Saturday morning we gathered our things and headed to our favorite local diner for a hearty breakfast filled with pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Yes, I splurged because thats what you do the day before a race!
10am we were on the hour drive to Geneva, NY where we would spend the day at Mussel Kids as well as packet pickup, race meetings and pasta dinners.
We got to Seneca Lake around 11:30 and we immediately went down to sign my daughter up for the Kids Triathlon. It took us at least 30 min to get registered!! We then body marked her ourselves, ran to get her gear and helped her set up her transition. This was the most chaotic transition I have ever seen. I dont think they were expecting such a turn out with the kids race! They also started the race twice and had 15min time wait in between the big and little kids going out! also I noticed a few kids that werent the proper age being able to do the race which I was very upset about. You never know what can happen to your kid out in the water and you put them in there with kids way bigger than them. Smart parents! Ok, done ranting.
Anyways, my daughter had a great time. She told everyone she did it from that point on and even told them she got first! Ha ha!
\I was completely miserable after being struck by a bike going into transition as I was leaving it after helping my daughter with getting to her run. I had some swelling going on to my right thigh and I thought..great just in time for my race tomorrow, how lovely. It was hot 95 degrees hot, I tried to keep water with me at all times as well as stay in the shade, but there was hardly any shade to stay under where the kids were.
We went to the Musselman mural and marked it up with our names, headed to the pre race meeting and then to the pasta dinner where we hooked up with many local athletes and talked about the day to come.
SUNDAY- The alarm woke me up at 4:30am. Was out of bed and ready to take on the challenge I was going to face today. I knew that the weather forecast was calling for 96 degrees and humid. I know I dont do well in heat. I had my regular pre race breakfast and we were out of the hotel and to Seneca lake by 6am. We had about a 15min wait at the entrance and then another 10min walk to transition which gave me just enough time to get body marked and set up my transition area. I was freaking out as they were calling the transition to close in 5 min. I tried to hurry along and got a little panicky thinking I was forgetting things when I exited transition that I ran back and checked 1 more time!!
Swim : The race started promptly at 7am and my wave went off at 7:25am. I am the one kind of in the middle in the pick towards the front. The gun went off and people were walking to the first buoy faster than I was swimming. But, I thought to myself, I am not wasting as much energy so I am swimming! The water was extremely choppy I felt like I was surfing! It was a mess with people fighting to get to that first buoy. After we turned keeping all the buoys on our left (counter clockwise swim) the swim was a little better but I was weaving in and out of people big time. I was so disappointed with having to do this but I can tell alot of people panicked in that water. I passed about 3 other colored caps and got passed by some faster swimmers in the last wave as well. We ended up in a canal at the end and I couldnt see crap as the sun was shining in my eyes. I also started to get a cramp in my right calf!! I shook it out as best I could and was upset this was happening!! I finally got out of the water and was relieved to be done!
Swim time 40:12 (1:54/m)
T1: Was a long one as it is a big rectangle and I was in the back. My wetsuit got stuck on my garmin but I got it off pretty quickly. I got my shoes on, helmet and glasses and started to go. I got stuck on the pole as my water bottles got caught! Oh boy!! Next time I will rack with water bottle cage on top of the pole!!
T1- 2:06
Bike: I wanted to play conservative on the bike so that it could set me up for a good run. I think I could've pushed it a little more but I was playing with my heart rate as well as the weather was heating up quickly. I kept my HR right around 148-150. I felt good here and road with it. I had about 3 1/2 24oz bottles of perpetuem, 3 salt tabs, 6 gels, half a clif bar. I did very well with this! The course was rolling hills with one steeper hill around mile 30 that I had to spin up. But other that that this course was great. There was a head wind for most of the ride. (or at least I thought thats why my speed wasn't up there!!)
Bike Time: 3:05:53/ 18.2mph ave
T2: I got my feet out of the bike shoes on the bike as I am a master at getting them out now. Now I need to work on getting them in more!!! I got to my area. Racked my bike, put my socks and shoes on, grabbed my hat and race belt and was off. I tucked a gel and my salt tabs in my back pocket as well as having Clif blocks in my hand. The good thing was they had my nutrition I use on the course, so no belt!! I ran across the mat and lost my salt tabs. A guy was nice enough to pick them up and hand them to me as we were running!!
T2: 2:20
Run: I was happy to be running and felt really good the first few miles!! I was thinking I could really do well here if I keep focused. I walked up these steps as my coach instructed me to do at mile 4 and after this I felt really sluggish and couldn't keep my pace up. I started to think about aid station to aid station as I was hot and needed the nutrition every station. By mile 8, I lost it. I couldn't keep myself going and at this point I was walking alot. I didn't hurt, I wasn't cramping. I just felt too hot and couldn't get my breathing under control. I started counting, singing to myself, but it seemed like my mental strategies werent working at this point in time. Every aid station was ice in shirt or under cap, sponges under sports bra, water, Heed, Salt tab GO!! In between I would take a shot block. I was not happy with my running at all and I was at mile 10 almost crying as I was so frustrated with my poor display of running. I know what I am capable of and I need to tap into that despite the conditions. I saw my daughter and honey at mile 13 and I could see the finish line up ahead. I was so relieved to be done at this point. I saw 2 ambulances while I was on the run. Not pretty. ![]()
If you look at the pic above this was the ending. Totally different look on the face! Also note all the salt on my Calf sleeves!!! Oh MY!!
RUN time: 2:34:21/ 11:36min/mile
TOTAL TIME: 6:24:52
31/60 AG 30-34
440/808 total participants
136/404 females
Of note 80 people DNF'd this race! I've never seen that big of a number at this race! Not to mention about a few dozen people in the med tent at the end as well! Im glad I survived this race!!
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| Enjoying the ice bath with fellow triathlete, Rae! We did it! |
Congratulations on a tough race! I am so glad that you were able to overcome the heat. That is excellent.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a great race despite the heat!! I loved reading your recap too -my next 70.3 is in less than 4 weeks and I am really worried about the heat!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your recovery week!
Nice job! I hear you about that heat. Swim for me was bad with the choppy waves on the way out, then the blinding sunshine, the canal was smooth and fast though. I cramped bad on the 2nd half of bike which I never have done on any ride, could have already been not enough fluids cause I took in a lot less than you, until the run. I walked quite a bit too. Just could not keep body temp and breathing in control, no cramping. Very frustrating, but we all had to deal with that heat, so it was fair. Need to train in a sauna for that race. Be glad you finished strong. I saw a woman on the ground last 2 miles who had heaat stroke bad, slurred speech.
ReplyDeleteWho ever said the Syracuse 70.3 in Sept was too cold needs to run this race, i'll take 60 degrees.
Mike Brookins
Kristin, you did awesome! I heard that it was brutal out there will the heat and I can only imagine how tough that run was. You did amazing!
ReplyDeleteIs that really the medal? It's so cool!
Might have to add this race to my calendar next year!
Congrats girl... you did it!
So true Mike!! Sorry to hear about your bike! I really have gotten to know I need a lot more than most people and I think I have my nutrition needs down pat for my Ironman!! This was a great tune up for this race! Next year Syracuse 70.3 will be going to June!! So might have to prepare for heat too!!
ReplyDeleteNice job Kristin, I was thinking of all you racing on Sunday in that crazy heat!!!! Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome race! It may not have been your best performance, but given 80 DNF's that speaks volumes about simply finishing!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that someone likes HEED. I tried it before my last race and just couldn't get over the texture of it. I have heard amazing reviews about how well it works for that distance though! I've also never done salt tablets. What type do you use?
Congrats! And it looks like those finishers medals are HUGE! What Swag!!
Kurt- I use Scaps. They are purely 300mg of sodium. Some people use the Hammer Endurolytes but they only have about half the sodium and I used them before and cramped. These ones work for me. I know I am a nasty salty sweater!!! The swag was amazing! A finisher bottle, chainring, Shirt, and a race belt with the Musselman logo on it!! A lot better than what I received at a Ironman race!! I think these non-WTC races are where its at!!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG - Way to go for doing a 70.3 in a sauna!!! WOW! That was some character building I am sure - you are a warrior beast!!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats
ReplyDeleteAwesome job Kristin!!
ReplyDelete