2021 CassadagaMan 70.3 - No GI issue this time!

Another year of CassadagaMan 70.3. I could have done other 70.3 races but it seemed like many people got deferred from last year races and it was hard to find other races nearby. So, I signed up for this race again this year despite the hilly bike and run courses. The timing was perfect for me as it was on Labor day weekend and I don't have to teach on Monday. The hardest part of this race was to convince my husband to go with me because he said there was nothing to do in the area or the town where we stayed at. 

I had a big deadline the week leading up to the race day so my whole attention was paid to that BIG deadline. I submitted my work on Thursday and took Friday off to prepare for the race. We left the house on Friday late morning and stopped in Cleveland for lunch before heading to Cassadaga, NY. This was our mini vacation although P. did not think so. 

We arrived at the packet pick up around 3pm. I picked up the packet and we also drove the bike course to remind me what it looked like. I felt pretty good going into this race as I had been swimming and biking more. I knew I could run but not fast. So, the goals for this race were to nail the nutrition (no GI issue like last time) and get a faster time. 

This year they allowed us to drop the bike off on Friday so I decided to leave my bike there overnight to minimize the headache on the race morning. 

The good thing about Cassadagaman was there were many CTC members at the race and it felt great to have fellow club members there. We took group photos before the race. 

They allowed us to do a warm-up swim in the lake before 7:45am when the RD started the mandatory athlete briefing. The water was perfect. I couldn't have asked for better air and water temp that morning. I did a bit of swim warm up before the mandatory meeting. 

Because this race was very small and all athletes were doing the same distance, the swim was a mass start. The males started at 8am and the females/relay teams started at 8:03am. This time I had to make sure that I sought the correct buoys so stay on the course. I got into the rhythm pretty fast and kept swimming thinking to myself - one buoy at a time. I had trouble seeing the buoys during the last 700 yards as we were swimming into the sun. So, I had to look up almost every stroke to make sure that I'm going in the right direction. 

After the swim was done, I looked at the watch and I was very happy. I took off 5 minutes from my swim time last year and the training worked! Now on to the bike. I knew exactly where and when the big hills were on the course so I mentally prepared myself for that. I did not ride as many steep hills this year and my legs felt a bit jello from the swim kicks. I could not find my legs during the first 5 miles but that was ok as I used that time to eat and drink. After 14-15 miles in, I started to feel "ok" again and that's when we began the first big climb - Kelly Hill road. The bike course had two big climbs - first after the half-way aid station at Mile 14 and the other was before the end of the 28-mile loop (about Mile 22 and 50). Those hills were b*tches! 

I finished the bike 5 minutes faster than last year's time. Another goal checked! Then, off to the run. The run course at this race was another b*tch. There were a lot of rolling hills and I ended up doing my "ultra running" strategy, which was walking up the hills and running down the hills. The weather was also getting warmer and I struggled in the heat. However, the good thing was I had no stomach issue this time (but I was still slow). I walked A LOT more than I had thought/wanted to. Mile 1-3 were pretty flat as we ran out to the intersection. The run course was a "Y" shape where we ran out from T2 to the intersection, ran to the end of the one of the top "y" parts and back, and then to the other end of the top "y" parts then back to the base of the "y". Mile 3 to 7 were pretty hilly but still manageable. Mile 7 to 10 were VERY hilly and the climbs seemed endless. Then, on the way back, it was pretty flat but VERY HOT. Ugh. 

I ran back thinking to myself that I had to call P. to come pick me up after I was done. Then, once I approached the finish line, I saw that P. was there waiting to take the pictures. He stopped coming to my races a LONG time ago as he had no interest in ultramarathons but it seems like he was always willing to go with me to out-of-town triathlon races. I guess it's because triathlons are always in big cities where he also has something else to do while waiting for me to crawl to the finish line. 

Overall, the race was a success (in my opinion). I shaved 14 minutes off from my last year's time and I was very happy. The CTC folks also did very well with many podium finishes and I'm proud to be part of this club. Everyone was very friendly and fun. And of course, I went straight to the beer tent after I crossed the finish line. They had Southern Tier beers at the finish and they were good beers!

I have my eyes set on doing the Ironman next year now that I did 2 HIMs already. Will have to choose which one to sign up for and then start training again. But for now, I will enjoy some time off and get ready for the Akron marathon in 3 weeks.