Don't call it a COMEBACK but...

'Tis the season for triathletes to lay out their training and racing plans for the new year. It's a time of optimism, where we all feel overly confident that we'll drop 15 pounds, improve our speed and shave an unrealistic amount of minutes off of our race times. Our inboxes are flooded with "registration NOW OPEN"messages from our favorite races. Like Black Friday shopping, this time of year often leads to impulse buys and exclamations of "yeah, this will be my best year ever!"

Back in early December, I received an intriguing email from the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile road race in Washington DC. I have not run this race in almost a decade, but an email popped up saying, "enter the lottery for the 2019 Cherry Blossom 10 mile." This has always been a popular race but over the last decade, it has become so popular that you can only enter via a winning lottery ticket or some super human fast previous race time. Somewhat on a whim, knowing that I will be in DC that weekend, I decided to enter the lottery. It's only a $50 race entry fee and I was like, if I win a slot, it will be kismet that i should give running another chance. A week later the result was in: I had won a lottery entry. OK  - let's do this. Off to the running store, get fitted for new shoes and inserts and I was literally off and running.

University of Denver has a luxurious break between Christmas and New Year, which leaves one with plenty of time to research races, dream a bit about what is possible and yes, probably make some overly ambitious racing decisions. Shortly after the New Year, I received the email from Boulder Ironman 70.3 saying, "Tier 2 pricing coming close to sell out." Approximately six months ago, you may or may not recall my declaration of "retirement" from the Ironman 70.3 racing distance. "I'm already running a 10 mile so what's another 3 miles in the half for a 70.3?" I say to myself. "I can just race Boulder, " "train on the course," "it will be great!" Well, it didn't take much for me to register...

Remind me of this optimism as I get closer to race day.

And with that, we begin the pre-season training, with a little more focus on the run this winter. Here's my tentative race schedule:

• Jan. 27 - Lifetime Indoor Tri - more of a time trial but you get a cool mug and I'm all about the swag.
• Apr. 7 - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, Washington DC
• Jun 1 - Colorado Triathlon (olympic), Boulder, CO
• June 23 - Trip the Boat (half iron aquabike), Steamboat [tentative]
• Jul 21 - TriBoulder (half iron aqua bike), Boulder, CO
• Aug. 3 - Ironman 70.3 Boulder

Stay tuned!

Race Report: Ironman Santa Rosa 70.3 - "It was great for the first 2 hours..."

Ironman Santa Rosa 70.3 has the largest athlete field of any 70.3 race in the world. More than 3,000 registrants, even though they may only have 2500 show up. I can see why people love this race: beautiful course, great crowds at the finish, cool town. And it's likely to have no weather problems: usually dry, not crazy hot, no crazy windy. This is always my concern. You can spend all this time prepping for a race (20 weeks, in my case) and then have the day blown by a thunderstorm, heat wave, wind, etc.

So it was with this optimism, relatively consistent training and promising weather forecast, that I drove into Santa Rosa this past weekend. As with many of my triathlon adventures, the unexpected happened and one has to roll with it.

PRE-RACE

This race required a lot more logistical planning than the typical race that I can just drive to. I had to ship Michonne (my bike) through this company called Tribike Transport (awesome experience and I highly recommend, by the way), fly to San Francisco, rent a car and drive to Santa Rosa. It was also what they call a "point-to-point" race which means you have start in one place and end in another. This is pretty simple when you're doing a running only race...not as simple in triathlon.

I pulled into to Santa Rosa late on Thursday night after some flight delays and traffic through SF. I was in bed within 10 minutes after arriving.

Friday was a busy day. Up early to eat breakfast. I was starving since I didn't eat dinner. Then off to athlete checkin at 9a. Very easy and fast process. The finisher shirt kind of sucks but the finisher backpack and hat are cool. If you didn't know by now, I do these races partially because of the swag. I bought a water bottle in the store and decided to pass on any other merch. Next off to the Tribike Transport to pick up Michonne, put her pedals back on and then put her right back on the truck to head up to T1. It was then time for the athlete meeting where they announced no potential issues with the course and a wetsuit legal swim. Yay. Sounds Great. 

T1 - Ironman Santa Rosa 70.3

Athlete meeting ended around 10:40 so I then headed to T2 to drop off my run gear bag. Again, because it's point-to-point, you have to plant your run stuff at the second transition in advance. I don't like this because I ike to double check everything for transition the night before but this was the system.

I then hopped in the car for the 45 minute ride to Lake Sonoma, the swim start and location of T1. Beautiful course, gorgeous water. Wow, I thought: this is going to be an amazing swim. I then walked up and down the quarter mile transition run from water to T1. Ridiculous hill from the damn boat ramp. A mean and uncalled for exit to the swim after you've just been through 1.2 miles of swimming.  This part would not be fun. 

Loving this - wanted to hop in the water

swim start

I found my spot in transition and Michonne wasn't there yet. No worries. By this point, I'm exhausted. I drove back to Santa Rosa and took a nap. It was at this point where I made my first nutrition error

Woke up around 4 and had "lunch" at In 'N Out Burger. Love it. However, this was way too late to have lunch and I should have eaten before I got back to Santa Rosa. I then decided it would be a good idea to go to the outlets in Petaluma. I need some sweatpants for morning clothes because it was actually pretty cold here in the morning. I also scored some AMAZING Sorel winter boots at the Saks Fifth Ave outlet for only $45 bucks! Very pleased with myself, I headed back to Santa Rosa and was not hungry. I forced myself to eat some chicken noodle soup and bread. This was my fatal error. I should have eaten a more normal schedule the day before the race because I ended up going into race morning in somewhat of a nutrition deficit. In bed by 9:30, a little melatonin to get the sleep process started. As I'm reading through Facebook, I see a message from the race organizers saying there may be a problem with the swim. Apparently, the drastic swings in day/night temperatures have caused Lake Sonoma to be engulfed by fog, which makes it impossible for lifeguards to see athletes if someone is having a problem. They say they'll see how tomorrow goes and make announcements on race changes that morning. Uh...not good.

RACE DAY

Ufftah...3:45 AM in the damn morning. I never got up that earlier intentionally in my LIFE. Again, because of the point-to-point race, it was advised that athletes take the shuttle at 4:15 AM to swim start since there was very little parking on site. The ride was actually pretty pleasant, chill, I ate my bagel with peanut butter and iced coffee (standard race morning meal) and I was a happy triathlon camper.

Arrived on site at 5:15am. There were already a crap-ton of people there. Did they wake up at like 3AM?! Seriously, so crazy. All seems fine, announcers says water temp is 74. Great. Porta Potty, air up Michonne's tires, shimmy myself into the wetsuit. Let's roll.

6:45AM - RACE ANNOUNCER: "So uh, athletes, we're going to delay the race start to 7am to see if this fog lifts. We'll make the determination then to either shorten the swim to 1000m (ok, but not great) or cancel the swim and do a time-trial bike start." My first thought is there's no way we're going to swim. The Fog looked like a scene from a Stephen King novel. You couldn't even see the lake from T1.

Stephen King's "The Mist" or T1? 

I spent the next 45 minutes chatting up my fellow athletes. They position you by age group so I was surrounded by middle age women of all shapes, sizes, races, ethinicities, doing this crazy thing called triathlon. Met a woman whose house burned down last December in Santa Rosa, and she had just had a baby...and she still trained for the last several months while her house was being rebuilt! Another woman who was training for Ironman Wisconsin, another doing her first 70.3. During this time, I probably should have eaten something.

7am - Race Announcer: "The full 1.2 mile swim has been scrubbed. We'll be back with you in 15 minutes to determine whether or not we'll do a 1000m swim or eliminate the swim and do a time trial bike start."

7:15am - Race Announcer: "No swim today, folks. We'll start launching the pro athletes in a time trial start at 7:30." Ok, no swim. This sucks but at this point, I just want to get started. I stay in my wetsuit a little longer because it's warm. I drop off my morning clothes bag at the station to transport back to T2 and I start getting my gear out for the bike. A time-trial start means, they send athletes out 5 at a time, every 10 seconds. This, in theory, spreads out the race field. Here's a quick video of Ironman World Champion Mirinda Carfrae on her start:

Go Rinny!

THE BIKE
It was truly awesome for the first 2 hours. Beautiful countryside with vineyards and rolling hills. I was getting passed like crazy but I was having a good time. That's when I started to feel really hungry. I brought exactly 4 GUs with me on the bike which I take every 45 minutes. This plan has always worked for me but clearly that's when I've already have enough fuel in advance. By mile 30 I was starving. This can't be good. And then that climb on Chalk Hill Road hit me. What would be an average climb in Colorado felt like I was going to pass out. I was Bonking. And I attribute this largely to lack of proper nutrition. Yikes.

[TRIATHLON DICTIONARY ASIDE]
Bonk /bäNGk/(verb) in endurance sports such as cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk is a condition of sudden fatigue and loss of energy which is caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles.

As I made my way into town, I was never so happy to be off that bike. I don't have official times yet but it was something like 3:54:00. Pretty shitty. My worst time for a 70.3 on the bike by like 25 minutes.

T2
GU! Sucked that down ASAP and got on with the run. I was dreaming about the pretzels and coca cola at the first aid stop at mile 1.

RUN
My legs were a little beat but I was shockingly fresh on the run. My run has been horrible all year and I walk a lot. My pace was actually averaging better than what I did in training. Then it started to get hot. I took in water and gatorade every stop. By Mile 8, I was putting ice in my sports bra as "storage" and carrying ice in each hand. And I crushed those pretzels. Hardly had any GU at all. I think the salt and the carbs were reviving me. I actually started passing people. Literally everyone was walking at some point on this run. As always on the run, you start talking to people and connecting with folks who are in the same place that you are on the course. Saw a 61 year old man run past me and I yelled out, "There is no way you are 61. You look like you're 35." He said, "that's the nicest thing I've heard all day." By the way, your age is written on your calf for these races.

By Mile 12, I was ready to get my damn finisher hat and call it day. The crowds coming into the finishing line are just amazing. Your name is on your race bib so everyone is cheering your name. It's impossible to not feel great with all these people cheering for you. Crossed the finish line. Run time was like 3:17. Pretty much a fast walk pace.

Picked up some pretty outstanding homemade paella and a beer at the athlete food tent. Sat down to inhale this and was joined by some guys in the 50+ age group who qualified for Kona. Had a nice chat and reflected on the day.

I picked up Michonne in T2, thanked her for not getting us in a crash and took her back to Tribike Transport for her journey back to Colorado.

What's next?
I'm done for this season. I am officially entering "off season." Maybe I'll do an aqua bike later in August just for fun but I'm not registering until the last minute. Ben and I go to Germany next month so I may just call it quits for this year. What I do know is, this will likely be my last 70.3 (at least for a while). Until I drop some major weight, the run is going to be a problem for me. I'm planning to focus on weight training, swimming and cycling for the rest of this year and probably throw in some other fun stuff: dance classes, yoga, hiking, etc.

Next season: it's all about the Aquabike!

Thanks everyone for your support and cheers. I'm such an amateur and slow poke, but I truly enjoy the process and getting to that finish line is such a test of mental toughness for me. I love this stuff.

Stay tuned!

Winner, Winner, paella dinner

"Not Pathetic" - Colorado Triathlon 2018 Race Report

My participation in Saturday's Colorado Triathlon marks the beginning of my sixth season participating in this sport. Although I'm a bit heavier, slower and older, I have really come a long way over the last five seasons. My grit factor has dramatically increased, I don't worry about being dead freaking last anymore, and I generally just do this to have some fun and push myself a bit.

My running has just been so sucky since my hamstring strain in 2015. I've also suffered from some calf problems which just slows me down so significantly. I've grown to dread runs in general and if anything has to get shortened in my weekly training, it's usually the run. With this in mind, I'm not sure if I'll be competing in the triple sport category next year and may shift to the aquabike division. We'll see. But first, I still have 8 weeks until Santa Rosa, so I need to get consistent with running at least over the next 8 weeks.

Now on to the race report...

PRE-RACE
I was able to make it to packet pickup on Thursday night and get in a swim at Boulder Reservoir that night. It was a HORRIBLE swim. First time I put the wetsuit on this year and what should have been a 1500m swim was nearly 2400m. I just couldn't see where I was going and it took me time to adjust to wetsuit reality again. This concerned me for race day. In other news, the Colorado Triathlon swag bag is off the chain: hoodie shirt, water bottle, pint glass, lots of samples. If you didn't know already, I primarily pick races based on the swag they distribute.

I planned to go into this race knowing that I could very well end up DFL (dead freaking last), but I was planning to just race my own race and not worry about how good everyone else is in this state full of super fit triathletes. I'm over it.

RACE MORNING
Up at 4:40a, load up the car, on the road by 5:15. Ben slept in because he gets up every morning at 5:30a and I told him to just sleep. He deserves it!

I had a bagel with peanut butter and a Bing cherry energy drink instead of coffee. I was at the race site by 6:05 and had plenty of time to set up my transition, body marking, timing chip and a short warm up run. You couldn't ask for a better weather day: cool air temps, sunny, dry, light winds.

Swim warm-up opened at 7 and whew lord, that water was COLD. They said 66 degrees which is not the coldest I've experienced but I felt it. Lots of folks were freaking out about water temps but it is an early June race so...that's what's up. Did a few hundred yards around the practice swim perimeter and felt FINE. Let's do this thing.

Transition area rocking my "Pathetic" T-shirt

SWIM
Outstanding swim. If you look at my Strava, you'll see my route was on course and total yardage was almost exactly race distance. My start to shore time was 33:42 but I took my sweet time from shore to transition so my official race swim split was 35:01. T1 was 3:04....which is slow, but whatevs.

BIKE
Decent bike, but not my best time on this route. Basically what I expected...1:38:33 on 23.5 miles (not a true Olympic bike course). I probably could have pushed harder on the bike. I was just phoning it in a bit and having a nice ride. Same for T2...wasted a lot of time (4:02) doing I-don't-know-what...dreading the run, perhaps? Likely...

RUN
Well, as I said, not good. In positive news, it was better than my run/walk pace of 15 minute miles at Bolder Boulder, but it was still pitiful. And in better news, I wasn't DFL! Run time was 1:28:17.

Total finish time: 3:48:58

Overall, I achieved my goals:

• didn't drown
• didn't crash
• didn't finish DFL
• first and only in my race category (Athena Olympic distance)
• didn't completely embarrass myself

So 8 weeks until Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa. I think I can actually do better than my pitiful time at Ironman 70.3 Boulder last year but not sure if I could come close to beating my Ironman 70.3 Steelhead time from 2015. Going to work hard and stay consistent over the next 8 weeks. If nothing else, training in Colorado this time of year is the absolute best. Every day outside is a delight. Makes the process fun as well. Stay tuned!

2018 Race Season - Week 1 on the Road to Santa Rosa

It's been quite a while since my last blog post but well, I've been busy. Raced a relatively uninspiring season in 2017, got through the first year of my new job, went to China. You know, just a few things going on. Good news is, I've stayed relatively active during the off season and feel like I'm in a decent place as I begin triathlon training season.

I like outlining my race season for the world to see because it kind of keeps me honest with my training. Today marks the end of week 1 of my 20-week training plan for Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa in July. I'm looking forward to a few new races this year and to a 70.3 course at sea level with shade! I've grown to enjoy the process for 70.3 training and it's challenging but also doable for my current fitness level and amount of time I have to train.

Goals for this season:

Boulder 70.3 - 2017

• Swim - just maintain: I'd say that I've lost some speed since my 2015 season, when I had a coach and was swimming 7-8k a week. However, I am extremely comfortable in open water now, still enjoy swimming and feel pretty good about my swim times. For Boulder 70.3 last year, I swam almost the exact same time as Steelhead 70.3 in 2015 (much harder swim course), so I'm cool with that. I'll swim two, maybe three times a week during this training plan but this is not a focus area this year.

• Bike - it's all about the power: I've been really growing in this area since I moved to Colorado and will spend a lot more time this season building strength on the bike. I was consistent with spin class/bike-on-trainer over the winter and saw my FTP increase over several months. If I can stay consistent with this for the next 19 weeks, sea level in CA is going to feel amazing.

• Run - time on my feet: After Steelhead in 2015, I acquired a deep hamstring strain which required months of PT. I basically didn't run at all for like 5 months and then struggled with running for up to a year. During this time, I also gained about 15 lbs, which also made running even more difficult. 2017 race season was better but dramatically slower. I have been very consistent since January and basically if I do nothing else in a week, I get my prescribed runs in. I'm finally feeling some quality, albeit slow, runs and no injuries at all. I'd like to get that half marathon for the 70.3 under 2:45:00. 

2018 RACE SEASON:

• Apr 15 - Horsetooth Half Marathon (Ft. Collins, CO)
• May 5 - AZ Open Water State Championships - 2500m open water swim (Tempe, AZ)
• May 28 - Bolder Boulder 10K (Boulder, CO)
• Jun 2 - Colorado Triathlon (Oly) (Boulder, CO)
• Jun 16 - Denver Century Ride (HALF century for me) (Denver, CO)
• TENTATIVE - Jul 8 - Boulder Peak Triathlon (Oly) (Boulder, CO)
• 'A' RACE: Jul 28 - Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa, CA)

Might add a race or two in the fall, but we'll see how things go. More to come!

I did it! Whole 30 successfully completed, but what now?

I am a super hero. I just completed 30 entire days on the Whole 30. This is the most successful run I've ever had on a "diet." The process has transformed my eating patterns and has helped me to understand the difference between cravings and hunger. I've also discovered foods that were not regularly in my eating rotation. So as Kai Ryssdal from NPR's Marketplace says, "let's do the numbers:"

Weight loss - I lost 8 lbs during the Whole 30. Again, pretty significant for someone who never can drop weight. It should also be noted that the first two weeks were extremely difficult to exercise because I was exhausted all the time. The sugar detox really drained me so I lost that weight without my normal exercise routine.

Inches - about 5 inches overall. I noticed this the most in my waist and thighs.

Macronutrients - My daily breakdown was give or take around 50% fat, 20% protein and 30% carb. Sometimes the carbs creeped up a little higher if I had more fruit but the percentages were in and around these ranges most days. The fat intake may seem high but it's in line believe it or not. This was a major shift in my thinking. Fat is not bad.

Calories - between 1500 and 1700 daily. On days with 45-60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, I might get up to 1800. Whole 30 says not to track calories or macros but I wanted to know for when I go back to civilian life. Shockingly, I never felt hungry but I had to be careful with timing, particularly after a workout. Also, my calorie intake mostly occurred between 8a and 8p. I would sometimes bring my breakfast to work because I wasn't hungry enough to eat it until around10a.

What I learned:

• Eating whole, non-processed foods 100% of the time is not that hard - it just takes planning. I tried to avoid eating out and cooked at home A LOT during the last 30 days to control what I was eating. I have a lot of meetings over meals and I was out of town for work 8 days this month so it required a lot of planning. If I had a breakfast or lunch meeting, I would always look at the menu before I arrived at the restaurant. I also kept Whole 30-approved snacks to a minimum but on hand for emergencies. Thank God for Larabars.
• I was eating WAY TOO MUCH sugar before Whole 30. When I think about the amount of processed sugar I was eating before this month, it's a little embarrassing. Like a 10-year-old kid embarrassing.
• I should probably avoid dairy altogether. I've been lactose intolerant all my life. I use lactaid, dairy pills etc, but my gut has felt so much better this month and I think no dairy has a lot to do with that.
• I'm stronger than I originally thought. I can exercise willpower. If I ate Whole 30 even 75-80% of the time, I'd be in good shape with my nutrition.

Whole 30 complete! What now?

I plan to shift to primarily Paleo eating which is extremely similar to the Whole 30 but a little more flexible on substitutes for sweeteners and grains. Last month, I started reading Paleo Diet for Athletes, which is co-written by the guru of triathlon/endurance training, Joe Friel. He is a proponent of Paleo eating and believes it improves performance. For me, it's about finding balance and this way of eating is now understandable for me and I know it actually can taste good too.

Tomorrow on day 31, I will have a glass of wine in the evening and I will likely use Splenda in my coffee (still will use unsweetened coconut milk for creamer) but I am going to try to keep this going for a bit and drop some more weight before the main triathlon training season starts. Curious about Whole 30? I strongly suggest you read the book and get to know Pinterest. Thanks for your support these last 30 days!

This actually tastes as good as it looks!

 

Reflections After Week 3 of the Whole 30

It's hard to believe that I have successfully completed 21 days of the Whole 30. I have been pretty honest with my food and have not strayed. Although, today I did have a chai tea with coconut milk which I suspect has a gram or 2 of cane sugar, but I'm not going to sweat it. Interestingly, I was planning to use sunflower butter on my pear yesterday and when I tasted it, I immediately knew it was sweetened. I looked at the jar and it included sugar...so I had to go back to using the raw almond butter. It's amazing that I can tell right away if there's added sugar.

As I enter my last 10 days of the Whole 30, I feel pretty good about myself. I think I may have lost some weight but according to Whole 30 rules, I'm not able to weight myself until the end. I am most proud of how I've been able to find some willpower. I have never been successful for this long on a "diet." It's definitely changed how I feel about food. I've been cooking a lot, learned a lot about food and my food cravings have virtually vanished. Would I like to have dessert, artificial sweetener in my coffee and a nice glass of wine? Yeah, sure, but I don't need it. One of the most significant lessons I've learned on the Whole 30 is the difference between hunger and craving. I've asked myself so many times: am I hungry right now or is this just a craving? It's a simple question but when you really analyze your feelings, it's a simple answer.

Ben has been back and forth from Nebraska as he finishes his PA clinical rotations so I have been cooking for myself mostly. When I cook, I've been really getting into this reality show on the History Channel called "Alone." The premise of the show is 10 people are left alone on Vancouver Island to survive until only one person is left. Each participant can choose 10 items to bring with them. They have to build their own shelters, find food (mostly fishing and rodents) and combat loneliness. As the participants remain on the island for 1 week, 2 weeks, 2 months(!), it all comes down to willpower. At any time, a participant can pick up their satellite phone and "tap out" (quit the show). Within an hour, a boat will arrive and take them home. A number of the participants have incredible survival skills  - they're able to build canoes, pretty nice shelters and a number of items that would allow them to live in the wilderness for quite some time. However, the individuals who win, have really strong mental toughness. As silly as it sounds, if these people have the mental toughness to survive in the wild for 2 months, I can go a month without sugar.

I'll post an update on Day 31. Wish me look for the next 10 days!

End of Whole 30 Week 2...and change of race plans

Week 2 on the Whole 30 was significantly better than week 1. No more headaches and I finally have the energy to exercise. I've been getting creative with my cooking and using a number of cool gadgets including my spiralizer which makes zucchini noodles, a magic bullet for smoothies and a juicer. The cravings have subsided a bit and overall, I feel pretty good. I'm in a bit of a routine at this point and I am very deliberate with my food planning. If I have to eat out, I search for Paleo-friendly restaurants, which typically fit within the Whole 30 guidelines. My brother has been in town for a few days and we went to an AMAZING Paleo-friendly restaurant in Boulder called Zeal.

I had a dish with cauliflower "rice" and braised beef. My brother had cauliflower "wings" and lavender-infused komboucha on tap. I also had a divine cup of dairy free, sugar free chai. Thank you, Zeal, for making dinner interesting last Friday. I'm now on the hunt for similar restaurants in Denver.

In other news, I decided to adjust my race schedule a bit. I've been considering the Escape Triathlon Series as an option instead of 106° West Triathlon. First place in age groups (including Athena/Clydesdale) win a free entry to the coveted Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. It's a race that has been on my bucket list and it's hard to win a lottery slot. I would register as an Athena and see what happens. I was also thinking it might be fun to race at sea level after training and racing at altitude all summer. The closest Escape event to me is Des Moines, so I decided to register while the early bird pricing is in effect.

Sunday, April 23 - Cherry Creak Sneak 10 mile run - Denver, CO
Saturday, May 27 - Sky Sprint Triathlon - Ann Arbor, MI
Saturday, June 3 - Colorado Triathlon (Olympic) - Boulder, CO
Saturday, June 25 - Tri the Boat (Olympic) - Steamboat Springs, CO
Saturday, July 9 - Tour de Ladies (metric century [62.5 mi] bike ride) - Parker, CO
Saturday, August 5 - Ironman Boulder 70.3 - Boulder, CO
Sunday, September 3 - Escape Des Moines Triathlon (Olympic) - Des Moines, IA
Saturday, September 9 - 106° West Triathlon (Olympic) - Dillon, CO