Ironman 70.3 North Carolina Race Report

Thursday morning up at 6 and out the door to get Bob and Sam. Bike was all packed. It wasn’t too bad to throw it in the box. I ended up dropping them off at the curb and then finding a place. I hope I took a picture! Then came back and we checked our bags no problem. And security was not problem. Maybe it was because we were flying on a Thursday, bur we were really worried about the airport situation and it turned out fine. We got to the gate with like 2 hours to spare.

So we ate some breakfast and chatted and said goodbye to Bob who had upgraded to his legroom seat and Sam and I went to the very back of the plane. Where we sat next to a sweet nice family with a toddler who could scream like the best of them.

Hopped on the shuttle bus and got our truck no problem. All went pretty smooth. We stopped at Chipotle on our way out if Raleigh and then the long is drive 🚗 to Wilmington. I slept for a good chunk of it but lots of good conversation. Bob and Sam are great conversationalists. Not a dull moment. Lots of talk about the church but that’s okay. Its a big part of who we are. And lots of talk about work and plans and retirement and stuff like that and how it costs Bob to take a vacation because he’s not doing root canals. Man that’s rough.

But we got in and got to our lodge retreat. It was great. Out in the middle of the woods. Surrounded by 🌳 🌲 and a pond it was so peaceful. The house was funny. Two rooms. Sam and I took those. Then Bob slept in the living room. We realized it was a converted double wide trailer. 😳 there was funky art all over like a horse head that would stare down at Bob while he slept. But there was an awesome hot tub in the solarium. We got in the hot tub and yacked until it was bedtime. I was so tired.

It felt so great to sleep in. Probably the best nights sleep of my life. I woke up late and Bob and Sam had gone for a warmup run. Not for me. After NYC marathon I wasn’t doing anything the day before. I got my breakfast and headed out to the pond and ate in the peaceful rocking chair. They came back and we headed off to get things ready. This was a major thing. First to check in to where we have to bring the bikes to inflate inflate tires. Then to check in our running bags. Just figuring out what goes in each bag was a major challenge.

And last to the to transition to drop off our bikes. It took like all day! And we skipped lunch. I was like what are we doing? So we went to lunch at a sushi restaurant at like 430. But it was great. Just what we needed before the big race. Oh it was the same one we went to the day before. We didn’t want to take any chances. I got the terriayaki salmon and edamame and rolls and soup. A feast! Man I’m going to miss eating everything in sight. That has been fun. We stopped Quickly at the store again and then home to go to sleep early. Watched a bit of Seinfeld then in bed at like 9.

I remember the biggest feeling being one of gratitude. Just grateful for my body. Grateful to be there. Grateful for the experience. Grateful that rare was coming out. I finally fell asleep about 1030. Tara came at like 1130. We chatted for a bit and then I had a hard time falling back asleep.

Up at 4 am. A quick breakfast. Bob ate cold eggs and rice and veggies he had cooked the night before. Sam at least warned his up. I had a protein shake and banana and almond bitter. Out the door at 430 with our bike bags and our start bags. Dressed in long sleeves and sweats which they would then carry back to the finish line in our white bags.

We drove downtown and parked in the garage then took a shuttle to t1 where we dropped off our bike bags. From there it was back on the shuttles to the start line. Then was a lot of standing in a parking lot trying to go to the bathroom. Luckily our parking lot wasn’t crowded there was another parking lot for the faster swimmers that was more crowded. No luck in the bathroom department for me. Travel throws off my digestive system.

Finally they started lining up on the road. Bob and Sam went ahead. We marched to the upper parking lot. Tara sent me the sweetest text saying she was proud of me. That felt really good. We dropped our bags off and then we were walking across the road. Then you go to an aisle of three people and then a countdown clock every 5 seconds 3 people start. My time came. I was excited. I forgot to start my watch.

Ran down the ramp into the water and it was so warm. Not a problem at all. They had told people to swim towards the boat not the buoy and let the current take you around. I did that and I’m glad I did. Tons of people were pinned against the buoy or trying to swim against the current and get back around. Once you got in the middle it was like zoom a moving walkway was zooming you down the aisle.

I put my head down and was able to swim. No panic. It was great. I had enough space. And just swam. And zoomed down the one side. I paused for a second and could feel the current pushing me. Then up the other side was a lot longer. I think less current or something. The swim was great. I was able to do my normal stroke for the most part. 3 strokes to a side. Sometimes 2. Never stopped. Never grabbed a kayak. Only swallowed water twice.

Swim was the best part for me. The hardest part was turning my watch on in the middle of the water. And you float so awesome in the water. I had a great swim. I didn’t know how fast cause my watch but turns out it was close to Bob and Sam. Wasn’t light headed after. Then comes the long barefoot run / slog to t1 across the road. It’s a quarter mile.

Got to t1 and got my bike all ready. If I do it again I will go with just water bottles and cages on my bike and not do the camelback for race day. I can put a tire in a saddle pack or something. I bought a stem bag for my food and I’m glad I did. It meant I didn’t have to stop to eat or drink. I never stopped at an aid station. Except to put on sunscreen.

The first part of the bike felt okay bit it was windy and misty and hard. Then we biked like on the highway in a coned off lane. Then through the industrial area. And finally through the beautiful countryside. My heart rate was jumping quick to like 150. I was supposed to stay at 125 but it was impossible to stay there so I compromised with 130. I wonder what my actual average was (turns out it was exactly 130). But most of the time I found myself having to slow down and keep my heart rate at 130.

The bike was great. My legs felt good. Bike worked great. But didn’t hurt too bad. And I was flying. With a 130 heart rate I was clocking like 18 minutes for 5 miles which is like 16 miles per hour, way faster than I trained at like 14.

The best part of the bike came when I saw two people with signs screaming my name on the road and it was Tara and Gina. I thought they were just going to meet at the finish line but there they were on the course. And again. They would get in the car and drive up ahead and cheer again. And honk. I saw them like 4 times on the bike. So sweet. Made me so happy. Every time I saw them my heart rate would jump to like 150 and I would have to calm it down again.

My favorite part was was country roads in the back end of the race. Beautiful cotton fields. Trees. It was just amazing. The last few miles were really long. I remember thinking this is my longest ride ever. This is my farthest ride ever as I passed 45 miles. Finally I saw the sign for 50 and thought only one more sign. Got to 55 and saw the college we would be stopping at. Finally at 58 I ended the bike and ran to get my stuff. Still feeling good at this point.

On to the run. Put my shorts on so I had pockets. Grabbed some salt pills. Glad I did. Sam was cramping pretty bad. And I started running. I was trying to keep the run at 140 bpm. The problem is I quickly realized that after a long bike ride that 140 is hard to do at any kind of run. If if was jogging with Any speed I was at 150. I knew I couldn’t hold that so I slowed it to a slow slow jog bit that meant long miles like 11 to 13 pace. But they were okay. It took forever to get to that turnaround. But I got there. I was thinking of a joke forever of saying “we are done! Wait we have to do it all again?” So I said that and then I rolled my ankle on the sidewalk. Wasn’t that cool.

It was so so so hot. I tried holding ice in my hands and in my tongue. It helped some but it was still really hard to stay hydrated etc. Then around mile 8 I had to go to the bathroom hoping that would help me. Not sure if it did or not. And from there I’m not exactly sure what happened except that my legs and hip flexor were really hurting and it was hard to run. It wasn’t a super conscious decision using but I guess I just knew I needed to walk for a bit so I did. Then I had a hard time starting again.

I tried talking to anyone who would listen to me. A girl was jogging with a “in memory of caroline” on her back. I asked her who her friend was. She said she died 10 days earlier in a bike accident while training for this race!!! Can you believe that??? That is so sad. I met a first timer from Virginia. It was anything I could do to stay busy.

Finally we got downtown. Just over a mile to go. I thought I can do anything for a mile. So I told the body to start jogging again. It was slow and janky bit the body started running again. I raced one of those bike bars down the street. People were cheering. It was nice. There was Gina just a quarter mile from the finish line. There was a guy on the side of the road who was looking up phones name by their big number and would call your name.

Then into the finish chute. Everyone is cheering your name. There is Tara taking pictures and cheering. I run over to her and grab her hand. Then run through the finish line. I get my medal. I get my food. I sit by the banner in the shade and start crying. I’m not exactly sure. But it just felt so emotional. So happy to be done. It was sooo hard. So happy for the support of friends and family. It was just great. Sam came over and put his arm around me. So did Bob. I didn’t hide my tears. It was just good.

We hobbled to a picture. Hobbled to the shade. Bob got the truck and we got our bikes. We told the girls we would meet them back.

Bob was in a funk. He wasn’t able to eat much so His blood sugar was probably low. He couldn’t eat anything. Similar with sam, wasn’t able to eat much. We got back and sat in the truck and Bob took his bike apart. We talked about the race. We were in the shady trees. It was perfect. A great post race time.

Girls cake back from lunch. We crashed for a bit then went to dinner. I was starting to lose it. Waiting for dinner we sat on the beach and watched the moon rise over the ocean. It was actually pretty amazing. The fine white cold sand felt so good on my tired feet. I couldn’t get up after but it was still awesome. Sam sat down next to me. It was just nice to chat with them both. They are so great. Great friends. We ate dinner. I glazed over in the hot tub. I was DONE.

My goal was to just he present and try to enjoy it and I did. And to have a swim where I actually swam. And I did. And to be close to Tara and I did. So it was a great time and a great trip. So glad for the opportunity.