Vegas Worlds 70.3

My last triathlon of 2011 was in Vegas at the 70.3 World Championships. I qualified at the Kansas70.3 in June. I was looking forward to this event. My confidence and fitness were strong after a solid back-to-back races at Irongirl and the Steamboat triathlon two weeks earlier. I also ran my fastest 5k ever, 18:35, on Labor Day.

Race day brought warm water temperatures which made the swim was non-wetsuit. I wore my Orca speedsuit and felt pretty good. I missed the draft off the two lead swimmers and swam alone. Not my fastest 1.2 miles, at 29 minutes, but good enough to quickly transition and take the lead on the bike.

I do not preview race courses. I knew there would be hills and it would be tough. I am glad I found out about the hills race day otherwise I would have thought about it too much.I was pleasantly surprised at how strong my legs felt and how much I loved the bike course, since I had been intimidated by the tough hills. My intention was to ride hard from the start and see what happened. I followed my nutrition plan – a PowerGel every 45 minutes, plus Ironman Perform. I started to feel the climbs about mile 40 (my left leg was fried, an ongoing issue I’ve had related to bike fit and I did what I could to finish. Unfortunately, I was passed by at least seven to eight women in my age group over the last 10 miles.

My expectation for a fast run did not hold true, even though I was wearing my new Newton MV2 racing flat shoes (loved them). I cruised the 13 miles and was still able to finish was a smile on my face.

The best part about my race was the cheers from Keith, Tristan, Doug and Bo and, of course, my biggest fan – my mom – while on the run course. Although I did not have my best race, Team Timex is so supportive and encouraging.