Congratulations Amanda!
race report: Amanda LumbarD shares her pr story from ironman 70.3 oceanside 2017
I signed up for this race while we still lived in CA, where I could ride and swim outside year-round. Now we live in WA and most of my training has been indoors. I was super nervous about whether or not I was prepared enough, but coach Kirsten assured me that all those hours on the trainer and in the pool would pay off. And they did!
Thursday
My husband, kids, and I flew down to SoCal that afternoon. They dropped me off at the athlete village so I could check in, get my gear from TriBike Transport (these guys are great!), and check my bike into T1. Everything went according to plan except the swim - the water near the athlete village was extremely choppy, so I decided to skip the swim. I’d have to try my new goggles in the hotel pool instead of the ocean. Fortunately, I found out that I WOULD be able to warm up in the water on race day morning :) After checking in, getting my gear and bike from TriBike Transport, and chatting with old friends, I rode my bike over to T1 (~1 mile away) to check it in. Said goodbye to my Shiv for 2 days and met my family and friends for dinner.
Friday
Went for a short run outside. My allergies and asthma were giving me a hard time due to all the flowers in bloom, so I cut the run short and only ran for ~15mins. Took a shower, had a nice big breakfast with family, and headed to Legoland for the day. I wouldn’t typically opt to walk around an amusement park the day before a big race, but since it was my son’s birthday I had to suck it up. I was careful about staying hydrated, using a lot of sunscreen, and eating as well as possible throughout the day, which helped me avoid getting too tired.
At dinner I ate grilled salmon, rice, and a few bites of broccoli. No wine and no dessert - I exercised great self control!! That night I gathered all my gear, laid out everything I’d need in the morning, took a shower, and got in bed around 9pm. In my head, I went through every detail of the following day’s plan. I had a hard time sleeping due to nerves, though I kept reassuring myself that I was well prepared and ready to go.
Saturday - race day
Woke up at 4:15 and actually felt self assured and eager to race! Got ready, took my asthma meds, got bottles out of the fridge, grabbed everything and out the door.
Jeff dropped me off at transition. I got body marked and said hello to an old friend, then went over to my bike to arrange gear and get settled. I had a bottle of water to sip on, which I continued drinking until just before getting in the water.
Here’s what I did to set up:
- Taped one Hammer gel on top tube
- Filled water bladder
- Pumped up tires to 100psi (thanks to the lady near me w/ a pump)
- Put 2 bottles of Infinit in cages (each bottle had ~1:30 hrs worth of
- calories)
- Put foot powder in socks & both shoes
- Put fog spray in goggles
- Put Vaseline inside each nostril (thanks Stacy W. for mentioning this in her race report!)
After getting everything ready and putting on my wetsuit, I walked over to the bag drop area to give them my morning clothes. I finished my water bottle and ate an apple sauce pouch. Then I walked over to warm up in the water. My big mistake was not staying in the water long enough to realize that my goggle were too loose. I lined up with the 30-35’ group and tried to ignore the usual looks I get from the big dudes around me who think I’m in the wrong area.
Swim
They used a rolling start this year, but would only allow one athlete at a time into the water which was painfully slow! I was so cold waiting that the water felt nice and warm when I *finally* got in! I did a sort-of belly flop/dive into the water to start, but my goggles moved and filled up with water. FAIL. I swam several yards to clear the area and allow those behind me to swim around, then I stopped to adjust my goggles.
“My big mistake was not staying in the water long enough to realize that my goggles were too loose. ”
When I started swimming again they were still leaking, so I stopped a second time and yanked the straps as tight I could. After that, my goggles were fine. I stayed surprisingly calm during this and reassured myself that it’s a long race and there’s room for small errors.
The swim felt good and I settled into a comfortably strong rhythm. I seemed to be passing a lot of men, they must have started in the wrong group. Once we reached the far end of the swim course the water got a little choppy and I took a few gulps of salt water - yuck. It was more difficult to sight in this area so I just tried to follow the people in front of me. Once we turned around, sighting was almost impossible since the sun was in my eyes. At one point I ran into 2 or 3 people in a row. I thought they were all swimming in the wrong direction, but quickly realized that it was really ME swimming in the wrong direction. Oops! Corrected my path and continued on.
There seemed to be little current pushing against us on the way back, probably caused by the wind moving in that direction. It was fairly crowded on the way back, lots of jostling around and bumping. As we got close to the finish and I could hear the announcer, I took a moment to pee, then picked up my pace to the exit.
Swim time: 33:11 (9th in AG)
T1
Took off my cap and goggles and unzipped my wetsuit while running. We had a fairly long run out of the swim and into T1. Got to my bike and took off the rest of my wetsuit, put on helmet/sunglasses/watch, put on socks/shoes, put on race belt (required at Oceanside) and took off running with my bike.
T1 time: 5:18
Bike
The bike went pretty-much as planned, with the exception of my watch which beeped every few seconds because I set a power alarm incorrectly. Also, it would occasionally pause and restart so I ended up missing some race data.
Takeaway: No new watch settings for race day!
“Takeaway: No new watch settings for race day.”
I felt comfortable on the ride and didn’t push the pace during the first ~10 miles. Instead I focused on nutrition/hydration and passing the folks who are good swimmers, but not so strong on the bike. I passed a lot of people in those first miles and said “good job, girl” to all the women :)
Since I turned off the power alarm and it was difficult to monitor my power on my watch while paying attention to the road, so I decided to ignore power completely and instead race by feel. I increased my effort after the first 10 miles and rode at a steady strong effort that I knew I could maintain for the rest of the ride and still have legs for the run.
There were 3 no-passing zones, which were annoying, but short. The no-passing zone at mile 39 had a strict 25mph speed limit. There were 3 sizable climbs, which were challenging. The descents were super fun though!
My nutrition/hydration plan worked well. I finished almost 3hrs worth of calories in my 2 bottles of Infinit. I also had 1-2 bottles of water and a Hammer gel right before T2. The sun was warm, but I felt comfortable in the Stealth top and tri shorts.
I LOVED the bike course! The scenery was beautiful and I liked the combination of flat, rollers, a few hills, and some technical turns. This is definitely one of my favorite bike courses!
Bike time: 2:58:08 (9th AG - no one in my AG passed me on the bike!!!) Ave watts: 138
T2
Just after the dismount line I heard someone yell my name from behind me. It was a guy who finished at the same time who said to me “Amanda! Way to ride like a girl and kick our asses!” I laughed and thanked him :)
Racked my bike, took off helmet, turned race belt around, put on running shoes, sprayed on some sunscreen, grabbed hat and started running to the exit. I stopped to use the porta potty and grabbed a quick drink of water and had 2 licks of Base salt.
T2 time: 5:02
Run
I started the run at a comfortably quick pace and kept my hr in the low 140s. I didn’t look at my pace until a couple miles into the race since I didn’t want to get too excited if I was on target or get discouraged if I was too slow. I walked through each aid station to drink water and dump water on my head. Though the air was cool, the sun was hot!!!
I knew there was a steep, but short ramp near the pier that we’d hit around mile 3. What I didn’t anticipate is that we’d run up and down 2 more ramps and a couple decent rollers, and each of those we’d hit twice! I thought this was supposed to be a flat run course!!
I peeked down at my watch and was excited that my pace was on target to run sub 2hrs. I was starting to feel uncomfortable and hot by mile 4 or 5, but seeing friends on the course and cheering for them took my mind off the hurt. My stomach wasn’t feeling great all of sudden, so I ducked into a bathroom. Must remember for the future: TRY DIFFERENT NUTRITION OPTIONS ON BIKE SO STOMACH ISN’T ANGRY ON THE RUN!
“Seeing friends on the course and cheering for them took my mind off the hurt.”
At mile 6 I picked up the pace and ran at almost-side-stitch effort. I stopped looking at my watch from then on and just ran as hard as I could manage, but still walked through the aid stations to drink water and dump on my head. Had another gel around mile 6 or so.
The last couple miles were really hard and I told myself that I’d never, ever do such a stupid activity again. About a mile from the finish a woman in my AG passed me. I tried so hard to catch her, but just couldn’t match her pace. She finished just in front of me, but I knew I pushed as hard as I could. I saw Jeff and my friends in the finish chute cheering and I was so excited to cross the finish line after an exhausting and exciting day! I didn’t know it at the time, but I took 10 minutes off of my run split and almost broke my stand-alone ½ marathon PR!
Run time: 1:52:59
“I didn’t know it at the time, but I took 10 minutes off of my run split and almost broke my stand-alone ½ marathon PR!”
Race Goals:
✓ Gold – Top 15 in AG. Finished14th in AG
✓ Silver – Beat 5:42 PR 5:34 for 8min PR
✓ Bronze – Finish strong and with a smile - eager for a margarita! Achieved!
Big thanks to coach Kirsten who prepared me well for this race!