First Century:
On one of those GWL random Thursdays, Jen asked if I wanted to join her for 100 miles. GWL and Laguna Mtn. Almost 8k of climbing. Hey, why not?! Started out with the usual crowd. Stepped back a bit on the pace in the beginning to make sure I had enough at the end. Made it to Descansa, water fill, and off to good 'ole Sunshine Highway. Laguna was good. Tough, but good. Made it to the top, and as promised Jen bought me a Popsicle. Water break. Remember that news story about the weather balloon that everyone thought the kid was in? That was the random news story on in the store at the top of Laguna. I wanted to get in a balloon and fly back down to the car. Couldn't find one, so back down on my trusty steed. The descent. Fun times through Pine Valley and past Lake Cuyamaca back to Descansa (water break) and then back down GWL, stinker hill and to the car. 102 miles. AWESOME! So much better than having my first 100 be boring and along the coast. Having done that much climbing, and on Kermit, really gave me confidence. Nutrition plan broke down like this: 8 bottles of water, 6 Gu's, 4 motivators, 1 bottle of Accelerade and a bunch of salt tablets. The weather was awesome. Stomach wasn't really okay as soon as I stepped off the bike. Running would have been out of the question. I'll have to work on that nutrition plan to include running friendly foods. GWL + Laguna = Best Century Ride.
October Club Race:
Two days after my century, I had no expectations. It was the Halloween Race so I got my costume together the night before. Swim was awesome. It was a super duper foggy morning. Almost eery getting into the water with those RIP gravestones and not being able to see anything. The lifeguards paddled us out to the buoys as it was impossible to see them. Had a fast swim, put on my vest complete with crocodile spine, and I was off onto the bike. Felt great, and tried to stay consistent with the laps on the bike. Got off the bike feeling surprisingly strong. Added the crocodile beak headgear and was off on the run. Again, surprised at the time my Garmin was showing, and yet the lack of perceived effort being put out. Sweet. Ended up with my season best time and 2nd place.
SOMA:
This was my second half ironman. I had it on the schedule at the beginning of the year, but after the crash, nothing was set. It took a while to get back into running (not that I'm ever into it) and the focus became the bike. I had a couple good workouts the week before the race but nothing too taxing. Took a half day on Friday and drove out to AZ with Brendan. Stayed with my sister, and had a great homemade dinner (pot roast and masheys!) and hung out watching "Say yes to the dress" on TLC. Ah cable. Saturday I went to the expo and took a preview ride, after looking at the map of the craziness that they called a bike course. Hopped in the murky clean liquid (odd right?) that they call a lake to test out a speed suit. Liked it but opted for the wetsuit on race morning. Hung out with Meg and we ate lunch at a yummy little brewery near ASU. Too bad I couldn't test any of that yumminess. More say yes to dress and then it was off to bed...or the couch; no one's counting.
Early morning and I found a rockstar parking space. The time always seems to go by too quickly when preparing the transition area. Did a 1 mile warmup run along the liquid front to scope out how long the swim actually was. Wow. 4 yellow buoys. Okay. Met with a couple of tri club friends, got some body glide from Beth, (who killed it out there-3rd AG, 6th Overall) and before I knew it my wave was entering the water for warmups. Moved my way to the front of the line. Brought my feet to the surface before the start, and surprisingly people cleared away from me. The gun went off so I started at my usual quick clip. I noticed no one else was really charging (unusual), so I sat back and took it easy 'till the first buoy in the nice calm waters. Well that was the end of that. Didn't see anyone else from my wave for the rest of the swim. Onwards, it was time to catch the men. The freaking men. Big, old (no offense), slow men who take up way too much space for their own good. Dodging them was quite difficult, considering the fact that I couldn't see my own arm in the liquid. The swim was an out and back, and the sun so graciously decided to crest the horizon at the start of my wave. Great. By the time I made it to the turnaround I was in the thick of the madness that the men were creating. I was trying to stay along the inside line but I found myself zigzagging with them. Darnit, seriously! I was laughing at myself and my lack of staying on track at one point. Accidently elbowed someone, and pulled off another person's shoulder. I just found my hand so perfectly positioned at the top of a shoulder. I have never done this, nor will I ever do it on purpose, but it was quite fun. I'm sure it was miserable for that poor man. Thinking he was going along strong, only to be drowned by some purple cap *gasp* girl swimmer. If that was you, I apologize. Sincerely. I don't play dirty in the water. Only in dirty water I guess. Turned the corner of the last buoy and headed for the steps to exit. Hmm, feeling okay. Wetsuit strippers are in the way. I'm on my way into transition. No, I don't need your help. Breathe. Wetsuit off. Socks/shoes on. Helmet/sunglasses on. Salt tabs in pocket. Grab bike. Run.
Swim: 27:25. 1st overall female. 1st AG. Not bad!
And we're off! 3 lap bike course. Fifteen 180 degree turns. A whole lotta 90 degree turns. Flat, but not that straight. First loop I tried to stay controlled. Lost my salt tabs in a wind fiasco. Sat up, slowed, thought about a U-turn, but it was a tight course, and I would've caused an accident. Said F'it, hopefully they'll be there on the next lap. Was playing legal boomerang with a lot of dudes. Only ladies I saw were riders from relay teams. Trying to take in water and stick to the plan. 400 liquid calories and 200 worth of gu's. Stay consistent with the salt, oh wait, I lost those. Eventually made it back to that same spot, and I saw them on my way out and remembered the location on the sidewalk! Proceeded onto the sidewalk, unclipped, picked them up, secured them in back pocket and I was off down the sidewalk until the next ramp onto the road a block down. Awesome! Immediately took a motivator and 3 salt tabs. Life savers. Second lap ended up being quicker than the first. Maybe I was anxious about getting the salt back. Maybe I was pacing myself. Again, tried to keep the 3rd lap under control and consistent on a very inconsistent course. I was the second women off the bike and I headed into transition with a smile on my face, and ready to start the suffering.
Bike: 2:35.38. 12th overall. 3rd AG. Not bad!
The run was exactly what I expected it to bed. Hot. Hard. Slow as hell. Lol. I had 3 weeks of running before this race. My "long" run was six miles. I basically had to fake my way through this half marathon. Okay, shuffle along, remember to stay cool (right, in AZ, at high noon. right. cool), keep pouring water, keep drinking water, keep taking those salt tabs. Shuffle. Pick up those heels. Come on! Another 28 year old!? Argh, I hate having a competitive attitude, and knowing that I can't do anything about it. I hate not being able to run and I hate that I have this physical and mental block against it!! Two lap course. Took a pee stop at a random construction worker porta-pottie along the race course. Had a sip of coke and a random banana, but other than that it was water and salt tabs. Shoe came untied with 1000 yards to go. haha, no I didn't stop to tie it. I figured I'd trip on it at the finish line, just in time for the photo shoot. Finished.
Run. 2:13.38. 158th overall. 29th AG. Bad. lol.
Final time. 5:19.47. 42nd overall. 15th/50 AG. Not bad.
Got a quick massage, said goodbye to Meg, and then hopped in the car and headed back to SD with Brendan. Stopped at IHOP for the greatest stuffed french toast ever. So delicious. Not kidding. Apparently I won the swim prem and I didn't stay to claim my prize.
SO I return home to embarrassment. Not really, but I don't take compliments well. It was just another swim for me. People started taking interest, and realizing that, yeah I can bike too. I knew this all along. And oh yeah...maybe you should work on your run? Duh, everyone knows I'm a swimmer, not a runner.
So it's time for that mentality to change. I'm a triathlete. And triathletes run too.
Enter Coach Brian. Ironman training. Day one. November 9th, 2009. Yoga. Not really what coach had planned, but he also didn't plan on me doing 105 miles on the bike yesterday.
More to come in another post. Halloween, off season, and preparations for this thing called Ironman. I'll be doing all training updates via the blog rather than facebook. Again, I started this blog to remember what it was like in the beginning. 25 weeks out. Let the journey begin.
1 comment:
It was great riding that century with you. I had so much fun. Your blog is hilarious about the guys taking up too much space for their own good. I was laughing out loud. Don't worry about the run. Your swim and bike are amazing. The run will improve if you just keep at it.
Post a Comment