Ironman 70.3 China Champion!
Lukey and I on the podium! So much fun!
At the finish line!
Running through the center of the city!
Before the swim start...cheering on the Ironman race.
Holy Cow ! I raced Ironman 70.3 yesterday and won! After last year I was not doing the full as I just knew it would be the "death march no 2" .... and I was right. Temperatures reached 45 degrees(115). People melted and there was a huge drop out rate.
It all started with large amounts of rain over the few days before the event. This caused the river to swell and the current to increase way beyond expected flow and strength. Poor Murphy (race director) could not control this. He had to make the hard choice of changing the swim. It now included a 200 mt shore run so that people did not have to swim against the current. Most of the pro's did not care and were more than capable however there was to be carnage in the age group events. Pro's were without wetsuits and it was a mass start. In the 70.3 I was out in 10th overall and 1st woman. Not bad considering the boys decided to beat the sh%t out of me at every buoy. Out on the bike it was quite a lonely ride as the 3 guys who went past me were way too fast to go with so I pretty much paced myself out there the whole time. I was not sure how far back any of the other girls were. All I knew was the sun was up (we had a 9 o'clock start) and my skin was starting to BURN!!!!!!
I tried to pace myself on the bike as I have done so much running lately I was pretty confidant of a good run. As I go to 60 kms I realised that no matter how much work I had done on my run I was about to SUFFER!!!! I put the hammer down on the last 30 kms and started to pass loads of guys. Most of them had started to blow up after going out WAY too hard. Into T2 I was sure I had a pretty good gap on the rest of the girls. Heading out to the 5 km turn around was horrible. The sun was scorching and the aid stations were few and far between. I was "Parched as Bro" I was so thirsty and hot I thought I was never going to make it. I got back to T2 which was the half way point and found some ice cold coke. I jolted back to life and found my run legs all at the same time. With just 11 kms to go I took off.
Running into town was so much fun. Because of the timing of the half and the full Ironman these unsuspecting Chinese supporters were cheering me on extra loud as they thought I was leading the big race. I was not about to try to explain this situation. Instead I lapped it up and race with no pain to the finish line for my first win.
Now I know I was the only pro girl but you can only race who turns up. A win is a win and a 70.3 is a 70.3. I am taking it as I won the hottest 70.3 EVER! Clearly the time was nowhere near spectacular but I worked my ass off for it. I beat the other girls by over 20 mins and was 14th placed over the whole event.
I huge day in all as Lukey came in 2nd to Macca just a few weeks after being so sick. We got to be on the podium together which is quite dorky but loads of fun !!!!! It might be a while till that happens again so I enjoyed it.
I got so many message from everyone which was awesome. I want to send out a huge big thank you to all the K-Swiss Team... I love you guys. You are the best and make me shoes that make the worst days faster and the best days even better. The K-ona got one hell of a work out yesterday with no less that 20 litres of water dumped over them. They have allowed all of my toenails to survive yet another brutal day. To Bernard .... you made the best looking kits out there and your record of winning kits continues. thank you so much for helping Team K-Swiss look so good when we all felt so bad :)
To Lady Charlotta and Kristian.... I knew it and you knew it... no one else could believe it! Well done to you both on win number 2. Oh yeah and happy birthday chicken! Massive cheers for my friend Daniel Mac.... how easy it would have been for you to take a kona slot the other way. This slot and Ironman win you have is worth more than words can describe. I am so proud of you buddy. No one out there deserved it more. A big thank you to Belinda for picking a girl up when she was so down. My new out look and attitude is paying off already and we have only just got started. Saving the best till last...Lukey. How much fun is our life! It just keeps on getting better. I could never have done it without you :)
Stay tuned
Memphis xoxoxoxo
