#ironmanflorida70.3

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Florida 70.3 2016 Race Report

Date: April 10, 2016

Swim: 34:00  Bike:2:44:42  Run:1:49:43  Finish: 5:13:33

8th 25-29 Female

This is belated, but I’m a busy gal!

  This race was unique for me simply because I got to crash with other athletes participating in the race for the first time. My friends-Michelle, Carrie, and Brad- and I got a nice Air Bnb about 30 minutes from transition. Being a little ways away from the start really isn't that bad if you just plan ahead. It was super cool waking up with other folks feeling the same excitement and nervousness as me.  Ya know, instead of having to fumble around trying to make coffee and get your shit together as quietly as possible, so you don’t wake up your sideline support crew trying so desperately to catch just a few more minutes of z’s. 

  When I wake up that early its always super hard for me to eat not just because of nerves, but 3 am wake up calls always make my tummy super bummed. I managed to choke down about half of my oatmeal before I gave up and just finished off my coffee-then headed to the bathroom for the pre-race MUST that we all know….I’m talking about pooping guys. Pooping. It was weird feeling prepared this go around! I almost questioned my “calmness” and just assumed I was forgetting something--which, of course, I was. Since it was my 3rd Half Ironman, I didn’t have the same amount of anxiety and fear of not finishing. I was surprisingly calm…..until we got to transition and I realized I had left my timing chip back at the house! Wooooo! Way to go “Calm Cori”. 

Now fast forward- we were pretty much running late from the start, but I’m used to that. I’m late to everything. Seriously. I had about 25 minutes to set up my transition, trade out the batteries in my pedal sensors (I realized the day before that my power meter was saying 0 watts on uphill climbs..) and find out where the hell I could get a new timing chip. My amazing friend, Carrie, changed out the batteries in my pedals while I threw all my crap together and sprayed triglide on every inch of my body exposed to a seam. Oh yeah! Because I was wearing my new Orca race suit for the first time ever! AND it was my first race on my amazing new Orbea Ordu! 

We found the chip dude at the swim start- I threw it around my ankle- and shimmied into my incredible Orca Alpha wetsuit just in time to run into the water as my wave was going in. This wetsuit tho! Like wearing a silk shirt! It’s not restrictive at all yet its snug as a bug. I did some arm swings to warm up in the shallow part of the lake then I made my way up to the front of my group. I wanted to be front row, but got stuck behind at least 2 ladies. I had a couple minutes to get my head, then it was GO TIME.

SWIM: I’ve been deemed a “swimmer” lately (I swam in middle school so maybe some of that stuck?) so the swim isn’t as scary as it was last season- my first, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I started out fast and honestly bowled over some gals to get some open water. I found a nice opening and settled in. During a race I strictly breathe on my right side simply because sighting doesn’t work on my left side…don’t ask why. No clue. The swim in this race is quite the nightmare though. It’s in the shape of a squareish “M” and has 6 freakin’ turns. I just put my head down, sighted every 3-4 strokes and tried to stay focused on my form. That’s definitely something I struggled with last year. My form would go to shit once I got going just because my head would be on...ya know…not drowning. I definitely swallowed a good amount of lake water, but hey, its bound to happen. As long as I’m not choking/coughing I’m good to go. I kept tight to the buoys, dodged the slower moving folks, and managed to exit the water 9th in my AG!

BIKE:  The bike is still pretty intimidating for me. It’s the part I’m least experienced in and the part I’m constantly working to improve. I was feeling pretty confident though! I worked my tail off all winter so I wanted to see what I was capable of. Plus, I got a major bike upgrade! Ooo wee! Going from an 8 year old Quintana Roo from Craigslist with rust in places it totally shouldn't have rust- to a brand spankin’ new Orbea?? Holy crap what a difference! Such a speedy bike! Being an Orbea Orca brand ambassador is easy because their stuff is AWESOME.  Moving on...I honestly don’t remember a whole lot of the first half of the bike. I was just focused on staying in aero, staying hydrated, and taking in my EFS regularly. There were a number of waves before mine so I was able to slingshot around any slower riders which wasn’t half bad. I do remember, however, a tall and speedy girl in my AG passing me around 20 miles. Ha! How could I forget that? I’m sure my heart rate sky rocketed. 

I tossed one of my bottles and grabbed a newbie at the first aid station then kept trucking along. I keep 2 bottles on my bike - one with water, one with Base Amino and Skratch hydration. Then it was back to the pain train and trying to keep my power steady. It was super windy so my power averaged a little low, but I was still keeping a good pace and averred 20.38 mph which was faster than my 19 mph in Augusta last season! I remember at the 2nd aid station I dumped a bottle and grabbed a new one, but the lid had been ripped off. I have a bottle cage between my aero bars so when I put it there it just kept spitting water. I had about 2 seconds to make a decision…so I grabbed that sucker, tossed it (hopefully missing the volunteers…sorry if I got ya…) and snagged a new one that thankfully had a lid. Phew. Back to business. 

 Now the last 18 miles…I was pretty damn ready to get off my bike at that point. My legs were feeling alright, but I was getting and I think it was from trying to stabilize with all the wind. It took a little bit extra out of me. That’s when I noticed it was starting to get pretty hot out. My water had a new priority and started going on the back of my neck before going into my mouth, at that point. 5 miles left…”Get this done then you don’t have to ride your bike any more today! 5 MORE MILES!” That’s my brain yelling at me.  About 2 miles out I started picking up my cadence preparing to hop off and move on. I was looking forward to the run and was hoping to see a rad pace right off the bat. I dismounted and BOOM my legs felt like lead….”Well I guess that’ll have to work!”

RUN: I don’t wear socks on the bike, but i definitely do for the run. I put on my wonderfully squishy balega socks, threw on my shoes, sprayed MORE tri glide on my armpits- I HATE CHAFING- and dipped the hello out! Now my legs were moving…I knew that because I was moving…but good God it felt like a snail’s pace!  Later I realized I put my socks on too quickly--the right one got all bunched up under the front of my foot and ended up causing some tiny painful blisters, but screw it- not stopping for a blister! 

That run course is rough!! 3 laps around the lake with 2 of the biggest and probably only hills in all of freakin’ Florida. I almost walked on the first one, but yelled at myself, internally, to keep the momentum…then I remembered I had to do it 2 more freakin’ times. FML. I had my amazing homie Michelle waiting near 2nd mile of the loop with a smiling face and some encouraging screams! What a angel! At least I knew I had something to look forward to on each lap!  

I was NOT feelin’ that run though. I had it in my head that I would hold around an 8 minute pace but I was at 8:30 from the beginning. Which is still such a rad pace! But we all want to make our goals so you have to understand why I was a little bummed. I kept on plopping away (thats what it sounded like my feet were doing…*plop*plop*plop*) and poured ice down my race suit and water on my head at every aid station. The amazing folks of Haines City were out in front of their houses with water hoses spraying us all down and that absolutely saved me! It wasn’t even that hot, but I do not do well in the heat and tend to melt pretty fast. I even sent some ice down the back of my race suit…which wasn’t the best idea since its a one piece and all of the ice cumulated in my butt crack HA!…and that was just too much concentrated cold! *Note to self: Ice only goes down the front.*

Every lap Michelle was there to tell me I was still holding 8th off the bike and if I kept up that pace I should be good. I didn’t even know I had passed someone on the bike so I was puuuuumped. That 3rd lap was a doozy. That’s the point where every exhalation started resembling a strange whimper/groan combo. It felt like I was crawling up those 2 big hills! Mile 12…1 more mile then I get a beer! I picked up my pace as much as I could- increasing the volume of my “whimper breathing”. I started through the stretch where the crowd picks up and the Tri Club tents are set up, so naturally I couldn’t help smiling. I absolutely love racing and I try and smile…even through the whimpering…because this stuff makes me so so so so happy. I catch myself smiling a lot throughout races, because I’m so thankful to even be out there competing! Even when it hurts, if you smile you really will feel better. 

Even though it was my 3rd 70.3, I still got emotional. I get emotional at the end of a lot of my races. I could feel the tears welling up, because I had come so far. 3 years ago I was slowly killing myself with my eating disorder and here I was finishing another half IRONMAN in the top 10 of my age group. I’ll never get tired of that feeling. I’ll never take that finish line for granted because I worked so hard for it in so many ways. 

I rounded the corner and smiled my way all the way to the finish line crossing in 5:13. What a day! What a day! What a day! Number 3 in the book…now to break 5 hours in Chattanooga. :]

Thanks for taking the time to read!