Oh, and my two favorite things...

G and SOFT SERVE!!! We couldn't go up to Timberman without stopping at the RD's family business for some soft serve (my favorite) I could only put down a "kiddie" cone (with sprinkles!) but my man can handle a small...look at that thing! Imagine a LARGE?

What a (TRI)ific weekend!

Greg and I decided to make the trek up to Gilford NH for Timberfest this year (despite not racing, too close to IM WI for us!) we got up at 4am on Saturday to shower and hit the road to try to get up to Ellacoya State Park for the Sprint Race. We arrived as the Pros were coming out of T1 (perfect timing!) We hung out at the Park entry/exit and watched hundreds of racers exit/enter the park on their bikes. It was so fun (and over quick!) We hung with Matt and Rex, cheered and laughed. It was fun. Cait and Tim Snow won the race…Tri couple extraordinaire. So fun!

We headed over to Gunstock where we parked and prepared for a bike ride on the 70.3 course (it’s the first year in four that we have not raced, this was our first race ever, we both relayed the bike leg three years ago and after that signed up for our first half iron, Timberman ’06!) Anway, we hit the road and I rode G’s wheel the hills were moderate (didn’t’ feel as bad as years past) but I am still having saddle issues so we stopped a couple times to make small saddle adjustments. Met a guy who was lost riding the course (he was from Texas) so we rode back with him toward the start of the course. My ergomo battery died (hate that thing) so I had no data, but G said we were riding 21mph and I was hanging with these guys easily (until the hills!) but it was fun! Got back to Gunstock and hung out, saw Amanda and Matt..had some food with them then we headed out to grab a coffee and meet up with Curran (we were staying with her and her Dad locally, a huge thanks to them for housing us and being so generous!!) We had dinner with Curran and watched the Olympics. So fun!

Got up Sunday to watch the stacked field of Pros race the 70.3 course. Andy Potts, Bjorn Anderson Chrissie Wellington, just to name a few. We went to the swim exit and watched the parachuters come down to start the race! Andy Potts had a serious lead out of the swim, once he came out we went back to the same spectating spot from the day before to watch all the athletes exit T1 and go off on the bike. Some crazy fast people and some serious bike bling. It was cool to watch! We collected quite a few other spectators waiting for the athelets to come back. We were with Rex again, Pam and Daniel, Cory (Janda’s brother) and Michelle (Janda’s gf) and quite a few other people we met for the first time! We had a great time! We were happy to see Amanda go out on her bike with an aerohelmet on, I told her at dinner on Friday night she could justify it. A female who rides 2:40 can most definitely justify it in my book :) Go Amanda! The race finish was cool to watch, these Pros run sick times..I think they said Andy Potts ran a 1:14 half marathon. Just crazy. And Chrissie Wellington winning the women’s race (in 4:11) and finishing 6th overall is just crazy! She was SO happy to be racing. Smiling, high-fiving, dancing…coming back up the chute and celebrating after she crossed the line. Never met the girl, but she is a pleasure to watch race. She is just so happy to be wherever she is…it’s so uplifting and easy to cheer for someone like that. Makes you realize there are just happy people racing out there…she has to work hard, but she clearly enjoys what she’s doing! I had so much fun this weekend…I’m off to ride my (still uncomfortable) saddle tonight since I bagged my ride yesterday in order to watch the race. A worthy trade off in my book!

A couple props…Amanda, I know you are always your worst critic, but you had an amazing race yesterday. 2nd in F30-34 with a 5:05 finish. I’m in awe of your ability to perform consistently with so little experience (only your second year of racing) it’s been so fun getting to know you and watching you race. I’m learning a lot from you and hope that your perfect race comes soon. You deserve it! Until then, keep up the good work and keep your chin up…you’re a stellar athlete.

Janda had an amazing race despite puking on the bike. I saw him come out of T2 (he was like 7th or 8th overall) and it looked like his lip was bleeding. I said to Greg “I hope he didn’t crash” but he ran along shaking his head. The Pro athlete in him pulled it together and ran an awesome run to come in around 4:09 for 5th overall was sick (no pun intended!) Saw him after and asked if he was ok, turns out he had crazy stomach issues (thankfully no crash!) so to see him after pulling together a great race despite his issues. I’m in awe. Just met Janda this year through Amanda, but it’s been cool to see him rise through the ranks of the pros, he’s having a great season so far!

We left the race early..I was fried to a crisp from being out in the sun all day. We headed home and napped/watched the Olympics. A very inspirational weekend being around all these great athletes.

I’m convinced man created IM not to see who the best athlete was, but to determine who’s body could survive the training.

Guess what. Mine can’t. I can’t believe the highs and lows my body has been through in these 11+ mo of training. I’ve been on cloud nine from a PR and sidelined for a month with a torn calf muscle…I’ve run 13mi on a weeknight after work without blinking an eye and I’ve not been on my bike for two weeks straight b/c of an abscess from my saddle. Go figure…highs and lows ups and downs. What I fear most is that race day will be much of the same. A rollercoaster of emotions and feelings….I’m not sure if I can quite handle it, but it’s coming and I can’t stop it.

Highs and Lows of IM training

IM WI 2008 RR#1

Friday- 2.4mi swim, done after work on Friday night.2 loop (1.2mi/loop) swim at Walden Pond
TOTAL SWIM TIME- 1:17:45 (1st loop :38:45, 2nd loop :39:00)

Saturday- 112mi bike (2 loops @42mi/loop + 1 28mi loop) + 6mi run
This course was one Coach Patrick recommended (he did it for his RR) turns out it was 6200feet of climbing, comparable to IM WI. Multiple loops allowed us (husband also did RR similarly) to stop at the car twice and get cold water/feed.

Numbers:FTP= 205w
Goal Watts as % of FTP= 68%
TSS= 293
1st Gear (first hour) 132w
2nd Gear (Goal watts) 139w
3rd Gear (long hills) 146w
4th Gear (short hills) 153w
Vdot not been measured lately, but been doing long runs at 9:15pace.

5am wake up, shower and eat one WW english muffin w/ PB&J + Boost.

1st loop (~2.5hours= 42mi)- spilled portion of feed bottle on myself (bad bottle top, ugh!), but manage to consume 2/3 of a feed bottle, so 280cals + 4 clif blocks (~120cals) Plus ~32oz of H2O. (water only for first 30mins) had to use some water to clean up the sticky mess on myself and my back brake (my *only* issue on the day, I'll take it!)

1st pitstop/refuel had 1/2 cliff bar, ~125cals

2nd loop (~2.5hours= 42mi)- no spills (thankfully) so one full feed bottle (420 cals) 2 clif bloks (~66cals) +40oz of water

2nd pitstop/refuel had other 1/2 cliff bar, ~125cals

3rd loop (~1.5hours= 28mi)- one full feed bottle (420 cals) + 40oz of water (water only for last 30mins)

=~240cals/hour and ~20oz of water/hourTOTAL BIKE 6:29:05 (see power data below)

Transition- no food :) Drank ~10oz of H2O. Grabbed 10oz endurance gatorade for the run and headed out.

Mile 1- 2 oz gatorade, Mile 2- 2oz of gatorade, Mile 3- 2oz of gatorade, Mile 4- side stitch...no gatorade Mile 5- 2oz of gatorade- no gels...didn't feel like run was long enough for food ;)TOTAL RUN 55:48 (see splits below)

Post RR- plenty of water, Boost for recovery, turkey sandwich and a coffee :)Felt UNBELIEVABLE on the run, power ramped up through hour 5, but dropped some on the last loop (something to work on for RR#2) I felt nutrition was right on, power numbers were ok but I need to work harder that last hour!! and run pace felt right, I will likely start the run closer to 9:45s, then ramp down to 9-9:15s until mile 18...then do what I can to finish hard/strong.I felt great afterwards. I look forward to RR#2 and especially Race Day!!

Bike Power Numbers 6:29:05
Entire workout (134 watts):
Duration: 6:29:05 (6:59:20)
Work: 3131 kJ
TSS: 337.6 (intensity factor 0.721)
Norm Power: 148
VI: 1.1
Distance: 112.317 mi
Elevation Gain: 6184 ft
Elevation Loss: 6138 ft

First Hour:
Duration: 1:00:00 (1:01:23)
Work: 417 kJ
TSS: 41 (intensity factor 0.64)
Norm Power: 131
VI: 1.13
Distance: 15.768 mi

Second Hour:
Duration: 1:00:00 (1:00:15)
Work: 502 kJ
TSS: 54.6 (intensity factor 0.739)
Norm Power: 151
VI: 1.09
Distance: 16.446 mi

Third Hour:
Duration: 1:00:00 (1:04:17)
Work: 491 kJ
TSS: 51.9 (intensity factor 0.721)
Norm Power: 148
VI: 1.08
Distance: 18.713 mi

Fouth Hour:
Duration: 1:00:00 (1:00:10)
Work: 504 kJ
TSS: 55.7 (intensity factor 0.746)
Norm Power: 153
VI: 1.09
Distance: 16.535 mi

Fifth Hour:
Duration: 1:00:00 (1:04:38)
Work: 533 kJ
TSS: 61.3 (intensity factor 0.783)
Norm Power: 161
VI: 1.09
Distance: 17.883 mi

Sixth Hour:
Duration: 1:00:00
Work: 482 kJ
TSS: 51.1 (intensity factor 0.715)
Norm Power: 147 (BAD!!)
VI: 1.1
Distance: 17.456 mi

Last Half Hour:
Duration: 29:05 (29:31)
Work: 203 kJ
TSS: 18.9 (intensity factor 0.625)
Norm Power: 128 (WORSE!!)
VI: 1.1
Distance: 9.542 mi

Run: 55:48
Mile 1: 9:38/mile, 148avgHR
Mile 2: 9:09/mile, 153avgHR
Mile 3: 9:09/mile, 154avgHR
Mile 4: 9:14/mile, 155avgHR
Mile 5: 9:30/mile, 158avgHR
Mile 6: 8:45/mile, 162avgHR

Rhode Island 70.3 Race Report July 13, 2008

I signed up for this race back when they announced its inception (6 months ago) excited that they brought another 70.3 to the Northeast. No routes were announced, no logistics about the race, just a promise of an “Ironman” brand race. I decided this would be a good prep (one and only distance race) leading up to IM Wisconsin in September. About 6 weeks ago the courses were announced- a point to point race with two different transition areas, beginning at Narragansett Bay ending in Downtown Providence. As the details began to unfold and the Athlete Guide was published, I became worried about “clean” transitions and transition bags, 4:00am buses, oh my! But I embraced change. Decided it might be fun to try1011
something different! The only half irons I had done before now were Timberman and Mooseman..both great races, but was a little excited to branch out and see what else was out there.

Day before race was filled with LOTS of standing in lines, running around to transition areas, driving, sitting in traffic and witnessing a car accident (a fellow racer) it was the opposite of what a day before a race should be. It was rushed and chaotic. I don’t even think the race organizers could have predicted the two hour line for packet pickup or the hour and a half drive to T1 to drop our bikes (b/c of beach traffic) it was crazy, but again, I tried to embrace it and see it as a new opportunity. Once we got done running around (with a couple bike tire changes and a quick loosen up the legs ride) we headed back to Providence to find our hotel was literally across the street from the State House (also the finish area!) sweet! A late checkout insured us a post-race shower! We had dinner on Federal Hill with my in-laws (who thought they were coming to Providence to see a marathon!! Obviously their first triathlon experience!) then off to bed before 9pm.

Race Day started with a 3:15am wake up call, a 4am bus (another line) down to the start (where our bus’s engine began to overheat part way down there, we pulled over and the driver did a “fix” that got us there with plenty of time to spare! Phew!) We arrived at T1/start and saw Amanda’s husband right away, thankfully he had a bike pump (they would not transport them for you, so we had to find one the morning of!) but no worries, we got the tires pumped up and T1 was all set (part of the reason I wasn’t complaining too much about getting everything down there the day before) I spent 5mins with my bike before the race, tires pumped-check, bento box full- check, water bottles in place- check, brakes rubbing the tires- negative. I was all set. Grabbed wetsuit, goggles and cap and down to the beach for the start.

Swim- 34:43 (pace-1:39/100)
The beach was packed, and beautiful. You would never know it was 6am. Thousands of people crowded the beach and the national anthem filled the air, lots of excitement about the race. 6am cannon sent the pros out to start. Ugh! Running beach start, AGAIN! I hate that, but learned my lesson in Cohasset- I started up farther in the group as to avoid having to swim around slower swimmers (I’m no speedster, but I’m average I wanted to have a good swim.) Waves went off every 5mins or so, Greg was off in Wave 5 and I stuck around until Wave 7, a 6:30 cannon. Off we went W30-39 all in one pack. It was wavy, choppy, salty water…I had a hard time finding a rhythm of breathing at appropriate times to avoid a wave of water in my face! I eventually worked it out after a couple of mouthfuls of salt water. It was hard to sight at times (again b/c of the waves) but I tried to keep the swimmers around me in sight so I knew I was sortof on course! It was an out and back, once I made the turn I found a groove (a little to the right of the pack) and felt like I was swimming in my own lane. Fine by me. Got out of the water in 34:43, my best 1.2mi swim time (by over two minutes, and pace was faster than my sprint earlier this year…so maybe my positioning did help me- less weaving and dodging to do!)
T1: 3:51Pretty uneventful…had a long beach run up to transition where I took advantage of the wetsuit strippers (mostly b/c they were there and no one was using them) walked in the kiddie pools to get the sand off my feet (that’s a nice detail) and on to my bike where we had bags filled with our gear. I liked this concept. Dump the bag, put gear on and put the used gear in the bag. Loved the “clean” transition area idea! Left the wetsuit bag to be transported up to Providence


Bike 3:01:37 (pace-18.5mph)
Crossed the mat and had to run with our bikes another couple minutes to the mounting line, bummer. But mounted and was on my way. Have been having ergomo problems for a couple months now but decided to still have it on my bike to at least tell me my speed, well…I guess when I changed my back tire the day before I forgot to align my magnet…so no power, no speed, no rpms. Doh! Thankfully I had my Garmin, so I had an idea of what pace I was going. The first 15mi were VERY flat and fast (averaged 20.5mph taking it easy!) by Mile 18 we hit a couple hills and it seemed to be relentless after that, up and up and up, passing people, having them pass me back. The hills went on for about 15-20miles, but after that I could not find a groove. I was distracted and bored…wanting the bike ride to be over. My bike felt alien to me like it was someone else’s, I can’t explain it but was pretty lost the entire time (not like me at all, biking is my favorite of the three sports) so I struggled to hold a decent pace, but I was mentally gone. I passed lost of people fixing flats, and plenty of intersections that looked like vehicles had been held up for hours! One intersection there was a fire truck in the middle and a tri bike in pieces all over the ground. It was after seeing that (and I never like to see that) I just became complacent about my overall bike time. The last 5 miles or so into Providence where ghetto neighborhoods with choppy roads, lots of intersections and enough left hand turns crossing traffic to make you want to scream! I launched water bottles twice out of my rear hydration system and both times stopped my bike, set it down, ran back to get the water bottle and get going again. Did I mention this happened twice? What was I thinking? Hoped to break 3:00 on the bike, expected to be in the 2:50-2:55 range, total bike time 3:01:37 (a HIM PR of ~2min, but I had higher expectations, so I was down on my time.) Nutrition was 2 bottles of Infinit (280cals/bottle) and a package of Clif Bloks (2 every 45mins)

T2 2:34
Typical Transition, made a decision to grab my Fuel Belt and see ho I liked running a race with it (never did that before) a decision I would later regret…but other than that, things went smoothly. Saw my Inlaws and said hello took in a Chocolate Gu and headed out on the run.

Run 2:14:09 (yikes!! 10:15/mile pace)
Run started out ok, but quickly became tough….if you know Providence at all you might be aware of a “small” incline in town referred to as College Hill (takes you up to Brown University) we were presented with this hill at about Mile 1 (of a two loop course, so again later in the run also) it was here that I slowed initially and began to walk (ugh!) after cresting the hill, I saw my husband about to finish his first loop, we high-fived and I continued on my way. By Mile 3 I was beginning to have stomach issues and lots of bloating (a first for me) I stopped and actually waited in line at a porto-john thinking that might help me fell better…to no avail. Funny story, I was so bloated in my stomach that my Fuel Belt POPPED open while I was in line and I could not get it to Velcro back on (I was too fat!) UGH! How uncomfortable! The rest of the run was a mix of running, walking, drinking, dumping water over my head and hoping for the finishline. This might be my worst HIM run ever (best being 1:50+ at Mooseman last year) I was so bloated and uncomfortable that even walking sucked…anyway. Got to the finishline and felt sick for ~30mins after…eventually the bloat dissipated and I felt normal again, I will share my “finishing picture” just for you to see how uncomfortable I was (see facial expression) and how bloated I was (no I’m NOT 6mo pregnant!!) In hind sight I suspect the salt water swim negatively affected my stomach. I have never had those issues (been using the same nutrition on all my IM training rides far longer than 56mi!) and never had the “bloat” that I experienced here. It sucked. No more salt water swims for me!!


Total Time: 5:56:52
Overall- not a PR, not the time I hoped for and not the “run” I expect out of myself. I have a LOT of work to do before IM Wisconsin.

Cohasset Sprint Triathlon at Sandy Beach June 29, 2008

First race of the season, coming off a month-long rehab for a partial torn soleus (calf) muscle. Month of June was mostly sporadic training, day to day depending on how leg was feeling. I was able to maintain fitness through elliptical and swimming, then after two weeks added in biking and minimal (read: 15min) of running here and there. So I didn’t have expectations here for this race, just wanted to see where I was. Also, did this same race last year so I have a means of comparison (I will include those numbers along the way!)

No taper for this race, as a matter of fact did a time trial earlier in the week and an ~80mi ride day prior with friends (we climbed 4400feet averaging +/- 19mph that ride)….so you can get a sense of how I was feeling!

Overall Stats:
1/4mi swim, 12.5mi bike and a 3.2mi run (conclusion was run distance was longer, more on that later)

Final Time: 1:10:35, good for 5/34 in my AG (F30-34)
For comparison I was also 5th in my AG last year! With a 1:17:41, so I improved 7:06 at the sprint distance, but the competition

Swim: 6:49 or ~1:42/100 (last year was 8:27)
T1: 1:49 (last year was 1:57)
Bike: 34:12 or ~22mph (last year was 36:35)
T2: 1:50 (last year was 1:31) my only blip on the day! Could not find my hat!!
Run: 25:57 or ~ 8:10/mi pace (last year was 29:13)

Swim: An ocean “C” swim..out to the buoy, turn swim parallel to shore, turn again and swim into the beach…you will see from the pictures it was REALLY foggy so the buoys were pulled in and the long swim leg was made longer…I think you could walk out to the first buoy ~20’ from shore! My wave was #4 with ~100 of my closest women competitors..it was a salty washing machine type swim where I never found space, feet to draft or a rhythm to swim…I survived and came out in 6:49 a huge improvement on last year (8:27.)

T1: was uneventful, said hi to a friend/coworker who was racked across from me…we wished each other well and I set off on my bike.

Bike: As mentioned previously I rode 80mi the day before and have been having saddle issues (rubbing/cutting/discomfort) so the morning of the race (dumb, I know) I changed to a different saddle that is narrower thinking “this will be more comfortable” HA… so bike got underway, my first race this year on my new P2C (purchased over the winter with ergomo, which has been malfunctioning…I won’t even get into that) so I was getting used to a few things like my hoods being wet from me after the swim (which obviously doesn’t happen on a normal ride) and my ergomo was reading funny watts and mph (says I was going 11mph!! See my average!) So I was riding uncomfortably blind..when I noticed my saddle was dipping front to back…guess I didn’t tighten enough! Turns out it slid all the way back on the rails too…I can laugh about it now, but I’m lucky I didn’t land on the side of the road with my saddle coming off!
Lesson: no matter what hurts…don’t change things on race day (I should know better!) just grin and bear it. Ouch. Oh well, improved on last years time, so no complaints!

T2: The ONLY slower part of my day! All b/c I could not find my hat :( It got tossed back in bag…I eventually found it but it cost me prob. 30 seconds!

Run: This was what my whole day was about…I had not been running much (if at all) in the past couple weeks with the calf injury…but I knew I was on the mend and was hoping to be able to run the entire distance, whatever the pace. So I set out of T2 with my avg. pace was at 7:55s, a little fast to start, so I eased up and the course became hilly so I was able to slow to 8:05s without issue…but at the 2mi marker I let go and allowed myself to run hard till the end and according to my garmin I did a 7:40 last mile…averaging 7:55s overall. But if you look at my official time it reads 25:57 or 8:10s. I thought that was slow. After talking to others we all concluded the course must have been a tad long. Oh well, I don’t really care…I improved on last year and ran (hard) the entire time with no pain!!

Some other highlights:
My husband placing 2nd in his AG (M30-34) with a 1:02:26 (he smoked that course!)
Seeing my friend (the same one I was talking to in T1) place 3rd Female (non-pro) overall
Two other guys who swim in our Master’s lane place 2nd and 3rd in their AGs.
Watching my best friend (non triathlete) borrow my road bike and ride the bike leg of a relay..gave her a glimpse into our lives and she loved every minute of it, maybe she’ll race an entire tri someday!
Seeing Jarrod Shoemaker (USA Olympic Triathete) easily win and signing Wheaties boxes after the race for everyone who wanted them,

Things to fix:
More open water swimming, especially ocean if I’m going to race ocean swims…it was salty and cold. I didn’t put my head under until about 200yds into the race!
Get a new saddle/fitting something to fix my saddle woes
Make sure my Transition area is properly set up before heading down to the water (when I couldn’t find my hat)
Work on getting faster on the run without re-injuring my leg :) I need to strengthen that muscle to get it back to where it was.

"You look like a runner"

So I was talking to a co-worker yesterday (someone I had not met before, in an office of 250 people, there are STILL people I don’t know!) So…I was deep in a conversation with him unrelated to anything athletic when he says “You look like a runner” do you run?

Random

Should I take that as a compliment??