Race Report: 70.3 North Carolina

70.3 North Carolina Race Report

Before I get to the race report, I need to give a little background…

Background:

My last successful ‘big’ race was 2018 Eagleman 70.3. After Eagleman I completed a half distance aquabike in July – Rev3 Williamsburg. And by big, I guess mean Ironman related. But I did successfully complete a smaller 70.3 distance race in May 2019 – the Kinetic Half.

I had signed up for IM Louisville 2018 and trained well for it. A few of my friends were also in for this race and two other friends were coming to Sherpa and cheer. It was going to be great!

Race day: the weather was cool and rainy. We had a shortened swim due to current. It was FAST! For the bike, apparently lots of debris had washed on to the road. I was one of the casualties! I had flatted, and more than once. The first time on my tubular and I used a can of ‘fix it flat’ to continue. I made it to Personal Needs but flatted again shortly after. Then tech support came to my rescue! I used a loaner wheel to finish, but this also flatted twice due to the debris. I lost a lot of time, but tech support got me a new tube and tire twice – it flatted when he inflated it the first time – and I finished the bike under my own power. How much time I lost though I was not sure as I did not know the time of day I’d started the swim and then the bike so did not know how much time I had left to do the run. The rolling starts versus the mass start make this part of Ironman difficult! In addition, the shortened swim meant the swim cutoff was different but that was not clear for knowing total time allowed and time to bike, etc. Anyway, I was reasonably certain I did not have enough time to complete the run so did not start it. I lugged my gear to the hotel, cleaned up, ate, then went to cheer on my friends! Turns out, by the time I did finish the bike, I was over the allotted time to complete it!

For 2019 I opted to go back to Louisville and try my hand at that race again! At the end of 2018 I had signed up for the TriDot PreseasonProject and was excited to use this technology to my advantage. I had also switched wheels on my bike and was ready for the 2019 season!

So as noted above, I successfully completed a 70.3 local race – the Kinetic Half – and on my new wheels. Headed into IMLou confident and ready. The swim was cancelled due to toxic algae but this time I knew the cutoffs and the time of day I started! Race day began with a time trial bike start based on race number. As I started I noted that the corner of my left eye seemed blurry. Bottom line, the blurriness continued until both eyes were blurry. Like they had some kind of film over them. When I arrived at personal needs I went to medical to see if they had eye drops. They did not but flushed them with saline and gave me a tube for later if needed. The saline did not really help. Anyway, I completed the bike in time but it was really hard to see – it was if I was looking through my glasses that had a thin layer of Vaseline on them…or something! I started the run and heard someone call my name. It was Elizabeth James! She snapped this picture of me but until I got right up to her I could not tell it was her. 

I got through the first loop but on the second loop as the sun went down I was struggling to navigate and even briefly went off course. I was also having some issue where I felt like I had to pee. Constantly. Just before the start of the third loop I made the decision to not continue. Between my vision and all the potty stops I figured I’d go off course again and did not think at this time I had enough time to complete. But seriously, the vision thing was weird – and a little scary. In looking back at my 2018 notes, I apparently had a ‘blurry eye’ thing with one eye then, too. But it was not as bad. I figured it was all a sign for me not to continue!

Enter 2020…I was signed up for 70.3 Blue Ridge. Of course we all know that Covid happened. The race was postponed to 2021 and I was actually happy to have lots of extra time to train for the 5 mile climb. Woo hoo!

Training for the race went well. We had come out a few weeks prior to drive the course, ride the first 10 miles of it, and then ride the climb so we knew what was in store for us on race day. I had been really nervous about such a long climb so the recon trip was great.

Race day: The swim was beautiful in the reservoir. Water temp was perfect and I did not wear a wetsuit. The water was just lovely. I was ready to get going on the bike. Things were going well and I was happy to make it to the top of the climb in one piece with no problems. Once you get to the top of that climb you enter the Blue Ridge Parkway and climb some more before you start a nice decent. It was here that I noticed something was wrong. Something felt…weird. I managed to slow down and pull over and stop to find that I of course had a flat on my rear tire. I was in the process of replacing the tube when tech support drove by and offered a hand. No sooner had I started when it flatted again. He was (still) there to assist. He drove off and then I started and of course…flatted again! A sag van came by and I figured my day was over. He loaded up my bike and continued back up the hill I’d just come down. I jokingly said to the driver, “well if we pass tech support that has extra wheels maybe they could swap it out and I could finish.” And that actually happened. So once I got the loaner wheel on he drove me back down to where he picked me up and I finished the bike. This time I knew what time of day I started and knew what time it was when I finished. And that’s when I realized that I would need to run a huge half marathon PR to complete the course in the 8.5 hours!! So I ran one loop of the course instead and then pulled out to DNF. I know I could have finished before the course closed but it would have been a DNF. I found out after I was done I lost about an hour and 20 minutes. As soon as the race opened for 2022 I signed up again!

A couple of weeks later I received an email from Ironman saying there were slots for 70.3 North Carolina which was four months later. I figured out, what the heck, I’ve got all this fitness, might as well give it a short. I took my old tubular wheels in for an inspection and needed a new tire on the front (the rear had been replaced after 2018 IMLou) ,and also upgraded my cassette and chain and derailleur (in preparation for Blue Ridge 70.3 2022). I know NC was considered ‘flat’, but I wanted my bike to also be ready for next year! I also had some sealant placed in the tires to hopefully keep my tires from flatting if I rolled over something small. Then I went on to successfully raced three aquabike races (2 Oly, 1 Sprint) on my tubulars as well. Side note: while my tri bike was getting the upgrades I raced a weekend of aquabikes: Oly and Sprint on my road bike, and those both went well. Would you believe that the week after that on an outdoor training ride on my road bike I had a flat? And it was on my rear tire!!!

Back to 2021 and the 70.3 NC….

Race day: I was so nervous leading up to it and worried about my tires. And my eyes – hoping they would not wig out on me. We had overall perfect weather in my book.

For the swim: The air temperature was 59 and the water temperature was about 71, current assisted, but not like IMLou 2018! I lined up at my normal time (about 40 minutes) and had decided to wear my wetsuit. We had done a practice swim the day before and the Swim Coordinator was there to give us pointers. Very helpful! The swim went well – no problems sighting or getting out of the water and it was a huge PR. Yeah!

For the bike: Started the bike and it was cool - still 59, overcast, and foggy. I was a little nervous about the bridge crossings, but followed the pre-race instructions and all went well. But I will say, each time as I rolled over the metal grate of the draw bridges (there were two and we crossed one of them twice), I prayed my tires did not flat!!! The sun did come out and the fog cleared up to a beautiful day. I basically prayed for happy tires and getting to T2 with no mishaps. Thankfully, that is just what happened! I thought I did a good job of following my power plan but did take things easier in the last several miles. And I took it especially easy on the final draw bridge crossing back to T2. And I made it! I also followed my nutrition and hydration plan successfully.

For the run: I did not plan to try to follow the TriDot RaceX pacing. It was warming up - 69 at the start and sunny - and I don’t do well in heat. I just wanted to finish, be consistent, have a good run, and have fun. I believe I succeeded! My run started off strong, but wavered a bit in the last part of the first half. I had been carrying and using ice (sucking on the ice chips and putting them down my jersey) from aid stop to aid stop but did not get any at one point (there were 6 aid stations that you hit twice – I think I missed the ice at 4 or 5) and I started to feel a bit nauseous at one point. But I got back on the ice track and things improved. Nutrition and hydration was otherwise followed. There was a woman who was killing it out there and when she passed me in the last few miles she really inspired me! I was able to dig in and finish stronger than I had started and was so happy! Happy to actually have successfully finished a big A race. Again. I may have cried happy tears!

Just a word about TriDot. For the race I followed my bike power plan and was even a little under the plan overall (110 target power v 105 actual power). Based on the projections, I still finished the bike portion almost 27 minutes faster than predicted! This is huge and I'm super excited to work on my bike strength over the off season (or preseason)! Overall, I finished the race 23 minutes slower than predicted even though my run was a little over 39 minutes slower than predicted. I am looking forward to working on my run as well! My transitions can use some work but the 10 minute faster projected swim did not hurt!

If you are looking for personalized and optimized training with less time and fewer injuries, you should definitely check out TriDot!

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