Race Friends!

I already mentioned my "friend" in the marathon that helped me keep on pace at the end of my marathon.  Well, we have some pictures together!  So, I thought I would share a little bit more about our last few miles.

So near the end of lap 2...maybe at mile 16, I noticed I had caught and was running near a girl with a similar pace.  I don't know how long we had been running together, but it just seemed to make sense that we continue to do so.  In my mind, I remember looking at her age and seeing that she was not in my AG.  I remember thinking she was maybe 35-39 AG (and she isn't, but she looks like she should be!).  Great! Let's run together.  Plus, she seemed smiley.  I liked her already. 

It was also hard not to miss her Luna sandals.  I knew what they were, and although I have never tried them, my soggy, wet, nasty feet were thinking they looked pretty dern good at the time.  I was envious of her sandals! 

 Chuckles...I think this is a picture of me noticing that she is wearing some sandals on the marathon.

It seemed that we were keeping each other going, and that is when I had my bright idea to finish in 11:15.  Luckily, she had on a watch that worked and corrected my math ever so slightly.  Great!  Sub 11!  I told her that if she would get me to the finish line in sub-11, I would be her new best facebook friend.  LOL!  I really told her that.

She asked me to get her to the finish line in 10:40.  Only one of us upheld our end of the bargain, and it was not me!

Running up the cross country section.  A bit of a pain, but not near as bad as the desolate 2 mile construction site.....

 

We had a good time running a few miles together.  We were passing a lot of people and just keeping a good, steady rhythm going.  I wish I could have carried a sign that said, "yes.  She is wearing sandals.  They are made for running.  Thanks for being the 1,000,000 person to notice."  Everyone we passed had a comment.

At every aid station I would take at least 10 seconds longer than her, and I would have to catch back up.  (my goal for the next race is NO DILLYDALLYING at the aid stations.  IN AND OUT!)  Finally, I think I just stopped catching back up and she finished the race about a minute ahead of me, I think.

We gave each other some big hugs at the end of the race.  It was a fun and memorable experience.  I did actually find her on FB and become her friend, as promised.  LOL!  And, guess which Luna Sandal Runner WON her AG and is going to KONA?  Oh yes!!!! I didn't know we were on such a mission!

So, good times.  I love these types of memories.  They are the things that really make these races special and fun.

Recovery Part 2!

Sigh.  The race is over.  For a few days, you get to talk about it and people are interested.  After that, you get to talk it over with yourself, because you are still interested.  Then, a week passes, and you realize it is old news.  :)

Dave has been helping me with recovery.  He took me to Jerry's Snow Cones earlier this week.  Snow cone + ice cream in the middle.  Genius. 

I have had a few interesting conversations this week on the difficulty of the course.  I never know what to say to this.  A fast race doesn't mean the course was "easy."  It *almost* hurts my feelings when people say this, as though it takes away from my accomplishment, but since I know my goals are within, I refuse to let those creepy little suggestions negate my race.  I really don't think that anyone that chooses to sign up for an extremely hot race is "cherry picking" a fast time.  That is just my opinion.

I think I used to be guilty of this.  I thought IMFL was "an easy course."  But, I now realize the error of that thinking.  The course might be flat and fast, but that also means people are putting on a different kind of hurt for the day.  So, to tell someone that their ironman was on an easy course just doesn't make sense.  Every course holds its own challenge, and elevation is not the only variable.  Yes, some courses are harder.  They just are.  Look at the pro times.  Look at the splits.  But, that doesn't make any other ironman easy.  

I really can't say if IMTX is harder or easier than anything else.  For me, and me alone, the course seemed easier than Wales and harder than Florida.  But, with the heat, my day in Texas was harder than Wales in some ways.  And, you know what?  Maybe Florida was harder than Texas in some ways because I was new, didn't have the miles behind me, etc.  Plus, I just don't think you can compare different courses over different years.  I think you just have to experience the day, weather, and course with your fellow competitors and enjoy the bonds you now share.

Fast times do not make a course easy in my estimation.  Jordan Rapp, while fast, was working HARD.  He earned that time through hard work, not because he picked an easy course.  He is setting records because he is improving.  Is riding 112 miles ever easy?  Is running 26.2 miles in 90 degrees ever easy, even if you are fast?  The fields are getting faster across the boards, I think.  No one would say that Kona is an easy course, yet people are very fast there every year.  No matter which ironman you choose, the race will be hard.  Enjoy your challenge on your day.

Now that Ironman is over, I am saving for my Camaro.  I have $800 in the bank so far- still have a ways to go.  :)  Everyone keeps pushing the mini-van on me, but I am holding steady with my Camaro fund.  Dave keeps telling me I can't put a baby seat in a Camaro.  Um, yes I can.  My papa said he would help me restore one, and I am holding him to it.  Dave brought home a convertible this weekend for me to have some play time (the benefits of a husband in the rental car business).  It was so much fun to have the top down and just relax!!!!!

And, one last piece of recovery...the fried twinkie.  Yes, it was good.  I wonder if it was gluten free? 

Ironman Texas 2012 Race Report

Sorry for the long read, but I didn't do IMWales justice, so I am making up for things.  

I will try to write this in a way that will be memorable to me, and hopefully helpful to one or two readers.  As many of my friends are much faster than I, there is not always a lot for me to offer in terms of racing, but I think that my steady progression can give other triathletes hope that while some of us take longer to improve, it can happen.  And, if you are hoping to do IMTX in the future (if they have it), hopefully this will give you some good feedback on the course. 

Race report

The race was preceded by a night of no sleep and my normal nausea/cramps from the arrival of my favorite time of the month.  (lucky me) I wasn't able to eat much race morning- I think I had a couple of bits of oatmeal and a banana.  Maybe 150 calories?  Fortunately, Keith gave me a Honey Stinger sometime before the swim, and I took a gel before I got in the water so I wasn't quite so hungry- another 260 cals I think.

Swim- 1:16/ 1:49 per 100/yd

Everyone complains about this swim, but I think it was awesome, with the exception of the first 1000 meters, which completely sucked.  Water temp was 80ish- no wetsuits allowed.  The course is very narrow as you are sandwiched between a buoy and a wall.  I lined up near the front and to the right.  (But, as I came to learn later, not as far to the right as I would have liked to have been.  My suggestions if you do this race is go FAR right.  Or just be fast and get out of there). 

After treading water for 20 minutes, the cannon went off and I was immediately massacred by everyone that can sprint.  I don't have any speed swim, with or without injury, and it really hurts me in the swim start.  I had to tread water, breast stroke, back stroke, tarzan swim, and then finally I swam lateral to the shore and found some clear water.  So, I had my normal panic attacks followed by close encounters with death.

How in the hell is everyone so fast in the water?  Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!

So, I had about 20 minutes of complete misery before I could swim.  I was surprised to see that a mile into the swim I passed so many of those "fast" swimmers that tried to drown me at the beginning.  I guess a lot of people have a fast gear but no endurance? I have a lot of endurance but no fast gear.

Otherwise, I was just super grateful I could swim and tried to enjoy every bit of the fact that I was swimming my first 2.4 mile non-wetsuit race.  It is much harder than a wetsuit swim, in my estimation, and you truly work muscles that are allowed to just hang out with a wetsuit.  I stayed as focused as possible and took as many good lines to the finish as I could.  You can save tons of time by knowing when to follow the buoy line and when to follow the shoreline for the tangents.

My shoulder wasn't hurting, I was just slow and out of swim shape.  But, I was doing it and happy.  As I have not done anything longer than 600 yards at a time in the past 2 months, I was completely expecting well over 1:20 for the swim.  I came out of the water in 1:16, which is about 1:48/100 yards.  Although I think I could have finished in 1:10 if I was fit and uninjured, I was extremely happy to have finished the swim.  Plus, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment to swim my first 2.4 miles non-wetsuit.

Oh, and the canal that everyone complains about?  Totally cool.  Reminded me of ITU races where you go under the bridges and spectators line the waterways.  I don't know.  Maybe my perspective was different because I felt that the swim was a gift, but I thought the opportunity for people to see you on the swim course was really awesome. 

I rank this as the most fun swim course (minus the start) of my 3 ironman races. 

T1: 4:07

My goal was 3 minutes.  I was on track for a clean and awesome transition.  And, for the record, this is the first ironman I actually had a helper.  THANK YOU!!!!  I was ready to go, got up to run out of the tent, and realized I forgot to take my speedsuit off.  Arggg!!!!  I had to sit down, take off shoes, take of suit, and get everything back on.  Finally....out of the tent.  Ok, so one error down for the day.

Bike- 5:29/20.3 mph

 photo by finisherpix.com

I was passed early on by a girl or two that were hammering from the get-go.  Do I go?  They are in my AG?  I let them go and settled into my own pace/HR.  I am still learning when to go and when to stay.  :) 

My plan was to not under-ride the bike, contrary to all of the unsolicited advice of well-intentioned supporters.  Tim and I have noticed that I generally do not perform to my capabilities on the bike.    At IMTX, I vowed to not ride like a granny.  I was going to ride smart, but not slow.  I don't look at MPH on the bike.  I don't care.  I ride at a pace that feels appropriate for 112 miles on the bike + a marathon.   I do use a heart rate monitor for the ride, regardless of the fact that all of the cool kids use power and HR is "outdated."  But, what has been happening in virtually over every distance is I just ride too easy.  You know me...super conservative. 

I took in 7 gels?  Maybe 8?  I know I got 1 full bottle of EFS carbo pro down at 500 calories.  I had 2 more bottles, but the fluid was boiling and I had a really hard time drinking it.  So, maybe I got in another 400 cals to total 1700 approx.  This is plenty of calories, but honestly, if my drinks had stayed cool, I would have easily taken in 2-300 more cals.  I also took 3?  S-caps for sodium.  It was BLAZING HOT on the course.  I took water every 10 miles from the aid station to drink and also poured it on my sleeves and head every 2-3 miles.  The ONLY nutrition mistake I think I made, besides not being able to take all of my liquid calories that were too hot, was dropping my water bottle at mile 100.  I was dying of thirst the last 12 miles, and my bottles were too hot to drink. 

I had a great ride in terms of feel and RPE.  Everything just felt so steady and pretty easy.  I was never breathing hard, my HR stayed steady, and I was singing and having a jolly time at mile 100.  (When I hit 100 at about 4:52 or so, I said BOO-YA out loud.  And that was to all of the people that criticize my cycling plan that happens to include a lot of aerobic riding.  Some people race their race in training....I choose to race when it counts.)  It was a definite improvement from my past two ironman races.  I still think there is room to push the bike as I am feeling pretty fresh at the end of these rides, but I think I am getting closer to the sweet spot where you put together a good bike and marathon.

photo by www.brittanilouise.com

For those of you wanting to do the race, IMTX has 1700 ft elevation (not a lot), lots of wind, and blazing heat.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  You will only have shade for maybe 8 miles on the whole ride.  Be prepared to COOK!!!  It was by far one of the hottest races I have ever completed.  The roads are super, in my opinion, but then again I live in Memphis where the roads are awful.  I kept waiting for the bad roads everyone complains about, and I never found them.  We had tail winds and cross winds heading out, and I found it easy to ride smoothly, even in the strong crosswinds.  The rollers are nice and keep things broken up.  There were no packs near me, and very little drafting.  There were TONS of marshals on this course.

But, you have to turn around, and the headwind is a beast.  You will see an immediate drop in pace, and it just hits you like a wall.  Plus you have over 60 miles left to ride.  I found that it was possible to stay strong into the wind if you stayed focused, and then you could ride harder when you got a small bit of crosswind.  It is all about staying in the moment and not letting the wind defeat you.  It does let up in some sections, so you have to be prepared to take advantage of the crosswinds. 

T2:  3:52

This was uneventful.  I at least had a "3" in the time.  I did try to start the garmin and it didn't sync.  Shoot!

run- 3:55/ 8:59 pace

photo by www.brittanilouise.com

Sigh.  You know this run was not good or bad.  I think it was solid for the day, but definitely not my best or reflective of my capabilities.  I never died.  I never slowed down.  I ran steady the entire day.  It was just blah. 

I started off easy and hoped the garmin would sync.  At mile 1, it still wasn't syncing, so I literally stopped for 1 minute and waited for it.  I will never do that again.  Let me repeat.  I will never stop for a watch again.  What was I thinking?  Why do dependent?  I really wanted to know my pace so I didn't run too fast.

I started off at 9 min pace- right where I wanted to start.  (ignore ironman.com tracking.  I don't know why they can't get the timing mats and tracking correct).

IRONMAN IRONY:  2 miles later, the garmin completely died.  Yep!  All of the stopping and worrying, and I didn't even get to use it.  NEVER AGAIN!

The temps were in the high 8os/low 90s.  My socks and shoes were soaked the entire time, I was having a little plantar fascia flare-up on the left foot, and I felt like I had a stress fracture in my right big toe.  I felt like I was running pretty quickly, but I didn't really seem to be gaining on anyone.  I had at least 2 girls pass me in my AG on the run, and I never made an attempt to keep up.  I was SUPER worried about the heat and my ability to not fall over dead from heatstroke.  I didn't feel confident in my ability to handle the heat.

I had no clue where I was in my AG.  No one told me on my first loop.  I just got a "yay Damie."  So, I figured I was way behind.  Second loop someone told me I was 10th.  I thought, well, I was 8th before I let those girls pass me.  Some things would be better to know earlier than later.  

I unfortunately was taking too much time at the aid stations, although I don't think I realized it at the time.  They were crowded with the course being looped, and I found myself making the aid stations more of a priority than I have ever done in past races.  I took at least the following at every aid station if not more:  2-4 sponges, 4 cups of water (2 on arms and head, 2 in mouth), 2 cups of ice down top, 1 cup perform/or coke, 1 gel every 3 miles, 1 S-cap whenever I needed it which was about every 5 miles.  I held ice in both hands and put ice in my mouth while I ran.....all 10 seconds before it melted. 

photo by www.brittanilouise.com

I made one big bathroom stop mid-way through the race.  (necessary when it is that time of the month).  I got out of the bathroom and noticed a girl had passed and was now 1/4 mile ahead of me.  Is she in my AG too?

On the last loop, I noticed I was running with another female pretty consistently, and we decided to try to work together.  I told her that if we kept our pace up, we might finish in 11:15.  She looked at me like I was crazy and said we were on pace for a 10:45-10:50.  ????  I couldn't do any more math.  She then told me that we had been running 8:15 pace for that mile.

8:15?  I had been running steady all day.  I was timing my 3 laps.  They were amazingly consistent....to the minute.  (why did I need a garmin again?  Pacing is not my issue, clearly).  But, they were not suggesting a 8:15 pace.  Actually- they were dead smack on a 9 min flat pace.  Yes....each of my 8+ mile laps were times at exactly a 9 min pace.  Where did the 8 min stuff go?

Ah- ha.  The time was lost to stopping for the garmin, not getting through aid stations quickly, not hurrying in the bathroom, not having my nutrition ready to ingest at the aid stations, etc.  And sure enough, at every aid station, my new friend would get in and out quickly, and I was fumbling around to get everything I wanted and dropped behind her.

Ironman is about focus. 

In Wales, I was 100% focused and hurried.  I didn't lose a precious minute to anything unnecessary on the run.  I had my eyes focused on catching any girl possible. 

Looking back, I definitely did not have this focus in Texas.  I wasn't focused on catching girls, I was just focused on finishing.  I didn't save as many seconds as possible.  I was focused very internally on the day, which is not a bad thing per se, and I think it got me to the finish line in good form.  So, while I don't think the run was great, I think it was good.  It can't all be perfect!  We have to save that for our most special days :)

I truly enjoyed myself the entire day.  I generally had a smile on my face, and as I made my way to the finish, I was elated.  For the first time, I broke 11 hours....with time to spare.  I also ran a sub 4 hour marathon again, giving me more confidence to really chase those faster marathon times instead of focusing on surviving.  I have needed to prove to myself that my cycling and running is not a fluke.  It is not.

photo by finisherpix.com

I was definitely overjoyed as I ran down the finishers chute.   10:49- 9th AG 30-34- and a PR

I hate looking back and seeing that there were 3 girls right smack in front of me on the run.  RIGHT THERE!!!!! 3 girls within 3 minutes.  I never really saw them with all of the turns, but they were there all along...girls that had passed me in the beginning but never really made any time on me.  Tell me I couldn't have found another minute in that race.  At the time, no.  But when I analyze the race, I see so much more I could have done.  The frustration is that I did not compete in the run.  I didn't challenge a single girl to anything.  I just ran my same ol' pace, never lifting it in a challenge. 

While I hate to look back and see that I maybe didn't push myself to my best race, I am ELATED to know that there is even more room for improvement and my best race is yet to come.  What would I do if I had it all figured out?  :)   I guess this means I will have to do another ironman! :)

I didn't have a time/place goal going into the race.  I wasn't a slave to the clock.  Tim and I briefly talked about some possibly paces/outcomes, but I don't set those things as goals.  At least not for this race.  I went to IMTX to learn to start racing the distance and figure out how to start combining everything for a faster finishing time.  I think I accomplished what I set out to do at Texas.

I am very process driven with my training and with these races.  I am not Veruca Salt, and I don't have to have it now.  I love that I continue to make progress.  That is very satisfying.  Even if I don't make progress from race to race, the overall trend is positive and taking me in the direction I want to go.

So, awesome, awesome day.  Thank you to Dave, friends, family, and teammates for your support and encouragement.  It doesn't go unnoticed! 

Recovery

I promise to get the race report down this weekend.  I returned home and have been SLAMMED with work...way more than 8 hour days.  And of course they have all been crazy, like walking into a patient's home yesterday to find that he fell on the floor and was stuck under the bed.  Guess which PT had to lift a grown man, incapable of standing, off of the floor and back into bed?  Hello!!!!  So much for ironman race recovery!  But, as I always seem to be complaining about being broke, working hard certainly won't hurt me.  (although don't be surprised if I start having mysterious back pain this year....)

My recovery week has looked like this:
Mon- travel
Tues- swim 20 min
Wed- bike 40 super easy on the trainer while watching IMTX videos
Thurs- swim 1 hour
Fri- small chain ring group ride this morning (thank goodness they actually kept the thing recovery oriented or I would have been in trouble)

I have to watch myself the week after an ironman because I usually feel so good and motivated.  I am dying to go for a run!  I feel great!!!  But, now is the time to take it easy on my joints.  (I bet the 20-year-olds don't say that, and the 40-year-olds are thinking I have NO clue! LOL!)

Okay, off to work- Happy Friday!!!!!!!  Will work on race report asap.

"Extraneous-ness" IMTX

Post-race festivities with my awesome, awesome friends in Houston.  I am now back home- happy and swollen.  

Before I write the full race report, I thought it might be good to get down in writing some pre-race considerations.

I chose this race basically because it was the only thing open.  It was Texas or St George.  I wanted to do St. George, but Tim suggested Texas because the travel would be easier, and he thought it would be a good idea to get experience on all types of courses.  I signed up for IMTX, and immediately lost all motivation to do the race.

We had a great winter, but I still just couldn't get up for the race.  It was going to be a flat, hot, draft fest in my mind- all of the things that I hate.   I was having a lot of pain on my bike.   I had planned to really work on my run speed over the winter, but it didn't happen.  I think I got on the track twice. Just blah blah blah.

Thank goodness Hillary put the bug in my ear to come train in Tucson in the spring.  I got re-fitted on my bike (that deserves a whole post of its own) and climbed away in the mountains with my new best friends.  Hillary and I made a plan for my swim.

Game on.

Then I got Parsonage-Turner's Syndrome (which I still have).  4 weeks of no swimming followed by 4 more weeks of very limited swimming, and all of the positive energy I had coming out of camp just vanished.  On top of my deflated spirit, I started to get out of shape with the loss of the swim and other strength activities that require shoulder function.  (I still can't lift more than 5-8 pounds over my head with my left arm).

I did Nola 70.3 as my first race of the year.  While I didn't feel completely out of shape, I did feel the side effects of loss of strength, weight gain, and less overall fitness with decreased swimming.  Now I really didn't want to go to Texas.

This all sounds so negative, right?  I was fighting it, for sure.  I wanted to be positive and kept grinding away, but I never felt amazing or ready to go kick butt at the race.  I LOVE that feeling...the one where you just know you are ready to kill it.   I didn't have that.  I was calling my friends and sharing my worries about my doing this race when the training was not spot on.  I thought I hadn't sacrificed enough for this race.  Instead of training super hard like I did for Wales, I was sleeping in, and going out with Dave for beers, and baking cookies.  Everyone here was training so hard and booking their slot to Kona, and I was worried I would walk the marathon. 

As you might already know, I made it through the swim, I did not walk the marathon, and I gained an iron distance PR!  I learned so many lessons at this race, and I learned so much about me as an athlete.  This race was not one of those days where everything clicked.  It was far from that.  It was not the perfect race that you sometimes get when your fitness and the stars all align.

Instead, it was a day where I decided that I wasn't going to wait for the perfect race (or temp, or training block, or fitness).  I was going to make it good regardless. 

Not to mention, I had a blast.  What a frickin' awesome time with so many friends. 

Now I am sitting at home, sleepy and starving, thinking....did I just do another ironman?  It is a little surreal....  I swear if I had a chance I would do another one in a few weeks.

Race report on its way!

Good Night!

Not in bed yet...
I am a super excited to race tomorrow.  I love ironman.

When I first did IMFL in 2008, I thought it was a lot of fun.  A great day, actually.  But, I wasn't truly in love.  I thought my achievement was awesome, but I just didn't really get the whole peleton/drafting thing.  Everyone had these super high expectations for the course, and I just didn't get the vibe.  No one seemed satisfied with their race, as if you had to set a land speed record to be happy.  I think different courses connect with different people, and Florida didn't truly touch me.  But, I liked the distance and loved doing it with my friends.

I tried the distance again in 2011 in Wales and I was in love.  I had so much fun I was in tears when I crossed the line.  A few weeks later I told Tim I wasn't ready to give the distance a break.  I loved ironman and wanted to do another one.  And I was completely right.  I love being here. 

Wattie Ink teammates at swim practice

Rooney and Cayenne are ready to cheer me on through the day!

Pre- race dinner with Keith.  I wore my Star Wars T-shirt because tomorrow there is No Try.  I am going to Do.  And Keith is going to Do Ironman #10. 

Okay, Dave is telling me to go to bed.  Night night!!!

Check-In

I have arrived in Texas!

I have checked in and picked up my chip after a long drive and 2 days in the same clothes. 

Fortunately I had a chance to take a shower before our Wattie Ink dinner.  Such an awesome time!!!!!

Almost here!!!!

6 days...:)

The final countdown is here.  I am in full taper mode, and I love it!  Some people hate tapering, but I think it is fun.  My body is feeling ridiculously fresh (you don't know how hard you were working until you taper), and I love the free time I have.  It is as though I now have weekends again!

Yesterday my ride was easy followed by a comfortable brick run.  I was home so early, I was able to read, spend time with the dogs and Dave, go shopping, go to Greek Fest, watch Transiberia, and more!  Holy Saturday!

Today I had an easy hour run on the schedule.  I took advantage of the opportunity to take Dave and the dogs with me to the park.  We jogged easy, peed on trees (all of us), chatted, took breaks, and just enjoyed our family.  One of my strengths as an athlete is my ability to take it easy.  When my plan says easy, I have fun.  I don't whine about pace or resting.  I embrace it.  The work has been done for a while now....my body needs to absorb it!

6 days till IMTX.  I am getting so excited!

2 weeks

Less than 2 weeks till IMTX!  I am finally starting to get excited- looking forward to the challenge and a big day of hurt and accomplishment! 

It is time for me to go run.  Actually, it has been time for me to go run, but I decided that sleeping in sounded wonderful.  It is now 80 degrees with 69% humidity.  Good practice for Texas. 

This is my new favorite picture.  The joke is that no one ever wants to draft behind me, but everyone wants Ronnie's wheel.  Love it!!!!

Okay, okay.  Out the door.  Time for some heat!!!!!