Rhode Island 70.3 Race Recap

There's a special place in my heart for Providence, RI, having gone to school at PC ages ago. That's the reason why, for the past three years, I have raced in the RI 70.3. Every year has been a different race, both in regards to the course itself, and in regards to how I felt going into the race. This year was a mixed bag. Before arriving in Providence, I felt confident about my swim and bike legs, but was anxious about the run because I hadn't done a race this distance since recovering from last year's running injury- usually by this point I have a bunch of half-marathons and at least one half-ironman under my belt. This year my sister Keryn, also a runner at Lesley University, accompanied me to the race and was more than happy to check out the course with me after we arrived on Saturday, and this is when the nerves kicked in. Why?

1. We found out that wetsuits were banned for the swim because the water temp was 84 degrees. This and the fact that it was a freshwater swim made me worry because the swim is my weakest link and I need all the help (wetsuit and salt water) that I can get!

2. There had been no course profile elevation map posted for the course and once we drove it we realized IT WAS HILLY!! Not your easy rollers, but some truly long, significant climbs. Oh, and there was a mile long "No Pass Zone" at mile 47 because of how awful the road was. They highlighted every pothole in orange, which made it look like an orange road with a few black patches. Seriously, I'm shocked my truck didn't get a flat!

3. Despite the run being a little easier than last year's (and easy being a relative term here), it had a 1+ mile climb at mile 2 and 8 with barely any shade.

But with my sister there cheering me on

and Chris' words of advice to leave it all on the course, I set out with two goals in mind: to beat last year's overall time of 5:11 and get as close to 5 hours as possible, and to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships in September.

Imagine my surprise when I met those goals and then some!! So the race started without a hitch and I found myself swimming stroke-for-stroke to the first buoy with another girl. I tried to pass her a few times to no avail, so I decided to tuck behind her and save some energy. She was a machine, plowing through other swimmers and picking a pin-straight line as I just missed her toes with every stroke. I followed her to the end and came out of the water with a solid time. Spent a little more time in transition than usual because I made the decision to wear my Bont road shoes over my old tri shoes once I saw the bike course, but believe me, the extra transition time was worth it! The Bonts are just amazing, and I cannot wait until my Bont Tri shoes arrive(and yes, they will be pink too:). So onto the bike. Last year my time was 2:46 and change on a relatively flat course with only two big climbs. I was just hoping to come in around the same time, but thanks to my indoor training over the winter at TT Greenwich and Westport, and my early season training trip to Mallorca, I cut 6 minutes off my bike time, logging the fastest split in my age group at an average of 21mph! I can't thank TT enough for helping me get so prepared for a race like this. While coming into T2, I realized that I had a chance to not only break my time from last year, but to break my ultimate goal of 5 hours. As I started, I heard my sister screaming my name and it made me excited to be out on this course, with the hopes of reaching my goals with her there. She snapped a great shot of my excitement, as well as the grueling hill that I would have to climb after my first loop and to the finish line!

The run was HOT, but with every mile that passed, I realized that breaking 5 hours was a real possibility! I paced myself, utilizing every aid station to the fullest, and trying to ignore the fact that my right hamstring was screaming at me with every step. As I passed mile marker 12 with just under 9 minutes to break 5 hours, I dug in and pushed with everything I had. "Come on Neen, swift legs, light feet, GOOOOOOO!!!" screamed my sister as I approached the finish line, and with a huge smile and tears of joy, I crossed the line in 4:59:34. I had no clue if that qualified me for Worlds, but most important was the fact that I had just done what I thought would not be possible. Going forward, I need to learn to have confidence in myself, to know that I have prepared and been coached in the best way possible, and to realize that anything is possible if you love what you are doing as much as I do!

Keryn and I then stuck around for the awards ceremony to see if there was a chance that I qualified for the World Champs, and lo and behold, I did! 4th in my age group (with 4 Worlds slots handed out), and 13th woman overall! Vegas baby!!

And on another positive note, two other TargeTraining women CRUSHED it this year at the RI 70.3: Nicki Pearl, attempting her first half ironman ever, beat her goal time by 20 minutes! And rock star Katha Diddel (below) came 4th in her very competitive age group which only gave out one slot for Worlds, but she'll be competing in the Age Group National Championships in Vermont in August where I am sure she will dominate again! Nice work ladies :)

Congrats to everyone else who had great races this past weekend, and thank you infinitely to my training crew and TargeTraining!

Comments

[ClareBear]

You guys are so inspirational!