Getting back at it…

I had my week of reduced workouts…Stampede is over and done with…and my cowboy boots are being packed away for another year (for which my feet are surely thankful for after Friday night…I have a wicked blister).  It is time to build for Lake Stevens!

In theory today was a rest day, but because I missed my weekend swim I decided I would make it up today.  Well…truth be told I very nearly bailed on it.  We had a wicked rain storm roll through town in the afternoon.  38.3 mm of rainfall (1.5”).  It is about 3/4 of a mile from my office to the Y and the thought of walking outside in the rain had me ready to just head home instead.  Then I wizened up and realized that I could walk inside nearly the whole way through the +15 system.  No excuses, time to go swim!

And it was a good swim, so I’m really glad that I went.  I felt smooth and efficient at the water.  After a warm up I had a drill set, a moderately paced 3 x 100 set, a sprint 3 x 100 set and a 2 x 200 pull set.  My sprint wasn’t a huge success, but that’s okay!  My lane was a bit crowded so I just did the best I could.  When I left the Y the rain was gone for a nice walk back to my car.  Well, it was nice until I realized that my stomach was upset.  Maybe a little bit of sea sickness from the swim?  I couldn’t stomach the thought of grilling up shrimp for dinner so it was back to the dinner for champions…another peanut butter sandwich.  With some fresh fruit on the side.  Hopefully I’ll have a chance to break in my new grill soon, but the next few nights promise to be busy…  We’ll see what happens!

Where did the week go?

Wow…where has the time gone?  I can’t believe the weekend is almost over.  This week was somewhat of a fail on getting workouts done…  I know, I just raced a half Iron last weekend, and even though I was recovering that didn’t mean that I would get the whole week off.  Here is the breakdown:
- Cycling: 2 rides scheduled for a total of 3 hours.  I rode once for just over 2.5 hours.
- Running: 2 runs scheduled for a total of 1:45 hours.  I ran twice…for a total of 50 minutes.
- Swimming: 2 swims for 1:30, but I only swam once.
So what have I been doing if it wasn’t really working out?

Friday was rodeo day at the Calgary Stampede!  I caught the afternoon show with barrel racing, bronco riding, bull riding and a few other fun activities. Once the rodeo was over we went to check out the food available at the midway.  Warm beef sundae anyone?  (No, I didn’t eat it, I just took a picture of someone random stranger’s.  I swear I wasn’t the only one to do that!)

How about some pizza on a stick?
A guy gave me a $10 food voucher which I put towards some deep fried Oreos…
After we were done damaging our arteries it was on to an event offsite event at Fort Calgary – Glass Tiger and Tom Cochrane with Red Rider!!!  This was a super fun event.  Sleeman is the sponsor here (as opposed to Budweiser who sponsors the Stampede) so the beverages are better…  Plus your ticket includes a dinner of beef on a bun, baked beans, coleslaw and a fruit cup.  Tom Cochrane was fantastic and was a really fun night. 
Saturday was a busy day of errands.  Off to the hairdresser, then a quick drive to Balzac to stop in at Bass Pro Shops to pick up a birthday present for my brother.  As my hairdresser put it, they did a good job keeping a taxidermist in business with that store! 
I was supposed to have a long run of an hour that afternoon, but when I got home I was bagged.  A nap in front of the Tour sounded like a much better idea. 

Sunday Pam and I rode a portion of the Calgary 70.3 bike route.  We basically rode the Grand Valley – Horse Creek loop portion.  The weather was terrific and it was a fun ride.  We capped the ride off with a 20 minute brick and a trip to MacKay’s for some ice cream!  I tried Infinit for the first time on the bike today.  I had brought one bottle of Infinit and some gel to round out my nutrition for the rest of the ride.  I only drank my one bottle of Infinit, so I definitely didn’t take enough in on the bike.  It made for a fairly painful brick run…  Lesson learned that I need more on a 2.5 hour ride.

In the afternoon I went out grocery shopping…and came home with a BBQ!  I’ve been thinking about upgrading to a larger BBQ (I have an itty bitty Patio Caddie at the moment).  I thought I found a good deal at Superstore, but opted to check Home Depot out before I committed, and found a really good deal there.  But it was 6 pm and the sale ended at 8 pm…and they didn’t have the one I wanted in stock.  Cue the running around to another Home Depot to locate my dream BBQ.  I lucked out, somehow managed to get it into my front yard (?) and spent the rest of the evening assembling it.  Isn’t it beautiful?
As soon as the BBQ was together I went inside and made myself a peanut butter sandwich for dinner and sat down in front of the Tour.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!  Be sure to check out Marlene’s giveaway!!

Thursday Stampede Induced Thoughts

• It is Stampede time here in Calgary!  This is where a large number of Calgarians pull out any cowboy apparel they own.  For me that basically means jeans, a t-shirt and some cowboy boots that I picked up four years ago for $28 at an Aldo outlet in Texas.  Authentic, eh?
• Stampede also means a plethora of pancake breakfasts around downtown.  My first breakfast was Tuesday morning.  Maybe not as impressive on the food front compared to others, but I rather enjoyed the champagne and orange juice…
• Tuesday we did have a recovery group ride out in Cochrane.  We’ve had some crazy, very non-July like weather and it looked like it was going to pour as I was getting ready to leave work.  When a co-worker mentioned that a few folks were going for drinks it didn’t take me very long to decide that a beverage would be more ideal than a ride.
• Of course it was ridiculously sunny out when I left the pub Tuesday night.
• On Wednesday it was time to get my legs moving again.  I went out for a super easy 3 mile run over lunch.  It started off easy (sort of), although it took a good 20 minutes for my legs to not feel heavy. My legs picked the right time to come around because a few minutes later it started to rain.  Big, fat drops of rain.  That made for a sprint kick back to the office!
• Today it was back in the pool for a good workout.  My swim volume is going to pick up with a good focus on building strength.  I had a reasonably short 1600m workout using a pull buoy and paddles.  First time using paddles and it really made for good workout.
• After three days of pancakes I think I may have had enough pancakes for a year.  Well…at least a month.
• For lunch today our social club at work held a Stampede lunch.  It was a good excuse to hang out with some co-workers outside of the office and we chowed down on beef on a bun, chicken legs, baked beans and some salads.  I apologize for the poor quality of the picture, but we may be able to attribute that to one of the other items in the picture.
• Friday promises to be a fun day…  Stay tuned!  I hope everyone has a great weekend!!
• And yes…I know this is just one big nutritional blow up…  Thank goodness Stampede isn’t very long…  And I promise that I don’t eat like this every day!

Great White North – Race Photos

I have been so overwhelmed you guys.  Thank you so much for all of your support and wonderful comments about my race, both before and after.  I feel very fortunate to have some amazing blog readers who have become great friends.  I may or may not get to meet you at some time, but I really appreciate you guys!  From the comments on my posts to those on Facebook, you guys absolutely rock.  Thank you!!  Also a huge thanks to my family, friends and AMAZING teammates as well.  I couldn’t imagine being on this journey without you!

My wonderful teammate Caroline was cheering us on at Great White North this weekend and took some fantastic photos of us.  I’m sad she wasn’t able to race with us, but her support and enthusiasm was such a huge boost on Sunday.  Next year Caroline, we’ll get to race together!  Here are some pictures that she grabbed race day:     

After the Race…

Once I crossed the finish line a few friends found me right away but I was still hyperventilating and needed to catch my breath.  Finally after a minute or two things were back under control.  I grabbed some water but I was full and couldn’t handle the thought of any food so I ran off to find friends and congratulate everyone.  I finally remembered that I also had a massage that I had to take advantage of.  I hobbled into the gym where the massage tables were set up and got in line.  I wasn’t sore at all but I figured this would help flush the legs a bit, plus the knots in my shoulders were still really bothering me.  I was covered in sweat, grime and salt so I felt bad for the guy giving me a massage, but it was just what my legs needed.  After that Pam and I went back to get my car from T1, then drove back to T2 to pick up our bikes.  After cleaning up it was off to the awards banquet dinner – burgers!  The food was tasty (and there was beer), but I think Friday’s dinner was a bit better.
Team Tri Life had some amazing performances out there, including my fantastic coach Angie who won her age group!  She’s having an amazing year as she got her Clearwater spot at Oceanside earlier this year.  It is great working with her and she is a huge inspiration!!

Other thoughts with regards to the race…it is so well organized!  From the dinners, to the well stocked aid stations, to the super enthusiastic volunteers…it is hard to ask for a better event.  I understand why this race sells out so quickly.

Other lessons I learned?

• My nutrition strategy worked well – the peanut butter sandwich, banana, Chomps and gels.  No stomach problems on the race whatsoever!
• SPF 30?  Not enough for me!  I still have some sunburned bits on my cheeks and shoulder blades.  I also realized on the run as I unzipped my tri top that I had forgotten to put sunscreen on my chest.  Oops…
• Next time I’ll be staying in Stony instead of Edmonton.  I thought I’d want to be closer to the city but it turns out that I wanted to be closer to the action.
• Having company on the drive was great.  Thanks Pam!  It went by quickly and it was great to get tips on the race from her.
• Having people you know out on the race is an immeasurable benefit.  Seeing my teammates and friends was such a huge boost.  One of the things I thought about on the bike is how I’m off to race the Lake Stevens 70.3 on my own.  The majority of my teammates are either racing the Calgary 70.3 or Ironman Canada.  So I’m hoping I can convince my parents to come cheer me on at LS..!

Great White North – Race Report

Before the race…

I didn’t really get a lot of sleep the night before the race.  5 hours to be exact!  I was tired when I was eating dinner, but after getting all my gear together I was wired!!  Because T1 and T2 were in two different locations there was a whole lot of sorting out that was required.  I crawled into bed and turned the lights off at 11:00.  And then I was up at 4:00.  On purpose.  I jumped out of bed as soon as my alarm went off, showered, got dressed and loaded up the car.  Then it was on to Tim Hortons to grab some coffee and pick Pam up in Stony Plain.  We then got to T1 at Hubbles Lake just as soon as it opened at 5:45 am.
We had plenty of time to get set up in transition.  Some folks had dropped their bikes off the night before and it was eerily quiet.  All of our spots in transition were assigned so there were no worries about rushing to jockey for the best spot.  I was happy with where I was located though, on the far row, close to the transition exit.  We were given two bags – one to check at T1 with all the gear we would need for our run, and one that we would leave at T1 where volunteers would pack up all our swim stuff and leave in T2.
As for pre-race nutrition strategy…I really thought about this since I had stomach problems at Wasa.  I ate a peanut butter and jam sandwich pretty well as soon as I got into transition, about 2 hours before the race.  There was a handy dandy countdown clock in transition that helped me time the rest of my nutrition.  An hour and a half before race start I ate a banana.  Then about 20 minutes before race start I ate a gel.

Once my transition spot was set up I found teammates and friends (like Susi and Julie), then realized that the porta-potty line was getting long so I jumped in at the end.  It took awhile to make it through the line and all of a sudden I had about half an hour to race start and I needed to get into my wetsuit.  Once it was on I rushed into the water, got in a couple of quick strokes to check that my goggles weren’t leaking, then it was back on the beach and Oh Canada was sung.  This was real…I was about to race my first half Iron!

The swim…

Goal: To have a fun and happy swim!
I lined up near the back of the pack and on the far left.  We would swim two clockwise 1000m laps – 400m out to buoy #1, 200m across to buoy #2, then 400m back to the beach.  Repeat!  I got a little of course to the first buoy but I was in a happy place.  Very minimal contact and I was feeling really relaxed on the swim.  Things got a little crowded at the buoys, but no big deal.  As I swam back toward the beach I started feeling like I had to pee again.  Hmm.  I hit the beach and ran around the buoys on the beach and got back into the water.  The spectators cheering were amazing!  Back into the water…  As I swam toward the first buoy again I knew I needed to figure out this out.  I stopped kicking and just concentrated…and success!  Ah…relief…  Towards buoy #2 I wound up going pretty well neck and neck with another guy..still in my happy place!  I knew I had met my goal of having a fun swim…none of those, “what the heck am I doing” thoughts like I have had in my last two open water swim races.

2000 metres: 47:05
Overall 555 out of 672
Females 30-39 80 out of 94

T1…

When I got to my bike I snuck a peak at my Garmin and it was showing that my heart rate was in zone 5.  I took my time getting ready to give my heart rate a chance to settle down.  Socks and shoes, Garmin, sunglasses and helmet all on.  Bike off the rack and out of T1.  My swim gear tossed on top of my plastic bag.

2:32 (back calculated from my bike time as transition times weren’t measured)

The bike…

Goal: To race a strong race on the bike.  Icing on the cake would be coming in under 3 hours.
Ah the bike.  My favourite!  I had loaded my bike up with two bottles of nuun, one bag of Gu Chomps (180 calories) and a 5 serving flask of espresso Hammer Gel (450 calories).  The bike course is quite a bit flatter than what I am used to riding around Calgary.  Coming out towards the back of the pack from the water means that I have some passing to do on the bike.  I was very keen to ride my own race, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of energy passing people.  Drafting officials were out in full effect on the bike course and I was pretty paranoid about that, so passing it was!  There were a few points in time when someone would pass me, then settle in and slow down, so I’d have to pass them…and this back and forth would keep going on. 
Once we turned south on 770 things got a bit more interesting as we hit some rolling hills that helped to separate people out a bit more.  This was also where I first started to see people coming back towards me from the out and back.

Like it or not I was going to be racing the bike without bike gloves.  I’ve done without them on my shorter races this year, but was sitting on the fence for this longer ride.  Well, I either lost a glove on my way to Stony or left it behind in Calgary, so no gloves on the bike for me!

There were plenty of aid stations on the bike.  Each one had water, Gatorade and bananas.  Even though I was carrying nuun on my bike I picked up water and Gatorade from time to time.  They were filled in open top bottles meant for you to either dump in your aero bottle (which I don’t have), or you swig it and toss the bottle right away.  I sipped my nuun on other occasions when I needed it.  I didn’t pick up any bananas and I ate my Chomps first, then moved on to the gel flask.  I thought I would want a bit of solid nutrition, but I made sure to eat it early.  Chewing and riding is tough though…why is it always hard to breathe and why does it always make my nose run?

Coming down Heartbreak Hill was so much fun…but then after the downhill there was a big uphill.  It took momentum away but I really enjoyed the climb up!  From there it was a bit further to the turnaround point…then back we go!  When I turned around I realized that we had been blessed with a tail wind on the way out.  Sigh…

Going up Heartbreak Hill was interesting.  There was a group of riders slightly farther ahead.  Three vehicles were looking to pass the cyclists but couldn’t give them enough room to pass so they were crawling along.  One rider zoomed on past the group of riders and as soon as he was in front of the cars he pulled in front of them to keep passing bikes.  Seriously!  Why would you pull in front of a car like that??

On the way back I started to enter the “bite me” zone a bit on the bike.  I was pedalling and trying to keep my cadence high but the wind was keeping me from riding as quickly as I would have liked.  I didn’t want to push so hard through this wind and then have nothing left for the run.  Plus I was starting to tense up in my shoulders and my sit bones were hurting…  I knew I needed to keep going and keep a positive attitude so I just focused on riding my best ride.

At one point just up ahead there was a group of three people who somehow managed to get kind of bunched up.  It didn’t seem like anyone was making a move to pass and they were most definitely in the draft zone.  Where is a draft official when you need one?  A few minutes later I heard a motorcycle behind me.  They moved up to the group of three and pointed at two of them…most likely getting penalties.  If you got sighted for drafting it was noted in the results.  Your number was radioed into T2 and after you racked your bike but before you left on your run you had to run a lap of shame.

I just buckled down to get few miles over with and stretched my legs out and tried to ignore my poor sore sit bones.  Then there I was…nearly at T2 and about to make my best case scenario goal time.

90K: 2:58:43 (according to Garmin)
90K + transitions: 3:02:37
Overall 384 out of 672
Females 30-39 49 out of 94

T2…

As soon as I ran across the mount line volunteers are there asking for your number.  As soon as the last race participant leaves T1 all of the bike racks and gear are packed up and moved to T2.  Since you don’t know where your stuff is the very helpful volunteers are pointing you in the right direction to rack your back and your gear bag that you checked earlier in the morning is there waiting for you.  The girl helping me find my stuff told me not to worry, that as soon as I was out on my run she would organize all of my gear for me.  Thanks!  Helmet swapped out for hat, bike shoes swapped out for sneakers, three Gus in my jersey pocket and I was ready to go!!!

1:21 (according to Garmin)

The run…

Goal: To run my best race possible, whatever happened would happen and time was somewhat irrelevant.  Best case scenario would be beating my first half marathon time from the Calgary 2007 half marathon, 2:21, but I would be satisfied regardless.
I tried so hard to start out slow on the run.  I thought I was taking it easy but my pace was a bit fast.  I figured that as long as I was keeping my heart race in zone 3 I would just go with it and made peace with the fact that I would slow down over the course of the run.

The run course is interesting.  It is an out and back, but it has a couple of loops so it gives you plenty of opportunity to see folks.  Since Team Tri Life had so many folks racing this was a great chance to see everyone and cheer each other on.  Seeing my friends racing and seeing those who weren’t racing but were there to cheer us on was such a huge boost for me.  For the most part the run was also on nice quiet run pathways.

Even though I was carrying three Gus with me I figured I would use the aid stations as a bit of an opportunity to pick up some Hammer Gels along with way.  Each aid station was stocked with water, Gatorade, flat cola, cookies, orange slices and Hammer Gels.  I didn’t carry any fluids with me on the run and I alternated between grabbing water and Gatorade on the way out. 

As we approached the turn around the strong sun and heat started to get to me.  I was definitely slowing down.  Somehow the wind I felt on the bike was nowhere to be found on the run.  Funny, eh?  I walked through the aid station somewhere around 7 miles and took my second gel on the run, then figured I should wash it down with some water…and hmm, some Gatorade sounded good.  And so did some flat Coke!  As I ran away from the aid station I realized that I had just put a lot of stuff in my stomach at once!  It sat okay, but after that I was afraid to put more gel in there as I was worried it would lock up.  So from there on out I continued with Coke or Gatorade.  My stomach actually never complained on the race at all so my nutrition strategy was working pretty well!

I tried to encourage as many people as possible on the run, even though I was fading.  I went into that same zone that I have entered on all of my marathons.  Your brain is ready to be done, you aren’t moving fast, but your body just keeps moving.  When I had 5K left to go I just wanted to get this race over and done with.  As I moved into the final mile I started to get choked up.  I was so close and I was on pace to meet my super duper best case scenario!  However crying in races very swiftly turns into hyperventilating so I told myself to save it for the finish line.  All of a sudden I was near the end…my teammates were cheering me on..!!  Just turn the corner and there is the finish line!  I was neck and neck with two other guys and dug down for a sprint to the finish.  One guy realized what was up and did not want to get passed.  He edged me out by 2 seconds, and I just edged the other fellow out.  Nothing like a sprint finish to the end of a half Iron distance tri!!  As soon as I crossed the line I started hyperventilating.  I tried to hold it together as Wade, the race director, placed my very cool medal around my neck.  I was done!!!

Half Marathon: 2:15:05
Overall 438 our of 672
Females 30 to 39 57 out of 94

Stay tuned for after the race and lessons learned!!

Final finishing time: 6:04:46
Overall 422 out of 672
Females 30 to 39 58 out of 94

Great White North – I finished!!

Sorry folks, I am just a bit too tired to write up a full race report for you guys at the moment… But suffice it to say, I had an amazing day today! I met all of my race goals and had a fantastic time on the race course:

Swim (2000m): 47:05
Bike (90K including transitions): 3:02:37
Run: 2:15:05
FINAL: 6:04:46

Here’s me and my amazing coach Angie who came in first in her age group!