Muncie 70.3

70.3 Muncie

This whole week was just like last year, my husband had to be out of town with the boy scouts. Last year he was able to come to the race last minute. I was secretly hoping that he would just show up during the race, but that didn't happen.

I was fortunate enough to find out that Allison needed a ride and I needed a hotel. We went up Friday afternoon and went on a ride and little swim. It was awesome to have a traveling/work out friend! I was hoping to buy a bonk breaker bar at the expo but they had sold out of them. We went and checked into the hotel in true tri fashion, only Allison and I could look this good.

There was a huge group getting together at Olive Garden for dinner. They actually had gluten free pasta and it wasn't too bad! It was a ton of fun to hang out with a whole bunch of tri geeks. Thanks Mike Sullivan for organizing it all!

Allison and I went back to the hotel and used an amazing machine called a percussor. 

We woke up at 5am and ate our delicious buckwheat pancakes!

 I love those things too much! I thought transition closed at 7am so we didn't feel too rushed. On our way we both found/saw little mementos from people we love who have passed away. We parked and got our bikes ready at the car. By the time we were headed to transition I wasn't seeing any other athletes around us. I pulled my bike into transition and a guy walked by and told me we only had 4 minutes till transition closed! I was able to get everything laid out. I got to the water about 8 minutes before we were supposed to start.

My coach/sister wanted me to go 4:40 and I said, "I don't think so!" The week before I did a hard week and my legs were having a hard time recovering, I didn't take it easy this week either. I told her I just wanted a hard workout and practice things for my full in October.  

The swim was decent. I never am able to get on someone's feet to draft so I wanted to do that and also have a good swim time. Texas showed me that I could actually swim faster than I have been. Someone behind me kept tapping my feet and I thought that it might have been Allison, but it wasn't. After about 1/3 of the swim I found someone's feet. I was drafting off them and started thinking we were going to slow, but I wasn't sure since I was drafting. I also figured it would be good practice to be drafting during the swim since I hope to be able to do that in Kona. I had to stop to clear my goggles a couple of times but I was able to catch back up to my feet.

Transition time! I couldn't see too many bikes gone in my age group area so I was pretty happy. I went out on the bike and wasn't consistent at all. My sister told me to just ride the first part and I was going to push it in a little harder the last 15 miles. I really need to work on not getting "lost" in the middle of my bike. I kept passing women but never saw ANYONE in my age group! I always have the goal of not letting any women pass me on the bike. There were a couple turn around points on the bike and I saw Allison was close behind me and kept getting closer. She passed me with 10-15 miles to go and we exchanged some cheers to each other. I got a shout out from Mike Sullivan going the other way. It always helps to see/hear people I know out there.

Transition again! I had to go to the bathroom so bad and used a port-a-poty on my way into transition. I saw 1 or 2 bikes in my age group area so I knew that I would have some women to run down.

The run was great. I didn't know how fast I was going since I kept forgetting to hit the lap split on my watch when I passed a mile marker. I passed Allison back a little after mile 1 on the run, gave her a love tap and exchanged some cheering. I just kept cruising. My HR was between 135-150 the whole time so I knew I wasn't pushing it too much. By the turn around I only had 2 more women to pass. I got them with 5 miles to go and then got complacent. I knew that I had my age-group win so I was just going to enjoy the rest. My sis told me to push it in the last 3 miles so I met her half way and pushed it in the last 1.5-2 miles.

This is now my finishing tradition. I do a little leap of happiness that I always do when I see Scott out on my runs.

Post race at the car selfie. Age group winners!

Overall it was a good fun time! So fun to travel with Allison! Thanks for the fun and percussing! Can't wait to do our next couple races together! (especially Kona!) Thanks to the Wagner family for letting me borrow Dot on Emily's birthday so that I could do this race. Thanks to my parents for all the awesome text messages I had on my phone after the race! It's always nice to know others are tracking you. Thanks for the love and support!

Thank you to my coach and sister for the awesome workouts, love, and support! Can't wait to vacation and race with you in Kona!

And... thanks to my most amazing husband who is always supportive and loving through all the crazy workouts and long rides I do.