Three is my lucky number, so going into my 3^rd Ironman, I felt lucky.  Yes, my race number is always my lucky number, too.  I’m flexible.

The preparation felt great – I had some memorable key workouts that I would use in my mind on race day.  Everything was going my way: American cancelled my flight and Michael had me on a more direct SWA flight within minutes; illnesses plaguing those around me didn’t strike; I stayed in the tough group ride on Saturday; the final pounds shed easily (and the weigh-in scale was set 5 pounds light to my absolute joy – they wrote down a weight I haven’t seen since I was shorter); I ran my best 20-miler ever; my food survived the trip; I figured out how to get air in my tires.

Yes, I am a strange one – I bring my food.  One of the highlights for IMAZ is the proximity to Whole Foods, so my ‘carry-on food’ was significantly lighter.  I can only imagine what those TSA people think when they scan my luggage or carry-on:  “what is that….?”    I think my toughest workout prior to the race was cycling home with the huge Blue Seventy Transition Backpack (my favorite bag) filled with food. 

In the practice swim, John and Corin from Blue Seventy  (http://www.blueseventy.com/) had me swimming in the sweet new Helix.  Wow.  I even wore matching orange goggles. 

My cycling legs were definitely coming around.   Instead of traditional weightlifting, I use Power Cranks (http://www.powercranks.com/) and Pilates (http://www.gaiam.com/) for strength training.  If I go the other route, instead of Ironman, I’ll be in Mrs. Olympia if there is such a thing.  Quadzilla and then some.  I rode a few hours and hoped the wind would howl on Sunday.

Running – well, I’m not that fast - yet.  My goal for the race:  to run on the run without GI distress, frequent potty stops, or barfing.

Race morning I was up easily at 4am, as I keep my body clock set to wake up a few days prior.  I ate, dressed, and gave myself a final look in the mirror.  At the end of the day, I’m still me.   

The pre-race walk was refreshing.  I got into transition and went down my prep list without any hitches.  As I relaxed and soaked up the energy, I found Lisa Preeg from Austin and The Infamous Rachel Ross. 

During the swim, we went full-contact-swimming – no surprises there. 

My plan included riding myself into a great spot, and the conditions cooperated.  The wind provided steady resistance – and then tremendous concentration to keep the effort high enough on the way back to town.  A great muscular endurance setting, I watched my Timex Bodylink (http://www.timex.com/) carefully, keeping my heart rate within my boundaries.  Going into T2 with Rachel (http://www.runlikeamother.com/): a highlight of my racing career.  I have a photo, but it is only in my head.

So much support on the run course – fabulous conditions.   I ran with Rachel for about 75 meters before she dropped me like the slowpoke I am.  Luis was more social.  He ran with me for a little longer.  Timex fans and ‘mates, Austinites racing, Austinites cheering, my sister-in-law, a couple friends… and the people in my head.  I heard Chann (http://www.channmcraecycling.com/) speaking to me the most.

The bike had felt fantastic, and with Rachel and I the first age-groupers out there, I started running with a good gap (Rachel doesn’t count – I expect her to whoop me).  The run felt great until somewhere around 18 miles, when I began to will the mile markers to come more quickly.  I ran with a nice man, Ed, who was from Scottsdale and had lots of people cheering for him.  Only 1 girl ran me down, and she wasn’t going to catch Rachel, so there.    

My nutrition plan held up exceptionally:  elimination of processed foods, low fiber the days prior, and homemade rice bars and Clif Bloks (http://www.clifbar.com/) for the race.  This was the most exciting news.  Ok, setting my age group course record and going to Kona is pretty cool.

aka Saturday Pt. 1

Saturday morning we arrived nice and early and I had no problems racking the bike or getting set up. I felt good on the run warm up and was looking forward to a good race. Once we were finally allowed in the water I got in a little swim and immediately noticed that for the large majority of the race we would be swimming straight into the sun. Not too much fun, but what can you do?

Finally the gun went off and we were off. Apart from the typical jostling, I actually got off to a pretty good start. I usually get beat up pretty bad at Collegiate Nationals (what do you expect with a bunch of testosterone laden competitive college kids?) but this time it actually wasn’t too bad. So pretty soon things strung out and I found myself in a nice little group. I was pretty sure that the first place guy wasn’t too far ahead, so I was content to find some feet and try to keep pace. As it turns out I was out of the water in 8th or so, about 40 seconds back. So a decent swim. At this point, I was feeling pretty good and thought I had a shot at it.

Off to the bike which for me usually means people passing me and me screaming obscenities under my breath directed towards my bike. This time however this was not the case. I started out by actually passing (!) a couple of guys who mustve just been fast swimmers and after 7 or 8 miles I found myself in a group with 3 other guys. We all took turns heading to the front and trying to separate ourselves but we ended up staying together the whole time. While we did end up staying more or less together, there were numerous officials out there and they stopped on multiple occasions to make sure we were riding cleanly. Coming into the end of the ride I was feeling pretty good as we were 3-7 and I was confident I could outrun everyone in the group, meaning I was looking at no worse than 3rd.

Out on to the run and sure enough, I separated myself within the first half mile from the three others. Marc Bonnet-Emyard was out on the course and gave me splits,

“2 min to 1st, 1 min to 2nd” he screamed.

“1 minute” I thought. “Totally doable.”

So I set out to chase down Kevin (the guy in 2nd) even though I had no feeling in my feet due to the cold weather and just overall didnt feel that great. Occasionally I’d catch a glimpse of him while other times he was out of sight. The run course was tough with three pretty serious hills and multiple tight turns but unfortunately when he was in sight I noticed I wasnt really making up any time and I still wasnt feeling that great. With about 3/4 of a mile to go I saw Mark again and he let me know there was no one behind me at which point I realized I wasnt going to catch Kevin so I might as well enjoy the last few minutes of the race. I came into the chute and while I was disappointed to not win, I was still pleased with the result as it looks like the suffering Paulo has put me through on the bike might actually be paying off. 

Full results can be found here: http://www.onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=2468.  Incidentally, Kevin and I ended up tying for the fastest run, so as I suspected, I wasnt catching him.

So there it is, 3rd overall which as you can see is the first place that doesnt get interviewed. It is however good enough for some Coldstone but that will have to wait for Part Deux…

-Andrew

For more musings from a corrosion engineer/professional triathlete, visit http://ajhodges.blogspot.com

Another spring a long time ago, I traveled from home in snowy New England to a different triathlon in the sport’s Mecca, southern California. As I pulled on my wetsuit for the first time that year, one of the natives looked at my pale winter skin and asked,
“Dude, do most of your training at night?”

Ouch! This spring I spent the week before the Ford Ironman 70.3 California on vacation in the Virgin Islands working on my tan. I was brown when I toed the race’s starting line, but wondered if I’d feel the effects of spending 7 nights on an island where rum is cheaper than tonic. I was not to find out.

The swim wasn’t as cold as I’d expected, and I’ll give a shameless plug for team sponsor Blueseventy’s neoprene skull cap, these things work. Hey, how about this action shot?
And check out the guns and the tan as I’m justing starting the bike portion of the race.

And here’s a picture of my bike after 10 minutes of biking.
Crash! Not only did I bust the bike, bend a race wheel and DNF, all for the first time, but I left some vacation tan on the road. Ouch indeed.

One week already passed after Ironman Arizona and it was very busy week for me: few days of rest in Phoenix, a beautiful trip to Grand Canyon and a long, very long journey back home to Ukraine. So, back to the Ironman last weekend: I think it was toughest condition of the weather during an Ironman race in my triathlon experience. Till last Sunday I thought I am good with the hot weather, but I was a bit wrong. A strong wind on the bike course was slowing me down sometimes to 23 km/h on the way out and it pushed me so hard and fast after turn around. It looked like I did a fartlek: 3 times 30 km. Even more than usually I looked forward to start to run. But with +93+97 degrees and almost no shadow ( just under the bridges) the run wasn’t that easy and enjoyable at all. And honestly, on the each loop there was a spot when I just wanted to give up. But I am really glad I didn’t. And with a sprinting 400m at the end of an Ironman, thanks Lensey Corbin who gave me this chance J I finished 4^th at the Ironman Arizona 2008 behind Erika Csomor, Michellie Jones and Heather Gollnick. Now I am looking forward to the next races in Europe, of cause after several days of recovery in my rainy but still beautiful city Lvov. 

Yep, that was me, screaming my head off. I lost my voice by the end of the day. I cheered for Luis, Sergio, Blake, Gabriella, Juli, Tamara and Rachel. I think all of you were amazing. It was so freaking hot out there just as a spectator! I was out there because my hubby was racing as was a friend of mine. Our former teammate Jordan Rapp had an amazing day, congrats Jordan!

That new ORANGE TTX is sooooo cool. You HAVE to see them in person!

The good news is that you all have motivated me to get back into training. I am signed up for Lake Placid, so hopefully I can make up some training ground from the past 2 months of lackluster training.

I also wanted to say thanks to everyone for their kind words and support. (Bruce, Carole, Juli, Keith) Life sometimes gets in the way and you have to just step back and deal with it. I am still dealing with it, but will try to deal on the swim, bike and run. Its cheaper than therapy right? LOL!

See you out there!