It’s Monday morning after my last triathlon of the season, and I have the post-season blues already. It was a fantastically fun weekend at Ironman 70.3 North Carolina (a.k.a. Beach to Battleship), and I’m sad that I don’t get to do it again until next Spring.

I have my Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City recap ready to post this week (I had some issues with pics being on an old phone so it’s been delayed) and then I’ll post the recap of North Carolina. I have so many thoughts about this Race to share – a really fun race in many ways, but very challenging in others.

But in the meantime, I’ll just recap the experience leading up to the race with a few random thoughts:

THE RACE IN GENERAL

Logistically, this race is not for the faint of heart. It’s a point-to-point race, with two transition areas. The check in was at the Wilmington Convention Center, which was easy for me since I stayed downtown.

I arrived on Wednesday evening, so I was able to get checked in on Thursday morning with no line.

But Friday was complicated – there was some driving around in Wilmington-Wrightsville Beach traffic necessary to complete all the steps to the pre-race process. You drop off the bike and bike gear bag at one location, and also drop off the run gear bag at another location. I’ve never done a race where I used gear bags and checked all my stuff in before race morning since there wasn’t a “transition setup” at my bike area.

I managed to squeeze in a quick bike ride to make sure that it survived the trip.

I was impressed with how windy it was when riding – and this will come into play for race day.

Spoiler alert: it was the most insane wind I’ve ever biked in for 40 full miles!

I didn’t do a pre-race swim but wished that I had. I felt like I was running around all day Friday, and just didn’t have the time.

WHEN NOT RACING…

I love to see friends at races, as well as make new friends, and this race was no exception. I felt like I knew people everywhere I went, and met new people every day. I had a blast before, during, and after the race.

Having fun with friends Christine, Matt Miller from BASE Performance, and Rachel before race day!

The people I meet through this sport are inspiring and motivating. It’s this part of the triathlon life that I’ll miss over the winter, and hope to stay connected with people throughout the off-season.

We had a Women For Tri meetup and photo on Friday afternoon. I’m so fulfilled and inspired to meet other women participating in this sport. Everyone has their own journey and motivation for doing this crazy stuff and I would have loved to have had more time to chat with all these awesome ladies!

WHAT’S NEXT?

So what’s next? I’ll do some local running races this fall, focus on strength training that has dropped back as half Ironman training has heated up, and then soon I’ll start my Ironman Lake Placid training in full force. I’m coaching the Winter Half Marathon Training Program again this winter, which will get me outside for long runs and doing track consistently. And I’m busy working on preparations for the Pike’s Peek 10K in April as the Race Director. Between all of that plus work, travel, and kids, I predict that life is going to fly by over the off-season.

I’ve registered for Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga in May as a prep for IMLP, and I’m really excited about it. Regular slots are sold out but Ironman Foundation slots are still open if you want to join me!

I’m thinking about post-Lake-Placid goals, and I’m open to suggestions in the comments!

What’s next in your race season or are you done for the year?

The post Post-Ironman 70.3 North Carolina Blues appeared first on You Signed Up For WHAT?!.