This was my third year doing this race but this year, unlike others, I had a friend, Lindsey Jerdonek, to head up to the race site with me. So at 4:15 AM she and I left my place in Winter Park to head down to Disney for the 6:20 AM start time. Upon arrival we were herded into the parking lot and onto the shuttle bus and soon enough we were at the race site.

Because my bike was already there, preparations were minimal and I was nice and relaxed as I was getting ready for the race. Pretty soon I was standing on the beach in the dark with all the other male pros listening to race director and man of many talents Tom Ziebart sing the National Anthem. (BTW, I was much more happy to listen to the anthem standing on the edge of the lake as opposed to having to float in the 55 degree water like we had to do in California…)

The gun was off and we were sprinting into the water. The beach start was a bit of a shock to the system as it seems they are a rarity now. In fact the last time I did a beach start was this race a year ago. Anyway, because of that I felt a bit strange running into the water and it took me a while to remember what I needed to do which probably resulted in a pretty poor starting position. Once we started swimming though I was pretty confident I was in the front pack so that was good enough for me. Because we werent allowed to wear wetsuits, I was in the pointzero3 and it was feeling great. Once again I settled in on some feet and had a relatively uneventful swim. A few times I moved to the outside to make sure the group was staying together but for the most part I was content to stay in the pack as I knew I wouldnt have been able to swim away from anyone.

As we came out of the water I was around 12th and at the back of the first pack feeling good. A decent (but long) transition and I was out on the bike. Right away I had to watch a few guys slowly pull away from me as I knew I wouldnt be able to maintain the power necessary to stay with them for the whole race. So I just settled into my desired wattage and started cranking. A couple miles into the ride Courtney Ogden passed me and I was a bit worried that he would be the first in a line of many. (Surprisingly enough though he was the only guy to pass on the bike!)

Unfortunately about 3 or 4 miles into the ride my left piriformis started hurting and my whole left leg got really numb. It was really weird… anytime I slowed down or stood up my leg would get that feeling like it was “asleep”. This made for a painful ride but I just stared at my PT and was determined not to let BIGZACH catch me. I saw him at an out and back just before 25 miles and it gave me some motivation to really focus on the ride and block out the pain and try to hold him off.  It worked and as I mentioned before, I finished the ride in the same position that I had started as in addition to being passed by Courtney Ogden, I actually passed TJ Tollakson. (As an aside he mustve been feeling bad as he can certainly destroy me on a good day but he was clearly having some problems and had to withdraw.)

Finally the bike was over and it was time to run. Usually this is a good thing for me but today I was worried as my piriformis was really hurting. After throwing on my shoes, I started to run out of transition and I thought I was going to fall over. The only other time I had felt this bad off the bike was Hawaii… and that was 112 mile ride with my seat too high. Regardless of this as soon as I left transition I was totally focused on just running with good form and stride rate and I decided I would let the speed take care of itself. After a couple of the early out and backs, I realized that as long as I ran nice and easy I could get by with a good-but-not-great run and maintain my position. Additionally, the next guy was so far ahead that even if I did have a great run, it likely would not have helped any. Quite simply, 10-15 sec a mile just wasnt worth the risk of blowing up later in the race.

So after a mile and a half or so I started feeling semi-normal and got into a decent rhythm, running between 5:55 and 6:05 min miles depending on the terrain. While the uneven ground consisting of roots and sand was quite unfriendly in a few spots, the weather was the best we could have asked for as it was overcast and even sprinkling a few times. Back to the race and I just kept clicking off the miles and got a nice boost when I saw Craig Alexander in a golf being driven back to transition. His dropping out in addition to a pass of a walking Victor Z meant I was now in the 8th place… Thats right, in the money! Finally I was finishing up the longest last 0.1 miles ever and the announcer was proclaiming, “In eight place, Andrew Hodges from Huntsville, AL…” as I came across the line in 4:11. Not a great time, as it turns out the bike and run were both long so the time is a bit irrelevant.

Overall I was really pleased with the result. Mentally the race had been quite difficult as it was basically a time trial from the time I started the bike and my piriformis had been killing me so I was really happy to finish with a good placing.

In addition to the money, I also found out at the awards that I got a Clearwater spot as none of the guys ahead of me claimed theirs. Additionally I may also be on the team for ITU LD worlds in Holland at the end of August as the top 2 Americans at this race were supposed to have qualified.  I’d be really excited to go as it is 4k-120k-30k which is great because it favors swimmers and runners a bit more.

Official results can be found here.

BTW… Lindsey in her first half IM had a totally kick ass race, finishing 8th overall… including pros! In fact the next amateur was over 8 minutes behind her!! Great job, Lindsey!

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

Every now and then I like to do some shorter triathlons.  I love the long training rides and runs, but sometimes it’s good to get in races shorter than a ½ Ironman to maintain the speed in my legs.  So I decided last week to race the Tinman Traiathlon held this morning in Ft. Morgan, CO.  It was a 1000m swim, 36 mile bike, and 10k run.  I was really looking forward to it because it’s in a new place and the ride was right smack dab in the middle of the Colorado farmlands. 

The weather was great for racing: sunny and just under 80 degrees.  The swim was 2 loops in a chilly 56 degree lake.  It was a time trial start so we began every 10 seconds until we were all on our way.  I felt pretty good for the entire swim in my Blue Seventy TST wetsuit (www.blueseventy.com) although it was hard to get into a rhythm since each loop was 500 meters prompting us to get out after each loop.  I soon was out of the water and hopped onto my orange Trek (http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/triathlon)  which always seems to make peoples heads turn because of the color.  It’s a point to point ride and a lot of it was with a tail wind.  I felt very fast as I imagine a lot of people also did simply due to the nature of the course.  My CycleOps power meter was giving me a lot of info I was happy to see, and I was happy to finish the ride 1^st off the bike with the fastest bike split of the day in 1:20 equaling a 26.9 mph average!   The run was hard as I rarely run a 10k either in a race or in an open running race.  I ran the two loop course in 37:24.  Not my best running time for a 10k but certainly good enough for the overall win by over 6 minutes.  Final time 2:12.27.  It was a fun day and I was so glad my family was there to cheer for me!

Thanks for reading!

Tim

Gulf Coast Triathlon and Ironman Florida are my most favorite races. I love Panama City Beach for its warm weather, beautiful beaches, clear water and very nice people. But what I don’t like is the humidity, wind, and rough water that were all present on the race day. Also the water was too warm and the pros were not allowed to wear wetsuits.
 
The water was very rough and I am not used to swimming in big waves. Unfortunately the waves were so high that I was unable to stay with the lead group of pro-men. I had to swim alone throughout the swim course and it wasn’t always easy to find the buoys. It was easier to swim back after the turn around and I was quite happy that I did not get nauseous. My time was slower than usual but I was glad that I was the lead woman to come out of the water.

I knew I had to push as hard as I could on the bike because I had to put as much time as possible between the other competitors and myself. I had no time to waste because I knew that Amy was a good cyclist and was also able to run fast. It was very hot and humid and it felt like I was cycling in the sauna. The sweat was pouring down my face throughout the bike leg.The bike course was out and back with a tailwind on the way out and a headwind on the way back. I was surprised to see my lead had increased at the turnaround, but I knew that I had to keep going strong. It was much more difficult riding into the headwind but I was aware that if I was able to ride strong I could keep my distance from the other competitors and be able to finish the bike leg in a first place with a nice lead.   

At T2 I was satisfied with my bike time of 2:31, several minutes better than last year. However I had no idea how far the other girls were behind me. My husband was racing too and there was nobody to tell me the situation. I started the first mile slow to allow my body to get used to the run. I sped up after one mile, according to my plan, and kept checking to see what was happening behind me. I didn’t see anyone and I didn’t have to run at a maximum effort.  It was wonderful to cross the finish line as the first professional woman! 

I was not the only one to win from the TIMEX Team. Bruce Gennari won Masters in 4:18 and finished 5th overall!   

I am looking forward to going back to Panama City Beach in November for Ironman Florida. I hope the conditions will be much better.

   So I woke up this morning, and I could hear, sorta, thank goodness. I spent the last 3 weeks posing as a blonde bobblehead- nod and smile, nod and smile. I don’t think I could have survived without hearing much longer because the only sign language I know is a one fingered invite for a butt-kicking.
   It all started nearly a month ago, at a bar, on my birthday. I had my party pants on, my hair was big, and I felt sick. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a “I just had 6 Coronas” sort of sick. So, I took my safe ride home at 10.45…lame. I called the people I was suppose to run long with the next day to tell them I couldn’t get out of bed, “and it is not because my birthday party was last night and I spent the night at the Rio where the margaritas are so big you could take a bath in them…honest!”
   On Monday I decided I didn’t want to be sick any more, so I went for a swim. After a grueling 50 meters I went back to my bed, where I was super busy. I had to alternate between sweating, freezing, blowing my nose and trying not to die. At 3 in the morning blood started dripping out of my ear, apparently I was better at sweating than trying not to die. I sent out a few text messages to my loved ones to let them know I was about to kick the bucket, but no one responded. Maybe they were sleeping. So I drove my carcass to the hospital.
   Apparently if your temperature gets in to the quadruple digit territory, your eardrum can rupture. Then, I am pretty sure my brains were gushing out…it was sick, like, cool sick, in a Discovery Channel sort of way. The next day my coach called to see if I had done any training, “yeah” I told him, “I did an hour of Dr. Phil and an hour of Oprah.” He told me not to eat any cookies until I was back training…real training, and watching Oprah doesnt count as excercise. Not a problem, the only thing I had eaten in the last three days was prescription pain killers, you know, the good stuff.
   By Friday I had decided that I wasn’t sick any more (for the second time that week) and I got back to business. The kind of business that earns a bobblehead a cookie. I have felt great ever since, and training has been going well…and then…this morning….I could hear! Sorta!

Happy Mother’s Day!

My wish for Mother’s Day-my 2 girls do not argue with each other for this one day (yeah, right!)

The homemade gifts children make for their moms on Mother’s Day can be quite revealing.  Since I have a 13 y/o I know that my years of receiving these special homemade gifts from my 7 y/o are limited…and while Hallmark cards can be quite nice, they just don’t make the ones that say things like this…

 My Special Mom: by Hanna

My mother’s name is Kim.  I call her Mummy.  She is 8 feet tall.  She looks pretty when she wears dresses (and not her workout clothes).  The thing my mom cooks best is CHICKEN NUGGETS.  My mom likes to run, bike, and swim.  My mom does not like to do dishes.  My mom is the queen of the world!

Have a good one Moms!