Texas 70.3

Since last year, I have started working part-time so I can focus more of my time on training/racing & recovery! I plan on pursing this sport for a few years and I’m excited to see how much I can improve and where I can go from here.  Thank’s to my amazing husband for always being so supportive and letting me pursue my dream!

Change is always necessary in order to grow and I made a few changes at the end of last season.  In December,  I started working with Michael Lovato (Lovato Performance).  I wanted to have a few months to adjust to a new coaching program before the season started.  One of my goals was to stay healthy and have 4 months of consistent training to build on throughout the season.  I have stayed healthy and have been really enjoying the training, it is going well!
In March, I went to Tucson, AZ for a training camp- I had a great time training there! Met a couple of girls on the team and really enjoyed training with them...the only bad part about it - it wasn’t long enough! :) 
The week after camp I decided to race at Las Olas International triathlon in Ft. Lauderdale.  They have an Elite wave there and seemed like a good race to knock the rust off!  I had not raced since Austin 70.3 in October and I wanted to have at least one race done before Texas 70.3.  I ended up winning Las Olas triathlon! I had a good ride and followed it up with a decent run.  
After seeing the start list for Texas, I knew this would probably be one of the most competitive races I race all year. 
Last week, I felt ready to race. I had discussed a race plan with my coach and I wasn’t sure if I could hold the power numbers I had planned on the bike and if I did, how would my run go afterwards? Only one way to find out! 
Race morning it was a cool morning, reminded me of Austin but thankfully it wasn’t that cold! (I do prefer the cooler weather) The water temperature was 69 degrees and the air temps were around 50 and may have even dropped a little throughout the race.  I really didn’t expect this race to be wetsuit legal for us. I didn’t know it would be this cold. I brought my sleeveless wetsuit just in case (should have brought the full).   I was cold waiting in the water at the swim start, I tried to keep swimming to stay warm and was ready to get going! Swim start was a little rough, I had a few kicks to the face, I swam to the outside to get around a few bodies.  The water was a little choppy with the windy conditions.  I felt good swimming, I couldn’t tell what kind of pace I was swimming.  I had a few girls around me.  Towards the end of the swim I remember thinking I was still cold. Especially my arms. I got out of the swim and glanced down at my watch - I was surprised to see how slow my swim was and thought “what were you doing out there??”  After a couple seconds I forgot about it and arrived at my bike in T1.  I had put some gloves on my bike in case I thought I would need them.  I decided to take the time and put the gloves over my wet hands or I would regret it during the ride. My hands always go numb when it’s cold out.  
Starting out on the bike, I had the wind at my back which is always fun! I began to dial in my pace.  I could see one girl ahead of me, I focused on catching her for the next 5-8 miles.  Eventually I did, then I couldn’t see anything but a flat, empty road.  I rode by myself for miles.  Then a girl passed me, I tried to stay with her but I was pushing the power much higher than I planned so I decided to stick to my own plan and let her go. I rode alone the rest of the ride.  It was great riding on the way out with the tailwind but I did keep in mind the way back was going to be brutal.  Just before the turn around I could see the men on their way back and the beginning of the women’s race, it looked like I was a lot closer to them until I turned around and they all faded into the distance.  I had a strong wind in my face for the next 28 miles. Finally I arrived at transition, where I realized how numb my hands and feet were.  I could barely hit the lap button on my watch and getting my feet out of my cycling shoes before the dismount line was a struggle.  As I ran into transition, I felt nothing because I couldn’t feel my feet.  I tried putting my shoes on and had to attempt it several times since I still had gloves on my numb fingers and my feet were numb. I was like “c’mon feet, just go in the shoe!!”  After what seemed like minutes, I finally got them on good enough to start the run. Starting the run, I couldn’t tell what pace I was running. I had planned to run off of my heart rate. I glanced down a few times to check my heart rate, I was about where I wanted to be. During the run I took my gloves off and as I ran by my husband and threw them to him. I was starting to get warm and after 3 miles I could feel my feet again! I felt like I was running a good pace and checked the mile times as my watch beeped.  I planned to pick the pace up after the first 3-5 miles and really put in a good effort for the last 5k.  I felt so good running I stopped looking at my HR or pace and just ran! Grabbing water as I ran by the aid stations. On the last loop I started passing a few pro girls and I was closing in on a couple more.  The last half mile I was running as fast as I could, before I knew it, I was at the finish line. I didn’t even think to see what my run time was- I stopped my watch and looked up at the clock- I had a good race and finished strong! One of my friends came up to me and asked what I ran and I thought “oh yea, what did I run?!” 1:27!   My fastest run off the bike yet...
I immediately went to the car and changed out of my wet, sweaty clothes before I started to freeze! 
I really had a good time racing! I’m looking forward to St. Anthony’s triathlon at the end of this month. 
Thanks to First Endurance, keeping me fueled during the race and during training every day, Flying Fish bikes for getting my bike ready for race day, Epixgear, supplying me with awesome kits for race day! 
Thanks everyone for the support and hope to see you out on the race course!