What the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks Have I Gotten Myself Into??

So, about this 50K... Like I said in my last post, I waited to officially sign up for this race until I knew how well the groin would hold up. Training on hilly trails sounded like the last thing I should be doing, so I didn't really hit them until I felt good after TCM. Two weeks ago, I bought my new shiny blue trail shoes and hit up some single track by our house.

Yesterday I used my day off to check out the Murphy Henrehan park reserve, where the race will be held on the 31st. The plan was to do the 15.6 mile loop and tack on a couple of other jaunts to add a few miles. I brought the map with me. Thank God I did.

The race is offering four different distances - a 25K, a marathon, a 50K, and a 50 mile. All of the races incorporate the 15.6 mile loop, but the marathon and 50 mile tack on a little extra. I'll be doing 2 loops.

The loop is described as rolling hills for the first 6 miles with rocks and roots, flat and runnable for the next 6 miles, single track for 0.5 miles around mile 12 and then back to rolling hills. Since this is all new territory for me, I really had no idea what to expect. Turns out that "rolling hills" are some serious grade changes that I've really never experienced before. I'm sure these pale in comparison to some trail races out there, but yikes! I'm going to have to take it REALLY easy for those first few miles, both for footing's sake and to preserve some energy. I really didn't' know what "very runnable" meant in reference to the 6-12 mile mark, but it turns out that this is a good description. There are significantly fewer rocks and roots, and it's relatively flat. By the time I got to this part, I was already getting tired. It was cooling off, and I had put my long sleeves back on. I was starting to wonder if I'd ever get back to my car! On the way back, I was walking off and on and feeling a little disoriented. I wondered if it was the cold air, me being tired, or the fact that so much of the terrain looks the same. By the time I hit my car, I was more tired and sore than I anticipated I'd be. Today my thighs feel like they're going to fall off.

A couple of things to ponder:

* On my run, I met Les, the race director. He was the first person I'd seen in nearly 2 hours, so I was a bit startled at first. He asked if I was racing next weekend then introduced himself. Small world!

* I emailed a new friend to ask a few more questions about running a race this distance. It's great to know a few people who have done this distance (and much further) before. The race website says that they will have "the usual ultra foods" I wondered what that meant. Guy replied, "Foods are water, electrolyte drink,Coke, Sprite, ginger ale, Hammer gels or similar, fruit, cookies, cakes,brownies, pb&j sammies, candies (gummi bears, m&ms, etc), and my personal favorite, canned boiled potatoes that you dip in a dish of coarse salt. (try it!) The volunteers are almost always fellow runners, so you'll also see specialty treats like homemade jerky, banana bread, grilled cheese sandwiches,and in the summer; fresh strawberries on ice!!!" Holy cow you may not be able to peel me away from the aid stations!

* I did get lost a few times out there. Well technically, I wasn't lost. I had just taken the wrong turn. I ended up backtracking plenty of times. When Guy emailed me, he told me, "You'll be surprised how stupid you become after running through the woods for a few hours." OK. This makes me feel a little better both on the lost front and the slightly disoriented front.

If nothing else, this should be quite an adventure!

Twin Cities Marathon Race Report

Better late than never seems to be my recurring theme here. Looks like the last time I posted around here was over a month ago. Yeesh! My tenth Twin Cities Marathon has come and gone, and this year did not disappoint!

There was much more preparation involved this year because in addition to Borsch and I doing the marathon, 10 of our family members were doing the 10 mile. Many of them were staying at our place, and most of them were eating here for their pre-race and post-race meals. The weeks leading up to the race were a flurry of emails about sleeping assignments, food assignments, and changing guest lists. My family kept commenting on how excited they were that the race would be over soon. I was starting to wonder whether encouraging them all to sign up was such a good idea.

Steve, my brother Matt and I went down to the expo the day before the race. It was a flurry of activity, and we stopped to talk to several friends we saw down there. Mark and Kris were doing the 10 mile, Alli and Ryan were doing the marathon, and my coworker Julie was doing the 10 miler. I managed to get out of the expo without totally draining our bank account. I found a super cute pair of 26.2 undies for my bud Maddy's batchelorette party that was that evening. We stopped by the costume place to pick up the farm animal costumes before we drove home.

I spent the afternoon cleaning and getting some of the food ready. After most of it was ready and some of the guests were arriving, I scurried off to make an appearance at Maddy's party. I'm not so sure it was a good idea. I spent my time at home worrying whether I'd make her party on time, and I spent my time with the girls worrying whether Steve was managing OK with my family at my place. I left Maddy's just before 8 and got home a frazzled mess worried that I'd messed up on both accounts. I shouldn't have been. Maddy was glad I stopped by for a couple of hours, and my family was all fine (Steve is AWESOME!). We got all 14 people through our one working bathroom in a reasonable amount of time, and Steve and I turned our lights off at 10:30.

I didn't sleep all that well the night before the race, which is a little unusual for me. I dreamt about it most of the night. Steve got up before our 5:30 alarm clock went off. Turns out I wasn't the only one not sleeping well. It didn't take long for our house to be a flutter with race morning activity! My aunt Jen was dreading her 10 miler. She compared her feeling of dread waking up to the way she felt before going into brain surgery a couple of years ago. Other relatives chimed in that they were ready to get it over with. I was really feeling bad for having pushed them to sign up. The marathon didn't start till 8, but we left the house early so we'd have time to spare for the 7 am 10 mile start time. Borsch and I said goodbye to them all and went back into the Metrodome to warm up. There was a chill in the air, but I knew I'd warm up as soon as we started running, so I was just wearing my shorts, a sleeveless shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and a garbage bag to keep me warm. I sent all of my warm clothes with my mom to have at the finish. Borsch and I did a bit of stretching before making one last stop at the potties. I didn't get to see him again before the start (turns out the guys line was SUPER long, and they waited 15 minutes before hijacking the women's bathroom).

By the time I got outside, the chute was full. I saw Jenny, Guy, and Kim lined up. They had a huge bucket of candy ready for the kids along the course. Too fun! We wished each other good luck, and I snuck up a little further in line. I had been gunning for a sub 4 hour race all summer long, but the injury and a couple of really terrible training runs had left me doubtful whether this was possible or smart. I had hoped for some last minute long runs to re-evaluate the plan, but then my buddy xt4 sent me a come back to Earth email reminding me that what I really needed with an injury was rest. I thought about it for a few days and realized that he was right. I changed my time goal to closer to 4:10 (around 9:30s) knowing that if the groin really acted up, I'd be lucky just to finish. When the gun went off, I was well behind the 5 hour pacers. I kept it super easy for the first few miles.

Mile 1: 9:39. I heated up quickly. I knew I would. The garbage bag came off.

Mile 2: 9:10. Still feeling good. I smiled as I ran by the Basilica with its bells ringing. The long sleeves came off too.

Mile 3: 10:59 hit the lap late, got boxed behind some people at the water stop

Mile 4: 8:43 laughing and joking with the other runners

Mile 5: 8:57
Mile 6: 10:33 - looked over at the lake and marveled at the beauty of this race
Mile 7: 8:32
Mile8: 9:38 -gave my long sleeved shirt to a coworker. I was plenty warm!
Mile 9: 9:21
Mile 10: 9:25
Mile 11: 9:15 - still feeling good. This is the point where the wheels came off in my last 20 miler...
Mile 12: 9:24
Mile 13: 9:32
Mile 14: 12:03- had to make a planned stop at the porta potty. In 10 years, this was the first race where I had to run with a ziplocked tampon tucked into the waistband of my shorts. It cost me nearly 2.5 minutes but was totally unavoidable.

Mile 15: 9:14
Mile 16: 9:36 - I felt so strong. I was starting to hurt, but I remember hitting the mile marker and thinking, "This is how a marathon is supposed to feel!" Right around this time, I found my coworker Tzivia. We run about the same pace, and I was so excited to see her. We were both feeling great and commented how the miles had been flying by.

Mile 17: 9:45
Mile 18: 9:24 - I was feeling a little low on fuel but had run out of everything I'd brought. I took advantage of the orange slices and bananas spectators had brought for us.

Mile 19: 9:33
Mile 20: 9:31 - grabbed a couple of Gu packets from the Gu stop (the only one on the course)
Mile 21: 9:23 - saw Maddy and Luke. Maddy was upright after her night of debauchery! I was so surprised to see her, and I gave her a huge hug

Mile 22: 9:59 - up one of the last big hills on Summit.
Mile 23: 9:23
Mile 24: 9:02 - Tzivia and I were picking up the pace. I was feeling good but didn't know if I could hold onto that for 2 more miles. I told her to go on ahead without me. It actually worked out great because she looked for my family at the Cathedral and told them I was right behind her.

Mile 25: 9:41 - I knew I wouldn't break 4:10 but was RUNNING and feeling great
Mile 26: 9:49 - I high-fived my whole family as I ran by them
Last 0.2: 1:54 - I went as fast as I could but didn't have much in the reserves at that point.

Total finishing time: 4:11:38 - my second fastest marathon ever. My PR is 3:58. Someday I'll get there again.

Final thoughts:

1. My family had a blast. I needn't have worried. They all did better than they expected and are talking about "next time."

2. I've been doing this long enough to know what works. After my 20 miler, I went back to my old shoes. I'm back in the stability ones I've been wearing for years and will save the neutral ones Endurance House recommended for shorter runs. I wore my typical 45 degree outfit (shorts) despite my body telling me I should have dressed warmer. I was hot and sweating out there in no time. I brought Nuun along cut into 6ths. I dissolved it into my cups of water. Sometimes I chewed it first (it's not pleasant). It helps my stomach so much that I had to bring it along, and when I was impatient, I chewed it with a mouthful of water. It absoluely worked.

3. Could I have gone a bit faster and come closer to breaking 4? Likely. But there are some things that you can't change, like necessary bathroom breaks. I could have walked through fewer aid stations. I could have shut up while running with Tzivia. I could have put my head down and gutted it out, but I likely would have blown up, felt miserable, and not have been able to break 4 anyway. Eleven minutes is a long time, even for a marathon. I had SUCH a fun time out there. I hugged my friends. I high-fived my family. I welcomed newcomers to the race. I thanked the spectators and volunteers, and for me, that's what running the Twin Cities Marathon is all about.

4. The groin was sore but held up just fine. I think I'm finally on the mend. I wanted to see how it did before making any decisions, but I think I'm in the clear. I've been eyeing this one local race since this spring but couldn't really decide till I knew where my body was. This week I did it. I officially signed up for the Surf the Murph 50K on Halloween. I've never run a long trail race before. I went out to test the trails last weekend and will be going out again tomorrow. I'm not sure I know what I've gotten myself into, but maybe that's for the better...

Get Ready to Rock 20 Mile Abbreviated Race Report

I was heading into this run knowing it was make or break time. My recent injuries and lackluster long runs left me a little worried about covering the distance. Turns out I should have been. In summary, it totally sucked. I spent the first half of it trying to perform damage control. My left groin was sore. My right one started hurting too, and my abs were cramped up the whole time. I felt nauseated. The humidity and temperatures climbed really quickly. I had to pee from the start of the run, and in the absence of viable bushes, I had to wait for the porta potty at mile 11. My average quickly dropped from 9:15 for the first 11 to 10:30s for the total run. At mile 19, I decided that I really needed to suck it up and just finish the run. At mile 19.5, the nausea got really bad, and I proceeded to barf 4 times while a half a dozen people ran by cheerily chirping that we were almost there. I finished. Steve says my finisher's photo looks as good as I felt.

I've got work to do:

1. Nail down my nutrition plan. I may be wearing a Fuel Belt for the whole marathon. If it means losing a few seconds per mile to maintain adequate nutrition, I'll take it.
2. LOTS AND LOTS of ab work in the next 3 weeks. The salvage workout mentality has left me super squishy in the midsection.
3. Instead of the 15 miler on the books for this weekend, I think I'm going to make it 17 or 18. I need one more practice run.
4. I'm going to feel out my old shoes. When Endurance House did my footstrike analysis at WIBA at the end of June, they determined that I was a more neutral shoe girl, not stability. I remember vowing to myself that if I started to get injured, I'd go back to what's worked for the last 10 years. I did transition myself to the new shoes over a month's time, but that may not have been long enough. I ran my tempo run in my trusty Saucony Hurricanes yesterday, and I felt OK. I think the groin is slowly getting better anyway.

Right after the run, we headed out to Madison to volunteer at IM Moo. It was the most fun I've had in a weekend in a long time. Steve has tons of pictures, but I'll have to hit the highlights in the next couple of days! Happy training everyone!

St. Croix Valley Olympic Distance Tri Race Report

Well, here it is - my last tri race report of 2009. The outdoor pools are all closing, and the lakes are getting colder. In a couple of weeks, they won't be swimmable. It'll be too cold. I had high hopes for this race when I first signed up. It would be my first oly of the year, and I really have been working on getting faster. The groin injury, however, resulted in a screeching halt in my training, and I've been on the bike and in the water all of twice each since Chisago 70.3 at the end of July. Like I said in my last post, I've been just trying to get in most of my critical runs in an effort to be well enough for the marathon next month. It's hard to turn that race mentality off when you get to the site, though. I had told myself all week that if my leg wasn't feeling it, it was totally ok to DNF if it meant saving the marathon.

Steve and I got to the race site about an hour early. We knew it would be a small race (the sprint the day before had 400 + participants but the oly only had 111). Even though the race was technically in Wisconsin (Hudson), it's just a little over 20 minutes from our door. We set up our stuff, said hi to our friend Jen and her hubby, and shimmied into our wetsuits.

Jen and me getting body marked

The Swim:

The swim was a 2 wave start. Men went first and women and teams went out 3 minutes later. I knew I hadn't really put in any swim time, but somehow my times always come out the same regardless of how much work I put in, so I was still hoping to come out in around 35 minutes - slow by most people's standards but pretty normal for me. I positioned myself toward the inside and at the back. I'm slow enough that this position just seems to work for me, and this time was no exception. I had a lot of open clear water for much of the two loop swim, and compared to my swim at Chisago, it was very drama free. I hopped out of the water in 34:11, a PR by over a minute since my last oly.

T1:

I was very careful taking off my wetsuit. I sat down and pulled my left leg out with my arms for fear that I'd really aggravate my groin if I tried to get it off normally. Jerry MacNeil, local tri announcer, joked that I was demonstrating one way to get a wetsuit off and then commenting that I had MUCH better balance than Steve in putting on my socks and shoes. It felt kind of cool having somebody giving my play by play in transition. Thanks Jerry! After all that futzing around, I was out in 1:50.

The Bike:

The bike was the big "if" of the race. I haven't been putting in the miles, and even though I knew this was just a 40K, it's still something that should be trained for. I had talked to the ART doc on Wednesday asking for his blessing, and he specifically mentioned that I should be careful not to pull up with my left leg. I was on track for my calculated sub 3 splits after the swim and T1, and I spent most of the bike trying to baby my leg but pushing hard enough to keep at least a 17 mph average, what I knew I'd have to pull on the bike in order to even be close to 3. I got passed by a couple of guys initially but I did pass one woman and a few guys later on. Otherwise we were pretty spread out. The roads on the bike were a little rough in spots, but overall the course was beautiful. It was a gorgeous summer/fall day, and it felt great to be on my bike. My average slowly crept up, and by the end, I finished the bike in 1:24:40, a 17.5 mph average, and another PR by over a minute. I know that had I been better trained, I could have been WAY faster here, but I was just happy to eek out what I did.

T2:

I hopped off my bike, and my groin was SUPER stiff. My normal hustle to the rack was quickly reduced to a walk in an attempt to stretch out my leg enough to actually muster up something for the run. To my relief, it started loosening up pretty quickly. Coming in on the bike, I really had to pee, and for a couple of seconds, I thought I'd be able to pee on the bike, but I just couldn't relax enough. I was in and out of T2 in 1:59 with a port a potty stop.

The Run:

Truth time. Had I really screwed something up in my groin or would I be OK? The first couple of steps on the run felt pretty stiff, but I was able to loosen up a little bit. I took a gel right off the bat and focused on a relaxed upper body and a shorter but quicker stride (long strides tend to irritate the injury). To my astonishment, the mile 1 marker showed up really quickly. I looked down at my watch and saw 8:54. I was hoping to hold onto that. It would easily secure a sub 3 hour race. Starting the run, I was excited that it was only a 10K. After 3 half iron distance races this year, somehow 6.2 miles seemed short! I didn't have enough room on my watch for all of my run splits, so I took them every 2 miles. I hit mile 2 in 17:04 which meant that either I was picking up speed really fast or the mile marker was short. Miles 3 and 4 took me 18:49, so I'm guessing the markers were a little off. I got really direction turned between miles 3 and 4. It was a pseudo out and back with a bit of winding around in the middle. I was so confused for a second that I was questioning the run distance we were covering! I was still feeling strong at that point. My weekly tempo runs with Matt have gotten me used to running with side stitches and out of my comfort zone, so I just pretended that I was running with him! I kept trying to pick up the pace knowing that barring no major catastrophes, sub 3 was on its way. As I hit the 400 mark, I could hear footsteps. Someone was gaining on me. Drat. I had been passing people here and there, but nobody had passed me since the first 1/4 mile of the run. I wasn't about to let it start just before the finish. When the guy finally caught up to me, I saw that it was one of the guys I had passed and chatted with a little before mile 1. He thanked me then told me I had a great pace and that I had been his rabbit all day. I had a little gas in the tank, so I picked it up and pulled him in.

Booking it in at the finish - you can see the guy chasing me's elbow

I finished those last 2.2 miles in 17:29

I averaged just under 8:37/mile for the 10K, which is a huge improvement over my last oly run. Total time was 2:56:04, over 10 minutes faster than my previous PR. Never being fully satisfied, I can't help but wonder how much better I could have done had I been totally healthy, but I guess this just means I'll have room for improvement on my next one! It's a little disappointing to see that I still came in 9/10 in my age group, but 7 of the top 10 women were in my age group, and I can't argue with improvement.

Overall, this was a super low-key, well-run race. I would totally recommend it. Steve and I had a blast, and he even came in 2nd in his age group.

If the groin holds up, I may do a local 20 mile road race next weekend. I'll keep you posted!

Long Overdue Update - Running and Lack Thereof

During my Chisago race report, I promised to write again on the recent success that I've been having in my running. It was right around that time that I was feeling on top of the world on every run. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was running my weekly long runs by myself and tempo runs with my brother Matt, and we were really pushing each other. I was feeling so good that I was starting to realize that sub 4 was definitely in my future, and a little voice in my head was asking if I should be aiming to BQ, a feat I've long thought I'd have to age into. Around 3 weeks ago, though, I started having a little bit of groin pain during and after my runs. I took it easy until my next important run of the week - no cross training in between, just aiming to heal up enough to get through another vital piece of training. I've still managed to get in my tempo runs with Matt, but I haven't done intervals in around a month, and my 20 mile long run this past Tuesday was bad enough to rank in the top 5 worst runs I've ever had. I only made it 16 miles, and I had to walk a couple of those miles. It wasn't just my groin. I had nutritional issues, side cramps, and mentally, I was toast - feeling really defeated, like my whole body has atrophied in the past month. I don't do injuries.

I saw Steve's ART chiropractor twice this week. It's either a very strained groin muscle or a sports hernia. I thought hernias were for old grandpas. During my first visit, Dr. Folske was thinking there's a 50/50 chance of hernia vs muscle. My visit Wednesday went better, though, and now we're thinking it's more likely muscle. He's giving me a few more visits before referring me to a surgeon. The good news is that it's tolerable pain if I alter my stride just a bit. The bad news is that it's slowing me down. The marathon is just over 4 weeks away. I'm not sure where this is headed. I'm still keeping sub-4 in sight, but I NEED a good 20 miler before then.

Steve and I are signed up for the St. Croix olympic distance tri this weekend. I don't think I'd be doing it if I hadn't already paid the money. It has quickly turned from an A race with the goal of finally hitting sub 3 to a "C" cross training day set up to keep me healthy enough for the marathon. Arrg.

OK, enough griping. I am really thankful that I am able to still be out there. I know it could be much much worse. I'm just so used to being healthy. On a positive note, I am downright giddy to be volunteering at IM Moo this year. We literally have a dozen or so friends doing the race, and It'll be a mini vacation for us! SO excited to visit Ironman village! In the meantime, if you need to find me I'll be doing groin stretches and flat legged situps in my living room :)

Chisago Lakes Half Iron Distance Race Report

The alarm clock went off EARLY Sunday morning - too early if you ask me. Steve and I had packed up the bikes and all of our gear after our pasta feed on Saturday night. When I asked Steve what time he was setting his alarm for. He replied 3:45 AM, and my response was, "Why?? We're not leaving until 5! I'm not getting up until 4:30." Steve and I always disagree on this point. He likes to be up at some obscene time on race morning to be the first one in transition. I prefer to sleep in and get there with plenty of time to spare but not so much time that I sit around and stew about the race. Turns out that we both won, or lost I guess. Steve's early alarm clock woke me up, and I couldn't really fall back asleep. However, we didn't leave till around 5. It left us both a little crabby.


We got to the race site, and I couldn't believe how busy it was! We had no trouble finding parking, but we did have to park a couple of blocks further away than in the past. I dropped off my bike and went to pick up my race packet. The lady handed me my race packet with my T-shirt - a size large. I had registered for a small. She also told me that she hoped I'd brought a swim cap. They were all out. I could feel my frustration increasing. I normally love this race. I've done it twice and am quick to tell people how great of a race it is - well organized, fairly low key, and relatively inexpensive compared to other half iron distance races. When I told the volunteer that they had me down for the wrong size, she apologized and told me to come back at the end of the race. Turns out I wasn't the only one. Two other women in transition also had registered for small shirts and were given larges. I tried to brush off all of the frustration. There was nothing I could do about it, and I didn't want it to affect my race. I was also a little nervous about the closeness in transition. I could barely squeeze sideways between the bike tires. I had no idea how I'd squeeze my bike through there too.


Transition closed promptly at 6:45. Steve and I had each seen two different pairs of his students while we were preparing in transition, so we knew we were all there. We met them down at the beach as planned. I was so excited for them! We snapped several pics, I gave Steve a smooch and wished them all luck, and I went to wait in line for my wave to start. I was in wave 6 of 10, and before I could think too much about anything, I was off!


The Swim:

We were in waves of 50, and since the waves went by time of registration and not by age group, I lined up toward the back and outside to avoid getting trampled. Almost as soon as I got my face in the water, my goggles filled up. Dang. I popped up, treaded water by just kicking, shook out the water, and started up again. Again they started leaking. I pressed them onto my face more to get a better seal. The water was really distracting, but every time I tried to breathe left (I breath every 3rd stroke), the sun rising BLINDED me. I tried dumping the water out of my goggles again. There wasn't more than a few drops left in them, but it felt all wrong. I started to panic. I had barely started the swim, I was out of breath, and I was panicking. How am I going to get through the next mile? I started getting a really sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. This is silly. I pride myself on staying calm in all sorts of horrible situations in the water. I need to calm down. Despite my best effort, it just wasn't working. I started to wonder if my race was over before it had even really started. I was verging on a total meltdown. I looked up and saw one of the volunteers just sitting on the edge of the swim line holding onto her orange life preserver buoy. I swam over to her and told her that I just needed to rest a second and get the water completely out of my goggles. (For those of you who don't know, the rules are that you can stop, hold on, and rest as long as you need to provided that you receive no forward propulsion from doing so.) The volunteer smiled and kindly acknowledged that swimming in a lake is much different than swimming in a pool. I don't remember what I told her. I think I just mumbled something. I wanted to tell her that I'd done this more times than I could even attempt to count, that this was the first time anything like this had ever happened, that I'm not the type of person who panics in a swim. Instead, I just held on, methodically dumped all of the water out, wiped my goggles, and started back into the swim. I instantly felt much better. I was finding a rhythm again when I went to breathe left and someone physically pushed my face under right as I was about to suck in air. I felt the panic creep back in, but this time, I was able to brush it off. I've never understood why people do malicious things during the swim. I don't think I ever will. The rest of the swim was relatively uneventful. I eventually settled into a comfortable pace. When I hit the turn around of the out and back in 18 minutes, I knew it was short. Dang. I was secretly hoping for a PR, and a PR just doesn't feel the same on a short course. Eighteen minutes halfway through a half swim is normal for a lot of people, but not for me. With my lack of pool time, I figured I was looking at about a 45 minute swim. There's a difference between a good day and a miracle, and with the start to my swim, I knew it was short. I'm not sure what my official time was exiting the water, but my total swim time came to 39:27 after running up a huge hill into transition. This is nearly a 6 minute PR for me, so either I had divine intervention or it really was a little short.



T1:

I needn't have worried about getting my bike out in T1 because many/most of the rest of the bikes were gone. I loaded up my jersey, threw on my gear, and was out in 2:56.



The Bike:

My goal on the bike was to PR. The last time I did this race, it took us down along the river and on some TERRIBLE roads. I had heard they changed the course and was curious to see how it was. The new roads were AWESOME! Nearly every one was new. There was a several mile stretch of road toward the end that was reminiscent of the old course, but for the most part it was great. There were lots of small hills and one big hill around mile 45. We had a head wind for the first 25+ miles, and I knew it would be a tail wind on the way back. I tried to keep my cadence up and keep working without pushing too hard. After the initial flock of people passed me and the sprint course participants turned off our course, I settled into a good pace and did a lot of passing. I pulled over at one water stop to shift my water bottles around when a porta potty opened up. I jumped on the opportunity, which probably cost me a couple of minutes, but when I really have to pee, it affects my ability to get in adequate nutrition. Speaking of nutrition, I really tried to focus on it this time around. I've had my share of nutrition issues this year, and I was determined not to let it get the best of me. I stopped once more around mile 45. One woman had pulled over, and when I asked me if she needed anything, she replied that she had flatted again and needed a CO2 cartridge. I gave her mine thinking it was good ju-ju. Turns out I was right. I finished the bike in 3:10:28 (the bike was a bit short at 55.4 miles), just a few minutes slower than my 3:05 pr at Steelhead, which was really short at 54.5 miles. My average came to 17.4 MPH, which isn't too shabby for me.

T2:

I hit T2 a little frustrated again. The swim was short and the bike was short. I knew I was on stellar PR pace but didn't want to earn it on a short course. I didn't see Steve at first, and I was totally OK with that. I was hoping he was out there with his students and they were all having a great time. I had to hike my bike up onto my shoulder to get it into the tight transition area! I unloaded and reloaded my pockets and was out - 2:10.

The Run:

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on my run, and it's slowly getting faster. Secretly, I was thinking that I could stay sub 10 minute miles if I felt great, and when I hit my first mile in 9:10 feeling good, I got pretty excited. My goal was to keep things steady but easy for the first 10 and let it all out for the last 3 if I had anything left. The run was an out and back, so I was cheering TONS of people in as I was heading out. It kept me positive and kept me distracted. The first 3 miles were relatively shady, and I continued to feel great. The next 3 miles were out in the open, and even though it was just a little over 80 degrees, it had some major intensity. I was heating up! Just after the 6 mile mark, I turned onto the little loop they have us do before heading back. On that back stretch, I saw the medics with somebody, and when I looked in the car, I saw it was our friend Jeremy! I stopped dead in my tracks. I asked Jeremy if he was OK. He sort of just shook his head. Come to think of it, he was shaking all over. I made sure the medics had called his girlfriend, who was back at transition with their kids. Then I started back up knowing there was really nothing more I could do. At that point, the combination of the heat, having already run nearly 7 miles, and seeing a good friend being hauled away by ambulance started to get to me. I really felt myself pushing but could barely muster 10-11 minute miles. I did see a few friends out there, including Nat, AmyBee, Ally, and Dr. Joe, who I had befriended at liberty. When I hit the 10 mile mark, I really started pushing, but my splits weren't getting much faster. I kept pushing. I passed a guy at mile 11.5 who decided to run with me. We ran the next 1.5 miles together saying very little but quietly pushing each other in. It was his first half, and he's doing Arizona in November. I wasn't feeling great at that point, but having someone running with me really seemed to help. We ran our last mile pretty fast, and when we saw the finish line, he told me that I deserved to finish first since I had pushed him to keep going. Not wanting to hold him up, I sprinted in. Ten feet before the finish line, I had to stifle the urge to puke. I hit the finish line along the fence knowing that there was a good chance I wasn't going to be able to stifle that urge much longer. I was searching for the perfect spot. I looked over the fence - computers and timing equipment, no good. Someone hollered to me that they needed my chip. I ignored them. I was headed for an emergency. I looked at the grass in front of me - definitely a possibility, but then I saw it. There was a big Rubbermaid tote with used cups and other garbage toward the back of the finish area. I walked over, leaned in, and let out some serious projectile vomit. Twice. It was heavenly. I layed down on the grass and hoped the nausea would pass, and instantly two volunteers ran over asking if I was OK. I smiled and told them that I was fine, that I just needed to lay down for a bit. One of them asked if he could take my pulse. I replied that he was welcome to, but I had just sprinted to the finish line so it was likely going to be crazy. Then I apologized for having barf breath. I tried to keep joking around with them because I really did feel OK. I slowly sat up, waved to Steve, and asked him if he got the ralphing incident on camera. I often feel nauseated at the end of races, and it's not uncommon for me to have to rest for a second for it to pass, but I have to say that I'm pretty proud of the fact that I actually did hurl. I guess it's sort of a badge of honor thing. I really did push myself hard. It paid off too. I pr'd on the run by 2 minutes - 2:11:53 for an average of 10:04/mile, not too far off my goal of sub 10s. Total finishing time: 6:06:59, a 30 minute PR, a 20+ minute PR if you want to add some extra time on for another 0.5 miles on the bike and 0.2 miles for the swim. Either way, I'm starting to wonder if sub-6 is actually within my reach, and that makes this slowpoke really excited.

Final Comments:

*They did exchange my race shirt after the race was over. We're good again.

*Jeremy had to be taken away by ambulance, but 4 liters of fluid and a few drugs later, he was as good as new. The race director gave him free entry for next year :)

*It was AMAZING to have so many friends out there. Thanks for making my day everybody!

More reflection on the race to come. I need to head to bed for another long day at work tomorrow. Plus, marathon training resumes tomorrow night with a 7-8 mile tempo run!