Because I'm a data nerd

IMTX and IMCDA don't exactly have the same training calendar - CDA is a month after TX.  Still, I was curious to see how my January 2013 stacked up against my January 2011.  I also love spreadsheets, so behold:

Ok, this doesn't look super great, mainly because while my excel skills are awesome, my HTML skills are the opposite of awesome.

Anyhow......

Swim:  I am kicking booty.  Not only have I swam WAY more in Jan 2013, but I am swimming nearly 200 yards faster per hour.  I was with a masters team both months (and swam solo a few times both months).  Maybe the fact that I'm in a meters pool now is contributing?  I dunno.

Bike: Jan 2011 was partially on a spin bike (I conservatively estimated 12.5 mph for those 8 hrs) and on the road.  Jan 2013 had one road ride and the rest were trainer rides.  While in 2013, I am short by nearly 100 miles in distance, my pace is dead even from 2011.  Considering that in 2011, 55% of my time was spent riding outside, which is typically faster, I'm pretty dang happy with a dead even pace difference.  I'm curious to see how my pace does once I'm on the road more.  Also, I lost 2 potential bike days because I was skiing, so I may have had another 4-5 hrs and 50-60 miles.

Run: I ran nearly 13 more miles in 2013 than 2011.  Cool!  My pace is 0.2 miles/hour slower this year, but considering how many recovery runs and MAF runs I have with heart rate limits and ~12:30 paces, I'm actually suprised I'm slower by such a small amount.  I think my tempo intervals and my 10 mile race speeds are faster than 2011, which is helping to even things out a bit. 

Summary:

• Swam 60% more distance at a faster pace.  Cool.
• Rode 40% less but at an equivalent pace, despite all of 2013's miles were on a trainer.  I'm ok with that.  A bit afraid of March when the bike starts to ramp up, but we'll just have to deal with that when it happens!
• Ran 20% more but at an overall slower pace (36 seconds per mile slower).  But considering that the majority of my runs are MAF runs or recovery runs with HR limits of ~140, which have substantially slower paces, I'm ok with only being a hair slower than 2011.  Especially when I ran significantly more miles!

I think I miss Ironman a little

I was warned about this.  During training and the race, you think "once and done".  Then, after a while that feeling goes away and you start thinking "hey, that wasn't so bad...."  Maybe I'm caught up in the fresh season of IM training.  Maybe I'm bored and looking for a challenge.  I don't know.  I'm seriously considering signing up for IMCDA (Ironman Coeur d'Alene) in Jun 2013.  The bike is pretty hard.  But its not hot.  I don't know.  Registration will open at the end of June and I have a month or so to think things over before I hand WTC about $700 of my hard earned dollars.  So I have time to do some soul searching.

In an effort to drag out my Ironman Experience, here's a series of emails I sent out last year.  I was part of a fundraiser team last year, and my race was IMTX.  I think the emails were a fun way of personalizing my fundraising (other than "hey, give me your money!) and after the fact, they're fun to read and see what I did last year.

March 28, 2011
As you may (or may not) know, I am racing in Ironman Texas on May 21, 2011 in Houston Texas. This race is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 run which I have to complete is under 17 hours. Since transferring to Denver, I’ve joined a local fundraising team called Sweat Equity, which helps to raise money to support local Denver charities. Through Sweat Equity, I am raising funds for a very important local nonprofit organization - LiveWell Colorado. LiveWell is committed to reducing obesity in Colorado by promoting healthy eating and active living. In addition to educating and inspiring young people to make healthy choices, LiveWell Colorado focuses on policy, environmental and lifestyle changes that remove barriers and increase access to healthy behaviors.
I’ve been logging a LOT of miles to get me through my 140.6 mile race. Since the start of 2011, I’ve swam 80,600 yards (45 miles), biked 921 miles, and ran 159 miles. And I still have 8 more weeks until race day!

Please help me in raising funds as I log my miles and cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

Thanks!

April 18, 2011
Just thought I’d send you an update on how the training / fundraising is going….

So far, I’ve raised nearly $500 – just $750 more to go ;)

On April 10th, I “raced” in the Ironman Texas 70.3 in Galveston. “Raced” is in quotations because this was really a training event – the goal was to practice things in a race environment but not push myself so hard that I need a bunch of time to recover. I was also lucky enough to ride part of the IMTX bike course a few days before the 70.3 to test out my Colorado “hill legs”. My friend that rode with me can attest that my CO hill legs are MORE ready for those Texas hills :) The main thing I learned from my long weekend in Houston was to not under-estimate the heat. The week prior to the 70.3 race, I got snowed on during a training run….. Conditions on the 70.3 race day were windy (18 mph SSE winds – mostly crosswind on the bike) and warm/muggy (85 degrees, 90% humidity). As I found out on my IMTX test ride, what worked for me when I lived in Houston for nutrition/electrolytes clearly doesn’t work for me now that I live in the land of ice and snow. We’ll just say that salt pills are now my friend…..

Galveston was fun – even though this was a training race, it was very clear that all of my IMTX training is paying off. I kept my heart rate relatively low and my pace comfortable for the whole thing but managed to finish 28 minutes FASTER than my previous 70.3 time, with personal best times in the swim, bike, and run. Definitely a good confidence boost and clear proof that my training is doing what it should.

Training stats to date:

Bike: 1301.43 Mi
Run: 204.35 Mi
Swim: 109212 Yd

A little under 5 weeks to race day

Thanks again for your support!
Erin

May 9, 2011
My race is in 12 days!

Here’s an update on how things are going:
I’ve fundraised $674.62 – I’ve had some creative donation amounts, which brings a smile to my face. THANK YOU. I’m over half way to my goal.

Training Stats to Date:
Bike: 1640 Mi
Run: 261 Mi
Swim: 129212 Yd (73 miles)

I have officially entered my taper. This is a curious thing, as my workload decreases in an attempt to let my body heal from the past 17+ weeks of training and get ready to race. Based on what I’ve been told, I can expect to still be exhausted (true), have random pains crop up (I’ve already had a very strange pain in my knee and now my back is sore in a random area), and I may be cranky (not sure how this differs from the past 17 weeks). So, what does a taper week look like, compared to a regular week? My last heavy week was 19 hours of exercise – 2 recovery days, a crazy track workout (2 x 2 mile repeats FAST), 2 short (1 hour) rides, 2 swim workouts, a Saturday long brick (5 hour ride, 1 hour run) and a Sunday long ride (6 hours). This week, by contrast, consists of a whopping 6 hours of exercise – 2 recovery days, 2 short bike rides (45 min and 20 min), a medium track workout (4 x ½ mile FAST), 2 low-distance swims (2400 and 1200 yards), Saturday 1.5 hour bike and a Sunday 1 hour run. See – EASY?
For the race, the heat will be my main challenge. I experienced 80 degree weather for the first time in Denver this past weekend, and my Saturday afternoon easy run was not so easy! Goals for the race will be to survive the swim (mass start of 2,600 people in Lake Woodlands), have a good but controlled bike (ie don’t go out too fast and stay hydrated), and then avoid the medical tent (dehydration) during the run, even if that means I walk a LOT. When I registered for this race, my goal (as is usually my goal) is to finish and to have fun. I will do my best to keep those goals in mind as I’m slogging through the marathon in 90+ degree heat with 100% humidity.

I hand my bike over to the TriBike Transport people on Saturday, which means no more cycling after Saturday (until race day). Next week will likely consist of packing and re-packing my things and obsessing over the weather. We fly down to Houston on Thursday, where I have my event check-in, Friday is equipment bag (bike and run) check-in and bike check in, then Saturday at 7 AM the gun goes off and I have 17 hours to go 140.6 miles.

I’ll send out an email next week with my bib number (I’m # 354) and the link to where you can track my progress during race day.

Thanks again for all of your support
Erin

May 18, 2011
Here I am 3 days before IMTX and I met my fundraising goal (and then some) – THANK YOU for your support (and for putting up with me since I started this adventure!).

Taper has been going well, I think. I really don’t know because I haven’t done this before. I’ve been doing short workouts with some speed pickups, and the speed is there, so that’s a good sign. I’m still pretty tired, but not completely exhausted, so I’m taking that as a good sign too.

Right now, the most asked question (after you’re crazy? A full Ironman?) is if I’m ready. This is a hard question because I honestly have no idea. I’ve done my training and my coach says I’m ready. Having never done one of these before, I really don’t know if I’m ready – I’m not sure I’ll really know until probably 10 miles into the run. This is truly a case of trusting my training and my coach and putting all of my hard work to the test. I did the math, and even with a fairly slow bike, I would still have 8+ hours to do the marathon – this gives me confidence that I will finish with time to spare.

We fly down to Houston tomorrow morning to start the Ironman festivities. Thursday afternoon is athlete check-in, where I get my race packet and my race wristband. Thursday night is the athlete meeting, where hopefully all my logistical questions get answered. Friday morning they’ve opened up the lake to athletes, so I’m meeting up with some Houston friends who are also racing for a quick swim. Swimming 15 minutes hardly seems worth it, but it’s on my plan, so I will follow the plan. Then I need to ride my bike for a quick 15 minutes, just enough to make sure everything is working ok. After that, I drop off my run bag, my bike bag, and leave my trusty bike on its designated bike rack space. Then Saturday, at 7 AM, the gun goes off and I get to swim, bike, and run 140.6 miles with 2,600 other athletes in less than 17 hours. I don’t have a goal time in mind really – just hoping to finish and be happy. My finish time will likely be around 16 hours, depending on the heat. I have a feeling that ice will become my new best friend.

If you wish to track me, there will be 2 places to look:

#1- Real-Time Tracking with MyAthleteGPS:
On Race day, you should be able to find a hyperlink to my under Ironman Texas: (the website has last weekend’s races up – hopefully Texas will get loaded soon)
http://www.myathletegps.com/EventTrackingInfo.html

#2: You can also track me on http://ironmanlive.com/ or http://ironman.com/ using my bib number 354. Be sure you choose Texas and not the race in Spain!

Ironman Live seems to have some delay issues, so the best bet is the MyAthleteGps, plus you'll be able to see the course map and my little dot.... hopefully moving forward! :)

Thanks again for all of your support – I’m excited that race day is finally here and can get this thing done!

Erin

Final Thoughts on IMTX

Its been 5 weeks since the big day - here are some (rambling) thoughts about my experience:

• My goal for the race was to kick ass on the swim, do well on the bike, and just get through the run.  I made myself promise that, should the heat get to me on the run, that I would slow down and avoid the medical tent and IVs.  I'm just not used to the heat anymore and one day wasn't worth getting a heat-related illness.
• The swim was great - it was crazy, but what sticks with me was the feeling of being one of the purple caps (women) weaving my way past all the green caps (men).  I remember thinking how INSANE the swim was with all the contact, but laughing and taking it all it. I mean, who does this sort of thing??? This was MY Ironman experience and I was going to enjoy it.  Really, the swim was crazy but I loved it.  That probably makes me crazy, but I'm ok with that.
• I love the bike course.  When I got to the national forest, I made myself breathe in the pine-scented air and ENJOY the scenery.  Enjoy riding with people.  Enjoy the easy hills and my awesome high-altitude conditioning.  This was the LAST TIME I was going to ride here, one of my favorite places to ride in Houston, and here I was, doing my final ride here - my final ride in Texas - during an Ironman. The whole ride, really, was great.  I stayed within my HR limits but still came in 11 minutes faster than I'd anticipated.
• Transitions - should I ever do this again, I definitely know what to expect and where to improve.  The changing tents were a bit overwhelming.
• I will forever make sure that my socks are in my cycling shoes and NOT in my running shoes.
• I need to figure something else out nutrition-wise for the run when its hot.  My stomach mildly acted up during Lonestar and it most definitely did NOT like my Infinit during IMTX.  I think it has to do with it being concentrated, as I can tolerate it at normal strength without problems. Definitely thinking about trying to live off the course for future races because for long events, I just can't carry enough drink mix in a practical manner.
• The run.....  I still have VERY mixed feelings about how much walking I did.  I stayed with my plan of avoiding medical assistance.  If I did push and ran more, I'm 90% sure that I would have been in real trouble.  For some reason, I think that walking makes me less of an Ironman, I guess.  Even though I'm pretty sure that walking was actually harder than if I just sucked it up and ran it.  But given that so many people I knew, people who live there and are acclimated to the heat, had issues.  Several puked, needed IVs, and were really hurting.  I was slow, but I was fine.  I executed my plan.  I raced smart and inside my box.  I kept my promise to Will about not pushing too hard.  That right there is a victory.  I just need to be happier about it.  Maybe I will be, in time.
• The volunteers were spectacular.  The spectators were great.  I loved the yellow signs on the bike (my favorite was "This sounded like a good idea a year ago") and all the funny signs that one family did for a racer on the run (Brent).
• The race planners did a spectacular job.  I felt safe, which is what matters most when I am racing.  They really planned things well and had nice touches (like portable ice machines for each bike aid station - they used 45,000 lbs of ice on race day!).
• Still not sure if I'd do another IM distance.  Definitely not a hot race, but maybe (just maybe) CDA.  The race was FUN, but I need to remember how challenging (mentally) the training was and how many lonely, cold hours I had from January - May.  I need to remember how I had no time (zip, zero!) to do anything fun during that time.  I think that moving forward, the HIM distance is best for me.  I feel like I can train for that and still have a life.  Balance is good.
• I now have life-long bragging rights that I am an Ironman.  :)

Ironman Texas 2011 Race Report - Run

After a successful swim and a fun bike, it was time to get down to business - get through a marathon on my own two feet.  Let me preface this RR by saying a few things:

1. I really don't like heat (I know - why did I sign up for IMTX in MAY of all things if I don't like heat!),
2. Since moving from Houston to Denver, I lost any semblance of heat tolerance that I had.  Mainly because I kept getting snowed on, as documented here, here, and in my many cranky snow updates on Facebook.  If fact, we were having a BBQ in Castle Rock a week before IMTX and guess what??? SNOW.  ugh. 

leaving for the run and feeling good!

3. Taking into account 1 and 2, I promised Will that I was not going to end up in the medical tent with an IV/puking due to heat stress.  If it got hot and I had issues, I was going to be smart and slow down.

I came out of the changing tent started running.  I went out the Run Start chute and saw a few friend faces and was remarking out loud "I can't believe my legs feel this good".  My legs felt AWESOME - too awesome.  I had just biked 112 miles - why were they feeling so good? (because you trained well and your coach kicked your ass - duh!)  So I went a mile, took a drink of my Infinit concentrate, and that's about when the wheels fell off.  Well, maybe the wheels went from round to square.  The heat and nutrition in my stomach was NOT a good combo.  It felt like I had someone taking all their fingers, wrapping them under my left ribcage and pulling with all their might.  Not fun.  I was still determined, though, so I did some run/walk intervals as I saw fit.  The run trail was an 8+ mile loop, 3 loop course.  You went out past Lake Woodlands (swim start), along the lake, then into a wooded path, then through a swanky neighboorhood, then into the canal area (swim exit) where you ran along the south canal, up past the Anadarko building, up and over the canal, then you had a mean out and back along the north side of the canal, up a hill and past transition, then you had a VERY MEAN run past the finish line where you started loops #2 and 3. 

very early on in the run

Somewhere along the south canal stretch, Anne ran past me early on while we were in the woods - looking great as usual.  I ran across my friend David (I still don't know how I was ahead of him) and he was having stomach issues also.  We walked for a bit then did a long run strech, where then after ~5 minutes, I decided I needed to walk again and David kept running.  And that's the last I saw of any other friend-athletes. 



Loop #1 wasn't bad - it was long and hot, but not bad.  I saw Will by transition, told him I was feeling decent.  Then at the start of the second loop things got bad.  With my stomach issues, I really hadn't had much in the way of nutrition - for over 2 hours. Which is BAD when you are 10+ hours into an endurance race.  I started getting dizzy and loopy - a sure sign that I was low on sugar and had to do something STAT.  Also: this sensation made is nearly impossible to run - or even run/walk.  At the first aid station in the second loop, I started hitting the coke, usually 1 or 2 cups per aid station.  I was trying to do a 2 min run/3 min walk, but in the end, it was actually faster to just walk.  (sad but true).  Just to show you how far down in the energy hole I was, it took the coke a full hour to do its thing.  Not good.  



near the end of loop #1.  still felt good enough to smile



By that point, from all the walking, I was starting to get blisters, it was a loooong second loop, and I wanted nothing more in life than to curl up in a ball and fall asleep.  I resolved to just fantisize about napping all while keeping forward progress.  I was just generally unhappy with life.  Unhappy that I was forced into walking.  Unhappy that my "blister-proof" socks - seriously, I've ran in these socks for YEARS without even a single blister - had failed me when I needed them the most.  Unhappy that my shoes also contributed to my blisters.  Unhappy that I had done the second loop pretty much by myself with no one to keep me company.  Unhappy that I was definitely doing my third loop in the dark.  Yep, just really unhappy.



if you look closely, you can see me walking off into the
darkness.  very crabby, indeed.



I found Will again just past transition (Loop #2).  He was there with our friends that were hosting us.  I was one crabby and unhappy camper.  They were all "you're doing great!  you look great!  good job!"  My only response was a very bratty "I have blisters, its hot, my stomach feels horrible, and I have another loop to do IN THE DARK.  I will see you in 3 hours".  And with that, I tossed my hat, sunglasses (who needs sunglasses in the dark!), and worthless hand-held bottle of nutrition at Will and walked off into the darkness.  I wouldn't even let him take a proper photograph of me.  I think I even told him to remind me later on, should I ever want to do another IM of how miserable I was at that moment, so I wouldn't do this again.  I really can't recall a time when I've ever been that crabby!

So after that bratty display, after a few minutes, I felt really, terribly bad.  My friends and husband were out supporting me, and all I could do was be crabby.  As I passed special needs, I decided that it was a good time to get my bag and take 2 Aleve.  I know its not a good idea to take stuff like that while you're racing, since your liver is under enough stress.  But everything was hurting and I thought it would make me feel better.  I'm glad I did. That loop #2 through the finish chute was just really uncool.  People don't know what loop you're on and they're cheering "you're almost done!"  Nope, I've got another 2-3 hours of this, but thanks.  Finally, after the first aid station on the third loop, my spirits were doing better.  They gave us glow necklaces.  I found some walking buddies which helped pass the time.  People were still out cheering. 

The one cool thing that I got to experience that the earlier finishes didn't was this cool/spooky glow-necklace lit forest.  Most of the course was well lit with street lights, except for maybe 2/3 of a mile though the trees.  To keep us on course, the race crew used glow necklaces (only they kept them as sticks) and put them perpendicular to the path.  They were placed every 3-5 feet or so along the whole trail, producing this really cool but also sort of creepy effect.  Either way, it was really neat to experience.  When we got to the swanky neighborhood, I started to out-walk my current company and was walking on my own for a bit.  When I got to the waterway, I met up with a guy from Louisiana and we were well matched for pace.  He was actually maybe a bit faster than I was going when I was by myself, but that was a GOOD thing.  We walked and talked, thanked people for staying out to cheer.  Passed the time and got it done.  Finally we walked up the last hill and into the part that went into the Marketplace, indicating that the finish was near.  He looked at me, and asked me if I was ready to run.  And we both ran to the finish - although he was faster than I was.

The finish line is a bit of a blur.  I remember that it was lined with cheering people.  It was very well lit - not harsh lighting but warm, welcoming lighting.  I ran down that chute towards the finish line, aware of my blisters with each step, but not caring.  I was going to finish strong.  I made the turn into the finish line - focusing on smiling and running strong.  The nice thing about finishing late is that you can hog the finish line photo all to yourself. Well, maybe 100 yards before the finish line there was a guy ahead of me walking. 

I was very irritated because I WAS NOT going to share my finisher photo with someone else.  I had a choice - hang back and wait for him, or sprint ahead.  I chose to sprint, which was fun, but I do not remember Mike Reilley saying that I was an Ironman.  Hmmm. 

I crossed the line, raised my arms, and smiled BIG.  I was an Ironman.  FINALLY.

I was immediately greeted my my finish line handler, who was VERY concerned about me.  Apparently people were dropping like flies.  He put my medal around my neck, handed me a water.  Then a photographer took my photo.  Fortunately I smiled because that was my "finisher medal" photo.  No traditional IM background, which really irritated me!  Anyways, my handler had my finisher hat and shirt and was grilling me on who I was with.  I kept telling him that I was fine (I was!) but he insisted on walking me to the end of the chute to meet Will.  He was nice enough to take a photo of me and Will together, and then that was it.  I was done.  I was an Ironman.

Ironman Texas 2011 Race Report - Bike

Leaving Transition.  I really wish I'd learn
howto put my helmet on straight.

Great swim, near crisis averted with me being an idiot and packing my ONLY pair of socks with my run bag, and I'm off for 112 miles on the bike through the forests and pastures of Texas.  I've ridden the course north of 105 many, many times and love it. 

Had no idea what to expect for the southern half of the course, but I figured it couldn't be too bad.  I got off and rolling at a comfortable cadence - heart rate was in the 150's and my focus for the first third of the ride was to find a good cadence, settle into it, and get those calories in.  The course had a few hills in the beginning, but nothing too bad.  I was pedalling right along when all of a sudden I got stopped by a traffic "worker" as we were crossing FM 1488 because traffic had been waiting "20 minutes".  We were all "WTH?  there's a RACE going on".  The worker said, not to worry, they'll make sure the time spent waiting was credited to our race time.  (yeah, sure, because they had someone there documenting EVERYONE's bib numbers).  I was towards the front, and as we sat there waiting, the crowd kept pushing forward, getting more crowded and angry. 

The vibe was (understandably) not good.  Finally after ~3.5 minutes, they let us cross FM1488 and we were on our way.  It was really crazy for the first few minutes with the crowding and cranky people.  Lots of people were unhappy.  Very understandable, but being upset doesn't fix anything.  The day before the race, Will's cousin Jeff (who did IMAZ in 2009) had some great words of advice:  own your space.  Own your physical space.  Own your mental space.  Do not let ANYONE affect your space.  I didn't realize it, but it was great advice.  I resolved to "own my space" which meant that I was going to have a GREAT and FUN bike ride.  That really was the theme of the whole ride.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bike course. 

I love this picture!

When we got into the National Forest segment (my favorite part), I just made sure that I took the whole experience in.  I was racing an Ironman.  This bike course, when I lived in Houston, used to kick my ass.  Now I live in Colorado and the bike course felt like a really fun training ride. 

Racers and pretty forest



My favorite part of the course is north of 105, when you get into the National Forest.  The prettiest section is FM1791.  Its a fairly narrow road, but you're surrounded by tall pine trees and the air smells so good and everything is so green.  Really, the section of FM149 north of 105 through to Richards is all forest. Love. It.  It was in this section I made it a point to ENJOY the ride.  This I love riding here and this was probably the last time I would ever ride here again.  I just soaked up every minute of the ride.  Loving how easy these hills were now, loving the beautiful green forests and pine scented air.  Loving the

                                                                    Ironman environment I was racing in.



My awesome sign that Scott made for me :)  Its
now hanging in my cubicle at work

Will and I made a plan for him to meet me at the corner of FM1791 and Taliaferro Road.  The key was for him to not have to cross the course (traffic lines) and have an easy in/out by foot to find me.  I turned the corner and looked in the crowd of people.  No Will.  Rode on a few hundred feet and there he was!  I pulled off to the side of the road to stop for a few kisses.  Even though I was only 40 miles into the bike, I was so happy to see him.  I gave him an estimate of each aid station time, based on my expected pace, and I was WAY ahead of pace.  He had only arrived to his waiting spot 15 minutes earlier. 

We chatted for a bit, he showed the sign our friends made for me, I kissed him some more.  A woman racer zoomed past and said "hey - no kissing", but in a nice sort of way.  After probably a few too many minutes, we said goodbye and I was on my way.  I'm glad he came out to find me - definitely made the ride that much better.  

Much needed Will sighting :)



I stopped to use the bathroom at mile 50, which is pretty good for me.  I normally have to stop somewhere after 2-3 hours (30-45 miles).  The volunteers were great - I even had a bike handler when I got to the bathroom line!  While waiting in line, I decided to have some Honey Stinger waffle.  It was all crumbly from being in my back pocket, so I made the decision just to eat the whole thing, rather than eating half now and saving half for later.  Boy was that a mistake - that whole waffle sent me into sugar overload.  For the next 30 minutes, I was dizzy and buzzin from too much sugar.  I stayed calm, though, and stuck to the plan.  Drink fluids, keep my cadence, keep my cool and the sugar will absorb with effort and time and I'll feel better.  I did feel better after 30 minutes, but I sure won't be eating a whole one of those anytime soon!  During the sugar episode, I passed by special needs, and decided that I didn't "need" anything and kept going.  I was doing well hydration and nutriton wise, so there was no need to stop.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful.  I kept passing/getting passes by a guy who had a whole stack of saltines in his back jersey pocket.  Finally I just started calling him cracker.  I'd pass him on the uphills, he'd pass me on the flats. 

For the hills, I just focused on keeping my HR and cadence steady.  Now was not the time for power moves by staying in my big ring and burning my legs up.  I think there were maybe ~3 times where I went into my small ring, and only for about 2 minutes a pop.  Normally I'd stay in my big ring and fight, but I really didn't think the effort was worth it.  Bravado sure, but at the time, it was more about keeping my legs fresh.

I got stopped for traffic once more going south at 105, although it wasn't as long of a stop as the first time.  The whole northern part of the course was a big parking lot with the traffic delays.  Some people were pretty pissed (I'm suprised they weren't throwing stuff at us), but some people were actually really cool and cheered us on as they were stuck waiting.  We had a bad patch of fresh rocky chip seal - and to make it worse, there was a line of traffic, so we were crammed on the shoulder with heat and exhaust bouncing off the cars.  It was only for a mile or so - not awful. 

I stopped at mile 90 for another bathroom break.  I really didn't "need" the break for the bathroom - I needed it to get up and stretch and re-set my muscles after 6 hours of riding.  Legs were fine, saddle area was fine, forearms where they rest on my aeropads started hurting somewhere around mile 50, feet started hurting around maybe mile 80.  Arms were bearable - no numbness, just sore, probably because for all my training rides I had on no fewer than 3 layers to stay warm.  That extra padding on my arms apparently made a difference in my comfort level.  Nothing that the occasional reach out to my shifters (while still staying areo) didn't fix.  My feet were swelling from the heat and were getting hotspots where my cleats were.  My left big toe was also hurting, something which I experience during the Katy Flatlands Century Ride last July and which gave me my first black toenail.  The pain was tolerable as long as I shifted my weight occasionally and even more occasionally unclipped my foot to stretch.  Also at mile 90 the sun decided to come out and it got HOT.  I dumped a bunch of cold water on my cool wings (special fabric sleeves that help cool you), and continued to dump water on them at each subsequent aid station.

We passed mile marker 100 and I pumped my fist in the air and patted my bike's aerobar.  This was the longest I've ever ridden and I knew that I WAS going to finish the bike.  I felt great.  A bit warm, but otherwise great. I was even passing people! 

The last 12 miles were on completely unfamiliar roads. You could tell you were close to The Woodlands but you never got a clear sense of how far away you actually were to transition.  We turned on Woodlands Parkway and it just seemed that you had to ride forever.  Around every curve, I was hoping to see the familiar transition area but the course just kept going! 

FINALLY the crowds got thicker. I saw people running (holy crap - they looked HOT on the run course).  And then I saw the flags and transition.  I was done - I'd completed my Ironman bike segment and felt great.  Total ride time was 7 hours even, clock time was 7:19.40.  Not really sure how I wasted 20 minutes with traffic stops, a kissing break, and 2 rest stops.  Maybe the traffic stops were longer, because I really didn't waste much time on the rest breaks!

I handed my bike off to a helpful volunteer - remembering to take my garmin with me for the run.  I waved to Will and told him that the bike went fine and I felt great.  Yes, I felt GREAT after a 112 mile bike ride.  How crazy is that?!?!?

I grabbed my bag in the run transition bag zone.  Made a smartass comment about how hot it was.  Another lovely volunteer grabbed a cup of ice, which I promptly tossed down my shirt.  I had a nice but only sort of helpful volunteer for T2. 

Feeling good and ready to run!

Maybe I just wasn't very well organized and didn't know how to work with a volunteer?  I dunno.  I changed shorts, re-sprayed my feet with TriSlide, had the volunteer fill my hand-held with water to make my drink mix, put on more face-stick sunscreen on my face, decided to have the volunteer use the stick on my back.  Somehow that all took 9:29.  I think I must have sat there trying to cool off for a while, or something.  Finally, I put on my running hat and left the changing tent.  I had a job to do - and that job was to go 26.2 miles on my feet before midnight - and I had over 8 hours to get it done.  Today I was going to be an Ironman!

Ironman Texas 2011 Race Report - Swim

So here I am, in the water, surrounded by 2200 other athletes with Black Sabbath's Ironman playing over the loud speakers.  No nerves - I'm just PUMPED.  No matter what, by midnight, I WILL be an Ironman.  The gun goes off and its just chaos. 

Craziness up close

With ~75% of the field comprised of men, it was hard to be a girl.  The men had green caps and the women had purple ones.  As much as I liked the purple and appreciated not having the typical hot pink, purple was kind of a dumb color - it did not stand out at all in the water. I'm swimming, trying not to get swept up in the adrenaline, trying not to get swam over by the men, and trying to keep my spirits high.  The swim was a ~1400 meter swim south, then a ~100 meter turn east, then ~1400 min swim back north to the canal, which was ~0.5 miles to the finish.  My plan was to start wide to the right as the buoys snaked around a bit, with the idea to swim to the ~4th buoy and save myself some yardage.

Craziness from far away

The first 1400 meters was sheer insanity.  As I was swimming along, I thought that I could either be really freaked out/angry about all the contact or just laugh about how insane this all was.  I chose to laugh - I mean, who does this sort of crazy thing?  It was also really cool to be one of the purple caps sneaking her way through all the (slow) men .  So yeah, the first part of the swim was brutal but fun.  Tons of people grabbing my ankles - if I didn't safety pin my chip together, I would have lost it with all the grabbing.  Tons of people kept putting their hands in the center of my back and pushing down - ON ME  - to take a stroke.  As a result, without my wetsuit to keep me buoyant, I felt like a fishing bobber.  It took a lot of presence of mind to remain calm with the pushing, but somehow, I did it.  I got 4 elbows to the head - only one really hurt.  And my "worst" contact was a solid kick in the breastbone.  Before the race, I looked at my fingernails, thinking they were a bit long but decided they could make good weapons if needed.  Well, after being kicked, I found that guy's ankle and latched on with those nails.  Who knows if he felt anything but it made me feel MUCH better.  During the whole "out" portion of the swim and the turn, I never found clear water.  Instead of getting frustrated, I just tried to find some feet to draft off of.

The second 1400 meter swim back up to the canal was actually really nice.  I had tons of open water and I felt like I could actually get a good rhythm and focus on form.  I felt GOOD.  I enjoyed being able to swim in my own space because I knew once I hit the canal, things would get tight.  Sighting was never a problem as there were crowds or landmarks that made it pretty easy.  Still, I probably sighted too much (just to avoid people).  I forgot to body glide the back of my neck, and my torque was having a fun little snack back there.  Oh well - hopefully it won't be too bad.

Is this a salmon run or a race?

I made the turn into the canal and immediately it got crowded.  People were swimming all sorts of speeds, some were standing up (even though they warned us that the canal was only 4 ft deep and could have rebar and glass at the bottom!).  I just did the best I could and tried to keep my cool.  As I got closer in, the spectators were out in larger numbers and you could hear them cheering.  I must say, as much as swimming in the muddy, crowded canal sucked, swimming with masses of people on either side of the canal was the COOLEST thing.  Then, our salmon run was done, I saw the last turn buoy and made turn to the ladder and climbed out.  I had no idea what my swim time was  (I didn't find out until after the race) but I felt GOOD. 

unflattering but at least I'm smiling
and don't resemble a swamp
monster

I saw some friends spectating as I ran to get my bike bag and then into the changing tent.  I had heard about volunteers helping you in the tent, but when I got there, they were all busy with other athletes.  No problem, I've done this before and can do it again without help.  The nice part about the Torque was that I had my bike kit on underneath it - so I didn't have to change.  I got my Torque off with only a bit of issue clearing my hips.  Then I must have sat there in a stupor because my T1 time was ridiculous. 



I then made sure to get some sunscreen on, lube up, and put on my Cool Wings (which took a bit of effort since I was wet).  I put on my helmet, grabbed my shoes and looked for my socks.  WHERE ARE MY SOCKS.  I dug through my bag some more.  Then emptied everything on the ground.  No socks.  Crap - I bet I packed them with my running shoes.  I grabbed my nutrition and crammed it in my bike shorts back pocket, then grabbed my bike shoes and headed out of the tent.  Very fortunately for me, a IM staff member let me into the run gear bag area to get my socks.  Thank goodness!  I probably could have biked 112 miles sockless, but I wasn't looking forward to it!  Hooray - my socks were packed in my running shoes so all was well.  I sprayed my (now grassy) feet very thoroughly with TriGlide, put on my socks, put on my shoes and trotted out of the run area.  Nearly twisted an ankle on a crack in the pavement - that would have sucked. 



Where's my bike?



Trotted down the grassy path to my bike.  Again,  was hoping for a volunteer to fetch my bike, but it was so crowded that just wasn't going to happen.  I found my row, found my bike.  Will was there waiting for me, cheering and taking pictures.  He asked how the swim went - according to him I said it sucked.  I remember saying that it went well.  I like my version better. 



Hi Will!  Feeling good!



I started up my garmin grabbed my bike and headed out to the bike start to get rolling along on my favorite bike course.....



ready to ride!



Swim time: 1:21:04  My goal was ~1:20 and with the craziness, I'm SUPER happy with my time.

T1 time: 9:56.  Something tells me having to go to a different transition area to find my socks may have something to do with this ridiculously slow time.

Ironman Texas 2011 Race Report - Pre-Race

Thursday
We flew down Thursday before the race and leading up to IMTX, I didn't have too many nerves.  But let me tell you, when we touched down in Houston, wow, did the butterflies light up.  All of a sudden, I knew this was happening.  We landed at 11 AM, talked with some other racers while waiting for our luggage, and were quickly off and running with our rental car, thanks to using TriBike Transport to ship my bike.  I had a 12:30 appt with my old chiropractor for a pre-race tune up.  While waiting for the appt, I stopped by and said hi to my old swim coach, who was overseeing a lunch-time practice.  Once I was all set and adjusted, we drove up to The Woodlands for athlete check in.  We showed up around 2 PM.  It was hot and there were a TON of people.  We stood in the athlete check-in line - it was loooong.  My friend Anne stopped by and made a comment that they were selling out of a lot of IMTX gear.  I was worried about there not being anything left by the time I got checked-in, so I made a slightly-smarmy move and left Will in the check-in line to hold my place while I power-shopped.  I ended up getting a visor, a bike jersey, and a tri top.  Its amazing how a person has no trouble what-so-ever forking over ridiculous amounts of money for things like this.  The jersey logo is cool - Texas is made to look like carbon fiber.  This is probably the first time I've ever wanted to wear something "Texas" - it helps that I don't live there anymore.  By the time I was done shopping, Will was only ~15 people back in the check-in line - PERFECT.  Check-in was smooth and easy.  Then it was time to pick my bike up from TriBike Transport - I was very happy to see my bike.

We had several hours to kill between check-in and the manditory pre-race meeting.  It seems that the race organizers wanted you to hang out in the Woodlands and spend money, as check in closed at 4 PM but the race meeting wasn't until 7:30 PM.  There was an athlete dinner from 5:30-7:30, but it would have cost $30 for Will to attend with me.  We ended up driving up to Conroe, where we were staying with friends, and hanging out in the AC for a bit.

Back down to the Woodlands and to the athlete meeting.  Turns out my friends didn't want to make a special 1 hour drive up for the meeting, so I was also responsible for giving them the cliff-notes.  We ended up sitting at table in the back with some empty seats - turns out, we were next to the people from our Denver flight.  Very cool!  Athlete meeting was nothing spectacular - no, you won't get your special needs bags back; wear your chip to the Friday practice swim; if the swim is delayed by weather less than 30 min, you'll start late but we won't extend the bike cut-off time (!!); if the weather is bad for more than 30 min, we may cancel the swim (!!!!!!).  The meeting ended earlier than planned - we headed  over to Chipotle for a late dinner.  Then back to Conroe and bed.

Friday

I woke up before my alarm ready to roll!  I had an easy 15 min bike ride to do - just to make sure that my bike was ok mechanically after its trip in a van.  After that, I did the final once-over of my run and bike bags (we had to drop those off Friday). Then I left Will in air-conditioned comfort in Conroe to do the pre-race swim practice at the swim start.  I met my swim team-mate Carlye at the parking lot across from Transition.  From there, it was a 0.8 mile walk to the swim start.  We really didn't know where we were going, so we followed the arrows, figuring they were meant to guide people to the swim start.  Turns out we were following run course arrows, so we probably walked a bit longer than we should have.  Got to the swim start with ~30 min left in practice, found Anne (also from swim team) and the three of us headed out on an easy 20 min swim.  After spending many months training by myself, I was so incredibly happy to be swimming side by side with my friends.  We had a good swim - the water wasn't too horrible (murky) and the water temperature was just right (78).  I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my final training day - training with my friends with whom I started this whole crazy journey with when we all signed up together last summer. 

After the swim, Anne went to ride her bike, so Carlye and I headed to Transition to turn our bags in and get our bikes set up.  By that time, Anne was done testing her bike out.  Carlye went home and I stuck around to hang out with Anne.  Another swim team (David) friend showed up and we decided to have lunch together.  Ended up walking over to the athlete check-in area (maybe a half mile away?) and had sandwiches.  Then it was over to the check-in area to get a few questions answered (really - you won't give us the chance to get our special needs bags back?).  By that time it was nearly 1:30 and I had been out in the heat for 4 hours - way too long.  We said our goodbyes and I headed back up to Conroe to do final preparations and to put my feet up.  Everything was pretty smooth and easy that afternoon, with a lot of puttering around.  I discovered that I had developed three (!!) unfortunate blisters on my right heel - likely from walking around in sandals for the first time.  Ugh.  We went to a country Texas Roadhouse for dinner, where I had a really boring dinner of chicken with a baked potato.  Then it was back to the house and a bed time of 9:30 PM.

Saturday

The alarm went off at 4:15 AM.  I had a pretty decent night's sleep and was excited to get going!  I had Will do a pre-race sunscreen application for me.  After Galveston, I decided to get some super-strength sunscreen - SCAPE 50 SPF lotion and SCAPE 50 SPF face stick.  We did a base layer of the lotion, put my tri top on, then we put a layer of the face stick (which was sort of a greasy, wide chap-stick kind of thing) around all my strap lines. I was NOT going to be burned!  Once I was dressed, we grabbed my bike Infinit and my special needs bags, and we were off.  The plan was to be at Transition around 5:15, as they closed it at 6:30.  Parking was a ZOO.  It was so bad that I ended up getting out of the car to run to transition while Will went and found a parking place.  Turns out that they were closing transition down EARLY at 6:15, and with the crazy parking, it was now something like 5:30 AM.  I got to my bike, gave Carlye my bike pump.  Neither of us brought flashlights, so we ended up airing up our tires by cell phone light.  Ahh technology.  Then I had to run over to the run and bike bag area to put green ribbons on my bags for visability.  By that time they were emptying transition and I was flustered.  Carlye was waiting for me and by that time, Will had parked and was waiting for us.  Then it was over to the swim start for body marking, special-needs drop, a pit-stop and the start of the race. 

Things were really crazy and it took a while to find the body markers.  One of my friends was volunteering as a marker so I wanted to make sure I found her.  After several minutes, I did, and I got my good mojo.  Then I dropped off my special needs bags, took a few pics with Will, applied a final layer of sunscreen, then kissed Will goodbye so he could get a good place to record the swim start.  Then I stood in a long line for the bathroom - ended up standing next to someone from Golden, which was really cool.  After a pit-stop, I put on my Torque but needed help zipping it up.  I asked these two wetsuit clad ladies to help as I anxiously kept tugging at the zipper.  I was over-zealous with my zippering and ended up getting the zipper caught, about 6 inches below the top of the suit.  PANIC!  I don't know what it is with me and Torque zipper issues, but I was having visions of swimming with my back zipper flapping open, with the drag negating any savings my fancy speedsuit would have afforded.  Thank goodness for these ladies - they managed to fix the snag and get me zipped up.  Then it was a quick run over to the swim start and squeezing in between people taking their own sweet time getting in the water.  I had 5 minutes before the race start and I was not going to be on dry land when the gun went off.  I managed to get in and positioned not too far back and over to the right side of the course, with the plan of swimming towards the far off buoys, and hopefully staying clear of the masses of people who were hugging the buoys.

They started playing Black Sabbath's Ironman and that's when I really got excited.  I was in the water with 2,200 other athletes, and at the end of the day, I would be an Ironman!

15:56:45

I did it - I'm an Ironman :)

Lots of thoughts are jumbled through my head and I know that I need to start writing them down before it becomes a blur. 

But for now...

ready to race

Bike is dropped off in transition.  Run and bike bags are packed and at transition.  Special needs bags are packed and ready to go tomorrow.

I WILL be an Ironman tomorrow!

You can track me at: http://www.trackmyathlete.com/VEmap.aspx?name=051628


or
 
http://www.ironman.com/

IMTX Nutrition Plan

Race week is here!  Race week is here!  (I'm not sure if this is panic or excitement here).

Here's a summary of my nutrition plan for IMTX.  I'm a bit worried that this isn't 100% proven since its been so cold here, but there's nothing I can do about that.

Pre-Race

• 3 hours before - Honey Stinger chocolate covered cherry protein bar, Coke Zero (my usual pre-race food).
• right before the swim - debating on sucking down a gel, just not sure.  I've never done this before and I prefer to swim on an empty stomach, so I may just skip the gel.

Swim

• nothing - hard to eat/drink when you're in the water.  And I am NOT drinking that nasty lake water.

Bike

• Infinit bike mix - lemon lime.  I've got my aero bottle (~28 oz), Profile bottle (40 oz) which will be mixed for a 3 hr intake, then I'll concentrate another 4 hours into a bike bottle for my cage.  Goal is to drink ~24 oz per hour.

• Water - I'll finish my aero bottle in the first hour, and use then I'll that for water.  Plan is to get water at every aid station (every 10-12 miles).
• Hammer Gel - half a gel every 30 min starting 30 min into the bike.  Keep this up as long as my stomach will handle it.
• I've got some Honey Stinger waffles and some PowerBar gels to try to eat if I get hungry.  On my long rides, I would get a bit hungry but the gels would take care of things.   Not sure how I'll feel during the IM, so I thought having some options would be helpful.
• Salt Stick tablets - 1 pill every 20 min (3 per hour).  Want to get in 1,000 mg per HOUR of sodium.

Run

• Concentrated Infinit mix in a hand-held bottle.  Still not sure how much I want to concentrate it or if I want to re-fill at special needs.  I think a 5 hour concentrate in a 12 oz bottle is RIDICULOUS so I may end up concentrating 2-3 hours (which is the mix I had for LoneStar) and see how I feel at special needs.  I have a feeling with the heat, I won't feel like taking in all that many calories, and typically, I take in fewer calories running than I do cycling.
• WATER WATER WATER.  ICE ICE ICE.  at each aid station.  I don't care how many bathroom breaks I make - I MUST stay hydrated.
• I think I'll try out Coke too.  Haven't tried it in training, but I hear its a magical elixer.

taper time!

As of last weekend, I am officially tapering!  While this is progress, it doesn't really make any of this seem real.  I'm racing a full Ironman in less than 2 weeks?????   Still not able to wrap my head around that - probably won't until the morning of the race.

So, what does a taper week look like, compared to a heavy week?

My last heavy week (2 weeks ago) - 19 hours total: 2 recovery days, a crazy track workout (2 x 2 mile repeats FAST), 2 short (1 hour) rides, 2 swim workouts, a Saturday long brick (5 hour ride, 1 hour run) and a Sunday long ride (6 hours). 

Taper Week - 6 hours total: 2 recovery days, 2 short bike rides (45 min and 20 min), a medium track workout (4 x 1/2 mile fast),  2 low distance swims (2400 and 1200 yards), Saturday 1.5 hour bike, and a Sunday 1 hour run.  EASY. 

Also on the list for this week:
Try out my new DeSoto cool wings
Order more Hammer Gels (huckleberry is my favorite)
Swim with my Torque speedskin on Wednesday to make sure there aren't any areas that rub
Change out rear wheel tube (current one is from Sept 2010)
Get bike ready for TriBike transport dropoff on Saturday

I would say the main noticable thing with the taper (other than having some free time) is that I've been having crazy, vivid dreams.  Nothing about the race yet, just crazy nonsensical stuff.  Maybe this is because for the first time in months I'm not 100% exhausted when my head hits the pillows?  Its kinda fun but not very restful.

What I'm wearing for IMTX

I'm 90% sure this will stick - hard to tell, since I've been training in 30-50 degree weather for the past several months, with really only one hot day (Lonestar) to test things out.

Swim:
This was my splurge (full disclosure: birthday present from Will).

TYR Torque Elite Speedskin

IMTX won't be wetsuit legal, which doesn't bother me in the slightest.  What does bother me is all the drag from my tri kit - swimming in that thing drives me bonkers.  I thought about swimming in my speedo, but then the idea of wrestling out of a wet speedo and wrestling into my cycling outfit (while wet) wasn't very appealing.  With the Speedskin, I can wear my cycling kit underneath AND I won't have to worry about all the drag. 

I ordered the Torque from The Tri Shop and I cannot recommend them enough.  They had the cheapest price and a really cool "try it on" policy, where you can order 2 different sizes and they'll include a pre-paid shipping label for you to return one of them.  I had an issue with the medium Torque (the zipper stop came unstitched the first time I used it and jammed the zipper about 2 inches above the bottom - made it REALLY hard to get out of the suit!)  I emailed the shop owner, and while they were out of stock in the Medium size, he contacted TYR and had them send me one directly.  I ended up hanging onto the large much longer than their "try it on" policy allows, but he was extremely understanding about the whole thing.  They also tossed in a pair of Timex compression socks for free - very cool.

Goggles - TYR Velocity.  I had a brand of goggles that I loved (Lane 4 Supernova) and sadly, they were discontinued ~1.5 years ago.  Since then, I've been struggling to find goggles that are comfortable.  I have a high bridge, and its hard for me to find goggles that don't hurt the top or sides of my nose.  These are very fairly priced ($15) and are really comfortable.  The orange/smoke color combo is really ugly, but that just adds to the appeal.

Bike:
I've been playing around with bike sorts all year, trying to figure out which ones were "just right".  I'm still not sure I've found the holy grail, but hopefully what I've settled on will be ok.  I am opting to wear tri shorts with a distance pad (ie more substantial than a typical fleece pad).  I've found that the chamois in cycling shorts is just TOO much for me and bunches up in the wrong places and makes long rides really uncomfortable.  I got a pair of Oomph Lava distance shorts in January - got a size medium hoping I'd lose weight.  The waist band is the narrow elastic variety, and early in the season, after ~5 hours it would cut into my waist and be a bit uncomfortable.  The pad, however, was actually pretty good - it has (for lack of a better description) "wings" that go down your inseam a few inches, so you avoid an extra seam or bunching.  My other idea was the Pearl Izumi Elite In-R-Cool tri shorts.  They have a more substantial pad than their other tri shorts and more compression.  There are 2 problems with these shorts, though....., First, there's a big ol' serged seam adjacent to the chamois - which means you have the chamois edge AND this add'l seam as contact/shafe points.  Not cool.  The other negative (for me) is that while the back of the shorts is nice and high, the front is VERY low.  This may be ok if you are a stick, but not so ok if you are like the rest of us - the waist band just migrates down during the run, making things hang out which really shouldn't show.  I realize this waistband was probably designed for pure cycling, but for tri's its BAD.  These are ok for a few hours on the bike, but due to the chamois seaming, 112 miles is a no-go.  I wore the Oomphs last weekend as a "last ditch" trial, and I guess the whopping 3 pounds I've lost in the past few weeks (ironically the ONLY weight I've lost) seemed to do the trick.  It wasn't until maybe 5 hours where the waist band bothered me, but it really wasn't very awful at all.

On top, I'll wear my new Pearl Izumi Elite Tri Support Singlet.  I like that its got built in support (I don't need much) and its CUTE.

During Lonestar, despite 2 visits to the sunscreen table, my back was pretty badly burned around the strap lines of my top.  I'm thinking of getting DeSoto cool wings to help alleviate the sunburn and to also help with the heat:

Run:
I'll be wearing my top from the bike (hopefully there aren't any weird chafing issues - I was ok for Lonestar, so here's hoping!).  For shorts, I've decided that I'm going to wear a different pair of tri shorts.  The Oomphs don't seem like they'd be comfortable for running, and I like the compression of long shorts for the run, as opposed to wearing traditional running shorts or a skirt.  I have compression running shorts, but the seams are not placed well and start to bother me at the end of a half marathon.  The seams in tri shorts are more more friendly and I still get compression.  I'll be wearing my Pearl Izumi Select shorts.  They don't have the weird low rise as my other PI shorts, but they still have the nice wide (and flattering!) waistband.

For hydration, I've typically worn a hydration belt (I have an Amphipod brand one), but they're really only good for ~3 hours.  For Lonestar I switched to a small hand-held bottle (Nathan brand) and concentrated a ~2 hour mix of Infinit. I found this particular bottle REALLY comfortable - the wrist band is such that you just loop your hand through it and you don't actually have to grip the bottle.  I have an Amphipod 20 oz hand-held bottle, and while I like it, after a few hours, your hand gets REALLY tired of holding onto it, because you actually have to hold onto the bottle, even with the wrist-support.  The Nathan one is small, but super easy to hang on to.

Socks - I am a HUGE fan of Wright socks.  They have 2 thin layers which prevent blisters.  Before discovering these socks, I was a blister-magnet.  Since switching to them (knock on wood), I've been blister free.  Love. Them.  As a bonus, you can usually find them on sale at REI Outlet.

Shoes - Brooks Adrenaline GTS II.  I have 2 pairs and will most likely be keeping one pair in my special needs bag to change at the half way point.  At Lonestar, my feet began to hurt from being wet for so long, so I thought that some nice dry shoes would be a mood lifter.
 

Hat - still undecided.  Do I wear my Jamba Juice visor, my TriGirl hat, or nothing at all?  Still not sure about this critical decision yet ;)