2014 Ironman 70.3 St George Utah. HOT and HILLACIOUS!

What a great first ironman venue, in a great city, with great people and a super challenging course. After driving the course to see what I was in for , which mind you is very Hillacious, I realized that my goal was to finish strong and smile the entire way. I almost reached both goals. There were times on the uphill runs I was not smiling so much. The rest of the way, I think I was, at least I look happy in my race photos. Ben , my hot husband, maintained his usual look the entire race. It was hot , but I don't seem to mind hot. There were plenty of aid stations, one every mile on the run , with ice, sponges, drinks and treats. I had a great weekend in St George. We stayed at the Sand Hollow State Park, which was where the race started. It was nice being at the start and not having to bus in to it at 4:30 am. The water temp in the reservoir was 60 degrees but felt warmer to me. The swim was wave starts every 3 minutes. I started 50 minutes after the first wave of professionals. The waiting and waiting was stressful!! Even though it was a wave start , there were plenty of people to swim thru.

The bike was challenging. 4 Up hills , that did not always lead to a down. Very challenging! The snow Canyon climb was the hardest, the hottest, but most spectacular. And after that it was a fast , fast downhill. I was hitting speeds of 38 to 40 mph in my aero bars, which kind of scares me. The bike , was great. I felt great, felt like I still had energy when I hit the run.

Then realized OMG, the first 4 miles is uphill. Wow, it was tough. So I all I could do was keep on moving and smile. Enjoy the experience. I was 30 minutes off my usual 13.1 mile run , but I cannot lie, it hurt. The uphill hurt , and sometimes the down hill hurt worse.

When I finished that race, at first I wanted to cry, then I couldn't stop smiling. It is an amazing feeling to come through the finish line, with people screaming your name. I had completed 70.3 triathlons before, but never such a challenging venue . IRONMAN is amazing.

Ben's official time 6:00.49 Heather 6:21.35 My road to Ironman Couer d' Alene 140.6 continues.