Ironman Timberman 70.3 - My First WTC Triathlon

This was my second 1/2 Ironman distance race this summer and it was a tough day at the "office". Timberman was my first Ironman brand event and it was very overwhelming.  Even though my coach, Patricia Brownell, and I had talked about it, it was more overwhelming than I expected.

I learned a lot about myself at this race - I can be very stubborn and very single-minded to finish what I start, even when others don't quite agree.  I also came away knowing what I want to get better at during the off-season and even a couple of ways to make that happen.

Because of the size of the race you have to check-in and rack your bike in transition the day before. This was a first for me, and I wasn't too happy about leaving Oz outside all night.  I was even more unhappy when it started thundering, lightening and outright pouring during dinner.  Thank you Jana Richtrova for reassuring me that Oz would be ok.

Race morning I woke up and got ready to head to transition at 4:45 am (thank you Beth Adams and Emily Clement for your hospitality) and Beth and I headed to Ellacoya State Park.  I was nervous but didn't feel overly anxious.  That didn't last long... once we parked and I headed to transition I started to get really overwhelmed, there were so many racers.  This was the first time I've done a large race.

The Swim: 1:08
I was in the first wave after the pro men and women.  This should have been good for me because I didn't have to wait around long in my wetsuit to get started.  The horn went off and my wave started.  I had a really, really hard time - the buoys looked so far away and Lake Winni looked so big.  I could barely go 4 strokes without needing to tread water.  I wasn't getting hit by other swimmers I was just in over my head race skill-wise.  Slowly, very slowly, I made my way from one buoy to the next, stopping frequently.  At one point, Beth swam up beside me to check on me and offered to stay with me until the end.  I thanked her and told her to swim her race.

After Beth left and I was on my own again I started to think about my bike - silly I know but I kept telling myself that if I didn't finish my swim, I wouldn't get to ride Oz and I love riding my bike.  And poor Oz sat out in the rain all night so I could have my ride.

When I made it to the first turn I started to get into a mini-rhythm and was moving, still slowly, buoy to buoy.  At the second turn as I headed to shore I looked at the shore and saw a house, from there I tried to pretend that I was at Walden Pond and headed to the house. It took a long time for me to reach that house.  When I got out of the water I was estactic and drained and looking forward to my ride.

Wetsuit strippers... can I get an Amen!!! That was wonderful!!!

The Ride: 4:23 (Actual 4:03)
My ride started out really good and I felt very confident that I could do this ride in the allowed amount of time.  The thing that I really needed to be cognizant of was my hydration and nutrition on this ride.  It was a really hot day and on the hill portions I knew I was going to be working really hard. Because of my balance issues, letting go of my handlebars to grab my water or nutrition has been a challenge and one that I have been working really hard to overcome.  I approached the 1st aid station slowly so I could check out the set-up so I'd be ready for the next one.

I had lots of riders going by me (read - flying by me) but I resisted the urge to try and keep up and stayed within myself and my race plan. As I approached the 2nd aid station I prepared myself to dump one bottle and pick up a gatorade.  Success - I felt pretty proud of myself - I know, it doesn't take much.

The aid station was also the turnaround point of the course. There is a short, steep little hill as you come around the corner.  There was a guy walking his bike up the hill who decide, just as I reached him, it was a good time to remount his bike and pull out - I managed to avoid him and did yell out "seriously dude" then grabbed a bottle of water and rode off from the aid station feeling pretty pleased.

The second half is a false-flat as you head back to Lake Winni so I settled back in, watched my power/pace and made sure that I was following my nutrition plan. When I hit mile 40 I knew that the last series of hard hills would be coming soon so I had a GU and planned to have water when I turned onto Brown Hill Rd. Because I had ridden the course before the race I knew that Brown Hill Rd was relatively flat so it would be a good place to drink. I made the turn and reached for the water bottle.  The bottle was slippery and I tried to keep it from falling and the next thing I knew I was on the ground with a mouthful of pine needles and dirt. My front tire had caught a rut in the road and everything happened so fast that I didn't even realize I was going to crash until I was on the ground.

Another rider stopped to see if I was ok and before I could even catch my breathe the police were there, and the bike mechanic/sag wagon and then an ambulance.  I conked my head, had some pretty good road rash on my shoulder and a pretty good cut on my knee (which had just finished healing from my fall Memorial Day). I think I frustrated the EMT's a bit because I was not ready to end my day.  First they wanted me to go to the hospital, when I wouldn't do that, they thought I should take the sag wagon back to Ellacoya.  I very nicely told them that I done most of the hard hills already and only had the one snotty hill that was around the corner left and I wasn't going to stop.  They cleaned me up and bandaged my knee.  I told them I would stop if I felt dizzy or anything else.  While all of this was going on the bike mechanic checked out Oz, fixed her seat, which had twisted, and said she was good to go too!

Off I went.  I made it up the 'snotty climb' and there was a bit of satisfaction that there riders walking up the hill and I was able to make it up, even though I'd lost some of my momentum. Shortly after that climb there's another steep little hill that I was climbing and there were a couple of people walking their bikes up but this pair had a friend in a car driving beside them.  As I got closer to them I thought the car would leave so I just kept making my way up the hill.  It got really obvious as I almost reached them that the car had no plans of moving so I started yelling at them - MOVE,,,,, PLEASE....MOOOVE!!! They finally got the message and go out of my way.  The rest of my ride was uneventful, I enjoyed the downhills although I was a little more cautious then I had been previously, probably because of my fall.  I continued to follow my hydration and nutrition plan and even managed to grab my back water bottle and put it back without the bottle or me falling - woohoo!

I was glad to see transition and the dismount line and knew that the hardest part was to come.

The Run 3:30

Heading out of transition I knew this was going to be ugly.  It was really hot and humid.  I tried running/slogging through the first couple of miles but it became apparent really quick that I was going to walk or not finish. My knee and my head hurt whenever I tried to run.  As I finished the first loop I saw Beth, Jerome and Jane and talked to Beth for a couple of minutes.  I had a couple seconds of tears when I realized that my time wasn't going to count because I was going to go over the 8 1/2 hour limit but then I saw a butterfly and knew that it would be ok... I just needed to toughen up and finish.

The finish chute - I was so glad to see the end and I cried - again - but this time because I had fought really hard for my finish and my medal.

Finish Time - 9:11 (this includes the 20+ minutes in the ambulance)

This was a tough day and having my team mates and friends shouting out encouragement kept me going and fed my heart when I started to get to much into my head.

Patriot Half - My First 70.3 Triathlon

Patriot Half - My First 70.3 Triathlon 

6/20/2015

The swim

Overall I’m happy with my time – it would’ve been even better if I hadn’t swam off course so many times.  I actually swam 2,351 yds @ 2:26/100 pace. 

I need to work on sighting better and managing the chaos.  At one point I had one person hook my left arm while someone else grabbed my right ankle.  It was only momentary but I all could think was – I’m going to drown and I only have 2 buoys left – God damn it!  I also almost got run over by a kayak!!!

I was happy that when I stood up I didn’t have any vertigo – that was huge!!!

T1

I lost a lot of time trying to get my wetsuit off.  I need to become more efficient at this.  I also was a little flustered when GU’s wouldn’t stay under the leg of my tri shorts. I had practiced this in my rehearsal but it was with my bike shorts and I wasn’t wet.   I lost a couple of them trying to run to the bike mount line.  Need to figure out where to put them until I get on my bike.

The Bike

I am really happy with this time – my goal was 4 hours and I did it in 3:44 and averaged 15 mph.  I had a little trouble initially trying to clip in with everyone watching but I just told myself to relax and take my time.  Once I did that I was off and I felt great then I realized that I had forgotten to take my watch off my wrist and put it on my bike.  I thought about how to remedy this for a bit because it would meant I had to let go of the handle bars with all these other bike whizzing by and tight turns that were congested.

Before I left T1 I had some coke so I knew I had some sugar on board giving me time to settle in and get thru the tight squeeze areas around Dunkin Donuts. A couple of miles in I decided to get some more nutrition on board so I had a couple of potatoes.  Now I had to fix my watch situation.  I decided I had 2 choices – stop to fix my watch or be courageous, slow down a little and switch it – I opted for the latter and was very proud of myself when I was successful.  Now I could settle into my race and tried to stay on race plan watts.  I also tried to be conscious of my fueling.  In hindsight, I could’ve done a better job on this aspect of my race, but at the time I thought I was doing a good job. 

I managed to get over the railroad tracks without losing any of my water bottles but I did see the water bottle carnage from the faster riders who lost theirs and carefully navigated Oz around the mess.

I had a lot of riders’ whiz by me and it seemed to me there was a fair amount of drafting going on but I didn’t worry about anyone but me.  I did pass 5 riders and they never passed me during the rest of the ride so that made me feel good.  I still struggle on hills but I am getting better at managing them and being conscious of ‘pulling’ up – which when I remember helps a lot.

I somehow pulled my groin muscle on my bike and so the further into the race when I tried to pull up on hills it ‘reminded’ me not always so gently that it wasn’t happy.  It wasn’t bad enough that I needed to stop and adrenaline helps a lot with the mind over matter. 

I’d practiced on the course 3 times prior to race so I knew that, for me, the last 2 hills, although short, were going to be snotty because they were the last 3 miles of the ride.  I just reminded myself of this and that once I got over them I was back to the beginning and time to get off and run.

T2

Again, this was slower than I would like but I didn’t fall over on my dismount and that was really important to me with my daughter, coach and team mates standing there.

The Run

Coming out of transition my daughter was standing there and I couldn’t help but stop and give her a hug and kiss – it was awesome.  Then my coach, Patricia Brownell, joined me for the first ½ mile or so to see how I was doing and how my stomach was doing.  I told her about how my groin hurt but other than that I was ok and my IBS, to that point wasn’t an issue. 

The paces that Peej has planned for me were slower than what I had been running lately and we had talked about it and she assured me that I’d want those paces.  The first 2 miles were sub 12 min. miles which were faster than she wanted me to run so I tried to slow them down.  I figured that it would happen organically because I planned to stop at each water stop for water, Gatorade and coke.  This was the first race that I didn’t wear my fuel belt and just had my gels. 

By mile 3 my groin had started to hurt more than I had anticipated so I had to come up with a plan on the fly because I wasn’t going to DNF at this point in the race.  I didn’t care if I had to walk the whole way – I’m just too stubborn and I had worked too hard, and even more important to me – Melissa was waiting for me at the end and her face is what kept me going.

Running up the hills seemed to hurt the most so I opted to walk those and run the flats.  At each aid station I took water, poured some ice down my shorts to help my groin muscle (I know - TMI), and alternated between coke and Gatorade.  Unfortunately the Gatorade didn’t always agree with me and I had to stop a couple of times to ‘get rid’ of it.

After the last aid station at mile 12 I knew I was close – I could feel it and when I saw Camp Cathedral I started to cry.  The last ¾ mile all I could do is cry and kept repeating to myself – ‘I did it! I did it!”

I’m still awed that I finished this and in under 8 hours. My friend and teammate took the series of pictures below and they sum up how I felt in that moment more than any words I have.  Thank you for these Jess!

Peej trying to reach over the fence since it's taller than she is.

I can't believe that I did it!

I see Beth waiting for me!

No words - just joy!

Sums up how I felt because there are no words!

 

There are so many people to thank and that helped me get to the start line but at the the top of my list is my daughter, Melissa Lawless.  You have no idea how much it meant to me to be able to share this with you. Melissa had never seen a triathlon and I'm sure she wasn't expecting it to be an all-day affair. But giving her a hug on my way out for my run and knowing that she was at the finish line made it an extra special day.

Also having my coach Patricia Brownell there was special - and she helped me keep my head on straight and re-assured me that I could do this distance.

And what can I say about my E3 Training Solutions teammates and coaches - each of you have been the best support system a girl could ask for - especially Jana Richtrova - who I've asked a million questions and Stephanie Feltman, when I was having a meltdown. There are no words to express my appreciation and gratitude.

The End Of My First "Triathlon Off-Season"

Having started this short journey as a runner there really was never an off-season.  My friends and I still ran outside all winter training for a spring marathon. This year however I decided that instead of a spring marathon that I'd like to do the next distance in triathlon - the half Ironman. This race consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) run for a total distance for the day of 70.3 miles. Weather wise I couldn't have picked a better winter to do most of my training indoors. We had a blizzard, broke several snow records including the snowiest winter ever.

In triathlon there is an 'off-season' - where you focus on improving your performance and strength while not "training" for a specific race necessarily. I've  had a few people ask me which sport I was going to focus on during the offseason which leads me to think that's what some athletes focus more on one aspect and just keep a base in the others ... but I'm not sure. In my case my coach has me focusing on swimming and riding because those are the newest sports for me.

E3 Tri-Team has a swim coach, Karen Vasso, and she has been running open water swim classes on Thursday nights at MIT - which is a beautiful pool by the way. I have been attending class since October. The classes have gotten increasingly difficult - which they should - but I have struggled at times often feeling that my swim experience (read - speed) is far behind everyone else in the class. The support and encouragement that I get from everyone though is wonderful and it keeps me going back. I swam my longest distance a couple of weeks ago, 2600 yards - a little under 1 1/2 miles, and while it wasn't non-stop it's still a long way and a lot of time and if felt great!

E3 also holds indoor bike trainer classes at one of our sponsors - Landrys Bikes - which is ideal for me because my coach, Patricia Brownell, leads the class.  At the beginning of the session we do heart rate or power test to see where your fitness level is.  I had done this class last year and I increased my fitness level a lot of the past year.  As my coach put it - "Someone has learned how to pedal"!  That meant a lot to me, especially since I really love riding my bike.

The weather finally broke and I've been able to get some outdoor riding done and have even gone out by myself which was a huge accomplishment.  Its still a bit to cold for me to get into the open water which is frustrating but it will happen.

Tomorrow, May 10th is Mother's Day and my first race of the season.  Originally I had signed up for the triathlon but decided, with my coaches "help", to change to the duathlon because the water temperature was only 58-60 degrees.

In comparing tomorrow's race to my first race of last season, I am still nervous about getting to the start line but this time its not because I'm not sure I can do it - this time I KNOW I can do and that I really like it - its nervous anticipation and excitement.

Here we go - bring on Triathlon Season 2015!!!!