2006 Ironman 70.3 World Championships
My racing experience at this point in my life is relatively little compared to many people, but after racing in a world championship I feel as though I have learned a great deal that will help me out in future races. This was by far the largest and most intimidating race that I have ever competed in. I qualified for Clearwater in a small (500 people) inaugural race in Lake Stevens. In Lake Stevens everything was easier to take in probably because it was their first year doing an Ironman sanctioned event. The set up was more like any local sprint distance race you would find. Packet pickup was in a school gym, no mandatory pre race briefings, and you set up your transition area around your bike. The minute that I stepped off the plane in Tampa things were already different! There were at least 5 people getting their bike boxes the same time that I was and all the SUVs were rented from the rental car companies! We ended up staying across the street from the official race hotel, so we were very close to the pre-race action.
Everything was very well organized and easy to find. The things that took me by surprise the most were the little details like all the stuff you needed to get done and have ready before your race. Luckily Cary Craig, who was also participating, was there to help me figure everything out. She told me what was important to have in each transition bag and where to put all my numbers and stuff. I had never used different bags between transitions, but it made sense and seemed a lot easier than elbowing people for a foot of space beside your bike.
The days before the race I just tried to relax and not think about the race. I got my bike tuned and ran a little bit, but really just tried to avoid the crowed because I did not want to get too worked up about it. The weather in the days leading up to the race was kind of windy, but the rumors were that the wind was going to die down on race day.
The night before the race I dropped off my bike and transition bags and checked out the swim start and really just tried to envision how everything was going to look in the morning. I had a nice dinner that night and went to bed early. In the middle of the night I was awoken by some uneasy nerves( or bad food) and threw up. I did not let this get me down though. At 5 am my alarm went off and I got myself ready and headed to the race start. I normally do not get that nervous butterfly feeling in my stomach, so I was surprised about the night before. Race morning I felt normal again and just kind of went through the motions readying myself for the day.
Since everything had already been set up the night before I did not really know what I was supposed to do for and hour and a half before the race start. People were kind of racing around everywhere, so I just picked a quiet spot on the side of the transition area and watched! It really made me feel better knowing that I had everything done and only needed to worry about getting myself to the start.
I walked down to the beach and met up with my Mom who had come along for support. Then I took a long look at the water, this was the scariest part of the whole thing. I had to quit watching shark week when I qualified back in July because I was so terrified about swimming in the ocean. I had never swam in the ocean before. Cary convinced me to do a little warm up swim and I swam around for a couple of minutes but tried not to open my eyes.
Finally the moment I had been trying to not think about was happening. They did a wave start so I only had 400 people in my wave instead of 1500, but it was still the largest start I had ever done. I was getting kicked and grabbed almost the whole swim, but that was ok because I was able to hold my own. I learned quickly not to swallow the water and was even able to open my eyes by the turn around.
Heading into the bike I had been in a fairly good position from my swim. The course was flat and fast. I felt ok but spent almost the whole time watching a steady stream of women between the ages 30-50 pass me. This was hard to deal with, but I had to remember that I was doing my own race. The bike went by fairly quickly and before I knew it I was done. I was surprised at how fast my time had been, so this gave me a little extra motivation on the run.
Prior to the race I had a time floating around that I wanted to get, but did not really tell anyone the real time because it was a lot faster than what I had done before. Heading into the run I realized that if I ran about a 1:55, I might get my goal time. My run started out strong! I felt really good, so I decided to see how long this feeling would last. I also felt a little bit better because I was able to pass some people back! I was very careful about fueling, and at the turn around for loop 2 I still felt really good. It was also nice to see my Mom and my boyfriend there cheering me on, that made me straighten up a little and look more efficient for a while. I looked at my watch and realized that I could run the next loop in over an hour and still make my time. The second loop seemed to go by just as fast as the first one. Many people were already done so the course was not as cluttered. I was amazed at how I felt going over the big overpass for the final time. I picked it up with a mile to go and finished strong! It felt great to get my time goal, but even better just to finish. My first thoughts after I finished, were; Wow that was actually pretty fun! I want to do it again!