Always Running

New Addition

Last week when Mac (best husband ever) got home from a 9-day work trip, he walked in and asked me to go to the basement with him.  He had a surprise for me that had actually been sitting in the basement the entire time he was gone - a new bike.  I was SHOCKED! I've had my pink CD0.1 for over 2 years now and I still love it - I expected to ride it until it gave out on me.  

Well - I got to pick up my new bike today - it is SO beautiful! 

 (yes, I put it on the bench in the hall to take pictures)

The guys at Urban Tri Gear built it up so that its identical to the set up of my CD0.1 and from the moment I got on it today, it fit like a glove.  I'm not a bike expert like Mac, but I can tell you that this bike has my favorite ISM saddle on it, a brand new, super cool ZIPP bar set up and Di2 shifting. I am so freaking excited to get this baby out on the road.  It also has my ZIPP race wheels on it right now since it's almost race day!

Love the ZIPP bars!

I hope the weather cooperates with me tomorrow morning, because I REALLY want to take a spin outside before I drop it off for Tri Bike Transport to take it to Galveston.  Yep - I picked it up tonight and I have to send it away tomorrow.  BUT, I get to ride it next week in Texas - nothing like a new bike for a race (I think that might break every part of the "don't try anything new on race day" rule.)

Mac and Jake are seeing Green Day tonight - I think I'll just put the Illicito next to my bed to keep me company!  

Better late than never...

Well, I blew it on the timing of announcing the winner...husband out of town, terrible head cold and two busy kids.  All I can offer is an apology and the winner.  The good news is that the 4 of you who entered all had a pretty decent chance of winning.  

I numbered you in order of your comments and Sienna (my 6 year old) pulled the winner out of the hat - your winner is #3 - jenschaf!

Shoot me a quick e-mail (mceneaneyfamily at me dot com) and I'll get you the code for sign up. 

Thank you all! 
Kristi 

 

Who Wants to Run a Half Marathon?

On June 8, I’m going to run the Allstate Life Insurance 13.1 Marathon Series race in Chicago (Race Site).  The half marathon is one of my favorite distances – long enough that I really feel like I’ve accomplished something – and short enough that it doesn’t take hours and hours every week to train for.

My standing half marathon PR was set MANY years ago, so I really don’t even count it anymore.  My recent half marathons have been in the midst of triathlon training and have been more “training days” – not go see if you can kick ass days.  This race in June comes on the heels of Ironman Texas – so maybe coach will let me see what I can do with this one?

The fun part of this is that the wonderful people at the Allstate Life Insurance 13.1 Marathon Series have graciously offered me a spot in the Chicago race on June 8 AND they’ve offered to give a spot to a reader! Now, I don’t have a TON of readers, so if you enter, your chances to win are pretty good!

Here’s the deal – I want to keep this simple.  I don’t like blog giveaways that make you “like” 8 pages on Facebook, follow 12 people on Twitter and then send a sample of your DNA to an address in some weird place.  This one is pretty easy.  Leave me a comment about why you want to do this particular half marathon.  Since I’m not all that high-tech, my 6 year old daughter Sienna will put the names of all that enter into a hat and will draw the winner’s name.  I’ll take photos to document the whole thing. 

I'll leave entries open until noon on Sunday, March 17 and I'll announce the winner that night. 

Also, this is for a race entry ONLY.  This does not include transportation to and from the race – PLEASE only enter if you live in or near Chicago, or you can get here for the race.  

Shoe Review - Hoka One One Bondi

A few weeks ago, Mac sent me a link to an article that Dan Empfield wrote about Hoka One One running shoes (here, if you’re interested:  Slowtwitch Article ) .  I had seen Hokas at my local running store and I thought they were some of the craziest looking running shoes I had ever seen.  After reading Dan’s article though, I really began to give thought to trying a pair. 

I knew my local running store, Naperville Running Company, used to carry Hokas, but I hadn’t seen them in the store in quite some time.  I found a pair from 2012 online at a pretty deep discount, so I placed my order.  They arrived on a day that I happened to be working from home, so I wore them in the house while I worked that day and then did a short run in them that night.  In a word?  CLOUDS

Right out of the box: 

I am the type of person who (knocking on wood) has never had feet issues from shoes.  I did, for some reason, have a aversion to a pair of Saucony shoes a few years ago where I developed a weird calf pain when I started wearing them (which went away immediately when I stopped wearing them – expensive mistake), but that’s a different story. 

I have VERY flat feet and I overpronate, but not to the degree you might expect based on how flat my feet are.  I have historically run in stability shoes – for years I trained in Asics Kayanos and raced in Asics DS Trainers.  A few years ago I started branching out a bit – just to mix it up.  I started with the K-Swiss Kwicky Blade and then tried Newtons.  All the while, I continued to wear my Kayanos as well.  Recently, my brother in law, who is a foot surgeon, finally convinced me to give orthotics a try.  After some time at the running store, we determined that the Mizuno Wave Rider 16, with my orthotics, was really keeping my gait straight and stopping the pronation. 

What I’m trying to say is that many shoes work for me, but, I am actually VERY picky about each shoe and how they feel.  I can’t stand seams hitting my toes, I have low ankle bones, so I’m really sensitive to how far a shoe comes up on my ankle and I won’t wear shoes that don’t feel like they “wrap” my foot securely without cutting off my circulation. 

So…the Hokas

First, sizing is true to size for me.  I wear a 7.5 in every pair of running shoes I have right now.  While the Bondis are marketed with “slight” stability, I tried them first with my orthotics and then without.  For me, I’ve found that they provide enough stability that don’t feel like I have to wear my orthotics with them, yet they were actually really comfortable with them as well.  Except for a few short runs, my runs in them have all been with my orthotics. 

The Bondis have a nice roomy toe box, yet they wrap my midfoot perfectly.  Additionally, I haven’t felt any heel slippage at all.  My first run in them was an easy 3 miles on the treadmill.  I’m not exaggerating when I say it felt like I was running on clouds.  I did 3 more short runs in them before I decided to use them for my longer run that weekend.  Due to the weather, I was running on the indoor track at the gym.  This gave me the option of bringing along a backup pair of shoes, just in case the Hokas didn’t’ work out for a longer run.  But, an hour and 40 minutes later, I finished my run in them and felt great. 

Now, I’ve done at least 10 short runs and 3 long runs in the Hokas and I can tell that they are a great shoe for me.  I’m pretty sure that I will wear them for the Cary half marathon next weekend.  In fact, I’m looking forward to wearing them to race to see how they feel – especially on a hilly course. 

I don’t think that I will get rid of the other shoes I have in my rotation; I really do like them all, but I’ve definitely been choosing the Hokas a lot lately.  Let me know if you have any specific questions about the Hokas! 

 

 

 

Girl's Weekend

Sienna and I had a girl’s weekend while Mac and Jake were in Madison for cyclocross nationals.  Jake got to race on Friday – if it could be described in one word, it would be muddy.  He had a great time and I think it was a great experience to race at the national level. 

Jake after the race: 

I was a little nervous about getting in all of my workouts with Mac and Jake gone, but in the end it went just fine.  I fit in my run at lunch on Friday, then after work, Sienna and I dashed from daycare to swimming lessons and then to Whole Foods for some sushi for dinner.  Mac had picked up ice cream earlier in the week so that Sienna and I could have a treat for dessert on Friday night.  At WF, Sienna decided that she wasn’t sure if she wanted ice cream, and asked for a pear instead.  Win! In the end, she did have a small scoop of ice cream and so did I – and wow, did I feel like CRAP afterward.  Lesson learned. 

Sienna - ready for swim lessons:

Friday was an early night and I got up first thing Saturday to get in my trainer ride.  Sienna, while not thrilled with me being in the basement, was great about it and she colored and watched TV while I rode.  Then, I realized that I made a mistake in my grand plan – I couldn’t get my swim in…due to swim lessons, no lanes are available at the gym until noon.  Sienna has gymnastics at 1:00 – not leaving me enough time to get my swim in (Kid’s Club closes at 2 on the weekends, so later in the day wasn’t an option either).  Fail.  But a quick check in and I moved the swim to Sunday following my long run.  Crisis averted.  Then Sienna and I did our core work – situps – together.

Awkward trainer shot:

After gymnastics we headed to Naperville Running Company where Midge helped me find the perfect pair of running shoes – I recently got custom orthotics so I ‘m slowly moving away from my usual stability shoes into more neutral shoes with my orthotics.  I can really tell a difference in my stride with the orthotics – also my feet track forward rather than the ‘duck foot’ I used to be.  I ended up with the Mizuno Wave Rider 16’s and after time on the treadmill and my run this morning, I LOVE them.  Maybe I’ll do a review after a few more runs in them. 

New shoes!

Saturday night was another early night – Sienna and I know how to party.  Sunday morning after some strength work at home, it was time to hit the gym.  I had a long run, then my swim from Saturday on tap.  I took care of those while Sienna went to Kid’s Club – we get up to 3 hours per day at Kid’s Club – which is really helpful in getting my workouts in.  Sienna really enjoys Sunday at Kid’s Club because Coach John is there and they play soccer.  Whatever it takes, right?

After a quick lunch at home, we headed back to the gym for family swim.  Sienna LOVES to swim and would stay in the water all day if I let her.  That brings us to Sunday night.  With a little juggling, I did just fine fitting everything in this weekend, including a lot of fun with my favorite girl.  It really just about planning; yet being flexible when you have to.  My next test starts tomorrow when Mac leaves for Tennessee for the entire week – he’ll be gone until late Friday night.  Wish me luck!

 

A Look Back

In the blink of an eye, 2012 has come and gone.  Looking back, I think that I would call the year a good one.  Some of the highlights: 

• Oceanside 70.3 in March
• Slowtwitch women’s weekend in April
• Ironman Texas in May
• Jake’s first triathlon in May
• A new position at work in July
• Muncie (sort-of) 70.3 in July
• Rev3 Half - Wisconsin Dells in August
• Ironman Louisville in August
• Jake’s amazing fall cross country season
• Jake and Sienna qualifying for USATF Junior Olympic nationals in December

I learned from each race I was lucky enough to do this year.  To start, Oceanside taught me that training for an early race through the Chicago winter is HARD and I obviously didn’t quite do it right.  Also, swimming in the Pacific Ocean in March is COLD – bring your wetsuit, neoprene cap and neoprene booties if you intend to do it.

The Slowtwitch Women’s weekend was, in a word, amazing.  Mac will attest that I was nervous and more than a bit hesitant to go.  I was going to spend a weekend with a group of women where I only knew one person – Cathy – and then at the last minute, my friend Christina decided to go as well.  In the end, I had the time of my life and I can’t wait to go back in 2013.

After the First Annual Margarita Mile at Slowtwitch Womens Camp:

Ironman Texas was a really great day.  Mac, as always, was my rock and he got me through race week and to the start line in one piece (physically and mentally).  It was such a blast to come out of T2 and see Mac, Sonja, Bryan and Christina there.  I knew Mac would be there and I knew Sonja was coming in for some of her athletes – what I didn’t know was that Bryan and Christina were flying in, for the day, to be there for the race.  Wow!  I wasn’t as fast as I had hoped that day, but I was still happy with the day and finished with a smile on my face.

One of the biggest highlights this year for Mac and me was Jake’s foray into triathlon.  He gave it a go at the Multisport Madness Kid’s Triathlon on Memorial Day weekend.  He did REALLY well, for a kid who hadn’t had any formal swim instruction and rode his mom’s Litespeed road bike.  He WON his age group and took 2^nd overall.  During the awards, all of the parents around us were wondering, rather loudly, who “the fast kid was” and “where is he from, we’ve never seen him at races before” – I had a little fun responding to them that this was his first triathlon, that’s why they hadn’t seen him at other races.  After the race, Jake was approached by some of the cute girls on the Multisport Madness (kids) Triathlon Team (“MMTT”) to talk to the team coach.  After some coaxing, he went over to the coach.  Long story short, she asked him about giving the team a try.  She invited him to work out with the group to see if he would like to be a member.  That set the tone for the whole summer; Jake joined the team and trained 5-7 days a week with them.  He also participated in many more races, including USAT Youth Elite Nationals and the IronKids series (qualifying for the National Championships, but running the first middle school cross country meet of the season instead).  To say we’re excited he loves the sport is an understatement.  He also outgrew my bike quickly and now he has a nicer Litespeed bike than either Mac or I.  Add to that a new Litespeed cyclocross bike and the new QR CD0.1 triathlon bike for Christmas, and I guess there are perks that come with having your dad as the director of sales for a kick ass bike company.

Muncie (sort  of) 70.3 was actually a really great day for me.  We were on the way to Muncie when we received the news that they were shortening the race due to the extreme heat in the Midwest.  A lot of people were upset about the decision; I see their point, but I will honestly say that when I got off the bike and it was in the high 90’s with a lot of humidity, I was VERY glad I only had to run 6.2 miles, not 13.1.  I know people trained for the 70.3 distance and they were disappointed not to do it, but I think the right decision was made that day.  As a bonus, I got to be there when QR pro athlete Kelly Williamson kicked the butts of a really strong field and QR elite athlete Emily Watts also had a great day. 

After Muncie - it was HOT out there:

Rev3 Wisconsin Dells happened at the last minute - kind of by default.  QR is the bike sponsor of the series and needed to have someone there to represent the bikes.  Mac was scheduled to take Jake to the aforementioned USAT Youth Elite Nationals in Ohio and no one from the offices in Tennessee could make it up for the race.  My training partner Katie and I made a bit of a game time decision and packed up the car to go work the expo and do the race.  A short description of the race is easy - HOLY HILLS.  Rev3 is known for tough bike courses and they really outdid themselves in Wisconsin Dells.  The swim was in Lake Delton and started at the famous Tommy Bartlett water show.  It was fun to be able to sit in the stands and watch the waves ahead of us.  After the swim, it was onto the bike course from hell.  I mean that sincerely.  The run was through downtown Dells and into a few residential areas.  I actually had a great run that day and finished in a time that, while not fast, made ME very happy. 

Onto Ironman Louisville – if you read my race report you know that it was a really bad, horrible, terrible no good day for me from start to finish.  Though I guess the key is that I got lucky and finished.  Again, MANY lessons learned in Louisville.  The biggest lesson being that plain and simple, I need to work harder. 

We rounded out the year with cross-country season.  Jake really killed it for his eighth grade cross-country season.  He was moved to a new school this year, one that was just opened this year.  He had two new coaches who turned out to be pretty great.  For a new school, with low headcount, the cross-country team had an impressive number of runners.  Jake stood out as a leader, which made Mac and I proud.  He won every race that his team entered and qualified for the state cross-country meet again.  He had personal challenges with about four hours of weather delays and figuring out nutrition during that time.  In the end, he placed twelfth knowing he should have been in the race for the win.  He learned from it and went into club cross country season with a laser focus.

Jake and Sienna (she was finally old enough) competed in the USATF Junior Olympics series and they both qualified for the National Championships in Albuquerque, NM.  Jake’s entire team qualified, so the whole group made the trip to Albuquerque along with my parents and my father in law.  We had a bit of a mix-up in that even though Sienna qualified (as a six-year old in the 7-8 year old division), the sub-bantam’s who are still six years old aren’t actually allowed to run at nationals.  She was upset for a minute, but then moved on.  (I might still be a little bitter).  Jake took 60^th overall in the nation in a tough race where the altitude definitely was a factor.

The team before the race:

2012 was a crazy year for us (but aren’t they all?)  I’m pretty proud of the fact that given my work schedule and long commute, Mac’s crazy travel schedule and our kid’s busy schedules, I was able to train for and complete some great races.  I’m thankful for Mac – he’s the most supportive husband ever; he always puts my training ahead of anything for himself.  Mac had a year plagued with injuries and too much work – I’m hoping he gets to do some racing in 2013 too. 

Ironman Louisville 2012 - Race Report

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve updated, huh? I guess that life in general and that Ironman thing kind of got in the way.  Mac has been traveling a ton, the kids are back in school and I switched to a new department at work, so to say the last few months have been crazy would be the understatement of the year.  However, ultimately, thanks to everyone pitching in, I got to the start line in Louisville healthy and pretty well trained and tapered (actually, I’ve got this taper thing mastered!).

Mac left for Louisville early Wednesday morning - he had to set up for the race expo (which started Thursday).  I stayed home for Sienna’s kindergarten round-up on Thursday, then I took a late flight to Louisville.  What a quick, easy flight – and the Louisville airport was so simple.  The thing I noticed first when I left the airport? Even at 10:30pm, it was really hot and humid.

Friday was spent checking in for the race (how about the nice backpacks Ironman is handing out at registration these days?) and helping Mac at the QR booth at the expo.  I also got in a little time in the Recovery Pump boots and picked up my first pair of CompressSport calf sleeves (amazing).  I always have high hopes for spending a lot of time off my feet leading up to a race, but somehow, with everything there is to do and all of the logistics involved, I never really get this done.  Something to work on, I suppose. 

My training partner Katie got to Louisville Friday afternoon and (coach and friend) Eric arrived a little while later.  Katie and her friend/sherpa Patti decided to have a low key night at their hotel, so after we checked in to our hotel (we moved to the Hilton at the finish line for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (this was a great decision, though the hotel itself was not great), Mac, Eric and I had a late dinner across the street at Eddie Merlot’s.  A great choice if you’re ever in Louisville. 

Why was the Hilton not so great? Well – to start, before I went to bed I wanted to take a quick shower – that’s when I found out that the showerhead in our room was broken and would only spray directly at the wall it was mounted on – so you had to lean against the wall to get any water.  Awesome.  Next, in the middle of the night, I got up to use the restroom and the toilet wouldn’t flush.  Are you kidding me?  THEN the air conditioning system started going crazy and making the most horrible pounding noise.  The front desk’s response to all of this?  Sorry, but we can’t do anything about the showerhead or a/c, and we’ll try to have the plumber look at the toilet SOMETIME tomorrow.  They laughed when I asked for a different room.  As much as I liked the location for the race, I don’t think I would ever consider staying at this hotel again.  Okay, rant over.

With Katie at bike check: 

Saturday was spent trying to eat well, doing last minute bag prep and checking in the bikes and transition bags.  As usual, I was on my feet a lot more than I would have liked, but I think I did a good job of hydrating and eating well. After the expo ended, Mac brought me back a turkey sandwich; of which I was able to eat maybe half and then I tried to settle in.  Sleep did not come easy that night. 

The alarm at 4:45 came all too early and I tried to choke down as many calories as I could (which wasn’t many).  Then I was on my way to transition.  I walked from our hotel by myself.  I like the time to just think and be quiet and Mac likes the extra sleep – win for both of us.  At transition, I put my nutrition on my bike, topped off my tires (thanks to the nice girl in my row who shared her pump and saved me from the bike tech line) then started the long walk to the swim start.  I got body marked and dropped off my morning bag and then headed for the back of the line to enter the water.  The swim start at Louisville is interesting – everyone lines up and after the start, they let people in the water 2 at a time.  I would guess that the line was well over ¾ mile long.  CRAZY.  Given the start format, your time started when you crossed the timing mat on the dock, BUT everyone was still held to the midnight finish time.  So, for someone like me, who got in the water at 7:30ish, I had approximately 16:30 to finish.  At the time, I wasn’t overly concerned about the loss of a half hour, because I had not “cut it that close” before, but (foreshadowing…) it would come back to haunt me. 

The swim was unlike any other Ironman swim I’ve done (all mass starts) – there was very little contact – but the water was actually really rough, especially around the two bridges.  About half way through the swim I started to get really nauseous, which turned into full blown sea sickness – ugh. 

 Swim – 1:42:16

Yep.  My Ironman swims just keep getting slower.  Hmmm. I jumped into the brown soup Ohio River and I was off.  The swim started out mostly uneventful.  For the first 1,000 or so, we headed upstream around an island.  Then we turned and (supposedly) had the current behind us for the rest of the swim.  When we made the turn and I looked up, it felt like I was going to swim all the way back to Illinois.  FAR.  The swim was unlike any other Ironman swim I’ve done (all mass starts) – there was very little contact – but the water was actually really rough, especially around the two bridges.  About half way through the swim I started to get really nauseous, which turned into full-blown seasickness – ugh – that has never happened to me before.  It was not pretty. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to be back on terra firma as I was that day when they pulled me up the steps!

I'm the one in the middle...excuse the iPhone shot!

T1 – 8:10:00

Transition went smoothly.  For the first time, I stayed in the same race kit all day.  This made transitions surprisingly easy (duh, I know).  Socks, glasses, race belt and helmet on.  Grab shoes (transition was really muddy – didn’t want to clog my cleats) and run to bike.  As I started riding, I saw Mac and Eric off to the side, so of course I stopped to talk to them.  In reality, I did think that my back wheel was rubbing, but when I checked it, it seemed fine, so a quick kiss to Mac and I was off. 

Bike – 8:01:22

Heading out: 

The bike.  Where to even begin? It was hard.  And hot.  And I felt sick.  THE WHOLE TIME.  Before the race, many people had told me that the bike course was “easy” – that it was “mildly rolling” – LIES! This was a really difficult bike course.  It was either up or down all the time – never flat.  Did I mention it was HOT?

I truly don’t know what to say, this was one of the hardest IM bike courses I’ve done.  The first section and the out and back weren’t horrible.  I had been told that the “worst hills” on the course were on the out and back.  That was the section we drove and the section that I was most scared of.  In all honesty, I thought the loop was far worse.  The entire time, I was having a very hard time taking in (and keeping in) any calories, so I knew I was putting myself into a very deep calorie deficit.  I made it through the loop the first time and was really looking forward to the special needs (about halfway through the second loop, I think?) – I had a big bag of Ruffles chips that I couldn’t wait to eat (this was a good sign because NO calories had sounded good yet) and I had my replacement bottles of EFS – they would be fresh and I could start over trying to drink. Then I arrived at special needs and they COULDN’T FIND MY BAG!!  In all honesty, while most of the volunteers all day were great, the volunteers at special needs were real jerks.  I did what any normal grown woman would do in that situation; I cried.  Yes folks, for the first time ever, I cried my eyes out during the Ironman bike.  Then I told myself to suck it up and keep moving. 

I finished the second loop and then on the way back to transition, around mile 100, I started seeing stars and getting dizzy.  I knew I was close to passing out, so I did the TOTALLY NORMAL thing to do in an Ironman – I got off my bike and sat in the grass under a tree with my head between my knees trying to stop the world from spinning.  It was like the worst hangover ever times a million.  AWESOME. After 20 minutes (give or take) under the tree, the spinning had slowed down considerably, so I got back on my bike and slowly made my way back to transition.  Looking back, I think that if race support had come by, I would have seriously considered dropping out.  The rest of the way back, I told myself that if I saw Mac on my way in to transition, I was going to tell him I was quitting.  I didn’t see him.  I was kind of mad (looking back now, that makes me smile), but I moved through transition, changed my shoes, took off my helmet and replaced it with my visor and then I saw Eric on my way out of transition.  I had a full-blown melt down – I cried harder than I did at special needs.  I told him I was sick, hadn’t taken in any calories, DIDN’T GET MY RUFFLES and I told him that as soon as I saw Mac, I was DONE. 

Eric convinced me to get out on the run course.  He said I would see Mac around mile 1 and I could make a decision then.  He told me the fact that I was still upright told him I had a chance to finish and I had about 6.5 hours to do it.  Six and a half hours sounds like a lot, but the way I felt, a marathon in under 6.5 hours was going to be a stretch.  BUT, I had nothing to lose (except more calories), so off I went. 

T2 – 9:51 (this included my meltdown and talk with Eric – the actual “transition” portion was one of my fastest ever since I didn’t do a clothes-change)

Run – 5:59:41

Starting the run - on the bridge:

Well, the spoiler is that I finished.  The run was, in a word, BRUTAL.  I did see Mac not long after starting the run.  He knew (I’m pretty sure Eric had called him) that I was in trouble. He walked up the bridge with me and talked to me, really talked to me about my day, how I was feeling and my options. He got me to agree to give it a shot.  I’m so thankful he did.  Eric met me on the bridge and walked with me a little and talked to me about how to try to get some nutrition – small bites of pretzels and small sips of water, coke and chicken broth – to see if I could tolerate it.  After I came off the bridge, I told myself that I would get through the first loop and re-evaluate. 

I saw Katie when I was around mile 4-5 (and she had made the turnaround and was at mile 8) – she was walking and didn’t look like she felt much better than me.  We said hi and kept moving.  I made it to the turnaround at mile 7 (?) with more walking than I had hoped to do. I was finally able to get some calories in and my stomach was feeling better than it had all day (not great, but better).  I found Katie around mile 9-10 sitting on the curb.  She had been really sick too.  I stayed with her for a few minutes and asked some nearby police officers to have her evaluated by medical – she couldn’t even get up at that point.  She told me to keep going.  I did, but all the while telling myself I would get back downtown and then I was dropping out (see a theme here?). 

Mac found me around mile 10-11 - he had done the math and told me that I had a chance of finishing if I did the second loop faster than the first and kept moving.  At this point, I was MAD – I felt like shit all day, I had trained to have a better day than this and I decided that I was going to fight like hell to finish.  I made the turnaround near the finish and headed back out in the pitch dark, knowing that I had to make it to mile 19 by 10:00pm.  Then I would have 2 hours to make it 7 more miles.

Mac snapped this one: 

In the end, I put on my big girl pants, started running and only let myself slow down at aid stations to try to get in a few calories.  I was stuffing handfuls of ice into my top and then sucking on pieces of ice as I ran.  Sounds gross, I know, but the cold ice helped so much.  I actually made it to mile 20 before 10:00pm and for the first time that day, I allowed myself to think that I might actually finish.  I’m by no means fast, but I had never cut an Ironman race this close.  As much as my brain would process, I kept doing math and figured that I should be able to finish with 20-30 minutes to spare.  Also, now the 30 minutes I lost at the beginning of the day waiting for my turn to start the swim, had now officially come back to haunt me. 

I have never been so happy to see a finish line as I was that night.  I slowed a little, high-fived the crowd and took it all in.  You know what’s funny? I negative split the run by 45 minutes.  Crazy!  So many times, all day, I wanted to quit.  I’ve never felt that way before – sure, Ironman is a hard day, but in the 4 I had previously done, I had never actually considered really quitting.  I still don’t know what happened to me out there – both physically and mentally.  I didn’t deviate from my practiced nutrition, yet I was really sick/off all day.  Maybe the seasickness in the swim just triggered a (bad) chain reaction? I don’t know. 

Blurry finish:

Done:

What I do know is that I was probably more prepared for this race than any other Ironman I’ve done.  More training, (many) more long bike rides and much more practice with nutrition (obviously THAT didn’t stick).  I’m signed up for IMTX, so I have about 9 months to figure some things out.  For the next few weeks, though, I’m taking some time to do what I want to do, not only what a training schedule says I should/can do.  Go for a short run? Sounds great.  Play at the park? Sounds great.  I want to enjoy the fall with Mac and the kids.  I want to cheer for Jake at cross country meets and I want to take Sienna to swim lessons.  Mac is trying to talk me into some cyclocross racing, but I think I’d rather be a spectator/sherpa for him instead.  We’ll see.  The possibilities are endless.  I can tell you one thing, though; there won’t be formal training until after the holidays (maybe...I'm already itching to do a little something).

As always, I have to thank Mac, Jake, Sienna, our extended families and all of our friends, especially Eric, for coaching me and Katie, for being the best training partner ever (note, Katie ended her day with a trip to the med tent for several IVs – she’ll be back to conquer IM soon).  Ironman might be an “individual sport”, but it sure does take a whole crew of people to get you through it.  I’m lucky to have so many people on my team!

 Finally, a little Ironman irony:

 

 

 

 

She Rox Naperville Sprint Tri Race Report

A few weeks ago I got to participate in a great local sprint tri.  I knew that after the long day at Texas, I would relish a fun local race.  Additionally, given that the race is 10 minutes from home, how could I NOT do it?

My friend Christina was also doing the race and she came out from the city to spend the night with us in order to avoid the drive in the morning.  I hadn’t seen Christina since our training camp at Xantusia, so it was great to catch up.

We had a pre-race dinner of grilled chicken, rice and steamed vegetables.  Christina had a beer and I had a glass of wine.  I think that’s the secret to a good race – a little beer or wine. 

Since we were so close to the race venue, we didn’t really even have to get up early.  We easily found our spots in transition and got set up.  My goal this year for all races is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.  All that should be next to my bike are my socks, bike shoes, run shoes, and race belt with my number on it.  My helmet with my glasses in it rests on my aerobars.  That’s it.  Simple. We bodymarked each other (and no, I’m sad to report I didn’t get a picture of it) with a marker Christina brought…we had a moment of confusion about what went on our calves? Wave? Age? We figured out that it was wave number when we saw grown women with single digit numbers on their calves. 

They announced that the swim would be wetsuit legal – and let me tell you, if wetsuits are allowed, this chic is wearing one.  Time went by pretty fast and before I knew it, my wave was entering the water.  I started approximately 20 minutes ahead of Christina.  She’s way faster than me, so my goal for the day was to not let her pass me.  I knew her overall time would be faster, but if I could help it, I wasn’t going to let her catch me! J  (if you know me in person, you’re laughing right now because I’m quite possibly the least competitive person out there)

The swim was fairly cordial, but that tends to be what you get when you put a bunch of women in a swim together.  I didn’t feel like I had to fight, but for some reason, it did take me a good part of the swim to “settle in”.  Thankfully it was only a half mile swim, so it was over pretty quickly.

Swim time: 15:02 (yes, I know, I’m SLOW)

I told myself that no matter what, I would go as hard as I could for this whole race.  That included running from the time I left the water all the way to my bike.  When I got to my bike, miraculously, there were quite a few bikes still on the rack! I was so excited to get out on my bike and just redline the whole time.  This is a two loop bike course that is really crowded by the second loop.  I actually didn’t have too much trouble getting through the masses and ended up with a bike split that I was really happy with.  When I got back to transition, I was SO happy to see that I was the first bike back to my rack! This was a first for me and it gave me such a boost starting the run.

Bike time: 42:04 (14.2 miles - approx. 21.4 mph avg)

Going onto the run, I had 2 goals: 1) run under 30:00 and 2) run hard the whole time.  I did both.  This run course has a little shade at the beginning and then you bake in the sun until near the end.  I was feeling surprisingly good off the bike and actually enjoyed the run! It went by fast and before I knew it I was on the river walk path headed into the finish. 

Run time: 29:10 (5k - 9:24 pace)

The good news? Christina never caught me!

Jake had a soccer game that morning, so he and Mac weren’t there.  However, my parents came to watch and brought Sienna.  It was so much fun to see them after the swim, again as I was going out on the run and then at the finish. 

My total time was 1:31:14.  In the back of my mind, I was hoping to break 1:30:00 – something I haven’t done on this course since I was MUCH younger.  I was close…maybe next year.

I’m sad to report that since Mac wasn’t at the race, I don’t have any pictures.  I’ll make up for that next time! 

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!