Race Recap: 70.3 Venice, FL

Race Day:

I woke up feeling rested and ready.  I got into my tri-suit, got my last minute things together, grabbed my transition bag and we were out the door.  We parked the car and walked over to the transition area.  I was nervous, but not overwhelmingly so. 

In transition I talked with several of the women around me while we set up our areas.  For some of us it was our first half...for others, they had done one before.  I bonded with a woman named Angie.  She had done the Augusta 70.3 and actually qualified for nationals at her first half!  Wow.

I met back up with Stephen and we wandered over to the same area where I had taken off my wetsuit the day before.  I began the process I affectionately refer to as the "wetsuit dance"...put one leg in, shimmy around, put the other leg in, shimmy some more, hop as you yank the suit up, stick your hands down the inside of the suit and pull. Finally put your arms in the holes and wiggle around until everything finds its place.

A woman sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem.  It always makes me think of Ryann when I hear a good version of that song.  I missed my girls. 

I watched the pro men start their race.  There was an area to the left of the swim entry where they allowed swim warmups.  I knew that I should do a warmup. So I timidly walked over to the warmup area. 

I saw Angie in the water and waded over to her.  We chatted a bit and decided that we were going to be great friends.  She has a spark that is contagious.  You can't help but smile around her...which really helped me to calm down and forget about the pre-race jitters.  Thank you Angie!

Finally I jumped in and started doing a short warmup swim.  The pro women went off, then the younger men's age group.  Angie and I decided it was time to get out of the warmup area and walk over to the starting line.

It was a beach start, which I've never done before.  I was so anxious about tripping and falling.  Watching all the other waves helped because no one seemed to have much difficulty running into the water.  It was our time to line up.  Angie and I started next to each other, although that would be the last time I would see her all day.  The gun went off and we started running down the beach.  I just kept telling myself to relax and enjoy the day.

I got to the sandbar quicker than I had expected.  The water was deeper than the day before, but we still had to stand to get over the sandbar.  However, we could drop back down and swim a lot sooner than I could during the practice swim. 

I felt good.  I knew I was going slow, but I also knew that this was going to be the longest swim I've ever done in a race.  I kept thinking, just relax.  I got to the first turn buoy before I knew it.  Stephen had hoped to stand on the end of the pier and get some good shots of me swimming.  But when I was out there and glanced at the end of the pier, I knew we were way too far for him to get anything.

By the time I was heading back into the shoreline, I was feeling good.  I knew I had conserved energy for the rest of the day.  I knew that I hadn't swallowed much of the salt water.  The only thing that was worrying me was an ache in my lower back.  I think between the wetsuit and the salt water, my swimming posture was a bit askew...which was putting pressure on my back.

As I was getting out of the water, I fell.  I started laughing at myself and Stephen took this photo.

He yelled that everyone was tripping getting out of the water. I was still laughing when I ran up to the wetsuit strippers.  This is something else that I've never experienced before.  You just plop down, they pull off your wetsuit and throw it at you as you jump up.  Very efficient!

Of course I still had a ridiculously slow transition time.  There was a VERY long run from the wetsuit strippers to the entrance of the transition area...then my bike was all the way at the opposite end, near the bike out.  It was good to be close to the bike out, but my feet were not happy about running that far on the pavement in bare feet.

I love the volunteers at events like this.  I try to say thank you to as many of them as possible.  They make me smile...this picture catches me in full-on smile from something the volunteer had said to me.  They were really great throughout the whole race.

So I knew that this course was going to be flat, and I expected that to mean fast.  I wasn't worried about the continual grinding of muscles on a flat course...I was trained and ready for that.  There was a pretty healthy headwind...no big deal...just like riding on the Eastern Shore.  Get aero and go Karen.  I did that pretty well for the first 10 miles or so.  There was an aid station around mile 18 (I can't remember exactly what mile they were on).  My back was starting to bother me, so I stopped just past the aid station, got off the bike and stretched.  I also ate my first Stinger waffle and made sure to get plenty of fluids.  Back on the bike...right into the headwind.

By mile 20, I was having some serious pain in my lower back.  I kept trying to change positions to take some of the stress off my back.  But the only position that didn't hurt was sitting as upright as possible.  I did that...which is not ideal for the amount of wind I was encountering.  I was going SLOW and using up a lot of energy.  I tried to just focus on my cadence and not on the speed...although I was being passed by everyone and their grandmother...literally...a lady passed me with "75" on her calf, which indicates her age.  I was SLOW and getting frustrated.

After the second aid station, I pulled over again and did some more stretching.  By now, my knees were in on the action...you guessed it, they were hurting too.  A volunteer ran over to me to bring me some water and make sure I was OK.  I smiled and thanked him for his concern.  I wasn't OK.  I was disappointed...the bike is my strength!  This was supposed to be a FAST bike...not a slow one.  I tried to keep my focus and visualized Daryl in front of me blocking the wind.  It didn't help with the wind, but it made me feel less lonely out there.  I knew I wasn't in last place, but I also knew that there weren't many behind me.  And since it was a small field, there weren't many people to begin with. 

I honestly did not like the bike course at all.  It took us through the city streets of Venice.  Most of them had bike lanes, but there was a lot of traffic and some pretty major intersections we were going through.  I did not feel safe, even with the police directing traffic.  Then we went on some back roads.  The race director had said that the roads were in "great" condition, but I was bumped around more than any ride on the Eastern Shore.  Then there were the U-Turns...4 in all on the course.  One was a wide, sweeping U-turn...no big deal.  The other 3 were tight turns...I was not a fan.

I was so happy to ride back into the transition and get off the bike.  Maybe my back would be better in the run!!!  I took some extra time in this transition to try to gather myself.  Most of the miles were behind me...only 13.1 to go.  Keep it together, relax and enjoy the run.

As I started my run, I stuck with the original plan of run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute.  The first walk break came quicker than I had expected so I ignored it and just ran through it.  The run was an out and back course that we had to run twice.  BORING.  It was pretty the first time I ran by...

During the first loop, I pretty much stuck to my gameplan of running 5 minutes/ walking 1 minute.  I was running slower than I had hoped I would be, but I was OK with that considering the amount of pain I was trying to ignore coming from my lower back and my knees. 

I came upon a nice man named Mike.  I had seen Mike's face everywhere on the course. His family had put up signs the night before. They had his face plastered every 2 miles or so on the run course. His signs had made me smile, and now I got to meet the man in person. We chatted for a bit as we jogged together.  We talked about where we were from, that it was our first half ironman, that his son and daughter-in-law were also competing, that I was on a mini-vacation with my husband while my wonderful parents kept the kids.  He stopped to walk and I kept on jogging.  We wished each other well on the remainder of the race. 

When I was doing my first lap, the majority of the racers were on their 2nd lap.  When I started the 2nd lap, most of the racers were finishing.  That was pretty demoralizing.  I was feeling the effects of everything...the pain, the heat, the loneliness.  That's when I walked...and walked...and walked.  No running, just one foot in front of the other.  I was fighting tears.  This was not the race I thought I would have!  I couldn't run, I couldn't jog...I just walked.  Stephen caught the desperation in this photo.  Notice my hunched shoulders and that I'm not even power walking...I'm just walking.

I didn't stop though...even though it would have been very easy to just stop.  I told Stephen that the 2nd lap might be a LOOOONG one.  He yelled so many encouraging things to me during that brief exchange that I can't even remember.  But the one thing I do remember him saying was "I believe in you".  I thought about how grateful I was to have such support.  Stephen was there, spending an entire day just waiting for me to briefly pass by...then he took great pictures of the moment and posted updates on Facebook for everyone else who was thinking of me.  I thought about all the people who had helped me get to this point.  Abby, Anne, Pam, John, Daryl, Heidi, Instructor Rob, Heather, Meghan, Andi, Katy and so many more.  I can do this...it might be slow but I'm not letting all those people down...and I'm not letting myself down.

I was still walking, but my pace increased ever so slightly and I occasionally pushed myself to jog.  That's when Mike caught up with me.  We walked together for about a mile.  We shared our pains and we prayed together.  Mike is a very spiritual man and when he asked if it was OK if he prayed for me, I thought it might be exactly what I needed.  Mike grabbed my hand and asked the Lord to help us have the strength to make it to the finish line.  Mike told me that his daughter-in-law had crashed on her bike.  She was OK and she pressed on to finish the race.

There was a medic riding around on her bike to check on all of us stragglers.  When she came upon Mike, she got off her bike and tried to stretch his legs that were severely cramping.  After her stretching, Mike was able to jog a little bit.  He would jog ahead, then I would catch up when he took a walk break.  Finally we came to mile marker 11.  2 more miles to go!!!  We walked together for another half a mile, then I decided to do a modified run/walk.  The course was marked by orange cones that were placed without any consistent distance between them.  I decided to run to the next cone, then walk to the following.  I kept this up until the very last water stop.  I ran from that point to the finish.  My "run" was so slow that most people could have probably walked as fast as I was going...but I was determined not to walk anymore.

Stephen saw me when I was at the 13 mile mark.  Just that last .1 mile to go.  Stephen jogged next to me and crossed the finish line with me.  He was snapping pictures the whole time, unfortunately they were not at a flattering angle so I'm not sharing them!  :)

I crossed the finish line and raised my arms.  I did it!  70.3 miles!  It was ugly and painful and slow, but I did it.  I got my finisher's medal and T-shirt, ice cold wet towel draped around my shoulders and an official race photo in front of the Rev3 finisher sign.  I told Stephen about Mike.  We waited at the finish line for Mike to cross.  I gave him a hug and a quick congratulations, then got out of the way so that his wonderful family could celebrate with him.

My overall time was 7:35:35.  Here's how it broke down:
Swim 46:43
T1 6:08
Bike 3:24:00
T2 4:17
Run 3:14:27

I have a lot of thoughts about this race but I will share them in another post.  For now, I'm going to wrap up by saying that I am so proud of myself for this race.  While it was not the experience I had hoped for, I did have a memorable experience.  I pushed myself to finish even when I thought I couldn't.  I respect this sport and I definitely respect this distance.  70.3 miles.  I completed a half ironman! I met some extraordinary people along the way. And I came out with some good lessons.

Thank you to everyone reading this.  I know this race report is lengthy...I appreciate all of you who take the time to read this blog!  THANK YOU!!!