They say it takes a village to raise a child. I think the same goes for a big endurance event. I had the luck to race the Timberman 70.3 this past weekend - it couldn’t have happened without an amazing set of in-laws, great training partners, supportive hubby and my coach. My in-laws flew from St. Louis to watch my 3 kids for 4 days while we went up to the race in NH – I now refer to them as Saint Grandma and Grandpa!!
I wanted to do the Timberman 70.3 race to experience the whole big, Ford sponsored kind of event. I knew I wouldn’t be doing an Ironman any time soon (3 young kids + 1 hubby + 1 bad hip + 1 part-time job = no ironman for this lady) so figured a 70.3 would be a great way to experience it.
We flew up to NH which meant I had to pack my bike and check it on the airplane. Lots of work and lots of $$ to do this. As my hubby and I watched while TSA unpacked the bike box (for airport security purposes) that he had just spent two hours packing, we swore that we’d never do another race that we couldn’t drive to.
What an amazing weekend!! There were 2,000 racers doing the 70.3 on Sunday and the race had a huge expo on Saturday. The venue was gorgeous – a crystal clear lake set in scenic hills and in a quaint New England town.
One of my favorite parts of the expo was the Q&A session with the pros that included Chrissie Wellington, Andy Potts, Michael Lovato, Simon Lessing and Amanda Stevens. They answered lots of questions, including mine that was “How do you deal with the pain of a long race?” Chrissie Wellington answered that she always smiles when she is hurting and it makes her feel better. So I tried that during this race and I think it helped – a little. At least I won’t have Pat Webster and John Wilkins making fun of my grumpy race face
One of the really cool things that the pros all said is that we need to enjoy our sport. They all stressed taking the time to do rides and runs that are just fun. My favorite of the group was Chrissie Wellington because she showed a real love of the sport. She gave me her autograph on my water bottle and let me get a picture with her (see photo at top of page). She is very humble and inspiring!
The other very cool thing was meeting Dick Hoyt, father of Rick Hoyt, who races with his son that is disabled. You can learn more about his story at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnrLv6z-mM. He pulls his son in a raft during the swim, pushes him on the bike and run. I met him at the expo and then started behind him in the swim.
So the race:
Pre-race I really focused on my nutrition. I had big tummy trouble at the White Lake Half so wanted to try a different approach this year. Stuck with bland, basic foods for the few days before it, drank Gatorade endurance and snacked on salty, high carbohydrate foods instead of big, heavy carbo-loaded meals. Worked like a charm. Also stuck with hammer gel and carbo-pro mixed with Gatorade endurance on the bike. No solid food on the bike and no tummy trouble.
The swim – started out hard the first 100 yards or so to get out of the ‘pack’. Then just got in to my ‘groove’ and looked for folks about my speed to draft/swim with. Got stuck trying to pass slower folks from the group that started in the wave in front of us. It got really choppy at one point but I just started breathing on one side. Happy with swim.
The bike:
So, I didn’t even know this was a very challenging, hilly bike course until the day before the race. The web site said ‘rolling hills’ – ha!! My friend Dave Babson called me on Saturday – he had just done the sprint there the day before – to let me know that this was one hilly, mean course. During the pro Q&A they were talking about tactics to race in a hilly route like Timberman and Lake Placid. I was about to try and get a refund right then and there!! Then hubby and I drove the course. Hubby tried to calm my nerves telling me the hills that we were driving over weren’t big – but I knew better. It was going to be a very long 56 miles!!
And it was. Every time I turned a corner there was another $&#*%(#& hill. This was the hardest bike route I’ve ever ridden. Long, steep, winding – every kind of nasty hill was on this course. So I just turned my HR monitor over so I couldn’t see the read out and suffered through it. During the flats I tried to pick up some speed and then glide down the down-hills. But the uphills were just nasty. My chain dropped a couple of times going up hill – had to get off bike and fix it. Kind of an annoyance and might have cost me a couple of minutes but it could have been SO much worse (flats, crashes, etc)
The run:
What a fun course!! Lots of bands and folks in cool costumes - the crowd support was amazing at this race. There were a couple of decent hills during the run course. I know my legs were tired because I could hear my feet slapping the pavement – good form was out the window. At about mile 6 I realized something really bad was going on with one of my toes. Tried to stay focused on the present moment (thanks for that tip Lucky) and think about doing my best at that very point in time.
I was really ready to stop a couple of times so I basically ate my way through 13.1 miles to keep going. However, got really bad stomach cramps at mile 2 after trying to inhale an ‘espresso love’ gu. Lesson learned – do not inhale a caffeine-filled gu early in the run segment. Wait for stomach to settle before taking it in. Ran through stomach cramps - they went away after about ½ mile. Stuck with orange slices, Gatorade and coke for the rest of the race.
Happy with finish at 5:11. I know I tried my hardest during every part of the race. Yes, chains drop, the stomach may cramp and toes ache but that is just part of this sport. I’ve learned to treasure the things that go well and laugh at minor mishaps. Although my toe is really looking nasty right now…..
Well, off to worlds in November. Thank you so much to my friends, family and training partners for all the warm wishes and support!!
