Rockledge Rumble 15K

Somehow I've always missed out on the Rockledge Rumble trail race, which has been a staple in the DFW racing calendar for over 20 years.  It just didn't fit into my training schedule or I've messed around and missed signing up before it sells out because it is such a popular event.  This fall/winter I want to race more and I want to run on trails more often so I was determined not to let this event pass me by another year.

I went back and forth between running the 15K or the 30K.  I knew that I could cover the 30K distance, but I decided on the 15K because I've been working on getting faster on the trails and I wanted to see how fast I could run it.  We had a pretty miserable week leading into the race with rain, wind, and cold temperatures.  Thankfully this moved out by late in the week and it was a perfect 40ish degrees with low wind and plentiful sunshine - that is running weather! The trails seem to drain fairly well and mud was not an issue at all.

The 15K did not start until 7:45 and Mr K and I arrived in plenty of time to park, visit with friends, and make all of the necessary trips to the restroom.  It was chilly as we stood around waiting, but I resisted the urge to over dress and I raced in shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and a hat - which was perfect.  The race started out on the road for a little bit, which gave me a good chance to settle in and find my place in the group.  I knew that I would be familiar with the trail from just after mile 2 to somewhere around mile 7. The beginning and the end would be new to me as I've only run to Rockledge Park once or twice.

I was tentative about passing people at first, because I know that I'm a bit of a chicken on the trails and I didn't want to be re-passed if the trail became more technical.  I got over that pretty quickly though as my confidence and familiarity with the trail grew.  It is a race, after all!

There were not tons of spectators, but there was one guy on a mountain bike that popped up every time the trail crossed the road. He always offered a very reassuring word of support and I really appreciated him.  My goal was to get to the turn around at Murrell Park with a pushed, but steady effort and not to get re-passed by anyone that I passed.  I made it through 4 miles with approximately at 11:00 pace, which is a solid one for me when it comes to running trails.

I grabbed a drink of water at the aide station and saw Mr K emerge from the woods.  "I didn't know you were ahead of me" he said before grabbing a drink and hitting the trail again.  I got back to work and tried to close the distance between he and I, but this would prove to be impossible as the man was on a mission.  Give him 40 degree temperatures and he can run for days, it is like magic.

There were a couple of runners between Mr K and me and I just worked on gradually picking them off.  Having those runners as rabbits helped me quite a bit because I knocked off three consecutive miles with paces in the mid-10s, really cooking for me on the trails.

I was able to pick off the runners that were between us, but he was out of sight within a couple of miles.  Run strong, Mr K!  See you at the finish!  I could feel the fatigue starting to set in and I knew that I'd been running in Zone 4 for most of the race.  I told myself to hang in there while counting down the miles to the finish.

I slowed down a bit in the last mile in a half as the course became more technical and I became more fatigued.  I could hear another runner behind me and I remembered my goal of not letting anyone re-pass me.  I am not sure if I would have pushed myself as much at the end had she not been on my tail, but I was determined that she was not going to pass me.  I kept listening for finish line sounds and looking for that famous steep stairway and it just felt like I would never see them.  Finally, I saw a guy with a medal telling me that I was almost to the end.

 Approaching the turn around (Photo: Mark O)

The girl behind me was getting closer and closer, but I was determined to make it up those stairs before her so I gave it one final push to the finish line.  I was so happy to be finished! Mr K was there waiting for me, having finished a couple of minutes ahead of me.

My official time was 1:45:53 which gave me an 11:00 pace.  Upon checking the official results, I found that I was 1st place for women 40-49 and 10th place female overall.  I had a blast running out there, I pushed myself on the trails and took a few risks, and I met my goals - pretty good little day of running.

I'm so thankful for the girl behind me for the push

The best part of trail races is hanging out with all friends afterwards and we had a great time while waiting for Baha and Brian to finish the 30K and for Ali to finish the 50K. The Barnwells of Blaze Trails Racing do a wonderful job putting on these races, I highly encourage you to check out their race calendar if you are looking for a trail race in the coming months. I got so many compliments on my new running shorts - they are the fitted run shorts from Coeur and I'm officially hooked.  They are so comfortable and they have two big pockets on the legs perfect for carrying a phone or fuel.

So there you have it, one of my first steps on the way to my first ultra at Black Canyon 60K in February.  I am having a blast so far and the journey has only just begun.  I can't wait for the many adventures that the coming months hold.

Ironman Wisconsin Finale - The Run

If you are just picking up the story of my Ironman Wisconsin here, you can read about my swim here and about my bike here.  Now for the finale....the run.

I had my eye out for Karen as I ran into the ballroom to get to my stuff in Transition, I had no idea if she would be there but I thought that there was a chance since we all had to come by that spot when we finished the bike.  I spotted her at about the same time I spotted Mr. K, but my heart sank when I saw him because he was on the sidelines and it appeared that he was not racing.  He told me that he dropped after the first bike loop - he had been battling bronchitis for the last month and it had been super hard on him.  I was so disappointed for him that he would not be able to finish the race.  As I'm still processing this news, Karen points out that Baha is standing next to her.  After some very confused words came from my mouth, they yelled at me "JUST GO!" so I hurried into transition to switch into my run gear.  I was rambling on and on about the news I'd just gotten and the sweet volunteer tried to follow my story but she seemed confused.  I knew that my chances of a PR were out the window with that slow bike split, but I still wanted to work on making my transition quicker and I knew that I had a chance at a solid run.  At a decent 5:34 it was nearly 4 minutes faster than my T2 at Chattanooga last year - a small victory in a day filled with big challenges!

As I emerged from the ballroom and out onto the run course, I immediately noticed the cool temperature.  With temperatures in the upper 50s, I felt so much lighter than when I usually ran after a long bike ride at well over 90 degrees by that time of the day at home.  My plan was to find an "all day" pace and hold onto it as long as I could. Two more loops and my journey to my third Ironman would be done. I saw the runners who were on the course already and I knew that the next time I was back at this point I would only have a loop to go. I felt a little like it was my duty to do the guys proud, like I was representing my little team on this run.

I always find the first loop to be kind of like an adventure - finding out where the course is going and what I'm going to see along the way.  It is never quite as fun the second time around, but knowing the landmarks does help beak it down a bit. I saw Deb on State Street, in the first mile or so of the run.  It was great to get a word of encouragement from her and I yelled out to her how much that bike course kicked my tail!  I soon learned that State Street (there were two separate sections) would be my favorite part of the run course.  The crowds there were great, they really made me feel like a rock star.

I settled in and focused on keeping things nice and steady.  I wasn't quite ready to walk the aide stations just yet, but that was my plan eventually.  Not having the heat beating down on me helped me to extend this time a little bit. I was having a blast too, the Ironman Wisconsin run course is my favorite of all the races I've done so far.  As a huge sports fan, running into Camp Randall Stadium where University of Wisconsin plays was such a cool moment.  I remember that it was eerily quiet in there, way quieter than you would expect a football stadium to be - but there were no crowds of crazed football fans in there, only a couple of volunteers making sure we stayed on course. A guy behind me yelled "O-H" and "Go Bucks" and it just bounced around the empty seats.  I'm sure Badger fans everywhere were cringing and they didn't know why.

After that we headed back into the streets and towards a park by the lake, turns out that it was Lake Mendota, which is the lake that our house was on. There were some really cute dogs in the park with their people and one was wearing a sign that said "I'm proud of you." Suddenly I missed my dogs and just wanted to hug them more than anything. I ran these first five miles at a 10:30 pace - I was so excited to feel this strong starting the run.  It was such a big change from my run last year at Ironman Chattanooga where I over-biked and paid for it with a terrible run on a difficult course.

After the course exited the park it put us on campus for a little bit.  I would not describe this as a hilly run overall, but the section through campus had a couple of hills. They are not anything bigger than what we find at home so they didn't bother me too much (no Chattanooga or Waco flashbacks here).  I decided to walk them though, in order to conserve energy for the rest of the run.  Once through campus, I was back on State Street again - the other end this time - and the party atmosphere returned.  I smiled real big and felt like a champ!  There was a turn around after a few blocks and we got to head back down this street again.  We took a slightly different route to get back to the park this time and ran on a trail by the lake. This part seemed to go on for a really long time and I was starting to walk the aide stations by now.  At first I walked every other one, but eventually it turned into a walk at almost all of them.

Finally....finally I got to the turn around at the end of this lake path.  This is where I encountered my least favorite race sign ever - it said "only 11 miles to go!" Seriously, who does that? This is not an encouraging thought at this point - I was far enough in for the "yay! I'm running" excitement to have worn off, but too far from the end for the "yay! I'm almost done" excitement to kick in.  Not cool, random spectator. Not. Cool.

At this point the course takes us back to the beginning to start loop 2.  I was averaging 10:50 through 10 miles, which is my best pace through 10 miles for an IM run. I saw Greg for the first time somewhere in this section, he was looking very strong and I was so excited for him - he was well into his second loop.  I finally stopped for a restroom break in here somewhere and I nibbled on some of the candy corn that I had stuffed in the back of my sports bra.  I got some of the best comments from fellow athletes about my candy corn, most of them were jealous and thought that it was an awesome idea.

I wasn't sure where my people would be, but I had a good idea that they would be with the crowds on State Street.  I saw Deb again first and got a great cheer from her.  Not longer after that I spotted Mr K, Karen, Baha, and Jerry (Greg's dad).  Seeing them made me so happy and gave me such energy.  I tried to look strong and peppy so that they would know I was having a good run and I wished that I could take them with me for the upcoming second loop. I'm telling you, those high 5s from them were packed with energy.

The energy near the turn around was so high, the Ironman volunteers are just the best and they must be exhausted when they are finished working because they give it their all out there. Thirteen miles done. One more loop, MK. You got this.

My watch died between mile 14 and 15, so who knows what my pace was after that, but I averaged 11:07 for the first 14 miles - still on pace for a faster IM run.  Spoiler alert, my pace was already starting to drop off by the beginning of the second loop. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold on to that because my quads were really feeling all of the climbing from the bike course.

Time to do it all again - State Street - where I saw my people again, Camp Randall, the path towards the lake.  I saw Greg heading in and I told him to go get that finish line.  He yelled something hilarious, in typical Greg fashion, and went on to have a very strong finish in his first Ironman.  By the time I got to the lake, the sweet pups were gone and it was starting to get dark.  This is where I remembered that I should pack a headlamp in my transition bag.  It is also where I laugh because it never fails that the dark comes on the most isolated part of the run course.  It started to rain in here too, I remember looking out and seeing the rain falling on the dark lake.

I walked the hills on campus again and I noticed that there were tons of people in the library.  It is funny how you forget that regular people are doing regular life things while you are out swimming, biking, and running for an entire day.  This side of State Street gave me some pep in my step again, but the fatigue was starting to take over.  That stretch along the lake path seemed even longer this time in the dark and the rain and I felt bad thinking that my team were standing around in the rain waiting for me.  They are the best and never even complained...but dang - hurry up, MK!

As I made the turn around in the park for the last time, I looked up and saw the State Capitol.  It was all lit up and glowing and looked so beautiful....and so far away.  It was a bit daunting to think that I had to run back there, but this was it - mile 22ish and I was officially heading towards the finish line. I was walking more and running less by this point because my legs just felt spent and my feet simply hurt. Some notes for next time - girl, you gotta eat something on the run course. I've gotten pretty good at bike nutrition, but I pretty much stopped eating when I got to the run.  A few orange slices, sips of chicken broth, and a nibble of candy corn just isn't enough.  Always something to work on and this could make a huge difference.

By the later miles of an Ironman I find that I'm pretty desperate to talk to someone to help pass the time until the finish.  In the final couple of miles I met a gal named Kate from Boston. She was so nice and we chatted all the way until the finish.  I was so thankful for her because otherwise the last few miles would have felt like a hundred years.

As you know, my watch died around mile 14 so I had no idea what my race time was looking like.  I knew that I ran the first 14 miles stronger than I had run my other Ironman runs, but I also knew that I slowed down quite a bit in the second half.  I knew that my swim and transition times were better than my previous Ironman races, but that bike split was my slowest yet by quite a bit.  I knew that any chances of a PR were out the window after the bike and I knew that this was going to be my slowest Ironman time so far. But I felt okay with that because I fought harder for this one than I had the others.  I thought back to the end of last year, when I couldn't run a mile without terrible pain from plantar fasciitis, just getting to the start line healthy was a goal during the winter months. This race felt like a battle from the time I put my face in the water until that moment as I wrapped up the final miles. This race threw many challenges at me, and I fought back each time.

Finally, I was in the glow of the Wisconsin State Capitol. It was such a beautiful sight.  I could hear Mike Reilly calling out the names and I knew that it would be my turn soon.  I told Kate to go ahead and enjoy her finish and then I gathered myself to enter the finishers chute.  It is the best finish line in all of racing - the red carpet, the lights, the music, the energy, "you. are. an. Ironman."  I always try to take in every single bit of it, to slow down time, and to capture all of the details in my mind but it always passes by too quickly. There are no guarantees in life, no promise of "next time," no finish line is ever promised, you have to make them count.

Finish Time: 14:38:17

Ironman Wisconsin Bike: Brutally Fun

When I left you, I had just finished a choppy swim and was headed into transition. One of the "charms" on Ironman Wisconsin is that transition is on the top floor of the Monona Terrace.  It is pretty unique in that the transition and changing area is inside the building in the ballrooms. Running up the famous "double helix" is a challenge all its own.  I remember feeling downright frantic, clutching my wetsuit, and shivering in the cold as I went round and round wondering if I would ever get to the top of the building.  I was trying so hard to improve my transition time as I knew that was an area where I could find a few minutes over my first two attempts.

The famous helix (random pic from Google)

Finally, I made it to the top and to the ballroom where my bag was waiting in T1.  The volunteers at Ironman are exceptionally awesome people and are always so calm and collected as I am rambling on and on and trying to make sure that I have all my stuff in order. She helped me get my socks and shoes on, sprayed me with sunscreen, helped put my arm warmers over my wet arms (a feat in itself!).  I loaded up my pockets with Honey Stinger Waffles, threw on my helmet and sunglasses, and I was off to find my bike.  Running in bike shoes is not easy, but I hustled as much as I could.  My bike was waiting for me, just as I'd left it and as I got to the mount line, I heard someone cheering and calling my name.  It was Deb! She'd come all the way from Indiana to cheer for me and some of her other friends.  I am so lucky to have supportive friends all over the country!

I got through transition in 11:17 - about the same as Ironman Maryland, but with a much more complex transition and that darned helix so I'll take it as a win!

What goes up must come down and now it was my turn to ride my bike down the winding helix.  I'm thankful that there were no other bikes around me as I rode the brakes all the way to the bottom.  Now it was time to see what I could do on the bike.  I still had hopes of a PR in my mind even though I knew that with 6100 feet of climbing the bike course would be the most challenging one that I'd ridden in an Ironman thus far.  I'm glad that we took the time to drive the course before the race because that helps me so much.  While I couldn't remember every turn, I had a good mental picture of what was coming ahead of me.

Views from our drive of the course (Pic: Karen Baha)

It was cloudy with temperatures in the upper 50s and not too much wind - nothing like the weather I'd trained in, but you would not hear me complaining. I added arm warmers to my race kit and never really thought about the temperatures again, other than occasionally feeling thankful that it wasn't hot.

Getting out of town was a little bit tricky as the route took us on a bike path for a couple of miles before hitting the open roads.  The course is described as a "lollipop" with a "stick" heading out to the loop, which we rode twice before heading back to town on the stick.  This is the same type of course that I have ridden at each of my Ironman races and I like the layout as I tend to think of the day in loops rather than miles (one loop on the swim, two loops on the bike, two loops on the run).

I get better at understanding and using my power meter with each race season and my plan for the day was to ride within my power limits.  I didn't have speed or time displayed on any of the data screens that I was using on my watch.  I had a heck of a ride at Chattanooga last year, the best ride of my life even with an average of 19.2 mph for the 116 miles....but I rode just a little bit above power and I paid for it mightily on the run.  My goal here at Wisconsin was to have a more complete race and to get to the run with some ability to actually run left in my legs.

I knew that there would be big climbs, big descents, and lots of turns so I settled in and got to work.  I had Honey Stinger Waffles and Shot Blocks to eat with water and Osmo in my bottles.  I try to at least nibble on something every time that my watch chimes five miles so that I am getting calories every 15-20 minutes depending on my speed.  I don't always get something in, but that strategy seems to work for me. When training at home in the hot summer it is so hard to chew those waffles, I think that the heat just makes everything more difficult, so I was surprised at how much easier it was to eat in the cooler temperatures.

I was envious of the locals who could train on these roads all of the time because I knew that they would have a definite advantage on the climbs and also a big advantage on the descents.  Some of the descents really had me nervous as there were often turns at the bottom and I wasn't familiar enough with the roads to know where they go.  I was admiring one lady in a bright green kit who was riding near me for a good part of the first loop.  I could usually climb to the top of a hill ahead of her, but she could tuck into aero and descend like a boss! I know that I was not able to fully take advantage of some of those descents because of my chicken-ness.  Always something to work on, right? I just can't think of any descents like that around here on which to practice.

There are a set of three hills towards the end of the loop that I have since learned are called the "Three Bitches." I can see why they are called that because they are just mean.  However, the locals make a party of it and line the hills - it looked like a scene from the Tour de France.  I was in my smallest gear and out of the saddle for most of them (and barely moving at that), but I laughed and smiled the whole way just watching all of the people.  I'm not sure I could have made it up those hills twice without the "encouragement" of the crowd.

 

Somewhere not too long after these climbs, there was a big descent with a sharp turn at the bottom.  There were several warning sings that said "slow" and most of us were heeding that advice.  About that time a guy came around me and I could tell that he was just going way too fast.  "Too fast!! Too fast!!" I was silently shouting.  It looked to me like he decided to take his chances with the soft, green grass at the end instead of trying to make the turn and end up skidding across the pavement.  However, there must have been some kind of bump between the road and the grass and when he hit it he and his bike took a somersault in the air.  It was one of the worst crashes I'd ever seen and it rattled me a bit as I made the turn and kept going.  Another rider passed me and we both commented on how awful that crash was.  I've thought about that athlete often and I hope that he is okay.

The end of the first loop brought us back through Verona and there were people lining the streets to cheer us on.  It was here that I heard my name and saw Deb cheering - I can't tell you how cool it is to have friends cheering on the course, especially when racing so far from home.  One loop down, one more to go - let's get this done!

I'm thankful that I only had my power meter numbers on my watch and not my speed because I probably would have become discouraged and the race went on.  I could tell from the five mile chimes that my speed was decreasing and I could see that my power had dropped a bit too, but I was still towards the top of my power range and that is exactly where I needed to be in order to have a decent run.  Ride to power, MK. That is your job here.

I was having to pee a lot more often that usual - guess there is something about that cooler weather - so I finally hopped off my bike at a rest stop somewhere around mile 80.  It felt so good to stand up for a minute and give my legs a break.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention how beautiful this course is.  Picture red barns, silos, beautiful farmhouses, and rolling fields of corn for as far as they eye could see - it is exactly what you think of when you picture the Midwest.  I always wonder who lives in those homes and what their life is like.  There were also some pretty cute cows along the way - black and white spotted dairy cows, not the standard beef cattle like you see all over Texas.  Wisconsin is a beautiful place!

IM Mooooo (Pic: Karen Baha)

I just kept pedaling (there seems to be a theme to this day - just keep swimming, just keep pedaling) until I found myself a the Three Bitches again.  This time there was an athlete pulling a person in a bike trailer. Members of a local girls cross country team were taking turns running behind the trailer and giving it a slight push up the hill.  I couldn't imagine pulling someone else for the duration of this course nor could I imagine running up those hills pushing a trailer like those girls were doing.  There is no shortage of inspiration at Ironman, it surrounds you.

Just as I got up those tough hills for the second time, close to mile 90, I noticed that there was a light rain falling. I'm not sure when it started, I just realized that it was getting harder to see as I was wearing sunglasses.  This was about the time that I was making that descent where I saw the crash earlier in the race.  During one of my last training rides my back brake cable snapped as I was pulling up to a red light.  This was all I could think about as I went down that hill on the damp pavement....the memory of how that felt was fresh and I wondered what I would do if it happened right then.

I made it through Verona a second time and was heading for the turn back to the "stick" part of the course when I thought that I heard a scraping sound coming from my front wheel.  I pulled over to check the brakes and they were rubbing on my front wheel just a bit.  This happens sometimes when I use my front brakes (which I rarely do) as I did during that last big descent on the slick pavement.  I finished the rest of the loop and headed back towards Madison.

Because I only had my power meter numbers on my watch screen, I had no idea how long this whole ride was taking me.  I knew that it was much slower either of my other Ironman rides, but I was a little afraid to find out how much slower.  I knew that my chances at a PR were long gone, but I was still hoping for a solid race and a finish time that I could feel proud of. I finally took a look when I got back on the bike path near the finish and I felt very disappointed to see that I would be coming in over seven hours.  Both of my other Ironman bike times were in the low 6 hour range and I felt upset with myself for being so much slower. That being said, I also knew that I rode within my power range so I should have a good chance at a solid run.

I always wonder how my people are doing and I thought about Mr K, Baha, and Greg often.  What did they think of those hills? Did they have a much faster time than me? Mostly I was hoping that everyone was having a good day.

What goes down comes up again, right? You guessed it, 7 hours 9 minutes and 20 seconds later I was back to the helix.  It wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be.  Either I was that tired or it didn't feel so bad after some of those climbs.  Round and round I went all the way to the top where I handed my bike off to a volunteer.  As I ran into transition, I was quite happy that my legs didn't have that shaky buckle feeling that they did at Ironman Chattanooga. There was hope for me yet!

Ironman Wisconsin: Prelude and Swim

Mr K, Karen, Baha, and I arrived in Madison on Thursday and were immediately smitten with how mild the weather felt compared to the furnace we had left behind in Texas.  The race venue was pretty easy to find and the Athlete Village was already quietly humming with activity days before the race.  Check-in was pretty quiet when we got there, so we moved through it pretty quickly.  It was an honor to check in at the All World Athlete table, which also allowed me a lower bib number and a sweet spot amongst the bike racks in transition.  We were too hungry to shop in the Ironman store, but we did happen to catch Mike Reilly there and I was able to get him to autograph a copy of his book for us.  This was my third Ironman, but it would be the first time for Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, to call me across the finish line. Our final housemate, Greg, arrived later that afternoon and we stumbled across some of the finest pizza in Madison that evening.

It was great to meet Mike Reilly, The Voice of Ironman

There are two big lakes in Madison - Monona and Mendota.  The swim was in Lake Monona and the house we were staying in was on Mendota.  There are bike paths and lanes all throughout the town, so it made picking up our bikes from Omar with I Love My Bike Transport easy as we were able to ride to and from the house down to the race area.  I can't recommend Omar enough, our bikes and bags arrived in Madison and then back home without any worry.  We drove the bike course on Friday afternoon, this always sets my mind at ease a little just to get a mental picture of what the roads and scenes would look like. I had heard so many people say how challenging the bike course is and it would be quite daunting but I also knew that it was nothing I couldn't handle.

The view from our house on Lake Mendota

I felt calm in the final days leading up to the race.  I had moments of "oh no, what about...." or "did I remember...." but I tried to maintain a balance preparedness while not spending too much energy worrying. I knew that it would be a long day and there would be highs and lows, but I would be doing something that I love. 

Just Keep Swimming

The alarm sounded ridiculously early on race morning, not that I was sleeping that soundly anyway. I'm fortunate that Mr. K is an excellent breakfast cook and is willing to make a small serving of scrambled eggs and toast for me before we head out to the race. Ironman Wisconsin is unique in that the transition areas are inside a ballroom in a convention center so we were able to hang out inside before heading down to the water.  Temperatures were in the upper 50s, which felt downright chilly to us. The four of us put on our wetsuits, posed for a few pictures, then headed towards our respective starting areas.

All smiles at the practice swim

Baha and I waited for the swim start together, Ironman uses a rolling start now and we seeded ourselves according to our planned pace.  It was hard to tell where the pace groups were as the people holding the signs were moving all over the place.  While we were waiting they mentioned an athlete who would be completing their 200-something Ironman that day.  I can't even begin to imagine what their life must be like and I wondered how long they have been doing this.  Ironman has only been around 41 years, that is a brisk pace!

I think that we noticed that the water looked choppy, but none of us really wanted to acknowledge it or talk about it.  One guy near us did note that we would be swimming the longest portion of the race into the chop.  We were in the lake the day before for a practice swim and the water was so perfect - there was sunshine and it was calm and beautiful.  I'm not sure what happened to that lake, but it was not the lake we would get for our race.  It was pretty cool to see Mike Reilly in the middle of all of the athletes, sending us off with such positive energy.  I love Ironman Day!!

"Put on your goggles" Baha said as I stepped into the water. Minor detail.

As soon as I started swimming, I noticed that it visibility was going to be a challenge.  Right away I could hear voices from the kayaks telling us to swim more towards the right.  The swim was a single large rectangle and I felt way on the outside during the outward bound side of the rectangle.  I could see other swimmers and kayaks to my right and I knew that as long as I could see them I wasn't too far out.  Buoy to buoy is the name of the game in a long swim like this and I got to work.  I felt like there were constantly people around me, but I held my own this time - unlike in the past.  I knew that life was going to get a lot more interesting when we turned the first corner because we would be starting to swim into the worst of the chop.

Racked and ready to go in transition

I was thankful to reach that first corner because that meant the first part of the swim was over.  Now to turn the second corner and swim that longest section that was directly into the chop.  It felt like a tough swim, but I didn't let myself dwell on just how hard it was.  Unlike cycling or running, it is impossible to talk to the person next to you and say "wow, does this seem exceedingly tough?" So I just kept my head down and just kept swimming.  At one point I noticed a sea of green caps (men) around me and very few pink (women) caps - and it reminded me that we need more women in Ironman. Lots of traffic, lots of contact, but I just kept swimming.  Halfway through this long stretch, the buoys turn from yellow (outbound) to orange (inbound) - this was encouraging because I knew it meant I was halfway through that long side of the swim.  It was difficult to see the buoys at times, so I just made sure that I could see swimmers and kayaks to my right when I was breathing.  At one point I convinced myself that the next orange buoy was really red (a turn buoy), but it just wasn't true and I grumbled to myself and just kept swimming.

I am really lucky in that I never experience cramps on the bike or on the run, but both my calves cramped a couple of times during this swim.  I must have been working that kick harder than usual? Finally I saw that red turn buoy in the distance and I swam with sheer determination to get to it.  I had not looked at my watch a single time because I just didn't want to know how far I'd gone - or better yet - how far I had to go.  I think that I really was in denial about how difficult it had been because when I finally did glance at my watch, as I swam to shore, I was disappointed that I was missing my time goal by more than 5 minutes.

I gave it my best kick as I swam towards the exit and as I went to put my feet on the ground, my left calf gave me one final cramp.  Thankfully it passed quickly and I saw 1:37:37 on my watch as I headed towards the wetsuit strippers.

Despite all of that, I still swam a personal best!  It just goes to show you how much I have improved as a swimmer since my last Ironman swim in Maryland two years ago (remember, the swim was cancelled at Chattanooga last year).  According to my watch, I swam 2.9 miles but I'm not sure how accurate that is with all of the other people around me and with the clouds in the sky. It was probably the worst chop that I've ever swum in and I held my own.  I can't think of a better confidence boost, I'm really looking forward to trying the distance again in much better conditions.

Now to focus on climbing the helix and getting through transition and to my bike at the top of the building.

Tap...Tap....Is this thing on?

I always have the best intentions of blogging....then life happens and blog posts don't and you've heard this story before. I enjoy writing and I think it is important to look back over my stories from time to time so I'm going to make an effort to make this happen a little more often this year.  Deal? Deal.

So what have I been up to since Ironman Chattanooga and my last blog post? Let me get you up to speed on what has been going on the last few months.

Ironman 70.3 Waco - October 28, 2018
As I recovered from Ironman Chattanooga I was also ramping up for Ironman 70.3 Waco.  I wasn't so sure how this would go, but I took it easy for a week before dusting off the bike trainer and setting that ridiculously early alarm clock again. The training itself was not so bad, minus one awful trainer triple brick in the pouring rain. Rain. So much rain. That seemed to be the theme of fall training, we were barely able to get in Lake Grapevine the week before the race because the water was so high. Which leads us to race week and an deja vu all over again. Swim? No swim? Short swim in cold water? There was a ton of speculation in the days leading up to the race; however, in the end there was no swim.  How is it the year that I improved so much in swimming all of my swims would be canceled? Isn't that how it goes? I was really looking forward to doing a complete 70.3 because I felt like I had a great shot at a PR since I had improved at swimming and cycling since my last attempt in 2016.

I had a blast at Waco, so much so that I am strongly considering signing up again this year even though it will be just a month and a half post Ironman.  We had a great group hanging out in our bunkhouse, watching college football and the World Series, enjoying views, and cooking dinner in the countryside outside of Waco. It was just a fun, super relaxed vibe. It was also great to race so close to home because there were tons of friends on the course and cheering.

I had a couple of goals for the race here in Waco. I had the best day ever on the bike in Chattanooga, but I paid for it big time on the run so my goal was to still bike strong but not suffer so much on the run. My second goal was to make a quicker transition from bike to run. We had another time trial start and I focused on settling in and passing people as I needed to. The result was 2:51:43 and an average of 19.57 mph - a 20 minute bike PR over my last attempt. I also had a goal to transition quicker and I got in and out in 4:17, which is a huge improvement over all of my recent long distance triathlons. As soon as I stepped off the bike I could tell that I was going to have a much better run.  I knew that there were going to be some hills on this course and Cameron Park did not disappoint. I got hot and tired and slowed down a bit on the second loop and finished the run in - 2:20:32.  In all likelihood, it would have been a PR race for me but I will never know for sure. I am so glad that I did this race, not only did I meet my two goals for the day, but I was able to practice some of the things that I learned in Chattanooga.  That run was so hard, I'm glad that I was able to end the season with a better effort.

Dallas Marathon Half - December 9, 2018
Once I recovered from triathlon season, I focused on running.  I thought long and hard about doing an ultra distance race sometime during the winter, but sometimes the body has other plans.  I ran a lot in November, but always had a little bit of a nagging "something" going on in my foot.  Honestly, it had been an off and on thing for much of the year I was just always able to stretch and roll and make it work.  I ran three times the week of the Dallas Marathon Half and by Thursday my foot was super sore and I knew that it was not something I would be able to stretch or roll away.  I felt better with a few days rest and set out to run the half marathon.

I love this half course and I love being out with all of my fellow runners in Dallas.  It turned out to be a beautiful day - cold at the start with the clouds giving away to beautiful sunshine.  I started out super strong and it gave me hope for the day, but I began to feel sluggish in the middle miles and by the end I felt like I was working really hard for the paces. I ended up running 1:58, but it didn't feel like the usual effort for me. My foot was very sore by the time that I left the race and I could no longer deny that I had a case of plantar fasciitis.

Cowtown Half - February 24, 2019
I spent all of December, January, and February working through plantar fasciitis - running about half my usual mileage, swimming a lot, cycling some, and doing more strength training and high intensity interval training. I signed up for the Cowtown Half at the Dallas Marathon Expo and it was a goal of mine to be healthy enough by race day to run.

Cowtown is another one of those races that I never want to miss because it is such a great day of running and friends. Thanks Glenn and Muscle Activation Techniques at Live Free Fitness and lots of stretching and foot strengthening on my part I made it to the start line.  The weather has been pretty sketchy around here lately, but we were gifted with a beautiful, sunny, and cool race day. I ran about 15 minutes slower than my average half marathon time, but I had very little pain during or after the race.  I consider that a huge success! Being there with the crowds and the hype was just the shot of energy that I needed to start me back on my journey to rebuild my mileage.

Sooo....what's next?
We are headed to Wisconsin! Ironman Wisconsin on September 8 is the Ironman race of choice this year.  I'm really looking forward to training cranking up again, in the meantime I'm working on building a strong and healthy base so that I can reach some high goals that I will set for myself.  I'll do a few fun trail races between now and then - Grasslands Half in a couple of weeks, Coyote Run in April, and maybe Possum's Revenge in May.  Ironman Waco 70.3 is also a possibility as I had such a fun time at that race and I would love to be able to swim and get that PR. 

So there you have it, the quick version of what I have been up to since Ironman Chattanooga.  One of my many goals for the year is to blog more often - y'all hold me to it, okay?