Austin 70.3

Because I am totally slacking on blog posts, I am going to get to this one as soon as possible. It may be long, but writing things down is just as much for me to remember mistakes/good moves/ high points/low points in the race as it is about sharing the stories with my friends, so be patient :)


Leading up to this race, I can't say I felt great. I had high expectations for myself, and tend to be a nervous racer generally, so taper was kind of tricky. I never know if I am doing too much, too little, just enough. But, my short course racing gave me confidence that I had definitely gotten stronger on the bike, and I had had a few solid runs before the race so i was feeling ok. Swimming is always a wild card for me, but at the very least my swim fitness was there, even if speed wasn't.

Short synopsis: This wasn't the day that I wanted. Based on the training I had done, the paces I was hitting, and my new strength on the bike, I knew I was capable of something around the 5 hour range. I went into Austin knowing that its not necessarily the fastest course ( hilly run, lots of chipseal on the bike) So a best case scenario for me would have been something in the low 5s, and a top 5 finish in my age group. But that didnt happen. Early mechanical issues (ill put all the deets in the long version below) sent me into a bad headspace. Im usually pretty stoic on race day and can talk myself down from the metaphorical ledge, but I just couldn't today. I rode angry, failed on my nutrition and just tried to hold together any sort of run I could. So sure, I had some challenges that were out of my hands, but my biggest disappointment is that I didn't execute this race the best i could GIVEN the conditions. Usually execution is my strength. So today wasn't what I wanted, but I held it together and hopefully will learn and improve from it. But always happy and grateful to race :)

Long Version:

So Austin is an interesting situation for a 70.3 and given everything that I didn't like about it put together, I'm not sure i'll do this race again ( and not just because it didn't go well for me). Ill point out these things here and there. The first is that there are 2 transition sites and Ironman 140.6 style transition bags ( run gear bike gear etc). the problem with this is that it requires you to prep all your stuff the day before, and spend ALL DAY checking in your bike, driving back and forth between T1 and T2 which ends up being highly congested and just kind of annoying.

 So race morning came, and we had to park in T2 and take the shuttle to T1 so I could put my nutrition on my bike and get prepped for the race. I was in the 13th wave, so had some time to kill where I generally just fidget around and try and stay calm. The weather miraculously cleared up so that it wasn't thundering or raining at the start of the race, but the wind was definitely  picking up. As I got into the water I seeded myself in the front. Im not the fastest swimmer but i HATE getting caught behind people, and being such a late wave, I knew I would be swimming over other waves anyway, so I wanted to get out front

Swim: The girls here in Texas swim DIRTY. fact. the three races I have done down here have been the most contact I have ever experienced, and this includes all the IM mass starts. I tried to work my way through the crowd, but having not worn a wetsuit since IMOO 2012, I was finding it hard to breathe. I was breathing every stroke in the beginning to try and regulate my breathing and it seemed to work. After the race, people were talking about how much push back they were getting from the chop caused by the wind, but Im not sure i noticed it that much. I was too busy getting beat up. After the first buoy I started feeling stronger but sure enough, I also started running into people from several waves in front. This caused a few problems, but otherwise the swim was uneventful. 34 min something on the swim ( watch says less, but whatever)

T1: Ok folks lets talk about T1. During mandatory bike check in, we were being told to carry our bikes from our cars to the racks because of the burrs that were scattered across the grassy patch used for T1. This does not bode well. SEVERAL people got flats during bike check in, and thats when I decided that the only logical thing to do is to carry my bike out of T1 as well ( as a note, they actually ended up recommending this right before race start). So in addition to the swimming, biking, and running, lets add some cyclocross to the mix. As I come into T1, I get a little lost in transition but find my bike and start to get changed. I have a hard time bringing my heart rate down, so i decided to take my time since carrying my bike out of the looooooong transition was about to spike it again. It had rained HEAVILY in the early morning hours so transition was a sloppy mess. I hobbled through transition carrying my bike ( it got really heavy!!) and finally made it to the bike mount line. and then, the fun starts....

Bike: The bike mount line is ridiculous. NO ONE can clip in. Why? because we all have INCHES of mud caked into our cleats from T1. I had the hardest time clipping in , stopped to try and kick out some of the mud ( at the first bike aid station they actually were hosing out peoples shoes but at this point i had managed to clip in). That seemed to help except with everyone struggling so much they were riding really squirrly. This is about when I realized I couldnt break with my rear wheel. Uh oh. not good. I pull over and my rear break is open ( maybe from when I took it to the shop a couple days before? I should have checked this though). Ok, crisis averted. So i get back on my bike. again. a couple minutes later i heard a "phsssssssss- click click click", which to me, sounded like a flat. oh HELLLLL no. I get off my bike. Again. check the front wheel-fine. check the back wheel-fine. Look around and cannot figure out what is going on until i look at my disc cover. The tape/material covering the cut out for the valve was undone, likely due to the morning rain, and was flapping in the wind and hitting the frame. For some reason, instead of ripping it off right there, i try and stick it back on and keep moving. OBVIOUSLY this doesn't work. two seconds later its undone again, and I'm off the bike again to just tear it off.

I finally start moving, but I am angry. angry at the lost time, angry at the stupid obstacles and instead of focusing on riding, I was just fixating on what had happened. Before i know it, ive ridden about 10 miles in a less than impressive pace. A couple strong cycling ladies came up from behind and passed me and realized "oh hey, i can actually ride that fast" and picked it up. I held a good pace, but the ride was exhausting - at least 30 miles of the course are bumpy bumpy chipseal covered in pot holes. between this and a fairly strong headwind, the ride felt long and uncomfortable. I was eating and drinking, but probably not as much as I should have and felt a bonk coming on near the end of the ride. Uh oh, its too late. not enough nutrition means my run will struggle for sure- this is what I get for loosing focus. I come into T2 dreading my usually favorite part of the race. 2:45 on the bike. ugh


T2: yup got lost again. couldn't find my shoe bag. couldn't untie it from the rack. ripped it open instead. whatever. transitions sucked today.

Run: The run course at Austin is a HILLY 3 loop course, this year with a little bit off it "off road"- ie on mud. I was not moving fast. my stomach hurt and I felt dizzy but my lungs felt awesome. My cardiovascular system was not the limiter today. While i wasnt moving fast, i felt like i was running smoothly. There really isnt much to report about this run, other than the fact that I was able to hold it together. The hills were longish, but not super steep so it wasnt actually too bad. but there is no reason my run should have been that slow. I had just set myself up for a bad end of the day and was doing all I could to salvage what I could. at mile 11 i decided to actually look at my garmin and realized I could probably get in under 5:20, so I decided to pick it up as much as I could. I came in to the finish shoot at 5:19 and some change. Close to a PR, but a far cry from what I was hoping for.

This gives me a lot of motivation and focus for 2014. I am really excited to start working with Michelle Leblanc from Outrival Racing. Ill have more on the decision to switch coaching methods and teams later, but I am really confident that Michelle can help me get where I want to. After a couple weeks off Ill start working with Michelle to come up with a racing schedule, and start training for the first major race of 2014, which is IM Brazil. Cant wait to see what 2014 Brings!

Less than a month to Austin

It's been a while since I've written a post, and even a longer while since that post has been about any of my training or racing. But now, I'm less than a month out from Austin, so I figured an update was in order. Things have been feeling pretty good on average, but there are definitely some workouts that feel miserable usually due to some combination of fatigue/lack of sleep/work. But for every crappy training day, or unplanned day off, there are a few really great workouts, where I hit my stride and feel improvements. So all in all, its going ok I guess.

I will say that I miss my team swim workouts with the Well Fit Elite team- don't get me wrong, the masters team here is great. The workouts are awesome, and I get great tips on my swim form, but since the team meets at so many different times during the week, there is a lack on consistency with who shows up when I'm there. I need someone in my lane that is going to push me ( aka, that is a lot faster than me) so I don't get lazy. But, sometimes, I end up in a lane all by myself ( great for the curmudgeonly me that doesn't like to share, but not great for triathlete me). Last night I swam with a lane buddy who kicked my ass, and I woke up sore and exhausted. Mission accomplished. 

Cycling is where I have been feeling the most improvement. Between my commitment to strength training, a new bike (Thor, I love you) , and a solid group of people to push the pace down here in Houston, I have really seen myself getting faster ( and even managed a 23 mph split at my last Olympic, which for me is huge). In anticipation of starting with a new coach and new training program ( more on that to come in a future blog post) I decided it was time to train with data ( power, heart rate etc) and this is where I seem to be struggling. 

Those of you that know me and my style know that for the past 9 years I stuck by the "perceived effort" method of training, and honestly, its worked great for me. I've continued to see improvements year to year and I think the most valuable thing I have learned from this method is to listen to my body and to understand when I need to pull back and to know when I can give just a little more, without blowing the rest of my race/ride/workout. This kind of information, to me, is priceless. I see so many people out there that completely CEASE to function if their garmin dies ("HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PACE THE REST OF MY RUN? MY GARMIN DIIIEEEEED") that it has occurred to me if you enter this sport with disposable income (NOT how i entered the sport), its really easy to buy all the gadgets up front, and completely miss out on this part of the learning process. Sure, the point of the numbers is to give you an "objective" viewpoint of how you are doing and how you are feeling- and without getting into a dissertation length novel about why I feel like its not always the best way to go- sometimes, i feel like you just gotta go with your gut and trust your training. 

ALL that said- I'm making the change and I am open to it. But so far, I've found it a little frustrating. I've only ever "tested" on an indoor computrainer and there are huge discrepancies between my powertap numbers and my old computrainer numbers, and not in the way I would have expected. I am told this is normal, but the inconsistency in the "objective" measures is frustrating. But these are all things I will get used to and will learn, and I am confident that in order for me to get to the level that I want to get to as an athlete, I have to get a little more scientific with the way I do things. But for now, I am going to keep things as consistent as possible until Austin and see where that gets me. But training and racing in 2014 will definitely bring some new and exciting challenges :)