I signed up for this race a little optimistically in late October, off the still slightly lingering adrenaline from Kona and the fear of the race selling out and missing the chance to race. However, after having double hernia repair surgery in January and taking a full month off after of no activity, I was more than a little concerned that I would not be ready to compete, let alone complete this race! My coach had me slowly building the swim/bike/run back up, running feeling the best first, the bike slowly coming back and the swim feeling pretty awful. Finally, two weeks before the race something clicked and my swimming was back to my usual pace which was a relief as I was worried it was lost for forever, lol. I had also run two half-marathons, while not super fast compared to my previous times, I was happy with where I was and felt confident. The bike though, with the limited time before the race, my longest ride was 40 miles outside. I was hoping my bike fitness was good enough so I could ride the 56 miles feeling good, but suffering through it might be a possibility also.

Race week arrived, and earlier in the week I had zero race nerves and kept forgetting I was racing that weekend. I was blissfully hopeful that I would just coast into this race feeling carefree and relaxed. I was so wrong. Thursday the race nerves appear and my stomach was very unsettled, and it remained feeling that way all weekend (I finally took pepto bismol Saturday afternoon and race morning). Race morning I felt way more pre-race nerves than usual, I had to keep talking myself down as I did NOT want to race. Sometimes I feel that way for a tiny bit before a race, but this was lasting much longer, like from the minute I woke up. I told myself that we made the long drive, my bike was racked, I just needed to do what my coach said on Saturday, which was ‘Just swim, bike and run!’. It is that easy, I told myself as I jumped into the river.

Once I was in the water, it was a challenge to keep my head in the game. I was wishing the water was clear and had tropical sea life like Kona instead of the murky river water. I tried to follow the buoys but as usual I wasn’t super close to them and was probably swimming a bit more than I should have. Also the last time I swam in this river the current was strong, and while I was seeming to be moving faster than my non-current assisted pace, it wasn’t crazy fast which was disappointing, lol. I kept plodding along, trying to focus on my stroke and keeping the buoys in sight. Finally I could see the red turn buoy and was relieved to almost be done. I made the left turn and swam towards the stairs. I was extra wobblily coming out of the water and had two volunteers help me out and up the stairs. I hit my watch and saw 35:xx and couldn’t decide if that was extra slow or good considering the course was 1.4 plus the current. I decided to move on, the swim was over, focus on the bike.

T1 was pretty long, so I ran/walked the long journey to the wetsuit peelers (so much help!) and then hustled into transition. I switched into my bike helmet, sunglasses and shoes and was off. The bike course was super crowded the first 5 miles, I didn’t even bother looking at pace or watts, just focused on not crashing. After it thinned out (by ‘thinned out’ I mean compared to the first 5 miles, the entire race the course was crowded and was passing or being passed, sometimes three wide) I tried to get into a rhythm and focus on pushing the pace a little. I wasn’t trying to go crazy since I wanted to have something left in my legs for the run. We had good weather, such a difference compared to the last time I rode the course during the full in 2023 when it was windy and poured almost the entire time. So I was trying to focus on enjoying the nice weather and not stress too much about pace.

When I saw the 50 mile marker I was quite relieved and felt like I had held back enough that hopefully my legs would be feeling ok on the run. The last 6 miles were a bit slower with some turns and bad pavement, railroad tracks and narrow lanes, but was happy to finish under 3 hours. I hopped off the bike and headed into transition, quickly swapped into running shoes, hat and race belt and was off. My legs felt pretty good and I saw JMR and gave him a high five. The plan was to ease into the miles, not go nuts on the first mile and just try to stick with a 9 min pace or a bit faster. The goal was to finish feeling ok.

The first couple of splits were hovering around a 9 min pace, I focused on dumping water on my head and neck (I had a cooling towel around it) at each aid station and it seemed to help me keep me from feeling the increasingly warmer temperature. Around mile 4 I thought, ‘I am actually feeling really good!’. I remembered struggling on the run course during the half when I raced it in 2019 and really wanted redemption. On I went seeing splits drop to the mid to low 8’s the next few miles and was thrilled. I headed back over the bridge to begin the second loop feeling strong.

I started loop two and could feel the sun beating down as there isn’t any shade on this part of the course which is exposed road, but dumping the water on my head and neck and grabbing ice seemed to help. I was holding a good pace but it was a little frustrating when we headed to the pedestrian path because the run course was also so crowded that several times I got stuck behind people and had to wait a bit to get room to pass. I’m sure it didn’t slow me down that much, but it was a little frustrating.

When I saw the mile 10 marker I thought just a 5k, I can do this! I also decided to take a peek at my watch to see where I might finish timewise and saw sub 6 was definitely achievable and most likely in the 5:40’s. I had not felt this good on the run in a race in a really long time and was just thrilled. My legs (and stomach!) were feeling good! I passed the mile 12 marker and headed over the bridge, elated to be close to the finish and feeling so good, when I had been so scared and anxious about this race hours ago and did not want to toe the start line. I made the turn to run down the stretch to the finish and saw JMR and gave him a high five, feeling strong and passing under the arches right at 5:40:20. I just could not believe it given my lighter training post surgery, but I guess my body still knew what to do after many many years of these races 🙂

Next up is one more 70.3 and then I’m switching my focus on ultrarunning races!