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Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Monday, October 29, 2012
PPD Beach2Battleship Half 2012
Pre Race:
Drove down to Wilmington Convention Center on Friday morning and got checked in to the race around 11:15. We attended the first "mandatory" athlete meeting at 12, checked in T2 bags, then grabbed Jason's Deli for lunch. I had forgotten how much I like that place - my sandwich was delicious! After lunch, the group went separate ways to quickly cover all the food related errands we had and then checked our bikes at T1 in Wrightsville Beach. All the pre-event gear check was quick and painless! It helps that we know the area and that Jonathan did this event (the full) last year. We got to the house and relaxed a bit while we waited for the rest of our party to join us. Pasta with Jen's homemade tomato sauce, garlic bread, and water made for a good dinner.
Sleep:
Or lack thereof? We went to bed probably around 9:30 for a 5am wake up call. Unfortunately my wake up call came at 2am courtesy of nerves. I dozed off and on for the next 3 hours. Ugh!
Race Morning:
Got up, had a Cinnamon Crunch bagel and water before heading to transition to drop off the T1 bag, check the bike tires, etc. Race morning breakfast is never easy for me to get down, but I got it done. I came back and taped up my ankles and a slightly bothersome right knee and ate a banana while we watched the full distance athletes swim by the house. Swim suit and wetsuit were on about 8am and we made our way to the half start, which was only about 25ish yards from our front door!
Swim:
I tend to get a little overwhelmed right before I start, but once I'm in the water, I feel a little better. I got in the water about 10 minutes before my wave went off and the water was a warm 72 degrees. I'm not sure why, but I lined up at the back of the pack here, which was not the right place for me. I would've liked to have been a bit more forward and to the outside, but placement wasn't as easy as it may sound here because of the current. There was a strong current, but I personally didn't really feel it that much. I never swallowed any salt water, but some did get in my mouth (ew). My right shoulder was nagging a bit, as it does in a wetsuit, but I still should have had a better swim than I did. Maybe fresh water swims are more for me, though I did drop about 9 minutes off my time from White Lake Half.
T1:
Long run, so I stashed my flip flops just off the dock of the swim finish so I wouldn't step on anything barefoot. The heated rinse off showers were great! I fully changed clothes, which is not easy on a semi-wet body, but I wanted to be comfortable for the bike. I somehow gained time on this from my last race, whiff.
Bike:
I started drinking Infinit as soon as I could, which was good. I ate a stinger waffle at mile 10 and mile 30 and only drank one of my two bottle of Infinit plus a bit of water. I really should've tried harder to finish both bottles and get one more stinger waffle down, but I think my saddle discomfort got me off my nutrition and hammering rhythm. The headwinds were fierce, but finally disappeared for the last 10-15 miles, so I actually felt like I was getting somewhere with the effort I was inputting. That's a win AND I dropped 10 minutes from my previous bike time. Not nearly as much as I was hoping for, but I can at least see and feel an improvement when I'm not up against the wind.
T2:
Had a great welcome crew as I rode in to the chute :) I dismounted and tried to jog up through transition, but the balls of my feet weren't liking that too much with the cleats right under them. T2 was inside the convention center, and it was awesome! I grabbed my bike to run bag and went into the changing tent. Sat down in a chair to change clothes, shoes, etc., then decided to pee and fill my water bottle. Long T2 time, gotta work on that.
Run:
I am always so damn happy to be off that bike that I feel great when I get to the run. I ran probably most of the first 5 or 6 miles, then started to feel a little dehydrated with possible GI questions, so I walked off an on for a couple miles so that I could eat some pretzel rods (aka lick the salt off of them and then eat them) and a few M&M cookies. Those both made me feel a lot better than the chews I brought with me, which were giving me a weird bubbly/indigestion feeling, so I went with it. Mile 6-9 were probably the hardest, maybe because I fell behind on nutrition a bit? Not sure. I think I may start the run out with a low concentrate bottle of Infinit next time and then transition to water and food. By the run, I am wanting regular food instead of race food (gels, chews, stinger waffles, etc.), so I'm happy with getting snacks at aid stations. I did have one very fit gentleman from San Diego doing the full who saw me stop for a walk break at the top of a slight hill encourage me to run down the hill, which was nice of him. I kept going after that and got to make the right hand turn to run it on home! Felt pretty decent for the next couple of miles though I did do some walking. Once that mile 12 marker came around, I ran it on in. Saw our HUGE cheering crowd, well, they saw me (in my "Rainbow Brite" gear) and they called me in to the announcer, who called me and my array of colors across the finish line. I felt great and dropped 27 minutes off of my run time from the last Half Iron!
Post Race:
A box of medals was lost, so they'll have to mail my medal to me. Womp womp. Jonathan and I found each other as soon as I was out of the finish area and then went to join our friends who had taken over a Mexican restaurant about 200 yards before the finish line. It was the perfect spot to enjoy the rest of the race day! After a bit, I went back to grab some athlete food (pizza, doritos, and an oreo) and then rinsed my face off with water (so needed!). A friend of ours also got me a chocolate & peanut butter cupcake that was amazingggg. I'll be adding that to my post-race repertoire of food for the future :).
Overall, I'm pleased with this race and am already planning on doing it again next year so that I can drop at least 40 more minutes off my time (I decided that on the Monday after the race to ease my post-race blues, haha). I have a good feeling of accomplishment over the distance, now I just want to have that same feeling of accomplishment for my time. I've come a long way in just two and a half years of triathlon and am really starting to feel improvements.
Next race on tap? Ironman Texas in May!! Yep, the full 140.6... and nope, no off-season for this girl! :)
Drove down to Wilmington Convention Center on Friday morning and got checked in to the race around 11:15. We attended the first "mandatory" athlete meeting at 12, checked in T2 bags, then grabbed Jason's Deli for lunch. I had forgotten how much I like that place - my sandwich was delicious! After lunch, the group went separate ways to quickly cover all the food related errands we had and then checked our bikes at T1 in Wrightsville Beach. All the pre-event gear check was quick and painless! It helps that we know the area and that Jonathan did this event (the full) last year. We got to the house and relaxed a bit while we waited for the rest of our party to join us. Pasta with Jen's homemade tomato sauce, garlic bread, and water made for a good dinner.
Sleep:
Or lack thereof? We went to bed probably around 9:30 for a 5am wake up call. Unfortunately my wake up call came at 2am courtesy of nerves. I dozed off and on for the next 3 hours. Ugh!
Race Morning:
Got up, had a Cinnamon Crunch bagel and water before heading to transition to drop off the T1 bag, check the bike tires, etc. Race morning breakfast is never easy for me to get down, but I got it done. I came back and taped up my ankles and a slightly bothersome right knee and ate a banana while we watched the full distance athletes swim by the house. Swim suit and wetsuit were on about 8am and we made our way to the half start, which was only about 25ish yards from our front door!
Swim:
I tend to get a little overwhelmed right before I start, but once I'm in the water, I feel a little better. I got in the water about 10 minutes before my wave went off and the water was a warm 72 degrees. I'm not sure why, but I lined up at the back of the pack here, which was not the right place for me. I would've liked to have been a bit more forward and to the outside, but placement wasn't as easy as it may sound here because of the current. There was a strong current, but I personally didn't really feel it that much. I never swallowed any salt water, but some did get in my mouth (ew). My right shoulder was nagging a bit, as it does in a wetsuit, but I still should have had a better swim than I did. Maybe fresh water swims are more for me, though I did drop about 9 minutes off my time from White Lake Half.
T1:
Long run, so I stashed my flip flops just off the dock of the swim finish so I wouldn't step on anything barefoot. The heated rinse off showers were great! I fully changed clothes, which is not easy on a semi-wet body, but I wanted to be comfortable for the bike. I somehow gained time on this from my last race, whiff.
Bike:
I started drinking Infinit as soon as I could, which was good. I ate a stinger waffle at mile 10 and mile 30 and only drank one of my two bottle of Infinit plus a bit of water. I really should've tried harder to finish both bottles and get one more stinger waffle down, but I think my saddle discomfort got me off my nutrition and hammering rhythm. The headwinds were fierce, but finally disappeared for the last 10-15 miles, so I actually felt like I was getting somewhere with the effort I was inputting. That's a win AND I dropped 10 minutes from my previous bike time. Not nearly as much as I was hoping for, but I can at least see and feel an improvement when I'm not up against the wind.
T2:
Had a great welcome crew as I rode in to the chute :) I dismounted and tried to jog up through transition, but the balls of my feet weren't liking that too much with the cleats right under them. T2 was inside the convention center, and it was awesome! I grabbed my bike to run bag and went into the changing tent. Sat down in a chair to change clothes, shoes, etc., then decided to pee and fill my water bottle. Long T2 time, gotta work on that.
Run:
I am always so damn happy to be off that bike that I feel great when I get to the run. I ran probably most of the first 5 or 6 miles, then started to feel a little dehydrated with possible GI questions, so I walked off an on for a couple miles so that I could eat some pretzel rods (aka lick the salt off of them and then eat them) and a few M&M cookies. Those both made me feel a lot better than the chews I brought with me, which were giving me a weird bubbly/indigestion feeling, so I went with it. Mile 6-9 were probably the hardest, maybe because I fell behind on nutrition a bit? Not sure. I think I may start the run out with a low concentrate bottle of Infinit next time and then transition to water and food. By the run, I am wanting regular food instead of race food (gels, chews, stinger waffles, etc.), so I'm happy with getting snacks at aid stations. I did have one very fit gentleman from San Diego doing the full who saw me stop for a walk break at the top of a slight hill encourage me to run down the hill, which was nice of him. I kept going after that and got to make the right hand turn to run it on home! Felt pretty decent for the next couple of miles though I did do some walking. Once that mile 12 marker came around, I ran it on in. Saw our HUGE cheering crowd, well, they saw me (in my "Rainbow Brite" gear) and they called me in to the announcer, who called me and my array of colors across the finish line. I felt great and dropped 27 minutes off of my run time from the last Half Iron!
Post Race:
A box of medals was lost, so they'll have to mail my medal to me. Womp womp. Jonathan and I found each other as soon as I was out of the finish area and then went to join our friends who had taken over a Mexican restaurant about 200 yards before the finish line. It was the perfect spot to enjoy the rest of the race day! After a bit, I went back to grab some athlete food (pizza, doritos, and an oreo) and then rinsed my face off with water (so needed!). A friend of ours also got me a chocolate & peanut butter cupcake that was amazingggg. I'll be adding that to my post-race repertoire of food for the future :).
Overall, I'm pleased with this race and am already planning on doing it again next year so that I can drop at least 40 more minutes off my time (I decided that on the Monday after the race to ease my post-race blues, haha). I have a good feeling of accomplishment over the distance, now I just want to have that same feeling of accomplishment for my time. I've come a long way in just two and a half years of triathlon and am really starting to feel improvements.
Next race on tap? Ironman Texas in May!! Yep, the full 140.6... and nope, no off-season for this girl! :)
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
IMLou & B2B Goals
Ironman Louisville has come and gone! I am so proud of all of the athletes, especially the friends we were there with and, of course, my hus :). The course was a tough one, but they were all tougher than the course and finished well.
Here's the Full Circle video to recap the day:
Check me out; blurry in the foreground at the 5:30 mark :) And Scottie finishing right in front of Forrest Gump!
I spent a couple hours soaking in the finish line after I had seen Jonathan (and walked with him for a few) around the 14 mile marker. As expected, the finish area was loud, encouraging, exciting and makes me that much more focused on getting there in May. My incredible knack for eyeing a perfect spot and patiently working my way up to said spot is really something I should teach a class on. I ended up seeing all my people jump in for the swim start, got a great spot at the swim finish, moved over to the bike out, then came back for the bike in. I hopped around on the run course and saw everyone, then made my way to the finish line where I was the last person before the emcee tent at the finish arch. Like a boss.
Spectating a race is so inspiring. I am more than ready (mentally) for Beach2Battleship in 46 days. I've got my goals nailed down; nutrition came via FedEx this morning; training is going well. I've been biking a good bit more for this race than for White Lake, so I look forward to seeing how I've improved. Nutrition was also a big hang up at White Lake (in terms of lack of energy), so I'm eager to dial that in for my body in the next 6 weeks.
"A" Goal: Under 7:00:00 (Busting the barrier)
"B" Goal: 7:17:00 (Dropping an hour from last time, now that I know what I'm up against)
"C" Goal: Better than the last half (Just PR)
Per Jonathan's strong suggestion and recommendation, I'll take about a month off after B2B and then begin training for Texas. I really don't want to mentally burn out or get injured, so that's the plan. Five and a half months of full-on training. Can't we have daylight savings time year round just this once??
Here's the Full Circle video to recap the day:
I spent a couple hours soaking in the finish line after I had seen Jonathan (and walked with him for a few) around the 14 mile marker. As expected, the finish area was loud, encouraging, exciting and makes me that much more focused on getting there in May. My incredible knack for eyeing a perfect spot and patiently working my way up to said spot is really something I should teach a class on. I ended up seeing all my people jump in for the swim start, got a great spot at the swim finish, moved over to the bike out, then came back for the bike in. I hopped around on the run course and saw everyone, then made my way to the finish line where I was the last person before the emcee tent at the finish arch. Like a boss.
Spectating a race is so inspiring. I am more than ready (mentally) for Beach2Battleship in 46 days. I've got my goals nailed down; nutrition came via FedEx this morning; training is going well. I've been biking a good bit more for this race than for White Lake, so I look forward to seeing how I've improved. Nutrition was also a big hang up at White Lake (in terms of lack of energy), so I'm eager to dial that in for my body in the next 6 weeks.
"A" Goal: Under 7:00:00 (Busting the barrier)
"B" Goal: 7:17:00 (Dropping an hour from last time, now that I know what I'm up against)
"C" Goal: Better than the last half (Just PR)
Per Jonathan's strong suggestion and recommendation, I'll take about a month off after B2B and then begin training for Texas. I really don't want to mentally burn out or get injured, so that's the plan. Five and a half months of full-on training. Can't we have daylight savings time year round just this once??
Friday, July 13, 2012
Ironman Texas 2013
"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. It's the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells 'CAN'T', but you don't listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper 'can'. And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are."
- Unknown
I am officially registered for Ironman Texas! A full Ironman - 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run - all of it, done by me. For a good part of the next 10 months, I will be physically and mentally preparing myself. I'm sure I'll be even more excited after traveling to Ironman Louisville at the end of August and hanging out at the finish line for several hours (Lord knows I want to see the 'magic hour' of 11 to midnight!). I can't wait to see amazing things there and then to turn around and have my own Ironman journey.
When I think too much about the actual event, I get very nervous for the chaos of the swim. It makes no sense as I've been a swimmer my entire life. I'm a strong swimmer. I've also never run a marathon. You'd think I might have some nerves related to that? No, not really. And I'm not yet an incredibly strong biker. But, I will get there and I will remember this about the start:
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
- Frank Herbert, Dune (a fellow October 8th birthday friend!)
Jonathan sent me that quote the day of sign-ups and I love it.
I am so, so excited for this. The journey will be intense and tiring and rewarding and on May 18, 2013 I will become an IRONMAN with my husband by my side.
- Unknown
I am officially registered for Ironman Texas! A full Ironman - 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run - all of it, done by me. For a good part of the next 10 months, I will be physically and mentally preparing myself. I'm sure I'll be even more excited after traveling to Ironman Louisville at the end of August and hanging out at the finish line for several hours (Lord knows I want to see the 'magic hour' of 11 to midnight!). I can't wait to see amazing things there and then to turn around and have my own Ironman journey.
When I think too much about the actual event, I get very nervous for the chaos of the swim. It makes no sense as I've been a swimmer my entire life. I'm a strong swimmer. I've also never run a marathon. You'd think I might have some nerves related to that? No, not really. And I'm not yet an incredibly strong biker. But, I will get there and I will remember this about the start:
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
- Frank Herbert, Dune (a fellow October 8th birthday friend!)
Jonathan sent me that quote the day of sign-ups and I love it.
I am so, so excited for this. The journey will be intense and tiring and rewarding and on May 18, 2013 I will become an IRONMAN with my husband by my side.
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