But a race you can drive to is always much less of a hassle, so among 70.3 races in early summer, it was between BSLT in Lubbock and the one in Kansas. We did Kansas in ’08 - not a bad race but we figured if we went to Texas we could also see our daughter who lives in Austin ( a mere 6 & 1/2 hours away from Lubbock). Plus BSLT offers the rare situation of both one Kona slot and at least one Clearwater slot in each age group - since my age group is smaller than most others, we only get one Clearwater slot. The goal for me this year was to qualify for Clearwater, and so I thought I had a better chance of getting lucky on the rolldown. And, BSLT has a reputation as a tough race with hills, heat and wind - which apparently keeps a lot of people away because the race never sells out. So, maybe less people competing with me for those magic slots? Maybe.
Unfortunately, one of the women in my age group is many-time Ironman Age Group World Champion, the legendary Missy LeStrange. I saw an article online listing her as one of the top 10 all-time Age Group Champions in Kona. So, pretty much if she shows up for the race, it’s a given that she will win the age group. I googled the names of some of the other 55-59 women that had also signed up for BSLT this year. There were some strong contenders based on their previous race results, but I thought MAYBE if I trained hard and was able to bring it on the day, I might just have a shot at the podium.
Last year’s BSLT race was rainy and humid, but not as hot as it had been in previous years where the temperatures rose above 100 degrees. This year the forecast was for low-mid 90’s. Hot, but not too bad. The worrisome thing for me was that the water temperature was really close to being non-wetsuit-legal. I think they even said “don’t count on wearing wetsuits” at the pre-race meeting (which I didn’t attend). Facebook posts the day before kept saying “no wetsuits at BSLT.” Of course we wouldn’t know for sure til race morning. Though I had borrowed a skinsuit just in case wetsuits were no-go, I’d never swam in it. Though I’ve come a long way in terms of being comfortable in open water, my wetsuit gives me just a little more confidence, and this was going to be my first non-wetsuit triathlon. Our resident Aussie pro triathlete Tim kept telling me that he thought I might even swim better without the wetsuit, but it was a matter of a voice in my head saying “no wetsuit...OMG!” In my conscious mind, I kept telling myself, "no worries! You’ve been swimming well, this is all good" - but nevertheless, the night before the race that worry voice in my head kept waking me up giving me another dose of “oh crap! no wetsuit!”
As we walked into the transition area on race morning, the Race Director was shouting to the arriving athletes “Wetsuits are legal.” Oh happy day. My stress level immediately dropped about 80%. Would I have been OK without my wetsuit? Probably just fine. But it’s all about what’s going on in your HEAD, not necessarily reality.
The game plan was to try to push the swim more than I have in the past, then steady on the bike, picking it up in the last 10 miles if possible, and steady on the run picking it up in the last 3 miles if possible. The time goal was 6 hours.
I was in the second wave, set to go off at 6:35. The good thing about that is that we get started early hopefully to finish before it got too hot. The bad thing is that faster waves behind me will be swimming on top of me. And they did. I got my goggles knocked off my eyes not once but twice. My vision is about 20/400 so without my contacts I’m blind as a bat and wouldn’t have been safe on my bike had I lost them. So, twice, I stopped dead in the water, shook the water out of my goggles, got them back on my eyes and then started swimming again. Frustration. I felt I was swimming pretty well. I know I need to do a better job of swimming behind another swimmer for the drafting advantage - I tried and did a few times. My tendency when it gets congested out there is to avoid those aggressive swimmers who are swinging arms fast and furious, and kicking hard...the best way to do this is to stay off the main traffic line, which obviously means I’m not really swimming the shortest most direct route start to finish. So this obviously cost me some time on the swim.
Came out of the water in 39 minutes. Last year my swim time at BSLT was a ridiculous 51 minutes. 39 minutes is not GREAT but better and I find hope in improvement.
Wetsuit strippers waiting to pull off your wetsuit. I love that. On to T1.
So my coach George had told me that I’ve spent too much time in transition in previous races, and he's right. So I was determined to get in & out of there ASAP. Shoes & helmet on...grabbed my bike....ran out and across the timing mat....then realized I had left my sunglasses back in the transition area on my towel. Damn! For a moment I thought, just go without them! But the wind was already blowing and I thought how bad it would feel for 56 miles with the bright sunshine glare and dried out contacts - I knew I had to go back and get them. There was a volunteer standing there and I yelled to him “hey take my bike please - I have to go back to transition” - he looked a little confused but took the bike and I started off to my towel at the OTHER end of the big transition area, running in bike shoes, and I heard a crashing noise in just a few seconds - I looked back and my bike was on the ground! Damn again! I kept running (in bike shoes) back, dodging other athletes with bikes coming toward me in the narrow walkway toward the bike exit - really frustrating for me & them! Got my sunglasses, started back toward the bike exit, got behind two people with bikes who weren’t in much of a hurry to get out of there - damn again! - finally back to where my bike was on the ground. Now I’m noticing that all my liquid nutrition that was in the bottle between my aero bars has spilled out on the ground. There goes my nutrition plan! I’m starting to calculate in my head how I will replace those calories...guess I’ll be drinking gatorade on the course. Plus my bike time is going to be 2-3 minutes slower than it should be as I’d already crossed the mat and then had to run back to transition. Damn again.
Finally on the road on the bike. Hmm, it’s a little windy. I’m passing people, it’s good. One of the few upsides of being a slow swimmer is passing tons of people who beat you out of the water. :-) Passed a couple of women in my age group in the first 10 miles.
Then up the road a bit I see a woman who looks like Missy. Is it her? Really? Can I really be passing her? OMG. Go for it Pam - pass & keep going.
Now it’s really in my head. I think it was her! And, by golly, she is NOT going to catch me. Bring the heat, push the bike, go!
By the middle of the ride, the wind has picked up. There are 7 big hills on the bike course, but those annoyed me way less than the headwind in the last 10 miles. Took in some salt tabs in the last half of the bike as it was also getting hot. The bike was hard, but knowing that I had to hold off Missy, I tried to keep pushing it with the best pace I could muster and staying relaxed in my upper body. Really glad to see the bike finish line.
My second transition went better than my first. Bike shoes & helmet off, sox & run shoes on, hat on....go!
The run was pretty slow but it was steady. I slowed to a walk for a few seconds at about half the aid stations but then picked it back up to run. Took gatorade and water(to drink and pour on my head & body). They ran out of coke, I hated that - needed some caffeine! I used the wet cloths they were giving out, those helped cool me down a lot. I was passing some people and though some men were passing me, only a few women did. I came up on a woman in my age group around mile 6 and passed her - gave me some added incentive to stay steady so she would not pass me back - and she didn’t.
The last 3 miles were especially hard. I didn’t have any cramping which was good, but my legs just didn’t have much life in them anymore after the hard bike ride. So that was when I knew I was going to have to dig in and find some happy in my head to get me through this. Physically I focused on keeping my arm swing strong and letting my legs follow, and staying relaxed. I remembered some of Mark Allen’s articles and his book Fit Soul Fit Body, and started find that connection to nature to draw on that strength, and reminding myself how grateful and blessed I am to be out here doing this in the first place. It worked; even as tired as I was I found an extra reserve of energy to pick up the pace after mile 12. Something about knowing the finish line is near works wonders.
My finish time was 6 hours 4 minutes. I had taken 28 minutes off my 2009 time at this race. It felt good! I saw Warren right after finishing and he told me that Missy had come in before me - so I was wrong about having passed her. Damn again! But, doing the whole race feeling like I was “hunted” instead of my usual “hunter” position, it was a good thing because I knew I had to keep the pressure on and not ease up. Was it super fast...no...but it was as fast as I could go on the day and THINKING that I was ahead of her gave me a boost.
So George called and said that I’d finished second in my age group, which meant, woo hoo....I would get my Clearwater slot! Missy was first and of course she would get the Kona slot. We tried to find out if she had maybe already qualified for Kona at another race, but didn’t find anything to indicate that was the case. No worries... I was happy...my Clearwater goal had been achieved!
Fast forward to the Awards Ceremony that night. I saw Missy and went up to congratulate her. I introduced myself...she apparently recognized my name as the second place finisher. Then she spoke the golden words, “You know, I already have my Kona slot so I won’t be taking it today.” OMG. I am getting a Kona slot. No Clearwater for me, baby!
I was stunned. I hugged her - she probably thought I was a complete babbling idiot - I was shouting to Warren amidst the loud music playing and it was completely surreal and unbelievable. As it turned out Missy put her name in the Ironman Lottery this year and got a slot that way. Wow, really?! Whatever! - it was my good fortune that the Lottery gods smiled on her, which opened the door for ME to get the Kona slot in Lubbock! It was indeed the Perfect Storm of conditions setting this up for me - her getting the lottery slot, me choosing BSLT to race after being disappointed there last year, me thinking I'd passed her so I pushed myself more, coming in second to her... Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen....I always thought my trip to Kona would be as IronMate to Warren when he qualified. The only way the day could have been better would have been if he’d gotten a slot at BSLT too. He is so deserving and will get there one day, I’m sure of it. Thanks so much for your support of my race and my dreams, my Big Wazza! (Tim’s new name for him! :-) )
So I ended up finishing less than 8 minutes, behind Missy. She kicked my butt in the swim by about 11 minutes (!!!)) - but I beat her by about 7 minutes on the run. She was a little faster on the bike, but then she probably didn't have to run back & get her sunglasses. ha. I feel good about keeping it together mentally in delivering my best performance on a tough day & a tough course, against world-class competition.
Thanks so much to all my friends who sent good wishes after hearing the news of my unbelievable good fortune!!! The support has been so great and I will definitely be looking to all of you IM Hawaii alumni for advice as I begin this journey.
OMG. I’m going to Kona. Now the REAL training begins. After all, I'm sure Missy's afraid of me now. (Even bigger ha ha)
Cheers, everyone!
Awesome way to pull a race together, Pam! Now you just have to get ready for October.
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