Issaquah Sprint Triathlon - 2015

Ok, guess it’s time for a race report ;) (as totally dorky as it sounds), because guess what!  Tri season is officially underway again!!!!

 

A sprint is a lot different than what I’m really training for.  It’s literally the distances of my warm-ups these day.  This one in particular was a ¼ mile swim (440 yards, if you’re like me and have no sense of swimming in miles), 14 mile bike (although everyone seems to have recorded closer to 15 miles; my garmin said 14.9), and a 5k run.  So yeah, literally my normal warm-ups!

 

At the risk of sounding totally full of myself, I’ll get this out of the way now: I have won my age group in every single triathlon I have ever done, with the exception of AG National Championships (and an xterra but that doesn’t feel like it counts because of the whole mountain biking and trail running part).  I don’t say that to brag; I kind of can’t wait to not get 1^st AG, because then the pressure is off.  Not that I really feel pressure, in the sense that I’m trying to keep the streak alive, but pressure knowing that there is a streak in the first place.  So much of it really has to do with who else shows up at the race, so it’s kind of a silly thing to even worry about.  But, going into it, I knew that there was a very, very good chance that I would not place first.  It was kind of a relief, but still, you’re never really looking forward to not being on top ;)  But this race was for fun.  This was race just for me to do something with the word “triathlon” before CDA.  This race was to feel things out, test my kit in a race, and remember how to pack for these things :) And, again, it’s totally different than an ironman (especially the run, knowing I will NOT be running all-out haha).

 

ANYWAY!  Enough prefaces.  Just putting that out there.

 

Katie was doing this as her first triathlon, which was super exciting!  I think I was just as excited for her as she was (if not more).  We picked her up and headed over, with the intention of getting there about 1:15 early, and just 0:15 after transition opened.  Well after all was said and done (and after making the long walk from the parking lot to transition) it was even later, and there were plenty of people already there in transition...but they did at least have the racks sorted by number so we both got spots on our racks just one bike in, which is better than nothing (note: when I went back right before transition closed, to grab my wetsuit, some guy that had JUST shown up was there, with his whole family, including his dog, and shoved ALL the bikes over so that he could have the end spot.  So I guess my bike was 3^rd.  Oh, and someone’s helmet had fallen off their bike and was on top of my stuff, and the bikes were all askew, and my bars were tangled.  You know, no big.  Show up 10 minutes before the race, and just shove stuff over.  Grrrrrrrrrrr).

 

Anyway, after getting set up and helping Katie make sure she was set up too, we made a few bathroom stops, looked at the lake, I stuck my toe in and realized the water was SUPER warm (seriously, what is it with the weather this year?  I am NOT complaining, but the water was seriously warmer than the air), etc etc etc…. I started the wetsuit struggle.  I hate getting into my wetsuit.  It’s so awkward.  I’m so slow.  It’s a workout in itself.  And it REALLY stresses me out.  I get so, so, SO flustered getting my wetsuit on, which I guess is why I need to do it with TONS of time to spare (which I was doing).  After a few minutes of whining and getting antsy and freaking out about it, I was good to go.  By this time, Mel had showed up (and Mac had showed up earlier, too) so we had a good little group of support, which was AWESOME!  :)

 

Unfortunately, the race was delayed I think 20 minutes; something about getting all the police officers situated on the bike course.  Tick, tock… I wanted to be done with the swim by now, not standing around waiting…. But at least I had my little crew around to hang out with, and pass the time with photos of course!

 

Anyway, finally it was time to go.  Luckily, we were in the third wave—first was the “elite” group (self-appointed; I honestly could have been in the group based on expected times, but I would have been wayyyy behind in the swim and didn’t want to swim with them haha also, talk about pressure to perform!), but that group was pretty small.  Then I think it was a small group of men.  Then us!  They actually combined a few age groups since they were small, so it ended up being I think Women 34 and under.  Anyway, it was still a pretty small group, maybe 20-30?  Actually I have no idea.  But it didn't feel like a ton.  A few last hugs and good lucks to Katie, and we trudged in the water….and…go!

 

Ok, so.  Swimming.  I had really hoped it would be fine.  I mean it was a 440 yard swim for goodness sake, I KNOW I can swim that no problem, I KNOW I can even push it hard for that long.  I’ve done it a million times.  But suddenly there were people, and even with a small group there was some jostling…  Honestly, nothing bad at all, I got clawed a few times but whatever, it wasn't awful...but suddenly I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t get a full breath, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything!  I felt like my wetsuit and everything was just closing up.  After a lot of gasping and trying really, really hard to get my breathing controlled (I kept trying to force myself to put my head in and breathe, and hold it, and force myself to get back to my regular patter, but I could NOT), I kind of just stopped and treaded water for a minute.  I just could not figure it out.  I got moving again, and it never really got better, I  kept having to breathe every stroke which I never, ever have to do, but I just felt like I couldn’t breathe without doing that….it felt like forever.  I was 100 yards in and thinking “how in the world can I do this for 2.4 miles, if I can’t even handle a quarter mile!  With like, hardly any people!  This is nothing!  There is no way I can do an ironman.  No way.”  I still feel that way but…..whatever.

 

Anyway, I finally made it.  I felt the awful the whole to and was panicking, but I started swimming through some tall grass and finally realized it was about knee-high water, and I got the heck out of there!  I always make awful faces at Allen (and Mac and Mel, this time.  Oh, and my coach was there too, I’m sure he appreciated seeing just how thrilled I was).  I think I yelled something about “yeah, finally, that’s enough of that!!” back to them, as I focused on getting the wetsuit off (and over my garmin)..which is when I hit the button to start my transition time, and realized I did the swim in 7-something minutes?!  I was sitting there thinking I should be able to hit 8 minutes as long as I swam strong.  After feeling so awful and dying and stopping, I was convinced I took wayyyyy longer.  So, I guess that was good.  Maybe I was just going wayyyy to hard at the beginning, even though I was trying not to?  (I also later realized I forgot to use my inhaler, which I always do before swimming in open water.  Otherwise, I can't breathe and start panicking.  Hmm, coincidence?)

 

Transition was fine.  I felt like I was in and out quickly, but I had one of the slower transition times, at like 1:30 or something.  Oh well.  And I didn’t even have to sit down to put my shoes on! I think that’s a first ;)

 

I ran out, and hopped on the bike—and it made a noise.  What the heck is that?!  It sounded like the rear wheel or brakes or something, I kept looking down and trying to tell what it was.  Finally I tried messing with the paper number on the top tube and it stopped, so I decided it must have been something with that, and off I went!  Whew, crisis averted.  I had a few seconds of serious panic, thinking my bike had a problem.

 

Luckily, I’ve essentially ridden the course a billion times (slight exaggeration).  I know that road like the back of my hand, except the mile or two getting to the main road (weaving through the park, etc).  So that part was a little annoying, and also very lonely because I didn’t see ANY bikes and just seemed weird, like was I in the right place?  But soon enough I was on east lake samm and in the thick of things.  I kept checking people’s age, trying to figure out where I was, but never really saw any girls in my age group—passed a couple, but I was expecting to pass more.  There were a lot of other people that must have been doing the relay, or something?  So I did pass a ton of people, just was expecting to see more in my Age Group.  Not really sure.  I think I got passed only 2 or 3 times, and they were all super speedy guys so I’m not too worried ;)

 

Anyway, I wasn’t entirely sure where the turn-around was (thought it was at a certain intersection but also thought that was a little far, so was kind of waiting for it…) and was just heading up the slight incline towards Inglewood (which I knew had to be the turn-around)…downshifted and…my chain fell off.  Dangit!!!  Quickly pulled over (after someone said something to me about it, like no duh, I know that it fell off, it was pretty obvious when I tried to pedal) and the dumb thing was stuck!  It had wedged itself somehow and I couldn’t get it unstuck.  In hindsight, this was nothing compared to happen the next day :) but at the time it was super frustrating.  I felt like I was there forever, but honestly it was probably just a minute or maybe two minutes.  Finally I took a chance and just YANKED on the thing, and ta-da!  It was free.  Got it on easily after that, looked down at my hands and realized it was COVERED in grease.  Yes, I know, I need to clean my chain more.  I just did! Apparently not enough.  My  hands were BLACK.  Aside from just being gross and not wanting to get my bars super dirty, they were all slick and slimy so I knew I had to get some off.  Of course, there wasn’t really any leaves or grass next to me to wipe them off on, and my kit was mostly blue and I didn’t want to turn in black, so…I wiped my hands all over my quads.  I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do!  My hands were still dirty but at least it wasn’t such a thick layer, so I hopped on my bike (and said sorry to my pretty blue bar tape that was about to turn grey), and off I went!

 

Side note, I was happy at how many people asked if I was ok while I was dealing with everything.  I guess they could have just called for help at the turn-around (which ended up being like, 100 feet away), but it was still very nice for them to offer, even though I was totally fine.

 

It was frustrating, having to slowly catch back up and re-pass people.  But I did it, and now that I was on the return trip, I really could pedal it hard; I feel like there is more downhill on the way back, especially coasting back to the park, so I hammered it as hard as I could!  Plus, that's only 7 miles to go, so who cares how hard you go!  I also saw Katie heading out on my way back on, and we waved ecstatically and yelled across the street at each other and everyone around us thought we were nuts.  :) But that’s ok!  So fun seeing friends on course!!

I also kept having to wipe my nose but didn't want to with greasy hands.  I tried to be careful but I think I still got it on my face.  So, I had black legs and a dirty face.  I'm sure I was a sight to behold...

 

I did get kind of stuck behind a couple people in the narrow lanes back to the park, but got around them reasonably quickly.  I was disappointed to miss my 40:00 goal but I knew that with the chain issue, I could probably subtract two minutes (ok that might be generous) and be close, so..whatever.  I also reminded myself this is not really a big deal ;)

 

I got back to transition, dismounted, and Mac, Mel and Allen were all there cheering!  So much fun.  I think I yelled to Mac something about my chain so she would know why I took so long (haha, yes that was my biggest concern) and then Allen saw me and was all worried asking what happened, thinking I had crashed.  “My chain came off, I’m fine!!” I yelled, and ran in to rack my bike.

 

Luckily, my T2 was pretty blazing quick.  Throw bike on rack, throw off helmet, sit down, rip off shoes, put on socks then put on shoes, grab race belt, get up, run out and get belt clipped on somewhere along the way.  I saw my coach and his team right at the run out, and they all cheered and yelled for me, I think he said something about “what happened!?” and laughed at my legs all black from the grease, and again I had to yell something back about my chain so that people would quit thinking I was that slow on the bike ;)

 

I got confused running out, they had a couple other courses set up and I kinda started going the wrong way, but was quickly led back on track by the volunteers.  As per usual, I was flying.  I looked down and my garmin said 5:15.  I know it was still getting itself calibrated, I think it ended up saying my fastest was like 5:25, but still, I realized I was running WAYYYY too hard.  I tried to slow it down and get it under control, and rounded the last corner past spectators (more cheers from the crew, and Mac telling me to go kill it), and was onto the trails.

 

Let me be clear: when they describe the run course as “cross-country-like trails,” I was thinking more of watershed trails.  Or hiking trails.  Or something resembling a "trail," preferably with dirt.  This was just spaces in the grass and trees that had slightly shorter grass so you could kind of tell where to go.  It was HARD to run in!!!!  Soon I didn’t have to worry about slowing myself down, because this was hard and it sucked and why am I running soooooo slow!!  Pick it up, Kelley!!   I was supposed to be running a 7:00 pace, but I was 7:30 and creeping up.  I know part of it was not being fully rested, training, etc etc…but a BIG part of it was the course, I am positive about that.  It was super uneven and I didn’t want to trip and twist my ankle and get hurt (how stupid would that be), so I ran as hard and fast as I could but knew it would be slower than I wanted.  It also just felt hard.  I think I hit mile 1, and realized I still had 2.1 miles to go and I was not happy.  Usually I love the run, it’s my favorite when I’m racing, but I just wanted this to be done.

 

It was also a really weird course, with one tiny little loop, then one long out and back, then halfway on the “back” it had one more little out and back.  So you had no idea where you were, or where anyone else was, and you could miss people, too (I never saw Katie, she must have been on one of the loops or out and backs while I was in another one).  After the first little loop you ran back near the transition area, so Mac was standing there at the side and yelled at me “COME ON, PUSH IT ROSANNE, she’s right in front of you, you can go harder than that!!”  hahahaha of course.  She knows  she's one of the few people that can give me crap and tell me to go harder, even though I’m already running has hard as I can; I kinda of laughed at that.  Can’t wait to yell at her in her race this weekend and tell HER to go faster!  ;)

 

Oh, and it was also really narrow!  Even running single file was pretty tight in some spots, since you had people running in both directions, so it was hard to pass if there was oncoming traffic (also hard because you didn’t know if you were going to accelerate into a ditch).

 

Ok, enough complaining.  But I didn’t like the run course :P

 

Anyway, finally I knew I was really, really close, and the volunteers directed me out of the trails area and back to the main area.  One last stretch before rounding the corner to the finish line, saw Mac again taking pictures and yelling at me to hurry up, and went as strong as I could to the line.  This time I also tried to make sure I wasn’t staring at my watch the whole time, which I have a habit of doing!  Happily finished, stopped and got my chip taken off, got a medal and some water etc, and wandered around to find my crew!

 

Overall, it was a great race, even though I was whining in my head about it a lot.  Also really short!!  It felt so weird to already be done!  My garmin said 1:17-something, although I wasn't sure if it had auto-paused on the bike when it stopped (I think it did, I heard it beep but didn't know if it paused the total elapsed time).  Anyway, we hovered and waited for Katie to finish, and Shawn came over to find me too.  I think his first words were “come on, I think you could have been a little faster….” Haha, thanks coach!  Anyway, he was happy for me, and then he instructed me to take it easy the rest of the day (and eat, which I gladly agreed to do) and just ride easy on my long bike the next day.  Perfect!   Then Katie finished so we cheered her, then found her at the finish line.  I think the first thing she said was that it sucked, and she was never doing another triathlon again, but my the car ride home she was already talking about "well maybe one with a better run course..." etc etc.  ;)

 

All in all, a good day.  I realized later that I still won my age group (although was a little unsure because the results they had printed were kind of confusing), but we had a very busy day ahead of us (Duthie and Katie’s graduation!) so I wasn’t about to wait around another 2 hours for awards.  Once the results were officially posted online, it was confirmed, but oh well!  I guess I’ll have to experience my not-1^st-in-AG some other time.  That sounds super cocky, but it’s not meant to me.  I raced it hard and gave it what I had, but I was obviously not 100% in it and not super invested, and I really wasn't expecting it especially after having to stop on the bike; mostly, I was really happy to have a successful, fun race, and remind myself what an actual triathlon is like!!  Now it’s time to carry that momentum to CDA.

 

Because, you know….18 days.  Gulp.

Official times:

Swim 00:07:49

T1 00:01:31

Bike 00:44:19

T2 00:00:57

Run 00:23:29

Total 01:18:04

Bikes and Nutrition

25 days to go.  Less than 4 weeks.  I can officially say the what-am-I-doing-ahhhhhh phase is underway.

 

It’s not that I’m particularly scared, or anxious, or happy or sad or excited or anything.  It’s more an overwhelming “this is happening” feeling and a lot of short tempers and anxiety and obsessing and nervous excitement.  After some drama earlier in the week, I might be more or less worried, I'm not sure…but regardless, it’s certainly the #1 thing on my brain (even if it’s just running in the background).  I don’t know how to explain it.  It’s just there.

 

After a pretty standard week, I did a 5.5 hour ride with my coach.  This was great, because 1) I think I’m actually stressing out the most about the bike, so it feels like I need to be riding more, so it was "good" even though it wasn't, and 2) my coach got to actually see me ride.  It was an easy ride, a few hills, a few efforts, but nothing intense, just rolling saddle time.  I was kinda beat by the end (actually, by about 2 hours in) which I’m glad my coach saw, since that’s my biggest concern.  I keep totally losing my energy on the bike, and while part of it is probably nutrition-related (while riding), it kind of feels like “more.”  He seems to agree, saying he isn’t worried about me at all but could tell I was feeling kind of flat.  He thought it was probably just lactic build-up, for one, and told me to do a few more spinning-out drills throughout the week to keep my legs feeling more fresh.  More importantly, he mentioned nutrition…but of the “normal food” variety.  As in, I just really don’t eat enough carbs in general.

 

To be clear, I eat tons of carbs.  I certainly do not try to restrict them!  But especially before big training days, I focus on foods with protein, and foods that will go easy on my stomach.  Actually in general that’s mostly what I focus on, and truthfully I end up with lots of veggies and chicken.  Which is great!  And I do eat a good amount of carbs.  But, I think he has a point—and for everything I’m doing, I really don’t think I’m replenishing the stores enough.  So, I am definitely going to try to up the carbs a bit—not a ton, not gorging myself on pasta every day :) But, I will be more mindful of making sure I’m keeping those levels up, too.  Just topping off the reserves.  Hopefully that, plus forcing myself to eat even more (Mac suggested supplementing with almond butter, which I think will be a good thing to try, since I seem to just feel HUNGRY after a while and need something more “substantial” to digest besides the EFS which I’m trying now—more on that later) will help.

 

The next day, I was..tired.  Sore.  Etc.  I know I need it, though.  Shawn said I could either do my brick or run, so I chose to do my brick—longer, but I just did not feel like doing a tough run (plus Allen was gone at training so I had more time to do stuff).

 

Barely 90 minutes in, and I was feeling pretty done, even though I was really just spinning super easy.  I know that’s not a lack of fitness, I know my legs are stronger than that, which just makes me believe it may have more to do with outside-of-training nutrition, than anything else.  I found myself making excuses and thinking of how to take it even easier, and no hills, etc etc…and then told myself that if I was thinking that, then it absolutely meant I NEEDED to do a hill!  Toughen up, Rosanne!  So I did the long roundabout hill.  Stupid thing is long, not super steep, I think it’s around 8% average?  Just feels like forever.  So I spun my way up it, looped around Beaver Lake, and headed back.

 

So the EFS liquid shots I’m trying—only one trial so far, and even though I was zapped so soon, I think I like it.  I did get that hungry feeling (I also need to just eat more before starting, lets be honest), but I think adding in some almond butter too will help.  Overall, though: 1) still very sweet, but a different kind of sweet than gu.  Gu is kind of hard for me on the bike, that gooey sickly-sweet is just hard for me to swallow (literally).  The taste is totally fine for me on the run, and I’m not changing that routine at all, but on the bike, I preferred this taste, even though it was still very sweet.  2) thinner than gu.  Basically the same logic as point #1.  Having it in the little flask and just swallowing a couple mouthfuls was much easier than choking down the gu and trying to squeeze it out of the packets.  Plus, then i didn't have sticky hands which drives me NUTS on the bike.  The consistency also sat well in my stomach.  3) Most importantly, even though my overall energy fizzled, it still felt pretty…steady?  That is, there were no big ups and downs.  My blood sugar felt pretty well maintained, although it was definitely a downward trend ;)  But I had no big highs and lows, so I think it did regulate it better.

 

Anyway.  Bike remains my biggest concern, only because I’m worried about getting tired and not being able to run well (which I know I can).  The run is definitely my strength but I need to be able to get there to take advantage of it!  My speed is also a concern on the bike but honestly I just need to focus on feeling good the whole time and not tanking.  I’ve already kind of mentally braced myself for a slower bike time than I had originally hoped for…so weird that “my thing” (the bike) is actually not my thing when I’m racing haha.  Honestly as long as I can have a good, solid run, I’ll consider the bike a success.  :)

 

And on that note—finished my brick.  Only a 3 hour ride but I was honestly miserable by the end.  Food, legs, neck, stomach, everything...just wasn’t right.  I did not want to start running.  I was sure I would still be miserable.  But I got my shoes on, hit the road and—oh wait.  This isn’t that bad.  I was slower than usual, I didn’t have to slow myself down to  be at a more manageable pace, but I was right around where I’m hoping to run the last 26.2 so….  And I just overall felt better.  My stomach didn’t hurt any more, my neck was ok, I didn’t even feel hungry anymore (although if I were running more than 30 I would have for sure started stuffing gu down my throat, because I’m sure that was all an illusion).  It was hot out, and it kinda “sucked” but it was also “fine.”  I was more than happy to stop when my 30 minutes were up ;) but I also know I could have easily kept on going.  I can run when I have to.  I know that.  I confirmed that.  I’m a whole heck of a lot better at sucking it up and getting through a run, than I am a bike ride!

 

So that was good.

 

Until the next day, when I had to do my long run.

 

2:20 run.  3 mile warm up, 3 mile at “faster than ½ marathon pace”, 1 mile “a minute slower” then repeat that 3 times.  To Rosanne, that meant 3 mile intervals at ~7:15, with ~8:30 recovery.

 

I started running.  It was a struggle to run 9 minute miles.  It’s ok, I’m just warming up, you’re tired and just need to shake out your legs a bit.

 

Despite the fact that I only made it up to 8:30/mi during my 3-mile warmup, it was time to start the first interval.

 

I want to say I hit 7:15, even for a minute.  I really do.  And goodness knows I tried.  But I could not for the life of me hit it, even for a short time.  I managed to get to 7:30, and had ample time to freak out about not being able to run any faster, and then decided fine, I’ll just keep it here.  Except then I slowed down.  And down.  All told, I think the first 3-mile interval ended up hovering around 7:52/mi.

 

To be clear, I’m not scoffing at that.  But if I can run a half marathon at 7:20 or whatever, then why is it such a struggle to maintain 7:52 for three miles!  Oh geez, little did I know then…

 

Anyway, I happily slowed down for the next mile.  And grudgingly started the next 3-mile interval.  I think I kind of gave up on that 7:15 and thought fine, I guess my intervals will be at 7:50 and I’ll just have to deal with it.  I mean, at least sub-8:00/mi, right?   They’re just slow intervals.

 

That second interval crept up to around 8:00/mi.  Thank goodness there was only one more of these stupid intervals to go!  But wait—my 1-mile recovery is really slow.  Like 9+/mi.  that’s really slow, Rosanne.  Like, really slow.  You never run that slow—ever.  What is happening?

 

Last 3-mile interval.  Time to grit it out and just get it done.  Geez, I tried.  I wanted sooo badly to at least nail the overall theme of the workout, even though I was obviously way off the paces.  But honestly, it was so hard to just barely, barely hang on to an 8:30 pace.  I mean a real struggle.  I mean, I kind of stopped looking at my watch and mostly was just doing everything I could to Keep. Moving. Forward.  Because at that point, all I wanted to do was stop.  I mean, I wanted to stop throughout the entire run, but never so badly as during that last interval.  But I don’t stop, especially not in the middle of an interval!  So I had..to..keep..going.

 

Final interval came to end and, and THEN I stopped.  I realized I was at 1:55 which meant I still had to run for another 25 minutes.  I made the executive decision right then and there that would I stop running when I hit 2:20, even though I knew I wouldn’t be back to the start yet (since I was running SO much slower on the way back).  And then...I almost started crying.  Legit holding back tears.  I have never wanted to quit so badly on a run; I honestly don’t know if last year’s marathon was that painful, mentally.  At least that was a race, and my first marathon, and I was just going to finish that thing if it killed me.  But this was different.  This was when I realized that here I was, a week after the best, most effortless long run of my life, and now I couldn't hold any pace at all and I didn’t want to move one more step…and 25 minutes sounded like an eternity.  I really haven’t had to fight so hard just to keep running in a long, long time (if ever).

 

But I sucked it up, told myself the sooner I got going the sooner it would be over, and slowly, slowly, SLOWLY shuffled home.  Like 9:30.  Like usually I laugh and say I can’t even walk that slow.  And when my watch hit 2:20, you better believe I stopped.   And walked all the way back, even slower.  I don’t know how far it was, probably half a mile to a mile.  It was depressing.  But there was no way I was running any more.

 

So that’s the story of how Rosanne finally got broken on a run.  Somewhere out there, I did realize that I was running on 9.5+ hours of training in the last 48 hours, so maybe that had something to do with it ;)  I also knew that it was way more important for me to mentally get through that, than it was physically.  I wanted to be strong, I wanted to push and keep going…it was rough.  I better not stop like that on June 28, that’s all I can say…But I will also be more rested (well, going into the day) so here's holding on to hope.

 

Anyway, all things considered it was still a good weekend.  I ended the week at 17+ hours which is terrifying but good I guess????  I have another long ride this weekend to test out more nutrition stuff.  My coach (and everyone else) keeps reminding me that it was all a good thing, and will only make me stronger.  Shawn honestly doesn't seem concerned in the least, which is really comforting, but at the same time, I'm scared I'll let everyone down.  I mean, I know they’re all right, and the last couple peak weeks are meant to do this, and I trust my coach, but still…  :P  The feeling will pass.

 

In other news, this morning was a 5700yd swim.  Are we done with those yet?!  It felt awful and miserable and SLOW and demoralizing but hey, I guess these last couple of build weeks is all about mental toughness more than anything ;)

 

Despite how depressing this sounds, and how whiny I am, I still love it.  I am terrified, but also so, so pumped to see what happens later this month!!  :)

Keep going, Rosanne

I’m not sure why I haven’t written much; just keep on keeping on, I guess.

 

Training is fine.  I feel like its turned down a notch—or two, or three.  Or maybe I’m just getting used to it. Today I only had a 4000yd swim and will do some core work.  "Only."  But, no, I know the volume is down.  It’s hard not to be anxious about it..but I trust my coach.  That, and there’s literally no point it stressing about it.  The only thing is the bike—I am hardly biking at all these days, and I already knew I needed to work on that.

 

But, I’m trying to keep at it.  Trying not to compare my training to everyone else and seeing they have 18 hours and I have 12; trying not to worry about it.  Trying to just focus on what I’m supposed to do and block out the rest.  It’s mostly working.

 

And, I’ve seen evidence of it, if I’m being honest.  On Friday, I had a 3 hour run.  Yes, a run.  For three hours.  I’ve never run that long/far (consecutively) except for during the marathon I did last year.  Even training for that, I would split up my runs (2 hours in the morning, another hour at night, etc).  So I was intimidated, I was worried, I was straight-up not looking forward to it.  I knew it was mental training, I knew my coach gave me that run for a reason, and I knew I would do it..but I fully expected it to suck, to fall apart, to be a battle.

 

It was hands-down the best long run ever.

 

I was supposed to not run at race pace, so I let myself shoot for 8:45s.  Nice and easy.  I had a sip of water every 2 miles and a gu every 4 (trying to get the fueling schedule right!! and mile increments is better than time, since I intend to live off the course).  I kept waiting and waiting to feel worse.  I kept expecting it.  I kept having to slow myself down.  Especially the second half!  I would realize I was running 8:10 which is close to what I expect my IM race pace to be (or even a little faster than what I expect it to be).  I remember around mile 17 of the Vancouver marathon is when I started to realize I was getting tired.  Mile 17 came and went, and I still felt awesome, just the same as when I had started.  Just keep running!  I remember mile 20 of that marathon is when I hit the wall and was convinced I was done, and the last few miles were a miserable struggle.  But mile 20 came, right around 2:50, and…I still felt great!  I finished at just over 21 miles, and honestly wanted to keep running.  I felt like I could keep running forever.  Everything felt spot on.  Yes, I was tired, but nothing worse than..running.  For further consideration: the marathon took me about a month to recover from.  This time, I was pretty much fully recovered from the 21 mile run in about 48 hours (and nothing more than a little stiff and sore, and extra sleepy for a day).

 

So yes, it was a “slower” run, but it was easy.  I know I could have run it stronger.  And now I know I can run easy and not even have those mental battles.  I was so, so happy and proud of myself for that run—not necessarily because of the time or distance, but because everything was 100% spot on.  I could have drank a little more water, will probably increase to a sip every mile because I got thirsty at the very end, but the nutrition was finally, finally spot-on.  My stomach was able to handle it, I wasn’t overloading it with gu, but I stayed juuuuust ahead of any crashes and felt perfectly fueled and steady the entire time.  No ups and downs.  About time I got that right!

 

So, maybe my training  volume is down.  Maybe I’m not doing as many intense workouts as everyone else.  But if nothing else, that was quantitative proof that I have improved over last year ;)  So, maybe I need to chill out.  I’m happy with my running.  Really happy with it, actually, as long as I can actually run the same way off the bike.  I also survived my first open water swim of the season, with only mild panic attacks.  I know with a few more I’ll get used to it.  The swim will be stressful (understatement, I'm already freaking out), but I am confident I will survive, and therefore, I am happy with my swimming.

 

Worried about the bike.  Worried about nutrition on the bike.  Worried about wearing myself out on the bike.  I need to be on my bike more.  No, calm down, Rosanne!

 

We went downhill mountain biking on Memorial Day, too.  Which was amazing :)  Josh and Kyle are the best/worst influences, and I had so much fun chasing them around and, you know, riding the NW Cup DH course, no big deal.  I won’t be doing any more DH until after ironman (not risking getting hurt now that it's a month out), but it was a really, really fun way to spend the day off and I’m happy we went.  A nice change.  I love new things!

 

But now it’s a weekday again, and I’m a triathlete again.  Honestly, I know I’m getting burnt out.  Which is funny, considering I just spent the last million paragraphs talking about feeling like I'm not doing enough.  But I’m just...tired of it.  I love it!!  But I’m also tired of it.  I know this is totally expected; I remember my coach told me back in December, “about 1 month out, you’re going to start to hate me, and not feel like doing your workouts, and you’re going to be so sick of triathlon and be tired of it and just want to do something else.  But just do it.  You’ll be fine.  It’s a normal feeling, and it will all be worth it.”  So, I'm just going with it.  My coach says swim, I swim, even though I found myself daydreaming this morning (on the way to the pool) about July, when maybe I can just…not get up and not go swim!  And just…do nothing.  But of course, I will be doing something, because I can’t sit still.  So, who knows.  On the other hand, I couldn’t be more excited about CDA, so…I don’t know.  Keep on keeping on, I suppose.

Kirkland Mother's Day Half Marathon - 2015

Well, I did another half marathon.  I think I have finally lost count.  I mean, if I stop and think about it, I think this was #6.  Maybe #7, I feel like there was another one last year.  But anyway.  Not that that’s a ton, but it’s just funny for it to seem so normal now.  In fact, it hardly felt like I had a race coming up, it was just another long run that I guess I was going to have to wake up early to do.

 

Anyway!  It was in downtown Kirkland, which was nice—I love local events, so much easier!  We picked up Mac and Kyle on the way (Kyle decided to run it the day before, go figure), and drove to the start.  One unique thing was that this was actually a point-to-point race, which I guess is only the second time I’ve done one like that (the other being the Vancouver marathon last year).  So, Allen parked and hung out for us for a while (including in line for the porta-potties…seriously, who only puts TEN porta-potties at the start of a race?!?!) and then left to go park/meet us at the finish.

 

We did a quick little jog, I was wearing new shoes so I was obsessing over the lacing, we stood around and waited…then waited some more, because they acutally delayed the start a bit to try to let the porta-potty line get a little shorter.  It was pretty chill, a very nice, local feel, but a pretty big crowd actually.  The start was at Northwest University, so that was kind of neat—not in the middle of a city street, or anything.

 

Anyway, after a very quick count-down, we were off!  Oh shoot.  Time to start running…

 

I wasn’t really feeling like running.  I had planned for a long time to try to race this race, but I just didn’t feel like it.  I knew it would be tough.  I certainly didn’t taper, much less rest for it, and I even ran hard on my “easy” run the day before (Kyle and I are incapable of running together without egging each other on and running faster and faster.  Oops).  Needless to say, my legs were not exactly feeling the freshest they’ve ever felt.  Plus, I knew that I have not been training for that kind of running; I’ve been training to run far, and steady, and fast obviously but the focus is on sustainability.  Like 8:10-8:30/mile, most likely, if not slower.

 

For my goal of a 1:35 finish, I wanted a 7:10/mile average….for the full 13.1.  Well, I needed like a 7:15 but distance is always a little longer etc etc so I had 7:10 in my head.

 

Anyway, I knew very well that it would likely backfire, but I needed to try.  I needed to go for it, and push myself, and see where I was.  I knew there was a hill about halfway, but they kept making sucha big deal about the “net downhill” of the course that I was hoping I could just make up a little extra along the way.

 

Luckily, it started with lots of downhill.  I took FULL advantage of it.  I wanted to bank as much time as possible right away.  I think my first mile was a 6:47, second mile was up a bit, then third was down… I was keeping track of my time deficit in my head and by around mile 5, I think I had like 1:23 in “spare” time.

 

Then it all went downhill.  Not literally.  Literally, it went uphill.  It was a long, slow, gradual climb up to the actual hill, and I put me way over my target pace.   Then the actual hill happened and seriously what the heck is it with me and hills, lately?!  I used to kill it on the hills!  They were my strength!  I could pass everyone on hills!  On the plus side, this hill was very reminiscent of the CDA hill (very steep and just kept on going) so I sat there telling myself to suck it up, keep my head down, quicken my cadence and just get up the dumb thing.  I did pass a person or two, but I got passed by another guy with the m-dot tattoo and then he just kept opening up the gap and got away, so I sat there fuming about how if maybe I were a real ironman athlete, I would be able to do that, too.

 

Anyway, I was hoping that once we got to the top, and back onto the trail, things would all be downhill to the finish (this time literally).  Unfortantely, that trail just never feels very fast, and I was spent.  I could not for the life of me maintain anything less than a 7:30 pace, and honestly, a 7:40-7:50 was a struggle.  I started getting passed.  A lot.  I kept trying to hang on to people when they passed me, and it would work for a good 30 second then..nope.  Just not happening.  I was “that girl,” who went out too hard and was getting passed.   Rookie move.  Oh well.

 

I started to re-evaluate.  I finally gave up doing the math on how far I was behind at around mile 9 because I knew there was no way I was making it up at that point.  Even hitting 7:15s wasn’t happening.  I was annoyed, but not destroyed.  I shifted my mindset, and started thinking about just maybe a PR.  I needed to be faster than 1:37:59, that’s all.  I started thinking about ironman a lot, actually.  I started taking inventory of how I felt, of my mindset as well as my physical body.  I realized that as dumb as it was, this was actually a really awesome training opportunity.  I’m not going to fool myself into thinking the 26.2 at the end of on ironman will feel good, and I knew this was about as close as I was going to get to simulating that before race day.  It’s been a long time since I really pushed myself, and I don’t intend to do so again until June 28, so I started focusing on that.  Staying out of my head and not getting negative, focusing on what I needed to do, etc etc.  My body just did not want to move any faster, no matter what I tried and no matter how much I wanted to.  I “needed” to, but I just “couldn’t,” and I am 100% positive I’ll be feeling that next month :)  In hindsight, it was a really great training opportunity, and I can happily say that I took advantage of it, learned a lot, and am pleased with how I handled it.

 

Anyway, the course kept dragging on and on.  I knew we had to be turning off the trail soon.  Finally we did.  The road to the boardwalk took forever.  Even running downhill, I was barely hitting 7:10!  I got passed running downhill.  I was a mess.  I also forgot to mention how much my stomach was hurting—I literally spent the last few miles thinking about how excited I was to see a porta-potty at the finish.  No one ever said this whole acing thing was glamorous, did they?

 

The funny thing is that the finish was (roughly) the same finish as the Kirkland triathlon—which was my first triathlon, which I did again last year, etc etc.  So the very end of the run course (~1 mile or less) was the same.  Amazing the difference!  The tri is a sprint, and despite how hard I pushed myself last year, I was just not nearly as worn out as I was now.  So I had all those feelings, knowing how it felt to be running that boardwalk to a finish line, and still couldn’t make myself move any faster!

 

Rounding the corner, the last few blocks, I kept checking my Garmin.  It was going to be close.  Really close.  I wans’t 100% sure where the finish line was, just knew roughly, and of course it was around one last corner so I couldn’t see it until I was right on it.  I saw my watch hit 1:37:00 and remember thinking “ok, where is that finish line, I need to get to it like literally right now….” And there it was!  Allen was at the finish and taking photos, it’s funny I’m so smiley looking happy in them because I was not feeling it!  But finally, I was done.  Official time of 1:37:29, meaning I got a whopping 30-second PR.  :P  (side note: my last PR was at Seattle, which is very hilly and considered somewhat challenging, and I’m super proud of that time.  This was a MUCH easier course, so yeah I was a few seconds faster, but I kind of feel like it’s not nearly as good.  Oh well.  I guess I should just accept it!)

 

Found Allen and Kyle’s mom, who was there for Mac and Kyle.  Got a text from Mac saying someone had collapsed and passed out on the course in front of her, and she and Kyle (who caught up) were there helping him, etc. so they would be finishing later.  That is why you have your phone with you when you race!!  This was Kyle’s first half marathon (and longest run) back since having open heart surgery just 5 months ago, AND he just kind of decided to wing it the day before.  He “should” have been fine, but if he had been 20 minutes late without any of us knowing, we would have all been really, really worried that something had gone wrong.  So that was really, really good that she was able to let us know.  Also, the guy who collapsed had his phone with him, which was set up with all this MedicalID information.  That is just as important!  They were able to immediately (after calling 911) use his phone to find out who his wife was to call her (who also happened to be running, and was a couple miles behind).

 

Anyway, they finally made it to the finish, about 20 minutes later than expected.  The unexpected break hurt them (cooling off for that long, then having to run again), Kyle was bonking and Mac decided to just run him in.  Which was great, of course :)  I am so, so proud and happy that he did the half, regardless of anything else!  I was so happy to have him there at the start line with Mac and I, mostly just because it meant things are getting better and he was able to.

 

Post-race, my stomach was not happy and got worse throughout the day.  But that’s whatever.  It did remind me I need to figure out better bike nutrition though, so am working on some new fueling plans for IM race day.

 

All in all, it was a good morning and fun with friends.  Despite the fact that it was really, really poorly executed, I guess I still did get 1^st in my age group and 9^th female overall, so I guess I should quit complaining :) It was a “good race,” I just know that I was not pretty, and definitely not the way I want to race again.

CDA Recon = Good, This Week = Bad

You’d think I would have written about our CDA recon trip sooner, but this week just..sucked.

 

The weekend was wonderful, but then on Monday, there was a last-minute decision to put my family’s cat, Shadow, to sleep :(  It was a long time coming, she had been really sick for almost 2 years and no one expected her to hang on that long.  It was just an unfortunate circumstance and kind of “rushed” and stressful, but I know it was the right choice.  Needless to say though, that kind of ruined that day (and the rest of the week, being depressed about it).

 

Tuesday was just long, with workouts in the morning because of a wedding to go to in the evening, which just meant a long day.

 

Wednesday was depressing again (thinking about Shadow too much) and then got hit with a migraine in the afternoon.  I’m “lucky” in that they really only last a couple hours, and I managed to get home, sleep a bit, and wake up feeling better in time to still get outside on the bike.  My hill repeats weren’t the best and I only did 5 instead of 7 because by then I was really running out of daylight, but at least I still did some.  But, it did really mess up my plans (changed my route, etc etc etc) and then of course I didn’t get home and to bed until late.

 

Thursday was an early, early morning with a swim and run before work, because Mac and I had hair appointments in Silverdale at 4 hahaha.  I know, super high priority!  Hey, it’s the little things that make a big difference.  It was great to catch up with Heather, and fun that we both did it together, and REALLY NICE to finally fix my hair!  It was turning brown.  Gross.  Now it’s back to dark black with some tints and….blue on the bottom ;) very subtle, can only see it a bit in the right light, but I really, really needed a change before  I went crazy (and also I hate brown).  So, I feel infinitely better.  Of course now it’ll fade fast with all the silly swimming and chlorine, but..whatever.  Anyway, after everything was said and done, it was a good day but not home until after 10pm…and when you leave home at 430am, that’s just a long time.

 

Swam this morning, getting ready to head out and do a loop around Lake Washington after work, per coach’s instructions.  I am just…tired.  Not even training-tired (although I have to say, I was SUPER SORE yesterday, oh my gosh what is wrong with me), but just tired-tired.  Too many 4 and 5am alarms in a row, after late nights.

 

And through all this, Allen was gone all week.  So it was a lot of me rushing around and trying to do things and not lose my head thinking about Shadow (I was unsuccessful on this, I’ll admit).

 

ANYWAY!  Coeur d’Alene!

 

Because it really was great, I promise :)

 

I am so, so glad that we went over and saw/did the course.  Such a huge help!  The bike course is…nice.  I guess it’s super different than the old course, which is what Mac knew, but oh well, I kind of liked it.  The “big hill” is…well it’s a big hill, I guess, but nothing to be scared of!  It’s just a nice seated climb for 2+ miles, but you just spin spin spin it out.  I guess if you never ride hills it’s a big deal, but honestly it’s much less steep than the hills right around here (although it is longer), so that was good.  Not to say I wasn’t super slow, especially the second time we did it.  I want to be 10-12mph up that thing, and I was more in the 8-10mph range.  So, nothing to laugh at, but I definitely don’t need to freak out too bad about it now.  The rest of the hills are more rolling up and down, and again—just spin spin spin.  Aboslutely nothing anywhere that I would even consider getting out of the saddle for.

 

The downhills though…geez.  I guess they have to be a little steep, because you go flying down them!  I spun out once or twice and hung on for dear life.  I definitely could have gone faster but I was freaked out quite enough, thank you very much.  I tried to stay aero as much as I could but for the big one, now way.  I am just way too much of a baby.  I think I only maxed out at around 37mph.  Which is scary, considering that’s about what I crashed at last year.  Don’t think about that, Rosanne!  Anyway, the bike was amazing.  Handling was great, absorption of everything on the road was fantastic, super solid and grounded…definitely the right choice, and I am so, so glad that I got it :)   It’s exactly what I was hoping it would be, even the fit is what I wanted!  I’m more on top of the bike and can have a better pedal stroke, and my shoulders feel more stable.  Super happy with it.

 

What else?  Oh, wind.   So maybe THAT is the biggest thing.  We did the second loop on Hwy 95 later in the day (probably around the time I’ll be on it) and the wind had picked up…yikes.  It wasn’t having the wind slow me down that the was the problem—the problem was just getting blown around!!  I’m already scared going downhill, now add heavy wind and side gusts?  No thanks.  On the other hand, I’m “glad” it was like that, because it forced me to get some really good practice and goodness knows I need to experience it as much as possible in order to get more comfortable in it.  The wind here just doesn’t feel the same—it’s usually just a stiff headwind or tailwind, not as much tossing you around in a wide open space.  So that’ll be fun to deal with (mentally).

 

Run course is the same as part of the bike course.  Ironically, I’m more worried about the run now than before.  We did one loop of it on Sunday, and I was beat.  Mac was pulling me along at an 8:50 pace and I would have fallen behind more if she had let me ;)  Just sad.  Also, the hill on the course is dumb.  That’s one thing I had always heard people say, and I’m actually pretty darn good at running hills if I do say so myself, so I wasn’t too worried about it.  Boy was I wrong.  It a LONG hill, and it’s pretty decently steep for running, and it has a weird off-camber corner, and did I mention it’s long?  To make it even worse, it comes at halfway on the loop—meaning you run all the way up this hill, all the way down the other side….then turn around and have to go up and down it again.  And two loops means you come back and do it all over again after that!  I dunno man, we’ll see.

 

I do believe on race day I’ll be able to run better.  I want to be closer to an 8:20 average pace on the run if I can, but we’ll see.  I’ll be more inspired on race day, that’s for sure, and the race environment will help…we’ll see :)

 

Mac made me get in the lake to “ice my legs” and I will grudgingly admit it helped prevent soreness…but holy cow that’s cold, and you better believe I complained and moaned and made a big deal about how freezing it was.  I  honestly don’t know how people do that on a regular basis!

CDA, here we come!

I can’t decide if this week went by super quickly, or super slowly.  Either way, I guess I’m glad it’s Friday! :)

 

Honestly, this week was mostly spent worrying about my new frameset, so the training part was a bit of a blur.  Not huge volume—think I’m at ~6 hours right now.  A few swims, a run, a bike and some core work.   Funny how 6 hours in 3 days (yesterday was rest day) now seems like “really nothing much.”  Plus, I'll get plenty done this weekend.

 

Anyway, frameset!   It finally arrived!  Argon 18 E-116.  After falling in love with how the Krypton rides, and knowing I could really benefit from a more stable-feeling tri bike, I’m so so so happy I managed to get this frame!  However—I thought I would have it early last week, giving me plenty of time to get it built up.  Instead, I didn’t get it until Wednesday, and then finally had time Thursday to have Kyle build it up!  Which would I guess be OK, except that Mac and I are heading over to CDA this afternoon to see/train on the course!!  I know it wouldn’t be the end of the world to take the BMC if I had to, but I really, really wanted to have the new bike to experience it.  I am so, SO thankful for good friends who drop everything to make sure I’m taken care of :)

 

I still have new bars on the way which will help with the whole stability/steering thing, but they aren’t here yet so old bars it is!  Not a big deal, though—the new frame is the biggest thing.  I am really, really looking forward to 1) riding the new bike, duh!, and 2) riding the CDA course!!   I have read everything on the face of the earth talking about the course, which of course means I’ve read everything from “oh my gosh, it’s so steep, it’s soooooo hard” to “ehhh not that bad, just spin, what's the big deal about it?”  I’m taking everything I read with a grain of salt, of course, so it’ll just be really good for me mentally to see it and actually ride it.  The biggest thing will be to just take it easy and NOT freak out about it feeling hard right now—Shawn even texted me earlier telling me not to get mental about it if it seems hard, because there are still 2 months of training to go.  So, that’s good that my coach has acknowledged I may not feel ready yet, and that it’s perfectly ok!  Now to just keep that in mind this weekend...

 

On Sunday I think we’ll run at least part of the run course too, which will also be good.  A lot less worried about the run, but will be good to just get eyes on it.  Weather looks fantastic in Eastern Washington/Idaho for the weekend, so I’m really looking forward to it!  Plus, some good girl-time and training time.  We’re also meeting Sam there, who is also little Miss Ironman Extraordinaire, so will be good times for sure!  I will definitely soak up all the knowledge from both Mac and Sam, who are both super talented and experienced athletes.

 

Now to pack, get some last-minute bike tuning/finishing done, and hit the road!