Jeremy and I had a very unique race weekend. We traveled to the airport together but hopped on different flights. He flew out to race in Santa Rosa, California, and I flew out to Panama City Beach, Florida.
We were both traveling completely alone which made for a different kind of Ironman race. To make it feel like we were still part of each other's race, we did a lot of facetime calling. We put out bikes up together, pulled together our gear bags together, and even enjoyed our feast of a breakfast on Friday morning together. I had a full kitchen so I was able to prepare my meal without too much fuss. Jeremy on the other hand had to get very creative and cooked all of his meal in a microwave.
My room overlooked the beach and I loved listening to the waves crashing on the shore.
Beautiful sunsets.
Jeremy's room was itty bitty and filthy. I definitely had the better end of the deal there. I'm surprised there was room for Jeremy in there once he unpacked his gear.
Jeremy's favorite part of race prep are his tattoos for his kids.
The excitement at gear check-in is so invigorating! I love that part of the day. Jeremy's race had racks this year and he said it was slick.
My race started hours earlier than Jeremy's so he was able to see my first bike split halfway through the ride before he even left setting up transition. Gulf Coast 70.3 was supposed to be the race where I earned my Nice spot. Since I earned it in Oceanside, however, there was no pressure on this race at all. I had some flexibility to experiment a little with my racing, and I started my race with almost no butterflies at all. The swim was rough. I managed to push past the breakers with not much difficulty, but then the swells the rest of the swim were larger than I've ever swam in. I was up and down, up and down, up and down. When I finally made it out of the water I was tired, and that's unusual. My bike was supposed to be the experiment part of the race: how hard could I push myself on the bike and not collapse on the run. For the first time ever, no girl passed me right away. In fact, I only saw one girl pass me and that was a girl I rode with for the first 30 miles. She and her friend were super friendly on the bike and they found me after the race to introduce themselves. I now have two new triathlon friends; Alexis Dunn and Rachel Allen. Yea for friends! We rode together on the way out and I was feeling fast. There was a headwind on the way back in and by then I was feeling tired. Those last ten miles took forever. Onto the run I passed Alexis pretty quickly because I was feeling good. That lasted for two short miles before I started to fade. I don't know if it was my bike or the heat/humidity but I knew I was in for a rough run. I walked through the aid stations pretty early on and that's all I allowed myself. I knew I was positioned really well and that I might take first. I was not going to lose the podium because I was too tired to run. On the third lap another girl passed me, Samantha Mazer. She looked strong and I couldn't hold that pace. I let her go and tried not to give up. I was so relieved when I finally crossed that finish line. I went to the medical tent so they could help me cool off and help me stop feeling dizzy. Once I felt comfortable enough to walk I went to grab my phone to check my ranking. I took 2nd! I admit I was very surprised, and a tad disappointed it wasn't a first place finish.
Gulf Coast 70.3. Swim (32:20), T1 (2:34), Bike (2:25:56), T2 (1:13), Run (1:52:38), Final (5:04:31)
I also checked Jeremy's tracker to see how Jeremy was doing. We knew it wasn't going to be a fast race for him because his training seriously suffered with the move and he was sick before flying out. I was happy to see his swim look pretty normal, and his bike splits so far were slow, but steady. I tracked him the rest of the afternoon and watched as he finished the bike, started his run, then become slower and slower. When he finally crossed that finish I was so relieved and proud. I was really nervous about the phone call I was going to receive. What emotions was Jeremy feeling? I was so relieved when he sounded incredibly cheerful and upbeat. He said that it was one of the most fun he'd ever had at an Ironman race. He raced for fun and loved it. He helped other athletes with their flat tires. He talked to runners who were struggling. He helped first timers make it through the race. He was happy, and I was very happy. He said he actually had a volunteer check the app during T2 to see how I did, and that was fun for him.
Ironman Santa Rosa. Swim (1:11:38), T1 (4:53), Bike (5:40:54), T2 (3:49), Run (4:26:02), Final (11:27:16)
That afternoon I went to the awards ceremony and received my trophy. I'm definitely enjoying that growing collection. Pro Jason Pohl was a pal and took this picture for me.
I also waited with Alexis to see if she earned one of the Nice spots. She was a nervous wreck. She earned one of the Women for Tri spots and was so excited. We went to dinner together that night and I celebrated by buying a smoothie in this crazy souvenir cup.
As I predicted, the kids were super excited to drink out of it once I brought it home.
Jeremy went to the roll down ceremony the next day and said it was very exciting. There were a lot of first time spots given out and the energy was contagious. Our racing friend, Matt Tatum, finally earned his Kona spot and was definitely celebrating too. After the roll down ceremony Jeremy took his time driving back to San Francisco. He drove down Highway 1 in his super charged Dodge Charger and said it was an incredibly picturesque drive in an incredibly fast car. Looks like fun!
So while it wasn't a normal race weekend for us, I would still say it was a successful race weekend.
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