If you haven’t seen the September issue of Outside Magazine, you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing and go get it. They have an article that features the Fittest (Real) Men in America and our very own, Tim Hola, is one of them! You’re such a stud Timmy, we love you!!!
I’m pretty sure that I asked myself the following questions about 5 or 6 times throughout this race…What in the world am I doing out here? Where are the rocks, dirt, trees, people crashing all over? Man, I’ve been running forever, am I done yet? It wasn’t that wasn’t having fun out there, because I definitely was, it was just the first half Ironman/road race of the year and I just couldn’t seem to find my rhythm. Luckily, nothing disastrous happened and it ended up being an alright day :)
The Swim - Let’s just say that starting a race at 6am that is about an hour away from the finish doesn’t really make for a good night’s sleep. I woke up at 3am to walk down to Keith’s hotel and drive to the ocean with him, Devon and Brooke. We got there in plenty of time, set up, warmed up, then tackled the crazy waves and current of the sea. The running start into the crashing waves was something I don’t really handle well and ended up being washed up several times before making it out to the first buoy. Not exactly the best way to start a race, but I tried to keep my head in it, stay focused, concentrate on not swallowing the entire ocean and sight as much as possible between the giant rolling waves coming over my head. Again, not the best of swims, but considering my history of panic attacks in the water, I was thrilled that nothing completely horrible went on.
The Bike - Aerobars, TT helmet, shoes already on the bike, what’s this?!? Just kidding…it did take me a while to get into a groove though as I’ve honestly only been on my race bike a half dozen times before this race and it still felt a little foreign. I did manage to settle in a bit and start cranking through the masses of people (I started in the second to last wave). The roads were somewhat sketchy and the course was pretty crazy as well. It was beautiful riding along the coastline but the endless crossings through intersections was pretty scary and the people being held up for the race were not the happiest of people. In some ways, dodging the cars and riding over bumpy/uneven road surface was somewhat Xterra-like. Throw in some good hills like we had and it was definitely a good match :) Although I felt super flat (no pop whatsoever) and had some derailleur issues, I managed a decent bike (6th fastest) without feeling absolutely spent at the end.
The Run - My favorite part…usually. This time was a bit different. I started the run with super tight hips and figured everything would loosen up as it always does. WRONG. Within the first mile, we hit a super steep hill that required small shuffling steps in order to get up it and I’m pretty sure this locked up my hips even more. At this point, I was already off pace and just not feeling motivated. I made a point to stop at every aid station to give myself something to look forward to, but the unusually high volume of fluids I consumed/poured on me only lead to a sloshing belly and squishy shoes which is even more annoying! Focus chica, focus…yeah, not today. I went through the motions and completed the race knowing I hadn’t won my age group which meant I wasn’t getting my slot to Clearwater which was disappointing as that is what I came there for. Little did I know, there were actually 2 spots available for our age group! Clearwater it is…
The Aftermath - Seeing the entire Timex Crew at the finish line was the highlight of the day and definitely a huge attitude changer for me. Not every race can be perfect and go smoothly but knowing that you have a huge support group there no matter was happens is absolutely amazing. I am one lucky girl to be part of such a spirited team with gratuitous amounts of energy and passion. This is honestly one of the most motivating factors for me in this sport and I couldn’t be more appreciative :)
MORE PICS AND VIDEOS TO COME!
After racing in Alabama, I flew directly to Washington DC to meet up with my parents (who came from Michigan) and my Aunt, Uncle and cousins who live just outside the city. Because this race was the weekend after, I didn’t see any point in flying all the way back to Colorado and then fly back a few days later. Plus, I hadn’t had the opportunity to see my 8 month old twin cousins so it was perfect! I’d never raced back to back before so I wasn’t really sure how to train and rest for this race so I kinda just did whatever worked out with everyone else’s schedule :) It was hard to get motivated as the weather was hitting record highs and pretty much unbearable to even stand outside much less train! I did, however, manage to squeeze in 3 pre-rides on the course which were much needed. Again, lots of twisty, turning, and rooty singletrack with several steep power climbs. Although I took some pretty hefty crashes, by the third time, I was starting to get the hang of it. I was super relaxed going into the weekend and enjoyed a great pre-race dinner at an Irish restaurant with the family. I was sleeping like an absolute baby the night before until the fire alarm went off at 4:30am (in the race hotel) and we had to evacuate the building. Let me tell you how sucky it is to have to walk down 14 flights of stairs when you’re half asleep. We met everyone outside to just laugh about the situation. About 20min later we got to walk back up the 14 flights of stairs to hear the alarm go off every 15min for the next 1.5hrs! Not exactly the best pre-race sleep, but hey, whatcha gonna do about it?! Everything else went smoothly so no complaints here. Plus, it was Father’s Day and I can’t remember the last time I got to see my dad on this specific holiday :)
The swim - this was by far the most interesting swim I have ever done. Because the water levels in the James river were so low, the entire swim was in water 1-3 feet deep with gigantic rocks and debris that you could stand on top of. Talk about an ‘Xterra’ style swim! We even got to swim to an island in the middle of the river, run across it, then get back in the water and swim back to where we started! Being stuck in the last wave made for even more obstacles to maneuver through and although it slowed me down quite a bit, it was absolutely comical!
The bike - since the course was predominately singletrack, all the people who started in front of me were bottled up on the course. I attempted to pass as many people as possible, but it was really sketchy and the last thing I needed to do was fall off the trail or take another crash. The goal for this ride was to keep the rubber side down (i.e. tires on the dirt, not in the air). I wasn’t really sure how many girls were in front of me, but when we went through a steep and rooty section, the guy in front of me crashed making me have to get off my bike as well and run the rest of the section. As I was doing that, a train of 3 girls flew right by. I jumped on my bike and began to absolutely hammer in attempts to catch them. They must have passed another group of guys because I got stuck behind another group that again washed out forcing me to dismount and run. This time I was determined to bring those chicas back. I was feeling pretty good for a good 10min or so until I completely blew up and got really frustrated. I let off the gas and just cruised in with a pretty negative attitude and just wanted to get the run over with.
The run - immediately starting the run, I felt incredible. The cadence was there, I had gotten in all my nutrition on the bike and I was relaxed because I figured my race was as I like to call ‘in the shitter’! Well that wasn’t the case and I was about to prove it. I picked off the first girl within the first mile and she told me the others were pretty far ahead. Perfect motivation for me to kick it in gear, get my head back in the game and go catch them. Girl #2 was about 5 min later. As we were climbing up the ‘Mayan Ruins’ (a huge full body climb up a series of broken down stairs, wood planks, etc.) I picked off #3. Oh baby, oh baby, here we go. As I got to the section where we run across the rocks in the river, I hit #4 and I was pretty sure there was only one more to catch. At about mile 4, I saw her! My plan at the time was to just sit behind her and then make a move close to the finish line, but I just felt so damn good that I decided to keep my pace and just cruise by. SWEET…to the finish line it was. I notched it down at about mile 5 as no one was anywhere in sight behind me and just enjoyed the last part of the run.
The finish - It was so great to have my parents and family at the finish line waiting for me. I saw them a few times on the course and it was super encouraging. My aunt even took one for the team as she got plowed over by a rider while cheering on the course! It was a great day for everyone. Tyler, Igntaz, DeCook, Craig and Will all had stellar races as well.
After the awards and a few pics with the twins, it was a 2hr drive to DC for me to catch a flight home and get into Denver at 11pm :( I jumped on the bus and got home pretty late only to get up at 5:30am to begin working like a madwoman for the next few days in attempt to catch up with all the work I wasn’t able to do while gone! Thanks to everyone including friends, family, sponsors, the Xterra crew, etc for all the support and super fun times!!!
Extreme heat + insane humidity + great hospitality + killer race course = Fun times in Bama!
After a good night’s sleep and a delicious breakfast, an excited clan headed to race site. After about a minute of being outside the car, I was already covered in sweat. No joke. It was so humid and hot at 8am that I knew it was going to be a rough day. I ingested several salt tablets and kept drinking as much fluid as I could to stay hydrated. Since I’m so used to starting races between 6am and 7am this 9:30am start just felt weird. At any rate, I was ready to have fun and kick some butt!
The swim - holy bath water hot. ‘m talking 82* hot…yuck! Nothing too exciting happened other than I was able to stay on someone’s feet the entire race and swim a straight course which never happens. I definitely swam way easier than I should have, but because I was overheating swimming easy, I’m pretty sure I would have drowned had I pushed it.
The bike - twisty, turny and rooty forest singletrack. This is terrain that I am very unfamiliar with so I definitely stayed on the slower side in hopes of keeping my bike under control for the duration of the race. Although most of the course was covered with trees, it still felt like riding through a rain forest and sweat and sunscreen kept getting in my eyes and burning like none other.
The run - as I was heading out of T2, the announcer mentioned that I was the 2nd amateur female and only 3o seconds back from 1st…COOL! I grabbed my hat and race belt and started turning my legs over like a little road runner. I saw the girl I needed to catch and went right after her. I caught her within the first half mile and just stayed right on her heels for a good 10min until she completely started to fade and I made my move. I knew the last few miles of the course had about 6 super steep hills that were almost impossible to run so wanted to get as much of a gap as possible. As I got to the top of the first hill, I could see all the way to the bottom and knew my competition was nowhere in sight. As I trudged up the second hill, I started getting goosebumps from being so overheated. This was my first sign that I needed to slow down and just cruise home. I proceeded to walk each of the gigantic hills as well as use trees and other surroundings to pull myself up and trot the downhills while attempting not to slide out on the loose terrain.
The end - I finally made it to the finish where I was immediately asked if I wanted to join the rest of the field in the med tent and get an IV (they went through over 80 bags of fluid this race). Since I took it super easy during the last segment of the run, I felt great and just wanted to have really cold water dumped all over me :) Great experience racing in extreme weather conditions and couldn’t have been any happier!
May 18th, 2008
Temecula, CA
1st 20-24 AG
