Ironman 70.3 World Championships; a Huge Victory

Clearwater, Florida is one of my favorite race venues. I know many would disagree because of the flat bike course, but I absolutely love it there. Swimming along the Pier, riding and running over the bridge to the most breath taking views is not something you can find anywhere. This was my third year racing the World Championships there and it was just as beautiful as the first time I saw it.

I was excited to race as I was the fittest I have been since my injury in July 2009. I had logged my biggest training week ever prior to this race at 22 hours which really boosted my confidence. The race started out with a bang as the ocean swim was pretty intense. A very strong current was towing everyone in each wave out so much that it took a long time for the group to separate and after I got kicked in the jaw and chomped on my tongue, I decided to quickly end this nonsense and get inside the buoy line to swim. It was a tough swim with the wakes and currents at the turn buoys and on the return. I was very pleased with my swim time as I exited and even more excited to note that this is the first time EVER my swim has ranked higher than the bike and run. I handled the conditions well and swam strong relative to my peers!

The bike was the windiest of the three years and I averaged about the same watts as previous years. My time was a little slow at 2:46:00 but I was fine with it given the day and the wind and congestion on the course. The run is always where truth is revealed. I ran a good run with the first and last splits being the strongest. 9:11 wasn’t my ideal pace for the day as I was shooting super high for a 9 min avg. But of course, I over shoot always and need my coach to keep me in check. I finished at 5:31 which is almost a 30 minute improvement from last year and only 10 minutes off my best time on this course.

After good discussion with Melissa, I realized that the day was a HUGE VICTORY from a coaches perspective. 70.3 is a long race and I ran solid. The whole day was solid. This was the first time in 16 months. We are excited for the off season as we are optimistic we will be able to get good improvements with being able to train consistently as the ailments are becoming a thing of the past and strength is returning. It’s been a long hard road, but Saturdays race showed me I’m closer than I’ve been and Victory will be a more common occurrence again.

I need to make a huge shout out to TIMEX. It was so awesome to get to the run turn around and be greeted by the TIMEX TRUCK!.. I said to the man running next to me “Well, I didn’t know I was going to be shown this kind of love on the course?!” He said, “That’s some serious love!” And I responded with “The thing is, Timex is showing everyone the love by being here!” and my new friend couldn’t have agreed more!

Another shout out to those of you who supported me on my final push to this race and over the weekend. You know who you are and I appreciate it more than you know. Your support has been amazing.

Thank you to TIMEX, BikeSource, ORBEA, SHIMANO, SUGOI, KSwiss, Mix 1, Tri Swim and so many other sponsors listed to the right. Your support for 2010 has made all the difference. Also to DJBerner for being the best there is when it comes to bikes!

Seven months and 10 races later, my 2010 season comes to a close. I’m so excited to work hard in the off season, I can’t even stand it. Probably not what you were expecting to hear…. ;0)

Enjoy your training =) www.tristafrancis.com