Lake Placid

Ironman Louisville was Ironman #1, 2 and 4 (Kona is 3,5). I love the Derby city and everything about that race; even the ridiculous heat that is almost a given, but I knew I needed to do a different Ironman if I wanted to do well at Kona (provided I qualify). There is only a few Ironmans on the East Coast, so my decision was pretty easy when I realized New York did not capitalize on my strengths, and would be ridiculously expensive. So I signed up for Lake Placid. 

I've been nervous about my decision for months. While I'd love to qualify for Kona at Eagleman, I am realistic enough to know I'm more of a plodder and so, Chris and I planned a vacation up to Lake Placid this past weekend to preview the course. I worked a half-day on Thursday and then we made the 10 hour trek up to upstate New York. I haven't been to upstate New York since I was 12 and Chris had never been, so we both enjoyed the scenery on the way up.

We were smart enough to sleep in a bit on Friday morning, eat a hearty buffet breakfast at the hotel, then head out for a tour of the bike course. Unfortunately we did not have a good grasp of the bike course and neither of our Garmins were cooperating with the bread crumb trails, so the 56 mile loop became 66 miles and I think we were both pretty frustrated.

Looking fast in my CTS kit

Chris headed into the hotel for a shower and then was sweet enough to follow me around on the second loop. The second loop went a bit better than the first for me after I realized my back wheel needed tightened, but I definitely have some work on Skyline to do to get more comfortable with descents. The roads are in pretty horrible shape, so I'm praying some patching is done before the race, but the Three Bears are really nothing to write home about. Sure they're annoying to climb at the end of each loop, but they weren't what I was envisioning at all (thank goodness!).  I rolled back to the hotel with a solid 110 miles done for the day and wasn't thrilled with my speed, but I saw the course and knew what I wanted to work on for Sunday and Monday's ride.

Pretty views

Saturday was a fun day.  We ran long Saturday morning on the run course, but spent the afternoon touring some of the Olympic facilities after refueling at Lake Placid brewery.

Pre run

River Road

After much procrastination, we finally went to swim for an hour late Saturday afternoon.  To be honest, I didn't want to swim, I wanted to play in the lake!! I was SO SO tired and burnt out of swimming for so long, but over the last year I've really started to love the water again. I eventually did the two loop course and was very pleased with how comfortable I felt in Lindsay's Aquasphere wetsuit. I don't really understand how people use the rope at the bottom to sight. I guess my body position is too high because as soon as I started looking at the bottom, I felt like my butt was out of the water!  Guess I won't worry about being on the brawl line come race day :) We ate at the hotel bar that night and headed back to the room fairly early so we could be up early for Sunday since the workout on tap was a 3 hour ride / 1 hour run.

Mirror Lake

Sunday's grueling four hour brick turned out to be a major confidence booster for me.  I was much happier with how I rode (well, except for my pathetic descending skills where Chris left me in the dust) and ran sub 8s effortlessly for an hour off the bike.  We ran down River Road (part of the course), which has great views of the ski jumps on the way back. That will definitely be a great distraction come race day!

Afterwards we headed out to High Forks Gorge. They have a .5 mile walking loop of waterfalls that were absolutely incredible. 

I was a little leery of the heights starting out and did not want to stand on the plexi glass, but eventually Chris got me out on the glass.  We headed back to the welcome center via a nature trail.  Fun to do, but maybe I should start packing more appropriate footwear than sandals ;)  We stopped off at a lake on the way back to sit in Adirondack chairs and enjoy the views.  Perfect way to spend the day. My only regret was not having a glass of Chardonnay.

That evening we headed back in town to eat at The Dancing Bears. We were lucky enough to have a lakeside view and had a great meal that was topped off by frozen Greek yogurt by Ben and Jerry's (awesome by the way if you haven't had this!).  It was getting chilly and we had to pack, so we headed back to the room early.

Monday we set out for two final workouts - a 2 hour ride and a 30 minute transition run. I discovered on the descents that I don't properly hold my top tubes with my knees, so once I engaged my glutes, I was amazed how much less my bike wobbled. Chris started feeling fresh about 5 miles outside of town on the bike and  I was pretty confident he was trying to drop me, so I sucked it up and hung on for dear life. I was very relieved when we got back into town and the pace dropped down a bit.  The run off the bike was pretty typical for me (I may or may not had Madonna on repeat on my shuffle), then we finished packing and started off home for a very LONG trip home.

Fantastic weekend of training and fun! 

First Race Done and Dusted - Kinetic Half

Chris and I headed down to Lake Anna this past weekend for the Kinetic Half Ironman.  I might (ok was) rather nervous on Friday and tried to keep it quiet that I was racing.  I had the typical first race jitters of worrying how my training was going and if all the 4:50 wake ups were really worth it.  Luckily I was so nervous on Friday that I was fairly calm on race morning.

Checkin' out the race site the night before

Race morning began at 4 am.  Not that much earlier than my normal wake up, but I went to bed WAY TOO late for a 4 am wake up. Oh well, ate my quinoa and banana, drank some coffee and before I knew it, we were on the way.  Unfortunately neither of our bikes were ready, so Chris and I were both rushed to the max to make it to the start on time and were honestly quite lucky the race started 15 minutes late for fog.

Swim – 1.2 miles – 26:37

I prepared myself for the worst after Kona’s black eye, but luckily the swim start was uneventful and within the first 25 meters, I was battling it out with one other female.  I didn’t feel like pushing the pace to get in front of her, so I just settled in behind her and thought I would let her pull me until we got to the first turnaround buoy. That lasted for about 20 strokes and then I realized the pace was a bit slow and she was swimming a bit wide of the buoys. 

I'm guessing I'm the second arm in the front- I really should learn to bend my elbows

I had no intentions of swimming long, so I picked up the pace and pulled around her.  Positioned myself to swim right on the buoy line and before I knew it, I hit the first turn around buoy (course was a triangle).  I couldn’t really see where to go next, but thanks to the two waves in front of me, I just followed and spotted the next set of buoys pretty soon after.  I started swimming through the wave ahead of me at this point and did my best not to dunk/swim over anyone.  My arms started getting tired from wearing a wetsuit although I was a huge fan of the Aquasphere one I borrowed from Lindsay, but the pace felt comfortable so my swim fitness is definitely good. I got to the last turnaround buoy before I knew it and was heading for shore.  I started seeing quite a few red caps, which meant I was catching the wave two in front of me J  They didn’t have a good swim finish chute, so I was a bit confused where to go, but only wasted about 10 seconds stopping to figure it out and made a bee line for the shore.  Was excited to hear that I was the first amateur out, but that excitement was short lived when I realized I had no clue how to undo the clasp on Lindsay’s wetsuit (thanks again coach!).  Oops.

Bike –56 miles -  2:32:17

I mounted my bike and almost immediately realized I was having the same issue as I had at Ironman Louisville last year, cramps.  UGH, I thought I had addressed this.  The first thirty minutes were some of the worst I’ve had in a long time on the bike.  I was thinking very negative thoughts, got passed on the bike by the 2^nd female and could not get into any sort of rhythm thanks to some very obnoxious males that would not let me or the 2^nd place female race.  I proceeded to drop my chain and lose the cluster, but that turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise because I was finally able to get into my own rhythm and just ride my bike. I recently got a Hydrotail Blaze for my bike, which I love, but I migh have wanted to practice getting the bottles out before the race.  I was able to do the right side, but not the left and sadly had to get off my bike around mile 35 to get the bottle. Chris luckily didn’t pass me during this point because I can only imagine what he would have said.  He flew by soon after and seemed to be riding strong, so I was happy to see that. My heart rate stayed low the entire ride (avg. 151) and I honestly assumed I was riding poorly until mile 40 when I realized I was averaging right around 22mph. I knew I wouldn’t beat my Eagleman bike time from last year (hello, pancake flat course), but I pushed it right up to the dismount line. 

In the end, besides the chain and bottle mishap, I actually had a really good ride.  Cadence and power was right where they should be and it turns out I’m a lot stronger than I realized this year on the bike. 

Run - 1:41.02

Oh the run . . this is where I always get passed.  You start out and run nearly straight uphill, which is cruel, compounded by the fact that this is a three loop course. My calves were cramping and I was immediately questioning my decision to run in my Newton’s (I have no clue what I did with my old Adrenalines).  Self-doubt immediately started creeping in and my heart rate was well below my coach’s goal of 166-172. I took a gel and a salt pill and kept shuffling along and then the miracle happened, my legs loosened up and mile number four was 7:25.  WHAT?! I had just mentally prepared myself for 8:30s after seeing 8:19 for lap three.  Lap two of the course seemed easier than lap one and I just kept running steady between 7:40-7:50.  I decided I would pick it up on lap three if I could and kept looking behind me to see if anyone was catching me. The surprising thing was I only saw men and people on lap one.  Hmmm.  I didn’t want to count my chickens, but I was really hoping I could stay 3^rd overall.  I figured if my pace stayed constant, I had a good shot.  I watched at the turnaround for the third lap and saw no females coming, so I stayed consistent and decided to pick it up at mile 11.  Legs felt great, my pace was quickening and I actually passed quite a few men back on the lap three. I couldn’t stop smiling. I’m usually miserable at this point on the run and instead, I was feeling great and doing what I always enviously watch everyone else do.  The last mile hurt, but it was a fun hurt.  10 minute run PR on the day, but more importantly, I gained some confidence I never had on the run.

I crossed the line and was shocked to see I went a 4:44 for an 11 minute PR over Eagleman last year (yes, I know the temperature plays a roll).  Definitely a very exciting day for me!  Next up is a training trip to Lake Placid with Chris!

Thanks Lindsay for the fantastic coaching and letting me borrow her awesome Aquasphere wetsuit.  Thanks Powerbar for the fuel to keep me going, Cyclelops for power and Swim H20 for keeping swimming fun!  And a thank you to my family and friends who support me. 

Bloom

This past weekend was the 85th annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. Although I’m a Winchester native, I’m not a huge fan of this event (gasp, the horror!). However, I did enjoy a few of the events with some close friends of mine.

Friday afternoon Chris met me at work and we headed over to Liz’s apartment for the Fireman’s Parade.    The Fireman’s parade is approximately 2 hours of firetrucks, bands and random cars.

Parade

 We may have watched the parade for roughly five minutes and spent the rest of the time catching up with friends including two of our good friends, the Beatley’s. I don’t get to see Jen as much as I used to since she got tired of doing Ironmans, so it was great to spend some quality time with her J

Hangin' with Jen

After the parade, Chris and I met back up with the Beatley’s who had party hopped and we headed to another friend’s house before going to the firework display.  This is the first time I had gone to the fireworks and I was pretty impressed with the display. I was pleasantly surprised to be in bed around 11 this year as opposed to 1 am last year. I would be at least somewhat rested for the Apple Blossom 10K.

The Apple Blossom 10K is a lot of fun since I grew up in Winchester and know so many people doing or watching the race. Since Chris and I met at the Apple Blossom 10K last year (yes, you can gag), we obviously had to do it.  Pre-race we had about an hour at the race site so we both saw and caught up with a lot of friends.  Some highlights of the race:

1)      I had friends all over the course cheering. It definitely helped keep my mind off the fact that I was super uncomfortable with my heart rate at 187 for 30 minutes of the race.

2)      My new Powerbar Team Elite shirt was super comfy.

3)      I ran 6.2 miles under a 7 minute mile pace.  When I started with CTS in the fall of 2009, my 8 minute field test was exactly the pace I ran on Saturday.  Thanks Lindsay!

4)      Chris ran with me for the first three miles even though he wasn’t feeling well.  Lucky girl.

A little over 3 miles in

5)      I finally got an Apple Blossom 10K Jefferson cup after many years of trying (placed third in my AG).  Next goal is sub 40. 

I opted to skip the Grand Feature parade this year and do something I rarely do, rest. I even took a nap Saturday afternoon.  It was definitely needed after three straight weeks of hard workouts and one last hard bike workout Sunday before taper.  Sunday I set out on my bike with the intention of riding for 3 hours with 2 x 20 minutes at tempo power. Unfortunately within 20 minutes, I realized my head and legs weren’t into that, so I decided to just ride my bike (sorry Coach!).

95 miles later, I arrived at home very tired and very happy.  Have a great week doing the things you love :)!

The Little Things

Last week did not start out on the right foot.  And by wrong foot, I mean I left my work shoes at home and had to go to Target at 8 am on Monday for work appropriate footwear after swimming.  Thank goodness Target opens at 8 and now I know that I should NEVER leave packing my clothes until the morning.  I got to work later than I would like, completely flustered and not 100% sold on the shoes.  Until not one, but four people complimented the shoes and many more asked how my birthday weekend was.  That got me thinking how little things can be quite powerful.

Thank you, Target

Tuesday was a perfectly ordinarily day.  Between work and rotary, Tuesday is always a LONG day, but I had an awesome surprise when I got home.  I signed up for the Kinetic half a few weeks back and tweeted that I had to solve my wetsuit problem.  Mine is awful and needs replaced.  Instead, my awesome coach came to the rescue and said I could borrow her suit.  SWEET.  Package showed up on Tuesday night and included a brand new CTS bike kit with socks! I have one matching bike kit (minus socks) and all of my jerseys are way too big. I feel like a total bad ass in this kit and was so appreciative of Lindsay's gesture to include this. Lindsay felt bad for not including a note, I was so excited over this little touch of kindness.

First 100 mile ride of the season!

Wednesday morning included a typical work meeting discussing a business proposal for a new program for the hospital. At the end of the meeting, the director gave my counterpart and me a tour of the new Labor and Delivery suite and NICU.  It was 15 minutes of that director's time, but it absolutely made my entire day.  When you stare at numbers all day, it's nice to see the bigger picture and understand the WHY of what you're doing. 

Saturday was definitely the highlight of my week.  I was disturbed by the weather forecast, but I was not riding five hours on the trainer (I have a self imposed maximum of 4), so I layered up and met up with Chris since he had kindly agreed to ride the first two with me even though the route wasn't the best for his workout. Seems minor to most, but over a weekend that I rode 135 of my 175 miles alone, that little thing was a pretty huge deal.

Open roads

I had my day planned to the MAX on Saturday so after the ride, I rested for a bit and then headed off to meet my dear friend Liz who was treating me to a pedicure for my birthday.  Total blast, our toes look great, and that girl time was desperately needed.  Since I rarely get my toes done, this was a nice treat!

But the best little thing of the week was probably my transition run on Sunday.  I was a bit nervous heading into this workout (3 hour ride/1 hour run) after Saturday's five hour ride, but my legs felt surprisingly good while I was riding.  And since I didn't bother to check the mileage before I headed out, I rode for almost an entire extra hour.  D'oh!  I was already making excuses before I started to run on why my pace was pathetic, why I stopped, etc. for my training log, but then the funniest thing happened; my legs felt great when I started to run.  Mile 1 clicks in at 7:20 and I remind myself to slow down.  Mile 2 goes at 7:36 and I remind myself again to slow down, but then I realize my heart rate is still in endurance mile range. . hmm, I'll surely blow up if I keep running at this speed.  I start concentrating on my form and focus on the music and the miles slowly click by at the 7:30-7:40 range. Before I know it, I've run 8 miles in 1:01 (a 7:36 pace!) and the workout was done.  In an 18 hour training week, a 1 hour workout isn't much, but that run was the biggest confidence booster I've had in a LONG time. 

The little things do matter and for those that live / grew up in Winchester, Happy Bloom :)