2014 Recap

Hi all. Remember me?

You'll have to excuse my lack of posts these last few months but I have been in a hole. A dark and self loathing hole. Meredith, captain of my Swim Bike Mom Ambassador Team, recently wrote about this exact same thing, only she refers to it as her "cave". You can read about it here. Yep, that's exactly where I've been.....

I'll get into the specifics at a later time but all you need to know right now is that I'm back! Clawed myself out of that untrained, feeling-sorry-for-myself, eating/drinking too much hole and have found the motivation to get back on the training wagon and focus on new goals. BOOM!

I wanted to provide a little year in review for ya'll but since I haven't done much in the last few months, besides thoroughly enjoying the holidays that is, I'll just point you to my Blogaversary post where I basically did just that! Instead, let's take a look at my 2014 race schedule (since I did not set specific goals last year) and what did/did not happen. 

2/1 - Worst Day of the Year Run, 5k

Time - 32:12

Yep - super slow but the course was kinda hilly and I was waaaay out of shape. Still a great way to start off the new year and had lots of fun running with friends.

3/16 - PDX Shamrock Run, 15k

Time - 1:38.59

Hard course with over 482 feet in elevation gain (not much on the bike but challenging for 9 miles in a pair of Brooks) and where I proceeded to injure my right ilio spoas sending me to rehab for over 3 months. Great accomplishment and many lessons learned. 

4/5 - OSU Beaver Freezer Triathlon, Sprint

Time - 1:18.14 (course error)

Despite the hip injury I completed in my first tri of the season. Taking place on the OSU campus this was a gorgeous race where I got to meet fellow SwimBikeMoms and where 9 miles into the bike,  I found myself face down in gravel with what would end up being a sprained elbow/wrist. Out of the pool for 8 weeks and back to rehab.  

4/13 - Blooms to Brews Half Marathon

Didn't end up registering for this race due to my previous hip injury.

5/10 -  Oregon Dunes Triathlon, Olympic

Registered but did not race as I was still nursing the elbow/wrist sprain.

6/7 - Ironman Boise, 70.3

Time - 6:45.

With a goal of 7:30 you can say that I was pretty happy with these results. The whole Ironman brand was such an amazing experience. We spent 4 days in Boise, rented a house where my brother's family, mom and aunt were able to join us and just made a little vaca out of it. Racing with my bro was the highlight of the weekend. Though I did struggle with yet another injury (strained calf the week before) and had to walk at least half of the 13 miles, I was so amazed at how good I felt overall and what my body was capable of doing. Needless to say it was all the fuel I needed to get that 140.6 fire burning.

8/4 - Mid Summer Triathlon, Sprint

Did not register for.

9/21 - Portland Triathlon, Sprint (maybe Olympic?)

Did not register for - replaced with the Gorgeous Relay

12 - Foot Traffic Holiday Half Marathon

Did not register for and I completely regret it now.

Additions to the Schedule:

7/20 - Girlfriends & Dude Tri - Sprint

Time - 1:23.42

Probably one of the funnest races I have ever participated in  - and my times reflected just that, PR'ng in each event. Not only was I able to introduce The Kid to his first tri (which he ended up loving and wanting to do more) but I also won 2nd place in my age group!! 

9/21 - Gorgeous Relay - 60 miles

No official time

My first relay - 6 teammates, 60 miles, way too hot but loads of fun. My last official race of the year.

11/15&16 -  Ironman Arizona - Volunteer

I am embarrassed to admit that I have yet to post about my volunteer time in AZ. With it being such an inspirational experience I promise to give you a little recap soon. After all, this is where I met a bunch of fellow SBM Army members, reunited with an old friend and registered for 2015 for crying out loud!! That dang hole......

So yes, while the past year did contain some great accomplishments, it was kind of riddled with injuries and I wasn't able to really compete as healthy as I would have liked. In addition, I am a bit disappointed in the amount of races that I did not participate in simply due to my own lack of motivation and fear. I've had a lot of time to reflect on this while in my "hole" and am ready to go into the next season with a new game plan. One that I know will prove successful. More to follow........

All this being said I am so looking forward to 2015 and all the amazing opportunities that have been laid out before me! I'm still in the process of setting new goals, both personal and tri related and will share with you all next week - but one thing I do know for sure, being part of the 2015 Swim Bike Mom Ambassador Team is going to be an unforgettable experience. Over the course of this next year I will dedicate each and every one of my workouts to the women that make up this team and their inspirational stories.

Its good to be back

~ Cheers, Bec

Weekly Recap and a Giveaway Winner!

Fall is in the air and this gal is happy!

Got out for a few runs last week (though not as many as I should have) as the weather was perfect! Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year to run – the air is cool enough to wear compression tights, I can do most of my running without sunglasses and the air is filled with wonderful smells as folks start lighting up their fireplaces for the first time. 

Monday – 3 mile hilly run

The Kid has had swim practice at a different pool the past three weeks, which has given me a great opportunity to check out new routes. 4 miles of rolling hills in one of the prettiest neighborhoods around. It got pretty dark about half way but I loved the view! Something about a different environment always makes a run so much more enjoyable.

Tuesday – Shoulda...woulda...coulda......didn't.  :/

Wednesday – Had my running gear on and just couldn't push myself out of the door. Dealing with a bit of stress at work this last week so finding the motivation to work out vs. flopping down on the couch with a big ol glass of wine has been hard. I am a routine gal and once I get thrown off that horse for a few months it is so hard to get back on. Give me a full week of consistency and I will be back in full beast mode..........promise.

Thursday – 4 mile trail run

It was a struggle, not gonna lie. I wanted to quit at mile 3 and just pack it in but thankfully my mind refused and I kept chuggin along. Looks like I missed most of the fall colors though - the trail was primarily brown with a little bit of green still holding on. One thing I love about Oregon is how green it actually does stay throughout the winter months - can't keep those pine trees down!

Friday – Can we just skip, Friday? Wine + couch was just about all I could muster.

Sat – IM Kona World Championships!

So I literally spent ALL day on my couch glued to my iPod/computer screen watching the live feed of the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI. Although November's televised recap does a better job of capturing most all of the field as well as including those inspiring age grouper stories, I do love being able to follow right along with every step of the race. All 17 hours of it!

The broadcast was awesome and the race itself super exciting. Germany’s Sebastian Kienle, took 1st for the men with a time of 8:14:18, never once wavering. While Mirinda “Rinny” Carfrae (ultimate lady beast!) took first in the female Pro field at 9:00:55 by absolutely CRUSHING IT on the run, overtaking Daniela Ryf in the last 4 miles. Holy crap was that an amazing thing to see! Rinny came off the bike in 15^th place and ran her marathon in just 2:50:26 to take home the win and another female run-record. Two freakin’ hours and fifty minutes?!! Are you out of your mind?!! All so crazy inspiring.

Here are the top 10 final standings......not a bad showing from the US!

Sitting there watching Kona all day got me in the mood to finish up my own Ironman plans. Finally booked my flight and reserved my hotel/car for next month’s volunteering weekend at IM Arizona. Step #2 towards IMAZ 2015 is complete!  Wohoo!  What’s even more exciting is the fact that quite a few of my fellow SwimBikeMom teammates will be there volunteering as well – some even racing! Can’t wait to meet everyone and help cheer on all the amazing athletes.

Sunday – Football, football, football. I admit it – I’m a sucker for the NFL and am going to have a very hard time making time for s/b/r on Sundays this winter. Especially since my Chargers are doing so well! I sense many rides inside on the trainer happening these next few months…......

With week 1 of my half marathon training complete over, I'll admit that it’s been very hard getting back into the routine of things. I spent some time on Sunday re-evaluating my mental state and have and already started off week 2 with a new attitude and a desire to get back at it. 4 mile run yesterday – with an av pace of 9:20 (booyah!) and 1 hour scheduled on the trainer for tonight. Right now it's a daily reminder that I am the only one responsible for what happens with my training - using "life" as an excuse is no excuse at all.

Before I go I’m excited to announce that Natalee Webb has won Tri-ing The Best I Can’s first giveaway contest!! Congrats on your new 3 pack of Lock Laces, Natalee! I know you’re going to love them as much as I do!!

Thanks to all those who participated and be on the lookout for more fun giveaways in the future!

~  Cheers, Rebecca

How do you get back into routine after taking some time away from your fitness norm?

Girlfriends & Dudes Triathlon - Race Recap

Hello folks - long time no hear?! As you can tell I took a little time away from the blogging world in order to hang with The Kid who is on his way to High School **shakes head in disbelief** this week. Knowing that I only have 4 more years before he's off to college is just terrifying. Who in the world believes that it really goes by THAT fast?! Sheesh.....

Anyway, as this race recap is over a month in the making, I tried to make it a good one......"tried" being the operative word here.

So, Girlfriends & Dudes Sprint Triathlon - Vancouver, WA. My first chance to race with The Kid! Super jazzed! Thankfully this was a local venue and with a later start time (9am) so no throwing the alarm across the room at 4am. This lead to a pretty easy going race morning with a quick breakfast, gear pack-up and a sleepy teenager to rouse.

I think I am finally starting to get a bit more, dare I say, "relaxed" on race day? P (my ever faithful sherpa), The Kid and I got to the venue about 45 minutes before the start, set up transition and then just hung out with a cup of jo before it was go time. Oh, and I can't forget to mention meeting a fellow Swim Bike Army member, Tammi, for the first time! (no photos though - next time Tammi!) Normally I am super paranoid, trying to ensure that we get to the site with oodles of time to spare. Maybe because this was "just" a Sprint and my first race coming off of Boise, but either way I was cool, calm and collected.  No one had to suffer the wrath of my usual race morning nerves - Winning!!



The Swim (.5 miles/804 meters)

Goal - 13 min or under

Doesn't look like it but I swear I'm running in this photo! :)

Ah, the swim - my fav. I debated the night before on whether or not I wanted to wear my wet suit for this race. I knew the water was a comfortable temp and given the short distance wasn't concerned with needing any additional support. Since I was also planning on trying to PR, I figured the amount of time spent in transition trying to strip my suit off wasn't really worth the extra few seconds it might save me in the water. Decision? Go without. Result? Mixed

The swim course was a point-to-point straight shot down the Columbia River.  A quick half mile walk up the beach to the race start and we were off. No wet suit? No problem.....well, kinda. It appears that my one piece tri suit had stretched out quite a bit since Boise (that or I lost some upper body weight since that time...ya right) leaving the top half to create a ton of drag in the water. Ugh - not what I wanted to happen but what can you do? 800 meters done, and given my PR, I'd say the drag was more of a mind game than anything else. Whoop!

Official Swim Time - 0:12:33  (PR from last year's Sprint of 14:46)

T1

Goal - 2 minutes

Awe yeah......pickin' up my transition pace, ya'll! I'm pretty sure it had everything to do with not bothering with a wet suit this time around but regardless I am stoked about my T1 time - 2 full minutes faster than last year?! Whaaaaat??!! Other than speed, nothing much to report. Didn't bother grabbing a drink or fuel, just threw the helmet/shoes on and Goooooo! I do need to learn how to do an awesome flying bike mount this off season -  I hate having to come to a complete stop at the mount line. Waste.of.time.

Official T1 Time - 01:49 (PR from last year's Sprint of 03:52)

Bike (12.5 miles)

Goal - Under 40 minutes

A nice flat, beautiful course - I was stoked. My goal on the bike was to average 20 mph, keep my legs pumping and do not slow down regardless of how much it burned. It is a sprint after all so EVERYTHING should be done as fast as possible. I think I'm finally starting to understand that. Both up and back down the course I only had 3 people pass me. And to my credit they were crazy 20 something year-old studs complete with speedy bikes. 12.5 miles out and back to the dismount line with a few sips of water/Nuun but no additional fuel. Although I didn't meet my 20mph sustained goal pace, I did managed to pull out quite a few miles at that speed and overall maintained 19.3mph. And let's not forget the ultimate desire of going under 40 mins - BOOM! Getting faster!

Official Bike Time - 0:38:55/av 19.3 mph (PR from last year's Sprint of :43:20/17.3mph)

T2
Goal - 2 minutes

What the what? Again with a fast transition?! I owe my T2 time to Lock Laces and Lock Laces alone. Those things are a life saver and I swear were the sole reason I took at least a full minute off my time! If you don't know what these beautiful creations are, check them out here. Shoes on, quick swig of hydration and out on the run course.

Official T2 Time -  1:36 (PR from last year's Sprint of 02:48)

Run (5k):

Goal - under 30 minutes

You know you're actually becoming a triathlete when you no longer deal with "transition" legs at the start of your run. I honestly felt great and ended up going out quite a bit faster than I thought I was, averaging around 8.5 min/mi at the first mile. 8.5?? Is this a dream?! I had no idea as to how I was able to keep that pace for a full mile but no part of me was going to complain. Halfway through the course I grabbed some hydration (without stopping - another win for me!), chugged it down and kept at it. My legs felt pretty darn good and my breathing was a bit labored but hey, it's a freakin 5k, I had better be going all out!

Through the finish and this gal was done!

Official Run Time - 28:46 (av 9:16 min/mi - PR!)


Holy crap. Is this time right? Couldn't be.....no way....did I just PR my 5k and my Sprint distance?

Check.it.

Official Finish Time - 1:23:42

2/25 Age Group

19/127 Female

55/211 Overall

Still unbelievable. I PR'd every event and took 8 minutes off my fastest Sprint! All with a 2nd place to show for it. 

Still on a crazy high from my podium spot (I literally got to have my picture taken on a podium with fellow 1st and 3rd placers - righteous), it was time to get The Kid ready for his race.

The RD (Race Director) put together such a fun event for the kids. The distance for each leg was based on age group. The Kid was scheduled for a .25 mile swim, 3 mile bike and .75 mile run. Pretty easy for a 14 year-old but the object of the event was for him to gain experience in a fun race environment. Mission accomplished.

The Kid's Tri wasn't timed and I was a ding-dong and didn't think to do it myself, so we don't have any specifics. Overall he really enjoyed himself and didn't need much coaching from me at all! He says he's ready to tackle a full Sprint next year. Hopefully I've created a monster. :)

Disappointed in his age group swim distance of 200 meters. He wanted a full mile!

On the right at the very end - away from the weaker swimmers so he can speed by. Smart play kid...smart play.

T1 - "Why is this taking so long?!!", he says. You'll get there dude. 

3 mile bike - Needless to say he wants a roadie now.

Out of T2 and on to the run! Looking strong!

                                   

Into the finish!!

Done! And exhausted. ;)

Love this Kid! 

Awesome race, with awesome support, and an awesome outcome. How could I ask for anything more?

So let's see..........

Recap done - check!

Back on the blogging wagon - check!

Kid successfully off to High School - check!

Training back in motion - check!

The break was definitely needed but I've got to get moving or I am going to drive myself and those around me completely nuts! Next on the race agenda? The 60 mile Gorgeous Relay on Sep. 21st and am  trying to nail down one more Tri before the season is over. The Beaver Fever is the sister race to The Beaver Freezer I did back in April. You know, the one I had that epic bike fail in? The OSU Triathlon club opens and ends the Oregon Tri season with these two sponsored races so I think it's only natural that I do the same. 

~ Cheers, Rebecca

Weekly Training Recap

Boy do I sure miss adding "70.3" in front of my weekly training recap titles! Re-placing it with "Olympic Tri" just doesn't have the same oomph, so I am going to keep things fairly generic until I am back on an official training plan.

Last week I talked about my post race blues - thankfully I am making my way out of that valley and back into action. This last week wasn't the best, but I should at least give myself some credit for sweating it out in our unnatural PNW summer heat. After almost 4 years of living here, I think I can safely say that this SoCal gal has finally acclimated to the cooler weather and am now finding it more difficult to workout in the heat. It's been pretty humid too so......I don't know how all you Southerners do it. Huge props!

Recap:

Monday

I planned on getting a swim in while the Kid was at practice but he had lost his goggles, so my only pair became his. :( Instead I watched him soak up all that liquid glory....as I sat in the heat.....green with envy.


Tuesday

3 mile trail run

Hot, humid and just overall junky. I think I managed 10:30 m/m. Like I said before, I have turned into a  heat pansy!


Wednesday

2200 yard swim

Ah, finally back in the water and boy howdy it felt good! By the time a lane opened up I only had about 30 minutes to get my workout in before the Kid was done with his practice. I ended up staying in for a total of 36 minutes and was pretty happy to have jammed out 2200 yards in that short amount of time!
500 Free warm up
200 kick
10 x 100 Free (hard, easy, hard, easy)
500 Free cool down

You certainly can't ask for a more scenic location to get your swimmin' on!!

Thursday

Quick OWS swim session with the Kid in prep for Girlfriend's and Dudes Tri this weekend.

The Kid has his very first tri this Sunday so we decided to head over to the river (race location) Thursday evening after work so he could get a sense of what OWS is really like. The swim portion of his race is only 250 meters and he is already a very strong swimmer so I wasn't too worried about how he'd handle being in open water. Unfortunately I turned off the nav in my car about a mile before the correct location and ended up walking down to a small cove not at all groomed for swimming. Bad mistake - the water conditions there were hideous. Super mossy, even as we got about 200 yards out!! The stuff was practically strangling us, getting caught in our hands, arms and even feet at times! It's bad enough imagining what creepy things lie underneath without having to feel it at the same time!! The poor guy had to do his first open water session in the worst possible conditions. Mom fail.

"Why the heck did I let my mom talk me into this?!!!"

He's tough though and has seen me swim in most everything, so much to his can do attitude, the Kid swam - creeped out and all. Oh, and let's not forget that his girlfriend came out with us.....so there was really no possible way he was going to show any signs of fear. Haha.


Friday

30 mile ride

Yes! The heat eased up a bit and I was really itching to get out on the road - nothing super special to recap other than just getting my butt out there. And given my current funk, I'd say that was special enough!


Saturday

The Kid had his first big swim invitational this weekend so as far as training/workout goes for myself....does cheering count?

The event was held at our local pool (as are most in Oregon - thankfully!) so no lengthy car trips for us. He did well - swam in four events, was disqualified in one (learning experience!) and nearly hit his regional qualifying times in two others. Missed them by only a few seconds! I'd say he is off to a great start. Here are a few pics from the event - so proud of this guy.

Sunday

More of the above. Swim invitationals are no joke - sitting around for 8-9 hours just to see your child swim in two events?! Yeesh - guess this is where I thank my parents for putting up with years of this stuff while I competed in school. :)


There you have it - first "real" week of training since Boise. It's not much but at least it's a start.

Cheers - Bec

IRONMAN Boise 70.3 - Race Recap 2 of 2

2 of 2........

THE BIKE

The bike - whew, glad to have made it off that 56 mile course unscathed. Since the reservoir is set up in the hills, the first few miles of the bike is entirely downhill, giving you a chance to catch your breath, get your heart rate down and completely freak out while applying your breaks the whole time. No.really. That's what I did. (wah waaah). I think it may have been a result from my bike crash earlier in the year but I had a very hard time trusting in my abilities during the downhill sections of this course and probably suffered time wise because of it. The thought of losing control kept running through my mind, so anything past 30mph and I was braking. Ugh - lame. **TIP -Trust in your machine and your own abilities. Practice both up and downhills. Get comfortable to a point where you can continue to peddle through even the fastest of downhills.**

My lack in downhill confidence wasn't the only issue - Boise can get WINDY! One of the locals had mentioned that this is why they have such a late start time. Apparently the wind is worse in the early morning hours but tends to die down later on. Um, no. At one point, about 20 miles in, the cross wind was so bad that it nearly blew the guy in front of me clean off his bike! Thankfully I was paying attention and braced for my turn. Crap.....the idea of dealing with 36 more miles of this nonsense was a frustrator. Thankfully it let up a little bit for the remainder of the course and we only had minor head winds to deal with.

At about the halfway turn around point I saw my brother and we both let out a quick shout of support. So nice knowing that he was out of the water and on his bike safely - I hated being out there without knowing how he did. I even saw a fellow Swim Bike Mom army member and wished her well as I passed  by. Other than the confidence/wind issue I really felt great on the bike! My nutrition was working flawlessly, I felt really strong the whole time and Ben performed like a champ. I wasn't passed by too many and the ones who did fly by looked pretty serious.

A little hilly but the out and back course made it easy to stay focused on what was next.

The last 10 miles of the course brought us out of the lonely hills and back into town and through some residential neighborhoods. So many folks camped out on their front lawns cheering us on - I swear there is not one unhappy person in all of Boise! A few more corners to turn and I had made it! 56 miles, safe and still full of energy. With P and the gang there to great me and the calf feeling a-okay, I was pumped to get out of that saddle. And given the annoying winds we had to deal with, felt great about my overall time. Oh, and did I mention the signs yet? Our group had spent the previous day making some of the best race support signs - some were silly and some just plain motivational. Regardless of what they said, it was the feeling of having your family there to support you that goes unmatched.

Total Bike Time - 03:17:16
Age Group - 30
Gender - 160
Overall - 700

Fuel: 3 bottles (water + 2 Nuun + 2 scoops CarboPro)

**The bike felt great - the wind. Now that I have some 70.3 experience under my belt I know that I can push myself a bit harder next time**


T2

Bike racked, shoes, race belt and visor on, I am happy to report that T2 was completely uneventful. And no, no potty mishaps this time around. Still decided to take my time though and focus on making sure that I had everything needed for the last 13.1 miles of my journey. A few extra minutes at the end wasn't going to matter.

T2 time - 00:04:19

**Obviously this could have been at least 2 minutes faster, but...**


THE RUN

Ok, let's start with the calf. I knew the run portion of this race was going to be the most difficult. Not only due to my injury but the simple fact that running a half marathon in itself is hard enough, let alone completing one after already racing for 4 hours. I had planned on doing a 3:1 run/walk scenario that my PT had signed off on and would see where that would take me. After about a mile the calf pain was definitely there and I was worried about doing anything that would aggravate it further. Heck, I still had a whole season and 3 more tris to get through! So easy does it.

The Boise 70.3 run is beautiful. It's a two loop, almost entirely flat course that follows directly along the river front - about 90% shaded it was a much appreciated break from the sun and wind. With an aid station at every mile it does a great job of keeping you motivated too. Water, Gatorade, GU, pretzels, chips, soda - you name it, they had it. My favorite? ICE CHIPS!! I swear those things kept me sane. I grabbed some every chance I could get. Down the front of my sports bra, down my back, rubbed all over my arms and face, it.was.heaven. The course also allows for spectators to see their racers at least three times - at miles 5, 11 and then of course at the finish. Getting to run by a crowd of supporters cheering you on so many times is a prefect way to re-fill those energy cells.

Here are some of the signs that our group made - aren't they awesome?!!!!

Loved the 'Go Random Stranger' - hope it helped to motivate someone else out there on the course!

Oh beer, how I've missed you as well!

By mile 6 the calf really started to flare up so I spent much of the last hour and a half doing more walking than running. This actually gave me a great opportunity to met all sorts of  motivating people doing just the same. Lots of Oregonians out on the course sporting their club gear too - made it very easy for me to yell out some words of encouragement. I never ending up seeing my bro on the run but I did see Kristen of Glitter and Dust fly by..holy cow, was she was in the zone! :) Would I have loved to have ran the whole thing? Of course! But to think that only a week prior I thought all my hopes of even finishing were tossed out the window. With that in mind I am thrilled with my overall performance at that point.

2 miles left and I was a ball of emotion. Every time I thought of P or The Kid I started to cry! It couldn't be helped. They have been so great in supporting me through all of my training, races, injuries and meltdowns - I just felt so blessed to have them in my life. With only a half mile to go I could hear the announcer's voice and knew the finish line was close. "Ok, Rebecca", I thought, "No more crying...you don't want people to think that you're in pain do you? Let's giddy up and sprint to the finish!".

Done. I was done!!! 6 hours and 45 minutes of non stop racing - I had conquered my first half Ironman! 70.3 miles of greatness complete. Now give me my freaking medal! :)

I swear I could not stop smiling. As I hugged everyone, chugged down ludicrous amounts of water and waited for my brother to finish, the joy of what I had just accomplished completely took over. The months of long hours and strenuous training had paid off. It was going to be awhile before I came down from my Ironman high.

Total Run Time - 02:39:40

Total Overall Race Time - 06:45:18
Age Group - 40
Gender - 239
Overall - 882

Fuel: Alternated water and electrolyte drink every mile. GU gel every 3 miles

**Not much could be helped with my run time. The energy was a bit more sluggish than I would have preferred but had zero stomach or cramping issues so my fueling must have been spot on. Excited to see how much better I can perform going into the run healthy next time**

A little over an hour later my brother had made it to the finish line too! So proud of him!! I kept thinking how much fun it must have been for my mom to see both her kids finish this race. Thankfully my pops tuned into the Ironman website and was also able to watch us both cross the finish line via their live feed. A huge THANK YOU to Ironman for allowing this to happen.

Half Ironman Boise finishers - BOOYAH!!

After our amazing finishes, my brother and I wandered over to food tent to replenish our calories by grubbing on some pizza and burgers. No beer though - that would have to wait until we got back to the house. Finished with our snacks, we all headed over to the Ironman store to pick up a few items to commemorate our accomplishments, then it was time to head back to the house.

It was a long (14 hours) day but worth every bit of the aches, pains, frustrations, lines etc. that we had to deal with.  My first HIM experience was a success and I can not wait to do it again! Many, many thanks to all my readers, fellow Tri-Fecta members, my online coaches Meredith and Brett, and friends and family for helping to make this dream a reality. The support and encouragement I've received along the way has been so overwhelmingly amazing. The sacrifices my family has made during this process is far more than I could have ever asked for.

What's next? I have quite a few more races on the calendar for this season so you'll definitely want to stay tuned. Also, Ironman Arizona 140.6 volunteer registration opens up next week..........you know what that means..........

Beer and I reunited once again........cheers!

IRONMAN Boise 70.3 - Race Recap 1 of 2

Why hello there! It's been awhile hasn't it? Well, after my race in Boise a few weeks ago I decided to take a mental and physical break from all things triathlon related, including blogging. And it was very much appreciated, let.me tell you. Now that we're back on that horse again, I figured it was about time I gave you a recap of my race - the one and only - it's a long one folks, so buckle down and enjoy....


Thursday, June 5 

Time to head out! After P dropped the pups off at their kennel, or as we call it "summer camp", we packed up and made our way on down the road.

Minus Ben and an ice chest - not too bad for three people!

Someone wasn't too thrilled about the 6 hour drive. He slept most of it anyway.

After 6.5 hours and one stop for gas and lunch, we made it to Boise. It was kinda fun seeing all the cars with race bikes in tow making their way along the same stretch of road. I often shared knowing glances and big nervous smiles with the folks we passed . "You racing this weekend? Me too! Holy crap I'm scared!" - I love being a part of this tri community.

After arriving to the house that we rented for the weekend, my brother and I (I told you he was racing too, right?) had planned on driving up to the reservoir to meet a local tri club for some OWS, test out the water temp and get a lay of the land. Unfortunately we had planned our drive based on west coast arrival times, completely forgetting that Boise, ID is on MT. So our assumed 5pm arrival was actually 6pm. Although the club was only meeting for a short while, we dropped our families off at the house to get settled and work on dinner and decided to drive out to the water anyway. 

40.minutes.later. 

Ugh - so yeah, although renting a house outside of downtown did prove to be very relaxing, the amount of driving we had to do while prepping for race day is not recommended. As the reservoir is 20 minutes away from downtown and the race finish, it made for A LOT of driving. Anyway, we made it to the water and actually had plenty of time to take a quick dip! The course start was already blocked off by Ironman personnel, but thankfully there was a nice little spot just around the corner that is used by the locals.

Not a bad venue, eh?

All that I've been reading about in past race reports was how freezing the water is here. I guess being a fish and having grown up on the beaches of SoCal, I really didn't notice. Heck, I could have swam that thing sans wetsuit and have been just fine. Whew!! One less thing to stress about. Bro and I did a few laps between bouys to get a feel of the chop (water was a bit cranky this day). I was content with the conditions and overall very pleased that we had a chance to test things out ahead of time. Another 40 minute drive back to the house and in for the night!


Friday, June 5

Picked Mom and Aunt P up from the airport this day - yay! They both flew in from Colorado to watch us race. So blessed to have a family that easily offers up their support. After welcome hugs and kisses, we made our way downtown to the race village where we met the rest of our family for registration and the mandatory athlete briefing. Ho-ly cow there were some seriously cut folks out there! Definitely a lot of nervous energy as we made our way through the multiple lines picking up packets, bracelets, race gear etc.

Locked and loaded!

Afterwards we treated ourselves to lunch at a local grill. P and I always make sure to stay away from chain restaurants when in a new town. We want a local experience - and this place had it all.

The whole crazy crew! Couldn't ask for a better group of supporters.

With lunch over we headed back to the house so that everyone could drop their bags off and relax a little before the next day's craziness began. Everyone but my brother and I, that is - we still had to head back out again in order to drop our bikes off at T1. (why we didn't just bring them into town with us earlier that day I don't know - poor time management!) So another 40 min haul up to the reservoir it was.  Kind of nervous leaving Ben out in the open overnight but they had the place pretty well guarded so we had nothing to worry about. Good thing we chose to do this on Friday though - the last minute madhouse we witnessed on race day by those who waited to do so did not look like fun. Parking is super limited at the reservoir in general and even less available during race day so you can only imagine how long of a hike those poor souls had to make that morning. As luck would have it though, my brother and I got to rack our blue beauties right across the the aisle from each other!!

Ben and I - ready to make some magic!

                             

Bikes dropped we decided to drive a little bit of the course just to see how it compared to the elevation map that I had been obsessing over. Except for a few long hills the course looked pretty tame - I was convinced that time and pace would be close to what I've been maintaining in training. That was before I remembered to factor in the wind...oh you crazy, high plains desert-like wind..........

Needless to say, this day was full of running around...so much so that I was pretty exhausted by the time I was finally able to crawl into bed. **TIP - do not wear flip-flops during the days leading up to your long distance event. With over 10 hours of walking around to do this day, I fully regretted not wearing a good pair of running shoes. Lesson learned!**

Back at the house with a full stomach of delicious spaghetti dinner in my belly later, it was time to pack my transition bags. Because of the multiple course locations, this was a "clean" race, meaning all gear for each transition must be able to fit into the bags they provided during check in. Not the typical set up with everything laid out before hand. Nothing left on the ground before or after transition. I think I actually prefer doing it this way. Made for a heck of a lot more room to change gear in and you didn't have to worry about another racer's junk splayed all over your area.

624 is all packed up and ready to go!

10pm and  it was lights out for this gal!


Saturday, June 6 **Race Day**

I slept fairly decently the night before, and with a noon start there was no getting up at 4am for once. I set my alarm for 7am but naturally woke up before then. As part of my race day nutrition plan I knew I needed to get in a regular breakfast but the stomach just would not cooperate. Normally I don't have issues eating on race morning but I did have a bit of trouble this day. Still managed to get down at least half a peanut butter bagel (my go-go), half a banana and a nice large cup of coffee. I brought a PowerBar with me and planned to take that down about an hour before start time. Thankfully my stomach had settled by then and I was able to eat the whole thing.

Nervous but happy racers!

So, everyone out of the house we made our way downtown. Found the perfect parking spot, **TIP - get there early**, dropped off our T2 run bags and hopped on the first bus that would take us up to the reservoir. Very thankful to Boise for providing these buses free of charge, not only the athletes, but our families and spectators as well. A quick 20 minute ride and we were there - Ironman Boise 70.3!!

Holy.crap. The place was housed!!

With a noon start you are bound to get to the venue quite a bit early and given the time of day, will be sitting in the sun for a few hours. We had no idea what to expect and definitely learned a few lessons. **Tips #1. Bring an umbrella! Nice for your support crew but even better for you, the racer. Sitting out in the hot sun for 2 hours before your start can be a bit energy draining. Try to shade yourself as much as possible. #2. Bring chairs for your support crew! As the bike course takes the road leading back down from the reservoir, your support crew will be stuck up there until the last biker is down from the hill. This can mean they are waiting around for another 2 hours after the start, just itching to get back on those buses and back down to T2. #3. Bring an extra pair of sunglasses - once transition closes you still have about 45 minutes before start time. Sun in your eyes for that amount of time is also an energy suck. #4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! 2 hours in the sun without taking in water and electrolytes can be very detrimental to your race. Starting out dehydrated is no bueno. Thankfully the volunteers had plenty of water available for everyone but no additional electrolytes, so bring your own. Do it folks - your cramp free swim will thank you.**


THE SWIM

My age group was set for Wave 7 and my brother's Wave 8. This gave us a great chance to view the Pros take off on the swim. Even little Apollo Ono......yes, he was there! Apollo is this year's Chocolate Milk sponsored athlete. And just like Hines Ward he is also training for Kona with Boise being his 70.3 prep race. Though I personally never got a close up, P and The Kid were apparently eye level to him coming out of the water - guess the poor guy was a bit disoriented and looked whipped. He had a great swim time though and overall a very fast race. Congrats to Apollo!

Anyway, back to my start - after a quick good luck to my bro and a round of hugs, I said good-bye to the fam and lined up on the boat ramp. I was ready. Given the amount of time I had already spent in the sun, the thought of that "cold" water sounded ah-mazing. 1 minute after the wave before us took off we were allowed to enter the water and swim over to the start. This was my first in water start and something that I prefer. As usual I decided to stay in the middle of the pack (though I should be starting up closer to the front) and tried my best to make some space. Ladies 35-39 were fired up! Lots of nervous looks but you could feel the energy bouncing around.

And GO!!!!!

I'm somewhere in this mess!

Almost immediately I had trouble with my goggles - the effers kept leaking!! The darn things have NEVER given me an issue!  Unfortunately the leak was big enough to where I couldn't possibly ignore the water, so I spent a good 300 meters swimming/stopping/fixing goggles/swimming - best guess I lost about 2 minutes messing with the dumb things. Errr...oh well, no panic, just correct the issue and get moving. Once I finally got them settled I was off once again. Honestly the swim, other than the goggle incident, was pretty uneventful. Given this was my first 70.3 I wasn't sure about pacing so I took it easy (a bit too easy) and focused mainly on keeping my hear rate down. I found a group of pink caps (my wave) that were keeping a good pace so I just stayed with them. The water was fairly choppy but the bouy set up was awesome allowing for super easy sighting. About half way in I started to pass up the swimmers from earlier waves - although this is a great motivator, usually these folks are a little weaker in this portion of the race so it can get a bit hectic trying to wade through the flailing arms and legs.

It stayed like that through the last half of the swim but by the time the boat ramp came into view I was honestly sad to have it over! I could have easily done another loop without issue......such is the life of a swimmer. Now it was time to fret about that darn bike....and the wind! Out of the water I made my way up the boat ramp - usually I run all the way through to transition but knew that anything but an uphill walk would irritate my calf and decided to take it easy.  P and the fam were right there cheering me along the whole way....

It's soooo bright out here!!

Total Swim Time -  00:36:51
Age Group - 13
Gender - 67
Overall - 278

**Like I said, wasn't pushing myself and could have gone sooo much faster**


T- 1

Can I get a shout out for the WETSUIT STRIPPAS!!!! That was awesome. Lay down, stick your feet in the air and swoosh - that sucker is off! It's normally pretty easy to take my suit off but I just had to experience this. :)

In addition to the stripping, T1 had another "interesting" moment. I knew that I was going to take a few extra minutes in order to put my compression socks on properly (which is not an easy task to do with wet skin, mind you) but had no idea how much I was going to need to pee! Holy cow I must have swallowed the whole dang lake. In the heat of the moment I dried myself off, stuck the towel in between my legs and just went....and went.....and went. Sorry, TMI, I know but it was crazy! Never once did it occur to me that perhaps a quick trip to the port-a-potty might be in order. Nope - "What's the fastest, most efficient way to do this?" I thought....hey, it kept me from having to worry about how to go on the bike, so there's no shame in my game! :)

Total T1 Time - 00:07:12



Part 2 of 2 - The Bike, Run and Finish ...........to be continued........