My 2016 race schedule has been three months in the making. Triathlon racing is so well-suited to the OCD, data-obsessed, uber-planner like myself so even during the off-season, I can begin thinking about my next "ON-season." But this season is as much about 2017 as it is about 2016. The goal for 2016, my fourth triathlon season, is to set a solid foundation for 2017: the year of my first full Ironman distance race. I have Ironman Louisville in my sights for October 2017. Main goals for the year:
1. Increase my long distance average speed on the bike to a minimum of 16 mph
How I will accomplish this: I need to spend more time on the trainer during the winter with a focus on interval training. I will also increase the number of long rides I do during my primary training. I also need to brave the roads and find more routes with hills, rather than my usual Keystone Trail route.
2. Improve my run times on all events
How I will accomplish this: I need to stay consistent with my running. Running is my least favorite discipline of the three. I tend to give up more easily on the run and cut runs short. Strength training also needs to remain a solid part of my plan. I spent a good amount of time this fall working on strength training to rehab my hamstring strain. I need to continue to do at least two quality strength training sessions a week and supplement with regular visits to the chiropractor and massage therapist. I also need to incorporate more brick workouts to help myself more easily aclimate to the triathlon run. And oh yeah, I just need to run more.
3. Feel good about a marathon finish
How I will accomplish this: I've run two marathons in the past. The first was Detroit in 2005. Chicago was 2010. In the first case, I was not sufficiently prepared and I ended up walking the last 6 miles. In the case of Chicago, the temperature was unseasonably warm and it was already 80 degrees by the time I arrived at mile 16. Although I felt I put in the training work, I was suffering by mile 20....and ended up walking the last 6 miles.
Because of these two races, I have a pretty negative feeling about the marathon distance. Ben is planning to run New York City Marathon in 2016 and I would love to be there with him. He will get a guaranteed entry because he's so fast. I'm hoping to lottery in but if not, I will probably run for a charity. NYC seems like a race that will be an incredible course with lots of support and I will need every ounce of encouragement to make this a successful race. I'd like to complete one marathon where I feel I am properly trained, healthy and mentally tough enough to give a good performance. For me, this would mean anything near or around 5 hrs and 15 minutes. In order to do this, I need to achieve goal 2. I'd like to go into 2017 Ironman training season knowing I can get through that marathon successfully.
4. Race a sub 7-hour Half Ironman
How I will accomplish this: This will be ambitious but totally do-able at Steelhead, especially if conditions are as good as they were this past summer. The key is shaving a small percentage of time off of each event and the transitions. Last year's finish was Swim - 47:58, T1 - 5:50, bike - 3:40:11, T2 - 8:31, Run - 2:45:31. I know I can get at least 4 minutes off the swim time. If I can get my average bike speed up to 16 mph, I'd be good for a 3:30:00 on the bike. Which means the majority of the time has to be made up on the run. This means shaving off only 15 minutes from my run, which sucked this past year, so that seems do-able. A run time of 2:25:00 would be ideal, but that may be pushing it, especially considering the hills on the run course. I'd like to leave myself some wiggle room on the transitions so I'd budget 15 minutes total for the two. This is an ambitious goal but I would feel very good going into 2017 if I could achieve this.
2016 RACE SCHEDULE
The race schedule will include some races I've enjoyed in the past and some new courses. The Omaha Duathlon is always a fun tune-up race and the Lincoln Half forces me to run early in the season. Kansas City and the Athena Championships will be new for me this year. I've not done a triathlon this early in the season before so again, this will force me to get serious by February. Ben and I absolutely love running Bolder Boulder. We try to do it every year and make it a beer drinking/training weekend. I've also not raced the Omaha Half Marathon so I will use this race as my 20 miler training run for NYC, with a plan of running another 6 miles after I finish the official half race.
Omaha Duathlon - Sunday, April 24
Lincoln Half Marathon - Sunday, May 1
Kansas City Triathlon - Sunday, May 15
Bolder Boulder 10K - Monday, May 30
USAT Athena/Clydesdale National Championships - Sunday, June 12
Lifetime Tri Minneapolis - Saturday, July 9
Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - Sunday, August 14
Omaha Corporate Cup - Sunday, September 11
Omaha Half Marathon (+ 6 miles) - Sunday, September 18
New York City Marathon - Sunday, November 6
Let's hope for a healthy and productive 2016 race season. Stay tuned!
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Monday, October 26, 2015
Off season, Injuries and Crowie's Ball
Ah the off season...
It's been 2 and a half months since my Ironman 70.3 finish at Steelhead but it feels like years ago. My MBA classes started back up, Ben and I did a road trip through northern MI and WI and a lot of cool things have been happening at work as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Holland Center. With all this activity, you'd think I'd be more than pre-occupied. However, my free time often wanders to researching races for 2016 and planning trips around those races. The tri tan lines have faded, a little weight gain has set in and yep, I have a slight case of the off-season blues.
The Injury...
I had been struggling with my right hamstring pretty much all summer, but I muscled through to be able to finish my A race. Immediately after, I decided I'd take 2 weeks off from running to let things come back to normal. Things didn't come back to normal, though. It felt like it got worse. Sitting for long periods of time was really uncomfortable and I switched to a standing desk at work to see if that would help. Running was nearly impossible. My right leg would begin to drag after about 15 minutes because it hurt so bad to drive me knees forward. At the end of August, I saw a PT who diagnosed me with hamstring tendonosis.
Hamstring tendonosis is an advanced tendonitis in the high part of the hamstring (near the insertion point at the glute). Essentially, the hamstring muscle fibers begin to break down due to weakness (from lack of strength training - I never train my legs) and not being able to heal (overuse in training). After obsessively researching it on the internet, I learned that this particular injury takes a long time to heal....as long as 3-6 months. The PT gave me a rehab exercise regimen that he said "will require a lot of patience and consistency." That does not sound like my idea of fun.
The Recovery
The regimen requires me to do 12 sets of 12 hamstring curls 5 days a week for 12 weeks. In my case, the issue is exacerbated by the way my pelvis is tilted so I have to do a prep exercise to re-set my pelvis alignment before I start do the strengthening exercises. In addition, I have added upper body training at least twice a week and supplemental lower body (quads and glutes) twice week. My cardio has really only been swimming which is not nearly as consistent as it should be. I am finishing up week 8 of 12 and just within the past week or so have I noticed an actual improvement. Last week the PT suggested I try to run a little bit and see how things are progressing. I've only done about 2 miles at a time and so far, so good. It's still a nagging pain but not 100% debilitating like it was 8 weeks ago.I have also started doing spin and indoor riding again. I have been super consistent with my rehab exercises so hopefully I can fix this. I'm also seeing a chiropractor once a week to re-set my alignment and massage about every 10 days to 2 weeks. It's taking forever, but I'm feeling optimistic.
Suggestions?
If anyone has had any experience with high hamstring strains, sprains or tendonosis, I'd love to hear suggestions or rehab/treatment that worked for you.
"Crowie's Balls"
One other suggestion the PT has made was to increase core strength so I've been incorporating core strength training in between each of my hamstring curl sets. When I do both abs and hamstring, it takes almost 30 minutes. Because planks and crunches get boring, I started researching some alternatives and came across this gem. The amazing triathlete superstar Craig "Crowie" Alexander has this fantastic series of core exercises that I have been using. He affectionately refers to some of these exercises as "crowie's balls." Behold...Crowie's Balls below...
It's been 2 and a half months since my Ironman 70.3 finish at Steelhead but it feels like years ago. My MBA classes started back up, Ben and I did a road trip through northern MI and WI and a lot of cool things have been happening at work as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Holland Center. With all this activity, you'd think I'd be more than pre-occupied. However, my free time often wanders to researching races for 2016 and planning trips around those races. The tri tan lines have faded, a little weight gain has set in and yep, I have a slight case of the off-season blues.
The Injury...
I had been struggling with my right hamstring pretty much all summer, but I muscled through to be able to finish my A race. Immediately after, I decided I'd take 2 weeks off from running to let things come back to normal. Things didn't come back to normal, though. It felt like it got worse. Sitting for long periods of time was really uncomfortable and I switched to a standing desk at work to see if that would help. Running was nearly impossible. My right leg would begin to drag after about 15 minutes because it hurt so bad to drive me knees forward. At the end of August, I saw a PT who diagnosed me with hamstring tendonosis.
Hamstring tendonosis is an advanced tendonitis in the high part of the hamstring (near the insertion point at the glute). Essentially, the hamstring muscle fibers begin to break down due to weakness (from lack of strength training - I never train my legs) and not being able to heal (overuse in training). After obsessively researching it on the internet, I learned that this particular injury takes a long time to heal....as long as 3-6 months. The PT gave me a rehab exercise regimen that he said "will require a lot of patience and consistency." That does not sound like my idea of fun.
The Recovery
The regimen requires me to do 12 sets of 12 hamstring curls 5 days a week for 12 weeks. In my case, the issue is exacerbated by the way my pelvis is tilted so I have to do a prep exercise to re-set my pelvis alignment before I start do the strengthening exercises. In addition, I have added upper body training at least twice a week and supplemental lower body (quads and glutes) twice week. My cardio has really only been swimming which is not nearly as consistent as it should be. I am finishing up week 8 of 12 and just within the past week or so have I noticed an actual improvement. Last week the PT suggested I try to run a little bit and see how things are progressing. I've only done about 2 miles at a time and so far, so good. It's still a nagging pain but not 100% debilitating like it was 8 weeks ago.I have also started doing spin and indoor riding again. I have been super consistent with my rehab exercises so hopefully I can fix this. I'm also seeing a chiropractor once a week to re-set my alignment and massage about every 10 days to 2 weeks. It's taking forever, but I'm feeling optimistic.
Suggestions?
If anyone has had any experience with high hamstring strains, sprains or tendonosis, I'd love to hear suggestions or rehab/treatment that worked for you.
"Crowie's Balls"
One other suggestion the PT has made was to increase core strength so I've been incorporating core strength training in between each of my hamstring curl sets. When I do both abs and hamstring, it takes almost 30 minutes. Because planks and crunches get boring, I started researching some alternatives and came across this gem. The amazing triathlete superstar Craig "Crowie" Alexander has this fantastic series of core exercises that I have been using. He affectionately refers to some of these exercises as "crowie's balls." Behold...Crowie's Balls below...
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Race Report for Ironman 70.3 Steelhead: A Perfect Day
Approximately three years ago, I watched my husband complete Ironman Wisconsin. I had always been enamored with the Ironman. I'd watched the race on television and read a book or two on people who have tackled the monster of endurance races. Ben did an incredible job, finishing in less than 10 hours. Watching this race was really the moment I decided I wanted to become a triathlete. I couldn't swim one lap in the pool, I didn't own a bike and I wasn't a very good runner. I had completed a number of running races but at the end of the two marathons that I completed, I didn't really feel good about them. I felt like I just "got through it." Today was the longest endurance event I have ever experienced and it was by far one of the most amazing feelings I've had in a race. With that said, on to the race report...
Pre-race:
FRIDAY - I left Omaha on Friday morning at 6:45am. It was a LONG drive. I arrived at the race site at 6:02p and they had just closed athlete check-in. Grrr. Headed to the hotel, checked in, found a Qdoba and settled in for the night. I really like to stick with food that I know pre-race and Qdoba, Chipotle and Panera are basically my favorites.
SATURDAY - Headed out to the Ironman Village around 9:30. After check-in, my plan was to attend the athlete meeting and then get a quick swim in Lake Michigan. It looks really intimidating at first but it was a lovely swim. The forecast predicted pretty outstanding race conditions.
I met with parents-in-law around 6p to show them the race start and have dinner. It was really nice to have them around for the race and to know someone would be there in case the day did not go as planned (translation: in case I ended up in the medical tent). We had a nice dinner and I was in bed by 9:30p.
RACE MORNING:
I didn't sleep very well, waking up at 2:30a and tossing and turning until I had to get out of bed at 4:30a. Gulped down some Gatorade, coffee and oatmeal and I was at the race site around 5:30a. Set up my transition and connected with my in-laws. Ran into Paul, a Team Nebraska Triathlon member, and we had a nice chat. We both commented on how AWESOME the race conditions were compared to what we're used to in the Plains states tris. Susan, Richard and I walked down to the swim start and I got in the water for about 10 minutes of warm-up. My shoulder had been bothering me a bit since my bike accident so I was a little nervous about that. My plan was to just swim the hell out of this race with the thought that I won't need my shoulder again for a while :-)
SWIM:
My wave went off at 7:12a and it was right on schedule. There were A LOT of woman in this wave as it included age groups 40-44 and 25-29. I've never been in a wave with so many people and it was a bit rough to start. I was super calm and started swimming right away. The conditions were outstanding. Water temp was 72.8 degrees, winds were calm and there was really no chop at all. The water was crystal clear and lovely. I must admit that it's a little disconcerting to look out and see a sea of nothing but water ahead of you but I stayed surprisingly calm. When I got to the alleged half way point, I was at 25ish minutes and I was like, huh? I started cranking a little faster and made the final turn around 35 minutes. The course was busy pretty much the entire swim. I was blowing past some folks, though. My swim coach Jim has been working with me on picking up cadence for these instances where you need to get out of a clump of people. Definitely paid off today. On the beach and although it wasn't my best, I was happy with the result. My GPS read 1.57 miles so I would say I did pretty damn well. SWIM SPLIT: 47:58
TRANSITION 1: I took my time here. Didn't run through the sand for fear of turning my ankle. Made my way down the long aisle to my bike and was out of there pretty quickly. T1: 5:50
BIKE:
Have I mentioned that race conditions were near perfect? Overcast all day, hardly any wind. Temps in the low to mid 70s. This bike course is FAST. I wasn't event killing myself, trying to make sure I was functional for the run, and I rode my fastest miles-per-hour average ever for this distance. Actually, it may be the best EVER ever. I swear this course felt like it was all downhill. There were two little hills but nothing like I've experienced in other races. One new thing for me was the bottle toss/bottle pick up. I was terrified I would crash. I lost two bottles during the course of the bike but I was able to maintain my nutrition schedule really well. Excellent bike split overall. BIKE SPLIT: 3:40:11
TRANSITION 2: A lot slower. By this point, I REALLY needed to use the bathroom. No point in going into the nasty details, but I was in there for a little bit. Still, no real stomach distress. T2: 8:31
RUN:
Although I had a good bike, I was glad to be off of that damn thing. the run kicks off with a nice little uphill which many people were walking (including myself). I struggled through mile 6 and then actually picked up the pace a bit for about 3 miles. Coca Cola - WOW. This is like a miracle drug at this point. Other than the coke, I stuck to my normal Powerbar energy blends, which is essentially pureed fruit - kind of like baby food. I had absolutely no gastro distress or dehydration. I drank every stop and was fine. The last 2 miles were rough but funny enough, I ran this bad boy slightly faster than I ran my disastrous Lincoln Half Marathon. RUN SPLIT: 2:45:31
I cannot describe the joy I felt to cross the finish line. I could never have imagined that I would be able to do this. I'm by no means fast or competitive, but what I have personally accomplished with this training was really pretty incredible for me. This is the first race plan that I actually stuck with the entire 20 weeks. Even through a nasty bike accident. One thing I realized is how I am no where near ready to finish an Ironman but I also said the same thing about the half Iron 3 years ago. We'll see what the future brings. For now, I look forward to rocking my M dot and I even want to do this again. Thanks to all of you who have supported me this year and I'll come back to the blog when my new season starts in January. Until then!
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| My Finisher Medal |
FRIDAY - I left Omaha on Friday morning at 6:45am. It was a LONG drive. I arrived at the race site at 6:02p and they had just closed athlete check-in. Grrr. Headed to the hotel, checked in, found a Qdoba and settled in for the night. I really like to stick with food that I know pre-race and Qdoba, Chipotle and Panera are basically my favorites.
SATURDAY - Headed out to the Ironman Village around 9:30. After check-in, my plan was to attend the athlete meeting and then get a quick swim in Lake Michigan. It looks really intimidating at first but it was a lovely swim. The forecast predicted pretty outstanding race conditions.
 |
| Swim finish chute |
RACE MORNING:
I didn't sleep very well, waking up at 2:30a and tossing and turning until I had to get out of bed at 4:30a. Gulped down some Gatorade, coffee and oatmeal and I was at the race site around 5:30a. Set up my transition and connected with my in-laws. Ran into Paul, a Team Nebraska Triathlon member, and we had a nice chat. We both commented on how AWESOME the race conditions were compared to what we're used to in the Plains states tris. Susan, Richard and I walked down to the swim start and I got in the water for about 10 minutes of warm-up. My shoulder had been bothering me a bit since my bike accident so I was a little nervous about that. My plan was to just swim the hell out of this race with the thought that I won't need my shoulder again for a while :-)
SWIM:
My wave went off at 7:12a and it was right on schedule. There were A LOT of woman in this wave as it included age groups 40-44 and 25-29. I've never been in a wave with so many people and it was a bit rough to start. I was super calm and started swimming right away. The conditions were outstanding. Water temp was 72.8 degrees, winds were calm and there was really no chop at all. The water was crystal clear and lovely. I must admit that it's a little disconcerting to look out and see a sea of nothing but water ahead of you but I stayed surprisingly calm. When I got to the alleged half way point, I was at 25ish minutes and I was like, huh? I started cranking a little faster and made the final turn around 35 minutes. The course was busy pretty much the entire swim. I was blowing past some folks, though. My swim coach Jim has been working with me on picking up cadence for these instances where you need to get out of a clump of people. Definitely paid off today. On the beach and although it wasn't my best, I was happy with the result. My GPS read 1.57 miles so I would say I did pretty damn well. SWIM SPLIT: 47:58
TRANSITION 1: I took my time here. Didn't run through the sand for fear of turning my ankle. Made my way down the long aisle to my bike and was out of there pretty quickly. T1: 5:50
BIKE:
Have I mentioned that race conditions were near perfect? Overcast all day, hardly any wind. Temps in the low to mid 70s. This bike course is FAST. I wasn't event killing myself, trying to make sure I was functional for the run, and I rode my fastest miles-per-hour average ever for this distance. Actually, it may be the best EVER ever. I swear this course felt like it was all downhill. There were two little hills but nothing like I've experienced in other races. One new thing for me was the bottle toss/bottle pick up. I was terrified I would crash. I lost two bottles during the course of the bike but I was able to maintain my nutrition schedule really well. Excellent bike split overall. BIKE SPLIT: 3:40:11
TRANSITION 2: A lot slower. By this point, I REALLY needed to use the bathroom. No point in going into the nasty details, but I was in there for a little bit. Still, no real stomach distress. T2: 8:31
RUN:
Although I had a good bike, I was glad to be off of that damn thing. the run kicks off with a nice little uphill which many people were walking (including myself). I struggled through mile 6 and then actually picked up the pace a bit for about 3 miles. Coca Cola - WOW. This is like a miracle drug at this point. Other than the coke, I stuck to my normal Powerbar energy blends, which is essentially pureed fruit - kind of like baby food. I had absolutely no gastro distress or dehydration. I drank every stop and was fine. The last 2 miles were rough but funny enough, I ran this bad boy slightly faster than I ran my disastrous Lincoln Half Marathon. RUN SPLIT: 2:45:31
FINAL RACE TIME: 7:28:01
I cannot describe the joy I felt to cross the finish line. I could never have imagined that I would be able to do this. I'm by no means fast or competitive, but what I have personally accomplished with this training was really pretty incredible for me. This is the first race plan that I actually stuck with the entire 20 weeks. Even through a nasty bike accident. One thing I realized is how I am no where near ready to finish an Ironman but I also said the same thing about the half Iron 3 years ago. We'll see what the future brings. For now, I look forward to rocking my M dot and I even want to do this again. Thanks to all of you who have supported me this year and I'll come back to the blog when my new season starts in January. Until then!
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| Race Finish |
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Race Report: Lifetime Tri Minneapolis - It was a good day...
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| Swim Start at Dawn |
Left Omaha around 7:30a on Friday to drive out here. Ben wasn't able to make it because of school so I had to drive up here by myself. I don't enjoy driving, but I loaded up with some good podcasts and music and did A-OK. Thank you, Terry Gross and Marc Maron.
When I arrived in Minneapolis, I drove right to the race site so I could pick up my packet and hang out for the athlete meeting. The race allowed for early bike check-in so I wanted to dump the bike, attend the meeting and then drive the bike course. They told me at check-in that you could only transport your gear in a clear transition bag. Wasn't thrilled about that (I have a system), but fine. Drove the bike course after the meeting and I was pleased to see it was fairly flat. A few little rolls but nothing crazy.
The swag is pretty good for this race. The t-shirt is underwhelming but wow, you get so much stuff in the swag bags (yes, 2 bags). I estimate they probably gave away nearly $75 in products.
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| Massive Swag |
RACE DAY:
Alarm went off at 4:25a. I had been up until 11:30p the night before watching "Gone Girl." I was not planning to stay up that late, but it sucked me in. Needless to say, it was rough waking up. Ate some oatmeal and coffee. Out the door at 5a and arrived at the race site within 10 minutes. Surprisingly, there was a lot of street parking available and transition was not busy. Note to self: arrive early for all races going forward.
I set up my transition area chilled out by the swim start. It was really calm and quite lovely at dawn. Race officials announced that the water temperature was 76.1 degrees - wetsuit legal, so I headed back to transition to get my wetsuit. I did a quick warm-up swim and felt good. I was ready.
SWIM:
The swim start was a time trial start which is awesome. I really prefer this over the wave start. Ran into the water and start swimming. And I kept swimming. It was an awesome swim. No fear, smooth sailing. I flew past a bunch of people and started catching folks in earlier waves. Crossed the swim mat and was like, "yeah, that was good." SWIM SPLIT: 00:33:50
T1: Could have been quicker but it was fine. The transition area was HUGE. T1 SPLIT: 4:52
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| Transition area |
BIKE: Bike course is awesome. Relatively flat, scenic, even a bit shaded. I was averaging 15.7 mph until about mile 17 and I had a slight chain malfunction. That cost me a few minutes. Happened again around mile 22, but so it goes. I rode strong and had fun. BIKE SPLIT: 1:41:06
T2: I had been thinking about the porta pottie since around mile 12. I was able to go right before the swim but the urge returned. Killed a little time in the porta pottie so this transition kind of sucked. T2 SPLIT: 7:05RUN: The run was meh. I wasn't struggling but I wan'ts pushing either. I need to get a little more serious about the run because there was really no excuse for me to take it easy. The course was not hilly and the temps were not bad. It was a little overcast and didn't feel too warm. I heard some athletes commenting on the heat and humidity and I was like, "um, yeah. This is nothing. Race in Kansas and then let's talk." In any case, not my best run. RUN SPLIT: 1:11:30
Even with the bike chain issue, slow T2 and sucky run, I still managed an olympic distance PR by about 2 minutes. Can't hate on that. OVERALL FINISH: 3:38:22
So that's all she wrote. This is a great race. Really nice course, well managed, fun. I highly recommend and may have to do it again next year. This was my last race until the big dance on Aug 9: Ironman Steelhead 70.3. Four weeks out so it's getting real. Stay tuned!
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| Beach at swim start |
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Legendary Race Report: The Chop, The Wind, The Heat...
Today marked the official start of my third triathlon racing season with the Legend Triathlon in Lawrence, KS. Before I get into the nitty gritty of this race report, let me first give some background on this race.
A Brief History
For a good number of years, Ironman hosted a 70.3 in this location: Clinton State Park in Lawrence, KS. Ben has done the Ironman Kansas 70.3 twice and I volunteered at the swim start both times. There have been some amazing athletes who have raced the course including Ironman champion Chrissy Wellington and Craig "Crowie" Alexander most recently in 2013. I had the honor of handing him a swim cap and telling him he couldn't warm up in the lake that year. In 2014, World Triathlon Corporation added a race to their 5150 series on this same course. I raced the 5150 last year and had a very good race, which qualified me for the non defunct Hyvee Championship. In 2015, WTC announced that it would discontinue Kansas 70.3, and their 5150 Series basically got the ax as well in this same year.
And so was born the Legend Free State Triathlon. Managed by the same race company(Silverback) that managed 5150 and 70.3, Legend boasted a number of different course options including a Sprint, Olympic (almost identical to the 5150 course), a 70.3 half iron distance and a weird 100 mile distance that included a 2 mile swim, 80 mile bike and 18 mile run. Great incentives for early registration (I got a free sweatshirt and a $75 race entry) and lots of course options resulted in really strong races entries. Someone told me there were approximately 1100 athletes racing today.
And now, to the race report...
After my not-so-great Lincoln Half Marathon, I really wanted to focus on pre-hydration and sodium intake. As always, I get such amazing advice from friend and pro triathlete Alyssa Godesky and she had given me some tips for making sure I had enough sodium and hydration before I even got on the course. I have been working on that for about a month and have had some good practice runs including a really strong Bolder Boulder race and training weekend. I felt pretty confident going into this weekend.
Pre-race
Ben and I arrived in Lawrence around 3p on Saturday. It was pretty hot but this is not unusual. I checked in and took it easy the rest of the day. Ben and I did our traditional dinner at Free State Brewery and I was well-hydrated. I had been drinking a lot of water and sports drinks for several days prior and I felt pretty good. In bed by 9:45p. Fairly restless night which is typical for me the night before a race.
Race Morning
Up without an alarm at 4:30a, slapped on some sunscreen, braided my hair and made myself some oatmeal. We were on the road at 5:07a. I usually do coffee pre-race, but I've been using an energy drink that's really great (XS - an Amway produc,t strangely enough) which goes down easy and sits well with me. We got to the race site at 5:30 and it was jammed. Parking took a while and then you have to walk literally 1.5 miles to the transition and swim start. I got there with 5 minutes to set up my crap before they closed transition. No worries, though - I have a system and it was fine. I had 40 minutes until my wave started so I had time to lube up (ASIDE: for non-triathletes, using body glide lubrication on shins/arms helps to get the wetsuit off easily and around wrists/neck/ankles to avoid nasty chaffing), have a wee (pee) and even do a little loosen-up swim. I noticed the chop but it didn't concern me.
Swim
Gun went off for my wave and the water was incredibly choppy. This was my ninth triathlon and I've done countless open water swims including a 4000 meter swim in Tempe and I never experienced anything like this. I seriously thought I was going to drown. It was a total panic/freakout and I really had a difficult time recovering. About ten minutes in, I couldn't see the people in my wave any longer because they were so far ahead of me. I breaststroked (which I don't really know how to do) to a kayak. I got my breath under control and thought, "Ok, just a little hiccup. I can do this." Started out again to the next bouy. Within 2 minutes I was panicked and unable to properly do my breathing without getting slapped in the face with a wave. I just kind of hung out for a minute considering what I was going to do. A boat came over and asked if I was OK. "Do you want us to pull you out?" they said. I couldn't believe this. "No, I got it." Swam to the next kayak. Break. Breathe. Chill. This went on like this for 40 minutes until I got to the half way point. As a point of reference, I swam the entire 1500 meter course, this exact same course, in the 5150 race last year in 36:05.
By the time, I got to the turnaround, I was able to properly freestyle without taking in gulps of waves. The second half of the race took me about 19 minutes.
swim time: 1:00:31
T1
At this point, I am seriously just happy to be out of the water. The swim is typically my favorite event but today was all about survival. I took my sweet ass time in transition, thanking the gods for getting me to dry land.
T1 time: 4:00
Bike
Uneventful and slightly slower than my 5150 time last year. It was a lot windier than last year but I felt like I enjoyed the bike more. I solidly stuck to my hydration and nutrition plan and felt pretty good getting off the bike. Alyssa told me once that I should ride "like I don't have to run after." I did not really do that today but I was kind of just getting through at this point.
bike time: 1:50:46, 13.2 mph average (CRAP)
T2
After ingesting half of the Clinton Lake on the swim, I had to PEE. Took my sweet time again and used the Porta John. NO toilet paper? NO problem - I have grit.
T2 time: 5:01
Run
Although it was about 8 minutes slower than last year's 5150, I felt pretty good. At this point, I wasn't really busting my butt because I kind of felt like the race was shot, but my legs were really fresh and it was HOT OUT THERE. 90 degrees when I finished. Very little shade on the course, but I stuck to my hydration and nutrition plan and felt fine. Note to self: do this again. As I was hitting the 6 mile point, I thought, "Yeah, if I had to do another 6, I could do it." This made me feel so happy.
run time: 1:15:52
Official race finish: 4:16:07
Takeaways:
A Brief History
For a good number of years, Ironman hosted a 70.3 in this location: Clinton State Park in Lawrence, KS. Ben has done the Ironman Kansas 70.3 twice and I volunteered at the swim start both times. There have been some amazing athletes who have raced the course including Ironman champion Chrissy Wellington and Craig "Crowie" Alexander most recently in 2013. I had the honor of handing him a swim cap and telling him he couldn't warm up in the lake that year. In 2014, World Triathlon Corporation added a race to their 5150 series on this same course. I raced the 5150 last year and had a very good race, which qualified me for the non defunct Hyvee Championship. In 2015, WTC announced that it would discontinue Kansas 70.3, and their 5150 Series basically got the ax as well in this same year.
And so was born the Legend Free State Triathlon. Managed by the same race company(Silverback) that managed 5150 and 70.3, Legend boasted a number of different course options including a Sprint, Olympic (almost identical to the 5150 course), a 70.3 half iron distance and a weird 100 mile distance that included a 2 mile swim, 80 mile bike and 18 mile run. Great incentives for early registration (I got a free sweatshirt and a $75 race entry) and lots of course options resulted in really strong races entries. Someone told me there were approximately 1100 athletes racing today.
And now, to the race report...
After my not-so-great Lincoln Half Marathon, I really wanted to focus on pre-hydration and sodium intake. As always, I get such amazing advice from friend and pro triathlete Alyssa Godesky and she had given me some tips for making sure I had enough sodium and hydration before I even got on the course. I have been working on that for about a month and have had some good practice runs including a really strong Bolder Boulder race and training weekend. I felt pretty confident going into this weekend.
Pre-race
Ben and I arrived in Lawrence around 3p on Saturday. It was pretty hot but this is not unusual. I checked in and took it easy the rest of the day. Ben and I did our traditional dinner at Free State Brewery and I was well-hydrated. I had been drinking a lot of water and sports drinks for several days prior and I felt pretty good. In bed by 9:45p. Fairly restless night which is typical for me the night before a race.
Race Morning
Up without an alarm at 4:30a, slapped on some sunscreen, braided my hair and made myself some oatmeal. We were on the road at 5:07a. I usually do coffee pre-race, but I've been using an energy drink that's really great (XS - an Amway produc,t strangely enough) which goes down easy and sits well with me. We got to the race site at 5:30 and it was jammed. Parking took a while and then you have to walk literally 1.5 miles to the transition and swim start. I got there with 5 minutes to set up my crap before they closed transition. No worries, though - I have a system and it was fine. I had 40 minutes until my wave started so I had time to lube up (ASIDE: for non-triathletes, using body glide lubrication on shins/arms helps to get the wetsuit off easily and around wrists/neck/ankles to avoid nasty chaffing), have a wee (pee) and even do a little loosen-up swim. I noticed the chop but it didn't concern me.
Swim
Gun went off for my wave and the water was incredibly choppy. This was my ninth triathlon and I've done countless open water swims including a 4000 meter swim in Tempe and I never experienced anything like this. I seriously thought I was going to drown. It was a total panic/freakout and I really had a difficult time recovering. About ten minutes in, I couldn't see the people in my wave any longer because they were so far ahead of me. I breaststroked (which I don't really know how to do) to a kayak. I got my breath under control and thought, "Ok, just a little hiccup. I can do this." Started out again to the next bouy. Within 2 minutes I was panicked and unable to properly do my breathing without getting slapped in the face with a wave. I just kind of hung out for a minute considering what I was going to do. A boat came over and asked if I was OK. "Do you want us to pull you out?" they said. I couldn't believe this. "No, I got it." Swam to the next kayak. Break. Breathe. Chill. This went on like this for 40 minutes until I got to the half way point. As a point of reference, I swam the entire 1500 meter course, this exact same course, in the 5150 race last year in 36:05.
By the time, I got to the turnaround, I was able to properly freestyle without taking in gulps of waves. The second half of the race took me about 19 minutes.
swim time: 1:00:31
T1
At this point, I am seriously just happy to be out of the water. The swim is typically my favorite event but today was all about survival. I took my sweet ass time in transition, thanking the gods for getting me to dry land.
T1 time: 4:00
Bike
Uneventful and slightly slower than my 5150 time last year. It was a lot windier than last year but I felt like I enjoyed the bike more. I solidly stuck to my hydration and nutrition plan and felt pretty good getting off the bike. Alyssa told me once that I should ride "like I don't have to run after." I did not really do that today but I was kind of just getting through at this point.
bike time: 1:50:46, 13.2 mph average (CRAP)
T2
After ingesting half of the Clinton Lake on the swim, I had to PEE. Took my sweet time again and used the Porta John. NO toilet paper? NO problem - I have grit.
T2 time: 5:01
Run
Although it was about 8 minutes slower than last year's 5150, I felt pretty good. At this point, I wasn't really busting my butt because I kind of felt like the race was shot, but my legs were really fresh and it was HOT OUT THERE. 90 degrees when I finished. Very little shade on the course, but I stuck to my hydration and nutrition plan and felt fine. Note to self: do this again. As I was hitting the 6 mile point, I thought, "Yeah, if I had to do another 6, I could do it." This made me feel so happy.
run time: 1:15:52
Official race finish: 4:16:07
Takeaways:
- Things happen. I'm really proud of myself that I kept going. Me, 2 years ago, would have turned back at the first kayak. Now that I've had this experience, I feel like I could better manage a similar experience in the future. I pray that Steelhead 70.3 swim in Lake Michigan is not as choppy.
- Hydration/nutrition planned worked. This may be the first race where I didn't want to just quit when I got off the bike. I really felt decent and I have to think it was partially due to sticking to the plan.
- Overall, these are probably the most brutal race conditions that I have experienced in a triathlon. It was also my slowest time of any of my Olympic races, including my very first one.
- BUT...I really can't believe I didn't quit. I am gaining some mental toughness and grit. and I felt so happy with myself for that. It also gave me confidence that I can do this 70.3. I have a lot of work to do in the next 9 weeks, but I know it is achievable.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Race Report: Lincoln Half Marathon - you win some, you walk some...
After a half-way decent performance last week at Omaha Duathlon, I was feeling good about Lincoln Half. I wasn't super well-trained for it, but my running base was solid and relatively consistent since January. I had a good 15K race a few weeks ago and Lincoln is WAY flatter than San Diego....so my expectations were measured, but positive....
Pre-race day:
Ben and I traveled down to Lincoln yesterday afternoon. It was a busy day for me and we got a late start. Checked in at packet-pick up and it was 85 degrees in Lincoln. Not a good sign the day before a long distance race. We went to Lazlo's and it took forever to get seated. I was supposed to see a high school musical that night but it took so long to that I ended up skipping the show. On the bright side, I was able to get to bed early.
Race day:
Up at 5:45a, half a bagel with peanut butter and a small coffee for breakfast. We left the hotel at 6:15a and I felt ok. I had a little water to drink and I started to think around 6:30a that maybe I should have drank a little more water. Not a good sign. Said good-byes/good-lucks to Ben and lined up between the 2:15:00 and 2:20:00 pacers. I ran about a 2:18:00 in 2013 for this race and I felt like I would end up somewhere around there this time. Maybe a 2:23 or 2:25 worst case.
THE RACE
Race started at 7a, but it was around 7:35a before I went through the start. I typically have an empty bladder at race start but I had the urge so ran over the porta potties with plenty of time to start. Ok. I'm good. I proceed through the start and feel good. Running a 10:15 pace or so and feeling fine through mile 5. I get this crazy awful cramp in my left foot which is highly unusual for me. Had to stop for a minute to just stretch my plantar and arch of my foot. The cramp subsided and I was good to go. Ran through the 10K mark in around 1:06:00 so I was doing OK. Felt fine. Around mile 8, I had to pee. What? This NEVER happens. Stopped at a porta potty, in and out quick but my pace slowed to a 10:45. I'm sweating like a hog at this point. Not good.
Back at it and cramping starts again. I start walking around the 15K mark and my stomach is churning. REALLY not good. Get to the water stop, pick up Gatorade, water and down one of my energy gels. Immediately after, I run to the porta-potty. Let's just say, I'm in there for about 10-15 minutes. Massive GI distress. I leave the porta potty and I have the chills (and sweating) and feeling a little dizzy. I try to run, I walk, I try to run, I walk. Basically at this point, I knew I was done. I only kept going because it was only 3 miles away and I figured I could walk that.
I finished in 2:46:23 - my worst half marathon time ever.
Reflections:
- I was SUPER dehydrated. I could tell even at the beginning of the race. When I thought back on it after the race, I realized I hadn't really taken in any water of note for the last 2 days. I also had a few drinks on Saturday and Friday. I have never experience such bad dehydration at a race and it was a valuable lesson as I prepare for the Ironman 70.3. As Ben said, I need to respect the distance and make sure that I hydrate regularly throughout the day and week. It needs to be as much a part of my plan as training and nutrition.
- Heat - It was very warm to run that distance. The sun was direct with no clouds. I need to figure out a way to deal with this because it will only get worse in the summer and my 70.3 is in August.
Check out the article about the race and "runners going down:" Tabut, Herrick win Lincoln Marathon crowns; many runners 'down'
In other news...
I swam a 550 yard time trial yesterday with my swim guru, Jim. I dropped my time to 10:25! A 46 second improvement from 2 months ago. This is huge. I'm feeling so good in the water and I'm curious to see how this pays off at the Legend Olympic next month in Kansas. Stay tuned...
Pre-race day:
Ben and I traveled down to Lincoln yesterday afternoon. It was a busy day for me and we got a late start. Checked in at packet-pick up and it was 85 degrees in Lincoln. Not a good sign the day before a long distance race. We went to Lazlo's and it took forever to get seated. I was supposed to see a high school musical that night but it took so long to that I ended up skipping the show. On the bright side, I was able to get to bed early.
Race day:
Up at 5:45a, half a bagel with peanut butter and a small coffee for breakfast. We left the hotel at 6:15a and I felt ok. I had a little water to drink and I started to think around 6:30a that maybe I should have drank a little more water. Not a good sign. Said good-byes/good-lucks to Ben and lined up between the 2:15:00 and 2:20:00 pacers. I ran about a 2:18:00 in 2013 for this race and I felt like I would end up somewhere around there this time. Maybe a 2:23 or 2:25 worst case.
THE RACE
Race started at 7a, but it was around 7:35a before I went through the start. I typically have an empty bladder at race start but I had the urge so ran over the porta potties with plenty of time to start. Ok. I'm good. I proceed through the start and feel good. Running a 10:15 pace or so and feeling fine through mile 5. I get this crazy awful cramp in my left foot which is highly unusual for me. Had to stop for a minute to just stretch my plantar and arch of my foot. The cramp subsided and I was good to go. Ran through the 10K mark in around 1:06:00 so I was doing OK. Felt fine. Around mile 8, I had to pee. What? This NEVER happens. Stopped at a porta potty, in and out quick but my pace slowed to a 10:45. I'm sweating like a hog at this point. Not good.
Back at it and cramping starts again. I start walking around the 15K mark and my stomach is churning. REALLY not good. Get to the water stop, pick up Gatorade, water and down one of my energy gels. Immediately after, I run to the porta-potty. Let's just say, I'm in there for about 10-15 minutes. Massive GI distress. I leave the porta potty and I have the chills (and sweating) and feeling a little dizzy. I try to run, I walk, I try to run, I walk. Basically at this point, I knew I was done. I only kept going because it was only 3 miles away and I figured I could walk that.
I finished in 2:46:23 - my worst half marathon time ever.
Reflections:
- I was SUPER dehydrated. I could tell even at the beginning of the race. When I thought back on it after the race, I realized I hadn't really taken in any water of note for the last 2 days. I also had a few drinks on Saturday and Friday. I have never experience such bad dehydration at a race and it was a valuable lesson as I prepare for the Ironman 70.3. As Ben said, I need to respect the distance and make sure that I hydrate regularly throughout the day and week. It needs to be as much a part of my plan as training and nutrition.
- Heat - It was very warm to run that distance. The sun was direct with no clouds. I need to figure out a way to deal with this because it will only get worse in the summer and my 70.3 is in August.
Check out the article about the race and "runners going down:" Tabut, Herrick win Lincoln Marathon crowns; many runners 'down'
In other news...
I swam a 550 yard time trial yesterday with my swim guru, Jim. I dropped my time to 10:25! A 46 second improvement from 2 months ago. This is huge. I'm feeling so good in the water and I'm curious to see how this pays off at the Legend Olympic next month in Kansas. Stay tuned...
Sunday, April 26, 2015
"Sometimes it pays to just show up.."
Pre-race day:
I had an early start on Saturday with a swim session with my swim guru Jim. Really good (tough)session followed by a very easy spin class. The class itself wasn't easy but I went easy on myself to stay fresh for race day. It was a fairly light run week - I had a bad day with my Thursday run but all in all, I was in decent running shape.
After my workouts, I went home and fell back asleep for two hours! Lil' Mama (she's one of our cats) and me resting comfortably on the sofa. Next thing I knew, it's almost 1p and I hadn't even really eaten lunch. Grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Trek Bike Store to by a toe thingy. You may think I'm making this up, but apparently, that's what they call it on the package. Race time temps were supposed to be in the high 40s/low 50s and I did NOT want cold feet. After my 2 hr ride on Wednesday in 50 degree temps, I had learned a lesson.
Headed over to Scheels to get a windbreaker for the bike (no, I didn't own one) and some bike nutrition. My evening race bag preparation was not as thorough as usual, because I preferred spending my time watching the 2-hr season finale of Downton Abbey. Kicked the cats out of the bedroom, got in bed around 11:30p and slept soundly.
Race Morning:
Up at 6a, with a light breakfast: 1 Power Grain Waffle with almond butter and a gallon of coffee. My friend and neighbor Niki Kubiak came over around 7 to load her bike onto my car since we were riding together. Quick aside: Niki won the overall female division of this race. And her husband Gerald (previously mentioned) crushed some fools in the 800 meter masters race at the Drake Relays on Friday. So between them and my husband who is also an elite runner and triathlete, we have the fastest block in Omaha. I slow down the collective time of our block but I get an "A" for effort.
We arrive at the race site around 8a with plenty of decent options to drop our stuff in transition. If I have a choice (which I did for this race), I prefer to have my bike close to the "bike out." Niki warms up and I basically hang around for a while. Two trips to the porta-potty and I'm ready to roll.
Race:
The race is a 2.5 mile run, a 14.5 mile bike and a 2.5 mile run.
Run Split 1: I start off easy and pick up a pace which I ended up maintaining for the entire distance: 9:10 pace. This is my first race using my TomTom GPS multisport watch and it's awesome. It has an average pace function which was incredibly helpful. Knowing that I was actually running a 9:10 really kept me motivated.
Bike Split: Winds were initially light but picked up out of the ENE. I struggled to maintain a 15 mph pace through about mile 4. At that point, we had a tailwind and I was flying, averaging around 20 mph. Of course, all good things must come to an end and the course was out and back...which meant headwinds and crosswinds. SUCKED. My average mph dropped to 14.6, which is not great. I didn't kill myself on the bike which is probably why. My friend Alyssa Godesky who is a pro triathlete once told me that I should ride like I don't have to run after. Unfortunately, I did not follow that advice on this one...got a little lazy on the return.
Run Split 2: After the initial wobbly jello leg thing, I was feeling pretty good. My goal was to average sub 10:00/min miles and I averaged around 9:38. So pleased.
Final time:1:49:26 - Run1 00:22:46 - T1 00:01:43 - Bike 00:59:58 - T2 00:01:04 - Run2 00:23:52 Podium finish: 2nd place for Female 40-44
Reflections: Great run performance and I felt so strong. Transitions were pretty tight. I could use a little more brick work and I think I can really improve the bike to run. Bike needs A LOT of work. After my Lincoln Half Marathon next week, I start shifting my hours to the bike. I plan to have the bike make up 50% of my training time and I think that will make a big difference. Stay tuned!
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