That was a very freaking scary day! It was the scariest swim and 56 mile ride of my life. I was legit terrified.
A thunderstorm ⛈ , hale and a desert wind sand storm ☔️ hit while we were swimming. It started during the last women’s age group wave (my wave), and it got incredibly stronger during the last half of my swim. We had 2 different races that day: pros vs age groupers….But before we go into details……
How did I end up at this race?
I cannot really remember. It was a deferral from IRONMAN New Zealand World Championship 2020 or did I qualify with Ironman VR? All I remember is that in 2020 I qualified for IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand, but then the COVID pandemic hit us and greatly impacted training and racing. I started racing IRONMAN races virtually and I got another qualification for World. Then I re-qualified with IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast.
So here I came…
That whole year and the movement of all those race registrations was somewhat of a blur. However, I ended up here at the IRONMAN 70.3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP St. George, Utah USA - 2021. I’m so glad I did it to prove to myself again that anything is possible. This race was supposed to be awesome despite the late start (read below). And I am so glad that I shared another great experience with April Critelli while meeting many great friends from the Tampa Bay Area.
I know I should not complain…
because many athletes couldn’t race due traveling rules (like European residents), or for heath issues. However, we were a bit bummed because IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship was first scheduled to be in New Zealand. Due to COVID pandemic traveling rules they moved it to Utah allowing any age grouper to qualify with the roll down just to fill up the available spots and recover economic loss. Then they changed the date from Friday to Saturday putting women racing with men and ruining our travel plans. And to add more frustration they let us (women) start after the men dealing with a thunderstorm, sand storm and hail😡. So, this year the field wasn’t as competitive as the previous years.
But let’s go into the race recap:
Pre race logistics were a bit challenging, but very nice on race day. T1 was at Sand Hallow and T2 at the St.George Town Center, close to the finish line. They were pretty far from each other.
THE SWIM
1.2 miles in Sand Hallow Reservoir and in a fricking scary thunderstorm with wind blowing over 40 MPH.
Yes! A thunderstorm ⛈ and a desert wind sand storm ☔️ hit while we were swimming. The pro started at 7 am. My wave (W 45 - 49) was the last one and it started at 9:55 am.
No swim warm up allowed
so I did my usual warm up with push ups and running. I peed 4 times (FOUR!!!) waiting to start the swim. Just stood there around all the other athletes and peed right there in my swim skin standing up. I wasn’t alone. The ground was wet everywhere and we all know where that fluid was coming from. I also poured a full gallon of water in my face and skin suit to avoid the shock in the water. I really wanted to avoid any panic attack that happened in the past. I warmed up by running in place and doing jumping jacks to elevate my heart rate.
The sky was turning grey,
but I trust IRONMAN. If there was any danger they would not put us in the water. right? The water temps felt great (77.8 degrees), so it was not wetsuit legal and I was swimming in my Roka skin suit. I started very easy and slow to the first buoy. I knew that wasting 1 min would be better than feeling hyperventilated. After the second buoy I got into the groove. I was happy and smiling. Counting my strokes to the next buoy.
I started catching up to other athletes in front of me and passing them. I HATE being swam over, so I try really hard not to swim over others. This means I had lots of maneuvering around other athletes which went on only for the first half of the swim.
As soon as I crossed the half point and turn to go back to shore everything changed. The sky and the water were suddenly getting darker and darker, the waves were ridiculously high, and it started raining. The current and strong wind were pushing us to the right and it was so hard to swim toward the next buoy. However I am strong and I did not give up. I swallowed a ridiculous amount of water in a short time, and I literally had to stop and tread to cough water out of my lungs. I asked the support crew if everything was safe, but there were boats and lights everywhere going toward my back (far away from shore). I spent the rest of the swim portion just, well, trying to get to shore. I was swimming hard but I felt kind of safe because there were so many boats and kayak around me. I did not realized that they were pulling women (probably around 100 women) out the water for safety bringing them to shore while I was still finishing my swim. Some were forced, some needed help to swim in that crazy water. As a result they had shorter swim time than me. But hey! Safety comes first!
Swim time- 00:50.38
T1
I was shocked! When I came out of the water the metal fencings were flying and everything was falling on the ground. It was raining hard and the wind was unbelievably strong. I started running to my bike. Very few bikes still racked. Shit. Did the bikes fly or was I one of the last athletes out there? To the bike we go.
THE BIKE
56 miles with 3.442' of elevation gain
I started my bike screaming what a F…. Did just happen? 😱 I was still shocked. I was cold. It was dark and wet. My hand were freezing in the wind and rain. I got warmed up after 15-20 min because I was pushing my power. I saw a couple of bike crashes (they reported over a dozens crashes on course but gladly no one was severed injured). Only after 30 miles the rain stopped and it was cloudy. The bike course was AMAZING even though it was wet and dark. The roads were SO SMOOTH (until the very end) and the scenery was gorgeous. As the course progressed I would grind up the climbs and cruise down hill hitting speeds in the 34-35’s quite often (I was afraid to go faster on those wet roads and with that strong crosswind). I held strong on the course. When I was going uphill passing many people along the way. I did get passed every now and then when going downhill. My body was feeling good on the bike, but I was outside my mental comfort zone.
My riding plan was to ride at my 85% FTP
My goal was to have a strong ride, but not burn too many matches as my REAL goal was to run the entire run and not fall apart. But I was planning on crushing the Snow Canyon climb 45 miles in because I knew I could recover on the downhill after. I knew that my low cadence work and strength training was going to pay me back. I hit the snow canyon hilly route with no rain…Here we go. The 5 mile Snow Canyon climb is one of the highlights of St. George and is hyped up as a monster of a hill, however I found it to be the exact opposite. The scenery is incredibly beautiful, but the hill itself was kind of disappointing. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I was riding it and expecting the hard part to come and then I was at the top. I hadn’t given myself the chance to hurt like I was expecting. I am not saying that It was easy, I tried to focus on a mile at a time in order to distract myself from the pain that was certainly in my future. “Pain is always temporary.”
But…
as soon I turned at mile 46 to go downhill toward St George, the thunderstorm ⛈ hit again this time with freaking HAIL. And it was hurting! The crosswind was scary and didn’t feel safe to go fast downhill.
I have never felt so out of my league.
I took the descent very easy
as you know I am a freak riding downhill. Yes I am still afraid to go too fast even if I was impressed with how well the roads were maintained.
And I knew that downhill I would be much slower than others… and if you know me … you know why… lol
I could not stay on top of my power plan, but I did it with my nutrition. I drank 3 of Infinit GoFar. I peed 4-6 times… I lost count.
Once I hit Diagonal Street, I was happy thinking that finally I would be out of danger from slipping or be caught in a thunder.
BIKE TIME- 03:06.57
T2
Bike catchers were a treat. I run to the T2/run gear bag waiting for me at the rack. I headed out on the run course and of course the sun finally came out!
THE RUN
13.1 miles with 1,293' of elevation gain
“If you’re not where you want to be coming off the bike, there is still time.” This time my motto did not really work! I Knew that I was way behind my time goals because of the weather condition and at that point it was just about finishing while being thankful that I was not hurt and that I overcame many mental barriers. Once I hit the hilly and sunny run I was so demotivated but I was still smiling and talking to everyone. At that point it was just about living and appreciating the moments.
The run course is hard. I don’t know any way to sugar coat it. I had been warned over and over again by athletes who had raced it previously and I feel like I prepared appropriately for it, but it didn't make it any less hard. We biked the run course 2 days before and I won’t lie...it scared me. The hills are just so long with some pretty steep sections with absolutely NO flat sections to be found. You’re either running uphill or downhill. In training, I did a lot of hilly runs at 3-7% grade. The course is all asphalt with some cement sidewalks but it is certainly hot and exposed. Absolutely ZERO shade to be found.
I chunked the run
out in sections in my head – when it was uphill I focused on posture and foot strike and I was alternating walk/run, when it turned to downhill I relaxed and engaged my hamstrings. Keeping my brain engaged made the miles fly by.
After the first two miles I thought that I had this, I had a good pace, and the climb wasn’t killing me. Then came the real hill! It got steep and just seemed to keep going. I just kept pushing forward. Finally we got to go downhill. It was a welcome relief, but it was steep and not easy. The rest of the course continued in this fashion, up and then down. I looked forward to each aid station, knowing that when I reached one another mile was in the books. I stopped/walking and grabbed a cup of ice to put in my bra and bottle.
The temperature was rising,
but it wasn’t too bad. Felt much better than the temperatures I experienced in Florida during summer. Finally I reach mile 10, I was at the home stretch. I had one more steep climb and then it was downhill the rest of the way. I powered though that last climb, it was really something. I met Jill and we walked through the last hill. Then I cruised down towards the finish. The downhill momentum was great, but I was pushing it as fast as I could go. I got passed by a few people and passed many more. I was in the home stretch and I knew I wasn’t even close to getting my time. However,
I just went for it
and started sprinting! I ended up finishing in 6:20:28. I was a little disappointed to say the least. The race was much more of a challenge than I though because of the weather conditions, so I’m very happy I finished without getting hurt.
At the end, I know I could have pushed more.
RUN NUTRITION: I didn’t skip a single aid station for ice. I chose to carry my Base Rocket Formula with me for this run and rely on the aid stations just for ice and water. I also had my Cliff gels. I never felt overly hot. I never had any gut issues. And most importantly, I never really had a drop in energy. In total, I took 2 Base formulas and 2 gels.
RUN TIME- 02:13.56
FINAL TIME- 06:20.38
Of course my swim, bike and run was considerably slower than many previous 70.3 because of the weather, elevation gain and heat on the run. I crossed the finish line filled with so much joy to be safely finished and with a new-found enthusiasm and motivation for this sport.
I share this to encourage you and remind you that your mind is your most valuable tool, but if you’re not careful, it can also ruin you. Be aware and make the decision to be positive – it IS a decision.
Don't be afraid to set goals and let them become true - you may be surprised at what you can achieve.
You wouldn’t think there was a bad weather looking at the pro times and the first men’s waves because they had perfect condition with overcast and no wind. I am just so thankful I made it through this course winning over my fears. My time was S…. 💩, but damn. That was a great achievement.
Post Race…
April and I packed up as soon as we finished the race and headed to our adventurous trip to the some of the best USA National Parks starting with Zion then Bryce National Park, Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches, Capitol Reef and Canyonland, which I HIGHLY recommend!
The Narrows ZION NATIONAL PARK
Bryce National Park
Coral Pink Sand Dune State Park
Kanab 13.1 hike from Buckskin Gulch to WirePass
Lower Antalope Canyon
Lower Antelope Canyon
Kayaking from Colorado River (Glen Canyon) to the Antelope Creek and the Hike again to the lower
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Capitol Reef National Park