IM Chattanooga

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Posted by: Heather Leiggi 10/28/2014 5:55 AM

A lot has been going on at the Leiggi's these past few weeks. There are going to be some big changes coming in the next few months! But first up, my long over due IM Chattanooga race report. This race was definitely an improvement over Louisville but still not the race I was hoping for. I obviously still have a lot to learn with this ironman racing. Since this was the first year for IM Chattanooga, I wasn't sure what to expect. The city itself had a great vibe with mountains, good restaurants and a fun downtown. They even had an outdoor climbing wall on the side of one of the buildings on the main street which was REALLY tempting….The race course looked to be pretty fun.  A fast downstream swim in the Tennessee river, a rolling hill course through the countryside and a 2 loop run along the river. The race start was delayed a bit due to lack of light but even when the sun came up, it was still pretty dark. Thankfully the swim was pretty easy to navigate (a straight shot downstream) and the pro list was big so there were plenty of women to swim with. As expected, it

was a super fast swim and I found myself in a pack of 4 or 5 women. 45minutes later I was out and running up the super steep long ramp to T1. Out on the bike my plan was to ride a little more conservatively early on than I did at Louisville. I am still trying to figure out how to pace an ironman bike appropriately. I never did get the chance to practice this though because I felt terrible from beginning to end. It was pretty disappointing and frustrating and I put myself in a pretty big hole coming off the bike. In all honestly, I almost didn't even go out on the run. I felt so bad on the bike, the thought of running 26.2 miles feeling that terrible and being so far behind was not appealing. Ironman is a long day which can be good and bad. Even though I knew I wasn't going to be able to run myself into a podium spot, I wanted to at least give myself a shot to see what I could do on the run, especially after Louisville. I was pleasantly surprised to get off the bike and feel great.  Not sure how I can go from feeling so bad on the bike to so great on the run but that's triathlon for you!  It was a good reminder to never give up!  I managed to catch 3 girls on the run, but as I said 
earlier, the damage from the bike was too bad to do much more. I ended up in 11th. Not quite the results I wanted but I did run an ironman marathon PR so it wasn't all bad.  One thing that never gets old is crossing the finish line at an ironman. It really is an emotional and special feeling, no matter how good or bad or day was. So, another ironman in the books.  Now it's time to rest, catch up with friends, do a little partying and then start planning 2015! Thanks for reading!
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