2024 Chattanooga 70.3 Race Recap

2024 Chattanooga 70.3

5/18 Day Before

Saturday I woke up feeling good! I did an easy shakeout ride from my house for 30mins followed by an easy run for 10mins. I was able to ride and run with my friend Madeleine and my cousin which made it fun!

5/19 Race Day

Woke up at 3:30am and felt quite groggy. Made breakfast of bagel with peanut butter and a banana. Drank my amino energy drink on the drive to the race start. Got to the race start by 4:20am and set up was very easy. Only had to go back to my transition area twice because I forgot something... 

Took the shuttle to the swim start and used the bathroom for the last time. Got help to put on my wetsuit and it only took me 20mins this time! (that's speedy for me, wetsuit suit up is a process). Hung out with other athletes until getting in line to start and made sure I could get to the front of the line. Was probably 50-70 athletes behind when the gun went off!

Swim

Immediately the cold water hit my face like an ice bath. I was prepared for it and got moving quickly. There was initially a lot of commotion in the water with all of the surrounding athletes. So in response I swam towards the outside of the buoys, closer to the middle of the river. I debated if I should find someone's feet to hold on but decided I shouldn't put my swim in someone else's hands. After 500yds in, I felt calm and was in a groove. After I passed the first 2 bridges, I was instructed by not one, not two, but three separate volunteers to get closer to the shore... I did not listen because I know this river like the back of my hand and no way was I going to swim the long way if I can cut the tangents! Once I got to the bottom of Ross' landing, I was surrounded by a lot of athletes. Someone was on my feet and kept hitting my tracker. It got loose and I was SO worried it was going to fall off if they continued to hit it. I stopped kicking as hard and pulled myself in the last hundred yards. Grabbed onto a volunteer and hoisted my way out of the water and began sprinting towards the (wetsuit) strippers!

T1

T1 was quite long since they adjusted the transition area from last year. Ran to my bike and immediately dropped everything. Grabbed my socks and had to redo my tracker on my ankle as it was very loose. Slipped on my bike shoes, put on my helmet and grabbed my bike. Ran to the bike start and clipped in immediately. 

Bike

Felt good at the start of the bike. There were athletes around but it didn't feel over crowded getting out of downtown. Made sure to grab some skatch and chews within first 5mins. When I hit the railroad tracks, my back bottle popped off and I had to stop. A volunteer graciously grabbed it and ran it up to me before giving me a push off! Quickly caught back up. Once I got out of downtown and hit 193 I started to push. There were a few athletes around on the long stretch but it didn't effect my pacing. By the time I hit the rolling hills though I started to get bogged down with other athletes. There weren't any pelotons but everyone was riding within 2-3 lengths between with no breakages no matter how far ahead you pulled. The course quickly became overcrowded once I got half way through. I had athletes in front, behind and next to me almost the entire time... This was quite disappointed because it made it nearly impossible to keep my pacing. Even if I gave a big surge, there still was no end in sight to the line of athletes. On the bright side, each time my bike computer went off I was shocked by how fast time was going by on the bike. By the time I was making my way back into town, I was ready to get back to racing my race!

T2

Slipped off my bike shoes as I was entering T2 and placed my feet on top. Hopped off bike barefoot and left my shoes on bike which helped save some time. Quickly racked my bike and grabbed my run gear. 

Run

Immediately got my running legs once I started the run. I purposely did NOT look at my watch until 5k in. First 5k felt quite easy and was happy I was holding sub 7:30 pace since I knew it would get hard quickly with the heat and hills. Unfortunately, my stomach hurt whole run... Not sure if it was period cramps or if I didn't eat properly the day before. I had to stop for the bathroom twice with no luck in relieving the stomach ache. Once I hit the second loop, I was ready to be done... My mentality was wavering because I knew my pacing was slowing down but I kept thinking of all the people cheering me on. I had a tremendous support crew and knew they would be proud of me no matter what. 

Summary

Overall, a little disappointed with the race as I feel I have more fitness than what showed. I think this race was a good gage of what I need to expect from the 70.3 competitive field and what will be required of me on race day in order to perform at the level I know I'm capable of. After coming off the full last September, I need to switch my mindset back to speed vs endurance. 

I am reminding myself that there are still a lot of positives to take away. I have been healthy for over a year now thanks to my amazing coach. I am clocking run times I haven't hit since college! I get to train with people I love nearly every day. And I am happier now than I have been since before COVID. Despite a disappointing result, I am still in a good head space and am more hungry now than ever!