Always Running

Ironman Texas 2012

You might remember that last fall, when I was training for Ironman Florida, I had a little mishap at a half marathon that resulted in a very sprained ankle.  While I was recovering, with a boot on my foot for a month, Mac suggested that since training had been going well and I had a great base built, that I should follow through with IMFL and also sign up for Ironman Texas.  It sounded good at the time, but in reality, I had no idea how hard it would be to train for an early IM through the Chicago winter. 

In the end though, I took his suggestion and signed up.  The culmination of all that winter training was last weekend – when I was fortunate enough to be called an Ironman for the fourth time. 

We arrived in Texas on Tuesday of race week; Mac had to work at the expo beginning on Wednesday.  Let me just say that working outside, in 90 degree temps is brutal.  Mac has a really cool job, but it’s also really hard.  We also realized on Wednesday morning, that our hotel, while 9 miles from the race site (as a really fast crow flies?), was at least an hour drive from the race site when traffic was factored in.  We quickly fixed that an booked a hotel closer to the race for Friday and Saturday.

Wednesday, I did all of the usual pre-race “stuff” – athlete check-in, last minute purchases; CO2 (can’t fly with it) and visor (forgot mine and knew I would need it).  On Wednesday, race check-in was a breeze – I walked right into the tent.  Thursday morning, the line was wrapped all the way around the expo.  The only hiccup was that they forgot to hand out swim caps on Wednesday – oops. 

Thursday was my day to rest – I hung out in the hotel room w/ the A/C going - I napped, hydrated and tried to clear my head (easier said than done).  Friday the madness really started.  Ironman puts on a great race in Texas but the venues are a bit of a logistical nightmare.  The expo is in one location, transition is about ¾ of a mile away and the swim start is ¾ of a mile from transition.  Got that?  Basically, I went to the morning practice swim, then to the expo to get my bike (thank you to Mac and Mark Miller for getting it into perfect race condition), then headed to transition with my bike and transition bags.  All went well until I realized I didn’t have my bike shoes.  Um…that would be really bad on race morning.

Mac was kind enough to meet me between the expo and transition to give me my shoes.  I knew I would have access to my bags on race morning, I just knew I wouldn’t want to deal with it.  After all that, I was sunburned, hot, thirsty and tired, so I went back to the hotel to put my feet up some more. 

After a turkey sandwich from Panera, I was in bed with bottles made and bags packed for the morning.  For the first time ever, I actually slept well before a race.  

Race Morning:

Mac dropped me off at T1 – I knew it would be a mile +/- walk to the swim start, but figured it would be a good warm-up.  I put the bottles on my bike, filled my front bottle, put my computer on and found a nice guy who was willing to share his pump so that I didn’t have to wait in the line that wrapped around transition to use the community pumps.  (Thank you Toby, I hope you had a fabulous race!)

Then I headed to the swim start – I had no interest in re-checking my transition bags – either what I needed was there or it wasn’t.  If I checked and realized I was missing something, I would just stress out. 

Swim – 1:39:35

I got to the swim start just as the sun was coming up.  It was a gorgeous morning.  I took my time – got body-marked, put on sunscreen (a LOT of sunscreen), got in line for the bathrooms one last time and then it was time to put on the swim skin, turn in my morning bag and get in the water.  Mac had VIP access that allowed him to be right at the entrance to the swim, which meant that I got to see him right as I was getting in the water.  SO AMAZING.  I started to tear up (as per usual) and he showed me a text from some friends that sent me into full crying mode.  Our friends Christina and Bryan (ironically, Christina and I did our first Ironman, Wisconsin 2002, together – as in we ran together and crossed the line together) had managed to get on a flight and were on their way from Chicago to watch the race.  I was so emotional at that point I had to get in the water to hopefully force myself to not cry.

Before long, the entire non-wetsuit group was in the water and the cannon went off.  I felt pretty good until the first turn; I even found some feet to draft off of.  But after the two quick turns when we were heading back north toward the canal turnoff, it got really crowded (I think this is when the wetsuit swimmers started catching us?) – I took several really hard hits and ended up with a huge gash under my arm – it had to be from someone’s watch or fingernails – I’m going with watch because fingernail is just too gross for me.  FINALLY we made the turn into the canal – which was even more crowded, but at least we were closer to the swim finish.  The highlight of the swim was that I got to see Mac while I was swimming.  Of course I stopped to wave at him and of course he yelled at me to keep swimming!  I don’t know if it was the lack of wetsuits, the very small lake / canal or something else, but this was by far my worst Ironman swim yet. 

T1 – 8:50:

T1 was uneventful (which is good) – I took my swim skin off on the run through transition, put my HR strap on (though due to some malfunction, I never got HR readings during the day), jersey on, socks, bike shoes, nutrition in pockets and I took off! I was excited to get on my bike (and happy that I survived that horrible swim!) to see what I could do. 

Bike – 7:02:37 (best IM bike yet):

I had been warned that IF there was any wind that day, it would be a tailwind for the first half and then a headwind all the way home.  This is exactly what we got.  The first half of the bike was so much fun.  I was moving at a pace I was happy with, yet I wasn’t worried that I wouldn’t have anything in the tank for the ride back.  I was mildly concerned about the heat (rightly so), but figured that everyone else was dealing with it too – it was all in how I thought about it. Really, before I knew it, I was at special needs.  This was a very fast stop for me – switch out bottles, fill front bottle again, grab my extra sport beans (already in a plastic bag) and my “treat” - a small baggie of Ruffles potato chips.  The chips were pure heaven after all the “sweet” from the gels, sport beans and EFS.  I hit the halfway point at approximately 3:15:00 – obviously based on my final time, I slowed down during the second half, but I’m ok with that given the headwind and the high temps we were in for the rest of the bike. 

Coming from the Midwest, where we are still wearing fleece jackets at night, I knew that I would potentially struggle in the heat and humidity.  There is not really a great way to train for that in Chicago, through the winter.  The thing that saved me on the bike was taking water at the aid stations and dousing myself with it.  This worked incredibly well for me, and only once, at the aid station near mile 90, did I really feel horrible.  It was at this aid station that I stopped and pulled over to the side while I cooled down and let the dizziness subside.  The volunteers were great – they got me water and ice and helped me cool off.  It was incredibly hard to start pedaling again, but I knew I had just over 20 miles to go – you can do anything for 20 miles, right?

FINALLY, I was back in an area of the Woodlands that I recognized.  I was very happy to hand my bike off to the volunteer.  I had something happen to me, though, that has never happened before – I felt like all of my toes were cramped and I felt like someone was driving nails into the balls of my feet.  I could barely walk!  How was I supposed to run?

T2 – 8:49:

I hobbled through transition and made it into the changing tent (side note, this was the first IM I’ve done that had a changing tent outdoors – Wisconsin and Florida all use big ballrooms), which at that point of the day was HOT and SMELLY.  Quick change out of the bike jersey and into a favorite Lululemon top, fresh socks and then my running shoes and I was off. 

Run – 6:06:56:

The start of the run in any triathlon is hard.  The start of the run in an Ironman is SO DEFEATING.  You freaking have a marathon to run!  I was so lucky though, almost immediately I saw Mac, Christina, Bryan and Sonja.  It was such a mental boost to see them and hear them yell for me.  After so many hours alone with my thoughts on the bike course – human interaction was great.

The run in Texas is 3 loops.  I have to say, I’m not a fan of the 3 loop thing.  Two loops, OK.  Three – too much.  I will say, there were some GREAT signs on the run course; they made at least the first two loops more entertaining.  I think my favorite was “112 miles because 110 would just be wimpy”.  By the 3^rd loop, they weren’t really that funny anymore.  The layout of the run loops at least meant that I would see my “crew” a couple times on each loop.  The first time I came around, they were in the grass along the canal.  I stopped briefly (because at this point, I had EARNED that) and as I started up again, Mac yelled after me “Hurry up! Run faster! We’re hungry and tired of waiting for you!” – If you know Mac, you know that this is just “him” – he wasn’t being mean (I don’t think so, anyway?) – and me being me, I gave him the international friendship symbol (or I flipped him the bird – you get the point). Well, the best part was that 4 or 5 people around me on the course at that point asked me who the asshole was that was telling me to go faster.  The look on their faces when I said it was my husband was PRICELESS.  Ahhh…the joy of being married to someone for almost 14 years – you just “get” each other. 

My favorite sign:

The first loop of the run actually went by pretty fast (it’s all relative).  The second loop was harder, both mentally and physically (duh) – one thing that stands out for me during the second loop was that one of the aid stations in the “fancy neighborhood” had large slices of frozen watermelon.  Let’s just say it was pure heaven.  By the third loop, the sun was starting to set and I just wanted to be done.  At least I could tell myself repeatedly (yes, I talk to myself during races) that it was my last loop.  The last time I would see ____ - fill in the blank at each landmark.  FINALLY, I hit the canal area for the last time – I walked a bit with Mac, Christina and Bryan and during this time, my coach Eric called Mac’s phone.  I talked to him for a second, but then everyone yelled at my in unison to just finish this thing already!  Ok.  Let’s go.  I was able to hold a decent (not fast, but I was running) pace for the last 2-3 miles and then I was making the right turn to the finish (rather than the dreaded stay left for loops 2 and 3).  I thought the finish was at the top of the hill, but NO, you had to run away from the finish for probably 100 yards, then make a sharp turn and head back up another hill to the finish line.  The Ironman finish line is such a crazy and unique experience.  Its BRIGHT, almost blinding and there are just hundreds (thousands?) of people going CRAZY.  It’s all a little disorienting after so many hours on the course.  I just kept focusing on the finish line and then…just like that…I was done.  The finish line volunteers/catchers are amazing.  I can’t imagine the things they see and deal with all day/night long.  My catcher was great – she held me up, helped me get my medal, shirt and hat and then held it all while I had my picture taken.  Once I was out of the finish area and back with Mac, I could finally stop moving.

Blurry photo after the finish:

Total – 15:06:47. 

Not my best time, not my worst.  On a hot day in Texas, in May, I’ll take it.

The list of people that I need to thank is very long and I’m sure I’ll forget someone, but here goes.  Mac, Jake and Sienna – for always supporting me – you’re the best family a girl could ask for and I love you all infinitely.  To my parents, Sig and Ken and Mac’s parents, Patti and Jim, I couldn’t do any of this without all of you – thank you for taking such great care of the kids while we were gone (and during all of my training when Mac was out of town).  To Eric, thank you for being an amazing coach who “gets” me.  You always listen to me and you work my training around my life.  I wouldn’t have made it to the start line without you.  To Christina and Bryan for FLYING TO TEXAS!  It meant more than you guys will ever know to see you there!  And finally, thank you to every single volunteer in Texas.  There would be no race without you. 

Next up – Muncie 70.3.  I’ve never had a good half-ironman race – I need to turn that around.

Normally, this is where my story ends.  BUT, this wasn’t a normal Ironman week-ish.  I’ve got a long weekend that starts in a few hours to tell another side of my triathlon experience that comes from being married to someone who works in the triathlon business – and I’ve got a lot to share.

 

Xantusia - The Rest of the Weekend

By Saturday morning a lot of  (but not all) of the snow was gone, in fact, I was reminded that the picture of the snow covered bikes was actually from Saturday morning, not Friday.  The sun was out and we knew that no matter what, we would ride Saturday.  I DID NOT pack up my bike and fly across the country with it to ride it ONE TIME. 

Dan offered to have us all over to the fit studio for a fit clinic that morning, after which we decided we would ride.  I had heard about Dan’s Fit Institute Slowtwitch (FIST) clinics from Mac (he attended one last spring), so I was thrilled to have a session with Dan.  What a privilege! 

Michelle recently made the switch from a road bike w/ aerobars to a tri-bike and hasn’t been able to get her road bike set up comfortably as a road bike, so Dan did a fit on her.  It was so fun to watch the process.  He likened it to the eye doctor – a lot of “which is better? 1 or 2?” – and such.  He started with saddle height, then fore/aft position and finally bar set up.  So cool to see.  He also told us that we could use the fit studio later for packing up our bikes (rather than doing it outside in the freezing cold, thank you Dan!).

Some shots from the fit: 

After the session with Dan, we bundled up and headed out for our ride.  We did the same loop as Thursday, but added a extra climb AT THE END.  We had sunshine, clear roads and beautiful views.  What more can you ask for?  Through the entire ride, I just kept thinking how very lucky I am. 

When we finished the ride, Cathy and I took a few pics on the road in front of Xantusia.  My only regret is that I didn’t get one of the two of us together.  We cleaned up, had lunch and settled in for some stretching and old triathlon videos (vintage, perhaps?).  Quickly, the sun was setting and we realized that we should head down to pack up the bikes.  A group of us went down to the fit studio and while Christina and I packed our bikes, Deanna and Liz got their demo bikes from Dan’s stable (literally and figuratively) ready to ride the next day.  I was insanely jealous that they would get in a ride on Sunday while I had to go home. 

Cathy and I: 

We had one more dinner together – Monty worked magic again – salad, lasagna and garlic bread.  YUM.  Oh, and wine.  Then we had a little more tv time and suddenly it was time to get some sleep – Christina and I had to leave somewhat early to head back to Orange County.   Morning came all too fast and after breakfast and a round of goodbyes, we were on our way.  Chicago was expecting horrible storms that night, but thankfully our flights both took off on time and were uneventful.  I even had WiFi on my flight.  Not a bad way to end the weekend. I was happy to get home to Mac and the kids, yet really sad to leave Xantusia.  I’m already looking forward to next year!

Thanks to Cathy and Sally for putting the weekend together, thanks to Monty for taking care of all of us and thanks to all of the wonderful women who made the weekend so much fun! 

 

Xantusia - Part 1

I sit here typing this from John Wayne Airport in Orange County.  I got to spend a long weekend doing something really amazing.  While I’m excited to get home to my family, I am sad to leave behind the great group of women I got to train with. 

A group of us from Slowtwitch.com (the “Womens”, if you will) got together for the annual training weekend at Xantusia – the compound owned by Mark Montgomery (Monty) and Dan Empfield.  The Womens have been doing this training weekend since (I think) at least 2007 or 2008.  I have never made it out for camp.  I came close one year, and then something came up.  Truth is, I was always a little scared and intimidated…will I be “good enough” or “fast enough” to hang with the others?  What if I’m not? What if they don’t like me?

I got to meet one of the Womens, Cathy, in person last year in Kona and we had such a great time on the island – it made me feel so much more comfortable about camp having met Cathy.  Then, this year, with IMTX looming, Mac told me it was now or never – I had to get out of my comfort zone and go.  He was SO right.

A few weeks ago, my friend Christina texted me asking about a 5k at home this weekend – I told her I couldn’t do it, I was going to a girl’s training weekend.  Her interest was piqued and ultimately, she ended up coming this weekend too!  So in the end, not only did I get to see Cathy again and get to meet lot of wonderful new friends, I had one of my closest friends with me too!

The start of camp –

 Christina and I flew into OC late Wednesday night.  We were on different flights and joked that we had to fly to CA to see each other.  Our bikes and other checked bags arrived (thankfully), we got our rental car and were soon on our way to the high desert.  First, though, we had to stop at In-N-Out.  You can’t be in CA without eating In-N-Out at least once (duh).  We made it to Monty’s with only one error – we missed the turnoff into the driveway.  It is PITCH dark in the desert at night and we completely missed the cute little lizard sign.  We realized our mistake when we started descending the mountain (did I mention that we were staying a the top of a brutal climb?).  Soon we were dragging our bags into our room and trying to get some sleep. 

Thursday morning – we woke up bright and early to the smell of coffee and breakfast.  Cathy, Andy and Suzanne had arrived earlier on Wednesday, so there were currently 5 of us there and Gail arrived from “over the mountain” during breakfast.  Then it was time to put the bikes together.  I had traveled with a bike one other time – to Kona – and I had Mac and Brad to put my bike together for me.  This time, I was on my own.  I’m happy (and proud) to say that Christina and I had our bikes back together in under 20 minutes.  With a minimal amount of cursing.  Yay us. 

We decided to head out as soon as we had the bikes together with the hope of beating some of the wind (yeah, that didn’t really work).  Off we went and while the descent from Xantusia to start the ride was fun, there was also the thought in the back of my mind that, um, we had to climb that at the end of the ride.  Awesome. 

A few pics from the ride: 

Now, I’m from Chicago.  Illinois.  Where it is FLAT.  Hello mountains.  There were no flat sections of this ride.  We were either going up or down at all times.  And let me tell you – I don’t know which was harder – the climbs or the descents.  I just kept repeating that it was making me stronger.  Making me stronger…

Before I knew it, almost 2 hours had passed and we were heading back up toward the compound.  I don’t have the official record, but Cathy’s Garmin told us that the first part of the climb home was between 8-10% and the rest around 6-7%.  Doesn’t sound too bad, right?  Well, for this Midwestern girl, it was hard!

We had a quick, light lunch and then some down time before going out on a run.  We wanted to beat sundown (and get back fast for the margaritas), so we headed out for a quick run up Panorama Road with Emmy and Michelle, who had arrived while we were out on the bikes.  There were 12 Womens coming to camp and now 8 of us were there! 

Coming in from running (I'm in the middle - I really need to learn how to run):

About this time, Monty’s beautiful wife Ashley and gorgeous little guy Wyatt arrived. Wyatt became the camp mascot and Ashley jumped right into the fun.  What a great group already.  Dinner Thursday was the most amazing chicken I have ever had in my life.  Along with all kinds of sides – rice, veggies, potatoes followed by a big chocolate cake for dessert.  And of course we had Monty’s famous margaritas.  We still had a few Womens arriving later Thursday night and the rest of us were tired, so it was a pretty tame evening. 

Friday morning we woke up to snow.  Lots of it.  And freezing cold temps.  And 50mph winds.  Great.  There would be no riding anytime soon.  We had a light breakfast and then took advantage of what appeared to be a short break in the weather and headed out for a run along Panorama Road.  This is a packed dirt/sand road that is mostly uphill on the way out and (thankfully) downhill on the way back.  We did the 7 mile round trip “to the big road and back” and we were so grateful we were headed downhill on the way back when the sleet/hail/wind picked up. 

What we woke up to: 

When we got back, we hoped to head into town to swim with Monty, but due to the weather, the pool never did open that day.  Instead, we showered, got comfortable and spent the afternoon sharing stories, getting to know each other and having a gift exchange with gifts we all brought from our respective areas – there were lots of great race shirts, bike jerseys, bottles of wine – so many fun things.  I ended up with a fabulous jacket, a fun new perfume and a water bottle (thank you Sally, Michelle and Gail!). 

The Gift Exchange:

After the gift exchange, Monty got out the margaritas.  Somehow, we all decided that we should finish our margaritas then go run a race to the end of the driveway and back (just under a mile) and then have another margarita.  Thus the "First Annual Margarita Mile" was born.  I initially wanted to opt out - saying I had showered already.  That didn't get me too far and before I knew it we were taking advantage of a break in the weather to run in the mud to the main road and back.  

Here we are after the "race":

Monty made another great dinner – this time tri tip steak in a teriyaki marinade.  It was simply to die for.  That night we shared some margaritas, wine, stories and watched the Help.  We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect evening.

That’s all for now…Part 2 soon.

 

Fun in South Florida

A couple of weekends ago, Mac and I headed to south Florida for a wedding.  Yes, we both actually do more than work, drive carpools and train.  In fact, we both really enjoy fashion and having fun with what we wear.  The wedding was in Hollywood, FL at the Westin Diplomat Resort.   The goal was an outdoor ceremony on a terrace overlooking the beach.  The weather had other plans.

When I asked the bride about attire, she said it wasn’t black tie, but that everyone would be “dressed to the nines”.  I took that to mean something between Miami club attire and a formal gown. 

With Mac’s help, I narrowed my choices to two dresses and brought them both along.  One was black with gold sequins, cut on the bias with one long sleeve and one short.  The other was strapless and zebra print.  I figured whichever one I didn’t wear to the wedding; I could wear in South Beach the next night.  I brought along my favorite shoes in the world, my YSL Tribute Too pumps, knowing they would work with both dresses.  A note about these shoes – when Mac and I were in LA a few years ago, we went to the YSL store in Beverly Hills to check out the new YSL shoes that everyone in Beverly Hills was wearing.  He talked me into trying the Tribute Too on, while I was adamant that I couldn’t spend that much on a pair of shoes.  Needless to say, I put them on, felt like a million bucks and changed my mind instantly.  They are truly the most amazing shoes I have ever owned.  Anytime I put them on, I instantly feel like a new person.  If you’re on the fence about a good pair of shoes – just go for it.   Consider it an investment.  (By the way, my brother in law, who is a foot surgeon, also considers them an investment, in his future children’s college funds – he swears I shouldn’t wear the shoes I do…)

So, we arrived in Florida to pouring rain and high humidity – that = instantly frizzy hair for me.  The rain and clouds broke long enough for me to relax by the pool for a bit, then the rain came back and I gave up. 

In the end, I went with the zebra print dress – it just seemed like a better fit for the environment, and in the end I was right.  The wedding ceremony itself was very short and sweet.  The officiant remembered Kristi and James’ names and seemed sincere in his speaking (you never know at destination weddings!)  After the ceremony we moved into the cocktail hour; my first drink, a skinny margarita, was a TALL glass of tequila with a teeny, tiny splash of lime juice.  Think of the biggest shot of tequila, on the rocks, ever!  This set the tone for the rest of the evening.  The cocktail hour gave me time to people watch – I love seeing what others have chosen to wear – to any event, but weddings in particular provide great opportunity. 

Fashion tip of the day: Something Mac taught me a long time ago (yes, my husband is SO GOOD with fashion…) is that ‘shoes can make or break an outfit’.  The older I get, the more I realize how true this is.  There were several people at the wedding (and this is not to hurt anyone’s feelings) who looked amazing in their dresses, but completely ruined the look with their shoes.  Note, I’m not saying that shoes have to be expensive, but they should work with the outfit and they should be clean and in good condition.  If you have a pair of shoes that are scuffed and falling apart, you should get rid of them.

From the cocktail hour we moved into a great dinner followed by a night of dancing. Two DJs came from Chicago for the wedding – DJ Squeeze and DJ Rock City – and together they made the night one big dance party.  So.much.fun!  In fact, I might have had a little too much fun…and slept in a little the next morning.    

With that, here are a few shots of my outfit for the wedding…

The dress:

 

 The shoes:

 The necklace, ring and watch:

 

 

 

Next up…our night in South Beach.  

Vegas...or a Slight Break from Training

Vegas Baby…or a Break in Training

Last weekend Mac and I headed to Las Vegas for a 48-hour booze-filled, Mötley Crüe-induced party of epic proportions that included VIP booths, dozens of bottles of Patron, tens of thousands of dollars laid on craps tables and tens of thousands more on a small portion of the 400-plus betting options on the Super Bowl. 

At least that’s what everyone thinks when Mac heads to Vegas.  In reality….we enjoyed some R&R (rock & roll AND rest & relaxation), good food, a few cocktails and some workouts in the sunshine while NOT wearing 5 layers of clothing to stay warm.

We booked this trip several months ago, when Mötley Crüe announced that they would do a residency at the Hard Rock Hotel.  Not long after booking this trip, we received the invitation to a good friends’ wedding in Miami next weekend – so we get to hit up fun, warm locales, two weekends in a row!  Not only that, but after we got home from Vegas, Mac turned around the next day and flew to Texas for the week.   Then after we get home from Miami, he’s off again to Tennessee, New York and New Jersey the following week and weekend.  It never ends – but I digress.

We made it to Vegas Friday in time for me to do a quick track workout before heading to dinner with my uncle and his girlfriend at an “old school” Vegas Steakhouse – the Flame Room at the El Cortez Hotel.  Mac and I have spent a lot of time in Las Vegas and until this trip, the only time I’ve been in the old downtown area was during the Las Vegas Marathon in 2005.  It’s an interesting place that is in stark contrast to the newer strip areas. 

Dinner was fun, though we just missed the famed owner of the establishment, and then we were off to the Hard Rock for the opening night of the Mötley Crüe show.  The Crüe did not disappoint.  The show was scheduled for 9:00pm and they came on around 9:20 – not too bad – I find it so annoying to wait hours for a concert start.  The show included the usual theatrics, characters, pyrotechnics and blood being thrown.  It also included something we’d never seen from Mötley Crüe before, an acoustic set on a round platform suspended over the crowd; by far my favorite part of the show.  It was a show for all ages, as shown by the attendees.  It’s hard to believe that Mötley Crüe has been doing this for over 30 years. 

I had a long run on the schedule for Saturday morning and we were both tired from traveling, so we didn’t do anything crazy after the show.  I had perfect weather for my long run and ended up running for 1:45:00 in the sunshine and amazing temps.  Such a treat for this Chicaogoan during February.  My GPS would not pick up a signal, so I’m guessing that I got in somewhere around 10 miles.  I’ll try to “map my run” when I get home to see if I can figure out the actual distance. 

Saturday night we had dinner at our long-time favorite, Simon Kitchen and Bar.  Holy YUM.   Let’s just say we ate and drank a LOT, but it was worth every carb and calorie.  After dinner, I was so tired that I went upstairs while Mac hit a blackjack table.  I usually enjoy watching him play, but my feet were tired from my run and from wearing heels a LOT this weekend and I just wanted to put them up and relax a little.  Funny how my definition of vacation, specifically a weekend in Vegas, has evolved over the years.  Training, and life in general, are just more fun with a little more sleep and a little less partying!  (Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a good party, I just also enjoy sleep and good training days!)  In fact, this week at work has been a short one and we’re soon off on another weekend adventure – this time for a weekend wedding in Florida. 

Let's Talk About the Gym

Do you love, hate or feel neutral about the gym?  A few years ago, I would have told you I hate the gym.  Now I’m somewhere between neutral and like.  I have enough equipment in my basement that I can run, bike and do a decent strength/core workout at home, but as a triathlete who lives in the Midwest, I don’t really have a choice about using the gym if I want to swim during the fall, winter and spring. 

I actually consider myself pretty lucky when it comes to my gyms…yes, that’s right, plural – gyms.  Given my long commute and sometimes crazy work hours, I’m grateful that there is an Equinox gym in the building that I work in downtown.  Its not huge, but it has an ample amount of treadmills, weights and a pool.  The whole family also belongs to a gym in the suburbs – Rush-Copley Healthplex.  Rush-Copley is much larger than Equinox (but then most things in the suburbs are bigger), but basically has the same amenities, plus an indoor track and indoor tennis courts.

I typically commute to the office on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and work from home on Wednesday and Friday.  Lately, my days in the office have meant Monday is either a swim or a core workout at lunch (core if I’m going to masters in the suburbs that night).  Tuesday is a speed workout on the treadmill at lunchtime.  And Thursday is sometimes a day off, but sometimes a core workout at lunchtime.  It gives me so much additional flexibility to be able to fit a workout in during my lunch.  It also helps that there are several (relatively) healthy restaurants in the building, so I can workout, shower, grab a salad and be back to work in about an hour.  Working out during the workday forces me to plan ahead and really think about what I bring with me.  The good news is that if I ever forget something, there is also a mall in the building I work in, complete with Bloomingdales and Lululemon. 

I’m finding myself spending a lot of time at my gyms lately AND I’m actually beginning to enjoy (most of) it.  I’m swimming at least 3-4 times per week – and one of those swims have been with a masters group the last 2 weeks.   Since I’ve been spending so much time in the gym, I’ve been thinking about how different my two gyms actually are.  Equinox is definitely a “downtown” club.  Smaller, yet “fancier” locker rooms, total hipster vibe throughout the entire place, including the girls who look completely put together while they work out; from their perfectly matched Lululemon outfits to perfect hair and make-up.  (I don’t know how they do it – if I tried to workout with full makeup I would like a zombie from a horror movie.) Rush-Copley is the complete gym opposite of Equinox.  Large, spread out and lots of suburbanites getting their sweat on.  Rush-Copley is a nice club, but definitely not “fancy” like Equinox.  Its crazy, but one of the things that makes Equinox my favorite is that they have Kiehl’s products in the locker rooms!  Though the cold plunge pool and indoor track at Rush-Copley are nice too.

Rush-Copley also has a warm water pool and plenty of “family swim” hours – Sienna loves to spend hours in the pool on the weekend.  Actually, that brings up another thing I love about both gyms; they provide towels.  I never have to worry about bringing a towel to the gym, which is so nice.  While is strange to me that I am starting to like the gym, I find myself feeling very grateful every time I’m there. 

What about you? Let me know how you feel about the gym.  Do you belong to more than one gym? 

Welcome 2012

I feel like I’m repeating many others when I say that I can’t believe it’s 2012 already.  But really, I can’t believe its 2012 already!  Looking back at my archives, I didn’t post near the beginning of 2011; so I didn’t make a 2011 goals post.  If I had, it probably would have said something like “Finish Ironman Florida”.  Thankfully, I can say goal accomplished to that one.

I think, for me, heading into 2011, I was too terrified to put a lot into writing about what I wanted to accomplish during the year.  It had been 7 years plus a rough pregnancy / c-section since my last Ironman race and I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself as I jumped back into training for and racing that distance again.  I was scared to lay it out there in a true “goal”. 

Looking back, I would say that 2011 went very well for our whole family.  Mac and I both had good years relative to our careers and also with getting our workouts in and taking better care of ourselves, Jake had a great year in both sports and academics and Sienna started several new activities along with 4 days per week of pre-school in the fall. 

Looking ahead to 2012, I have high hopes.  I have two races that are really important to me early in the year.  Though I took some time off from swimming and cycling after IMFL, I started running again about a week after the race and then “official” training started again last week, right after Christmas.  Its been a good first week – I hit all of my workouts, kept the family fed and got everything done at work.   Now, I just have to string a lot more of these weeks together!

What are a few of the things I hope to accomplish during 2012?

• Always keep family first, no matter what
• Solid finishes at Oceanside 70.3 and IMTX (more on each of these later)
• Finish the SheRox Naperville sprint tri in under 1:15
• Finish the Chicago RnR Half Marathon under 2:00
• Really mean it when I say I want to eat cleaner this year
• Finally figure out nutrition when racing – I was close at IMFL, but I still need to figure a few things out.  This may require a nutritionist – do any of you have suggestions for a good one? 

I’m probably missing a few things on this list – more than anything I want to keep working toward achieving balance in my life and have fun on the journey.   

Happy New Year!

 

Last Week of Off Season

The title pretty much sums it up. This week marks the end of my off-season. Believe it or not, that makes me really happy. Since IMFL, I’ve remained active, mostly running with a little biking thrown in. I have also done exactly NO swimming (unless you count the afternoon Sienna and I went to family swim in the warm water pool at our gym…no? that doesn’t count?)

With Oceanside and Texas looming on the horizon, I’m itching to get going again. I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve had to do what I want to, but I realize that I do much better with a plan. I need to look at the schedule for the week, look at the family calendar and my work schedule and then figure out how fit it all in. Once that is done, each day is set. Obviously, life gets in the way; Jake has homework he needs help with, Mac has an unexpected trip come up, one of the kids gets sick…but for the most part, if it’s on the schedule, it will get done.

So far in 2012, I’m signed up (as noted above) for Oceanside and IM Texas. I’m also signed up for the Chicago Rock-N-Roll half marathon (though after all the commotion in Las Vegas, I hope this one goes better!). Registration for the Cary half marathon (a local race in the north suburb of Cary that is known for being cold, snowy, windy and hilly) opens on December 31 at 6:00am and generally closes within an hour or two. I plan to have my alarm set so that I can sign up. Beyond those races, I would like to do a late summer / early fall 70.3 in a fun location. I’m open to suggestions if you have them.

My main goal at this point is to get back into the training groove, hit my workouts, not get injured and make it to the start line of Oceanside feeling ready and confident. I’m excited for a few early trips we have planned that will allow me some warm-weather training during the Chicago winter – one to Miami and (hopefully) one to San Diego. Aside from that, Mac broke down and purchased the LeMond Revolution trainer for us – it should arrive next week. I definitely have the tools. Now I just have to put them to work.

FTP Test – Ouch!

A good friend of ours is an amazing bike fitter, coach, athlete etc.  He fit me on my bike last year when it was (finally) built up and ever since, he’s been inviting me to train with he and a group of friends/training partners in the studio he has set up at his house.  He lives about an hour away, so through the summer/fall, when the weather was good and I was riding outside, I couldn’t justify taking the extra time to drive to his house. 

After IMFL, I knew I would need to do a lot of bike training through the winter.  That is when I committed that I was “in” for the Sunday morning workouts.  To put it mildly, this basement setup is better than any Computrainer studio I’ve ever seen. 

In order to prepare for my Sunday workouts, I needed to do an FTP test so that we would have a better idea of my current baseline and abilities.  I’d never done any kind of testing before, with the exception of running some hill repeats (many years ago) to establish my max heart rate.  It was un-scientific to say the least. 

Not so much with the FTP test I did last week.  I got there and while we were setting up my bike we went over the test protocol.  First, I did a warm-up that was run by the Computrainer.  I was tired 10 minutes into the warm-up! THEN we started the 40 minute test – for the test, I had control over my shifting as the course went up and down.  We put on a DVR of IMWI, and then we switched to an ITU race in Austria.  We also dimmed the lights so I could focus, which really helped me a lot. 

While the 40 minutes hurt A LOT, it actually went by fairly fast.  Before I knew it, I was at the end of the test and then cooling down.  While my numbers aren’t great, they are at least consistent.  I am also good at high cadence, just not much power right now.  That is what we’re going to work on.  I finally feel like I’m on the road to better training – which in turn will help me race better next season (I hope)!

Fall In Chicago = Cyclocross!

Today I did my what was technically my second cyclocross race.  My first one was approximately 8 years ago, on a full-suspension mountain bike that probably weighed as much as I did at the time.  I swore then that I would NEVER do it again – yet, here I was on the starting line today.  Yep, still as hard as I remembered. 

I have to be honest, I asked Mac for a cyclocross bike.  I thought (and still do) that it would be a great bike to ride outside all winter.  We have some great, mostly flat, paths around here and I really AM looking forward to being outside on a bike as much as possible.  With an early season 70.3 and IM, I don’t have a choice about riding; I do have a choice about the trainer versus outdoors. 

Anyway, Mac gave me a gorgeous, handmade, bamboo cyclocross bike for my birthday. He’s got a friend (Luke Remiasz) that makes bamboo framesets under the brand name Parity Cycles.  He had it in the works for months after seeing how committed I was to training and racing this season.  Here I am with Luke after my race, before his:

Along with the bike, he made me promise that I would do some cyclocross racing after Ironman.  Great – sounded good on paper.  Waiting for the start today didn’t sound quite as good!  I got my bike about a week ago and I had a chance to ride it outside one afternoon last week.  The bike is amazing – responsive, fast and fits me like a glove. 

The race today was at a YMCA camp in Volo, IL.  The Chicago area has a Cyclocross series called the Chicago Cyclcocross Cup (www.chicrosscup.com) – it’s a series of (I think) 12 races and today was number 11 of the series.  Yes, I’m a little late to the party, but given the beating I took today, it was a good decision to wait until after Ironman to try this.  Mac has been racing every weekend that he’s home (which hasn’t been a lot lately) and he’s REALLY GOOD at cyclocross.  The kids and I love to watch him race and he makes it look much easier than it really is. 

This morning, we got off to a little later start than we hoped to – Jake turned 13 yesterday and after his USATF Junior Olympics Cross Country meet in Indiana, we had his teammates and several of his wrestling teammates over for a poker party / sleepover.  His XC team qualified for the national championships, needless to say they were wired last night and didn’t get much sleep.  Thus, I didn’t sleep either…oh well!  By the time we cleared the kids out and loaded the car, we knew we’d have time for me to pick up my number and do a quick warm-up, but I wouldn’t have a chance to pre-ride the entire course (good or bad…I’m not sure). 

We arrived and got my number – then I changed into my race clothes and tried to get in a little bit of a warm-up.  Mac took me to the portion of the course that had some scary-looking downhills, a run up a set of 35+ stairs (one of two long sets of stairs on the course) and then a ride across a beach (RIGHT next to the water – I was SURE I was going in).  If I wasn’t already scared to death, that sealed it.   Here’s me at the top of the stairs (notice how high I am at the top after running up the stairs):

Right before the start we ran into our friend Matt and his daughter Katie.  She’s 15 and is a great cyclist (well, actually, she’s a great triathlete) – she’s been kicking butt in the Chicago Cyclocross Cup and will probably win her points division this year.  The juniors were starting 2 minutes behind my group, so I asked Katie to go easy on me when she passed me (she did).  They gave us our pre-race announcements and told us that they had lifeguards on duty in case any of us ended up in the lake.  Great.  Though, having just done a 2.4 mile swim a couple weeks ago, I was actually pretty confident that even if I ended up in the water, I could get myself out. 

Before I knew it we were off and I was winded within 200 yards.  My lungs were burning within 500.  Um, we are NOT in the long, slow world of Ironman anymore.  Not even close.  We were in the woods, up and down trails, over roots, over railroad ties. Then we got to the first set of stairs.  There was enough dirt along the side that some people were riding up.  Me? No way.  I was carrying the bike up.  Efficient? No way, but I couldn’t have ridden up that hill, in such a narrow space, if my life depended on it. 

It was up another hill, around some buildings and then down a good size hill with a hard left at the bottom.  As you started uphill again, you had to go over a HUGE set of railroad ties.  Awesome.  BUT, the fun was just beginning – another uphill, HUGE downhill (as in I thought I was going over my bars), then a sharp turn, a barrier and the next set of stairs.  I ran the bike up again.  Next was another big downhill, then onto the sand to ride across the beach.  Each lap, I made it (maybe) halfway through the sand, before I just came to a stop and had to run out of the sand.  After the sand, I had even more trouble clipping in with sandy cleats.  FUN! That was almost the end of the lap – swing by the finish and repeat two more times. 

Mac and the kids were waiting by the stairs/beach combo and my second time up the stairs, I took my time remounting and my husband heckled me that I didn’t get a water break.  I told him I hope he paid my life insurance.  For the record, he was the only one who heckled me all day.  Everyone else was very nice and super supportive.  I was a little worried, because when I’ve watched Mac’s races, the crowd has been BRUTAL – the things they say to people made my jaw drop.  Even Sienna commented, “Mommy, they are NOT being kind”.  I guess I got lucky today!  Here's me in the sand:

I would have been perfectly happy being pulled after two laps, but they let me continue for my third lap.  Yay.  During my third lap I got lapped by the leaders who were on their FOURTH lap.  Wow.  I AM slow.  In the end, I finished, only received minor injuries and had a smile on my face.  I also wasn’t last.  I was close to last, but not last (and don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there is anything wrong with being last, it was just one of my goals today to not be last).  I had huge doubts the night before the race and seriously considered dropping out.  Mac put that idea to rest by tweeting that I was thinking about dropping out.  I had plenty of people reply to that tweet telling me that I could do it.  Someone, who shall remain nameless, also called me out as a wuss.  That sealed it, so thank you DB!

In the end, I confirmed what I remembered: cyclocross racing is hard.  I mean REALLY HARD: burn your lungs, make you want to throw up, hard.  From a practical standpoint, I learned that I am really bad at clipping into my pedals quickly and when under pressure.  I also don’t climb well.  I can do a running dismount OK, but I can’t do a cyclocross mount to save my life.  So, basically, I’m good on the flats and downhills.  Sort of.  Yep, I have a LOT of work to do.  There is another race in two weeks at Montrose Harbor.  According to Mac, that course isn’t quite as technical as the course today.  Phew.  I will work my butt of on the skills I need over the next two weeks and see if I can do any better next time.