Ohio 70.3

July 30th, 2017. Ohio 70.3. Advertised as flat and fast. Worked perfectly as a lady living and training in Chicago where hills are nonexistent. It was the 2nd year of this race. A two transition race, which was not something I was super familiar with. But it seemed as if they had all the kinks worked out, I had only heard good things about all the logistics, and I was oh so ready. My swims, bikes, and runs in training had been getting faster and faster, I was as lean as I had ever been, I had a great pre-race meal the night before with my folks, slept like a boss, and this was my race.

The morning started interestingly enough. I had planned on getting up super early, catching the first shuttle out to the swim start (at a lake, very far away, blah blah blah). My parents were going to take a later shuttle, hang out with me for a bit before I had to enter my wave, and then I would be off. Little did they realize that the roads would start closing rather early and the shuttle buses would get backed up. I think they ended up arriving 5 minutes before my wave started. I was already on the beach. Which also meant that as I was waiting for them, I didn't have time to do my normal pre-race rituals. I was thrown off from the very start. My stomach sank. And then was full again. And not the good kind. Things didn't feel right, but there was no going back. I couldn't miss my wave. My GI issues would hopefully just wait....

The swim. Water was just barely wetsuit legal. I could have easily just swam in my tri kit, which would have ultimately saved time in transition, but I hadn't practiced that in training. Not even once. And race day is not the time to experiment with new techniques! So wetsuit it was. I knew I was going to be warm by the time I exited, but I felt that the risk versus reward benefit still favored the reward of wearing it. Because of my AWA status, I was able to wear a beautiful blue cap instead of the hunting orange cap the rest of my wave was forced to wear. Blue is obviously a far superior color (I guess?). My parents tell me they watched me rocket to the front of my wave before I was out of their sight. Turns out, I really did. I was 2nd out of the water in my age group with a time of 31.03. Over a minute dropped from Arizona. Awesome.

The bike. Did I mention I had received a new bike?

My newest baby, Aragorn

Used. But all mine. 2006 Trek TT bike. And damn was he fast! Well, I suppose I was fast on him, but I've gotta give credit where credit is due! Anyway, because he was so light and I was so aero, I knew that on this almost exclusively flat course, I was going to be able to drop the hammer. I knew I shouldn't, there was still a half marathon after, but I just couldn't help myself! I threw down. And the best part was that I got to the end of the bike and knew I had more in me. I hadn't left it all out there. I had kept up with these ripped and lean gents, even dropping some of them, and my legs weren't shot! Rolled in with a time of 2:40.08. Almost a 21mph average over 56 miles. BEAST MODE!

The run. Due to all my running in the winter, and having done the Solider Field 10 Miler back in May (where I ran the whole damn thing!), I didn't dread this nearly as much as previous years. In fact, I was feeling amazing! Amendment. My legs felt amazing. Those GI issues? Oh shit...from the moment the run started, my abdomen was cramping. It was going to be a long run. I could have easily stopped for a quick bathroom break, but I knew it wouldn't actually be quick. And I didn't really want to eat anything on the run, but I knew that I really was going to blow up if I didn't. So I ate in small quantities. Every aid station had something that sounded good at the time, so small amounts were ingested. And all the water. I was hoping the water was going to help calm things down. And red bull. Which I knew was going to have the opposite effect, but gave me wiiiings! I was planning on running to every aid station, walking through the station, and then running to the next one. I reached the first one and ran through. I reached the second one and ran through. This continued. I'd grab my food and hydration of choice, slam it down, and just keep going. Who was this person who had taken over my body? Was this really me? The entire first loop of the run, I saw 2 other women. I reached the 2nd loop and finally found my ladies! The only odd part? They were just starting their 1st loops. Wait, that couldn't have been right. There's no way I passed that many people on the swim and bike to keep an hour lead over the rest of my age group. Was there? Yes. There was. I crossed with a run time of 2:06.04 for an overall time of 5:25.17. I had shattered my previous half marathon time by 20 minutes. I had destroyed my previous 70.3 time by 38 minutes! The best part?

I stayed for awards and Ironman 70.3 World Championship slot allocation. Missed going to South Africa by 2 places. But considering I didn't even realize that this was something I should be aiming for, I didn't even care. Heading into this race, my mantra was "I'm going to make this race my bitch!" And. I. Did.

The best sherpas a girl could ask for!