MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Three World Championships in Three Months!!

My RACE RECAP from the Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3 Triathlon.




In short....this race kicked my freaking A@#!!!!

It was a GREAT RACE!

I had TWO objectives going down to this race.

#1: Qualify for the World Championships for this distance. Mission Accomplished!

#2: Experience what Kona will most likely feel like in October, as I have been told this course is much like the Ironman World Champs in Kona. Mission Accomplished!



I felt absolutely great on the swim. Thought I was doing great on the bike. Fell apart on the run....and spent almost TWO hours in the medical tent getting TWO IVs after the race.

In TEN years of racing I have NEVER had to go to the med tent for any help. But, as soon as I crossed the finish line on this race, they pretty much carried me to the tent where I pretty much just lay in a heap while they fixed me up.

The girl next to me had passed out 100 meters from the finish line! Sucks to be her! I was glad I at least crossed the line then decided to lose it!

The funny thing is...I felt absolutely fine the next day! I am hardly even sore from this race! I think I'm going to get more IV's from now on!



So, a couple terrific things I learned on this race:

I can do hard things. yay!

I had NO injuries. I felt great structurally. But, I think I did a poor job fueling on the bike and went into the run on empty (I remember feeling HUNGRY at the end of the bike portion and knowing that isn't such a great way to start a 1/2 marathon!).

At the 5 mile mark on this 13 mile run, I was really worried I wasn't going to finish. It was a hot day...but, it wasn't out of control. I just don't think I was fully acclimated to the heat because of our very cool weather we had experienced here in Utah.

I was light headed and dizzy and started feeling very wobbly on my feet. Not a good feeling when you know you have a ways to go.

The run course was very hilly during certain parts and then had NO shade on the black top with the heat coming down. I knew that if I were to just finish this thing, I had to change my strategy on this run.

So, by mile 5 as I was wobbling along, I just had a total shift in my thinking. I stopped focusing on what anyone else was doing, who was around me, what I was thinking...and made my mind go QUIET.

I consciously started changing my breathing to make it a more deep, yoga focused breath and began counting EVERY step i took. I dropped my head to look 12 inches in front of me, ignored all surroundings and just counted 100 steps on each foot.

By the time I would hit about 800, I would reach the next aid station, pull up, dump water over my head, ice down my shirt, suck on an orange, sip on some water, and then keep counting, breathing and watching the blacktop move under my feet.

This was no social outing. This was NO St. George Ironman with happy smiles, waving, high fiving and feeling good. This was work! But, I hadn't let the blackness that was threatening to overtake my head and body win at that mile 5 aid station.

I was MOVING! I was even passing people again...not that I was really too concerned with that at this point. And, even better than any of that...I was back in charge of myself! I was master and I kept telling my head to be quiet and let my body do what it knows it can do.

Yes...I did what so many of you have always wanted to do. I told myself to SHUT UP and move out of the way!

I am so glad I went down and experienced that. It was a great day for a breakthrough on mind letting matter do what it needs to do!

I am just so lucky and blessed to be doing what I get to do!



It was also great to watch the AMAZING and AWESOME James Lawrence complete his 8TH IRONMAN 70.3 in his quest for a World Record 21 of these races this year (and raise money for his charity)! I actually didn't watch him, cause he started before me and finished before me. But, I was cheering him on in my head on the course! For any of you that want to support his cause (and it is a good one to raise money to build dams in Africa)...go to his website: triandgiveadam.com. He will be doing SEVEN Ironman 70.3 races in 6 weeks starting next week! You can follow his blog and get some tweets from him!



So, that's it for now!

Hope you are all happy and well and enjoying the fantastic summer weather we are FINALLY basking in!

Keep up the good work and I'll look forward to seeing you all in class and out there at the races!



Happy Training,

Keena