Eagleman Ironman 70.3 1.2m swim, 56m bike, 13.1m run
Cambridge, MD
The excitement for my first big race steadily built all week so when the last thing I read at work before leaving for Maryland was "first dangerous heat wave of summer strikes Northeast" I was even more excited to see how well I prepared over the last few months. Eagleman here I come!
4:45 Sunday morning came quickly after a few hours of excited sleep. My team (read: super-supportive family) and I hurried to the car after I had my two energy bar breakfast. At the start the announcement came the water was a balmy 77 degrees. I was in the second wave and warmed up without my wetsuit. This swim leg has scared me as I am a weak swimmer and have been concerned about the 1:15 swim cutoff. Three weeks before at an Olympic distance race in Harriman State park I swam half of the Eagleman distance in 30 minutes. Using this as an indication of my ability and factoring in the tidal river (vs. calm lake) I was seriously worried that a bad day could stop me from even reaching the bike. Luckily Coach Cliff answered my frantic call early Sunday after the Olympic for some swimming lessons. One hour session in the pool with less than 3 weeks until race day and tons of drills later here I am in the water at the start of my big race. Nervous is an understatement!
The swim started with the normal fighting for position (or trying to get out of the way in my case). A few strokes in I reminded myself this is just a drill and focused on that. 44 minutes later I emerged from the water ready for the bike. (A PR by at least 16 minutes).
The bike course was flat and hot. I religiously took the salt pills (thanks again Cliff) and took a bottle of fluids at every aide station in addition to my nutrition plan. I felt great but wanted to make sure to save myself for the run and not hammer too hard. I finished the bike in 2:35 (21.6 mph) and felt strong heading to the run.
The switch to running went well and I plugged along hoping to do a negative split. At this point I looked at my watch and realized a sub-6 finish was in the realm of possibility assuming I didn’t blow up. The heat was now much worse (mid 90s) with no breeze or shade to be found. Other athletes that beat me to the run seemed to be slowing down and baking on the pavement. I still felt good and pushed on. Around the halfway point I picked up my pace and brought it home for a 1:49 run time and a 5:17:46 overall (20/63 AG 254/1382 overall). I had even more fun than I had expected and am officially hooked to long course triathlon. I capped off the weekend with a tasty pasta meal and some awesome carrot cake courtesy of the friendly volunteers.
Cambridge, MD
The excitement for my first big race steadily built all week so when the last thing I read at work before leaving for Maryland was "first dangerous heat wave of summer strikes Northeast" I was even more excited to see how well I prepared over the last few months. Eagleman here I come!
4:45 Sunday morning came quickly after a few hours of excited sleep. My team (read: super-supportive family) and I hurried to the car after I had my two energy bar breakfast. At the start the announcement came the water was a balmy 77 degrees. I was in the second wave and warmed up without my wetsuit. This swim leg has scared me as I am a weak swimmer and have been concerned about the 1:15 swim cutoff. Three weeks before at an Olympic distance race in Harriman State park I swam half of the Eagleman distance in 30 minutes. Using this as an indication of my ability and factoring in the tidal river (vs. calm lake) I was seriously worried that a bad day could stop me from even reaching the bike. Luckily Coach Cliff answered my frantic call early Sunday after the Olympic for some swimming lessons. One hour session in the pool with less than 3 weeks until race day and tons of drills later here I am in the water at the start of my big race. Nervous is an understatement!
The swim started with the normal fighting for position (or trying to get out of the way in my case). A few strokes in I reminded myself this is just a drill and focused on that. 44 minutes later I emerged from the water ready for the bike. (A PR by at least 16 minutes).
The bike course was flat and hot. I religiously took the salt pills (thanks again Cliff) and took a bottle of fluids at every aide station in addition to my nutrition plan. I felt great but wanted to make sure to save myself for the run and not hammer too hard. I finished the bike in 2:35 (21.6 mph) and felt strong heading to the run.
The switch to running went well and I plugged along hoping to do a negative split. At this point I looked at my watch and realized a sub-6 finish was in the realm of possibility assuming I didn’t blow up. The heat was now much worse (mid 90s) with no breeze or shade to be found. Other athletes that beat me to the run seemed to be slowing down and baking on the pavement. I still felt good and pushed on. Around the halfway point I picked up my pace and brought it home for a 1:49 run time and a 5:17:46 overall (20/63 AG 254/1382 overall). I had even more fun than I had expected and am officially hooked to long course triathlon. I capped off the weekend with a tasty pasta meal and some awesome carrot cake courtesy of the friendly volunteers.
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