My First Marathon

Oh, geez. So, it's been a month and a half since I posted last. Yikes. Guess that's what being in your last year of your PhD, looking for a job, holidays, and training for a marathon will do to you!

Anyway....about that marathon...

I successfully completed my very first full marathon last Sunday night and I am very proud of my accomplishment. I'm a marathoner!

Post-Race: Half delirious, in pain, and really freaking cold. But happy.

Pre-Race: The nerves are written all over my face.

So, here's how it all went down. Awhile back I chose the Las Vegas RnR marathon to be my first full. Originally this race was chosen because Travis's birthday was the next day and my friend and I thought it would be fun to go to Vegas, do the race, then hang out and celebrate his birthday. Somewhere along the way my friend got pregnant (she had her baby this past week, so the timing certainly would not have worked out!) so it was just me. I was fine with that. My friend Shala ended up signing up for the half, and we had some other friends come out. It ended up being a fun weekend.

With my cardio base and my fantastic coach, Lindsay, the training went pretty well and I was prepared for this race. Mentally I had a tough time with the fact that my longest run had been just shy of 20 miles, but it ended up being OK. My long runs were all done at an 8:30ish pace, so I felt that I would be able to run at an 8:30-8:45 pace for the entire marathon. I didn't quite make it at that pace, but there were several factors at play:

1) I hadn't run more than 20 miles at that pace, so I was going into no man's land for that last 10K. I really didn't know what to expect.

2) Crowds! Crowds! Crowds! RnR is seriously going to have to change this race for next year. The second half of the marathon course was the half marathon course, and the half marathoners (38,000 of them) started an hour and a half later than the marathoners (4,000 of us). You do the math. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that it was a giant Charlie Foxtrot. The half marathoners were supposed to stay to the right, but of course they didn't. Oh well! It was fun anyway. (See picture below to get an idea of the crowds)

3) I was sick. I came down with a nasty cold the night before the marathon, and woke up with all sorts of congestion and an extremely sore throat. I medicated myself appropriately and tried to put it out of my head. I didn't feel so bad once I started running, but it did start to catch up with me around mile 22. I am still getting over it.

Crowds at the start of the second half.

With all of that being said, I still was very proud of myself and my time. I finished in 3:58:02, which was faster than about 2700 other runners (four and a half hour time limit my arse). It was an hour faster than Kate Gosselin :-). Me, competitive?? No....

I did a good job of keeping my speed in check for about 15 miles, then I tried to speed up. I even made a friend on that first half and ran with him for a good 12 miles or so. He checked up on me at the end when I was HURTING and then went on to finish a few minutes before me. He's incredible; he's trying to do a marathon in each state and had done one in Baton Rouge the day before. He also did one this past weekend with a 3:48 finish time. Incredible! I also did a good job of taking in gels every 35 minutes or so, but it depended on the location of the semi-scarce water stations. My stomach did start cramping at the end, which is sort of normal for me (or maybe it was the water contaminated with parasites?), but it did slow me down a bit. Let's face it, though, everything hurts at mile 24 of a marathon. According to my Garmin I had run an extra half a mile, too, which is mentally and physically painful. I only thought that the strip was HUGE when wearing heels; it seems even longer at the end of a marathon.

Honestly, though, the worst part was right after passing the finish line. CROWDS!! All I wanted was some water, my husband and friends, and a warm place to sit. Oh, it was tortuous. I was happy though when I reunited with my supporters. They were all so proud and it felt really nice!

The marathon finishers were over to the right, and that big huge cluster is the half marathon finish line.

Me and my supportive hubby :-). I had to sit down while we were waiting for our friends to get in on the next tram! It was heavenly to sit.

My friend Shala. She was awesome for coming out to support me!!

Afterwards we celebrated at the Sugar Factory (no, getting to the Paris was not particularly fun or fast) where I got a S'more martini and a cheeseburger :-). The next day we walked around the Strip. We even ran into a few notable people!

Ha. Not really. We just took advantage of the wax museum discount for marathoners!

All in all, it was a great experience! I'm so happy I did it. Thank you to everyone for all the support!

Running Progress

I'm a numbers gal - clearly - or I would not be getting a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, right? Anyway, my point is that I like data. I think it's one of the things I really enjoy about triathlon and running. By looking at the data, it is easy to see progress. Everybody likes to see progress, right?

That's why the charts my Carmichael Training Systems coach, Lindsay, make me happy. The other day she sent me a chart showing my average mileage and average pace on the same graph. This told me that as my mileage has been increasing, my pace has been, too. That makes me happy. I'm working hard, and it's paying off. Today she sent me this beauty:

Chart of pace, mileage, and time per run.

I know it's hard to make out, but see the ride line for the last few weeks? That's my average pace per run. Very consistent. Clearly, it's way more consistent than I have been over the past five months. I really think it's due to the great runs that Lindsay has been throwing my way. The speed workout flavor for the past few weeks has been 5 minute tempo intervals. My body is learning the pace, and I'm pushing it. This is helping me get stronger pretty fast! 

I need this training...

Sorry for the long absence. Things have been crazy over here, but then again, I'm thinking that's just my normal. This is a quick one, too, while I'm waiting for a computational model to finish running so I can go home for the day.

I'd say that most people think that marathon training takes an inordinate amount of time. In fact, I was one of those a few years ago (before I got into triathlons - it's all about perspective, people). Today, however, I realized something. I realized that, despite being completely underwater with school and a job search, I actually need the training time. This morning I was going crazy because my model wasn't working and I felt that I could do nothing right. Then, I stepped out the door for my tempo run and something magical happened - I completely forgot about school and my job search frustrations for a whole hour. I just let my mind get totally lost and absorbed in focusing on my run. It was fantastic.

I suppose even on days that I feel I am getting nowhere with my work, I can go for a run and feel like I have accomplished something. It's fantastic to be at a level of fitness where running is an enjoyable escape. I used to think people were crazy for saying that, but now I know.

Keep on running out there...here's to accomplishing something.

Fall in Colorado

This past weekend (well, earlier this week because the hubby has a weird work schedule and mine is pretty darn flexible) the hubby, dog, and I went to Estes Park for a couple of days for an anniversary trip. Although it was a month after our actual anniversary (cue the weird schedule again) we chose this date because we knew it'd be prime Aspen-changing time. If you're familiar with Aspen trees, you know that every Fall they paint a brilliant landscape in the mountains with their bright gold leaves. We had never seen the mountains in their full Fall glory, so we decided it'd be a good thing to go and do. Also, it's elk bugling time in Estes Park and the surrounding areas. Apparently the male elks "bugle" to gather more females into their harem. I guess the best bugler wins the most girls?

Aspen grove from above.

We drove out of our way to get the best views of the leaves as possible on our way up to Estes Park, did a great hike the next day, and drove through Rocky Mountain National Park all the way to Grand Lake on Trail Ridge Road on the way home. It was a fantastic trip, and the views did not disappoint. The elk sightings and bugling didn't disappoint, either. I had no clue what the bugling sounded like, so when it woke me up at 12:30 AM the first night I was positive that a pack of wild animals was coming to attack us. It wasn't until the next day that I realized what the sound had been. Seriously, I actually told Travis that a pack of hyenas was coming to attack. He promised me that they weren't hyenas and that we were safe.

The giant elk hanging out in our front yard. Travis snapped this one while I was hanging out scared in the cabin keeping our dog Wyatt company.

Back to the hike....since dogs are not allowed on the trails in RMNP, we went and did the Crosier Mountain hike. We chose the Rainbow trailhead because the trail description mentioned a "mature grove of Aspen trees". The hike climbed about 3,000 ft in a little less than 4 miles and it was beautiful, plus we only saw one other person! There were many different types of scenery. The rocks on the trail were even pretty! They were quartz maybe - with some mica or other mineral - very shimmery. We had a nice picnic sitting on a huge rock at the top, looking out across the surrounding areas. It was peaceful, and so beautiful.

Not a bad place for a picnic. I must say, the company was pretty good, too.

GU: A multi-purpose tool

During the Harvest Moon half-ironman distance triathlon this year, my last tri of the season, I was clipping along nicely. I was very happy with how I had been riding and it was looking as though I'd be able to drop about 15 minutes from my previous year's bike split, despite having crashed pretty badly two weeks prior. Then, at about mile 40, (one) of my worst fears happened: I got a flat tire during a race. I say this is one of my worst fears; it used to be my worst, but seeing as how I've crashed during two races this year, I think it's been replaced by the fear of crashing.

Anyway, I reacted rather calmly. I pulled over, dismounted the bike, and bent down to see a huge nail sticking through both sides of my back tire. I ride pretty tough tires (Gatorskins) even during a race (probably not the fastest choice), but nothing would be able to protect itself from a nail that size, at that angle. I naturally said a couple of curse words and then thought, "What the heck do I do? Do I wait for the Sag Wagon? Is my race over? Again??!!" Then, my mind flashed back to a maintenance clinic I had taken a couple years ago. I needed to put something in my tire to protect the tube a little bit. I had an empty GU wrapper on me. Perfect. I reached back and grabbed it out of my pocket, lined it up, put the tube in, applied the CO2 cartridge (my first time for this!), and got the tire back on. There was a nice athlete there who had stopped to put more air in his tire and he talked me through using the CO2 and putting the back tire back on. I had never changed a flat in a high-pressure situation, so I think I did pretty well. Adrenaline definitely makes us focus more! I had to stop a couple more times to fix the tire that I put on crooked, adjust, the brakes, etc., but I did make it back to T2, albeit slower than I thought I would be. My race wasn't really what I had hoped for because I later died on the run, but I was proud of myself for being able to react to a problem under pressure.

Post-race. The leftover GU was oozing through the tire. Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane, anyone??

Hopefully this situation never happens to you, but if it does, remember: keep calm and do what you know how to do (practice first, of course). Also remember that GU has more than one use!

The GU packet did the trick!

Post-race Team Trainright picture. I had too many blisters on my feet to go change clothes, clearly.

Last Tri of the Season

So, tomorrow morning I will be lining up to race the Harvest Moon half-iron distance triathlon. I'm really not sure what tomorrow will hold since my tailbone bruise is still making itself known. It has gotten much better, even since a couple of days ago. I think the massage I got on Tuesday and the quick chiro adjustment I got really helped to loosen up the tight muscles in that area, which were probably bothering me more than I knew. I'm hoping for the best and am just making it my goal to try to enjoy the day as much as possible.

Sometimes we get wrapped up in all of the pressure of wanting to do well in this sport, and I think we forget that it is really supposed to be something enjoyable. We were attracted to this sport for a number of reasons, but we keep doing it because we fall in love with it. I'm going to try to keep that in mind tomorrow, especially at about mile 40 of the bike, and miles 7 through 11 of the run (basically the mentally tough parts). I am also going to try not to crash.

It seems like yesterday that I was preparing for the real start of my tri season here in Denver. Time flies! It's been a good season, complete with a lot of ups and downs.

Crash Landing - Again

So, the Steamboat Tri did not turn out how I had hoped. I new that there was a chance I could podium at this event, so I was going for it. I felt like my swim was great. The time was 22:15, and that was good for 8th overall and 2nd for the women. I was only beat out by about 10 seconds by that woman because we were swimming side by side from the last buoy. In fact, she had apparently been drafting off of me until we hit that last buoy, when she decided she'd try to pass me. I refused to let her. Bam.

T1 was good (1:24), probably because I wanted to keep my good position and because my new coach had me actually spend 10 minutes practicing my transitions! I need to do this more often. That way I won't forget things like leaving my shoes untied....anyways, I was off to a good start on the bike. It felt good, aside from the awful chip seal they had put on a good portion of the road 5 days prior to the race which made it incredibly bumpy. Then, right at about mile 9, I hit a huge manhole and crashed. Hard. I didn't see it at all due to the nice concrete lip covering it, and there was probably a 3 inch drop onto the actual cover. I had no chance. I was so mad. It really should have been marked as an obstacle. Fortunately, the sheriff who came to help me after he had helped another woman who fell on a similar obstacle right before this one completely agreed. He said he couldn't believe they weren't marked and then went to his car to grab some cones to place on them.

I was so, so upset. How could this happen again?? At least I wasn't the only one. There was a guy ahead of me who crashed, broke HIS COLLARBONE, and still completed the race. Another guy after the race told me that his arm rest had snapped in half after taking on that manhole. Crazy! It really was the race organizer's responsibility to mark those things, and they had failed. I took about 10 minutes to get over the nausea and decide that I would still be finishing the race. I had been in a great position - only one girl in my age group had passed me, so I was in second place prior to the crash as far as I knew. After the crash I was pretty far back, but I was determined to not have another DNF by crash again this season.

The aftermath. Not really sure how I landed so that I bruised my tailbone AND have a huge raspberry on my shoulder...

The rest of the race was just a blur of trying to block out the pain I was feeling in my tailbone area. The run did not feel great, and was significantly slower than my other runs this season. I was being pretty hard on myself during the remainder of the race, but I shouldn't have been. I was hurting. I also had a nice rip in my shorts - it wasn't attractive, but it made me look bada**, especially with my brand new road rash and blood dripping down my leg. I finished. I toughed it out, mentally. I suppose I can be proud of that.

Now, time to heal up before Harvest Moon on September 11. Fingers crossed!!

Racing this weekend...

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving with a couple of my friends to head up to Steamboat Springs for an Olympic-distance tri on Sunday. It's a gorgeous venue, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to hitting up the hot springs post-race! This week there's been this tiny little event going on throughout Colorado, the USA Pro Cycling Championships. Tomorrow's stage actually starts in Steamboat and continues on to Breckenridge. We'll have to take some detours to get there, but we're hoping that we'll be able to stop and catch the riders as the go through Kremmling. While I'm sad that I will be missing the race in Golden and Denver on all of the routes I typically ride, I'm happy I'll be able to catch a little bit of the excitement. There's also the DVR, since it will be on NBC on Sunday afternoon!

The past couple of weeks have been fairly intense with our new CTS coach, Lindsay. I've done several sets of Under/Overs on the bike. For those you basically spend some time right under your threshold, then some time over, then more time just under. And do it three times. They're tough! I know it's making me stronger, though, and teaching me to be better about maintaining specific power zones. We also did a killer track workout on Wednesday night, and a pretty tough swim Wednesday morning. Hopefully I'll be rested and feeling strong on Sunday!

All almond butters are not created equal...

I just had this random epiphany while I was eating a banana with a pack of Justin's almond butter. It just tasted so, so much better than the store brand I've been buying in a jar. I think next time I'm splurging and it'll be worth it. That is all!

Open Water Swim Workout

Swimming with my sister in the Comal River (I'm in the green cap).

Sorry it's been a little quiet recently on this blog. I've been in real need of a recharge, both in my PhD work and in life in general for the past month or so. I finally got it when I was on vacation with my family in New Braunfels, Texas last week. It was hot, but I loved every second of it. I truly treasure my family, and any time I get to spend with them is really happy for me. My sister is also a triathlete. She's super duper speedy (in fact she actually just got her pro card), but swimming is one area where our ability levels are about equal. We swam in the river together a few times last week, and the picture above was from us doing a set that her coach recommended. I thought it was great because too often we just get in the water and swim when it comes to not being in a pool. This was a great way to break it up a little and add some speedier efforts.

After a 15 minute warmup (upstream, though with the drought and subsequent low-water levels, the current was pretty tame this year), we did this set:
5x{2 min kick, 2 min build, 2 min fast}.
It was good enough to tire me out, for sure! I just set my watch timer to 2 minutes and when it beeped, I would stop, get her attention, and we'd switch. I highly recommend trying this out. Another good thing to do is something like 50 strokes fast/50 steady, 40 fast/ 40 steady, etc. until you get to 10, then ladder back up.

Happy swimming!

Race Report: Boulder Peak Olympic

Last Sunday was the Boulder Peak Olympic tri. This is the largest Olympic-distance race around here and brought in about 1,300 athletes this year. It has been taken over by WTC and is now a 5150 series event. The organization of it was fantastic and I must say that I enjoyed this race experience. The race itself was really tough for me due to a few things that were kind of out of my control. First, I really haven't been sleeping well. There were a few nights in the weeks leading up to this event that I was lucky to get three hours of sleep, including the night before the race. I think it caught up to me. My stomach had also been a little iffy since the night before, and I couldn't eat too much going into it. It also started rebelling a lot around mile 3 of the race. Dehydration, maybe? Who knows. Enough excuses. I still had a great race and was pleased with my time.

1500 m swim: 22:03

A full :06 faster than my swim at the Boulder Sunrise. Though the course is the same, there's always some variability. Hopefully it was a little faster since I didn't veer off course, but it was also warmer and I got kicked more. Who knows. The swim felt decent despite my stomach not really being there. I tried to hang on to Katy Blakemore's feet, but lost them in the mix pretty quick. She went FAST. Not having to worry about the rest of the race will do that, I suppose.  

T1: 2:36 I think the run to T1 was longer, but this could be improved, for sure.

42K bike: 1:26:08

Holy hill! Olde Stage Road was tough. At least all the climbing was over within the first half an hour or so. My legs felt pretty good on the bike, and my stomach was feeling better. Managed to take in all 3 GUs. I did wish that I had put plain water in my Speedfil, though, rather than the GU electrolyte tabs. I was dreaming of plain, cold water out there! Dehydration? Yes, most definitely.

T2: 2:01 Ugh!!! So, so, so slow. I was a little disoriented coming off of the bike and to top it all off, I had forgotten to leave my shoes untied! Big mistake. Cost me a top 10 AG finish. Live and learn. Remember the speed laces.

6.2 mile run: 48:23 (7:47/mile pace)

The run felt surprisingly good for the first 3.5 miles. Then it hit me. Stomach cramps - bad. On top of that, I could feel water just sloshing around. Not good. Somehow I hung on, though. When Katy saw me she started yelling at me to catch the girl up ahead, which I did, but I should have waited. She had way more left in the tank than I did. Oh, well. Another lesson learned! 

Total time: 2:41:11 12/73 in age group, 52/461 women

I was absolutely, completely zonked after this one. I gave it my all under the circumstances and came up with some decent results. Everybody has an off day! Next up: Steamboat Springs Olympic Tri on August 28th. Can't wait!

A date with Old Stage Road...

Tomorrow's the Boulder Peak Olympic Tri, and I'm just getting myself physically and mentally ready to race again! I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm a little nervous about a particular hill on the course. Old Stage Road climbs 600' in 2/3 of a mile, according to the website. It's infamous, and I've never ridden it. Oh, well, all I can do is my best!

Looking forward to racing tomorrow!

Dreading/Looking Forward to Workouts...

In order to get stronger and faster, or to just test ourselves, sometimes we have to put ourselves through a lot of pain.  A LOT.  It always generates a mixed bag of feelings for me when I open up TrainingPeaks and see one of those workouts on my schedule.  We all know them – they have names like “Over-Unders” and “Tempo Intervals”.   We should actually start calling them by more true-to-meaning names such as “Hopping on the Pain Train” and “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.”  I’m kidding, well, kind of.  I do tend to dread some of these workouts for a couple of days leading up to it, but at the same time I look forward to being able to put in some really, really good work.  One that I’ve recently had on my schedule a couple of times is a run including 4x5 minute tempo intervals.  It’s a classic gut buster.  The first interval is okay. The second one usually feels the best (relative term here) after I’ve sufficiently warmed up.  I generally start seeing some faint stars toward the end of the third one, and if I’ve done my job correctly, I will fall off pace toward the end of the fourth. When I’m able to nail this workout, I feel on top of the world.  When I don’t, I still give it my best shot and feel satisfied that I’ve done a lot to improve my run, both physically and mentally.  Because of the benefits, I guess I dread it and look forward to it at the same time.

When it comes to open water swimming, however, I look forward to these workouts for a different reason. I actually do enjoy them. It’s nice to be out on a smooth lake in the early morning hours and just listen to my arms moving through the water. It’s oddly comforting to me, but maybe that’s because a lot of times I’m more comfortable in the water than on land. Unless there are fish I can see. Then I hate it.

Are there certain workouts you either dread or look forward to? Maybe both?

Happy training, everyone!

Amy

Long Ride with Some Ladies!

Yesterday morning I joined Malia on a Bicycle Village Group Ride for women only. We took a "lake tour" of the area, starting at Sloan's Lake, then heading to Bear Creek and over to the Arvada Reservoir before circling back to our starting point. It was a gorgeous Colorado day, and the scenery was beautiful (as usual)! Our group of seven girls did a pretty good job of staying together despite there being some decent climbs on this route. I'm not completely comfortable with groups of this size yet and chose to hang out near the back for most of the ride. I need to build my confidence on this point! I'm just not very good yet at signaling and everything like you should do in a group.

The girls - minus Malia, who was taking the picture. (Photo courtesy of Malia, who I stole it from)

Overall the ride was fantastic - 47 miles. I was pretty zonked when I walked in the door because it was so hot and dry out. I did not do a very good job at staying hydrated or fueled. Lesson learned! 

Power, Baby!

I got a new toy this past Friday - my new PowerTap SL+! As these babies are expensive, this was made possible by the people at Saris who gave our team a bit of a deal. Thank you!!

It was pretty easy to install, thanks to help from my teammate Jon (let's be honest, I didn't really do anything; I couldn't even pump up my tire because of my stupid sprained hand), and I took it out for the first time yesterday morning. I have no idea yet what the wattages mean, but I do know that it will give me an extra tool to measure my progress by. I am also excited to finally have a cadence sensor again. My Garmin one has been broken for awhile and I've been counting my cadence or matching Malia's to try to get mine up. NOT as effective as having a sensor to do it for you!! It will also be nice to have a tool to judge effort on the trainer. My coach has already started adding power numbers to my workouts, and I have a field test next week to really push those numbers!

New toys are always fun!

Little Mishaps

It happens to all of us, I suppose, and we just have to deal with it and thank God (or our lucky stars, rabbit foot, etc.; whatever your personal preference is) that it's not any worse than it actually is. On Tuesday during my easy run I managed to trip over a tree root and of course broke my fall with my left hand. The force was enough to break the watch strap on my Garmin somehow.

Fortunately, it did not break me! I now have a sprained left wrist/hand with a super cool splint I get to wear for a week or so. Hopefully I can take it off before then. I have some training to do next week!

Counting my blessings: 1) it could have been broken, but it's not, and 2) the timing is pretty good since this is a huge recovery week for me.

Also, yesterday a 2-lb jar (plastic, luckily) of Miracle Whip fell out of the refrigerator and onto my toes last night. Yes, I yelled bloody murder. The dog was concerned. It's looking like this is my week!! Maybe it's good that I have to stay off the bike for a few days. Hoping that I don't lose that toenail to match the one on the left foot that I lost from a sick day of skiing this winter.

Here's to clumsiness! Happy training, everyone!

Third Place AG Finish! Boulder Sunrise Race Report

I must say that I am extremely happy with my performance yesterday at the Boulder Sunrise Olympic Triathlon, especially considering that it was my third race in three weeks. I went into it on tired legs and with very few expectations. I came out surprised!

Race morning felt a little rushed. Transition opened at 6, and our wave was set to go off at 7:05. That leaves very little time to get all the gear situated, get warmed up, grab some GU Chomps, get a very small wetsuit on, get in the water to allow your feet and face to go numb, and be ready to race. My coach had prescribed a 30 minute long warm up run. That didn't happen - it was more like 10 minutes (sorry, Winston!). There just wasn't time. Or so I thought. It turned out that we had to wait 25 minutes for the paramedics to arrive, so we stood around for quite awhile. Fine by me. I, of all people, know that paramedics are an important race day fixture!

1500 m swim: 22:09
Once the swim finally started, I found myself out in front pretty quickly. This was only my second time swimming with a long-sleeved wetsuit, and I am really enjoying the Aqua Sphere Phantom. It's a little difficult to get on and off, but it seemed to be easier yesterday than it was the first time. The material in the shoulders is super stretchy, so I didn't even notice it while racing.  I caught up to the the back of the guys' wave pretty quickly and felt like I was having a great swim. A little ways into it, however, I had this feeling that I was heading toward the wrong green buoy. We had to head straight out to one green buoy, turn right, and turn right again at a second green buoy that was pretty close to the first one. I sat up, pulled my goggles up, and realized I was heading toward the second one instead of the first. Shoot. I re-adjusted my path and headed back toward the correct buoy. This totally played tricks in my head because I thought I was then having a horrible swim. I was pleasantly surprised when I came out and people were yelling, "You go, girl! Second woman out!". Sweet...while I'm pretty sure I would have been the first out had I not goofed up, I was still pleased. I ran into T1 (rough concrete hurts so much on really cold feet), shed the wetsuit, grabbed my bike, and was off.

T1: 1:41 Getting better!


26.4 mile bike: 1:21:35 (19.4 mph)
The bike course started out pretty hilly, especially over the first 8 miles or so. My quads were not happy with me, and I was worried I would be in for a long couple of hours. After the initial climbing, however, the rest of the bike course was pretty tame. There were some fast downhills and then some rollers toward the end. I took two GU's on the bike - one pretty close to the beginning and another at mile 20. That plan seemed to serve me well. I was also sipping on some diluted electrolyte drink - I dropped a GU Brew Tablet into about 36 oz of water. Looking at my bike split now, I can see that I was really feeling the fatigue and that I have some hill training to do. I also wanted to save something for the run...

T2: 1:17

6.2 mile run: 47:55 (7:44 min/mile)
The run completely surprised me. My legs were tired. My form was not good. Honestly, every time I glanced down at my Garmin I was shocked. I was keeping up a great pace (for me)! It was a two-loop out and back course, so I had plenty of opportunities to scope out the field. My Train Right teammate (and friend!) Malia passed by me a little past the halfway mark. She's very speedy. I kept expecting more women from my age group to catch me, but they didn't. I didn't really know where I was in the field, but I was feeling pretty good about my race. The last couple of miles were painful, especially because it was getting hot, but I finished strong, and with a 10K PR. This was the second 10K PR I set in a week!

Total time: 2:34:34 3/22 in age group, 10/104 women

After the results were posted, Malia came up and told me that I had podiumed! I was third in our age group. I've only podiumed once before, so I was extremely excited. It was, once again, a strong showing for Team Trainright. Malia was second in our age group, and Cameron was first in his! Though I haven't been training with CTS for too long, I attribute my sudden increase in run speed to the coaching I am receiving. I think it's a combination of the rest I'm taking and the few speed workouts I've done. I'm excited to see what I'll be able to do after a solid month of training with Winston!

Winston, Cameron, Heather, me, and Malia.

Cameron: #1 M20-24

F25-29 Podium

Me and Malia after the race.

Third race in three weeks...

So, I'm not sure how smart this was, but I signed up for three races in three weeks. The Summer Open Sprint, the Bolder Boulder (race report still to come), and today's Boulder Sunrise Olympic Triathlon. Although Coach has given me a nice recovery/rest week, I'm not sure if my legs are going to cooperate today. My attitude going in is that I'm treating this as a training day. Since it's only my 2nd race at this distance, I'd like to learn a little more about it before one of my 'A' races of the season - the Boulder Peak Tri - in a month. Guess we'll see what happens!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Summer Open Race Report

Yay! A completed triathlon duathlon without a trip to the emergency room. That's how it should be, folks.

I really wasn't too nervous going into this race, probably because it was a sprint and I was coming off of a month or so of good recovery from Galveston. I was just going out there to have fun with my new-found tri friends from Rocky Mountain Tri Club and Carmichael Training Systems. This really was my first local race where I knew more than one or two people other than my supportive husband (not knockin' the hubby, he's just not as into races as I am - obviously), and it made for a really fun race day. I was excited about it all week!

When we went to pick up our packets on Friday, however, it was announced that, due to the extremely unusual amount of rain in the Denver area over the past two weeks, there was too much E. Coli in the reservoir to swim. Bummer! That's my strongest discipline, and one that I count on to get me a little head start on the rest of the pack. Oh, well, it would be a duathlon. I had done one duathlon previously - the Barking Dog Duathlon, in 2010. It was a great race and I remember doing better than I thought I would in an event with two runs, a bike, and no swim. I was up for the challenge.

My team mate Randy and I carpooled to the race that morning. We got there in plenty of time to get a great spot in transition and get all set up. Without having to put on a wetsuit, there was even plenty of time for socializing and a 20ish minute warm up. I took the bike out for a little spin to make sure the gears were in the right position for an easy start out of T1. After that I did about 15 minutes of easy running with some strides thrown in. For a distance this short, I think a good warm up is key. Otherwise you just hurt like crazy for the first couple of miles!

2 mile run: 15:10 (7:35min/mi pace), including the time running to transition
Started off a bit quick (normally happens to me) with all of the speedsters but was able to reel it back in thanks to my handy Garmin watch. Felt pretty good during this run, but tried to hold back a little since I knew I had a little to go before the finish line. My official pace was off from the pace on my Garmin (7:10/mile) because of the time from the "finish" into transition.

T1: 1:07
Pretty slow compared to others - still need to work on this!

12 mile bike: 35:04 (21.2 mph)
Definitely felt that fast (for me) run in my legs when starting out, but picked it up. Definitely happy with my pace on this one. My bike seems to be getting better.

T2: 1:05

3.1 mile run: 24:15 (7:50/mi)
Started out at a good pace, but then started to fade. Held on enough. This is still really close to being a PR for me in a 5k. I'd like to try a stand-alone 5k soon to see what I'm capable of! Afterwards I felt like I could have pushed a little harder, but so much of these distances for me is learning what I'm capable of. I'm not accustomed to pushing myself through that kind of pain - I'm more of a sustained pace for longer kind of a gal. I loved feeling the short-term pain of this race, though!

6th/28 in age group

Overall, I'm really happy with my results from this event. I looked back on my results from a sprint tri I did on this course in 2009 and have improved immensely since then. My teammates did awesome - they all placed in their age groups! I'm really excited about where this season will take me, especially with the expert coaching of CTS. Things are looking good, and better than that, it's looking like it's going to be a fun season with some awesome people!!

Team Trainright (minus Bill) after the Summer Open. Jon, Malia, me, Cameron, and Randy. (Photo courtesy of Malia!)

By the way, the post-race atmosphere was awesome at this event. Without Limits does a great job of event production, even when they're thrown a big curve ball in the form of nasty bacteria.

Team Trainright Race Recap

I will be getting a race report post up soon, but check out our team's race report here. The team did awesome!! I'm proud to call these people my teammates.

Spot-On Tempo Run

Last night when I looked at my training schedule, I got a little excited at the workout Coach had planned for me this morning: it included three sets of five-minute intervals to be run at tempo pace. He even gave me a goal pace: under 7-minute miles. I knew it would be tough, but I also knew that if I nailed it, it would boost my confidence in my run. Running is definitely the area that I need the most work. Some of it is that I need to train in a speedier realm and get my body to learn to be comfortable at those paces, but a lot of it is mental.

Before my run I started with some foam rolling and Movement Prep exercises just like Jessi taught me, because I've found that it really does help to get the blood flowing before a workout. I felt great on the first tempo interval which resulted in an average pace of 6:46 min/mile. The second interval was a little tougher, but I pushed through and wound up with a 6:44 min/mile pace. I thought to myself, "great job, but you've got one more to go!". The jogging recovery between the 2nd and 3rd interval was most definitely much slower than between the 1st and 2nd. Of course, the third interval was tough. I dug deep and gave it my best shot, but I was at my threshold for sure. Some of the walkers I passed gave me some concerned looks. The last interval's pace was right at 7 min/mile. I was a little disappointed in that last one because it was so close to being under 7 min/mile pace, but knew I had given it my all.

I finished up, quite pleased with my efforts, and jogged (yes, I am using the term "jogged" here for a reason!) on back home. After I logged my workout in TrainingPeaks, Coach emailed me with some kind words. He basically said I did that workout perfectly because I pushed myself and fell off pace on the last interval. I'm happy to know that I did that workout just as he had designed it. The fact that he gave me a goal pace really, really helped me to focus my efforts. Otherwise I probably would have thought to do them at 7:30 pace, which clearly would not have been fast enough.

I love nailing a workout. It just adds more fuel to the fire, and I know to savor it because there are certainly going to be bad ones, too. Looking forward to the next challenging workout...

Ready to race!!

On Sunday I will be racing in the Without Limits Summer Open sprint triathlon. I'm really looking forward to it! This week's training involved a little bit of speed/interval work on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then transitioned into a little bit of rest in preparation for Sunday.

The guys at Without Limits put on a great race. I'm just excited that for the first time in a week (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration), the forecast is predicting a nice day for Sunday! It has been so rainy here, which is very uncharacteristic for Colorado. It definitely had me in a funk of a mood Monday through Wednesday. I'm also excited that this will be my first race with my new friends and teammates at Team Train Right and Rocky Mountain Tri Club. I've done races in Colorado for two summers where I knew maybe one or two people at the race. Having so many more familiar faces is going to make racing that much more fun.

Honestly, I'd be lying if I said that my primary goal was to stay upright on the bike. I do want to go fast, but I also want to redeem myself from my last race experience. Wish me luck!

Loveland Community Classic Bike Tour

Wow, what a crazy week! Training certainly had me busy, as did some super-fun social events. I may not have mentioned this before, but Winston (my CTS coach) gave me a pretty relaxed schedule for almost a full month following the Lone Star 70.3. I think this was perfect for me as it allowed me to recover mentally, emotionally, and physically from a long winter of training and a bad race experience. This past week, however, was my "getting back into it" week and it's been awhile since I've put that many hours in! Just the sheer planning details of it are tiring if you're out of the routine. After last week, though, I'm back into it and it feels good!

On Saturday night we had a Team Train Right pseudo-official season kickoff party. It was fun hanging out with everyone, talking "shop" and eating good (healthy) food. That's the thing about hanging out with triathletes - you know the food will likely be healthy!

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early to drive to Loveland for the Community Classic Bike Tour I had signed up to do with my friend's mom, Cathy. Despite the fact that it was raining (will I sound less crazy if I call it "misting"?) and cold, I stubbornly drove up there to do the metric century (62.5 miles). Cathy is actually crazier than I am and didn't even waver about still wanting to do the ride in the misty rain. Honestly, if she hadn't done it, I certainly would not have either. Crazy in numbers, I suppose.

It was a good ride, though it was pretty miserable at points. As we got into the higher elevations some of that misting rain turned into sleet and snow flurries. Fortunately I had good company and the aid stations every 10 miles to look forward to. We didn't end up stopping at all of them, but by far the best one was the one with the heater! My toes were numb most of the ride, after the moisture soaked through my neoprene booties. That aid station had these awesome ham/grape jelly/cream cheese on potato roll sandwiches. Sounds weird, but it tasted fantastic. There's some sort of history behind it because the volunteers were calling it "the original cycling fuel". It was totally what I needed since I think my body was also fighting to stay warm. We could have bailed at the 30 and 37 mile ride cutoffs, but we didn't. I don't think there were too many who actually stuck to the 62.5 mile ride, but I'm glad we did. I like a challenge! It made the pancake breakfast (with whole wheat pancakes!) taste so, so good at the end.

The Crazies!

Real Life

As a triathlete, training is my way of life. I've grown accustomed to it over the past couple of years, in face, I feel a little lost when I don't have my next race on the books. Unfortunately (or fortunately, not sure which), real life sometimes gets in the way and forces you to take a break. This happened to me last week while I was away at a conference in Montreal for the entire week. I was able to get in a few runs, some biking on a rented "Bixi", and lots of walking. The conference schedule was so busy that there wasn't time for much else, nor were there facilities I could use. It was nice to have a break, though, and remember that enjoyment is what it's all about - not stressing over missed workouts.
     My first run and swim back, though, made me feel that easy week at sea level! I'm sure I'll be back up to proper form in no time, though. My coach has a busy week laid out for me!

My friend Dani and I in Montreal with our sweet rented bikes. They felt a little different than my tri bike...

Lone Star 70.3 "Race Report"

The day started out well, and I was so happy to have my family and friends there to support me (and attempt to calm me down before the race, just like old times for my dad). I really had a hard time choking down food that morning. I also slept for maybe two hours. Something I really need to focus on is controlling my nerves!

Clearly I did not want to be eating that banana.

Me, my sister, and my eskimo mom.

Me and Dani.  

The swim was great. For the first time in an open water swim, I felt like I did a decent job of sighting. It was quite choppy with a good deal of side current on the longest leg, but I kept looking up and seeing the buoy right in front of me and everyone else over to the right. My official time was 28:34 for the 1.2 mile distance. I was quite pleased with that, and got in and out of transition quite fast (for me).

Had a fantastic swim - second in my age group!

The bike started off well. I was happy to be able to get an entire Clif bar down during the first hour. The riding was a little tough with a nice cross/head wind, but I was passing more people than being passed, so I was happy. Usually it's the other way around for me. I was really looking forward to the turn-around at mile 28, but at the second aid station at mile 24, I suddenly lost control and found myself on the ground with blood dripping from my head. Not where I wanted to be. The last thing I remember was throwing an almost full bottle of water toward the "last chance trash" (which was WAY too close to the aid station, by the way). I'm not sure if it was that combined with the crosswinds, or just my general clumsiness, but my race was over. Everything checked out fine but I ended up taking a ride to the ER to get some stitches and a CT. My first DNF - I was so disappointed. My family and friend met up with me at the hospital and did their best to cheer me up! I was so glad that they were there with me. Again, like old times for my dad - holding my hand while the doctor stitched me up!

Annnndddd.....done. A triathlon should not end with a trip to the hospital.

I was pretty bummed after training so hard (and giving up my ski season, basically), but that's life. I will redeem myself! The Summer Open Sprint is up next!

Welcome!

Welcome to my world, or at least the triathlon side of it. I started triathlon in the summer of 2009 with my very first sprint triathlon and was instantly hooked. I grew up a swimmer and am extremely comfortable in the water. On land, however, that's another story, hence the name of the blog. I've competed in a handful of sprint triathlons and did my first Olympic-distance and half-iron distance races last summer. Although I had a coach last season, we recently parted ways when I started training with Carmichael Training Systems. So far I've been impressed with the coaching at CTS.

This season I have a few events chosen. My first was the Lone Star 70.3, which ended in disappointment due to a crash (did I mention I'm clumsy on land?). I'll post that race report next. I guess I can say that I have yet to really start my season. Here's the schedule:

May 22 - Summer Open Sprint (Longmont, CO)
July 8 - Boulder Peak Olympic (Boulder, CO)
August 28 - Steamboat Springs Olympic (Steamboat Springs, CO)
September 11 - Harvest Moon Long Course (Aurora, CO)
December 4 - Las Vegas Rock N' Roll Marathon (my first!)

I'm sure there will be other events sprinkled in, like the Bolder Boulder and the Boulder Sunrise Century. I'll record everything here, from my journey through training to the race days, with real-life stuff in between. Feel free to join me!

The start of something great. Haha so cheesy!