Race Recap: Ironman Maine 70.3

Trust the Process

I went into Ironman Maine thinking “I am not ready for these hills on the bike course” 3,200 feet of climbing? I am not a cyclist. I can’t I just can’t.

Spoiler: I did!

My prep leading into Maine started off strong. I was riding the motivation of starting training, I had goals and for the first time I was training for an Ironman 70.3 only, no marathon training sprinkled in. Then life started happening. Even as an endurance coach I can get hung up on the nuances of life and it can detract from training. I know the important of consistency, the value of our sleep, and how nutrition plays a role but I am human and not perfect. This was a perfectly imperfect training cycle and looking back on race day I am very proud of how I adapted and challenged myself. Enjoy!

Race week

We started the trek from Arlington VA to Augusta ME on a Thursday. Spent 7 hours driving to CT for our first stopover. The crew? Myself, Cody, and my friend PLUS three dogs. Yes, three. AND two bikes. Needless to say the car was packed. My biggest fear heading into the travel days was getting car sick and not being able to eat enough in the days before the race. Thankfully I didn’t experience too much nausea and was able to eat as planned - snacks on snacks and full dinners. The other challenge on this car ride? Taking in enough liquid to hydrate but not so much we’d have detour every 60 mins for a potty stop. This is the stuff they don’t warn you about when signing up for endurance races. Every rest stop I would make it a point to empty the tank, walk around to keep my legs loose and getting more water to keep sipping the entire trip. After a quick stop in CT we were back on the road for another day of travel to our final destination in Maine.

I had planned to do a shake out run when we got to CT but was so tired from being a passenger princess I bailed and went to sleep at 8PM :-P I then planned to do my run when we got to Maine but once again I was too eager to eat and explore our new digs (plus it was about 3 miles of dirt road and uphill to even get to a road!) that I skipped it then too. Would it have been ideal to do a shakeout run? Probably. But a walk and some mobility suited me just fine.

Athlete Village + Bike Drop Off

Ok enough about my uneventful road trip. Now onto the exciting part of a 70.3 - Athlete Village! We woke up on Saturday planning to head out early for bib pick up and bike drop off. In an Ironman 70.3 you drop your bike the night before and only bring our gear with you on race day. I’ll never forget my first Athlete Village at Ironman Atlantic City 70.3 - I was in awe. I was terrified. Seeing all the “fast” bikes and the fit athletes was intimidating. I still get a little twinge of intimidation but it’s not as bad now. Walking under the big Athlete Village sign is a reminder that everyone there is an athlete. We are all fighting for our finish on race day. From the leader to the final finisher - we are athletes.

Upon entering the Athletes Only tent you receive a wristband that will be your lifeline all weekend. Think of it as your special access pass (mainly to transition) on race day. Once your wristband is secure you’ll pick up your swim cap with your number written on it and your packet with your bike stickers and running bib number. Finally you’ll swing by the swag table and pick up a tech shirt that fits poorly (my opinion) and a bag that you you will try to use over and over again only to realize it’s kinda worthless (again my opinion). The swag bag used to be dry bag which was kinda nice when you would open water swim in training. Now it’s a nylon bag but only one asymmetrical strap. Ok enough about the bag - It’s “free” I shouldn’t complain.

Your last step the day before the race is putting your stickers on your frame and stem of your bike before heading into transition. This is how they will know your bike and match it to your wristband (sorry but you won’t be trading bikes or trying to get an upgrade in transition!) Once inside transition you’ll drop your bike and let her rest overnight before the big day.

The Swim

Now the fun stuff! Augusta, Maine is a river swim in the Kennebec River. We received a huge rainstorm the night before and that created an even faster current than what they expected. The swim was ripping! We arrived at the race start around 6:15AM and had to walk the 1.2 miles to the start (lame) Wetsuit in tow as it was legal (74 degrees at the start) and cramming as many pretzels rods in my mouth as I could. After a successful porta potty stop, I suited up and headed to line up with 2,000 of my closest friends.

The swim start was so chill - the vibe was everything to me. I didn’t feel rushed, I didn’t feel anxious. I even told myself if I didn’t want to finish after the swim I could quit. I lined up with the 37-40 minute group, not feeling confident in my swim I wanted to at least be passing people and not getting swam over. I was hoping for a 37-38 minute swim. Entering the water was calming, three at a time and no buzzer. No one pushing or yelling. Maybe they were and I tuned it out, but as I walked down the ramp and slipped into the water I felt at ease. I started swimming and quickly noticed the water was BLACK. Pitch dark. To many this may be a trigger but to me - perfection. If a sturgeon is going to eat me I don’t want to see him coming. Normally I close my eyes when I put my head in the water but I didn’t need to for this swim. I was floating, cruising!

There were 10 yellow buoys and then a red buoy to let you know you were half way and 10 red buoys. A buoy every 100M. I counted each one. Ten strokes breathing on the right and then I would look up to sight. Then 10 strokes breathing on the left. The sun was rising on the left and there was a bit of a glare but my Speedo Vanquishers with the mirror reflect helped tremendously. When I hit buoy #8 I started to feel a push, like a wave pool had just opened behind me. I felt like I didn’t even need to swim to keep moving forward. I started to see a collection of pink and green swim caps in front of me and upon closer inspection, it was the finish! With the river current I knew I didn’t want to be in the middle anymore and chance missing the exit and needing to be caught by a kayaker or worse, have to swim upstream.

I exited the water…. 20 mins. My watch said 20 mins. WHAT? My first thought was that I accidentally hit my watch in the water or maybe I didn’t start it on time? No way I swam 1.2 miles in 20 mins. But I did - with the help of the current. The fastest swim that day was 14:15! The slowest swim was 31 mins. We all had swim PRs today and we will probably never have another swim like it. I could have ended today at the swim and been happy. But onward.

Transition - T1

First off. FUCK .4 miles barefoot uphill. That was how you got back to transition. I saw some people jogging and some walking. I walked. And perfect timing, I saw Cody on the walk and he walked with me and confirmed that I had swam 20 mins! Now we keep walking….and walking. I arrived in transition with a smile on my face but that was short lived as I realized I needed to bike 56 miles up 3,200ft of elevation. I sat down to put my cycling shoes on and realized I had to pee. I’m sorry if you walked barefoot by spot 1115 and felt something warm. And yes, it was liberating but no I’m not ready to try it on the bike.

The Bike

We had driven the bike course the day before. I like to spot milestones and other points of interest to keep me going. There was a sign for something, I forget what, but it said Tony on it. I remember joking that I’m gonna yell “FUCK YOU TONY” like the Tiktok sound, and sure enough when we got there I was yelling it! I highly recommend driving the course the day before (even better if you can train on it) to get a feel for what’s to come.

The bike started out rolling with a few climbs. I really thought that the tough part of the course was the first 20 miles, nope. Those climbs were actually nice! I got to mile 20 thinking I had just one climb left and then there would be rollers until the end. Wrong. Once we crossed the second water crossing/bridge I was feeling amazing. My legs were feeling strong and my mind was in the game. “Only” 36 miles to go.

The scenery was amazing. Biking along the river amongst the trees on smooth roads was amazing. Even on the bridges (which I’m not a huge fan of) I couldn’t help but take in the views. That all went out the window as we approached mile 30. My back and right hip started yelling. The more aggressive hills were getting to me. I debated if I needed to stop or not at the aid station and stretch my back. I didn’t want to lose time but I also didn’t want to cramp. Stopping made the most sense, even if just to stand up for 1 min. That 1 min turned into 6 mins and at first I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to swing my leg over the bike…shit. How was I going to run 13.1 miles after this? After racking my bike and doing some stretches I hopped back on and continued - feeling totally renewed. Stopping was the right choice. Reminder: listen to your body.

The rest of the bike was steep climbs up and sharp descents. I am not a confident downhill rider and hitting 30-32 mph on the downhill was terrifying and liberating. But I was being passed! Good on you all for passing me - I applaud your confidence! I heard the pros were hitting 50 mph - not for me! I also found out I am a strong uphill cyclist; I spent most of my hills passing others. A few of us were joking as I’d say passing left, they’d joke back “see you on the downhill” and then I’d return the phrase on the downhill as they passed. I met a lot of great cyclists out there - another reminder of why I love this sport.

The biggest F U moment on the bike - just after mile 44.3 there was a 12% hill. This was the only hill no one talked, it was a grind. I don’t recall how long it was but jeez it was steep. My quads were crushed. The worst part, no rest at the top as you need to prep for the next uphill by getting as much speed as possible on the downhill to slingshot yourself on the next uphill. Rinse and repeat this was the final 30 miles of the race.

The last 6 miles of the race felt like they took forever, but that’s pretty common. You are back in town and there are a lot of turns which slows you down. The crowds along the final 5 were great! Throughout the entire course residents came out of their homes to cheer us and many spectators traveled along the course to support at multiple locations - my crew stayed put (and Cody even ran 13 miles while I biked lol) and waited for me at the finish.

During the bike I snagged water from aid stations to supplement my Nuun endurance hydration mix. I fueled my ride with Honeystinger waffles broken up and stuffed in my bento box on my frame. I estimate I took in between 600-640 calories on the bike, which probably wasn’t enough but considering the temps and my wonky stomach in the past this was more than I had taken in during other races.

Transition - T2

Dismount. Eh kinda. I have a love hate with the dismount line. Thankfully my legs worked and I was able to swing my leg off the bike and head into transition. Nothing exciting here. I wasn’t going for time today - so nice and slow transition. Sat down again (not a pro move) to change my socks and lace up. Bottle in hand, bib belt on, off I go.

The Run

I exited transition and was very grateful for the volunteer standing there giving directions. The finish crossed the transition exit and turning right would mean running straight to the finish line (wouldn’t that be fun!) I hung to the left and started my journey to 13.1 miles. The odd thing with the run at the end of the Ironman 70.3 is that I don’t connect it with being a half marathon. Maybe it’s because the intensity difference between racing a half and running 13.1. I thought about this for the first 4 miles - running 1 mile, walking 1 min to keep my HR down - and didn’t even consider that it was a “half”. Just a run. They had changed the course this year to not be two loops - instead it was out and back in two directions. The first 8 miles were amazing, I was averaging just 30 seconds slower than marathon pace (my target) and feeling great! Running alongside the river again on a trail that was partly shaded. Then the shade disappeared.

The second half of the run was brutal. The trail offered no shade in the afternoon sun. We were back on the trail we used to walk to the start of the race just 6 hours earlier. Passing the swim start and then connecting back to the bike course along miles 3-4. Funny the hills on the bike didn’t feel so bad but on the run they were brutal! I grabbed ice at every aid station and poured it down my tri kit, covering my abdomen. As we crossed (another) bridge towards mile 10 of the run we came upon a hill - .6 miles uphill. UGH I said f-it. I walked it. My hip was chatting and I was not interested in making a chatting muscle more angry. As we walked, we talked. An athlete pointed out a fox. I thought she said hawk and immediately panicked. I didn’t want to look like prey or a dead carcass. She then reminded me that a fox at 11AM was bad news as it was probably rabid. Great. Now we have this to watch. Plus side - get bit and you get a bag of IVs and electrolytes! Athletes pay big money for those at recovery places!

The turnaround was uneventful. Stupid hill.

Cruising back through town was fun and had lots to look at it. Quick mile down the trail and turn right to the finish. The final hill at the finish of the run was the same hill I had walked up after the swim just 6 hours earlier. This time I was running - knowing it was the LAST hill of the day. Up the hill, past transition and to the finishing chute. I surprising myself with how good I felt on the final 400M - feet picking up, no shuffling! I had no clue what my overall time was. (My watch had done some weird flashing stuff the day before and then hit low battery at mile 8, so I stopped looking at it in fear it would die)

Nutrition: Nuun Endurance, water from aid stations and 1 Honey Stinger gel (I had a second with me and debated taking it but was more worried about heat than nutrition)

Crossing the finish line - 6:33. Done. Then I laid down in the shade for 10 mins lol

Final Thoughts

I said I was going to take a break from 70.3’s (this was my third) but damn this was fun. Not committing to anything now though. I am proud I overcame my self doubt about the bike and kept my breathing under control when I started to panic. Reminding myself to race my race and know that I can only control my own actions helped to keep me level and focused. Would I do this race again? Absolutely.

Tips:

• Train on hills on your bike. Know your gears that you like to climb in.

• Book your accommodations early. We stayed in Wayne and it was 30 mins away but the lake views made it worth it.

• Eat. Eat during training. Fuel your body to perform. Fuck the scale.

• Remove distractions during training. Stay focused and keep your circle tight.

• It’s ok to pee in your wetsuit or tri kit :-)

• Walking on the run is not a cop out - it’s a strategy. Keeping your HR down is priority in endurance events

• It’s your race. No one elses.