Colleen Wilcox Barb’s Race – 7/28/2012 – 70.3

When the season started I was pretty stressed out about how I was going to go from Sprint last season all the way to 70.3 this season. Then one day at a Nellie Gail swim Martha pointed out that Barb’s Racers were on an Olympic Plan until OC Tri at the end of May – a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was going to be on vacation during OC Tri, but I had a different Olympic race scheduled for June 10 and I thought; I can make it from Sprint to Olympic by the end of May, then I trust in Martha’s plans and know that she will help me double that by the end of July. There is a saying “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” and it helped me remember that there were distance milestones between Sprint and 70.3 that I could focus on achieving as time went on.

With that plan in mind I participated in the LA Tri Series which was a really awesome ‘progressive’ distance triathlon series at Bonelli Park in San Dimas. The April 15 race was a Sprint; the May 12 race was about 50% longer; then June 10 was an Olympic distance. As I was running toward the finish line that beautiful June day the tears started flowing – not from the joy of completing my first ever Olympic distance race but from the overwhelming fear of “how am I possibly going to complete twice this distance in just over 6 weeks!”

Martha talked me off that ledge and reminded me that following the plan had gotten me this far, and continuing to follow the plan will get me to my next race goal healthy and ready. So I put away my fears, pulled on my big girl panties and got down to training… a LOT of training. I was so fortunate to have complete support at home and be able to put in the hours of training, laundry, grocery shopping, chiropractic care, massage and sleep that the plan called for. The people in my office got used to getting emails from me in the 4 and 5 o’clock hours of the morning then seeing my IM status change to say that I would be back around 9am (I do love the technology that allows me to work remotely at all hours of the day). There were days that I celebrated a meeting being cancelled because it meant that I could go meet the girls for a swim at Corona Del Mar; and the times that the family engagement was scheduled for the evening instead of the afternoon so I could get in my midday long ride followed by transition run for peak heat training AND still get to shower before meeting up with them ☺.

As we moved into Taper everybody kept talking about the increase in energy… but that wasn’t happening for me. I spoke with Martha and explained that even with the decreased training load I was completely exhausted. She assured me that my energy surge would come, but maybe not until Tuesday. Tuesday night at spin I am sure that I have done something terribly wrong in my training plan because I am still dragging Then, Wednesday morning – it happens… not only the energy, but the ‘euphoria’! It was incredible. Martha had played I Am Woman by Helen Reddy at spin Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I was living the chorus “If I have to; I can do anything; I am strong (strong); I am invincible (invincible); I am woman”. It was awesome!

So, Thursday morning we are up at our usual times. My incredibly supportive (read understanding and tolerant as well) husband John is ready to load my stuff in the car but asks first “Do you want me to load your bike?”, “Is the ice chest ready to put in the car?”, “How about your TriBag?” because he knows that with my training brain and naturally control freakish personality things could get ugly fast if he moves something that I wasn’t done with yet. We get everything loaded and are on the road as scheduled. About 2 hours in I decide to recline my seat and catch a little nap. I wake to find us much further down the road and making good time. We stop for an early lunch, then back on the road. We arrive safe and sound in Windsor, get checked in to the hotel and have time for another little nap. We decide to walk to Windsor High School to check things out before having dinner and getting to bed early.

I decide I would like to swim the river around the same time on Friday morning as I will be racing in it on Saturday, so John and I up are early to grab some breakfast. We caught up with Frances and Michelle, then were joined by Martha. It was really great to sit around talking about Ironman Arizona because it gave me an opportunity to think about something other than the race the next morning. We finish breakfast and head to Johnson’s Beach. The morning air is crisp. Since I will be racing without a wet suit I am doing my practice swim in just my bathing suit. The water temperature is lovely. The water is shallow, just like everybody said, but not as crystal clear as I had anticipated. As I swim back toward the starting point I see more TLVers getting in the water, then encounter even more of them on the shore when I get out. The swim was nice – so I am shocked to find that John is standing on the shore shivering; it seems I was warmer in the water than he was on dry land! We say our goodbyes and head back to the hotel to shower before going to the mandatory race talk.

We met up with several of the girls to attend the first race briefing, then pick up our packet and go stake out an end cap in T2 ☺!!! We do a little expo shopping and walk the transition ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ before heading back to grab lunch while we get out of the heat and off our feet for a few hours before heading back for the team meeting.

We meet back up with Martha and the team for a final meeting. Martha encourages us to remember during the race: “it’s just the moment, not the day”. The dark moments will come, but they will go if we don’t dwell on them; similarly, the moments of nirvana may fade as well. She reminds us to just keep moving forward, that we have trained for this, we are strong, we are ready, and we will finish! I wipe a few tears from my eyes, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what we are all about to do… Wow, the time has come.

We stop for a team photo at the finish line and then part ways and head back to the hotel. John and I walk over to the pasta place across the parking lot and have an early dinner. When we get back to the hotel some of the girls are taking their bikes for a quick final spin and practicing removing and replacing their rear wheels just in case of a dreaded flat. I ride a little, being sure the shift into a low gear before putting my bike away since I will probably forget to do so when I rack it in T1 tomorrow morning. I head back to the room to make a final check of all of my gear and am tucked into bed by 7pm for a really good night of sleep.

We wake at 4am, load the car, get the morning nutrition routine going and head to Johnson’s Beach. John finds a great parking spot and helps me schlep my gear to T1. We arrive to find that Kelly had already staked out the end cap for us and I rack with her and Tricia. I set up my stuff and then head out to make several stops at the Port-a-Potty and watch the festivities get under way. We get to see the Vineman Full competitors start the race and hear the unbelievably fast swim splits of the elites. Then we get to see our AquaBikers into the water. And then it is time for us to be getting ready. Heading back to T1 there are women who didn’t bother to get there early squeezing in on our rack and trying to move our stuff; this is why Martha says get there early. So we make room for the late comers and proceed to get on the swim gear. We head down to the water’s edge, where John is standing with an open TriLaVie bag collecting team flip flops for those who have them.

That was an awful lot to lead up to arriving healthy and prepared at the race start!

Swim – 41:19 (goal <45:00)

I was so busy keeping myself distracted that I almost missed our start. The Light Blue Caps of Wave 14 are in the water and getting a 30 second warning as I am rushing into the water. The horn blows and we are off. It is really crowded so I try to stay close to the left hand buoy. Within the first 50 yards I get a breastroke kick to my left goggle – dang, I hate that… but to quote the movie classic Finding Nemo “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming”. As I continue sighting I see more and more yellow caps, then some purple, and even a few red. It is a little disheartening to see that there are people walking/running next to you in the water who are moving faster that you are. However, being the traditionalist that I am I stay committing to swimming the swim. Even approaching the turnaround I keep my head down and swim, but I need to keep my feet up because I have dragged my toes on the bottom a few times (I guess I do miss the buoyance of the wetsuit at that moment). I see the shore coming near I swim until my fingers touch the bottom and stand up to run through the timing arch. I look down at my Garmin and utter an expletive (to myself since I am in TLV colors) because it took me longer than I think it should have. Apparently my husband was right there, because he has a picture of me coming out of the water, but I was too busy scowling at my Garmin to see him.

T1 – 4:56 (goal < 7:00)

I make the turn along the fence into transition and see/hear Martha cheering me on. I get to my bike (I notice that some of those last minute pushy women have already come and gone – another reminder that the swim took me longer than I wanted) and start my transition. A little different process when you have a pack up all of your T1 stuff instead of just throwing it in a pile. I run over to hand my T1 bag off to John who is standing exactly where he promised he would be (have I mentioned what a great guy he is?) and go back to the rack to grab my bike and head out of transition.

Bike – 3:16:34, Split 1 [29 mi] 17.3 mph, Split 2 [56 mi] 17.1 mph (goal 3:45, 15 mph)

Martha had warned us about the little hill coming out of transition, and we had watched the elites try to mount and then walk/run up the hill instead, so my plan was to walk to top of hill. There were other people stopping to try to clip in at the first flat spot without realizing that there was still a little uphill left. As I am running/walking my bike up the hill I see ahead of me a hard bodied 21 year old (it says so on her calf) in an American flag bikini – yes, I said bikini – mounting her bike in front of me. Good thing she was racing the Women’s Only Barb’s division because I think that hill would have been even more dangerous if it was co-ed!

I make the turn onto the main road just as emergency vehicles are dispatched for a rider who is down. This created a challenge for all of us because we share the road with the cars and at this point there are cars parked at the curb and those that were driving are pulling over to the right to yield the right of way to the emergency vehicles. There were a few close calls but both vehicles and cyclists remained safe and resumed their travels once the emergency vehicles passed.

Now my thoughts turn back to my swim time… what happened? I felt good; it was crowded but I have dealt with that before. There were people walking, but I successfully swam around most of them, only whacking one of them in the calf as I brought my arm up. I just don’t get it… then, less than 2 miles out we came upon the injured rider. It was good to see that she was well enough to be walking/standing – I send some quick positive energy her way as I pass and remind myself that I can’t do anything about my swim time now but I could cause myself more trouble if I don’t focus on the task at hand… just keep riding, riding, riding.

At the Course Talk we were warned about a sharp right turn that we would need to slow down for around Mile 5. Then at the team talk we were told that after we wind our way on the flat just past that sharp right there will be a quick little hill like at the end of Back Bay so we would want to be in a low gear. I think I must look pretty silly on the flat part spinning like crazy in my little gear while everybody else if in their big one because I am not sure how long it is until we get to that hill. Then, we hit the base of the hill and I am ready… I take it in stride while passing people – the two sounds I hear are cursing and the noise of gears under tension being shifted. I get to the top without incident! That felt good – thanks for the inside information!

I took the advice of the wise women who have gone before me and I remember to be in the moment and look around to appreciate where I am. The course is beautiful and I feel great – I have let go of the negative self-talk about the swim and am thinking to myself how much nicer the scenery is here compared to Santiago Canyon. I have a timer set on my watch that is reminding me every 15 minutes to hydrate. Then I have my Gu Packets taped to my center tube marked with the time that they are to be consumed. I am being diligent about staying on plan with my hydration and fueling.

I round a curve to see a pod of TLV turquoise. I flash a quick thumbs up and a big smile and keep riding. As I round the next corner I see Martha and I shout to her “It is a great day!” There is truly no other way to describe how I felt at that moment.

I approach the first aid station and I am ready… I have visualized this and it is just like Martha had described. Brave volunteers with their arms stretched like something from cartoon holding out that sport bottle of water as far as they can. I cruise by and grab the bottle with a firm grip – I certainly don’t want to drop it – and end up squeezing so hard that I watered the poor volunteer. I shout my thanks and apologies as I invert the bottle into my AeroBottle and squeeze it until it is full. Then I chuck it into the discard zone and empty my back pocket of Gu Packet trash as well. Now that was pretty cool!!

I settle in to a comfortably challenging pace. I find that I am passing people on the little climbs, so that makes me feel good. There are a few of us that keep jockeying back and forth but all are in good spirits and courteous riders.

I cruise through the second aid station and use a slightly more relaxed grip in grasping the bottle this time. I see that they are also handing out snack bars as well as Gatorade. I think the first time I was just so focused on that bottle of water that I didn’t see anything else ☺. Again I discard my bottle and empty my trash. Then as I approach the end of the aid station a male rider on my left makes a sudden right in front of me and another guy to go toward the Port-a- Potty, the other guy shouts “watch out” as we dodge the potty stopper and continue on. That got my heart rate going a bit, but all in all another successful moving aid station visit.

Around Mile 35 I realize that I have been following my hydration plan well… and it is catching up with me. In the course talks they said the third aid station was at Mile 38 and in the published information it said it was at Mile 40. I can tell you there is no way I can climb Chalk Hill like this! I gotta go! I am looking at my bike computer and then looking, longingly down the road in front of me just hoping for that moment when I glimpse the sea of orange volunteer shirts. I think I start hallucinating because I swear the mileage on my computer is moving slower than molasses in the winter. Try not to think about it… that’s not working… finally, there they are the volunteers and Port-a-Potties … then I think back to the last aid station and there had been riders standing in line for the Port-a-Potty… please no line… please no line… please no line. I maintain my position toward the right as I ride through the aid station declining the beverages being offered, and announce my intention to stop so those near me are aware and can stay to the left. I pull up, dismount and see the most beautiful sign on the door “ Vacant ”! According to my Garmin that was a 1:35 second stop and then I was back in motion and ready to face Chalk Hill and the last 16 miles on my bike!

Chalk Hill was long… but doable. It was so great to have the locals and volunteers out there cheering us on. There was a woman just below the crest of the hill and she just kept saying “see that white truck, that is the top of the hill, you are almost there, you got it!” It was pretty awesome knowing that the hardest part of the ride was done. I am pretty sure I was grinning the rest of the way back to T2.

As we approached the part where the Full AquaBike and Vineman turn left for the second loop a volunteer points and says “you go straight”. I looked at him with a huge smile and said “Straight is good! Thank you!” Then right there at the corner as we turn into the school driveway I see John along with my cousin Shari and her family who had come from Sacramento to cheer me on – if my smile had faded it was brightened again by that.

T2 – 5:12 (goal <8:00)

I dismount at the arch and push the wrong button on my Garmin – dang it. Push what I think is the right button and keep moving. The first part of the transition is too narrow to pass and I am behind two women who are walking their bikes. As soon as the path widens I pass them on the left at a light jog, pleasantly surprised with how good my legs feel.

I get to my rack and have a little trouble lifting my bike high enough to get the seat over the rack – that was a little humbling. I am changing my shoes and hear a man cheering someone on with the encouraging words “it’s not that hot, honey”… I chuckle to myself because it sure seems hot to me ☺.

I take a little longer than usual on this transition. I actually put on my hat, race belt and fuel belt while still at my transition spot. I grab my bottle off my bike (this was my plan – to have about ¼ bottle of my concentrated liquid nutrition left in the bottle from the bike so I could take it on the run and simply fill with water at the first aid station without having to mess with any powders). Then I start the run out of transition… much to my (pleasant) surprise, I am actually running – I feel really good. I grab two cups of water at the aid station just after the timing mat and wet my cool wings. Then I press the button on my Garmin – at which time it mockingly reports “MultiSport Activities Complete”! Dang it! This is far from complete.

Run – 2:43:26, 12:29 mile (goal < 3:05:00, 14:00 mile)

As I head out of the parking lot I store the Garmin data and reset to Run and keep moving. I am bummed that I don’t have my running race clock anymore, but nothing I can do about it now. Focus on the run and get it done! As I get to the edge of the parking lot John and my cousin’s family are there to cheer me on my way. I really do feel pretty good. I remind myself that I have to stay diligent about my hydration and nutrition. As I am running that first section there is another Barb’s Racer ahead of me asking (more like begging) the spectators if any of them have salt. As I run past I say “I have Salt Sticks if that would help” but at this point she has stopped walked and just says, “yes, please”. So I have to turn around now and go back to her. I give her a Salt Stick (I was carrying 8 more than I planned to need – just in case – so I knew I could spare one) and then turn back around and keep running. A few blocks later she comes up on me, obviously feeling much better, and asks name – she then tells me I am an angel and wishes me luck the rest of the race.

I run to the first aid station and as I approach I open my bottle that I took off my bike. I approach the first volunteer and say “water” and he pours a cup into the bottle, then the volunteer standing next to him approaches me and pours another cup of water in the bottle, then a volunteer with a cup of ice approaches and asks if I would like ice as well. It was like they were reading my mind! They were awesome!

I run to the next aid station and douse myself with water. I resume running and I see the “Barb’s Turnaround” sign and make a mental note of what came before and after it so I don’t miss it when I get to only do half loop next time. I give myself permission to walk some of the uphills – but only until the hill crests and then I have to get running again. I love the aid stations with the hoses and volunteers spraying me down. If they don’t have a hose to do that I just pour a few cups of cold water on my wings and continue on to see what they have a mile down the road at the next aid station. I stick with my hydration and nutrition as my watch continues to beep my 15 minute reminders. When it is time for a Gu Packet instead of fussing to get one from my pack I simply grab one at the next aid station.

Lots of people talk about Chalk Hill on the bike route, but I guess the steep hill on the run doesn’t have a name so nobody talks about it. When I crested that hill the thought that kept me going was that it was past the Barb’s Turnaround so I wouldn’t have to do it again! I saw Martha out there on the run and she prompts with me “as the race gets longer you get…” and I said “closer to the finish line?” and she reminded me that she was looking for a word that rhymed with longer ☺. I got to the far end of the first loop and started seeing teammates on my way back toward the high school. It was nice to give that little cheer, that smile of recognition and maybe a high five as our paths crossed.

Then I see Martha again – this time, she is singing! “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…” Laughing felt good! I keep moving forward, looking forward to that next aid station. Then, I am heading back toward the High School. I turn that corner and there is a group of TLV cheerleaders – they were shouting and smiling, I could feel their energy and excitement; it was incredibly powerful.

As I approach the school parking lot for that teaser section toward the finish line to get my lap bracelet I see that John, my cousin and her family have now moved to the sidewalk and are on my left – their hands go out for high fives as I pass. This is awesome. At this moment I know, not just believe as I always had, but know that I will finish. I make the turn at the EZ Up and collect my purple plastic Vineman bracelet and wear it with pride as I start my final lap.

I pass my family again and smilingly tell them I will be back in a bit. At the corner our TLV cheerleaders are looking up the road for incoming runners so I call out to let them know that I am outbound for my final lap. They again erupt in cheers for me. I feel surprisingly well. I enjoy the fact that I know what the run route is like for the remaining 4+ miles. I like the idea that I go out about two miles before turning around, at which time I will only have about 2 more miles to go. Taking one bite at a time I have eaten almost the entire 70.3 elephant!

I don’t have the race clock on my Garmin because of my button pressing errors earlier and now I am trying to do math in my head – there’s no math in triathlon. I am wondering if there is a “1” I am forgetting to carry as I am trying to calculate my total time. I decide instead of worrying about the math, I will simply concentrate on running these last two miles to the best of my ability. One last aid station stop to water my wings, then I need to keep moving until I cross the finish line.

As I turn the corner where the TLV cheerleaders are Martha is there as well… she calls out to me teasingly “I think this is sub 8:00!” I smile and keep running.

Total Time – 6:51:27 (Published goal <8:00:00, Pocket goal <7:30:00)

As I cross the finish line my family is right there just past the medal table. John got a picture of Barb putting my medal on me – he said he was sorry that he didn’t get a picture of me coming through the finish line, but he wasn’t expecting me so soon ☺

As I had told Martha hours earlier: “It is a great day!”

I texted Martha Sunday morning to let her know that if Barb’s Race had next day on-site registration like the IronMan events I would already have been in line!