T2 was quick - 4:33. I changed shirts, shorts, socks, and shoes. The volunteer who helped me was great. She made sure I had everything I needed and sent me on my way quickly. I headed out of transition running. I was wearing my Garmin and was happy to see I was holding a 9:33 pace. I saw Jarrett and smiled and waved. The first aid station was about a mile into the run, I grabbed water and ate some Honestingers. My stomach immediately started to bother me. I had to walk for fear of puking again. I knew that I was probably going to end up walking the marathon. My left knee had been bothering me for about two weeks and my left hamstring had been bothering me the entire year. I was being held together with Kineso tape (Spidertech is the shit. I highly recommend it.). I also had an odd pain on the top of my right foot. At this point I just came to terms with the fact I was going to enjoy a long walk with friends.
The run course was lovely. I watched the sunset over Lake Coeur d'Alene. I met a ton of interesting people. I enjoyed all of the aid stations along the course and danced with the drunk guys who were partying by the lake. I knew that I was going to finish but it was going to be 30 minutes slower then I wanted. About 6 miles in to the race I decided to try and eat something. I managed to keep downs chips and a cookie. After that, I was able to rotate between cookies and chips the rest of the race. Just a bite or two each mile. It was enough to keep me going. Starting the second lap of the run, I saw Jarrett. He walked with me for a few blocks and I told him about the bike and let him know that I was fine but the marathon was going to be walked and it was going to be slow. I also told him to get me macaroni and cheese for after the race. He was heading out to pick-up my bike and bags and would be waiting at the finish line. Jarrett was also keeping my family and friends back home updated on my progress via Facebook. At Mile 20 I thought about Sarah, a fellow triathlon blogger who attempted CdA last year. She dropped out at Mile 20. The last 6 miles were slow and sometimes lonely but I just kept smiling.
When I got to mile 25 the excitement started to build. You could hear the music from Sherman Avenue and Mike Riley announcing finishers names. A volunteer came up to me and said "One more turn and you are an Ironman!" I cried. I started to run and could hear the crowd screaming. The lights on Sherman came into view and the crowd was buzzing. I high fived my way down the finishers chute. Jarrett was there and I told him I loved him. I saw that I was going to finish in under 16 hours and just smiled as I crossed the finish line. Meaghan Meyer from Indianapolis Indiana - You are an Ironman!
Run: 6:39:11
Total Time: 15:57:24
My finish line catchers were great. I felt fine so I didn't really need any help. I just had them hold my stuff so I could get my finish line picture taken. I got my medal, finishers shirt and hat and headed out to find Jarrett. He met me at the fence and gave me a huge hug and kiss. I was hungry so I went and grabbed two pieces of cheese pizza and some water. We headed back to the hotel so I could get clean. I could not WAIT to take a shower. My feet were in pretty bad shape and my legs were sore, but overall I felt pretty good. Jarrett managed to convince the hotel to make me macaroni and cheese even though it was not a standard item on their room service menu. They brought me a huge hot plate of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten. I had about half a plate and then I just crashed. Sleep was instant and deep. I woke up the next morning around 7:30 am and although a little stiff, overall I felt okay.
We stayed in Coeur d'Alene until Tuesday morning. Monday was just a nice relaxing day to enjoy the area and nap. The trip back on Tuesday was uneventful.
Overall I LOVED this race. The area, the atmosphere, the people - everything about it was a little magical. I can now officially call myself an Ironman. Jarrett asked me if I wanted to sign-up for next year. I'm still on the fence. I loved the race. It was hard but I had a great time. I am just not sure I want to commit...yet.
I want to thank all of my family and friends who put up with me over the last 28 weeks of training...especially Jarrett. He is my loudest cheerleader and biggest supporter. When I didn't think I could do it - he knew I could. Not only did he haul me all over the country to race this year, he also did all of my long training bike rides with me. Now that is commitment! I am looking forward to taking a few weeks off from serious training before I figure out what's next.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Part 3: Time to Fly
I got on my bike and settled in for a long ride. I immediately started getting some fluids and food into my system. The plan was to eat and drink every 15 minutes. My bento box had Honeystinger chews, Oreo Cakesters, and Honey Stinger Waffles. I also had Salt Stick caps to supplement electrolytes. The bike was set-up with my aero bottle filled with water, the bottle on my stem filled with Ironman Evil...I mean Perform and an extra bottle of water and Perform on the back. Aid stations were every 10 miles on the ride. The bike started out through town and then headed out to a scenic ride along the lake. The first hill greeted us at mile 6 and it was about 2 miles long. After that hill the course is flat until about mile 24. I was doing well eating and drinking and decided to make a pit stop at mile 30 to use the bathroom and refill my water. The volunteers were great about holding bikes and getting whatever you needed in terms of nutrition or hydration.
The hills started once we got to Hayden. There were some pretty tough sections of the course but I never once had to get out of the saddle and I was able to take a lot of the hills in aero. I finished the first 56 miles in 3:56:10. I saw Jarret on my way back into town to start the second loop. I was feeling good and I knew that I had paced well on the first lap. Ironman is all about having a plan and sticking to it. At this point my plan was working. I knew I needed to stop at special needs and get something new to eat. Honeystringers are my favorite energy chew but after eating them for 4 hours, I wanted something else. I grabbed my bag and stood and ate a handful of Fritos before stuffing them in my jersey and hitting the road again. I also put my extra Honeystinger waffle in my bento. I had eaten the two I stared with during the first half.
Everything was pretty uneventful until mile 70. I was heading down a rather steep hill at around 30 mph and a deer ran out in front of me. It was huge and close. So close I could hear him grunt and smell him. I locked up my rear break and felt my bike wobble. Luckily, he kept running and didn't stop. I got my bike under control and kept going. The surge of adrenaline spiked my heart rate sky high. I felt dizzy and sick. I stopped at the next aid station at Mile 80 to refill bottles and puke. I felt much better but the thought of food was terribly unappealing. I knew that the next 20 miles would be the hardest so I just got back on and started moving. By Mile 100 I was so ready for the bike to be done.
I rolled into transition with a bike time of 7:35:29. It was about 20 minutes faster then I had planned so I was feeling pretty happy. I was glad to hand my bike off to a volunteer and grab my run transition bag. The legs were feeling decent but my stomach was not.
Part 4: A nice night for a run....or walk
The hills started once we got to Hayden. There were some pretty tough sections of the course but I never once had to get out of the saddle and I was able to take a lot of the hills in aero. I finished the first 56 miles in 3:56:10. I saw Jarret on my way back into town to start the second loop. I was feeling good and I knew that I had paced well on the first lap. Ironman is all about having a plan and sticking to it. At this point my plan was working. I knew I needed to stop at special needs and get something new to eat. Honeystringers are my favorite energy chew but after eating them for 4 hours, I wanted something else. I grabbed my bag and stood and ate a handful of Fritos before stuffing them in my jersey and hitting the road again. I also put my extra Honeystinger waffle in my bento. I had eaten the two I stared with during the first half.
Everything was pretty uneventful until mile 70. I was heading down a rather steep hill at around 30 mph and a deer ran out in front of me. It was huge and close. So close I could hear him grunt and smell him. I locked up my rear break and felt my bike wobble. Luckily, he kept running and didn't stop. I got my bike under control and kept going. The surge of adrenaline spiked my heart rate sky high. I felt dizzy and sick. I stopped at the next aid station at Mile 80 to refill bottles and puke. I felt much better but the thought of food was terribly unappealing. I knew that the next 20 miles would be the hardest so I just got back on and started moving. By Mile 100 I was so ready for the bike to be done.
I rolled into transition with a bike time of 7:35:29. It was about 20 minutes faster then I had planned so I was feeling pretty happy. I was glad to hand my bike off to a volunteer and grab my run transition bag. The legs were feeling decent but my stomach was not.
Part 4: A nice night for a run....or walk
Part 2: Race Day! Finally!
Saturday started with an awesome breakfast at the Garnet Cafe. The stuffed French toast with a side of duck sausage was amazing. We got back to the hotel and I headed out on a short bike ride to shake out the legs and make sure that everything on my bike was in working order. I decided to ride part of the run course just to get a feel for what to expect. It was about a 10 mile ride and everything seemed to be in good working order.
We took my bike and bag over to transition and dropped it off and headed back downtown to explore a little more. The antique and art stores were unbelievable. We kept the walking to a minimum and headed out to a quick pasta dinner in Hayden. I kept it simple and went with cheese ravioli. We got back to the hotel and I double checked my run and bike special needs bags.
I had been debating what to eat for breakfast before the race. My traditional meal of Poptarts was not going to be sufficient. At the last minute, I decided to go ahead and order room service. The hotel was offering 24-hour room service to the athletes all weekend. I went with the Ironman Stack breakfast: 4-huckleberry pancakes, 2 scrambled eggs, and a bowl of oatmeal. I knew there was NO WAY I would come close to eating all that food but I had Jarrett to help. We had stopped by the grocery store on Thursday to buy supplies for my special needs bags so I had my mandatory Diet Coke already chilling in the fridge. I fell asleep almost immediately and slept until the alarm(s) went off at 4:15 am.
I took a quick shower and dug into my tasty breakfast. I ate a little of the eggs and about a quarter of the pancakes. If I had to estimate it was probably 600 calories of food. Ideally I would have gotten closer to 1000 but I also didn't want to feel bloated and sick going into the swim.
I left Jarrett to get dressed and headed over to drop off my special needs bags and put my bottles and nutrition on my bike. Bag drop was quick but when I got to transition, I could not find anyone to lend me a bike pump. At that point I didn't see the line of mechanics on the other side of transition. I rushed back to the hotel to get my wetsuit and claim Jarrett and ran back to transition to deal with the tire issue. I found a nice person to loan me a pump and of course managed to completely deflate my back tire. I could not get air in the darn tube and I was freaking out. One of the volunteers noticed me panicking and told me there were mechanics on the fence line that would be able to help. I rolled Lola over and they got me taken care of. I racked the bike and headed out to find Jarrett.
It was about 20 minutes until the pro start so we just hung out in the grass and waited. We watched the pros go and then started to get suited up. I made my way down to the beach and scouted for a position. I decided to go against the recommendation to line up far right of the buoys and go wide. There was hardly anyone lined up directly in front of the buoys so that's were I stood. I was back against the sea wall and had a nice chat with another first timer. Before I knew it, the cannon went off and we were off. I started my purple watch and waited about 10 seconds before running in and starting to swim. The course was a counter-clockwise rectangle and you swam it twice. The water was cold ~55 F but bearable. I just started swimming and didn't let the physical violence of the whole thing get to me. People were EVERYWHERE. Swimming on you, kicking you, pulling your feet. It was wild. I got to the first turn buoy and the real fun started. It was so congested that people were literally crammed against each other treading water. I was starting to get a little irritated at the lack of forward progress when finally the pack broke free and we were moving again. Swimming into the sun made it a bit difficult to sight but in reality you had 2000 friends to follow so sighting was not THAT critical. Before I knew it, I was back on shore. I looked at my watch and was happy to see 44 minutes for the first lap. That was exactly what I predicted. The big surprise was the run back into the water for the second lap. I did not realize how cold my feet were while I was swimming but once on land I could literally not feel them. It was like running on dead stumps. I managed to make it back into the water without falling on my face but it stuck in my mind that running to transition would prove to be interesting. The second lap of the swim proved to be more choppy then the first. I'm not sure if it was the boats or the wind but there were definitely some waves. The cool thing was that it gave you a great advantage on the way back to shore.
Total Swim Time: 1:25:16 - Rank 1359 - I was actually in the top half on the swim! I trained for the swim the least and it's not my strong point so I was very happy.
When I saw the my time when I got out of the water I couldn't believe it. I knew right then that I was destine to finish the race. The volunteers at the swim exit guided me to the wetsuit strippers and made sure that I had my feet under me. They were also evaluating everyone for signs of hypothermia. A lot of racers had to drop out because of hypothermia. Other then my feet being frozen, I was feeling fine. I vaguely remember hearing Jarrett shouting at me after the swim. I had a huge smile on my face running to transition.
I picked-up my bag and headed into the changing tents. There were plenty of chairs so I grabbed a spot and started getting ready. I talked myself through making sure I had everything on and a volunteer kindly double checked me before I left the tent. I was SO happy that at the last minute I decided to pack Smartwool socks in my bike bag. I never bike with socks but I had this nagging feeling that it might be too cold and threw them in. I knew it was going to be a long day on the bike so I did a full change of clothes. My favorite Twin 6 Masher bike jersey, DeSoto 400 mile shorts, arm warmers, socks, gloves, helmet, shoes - ready to ride! I let the volunteers give me some sunscreen and grabbed my bike.
Part 3: Time to Fly
We took my bike and bag over to transition and dropped it off and headed back downtown to explore a little more. The antique and art stores were unbelievable. We kept the walking to a minimum and headed out to a quick pasta dinner in Hayden. I kept it simple and went with cheese ravioli. We got back to the hotel and I double checked my run and bike special needs bags.
I had been debating what to eat for breakfast before the race. My traditional meal of Poptarts was not going to be sufficient. At the last minute, I decided to go ahead and order room service. The hotel was offering 24-hour room service to the athletes all weekend. I went with the Ironman Stack breakfast: 4-huckleberry pancakes, 2 scrambled eggs, and a bowl of oatmeal. I knew there was NO WAY I would come close to eating all that food but I had Jarrett to help. We had stopped by the grocery store on Thursday to buy supplies for my special needs bags so I had my mandatory Diet Coke already chilling in the fridge. I fell asleep almost immediately and slept until the alarm(s) went off at 4:15 am.
I took a quick shower and dug into my tasty breakfast. I ate a little of the eggs and about a quarter of the pancakes. If I had to estimate it was probably 600 calories of food. Ideally I would have gotten closer to 1000 but I also didn't want to feel bloated and sick going into the swim.
I left Jarrett to get dressed and headed over to drop off my special needs bags and put my bottles and nutrition on my bike. Bag drop was quick but when I got to transition, I could not find anyone to lend me a bike pump. At that point I didn't see the line of mechanics on the other side of transition. I rushed back to the hotel to get my wetsuit and claim Jarrett and ran back to transition to deal with the tire issue. I found a nice person to loan me a pump and of course managed to completely deflate my back tire. I could not get air in the darn tube and I was freaking out. One of the volunteers noticed me panicking and told me there were mechanics on the fence line that would be able to help. I rolled Lola over and they got me taken care of. I racked the bike and headed out to find Jarrett.
It was about 20 minutes until the pro start so we just hung out in the grass and waited. We watched the pros go and then started to get suited up. I made my way down to the beach and scouted for a position. I decided to go against the recommendation to line up far right of the buoys and go wide. There was hardly anyone lined up directly in front of the buoys so that's were I stood. I was back against the sea wall and had a nice chat with another first timer. Before I knew it, the cannon went off and we were off. I started my purple watch and waited about 10 seconds before running in and starting to swim. The course was a counter-clockwise rectangle and you swam it twice. The water was cold ~55 F but bearable. I just started swimming and didn't let the physical violence of the whole thing get to me. People were EVERYWHERE. Swimming on you, kicking you, pulling your feet. It was wild. I got to the first turn buoy and the real fun started. It was so congested that people were literally crammed against each other treading water. I was starting to get a little irritated at the lack of forward progress when finally the pack broke free and we were moving again. Swimming into the sun made it a bit difficult to sight but in reality you had 2000 friends to follow so sighting was not THAT critical. Before I knew it, I was back on shore. I looked at my watch and was happy to see 44 minutes for the first lap. That was exactly what I predicted. The big surprise was the run back into the water for the second lap. I did not realize how cold my feet were while I was swimming but once on land I could literally not feel them. It was like running on dead stumps. I managed to make it back into the water without falling on my face but it stuck in my mind that running to transition would prove to be interesting. The second lap of the swim proved to be more choppy then the first. I'm not sure if it was the boats or the wind but there were definitely some waves. The cool thing was that it gave you a great advantage on the way back to shore.
Total Swim Time: 1:25:16 - Rank 1359 - I was actually in the top half on the swim! I trained for the swim the least and it's not my strong point so I was very happy.
When I saw the my time when I got out of the water I couldn't believe it. I knew right then that I was destine to finish the race. The volunteers at the swim exit guided me to the wetsuit strippers and made sure that I had my feet under me. They were also evaluating everyone for signs of hypothermia. A lot of racers had to drop out because of hypothermia. Other then my feet being frozen, I was feeling fine. I vaguely remember hearing Jarrett shouting at me after the swim. I had a huge smile on my face running to transition.
I picked-up my bag and headed into the changing tents. There were plenty of chairs so I grabbed a spot and started getting ready. I talked myself through making sure I had everything on and a volunteer kindly double checked me before I left the tent. I was SO happy that at the last minute I decided to pack Smartwool socks in my bike bag. I never bike with socks but I had this nagging feeling that it might be too cold and threw them in. I knew it was going to be a long day on the bike so I did a full change of clothes. My favorite Twin 6 Masher bike jersey, DeSoto 400 mile shorts, arm warmers, socks, gloves, helmet, shoes - ready to ride! I let the volunteers give me some sunscreen and grabbed my bike.
Part 3: Time to Fly
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Report: Part 1
I'm going to have to break this race report into a few posts. Let's start with after Knoxville. I was worried. The bike course killed me. I decided that Jarrett and I would head down to Morgan Monroe State Park in Southern Indiana and ride some of the hills on the Hilly Hundred route. We headed down on a Saturday and met another Team T3 member who was new to the area. She is a Kona qualifier and has completed several IM's over the years. We rode about 30 miles together and then it became very obvious that we were WAY too slow for her so we split-up. Jarrett and I rode another 23 miles together. Our route brought us to a hill called Bean Blossom on 3 separate occasions. It is one of the very few rated hills in Indiana. The first two times I managed to climb the entire hill (it's about 2.5 miles long). The third time, I couldn't make it to the top. I freaked out and had a panic attack in the middle of the hill. Luckily Jarrett got me to calm down and I got back on and finished the stupid thing.
During the ride, I determined that I did not have the appropriate hill climbing gearing on my bike. I was trying very hard to love the 12x25 cassette that came on my bike but I just didn't have enough gears to spin up those hills. I almost always ended up out of the saddle mashing my way to the top. After we left, I did some research and determined that I needed to change to a 11x27 or 11x28. Luckily, the guys at T3 Multisport had an 11x28 in stock and got me all hooked up. I also decided to ditch my aero wheels and go with my lighter weight but less aero original wheelset. We headed back to Morgan Monroe the next weekend and I killed Bean Blossom and some of it's hilly friends. I was feeling much more confident about surviving Coeur d'Alene.
Training for CdA was tough. I traveled a ton leading up to the race and did not get as much training time in as I would have liked. After the Indianapolis Mini Marathon I started to battle some nagging issues with my feet, shins, knees, and hamstrings. My biking and swimming were on track but running was starting to feel like torture. I tapered back to avoid potentially not being able to start at CdA. I do not regret that decision at all.
I dropped my bike off at T3 Multisport on June 19 so TriBike Transport could pick her and my pretty pink Speedo gear bag up and haul them 2900 miles across the country. That was the first time the race felt "real" to me. I spent almost a week getting my bag ready and I can confidently say I thought of everything - except for hand warmers.
Jarrett and I flew from Indy to Denver and then Spokane on the Thursday before the race. When we landed in Spokane we were surrounded by beautiful mountains. The weather was cool and sunny. We rented a car and decided to grab lunch in Spokane before we drove the 30 miles east to Coeur d'Alene. I picked a fantastic little pub called Elk Public House. I enjoyed a tasty lamb sandwich and some chips. We rolled into CdA about 11 am. We were staying at the host hotel - The Coeur d'Alene Resort and Spa. It was amazing. The lake was beautiful and the entire town was adorable.
We headed over to TriBike transport to get my gear bag. I had packed my USAT card in my bag and I needed it to be able to check-in. Athlete check-in went very quickly. The Ironman event planners are super organized and the volunteers running the tables were efficient. They banded me and gave me all my bags and stuff and we headed back to the hotel. On our way we stopped to check out the lake. There was a pretty stiff wind and it was super choppy. All of the athletes getting out of the water were complaining about the rough conditions and the cold temps. Lake temps were about 51-53 degrees.
Jarrett and I explored the town a little while we waited for our rooms to be ready. There is a lot of art galleries and very cool bronzes and statues on the street corners. Once we got our rooms we picked-up my bike and spent the evening relaxing.
Friday morning I got up and went for my first swim in Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was choppy and cold but I survived. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. Except for the frozen feet. I made fun of the people at Knoxville wearing neoprene booties with their wetsuits...now I wish I had them. We did some shopping a the Expo and then went out to drive the bike course. Unlike, Rev3, WTC had the bike course clearly marked DAYS before the race.
The course was interesting. There was a pretty significant hill in the first 8 miles and then it was flat until mile 20ish. That's where the fun started. I would describe the hills as rolling with two significant climbs all crammed between miles 20-48. Then it was flat/down-hill coming back into town. The bike course was 56 miles and you had to do it twice. Everything at CdA was two loops - swim, bike, and run. After driving the bike, I felt a lot better. The ride was going to be challenging but you were actually rewarded with some flats and downhill sections, unlike Knoxville.
The rest of Friday was spent relaxing and packing my transition bags. My bike along with my T1 and T2 bags had to be dropped off Saturday. We headed to the movies and saw Bridesmaids before going to bed extra early.
Part 2: Race Day! Finally!
During the ride, I determined that I did not have the appropriate hill climbing gearing on my bike. I was trying very hard to love the 12x25 cassette that came on my bike but I just didn't have enough gears to spin up those hills. I almost always ended up out of the saddle mashing my way to the top. After we left, I did some research and determined that I needed to change to a 11x27 or 11x28. Luckily, the guys at T3 Multisport had an 11x28 in stock and got me all hooked up. I also decided to ditch my aero wheels and go with my lighter weight but less aero original wheelset. We headed back to Morgan Monroe the next weekend and I killed Bean Blossom and some of it's hilly friends. I was feeling much more confident about surviving Coeur d'Alene.
Training for CdA was tough. I traveled a ton leading up to the race and did not get as much training time in as I would have liked. After the Indianapolis Mini Marathon I started to battle some nagging issues with my feet, shins, knees, and hamstrings. My biking and swimming were on track but running was starting to feel like torture. I tapered back to avoid potentially not being able to start at CdA. I do not regret that decision at all.
I dropped my bike off at T3 Multisport on June 19 so TriBike Transport could pick her and my pretty pink Speedo gear bag up and haul them 2900 miles across the country. That was the first time the race felt "real" to me. I spent almost a week getting my bag ready and I can confidently say I thought of everything - except for hand warmers.
Jarrett and I flew from Indy to Denver and then Spokane on the Thursday before the race. When we landed in Spokane we were surrounded by beautiful mountains. The weather was cool and sunny. We rented a car and decided to grab lunch in Spokane before we drove the 30 miles east to Coeur d'Alene. I picked a fantastic little pub called Elk Public House. I enjoyed a tasty lamb sandwich and some chips. We rolled into CdA about 11 am. We were staying at the host hotel - The Coeur d'Alene Resort and Spa. It was amazing. The lake was beautiful and the entire town was adorable.
We headed over to TriBike transport to get my gear bag. I had packed my USAT card in my bag and I needed it to be able to check-in. Athlete check-in went very quickly. The Ironman event planners are super organized and the volunteers running the tables were efficient. They banded me and gave me all my bags and stuff and we headed back to the hotel. On our way we stopped to check out the lake. There was a pretty stiff wind and it was super choppy. All of the athletes getting out of the water were complaining about the rough conditions and the cold temps. Lake temps were about 51-53 degrees.
Jarrett and I explored the town a little while we waited for our rooms to be ready. There is a lot of art galleries and very cool bronzes and statues on the street corners. Once we got our rooms we picked-up my bike and spent the evening relaxing.
Friday morning I got up and went for my first swim in Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was choppy and cold but I survived. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. Except for the frozen feet. I made fun of the people at Knoxville wearing neoprene booties with their wetsuits...now I wish I had them. We did some shopping a the Expo and then went out to drive the bike course. Unlike, Rev3, WTC had the bike course clearly marked DAYS before the race.
The course was interesting. There was a pretty significant hill in the first 8 miles and then it was flat until mile 20ish. That's where the fun started. I would describe the hills as rolling with two significant climbs all crammed between miles 20-48. Then it was flat/down-hill coming back into town. The bike course was 56 miles and you had to do it twice. Everything at CdA was two loops - swim, bike, and run. After driving the bike, I felt a lot better. The ride was going to be challenging but you were actually rewarded with some flats and downhill sections, unlike Knoxville.
The rest of Friday was spent relaxing and packing my transition bags. My bike along with my T1 and T2 bags had to be dropped off Saturday. We headed to the movies and saw Bridesmaids before going to bed extra early.
Part 2: Race Day! Finally!
Knoxville Rev3 70.3
A very late race report for Knoxville!
We got to town on Friday afternoon and did packet pick-up. It was fast since not many racers had arrived. Knoxville is a really cool town and Jarrett and I explored a little Friday evening before heading back to the hotel. I got up early on Saturday to do the practice swim. I had only done one open water swim prior to the race and I was wearing a new wetsuit. Rev3 sponsored a guarded swim with pros coaching in the water. I was one of the few that swam the entire 1.2 mile course but it felt good so I just went with it. We had every intention of driving the bike course but the map provided by Rev3 was useless. Several other athletes had attempted to find the course and failed so we decided I'd just have to wing it. We went to dinner at Bravo on Saturday night and I shared some lasagna with Jarrett and then we headed to see Water for Elephants at the movies in an effort to calm my nerves.
Sunday morning started with my traditional breakfast of Poptarts and Diet Coke and then we loaded up to head into town. We left later then we should have and I ended up being VERY rushed to get my stuff set-up in transition. Luckily, I got everything assembled before they kicked us out. The weather was fairly cool and the river water temp was around 65 degrees. I suited up and headed over to watch the pros start. The rest of the athletes started in 3 waves. This race was a 70.3 combined with an Olympic distance. There were not that many athletes doing the 70.3 so the waves went quick. The ladies were last and before I knew it we were off.
Swim: 45:08 - The swim was up river around a buoy and then back down river. Sounds like we would have a great advantage swimming downstream? Wrong. The winds picked-up significantly and were blowing right in our face on the way back taking away what little advantage the current might have given us. Overall, I was not horrified by my swim time, especially after learning the swim was long by about 0.3 miles.
T1: 3:58 - Slow as heck. I had an issue getting out of my wetsuit and then I was kind (dumb) enough to help the poor guy next to me who was struggling even more.
Bike: 3:35:13 - The bike course kicked my ass. It was hills followed by more hills followed by a false flat followed by more hills. I rarely could get in aero and it seemed that around ever corner lurked another hill. I have never been so happy to be off my bike. Not to mention my stomach was KILLING me. I could hardly eat anything. I was way behind on nutrition at the end of the bike and I knew that the run was going to be awful.
T2: 3:13 - Slow because Jarrett was standing at the fence and I felt the need to crab to him about the horrid bike course.
Run: 2:27:15 - Another slow run. The run course, much like the bike course was full of hills. My lack of nutrition on the bike was making running almost impossible. My stomach really, really hurt. Thankfully, I can put up with just about anything for 13.1 miles and I made it to the finish.
Total Time: 6:54:47 - 51 minutes slower then Augusta. Ouch. To be fair, this course was tough. Several other folks became ill during/shortly after the race which may indicate some sort of an issue with the river water or maybe we all just had a bug. I felt like crap for almost a week. I also learned I better get my shit together on the hills before Coeur d'Alene.
Will I race Knoxville again? Maybe. Rev3 put on a decent race. I'm not going to lie. WTC who puts on Ironman branded events does it better. With time I'm sure Rev3 will work out their issues and also be a top-notch event organizer. They did have awesome tech t-shirts, finishers medals, and visors. Unfortunately, they did not have any live athlete tracking so your family members had to just twiddle their thumbs wondering when you might show up again. The bike course was also not marked well. No volunteers standing telling you where to turn. You had to pay attention to signs posted at corners. Seriously? I did not miss any turns but I saw several people who did.
We got to town on Friday afternoon and did packet pick-up. It was fast since not many racers had arrived. Knoxville is a really cool town and Jarrett and I explored a little Friday evening before heading back to the hotel. I got up early on Saturday to do the practice swim. I had only done one open water swim prior to the race and I was wearing a new wetsuit. Rev3 sponsored a guarded swim with pros coaching in the water. I was one of the few that swam the entire 1.2 mile course but it felt good so I just went with it. We had every intention of driving the bike course but the map provided by Rev3 was useless. Several other athletes had attempted to find the course and failed so we decided I'd just have to wing it. We went to dinner at Bravo on Saturday night and I shared some lasagna with Jarrett and then we headed to see Water for Elephants at the movies in an effort to calm my nerves.
Sunday morning started with my traditional breakfast of Poptarts and Diet Coke and then we loaded up to head into town. We left later then we should have and I ended up being VERY rushed to get my stuff set-up in transition. Luckily, I got everything assembled before they kicked us out. The weather was fairly cool and the river water temp was around 65 degrees. I suited up and headed over to watch the pros start. The rest of the athletes started in 3 waves. This race was a 70.3 combined with an Olympic distance. There were not that many athletes doing the 70.3 so the waves went quick. The ladies were last and before I knew it we were off.
Swim: 45:08 - The swim was up river around a buoy and then back down river. Sounds like we would have a great advantage swimming downstream? Wrong. The winds picked-up significantly and were blowing right in our face on the way back taking away what little advantage the current might have given us. Overall, I was not horrified by my swim time, especially after learning the swim was long by about 0.3 miles.
T1: 3:58 - Slow as heck. I had an issue getting out of my wetsuit and then I was kind (dumb) enough to help the poor guy next to me who was struggling even more.
Bike: 3:35:13 - The bike course kicked my ass. It was hills followed by more hills followed by a false flat followed by more hills. I rarely could get in aero and it seemed that around ever corner lurked another hill. I have never been so happy to be off my bike. Not to mention my stomach was KILLING me. I could hardly eat anything. I was way behind on nutrition at the end of the bike and I knew that the run was going to be awful.
T2: 3:13 - Slow because Jarrett was standing at the fence and I felt the need to crab to him about the horrid bike course.
Run: 2:27:15 - Another slow run. The run course, much like the bike course was full of hills. My lack of nutrition on the bike was making running almost impossible. My stomach really, really hurt. Thankfully, I can put up with just about anything for 13.1 miles and I made it to the finish.
Total Time: 6:54:47 - 51 minutes slower then Augusta. Ouch. To be fair, this course was tough. Several other folks became ill during/shortly after the race which may indicate some sort of an issue with the river water or maybe we all just had a bug. I felt like crap for almost a week. I also learned I better get my shit together on the hills before Coeur d'Alene.
Will I race Knoxville again? Maybe. Rev3 put on a decent race. I'm not going to lie. WTC who puts on Ironman branded events does it better. With time I'm sure Rev3 will work out their issues and also be a top-notch event organizer. They did have awesome tech t-shirts, finishers medals, and visors. Unfortunately, they did not have any live athlete tracking so your family members had to just twiddle their thumbs wondering when you might show up again. The bike course was also not marked well. No volunteers standing telling you where to turn. You had to pay attention to signs posted at corners. Seriously? I did not miss any turns but I saw several people who did.
Monday, May 9, 2011
A quick note...
It's been awhile since I've posted. What have I been doing? It can be summed up as: work, sleep, eat, train - repeat. This year has been crazy busy. My new position at work has me traveling a lot. I miss being home and it makes it hard to get in long bike rides during the week. I have done a 15.5 mile treadmill run on a hotel treadmill. Pure torture. Swimming is another challenge. I've found a few good pools but many times the swim gets sacrificed until I'm home. Not only is travel interfering, but the weather has been TERRIBLE this year! It's been cold and rainy since February. I have not done a single open water swim yet this year which is going to make for an interesting first race on Sunday.
Ironman is just around the corner. Training has been hard. I wish I had more time but at the same time I feel like I'm going to be ready...or as ready as I'm going to be!
On Saturday I ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. I finished in 2:05:19. That is a 7-second race PR over last year. I really wanted to finish in under two-hours but it wasn't meant to be. I hit the wall at mile 9 and unfortunately my mind would not get past the discomfort and allow me to push through the last 4 miles. I will beat my PR this year and break 2:00:00. It may not be until the fall, but it will happen. Luckily, I my buddy Andrea showed up in my corral on race morning. She kept my spirits up and we ran most of the race together. It was a good reminder of how much I enjoy running with friends and that I need to make time to train with people.
Jarrett has been a wonderful husband and training partner this year. Not only has he dealt with my craze work and training schedule, he's also come along with me on my long rides. This weekend we rode out to Heritage Lake, about a 60 mile round-trip ride and then I took a little ride around the airport to make my ride 72 miles. The Heritage Lake ride is great. It has hills and two opportunities to make pit stops with clean bathrooms :)
This weekend is Rev3 Knoxville Half-Iron distance race (70.3 miles of fun). Do I feel prepared? Sure. Am I still nervous? Absolutely! It is kind of surreal making my FIRST tri of the year a HIM. Hopefully I remember how to set-up a transition area ;)
Since Jarrett will be traveling with me to the race, we had to find a suitable option for pet care. I feel bad inconveniencing our parents with puppy sitting so we located a local service that came highly recommended by our vet. We are crossing our fingers that all goes well. Maddie is now on Prozac to help deal with her anxiety. So far, it seems to be helping but this will be her first time with a complete stranger. We are hoping that since she gets to stay in her house she will deal with it a little better.
Frosty is awesome this year! We did our first horse show Easter weekend. It was a giant muddy mess but he did pretty well. He was a bit naughty for our first dressage test and we didn't score that well but our second test was the best dressage score we have ever had. It was good enough to put us in 3rd place! Unfortunately he ended up refusing the LAST fence jumping and we didn't place. Overall, I'm happy with how the day went. We did much better then at our last show and he and I are both improving. His jumping has gotten significantly better too. The bad part about all of my travel for work is now I get to see him even less. I hope that things calm down a bit and I can spend more time at the barn this summer and fall after CdA is over.
I will post a race report after Knoxville! Wish me luck :)
Ironman is just around the corner. Training has been hard. I wish I had more time but at the same time I feel like I'm going to be ready...or as ready as I'm going to be!
On Saturday I ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. I finished in 2:05:19. That is a 7-second race PR over last year. I really wanted to finish in under two-hours but it wasn't meant to be. I hit the wall at mile 9 and unfortunately my mind would not get past the discomfort and allow me to push through the last 4 miles. I will beat my PR this year and break 2:00:00. It may not be until the fall, but it will happen. Luckily, I my buddy Andrea showed up in my corral on race morning. She kept my spirits up and we ran most of the race together. It was a good reminder of how much I enjoy running with friends and that I need to make time to train with people.
Jarrett has been a wonderful husband and training partner this year. Not only has he dealt with my craze work and training schedule, he's also come along with me on my long rides. This weekend we rode out to Heritage Lake, about a 60 mile round-trip ride and then I took a little ride around the airport to make my ride 72 miles. The Heritage Lake ride is great. It has hills and two opportunities to make pit stops with clean bathrooms :)
This weekend is Rev3 Knoxville Half-Iron distance race (70.3 miles of fun). Do I feel prepared? Sure. Am I still nervous? Absolutely! It is kind of surreal making my FIRST tri of the year a HIM. Hopefully I remember how to set-up a transition area ;)
Since Jarrett will be traveling with me to the race, we had to find a suitable option for pet care. I feel bad inconveniencing our parents with puppy sitting so we located a local service that came highly recommended by our vet. We are crossing our fingers that all goes well. Maddie is now on Prozac to help deal with her anxiety. So far, it seems to be helping but this will be her first time with a complete stranger. We are hoping that since she gets to stay in her house she will deal with it a little better.
Frosty is awesome this year! We did our first horse show Easter weekend. It was a giant muddy mess but he did pretty well. He was a bit naughty for our first dressage test and we didn't score that well but our second test was the best dressage score we have ever had. It was good enough to put us in 3rd place! Unfortunately he ended up refusing the LAST fence jumping and we didn't place. Overall, I'm happy with how the day went. We did much better then at our last show and he and I are both improving. His jumping has gotten significantly better too. The bad part about all of my travel for work is now I get to see him even less. I hope that things calm down a bit and I can spend more time at the barn this summer and fall after CdA is over.
I will post a race report after Knoxville! Wish me luck :)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Dear Winter - GO AWAY!
Today is the first "snow" day I've had in 13 years. Indianapolis is covered in a slippery layer of ice and I am firmly trapped inside my house. Tomorrow I will be forced to leave the cocoon and go back to work. Luckily, Jarrett has agreed to drive me since he has the car with 4 wheel drive. It is frustrating being stuck. I've missed three days of workouts because of the storm. Tomorrow will be a long night at the gym.
I've been working on my 2011 race schedule. Here's the tentative version:
2/6/2011 - Groundhog 7 - Highly unlikely this race is going to happen. The trail is covered in ice and it is not suppose to warm up by Sunday to melt the mess.
3/26/2011 - Sam Costa 13.1
4/10/2011 - Holy Half 13.1
4/23/2011 - Wabash Valley Pony Club Horse Show
5/7/2011 - Indianapolis Mini Marathon
5/15/2011 - Rev3 Knoxville Half Iron (70.3)
6/4/2011 - Sunburst 13.1
6/26/2011 - Couer d'Alene Ironman 140.6
8/7/2011 - Tri Indy Olympic
8/27/2011 - Go Girl Sprint
9/11/2011 - Rev3 Cedar Point Half Iron (70.3)
I may do some shorter foot races and some bike time trails throughout the summer. Depending on how I feel after CdA, I may do a sprint in July. The current plan is to take the month and recover from the race. I am hoping that I feel well enough after about two weeks to get back into training and possibly racing.
My biggest struggle right now is my stupid feet. I got fitted for custom orthotics at the end of December. They are doing wonders for my knees and hips but they are tearing up my arches. I bought new shoes and I'm taking those back this weekend. After logging 13 miles in them, the blisters on my arches say NO MORE! I'm moving into a more neutral shoe to see if that helps.
I logged 39.5 hours of training in January and I feel pretty comfortable with my base level of fitness at this point. I cannot wait to get back outside. I'm going crazy being in they gym for hours! I need the fresh air and the wind in my face!
I've been working on my 2011 race schedule. Here's the tentative version:
2/6/2011 - Groundhog 7 - Highly unlikely this race is going to happen. The trail is covered in ice and it is not suppose to warm up by Sunday to melt the mess.
3/26/2011 - Sam Costa 13.1
4/10/2011 - Holy Half 13.1
4/23/2011 - Wabash Valley Pony Club Horse Show
5/7/2011 - Indianapolis Mini Marathon
5/15/2011 - Rev3 Knoxville Half Iron (70.3)
6/4/2011 - Sunburst 13.1
6/26/2011 - Couer d'Alene Ironman 140.6
8/7/2011 - Tri Indy Olympic
8/27/2011 - Go Girl Sprint
9/11/2011 - Rev3 Cedar Point Half Iron (70.3)
I may do some shorter foot races and some bike time trails throughout the summer. Depending on how I feel after CdA, I may do a sprint in July. The current plan is to take the month and recover from the race. I am hoping that I feel well enough after about two weeks to get back into training and possibly racing.
My biggest struggle right now is my stupid feet. I got fitted for custom orthotics at the end of December. They are doing wonders for my knees and hips but they are tearing up my arches. I bought new shoes and I'm taking those back this weekend. After logging 13 miles in them, the blisters on my arches say NO MORE! I'm moving into a more neutral shoe to see if that helps.
I logged 39.5 hours of training in January and I feel pretty comfortable with my base level of fitness at this point. I cannot wait to get back outside. I'm going crazy being in they gym for hours! I need the fresh air and the wind in my face!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
2010 in Review
2010 was a busy year! Let's review:
24 races - 5 sprint triathlons, 1 Olympic triathlon, 1 half-ironman, 5 40k TT bike races, 4 half marathons, 1 7 miler, 1 15k, 3 10k, 2 5k, and 1 marathon. I originally thought I was only going to hit 23 races but after reviewing my race logs it ended up I hit my goal!
2 bike wrecks - Jarrett broke his collarbone and I got some wicked road rash. The wrecks were at separate times but occurred within 4 days of each other.
2 horse shows - one was awesome and one totally sucked.
1 awesome trip to Europe with my wonderful husband.
1 awesome trip o NYC with Cyndi.
I pushed myself hard mentally and physically this year and I am looking forward to 2011. I will probably not going o be racing 24 races in 2011. Instead I am going to focus on Ironman. In less then 6 months I will be finishing the toughest day of my life. Bring it on!
24 races - 5 sprint triathlons, 1 Olympic triathlon, 1 half-ironman, 5 40k TT bike races, 4 half marathons, 1 7 miler, 1 15k, 3 10k, 2 5k, and 1 marathon. I originally thought I was only going to hit 23 races but after reviewing my race logs it ended up I hit my goal!
2 bike wrecks - Jarrett broke his collarbone and I got some wicked road rash. The wrecks were at separate times but occurred within 4 days of each other.
2 horse shows - one was awesome and one totally sucked.
1 awesome trip to Europe with my wonderful husband.
1 awesome trip o NYC with Cyndi.
I pushed myself hard mentally and physically this year and I am looking forward to 2011. I will probably not going o be racing 24 races in 2011. Instead I am going to focus on Ironman. In less then 6 months I will be finishing the toughest day of my life. Bring it on!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Jingle Bell 5K Race Report
Jingle Bell 5K
Date: December 11, 2010
Location: Downtown Indy
I have not run much since the marathon. I've been to the gym several times but nothing terribly structured. I went in to this race with NO positive expectations. The night before the race Jarrett and I went to his company Christmas party. We had a nice time and ate some tasty food. We got to the race super early so we took a short nap in the car and headed to Conseco to meet our friends who were also racing. It was about 30 when the race started. This year I positioned myself in the middle of the 8 minute mile group. I missed the sign for mile 1. I looked at my watch at mile 2 - 17:00. Alright- I'll take that. I kept pushing and cross the finish at 26:38.4. A 2:07 5K PR. 8:34 minutes/mile.
This has been a busy year. I was not expecting to pull out a PR and I am terribly happy to see a sub-9 minute/mile pace finally show itself. I was fitted for custom orthotics a couple of weeks ago and I hope they give me a chance to comfortably increase my speed this winter.
One more race in 2010! 5k's of Christmas next weekend will conclude my season. I am currently working on my 2011 race schedule and should have something together in early January.
13 days until Christmas! :)
Date: December 11, 2010
Location: Downtown Indy
I have not run much since the marathon. I've been to the gym several times but nothing terribly structured. I went in to this race with NO positive expectations. The night before the race Jarrett and I went to his company Christmas party. We had a nice time and ate some tasty food. We got to the race super early so we took a short nap in the car and headed to Conseco to meet our friends who were also racing. It was about 30 when the race started. This year I positioned myself in the middle of the 8 minute mile group. I missed the sign for mile 1. I looked at my watch at mile 2 - 17:00. Alright- I'll take that. I kept pushing and cross the finish at 26:38.4. A 2:07 5K PR. 8:34 minutes/mile.
This has been a busy year. I was not expecting to pull out a PR and I am terribly happy to see a sub-9 minute/mile pace finally show itself. I was fitted for custom orthotics a couple of weeks ago and I hope they give me a chance to comfortably increase my speed this winter.
One more race in 2010! 5k's of Christmas next weekend will conclude my season. I am currently working on my 2011 race schedule and should have something together in early January.
13 days until Christmas! :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
Race: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
Date: 11/6/2010
Location: Downtown Indy
It's been a long race season. I've done 21 races this year. That number includes running, triathlon, and bike races. I'm tired. I'm kind of sore. I'm ready to not race...for a little while anyway.
I signed up for the full marathon with Cyndi like six months ago. It was her first full and I needed to prove to myself I could run another marathon before Ironman. I knew this race wasn't going to be fast and that's okay. I just got back from 10-days in Europe in which I ran 0.0 miles. I didn't need to be fast. I needed to finish.
The day before the race, work was super stressful. I went to lunch with some co-workers and for some reason we decided that Chinese Buffet was a good choice....riiiight. Jarrett and I finished prepping food for the party and made it to bed about 10 pm. I slept like crap. Up every hour. Too hot. Too cold.
The weather was cold but sunny. Race morning started at 5:00 am. I ate my typical pre-race meal of two Pop-Tarts and decided to have a small special treat of Halloween Bar to top off my calories. We headed over to Cyndi's and split up. Jarrett was driving seperately since he was running the half. We parked at Jenn M's house down by the Canal and Cyndi and I hoofed it over to gear check at around 7:15 am. We dropped of our stuff and situated ourselves in the 11 minute mile pace crowd. We were lucky enough to run into one of our friends from Purdue, Amanda C who came all the way from Pittsburgh to run the half. It was awesome to see her and we ran the first 7 miles with her. At mile 7, the race split and the marathoners headed one direction and the halfers went another. I have to admit, the course was very well planned. My favorite part was running through the Indianpolis Museum of Art property. We also saw parts of White River Parkway I'd never been to before. All in all, the race was fun. Cyndi finished her first full and I can say I did another one.
My time is fairly irrelevant. My plan was to stick with Cyndi for the day and that's what I did. We finished in 5:33. Nutrition during the race was excellent. I mixed it up with Chomps and Honey Stingers and drank water and Gatorade on course. About mile 17 I had a few pretzels. Happily, I had no tummy troubles during or after this race! My feet also faired pretty well. I had a few blisters but nothing outrageous.
After the race we hosted a little party at our house. Lots of good food and good friends. We will definetly have another party next year, I'm just not sure I'll be racing the full.
As with my first marathon, I have no real desire to do another. It's a long distance. The next marathon I plan to do is in my Ironman in June. Starting tomorrow I'm in a maintenance mode. I'll be biking 4 days a week, swimming 2 days a week and running 3 days a week. I haven't figured out an exact schedule yet, but I'll work one out soon.
I'm also looking forward to spending some quality time with Frosty. I haven't talked about him much lately, but he is great. I didn't compete as much this summer as I had planned, but I'm okay with that and so is he. Actually, I enjoyed my time with him more when I didn't have to worry about getting ready for a show.
Date: 11/6/2010
Location: Downtown Indy
It's been a long race season. I've done 21 races this year. That number includes running, triathlon, and bike races. I'm tired. I'm kind of sore. I'm ready to not race...for a little while anyway.
I signed up for the full marathon with Cyndi like six months ago. It was her first full and I needed to prove to myself I could run another marathon before Ironman. I knew this race wasn't going to be fast and that's okay. I just got back from 10-days in Europe in which I ran 0.0 miles. I didn't need to be fast. I needed to finish.
The day before the race, work was super stressful. I went to lunch with some co-workers and for some reason we decided that Chinese Buffet was a good choice....riiiight. Jarrett and I finished prepping food for the party and made it to bed about 10 pm. I slept like crap. Up every hour. Too hot. Too cold.
The weather was cold but sunny. Race morning started at 5:00 am. I ate my typical pre-race meal of two Pop-Tarts and decided to have a small special treat of Halloween Bar to top off my calories. We headed over to Cyndi's and split up. Jarrett was driving seperately since he was running the half. We parked at Jenn M's house down by the Canal and Cyndi and I hoofed it over to gear check at around 7:15 am. We dropped of our stuff and situated ourselves in the 11 minute mile pace crowd. We were lucky enough to run into one of our friends from Purdue, Amanda C who came all the way from Pittsburgh to run the half. It was awesome to see her and we ran the first 7 miles with her. At mile 7, the race split and the marathoners headed one direction and the halfers went another. I have to admit, the course was very well planned. My favorite part was running through the Indianpolis Museum of Art property. We also saw parts of White River Parkway I'd never been to before. All in all, the race was fun. Cyndi finished her first full and I can say I did another one.
My time is fairly irrelevant. My plan was to stick with Cyndi for the day and that's what I did. We finished in 5:33. Nutrition during the race was excellent. I mixed it up with Chomps and Honey Stingers and drank water and Gatorade on course. About mile 17 I had a few pretzels. Happily, I had no tummy troubles during or after this race! My feet also faired pretty well. I had a few blisters but nothing outrageous.
After the race we hosted a little party at our house. Lots of good food and good friends. We will definetly have another party next year, I'm just not sure I'll be racing the full.
As with my first marathon, I have no real desire to do another. It's a long distance. The next marathon I plan to do is in my Ironman in June. Starting tomorrow I'm in a maintenance mode. I'll be biking 4 days a week, swimming 2 days a week and running 3 days a week. I haven't figured out an exact schedule yet, but I'll work one out soon.
I'm also looking forward to spending some quality time with Frosty. I haven't talked about him much lately, but he is great. I didn't compete as much this summer as I had planned, but I'm okay with that and so is he. Actually, I enjoyed my time with him more when I didn't have to worry about getting ready for a show.
European Vacation
We have had a busy year around here. Between work, training, taking care of the animals, and all the other life stuff that we all have, Jarrett and I were ready for a break. About 8 months ago, we booked a trip our first trip to Europe. We decided to visit Munich, Vienna, and Prague.
My parents were kind enough to take care of our pups while we were gone. We dropped them off and then flew from Chicago to Amsterdam and then on to Munich.
Munich was a beautiful city. The people were very kind. The first day we we visited the Marienplatz, Michaelskirche (St. Michael's Church), Frauenkirche, Peterskirche, Viktualienmarkt (outdoor food market), and the Hofbrauhaus (Bavarian Beer Hall).
Day 2 we visited Shloss Nymphenburg. It was the suburban royal palace and home to the royal stables. The palace was huge and the grounds were amazing. There was a museum dedicated to the carriages and sleighs of the royal family.
We also went to the English Garden and walked through part of the park. It was a very beautiful area and we could have spent an entire day just in the park. The one thing Jarrett and I both loved about Munich was how bike friendly the city was and that you could take your dogs everywhere! The only place they seemed to not be allowed was in grocery stores.
On day 3 we took the train from Munich to Fussen. From Fussen we took a bus to Shloss Neuschwanstein and Shloss Hohenschwangau. Neuschwanstein is often referred to as "the Sleeping Beauty Castle." Walt Disney based the castle at Disney Land off of the architecture of Neuschwanstein. This was Crazy Ludwig II's fantasy castle that he never finished. Only 15 rooms were completed before he mysteriously died. Hohenschwangau was Ludwig's boyhood home and is complete. It is not as fancy as Neuschwanstein but it was still very beautiful. The castles are built on a mountain. You have to climb a very steep hill to get to the castle but it is well worth the hike.
Day 4 we traveled by train to Vienna. It was about a 5 hour train trip. We did a quick walk around the area surrounding our hotel and grabbed dinner at a very good Italian restaurant. The local wine in Vienna was great.
Day 6 we headed to Prague by train. It was about a 6 hour trip from Vienna. Prague was an amazing city. We saw so many beautiful churches and buildings during the three days we were there. It was by far the most beautiful city we visited. The people were very kind but it was a bit expensive. Our hotel was amazing and the location was perfect. We visited all of the standard must-see sites: Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Church of St. Nicholas, St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle, Wencelas Square, Tyn Church, Kampa Island, Basilica and Convent of St. George, Loreta Church, and much more.
We stayed in Prague for three days and then flew home via JFK. The flight was long and we were tired. We walked a TON. We estimated that we averaged 14 miles a day during the trip and took 435 pictures.
My parents were kind enough to take care of our pups while we were gone. We dropped them off and then flew from Chicago to Amsterdam and then on to Munich.
Munich was a beautiful city. The people were very kind. The first day we we visited the Marienplatz, Michaelskirche (St. Michael's Church), Frauenkirche, Peterskirche, Viktualienmarkt (outdoor food market), and the Hofbrauhaus (Bavarian Beer Hall).
Day 2 we visited Shloss Nymphenburg. It was the suburban royal palace and home to the royal stables. The palace was huge and the grounds were amazing. There was a museum dedicated to the carriages and sleighs of the royal family.
We also went to the English Garden and walked through part of the park. It was a very beautiful area and we could have spent an entire day just in the park. The one thing Jarrett and I both loved about Munich was how bike friendly the city was and that you could take your dogs everywhere! The only place they seemed to not be allowed was in grocery stores.
On day 3 we took the train from Munich to Fussen. From Fussen we took a bus to Shloss Neuschwanstein and Shloss Hohenschwangau. Neuschwanstein is often referred to as "the Sleeping Beauty Castle." Walt Disney based the castle at Disney Land off of the architecture of Neuschwanstein. This was Crazy Ludwig II's fantasy castle that he never finished. Only 15 rooms were completed before he mysteriously died. Hohenschwangau was Ludwig's boyhood home and is complete. It is not as fancy as Neuschwanstein but it was still very beautiful. The castles are built on a mountain. You have to climb a very steep hill to get to the castle but it is well worth the hike.
Day 4 we traveled by train to Vienna. It was about a 5 hour train trip. We did a quick walk around the area surrounding our hotel and grabbed dinner at a very good Italian restaurant. The local wine in Vienna was great.
Day 5 we spent at the Spanish Riding School. It happened to be a national holiday and all of the stores were closed and the museums were free. Sounds great? Well, that means everyone in Vienna was out and trying to visit the museums. The Spanish Riding School is not owned by the government so it was open and we were lucky enough to have a chance to watch the morning practice and take a guided tour of the stables. It was very cool! The Lipizzaner stallions are amazing horses and having a chance to watch them up close was a great experience. In the evening we attended a concert held at the Hofburg palace. There was a small orchestra that played some standard Vivaldi, Strauss, and Mozart while accompanied by opera singers and ballet dancers. Vienna loves it's desserts and there were tons of cafes and coffee shops with pretty treats. They also love their Schnitzel.
Day 6 we headed to Prague by train. It was about a 6 hour trip from Vienna. Prague was an amazing city. We saw so many beautiful churches and buildings during the three days we were there. It was by far the most beautiful city we visited. The people were very kind but it was a bit expensive. Our hotel was amazing and the location was perfect. We visited all of the standard must-see sites: Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Church of St. Nicholas, St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle, Wencelas Square, Tyn Church, Kampa Island, Basilica and Convent of St. George, Loreta Church, and much more.
We stayed in Prague for three days and then flew home via JFK. The flight was long and we were tired. We walked a TON. We estimated that we averaged 14 miles a day during the trip and took 435 pictures.
The pups were very glad to see us when we got home. After spending the night with my parents, we headed back to Indy. Chloe cat missed us and decided that while we were gone she would open all of our cabinets. Luckily she doesn't destroy anything. She just thinks it's fun.
We loved Europe and are looking forward to going back soon! We are thinking of France or Italy for 2012. 2011 is already busy. Ironman Idaho is in June and we may be going to Disney in the fall.
We loved Europe and are looking forward to going back soon! We are thinking of France or Italy for 2012. 2011 is already busy. Ironman Idaho is in June and we may be going to Disney in the fall.
Indianapolis Half-Marathon
Race: Indianapolis Half-Marathon
Location: Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park - Indianapolis, IN
Date: October 16, 2010
This race was NOT in my race plan. I didn't even sign-up. Cyndi P called me the Wednesday before the race and said she was getting over being sick and wasn't up for running it. She asked if I wanted to do it instead. Before I know what is coming out of my mouth I say sure! Yes - this is against the rules and you are not suppose to race as someone else for safety reasons but I'm not much for following all of the rules.
I have a history with this race. It was my first marathon last year. It has more hills then any other race I run. I hate driving to Fort Ben. Parking blows. There are a million reasons I should have stayed in bed instead of run this race...but I did it. I PR'd the course by 8 minutes over the last time I ran it as a half.
Finish Time: 2:06:51
Am I happy with my time? I don't know. I've been trying to break 2 hours all year and I have just not been able to do it. I knew after mile 1 that this wasn't going to be my race. What I wasn't expecting was the extreme pain I was in after the race. Everything hurt. It felt like I had been hit by a bus, run over by a truck, and dragged by a horse. The pain lasted almost 3-days. I have not felt this bad after a race since I ran it a year ago...as a marathon and even then I was only sore for 2 days. Alas, I recovered and in the end, it was a good training run, the weather was beautiful, and I have a few really nice finish line photos. Please ignore the name on the bib ;)
Hilly Hundred - Unrace Report
Unrace: Hilly Hundred
Location: Ellettsville, IN
Date: October 8-10
Jarrett and I rode in our first Hilly Hundred this year. We had an AMAZING time! This is event is not a race. It's two days of friends, food, riding, and HILLS. We were lucky enough to stay with our friend Carrie F who lives about 3 miles away from the start line. We drove down to Ellettsville on Friday evening after work and picked-up packets and enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner with friends. Everyone was up early on Saturday to get started. Since it is not a race and several thousand people participate each year, there is no set start time. You can start anytime between 8-10. We started the course around 8:30. I was not sure what to expect. I'd ridden part of the course over the summer but I had not been on my bike much since Augusta. This was Jarrett's longest ride in months. I have to admit, I was very nervous at first. There are tons of people with varying abilities and the rodes are not closed to traffic. After making it to the first SAG stop, I loved it. Saturday was definitely challenging. It was a ton of climbing (5205 ft in 54.5 miles). I was only forced to walk one hill and it was only because I was cut-off in the middle of the climb by some old dude. I managed to unclip and get a foot down before falling or hitting him. I'm not strong enough to start from a dead stop in the middle of a serious climb, so I walked the rest. By the end of the day, we were all pretty exhausted. We went back and the seven of us killed some pizza's and I think we all were asleep by 9:30!
Location: Ellettsville, IN
Date: October 8-10
Jarrett and I rode in our first Hilly Hundred this year. We had an AMAZING time! This is event is not a race. It's two days of friends, food, riding, and HILLS. We were lucky enough to stay with our friend Carrie F who lives about 3 miles away from the start line. We drove down to Ellettsville on Friday evening after work and picked-up packets and enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner with friends. Everyone was up early on Saturday to get started. Since it is not a race and several thousand people participate each year, there is no set start time. You can start anytime between 8-10. We started the course around 8:30. I was not sure what to expect. I'd ridden part of the course over the summer but I had not been on my bike much since Augusta. This was Jarrett's longest ride in months. I have to admit, I was very nervous at first. There are tons of people with varying abilities and the rodes are not closed to traffic. After making it to the first SAG stop, I loved it. Saturday was definitely challenging. It was a ton of climbing (5205 ft in 54.5 miles). I was only forced to walk one hill and it was only because I was cut-off in the middle of the climb by some old dude. I managed to unclip and get a foot down before falling or hitting him. I'm not strong enough to start from a dead stop in the middle of a serious climb, so I walked the rest. By the end of the day, we were all pretty exhausted. We went back and the seven of us killed some pizza's and I think we all were asleep by 9:30! Day 2 was a little more relaxed. The hills were not as close together and there was only 3986 ft of climbing. We climbed my favorite hill, Bean Blossom on day two and my least favorite hill, Mt. Tabor. Mt. Tabor kicked my butt. I got within a 100 ft of the top but couldn't make it. It's only 0.2 miles long but it's a 20% incline.
What made this event different was that it was NOT a race. Everyone was so nice and we had a great time hanging out with friends. Even the old dude that cut me off apologized every time he saw me at a SAG stop. The other awesome thing - Apple Cider (YUM) and Fried Chicken. The weather could not have been better for the weekend and Jarrett and I are both looking forward to riding next year.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Augusta 70.3 Race Report
Race: ESI Ironman 70.3 Augusta
Location: Augusta, GA
Date: September 26, 2010
After almost a year of training, my A race was finally here. My first 70.3! Jarrett and I made this a family event. We rented a house just outside of Augusta that would allow us to bring our dogs and invite our family. Jarrett's mom and step-dad took us up on the offer and came to cheer me on. We left on Thursday and drove to Nashville, TN and stayed the night to break the trip into more manageable pieces. We've never traveled further then 3-hours to South Bend with the dogs before and I was a little concerned they would be difficult. Luckily, they were awesome the entire trip. They behaved like little angels and I would definitely take them on a road trip again. We headed the rest of the way to Augusta on Friday and got in to town about 2:00 pm. After dropping everything off at the house, Jarrett and I headed into town to get my packet. Check-in was fast. I was in and out of line in about 5 minutes flat. I guess it was pretty crazy on Saturday so I am very glad we made it in on Friday. I bought a new cycling jersey and tank top with the Augusta 70.3 logo and then we headed out to explore downtown. Honestly, I was disappointed. There really wasn't much to the town of Augusta. We did manage to find a cute cafe that served local produce and fresh made bread called New Moon.
Saturday we slept in and ate a nice breakfast. I headed out on a quick bike ride to make sure everything was working. Jarrett and I headed back into town with my bike and drove the bike course. I am VERY glad I drove the course. It was good to experience it from a vehicle and gave me a good idea what to expect. The course had tons of rolling hills and only one really difficult turn around mile 32. It was 95 degrees and the sun was brutal. I was beginning to re-calibrate my race expectations based on the heat. The weather for Sunday was calling for lower temps and a chance of rain. We dropped Lola off in transition without any issues and headed back to the house to relax. Dinner was lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. It was very tasty! I went to bed at 9:00 pm and set my alarm to wake-up at 4:00 am. I got a decent nights sleep (6 hours) and ate my Pop tarts and Gatorade for breakfast. Jarrett and I hit the road at 5:30 am.
The transition area was incredible. So many people and bikes! It was a lot to take in. I set-up my gear and covered everything I could with plastic bags. It was starting to drizzle. Jarrett had gone to park and I found him waiting outside of transition for me. I gave him a bag of extra water bottles to take back to the car. I'm not sure why I packed 5 bottles but I was only taking 3 on the bike. My aero bottle was filled with water, one bottle of Gatorade on the down tube and an extra bottle of water in the back. My bento box contained 800 calories, which was a tad more then I should have needed but I figured I better be safe. 600 from Chomps and Honey Stingers and 200 from Raspberry Newtons and Snickers. My plan was to consume 150-200 calories an hour on the bike. At some point I realized I wasn't wearing a watch. Jarrett and I hadn't gotten far from transition so I decided to go back and get my Polar watch. I opted not to wear the heart rate monitor. I decided I wanted to walk with Jarrett to the swim start so we hiked the 1.2 miles down river to the rowing club. I got my timing chip and watched the pros start. They announced they would be condensing the swim start because of the weather. It was a steady drizzle at this point.
Swim - 1.2 miles
I put my wetsuit on about 5 minutes before my wave started. We lined up in corrals and they released us every two minutes. You walked down a steep ramp to a floating boat dock in the river and jumped in for a deep water start. It was surreal. I wasn't nervous, I was ready. I jumped in off the center of the dock and lined up at the front of the pack. This is NOT my usual starting position! I am a back of the pack swimmer, but it never occurred to me to be anywhere else. In reality, there was only 131 of us in my wave and there was plenty of room between the start buoys. The next thing I knew, the air horn sounded and we were off. I was swimming as close to the left buoys as possible to take full advantage of the current. There were a few issues of people being grabby but nothing too bad. It was a point to point down river swim and it was FAST. Sighting wasn't particularly necessary because you could site off the shore line. I didn't pick my head up until I felt myself coming up on a large group of people. At that point I saw the big yellow buoy marking the swim exit. It was about 100 yards away. I could not believe the swim was already over. I stood up too soon and ended up slogging through the water and up the boat ramp. I was feeling great. I looked at my watch 31:10.
Swim Time: 31:10 (1:28/100 yds)
T1:
I used wetsuit strippers to get out of my wetsuit and ran to my bike. It was raining and it took me a bit to get all of my stuff out of the plastic bags I put it in. I took a small drink of Gatorade before taking off on the bike and ran out of transition. The bike mounting line was not crowded and it went very smoothly.
T1 Time: 5:40 - This was WAY longer then it should have taken but there was quiet a bit of distance from the swim exit to transition.
Bike: 56 Miles
I took off on the bike and looked down to see I was pushing a 23 mph pace. That's way too fast! I backed off to around 20 and was still flying for the first 15 miles. Mile 16 was were the hills started. They were not as bad as I thought they would be. I had totally psyched myself out after driving the course on Saturday. For some reason the hills seemed very big in the car. I passed a ton of people climbing and a ton of people passed me descending. I'm still not brave going down hill. The cool thing about the bike - I had fun. I really was enjoying the course and even though it was steadily raining and at some points down pouring, I wasn't nervous. It's been a rough year in this house for bike wrecks and even though I rode the race safe, I wouldn't say I rode like a total chicken. I descended all but two hills in aero and I never felt unsteady or anxious. The strange thing about the bike is I lost complete track of time. They had mile markers every 5 miles and that is the only reason I had any idea how far I'd gone. I never had a clue how much time had passed. The rain on my watch kept me from being able to see the time clearly and I had my bike computer set on the wrong screen so I could only really watch my speed and cadence. There were three aid stations on the bike and I decided since I practiced bottle grabs, I better actual do one! I grabbed Gatorade at around Mile 40 and drank a few sips before ditching it. At Mile 50 I noticed that I had not eaten nearly enough. It was too late to really do anything about the situation so I took a few more Chomps and hammered back to transition. When I home after the race I found that I had only eaten 180 calories during the bike.
Bike Time: 2:59:52
T2 Time: 4:13 - Bike dismount was uneventful and I ran my bike back to my rack space. It was a little muddy and my feet and bike shoes were soaking wet. I had put my running shoes and socks in plastic bags but forgot to put a dry towel in a bag to wipe off my wet feet. I got my socks on and headed out for the run. It was still drizzling at this point and it wouldn't be long before my feet were soaking.
Run: 13.1 miles
My run started strong and then I fell apart at mile 5. I hadn't eaten enough and I just could not get my legs to move any faster. I ran most of the race and walked at aid stations. I drank Gatorade and water at each stop and ate Chomps every two miles. It was really nice getting to see Jarrett and David and Michele multiple times during the run. Jarrett even bought a little cowbell :) I was running every time he saw me. The crowds and volunteers were great and the Richmond County Sheriffs Department officer at Mile 6/12 was a hoot. He was providing us with tips such as "Triathlon is swim, bike, run - not swim, bike, walk." Running through the finishers chute was awesome! I was very proud to have finished strong.
Mile 1: 9:16
Mile 2: 9:38
Mile 3: 10:12
Mile 4: 10:11
Mile 5: 11:38
Mile 6: 10:55
Mile 7: 11:13
Mile 8: 11:47
Mile 9: 11:07
Mile 10: 11:51
Mile 11: 11:36
Mile 12: 11:36
Mile 13.1: 11:47
Run Time: 2:22:51
Total Race Time: 6:03:45
Post race I ate some cookies and pizza and drank a ton of water. We picked up my morning gear bag and hitched a ride back to transition to pick-up my bike. Everything in transition was soaking wet and gross. We packed up and headed back to the house. I immediately took an ice bath and rolled my quads and hammies with "The Stick." I really didn't have any issues with being stiff or sore after the race. I wore my new CEP compression socks on the way back to IN and avoided swollen legs from sitting in the car. We drove straight home on Monday. I had Tuesday off from work so we relaxed and I ran with Andrea K and Jarrett down on the canal in the afternoon. We managed a 5 miler in 45 minutes and it felt really good.
Overall this was a very positive race experience. I crossed the finish line and immediately had the though "Wow - I want to do that again." Could I be faster? Probably, but overall I'm pleased with how the race went.
Next up - Monumental Marathon!
Location: Augusta, GA
Date: September 26, 2010
After almost a year of training, my A race was finally here. My first 70.3! Jarrett and I made this a family event. We rented a house just outside of Augusta that would allow us to bring our dogs and invite our family. Jarrett's mom and step-dad took us up on the offer and came to cheer me on. We left on Thursday and drove to Nashville, TN and stayed the night to break the trip into more manageable pieces. We've never traveled further then 3-hours to South Bend with the dogs before and I was a little concerned they would be difficult. Luckily, they were awesome the entire trip. They behaved like little angels and I would definitely take them on a road trip again. We headed the rest of the way to Augusta on Friday and got in to town about 2:00 pm. After dropping everything off at the house, Jarrett and I headed into town to get my packet. Check-in was fast. I was in and out of line in about 5 minutes flat. I guess it was pretty crazy on Saturday so I am very glad we made it in on Friday. I bought a new cycling jersey and tank top with the Augusta 70.3 logo and then we headed out to explore downtown. Honestly, I was disappointed. There really wasn't much to the town of Augusta. We did manage to find a cute cafe that served local produce and fresh made bread called New Moon.
Saturday we slept in and ate a nice breakfast. I headed out on a quick bike ride to make sure everything was working. Jarrett and I headed back into town with my bike and drove the bike course. I am VERY glad I drove the course. It was good to experience it from a vehicle and gave me a good idea what to expect. The course had tons of rolling hills and only one really difficult turn around mile 32. It was 95 degrees and the sun was brutal. I was beginning to re-calibrate my race expectations based on the heat. The weather for Sunday was calling for lower temps and a chance of rain. We dropped Lola off in transition without any issues and headed back to the house to relax. Dinner was lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. It was very tasty! I went to bed at 9:00 pm and set my alarm to wake-up at 4:00 am. I got a decent nights sleep (6 hours) and ate my Pop tarts and Gatorade for breakfast. Jarrett and I hit the road at 5:30 am.
The transition area was incredible. So many people and bikes! It was a lot to take in. I set-up my gear and covered everything I could with plastic bags. It was starting to drizzle. Jarrett had gone to park and I found him waiting outside of transition for me. I gave him a bag of extra water bottles to take back to the car. I'm not sure why I packed 5 bottles but I was only taking 3 on the bike. My aero bottle was filled with water, one bottle of Gatorade on the down tube and an extra bottle of water in the back. My bento box contained 800 calories, which was a tad more then I should have needed but I figured I better be safe. 600 from Chomps and Honey Stingers and 200 from Raspberry Newtons and Snickers. My plan was to consume 150-200 calories an hour on the bike. At some point I realized I wasn't wearing a watch. Jarrett and I hadn't gotten far from transition so I decided to go back and get my Polar watch. I opted not to wear the heart rate monitor. I decided I wanted to walk with Jarrett to the swim start so we hiked the 1.2 miles down river to the rowing club. I got my timing chip and watched the pros start. They announced they would be condensing the swim start because of the weather. It was a steady drizzle at this point.
Swim - 1.2 miles
I put my wetsuit on about 5 minutes before my wave started. We lined up in corrals and they released us every two minutes. You walked down a steep ramp to a floating boat dock in the river and jumped in for a deep water start. It was surreal. I wasn't nervous, I was ready. I jumped in off the center of the dock and lined up at the front of the pack. This is NOT my usual starting position! I am a back of the pack swimmer, but it never occurred to me to be anywhere else. In reality, there was only 131 of us in my wave and there was plenty of room between the start buoys. The next thing I knew, the air horn sounded and we were off. I was swimming as close to the left buoys as possible to take full advantage of the current. There were a few issues of people being grabby but nothing too bad. It was a point to point down river swim and it was FAST. Sighting wasn't particularly necessary because you could site off the shore line. I didn't pick my head up until I felt myself coming up on a large group of people. At that point I saw the big yellow buoy marking the swim exit. It was about 100 yards away. I could not believe the swim was already over. I stood up too soon and ended up slogging through the water and up the boat ramp. I was feeling great. I looked at my watch 31:10.
Swim Time: 31:10 (1:28/100 yds)
T1:
I used wetsuit strippers to get out of my wetsuit and ran to my bike. It was raining and it took me a bit to get all of my stuff out of the plastic bags I put it in. I took a small drink of Gatorade before taking off on the bike and ran out of transition. The bike mounting line was not crowded and it went very smoothly.
T1 Time: 5:40 - This was WAY longer then it should have taken but there was quiet a bit of distance from the swim exit to transition.
Bike: 56 Miles
I took off on the bike and looked down to see I was pushing a 23 mph pace. That's way too fast! I backed off to around 20 and was still flying for the first 15 miles. Mile 16 was were the hills started. They were not as bad as I thought they would be. I had totally psyched myself out after driving the course on Saturday. For some reason the hills seemed very big in the car. I passed a ton of people climbing and a ton of people passed me descending. I'm still not brave going down hill. The cool thing about the bike - I had fun. I really was enjoying the course and even though it was steadily raining and at some points down pouring, I wasn't nervous. It's been a rough year in this house for bike wrecks and even though I rode the race safe, I wouldn't say I rode like a total chicken. I descended all but two hills in aero and I never felt unsteady or anxious. The strange thing about the bike is I lost complete track of time. They had mile markers every 5 miles and that is the only reason I had any idea how far I'd gone. I never had a clue how much time had passed. The rain on my watch kept me from being able to see the time clearly and I had my bike computer set on the wrong screen so I could only really watch my speed and cadence. There were three aid stations on the bike and I decided since I practiced bottle grabs, I better actual do one! I grabbed Gatorade at around Mile 40 and drank a few sips before ditching it. At Mile 50 I noticed that I had not eaten nearly enough. It was too late to really do anything about the situation so I took a few more Chomps and hammered back to transition. When I home after the race I found that I had only eaten 180 calories during the bike.
Bike Time: 2:59:52
T2 Time: 4:13 - Bike dismount was uneventful and I ran my bike back to my rack space. It was a little muddy and my feet and bike shoes were soaking wet. I had put my running shoes and socks in plastic bags but forgot to put a dry towel in a bag to wipe off my wet feet. I got my socks on and headed out for the run. It was still drizzling at this point and it wouldn't be long before my feet were soaking.
Run: 13.1 miles
My run started strong and then I fell apart at mile 5. I hadn't eaten enough and I just could not get my legs to move any faster. I ran most of the race and walked at aid stations. I drank Gatorade and water at each stop and ate Chomps every two miles. It was really nice getting to see Jarrett and David and Michele multiple times during the run. Jarrett even bought a little cowbell :) I was running every time he saw me. The crowds and volunteers were great and the Richmond County Sheriffs Department officer at Mile 6/12 was a hoot. He was providing us with tips such as "Triathlon is swim, bike, run - not swim, bike, walk." Running through the finishers chute was awesome! I was very proud to have finished strong.
Mile 1: 9:16
Mile 2: 9:38
Mile 3: 10:12
Mile 4: 10:11
Mile 5: 11:38
Mile 6: 10:55
Mile 7: 11:13
Mile 8: 11:47
Mile 9: 11:07
Mile 10: 11:51
Mile 11: 11:36
Mile 12: 11:36
Mile 13.1: 11:47
Run Time: 2:22:51
Total Race Time: 6:03:45
Post race I ate some cookies and pizza and drank a ton of water. We picked up my morning gear bag and hitched a ride back to transition to pick-up my bike. Everything in transition was soaking wet and gross. We packed up and headed back to the house. I immediately took an ice bath and rolled my quads and hammies with "The Stick." I really didn't have any issues with being stiff or sore after the race. I wore my new CEP compression socks on the way back to IN and avoided swollen legs from sitting in the car. We drove straight home on Monday. I had Tuesday off from work so we relaxed and I ran with Andrea K and Jarrett down on the canal in the afternoon. We managed a 5 miler in 45 minutes and it felt really good.
Overall this was a very positive race experience. I crossed the finish line and immediately had the though "Wow - I want to do that again." Could I be faster? Probably, but overall I'm pleased with how the race went.
Next up - Monumental Marathon!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Morse Mini Marathon
Morse Mini Marathon
Date: 9/4/2010
Nobelsville, IN
13.1 Miles
So I convinced Cyndi on Monday to sign-up for this race. I haven't run a half-marathon since June and that race was miserably hot. This is only the second year for the Morse race and neither of us had any idea what to expect. I train in the area so I had a good idea it was going to be fairly flat and fast. Being only the 2nd year for the event, it's a gamble on how well they'll have the course marked or supplied with water, etc.
The weather was almost perfect. Cool and clear. The only issue - the damn wind. Cyndi and I met up with my tri friend Katie before the race. We all started together towards the middle of the pack. My mission for the day - break two hours. Honestly, I ran a good race, except for mile 9. I don't know what the hell happened in mile 9 but I was evidently day dreaming or something. My pace slipped down to a 10 minute/mile and I screwed myself. The rest of the race was fantastic. I hit the 13 mile marker and looked at my watch...it was going to be close. As I turned down the drive to the school at started to sprint to the finish, I felt a gush of fluid in my left shoe. I looked down and saw the entire top of my shoe was bloody. I ignored the pain and grossness and pushed to the line finishing in......I know the suspense is killing you...2:00:22. Yes - I missed breaking two-hours by 23 seconds.
After the race I changed clothes and went back to the finish line to wait for Cyndi and Katie to finish. Bob O - another tri friend was also running this race as his first half marathon. He finished with a great time and had fun! Katie and Cyndi also both had good races. Cyndi and I both had PR's. This one was 5 minutes faster the my previous best time. Now I must find those elusive 23 seconds and break two hours!! Good things - My nutrition was spot-on for the race. I ate one bag of chomps and only took water. It worked because the weather was cool. Any more heat I would have had to take Gatorade too. Luckily no stomach issues! The foot was gross but it didn't really hurt after I got out of my shoes. The blister healed quickly. I'm going to start breaking in new shoes this week for Augusta. Hopefully they'll help minimize the blisters.
Date: 9/4/2010
Nobelsville, IN
13.1 Miles
So I convinced Cyndi on Monday to sign-up for this race. I haven't run a half-marathon since June and that race was miserably hot. This is only the second year for the Morse race and neither of us had any idea what to expect. I train in the area so I had a good idea it was going to be fairly flat and fast. Being only the 2nd year for the event, it's a gamble on how well they'll have the course marked or supplied with water, etc.
The weather was almost perfect. Cool and clear. The only issue - the damn wind. Cyndi and I met up with my tri friend Katie before the race. We all started together towards the middle of the pack. My mission for the day - break two hours. Honestly, I ran a good race, except for mile 9. I don't know what the hell happened in mile 9 but I was evidently day dreaming or something. My pace slipped down to a 10 minute/mile and I screwed myself. The rest of the race was fantastic. I hit the 13 mile marker and looked at my watch...it was going to be close. As I turned down the drive to the school at started to sprint to the finish, I felt a gush of fluid in my left shoe. I looked down and saw the entire top of my shoe was bloody. I ignored the pain and grossness and pushed to the line finishing in......I know the suspense is killing you...2:00:22. Yes - I missed breaking two-hours by 23 seconds.
After the race I changed clothes and went back to the finish line to wait for Cyndi and Katie to finish. Bob O - another tri friend was also running this race as his first half marathon. He finished with a great time and had fun! Katie and Cyndi also both had good races. Cyndi and I both had PR's. This one was 5 minutes faster the my previous best time. Now I must find those elusive 23 seconds and break two hours!! Good things - My nutrition was spot-on for the race. I ate one bag of chomps and only took water. It worked because the weather was cool. Any more heat I would have had to take Gatorade too. Luckily no stomach issues! The foot was gross but it didn't really hurt after I got out of my shoes. The blister healed quickly. I'm going to start breaking in new shoes this week for Augusta. Hopefully they'll help minimize the blisters.
Go Girl Triathlon
Go Girl Triathlon
Date: August 28, 2010
Eagle Creek Reservoir - Indianapolis, IN
Sprint Distance - 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run
This was the 3rd anniversary of my first triathlon! Race day started early, as usual. Jarrett was volunteering as a check-in helper so we had to be at the race site by 6:00 am. I was once again the first to set-up my transition area and scored the coveted outside spot on the rack. This is an all women's event and I spent a good bit of the morning talking to new athletes and giving tips on how to set-up transition areas, things to know about the race, etc. It's was fun being the "veteran."
Swim: 11:47 I wore my wetsuit. This was a 4 minute PR. For reals. I passed people. A lot of people. I actually felt fast.
T1: 2:45.3 - Ummmm - yeah. So I had some issues getting out of the wetsuit. I even used a bunch of body glide. I just couldn't get my fingers to cooperate.
Bike: 35:40 - 16.8 mph - No course record here. The bike was crowded and passing was tough. I also had to slow down to almost a stop because of a deer. He was standing at the side of the road watching us come down the hill. Finally, a nice volunteer scared him back into the woods before he decided to jump in front of someone.
T2: 2:22.3 - Another crummy transition! This one was a hot mess. I started to run the WRONG way out of transition WITH my bike helmet on. Rigggghhhht...
Run: 27:16.4 - 9:05/mile - PR! The run was great. I was on it. Sprinted in to the finish. Beat the girl who kept passing me on the bike and then cutting me off. :) It's the little things!
Total Race Time: 1:19:58 - 100/501 total participants and 25/75 in my age group. New course PR by 4 minutes!
Let's review the previous two years of Go Girl Results:
2008 - My 1st Triathlon! - Total Race Time: 1:40:24
2009 - Total Race Time: 1:32:22
What a difference a year makes...
Date: August 28, 2010
Eagle Creek Reservoir - Indianapolis, IN
Sprint Distance - 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run
This was the 3rd anniversary of my first triathlon! Race day started early, as usual. Jarrett was volunteering as a check-in helper so we had to be at the race site by 6:00 am. I was once again the first to set-up my transition area and scored the coveted outside spot on the rack. This is an all women's event and I spent a good bit of the morning talking to new athletes and giving tips on how to set-up transition areas, things to know about the race, etc. It's was fun being the "veteran."
Swim: 11:47 I wore my wetsuit. This was a 4 minute PR. For reals. I passed people. A lot of people. I actually felt fast.
T1: 2:45.3 - Ummmm - yeah. So I had some issues getting out of the wetsuit. I even used a bunch of body glide. I just couldn't get my fingers to cooperate.
Bike: 35:40 - 16.8 mph - No course record here. The bike was crowded and passing was tough. I also had to slow down to almost a stop because of a deer. He was standing at the side of the road watching us come down the hill. Finally, a nice volunteer scared him back into the woods before he decided to jump in front of someone.
T2: 2:22.3 - Another crummy transition! This one was a hot mess. I started to run the WRONG way out of transition WITH my bike helmet on. Rigggghhhht...
Run: 27:16.4 - 9:05/mile - PR! The run was great. I was on it. Sprinted in to the finish. Beat the girl who kept passing me on the bike and then cutting me off. :) It's the little things!
Total Race Time: 1:19:58 - 100/501 total participants and 25/75 in my age group. New course PR by 4 minutes!
Let's review the previous two years of Go Girl Results:
2008 - My 1st Triathlon! - Total Race Time: 1:40:24
2009 - Total Race Time: 1:32:22
What a difference a year makes...
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Circle the City 10K
Event: Circle the City 10K
Location: Downtown Indy
Date: 8/7/2010
This is my 3rd year running Circle the City. The night before the race Cyndi, Brian, Jarrett and I went to the State Fair and ate WAY too much fair food. It was good but we kind of knew it wasn't the greatest pre-race nutrition plan. We got home late (11 pm) after walking around the fair for about four hours. Luckily it wasn't too hot and I made a point to keep my water bottle full. We were suppose to wake-up at 4:45 am so we could get out the door to pick-up Cyndi by 6 am. Unfortunately, I set my alarm for 4:45 pm. Oops. Luckily Chloe Cat woke me up and we managed to be only a few minutes late getting Cyndi. We got there in plenty of time and but my whole morning routine was thrown off.
The weather was perfect. Mild temps, moderate humidity, slightly overcast. They didn't have any mile markers for mile 1 or mile 2. I hit mile 3 at 26:45 on my watch. I was happy. 8:45-8:55/mile is where I want to be running a 10K right now. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep it. I didn't have my GPS because the battery was dead and a wicked side stitch that started in mile 4 slowed me down. I pushed through the discomfort and kept moving. I finished in 59:46 with a 9:36 minute/mile pace. Last year I finished in 1:04 so I'll take the PR for the race and keep focusing on getting stronger. Ultimately I need to get lighter to run faster. I finished 26 out of 60 in my age group so at least I was in the top half. My friend Lori actually won our age group! She was killing it with 7:20 minute/miles! Jennifer, Cyndi, and Jarrett also had great races. Everyone should have been very pleased. Caryn and Edgar finished the 5K and were very happy with their times, too. It was great to hang out with the old band crowd this morning and then just relax the rest of the day.
Jarrett and I are starting to get the details sorted out for Augusta. I found a hotel in Nashville that will let us have the dogs and we plan to stop for the night before heading the rest of the way to Georgia. Menu planning is under way and I've started my lists so I can get my race stuff organized. I can't believe it's in less then 50 days. My training schedule for the next three weeks is tough and they are going to be a test of my mental toughness as much as my physical toughness.
I'm racing Kokomo 40K TT in the morning. It's the last bike race of the season. I will win the women's division as long as I finish. After that it's the third anniversary of my first Go Girl Triathlon followed by Augusta.
Location: Downtown Indy
Date: 8/7/2010
This is my 3rd year running Circle the City. The night before the race Cyndi, Brian, Jarrett and I went to the State Fair and ate WAY too much fair food. It was good but we kind of knew it wasn't the greatest pre-race nutrition plan. We got home late (11 pm) after walking around the fair for about four hours. Luckily it wasn't too hot and I made a point to keep my water bottle full. We were suppose to wake-up at 4:45 am so we could get out the door to pick-up Cyndi by 6 am. Unfortunately, I set my alarm for 4:45 pm. Oops. Luckily Chloe Cat woke me up and we managed to be only a few minutes late getting Cyndi. We got there in plenty of time and but my whole morning routine was thrown off.
The weather was perfect. Mild temps, moderate humidity, slightly overcast. They didn't have any mile markers for mile 1 or mile 2. I hit mile 3 at 26:45 on my watch. I was happy. 8:45-8:55/mile is where I want to be running a 10K right now. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep it. I didn't have my GPS because the battery was dead and a wicked side stitch that started in mile 4 slowed me down. I pushed through the discomfort and kept moving. I finished in 59:46 with a 9:36 minute/mile pace. Last year I finished in 1:04 so I'll take the PR for the race and keep focusing on getting stronger. Ultimately I need to get lighter to run faster. I finished 26 out of 60 in my age group so at least I was in the top half. My friend Lori actually won our age group! She was killing it with 7:20 minute/miles! Jennifer, Cyndi, and Jarrett also had great races. Everyone should have been very pleased. Caryn and Edgar finished the 5K and were very happy with their times, too. It was great to hang out with the old band crowd this morning and then just relax the rest of the day.
Jarrett and I are starting to get the details sorted out for Augusta. I found a hotel in Nashville that will let us have the dogs and we plan to stop for the night before heading the rest of the way to Georgia. Menu planning is under way and I've started my lists so I can get my race stuff organized. I can't believe it's in less then 50 days. My training schedule for the next three weeks is tough and they are going to be a test of my mental toughness as much as my physical toughness.
I'm racing Kokomo 40K TT in the morning. It's the last bike race of the season. I will win the women's division as long as I finish. After that it's the third anniversary of my first Go Girl Triathlon followed by Augusta.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Tri Indy - Olympic Distance
Event: Tri Indy - Olympic Distance
Date: August 1, 2010
Location: Downtown Indy
Pre-Race
Jarrett was volunteering for this race and had to be at the site at 5:15 am. That meant an early bedtime of 9:00 pm! I packed my stuff the night before and all we had to do was load the car in the morning. The dogs woke me up at 3:00 am. I had my alarm set for 4 but I never really fell back asleep. I got up at 4, showered, fed the animals, and had two Wile Berry Pop-Tarts, vitamins, a Pepcid AC, and one Alleve. I drank 24 oz of water and a Diet Coke. We hit the road a 5:00 am and were at the race site at 5:15 am. Since Jarrett was a volunteer he had a parking pass that got us a fantastic spot. I picked-up my packet and went back to the car to put my numbers on the bike and grab my stuff. At the registration tent I saw that the water temp was 75 degrees. Wetsuit legal. I didn't bring my wetsuit. Oops. I headed over to transition and racked my bike and dropped off my bag. I was the first person to rack my stuff so I had a prime end spot. I then walked about half a mile to Jenn's house to meet her. We headed back to transition about 6:00 am and got her stuff set-up by 6:30 am. We chatted with a few people and then started toward the swim start about 7:00 am. We decided to drop our shoes off at Jenn's house and use the bathroom before we had to swim. Our timing was perfect! We got back to the canal as they were lining up 200-250. I was 314 and she was 350 so we started together.
Swim:
Time trial start this year which was interesting. You kind of ran down this ramp and dove in. The water actually felt pretty chilly initially but once I started moving, I was fine. I tried to find some feet and hang on but it just wasn't happening. People were either too fast or too slow and I just never found a good person to pace off of. Jenn was within my sight for most of the race. I think I lost her the last 500. Biggest issue - I could not swim straight to save my life. Seriously? It's a canal. It has walls. And I was drifting all over the place! I'm sure this had a direct impact on my swim time. How would I rate this swim? Okay but not great. At one point a got kicked pretty hard in the face and got a bit disoriented. I should have swam closer to the steps at the exit too. I misjudged the distance and stood up too early. On a positive note - I did not have to breast stroke or stop at all. I know my time would have been faster with my wetsuit too. The other thing I need to work on is pushing a little harder during the swim. I get into a comfortable rhythm but I'm not fast. My heart rate was in check when I got out and I was able to run to my bike without feeling totally lost.
Swim: 1500 meters
Swim Time: 35:46.8
T1: 1:58.7
T1 was a bit slow. I had issues shoving chomps into my back pockets and getting my gloves on. It definitely isn't my slowest T1 but it could have been faster. I haven't been wearing gloves for the sprints and shorter rides but I decided to use them today since the ride was a bit longer. In the end, it was worth the extra time.
Bike:
I got on the bike and headed out on course. The first thing I had to deal with was riding down a plywood ramp over a curb to get out onto the road. It scared me. I was riding new wheels (Courtney let me borrow his HED wheel set) and I haven't really experienced riding down a ramp or jumping curbs on the Cervelo. Once I got on the road it became apparent the road conditions were going to suck. Pot holes, rough pavement, gravel, railroad tracks...I was riding with my 20 oz Aero bottle full of water, a bottle on my bottom tube with a 50/50 mix of Gatorade and water, and a spare bottle on the back rack with about half a bottle of water. I popped open a bag of chomps at about mile 5 and had 3. I was consistently sipping out of the aero bottle and managed to finish it by the end of the race. I had another 3 chomps around mile 15. I drank about a quarter of my Gatorade mix. The bike course was fairly challenging for me. I wanted badly to ride fast but I also knew that I needed to be safe so I really held back. Not to mention I was praying the entire time that I wouldn't get a flat. The road conditions were seriously terrible. I saw 5 flats, 2 wrecks, and about 20 water bottles laying on the road. Jarrett said he saw a lot of flats and a few more with road rash from wrecks. The first lap was less congested then the 2nd. The 2nd lap had all of the sprint racers out on the roads too. I passed a ton of people. It was very hard not to be in the draft zone. I made it through without any penalties, no mechanicals, no wrecks, and my legs felt good. I seriously need to work on my cornering skills. I still brake and ride WAY too slow around turns. I suggested to Vern @ T3 to hold a bike handling skills workshop and he said he thought it was a good idea. I just need to gain more confidence so I can get some more speed out there!
Time: 1:12:57.2 (20.4 mph)
T2: 1:47.6
Got back into transition, racked the bike and pulled off my helmet and gloves. I had some issues getting on my socks, as usual. I would love to run barefoot, but my feet will have none of that. Tied my shoes and grabbed my race number belt and headed out. I brought a Fuel belt with me but decided that the temps were low enough and I was feeling good after the bike that I wouldn't take it on the run. Less weight and less annoying.
Run:
Distance: 6.2 miles
My legs felt great coming off the bike. I haven't done a ton of bricks this year so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel and I was pleasantly surprised. The first 3 miles flew by. I met up with a lady named Stacey at mile 2. She was doing the sprint and it was her first triathlon. She was having a lot of fun and I convinced her to give the Go Girl a try in September. We parted ways at about 2.75 and she went straight to finish and I headed back for another loop. I saw Jarrett and TJ standing at the turn point for the 2nd loop cheering and heard various other voice shouting words of encouragement. Mile 4 I had some Chomps and Gatorade. I was drinking water at all the water stops and picked up Gatorade at Mile 2 and Mile 4. This year the water stations were much better spaced and the volunteers were fantastic. They were even nice enough to let me have two cups of water at mile 5 so I could drink some and dump the rest on my head. Even though it was overcast, it did start to warm up the second loop of the run. My stomach started to get a little angry around mile 4. I just ignored it and kept pushing. At mile 5 I remembered that I had actually started my watch at the swim start. I hadn't looked at it since I got out of the water. To my amazement it said 2:41. I had one mile to go. I was so excited. I really wanted to finish the race in under 3 hours this year and it was going to happen! There were several times during that last mile I had to convince myself not to stop and walk. I kept moving and focusing on keeping my chin up and shoulders back. I got about 200 meters from the finish and saw Rich cheering and TJ taking pictures. Jarrett ran along side me and gave me some words of encouragement and a nice smack on the butt for motivation. I finished strong and even got my name announced at the finish and a Happy Birthday from the RD!
Time: 0:58:41.7 (9:26.8 minutes/mile)
Total Race Time: 2:51:11.9
I placed 11 out of 24 in my age group. Finally broke into the top half! Overall I was 281 out of 443. Still hanging at the back of the pack but I'm getting closer to the front of the back of the pack!
After I finished I grabbed some water and a few cookies and found Jarrett. We headed back to watch Jenn finish and check on our other race peeps. I saw Steve cross the finish line and couldn't believe I beat him. I found out later that he had a flat and spent about 15 minutes fixing his tire. He would have had a fantastic time if not for the revenge of the roads. We found Doug who had just finished his first sprint. He did fantastic! 1:28! It's amazing what us old band kids are doing these days. I guarantee if you had asked me if I thought I would ever do a triathlon when I was a 19 year-old marching band geek, I would have laughed.
It's amazing what a year has done. Last year, this was my first Oly and I finished in a painful 3:43:59. I crushed that time and still had energy.
I really appreciate everyone who came out and cheered and volunteered. Jenn finished very strong and should be extremely proud of her race time! She killed her 3:20:00 goal and finished in 3:10:00.
It's hard to believe that race season is almost over. The Go Girl is my last sprint of the season and then it's off to Augusta. I'm still nervous. New course, new distance....I've still got some issues to work out with nutrition. I did not get as dehydrated during this race but I was still a little short on liquids. I also should have finished my entire bag of Chomps on the bike and two more on the run.
55 days until Augusta. I'm starting to think about race goals and setting up my race plan. Overall goal - Just finish in under 8 hours. I'd love to see a time around 6:30:00. Ultimately it's about having fun and finishing with a smile.
This has been an amazing year of training and I owe my success over this summer to my wonderful supportive husband, Jarrett, Coach TJ, and the great group of triathletes I've had the chance to train with. Each person inspires me to push a little harder and whine a little less ;)
Date: August 1, 2010
Location: Downtown Indy
Pre-Race
Jarrett was volunteering for this race and had to be at the site at 5:15 am. That meant an early bedtime of 9:00 pm! I packed my stuff the night before and all we had to do was load the car in the morning. The dogs woke me up at 3:00 am. I had my alarm set for 4 but I never really fell back asleep. I got up at 4, showered, fed the animals, and had two Wile Berry Pop-Tarts, vitamins, a Pepcid AC, and one Alleve. I drank 24 oz of water and a Diet Coke. We hit the road a 5:00 am and were at the race site at 5:15 am. Since Jarrett was a volunteer he had a parking pass that got us a fantastic spot. I picked-up my packet and went back to the car to put my numbers on the bike and grab my stuff. At the registration tent I saw that the water temp was 75 degrees. Wetsuit legal. I didn't bring my wetsuit. Oops. I headed over to transition and racked my bike and dropped off my bag. I was the first person to rack my stuff so I had a prime end spot. I then walked about half a mile to Jenn's house to meet her. We headed back to transition about 6:00 am and got her stuff set-up by 6:30 am. We chatted with a few people and then started toward the swim start about 7:00 am. We decided to drop our shoes off at Jenn's house and use the bathroom before we had to swim. Our timing was perfect! We got back to the canal as they were lining up 200-250. I was 314 and she was 350 so we started together.
Swim:
Time trial start this year which was interesting. You kind of ran down this ramp and dove in. The water actually felt pretty chilly initially but once I started moving, I was fine. I tried to find some feet and hang on but it just wasn't happening. People were either too fast or too slow and I just never found a good person to pace off of. Jenn was within my sight for most of the race. I think I lost her the last 500. Biggest issue - I could not swim straight to save my life. Seriously? It's a canal. It has walls. And I was drifting all over the place! I'm sure this had a direct impact on my swim time. How would I rate this swim? Okay but not great. At one point a got kicked pretty hard in the face and got a bit disoriented. I should have swam closer to the steps at the exit too. I misjudged the distance and stood up too early. On a positive note - I did not have to breast stroke or stop at all. I know my time would have been faster with my wetsuit too. The other thing I need to work on is pushing a little harder during the swim. I get into a comfortable rhythm but I'm not fast. My heart rate was in check when I got out and I was able to run to my bike without feeling totally lost.
Swim: 1500 meters
Swim Time: 35:46.8
T1: 1:58.7
T1 was a bit slow. I had issues shoving chomps into my back pockets and getting my gloves on. It definitely isn't my slowest T1 but it could have been faster. I haven't been wearing gloves for the sprints and shorter rides but I decided to use them today since the ride was a bit longer. In the end, it was worth the extra time.
Bike:
I got on the bike and headed out on course. The first thing I had to deal with was riding down a plywood ramp over a curb to get out onto the road. It scared me. I was riding new wheels (Courtney let me borrow his HED wheel set) and I haven't really experienced riding down a ramp or jumping curbs on the Cervelo. Once I got on the road it became apparent the road conditions were going to suck. Pot holes, rough pavement, gravel, railroad tracks...I was riding with my 20 oz Aero bottle full of water, a bottle on my bottom tube with a 50/50 mix of Gatorade and water, and a spare bottle on the back rack with about half a bottle of water. I popped open a bag of chomps at about mile 5 and had 3. I was consistently sipping out of the aero bottle and managed to finish it by the end of the race. I had another 3 chomps around mile 15. I drank about a quarter of my Gatorade mix. The bike course was fairly challenging for me. I wanted badly to ride fast but I also knew that I needed to be safe so I really held back. Not to mention I was praying the entire time that I wouldn't get a flat. The road conditions were seriously terrible. I saw 5 flats, 2 wrecks, and about 20 water bottles laying on the road. Jarrett said he saw a lot of flats and a few more with road rash from wrecks. The first lap was less congested then the 2nd. The 2nd lap had all of the sprint racers out on the roads too. I passed a ton of people. It was very hard not to be in the draft zone. I made it through without any penalties, no mechanicals, no wrecks, and my legs felt good. I seriously need to work on my cornering skills. I still brake and ride WAY too slow around turns. I suggested to Vern @ T3 to hold a bike handling skills workshop and he said he thought it was a good idea. I just need to gain more confidence so I can get some more speed out there!
Time: 1:12:57.2 (20.4 mph)
T2: 1:47.6
Got back into transition, racked the bike and pulled off my helmet and gloves. I had some issues getting on my socks, as usual. I would love to run barefoot, but my feet will have none of that. Tied my shoes and grabbed my race number belt and headed out. I brought a Fuel belt with me but decided that the temps were low enough and I was feeling good after the bike that I wouldn't take it on the run. Less weight and less annoying.
Run:
Distance: 6.2 miles
My legs felt great coming off the bike. I haven't done a ton of bricks this year so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel and I was pleasantly surprised. The first 3 miles flew by. I met up with a lady named Stacey at mile 2. She was doing the sprint and it was her first triathlon. She was having a lot of fun and I convinced her to give the Go Girl a try in September. We parted ways at about 2.75 and she went straight to finish and I headed back for another loop. I saw Jarrett and TJ standing at the turn point for the 2nd loop cheering and heard various other voice shouting words of encouragement. Mile 4 I had some Chomps and Gatorade. I was drinking water at all the water stops and picked up Gatorade at Mile 2 and Mile 4. This year the water stations were much better spaced and the volunteers were fantastic. They were even nice enough to let me have two cups of water at mile 5 so I could drink some and dump the rest on my head. Even though it was overcast, it did start to warm up the second loop of the run. My stomach started to get a little angry around mile 4. I just ignored it and kept pushing. At mile 5 I remembered that I had actually started my watch at the swim start. I hadn't looked at it since I got out of the water. To my amazement it said 2:41. I had one mile to go. I was so excited. I really wanted to finish the race in under 3 hours this year and it was going to happen! There were several times during that last mile I had to convince myself not to stop and walk. I kept moving and focusing on keeping my chin up and shoulders back. I got about 200 meters from the finish and saw Rich cheering and TJ taking pictures. Jarrett ran along side me and gave me some words of encouragement and a nice smack on the butt for motivation. I finished strong and even got my name announced at the finish and a Happy Birthday from the RD!
Time: 0:58:41.7 (9:26.8 minutes/mile)
Total Race Time: 2:51:11.9
I placed 11 out of 24 in my age group. Finally broke into the top half! Overall I was 281 out of 443. Still hanging at the back of the pack but I'm getting closer to the front of the back of the pack!
After I finished I grabbed some water and a few cookies and found Jarrett. We headed back to watch Jenn finish and check on our other race peeps. I saw Steve cross the finish line and couldn't believe I beat him. I found out later that he had a flat and spent about 15 minutes fixing his tire. He would have had a fantastic time if not for the revenge of the roads. We found Doug who had just finished his first sprint. He did fantastic! 1:28! It's amazing what us old band kids are doing these days. I guarantee if you had asked me if I thought I would ever do a triathlon when I was a 19 year-old marching band geek, I would have laughed.
It's amazing what a year has done. Last year, this was my first Oly and I finished in a painful 3:43:59. I crushed that time and still had energy.
I really appreciate everyone who came out and cheered and volunteered. Jenn finished very strong and should be extremely proud of her race time! She killed her 3:20:00 goal and finished in 3:10:00.
It's hard to believe that race season is almost over. The Go Girl is my last sprint of the season and then it's off to Augusta. I'm still nervous. New course, new distance....I've still got some issues to work out with nutrition. I did not get as dehydrated during this race but I was still a little short on liquids. I also should have finished my entire bag of Chomps on the bike and two more on the run.
55 days until Augusta. I'm starting to think about race goals and setting up my race plan. Overall goal - Just finish in under 8 hours. I'd love to see a time around 6:30:00. Ultimately it's about having fun and finishing with a smile.
This has been an amazing year of training and I owe my success over this summer to my wonderful supportive husband, Jarrett, Coach TJ, and the great group of triathletes I've had the chance to train with. Each person inspires me to push a little harder and whine a little less ;)
Friday, July 30, 2010
Breakaway Bicycle Club 40K TT
Date: July 25, 2010
Location: Kokomo, IN
Event: 40K TT
This was my third bike time trial this summer. Each one has been faster then the first. It rained the night before the race and it was very humid. The race started at 7:00 am and after picking-up Greg in Westfield at 5:30 am, we ended up getting to the race about 6:15 am. Plenty of time to sign-up and get ready. This was Greg's first race so I walked him through the logistics. I was the 2nd rider off the line and even though I still won't let them hold me before the start, I went out strong. My hear rate spiked early but I managed to get it under control about 3 miles in. There was a bit of headwind on the way out and I averaged about 19.5-20 mph on the way out, which is slightly downhill. Heading into Burlington I struggled a bit on the hill and ended up mashing for a short spell. My turn around still sucked! On the way back, something just clicked. I was flying. My whole goal was to come in under 1:12:00. My last race was 1:14:00 and that would be a respectable improvement. I was concentrating on staying in a good aero position and just pushing. The next thing I knew I was about one mile out from the finish. I looked at my computer and it said 1:06:30. I couldn't believe it. I crossed the line at 1:09:43. A 5 minute PR! Average speed 21.4 mph. There is one more race this season and I'm hoping that I can grab one more PR.
Location: Kokomo, IN
Event: 40K TT
This was my third bike time trial this summer. Each one has been faster then the first. It rained the night before the race and it was very humid. The race started at 7:00 am and after picking-up Greg in Westfield at 5:30 am, we ended up getting to the race about 6:15 am. Plenty of time to sign-up and get ready. This was Greg's first race so I walked him through the logistics. I was the 2nd rider off the line and even though I still won't let them hold me before the start, I went out strong. My hear rate spiked early but I managed to get it under control about 3 miles in. There was a bit of headwind on the way out and I averaged about 19.5-20 mph on the way out, which is slightly downhill. Heading into Burlington I struggled a bit on the hill and ended up mashing for a short spell. My turn around still sucked! On the way back, something just clicked. I was flying. My whole goal was to come in under 1:12:00. My last race was 1:14:00 and that would be a respectable improvement. I was concentrating on staying in a good aero position and just pushing. The next thing I knew I was about one mile out from the finish. I looked at my computer and it said 1:06:30. I couldn't believe it. I crossed the line at 1:09:43. A 5 minute PR! Average speed 21.4 mph. There is one more race this season and I'm hoping that I can grab one more PR.
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