"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT"

I went to St. Croix with different types of goals for my race. Instead of my goal JUST being to qualify for Kona, Lesley and I sat down and figured that I need to achieve certain things before expecting to qualify. The main one being nutrition. Sometimes I simply forget to do things. After a Dave Matthews concert one year, I realized that I honestly forgot to listen to the songs except for like 3. When there is a lot going on around me, I get a little frazzled! So the main goal for St. Croix was to concentrate on nutrition. My other goal was to hold back on the bike a bit so I could have a solid run. In previous races, I just swam and biked as hard as I could and would trot my way to the finish line. Well, I'm sick of trotting and I want to post the run splits that I do during training. Kona was fo shizzle a goal, but I wasn't going to have it be my end all, be all. In fact, the two girls in my AG that beat me bitch slapped me with their times, but I couldn't be more satisfied with this race. This is the first time that I felt I truly pushed it the whole time and never let up. I earned my third place slot ... I didn't just happen to win like last year. After some reflecting from this race, I have decided that I never was EXTREMELY satisfied about qualifying for Worlds because, in a way, it came too easily. I qualified at St. George after walking a good 6-8 miles and I qualified at Boise after "running" a 2:08. Don't get me wrong, I know that I earned those slots and put forth the hard work, but I worked SO freakin' hard at St. Croix and was no where near a slot. I have also never worked so hard during training, so having a solid race really put a smile on my face.

My mom and dad always say that I look so miserable while I'm racing and that I'm never smiling, usually because I'm bonking like a biotch on the run! This race I made another personal goal to HAVE FUN. I got a text from Tanya the day before the race and she said, "No neg self talk this weekend!! F*ck that - all good talk. You ARE strong - period. Don't worry or concern ourself w/ what other people think!!" That text made me be like, "oh! duh! I do this for fun, but I haven't had fun in a race for a long ass time." I was so caught up with these two girls in my AG who are from West point and go 4:4x in the half Ironman distance. I spent sleepless nights wondering if they were going to show up, if they train hills, if they would take the Kona slot, etc, etc. After reading T's text, I realized like who gives a fudge if they do or don't - there is NOTHING I can change now.

On to zee race:

SWIM -
Holy guacamole!! This shit was tough! It was extremely choppy going out, and the riptide/current (umm I don't know the difference!) coming back was hell! Coming back, it felt like when you are trying to swim out of the water and the waves keep pulling you back. It was such a weird feeling of trying so hard and literally not going anywhere. After swimming like an asshole-io at Oceanside, I'm really happy that I swam strong the whole time. My time was 32:xx which normally would blow for me, but I had the 3rd fastest female amateur split and the 1st was only ~40 seconds faster. That shows how hard this swim was!

BIKE -
I said damn! If people thought St. George was too hard, then I would NOT recommend this course!! I was really surprised by this course. Everyone blabs about "The Beast" and how it's so hard, blah blah blah. Yes, it wasn't cute climbing a hill that has some 21% pitches, but The Beast honestly wasn't the bad part about this course. I was so mentally prepared for this hill, so when I got to it, I just went to an easy gear and spun to the top. Well, I tried to spin as much as possible .. it wasn't easy with the steepness! What really sucked about this course was having to climb Beast #2...3,4,5,6,7,8.....745892!!! At least during St. George we climbed a hill, but then we got recovery on a downhill section or flat. The downhills were extremely technical with lots of tight turns. We would go downhill, make a 120 degree turn, losing all momentum, and then have to climb again. Not to mention the freaking humidity was draining like whoa. And the headwind. And crosswind. And downpour rain. I think I might have taken it TOO easy on the bike, but oh well. Lesley and I agreed that I'd average 230watts for the first half of the ride and between 240 and 250 for the second half. Well my powermeter refused to turn on, so I had to go off of feel. I think I was just really "feeling" a cruisey ride!

The first girl in my AG passed me at mile 15..like I wasn't even moving. The next girl passed me at mile 25, but I was able to catch back up to her and tell her where the other girl was located and how far ahead she was. The rest of the ride I was holding on for dear life trying not to get blown over. I also had a Wu Tang Clan song stuck in my head for about 40 miles. The goes, "Wu Tang Clan ain't nothing to f*ck with" so I just opted out a few words to make it, "St. Croix hills ain't nothing to f*ck with" ... on repeat. What did make me laugh, besides creating songs in my head, was this one man while I was climbing The Beast. The Beast is only 7/10 of mile, but it a full of sharp turns, so if you turn at a weird angle, you are screwed. The one turn that lead to a 21% grade a whole bunch of men were forced to get off their bikes and walk up that section. I was chugging along and this one guy saw me - the only person on their bike .. AND a female - and he starts screaming, "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" I tried to laugh, but I was out of oxygen. Anyways, his little line kept me going the rest of the race.

RUN -
This run was the bomb. We ran out of town, through hills, to the grounds of The Buccaneer which was a resort. We then ran through the resort which had steep ass hills and was also mostly trail. We then made our way back through the hills to transition area and did it all over again. Before I left, I was talking to Simon, Lesley's husband, and explaining that I always feel like I am being hunted on the run. Usually, when I am not racing against superstars like the West point girls, I don't get caught until the run. When I am hunted down. (cough, Oceanside, cough). Simon helped give me some techniques to stay within my own race and to not worry about anything else that I cannot ch age during the race. The technique that helped the best with me was counting to 10. So that's what I did - the whole time, was count to 10. It helped maintain my cadence and my breathing patterns. A couple of times I ended up counting to 20, but you get the point. As I was making my way back to the finish line, I see Lesley on her bike riding back to her homestay. I couldn't really breathe at that point, so I just threw my cup of water at her hoping she'd recognize that it was me. It was so awesome and inspiring when she turned around and started riding along next to me for a bit cheering me on and encouraging me. She told me I only had 2.5 miles left and normally I'd be like, "aw, shit!" but it seemed like nothing. With a mile left to go, I was able to increase my speed and drop a couple of people who I'd been running with. I crossed the finish with a smile on my face knowing that I competed well throughout the entire race. Even with cramps in my right quad, I kept on going and I really didn't think that I was going to give up during any point in that run. That sure was a first! Some guy after the race told me he kept trying to catch me during the run, but couldn't I almost shit my pants because usually people pass me like a rocket on the run!!

I came in 3rd for my AG, way far behind 1st and 2nd, but it was really fun watching them race. The second place girl came back from a not so great swim and was only 2 minutes behind the winner. I had fun cheering them on throughout the race and letting them know where the other one was. As for my time, well I never though I would be over the 6 hour mark for a half Ironman, but you really just can't judge the time for this race. The course was that brutal that times are totally thrown out the window. Everyone that I talked to said their time was 40 minutes slower than what it usually is at a half. To give you an idea, the girl who won our AG last year went 5:36 -- but went low 10 at Kona. This course was crazy, but I can't wait to do it again.

My mama and dada really made the trip worth it. They are the perfect race sherpas (besides Elaine!) and they made this week so easy for me. Having people there when you're not racing with anyone else makes such a huge impact. I saw my mom during the swim and I waved to her, oops I guess I wasn't focusing! And Ma and Da were right there during the bike and during the run. The days leading up to the race they just let me be - I like to be a hermit and be secluded, but they were always around when I needed them. So, thank you Mama Bird and Doo, I appreciate you guys so much!!! They also got to meet Lesley which was really cool and they love her. Les took us to the awards ceremony so it was a lot of fun for all of us to hang out. It was SO amazing to watch Lesley race after not being able to run for 3 month prior to the event and she freaking killed it. 4th overall on a ass kicking course. Simply amazing!



~~ and before I forget, I got so many compliments on my kit (SOAS Racing) Everything from the color to the fit. Check out soasracing.com or you can check out Nytro or Running Skirts! Serious comfort right there! My calves were cramp free in my 2xu calf guards - holla! I had such sore calves after Oceanside where I forgot my 2xu, it was amazing what a difference they made in my performance AND recovery. ~~

NEXT UP, Ironman CdA !!!!!!

OH! Big old fat congrats to everyone who did Wildflower and Spring Sprint! Trina killed in, 3rd AG, 5th amateur female, fastest AG bike split. Bolly and Sonny TSU on their respective courses, and everyone who finished did a great job.

GOOD LUCK to Donald MacDonald, Debbie, and Cristy at Ironman St. George!! Can you believe Cristy is racing SG one week after St. Croix?1 Certified badass!!!!!!