Reports | JUNK MILES

Gulf Coast Half-Ironman Recap

21 May 2013 4 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: run, swim, bike, 70.3, half ironman, Ironman Florida, IMFL, Gulf Coast Tri, attitude, experience

So let’s do this thing…

It has been a really interesting year leading up to this event.

Back in December, when I decided to race IMFL, I hired a coach so this would be my 1st race with her guidance under my belt.

This would ALSO be the 1st 70.3 that I was racing uninjured. Ok, well technically its only my second 70.3 ever….

If you were lucky enough to spend any time around here last year, you’ll recall that I ran myself into a horrid case of ITBism/patella-femoralish something or other..

A little…..OK, major…pain turned into me continuing to train and irritating the femoral condyle right to the brink of a stress fracture, thereby; ruining my inaugural 70.3 last April in Galveston. I was able to complete it and I actually found it to be incredibly easy (the lack intensity or running more than 5 feet at a time MAY have something to do with that….)! So easy, that I then decided that an Ironman would be no problem!

HA! Sweet, naive injured triathlete that I was!

I might have wanted to tackle one of these puppies healthy before becoming QUITE so confident in my abilities!

On May 11th I got my chance to do just that…

Training leading up to the day was perfect. Well, as perfect as you can get on the Gulf Coast in the spring. It was wet, windy, humid, hot, and sometimes even cold.

Did I mention it was particularly windy? I’ve gotten some awesome training rides and running miles along the beach in the wind. It was frustrating as hell at the time and it beat the crap out of me, but come race day I was so grateful I had battled 50+miles in those conditions!

Alright, on to the good stuff…..

We elected to do this race instead of Galveston because it basically IS the IMFL course. So it was a sneak preview of sorts…

We stayed at Shores of Panama and I guess there are plenty of college students always looking for something to do on the weekend because we had some rowdy neighbors. At 2:30am a lady, younger than I, proceeded to beat on her door and scream at her friends to let her in….at least I THINK that’s what she was saying. Her speech, while very loud, was a bit slurred. Every time she ~~passed out~~ got tired and simmered down, I’d fall asleep….for about 5 minutes before she started up again.

At 3:50 I gave up. My alarm was going off at 4am so it was time to get going….

The weather had been looking iffy and so I checked my laptop while having coffee and breakfast.

Woke the husband at 4:30. By 5am we were headed down the street to transition.

And it was gonna rain. The game became….”when do you think its going to happen?”

Got everything set up….computers, Quarq, food…the usual….stood in line to pee, grabbed the wetsuit and headed to the water.

6am or so transition closed.

SWIM

The swim was in the Gulf and actually, as far as sighting goes, as easy as it comes. 900+ yards out, turn left for 200 yards, then 900+ yards back to the sand.

The ladies went before the men and having waited over an hour to swim last year in TX, this made me very happy! I was the 2nd wave…YIPEE!!!

Honestly, I’ve never swam in the open gulf like this so it was a WILD experience. The gulf here, on the MS coast, is surrounded by barrier islands so we never get to play in waves like this (or blue water)….unless a storm is coming in.

We got a little beat up getting past the breakers, but once I got into a rhythm and figured how to sight and breathe, as the wave was cresting, I was good to go.

I felt good. I was swimming at my normal pool intensity and the only time I really had to pick it up was when someone tried to grab my feet. Very annoying.

As were the foggy goggles that were leaking….Grrr!

Swimming out here is just freaky. The water starts off very light blue then gets very, very dark and almost black as you get further out and the water gets deeper. Honestly, it is a bit hard to NOT think about our friends of the sea….with sharp teeth….eeks!

Swim faster!

I was in the lead group of my wave and we were starting to pass the girls in front of us.

As we got closer to shore, those breakers we had to dive under were now throwing us to the bottom of the gulf floor as they came crashing in….

Once I got to the point where the tide was pulling me back out I decided to get up and walk in….

Saw the clock: 41:15…mentally subtracting 5 minutes for wave starts 36:15 (forgot to start my Garmin until I was past the breakers on the way out….)

I ran out of the water and up the sand hill feeling really good.

I stopped at the shower (BEFORE the timing mat naturally!) and stripped my wetsuit there at the bench (no strippers today!) and off to transition…

Official Time: 38:19 4th in 40-44 AG

Lessons Learned:

don’t spend so much time rinsing off (1st in AG was 36:25…maybe she stopped at the showers, maybe not…)
new goggles on race day…not new style, but new goggles to help with fog issues
I need to push a little bit harder…not much….but a little

Overall, very pleased with this. Swimming the open gulf is wildly different from any other type of open water swimming I’ve done. It is much more challenging and in the end more fun I think. However, I’m not sure how I feel about getting back in and doing a 2nd loop for IMFL. I wish they would just leave us in for the entire 2.4 miles!

My husband proceeded to vomit his way through 1.2 miles! The motion of the ocean combined with the usual race morning nerves got to him about 800 yards out and it is amazing he made it back to shore in 35 minutes.

If anyone has any ideas or experience on how to resolve this, please pass it along. He battles it almost every race because if its not the waves it’s the other swimmers creating chop or the rescue jet skis. It’s starting to become a real problem and we’ve got to figure something out before IMFL because I’m not sure he can get BACK in for a 2nd loop if he’s barfing his guts up!

Too long…whats new! Foggy sunglasses from me being cold and the humidity outside made it hard to maneuver. And I’m just slow…gotta work on it.

Time: 4:11

BIKE

This is where I felt the most prepared.

I’ve ridden my ASS off in some not so pleasant conditions so I was ready for what this course had in store.

It’s flat, it’s windy, and if you’re not ready for that it will tear your back to pieces because you have to tuck down and stay down for the entire 56 miles.

I was ready.

What I WAS NOT ready for, was the rain that started at about mile 30-35. Race tires and wet roads equal a scary combination. There were some bad accidents. Some got back on and finished, many did not.

The other thing I was not quite ready for….

The turn back towards the beach…towards and onto Thomas Drive. If you’ve done the race you know….the wind and traffic becomes INSANE.

Its like playing frogger in a wind tunnel…..the winds are blowing you all over the place and cars are coming out of the condos while we’re all riding 20+mph back to transition…

Oh and lets add in that rain….

I ended up with a nutrition fail because I was unable to reach behind me and grab my last bottle during the home stretch.

I figured if I crashed it wouldn’t matter anyway and so I kept both hands on wheel, figuring I’d deal with it later…

Apparently, I don’t “deal” well…

But at the time, I felt like a million bucks and it seemed logical!

Not tired, not achy, not labored ….legs felt ready!

A little side note about my bike…..my Qunitina Roo has been being rebuilt all winter/spring. It never fit right and my hips were always having problems so we went back and started from scratch. It got an entirely new cockpit, new components, and shorter cranks….I think the frame, seat, and race wheels are the same!

I picked it up 6 days before the race!!

Crazy, I know…

12 hours before I left for Florida I was having final tweaks to the aerobar placement because my lats were so sore I was doubting my ability to even swim!

Racing this bike would, no doubt, be the best or worst decision I’d ever made….

TIME: 2:50:27 (avg pace 19.7) 12th 40-44 AG

LESSONS LEARNED:

Spending the time to get my bike fit right was well worth the effort….AND it was a lot of effort, but I’m so glad I persisted
Finish up nutrition before the last 10-15 miles…just incase!
practice, practice and MORE practice really does make all the difference….

So many times I looked at my coaches plan on Training Peaks and thought, “ANOTHER 4hour ride?? she’s crazy!”

But at the end of the day….or the end of the bike rather, I was just where I wanted to be….

Racing the Kaptain was one of the best decisions of the day (no offense to Lola)!

11th in my AG and only 13 miles to go!

ONLY!

I was racked right next to a Porta Pottie…..YES!

No line so I popped in real quick and then things went a little something like this…

“Where the hell are my salt tabs?? OMG where are my salt tablets….HAS ANYONE SEEN MY SALT?”

I was freaking out just a lil’ bit….not a good way to start a half-marathon, but then neither is trying to finish up the back part of a half-ironman in a rainy humidor with no electrolyte replacement.

DANDY!

Time: 4:23

RUN

UGH!

I don’t really know what to say.

I was in panic mode before I got out of T2 and things went from not good to full-blown bad.

Headed out at around an 8:40 min/mi and backed off……A LOT!

I had been told to take the 1st 3mi slowly and since I didn’t have my salt I was taking it really slowly.

I said a small thank you to the Gods for providing rain…and clouds because it had been sunny its hard to think what may have happened!

So I make the grand decision to stop at each aid station and suck down Gatorade….No offense to folks down in Gainsville, but it really is nothing more than glorified syrup-water. If you look at how much salt is in the stuff vs how much you actually may need out there …

pfft…

I was praying that my husband was having the race of his life and was back there gaining ground on me. I knew he had 4 extra tabs he wouldn’t be using so if I could just find him….

quickly….

Ohhh, another little tidbit….he broke his toe 2 days prior jumping on our boat so in reality, I knew he wasn’t running the footrace of his life out there!

Now I did see the pills all over the ground at various points, but if you think back to my neighbor beating on her condo at 3am….not everyone in Panama City Beach is there to race so I wasn’t exactly convinced ALL those pills were filled with salt!

I got to mile 6 holding between 9:30-9:45 and walking through the aid stations, but I was getting very uncomfortable….

Miles 6-8 I had to start walking between the aid stations…

It was raining, I was wet, my toes had blisters from running in the puddles, my stomach was sloshing, I had a side stitch, my ankle hurt, and my right glute was starting to cramp.

I physically hurt everywhere.

This was no longer fun…I didn’t like, I didn’t want to be there. I felt like everything was going wrong, but more importantly I couldn’t set my head straight.

I could not get rid of the negativity of the day and embrace it for what it was….

I wasn’t breathing hard, my heart rate wasn’t too high…

It just sucked…

Around mile 9 I found my husband and took his salt. He was run/walking on his broken toe and having way to much damn fun!

After the fact, he said I didn’t look so swell….

Ya’ think?

I ate the 1st 2 salt tablets and hoped they would turn my day right-side up…..didn’t happen.

At mile 10-11 I made the very sound decision that I was NOT doing Ironman Florida. Hell, maybe I was never doing another race again…certainly not a running one, but I was 100% out of Florida. They could keep my money and we’d chalk it up to rash decision making….

hmmmmm?????

Then I looked at my time….

No way would I make my goal, but I’d better my Galveston time. It would be hard not too since I started the day “whole”…..

And I became even more pissy….

mad at the rain, at my legs for feeling like bricks…

“WHY can’t you move any faster??”

mad at the bumpy road, back on the bike leg, for causing my salt to fly out of my top….

Shit, I was mad at the girl running the other way with her headphones on…AND she was on mile 2! At least I was almost done!

Mile 11 I decided…no more walking. No more prolonging the agony. No matter how slow, no stopping till the end.

AND BTW, someone needs to learn how to measure because this course is long by about .5 mile. THAT, my friends, is a long way when you’re teetering on the edge….

When I finally made it to the chute and saw the clock, I realized my math skills are still questionable….

The clock read 5:58

and I started 5 minutes after the clock….which means 5:53

I made it in under 6 hrs!

Goal realized!

I don’t cry often….not birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, sappy movies….but that almost got me, but I had no juice to give up

I’d left every bit of fluid out there!

Time: 2:16:20 (10:25 min/mi for 13.1, but I swear its long!) 20th in 40-44 AG

Lessons Learned:

I’ve got to work on my mental game, that’s gonna be huge for me this summer…no more complaining about what can’t be changed….bad habits must be broken! For what its worth, this run was only about 10-12 minutes off what I planned, so while it wasn’t ideal it also wasn’t the great American tragedy I was making it out to be in my head…if I was a mentally sound racer, that time would’ve been a bit better and far less painful!
Extra nutrition and electrolytes must be plentiful in the future! Extra…extra…extra…Just Incase!!

FINAL RESULTS:

5:53:38

14th 40-44 AG

335 overall

What a day!

And I’m not gonna lie, I’ve never been so glad to cross a finish line in all my life!

But this was more along the lines of where I expected my time to be last year….

and, if I’m honest, how I expected it to feel too.

This stuff is hard! Last year I was lulled into a sense of security because I couldn’t really race the distance. I went to the event and participated, but I had to lower my intensity and expectations because my knee just couldn’t take it. THIS time I got to experience it all….

And that experience is what will wind up being the best teacher of all.

Oh and incase you were wondering….

I’m still in for Ironman Florida!

Race Happy, My Friends!

Osprey OWS Race Recap

13 May 2013 10 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: 70.3, bike, Gulf Coast Tri, Osprey OWS, racer, run, swim, triathlete

I’m a smidge behind around here, so I’m trying to play catch up this week….

About 2 weeks ago, we had our 1st OWS even here on the Mississippi Coast. My husband has been over to Pensacola for the 5k/10k OWS they hold over there, but this was my 1st stand alone open water event.

Leading up to the day, I was so excited to just be swimming! No worries about biking or running!

My excitement dampened as the week progressed because we were inundated with rain and wind as a cold front blew through. We awoke to 47F outside with water temps somewhere around 69-70F.

Mother Nature was has certainly been laughing her ass off this year.

The race brochure stated the 1/4 mi and 1/2 mi swims would go BEFORE the 1 mile and so I had planned to swim with 1 of those groups as a warm up. I’m not really sure what happened, but at 8:00 it was announced that all 1 milers needed to get in the water and wade to the starting buoy….

Obviously we missed a key bit of info as my husband didn’t even have his swimsuit on, much less his wetsuit!

So off he runs (at least someone got a warm-up!) to change and off I go into the frigid muddy water known as the Mississippi Gulf.

My plan was to draft off my husband for the first few hundred yards. I figured by then he’d be at full speed and I wouldn’t be able to hang on to his feet any longer. I had to take what I could while the getting was good.

Well, its nice to have a plan and all….

I see the familiar black and green wetsuit running towards the beach, into the water, and to the starting buoy just as the horn fires. The familiar feet and toes are LONG gone before I can get through 2 pulls.

Oh well!

Now the thing about inaugural races is that there are always kinks to be worked out.

The thing about racing an inaugural event is that you, the racer, get to experience those kinks!

1 mile in the open water is a long way and a swimmer really needs to be able to sight well. Add a little chop, waves, and current to that mix and it becomes even more essential.

4 buoys over a 1 mile triangular course really wasn’t enough. 2 of those buoys were at the turn so there was a lot of swimming with nothing to guide you in any direction.

The lifeguards were not all that familiar with OWS events and 1 actually ran me over…..nothing major and I kept right on moving, but still….

And then there was just the very unique experience in and of itself. As a triathlete, I’m accustomed to a TON of folks in the water and I never realized how much I use those people for sighting. We had about 40 out there on this day and I felt like I was totally alone.

It was very different from what I’m accustomed to when swimming in the open water and while it didn’t bother me, I could see how it could be a bit unnerving if someone wasn’t very comfortable in the water.

All in all it was a great experience and fun day.

My speedy husband got so lost he ended up swimming 1.45 miles instead of 1 and STILL did it in 28 minutes. He came away with 4th overall and 1st in his AG!

He really is part fish!

I only managed a mere 1.02 miles since I can follow directions a bit better and don’t get quite so lost, a-hem…

30:30 and 8th OA/3rd in my AG.

A huge improvement over the 39 minute 1mi OWS last year and with a hell of a lot less effort as well.

Nothing like seeing all that work in the pool paying off and it was the perfect confidence booster for Gulf Coast 70.3 the following week over in Panama City Beach…..

which meant another OWS in a much rougher, unprotected part of the Gulf of Mexico.

Ahhh, if I had only known then what I know now….

but that’s for next time

Swim Happy, My Friends!

Traditions Triathlon Race Recap

15 Apr 2013 5 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: bike, OWS, pacing, power meter, Quarq, race report, run, swim, traditions triathlon

Surprise! Surprise!

I’m a bit behind getting this out….

No rest for the weary around here!

After the race, I jumped right back into a 14 hour training week. It’s taken me until today to catch my breath and put down a few thoughts about the race itself.

There were a few goals and objectives heading into this event:

Negative split all 3 areas
Improve transition/move through with purpose
Race “my” race..DO NOT race to place…***BIG ONE***
Come out 1st in my AG in the swim

Most of these were instructions given by my coach, which I agreed upon whole-heartedly….and 1 may have been an expectation that I simply demanded of myself.

Race morning was a crispy 47F outside…

Water temperature was hovering around 60F…..That might as well be Arctic waters for us in South Mississippi. Just so you know, I have to talk myself into the pool at 78F….

So we’re racked and ready…..and decide to head down to test the waters.

It was cold. I couldn’t feel my face, hands, or my feet. I couldn’t tell if I was kicking or feel my stroke at all….My face was the worst…..it was totally numb and I was getting a headache after only being in a few minutes…

Luckily it was a short 600 meters!

However, I did decide this must be how people die during the swim portion of triathlon. They get into this cold water and go all out and have some sort of vaso-spasm or constriction. After being in this frigid lake, I totally see how it could happen, especially on a longer swim. I promptly decided to simply SWIM…..to hell with speed. Nice full strokes and get the hell out was now the objective!

SWIM

It was a time trial start and I was #24. My husband was #25. I hit the water and no sooner than I thought, “Holy shit this cold!” did I see him FLYING by me on the left. I said a small prayer that HE didn’t have a heart attack and focused on smooth strokes and sighting.

I ended up with a really good swim. I went buoy to buoy….didn’t swim ANY extra distance or stray off course. I swam the last 300m faster than the 1st so I achieved the goal of a negative split…

AND….

I ended up 1st in my AG in the swim with an average pace of 1:36/100y.

I wasn’t so happy with my overall time, but considering the conditions and how I swam.. I’m coming to terms with it more and more each day!

BIKE

This is a hilly course and I don’t ride or race hills often so I knew pacing was going to be an issue, but I was up for the task.

This was also my 1st race with my Quarq power meter. I was given no rules about power/wattage(yeah!!) other than to go all out. I believe phrase “violent effort” was how my coach actually phrased it, but I also had to keep that negative split in mind…

Heres the interesting thing, I rode the entire course and never looked at my speed once. All I checked were my watts and cadence…

It’s official, I’ve been converted to a power meter junkie!

I ended up with an average of 162 watts/18.7 mph for the ride AND I did pick up more wattage on the back half than the front….AND the back half had a touch more elevation as well… so all in all I paced perfectly.

Could I have ridden harder? Probably…hard to tell. I wouldn’t exactly call my effort “violent”, but my ability to pace was spot on so since that is a key skill I’m focusing on for my 70.3 and 140.6 I’m going to take it and run….so to speak

Last time I raced this course, a few years ago, I was averaging closer to 17.1 mph…Progress is a good thing!

RUN

This run course sucks. There is no nice way to say it. It’s VERY hilly, but that’s not the issue. The problem lies with the terrain itself. There are two very steep areas that are off-road.

The 1st area is right around mile 1 and it’s a mix of sand, clay, and rock. The 2nd is closer to the end, around mile 2.5, and is a winding trail with pine straw covered rock.

This wouldn’t pose a problem if you have trails to run on daily, but for those of us…or just me….who don’t and who also have VERY flexible ankles/feet and are running in flat shoes with lock laces it just doesn’t work real well. In order to do this well, I’d need a very supportive shoe and real laces to lock my ankle in nice and tight!

As a result, I walked most of the off-road areas. I simply wasn’t willing to roll an ankle (happened more times than I care to count on much flatter surfaces) 4 weeks away from my half-ironman.

That being said, it was still a good run. I again, was able to negative split the 5k by keeping a lid on myself as I came out of T2. I do have a tendency to go out too fast so I’ve worked countess hours on run pacing strategies and they are finally starting to pay off…

I averaged under a 8:50/min/mi for the 5k and while I expected a bit more, I was generally pleased considering the circumstances.

TRANSITIONS

ehhh….not good, not great.

T1 was a nightmare coming out of that frigid water. Everyone was right around 2-3 minutes and I was closer to 3.

I helped my husband get his jersey on since his hands were numb and to be perfectly honest, my brain was not working….co-ordination was off… I seriously doubted my ability to even RIDE my bike!

T2 was fine. I was on the far side so it took a bit longer to get in and out, but I did so in just over a minute. I was pleased with that…there was not much more I would’ve done here.

OVERALL

I ended up about 3 minutes faster than the last time I was here. I’m told I can’t compare my times, on a course, year over year because so many things other than performance can effect the outcome.

Lucky You….I’ll spare you the paragraph about how I wanted improve more than 3 minutes and all the many ways I would’ve done so!

All in all it was a good day. I didn’t place like I’d hoped, but that wasn’t really the “ultimate” objective.

My coach gave me an A+ for the day and I also gained some precious wattage for training and racing purposes…YEAH! :)

I think the most valuable thing I’m seeing develop is that ability to pace successfully.

In the past, I’ve pushed so hard riding in attempt to “make up time” for what I’ll loose on the run because I’m not a 6-7 min/miler…I’ve had a really hard time buying into the, “make it up on the run” philosophy. But by backing off a bit on the bike, I’m able to run a bit closer to my stand alone 5k time….or 13.1 time in day-to-day training.

As days go by, that gap is closing and we continue to tinker with workouts and get closer to the correct formula. It’s definitely an art and takes a lot of diligent effort, but there is no doubt, the longer the race the bigger the return.

So what’s next you may ask??

Well let me tell you because I am SOOO excited!!

In a few weeks we’re having our 1st OWS here on the MS Gulf Coast!!

1 mile in the Gulf!

I CAN NOT WAIT!

No worries about biking or running after…..or how fast can I get my wetsuit off….

Just 1 mile…

How fast can you go??

Woo-Hoo!! Good Times!!

Swim Happy, My Friends!

Wordless Wednesday…Seen at the Races

13 Feb 2013 2 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: Mardi Pardi 5k, race report

Some Cool Medals for AG finishers

what’s a race without a band??!!

Dancing Man doin’ his thing….

The Second Line, it IS Mardi Gras after all…

just incase you were wondering….

Hard work pays off…

Run Happy, My Friends!

Ironman Florida- Volunteering

09 Nov 2012 5 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: hydration, dehydration, Ironman Florida, medical tent

Last weekend we headed down to Panama City to watch a good friend race, what seems like, his millionth Ironman….

Hard to believe someone can do 2-3 of these things a year and yet NEVER be injured….I think I’m going to tell him to write a book and spill his secrets.

While there, I also volunteered in the medical tent from 6-11:30pm.

WOW….

I’m still recovering from the nights events. The mental scars run deep!!

I saw things that I thought were only written about in books or televised for “shock and awe” value.

The 1 thing I did carry away, from my 5+ hours helping these poor people, is that there really is no such thing as being adequately hydrated.

If in doubt, drink. And then drink a lot more.

Every single issue I saw, minor (nausea/headaches) to major (full collapse and being carried on a stretcher to the ambulance) was caused by dehydration.

Stay on top of it!! I can not begin to stress that enough!

Luckily, everyone we knew, finished upright and in 1 piece despite a very hot and humid November afternoon.

And now, finally, the good stuff…

Here are a few pictures, of the day, for your viewing pleasure….

Race Happy, My Friends!

Grandman Triathlon Race Report

15 Jun 2012 8 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: bike, Grandman Triathlon, happy, ITB, knee, race, run, swim, triathlon

Fore score and 7 years ago…

Ok, more like….

2 weeks ago we traveled to Fairhope, Alabama for our 1st race since the Memorial Herman 70.3.

Heading into this event, there were a couple a lil’ “issues” …

A big one, no surprise, was my knee/ITB injury. I hadn’t been logging any consistent running miles since Galveston.

The week prior to Grandman, I was finally able to run 3-4 miles, 3 times/wk, without pain.

NOT fast….

NOT without stopping for oxygen…

NOT without breaking for a side of the road stretch and pep talk…

I was merely able to DO IT.

Grandman was going to be a “test” of whether my leg could tolerate the stress of racing (and that word is used very loosely). NOLA 5150 was approaching and would be a smidge longer, so I really needed to know how I’d hold up on a shorter distance race before determining if I was indeed going to make the trip into New Orleans in late June.

I also wasn’t real sure how I would fare on the hilly Alabama course I signed up for back in January. And then there was my husband….

looking calm the day prior…10k was the length of the ENTIRE bridge (there and back)

2 weeks prior to Grandman, we went to Pensacola so he could participate in a 10K open water race/event. THATswim broke him. It chewed him up and spit him out like bad candy. It was a windy morning and the water was extremely choppy which led to him becoming horribly sea-sick.

He started throwing up just before the 1 mile marker and it never stopped. Then came the cramps.

His forearms/shoulders started seizing and the physician part of his mind took over. He decided he really didn’t want to die trying to prove a point. It was there, at 3.5 miles, he climbed aboard a support boat. He was both mentally and physically beat up, not to mention a bit dehydrated.

All in all, he swam 3.5 horrid miles in 2 hours. I tried to console him with the fact that he knew he could manage the worst of the worst Ironman swims AND the fact that many did just as he did (and they weren’t ill either), but he was not interested in hearing it. He was pissed off at mother nature, his equilibrium, and himself.

As a result, he had lost his Joie de vivre. He hadn’t trained AT ALL since that fateful day and had no real desire to do so (still doesn’t, but that’s a WHOLE nother post). He was going to race Grandman, but I was a bit worried about how the day would end for him……mentally and physically.

The day before we drove from Pensacola to Fairhope so we could pick up our packets at the race site. I was warned this was a hilly course, but what I saw left me speechless. I only wish I had taken a picture.

Transition was going to be set up at the bottom of a valley with a 10-20% climb out (on both the ride and the run) into town, towards the highway, and out to the remainder of the course. The run I could wrap my mind around, but on the bike?? How was I going to get out of this hell hole?

The wind/whitecaps= flashbacks…

Oh and the bay was really choppy! THAT had my husband all stirred up, but all I could do was stare at that climb into town.

This is the stuff pre-race nightmares are made of ….

It’s a little over an hour from Pensacola to Fairhope so that meant a 3:30am wake-up…..that is just entirely too damn early to be getting up!!

On a side note, my brother and his family were driving in from Houston and WHEN I got up, bright and early at 3:30am, my mom, brother, and sister-in-law had yet to make it to bed!!!!

Party On!

So we get to Fairhope and the bay, while not calm, certainly wasn’t the churning toilet bowl it was the day before. The climb out of transition however, had not changed and I was suddenly overcome with nausea. It looked and I now felt much worse about things with my bike racked knowing I was REALLY going to have to do this….and SOON!

Reality Bites!

I double and triple checked my bike to be sure it was in the lowest gear possible and we headed to the water. Once there, I was fortunate enough to listen to everyone’s theory on how to climb out of transition, how THAT wasn’t near as bad as the climb out-of-town (they were correct!), and how the run out of transition was even worse (right again!)….

As we were lining up, I was seriously wondering WHY IN THE HELL I signed up for this crap.

Too late now!

SWIM -1/3 mile

This was the oddest swim I’ve ever done. It was a time trial start, but that wasn’t the issue.

The problem was they put the timing mats on the shore…ok fine….but didn’t count the distance from shore to the 1st buoy (or the last buoy to shore) in the race distance.

So while it was billed as 1/3 mile swim, the distance from timing mat to timing mat was actually 1/2 mile. Weird in my opinion, but doesn’t really effect the race results as a whole.

The swim itself was rather uneventful.

It was wavy so there was some thinking involved and that made it a bit more enjoyable. Sometimes breaststroke was a better option to tackle to waves and so I went with it. Swimming back in with the current was a real treat after fighting it on the way out.

I don’t care how far the swim distance, I never seem to be able to “push” as hard as I think I should. Definitely a goal for next weekends 5150.

TIME: 12:48

One of my objectives, for this race, was to work on transition times. I was disappointed in what I saw after the race, but I really FELT like I was moving swiftly. I had a long ass run from the water to the far side of transition where I was racked. I was on a mission….I had a mountain to climb!

Time: 2:51

BIKE -18 miles

I’m happy to report I made it OUT of transition and did so on my bike!

And the initial climb was NOTHING compared to what we met at the top of that hill….

See, it lulls you into security thinking its going to be a short quick attack and in reality its a long brutal offensive that goes on and on. I was looking for an oxygen tank by the time I found flat ground….there wasn’t one… and then there was another hill to climb.

This went on and on for the 1st 10 miles or so. WHO KNEW Alabama was so hilly. And big hills too….

The kind you see wayyyyy ahead and think, “Ho-ly Shit!”….or at least I do and did quite often on this day.

Around 10-11 miles in, it leveled out to a mix of gentle rollers and flats. Pretty soon we were making our way back DOWN into the valley of transition.

One thing I did differently this go round, is I finally re-mounted my bike computer and it really helped me push when I needed to do so. I have found I need to take it off for day-to-day training rides otherwise I end up working myself harder than desired, but I definitely need it for racing day.

Another goal, for this race, was to really focus on riding harder during the bike leg, not saving my legs for the run, and I think I did so successfully. I slowed and chatted with a guy from La. for 3-4 miles and so I slowed down for a while, but…..

Whattaya gonna do??!!

TIME: 56:03 (19.3mph)

My Garmin wasn’t doing its multi-sport thing, so I got a bit distracted. Yea’ there was the long run from bike dismount to my bike rack, but I spent a good minute fiddling with my watch…grrrrr

Time: 2:58

RUN -3.1 miles

What to say…

We had to climb that huge ass hill out of transition….AGAIN…and then climb through town.

FYI: I walked the hill as I was not willing to wear myself or my knee/ITB out so early in the game.

I was able to handle the climbs in and around town, but had to walk back DOWN that monster hill as my knee was having none of that stress. I also walked through the aid stations to conserve strength.

heading up the “hill”

My husband came in a few minutes prior so he was there cheering me to the finish.

We waited for a few of our other friends to come across as I assessed my knee and the mental status of my racing parter.

Everything and everyone seemed in order. PHEW!

As for my knee, it seemed the worse was over and for that I was so grateful. I honestly didn’t care WHAT my run split was….

Well, maybe I was just a little curious…

Time: 28:55 (9:20/mi)

Not a bad day all things considered.

Overall Time: 1:43:33
10/21 40-44 AG
Female Rank 42/165
Overall Rank 267/590

The rest of the week was spent enjoying a low pressure system which brought HUGE waves to Pensacola Beach!

And of course we got some riding in as well…..

I’ve been home for about a week now and have been doing the vacation detox while also trying to build my run miles, ever so slightly, since NOLA 5150 is…..oh… about a week away!!

I have no idea what the day will bring, but the plan will be the same as it has been all season….

Do what my body will allow and simply enjoy the fact that I’m able to participate!

Y’all have a fabulous weekend AND….

Happy Father’s Day to all you great dad’s out there; showing your kids that living a fun, healthy, competitive lifestyle never has to stop!

Train Happy, My Friends!

Memorial Herman 70.3 Re-Cap

09 Apr 2012 26 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: 70.3, bike, galveston, injury, Memorial Herman 70.3, run, swim

I know, I know….

I’m slow.

I’ve had a lot to catch up on, tons to figure out, and even more to come to grips with over the past week since our return from Galveston.

More on all that later.

As y’all know, this race capped off a very stressful 3 weeks. Again I will say how much I appreciated everyone’s support and encouragement.

The online stalking and the text messages/tweets/phone calls were a very welcome sight upon making my way to the truck. I thought of y’all often…especially as I wondered what in the hell I was doing out there with only 1 functioning leg.

Then too, I’d see someone like Brandon.

Brandon is a blind triathlete from Houston who races with VERY…and I mean VERY minimal support. You can read his story here, but seeing him out there racing was AWE-SOME-INSPIRING.

He was out there giving 110% with what he had and VERY happy to be out there doing it in the Texas heat.

I’d love to have the privilege of helping someone complete an event such as this one day, and so my “Bucket List” has grown a tad longer now.

Isn’t that how it goes…

Scratch off 1 thing….add another!

Ok, so as the weekend unfolded we had a hell of a time getting out of here on Thursday.

To make a very LONG story short….

What could go wrong did….

We ended up leaving Mississippi around 4pm for the 7hr drive to Houston.

The original plan was to leave at noon…..didn’t happen.

We had to make an hour pit-stop in Louisiana to have my husbands 1080 race wheel repaired because no one on the MS Gulf Coast could get their heads out of their asses long enough to get it done. We gave them a week and Thursday morning I had to retrieve the wheel and hope it could be repaired in Houston before the race. Luckily, a shop in Mandeville (right on the way) said they could do it lickty split and they did…

Yeah for The Spokesman!!

BUT, another delay…

so around midnight we roll into Houston…ARG!

We spent Friday just relaxing at my parents house, hanging out with my brother and his family; then come Saturday we tried to make the quick drive to Galveston.

HA!

The normal hour drive, took almost 2 1/2. It was bumper to bumper, grid lock traffic the entire way. WTF???

I had the privilege of listening to my husband explain, ‘THIS is why we live in BFE. I would shoot someone if I had to put up with this crap day in and day out. I have 2 red lights to get to work and 2 red lights to get home”

blah, blah, blah

To which I replied, “Yes, and we are lucky enough to have 2 Wal-Marts, 20 Dollar Stores, and 15 Waffle Houses between those 2 red lights. What more could a girl ask for in life???”

This is an ongoing debate in our house as you may have figured and why I’m convinced I DO actually live in hell…or at least slightly north, in purgatory.

We finally make it to Galveston and the 1st thing I start looking for is the wind. The flags are whipping and the palms are swaying. DANDY! I get that “pit” feeling in my stomach..

Then remind myself, “Lady you LIVE in these conditions and ride in them all the damn time….suck it up buttercup and quit your bitchin!”

We stayed at the host hotel, Moody Gardens, and it was wonderful. We will definitely do THAT again. Traffic is a nightmare in this town, so to have the luxury of parking and not NEEDING to drive again (and listen to a certain someone) was bonus!!

We got our race packets, I did a little expo shopping, hooked up with our friends from New Orleans, tried to solve our friend’s ever-present 12hrs before race “my power meter doesn’t work” problem (which never got rectified…), and then racked our bikes.

It was now 6pm. The 4 of us had 6:30 dinner reservations and we were all a hot sweaty mess. So much for a nice and relaxed pre-race afternoon.

I think I made it to bed by 10:30 or so.

4:20 the alarm went off and I headed to my spot in the bathroom to make coffee. My husband is NOT (gasp!) a coffee drinker and slept in until around 5:15 and then showered to loosen up….that’s his coffee! whatever!!

Transition opened at 5am and closed at 6:45am.

1 thing AquaDoc does NOT like and that is to be surrounded by a bunch of nervous energy as it screws with his head. He’s normally very calm and sedate until you get him around a bunch of jacked up folks. Then he starts getting’ all jacked up himself.

Transition=Jacked Up Folk with Nervous Energy

Therefore, we usually get to body marking about 30-45 minutes before the place closes up.

The plan was to get down there around 6.

As I drink my coffee, I’m analyzing every ache in my knee and leg. I start thinking about the breeze I can hear outside the room. I hear my dads voice as he warns me about the front coming through and the winds “picking up”. In my head, I see those buoys in the water and wonder if all those miles I’ve been swimming will carry me…

I wonder why the damn hotel doesn’t have a mini bar??!! Kidding….sorta…not really…

Then I go back in time, and pull out a file from what seemed like so long ago:

Obviously a very different plan was in mind when I originally wrote and posted this, but the fact that it still pertained to the day ahead struck me as both ironic and symbolic.

A little back peddling….

Friday there was some concern that my leg/knee pain…whatever the hell it is….may not be ITBS but more of a “baby” stress fracture.

Apparently the bone bruise/bone marrow edema and the joint effusion on the MRI is not really indicative of ITBS at all. I guess that would show up as a thickened band and that’s not whats there al all. GREAT!

So while I wasn’t forbidden to participate in this event, I was advised to take it down several notches.

Uhhh, ok so whats that?

I was advised to use it as a long training day, to hover around Zone 2-lower 3 keeping RPE right in the middle. This wasn’t a day to prove anything and I was supposed to start accepting that.

Thanks for the 48hrs notice!

So with that in mind, we head down to get body marked and set up our transition areas.

My husband was heading into the water at 7:20am and I wasn’t jumping in until 8:20am. I had a ton of time to continue coming to terms with the rest my day!

I do loathe sitting around and waiting…

Lets move on to the good stuff, shall we??!!

THE SWIM

I spent a good 90 minutes watching everyone else line up, walk to the end of the pier, jump in and swim.

Those buoys seemed sooooo far away. I tried not to focus on it as I chatted with a few people hanging around watching as well.

I did see 1 swimmer be rescued and felt really bad for her as she had to dismount the jet ski, climb up onto the pier, and walk through the long line of racers heading TO the water. It would seem to me there would have been a better way, but that’s just me!

The 40-44 women (that’s us in purple caps!) lined up about 8am and started walking towards the end of the dock.

We jumped in at about 8:17 and had to tread water for exactly 3 minutes before the horn fired.

The last thing I remember thinking was that my husband was already out on the bike course and that I was sooo jealous!!

Once I started swimming everything was fine. All worries were gone and I settled into the nice groove I established earlier in the week at the pool. I knew how I wanted this to feel so I simply found it and stayed there. A few times that natural tendency to push kicked in and I sped up, but quickly I reminded myself of the length of the day and dialed it down.

There were only 2 uncomfortable moments.

1 was when I got kicked in the jaw, rather forcefully, by someone doing breaststroke and the 2nd was when we passed the men from the previous wave. A rather large man swam on top of me as I rounded the 2nd buoy and for a brief moment I couldn’t get out from under him. These were more annoyances than anything else and remaining calm was key to continuing on without any difficulty.

I swam until my fingers dug dirt and rose to my feet. I wasn’t dizzy, winded, or aggravated… which meant I swam it right…FINALLY!

My goal was a comfortable 40 minutes.

I looked at my watch as I was coming out of the water and it read 8:59.

39 and change BINGO!

I headed to across the timing pad and to the wetsuit strippers.

Then it was into T1…for a short eternity.

Official Swim Time: 40:36

First I will say I was a long way from bike out. Then I will say I just really wasn’t in a real big hurry to get anywhere. I need to work on that attitude and it is one of my focus areas for the rest of the season. I lolly gag in transition and its gotten worse with time, not better. I have no idea WHAT I’m doing, but I’m pretty sure its non-productive.

That being said….feel free to hold me accountable to lowering my transition times! It shouldn’t be hard! Are you ready for this….

Official Time: 6:10

BIKE

To say that the Galveston community was a little focused on the cycling portion of this race would be like saying a kid kinnda likes Christmas.

A certain “someone” was in town and all eyes were on him….including many of us out on the course IF we were lucky enough to have that opportunity. I was not one of them.

My husband was. And now he will spend the rest of his life wondering why HE too can’t ride a bike like that??!!!

The course was 28 miles down the seawall and 28 miles back.

Not too technical, but I didn’t have a computer and somewhere around mile 15 I started going stir crazy.

It was windy, my ass hurt because I opted to use my Cobb saddle instead of the ISM Adamo(….don’t ask??!!), and I had no clue where I was from a mileage standpoint. I was wearing a simple Polar watch to keep time of day ONLY…so I knew how long I’d been out there and could approximate the distance, but without a computer everything was a guess.

It was terrible and I’ll NEVER do that again.

Once I hit the turn around my mental status improved, but my physical one deteriorated. That saddle had made riding in aero near impossible. I was up and down, up and down, up and down. I was squirming every which way to find a comfortable spot and there was just not one to be had. Finally, I decided to ride the rest of the way out of the bars. I was more comfortable and felt faster despite being a sail in the breeze.

While my crotch was burning like a California wildfire, my legs felt spectacular! I could’ve ridden ANOTHER 56 miles at that pace (with the right seat) and at some point during my thought-provoking ride, I decided THAT was just what I would do.

I was going to do a FULL Ironman!! Yup, what a great time to make truly rational decisions. But I had nothing else to do out there, so I started planning for the future.

I also saw some GREAT pieces of property, so if you’re in the market for a home on the water… Google: Galveston Beach!

There were a few times I decided to check my heart rate, for old times sake and 135-138 tended to be my range.

I gave myself a pat on the back for following “Plan B”!

Despite coming out and only using this as a long workout, I really wanted to be off the bike in 3hrs. Didn’t happen. Damn!

Official Time: 3:09:03

Glory Days. I was finally able to get my ass off that seat!

A quick look at my watch and I saw it was a little after noon.

GREAT! 80F…. 85% humidity….High Noon Sunny….and I don’t think I can really run 13.1 miles so this is gonna be a long afternoon.

I got my bike racked, changed shoes and decided to stop and pee. No records were being broke today so I decided there was no need to piss my already funky britches.

Another day…Another time!

I chatted with a couple of very happy guys in the porta potty line…I guess everyone’s giddy once they’re pardoned from bike seat hell….got bathed in some of the most acne inducing sunscreen known to man (I’m STILL breaking out from that crap)….said a few Hail Mary’s and begged the Tri Gods one last time to let me run this thing…

and I was off and running, sorta…

Official Time: 7:06

RUN…err WALK…err SHUFFLE

1st I don’t want minimize the task of running 13.1 miles and especially 13.1 miles after swimming 1.2 and cycling 56.

We all know what our bodies are capable of doing. My annoyance was not with the time as much as it was with the fact that my body couldn’t perform to its full ability.

That being said, this was a hot 13.1, but definitely the easiest for me b/c of doing it so slow.

It was a 3 loop course that covered the grounds of the host hotel PLUS a mile strip at an airfield just outside of the transition area. THIS airfield sucked! BIGTIME! It was hot, lonely and seemed to go on forever. I heard more people complain about that than any other part of the race. I kid you not, we all looked like zombies making our way around that loop. It was sheer misery!

I ran from aid station to aid station and my knee held up for the 1st 6 miles doing this. I would break and walk for a minute or so when I did reach an aid station and get water, oranges (My LORD, I’ve never eaten so many oranges as I did on this day!), and cold sponges.

No doubt about it, it was hot as hell out there and people were dropping like flies…mostly from various types of muscle cramps. My husband included. He ended up walking the 2nd half of the run course and having a VERY difficult time doing that because of some wicked calf cramps. He had ZERO electrolyte support during his training and racing and it came back to bite him in the ass. I saw him on my 2nd loop and was surprised to a) see him because I figured he was long done and b) shocked that he looked as awful as he did. I was ready to stop for a second and chat, but there was no way he could stop moving for even a second or really muster any form of conversation because he was so focused on a certain pattern of movement to keep his legs from seizing. In the end, his run time was almost as long as mine! But this type of thing was going on everywhere around me. So I felt pretty good about my nutrition plan. I think even if I was truly running, I would’ve been fine.

After about 6 miles, my knee started giving me problems and I ended up having to walk more than run. However, the more I’d walk, the more my quads and hamstrings would start to tighten so when I attempted running again it was a tad difficult getting started. I was also growing a lovely set of blisters from my wet socks.

Sponges are awesome…wet socks are not!

And neither is Ironman Perform in mango. Really??? How about a more neutral flavor folks??!! YUCK!

I ran, walked, shuffled, hobbled, “oh, ow..not that way’ed” myself to the finish…

FINALLY!

Subtract 1:20 and that’s how I got it done that day

As for the run itself….I suppose it’s not too bad all things considering…

but it still makes me pause as I write it…

Official Time: 2:39

OFFICIAL RACE TIME: 6:39:17
40-44 Women 83/126
OVERALL Women 413/760
OVERALL 1693/2670

Horrible?

No. Indeed not, but far from where I held myself accountable to finishing.

My original goal was under 6 hours.

I’ve allowed myself a week to study the results and mourn.

A proverbial, what could’ve been….

What would’ve been…

Official Time: 6:29:31

My husband pointed out if I would just move my happy ass outta transition swiftly, I could shave 10 minutes right there. So true.

As with any race, we take the lessons learned and apply them to the future.

My #1 piece of advice for anyone embarking on this journey, for the 1st time, is to enjoy the process…

The day before the race I was stressed out and tweeted something to that effect. I received 1 back from Base Performance that simply read,”Relax and Enjoy the Journey.”

It was just what I needed to hear/read at that moment.

Sometimes we get so tied up in performance (or lack thereof) that we forget to have fun.

From that moment on, I referred to the race as an “event” because I was not racing. It took the pressure off and I stopped feeling “bad”.

You only get 1 chance to have your “first time”…so go out and absorb every little detail. It’s a long day, but it’s an AWESOME day. You’re gonna be a part of something great and see some fantastic moments. Take it all in so you can remember every second of your time out there.

In a way, I’m glad I was forced to slow down and take a minute to enjoy the process I was going through. A lot of work goes into getting ready for this and all too often there’s not time to appreciate the fitness we develop and the amazing things OTHER people achieve out on that course because we’re so busy getting ourselves to the finish in record time.

On April 1st, I definitely got a moment to stop and smell the roses. It was a great day and I wish the same experience for everyone, especially those tackling 70.3 for the 1st time.

BUT…as for me…the NEXT go round…

I’ll out there kicking ass and taking names.

And I promise, I’ll be enjoying that journey just as much!

Train Happy, My Friends!

Louisiana Magnolia Sprint Re-Cap

21 Mar 2012 4 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: bike, Louisiana Magnolia, run, sprint, swim, triathlon

Ok, so this was about a week and a half ago, but my house has been filled with so much damn drama we might as well be filming a reality TV show these days.

The Louisiana Marathon- Half The Story

17 Jan 2012 10 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, Reports Tags: 1/2 marathon, 70.3, bike, Louisiana Marathon, run

“It takes a little courage, and a little self-control. And some grim determination, If you want to reach the goal. It takes a great deal of striving, and a firm and stern-set chin. No matter what the battle, if you really want to win, there’s no easy path to glory. There is no road to fame. Life, however we may view it, Is no simple parlor game; But its prizes call for fighting, For endurance and for grit; For a rugged disposition that will not quit.”
Navy SEAL Masterchief

I went into this race, as y’all know, a little beat up and somewhat under prepared.

I came out knowing I could get through just about anything if I set my mind to it.

My longest run was 12 miles way back on Christmas Eve. Over the past 3 weeks, I MIGHT have run a total of 6 times. Only 1 of those could even remotely be considered long, at 11 miles, the weekend before the race. Another was a horrid 5 mile stop and start pseudo-run the day after I strained my left quadriceps.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure if I was even going to run this race until last Tuesday. It was then I managed to complete a 6 mile run, following Sunday’s 11 miler. My leg was tolerating the stress, recovering, and healing as well. I felt like it was safe to attempt the half, while also understanding I wouldn’t be able to run it as fast as I had once hoped.

Ya’ gotta be grateful for the small things and just being able to put on my bib was to be considered a success, but..

My goal, since I ran my last half a year ago, has been to break 2 hours. As training progressed this fall, I began hoping for 1:50-1:55 . I ran a local 10k in early December to measure my race pace/fitness and felt really good about the possibilities. Then came the leg injury and I knew it was a now an unrealistic expectation. I was back to the original plan of crossing in under 2 hours, but also promising not to beat myself up if it didn’t happen…

I wrapped my thigh, pulled on the tightest pair of compression pants I could get my ass into, and we headed to the state capital.

This was the inaugural event for The Louisiana Marathon and let me say it was fantastically organized. Everyone from race organizers and volunteers to police and safety officials were top-notch. The t-shirts and finishers medals were definitely some of the best I’ve ever been fortunate enough to earn.

Front Side

Back Side..the finishers medal is actually a bottle opener!

I really should’ve checked the course elevation (or maybe it’s better I didn’t), but because the race website said it was flat I took it as FLAT….as in NOLA flat. Well, flat is a relative term and this course WAS NOT flat. In actuality, miles 8-13 were a gradual climb out of the LSU area back into downtown. Some were pretty steep and while its certainly not Mt. Kilimanjaro, it made for an “extra” difficult back half of the course when those miles were going to be hard enough without any additional help.

One really cool thing about this race was that we got to run with the marathoners and use their pacers. This was the first time I’ve been able to do it and it was great to have an opportunity to experience that.

We lined up with 9:05 runners, figuring it was a good place to start. We headed out and within the first mile we ran on and joined the 8:55 group. It took some discipline to stay here, but I felt if I got to the 10k point and still felt good then we could run ahead.

The 6 mile marker approached at 53 minutes and we were easily holding an 8:45 minute/mile. I felt good, my leg felt good, and we were about at the half-way point. We picked up the pace a bit and the goal was to try to maintain an 8:30 minute/mile for the duration.

And then I got to mile 8…

and the hills…

At first they were gradual not such a big deal hills. More slopes if you will.

THEN they become those kind of inclines where you look ahead and you lose runners going down the other side. It’s bad enough going uphill, but the skill it takes to go down those hills without injuring yourself (further) is almost as challenging.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it was around this point that my legs began their revolt and at a record pace might I add. About mile 9 they were forcefully telling me how they were done with this little party. I’d been sucking down gels since mile 3, praying the simple sugars would put off the inevitable, but it wasn’t working.

10 miles down and we are STILL climbing and my legs are on the verge of going on a full-blown strike. I was teetering on the verge of nausea so I passed on the aid stations for the remainder of the race.

It was just past mile 11 when we finally met up with the overpass from hell once again. We climbed this bad boy at the start of the race and I had no issues with it other than knowing we would soon meet again. And meet again we did. It was here my lactic acid eating husband left me for the finish line.

Let me just say…this man runs MAYBE 10 miles over the course of an entire week. He ran 1 long run of 8 miles the week before the race and that was the longest he has ever run in his ENTIRE life until this day. He not only ran this race, he did so without an ounce of struggle and was even able to crack out a sub 8 minute/mile from 12-13.1. He’s jumping around this week like he didn’t even race while I’m waddling around like I’ve got a corn cob stuck up my ass. He’s got some killer DNA in there. I really wish I could him to tap into his full potential a bit more.

The road to the finish was all uphill.

It was rather symbolic actually.

When I saw the clock and my watch and figured my official time was around 1:56 my 1st reaction was disappointment.

A gut reaction.

I was so close to 1:55 and missed it…

“If I had only…” flooded through my mind for a few moments and then I did something I rarely do…

I gave myself a pat on the back.

I worked harder for this than anything I’d ever done.

My body gave up when we started climbing at the 8 mile point. It was pleading with me to stop and walk. Reminding me of how I was injured, how I hadn’t put in the training, and that no one would question that choice. It didn’t have to hurt today. I had a hall pass.

My mind said otherwise.

It wasn’t going to happen.

Not today…

Because 2012 is the year to find a way!

Official Time: 1:56:33

16/99 in my AG

292/1201 runners overall

I’ll take that all things considering….

And just maybe even NOT considering all those things!

My husband got there in 1:54.

Now it’s time to shift focus to the next block of 70.3 training which means a lot of time back on the bike.

FINALLY!

74 days till Galveston

Ride Happy, My Friends!

Miles and More

10 Dec 2011 7 Comments

by jnkmiles.org in General BS, monthly miles, Reports Tags: biking, miles, running, swimming

I’m a few months behind tallying up my miles.

What can I say…Been kinnda busy

Working backwards, this what keep my busy a good chunk of September-November.

November:

Swimming: 5 miles/ 2hrs and 49 minutes
Cycling: 273 miles/ 12hrs and 58 minutes/ avg pace 20 mph
Running: 83 miles/ 12hrs and 39 minutes/ avg pace 9:11
Total: 361 miles/28 hours and 27 minutes

October:

Swimming: 5 miles/ 3 hrs and 6 minutes
Cycling: 274 miles/ 13 hrs and 11 minutes/ avg pace 18 mph
Running: 77 miles/11 hours 47 minutes/ avg pace 8:36
Total: 356 miles/ 28 hours and 4 minutes

September:

Swimming: 8 miles/ 4 hrs and 23 minutes
Cycling: 283 miles/ 13 hours and 17 minutes/ avg pace 21 mph
Running: 63 miles/ 9 hours and 46 minutes/ avg pace 9:11
Total: 354 miles/27 hours and 26 minutes

All in all it appears to be a fairly strong base as I look to ramp things up in January. I should have a nice foundation to build on as I start the 10 week block focusing on 70.3 preparation.

I can definitely tell when the weather started to cool as my run paces improved and distances increased. Just the same, my bike paces decreased and the miles fell off slightly as I finished the season.

My goal was to maintain 4-6 miles/month in the pool during the “off season” and so far, so good. There is really nothing worse than re-developing the “gills” after months out of the water.

I’ve also been training for the Louisiana Marathon which will take place in Baton Rouge, La on 1/15/2012. I’m only running the half, but really needed to focus on working in some longer runs and I’ve been fairly successful at accomplishing that while continuing to average 60-80 miles/wk cycling. I really hope to break 2 hrs, at this distance, this year and so far the majority of my race pace runs have been on target. However, as my legs fatigue this gets more difficult to accomplish. I only hope proper preparation, adaptation, and a good taper/rest the week prior does me right in the long run (ha!).

In the end, it’s really all about 4/1/2012 ….the Half-Ironman.

I’ve grown accustomed to running on tired legs day in and day out. If I don’t break 2 hrs in January I know that I’ll live to fight another day….10 weeks later to be exact.

And that’s when the true pay-off will be felt. Or at least, that’s what I keep telling myself as I run in the cold windy weather, day after day, after spending hours on the bike and/or in the pool.

In addition to logging these miles, it’s been a busy time around here as well. From keeping up with all of you, to playing Santa, to making the really big decisions in my life…like, should I grow my hair out? maybe change the color?

AND since I’m still practicing my slide show skills….

Remember…I’m still learning, and I’m short on time, AND I have yet to sync my iPod so the music choices are very limited!

Y’all have a Great Weekend!

JUNK MILES

Gulf Coast Half-Ironman Recap

Osprey OWS Race Recap

Traditions Triathlon Race Recap

Wordless Wednesday…Seen at the Races

Ironman Florida- Volunteering

Grandman Triathlon Race Report

Memorial Herman 70.3 Re-Cap

Louisiana Magnolia Sprint Re-Cap

The Louisiana Marathon- Half The Story

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2013: The Future Looks Bright

What Keeps Me Going:

Then and Now

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Ready, Set….Geaux

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Stayin’ Organized

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