70.3 Finisher

That's right, I am a 70.3 finisher! It's almost been a year ago now, believe it or not. It happened October 2023 at the Waterman's Triathlon Festival with Kinetic Sports. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long to write this entry, but hey life happens. But let's get to it.

The race location was about 3 hours away from my house so I got a hotel the night before and the night of the race so I wouldn't have to travel so far. As I arrived at the race location, I instantly felt like an imposter. I felt like I did not belong as I saw all these fancy bikes and people talking about all the other races they previously completed. I kept quiet and tried to appear confident as I look on as I considered whether or not I should be there. I dwelled in this space for a bit but then I started to realize with my rented bike that I did belong there. Again, I had been waiting on this time to arrive for a very long time and now that it had come, I was not going to let my emotions get in the way of me enjoying my experience.

The morning of the race came and I was excited; a little nervous but more excited. I wasn't too concerned about the swim because I was aware that if you swam in the middle you could stand up so I always felt like I was safe. However,once I jumped in that water and felt like I was in a human washing machine, I became a little worried but my nerves calmed and I swam until it was time to get out. I had a few people swim over me but overall it was okay. It took me an hour to finish the swim . With all of my previous tri events, I declared that after I finish the swim I didn't care what happened, in my mind, I had finished the race; however, I could not do that for this race. It was the first tri event where after the swim I knew my race wasn't over. I had a 56 bike mile bike ride to do and that was my greatest worry for the day. To be completely honest, I was worried about meeting the bike cut off and then as I got out there on the course and the wind continued to push me back and the inclines showed up more often than I would like, I really didn't think I was going to make it. For this newbie cyclist, it was hard. I had one incident on the bike where my water cage fell over so I could not paddle and therefore I fell over. It wasn't a hard fall because I managed to get on the grass first. Throughout the bike ride, I had to keep telling myself to just keep going. I did become a little discouraged as I was still riding the bike course and I could see there were already people who have finished the race leaving town but again I told myself to focus. I finished the bike within the cutoff and I was super relieved.

Now it was time to run. Running is my favorite discipline out of the three, but things were a little different on this run. I was not starting on fresh legs and I was low on energy, but somehow I managed to do the 13.1 miles without giving up. I finished the race happy, relieved, and a little surprised. Surprised that I was able to actually get it done. My husband and children were there and I was so glad to see them. I also got to see people that I follow on Instagram so that was a nice treat as well.

We drove back to the hotel after the race, showered and got ready to go out for dinner I felt like I could eat everything that I saw. My nutrition during the race was not optimal at all. I really didn't eat much on the bike and then on the run, I basically kept myself energized by drinking Coke at every age station. I definitely will need to do better the next time. Overall it was a great experience. I showed up with a rented bike, a borrowed wetsuit, but a mind determined to live out my dream of becoming a triathlete and I got it done.

Later this year in October I'll be completing IronMan 70.3 in Wilmington, North Carolina. My official training starts June 2024; however, I must admit I'm not that excited anymore about training. After my 70.3 I think I fell into a trap of wanting more and more gear to become better at triathlons. I bought an expensive bike and on my second ride on the bike accidentally fell and fractured my left elbow. So here I am with this expensive bike and a fracture left elbow and unable to ride. It is definitely making me question my decision. A few people I know are also doing 70.3 NC so I am looking forward to that experience. It'll be my first IronMan brand event and honestly after I complete a full distance IronMan, it may be my last. Something about the expense of all of this rubs me the wrong way. I know some people say it doesn't have to be expensive but if you are doing longer distance races some things are absolutely necessary and therefore will require extra money. My plan is to do a full distance in 2025 or 2026, at the latest, and again after that I think I may give up long distance triathlon or stick to more affordable local races that have Sprint, Olympic, and long course distances.

Until next time guys move your body and have a great time doing it.