A Little Race Report and General Updates

For all 5 people who read this blog...

On Saturday, 11/12, I "did" (I'm not calling it raced since I didn't feel fully recovered from the 50k) a rather hilly 25k about 15 miles from home (note to self: I should go run there more often). It was on crushed limestone trails in Palos Park. I'd done the fall version of this race (Paleozoic Fall) 2 years ago, but the course that year wasn't as hilly as this year's model.

In *my* version of training plan, I predicted 3:15, allowing to having done a 50k just 2 weeks before, in other words, it would be a nice, easy, long run. Coach put down 2:45, and said that if it took me less time than that, to run later to make it up. He also said to go out nice and easy and run hard on the second half.

I looked at this and thought, well, that would be really nice if I could do all that. I made an elevation map of the race a week prior and here it is:

So just under half the gain of the 50k in half the distance. Fuck!

I've been nursing an issue with my right leg for a little over 4 weeks that has made walking down stairs (or running down steep hills) a little painful. I've been testing out different hypotheses as to what it is, but didn't have it figured out by the race, either that or my fixes hadn't yet kicked in.

So I went into the race figuring that the downhills might be touchy. Anyway, prior to the race, it appeared I was the oldest female registered for the race, and I didn't count on any other old ladies showing up. Also, the morning of the race, we finally had our first frost! But it wasn't that terribly cold, which makes for good running weather.

I wore my CW-X tights, trail shoes with gaiters, a light thermal top, a wind vest, light gloves and a lightweight hat. I get cold pretty easily, and since I knew we'd be in the woods, and there was wind, that I probably wouldn't get too hot. I laugh at people who show up in shorts for these things. Kudos to them, but you will see me in tights even with temps in the 50's!

I carried 3 hours worth of Infinit, figuring that would last me for 3.5 hours if something went horribly wrong. Although my right leg was giving me fits at home before the race, once I got there and started running, it felt fine to run on. So this is why I suspect it's more a nerve thing, but I digress.

I started out easy, and experienced hills pretty quickly, some that were so steep (10% grade plus--see here for what different grades look like) that it was hard just to walk up! About 40 minutes in, there was a large puddle, or should I say a pond, on the trail. Trying to go off trail through whatever was growing was not possible, so we had to run through it. Wet feet! Yay! At least it wasn't cold enough for this to cause problems, but of course I hoped I didn't develop any blisters because of it.

About an hour in, my legs felt absolutely dead. I did a 1:30 run on Wednesday and a 3 hour ride on Thursday, and by the end of Friday, I'd racked up 13.75 hours of training (M-F), and I'd run a 50k 2 weeks before, so this didn't particularly surprise me. Still, it gave me pause as to whether I had enough fuel onboard and the night before. I carbed up at dinner on Friday, and on race morning, I had my typical egg, English Muffin, and a can of Coke. I suppose I could have tried to choke down more calories, but I didn't really feel I was out of fuel. So I just soldiered onward.

I did have to stop to pee (and poop!) about 1:10 in, but it was quick (and dirty ha ha). Since I didn't want to lose time (I don't think this cost me more the 30 seconds), I just pulled up my pants, knowing I'd probably chafe, but too bad. This probably contributed to the feeling of dead legs I'd had earlier, because after this, I felt a bit better in the legs department.

I got to the halfway point exactly 1:30, and thought, OK, so I can do this in 3 hours. There were at least 5 people milling around the one aid station. Because there was a 50k going on at the same time, there was candy, pretzels, cookies and assorted other stuff, but the people who were there were 25k runners, and it made me laugh that they were all chowing down! I just refilled my water bottle, chugged 2 cups of Pepsi (not Coke, but still YUM!) and got out of there. I think that because of my quick stop, that put me ahead of 3 or 4 people.

Now, coach told me to go hard on the second half, but I seriously didn't think that was possible. Still, I got it in my head that I could walk less and just keep it going and that might allow me to negative split. Since the course was an out and back, I was going to face the same hills and such on the way back.

After maybe 2.5 miles on the way back, I could see 3 more runners ahead of me, and I was closing in on them, and that got me motivated to try and pass them. All it took was really powering up the steep hills and then resuming running immediately at the crest. I seriously enjoyed passing people on the uphills, especially since I needed to take it easy on the downhills because of my knee issue.

And the knee issue was there, but it wasn't bad, and besides, the trail was leaf covered, so you couldn't tell what you were running on, so I ran gingerly on the downhills anyway. On the plus side, my quads never hurt during the race!

So I did pass those 3 people and was re-passed by only one person. Because of the wet feet, the little gel toe separator that I have to wear to prevent my right foot from hurting from the Morton's neuroma came off the toe and was moving around in my sock. But it stayed under my small toes, and I knew what it was, so I just acknowledged it and kept going. I hoped the ball of that foot wouldn't start to hurt, and it never did.

As I got close to the end (based on my watch), I failed to recognize where I was. Funny how that works in a trail race! Same thing happened to me in the 50k--I knew I was close, but nothing looked familiar! But I kept seeing the trail marking, so knew I was probably going the right way, until I saw the orange plate that said, "Aid station 1km."  I'd only seen this for the 7.5 station, and in my dazed head I thought maybe I'd made a wrong turn. But a girl came up on me and said we were 1km from finishing and then I was happy! I didn't look at my watch the entire second half, just tried to go a bit faster than on the way out, and when I finished, I'd gone 6 minutes faster for the second half!

So 2:54, and I checked on my 2014 result for an easier course and it was 2:57, and I thought I was in BETTER running shape 2 years ago! So yay, thanks Coach! Turns out I was the oldest female finisher, so I won my AG and got a nice beer glass, and I was 21/34 women overall, so not too shabby!

The medal and shirt are so cute! Before the race, they had a few packages of tiny dinosaurs and you could take one, so I took the orange one that looks to be the Dilophosaurus. They had beer for us at the finish, and I drank one after I had some of the hot soup. In the photo above, you can see I've rolled up my gaiters to let my shoes dry a bit and so I could take the chip strap off.

Well now back to my knee...when I got home from the race it hurt like a mofo. I iced, then later in the day stretched and then yesterday...no pain walking down stairs! So I've concluded that what's going on is a seriously tight/messed up soleus, with maybe a little participation from the popliteus. So, I keep on my stretching and trigger point work and hopefully lick this thing in short order. I know my knee was a bit wonky since it's been trying to readjust after correcting my foot mechanics. So today, I'm just left with sore quads--but not like after the 50k.

And now back to the rest of my training shit...look what I did for WEEK ONE WITH THE COACH:

He doesn't give me strength workouts (that's on my dime), but still, that was some serious shit! Honestly, when I saw it at the beginning of the week, I was like, "OK...sure..." but then I did it! Also, I must add that this week I also started my extra strength work towards my handstand and pullup goal, and that made things entertaining with all the swimming--my serratus have been yelling at me! I really didn't feel recovered from the 50k all week, but I suspect that by tomorrow, I'll be all good. The 5k swim I did yesterday was a bit in slow motion, but it felt good, and it helped to shake out my legs.

So it's onward and upward to see what I can accomplish this week. I am already liking this coaching thing and think I will be motivated and coached and pushed to new levels of fitness! One day at a time!

Las Vegas Backcountry 50k Trail Race 10/29/2016 Race Report and Trip Summary!

Holy fucking crap where do I start? A full set of photos from my trip are on Facebook.

I planned this race and trip for my 60th birthday extravaganza that I would share with my best friend, Susan, back in July. I don't remember if I planned this before or after I figured I'd go for a BQ and KQ next year, but it doesn't matter. At any rate, I knew I'd need to train like a mofo for 50k, and it actually frightened me a bit since I hadn't run a marathon since late 2013 during Ironman Cozumel.

I know there are a number of people who probably scoff at my crises of self-confidence when it comes to endurance sports, but honestly I do have them because I have a great deal of respect for "big" things, and a 50k is a big thing, especially when it's a trail race. I also have much respect for FAST things like sprint triathlons and 5k/10k races. Those things can put the hurt to you, and unless you intend to just waltz through them as a participant, they require devoted preparation and mental focus.

If you've never done a long, true trail race, let's just say that their objective is to fuck you up, especially if you don't train on the race's terrain. In my case, what I have available to train on near me is basically crushed limestone and the one big hill at Greene Valley. What I actually ran on in Rainbow Gardens (part of the Lake Mead Recreation Area) was rocks of every color, shape and size, plus sand plus rutted trails in the mountains! It was fantastic!

I'd tested out my gear and nutrition in training for the race. I did a number of weekends where I did back to back long-ish runs, although my actual longest run prior to the race was only 14 miles! I also did a lot of fast walking/hiking to get lots of time on my feet in training. My highest volume of combined running and walking was the week of 10/3, where I put in 11.4 total hours/59.62 miles. I figured that was enough for a 50k, and actually I could have run 50 miles depending on the terrain.

One of the things that's important about training for these big endurance festivals is putting the hurt to yourself in training, because you know it's going to hurt while you are out there racing, and if you can't handle pain, then you have zero business doing these things. Because the pain will come--both during and after the race itself. And you need to be OK with it. I definitely put the hurt to myself in training, and had sore legs for much of the lead up to the race itself.  I've done this sort of thing before, and I'm very attuned to my body, so I can tell the difference between actual muscle damage versus expected soreness and/or referred nerve pain. I never actually hurt myself in training, but I sure had referred nerve pain and soreness! But that's what swimming, stretching and massage are for!

Two weeks ago, I basically felt like crap, and every time I ran, I felt like crap. Like I had zero power or speed in me, and shit hurt. Shit hurt so much I was actually frightened I might not be able to finish the race. But that turned out to be normal shit, and I'd just forgotten that that's how tapers go much of the time (thanks Debby for reminding me of this!). But the Saturday before I left, I had a great 1-hour run on the treadmill, and that was a good confidence builder! But what the fuck--I was going to be running a lot farther than that!

I did a full week of formal heat acclimation, following the protocol I found in Meredith Kessler's book, "Life of a Triathlete." Buy the damn book and read it if you are at all serious about competing! The heat acclimation worked like a charm during the race--while it got probably into the lower 80's, I never felt hot, even at altitude (the race started at 2100 feet and we climbed another at least 1000 feet twice). I knew I was sweating, but I never felt icky (it's a "dry" heat, right?), and I never felt overly thirsty, although occasionally I would just shoot water over my lips and not drink it. I drank my custom Infinit mix for my race nutrition and nothing else. That worked perfectly!

For breakfast on race morning, I ate 2 hardboiled eggs, had a Powerbar Triple Threat and 300 calories of Ultrafuel. Plus maybe 3 mugs of coffee, and then I drank a bottle of water on the way to the race. I took a cab from Mandalay Bay because I knew I wouldn't be able to drive myself back, and my friend Susan was to pick me up.

I'd told Susan to be at the race 7 hours in, as I thought I should probably be able to finish in that amount of time. Where the fuck did I get that number? Fuck if I know! It just seemed reasonable, even though I had no fucking clue what the actual terrain was, since there is no course map published on the race website!

I got lucky with the cab driver, because he knew all about ultrarunners and didn't think I was too crazy until I told him about Ultraman. Then he put me in the loony bin category! I'd printed Google Maps directions to the race start and had him look at them knowing I had it precisely right and there was only one way to get there.

We got to the little kiosk--really just a tiny wooden stand--and the race people were setting up, so there were lights in the pitch black. It was beautiful to be able to see the stars not that far from Las Vegas! Of course, in the dark, I could not see where the hell we would be running! I met a man from England, Stuart, and we chatted, and I told him I hoped to go 7 hours (he was doing the marathon), and he said that would be a pretty good time for this race. I still had no fucking idea!

As I collected my bib, chip and shirt, as usual, I got the dry heaves, and one of the volunteers asked if I was OK, and I said this is normal for me prior to a race! I used the porta-potty a few times, the sun came up, and it was GO time. I could see the mountains off in the distance, but still had no clue what the route was. The marathon and 50k people started at 7:00, and the 5k, 10k and 1/2 marathon started at 7:30. Someone blew a horn and we were off!

Most people took off like jack rabbits. I had no fucking idea what I was going to be running on, and right away it was rocks. And you had to pick your way through them--these trails are also used by off road vehicles--and there were ruts from the heavy rain the week before, so it was all very uneven footing! And we started climbing pretty much right away, and I had sunglasses with me, but I never even wore them because I had to see what was right in front of me the entire time!

We did 2 out and back sections--the first was about 17 miles, and then the other part was about 14. I had (2) 3.5-hour bottles of Infinit concentrate--one with me, and one in my drop bag. I thought the drop bags were at the 16.5 mile mark, but I got there in 3.5 hours and the guy said it was 17 miles, so I was ahead of schedule! I only out and out walked the first section when I had to drink Infinit, which I slugged every 30 minutes. I could grab my water bottle whenever I needed to and sometimes carried it.

Oh--here's all my crap laid out the night before the race:

I had made 1/2 hour marks using a Sharpie on the 2 bottles that held the Infinit. You can see my trail shoes (with the neon laces) and the gaiters (with the skulls!) that I wore. I'd worn my entire outfit/kit in training, so nothing felt weird on race day.

Anyway, I'm running the first out and back and just laughing to myself inside because I'm thinking I had never run on anything like this ever before! But I just ran a comfortable pace with a short stride and picked my way through the rocks and didn't worry about where other people were. But after maybe 8 miles I started passing people. Not that I was going very fast, I was just steady and not slowing down. I passed my buddy Stuart, and I think he was a bit surprised. The marathon and 50k people were on the same course through maybe 21 miles. There was a guy I kept leap-frogging with that I eventually passed for good right before the marathon turnaround.

Anyway, the scenery was gorgeous, and it looked different in each direction, because you had to pay so much attention to your footing and you could only look around so much. But it was stunning! The entire time I was out there I felt so grateful to have the fitness and financial means to be in such a beautiful place running! I held back on shedding any tears, though, until I was maybe a mile from the finish.

So I finish the first like 17 miles and I'm excited and thinking I can finish this fucker! Maybe I don't suck so bad! And while the first out and back had a decent climb in it, it was NOTHING compared to the second part! As soon as I grabbed my second 3.5-hour bottle of Infinit, we started going UP! And it was this big fucking mountain and I thought, holy shit how high are we going? But I kept picking my way uphill and didn't walk too much on the way out on this section, and I totally spaced where the marathon turnaround was but wondered why I didn't keep seeing some people...oh well, I never expect my brain to function 100% during these things!

So we climbed for maybe 4 miles and then we went downhill to the turnaround and then it was back the fuck uphill again. Holy fuck, by this time my legs hurt like mofos. Actually, they'd begun to hurt about 3 hours in, but I expected it. I alternated between quads hurt, lack of hip flexors (always a fun feeling!), and even my adductors were pinging me because of all the stabilization I needed to do with the uneven footing! I did end up walking uphill maybe 30 minutes on the way back, but felt that I wouldn't be running much faster, so I just kept going. I even passed a few people while I was walking!

All I could remember about this section of trail to gauge where the fuck I was was by the humps around me. I knew there was a major hump at the start of this section, and I was like WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT HUMP? And I was starting to become mentally weary and worry about whether I would go over 7 hours because I didn't want Susan to have to wait for me! But then the big mountain receded from view and I knew I was almost home, and this song came on my MP3 player (it was set to shuffle):

and then I started bawling my eyes out because I was looking around me and it was so beautiful and I was going to finish this thing and now I just kept running and when I finally saw the cones with arrows for the finish line I was so happy! I thought I would go under 7 hours, and we had to climb this stupid little hump that you almost had to clamber up, and then it flattened out for about .2 miles to the finish, and I knew people could see me and that I had to run it all, and now NOTHING HURT ANYMORE and I just kept going and I broke 7 hours!

I could see Susan standing there and truly I was relieved she hadn't needed to wait for me any longer! Stuart was there with her. Before the race, I found out that Stuart had taken a cab as well, so I told him he could get a ride with me back to his hotel, and he'd already met Susan before I arrived! I asked how they knew who they were, and Stuart had overheard Susan asking about where I was on the course (they had no idea as there were no interim timing mats), and he approached her and all was well!

A volunteer told me I was 3rd woman overall so I got a stainless steel cup award. Here's my medal and shirt and stuff:

The medal is a piece of rock! How cool is that?

I am still overwhelmed that I was able to do this thing in a respectable time and now know that I can go the distance again! This race was so fucking hard that it will make Disney seem like a cake walk! I am so grateful that I can do this stuff and that I have such great friends that support me in my insanity. Honestly, there is nothing better than having your best friend waiting for you at the finish line! I told Susan how much that motivated me, but I know she knows that a lot of it was my usual (over-?) preparation and mental toughness. I am just happy that maybe I got all that back and can keep going at this shit for a few years. This was an amazing experience and I get why some people only do these hard trail races--they really are a different animal. I don't know when I'll go back and do this race again--I definitely want to--but now I am thinking I want to climb Mount Whitney, which isn't too far from Susan's house. Maybe 2018. It would be nice to add another different endurance event!

Hope you enjoyed reading, and GET OUT THERE AND RUN IN BEAUTIFUL PLACES!!!

Ironman Chattanooga Training and Spectating Report - Part 2

Saturday, September 24
On this day, my training called for a 1:45 run and 1:00 of walking. Lori needed to do a short brick workout and then check in her bike and her bags. The night before, both Lori and I took a melatonin and an Advil PM, so we slept like dead people with no alarm set. I got 9.5 hours of sleep! It's been months since I slept that long!

Since it was going to be FUCKING HOT again, I didn't want to use my Fuel Belt, so I dump the Gatorade out of a 12-oz. bottle and filled that with Infinit. That would last me for about an hour or so of running and walking.

After some breakfast (of course, I was STARVING when I woke up!), Lori set up her transition area and got her bike ready, and I was all suited up to run:

Lori left, then I left. I headed approximately northeast from Karen's house. I knew it would be hilly. It actually wasn't that hot when I started running at around 8:45. It was beautiful where I was running, but I had to run on the road which I almost never do, and it was cambered, and so I had to try and switch sides of the road otherwise my legs and feet would be fucked up. I ran out for about 30' then walked up this switchback that was VERY steep! It went up onto the mountain thing, and I stopped when I was standing on about a 25% grade. I could barely walk back down! But it was beautiful. On the way back, Lori drove by on her way to check in her bike. She remarked that that was about as fast as she'd be running (I was on a hill again!) on race day. I ran back and reloaded another 12-oz. bottle of Infinit. The first part of my run was 1:00.50 running and 14:17 of walking.

For the second part of my run, I went the other way from Karen's house, as it should be more flat, although as it turns out it was an uphill grade all the way out. On either side of the road were these very steep hills and at some point I decided I needed to go up one of them just to change things up. It was fun, as at the top, I was barely running, but it was still great!

For the second part of my run, I ran 46:27 and walked 45:55. I alternated running and walking on the second part since I was on asphalt again. I knew my legs would be sore from this, but oh well! Of course, during the second part of the run it was FUCKING HOT! I think I achieved a whole new level of suntan, too!

Back at the ranch, I showered, Lori came back, and she and I went into town and decided we'd get lunch and get carry out for our dinner later so she could have all her food in early, as is customary when you wake up around 3AM the next day for an Ironman. We went to a Mediterranean restaurant, Taziki's, where of course, I ate twice as much as Lori (I had dolmades appetizer and then a sandwich with rice on the side and she had only hummus):

Lori got a salad for later and I got another sandwich (it seems I eat a lot of sandwiches on these junkets). Lori needed to get some yellow ribbon that she wanted to wear in honor of her dear son, Patrick, who sadly passed away this summer, so we headed to Walmart. When we got to the mall where it was, Lori asked me if we had time for a mani/pedi. Hey--it's HER race, we can do whatever she wants! So we parked and decided she'd get the pedi and me the mani. When we got in there, I asked if we could have a beer while we were prettied up and they said YES. So I walked next door to a Mexican restaurant, and they said they wouldn't let me take it out, so I walked some more (did I mention it was FUCKING HOT again?), then ended up walking to the Walmart where I picked up a 6-pack of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (one of my favorite beers), and I also got the yellow ribbon that Lori needed. On the way out, I spotted one of the lifeguards from the Y and he recognized me! That made me smile (as do most things, except for certain things that don't). I gave Lori a beer and I picked the colors for our nails (neon green with green sparkles!), and we got fixed up:

We returned to the ranch where Lori had to get her final bag preparation done and I needed to get my shit together for race day! Did I mention my legs were already sore? Oh well, too fucking bad--I'm training for a 50k and that is going to be happening a lot! Here is Lori doing her final prep:

And that was all she wrote for Saturday.

Sunday, September 25
Holy shit! I swear that the way I do it when I'm in training that spectating and supporting at an Ironman is just as hard as the race! It takes much coordination, costume changes and leaves little time for food. I awoke at maybe 2:30 before my alarm that was set for 3:15. My first job was to have coffee ready for when Lori awoke. First I made mine, then prepped my own breakfast, and when Lori got up I had her coffee all ready to go. I needed to be ready to get down to the swim start with Lori, and then I would come back and run, then I would go back with my bike for the marathon.

We managed to leave on time at 4:15 and first stopped at transition so Lori could put stuff on her bike. Meanwhile, Karen went and retrieved a friend of hers to take her to the swim start. Then Karen (bless her soul she was such a workhorse for us!) came back to get Lori and me and drive us to the swim start. The race had buses for the athletes, but we were on the EXTRA AWESOME VIP SERVICE PLAN, so we got dropped off! It was so cool for me to be able to stand in line with the athletes. I made a trip for Lori to calculate about how many people were in front of her, and I guessed about 130, so she was pretty much up front. I absolutely love this picture of Lori and me in line:

Lori is wearing a pair of my earrings, and I am wearing her Ironman necklace and a tie that she gave me to wear in honor of Patrick, who was a rabid Star Wars fan. I had made a yellow ribbon thing and pinned it to the tie. Both Lori and I were sporting some temporary tattoos. Lori has some actual ones, too, but I have got her in the habit of adding a few for race day. I have a huge stash of them!

Most people in line thought I was racing, but no! I was actually a little chilly so early in the morning, but nothing I couldn't handle, as I knew it would be FUCKING HOT before long!

Time passed and soon enough, it was time for Lori to get suited up to start her day. Here she is all ready to go!

I wished her luck, sent her off, then I began making my way to the start area. I would walk down the point to point swim course, try and catch Lori in transition and maybe a few other peeps, then hook back up with Karen to take me home so I could do my run from there. Usually, I like doing my run on race day on the actual run course, but since I would be walking first and didn't yet have my bike, I needed to go back home anyway, so I thought I'd run there. Besides, the marathon course for IMCHAT is FUCKING HILLY! I didn't really need to run more hills.

The walk along the swim course was more like 3 miles, as the path alongside the river was quite winding. Here is one sample of people in the river:

The athletes, due to the time trial start, were basically spread across the entire length of the swim course! I was worried I might miss Lori in transition, so I hustled on my sore legs to get to the cramped area where people were trying to catch their athlete in transition. I finally spotted Lori but didn't get a picture of her coming in as it happened so fast, but I did catch her running to her bike because my aerohelmet is easy to spot:

You can see her kind of center with the red and white stripes on the back of her head. I was happy I saw her, and hung out a little more, but then knew I had to go run while she was on the bike and then shower and eat and show back up on my own bike!

Phew, I'm exhausted just writing this!

Karen retrieved me, and by now it was FUCKING HOT. The expected high for the day was like 95. I felt so bad for the athletes--I would have melted in those conditions, as I did in 2005 when I DNF'ed Ironman Wisconsin, that had a real high of 110 that day!

I repeated the allegedly flat part of running from Karen's house and got in my planned additional walking as well. Holy fuck was I getting time on my feet or what? But that's what happens at an Ironman. It was FUCKING HOT and I showered and got my bike onto Karen's rack and she drove me back down. By this point, I am already an exercising machine, and I am the fucking Energizer Bunny. I have to be in order to do this!

Karen dropped me off and I found a place for a brew and some lunch:

It was the Brewhaus, and it was on the marathon course. They asked if I wanted to make a sign for my people, and I declined, since I'd be biking all over the fuck place and wouldn't be holding up any signs! Lunch was delicious, especially since I knew that was basically IT for me eating until after Lori was finished! You just don't have time to stop and get and eat food because you are afraid you will miss your athlete or others!

So now I started riding my bike. It was FUCKING HOT, but I was only wearing a swimsuit (as planned) so my peeps could spot me. Plus I was wearing the Star Wars tie. I'm sure I looked like a fucking goof, but as you know I COULD NOT GIVE A FUCK.  I managed to get to the first part of the run course and camp out around Mile 5. I was pretty sure I'd see Ryan first (he being the fastest of the bunch of my peeps), and I got a nice spot in some shade with a volunteer. It was amazing I didn't vomit it was so FUCKING HOT. Finally, I saw Ryan come cruising up:

I think he was happy to see me, and why not? He looked great, and FAST! Then I had to begin the process of waiting for Lori, who I expected next. It took much longer than I expected to see her, and I didn't even get any pictures of her at this spot, because next she started telling me what to do and when (which I fully anticipated so no worries!), and I said I'd do my best, even though it was already becoming difficult to navigate around this marathon course due to the bridges and roads and paths and such. But it was my job so I had to do it, right?

At this point, it would take me 2 months to write every detail, but let's just say I managed to see my friend, Rich, and I shepherded him at a point when he thought he was going to be chasing the cutoff, but he made it, and I saw Ryan again with just a few miles left to go in his race (he did AWESOME!), then I relocated Lori and rode near her for her last few miles all the way into the finish line, and I was SO HAPPY for everyone who managed to finish this race on a bitch of a day!

After Lori finished, it wasn't too long before Rich came out of transition and I was so happy to see he'd finished and he'd done SO WELL! Karen picked up Lori and me, and we went back to the ranch. I let Lori shower first, as she is the athlete. Meanwhile, I checked my bike computer and it turns out I'd ridden 25 miles! Who knows how much I walked and ran, too? All I know is I was tired and low on calories. After Lori showered, I did, and then we cracked open the bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne that I brought with me to celebrate:

Karen looked up a lot of results and there were a whole shitload of DNFs. So sad, but honestly, I expected it.

I will end here on a good note: I am SO PROUD of Lori, Ryan and Rich for finishing on such a tough day, and I am so honored I got to be out there for them. I think it was sometime during the marathon that I figured out another reason I love Ironman so much--not just doing it, but being there at a race--because I get SO MUCH ENERGY from it. These people give ME energy. It is the diametric opposite of people who SUCK your energy from you. That is why no matter how much training I am doing while I'm at one of these things, I feel great!

On that note, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and guess what? I'm going to do it again in 2 weeks at Ironman Louisville! However, that is not so far from home, so I will drive to Indianapolis on Saturday to meet Shelley, and then we will drive down and stay for Sunday. So I won't need to pack all my triathlon shit. I will still do a long run on Sunday, this time probably on the course, and I will be on LGL for the marathon. I am looking forward to it and I'm already tired in advance!

Ironman Chattanooga Training and Spectating Report Part 1

I decided months ago to attend this race in support of my 2nd BFF (or as we now like to say, my younger sister!) Lori, as she was racing and needed the support after one of her sons, Patrick, passed away this summer. I've supported Lori at Ironman Wisconsin twice, and she knows that I have pretty great Sherpa skills, and we would drive down together, so the trip was all set up.

A whole shitload of pictures have been posted to Facebook, so I'm not going to include them all in this post!

Wednesday, September 21
Lori flew from Denver (she now lives in Boulder) to Chicago and picked up a rental car. She stayed with her son, Jon, and planned to pick me up the next morning to drive down to Chattanooga.

I had moved my own workouts for the week around knowing that I wouldn't be doing anything on Thursday, so on Wednesday I ended up swimming, biking and running. I also needed to mow my lawn on Wednesday. Normally I would swim first thing in the morning, and I got ready to do that, but decided to go to Home Depot first to see if they could help me with a project. While cleaning out my garage in advance of Garbage Amnesty Day (you pay for 4 cans of garbage and then you can throw out unlimited amounts of crap), I found a long length of copper pipe. I decided I wanted to make it into a cube. My neighbor, Chuck, cut the pipe into 9" lengths for me, and so I need corners to connect the pieces. He delivered them to me all nice and bundled up!

I loaded my swim bag into my car and got to Home Depot around 6:15. I had fun chatting with 2 of the employees about how to do what I want to do. Bottom line was they don't have the parts I need. What I really want is a 3-way COPPER corner, but that doesn't exist, so I'm going to improvise with red PVC once I talk to a company who makes that about how I could join the two.

Anyway, I leave Home Depot and the sky is beautiful with the sun coming up, and I'm excited to get to swimming. I walk out to my car, get in and look north, and am like what the fuck is coming here? The sky was nearly black, so I check my phone and there is an ugly looking storm front coming down and we are going to get rain SOON. So I rush home so I can mow at least my back yard before it rains, because if I don't, I won't be able to do it and will need to ask my neighbor to do it. He would, but I didn't want to impose. So I get home, leaving my swim bag in my car, and I get to mowing all while looking at the approaching black clouds. For some reason, though, I wasn't scared. I would have taken pictures, but I didn't have time to stop! There was a shelf cloud, and then some mammatus clouds, and those things usually mean bad weather! But I managed to get my back lawn done (it took about 20 minutes) just as the raindrops began to fall, and then it started raining really good, and I was like PHEW! My front lawn would survive not being mowed since it had been really dry and it gets a lot of shade and never grows as much as the back.

So now I was like, OK when can I swim? I'd missed the morning lap time, but could resume again at 9:30 and basically had until 11:30. I decided I'd run first indoors since it was still raining, and then swim, and I would bike later. So I packed up run gear and headed to the Y. I ended up running 10' on the treadmill and then the rest on the indoor track. I got in a nice quickie of a track workout! I was actually running much faster than I've seen in MONTHS!  Yay for fucking me!!! After the track workout, I headed to the pool and swam my 2800 yard workout.

Then, I was scheduled for 1:30 of biking, but knew I'd end up biking during the marathon at IMCHAT, and I was now running out of time to be all packed for Thursday, so I cut the bike short to 1 hour and did it on the trainer to avoid spending extra time making a bottle and all that. Besides, the roads were now all wet and full of crap. I finished biking at about 1:30. Then I got to my almost final packing. I had all the food crap and gear crap organized. I also like my house to be relatively clean when I go away, so I worked on that.

Thursday, September 22
I woke up probably 2:30AM after sleeping for 6.5 hours. Yes, that is how I have been sleeping for almost 2 months now. I had my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) retested, and as I suspected, it's out of whack. My thyroid is UNDERperforming again. Seems odd, right? You'd think that since I'm sleeping less it would mean I was becoming hyPERthyroid, but I know my body, and what's happening is that since I've been training super hard, my poor thyroid is trying valiantly to keep up with me and failing. Anyway, in a few weeks as I increase my Synthroid dose, the sleeping issue should take care of itself.

But I needed the time on Thursday morning to choose my training and regular clothes and get it all organized, as Lori would be picking me up around 6:30AM. I got it all done and she arrived, and she'd rented a mid-size car, so all my crap fit in there. I had clothes to run in 3 times, La Gazza Ladra, which I'd ride during the IMCHAT marathon, my wetsuit in case I decided to swim in the river, a bag of fluids (Gatorade, water, Infinint, Endurox R4), a bag of bottles (bike bottles, Infinit mixing bottles and a Fuel Belt), a bag of car snacks, a bag of dry foods (including wine and champagne, crackers, bananas, English muffins), my regular clothes and a cooler containing cheese, Coke, water, hard boiled eggs (Lori and I love those for breakfast), sandwiches for the road, and some string cheese. I also brought my skull aerohelmet that Lori planned to wear unless she found a new one at the expo. All that crap fit into the car nicely!

The rest of the day was driving. It was about a 10-hour drive, and then we lost an hour moving into the EST timezone, to get to Hixson, TN. Lori's friend, Karen, graciously volunteered to put us up for the trip. We arrived, unpacked our stuff, and then Karen, Lori and I went into town and ate dinner right next to the transition area.

On our way back to the car, who should flag me down but one of my former coaches, Rich Strauss? It was nice to see him! He was there training for Kona and supporting his athletes. We chatted briefly, got a picture and were on our way:

I ended up staying up later than I should have, but it was worth it to spend time talking with Karen about some mutual bad life shit we have experienced. I then slept really well.

Friday, September 23
On this day, my training called for a 5k swim workout and a 40' run. I was aware of the athlete-organized river swim, but decided I'd rather be away from that for the day and instead go swim at the YMCA. At 5PM, I'd agreed to meet my friend, Rich, who I met on a bike ride in July and was doing his very first Ironman at IMCHAT, at the Underpants Run, so there would be about 2 miles of running in that. Lori needed to retrieve her bike and ensure it was in working order and check herself in.

Karen dropped me off at the Y at about 7:30 or so. I had swim stuff and run stuff. I figured I'd swim first and then run about 2 miles inside, since it was FUCKING HOT and I would be running more later. The downtown Chattanooga YMCA is an awesome facility, and the people are really nice. I had to fill out a waiver form, but with my YMCA pass, I got in for free. They have a dedicated lap pool, so I didn't have to worry about when lap time was available.

I chatted with some women in the locker room and then decided to check in on someone else who was racing--Ryan--because we were maybe going to meet up in the afternoon. It turned out he would be driving in from Memphis leaving around noon, so we agreed to just meet up for dinner. I ended up wasting some time and not getting in the pool right away, and didn't start swimming until 8:20. Here is the evil Ironman-style workout I did:

WU: 800 your choice
1200 at race pace, 1' RI
3x600 30" RI at race pace and last 50 of each a sprint
1200 pull w/paddles race pace or faster
CD: 200

So it's 5200 yards total. I'm doing this workout through October and then I will begin adding yardage to my Friday swims to prepare for a 10k swim on New Year's Eve or Day. I ended up PR'ing the time it took me to do the workout! This made me happy! I got out and spent a few minutes in the hot tub, then headed to the locker room to shower and change into running clothes. I made the transition then headed to a treadmill. After I ran for maybe 10 minutes, I had to go potty, so I left my stuff on the treadmill, then came back and some guy was on my machine! I was like WTF wasn't it obvious *I* was using it? I didn't say anything and just grabbed my Gatorade and cup of coffee (YES THEY HAD FREE COFFEE IN THE LOCKER ROOM!) and moved to a different machine and finished up.

I hadn't really sweated all that much, and I knew it was FUCKING HOT outside, and that I'd be sweating like a pig, so I just left my running clothes on. I drank my Endurox R4, left the YMCA, and walked to the expo. I let Karen know I was finished and to let me know when Lori would be done with her massage and then they would both be at the expo.

I walked into the expo and what should I see but a BEER BOOTH! I was like FUCK YEAH THIS IRONMAN IS AWESOME! It was Sierra Nevada to boot! $5 for a beer! YES PLEASE! I'd already had the Oktoberfest, so I opted for an IPA that was DELICIOSO! Walking around an Ironman expo with a beer? DOES NOT SUCK! Of course, everyone was looking at me and figured I was racing, because people tell me I look like one of those people who does those Ironman things. Karen called and let me know they were on their way, and so I meandered around with my beer. I was able to get a Little Debbie bike bottle (they were happy to give them to anyone!) that I will cherish. I wandered around and saw a girl at the Zoot booth wearing MY RUNNING SHORTS, so I went up to her, and turns out it's someone I met years ago that still stalks my blog! It was hilarious! This is Kate:

We were laughing our asses off about life and where we've been and what we are doing now. I didn't remember Kate at first, but was really glad to catch up with her! As you can tell, we had a giant laugh fest!

I got a call that Lori was arriving, so I had to leave Kate and meet Lori and Karen at the bike tech area. I was out of beer, so I picked up another one. I know from all the times I've sherpaed in the past that I need to grab any form of calories whenever I can because I am going to be running low no matter how often I manage to stuff my pie hole. Besides, did I mention it was FUCKING HOT???

Yum--beer.  Bike tech couldn't fix Lori's brake issue, so we got out of there and I don't remember what happened for lunch, but we ended up visiting 2 bike shops and got Lori's bike all squared away, I bought a new pair of sunglasses ( I NEED TO BE FASHIONABLE AT ALL TIMES), and then we headed back to Karen's house to reconnoiter, and I needed to get ready for the Underpants Run. I made a plate of cheese and crackers for Lori and me, and we cracked open a bottle of wine I'd brought with me. Yum! I showered (see I told you I was going to be all sweaty again) and changed into my UPR clothes with some real clothes over them, we ate and drank a little, and headed back to town.

We parked near Rich's hotel, got out, and then met him and we began walking to where the UPR started. It was at least a mile. I felt bad for Lori (who wasn't running) that we were making her walk, but I was cool with it, and we had a million laughs on the way. Rich is a real character! We got to the running store where the run started, and Rich paid my $10 and I dropped off my canned goods donation, and we disrobed and Lori held our clothes. I think Rich and I were styling for the run:

I made that bra. It's funny that I rarely wear a bra (I have nice pecs but not what I'd call boobs), but it looks like I have proportional boobs to my frame, I guess. Of course, even at 5:30PM, it was FUCKING HOT. All the racers were laughing and we looked around at everyone and then it was time to go. We ran from the store up to the Pedestrian Bridge

and over it and then we stopped for calisthenics (jumping jacks basically), and then the leader did a thing where he asked how many were first-time Ironmen/women. Then he asked who had done at least 5, then he kept upping the number, and you left your arm up if you'd done that many. It came down to me and one guy, and I guess the leader couldn't believe I kept my hand up. Anyway, my current count is 18 and there were no women there even close--although IMCHAT would be Lori's 17th! Then there was a guy there who has done 30! Lots of people came up to me and said I was awesome and a few young women said they want to look like me! How very flattering! I try...

Then we ran back to the running store where we each got a glass of beer and a beer glass!

Wow, so the day wasn't yet over--we walked back to our car and left Rich at his hotel, and Lori and I headed back to Karen's so I could shower (AGAIN, BECAUSE IT WAS FUCKING HOT) and change for dinner.

Karen drove Lori and I to Bi-Bas's Italian restaurant, and Ryan met us there. We had a great time, and the food was great!

Just before we left, Xavier arrived with his friend, Billy. Unfortunately, we had to go, but it was nice running into them! Xavier had stayed at my house a few weeks ago when he was here to do the Big Shoulders 5k swim in Lake Michigan. He will also be doing the Double Ironman next year in Portland when I do it as a team with my friend, Brad.

Well, so that was one helluva day, right? Did I mention it was FUCKING HOT???

OK so this post is getting long, so I am going to split into 2 parts. END OF PART 1!!!

Woodstock Duathlon Race Report

HOLY FUCKING CRAP! I won my AG today. I was classed in 60-69, but I thought the skinny chic in the picture above would beat me. Nope! Not only did I win, but I was 2 1/2 minutes faster than I did 2 years ago, and I am training harder than I was 2 years ago, and well, I am just amazed that this is happening! Of course, I didn't taper for this--I'm training for a 50k!

I was trashed on Friday after a bunch o' running. I was supposed to run :40 and bike 1:15. I did the run, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't at all fast, BUT, I ran all the hills on the route. When I got on the bike, I was like I have ZERO power, so I cut it short to :53.

Yesterday I swam a 5k workout. People think I do long, straight swims. Nope. This was a hard fucking workout: 800 warmup, 1200 race pace 1'RI, 3x600 30"RI at race pace with last 50 sprint, 1200 pull with paddles, 200 cooldown. That workout fucks you up. I did it last week, too, the day before my 1/2 marathon. A 5k swim isn't really a big deal, but when you do those intervals and end with the paddles, it fucking sucks. But I love it!

After I swam, I went grocery shopping and then tried to take a nap but failed. Then I went to my bike club's picnic, and that was fun. When I got home, I did finally take a 1.5 hour nap, which was really good. Except that I was groggy for about 30 minutes after waking up, because that much nap time will do that to you.

I then started thinking about what do I want to wear, etc., and I had my shorts picked out, then I selected a top, but figured I'd leave the rest until this morning. I did switch from the blue Louis Garneau winged aerohelmet to my new white POC, because I figured I could get the white helmet on and off quicker.

I got to sleep early (around 8PM) but kept waking up as is typical before a race. At 2:45, I decided, fuck it, close enough (alarm was set for 4:15), and got up. I mostly spent time on Facebook and tried not to be nervous. I still get nervous before races--I get dry heaves, I pace--all that shit--but it's part of the ritual, so I am happy that I still do it.

At 4:30 I thought I better eat breakfast (I'd already been drinking coffee), and had my usual hard-boiled egg on a toasted English Muffin with some jam. It was tasty. Then I checked my box of arm warmers and other cold weather gear and found my neon arm warmers! I thought they were too tight, but they fit just fine now (guess I was FAT when I bought them!). I brought some other things in case I wanted to change, but I thought those were good and since it was going to be cool, calf sleeves. 

At about 5:05, I started getting dressed after putting in my contact lenses and brushing my teeth. I swear I pooped like 6 times this morning! It felt good to put on the clothes (I'd already put Bitch in the car as well as cooler). It is nice getting ready for a duathlon--none of that swimming nonsense!

I drove to the race site--about 61 miles from my house--and had no recollection of having raced there before until I got to the park--Emricson Park. Then I was like OH FUCK THIS COURSE IS HILLY. But, hey, it is what it is. I remembered I'd gone there in 2014 with a friend, and she drove, which is probably why I didn't remember.

I set up Bitch, and they have these nice bike racks:

I didn't like the bike number sticker, but what the hell. I was ECSTATIC that I got #11!!!

In my head, I wasn't thinking I was going to win today, but I knew I'd enjoy myself. It was picture-perfect weather, and today was my last multisport (official anyway--I plan on a 1/2 NothingMan over Thanksgiving weekend if my coach lets me do it) event of the year, so in a way I was sad.

But I wore a necklace that belonged to my Mom (fake diamond--who the fuck cares?), and I had some of my Dad's ashes in my jersey. So no matter what, I would be accompanied by 2 of the people I loved most in the world. They would give me some strength, and then the rest would be up to me.

Debby Jones said she'd be there because her husband was racing, and I saw her right away. When I met her husband, Bob, I said I knew him, but we'd never met. I know I've seen him at several local races. Here we are pre-race looking like fucking badasses:

We got ready to go, lined up, and then the horn blew. There are no chips in this race, so it's a mass start and everyone goes at once. Immediately, I felt old and slow. Lots of people flying by me, and all I thought was, "Do your best. That's all you can do."

The run course is fucking hilly--like 4 major hills over 2 miles--but I felt strong on the hills albeit slow. I didn't care what my pace was, and didn't look at my watch. I just know I was so happy to get on Bitch and begin my bike leg.

Right away on the bike, I felt pretty good. Not great--but not bad. I started passing people pretty early, and started counting. And I would sight on the next person and plan on passing them. In all, I passed 27 people and 1 tractor. Yes, a tractor! I was like, what the fuck, do I have to pass THIS? But it made me laugh.

When I got to transition, I quickly switched gears, and was like, well at least my legs don't feel that much worse! And I wondered how many people would re-pass me. As it turns out, only 9. And they were FAST runners. Still, I didn't know how well I'd done, but was happy I finished with what I felt was a solid effort. Here I am all fucking happy I'm done:

Really, I had had a great time! What's not to like about a short race where you pass a bunch of people on the bike? But I didn't know how I'd done rank-wise until they started announcing the awards. I heard something about 60-69 and though I was toast, then I heard MY NAME! Turns out I'd heard the 2nd place woman and I came first! How about that!

I was so happy (first picture in the post), and still am. This was my final multisport race of the year, and it makes me sad, but I'm moving on to bigger and better things now. Still--I feel like I've come a long way in a short amount of time doing pretty major training! Seriously, I was afraid I'd lost it and couldn't show up and race well. But I guess I can. Now I race with such joy that any winning is gravy!

But I have to say that winning is fucking fun!

All the Eggs Are in the Basket

As you know, I've selected my target races for the 12-month period over which I intend to:

• Qualify for the Boston Marathon
• Qualify for Kona (Ironman Hawaii)

I officially began training for these things on September 5. Yesterday was the first race I did for the period. Races will calibrate where my actual fitness is, which then is used to plan my training and ensure that I am capable of meeting my goals.

The Naperville Trails 1/2 marathon was well run and took place in the Danada Equestrian Reserve, which is not too far from my house. I met my friend, Matt, there. The race started at 8:30, which was a bit late for our liking, but nothing you can do about it. The race was 100% on crushed limestone except for the last about 1/2 mile, where you run in on the grass horse track! There were some rolling hills, but nothing I would call "hilly."

My last 1/2 marathon was 4/12/2015 in Denver and I went 2:20. Yesterday I went 2:13. Not great for me, but the good thing is that my right foot didn't hurt one iota! In fact, yesterday was the first 1/2 marathon or more where my foot hasn't hurt since 2011! So actually I was ecstatic about my result, especially since I didn't taper and I went in with sore legs from last weekend's biking festival (50 miles fast with the A group of my bike club on Saturday, then 3 hours of Sufferfest videos on Sunday) plus 2 duathlon workouts last week. So to expect my best run would have been foolish. Still, I did visit the hurt locker, but it was nice in that Matt ran most of the way with me as did a 2:15 pacer girl. How great that was! I basically had my own personal pacers! Here are Matt and I before the race:

Now as to the eggs thing, after I raced yesterday (and I was 4/15 F55-59 by USATF age group classification, but if they used USAT age groups, I was first in 60-64 by 17 minutes!), I drove up to Madison, Wisconsin to cheer at the Ironman while spending time with one of my best buds, William. Here we are eating at the Badger Grill in the Doubletree Hotel, where we both have stayed previously and I already reserved for next year:

I think we met in 2003 originally, but William argued with me about that. William is an uber-ultra athlete. He's done a Triple Ironman. I love him and we try and spend time together whenever it's possible. That's really why I went up to Wisconsin, since I don't see him very often.

I wasn't in primo spectating mode, as my legs hurt like mofos from the race, but I did the best I could. I would ask people looking a bit shattered if there was anything they needed. I had brought gels, salt tablets, candy and HTFU. One guy said, "Albuterol." And I said I have it! I really hope that giving that guy a couple of puffs from my inhaler enabled him to feel better and get moving again. I know how awful it can feel when your lungs feel like they just can't work properly.

I stayed overnight with a friend, Emily, that I met 2 years ago at Tyranena Beer Run, another 1/2 marathon where I went 2:10. So I know I can go at least that fast (and maybe faster). I need my 1/2 marathon pace to be about 2:07 to really lock in on that Boston qualification. That's only 2 VDOT points from where I'm at now, and I've been that fast, so I feel confident in achieving the BQ. At Disney? Who knows? But if not there then certainly at Los Angeles marathon.

I have to admit, every day when I wake up, this BQ and KQ stuff is on my mind. Sometimes I say to myself, "Don't do anything stupid." But much of what I do is on autopilot, for example, driving fast in the left lane on a highway. But I've learned to give focus to whatever I'm doing, so when I'm driving, I'm driving, except when I need emergency McDonald's so that I don't starve to death:

OMG that was good. I was so happy to see that the McGriddle is back! But I digress.

Just because I've done so many triathlons and trained so hard for so many years doesn't mean I don't get nervous about races or goals looming on the horizon. I am already visualizing my finish at Ironman Wisconsin 2017. I signed up for it today, and I got the chills doing it:

There has been only one other time when I thought I might be able to get a Kona slot--it was in 2006. I was very well trained for Ironman Brazil. I was in fantastic shape. But then my Mom died a month before the race, and I still went. And I bawled my eyes out in transition before the race started. I felt so lost and alone. And I had caught a sinus infection and I was dizzy standing on the beach before the swim start. And then I got kicked in the face during the swim and didn't know until I was finished that my nose was bloody and my eyes were black and blue. But I finished, and of course, there was no Kona slot that day. The next year my Dad died, and after that I sort of just put the whole Kona thing on the back burner. I did a bunch of NothingMans, enjoyed that, and then I did Ultraman Canada in 2010 and am still very proud of that accomplishment--I was the oldest female finisher!

So it's not like I had given up on stretch goals, but early this summer I decided it was time to reach for the stars once again, and so here I am and it's fucking scary. I yell at my brothers to pay attention to their health--I don't want anything bad to happen to them in the next year. But you never know what life has in store for you!

Does that mean it's folly to put all your eggs in the one big, fucking basket anyway? NO! If you don't dream, you don't achieve. And even if you don't accomplish the dream, it is always worth the journey to have tried. Each time I do a major race, I learn something new about myself and find new satisfaction in doing it. And I absolutely love sharing my own knowledge with others. Over the years, I've mentored people who became faster than me (which is as it should be since they are younger than me!), and am truly happy for them. But I've had helpers along the way, too--people who have pushed me when I needed it--people who have stood by me when I've suffered emotionally, and people who might not be close friends, but they are always there to notice when I've done something good. And that's what this stuff is really all about.

So whether or not I cross the Ironman Wisconsin finish line in first place in my AG, I can say it will have been well worth my time and effort to give it a go. I am so lucky to even think about this! I am so unbelievably happy how all of this has come together for me, and honestly, I get all teary eyed at least once a day lately. Does that mean I'm weak? I don't think so. I think it means I really appreciate my life and fitness.

So when you get a bunch of eggs, PUT THEM ALL IN ONE BIG FUCKING BASKET. Your basket may just be to finish an Ironman or to get a degree or to get in better shape, but at some point you have to go for it. You will not regret it!