Unlike the Brazilian World Cup team, I try not to hang my head and give up if I don't make my goals. In fact, sometimes, I go after that goal again. And yesterday that paid off. I didn't get my sub-7 HIM at Raleigh...because I burnt out on the hills and screwed up my nutrition...but I did it yesterday at Muncie and I'm really excited for myself.
6:52:46
Not only did I meet my sub-7 goal, but I also PR'd by about 30 minutes, which is awesome. Some of this may be because the Muncie course was flatter (on the bike, at least) than Raleigh, but I also attribute a lot to getting my nutrition under control and going out smart. Good things to keep in mind heading into IMLOU. In 6 weeks. OMG OMG OMG.This is the second race my husband and I both did, so I don't have the awesome pictures that he usually takes of me. My daughters were sherpas (along with my in-laws), but they weren't quite as on the ball as he is...there may be some other pics on the real camera, but I'm not holding out much hope. Here are hubby and I after checking in on Friday.
So we pulled into Muncie on Friday around lunchtime. We sat through most of the first athlete briefing (but missed the beginning), then got some lunch and got checked in. After that, we went and did a practice swim in the reservoir where the race was held. The water was nice - chilly at first, but really comfortable once we got swimming. Unfortunately, my Garmin was being idiotic - it kept losing satellite. It had done this on Wednesday when I did Masters swimming and I didn't have any decent data and it was doing it on Friday during my practice swim and I was having quite a conniption fit. I NEED my data. What's the point of wearing a 50-pound watch on your wrist if it isn't giving you what you want???
Anyway, after the practice swim, we went checked our bikes in. It wasn't mandatory, but I've really appreciated the races where it is required because it is one less drama on race morning. Since Muncie made it optional, we went ahead and checked ours in. We went back to catch the beginning of the athlete briefing and learned that the water temp that morning was 75.x...wetsuit legal. Good chance it was going to be legal for our race!
We drove the run and bike courses, got to our hotel, and then went out for dinner. We ate pizza - I'm thinking this is my favorite pre-race meal...it hasn't failed me yet. If you're in Muncie - Mancinos rocks. Also, unlike the nanny state of Virginia, Indiana allows for pitchers of BEER! Beer in a pitcher! The horrors!
Back at the hotel, I slept like a rock. I only woke up at 4:00am when some stupid dog that was in the hotel started barking. Pet friendly hotels are fine, but seriously? 4:00am is NOT a time I want to hear barking, especially when our alarm was set for 4:30.
Race Morning
As we pulled into the parking area at the race, there were signs indicating wetsuit legal! Yeah! Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! We set up our transition areas, found the in-laws, and watched the pros and early waves start. I warmed up in the water about 20 minutes or so before my wave start and then got in my starting group.
Swim
My wave (40-44 and 45-49 women) was pretty big. In water start and I started swimming pretty shortly after we started, but I could not get any clean water. Every time I looked up to sight, there were just tons of women in my wave right in front of me. I didn't want to swim through them, so I tried to swim behind them. The course was about 900m out, 300m across, and 850 m back...that's a long way to swim straight out. But one thing I like about WTC races is that they are very well marked...buoys (numbered!) about every 100m which is great. The water cleared out a little near the first turn buoy at 900m, but then the wave behind me started swimming over me. Unlike Raleigh, where the people in the wave behind were polite and swam around me, at Muncie the older men just swam right over me. Jerks. (I told a few of them on the run that they were jerks -- in a teasing way -- but they denied it was them.)
I had real two problems with my swim. The first happened about 400m into the swim. I got attacked by a swamp monster.
The other problem was that the chop kicked up on the way into the swim finish. I don't know if it was the wind or boats or the fact that there were lots of other swimmers. That's the crazy part - I finished with LOTS OF OTHER SWIMMERS! Holey cow! And I started in a very late wave. Crazy! I passed folks from waves in front of me! That never happens. Now - given that my swim time was not any better than Raleigh, I don't think that it was me - I think instead (and husband believes too) that Muncie must attract some really poor swimmers. No offense to the race - it was just a new experience for me.
I made good use of the wetsuit strippers and made the long run into T1. And unlike Raleigh, I took the time to throw some food in my gullet. Calories were part of the key to making my goal.
Bike
The bike course at Muncie was interesting. It was 6 or so miles of bumpy hell...dodging potholes and bouncing over patches - it sucked. Then it was 2 loops on a closed highway - smooth, mostly flat, fantastic. 4 aid stations, although I skipped the first two since I had plenty between the 2 bottles of spiked Perform I had with me. And then the same 6 miles to get back to transition. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Good - I rode really well. I kept my HR near to my zone except when I was going up the very few hills or passing someone. I kept taking in calories - constantly. I used Powerade Perform spiked with Carbo-pro, so it was like eating liquid dinner. I also used a bunch of gels. Plus the volunteers were spectacular - they filled my water bottle while I used the porta-potties. Awesome sauce. I love volunteers!
Bad - I got a little tired of the Perform and gels and really just wanted to brush my teeth. I finally switched to water because I couldn't stand anything else touching my teeth. Maybe I should put a toothbrush in T2. :)
Ugly - I never ever ever want to ride over bumps like that again. Places that should not be mentioned are sore. I will stop there. That should be sufficient.
Run
So I was going to try to keep my HR down for the first part of my run and then let loose at about mile 9 or 10. Well, that didn't happen. I couldn't keep my HR under 150 and run at all, but it felt so good and comfortable, so I just went with it. I met lots of really nice folks on the course - younger, older, men, women - and one guy who lied to me, which was sweet. At the beginning of the run, I kept getting passed by people who looked fresh and energized and I was irritated, but then I looked at their legs and they were relays. So I was talking to a guy with me and told him this and he said "Well I don't mind, I know they look good because they didn't just get off the bike." I said "But I want to look good..." and he lied to me and told me how awesome I looked. Liar! :)
The run course was fairly hilly, so I walked many of the uphills and ran the rest. I stopped at every aid station and had water, Perform, and/or cola. As I told one lady after I cut her off to get to the cola aid station, "I'm a coke whore." I only race to drink cola, y'know. That and the medals. I love coke and I love bling. I was able to run fairly consistently the whole way and then sprint the finish and it was so great. I realized at the turn-around that I was going to beat Raleigh/Patriots. I realized with about 4 miles left that I could beat 7 hours. And I executed!
The last 0.25 mile into the finish was a big, steep hill. And can I just tell you - not just on this hill but ALL OVER THE COURSE - the volunteers were amazing and the spectators were fantastic. I was walking a bit at the bottom of the hill, but then I started to jog up the hill. And then I heard people yelling and I felt like Rocky running up the steps. I was a rockstar. They pulled me up that hill with their cheers and I loved it. Thank you, every last one of you spectators and volunteers.
Here I am finishing - husband was done by this time, so we get the awesome pictures again.
(Have I ever mentioned how sexy calf sleeves and trisuits are?)
6:52:46
And here I am with hubby after I got cooled down a bit:
I'm squinting at the sun - I wasn't really making a scary face. :) Or maybe I was making that face because they ran out of cookies in the food tent before I got there. :( I wasn't really hungry anyway.
Anyway - I'm very proud of myself. And I think it means I'm on a good path to Louisville. I have a lot of work to do in the 6 weeks, but I am starting to get my nutrition down. I am starting to get pacing down. I need to get a handle on blisters - I got a few ugly ones at the end of my run which I would not have wanted to have for another 13 miles, that's for darn sure. But all in all, Muncie rocked for me.
(And because I can't leave without a musical interlude...)
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