Immediately following Muncie 70.3 I was lucky enough to meet up with our Super Physio and friend Ruth Chang in Denver. We made the long drive back to Boise in 12 1/2 hrs! (driving to Kalgoorlie does not seem so bad anymore!) I then had the next 4 days to recover and get the body moving again before our next road trip on Friday and driving to Lake Stevens. This time it was only just over 8 hours and with Guy in the car as well, you can only imagine what that trip was like!

We arrived late Friday night due to the lovely Seattle traffic and were all glad to get some much needed sleep after the long drive. Saturday morning Ruth was put in the hurt locker at I-Hop…a tradition for me of late….pancakes for breakfast the day before an Ironman or Half Ironman! Then it was time for registration, our traditional Pre-race, swim, bike, run and race briefing.

After race briefing and discussing the bike course with other athletes, I decided I would feel much better if we actually drove the entire course! Unfortunately it was one loop, hilly and technical so it took us a while but I am glad we did! Don’t get me wrong, I normally always know the course before a race, it is an athletes responsibility! But we were pretty short on time so didn’t think it would happen. This is one course you need to know!

Back to the hotel room, checking everything was ready for the race, dinner, packing up the car because we were not coming back to the hotel again, then finally to sleep. Surprisingly, I had a really good, deep sleep! This doesn’t normally happen the night before a race and I have stopped stressing about the fact I don’t sleep and just accepted it. But I woke up 5 mins before the 4am alarm ready to go!

Guy, Ruth and I piled into our rental and were on our way! For Ruth, it was her first race outside of flat Western Australia and we were so excited for her!

SWIM

After being disappointed with my  swim in Muncie my goal in Lake Stevens was to be more aggressive at the start and smarter strategically/tactically. I went for it and felt great in my BlueSeventy wetsuit! I couldn’t go with the front pack of 3, but I found myself leading the next group  and before the 1/2 way point we had caught one of the lead 3 who had dropped off. The pace also dropped off heading back into T1 and in the end we were 2mins down out of the water. The good news I felt I could have gone faster and had the quickest transition  heading out onto the bike in 3rd place.

CYCLE

Melanie went flying past early on and a lack of concentration and feeling a bit sluggish ruined any chance I may have had of going with her! The one loop means there is no way of telling what is going on behind you or in front of you…you just have to ride your own race. Which is how it is supposed to be! Jeanni and I had come out of the water together and both of us were putting the pressure on right from the start. We both had strengths and weaknesses on the course and were swapping turns depending on the terrain. It was good for both of us! In the last 6 mile we caught Tenille and the 3 of us came into transition together. Meredith and Melanie were dominating up front, the last podium spot was up for grabs and I expected it would be one of the three of us!

RUN

I flew out of transition first and then had a little chuckle to myself as I ran up the first climb…”now you just have to hold this for the next 13 miles!!”! Coming from Australia I am used to Kilometre Markers and a 21km Half Ironman run. I know it sounds crazy but for some reason 13 miles….sounds shorter! 13 aid stations….6.5 miles is half way. Less numbers!! What ever works right!! I was feeling myself getting a bit hungry coming off the bike and realised the hard bike course had resulted in more calories burned and so I had a GU gel immediately at the first aid station. It wasn’t until mile 5 I was able to get a look at what was going on behind me and I had opened up a couple of minutes on Jeanni and Tenille was a few minutes behind her. “Okay Kate, 7 miles to go!! Uphill, downhill, uphill,downhill! ” I was able to stay strong and hold onto 3rd place and surprisingly run only 2 seconds slower than I had the weekend before! Consistency!! Off course I would have liked to run quicker but I don’t think that was going to happen with a back to back weekend! Next time! 🙂

Guy had a great race with limited training, including a PB on the run and GK Endurance athlete “Super Ruth!” Surprised herself with how strong she was all day!! It is so exciting as a coach to see an athlete who works so hard rewarded with great performances and improvements!

Once again Thanks to my incredible sponsors for making this all possible CEEPO, Rolf Prima Wheels, and Challenge Tyres! SRAM, Quarq, Profile Design, ISM and Tri Town Boise  completed the speed machine!  BlueSeventy, Novatron, Ryders Eveywear, GU, %110 Play Harder, Super Ruth Chang (I have been spoilt over the last few weeks!), Computrainer, Rock Tape and Swish Design.

After a short stay in Seattle with Mike and fun times catching up with the crew at BlueSeventy I am now in Eugene for the popular Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove tomorrow morning! It is then time for the last long road trip for a while, back to Boise for my final build into Ironman Louisville!!

After holidaying for 2 weeks in Canada and Alaska then unfortunately coming home sick (there goes another week!) my mid year break became three weeks off, although maybe in the long term this will be good for me! Finally feeling better again I had the chance for just over 3 weeks of solid training then a few days taper. The questions became will I or won’t I race?

With really nothing to lose (just the cost $$) Guy and I decided it was worth the trip, to get straight back into some racing, and gain some valuable fitness at the same time!

GETTING THERE!!

So I tried to find the cheapest way for me to get there, but in the end it was pretty painful as well!! I drove 10 hours on Wednesday from Boise to Laramie, stayed over night in some dodgy hotel then got up the next morning and drove another 2 plus hours to Denver International Airport. I then flew Frontier from Denver to Indianapolis, picked up the hire care and drove just over an hour to Chesterfield which was where I would be staying for 2 nights (but still 30 mins from the race site!)

It was a late arrival and 11pm by the time I got to bed so there was definitely no alarm for Friday morning!

THE DAY BEFORE!

Friday I awoke around 8.30am and was having a large breakfast by 9am! Then I spent the rest of the day living out of the car! First stop was the race site where it was time for a short swim/bike/run. I rode first and realised there was a small issue with my bike so would have to take it to the bike mechanic at the race expo later that day. No problems! Then off for a run, I was surprised considering all the recent travel I actually felt okay. It was getting warm by then so it was a quick dip in the Res just in my bathers (no wetsuit!) It was surprisingly warm and I didn’t think it would be a wetsuit swim. But in the end I was wrong, but prepared for either so it didn’t matter.

Then it was a 25 min drive to the race expo where I planned on registering, having lunch, Pro race briefing and getting the bike fixed. But on arrival I found out the bike mechanics were setting up at the race site/transition area. Crap!! Back in the car to race site, dropped the bike off, then back to race expo because I needed to be there for race briefing! A quick stop for a Bagel on the way because I hadn’t eaten since 10am and it was now nearly 3pm!

Made it just in time for briefing, registered afterwards, then back to race site to pick up the Ceepo, ready to Rumble! And finally back to Chesterfield around 5.30pm! What a day and I hadn’t even raced yet!!

RACE MORNING!

Up at 4am, I had packed the night before (I was not coming back to the hotel!) and just needed to put everything in the car. Sat down for the first half of my breakfast, checked e-mails and what was going on in the world then was finally on my way by 4.45am! Our race start wasn’t until 7am so I had plenty of time when I arrived to get myself organised, go for a small warm up jog and actually feel relaxed before the gun went off!

SWIM

Always a work in progress! Actually I think the issue for me at the moment is consistency! I have had some awesome swims, and then some absolute shockers! I felt good in the water on the weekend, but unfortunately I was smacked and bashed a lot (more than normal!) lost my goggles, was pulled under….it was crazy considering there was only 13 of us!! I just need to toughen up! I lost some great feet and ended up swimming with a couple other girls that I feel were struggling a bit with going in a straight line!! I made it in the end but was not happy with how it went! I have been working on my transitions and it seemed to pay off on the weekend, or maybe the fact we had wetsuit strippers helped!!

BIKE

Onto my speedy CEEPO and I was ready to ride. In the past I don’t normally do too many 70.3 races in a year, but I find I enjoy them and would like to do more. The goal in this race was to ride hard and focus on nutrition. Forget Ironman racing, step it up and push on the bike, then just see what happens on the run. Early on April went flying past and was setting a cracking pace. I had no idea where I was compared to the other girls but my goal was to keep her in my sites. I was able to hold on until the half way point, but then I had to slow down through an aid station for more nutrition (part of my race day goals for that day!) I was able to see I was sitting in 4th place, still feeling good and wanted to keep pushing the second half. With 30km to go I came up on Anna and we swapped turns heading back into T2. Unfortunately she was struggling due to severe dehydration and I have no idea how she still ran and was able to complete the race. It was a gutsy effort! I came off the bike in 3rd!

RUN

I knew Magali was totally dominating, I wasn’t sure how far April was in front or what any of the time gaps were behind. I just had to run! The course was heating up and was rolling the entire way. There was never any real chance to get into a rhythm. As always my goal was aid station to aid station, focusing on my nutrition and pushing hard! Just before mile 4 I passed April and was now in 2nd place! This excited me! But I still had a long way to go! Finally at the turn around I was able to see a group of about 4 girls, coming at me fast and I had about 3 mins on them! This was going to hurt!! (But it always does, so I don’t know why I was expecting anything different!) 6 miles, 5 aid stations, you can do this!! I continued aid station to aid station, pushing hard. It wasn’t until mile 12 that I thought “this might happen!” with no sight of the flying Nina behind me I crossed the finish line in 2nd place and was extremely happy with the result.

It is great to be back in Boise with so many races to choose from over the US summer, so of course I am doing it all again in Lake Stevens 70.3 next weekend before hitting a big block of training, which I feel I haven’t done for a while 🙂

Thanks to my incredible sponsors for making this all possible My CEEPO was flying on the weekend with my Rolf Prima Wheels, and Challenge Tyres and I came away with the 3rd fastest bike split! SRAM, Quarq, Profile Design, ISM and Tri Town Boise  completed the speed machine!  BlueSeventy, Novatron, Ryders Eveywear, GU, %110 Play Harder, Super Ruth Chang, Computrainer, Rock Tape and Swish Design.

You are probably reading the title of this post and wondering what is she talking about?? But this post is as important as my race reports! I am talking about one of my incredible sponsors that have been there for nearly 5 years.

Nola and Leigh experienced Ironman New Zealand in 2008 first hand and since then the support from Novatron has allowed me to continue pursuing my goals in Australia and overseas.

Based in Perth Western Australia, Novatron Australia design, manufacture, supply and service desalination plants and equipment using both nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membrane technologies.

That sentence is a mouth full for most, But I wanted to express my gratitude to them for being the awesome caring people they are. It has been a wild ride so far and I am super excited for the next chapter.

Massive thanks to you Nola and Leigh and the rest of the Novatron team

http://www.novatron.com.au