Ironman 70.3 Timberman 2011

August 21, 2011 – Gilford, NH

Heading into Ironman 70.3 Timberman, I was feeling pretty nervous.  I had not raced a half ironman since Rev3 Quassy in early June so I was nervous about my preparation for going this distance.  The weather wasn’t helping; there was a pattern of wet, stormy weather lingering over the northeast.  Christian and I used vacation time from our full time jobs to travel up to New Hampshire on Friday, arriving with sufficient time to drive the bike course.  I was happy to have viewed the course; it wasn’t a technical course but with a few good climbs and rolling hills, I was pleased to be mentally prepared.

As I set my transition area up, Chrissie Wellington arrived.  After getting a quick picture with her, sporting our Tor Hans Aero 20 & 30 bottles, I watched as she set up her belongings to see if I could pick up any tips.  I went for a warm-up run and then stood in line way too long for a pre-race pit stop; it put me a little behind in getting ready.  At the start of the swim I noticed that I was in an unfamiliar position…I was leading the pack!  It didn’t last long though.  After maybe 25 yards, the top competitors found their next gear, took over, and pulled away.  Sighting went well and my swim didn’t feel too bad but without being aware of any other swimmers around me, I thought I was the last one and way behind everyone else.  As I ran from the water to my bike, I heard the announcer call out 2 other females; I had a little confidence restored to know I wasn’t the last and completely on my own!

Early on in the bike, the 3 of us were frequently switching positions although one of the riders wasn’t dropping back after getting passed and she received a drafting penalty.  However, shortly thereafter she was able to make a pass and put a small gap between us.  By about mile 15, both of the women had passed me but were well within sight and I was determined to not lose them!  On the return trip, I was finally able to pass one of the girls and I think my determination to not allow her to re-pass kept me pushing hard.

Coming into transition off my bike, I actually thought I was going to take a tumble as I made the dismount very fast.  Somehow though my legs kept up and I thankfully stayed upright.  As I put my shoes on and grabbed my gear, I knew the racer behind me was close as she racked her bike as I was leaving.  Heading out onto the course, Christian gave me an update on the runners ahead.  At mile 1, the female behind me passed, dropping me into 5^th place.  The 2-loop run course is a challenging course with several hills in both directions.  I maintained a steady pace for the first 3 miles but by the turn-around my legs were feeling heavy and I was worried about what I had left.  However, the combination of very energetic volunteers at an Aid Station, passing the female in front of me around mile 5 (putting me into 4^th place), and going through the crowd at transition to start loop 2 seemed to feed me with additional energy to start the 2^nd half.  At the turn-around on the 2^nd loop I looked for the other females behind me.  Seeing only 1 within striking distance, I knew I had to keep pushing hard.  She was looking much stronger then when I had passed her many miles earlier.  What I didn’t realize however, was that I missed sighting another female.  With 1 mile to go, the course was flat to downhill to the finish.  Despite hurting, I made a decision to try to start any “final kick” early since I wanted to try to hold off any possibility of a pass in the final mile.  Wow did that last mile seem long!  As I made the turn to finish the last 200 years or so down the finishing chute, I got an unpleasant surprise.  The female I’d apparently missed seeing at the turn-around sprinted past me.  Up to that point, she was in the opportunistic position and not only could I not match her sprint, she had the jump on me and beat me down the chute to take 4^th place.  Big bummer to get beat in the home stretch like that but I was happy to have finished as strong as I did and to finish in 5^th place!  My first Pro podium finish.

The kicker about finishing 5^th though instead of 4^th was that I was greeted by a WADA Official after crossing the finish line to be “congratulated” for being chosen for drug testing.  The drug testing was a lengthy new experience for me.  For about two hours, I waited around while I consumed copious amount of fluids until I could “produce” an adequate sample.  At least I was in fantastic company in the tent!  Unfortunately after finishing in the testing tent, getting cleaned up, and returning for the awards ceremony, the awards were cancelled because of bad storms.  I was disappointed to not have an awards ceremony but thought, “at least I got to finish” because race officials had to pull a few racers off the course for safety reasons with the storm before they finished.