I used the opportunity to spend some time with the #bff driving up on Friday for a long weekend. I haven't been to Sedona since we first moved to Arizona and I had forgotten how beautiful it is. Literally sitting in her living room staring at the gorgeous red rocks, as they are called. I can see why they up and moved from the East Coast.
We had a relaxing evening and Saturday morning before heading to Flagstaff. We stayed with my cousin and his wife in their new place just outside downtown Flag. Their home walks out into the woods behind the house. I could totally live there. Though it might be hard for me to hold down a real job when I'm exploring the woods on foot all day. Anyway, we met a bunch of friends for an early dinner and then off to sleep we went.
I honestly thought that best case scenario I would be top 4. There were a couple of notoriously fast girls racing and I didn't think I would be able to defend my title from last year. But I knew it would be a good day, and I was going to give it my best shot. You see, I have a new mantra. A few little words I whisper to myself throughout the day to remind myself of the goal.
It came about after a couple of back to back HARD workouts a week or so ago. One on the trainer, the other in the pool. In both workouts, I far exceeded my expectations and when I was logging the workouts part of me thought, This is trouble. Coach is going to see this and she's going to up the ante next time. And next time, I might not hit the target, I might fail. Thankfully, the next thought in my head was, If I don't get challenged in training, I'll never be ready on race day. She needs to push me so that I can improve. And I said to myself: Show your cards. Log the workout. Stake claim to nailing those workouts and the next time around, step up to the challenge. Step up, every. single. time. and show your cards.
And on race morning as we got ready for the Mountain Man Half, I knew that if someone was going to beat me they were going to have to show their cards. They would have to give everything they had, because that was exactly what I was going to do. Nothing could be left on the table.
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| Pre race with my #TriScottsdale teammates! |
The 4 girls I had pegged for the podium all lined up on the front row. I was on the outside and when we got the GO! I took off hard with a straight line toward the first buoy. I could see JFP on my right shoulder for a couple hundred yards or so and then she seemed to veer right and I was left alone. I stuck to my plan and swam as hard as I could.
I don't know why, but I seem to handle elevation well. If I had to guess, I would say it's two-fold. 15 years of consistent aerobic activity builds a pretty big base. Secondly, in training I'm often pushing the envelope into the phase where I am hugging my anaerobic threshold for extended periods of time, so that when I am swimming in Lake Mary, with reduced oxygen, it feels like every other hard swim I've done in training. It is uncomfortable, yes, but it is familiar.
Coming out of the water my watch said 26:xx and I did a little jump for joy. Post race, (as usual) there was a lot of talk about the course being short, or too long, or too muddy, or too cold, or too watery, or whatever. All I know is that according to my Garmin, the course that I swam was accurate to the half distance, and I swam a PR for that distance.
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| Exiting the swim in the lead. |
I peeled my wetsuit down as I ran through transition. The emcee announced that I was the first woman which I was happy about. I figured when the other girls started passing me on the bike I'd be able to keep track of where I was and fight for position. I grabbed Hope and off we went.
The Mountain Man bike course is 2 loops, rolling hills. After the first loop there's a little out-n-back that allows you to gauge the competition. Coach warned me that my power numbers would be low due to the elevation and not to worry about it. I didn't pay much attention to my Garmin, just rode a hard effort. On the out-n-back, I calculated the second place girl to be at least 4 minutes back. And I know she's a good swimmer, so I figured I probably put a minute or two into her on the first loop. I didn't see anyone else, but I knew my friend LP is an awesome cyclist and I was expecting her to still catch me.
Heading into lap 2 of the bike I glanced down at my numbers and saw that my power output was, in fact, NOT low. Uh oh, I laughed, it is going to be a painful run. Mountain Man is a very small race (only 103 starters) so it can feel very lonely out on course. Loop 2, I was basically alone and just tried to keep my effort level steady. It can be challenging to stay focused without other athletes around. Once we hit Lake Mary Road, heading back toward transition, there were quite a few Olympic distance racers out there which gave me carrots to chase.
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| I. LOVE. my bike!! 2:36:31 *BOOM!* |
Running into T2, I was still in the lead. Knowing that the run course has the potential to destroy, I decided to take it out conservatively. I chugged up the switchbacks a little slowly, and at the turnaround (mile 3), LP was next female behind me. She wasn't too far back, but I forgot to check my watch for a time check. Further down the hill, 3rd and 4th place women were heading up, but I had enough of a lead on them I knew unless I totally blew up, they wouldn't catch me. I decided to stay comfortable until the final turn at mile 8 and then if LP hadn't passed me yet, it would be balls out all the way back to the finish.
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| Run course. |
I calculated a 4 minute lead with 5 miles to go. LP is more than 10 years younger than me and I've seen her run. I knew she had the potential to run me down. I surged for about 2 miles and really dug deep. With 3 miles to go I was suffering badly, but knew it would be over soon I just needed to hold on. With 2 miles to go the #bff (who finished the Oly distance earlier) rode by on her bike. I asked if she could see LP behind me. She said she thought I still had close to 2 minutes lead.
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| Celebration! 5:07:05!! |
If LP was going to beat me, she was going to have to show her cards. It was now or never. We were running out of ground. I pushed one last time and I could see the turn to the finish. I knew it was mine, but I couldn't let up and enjoy it. I ran across the finish line, high fived the race director, and bent over with my hands on my knees waiting for LP. She was 1 minute and 3 seconds behind me. We hugged and congratulated each other. Eventually I left in search of food, water and a place to sit down.
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| Post race smiles with the #bff and superstar LP. |
I was really proud of this effort for a couple of reasons: I had a half IM distance swim PR. My power numbers on the bike were the same as what I rode in Galveston- where I was very specifically pushing the bike. My bike time (on a hilly course, at elevation) was my second fastest time at the half distance, bested only by my time in Galveston (a flat, fast course). And my run was the fastest I've ever run on this course. LP ran eleven minutes faster than me and I managed to hold her off. I fought for this. I followed my plan in a race where plans can become derailed easily by lack of focus, overcooking the bike, and taking the run out too hard too early. I am thrilled with the progress I've made this year and I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but it really is just the beginning. I have so much room for improvement!
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| The coveted alabaster trophy. |
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