Monday, April 23, 2012

New Orleans 70.3(ish) Race Report

New Orleans!  The home of beignets, the spectacle that is Bourbon Street and triathlons without swims.  :)

This year, the swim was cancelled early so going into race morning we knew instead we'd be doing a 2(ish) mile run, 52 mile bike and 13.1 mile run.  The bike had to be shortened and the half marathon course changed due to storm debris on the course.  Good thing I didn't print out the course maps beforehand (oh wait, I did... :)!!  And of course the swim was cancelled due to high winds and a very ANGRY Lake Pontchartrain.  Although it's always disappointing for a swim to be cancelled, I have to say, I wouldn't have wanted to swim in that craziness!

So instead we sprinted 2 miles first.  :)  I knew the first run would start out crazy fast (for me).  Without paying tooooo much respect to my fellow competitors, I did remind myself that some of the women in the field have a half marathon race pace equal to my 5K pace so if I went out at THEIR 5K pace...well, bad things might happen.  Fear none, respect all?

Anyway, I ran a hard but not all out 2 miles and then hopped on my bike.

The beauty of the 2 mile run vs the 1.2 mile swim is, instead of having 3-4 minutes on me, the front of the field only had about 60-90 seconds on me.  Now THIS is good stuff!  When I got on my bike there were people all around!  Much different than my experience in Oceanside where everyone was long gone.  This was going to be a fun bike!

I told myself not to waste the opportunity and quickly got down to the business of biking really, really hard.  Within the first 5-10 miles I had passed 3 people.  Now I know this doesn't seem like a lot but this is quite an accomplishment for me.  So how did I celebrate?  I decided I wanted to be in my small chain ring going up over one of the bridges and promptly dropped my chain.  This of course necessitated me getting off my bike to fix my chain at which point all three of the women I passed, passed me right back!  Woo-hoo!  (sigh)  I quickly remounted though and got back to business.

52 miles later I had ridden probably the best I've ever ridden, averaged way more watts than I did at Oceanside and pulled myself from 17(ish) after the 1st run to 8th place off the bike.  VICTORY!  But victory ONLY if I could still run decently!

When I started the run, I had some brief moments of panic that I was indeed going to be in for a REALLY long run.  My legs were definitely feeling my effort on the bike.  But I told myself that to be competitive in the pro field, I need to ride that hard all the time AND learn to run well so no time like now to practice!  Within 1 mile I heard the pitter-patter that is the 120+ cadenced stride of Cait Snow.  She passed me like I was standing still (but I was running 6:20 pace).  Oh boy.  Then I got passed quickly again by Cait's QT2 teammate.  Yikes.  But then things settled down.  I settled into 6:30-6:40 pace for the next 8-9 miles and no other women passed me.

Around mile 11, my legs started to stage a massive protest.  It was the "you already ran 2 miles hard this morning, which means I've already run 13 miles hard and right now you are DONE!!" type of protest.  I was definitely hurting.  And to make matters worse, I had some women hot on my tail.  Mile 11 was not good to me - I got passed by 2 more people!  But I hung as best I could, kept pushing and in the end managed to pass 1 other women to finish in 11th place. 

11th AGAIN!  Top 10 would have been great but I can't be too greedy.  I did still run under 1:30 (barely) off of a GREAT (for me) bike and that is definitely forward progress.  I knew going into this year that the best I could hope for was a faster, fitter, stronger version of my old self and that is definitely what I was yesterday in the race.  Goal accomplished!

Yes legs, we are now done!  :)

Dirk's ladies had a good day in NOLA!  (Michelle, Sonja, myself and Libby)

There was MUCH fun to be had after the race and I SO enjoyed hanging out with Hailey, Sarah (winner, winner chicken dinner!!), Sonja, Michelle, Libby, Heidi, Chad and Jen and the list goes on and on!!  FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All in all it was SUCH a fun trip and although Bourbon Street scares me, where else can you see a freak show/circus/zoo for free?  :)  Huge thanks to the Holderbaums for taking me in and letting me be their third wheel!  :)  And also big thanks to Sarah Piampiano who inspired me more than words can express.  As a first year pro, she got the "W" against a stellar field and I'm so glad I saw it in person.  Her performance has awoken something deep inside of me and helped me to understand that belief in oneself is a HUGE part of success.

Big thanks for all your cheers and support as always - it means more than you could know!  I'm also so thankful for all the support from Soas, Brooks, PowerBar and to be a part of the Ballou Skies team.  And of course, my love and unending gratitude to my biggest sponsor of all - my family!

20 comments:

  1. Way to go beth! Those qt2ers sure know how to run! You really kicked some bike booty!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OH I loved this RR....as you work thru the first races as a PRO. You have a great attitude and keep improving each race - just what you want! You should be proud of your race! You did great!!!! :) CONGRATS Beth!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great race Beth! Way to kill it on the bike, and sub-1:30 is a fabulous run in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my heart sunk with the swim announcement bc i know how hard you are working on that swim! And you are doing so well Beth its a joy to see you work so hard and do so well. I remember seeing SP race at KS last year and holey crap, she was tough then, so you are only going to raise your level if you keepracing with all these talented women! Good job!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Awesome job beth. Sarah sure was and inspiration to as all. It was so awesome to see you again and to watch you BE PRO. Keeping putting in the work, the results are already showing but there is more in you too, I know it! xoxox happy recovery...next up CDA??!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beth congrats again. You fearlessness and attitude are always inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Got chills reading the last two paragraphs. YOU inspire me (and so many others) and you are so right about belief in yourself. Thank you for writing it!

    And congratulation on another strong pro finish!

    ReplyDelete
  8. yay. Another great race in the books! P.S. Bourbon Street scares me too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beth, you are just getting stronger and stronger and it couldn't be happening to a better person. Nice race report and that crew looks pretty fun.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on putting together a great day! I love how you just put yourself out there and give everything you have and relish your opportunities to race with the fastest women you can! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awesome job on Sunday, Beth! I was bummed when I couldn't track you guys, but was so excited to look at the results after. You're getting stronger at each race, it's so fun to watch your journey :) Happy recovery!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great job Beth. You're really doing great and I love your enthusiasm as a pro! You're inspiring me!

    ReplyDelete
  13. love this race report and love how fast you are learning and progressing after just TWO pro races! It's an honor to race with you and it was so good hanging out this weekend. way to hang tough and push hard! happy recovery and good luck with the build to CDA!! you're amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Way to go Beth! You are doing a fantastic job out there - very inspirational.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beth - thank you so much for the nice shout out. I really REALLY appreciate that. Congrats to you on a great race...and a GREAT bike. This journey is an incredible one for us to go through and making strides is what it is all about. Much love! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congratulations Beth! Sounds like a tough race and you really pushed yourself to new places!

    ReplyDelete
  17. awesome race Beth!! Increase in watts from Oside!?! killer!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. GREAT JOB Beth!!! You are such an inspiration - you worked hard and deserve all this greatness :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great race Beth! You'll get top ten soon!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congrats Beth!! You're doing awesome!!

    ReplyDelete