Ironman Lake Placid - DNF Report.

It still pains me to type those three letters.

Lessons learned:
-Don't leave your Garmin on the cradle after it is done charging - it WILL drain the battery once unplugged.
- Don't ride the brakes without pulsing to give the rims a chance to cool down.

I had a GREAT swim - I've been beat up more in Oly starts than Ironman. I started a little to the right of center, 4 rows back. In hindsight, I should have started closer to the buoy line, as I got caught up behind a group of slower people. Came out of the water in 1:14, much slower than I should have, but alas, unscathed. Quick transition, and it was off to the bike.

First loop of the bike was uneventful. After turning my Garmin on in transition only to find the battery had almost died from sitting on the contacts, I decided to leave it off for the first loop. Kat loaned me her Polar, since she thought I was nuts for doing ironman without an HRM. I realized I took the first loop extra slow at 4 hours when I rolled through town, and planned to make up serious time on the second half.

Turned on my Garmin and planned to run it until it died. I went down the first half of the Keene descent barely tapping my brakes. As I began the second part of the descent (shown between the 55-70 mile marks), I was riding about 45mph, which was a bit out of my comfort zone. I hit the very steep section and rode my brakes hard. The brakes started to feel like the wheel was out of true. Suddenly I heard a crazy noise, looked down and saw my tube and about 5 inches of rim tape coming out of my front wheel. After pulling a Fred Flinstone to stop as I skidded down the hill, I had a sigh of relief that the road didn't claim my skin or teeth, and began to pull my front tire off. I burned my hand taking my wheel off, so I let it cool while I pulled my tubes out of my saddle bag. As I took the damaged tube out, I accidentally dropped my wheel on my spare tubes, which melted under the heat from the rim. I was able to flag down the SAG vehicle, who had no 650 stuff to help me out. So, I sat on the side of the road as they pulled away, balling my eyes out because my day was over at 1:15pm. Watched a few other teammates head down the hill, including Kai who seems to only see me in ditches on the side of the road. An ambulance picked myself and my bike up, and dropped me off at a run aid station, where after a few hours spent volunteering at said aid station and running barefoot with my teammates, I finally got a ride back to town.

Bluntly put, it sucks to train so hard for a single day, and for it to end badly. I've been through worse, so it isn't going to break my spirit (though, it was close on Sunday). I've signed up to do Florida this year since many teammates are doing the race - yay charity slots. I'm coming back with a vengeance on the MDot races. Plans are to either hire a trainer or work with one for a few run and bike sessions to see where I can improve and really blast the course. I'll need to get more comfortable in the aero position, as I'll likely be in it for about 6 hours.

IMUSA in Red, IMFL in Orange. Safe to say, I won't need my brakes.

So, following the rest of this week off, I begin training for the second Ironman in a year. I'll still do Nation's Tri and the Army 10 miler, but I will be scrapping Marine Corp, which falls two weeks before Ironman Florida.

Kinetic Half Iron Race Report

Kinetic Triathlon (Half-Iron Distance)
Swim: 36.52
Bike: 3:33(15.8 mph)
Run: 2:41 (~12 minute miles)

BREAKFAST:
• Ensure Banana Crème Shake
• Banana
• 3 Endurolytes

SWIM:
This was my first half-iron race, and intimidation doesn’t fully describe my feelings as I finished my in-water warmup. I was very unsure of how to “race” the day, but figured the best was to go slow and finish with a smile. Coach said it was a “training race”, and not to go out too hard since Mooseman I supposed to be my A race prior to IMLP. I was in the second wave, and the gun went off at 7:03. The water was very murky, and I couldn’t see feet until I was practically on top of them. I settled in to my own space, and kept it very slow. I wanted to swim faster, but I decided to cut almost all kicking (which I am a very strong kicker), since I had a long day ahead of me. Kinetic is a two loop course which includes getting out, running across the beach, and then back into the water. My first loop was lethargic feeling to me, and when I felt good coming out of the water and was surrounded by blue caps (M 34-Under) from the previous wave, I figured I couldn’t be too far off. I turned up the second loop, but still refrained from kicking very much. Never felt like my heart rate went up, which was my initial plan.

Swim Total: 36.52 (42/105 Women)


BIKE:
The bike for Kinetic holds a slightly more rolling terrain on its two-loop course than expected. After a 3 minute transition (double checked everything I did – didn’t want to forget something), I climbed out of the park. I settled into a low heart rate and kept smiling. I knew I needed to nail my nutrition in order to have a successful day, and I didn’t want to go out too hard and not be able to digest well. I started out with a great pace, and stayed aero for about 95% of the ride. Aside from the pollen which felt like rocks in my eyes, the ride was beautiful. Never too hot, good roads for most of the race. I had a few issues with traffic on the roads that didn’t know how to pass cyclists, which caused multiple times of having to slam on my brakes both on descents and ascents. I wasn’t happy with the traffic situation, but there was nothing I could do to change it, so I pedaled on. Around mile 30, I whipped out my Uncrustable for the best snack of the day. It tasted like heaven in between to smashed pieces of extremely processed bread. I must have looked like I was enjoying it, because as a pretty fast looking guy passed me, he sat up, tapped his brakes to fall back with me, and asked me what I was eating. I sat up from my lounging aero position, chatted with him for a few minutes, and he was envious.. he’s bringing one for his next race. Around mile 40, I ran into a long line of horses, probably about 10-12. I heard something about a horse show in the area, and a group must have been out for a ride. It made things interesting – riding along with horses being freaked out by bikes/traffic on my right, and traffic being freaked out by the cyclists/horses. Bad combination, but I made it out without hitting either. I did ask one particularly hot guy (cowboy?) if I could have his extra horse for a little while. He laughed, not realizing by that point, I was slightly serious. Finished the bike, managing to avoid any incidents with people failing to know how to operate bottle hand offs. Please people, learn to grab a bottle properly, and don’t just spray it in your aerobottle then chuck it DIRECTLY behind you, nearly hitting me.

Bike Nutrition:
• 2 complete Speedfil’s of water (80 oz total)
• 2 package of Strawberry Clif Blocks, eating 2 every 20 minutes for the first two hours
• 1 bottle of on-course Heed (since I walked out and forgot my Heed. So much for the packing list..)
• 1 Grape Uncrustable
• 1 package of Black Cherry w/caffeine Shot Blocks
• 1 Gu Roctane

Bike Nutrition Totals:
• Calories: 1000 (281 per hour)
• Carbs: 218g (61g per hour)
• Sugar: 89g (25g per hour)
• Sodium: 1324mg (372mg per hour)
• Caffeine: 120mg (33g per hour)

BIKE TOTALS: 3:33 – 15.8 mph (76/105 Women)

RUN:
I felt great coming into transition, however the first 2 miles weren’t in complete agreement. I clearly need to do many more brick workouts, as my legs thought it was time to go get a beer with the teammates or take a nap, and not run a half marathon. I used my Xtenex laces, and had no issues for the entire run - I'll be finishing up my review sometime this week. The day was heating up rapidly, and after looking at the weather online later in the day, the real-feel temperature was over 100 degrees. Around mile 2.5 my legs came back to play, and I picked up the pace for the next 5 miles. I was hot and starting to get cranky as I could never get my legs to turn over like I wanted them to up the hills. I ditched my jersey and fuel belt at an aid station for parts of the second loop, until I realized without it, I wasn’t doing much for nutrition. I picked it back up on my way through, and the aid station looked at me like I was nuts. By the 3rd loop (yep, gotta go by the finish line twice before actually getting to veer a slight right into the grass to finish), I was done… I had a hard time keeping anything down on the run, so I was hitting the wall hard. I was slowed to a walk for a good portion of the last loop.

Run Nutrition:
• 1 Raspberry Hammer Gel
• 1 (4oz?) glass of head
• 2 (2oz?) shot of Coca Cola
• 1 orange section
• ice

RUN TOTALS: 2:41 – 12:15 per mile (67/92 women)

I picked up the pace along the last quarter mile, and my calves were letting me know they were hurt. I heard two girls coming up behind me, so I tried to sprint a little faster, but my legs just weren’t having it. They split either side of me and then blocked me for the last 10 yards to the finish line. A pretty bitch move for no good reason – its not like any of us were in contention for first place. I’m sure the finish photo will be classy, as I’m literally a half step behind them, most likely looking angry. I didn’t care, because I was happy to finish, and I felt generally great. After my lack of effort to race Rumpass, I seriously considered this to be my last year of triathlons for a while. I just wasn’t happy doing it. I researched distance swimming more, and was ready to hang up the bike and running shoes for a while. After this race, my spirit was refreshed… I REALLY enjoyed this distance, way more than I thought I would. Now that I understand how my bodys going to react during the race, I know exactly where I can improve (I can easily shave 5 minutes off my swim, I’d say another 10-15 off my bike, and at least a half hour off my run). I’m looking forward to Mooseman, and have a good feeling about Lake Placid. I feel like I’m on track for a healthy finish.

Rumpass in Bumpass Race Report

I arrived in Lake Anna on Friday at 2, beating the usual I-95S nightmare. I helped set up the tents and kept Zoe entertained by throwing a stick into the lake for her to fetch. Around 4, a few more teammates showed up, so I was able to leave the trailer for a bit. J.R. started putting his wetsuit on, so I told him to hold up for a minute and I'd throw on my suit. I think he was expecting me to put on a wetsuit instead of just my swimsuit, since the water was about 62 degrees. After shaking his head at me, we frolicked into the water and got in a good 25 minute swim. Out we climbed, and moved onto a 25 minute ride of the course. Came back and went to my officials clinic for a few hours before heading back to the house I was staying at. I had a glass of wine with Brian, Maureene, and Jacquie before heading to bed around 10:30. I couldn't seem to get comfortable in the ghetto trundle bed I was sleeping on. About 40 minutes go by, and I hear the door open with a "Hello?" The other roommates were a tad bit late getting down to the house apparently... but then I hear a distinct click-click-click-click that only dogs paws can make. So I got up, and ended up sitting outside with Joe, Matt, Maureene, and Jacquie, who persuaded me into another beer after saying "no no, I'm racing tomorrow", talking until about 1am. Luckily, the race didn't start until 10am, so I was able to sleep until 6:45.

At the race site, I slowly put my transition stuff together, and sat at the tents for a while eating breakfast, hanging out, and generally doing a lot of nothing. 9:20 rolls around, and I realize I should probably put my wetsuit on and get a warm up in. National Anthem played, and I wandered over to the swim start since I was in the second wave.

Swim: 1500m swim in Lake Anna. Water temp - 60 degrees.
I started out about 4 rows back from the front for some reason, normally I'm much closer to the front. The gun went off, and I started to swim. Thats it. Nothing epic was happening, I just happened to start swimming with another 100 or so women. No thoughts of "okay, RACE TIME"... nothing. I just swam... clearly not caring about sighting as I zig-zagged all over the place. I'm pretty sure I swam at least a mile with the extended course I decided to follow. Looking back, I don't know what the deal was - I normally spot feet and make it my goal to pick them off one by one. Saturday, I couldn't have cared less about what was going on around me, I was just swimming. Total time: a terrible 29 minutes. whoa... ouch.

Bike: Two loop course on local roads
Again, no rushed feeling. I looked at my average heart rate and I stayed in Zone 2. It should have been much higher than than... I just rode. Looked around at the scenery, passed a few people. Yelled at a few guys who were in the first wave that passed me about 8 miles into the course to learn to swim for some amusement. A guy came up on the same p2c and yelled "nice bike"... I returned with "I like your wheels better though.. wanna trade?" He laughed, and then continued to pass me with his nice Zipps and disk wheel. I took it as a no. On the second loop I picked the pace up a bit, but nothing extravagant. I realized I wasn't racing, and decided I'd just pick it up on the run since I was feeling great, and most of my age group was close on the bike. Total time: 1:24

Run: Two loop course - trail run at beginning and end, significant hills on the road
After apparently taking a nap in transition (Seriously - 3:40??! what the hell was I doing for that long), I felt good to go for the run. Came out of transition through the grass running at an 8' pace. Felt awesome, ran past the screaming Z'ers, and made my way up the hill out of the marina towards the trail run. I walked most of the trail after almost rolling my ankle on a root, and decided its not worth the risk. Came out of the trail, hopped onto the gravel road, and then it happened. My back* said "F YOU", and shot pain up and down my spine like I've never felt before. Every attempt at running resulted in this pain. Jason, part of a relay, caught up to me, smacked my ass and told me to pick it up... which sparked someone behind us to yell "That was totally inappropriate". They were kidding, and it made me laugh. I tried running again.. no. So, most of the 6.2 mile run was actually a walk. Total time: 1:21 triple OUCH.

Overall time: 3:20:24. 8/8 in age group, 86/119 women.


So what went wrong in this race? I have no idea why I didn't have my game face on. Couldn't tell you why I wasn't nervous. Maybe because it just didn't feel like a big deal, and my focus is on the two upcoming half's. yeah.. thats it. i hope.

*Regarding my back: I went to a chiro for the first time in my life last week... and had 3 adjustments within the week. After speaking with an awesome friend, it seems that my chiro, being a triathlete herself, should have known waay better than to try that aggressive of a treatment knowing that I am racing, and never told me to ice my back. So, I think that whole treatment is going to be put on hold until after I'm done racing. I cannot risk not being able to run, I have way to much work to do between now and Kinetic/Mooseman/Lake Placid.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at the tents, getting burnt to a crisp (note to self: long sleeve wetsuits tend to take sunscreen off), and then finally going back to the house to play foosball on the WORST table ever made. Joe and I represented Ohio and went undefeated.

Sunday I officiated the Sprint, which was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to officiating Columbia - I get to ride my mountain bike to watch for penalties along the run.

More later about the new teeth :)

Myrtle Beach Half Marathon: Race Report

This past weekend I ran the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon, while supporting some other teammates who ran the full marathon (among others, Sarah and Es).

Friday we ventured down, picked up our packets and such, then went to dinner with the team at a great Italian place (thanks Sarah for your expert random selection!) After dinner, we met up with the others staying at a teammate's beach house up in Sunset Beach. We hung out for a while, then all ventured to bed around 10:30 (to be fair, I didn't go to bed until about 11:30; I was up talking to Sebastian since I couldn't sleep). I set my alarm for 4:00

3:55am, I was wide awake, panicking as I thought I missed my alarm. Standard race day procedure... I always wake up 5 minute before my alarm in panic. I pinned my race number on my shirt, tossed on another pair of pants over my race day outfit, along with my arm warmers and a hoodie. Went downstairs for coffee, a banana, and started drinking my Gatorade. We were out the door by 5am to drive the 30 minutes to the race. I'll forgo the details of the person I was driving with getting lost as he decided NOT to follow the person that grew up there... but we got to the race at 6:10, for a guntime of 6:30. Not ideal for me, but alas I gathered my gels, met up with Jason, Lori, Es, and Dude prior to the gun. About 5 minutes later, we were off.

I started out running with Lori, Jason's wife. Mile one ticked by at an easy 11:30. Due to being late and not having adequate time to ehm.. take care of business, I had to slow down a bit just after mile 1. If the saying "I have to pee like a race horse" is based on fact... I feel extremely bad for horses. Port-a-potties were every 2 miles along the course, but I noticed a huge line of people waiting prior to race, so I figured those were going to be filled at mile 2. I knew I couldn't hold on until mile 4, so my quick race day decision skills spotted a Burger King. Yep, ran in, went to the bathroom, and ran back out. Luckily, others had followed suit, so the BK employees didn't think I was nearly as nuts as I felt. I settled into a good grove now that business had been taken care of, and maintained 10ish minute miles for the next 5 miles. I felt awesome, and couldn't believe how easy it felt to run. Around mile 4, I had a slight issue with my jaw rattling around a bit from impact and causing pain, but I was able to tune out the pain and continue going.

Just prior to the 8 mile mark, it happened. I must have been relaxing my upper body too much, because suddenly my jaw dislocated. sonofa... Extreme pain. I stopped running and tried to figure out what to do - my jaw was essentially locked up. Every step hurt as the impact travelled directly from my feet to my jaw. Luckily, there was an aid station at 8. I looked at my watch, saw 1:36 at the 8 mile mark, and was happy with my race to that point. I sat down at the medical tent, iced my jaw, got it to work again, and took some ibuprofen. I continued to ice my face as I waited for the pain killers to assist. Another runner came in to get band-aids for some gnarly blisters, and looked at me like I was crazy for icing my face during a running race. Oh well. 45-50 minutes ticked by, and I figured I was fine on time to walk the rest of the way. So, I walked from mile 8-13, and jogged the last .1.

Given the mid-race siesta and walking, I am okay with a finishing time of 3:22:13. I know I had a great race up until mile 8, which surpassed what I thought I would be able to do with the lack of run training. I'm not sure whether my nutrition was good or not - I did feel a bit of cramping towards mile 7. I felt like I was on target with nutrition, but maybe was low on salt. Hard to say, considering I hadn't run that far since my accident.

I'm happy with a 12.8K time of 1:36. Good start to the season.