Fiona's IM Texas Race Report
A big congratulations to NRG Coach Fiona Whitby and her huge performance in IM Texas! Here is her race report:
Ironman Texas North American Championships 2017
Race Report by Fiona Whitby
GOALS for this Race:
GOAL: Swim under 1:10 (speedsuit swim). Swim under 1:05 (wetsuit swim).
ACTUAL: Speedsuit swim swam 1:11 (water temp 78.2 degrees), slightly outside my goal. Managed a brief panic attack in the beginning then settled my head and found various ‘feet’ to swim on. The water was warm, a speedsuit swim was the right call. Dirty water, couldn’t see anything (probably a good thing). Second half in the lake was very choppy. Supposedly the canal would feel slow but it actually was a good smooth section with tons of spectators along each side, pretty cool. The final turn to the stairs was weedy, but it was brief.
GOAL: Ride close to 5hrs.
ACTUAL: Rode 5:06. Overall a pretty flat course, the only ‘undulations’ were overpasses. The majority of the ride was on one side of the Hardy Toll Road. We had a good tailwind on the way down towards Houston, aka fast. From the bottom, it took me about an hour to get back up to the top and was looking forward to a solid push down again from the tailwind. However, the tailwind turned into stronger cross winds and very strong cross and head winds on the way back up. The perfect time to be as aero as possible and stick to the middle/upper limit of my power range, no point ‘blowing’ my legs now. There was still a run.
GOAL: Run under 3:30.
ACTUAL: Ran 3:25. Bye bye bike, hello running shoes! Off the bike, I shook my legs out as I headed into transition, grabbed my bag, put my running shoes on, had a pee stop, grabbed other goodies then onto my feet. Definitely felt a little stiff in the beginning but that went away quickly. The weather was ‘perfect’ for a great day. I knew if I wanted my goal of under 3:30 this would be the day to push for it. Beautiful run course; 3 loops of pathways, woodlands, lake and canal, cool neighbourhoods, downtown area and lots and lots of spectators. My final 2km were the hardest, I was ready to be done but didn’t give up pushing. I figured I was in the top 3 in my age group from checking the women ahead of me but really wasn’t sure. I had to keep the pressure on regardless, sub 10hrs was another goal.
GOAL: Break 10hrs and have a PB (Personal Best).
ACTUAL: 9:52:59. Check aRiding and running well allowed me to achieve my overall goal of breaking 10hrs. The closest I have been was 10:05 at IM Cozumel 2010. Wow this felt AMAZING. Super happy and excited at the finish. The clock said 10:07:59 which meant I went 9:52:59 because I started 15min after the ProMen. Woohoo!
GOAL: Top 3 in AG (age group), Qualify for Kona, Stretch Goal – win age group.
ACTUAL: Won AG by 20min, was 4th amateur woman and 20th woman overall. Shortly after finishing I spoke with Brandon and he told me that I had won the age group and confirmed my overall time. Wow, I actually didn’t believe him right away! I thought there was at least one other woman ahead of me. He said it looks like I passed her around 14miles into the run, I didn’t “see” her! Must have been running “too fast”! HeeHee! Thanks for the cheers, the supportive emails and messages, it’s a boost to my performance. Special Thanks to Brandon and our Family, Nigel, NRG Athletes, Enduro Sport, Nineteen and the Angels.
