Pre Boise 70.3 and Reflections of the Past...

As I write this, I am sitting on a plane that is Denver-bound. Once I reach Denver, I will have a 3-hour layover before hopping on a plane to Boise, Idaho. I am traveling to my second race of the season. A new IM 70.3 race held in Boise. It’s hard to believe that IM Florida 70.3 was just 12 days ago! I am more nervous for this race than I have been for a race in a while. I think it’s because of my poor result in Florida. Deep down, I know that I want to do good this weekend (maybe feel a bit of pressure?) so that I can head into my last phase of Lake Placid training with the confidence that I am just as strong (if not stronger?) than I have ever been. I know that I cannot fit in another 70.3 race as it will mess with my last 7 weeks of long training for Placid, so this is it. Another bad result is unacceptable in my mind. This will be a great one. I can feel it.
I am headed to Boise alone this time. I realize that this will be my first race ever (since I started doing local sprint races back in 1998) that I will finish without having any spectators there. Sounds like I am feeling sorry for myself? Yes, I know, but I’m really not all that sad about it. It’ll be different, but really I am just trying to be focused on my race. Plus, two friends of mine, Jess (who now lives in Boulder, CO) and Seth (who now lives in San Diego, CA) will be racing as well, so I won’t really be alone. They arrive tomorrow.

Boise sounds like a great race, but it is the first time they are having the race, so everything is relatively unknown. I don’t even know what pros are racing yet!! I do know that the swim is in the “Lucky Peak Reservoir”, which is supposed to be cold! The bike is supposed to be FAST (hilly, but fast descents mixed in for a fast overall average mph), and the run is on a path around Boise. The run is two loops and flat (yay!!). One minor concern is the slight altitude of Boise, which affects me a bit, but it is similar to Buffalo Springs as far as altitude, and I did pretty well there last year.
Lately, I have been reflecting on my career as a triathlete and not only my short career as a pro, I mean my whole career starting with my first race in 1998 which was a sprint triathlon in Maryland. I did this race as a suggestion from my College swim coach, Kim Lessard. I had just graduated College and I never felt like I had reached my peak in swimming. I still had much more in me as a swimmer as both my coach and I knew. Kim suggested I try a triathlon and I figured, why not? I was 21, I was fit, and I loved to compete. The only thing was I had never really ridden a road bike and I hadn’t really ever run! I gave it a go though. My brother bought me a Cannondale “touring bike” for graduation (sort of like a road bike, but with less gears, I believe…for touring around) and I had started the whole running thing after Nationals in March. My race was in May. I had no idea what I was doing and I didn’t really know anyone who did triathlons! Needless to say, my mom, dad and I headed to Western Maryland, where the race was and I gave it a go. I remember watching people set up their bikes in a “transition area” and copying what they were doing. I didn’t even know “transition areas” existed. I never even thought as far as where I would put my bike, etc. I had run shoes, but no bike shoes. I used my run shoes on the bike! Also, I didn’t know what “tri shorts” were, so I had run shorts there to put over my bathing suit.
Being that I had just come off of my best swim season, I was in pretty good swim shape. I say “pretty good” because, although I still swam on my own after Nationals, it wasn’t nearly the 13-15,000 yards a day that I did during the season! Also, I had a steady diet of beer and alcohol that most seniors survive on during their last months at College. I had put on a little weight (I was no longer 113 lbs.) but I was by no means “heavy”. I was the heaviest that I had ever been though, as I had probably put on anywhere from 7-10 lbs during those months after Nationals. There I was in my first triathlon. Instead of standing on a beach, I felt that I should have been on the blocks on a pool deck, but the gun went off and so did I! I was first woman out of the water. I had probably expected to be first out of the water at that time. Soon I was on the bike, and while my memory is lacking, I can tell you that it was nothing special. The bike was a new thing to me and I was not by any means a “natural”. I do remember the run quite clearly. I remember feeling the worst pain that I had ever felt! I actually felt nauseous and thought that I just wanted the end to come! It took a while, but the end finally came. Believe it or not, I finished first overall! I could not believe it! “This is something I can do after College”, I thought! I was motivated again.
From there it’s been one challenge after another. It’s been a beautiful ride so far and when I reflect back, my worries and doubts seem to disappear. After that first triathlon in 1998 I had some races that I did not win, but soon, after a season or two I found that I could win most local races that I competed in. From there, I decided to compete in the “bigger races”. In Eagleman in 2001, my first Half Ironman, I was 6th overall, including the pro women, with a 4:48. Next up was my first Ironman, Florida in 2001. 1st in my age group with a slot to Kona! As an amateur, I had some great results including 2005 when I finished 2nd place in Kona in the 25-29 age group behind super-stud Tyler Stewart (who is now a pro as well) and 4th amateur overall! (See photos above. I am second from the left-next to Tyler-in Kona 2005 receiving the 2nd place award). Then I made the leap to pro last year. This was a scary one, but it too went well. Sixth in my first pro race (Florida 70.3), 7th in Buffalo Springs and IM lake Placid and a slot to Kona where I finished 23rd Overall. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means a “phenom” like Chrissie Wellington, who turned pro and in her first season won IM Korea and then stunned the triathlon world by winning the Ironman World Championships, but I am “holding my own”. It is so easy to doubt yourself (I do often) and question your abilities (Yup, I do that too), but I am finding that “looking at the big picture” as I have done this week can really put things in perspective and help to build some confidence. So, I go into Boise this weekend ready and focused. I just have to “do what I do” and enjoy what I do without dwelling on my last race, and all should turn out great! By next week I am hoping to be writing about my fantastic race at Boise with anticipation of a super last training block to IM Lake Placid.

Ironman Florida 70.3 Race Report: To Quit or not to Quit? That is the Question...

I have realized a few things this weekend after racing the Ironman Florida 70.3 in Disney, Florida. The few things I have learned are: #1: Traveling to races with my mom is always the best! #2: Not having my dad at the race was a bit of a bummer (yes, I’m 31 years old and I like having both my mom and dad at my races!) however it was nice of my coach Mike to make the trek down to watch. #3: Race weekends are tough on spectators. It’s all about the athlete. Especially as a pro where I do this as a living as opposed to the age grouper that may have trained for a year for this one event and wants his or her whole family there for support. Having my parents come to watch is great, of course (obviously I’m used to my parents going out of their way for me, plus they usually go off and do things on their own to make the time pass) but I realized that if George (or any friend as well) has a chance to watch me in a big race, I want to be sure that it’s a place that he can enjoy too (bring his bike, etc), like Lake Placid or Kona. #4: I have taken for granted my ability to show up on race day time after time, and put out a solid performance , #5: I have now realized just how great my performances have been after having a “sub-par” performance this past weekend, #5: It’s not the end of the world (as long as it doesn’t happen again sometime soon). ;-)
So here goes the race report for the first race of 2008: 3:45 AM Sunday May 18th I wake without my alarm going off yet. I’m nervous as I usually am, but maybe particularly so because it’s the very first race of the season. I feel ready to go and confident in my fitness and my ability though, so I am anxious to just get started. I head to the race sight and set up my bike in transition. Next to me are Lisa Bentley (14-time Ironman champion) and Katia Schumacher (Ironman Champion and past winner of the Florida 70.3). Last year, I would have felt uncomfortable and “not worthy” to be next to these two women in transition. This year I feel at ease. I set up my drinks, my shoes, helmet, power tap, run shoes (Zoot, of course), sunglasses, gels, and endurolytes then I double-check everything and head to the swim where my mom and Mike are waiting. It’s still dark out and it’s HUMID and VERY WARM! Yikes! This could be a tough day, I thought, but then I thought “bring it on! I’m great in the heat and humidity”! I ran into Anne Bolton and her sister before the swim. Anne is a great athlete that I have had the pleasure to coach. She came to me in January with the goal of doing this race. She also told me that she had only completed one triathlon (a sprint on a mtn. bike) and hadn’t swum too much, if at all! I was worried, but after I started working with her, I realized she was a talent. I also ran into my friend Rob from Toronto. Rob was the triathlete that I had the pleasure of climbing Mt. Lemmon with in Tucson. It was good to see him.
I headed to the beach after saying my goodbyes to Mike and my mom and after getting my good luck call from George who was returning from a long night at work back in NY. It always psyches me up to talk to George before a race. I would consider it bad luck not to (I tend to be superstitious about things like this). On the beach are the male and female pros. We heard the national anthem and soon the cannon went off. The water was shallow, so we made a mad dash through the water and then did a series of dolphin dives before starting to swim. I tried to swim HARD in the beginning so I could try and get in a good group. There were some fantastic swim specialists in this race, such as ex-Stanford swimmer Dede Griesbauer, that I knew would be impossible to stay with, but my goal was to stay with the strong swimmers. I didn’t feel great right away, but I thought this might be due to the lack of a warm-up (no swim warm-up allowed). I found a good set of feet to swim on and tried the best I could, but I felt a bit “lethargic”. Soon I got a foot cramp…not a good sign! The last race that I remember getting a foot cramp in was Kona 2006, which happened be a tough year for me as I got sick on the bike and walked a bit on the run. Not to worry, I thought. I’ll feel better on the bike. I exited the bike with an OK time of 30 minutes (not too far off from many of the top women) and headed to my bike.
Pain…that is the one word I can use to describe the bike. Immediately I felt pain in my legs. Every single pedal stroke hurt! The power that usually comes effortless felt like a near all-out effort! OK, I thought, I just need to open up a bit. I thought about turning around right away and calling it a day. I convinced myself to give it 45 minutes. After 45 minutes it still hurt really badly. I was unfocused and when I got passed by other female pros I had zero counter-attack. I simply let them pass me and disappear into the distance. I tried to push, but every muscle in my body ached. I thought about quitting again. I even stopped pedaling and coasted for a bit, but quickly started up again. “How can I quit”? I stayed in the race. Eventually I gave up trying to hold power. I thought, “Maybe I’ll feel great on the run”! After 2 hours and 37 minutes of pure torture, the bike was over. So was my race. I was far behind. I contemplated not running, but thought again that I might have a good run. In fact, for a moment I thought, “Maybe I’ll have the run of my life and catch the leaders”! So I continued on. I felt OK. I shuffled out of transition and felt like I was running decent. Then, after a mile I realized that I did not feel good. I was shuffling at a slow rate on the tough section of grass. I thought I would finish the loop (#1 of 3) and then I would call it a day. At mile 4 I took a gel, drank some coke, and actually felt a burst of positive energy! It was then that I decided that I would simply “cruise” the rest of the race. I would do what I could that day and bring it home. I was OK with this. I knew that I had Boise 70.3 coming up on June 1st, and I figured this would be an excellent day in the bank. My goal was now to try to avoid last place. Funny when I think about it. My goal going in was top 3!
Did I mention the weather? Humid! The bike was OK though. Grey skies for much of it, one downpour for about 4 minutes and slight wind. The run was OK, as far as heat, for the first 4 miles, then the sun came out and wow! The typical 90+ degree, humid Florida weather emerged. We had one downpour of rain out on the run, which was nice to cool off, but then it became similar to a sauna after the rain ended. It was hot and the air was thick! I had to deal for 2 more laps (a little over 8 miles). I felt bad for the athletes just getting off their bikes in the thick of it! The run was interesting. I never felt down about my result. I just forged ahead and I actually felt like I had a good rhythm going for the last 6 miles or so! I thought of some of my friends that have had bad days and gutted it out, like Bob Cook in IM Louisville last year. Despite a bad day in oppressive heat, he finished the race. I thought of what my friend Wolf said to me after IM Arizona this year-that he and Nicole had an understanding that they would never drop out of a race. I thought of my friend Tara Norton, who continued to race IM Lanzorote after getting a dislocated shoulder in the swim and stomach troubles on the run (she still finished 2nd!) I thought of George back home who got into a crash at Bear Mtn. last weekend, then got a flat tire and waited for a new wheel for 10 minutes and continued to get back on his bike and hammer solo with the group way ahead without so much of a thought of dropping out at that minute. These are the things that ran through my mind during the run and I must say they helped me get through the race. I finally finished without even glancing at my time. I finished one spot away from last place. This would have devastated me last year. I was OK with it this year. I thought back to the two weeks before this race, and the days before and realized that I had been unusually tired, but I tried to ignore it. Tried to forge ahead and figured that I would of course be ready to rock on race day. I always am. This is one of the most valuable lessons that I can learn. One that George always tries to drill into me. If I’m tired I should listen to my body. It’s trying to tell me something. Perhaps a nap would be more beneficial than the prescribed workout, maybe it would benefit me more to sleep in and not swim one morning when I am feeling fatigued. It’s a tough thing to do. Probably the toughest lesson because I am constantly pushing myself past a barrier of pain and suffering during my training. Constantly overcoming mental battles and constantly self-motivating myself. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the days feel effortless and easy, but many times it takes a mental push to complete them to the best of my ability. One thing I know for sure, I will rest up before leaving for Boise next Thursday. I am hungrier than ever for a dynamite race and I feel a little more educated as an athlete after Sunday’s race.
As for the rest of the day, my athlete that I was coaching for the event Anne Bolton, finished in 6:07. She had a smile the entire race and she told me yesterday that she felt great! Had she not taken the 15+ minutes in transition she would have gone under 6 hours (she told me that there was so much going on-like a horse eating food out of someone’s bag- that she stayed around in transition longer than she thought)! It was awesome to see her race and finish so strong. What an accomplishment for someone who hadn’t done any formal swim training and hadn’t ridden a road bike before January! It made my day to see her have such a great day. As for me, I will be resting and getting ready for a spectacular race in Boise next weekend. I cannot wait!

Girona Trip Report Part II

On the third day of Girona we met up with Leah Vande Velde by the Cathedral near our apartment for a 10:30AM departure. Leah took us on a ride around the country-side before dropping us off at the base of a climb (I forgot the actual name of the climb, but I call it the “Tower Climb” because the climb ends at the top of a mountain with two towers on it). The ride with Leah was great because we didn’t have to figure out if we were going in the right direction or look at our map at all. Leah was in great shape after having a baby, “Uma” just about a year ago. It was nice to have the company of a “local” and the ride was gorgeous taking us through fields of flowers, rolling hills, and a town with a beautiful lake. Finally we ended up at the bottom of the Tower Climb. Leah had to be back to take Uma to the Dr, so George and I were on our own for the climb. She wasn’t sure exactly how far the climb was, but she said we should be climbing for about 30-35 min. Then she thought about it and said that we shouldn’t take longer than 45 min. So, I mentally prepared myself for 45-50 minutes of torture.

George was anxious, it seemed, because he started hammering right away! We weren’t even on a steep part of the climb yet, so I was not very psyched about this! However, I gritted my teeth and went along with the torture before the real torture! The real climb quickly approached and we rode side-by-side (sort of). I say sort of because many times George was just a bit ahead, so I had to push even harder to stay with him. After 30 min the pitch was reaching 10% and up to 12%! It was brutal! At times I found that my 12-27 was not enough…I had to stand and grind the pedals to get through the steep section. Every now and then George would say something like, “Wow! 10%?!”, or “The top should be just around this corner” (it wasn’t). I could tell by the way he was saying the comments that he had a lot of energy. Of the two of us, it was my estimation that I was suffering just a wee bit more. I didn’t have the energy to say a word. All of my energy was going into the pedals. He would say something and I would just look ahead praying that the end was near. It was hot and my whole body was aching as it was getting me up that climb. After 44 minutes and many frustrating switchbacks, we FINALLY reached the top of the climb. I was really hurting…my ARMS felt like they were shaking from the effort! George was grinning and psyched…soon I was too. It was a sweet climb! To top it off, a hang glider was just about to take off. He was all set to “walk” off the side of the mountain and fly away into the landscape. It was AWESOME! What a way to end the climb! We took some pictures, watched the hang glider disappear and descended down the climb heading back to Girona. After the climb, we had a great lunch, I digested and later in the day I ran 6 miles off the bike to Elles Angels (up a climb) and back while George took a well deserved nap. It can be tough to run after a ride like that. Especially when a nap seems like such a better option! Those are the times that being a triathlete are not so much fun! In the end, I had a solid run though so it was all good.

Friday was probably the toughest day of the trip. Not necessarily because of the effort, but the distance of the ride wore on us a bit. We had already ridden 11 hours in 3 days (plus I had run 18 miles) including some hard climbing and we were feeling a bit tired. George was handling the volume better than I had expected given that he typically rides about 7-9 hours in a week, but this day seemed to be a bit of a grind. We did the “Olot Loop”. Basically it was a loop that included a long gradual grind up to the town of Olot and a long rolling gradual descent, with some rollers, back to Girona. The scenery was absolutely magnificent. We rode through what used to be old volcanic terrain and it was now lush and spectacular with the snow-capped Pyrenees in the background. After 2+ hours into the ride, we reached Olot. George seemed done. He wanted to be off the bike…unfortunately we had a while to go. As I am very familiar with this type of riding (somewhat unimpressive wattage for LONG periods of time) my tolerance was a wee bit higher. Also I didn’t have to run after so I was psyched! Eventually we finished the ride after 4 hours and 1 minute, ate a big lunch (of course) and relaxed. Relaxation didn’t last too long, however, as I was itching to swim. George being an absolute sport was ready to find the “Piscina Municipal” and get his swim on. I was SO grateful as I usually swim 5-6 days a week and I hadn’t swam in 5 days. I was prepared for this, but I wanted to get in the water anyway. After I directed us to the wrong pool in the wrong village (we found an outdoor pool that had no water in it…Opps!) we finally found the pool I was looking for. After quizzing people on the sidewalks (remember we don’t speak Spanish so we would just say, “Piscina?” and the people would point to where we should head to) we found it! Piscina Municipal Can Gibert. We paid up and headed inside. It was PACKED!!!! I headed to the “RAPIDO” lane and George to the “Rapido” lane next to mine. It was great “race day simulation” dodging the swimmers in the lane. Let’s just say that not everyone in my lane swam “rapido”! The lifeguard came over to George shortly after we jumped in and told him (again in Spanish which we do not speak) that he needed to wear a swim cap. SO, I lent him a Zoot cap to wear…Now, for a swimmer, this is not so bizarre, but George is not a “swimmer” and I must say (again) that he is a total sport. He put on the cap and off he went. At one point in my swim I looked down the pool to see George at the end of the lane, swim cap on, with about 7 Spanish people swimming about. I had to laugh to myself. Talk about rolling with things! SO, the good news is that I got a swim in and down went another 5 hour day! We ate a big dinner (hamburgers for lack of anything better) had some gelato and were off to sleep by 12:30!

On our last day to ride, we decided to do one more climb that we had read about in Michael Barry’s blog…the climb to “Amer”. Barry describes this climb as a familiar one that the local cyclists “test” their fitness on. Tyler Hamilton had the record, which was broken by Tom Danielson (we don’t know what the actual record is…). Also, Barry’s wife, Dede trained on this climb before getting a silver medal in the Olympic Games. We had to do it…trashed legs or not! We decided to drive to a town close to it to avoid another 5 hour day. It worked out perfectly because we were able to put in a huge effort without being totally wasted by the ride out to the climb. We pedaled easily to the climb 4 miles mostly downhill and started the climb with the intent on pushing with whatever we had left. George left me right away. Being a strong climber (and maybe a bit cocky?), I decided not to worry for I was sure I would reel him in with a steady effort. I was pushing REALLY great watts, but somehow George’s lead was becoming greater and greater! Eventually he was not in sight! So much for that! I quickly settled into my own rhythm and was actually very pleased to be climbing alone focused on what I could do. Sometimes an effort can feel even worse when you have someone next to you…staying within myself and focused; I was able to get into a rhythm… OK! Would have been nice to catch back up, but that wasn’t happening! At the end of the effort I noticed a “Team High Road” jersey…it belonged to a female pro that races for the team. I had reached the top just as she had. After 32 min and 39 seconds, I was done. George had finished in exactly 1 minute faster. What a GREAT effort for the two of us after such a long trip! We were both on a high from the climb, surprised with how we were able to climb with such great power at the end of the trip! What a way to end it! After taking some pictures, chatting to the TWO female pros and riding back to town, we enjoyed a lunch outside at a café in the middle of this quaint town. For 9.50 Euros we had pasta, chicken and potatoes, gelato, bread, wine, and café. Knowing I had a run to do, I kept the drinking to 1 ½ glasses, but George was able to finish up the bottle for us! We chilled out in the beautiful weather in the middle of Catalonia reflecting on a great trip. A group of local Mtn. bikers took the table next to us after a nice group ride on a Sunday afternoon. What could be better? Soon we drove back, I ran 7 miles, and we got some dinner and headed to our massages (Christina who works n many of the pro cyclists in Girona). Great move getting a massage after such a long week of training! Knowing the travel day ahead of us forced us to try and fall asleep by 11, but it seems that people like to party in Girona on Saturday night well into the morning. No worries, we eventually fell asleep and made it back to the USA without a hitch! In all it was an awesome trip.

Pictures from Top:

George and Leah, Lake before Tower climb, George at the top of the Tower Climb (watching hang glider), Dee on top of Tower climb, George on Olot Loop, Dee on Olot Loop, George and Dee at top of Amer Climb