It’s one week after Ironman 70.3 CdA and it’s been a week of reflection, recovery and getting back into the swing of things. The body is starting to come back around and the mind is settled after finishing with a result that left much to be desired.
I’ve worked hard, put some solid sessions in the bank since my last race in the fall so it was hard to come up short on my goals for this race. But that’s the beauty of this long game sport - there is always room to improve, both physically and mentally.
Swim
I’ve now done this race 4 years in a row (2016-2019) and in each of the last 3 years, I’ve been underwhelmed by my swim effort. But that changed this year! In the last year, I’ve put in many, many meters swimming in our long course pool, survived (and sometimes not survived!) swim workouts written by my swim fanatic coach (Haley Chura), and just plain changed my script when it comes to swimming. I decided quite consciously to stop thinking of myself as someone who can’t hang in open water or that not growing up as a swimmer left me disadvantaged. I am always in control of how I line up to start a race and starting with a sense of self confidence and determination was way more useful to me. And the proof is in the result: a new shiny 70.3 distance swim PR! A 2 minute PR at the 70.3 distance, 3 minutes faster than last year on this course. Yessss!
Bike
Cue the critics to tell me that it was a silly idea to race my brand new bike just three days after getting it. It may have not been the best decision, but it’s the choice I made and we had a hell of a time on that honest bike course! Do I feel like I am stronger that the bike time I put down? Yes. But what I raced is what I had on the day because I am confident that I stayed in race mode from start to finish. Head down, effort up.
I now have 3 glorious months to spend riding up, down and all around Montana. Focusing on volume and intensity so that I show up to the 116 mile bike course in Chattanooga ready to lay down what I’m capable of. It’s going to be a fantastic summer in the saddle.
Run
As for the run, this is where most of my disappointment and curiosity showed up. I ran 13 minutes slower than my goal time, 10 minutes slower than last year on this course. And I can honestly say I have no idea why. I felt off. I felt flat. I felt sluggish. Like I was running through molasses. I have only felt strong on this course, so this was new for me. But what I refused to do was give in. I kept trucking along with what I had on the day. I pushed the distance between the aid stations and took what I needed at the aid stations to keep my body fueled and moving forward. I was almost in a daze - pushing the effort, but with an abnormally low heart rate. The mental effort I had to put in to keep moving forward was my true effort of the day because my body felt off and my mind wanted to follow. But I gave my mind the direction is desperately needed: towards the finish line with a head held high. Any time I can make it to a finish line healthy and happy is a damn good day.
What’s next
I always say this sport rewards the consistent. I’m finding my small wins here and there; I cannot wait to eventually cash in on my BIG win. Until then, I will keep putting one arm in front of the other and one foot in front of the other. Looking forward to a beautiful summer in Bozeman, filled with so much swimbikerun training. My next planned race is IM Chattanooga on September 29th. A course that suits my strengths, in a town that I just can’t get enough of!
I love, love, love racing in CdA and cannot wait to go back in 2020! As always, taking my lessons learned and tucking them away next to my heart so they come along with me to each and every training session. Always forward!
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