#augusta70.3

By Sheila Howard

Editor’s Note” this is the second part of a 2 part blog by Sheila. You can read part 1 here. 

TO DNF OR NOT TO DNF. THAT IS SOMETIMES A DIFFICULT QUESTION AND TORTUROUS DECISION TO MAKE DURING A RACE.

I didn’t have a solid swim. My bike time was what I thought it would be. I would need to have a solid run and match my best recent training runs to even finish close to where I wanted to be. Soon after I started on the run, I realized the tendon injury in my left foot was more painful than I’d imagined it would be at that point. I tried not to panic, but at only a mile and change into the run, the foot wasn’t improving, and I didn’t know what to expect.

After about another mile or so of running and the pain not getting better, my thoughts wandered to a DNF. I tried to ignore them and kept moving forward. I was in an odd bargaining arrangement between my mind and foot, hoping my foot would let me keep running long enough to reach a decision, as my mind was rejecting the DNF idea. I didn’t know whether to try to toughen up and continue or to face reality and call it a day. How would I feel the next day about either decision?  What would my coach say?  Was I making my foot worse now?

Everyone around me was running, and supporters ringing cowbells and cheering athletes along. I was in a race, after all. We say it all the time and don’t really mean it, but this time I did – “My goal is just to finish.” 

In a weak moment, I decided to DNF. Yet, within only a minute or two, I heard my name behind me. I recognized the voice from a phone call the night before. I turned to see an athlete with a big smile on her face. Though we’d never met, my coach told me to try to connect with an athlete of hers from Michigan who’d also be racing. We’d tried but couldn’t connect before the race. Turns out, she’d been in a bad bike crash, and had been battling back from serious injuries. My coach told me she’d signed up for Augusta, traveled alone to the race and didn’t know anyone there. I had a bad bike crash in 2012 and have a soft spot for any athlete who’s been through that and has come back to racing. Her crash and injuries were more extensive than mine, and my coach told me she was a strong athlete, though, at this point in her recovery, Augusta could be painful for her.

She immediately told me she was hurting, and needed to walk a good bit of the run, though she had a goal time and was doing the math out loud. At this point we had more than nine miles to go. For me, the thought of walking nine miles seemed as impossible and unpleasant as running them. Her run form looked to be holding together better than mine, I noted.

Me: “I’m not your coach, but I know her pretty well. I think she’d ask how much pain you’re in on a scale of 1 to 10 when you run?”  

Her answer was about a four or five. I was putting mine at a six.

Me: “So, I think the boss (our coach) would say to try and run at a slow pace, and see how it goes.  When either of us get to a seven or eight, let’s regroup and walk.”  

Her unexpected and timely intervention was the beginning of the end of my plan to DNF! I was on a mission to help her break her goal time, and we were both determined to reach the finish line for one another as soon as possible, running, walking or anything in between.

Sheila with her new friend. They helped each other and finished together.

I’m not going to lie. Those nine miles were painful, and I mentally questioned my decision more than once. We kept moving, kept an eye out for each other, propped each other up with war stories and words of encouragement, water, gels, walking when either of us needed to and pressed on finally to that glorious finish line. My new friend beat her goal time by almost a full hour, I dodged a DNF and we both got the medal and checked the proverbial box! Swimming, biking and running are a brilliant combination that make for a sport with unending physical and mental challenge. Become great at it, and you’ll find yourself standing on podiums, winning awards and maybe even racing a world championship in the lava fields at Kona. But, for most of us who love and compete in triathlon, it’s the inspiring people we encounter, those who cheer and support us, the friends we train and race with and the memories we collect on our journeys to each finish line – these become our most enduring prizes of all!

By Sheila Howard

Editors note: this is part one of a two part blog.

This is not quite the blog I was hoping to write. Augusta 70.3, the 2015 edition was not the race I’d hoped or planned to have. But such is life, and part of what makes triathlon so compelling is the quest to conquer a course and a race that has gotten the better of us in the past.   Augusta 2011 was the race that got the better of me. Only two years into the sport and still experimenting with nutrition, I decided to go with all gels on the bike. I taped a handful of gels to my top tube, but did a lousy job of taping! When I pulled off the first gel 10 miles into the bike, all the other gels fell off! Oops!! Typically, I would need 600 to 650 calories for a Half Ironman bike leg and instead had 200. This predictably caught up with me on the run. I held on for the first run loop at just under a nine minute pace but was eventually reduced to a walk.

Sheila nearing the end of Augusta 70.3 in 2011. 

Augusta 2015 was going to be different, better, decisive. Leading up to the race, I had two injuries and an infection that wasn’t responding to antibiotics. My doctor finally used a series of antibiotic injections to knock it out within two weeks of the race. I’d seen an orthopedic and a PT for both a hip issue and a problem with the tibial tendon in my left foot.

It became clear the race may not be my best after all. I adjusted my goals and hoped for a decent time. Now, looking back on what was a disappointing race day and my PW (personal worst) time at the Half Ironman distance, the experience still gave me some unexpected and wonderful memories and taught me several lessons for future races.

Here are a few things I learned from this race, and from my past season.

NEGLECTING OFF-SEASON STRENGTH WORK OR EARLY SEASON TRAINING CAN COME AT A PRICE IN PEAK PERFORMANCE FOR YOUR “A” RACE

This header is ideally a warning, a friendly word to the wise in planning your training and race season. But I’m writing this at the end of the season to confirm that yes, strength work and consistent training may seem optional and challenging to schedule during an off-season, but we skip them at our own risk.

I’ve always done off-season strength training. We’ve all probably read articles that say functional strength training can help prevent injury in our regular season training and racing. Let’s just say as you get up into masters age groups, these disciplines pay increasing dividends as your seasons progress. Apart from a bike crash a few years ago, this is the first season I’ve dealt with this level of injury. The injuries created ongoing pain and adversely affected my training and racing schedules leading up to my A race. Both issues were “overuse” injuries that strength training in the off-season could have helped prevent. Due to work and out-of-town obligations from February to May, I started training near the end of May without laying the groundwork of strength or base training.

ON THE BIKE — POWER DOESN’T LIE, AND RACE WEIGHT MATTERS.

In part, because I lacked any training consistency in the off- season, started training late and tried to make up for lost training time, the obvious happened. Though my numbers were improving, and I was progressing toward my goals, I didn’t have enough time on the calendar before Augusta 70.3 to get light enough, fit enough and to reach my target power on the bike. Power doesn’t lie. In early September, with less than a month to go, I saw the writing on the wall, given my power data on training rides and comparing it to previous seasons.

BUT

I am so excited to get my first one under my feet.

To plan my training schedule better next time.

To sign up for a race with friends.