Trip-Tips

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Ford Half Ironman

[update: March 21, 2006]

I am back in Austin after racing in Saturday’s Ford Ironman 70.3 aka Ralph’s. I placed second to Michelie Jones with Erica Csomor placing third. The weekend was a good one in general, it was great fun getting back out and racing again after a long winter and to don my new Tri Dubai Team uniform for the first time was really exciting.

Ominous weather reports were flying around Friday before the race….all I could think about was the way I was shivering last year, how everyone was saying it was a fluke of a day, but here we were right back with the exact same weather! I vowed to be better prepared this time and I put shoe covers over my bike shoes and arm warmers under my new Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit. The first few minutes wading into the water was like stepping into a bucket of ice! Treading in that water was brutal, I was very happy once the cannon went off. I have had long time anxiety about open water swimming….I am so used to getting brutally passes by what seems like packs of people often times in the first 300 meters! However my pool swimming has been feeling strong lately, particularly over the last month, so I tried to use a positive approach this weekend. I felt extremely strong swimming and enjoyed it immensely! I kept expecting the throngs to go by but they never did! What a great feeling to come out of the water on the feet of Michelie, it was the best open water swim I have had. Usually I am praying for the end of the swim thinking "Get me out of this stuff and onto my bike where I belong". This weekend was the first time I actually enjoyed being in the water and was sad when the swim came to an end. My new wetsuit felt amazing and fast but I must have buckled it up too tight….I am walking around with what looks like the remains of a rope strangle!

Out of the water the numbness in my feet and hands set in…..such numb hands in fact that I realized I had not buckled my Rudy Project aero helmet properly. Whoopsie, a quick dismount to fix it and biking again I was off. Michelie was riding strong up ahead of me, I told myself that no matter what, I would keep her in my sites and key off of her. This plan seemed to work pretty well until my legs started to numb up. The bike was feeling so hard I began wondering if my brakes were rubbing on my Zipp disc! I became so paranoid that at mile 20 or so I got off to make sure. Blast, no relief there. My brakes were right where they were supposed to be…..The bike continued to feel hard and I started counting pedal strokes, taking 10 hard at a time, trying to focus on something else other than the pain in my legs. Meanwhile Michelie’s pink uniform was losing its brightness and she was sneaking farther and farther up the road. My Austinite friend "Marky V" came by me just before the steepest hill out there and we both were struggling up the vertical punisher. Ouchers! He had a much better up and over method than I did and pretty soon he too was gone into the distance…..alone for the last 20 miles or so I tried really hard to stay mentally focused and began looking forward to that run. I started getting really hungry out there and started thinking about what I was going to eat once I ws finished!

I enjoy the run portion of a triathlon the most in that you actually have contact with people. I was looking forward to the crowds, Carri and our friend Chop were both out there, as well as my Dad, Tony, and Normann. It is also nice to see all the pro men, to see how their race is unfolding, and to see the various age groupers I have gotten to know over the years.

Back into transition Tony Deboom was right there by my shoes, bright red Asics Racers Carri said looked just like "Dorothy’s ruby slippers" and I asked him "How far is she?". "Three minutes" was the response…seemed like a lot but I was determined to catch her and hoped that my run would feel a tad bit easier than that brutal bike. It did….just not fast enough to catch the lady in pink. Normann was out at the turn around 3 mile point and I was still feeling pretty strong. I asked him "How far?" "Two minutes, and you look better!" was his response. Oh wow! I had made up a minute in three miles? I was wondering a little bit who was trying to be nice to me :) regardless, I tried hard to catch her. She seemingly had put on the turbo because I could no longer see her up the road…..still I buried my head and tried to keep a positive frame of mind. I thought about Natascha Badmann and how she is always smiling away out there. I tried to smile too but I think it came out more like a grimace…...

The volunteers and people on the course was amazing. It was so adorable hearing the kiddie volunteers get excited if you grabbed water from them. I grabbed water from one early on in the race and he yelled "YES!!’. It made me laugh. There was one party animal playing the Rocky theme song, he was yelling like crazy, I think I saw a large beer in his hand. I tried to take in drinks and calories, so much cold out on the bike has left me in a deficit. I was hungry! My dad was also out there and recruited about 20 people to yell my name at one point, that also made me smile a bit. With three miles to go I could see that unless Michelie was forced to some tragic meltdown I was not going to catch her. On a good note I could also see that unless I was forced to a tragic meltdown Erica was not going to catch ME. With second place in the bag I could relax a little bit, and enjoy the last three miles as much as possible.The sun was out in full force now….strange to be pouring water over my head to cool off after beginning the day with thermal tights on! Normann came up on me with his bike and I was very glad to see him, he has such a great happy energy about him. I was also very glad for my 2nd female bike lead, he was gently asking the age groupers on their first lap to move to the side as I passed. They all did so with huge grace. Thank you to any of you reading this!! I was grateful!!

Not a bad day’s work, there are some good signs for my upcoming Ironman Arizona. I am hoping to have a more "on" day as the lady in pink will also be there in full force I am sure of it! Well done to Michelie, you are an amazing competitor.

Thank you to all for the support I had out there on race day. To all the people who cheered and competed themselves. To my amazing new team Tri Dubai, your support is like a big warm hug; to Asics for providing me with "Ruby Slippers" and anything I else I need at the drop of a hat; to Guru bicycles for my machine the Crono, that moves me along even when my legs won’t! to Recover Ease for getting me through my tough training regimen; to Blue Seventy for the best wetsuit I have ever put on- the Helix! I love it! ;to Nuun, for making all my water taste yummy and for keeping me properly hydrated; to Badger Ford for giving me an adorable blue hot rod to zip around town in!; to Zipp Wheels for my super stealthy wheelset; to Run Together/ Tri Together, for providing me with inspiration! ; to my friends at Jack and Adams, for providing me with the best bike service ever and for giving me a safe haven to take my bike to; to Gilbert for providing me with the best run workouts on the planet and inspiration daily through his presence alone; to Karen at "Go with the Flow" for providing me with wonderful care and taking me to that happy place; to Lucy and Carl at Massage Therapy for keeping my muscles feeling like butta; to AJ at Advanced Rehab, Cassidy with Massage Ball, and of course, Pieter (Stroopenwafles!) at Concentra for keeping me fit and healthy…..to Carri, Paul, Cindy, Ashton, Christy, David, Mom, Dad, Robby, Flynn, and all of my other wonderful caring friends and people in my life. I am so blessed.

On to to rest up for Ironman Arizona!

Thanks for reading,
Desiree