Most people travel to a Caribbean Island for a vacay, some fun in the sun, and a little R and R. I just returned from racing IM 70.3 island style on USVI, St. Croix. Traveling to a big race can be challenging enough, but schlepping a bike and gear to a remote island takes some determination ( and patience)
Add a few Kona slots to the mix and you have some tough competitors all descending on a small island fired up and ready to race. It’s a unique race with some fun twists that definitely made the trip worth it.
We scoped out parts of the run and bike course in the days before the race, sweating like mad and finishing drenched. It rained a little bit most every day making it extra humid and creating big washouts in the roads. We drove the bike course, and saw major floods, the one and only… Beast itself,and all the turns curves and other big climbs.
I knew this was a course for the records, but wow. I thought for sure since it had rained off and on so much race day would be clear and dry and the roads would clear. Not so! It started raining as we left to ride the 2 miles to town race morning and never really stopped until I was finishing the bike which added to the adventure.
I don’t love writing true race reports but love sharing what I learn from races and the fun ups and downs of the day!
Some Highlights:
~not having to check in the bike the day before the race
~because it was raining they decided not to body mark us
~I saw Lance near my transition, he has sexy legs
~to get to the swim start you have to swim across to another island, kind of fun and like a warm up
~the water for the swim was awesome temp very little chop, even though it didn’t help my swim time any LOL
~the bike was AWESOME. Not only did I feel great, I LOVED the course. It was harder than any race I’ve done and very technical with tons of climbing, tons of shifting gears, cornering etc. I ended up with the fastest bike split in my AG and felt awesome the whole way!!! Thanks Rich and Drew at the The Bike Shop Scotty P rode like a dream!
~ riding through the downtown streets on the way out of town was very cool and hearing the locals cheer “ya mon , ya goo fast!”, and “ya SISTA !”
~the 2 loop run was tough but fun, much of it was off road through grass, dirt road, and in this case mud!
~Meeting fellow Wattie JJ Brandstatter and his Erika from Colorado, we had fun hanging out pre race and at the awards coming up with plenty of new “don’t be that guys!”
~Hearing Go Wattie!, and Rock theW out on the course from people I don’t even know!....the word about the W is out there even on a remote island!
Some lowlights:
~my poor ass swim split. I’m not complaining because I know I deserve what I get for the amount of time I put towards swimming
~it rained a ton and we road through very deep wash outs, and roads were slick making you slow down more through sharp descents
~fading the last 2 miles of the run. I wouldn’t call it a bonk, but definite muscle fatigue from unrelenting hills
~losing 2 places in the AG in those 2 miles
~no Vegas spot for me. There was only 1 Vegas and 1 Kona spot and 1st place took both …grrrrrrrr! Hard core
I loved the race and the experience! and am happy with how I did for a first race of the season especially one that is so tough and so competitive. Hats off to my client Russell Lane who was with us on his quest back from his femur fx, and managing diabetes. Thanks to my TBC coach Scott Iott for awesome workouts that got me as ready as I could be for a race like that, and Wattieink,Kswiss,BettyDesigns, I was super comfy all day in my 1 piece suit racing over the horrid chip and seal pot hole covered roads on the bike as well as the muddy, hilly all terrain run course.
1 comment:
I am waiting for you at the pool....whenever you are ready!! :) let's go!!
Congrats on your race! STX is NO joke!
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