Rock n Roll 1/2 2014

This year the race was finally pushed back the December and it was so worth it. The weather was perfect and I was excited to see if I could hit my goal of going under 2 hrs. My training had been hit and miss with some really great runs and then some collosal fails and blow ups. I had been having some lingering foot pain all year that was really starting to get annoying. It was after this race that I decided to switch shoes....you'll see the result from that decision In the next blog (warning: not for the squeamish). 

Anyway, Brian and I arrived at the race and went to the planned meet up with the A-team but they were no where to be found. We figured they were out there somewhere and we'd meet up after the race. We walked up to corral 3 and we wished each luck and took off once it was our time to go. 

 

I got into a comfortable rhythm and tried to not take off too quickly. I was holding steady and around mile 4 I felt it - the slap on the butt as Aixa caught up to me. I laughed and cheered her on as she ran past and explained to the man next to me that she was my friend and it was okay for her to slap my butt. It's her thing! 

Overall I was pretty happy with this race. I had some trouble after the hills around Trinity Univeristy regaining some speed and that's where I felt I lost a lot of ground. As I got to the last 3 or 4 miles I knew that I was going to have to pick up the pace to go under 2 hrs. I tried my hardest but I sort of fell apart at miles 12 and lost some speed. I finished in 2:01 and change. It ended up a PR by seconds for a 1/2 in San Antonio so I took that as a victory. 

Brian CRUSHED his race and ran a 1:38!! He was stoked and I was stoked for him. He trained so hard for this race and I was sooo happy and proud of him! We caught up with the A-team and Anthony and Karen and Shelly and they all had great races too. Overall it turned out to be a great day and, Kris, the only one of us that stuck with the original plan and ran the full, broke the 4-hour mark and ran her first sub-4 marathon. So super stoked for her for sure!!! 

My mission after this race was to keep plugging away and get that sub-2 half marathon!

Austin 70.3...Or My First DNF...yuck

Well, I think the title explains a lot about this race, lol. I went into it like I always do, excited to be there, wearing my good luck check-in clothes, and mentally preparing myself for the day ahead. What I guess I should have done is actually check the website so I could see that the bike course had been changed this year. I had such a great race here last year that I guess I let my arrogance get the best of me. 

Race morning came and as I was hanging out with Kris and Brian waiting for my wave to start when a friend came up to talk to us and she brought up the course change. I was like, "Say what?" Oops. Okay fine. So it would be a new bike course, big deal. I've ridden plenty of courses where I didn't know where I was going. Deal with it. 

Started the swim off and knew I wasn't swimming super fast but knew I would be in my usual time frame. Grabbed my bike and took off. Okay so far so good. The first couple of roads where the same but instead of making a left to head up the hill that most people dread we turned right and headed off into no man's land. Not really, but that's what it felt like to me. I could tell that some of the roads were the same but I couldn't figure out how I had ended up on a road that I recognized without knowing how I had gotten there. I guess it shouldn't have mattered to me while I racing, but it did. 

Oh, I also decided to switch up my bike nutrition for this race. Mistake #2! I was making decent time to the halfway point on the bike and feeling okay. Not great but not horrible either. Then somewhere along the way I just deflated. I got nauseous and a little lightheaded. My speed was just decreasing and decreasing and all I wanted was to be done. I didn't even feel like running. I swore to myself that if I even made it into T2 I would rest and see how I felt before pulling off my chip. 

I limped into T2 like a beaten dog and racked my bike and laid on the ground. My head was spinning and my stomach was rumbling. I looked out at all the runners out on the course and then up to the sky where then sun was beating down and my decision was made. I was not going to gain anything from going out there and running for 2 1/2+ hours. I took off my chip walked up to an official and turned it in. I felt humiliated doing it but I had nothing to prove. Why dig myself into a hole. I wasn't in contention to win anything. Why make my Monday hurt more than it already was going to. 

So that's my first DNF. Don't worry, I promise this isn't going to become a thing for me!!

Kerrville 70.3

This turned out to be a fun weekend of spectating and racing. Fellow IW'er, Kris, was racing on Saturday so we headed out early to cheer her on. It turned out to be so much fun with me, Brian, Herb, and Aixa rooting for Kris and Trent. Kris totally rocked her AG and took home 2nd! Watching all the sprinters just got me even more pumped up for my race the next day.

Go Sprinters!

Go Kris!!

Yo

           
I recently had gotten a Retul fitting for my bike and I was nervous/excited to see how the new fit would feel. I had only been able to ride my bike maybe once before the race and I wasn't sure how adjusted to the new fit I was. I also changed out the gearing and cranks on my bike so I was really putting a lot to chance for the bike portion of this race. I think this really showed on my race splits. I averaged over 19 mph on the first loop of the bike but when I was out on the second loop it felt like all the life had been sucked out of my legs and I barely managed to roll back into town on some pretty tired legs.

Admittedly, I also was not being very good and skipping a lot of workouts. I think I was feeling a little burned out from all the IM training and I think I was more zealous about racing then actually training for the race itself.

Anyhoo, race morning came and it started off fine, but somewhere along the way, I got very angry. Not sure what happened (but I'm pretty sure it was on the bike), my normally good mood was very sour. Racing angry is not fun. It did not make me more aggressive or faster, but rather seemed to suck out any energy I did have. This was quite the learning experience as this has never happened to me before. My legs had no life. I tried to pick up my turnover and nothing was happening. This made me angrier as I could see my goal slipping away from me.

Regardless of this, I did manage to eek out a race PR if not an overall PR so I was happy with that one bright spot. I have to thank my friends who were out there cheering me even with my grumpy puss face. I did manage to finally break a smile or two after the second loop of the run. This race tends to have this effect on me. I either have a totally awesome day or I struggle a bit (a lot). Don't worry Kerrville, I'm not done with you yet!

Dam '09 Tri (very, very late - I know)

Playing catch up again....

After IM CdA I wanted to keep my motivation up and not get the post IM blues so I signed up for a fun sprint race, the Dam '09 Tri. I've done this race once before and had a blast. You get to swim in a 50m pool:

Go Smash!

Then you get to bike around Alamo Heights:

First race with my new (to me) aero helmet!

And then run 2.4 miles along the baseball and soccer fields:

Wow, that hurt!

My goal was to finish in under 1 hour. It has been a while since I've done a sprint race and I was really looking forward to see what kind of speed I had in me after all that long-distance IM training. 

It turned out to be super fun and I met my goal and finished in 58:55...a mere 10 secs out of 3rd place in my AG! Ugh that stung but I was happy that some speed was there. It was during this race that I noticed how "off" my run seemed. I didn't feel like I had that extra gear and I'm sure this is where I lost the majority of my time. I was still thrilled to have cracked the 1 hour mark and enjoyed the mimosas after the race. 

Next up after this was race Kerrville 70.3.

IMCDA: The big day!

Here it is finally...race day!

So after having some rainy and windy weather I didn't know what to expect race morning. The forecasters had said that the rain would be cleared out but I was hoping the wind would be gone along with it. My alarm went off at 4 AM race morning and Brian and I got out of bed and started getting ready. We had already laid out everything so getting ready was fairly straight forward. After a quick breakfast and a check on Herb to see if he was ready, we opened the door. I had refused to look outside prior to this so I wouldn't have any excuses to climb back into bed. The sky was clear, but the wind was a-blowing. I accepted it for what it was and we loaded up the car and started our quick drive down to the race start.

The air temps were somewhat cool but not terribly freezing or anything. I was comfortable in my thin long-sleeve shirt and long pants. Walking along the waterfront towards transition I tried not to look at the turbulent water and just focus on how great it was going to be once the race began. I got to my bike and luckily the girl next had a pump with her and was kind enough to let me borrow it to air my tires. I put the rest of my nutrition on my bike and did some visualization of my exit out of the water, into the changing tent, and onto my bike. It was as I was standing here that I realized that I hadn't seen any body markers! I quickly ran over to Brian to see if he was done and told him that we needed to get body marked. He was done so we grabbed our bags and headed out to find the body markers. We had apparently approached transition from the “back” side so we had to walk around to the beach area to get marked. After that was done we headed back inside transition to finish up and drop off our morning clothes bags. After one last restroom stop it was time to put on the wet suit and head out to line up for the swim.  

The masses waiting for the swim start.
Totally not my picture. I found it on the internet but I don't remember who to give credit too. Sorry!

Swim: 1:25:00

Since this race was using the rolling start method, Brian and I placed ourselves with the 1:15-1:30 swimmers. As we were weaving our way to our places we ran into Herb who was already in line. We all gave each high-fives and good wishes. It was so awesome to see him before we started. We reached our places and waited for the crowd to roll forward. Then it was our turn! I looked at the clock as I entered the water -- 6:47. So I needed to be done with this race by 11:47 to be under 17 hours. With a quick peck and squeeze Brian and I were off on our race.

I pressed start on my Garmin and nothing happened!!! I’m skipping/running through the water trying to get my watch to do something before I finally said screw it I need to start swimming! I dove into the water and quickly had to start weaving my way around people and try to find clear water. I got pretty beat up during the first 500 meters or so. I just couldn't seem to find a clear path in the water. I also felt like a canoe being lifted up and down by the waves. The side of my face hurt from slapping down on the water. I was too busy worrying about the waves and people and that none of my issues with the clear water surfaced during my swim. I hit the first turn buoy and quickly made it to the other one that would lead us back to the beach. I should have expected this, but I didn't, so when I realized that the waves would actually help me on the way back to shore I got super excited! It was so much fun “riding” the waves back in. I knew that this would probably help my swim time. Once I got back to the beach and looked down at the watch my worst fear was realized. No swim time!!

This is a two-loop swim so as I ran in for my second swim I hit the start button again on my watch and this time it worked! I tried to keep what I thought was the same intensity as my first loop on the way out but it seemed like the waves were slightly rougher. Luckily on my second loop the crowd had thinned out a little and I was able to find a nice, clear lane to swim and had a pretty uneventful second loop. As I exited the water and headed for the changing tent to get ready for my bike I saw my second loop of the swim was 43 minutes. I decided to take that and double it and add 2 minutes for my total swim time, which would be 1:28. I was pretty close! Only off by 3 minutes and I was actually pretty excited about 1:28 considering my last IM swim time was 1:36. Huge PR!!

T1: 10:19

Since the air temps were still cool and I wasn't sure how much it was going to warm up during the day, I opted to wear my tri top with my bike jersey over it and arm warmers. It turned out to be perfect for me. Not the quickest transition time, but still a little faster than my IMAZ one. Another PR!

Bike:  8:05:34

The bike -- What can I say about the bike? Well, I did enjoy myself and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous but I really wish my bike time was at least an hour shorter. I felt strong heading out on the course. The first part of the bike takes you along the lake and it is fairly fast. I got to the turnaround feeling good and headed back into the town before the course takes you south of town on the highway. I had heard that this is where the wind can make you or break you. So far I had not noticed the wind but that would quickly change. I was approaching my first climb of the day (2 miles ~6% grade) and I put my bike in an easy gear and just pedaled my way up the climb. I got so many compliments on my SmashFest Queen Sunrise kit that I made a joke that I was going so slow so people could really take a look at the kit and see it in action. Finally the first hill was done and now I was ready to have fun on the descent! But things didn't go according to plan. I picked up speed and was ready to fly when all of a sudden a gust of wind grabbed my front tire and blew me to the side. I about freaked out!! The bike started wobbling a little bit and I was like, “Oh no! A high speed wobble!” I quickly brought my body in and tried to put as much weight on the bike as possible and the bike stabilized. Well, this totally messed with me mentally so I rode the brakes down the rest of the hill trying to keep my weight on the bike and cursing at all the people flying past me and wondering why they weren't being affected by the wind like I was. I finally got to the turnaround on the highway and started heading back.

Hello tailwind! I swear it literally took half the time to make it back into town as it did going out. I still was being careful on the descents but I was still able to take advantage of the speed. Back through town once more, out along the lake, and then I hit special needs really quick to swap out my bottles of nutrition, and I was off again. I started to get a little pain in my knees (yes both) as I was climbing so I put it in an even easier gear to try to save them for the run. I may have been a little too cautious here but I didn't want to have to start to run a marathon on knees that were already in pain. The second time out on the highway seemed to take forever. I remember looking at my watch in town and it was only 2 pm. Then when I looked at my watch on the highway it was already after 4 pm! Finally I got to the turnaround and started the trek back to transition. Even with the tailwind it seemed to take forever but finally I was back in town and transition was in sight. I have never been so happy to be off my bike in my life but I was pleased with my nutrition for the most part. I do remember that I was ready for real food that last hour of the bike. I was getting sick of the GU’s and Infinit. Even the Pay Day bar I was using for real food was not making the cut any more.

This is the bike/run part of the course. We road on the street to the left
and ran on the paved trail along Lake Coeur d'Alene

T2:  6:47

Once in the changing tent I took a look around at what all the other people were wearing. I had pulled my arm warmers down on the last trip back into town and I felt fairly comfortable without them. I was worried that the temps would drop while I was out on the run course and I would be too cold in just my tri top. But the sun was out and the temps had risen into the high 60’s so I decided to chance it. I put on some fresh socks (best idea ever) and took off my jersey. Grabbed my visor and race belt and headed out for the run.

Run:  5:22:39

One of my immediate thoughts when I started the run was how unlike this start was from IMAZ. When I started the run in Arizona, I immediately wanted to stop and walk. Here in CdA I was comfortable from the get-go with the run. It was like my running legs had been rearing to get into action! The first mile ticked off -- 9:56 pace, yes! I knew I wouldn’t be seeing 9’s for very long so I was super stoked to see at least one. The run takes us through town and back out on the bike course that runs along the lake. There were tons of spectators cheering us on and they gave me a much needed boost of energy after that bike ride.

A few miles into the run I encountered some funny experiences. This girl comes running up alongside me and as she’s passing me I hear little toots. I make a face to myself and in my head I’m like, “Is she really farting as she’s running?” I try not to giggle and check her backside to see if she sharted as she goes off ahead of me. Then, when I round the corner, I see her on the side of the road with her finger down her throat trying to make herself throw up. I felt bad for her. I don’t know if she was on her first or second lap but I knew she wasn’t doing well. Then a little farther up the street this guy just stops running and projectile vomits into the air! I started thinking to myself, “It’s too early in the race for me to be seeing so much grossness!!!!” I quickly run past him and luckily after that I was unaware if there was any more farting or puking.

I finally see Brian on the run course as he’s heading back into town to start his second loop and he’s looking good. I cheer him on and we slap hands as we pass each other. I see other people I know from San Antonio, or who I have met while up in CdA and give them all encouragement as we pass each other. I see Brian one last time as I was headed out for my second loop. I knew he was on his way to a huge PR and I shouted at the top of my lungs to him to keep going and don’t give up!

Smiling for 140.6 miles

The people in Coeur d’Alene are just amazing. Their encouragement was contagious and I didn't even think about walking once (except for a few steps on the hill towards the turnaround on the second loop). The party house on the course that had the most awesome music blaring and people dancing in the front yard was the greatest! The Fireball Whisky girls on the corner that made the tunnel to run in was hysterical. The other corner with the guy with the PA system yelling out all the runner’s names was a welcome distraction. This town has embraced the athletes and it makes the experience that much more special.

I ran with a man from Nevada who was doing this race for his daughter, who was supposed to be at the finish line, but had been murdered by an arsonist’s fire earlier in the year. I partnered up with a young guy around mile 19 whose jersey I recognized as one from the bike shop we went to for Hillary’s Smash Party and so we started talking. He is a lifetime resident of CdA and had lots of friends and relatives doing the race. He was finishing up school in Montana and decided to give Ironman a try. He did say that he was going to be sticking with his dirt bike after the race. As we approach the final stretch into town I tell him to go. We congratulate each other and he takes off.

I round the corner that takes you down to the finisher’s chute and I experience a moment of disbelief. I am about to finish my second Ironman. For some reason I had doubts about myself going into this race; like my first finish was a fluke of some sort and that I might not be able to finish another one. I run into the chute with the biggest smile I can muster and I high-five as many hands as I can. I hear the announcer say my name this time and tell me that I am an Ironman again. I’m not sure if this moment ever gets old, but I was just as exhilarated as I was the first time I finished the race. I also ended up with a 4 minute Ironman marathon PR. Yes!

Total:  15:10:19 

Two happy finishers!

What I am most proud of on this race is that I never went into that “dark“ place you can sometimes go into when you’re racing. I knew my bike split had totally messed up my plans to PR but instead of letting that bring me down I decided to just enjoy the rest of the race. I actually don’t even know if it was a conscious decision. I was having such a great time out there it just seemed to happen naturally. I knew immediately that I wanted to do another Ironman. I’m not sure where yet and I don’t know when, but being out there on the course is the absolute best feeling ever.

IMCDA: The steps before the big day

Thursday was the beginning of all things race related. We started off by going down to the water to do a test swim and practice in the wetsuits. At first the water was cold but after a few strokes I didn’t notice the temperature anymore. My borrowed long-sleeve wetsuit (thanks Aixa!) would work just fine and I didn’t even need to use the neoprene cap I brought with me. The temperature ended up the last thing I was thinking about though. The water was super clear! 

I’m used to the good ol’ murky water of Texas lakes that hide whatever may be lurking beneath you. Being able to see as the water got deeper was a totally different experience. Unfortunately for me, I watch horror movies and have a very active imagination. So instead of enjoying one of nature’s finest attributes, I was picturing every horrible scene from every horror movie I have seen. So ensued the hyperventilating and proclamations of how I didn’t need to swim before the race. Luckily Brian and Herb helped calm me down (a little) and swam next to me so I would be able to see them next to me. I did a few short out and backs from the shore to a buoy that was out in the water and Brian tried to get me to swim to a dock that was a little ways down the beach. I started out with him but he quickly got ahead of me and I decided to turn back before I freaked out again. As I got back to where I could stand in the water another swimmer that was out there stopped. He ended up being from Germany and had been in town for a week already and said that he had been swimming in the water by himself most of the time and he had never seen anything. He gave me some good calming tips and even took our picture with Herb’s camera. I thanked him and let him continue on his swim. I did one more out and back and did much better with leaving my eyes open under the water and not hyperventilating anymore. I wasn’t too worried about race day because I would be surrounded by so many people that I knew I would be distracted by racing rather than by anything my head could conjure up.

After that we drove down to athlete check in and bike pick up. We picked up the bikes first and then dropped them off at the race wheel place to get our dancing shoes put on our bikes. Then we hit athlete check in and became “official” ironman races with our wristbands on.We checked out the expo for a while, spent way too much money on IM gear, listened to the pre-race meeting, and then picked up our bikes and headed out for a short ride on the bike course. Brian started out from the expo site but Herb and I drove out to a little parking area we had seen and met up with him there and started riding from there. We got a few miles in and established that our bikes were in working order and the wheels felt good.

 

Later that night we went to Hillary Biscay’s Smashfest party at a local bike shop. There was great food, cute Smash gear to buy, and a Pro triathlete Q&A with Hillary, Maik, Haley Chura, Derek Garcia, another male pro whose name I can’t remember, and Heather Wurtele! It was so awesome meeting Heather in person. She’s another one of my favorite female triathletes and she’s super nice and also extremely tall! I definitely felt extremely short standing next to her! 

We had planned to do another practice swim on Friday morning with a group of people from the IMCDA Face Book page, but when we turned on the news that morning and they showed the whitecaps on the lake from the strong winds we decided against it. So we turned Friday into a day of making sure we had all our gear ready, making last minute purchases for things we may have forgotten, and doing some exploring closer to CdA. We used our vouchers that they gave us in lieu of an athlete dinner and met up with Kate and her husband Ray and had a fun dinner overlooking the lake as a pretty spectacular storm rolled through. This, I was hoping, was going to be the last of the rain.

Saturday came and it was time to check in the bikes. I did one last test ride around my hotel parking lot and did some last minute rearranging of my food items on my bike. We went down to transition one last time and I set off to rack my bike. I did a little visualization here picturing myself finding my bike and taking off toward the mount line. Then we went and dropped off our bike and run gear bags. It was another cool day with a good breeze and we looked out over the water one last time and I hoped that the wind would be gone by the morning. I spent the majority of the rest of the day off my feet watching a Law & Order: SVU marathon on USA. How perfect was that? Nothing can suck me and Brian into the vortex of doing nothing more than an SVU marathon. We made a quick trip out for dinner and then it was time to hit the hay.

 

Next up…..race day. 

IMCDA: Pre-race fun

We arrived in Spokane a little after noon on the Tuesday before the race and the first thing I did was drag Brian and Herb to Gonzaga University so I could get a look at their basketball court. Aside from being obsessed with triathlons and racing, I am a huge college sports fan. In 2011 when we did the Boise 70.3 half ironman, we stopped at Boise St. University and got to stand on their very distinctive blue football field. What ended up really cool about that race was that the run course actually went past the field. So since we were going to be in Spokane, I had to get inside that basketball arena!

There ended up being a summer basketball camp going on and I was hoping to be able to see the coaches in action or at least have access to the floor, but the gates were down and we got there when everyone seemed to be picking up their registration packets (or whatever basketball camps give out). So I had to suck it up and pose under the Gonzaga logo with about 50 or so high school kids looking at this old lady acting like a fan girl. As we kept walking around the arena we found this bulldog statue that, naturally, I had to get my picture with too!

After that we found a local pizza place to eat (The Flying Goat) and then we were on our way to Coeur d’Alene. We checked into our hotel, dropped our bags off, and drove around CdA doing some sightseeing. It is the most wonderful little town I have been to. The scenery is gorgeous, the main strip (or downtown, I guess) is super cute, and the weather was amazing for a June afternoon. We were able to do lots of stuff before we had to get into race-ready mode. 

  

 

We went on a tour of an old mine, went panning for gold, drove through the mountains, did some SUP’ing, went for a hike on Tubbs Hill, hit up the local Farmer’s Market, and scoped out the race site and drove the bike course.  Then Thursday came….time to get ready for the race!