IM 70.3 TEXAS
IM 70.3 TEXAS - GET YER MIND RIGHT.
April 8, 2018
Swim(1.2 miles): 36:24 Bike(56 miles): 2:46:58 Run(13.1 miles): 1:40:28
Ok I know I said this blog wasn’t just going to be race reports...but I happened to start said blog 4 days before my first Half Ironman of the season at IM 70.3 Texas soooo...here’s a race report! I’m sitting on the plane heading back to Atlanta right now so I might as well be productive, right? Plus, I’m actually super excited to write about this race and my awesome experience practicing mindfulness by keeping my head in a great place!
I seriously had so much fun this past weekend. I made this trek with 3 of my amazing friends-2 of which totally crushed their own races, Meg and Deirdre- and the other, the best Sherpa anyone could ever ask for, Lynda. Y’all, we had so much fun. I was so excited to hang out with these ladies and race with a big ass smile on my face. This weekend did not disappoint. I went into this experience with the distinct goal of having a great time. I was nervous to race, like usual, but I didn’t have that feeling in the back of my head kinda dreading the whole process. Ya know...waking up insanely early with a queasy stomach, nervous pooping ever 15 minutes, goals running through your brain, putting pressure on yourself like you’re Rinny coming back to her first race after having a freaking baby (I seriously can’t even fathom how that feels!) My nerves were based on excitement rather than pressure and I really can't remember the last time I felt that way before a race. I couldn’t stop smiling. I probably looked like a stoner with glassy eyes, day dreaming about the finish line and a little smirk cemented across my face.
I did absolutely zero recon on this race beforehand because I wanted to put zero pressure on myself to perform a certain way. I mean...I literally didn’t know Galveston was an island...on the ocean...until we got there and I was like...oh! I guess we’re swimming in salt water? Cool! Never done that before! Nothing phased me. Nothing made me feel stressed or worried. Oh! It’s a 3 loop run course? Not a 2 loop like I like? Ok! Fun! Seriously...my excitement was unstoppable. My positive mentality about the whole race was rock solid. I could not be bummed out by anything.
We woke up on race morning to 49 degree weather, overcast skies, and some gnarly winds…and yet I was still all smiles! I love overcast races-not a huge fan of the cold ass temperature, but I’d still prefer it over the heat any day. Deirdre texted us the night before we left Atlanta to bring arm warmers for the bike so, thankfully I packed them, and I honestly never really got that cold once I started the race. I don't know if it's because I was in such a great place mentally or if it was my bomb ass Orca arm warmers (that may have created the tackiest bike outfit/bike combo of all time-multi colored arm sleeves with my red, black, and white Atlanta Tri Club kit, teal calf compression sleeves, my old purple bike, with red and yellow ZIP 808's on…not the cutest color combos, but hey, I was comfy af--sadly I have no photo evidence because I refuse to buy expensive race photos!). I mean...don’t get me wrong...it was cold and I was pretty miserable waiting to start the swim while shivering in my wetsuit like I was in Alaska instead of Texas, but I was still excited. And yeah, maybe I couldn’t feel my hands or feet on the bike...but overall I was ok!
I had zero expectations for this race, but deep down I knew I was going to have a great day. I just knew it. I felt ready even though I had been dealing with an Achilles injury for about a month before the race and barely ran for the last 2 and half weeks leading up. Sometimes all it takes is believing in yourself even when the odds are stacked against you. I just knew I could blow it out if I wanted to...and I wanted to!
I hopped in the water with the rest of the 25-29 year old ladies (accompanied by the 30-34 gals too) a little over an hour after the first wave and thank Oprah it was so much warmer in the water than standing outside. My nerves instantly settled. I wasn’t sure what my swim was going to be like since I hadn’t swam in my wetsuit or in open water since Worlds in September, but I knew I could make it to the finish so that’s all I really needed at that moment. I took the swim at a nice solid pace- not in any hurry, but trying to stay relevant, and somehow managed to get a little lost...That’s what happens when you only glance at the swim course map *one time* the day before the race. I mean, I knew I needed to keep the buoys on my left blah blah blah…but may have forgotten there was one final turn at the end instead of just going straight to the exit…any way, back to the point...I think there was a bit of a current on the way back in and I kept getting pushed way out from the buoys and got nice and friendly with the kayaks. I kept noticing I was alllll by my lonesome and thought…hmmm maybe I should stay a little closer to the buoys. It was more crowded there but seemed like the better route...and yet somehow I kept managing to end up way on the outside again. Did. Not. Phase. Me. It definitely wasn’t my best or my fastest swim, but I only swallowed one mouthful of salt water so I’m gonna call it a *win*!
I ran out of the water, found a wetsuit stripper to whip it off, and immediately realized...holy shit it’s cold out here when you’re soaking wet! I had laid out my arm warmers and calf compression sleeves just in case I wanted them for the bike and holy Celine Dion am I glad I did. I took my sweet ass time in transition. I’m normally like a rhino trampling through, grabbing and throwing, just trying to get out fast, but this time I thought…Nah, Imma take it easy and get a little bit more cozy. I normally don’t even put on socks for the bike, but there was no way my sad little toes could have survived, so I put those on too. I mean I tooook myyyyy tiiiime compared to my normal in-and-out and it was actually quite lovely. I had never taken it easy through transition. I felt calm and excited to hit the bike course- which I found out the day before (crushing that recon game), was a super flat out and back with a tailwind out and a gnarly headwind on the way back. Since this was my old Quintana Roo’s retirement race, we might as well have some fun, right?! I came out of transition, saw the beautiful smiling face of Lynda, yelling in her adorable Ausi accent, and was ready to have some damn fun.
I'm not gonna lie…I normally DREAD the bike. It’s my weakness and also where I usually end up in the most pain- with lots of lower back issues and an inability to get in the “zone”, but I didn’t care. I wanted to have fun. It was cold and drizzly, but I didn’t even notice. I was having too much fun to even care. I was holding decent power, but my heart rate monitor wasn’t even working, so I just stopped looking at my watch and just went by feel. I wanted to experiment with this race. Since I had no expectations, who cared if I blew up on the run later, right? I wanted to see how uncomfortable I could be on the bike (Ya know that effort where you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable) and see how I could run afterwards. I’m not saying I had some crazy fast bike split, but it was pretty damn great for me, considering the headwind, and I held onto efforts that I normally would have backed off of.
The way out was fast and I was cruising with that lovely tailwind pushing me along, smiling like I was frolicking through a field of freakin daisies. I normally get smashed by girls in my age group on the bike so when I hit the turnaround and still hadn’t been passed by anyone, I was jazzed! The headwind was no joke, though. It was a slow grind back into town, but I actually kind of liked it. I put my head down, stayed in aero, and just kept on pushing. It kind of felt like a strength workout, which I enjoy! I decided around mile 30 that I just wanted to see what my legs could do and decided I wanted to try and hunt down one more girl in my age group before transition. So instead of letting the discomfort get to me, I said “fuck it” and pushed harder. At around mile 50 I caught a 28 year old and could have screamed I was so stoked. Catching people on the bike is not my thing! But maybe it can be with the right attitude!
(For my own personal notes-new nutrition plan kicks ass. 1 Clif gel per hour starting at 15 minutes in with 1 Gatorade per hour and lots of water- salt every 30 minutes. Had to pee way more than I would normally, but I think the extra hydration was key to having a good race. Also- fun fact- found out I still can't pee on the bike- but also found out I can apparently pee while running if every port-a-potty is freakin' full for the first 3 miles and my bladder feels like it's going to explode sooooo that's nice!)
Came into T2 with tired legs, hopped off, felt that fatigue, and laughed as I ran like a robot towards my bike. Ooooo wee my leggies were tight! However, I kept my thoughts positive and knew I just needed a little time for my legs to loosen up. The run is my favorite part and I was excited to see how I’d do. I hadn’t realized how uselessly frozen my hands were until I tried to take off my helmet, though. Keeping my mentality in la la land meant I hadn’t really noticed! Thank Cher a volunteer was close by and yelled, “I gotchu! We’ve had to help everyone get theirs off!” She unsnapped it, I thanked her while laughing, and I once again took my time getting all my stuff, making sure I’d be comfortable and happy for my run. I took off towards the exit of T2 and got down to it.
Within the first half a mile, a lady in a Base Performance kit ran a few strides ahead of me, looked at her watch, said something about going a bit too fast and ended up staying right in front of me at a pace that felt strong. I’ve never paced with someone, but I thought maybe I should just try and hang on to her? I ended up passing her at the first aid station, but every now and then I’d hear people yell, “Go Carrie!” and I kept thinking, maybe they’re yelling at me, but reading my bib wrong? Cori-Cari (just spelled weird?) The gal in the Base Performance kit came up beside me shortly after and I asked, are you Carrie? She said she was and I explained very quickly and succinctly that my name was Cori and I thought her friends might have been cheering for me. We laughed for a sec and she started to pull ahead. Then to my surprise, she looked back and said, “Cmon, Cori!” She was encouraging me to keep up with her and I thought...fuck it! I’ve never tried to keep up with someone I’d assumed was faster than me so I stuck right to her. She. Was. Amazing. And and a huge factor in why I got a massive run PR that day. She was so encouraging and every time I’d drop off, she’d turn her head and I would speed back up to get her. Starting the 3rd loop we were right beside each other. She looked over and said, “let’s do this, Cori,” and reached out her hand. I responded with, “one more loop! I'm gonna try and hold onto you the best I can, but you’re a beast!” I grabbed her hand for a mid stride handshake and continued trying to stay on her heels. I had pushed that 2nd loop like I had never pushed before, but something told me I could keep going. That if I was going to get a run PR it was going to be that day on that course and I needed to see if I could do it. And once again, I just kept thinking about how I had no pressure to perform a certain way so if I blew up at mile 10, that'd be fine, but I needed to see if I could just keep pushing. I was comfortable with being more uncomfortable than I had ever been. I was pretty spent, but I’d look at my watch every now and then to see if I was holding steady and I was. Carrie pulled ahead a bit and every time we’d pass each other on an out-and-back stretch, we’d high five and smile. I kept her in my sights, determined to hold on the best I could. The triathlon community never ever ceases to amaze me, y’all.
This course was super loopy and had lots of turns with out and back’s and all kinds of stuff, so when I’d look down at my watch on occasion and see that my pace was still sub 8 minutes, I was ecstatic. With all the loop de loops and crazy stuff I knew the GPS may not be super accurate, but I liked what I was seeing and I felt great. I wasn’t really looking at my watch very often, though, and definitely wasn’t trying to do the math on what my time would be. I was just running my little heart out.
I came across the finish line about 20 seconds after Carrie and gave her a big hug. I needed her to know how much her encouragement and camaraderie towards a total stranger (who could have been in her age group-my compression sleeves covered my age) meant to me. I still didn’t know what my run time had actually been, though. I saw I had done a 5:09 total and was stoked, but I was super curious to see what my run time had been. I came out of the finish line area, found Meg and Lynda, and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I saved my workout on my watch and was waiting for it to load so I could see my run splits when Deirdre showed up, wrapped in blankets, having just left the medical tent for cramping. My watch finally saved and I looked to see what my run had been. When I'd looked at my watch on the course it almost always said around a 7:44 pace, but keep in mind the GPS may not have been accurate from all the turns. I was thinking, "man it’d be cool if I got a 1:45! That’s a 3 minute PR for me!" I looked down...saw 1:40 for 13.1miles at a 7:31 pace...looked up at my girls with a look of complete shock...and immediately burst into happy tears. Y’all, I sobbed. I was so happy. I had no idea I could run that fast off the bike. I had no idea I was even capable of that and for me, it was huge. After dealing with an Achilles injury that almost kept me from the start line, I had just PR'ed my half ironman run time by 6 minutes. 6 MINUTES. I still hadn’t broken 5 hours, but I had had more fun than I’d ever had during a 70.3 and raced with every little bit of my heart. As cheesy as that sounds, it’s the truth. I raced for the love of triathlon and had one of the best races I’ve ever had- both mentally and physically. I enjoyed every single second. I don’t have a single moment I can look back on and say, “I wish I would have done that different."
The key to this race was simple for me. I never let my usual self doubt in- the shitty little voice that likes to stay in the shadows of my thoughts, chipping away at my confidence. I kept my thoughts positive and my stress level low by remembering how much I love racing. By thinking about how lucky I am to be at any start line. By knowing that I can have fun AND try my hardest at a race. By just believing that I could do it, even though I may not have had consistent training leading up to the race. Your mind is the most important muscle when it comes to triathlon. I truly believe that.
Cheers, y'all!