2017 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships - September 9, 2017 (Women's-Only Race Day) - Katie's Race Report

TRAVEL/PRE-RACE

900 miles of driving is a lot for anyone, but especially so for us given that we had both been sick for the previous 3-4 weeks, and were fighting unideal work schedules and capacities. One of the main factors in deciding to drive to Tennessee was we wanted to stop and see Granny in West Virginia (Plan A). Granny is 91 years old and we would've felt awful getting her sick with whatever weird summer's end cough & cold we both had going on.

Thus, we formulated a Plan B. 

Zach & I took 2 days to drive down to Chattanooga. The only “must see” place on our travels was Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. I visited this garden as a child, and had fond memories of seeing lily pads so large and strong that they could hold a newborn. I wanted to visit as an adult and hopefully get some ideas for our own garden. Funny how it was not near as large and magical as it was to a 6-year old (though Zach's awe at the height of the fountains could suggest otherwise...)

We arrived in Chattanooga on Wednesday evening. Anxious to start my race course previewing, I quickly changed clothes and laced up – heading out on an easy 10K. I really enjoy my pre-race shake-out runs…even moreso after driving 14+ hours.

I wanted to try something new at this world championship: I opted to do some vlogging in order to better document thoughts/feelings as I went through my typical pre-race preparations. It made me wish that I had done the same in Australia. 

Also, Mom & Dad arrived in Chattanooga the following day to help formulate what would be my awesome 2017 IM 70.3 WC CHEER SQUAD! :-D

DAY BEFORE THE RACE

After driving the bike course and seeing the severity of the climb 5 miles into the bike, I knew I needed to make an alteration to my usual plan. Despite the “don’t do anything new on race day,” I consulted with Zach and opted to change the amount of fluids I exited T1 with in favor of not climbing Lookout Mountain with the weight of all my hydration. The new plan was I'd grab an additional water from the first aid station and save 1.3 pounds during the climb.

And, I'm sure all you other triathletes will appreciate this when I can say: I had the absolute best night’s sleep I’ve ever had before a race! That's always a great sign!

RACE DAY!

SWIM

I spent some time with M, D & Z watching the professional women and early AG waves go off while leisurely taking in my pre-race fuel and wetsuiting up. When I decided to head to the swim start, I didn’t realize how far of a walk it was, AND that I had to cross through the traffic of pro women coming out of the water and into T1. Turns out I only had 6 minutes to wiggle my way through a jam-packed crowd and to the swim start dock. It's a good thing there was a rolling start, because... 

...I’ve never had such poor pre-race planning in my life. 

For fear of missing my AG start/correctly seeding myself, I sprinted full-throttle (yes, barefoot, in wetsuit, at straight-up 400m pace) to the start line while picking up my swim cap on the way. Note: swim caps arrived late, so they weren’t in our packets during check-in.

The good news is: I made it. And, ironically, I don't think my body hated me too much, because my heartrate recovered quickly.

This race was my first time doing a rolling start, and I LOVED it! Every 20 seconds or so we would run-run-run-dive! off the dock in groups of 10. (When I found out in the race briefing that we were allowed to dive, I spent the afternoon practicing in the hotel pool….haha). 

We swam up river for over half of the 1.2 miles, though I didn't notice much of a current. The power plant up-river was gracious enough to shut off the plant for the race to decrease the current. THANK YOU!

I'm now a huge fan of rolling swim starts: I had minimal collisions/bunching in the water except while swimming directly into the sun and around the turn buoys. I'm telling you - this rolling start thing is amazing! WAY better than a typical AG start!

T1

(Starting around 0:30)

My watch didn't fit under my new wetsuit, requiring me to remove it before stripping my wetsuit. However, I didn't know until exiting the water that there were wetsuit strippers. So, I didn't have my watch off in time, and I stood there for what seemed like eternity (probably only 5-10 seconds) while the wetsuit stripped took several huge yanks before finally getting it off over my watch.

Volunteers called out our numbers while we ran through, and another volunteer picked up our T1 bag and handed it to us.

TIP: Anytime there is a bagged transition, I always add colorful duct tape to my bag to make it easier to spot. In this case, I added some fancy polka dots. 

BIKE

Lookout Mountain was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be! I just threw it in the easiest gear and kept a steady cadence up the 3.5 mile mountain. A fellow triathlete who is based in NYC and rides Bear Mountain calculated that Lookout Mountain had an average grade of 8% (Bear is 6%), and was 1/2 mile shorter than Bear.

When I summited Lookout and neared the 90º turn at the top (aka: the "hot corner") I waved my hand upward, summoning cheers from the crowd. I have nothing to lose at Worlds, so I like to rile up the crowd as much as I can when I'm feeling good. :-)

Other notable bike course moments:

• There was a dude dressed like Elvis as the base of Lookout. 
• I saw Zach, Mom & Dad at mile 18! Woohoo! They were super easy to spot thanks to the hot pink pom-poms Mom brought. 
• On the biggest downhill of the course, I was stuck behind a car who was stuck behind an extra-cautious biker. I should've been going at least 35mph (judging by my practice ride down the hill two days prior), but I was limited to 25mph behind the car. I contemplated passing by riding on the yellow line. When I asked myself "Will it matter in 10 years if this car doesn't see me, swerves over a little, hits me, and I crash really hard?" I said Yes, yes it would, and backed off, took a deep breath, and tried not to think about how much time I was losing.

T2

I successfully nailed my second-ever flying dismount in a race and gladly handed The Tomahawk off to a volunteer. THANK YOU IRONMAN for providing bike catchers this year! Much appreciated!

Like T1, numbers were called out and a volunteer was waiting with my T2 bag. While I was throwing on running gear, we were told "Just leave your bags where they are! We will pick them up!" Perks of 2017 Worlds: they treated it like a full IM, in almost every aspect!

RUN

As you can see in the video, Z, M & D were all standing there, cheering me on during my run out. Barely audible is me saying, "I want to give you high fives!"

This was one of the tougher run courses I’ve done because there were very few opportunities to just get in the zone and cruise. Aside from running on the Riverwalk and crossing over the bridges, we were either going up or down – and it definitely felt more “up” than “down!”

Within the first mile, I came up on a woman wearing a Pacific SBR kit. I immediately chatted her up – she used to live in Redding! Small world! She asked my name, and then said, “Ohhh! You’re a runner!” I really had no idea what she was talking about, but she seemed to recognize my name so…?

Our pace separated us, which is just as well, because as I ran ahead, I was blessed (haha) to be able to start peeing while running. Possibly TMI – but what about triathlon ISN’T TMI sometimes? – but I must’ve waited so long that my bladder was just like Screw it – NOW is the time! Helpful for me, because I didn’t have to make a stop at a port-a-potty. I can’t say it was a pleasant experience, as most of it went into my shoes (hot liquid dripping into your shoes = eww!). But, this makes me a real triathlete now, right?! I’ve peed on all three legs of the race!

Coming out of the Riverwalk, nearing the second aid station, volunteers were cheering on a woman who was already hardcore power-walking. They encouraged her, and she just yelled back with excitement in her voice “I might be pregnant! I’m not sure!” Get it, girl! Racing for two!

One of the aid stations was staffed by several wheelchair-bound individuals. On both laps, I made sure to grab some water from the handicapped individual - who seemed incredibly excited to contribute. What a great community effort, and refreshing thing to see!

During the second lap, a woman on a stretcher and hooked up to oxygen was being rushed off the course in a golf cart. The woman racing next to me  - chugging up the short, steep hill as I was - didn't hesitate to cross her chest and start to pray.

This was a reminder to me: we are humans first, competitors second.

While I crossed the pedestrian bridge for the final time, I gave as many "fives" as I could to excited kids with outstretched arms and funny posters.

I heard the cheering before I saw the red carpet. Thankfully, a man yelled "You've only got 200m to go!" because I was about ready to lay down for a nap....I was just plain old tired.

I milked the "magic carpet" (as they call it at Worlds) for all it was worth, and pulled out my once-a-year finish line airplane. I slapped Mom & Dad five while flying the rest of the way to the finish line. A quick asssessment of my surroundings, and I decided to go for the cartwheel.

The video is pretty funny because you can hear Dad saying, "She's gonna do it! She's gonna do it!"

I'm at the point where if 1.) I'm not in severe medical distress or pain, and 2.) there's no one within kicking range, and 3.) I am not risking a PR, I will cartwheel across the finish.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I hate to say it, but this World Championship wasn't nearly as magical as last year's (uhhh....I think location has something to do with it).

I'm very grateful my parents made the journey down to support...I didn't realize it, but the last race Dad went to was IMMT! He had never seen the full WC production! Mom was at ITU Long Course Worlds with me last year, but agreed that IRONMAN throws - shall we say, a killer party - compared to ITU.

As always, I would never be able to do this without the best co-pilot, teammate, supporter, food-fetcher, video-taper, cow-beller husband I know....ZACH! Thank you!!!! <3