The race site: http://5430sports.com/peak.htm
Saturday, July 11th
I did a TNT bike ride in the morning at the Air Force Academy. Just did a little over 30 mintues - down stadium drive and back up. Legs felt good. On the way home stopped by Starbucks for an iced soy latte and pumpkin bread. yum. Got home, started to pack. around 11am went for a 15 minute run. Legs feeling good! Finished packing up the car and headed to meet Sarah. Remembered to stop by walgreens to get some rubber bands. Got Sarah, met Shannon and went to chick-fil-a for lunch. I love their grilled chicken sandwhich. Drive to Boulder....get to the Rez just in time for the race meeting. They are all pretty much the same! We got our race packets in a green re-usable bag (they are all the rage these days) and a really awesome race shirt. Ben got there about the same time we did so we agreed to meet somewhere for dinner. Walked around the expo for a few minutes. Very Boulder-esque expo - lots of "eco-friendly" booths. Then headed to the hotel back in Louisville, which is just a few miles up the highway. Got settled in and we all went to Mimi's for dinner. Back to the hotel, get all the race stuff around (numbers on race belt/helmet, etc. ) Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban was on TV. 9pm it was lights out! Something must have been in the air all day - my sinuses were hurting (pretty rare) and my nose was a little clogged. A hot shower helped, and I hoped it would go away overnight.
Sunday, July 12th - RACE DAY!
4am the cell phone alarms go off. Actually slept pretty well for a race night. only woke up a couple times but the sleep in between was solid. Felt about as good as you can at 4am! Head was a lot better. Ate my typical pre-race breakfast of oatmeal with peanut butter and a banana. There was a microwave in the room so it made the oatmeal very convenient. Sarah and I got our stuff around and headed to the car.
It's 5am in Boulder and all traffic is headed toward the Rez. It seems like they host races almost every weekend in the summer so it's really smooth to get in and park. We get our stuff and head to transition. No lines for body marking (good!) and no lines to pick up the timing chip (yay!). The 5430 Races have the best transition set-up. They have the racks well marked by wave and there are 4 bikes to a rack, two on each side. Bikes are racked by the rear tire so no having to hang from seat posts or handle bars. They also set the racks up far enough apart everyone has plenty of room. Not like the races with the single bar racks and you have to squeeze in as many bikes as you possibly can...
Today I am attempting to start the race with my shoes already clipped to my bike to save time. That's why I needed the rubber bands. I got the pedals set up so they won't bounce on the ground as I run out of transition. Then you hop on the bike and start pedaling with your feet on top of the shoes (the rubber bands break). As you gain speed, you slip your feet into the shoes and away you go!
I'm set up early enough that I do a short warm-up run to get the blood flowing before I put on my wet suit. No issues here.
My wave (#2) starts at 6:40 so at about 6:10 I head over to put on my wetsuit and get in a warm-up. I really wanted to use the real bathroom (not the port-os) but they weren't open yet. bummer - will wait for the lake. I squeeze into my wetsuit and about 6:20 I get in the water. The sun is rising over the lake, making the buoys hard to see, but that's expected of course! I swim out to the dock a couple times - all is good. The wetsuit seems to have loosened up somewhat around my shoulders, which is a good thing.
Right before the start of wave #1, the national anthem is played and the flag is up in the sky - being carried by three skydivers. Way cool!
6:30, the race starts - they sent the older men and women (50+) and relays off first.
SWIM (1500+ meters):
6:40 - my wave #2 - the lime green caps - all women ages 30-34. Off we go! I wanted to be more competitive in the swim today so I positioned myself a little off to the side but closer to the front. And it was competitive! Lots of us jockying for position, but I found myself on the losing end since I just couldn't keep up. After a few hundred yards I was able to get my space. It seemed like forever to the first buoy! and then the next, and next. Finally I get to the first turn. Then the wave behind me starts to show up - the purple caps. Then I get to the next turn and I start to see the second wave after me - the pink caps. As I am making the final turn for the last few hundred yards to the beach, I see an orange cap - the men have started and the lead guys are FAST! I make the last turn for the last few hundred yards to the beach. I am glad to get out of the water - I felt like I was swimming strong, but it also felt like it was taking forever! And it was! When I got out of the water, my watch said 40 minutes! yikes! I did the 1.2 mile swim in Kansas in just under 45! Didn't think I've slowed that much in a month. Very, very frustrating! But I accept it and get on with the bike (my favorite leg!)
Swim Results: 41:43 (age group rank- 99/121) *sigh*
T1:
I easily find my bike, strip off my wetsuit, sunglasses on, helmet on and I grab my bike. Shoes are already on the bike, which was difference from my previous routine so I paused to make sure I really was good to go. And off I ran with my bike to the bike start.
T1 Results: 1:26 (age group rank- 19/121) sweet!
BIKE (42k):
I mount my bike (a little awkward, but not bad) and start to pedal. I slip my right shoe on my foot. Pedal some more, slip my left foot in the shoe and realize that the rubber band didn't break. hmmm....don't think it is a good idea to ride the race with a rubber band attaching my shoe to the bike. quick thinking here - I unclip my shoe and pull my leg far enough away to snap the band. Now the rubber band is just attached to the shoe. I can deal with that. I soon start passing people. My favorite phrase is "on your left." The plan is to pace myself since the first seven miles are all uphill with 1200 feet of elevation gain. I stay in the small chain ring in front and make sure I'm taking it easy on the legs, since the steep part starts around mile 5.
I make the turn on to Lee Hill Rd and it starts to get steeper. The climbers are separated from the non-climbers. Then a curve to the right and we are on Olde Stage Road. It starts to get steep. I'm pretty much in my smallest two gears (36/25 and 36/27) for this part. There is a woman ahead of me swerving all over the road, crossing over the double yellow into the lane of oncoming traffic. The roads are open so I'm not sure what she was thinking. If a race official was there, she could get penalized/disqualified for that. She crossed over several times in the 5ish minutes I was behind her. I kept chugging - Olde Stage was pretty hard, but not as hard as I remember from three weeks ago so my time in Keystone might have paid off. At one point where there were no houses I looked to my right and I could see all the way down the valley. We had certainly gained some elevation! There were spectators lined up on the side of the road cheering us on, which helps on a tough section like that. After the peak of the steep part, the course levels off but you still have a couple hundred feet to climb. When the descent starts, the race directors have imposed a 35mph speed limit for a short section. A few years ago there was a bad crash. At the bottom of this "speed zone" a cop is there with a radar gun. If you exceed 35mph, you can get disqualified. So we ride the brakes for this section (less than a mile). I was behind someone conserative and I didn't have a good view of my speed, so I just hung back. I think I hit 33mph. After the speed zone you can really fly. The road isn't quite as steep, but you do gain some speed and a chance to recover the legs. Then rest of the course is fast and downhill and then some rollers, then a slight elevation gain back into the Reservoir. I just tried to go as fast as I could without too much pain in my legs. Bike nutrition/hydration: Aerobottle filled w/HEED (~24oz) and took a gel (actually almost 2 from my "gelbot") and water with about 10 minutes left on the bike.
Bike Results: 1:25:13, 18.3mph (age group rank - 27/121)
my garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/player/8659345
T2:
Find the rack, put my socks on, slip on my shoes, grab my hat and racebelt and run to the run start.
T2 results: 1:27 (age group rank - 26/118) - some people didn't go on for the run...
RUN (10k):
My plan for the run was to try to go as fast as I could to test myself. If I ran out of steam half way through, so be it. I didn't wear my GPS with pacing info so I could just run by feel. Well, I didn't feel it today. My legs felt heavy - they just didn't have any 'go.' They didn't hurt (well, of course running in a tri "hurts" but not pain that says stop running.) I also felt a little on the edge of my breathing. I know it's not supposed to be comfortable at this distance, but something was holding me back. The run course was an out and back, mainly on a dirt road that goes around the lake. It's relatively flat, but the "out" part has a slight elevation gain. There are a few sections with small hills, but they felt like big ones today. I walked through each aid station to make sure I was hydrating. Temps were supposed to be in the mid-upper 80s so when that sun is out, the course gets pretty warm. There is no shade out there. I took my gel at the turn-around to make sure I had fuel in the tank for the run back. I kept expecting that when I was on the "back" part with the slight elevation loss, it would feel better. It didn't. I was shooting to hit 3hrs for a total time and started the run around 2:10. I would have to really rock to make it. When I was at 2:45 at mile 4, I knew I was going to go over 3hrs by a little bit. My friend Shannon was ahead (she's a really fast swimmer) and I saw her before the turn around. She probably had less than half a mile on me, but feeling like I was, I just couldn't close the gap. I kept chugging along, still hoping for the burst of energy and leg speed. The last quarter mile of the course is significantly downhill so I was able to pick up speed and have good strides for the finish photo. I wish I could have found that stride earlier! Shannon and Sarah were at the finish line cheering. I got my finishers transition towel (soaked in cold water- nice!) and we headed over to the course to wait for Ben and Stacey. After they came in, it was Qdoba burritos at the meal tent and some fruit. And a lot of water. Skipped the beer tent today since I had to drive back to the Springs and didn't want to fall asleep! Then we watched the pros finish their race on a modified run course (3-lap loop) that was more spectator friendly. They seemed to glide along the road. I'm jealous.
Run results: 55:09, 8:54min/mile pace (age group rank - 40/118)
Total time: 3:04:56 (44/118 age group, 195/550 female finishers)
All in all, a good experience and a very well-executed event! Everyone thought the swim was long and I think the times show it. And only 6 women (from the entire field) with slower swim times finished ahead of me....
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Back to oxygen and some cool winnings!
Funny, that going to 6000ft elevation would be back in the oxygen, but after a week in 9000+ and training, it feels good to be back in the relative low-land!
So Tim and I were in Keystone (near Dillon), CO for the 2009 Porsche Parade. We had a fabulous time enjoying the scenery. The weather cooperated 95% of the time and I got in some really good training (hills, anyone?).
Some highlights:
- We came in 5th place in our very first TSD Rally.
- I rode my bike to the top to Loveland Pass.
- Tim won this trip in a random drawing: http://www.fastlanetravel.com/images/budget.pdf
We'll probably exchange it for a trip in 2010 since we have a lot going on this year already and we'd like to make more of a vacation. Guess I better brush up on my German!
Now we're back and have to adjust to getting back in the normal routine and I have to get back to work, though it was nice that our shutdown was the same week as parade. But as usual, there is some more training to do...
Thursday, July 02, 2009
hello from keystone
Quick post today - been in Keystone since Saturday at the 2009 Porsche Parade. Lots of nice cars! We've been on a tour to the old 10th mtn division (the ski troops) training camp from wwii - camp hale. yesterday we participated in a time-speed-distance rally and according to the preliminary results we came in 5th in our class. apparently that's pretty impressive for our first rally and that we are still on speaking terms!
The rally is this - you get a set of instructions which get you from point a to point b, and there are a set of rules on how to execute the instructions. there are checkpoints along the way separating the rally into legs and each leg is scored independently. the instructions might say CAST 33 0.5mi after "mountain views" which means to change your average speed to 33mph a half-mile after a sign that has the exact text "mountain views" on it. the idea is to enter each checkpoint as close to the perfect time, as calculated by the rally master. you can buy rally computers for your cars, which do a lot of the calculations for you. I think we got lucky - we must not have gotten off course, we used a watch that was in the ballpark of the master clock and the average speed function on tim's car. We entered in the navigation class since we had a GPS in the car, but didn't use it. It probably also helped that the rally was in the same general area as the 10th mtn div tour so we had just been on some of the roads a few days earlier! but that can't help with getting the timing just right!
These rallies can cause a lot of stress between driver and navigator, but Tim and I went into it with similar expectations as it was our first one and we are still very much on speaking terms! I can imagine in an area with more roads than rural Colorado, it could be very complicated! Today is the autocross - Tim will go watch and I am going to get some training in before the afternoon BeerFest!
The rally is this - you get a set of instructions which get you from point a to point b, and there are a set of rules on how to execute the instructions. there are checkpoints along the way separating the rally into legs and each leg is scored independently. the instructions might say CAST 33 0.5mi after "mountain views" which means to change your average speed to 33mph a half-mile after a sign that has the exact text "mountain views" on it. the idea is to enter each checkpoint as close to the perfect time, as calculated by the rally master. you can buy rally computers for your cars, which do a lot of the calculations for you. I think we got lucky - we must not have gotten off course, we used a watch that was in the ballpark of the master clock and the average speed function on tim's car. We entered in the navigation class since we had a GPS in the car, but didn't use it. It probably also helped that the rally was in the same general area as the 10th mtn div tour so we had just been on some of the roads a few days earlier! but that can't help with getting the timing just right!
These rallies can cause a lot of stress between driver and navigator, but Tim and I went into it with similar expectations as it was our first one and we are still very much on speaking terms! I can imagine in an area with more roads than rural Colorado, it could be very complicated! Today is the autocross - Tim will go watch and I am going to get some training in before the afternoon BeerFest!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Succussful TNT Weekend!
The triathlon group of Rocky Mountain Chapter of Team In Training had their events this weekend....what an amazing bumch of people.
First we started at the Holiday Inn Select in Denver (Cherry Creek) for an Inspiration Dinner - complete with pasta and motivation for the team. We heard the story of Rachel, one of the Team members who is also a lymphoma survivor. 10 months after finishing her chemo/radiation treatments she is participating in a triathlon. Amazing.
Crashed at Anisa's place, on of the TNT staff members who was also a team member. We had to get up at 3:45am to get to Loveland ~5am. Race started at 6:30. Yeah, that's early! All the TNT folks made it through the race - about 20 of 'em - and they even had great racing weather - overcast skies but no rain! Back to Denver in the early afternoon and I went for a run around Sloans Lake. My first run since Kansas and it actually felt pretty good! Then a hot shower and a nap was in order. Dinner at Wynkoop Brewery with MacKenzie (another TNT staff person). Had the Railyard Ale. Not bad, but I've had better. Food was pretty good, though!
Back at Anisa's one more time - she and her boyfriend had rented a movie (Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio) and I of course fell asleep watching it. Back to bed as Sunday was to be another early start.
Only had to get up 4:45am on Sunday, as the race didn't start unti 7:30am! Another great day for racing, but this time it was sunny. But boy did those mountains look fantastic heading over the final ridge before you drop down into Boulder. They must have gotten some rain the night before. The clouds were low in the mountains, the foothills were amazingly green, snowcapped peaks in the background, and the early morning sun from the east gave a magical glow. This is why we live in Colorado!
All the TNT folks again finished the race with huge smiles on their faces! I'm really proud - it was the first triathlon for all of my folks this weekend and they did fantastic! They all raised at least $2400 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We really appreciate the effort they put in to their fundraising and their training! GO TEAM!
It was a hot day in Boulder (well, 80s is a hot day with that strong sun). The course has not much shade - pretty much none on the run, but everyone did great. After the race I took my bike to ride the Boulder Peak bike course, as I will be racing that next month. It's got a killer climb on it - Old Stage Road. Here's the ride. The starting elevation is about 5200ft at the reservior and within 7 miles you are at almost 6400ft. On the steepest part of the climb I was going about 4mph. That's a 15:00min/mile pace - you walk that fast. I was in my smallest gear and only slogging through at about 40rpm. Heart rate made it into the 180s. But it was a gorgeous climb, saw a couple deer out there and everything was just so green! The view from the top was amazing (can't believe I actually thought to look around - I was breathing pretty hard!) Then there is a speedy descent down back to hwy 36 and the rest of the course is also pretty fast. Now that I know I can survive that hill, I'll be more confident going into the race. Now if only I wasn't a wussy descender! At least they do have a speed limit (35mph) coming down the hill to make it safer for all. I'm sure you could hit 50+mph and that's probably not safe for 1200ish athletes, some of them not skilled at descending.
Made it back home in the afternoon and now I'm ready for to be off work the next two weeks!
First we started at the Holiday Inn Select in Denver (Cherry Creek) for an Inspiration Dinner - complete with pasta and motivation for the team. We heard the story of Rachel, one of the Team members who is also a lymphoma survivor. 10 months after finishing her chemo/radiation treatments she is participating in a triathlon. Amazing.
Crashed at Anisa's place, on of the TNT staff members who was also a team member. We had to get up at 3:45am to get to Loveland ~5am. Race started at 6:30. Yeah, that's early! All the TNT folks made it through the race - about 20 of 'em - and they even had great racing weather - overcast skies but no rain! Back to Denver in the early afternoon and I went for a run around Sloans Lake. My first run since Kansas and it actually felt pretty good! Then a hot shower and a nap was in order. Dinner at Wynkoop Brewery with MacKenzie (another TNT staff person). Had the Railyard Ale. Not bad, but I've had better. Food was pretty good, though!
Back at Anisa's one more time - she and her boyfriend had rented a movie (Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio) and I of course fell asleep watching it. Back to bed as Sunday was to be another early start.
Only had to get up 4:45am on Sunday, as the race didn't start unti 7:30am! Another great day for racing, but this time it was sunny. But boy did those mountains look fantastic heading over the final ridge before you drop down into Boulder. They must have gotten some rain the night before. The clouds were low in the mountains, the foothills were amazingly green, snowcapped peaks in the background, and the early morning sun from the east gave a magical glow. This is why we live in Colorado!
All the TNT folks again finished the race with huge smiles on their faces! I'm really proud - it was the first triathlon for all of my folks this weekend and they did fantastic! They all raised at least $2400 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We really appreciate the effort they put in to their fundraising and their training! GO TEAM!
It was a hot day in Boulder (well, 80s is a hot day with that strong sun). The course has not much shade - pretty much none on the run, but everyone did great. After the race I took my bike to ride the Boulder Peak bike course, as I will be racing that next month. It's got a killer climb on it - Old Stage Road. Here's the ride. The starting elevation is about 5200ft at the reservior and within 7 miles you are at almost 6400ft. On the steepest part of the climb I was going about 4mph. That's a 15:00min/mile pace - you walk that fast. I was in my smallest gear and only slogging through at about 40rpm. Heart rate made it into the 180s. But it was a gorgeous climb, saw a couple deer out there and everything was just so green! The view from the top was amazing (can't believe I actually thought to look around - I was breathing pretty hard!) Then there is a speedy descent down back to hwy 36 and the rest of the course is also pretty fast. Now that I know I can survive that hill, I'll be more confident going into the race. Now if only I wasn't a wussy descender! At least they do have a speed limit (35mph) coming down the hill to make it safer for all. I'm sure you could hit 50+mph and that's probably not safe for 1200ish athletes, some of them not skilled at descending.
Made it back home in the afternoon and now I'm ready for to be off work the next two weeks!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Race Report - Kansas 70.3 Half Ironman Race
wow - it's been 2 months since I posted! must be a little busy training!
Date: 6/14/2009
Location: Clinton State Park, Lawrence, KS.
This might be a little long - it was an eventful (but fabulous) weekend!
Trip started Friday - Tim and I got up, finished packing everything up and left town about an hour after I wanted to. But since we weren't really doing anything that night, it didn't really matter and I didn't get as stressed out as I usually do. I had everything in plastic bins to keep things organized - swim stuff in one bin, bike stuff in another, etc. Turned out to be pretty handy. Anyway, it's an 8+ hour drive to Lawrence. We stopped and had lunch in Colby, KS at the Taco Johns. OK maybe not the best food for ya but it sure was good. I did get a chicken taco to be a little more healthy (won't mention the taco bravo and potato ole's - but hey, at least I skipped the soda!). We ended up in Lawrence around 6:45pm Central time (lost an hour) and found the hotel. Chili's was across the parking lot so that was dinner. I got a grilled chicken sandwich with veggies. OK a little better than lunch!
Side note - what the heck does "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" really mean? I'll buy someone a beer if they can explain it to me other than that is the University of Kansas cheer. And I know the Jayhawk is the KU mascot. :-)
Hotel had a hot tub so I went to stretch out a little before bed. Stacey and Shannon arrived a little later - they were just across the hall from us so I stopped by after my hot tub session. Oh, and I gave my bike one last check (brakes good, tight bolts, clean/lubed chain) before bed.
Saturday...slept in. actually got a really good night's sleep like I wanted to. Hit the free breakfast and found they had waffle irons to make belgium waffles. score!!!! Had one of those with some peanut butter and syrup and a banana. Decided to hit the 4pm athlete meeting so my plan for the day was to relax a little more and review race info and my stuff. Tim's folks were to arrive in the mid to late afternoon so at noon we went to lunch (Jason's Deli - turkey sandwich) and also stopped by the CVS- some tums and gas ex...might have been nerves or the taco bravo from yesterday? Nothing major, just wanted to feel a little better. and I hoped that it wouldn't be an issue on race day! After lunch we scouted out a place for dinner and then I got my bike and headed over to the race site to get my packet and rack my bike.
The hotel was only 15 minutes from the race site and was an easy drive. The sun was out so thank goodnes I remembered to put on sunscreen (from one of my plastic bins!). Rode my bike over to the expo site (about 3/4mile from where I parked) then I found the line. yikes! not sure how long it took - maybe an hour? But I did see Chrissie Wellington walk by. I wanted to bow down to her, but that might have been a little weird. Chatted with some of the folks around me as we worked our way up to get our packets. Got the packets with some free stuff. Thank goodness one of the goodies was a Powerbar - I forgot to bring my snacks that I had so carefully packed for the trip! I bought a $2 bottle of water since I was about to empty my only water bottle. I'd been really good hydrating on the trip so far (Tim was very patient with a few extra stops on the drive over) and didn't want to ruin that. OK - got my packet, put the race number on my bike and then had to figure out where T1 was. They didn't mention that at the end of the pick-up line. Finally found out where to go and rode down the hill to find my spot. Right near the swim exit - sweet! Won't be hard to find the bike. But this was a LONG and narrow transition - so I looked towards the bike start - maybe 100+ yards of bike rack to work my way through and uphill. but, it looked easy to navigate so I covered my seat and handlebars with plastic bags and headed out. Rain was in the forecast for that night and the next day....
OK, bike is racked - hope nothing happens to it! Now the 1/2+ mile walk back to the expo for the athlete meeting and I found Stacey and Shannon. That was one of the shortest athlete meetings ever. The jist was "don't worry, it'll be easy to figure out where to go."
Get back to the hotel and I am definitely ready to have my pre-race meal. Tim's family (parents, sister and 2 nieces) had arrived so we headed down to Montana Mike's - some regional chain steak place. But before we left I wanted to make sure they had what I wanted so I ran back to the lobby and checked the menu - 30 seconds later we were good to go. grilled chicken and potato was there so I was happy. Good dinner - a decent amount of carbs and some protein - teryaki chicken over rice, a baked potato and their dinner rolls were fantastic! And a big, big glass of water. Back to the hotel to make sure I had all my race day gear around, back to the hot tub one last time to stretch, and set my cell phone alarm for 3:48am. Don't ask my to explain that, it seemed to make sense at the time. Tim went to his family's room to play cards and I was in bed by 9:30pm.
SUNDAY - RACE DAY!
3:48am - Sunday 6/14. Cell phone alarm goes off, I get up. A decent night's sleep for a pre-race night. Got dressed in my race gear, grabbed my oatmeal, peanut butter, and banana and went to the breakfast room for the microwave. Turns out they got the whole breakfast thing set up - waffles and all! I'm sure it made some racers happy! But I stick to my tried and true PB/banana oatmeal. Feeling pretty good - no sign of yesterday's minor GI issues. After breakfast I finish getting my stuff around and at 4:30am leave for the race site. Van Halen's 1984 is in the CD player. Need I say more?
4:45am - arrive race site and get a decent parking spot - but still ~10 minutes from T2. Set up T2 as they are different transitions. The sky was pretty cloudy and it could rain - though it hadn't rained overnight like some were predicting. I decided to not take chances and just had all my T2 gear in the bin. It might take me a few extra seconds to pull the lid off, but if I have dry shoes, I'll be happy to lose a few seconds. I had my towel to take down to T1 but since I was there plenty early, I just sat on it and hung out. Chatted with a few of the people racking by me - the one right next to me is moving to Colorado Springs next week. Cool. Stacey and Shannon showed up and it was about time to head down to T1 to put all the nutrition on the bike, pump up tires, etc. But first - the important stop at the porta potty. We all were successful. If you have to ask, don't.
Got to T1 to set everything up and weren't in there for more than about three minutes and some race dude (not sure who he was, hence race dude) starts yelling transition closes in 3 minutes! Get out in three minutes! Well, there are about fifty people in line at the porty potties in transition, several hundred more trying to get their bike stuff around. Not likely that everyone will be out in three minutes. Race dude decides to pop a balloon someone had set up to mark their bike. Didn't think that was against the rules? But - time to hurry. I borrowed a pump from someone, quickly pumped my tires as best I could, made sure my bottles were on, my shoes on the towel, and sunglasses and helmet ready. Threw on some body glide then took the wetsuit, swim cap and goggles and headed out. OK, out before people got too mad. They did come back yelling and racers were yelling back. Note to race organizers - please publish a time that transition closes so people will be prepared. Note to racers - you know it is always crazy - get there early!
Once the wetsuit was on, there really was only about 20 minutes until my wave started so I headed to the swim start line with the girls. Stacey headed up to find her group - 6:50am and I found mine gang of yellow caps. It was an in-water start off a boat ramp - and was pretty much a corrall of funny looking fish. The music was good - pump you up stuff. Mentally I switched over to race mode and was ready to race. The swim is the weakest of my events, though I have been getting faster. I just wanted to have a good swim and be in good shape to head out on the bike and run.
SWIM 1.2 miles
http://www.ironmankansas.com/swim.php
Start time: 6:58am - wave of about 76 W30-34 age groupers - hear the horn and we are off! I'm on the outside to avoid too much kicking and elbows, but there is always someone who wants to swim either right next to you or on top of you at the swim start. Despite that I managed to have a comfortable swim, staying pretty close to the buoy line after the initial start. The course was a very long rectangle, with at least 6 buoys heading out & six more back, so it was actually a relatively good buoy-to-buoy swim. It's always dangerous getting on the buoy line (at least for me) not being in the last wave (9 out of 14 waves) but not too many people tried to swim over me. Ran into a couple here and there and I think I even got to draft for a little ways. General comments on the swim - even this new, more flexible wetsuit still makes my shoulders restricted so my arms felt like if I tried to go harder they would just wear out. That means I need to get into open water with the wetsuit several more times before my next race. Or maybe next year go with a sleeveless? Anyway, water temp was in the 70s - really pretty comfortable with the wetsuit. A little wind but pretty insignificant chop - most of the chop camp from other swimmers rather than wind. I was pretty happy when I turned the corners and was on the home stretch. It did seem that I approached the buoys relatively quickly. Found the exit ramp (concrete boat ramp) and got up. Wetsuit came off with no issues and I only had about 30ish yards from the exit until my bike.
Swim Results: 44:56, 62/76 age group, 1221/1487 overall (yeah, still need to work on this, but still 6+ minutes better than my previous half IM swim time!)
T1: wetsuit came off easily, shoes on, sunglasses, and helmet. That's all so I grabbed my bike and trotted on the 100+ yard trek to the bike start. Transition was narrow - I about ran over a few people during their transition. Then I got behind a few people who were walking (I prefer to jog) so was essentially stuck in a traffic jam. Should have scooted over to another aisle when I had the chance. Made it to the mount line and didn't have any issues.
T1 Results: 2:45
BIKE 56 miles
http://www.ironmankansas.com/bike.php
Plan was to start easy to warm up the legs, then pick up the pace. Some others should have tried that - there were a few people who flew past me on the park road, but then when we reached the first hill even before we exited the park I caught back up and they didn't pass me again. Beautiful bike course. Temps by now were probably in the mid-upper 60's and the sky was overcast. The fields were a fantastic green. Colorado's been green this spring due to all the rain, but Kansas was a much deeper green. Even saw some sheep out there. I don't know how many times I said "on your left." I didn't get passed by very many women at all, maybe less than five. Sure passed a whole bunch. For the most part, people stayed right, but there were plenty of "clusters" where some fast guy from a later wave almost had to cross the center line to get around the slower folks hogging the road. How hard is "stay right except to pass?" Then there was the cluster right across from the penalty tent - someone actually passed another rider on the right! I suppose the penalty tent folks just enforce penalties and don't issue them, but of all places to break a rule!
The ride was smooth - roads were clean and my legs felt good. Probably at about mile 15 or so there were a few raindrops and the roads looked a tad damp, but that was it for rain. The weather gods were smiling upon us! Nutrition plan worked pretty well - had some clif bar pieces to eat right out of the swim as I usually get a hungry feeling. Didn't happen this time so after a couple pieces I switched to Hammer's Perpetuem + enduroyle powder mix (Cafe Latte flavor rocks!). I had a 3 hour bottle on my down tube of that, my aerodrink filled with water and another bottle of water in my seat tube. With the overcast sky and cool temps, the thirst mechanism was quiet, but I kept reminding myself to drink something. Probably should have had a little more - didn't tap the seat tube bottle, but I did refill the aerodrink with a bottle from an aid station at mile ~33. Anyway, I'm happily cruising, passing people, enjoying the scenery and I see mile marker 20. I did a quick check of my GPS (which was hanging off my aerobars - can't wear it on the swim and it might have been too dangerous to try to strap it on my wrist while riding) and it said :57 minutes and some change. sweet. I was aiming for ~20mph pace and was on it. I keep cruising and hit mile 25. Then I see my friend Shannon and give her a cheer as I go by. We're in the same age group and she rocked with a sub-32 minute swim so one of my goals was to catch her. success. Then I hit mile 35 and start noticing the hills. I'm thinking - it'd be nice to be done with these rollers. Sure enough - miles 34 - 41 are just a bunch of rollers! At least my perception was true and I wasn't just getting fatigued. I could feel my left hamstring tightening up a bit around this time (I have to watch out for that) so I came out of aero when it made sense (slower climbs) to stretch it a bit.
Speaking of fatigue, since I usually train at ~6500ft, the altitude of Kansas provides so much more oxygen. I went by feel of my legs rather than breathing/heart rate, and it didn't help that I forgot to turn on the HR monitor part of my GPS so I wore that stupid chest strap for nothing. oh well. I blame the rush at T1. I was lucky I had it turned on to use the auto multisport feature.
When I see mile 45 I am really happy that I am coming down the home stretch. Cruised along some flat spots, and made the last big climb up the dam road then across the dam. Bill, a guy on a sweet purple Javelin bike who I'd been leap-frogging passed me one last time - he had the momentum off the dam. Saw mile 50...really almost done! When I came back into the park, I switched to easier gearing to spin the legs a bit to prepare for the run. I passed one more person on my way into T2 and turns out it was Stacey! Didn't recognize her from behind. I successfully slip my feet out of my shoes (first time doing that in a race!) Then I hear Tim yell, "Go, Nicole!" It was great to see him there as I was now about to embark on the most painful part of a triathlon - the run! My bike goal was to be under 3 hours, ideally 2:45. (20mph would be ~2:48) and I made it in just under 2:50.
Bike Results: 2:49:41, 19.8mph, 29/76 age group, 755/1487 overall
T2:
Head into T2 careful not to slip down the grassy hill (The grass field for T2 was about 3 feet lower than the road), turn at the first tree, run all the way down the aisle. Rack bike, transfer GPS to wrist (ok, that took a few extra seconds), open bin, on with socks and shoes, grab fuel belt and hat and I'm off! Race number was pinned to the fuel belt. Thought about stopping at the porty-potties, but there was a line and I really didn't have to go (should have had more fluid on the bike...) Figured there would be plenty on the run course if I needed it.
T2 Results: 1:56
RUN 13.1 miles
http://www.ironmankansas.com/run.php
Headed out of T2 and the sun was now shining with a few clouds in the sky. I wouldn't have minded a little rain on the run, but temps were still in the 70s so pretty comfy considering what it could have been in Kansas mid-June! Remembered to hit the lap button on my GPS so it now switched over to run (yay for auto multisport!) goal pace was 9:00min/mile and I wanted to settle into it slowly. but I was actually a little faster - around 8:30 but I didn't know if I could maintain that so I tried to back off a little. Wasn't too successful with the low elevation and the slight hills on the course, so I just started to run by feel with some monitoring of pace - could tell when I was going a bit faster my breathing got a little too hard (gasping at mile 4 of a 13 mile run is not good). On the run is really where your bike hydration/nutrition and hydrating plan let you know if you were good or not. I took a gel at the first aid station as planned. Second aid station I grabbed the endurolytes that I had stashed in a baggie in my jersey pocket. Most were icky (cheap plastic bags) but I salvaged a couple that didn't get wet and tossed the rest. Ok - no more endurolytes but I do have 18 oz of HEED on me. Walked a little at most aid stations, taking in some sort of fluid, whether it was water or my HEED. Mile 5 I did another gel. Realized I was taking in a lot of air (all that extra oxygen???) and my fuel belt felt a lot tighter than it should be. So I went to loosen it (velcro) and of course I dropped it. geez! I stop, pick it up, and try to get it back on while moving forward. OK, l got it and it felt a bit better. Had some burps and felt even better after that. The parts of the run course through the campground seemed to take forever, and on a two-loop course you see mile markers for both loops - seeing mile marker 12 near mile 5 can be a little disheartening knowing you have to do it all again. But I kept on chugging and it was really nice to have all the campers on the route cheering us on. Aid stations were well supported. Overall assessment said I was feeling pretty good considering what I was doing! I ran aid station to aid station (walked through most of them, ran through a couple if I was using my own fluid) and grabbed ice and sponges to stay as cool as possible. Sponges went on my left shoulder, hence the sunburn as I most likely washed all my sunscreen off that shoulder! I reached the point to start the next loop and knew I was coming down the home stretch. Hit the lap button on my GPS to try to monitor the second lap and doh! it thought I was done. Forgot on the multisport feature the lap button changes events. But I was able to quickly get it into standard run mode and start the timer again. The first lap took under an hour so if I could just maintain my pace, I'd hit my goal of 2 hours or less. Pace checks showed I was a little slower on the second lap, but still in the 9:00min/mile range, sometimes less. Legs were getting a little heavier and I could tell I was a little fluid depleted. Still didn't need to use the bathroom. Coming back up the hill around mile 9 - decided I could walk it. Hit the top and was running again. Back into the campground and it was time to count down the miles. Someone asked a camper the time and when they said 12:10, I knew I could get my 2-hour goal. But, you still can fall apart at any point so I made sure I was taking in my fluids as best I could. Really wish I had a few more endurolytes. At mile 11 my left hamstring and calf started to twinge - didn't want them to cramp up as I was almost done! Some guy obviously doing the relay (dressed in running shorts) comes flying past me talking to himself. Just push through it, he was saying (or something like that). I quitely thanked him for the unintentional encouragement. Keep the legs moving even though for those last few miles they really don't want to! Turned the corner, found the stretch to the finish line and went as fast (not very) as my legs would take me! Crossed the yellow brick road finish line (it is Kansas) with the KU cheerleaders cheering and was pretty dang happy to be done. Got my finisher's medal and pint glass. Tim was there and I worked my way back. A glance at the finish clock said 6:05, so doing the math from my wave time I came really close to my "amazing race" goal time of 5:30:00.
Run Results: 1:57:29, 8:58min/mile, 27/76 age group, 690/1487 overall
OVERALL RESULTS: 5:36:47, 27/76 age group, 688/1487 overall
Then I just was looking foward to a post-race dinner of pizza, beer, and ice cream!
Date: 6/14/2009
Location: Clinton State Park, Lawrence, KS.
This might be a little long - it was an eventful (but fabulous) weekend!
Trip started Friday - Tim and I got up, finished packing everything up and left town about an hour after I wanted to. But since we weren't really doing anything that night, it didn't really matter and I didn't get as stressed out as I usually do. I had everything in plastic bins to keep things organized - swim stuff in one bin, bike stuff in another, etc. Turned out to be pretty handy. Anyway, it's an 8+ hour drive to Lawrence. We stopped and had lunch in Colby, KS at the Taco Johns. OK maybe not the best food for ya but it sure was good. I did get a chicken taco to be a little more healthy (won't mention the taco bravo and potato ole's - but hey, at least I skipped the soda!). We ended up in Lawrence around 6:45pm Central time (lost an hour) and found the hotel. Chili's was across the parking lot so that was dinner. I got a grilled chicken sandwich with veggies. OK a little better than lunch!
Side note - what the heck does "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" really mean? I'll buy someone a beer if they can explain it to me other than that is the University of Kansas cheer. And I know the Jayhawk is the KU mascot. :-)
Hotel had a hot tub so I went to stretch out a little before bed. Stacey and Shannon arrived a little later - they were just across the hall from us so I stopped by after my hot tub session. Oh, and I gave my bike one last check (brakes good, tight bolts, clean/lubed chain) before bed.
Saturday...slept in. actually got a really good night's sleep like I wanted to. Hit the free breakfast and found they had waffle irons to make belgium waffles. score!!!! Had one of those with some peanut butter and syrup and a banana. Decided to hit the 4pm athlete meeting so my plan for the day was to relax a little more and review race info and my stuff. Tim's folks were to arrive in the mid to late afternoon so at noon we went to lunch (Jason's Deli - turkey sandwich) and also stopped by the CVS- some tums and gas ex...might have been nerves or the taco bravo from yesterday? Nothing major, just wanted to feel a little better. and I hoped that it wouldn't be an issue on race day! After lunch we scouted out a place for dinner and then I got my bike and headed over to the race site to get my packet and rack my bike.
The hotel was only 15 minutes from the race site and was an easy drive. The sun was out so thank goodnes I remembered to put on sunscreen (from one of my plastic bins!). Rode my bike over to the expo site (about 3/4mile from where I parked) then I found the line. yikes! not sure how long it took - maybe an hour? But I did see Chrissie Wellington walk by. I wanted to bow down to her, but that might have been a little weird. Chatted with some of the folks around me as we worked our way up to get our packets. Got the packets with some free stuff. Thank goodness one of the goodies was a Powerbar - I forgot to bring my snacks that I had so carefully packed for the trip! I bought a $2 bottle of water since I was about to empty my only water bottle. I'd been really good hydrating on the trip so far (Tim was very patient with a few extra stops on the drive over) and didn't want to ruin that. OK - got my packet, put the race number on my bike and then had to figure out where T1 was. They didn't mention that at the end of the pick-up line. Finally found out where to go and rode down the hill to find my spot. Right near the swim exit - sweet! Won't be hard to find the bike. But this was a LONG and narrow transition - so I looked towards the bike start - maybe 100+ yards of bike rack to work my way through and uphill. but, it looked easy to navigate so I covered my seat and handlebars with plastic bags and headed out. Rain was in the forecast for that night and the next day....
OK, bike is racked - hope nothing happens to it! Now the 1/2+ mile walk back to the expo for the athlete meeting and I found Stacey and Shannon. That was one of the shortest athlete meetings ever. The jist was "don't worry, it'll be easy to figure out where to go."
Get back to the hotel and I am definitely ready to have my pre-race meal. Tim's family (parents, sister and 2 nieces) had arrived so we headed down to Montana Mike's - some regional chain steak place. But before we left I wanted to make sure they had what I wanted so I ran back to the lobby and checked the menu - 30 seconds later we were good to go. grilled chicken and potato was there so I was happy. Good dinner - a decent amount of carbs and some protein - teryaki chicken over rice, a baked potato and their dinner rolls were fantastic! And a big, big glass of water. Back to the hotel to make sure I had all my race day gear around, back to the hot tub one last time to stretch, and set my cell phone alarm for 3:48am. Don't ask my to explain that, it seemed to make sense at the time. Tim went to his family's room to play cards and I was in bed by 9:30pm.
SUNDAY - RACE DAY!
3:48am - Sunday 6/14. Cell phone alarm goes off, I get up. A decent night's sleep for a pre-race night. Got dressed in my race gear, grabbed my oatmeal, peanut butter, and banana and went to the breakfast room for the microwave. Turns out they got the whole breakfast thing set up - waffles and all! I'm sure it made some racers happy! But I stick to my tried and true PB/banana oatmeal. Feeling pretty good - no sign of yesterday's minor GI issues. After breakfast I finish getting my stuff around and at 4:30am leave for the race site. Van Halen's 1984 is in the CD player. Need I say more?
4:45am - arrive race site and get a decent parking spot - but still ~10 minutes from T2. Set up T2 as they are different transitions. The sky was pretty cloudy and it could rain - though it hadn't rained overnight like some were predicting. I decided to not take chances and just had all my T2 gear in the bin. It might take me a few extra seconds to pull the lid off, but if I have dry shoes, I'll be happy to lose a few seconds. I had my towel to take down to T1 but since I was there plenty early, I just sat on it and hung out. Chatted with a few of the people racking by me - the one right next to me is moving to Colorado Springs next week. Cool. Stacey and Shannon showed up and it was about time to head down to T1 to put all the nutrition on the bike, pump up tires, etc. But first - the important stop at the porta potty. We all were successful. If you have to ask, don't.
Got to T1 to set everything up and weren't in there for more than about three minutes and some race dude (not sure who he was, hence race dude) starts yelling transition closes in 3 minutes! Get out in three minutes! Well, there are about fifty people in line at the porty potties in transition, several hundred more trying to get their bike stuff around. Not likely that everyone will be out in three minutes. Race dude decides to pop a balloon someone had set up to mark their bike. Didn't think that was against the rules? But - time to hurry. I borrowed a pump from someone, quickly pumped my tires as best I could, made sure my bottles were on, my shoes on the towel, and sunglasses and helmet ready. Threw on some body glide then took the wetsuit, swim cap and goggles and headed out. OK, out before people got too mad. They did come back yelling and racers were yelling back. Note to race organizers - please publish a time that transition closes so people will be prepared. Note to racers - you know it is always crazy - get there early!
Once the wetsuit was on, there really was only about 20 minutes until my wave started so I headed to the swim start line with the girls. Stacey headed up to find her group - 6:50am and I found mine gang of yellow caps. It was an in-water start off a boat ramp - and was pretty much a corrall of funny looking fish. The music was good - pump you up stuff. Mentally I switched over to race mode and was ready to race. The swim is the weakest of my events, though I have been getting faster. I just wanted to have a good swim and be in good shape to head out on the bike and run.
SWIM 1.2 miles
http://www.ironmankansas.com/swim.php
Start time: 6:58am - wave of about 76 W30-34 age groupers - hear the horn and we are off! I'm on the outside to avoid too much kicking and elbows, but there is always someone who wants to swim either right next to you or on top of you at the swim start. Despite that I managed to have a comfortable swim, staying pretty close to the buoy line after the initial start. The course was a very long rectangle, with at least 6 buoys heading out & six more back, so it was actually a relatively good buoy-to-buoy swim. It's always dangerous getting on the buoy line (at least for me) not being in the last wave (9 out of 14 waves) but not too many people tried to swim over me. Ran into a couple here and there and I think I even got to draft for a little ways. General comments on the swim - even this new, more flexible wetsuit still makes my shoulders restricted so my arms felt like if I tried to go harder they would just wear out. That means I need to get into open water with the wetsuit several more times before my next race. Or maybe next year go with a sleeveless? Anyway, water temp was in the 70s - really pretty comfortable with the wetsuit. A little wind but pretty insignificant chop - most of the chop camp from other swimmers rather than wind. I was pretty happy when I turned the corners and was on the home stretch. It did seem that I approached the buoys relatively quickly. Found the exit ramp (concrete boat ramp) and got up. Wetsuit came off with no issues and I only had about 30ish yards from the exit until my bike.
Swim Results: 44:56, 62/76 age group, 1221/1487 overall (yeah, still need to work on this, but still 6+ minutes better than my previous half IM swim time!)
T1: wetsuit came off easily, shoes on, sunglasses, and helmet. That's all so I grabbed my bike and trotted on the 100+ yard trek to the bike start. Transition was narrow - I about ran over a few people during their transition. Then I got behind a few people who were walking (I prefer to jog) so was essentially stuck in a traffic jam. Should have scooted over to another aisle when I had the chance. Made it to the mount line and didn't have any issues.
T1 Results: 2:45
BIKE 56 miles
http://www.ironmankansas.com/bike.php
Plan was to start easy to warm up the legs, then pick up the pace. Some others should have tried that - there were a few people who flew past me on the park road, but then when we reached the first hill even before we exited the park I caught back up and they didn't pass me again. Beautiful bike course. Temps by now were probably in the mid-upper 60's and the sky was overcast. The fields were a fantastic green. Colorado's been green this spring due to all the rain, but Kansas was a much deeper green. Even saw some sheep out there. I don't know how many times I said "on your left." I didn't get passed by very many women at all, maybe less than five. Sure passed a whole bunch. For the most part, people stayed right, but there were plenty of "clusters" where some fast guy from a later wave almost had to cross the center line to get around the slower folks hogging the road. How hard is "stay right except to pass?" Then there was the cluster right across from the penalty tent - someone actually passed another rider on the right! I suppose the penalty tent folks just enforce penalties and don't issue them, but of all places to break a rule!
The ride was smooth - roads were clean and my legs felt good. Probably at about mile 15 or so there were a few raindrops and the roads looked a tad damp, but that was it for rain. The weather gods were smiling upon us! Nutrition plan worked pretty well - had some clif bar pieces to eat right out of the swim as I usually get a hungry feeling. Didn't happen this time so after a couple pieces I switched to Hammer's Perpetuem + enduroyle powder mix (Cafe Latte flavor rocks!). I had a 3 hour bottle on my down tube of that, my aerodrink filled with water and another bottle of water in my seat tube. With the overcast sky and cool temps, the thirst mechanism was quiet, but I kept reminding myself to drink something. Probably should have had a little more - didn't tap the seat tube bottle, but I did refill the aerodrink with a bottle from an aid station at mile ~33. Anyway, I'm happily cruising, passing people, enjoying the scenery and I see mile marker 20. I did a quick check of my GPS (which was hanging off my aerobars - can't wear it on the swim and it might have been too dangerous to try to strap it on my wrist while riding) and it said :57 minutes and some change. sweet. I was aiming for ~20mph pace and was on it. I keep cruising and hit mile 25. Then I see my friend Shannon and give her a cheer as I go by. We're in the same age group and she rocked with a sub-32 minute swim so one of my goals was to catch her. success. Then I hit mile 35 and start noticing the hills. I'm thinking - it'd be nice to be done with these rollers. Sure enough - miles 34 - 41 are just a bunch of rollers! At least my perception was true and I wasn't just getting fatigued. I could feel my left hamstring tightening up a bit around this time (I have to watch out for that) so I came out of aero when it made sense (slower climbs) to stretch it a bit.
Speaking of fatigue, since I usually train at ~6500ft, the altitude of Kansas provides so much more oxygen. I went by feel of my legs rather than breathing/heart rate, and it didn't help that I forgot to turn on the HR monitor part of my GPS so I wore that stupid chest strap for nothing. oh well. I blame the rush at T1. I was lucky I had it turned on to use the auto multisport feature.
When I see mile 45 I am really happy that I am coming down the home stretch. Cruised along some flat spots, and made the last big climb up the dam road then across the dam. Bill, a guy on a sweet purple Javelin bike who I'd been leap-frogging passed me one last time - he had the momentum off the dam. Saw mile 50...really almost done! When I came back into the park, I switched to easier gearing to spin the legs a bit to prepare for the run. I passed one more person on my way into T2 and turns out it was Stacey! Didn't recognize her from behind. I successfully slip my feet out of my shoes (first time doing that in a race!) Then I hear Tim yell, "Go, Nicole!" It was great to see him there as I was now about to embark on the most painful part of a triathlon - the run! My bike goal was to be under 3 hours, ideally 2:45. (20mph would be ~2:48) and I made it in just under 2:50.
Bike Results: 2:49:41, 19.8mph, 29/76 age group, 755/1487 overall
T2:
Head into T2 careful not to slip down the grassy hill (The grass field for T2 was about 3 feet lower than the road), turn at the first tree, run all the way down the aisle. Rack bike, transfer GPS to wrist (ok, that took a few extra seconds), open bin, on with socks and shoes, grab fuel belt and hat and I'm off! Race number was pinned to the fuel belt. Thought about stopping at the porty-potties, but there was a line and I really didn't have to go (should have had more fluid on the bike...) Figured there would be plenty on the run course if I needed it.
T2 Results: 1:56
RUN 13.1 miles
http://www.ironmankansas.com/run.php
Headed out of T2 and the sun was now shining with a few clouds in the sky. I wouldn't have minded a little rain on the run, but temps were still in the 70s so pretty comfy considering what it could have been in Kansas mid-June! Remembered to hit the lap button on my GPS so it now switched over to run (yay for auto multisport!) goal pace was 9:00min/mile and I wanted to settle into it slowly. but I was actually a little faster - around 8:30 but I didn't know if I could maintain that so I tried to back off a little. Wasn't too successful with the low elevation and the slight hills on the course, so I just started to run by feel with some monitoring of pace - could tell when I was going a bit faster my breathing got a little too hard (gasping at mile 4 of a 13 mile run is not good). On the run is really where your bike hydration/nutrition and hydrating plan let you know if you were good or not. I took a gel at the first aid station as planned. Second aid station I grabbed the endurolytes that I had stashed in a baggie in my jersey pocket. Most were icky (cheap plastic bags) but I salvaged a couple that didn't get wet and tossed the rest. Ok - no more endurolytes but I do have 18 oz of HEED on me. Walked a little at most aid stations, taking in some sort of fluid, whether it was water or my HEED. Mile 5 I did another gel. Realized I was taking in a lot of air (all that extra oxygen???) and my fuel belt felt a lot tighter than it should be. So I went to loosen it (velcro) and of course I dropped it. geez! I stop, pick it up, and try to get it back on while moving forward. OK, l got it and it felt a bit better. Had some burps and felt even better after that. The parts of the run course through the campground seemed to take forever, and on a two-loop course you see mile markers for both loops - seeing mile marker 12 near mile 5 can be a little disheartening knowing you have to do it all again. But I kept on chugging and it was really nice to have all the campers on the route cheering us on. Aid stations were well supported. Overall assessment said I was feeling pretty good considering what I was doing! I ran aid station to aid station (walked through most of them, ran through a couple if I was using my own fluid) and grabbed ice and sponges to stay as cool as possible. Sponges went on my left shoulder, hence the sunburn as I most likely washed all my sunscreen off that shoulder! I reached the point to start the next loop and knew I was coming down the home stretch. Hit the lap button on my GPS to try to monitor the second lap and doh! it thought I was done. Forgot on the multisport feature the lap button changes events. But I was able to quickly get it into standard run mode and start the timer again. The first lap took under an hour so if I could just maintain my pace, I'd hit my goal of 2 hours or less. Pace checks showed I was a little slower on the second lap, but still in the 9:00min/mile range, sometimes less. Legs were getting a little heavier and I could tell I was a little fluid depleted. Still didn't need to use the bathroom. Coming back up the hill around mile 9 - decided I could walk it. Hit the top and was running again. Back into the campground and it was time to count down the miles. Someone asked a camper the time and when they said 12:10, I knew I could get my 2-hour goal. But, you still can fall apart at any point so I made sure I was taking in my fluids as best I could. Really wish I had a few more endurolytes. At mile 11 my left hamstring and calf started to twinge - didn't want them to cramp up as I was almost done! Some guy obviously doing the relay (dressed in running shorts) comes flying past me talking to himself. Just push through it, he was saying (or something like that). I quitely thanked him for the unintentional encouragement. Keep the legs moving even though for those last few miles they really don't want to! Turned the corner, found the stretch to the finish line and went as fast (not very) as my legs would take me! Crossed the yellow brick road finish line (it is Kansas) with the KU cheerleaders cheering and was pretty dang happy to be done. Got my finisher's medal and pint glass. Tim was there and I worked my way back. A glance at the finish clock said 6:05, so doing the math from my wave time I came really close to my "amazing race" goal time of 5:30:00.
Run Results: 1:57:29, 8:58min/mile, 27/76 age group, 690/1487 overall
OVERALL RESULTS: 5:36:47, 27/76 age group, 688/1487 overall
Then I just was looking foward to a post-race dinner of pizza, beer, and ice cream!
Friday, April 17, 2009
More Snow and a Banana Smoothie - and I'm published!
Why does the weekend weather have to be snowy, cold and nasty for the last several weeks?! It's mid-April and you'd think of mild temps, but no, it's Spring with storms. It's forcing creative workout planning for sure. The snow started early this morning and it is still hanging around, probably until sometime tomorrow. We've had breaks, but you can see the huge moisture band to the east (Colorado Springs is in the top of the empty spot, near the small cluster of green surrounded by white...) So tomorrow's Team workout will be a spin. We were going to run at Garden of the Gods (great place to run!) but we'll stay off potentially slick roads since it is hilly there.
Here's the latest banana recipe -
Coffee Banana Smoothie
Ingredients:
2 small bananas, peeled, cut up & frozen
1 1/2 cup milk or soy milk
1 container (8 oz size) low-fat coffee yogurt (you could also use another flavor or plain yogurt and just replace 1/2 c of the milk with 1/2 c coffee)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 dash ground nutmeg
A great recovery drink with protein, potassium and calcium! Could also boost the protein by adding a scoop of whey protein powder.
Running news
Last Tuesday (4/14) we ran "best effort" miles at our weekly track workout. I ran a 6:47 - my best yet! (previous best was 6:54). Woohoo!
Published....
I wrote an article on Team In Training for the local online news site, coloradosprings.com.
I'm working on the next one now, which will be about our Team Heroes. Can't hurt to provide a little extra press for the cause!
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Loooooong workout today!
Today I did all my workouts back-to-back (as race day this is what you have to do). :-)
swim: 2500 yds. drove home, changed into my bike shorts and hopped on the trainer. It was just a little too cold and windy to ride outside today. Plus some of the roads had a little bit of snow near the shoulders. Spent the next 2.5hrs on the bike and watched Gladiator. The movie was the right length for this ride - I was wrapping up when the credits started to roll. Then quick change to running shoes and pants for a 30 minute run. The wind was chilly but sunny so I could keep pretty warm running. Still wouldn't have wanted to have been out there on the bike!!
Got home, had the rest of yesterday's peanut butter/banana/chocolate smoothie from this new food chain here called Froots. Had a tuna wrap yesterday and it was pretty good. Actually a reasonably priced place for healthy food choices. yay!!
Then I napped. Naps are good. After the nap, Tim and I started cleaning up for the 2nd Annual Casino Royale! It's 4 weeks away, but I think we need all that time to get the house ready, especially with my weekends being sucked up by a lot of training.
Yesterday was a good day of training, too. With the storm I scheduled the TNT workout at Bicycle Village for a spin class. We shared the room with a group training for the MS 150. We had a workout projected on a screen (BV folks have a workouts to choose from that tell you what to do each minute) and I yelled out what to do next. A lot of cadence work and some single leg drills. A good workout for everyone! Then I held a nutrition clinic for the TNT folks and let anyone from the MS150 group stay. I thought it went pretty well, even though I was expecting my assistant coach to be there for support, but she was sick. bummer.
After the clinic, time to get a run and swim in. Ran 60 minutes on the treadmill - about all I can take! I changed pace and grade about every five minutes to help keep things interesting. To cool down a little I hopped in the pool for about 20 minutes. I was pretty tired (and hungry) at the end of all that!
swim: 2500 yds. drove home, changed into my bike shorts and hopped on the trainer. It was just a little too cold and windy to ride outside today. Plus some of the roads had a little bit of snow near the shoulders. Spent the next 2.5hrs on the bike and watched Gladiator. The movie was the right length for this ride - I was wrapping up when the credits started to roll. Then quick change to running shoes and pants for a 30 minute run. The wind was chilly but sunny so I could keep pretty warm running. Still wouldn't have wanted to have been out there on the bike!!
Got home, had the rest of yesterday's peanut butter/banana/chocolate smoothie from this new food chain here called Froots. Had a tuna wrap yesterday and it was pretty good. Actually a reasonably priced place for healthy food choices. yay!!
Then I napped. Naps are good. After the nap, Tim and I started cleaning up for the 2nd Annual Casino Royale! It's 4 weeks away, but I think we need all that time to get the house ready, especially with my weekends being sucked up by a lot of training.
Yesterday was a good day of training, too. With the storm I scheduled the TNT workout at Bicycle Village for a spin class. We shared the room with a group training for the MS 150. We had a workout projected on a screen (BV folks have a workouts to choose from that tell you what to do each minute) and I yelled out what to do next. A lot of cadence work and some single leg drills. A good workout for everyone! Then I held a nutrition clinic for the TNT folks and let anyone from the MS150 group stay. I thought it went pretty well, even though I was expecting my assistant coach to be there for support, but she was sick. bummer.
After the clinic, time to get a run and swim in. Ran 60 minutes on the treadmill - about all I can take! I changed pace and grade about every five minutes to help keep things interesting. To cool down a little I hopped in the pool for about 20 minutes. I was pretty tired (and hungry) at the end of all that!
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