Well I had a great race! Even better than I could have hoped for. Woke up at 4:00, made coffee, had breakfast, packed up and got to the race by a little after 5. I picked up my packet and got transition area situated by 5:30, and wasn't starting until 6:34, so I had a lot of time to kill. I had half a banana around 6:15 and was sipping on water all morning. I have kind of given up on warming up for Olympic distance tri's. I ran for about 10 minutes just to get my legs going. But taking my bike out of the transition area was not an appealing thought with a line stretching through the parking lot by 6 AM. However I wish I had swam more, that could make the start of the swim much more comfortable. I only did about a 4 minute warm-up in the lake.
The swim start was insane, as usual. Legs and arms were flying every where. I couldn't get in a good spot for a while. Last year I got good at drafting but I couldn't find a good pair of feet to follow today. I really felt like I was taking forever and not swimming well. Also my arms felt somewhat lead-like. So I was really surprised to see that I finished the swim in 26:07. I think the longer I do tris, the less I appreciate the swim portion.
I consider my T1 time one of my greatest accomplishments of the day. Thursday night I practiced taking off my wetsuit and just ended up flailing in my backyard for 3 minutes unable to get my legs out. Then I came across this slowtwitch.com post, and it helped tremendously! I used the advice of QRgirl and took off my wetsuit not too long after getting out of the water. I had greased up my ankles, shins, calves, and even behind my knees with some bodyglide, too.
The bike went well. The beginning is pretty slow. I was really out of breath for the first 3-5 minutes from the swim and run to the transition area. Then Glade Road is slightly uphill or a false flat most of the way, and there was a slight headwind. I just tried to keep my cadence up and not be discouraged by the slow speeds. 30 minutes into the ride I had my first gu and not too long after that came the hills! The 1st hill, up to Horsetooth Mtn Park, went fairly quickly. I was able to stay in the aero bars most of the way. The next hill is my least favorite but I tried to go fast up the first part and then carry that momentum. Also Chris, Rachel, and her friend, Erika, were cheering me on near the top and that was AWESOME. It was especially helpful since Chris is often my motivator to go faster up hill, anyway. After that it was smooth sailing back to Loveland. I had a slight tailwind and was going 26-28 mph most of the time on Taft Hill. Fun! A big advantage of all the running I've been doing is I wasn't as concerned as usual about how my legs would fair going into the run. Even if I don't do another half-ironman after this year, I should keep up the long distance running. Anyway, about 1:15 into the bike I had another gu and shifted down one or two gears to get my legs spinning more.
T2 was fairly uneventful, and my cheering squad had made it just in time to send me off in style. :) My legs didn't feel too great, of course, starting the run, but overall I was feeling decent. I had borrowed Christine's HRM again (I need to buy one!!) and used it a little bit. I decided to keep my HR in the 150's for the first 3 miles and then slowly ramp up after that. This plan worked pretty well, since I needed some rest at the start but had enough juice to push myself toward the end. I stopped to walk and drink some water twice, but probably walked less than 30 seconds each time. On the way out I kept my mind occupied by counting the number of women ahead of me. I came up with 25 at the turn-around, although 2 more passed me in the last 3 miles. Oh well. Running is not my strong point! The last mile is annoying because you wind around this park and are frustratingly close to the finish line the whole time. But, I finished faster than my goal at just under 2:51! Woohoo!!
Here are some stats (results from 2008 are in parentheses for comparison).
Swim: 28:15 (28:46)
T1: 1:10 (2:02)
Bike: 1:28:28, 20.2 mph! (1:31:56, 19.5 mph)
T2: 0:54 (1:04)
Run: 51:31, 8:18 pace - PR by almost 45 seconds! (55:07, 9:02 pace)
Total: 2:50:59 (2:58:58)
Place: 4/38! (12/38)
Avg. HR was 156 and peak was 174 (that's about 81% and 90% of my max, respectively).
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Time to start obsessing
For those of you who know me, this will not come as a surprise, but the week before a triathlon I usually become pretty obsessive about spending every waking moment anticipating the race. How will I feel? Will my legs be ok in the bike to run transition? How will I pace myself? When should I wake up? When should I eat breakfast? How many gus should I bring? Will my clothes be comfortable? How many people will be in my wave? Are my bike tires ok? Will I be able to get out of my wetsuit quickly? How fast (slow?) will my run splits be? etc etc etc. It is ridiculous.
Luckily over the years I have figured out the answers to some of these questions, and for others, I have learned that I can't spend all week thinking about the race. For example, for Saturday's race (Loveland Lake to Lake) I just started obsessing now, which is an improvement over my first race when I spent almost 2 weeks fretting. Also, I am not nervous but really really excited, so that is a step in the right direction, too.
Well in honor of my tri-related OCD, here are my goals for the race. It is dangerous to set goals though because I don't like being disappointed. So I generally don't make them too high, then I can be happy if I meet them, or really happy if I beat them :)
1. Go faster than last year. I will be really happy with anything under 2:55.
Swim: I think I swam a 1:45/100 meters pace last year. Wow, that is pretty fast for me. I'll be happy just to do that again, even though I feel faster this year because of all the masters swimming. Add a couple of minutes for the run from the beach.
Bike: My goal last year was 20 mph and I did 19.5. So why not go for 20 mph again? I can do it!
Run: Last year I did not run well, and I mostly blame this on sleep deprivation, stress, and general fatigue leading up to the race. So this year I am getting 8 hours of sleep every night this week! In 2006 I ran an 8:25 pace. I should be able to do that, I have been running A LOT more this year than ever before!
So total this would take about 2:54. Last year was 2:59. Whew! :)
2. Qualify for age group nationals. This is totally out of my control because I can only go as fast as I can, and then the rest depends on who else shows up. But it would be nice :)
3. HAVE FUN! Smile.
Luckily over the years I have figured out the answers to some of these questions, and for others, I have learned that I can't spend all week thinking about the race. For example, for Saturday's race (Loveland Lake to Lake) I just started obsessing now, which is an improvement over my first race when I spent almost 2 weeks fretting. Also, I am not nervous but really really excited, so that is a step in the right direction, too.
Well in honor of my tri-related OCD, here are my goals for the race. It is dangerous to set goals though because I don't like being disappointed. So I generally don't make them too high, then I can be happy if I meet them, or really happy if I beat them :)
1. Go faster than last year. I will be really happy with anything under 2:55.
Swim: I think I swam a 1:45/100 meters pace last year. Wow, that is pretty fast for me. I'll be happy just to do that again, even though I feel faster this year because of all the masters swimming. Add a couple of minutes for the run from the beach.
Bike: My goal last year was 20 mph and I did 19.5. So why not go for 20 mph again? I can do it!
Run: Last year I did not run well, and I mostly blame this on sleep deprivation, stress, and general fatigue leading up to the race. So this year I am getting 8 hours of sleep every night this week! In 2006 I ran an 8:25 pace. I should be able to do that, I have been running A LOT more this year than ever before!
So total this would take about 2:54. Last year was 2:59. Whew! :)
2. Qualify for age group nationals. This is totally out of my control because I can only go as fast as I can, and then the rest depends on who else shows up. But it would be nice :)
3. HAVE FUN! Smile.
Friday, June 12, 2009
route for 6/21 group ride
I've changed the ride because of road work and dirt roads on the original routes. Now we'll ride north of Ft Collins. The roads are really nice, I was out there last weekend. The longer loop will look a lot like the one below except we will go north via Terry Lake Road. You can make the ride shorter by cutting off the part of the loop north of highway 1. So two possible lengths are about 26 and 42 miles. Hope to see you there! :)
Both leave from Peloton Cycles at noon.
Both leave from Peloton Cycles at noon.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Fundraising progress report
I am excited to report some totals for my fundraising for the Faith Alive clinic!
$150: from selling African cookbooks earlier this year ($10 if you want one!)
$90: donations reported to me so far from Global Strategies
$183: donations to be sent to Global Strategies
=====
$423 .... wow! About 20% of the way there! Yay! Thank you so much for your donations!
$150: from selling African cookbooks earlier this year ($10 if you want one!)
$90: donations reported to me so far from Global Strategies
$183: donations to be sent to Global Strategies
=====
$423 .... wow! About 20% of the way there! Yay! Thank you so much for your donations!
Weeks 20 & 21 and May's Useless Numbers
Well the last two weeks have been busy since I've been working a bit on the fundraising and my plate at work has been full, too. But I've had some really great work outs, too. Two weekends ago I did my first brick of the year. The goal was to keep the pace relatively easy the first half of the bike and run, and then do the second half faster. I biked about 27 miles and then ran a 5K in 28:30. My legs were not happy with me since Chris and I had hiked almost to the top of a 13,800 ft mountain the day before! I was happy with this workout and it got me really excited for the Loveland Lake to Lake in a few weeks!
This past weekend, Chris and I rode 67 miles. It was an excellent ride, basically an extension of my favorite local ride, which is to Carter Lake and back via Horsetooth. And the weather was amazing! It was the first ride this year when I didn't have to bring extra clothing. My legs didn't feel too great starting out but I actually kept up with Chris much more than usual on the climbs. Happy day! I even pushed him on my least favorite hill, somehow I just got in the zone and was able to keep up a good pace, until the very end when he came around me but I still managed to stay on his wheel. Sooo ... maybe I am getting some climbing legs? Also this was my first 50+ mile ride where afterward I did not think, "Holy crap, registering for that half-ironman was the biggest mistake of my life." Haha, a good sign! :)
Well, here are the totals.
Week 20
Total: 14:10, 115 miles
Swimming: 2:15, 4700 m
Biking: 6.25 hours, 85.2 miles (including 13.1 mile TT, long=27 mile brick)
Running: 59 minutes, 6.2 miles
Hiking: 4:30 hours, 7 miles (yes, it was slow but hard! A route-finding, willow-fighting, snow-shoeing good time)
Week 21
Total: 12:33, 121.5 miles
Swimming: 3:15, 7750 meters (back to 3 days a week, finally!)
Biking: 6:05, 100.6 miles (woohoo over 100 miles! Long was 4:00, 67.5 miles, 16.8 mph average)
Run: 2:46, 16.15 miles (caught in rain: once; caught in hail: once. Long was 1:23, 7.5 miles, cut short by hail storm!)
And now, the much-anticipated summary of my May training. Note that I took an entire week off following the half marathon!
Biking: 355 miles, 24:37 hours (vs 263.75 miles in April and 182 miles in March) ... I do love to ride my bike
Running: 40.55 miles, 6:50 hrs (vs 56.5 in Apr and 49 miles in Mar) ... running 13 miles at once will do that to you
Swimming: 9.8 miles, 6:25 hrs (vs 8.44 in Apr and 12 miles in Mar) ... wow I swam a lot in March!
This past weekend, Chris and I rode 67 miles. It was an excellent ride, basically an extension of my favorite local ride, which is to Carter Lake and back via Horsetooth. And the weather was amazing! It was the first ride this year when I didn't have to bring extra clothing. My legs didn't feel too great starting out but I actually kept up with Chris much more than usual on the climbs. Happy day! I even pushed him on my least favorite hill, somehow I just got in the zone and was able to keep up a good pace, until the very end when he came around me but I still managed to stay on his wheel. Sooo ... maybe I am getting some climbing legs? Also this was my first 50+ mile ride where afterward I did not think, "Holy crap, registering for that half-ironman was the biggest mistake of my life." Haha, a good sign! :)
Well, here are the totals.
Week 20
Total: 14:10, 115 miles
Swimming: 2:15, 4700 m
Biking: 6.25 hours, 85.2 miles (including 13.1 mile TT, long=27 mile brick)
Running: 59 minutes, 6.2 miles
Hiking: 4:30 hours, 7 miles (yes, it was slow but hard! A route-finding, willow-fighting, snow-shoeing good time)
Week 21
Total: 12:33, 121.5 miles
Swimming: 3:15, 7750 meters (back to 3 days a week, finally!)
Biking: 6:05, 100.6 miles (woohoo over 100 miles! Long was 4:00, 67.5 miles, 16.8 mph average)
Run: 2:46, 16.15 miles (caught in rain: once; caught in hail: once. Long was 1:23, 7.5 miles, cut short by hail storm!)
And now, the much-anticipated summary of my May training. Note that I took an entire week off following the half marathon!
Biking: 355 miles, 24:37 hours (vs 263.75 miles in April and 182 miles in March) ... I do love to ride my bike
Running: 40.55 miles, 6:50 hrs (vs 56.5 in Apr and 49 miles in Mar) ... running 13 miles at once will do that to you
Swimming: 9.8 miles, 6:25 hrs (vs 8.44 in Apr and 12 miles in Mar) ... wow I swam a lot in March!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
about the Faith Alive clinic
Some of you already know about Faith Alive but if you are coming to my blog from a link you saw, I wanted to provide some more explanation of the clinic. I feel a little inadequate in how I can describe it. I have never been there but my husband visited it in January of 2008. He came back very touched by the work of Dr. Chris, the founder of Faith Alive, and the other doctors, as well as by the stories of several patients who he interacted with.
The Faith Alive Hospital cares for about 500 patients a day and provides ongoing care for HIV/AIDS patients. Approximately 10,000 people are on the waiting list for life-saving drugs, which only cost $183 a year. As the name implies, Faith Alive is faith-based, but they does not discriminate in who they treat - currently they see about 50/50 Christians and Muslims. The clinic's services include counseling and prayer, home-based care, health and HIV awareness education, school sponsorships, job training, discipleship classes, micro-lending, transitional housing, a food bank, support groups, and satellite clinics, schools, and farms. Faith Alive is a free clinic that is truly doing life saving work. Most of the patients cannot afford medical care and their lives would be significantly shorter and more painful without treatment. And the holistic approach to health care not only extends people's lives but also improves their quality of life.
For more information, visit http://faithalivenigeria.org. Thank you so much for considering making a donation!
The Faith Alive Hospital cares for about 500 patients a day and provides ongoing care for HIV/AIDS patients. Approximately 10,000 people are on the waiting list for life-saving drugs, which only cost $183 a year. As the name implies, Faith Alive is faith-based, but they does not discriminate in who they treat - currently they see about 50/50 Christians and Muslims. The clinic's services include counseling and prayer, home-based care, health and HIV awareness education, school sponsorships, job training, discipleship classes, micro-lending, transitional housing, a food bank, support groups, and satellite clinics, schools, and farms. Faith Alive is a free clinic that is truly doing life saving work. Most of the patients cannot afford medical care and their lives would be significantly shorter and more painful without treatment. And the holistic approach to health care not only extends people's lives but also improves their quality of life.
For more information, visit http://faithalivenigeria.org. Thank you so much for considering making a donation!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Group Ride Thursday June 4
I'm leading a group ride on Thursday from the Atmospheric Science department. It will be a no drop ride and all levels of riders (and types of bikes) are welcome. We'll meet up at 5:30 and go over the route and see where everyone is as far as expected speed goes and then head off. I expect the ride to break up if a decent number of people show up but no one will get left behind.
Also I'm doing this to help with my fundraising for the Faith Alive medical clinic in Nigeria. Please consider making a donation for the ride, but please don't let that stop you from coming. Hopefully it will be a beautiful day and a great ride :).
I put two route options on mapmyride.com. They are on my profile at http://www.mapmyride.com/user_profile?u=284124354910322849. (The Lindenmeier route can be made about 2.5 miles shorter by staying on CO-1 until you get to 287, turning left, and then turning right onto Willox from 287.) I hope you can come!
Also I'm doing this to help with my fundraising for the Faith Alive medical clinic in Nigeria. Please consider making a donation for the ride, but please don't let that stop you from coming. Hopefully it will be a beautiful day and a great ride :).
I put two route options on mapmyride.com. They are on my profile at http://www.mapmyride.com/user_profile?u=284124354910322849. (The Lindenmeier route can be made about 2.5 miles shorter by staying on CO-1 until you get to 287, turning left, and then turning right onto Willox from 287.) I hope you can come!
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