Florida Ironman Nov. 5, 2011 - Race Recap

I have sat down several times in the past week to write this post, and have gotten up again without writing it. I knew it would take a good span of time and I wanted to write uninterrupted. As all of you moms out there know, that is a wish that is hard to grant. So I figured I better just sit down and start, and deal with the distractions as they come. Which is actually a really great metaphor for an Ironman race.

You can plan and prepare and plan and prepare, but come race day, you just have to start the race, and roll with the punches as they come, because they will come. . .

It was at 7:16pm on Saturday, November 5th, 2011- that I heard the words that for more than a year I had been longing to hear, "Rachel Lyons, from Lone Tree, Colorado, You are an Ironman!" As I ran down that final chute towards the Ironman arch - I wanted to relish the moment, I wanted to feel emotional, have a wave of wonder fill me up,  I wanted it to be surreal (which later on in the medical tent it actually was), but honestly -when I crossed that line, I was just glad I finally was able to STOP. For the first time in 12 hours and 16 minutes, and after 140.6 miles, I could STOP propelling my body forward. Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoyed almost every part of the race, but in that final moment - I was simply glad to be finished!


THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE RACE
We arrived on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Panama City Beach, Florida. We left Denver in the middle of a classified blizzard. Fortunately our plane departed on time, however we took off about an hour late due to the need for de-icing the plane. On the way to the airport I discovered that it was going to be a SNOW DAY for my children. Oh what fun for our babysitters!! We left our children in very capable hands and fortunately, our week away was rather uneventful on the home front.

We finally arrived in Panama City Beach, Florida around 2pm.

Yep, Gorgeous beaches!

We (and I always use the term "we", because my husband, Bill, and I do just about all the same races together - not that we actually race together, but we do the same races!)
Anyway, We checked into our condo, got our bikes built and ready, went to the athlete check in, mingled with some of the other athletes, and went for a short easy run.

We travelled with Endurance Sports Travel, a company that goes to almost all of the Ironman events and takes care of all your travel arrangements. They cooked us dinner a couple of nights and cooked breakfast for us everyday. They shuttled us around, have a bike tech on hand just for our group, and gave us great insights into the specifics of the Florida Ironman. The company is owned by a former Pro Triathlete. I would definitely recommend the company to anyone who is new to the sport, or if you are traveling out of the country. They had a welcome dinner for us Wednesday night.

Thursday we went for a short swim in the ocean in the morning, it was actually pretty choppy and made me a bit nervous that race day might be choppy as well. The swim was really the only part of the race that I was anxious about. And really just the mass start. 2500 athletes standing on the beach, racing for the water when the canon booms, climbing over each other to establish some sort of pecking order. Where I was going to fit into the mayhem, I did not know. I was not about to wait at the back until everyone else went in. I'm too competitive to do that. And I knew my swim time would (should) be in the top 30% or so. So I planned to stand in the masses just behind those athletes who know they are supposed to be on the front line of the swim and go there confidently.

We also took a bike tour of the run course later thursday morning - it was as 2 loop course, so once around it was 13 miles. Pretty simple on a bike, but gets the legs moving at least. The run course is really great. Flat, through lots of populated streets and coastal neighborhoods where there would hopefully be lots of spectators.

Thursday night was the athlete meeting and dinner. Just a few people there.

And that's only about half the room, it turned around the corner to the left of the picture too, with just as many athletes as you see here. I felt pretty cool as I walked into the dinner and around the Ironman village with my blue wristband on. The one that indicated I was racing. When I watched Bill race in St. George, I envied those who had those wristbands on, I wanted one too. Now it was my turn.

Each night before bed we watched a movie, or two. Something to distract our minds and let us relax a little bit.

Friday we got all our gear ready and into the various bags they give you for each of the transitions and special needs. There's a LOT of stuff you need to complete 140.6 miles of 3 different sports. We turned in our bikes and all our bags in the morning.

This is just part of the bike transition area! SO MANY BIKES!!!

Later we relaxed and watched some more movies. I read a book, something I have not done in a while! No time for books when you spend 20 hours a week training, the me time is training, and sleeping. I read, The Help. I am sure most of you have already read it, but I had not, and have not seen the movie yet, either.

We went to the dinner that Endurance Sports Travel put on for us on Friday night. It was a subdued atmosphere as all the athletes were in their own places mentally. I enjoyed the distraction of talking with others. We headed back to our condo fairly early, made last minute preparations, and went to bed about 9pm. I actually, surprisingly, slept pretty well.


RACE DAY - Saturday, November 5, 2011

The alarm was set to go off at 4:30am. I felt Bill get out of bed before it went off at about 4:15am. He was done sleeping. At that point I was too, but I laid there until the alarm went off anyway, thinking, praying, and trying to get the last bit of rest I could. I got up and started getting ready. I was planning to wear my tri suit all day. I had debated changing out of wet clothes after the swim to be dry for the bike (because it was fore-casted to be in the mid to low 50's by the time we started out on the bike - which can be pretty cold, especially if you are wet). Ultimately I decided to leave the original plan in place, and not change something on race day. I ate a bowl of oatmeal and had a protein shake for breakfast. We gathered our things and headed over to the race. Our hotel was about 1/3 mile east of the start, right along the coast. I ate a banana and sipped gatorade on the way over to the race start.

When we got to the transition area, we got body marked. I was #2906. Then we went to our bikes and pumped the tires. After that, we waited in the line for the port a potties. The lines are always long. Everyone wants to get rid of as much as possible right before the race, including me.

Morning photo - 5:50 am - temperature was in the high 40s. It felt cold. I was nervous that I had made the wrong decision about clothing, but it was too late now! I really do love that guy I'm standing next to. I love that we do this together. He is amazing in so many ways.

6:30am - transition area closed and we headed to the beach. Now the nerves were starting in on me. I ate a gel about 10 minutes before start, and pushed the other one up the sleeve of my wetsuit, about the same time the pros were starting. I got into the water and swam for a few minutes, tried to go to the bathroom again (I can't remember if I did, but I think so.) Then it was time to get out of the water and get situated for the start. Standing there, I began to get emotional. Nerves, excitement, anticipation, fear - all rolled up in one brief moment. Bill hugged me and told me I was going to do great. I believed him.

At exactly 7am, the cannon boomed - and this happened:

 Yes, I am down there, one of the few pink caps. There was a 4 to 1 ratio of men to women, which is actually pretty typical of the ironman races.

THE SWIM 2.4 Miles in the Gulf of Mexico (1:13:32)
Bill and I were next to each other as the canon boomed. We headed into the water and started swimming. It felt just exactly the way it looks. Crowded.  People on every side of you. Everyone trying to find their place. I just started swimming. Immediately athletes surround you and trying to keep track of someone is impossible, not that I was trying to keep track of my husband, I had to do my thing and so did he. I was purposely trying to be very aware of my surroundings, of those near me, so as to not get kicked in the head or face. I got climbed over, I climbed over some, I hit people with my hands and feet and got hit too. But somehow it was ok. It did not make me nervous. Twice someone smacked me in the eye causing my goggles to dig into my eye socket. That didn't feel very good. But it was ok.

Just when it felt like things were starting to thin out, it was time to turn around the 1st buoy, and it was instant sardines bottleneck.  I'm not timid, and definitely pushed a few people away who were getting a bit too friendly. After the first buoy we headed parallel to the coast to the 2nd buoy and turned back towards shore.  Not even half way through I knew my neck was in bad shape. I had applied Glide to my neck like I always do before a wetsuit swim, but it was either not enough or my clothes had rubbed it off when I was changing into my wetsuit. There were jelly fish and stingray in the water all around us and for a second I wondered if I had been stung by a jelly fish. I was pretty sure I'd have a nice raw neck after this swim! I kept plugging away towards shore to complete my first loop. All of a sudden, right next to me, was Bill! We breath to opposite sides, and we were looking right at each other for a little while, it was so random and so cool! We both recognized it at the same time too!

The swim is two loops and in between the two loops you actually get out of the water, run up onto the beach, over  a timing mat, through an aid station with water, and back into the ocean for the 2nd loop. When I got out of the water I looked at my watch and was STOKED to see 35 min. I had never swam 1.2 that fast and I felt great! I grabbed some water, pulled the gel out of my sleeve and ate it, and headed back out for my second loop. I was hoping I could swim the 2nd loop almost as fast if not as fast as the first loop, that would put me under a 1 hr 15 minute swim, which would be amazing for me.  The second loop was pretty uneventful, and less crowded. I forced myself to relax enough near the end to pee. As I exited the water the clock read 1:13 - I was super excited! Better than I had hoped for! I was 23rd out of the water in my division (out of 84), and 966 out of the water overall (out of 2500 that started the race - 2350 finished the race).

T1   9:38
I know this is an ironman, but do we really need to run an extra half mile just in transition?! We had to run up the beach, get wetsuit stripped, then around through the hotel, around the parking lot to get our T1 bag, then back into the hotel into the ballroom curtained off area (for men or women) - to change and get ready for the bike. I sat down on a chair when I finally got into the room, pulled the towel out of my bag and began to dry off my arms, feet, and hair. I threw on the cycling jersey that I planned to wear (full of goodies in the back pockets), my arm warmers, socks, shoes, helmet, gloves, and sunglasses. Someone the day before in our group (EST) recommended using plastic grocery bags stuffed up inside your jersey to keep warm on the bike. I stuffed 3 bags between my tri suit top and the cycling jersey, and tried to spread them out. Everything else was shoved into the bag and I ran out to get my bike. The sunscreen volunteers got my neck (which stung like crazy because of the chaffing from the wetsuit) and face, and the bike volunteer retrieved my bike and had it ready for me when I ran by. I honestly cannot tell you why my transition was as long as it was, I felt like I was flying through there, maybe all the running around?!

THE BIKE 112 miles (6:10:38)
The bike out was jammed and getting out required slowing to a walk and then walking past the "mount" line a little ways before it was clear enough to get on and start riding.

While none of the people in the above 2 pictures are me, this is exactly what it looked like when I exited the transition area.

I had begun the 2nd, and longest portion, of my first ironman! I was excited. Excited about my swim time, excited to be on the bike. I began eating and drinking. Fueling for an Ironman is actually just as important as the swimming, biking, and running. I knew I would lose upwards of 7-10,000 calories during the day and replacing those calories in order to keep going is vital. Every 20-30 minutes I would eat, first I wend through my PB&J (a quarter of the sandwich every 20 min), then I started in on the gels, granola bar, and red vines licorice after that, and in that order. I ate something every 20-30 minutes and tried to drink at least every 10/15 minutes. I had enough food to last over 6 hours. I went through 4 20oz water bottles of gatorade and then ironman perform (which I did not use in training and I do not like it and will not use it again - it is what they were handing out at the aid stations and I had no choice), I don't know if it may have been the cause of some GI issues later on in the day.

The bike was windy. Headwind/crosswind the whole first half. About 10 miles into the bike Bill came up behind me, (I realized then that I had beat him out of the water), we rode together and talked for a few minutes and then he kept going past me. I was warm and felt great, temperature wise the whole bike (the whole race actually). By half way I took off my gloves, arm warmers and disposed of the grocery bags (which worked amazingly well, and could be thrown away easily at an aid station.  Great tip!!).  At the turnaround, my time was longer than I was hoping for. I was pushing on the bike because I wanted to be close to a 19mph average for the duration. I was  at 17.6 at the turnaround and was hoping the wind would help push me the way back. It didn't. Well, it did a little bit, at first. But of course by this time of day the winds were changing (as they do along the coast) and now I was heading into the wind again (awesome). There were times when it was mild, or  actually was coming from behind. The next 40 miles were faster (19.3 mph). The course was very flat, just a handful of small hills. The hills actually felt really good, I like getting out of the saddle and pedaling upright for short stints here and there, it feels good to my legs and body to change it up like that occasionally. I got up on all the hills and even sometimes on the flats, I'd gear it up and stand. My legs felt pretty good but my hamstrings, sciatic nerve and inner thigh (abductors) always tend to get tired and cranky on long rides and they did a bit towards the end of this ride too, I was ready to get off the bike when it was time, that's for sure! The landscape was the same for 100 miles - flat road lined with trees, nothing spectacular to look at. The streets along the coast near the start and finish were the only change and really the only place spectators were along the bike course. A little over half way through the bike I felt like I might need to go to the bathroom, so I stood and pedaled to allow my body to relax enough to go, but I guess I didn't need to go badly enough. I went the whole bike without peeing.

I am not sure what the scowl is for, funny, I thought I was smiling most of the time!!!

There were a lot of people drafting, and just simply not enough officials to catch them all. Some were blatantly drafting and watching for the motorcycle officials, others were just doing it because there were times when it was impossible not to. Each of the penalty tents I passed did have athletes in it, which I was glad to see. The last 10 miles of the ride were the WORST as far as wind goes. We turned east and headed parallel to the coast towards the finish. The headwind was NASTY. 15mph headwinds and gusts blowing harder through the chutes between the tall hotels that lined the coast. It was the first time in the race that I actually wanted to find some big guy draft behind him! Those last 10 miles were tough. I came into the bike finish and was thrilled to be able to get off that bike! My bike time was 6hrs 10min (18.13mph avg). I was 21st in my division at this point and in 1164th place overall (ahead of more than half the field which was 78% male :) ). 

T2 5:24
I dismounted my bike and handed it off to the volunteer, and ran towards the hotel ballroom where we went into the same changing room as for T1. I grabbed my T2 bag from the volunteer on the way into the ballroom. I quickly stripped off my cycling jersey, helmet, and shoes, and threw on my running shoes and hat. I shoved everything else into the bag and headed to the port a potty. I took a minute or two in there, went #1 and #2, and felt much better. I then headed to the RUN OUT of transition.

THE RUN 26.2 Miles (4:37:36)
I came out running and it felt great to be running, to be off the bike and starting on the last leg of the race. It was just about 2:40pm when I started the run. A wave of relief passed over me as I realized finishing was not an issue at this point! I had 9 1/2 hours to run a marathon in. I could walk the entire thing and still finish in time and claim Ironman status. I was never really worried about finishing, it was always that I wanted to finish well. Of course there are those unforeseen circumstances that do occur, that would be a race ender (pulled muscles, crashing on the bike resulting in sprains or breaks, or broken equipment, dehydration, getting sick, etc etc), fortunately, up to this point, I had not faced anything like that on this day.

I ran the first two miles fairly quickly for me for an Ironman marathon (under a 9 min pace) and kept telling myself to slow it down. My goal was to be under a 10 minute/mile marathon and finish in approx. 4:20. If I felt great on the second half, that is when I would push it. I did purposefully slow down to between a 9 and 10 minute pace, which I held for the first 6 or so miles. Then it all started slowing down. I still felt ok, but the pace kept getting slower. I just decided to run where I felt comfortable and where I knew I could run for a long time. My heart rate was in my zone 2, and theoretically I could hold that for a long time. Somewhere along my second mile the winning pro guy passed me going the other direction, headed for the finish. He was cruising and finished in a new course record and a new record for any Ironman in North America - just under 8 hours! Amazing, and unfathomable.

I kept plodding along, and that really is the best word to describe it! I actually was passing quite a few people which surprised me because of the pace I was going. But passing is passing and it always boosts me up to be able to pass people. Bill and I passed each other 3 times going opposite directions as he was about 6 miles ahead of me at the start of the run. It was fun to look forward to seeing him and he looked great! He kept getting faster over the course of the marathon, amazing. The last time I saw him he was flying and I was just a tinge jealous that he was almost done, and I still had another 7 or 8 miles to go! There were aid stations every mile and I took something at just about every station, either water, or perform, or oranges, or a gel. I ate half a banana at one point in the middle hoping it would help my stomach which was churning.  It was warm, but not hot, but of course when you are running everything is warmer, so I did take the ice cold sponges from time to time and soaked my head. That felt great!

This picture was taken at about mile 5, I was still feeling great!

Some of the volunteers were really having fun at the aid stations and it was a great distraction, we went through a Hawaiian Luau themed station, and a Santa's Village aid station where Santa himself was cheering us on. My son has been loving the "Chuck Norris" jokes of late. You know the ones, where Chuck Norris is just about the most amazing thing to ever happen - "Chuck Norris can unscramble eggs", and "Chuck Norris was going to star in Mission Impossible" but they would have had to change the title to "Mission Accomplished", etc etc. Well there was a sign that some fan of these jokes had put up along the way that said, "Chuck Norris is NOT an Ironman" - it was motivating to me in a funny sort of way and made me think of my awesome 10 year old (now 11) son.

Somewhere around the middle of the run, and then again at about mile 20 I was panicked, looking for the closest port a potty. With a churning stomach and a body that had never been pushed this far, I was desperate. Luckily the port a potties are situated at just about every aid station, and I made it both times without incident, I was about ready to duck into the bushes though. And of course potty time is calculated into the pace, making it even slower! I am hard on myself, I know. I am very competitive, and I want to always do the best I can. It is a blessing and a curse.

After I came out of the port-a-potty at mile 20 I was running next to a guy for a few minutes and he commented as we passed the 20 mile mark, "surely we can run a 10k." My response was, "absolutely!" It was refreshing in that moment to realize I had only 6.2 of the 140.6 miles left to go. An easy morning jog on any other day. I tried to view it as such and began to push my pace, feeling that I could. As the miles went by 5, then 4, then 3 to go I knew I was going to be over 12 hours, but not much over, and I tried to push harder. I actually felt pretty good and began to enjoy the last few miles, smiling and waving to the spectators, thanking the volunteers and police support. By the second half of the marathon the best tasting thing at the aid stations was the warm chicken broth. The sun went down about 6pm and it was quickly getting dark, and cool, in my last 5 miles. The chicken broth was amazing, I loved it. I am sure my body needed it too, which is why all that salt tasted so good! I really just took fluids on in the last 8 miles, it was past the point for solids to do any good.

With a mile to go I upped the pace again. I had not looked at my watch in awhile, I didn't really care at that point, I knew I was going faster then than I had been earlier. A lot faster, I thought. It's funny what your brain can do to motivate you to keep going and finish something that you are determined to finish. I felt good, very tired, but good, and thought I was flying through those last miles. As I came to the finish line, my husband was on the side near the finish,  I turned to him as he called out and I smiled. I was almost done! I ran through the finish line as Mike Reilly called my name and then I stopped. Later my husband told me that my smile to him looked more like a grimace, and when I checked my pace for the last few miles, it was still very slow. I thought I was going fast, but really I was still crawling! My brain was allowing me to feel good and think I was finishing strong, when really, I was simply finishing.
Marathon time was 4:37:36. I finished 26th in my division, 135th female overall (out of about 550), and 1004th overall (out of 2500 - *that means I beat more than 2/3rds of the guys that did the race).

THE AFTERMATH
I found my wonderful husband, who thankfully had an amazing race, finishing over an hour before me, and was ready and willing to take care of a very tired, and wobbly, wife. We walked to get my warm clothes to put on and as we did I started slurring my speech pretty significantly, and felt tingling all over my entire body. It was like when your foot or arm falls asleep, that was how my whole body felt, very odd. I could not speak without really slowing down and concentrating to get the words out, and they came out slurred. After Bill got my warm clothes on me, he had wheelchair brought over and they took me into the medical tent. With help I was lifted onto the cot and covered in blankets. It felt so GOOD to be laying down and covered in warm blankets. I was mostly feeling cold at this point but was still slurring and tingling. The nurse checked all my vitals, had me drink water, and chicken broth. I was starving and they brought me 2 pieces of pizza and a banana that I devoured! I guess all my vitals checked out ok because I did not get an IV. after about 45 min I was actually starting to feel better, and was speaking more coherently. The tingling was going away and I sat up and talked with the volunteers in the medical tent. Most of the volunteers for this race, volunteer so that they get first chance at signing up for the following year. It sells out that fast!

After about an hour or so in the tent, I was discharged and Bill and I gathered my stuff and walked back to the condo. We showered, ate again, and crashed! I put my compression pants on before bed and kept them on until the following afternoon. I truly believe in that recovery method. I was sore the next day, but not horribly sore. We walked quite a bit on Sunday too, as recovery and out of necessity, which for sure helps with the active recovery. Monday I was a little achy, but I could tell I was close to feeling totally normal again, which I did by Tuesday when we travelled home.



What did I learn? 

1. That my nutrition needs work. I've got to figure out what I can take that will keep my stomach and bowels in good condition for the duration of the run. I don't like the Ironman Perform that sponsors the race and I need to figure out how to have more of my own stuff accessible (through the special needs bags we can retrieve at midpoint of the bike and run).

2. Don't push on the bike to maintain a certain speed or time when the wind is strong. back off. Bill only beat my bike time by 30 min. On a ride that long, he should be 45 min to an hour faster than me, and he had an amazing run. Which means I went too fast on the bike for my own strength and the conditions, and my run suffered because of it.

3. All three sports need work. And I intend to do the work. Especially my bike. If I can get stronger on the bike, every aspect of the race will improve.

4. I love this stuff! And I am doing this same race again in 2012. Saturday, November 2nd.

**as a side note, it took 5 days from when I started this post, and sitting down at this computer over 8 different times, to complete this post.

Taboo

Taboo - something you do not talk about, think about, you don't even want to mention the idea of it, it is simply not allowed. That's what getting sick the week of your first Ironman is (or any Ironman, for that matter). What a horrific bummer it would be to get sick and 1. not be able to compete, or 2. compete with a less than perfect bill of health, and suffer the consequences. I really hope I am being too pessimistic at this point. I am hoping with all hope that I am ready to go and feeling great come Saturday morning. The thought of almost a year of training ruined by a stomach bug makes me truly want to cry.

Saturday my 3 year old complained of stomach pains and threw up everything she ate from 2pm-9pm, by Sunday morning she was fine. Yesterday at 2pm, my children's elementary school called to let me know that my 5 year old was in the office curled up with stomach pains. She came home early, with the same bug, threw up a couple of times, and woke up this morning still aching a bit. By noon she was bouncing off the walls feeling great. I went to bed last night feeling less than great, but nothing horrid. I woke up the same way. And it has continued all day. I can eat, food stays down, no throwing up, so that's good, I guess. But I am wondering when my 24 hrs will be up, it should be by about now, and it's not. I actually feel worse.

I am 4 days out. 4 days until the most demanding physical feat I have ever attempted to complete is at my door. I guess this is when the reevaluation of goals takes place. I had a "perfect race" scenario set in my mind, with minor allowances for various things to go wrong, or slower than planned, here and there. When does anyone really have a perfect race?! Never. I had allowed for that. My perfect race was to finish strong, running the whole marathon and finishing in 11 hours 30 min. Sometimes I think it's taboo to state a perfect race goal too, because in reality it will never play out that way. I guess I can say it now. My "I'd be absolutely thrilled with results" were to finish under 12 hours. Now . . . I don't know. I just don't know. If I feel great come Saturday, will the effects of a stomach bug 4 days earlier create weaknesses in my body that would not have been there otherwise? I DON'T KNOW. and I hate not knowing.

I am not a passive, lay down and take it, kind of girl. NEVER have been. I am doing all the things I have always done to avoid and prevent illness. And really, I hardly ever get sick, I haven't been sick in months. I'm even doing some things I've never done because friends I trust have made recommendations. It can't hurt, right!? Well - I will continue to fight this thing with all I've got and hope for the best. I am still optimistic. (it may not sound that way, but truly, I am). We leave for Florida early tomorrow morning, I will get on that airplane so loaded up on vitamin c, anti-oxidants, and probiotics that Germs will run the other direction when they see me coming.

Here's to hope, prayers (yes, there will be LOTS of those. and that is for sure my best defense.), and a body that can complete an ironman saying to stomach bugs, "You are NO match for me!"

TAPER

Isn't that a lovely word? I absolutely LOVE that word and all it stands for. We are 17 days away from my first Ironman, and after completing my long brick on Friday, (the 14th) - I am in taper mode. Friday was a big one, the biggest yet - actually all of last week was pretty heavy, this week is still a lot of training, but the distances are less, so it just feels easier! Lots of Running - 82 miles of running in 2 weeks (fri 7-fri 21).

10/7 Friday:18 mile easy run

10/10 Monday: 6 am Crossfit / 10 am: 10.5 mile easy run
10/11 Tuesday: rest - I actually got to play volleyball Tuesday night - I've been missing it!
10/12 Wed:  2.4 mile swim / 10 mile run
10/13 Thursday:  1 hr on the spin bike - easy
10/14 Friday: 106 miles Bike /16 mile run
10/15 Sat - Rest

10/17 Mon: 6am Crossfit / Spin class/ swim 1700m
10/18 Tues 7 am- 11.5 mile easy run (with 3x1.25mile steady pace intervals in the last half)
10/19 Wed: 2 hour bike
10/20 Thurs: 6am Crossfit / 45 mile bike/8mile run
10/21 Fri: 75mile bike/10 mile run
10/22 Sat: rest

10+6+14=30 That's How I did Math Today

Daunting - that's the word to describe my workout scheduled for today. D.A.U.N.T.I.N.G.

Sure, just write "Run 30 Miles" on the schedule for Sept 28th and think I will just plop it into my calendar like it's just another day. Yes, I am aware I am training for an Ironman and that, in and of itself is daunting. But you work up to it. 50 mile bike rides followed by 3 or 4 mile runs gradually turn into 100 mile bike rides followed by 10/14/16 mile runs. It's a process of teaching and training the body and brain to adapt, get stronger, recover; and do it again. However, no matter how you work up to it, 30 miles is a lot of running. Marathons are 26.2 miles and in training for one of those the typical long run is 20-22 miles. So why 30? Believe me, I've asked, and I've been asked that by many who knew that was the plan.

 Well, whether it was a wise or foolish coaching strategy. IT IS DONE!! And because I was able to do it, I vote the coaching strategy was WISE. Sure my knee and IT band are achy, I'm on ibuprofen at the moment and icing my knee while wearing my compression pants; but I just ran flippin' 30 miles today! A marathon and then some. The mental advantage and confidence that has, and will give me on race day is valuable beyond measure.

The Break Down of My Math
10-  I started at 6:40 am - because of light, that is about the earliest I am willing to start on about the only flat trail in the south Denver area. I ran the first 10 miles alone and was fueling every 30 minutes and feeling pretty good. I was purposefully going slow in order to make the day as pleasant as possible for the duration. the first 10 went by pretty quickly and I met one of my girlfriend at 8:15am.

6-  She had an hour to run with me and we did 6 together. Those 6 flew by. I was still feeling great through those 6 and we talked the whole time. I haven't run with Erin in a little while so we had lots to talk about and catch up on. It was fabulous. I went through the fluids in my fuel belt in the first 16 and switched to my Nathan backpack after that.

14- About 9:15am we got back to our cars for her to go and for me to meet my other girlfriend who was going to run the rest with me (bless her angelic soul!), 14 miles left. The last 14 were harder than the first 14 to say the least. Julia is a serious lifesaver and motivated me throughout the run. She would have loved to be running faster and is truly a saint to repeatedly commit to run with me when she knows I will be slow! When I hit 26.2 we acknowledged that I had just run my 3rd marathon, and we kept going. The last 4 miles were the hardest of the day. With each mile I hit a new personal record. I was feeling every step in my knee and was willing myself to get to the end. With one mile to go, we upped the intensity to finish strong, striding through. As SOON as my watch clicked 30 miles - I stopped. I was not going to stop before that, but I was not running any further.

=30 - I am so glad that I was able to run the whole 30 miles and that it is under my belt now. I am ever grateful to friends who are willing to do hard things with me. 


That is more valuable in the long run than anything else I could have done today.

Weekly Schedule

Some have asked how in the world does one find time to train for an Ironman. Especially a mom with kids still at home during the day. Here was last week's training schedule:

Monday, Sept 19th - Sunday Sept 25th:

Mon:
6-7am Crossfit class (before the kids get up for the morning)
8:45-11:45am swim 2 miles, spin class (while Lydia is in preschool)

Tues:
6-7am - Run 10x400 fast intervals (total run of 5 miles) - avg pace 8:32 - intervals were between 6:30 and 7:30 pace (depending on hills)

Wed: (Dad takes over in the morning with the kids and Lydia has preschool then goes to a playgroup in the afternoon)
6:45am-2:30pm - Bike 80 miles (14.7 mph avg Palmer lake- headwind both ways!) , run 8 miles (9:06 avg -my usual 8 mile loop (includes the bluffs))

Thurs: Recovery Day

Friday:
6-7am Crossfit

9-11ish: Run 15 miles (9:55 avg pace - NOT feeling it today!) (lydia in preschool)

Sat:
6:30-7:30am - Recovery Bike - 1 hour - did not do this

Sunday: REST

17-18 hours of training last week.

This week's (26th-Oct2) schedule looks like this:

Mon
6am Crossfit
8:45-11:45am - bike 2.5 hours (16.7mph avg. - 470 to greenway trail), run 30 min (8:31 avg pace)

Tues
10-11am - Swim 3200m

Wed
6:30am-11am - Run 30 miles easy/slow (9:40 avg pace,  4hrs 50 min)

Thurs
6am Crossfit
9:30am Recovery Bike 1 hr on spin bike

Fri
6am Crossfit
9-11 - 1 hour easy bike (15.1mph headed to cherry creek trail and back)  followed by a 4 mile run (7:56 avg pace - golf course loop)

Sat
7-10am 1 hour swim/1.5 hour bike -cancelled this -  did not do anything today!

17 hours training this week, this week seems a little light (unless you look at Wed), which it is because of the rest and recovery needed to run 30 miles. I haven't done it yet, it's tomorrow. I am nervous but just plan to take it very slow, stop to refuel, and I have two amazing friends meeting me to run different portions of the last half with me. It will be interesting running more than 26.2 - new territory for me, we'll see how it goes!

This is where I get to Ride

When I signed up for this Ironman thing, it was ONLY because time-wise I felt I could do it without taking time away from my first and most important job of being a mom. 4 out of 5 kids are in school from 8am-3pm. The other one, my darling 3 year old, is in preschool 9 hours/week - mon/wed/fri 8:45-11:45. With those 9 hours, an afternoon playgroup for my 3 year old on Wednesdays (once every 3 weeks I host the playgroup); my early mornings (home by 7:15/30 at the latest in order to get kids ready and off to school), and with an occasional long morning on Saturday, I can have 20 hours/week to train without taking "mom" time away. My 3 year old is my little buddy the rest of the time during the day and we do dance and gymnastics classes, play with friends, shop at Costco, Target, and the grocery store, cook, clean, and all the other stuff that comes with living in a household of 7.

So today was one of those Wednesdays where Lydia was off to her friend's house after school, until 3 when I would pick her up, and then we go get her siblings from school. That gives me from 8:45-3pm for a long day - and while that is a long day of swimming, biking, and running; for those really long days - it is actually not enough time! So to remedy this, my husband has rearranged his schedule so that he can be the one in the mornings on Wednesdays to get the kids up and off to school. Fewsh! Now I can leave at 5 or 6 am to get all the training in for those days when I have to RIDE 100 MILES and then RUN 10+ afterwards (which is what I needed to do today), or for those days when playgroup is at my house and I have limited time. Unfortunately, we are in Sept and it is still dark at 5 and 6 am. Which means I waited until 6:20 this morning to take off on my bike for my FIRST EVER 100 MILE RIDE.

The Florida Ironman is a FLAT course, but as there is nothing flat around here, my hundred mile ride was full of rolling hills. I did not go into the mountains, I'm no fool! The ascent was still approx 4500 feet total though.  It was tough, but doable. I used the ride to practice my fueling, making sure to drink and eat every 20-30 minutes, 1 PB&H sandwich, 2 slices of banana bread, 6 gels, and 4 water bottles of gatorade over 6 hours and 20 min. I wanted to get off the bike and feel good running. I did a gorgeous ride today, it actually threatened rain ALL day which stressed me out a little bit, and the fact that I did not see even one other cyclist the whole first 94 miles (I guess they all knew it was really supposed to rain, but lucky for me, it did not!)

This is where I get to ride:

Just about a mile or two after I took this picture, there were two deer bucks on the right side of the road about 50 yards in front of me. I slowed, not knowing what they would do, and also to get my phone out to take a picture. They were beautiful, one had medium sized antlers and the other one had smaller ones. They started towards me, which made me slow even more, and then they crossed in front of me about 10 yards away, crossed the street bounding and as hopped right over the wire fence as if it wasn't even there. It was really cool! That was at about mile 75, and I was thinking how lucky I am that I get to do this, in this environment and see the beautiful things around me.

I finished the ride feeling really good. I was very pleased! My awesome running friend met me to run after my ride. She is a wonderful woman to agree to that. She is a faster runner than me, so to run with me after a 100 mile ride, knowing it will be slower than usual - - - - let's just say I LOVE her!! And she actually pushed me to run faster than I ever thought I would after that ride. I was hoping to have a 10 min average for the marathon portion of the Ironman (4:20). In just an open marathon my goal would be 8:30min/mile average (3:45). Today she helped me run at a 9 min/mile pace for 10.5 miles, on hills! I was way stoked on that. Maybe I can run a 4 hour marathon at the Ironman - it is a totally flat course, at sea level. Or maybe today was just extra good because I was stoked on making it all 100 miles on the bike for the first time. Time will tell. All in all, a great day for such a long day.

Today is the first day where I legitimately feel as though I will be able to accomplish the Ironman feat. And maybe even accomplish it well. It is good to gain confidence in training.

Utah Half Ironman - August 27th, 2011- Round 2

This is my second year doing this event, and it is the only race I am doing this year that I did last year. Because of that I was very interested in seeing improvement in my times. Last year my goal going into my very first 70.3 was to be under 6 hours. It's a flat bike course and a flat run. That was doable. My time last year was 5:53, and that included a long swim (the course was a tad long - don't know how much, but it was definitely long). My goal for this year was to be under 5:30 - so I needed to shave 23 minutes off. In hopes that the swim course would be accurate I was hoping to shave 5 minutes there, 12 off my bike time and about 6 off my run, and also have faster transitions.


This year my time was 37 minutes faster at 5:17*.  The asterisk is because the BIKE course was about 3 miles short, and the swim course had to be short too! What!?!?! How can you set up a 70.3 race course that is not 70.3?! The bike is supposed to be 56 miles long. My GPS read 52.5 as I came into transition. The directors said it was actually 54 miles long, but when they realized it they had already marked all the roads and didn't want to confuse us by re-marking  (understandable) - but get it right the first time!  I don't buy that it was 54 - my GPS is not that far off. So anyway if you add back on the 3 miles they left out of the course at my average bike pace (20mph) that would add in about 10 minutes. Then the SWIM, it had to be short because it had my swim time as 36 minutes, and that includes a 100 yard jog up to the transition area before you cross the timing mat. My goal was to be 38/39 minutes and I know I swam straight and fast (for me). So if you add back a minute or two there to my 5:17, plus the 10 minutes for the bike being short, then my "apples to apples" time was right at 5:30. And my transitions were way better this year!

Before the start

SWIM 
Mass start with all the female participants (about 100) plus the relay team participants. Always a little crazy at the start, but I am getting used to it and really just focused on swimming strong and finding someone to draft behind. That part of it was on and off, I'd get behind someone and they'd take off, or they were too slow and I had to get around them. Drafting doesn't always work out! I felt good through the swim and as always was just anxious to get that part over and get on with the race. I came out of the water 23rd in the women (I only know this because of the results posted after the fact). I ran up the hill and got my wetsuit stripped off and ran into transition. I was out of transition in 47 sec (3rd fastest T1) and off on the bike. 


BIKE

It was a warm day already at this point (about 8am) and was only going to get hotter! Forecast was for high 90's by mid afternoon. The bike was flat and I got busy eating my PB&H, gels, and downing fluids about every 20-30 minutes. The course was an out and back, so as I was getting close to the turnaround I started to count the girls that were coming at me the other direction to see how many were ahead of me.  I counted 20 or so, then I passed a few, and a couple passed me. I got to the turnaround in 1hr 20min, and was thinking I was good to finish at my goal. The turnaround was not 28 miles though on my watch so I was trying to figure out where the extra distance was going to come from since it was simply an out and back course. I didn't worry about it too much just kept peddling away. My average speed was right at 20mph and that was where I wanted to keep it. Right behind me at the turnaround there was a pretty nasty crash - after I turned around I saw two cyclists down, I don't know what happened but then the volunteer yelled that they needed to call medical. Such a bummer.  There was one girl on the bike course that I kept flip flopping with, she'd pass me, then I'd pass her. She passed me near mile 40 and I didn't catch her again after that on the bike. I came in off the bike and my watch said 2:38 - a full 24 minutes faster than last year, but again, approx 3 miles short.  I thought I was probably right about 20/21 going into transition off the bike.

RUN
I flew through transition in under a minute (59 sec- 6th fastest) and passed a few of the girls that were just ahead of me off the bike, including the one I kept trading places with. She then passed me shortly into the run and was going a pretty good pace. I tried to calm my breathing and steady my pace. I was going 8:30 and felt ok doing it but knew I needed to slow down to make it the whole 13 miles.  I slowed my pace to a 9, that was my goal pace for the run. last year I ran a 9:20. I held that for awhile but it kept slipping. So I forgot about pace and ran where I was comfortable. Last year I distinctly remember absolutely hating the first 3 miles and questioning my sanity for doing the race! This year I never felt that awful and just kept plugging away. It really was just a matter of getting through it this year. the run was hard, but doable. My pace was not what I wanted, but faster than last year's pace (9:14 this year vs. 9:20 last year) There were times I wanted to walk and I just would say in my head, "just keep running, just keep running, don't stop, slow down, but don't stop." It worked. I ran the whole thing and passed a ton of people, mostly guys (weird). But I think it's because the girls ahead of me were great athletes and I wasn't going to be passing many of them, while the guys I was passing were the slower guys (all the guys started 5 or 10 minutes ahead of the girls based on age) so when I passed them I was not just passing them, but I was 5 or 10 minutes ahead of them based on their age and their start time. The run course is fabulous! 70% shaded which really helped a lot! I was slower than I wanted to be and I don't know if it is because I went harder on the bike or if the heat was the reason - maybe a little of both?! I did pass a few girls in the first few miles though and thought I was probably positioned in the top 20 females. You can't really make a goal based on placing, or winning your division, or being in the top 10 or whatever, because you just never know who is going to show up at these events. The competition this year was much better than last year! If I had been under 5:30 last year I would have won my division and been in the top 10 females. This year I was 5th in my division and 19th overall female. Nonetheless I am pleased with my performance.

I came to the finish and 3 of my 5 kids jumped in and ran across the finish with me. It was great to see them at the end and my husband also. His time was 4:46 - and with all the same adjustments as me, he was under 5 hours, which was his goal for the day. Overall a great day for both of us.

The race was easier this year than last year on my body. The recovery was nothing to complain about. I wasn't sore. Tired the day of the race, but that's normal. I got back to training on Monday and did an 80 mile mountain ride (6200 ft of elev gain) on Wed - that equals my longest bike yet - and at 6 hours on the bike for that one, it is hopefully close to the time I will be on the bike for the Ironman in November.

Copper Triangle - 78 Mile Mountain Ride

Saturday, August 6th: Gorgeous Ride, Gorgeous Day. A little cold in the mountains at 7am (when we started). The ride goes over three mountain passes, from Copper Mountain Resort over Fremont Pass, then over to Tennessee Pass, then finally to Vail Pass. The first 58 miles or so were a breeze, the work started when we got to Vail. It's about 15 miles of steady climbing with some pretty steep grades in some places (10%), It was for sure the hardest climb I've done, and on the tail end of a 78 mile ride did not make it any easier! But I did it, and enjoyed the gorgeous mountain views en route.

Before we started

Bill taking a photo at the beginning of the ride

At the TOP! we made it! 6 miles to go at this point and they are all downhill! YAY!!

Back to School Brick

My kids started school last week. August 2nd - kinda early, but we have a modified traditional schedule where we get a 2 week fall break and a 2 week spring break, so we start super early. It's good and bad. Anyway - 4 out of 5 started last week with #4 starting kindergarten - it's a full day kindergarten but they did half days for the first week to transition them into it. So that day, Tuesday the 2nd I was scheduled to swim a mile, bike 60, then run 10.  Almost like doing a half ironman, my husband had the same workout. I swam from 6-7am, came home and got kids ready for school, took them for their first day, then was planning to take this little one on my ride. I knew I wouldn't get 60 miles pulling her, I was hoping for 40, I only had 3 hours before I needed to be back to the school to pick up my kindergartner by 11:20.

Just as I was getting ready to head out I get a call from my husband. He is about an hour into the ride portion of the brick and has had 2 flat tires. He's out of tubes, which means I get to go pick him up. He was about 20 minutes away (driving) so I go get him and bring him home and then head out on my own bike ride. I now have only about an hour and 45 minutes for the ride. I got about 25 miles in as I finished at the school to pick up my kindergartner. She had a fabulous day, by the way and LOVES school. Always nice when they do! 

We came home, had lunch, got the babysitter, and I headed out on my 10 mile run. At about mile 8 my plantar fasciitis started acting up. I then got a nasty sore throat that night that I am still (over a week later) getting rid of. I know when I push my self too hard my body rebels and I get sick. It actually doesn't happen very often, thankfully.

I was supposed to run again Thursday and got about half way down my street when I had to turn around because of the fasciitis. Went to crossfit instead that day. Friday I had PT and she worked on my foot (along with all the other ailments I have currently!).

Cherry Creak Sneak - Olympic Tri Recap

This was a race that neither Bill or I were excited to do. Our summer planning was not optimal for this one. We spent all last week (mon-thurs) on a pioneer trek through dusty, dry, hot, Wyoming with the youth from our church. We got home after midnight on Thursday. We walked approximately 35 miles pulling handcarts for the week, and while that was not swimming, biking, or running, it was tiresome enough! We had Friday to recover and get ready for a race Saturday morning. I actually felt really good getting up Saturday morning. We arrived just outside the Cherry Creek Reservoir at 5:45 and headed into the park on our bikes. Immediately, Bill got a flat tire. He fixed it, and we were off again, immediately again, another flat. A gash in his tire. He was done, spare tubes all used, and no spare tire. I went on down to the race start and got set up. Bill had decided to go for a run (to at least get a work out in). He showed up as we were getting ready to get into the water and let me know that he was now going to do the Duathlon. The event had and Olympic Tri, a Sprint Tri, a Duathlon (bike/run), and a 5k run. He had already brought his bike down and got a loaner tire to use for the race, but was not in time to get ready for the Olympic, so they let him switch to the Duathlon. I know this blog is supposed to be about my races, but I have to mention here, that he won the entire Duathlon! Pretty cool!

OK -  My race. I was a little bit nervous beforehand (always am). The water at Cherry Creek was nasty - worse than I remember it and so dirty I couldn't even see the bottom with goggles on at 2 ft deep. There were only 58 women registered (and only 46 who finished it) for the Olympic Distance Tri. I was hoping to place well because of this, in addition to performing well in each sport. The swim was a bit long (just over a mile, instead of 1500m), I have a new garmin gps watch that is waterproof so I can now wear it for the swim too-  Love it! Anyway - so my swim was 13th out of the 46 women who finished the race and again included a 1/4 mile run up to transition - 33:23. My transitions continue to get faster, but still need work.

Off on the bike and the course was fast with a few hills  - the roads around Cherry Creek are very bumpy and rough - hard for a road bike - I kept worrying I was going to get a flat. I averaged 20.3 mph (which I was pleased with) and finished the bike in about 11th place overall for the women. My bike time was 6th out of 46 women. I passed several women on the bike and only 2 women passed me - both in their fifties!! I'm so impressed by them!!

It was getting pretty hot by this point and I knew the run was going to be hard. Heat always makes me (and usually everyone else) slower. I began to pass some men and women on the run and was feeling ok. It was pretty hot! I kept trying to push my pace. There was only 1 person (male or female) that passed me on the run - it was a girl and she was bookin' it. I checked the results on her afterwards, she ran under an 8 min avg. I ended up passing more people and passed the last two girls that I would pass, within the last mile or so, putting me in 6th place overall out of the women for the race. I was 2nd in my age division and only 24 seconds behind the leader in my division. My run was actually one of my slowest race paces yet (8:38 avg) - and 9th out of 46. I don't know if I was slow because of the heat, because I pushed it maybe too hard on the bike, or because of the week I had leading up to the race (probably a combination of all of that).

Conclusions: I am not interested in doing another race at Cherry Creek Resv. Dirty water and bad roads. My transitions still need work, the girl who beat me in my division had 18 seconds on me just from transitions.

Nonetheless I was pleased with the day and can now look towards the half ironman at the end of this month.

A Couple of Flats

ONE
Funny Story: Two weeks ago I went up to Loveland with Bill (husband) and Steve (his coach) to ride the bike course for the race we did this past weekend. As we are getting out of the car and getting our bikes ready to go, I say to the two of them, "I hope I get a flat tire today." Bill says, "What?!" with a confused look on his face and Steve just looks at me funny. I then continue, "I've never had a flat tire on my bike, I am, fore sure, due for one, I usually ride alone, and it would be perfect if I got my first one today when I am with you two. I don't want you to change it for me, I want to do it, but it'd be great to have you to guide me through it, especially if it's the back tire." Steve then says, "Be careful what you wish for." and I reply, "I am actually very serious!"

Yes, I know HOW to change a flat, I've even done it in my garage as Bill walked me through it. But that was a year ago and I haven't had a flat tire since.

The bike ride was a 30 mile loop. We were about 1.5 miles from being finished and I hear a "poof" followed by a little slow down and wobbliness (if that's a word). Yup! Flat tire! I had actually forgotten about my earlier comments at that point and was just excited to be done with the ride soon. I laughed as I pulled over to the side of the road. Bill and Steve rode up and stopped next to me. They were chuckling as well. Steve can change a flat in about a minute flat, so he walked me through all the steps.  I did it in about 10 minutes. A woman who was out walking came by and commented on the two nice young men who were watching me do all the work. I saved face for them and told her I didn't want them to help, I needed to do it on my own. We finished the ride a few minutes later. It could not have been a more perfect set up!

I can't help laugh when I think of that statement, "Be careful what you wish for."

TWO
Yesterday, my girlfriend, Anna, and I headed out from my house to do a pretty long ride. We planned to head up High Grade, the same ride I did last week for the first time, loop around and return home, for about a 50-55 mile ride.

The first half went well, it's the harder portion, heading up into the mountains. We reached the top, took a pit stop and refueled. Then came the fun part, the downhill. After all that climbing, the descent is a well deserved spree! Unfortunately, according to what I had in mind, we missed a turn somewhere and ended up too far down the other side of the mountain. Anna had done this portion of the ride before, but not when starting from all the way over by our houses, she had done it when they drove to the base and rode the loop. We knew we were in for a longer ride than planned. Rather than turn around and head back UPHILL, STEEP UPHILL, we continued on the way she knew to go.

Eventually we came to an intersection where we stopped to verify which way we should be headed. I called Bill, while Anna spoke with a passing cyclist. We determined the quickest way home and headed that way, down Turkey Creek Road toward Highway 285. We passed through Conifer, then actually got ON the 285, which I would NOT recommend - although there ARE bicycle lanes and even signs saying cyclists are ok, it is a fast moving highway, 3 lanes going each direction. The portion of the highway we had to travel on was about 4 miles of steep downhill - really fun to have those semis whizzing by us.  We were about a mile from where we would get off, and yet again, the wobbliness in my tire starts! Another flat! This time it was my front tire (So glad it was the front, so much easier to get on and off the bike for me). I was very glad at this point that I did have that other flat tire two weeks ago. It was no big deal changing this one (besides the cars FLYING down the mountain just feet from us) and we were on our way again in about 5 minutes. After about a minute I realized I had not engaged the front brake after changing the tire (good thing it was the front and not the back or I'd maybe have done and endo!!) I stopped again to do that and we were to the frontage road where we could exit that crazy highway.

Our 50ish mile ride became a 75 mile ride as we came out of the canyon in Morrison and had to take the 470 trail all the way around to home. In hindsight, I am actually really glad it worked out the way it did. I would not have planned to do a 70+ mile bike ride yesterday, and I don't think I would ever have planned to do a 70+ mile ride through the mountains! It was a confidence booster to know that I did it, and that I felt good at the end of it. My legs for sure were screaming at me a little bit on those last few uphills getting home, but besides that, I felt good.

Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Tri - Recap

I'm a little bit too excited as I sit here to do the recap of this race, it was FABULOUS! Like I have said before - it is SO extremely rewarding to work hard for something and have it PAY OFF. I know I am new to the sport of Triathlon, and so the first few seasons should yield pretty significant improvements, but I still can't help getting so excited over small gains!

We arrived in Loveland Friday night to spend the night at the Residence Inn. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from our home to Loveland, and rather than getting up at 2:30 or 3am, we opted to spend the night in a hotel and get up at 4am! Ha - that still is pretty darn early - but race day somehow always makes it ok to get up that early - my body seems to always know, and wakes up early anyway!

My husband and I drove up to Loveland last week to ride the bike course and run the run course with his coach, who has done this race numerous times in his career. I am SO glad we did! The elevation map for the bike does NOT tell the whole story. This is a TOUGH bike course (not to mention a longer than usual olympic distance course at 30 miles) - the first 15 miles feel like rolling hills, but definitely a steady climb, with a couple of longer steady climbs. There are a couple of pretty steep drops, short, but steep as well. The course is a loop, so one would think that the 2nd half would be easier and have more downhill than the first half; not so. The second half is a gradual uphill also, with a few rollers. The steep drops take all the descent (and more) away, and leave you having to climb back to the starting point. There is a killer headwind also along the long lonely road back to the lake. Fortunately the wind was not horrific yesterday (it was worse last week when we came to test the course). The run is a pretty simple out and back, partly along the lake, and pretty flat.

There were 723 athletes competing, including a BLIND guy and his guide - who finished the race - amazing! 315 females and 399 males finished the race.

After a breakfast of oatmeal, protein shake, and half of a banana we headed out. We got to the race about 5:15am Saturday morning to get our transition area set up. The race had a wave start and for the first time, my husband and I started together in the very first wave at 6:30am. All the age 35-39 male and female athletes and the elite athletes started first.

6:30am - Swim Start
Nothing really to tell about the swim - I felt good, after the initial frenzy, and got into a groove. There were lots of athletes so I always had someone nearby to draft off of, and I tried to do that as much as possible. I think I even drafted off my husband for a time, it's hard to tell who's who in the water! I felt like I was going pretty hard, but felt ok doing it. I got out of the water and headed up the grass hill (about 200m) to the transition area - a long way to run to get to transition, and it is actually part of the swim time because the timing mat is at the entrance to the transition area. I was shooting for an under 30 min actual swim time and I think I was actually in the high 28/low 29 min range. My husband has the waterproof garmin and got his actual swim time at just under 29min as soon as he got out of the water. I came out of the water about 45 sec to a minute ahead of him (that's the ONLY portion of the tri that I will ever beat him! and that may not even last long!), My race swim time was 30:45 (including the 200m+ run), I was 87/315 females for my swim. I got into transition and got ready for the bike. My husband is faster in transition than me and we actually exited transition together on our bikes.

BIKE - 30 miles
The ride was great, tough, but fortunately I knew what to expect and tried to hold back a little bit and save some energy for the 2nd half of the bike. If those headwinds were blowing it would be torture. The steep decents were super fun and a nice break for the legs. But as all downhills are, short and sweet, and then back to the climbing. I lost my gels at the beginning of the bike and only had my gatorade and HEED bottles for fueling. The weather was cool and there was a cloud cover that remained throughout the bike and for the duration of my run. Because of that, I didn't need as many fluids as I would have had it been hot and sunny. There were a just a few girls who passed me on the bike (and lots of guys). The 34 and under men started the swim 4 minutes after us, and some of them caught me on the swim, and then a  bunch of them passed me on the bike! Getting to the final stretch the winds were mild, still there, but not bad. I finished the bike feeling pretty good and ready to run. I averaged 18.5 mph (which I am VERY pleased with for that course) and was 76/315 females for the bike portion; 1:37:10.

RUN
As is the case on most triathlons, my left foot was pretty numb by the time the bike is finished and running is a bit of a trick. I've done it enough that mostly now it's just plain annoying, and doesn't hinder my speed too much. I usually take off fast for the run and have to settle myself and remember how long the run actually is. The first mile is the toughest for me, to get used to running and get my breathing in check. I started passing a few runners and that always gives me a boost. The course is an out and back and when I was at 1.7 miles, my husband passed me coming the other direction, headed into the finish. He was about 2 miles ahead of me at that point and finished about 19 minutes ahead of me (he ran a 6:54 average pace - his best yet!). My first few miles were low in the low 8min range and I wanted to push it harder to really be at an 8min average or lower. I took gatorade or water at every aid station and just took one big gulp before tossing the cup. Mile 3 was a sub 8 min mile, but 4 and 5 were just above 8 minutes. I really felt good by the time I had a mile to go and started to push it. Mile 6 was a 7:50 average and I strided into the finish pushing the pace even more. I finished the race in 3:00:01 with a 7:55minute/mile average for the 10k (49:08). My fastest yet.  I was 46/315 females for the run and finished 6th in my division out of 63 (and was only 6 minutes off the leader in my division).Overall I was 50th out of 315 females and 262nd out of 723 total athletes (including guys).

What did I learn? My transitions need work, and I can push a little harder at the end of the run.

Fun tidbit: The Lake to Lake Triathlon is a special qualifier for the National Championship Triathlon. Both my husband and I qualified for the National Championships in our age groups. Not that we will go there (this year), but fun to know we qualified!

Highgrade to CityView Brick

Longest Brick of the Season: 43 mile bike/6 mile run

I have been afraid of this ride ever since I went out Christmas Eve morning with my husband and almost froze to death (not really, but I seriously have never been so cold in my life - shaking and losing control of my limbs on the way down!) -but that's another story for a different day. It's a 40+ mile bike with A LOT of climbing up steep mountain roads - approx. 6000 feet of elevation gain in those 42/43 miles.

I also have never done this ride completely and knew going with my husband was not the best option for my first time, being that he is so much faster than me and I don't want to hold him back when he is trying to get a good training ride in.

So, my neighbor across the street is actually the only other girl I know personally who is as into these triathlons as I am. And fortunately we are both just starting to get into the longer stuff. She is doing the Cozumel Ironman just 3 weeks after my Florida one. Both of our firsts. Because of that, our training timeframe is pretty similar.

Yesterday we headed out at 5:30am to hit this ride, and then run an easy 6. I have a race on Saturday, so I was not sure how smart it was to do a ride and run like this 3 days prior. But in the big picture, it's more important for me to do these tougher rides to get ready for my bigger races (1/2 IM in Aug, and then Florida). We drove to Aspen Grove (about 10 miles from here and 10 miles to the start of the ride), there is a great flat running course right at Aspen Grove that travels along the Platte River that we would hit when we returned from the bike.

The ride was actually, surprisingly, great! I was very relieved to have it feel doable. The first few miles of climb are a steady slight climb that got me all the way to my smallest gear. That worried me a bit, knowing I had nowhere lighter to go! But it worked out, I alternated between staying in, and getting up out the saddle once we got to the steeper stuff. It is a beautiful ride. Gorgeous mountain scenes. And most importantly, my legs felt great getting off  and starting the run. That may be due to the fact that the second half of the bike was mostly coming back down! That was fun! The ride took 3:17 of ride time. MPH average was 12.9.

The view at the top of City View - a bit hazy, but that's Denver down there.

 Same spot as the above picture, but facing the other direction

I just had a bike fit riding instructional on Monday from my husband's tri coach. Steve Pye - I leaned a ton and hope to be able to implement what I have learned over time. I felt better on this ride than I have in awhile (if ever) - I am hoping the bike fit (and my new knowledge of how to actually sit on the bike) are to credit for this and that it will continue. I do still have the numb foot issue, it is worse when I climb, and hopefully time and improvement in my pedal stroke and climbing technique will be able to alleviate that.

The run was an out an back on the Platte River trail and really felt great. It takes about a mile for me to get into the run and feel good. We took it easy and maintained about a 9 min average. I felt great on the run and knew I could go faster if I wanted to, but was happy to keep an easy pace. With a race on Saturday, the last thing I needed to do was push it hard on either the bike or the run.

Overall, a great day that has helped boost my confidence in my ability to climb on the bike.

Boulder Sunrise Olympic Tri Recap

What a perfect day it was Saturday in Boulder, Colorado. Such a beautiful location. The day started at 4:20am when the alarm went off.  I got up and ready, ate breakfast of a protein shake, oatmeal, and banana. We left for Boulder at 5am. On the drive there my husband and I talked about the race, our expectations and goals. We felt that the competition would actually be pretty strong for an Olympic Distance Tri this early in the season here in CO. The race consistted of an Olympic Tri, Sprint Tri, Duathalon (bike/run), and a 5k Race. We arrived just before 6 and got into transition to set up. That's my spot right there on the end, the white GIANT bike. The butterflies were swimming around, as they always do before a race. But thankfully, I was not too bad. Mostly nervous about the temperature of the water.

About 6:30 I started getting my wetsuit on, the air temp was low 50s and I wanted the warmth and was hoping to be hot by the time the race started. I wore earplugs for the first time hoping to help keep me warmer. I don't know if it worked or not, but I didn't mind having them in at all. My husband and I went down to the water to get warmed up. It was cold, but not as cold as I thought it would feel. Good sign! At least on my feet it was warmer in the water than out. They said the water temp was about 61*. The first rush of water over the head was chilly to say the least. We warmed up by swimming a couple 50m stretches and then waited for the men to start. We waited and waited, then found out we were still waiting because there was not a paramedic on site, and I guess that's one of the rules, for safety. So I warmed up again by swimming some more, then got out and ran around on the dry ground. Waiting in that cold water was not the best part of the day! But it at least got me anxious and ready to get moving.

SWIM (1500m)

Finally the men started (about 20min later than schedule) and the Women started about 2 min after them. I actually positioned myself near the front for the start, right behind the front line of women. Smart or not, I don't know - but it worked out ok. There were a few that climbed over me and a few I climbed over in the first 200m or so. It seemed to take a little longer this time to get into a groove, maybe closer to 500m before I settled into the swim. Nerves to be sure, this was my first time in the open water this season.  Right about 500m I passed the first guy (who started 2 min before us) - that always gets me going. I also I found a girl's feet that seemed to be consistently in front of my face.  I knew I could go around her if I wanted to, but then I thought about how this would be the perfect opportunity to try drafting. I've never done it and didn't know if I could, but I've read about and heard about the great advantages of doing it if you can. And this girl happened to be just the right pace, not too fast, not too slow. So I got into her wake and just followed her feet and her bubbles. It did seem easier and I just coasted along behind her for about the next 500m. About that time we came around one of the last buoys and into the crowd of Sprint Tri swimmers (who stared after us, but had half as far to swim) - so it was chaos again, trying to find my lane. I felt good through the whole swim, only veered off to the right once as I was following a group that was headed a bit off course. I corrected that and seemed ok as far as direction the rest of the swim. Pushed hard with my arms the last 200m and let my legs drag a bit, to hopefully let them rest a minute before I got out of the water. My swim was a 30:26 and put me 26/104 females. I improved my swim time by about a minute and a half over last year's Olympic race, and actually hopefully more than that because the timing mat was all the way up at transition and not down at the water. I'm hoping my actual swim time was actually closer to 30min.

T1

Running up the sand was a new experience on numb feet!!! I seriously couldn't feel them and wobbled a bit getting up the hill to transition. My fingers were also numb and it took me a full minute or more of trying just to undo the velcro at the back of my wetsuit. I was actually already in T1 when I got it, then found the strap and unzipped. My transition was longer than any I've ever had (3:17). I attribute it to the numb fingers and toes. I had planned to wear gloves and my riding jacket, but with my fingers not working and I was not cold, I decided to forget about that. I put on my garmin watch and because of my fingers, I could not get the watch strap into the loop! It really took way longer than it should and I ended up using my teeth to get it on correctly.

BIKE (26.4 miles)

I took a gel first thing on the bike and tried to calm my breathing. The ride was really a fun course. There were 3 or 4 girls who passed me in the first 10 miles. I believe I ended up passing them all, and a few more during the 2nd half of the bike. At about mile 19 I took my water bottle out to drink and totally bobbled it and dropped it, bummer. I thought for a second about stopping to get it, but didn't. I probably should have, it's not like I am a contender to win these races, but I am so competitive even with myself that I didn't want to lose those seconds! I had another full bottle so I was fine as far as fluids went. The temp was probably in the 60s by now, and sunny. It felt great. This was my first race using the aero bars. I have liked having them on training rides and liked having them on this race too. I do have a bit of a sciatic nerve issue that being in the bent over position seems to irritate. So that's something I need to figure out. I would get up out of the aero bars to rest a little bit here and there. At about mile 20 I took another gel. Total on the bike I drank approx 1.5 water bottles of a mixture of Heed and Gatorade. I was a little worried about how I would perform on the run, knowing I was going fast on the bike. I was averaging about 19mph, which is fast for me. I finished the bike in 1:23:44 with a 18.9mph average. My time was 3 minutes faster than last year's olympic, and this year was 1.6 miles longer too - so really about a 7-8 min improvement  and 2 mph average faster. woo hoo! I like improvement! I was 31/104 for my bike time of the females.

T2

Transition 2 was much better and faster than T1. I rolled in, stripped my bike shoes and helmet, threw on my race number, visor and running shoes and was off in 1:03.

RUN (10K - 6.2 miles)

Good run, flat for the most part, but even the little hills are killer at this point for me! I started strong and told myself to stay where I was feeling good so I could push the 2nd half. That is hard to do, when you want to just push it because you feel you can! But I tried to hold back a little bit while still going as fast as I could. My goal was to be as close to an 8 minute mile average as possible. By half way my average was 8:13 and I was pleased with that and knew I was giving my all. I took a couple gulps of gatorade and water at the aid stations, mostly to wet my mouth. The course was an out and back, twice for the Olympic Tri, and once for the Sprint Tri and the 5K racers. It was hard to know where I really stood in the field because there were so many runners and I never knew if the person passing me coming the other direction was on her first or second loop, or was doing the sprint or the 5k.  No girl runners passed me at all until the very end when 1 did, a few guys did though.  I actually passed many girls,  and guys, on the run - which is what I want to do and fortunately have always been able to do.  There was one girl who I came off the bike with and she headed into the run about 15 seconds in front of me, and stayed there the whole duration of the run. About mile 5 a girl passed me (who was doing the Olympic - they put an O on your calf if you are doing the Olympic so you only know if you see someone from behind) - she passed me, and the girl 50m ahead of me - but that was the only one. I finished the run stronger than I started it and had an 8:07 average pace. That is my fastest ever 10K (tri or just running race). Not that I have done a tone of either, but I was very encouraged to have my fastest ever 10k be at the end of an olympic triathlon. My run time was 50:15 and put me 22/104 girls.

FINISH

My total time was 2:48:44. 6 minutes faster than last year's olympic, but if you add in the extra 1.6 miles on the bike it makes it about 10 minutes faster. I finished 5th in my age group (35-39), and 25th overall female out of 104.