAWAII TIME BABY!

The past few weeks have been a return to normal.  We drove the 23 hours home (that was super fun!) and since I got home, I have had the most wonderful friends and family celebrate with me.  Rob told the whole school and my neighbor Kelly told the whole town, so apparently anyone that wants in on October 14, I'm just renting the Island :-P Come party with us LOL!

Its surreal.  The past few weeks I have ditched formal training and am now just easing back into it - I have a few mid season races then its time for the big dance!

There are ways to improve, and I can pin point them easily.  I struggled a little bit on the bike because it was such an early season race - I didnt get a lot of outdoor rides in - and I dont ride in aero on the trainer.  I gave up some time because I had to shift in and out of aero the last half because my neck hurt a ton.  This will change as the season progresses - I froze my zwift account and only ride outdoors from May-November (sorry coach). 

The heat was also a factor - we had a few warm days in NY, but for all intents and purposes I went from 40 degrees to mid 80s.  I think I handled this pretty well, but post race it absolutely slayed me and I felt like crap for quite awhile, 

I also only hit open water swimming twice - for short amounts.  The swim didnt bother me, but my new resolution going forward is to...uh...learn how to swim.  After 15 years its about time.  I can motor through this segment but I leave a decent amount of time on the table due to shitty form.  Luckily, I have a friend at the Y who is willing to laugh at me and also help my technique (in that order, duh) and since he's a legit former D1 swimmer...and a fun dude... we listen to him.  I also have another friend who offered to give me lessons - I've sent him a video for feedback, and there was plenty (suffice to say it was NOT an ego boost lol).  Swimmer Dude also knows what he's doing - he coaches and is also former D1 so I have plenty of support (and apparently, plenty of "Dudes" in my life that tell me what to do - you guys are the best. Truly.). 

Overall though, I am really pleased with this race - I would be anyways - and the fact that its only April makes me even more excited for the rest of the season.

The whole Kona goal...was a ridiculous moonshot.  If you would have asked me a year ago, I would have laughed at you.  And then - I gave it my best shot.  My all. The past 4 months have not always been easy, but they have been laser focused on a goal, and when things went wrong, remembering the goal, having a back up plan, and having the belief that it could be done was key.

I couldn't have ever done it without my amazing support team, and I thank every single one of you.  You know who you are.  And if you don't....yep, you're on the list.  I'm blown away by the love and help I got this time around - and.....I wish I could just charter a jet for us to all go on vacation.  I'm working on that lotto dream, stay tuned. It would help if I played, wouldn't it?

I have no deep secret success tips for this one.  I was lucky enough to have so many things fall into place race day - which is never a given.  I trusted the plan my coach gave me, and when I had questions, he answered them.  He gave me guidance and support and a kick in the ass when I needed it.  On my end, I did the work.  The early mornings, late nights, snowing runs, and juggling work, family and life in between.  It was incredibly hard, and incredibly worth it.  I'll be glad to play for a bit and then focus back on long course with the goal of HAVING FUN in Hawaii - though don't I always do that?

Stay tuned for the road to Kona - its gonna be wild, crazy, and I hope - amusing :)

IMTX Run: Livin' on the Edge

Where were we?  Oh right, In installment 3 of the longest race report ever (I'm almost done, folks, you can only milk it so far).  So far, we had a pretty solid, snakey swim, a decent bike, and now it was time to RUN!

Weird fact - even though the run is my forte, I have never been able to pull together a solid Ironman effort.  Jury is still out why - I suspect that for the first 3, I sucked so bad on the bike that I had nothing left.  As for Des Moines, well, I'm gonna just blame it on the weather - though Texas wasn't a ton cooler!

No mind, I dismounted my bike and had to sweet talk a vollie to take it (guys, I didnt pee on it, I swear, and thats a problem!) With that done, I sailed into T2 and grabbed my bag, dumping it out to run prep.  I was graced with a vollie to help (YES!!) and I put her to work slathering me with sunscreen.  I had decided to ditch the jersey for the run and do my sports bra and tri shorts, which had plenty of pockets for gels.  Again, I was efficient, but the lack of peeing on the bike caught up with me and I had to double back to the porta potties by the bikes for a pit stop.  T2 time - 7 minutes, for an elapsed time of 7:20.  My real goal for the race was an 11:30 - I tried to break 12 last year, and that was acceptable, but I felt pretty confident with my training that if I could execute well, that an 11:30 was possible.  Goal for the marathon - 4:00 (well, 3:59:59 LOL).  

My instructions out of the gate were to start mid 8s and stay in zone 1.  I saw Greg, who told me I was in 34th place in my AG and 39 minutes behind 10th place.  I spent a good ten minutes convincing myself I misheard him - WTF was this?  With the Kona spread, I knew there would be anywhere from 14-16 slots in my age group, and wanted to run into 10th place if I could.  I knew I would be coming out of the bike further down, but I was not expecting this far down....  Apparently the elite world had shown up to race - and it was go time!  Pre race, I had four scenarios in my head about this Kona goal....

A quick tutorial - when trying to Boston qualify, for the marathon, you need to run a time based on your age - mine was 3:39.  It doesn't matter the weather, terrain, etc., the time is the goal.  So going into Philly, I knew exactly what I needed to do.  Snow, rain, tsunami - cross the line in 3:39 or better.  Check.  

For Kona, its all based on who shows up.  There are a certain number of slots allocated to each age group, and if you finish within those slots, you get to go.  For IMTX the last few years, a sub 12 would have done it with the slots they allocated for 2023 - which was a championship race.  Championship is usually a loose term - you don't need to qualify to race TX - but apparently, every elite woman had the same thought I had - and raced Texas!  (I later found out there were 3 former pros, the 40-44 AG winner for Kona 2022, number two ranked 40-44 amateur in the US and a few more bad ass women that have won 70.3s in my AG).  So, it was crazy competitive - and if I wanted in, I would have to give it my all!

My four scenarios were this -  I would have a fabulous PR and Kona Qualify (YAY!), I would have a fabulous PR and NOT Kona Qualify (this would be great but also a little let down), I would have a non PR and Kona Qualify (again, some weird feels here) or the worst - a poor race and no KQ.

I was prepared to handle any scenario and the be all end all was to just do my best and run my own race, leaving no regrets out there.  If I thought too hard about it, 39 minutes for a 26.2 mile run was ridiculous to overcome.  And at mile 3, as I digested this, I hit a low spot.  My first two miles were low 8s, and the 3rd mile, the sun hit and my emotions hit.  It was not good.  I was tired.  Why was I trying?  Who cared about this - if I ran a 4:10, I would beat my goal.  If I ran a 4:40 (my de rigeur) I would still go sub 12.  That was good enough.

HOLD THE FUCK UP Rae.  This was NOT what we came to do.  And again, I thought of my coach, who reminded me that I had NO idea what people ahead of me were doing, or what kind of race they were having.  Why was I making assumptions?  Do I throw in the towel?  NO!  I did a body scan and realized I was a little tired so I took the marathon fix it - coke.  Yep, a few sips of caffeine did the trick (and I continued doing this every other mile for the rest of the race).  I also turned off my run time and put my watch on HR - with the goal to stay in zone 1 until mile 23, and not get caught up in the minutiae of pace.  This works two ways - I wanted to not overcook, but also a rational metric to assure myself that if I was tired but my HR was in the right spot, it was mental. And on we went.

The rest of lap one was smooth sailing, miles clocked between 8:30-8:45 and Greg told me I had moved up to 27th and that everyone ahead of me was running high 9s.  Sweet.  I didn't get too much in my head about the math, I just kept at what I was doing - half mile run, quick walk break up the hill, half mile run, quick aid station ice and water and every other a half gel and coke.  Perfect.  As I passed several people, I had no idea who was in my AG (man do I miss body marking!) so I just kept my pace steady and reminded myself what the goal was.  About mile 12, I passed a bunch of residential neighborhoods with the best crowds - a lot of people told me I looked great and that my form and stride were awesome (I love it when people lie to me 9 hours into an event!)  Hit mile 13.1 in 1:54 and change and felt good about this 11:30 goal - I was tired but not dead in the slightest, and the combo I had of run/walk and nutrition was working well, so we keep at it!  

I had another slight moment around mile 15, when I saw Greg and he told me I was still about 20 minutes back, but that I was in 23rd place.   At this point in time I passed Kyle, who was having a tough day due to an injury flare up, but still smiling. I saw Greg again at mile 16 and stopped for a hello, and a minute later Kyle ran by and yelled OMG Rae Run!  So we ran together for a bit.  I was still feeling good but laughing a bit about how I was having a banner day - but that it wouldn't even matter because every fast woman 40-44 had showed up.  I again tuned into my coach's words - How bad do you want this?  Pretty damned bad.  And with 10 miles to go, I knew I was gonna give it hell and go down swinging with all I had.  At the start of lap 3, I was in 21st place and Greg told me everyone ahead of me was blowing up and to GO!  True words?  who knew but they worked. 

The rest of lap 3 was kind of a blur - as I moved on to mile 20, I knew I could go 11:15.  Totally surreal. I still felt strong, though!  By mile 22, I knew I could go under 11:15...OMG.  With 5k to go, I wound up and just gave it all I had, and the last two miles were kind of a blur (in a sexy, sub 8 way LOL).  I changed my watch to overall time and saw 11:10 as a thing....and then the actual finish line (which was off of an uphill because of those sadistic Texas f*ckers). 

....I was totally and completely beyond comprehension.  I ran through the finish, my hands pumped, and post race completely collapsed in a fit of sheer disbelief.  My total run time was a 3:50, with a 1:56 second half (HOLY SHIT, almost freaking even split an IRONMAN MARATHON), and a 54 freaking minute run PR for a total time of 11:10 - an hour and 8 minute Ironman PR, baby!

And ironically, 18th place in my AG, out of 87.  Wow.  I knew in my heart there would not be a Kona spot for me, but like one of my goals - the feeling was still unreal.  I had absolutely shattered any goal I had, and was completely and utterly comforted in the fact that I 100% laid it all out there with everything I had.  

And that, was Ironman Texas.  Since this post is, of course, getting long, I'll save the post race shenanigans and lessons learned for part 4 of this years long saga.  Stay tuned!

IMTX Bike: What it Takes

And its time for part two of Ironman Texas recap - the bike!  Thanks for your kind words on part 1 - you never know if this navel gazing induces huge eye rolls or legit interest, but for everyone that wants to follow the story, I'm grateful for it.  As a side note, I write these race reports for a few reasons - one, to relive the day, two - to help future Rae and anyone else help learn from my mistakes (there are plenty!) and three - to help anyone racing the particular race learn from the course and my recounts.  End aside - where were we?  Oh yes - about to mount the bike!

As I ran into the change tent, I was amazingly efficient for an Ironman - my swim was a few minutes slower than I wanted (but within the range of 1:10-1:15 so all good) and so I wanted to MOVE!  Ironman transitions are a bit slower than your typical tri - you grab a bag with all your bike stuff, head to a change tent, and move like a Nascar pit crew.  Sometimes you get a volunteer to help, sometimes you fly solo - and for this one, I flew solo.  No mind.  I put on my bike shoes, helmet ( yes, THE RIGHT WAY - check!) glasses, and stuffed my jersey with my gels, slim jims and paydays - and was off to grab my bike!  Again, the beauty of my AWA racking meant I had much less further to run with my bike, which was an amazing perk.  I grabbed Felix (that's my main man, my bike, and I love him, even though he was being difficult pre race) and we were off!  ...well....kinda.  As anyone knows, I am not the most graceful gazelle with my bike, and NO, I did not fall down.  Hit power up on my bike computer and lost control of the steering and almost knocked the bike over as I ran to the mount line (stay classy, Rae) - and of course, the amassing crowd was all there to witness my idiocy impressive bike save.  There was a gasp (I am not kidding lol) and I yelled out - I got it,  I'm good!! (which says a lot) and everyone laughed. I mounted my bike and was off for a cool 3 minute T1 - which was awesome!

The bike course was made up of 3 main parts - 20 miles around town to get to the Hardy Toll Rd - then two out and backs of Hardy (20ish miles each) and then the final 10 or so coming back.  The course was pretty flat (I got 2,200 ish ft gain total) but was wide open to the elements - both the sun and wind.  Race day temps hit the low 80s, which is not bad for Texas, but I knew it was gonna be a hot bike and would need to stay on my nutrition.  One of the big changes that Mean Dude implemented (we are gonna talk alot about him for the bike and run recap) was to beef up my bike nutrition - I was not eating or drinking nearly enough.  Sweat test prescribed 40 oz of liquid per hour, which sounds like A TON but in the heat, it was key.  I also ate 400ish calories an hour on the bike, which, compared to last Ironman, was twice the amount.  To get in the 2000ish cals I needed, I had Skratch Super fuel (1200 cals), 4 gels (400), 2 pay days and two slim jims - to break up the flavor and get a little salty (thats what she said).  I took in salt every half hour, and ate on the hour, while sipping skratch every ten minutes, and grabbing a new water bottle every 20 miles or so. Check.

The first 20 miles or so were pretty sweet, effort wise - I got my HR right in zone 1, and settled in as
best I could - there were a lot of turns in the beginning, but easy to navigate as long as you sat up and paid attention.  I saw my friend Linz about 6 miles into the bike and yelled out a big hello, and my other Rochester friend Kyle passed me about mile 17 and we did a verbal high five - he looked awesome!  At mile 20, I was averaging about 19.5, and my A goal for the bike was 5:45, so I was right on target.

Then I tunred onto Hardy Toll Rd. (BTW - Actual signage on the course to the left) and was hit in the face with wind!!  The Hardy Toll Rd ran North/South, and past race history proved again this year, it meant a headwind for miles 20-40. (and 60-80). The road also boasted no shade whatsoever and a few crazy overpasses that weren't hard climbs, but windy AF.  It also featured some cool cross road names like "Riley Fuzzel Rd" which was hilarious to me two hours into a race (ok fine, I would laugh anytime.) 

 I knew logically that miles 20-40 were gonna be tough.  My speed slowed dramatically - and the rational part of me knew that when I turned around, I should get some free speed.  But, as I will always say - Ironman is mental.  (And for the mentally insane).  Your mind will tell you "No" way before your body does.  And at mile 30 of the bike - I hit a low.  I was mad.  I was tired.  I didn't want to.  And 3 hours into an event that can take 12 plus hours to do - is NOT where you want this.  Then I remembered some of the strategies Mean Dude and I talked about - when I felt like this, it was either nutrition or pacing issue. I knew my effort was good, but the mph was messing with me, so I switched my bike computer to just read power.  I also knew I had a caffeinated gel in my bento, so I took that for an energy hit.  Worked like a charm.  The next ten miles were not the most fun, but I was back out of my own head and ready to rock! YES!

Which I did at the turnaround, going from about 16-17mph to a cool 22-23mph with little effort.  WHEEEE!!!  I was racing trains as they took off in the median (thankfully those little suckers never crossed over and made me stop) and was loving every second.  I accidentally swallowed my gum, and grabbed my spare piece out of my jersey, which would not come out of the foil.  Hell.  I tried to dislodge it with my teeth and ended up with some lovely mint aluminum foil gum.  (Foil DOES NOT taste good but hey, its Ironman!). 

 About mile 60, we turned back and were headed for more headwind.   This time I was ready - I knew to focus on power and get through the next hour or so.  The winds had picked up to about 20mph, but I distracted myself by playing leapfrog with a dude in front of me - I would pass him climbing and he would pass me on the flats.  My form fell apart a bit here - since I hadnt ridden outside a ton, aero was a little harder to hold here, and I also knew that I was getting hot.  The wind messed with my nutrition a bit, and when I looked down, I saw salt tracks on my arms. Shit.  Not good. I was almost four hours in and hadn't peed since the swim (sorry guys), which was not good, so I took in a few more salt tabs and grabbed a bottle at the next hand off (these were not super easy to navigate - it was really congested, but I knew I needed them, even if it slowed me down).  As I dumped my bottle into my aero mount, I hit a snare in the road where there was a perpendicular crack, and my wheel got caught.  FUDDDDGGGEEE.  Thankfully it squeaked out and I stayed upright, and other than a minor freak out about wheel damage, I was good to go (there were a ton of crashes due to these - I paid attention but had missed this one due to fiddling with nutrition.  lesson learned). 

The next hour or so was uneventful, save for me and leap frog dude, who had "On Pace" written on the butt of his kit, which made me giggle.  We would chat every time we passed each other, and I made a joke out of staring at his butt (he was in the 50-54 AG, I later found out, so score one for the dude getting teased by the younger woman, and check off my requisite dude in his 50s I hang with for a portion of a race.  Thanks #1779!).  Whatever the reason, it made those painful 20 miles go by much easier, and at mile 82, we flew back again toward transition!  Those 20 miles felt awesome, and I spun out, fueled, and tried to pee again with no luck (dammit).  At mile 102, we pulled a u-ey and headed back toward home, and for approximately 30 seconds of the 112 miles, rode through shade (it does exist in Texas!)  Looking down at my data, which I reverted back to time, it looked like I could pull a 5:50ish bike split, which was great with me!

The last ten miles were uneventful - more turns, a few grumpy gung ho men passing on the turns (thanks guys) and a few leapfrogs, but mostly just sucking in the rest of my skratch and spinning out for the marathon ahead!  I finished the 112.1 miles in 5:52, for a 19.1 average, (a nine minute Ironman PR)  and was off to T2 to RUN!!