The Ironman Nightmares Have Begun!

I got to my hotel late-ish Saturday night. Upon checking in, I realize that the race site is actually 5 hours away. There was supposed to be a charter bus to drive us all over, leaving at midnight, but no one seems to know anything about it at the hotel. In fact, they don't even seem to know what I'm talking about. My stepmom agrees to drive me so that I can "sleep" in the backseat. My dad wasn't planning on coming, but at the last minute does due to the midnight driving. My stuff seems to be scattered all over the hotel and it's getting close to midnight and I'm not even close to being ready. It's also not clear how everything is supposed to fit in the car for there to still be enough room for me to lie down and rest. The more I rush around trying to collect stuff, the more I realize I'm missing more stuff. Making it to the starting line at 7 is seeming more and more unrealistic but I've been training so hard and for so long, and so I rush around even more getting slower and slower by the minute.

And then I wake up.

Why do these dreams always involve getting to the race late or not having all your stuff ready or a combination? Well, I guess I should consider it a good thing that at least they're not about crashing or drowning...

Peaking or Breaking?

Well, whatever you want to call it, it's over and Taper Time is here. If exhaustion is a sign of bluing ready, then I'm ready. Regarless, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. And now I just have to rest as much as possible and not do anything stupid for the next 3 weeks. This will be a lot harder than it sounds...

Long live the taper.

Ready or Not...

My last long weekend...Since I screwed up my last long brick so terribly, I had the option of attempting it again (75/10) or doing a really long ride (130). The problem was that I wanted to do both for different reasons. I had an 18 mile run on Thursday, so attempting a long brick on Saturday would be tough. I hate doing long workouts on Sunday because I'm dead at work on Monday and I just barely get through Mondays as it is. I wanted to do the long ride because in previous years, I've only done 2 and I felt like doing 3 this year would give me a mental advantage of really knowing that the ride wouldn't be an issue, which I felt I especially needed after last years disaster in CDA. But then again, a long brick is a better simulation for race day.

What to do, what to do? I was starting to wonder if I should just stay in bed and sleep instead. It sounded so tempting.

In the end I went with the long ride. I had essentially done a long brick at 70.3 and that was quite successful. And I have another shorter brick this weekend. And Saturday promised to be the slightly cooler day.

I got off to a later start thanks to being out a little too late the previous night and having one too many glasses of wine with my sister. It seems that 1 is my limit these days and being how tired I am all the time, I really need to stick with that limit. Despite all the talk about chip sealing up around Carter and Horsetooth, I decided to chance it and head up that way primarily because I didn't feel like trying to find a new route. This was a no brainer and I knew where all the water stops were and it just seemed like a hell of a lot of work to try and find something else. And did I mention how tired I already was? It seemed more important that I go to bed rather than spend who knows how long fighting with MapMyRide.com...Does anyone else have this problem where it adds miles on for you, as though it's sending you back and forth on the same section of road 100 times? This only seems to happen for longer routes and god forbid you try and overlap and instead of plotting the point, it decides that you really want to add a marker instead. It can get frustrating to say the least. So braving the chip seal seemed much less stressful.

I got off to a great start. My legs actually felt good. It had been a while and my last few long rides had all started out with me feeling very sluggish and just not quite right. I was surprised considering my long run two days before but I wasn't about to complain. It was still early...Carter Lake came and went and then the oil started. The signs said "Fresh Oil on Road" and I wasn't quite sure what that meant. I had read about it and envisioned something else entirely. First of all, the road was still smooth and I sort of expected the oil stage to come after everything else. Instead, it looked more like a stage 1 thing. The road was just a lot darker and a lot dirtier. There was a ton of what I assume was gravel on the shoulders. I should know considering that I brought half of it home with me stuck to arms, legs, bike, clothes, water bottles, and so on. Fortunately there's not a ton of traffic so I could get away with riding more towards the middle of the road which seemed to have a lot less stuff on it. It was also pretty sticky, but it wore off of my tires quickly - it was just the rest of me that was a mess for the rest of the day.

There's one hill around mile 45 or so that doesn't look bad, but for whatever reason kills me and I immediately have to drop to a super easy gear and still seem to struggle. It didn't help that two people were riding down the hill a the same time and one of them screamed at me to get in the drops. That's easy to say when you're flying down hill, but when you're already in an easy gear and struggling, yeah right. I discovered on the way back that it's a 7% grade, so I felt a lot better for struggling and really just wanted to punch the woman screaming at me.

There was a cute little fair going on in Masonville with a sign that said "Come Meet the Alpacas". I was so tempted to stop. They're my favorite. I decided maybe on the way back (sure) and kept going. Then the chip seal started. It actually was much smoother than it was a few weeks ago - at least the shoulder was. Overall, I couldn't complain. I really had envisioned myself a riding tarball.

And then I started complaining. There's this other hill before the big climb up to Horsetooth that really doesn't look like a hill, but it is a long steady climb and goes on for miles. This is where I started questioning everything. I had planned on coming back the same way, which would be just as hilly, but at this point wasn't sure I'd make it. At this point I was starting to wonder if I'd even make it to Ft Collins. I was getting slower and slower by the minute. I thought I might have to ride back the easy way. I wanted to stop but somehow managed to convince myself that the end was just around the bend, which of course it never was. Until it was. And then I was find. I had no issue with the steeper climbs and soon found my way to my new favorite gas station in Ft Collins. I refilled my bottles and had a coke and part of a bagel. I pepped myself up for the ride back deciding that I needed to go back the hard way - more climbing would be better for Wisconsin.

Heading back immediately starts off with some tough climbs back up and around Horsetooth. But I did actually feel much better and actually passed some people. Yes, passed. And they were riding bikes too. It was final climb before the now long gradual downhill that nearly killed me on the way out that I realized how hot it was getting and I knew then that it was going to be a rough trip back into Boulder. For once the wind didn't really bother me as it was cooling me down a little and I had already resigned myself to riding a little slower. Back over the chip seal. Past the alpacas (I didn't stop). Through the oil fields. And then Carter Lake.

I have never ridden up the back side of Carter Lake and it was sort of haunting me for much of the ride. But since I was actually feeling okay on the ride back I had somehow managed to tell myself that it would be fine. Ha! Clearly I was delirious! It worse than sucked. It hurt like hell. I thought I was dying. I was questioning my sanity. And it really seemed to never end. And let's remember that I am now probably around mile 80 or so of my ride so I'm hot and tired too. I did not see a single other person heading up the hill. I determined at this point that I truly was insane. What the hell was I thinking? Well, I was thinking that I needed water and I really needed to pee and Hygiene was a little too far away.

After what seemed like an eternity (and I'm sure it was close), I made it to the top. I stopped by the marina to fill up and use the bathroom. Only it was locked. There were two rangers there telling me that I really didn't want to go in there. They emphasized "really" multiple times so I took there word on it. They said there was another bathroom way across the really rocky parking lot, the risk of killing myself trying to walk across in bike shoes seemed very likely so I decided I really didn't need to pee that badly. Besides, relatively speaking, I wasn't far from home. And so back in the saddle.

Aside from witnessing the second half of a car crash (I saw the second car go off the side of the road down a really steep hill really fast that in such a manner that you would never intentionally do before realizing what was going on), the rest of the ride was uneventful (which was fine with me as the crash kind of freaked me out a bit as I had to ride over bits and pieces of broken car). I really had no idea what time it was but I was seeing fewer and fewer cyclists (other than those doing whatever ride was going on) so I figured it was probably getting pretty late. I had another quick stop in Hygiene, which is now a required stop for me. It was 3:30 - I was assuming closer to 5 as one tends to lose all concept of time during such a long-ass ride.

And then 10 years later, I was home. Actually, it wasn't that bad. Nothing was that bad after That Hill. I had the world's slowest transition and eventually made my way outside to do a very short, very slow run. And then I was finally done. Whew! I was glad it was over for many reasons. The main reason being that I'd only have to do one more long ride and that would be on 9/12. The other main reason was that now I could taper. I knew I was as ready as I was ever going to be and finally felt like I was actually ready.

So let the tapering begin...

Boulder 70.3 Race Report

It wasn't a perfect race and of course there were things that went wrong. But all of that went right out the window when I saw the clock as I was crossing the finish line. 5:37. Finally breaking 6 hours. A 26 minute PR!

I had good feelings about the race since I've been putting so many hours into training over the last few weeks. But I was so tired last week and did very little in terms of workouts and by the time Friday rolled around, I was starting to wonder if I was actually ready. I knew I was being silly, but doubt creeps in so easily sometimes. I haven't been sleeping all that well and I was worried it was going to start to affect me. In addition, my stress numbers were getting higher due to increased volume and that had me a little concerned about possible overtraining. Fortunately I was able to put all that aside and had a remarkable race.

I slept horribly the night before the race, as well as the night before that. In addition, there was a massive storm that came through at some point during the night with lots of lightning lighting up my room. I refused to look at the clock, but figured it had to be nearing 4. Would it actually be raining when I got up? It's not that easy to get motivated for a race in the rain. But it had passed by the time I finally got out of bed. I managed to force down a bagel with peanut butter and made sure I got an earlier start to the Res than I did for the Peak. I did, but there was still mega-traffic. I found a spot towards the end of rack which seemed fine at the time but does explain my 3+ minute T1 time. But it just doesn't seem worth arguing for people to move over and just have them get pissy. I got all set up, grabbed my swim stuff, and chose the shorter lines for the porta pottys outside of transition. At this point there were 3 minutes left before they closed transition. At this point I realized that I had lost one of my ponytail holders. I need two because I've been wearing my hair in pigtails the last year in part to avoid the whiplash on my neck during the run, which at this point already is suffering from a little wetsuit chafing. It must have come off my wrist when I took my shirt off. And naturally you could only get back into transition via the bike exit, which was the opposite side of where I was. And I was barefoot. I did a quick and painful hustle back into transition and ran back to my rack. At this point volunteers were going around to the few people left in transition asking them if they were almost ready. I was looking on the ground when someone came over. I said I was almost ready but was still looking around. She asked what I was looking for and I told her. Mental note: keep extra bands in my bag!!! (which I do with every other bag I have, not that that helped me at the time). Volunteer to the rescue (yet another reason to LOVE volunteers). She had one on her wrist and asked if it would do. She said it wasn't great, but it was better than nothing. It was the thickness of the rubber bands they put around broccoli (the wide purple ones) and it was a lime green, but could I really complain? I grabbed it and made my way out of transition, passing a very late arrival who was rushing to find a spot to get set up. At least I wasn't in his position.

I headed down to the beach and decided to skip a swim warmup. I did one for the Peak and then stood on the beach freezing until my start. It seemed like it was a little cooler due to the rain the night before and I had a much longer time to stand around and wait. And so I waited. The swim course was laid out so much better than the Peak so I was a lot less concerned about swimming the wrong way. When my wave was allowed in, I headed to the front. My wave seemed exceptionally small and it seemed like I was going to have plenty of room. The gun went off and we were off. And I had plenty of room. I was actually able to keep pretty close to the buoys and for the first section I was pretty much swimming all by myself. I could see a cluster of purple caps maybe 25m in front of me and just tried to keep the gap close. As I rounded the first bend, I started running into earlier waves. Another purple cap appeared next to me and I hung on her feet for most of the way back. Rounding the final corner we really started running into slower swimmers, so I lost mid way on the final stretch and had to go it alone. Overall I felt pretty good on the swim and felt like I was right where I should be. I exited the water and really struggled to get up the hill into transition - the sand seemed extremely soft and it was hard to run in. Not to mention the trying to catch my breath at the same time.

My transition was slow. Partly due to the fact that I had racked over in Utah. I still had a lot of sand on my feet and wanted to get some of it off before putting on my bike shoes (it was still there during the ride). At the last second, I also decided to have a gel since I hadn't had one before the start and it seems like I've been struggling with becoming starving on the bike. It cost me a few seconds, but I think it was worth it considering I was able to manage my nutrition a lot better this race.

Soon I was off on the bike and immediately felt fatigued. I started to worry that I really wasn't rested and if I was already feeling tired now, what was it going to feel like in 30 miles? I pushed those thoughts aside and reminded myself that the weekend rides I had been doing were significantly longer and I got through those just fine. I also reminded myself that it was taking me longer to feel warmed up and I should just try and settle into a rhythm and then re-evaluate. After 5 or so miles I still didn't feel completely on, but there wasn't much I could do about that and would just ride. And eventually I started feeling a little more normal (finally warmed up?) and just tried to ride at a consistent pace. Not that I had anything to measure that. I decided to go without a watch, HR monitor, bike computer, etc. I misplaced my watch holder for the bike and had been riding the past two months with my Garmin in my pocket, where I would take it out every few hours or so just to see what my mileage was. And I found that just going my feel and not being a slave to the clock seemed to really help me - my bike definitely seems to be improving. So consistency was just a feeling. I was passing a lot more people than I normally do, especially over this distance. I was pushing it, but not too hard, and just tried to take advantage of passing people on the few climbs and trying to recover on the descents. And I made the two U-turns over by IBM with no worries whatsoever. This is a HUGE improvement for me as I usually end up unclipping to make the tighter turns like that. I made a point to keep drinking and finished all 3 bottles I brought with me. I also made a concerted effort to try and stop drinking on the final stretch along Diagonal in the hopes of avoiding cramping on the run, just in case it was due to too much liquids. I pulled back into the Res feeling like I had a decent ride and was ready for the run.

T2 was a lot better and I was in and out in no time. I think they called my name as I exited, but it could have been all my fans just yelling my name. Actually, HEP was working the aid station right outside of transition, so there were many hellos to say as I started the run.

I flipped my bib around to the front shortly after exiting transition only to discover that it had ripped and was now only attached by one corner. Knowing that it would drive me nuts to have it flapping for 13 miles, I managed to attach it to the lower corner (which is not easy to do while running). So although I was running around with a lopsided bib, it actually worked out better for me since my shirt tends to ride up a bit exposing my belly, which I hate, even though I know it's silly, and this angling allowed for the hiding of that. The first part of the run is always tough. There are a few rollers and just getting used to the heat and the fact that its so exposed. Similar to the bike, I didn't feel quite normal at the start of the run, but at least I didn't have the same sort of cramps that kept me from running like at the Peak. I sort of felt like I needed to eat, but I was still trying to determine how "full" I was from all the liquids on the bike and figured I'd give it a few miles before having a gel. I stopped at the first aid station to get lathered up with sunscreen. It seemed like it would be a good day for frying and I've sort of had enough of that. I was slowly passing people and felt much stronger than prior years. As I was approaching mile 5ish, I saw Craig ride by cheering on all of his athletes. I think he was a little surprised to see me as he called out after he passed. At this point I was feeling much better and could just concentrate on running, so when I saw him, I got a little extra boost to get me over the dam. At the start of the second lap, there was another round of hellos to the HEPsters and another little pick me up. Heading up that first hill towards mile 1, Craig rode by again cheering me on. It was around that point that I realized that I had this race. I really had no idea about the time and had purposely avoided looking at the clock at the start of the second lap and tried to avoid anyone talking about time (it's screwed me before because what else are you going to do out on that hot run but calculate and re-calculate things. The last time, there was a woman whose daughter was pacing her on the bike and kept shouting out her time and that she was on track to get a certain time. And I knew which age group she was in and I knew when she had started in relation to me, so I did the math despite trying not to). But it was just a feeling I had. I felt pretty good and it seems like the start of lap 2 is always a bit of struggle. And I was still running strong and passing people so it was just a matter of hanging on. Of course, it's one thing to think this at mile 7.5 and a completely different story at mile 10. A blister started forming at the base of my big toe and my timing chip was digging into my leg with every flex of my foot (same foot), so every step was literally a little painful. And on that long stretch along the death canal, where it sometimes feels like a death march, the feeling of pain can sometimes start to take the lead. I told myself just one aid station at a time. 3 more before the finish. Last hill. And so on. When I got to the dam, I suddenly remember something someone once told me about a visualization technique and so I decided to give it a try. The idea is to pick someone ahead of you and imagine a giant rubber band surround the two of you, so it seems like the other person is pulling you along. And sure enough, I immediately felt a little bit lighter and a little bit faster. On the second dam I came up with some silly little mantra that I kept repeating over and over and before I knew it, I was back on the asphalt and heading home.

As I rounded the final corner, I saw the clock. 6:15. And I knew that I had shattered my previous best. I hadn't even crossed the line and started throwing my arms in the air. There were two other people next to me, with me in the middle, and somehow it seemed like they were slowing down and converging in on me. I pushed through them with a Get Out of My Way! sort of urgency and crossed the line with a huge PR.

I immediately miscalculated my time because race day math never adds up. I have a few bets going with someone I work with and we have to take the other one out to lunch if we make our time goal. On Friday, I had sat down to calculate what I realistically thought I could do. The number I came up with was 5:35. That seemed way too fast, so I told him 5:45, which also seemed way to fast considering I've never broken 6. But I decided to go with it because I've been feeling pretty good about my training. My first attempt at calculating my time post finish line, I came up with 5:35. I went to find Steve, who was enjoying himself at the massage tent. I tried screaming at him and gave him thumbs up, but we decided I should just wait until he was done rather than interrupt everyone's massage with my yelling. I sat down to wait and recalculated. And recalculated. I came up with 5:40. And recalculated a few more times to make sure. I was still ecstatic. We had a beer to celebrate and I finally made my way over to find Craig. He hadn't seen me finish so didn't know how I'd done. I told him 5:40 and immediately shared my excitement. I found my brother and shared the good news. At this point, I was finally getting hungry and decided to make my way back to the food tent by way of the posted results.

I had probably been done for over an hour at this point, so my results should have been posted. I found the 5:40s and started looking down and down and down. Couldn't find my name. And now I was in the 5:50s. Could I have miscalculated again? And by that much? I saw a friends name in the 5:40s and got a little concerned with my math skills. He had said he had finished a few minutes before me, and for some reason I thought he had started after me, so I kept looking down the list. It finally dawned on me to look up the list. And so I looked at the previous page. I eventually found myself at 5:37 and a huge smile broke out on my face and I think I actually said "No way!" out loud. I really surprised myself. And it was a HUGE confidence booster for good things to come on 9/12!

swim: 34:39
t1: 3:14
bike: 2:53:09 (19.4 mph)
t2: 1:40
run: 2:05:07 (9:33 pace)

total: 5:37:58

age: 14/74
female: 89/399
overall: 449/1193

108 is Great! A Journey to Horsetooth and Beyond

I'm not sure why I was dreading this long ride. Two weeks ago wasn't much shorter but the temperatures were way hotter, so this should have been a breeze. But I've just been so tired lately and the thought of spending all day on my bike was, well, making me more tired. The last few weeks have been intense - approaching 18 hours a week of training. So I guess it's not surprising that I've been struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I had already kind of ruined my long run of the week because I couldn't get up early, so my 16 miles became two runs of 8 each, separated by a few hours. It still mostly counts, right?

Anyhow, no excuses for the long ride. It was the weekend after all. I mapped out a route on Friday afternoon that was roughly 112 miles and the plan was to get started by 7:30. I felt like I owed myself a little bit of sleeping in time. And I had a horrible nights sleep, though I'm not sure why. I woke before the alarm and wasn't exactly feeling awake. But that's nothing new. I took the dogs for a quick walk and tried to force down some food while I waited for Adam to show up. He agreed to do part of it with me.

We were off by about 7:45 and I was immediately sweating. Does anyone else's sunscreen cause them to start sweating profusely as soon as they get out in the sun. I was dripping and it was barely 70 degrees. This was going to be a long, gross day.

We headed north to Carter via the mandatory Wisconsin rollers. Adam turned around at Carter and I was on my own for the rest. I headed up and around Carter and north towards Horsetooth, past the uncharted lands of two weeks ago. I had to stop and consult my map several times as the last thing I wanted to do was get lost in god knows where amidst the thunderstorms that were predicted for the afternoon (and the clouds were starting to look promising). I eventually made it to the L2L bike course, which made me feel better for having a vague idea of where I was. But it was the section of the course that starts the climbing. Fortunately the wind decided to pick up at this time as well. So the long, slow climb was even longer and slower. I've decided that I'm more like Contador and am probably better suited for the steeper climbs rather than the long gradual slogs. At least that's what I told myself. I made it up and around Horsetooth and began the descent into town. The descent is slightly more frightening when it's not race day. There were a lot more cars and I wasn't all that willing to veer too far out of the bike lane.

I made it to some big gas station right before the turn onto Taft and decided to refill and take a quick break. After mixing some more drinks and treating myself to a chocolate gel (yum!), I was ready to start the ride back to my country (it's a little scary up north). I turned onto Taft and was immediately greeted by an extremely pleasant headwind. Of course I did. The winds always turn with me. When I left Adam, he had a tailwind and I was looking forward to that helping me back into Boulder. No such luck. And the clouds were starting to worry me, though it didn't look quite as bad to the south. If I could ride fast enough...

During my two times racing L2L, I remember the stretch on Taft with fond memories. It was here that I was able to finally pass people for good on the rollers. Maybe it was because I was the only one on the road, but more likely because of the wind, but there went the fond memories. It sucked. One hill after the next - they never end. And it's so exposed. There's nothing to block the wind. Did I mention it sucked?

I made it through town and thought I missed my turn. I turned off on a side street to consult my directions, which I no longer trusted. Google maps to the rescue. What on earth did we do before GPS phones? Seriously. Turns out that I hadn't reached my turn yet. I guess it was just wishful thinking to get out of the wind. But nope, the wind wasn't ready to leave me yet and unfortunately I didn't have many options since I had to go south.

It was exhausting. All I could think about was getting to Hygiene. It never sounded cleaner. And still the wind kept coming. I got to that sharp turn onto 75th (north of Hwy 66) where it starts to go downhill and you can usually fly on in from here, and started to feel relief. There was still wind, but I knew it was slightly downhill and I was a mere minutes away from Hygiene, new love of my life. Some guy passed me on the curve (I had passed him shortly before on the slight uphill and I guess he thought it was payback time). But he just wasn't going fast enough and that just wouldn't do. So I flew past him and could tell he was trying to hang on to my wheel. I'd been riding for over 80 miles at this point and I was NOT about to give someone a free ride and so I pushed harder. He finally got up to me at the light and was totally out of breath. But he managed to huff out "You're really strong".

WOW! That's a first! Of course, he was a slightly overweight middle-aged man. So I just told him that it was the lure of Hygiene.

I finally made it and was so ready for a break. It had taken me almost 2 hours to go 27 miles! I felt a break was much deserved after battling the wind for that long. Naturally there was no wind in Hygiene making me think I had made it up. I double checked the weather for verification. 10-15mph winds. I didn't make it up. I hung out in the shade for a bit trying to motivate for the last 20 miles.

The last 20 miles were tough. Not nearly as bad as the 27 in the wind, but by this point my legs were just tired. I was hot and sticky and covered in bugs. And for some unexplained reason my knees were covered in dirt. Maybe the wind was blowing dirt at me? My one break of the day came during the last 3 miles where I have to ride up Baseline. I finally had a tailwind! And I made it over the railroad tracks without losing any water bottles.

I finished at 108.1. A little over 6.5 hours. 2400 feet of climbing and at least 2 hours into the wind. And being exhausted from training. Not too bad all things considering. I was supposed to run 5 miles afterwards and decided to shoot for 3. After about a 20 minute transition, I was out the door. The first mile really didn't feel so bad, but at this point it was close to 95 degrees and the heat was starting to get to me. In the end, I made it 2.1 miles and decided to call it a day. I am definitely feeling better about Sept. 12. For a while I just didn't think I was getting enough distance. The last few weeks have been intense, but I've gotten through them and each week feeling more confident in my training. Which is a good thing because there are only a few weeks left...