Subject: Stacey's FL 70.3 RR (loooooooong) By: Stacey U.
Written on: Monday May 28, 2012 Message: I don't have any right posting such a long race
report, but it's been a long time since I have
posted one, and this one was a special comeback
race for me. Hopefully this RR will tide you over
until Clyde and Suzanne finish composing theirs.
It's a long one....had to get it all out of my
system....grab some popcorn :-)
My IMFL
70.3 Haines City Race Report
Flashback to
eight weeks agoâ¦.
I took my
daughter to Sarasota for a swim meet for the
weekend, while my husband stayed in Tampa to take
my son to hockey practice- a regular split shift
weekend for us. On the drive down on Friday
night, I had a bit of a stomachache, and
didnât feel very hungry, but negotiated with
Mia to get Applebees for dinner, instead of
McDonalds, figuring maybe some bland pasta and
chicken would help settle my stomach. That night,
I had THE worst case of indigestion/ food
poisoning (or so I thought) that I have ever
experienced. The pain was so bad I was curled
into a ball, sweating and shivering, finally
getting up to vomit to hope that I would get rid
of whatever was making me so sick. I was sick all
night long. The next morning, Mia needed to be at
her meet at 6:30am for warm-ups, so I did what any
mom who thought she was dying of food poisoning
would doâ¦.I packed up the car, and
stopped at the gas station for Advil and Pepto
Bismol to get me through the morning. Surely,
this would pass and Iâd feel better
soonâ¦.
I did feel a bit
better and managed the rest of the weekend, taking
Mia to the mall and the movies in between her
Saturday and Sunday meets, but I started having a
nagging suspicion that this was more than food
poisoningâ¦.I started Googling
âappendicitisâ, and realized that I
had not one or two, but ALL of the symptoms. I
called Scott and told him, but said that I
didnât feel horrible, just ânot
rightâ, and that as long as I slept well,
Iâd finish out the weekend, and check in at
a clinic when I got back to town.
When I
got home Sunday afternoon, I dropped off Mia, and
grabbed a book and stuff to keep me busy, figuring
a looong wait in the ER for what I was sure was
nothing more than a very very bad case of
indigestion. (Thanks to friends who convinced me
to go to the ER instead of the walk in
clinicâ¦) Strangely enough, upon
checking my symptoms, the ER docs saw me
immediately, and gave me my own room in the ER
triage. Ummmmâ¦..the only ones who
made it past triage were me and the old guy
throwing up blood. This might not be good. After
refusing morphine and a wheelchair for lab tests
(Really? Can they just give me some Maalox so I
can go home? See, Iâm refusing the
morphine, so thereâs no way it can be
appendicitisâ¦).
4 hours
later, the tests were run and the results were
inâ¦.it was appendicitis, and it
needed to be âaddressedâ. OK,
Iâll make an appointment for next week?
No?â¦.How about I go home and pack a
bag, and come back tomorrow morning? Ummmm. No?
â¦. How about, âThereâs
one guy in front of you for the OR, and then
youâre next. Itâll be about an
hourââ¦WHAT?!?!?!?! Frantic
calls to my husband, my principal, my teaching
partner next door, etc etc etc. I roll into
surgery just as Scott walks in to say goodbye.
Everything went well and they released me less
than 24 hours later.
The good news, the
appendectomy was done laproscopically, so it was
minimally invasive and the recovery should be
quick. The bad newsâ¦.I have my
first race of the season, a sprint, in 3 weeks, an
oly in 5 weeks, and the FL ½ in 8
weeks. My whole freaking season is shot!!!!! Oh,
I was so upset, but realizing I was very lucky to
have caught it in time, I transferred my sprint to
the fall, and deferred my oly to next year.
Ironman has a no refund policy, so I was out of
luck for the half. My friend has an injured knee,
and also couldnât get a refund, so we
hatched a plan A to do just the swim and then DNF,
or plan B do the swim and maybe the bike and/or
walk the run then DNF, or plan C, just forget the
whole thing and go out as spectators to watch
Lance race.
Feeling no pressure, I was
told by the doc that moving was good, and that
while walking was a good thing, I should wait at
least a week to try to run, and then only if it
didnât hurt. I waited a week. It hurt. I
waited 10 daysâ¦it still hurt. Right
around 2 weeks it started feeling better, tight,
but no pain. I was cleared by the doc to ride and
run, but to wait 4 weeks to swim.
I
started training again, no pressure, (no upcoming
races now) if I could I could, and if I
couldnât, oh well. But I felt
goodâ¦.really good. (Maybe my
appendix had been bothering me for a long time?).
I started figuring that I could at least do the
swim and the bike, and I probably could walk the
whole 13 miles if needed and still finish. It was
going to be all about just finishing. So I kept
training, with a plan to do what I could do, but
to peak at the race with only a few days of
tapering. I called the race director for St.
Anthonyâs and asked if I could un-defer my
deferral. I figured theyâd want a whole
bunch of medical releases but they said
âsure, youâre back inâ.
So 5 weeks post-surgery to the day, I
head over to St. Pete for the Olympic distance St.
Anthonyâsâ¦.. My goal was to
finish in under 3:17, (which some of you may
remember from way back in 2006) which was my time
when I competed there 12 weeks postpartum. My goal
was to beat 3:17, but I secretly hoped to just
come in under 3:30. Iâd only had 1 week of
swim training prior to the race. Just two
2000yard straight distance swims. I wasnât
worried about the swim, as long as the weather was
decent, the chop wouldnât be bad and I
wouldnât be fast, but Iâd manage. My
training was good, but I was mentally prepared to
feel bad, very bad out on the race course.
A
new priest from my church is a new triathlete and
was competing there as well. He gave the opening
blessing to the athletes, and then I met him on
the beach before the swim and he gave me a special
blessing. I felt at peaceâ¦no matter
how bad I felt today, I was lucky to be here.
Surprisingly, on a very hot day (90 degrees for
late April), I felt good and finished in 3:04, not
speedy, about 12 minutes off my PR, but definitely
not 3:17! Woohoo! A huge boost of confidence
going into the
70.3.
OKâ¦â¦8
weeks post-surgeryâ¦now to the 70.3
(finally). Between St. Anthonyâs and the
70.3 my plan was to continue to increase my long
runs and rides right into race weekend. My only
long rides were two 60 mile rides the 2 weekends
before the 70.3, and my only long runs were one 10
miler and one 12 miler on those same weekends.
Yes, I was cramming, but trying to do so safely,
with a plan to peak at the 70.3 with only a few
days of taper/rest prior. I was looking forward
to not racing the 70.3 at Disney (God, I hate that
run!), and Iâd heard the run was around a
lake 3 times, so really, how bad could it be? At
least it wasnât Disney! All I knew about
Haines City was that it was near Orlando, and that
it was very rural (ok, redneck), and a very very
strange location for a race so
bigâ¦..did they know what they were
getting into? Although I physically prepared as
much as possible for the race, I probably should
have done a bit more mental prep, such as actually
driving over to check out the course (only 1 hour
away)â¦but no, I was busy catching up
on rides and runsâ¦
I head
over to Haines City on Saturday to check in. It
is hot (about 90 degrees)â¦we
havenât been able to shake the heat in
months it seems. My GPS sends me to completely
the wrong location, like to someoneâs front
yard in the middle of a neighborhood. There are
lakes EVERYWHERE!....whereâs MY lake? No
signs, nothing. Iâm completely lost, and
calling friends to help me. (The race volunteers
tell me later at check-in that the address on the
IM website was wrongâ¦..)
When I finally get to Lake Eva Park, my
nerves are shot- how am I going to be able to find
this place at 4:30 tomorrow morning? I
donât even know how I got here in the middle
of the afternoon?!?! I was completely freaked out
and p*ssed off by what I took as disorganization
and amateurish race venue set-up. No big traffic
billboards directed you where to go, no welcome
signs, nothing. Youâd never know you were
even in the right spot unless you happened to see
someone with a bike rack. Parking was
randomâ¦.in the aquatics parking
lotâ¦.up and down side
streetsâ¦no rhyme or reason to it. I
was baffled. THIS is where the 70.3 is going to
be for the next 5 years?? Even worse, due to the
drought here in FL the last few months, the water
level had decreased
considerablyâ¦.like it looked like
the 1.2 mile course was walkable. Are you kidding
me?
The park itself was beautiful and I
could see why it might be chosen as a race venue-
lots of playgrounds for the kids, and tons of
local food truck vendors for kids and families.
The community was really making an effort to come
out to this âIronman thing going on at the
parkâ. People who just happened to be at
the park that day were completely freaked out and
amused by the sight of all of us
âfreaksâ in bike shoes, bike shoes,
aero helmets, etc. Haines City was slowly
catching Ironman
feverâ¦â¦
I
check in, and although the volunteers were
wonderful, I still couldnât help but be
spooked by the new venue. The transition area was
like a spiral, on a hill, and my bike area was at
the top of the spiral, and there was another
section below me. To get in or out of transition
you had to run up and around this steep spiral, if
you could figure out which way to go. Again, my
nervesâ¦..
I attend the pre-race
briefing and hear the same old info, but listen
closely for info about the swimâ¦81
degree water tempâ¦water level is
low, only 8-11 feet deep with one very low spot
that is walkable. Swim in the shape of an
âMâ, keeps buoys on the right, swim
through hot dog buoys at the middle of the
Mâ¦.got it. No word about the killer
lake amoeba in Florida that will eat your brain if
it goes up your nose. I decide to keep that info
to myself and not freak anyone out, but notice
many, many local folks show up with noseclips the
next morning for the
swimâ¦.
Race
morningâ¦.up at 4am and out the door
at 4:30. I get lucky and run into IM traffic and
follow them to the race site (where else would
this many cars be going out here at 4:30 in the
morning?) I get to the race site with no problem
and feel relaxed for the first time all weekend.
Set up transition, pump the tires, and run into my
friend Maria who is racing with Livestrong, and
got to meet Lance last night. We head out of
transition and watch Lance with his entourage
leave the pro area and head toward the beach. We
head to the playground to meet up with the rest of
our group.
Finally at 6:20 we head over
to the beach to watch Lance and the pros start the
swim. My wave starts 20 minutes after the pros so
I wonât get to see him exit the water. I
hug my friends goodbye and wish everyone a good
race, and head into the water when our wave is
announced. Itâs an in-water swim, if you
count being knee-deep as in-water. We wade in,
then a steep drop-off shocks everyone, and then
weâre back to knee-deep again while we wait.
The lake bottom is n-a-s-t-y! But the wind is
blowing and itâs colder out of the water
than in (81 degree water temp), so I crouch in the
knee-deep water. When the cannon goes, I start
out steady- Iâm not racing today, just
finishing. I stay close to the buoys and no one
bothers me. I pass lots of folks in my wave it
seems, then the wave in front of me, and then some
of the folks in front of them. Not too bad. I
gulp a couple mouthfuls of that lake water and get
it splash-kicked up my nose a few
timesâ¦..donât think about it,
donât think about it. I felt good, never
tired, or breathless. I probably couldâve
pushed a bit harder, looking back. I finished the
swim in 42:19â¦.which included a run
around that weird spiral into transition.
Transition time of about 5 minutes, taking it
easy.
Transition exits on a hill, going
upâ¦what? I head up the first hill,
then
anotherâ¦whatâ¦hills in
Florida? (I knew hills in Clermont north of I-4,
but didnât expect them south of
I-4â¦.duh). My aero bottle is all
janky, and looks like itâs about to collapse
onto my front wheel (again those minor race prep
details), so I stop twice in the first 5 miles to
try to jimmy it together. If it drops again,
Iâm going to ditch it , and use the rear
bottle cages instead. The bike course was hilly
(for me), but really fun and
fastâ¦.at least the first half of it.
I felt great climbing the hills, and went as hard
as I could, knowing that I planned to walk the
run). The helicopter in the distance overhead
told me where Lance was on the course (is he
finishing the run already?). The spectators were
great and the course was fun. I knew there was a
steep hill midway on the course, and it was very
steep (again for the
Floridiansâ¦.like a mountain). By
mile 40, I was tiring, and my pace started to
drop. I hit the wall around mile 50 and was
riding at around 12 miles an hour for a little
bitâ¦.I couldnât seem to get
the last few miles done, and I couldnât seem
to ride any faster. My goal of 3 hours for the
bike passed, and I roll in at
3:04.
Another 5 minute transition and I
head out for the runâ¦.along the
beautiful, nasty lakeâ¦should be flat
and fast. I heard it was not shaded so I tried to
prepare for the heat for the next few hours. I
start out slow, round the lake, then onto the main
road (what?)â¦and straight up a huge
mountain of a hill. (WHAT?!?) No freaking way! I
just finished riding the hills, no one said I had
to run them!! I quit! Iâm not running up
these hills in the heat! 3 loops?!? Are you out of
your freaking mind?!?! Oh yeah, I am not a happy
camper. Half way up the mountain (which everyone
is walking), I see a young guy on the side
stretching a cramp. Since I donât need
themâ¦Iâm walking this stupid
courseâ¦.I ask him if he needs salt.
(Why not help everyone have a better race,
Iâm not doing thisâ¦) I give
him some of my salt tabs and get him to walk up
the hill with me, where a resident is standing
with her garden hose, spraying the athletes.
âDrink thatâ I tell him, and he does,
and sure enough, off he goes, running, up the
hill, like a deer. I get to the top of that hill
only to findâ¦.another freaking
hill!!!! I donât think I could possibly
fit anymore cuss words into a single sentence as I
did climbing that âhillâ.
The rest of the loop was slightly downhill
(of course) or flat. The aid stations and
volunteers were wonderful. Surprisingly, I
didnât feel too badly. I stayed on my
nutrition and hydration strategy, carrying ice
from station to station, staying as wet as
possible. OK, Iâll run what I can, but
Iâm not running the hills. I come around
for the second loop and see Scott and whine to him
that the course is âall straight
uphillsâ. I decide to challenge myself to
run halfway up the hillsâ¦.counting
the traffic cones as I go. I get to 10 cones on
each hill and walk the rest of the way.
Coming around the backside, I run
through an aid station that is run by high school
girls that truly have lost their minds in the sun.
They have gallon jugs of water and are yelling,
âWater on your body! Water on your
body!â and dumping it on the athletes. I
stop running, and walk up to one girl and ask her
to just fill my cup. She does, and then the girl
next to her throws an entire gallon of water in my
face from about 6 inches away, laughing
hysterically. I was beyond wet-now my shoes and
socks were soaking wet and I was absolutely pissed
off. I am always the one whoâs thanking
every volunteer and smiling no matter how bad I
feel, but I have never been so angry at a
volunteer in my life. I held my tongue and only
said, âI didnât ask for thatâ
before walking squishily out of the station. I
made a mental note to remember her for the last
loop.
I come around for the final loop, run 12
cones up the hills, and actually run most of the
last loop. I remember water gallon girl during
the last aid station and narrowly avoid becoming a
victim again (sheâs standing in the middle
of the road, blocking the athletes and dumping
water on themâ¦..aaarrrgh). Finally
I come around the bend and into the finishing
chute (this time I get to run down the lane that
says âto the finish lineâ, not
âlaps 1 and 2â). I finish the run in
2:37, which would be about my time on a flat
course, so Iâm good with that. I cross the
finish line at 6:34â¦.not a PR
(missed by 6 minutes or so), but well below my
worst (and first) FL ½ time of 6:58
(on a flat course, no less). I feel good, and
wait for my friends to come across.
I
am proud that I was able to come back and tackle
this race only 8 weeks after an unexpected
surgery. It wasnât really so important to
me that I did well in this race, just that I
finished it, and even that I started it. It was a
more challenging course than I expected, and I was
definitely under-trained for it, but I had a good
time out there, and was happy to just be able to
do it. Iâm looking forward to one more rest
week, and then itâll be time to start
gearing up for IMFL in
Novemberâ¦assuming that the deadly
Florida lake amoeba is not currently feasting on
my brainâ¦.
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