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!!!!

Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon - December 6, 2014

I picked this race because it was on my birthday and I  had heard really nice things about it from another runner and it didn't disappoint.

Until yesterday I thought there were 3 things that determine if a long distance race was a success:

• The course - this includes support, course markings
• The weather - this time of year for me than means no ice, temp above 30 and minimal wind
• Performance - Execution of my race plan - which can change based on the other 2 components

Yesterday I had a beautiful, flat, fast course that was well marked and supported. For this runner, I had perfect weather - low to mid 50's, overcast and minimal wind. Unfortunately, I didn't have the performance that I know I trained for, the one that I want for my birthday.

What follows is a chronology of my day - and hopefully, I've found a new definition of success.

Mile 1-3 -
Goal 12:10-12:15
Actual - 12:09, 12:04, 12:02 - I worked really hard to try and stay 'slow'

Mile 4-13 Goal 11:55 - 12:05
Actual - 11:54, 12:18 (GU), 12:00, 12:53 (BR stop), 11:29, 12:01, 11:50; 11:53 (remind myself to watch pace - too early to pick it up)

Mile 12 - 12:14 - I started to feel nauseous.

Pre-race I had come up with some mental strategies for the tough parts of the race. One of them was to think about how an individual that I know insisted that I must walk when I run because a 12:00 minute pace isn't running. I tried to use the anger that I felt to take my mind off how my stomach was feeling.  Those comments were hurtful but also pushed me to prove that I am a runner.

Mile 13 12:22 - I'm still not feeling well.  I'm competing in my first half iron distance triathlon in June and since the run is a half marathon distance my mental strategy now is to use this as training for that race.  I reminded myself how I've felt nauseous coming off  my bike this summer - don't panic I tell myself -  you know how this feels - its ok.

Mile 14 - 12:29 - I'm still not feeling well - stopping every 1/4 mile or so - reminding myself that my peers are uncomfortable and fighting too. My pace has slowed down but I'm still running. I'm doing a lot of self talk - don't try to get your pace back all at once - watch your heart rate - take a little back at a time.

Mile 15 - 12:15 - I managed to pick it up a little bit - feeling encouraged

Mile 16 -  14:50 - I decided that I would take my GU a little at a time and hopefully it would stay down - this meant that I would lose even more time but if it worked I could still manage a PR.

Mile 17 - 13:05 - It's apparent that this was not going to be pretty - I started running what I call "stupid" - kind of wobbly, my hands and lips are tingly and my run has turned into a shuffle/walk/shuffle

Mile 18 - 14:37 - Things have not improved stomach still unhappy, hands and lips still tingly, I see 2 police officers ahead and I stumble until I get to them and ask for help.

The police sit me on the curb and get the EMT's to come and check me out.  My blood pressure is ok and because of my age they have the paramedics come and do an EKG and check my blood sugar because I get hypoglycemic.  My blood sugar is in the low side of ok and the EKG is fine.  But, they want me to go to the ER for IV fluids.  It's at this point that I started to cry and proceed to tell them that I can't go to the ER because it's my birthday and I want my medal.  In hindsight, I feel bad for the young EMT's that were helping me - they didn't want me to continue.

Fortunately for me, my friend Tresa was behind me in the race and when she got to us she stopped.  I knew that her goal for the race was to finish so I asked her if she'd mind walking with me so I could finish and get my birthday medal.  Without hesitation she agreed and the EMT's reluctantly agreed to let me continue once we confirmed that I had my phone with me.  There was a convenient store across from where I was sitting so while I signed the papers for the EMT's, Tresa bought me a bottle of Coke and that was my fuel for the remaining 8 LONG miles.

There were a lot of tears during the last 8 miles.  Lots of questions about what happened, what did I do different, and I'll admit lots of feeling like a loser and being embarrassed.  Perfect course, perfect weather and I couldn't perform. Every once in a while I tried to pick it up to a shuffle, but by now I had no fuel on board and I didn't dare take any GU. At one point I questioned signing up for the Patriot half iron distance race - telling myself that I must be crazy to think I could do something like that when I couldn't perform under "perfect" conditions.

We finally reached the mile 25.5 and I pick it up to a shuffle - not much of a shuffle but not walking.  I can hear people cheering now and see the finish and continue to pick it up - I managed to cross the finish line at an 8:29 pace.  There were lots of tears at the finish line and Gwen was there to hold me up.

The result of this race is really hard to swallow and it certainly is not the birthday present I wanted, but from where I sit now, I have 2 choices - I can walk away from running and triathlon or I can move forward and re-define success.  I love riding my bike, swimming at Walden Pond and crossing the finish line so walking away isn't an option so success will have to be re-defined.

My new definition of success in a long distance race is understanding that sometimes no matter how hard you train and how mentally prepared you are, your body can be just as much of a variable as the weather and the course.  I know that I fought as hard as I could to finish the race, I didn't give up or surrender when it would've been easier than walking 8 long miles - that is SUCCESS!!!

My first triathlon season comes to an end or how I spent my summer vacation

My first triathlon season has come to an end and I've had so much fun that it never felt like training - it was like being on vacation.  Below are a few of the highlights of my summer - in no particular order.

Jerome was my partner in crime for the majority of the summer with Beth joining in on some of our rides and swims.

False starts - this is when I'm on my bike and stopped at a stop sign or a red light and it takes more than one attempt to get started again due to nerves and cars. On one particular false start poor Jerome got stuck on the wrong side of Rte 2 because it took me until the light turned yellow to get myself going again.

Bricks (when you run after riding)  - My first "brick" - I found out really quick why its called a brick.  I think I only had to run for 10 mins - the entire time I was thinking how I'd made a big mistake about this 'tri' thing, that I couldn't possibly run 3 miles.

One of our first long - rides the "Sweet Virgina " loop - description: flat with  gently rolling hills. Well, in my humble opinion that was a bit of a fib.  There was nothing rolling about the hills and it was one of my first long rides. At mile 13  I ended up falling over going up one of the hills - I panicked a bit, dropped my chain, fell over - still clipped in.  Banged up and bloody I finished the ride, it rained a little, washing off some of the blood.  We got lost and ended up going about 35 miles.  I had to do a short brick after the ride and my ankle didn't feel gret but then this was only my second brick and nothing felt great so I didn't think anything of it until we were back at the car and I took my sneakers and socks off. That's when I realized the golf-ball sized swelling on my ankle wasn't a good thing - I'd sprained the damn thing.

Wet Suits -  it takes a village to get the damn thing on the first (second or third) time.  The first time I wore it at Walden Pond I was swimming with Jerome we were swimming to the first point, only problem was every time I looked up to spot I was facing the house.  Apparently, its really important to make sure that you have the wet suit all the way up on BOTH sides or you swim in circles.  When I uploaded my information on Garmin I you could clearly see that I had swum in a circle several times before I just decided to doggy paddle to the point and fix myself.  It was pretty comical after I got done being frustrated.

First swim across Walden Pond - The first time I swam to other side of Walden, I stood up and looked across to the bathhouse and welled up with tears - I was so overwhelmed at what I had accomplished.

For my Olympic I wore an earplug for my swim - I didn't realize that I had left it in for the entire race until I was done and sitting with Tyler of Race-Pak in his tent and reached up to get a piece of "hair" out of my ear.

And of course - crossing the finish line - NOW I'm a triathlete!  An amazing, adrenaline-filled, unexplainable feeling!

Pumpkinman Sprint - my last tri of the season

Pumpkinman or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good - my swim
The Bad - my Garmin lost its satellite signal
The Ugly - the "Powder Hill Challenge" coming out of the swim and the weather

I was excited and sad about this race all at the same time.  This was my last race of the season and I've had such a great time that I wasn't looking forward to it being over.  As Saturday got closer I started to feel more excited and nervous so I knew I ready.  I took Friday off so I could get my stuff together and have my favorite pre-race breakfast - pancakes. My friend Jerome had the day off as well so we had breakfast together and talked about logistics for the weekend - my race was Saturday and his was on Sunday.  Our friend Beth was coming up with me to spectate for both races - YAY!

What a difference a couple of weeks makes - when I got up Saturday morning to get ready leave  (mind you - it was 3:45 am) it was pitch black out.  Beth got to my house at 4:30 and we headed off for So. Berwick, ME.  It was dark almost the entire ride with the sun just starting to rise as we arrived at Spring Hill.  The packet pick up was really easy - and I headed off for transition to set up my 'stuff'.

Unlike Cranberry where they tried to put club members together, this race puts you together by age group - I still haven't decided if I like this way or not.  There was a woman doing her first tri and a little unsure how to set stuff up so it was nice to be able to help her out.  Once I got my things organized I still had a lot of time to kill so I grabbed my Beet-It and went to check out "Powder Hill" and the swim.

This is the climb coming out of the water.  The view in the picture doesn't do it justice - with my wet suit on, and the hot, humid air this climb was miserable - but we were all miserable together. I can proudly tell you that I did not win the Queen of the Hill contest.  Time to get my wet suit on....

Swim - 3 Dolphin dives and 2 Buoy turns - This was the first time that my wave wasn't next to last - I was pretty much in the middle.  It had me a little concerned because the young, fast guys were behind me so I got myself more towards the middle of my wave. When the "Go" shout came the women at the front were quickley off. The women near me and in front of me were kinda just standing there - I assume - planning their entry- I decided that I wasn't going to wait around and promptly did 3 dolphin dives and was on my way.  They only had 2 buoys for the swim and the first one was directly into the sun - it was very difficult to spot and I think I pulled my head up more than I would've liked. I lined myself up for the buoy, refused to give up my space (the women who hesitated at the start had caught up to me) and boom buoy turn #1 done and on my way to the next one. I had a little more trouble with this turn - one of the people in the kayak had a bright orange life vest on and I mistakenly started sighting on him. Fortunately he was on the way to the buoy but I swam and little zig-zag once I figured it out. By now the faster folks were starting to catch up to me so I had more competition for the buoy but I'm stubborn so I wasn't going to give up my line - buoy turn #2 done and I headed for the finish. Before I got to the finish however I got tangled up in the lily pads. I didn't realize how quickly those things can wrap themselves around your arms and legs - while it was frustrating trying to get them off it turned out to be beneficial - it made me pick up my kick cadence so my legs were ready to get out of the water.

T1
To get to where your bikes are you have to run - or as in my case walk - up the big ass hill. I had walked it before the race so I knew what I was in for and had made the decision not to run but to use the time to get my wet suit off as much as possible.  I finally made it to my bike, got my wet suit off the rest of the way had a drink of Coke while I put my socks, shoes and helmet on and headed out of transition.  I changed my routine a little and didn't have my GU until I was on my bike - trying to save a couple of minutes.

Bike
As I headed out of T1 and mounted my bike there seemed to be a traffic jam of riders - I need to get more confident so I can just 'push' my way thru and not wait for 'my turn'.  I finally headed off and noticed that my Garmin wasn't working. I tried turning it off and back on and it just didn't seem to want to sync.  It was really frustrating because I really depend on it to make sure I don't push too
hard.  I did still have the HR monitor so I tried to used that as my guide.  I settled in, took a GU and got to the business of getting my ride in.  I passed a few people and got passed by others.  I felt really comfortable albeit a little blind because I didn't know my speed or how long I'd been riding - I'll admit it was a bit frustrating.  As I came up on another rider someone came up behind me and started to pass me - as she started to go by me she told me that I'd probably catch her soon but then she just rode beside me.  I was a bit pissed for 2 reasons 1 -its against the rules and 2 -  because we had started down a hill and had a snotty, short steep (think the middle part of Eastern Ave.) in front of us.  I had no way to gain any momentum so I had to go with what I had and try to power my way up the hill. There were more than a couple of people walking up the hill - including the one that blocked me in (karma) but I was resolute that the only way I was getting off my bike was if I was pedaling so slow and I fell over.

Success - I was up that damned hill!!! Now I just had to finish the ride and made my way back to transition.  Getting into transition posed it's own challenge - it was at the top of a little hill- I am not great at stopping going up hill so I went a bit further than they wanted but at least I did better than a rider I saw the next day - she kept riding right into transition!

T2 - Once into transition I racked my bike, drank some Coke, fidgeted with my watch again - just in case it had decided to work. By now it was  getting really hot so I wanted to make sure I hydrated well.  I put on my sneakers, grabbed my red water bottle and headed out for my run.

Run
It was hot and the beginning of the run was in full sun. I don't usually do well in the heat and today was no different. I was about 5 mins into my run when I realized that I had grabbed the bottle of Coke and not my red water bottle.  In the first mile there was a woman handing out bottles of water but she didn't have anything on that identified her as a race official and I remembered that according to the rules you can't have assistance or take anything from anyone so I stuck with my bottle of Coke until I got to the first water stop. I grabbed some water, one over my head, one down my bra and one I actually drank. I also threw away my Coke bottle. Little did I realize that throwing away that bottle was going to be a huge mistake - despite the 90 degree temperature there was not another water stop on the run course.  I struggled thru the run and had to walk at times but pulled it together by the time I got close to the finish line.  Pumpkinman's finish line is at the bottom of hill that was the down hill version of the one that I had to go up to get to T1.

I was happy to finish but sad at the same time - it meant that my first tri season was over.

Cranberry Trifest - My first Olympic Distance!

I'm writing this report a little later than I normally do after a race but for a good reason.... it was such a great day that this would probably have been 3 times longer.

A lot of my success in this race happened before the first swim wave even began.  I have been blessed with an extremely supportive team - E3 Training Solutions Tri-Team, this includes not only my coach, Patricia Brownell, but the Head Coach and founder, Jorge Martinez, the swim coach - Karen Vasso, Jana Richtrova, a tremendously talented tri-athlete who always has time to answer my 6 million questions and my training partner Jerome Lang.

Then there's Stephanie Feltman and Brett Richardson who joined me for my long ride the week before the race.  Prior to riding with them on my long rides, Jerome and I always stop for nutrition and water breaks - which made sense to me, since we weren't in a race.  Well, I forgot that similar to when I'm training for a marathon, I need to practice fueling.  The ride with Stephanie and Brett was great - we did a Charles River Wheelman's route - so we just had to follow the 'coat hangers' which was fun - but I forgot to take care of my nutrition and BOOM -I hit a wall when I had to run right after that.  So, that experience gave me the week to come up with ideas and solutions of how to make sure I took in the calories I need so that I'd be successful!

I also met with Coach Karen, Jorge and Jana to help me get ideas on how to get past/around - what has become known as  'my floater'.  This was the person from my Sharon tri that decided the middle of race was a good time to 'float' sideways across the swim course. Karen suggested that I pretend the buoys at Walden Pond were 'my floater' and 'move' them out of my way (Jana - she meant push ;-) ).

And lastly, Jana, Jorge, Beth and Peej for keeping me grounded the night before the race.  I was having a lot of doubts that I could complete the distance.  I was so nervous that I was walking aimlessly through my apartment with my checklist in my hand.  When I got to my race belt - that sent me over the edge.  It sounds silly, and I realize that now, but at the moment whether or not to use my fuel belt and carrying my own water vs. just getting it at the aid stations was overwhelming.  In hindsight I think part of that has to do with past experience in road races.  As a back of the pack runner there has been many races of varying distances that would not have any water or gatorade by the time I would get there, leaving me to run without adequate hydration.  I decided that I would use my fuel belt - it was my 'security blanket'.

And now for my race - Jerome and I had decided that we wanted to get there early so we could hopefully park on-site and avoid long lines to get our race packet.  We got there to find that they had grouped Beth and Stephanie next to us in the transition area.

 As a bonus my friends, Carrie-Ann, Urvi and Kimi from the Somerville Road Runners were racked in the next row.  I got my gear set-up, drank my Beet-It juice and tried to make sure I didn't have more than I needed laid out.  It was time to head to the swim start.

Swim - My wave was next to last, just before the Beginners wave.  This was nice except it gave me a lot of time to get nervous.  They did the swim wave in a time trial format which meant they had the swimmers start 2 at a time about 3-5 seconds apart.  The first wave started at 8:00 am - I didn't get into the water until 8:21 am.... lots of time for nerves.  Because this was going to be my longest race swim I kept reminding myself to stay calm and swim my own race.  The pond was very low so there were a couple of times early on that I touched weeds which I didn't like but - oh well.  I was trying to stay focused and keep my eyes on the buoys but there were a few times that I had to 'move' other swimmers out of my space.  I didn't punch or elbow anyone it was more a part of my stroke except my catch was a gently push because they were going to hit me.  After about 10 minutes it started to thin out a bit and I was able to get into a rhythm.  As I was going along I thought about Coach Jorge who was doing his first Ironman that day and in all likihood doing his swim at the same time.  I thought about the task that lay ahead of him and it made my swim short in comparison and helped keep my mind occupied as I moved from one buoy to the next.  I finally reached the far end of the pond and had to change direction to head back to the shore - I surprised myself and I did a buoy turn - Coach Karen -I managed an actual buoy turn.  We practiced these in swim class and I practiced them at Walden but never thought at this stage I'd be able to execute it in a race and then BAM - I did it.  That gave me a boost of adreneline and I picked up my pace a little - but still being conservative.  The exit from the water at this race consists of a steep set of granite stairs and then a long run back to tranisition.  When I spotted the exit I picked up my kicking to get the blood flowing into my legs to help make me steadier when I stood up to head up the stairs - which I held on to tightly because I had this vision of me doing a face plant - and headed back to transition.

T1 - I got to my bike and got my wet suit off - again trying to stay focused on one thing at a time but making sure to drink some Coke - at Jana's suggestion regular not diet.  I grabbed my Bonk Bar and put it down my bra put my helmet on (not backwards this time) took another drink and headed out of transition.  I managed to run most of the way to the mounting line, clipped in on the first try and headed off for my ride.

Ride - Peej had given me a pace that she wanted me to keep and I set off with that as my goal.  I also reminded myself that I really needed to make sure that I paid attention to my nutrition.  This was going to be my longest ride in a race and then I had to run, if I didn't take in enough calories I was going to hit a concrete wall on my run.  With that in mind I settled in and was focused.  I didn't see another rider for about 5 miles and would've thought that I had missed a turn somewhere but the race director had done a nice job of making sure there were many volunteers on the course directing traffic.  After mile 5 I started to see other riders.  It was nice to have  'rabbits' but I was having a hard time trying to stay at the pace Peej wanted me at.  I wanted to go faster - I had the legs but was really trying to stay on my plan.  I also was making sure that I stay hydrated and took in my nutrition.  There was one funny moment -  I had just ripped a GU from my crossbar and I hit the section of the road that was under construction - the pavement was milled.  This was quite a sight.... the GU was hanging out of the side of my mouth because I had to hang on with 2 hands.  I kept letting go to try and get the GU in and not have it fall to the ground - this went on for about 3/4 of a mile before I was able to finally finish the packet.  I had to chuckle about it.  As I got closer to the end of my ride I saw Denise and Stephanie finishing their run.  It was nice to see them and cheer them on - I knew I was getting close.  I took the final turn of the ride, shifted into a lower gear and picked up my cadence to get more blood into my legs and help them be ready for my run.

T2 - I headed into transition to get ready for my run.  I got my sneakers on, drank some Coke, grabbed my visor and fuel belt and headed out for my run.  I'm getting better at this part.

Run - As I headed out on the run I heard Urvi call my name as she went past me - its always nice to see someone you know.  I tried to settle into a comfortably hard pace that I would be able to maintain.  I came up on one runner who seemed to be having an issue because she would run and then walk  so I asked her if she was ok - she was ok - she was doing a 30 second walk- 30 second run for her run.  So I went on.  My concerns about there not being water or gatorade for the back of the packers turned out to be a lot of worry for nothing.  The race director did a nice job of ensuring that all of us had sufficient support on the course and it was wonderful.  I passed a few more runners and continued on my way. I ran by feel a lot and pushed a little harder.  I was surprised when I saw my final 10k time - I thought it would be slower than my normal times but it was actually a little faster.

As I made the final turn I saw the finish line chute as I got closer to the finish mat I saw my E3 team mates along the sidelines waiting for me - it was great to see them and do high 5's along the way.  Crossing the finish line is an amazing feeling and one that is hard to put into words.

Taper, Rest and Recovery before my first Olympic distance tri

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the hardest workout days of this cycle in preparation for my first Olympic distance race. I had double workouts each day which wasn't too bad and I managed ok Thanks for challenaging me Coach Peej). The only hiccup was my brick (when you run immediately after getting off the bike). I had done a 28 mile ride - which was a blast - but for the first time we didn't stop along the way. I haven't even come close to managing my nutrition well on the bike - it means I would have to let go of the handlebars - still scary.  So in a 2:15 ride I only managed one GU and a small bite of a honey stinger.  Needless to say I struggled on my run - it was ugly- but I got it done.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking  forward to my rest day on Monday. I learned a lesson about my nutrition - an area of constant learning-  and it's taken me a couple of days to feel like my energy 'tank' is refueled. Now it's time to let my muscles and body repair and rebuild before the big race.

It has been important, for me, to have developed a good relationship with my Sports Med doctor, Dr Karson Mui. Dr Mui and his staff keep me runnng, riding and swimming. An important part of my pre-race preparation is to see Dr. Mui and have him work on any tightness or aches they may have cropped up (and they usually do during taper).

So now it's a couple of easy workouts, try not to overthink and set unrealistic expectations and remember this has been a blast, and of course, my favorite pre-race breakfast - pancakes!

#E3triteam # E3training #MuiChiropractic