Happy Team BSC Scottsadale Camp Eve!

It's less than 24 hours away.

Team BSC Scottsdale Camp.  My 2nd camp with this amazing crew.  My first as a coach.  EIK!!!  We have some amazing bat shit crazy sessions planned, (many thanks to Krista for all of her planning)! There will be an amazing speaker, a Mt. Lemmon climb (and the obligatory cookie), and we have a MAJOR surprise for our athletes!  I am so excited!!!!

I have not done much outside riding this year...thanks ol man winter and me turning into a wimp in the cold.  #ihatethecold  Later this week...I will have 12 hours of saddle time planned in 3 consecutive days.  Talk about a pain in the ass.  I'll be hurting for sure.  But the benefits of training camp is the huge fitness boost one gets when all has been accomplished.  I'll need it.  Race season is just around the corner for me.

This has been a stressful past couple of months for me and nothing will heal my soul more than 5 days with friends who are just as BSC as I am.  Riding long will help clear my head and get me motivated for the season ahead!  I've had to majorly adjust my race schedule, but there is still an IM on the books for this year...and maybe 2. ;)  Time to get moving!!

Cheers to BSC camp #2!!!

Deep thoughts on Destination Training...

Ok, not really deep thoughts, just some thoughts... I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of weeks now, so the enthusiasm has dissipated a bit.

Swim * Bike * Run * Eat * Sleep * Eat * Repeat

Who doesn't love a good solid training camp?  Away from distractions of home and work....it's brilliant. 

This year I have 3 camps on my schedule.  2 'organized' and 1 was a big block away from home with a fellow BSC'er and a solid schedule from coach.

CAMP (ish) #1 - Kelly and I hunkered down in the great state of Texas this March in prep for IM Texas (her race).  We had a long winter and she needed some solid saddle time in the 'heat'.  We supplied our own nutrition, SAGs, schedule etc.  Not your typical camp but destination training nonetheless.  You can see the numbers here.

CAMP #2 -  End of June, IM Wisconsin preview camp...Madison, WI...another solid weekend.  Away from the hub bub of home/work/etc.  There were 4 of us from the KC metro that traveled up north to escape the heat of Kansas to enjoy some cheese curds and build more saddle time on the beautiful hills in Madison!  Becky is racing IMMOO in several weeks and it was a good opportunity to preview the course.  It's tough, BTW.  This was put on by a triathlon club (I won't name names) so it was supposed to be a brainless operation.  Ya know, marked courses, SAG support INCLUDING nutrition/water out on the courses, encouragement for all athletes, etc. etc. etc.  I don't want to bag this group, but details that can make or break an athlete during a heavy training weekend were not provided to all athletes...I'll leave it at that.  Overall it was serious bonding time with good friends and major time in the saddle and on the legs.  Coin in the bank, hay in the barn...it all adds up.  :)

CAMP #3 - Well...it hasn't happened yet.  ~2 weeks I'll be headed west.  It's bound to be the most bat shit crazy of them all by far (um, a 10k swim @ camp?!).  It's the one I've been looking forward to for a year and a half now.  I'm pumped!  Coach Mama Simmons Kona Camp!  It'll be fun in the sun with some of my favorite people (some who I have never met, but I positive they'll be my favorite ;)!!! I'm excited to 'preview' the course prior to October and WORK HARD. 

I'm sure we'll have LOADs to report...stayed tuned!


To each their own on destination training camps, love them or leave them.  I'd definitely do my homework before forking over some $$.  Some of the better ones I've attended are the more expensive ones, but if I'm going to train away from home, I like having the logistics worked out for me every now and again. :)

Kansas 70.3 Race Report

Emma-Kate Lidbury @ the Oread meet and greet Friday night...ignore my squinty face.

This race is one of my favorites, not only is it in my backyard, but it's THE BEST when it comes to the race director/volunteers/spectators, etc.  Plus, it's my training ground.  #homecourtadvantage

Camping
The race is located at Clinton State Park.  The run is 2 loops throughout the campgrounds.  I've debated the past several years on camping.  Even though it's only a 15' drive from my house, it's one way only into the park so the traffic gets backed up pretty quick.  That with the 1/2 mile walk to T1, it makes for an early morning.  So, this year I decided to have fun with this race and camp.  Although my sleep pattern was a bit messed up, it was the best idea!  Being at the race venue early enough to rack my bike (they allowed race day bike check-in due to some storms that rolled in Sat. night) and set up T1 & T2, hang out at the campsite, bathroom, etc. was so much nicer not having to rush around and it's quite convenient having everything I needed basically @ T2.

What a view...Can you see my house in the background?  Yeah, that's the view I'm referring to...;)

Swim
With no rush getting to the swim start, I was pretty calm.  Weird for me for pre-race as this is usually my panic mode.  I got in the water with the plan to bust ass.  Of course I lined up behind my so freaking fast BSC training partner Lynsey.  A couple of 'good lucks' and we were off.  It was pretty choppy heading out the first leg and I was either running into folks or they were running into me.  Nasty...but for some reason I wasn't ready to raise the white flag like I usually do at the swim start.  Yay!  That's progress right there!  All I could think of was 'get your ass moving..you just swam a 10k in worse conditions...keep going!'  I took a second to check my watch at ~ the halfway mark and saw I was capable to pull of my goal swim time of 35'.  Seriously folks, this is the infamous 35' mark I've been shooting for, for like ever.  My swim times here have been pretty slow (think 40' and 40'+).  With nothing to lose, I just SWAM!  Unfortunately we had to swim around the previous waves and the younger guys were swimming over me, but I knew I was still in the game if I kept moving.  And before I knew it, I was done!

I was stoked when I saw my garmin with the time of 35:11 (19th AG) my day was made.  Finally!!! 

Bike
I love this bike course, I'm on it every weekend.  Lot's of hills, wind, heat...perfect!!  I really surprised myself on this bike.  My watts (power on the bike) stayed well above where I thought I'd race, but I felt good, so I kept it up.  I stayed on top of my nutrition.  It proved me well @ IMAZ so I took in 1.5 scoops of infinite/3 bottles, 2 powerbar gel packs, ~2/hour e21.  There were a lot of guys around me...of course several who couldn't get chicked, but there were others who hollered out encouragement (which is awesome btw, guys take note).  There were several stud women who I attempted to keep in my sight, but man there were some fast girls out there!!! 

Kept my head held high and worked hard the whole time...only felt a twinge of a cramp at the dam(n) hill coming back into the park.  I was a bit worried if I had blown out my legs, but I popped another e21 and kept on.

2:43:39 (10th AG)  Almost 2 minutes faster than my goal time and 7' fast than LY.  I was convinced I was going to have a good day.  Now would my run legs show up after that bike...

See that smile?  That's cause I eat that hill for hill repeats regularly.

Run
Oh the run.  This has been my nemesis for years now.  It can really eat you up and spit you out if you aren't prepared.  This year was GOING to be different.  I planned for the heat and the hurt.  I made sure I was out on the race course regularly prepping for this one.  I knew every turn, hill, shade spot on that course...mentally I had hurt here many times before.  I had this one.

My run had been pretty strong leading up to the race.  I had some confidence.  And I had a plan.  Since the heat has gotten to me in the past, I decided to be proactive and start cooling off at mile 1.  Ice down the top/shorts/hat (hat vs. visor so I could do this...see?  planned).  This run course is so rad cause of the spectators.  Every turn there are folks lined up cheering for you.  And since I had planned this one out, I knew where my family and friends would be...AT OUR CAMPSITE!  yeah!!!  They were the best, really.  Diana had my favorite songs on the ipod to pump me up!  My friend Kelly was at the top of the nasty hill.  Being a local, I knew the folks at the aid stations.  It was sooo cool!  A huge thanks to everyone for being out there!  The spectator and volunteers really make this such an awesome race.  I digress.  Nutrition, I took water/ice/coke @almost every aid station.  Gu @ mile 3 and 9ish (I actually almost forgot to take the 2nd one, I was feeling that good, or the heat was starting to get to me ;)) e 21 ~ 4 throughout the run.

I was hurting, but for some reason I was able to keep pushing.  It was going to be over soon.  It was supposed to hurt, it's a race and I had trained for this.  I could stop when it was done, NOT before.  Plus, I'm super motivated by the numbers and I was on track to hit my fastest 13.1 in a 70.3.  I was about to have a major break through race!  Nothing moves me more than that.

I don't know who took this photo, but I love it!!

1:49:56 (11th AG)
5:13:38 (compared to 5:36 LY)  Woah.  This turned out to be a PR in this distance by ~3', course PR by ~23'.

Still on cloud nine thinking about race day.  Super motivated now to hit another milestone (hopefully later this summer).  I have some serious competition out there in my AG.  These women are just STUDS.  Super proud to be among them.  Top 6 in my AG this year were <5 hours...holy smokes that A LOT of fast women.  I was 12th AG last year with 5:36 and I was 11th this year with 5:13...we are ALL getting faster and that's pretty cool. 

Super stud and teammate Lynsey...Vegas baby!  She rocked it out there!

Could leave without saying hello to Hines!

Smashfest Queens representing

A huge thanks to everyone who supports me and my 'crazy..why do you train so much training' day in and day out.  You know who you are.  You are near and dear to my heart and I am so grateful you are in my life.  Thank you to Sunflower Bike Shop for all the love you give to my dear Ali.  Michelle thank you for instilling this bat shit crazy mentality in me...I love being your athlete and a part of this team.

For this moment, right here, be grateful.  #always