I entered Ironman 70.3 California in Oceanside back in 2015 when
I was 6 months pregnant. Sounds a bit bonkers doesn’t it? However, my second
pregnancy was going well and the Littlest Wilcox was due in September 2016. I was
really missing racing and needed a challenge to get me back training through
the winter and I wanted something that I knew was going to be tough. It would
also round off my three years of racing in the USA before heading back to the
UK the following month.
So around one month after Taylor was born I set back to gentle
training. Implementing lots of strength and core work to lay the foundation to
build my endurance elements on. I was following a 12-week Cross Fit Endurance Program that had scheduled a CrossFit WOD (Workout of the Day) along with an Endurance element. The WODs work on a huge variety of skills and the Endurance training, whilst implementing long sessions, set many shorter intense sessions too. It was a great balance for a time-crunched Mum! I was also back to teaching my Indoor Cycling
Class at the beginning of November which helped me get some more time in the saddle. Around Christmas I was then ready to hit the tri-specific
training. Well, as with all plans; they never survive first contact… at least
not with a newborn and toddler in the house! In those 12 weeks both Toby and
Taylor had bronchiolitis, chest infections, colds and inevitably passed them on
to me. I have never been so sleep deprived, ill and just generally un-prepared
to race!
We had planned the trip to Oceanside as a family holiday; one of
our last in the USA. We headed down to San Diego on the Monday before the race
to spend time with friends. Oceanside is just 30 miles north of SD so it was
great to get the opportunity to get a catch up and a visit to the SD Zoo! I
even managed to get a swim in at La Bonita cove to test out my new X-TerraVector Pro wetsuit in open-water and get a feel for the ocean temperature.
PRE-RACE 1
On the Thursday before the race we headed up to Oceanside and I
registered for the race. As with all Ironman events, the check-in process was
extremely straight forward and within 15 minutes I was back out in the
sunshine. We headed on over to the Ironman Village for the Athlete briefing and
got Toby registered for his Half-Mile Ironkids race due to to take place on the
Friday afternoon. Rounding up the afternoon nicely we grabbed an ice-cream and
introduced Taylor to her first beach experience – cue a huge handful of sand
straight in her eye!
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| 'Merv' racked and ready to go! |
On Friday we got up and hung at the pool with the kiddos for a
few hours; it was nice to take it easy for once. We needed to head back to
Oceanside for bike check-in in the early afternoon; luckily it was a one-transition race. This meant athletes would be returning to the same spot to
un-rack and re-rack their bikes during the race. After leaving Chris with the
kids, I made my way over to bike check-in with my faithful ‘Merv’. I met up
with the rest of Team Wilcox again and we headed over to the start line for
Toby’s race. He was super excited as I pinned his number onto his t-shirt and
couldn’t wait to get out running with Daddy and to get his medal!
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| Our little Turbo Iron-Kid finishing his second race! |
PRE-RACE 2 - RACE MORNING
As there was no bike-check in on race-morning, it made life a
little more relaxed. I like to make sure my bike set up is complete on the day
before; I ensure my tires are pumped the day before so they have been at full
pressure during the hottest part of the day. Overnight the cool air will mean
tires deflate slightly and come next morning, the tires can deceive you into
thinking they need re-pumping. I don’t. As the day heats up, the tires pressure
will gradually increase; and, if you have piled more air into the tire prior to
this, the risk of puncture increases. Now, in the UK this isn’t such an issue;
however, racing in higher temperature here in the US has made me approach bike
racking prep a little differently.
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| Kit prepped and ready to go! |
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| Transition on race morning - a pretty impressive sight |
So, race morning I went into my tried and tested routine: oatmeal,
a banana and a cup of coffee for breakfast. I was surprisingly calm but
had a good amount of nervous excitement, that was a good sign!
SWIM
My swim wave was 13th out of 23, starting around 45 minutes after the
pros took off. It was great to see them come through transition before we
entered the water! The swim was a
deep water start – my preferred type of start and we entered the water via one
of the boat-ramps before making the short 100m swim out to the starting buoys.
The water temperature was surprisingly pleasant and I could feel the excitement
build as we were given the one-minute warning. Along with the excitement comes
peoples elbows and legs poking out, vying for space for optimal kicking room
for the start. I primed my elbows ready....We were also warned of a few friendly seals which were swimming
amongst the athletes…. I think I may have had a heart attack if one had popped
up to say hello during the swim!
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| The 30-34 AG swim wave on the return leg into the harbour |
The down side to being the 13th wave meant I had to navigate
through a lot of people in the water. There was no cloud cover so as the
sun popped up over the horizon on the return leg, the glare off the water was
blinding. Having not had any open water practice at all in over a year, I
had to sight more than normal on this swim course but continued to focus on my
form and kept my effort level consistent. As I exited the water I felt
good about the way I had completed my swim considering my lack of training and
my spirits were lifted with shouts from Chris and Toby! Our San Diego friends,
Gav & Gemma and their kids, had also made the trip up to support and it
definitely put a smile on my face to see them all there hollering at me!
Unfortunately, I had not pressed the button to start my Garmin properly so I
didn’t get my swim time straight away, but it turns out I managed a 34:43.
Nothing to write home about but considering I had only swum 5 times since
Christmas it was as I expected.
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| My fabulous support crew! |
TRANSITION 1
Transition is about the length a soccer field. When you exit the
water you have to run the entire way down the chute and enter on the north end to
the racks. I like to make my exit from the water and entry to transition as
quick as possible; it gets the blood from my upper body, back down to the legs
and gets them ready for the leg turn-over on the the bike. Unless I am swimming
in bath-like temperatures, my feet are always numb and all dexterity is lost
from my hands hands following the swim, which makes donning my bike gear a
little tricky. Heart rate and breathing rate are through the roof whilst the
body adjusts from supporting itself horizontally in the water to being forced to sprinting in a vertical position but once at my bike I managed to
get my wetsuit off fairly quickly and don my sunglasses, helmet and bike shoes.
BIKE
I was really looking forward to the bike portion of this race because
this is the only discipline I have actually been consistent with throughout
pregnancy with teaching spin classes and getting some sessions in on the
indoor-trainer.
Even though the air temperature was about 60F, I knew I was going
to start generating a bit of heat and the day would warm up, however, I hate
hate hate being cold. I knew that a thin long-sleeved top would protect me
against the early morning chill and also from the sun a little later on.
The first part of the bike leg you are going through some industrial areas,
before you enter the US Marine Base of Camp Pendleton. Because of the
wave start it is very congested with all levels of athletes and slightly
difficult to get into a ‘groove’. I simply put my head down and just
rode. Luckily I was riding fast enough to not have to worry about
drafting issues and the guys and girls who were overtaking me were heading off
on the horizon at warp speed anyway; oh to have that kind of speed back! It
felt so good to be racing again though and I felt strong(ish). I looked
down at my Garmin and saw my speed was up at 20mph. After that moment I
remember settling into the ride and thinking to myself, ‘just buckle down and
get on with it’.
As I continued to ride I looked at every female’s calf to see if
she was in my age group. Normally when I am racing I try to have the
mentality that I am just racing myself and the clock. But let’s be realistic,
this is me we’re talking about! Even though I was in no condition to be vying
for a World Championship slot and I knew my fitness and speed was well below
what I normally race at, but it was still a race and I am competitive. So I
therefore wanted to beat everybody, whether I had the ability to do so or not!
Haha!
About half way through the bike I had been passed by a few
ladies in my age group and by the end I had then re-taken some of them. I was
consistent with my speed (when not climbing the many hills) and felt good. I
chatted with other athletes enjoying a bit of banter as we passed back and
forth and generally enjoyed the experience of being back racing. At
around mile 35-40 things started to get a little uncomfortable. Not from the
saddle, just from where I had no actual endurance training under my belt. I
hadn’t been on the bike for more than an hour in the previous 14 months and my
legs were starting to get really quite tired.
With ten miles to go I increased my effort when I could, making
use of every descent. The 25mph speed limit on one of the steeper descents was
fairly tricky though; especially with speed radars and automatic
disqualification for speeding. I tried to push the tempo, wanting to squeeze
everything I could, within reason, out of my legs, but I was very concerned
about having enough left for the run.
Once the bike course left Camp Pendleton and headed back to
transition, I began to focus on the run. Being realistic in my current fitness ability, I had aimed for a 3hr bike and it
was looking promising that I’d be within a minute or so of that goal. I always
unstrap my feet from my bike shoes and ride with them on the top of the shoes
about ¼ mile from dismount. It allows me to jump of the bike quickly, leaving
the shoes clipped in and allows some air to get around my toes. It also allows
me to really focus on lowering my heart rate and getting ready to have a strong
run. I finished the bike in 3:01; again, an expected time for the current
fitness level but with a full training base and build behind me I would aim for around 10-15 minutes off of that.
TRANSITION 2
So transition allows for people to lose or gain empty time and a
good transition should be easily executed and fast. I chose to wear socks
for the run, something I don’t bother with in shorter races; but, even though
it added a few seconds getting them on I was thankful I did in the following
13.1 miles! Grabbing a couple of GU Gels, I was sorted, and off toward the run exit, catching my fabulous
support crew for some waving and cheering as I did so!
RUN
During IM Florida (and many other races in fact) I set out on
the run waaaaay to fast; I get excited about the all the noise and commotion of
transition, of seeing familiar faces cheering me on. My goal for the run was
attain a pace and keep it; hoping for a sub 1:50. From the start. I had no specific time goal as I
knew if there was a discipline where I would be tired and weak, it would be the
half marathon.
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| Heading out on the run |
The run course at Oceanside is really enjoyable for both athlete
and spectator. It follows the coast all the way down from the harbour,
alongside the beach, dipping into a few close neighbourhoods. It also
takes on a number of short sharp inclines and declines whilst getting up to (and down from) the
street level and shore – ouch! It always takes a mile or so to get finally
settled into rhythm and I found mine around mile three. The day was turning
out to be a hot one and I was thankful for the cups of water I could throw over
my head to cool myself down.
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| The view at the end of the first mile, heading down onto the 'Strand' |
The run is a two loop course which means I could mentally break
the course down, ticking off the mile stones as I run. I work best that
way. My pace started off at 7:32, a little fast for my liking as I knew with
the lack of training I wouldn’t be able to keep it up plus I didn't know how my leg would cope after the hilly bike. So I forced myself to
re-adjust the speed and after a mile or so was holding 7:44 min/mile easily. I
mentally agreed with myself that I wanted the minimum of an 8:00min/mile and
would allow myself to fluctuate under that if needed. The bystander and local homeowner
support along every section of the run was amazing. There were a few homeowners
out in their front yards with huge sound systems blaring out music and others
were with their hoses spraying the athletes with cool water and some had even
set up water stands.
My goal was to finish my run sub 1:50, my PR on a stand alone
half is 1:29 but I knew that through lack of training and suboptimal fitness,
opting for a fast time goal would only lead to disappointment. I was pleasantly
surprised that the Garmin showed me still holding 1:44min/mile at the half way
mark and I felt ‘ok’ but tired. Around Mile 7 I started to develop a cramp pain
in my left quad. There was nothing I could do other than ignore it. I just made
sure I took some more BASE salt on at regular intervals. With the running surface being concrete, my
legs were taking a pummelling and the sharp descents weren’t helping the joints
at all! I took solace in the fact that some of the girls who had overtaken me on the bike, I was picking off again as I made my way through the 13.1 miles. Once running I know there is no way that I won’t finish a
race; my head goes into work mode and I dig deep. My husband always tells me I look
so serious on the run so he was surprised to get a few smiley pictures! Coming up
to Mile 12 I knew my body had had enough. My core, which I had so patiently
built up over the past few months, was done with holding everything together. I
really had to concentrate on maintaining a solid position. I’m pretty sure that
final 1.1 mile was actually 5, that’s what it felt like anyway!
My face in the finish chute photos makes it look like I hated
the race. In actual fact, it may not have been the most enjoyable I have
competed in, but it was certainly one that I am very proud of. I crossed that
finish line knowing that I did my best and, had exceeded one of my goals – the run.
I heard Team Turbo screaming at me on the finish chute which lifted me to push
that little more. Those few seconds gained meant absolutely nothing on the
results for that race, but it meant everything to finish with every last drop
of effort zapped from my body. I actually felt pretty wobbly after I crossed the
finish line; however, I knew if I sat down then getting up would be a
substantial effort. With legs shaking, I headed out and saw Chris coming towards
me. One big sweaty and salty hug later, I was then off to get some food and
regroup with everyone and give my little ones some big kisses!
My biggest lesson I have have re-learnt for this race is to set
goals. Even though my goals were vastly different from when racing at my
fittest; I still had them. The numbers I wanted to achieve kept me on track and
focused through each discipline; like a tiny Sergeant-Major drilling away in the
back of my head. When I felt myself slowing and starting to feel sorry for
myself at any point I glanced down at the Garmin and got-a-grip and returned to
my pace.
So a big shout out goes to my husband for his support through
the past couple of months, and realising how important to me this ‘return-to-racing’
event was and my two little supporters who always make me smile.
So many people like to put forward their thoughts and opinions
on pushing your body to workout and train through pregnancy and the post-partum
stage. Telling you how you will feel and what you will not be able to do. Of
course, every individual is different and certain medical conditions and issues
may prevent this; however, I know my body and what it can be made to do. Not everyone
fits into the little boxes that are set. I’m glad I listened to my own body and
allowed myself to set my own limitations.
Now, its time to get on with our move back to the UK and get our
heads back into training for our next event. We've already got 2017's challenge on the horizon: Ironman Weymouth 2017!
Thank you so much for reading. Happy Training Friends!
