RR: Tampa Double IM

It is about time, and seems way too soon at the same, to get this season rolling!  Last weekend was the Tampa Double Ironman.  Let me first say (Oscar style) a huge thank you to Linae, Joe, Molly, and Drew for crewing for me, to Gu for the cool hats and nutrition, to Sturdy Girl Sports for keeping the girls secure, and to Kirby and all his staff for a terrific event and venue.

That's me in the black swimcap in lane 2...

The race starts with a 4.8 mile, 50m pool swim.  The pool is just fantastic.  There were 5 people in my lane, but it spread out quickly and there were no issues.  Actually, I was the faster person in my lane and I would have preferred a faster lane so I could have drafted off some folks.  Instead, it was just a long slog.  Swimming is interesting as there are limited distractions/things to see/people to talk to so I tried to entertain myself watching the other lanes.  Made a quick stop at 4000m for a slurp of Sprite and a Gu but other than that head in the water for 2:56 and done.  6 minute changeup and off on the bike.

The bike started with a few miles on roads to the park and then we headed out on 7ish mile laps.  This course is terrific.  Great pavement, soft turns.  It was a tad on the windy side (all right, really irritatingly windy) and cold for Florida.  My goal was to stay above a 16mph average, and I managed this for the first 112mi.  Unfortunately, once it got dark I could not see my odometer and my mph definitely slipped (note, bring my cheater light to see next race).  I can tell my long bike mileage isn’t quite there... some girly bit issues, inability to stay in the aerobars, and other tirednesses that say early season were obvious.  My shoulders were also screaming but Joe worked out the kinks maybe 10 hours in and that really helped.  I tried to stay on a good mix of Gu’s, Resse peanut butter eggs, trail mix, and some real food and stay on top of my nutrition.  I also started in of the caffeine and it was awesome!  The caffeine taper did seem to do the trick.  I think it was around 15:XX when I got off the bike, but the race results aren’t up yet.  I know I came off the bike in 3^rd place, and moved to second pretty quickly so while I am not wicked pleased with my speed it was a competitive split and that is good.    More training, my new ride set up for long aero-riding (should be getting this week), and some tricks and hopefully I can get this split down into the 13:XX next race…

Run? Walk? Shuffle!

Finally… to the run.  This was 31 laps on a flat course.  My goal here was sub 16min miles, and I held that only to the marathon.  I just couldn’t figure out how to make this body move any faster.  Around 30miles to go I had complete foot implosion (blisters on the balls of both feet) and from that point on it was a slogfest.  I had to do this odd shuffle not quite run, not quite walk, because anything else would really get the blisters screaming.  I lost my 3^rd place with maybe 10 miles to go and I could only whimper “good job” when she went by.  Coach Debi has some tricks for working on this (something about shoes) and the goal remains next time to get this solidly under a 16min mile pace.  Food wise this was Gu’s, salt tabs, water, blueberries, and this one absolutely godsmacking amazing blueberry doughnut that should not have but totally hit the spot around daybreak.

Awesome crewcheif Linae and RD Kirby!

 Finished at 34:59:51, 4^th place female.  3-4 hours behind schedule… but I see places for improvement and am really excited to see how this season goes.

Recovery!

One cause for concern is my left foot.  Yesterday I could not put any weight on it at all.  Went to the Dr and the x-rays are inconclusive.  Got a script for pain and inflammation, try not to do any weight bearing for the week, follow up with a sports ortho end of the week.  Best case, deep bruising and I’ll be back to walking, buying new running shoes, and jogging about next week.  Worst case, stress fracture and my next race is in jeapordy (Double IM World Championships in Austria May 18^th).  Til then, I am getting more of an arm workout with the crutches, and giving my blisters time to heal.

Thanks for reading!

Go long!

Leslie