Ironman Muncie 70.3 Race Report

Ironman Muncie 70.3 is a race to remember. My husband and I love this race. Last year, the experience was awesome, how cool is it to see your son in the swim (he was a lifeguard) and my husband throughout the race... so, we decided to do this again.. We were really excited because the race was going to close highway 35!! 

About a week before the race, my husband calls and tells me that he couldn't go because of work. Something about an Admiral asking him by name to run a meeting on Friday!!! What could I say, he had to stay home. We tried to see if he could fly out, but by the time he would get in, he would miss check-in. My son was staying home because he is getting ready for a big swim meet and had to practice. So, I went by myself... I was sad, angry and mad at the situation, but I put on my big girl panties and went.. 

Travel day was uneventful, I left on Thursday and arrived in Anderson, IN that night. I downloaded the book Divergent and that kept me occupied during the drive.. 8 hours is a long drive. The good thing about going by myself, I was able to stop when I needed too... see my hubby and son, hate it when I have to stop and hit the ladies room. :) 

Friday, I got up and headed to the race site. This is where registration was going to be. Loved it. Last year, registration was at the Muncie convention center and this year it was at the race venue. I was able to have Bo Peep get a race check-up and tire replaced... yes, I rode over something sharp and when I loaded my car, my back tire was flat. I checked it, and when Bo Peep was ready, I took her on a 5 mile bike ride and then ran a mile. It felt great!!

I checked everything in and went to back to the hotel, had dinner, spoke to the family and then went to bed. What a restless night, usually, I sleep like a baby before a race and I let my husband toss and turn, now it was my turn to toss and turn. 

Race Morning, up at 4:30, I got dressed, had breakfast and headed out. I prepaid for parking across the street and it was the best thing ever! I was right across from transition. I walked into transition and the speaker was stating the water was 74 - wetsuit legal...Whoo hoo... but wait... I left it in the car...so I go back and get my wetsuit. I received a welcome wake up call from my husband.. That really made my day. I got back into transition and started to pump up my tires... and out popped the presta valve... OH NOOO!!!! raced the bike over to the mechanics and they fixed the valve and pumped up the tires.. everything was ready.. I went down to the water and did a warm-up swim (a first for me) and I was ready.. I was near the end.. we got into the water at 7:45.. and away I go.... "row row row your boat..." singing through my head. I felt great in the water. I remembered all of my training from Lesley and just enjoyed the swim.. Just keep swimming to each bouy.. on the way back, a guy hits me in the head and I punched him back with my left hand... I didn't think it was hard, but the next thing I know, he is hanging on the kayak... don't mess with this turtle when she is swimming... I may have hit him in a sensitive area but he got in my way.. what was I supposed to do... got out of the swim and looked at my watch... Whoo Hoo... PR on the swim my 4 minutes!!  Up the hill I run and the wetsuit strippers are there!! Yeah!! On to the bike.. put the helmet on, and headed out. Something didn't feel right with my helmet... It kept moving.. pulled over and checked my helmet and my strap was broken... I rigged it and adjusted the helmet to keep me protected in case I fell... off I go... 17 mph, I hit headwind.. what.... there wasn't supposed to be any wind!!! We had a headwind adjust my speed and increase my cadence... Thank you Billy for teaching me about high cadence.. I hit the turn around and I loved the tailwind... finished the first loop and started on the second loop.. Second loop done and off I go into transition... I maintained the same speed as I did last year, avg 17 mph. Off to the run.. the weather started to warm-up and the humidity increased.. I was determined to keep on running.. I was going really well, running and walking through the water stops.. but then it kept getting more humid.. add water... I got disappointed after the turn around point because I just wasn't going as fast as I wanted to.. The evil voice in my head started getting to me... I heard things as you are soo slow, just walk up that hill... you will never make it through a full... you are just way too slow... 

Evil voice..

That voice in my head was evil... I got to mile 12 and I heard my phone beeping... all of my friends and love ones were cheering me on and sending me texts... Two tall guys came up to me and said..."come on Thunder..we are almost done".. I finally listened to my training voice and ran up the last hill and to the finish line... I did it!!! I finished the race in 7:22, not a PR but I finished and that is what counts!! I got a call right as I finished the race and it was my husband!! He watched me crossed the finish line and wanted to be the first to congratulate me!!! What a special guy!!

Running up the last hill

In retrospect, I am glad I did this race, I know I can do this and I know I can and will train for a full ironman one day.. I have it in me I just have to believe in myself and not let the evil voices in.. So, I will continue on to the next race and who knows what will happen...

Happy Training!!

Eling aka Speedy Turtle

P.S. My hubby said that I probably would have PR's if I didn't send out my selfies... 

Being a Speedy Turtle!!

Over the last few months, a lot has been happening!! Speedy Turtle has grown to be an amazing group of people. When I first started this blog, I chose Speedy Turtle as a name because I will always try to improve and get speedy.. I am not very athletically inclined... I was a band geek growing up... That and I thought how ironic the  name Speedy Turtle was... :)

Me and Mr. Speedy Turtle, my biggest supporter

So what has Speedy Turtle become.. Well, Speedy Turtle has become a group of like minded people who want to have fun running, biking and swimming. We are a group of individuals that enjoy the sport of triathlon and we aren't out to get on the podium... though that is nice once in awhile.. (I have podium in the Athena (Big Girl) division).  We cheer each other on and motivate and inspire each other to do our best!

Our group at Dragonfly... just before the triathlon!! We all had a blast and supported each other!

Our group has started a group riding on a weekly basis and each week, a new person has joined us.. It is a lot of fun!! Our motto is "No One Gets Left Behind"  We ride with Newbies and Experienced riders  each week and end it with a one mile brick.  The best part of the ride is the happy smiles and coming back the next week to see everyone again.. I really do love this group and am very excited to see where it goes from here.. Everyone of us has a turtle in us. We  all strive to improve.. we all think we are slower than someone else and work hard to get better. We are all Speedy Turtles!!!

Until next time!!!

Happy Training!!

After the ride

Just before we take off!

With Turtilina, our Mascot!

On the ride! I still can't believe we didn't crash!

6 more weeks until Spring!!!

Today is groundhog day and I really wanted Punxsutawney Phil to not see his shadow and state that we would have 6 weeks of warm weather till spring and not 6 weeks of winter.. See, I have been hibernating these last few weeks.. After the Christmas, I started to reflect on concentrate on building myself up mentally.. I had a great season last year but during the holidays, I became really down on myself. I wasn't happy about how I looked, how I was training and what I was doing.. I had a lot of people supporting me but that ugly voice in my head just got the best of me.. So, I hibernated... I still continued to do my workouts... I do have a 70.3 in May to get ready for... This turtle just decided to go into her shell and work on herself..

What did I do??? Well, at the beginning of the year, I started to DIET... That is a four letter word now.. I was beating myself up because I couldn't have what I wanted when I was hungry because I wanted to save my calories. I looked at myself and felt fat.. Yes, that voice was working really hard... So, I decided to make a change... The first change I did was tell myself something nice that I liked! I learned to like my smile a lot..the next thing I did was start to change my mindset on my diet. For Christmas, my wonderful hubby, hired a sports nutritionist and we went to see her.. What a lifesaver!! She told me that butter is good and food is good. You do not need to diet, count calories and drink smoothies as a replacement meal.. She wanted me to eat real food and to have my plate at every meal, half veggies, a third protein and a third carb.. hmm... I could do that..She, also, told me to move the scale and not step on it.. I still do, only once a week now and not everyday... Low and behold, I started to like myself and feel a lot better about myself.. I know I still have that voice in my head, but I am going to try not to listen to her....

Now... I am slowly coming back and training consistently to have a great season this year!!

Happy Training!!

Eling aka Speedy Turtle...