Victoria 70.3 Race Report 2018

IM Victoria 70.3 Race Report

June 3, 2018

My daughter Campbell was supposed to be my Sherpa for this race, but a choir concert put a wrench in our plans.  My mom might have been the back up, but it was so nice to have her with me.  We spend so little time with just her and me, which made this time together extra special.  Thanks, Mom for accompanying me on this trip.

We arrived on Friday in Victoria BC via the BC Ferry out of Vancouver.  Figuring out how to get to Victoria crowded my thoughts as I was planning this race.  Finally, I consulted with my Victoria veteran friends and I think I made the correct choice.  It was nice because we weren’t racing the clock trying to make a ferry at a certain time because they ran them every hour.

Once in Victoria, we headed straight to the race site to arrange parking for the weekend. The parking is a bear and many of the locals open up their property and let you pay to park.  Craig was amazing.  For $40, he let us park on his property all 3 days, had a working washroom and then coffee and a food truck on race day.  Definitely look him up if you do this race!  Next was check–in and it took forever. With all that waiting, I had to do something so I was chatting it up with the other gals in the line about previous races and upcoming planned races.  Somehow, the subject of charging your DI2 came up and a black cloud came over me.  I had not charged my DI2 prior to leaving town and I had not brought my charger with me.  My mom would say that I remained amazingly calm. I finished registration and went to the merchandise tent where I gave all my money to Ironman.  You just can’t leave without a name shirt and even just one is hard!  While waiting in line to pay, I explained my realization to Mom and she asked what we were going to do.  My reply, “Nothing until we know something is wrong.”  In my mind, I had already figured out what my next steps would be if there wasn’t a full charge but I wasn’t going to let her in on my freak out.  Once our purchases were made we went straight to the car and checked the battery – Full charge.  **Big Exhale**

Our accommodations were downtown and about 20 minutes from the race site.  We went and checked in and no sooner learned that the Airbnb that I had rented abutted the local rescue mission.  The owner cautioned us that there was a lot of homeless and drugs and to be aware.  This did not make me feel safe!  The good part is that we had underground parking and inside access to the apartment.  We settled in for the night.  Unfortunately, it was not a great night sleep because there was no air movement in the place despite a fan and open window.  It was so hot and difficult to sleep.  We made a plan to keep the door open the next night to see if made it any better.

Saturday was a lazy morning.  I made breakfast and Mom and I got to spend some quality time together.  We headed back to the race site at 11am for the athlete briefing and bike drop off.  Next up was a met up with the PNW Swim bike Moms at the downtown indoor market. It was great spending some time with my online friends in person.  We represent many different experience and competition levels but share the love of triathlon.  It is just nice getting to talk triathlon for hours and no one got that glazed over look in their eyes.  After everyone else left, Mom and I explored this little indoor farmer’s market.  We found amazing teas, chocolate from all over the world and the most wonderful variety of balsamic vinegars.  We definitely supported the Victoria economy.

Time for dinner and I wanted meat.  I usually enjoy fish and rice but this night was definitely a meat and potatoes night.  We found a lovely restaurant on the water and I had a great steak cooked to perfection with a compound butter that added the perfect flavor.  We took the long way back home and explored the waterfront and some of the other parts of town we hadn’t seen yet.  Once back at the Airbnb, we got ready for bed and enjoyed a treat. At lunch earlier, one of the other athletes was talking about how her coach made her eat a pint of ice cream the night before every race.  There was no way I was eating a pint of ice cream but we did enjoy my favorite greek yogurt that we picked up on our way through Seattle.  If you get the chance to have some Ellenos, it is worth the dairy!  I got into bed about 10:30, which is much later than normal, but it was just too hot and my monkey brain was going crazy with feelings that I was forgetting something because I hadn’t anally packed and planned for this trip.

3:45 am race morning came way too fast.  Sleep was better but still not good.  I woke up hot and not refreshed due to a short night of sleep. I was thankful that we had packed the car the night before so all that was left was to get dressed and gather a few things before we headed out the door.  During our car ride to the race site, I began eating my breakfast. I had both bananas down before we got there.  I was definitely more hungry than normal.

I was so thankful for my parking spot on Sunday.  We quickly parked the car and made the less than 5-minute walk to transition. First body marking and then setting up transition.  Body marking was uneventful but as I was setting up my transition and filling water bottles, I realized that I was one short.  This meant I was short 200 calories.  I chose to put it all on the bike and go without prior to the race.  Probably not my best choice in hindsight.  I finishing getting everything set up and took my wetsuit, goggles and cap and went to find my mom.  She had found a few of the other PNW SBM’s and so I sat down to eat my breakfast (4 hard boiled eggs and a RX bar).  I quickly put on my wetsuit because there were the biggest mosquitoes ever trying to eat us for breakfast.  By the time I finished eating we had just 15 minutes left for warm-up, somehow time had flown by.  This never happens on race morning.  I dropped my flip-flops and sweatshirt off at my bag and headed down to the swim.  I barely got in the water to warm up and they were telling us we had only 5 minutes.  A full warm up is very important to me.  I take my time to get my breathing calmed down and to feel comfortable in my wetsuit in the water and I just didn’t have time to make this happen. I swam a few 100 yards and it was time to line up.  I am not sure why this was all so rushed because we ended up standing around what felt like forever.

Once line up, the Canadian National Anthem was sung – Michael missed a good one (he loves ‘O Canada’)!  I had chosen to be at the back end of the 35-40 minute group this race.  In previous races, I had been at the front of the 40-45 and I always felt like I had lots of slow swimmers to maneuver.  I was hoping that this would decrease my obstacles during this first part of the race.  The cannon sounded and the pro men then women entered the water.  Finally it was the age-groupers turn.  I entered the water a little slower than usual and it took until the 5thbuoy out (8 buoys out and 8 buoys in) to finally feel like I had a good rhythm.  I was breathing every stroke in the beginning because I couldn’t catch my breath.  Finally at that buoy, I was to my normal every other.  I was only swam over a couple of times and I felt like I had plenty of room. I am definitely going to continue lining up in this position for future races.

Swim: 42:10

I struggled getting my wetsuit off.  I was so frustrated by the time I got it off that I didn’t have the patience to put my sleeves on (another poor choice).  I was sure this was a 10-minute transition.

T1: 5:13

Out on the bike I was freezing and my nose started to run instantly.  I enjoyed the climbs and descents – lots of wees.  But by mile 20 I was starving and I was choking down my sweet nutrition.  I made deals with myself to keep eating and drinking but it was difficult. I wasn’t hot enough to be thirsty and nothing was satisfying my hunger.  At mile 40, I spotted the very same bike tech that “helped” me at IM Canada but there would be no mechanicals today.  The views were absolutely stunning and kept my mind off the fact that I was racing.  Again, here in Victoria, I think I enjoyed the ride just a little too much.

Bike: 3:20:46

Once back in transition, I quickly dropped off my bike and changed my shoes.  I had meant to grab some of the nutrition that I didn’t eat but I just couldn’t stomach it.

T2: 3:49

Out of transition, there was no one telling us where to go so I just got on the trail and started running.  The entire first kilometer, I thought I was going the wrong way.  Finally I saw the first marker and breathed a huge sigh of relief.  This run was a 2-loop trail run around the lake that we swam in, Elk Lake.  It was largely compact dirt with some single track and a small section of pavement.  It was a fairly undulating course with a couple major hills that took me by surprise.  The rain started at the end of the first loop and I was thankful for the tree canopy that not only would have kept us shaded if it had been sunny but kept us from getting too wet. My goal was to run the half marathon and not give up on myself like I did at Oceanside.  I felt like I pretty much accomplished this.  I wish that I wouldn’t have been quite so hungry and had more oomph to finish the second lap like I did the first.

Going down the finish chute was awesome because of the family and friends that were there. I heard my name and was thankful for what I had accomplished!

Run: 2:16:38

Goals accomplished – I felt good about my performance after every section of the race.  Yes, I wanted to have faster times but they were solid.  I enjoyed the race and didn’t find any dark holes to crawl into.

Things to work on – my nutrition.  What has worked for me in the past is no longer working and I need to re-examine this before IM Louisville in October.  I love getting to work on this part but it is also frustrating because nutrition is my job and I should have this part down but it is all a work in progress.

Total time: 6:28:33