I survived peak weekend

It wasn't exactly fun or pretty, but I got it done and that's what counts.  I always need to remind myself that the training needs to be very hard so race day, by comparison, is "easy".  Soul crushing is kinda required for training.  And yet, I keep signing up for these things...  Last week was my biggest volume ever, at 21:15.  Fri-Sat-Sun was huge, with nearly 16 hours of exercising.  (and yes, I know that's ridiculous)

so here's a rundown on the weekend:

Friday

4,000 m pool swim.  I was nice to myself and "slept in" to 5:30 AM and was in the pool by 6:10.

3.5 hr bike ride.  Coach said hilly, I asked if my neighborhood was good enough and she said Deer Creek. Against my better judgement, I loaded up my crap and drove to DC to ride.  I did a warmup loop around Chatfield and felt pretty good.  I started up DC and immediately felt blah.  My heart rate was soaring (165+) and I wasn't anywhere close to the hard stuff.  Finally after stopping twice, I pulled the plug 30 min into the climb (usually 1:40) and drove back home to finish my ride.  2 hours of riding around my neighborhood (with a few big hills) and I was feeling fine.  No idea.  It was hot and I wasn't in a happy headspace.  I was also cranky because if I would have just ridden from home, I would have been done with my workouts ~2 hours earlier in the day.  But I had to give DC a try.  I pulled the plug because my HR was just too high and I didn't want to put myself in a hole on day 1 of a really hard 3 day training weekend.

This day was capped off my a 45 min run.  Fortunately it had started to sprinkle and the temps went down.  My run was actually ok and I saw a tiny baby deer.  Very cool.

Will was really awesome and went to the store for dinner supplies while I was out training.  He made dinner (grilled elk/beef burgers, sweet potatoes, zucchini) and never once said anything about how I killed his 4th of July.  He is amazing and I will keep him.  I started getting ready for bed around 9:30 and was greeted with the local firework show outside my bedroom window.  So I got to see some fireworks, all while sitting on the arm of a couch.  Not too shabby.

Saturday

1:15 swim at the Gravel Pond.  I got up at 6:30 (pretty late for a weekend anymore... sigh), made sure I was out there at 7:15 to wrestle into my wetsuit and be one of the first swimmers in the water at 7:30.  I started out at a good pace but got tired 45 min in.  And I kept getting lost.  I know, its a POND.  But sighting is really hard,  They have a few buoys to the halfway point and then you're on your own.  I try to use rock formations up on the foothills as a reference point, but that only works until the trees block them out of sight.  And using trees is challenging, since most trees look the same when you're glancing at them through foggy goggles for a half a second every 10 strokes or so.  Still, I got it done and the pace was ok.  Practice OWS are always slower than race day anyways, mainly because of the poor sighting conditions and because I have to swim by myself.

Immediately after the swim I had a 2:30 run.  I originally wanted to run early to avoid the heat, but I was specifically told to run after to run in the heat.  Great.  Also: blech.  A few days prior, out of the blue a friend sent me a text offering to run with me.  I immediately took her up on that offer and I am so thankful to her.  I tired brain couldn't properly calculate the time I was supposed to arrive at the Waterton parking lot to meet her (I told her 9 AM when it should have been 9:30).  She's so nice that this wasn't a problem, she just did an out and back and found me in the canyon.  And no surprise, it was hot.  I think I did about as much running as I did walking.  I didn't let my HR get above 155-160 and took a ton of walking breaks to get it down to 140-145.  I kept apologizing the whole time because this wasn't really running, and Amy was just so nice and was happy to get out of the house and have some adult time (she's got a 1.5 yr old).  I was just thankful because she talked my ear off and distracted me from my cranky thoughts.  If I was by myself, I know I would have been beating myself the whole time about all the walking and thinking about how Boulder was going to be a shit show with the heat.  Instead, we had a nice conversation and ran across 3 groups of bighorn sheep:

On the negative side, I ran farther last weekend in ~20 min less time (I also started 3 hours earlier and it was probably 20 deg cooler).  On the plus side, my hydration was just right and my legs felt good.  It took me 2:38 to go 11.7 miles, which is SLOW.  But in all honestly, if I could hold that pace in Boulder in 85 degree temps, I would be ecstatic.  That would be a 6 hr marathon, which isn't super fast, but I would take it in hot conditions.

I got home, got cleaned up, and Will took me for pie milkshakes.  Yes.  There's a place by our house that will take a slice of pie (you pick the kind of pie) and blend it with vanilla ice cream to make a milkshake.  I'd been wanting to go there for a year but couldn't justify the calorie-bomb.  This was my weekend.  It was delicious.

cherry for me, pecan for Will.  I don't know what Will did to justify the calories (or his 2 naps that day) but I wasn't going
to question it.

Sunday

This was my 6 hr bike ride.  The forecast was a high of 95.  Yay?  Torture is always better with friends, and I had a nice little group with me.  Thank goodness.  We did 2 loops of Harvest Moon, which is a local 70.3 course.  Its all exposed, which means sun, heat, and wind.  With hills!  This ride isn't exactly fun, but the nice part is that you come back to your car after 45 miles and can re-stock supplies.  And you can take a dip in the Res afterwards if you need a cool down.

We started at 7 AM and it was already windy.  The first 20 miles are a nice, gradual downhill which makes for a nice warmup.  My legs didn't really want to play, my adductor kept getting tight and I had to stretch it 3 times in the first 50 miles.  It was also pretty windy on the first loop, with a headwind on the way back to the cars, which also has all the hill climbing.  I didn't want to blow my legs out on the first loop of a long day so I took the hills super easy.  Like e-a-s-y easy.  I never do that.  But I also didn't want to make my adductor worse.  For another fun feature, at mile 25 I started to literally dry heave on my nutrition (Bonk Breakers peanut butter chocolate chip).  Not cool, especially 1/4 of the way through a long day and when most of your ride nutrition is Bonk Breakers.  I really don't know what the deal was.  I made myself nibble on the bar for the way back (a little over an hour).  Back at my truck I ate some Tums (randomly in my gear bag) and swapped out my nutrition to other stuff.  I barely had enough honey stinger chews and SunRype bars to get me through the 2nd half of the ride.  I tried to eat more of the pb-cc flavor bars and each time resulted in gagging.  I think they're too sweet when its hot out.  The PB&J ones were a bit easier to get down.  This was my planned race nutrition, so I really don't know if this was a fluke or if this will keep happening.  What I do know is that I have Tums in my special needs bag (or in a pocket), as that saved my ass.  And I need to have back-up nutrition if things go south.  I get tired of eating HS chews all day, but they don't take much effort to get down and my stomach seems to like them.

The first loop was a big MEH (wind, nutrition, legs) but you just have to let go of that and keep moving.  The second loop, fortunately, was much better.  It was hotter (way hotter) but there's something nice about knowing its your last loop.  But holy crap, it was hot.  Thoughts on the last 25 miles of the 2nd loop were something like this:

ok its hot, but I'm drinking ok, and I'm still on my bike.  I've got this.
why am I riding in front of the other 2 people I'm with? (they were way ahead of me on loop 1)
really guys, you can pass me if you want
response: I couldn't pass you if I tried
hills are starting, legs actually feel decent.  Sweet!
and here's the heat.  Wow its hot.
whyyyyy do I keep signing up for hot races?  didn't I learn my lesson during IMTX?
I never want to do Kona, ever
I really don't want to do Boulder, either.  This is horrible
eat, drink, eat drink, pedal.
wow, its hot
I just want to go sit in the Res when this ride is done.
ok, last big hill, now its 5 miles to my truck.  I can do this
wow, I'm actually out of water.  I went through 4 hrs worth in less than 3 hours time.  crap its hot
oh yay, my truck.
oh crap, I've got another 45 min or at least 12 miles.  I guess I need to suck it up and just get it done.  It won't be easier on race day....

We finished the 2nd loop and got back to our cars.  Brian was totally out of water.  I had one bottle left.  Melanie had 2 ice cold cans of Coke and gave one to me and Brian to split.  It was magic.  I don't drink Coke anymore, but this was amazing.  And it made me think of coke slurpees for the rest of the ride.  I had another 12 miles, Brian had 9 miles (he did some looping to keep track of us earlier in the ride).  Both Brian and Melanie were out of water, so we rode into the Res to get more water.  At that point, Melanie started overheating and was having issues completing sentences, so she went to go sit in the Res and didn't finish the ride.  Brian and I decided to suck it up and get 100 miles done.  We rode to the traditional left turn at Watkins Road, and that easily got us to 100 miles.  We had some clouds on those last miles, and I swear, the temps dropped at least 10 degrees in the shadow.  It felt so good.

Then we were done for the day.  It was Brian's first century ride, it was my 2nd hottest century ride ever.  Overall time wasn't too bad, considering the heat.  I drank 8 bottles in 6 hours - normally I'd drink 5-6.  No slurpee on the way home, either.  I got Jamba Juice - I figured it had a bit more nutrition.

Random lessons from the ride:

• I need back-up nutrition available.  I want to use real food but I just don't know if I can actually eat it.  I do know that I can get HS chews down and I have a bazillion SunRype fruit snacks that I can also eat.  (I actually raided my truck stash for loop 2 to ensure I had enough calories).  I'll have to be smart with Special Needs and maybe have extra nutrition stashed on my bike.
• We all drank WAY more than we had planned.  Holy crap it was hot.
• Osmo seemed to work.  I only had a slight heat headache.
• Calories, while low, seemed to be ok.  I was a bit wobbly, but I think that was from the heat, not lack of calories.  I ended up eating 3-5 chews every 30 minutes (or maybe ever 15) and I tried to nibble on the PB&J Bonk Breakers in between to get some more "food" in.  The PB&J ones went down a bit better than the choc ones.  I may just have to play with flavors on the course during the race (they have 4 flavors) and see what works.
• Legs actually felt pretty good.  We got done and it was hot, but my legs felt like they could do more.
• Bike comfort was actually good on the 2nd lap.  Maybe I was distracted by the heat, but I really didn't have any "get me off my bike" thoughts.  I do love my bike.

Closing Thoughts

• I am really thankful for my friends, who kept me company for most of this crazy weekend.  It really helped to keep the negative thoughts out of my head.
• That pie milkshake was awesome.  I may have one again this coming weekend.
• I may need to let go of any time goals for Boulder.  If its hot, I really can't have pace expectations. It becomes more of a "lets keep moving" situation.  I'd like to go under 14 hours but it all depends on the heat.  And I need to be ok with that.
• On Monday, I slept in until 9 AM and took a 1 hour nap.  I wasn't sore, which is weird, but I was TUCKERED.
• I have the most awesome husband ever.  Not once did he complain about how I ruined his holiday weekend.  Instead, he took care of me.  I don't know what I did to deserve someone so awesome but I am incredibly thankful for him.
• I think I'm ready for one more hard week and then taper.  I can do this. :)

Rattlesnake Olympic Triathlon Race Report

Weekend #3 in August and here I am racing for the 3rd time this month.

And once again, I'm making things interesting for my coach by throwing in some races that really don't belong with my season goals.  Fun stuff!  The main reason why I was doing this race is because I registered last year but had to roll it over to 2013 because I broke my heel in 2012.  I signed up for the "Crazy Back-to-Back" which meant I'd be doing the Oly on Sat and the Sprint on Sun.  I knew I had the endurance and strength, thanks to IMCDA.  I just didn't know where my speed was.  Only one way to find out!

Pre-Race
Hurray, I get to sleep in my own bed and get up at 5 AM.  This race is about 25 min from my house, which is AWESOME.  I made sure I got there by 6 to ensure a good transition spot.  My triathlon club runs transition, which is always fun.  I chatted with some friends, got marked up by another friend for good mojo (complete with smiley faces).  We've had a ton of smoke in the area from fires burning in Utah and Idaho, so sunsets and sunrises have been pretty darn amazing.  This morning was no exception:

I was instructed by my coach to do a 10 min run as warm-up, so I grabbed a few club-mates and we went for a jog.  Then it was a final transition check to make sure everything was just so.  I was a bit of a dummy and only brought 1 package of Honey Stinger chews.  I decided to save those for the run.  Fortunately, I had some spare SunRype Fruit Strip bars (120 cals each).  They are really easy on your stomach so I decided to eat that on the bike.  I also had 50% diluted EFS drink mix to drink.

I had enough time to wrestle into my sleeveless wetsuit and take a a chug of my (really disgusting, but really effective) mixture of 100 cal Liquid Shot + 1/2 scoop of Pre-Race, which makes me feel like a rabid squirrel for the swim start.

I headed down to the swim beach and got in the water.  I was actually surprised with how cold it felt and wondered if my sleeveless wetsuit was a good choice.  I brought all 3 of my swim items.  My full wetsuit, my sleeveless (which I had bought 2 years ago but NEVER worn, even in practice) and my speedskin.  I stood there for a good minute, debating on if it was worth it to run back up the hill and wrestle on the full wetsuit.  I decided against it, which was the right call.  I did a few little out and backs, mainly to get used to the cold.  Then it was time to get in line for the swim start.

Swim
The one thing I'm not a huge fan of for this race is how they do the swim.  Its a time trial start, women first and then oldest to youngest, each 5 seconds apart.  The benefit to doing the Back-to-Back is that we get to go ahead of the people who are just doing the Oly race.  That means less standing around and (theoretically) less heat as the race goes on.

I was number 43 (yay!) and my group of women seemed pretty friendly.  After not much time, it was my turn in the start chute to go.  #42 went on, I got ready to go and they decided to hold me back to let the two people with rafts go ahead of me.  I wasn't happy but I also felt like an ass for not being happy.  These two guys were racing with their disabled kids, which is amazing.  But I was pissed because I had to stand there and wait for them to get set up and into the water, watching all hope of drafting off of someone head way out into the distance.  Boo.

Finally I get to go.  Nothing but clear water - not a person to draft off of, which has been my recent reason for swimming success.  The cool thing about this swim is that it is 2 "loops".  The first loop is more of an out and back - the trick is that there's a yellow rope keeping the out side separate from the back side, so you don't really need to sight (other than to gauge where the last buoy is).  You just need to follow the yellow rope.  So that's what I did.  A few times I was following a bit too closely and swam into the buoy (or swam under it).  But it worked pretty well.

The start of the 2nd loop was a bit crazy because they were still releasing age-groupers while we were whipping through.  I saw a friend of mine having a really rough go of it.  She was swimming breaststroke and looked panicked.  Every time she came up for air another arm would come over her head.  I asked if she was ok and she said yes and I kept swimming.  The rest of my swim was remarkably clean.  Follow the rope, no big deal.  The last leg split away from the rope but I must have done ok sighting.  My pace was a comfortable fast - a bit faster than IM but not so fast that I was dying.

Fingers touched the sand, I stood up and then it was a jog up the hill, through wetsuit strippers, and into transition.

Stats:
Time: 23:13 (for a 1500 m swim, including wetsuit strippers and  a pretty decent jog up the hill into transition). This is a near 4 min PR over 2011
Age Group: 10/37
Overall: 101/315

I know that the race director uses a laser sight to place the buoys, which is pretty much the best and most accurate way to get the right distance.  I am highly skeptical that the swim was really 1500 m though.  That puts me at a 1:32/100 m pace.  I can't really even do that all-out in a pool, much less in open water with an uphill jog at the end.  Hmmmm.

T1
time: 1:32

Bike
The goal for this bike was to push at a sustainable pace, but not to push so hard that I couldn't run a fast 10k or not leave anything for tomorrow's race.  Ideally, I wanted to stay in the big ring the whole time.

There's not a whole lot to report on the bike ride.  I got on Merlin and rode.  There were hills.  There wasn't really much wind, until the end.  Just riding on a course that I'm very familiar with.  I tried to stick to my big ring resolution but that only lasted through the 3rd or 4th hill.  I was burning my legs up too much.  So I used my small ring and spun up the rest of the hills.  This was probably the right thing to do as my right adductor was whispering to me and I didn't want it to get any worse with a another race happening in 24 hrs.

I did get a "nice bike" comment at the turn around.  Merlin is pretty. :)

The last ~1.5 miles are the worst, as they're mostly uphill on chip seal.  Ugh.  Then it was a nice quick downhill into transition where I was greeted with cheers from my club.

Stats:
Time: 1:28:59 (40k)
Age Group: 12/37
Overall: 176/315

I was actually a hair slower in 2011, which was on my other bike.  I'm a bit disappointed about this.  But when I look at placement, I'm actually placed higher than 2011.  So maybe 2013 was a slower year overall and I should just care about where I placed relative to other people?

T2
1:20

Run
The goal here to was to run sustainably hard and to limit walking.  My coach's actual words were "if you end up walking, then we're going to really need to talk".

I was running ok-ish.  I was running for a mile then walking 0.05 mi to eat/drink.  It was hot.  And hilly.  My HR was zooming up to 170 and I just wasn't feeling it.  I did pretty good until the turn around and then the hills and heat got to me and I walked more than was ideal.  One of my clubmates (who is also a coach) decided to really yell at me to run (he ran past me during one of my walk breaks).  It was actually rude the way he yelled at me - I'm not one of his athletes.  (he did apologize to me for the yelling afterwards, he was actually trying to motivate me)  Everyone else from my club was cool, we were all commiserating with each other, giving a high five, and whining about the heat.  The run turned out to be long.  My Garmin clocked it at 6.5 mile and the RD did admit that it was long.  I tried to do more running that last mile, but I don't know if I did.  My garmin ate the file, so who knows!

yay - its finally over!

I'm not super happy with the run, but I don't know if I really could have (or felt like) doing more.  Maybe if I didn't have a sprint looming over me.....

yep, that's about how I felt.  This is the 2nd week in a row that I've been photographed like this.

Stats:
Time: 1:08:13  (10:58 pace.  Or a 10:29 pace for a 6.5 mi run, which actually is a pretty decent pace for an Oly.  Hmmm, maybe I should quit being cranky)
Age Group: 23/37
Overall: 211/315

Total Race Stats:
Time: 3:03:03 (I think that's a cool number).  This is a 3-min PR from 2011.  Thank you fast swim time.
Age Group: 15/37
Overall: 173/315

Post Race
I didn't eat any of the food, because it was bagel sammiches and I was avoiding bread with a Sprint in less than 24 hrs.  I did have my recovery shake, another bottle of water, and a bottle of Gatorade.  I was thirsty!  We hung around for awards and then I hung around in transition.  Then I decided I should do my coach-dictated cool down (either a 10 min swim or 30 min bike).  I chose to swim in the lake with only my tri kit, which made it sorta like an ice bath (but not as cold).  When I came back, my friends were still there and they handed me a beer.  Sweet!

Then it was home to put my feet up, eat, and get ready for tomorrow's sprint.

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2013 Race Report - The Run

Pre-Race
Swim
Bike

The run was definitely the thing I was most apprehensive about, mainly because IMTX was such a suffer-fest.  Then there was my broken heel last year.  And my longest training run this year was 14.5 miles.  I honestly had no idea how the marathon would go but I was doing my best to be open about running as much as possible.  But I will admit, the run was the scariest thing for me.

As I was coming in on the bike, I was actually thinking "I love swimming and biking the Ironman distance.  Too bad I can't just do those and be done."  Technically I could, but I was wishing there was still a way to get a medal and not DNF by doing that.

When I put on my running shoes, I noticed that my left foot was a bit sore from the "swim incident" and I just kind-of laughed about it.  I put my stuff on, headed out the tent and out onto the run course.  It never ceases to amaze me just how good running feels after riding 100+ miles.  And also: just the fact that I can run any distance at all after riding that far is sheer craziness. 

Just going to go and run a little marathon.  NBD.

The Plan:

• Goal HR is 140-145
• Run continuous for as long as possible (stopping at the aid station for a MAX of 0.05 miles to eat/drink)
• As running becomes more challenging, switch to run/walk intervals. I’m thinking 5 min run / 1 min walk is good. If this becomes hard, reduce run interval further. Minimum is 1 min run / 1 min walking. There will be no long stretches of walking during this Ironman.
• Keep a 5 hour marathon goal in mind and be prepared to really, really hurt from miles 15-24 to earn it. This is a 11:30 min/mile pace.
• Be mentally tough
• Focus on the Chi Running practices during the run for a distraction and a form check. Switch techniques every mile to help keep mind sharp. (I wrote ~5 things on my hand as a reminder)
• Be flexible about nutrition if what I’m doing isn’t working. If there is stomach cramping, change to coke immediately and ditch the chews.

I exited the run out chute, which was filled with cheering people, and ran through downtown CDA.  It is impossible to not be pumped at this point.  You're "nearly" done and crowds of people are cheering for you.  I was running a pretty good clip and feeling really, really good.  Like crazy good.  I could feel my left foot for a few miles, but it was still like "oh, yeah, that happened" and then after a while I forgot about it.

 

The run was 2 "loops", each consisting of an out and back. 

 

remember, this is only one "loop".  That hill sure was fun...

The run course is nearly identical to the bike course, with the exception of a few different turns through some neighborhoods.  I loved the neighborhood sections and the people who lived in them.  Their whole neighborhood was shut down so we could shuffle through it - a huge inconvenience.  They could either be crabby or throw block parties.  I'm so glad they through parties, it was awesome.  There was one L on the run route (I can't remember exactly where), but there was a guy on each entrance into the L with a microphone.  He'd yell out your name and say something funny and the yards were littered with people drinking, listening to loud music, and having a great time.  I really looked forward to those sections.

 

Michelle really wanted me to run continuously, for as long as I could.  I compromised and ran for 1 mile then took a mini  walk break for 0.05 mi where I'd drink and eat some chews.  I had 1 packets of Honey Stinger Chews (one regular and one caffienated) and was really trying to eat 2-3 per break. I was twisting through the neighborhoods and saw Michelle somewhere around aid station 2 (maybe?) and she ran with me for a bit.  I laughed because we were running down a hill (there was no flat ground) and she was wearing flip flops.  Just a funny mental image, my bad ass coach, running downhill next to me in flip flops.  She urged me to keep running and I told her I'd do my best.  I popped out of the neighborhood section and onto Lakeshore Drive, which is a big long gradual downhill for a bit.  I was still running.  Amazing.  They had us on the bike trail, which was slanted towards the lake a bit, which was annoying, so I tried to run on a worn dirt path next to the trail when possible.  The miles (!!) ticked on and I felt pretty good.  I was running around a 10:30 pace (and sometimes much faster) with a fairly easy HR and I was in a happy zone.

 

Around mile 5 you could see I-90 looming overhead and around the curve was the Big Hill.  Michelle told me to not even bother trying to run up the dumb thing and wanted me to power walk it.  Ok, I can do that!  And in all honestly, 90% of the people were walking that thing.  I got to the top, ran down the other side to the turn-around.  I remember hitting the timing mat at 6.6 miles and seeing my time and being really happy.  I even commented to a random volunteer that I could even hear my friends across the country cheering at their computers as they saw this split.  6.6 miles in, with an 11:00 pace.  Holy crap, I was actually going to do this!  I walked back up the little hill and then ran all the way down.

 

The way back to town was a slight uphill, which wasn't all that nice.  I think it was more hard mentally because the road just kept going on and you could see a slight uphill.  And it was a bit hot, but ice down my sleeves was doing the trick.  I was still running and feeling good.  Craziness.   

Could I look any happier?  And could this run be any prettier?

Then, finally, around mile 11 I wasn't feeling all that hot.  I was having some nutrition issues.  Either I had too much caffeine, too much sugar, or not enough sugar.  I felt a bit dizzy and buzzy and a bit pukey.  Not great, but not awful and I was still moving foward.  I tried to do a 5:1 run walk but that wasn't so great, so I went way down to a 1:1 run-walk interval.  Not great, but hey, I was running just as much as I was walking.  Still better than IMTX.  This went on through town.  I tried to put on a brave face for my fans, but they knew I wasn't quite right.  I hit special needs, and CDA does this RIGHT.  I came through and they had a guy on a speaker yelling my bib number.  I didn't even have to signal that I wanted my bag, there was a volunteer greeting me with all of my stuff laid out in her arms.  Awesome!  I ditched my caffeine chews, which I thought was the likely suspect for my issues because I had a LOT of caffeine, grabbed my non-caffeine chews and headed out.  On the way out, Michelle ran with me a bit more, quizzing me on my status.  I told her I was down to 1:1 intervals and she asked me to try and do 2:1 intervals because the fastest way through the run was to actually run.  I nodded and went back to work.

 



So that's what I did.  Down through the fun neighborhoods with my 2:1 intervals, taking baby sips of coke at each aid station and maybe having 1 chew every 1 or 2 miles.  I'm really proud with how I caught this issue.  Nothing goes perfect in an Ironman.  The key is being observant to those issues and troubleshooting them quickly.  I was feeling a bit rough until mile ~14 or 15 and then I was back to feeling mostly like myself again.  Legs felt good, feet felt good, HR was cooperating, stomach was decent.  Success.

Around mile 15 at the aid station entrance I saw a familiar jersey and realized it was my friend Ryan.  I poked him on the back and said "hey, I'm not supposed to find you!".  He's a strong runner and I knew he was having issues.  He had a person mis-direct him at special needs, causing him to miss it.  He was getting blisters and needed his body glide that was in his special needs bag.  And he was having a massive pity party.  We walked through the aid station and I gave him Michelle's pep talk about how you get through the marathon faster by actually running it and told him I was doing 2:1 intervals.  He was game and went with me.

This actually turned into one of my favorite parts of the race.  Ryan's my bud and he was in a tough spot.  I was happy to help him out (I think he would have walked a ton if I didn't find him).  And keeping tabs on him kept me distracted.  We helped eachother, and it was awesome.  We got to the hill and walked up it.  He whined about how fast I walked.  I laughed.  We got to the top and ran down the entire downhill to the turn around.

Then the second-best thing happened.  There was a guy with a ton of glow necklaces, handing them out to people.  I was a sad panda - I didn't want the glow necklace.  He asked what loop we were on and we said "second".  Then he said that the necklaces were for the first loopers and we wouldn't need them.  I hit the timing mat  at the turn around and did a HUGE happy dance.  NO GLOW NECKLACE FOR ME!  Seriously.  So happy.

We walked up the little hill and then ran the entire downhill section.  I had two watches on my wrist now - my Garmin for HR and pace and my digital watch for overall time.  I was trying to guess when our finish time was (we were both shooting for around 14 hrs) and at that point, it was looking like we'd finish around 14:10. 

By that point (after going down the big hill) Michelle and her friend Sonja were driving on the run course, yelling at us to run more.  "Run! Quit looking at your watch! You're smiling too much, run more!".  It was pretty comical, we were sticking with our 2:1 intervals and doing a good job running, and it never failed that they'd drive by during our walk break.  It was really annoying, but really very cool.  I saw some of their Kompetitive Edge teammates on the course and asked them if they had seen M&S.  They replied back with a "yeah, and they yelled at us".  At least they were yelling at multiple people.

With 3 miles left, I gave both of us a pep talk and tried to run more.  Which didn't really happen as it was uphill.  Ryan kept telling me I could leave him but I wasn't about to do that.  And at that point, things started to hurt and I'm not sure I could have left him.  With 2 miles left, I thought I was close to 14 hrs even and started shrinking my walk intervals and expanding my run intervals.  Not much, just 30 sec on either side.  Then we got to the 1 mile point and I really tried to run as much as possible.  I just couldn't run up the dumb hills, but for the flats, I ran.  That was the rule for that last bit: if its not up a hill, you're running.


together and running and smiling

We made the left turn to the finish and went through a parking lot.  Sherpa Jose greeted us and ran with us a bit.  I tossed him my water bottle because I didn't want it in my finish photo.  Then I guess we were running a bit too fast for him as he stopped and hung back.  We made the left hand turn onto Sherman Ave and we could see the lights of the finish. 

As far as finish lines go, I think IMTX was better.  It seemed longer, but that may be because it was narrow for a long ways.  They kept Sherman Ave the full width until the block of the finish line.  The streets were lined with people, but with the width, it didn't seem as impressive.  I dunno.

I tossed my chews onto the street (bad, I know).  I had them in my side pockets and they looked lumpy and not flattering.  I looked at my watch and saw the 14 hr mark pass and I decided to run but soak it all in.  Then Ryan and I ran to the finish together.  Really, really perfect.  Except for the part where I dropped my sunglasses in the chute and had to stop to get them.  Oops.  It was ok though, as it gave Ryan a chance to go through the finish line by himself.  I think he was expecting us to cross together, but I feel its important as a first timer to get your finish line photo by yourself.

As for how I was feeling, I'll let the photos do the work.  I really, really tried to soak it all in.  I even heard Mike Reilly call my name this time, which made me smile so so big.  Looking at the photos, I didn't realize I could smile that big. 


This photo is why I keep going back to do Ironman. 
I can't think of any other place but the finish chute
that makes me feel like this.





I saw Ryan cross and then I decided to do an imprompu jump for my finish.  I didn't practice anything and I really didn't trust my legs to be steady for a landing if I did anything crazy.  So I did a semi-lame jump that wasn't very photogenic.  But it was how I was feeling at the time, so I'll own it.

 

Apparently I didn't think to look up.  I guess I was more worried about landing.

Ryan was at the finish with his handler and I had mine.  I was a bit wobbly, which made me happy.  That means I pushed myself.  None of this "I'm fine" crap at the end like IMTX.  Nope, wobbles were good.

Our helpers were really nice.  They got our finisher gear for us (I tried the shirt on to ensure it fit) and they walked us to the finisher photo area and held our stuff.  Then I saw Will across the way and said "there's my person" and headed over to see him.


He looks concerned but really, we were just chatting.  I love this photo of us. 
My friends on facebook turned it into a hilarious caption contest.



See, just chilling, no biggie.

Stats:

First half (13.3 miles): 2:33:34, 11:32 pace.  This by the way, would be a PR for a half marathon for a 70.3.  WOW.
Second half (12.9 miles): 2:42:20, 12:35 pace.  I have done 70.3s with run splits slower than this.  Wow again
Total run time: 5:15:54, 12:03 pace.
Age Group: 62 / 112
Overall: 1413 / 2318

Total finish time: 14:03:28, 62/112 in my age group, 1413/2318 overall.  This is the highest I have placed in a WTC race.  And I had a PR of 1:53:xx from IMTX.  WOW.  And a daylight finish.

I really can't explain how it feels to finally have an Ironman time that I'm proud of.  No excuses of "oh it was hot and I had to walk a ton".  Nope.  I had my plan and I executed it nearly perfectly.  There really is very little I would change about my day at CDA.  It was about as perfect as it could have been.

I can't wait to do another and try to go sub-14.  I know I can do it.  Boulder 2014 anyone?

Oh, and this happened:

Turns out I broke my toe after the first loop of the swim.  We were sitting on the grass talking and all of I sudden I remembered that I did something to my foot and was curious about what I did.  Good thing I was sitting on the grass, because I would have fallen out of my chair.

I really barely felt it.  I'm glad I had a high pain tolerance - can you imagine if I didn't?  I texted Michelle a photo of my toe that night and I got the highest compliment - "you're a bad ass". 

Yes, yes I am.

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2013 Race Report - The Bike

Pre-Race
Swim

The bike is 2 loops that are really 2 separate out and backs per "loop".  You have an out and back along the lake to the east that has a small hill (that you also get to run over.....) and the bigger out and back is a series of large rollers and climbs.  The steepest climb is ~6% and about 2.5 miles long. 

 

keep in mind that this is only one loop's worth of hills.  You get to do that
big hill 4 times if you count climbing both sides.

We drove the bike course 2 days prior and the steep part (which I call Cougar Gulch - and so does Strava) wasn't ridiculous and about half way up there was the tiniest of a not-as-steep section that you could use for a mini-rest and you rolled up.  It was not awful looking and was totally doable, although I had my doubts about how much fun it would be on the second loop.

Nutrition:

• 40 oz 1/2 strength EFS in SpeedFill (2 scoops, 200 cals)
• 2 flasks of Liquid Shot (800 cals) (with markers for ~100 cals on the bottle)
• 2 packs of Honey Stinger Chews in my bento box, 4 more in a bottle on the rear cage
• 6 scoops concentrated EFS in a bottle on the back, re-fill every ~2 hrs
• drink at a minimum of every 15 min, but really, drink everytime I thought of the word "drink"
• :00 and :30 take a swig of LS
• :15 and :45 eat 2-3 chews, alternating between regular and caffeine.

Per my pre-race plan:

• Take the 1st hour / 15 miles EASY (especially the hills). Focus on getting feet under me and good cadence. 
• Target HR is 135-140
• Spin the hills and take them very easy (remember Elephant Rock)
•  If windy, stay in aero as much as possible
• Flats – stay aero as much as possible and hold 135-140 HR. Push a little bit but stay within comfort zone.
• Turn around is at mile 35 and 90
• Special Needs is at ~64 or 65
• Pee at least 2x
  

I hopped on Merlin and headed out towards downtown which was PACKED with people.  Will, Jose, Michelle, Cristin were spread out, which was really cool.  When I saw Michelle I got a bit of a boost and told her that I killed the swim.  Honestly, having my coach up there was HUGE and so awesome.  Even the parts where she was yelling at me. 

The first part of the course is a bit odd, because you go through neighborhoods with a ton of 90-degree turns, so its hard to get into a rhythm.  Then you head out on Lakeshore Drive and finally you have a chance to eat, drink, and get your legs under you. 

Michelle wanted me to really take only 5 miles easy to get my legs under me, but in reality, it did take more like 10-15 miles.  I don't know what the deal was.  Maybe my legs were cold from the water or maybe I was excited, but my legs were sluggish and my heart rate was HIGH.   I spun EASY over the first little hill along the lake and my HR was 168.  Ugh.  And my right adductor was tweaky again.  Even with preventative KT tape.  Awesome.  I knew it was going to be a long day and I KNEW it would be ok, I just needed to be patient and wait for my body to chill out.

There were bagpipers on the front of the first hill, which was super cool.  (note, there were fewer bagpipers when I rode through the second time... not as cool)  And on the back of the hill there was a huge party with ballons and music.  This was also the ugly hill on the run course and I was looking forward to seeing this on the run (note: all of this was gone for the run. boo).  I went up and over the hill, saw special needs.  It was set up really nice.  A nice wide turn and your stuff (and volunteers to fetch your stuff) was all laid out.  However, I was at mile 7 and had no need for this stuff.  Still, it was cool to see so I knew what to expect later.  I went up and over the hill again (still feeling weird) and was on the flat part heading back into town where I heard a "hey, I know you!".  It was my buddy Ryan.  He must have had a good swim and flew past me on the bike.  I only saw him much later on at the Hwy 95 turn-around on the 2nd loop.  Also, it was a bit breezy here by the lake, and I wasn't sure what to make of that, since it was 8 AM and CDA has a reputation for being windy.

I came back into town and my people had all shifted around, sneaky.  It kept me on my toes because I kept looking for them.  

That yellow awning in the background was called Zips and they were advertising
huckleberry milkshakes.  That was supposed to be my post-race treat, but they were closed. 
*sad face*

We headed out of town and over to Hwy 95, where the real work began. 

Pro Tip:  I did a super smart thing, or at least it really helped me mentally.  I spent some time on Strava looking at somebody's 2012 CDA file and wrote down the mile marker for each hill and how long the hill was.  I then wrote this info down onto a ~2x3 sheet of paper and taped it to my gel flask (I had copies on both of them).  The flask was on my stem, so anytime I had a question about how far the next hill was, it was really easy for me to pull the flask out of the holder and take a look.  Mentally, this was huge, as I knew when to expect hills and it also helped me time my nutrition a bit so I didn't have a big block of calories right before the huge hill.

The first big hill (Cougar Gulch) was at ~mile 18.5.  My legs were better but my HR was still a bit too high, around 145 bpm.  I took the hill super easy, putting it in my easiest gear and spun up the hill.  I don't think I passed anyone, but I do remember people mashing up all of the hills, trying to be heroes.  I just shook my head as I knew they'd be hurting on the second loop.  HR was a bit better, with a max of 165 at the top of the hill.  Not great, but not ridiculous. 

On Lakeshore.  This was also the view for the run

After that, I pretty much just pedaled, ate, and drank.  It wasn't the most scenic ride I've done, since it was on the highway.  But it wasn't bad, either.  Probably a 7 in terms of scenery out of 10.  The next hill challenge was Mica Grade (again, name according to Strava) and this wasn't bad at all.  Just long, I think it was ~3 miles to the top, but it wasn't nearly as steep as the previous hill.  Then once you're at the top, you only have some small rollers to the turn around. 

The road surface was a bit chip-sealy and there was a point after the second big climb where I was wondering if I had a flat or or something weird.  Riding just felt *hard*.  My HR was still >145.  My right leg was tweaky and I had to pee.  And it was only mile 30 of a 112 ride.  Somehow, I managed to keep the bad thoughts out of my head and just focus on riding, eating, and drinking.  I knew I was trained for this and that things would come around, I just had to be patient. 

I stopped at the aid station around mile ~31 (about 2 hrs in) and decided to re-fill my Speedfill and to stretch my leg.  I also had to pee, but there was a line ~5 people deep at EVERY aid station.  I didn't want to wait, so I re-filled and stretched at the same time.  It was at that point that I realized my Garmin was still on auto-pause, which was not awesome, because that meant I would have no idea what my true bike split was.  I still had my digital watch, but I really don't know exactly when I started riding.  I thought it was around 1:22, but I wasn't exactly sure.  And this also meant I really didn't know how long this quick water/stretch break was.  Bummer.  I was also a bit of an idiot and only added in 1 scoop's worth of concentrated drink mix. I had 6 scoops mixed up (2 for every re-fill) and I marked each scoop "line" with a maker, but with my fuzzy brain, I only added one line's worth of EFS.  I didn't realize this until my next refill, but that sure explains why my drink mix was so light in flavor.....

The way back north on 95 was better.  My leg was feeling good(ish), so it was a good thing I stretched.  I always hate having to stop and stretch, but I'm better off when I do.  When I don't, I end up losing power, which in the end, makes me slower than if I had just gotten off and stretched my damn leg.  My HR had also decided to cooperate and was in the upper 130's now.  The way back on 95 is generally easier than the way out, since the only big climb was the backside of the big hill, and it wasn't nearly as steep as the frontside.  And my HR was definitely doing better - it topped out at 161 and went down to 158 at the top.  Finally, after 3 hours of riding my body felt like cooperating. 

The ride back through town was really fun because of all the crowds.  I think I may have heard my best friend and her kids (my "nephews") but I didn't see them.  I saw my pockets of fans, in different spots than before.  And then I headed through the twisty neighborhood and out onto Lakeshore.  At this point, it was 3:45 into the bike ride and I really needed to pee.  The run course uses the bike trail along Lakeshore and I saw port-o-potties set up at the run aid station.  The best part - no line!  I parked my bike and hit the port-o-pottie, keeping a watchfull eye on my digital watch for the time.  I then used the stop to take 2 more packs of chews out of my rear bottle and into my bento box since I was nearly out of chews and to swap out my Liquid Shot flasks.  And then I was on my way.

My HR was 10 bpm lower going over the little hill, thank goodness, and life was pretty good.  It was feeling a bit more blustery but I couldn't tell if it is just windy next to the lake or if conditions were getting more windy.  And then I decided I would just worry about things I could control. 

After the turn-around I was out of water, so I stopped at the next aid station (mile ~64) to refill my Speedfill.  For whatever reason, I couldn't manage to do everything on the fly while riding.  I think the cap of my EFS concentrate bottle kept closing as I tried squeezing it into the Speedfill and I think the caps of the water bottles were doing the same thing.  So it was just easier to stop and fix everything than risk a crash.  This is when I realized I under fueled on the EFS on the previous refill.  I thought about adding 3 scoops' worth to compensate but I decided to just stay on plan with 2 and not risk distress.  Besides, it was only 100 calories over 2 hrs that I was down and I'm pretty sure I made those calories up with extra Liquid Shot and chews.

Then it was back into town, where I saw my fan club again, in different spots.  I did catch Will (he was taking a movie with his phone) and he asked if I was ok.  I replied back yes and probably something else and headed back out of town to 95. 

Next up was Cougar Gulch for the second (or third, depending on how you view the loops) and I was curious to see how this would be.  The second loop is always the hardest and I was hopefull that all of my Fridays climbing Deer Creek and Highgrade would pay off.  And it did.  I passed 14 people up that hill, and with each one, I made a little mental notch on my bike.  I tried to joke with some people as I passed them, or if I recognized their kit, ask them how their training compared to the course.  Most, not suprisingly, were not prepared for long climbs.  There was also a guy wearing a CU Buff jersey that I kept passing up all the hills (and he'd pass me going down).  By this point, I was comfortable enough to joke around with him when I passed him ("so we meet again!")  I was suprised that he was having issues since he was wearing a Boulder-based cycling jersey and he admitted that he had only been on his bike 4 times for training.  Um, have fun buddy.  I also saw a guy later on with platform pedals and shoe cages.  Why would you do that to yourself?

The remainder of the ride was pretty much a blur.  Mostly because I'd seen it once before and thing all kinda looked the same.  I was on schedule for eating and drinking and things were feeling good.  My HR was definitely happier as it maxed out at 144 going up Mica Grade and things were fine.  It was a bit windy, which was sucky, and it felt like I had winds coming and going.  There was an aid station at 5:50  into the ride so I took a quick stop to refill my Speedfill.  Then more riding, eating, and drinking.  Then I stopped at an aid station (at 104? miles) an hour later for another pee break.  No lines (it was 7 hrs into the ride) but also hardly any volunteers.  I could have used a top-off on water or an extra hand with my bike, but there was hardly anyone there. Lame. I grabbed one more pack of chews from the back bottle for the last 8 miles.  Good sign I needed another pack, that meant I was eating well.  I did debate about peeing on the bike, but I also knew that I needed another pack of chews, which was in the line of fire.  I just couldn't deal with pee on my nutrition so I stopped.

Coming down the front of Cougar Gulch was fun both times - I hit 40 mph each time.  The second time was even better because there was hardly anyone out there.  I love to bomb down hills and on the first loop several people were just coasting.  That meant I was going 35+ mph on a 1-car width shoulder yelling "LEFT LEFT LEFT" at people as I passed them.  The second loop was much sparser, and therefore, involved much less yelling.  Those last 8 miles were FAST too. 

I came back into town, where I was pretty sure I heard "E" as I came off the highway ramp.  I was pushing a bit, hoping to beat my IMTX bike time of 7:19.  With my Garmin auto-pause issues and not knowing when I started the bike exactly, I estimated that I needed to see 8:40 on my digital watch.  That time came and went and I knew it wasn't a PR.  I was a bit bummed because I knew my fitness was better, but I also knew it was a much harder bike course.  Consulation was that I also knew I rode smart and to the best of my ability.

It was a few quick turns and into the bike finish.  The finish route was sketchy and I was actually glad I was on the slow end because they took you on a narrow blacktop path that had some pretty decent turns into the bike in.  If it was crowded with tired people, it could have been ugly.

I thanked Merlin for an awesome ride and I thanked Michelle for making me ride up Deer Creek every 2 weeks, because the CDA ride wasn't bad at all!  I was greeted by a happy volunteer.  He asked if I had everything I needed from my bike.  I grabbed my Garmin and made my way to the change tent.

I had a really nice volunteer for the T2 tent.  She dumped out all of my stuff and started offering it to me.  "Hat or visor?"  I opted for the visor since it wasn't going to rain.  I took off my cycling shoes, changed from my heavier tri shorts (Oomphs) to my Altitude Multisport tri shorts (which matched my top).  I put on my socks and running shoes and remarked "oh hey, my foot hurts.  I remember doing something to it 8 hrs ago on the swim.... weird".  Then I grabbed 2 packs of chews and my hand-held water bottle and headed out to start the run.

Stats
56.2 mi split: 3:36:20, 15.59 mph
112 mi split: 3:46:28, 14.78 mph (ouch)
Total: 7:22:48, 15.18 mph
AG: 62 / 112
Overall: 1605 / 2318

T2: 4:30

IMCDA Nutrition Plan

When I was riding with my coach last Friday, she said it was time to start developing my race plan.  I, very sarcastically said "I suppose 'survival' won't cut it this time?".  Um, no. 

So, here's my nutrition plan.  I'd say its about 85% proven.  There's always a bit of an unknown factor, but hopefully this will work for me.  One big change: no salt pills.  Coach doesn't like them.  And after my 8 hr ride in Boulder, I don't think my gut likes them much either.  I was using PowerBar Energy Blasts (I love the cola flavor), but I read the ingredients and the glucose is wheat-based (really guys?  really?) and it turns out the Honey Stinger chews have a higher electrolyte amount.  Plus they taste good and they don't stick to your teeth.  And my stomach seems to like them too.  So I'm on board with Honey Stinger.  And the EFS line has electrolytes too, so lets just hope I get enough in for the race.

Race Morning:  Green Tea Extract (for caffeine), EFS, and a Honey Stinger Protein Bar.  The bar needs to be eaten no later than 4:30 AM since my swim start will be ~6:45 AM.

Pre-swim: about 30 min (maybe 20) before the swim, 100 cals of Liquid Shot + Pre-Race.  (seemed to work well at St G)

Bike: ok, this is where it gets complicated.  Goal is 250-300 cals per hour.  I've been doing more like 260 in training, but if I can get more down, I'd like to.  I'm hoping for 7 hrs on the bike but am planning for 8 in case there are issues.  That means 2,100-2,400 cal for the bike.

• diluted EFS + water, 1 scoop per hour (100 cals).  I'll have 200 cals in my Speedfill bottle and I'll have a concentrated 500 cals in a water bottle in my rear bottle cage.  I'll also have a concentrated bottle in Special Needs in case I lose a bottle.  Drink 100 cals per hour, or refill my Speedfill with water + concentrate every other aid station (or so).  I'm doing more of a "eat your calories, drink your hydration" approach.  This will give me some electrolytes but not mess with my stomach too much.
• 2 flasks of Liquid Shot (400 cals each).  One is up front in a handy little flask holder, one will be in the void space in my rear bottle cage.
• 4 packages of Honey Stinger Chews, 2 in pomegranate passion and 2 in lemon lime (for caffeine).  I like the cherry cola ones, but the color is too close to the pom ones, and I'd like to just grab chews and eat based off of color and not have to worry about which little bag I'm digging in.  I'll start with 2 bags of chews in my bento box, and I'll probably have a 2nd (empty) water bottle with another 4 bags crammed in there.  I did that for Elephant Rock.  You have to stop to extract the bags of chews, but I figure I can do that during a bathroom stop.
• Timing:  Drink to thirst but at a minimum, every 15 min.  Honestly, I'm going to try to drink everytime the thought "drink" pops into my little pea brain, because I don't think I drink enough.    Every :15 and :45 take a good swig of Liquid Shot.  I am shooting to use a whole flask in 3:30-4 hrs.  Every :00 and :30 eat 2-3 Honey Stinger chews, alternating btwn pom and caffeine flavors.
• Watch for stomach sloshiness and moderate (reduce) calorie and fluid intake accordingly.

Run:  whooo, boy, this is unproven ground.  Well, not completely.  I've done 2 bricks with the above bike plan and this proposed run plan and I've had 1 long run with this plan.  But I've never actually raced with it.  Yay?  I used to drink a concentrated drink mix or do Liquid Shot (sometimes with caffeine), but I've had issues with it.  My stomach would cramp or it would taste icky so I wouldn't drink it.  I did try Liquid Shot + water + green tea extract on a long run (where I also had chews) and I found that I gravitated more towards the chews and barely touched my hand-held bottle.  So chews it is, because this girl needs to learn how to take in calories while running.

• Handheld with water, so I can drink to thirst between aid stations.
• 2 Honey Stinger Chews (30 cals) per mile.  This works out to be ~800 calories.  Hopefully I'll be "running" for 5-6 hours, so this will be 130-150 calories per hour. I'll have the same flavors as on the bike so I can easily choose between normal and caffeinated ones.  This is a ton of chews - 6 packages.  I don't have a whole lot of room in my tri kit, so I will definitely be making a stop to special needs halfway through the run.
• Supplement with Coke as needed.

Hopefully this works for me.... there's only one way to find out.  :)

100 Miles of Elephant Rock

alternate titles: holy headwind, the elevation profile on the website was way wrong, and yay - its my last long ride before CDA

Yesterday was the final big day of my final big 18-days-without-a-day-off training block.  This training included two 20 hr weeks, back to back, with no rest.  Fatigue is my friend.  Or at least my companion for the past few weeks.

A friend (who is also doing CDA, Ryan) and I were going to try and ride together, or at least start together and then hang out afterwards.  The plan was to show up at 5:45 (this meant waking up at 4:45, ugh) and starting at 6 AM.  Well, traffic was bad and we didn't get rolling until 6:30.  It was also freezing (or 45 degrees).  We were wearing our tri kits (which have small pockets) and didn't want to dink around with sleeves.  I opted to wear my Cool Wings, thinking that fabric of some sort would be better than bare skin.  I'm not sure I was warmer or colder with them on - I just know that I was cold.

This was my last day to dink around with nutrition.  After last weekend, my coach has issued a strict No Salt Pills policy, because they messed with my digestive system.  She also wanted me to dilute my drink mix some more.  And since I wasn't relying on the aid stations for nutrition, that meant I had to bring everything with me.  I was planning my nutrition out the night prior, freaking out about how the hell I was going to carry 1700 calories with me.  Then I remembered I had 2 flasks for Liquid Shot, which is approx 400 cals per flask.  The rest would be made up by drink mix (100 cal per hour) and Honey Stinger chews.  I was extra crafty and crammed 4 packets of chews in an empty water bottle and put that in my rear bottle cage and I had a second bottle with some concentrated EFS drink mix.  Pockets - who needs pockets?

The main issue for the day was the wind.  When I left my house I immediately noticed that the trees were moving.  Crapola.  We had pretty much non-stop headwind for 2 hours.  And those 2 hours were all uphill.  There was a nasty hill at mile 4 (FOUR!!!) of the ride, which sucked because my legs were not warmed up yet, and with the wind, I was a bit defeated already.  We got to the top of a plateau with rolling upward hills and it was just windy.  I was getting blown around and I was right on the line of whereI didn't feel it was safe to ride.  Other people were really wobbly and there were roadies just blasting past me, too close for comfort.  I was debating my safety - at mile 15 of 100.  I stopped at the first aid station (I saw friends) and I even made some silly comment about "will they call the ride for safety - its so windy?"  Dummy.  I got a reassuring pat on the back from my friends and kept riding.  And in the back of my head I was just thinking that if it was this windy on race day, I was screwed (or in for a loooong day).

I made it to the T in the course at 1.5 hrs into the ride.  Turn right for 62 miles, turn left for 100 miles.  I had overheard someone say that the wind should be better for the 100 because the course goes through the Black Forest (trees!) and the trees would provide a bit of a wind break.  I don't know who that guy was, but I'm so thankful to him for saying that.  

This portion provided a bit of variation, as you headed east or south or west, which meant that you got crosswinds or headwinds.  It was gusty but doable.  The roads were crap and I'm glad the crowd thinned out because you had to be careful about where you were riding.  I had gotten so used to leaning left (while going east) that at some point we did a short jog west and it felt really strange to have to lean right.  I took my planned rest stop at Aid Station #2, where I ran into my two friends again (and got another pat on the back), re-filled my water (with some concentrated EFS) and used the bathroom.  Then it was back on the road.

I remember looking at my Garmin at the 4 hour mark and noting that I'd only gone 48 miles - a whopping 12 mph.  Damn.  I also knew that eventually we'd turn north and get a tailwind.  After the aid station stop, my spirits improved.  It wasn't solid headwinds, I was warming up, and I was just focusing on nutrition and keeping the effort on the hills light.  I was not focusing on miles or time. I was just focusing on getting things done.

Nutrition was a bit sketchy at first, but I got my act together.  With the high winds, I really didn't want to take my hands of my bars to eat.  And I didn't have very many calories in my drink mix.  Doing this for the first ~2 hours of a bike ride is ok.  Doing this in the first hour of an IM is most definitely not ok.  I finally started paying attention to the clock and my food and became regimented after ~3 hrs.  At the :00 amd :30 I'd eat 2-3 Honey Stinger chews (alternating btwn caffeine and non-caffeine) and at :15 and :45 I'd have a good swig of Liquid Shot.  And I was drinking at least every 15 min, although, if I had a thought of drinking enter my head, I would make myself drink. 

At mile 48 we had a pretty good climb that didn't seem to end.  At first I was a bit discouraged but then I realized the hill (and the timing) was pretty much St George.  Once I got that in my head, life was good.

We had BEAUTIFUL views of green grass and Pikes Peak the entire time. 
Unfortunately it was so windy, I didn't take many photos.

Pretty soon, I came upon Aid Station #4, so I stopped to refill my water and use the bathroom.  I ran into Ryan and another club-mate, so yay!  Friends!  Ryan and I left together (where he dropped me pretty quickly) and we got to conquer Roller Coaster Road.  I had friends warn me about this road (which was around mile 60?). Its basically an undulating upward climb with some pretty steep sections.  I had taken all of the hills pretty conservative (as well as the windy sections) because I knew that we had this climb and another one at mile 85, so I had plenty of legs left.  I passed so many people on RC Road.  I felt bad for them, because they were hurting and me (this little girl on a sparkly bike) was spinning past them.  I tried to make a funny joke as I went by, to make them laugh and distract them a bit.

Once you got done with RC Road, it was pretty much smooth sailing west to Palmer Lake.  I was flying along and for whatever reason, something felt off.  I reached back and realized I had lost my bottle with my concentrated EFS.  Really strange because the road wasn't that rough (compared to previous sections).  I'm just glad I was regularly checking my bottles and I knew pretty quickly that I'd dropped it.  I only had to re-trace my path a little ways and there was some nice (and random) guy who dismounted to get my bottle for me.  I had no idea who he was or what his plan was.  Maybe he liked my water bottle.  Either way, I got my bottle back and hit the road. 

I went through Palmer Lake and I knew I was in for a treat.  We had now made the turn north.  This meant tailwind AND I knew we got to go downhill.  It was a bit congested but I just FLEW down the hill - max speed was 46.3 mph.  I really enjoyed the way down from Palmer Lake because it is sort-of my home turf.  I know the road so well and what to expect. 

I ended up stopping at Aid Station #6 at mile 85 to top off on fluids and use the bathroom.  There were some ladies with stuffed elephants affixed to their helmets.  They were also on road bikes with platform pedals.  WHY on earth would you do a 100 mile hilly ride on platform pedals?  (I also saw people on cruisers and mtn bikes.... and they were not the super-fit humble-brag type of people either).  More power to these people, but damn.  These ladies didn't know the area, so I warned them about Tomah Road, which has a bit of a nasty rolling hill.  At mile 85 of 100.  Not very nice.  I had ridden this hill twice (at the end of some 50 mile rides) and I wasn't very fond of it.  I had the aid station workers pour water on my Cool Wings and I hit the road.

*random aside*  people were TERRIBLE with their bike handling.  We had the wobbly slow people (understandable with the wind) and roadies.  When passing, I'd give the wobblies a wide berth - and more than once I had people pass me on the left (while I was passing) and I'd have someone zip past me on the right, between me and the wobbly I was passing.  I also had several instances where we had the ENTIRE lane and someone would zoom past me, 6 inches from my bars.  Really?  And I also saw a poor guy wobbling up a hill with a car behind him.  The car was actually being really nice but the guy swerved in front of the car.  When I passed him, I told him to be careful and that he nearly got hit. And finally, at the last aid station, I gradually slowed to a stop at the side of the road (on the white line) and some chick contacted my back wheel (WTF?).  She continued to ride into the aid station (uphill on dirt) and then wrecked.  This was some of the worst riding ettiquite I have ever seen.

I knew what to expect from Tomah and was curious to see how I'd do, 85 miles into 100 and on very tired legs.  I was very, pleasantly suprised.  I passed a ton of people (several of which were mashing and NOT in their easiest gear - WTF?) and again, tried to make jokes as I passed them.  This climb felt easy, which was so cool.  Normally I'd be huffing and puffing and wanting to die.  This time I had surplus air for conversation.  In looking at my stats, my heart rate max for this hill was 12 bpm LOWER (at 2x the distance under my legs).  So, as much as I hate Deer Creek and High Grade, I also kinda love it, because I can climb hills.

I crested Tomah and gave myself a congratulatory fist pump because I knew the hills were done and my legs still felt good.  The ride planners were really mean, though, and made us turn south for a few more miles along a frontage road, and back into the headwind.  I just made myself stay aero and focused on easy legs since I had to run 40 min after the ride.  We got to the I-25 overpass and made the turnaround to go north back to Castle Rock.  I was so distracted by poor riders that I turned a bit too early and actually went on the I-25 entrance ramp instead of the frontage road.  Ooops!  The cops made a comment about how they'd like to see me go 80 mph on my bike on the highway.  Back on the correct frontage road, I had flat terrain and wind at my back.  That meant a nice easy cruise at 23 mph.  Then it was up and over a few hills through a neighborhood to the finish.  I dropped my chain on the 2nd to last turn (WTF?) and then got a bit disorientated as I had parked by a grocery store close to the running trail and not the County Fairgrounds.  I got my bearings, fought traffic, and got back to my truck in 100.7 miles and a whopping 7:14.  My coach had originally planned 7 hrs for the ride and I thought she was dissing me as I'd done 100 miles two weeks prior in 6:09.  Apparently my coach is wiser than me.  Also, the event website is mega-wrong on the elevation gain.  They had 3900 ft gain.... my Garmin clocked me at 6300 ft.  More than CDA.  And my legs felt awesome.  Go me!

Ryan sent me a text saying he was already running (of course) and he'd meet me at the fairgrounds.  I swapped my bike gear for my run gear and headed off for a 40 min run.  I'm always amazed that I can run after a bike ride, but especially amazed after a 100 mile hill ride.  I ended up doing a 0.9 mi run and a 0.1 mi walk (to replicate aid stations) and that worked out fine.  My coach told me last week that she'd like me to run through the aid stations (and to run for as long as possible before walking) but I think mentally, I need a walk break.  It brings my heart rate down and gives me a chance to re-set.    The run wasn't super exciting, but I got it done.  3.5 miles in 40 min.  And then my friend and I celebrated our last long workout with beer and wings.  Yay!

3 more weeks to IMCDA!

Random pretty iris photo from my yard.