gomichellie.comRace Report 70.3 Rhode Island
Thursday, July 16, 2009
It had been quite a while since I had competed in a 70.3 Ironman distance so I was definetly looking forward to seeing how it would turn out. It would also be interesting to see if all the short course racing I had been doing over the last few months would help.Race morning the biggest challenge apart from having to get up at midnight California time for a 6am race start was that the swim course bouys had been blown all over the water because of the storm the night before. It also meant a very choppy swim was ahead. Also the prospect of getting up so early almost made me wish I was a coffee drinker...No not really.:) I always find it quite amusing to watch other athletes the morning of the race frantically looking for there morning coffee fix.The swim start was delayed a little as the life guards straightened out the course. Which just meant being nervous a little more longer.Once the start gun finally fired I pretty much did not see anyone until the first turn around on the run as I had a pretty decent swim in the choppy waters and lead out of the water. Once on the point to point 56mile bike I was passed by a few Pro Men early as I had past them in the swim even though they had a 2 minute head start on the women. I had "Eye of The Tiger" in my head entire bike route. I had absoluetly no idea where anyone else was during the bike. So as I transitioned from the bike to the run I had to wait another 7 miles on the run before I knew where anyone else was. Finally I got a split as the first turn around and I had over 3 minutes and was feeling strong. The run course was a pretty tough 2 lap course which had a 7% climb each lap. Navigating the 7% climb seemed a lot easier than the pounding your quads got on the way back down.With the steps of the Rocky movie as the back drop of the finish line I had grand thoughts of running straight through and up the stairs Rocky Balboa style but my legs had other ideas so I settled for just the finishline tape. As they say winner are grinners and I was v ery happy to take the victory. Desiree Flicker had a strong run to finish 2nd while Heather Jackson rounded out the podium.
1. Michellie Jones, 4:23:56
2. Desiree Ficker, 4:27:21
3. Heather Jackson, 4:33:39
4. Kim Loeffler, 4:36:53
5. Suzanne Zelazo, 4:40:57
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