Ana Karina´ Blog

Acapulco 70.3 Ironman

Post by anakorellana
January 12, 2022

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To go or not to go to Acapulco?

As some of you who might have read a bit from my blog I raced my first 70.3 at the end of March. I had felt some relief from not “having” to cycle since I had just finished a race. My relationship with cycling feels somewhat complicated. It’s like when your parents dragged you to go do a certain activity you don’t want to go but then you ended up loving it and realize how much fun it is. That’s kind of how I normally feel about cycling and now that I think about it that’s how I feel about a few things in life.

After having finished the unofficial 70.3 in Guadalajara the usual question everyone would ask would be... “Vas a Acapulco?” to which I always undoubtedly replied with a “No”. But the question sure linger on my mind.

I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to do it again because oh man doing my first 70.3 for me was hard. So after asking that same question to myself wether or not I was going to Acapulco I decided that I would train as if I would go and race in Acapulco in the next three weeks and if everything is good I would consider signing up for my first official 70.3.

One of the main reasons I was a bit hesitant was because I had borrowed a TT Bike and had not found one for myself and I just did not want to borrow another bike again.

I started looking for bikes and then my birthday hit on May 4th when everything literally changed. On that day I was so overwhelmed with love from my family, friends, and teammates. On one of the my group chats which happens to be my teams group chat I received lots of happy birthday messages and amongst them one from my dear brother Alex saying how much he loves me and admires. So, of course then Nacho a friend and teammate replied with a “since you admire her so much why don’t you get her a new bike” to which Alex agreed and said “what kind would you like to have? Would you like to have a TT Bike or a Road Bike? And then it was pure magic the rest of my teammates supported me saying that I needed a TT bike and so that’s how three weeks later I got my new TT bike and only rode it once before the mains event. And it was Race week when I had finally signed up.

All smiles with Ze Bike! 3Mart made some adjustments so my TT bike could fit me well since Scott doesn't carry XS on the TT bikes.

Getting Ready

Every day I was more determined that I was going to do it. Somehow the pain while training also created a lot of joy. I loved training with my teammates, trying to get better at swimming, cycling and running. Each training session was motivated me more and more as the days went by. I envisioned my self doing the three disciplines. When swimming I would say just keep swimming try to hang into someones toes, int the bike I would also say to hold on just a little bit more as I would get closer to finishing that cycling session and In running I would tell my self to try to go faster each rep to be able to close well at the end of the race.

Doing 1km reps in Chapala

We did go to private lake near Guadalajara to practice the open water swim and I sucked but I don’t like to dwell on negative thoughts so I was actually looking forward to doing the bike. We then started cycling together in a peloton for the first 40 -45 km If I recall well followed by a 35-40 km solo ride on a hilly course to sort of emulate what we would be doing in Acapulco not to mention it was quite a warm and humid day just like it would be in Acapulco. Naturally we ended doing some running reps and to be honest I surprised myself I did most of them under 4 min/km. Running at that pace sure gave me a boost and feel more sure about performing well.

This might've been my last harder run before the race

Race Week

Swim practice with my bro Alex a.k.a "my hype-man", "sport's psychotherapist", "master-mind" and of course Bike sponsor, thank you so much for my beautiful bike!.

We all had arrived to Acapulco two days previous to the race so we could have time to do a practice swim, bike and run. So, we did some easy sessions. When we went swimming for some reason I feel like if can’t see very well under the water I feel like I can’t breathe get anxious and feel like I am going to drown very deep down the ocean. This is just to say how important it is for me to at least do a little swim before the race so I only say positive phrases to myself. I didn’t really have much time to cycle and it was a bit complicated with the cars. We probably ran 4 or 5km one day and that was it. We only needed to check our bikes and running gear in the designated transitions.

If you were to ask me what the highlight of my... ra... THIS BUS! Riding this Scooby-Doo bus was the dream I never knew I had .

On a More Personal Note

As I previously said, training and looking forward to racing brought so much joy to my life. I always try to find joy and happiness no matter what is happening around me. This does not mean that my life is perfect, nor that I do not struggle or feel pain. Well, I definitely was once again going through a hard period but this time was different. This time I tried to keep being myself as much as I could, I tried to keep doing activities I love and as opposed to what I normally tend to do I did not isolate myself while going through a challenging time. I might have shed lots of tears on my birthday but still so very grateful for my brothers kindness and friends and family’s love. President Nelson once said "Practicing gratitude may not prevent us from experiencing sorrow, anger, or pain, but it can help us look forward with hope. We can give thanks for our loved ones, for our bodies and minds, for music and literature, for the beauty of the natural world," .

I remember just cycling for literally two kilometers around the golf course where we were staying at and seeing the the palm trees, the breeze and the sunset made me feel so incredibly loved by Heavenly Father and having a healthy strong body as well as friends and family by my side sure brought an enormous amount of hope and man that Scooby-Doo bus was just what I needed.

I am again so grateful for everything and everyone in my life. Feeling joy and feeling pain are not mutually exclusive. You, we can always experience joy even when life gets hard as it sometimes does. Gratitude opens my lens wide open and allows me to see all the blessings in my life. There are always going to be controllables and non-controllables in our lives. We might not be able to change certain things but we can always make better choices or have a better attitude or plan of action in the "controllable area" and I definitely feel that gratitude is a great way to approach it. Basically what I am trying to say here is to always keep pushing, keep trying, keep living, and enjoy all the great little things in life especially, especially in difficult times.

"Practicing gratitude may not prevent us from experiencing sorrow, anger, or pain, but it can help us look forward with hope. We can give thanks for our loved ones, for our bodies and minds, for music and literature, for the beauty of the natural world," President. Nelson

Finally, Race Day

My main goal for this race was to do my very best and to make myself feel proud. I woke around 4:30 am showered, got ready ate my oatmeal, PB&J and a banana. I took the bus to the transition area, pumped the tires and made some adjustments with the help of some of my teammates. I definitely carried a CO2 but thank goodness I didn’t have to use because I did not know how to use one then.

The swim started around 7:15 am. I started swimming with a faster group to draft as much as I could from them but of course could not hold on to their pace. I ended up swimming alone for a while until the next wave came. I drank some water, freaked out, kept swimming and felt like I was in the water for two hours finally made the last turn and could see the exit. I could not be happier to get done with the swim part. I was afraid I swam in 1:36 or more but ended up doing around 34’45’’ So I was actually pumped. Unto the next baby!

Ran out of the water to go get my bike feeling a bit dizzy. However, I was so excited to use my new bike and see what I could do. The course was hillier than I had imagined but I pushed as much as I could with the level of fitness I had at that time. We are not allowed to draft in the bike part so it gets tricky when you find yourself in a group with similar speed because you pass them then they pass you and it’s a bit annoying and exciting at the same time. We did two loops into a highway. The temperature was in the mid 30’s celsius and humid. By the time I had started the second lap I felt that we were boiling with the asphalt and heat, my shoes were burning a bit and was getting vey thirsty. I had finished my water but tried to catch one from the race and dropped it , then tried again and miraculously grabbed. I actually did enjoy doing the bike leg even though it was not my forte. I ate two waffles, one pack of scratch gummies and one or two fruit gels. The last loop was about to come to an end and my favorite part was coming soon.

I forgot to take off my cycling shoes so I could run barefoot with my bike to the transition and hang my bike in my designated place. I ended up running with my shoes on the sand (majorly rolling my eyes at myself) . For some reason it took me longer to get my shoes, hat, and belt on but finally made it out to the run course! And off we go!! Teammates were cheering for us all along the course, my former coach was also there and it was so good seeing him there. There were some people that I had no idea who they were but were cheering for me as well. Never imagined the run would be so much fun despite the blazing hot weather. I put a massive amount of ice in my chest and back. Didn’t even feel the shock because of how fast it melted. I was feeling good so ran a bit faster than planned. Oh also, almost forgot to mention I was on my period! I had planned that if I started bleeding through my suit I would just keep running lol. So embarrassing, but luckily didn’t have that issue. To be honest I was not sure how to sort that out so came up with a few ideas. Let me know if interested, happy to share.

I sure had the best cheering squad! Gracias totales a Baqueiro, Endurero, Rojita y Guason por todo su apoyo! .

My teammates told me that I was in THIRD! I was like "What the FORK?, HOW? ARE YOU SURE IT'S ME?" and then that I was a few seconds away from the second place. So, thanks to the first ever caffeinated "gu" that my body had ever ingested on km 13th (this was part of the master plan by Alex) I got some energy and started running faster again. The cheer squad was fabulous, teammates were screaming, I was so happy and finished in 5 hours 2 seconds. I had no idea what my time was because at that time I was wearing this huge watch and because it didn’t fit me I would accidentally stop it.

The End of all the Endings…

I found out I got second place in my age group which is something that I had not even imagined could happen. I mean it was my first official Ironman 70.3 and my competitors had so much more experience than me and somehow managed to snag a second place qualifying to the World Championship in Utah. I was hesitant and then ecstatic and then ended up signing up for the championship. Celebrated with my brother and friends (Ale and Alex).

Special thanks to Heavenly Father, to my family , my coaches for guiding me, my team, friends, friends of friends who brought my trisuit to be able to compete with it, for traveling with my bike with the seasuckers which might have caused some stress, for checking on my position status and making sure I was well hydrated! Can't wait to tell you about St. George!

Resting at the end of the race. Alex, Colombo, Mane and yours truly .