Back to Training!

I'm currently in my third week back at training! You don't get much of a break when you decide to do a May ironman! First race looks to be in February. Training has been going okay so far, got myself sick on Christmas and ended up missing some workout and am trying to kick the end of this illness. Of course it's never good to get sick, but better now than just about any other time in training!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas or other Happy Holidays, and Happy almost New Years!

A Christmas picture with some of my favorite girls!

Ironman Cozumel 2011 Race Report

Ironman #1 done! That is about all I can say though. It was quite an interesting race! I did not finish well, but I finished through some crazy circumstances and at least I was able to finish. Sometimes it is hard to remember to look at the good things when it seems like so many things go wrong, but I was reminded of that when I saw people dropping out of the run, or the guy that couldn't even finish the bike because his tire was punctured, or the person who was bit by a barracuda on the swim (though maybe that one was just a rumor?).

Leading up to the race I was feeling great. Workouts felt pretty good and I had a weird sense of calmness. I never really got nervous. I knew I was capable of finishing the distance and my training had gone really well so I had goal times in mind besides just finishing.

Practice Swimming

SWIM- The swim went great! It was a big cluster headed out until about the first turn (maybe 500m or so). After the first turn the next one is maybe only 100m away. After rounding the first turn buoy I saw a group of people just ahead and decided to try to catch them and swim with them. I caught up with them just in time to make the second turn bouy. Swam with this group the majority of the rest of the swim. With about 400 meters to go a group of 3 of us (I think) broke away a bit and swam into the finish together. I ended up being first female out of the water. The water was gorgeous with 100% clarity, 84 degrees, and a few things out there that sting you (feels like a mosquito bite, because I missed those so much!). Overall great swim course and great swim for me.

 Windy side of bike course

BIKE- All the pictures but the one of me on the bike are from the other side of the island. AKA, the windy side. The other one is in town.

I came out of T1 in second, just a few seconds behind. Started the bike and felt pretty good. Kept it really easy to start off but the windy section comes up quick. Managed through this part and the rest of the first loop well. Once you hit the other side of the island and head back inland, you have a tailwind and feel like you are just flying, it is awesome! Right after that you hit town and that is pretty awesome too because everyone is out cheering (and drinking and eating). I believe I was in third after the first loop.

Second loop was great too. I was still feeling fantastic and ready to conquer the third loop. Coming into town I was in fifth place, rounded the corner by T2, and stood up to get speed going again. The road here was really rough. Went to sit back down and something wasn't quite right. My seat was sideways! I stopped and got off my bike and looked at it. About a million thoughts went through my head all at once- how do I fix it? where is bike support? my race is over, where are all the bike pieces? why are so many people taking pictures of me standing here? I probably can't finish, that guy said bike support was right around the corner but I dont see them, did I come down to Cozumel to swim 2.4 miles and bike 75?, and so on.

My bike broke right in town and I walked about 2 blocks with my bike looking for support. There were no where. Come to think of it, I never saw them the entire 112 miles. I ended up walking right to where my parents were cheering. Part of me thought, "well, bike support isn't here, mine as well walk back with the rents and call it a day." But then something in me changed and thought, if there is a way to finish, I will find it! I'm not sure what is was or why. Maybe because I realized I wasn't going to get any help with my seat and I realized just walking two blocks back to my condo would be a serious cop-out and I did not put in all that time training and traveling to let something like a silly seat stop me. So I went into MacGyver mode, 'tied' my seat down, and kept on rolling.

The photos are below, but it is still hard to tell. The bolt that holds the back part of the seat broke somehow. I lost the bolt and the thing that going on top of the seat bars. I did recover the piece that goes below the seat bars but just stuck that in my bag because I couldn't do anything with just that piece. So I had the seat, but it was basically unattached. As long as I could tie it to the bike frame enough so that it wouldn't compeltely fall off, I figured I could at least finish. So I took my bike bag and attached the bottom part to the seat tube, but instead of doing the top part like normal and velcroing it, I wrapped it around the seat bars and tied a knot in it. This way the seat would not end up on the ground if I were to stand up (in theory anyway). So the seat was there but wasn't secure. It wobbled forward and back, side to side, up and down. So I had to sit on it one exact way or I would slide of the front, back or side. Not to mention without the other pieces in there supporting it, I was one of those to whom you would say "your seat is too low." (maybe I should post of picture on slowtwich?)

40 miles later I made it to T2, in 12th I believe. My nutrition plan had gone to heck in a handbasked, I hadn't relieved myself like I normally would have, and I'm pretty sure my legs took a beating from biking in that ackward position. I didn't dare stand up for that last 40 miles for fear of a bump moving my seat and ending up with a carbon colonscopy. After all the above issues, the majority of the first 3 miles was walking to try to fix all the issues...had to make a pit stop, eat as much as one can eat at that point, and to be honest, decide if I was going to finish or not. As long as I'm on a negetivity kick...in T2 I dumped out my bag of stuff..with run shoes and gels. While I was putting on my shoes, a volunteer grabbed my gels and gave them away to another competitor! The bike course was beautiful and pretty pancake flat. The windy wide can be a bit rough, it's not that it slowed me down all that much, more that you just take a beating from the wind-it never lets up. The people in town are great motivation. Plenty of aide stations on the bike and they knew how to hand of the water bottles very well. Very lacking on bike tech support, but otherwise a great bike course.

After 3 miles I was able to run. I ran the rest of the way with the exception of a few aide stations (well, if you can call it running). I could tell my legs took an extra hit from biking with a lower seat and sitting on a different spot on the seat, but GI issues were my main problem. It is impossible to say that this would not have been as issue if my seat did not break, but I do know it would surely not have been as much of an issue. I was taking in Coke, Gatorade, bites of Powerbar, gels, I even tried a pretzel, anything to get calories in. I could not get them in fast enough. I had 2 more bathroom stops. It rained, then it poured, then it rained some more. The streets were flooding. In places we had to run through 5 inches of standing water (or sewage). The volunteers were great. Even though it was pouring and crazy crabby sweating triathletes are going through shouting what they need, the volunteers were happy and tried there best to get each person just what the wanted. Plenty of aide stations. The people in town cheering were awesome too. If they ever saw you walking or looking in pain, they were right there with encouragement for you.

I did finish the run, and thus the ironman. My run was much much slower than I was hoping for and then what my training was showing I may be capable of. On the plus side-my swim was great, if I subtract 'standing time' from my bike I still averaged over 20 mph (I'm happy with especially considering how I biked the last 40 miles), and I did finish...not happy with the time but I must remember it is still an accomplishment to finish. And I am still healthy and happy and have so much support from so many people. The result was not what I was hoping for but I have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to, it's impossible not to be happy.

Thank you to everyone who providing words of encouragement before and after that race. Each comment really does mean so much to me, and reminds me what is really important. I hope I can provide as much support to all of you too.

A special thank you to DiscountTriSupply.com, Kyle's Bikes, Krueger Chiropractic, and to my mom and dad. Without them none of this would be possible, sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to have such great people in my life!

The night after the race I was online looking at the ironman race schedule.

#2 will be IM Texas on May 19...and my seat may be duct taped to my bike! (or Kyle is going to get me a stainless steel bolt!)

 I don't think I look too happy in this one!

                                                          The right side of the 3rd floor is where I stayed!

The seat could go like this

Or like this

Maybe this way

MacGyver...it may not be pretty but it got me to T2!

                          How it was for the last 40 miles                     All better!!!!!!!!!!  :)

Celebrating with my parents!

                                                                               Relaxing outside of                                                                          Margaritaville,  life is great!

Taper Time!

It's taper time in my world! This phase is training is a bit challenging for me. I love the big long workouts! I know I need be patient and rest and then it will all be worth it come race time.

The big training was great. I was able to get in 5 rides of 100 miles or more, some good long runs, and lots of indoor swimming.

High Trestle Trail

Pretty sunset out in the middle of Iowa

Finishing up a long ride indoors, miss the long summer days!

Longest ride! At least I know I am capable of riding the entire race distance!

From my cousin. I had to include him because he's just so cute!

What I woke up to one morning! In less than a week I will be waking up to sand instead :)

Race is Sunday November 27th. Start at 6:40am, I think I will be bib #31. If you happen to be bored that day you can get on ironmanlive.com to keep up with the race!

One Month until Ironman Cozumel!

The big race is getting so close! I have been so fortunate to enjoy a warmer fall here in Iowa and get some good training in outdoors. The other day I rode 112 miles and ran 7. At least I know it is possible to sit on that bike seat that far and come out alive!

I have been loving the ironman training. At times it can be overwhelming because it seems like all I do is work, workout, eat, sleep, and repeat. However, every workout is enjoyable and I am so thankful to be able to train and, of course, to race in Cozumel! I plan on not taking a single moment for granted.

Life has been crazy with work and workouts lately but I have some time off next week. I'll try to upload some photos and more stories then. Thanks for reading!

Rough Ride

Ironman training is well under way! I am loving it but it sure can be challenging. Challenging actual training and challenging to make the time to do that training. Yesterday I was supposed to do a 5 hour 30 minute ride. Before starting, all I wanted to do was go at least one mile farther than last week (105.8 miles). However, by mile 2 I knew that I would have to come up with a new goal. Finish without blowing away. Winds were 20-30mph with gust up to blow-you-off-the-road. So I rode on the trail. For 88 miles. Ouch. Never again.

By the numbers-
1- times my bike fell over
2-garden snakes run over
3-times stopped to refill my water bottle
1-pack of cheese-its bought because I forgot my salt tabs and needed salt
4-number of times I screamed out loud from a snake or large bug
11-number of other hard core bikers brave enough to play in the wind
5-number of miles run after the bike
1-bug few into my ear
4951238-number of times I ALMOST wanted to be on my trainer instead

Today I am doing a long run, making tailgating food, and going to the alumni meet and out with some friends. Here are the cupcakes I'm going to make...http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2011/06/cookie-brownie-cupcakes-with-chocolate-marshmallow-frosting/

Vegas 70.3 World Championships 2011

 A view of Lake Las Vegas from afar

After I had finished my 'last' 70.3 for the season I was sure I had not made it to Vegas. But then on August 19th I received an email that I was invited and could go if I wanted. Even though I had spent the last week eating junk and almost not training because it was my little mid-season break before training for Cozumel, I was far too excited to say no. 

So my coach and I decided I would go and race, but my focus would still be Cozumel, my first full Ironman. Three weeks is just not enough time to have a build and taper to make a race an A race, and I didn't want to take 3 weeks away from ironman training.

Lake Las Vegas

                            

Transition

 The swim started a Lake Las Vegas, a small lake out in the desert surrounded my ritzy hotels and condos. The water was 80-81 degrees. My swim went well. I started out on the very far right. Two of the girls from the far left took off and were out in front. Eventually, another cluster of about 5 girls formed and I was in this group. By the first turn I had moved up to the front of that group and could see the other two up in front. The swim was pretty uneventful, I stayed in 3rd position for the entire swim. I did not want to try to catch the first two because I knew the day had a few more challenges for me.

Just before the swim exit

 We exited the water on the far side of the lake and had to run around the point of the lake back over to transition. Almost enough of a run to call it a quadathlon. This race had 'clean' transition, meaning you don't set your stuff on the ground by your bike, you put it all in a bag. You run to the bags, have yours handed to you by the lovely volunteers, go into a changing tent (or just run through as you grab your stuff from the bag and leave your swim skin for the volunteers to put back in your bag), and off to your bike. The bike was flat 100 yards or so, then uphill for a good long while. Forget about letting your heart rate come down and settling in after the swim.

The bike course was challenging. I don't think it was quite like I expected. It's like when you hear over and over how great a movie is. You expect to get blown away by it's greatness, only to watch it and go 'it was pretty good.' Maybe the course was just talked up too much. Don't get me wrong, it was tough. Around mile 40 (I think?) there was very long slow climb. Or, at least it didn't look like much of a climb, but it was in my smallest gear and going no where. That is what made it so hard, it was deceiving. And hot. The Branson bike course may edge this one out just a bit for the toughest bike course I have ever ridden. I think part of my problems here were not having fresh legs (which I didn't want...saving that for Cozumel) and nutrition.

Overall I think it was one of my weaker bike performances for the year. But still a blast. The first 40 miles of the course that are out in the desert mountains was amazingly beautiful in its own way.  

This picture is of me at the very end. The last 5 miles are all uphill. I was tanked and could not wait to start running!

In T2 I had to make a pit stop. You never want to waste time with no forward momentum, but sometimes your body tells you what you are going to do and you have to listen.

Then onto the run. It was three 4 mile loops. It was basically 2 miles slightly downhill one way and uphill the other. One section had some shade and the rest was like roasting, well, in the desert.

Half of my run went well. The other half I spent feeling sick, like something was going to come out one end or the other. I must figure this out before Cozumel.  This issue consumed my mind for much of the run. Somehow though I think I pulled off a decent run for feeling so sick and considering this was not an A race. 

Overall I finished 24th. Not well, but not too shabby. Good swim, bad bike, ok run, lots of fun the whole trip. Glad I went, wish I had done better, but also glad I kept my focus on Cozumel, I know it will be best in the end.

A big thank you to EVERYONE for all your support and encouragement. It means so much to me, each and every word of support I get makes me happy and I could not this without all the wonderful people around me. Especially thank you to Kyle and Kyer and DiscountTriSupply.com, Krueger Chiropractic, and my parents.

Kyer, Kyle and I after the race! Right after the race they were already telling me about their plans for making my bike even better! How awesome is that??

A few shots of Lake Mead, beautiful and awesome lake!



Never Lose Hope

I'm going to Vegas for the 70.3 world championships! After Kansas I saw the point rankings to qualify for this race and since then qualifying has been the goal. In order to do so, I needed to pack in 2 more 70.3s by Aug 14. It was a tight race schedule but how awesome would it be to qualify for the world championships as a first year pro? Thus I signed up for Muncie and Steelhead thinking that I would need to place like I had in the previous two 70.3s and I may have a chance of qualifying.


At Muncie my bike broke, at mile 8. This left me in the same gear for an entire 48 miles. Impossible to race with only one bike gear. Every kind of thought went through my head at some point in that race-do I quit? finish and get a few points? (there were less than 15 girls at that race so even last place guaranteed me points towards Vegas) stop and sign up for another race? dismiss the vegas idea all together?

Before the race began we had a moment of silence for a triathlete (who was also a doctor, wife, and mother) who had died in a bike-car accident the week before the race. During my self pity after my bike broke I thought about this woman and all the other people who are unable to race. I thought, "I have two arms, two legs, my health, this broken bike is not so bad. I'm still out here with the wind on my face and family and friends that will be my friends and family whether I win or DNF." So I sucked it up and kept going. The bike was certainly no race, I was spinning on the downhills or with the wind at my bike, and cranking out hardcore on the uphills. I was kind-of able to race the run and actually ended up finish in not last place!

Based on the points after Muncie qualifying for Vegas looked very difficult, but still possible if I had a stellar race at Steelhead. However, at Steelhead the swim was cancelled. Are you kidding me?? Is someone out to get me? A broken bike and then take away what gives me a chance against these other pros? I have to admit I had a few thoughts along the lines of do I still race, or save it up for another race? There were about 20 pro girls at Steelhead, so even if I managed to do well for me without the swim, I knew I would still be in the bottom half. Well I sucked it up and gave the brick all I had. I finished in 16th I think. Not impressive, but they did take away my strength. The glass half-full take-away from this race was that if I could beat some girls (even though few) without the swim must mean that I really can race with these pros. Even though I was disappointed with no swim and my place, I'm so excited to keep training at the bike and run and see how much I can improve them.

Anyway, I got a little of track. Before I even started at Steelhead I figured my Vegas dreams were shot. Without a swim there was no way, right? Then after I finished in 16th, I definitely figured I was far from qualifying. I had stopped thinking about it and have been going through this week as a sort-of mid-season break in preparation for some big training for Ironman Cozumel in November. Then last night I received an email that I was invited to race Vegas! Of course, the slots had rolled down to me. Seemed impossible, but somehow it did! Had I not finished Muncie, or not started Steelhead, it would surely not have made it down to me.

Back in high school during club swimming we listened to mental preparation tapes before our end of the season swim meets. On one tape they talk about tennis players. How sometimes they can be running towards a ball and then stop just short of it because they think they cannot reach it. The observer, however, could see that had they kept going they could have reached it. The point was that even if it doesn't look like you can make it, you just might be able to. Better to try and miss it, then not try when you could have reached the ball. Or in my case, Vegas.

Vegas seemed just out of reach but I never gave up and put all I had into races and finished (ok, maybe part of that is just being stubborn). And it WAS possible. Now I realize at this level that sometimes decisions must be made differently, but this just happened to be the the case where I thought there was no possible way I could reach my goal. Had I given up at any point I wouldn't have. Even though I couldn't see how it would work, I raced and gave it my all, and it did work out! (forget the fact that it rolled down, who turned down there slot!?!?!? sad for them, happy for me)  Never lose hope or give up!

Not the Best Luck

My last two races did not go quite like I would have liked. In July I raced in Muncie. At mile 8 my shifter broke. That leaves 48 miles to ride in one single gear. NOT fun! I was able to finish but not really race on the bike, so my finish time and place were not good. Of course I wasn't happy about that but I was healthy and the bike wouldn't be too hard to fix, and thought maybe if I could do really well at Steelhead I would still have a chance to qualify for Vegas.

Well, then at Steelhead they cancelled the swim! Luck has not been on my side! I guess Vegas was not meant to be. The bike and run went ok at Steelhead, but swimming is by far still my strongest. On the bright side, now I can go to the Iowa vs Iowa State football team. Oh, and train for Cozumel Ironman!

Born This Way

No, I'm not on some kick about being happy with who I am. That is the song playing as we started at Kansas 70.3. So of course it was in my head for a while during the race, it actually came in handy during the bike to keep me 'up beat'. We started at 6:32. Who signs up for a race that starts at 6:30?!?!? Those people are crazy! The forecast the days leading up to the race called for the your all going to get struck by lightening and blown off your bikes type of weather. Of course everyone was peeing their pants worried, I would be happy with any amount of rain or wind-just keep the thunder and lightening away so we could complete the whole race.

Compared to the predicted we got pretty darn good weather. The swim was choppy and I may have swam about 1.3 miles. It was incredible hard to see or go straight. I had instructions to just cruise the swim and save up for the bike and run. Pretty easy at the beginning, stayed on one gal's feet most of the way out. Then she took off. It was soo hard not to go with her. But I listened like a good child and kept it easy. In the end, I think this strategy worked really well.

Bike was pretty hilly with rollers after rollers, in other words, FUN! I had a blast on the bike and found a groove I haven't had before. Racing the bike just sort-of 'came' to me. I didn't have to constantly remind myself to push harder or that I am in a race.

Run was GREAT! My best run in a long time for sure. I didn't manage to pass anyone on the run, but that is ok. I held my spot and felt much more competitive with the other pro gals overall. Things are definitely going in the right direction. Overall I came in 7th and am very happy with my time. Definitely my best race of the season so far even if 7th place doesn't sound that great. It's all about improving and learning to race with the big girls right now. I'm also meeting a lot of new people and think they are all great. Now I just need to find time to use the yellow and blue thing that floats in my garage!!! (jet ski...anyone interested??)

Pigman Sprint '11 Race Report

 I competed in the Pigman Sprint over the weekend. It was my third time at this race. On Saturday I went to the race site to do my little pre-race workout. The venue was a state park in a small little town just outside Cedar Rapids. One might say the park was filled with red necks. It was quite interesting. A few people had some comments towards me and it took everything I had not to say some things back to them. I was wearing a two piece swim suit for the swim and then just put shorts on for the rest of my workout. The other people were not exactly fit, and after their comments towards me I had to work very hard to keep my comments to myself.  

This race is what they call an equalizer. The women start first (in this case 8 minutes ahead of the men) and the first person, male or female, to cross the finish line won $750. My swim went well and I was out of the water first by over a minute. Wet suit came off ok in T1 and helmet went on easily.

For the bike I was really just trying to go hard the whole time. Only 3 miles to run after it, so even if I wiped myself out it wouldn't be that bad. I think I did okay on the bike. I was in the lead the entire bike and it's definitely a mental focus game to push yourself hard the entire time when no one else is even in your field of vision. However, this was good practice for those 70.3 races where I spend most of the time all alone also. There was a turn around a little over 2/3 through the bike and I could see I still had a good distance on the women but that the men were closing fast. Unless I ran the fastest 5k of my life I knew I would get beat by the men.

T2 went fine, no glitches. On to the run. It was difficult to 'sprint' 3 miles! All of my training has been geared toward halves. Again, I was constantly trying to remind myself to go faster! Even when I did it I could tell I just didn't have enough speed to have a great 5k time. That's okay because I would rather have the endurance for the longer races and this race was more for fun, but at the time it can be a bit frustrating. Especially when the men are chasing you down quickly! I was passed by fellow Discount Tri Supply athlete, Patrick Davis, just after mile two. Two more men ended up passing me before the finish but no women passed me. So I won overall female but was over a minute short of winning the equalizer. Patrick ended up coming in second for the males. A pretty good day for DiscountTriSupply. I was 2 minutes faster than my time last year, always a good thing. All in all it was a good day and lots of fun. Pigman is a great 'big' small local race and the race director and volunteers do a great job. As far as the random rednecks...

Up next is Kansas 70.3 this Sunday. Might be a scorcher but I'm excited. There will be some real fast competition but I guess if I'm gonna be a big girl I will have to play with the big girls. Post race I may also indulge in a treat from the Cheesecake Factory just because, feel free to join me!

St. Croix Race Report, Better Late than Never?

Ok, ok, I will finally write my race report from St. Croix. The swim went pretty well. The water was crystal clear and I saw everything: sunken ship, colorful fish, garbage can, sand, and a lawn chair. There were some small buoys at the beginning that may have been a swim zone for hotel guests, but we had to swim around them so the beginning was a pick cluster and got interesting. After that we turned and were heading pretty much straight into the waves. I had no idea where I was but I saw two girls up a little ways. They were headed out left, a ways from the buoys, I stuck near the buoys and caught them at the turn buoy. Then I cut in too narrow and they stayed on track. I caught them about half way to the last turn buoy and we swam all together to it. After the last turn I swam away from them a little bit and was second out of the water.

T1 went pretty well and then I was passed within the first mile by a certain world champion. Well, it was fun while it lasted. I expected to be passed by a few on the bike. The bike was beautiful and challenging. The Beast (a few photos of that above, though even the photos don't do it justice) was brutal. Harder than I thought it would be. At one point I was sure walking up would be faster. The rest of the course was either up, down and twisty, and with a grusome headwind. Came of the bike in 8th.

T2 was just fine. The run was a little rought. I felt really full and sick again. So I will be working on fixing that this next few weeks. Run was a little hillier than I expected and my time was a handful of minutes slower than I would have liked. Overall it was still a pretty good race though and I finished in 8th.

St. Croix is a wonderful race and a wonderful place. It is a gorgeous island and the people there are the friendliest people you can find. I would love to do this race again someday. I have updated my race schedule, but it still may change~sometimes I'm indecisice and sometimes it's fun to be spontaneous!