IM Canada-Race Report

Going into an Ironman race week with a cold was not part of my plan. I picked up a cold at work the Friday previous to race week. (FYI-when you work in a clinic-STAY HOME when you're sick). I figured it would be gone by the next weekend and maybe it was the forced rest that I needed pre-race. Between lots of zinc lozenges, cold snap, emergen-C, and acupuncture I was sure to be OK right?

We left for Penticton Thursday morning. Getting into Seattle about 9:30 am and making the 6 hour drive up to Penticton. We got settled into our room and headed out for a quick run (20 minutes). Man, it felt good to stretch the legs out. We made a quick run to the grocery store, ate some pasta, and were in the sack by 9pm.

Looking forward to the weekend it didn't seem like we had that much planned before Sunday but somehow the days quickly filled up. Friday we got up early and went for a swim. We had heard rumors that the lake was "freezing" and that all the athletes that had arrived earlier in the week and bought out all the neoprene caps and booties in town. I was a little worried but happily surprised to find it comfortable. It was cold when you first got in but after 3-4 minutes of swimming it was perfect. It was definitely a swimmers lake. After our swim we were off to the breakfast buffet and went to pick up our bikes from TriBike Transport (best service ever btw!). Last stop- the expo to register. We decided to head out on our bikes for a bit (1 hour). I wanted to see some of the run course so we headed out of town and road about half the course. It was windy and I was hopeful that it wouldn't be like this on Sunday. The tail wind home was fun though! Quick run off the bike and it was time to lay around until the welcome dinner and athlete meeting that evening. Another early night to bed, knowing that I wouldn't sleep well Saturday night.

My cold was nearly gone but I could feel it in my chest. It felt tight and I was worried maybe I would start coughing or it would truly move into my chest and become a bigger issue.

Saturday was a packed day yet again. Another early morning swim and this time it was COLD! I ran in to avoid the slow painful entry and my face, hands, and feet were numb for the first 5 minutes. Finally, after a few minutes of racing Kevin, I was warm and found it to be a great temperature for racing. Breakfast, then a debate about whether or not to drive the bike course. I was exhausted and definitely wanted to get in a nap, I wasn't sure we'd have time for both since we had to drop off our transition gear and bikes by 3:45. We went back to the room and Kevin explained every twist, turn, and detail of the bike course for me. It was a great help and now after riding it was thankful he'd done this race 9 times before because he got it right on! Thanks babe! I took my nap then got up, went for a quick run (20 minutes) while Kevin napped, and came back to get my gear together for drop off. We dropped our stuff off at OK Park, spent some time to walk through transitions and how it would look tomorrow. Now back to the hotel for a little more R&R. We wanted an early dinner so we met Kevin's mom and brother downtown about 4:30. We had a large dinner of pizza, salad, and salmon. I was nothing but envious as Kevin's mom enjoyed a glass of red wine with her meal. It's been a long summer with few drinks and a strict diet. Man, was I anxious for Sunday night to be here so I could have my fair share of these delicious treats. Little did I know....

We hit the sack about 9pm and to my surprise I slept really well. Well, until about 2am. I still didn't feel 100% from my cold but I was doing better and just figured things would fall into place or not, it was out of my control at this point. Up at 3:30am I downed a Boost, some oatmeal, a banana, and lots of juice! We did our business and headed out the door about 4:45 to get to Starbucks by 5am. We were the first at Starbucks and I was eager to get the caffeine pumping through my veins-Ah liquid heaven!

Body marking was quick, fast pump of the tires, filling water bottles, and then WAIT! Why we get there at 5am I'm not sure because there's only about 15 minutes of "things" to do and then you just get to sit and wait and be nervous. Well, if you include 45 minutes in the port-0-potty lines I guess the time fills up quickly. I was so nervous, I've never felt nerves like that in my life. I hadn't been to nervous until now. I think the nerves were messing up my stomach and I was thinking: "this is going to be a fun day if my stomach doesn't settle down". Time passed quickly, we lathered on the sunscreen, pulled on the wetsuits, and made our way to the beach.

We had decided not to warm up because the water was cold and we didn't want to warm up then stand around wet for 15 minutes. I did allot of stretches and arm circles and prayed that was enough for my shoulders to stay limber and not get tired. We positioned ourselves up front, aligned with the buoys. My plan was to hit it out of the gate and try to get away from the madness then be able to settle in because hopefully majority of the pack would be behind. The canon went off and it was time to see if all that training would pay off!

The swim was like nothing I have ever experienced. I've never done a mass start like that. It's usually my age group, which is often times a smaller group. Starting with 2500 people and surrounded by a bunch of age group men was a little gnarly. I was tossed around for a bit but luckily no major blows to the face or ribs and I was settling into my pace a feeling really good. From shore the buoys seemed to go forever (oh wait, they did). Before I knew it I was turning right around the first corner. 450m to the next turn and we were headed back to shore. There were divers on the bottom of the lake looking up giving thumbs up, that was pretty rad! I felt great and was pushing the pace but not too hard. I picked up the pace on the final stretch. About 900m from shore I got boxed in between 4-5 guys. I was in the middle, occasionally getting clobbered by the guy on my right. I was trying to stay on the guys feet in front of me. I was frustrated because I couldn't get out of this little trap I found myself in but I stayed calm and just focused on the dude in front me. Thinking back I think this helped me more because I was getting sucked along being stuck in the middle of these strong swimmers. Finally, I could see the bottom and made my way up the beach. When I ran into the T1 there was no one around me. People were yelling "on your butt, on your butt". So I was on my butt and off my wet suit came. Total swim time of 1:00 (yes! my goal was a one hour swim!!)

T1 time of 2:46.

The bike started off good. I felt great. I don't have a computer on my bike so I wasn't aware of my pace, which was probably best. Everyone had given me advice on how to ride the bike. Most said that I would no doubt feel great heading out so that I had to hold back even while all the age group men passed me in massive packs sucking wheels (which they did). It would be easy to start too hard, especially on this course because the first 1/4 of the race was flat and fast. I settled into a pace that felt good. There was a short climb a few miles in which I went right up feeling strong then settled into the flat road. Not until we got to Richter Pass did I feel like I was really working. Kevin passed me a few miles before Richter. I was hoping that I had beat him out of the water by a minute or two because I knew he'd pass me on the bike and I wanted to know he was OK and see him. Had he beat me I wouldn't have seen him until the out and back about 100k knowing that I wouldn't ever catch him on the bike. About 15 miles in I had to pee so bad. I was trying to make myself go. I've never had a problem letting loose in my wetsuit but something didn't feel right about just letting it fly on the bike. I continued to hydrate and the feeling only intensified but I still couldn't go. I just tried to ignore it and it worked for a bit. Spectators had signs at along the course that read "if you peed on the bike smile", man how I wish I could smile! Climbing up Richter Pass I felt good. It was easy to settle into a steady rhythm, thanks to allot of training up to Ward this summer. After Richter the course got more challenging, there was a long stretch of rollers. I was dreading these because it's hard to find a rhythm and I had heard this was the hardest section of the course. My stomach was cramping up on me. It wasn't bothering me bad enough to slow me down but I was worried that if I couldn't work it out I would have a tough time on the run. To my surprise I didn't find this section difficult and it was over before I knew it-AND I finally had to pee bad enough that there was nothing I could do to stop it. Man, did that feel good. Don't worry, I made sure no one was behind me!

Side note about peeing on the bike: Kevin was climbing up Yellow and a gal passed him right about the top and said "ah finally, now the fun can begin!" she pulled ahead about 10feet and just let loose peeing all over the place and unfortunately got Kevin pretty good. Hahahah, hey atleast she warned him!

From here we went out and back a good ways, hitting special needs at 120k. On my way there I saw Kevin which was a nice distraction for a minute. I made a quick stop at special needs to get another gel flask and some real food I had stashed in there. (Fig newtons and gold fish never tasted so good in my life!). Kevin has always said this section was the longest for him and hard mentally because you're going back the way you came and then back again. At the turn off from here it was flat for a bit and my stomach was still cramping so I tried to sit up and work it out but it still wasn't working. Finally, I reached the climb up to Yellow Lake which I was worried would really slow me down. Up to this point I was tracking a sub 6 hour bike (which was my goal). I didn't want to lose the time. Since it's at about 140k into the bike I wasn't sure how I would feel. I was tired for sure but feeling good mentally and knowing that at the top of this climb it was downhill all the way home for about 20k. I couldn't get to the top of the hill fast enough. There was a massive crowd of people and their cheers and signs definitely gave me the boost I needed to ride it in. Thanks to Cisco suggesting I do a 100 mile ride then climb to Jamestown at the end I think I handled this part OK. Handling a long steady climb after 100 miles isn't easy and since I had an idea of what this would feel like it wasn't so bad. At the top there was a few kind of sketchy descents but I handled them OK and was soon back on Main St headed into T2. Total bike 5:58.


In and out of T2 in 2:01 minutes.

I'm not sure when my cramping stopped because as soon as I was on the run I felt great and had forgotten all about it. Thinking back now, I can't place when I started feeling better. Oh well. Kevin had always told me that the first 5-6 miles of the run felt great because you were so ready to be off your bike and then after that it can get really tough. I had seen Kevin running out when I was coming in on my bike so I knew he wasn't that far ahead. I caught up to him about mile 4 and ran with him for a minute, it was really special to be here sharing this with him so I savored the moment. He pushed me ahead knowing that I could run faster. Around mile 6 and 7 I was waiting for it to get harder and I continued to feel really strong. I had settled into a pace that was comfortable, not too hard but not too easy. I didn't want to go out too hard and have to walk all the way home. My goal was to run the entire marathon unless I absolutely HAD to walk! The time was flying by and miles ticking off. I felt great (and I'm not just saying that). We had a stiff head wind on the way out which actually felt good because it kept me cool and I was thinking how great the tail wind home would be that maybe it would help me get home faster. A few miles before the half way mark we hit some decent size hills which actually felt good to me, it was change of pace on my legs and I enjoyed them (crazy I know). There was a few long descents and I was dreading coming up them on the way home. At the turn around they were there ready with my special needs bag but I had only put a new gel flask in it and didn't feel I needed it so I passed it up and kept running. I was still feeling strong and just told my self that I was so close, it had been a long day but I only had 13.1 miles left and that I could keep it up. What's 2 more hours after already going 9? I saw Kevin a few miles later, he looked good and encouraged me to keep the pace because I was "up there" in my age group. Those words helped. I was tracking steady 9:30 minute miles and I still felt OK, no need to slow down. Calculating that if I kept this pace all the way home I would be in WAY sooner than my goal got me fired up. The wind had stopped and some light drizzle had begun. We got jipped out of the tail wind home but the rain felt good. The steep hills were definitely not easy and by about mile 16 my quads were getting tight. It wasn't painful but they were definitely tightening up and fatiguing. The miles continued to ticked by one by one though. By mile 20 the rain was really coming down. I definitely expected to hit a wall by mile 18 or 20, as this is usually what happens during my stand-alone marathons and today I had already swam 2.4 miles and rode 112 but I felt strong. I kept remembering all the hard workouts Mike (Ricci) had put me through during the summer on our Tuesday night workouts. He worked me harder than I've ever worked, specifically for the run, which is where I usually fall off during triathlon. He always encouraged us to focus on running the last 10k of the marathon faster and at least being able to stay strong those last 6.2 miles when everyone else is struggling. At about mile 22 I was ready to be done. I wasn't slowing down and I wasn't hurting that bad I was just ready to be done. Getting closer to town was awesome. The crowds were huge, even in the pouring rain and it was the motivation I needed to carry me to the finish line. The out and back on Lakeshore Drive was a little hard but I knew once I turned that final corner it was a straight shot to the finish and I was stoked! Total run time 4:09

I finished my first IM in 11:13!!!! My ultimate goal was to finish and finish healthy! Second, I wanted to finish under 12 hours. So the fact that I finished 47 minutes faster than that was incredible. Other goals: Swim 1 hour-done! Ride Sub 6-done! Run the whole marathon-done!

Kevin's mom had volunteered as a catcher so to see her at the finish line was special!

Dare I say that the run was "easy" but it truly was not as hard as anticipated. I haven't run that many stand-alone marathons but out of all that I have done this was my most comfortable marathon of them all, which is nuts and hard for me to comprehend considering everything that came first. The whole day was much "easier" than I had set myself up for. I definitely am not discounting it because it was hard but all in all the day fell into place and I executed it exactly how I wanted. I honestly can't think of one thing I would do differently. Kevin commented afterward: "you may not want to do IM every year but it's definitely your distance."

I ended up 8th in my age group out of 70. Kevin was pushing me to go to roll down and I was thinking there was no way I would get a slot. It wasn't my goal anyways. I reluctantly went. There was originally 2 slots in my age group but Sister Madonna Buder didn't make the 17 hour cut off so we got the slot from Women 77+. The first 2 girls didn't show so roll down began with 3rd & 4th place taking slots. 5, 6, & 7 didn't take slots so guess what? I'M GOING TO KONA!!! At first, I'm embarrassed to admit, I wasn't sure I would take the slot. Some people try for years to get a slot to Kona and I got one on my first try, I was thinking "am I crazy if I don't take this?" It's so soon and I wasn't sure I could recover in time but Kevin threatened to break up with me (not really) if I didn't take the slot so I took it and am Kona bound in 6 weeks!

I'm still in shock. Going into this race I thought I might do an IM every other year but probably not every year, little did I know that I would be doing another one in just 7 weeks. Kona is going to be tough, given that I'm not very experienced at this IM thing and it's a tough/hot day but my goal is not to "race" it but go and enjoy the experience.

Thanks you all for the support and encouragement this year and for sending me your positive energy on race day. I felt it for sure!

For more photos check out my photo site http://shooperphotos.shutterfly.com/

Iron Man Canada-August 24th

Ok, so the big day is Sunday and I'm getting more nervous as the hours tick by.

I wanted to give you guys the details to watch and track me online, if you care :).

If you go to http://ironman.com/events/ironman/canada
and scroll down on the left hand side you'll see "Spectators" and you can choose "Live Video" which will be live feed from the race, the chances of seeing me are slim since they focus primarily on the pros (but Kevin's mom did see him come out of the water last year, so it's not entirely impossible). This is just a kind of fun way to see what's going on at the site on race day.

I would suggest selecting "athlete tracking". You can put in my last name (Julia) and it'll give you updates on where I am in the race at any given time. It updates through out the day. We will be wearing chips so when we go over the chip mats through out the race it should register my times, etc.

Here is where I presume to be throughout the course. Keep in mind these are just estimates and it's a long long day so ANYTHING could happen that changes these times.

Race starts at 7am (Pacific Time) this is 9am (central/Texas). All the times below are Pacific times. Adjust accordingly.

Swim (2.4 miles) -1 hour. My goal is to swim under one hour. I hope to be out of the water within 55-60 minutes. So anytime btwn 7:55-8:05 I should be done.

Bike (112 miles) - 6 hours. I think I can finish between 5:30-6 hours. Probably closer to 6 hours. I should be coming in from the bike around 1:30-2pm. If I have a flat tire, mechanical problem, bonk, etc this time could be different by 30-45 minutes. But I expect to have a good ride!


Run (26.2 miles) - 4:15-5 hours. This is where it could get ugly :). I honestly have no idea what to expect. If I have a good bike ride and feel good I think I can finish the marathon in 4:15-4:30 hours. They say add 30 minutes to your standard marathon time, so that would be about 4:20. I have to walk or have any stomach issues it will likely be closer to 5hours. My goal is to run the whole thing, unless I HAVE to walk. I anticipate coming in between 6-7pm. There should be a split time at the half way mark (13.1) miles so if you track online you should be able to see how I'm pacing on the run. I just want to be done before dark!

My main goal is to finish, running across the line, not crawling! Second, is to finish under a specific time, which I will not disclose! Don't want to jinx myself :)

Please send me your thoughts & positive energy on Sunday. Next blog...race report! Hopefully a good one!

1 Week, A Cold, And Rain

One week to go until IM, we actually leave this Thursday bright and early. This weekend has sucked for training with all the rain. It's been 90+ degrees in CO lately and Saturday was 59 and pouring rain. Thankfully we didn't have to do much training since we're in taper but I was planning a swim, bike, run outside and only got in a 2 hour ride inside on my trainer. I certainly didn't think I would be doing a long trainer ride in August. Oh well.

I woke up with a sore throat on Saturday and was hoping it would subside quickly but it bugged me all day and is still bugging me today on Sunday. I think I've gotten a bit of a cold which makes me really grumpy 1 week out from IM. I guess after weeks and weeks of 20+ hours of training my body was worn out and more susceptible. I've also been covering in the clinic this week which probably wasn't the smartest decision-germ central!!!

Sunday's training was a bit better. It was still cool but the sun was trying to come out and it was warmer. I finally got in the pool and had a strong set of about 4500m then did a quick run. I had to drop my bike off for shipment on Saturday so I don't have my bike all week. Hopefully it arrives safely on Friday in Penticton!

I feel good (minus the cold) and am really excited to get up there and race! It's been a long year of preparation and I'm excited to see my efforts pay off. I'm also excited to finally have a week with Kevin. This long distance stuff is getting old. When I get home I'm going to have to decide what to do next...it might be Denver Marathon October 19th-an attempt to qualify for Boston perhaps!

Stay Tuned....

I've Done All I Can Do

I've done all I can do for IM at this point. Now I get to rest, pray for a good day on August 24th, and let the energy of the universe dictate the rest, it's out of my control- I did my part. Well, I still gotta get my nutrition and pacing right on race day, that is in my control I suppose.

2 weeks from right now it'll all be over and I'll likely be gorging myself on any morsel of food I can find to put in my mouth. This weekend was the last of my "serious" training. I didn't do as much as I have the last 2 weekends as the taper is in full swing but I rode 4 hours on Saturday and I ran 2 hours on Sunday. The next two weeks will be allot of rest and massage.

Kevin came up Friday night, preparing to race the 5430 Half Ironman on Sunday. I was bummed I wasn't doing it (it was my PR last year and I was hoping to be able to break that) but I knew I likely couldn't recover in 2 weeks and have a solid IM so I decided against it. If I could have gone easy I probably would have been OK, but knowing myself I would have raced it and been trashed for a week. Being a spectator was hard when you want to be racing. Kevin had a good race though. He wasn't planning on racing the whole thing, just the swim-bike-and 1 loop of the run. The weather was perfect. It's usually 95+ degrees but today it was overcast and comfortable which enabled many PRs on the course!

Perfect Racing Weather & Beautiful Sunrise at the Boulder Reservoir

I'm a little anxious about the next two weeks. I don't do well with recovery weeks. I'm usually in a bad mood, can't sleep well, and grumpy about not putting in the long hours. These next 2 weeks could make or break my race so I HAVE to be patient and back off. It's hard but I know if I don't I might not be fresh at the starting line and could jeopardize what I've worked so hard for the last 8 months. I hope to go up to the mountains the weekend before we leave and get a little elevation. If we can get 24 hours or so of 9-10,000 feet, up where the air is rare, when we hit 1,263 ft in Penticton on August 21st, we'll already have an advantage! It feels good to have thick air and our muscles love all the red blood cells!

Patience has never been a strong suit for me so I'm going to focus on that the next 2 weeks!

5430 Half Ironman -Boulder, CO August 10th, 2008

Because It's There

So I'm 3 weeks out and this past weekend was my last big weekend leading up to Iron Man and I can't explain to you how excited I am about that. You're probably asking "then why do you do it?". I simply echo George Mallory: "Because it's there."

Why not do it? What's life without adventure and without a challenge?

The forecast was for 100+ degrees both Saturday and Sunday which I wasn't super stoked about that. I contemplated heading to Colorado Springs for the weekend because I miss Kevin like crazy and was dying to spend some time with him. But his brother was still in town and with the brood of dogs we decided maybe the house would be a little too crowded.

Instead my friend Brad and I decided to get in a long ride with allot of climbing on the menu. Our final destination was a lake at about 10,500 feet. We left Boulder (5430 ft) and headed North to a little town called Lyons then made our way up to another town called Raymond (7711 ft) eventually climbing all the way up to Branaird Lake (10,200 ft). It was a good choice to go up because it was at least 15 degrees cooler up there and the altitude training was an added perk. I felt strong the whole time, but could feel the air getting thinner as we went up. After stopping for a few pictures we began the decent back into town. It was nice to have a reprieve on the legs, however the dark clouds were moving in and the wind was blowing hard, so even descending we had to work. We hit highway 36 and hammered the last few miles back to Brads head on into the wind. At 75 miles I was feeling strong and pulling Brad along behind sucking my wheel, happy to help out!

I had planned to get off the bike and go for a run, sometimes it's just 10 minutes to get my legs under me but I got back to my place 90 miles on the bike, quickly laced up my runners, and headed out the door (even though my couch was looking REALLY comfortable and the AC was feeling really nice inside). I felt G-R-E-A-T. 8 miles later I was finally done and ready for a shower. I was so surprised I felt so good on my run. I literally didn't even feel like I had just ridden 90 miles, much less 6500 feet of mashing up hills. I was confident with my day and feeling much better about my fitness level-at this point I didn't have much choice. This was it.

Sunday morning came much to quickly. My plan was to get up and get started about 6am to beat the heat, get a 3.5 hour run in, and be in the pool for 1.5hr swim by 10am. My legs were trashed from Saturday and I was tired (shouldn't have stayed up so damn late Saturday night). I ran a solid 2.5 hours, got home, and called Kevin. We had planned to meet in Denver and he was already done with his run and seeing his brother off. I couldn't convince myself at that point to get in the pool, I just wanted to see him. I got a quick shower and made my way to Denver. We had lunch and made our way to the Denver aquarium, which was neat but not spectacular. We had fun being silly though and as long as I'm in his presence, I'm a happy girl!

It was a good weekend. I had great success in my training and came out of my last big weekend feeling more confident in my fitness for IM in a few weeks. At this point I'll start to back it off and rest up for the big day. I'm getting more nervous as the days tick by but am excited for the challenge. Kevin calms my nerves. Just knowing this is his 11th Iron Man gives me a piece of mind and I'm so excited to share this one with him.

Even more, I'm looking forward to our camping trip to the Boundary Waters in September. No obligation to get up at 5am for a run; laying around; spending some quality time with the man I love; and simply enjoying the beauty God has given us in nature for 6 days sounds pretty damn good right now, if you ask me.

Long Distance & Sex and The City

I just want to say that Long Distance relationships suck! This will be going on week 3 that I haven't seen Kevin and I have to say that I'm more than a little bit grumpy about it. What's the point in being in a relationship when you can't HAVE a relationship?...just kidding, we have a fantastic relationship regardless of the distance but I'm ready to be together and more so lately I'm really struggling with it.

This guy is PERFECT and I want to share every minute with him and it's hard not knowing when that will be. How do you move forward without making specific plans and goals? Maybe this is my type-A personality taking over again but it would be so easy to just let life pass you by and before you know it it's been 2, 3, years and your still dealing with it. I want to come home to him, I want to ride my bike and run next to him instead of alone, I want to be silly and laugh together like we always do when we're in the same room.

Besides sleeping, training, eating, and working I don't do much. I've been catching up on the Sex & The City series. I never watched it much because I didn't have HBO but I borrowed all the seasons from a friend so I have more than enough to keep me entertained. It's an entertaining show but not one to make you feel better about your intimacy level when your boyfriend is 120 miles away. I guess it makes me feel better about my relationship and that it's not as complicated as some of theirs are but they sure get alot of "action" and I have to say I'm more than a little bit jealous! When your two male dogs are "getting it on" with each other or a stuffed animal and everyone but you is getting some lovin', it sure makes for a lonely apartment! Haha. I suppose I'll survive. It sure makes the times that we are together that much more amazing.

Anxiously awaiting the day the distance between is simply another room in the house!

4 Weeks and Counting

Sunday marked exactly 4 weeks until race day! It was an interesting and stressful week/weekend for me. As mentioned, my bike broke last weekend in The Boulder Peak and we scrambled all week to get the part to me before the weekend so I could get in my long ride. It was overnighted on Thursday and delivered Friday, however I wasn't told that I had to be home to receive the package for overnight delivery and missed the mailman. I was so angry. So much for OVERNIGHT! I called the post office and they said that I couldn't come and get it until Saturday at 10am!!! What?

I usually ride long on Saturday but instead decided to cross my fingers that if I got the part to the shop by 10-11 am Saturday they would get it done, risky on Saturday in a bike shop, but it was worth a shot. I had planned to get up and run early but when the alarm went off at 6am I was still exhausted and had no love to run. I slept til 9:15 on the couch, went to get the part, drop it at the shop, and head home to run before it got any hotter, if that was possible.

The run was good. I got in 3 hours and 15 minutes. Aerobically I felt great, structurally I lasted longer than my 3 hour run a few weeks ago and only my knees were a bit achy at the end. I was also running faster which was positive! I got home and just wanted to lay around but instead hurried down to the bike shop to pick up my bike. It was done, yipee! However, it wasn't only the derailleur hanger I broke, I ruined (somehow) the derailleur and $200 later I was on my way home with a working bike! Arg!

Sunday was a fantastic day on the bike! We met at 7:30am in North Boulder to ride toward Fort Collins and Horsetooth Reservoir. It should be about 12o miles round trip. The first 45-60 minutes my legs & knees were tight and I was definitely feeling yesterdays run. They finally opened up and I was feeling great. There was 3 of us riding so it was a good group but I didn't want to suck wheels the whole time and draft, since I won't have a wheel to suck at Iron Man. I held back and did my own work. It was relatively flat until we got to Carter Lake and Horsetooth and we had some pretty wicked climbs but it was a good change of pace from the flat stuff and I felt strong. We stopped for fuel (food and hydration) and headed home. I thought for sure around mile 80 I would hit a wall and just feel smoked but I felt great, was hanging on up front, and feeling more confident about my fitness with each mile. We hit S. Boulder in 5:30 hours with 102 miles on the odometer. I had hoped to get in about 120 (IM is 112 so I wanted to go that and then some). I peeled off from the guys and rode for another hour on my own.

Off the bike I threw on the running shoes, even though I was hungry and ready to lay around in the AC. I thought "OK, just do 10 minutes and you can go eat and rest". But I felt great! My legs didn't feel too tired, my knees didn't ache, and I had good rhythm. 30 minutes later, drenched in sweat, I was home! All in all it was a great weekend of training (minus the broken bike headache). It gave me the little extra boost of confidence about my fitness level leading into IM. I have a 2 more weeks of solid training until I back it off and I feel like I'm right on target for a good race. It's good to know all the long hours of training are paying off.

So, Kevin was looking back at the last few years to see what the slowest time to qualify for Kona in the Women's 25-29 age group was and the results are interesting:
2003: 10:58
2004: 13:57
2005: 11:50
2006: 10:39
2007: 10:56

Qualifying for Kona is certainly not my goal this year but I am so curious to see how I will stack up against the competition. Stay tuned...

Be Still

Sometimes Life Happens When We're Busy Making Plans.

The thing about being Type A is that I like to plan, allot! For the first time in, oh probably the last 2 years, my life is pretty quiet. There isn't much going on and that is good, most would say, but for some reason I find it hard to be still and well....just be still. I feel like I planned my life out basically from college on and if you've read any of my previous posts you'll likely agree that life doesn't always go as we plan it and it obviously didn't go the way I planned it years ago, I have come to realize that sometimes it happens on it's own while we're preoccupied planning it.

I started seeing a counselor when I moved to Boulder, simply to work through some of the stuff I've been struggling with the past few years. It's nice to talk to my mom and my friends but it helps to have and unbiased "professional" opinion from time to time. I guess it's an expensive way to help me discover a little bit more about myself. :) I usually walk in there with a million things to discuss and the past few times I've been in she'll ask me "so, how have you been? how are things?" and I just sit there staring back at her wondering if I should make something fascinating up just for an hours worth of entertainment or if I should just say "not much" for once and know that life is A-OK if I'm not worried or stressed about something.

Lately, we've been discussing the future and I'm definitely more antsy than I've been in a while about it. I feel kind of stuck. Why do we always feel we have to know what's next? Isn't it OK not to know and just let life happen? If we knew what was around every corner life wouldn't be very exciting. There would be no sense of adventure, no surprises, and no sense of discovery in the little things that come our way. I want to wake up each day with the people I love, take my carefree dogs for a walk, enjoy a beautiful sun rising over the Flatirons, and simply be still!

I often times feel very unsettled in soul but need to be reminded that I am small and there are much bigger things of this world than me. Life will happen regardless of my planning it.

My thoughts bring me back to Psalms 36:10
"Be still and know that I am God".

Boulder Peak

Boulder is Peak is with out a doubt one of the top triathlons in the country, if not in the world. And....it's right in my back yard! It doesn't get much better than that in my opinion. I haven't been racing much this season in preparation for Ironman in August but this was one I was really looking forward to and was ready to see how I could do compared to last year.

At transition & watching the skydivers kick start the race

Last year I swam the 1500m in 25:15, road the 40k bike in 1:23 (18.8 mph) and ran the 10k in 55:05 (8:53min mile). I knew I was fitter this year in all three disciplines and was ready to prove it! I had ridden the course the week before and had done it in 1:15 with a group. I was confident I could do between 1:15-1:20, closer to 20-21mph. And I knew for sure I could run sub 50min 10k.

Leading the swim at the start!
Swim Exit, Up Hill!

Well, I proved it on the swim and that was about it. I swam the 1500m in roughly 21 minutes (23 after the long run out to transition). I pushed hard the entire swim, passing people from earlier waves and knew I was top 5 or so girls out of the water. I had a quick transition (1:10) and I was feeling good on the bike cruising up Jay Road, turned up highway 36, passing people like crazy!

Heading out on the bike

There is a sick climb only a few miles in that is so steep many people get off their bikes and walk. I think it's about 13-15% grade with 1 false summit. I remember my first attempt up it last year I thought I was going to die but living in Boulder now I probably climb it once a week so I knew I was stronger up it going into the race on Sunday. And I was! I was feeling good, pushing hard, had great turn over, etc. I was nearing the summit and so excited to have a fast decent and rest my legs for a bit. Then...clack clack clack clack. CRAP! I dropped my chain. I hoped off to take a look hoping it wasn't jammed into my cassette again! Nope definitely wasn't jammed but I was shocked!!! My rear derailer was bent upright into my spokes! How the hell did this happen? I've never heard or seen anything like this before in my life. I tried to apply a bit of pressure just to get it out of my spokes so it wouldn't ruin my pricey wheels and "SNAP" it snapped right off, clean break in the metal derailer hanger. My race was over! I was so pissed off! I couldn't believe it happened in the first place but especially climbing up a steep/slow hill. Usually this type of thing happens mountain biking in a hard crash, not just riding up a hill. I guess I'm just so strong I broke it with my amazing strength! Ha, or not! Luckily I was at the aid station and a nice guy let me borrow his cell phone to call Kevin. He didn't answer at first so I called back and finally got him. He was really confused. He wasn't expecting a call from me, he just saw me head on my bike and take off, why and how was I calling now? I explained what happened and asked him to come get me. I sat on the side of the road pissed off, trying not to cry as I watched all the other racers take off down the hill! :(

Kevin & I

Oh well! I was grumpy for the rest of the day. Kevin and I headed up to fix a stiff drink! It was a crappy situation but better here than in Canada in a few weeks. My bike is custom so I'm having a hell of a time getting a new derailer hanger. Pete is working on it for me and will hopefully have something for me by Saturday or Sunday so I can get my 6+ hour bike ride in this weekend. I'm just thankful I wasn't hurt, had my derailer locked up in the spoke going down the hill I could have been hurt really badly. Screaming down the hill at 35+mph with a locked up wheel = disaster. I supposed it was a best case scenario of a crappy situation.

Boulder Peak 2009, here I come!

The photos are of the Boulder Tri Club Aid Station "going green".

Taste of Ironman

So I had my biggest training weekend this past weekend I think I've ever had. It was a taste of what Ironman is going to slap in my face on August 24th.

I switched it up a bit and ran on Saturday (I usually do my long runs on Sunday) and I felt good. I slept in because I didn't sleep much during the week and because it was to be a cooler day, finally, I decided I didn't need to rush out the door at 7am to beat the heat. I left from the house and ran a comfortable 3 hours. Well, the first 2 hours and 20 minutes were quite comfortable but the last 40 kicked my butt. My knees, hips, and feet were aching so bad. It took everything I had to take a shower when I got back home because it hurt just to stand up. This is were my point about the importance of 3+ hour runs comes in. Some will say you don't need to do over 2.5 hours for ironman. I agree in the fitness category, if you're putting the time in on the bike and in the pool, running over 2.5 hours probably isn't going to give you much of an aerobic gain, however I strongly believe that pounding the pavement will greatly increase your comfort on race day when your running a 3+ hour marathon. Just getting my joints used to hammering on blacktop and trail for over 3 hours is invaluable to me.

Sunday was a bigger day and I wasn't too fired up to get up early. The Boulder Reservoir was having a 2 mile swim. This is why I switched my workouts. I hardly ever do swim/bike bricks so I thought this would be a fantastic way to get in a long day and something similar to IM. IM swim is 2.4 miles so this was only a bit less and I never get to train in open water so I sucked it up and rolled out of bed at 6, leaving the house on my bike at 6:45 to get to the res by 7:15 to register. 8am and the swim is underway. I feel good, not pushing too hard just settling in and reminding myself I have a long bike on the menu next! I finished in 48 minutes which I was happy with. I want to swim 1 hour in Canada and with only .4 more miles than I did Sunday I think it's do-able.

I peeled the wetsuit off and headed out on my bike. My goal was 6 hours (or about 100 miles). I headed north to Carter Lake. It was a good mix of rolling hills and a few steeper ones. Once I got back to town I decided to climb the 5-6 miles up to Jamestown. It's not a steep climb but it's long and steady and after 4 hours in the hot sun I was already beat. But I've been told there is a long climb on the bike in Canada toward 90k so I wanted to experience what it was like when you're tired and ready to be off the bike. I was mentally struggling up the entire thing, wishing I was home but I pushed through and thoroughly enjoyed the decent back into Boulder.

All in all it was a good day and 7 hours of "fun"! It was a small taste of what IM will be like in 5 weeks, except yesterday I didn't get off and run a marathon. Tack on about 4.5-5 more hours to that and I'll be crossing the finish line, possibly on my hands and knees!

5 Weeks to go!