Once I passed the first buoy I finally started to settle in and find a good pace. Luckily, I was not one of the people that swam towards the third buoy, bypassing the second but I definitely came close to heading in that direction. The second buoy was set back a bit from the third one so as people were coming around the turn from the first buoy they were immediately focusing in on the third.
Swimming around the pier is a bit deceiving because of how it angles towards the end. The first buoy makes it look like you are turning to head around the end of the pier but in reality you're just taking a slight turn for another couple hundred yards, around buoys two and three and then a straightaway for the beach. The exit for the swim was off to the left a bit so instead of riding the pier in the whole way I was aiming for a white building just off it. I started picking up my stroke a bit, ignoring the fact that earlier I had swallowed a couple mouthfuls of water, couldn't see anything, was already cramping up, and still had 5 hours of racing to go. It definitely wasn't my best swim and actually my Olympic distance swim I had there last year felt much better than this one.
Now, with the swim over the fun was about to begin! As I headed out of the ocean I immediately heard the cheers and words of encouragement from the incredible spectators that came out on a cold morning in November. I recognized one voice in particular, Katie Perry's and as I looked up I saw her there holding a nice big C Payne sign as usual!!! I also saw our TTC leader, Chris Cleary there as I kept moving up the beach. The transition was about 1/4 mile from the water so I slipped into the extra pair of shoes I stashed at the top of the beach and ran for transition. I actually ended up with the third fastest transition time out of anyone which I needed because everyone else was WAY faster than me in all other areas. But it also makes me question what they're doing that takes so much longer and if there is something I should be doing to help me for the other areas?
I grabbed my bike and took off out the exit, mounted quickly and headed on up the small hill that started the 56 mile trek. The course was along route 1, 28 miles up and back. Cycling is definitely my weakest part and I know I need to put in more time in the saddle. I've never been super excited to get on a bike for 3-4 hours but I put in more time on the bike for this race than I've ever done before, so I was comfortable enough to be out there for that length of time. I had not rode more than 50 miles ever in my life though so I knew that was going to be a challenge.
My biggest concern for the entire race was with nutrition and how my body was going to hold up for the duration, especially on the bike. I knew I'd start getting hungry around 23-25 miles and like clockwork it happened. I brought two water bottles, one with water and one with Nuun. I also had jelly beans, fig newtons, and GU. This is definitely an area I need to become more familiar with because my body was NOT ready for 13.1 miles afterwards. I was doing fine on the bike as I rode up and down the rollercoaster of route 1 but my lower back really started to hurt after the turnaround. I kept having to slow down, stand up, and stretch it out and I was even going up the hills standing up (and in harder gears) a lot just so I could stretch my back out. At mile 42 my buddy that I rode up with finally caught up with me and passed me with a quick, "Nice job," and on his way he went. I was pretty much toast at this point but fought through it and got my second wind with 10 miles to go. I cruised through the side streets as I worked my way back to transition, undid my straps before I got to the dismount line so I could jump out of my shoes quicker, and made my way to my spot.
I had another quick transition, fourth fastest and even stretched my quads for a sec before taking off. I took off so quickly though I didn't grab my watch and at first I thought that was going to be a downfall but once I started realizing how the next 13.1 were going to pan out I knew reading my watch was only going to upset me. I had gone into this race thinking I'd be able to hold up anywhere between an 8:30-9:00 min pace but obviously wanted to be on the 8:30 end, if not better. Well sure as shit that wasn't going to happen. I had mentally prepared for going slow for the first 3-4 miles to get my legs underneath me and get them going but I had not prepped for what actually happened. I had nothing. My legs didn't give two craps if I'd run after cycling before. They didn't care how many brick workouts I'd done. They didn't care if I've run 10 half-marathons, 4 full marathons, and whatever else I wanted to tell myself.
Right off the bat my right foot started tingling. I've had this happen a few times before but it's usually at the end of my longer runs; this happened immediately. It felt like pins and needles like when you get a dead leg or arm. I knew I was landing on the ground but I really couldn't feel much underneath my foot. The tingling eventually lead up my calf and then my entire lower leg was useless. For 6 miles I had nothing but a numb lower leg and even when I tried to push myself I had nothing to give. My body went into survival mode, my mind was fighting a battle against my body, and I still had a very long way to go. Luckily there were some surprise guests out on the course cheering me along (even with a sign in hand) and I don't think I could have finished without their support.
After mile 6 my leg started coming back to life and I thought this was my time to pick it up. I was stoked to finally have both legs under me and was expecting my body to be able to start moving like it was supposed to. This initial rush of adrenaline helped push me through the next couple miles at a slightly quicker pace but it wasn't meant to last. By mile 9 I felt off, almost light-headed, like my body was just floating along. At this point I was stopping at every aid station for water, stretching when necessary, eating animal crackers (which were flipping amazing by the way!) and then just trying to keep moving forward. I've never stopped at aid stations before or gone to the bathroom before but at this point my time didn't matter, it was just a matter of finishing. And I know people hate it when triathletes say "I just want to finish," but holy crap I had my doubts.
The sign for mile 10 finally appeared and I turned to the guy next to me and said, "Holy shit, only 3 more to go!" I kept pushing on and finally started passing people with my only motivation at this point being food and water, which I was completely out of after the last aid station around mile 11. I came down the coast counting down the miles and as I come to that final stretch I hear, "There's pizza at the finish, run for the pizza!!" Then immediately after I hear "Actually I think they're out of pizza." I almost turned back up the hill and punched that kid in the face. I came down this small hill as it turned towards the beach for the finish, people cheering, and a big FINISH sign staring me down. I finished with one fist high in the air, found Katie at the finish still holding her sign and collapsed on her shoulder. It wasn't pretty by any means but I did it. And even though I was cursing the hell out of this race by the end, I know I can train smarter and harder and educate myself to gain a better understanding of how to finish and feel good about it. But I can say I've finished a 70.3 and I did it under 6 hours which is what my goal was. I finished in 5:48; 49th overall and 9/25 in my age group. This is my baseline for all (potential) future 70.3s. This is my motivation to do it better next time.
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