RR. The long version

I finally have some time while I am procrastinating from going to the Y to swim, and blogging sounds so much more fun. It is a recovery week and the swim today is 2K. It doesn't really seem worth it to me to drive an hour in traffic and an hour home to get all chloriney and then have to take another shower before dinner. So here goes.

Pre-race - for one of the first times ever I had very little nerves. I am never scared to race, but I always get that pre-race nervous feeling. This day, not at all. I guess I am saving them all for May. I did have a long wait once transition was set up at 6:30, and ended up getting sick about 4 times. I think Chris and I caught something because we were both trading off turns in the bathroom. But after an Immodium I was ok.

The swim - the only other half ironmans I have done are a one wave start or two (one men and one women), so I was not prepared for what was to come. I was in wave 21 out of 22 waves. Yes you read that right. The organizers decided all the men should start first and then the women should go after and 35-39 women were right before the 40-44 age group. I dont know who decided on this seeding, but the last two waves to start were 35-39 and 40-44. IMO both very fast groups. So a note to the organizers, maybe next year we can have a different order? The race kicked off at 7, and we were promptly led into the water at 8:50. The wind had kiked up and the water was choppy, so I was excited becuase it was a great race for swimmers. We took off and I was in the front group with two other girls. After about 300m we started hitting the carnage from the groups in front of us. I tried to swim over them, but it became difficult and I thought it was slowing us down. So I made my first mistake of the day and swam out about 10 meters to get out of the way, which also put me out there to navigate the waves by myself. In hindsite, this was a bad move because the other two girls I was with finished 1 and 2 less than a minute in front of me. I was hoping for a sub-30, and was disappointed in my time, but after the results came out, I realized that noone in my AG finished sub 30 and there were even several pros out there who didnt break 30, so I think the course was just pretty rough.

T1 - Not bad, but I set up my transition like Chloe does, so I was good to go. In and out.

Bike - I knew this would be rough, but I didnt really know just how rough. We had a 28 out and back course along the beach and it was changing cross winds the whole way. I am not going to even go into some of the slow speeds I saw on my computer, but I knew this would be a challenge, and it was. Even so, I was bummed about my time, but I talked to my coach after and she echoed the sentiment that it was a freaking hard course, so I felt better. I did learn that I could get in enough calories and that my body only wants liquid form (bottle with 100cal of gatorade, 100 of carbopro, and 2 salt tabs every 45 mins). I tried my PBJ sandwich and it didnt want to go down. So liquids it is for IMTX. This led to mistake #2. I stopped 3 times to go to the bathroom from all the liquids. I need to learn to just pee on the bike and it would have saved me about 7 or 8 minutes. I get stage fright and just cant go. Plus I was worried the wind would blow it all over everyone and I didnt want to get yelled at! Since we were almost the last wave i wasnt passed by as many people as I normally am, and I was passing tons of guys, however the 40-44 yr old women were killing it. I was so impressed. These ladies that looked 20 were flying by me and when I read their calf I saw their ages were over 40. Holy huge shout out to them. I hope I can look like that and race like that when I am their age!

T2 - Another mistake. I have no idea what I was doing for close to 5 minutes in there. I honestly cant remember. Maybe I saw someone I knew and decided to chat? who knows, but it was slow as crap. Usually this Transition is my fast one.

Run - I felt great heading out on the run, and stuck to my plan of one cliff shot block every mile with water and then coke if i felt like it. Around mile 2 I started to cramp in my stomach and calf and thought it was time for a salt tab. I reached in my pocket and realized I had forgotten them. Really? 5 mins in transition and I still forgot things? So I made a note to grab pretzels at the stations. In order for me to be able to eat without puking or having GI distress, I have to take it in while walking, so I told myself I would walk every aid station and run 8::40-8:50 pace in between. This was going really well and I was feeling good once I got in a little salt. The course was a 4 loop course and I was able to really see where we were on the course and see Chris a few times. It wasnt until the last loop that I realized I had run out of shot blocks (I had 18 with me in case I dropped some). I then realized that there were about 6 aid stations each loop. I am not great in math, but even I can count that 6 aid in a roughly 3+ mile loop does not equal 1 aid station each mile. No wonder it was so easy! I was only running about half a mile before walking, which really slowed down my run time. I really should pay attention to this sort of thing in the future. That or listen to the alarm that goes off on my garmin each mile.

I was hoping for a much faster time, but I made mistakes that were just dumb. And the run was a pure training for IM to make sure I got my nutrition down. If I werent training for that, I would not have walked the aid stations and probably would have only taken in water, coke and pretzels. I would have felt like crap at the finish line, but finished a little better. Hopefully next year I can do that.

Overall it was a really fun race with a lot of familiar faces. I had a blast doing it and never once thought about quitting triathlon all together. Now it is recover, train and taper for the big one on May 21! Happy training everyone!

Race Recap

There will be a full race report to come in the next day or two, but I have a quick recap for now. I wasnt completely sure what to expect in this race since I was traveling like mad the week prior (I went through customer 4 times in 7 days in Houston), and as everyone knows, 85% of my bike training is on a trainer and I have only had a handful of outside rides. But I was hoping to break 5:45 and I knew I could break 6, however on race day it just wasnt in the cards for me. After thinking back on the race, there are plenty of things that I did and stupid mistakes I made (Um hello LONG transition times for who knows what!) that cost a bit of time, but I am learning from them and moving on to the next race. I had a great time out there on Sunday and will definitely be doing this race again next year. It is also a great race for spectators because the run is 4 loops, and you can pretty much hang out, drink beer and watch your friends and family come by every 20-30 minutes. My coach raced it as well and said that the bike was a really challenging ride, which made me feel a little better about my time. The number one goal for me was to nail nutrition, which I did. I took in about 740 calories on the bike (an increase of about 500 from the half ironman before) and made myself walk all aid stations on the run so I could take in 30 calories a mile (up 30 calories a mile from the last 1/2IM). I know that nutrition will make or break an Ironman so I am feeling much better about where I am going into IMTX. The only thing I would change is taking in salt on the run (i completely forgot to take any of my Salt tabs) becuase I cramped a bit and felt a little sick to my stomach. So I am happy with some aspects and learned from others, and am planning another 1/2 IM after IMTX this year to break the 5:45 time!

Here is where I started the week. My morning run on Playa Conchal in Costa Rica.


Here are a few photos my support crew took...

The support crew with me right before the race


Heading out to the swim. You wouldn't know it from my smile, but all I am thinking is how much longer until we get in the water so I can pee...



Chris catching me out on the run.


Another run. I just like this one because the other girl in the photo has my same watch! Twins :)

Tapering

Last weekend was my last training weekend in Houston before the half ironman on Sunday, and finally the weather cooperated. For the past few trips it has been dry, cool and sunny. Perfect weather for Houstonians, not perfect weather for people training for a race in Houston in May. Last weekend it was hot, humid and very windy for both days of bike riding, and I feel like I finally got in a little training to help get acclimated for the race. It actually wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. I guess that comes from living most of my life in Houston. This week the taper started for the Sunday's HIM, so I got to spend extra time with my dogs.

The legs were sore so I put on some compression pants and we relaxed on the couch watching some shows on the DVR. Housewives is Liko's favorite.


Yesterday when I was giving myself a manicure, Liko fell asleep so I gave him a manicure to match mine. He wasn't happy when he woke up.


Now I am sitting at the airport waiting to catch a plane to Houston and then on to Costa Rica for work. I hope to get in one ocean swim while I am there so I can see if I remember how to sight. Then it is back to Mexico Thursday night so I can pack and head to Houston Friday. Not an ideal time to have a work trip, but there are worse places to go visit. I just hope I dont catch something on the plane!

Visitor

My mom was here last week during her spring break. Side note -I really should look into getting a job with the school system because summers, spring breaks, and Christmas breaks are way more important now than they were back then. Anyway, her coming to visit meant lots of good meals out and lots of walking around. And since I didn't see a break in my training for Mom's visit, I was up extra early on the weekends to get everything done before she was awake. We went to our favorite restaurant one night and had tuna tostadas and sent this picture to my brother and sister in law so they would get jealous. Now I'm jealous looking at it. The food is that good. And yes, that is a margarita next to me. I fell off the wagon a bit. My mom loves wine and margaritas and I couldn't let her drink alone. I decided to change my rule and allow myself drinks on weekends when visitors were here. At least I am doing better than last year!



This weekend is another trip to Houston where I will get in about 8 hours of solid riding with some running and swimming mixed in. I am going to have a long time to pretend to love my bike, but I do have some new cool outfits at home that I can wear to make it a little less painful. I can't believe it is less than 2 months away until the IM! Chris will finally have a normal life again. Or at least until I sign up for the next one.

PR!

I had another hard training weekend on the books, which I actually am starting to love. When I dont have to travel and can get out of bed and onto the trainer, I am one happy person. I prefer biking outside, but I dont prefer having to pack, fly (hate flying remember?), and leaving Chris and the pups. So Saturday was a hard trainer ride that involved three movies and a lot of calories.
By 6AM I was all prepped and ready to go. I got through the warmup and my power was looking lower than normal and no matter what I couldnt get it higher. I really felt like I was using all my effort to just get in my warm up levels. For the first set I thought I was going to puke. I knew i was bonking when I remembered I forgot breakfast and decided to get off, eat a little bit and get back on a few minutes later. Holy cow that helped and I was back on for the remainder of the ride feeling back to normal. I was also able to get in about 300 calories an hour thanks to my PB&J.

I had some company while riding too. Here is my little guy giving me stink eye because he isnt getting any of the sandwich.

After the ride, legs were toast and I had seen three more movies than I had at 6AM.
Sunday I had a 15 mile run on the schedule and also realized that there was a 10 mile race starting 2 blocks from my house. Score! I could sandwich the race with a nice long warm up and cool down. Since the race really was just a way for me to get in 10 miles on carless roads, I had zero nerves and ended up getting to the start line after it actually started. I was having fun and for the first time in a running race, I didnt want to turn back at the turn around for the shorter race. I stayed relaxed and the race took us through some of the only hills in Mexico City, so I was able to get in some hill training. I stopped a few times to make sure I was getting in all of my nutrition and to say hi to some friends and Chris because I really didnt care about the time. Even still, as I crossed the finish line I realized that I had a PR. I guess the trick is to not give a crap and come to the race 10 minutes late. That or give up wine for Lent. Although I really hope it isnt the wine because I plan to go back on the booze Easter Sunday.

I feel like Tom Cruise

The doctor called and gave me the news I have been waiting for. Apparently one leg is significantly longer than the other. I always knew this but every doctor and chiro I went to said it was because my hips were tight and then stretched me or pulled me until I was closer to even. Apparently that wont ever help because the xrays came back saying that one bone is actually longer than the other. By a lot. I knew that this might be what was going on, but I was really hoping that the other doctors/chiros were right and that stretching and strength exercises were all that I needed. I need those, but I also need some really expensive orthotics that will raise my short leg up. I wonder if these lifts will make me taller and I will actually be the 5’5” that I claim I am. The good news is that this will help my hip and probably (hopefully) my speed. I was also told that I need to get my bike refit because they need to take into account my leg difference. Apparently a new fit will give me more power too. Score.
My sweet mom went and picked them up for me at the doc's and is bringing them with her next weekend when she comes to visit us. The weird thing I that I have had zero hip pain since before the marathon. Maybe just going to the doctor cured me and I dont need these ridiculously expensive orthotics. But they are already purchased and heading to Mexico. These things better help fix me. Or at least make me taller.

How not to ride a bike

This past weekend was another Houston training weekend, and on schedule was a long ride on Saturday. The plan was to get up and head over to a 65 mile scheduled ride with a group training for the MS150. I got up at 5, packed the car and started my hour drive. My mom had been nice enough to print off the directions and walk me through them so i wouldnt get lost. When I got there, I drove around this tiny town for an hour and couldnt find ANYONE! There are normally a few thousand that do these rides, so it should have been easy to spot, especially since I saw the school where we were supposed to meet. I didnt even see anyone with a bike on their car. After an hour I decided to cut my losses and head back home to do a ride on my normal route. I got in about 20 miles when I started to hear a really loud clicking noise. I kept stopping and getting off to check my back wheel but couldnt find anything. Then another guy stopped me and tried to find what was wrong and he thought it was the beamer, and was worried my back wheel would lock up on me mid ride. I decided to get first in line to the store and see if they could quickly look at it. On my way over to the store I heard a pop and hiss. Yes, I had gotten my first flat on my new bike. At least I was on my way into the shop and they could fix that as well. After about 30 minutes and taking apart my bike, the tech said that he needed more time but that it would be safe to ride for the day. They know me well there and know that I only come in town to train on the bike and losing a day on the bike is sort of an issue for me.
So I went back out into temps that dropped quite a bit since the morning, and got in another 22 miles. All of a sudden the sky opened up and it started to pour. I wanted to wait it out a bit, but after about 20 minutes and no sign of letting up I carefully rode home. When I walked in the door I immediately had a breakdown. i was so frustrated that I couldnt ride, and that I came in town specifically to get time on the bike, and it just wasnt working out for me. I had been trying to ride for the past 8 hours and only got in 42 miles. Sensing that things could get ugly quickly, my mom decided to take me to the gym so i could finish the bike there. After a few emails from coach I felt better and realized that these things happen and I have to move on from them. Also, better on a training day than in the race.
Sunday fared way way better. I had 13 miles to do. I went out and basically tried to push the pace until I blew up or puked. Neither happend (although I almost puked a few times) and I hit a 13 mile run with 8:41 pace. Way faster than any race I have ever done that distance. So a much needed confidence boost from the day before.