Eagleman 70.3 Race Report

Race Weekend:

Saturday was rather uneventful.  Early Saturday afternoon, I made the quick trip down to Cambridge, picked up my packet, squeezed in a quick pre-race swim, racked my bike, feasted on pasta, packed up my race gear and then it was time for bed.  I showed up Sunday at about 5:45 am with my family and ready to race.

After setting up my transition and getting body marked, it was time to relax.  Transition closed at 6:45, but the 25-29 women swim wave didn't go off till 8:22.  Talk about a long wait!  However, it did give me plenty of time to hang out with the other Zers and run through my race plan a few more times.  Thanks to all the Z’ers that made the trip to cheer. You guys rock!

Swim:  The 16-24 and 25-29 women’s wave was the last wave to start before the relays and the AVs.  When the gun finally went off, I made a b-line to the far right side of the course, and tried to hug the buoys as much as possible.  While waiting to get into the water, I heard many people say that the swim course was long, so I wanted to make sure that I didn’t swim any further than I had to.  Overall my swim went as planned.  I came out of the water at 38:43- happy and ready to bike.

T1:
Pretty uneventful; however, I will note that I was much more relaxed coming into T1, than I was at Rumpus.  Staying relaxed is always a plus, so I grabbed my bike and was off!  Swim to bike transition 2:21

Bike:

I headed out on the bike and felt strong. Knowing that I had already been racing for about 45 minutes, I decided to break out my favorite bike snack- UNCRUSTABLES.  After fueling up, I settled into my aero bars and shifted my focus to pedaling and my bike goals.  I wanted to nail my nutrition and hydration this race.  During training, I had tried numerous types of foods and drinks, and wanted to see that my experimentation paid off.  I also was committed to staying in Z2.  With the temperature being in the mid 90s, this proved to be harder than expected, and my bike time showed that.  On the positive side, I was really proud that I was able to force myself to stay in Z2 despite the wind and the heat.  I rolled into T2 at 3:14:43 (17.26 mph). Slightly slower than when I practiced the course a couple weekends ago, but still a solid, smart ride for me.

T2:
I was pumped to be off my bike, but I was not looking forward to putting my running shoes on.  Running at the hottest time of day is not my thing.  Bike to run transition 2:50

Run:
All I can really say is that run turned into a shuffle.  Within the first mile, I was incredibly hot and felt like I needed to walk.  I walked through the first aid station, and then pushed on.  Come mile 2, I had to start run-walking. It was incredibly frustrating to know that my legs felt okay, and yet I still could not go any faster.  This was the hardest part of the race for me.  Mentally- I wasn’t prepared to have to run-walk. Out of all 3 sports, I was least concerned with the run, and that turned out to be the toughest leg for me.  I continued to run-walk my through the remaining 11+ miles until I crossed the finish line. Run split 2:09:49 (9:54/mi)

Regardless of my overall time of 6:08:26, I am still proud to say that I finished!  That was by far the hardest athletic event I have participated in to date- but I cannot wait for the next one! 

Isn't this guy super cute?  A good friend got this for me.  :)