River Rampage Triathlon 2014 - redemption

I am not sure that I have ever gone "to" Green River, Utah. Sure, I have gone "through" it to get to Moab and points beyond. It's a small town about 3 hours southeast of Salt Lake City and it's main draw besides a truck stop, is the Green River Recreation Area, home of the River Rampage Triathlon.

I had signed up for this race thinking it would be a good "recovery" race four weeks out from IMTX. Just didn't realize I would throw a half ironman in between! This race is put on by TriUtah. I've competed in several of their events and they really put on a good race. The swim is a one mile down river swim for both the Olympic and Sprint distances. It's fast! Unfortunately, this year it is running a little too fast and has resulted in some accidents and even one death so the authorities asked that the swim portion be cancelled.  We had the choice of still racing or transferring our entry to another event.

I chose to go ahead with it since it was a recovery race for me. I figured I could use a bike/run to flush out my body so I headed out Friday afternoon. Got checked into my hotel and met up with a fellow Salt Lake Tri Club member, Scott, to pick up packets and eat dinner. In our brief exploration of the town, the only thing we found was a little drive-in that served pizza. It wasn't bad and of course I got an ice cream cone! We drove part of the bike course and then hit our rooms to finish preparations for the morning.

It was a beautiful morning. Cool and crisp with just a touch of wind. The river looked benign enough but was still running fast. Some people had not gotten the word about the canceled swim until packet pickup and were disappointed to say the least.

I heard my name in the transition area and found out there were more than a couple of us from SLTC racing. Chris was there with a couple of his friends.

before

after

The wind started picking up after the athlete meeting. They were going to do a time trial start with the Sprint racers heading out first so I got lined up and ready to go. The bike was uneventful. I passed quite a few people and felt good about how it was going. I can't seem to get away from the wind in anything I do and today was no exception. I felt strong, though and after the turnaround, passed a few more people. Part of the last mile of the ride before turning back into the campground was on a section of road that was really rough. They had marked the potholes but the whole road felt very shaky.

Thanks so much to Myrleen Wright for taking so many photos!

Fast transition and then off to run. The sprint was a one loop course around the golf course. It ended up being a little shy of a 5k. My legs felt good off of the bike and running felt good for the first mile. It was then I realized I really still couldn't breathe. I'm so over this cold/allergy thing. I ran more than walked but had to walk in order to get my breath. Some of the people I passed on the bike started passing me. Dang it! I set my sight on one runner in front of me and even with my run/walk, I was able to catch and pass her. My goal was to stay in front of her. She was several age groups younger than me and ended up on the podium too. Staying in front of her was one of my small victories in life!

All in all a decent race while recovering from Boise 70.3 and being sick. I averaged over 18 mph on the bike in the wind and 11 minute pace with all my walking. I know this doesn't compare to all you speedy people out there but I'll take it.



And a good showing by all Salt Lake Tri Club people, I believe everyone made it to the podium.

 

I'm set for a week of rest. My shoulder is acting up again and my body is just plain old tired.

 

Last picture - we really do live in a beautiful state. Even when it isn't that scenic, it is!

Boise IM 70.3

It was a beautiful weekend in Boise this past weekend. I had originally planned on going to cheer on a couple of friends who were doing their first half ironman but after my dnf at IMTX three weeks ago, I decided to register and use my training to prove to myself that I could finish a race.

The best part of the weekend was being with over three dozen of my teammates from Salt Lake Tri Club and Balanced Art Multisport. We met for a practice swim and ride at the reservoir after lunch.

The water was about 62 degrees and it felt good to get into it to calm the pre-race nerves. After swimming we got on our bikes to make sure everything was in working order and checked them in to T1. This was a two transition race with T1 being at the lake and T2 in town by the finish line.  Later that evening we had plans to meet up for dinner.  Trying to get a reservation for 40 people can prove to be difficult but Coach Wes managed to pull it off. And it was a popular place, we got there only to find that Apolo Anton Ohno was there with Craig Alexander and Paula Newby Fraser. Apolo is competing in Ironman Kona on the Chocolate Milk Team and this was to be his first triathlon. We were all pretty star struck but waited until after dinner to start asking to take pictures. They were very gracious about it and posed with quite a few of us.

Some of our group

The race has a noon start time on Saturday which is unlike most races in the world. This would explain some of us being at the ice cream shop at 10 pm on race eve. Usually we would be well asleep by then in prep for a very early morning alarm.

The noon race start, while great in that no alarm is needed in the morning, presents a dilemma in what to do for food on race day. I know exactly what I need to eat for breakfast but then we had to wait for more than 4 hours to start. Since we had to catch the bus up to the lake early, I made a peanut butter & banana sandwich to take with me. This has always been a comfort food for me and it was easy to make and take.

After meeting up with some teammates and catching the bus, we arrived at the lake with plenty of time to set up and get organized. Unfortunately there were not a lot of shady spots to rest but we made do. About an hour before the start, the pb & banana tasted really, really good!

I have said that the reason I was going to be at this race originally was to cheer on my two good friends, Carmen & Marianne, for their first half ironman. I think for this reason, I was surprisingly calm with no pre-race jitters. I also had it in my head that this was going to be a just get it done race. After my whirlwind trip to NYC the weekend before, I came down with a cold and cough. Couple that with only being three weeks from IMTX, it wasn't shaping up to be a very speedy event for me!

We were getting close to starting so I found a bathroom and then my two friends to go to the start. We had decided the night before that we would hold hands like little girls going into the water and we did it. It meant a lot for me to be there at the beginning with them. Our wave was first off after the pros and it came quickly. The wind had picked up a little so the water was a little choppy and my goggles fogged up a little so siting was challenging but after correcting for taking the first turn wide, I came back to the end at 59 minutes. All my times were slower than my Monterrey half ironman but again this was to be expected.

T1 was uneventful and I was off on the bike. I never looked at the race profile prior to Saturday so really had no idea what to expect. It's probably a good thing, I may have backed out! I will say that my race wheels made a difference and I can't wait to ride them on a "normal" course for comparison. It's a good downhill ride back towards town, but then you start encountering some hills (note - my version of hills is different than more seasoned cyclists!). The winds really started blowing. I stopped at the first aid station to refill my water bottle and then once more at the last aid station. My goal was to consume all of my planned calories on the bike which is where I think I partially went wrong in Texas. I accomplished this. At one point on the ride going downhill, there was a pretty good headwind so that it was necessary to pedal. downhill. weird! There was a  (for me) surprise no-pass zone in the last 10 miles. I hadn't planned on it. I made it through but one poor guy behind me said he was just going to have to pass me as he couldn't possibly go any slower than I was. Poor guy!

Anyway, finally came off the bike at 3:47. Way longer than I had hoped for but fully fueled and ready for the run. My plan is always to run/walk with a 5:1 ratio. I started off great for the first mile and a half and then nausea set in. It was all I could do to walk and not puke. I'm not sure at what point I realized that I would be walking the rest of the half marathon but it was clear it was happening. I tried taking in some gu, Gatorade, salt tabs and a banana but nothing was sitting very well with me. The run is a very beautiful two loop course along the river. Very shady and scenic. I met and talked to quite a few racers and the volunteers and spectators were the best! A few team members came past and walked with me a few minutes. Everyone was very encouraging and more than one said they were having the same problem. As I came around to start the second loop, there were my SLTC teammates! Coach Wes walked with me awhile and gave me a pep talk. 6 more miles to go! Every time I crossed over a timing mat, I laughed at what Coach Lizz must be thinking while tracking me. During the last couple of miles, I tried some potato chips. One chip at a time. They tasted really good and probably helped me make it to the finish. It wasn't my slowest half marathon but pretty dang close.

Done and done. I was determined to not dnf another race and in that aspect I was successful. I will live to do another one sometime. Although, I'm pretty sure I was ready to take a picture of my bike laying on the grass and post it for sale and never race again!

We waited for Marianne to finish and what an epic finish it was. She came down the finish chute with almost no time to spare and into our emotional, outstretched arms!

I could not be more proud of these two ladies. We've spent a lot of time together this year, training, laughing and talking, and it was great to see get a half ironman under their belt!

This has been a hard post to write for me. Not sure why. I've left a lot out from the weekend but the main point I want to make is having friends and teammates around you during a race is one of the best things ever! So much laughter and fun!

Time to recover until next time.

Ironman Texas 2014

I headed out on Wednesday last week for Texas to compete in the Ironman Texas race. I was excited. I felt like everything I've done for the past 4 years had led me to this point. Especially all the hours of training I had put in in the past six months. Little did I know that in 72 hours, I would be wondering if it had been enough.

Thursday morning I met up with my fellow Utahns and went to the Ironman Village to register and buy all sorts of memorabilia and pick up our bikes.

Our plan was to go for a ride of an hour or so but we soon found out the roads in the area weren't very friendly for smooth riding. After the fact, we figured out we needed to go in a different direction to get out of the main traffic areas. As it was we pedaled around the river and checked out the transition areas.

Then it was time to go to the athlete dinner and get motivated by the voice of Ironman, Mike Reilly!

My coach and friend, Lizz, was supposed to come down but I received word that some sick kids were preventing this from happening. I was disappointed but I had a lot of my tri family there to cheer me on.

Friday morning was the practice swim. It was calming to be able to get into the water and even more so with the revelation that the water temperature was such that we were going to be wetsuit legal! After a quick shower, it was time to drop the bike and bags off at transition.

I have to say, at this point, I was really calm. I knew the "hay was in the barn" and there was nothing left to do but get started in the morning. We met up for an early dinner and then I headed to hotel to do my final preparations and sleep.  I did not have a good night's sleep which is usual for the night before a race. At 3 am I received a text from Lizz that she was on her way down - making the 9 hour drive to be there! Couldn't go back to sleep after that!

Race morning - The morning was beautiful. After setting up and checking our T1 transition, we had about a mile walk to get to the swim start. As far as swim starts go, it was pretty normal. Lots of energy, anxiety and anticipation. And long bathroom lines. But eventually we found our way to the water and the cannon went off.

I had thought I would hang back and to the side like I know a lot of first timers were going to do but I started in the middle of the pack. It wasn't so bad really, I got jostled around a little but nothing more. This was going to be my longest swim ever. I had no idea what to expect so I kept my head down and played Dori ("just keep swimming, just keep swimming"). I didn't look up or look at my watch so by the time I turned into the canal, I had convinced myself that I was the very last swimmer out there. I felt/saw a kayak behind me which confirmed my thinking. We have 2:20 to do the swim so imagine my surprise when the volunteers helped me out of the water and I was at 1:58 AND there were still lots of bikes in transition. The volunteers were so great. In the changing tent, they helped me get into my T1 bag and get my shoes and sunscreen on. One of the many things I learned on Saturday is what I need and don't need in my bags. Off I went to grab my bike. The crowds were still cheering even a couple of hours into it!

I felt good so even though the wind was more than I had planned on, I felt like I was hanging in there and it wouldn't be an issue! And it wasn't for the first 30 miles. I wasn't tracking my speed so a lot of this is in retrospect. I had practiced my nutrition on my long rides so I stuck with what I knew, water sips every 15 minutes and some Vitargo every 10 miles. And salt tabs. I'm not sure when things started going downhill but I know when I got to 40 miles, the wind and "rolling" hills were starting to get to me. Training in wind had made me confident but when I reached 50 miles my confidence was waning. I was enjoying the scenery and especially when we rode through the Sam Houston National Forest. It was beautiful and I remember thinking it would be fun to go camping there! I passed the 60 mile cutoff point and stopped at the aid station a couple miles further up. They informed me I had about 14 minutes to get moving before they would have to pull me. I freshened up a bit, refueled and refilled. I started to take off but realized that with the predicted headwinds I was not going to make the 80 mile cutoff time so I walked back to the med tent and told them I was pulling myself.

I have never not finished a race. This was a very hard decision for me and I've been second guessing myself for the past 4 days. I know it was the right thing for me to do but it's still disappointing. I was loaded up in the SAG wagon with 3 others who couldn't finish and we started the long drive back to The Woodlands. I sent a text to Lizz on what happened so she was waiting for me when I arrived. Not sure if I cried or not but it was great to see her "coach" face and have her help me dissect some of what happened. She kept saying "when you do your next one" to which I said "oh hell no"!!!

After a quick shower, I grouped up with my crowd to cheer for the racers still on the course. It was really fun to see them run by a few times and then to see them cross the finish line! We took a little break to eat something after our group had finished but went back to the finish line just after 11 pm to see the end of the race. If you've never been at an Ironman finish at midnight - you must! The energy from the crowd is amazing, we are all loudly cheering in the last of the runners. It can also be heartbreaking to see someone who isn't going to make the cutoff by just seconds.

Sunday we went to the awards banquet. I keep using the word amazing but it really does describe the people, the energy and the determination of all the participants. By this time I had become more amenable to thinking about registering for another full ironman race. A few of texts from coaches and friends were encouraging me to make the attempt and to not waste the training I had worked on. So far there isn't one that will work in my schedule but I'll keep looking. In the meanwhile, while still at the banquet, fresh from defeat, with coach's approval, I registered for the Boise 70.3. It's in 17 days. I haven't looked at the course but know that for myself it's important to jump back on that horse!

Most of my group left on Sunday and try as I could, there were no available flights to get me home earlier so I spent the rest of the day and the next morning doing one of my favorite things!

On Monday morning I received an email saying that I had a run workout to do. I wasn't sure my legs would cooperate but they did and I actually felt better for it.

I know I have forgotten a lot of the goings on from the weekend, it was an emotional time for me. I do know that I have learned a lot - about participating in an Ironman and most importantly, about myself. I hope to take that knowledge and keep on pushing myself to the limit!

I'm grateful to all who have encouraged and supported me on this journey. I have an amazing tri family, coach and friends. And an even more awesome husband and sons who have cheered me on from the very beginning. Love you all!!!!

Volunteer Weekend

I'm going to start at the end of the weekend because I am a pretty sappy person and wanted to share this. Driving home from St. George yesterday, I saw many vehicles with bikes from the Ironman 70.3 race. I too had my bike on my rack as well as a friend's bike who had competed in the race. Even though I didn't compete Saturday, I felt this bonding experience whenever I passed one of these cars. I thought, yes, I am apart of this crowd! I am SO GRATEFUL for that and for the entire tri community for all that I've gained in the past few years. Okay, done being emotional!

It was great fun to volunteer again this year. I did body marking and was excited to see everyone first thing in the morning when the adrenaline is working hard. The day was beautiful - even at 4:30 am.

The buses were all unloaded and the swim start was going to begin. The pro men started it off, followed by the pro women and then the relay teams and age groupers.

I had a perfect viewpoint for the exit from T1 towards the bike mount line. I hope everyone could hear me screaming their names!

When we could leave the lake, I went home for a bit until the road opened up and I could make it into town to see the run portion. It was a very hot day and the Salt Lake and Southern Utah Tri Clubs had an aid station where they were handing out ice, water and otter pops. It was the perfect location to cheer on the runners!

Coach Jen was having a blast with the megaphone!

I stayed until I saw most of my friends come through the run area but had to head out to meet my mother-in-law for dinner. We also had an appointment for facials at the Red Mountain Spa. If you've never gone there and want to splurge sometime, check it out! We arrived early enough to sit and relax before our scheduled time. I had to laugh a little because I can never still my mind and I remembered this funny pic.

Yep, that's me!

It was an early to bed night because I was set to ride 100 miles on Sunday. This was it, my final big workout prior to IMTX taper. I am grateful to Carmen and James for riding the first 30 with me. It was a beautiful morning again. No wind, perfect temperature. For the first 3 hours anyway. :-) James and Carmen headed back to Sand Hollow after the first loop and off I continued. Besides the time and mileage, I was fine tuning my nutrition. As the day went on, the wind picked up and the heat was rising. I was able to use my mom-in-law's house as a pit stop but soon realized I was going to run out of nutrition. I stopped to take a drink by the cows in the picture above. They didn't like it and started talking to me! I finished up at 6 hours and a little over 80 miles, with 4700 feet of climbing.

I learned a lot yesterday, like that I need to reapply sunscreen on my face since I wipe my nose and rub it all off. I learned how much nutrition I need to plan on and what I can carry. And most of all, I learned that I can do this!

13 days.

GPP Endurance Tri Camp

I have never been to Arkansas and did not know what to expect. What a beautiful place! There are rolling hills that aren't so rolling in places and the people are wonderful.

A slight detour for me on the way to camp happened on Wednesday. I was able to fly through Atlanta and go the all3sports.com store and meet with a few of my team members. It was fun to put faces to names.

I went to the tri camp put on by GPP Endurance from Thursday to Monday. This is my fifth tri camp and I was looking forward to it and to seeing Coach Lizz.

There she is! The time is too far and in between for our face to face chats. She coaches me from afar via Training Peaks, email and texts. I was probably most looking forward to this part of camp.

Besides the fact that this camp was in Arkansas, the biggest difference for me from past camps is that I was not the newbie! I was, in fact, an experienced triathlete. Who knew that would ever have happened. It was fun talking with others who have not done a triathlon yet. But being experienced by no means translates into knowing it all - I learned so much and still have so much to learn.

We started the day on Friday at the pool at 5:30am with a two hour swim. The local tv station was there doing a story on the camp and the reporter was actually participating in the camp!

After the swim, we had a little break to get ready for the rest of the day.  We met up at the GPP facility for introductions and a little workout, then headed out for a 30 mile bike ride.

Everyone made it even though we had some flats and a tumble off the road by one person. She was okay, just a little scraped up. That evening we were all participating in a trail run race. I'm not particularly fond of trail running but am always up for a challenge. We had the option for 5k or 10k and of course my coach said "10k!". This was a boy scout benefit race and they did a really great job with setup, volunteers, course marking (although some of my peeps would argue that point!). I even got to see an old friend from my very first tri camp.

So fun to see Coach Shawn!

Almost every single GPP camper earned a medal at the race. We pretty much swept it all!

The next day, after a "dead to the world" sleep, we started all over again! GPP workout, bike, run and open water swim.

As most of the time happens during a camp, the minute the itinerary was printed, it changed. There were severe storm warnings throughout so we had to adapt and work around it. We lucked out for the most part but Sunday instead of a planned long bike ride, we stayed inside and rode computrainers plus some mini clinics, run and swim analysis and bike fits.

We actually lucked out and didn't have to run for shelter since the tornadoes missed us by a few miles but instead of having our end of camp party at Coach Kevin's home, we opted for having at GPP.

One of the many highlights of the weekend was getting to meet Gordon Haller - the very first Kona Ironman winner. He trained with us all weekend and then we were honored to have him speak to us Sunday night. What great stories he has! If you haven't heard much about him, check out this website.

It was a joy to meet Gordon and his lovely wife, Beth.

 

We had a little band action after with Coach Moe and his band. It was a great way to wind down.

There was still a half day training planned for Monday but I was missing out on it so I could get things packed up for my flight home. I've decided I need to get much more familiar with my bike so I can be self sufficient. In the meanwhile, I am eternally grateful to my bike expert friends. I've already talked about Top Gear Bikes in Bountiful and Jeff at Precision Bikes who have helped tear down and reassemble my bike but I have to give another shout out to Joe in Arkansas who was waiting for me to arrive on Thursday and met me early Monday morning to pack it all up again. Thank you so very much!

I am trying to write this in a hurry because I am heading down to St. George to volunteer for the IM70.3 this weekend and to cheer on all my racing friends. I'm forgetting so much about the memorable weekend and haven't even touched on how much food gets eaten during one of these training sessions! I absolutely love everyone that I met this weekend and look forward to a long friendship with you. And to the GPP coaches - thank you for all your support and feedback. You continue to make me a better athlete!

I hope to do you proud as an athlete and fellow coach - Oh yes, by the way, I PASSED the certification and am now a proud USAT level 1 Triathlon Coach!