Boise 70.3

The big weekend was finally here.  My second 70.3 race and my first trip to the great state of Idaho!!  I had taken the whole week off from work and my husband and I were set to travel to Boise on the Wednesday before the race.  I wanted to make sure we got there early enough in case there was any trouble with the airlines losing our bikes or other such travel disasters.  And being the person I am, I wanted to make sure that we arrived early enough on Wednesday so we could take in as many things as possible. 

Our flight took off at 6:30 am and we landed in Boise at 10:20 am.  As we stepped outside to pick up our minivan, yes, I said minivan, we got our first taste of the Boise weather.  Such a big difference from the 100* weather we had left behind in Texas.  I think it was probably in the high 60's with a slight breeze.  It felt absolutely wonderful!!  Since we had gotten there so early I was not sure if the hotel would let us check in early, since check-in time is normally after 3 pm.  But as we drove out of the airport and into downtown Boise, it took us all of 8 minutes to get to our hotel, The Owyahee Plaza Hotel.  So I ran in and explained our situation to the girl behind the counter and she said that they had a room open and we could go ahead and check in.  And this was to the be the trend for the rest of our stay.  We managed to get lucky at so many places here.  Everything really did go off without a hitch.  We could see the snow-covered peaks of the mountains off in the distance and the room had recently been re-modeled.

We found a local bike/outdoor store that was just down the street from our hotel to pick up all our nutritional needs that we would need for the race and CO2 cartridges for our bikes, since the airlines would not let us travel with the ones we already had.  And we went ahead and bought neoprene caps for our heads, since we knew the water was going to be cold after talking to a few of the locals in town.

We decided to drive up to Lucky Peack Resevior where the swim was going to be to test out the water and then from there drive the bike course.  We stuck our hands in the water, and yes, it was cold.  Although I think we were trying to convince ourselves that it was not that cold by saying, "Oh, that's not too bad!"  The bike course was pretty easy to follow and we found out right away that the first 2 miles are a nice decent out of the resevior.  All-in-all, driving the course didn't seem too bad.  There were no massive mountain passes to bike through and around mile 20 there was one long gradual uphill but nothing as bad as I had been picturing.  I could see, though, that if the winds were blowing on race day, it could be a long day on the bike.  Once you get out by the airport property, there really is nothing out there to block the wind.    

Thursday we had athlete check in and expo shopping to take care of.  There we learned that the official water temperature was 53*.  Yikes!!!  We got our bikes put together and took them for a little ride through Boise to make sure that everything was adjusted properly and in working order.  Then we went for a little run down on the greenbelt along the Boise River where the run was going to be.  I knew I was going to love this run.  Flat, shaded, and beautiful scenery - you couldn't ask for a better run venue.  Friday we drove back up to Lucky Peak to check our bikes in transition.  The other cool thing about this race is that it starts at NOON on Saturday, so you don't have to worry about going to bed super early Friday night.  We spent the rest of the day sight-seeing and had our picture taken on the blue field at Boise State University!

Race morning:  No matter how hard I tried, I could not sleep in.  Of all days, I was up at 7 am and ready to get moving.  As cool as the noon start time is, it almost made it harder because I was so wired up to get racing that I couldn't relax.  We soon realized that even through we ate a good breakfast we were going to have eat again before the race started.  We headed out of the hotel around 9 am and went down to T2 to check in our run gear bags, since this was a two-transition race.  We found a subway and bought a sandwich that we could take with us on the shuttle to the swim.  We got on the shuttle at 10 am and were off to Lucky Peak!

After that, things seemed to move pretty quickly.  I got my tires aired up and made sure I had everything that I would need for the bike.  I had packed a lot of clothes in my gear bag because I didn't know how the weather was going to be.  It turned out to be the best weather that this race has ever seen.  High 60's when we started with the sun out and not a cloud in the sky and a minimal breeze.  We ate our sandwiches and went out onto the dock to get into our swim waves.  The pros started exactly at noon and I had a start time of 12:33.      

Swim:  49 minutes

52 degree water is COLD!!!  We jumped off the dock and had to tread water for 2 minutes before taking off.  Immediately my hands and feet felt like tiny pins and needles were in them.  Almost every girl in the water with me had our hands out of the water and we were making fists or slapping our hands together to get feeling back in them.  Someone had told me that I needed to dunk my head underwater to get adjusted to the water before the start.  I did that once and decided that I would just get used to my face being in the cold water when I started to swim.  I seriously considered pulling myself out of the water right then and there, but then I thought better of it.  My husband was out there in the same water and I had talked for weeks about this race.  And I really wanted to ride my bike, so no quitting for me!  The gun finally went off and we were one our way.  The course was marked fantastically and I had no trouble sighting.  The only problem I was having was with my feet.  They were so cold that anytime I tried to kick they hurt.  So I basically did the 1.2 mile swim with just my upper body and I dragged my legs behind me.  When I got to the final turn buoy I got blasted by an even colder burst of water.  Really?  The water could get even colder??  I finally made my way to the ramp and started walking my way up it.  I could barely find my feet because they were so cold so I just tried to pound them on the ground to get some feeling back.  Halfway up the ramp I was ready to start running again.  I found my bike and took the time to grab my towel and rub my feet for a few seconds.  I put on my socks and helmet and took off out of transition.  My longest T1 ever:  7 minutes!

Bike:  3:48
Luckily on this bike course you have about a 2 mile descent out of the park so you have time to get your breath back and get some nice speed.  It was around this time that the rest of my feeling started coming back to my feet.  I was just happy to feel them again!  This was a bike course of different stories for me.  I felt great on the way out to the turn around (about 25 miles).  There were plenty of people around me and I was able to see the pros as they were making their way back to downtown Boise.  I was eating and drinking when I was supposed to be and the world was great.  I'm not quite sure what happened when I reached the turnaround but suddenly I wasn't so happy to be on my bike anymore.  Maybe not enough long practice rides before the race.  I know I forgot to keep eating so I'm sure that had something to do with it.  But between miles 25 and 40 I got into a bad mood.  Of course, this is also the part of the course that has the most hills and a false flat that seems to go on forever!  Then once I got past all that and was finally back around people again, things started looking up.  I passed a few people on the bike and there were spectators cheering us on again.  I started drinking up again and life was good.  The sun had gone to hide behind some clouds so it suddenly felt marvelous to be out there.  I kicked it into gear and finally made my way down Capital Street where T2 was.  It was really cool riding down the street with the Capital sitting at the end of it.  I ran into T2, racked my bike, and threw on my running shoes and visor, suddenly I was refreshed! 

Run:  2:20

This was by far the best run course I have ever run on.  It follows the green belt along the Boise River and it's absolutely beautiful.  There's plenty of shade and is nice and smooth and flat!  I had a plan of running to every water station and then walking the station.  It was a 2-loop course so on the first loop I tried to keep my heart rate down so I would have enough for the second lap.  When I got to the turn around after the first lap I was able to see the clock at the finish line.  After some quick calculations in my head I realized that if I stayed at the pace that I was at, I would have a faster finish time than my previous half-iron race!  Consider the slow swim and bike ride I had, I was really stoked about this!  I ate every 3 miles and I was feeling strong by the time I got to mile 10.  I picked up my pace a bit and bypassed the last aid station and ran into the finisher's chute.  I had a time of 7:08!  I had knocked 8 minutes off my previous time and it had all come off during the run!

The volunteers were great at the finish and got me wrapped up in foil (the temps were starting to fall and the wind had picked up by then) and gave my some water, my cap, my medal, and got my chip off my ankle.  I would have to say that this race had some of the best volunteers around and they were very encouraging and supportive the whole time. 

So even though I have yet to break the 7 hour mark on a race, I know what I need to work on.  Luckily I'm in this sport to enjoy it, and I'm so glad that we decided to do Boise 70.3.  It gave us a chance to visit a part of the country that we had never been to before and we absolutely loved our time there.  I would definitely recommend this race to a friend.

Capital of Texas Tri - Austin

This race was going to be the biggest indicator of how my training was coming along.  My goal this season has been improving my time in the longer distance races, and I really wanted to improve my time from last year on this race.  This race actually got selected to be part of the "Race to the Toyota Cup series" and it was going to attract a lot of pros, which made it all the more exciting.

I finished up with my school semester in the beginning of May so I had about 3 or 4 weeks to really put in some last minute training during the week that I'm not really able to do when I'm in school.  I was feeling stronger and stronger on the run and swim, but was still having doubts about my bike.  I had just been feeling "off" on the bike and I don't know if it's been a mental thing or what.  The winds this season have been blowing pretty regularly so that may have had some impact on some of my training rides. 

The day before the race you have a mandatory bike check-in and packet pick-up.  It was fun to walk around the expo and do a little shopping for some last minute nutritional needs.  The race is held in downtown Austin on Memorial Day so it's a really cool setting for a race.  They close off all the roads downtown and you get to ride right up and around the Capital building.  The race actually started about 15 minutes late due to some sort of mishap.  It's a wetsuit legal race so I was hoping for better numbers on my swim.  As the gun went off, I got into a rhythm pretty quickly and felt very comfortable as I came to the first turn buoy.  But as I started heading in the other direction, I noticed the wind had picked up and the water was getting rougher.  My speed slowed dramatically and I had a little issue with my active imagination when my strap on my wetsuit kept hitting my hand.  But I got past all that and hit the last turn buoy to head to the dock.  It felt great to get out of the water and I had the best volunteer just grab me out of the water and toss me up the ramp!  I ran to the "strippers" and they yanked me out of my wetsuit and I was running towards my bike.  Official time in the water = 36 minutes.

I hopped on my bike and started on the course and knew my numbers where not going to be anywhere where I wanted them to be.  I was blasted head-on by a strong gust of wind and I sort of let my spirit get smashed because of it.  The course is a 4-loop course with a couple of short little inclines that I knew were going to do me in.   I decided to just plug along on the bike and make the most of it.  Besides, this race was just a trial run for Boise 70.3 which was coming up in a couple of weeks.  I managed through 3 loops of the bike course before my husband, who started a few waves behind me, passed me up.  At least I had held him off until the third loop of the bike!  But by loop 4 I was ready to be off my bike.  The wind was blowing me around all over the place and the course was getting more crowded as the athletes doing the Sprint race where starting their bike portion of the race.  I finished my bike with a blown attitude and a total time of = 1:35 (15.6 avg) - slower than I had done last year.

As I headed out on the run, I was suddenly glad for the wind.  The breeze felt great and I was managing to pass a few people who had stopped to walk up one of the hills at the beginning of the route.  I took water at every aid station and ate my nutrition at the halfway mark.  It's a 2-loop run course but doesn't feel that bad.  I had to walk on one section when I thought I had a rock in my shoe but when I pulled my shoe off I realized I was getting a nasty blister.  I just slipped my shoe back on and started running again.  Too late to do anything about it now :-)  I saw one of my triathlon club teammates as I was getting to about 50 yards of the finish and I kicked it into high gear when he started cheering me on.  Not the best run I had ever done but I was happy to be done.  Total run time = 1:08 (11 min pace).

Total race time = 3:26.  I had managed to knock 10 minutes off my time from last year, but it was nowhere near the 3-hour mark that I wanted to be at.

So even though it wasn't a perfect race by any means, it was still a fun experience and I had friends that did very well and had major improvements from last year.

Windcrest Tri 2011

This is another super sprint race that I did a couple weeks after The Rookie.  I originally was not going to do this one but I had talked some friends who had never done a tri before into doing this one and they really wanted me to race this one with them.  So I went ahead and signed up for it.  Last year I placed 2nd in my age group, so I really didn't want to do it again because I didn't want to tarnish my first podium finish :-)

This is a 200m pool swim, 10 m bike, and 2 mi run.  I had a goal of finishing this race in under an hour since last year I did it in 61 minutes.  The swim is a snake style swim and I actually lined myself up pretty good because I didn't have anybody pass me and I only had to pass two people on the last lap of the swim.  I ended up with a 4:42 swim.  The bike course was changed up a bit from the year before but it's a mostly flat course with only a couple small inclines and I knocked it out in 35 minutes.  Not as good as I wanted to do but I wanted to make sure I had a good run.  The run is interesting because the first mile is up a gradual incline and then the 2 mile is downhill all the way.  I did it in 18:24 (a little slower than last year but still faster than my previous race).  I ended up with a total time of 1:00:09.  Just shy of my goal of wanting to finish under an hour but I knocked a minute off my time from the year before.  This is all I could have asked for.  It earned me another medal - third in my age group.  Not too shabby!  And I forgot to mention - I missed 2nd place by 2 seconds!!   

And all my friends who were competing n their very first triathlon had a great time and are already signed up for more!

The Rookie Tri 2011

Ok, so I know that the name of this race makes it sound like it's for beginners, but I have always wanted to do this race.  And this year they moved the course to a venue that I have raced at before so that made me want to do it even more.  I guess the organizers realized that not just beginners sign up for this race because this year they created a "Veteren's" division for people who have competed in races before. 

This turned out to be a extremely fun race.  It's a super sprint with a 300 m swim, 11.2 mi bike, and 2 mi run.  I was anxious to start racing again to see how my foot was going to hold up after having been off of it for so long after my injury.  I had been running again for a little over a month and I knew my foot was okay because it never hurt on my training runs but I was still nervous.  I had set a goal of 6 minutes for the swim, 40 minutes for the bike, and 20 minutes for the run.  I really enjoyed the short swim on this race and was just 39 seconds off my goal of 6 minutes!  The bike course has some hills and I'm still trying to make friends with the hills but I was happy with my time of 43 minutes (3 minutes off my goal time).  Then I took off on the run and felt pretty strong out there.  I ended up with a 19:01 run (almost 1 minute better than my goal time)!  I ended up ranking in the middle of my age group with a time of 1:14:09, which was just fine with me considering it was my first race of the season.  Of course I seemed to have forgotten how to have a quick transition though, so that is something that I'm going to have to work on again.  Apparently I decided to take a nap or something between the swim and the bike, and then in T2 I wore new shoes that I've never worn on a race before and I had trouble getting my feet into them so I lost some time there.  Oh, well, live and learn! 

After I crossed the finish line and was talking with friends I realized that my foot didn't even cross my mind while I was racing!  This made those two months of not running so worth it so I could recovery completely.

First injury

After completing my first 70.3 I was determined to redeem myself in my upcoming half-marathon the next month.  I really wanted to be closer to the 2-hour mark, if not under.  I trained and I trained and even though I started to feel a slight pain in my right foot I just kept running through it.  Race day came and the weather was nice and crisp and as I was running through each mile I saw my splits going down.  I was running a great race.  I finished at 2:08.  I was extremely happy with that.  I thought that now I would be able to rest up through the holidays and start my training in earnest after the New Year.  Wrong!!  My friends and training buddies started training for a full marathon in Austin, Texas.  As much as I was nervous about running 26.2 miles I thought to myselft that if I want to do a full Ironman one day I might as well see if I could even run a marathon!

So training started ramping up again, and even though I was only adding one mile to my long runs on weekends, I was not getting nearly enough running in during the week.  My longest run ended up being 19 miles when I realized that something had to give.  My foot was burning by the time my runs were finished and no matter how much I tried to "roll it out", my foot hurt even walking.  But being stubborn, I decided it was my shoes that were the problem so I bought new shoes and thought that would solve the problem.....nope.  My next run was only 13 miles and on mile 10 of that run my foot was on FIRE!!!  It was then that I realized that something was really wrong with my foot and decided to go the doctor.

Sure enough I had a stress fracture on my 3rd metatarsal.  No running and I was placed in a boot for four weeks.  And being that I did not want to ruin my upcoming triathlon season just so I could run one race, I listened to the doctor's orders.  Although let me tell you, it was so hard to sit on the sidelines and cheer for everyone when I wanted to be running in that marathon with my friends.  But I wore my boot everywhere and did not run until he gave me the go ahead (about 8 weeks).  I finally got the all clear and was able to run again, allbeit in short and easy distances so as not to injury the foot again.  It's taken awhile to get my conditioning back, but I'm so happy not to have a lingering injury issue and I have learned my lesson about proper training!  

Second Season: Victories and what the heck just happened....

After completeing my first year of triathlon and then going on to complete my first half marathon in the San Antonio Rock 'n Roll marathaton I was more than ready to tackle the uncoming season.  I continued to work on my run (since that has proven to be my weak point!!)  It was also the year to start increasing my distances.  I would still do my favorite sprint races but I added some Olympic distance races, all for the purpose of completing my first 70.3.

I chose the Austin 70.3 race because it is close to home and at the end of the season.  I figured I could use the whole summer to prepare for it.  I was able to meet up with a training group during the middle of the week to run and I feel that that really helped me improve.  For my first race of the season I actually took 2nd in my age group and knocked 11 minutes off my time from the previous year.  I was estatic!!  You would have thought that I won the lottery or something.  My first medal!!  After that, for each race I would set a goal and work to try to achieve that goal.  I came pretty close the all the goals I set except for some small exceptions. 

My first Olympic race was set for Memorial Day in Austin and I felt like I had put in some good, hard training for it.  I was feeling more comfortable in my wetsuit in open water and my bike was getting faster and my running was consistent.  Aside from feeling strong on the bike, my swim felt miserably long and by mile 3 of the run I was wondering why I signed up for "this stupid race".  But all those thoughts were pushed aside when I crossed the finish line and chugged the cold water bottle that was given to me.  My official finish time was 3:36.  Not necessarily the result I was looking for but, hey, I finished.  Later that night we learned that the swim course was mismarked by 300 meters and the run was 1/2 mile longer than it should have been!!  For the 20th anniverssary for this race you would have thought that they would know how to mark the course, right??  Anyway, that made me feel marginally better about my slow time. 

I threw in a couple more sprint races before my next Olympic race and did pretty well in those.  Usually coming in around 5th in my age group which really made me feel good, considering the girls in my group are super fast!!  And then the race that will haunt me for the rest of my life - The Small Texan Tri in Boerne.  It's at the end of July and in Texas that means it's HOT!!!  But hey, I train at Boerne lake every weekend and ride the race course, piece of cake!!  Wrong!!  As I take off on the swim I realize I am quickly being left behind.  My swim just isn't going as well as it should be.  I get out of the water and run into transition to see that there's only a couple other bikes left on the racks.  This is not a good sign since the bike is not going to be strong point because it's a very hilly course and my best time on it on a good day is about 2 hours.  So I get going on the bike and it's just as bad as I thought it was going to be but I finish it and set out on the run.  By now so many people are finished that I can't seem to find the start of the run course.  Luckily a spectator saw that I was desperately trying to find the start, pointed me in the right direction.  By now it is super hot.  I'm watching people pass me as they head for the finish line and I'm telling myself that I've only got an hour to go.  The run course turned out to be as hilly as the bike course.  I followed the strategy of walking up the hills and running the flats and downhills.  I hit the turn around and as I am making my way back I start counting the people that are behind me (not that hard to do since I thought I was the last one on the course!)  I think I got the number up to 8 people.  Total time to complete my hell race:  4:02!!  I will be doing this one again and trying to redeem myselft next year!!!  My only saving grace was that there was one other person in my age group behind me so I did not come in last in my age group.  I gotta find the hope somewhere!!

Now my training turned toward my half-iron and one more Olympic race on Labor Day.  That race turned out to be one of the highlights of the season for me.  The weather was nicer and the course was marked correctly this time.  I had a better handle on my nutritional needs and I felt really strong on this race.  My finish time was - 3:06.  I was very pleased with that!  October was quickly approaching and I was trying to get as much training in as I was able to.  I work full-time in the day and go to school in the evenings four days a week, so finding time to train is not always easy.  But because of this I know that I'm not going to be as fast as some of my other friends who are able to follow their training plans to a T and I'm okay with that.  For now, racing and finishing is enough for me.  It actually works as a great stress reliever and I takes my mind off school, which is always a good thing! 

Half-ironman weekend came and I was super excited, nervous, and everything else.  My main concern was not making the cut-off time on the bike.  I don't know why, but that was what I was worried about.  I hadn't gotten as many long rides as I should have during training so I was worried 56 miles would kill me.  I shouldn't have worried, I finished the bike in 3:35, way under the 4:30 I had given myself to finish!  And I hit my other goal of finishing under 3 hours on the 1/2 marathon at 2:45 and had a total time of 7:16!  Almost smack dab in the middle of the 7 and 7:30 time I wanted to finish in.  I felt great after the race and was so excited to cross that finish line that I wanted to make sure that I had crossed every timing mat before I stopped running that one of the volunteers had to tell me it was okay to stop running :)     

I am now able to say that I am a "finisher" of a Half-Ironman!!

How I got started

As I start my third year of triathlon, I want to reflect on how I got into the sport and how it has changed my life.  It all started when my husband said he wanted to do a triathlon.  I remember looking at him and asking him, "That's the swimming- biking- running thing, right?"  We already had road bikes and had been cycling for a couple of years but we were both living a pretty sedentary lifestyle and, I for one, had the pounds packing on. 

He mentioned this in January, so as I began to do my research I saw that most of the races started up in April and May.  We found a local shop that sponsered a series of races and I decided that if we were going to do it we might as well dive in and do it.  I signed us up for The Windcrest Freshman Triathlon that caters to first timers.  Brian, my husband, was surprized that I signed myself up as well.  He didn't think that I would want to do one and he was proud that I signed up as well. 

I was so nervous on race morning.  The anticipation was a killer as we waited to get into the pool to start our swim.  When I did get in the water, I thought I was going to die on the 200m swim.  I was so out of breath and my body felt so heavy when I got out of the water and tried to run to my bike!  I sat down and put socks on my feet before putting on my bike shoes.  My first T1 was 2:14!!  The bike was a two-loop course of  five miles each and went OK.  Then it was time for the run -  my lungs felt like they were going to explode and my legs felt all wobbly from being on the bike.  I think I ran maybe the first 10 yards of a 2 mile run and then I had to walk.  And then an amazing thing happend, people who were passing me were telling me "Good Job" and "You're almost there".  It gave me such a lift that I was able to start running again.  I crossed the finish line and promptly ran to the bathroom and puked my guts out.  It was the best experience ever!!  I found my husband and said, "When's the next one?"  I wanted to race again the next weekend I was so hooked.       

For my first season I was nowhere near the top of my age group but it didn't matter.  To me, this was about personal improvement and pushing myself to limits that I didn't even know I had.  I've made many new friends and feel so much healthier and stronger.  Now instead of just sitting around I'm out swimming across a lake or biking or running with my friends.  I'm am so glad that we discovered this sport and hope that I can continue to do it for as long as my body lets me.