Ironman North Carolina 70.3 2022

Three half Ironman races in less than 12 months, why not?

A Change of Goals

My plan was to race Musselman 70.3 as a check-in on my way to my goal race, IMNC70.3. However, in the summer, Coeur Sports's The Collective Beat team was given the opportunity to nominate a teammate to spectate the Ironman World Championships at Kona. I received an email alerting me that I was the teammate with the most nominations and would be going to Kona! After I got over the shock that I had been chosen, I was completely filled with gratitude and honor, and then it hit me that Kona was one week before NC70.3! I talked with my husband about me going to Kona, being away a week from the family, and he said to do whatever I needed to do to take advantage of the opportunity. I decided then I would make the most of my trip to Kona, and if I needed to adjust my goals/expectations for NC70.3, I would.

The Training

After Musselman 70.3 in July, I struggled with my performance and with feeling burnt out. I had been training really hard for a year and a half. I was extremely consistent, rarely if ever missing a swim, bike, or run. I had been scheduling life around triathlon, including training hard on Christmas, on family vacation, and during the "off" season. After my Musselman debrief chat with my coach a week and a half after I raced, I realized that I needed a change. I needed to bring the fun back into my training and needed to adjust my approach so that I was scheduling triathlon around life.

It was an adjustment, but in the lead up to NC70.3, I found joy in training again. I started working with Coach Sara, and she gave me some suggestions for new routes that I really enjoyed (for both riding and running). Based on my experience at Musselman and Sara's philosophy, we also started playing with run-walk intervals, playing with variations from 4 min run/30 sec walk to 12 min run/30 seco walk. Sara also rode with me and gave me some pointers to help get my outdoor riding pace closer to my trainer pace, giving me advice on shifting for the hills and suggesting I sometimes let my cadence drop some climbing rather than push so hard to keep cadence up with low power. For the first time ever, I also started doing some training by power on the bike.

Race Day Approaches

I had the absolute best time in Kona. I had many adventures with my teammate Camille, who I shared a condo with, and with my other teammates. We had a Coeur team swim and I did a training swim with Amanda, I got in some training runs with Camille riding a bike along with me and with Danielle joining us on a bike for one, and I also volunteered, cheered on our teammates racing the women's race and Scott racing the men's race, and stayed up way too late every night (and could not sleep in no matter how much I wanted to - thanks 6-hour time difference).

My flight out of Kona was scheduled for 10pm Sunday, and I was supposed to arrive in Raleigh at 3:30pm Monday. Due to a flight delay and then incompetence by Alaska Airlines customer service, I didn't get to Raleigh until about midnight and then still had to drive home. That left me Tuesday and Wednesday to see my family, take my middle child to get her cast off, and get ready for driving to Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach for NC70.3 - oh, and to get my body back on Eastern time zone!

No matter how much I prioritized sleep, I could not get rid of the exhaustion. I was SO tired. But I also was very excited to see what I could do on race day.

On Thursday after my drive and then checking in for the race, I saw my teammate Lilly and chatted with her while we waited for the power to come back on to check out at the Ironman store. I actually didn't buy much this year, although I couldn't turn down a new BOCO visor.

I slept in Friday, and then I checked my bike in and met up with a few of my Coeur sports teammates for a quick photo. I also met Brian, whose wife Merrill is on The Collective Beat. Merrill couldn't race due to injury, so Brian decided to switch from the relay to the full race and race for her.

Next up, I went and dropped my run bag off, and then it was time for dinner, recovery boots, and an early night's sleep.

Race Morning

I had a great race morning. I spent the morning hanging out with Brian. I was very happy to have my bike racked near the mechanics in T1, so I just wheeled her over and said hi to the guys from Inside Out Sports and had them put air in my tires. Once I had Danvers all loaded up with Skratch hydration, chews, and bars as well as Base Salt and AltRed, Brian and I headed to the bus.

It was a fun morning, one of my favorite parts of the day. I spent most of the morning hanging out with Brian. Although I had already used the port-a-potty twice, I decided to get in the line one final time, and that's where we ended up parting ways. I saw a few other people I know before the race, including a Blue70 teammate, someone local I did some open water swimming with, and a former The Collective Beat member. I talked with people around me all morning, which kept the nerves at bay. I was excited and ready for a great day. I was a little concerned that I had some pre-race nausea, which is unusual for me, but it was nothing I couldn't set aside and focus on what was to come.

The Swim

One of my favorite parts of the NC swim (besides going SUPER fast) is getting to see my friend Sami, who is the race director, at the start. I got a big hug and checked in to be sure that my coach Sara was in the water already. And then I was off!

I started in the right lane and felt like I got pushed a little wide and had to work my way back towards the buoys. I felt really good in the water. I felt stronger than I did at Musselman - I wasn't feeling it in my arms like I did there. I was having fun with the swim and, thanks to the current, moving along quickly. A couple times I got on someone's feet, but it never lasted long. I did a pretty good job sighting, and like always, I would see people around me to the far left or right and think I was in the wrong spot only to then realize I was on target based on the buoys. I feel like the second half of the swim went more quickly this year than last year, perhaps because I knew what to expect.

I swam to the ladders, climbed out, and that was it for the swim. It was super fast (again, thank you, current), but it was not a PR (that still belongs to NC70.3 2022) - not that I knew that at the time because I don't worry about my time and focus on my transition when I get out of the water.

T1 (Transition 1: Swim-to-Bike)

Cap and goggles immediately off as I exited the dock. Then I started unzipping my wetsuit and pulled it halfway down as I moved down the sidewalk. I mostly walked  - it was pretty crowded, and I was letting my heartrate come down a bit. I turned a corner and saw the wetsuit peelers. I've never been at a race with wetsuit peelers, but I talked the night before with my friend Scott, who told me to definitely use them. I lay down, put my legs up, and the young man just pulled it right off. It was MAGIC! Seriously - it was like those magic tricks where they pull the tablecloth out from under a table full of expensive china. He just whipped it right off. After a moment of amazement, I got up, grabbed my wetsuit from him, and I headed for the long trek to T1. I did some easy running. At the beginning, my feet were sensitive to the gravelly pavement, but I was focused on other things. I was debating while I ran if it would be worth leaving shoes next year or not. My transition at NC is always slow, especially because by time athletes get out of the water, get to the parking lot, run through the parking lot, run down the road, run into transition, run to the opposite corner of transition to get to the entrance, run to the bike, and then run with the bike to bike out, it's nearly a half mile. The best part of that long run definitely was hearing some of my teammates cheering for me as I approached the transition area.

Transition was good. I remembered to turn my bike computer on (I'm getting better at that) and put my extra chews in my back pocket. I stuffed my wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, towel, and water bottle into my bag to be transported to the finish, and then I put on my bike shoes, sunglasses, and helmet and headed with my bike to the exit. It wasn't a particularly fast exit across the grass in my bike shoes, but I did it with some urgency.

The Bike

I hopped on my bike, ready to rock and roll. I heard some more cheers from my teammates, and then I settled in for 56 miles of riding. It was a little cool, but I knew right away that I definitely did not need arm sleeves or a wind vest or anything.

I definitely am a stronger rider than I was a year ago. The only hills on this course are the overpasses at the beginning and near the end. I felt much stronger and kept a higher cadence on them this year. In fact, I never got out of the big chain ring this year. I was very steady. The first half of the ride, I steadily increased my pace. The second half of the ride, I did hit some headwind, but I still stayed strong. In fact, miles 45-50 were my strongest of the day. This ride was not as scenic as the Musselman ride, but I enjoyed it more. My mental game was much stronger. Sure, I didn't have any downhills, which are my strength and when I usually pass people, but I also am good at pedaling steadily so don't mind a flat route. I kept my heartrate in check because I wanted a strong run, but that did mean my power and pace were on the lower end of my goals.  

Throughout my ride, I stuck to my nutrition and hydration plan and, as always, made sure to have some fun out there - thanking the volunteers and chatting some with those around me, especially on that long stretch on the highway back to Wilmington.

As I neared downtown Wilmington, I knew that I had rocked the ride and had a new bike PR, meeting my goal of breaking 3:30. I was ready to see what I could do on the run.

T2 (Transition 2: Bike to Run)

I had heard/read many warnings about it being slippery on the pavement coming off the bike and into transition. It was a smooth parking lot sloped down. I was in my bike cleats and didn't rush because falling would not have been good.

Once I got to my rack and racked my bike, then it was time to move it along. Helmet and shoes off, run shoes on. Put my vest on and took my visor and race belt with me. Time to run!

The Run

I always start the run feeling so optimistic. I was feeling pretty good and working to not go too fast so that I could decrease pace as I went. Once again, that was not how the run went for me.

The good news was that my back was not as tight and sore as when I did NC 70.3 the year before. However, it still was a little tight. All I can think is maybe it's from being in aero so long on the flat course. Time to strengthen that core and be sure to spend lots of time in aero!

Coach Sara and I played with a variety of run/walk intervals leading up to NC 70.3. I had a really great long run with 12-minute run and 30-second walks. The walks helped me keep my heartrate down and also helped mentally. We decided I would start with that. I made it through the first interval feeling good. Then the second interval my pace started to slow up even though my heartrate was up. So I followed our plan and switched. Rather than 6-minute run and 30-second walk, since my watch was set on 12:00/:30, I went with 5:45 run and :30 walk. There was one time that I was running my strongest pace yet as I was approaching the 5:45 mark and decided to run through and do a 12-minute run, but a couple minutes later, my pace dropped again. From then on, I stuck with the shorter intervals.

The day did get pretty warm, but I feel like I managed it well with my Skratch hydration and base salt and with ice and water at the aid stations. Still, I found myself nauseous for much of the run. It never got bad, but nothing seemed to shake it. After talking with Coach Sara and with my nutritionist Stevie, I never did pinpoint exactly what caused it. My best guess is that my body was still recovering from the hole I dug in Kona. I was still exhausted and my body was out of whack, and by time I was running after 4.5 hours of swimming and biking, my body's reaction was nausea.

Overall, I stayed positive. I was able to speed up at points, but I never held it long enough to have a good mile pace after the first mile. I stuck with my intervals and never walked when it wasn't a planned walk - and I ran through my last interval as I was nearing the end.

This year, the end of the run was along the boardwalk, which is what I had done for the Wilmington Historic Half last December. We could hear the crowd well before we got near the finish. I started speeding up, and I finished with my usual strong finish. I was pushing hard and running with eyes only on the finish line. I could hear my family cheering. I heard Coach Sara cheering.

Post race

Post race was so much different than my last 70.3. The race ended where there was a large field for families and supporters to gather. I found my family right away. But before I even found them, Coach Sara found me! After she had finished, she stayed to cheer and immediately found me when I finished to give me a big hug and congratulate me on my PR. I had not even processed yet it was a PR - I knew my bike was a PR, but I wasn't sure if it was enough given my run was slower. After some hugs and picture, Coach Sara was on her way, and I spent some time recovering and enjoying my family before we headed off to get all my gear and head to the hotel.

Again, this wasn't the race I had wanted, the theme for 2022 70.3s, but it also was a really solid race given what my body had been through the 2 weeks prior to the race. I asked a lot of my body, and it gave me a solid effort and even a bike PR. I still have my eyes set on a really solid, strong run in a 70.3 and particularly at IMNC70.3, but there will be time for that. For now, it's time to rest and recover!