Arrived in Phoenix around 9:30, didn't have time to eat anything so I just had a Rx Bar before going to bed.
T minus 2 days
Today is the day that I have to pick up my bike and gear bag from Tri Bike Transport (TBT) and do athlete check in. Daniel and I went to Ncounter for breakfast. I stuffed myself with a pb&j smoothie, breakfast sandwich and half of red velvet waffles. I barely had enough room for my coffee.
Next stop was athlete check in. This was seamless. On the way over there, you have to walk through the expo where I spotted OrangeMud. I finally got to meet Josh Sprague. He's just as nice in person as he is on Facebook and through email. I definitely recommend their hydration packs for long training days. when you want to stop as little as possible, and/or when you are in a new place and don't know all the water stops. I recommend the gear vest or the endurance pack when traveling because they pack down smaller.
Anyway, back to the race. After athlete check in and the obligatory race memento purchases, I was just in time for the athlete briefing. Nothing really new, but it's always good to listen in just in case the race has some nuance that isn't done at the other races.
TBT was next. I didn't want to pick up my bike since I didn't plan on riding it until the next day and our hotel was a little over a mile away. Thankfully I was able to just grab my gear back and get my bike the next day.
After all that, we headed over to The Cabin to meet up with some other Moxies. After grabbing a snack and hanging out for a bit, we headed back to the hotel before meeting up at the Moxie store to meet more teammates. I hadn't really exercised in a couple of days so I went down to the hotel gym and ran 4 miles and did a quick 10 minute strength workout (push ups, squats, sit ups). During the run, my foot started hurting at the balls of my toes. This is from some minor metatarsalgia that started back in August. Whenever my shoes wear down, it hurts more. When I finished my run, I checked the bottom of my shoes and sure enough, they were worn down. I wasn't expecting them to be since I just bought them in September and have no more than 100 miles on them. I knew if I couldn't get through 4 miles on a treadmill that I wouldn't get through 26.2 miles. I had to make sure to get new shoes the next day. There were no running shoes at the Moxie store, but I did get 2 extra Wattie base layer shirts. Those things are awesome. Expensive, but awesome.
Pizza was for dinner. We went to NYPD on Mill Ave. I wish we would have gone to Mellow Mushroom, but oh well. I can't say it helped or hurt me that I didn't have my normal Mellow Mushroom pizza for T-2 dinner.
For every big race, I get a cupcake or big sandwich cookie to have half the night before the race and half after the race. There are no nearby cupcake or cookie places in Tempe open. At least nothing close to Mill Ave. We took an Uber to a grocery store near our place and the bakery was closed.
With the time difference (2 hours from Florida), we were in bed by 10.
T minus 1 day
Woke up around 6 AM without an alarm. Rolled around until 7:30. We needed to leave to get back to the expo and TBT as early as possible so I could get a new pair of shoes and get my bike before the practice swim at 10. I did get a new pair of shoes, Hokas. I have worn them before, so it's not like they were completely new.
As an FYI, the other shoes were Brooks Ghost. I really enjoyed them and I do love Brooks. I had the same wearing problem with the Hokas which is why I was in the Brooks. Apparently they have the same wear time. So, I plan on training in Brooks and racing in Hokas.
I was about to suit up to go in the water when I heard an announcement that you have to have your timing chip on. I did not know this because it was only listed on one place and I didn't read that one line. Thankfully I had my bike, shoes, and helmet so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Test ride my bike and get my chip. I made it to the hotel and back in about 15 minutes and then took another 5 to put on my wetsuit. I bought a Helix Thermal specifically for this race because I had read that the lake can be in the low 60s for this race. I had put it on 3 or 4 times and just jumped in the shower to try and loosen it up and swam in it 3 times at the pool. It felt very comfortable and I didn't have any issues with it during the practice or actual swim. The water for the practice swim was 64* but it felt fine. It was chilly, but I was able to put my head under the water without freaking out. I really, really, really like that they allowed an official practice swim with lifeguards. It was perfect prep for the actual swim.
With the practice swim done and technically my bike too, I was all set to drop of my bike and run bags then head out for some lunch. I forgot to put socks in my bike bag so I was on a hunt for socks. 2 things: 1) surprisingly there were a lack of sock options at the expo. I was weird and 2) you have access to your bags in the morning, so you don't have to buy last minute things that you left in your hotel room.
Lunch was ramen at a place called Umami. We also had vegan hot wings. The ramen and wings were great. I probably shouldn't have had the Ramen for lunch though. Too much liquid and not enough carbs and sugar.
Dinner was of course sushi as a place called RA. Food was good, no complaints. After dinner I was still on a hunt for a cupcake or cookie for my pre and post race dessert. Still nothing. I had to go to Starbucks to get a whoopie pie and a cookie. I asked for pb and he gave me chocolate chip :(.
Race Day!
I woke up at 4:30 am with an intention on being out the door by 5:00 and at the race site by 5:30. There was a shuttle from the hotel so I had to factor that all in. I had overnight oatmeal with almond milk and nuts to start. Then finished with 3 mini powdered donuts. I took a banana for the road. I made coffee, but forgot it. Thankfully they had some downstairs. Everything worked out timing wise and I was a the race site shortly before 5:30. I went to my bike first and put my bottles on, then set up my Garmin, and put my shoes on my bike. I was all done and looked around and realized no one else had their shoes clipped in. I asked someone and they confirmed that shoes had to be in the bags. OK-then. Shoes came off and I walked over to my bike bag to put them in there. Made a mental note of where my bags were and then stood in line for the bathroom. By this time it was a little after 5:30 so I ate my banana and took an Imodium. After the bathroom and walking around a bit, it was about 6:20 so I figured it was time to put my wetsuit on. Got it on pretty quickly, dropped off my morning clothes bag, left my ear plugs in the bag on accident and headed to the swim start. I figured if forgetting my ear plugs was the worst thing to happen, then it wouldn't be a bad day. After the pros went, I looked around and noticed a lot of wet spots all over the ground. Yup, people were peeing in their suits. No judgement, just an observation. I was going to wait until I got closer to the water or in the water. I should have gone then.
Swim - 1:10:12 18th a/g
I started in the middle of the 1:00 - 1:10 group. I really, really, really like the rolling start. At least on this course. I don't know how it is on others, but this one is great. The rolling start and the stairs force everyone to take it easy getting into the water which means you start off more relaxed. I got in and didn't freak out at all. It was amazing. I was told the water was 68* - perfect for a full sleeve thermal wetsuit. I didn't overheat at all. I did, however, have to pee about a quarter mile into the swim. I came to a full stop to try and go but couldn't. I tried 3 other times when I was able to get on someone's feet and stop kicking to try and concentrate on peeing. Didn't work. So, the stopping, slowing down, and not being able to really push myself for fear of getting a side stitch made the swim a little slower than I was hoping for. I stayed to the left so I was close to the buoys and didn't have any issues. You can't see in front of you, but unless you're not paying attention, you can generally tell when you're coming up on someone. I didn't get punched or kicked. Most people were actually nice. I actually heard a guy say sorry to someone else.
T1 - 7:20
Like I said, I had to pee. I grabbed my bike bag and went straight to the bathroom. I was in there for a good 90 seconds.
As I mentioned earlier, the Wattie base layers are awesome. I wear my tri shorts and the base layer to swim in. Then I have a bike jersey that I zip up and have all of my extras already in the pockets (pit stop and 3 honey stinger waffles). I like the base layer because it dries quickly. So, when I start the bike, at least I am pretty dry up top, except for my sports bra.
Bike - 5:37:20 9th a/g
This bike course if pretty flat... there are no rollers. Just a slight incline going out and a slight income coming back. The incline is the easy part, though. It's the wind that gets you. Some years it's really bad. This year, it was not horrific, but it wasn't great either. Winds were supposed to be 3 - 5 mph, but instead turned out to be more like 8 - 10 mph. I just tried to keep a steady pace, a little bit higher wattage on the way out (into the wind) and more coasting with a little bit of pressure on the way back in. I had 2 Honey Stingers, one at mile 30 and another at mile 60. I was supposed to have the 3rd at mile 90, but after the 2nd one, it was almost instant that my stomach said 'no more!'. So, at mile 90, I had a banana instead. Additionally, I had 3 bottles of Infinit and took water at every aid station to drink and pour on myself to get rid of the crustiness. It is so dry out there.
Bike hiccups -
1) When I initially tried to clip in, it wasn't working. So, I had to get off my bike and see what was wrong. At first I thought it was a bunch of grass/dirt but there is a piece on the top part of my left bike cleat that at some point broke off. I tried to at least position it in the right place and then got back on my bike. I was able to clip in but was worried that if I unclipped, I wouldn't be able to get back in. So, the u-turns were fun - not.
2) After the first turn around, you get to go down and also have the wind on your back. So, I think I was going around 29 or 30 and was downshifting so I could keep some pressure on the pedals. Well, my chain came off on the back cassette. I had to come to a complete stop, pull over and put the chain on. Trying to get back in the race felt like trying to merge onto a highway. That was also fun - not.
T2 - 6:16
I admit, this was a little slow. But, I also changed my shorts and used the bathroom again. I made sure to put a bunch of Vaseline between my thighs so they wouldn't chafe - WIN! Here's where the base layer comes in again. I was able to quickly unzip the jersey and then I was left with a nice breezy base layer. With the nice dry shorts, it was marvelous. I took another Imodium and 2 Advil (for my feet, just in case). I did forget to take off my HRM. This isn't a big deal, I just don't like wearing it on the run because of chafing.
Run - 4:26:59 15th a/g
I started off around 9:15 and knew it was going to be a slow run. I usually bust out of T2 around 8s and have to force myself to slow down a bit. I stopped at every aid station and I only walked outside of the aid stations twice. Once because I needed to go to the bathroom (around mile 21) and wasn't sure if I would make it to the bathroom and the other time was because my quads completely locked up on me (around mile 23). At this point, it hurt just as bad to walk. So, I just kept running. If it was going to hurt either way, I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. I had 6 GUs and coke at every other aid station. The run course is pretty flat. There is a hill that you have to go over twice. It's not steep. Just long. It's easy for spectators to cheer you on as there are a lot of places for them to just kind of camp out and lounge while they wait for you.
Overall - 11:28:07 11th a/g, 58th female, 313 overall
Not my fastest IM, but it wasn't because of the course. I sprained my ankle 3 weeks before the race so I missed out on a week and a half of race focused running.
If you can train for a windy bike, then the rest of the course is easy. I would recommend this course for others if you're looking for a fast time and nothing too technical.
Doing an IM is no joke. You can spend almost half the year barely seeing your non-tri friends and family. Once you actually make it to the race, the whole weekend is dedicated to one day of racing. I want to give a big shout out to my husband, Daniel, and all my friends and family that had to hear me say so many times that I'm sure they've lost count "I can't, I have to get up early tomorrow."
Obvs thanks to my coach, Aidan, and my Tri support group for keeping me company on so many training sessions - Katie, Bryan, John, Eric, Mike, Chris, and Jamie.
