IRONMAN 70.3 AUGUSTA RACE REPORT

The race in Augusta is one of my favorite 70.3 races, as well as it is for another thirty four hundred people. I like this triathlon because the first year I did it I had a good race, I also like it because it is only driving distance from Clermont, the town where I currently live and train. And of course because the swim in Augusta is in the river with the current. 

Unusually for myself I wasn't very nervous before the start, mostly because the race season is coming to the end and I've gained some confidence through the year. 
Before the start I've had enough time for a good warm up and I even was able to do my regular pre race yoga routine 

Swim: It wasn't the large group of girls at the start, but not too small either, so I hoped I'll be able to find my little pack for the swim.... that didn't happened, and I ended up pulling someone else instead. 
T1: I got through T1 with no mistakes, until the very end. I was already getting close to the "bike mount" line and I heard some clicking noise at the front part of my bike. That was my bib number hanging on the aerobar :-(. I forgot to put it on. I had to stop completely and put the number where it belongs. 
Bike: I started the bike on the 9th position and felt pretty strong during the first part of the ride. Even though the weather wasn't hot, I tried to stay hydrated and stick to my nutrition plan. Second half of the bike segment I still felt strong, but also was able to pick up my cadence. Couple miles before coming into T2 I passed the third girl and was able to gain another 30" on her.
Run: Two girls ahead of me had gained several minutes on me and it was hard to catch them, my goal for the day was to hold my podium position. But seams like  Ann Cleaver, the girl I passed before T2 wanted to get it back. I couldn't get my run together into the first couple miles, and it was 30 sec, then 20 sec between us. Only after around 3 miles Into the run I finally broke the rope and started to gain the gap again, 30 sec, 40 ... And I kept pushing the pace, thanks to my boyfriend. I think he wanted to be sure that I secure my spot and I did. I finished the race 3rd with improving my time in all three disciplines and with 4h20 min 15 sec total time. 
I wouldn't be able to do it without my sponsors: Timex, QR, Shimano, Challenge tires, BlueSeventy; my support crew: Epic Cycles and TriStars and of course my coach: Alec Rukosuev 

Ironman New York US Championship race report

I picked Ironman race in New York for my A race at the beginning of the year for several reasons:
1. Swim with a current, I am not a fastest swimmer :-)
2. High points for Hawaii qualification
3. I've train in the area before and thought it is going to be a fast race....,
But my expectations were destroyed when I saw the run course, even though marathon is a favorite part of Ironman race for me. I was double worried about my run because I wasn't running for 3 weeks before the race. It started with unpleasant pain in my gluteus muscle after one of the best long runs I've had. Why something like that always happened when you feel great? Of course the stubborn me would continue to run, but thanks to my boyfriend ( he proved his point), I decided that it better to take at least one week off of running :-(. During that period of time aqua jogging and elliptical were good substitutes. But one week wasn't enough to recover and I added another couple days with no running to my schedule. I basicly started to run one week before the race, when I was supposed to start tapering. And it felt like the pain wasn't there anymore, but I was still worry, this is a marathon and not just 40 min jogging on the grass.
Race day.
The swim: we had to go on a ferry to get to the "point to point" swim start and it was taking forever to get there, at least that how I felt. But the swim itself was fast and without any problems.

The bike: since I lost "some" time on the swim I started to chase girls on the bike and I did caught a few girls, so I got to the T2 in 10th position.
The run: I felt relatively good at the first half of the run and slowly, but surely continued caughting the girls in front of me. On the last long hill before Washington bridge in the distance I already saw a leading bike of the fifth girl. Running on the bridge was hard yet exciting part of the run: all by yourself on the Washington bridge ....., without water :-(. Somehow the last, flat part of the run was much harder then the hilly one, possibly fatigue accumulation or just the sun or maybe lack of running last few weeks and my goal for the last couple miles was just to stay in my 5th position and cross the fininshline. And I did, absolutely dehydrated yet happy.
I also wanted to say huge thanks for all the support I've had during the race: to my teammates, team managers and friends. Thanks to my sponsors: QuintanaRoo, BlueSeventy, Shimano, Champion System, Xpedo, EpicCycles, Rudy Project for making my race comfortable.

The trip to Europe in pictures

After the welcome atmosphere, beautiful nature, great food in Spain.......,

       

After finishing Ironman France with 4th fastest women's time of the day .......,

After a little brake in Ukraine and Russia with my family.....

It was time to go back to America and start training for Ironman US Championship, which was taking part in New York this year.