Holy Crap - I signed up for a full Ironman triathlon!!!

It's been a little over a month and I go from excited to scared to 'what the hell did I do'.  Peej and I had been talking about me signing up for a full Ironman since last year but talking about it and actually hitting the submit button..... a big difference.

From what I've been reading about doing a race this length is accepting that you have the take the conditions that you're given on that day and adjusting your plan and goals accordingly.  And I get it - its a huge commitment and you need to keep your head in the game. However, who knew that just selecting a race was going to be the first obstacle.

Originally I had planned on doing Ironman North Carolina - aka Beach to Battleship.  I had decided on this one because it's later in the year and it would give me more time to train outside.  I diligently followed both Facebook groups, trying to learn as much as I could, not only about the race itself but how other triathletes were preparing, the obstacles they were dealing with and how they were overcoming them.  I was heartened by the camaraderie within the group.  As the race got closer there were postings popping up saying there was not going to be a full IM in 2017.  A lot of these postings were ' my friend - who's in the know' kind of postings but never anything definitive.

Unfortunately these 'rumors' turned out to be true so I needed to find another venue.  So I started looking at Rev3's Cedar Point in Ohio - another race that's later in the season - again rumors were swirling that turned out to be true - no race in 2017.

So I was back to the drawing board - my other late season options were Louisville, Chattanooga or Maryland.  Maryland was quickly ruled out because in 2 years its had really lousy conditions and the logistics of the race are tough.  Looking at Louisville and Chattanooga - Peej and I decided that Chattanooga would be the best fit for me.  And so - I signed up and realized right away that I needed to get my lodging in place as well.  Done and done..... now comes the hard part.... training my butt off to make my big dream.... my goal.... come to fruition.

Marathon training ends before it really begins

The plan was to run Rehoboth Beach again this year.  Peej and I had talked and felt that I may even have another PR in me... not 20 mins but a PR nonetheless.

I went for a ride on Oz (my bike) on a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon and was hit by a car.  I was lucky because the driver was going slow when she took the right at the lights without signaling or looking.  I was taken to the hospital and Oz was taken to the police station.  Mind you, I was a bit upset when I saw - from the back of the ambulance - the officer stick Oz in the trunk with half of her hanging out.  Once at the hospital they did an MRI to make sure my spleen and kidneys were ok because my back hurt and they cleaned up my elbow and checked my hip.  When the results came back the ER doctor told me - "I have good news - your spleen, kidneys and ribs are fine.  The bad news is you have pneumonia."  That explained the coughing that I thought was just leftover from a cold.  Peej and I talked and decided that the goal for my race would now be to just enjoy it - no trying to PR because of the time I was losing while I waited for my lungs to clear up.

My lungs started to feel much better and I could run without needing my inhaler - YAY - training is back on track.  I did a nice 11 mile long run with Gwen and we made plans to run Battle Rd the following weekend - one of our favorite places to run in the fall.

Training came to a crashing halt - literally - during the week when I went out for an easy 6 mile run and caught my toe on something and fell - hard.  I hit so hard that I broke my glasses (I've never been so grateful that I bought eye glass insurance), the arm of the glasses was embedded in my forehead and I was bleeding profusely.  So, another trip to the hospital in an ambulance.  This time no surprises but stitches and a concussion.  My season is over - no Rehoboth Beach.

I know withdrawing from the race was the right thing to do.  It took 2 weeks for me to be able to run without my head hurting or throbbing.  My first attempt was a run/walk which was frustrating.  This week I was finally able to run without walking, but everything is very slow.  Peej continues to reassure me that my 'speed' will come back and that I won't lose all my fitness.

So I'm officially on an off-season break - something I haven't done in quite awhile.

Timberman 70.3 2016 1 hour 2 min. PR!!!

So much went right with Race Day it’s hard to know where to start.

Heading into to race day there had been a lot of concern that the race would not be wetsuit legal. The Sunday before the race the water temperature was 79 degrees, wetsuit legal is 76.1 for age-groupers. Fortunately, the week leading up to the race featured cooler nights and a little bit of rain.  Hard to believe that Lake Winnipesaukee was almost 80 degrees. Phew!!!

Swim – 54:59 (2:29/100 yds.) 13.5 min. course PR and overall PR

I’m so happy with this time.  I worked really hard all season on my swimming.  I did a lot of it without my wetsuit so that I would have to work on body position – and truth be told, it was so damned hot all summer the thoughts of trying to get my wetsuit on was going to be a workout and not worth it.  I also swam in Mystic Lake a lot because it’s bigger than Walden Pond (although I still love Walden), has buoys to practice sighting and has more variable conditions – i.e. changing winds and waves. 

Because I had a hard time on the swim last year I spent the morning reminding myself of all the open water swimming I’d done and to swim my own race.  I lined myself up at the back of my age group to keep out of the fray as much as possible.  When the gun went off, I took off with my group, the water was really low so no dolphin diving, I just started.  I kept reminding myself to swim my own race – to stay within myself – and I’d be successful.  Holy smokes – I’m at the first buoy – ok keep moving. As the next group of swimmers catch up to me I’d get a bit jostled but it gave me the opportunity to draft a little – try and catch some of the bubbles, stay in a pocket as long as I could.

Another thing that I changed was how I sight.  I had been taught to lift my eyes out of the water like a crocodile, however I never really saw anything but water.  When I was watching the Men’s Triathlon during the Olympics I noticed that they were lifting there head up out of the water to sight – I decided if they could use that technique then so could I – HUGE difference (see picture – I swam pretty darn straight). 

 

First time I've ever stayed this straight

I’m sure there’s a few people that can relate – every time I see a picture or video of a swim start it makes me almost nauseous and very hesitant.  During one of my sighting ‘looks’ I noticed that ‘my’ swim was just like the pictures I’d seen – holy crap – don’t panic – keep moving.

T1 – 5:47

I thought I was quicker than this because for the first time ever I tried to jog to my bike – still not very successful running with my bike shoes on – work in progress

Bike – 3:57 - 26 min. course PR    Fastest speed – 40.6 mph

All of the hill repeats, 120% FTP workouts and hilly training routes really paid off (Thanks Coach Patricia Brownell).  I’m not a great climber, I’m not even a good one, but I’ve worked hard to get stronger and more consistent.  Of course, anyone riding near me going uphill probably thinks I’m a wee bit crazy because I sing or talk to myself in beat to the cadence I’m trying to keep – it also keeps me from either holding my breath or hyperventilating.

There are a ton of hills on this course with 2 that are killers, one is long and the other one is really steep.  First up is the long, killer one.  I took the hill in my steady but slow pace, concentrating on a) staying out of the faster rider’s way, b) breathing and c) my cadence.  There were a number of people walking this hill.  I’m not sure if it’s technically being ‘chicked’ but one of the walkers was a guy that was almost ½ my age.  All I could think was ‘dude – get on your bike, I’m way older than you’. 

During the out and back portion, I worked hard to stay within my plan and not get sucked into the pack and go too fast.  I knew if I did I’d pay for it on the way back. Before I knew it, I was turning onto Brown Hill Rd. (mile 41ish) the scene of my little crash last year and the second hill – this one is really snotty.  I’ll admit that I did breathe a little sigh of relief when I passed the scene of my crash.  At the end of the street you take a left and the hill is standing there, a little bit like a wall and if you weren’t prepared and in the right gears you’re (or at least me) going to have a hard time.  There were more people walking on this hill but I wasn’t surprised.  I hit the hill, knowing I had a short window of pain and the worst of the hills was done. 

You get a lot of nice downhills for all the work that you do and this year some of the really long downhills had been repaved, this meant I could ‘fly’.  I don’t have my bike computer set up to show me how fast I’m going – it can either be discouraging (going up a hill) or scary (flying down a hill) – so I go by my comfort level.  On the longest, newly paved, downhill section I pedaled until I had no more gears and then I let Oz fly.  I got to the edge of my comfort zone and then let my toes go a little over before I started to feather my brakes but I still went 40.6 mph – on a damn bike – and it is pretty cool to fly up the next hill.

Nutrition – I did pretty good on this – I had one tiny issue though – I forgot to open the Ziploc baggy with my Farbars.  I’ve gotten a lot more stable on my bike but I have a long way to go and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out a plan that wouldn’t require me stopping.  I decided that if I used up my Barnana Bites first then I could open the baggy and get it back into my bento box without losing any.  I also knew that if I did lose a couple of the squares I had extra GU with me.  I went with this plan and SUCCESS – not one square was lost.  I have to say that I was pretty damned pleased with myself. 

I get back to T2 – no crashes feeling really strong!!!!

T2 – 4:45 (it felt faster)

Run – 3:06 - 24 min. course PR

This is the only portion that I wasn’t that happy with.  I did better than last year but still struggle to not walk.  I made sure that I kept moving forward and I didn’t linger at the aide stations (volunteers – You’re the best!).  I spent the time trying to figure out how to make this portion stronger, I can run for hours without stopping so I need to work with Peej (my coach) to figure this part out.  We do agree that I really struggle in the heat – and I did keep hydrating, putting ice in my hat, down my shirt and shorts to keep my core cool.  I also think I need to figure out my fueling on my run – I may not be getting enough but I’ll be working with Marni @ TriMarni Nutrition and Coaching. 

Overall Time 8:09 – 1hr 2 min. course PR 

My mini-training 'camp' weekend

My second 1/2 Ironman distance race this year is 4 weeks away and training is right on track according to my coach - Patricia Brownell - Apex Coaching Group.

My training partners were going to be busy this weekend - Janice Biederman was racing Lake Placid, Adena Schutzberg was going to CA for her new job and Linda Davey was racing Whistler 70.3 - so I decided to have a mini training camp for myself.  I was able to get a motel on the run course and right on Lake Winnipesaukee.  I mentioned my plans to my friend and traveling 'gnome' Dan McCallum and he was interested in joining me.  I talked to Peej and she made sure that my training plan took full advantage of the opportunity to train on the course.

Friday
Dan and I arrived at Lake Winni mid-afternoon and decided to ride the bike course before our swim.  Dan has never done this race so he was seeing it for the first time.  This was an opportunity to figure out where he was going to turn around and head back to the motel - the traveling 'gnome' forgot that he had a birthday party in CT on Saturday afternoon.

Sunset on Lake Winni

Last year at the beginning of the swim I had a bit of a panic attack, the buoys looked so far away that in my head it had to be more than 1.2 miles. My goal for this swim was to take some of that anxiety away.  I was glad to have Dan with me this time - he led the way and we stopped a couple of times so that I could take in the scenery but also so I could get a 'feel' for the enormity of Lake Winni.  The lake didn't disappoint - it was a bit choppy and there were a lot of waves from the boats.  When we turned around to head back to the motel we were battered about as it got quite a bite more choppy,  I had to breathe to my non-preferred side - which was really good practice.

By the way.... a local boater told us that they really like that we were wearing brightly colored swim caps and had our little buoys trailing along behind us.

Saturday
We decided to head out around 7:00 am to try and beat as much of the heat as possible and so Dan would be able to ride and have enough time to get to CT by mid-afternoon.

Before we took off there was a Lake Winni water ski marathon. It only happens one day a year, because the boaters have to get special permission - the boats go 70 mph (20 mph over the limit) and tow the water skier 200 ft behind them - 7 boats total.  They were a bit far from shore but we did see them as we were getting our gear together.

We headed out for our ride - and there is new pavement as you turn onto the street next to Sawyer's Ice Cream - which is a perfect post-workout stop.  I forgot how hard this course is, especially for someone who is not that great at climbing but it is what it is and at least the 'auto-pause' on my Garmin didn't go on.  Dan stayed with me for the first 15ish miles - when we hit Rt. 106 - where he headed back and I continued on.

I was pretty pleased with my ride.  My nutrition and hydration was spot on.  I stopped a couple of times to get more water, something I didn't do last year.  I also made a stop on Brown Hill Rd. - the scene of my crash at last years race - and Oz and I had discussion with the road and we came to an understanding that it wasn't allowed to knock me over this year.

I got back to the motel and headed out for my brick.  It was nice to see Brian Kearney and Kristin Lawhorn go flying by me.

Sunday

Pretty nice scenery

I headed down to Ellacoya for my run and walked into the park to the 'swim' start.  I spent a fair amount of time looking out at Lake Winni, imagining where the buoys are going to be and how far out they go.  Last year I had a bit of a panic attack because it looked like the buoys went forever.  After a bit I headed out to complete my run. 

Post-run cool down

I need to work on my post-workout nutrition.  My legs felt dead and I just didn't have any energy.  I pushed as hard as I could but had to resign myself to the fact that I wasn't going to hit my paces but I could enjoy running along Lake Winni and not let myself walk -  good race day training.

All in all it was a great weekend!!!

Patriot Half Iron - 2016

Sometimes the success of a race isn't determined by your time - sometimes it's how you feel about your performance and personal accomplishments.  That's how I feel about this year's race - which I know my coach, Patricia Brownell, is happy about.

The Swim - 1:02
While this took longer than last year (4 mins.) I am really happy my performance.  Going into my swim I wanted to control my start and not go out to fast and I wanted to sight better. Last year I went off-course a few times and even started to head towards the 'house', which if you swim at Walden Pond is what you sight as you head to the shore, only problem is that the 'house' was not near the swim exit. This year I stayed right on course, sighting more often, counting buoys and my strokes so I wouldn't forget to sight.  I even managed to calm myself at the beginning and swim 'my' swim.

While I'm happy that I succeeded in these goals, what I am most pleased with is that I didn't panic when I realized that this swim was a bit on the choppy, windy side.  I had gone swimming at Mystic Lake with my friend, Dan McCallum and it was a good thing that I did.  The lake is bigger and the conditions change depending on where you are on the lake and this includes windy choppy conditions. This gave me the confidence that I could manage the chop, stay calm and focused, resulting in a great swim!

The Bike - 3:49
I love riding my bike and have worked on a lot of things during the off-season, most of them to help me improve my balance, comfort level and confidence.  Last year I only drank one bottle of Skratch because I was really nervous about taking my hands off my handlebars.

My goal this year was to drink at least 3 bottles of fluids and hopefully 4.  The challenge for me is that the water stops on this course are located on slight uphills, which for most is probably not an issue, but for me it meant that I needed to let go of the handlebars of my bike, going uphill and toss a bottle and then grab another one.  I had been practicing on some of my long rides - not actually throwing bottles but the action and letting go of my handlebars riding slight uphills to try and get comfortable with the motion on the bike.  Mission accomplished!

Another goal was to improve on my nutrition and take in enough calories to get my run off to a good start.  Below is the plan:

• 5 GU's - 4 consumed
• 4 Farbars - 3 .5 consumed
• 2 bags Barnana bites - 1.5 consumed

Even with the windier conditions on the second loop I was able to keep my nutrition pretty much dead on.  Success!!!

I also executed my race plan, increased my average cadence from 66 rpms to 77 rpms - that was a huge success.  And even in the heat of the race I was able to clip-in without looking.  Last year I was about a mile into the ride before I was able to clip.

The Run - 3:00

This turned out to be the same time as last year.  I was hoping to be a little quicker this year given the huge PR I had at my marathon (20 minutes) but the reality is that I know I don't run well in the heat and we haven't had a lot of hot weather for me to practice in.  That being said, the big difference this year was that my splits were much more even and consistent.  I also discovered -duh - that Coke and GU and the same time can lead to a very unhappy tummy.

My Support Crew

I have never felt so special and fussed over at a race - Ladies you've spoiled me.  My friends Adena Schutzberg and Linda Davey volunteered for the race and made sure I had everything I needed before, during and after the race.  My coach, Patricia Brownell was there cheering me on while I was on the bike course as I came thru on my first loop and when I finished.  Linda and Peej joined me after I left transition on my run.  Linda decided at the last minute to run the entire 13.1 miles with me.  Not only did she keep me motivated (although she did say I might not like her in the end) she also made sure that I stayed cool and hydrated.  She also cheered on other runners on the course encouraging them - she should get a medal for Best Cheerleader!  Also, around mile 6 Peej showed up again and ran we us for a few minutes, checking to see how I was doing with my hydration, my IBS and pace.  

Hitting that Finisher's chute while not the same at the first time - is just as special and amazing.  

Adena used her extensive experience from the ultra-marathons that she has volunteered at and participated in to make sure that I got cooled down and re-hydrated post-race.

And just a little bit of bragging - there were a few 30, 40 & 50 year old guys that got 'chicked' by a 61 year old gal!!!

DREAM BIG
WORK HARD
CHERISH THE JOURNEY!!!!!