Challenge Florida 70.3 Race Report

PR’d by 25 min!  First race under 7 hours!  And I feel like this was a perfectly executed race.  Here’s how it happened.

TRAINING- I followed the plan and did 95% of my workouts as prescribed- to include the intervals on the run and the bike.  I probably only made 6o% of my swims, because getting to the pool can be a challenge.  But I learned from IM training last year that it doesn’t matter- I never got faster with more swimming!  I have been bike commuting to work for the last 3 months- 70 miles a week on top of training.  The team advised this would be my secret weapon- I think they were right!

  TWO DAYS BEFORE- I got a good night’s sleep on my parents’ couch two nights before the race (with Ambien, of course).  I had taken apart my QR Illicito at home for the first time, completely down to the frame, packed her up in my new Ruster Sports Hen House Case (which I paid full price for because the EN discount was a limited time only, which was not advertised on our web site!), and waited for her to arrive in Tampa.  I put her together on Friday and immediately ran into trouble- I had two rings in the headset that did not go where I thought they went.  Or any other place I tried to put them!  I put her together anyway, with the handlebars not turning properly, and prayed the bike mechanics would be at the Expo. 

DAY BEFORE- Check in was super easy, the volunteers were knowledgeable, and bike check in went smoothly.  The bike mechanic knew exactly where my two rings went and finished it while I did my practice swim.  He wouldn’t let me pay or tip him, so when I came back with four beers for the two mechanics and some volunteers, he looked like he was going to cry!  Did I mention it was boiling hot with record temps?  I tried to eat according to plan and rest.  I re-read the wiki on heat management, memorized my plan, and tried to relax.  I was really scared of the high temps.  To bed at 9:30 with Ambien. 

RACE DAY- Up at 0430, eat my usual PB&J and a banana, drink Nuun water and head to the race.  Got in a warm up swim and lined up.

SWIM- Water temps were 79.3, so no wetsuits.  Which is fine by me!  I love the feeling of open ocean water.  This is a small race, so not too many people to fight through.  I lined up just lateral to center on the beach and took off at the sound of the horn.  I love ocean swims and we all had plenty of room and the buoys were not too far apart.  The only time I had issues was a short period where I couldn’t see the next buoy because of the sun.  I headed in the right direction, kept a few people in sight, and eventually it showed itself.  Finished in 48 minutes, which is normal for me. It was a short run up the beach and into transition.  But part way up, I realized I forgot to pee at the end of the swim!!  There was a small aid station with water, Gatorade and gels just before Swim In, and I made a decision- pee on the run!  I let it flow while looking a volunteer straight in the eye and asking for a cup of Gatorade.  Drank four swallows, asked for two cups of water and watched his face as I poured it down my crotch. 

BIKE- Transition was pretty fast.  I ate a gel and drank a few swallows of water. Jumped on my bike and settled in to Zone 2, according to plan.  One thing that freaked me out was that I kept passing people.  I don’t usually do that early in a race.  Each time, I got close, I’d check my zone, make sure I was where I was supposed to be, and then make my pass.  Don’t get me wrong, I got passed by several people as well, but I usually don’t pass people on the first half.  And then to watch people standing up hills, standing on the flats, and getting passed by me on the downhills- AWESOME!!!!  Only one guy passed me in the last 20 miles and that was it.  I heard one guy cussing as I flew by him!  I had practiced drinking a bottle an hour and it is too much in normal temps.  I pee every 45-60 minutes and that’s not feasible in a race; ¾ bottle works better.  But I knew I had to do better than that in this hot (86 degrees and humid!) race.  So I aimed for a bottle an hour.  Two hrs in, I had no urge to pee, so I stepped it up some and ended up with 4 bottles in 3 hrs and a slight urge to pee at the end.  The rest of the nutrition was executed according to plan- 3 Sports Legs at the beginning of bike, a salt tab every hour, 2.5 scoops of GE per bottle, and a half Honey Stinger Waffle every 30 min.  That felt really good.  I carefully maintained Zone 3-3.5 as steady as possible and set a new pace PR over that distance (in race or training).  I kept telling myself that I was going to execute this bike perfectly and ride the bike I should and not the bike I could.  Over and over.  Because I felt great and I wanted to race!!  And it’s my favorite part!  The bike course is super flat and beautiful- the only hills were the bridges.   Somewhere in the second half I saw ambulances and police tape and a bike on the ground.  I tried to find out how the cyclist fared in the newspaper, but I still don’t know.

RUN- transition was wicked fast for me- grabbed my stuff and ran, instead of putting it on in transition.  Yes, that’s new for me!  I did take the time to squeeze some sunscreen on all extremities and debated for a second about taking off my tri top.  Decided to leave it on and could roll it up if I got too hot- that turned out to be a key decision. I stopped for a quick pee and off I went.  Holy crap, it was hot!!!  I knew that heat management would be the key in this race.  I kept reminding myself that I have the Four Keys and everyone else is clueless.  I knew the paces I wanted to hit, but figured it wouldn’t be possible in this heat.  But I figured I’d do my best.  Goal pace for miles 1-3 was 11:50.  First mile felt so slow!  And ended up being about 10:53.  CRAP!  Slowed down more and was on pace for miles 2&3.  Nutrition plan was 4 swallows of Gatorade every mile and a gel every 2 miles, with a salt tab at 1 hr.  Heat management plan was developed at the first aid station.  Decided to pour water over my head and put ice in my jog bra and down the back of my jersey- thank goodness I kept it on!  My box became the distance between aid stations.  I felt great for about 3 minutes after an aid station, then I managed my ice by holding a cube in each hand and then putting it in my mouth when it got tiny.  Then I could see the next station and feel good.  Goal pace for 4-10 was 11:20 and I ran 11:23-11:30 for most of them.  About mile 7 or 8, some guy tried to chat me up, but he couldn’t hang (no friends!) and just said good luck as I pulled away.  Miles 4-8 felt amazingly great.  I was amazed I felt so good!  Somewhere in there, I was getting help from a volunteer and he asked what he could do.  I asked him to pour his cup of ice down my jog bra.  I guess I pulled it a little far out because he said, “thank you!”  I guess he was telling that story the rest of the day!  My mom asked me later if he was young or old and I said I have no idea- all I could see was the ice!  Then mile 9 got tough.  And I knew it got tough and I had my plan.  I just stayed in my box, put on my concentration face, tried to smile, and started a mantra.  Then at mile 10, my mantra changed to “Permission to race!”  At about that point, I saw a woman in front of me with my age, 47, and an Ironman tattoo on her calf.  She was only running a tiny bit faster than me.  I wondered if I could catch her.  I was faster than her through two aid stations, and then she would catch me.  Mile 11 aid station, I decided to try and put her away.  I flew through the station (still executing my heat management plan, just quickly), and turned it up to as hard as I knew I could go for 2 miles.  Took care of business quickly at aid station 12 and was afraid to look behind me.  I just kept thinking I was Daniella Ryf and Rinny was trying to catch me- that was my mantra- “Daniella Ryf, permission to race!  Daniella Ryf, permission to race!”  And then I could see the chute!  And my mom was there to run in with me!  She’ll be 70 next month and is very fit- she ran the chute with me, at my speed and we finished together and it was so awesome!  My paces at the end were much slower than my 11:05 goal, but I still finished the run on par with my stand-alone half marathons.  I was amazed!  Plus- only one person passed me in the second half and I passed 11 people.  I couldn’t believe that most people were walking the second half.  There were several people getting IVs in the med tent.  And it did take me a few hours to pee after the race.  But I felt fine.  Great even!

Overall time- 6:38- a personal best by 25 minutes!! Swim- 48, bike- 3:10 (17.62mph), run- 2:32 (11:41/min). Finished 7/13 (54%ile) in age group, 37/77 (48%ile) for women, and 150/247 (61%ile) overall, including men. I would love to some day crack the top third for women, but I am super happy with this! I'm not a natural athlete and this is a lot of work for me...  Sometimes I get discouraged when I see how fast everyone else is and how they do so well in their AG, but that’s not me.  I’m just excited to have a well executed race and be in the top half.

Overall, Challenge FL was an awesome race- well organized, beautiful course, and the best marked bike course I have ever raced on.  Police or volunteers at every intersection, plenty of everything at the aid stations.   Not too much crowd support, but there were people here and there.  This is a small race, well done- I would highly recommend for anyone looking for a late season 70.3 next year!

Beach 2 Battleship Ironman Race Report

Disclaimer:  This was written for my triathlon team and has a lot of jargon and insider information.  But it took my two hours to write and post there and I don;t have the energy to edit this for the masses.  Hope you enjoy reading! 

And.... I can't make it not warp around, so I know it's a bit hard to read.  Sorry about that!

Background: I have been doing triathlon about 6 years- several sprint/Olys, 4 Halfs and a 100 miler last October.  That’s what convinced me I could do a full. I’ve also done 4 marathons and I don’t really like them.  I am usually about a middle of the packer, and was hoping to get faster through EN.  I joined around the Feb OS this year.  

I followed my plan faithfully.  I know people find that hard to believe, but I did all my distances and my camps and rarely missed a workout, except for swimming.  On Fridays, I only have time for a swim or a run, not both.  And since running is my main weakness, I did not make most of my Friday swims. Over the course of the season, my bike went from averaging about 15mph for a 60 mile ride to about 16-16.4.  I was able to hold a 12 min mile for 17 miles and that is an improvement for me.  My vDOT went up two points over the season.  The one thing that never came along was my swim. My initial 1000m TT was 2:21/100m and so was my last one! Even though I did all those damn sprints!!  Even the 20x100 easy/hard for crying out loud! Oh well.  For the long runs, since I am a 12:00/mile runner, I did longer long runs than prescribed.  My longest under the plan would have been 15 miles, the longest I did was 17 miles.  I ran out of time to do the 19 miler I had planned.  I predicted about a 15 hr finish and I was prepared for it to be a long, painful day.  It was just a matter of how much it was going to hurt.  My longest event ever was a climb up Mt Fuji from base to summit and back down that was 17 hours.  I figured this would be less than that.  Towards the end of training, I never had any doubt that I would be a able to finish- it was just a matter of how much it would hurt.  And I’m not a big fan of pain.  I’ve been told that to be a great endurance athlete, you have to have the ability to suffer.  I HAVE the ability, I just don’t WANT TO!  I do this for fun- duh!  That completely explains why I’m not just a bit faster than I am.

Week before the race: Plan was to fly to NC on Wed (for Sat race).  The DAY AFTER I booked plane tickets, I got notified I had to be in DC for work that week.  Good news is that now work is paying my air fare for my race.  Bad news is my week is completely jacked up.  I got no swims in at all that week before the race.  I rode my bike once in Leesburg, VA and almost died- for real. I ran. And I trusted my training.  Arrived to town on Thursday after leaving my work meeting a half day early.  Went to athlete check in and picked up my FIVE gear bags, browsed the expo and got a sweet deal on a tri bag that I didn’t need for this race and a nice shirt.  Went to dinner with the team- Great to meet you guys!  Friday I packed up and dropped off the bags and the bike.  B2B is extremely well organized.  There were no lines and everyone was knowledgeable.  Went to dinner that night with a friend who happened to be doing her first HIM at this race and was in bed by 9PM with my usual pre-race Ambien.  I never get tired that early, so drugs is the only way I sleep at that hour.

About the course (plagiarized from Ralph): The race is set up with a split transition. The swim is in the channel behind Wrightsville Beach and runs with the tide.  It is a mass start from the south end of the island and travels down the channel to the marina where you get out on the floating dock with ladders and run across the street to T1.  The T1 area is a large grassy area with changing tents. The T2 area downtown in the convention center.  Mandatory Bike check-in is on Friday for the race on Sat.  The Bike course leaves the beach and makes a big loop to the north of town coming back into downtown. Aid stations every 18-20 miles or so. The run course leaves the convention center and goes through downtown Wilmington for a double down and back layout to end at the finish downtown.  Run aid stations every mile.

The race sports drink on course was Heed.  I had disasters with Heed twice before in races, but I figured I’d give it a shot in training- no go.  It gives me gas and makes me bloat.  So my plan was to use all my own nutrition on both the bike and the run.  Had to carry it all but didn’t stop at any bike aid stations. 

I was up at 0415, ate my banana, bagel with PB&J, and drank Gatoraid. This is my usual long course pre race meal and was practiced in training. PB&J is what I eat before all long workouts.  Sipped Gatorade all morning, Ate a gel about 20 min before the swim.  This is a wetsuit mandatory swim because it is usually very cold.  But this day was perfect- 72 degrees in the water.  I’m not really sure where I was in the swim line up.  I think in the middle of the middle.  My swim is usually average and I am fearless in the water, so I don’t care about thrashers.  I went out calm and steady, looking for clear water.  The buoys were kind of far apart, so I tried to follow swimmers.  I kept a good pace and kept a bit in reserve for when I needed it a few times to get away from people.  Before I knew it, the swim was over- my pool 2.4miles is 90 min.  I did this one in 56 min!!! Holy cow!  They say a Doritos bag will make it before the cut off, but I didn’t expect it to be that fast!  And there were a ton of bikes still in transition.  It turns out that a man had chest pains in the water and he later died.  Thankfully, I didn’t hear about that until the race was over. 

Transition was 9 min- it’s a long run.  The wetsuit strippers were great and I took the time to go through the showers.  In transition, I ate a gel, drank about 6 oz of gatorade and put on sunscreen.  I wore my tri shorts and a jog bra under my wetsuit, so I put on my tri top, arm warmers and socks.  Remember- it was cold- about 50 degrees.  I had bought a throw away shirt and gloves for the first part of the bike.  I really really hate to be cold.  That will sap my morale faster than pain.  

The bike course is flat with mostly good roads and nice scenery.  There is  pretty long section on the highway, but I train on a highway, that was fine by me.  My most important criteria is good road surface  I don’t care about cars.  The bike felt great- except my power meter would never start.  Which I got SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS RACE!!!!  GRRR!!!!  And I lost a bottle on the metal grating of the bridge, so I had to stop for that.  Right next to an ambulance tending someone.  This is a good time to point out that I read every single article in the wiki on Race Execution.  And underlined them. And made notes and re-read them.  I watched, read and memorized the Four Keys.  I had a FOUR PAGE race plan that included contingencies.  I knew what was a big deal and what wasn’t.  I was mentally prepared for this!  I knew that power meter dying is no big deal- I had also trained by HR and RPE along with power zones- just in case (I’m on my fourth piece of crap Stages meter, so I knew there was a chance it would die at its most important moment).  I also knew that losing a bottle is a very big deal.  Especially since I was carrying all my own nutrition.  I drank 1/4 bottle of Roctane and ate 1/4 of a Honey Stinger waffle every fifteen minutes on the bike. Which is EXACTLY what I did in training. Goal was to pee two-three times.  I peed every 45-60 min.  ALL. DAY. LONG.  They were quick stops because I would just jump off behind a bush- no waiting in porta potty lines for me! But they still took their toll.  At BSN, an awesome volunteer asked what I needed- I asked her to put a baggie of Roctane in each of my four bottles and fill with water while I peed.  Then I filled my X-lab pouch with waffles, stripped off my extra shirt and tossed my gloves and off I went.  Maybe 3 min max.  Then more peeing and more riding. At mile 90 I started to get a small cramp in my guts.  Wiki says when this happens, slow down.  So I slowed from HR in 2.5-2.9 zone to 1.8-2.4.  It never got better, I just got slower.  Ended up with a 15.4mph/7:20 bike.  Not what I knew I could do, but I kept repeating there is no such thing as a great bike followed by a terrible run.  I kept repeating that mantra over and over. 

T2 was 7 min.  Another gel, another 6 oz of Gatorade.  More sunscreen.  I prob should have cut way back on the fluids by now!  BUt I just remember the coaches harping on how much fluid you have to take in.  And I know that my 1 bottle per hour in training would leave me about 2 pounds down on a long ride...so I drank in transition.  

Now for the run.  Yikes.  This is the part of was so nervous about.  I started out slow- I gave the Coaches their three minutes.  As I’m seeing people pass me, I kept repeating, “Coaches, I’m giving you your three minutes- you better make my day!”  I felt great!!!  The run is two times out and back and the first back is longer than the second back. At around mile 9 on the first back, I hear my name.  I look over and there is my friend, Elizabeth, who lives two hrs away and said she “might” come for the finish!  HOLY COW!!!!  It was such a boost to see her!  She totally made my whole night.  I had not seen my husband since he dropped me off in the morning and I knew I wouldn’t see him until the finish line.  He’s not really into this stuff.  But seeing her was awesome.  My stomach was still having some annoying cramps, but I continued to eat a gel every two miles, sip a mouthful of concentrated Roctane every mile and drink 3 oz water every mile.  Because that’s how I trained and did all my other marathons.  And I peed every 3-4 miles.  I could have gone longer, but I have an old lady bladder and I run in the middle of nowhere, stopping whenever I feel like it, so it is not used to running full.  RSN was fun.  One again, fantastic volunteers refilled my Roctane Fuelbelt bottles.  I stopped right before I took off again and screamed at the top of my lungs and danced around- “In 13 miles, I’m going to be an IRONMAN!!!!”  They thought I was nuts. 

The gut pains kept getting worse and worse.  I tried slowing down.  No joy.  I had told myself and I actually talked out loud to the Line and told it that it wasn’t allowed to get to me until mile 20.  No Line until mile 20.  Then the suck can come.  I kept saying that.  The Line did not listen.  At mile 17, I couldn’t keep running.  I was almost doubled over in stomach pain.  I was actually worried it was something awful.  I was doing the same nutrition I had done a jillion times in the past and I felt like I was dying.  I’m a doctor and I know of this thing called ichemic bowel.  It’s when the blood flow doesn’t get to your bowel and the bowel dies.  I have SEEN PEOPLE DIE FROM THIS.  I also know that people have gotten this during Iron distance racing and ended up in the hospital.  Well, I thought, they might haul me off in an ambulance, but I’m not quitting.  So I walked 100 steps and ran 500 steps.  And that seemed to help.  At about mile 19, I stopped eating gels/drinking water and switched over to just Roctane and added chicken broth.  That seemed to help a lot.  Walk 100/run500.  A few times, I got up to running 1200-1500 steps.  I knew then (and once I started to pass a little gas) that I wasn’t going to die.  My legs did not start to give me trouble until about mile 22-23.  By then I knew I was almost done.  I kept saying to myself and to volunteers- “In xx minutes, I’m going to be an Ironman!”  Except for the gut pains, this was the best marathon I ever ran!  Not the fastest (my PR is 5:15, 6 yrs ago), but the best my legs ever felt. Run was 6:04.  Except for the stomach, I still had some gas left in the tank and really did feel good at the end. I passed plenty of walkers, though.  That’s a good feeling!

About a mile out, I got ready for my big finish.  Put the glow stick behind me, zip up top, straighten top and number.  Smooth hair back.  Practice big smile.  The cheering crowds were crazy!  Then I saw it- the finish shoot!  I was so happy!  I was still hollering at people over the last mile that I was going to be an Ironman.  When I got to the finish, I put my arms up and crossed that finish line and it was an amazing feeling.  And my husband and Elizabeth were there.  And it was great.  I got my gigantic medal, and pajama bottoms!  Walked around a bit; was sore but not miserable.  Ate a bit.  Drank a bit.  But interestingly, I had no interest in the free beer.  Crazy! That’s what usually keeps me going at the end of a long race.  Took some pictures.  Talked to some people.  One guy had fallen on the run and had refused a trip to the hospital- finished with a fat bloody bandage on his head 2nd in AG.  I was not that good!  My total time was 14:37:00.  Faster than I expected, but not what I was hoping for when I started training.  Nevermind- I am an Ironman and I learned a lot and that is a stupid way to think.  I was 99/135 overall women and 16/21 in AG (45-49).  I can live with that. 

Thankfully, I had remembered how hungry I was after my 100 miler.  I asked the hubs to make sure I had food- there were 2 muffins and 2 bananas in the room.  We got to the hotel about midnight, I read though all my FB messages and replied to texts from throughout the day and finally turned lights out at 0200.  By 0630, all my food was gone and I was starving again.  I went and ate a good sized hotel breakfast and saw a few other athletes there as well.  I went back to bed at about 0715, then woke up at 0930 starving again. We had plans for IHOP with Elizabeth at 1000 and I ate another giant breakfast.  I had been dreaming of IHOP for two months.  It was soooooo good.  I laid around the rest of the day, saw a movie and then Jack took me to Ruth’s Chris for dinner.  I had champagne, wine, steak, and chocolate cake and a chocolate martini for dessert. 

I really learned a lot training and racing this event.  I’m not sure if I will ever have the time to do another before I retire.  20 hour weeks were the norm.  Camp week was 25hrs.  That’s a part time job on top of my regular 55-60hr a week job.  Thank goodness I have a wonderful who husband who has few needs and doesn’t demand a lot of “quality time”.  As long as I keep him happy, he lets me do whatever I want.  I had a friend to do the last half of 6 hr bikes with me.  Who knows?  For now, I will stick with Halves and Centuries.  I am an Ironman. That was my One Thing.  For real.  I just wanted to be able to join the club and say that for the rest of my life.  And I’m getting my tattoo! 

Marine corps marathon

Marine Corps Marathon I did my third marathon yesterday. Holy moly that was hard. I think what made it the hardest was that I was t really properly trained. Due to the 100 mile triathlon three weeks ago, the furthest I had gone was 15 miles. My friend was doing her first marathon and when her other friend who was to do it with her backed out, she asked me to run with her. I agreed, but "with her" meant id start with her and find her at the end! She's a much faster runner than I and there was no way I could do it "with" her. The expo and packet pick up the day before went pretty smoothly except for the long lines and the crowds. We cooked some spaghetti for dinner and stopped by the Goodwill for some throw away clothes and then went to bed early. What? Never heard of throw away clothes? It was supposed to be in the 30s in the morning. We bought sweatshirts, hats and gloves to wear before the race until we got warmed up, and the you toss the clothes aside. We assume the organizers gather up the clothes and donate them back to charity. I actually found great pair of pink gloves on the side of the road and snatched them up and tossed my others aside. The race itself was I in a beautiful location through downtown DC and the local parks and monuments. As far as the running, I didn't to be fast. Miles 1-19 felt pretty good. 20-23 were very hard. I had to count steps and I did some walking and was in a lot of pain. I would run 200 steps and then walk 50. And the. Do it all over again. When I got to mile 24, I knew I could run the last two harder, so I did. But my goodness, that last half mile is a killer! Plus, my Garmin says it was actually 27 miles. So did my friend's. Sanctioned races are supposed to be spot on, so I don't know how it's off, but it was! I finished in 5:35 officially. Goal was to go under 6, so I'm pretty happy with that. When I finished, I was hurting more than I ever have at the end of anything. I laid down, and moaned and groaned and tried to make the pain go away. I stretched and moaned some more. Then I got up to go find my free beer. I got my medal from a Marine who saluted my (I saluted back), got a book of snacks, a water and a couple of bananas...moaning and limping the entire way. I made my way to the beer. My friend saw me and called my name and I said I couldn't stop. She caught up to me and told me they were out of beer. That was the last straw. I actually sat down on the curb and cried. She rubbed my shoulders for a minute or two while the tears of frustration and pain leaked out. Then I decided it was over, took a Motrin and we got up and made out way to the metro. Her husband and mom were with us and were so supportive. She finished in 4:25, which is a great time. We got home and I drank two beers. After the first one and a shower, I felt like a new woman. That night, we went out for steak and I added French onion soup and a crab cake. Plus some wine. Gotta have wine. I slept terrible last night... tossing and turning. Ended up getting about about 40 minutes early at 0410 to get ready for the airport. Made it there and onto my flight, where I am writing this, with plenty of time to spare. Next marathon will be in March. I'll do the Bataan Death March again, this time in ABUs. In April, I'll be doing the Mighty Mujer Super Sprint Triathlon (which I vowed last year to never do again because it was so poorly organized). A bunch of of the wives want to docs triathlon and that is a great beginner one. It's in a pool, so you don't even have to know how to swim. Probably do some long bike rides over the summer. If the Air Force doesn't move me next summer, I'll probably be doing my first Iron Distance race next October. I can't believe I'm even saying that after yesterday. We'll see...that's a long way away. In the. Meantime, I think I'll schedule a massage for this week.

One Hundred Mile Triathlon

this is so late because i couldnt figure out how to log on!

The 100 mile triathlon My oh my. I'd been training for this for about four months. Getting up at 0430, to run, bike, and or swim for months on end. Biking after work a couple of times a week meant trying to get everything done do I could be out of the office by 4:00 or 4:30 for what might be a two or three hour ride. Saturday found me riding with my friend for three to six hours- up to 80 miles on a weekend. We did a few 100 mile rides as well, in the form of races/organized rides. We also did the RAGBRAI ride in July, which was over 400 miles across Iowa. One day was 112 miles! Towards the end, I started doing "bricks". That's where you ride a certain distance and then run. I didn't have time to do these during the week, so I did them on Saturday and then my long ride on Sunday. The longest one was 53 mile bike and 10 mile run. That's almost as long as my previous longest race! Mondays were long runs before work- up to 13 miles. Who does that? My half half marathon, i trained for months. Now I jump up and do one before work. That's crazy talk right there! Jack was kind enough to come with me. Going to a destination race by yourself is no fun. Better to have someone with you. We took my bike apart all the way down to the frame and put it into two boxes. That takes about an hour. Then I packed up all my stuff. You cannot possibly imaging how much stuff there is for one race. First, there's the swim. That requires, at a minimum, a swim suit, cap and goggles. For a longer race, or if your are more serious about your craft, you get more specialized and wear a special triathlon suit that is worn during all three phases of the race. If you are swimming in cold water, you need a wetsuit. If you re swimming in very cold water, you need neoprene booties and a neoprene cap to protect the feet and head. For the bike, you obviously need a bike, which needs to be packed for travel. Or you can have a company ship for about $350 each way. I have a beautiful bike box, that my bike and wheels fit into, but after the airlines started charging a fortune ($200-300 each way), I found that I could break my bike down to luggage size and ship for free on southwest. You also need shoes and helmet at a minimum. If you want to eat and drink on the bike ( you do in a long race!), you also need bottles, electrolyte mix, and gels. For the run there are the shoes and maybe a hat. There are also sunscreen, Body Glide, Chamois Butter, sunglasses, RoadID, Garmin, race belt, chip strap, towel, after the race clothes and numerous other items to remember. I have my regular packing list and then there's the race packing list. It's a little stressful to make sure nothing is forgotten! We arrived safely in New Your a and I checked Ruby over after picking her up from the baggage area. She was perfectly fine. Rudy's my bike. Yes, she has a name. We found out bed and breakfast and had a delicious dinner and hit the hay. Up the next morning for breakfast...tht was the most disappointing thing about the B and B. Usually breakfast is awesome at those places. Not there. Yogurt and a premise cinnamon pastry. We spent the next two days exploring Niagara Falls on foot and by speed boat. The night before the race, we went to packet pick up and I got all my stuff needed....bib number and bike number, pus some other stuff. Up before daylight the day of the race. Jack helped me get everything set up in transition- it is SO nice to have an extra pair of hands! Then once I was done, so was he. He had no desire to stick around. But he was there when they announced, as I was squeezing into my wetsuit, that the swim was changed to a one mile run. What!?! I was so upset! I was here for a triathlon, not a duathlon! Grrrrr! Apparently the waves were too high for the little boats to put the buoys out and too high for the little boats to rescue a swimmer if something went wrong. It was swimmable, but not boatable. Dang it! So the start was a one mile run from where the swim was supposed to come ashore. It was a beautiful trail run through the woods and I loved every minute of that. Then I made my transition to the bike and off I went. That's right when the rain started. For two hours. Goodness. It was a Bit chilly...about 60 degrees. I had put on my leg warmers and my arm Warner's and liked my gloves. But I didn't end them. Around mile 25, my quads and knees started to ache. That had never happened on a ride before and I still don't know why it happened that day. But for the next 61 miles, I was in pain. The bike leg was supposed to be 84 miles and it was 86. The wind kicked up something fierce for last two hours. Tree dewars tons of road kill...87 frogs, 8 snakes, 1 vulture, 1 red fox, 1 grey fox, a few cats, 2 possums, and 1 skunk. And that was on one 43 mile loop! In the transition, I was rarely so happy to get off my bike. I took off my helmet, threw on my shoes, loaded up on a few gels, and off I went! I knew those -5 miles were going to be hard. For about two miles, I could hear foot steps behind me. Then a lady got next to means stayed there for a half a mile or so. She said, I. Don't . Mean. To. Run beside you. But. I. Can't. Go. Any faster. Just like that. She was so funny. It's considered rude to run for a long time beside someone without asking them if it's ok. I didn't mind. Then she started talking to me. Then another lady who had been walk-running joined us for a bit. They talked and I listened. I don't have enough breath to talk and run at the same time. Celeste said she had planned to walk some because of a hip injury, but she kept up. Then we settled into a rhythm, eventually lost the other lady, and decided to stick together at some point. I think we were both hurting real bad and decided hurting together was better than hurting alone. At mile ten, her husband joined us and ran the rest of the way. He is a prosecutor and I got him to tell me stories to pass the time. Celeste and I cam across the finish line together in 9:32. I took third in my age group! Out of three. I got a prize and everything. It was pretty cool. I drank some beer, ate some pasta, then went back got he B and B and are more pasta. Jack was wonderful enough to take my bike apart while I took a bath. I packed it, though. If something happened to her, I would never forgive him, so it's better if I just take that responsibility on myself. I took a motrin and went to bed. My legs were achy and restless, the worst they have ever been. Ever. I kept waking up. Then, at 0200, I was awake and starving. I mean, I HAD to have something to eat. I I was getting up and asking jack where the keys were because I was going out for food. I didn't think we had any ( except my Swedish Fish...and they are yummy, but not what I needed). He reminded me that he had some airline peanuts. Then I remembered I did too. And there was a small apple. So I sat up and ate four bags of Southwest airline peanuts and an apple and read for two hours till I could go back to sleep. Then I slept for about two hrs and we got up for the airport. This race was one of my most satisfying accomplishments to date. My first marathon and this one are probably right at the top. Now I am seriously thinking I could an Ironman next year. I want to do one someday, I just have no idea when I will have time to train. I'm thinking if I don't move, I will do the Beach2Battleship Iron distance triathlon next October. Yikes! And Jack said I could get a triathlon bike! I didn't know five years ago I would really like this stuff, but I do. And I plan to keep at it. My goal is to outlive my competition so I can start winning things. It might take about 30-40 years, but that's my goal.

Santa Fe Century

Today my friend and I did a 100 mile bike ride called the Santa Fe Century.  We've been looking forward to it for months. I didn't really know much about it except that it was 100 miles long and there is a miserable hill called Heartbreak Hill that a lot of people can't even ride up.  I was dreading that!  We left on Saturday after doing a bunch of errands and chores around our respective houses.  It took us about about five hours to get here. We went to the hotel first. Let me just say that my friend made the reservations after our other friend who is doing The ride said to make one quick because rooms are going fast.  She did no research. Checked out no online reviews.  Just booked it.  On the recommendation of a GUY!  W got into the room and there was this yucky smell.  The carpets are stained and gross.  The internet doesn't work. And there was no coffee pot.  I could live without coffee ( although I can certainly live with it!), but that was the last straw for Friend.  We called the front desk and got put on hold while the guy went to look for one.  He came back and said No Go.  Really?, I said. Followed by long displeased pause.  Then I had an idea.  Are all the rooms booked, I asked.  No, he said.  Well, can you go look in one of those rooms and see if there is a coffe pot we can have?  He said he had just thought of that himself!  I complemented him on his brilliance and waited to hear from him.  Eventually, there was a knock at the door and there he was with a beautiful coffee pot and extra coffee packets.  Which is a good thing, because they were single serve. And we had now had a regular coffee pot.  So we threw three or four of them in the pot this morning to see what would happen.   And wouldn't you know it...some fairly respectable coffee came out!

Turns out, that was the least of our problems.  We live in Alamogordo at 4200 ft. It has been HOT the last week.  The wind kicks up in the afternoon, but it's HOT.  S drive five hours north.  Turns out, it's 7200 ft here.  And COLD!!  And guess who forgot to check a weather report before we left town?  You guessed it.  The Wonder Twins left home for a 7-8 hour OUTDOOR event without check the weather.  Sooooo.....we are both REI members and we knew Santa Fe must have one, being as how they are really outdoorsy here.  Yes!!!  Smart phone to the rescue!  We hoofed it up there spit spot to see if we could find some warm clothes.  Now, I know what you are thinking (Jack).  Yes, I DO have warm clothes at home. But there are a few things I have been wanting and this was the perfect occasion.  And they were having a 20-30% off sale! Woohoooo!!  I found the arm sleeves I wanted that keep the sun off ( and are warm when it's chilly), the leg warmers I wanted (perfect for those rides that start early when it's cold and go until its warm), some medium weight gloves (I have fingerless and heavy weight, but no medium weight), some wool socks, and a cute T-shirt.  Ok, I didn't NEED that, per se, but it was on sale.  And did I mention it was super cute?  Friend found some stuff she "needed" and so we were set.

Then we went to dinner.  We wanted Italian.  You simply must have a pasta dinner before a long endurance event.  We went to one place on a recommendation and it was not what we were were looking for.  So we did a quick phone search ( how did people live before smart phones? I have no idea.  Phone books??)  so off we went, walking in search of the other restaurant. It was exactly what we were looking for.  We had an amazing bottle of Malbec, some delicious bread dipped in different olive oils, and a lovely pile of linguine with some kind of sausage sauce.  Delish! We came home to the crappy hotel and went to bed. I was supposed to set the alarm for 0545. Not sure what happened, but it went off at 0445. Friend went back to sleep. Of course, I couldn't. We got our stuff together and off to the race we went.... Wait, it's not a race. It's a ride. I did have to keep telling myself that over and over when Friend was a bit behind and I needed to wait. We were in this together and had said over and over that its a ride, not a race! Well, try telling that to my legs when they see people passing us! They don't like it! We arrived a little later than we wanted to, at about 0645. Ate a Delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes with pine nuts in them, sausage and oj. Plus more coffee. Then we set out. Overall, the first 63 miles were pretty dang good. There two rest stops. We actually did a custom route. We knew that the wind was going to be bad and we wanted the option of only doing 80. So we started with the century route, then turned off at the point where the 50 mile circuit would turn. At the rest stop, We went clockwise backwards on the century route. At that last food stop, we decided things were looking good and we had plenty of energy and wanted to do the full 100. That involved a turn to the west. That's where the wind was coming from. Oh my goodness. We did 7 miles straight into the wind at about 8mph. Very difficult. But we knew the return trip would be worth it..and it was! I flew at about 30mph for a good part of it, passing people like crazy. Friend is not quite as fast and fell back some. I waited at the end of the 7 miles. That was the best part of the ride for me. We ate at a pit stop and then headed for home. 22 miles to go. We felt great. No problem, right? Wrong!! Holy crap. They were the 22 hardest miles of the day. Many of them uphill, most of them either into the wind or into a very strong crosswind that threatened to blow us off our bikes a few times. One time, I was down in my aerobars going about 24 mph down a hill and a crosswind got me and sent me sideways. Freaked me out a bit. It was mostly a long hard slog. 14 miles in, there was a rest stop and that helped a lot. We had enough in us to power through. With about two miles left to go, we missed a turn and ended up coming back a slightly different route and finished with 100.56 on the odometer. My hooha is killing me, my legs are pooped, and my back is a bit achy, but it was a great accomplishment. We finished in about 7.5 hours. Not bad for all the wind. After the ride, we had spaghetti with chili on top ( we thought it was meat sauce!), salad, Cornbread and a yummy brownie. And beer. Yum. But I was full I couldn't drink my whole beer. Bummer. It's not too often I throw a beer away ( actually, I cant remember the last time), but I did ditch about half of that one. What a shame. We came home and crashed. Friend was able to take a nice nap. I tried, but I don't nap well. We got ready and wore our cute new matching shirts to dinner. We looked like 14 year olds, but we didn't care. Had a delicious steak for dinner...mine was buffalo rib eye- yum! A nice glass of Malbec and now we are home and getting for lights out. I have to be at work for a meeting at 1030, so we'll be up at 0400 to get on the road. This was one of those events that we're glad we did, but we won't be signing up next year. CRoss that one off the bucket list!

Bataan Death March Marathon

Several months ago I was looking for a marathon to do in March and I came across this one.  I had actually thought about doing it last year,  I had a conference to go too, so I couldn't do it last year. This year, I live only 45 miles up the road from where I take place at White Sands Missile Range, so I absolutely had to do it.  I worked early hard training,but my
 Lst really long run was a month ago and the I got bad sick.  I had a horrible virus that turned into a sinus infection and an ear infection and ulcers in my throat.  I ended up on antibiotics, and the last week I was on steroids because eustacean tube was still full and my ear was clogged.  I got the all clear on a normal ear on Friday..yay!  That unrealized to racing, I'm just happy my ear went back to normal. Anyway,because of the sickness, I did not train at all for a week, then my volume the following week was half what it was supposed to be. So I did not feel I was very well prepared for this marathon .  And I was scared! Everyone kept talking about how horrible it is. How high the hills are.  How deep the sand is.  How bad my blisters would be.how many toenails I would lose.  How I needed to carry extra socks, extra moleskin, extra this or that.  Don't forget my sunscreen.  All that stuff.  I sled two people who had done it and they said it was really hard. It they hadn't run it.  So.....my plan was to train for a marathon, read all the race information closely, and then be flexible with my day.  My last marathon was five years ago in Tokyo.  It did not go well at all.  It was cold, rainy, and about 20 mph winds.  I went out too fast and bonked at mile 18 and was utterly miserable after that.  I had no plans to make that mistake again!  So I trained hard And the official race info said that if you planning to run, then wear good running shoes.  That was the only runner specific advice!

He weekend started on Saturday when you have to pick up your race packet.  We planned it so that we would have time to meet the veterans of the actual march.  Oh yeah....if you are young and don't know...the Bataan Death March took place in World War II.  The Japanese captured about 80,000 army and navy troops and forced them To march 65 miles. Many hundreds of Americans died and thousands of Filipinos died.  They were then transferred to Japan to work in slave camps and there they stayed until the end of the war.  Many survivors come to the march and they make themselves available for questions The day before.

At the end of the check in, there was a man who had written a book.  I bought one on the spot and asked him to sign it for me.  There is even a photo of him inside the book that the Japanese took of him.  In a room was a man who had been working in the copper mines about 40 miles from one of the bombs.  He told about things they did to the guards, how he stole things, they weren't allowed to speak English at all, they had no medical care, And sometimes the man standing right next to him would be shot for spoken small infraction.  He had no idea how he lived.  After the war, they were sent to the Philippines for 30 days to fatten up before they were allowed to go home.  He still weighed 85 pounds after that!  It was very rewarding to meet them.

This morning, I was up at 0300 and drove the 45 miles or so to the Army post where it was held.  I slathered all my sensitive areas and anywhere that might chafe with body glide, it some Vaseline in key areas, slathered a thick layer of SPF90, put on my Garmin And my road ID anew set off for the start.  They had a speech and did a roll call where they called the names of the attendees and then all the names ( about 10) of those veterans who had died over the last year. It took about 45 min to get to the actual start line be cases my category was the last to go.  I was civilian light..that means I could wear whatever I wanted.  The other main categories are military light, which means they hAve to wear a uniform and military heavy, which means they have to wear a military uniform And a 35 pound pack.  Holy cow!  I am NOT doing that!  There was a short version which was only 15 miles.  At the end of the race, I was passing people who had walked the short one.

Once I got going, I was able to run the first six miles or so.  I had seen the elevation profile (hint...always look for an elevation profile for pane race you are attempting!  It will save you surprises).  I knew there was a six mile hill starting at mile six and it was downhill with a few up hills from there.  And then people talked about "the wall" and the "sand pit" which was supposed to be ankle deep sand.  I got to the big hill and realized that it was A. long and B. steep and C. I wasn't getting up it any faster running than I was walking.  So I basically did a speed walk up hill for six miles averaging 15 min miles.  Running felt so good after that!  I started running after that and pretty much ran the rest of the way except for a few short uphills. Things got ugly from about mile 23-25 when I had to start counting. It's bad when I have to count. I did those two miles by running 200 steps and walking 100, then repeat. Oh my. Then mile 26 is almost home. I never was exactly sure what the sands pit was...there was one area of maybe a half mile where the sAnd was pretty deep and I had to walk and I think that must be it. But it surely was not ankle deep! There were a few other areas that had deep sand where I had to walk. I think the wall must have been the last few miles that wrapped around base housing. I didn't make much of it, but on the last mile, a lady told me that this part was so ward because we had to go ALL THE WAY AROUND base housing. They had mile markers every mile and I had my Garmin. Made no difference to me if there was a wall or what I had to run around...I knew the distance. People let crazy things beat them down. The wind was pretty horrific for the last two hours, but they were mostly crosswinds. And since I wasn't on a bike, it didn't really matter! My goal was to finish in less than six hours. My last marathon was 5:12 and I was miserable. This one was 5:43 and I was not miserable. There were parts that were really hard, but I might not wait five years until I do my next one! After the run, I did do my usual lay down in relative agony and stretch. Then I waited for the first time ever for a post race massage. That was a brilliant idea! I think I'm going to schedule another one this week. I ate a brat and sauerkraut, drank a beer, and then drove home. Took a nice shower... I was filthy! I thought I had some bad tan lines, but it turns out I had mild tan lines and a lot of dirt. No burns. Been lying on the couch watching the tube ever since! After I get the pictures out of the phone, I'll post them on the blog.

Tour de Las Cruces

Well, apparently I'm into these 100K tours now. Did another one today.  This one was relatively flat down in Las Cruces. It's about an  hour from here and I went with some other folks from base.  Two of them were the on the Tour de Ruidoso a few weeks ago.  Shockingly, though, this one was harder.  I think because it was relatively flat, I went way harder and there was only one stop.  Let me just say that when a ride is 62 miles long, 47 miles is way too late to put a dang rest stop.  My quads were killing me by then!  A there wasn't even a porta potty.  Thank goodness I had taken a break in the weeds about 10 miles before.  Actually, we all did!  I did discover later that some thorny weeds had gotten stuck in my shorts!  I have no idea why it didn;t bther me when I was riding, but after I got off, they were stabbing me a LOT!

The last 20 miles were soooo painful.  My quads were in agony.  Basically all I could do was put my head down and push on. I got on the wheel of my buddy and just let him pull and I followed.  That is the most painful ride I have ever been on. Even the mountains of Ruidoso didn't hurt that much!  Garmin says it was actually 63 miles and I did it in 4 hours at an average of 16 miles per hour. That's a good sustained pace for me over that long.  But I'd like to get it up to 20.

My friend KJ talked me into starting spinning on Tues and Thurs with him a few other people I know. That should help with my speed.  My endurance is good, but I can't hold a fast pace for more than an hour. I'll fix that!!