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.

Dear Mother Nature (again)

Its May 11th and I have my final taper track workout tonight.

STOP SNOWING.

UGH.

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.

We are home owners (again!)

Yesterday we signed the contract on our new house!
 (Pics from the listing)

The hardwoods need refinishing, so we're going to get that done before we move in.  Our lease is up at the end of June, but our landlord is cool with us breaking our lease IF she can find new tenants before our lease is up.  We are crammed in this tiny rental, so our goal for the next 2 weeks is to move all the boxes and extra furniture to the new house (hello - Ironman taper?) so the rental is more presentable for renters.  Honestly, I'd rather wait until after IMTX to do this crap, but if it saves us a month's rent, I will make it happen.

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 ;)

April 2011 totals

Another good solid month of training.  The only bummer is that the weather has been CRAPPY all month.... snow and wind have made cycling outside challenging. :(

• Bike: 35h 04m 02s - 505.06 Mi  (40 miles and 3 hours less than March - guess that means I'm getting faster?  Bike amount is also slightly down because I flew to Houston for a HIM)
• Run: 16h 05m 41s - 82.66 Mi  (UP by 20 miles)
• Swim: 14h 20m 24s - 38312 Yd  (UP by 6,000 yards)
• Core Training: 30m

At first, I was bummed that my numbers weren't even higher, but after looking at the numbers AND the calendar, I've changed my mind. Overall, I'd say this is REALLY solid, considering I had 2 travel days and a 5-day recovery period thrown in there.

Evaluation of April's goals:

• Ride the IMTX course on April 8th to refresh my memory on the course, and hopefully give myself a confidence boost. HUGE confidence boost, and the hills were EASY.  Really, in the 3.5 hours I was out (and on the hilliest section) there were maybe 3 hills that got my attention.  I was crusing and it felt awesome.  That is, until the heat got to me and I got really stupid.  Very good lesson on how to handle the heat - increased my sodium from 400 mg/hr to 1,000 mg/hr during Lonestar, and that really did the trick.  Glad I figured this out before IMTX.
• Use Lonestar as a training race, not a race-race. Really try to run the whole run, even though it will be warm. Still, I'm curious to see how I do on the race overall compared to last year, since my fitness is so much better. As reported here I CRUSHED my previous time by 28 minutes and came in at 6:58.  Most surprising was that I PR'd the run, even with walking 1/3 of it and taking a bathroom break.  My previous HIM PR was in Boise where I ran the whole thing.  This definitely says a lot about my running speed and how its improved.
• Get all my IMTX kinks worked out, specifically nutrition, clothes. I switched to non-protein Infinit last week and I got a new Pearl Izumi Race kit for the IM. Going to use Lonestar to test out both of these. I think I've got 90% of the kinks worked out.  Its not completely final, since its so cold here.  Pretty hard to test out 95 degree weather gear when its 40 degrees out.  However, the new Infinit mix is working well, and I like the PI top I got.  I'll probably add a set of DeSoto Cool Wings to my gear list, to try and prevent severe sunburn.
• Stay healthy.  Good part: I haven't been sick!  Not so good part: my nagging left calf and right thigh issues are back, but intermittently.  I've been getting weekly massages, which include REALLY painful myofacial release of my shins and calves, which I think are helping.  Listening to my body is REALLY important now, as I don't want any last minute problems cropping up.

Goals for May

wooo boy, goals for the BIG month.

• STAY HEALTHY - this is priority #1.  This means listening to my body, even if it means not completing my workout. 
• Finalize IMTX clothing and logistics
• Respect the taper.
• We close on our house on May 5th, so I also have to get that worked out.  We may be moving at the end of the month, not sure yet.
• and the most important goal for May..... HAVE FUN AT IMTX

354

My bib number for IMTX is 354

Holy schmoley. 

Also: there are 2685 participants.  With a mass start in a narrow lake... At its widest, its 500 ft?  And at its narrowest - maybe the width of 2 taxi boats? 

Commence freaking out.

Ramblings - IMTX Peak Week Edition

I'm at the point now where coherent thought is iffy but I have a whole lot of things rattling around in my poor little head.  Here's a sampling:

I am officially over snow and cold.  I woke up YET AGAIN this morning to see a dusting of snow on the ground.  Normally, I'd be "yeah, snow! awesome!".  But there's somtehing about this little race in Houston in nearly 3 weeks in 90+ degree temperatures that's not making snow so awesome right now.  Saturday I had a 2.5 hour ride / 1.5 hour run brick, and I decided to drive up to Longmont, ride around, then run on the St Vrain trail.  I didn't even close to Longmont before big puffy snowflakes started falling.  I about started crying right there.  I will put up with a lot of stuff, but I just won't ride my bike while its snowing.  So, I went back home to workout on my trainer, but mentally, I was defeated.  I really wanted to ride outside and while I know the trainer is actually a harder workout, I have little nagging voices in the back of my head, wondering if my race will be ok since I've been having to ride inside so much.

And speaking of 90 degrees, I really don't know what to do.  Ikeep reading on slowtwitch and beginnertriathlete about how IMTX will be a suffer fest because of the heat, but I really don't have a way to train for it.  Granted, I knew about this when I signed up for the race last June, but I had NO IDEA I'd move.  So, do I spend my taper sitting in a steam sauna?  Do I wear a bazillion layers while working out?  Do I just shrug my shoulders, knowing its out of my control?  Honestly, this heat thing is consuming about 90% of my thoughts - and mainly its frustration.  The heat is simply out of my control.  A very hard thing to rationalize for a control freak like me.

I feel a bit like a mental patient with these dissenting voices.  I've trained hard and I know I can do this.  I just don't know if I can do this (if that makes sense?).  Theoretical versus practical, with NO practical experience in this. 

I am at the point where I'm just tired and want to get this over with.  For nearly every workout, I'm having to give myself a pep-talk, just to get started.  Generally, once I get moving, I'm fine.  But wow, its a bit hard to get motivated (especially with snow on the ground).  Fortunately (or not?) my fear of "I won't be able to complete the race if I miss this one workout" provides the motivation to get up and moving.

Somebody at work on Monday stole my cheese that I had for my afternoon snack.  I was VERY cranky about this.  I'm now keeping my cheese in my lunch cooler at my desk.  Do not mess with a pre-IM athlete and her food.  The only thing keeping me from sending emails or being very crabby is that I'm still new here and I don't want to be "that person".

Chocolate milk is about the most awesome thing ever.  I'm going to be sad when I'm not drinking a half gallon a week, just because I need the extra calories.

Focus.... I have none.  Lets just say that work is um, interesting right now.

I cannot wait for taper, but I'm a bit worried that while I won't be logging crazy hours, I will still have crazy ass-kicking workouts.  Guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

We close on our house in a WEEK.  Still haven't thought much about logistics or moving, or anything like that.  (see above comment regarding focus).

Dear Mother Nature

I am tired of seeing this while training for a race in southern Texas:

It was 90 in Houston today.  And snowing in Denver.  Please STOP WITH THE SNOW.  Its making my training very frustrating and not all that much fun.  That, and heat acclimation is never going to happen.

On being a sponge

In the notes from my coach for recovery days, she always puts "time to absorb all the work you've been doing".  I joke with her that this makes me feel like a sponge.  The whole concept of absorbing is a bit alien to me.  At least until last night.

Normally, a recovery day/few days/week, to me, is just a break.  A time to get a bit more sleep, to heal my muscles, and catch up on life.  When I come off of recovery, sure my legs feel loose and a bit lighter, but generally, I don't feel all that much different.

Last night was a track workout.  I never ran track before last year (training for Boise) but I've grown to really like it.  Mentally, its almost like swimming.  You have X distance and Y pace and you need to figure out pacing to sustain, descent, etc.  What I like about it is that you have to think about what you're doing - and it also teaches you what a hard mile, half mile, etc feels like, so you can apply it to races.  For me, track workouts are a huge confidence builder.

Last night called for a 2 mile warm-up, then 5 sets of 20 sec strides, then 3 x 1 mile repeats at zone 4 heart rate.  I sprang into a fast, but relaxed run, looked down at my garmin and saw 8:45/mile pace.  Wowzers, no way I can sustain this for 4 laps, not to mention 3 repeats, need to bring things back a bit.  I usually try to descend my repeats, and really push my final one.  I messed up with my garmin for the first mile, but based on the pace numbers I was seeing, I bet my mile time was 9:30, maybe a hair faster.  Ok, lets push the second mile harder - came in at 9:15.  Now its go time for the last repeat - came in at 9:03. 

When I looked back at my logs from the past few months, my previous fastest mile was 9:25 and I was DYING. 

Last night, even though I pushed myself, I really improved my times without struggling.  There was no "omg, I'm going to die" feeling, like there usually is.  And even though I pushed the last one, I felt like I could have ran another 1 or 2 mile repeats.  Sure it would have hurt (a lot), but I could have done it.

Last year, a 6 mile track workout killed me.  Now, I leave it feeling like I could have done more.  Awesome.

I haven't been doing a ton of running lately, and I certainly haven't been doing much in the way of speed workouts.  The only thing I can attribute to this speed boost is my overall fitness and my recovery period to absorb my recent workouts.  I guess being a sponge is a good thing.

30 days to IMTX

5 weeks to the big show

First up: sunburn status..... my legs have tanned and started peeling yesterday.  The "tan" is a very awkward blotchy pattern that really looks like I have a skin disease or really awkward birthmarks or something.  My arms started peeling on Friday.  One band on my right arm turned into really tight leather which has peeled away to freshly red skin.  My back is a whole other issue.... its still VERY red around my strap-lines.    It finally quit hurting, but apparently even with 2 visits sunscreen slather people, I severely sunburned my back.  Awesome.

So, yeah, less than 5 weeks to IMTX.  I'm still not really sure how I feel about this.  I know that I can do the 2.4 mi swim and 112 mile bike.  Well, I've never ridden that far on my bike, but I'm pretty sure I can do it.  Its wrapping my head around the fact that I will be running a marathon AFTER doing both of those.  I suppose this is one of those "trust your training" things, where nothing about Ironman is logical, so you just have to trust that once you get off the bike, the run will just happen and everything will be fine.

What else is funny that while I'm still throwing down big hours every week (which normal people consider insane), I don't think that my training time is super insane.  Friday I only had to swim - that's it!  I had the afternoon for errands and then Will and I went to a pub by our new house.  Its funny, I really don't know what to do with any free time that I have, since I've had so very little of it for so long.  Last week was still a pretty heavy week (18 hours - including a 70.3 race).  But in reality, last week felt almost easy.  Yes, 18 hours of exercise, including a race, felt easy.  Monday and Tues were recovery days.  And I only had one day with 2 workouts.  EASY.  (Yes, I'm insane... I really don't know what to say about this).

This weekend was supposed to be a big bike challenge.  I swam 3,000 yards Friday morning then I had to bike ~70 miles.  My marching orders were "long steady ride, keep it all zone 2".  Well, with all the hills around here, the zone 2 limit is pretty challenging, so I decided to be pedestrian and do the Denver trail triangle - which is about as flat as any ride could be.  It also meant that I had to do zero route planning, which is nice.  (I'm getting very tired of planning out rides and then executing them by myself).  So, 70 miles and 4.5 hours later I was done and had plenty of energy left.    Sunday was supposed to be a 100 mile ride, as a test for IMTX.  I met a friend up in Boulder and we were going to do the Carter Lake loop.  About 30 min into the ride on Foothills Parkway, the winds were sooooo crazy, that we looked at eachother and knew that Carter Lake wouldn't happen.  I knew that there was no way I could ride 100 miles in those conditions.  Since I'm so close to race day, I really didn't want to risk a wreck just for the sake of putting miles in, even though I very much wanted to ride the 100 miles.  We ended up turning around and riding around north Boulder for a bit to get to 1.75 hours and a whopping 26 miles.  Then I got to spend 3 hours on the trainer.  No where near my 100 miles or 6.5 hours on the bike for the day, but what can you do.

Then today as I was fixing my food for the day, I actual had a debate on whether or not I "deserved" my chocolate milk today (for the calories).  I mean, I didn't get in my 100 mile ride.  (I still exercised almost 9.5 hours this weekend, which is still significant).  But not getting in that long ride made me feel like I was slacking yesterday.  (yes, 3 hours on the trainer = slacking.  really questioning my sanity here).

I guess this all just means that physically, and probably mentally, I'm close to being ready for IMTX.  When 9.5 hours of exercise over the weekend and 18 hours for the week seems EASY, that should mean I'm ready for 140 miles in under 17 hours, right?  At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Race Report: Ironman Texas 70.3 (2011)

I will start this race report by saying this was really just a long training day, in preparation for IMTX.  Just a day for a bit of pushing and getting the kinks worked out.

Saturday
Since this race is now run by WTC, I wasn't expecting much of an expo.  I just showed up to get my packet, rack my bike, and maybe attend the athlete meeting.  Packet pickup was a non event, although they RAN OUT of swag bags (really? how do you do that?)  They're the same design as last year, so I'm not really torn up about it.    They had the same oddly sized K-Swiss race shirts as last year, and somehow I was smart enough to order a Women's Large, so it fits perfectly.  Then I went to rack my bike (a non-event).  Ran into my friend C, who had to run up to the hotel to get a sleeveless wetsuit from a friend.  We then went to the athlete meeting (sat in the back) and when the RD came on, we couldn't even hear him.  Then the crowd broke up and I guess the meeting was over.  Hopefully we didn't miss anything important (we didn't).  Then back up to Pearland, where I was staying with my friend L and her family.

Sunday
I slept ok (was woken up by singing 2 year olds and my own stomach's grumbling - a few bites of a protein bar and I was zzzzzzz).  Got up at 4:40, left the house at 5, got to Moody at 6.  The line into Moody looked long, so I decided to be tricky and go in the back way by the air museum.  Fail.  This resulted in me having to park by the air museum, which was a LONG walk by myself with all my crap.  So much for being tricky. 

Transition set-up wasn't anything spectacular. Got all my stuff set up, said hi to my neighbors, stored by gear bag at a bike shop's tent.  Found C again, and we hung out until our waves started.  Pros left at 7 AM, my wave started at 8:35 and C's was at 8:40.  So yeah, we had time to kill.  We actually watched the pros come in to T1 after the swim, which was pretty cool.  Then we wriggled into our wetsuits, took a bathroom break, and made it over to the swim start just in time to get lined up. 

Swim
The water was 72 degrees, which is a bit warm for a full wetsuit.  I brought my speed suit with me and nearly used that, but my coach advised that "anytime you can use a wetsuit, you should".  It was windy, with the wind going away from land.  This meant that we had a tailwind going out, crosswind for the long stretch of the swim, and headwind coming into land.  Fun!  The swim start was uneventful, no thrashing or chaos, just a LOT of people in a small area.  It was choppy and I'm out of OWS practice, which resulted in sighting WAY too much.  My lower back didn't like this and decided to lock up, which limited my ability to kick with any sort of gusto.  In a way, this was probably ok, as my coach is always onto me about kicking too hard on the swim.  My kick this time was an easy 6-beat kick for rotation purposes only.  Once I made the first turn, something clicked and I just relaxed and settled into the swim.  Sure, it was choppy and I had people on me the whole time, but I just decided that this swim wasn't going to be fast, so I should relax and laugh at all the crazy.  I focused on putting my head down (ie not sighting so much) and working on my catch and a high elbow.  The swim felt pretty easy - I wasn't even really breathing hard.  I got up and out of the water, pulled my wetsuit down past my hips pretty easy for the stripper.  Hit the strippers and I was off to T1.

T1
Very much out of practice here, as I just sat and stared at my gear for aa bit.  I made sure to spray sunscreen on my legs, but forgot to spray TriSlide on my toes.  I didn't remember about the TriSlide (even though it was next to my shoes) until after by bike shoes were on, and at that point, I just told myself  I'd deal.  On my way out of T1 I stopped by the sunscreen slathering table - my mission was to not get sunburned this year.  Miraculously, my pedals were set up perfectly for a quick start (I totally forgot to do this, so it was just dumb luck) and I was up and on my way.

Bike
So the course is a flat, windy out and back along Galveston Island.  I've been riding in Colorado in the wind and hills, so I was VERY interested to see how I would do.  Winds were ~18 mph from the SSE with gusts of 25 mph, so a bit stronger than last year, however, I was really hoping for a sweet tailwind at the turn around.  My "orders" for the ride were to stay 10 beats below target, but also to push a bit.  I was holding 15-16 mph pretty easily and decided to push a bit more.  This resulted in 2 things: my hamstrings getting tight, which then made my stupid inner thighs get tight.  I have no idea why my inner thighs give me such issues!  I tried stretching them while riding to no avail, and after the first aid station, my speed dropped to 13.7 mph - at mile 15.  Ugh.  So I decided it was better to stop and stretch than to suffer and have it get worse.  After stretching for maybe a minute, I was up and holding my pace again.  I tried pushing a few more times, but I'd get twinges of tighness.  Considering in the past, it would take that muscle one month to heal, it just wasn't worth it to push, as I've got IMTX in 6 weeks.

I hit the turn around and hurray!  I had a sweet tailwind :)  It wasn't a strong tailwind, but hey, better than it swiching directions like last year.  I could easily hold 18 mph on the way back and the last 10-15 miles I pushed it to 19.  I was secretly hoping for a 3:30 time and came in at 3:31 (still a PR).  I thought about pushing harder, but really, it wasn't worth it for the extra minute.  It was better that I come off the bike strong, which was the case here.

I also want to say how LUCKY I was to not get a flat tire.  Around mile 40, some kind soul dumped tacks on the course.  I saw 3 ambulances assisting injured people (presumably from getting a flat and wrecking at speed) and way too many people with flats.  That's crappy on so many levels.

T2
Nothing special.  Shoes off, shoes on, helmet off, hat on.  I did stop by the sunscreen people again for good measure.

Run
So, this was going to be the interesting part.  Last year, it was hot and I walked at least half of the run.  In Boise, I ran the whole thing with a time of 2:39.  This year, I'm stronger but not used to the heat.  My orders were to run the first loop easy (HR of 150) then gradually increase pace by each mile.  Immediately my HR jumped to 170, so I moderated my speed (I was running WAY too fast) and it came down.  I was really concerned about hydration, so I ran to each aid station then walked through, taking a swig of my concentrated Infinit, some water, and some ice along the way.  For the second loop, I pushed a bit faster (10:30 pace?) while still walking the aid station.  I think I took in too much Infinit (a swig every 0.8 miles) and my stomach was a bit crabby.  I reduced my Infinit intake to a swig every 2-3 aid station, which was much better.  I also think I drank a bit too much water, as I had to take a bathroom break in the third loop.  The third loop was the roughest - it was hot (they ran out of ice for the 2nd loop).  My legs felt ok but my overall energy was fading, so I ended up walking proably half of that loop.  The fourth loop I resolved to do better - I ran to the first aid station, then walked more, then did a run/walk thing sorta randomly.  I did push to the finish after the last aid station for a strong finish.  Based on my garmin, I really didn't think I'd PR, with all the walking and the bathroom break.  Somehow, I PR'd by 1 minute, definitely due to living in CO and my IM training.  When I was running, it was a ~10:00 pace.  That saved me.  My feet on the last loop were pretty unhappy on the soles, from being soggy for so long.  Even the texture of my socks (which I wear for every run) was hurting.  Doing double the distance will be interesting.  I think I'm going to get a seond pair of shoes/socks and put them in my special needs bag for the IM run.

Finish
I looked back and saw 8:31... I did some limited math and with my 1:35 start after the clock started, that put me under 7 hours (!!!).  I was hoping for 7:10....  I did this race last year in 7:26.   Totally crushed it, even with weird muscle issues and 2 bathroom breaks.  I then hobbled over to the massage tent, then got my  gear, walked to my car, and got a post-race victory Ben & Jerry's waffle cone, in something like "extreme chocolate".  :)

Nutrition Plan
 I think I did pretty good here, but I learned a few things.

• Pre-race - just right.  Stomach was great for the swim
• Bike: mixed up 4 hrs of Infinit, I drank probably 3.25-3.5 hours worth.  Also had 2.5 gels (1/2 gel every 30 min).  Supplemented with ~1.5 bottles of water, and also took in 1 salt pill every 20 min.  This was perfect, even though I had to take a bathroom break.  I'd rather have to do that than be dehydrated.
• Run: Had Infniti concentrated with a 2 hour mix, I probably drank half of it.  For the first loop, I'd take a swig every aid station, but that was too much, so I cut it to every 2nd or 3rd.  Stomach quickly settled when I made the change.  Also took a salt pill at 1 hr and 2 hrs.  Probably could have taken more.  Also took 2-3 gulps of water at each aid station, probably a bit much as I had to make a pit-stop half way through, but I didn't want to get dehydrated.
• Post-race: who doesn't love ice cream?

Stats

Swim: 40:24.  Shocking because I wasn't pushing it and conditions weren't great.  Technically not a PR (Boise was 40:08), but given that Boise was in a lake and smooth, and this was choppy with currents, I'm calling this a PR.

T1: 4:16 (almost a minute faster than my other HIMs!!!)

Bike: 3:31:52 (15.9 mph) 0-28 mile split: 1:54:03 / 14.73 mph, 28-56 mile split: 1:37:49 / 17.17 mph (which included a bathroom break) - PR!

T2: 2:45

Run: 2:38:55 (12:08 min/mile) - PR!

Overall time: 6:58:12  Sub-7 hours and a PR by 28 minutes :)  I had no idea I'd shave off this much time and I'm just super happy with my performance.  :)

Back in Houston

I'm back in Houston for a few days for work and to race Lonestar (aka Ironman Texas 70.3).  I'm a bit wiped from my IMTX course bike ride, so here's some observations in bullet form.

• Its green here.  Trees are fully leafed out, the air smells like blooms, grass in green.
• Its windy.  But at least for today's ride, it wasn't nearly as windy as last Saturday's Palmer Lake ride.
• Traffic is bad and the drivers are crazy.  Also: rubbernecking.
• I miss my friends.  I've done something with people every night since I got here.
• The "hills" on the IMTX course are not hills.  There were maybe 3 that got my attention.  I never had to go into my small ring.  Awesome.
• Its HOT.  Even with my Infit drink mix and taking some Enduralytes before the ride,e the heat still got to me.  The first 3 hours of the ride were awesome.  Then my HR got stuck at 162 bpm, much higher than my effort was.  Then I had a mental lapse and did a sweet sideways slow-mo crash while clipped in.  No idea what happened there.  I still had 30 min left on my ride schedule, but after riding back to the truck, I was slightly trembling and I had a pretty sweet heat headache.  Ugh, IMTX is going to be interesting....
• The IMTX bike course is PRETTY.  I've missed riding up there in the forests. 

IMTX course in the National Forest.

pretty pastures and wide open road in Grimes County, IMTX course

24-Hour Freakness

I'm in Houston for work and Ironman Lonestar 70.3.  I had ~2300 yards on my schedule, but since it was Thursday, that meant no Masters team to drop in on.  So, off to utilize my barely used 24 Hour Fitness membership. 

During my hour swim, I witnessed:

• A guy that would alteranate btwn doing jumping jacks and this weird sort-of breastroke/treading water thing
• A woman who was doing backstroke WITH A KICKBOARD under her back (trust me, she did NOT need flotation devices)
• A dude in a way too small speedo who lacked the skills to back up the speedo.  Unfortunately, he was in the lane that was on my breathing side. 
• This was accented by another guy (who looked like he was wearing boxer/briefs) who was in the pool for maybe 5 min, during which he sunk to the bottom of the 5' end (holding his breath) then swam across all the lanes to hang onto the wall and do a bunch of kicking.
• Finally, after my workout, when I was in the locker room, there was a lady getting ready to swim (with a noodle) who pulled her suit on over her underwear.   

I could not make any of this up.  It was freaky.  At least I wasn't bored?  (and THANK GOODNESS I had a lane all to myself).

March 2011 Totals

FINALLY - a good solid month of training :)  Its amazing what not being sick and not having family emergencies will do to keep you on your training plan!

Bike: 38h 04m 21s - 542.28 Mi (almost double of what I did in Feb)
Run: 12h 17m 27s - 63.57 Mi (almost double of what I did in Feb)
Swim: 11h 30m - 31200 Yd
Core Training: 30m

Evaluation of March's goals:

Goals for March:

• Survive training. More building and catch up in March. Lots of cycling. On hills. At altitude. My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better.  This has been a hard one.  Physically, I'm doing really awesome.  Mentally, its hard, mostly because I've done all of my runs and rides by myself, and the lonliness is really starting to get to me.  Last weekend all I wanted to do was spend a whole day on the couch.  But I still got up and out the door at my designated time and got in my workouts.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill. Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside. Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run". It hasn't been cold at ALL this month, so I get a free pass on this goal :)

So, goals for April.....

• Ride the IMTX course on April 8th to refresh my memory on the course, and hopefully give myself a confidence boost.
• Use Lonestar as a training race, not a race-race.  Really try to run the whole run, even though it will be warm.  Still, I'm curious to see how I do on the race overall compared to last year, since my fitness is so much better. 
• Get all my IMTX kinks worked out, specifically nutrition, clothes.  I switched to non-protein Infinit last week and I got a new Pearl Izumi Race kit for the IM.  Going to use Lonestar to test out both of these.
• Stay healthy.

I've got a big month ahead of me :)

I can put this down as "mental training", right?

I'm at the point where all this training by myself is really starting to get to me.  When I signed up for IMTX, I had grand visions of training with my friends on the home course and having a great time.  And then I moved to Colorado, which is triathlong mecca... just not right now.  I am off schedule with EVERYONE.  There are very few group rides - the few that I found are cyclists and not nearly enough miles for me.  I've joined a few of the rides, but its still a bit awkward (hi, you don't know me and I don't know the area, but I need to add 30 miles to your course... and don't wait around for me).  I had high hopes for making friends on my swim team.  Turns out they're very competitive and not very friendly. And I did find a running group, but my training plan doesn't seem to have much in the way of long runs, and when I do have them, they're on Sunday (the groups all run on Saturday).

I typically have 5-6 hours of training each day on Saturday and Sunday, all my my lonesome.  Or Lonesome Ranger as my friend put it.  For a while, it was fun, as I was discovering new areas of Denver and having a lot of "me" time.  Lately, though, its just become tiresome and well, lonely.  I'm still not very familiar with  ride that do NOT involve hills.  I've ridden quite a few times NE of Denver, but its nice to see new scenery.  So this past Sunday, I went and tried again to ride around Parker.  Did the Map My Ride thing, picked out an 85 mile route that appeared to be all pavement.  More hills and some wind, especially at the beginning of my ride... not really awesome for a warmup but ok.  The plan was to follow county roads to Strausburg then head back down to Parker.  20 miles in, I encountered this:

sand and washboard + tri bike = scary surfing.  not cool

I was hoping that this dirt would end over the next hill, but 2 hills later and nope, still dirt.  So, I turned around, hoping to find an alternate route, only to find more dirt roads that should have been paved.  So, at 2 hrs, I decided to make a pit stop at a gas station and try another road.  As I got underway, I got a flat tire (front wheel).  No biggie, I can change a tire.  I set up on the side of the road, happy that I had just bought new tubes.  Dumbass here rode 700 miles, including a 95 mile solo ride, WITH NO SPARE TUBES.  After the 95 mile ride, I realized how dumb I was and promptly got 3 spare tubes.  What I didn't realize, even though the guy at the store warned me, that the stems on the tubes were freakishly short.  So I'm changing my tire, bust out my CO2 kit, then realize that I lost the presta adaptor.  But I realized this AFTER I punctured a CO2 cartridge.  Boo.  Oh, no problem, I have my hand pump.  The ONLY reason I had the hand pump, because you know, I'm super smart and never carry it normally b/c I have CO2, was due to Will making a smart ass comment as I was leaving about said hand pump.  I decided that he jinxed me and took it along.  Good thing, as he was fixing the radiator in my truck, which meant I did not have a rescue option.  So, I'm working with the hand pump and realize that the stupid stem is too short for the pump to really attach to very well and the best I can do is inflate the tube to half pressure.  ugh.  I decide to limp back to the car, which was fortunately only 6 miles away.

And then I drove back home to do 2.5 hours of riding on the trainer.

Sad part is, I was actually kind of excited to be on the trainer because that meant I wouldn't be riding alone.  I had my kitties, Will, and Season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to keep me company.

Ironman Fitness

What has continually amazed me is how my fitness level has grown by leaps an bounds in the past 2 months.  Its amazing the distances I can ride or run, how little recovery I need between the long workouts, and how I'm barely even sore after doing these insane workouts.

A year ago, I was training for the LoneStar 70.3 and the Boise 70.3.  Back then (oh so long ago!) my longest weekend workouts was something like a 14 mile run on Saturday and a 4 hour ride on Sunday.  Or maybe a 50 mile ride and a 3 mile run.  I remember being absolutely destroyed by these workouts and super sore.

Now, these workouts are my mid-distance type workouts, which are generally followed by something even longer the next day.  Or sometimes by a easy recovery run 3 hours later on the same day. 

For example, the past couple of weekends I've been doing:

• Saturday: brick, with 4 hrs bike and 70 min trail running / Sunday: 6 hrs bike
• Saturday: swim/bike brick with 4000 yard swim, 4 hrs bike, plus a 30 min recovery run later in the day / Sunday: 15 mile run

After each workout, normally, I should be passing out in exhaustion.  Instead, I'm up and watching tv and usually have plenty of energy to go out to dinner.  Each Sunday morning I wake up expecting to be too sore to walk, much less run or ride.  Then each Monday morning, I expect to wake up and not be able to move.  And each morning, I wake up, shocked to discovery that I'm not even the tiniest bit sore.  Granted, I do an ice bath after each long workout now, but still....  I am not complaining though.  The only noticable side-effect from my huge workouts is insatiable hunger.  Its very cool but also very bizarre.

I'm really just blown away by my fitness level right now.  I'm still not too sure about being able to complete 140.6 miles strong.  I'm 100% confident that I can do 70.3 miles in 2 weeks without a problem (knock on wood).  I feel good and that's a great thing being 8 weeks out from the most physically demanding day of my life. :)

Figuring out where to live

Things are much better than they were a few weeks ago.  Something about not having anyone die, have a stroke, not being sick, and actually sleeping well may be the cause for my outlook being a bit brighter.  I'm a pretty tough person, but the combination of at least 6 very stressful things absolutely kicked my ass.

We looked at 22 (!!!!) houses last Friday, from 9:30 to 5 PM.  It was a marathon day and by the end our heads were swimming.  I grew up in a southern suburb of the Denver Metro area.  Work is on the far south end of Denver (I-25 and C-470).  So as a result, I'm basically moving back to where I grew up.    Not quite sure how I feel about that - part of me feels like I'm settling, but part of me likes that we're moving somewhere (mostly) familiar.  Also, the south suburbs seem to have more organized athletic activities (Masters Swimming, mainly).  We could live in the "cool" part of Denver and then I'd have a long work commute and likely a long commute to work out.  Or we could live in suburban hell with a short commute to work and activities, then drive once a week into town to do something fun.  We're going with the latter and hopefully that will work out.

We're shopping in Littleton, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, and Parker.  I grew up in Littleton/Centennial.  We now live in Highlands Ranch.  Parker was, when I was growing up, basically Kansas.  To my Houston friends, Parker is basically Katy.  Now its a newer community and you can buy more house for your money.... that is if you are willing to live in Parker.

Our wish list is that we'd like a 3 car garage (so Will can have a project car), wood floors, master bedroom on the main floor, decent yard, big kitchen.  Yeah, pretty specific and I'm pretty sure we won't find everything we want one house.

So out of 22 houses, we found 3 strong candidates.  Because we've been watching too much HGTV, I'm going to set this up like House Hunters...

#1: Big yard but a long commute:  This house is in West Littleton and is I guess a traditional style house.  Living room, newly re-done kitchen, 1/2 bath, family room (with fireplace), and a study on the 1st floor, 3 bedrooms on the top floor, master bath connected to the master bedroom, and an unfinished basement.  Yard is the largest of the three, 0.22 acres. Finished sq feet is 2250, with an add'l 920 unfinished in the basement.  Can't remember if this one has AC or not... if it doesn't this could be a deal breaker.  Also, this commute could be ugly - its 17 miles with pretty bad highway traffic.

#2: Awesome floor plan but only 3 bedrooms:  This is in Highlands Ranch and is really close to the pool I swam at.  This house felt more like "us" - really open.  The kitchen is also awesome.  Its got a huge deck (which needs repair - the railing is SCARY) and the yard is a decent size with a space for a garden.  Problems are that the windows are old, the 2 sliding glass doors need replacing, and it only has 3 bedrooms.  Not sure why we need 4 bedrooms, but that seems to be what we're looking at lately.

#3: Perfect... but in Parker:  This house is AMAZING.  3 car garage, new wood floors on the main level, huge (new) kitchen.  The master bedroom has a sitting area with a FIREPLACE. The master bath is newly re-done with a jacuzzi tub and a waterfall faucet.  This has 3 bedrooms (all upstairs) and a study on the main level (which neither of us remember seeing).  Unfinished basement and a tiny-ish yard (0.18 acre) and its a corner lot, which is good and bad.  Good means we only have 2 neighbors, bad because that's a whole lot of sidewalk for Will to shovel! Also, this house is 9 miles to work.  This house is on paper the best one, but I have to wrap my head around living in Kansas... I mean Parker.

Parker: Kitchen and Living Room

Parker: master bedroom fireplace (!!)

I really don't know which one we'll choose.  We had dinner at the Parker microbrewery on Friday (5 min from the house!) and it was really fun.  We even won a $10 gift card by winning their trivia contest.  I did the pretend drive commute yesterday.  There was ZERO traffic... but it was also spring break.  I rode my bike out there on Saturday (to get to know the area).  This was BAD because the winds were horrible and I nearly got blown off my bike numerous times.  So much that I called Will for a rescue pick-up.  I'm also going to swim with the Parker Masters team on Friday, so I can get that figured out. 

What's ridiculously silly is that both of us feel that the Parker house is "too nice" for us.  This is honestly the nicest place we've seen and we're not used to it.  Its almost like we feel like we don't deserve nice stuff.  Which is so amazingly dumb -we work hard for our money and of course we deserve nice stuff.

I did a pretend commute from the West Littleton house today, and it really wasn't that bad - 30 min.  This area is more estabilshed (it has trees) and is closer to the mountains.  This house also felt more like us.  But it only has a 2 car garage......

Honestly, the idea of having a fireplace in my bedroom sounds amazing.  I can see myself snugged in a comfy chair by the fire, reading all day long.  I just don't know if I can see myself in Parker.

And of course, Will found 3 more houses (2 of which have good sized yards and are ranches, so no stairs!).  We're looking at those on Friday, which could help, or it could add to the confusion.

Racing “Hills”

If there’s anything that’s been pretty well documented here, its my fear of hills on the bike. The first time I raced the IronStar course (which is part of the IMTX course), I really thought I would die. I actually ended up pulling something in my leg that stayed tweaky until after the Houston Half Marathon, 3 months later. Then there’s last summer’s Boise 70.3, where I’d drive 70 miles out to Chappell Hill to ride hills and I’d have nightmares about having to walk my bike up the hills during the Boise race. Turns out, the hills in Boise weren’t so bad – mostly because the wind was horrendous!

Since moving to Colorado, I am surrounded by hills. I get route recommendations from people, saying that its pretty “flat”, only to find out that there’s 2,000 feet of elevation gain. I’m trying hard to find a balance between getting better on the hills and not burning my legs up so that I can’t perform well in my next workout. I’ve also been trying to find somewhere to replicate the rolling hills that I will experience for IMTX. Replication is a bit challenging, because my memory is a bit fuzzy – and my point of reference has changed. I suspect that what appeared to be a huge hill a year ago is just a speed bump now. Because I’m a nerd and love data, I decided to overlay the elevation profile of IMTX with my ride that I did last Sunday.

Yep, I’d say I have the hills covered.

Back in the IMTX Training Wagon

Ok, so after 2 weeks of un-intentional (but sadly not predicted or preventable) not doing much, I am full ON with IMTX training. Last week was a “big week”, to quote my coach. Funny, I didn’t think the week day stuff was too terrible (although with my sinus infection and 2 weeks with little to no sleep, I was NOT complaining). The weekend was big stuff though.

What’s fun about the big weekends is that my thought process is usually like this:

• Sunday night: open Training Peaks to get my schedule for the week. Think to myself “OMG, Carole is trying to kill me.”
• Monday: print out my schedule to post at my desk. Stare at it in somewhat of a fearful state. 
• Tuesday-Thursday: obsession about the upcoming weekend and gradual acceptance  
• Friday: planning for the weekend. Plotting rides, routes, etc. 
• Saturday: Finish the workout feeling good but a bit sore and tired. Do an ice bath and hope I for a repeat performance the next day 
• Sunday: getting to business and being excited that I not only finished, but I finished strong. Ice bath and roll my legs out with my Stick to prevent soreness.

This past weekend, I had a 5 hour brick and a 6 hr ride. One of my friends offered to ride with me in Boulder Saturday, as she had yet to properly test out her new road bike, so that took care of planning out Saturday. Sunday I just decided to map out a course in Erie similar to what I’ve done twice previously.

Saturday

Schedule had a 4 hr ride / 70 min run brick. Met up at Marshall Mesa in Boulder and did what my friend called the “backroad cycling tour of Boulder”. What I noticed when riding with my friend was that on the decents and flats, I am actually pretty fast. It’s the climbs where I suck. I really hate being in my last gear and seeing 5 mph on my Garmin. Its just sad. Anyways, we did 40 miles in ~2:40. That’s all my friend had planned, so I was left to my own devices for the remainder of the 4 hours. I basically just did some out and backs along Eldorado Springs Road, then Cherryvale to Baseline and back. Nothing too hard – the goal was a zone 2 ride with time in the saddle.

We met at Marshall Mesa because my friend thought that would be good running for my brick. Ummmmmmm. I’m still getting used to this whole “running in Colorado” thing. Hills, trails, rocks. I’m not in Texas anymore! So, for the first 10 min of my run, I had to stay in HR z3. Not a problem, as the trail was mostly uphill with VERY uneven terrain. It was actually a bit scary – I really thought I was going to twist my ankle. Then (fortunately) after my 10 min mad dash up the hill, I came to this really steep section that I just couldn’t run up, so I walked. Then more slow jogging up up up until the trail leveled out to something a bit more practical. Still, it was a funky trail, since the place is used mostly for mountain biking and the trail is single-track. There were several times I’d have to stop to get off the trail to avoid mountain bikers, and a few times where I had to open/close cattle gates. It was hard, but definitely very pretty.

View of Flatirons from Baseline Road in Boulder

Marshall Mesa Trail Running

more trail running

part of the running "trail"

me, after 5:10 hrs of exercise

Stats: 61 miles in 3:57; 5.75 miles in 70 min

Nutrition: all EFS drink mix in grape, with 2 hammer gels. I had probably ~3/4 of a bottle left, which meant that I’m still not drinking enough. The EFS was fine on the bike, but on the run it just made my throat burn, like it was too strong, but I’m pretty sure I mixed it to the right strength. Also, I had a hell of a time putting my rings back on from water retention, which tells me the EFS has too many electrolytes for me.

And then I hit up Sports Authority for some more KT tape and a new shin split wrap (I have one, I just haven’t seen it since we moved). Turns out I let my running shoes die without knowing it, and my shin splits in my left leg are back. I think a few days with KT tape/wrap and some NSAIDs and I should be ok. I also got a moderately “puffy” jacket on clearance for more than 50% off. Score.

Boulder backroad tour

elevation profile

 Sunday

Goal today was a 5:40-6:00 hour ride with some z3 intervals thrown in there. This ride was all by myself and I wanted to do this in one loop with a stop halfway for water, to simulate the IMTX bike. For whatever reason, I feel comfortable out northwest of Denver (Erie), so that’s where I mapped my route. I’ve ridden there 2x before and the area is fairly straight forward – the country roads go pretty much in a n-s-e-w grid, pretty decent asphalt surface, and low traffic. There are some hills, but its not as hilly as other Denver rides, and there’s plenty of wind. When I’ve ridden out here before, I usually start from the park and ride in Northglenn, but that means you start and finish in Northglenn, which has traffic. So to avoid that, I started in Erie. I intended to leave my truck at this gas station, but as I was setting up, the gas station attendant actually walked out and told me that I wasn’t allowed to park there. Even though the lot was huge. I guess I won’t be filling up there anytime soon. So I moved a mile down the road and parked by a park, and was on my way.

The interesting thing with creating my route from a map on the computer is that you’re never quite sure if all the roads are paved. Sure enough, 5 miles into my 95 mile journey, I ran out of pavement. Ugh. So I backtracked and changed my route up slightly, hoping I’d still capture my mileage. An hour goes by and my bladder is threatening to explode, even though I made a stop before starting out. Fortunately, I was near a truck stop off of I-25, so I pulled over to a McDonalds. Its always fun going into places in your cycling gear. I managed to finally get east of I-25 and pick up my route where I left off. My speed was actually faster than anticipated. Last Sunday, doing nearly the same route, I averaged 15 mph. For this ride, I was holding 16+ mph, even with decent cross and head winds. I stopped WAY too many times for map checks – not sure what to do about that but I really didn’t want to get lost. Stopped halfway in Milliken (as planned) to get water. I had concentrated my Infinit 3x then added water for another 3 hrs of nutrition. Riding-time-wise I was ahead of pace (54 miles in 3:13 – 16.78 mph) but actual time, I was really slow. I started at 10:16 AM and it was 2:00 when I hit Milliken (3 hrs, 45 min). But, that included 2 bathroom breaks, re-filling my water, and several map checks. Still – 30 min of being stopped…. Gotta work on that. Heading back to my truck was fairly uneventful, as I’d ridden a good portion of those rodes before and knew my way. I made it back to my truck at 5:45 hrs and 95 miles logged. I thought about going for an even 100 miles, but my right hamstring was getting tweaky and my right quad was acting like the muscle was getting pulled. As cool as it would have been to log 100 miles, it would have sucked much worse to get injured in that last 5 miles.

Stats: 5:45 hrs, 95 miles

Nutrition: 1 bottle in the first hour of EFS, then switched to my Infinit protein mix. At the 3 hr mark, I had probably ~1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle left untouched (as in I’m still not drinking enough), but when the ride was done, the same amount remained, meaning I drank the right amount during the back half of the ride. I think Carole may have been onto something about my Infinit mix, though. A few weeks back I had side-stitches and she thought it was from the protein. I protested, saying I did two HIMs with this mix and didn’t think it caused me any issues. She had me talk to one of her nutrition gurus, and he suggested that diabetics/hypoglycemic don’t actually need protein during endurance sports. He sent me some EFS to try out, to see if I noticed a difference. The EFS was ok (except for the burning during my run on Saturday). When I switched to my Infinit, my stomach felt heavier and very slightly crampy within minutes of taking a slug. So, there may be something to that….. I dunno. What I do know is that I need to figure this out pretty quickly – time is running out.

I also had 4 hammer gels and a few bites of a protein bar (for the stomach grumblies). I had good energy for the whole ride.

Effort: This ride had me do 1 x 30 min at Z3 and 1 x 40 min at Z3. This was early on in the ride and the rest of the ride was “as you feel”. I added on an extra 1 x 30 min Z3. The great part was that I felt STRONG for the whole ride - stronger than I remember feeling ever before. I also really focused on keeping my chain on my big ring as much as possible – I think I dropped down to my small ring only 4 times, which is awesome. At about 4:30 my saddle region got sore but otherwise, everything else was fine.

 I finished the ride with a huge boost of confidence, knowing that I’d just ridden a hilly, windy 95 miles solo.

 The ride was followed up by a trip to Starbucks (whole milk latte and a choc chip cookie). Then home for an ice bath. Impressively enough, I’m barely even sore today. Pretty cool weekend – makes me feel like I’m getting ready for IMTX.



95 miles of fun!

hills!

Sad Week

The world lost one of the last true cowboys.  Will's grandfather died on February 24, 2011.  He had a heart attack the week prior, and we were fortunate enough to fly up for that weekend and had a good 3 days of laughter, conversation, and reminiscing.  We flew back home, thinking he was going to be ok.  The next day he had a stroke.  We flew up Thursday and got to the hospital right after he passed away.  Seeing his grandmother in the hosipital after he died, snuggling up to her husband of nearly 66 years, was one of the saddest and sweetest things I have ever seen. Even though he's my grandfather by marriage, he is very much my grandpa.  He died 5 weeks short of his 90th birthday.  He is definitely missed.

William Howard Walker

Obituary

William Howard Walker was born April 12, 1921, in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, at the home of his parents Gilbert and Lena Walker. Bill was the youngest of five siblings including Evelyn, Bert, Virginia and Pat. He passed away February 24, 2011 in Mountain Home, Idaho.

Together with his brother Pat, and father, Gilbert, Bill was part of a third generation family who owned and operated their ranch at Cold Springs Creek. Bill valued hard work, close ties to the land, and solid principles. He toiled to produce better crops, improve the quality of livestock, and clear new land. Opening up three desert entries and developing six irrigation wells were among their ranching accomplishments. When asked what the hardest thing about life on the ranch was, without missing a beat, Bill replied, “The shovel and the pitchfork.”

Bill played football and graduated from Glenns Ferry High School in 1939. He attended college in Pocatello and worked in Seattle at the Boeing aircraft plant, helping assemble the A-1 fighter. Coming home from Seattle in early spring, he bought a sporty Indian motorcycle in Moscow, Idaho, from Addison Stone, a childhood friend. It proved to be quite a task to keep the motorcycle upright for much of the trip was in icy ruts. By the time time he got home, he had a severe sunburn and was chilled to the bone--good thing he was young and tough.

After returning to the family ranch in 1944, Bill was introduced to a young schoolteacher at a friend's home. He and Margaret Blanksma dated and were married on March 30, 1945. They recall how ecstatic people were when the war in Europe ended that summer; Margaret drove down to the field where Bill was working to relay the good news. That evening everyone in the family went to town and celebrated.

Bill honed his musical talents in productive ways. His musical skill emerged in high school, whether he was singing the lead in a musical or entertaining at weddings and funerals. With Bill playing harmonica, and his brother Pat playing the guitar, many good times were had dancing and singing after the spring and fall brandings. At local square dances, he enjoyed being an announcer by calling out lyrics to songs like the Alabama Jubilee or Ghost Riders in the Sky.

Together with Margaret, Bill designed and built a home at the Cold Springs Creek ranch, doubling its size as the family grew to four daughters. He immensely enjoyed attention to detail and instilled quality in his carpentry. Later, he remodeled their present home on Rye Grass Creek and enlarged the Cow Camp Cabin on Bennett Mountain.

History of the local area, his family heritage, and a deeply embedded love of the United States were a great pleasure to him. He and Margaret especially enjoyed their trip to the East Coast and South Carolina, where they visited family and toured the nation's historical treasures.

In the seventies, Bill got a kick out of entering a competition to rename a local credit union. He sketched an oxen-drawn covered wagon and composed a narrative for the contest. His entry, Pioneer Federal Credit Union still stands. Margaret and he enjoyed a trip to Hawaii as the result.

Bill served on the Elmore County Soil & Water Conservation District Board over 20 years, as well as, the Glenns Ferry Highway District Board. He was a member and trustee of the Elks, chairman of Idaho Cattle Association Convention, and past president of the Elmore Cattleman's Association.

Bill was a “Jack of all trades, master of many.” He found satisfaction in adding quality and value to anything he pursued, whether it was improving the land or upgrading the cow herd. He enjoyed his horses and riding on the desert and Bennett Mountain. He designed and installed lines for numerous water troughs and other irrigation projects. He loved a special horse, good cows and special companion dog.

Bill valued his family very much. He was patient in teaching his children and grandchildren life skills and had a quiet and calm manner. He encouraged Margaret and all four daughters to pursue college degrees even though he did not have the same opportunity.

Survivors include his devoted wife of 66 years, Margaret, and their four daughters: Betty Ann Nettleton (Nick), Janet Mahler (Mike), Joan Barak (David), and Sandy Dryden (Dean). Grandchildren: Jeff Nettleton (Tina), Jason Nettleton (Robin), Will Trail (Erin), Amy Trail, Kate Armstrong (Joey), Rebecca Barak, Chase Dryden and Chelsy Dryden.

Rosary services will be held at Rost Funeral Home, 500 N. 18th E., Mountain Home, on Monday, February 28, at 6pm. Funeral mass will be held Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, 115 N. 4 E., Mountain Home, 10am, on March 1.

Suggested memorial contribution recipients: Elks Rehabilitation or Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Mountain Home.

February 2011 Totals

I had very high hopes for February..... then Will's grandfather passed away and I simultaneously got a sinus infection.  *poof* 2 weeks of training just didn't get done.  But, the weeks I was able to train, I did get some quality stuff done.

Bike: 19h 06m - 256.24 Mi

Run: 7h 46m 59s - 36.11 Mi
Swim: 9h 50m - 27650 Yd
Core Training: 15m

 

Evaluation of February goals:

• Survive training. I suspect that Feb will be a build month. Lots of cycling. On hills. At altitude. My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better. still working on hills, but altitude is getting better.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill. Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside. Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run". Last month actually wasn't horribly cold.  I did have one day where we had 5 inches when I needed to do a brick, so instead of running, I did a hike through the snow.  It was actually fun. 

Goals for March:

• Survive training. More building and catch up in March. Lots of cycling. On hills. At altitude. My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill. Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside. Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run".