Kansas 70.3 Race Report

I'm very excited to finally be on to phase 2 of this year's racing: short course training!! Of course, that means that I've finished my 70.3 race a.k.a. half Ironman. And it went well. Basically we went out there as usual two days before, spent the day before loosening up and taking care of pre-race stuff, and raced on Sunday. I've been dealing with the ITBS thing for a long time now, and so since they had a tent there with people giving free ART sessions I jumped on that. I think it helped a TON. I was really tight from the drive up till that point. We camped out at Clinton State Park, which was the race site, so in the morning of the race all I had to do was have breakfast in bed, then walk up to the transition areas (there were two at this one) and set up. The water was warm, but I went with a wetsuit anyways since everyone else was. Not sure if it helped or hurt, my wetsuit doesn't seem to fit as well as it used too....stupid muscles, they made my legs bigger! I haven't used the wetsuit up till that point this year, so maybe it is actually time to get a new one.

The swim did NOT go very well. The water was really choppy, there were people everywhere, and I started getting seasick. I came out with a 33 minute swim, which for me is just horrible. I should have gone at worst around a 30 minute swim, not 33. Oh well. Guess I know what I need to work on in the next little while. I didn't realize this in the race though, so that's good.

I got on the bike just planning to chill, let my legs warm up, and catch up to my girl-to-chase. Took me till mile 40 to do so. Overall the bike was just OK. A little hilly and pretty windy, my legs didn't feel too hot, but I was just around the time that I expected to go, so no problems there. I did, however, do my nutrition 100% correct and for that I'm glad. The syrup flask things work well for large quantities of nutrition. I pushed it on the bike only to the point that I knew I would have plenty left for the run since I was not sure what was going to happen there. Got off the bike with a feeling of "well thank goodness THAT'S done" because my legs were just killing me. Don't know why, since it's not like I haven't ridden that far before...but the run started amazingly well. I got off the bike, and felt loose, fluid, comfortable. I started cruising along at sub-8 minute miles, which I honestly haven't done in a while because of the ITBS. I was so comfortable and happy at that pace that I basically kept going. My girl-to-catch caught back up to me pretty quick into the run (and I later found out why - she put down a 6:55 mile off the bike), but I didn't hussle because we were only a few miles into a 13.1 mile run. Not the time to drop the hammer. The run was a two lap course, so somewhere between mile 6 and 7 I decided I may as well see what else there was in the tank and picked up the pace a bit. Caught my girl-to-catch before mile 8, and kept going. Ended up setting a personal best for a half marathon (of course it's going to be in a tri :-P ). Around mile 10 my legs decided they'd had enough and tightened right up, but since I've started this whole I'm-never-stopping-in-a-race-again trip, I didn't stop, just plowed right on through now matter how bad my legs hurt. Partly because the slower you go, the more time you have till you CAN stop. Overall I beat my last 1/2 IM time, by only a little bit I think, but still. Beat it. The swim took a good chunk of the time that I'd improved on in the last one.

My biggest improvement with this race (and really the other ones so far this year, too) is that mentally I've improved significantly. The crowds don't get to me anymore, bad swims don't bother me anymore - I've stopped racing by watch and started racing by feel - and I've stopped giving up.

Next phase - get my speed up, get my power up, and get that pro card :) I'm excited for the rest of the season!

Late Race Report - Memphis in May

So a couple weeks ago, I went down to the Memphis in May tri. It was a good race overall. I was disappointed in how the organizers handled some stuff - like their time management wasn't great, so their schedules didn't actually pan out, and their decision to do nothing about the safety of the racers with the major thunderstorms that rolled through. I suppose though that the only portion that I was truly concerned with was the swim, since, you know, lightning + open bodies of water = usually not a good place to be. But didn't sound like anyone got hurt. So they got lucky there. I didn't like the time trial start, either. The water was open enough they could have done a series of mass starts, but instead they started everyone 3 seconds apart, which meant that regardless of when you started, you were swimming over people for the whole 1500 meters. Which for me, ended up making my swim significantly slower than it could have been because I got kicked in the face so many times by people going all different directions. I hate swimming with triathletes!

I'm happy with how I did - 13th overall, 2nd in AG. Swim was overwhelmingly OK. Nothing spectacular. Not horrible, either. The bike leg, however, was definitely a PR for me. 1:09 for 40k is a great start to the year. Still could shave time, but still, considering it's the 2nd race, with not much speed to speak of yet, it's a great start. All that commuting/riding is starting to pay off. The run leg started out REALLY strong. I was cooking right along. I have been fighting that ITBS for awhile now, so my running has been slim to none, with basically pathetic amounts of speedwork in there, so when I ended up tightening up - mostly in the hips, then with the knee tweaking out on me - I wasn't surprised. I basically decided it was a bad idea to stop because I'd be out of the running for any decent placing, and I wasn't sure that I could get started again if I did. So I ran through it, and only ended up with a 49 minute 10k. Which is substantially more awful than I thought it was when I finished. Still, overall time wasn't bad - 2:24.

The good news is that I've found a massage therapist who is amazing, and who helped me find the real culprit in my ITBS. It is in my hip, not my vastus lateralus (that which is commonly blamed for the issues). I've been foam rolling the vastus lateralus for months now with no improvement, but as soon as she found the right spot in my hip, the whole side of my leg loosened up. Go figure. My knee hasn't hurt once - talked, yes, hurt, no - in the time since. I have to keep working on it for sure, but I'm finally feeling positive about my running and the likelihood that I'll be able to pull off a decent off-the-bike 10k this year.

I'm going back to see the magic massage therapist today to get me all loosened up for Kansas 70.3 that is this Sunday. Surprisingly, I'm looking forward to this race. I have no idea how I'm going to do, but I could do the swim and the bike in my sleep, and the run is getting itself sorted out. Yes I do have the endurance to finish a half marathon, even if I've had some bad luck in my running this year so far. I'm even very comfortable at higher speeds now (as shown by my lightning-induced tempo run on Sunday, I was FLYING!!). Probably because if the hips are tight, it takes so much work to move fast because you're basically fighting yourself to move. So my lesson in all this? Get massages regularly. Darn, that's going to be hard :)

Meet Skippie

I've gone and done it again. I've gotten another bike. Why? Well, with this one I have a REALLY good reason. I would not be able to find this bike at all for the price that I can afford. And in this case, I really just got so lucky. The lady selling it just wanted a good home for it because she didn't ride it and she's just really REALLY nice.

I wanted it because it's a Swedish bike, with the European wheel lock, and a step through frame - which you CAN find here, but for unobscure brands, they are all small frames. Or you can find one from a fairly obscure (obscure in the USA, anyway) brand that's not too small but you'll pay an arm and a leg for what is much less quality than this bike. Which is why I HAD to have it. I couldn't stop thinking about it for the week and a half it was sitting in the shop waiting to see if someone at the used bike sale would want it. Nobody bit. And I was ecstatic. I mean, it came with a Brooks and everything!

Now, I've been skeptical about Brooks saddles for awhile now, and I'd never really planned on getting one simply because they require kind of a lot of care as compared to my pleather foamy saddles that are cheaper and can get wet. I used to think they looked horribly uncomfortable until I sat on one that another woman had. I was surprised to not be in immediate pain with hers, so I was intrigued...still didn't have plans to get one, though. But Skippie came with it, and so far I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm a little sore because according to what I've found online, it can take a few hundred miles to really break them in right. But it's comfy enough since my butt is fairly hardened already from riding all the time anyways.

Now to the coolest part(s): it's got a skirt guard, an internally-geared 5 speed hub, and a dynamo hub that powers the front light. Oh and there's the wheel lock too. That is one of the coolest thing ever. Not a popular...excuse me...an existent feature in the good ol' US of A, so despite it's coolness, good luck finding it here.

The name Skippie is care of Casey. The brand is something that I have no idea if I can pronounce correctly or not: Skeppshult. Pronounce that one five times fast. So calling it Skippie means that I can pronounce something right and I won't get tongue tied.

Now I have a bike I can ride in a skirt! This means that I'll be getting rid of Priscilla once she's finished being painted, cleaned, and reassembled. As well as the fixie Priscilla was going to replace. Priscilla is too small for me anyways. So I'm up one, then I'll be down two. Which is perfect. I still have my awesomely ugly Trek 800 that's covered in stickers for winter commuting, but that's not a bike I'm concerned about beating up. Salt will destroy nice things, so Skippie will not be ridden in the snow.

So Much Going On!!

So last weekend I went up to Galena. Let me say, it is BEAUTIFUL there. Completely gorgeous. And hilly as all get-out. I have been in serious hill deprivation since moving here, but in Galena, I got my full dosage of hills to make up for it. I was actually wishing for a bigger cassette (as in more teeth on my biggest cog - a 23). In NM it didn't come into play all that much, and I was perfectly happy with it. This area was hilly enough, steep enough, and long enough that I was really wishing for that bigger cassette. The people who had them definitely were doing better than me at the end of the rides. That's ok. It builds power. It was a fabulous weekend. I learned that I'm a bit crazy (according to triathletes who, IMHO don't have the *greatest* bike handling abilities) when it comes to going downhills. But I'm just efficient. More downhill speed = less work to get up the hill on the other side. And it's a lot more fun that way! As of yet *knock on wood* I haven't had an issue with descending anything fast.

Most of this week however, I've felt weird. I did a bit of a gluten experiment up in Galena, so I'm not actually sure if I feel off because of that, or if it's just an I'm tired/over trained/female issues thing. Just don't know. I came around on Saturday for my long ride, but most of the week was junk for training. Felt like I was bonked, but since I'd just eaten, that's obviously not what was going on.

I have decided (yet again...be prepared for this to change) that I'm going to start working on getting ready for graduate school as well as take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam. They always seem to put the FE exam on a day that doesn't work for me, and since it's only 2X per year, it's kind of something you have to do come hell or high water. I plan on doing it at this point, mostly because I'm SO FLIPPIN' BORED OUT OF MY MIND. Working at a bike shop is fun, sure, but mentally stimulating? Uhhh no. I have learned that I'm much more like my mom than I've ever thought. I don't like having nothing truly substantial to be working on. I start obsessing over what bike I want/how I want it/etc. Completely useless things to be thinking about. Especially since, for the most part, the only thing really keeping me from the objects that I want is money. Money is, for the most part, simple. You want something? Save up. It may take longer for one person versus another, but there's almost always a way. Unless it's like a Ferrari or something. That's just crazy.

I'm racing Memphis in May on May 22nd. It's going to be interesting. I'm told that the run is hot. It will be the first Olympic distance of the year. Then on June 12th is Kansas IM 70.3. Again. It will be interesting. At least the water temperatures should be comfortable.

First Race Report!!

First of all, Happy Easter!

I know this race report is a week late, but I've had kind of a crazy week. I got a whole BUNCH of training in on my three days off of work this week, and I'm pooped!

I went down to the Petersburg, Il Pioneer Sprint race last weekend, just to see what junk I have in my legs from not racing until late this season. This is, by far, the latest I've ever started the season since I started racing. It may be for the better, though, because by the last few races I've felt pretty cooked in years past.

So the race went like this: 300 yard (not meter, yard) snake swim, 13 mile bike (out and back), then 3.1 mile run. It was a stagger start in the pool, kinda on the honor system as to how fast you're going to swim, so I started kinda close to the front. Still passed one guy but didn't get passed by anyone in the water. Which was good because it was a tightly packed pool. We had to do each 50 in one lane then switch, so yeah, it could be bad if people were poorly matched up. I had the 3rd fastest swim of everyone (as far as I can count, since they don't have rankings on the results).

Then the bike was pretty straightforward. I broke out the race wheels for this one: haven't ridden them since last summer, so it was time to "test ride" them. They did well. The bike was so SO surprisingly comfortable! I've been really consistent in my stretching lately trying to loosen up the IT bands and hips and one of the effects has been much more comfort on the TT bike. Go figure. I averaged 21.0 on the bike (I had seen 22 point something earlier, but maybe that was my mistake). Either way, it was decently strong, 2nd fastest of the women, but only by .2mph. And considering I haven't done much speedwork in the TT position, I was quite pleased by it, and my legs felt great, anyways.

Now the run I've been having lots of issues with because of my IT bands, and I haven't been doing a lot of the speedwork that I'd usually be doing. So I kinda expected the run to suck (but was doing a good job of not thinking about it the morning of the race). I just got off the bike, knowing I had the lead, just thinking I'd run the heck outta my legs. And I did. I went a 21:09 for a 5k that's hilly and off the bike, that's not bad at all. I also had a boy chasing me the whole time, and I REALLY didn't want him to catch me haha. That time is fairly decent for me when I've had a little speedwork. Let alone basically none. So I was very pleasantly surprised by that. Guess all the basework on the bike and run this year is starting to pay off. I finished #8 out of the men, #1 out of the women, 5 minutes behind the first male, and 7 minutes ahead of the next woman (the biggest margin I've ever won by before).

FRS was there, awesome as ever, handing out samples. Since I know them - they sponsor the Well Fit Elite team - I ended up talking to them a lot. Good stuff, nice people, always great to see them!! They gave me a goodie bag for my win!

My times (in order of swim, T1, bike, T2, run, overall time):

4:02.3 00:30.1 37:07.3 00:31.4 21:09.1 1:03:20.2

Warmth! OMG WARMTH!!!

I wore shorts today! Not because I was wishing for some decent warmth, but because it was actually an awesome 80F degrees ( the F is for Fahrenheit, for anyone thinking I mean Celsius and thinking somehow that we're close to the surface of the stove, we're not, just...nevermind....).

It was a wonderfully warm day. Nevermind that it was humid as all get out, and that's no way to have a warm day, I'll take what I can get. Ran in shorts, biked in shorts, worked on my tan....ahem....or lack thereof.

S'posed to be warm tomorrow too :)

My 21 Day Challenge!

So the thing with being an athlete is that it's almost always a lot easier to go out for a run than it is to admit it's probably a day to take it easy. Having a training plan helps a lot with that, but lately I've been battling the IT band issues that cropped up about a month ago, and while I've been training, my running still is lame because that's the one sport that the IT band really matters in for me. So since this week is finally a recovery week for me, my goal is to start having a consistent yoga practice to help prevent injuries. I don't have any real injuries other than tight muscles, really. Tight muscles with trigger points in them. That then pull and rub on something else and irritate it. It's annoying and fairly elusive to treat. I've basically given up on finding a massage therapist that can help out because 1) it's expensive and 2) a really REALLY helpful and good and amazing massage therapist is about one in a million. Which means it will take awhile to find one anyways, and by then I'd be out of money. Sigh.

So, along with my magic muscle zapper, which I have completely worn the electrode pads down on - I need to get new ones of those - I've decided that it's in my best interest to pick up yoga again. In years past I've signed up for a class at school to add another credit hour to my load, and lo and behold, I've ended up not injured for the time that I'd been taking the class. It was basically a result of being forced to keep a consistent practice. A consistent practice helps keep muscles loose, and amongst other benefits, that's probably the one that I'd notice the most. I even remember someone saying (who told me not to reveal this information to a certain other person, hence the anonymity) that the only thing that ever helped (and cured) his plantar fasciitis was a 6 week long beginner's yoga class.

Which brings me to my 21 Day Challenge, as created by Yoga Journal. I'm totally starting it late, but it's better late than never, right? The idea is to basically have a way to help to cultivate a DAILY home practice in order to truly get the benefits of yoga, which, surprise surprise are only really achieved by regular practice. Which takes me back to the trigger points. Trigger points are most likely to show up in chronically tight muscles such as those that are overworked - like mine. How do you keep muscles from getting tight? Well I would say stretching, but in reality, it doesn't really help me that much. Yoga is different. It's not stretching. Not in the traditional sense, anyways. Isometric stretching, maybe. But more well rounded than that. It's a warmup, workout, and cooldown.

So, in an effort to help prevent my own injuries and hopefully push others to do the same, I am starting my 21 days as of this morning, and through training and working, I will keep a consistent practice.