Columbia Tri 2012

Pre Race.
More of the norm. I decided to bike to work day on Friday, so took a full race day on Saturday (vs. Friday as prescribed by my coach), so I had a leisurely Saturday morning to sleep in, have coffee, and sit on the couch and watch the live feed of Ironman Texas for a few hours. I noticed my race wheel was flat and had a minor freak out, but when changing I found a big hole in the tube (vs. the tire) which made me hope that the wheel would hold out for the race. I headed out to Columbia about 1pm to check in and rack my bike. No delays, no traffic and an AMAZING spot in transition - then headed to my parents [much closer to the race] to chill out and play with the puppy for the rest of the day.

4:15am wake up call, out the door by 4:45, in transition by 5:20. No traffic or parking problems, so glad to be there early without stress, but then you play the waiting game, as I was starting over an hour after the pro wave. Set up a simple transition but when I went to put my water bottles on my bike and I realized [HOLY SH$T] I forgot to stop and get a straw for my aero bottle (7-Eleven, thankyouverymuch). I usually ride with 2 bottles in an OLY: aero bottle for calories[Carbopro]+nuun and 1 plain water bottle on my downtube. I took a deep breath, realized there was nothing I could do about it and tried to think positive: less weight on my bike! Oh well.

Went back to the car to try to zone out for awhile. And sulk over this, even though I am not officially 30 for 6 more months:

Swim.
21:59, 2nd/AG
Goal was to SWIM HARD, but swim SMART. I tried to just zone out and find a good line once we got in the water. Not bringing metallic/mirrored goggles was a HUGE mistake and I was basically blind for the first section of the course. Luckily, I literally ran into a friend in the water as we waited for the wave to start. [as she made fun of my choice in goggles]. I swam blind and tried to find feet for the first 'out' section. The course actually curves to the right a bit before the first(left) turn buoy, so I was glad I found some feet that swam a direct line to the turn vs. trying to hug the buoys on the left. The feet I found were a good speed, but she wasn't happy with my occasional tap of her feet, so I moved up to try to hug her hip. Lost her a bit at the turn, swam the short leg solo, and found my friend again on the long leg back to swim exit. Swam a comfortably hard pace on her feet, jumped on to some others to the left (closer to the buoy line), and we all merged and came out of the water in a pack of about 4 or 5 maybe? There were a few girls that were a bit out ahead, but I was very happy with my swim. I feel like I really pushed the pace, but swam smart [minus the goggles mistake]- I was aware of my surroundings and found feet almost the entire swim.

Lesson learned: Buy mirrored goggles, TODAY, so they arrive before next weekend. Review the course maps for the swim. 

Just behind Mindy!

T1. I was worried about being a little rusty here, but it actaully went really smoothly. Wetsuit came off easily, helmet on [with sunglasses attached] and off. I had my shoes on my bike due a really steep run up out of transition, and I had not yet done any transition practice, so I still chose to stop and straddle my bike vs attempting any type of flying mount. It took me a bit to get my shoes on and situated [need to practice this on my brick rides] but think it was worth it in the end for a quicker transition/run out. Had the top transition time in my age group by about 15 seconds - these things matter when 2-5 in my age group are decided by 30 seconds.

Bike.
1:17:41 (19.3mph), 4th/AG
After I got my shoes situated, it was down to business. I passed someone in my age group in the first few miles, then got passed by the eventual age group winner a few minutes later. The ride is basically a constant series of ups/downs of varying degrees, and I absolutely loved it. I am so so glad I had ridden the course a few weeks before so I knew where the climbs where, how long they were, and where I could make up time on flats/downhills. The shorter inclines I pushed a higher gear and attacked, but the longer inclines I was content to down shift and spin up, keeping my cadence high and HR under (race) control. About mile 10 I linked up with a guy who was riding a very similar pace, and we [legally] cat and moused for most of the rest of the race. For the most part, I had no trouble riding my own race on a pretty crowded course. I ran into a few jams on the road due to car-traffic, but I was pleasantly-aggressive and worked my way through the crowds. Took in a Gu about mile 15, but it wasn't pleasant being washed down with grape nuun, but had no water. At that point I wish I had the plain water on my frame. Oh well.

A few years ago, I raced Rev3 Knoxville and it had a very similar type course -a course that really rewards being prepared on the bike. And not just fitness - but comfort with bike handling, climbing, cornering, shifting, etc. I obviously have many, many minutes to drop before I am anywhere close to the 'front of the pack' when it comes to my cycling splits, but I feel like every race in the past few years, I have taken a few steps forward with my comfort level on the bike, knowing my limits, pushing my fears and riding strong. I'm really excited for the summer to keep growing and learning on the bike.

Coming back into transition, I took my feet out of the my shoes (probably a bit too early) and focused on spinning my legs to flush them out and prepare for the run.

Lesson learned: BE PREPARED (ie aero straw). Know the course. Ride your own race. Practice transitions.

T2.  Bike on rack, socks and running shoes on and GO. Top transition time again - small victories.

Run
52:50 (8:32/mile)
Race belt on, water in, focus on cadence and how I felt. I felt GREAT. I was excited to execute the race I had visualized and was moving pretty well through the crowds on a pretty narrow running path. I knew this run was hilly, but this was NOTHING like I expected. This was hands down the most brutal run course I have ever done. No complaints, no excuses, but damn, I wish I had known what to expect. Almost immediately you are hit with a steep climb, and it just never ended. I think there were about 6-7 long, steep climbs and I focused on small steps and moving forward. Looking back, I wish I had been willing to push the pace a bit more on the climbs, but my calves felt like they were on the verge of cramping. My run felt GREAT on the flatter sections, and I tried to open up and make up time on the downhills, but the hills just did me in. There were times were walking was just as fast as the trot I was doing up hill.

Mini Mindy (in the 25-29AG), passed me about mile 5ish, and seeing her definitely helped me push in the last mile, but then I sadly got passed by someone in my age group right about mile 6. I tried with all my might to dig deep and stick with her, but a last, cruel climb to the finishing chute stopped that effort cold. It was also right in the last mile or 2 that I realized I had to PEE SO BADLY ! Painfully bad. I have been able to let this happen on the run in the past, but I think the fact that I was so close to the finish, my mind wouldn't let my body just let go. Ha. And the run course was pretty crowded at this point, too.  I pushed the pace as hard as I could through the finishers chute, and bee-lined it to the bathroom. I'm only realizing as I write this that I didn't ever even consider taking my 2nd gu during the run as I had planned.

The take away from the run, and what I'm trying to focus on versus my time and pace is that I never gave up mentally. I was present for the hills, I focused on each mile, and never got to that dark place I was experiencing last season. Yes, I did walk up a few of the steepest sections, but that overwhelming, all consuming desire to walk and stop and give up never crossed my mind. To me, this is a very small, but very important victory for the day.

Lesson learned: Figure out how to get to an uncomfortable place, be OK with it, and hold on. Trust my fitness and attack the hills.

Final Time: 2:35:00 4th/AG
I have a bit of confusion re: my final age group placing, but it's neither here nor there and the lesson is 5 or 10 or 12 seconds here or there ALWAYS matter.

 

Oh my god, find me a bathroom now.

Overall, I am so, so very satisfied with this race. I didn't put time goals on the race, as every course is different and I knew this was a challenging course [OK, that's totally not true. I thought if I had a good day I could go under 2:30]. I swam hard, rode hard and held on during the run. I'm trying not to be disappointed in the run. If I was running 7-7:30 pace on the flats/downhills, and 9-10 pace on the uphills, the outcome is what I got. I felt snappy and good on the flats and downhills, and really pushed the pace the last mile [as much as my bladder would allow], but it's hard to not be a little disappointed to get passed at mile 6 in the run. I am still working on finding that place of 'hurt' in the run and holding on to it and yesterday I just don't think I was willing to get past the point of uncomfortable on the uphills and it cost me.

ALSO, I was trying out the multisport mode on my watch for the first time, and when I glanced at my watch in the middle of the bike it was stopped at about 24 minutes. I think I pressed 'STOP' vs 'LAP' when I started the bike, so I basically have no data for my race. I am SO super bummed about this. I had decided to race without my HR monitor anyway, but I really wish I could go back and overanalyze my race - especially my run pacing. I think there was an awesome section on the bike that I pretty sure I was going faster than I EVER have before, but more so, I just really wish I could see my pacing on the run.

So all in all, a really good day, some good lessons, and now time to swim a little 5k next weekend.

RACE WEEK!!

....FINALLY!! It's not travel-week, or wedding-week, or rest-week. It's RACE WEEK!

I am super pumped for this weekend. A little nervous, but mostly just calm and ready and excited to see where I'm at. Over the past 5 months, I have put in much more consistent time in the pool and on the bike than any of the past 4 years I've been involved in this crazy sport. And although running has had it's ups and downs and my mileage is less than I like it to be...last week all my runs off the bike felt crazy-good and my legs are [hopefully] ready to put down some speedy miles this weekend.

Sure, I've skipped workouts, including key sessions (such as my open water swim on Sunday. just.too.tired.), but overall, I'm ready. I rode the course a few weekends ago with a huge smile on my face; it's awesome and hilly and fair and I can't wait.

I do triathlons because RACING IS FUN. Training is fine, and I go through the motions and am leaning to enjoy and understand the process, but I have never loved the training, even in my swimming days. I love the nervous energy on race morning, the atmosphere of race day, the competition and pushing yourself to your limits - limits that I'm trying to learn and understand and push past. I am only racing a few times this year leading up to Ironman, and I want to make each race count, learn something, and walk away feeling energized and excited to be on the journey towards Ironman. So there is no over-thinking this weekend. The goals are plain and simple:

GO FAST. make it hurt. don't give up. stay positive on the run. no excuses. and RACE.

3TT

OH, wait...I have a blog?

1. Last weekend, I went to a wedding. It was in the midwest, a place I haven't spent much time. The bride was beautiful, the party was fantastic, I saw an arch and ate frozen custard and all was well in the world. Oh, and golf-ball sized hail doesn't stop a wedding in St. Louis....

2. On Tuesday, I swam 5k in the morning, couldn't really find my groove, and then had some trouble getting my HR up on my bike workout at 6pm. By 8pm, was huddled in the bathroom with a 24-hour stomach bug. I had felt a bit 'off' all day, but after getting off my bike, putting dinner in the oven and rinsing off, I had one of those 'uh oh' moments.... So instead of the planned brick with OLY paced intervals yesterday, I got in a good core-workout of throwing up, and also my have strained a rib/lat. But I awoke exactly 24-hours later and finally the nausea had passed.

I still don't have much of an appetite and have a raging headache, but am hoping by tomorrow I will be good as new. The saddest part of this all? I had assembled an AMAZING pizza creation just as I got sick. Garlic-Herb dough, roasted red pepper, garlic, chicken sausage, feta....and Dan got to eat it ALL :(


3. Wedding weekend #2 of 3 this weekend. The wedding is at a barn...with a petting zoo. I'm excited.

Run Redux.

I've had some trouble readjusting to the East Coast. Let's leave it at that. I had an amazing trip, got in way more training than I expected, and also was able to pretty much hit every workout this past weekend while painfully trying to cure my jet lag.

Most Tuesdays I have a tempo/lactate threshold interval run. They hurt, in a good way. I like them because I have seen progress, been able to learn about HR and pace and hills and wind. But I also I dread them. Like I said, they hurt.

So I set my alarm to do the run Tuesday morning (warm up + drills, 2x15 minute LT intervals with 5 minutes active rest, warm down). I finally caved and took something to help me sleep on Monday evening. When I woke up, thinking my alarm had gone off, I convinced myself with every reason available that I should keep sleeping and do the run in the afternoon. When I picked up my phone to reset my alarm, it was actually 4am and my alarm had, in fact, never gone off.
Fail #1.

Skip to Tuesday evening. I rushed home, the weather was great, my stomach felt fine, and I had a quick snack. I headed out about 6pm. After the first 15 minutes and a quick stop at McDonalds (that is roughly .25 mile from my house) it was very clear that my stomach wasn't going to agree with this run, and mentally I just wasn't there either. So after completing warm up and some drills, I decided to simply listen to my body and enjoy the weather. 50 minutes and 4 miles of walking/jogging/running later I was feeling defeated and down on myself.  So I made a mental deal with myself: I would not look at this run as a failure, I was being honest and listening to my body, and I would try one more time, Wednesday morning, to get the run done.
Fail #2.

Fortunately, it seems the jet lag has finally passed. I was able to fall asleep at a roughly normal time last night. [I did however, have a dream that when I woke up, it had snowed and I couldn't find my Yax Trax, so I clearly couldn't do the run.]  I woke up, only snoozed once, and was out the door by 6:45am. From the get go, it was clear there was no pep in my legs, but I mentally committed to the run. Whatever the HR was I was going to complete the 15 minute intervals - and I wasn't going to look at pace until I got home. So I did it. Yes it was sort of awful and I couldn't get my heart rate over 150, but it is done. The pace and HR aren't even close to what they were for the same run 3 weeks ago, but mentally, this was a win.

In the past 4 weeks, I have learned that you can't take Ironman training workout-by-workout. You will slowly go insane and have no confidence and doubt every step (or stroke) you take. Traveling has taken a toll. My body has been confused and screaming at times - but I've gotten the work done. Sure, there was a week when I felt like I hadn't swam in YEARS, and yes, this morning's run I couldn't get my HR out of the 140s during 'tempo' - but I am focusing on the big picture:

• In the last 30 days - between 2 international trips, moving, and managing a huge project that kicks off tomorrow (fingers crossed), I have run almost 100 miles.
• Despite the random off day, swimming feels the best it has in years and I am completing sets and holding intervals that make me really happy and REALLY excited for this year.
• I am still 4 months from my race.

Focusing on the big picture is the only way I am going to stay sane right now. And after 1 more flight this weekend, my feet will be FIRMLY planted on the ground through August.

Now, for some random musings:
1. Why are all the squirrels near the airport black? Had anyone else noticed this?

2. Ducking into holly bushes to avoid bike commuters riding 3 abreast on a narrow trail - not recommended. I have scratches on my face to prove I didn't win.

3.  I really want to start bike commuting, but I'm weirdly scared about it for some reason. This makes no sense. I live 10 miles from work, I can ride 9 of those 10 miles on trails. It takes roughly 45 minutes to drive to work in the mornings - riding should be a no brainer.

Crystal Run 5k

 After a few 'getting to know you' months with my coach, we are currently into a build phase working on stressing and improving my threshold and strength. Following the half in march, I have very quickly started to incorporate lots of sub-threshold and threshold intervals on both the bike and the run. So a low-key, flat, friendly 5k seemed a perfect check-in on my progress, as well as a way to get out a race, no pressure, no start corrals, no expo, etc.

I didn't really base my goal of sub-7 pace on anything concrete. In fact, I haven't seen a 6:-- in training or racing in well over a year. But I wanted the goal to be to make it hurt, then make it hurt some more, then hold on until the end. Mission accomplished.

21:37 (6:58 pace)

I ran from home to the start which is exactly 2 miles, and was happy to get a nice long warm up in. My body wasn't feeling as good as it had earlier in the week, but things loosened up during warm up. Being the type-A person that I am, I got to the start a good 45-50 minutes before the 6:30pm start, so I tried to keep moving, but didn't want to put too many more miles on my legs. I jogged away from the start, visited a clean hotel bathroom, did some drills away from the crowds to get my heart rate up and muscles twitching, and still had a good 15 minutes until the start. I ran into Victoria and her bf, and stood around trying to stretch and keep moving. Despite all this warm up and moving, I still found myself on the starting line with a HR well under 100. Not ideal.


I lined myself up front and center (well, about 3 super skinny guys back) - right next to the girl in aviators and a backpack. Gun went off (actaully, there was no gun, there was a simple 'ready, set, GO!') and I tried to settle into a uncomfortably-hard pace. There were a few girls right around that I latched myself onto and tried to zone out. I stayed with the small group I found for about 2ish miles, when they started to pull away. I had lapped my watch at mile 1 and wish I hadn't looked at the split (a quick glace had revealed a 6:3-). I focused on keeping close to the girls around me, but they slowly pulled away. I knew I was slowing down, but focused on turnover and strength in my legs. Strong push offs and leaning forward. Don't sit into my hips, use your arms.

Mile 2 - Thanks Victoria! Focusing on my form and sticking to that girl. I didn't

There was some wind and some minor ups and downs in the last 2 miles. I mentally fought to keep my HR up and not dial in the pace, which I have a tendency to do. I tried to look forward and choose someone to catch up to - focused on finding the Mile 3 marker. I was relieved after the mile 3 split to see it had stayed consistent with Mile 2. There wasn't really any girls in front of me coming into the finish, but I heard someone cheer 'let's go girls, finish strong', so I knew there must be a girl behind. I really focused on accelerating into the finish line and not getting passed, although my Garmin pace does not reflect that at all. I am going to tell myself that my pace got caught up in the buildings the last .08-.1 of the race, bc my HR was high and for sure didn't slow down.

Splits:
(I took splits vs. autolap, which is why the miles are a bit long and the splits vs. pace are a bit off).

This is from Garmin - Official results 21:37.

Overall, I am SUPER happy with the results. Sure, I wish all my mile splits were actually sub-7, but I am proud that miles 2 and 3 were so consistent.  The HR data is very interesting, as it really is only a few beats higher than my average from the half a few weeks ago - I am not really sure what that means. I didn't feel stressed or out of breath at my half marathon HR, but this HR was definitely a 'I wanna puke' at the end type of effort. I do wish I could run this course again, but due to travel and weddings and life, this was the only race of the series I can do.

This will probably be the last running race until the fall, so I'm glad to get a PR and some good mental momentum as I slow down and start logging miles and miles of Z2.

The 5k.

Turns out, since I started running in 2005 [as a bored, trying-to-lose weight, broke grad student] I have only run (or at least logged) 2 stand along 5ks. Both were the same course, both a hilly trail route in the Bronx in NYC. Both races were within :12 seconds of each other, and my current PR stands at 22:46 (7:20 pace) from 2009.

Tomorrow night, I am running the Crystal Run 5k. I'm using it as a benchmark RPE/HR test, and also to see how much I have learned to HURT while running in the past 3 weeks. My instructions are simple:


Go hard from the get-go.  Seek out the pain.  Even if a part of you is already begging to stop, aim to increase your pace a bit on every kilometer.

I'm aiming for a sub-7 pace. I think it's a very aggressive goal for right now, but I'm going to put it out there. The watch will be set on total time, and will not autolap [OK, maybe it will....], but again, the goal is not to let numbers on a watch define how fast I can run.It's been a good week so far. My body is responding to training, the aches and pains are getting fewer and farther between, and my head is in a good place. So let's see....

Learning Curve.

Things I have learned in the past 7 days:

1. Ants suck. 
2. Living in a house is strange and going to take some getting used to.
3. Moving can put stress on even the most solid of relationships.
4. Moving = strength training.
5. 5x10 minute swims are the perfect Sunday evening swim to zone out and relax. No counting, no pacing, just go.
6. I am a huge bitch when hungry. I apologize Chipotle register-man. 
7. If I have a ride longer than 3 hours, I need to plan ahead. 'Just going' isn't going to cut it.
8. I really really want to have a good/easy/enjoyable long run. In the near future.
9. My old 4.5 mile loop is now 5.5 miles and includes two MONSTER hills. This makes me happy.
10. I am really indecisive when it comes to buying furniture.
11. Related, I have outgrown Ikea furniture. 
12. BUT I still love me some Ikea...everything else.
13. I'm really really tired.