Deb O'Connell's Lake Stevens 70.3 Race Report

Well, Sunday was my second 1/2 Iron distance triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run=70.3 for you uninitiated!)... All in all, it was a great day! (In a painful, exhausting, wake up at 4:20AM kind of way.) My #1 goal was to finish strong, no medical guys this time. And so it was! My overall time was 6:49, which is about 7 minutes faster than my 1/2 Iron in June. But even better than that, I felt very strong at the end, and pushed a 9 minute mile out on the last mile of the run. I was able to charge the finish (I love doing that), eat pizza, carry all my stuff back to the car, drive home, take the boys to the pool (and swim a bit more!), and do a bunch of laundry and errands Sunday night. After a 12 hour sleep, I was at work yesterday. The mental boost of this is unmeasurable in terms of Ironman confidence, yee-haw!

The weather was perfect, you couldn't ask for a better day. About 50 and chilly at 5AM when we left the hotel to go to Lake Stevens, about 10 miles east of Everett. After the pros, and just about everyone else, us old ladies (45 and up) were due to start at 6:59AM. Due to low-lying fog on the lake, the race start was delayed for about 10 minutes. Saw Patty and Bill Swedberg at the start, yea! So, it's time for a few photos and hugs before the start. Eventually, it was time to go. And, for perhaps the first time ever, no swim anxiety. How awesome is that???

One super cool thing for this location is the fact that they have cables under the water (one out, one coming back), with little buoys on them for the rowing crews that race on this lake. So, all you had to do was keep an eye on the white cable under the water. It was like the black line in the pool, I loved it! Didn't have to sight at all on the big bouys. There was a bit of crowding around the cable, everyone wanted to follow it. So, a bit of bumping and pushing going on here and there. I didn't care, I just held my space. All too soon, the swim was over. Last 1/2 Iron swim was 48 min, just about the same this time (47:46). I'm okay with that. (Of course I would like to be faster, but was swimming conservatively... have to keep in mind my #1 goal, see above, and watching out for "goal expansion" )

Run up the ramp to get ready for a brutal 56 mile bike ride. And I'm off. Well, we had already ridden the course this spring, so we knew what to expect. It's a brutal double loop of rolling hills that never seem to end. No big issues for me, thank goodness no mechanical issues like my team-mate Linda, who had 2 (!) flat tires back-to-back. 3:30 later, I was back in transition again. That was my goal time, so I was happy again.

Off to the run... Well, the cloud cover is gone and it's heating up (probably about 75 degrees). I'm not really feeling like running, and of course as soon as you head out, there's a medium sized hill you have to run up, shoot! Okay, it's over and there's the first aid station already! Wow, that mile flew by. The run is a double loop too, and before you know it, I'm at mile 6 ready to do the loop again. There's Patty at the turn cheering me on, GO DEB GO! So, I'm sprinting around the corner, and up that same darn hill again yuk (okay, I'll do a Jeff Galloway and take a walk break on this hill!) Then, I met a lady who had done Ironman Florida last year, and so we chatted for about 2 miles (she was walking and I talked her into running). Nice distraction, even if I was doing most of the talking when I probably should have been running! Needed the break I suppose, because the final 3 miles had really good (sub 10 minute) time splits for me. I got some good Ironman tips from her, and she saw me at the finish and thanked me for pulling her along when she was ready to give up.

I was amazed at the "good job" and "nice work" I got from the other participants. Everyone was so friendly and encouraging, it was so great. So, I ask myself, could I have gone out harder? Did I leave too much in the tank? Well, perhaps I did. Besides a stiff shoulder/neck, I'm not really sore at all. But, I remind myself, my goal was not to go all out and see what I could lay down. My goal was to go at the same rate I trained, nice and steady, and have a good strong finish and feel good, and that is how it went. Ironman is not about going all out (for me anyway); it's about being consistent, steady and following your plan.

Thanks for reading my story. Keep to this channel for more news on the Road to IRONMOM...

Next up, Las Vegas Rock N Roll Marathon, December 6, 2009.

XODeb