Thursday, May 19, 2011

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…

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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:

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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!

21 comments:

  1. You did a really great job! Just putting yourself out there is HUGE! It takes serious guts to do what you did! I loved reading about it :)

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  2. That child of yours is blessed with some amazing genes. You and your hubs are quite the athletes :) Wish we could have stuck around for his tri! He did awesome... now my husband just has to beat him in July..hehe. PS-Keep wearing your medal.. You definitely earned it.. you BA! ...or as my soon to be sister-in-law says "you junk punched that tri"..LOL! Inappropriate & appropriate at the same time!

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  3. I LOVE how hard core you both are!

    You are an inspiration to us all.

    Congrats and wear that medal all month. You deserve it.

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  4. You did AWESEOME!!! And I always wear my medal for a day or two. So cool you are already signed up for more. Love it! :)

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  5. You deserve to wear that shirt and medal every day!!
    I love that you put what you learned from this. I think it's a really healthy way to assess your race, by looking at what to change for the next time (healthy...crazy...one or the other).

    I will look for you at the RnR!!

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  6. Little Buddy - You have the coolest parents. Never forget that. Even when they make you clean your room, they wont let you borrow the keys to the car, and they enforce your curfew, you still have the coolest parents around.

    Great job Amanda!

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  7. I might wear my medal for a week :) You did great, who are you kidding? I was wondering if you were going to sign up for another one. Maybe after you get done with the other 8,000 races on the schedule, right?

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  8. You did awesome. And I have narrowed down my 70.3 debut to White Lake and Orlando (both are the same weekend), if you want redemption on that course, I'd love for you to join me!

    been voting for you!

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  9. I am sooo behind - have to read your race report still, but CONGRATS!!! Sounds like you came out of it with some lessons (and hopefully a lot of pride because HELLO, you are AMAZING!) and that is what counts, right?!

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  10. You did awesome! Congrats on the 70.3!!! So amazing!

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  11. i cant get enough of your race report!!! i gave you a thumbs up on my blog today :) im planning to do thunder road to, we should do a bloggy meet up!

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  12. AHHHH I LOVED CATCHING UP ON YOUR RACE RECAPS!!! You are my HERO and you look absolutely gorgeous doing your 70.3!!!! The first run after a killer race is always hard for me and woman don't get hard on yourself about your place because you are in the .0000002 people that will ever be able to tackle such an amazing accomplishment! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

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  13. OMG I looooved you race reports. You are so tough, amazing and inspiring!! Totally makes me want to do a 70.3 some day.... congrats on the finish!

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  14. First times are always about getting it done. Now you know what you need to do to train better for the next one. Congrats again and congrats to your hubby!

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  15. I'm a little behind on reading blogs...CONGRATULATIONS! You did a great job! I enjoyed reading your thoughts and SO glad you are excited for another one! Grat job to you and hubs (who btw is hot!) Maybe you'll come up my way someday for a race :-) When i did my first 70.3 i rode the high for like 2 months, lol, hope you will too!

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  16. You should be so proud that you finished what so many wouldn't have the courage to start! You are awesome!!

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  17. Already voted for ya'!!

    You'll do better next time around. This was just a race to set the bar. Now you know exactly what to work on.

    And awesome job to the hubs (or whatever he might be known as from this point forward). I definitely need a tri suit!

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  18. Congrats to both of you!! I love that you wore your medal. :)

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  19. Just found your blog and have really enjoyed reading it. I just finished my first tri and loved the experience, so I'm now a bit obsessed. Congrats on the 70.3!

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  20. I love your honesty and reflections on the 70.3. First of all, that race sounds downright TOUGH. I am in awe of of your training and race schedule! whew!! Congrats to your hubs for a great race!

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  21. Came here from Becoming an Ironman and read your posts about the half. Enjoyed them a ton!

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You're pretty much awesome!!

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