My Journey to Ironman 70.3

 Hello Fit Fam,

    I am finally sitting down to write this much needed recap of my journey to complete my Ironman 70.3. I previously wrote about my training for this race and explained that this has been years in the making. Well I wanted to write the story of how it took me three freaking years to do this dang race. 

    First off I want to start by saying that this is all my sister's fault. I have never been competitive with my sister except when it comes to endurance sports. I always thought she was super cool when I was growing up and she played sports that I never could have dreamed of playing. But once I got to college I wasn't playing sports anymore, at least not official organized ones. I played on the occasional intramural team but other than that nothing serious. It wasn't until my sister signed up for her first half marathon that I thought: 1) she is crazy, who wants to run 13.1 miles and 2) well if she can do it then I can definitely do it. And thus the competitive seed was planted. 

    She then proceeded to run a marathon, which I also then had to do! It was more about her telling me that I could not do it that really pushed me into signing up for that one. And let me be clear, when I say that she told me I could not do it, she actually said "Liz, its really hard to train for a marathon by yourself and I think you are going to have a hard time getting in the long runs by yourself". Naturally, my new found competitive self only heard "You cannot do it!". I signed up for the race, trained by myself and did it!

    Now she started getting into triathlons, which I actually inspired her to do. While I was in undergrad I joined the triathlon club team and did a couple sprints, nothing crazy but really enjoyed the sport! She saw me and thought I was so cool so that she had to start training for triathlons too. She worked her way all the way up to an Ironman 70.3 (aka half ironman) and I thought wow now I have to do one of these! Which brings us to 2019.

    I signed up for the 2020 Wilmington 70.3. I was making my plans for training had my hotel booked and then March of 2020 the world shutdown and my race was canceled. In hind site I am actually kind of glad I got an extra year to train. I honestly don't know that I would have been ready to race in 2020. My training wasn't good enough and my mental capacity of the race was not right either. Ironman was giving a deferral option so that you would not lose your money but you also didn't get it back. So I said okay 2021 will be my year!

    2021 rolls around and oops, I was pregnant and had a baby in March! 6 and half months prior to the race I was entering postpartum, one of the toughest setbacks I have ever faced physically in my life. I was still 20-30lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight. I had all but halted my training during pregnancy due to extreme swelling and normal pregnancy pains and weight gain. I finally was diagnosed with preeclampsia at the end of my pregnancy which would explain why I struggled so much through the 3rd trimester. I was still breast feeding up until about the month of the race which was something I had no idea how I was going to manage during a 7 hour race. It also didn't help that my husband and I made huge life change with me quitting my job to stay home with our daughter and he was doing travel nursing. We sold our home and were moving all round the time of the race. All the cards were stacked against me and I decided for my own health and safety that I had to defer another year. 

    Thus brings us to 2022! The year I was finally going to race Wilmington 70.3 even if it killed me! My training was on track. I wasn't working a full time job so my schedule was more relaxed. I had finally gotten back down to my pre-pregnancy weight! I was feeling so good all around. The final weeks leading up to the race were the best. I was ready and excited and knew that I was going to be an Ironman (well half an ironman)!

    October 15th 2022 I completed my first every Ironman 70.3 in 7 hours and 29 seconds! I was beyond thrilled. Words couldn't do justice for how I felt about this amazing achievement. Here is a quick break down of how the race worked out for me. It started with a very fast swim in the inlet near Wrightsville Beach. The water temp was 71, so it was wetsuit legal (thank god). I had planned for a 35 minute 1.2 mile swim and blew my expectations out of the water with a 29 minute swim. Next I took my time in transition making sure to use the port-o-poties, because I was not going to pee on the bike! I had all the nutrition and hydration ready to go! My bike was slow averaging 15mph but that is what I had been training at so I was happy. Completed my 56 mile bike in 3 hours and 39 minutes. Next was the final leg the run. I again used the port-o-poties because being as hydrated as I was it was necessary! The run felt consistent and steady, exactly what I wanted. I completed my 13.1 mile run in 2 hours and 30 minutes. This is an incredible time for me considering I have run most of half marathons between 2 hours and 11 minutes to 2 hours and 34 minutes. My pace was about 11:30 minute per mile. 

    I cannot believe that I set this goal, but most importantly that I reached it. I had no major issue, nothing broke, I didn't cramp, everything just worked. I know I could have trained more, or paced faster but I was truly happy with my results. If, but really when I do another 70.3 I will want to train more and harder to decrease my times, but this race has made me happier than I could have imagined. I legit cried when I crossed the finish line!

    So now I just have to figure out what comes next. My sister has done a full Ironman, I am just not sure that is in the cards for me...right now. I wont say never, but I will definitely say not right now or anytime soon! I can just live in my accomplishment for now and start focusing on my strength training again. At least I can say I am (half) an Ironman!

Stay Calm and Exercise On

~ Liz ~