Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Gulf Coast Triathlon Race Report

Ohh good old Gulf Coast 70.3.  Have to love a race that is in your back yard.  The course that you swim/bike/run on all of the time.  And a race where it is always 100000 degrees out. (please read into my sarcasm) But the support is awesome - and knowing about 20% of the people who are racing can not be beat - have to love Gulf Coast Triathlon.  That is why I keep on coming back every year! 

Friday Carla (remember Carla?  1/3 of the amazing crew I trained with for Ironman) went to check in our bikes.  What?  Only numbers on the racks and no specific markers for each bike?  Sweet.  We'll take the end!
(yep.  I'm rocking compression socks with a skirt...by the way- did you see page 122 of this months Triathlete??  See a comment about compression socks form someone that you know??)

Good thing we got there early!

Saturday morning - up and at it early.  Since the sun comes up at 6am here - the first wave starts at 6:15.  So it's a super early race.  Pre race - same breakfast as always.  Oatmeal with blackberries and some carbopro.  Yum.  
Headed down to transition (about a mile from my house) and got everything set up.  
Carla and I right before the Swim
Cari, Myself, and Carla - don't mess with these ladies!

6:30 our wave goes off.  Thankfully we are one of the first waves AND the gulf was somewhat calm.  The past three years they have put up the red flags after the last swimmer was out (that means the gulf was SUPER ROUGH)  So I was stoked for hopefully a PR in the swim.  Even after yet another super awesome  make out session with a jellyfish I came out of the water with a:
34:38 (last year 36:42)

Always smile for the camera - even though my face hurt like hell.  I ran into transition kind of confused - not quite feeling like myself.  I was lucky to find my bike and had issues pulling off my wetsuit and putting on my bike shoes.  Kind of odd.  But bolted out of transition at:
3:30 (last year 3:24)
The bike was hot and windy.  I was feeling ok and just got my legs pumping on the roads that I ride everyday.  Around mile 20 I tried to eat part of a Lura Bar.  And flet that funny feeling.  You know that feeling.  Like you need to let go and not hold back.  And I didn't.  Just let it all out in aero position.  Thankfully no one was behind me to get the backlash of my puke. 
Odd I thought to myself - that has NEVER happened before.  So silly me, I tried to eat again.  Same thing.  Oh no.  I have never had a major nutrition issue like that during a race.  So I just kept on drinking water and cytomax and doing what I could for calories - and not looking forward to the run.
Bike time:
2:58:01-18.9mph(last year 2:51:25 - 19.6mph)
But the highlight of the ride no doubt was seeing Carla's family on the course with AWESOME signs.  So awesome that they deserve their own post. 
T2:
1:30 - both years.  No time lost there!
Oh the run.  Man it was hot.  Flat.  And no shade.  Oh yeah - the only calories I could hold down was flat coke and oranges.  Awesome.  But other then that it was a pretty uneventful run.   I just put my head down and put one foot in front of another.  It was though and I knew I was not going to hit the numbers that I wanted - but I finished.  :) 


Run time:
2:15:40 (ouch!) (last year 2:09)
Total time:  5:53:22
Last year:  5:42:19
Kelsi and I rocking out the Trinity Tops and GOTRIbal Love!  Oh yeah - and Big J in the background!

Not my best race but not my worst race either.  But all in all it was a learning experience.  What did I learn?
#1:  jellyfish might make me puke
#2:  I can do a 70.3 on very few calories
#3:  I can puke in the aero position (skill my friends)
#4.  ALWAYS do local races.  It's so awesome to see everyone, cheering or racing, out there! 

REMINDER ON MY SWEET GIVE-A-WAY! 
SEE BELOW!!!  :)


16 comments:

Kim said...

way to hang in there chloe! jellyfish AND puking? you are a rockstar my friend.

Christi said...

Damn jellyfish!!! Great job on your hometown race!

Karen said...

UGH jellyfish my main fear of ocean swims! Congrats on a great race!!!!! :)

J. L. said...

Puking with aerobars...sweetly talented! Thanks for race report. I'm gearing up for my 1st 70.3 in 3 1/2 weeks. I'm puking just thinking about it :-) Thanks goodness it's in a resevoir so I won't have jellyfish. And yes, I opted for a "local" race for my 1st one.

Katie said...

every time you say jellyfish i get the chills. i'll take my lake swims please! sad that you felt so crappy, but nice race!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I saw you in the article, it doesnt even phase me anymore when I see compression socks in public

- Congrats on the race

- Puking in the aero is serious skills, I have to say, your the first to do it from all the Pukies I have given

- Your award was up on last fridays post, your up to 2, in the elite club, not many have 2 or more

Kolla said...

Mad props Chloe! And yeah, jellies can do that to you, nasty little critters. Well done on finishing, and I am in awe over the puking skills. Where is a course photographer when you need one, that would have been a true kodak moment :)

MissFancyPants said...

Nice job - jelly fish kind of freak me out, luckily most of my swims are in dirty lakes (where I can't see crap, literally) and dirty rivers...lol

MissFancyPants said...

Oh and love the compression socks and skirt, I have rocked that look on more than one occasion - and was then told I looked like I was trying for the school girl look lol

Kim said...

Nice job toughing it out C. Really.. impressive... Your finish photo looks amazing despite the puking and sweat.. you must be using Heidi's clean up girly tips!! Ha! Awesome job! Very proud of you!

Heidi Austin, PT, DPT said...

way to hang in there... the same thing happened to me there in like 2008 when it was my first half... those damn jellies. love your pictures and sorry it was such a tough race. so proud of you for digging deep and finishing strong- that speaks so much more than a perfect race :) btw augusta or rev 3????

Bill said...

You and the jellies just don't get along. Way to hang in there. Love the awards picture with Jason in the background. The support crew needs some glory too.

Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman said...

Puking in aero - that really IS skill. You know you got skillz when... haha

And you did darn good for having to avoid solid calories! I'm impressed. From the report, you didn't even seem to blink after puking. Just a "oh, ok. That's that." and you moved on to liquids.

Awesome race!!

Austin said...

puking in the aero position. legit.
and killing it the rest of the race - awesome.

Jamie said...

Awesome race report. Crazy how sometimes we completely overthink our caloric needs.

Unknown said...

Now this time I visit many website and found many information but I think this is very important information all of us.I will sharing this information some other people.Thanks for published this information…
Compression socks