70.3 Final Thoughts

…That was nuts.

I still feel that way, still believe that…still want to give it another shot, but not any time soon. My race schedule is quickly filling up with my next race being a local Army 10 Miler on June 10, Seattle RnR 1/2, Raleigh Triangle Sprint Triathlon, Inside Out White Lake International Tri, Thunder Road Marathon….Whew! That is a mouth full! And my legs shudder just thinking of all of it!

Yesterday I went for a 3 mile run with The Hubs. My first run since the race Saturday. I could feel they were still a bit sore and tight but nothing I couldn’t run through, nothing compared to when I came off that bike. I held a decent pace (8:27/mile) but was working pretty hard so that I could keep The Hubs in sight. After our run we headed to the pool. I’m pretty sure a break would be fine but alas, I am a creature of habit and going to the pool is what I do in the morning, after a run. So it only felt normal. I needed to swim. Plus I have two tris added to the race schedule.

I have tweaked my diet, and I don’t mean diet like I am on a diet, but I mean diet like the food that I eat. I am pretty much eating the same foods just less at one time and more often. I am eating a healthy ratio of carbs/proteins/fats in six small meals a day. It is going to be hard but I’ll let you know how it works out. hopefully it will result in me getting off the plateau I am currently on.

I have been thinking about my 70.3 training. I have come to the conclusion that my training was sufficient for a finish. Not for a win. Duh. Honestly, I didn’t think I could wind but I naively thought I could do better. In order to do better, next time, I need to spend more time in the saddle, on the open road. I wish that was a saddle like on a horse, but it’s not…on the bike, in the aero position, fighting the wind for miles and miles. After that I need to get off my bike and run for at least 20-45 minutes. This is where I failed. Age group ranking: 27th out of 30…ye-ouch.

In the swim I did pretty well. Age group ranking: 19th our of 30…I’ll take it. Ok, not quite top half but I am still thrilled with that.

The run, I don’t need to go into details but I’ll just say, Age group ranking: 24th out of 30…whatever, I was trying and dying.

In the end of it all I have accomplished a huge goal that I set out to reach. I can’t seem to take off my race shirt…It gravitates to my hands in the morning when I am getting dressed. Weird. I am proud. Sure, I wish I had done better, hit my 6:30 goal but really, for a first timer I am happy. Now I know what to do differently.

• Quicker transitions
• Better fueling on the bike
• More bike training
• More bike to run bricks
• More cowbell…..

More! More! More!!!! =)

And finally, The Hubs did the Sprint Tri Sunday and he did awesome!! I am so proud of him!! And he loved it! He’s hooked! If he had things his way (and he usually does, what can I say?) we would be tri-ing every weekend! He is already registered for a weird double tri the weekend I’ll be in Seattle. Not gonna lie, I’m A LOT jealous…but like he said, I’ll be racing too and visiting friends!!  Here is The Hubs in action (I think he needs a new blog name, so if I randomly change his name it’s not because I have a new husband but rather because The Hubs is not snazzy enough for him….):

Coming out of the water…

His transition to the bike was too fast! I couldn’t get from the lake to the Bike entry in time to catch him. But here he is coming off the bike:

Here he is hauling buns… This is when I yelled, “Run faster!!!” Only a payback from when he yelled at me to run the day before. The crowd laughed when I yelled at him, probably because he was obviously already running warp speed.

And then, I failed. BIG TIME. We were watching everyone come in to the finish and I was cheering and having fun when I say some poor guy about to be passed, right in the home stretch. I started yelling, “He’s coming for you!! He’s coming for you!!!” And about that time TORC (Jessica) yelled, “Go Jonathan!!” I said, “WHAT?” and did a double look, it was MY HUSBAND with the Kill Look in his eyes, passing that poor dude and burning into the finish! I started yelling for him and the poor guy getting passed was probably totally confused.  In my defense though, The Hubs had pulled his tri-suit top down to his waist, I wasn’t looking for a bare chest…and he was wearing a visor…he NEVER wears a visor.

Here he is, finished.

Tri #1 complete!! He just looks fast….

And yes, I was wearing my medal…the day after the race. DORK, yes I am…

Finally, thank you all for all your support during my training and tri-ing! I can’t even tell you enough how awesome you all are and how your encouragement helped me along the way. So THANK YOU!

If you have a spare moment, and you think my blog is deserving, would you please head over to Circle of Moms HERE and cast your vote for my blog? Last I checked I was #28…I’ll take #25! =) I would really appreciate it!