Race Report - VineMan Full AquaBike

Ta-da...another race under the belt on the way to IMAZ this year. I feel so freakin' amazing right now. This was a major achievement for me and a big improvement in my overall fitness form Wildflower. What a rush!

Here's my race report with what happened...

The Race Mindset
I considered this race a "C" race...one to keep me progressing in my ability to complete an IronMan, but no pressure for a certain result or time. I selected the Full AquaBike of which there was 2.4 miles swim and 112 mile bike.
Still saying all this, I can be competitive and like to see myself improve over time...those who know me are smiling right now. Competitive? Lucy? No....
And I felt I had something to prove after my Wildflower race in April.

Race Day
Waking up at 4am is no mean feat...but as I was tired from a busy work week I had no issues falling asleep the night before at 9pm - giving me a healthy 7 hours of sleep.
I'd prepared myself with a checklist for the morning {drink ensure, take allergy tablet, fill cycle bottles, ...} which makes my 4am activities a clean system.
I was feeling the standard nerves and unsure if I was going to be able to finish the race - but also excited. I knew I'd trained for this and others had given me confidence and Facebook race cheers that it was definitely possible. Hooray for my virtual support group!

Breakfast and race snacks

Race Day Breakfast - Chocolate Ensure

Arriving at the beach area in the morning and the race day buzz started...tons of cars driving...and seeing the racers get their stuff together let me know "this is it, it's real!"
Walked to the race event and entered the prep area. The usual scramble of people in their morning panic... forgetting this and shouting at someone if they walk into them. Having done a few races and having a mental / written checklist means I still fuss and panic, but way less than I used to, and now I can take the time in to enjoy all the mayhem and beauty around me.
There was a small mist to the morning that made me feel like I was part of nature's morning cleansing routine. And the Napa location at the river was so ideal that I focused on making sure I enjoyed this race and it's surroundings.
I got myself body marked and prepared {body glide, drink red bull, eat banana, ...} as I heard the first gun go off for the Full IronMan participants.

Arriving at VineMan

Body marked up for the day

Personal Note - I would NEVER have worn a sleeveless top a few months ago, so a big positive step for me in my self-image and fitness level to be wearing one AND taking a photo!

6:48am - Bang! And the swim was off! A perfect 72 degrees water temperature meaning full wet suit was not too hot to be in but I also got the full effect of buoyancy. My wave was maybe ~50 women and I stuck to my usual back of pack. I heard a woman shout with 30 seconds to go "back of pack means a last place finish". I wondered why she'd say it, but it still caught my competitive action and I thought "I'll show her"
As the wave started, I had the usual thrashing and kicking and jostling for a comfortable position....taking a good few '00s yards to get there.
But then it was just perfect. I swam an even rhythm and counted and sang and thought of beautiful things and people in my mind. It was a magical moment when I felt like 2 angels were watching me and talked to my Mum and Dad for their spirit and encouragement in the day. I raised my head to breathe and saw the green lushness of the trees lining the bank. A very Zen moment.

I was told the water depth was between 3 -7 feet and was not sure how that would impact my swim. Would I freak out at seeing the bottom? Turned out the water was not very clear, so depth didn't matter for the most part. There were a couple of parts that my hand skimmed the bottom - of which I just thought "how cool is that!" and enjoyed it. I also took advantage of standing up a couple of times - not really for any leverage but just because it seems so at odd to be standing in the middle of an IronMan swim!

Elbow to the Face - Ouch!

After 1 lap I checked my watch and saw it was at 45 minutes. Nice! I ate my TOP TIP Stinger Honey Gu that I had placed in the arm cuff of my wetsuit to give me some energy for lap 2. And off I went! It was busier in the water this time (the relays and Barb's racers were now in the water) and I had to get a bit more jostling in. I met a guy who really had an issue keeping a straight line and as I tried to pass him, he decided to swim over me twice, kick me, then elbow me in the nose. Ouch! as my eyes streamed and I just kept on swimming, knowing I'd leave him for dust.

I came in at a time of 1:35 minutes which beat my expected time of 2 hours by quite a margin!

Transition
Only 1 key thing to say here - wetsuit strippers!!
Man how I love thee volunteers for the job they did. I was running out the water, trying to make a pose for the photo, and suddenly yelled at by people to turn around and zip, flash, off my top half. "sit down" they yelled and next it was off my legs. Fantastic!! It would have taken me a good few minutes to do the same job - so hooray!
The whole transition still took 6 mins with the wet suite strip, changing clothes (shoes, socks,..), eating, and getting bike out of transition area...

It's not me...but a picture of what the wet suit strippers do. Fantastic help!

Bike
I was a bit nervous here and it was cold at 8am in the morning with the fresh morning dew still out there. Was it going to rain or would the predicted 90 degrees weather arrive? I was wearing a sleeveless top after all...

I had my plan to take a sip of my CarboPro every 10 minutes and to eat something every 45 minutes.I also planned to keep the first 56 miles at an 'easy pace' and then start increasing towards a big push from 90 miles + for a strong finish.

Turns out that my legs felt great, but my stomach was not accepting much food. Good thing I ate a lot at breakfast to keep my calories high. I ate 2 bananas, 2 Stinger GUs, 1 Cola Chews, and Carbo Pro drink. I stuffed what I could at the 60 mile special needs pick -up where I had a peanut butter sandwich made. But I paid the price after mile 70 when I felt my energy deplete.

A glimpse for what I look like after 9 hours of racing

I took salt tablets to keep the dehydration at bay and plenty of ibuprofen. I usually get knee pain after 40 miles and this time the perfect day continued. No pain! At mile 70 I felt some twinges but it never got to the pain I've had for the past few months....cue "time to start running" music.

So by mile 80 I was flagging. I kept my mind positive and knew I'd finish, but when I started to face strong headwinds in the 2nd round, I knew the negative split was not going to happen. I also felt quite delirious for the last 20 miles and have to work out how to combat this in future training rides...seeing non-stop black tarmac and white lines made me dizzy!

I finished Chalk Hill at mile 100 (what a place to put this hill!) and then pushed through to the end. Got to the main town and as I turned the corner was excited to get my name announced and photos finish...to find that it was the standard transition for the full IronMan participants...so nothing!
I crossed the line and no cheering, just a random person crossing the line. Big disappointment!

Nigel took my photo instead...

The finish!

Results
I was Bottom 5% in Wildflower and so far this is an improvement to be in the bottom 50% overall. Maybe I could even squeeze a top 50% if I learn how to run? Hee hee...gotta give me something to work on for the next 4 months!

Race Results

Focus Areas for IMAZ
Based on the 9 hour time, I would have another 8 hours to complete the run. I feel comfortable I can build up the legs to do that...but now of course I want to be competitive and go for the best time I can! Maybe beat some of my team mates...

• SWIM: Get the swim time down to a target 1:10 - 1:15 hours
• BIKE: Proud I finished strong with no pain, so now about getting more speed. Perhaps a crazy 6 hour (19 mph avg) target??
• RUN: Guess I better start adding some run/walk into my schedule now and see what pace I can get....

Could I target a 13 hour finish? Would that just be crazy? Let's just see what happens...