Timberman 70.3 RR - Canada here I come!

I wanted to share my adventure with you as I headed up to race the Timberman 70.3 in NH this past weekend.

Kathy and I went up on Friday around 4 PM and checked into the Holiday Inn Express. Ahhhh. So nice to be in a clean, comfy hotel. Saturday was the highlight of the trip when we visited the Tilton Diner. They really know how to feed me. I continued my eating frenzy throughout the day consuming lots and lots of pretzels, and other carb laden foods.

The night before the race I was able to have a really nice, albeit slow, dinner with friends from my local area in MA. Kelly, Mary, Andy, Linda, Kathy and I met up at the O'pechee Inn. We ate dinner at the O Steak House on Lake Opechee. A very beautiful lake in NH. It was great to finally see everyone and talk about the race.

Saturday morning was spent trying out the bike and adjusting the seat. Something you never want to have to do the day before a race.  My seat had shifted a few days before for some unknown reason. Scary, but since I had been on my bike a lot up to that point, I knew how it should feel. Luckily, this was not an issue in the race.

Race day we were up at 3:30 AM, yes, that's 3:30 AM. Typical in triathlon world but still, pretty ugly when done. It's especially difficult on your support crew since this entire adventure is spent helping you, out of the goodness of their own heart.  Once we did arrive at the parking lot we were nestled in our car for a good hour just doing nothing.  I was surprised that I was receiving text messages within the 4:AM hour  from people not at the race. I told them they were up too early.

Soon enough I did the usual body marking, trips to the port-a-jon, setting up transition, then it was back to the car to wait a little bit longer for the swim.

My wave included my age group women (45-49) plus the relay swimmers. There were probably 100 people. Not too bad. I was able to start towards the middle but behind 3 or 4 rows. Hardly anyone was behind me.  The swim OUT was great. Not crazy, no kicking, just a little bump here and there. Then came the swim ACROSS. Think square, upside down  "U". This is where I lost time. I found myself fighting to  A) stay straight because I could not see the buoys  B) swim past other slower swimmers who started before me and C)  stay the course due to the choppy waves.  This part of the swim was definitely a little discouraging but I kept fighting and telling myself this will pass.  Then came the swim IN. FINALLY - it did pass.  I was able to get my stroke back, was able to see the buoys, and there was a slight current from the waves to bring us home.

Out of the swim I saw Carrie, Kathy and Kelly.  So happy to see them. I laid down for the strippers and jogged into transition (no I was not naked), put on my bike shoes, helmet, glasses, and gloves. T1 3:24, eh.

My swim time was 00:38:53.  I was gunning for 35-36 minutes. I'll have to get in better shape for the next time I have to fight my way through a swim.

The BIKE was one big loop which is great because there was one really long hill I DID NOT want to have to climb up again.  The first 12 miles are pretty hilly so I tried not to get to bull when I saw my average speed dip into the 17 MPH average. By now I know how the math can all come together for me if I stick to the plan.  Sure enough by the middle of the race my average was above 19 MPH .

The bike course at Timberman is very nice. One of my favorite rides of the half irons that I have done.  Hilly for the first and last 12 miles but the middle portion is all one big straight away. For most of the ride I felt really good. I made sure I drank a full bottle every hour, ate entire power bar, and tried to take salt but I dropped my entire salt tube. Bummer! There were a few annoying moments such as when I had to pass people who were riding in the left lane. I was worried about getting a penalty when they boxed me in so I had no choice but to forge ahead and go way around them. And then,  I was almost sideswiped while descending a very steep hill! I was pissed that this guy came so close to me going so fast. Scary moment for sure.

Off the bike and onto the run.  Transition was cool because I noticed there was only one bike on my rack! I was stoked. Had lots of trouble getting my Garmin to go on. Probably operator error in hind sight. I got myself settled in and tried to find the pace that I wanted.  It never really came to me.  For some reason I didn't have the speed that I had hoped for on the run. I pretty much suffered on the run for the most part never really feeling GREAT at any time.  I accepted it for what it was for that day and forged on.

On the run I had WAY to much nutrition on my body and became annoyed with how much I was carrying. I found a guy sitting on the side of the road and asked him if I could give him a roll of Blocks. He said "sure" so I through them to him. I also threw away another pack while running past a garbage can and secured a really long shot that brought cheers from my fellow competitors. :)

Finally - the end was near.  I did, of course, have a little gas left for the last mile, probably because mile 12 is mostly downhill!  I crossed the line and the clock said 5:38 so I deducted my wait time of 14 minutes = 5:23! A PR by 5 minutes. How cool is that?

I was surprised to find that I placed 3rd in my age group and was offered a spot to Worlds 2014 in Canada! I signed up that day and will be heading up north next year. Woot Woot!

Timberman Pix

Rank: 3

Overall Rank: 513

Division:	F45-49
State:	Dover MA
Country:	USA
Profession:	Insurance

Swim:	38:53
Bike:	2:51:52
Run:	1:46:40
Overall:	5:23:29

CONGRATULATIONS, MELISSA, ON YOUR FINISH!

Swim Details Division Rank: 24

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Div. Rank	Overall Rank	Gender Rank
Total	1.2 mi	38:53	38:53	2:00/100m	24	1015	256

Bike Details Division Rank: 9

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Div. Rank	Overall Rank	Gender Rank
30 mi	30 mi	1:23:44	2:06:01	21.50 mi/h
56 mi	26 mi	1:28:08	3:34:09	17.70 mi/h
Total	56 mi	2:51:52	3:34:09	19.55 mi/h	9	771	116

Run Details Division Rank: 3

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Div. Rank	Overall Rank	Gender Rank
3.3 mi	3.3 mi	27:06	4:03:55	8:16/mi
6.6 mi	3.3 mi	25:51	4:29:46	7:53/mi
9.8 mi	3.3 mi	26:50	4:56:36	8:11/mi
13.1 mi	3.3 mi	26:53	5:23:29	8:12/mi
Total	13.1 mi	1:46:40	5:23:29	8:08/mi	3	513	70

Transition

T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE	3:24
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN	2:40