05/22/2024
Ironman Chattanooga 70.3- May 19, 2024
This was my first triathlon of 2024 and came 7 months after Kona last October. It has been a long winter in Colorado with consistently cold temperatures and late spring snow at our home in Evergreen at 7500 feet elevation. Almost all of my training on the bike leading into this race was on the trainer. I did make it outside for a two hour ride with BFF Kirsten Boson Miller a few weeks before Chatty. Both of us had serious bike crashes in the weeks leading into Kona last fall, so I know we were both a little hesitant to get out on the bike until conditions were truly favorable for us this spring. So, I guess I was not really feeling self-confident going into this race knowing that I had not been training on the bike as I normally would have leading into a big race. And, once you have a big bike crash, there is a bit of loss of that fearlessness which drives that fierce competition within us all on the IM bike course. I decided to use the day to be safe, swift and rebuild that sense of ME on the bike. Chatty was meant to be a rebuilding race for me- early season, rust buster, shake the cobwebs off, have fun and smile a lot race ;)
The other limiter I had going into this race was swimming. In the great state of Colorado, if you race before June, chances are you will not have any open water swims under your belt for practice before race day. My last OWS was Kona- 7 months earlier- and that was in a swim skin, not a full wetsuit. I did take a nice practice swim in my wetsuit the day before the race last weekend. It felt good but was only 300 meters. But, I really do not worry much about the swim in my races. I love the water and really enjoy swimming. My race plan was to line up with the 30-33 min swimmers and jump off the dock and go! The only delay for me race morning was that the porta potty lines were a mile long and that held all of us up. By the time the National Anthem was sung and the pros wet off, I was still in line and NOT in my wetsuit. This delay caused me to start back further in the swim start than I had hoped and once in the water, I was delayed in the water a few times by slower swimmers in front of me and the need to swim around a lot of people. The swim in Chattanooga is 1.4 miles instead of 1.2 miles- so even with the longer distance, I came in at a reasonable solid time but not as fast as I normally would. I got out of the water in 13th position in my age group. I am usually in the top 5. However, races are not determined by the swim, and I had a whole morning in front of me to bring my race together so onward and upward we go!
T1: Pretty uneventful here- I came out of the water with my teammate and friend Laura Gfeller. The theme of the day was -Laura and Courtney stick together from beginning to end ;) We shared a hotel room, ate breakfast together, walked to transition together, rode the bus to the start together, jumped off the dock together, got out of the swim together and pretty much saw each other all over the bike and run courses. It was awesome and fun! The run to T1 from swim exit is a little longer and up a hill/ramp so my heart rate spiked a bit here, but I felt great getting on my bike and off I went- T1 time was about 4 minutes which was pretty standard for the .4 mile run to mount line.
Bike: Plan on the bike was to hold steady at my Best Bike Split projected power intervals and to settle in, be safe with so many racers on course and to time my nutrition well so that I stayed fueled and hydrated on time for the strongest ride I could have as the heat increased through the morning. It was already 75 degrees when I got on the bike, so it was going to be a very hot and humid day. That is just Chattanooga, Tennessee! I put my head down, stayed very aware of cyclists around me and hit the road. By mile 25 I knew that this was going to be a strong ride for me as I felt powerful and fast. Everything seemed to be going to plan. However, there were a lot of riders who apparently did not think the rules applied to them- or they were unaware of the importance of following them- and this was discouraging for those of us who were trying to ride a clean race and not draft in pelotons on course for free speed. That has become a huge problem in our sport. There were three very serious bike crashes on course last Sunday. It is always devastating to see fellow racers down and these were bad crashes involving medical personnel on site for serious injuries. That jolted me a bit and caused me to slow down a great deal as I had a few moments of panic remembering my own crash- I decided it was so much better to slow and arrive in transition safely. All in all, even with delays behind a few cars and several athletes blocking the course, I managed to move up in the AG rankings and ended with the 7th fastest bike of the day for W50-54 with 2:42:33 at 20.98 mph. I was very pleased with that!
T2- Boy, that was a slow transition for me at 4 minutes. I lost some time there since I had to use the bathroom and also had a longer run in to my rack with my cleats on. But, I was not that worried in the moment as it allowed my heart rate to come down a bit and I took in a Maurten gel in prep for the run. I was expecting my legs to feel crappy since I knew that I had pushed a bit more on the ike but as I ran out or T2, I was pleasantly surprised that my legs felt pretty darn good! YES!!
Run: Well, most of you know that after my bike crash last September, my right hip was pretty messed up. It was mostly soft tissues injuries- hematoma, seroma, glute med tendinopathy and tremendous pain at my greater trochanter when running. This injury tanked my run in Kona and my hip needed a lot of down time after IMWC to settle down before I could run again. So, my run training leading into Chatty was very conservative. I did only one 13 mile run in my build to this race. Most of my runs were between 8-10 miles and many were modified runs on the treadmill with time on the elliptical and stair climber to reduce impact on my hip. But, I did do a ton of circuit training, strength in general and unilateral strength. I contribute my success on the run last weekend to this cross training. I honestly felt great on my run in Chattanooga. The run is no longer my strength on the race course. At 54 years old, I have had enough injuries in my past that running can be really hard at time for me. So, I have to be strategic with my training to set myself up for success. My nutrition was dialed in well from previous races- I took in my hydration, calories and sodium on time and my energy stayed even throughout the 13.1 mile run. I decided not to be a hero and tackled the steeper hills on the course strategically- I sped walked up them and then tackled the downhills well after resetting my run form. I took walk breaks at the aid stations as I grabbed ice and shoved it down my shirt and put it in my het- it was so hot out there! That gave me just enough of a break to get my heart rate back under control and to hit the next mile consistently and on pace. I kept checking my pace and I was a little amazed that it was not dropping more on the second lap. I was excited and grateful that I was holding steady. As, I crossed the bridge for the final time headed to the race finish, I realized that this may indeed be one of my faster race results for the 70.3 distance. I do not usually look at my race time while on course but I do have a feeling of where I am based on my pacing for the day. So, I knew that I would be crossing the finish in under 5:30. That was my goal for the day, so I was pleased heading down that final steep hill and entering the Ironman chute! My The Cupcake Cartel support crew was right there cheering, and I almost started crying when I saw them. Some days end up being so much better than expected and it is so special to have friends there with you to celebrate. I crossed the finish line knowing that I had left it all out there on that beautiful course. My run time was 1:56:06 and 6th in AG. My final time 5:19 and that also placed me in 6th place out of 126 W50-54. So pleased. Especially because I am 54 and the oldest in my AG. That makes a difference these days- 4 years and menopause has a been impact on racing. So- even though I just missed the podium- I am just so thrilled with my result. I am proud of how hard I worked out there. There are always times when you feel like you could quit- walk for longer periods of time- especially in hot conditions like we had in Chattanooga. But, I kept telling myself- "Do it, Court, You've got this. Get it done. BELIEVE."
Thank you to everyone who was cheering on course and in life. It means the world. xoxo
