...not too shabby...

I cannot believe I am just now actually posting this...I wrote this the day after the marathon!!  Almost a month ago!  Sigh...#worstbloggerever

Towards the end of Scottsdale BSC camp I was starting to get a bit nervous about the looming marathon I had the following weekend.  We all kind of joked around that I was really *nailing* the taper.  Although coach and I experimented with this 'kind of taper' last year following Kona camp...it worked then.  Maybe I do better on tired-ish legs?

After returning from camp, I went back and forth in my head where I should line up.  My run training had been consistent.  The majority of the training was all done by HR.  We really didn't even get that much speed work in as this winter was a tough one (in more ways than one).  I wasn't sure what I'd have in me.  When I wrote down my goals at the beginning of the year I wanted to crack 3:45.  That isn't my BQ time (3:40), but it was a manageable number (@ least in my head) for me to hit.  My previous open marathon time was 3:58 and change. 

I had conversations with my coach and my run PIC and I decided to bite the bullet and stick with my original plan.  I often get annoyed with folks *throwing in the towel* before they even try to tackle their goals so there was no way I wasn't @ least going to try.  My confidence was a little low, so I promised myself that if I couldn't keep the 8:35 pace it was NBD.  I had nothing to prove.

I went to high school in STL.  I figured I would run into at least someone I knew and I did!  Always fun to see friends from back in the day, especially LIVE AND NOT ON FACEBOOK!  There were several others I had hoped to see/talk to but with that crowd I was thankful to see at least one!  Congrats to Shawn and his race!

The short and sweet race recap is that I hung out with the 8:45 group until mile 23 ish.  Then the wheels fell off.  I had to slow up.  I was actually kind of devastated watching them run into the distance but I was hurting.  EVERYONE starts hurts at mile 20 (if you're pushing it) and I tried to keep my thoughts positive and not to slow down too much!  I worked way too hard for 23 miles to slow down the last 3!  It was all mental at that point.  Every time I race I am AMAZED at how strong our minds are.  We can use that strength to help or hurt...one has to choose which way to go.  My new favorite quote from Naomi Judd...

"your body HEARS everything your mind SAYS"

Once I saw the mile 24 sign, I decided to pick up the pace.  The pain is much more manageable knowing it would only last MAX 17-20 minutes right?  I crossed the line at 3:47 and change, 13 in my AG and with a BIG ASS grin on my face.  Not too shabby.  I couldn't have been happier!  Almost a 12' PR and only 2 + min slower than goal time. 7' from a BQ.

hey body, ya hear that?...not too shabby...

Aaaannnnndddd we are running - Kona 2013

Off the bike and into T2.  I really don't remember much about the transitions except they went pretty smoothly.  Transition is LONG on the pier.  You have to run all the way around...tip - WEAR SOCKS.  AstroTurf can get hot. (tips like this is reason #400 why you hire a coach ;))

On to the run.....Lets do something different and let me briefly recap mile by mile (or something like that).

8:20 - "Yahoo!  I'm off my bike!  I'M FEELING GREAT!!  All these people are cheering for ME!!  I live for the applause, applause, applause....  YAY!!  Great pace!!  Can you keep this up another 25 miles?!?!?...maybe you are running a bit too fast...

Nice heel strike...ugh, no wonder my feet hurt so bad!

9:31 -  Maybe I slowed down just a bit too much.  Or maybe this is where I saw coach and slowed down to chat with her?  And when I say chat, I mean, Me: I am HURTING ALREADY.  Did I train AT ALL for this race?  Michelle: YOU'RE RUNNING ON ALI'I DRIVE...PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE!

9:12 - Still running pretty ok at this point.  The pain is setting in though.  My feet felt like they had stress fractures.  broken.

9:37, 9:37 - Just barely hanging on.  Way too early in the race to be saying this.  I had to stop to pee. Every porta potty had a line so I found some lava and sat down.  I hope I didn't piss off Madame Pele...or on.  Damn.  Cursed.

10:06, 10:14, 9:56, 11:09, 9:54 - Still on Ali'i drive really trying not to break down into tears.  Michelle found me again out here and got me to smile for a couple of photos.  Such mixed emotions out here.  I wanted so, so badly to feel better and to have fun out there.

Forced, but hey it's a smile :)

11:20, 10:24, 10:44, 10:41 - At this point I had reached the Queen K.  This is the 'calm' before my storm.   Still feeling like crap, but had made a friend from Brazil and she kept me busy by asking me how many kilometers we had already ran.  Hmmm, folks who know me know I am NO math major.  Totally different kind of pain for me.  ;) This distracted me away from the pain in my legs and feet for a bit anyway!  They closed the roads to the spectators way earlier than in years past and it's a black asphalt highway in the middle of lava beds.  Needless to say, it's HOT.  It was the biggest mental battle I've ever faced.  It's you and your mind out there and if your mind is not right, you're in BAD COMPANY.  See mile 15. 

13:16 - Ah, mile 15, this will be forever known as the BREAKDOWN IN THE PORTA POTTY MILE.  I'm not even talking about shedding a couple of tears now.  I'm talking full fledged I'm a 5 2 year old having a tantrum.  Full fledged SOBS.  I mean seriously?  What was I doing?  I was so disappointed ANGRY in how I was running I was willing to give up a few minutes and get it all out.  Silly, SILLY girl.  I had just had enough.  FINALLY, I was able to get over myself and get back out there.

On the way back to the finish.  Was I about to puke???  Notice the 'shuffle' going on here.

11:38, 10:45, 13:44, 11:42 - Oh fun times...we reach the infamous NATURAL ENERGY LAB.  NEL for short.  Oh baby everything you hear about this place is the truth.  Why?  Terrain isn't that bad, you have the ocean to look at and you can geek out looking at all the solar panels...so why is this place so dang hard? I have no answer for ya.  Better get your mind right.

11:21, 11:09, 10:44 - Running out of the NEL, you run up a pretty good hill.  It's as if the NEL was saying 'it was nice seeing you!!!  don't let the door hit ya on the way out'.  Double bonus...when I left, the volunteers were hollering 'you only have a 10k to go!'  Uh, wait a minute...I'm no math major (see miles 11-13) but a 10k is 6.2 miles.  We are not at the 20 mile marker.  That doesn't make the mind right.  Heading back into town the sun was starting to set.  They had started passing out glow sticks.  Michelle reminded me earlier in the week that if I got a glowstick, NBD.  I would be fortunate to GET a glowstick.  Truth?  I didn't want the glowstick.  No one ever does I know.  Just keep hanging on....one foot in front of the other.  I could do it.  I could get there in time (sans glowstick).

11:05, 11:11, 10:55 - Shuffle, walk through the aid stations. Repeat.  Head down chin up.  Holy cow, we are almost there.  The excitement was starting to build.  I was ready to stop running.

8:49 - One last turn onto and down Palani AND.here.we.go.  It was finally THAT time.  The moment had been plastered in mind for almost a full year....and I was about to live it in REAL TIME.  My chest started to get super tight as I was choking back the tears.  All the blood, sweat, and tears (many, many tears) was all about to be 'worth it'.  Hell I'm crying now just thinking about it.  This is what we live for.  It was my turn.

My almost ugly cry face.

The buzz is indescribable.  Hands down the BEST BUZZ EVER.  Spectators are lined up 2 and 3 deep.  EVERYONE is hollering/cheering like crazy.  High fives everywhere.  I sounded like I was having an asthma attack...I couldn't breathe, I was literally all choked up.  The moment is hard to describe. Photos are worth 1000 words, right?  I'll let them speak for me.

High fives to the family!

Add caption

oh, here's the ugly cry face.

Funny how the finish time in the photo is different than my 'official' time...

Check out those crazy fans...how fun is this photo?

The finish is uphill, funny, IM, very funny.

My photographer was a Mizzou alum.  #rockchalk

I am so incredibly blessed.  I am so, so thankful for this experience.  It really takes a village and I have the best.  To all my family who took the time to go Hawaii, I love you forever for it.  Michelle, you're the best...I cannot thank you enough for all you have done (and endured) for me. Team BSC, thank you for accepting and supporting me as one of your own as quickly as you have, I am proud to be a part of this crazy family.  To all my training buddies, thank you for suffering with me....so thankful for the time.  To all my friends and loved ones thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the generous support.  My FB feed blew up on October 12.  So forever grateful.

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

Ironman Arizona Race Report

The night before IMAZ was pretty chill and low key, except for the neighbors, who were celebrating with a fiesta.  It was loud, they had a DJ and I even heard the word karaoke.  Dinner was plain spaghetti noodles with butter and salt.  Not the healthiest choice, but I had a huge salad at a later lunch and with my belly, the less fiber in my gut, the better.  At 7:30 I popped the Advil PM and was out by 8:30.  Even the DJ next door couldn't keep me awake. 


I woke at 3:30.  I felt pretty good, nervous but good.  I ate my breakfast (egg/ham/cheese english muffin, banana, yogurt with granola) and headed down to the start.  Luckily I found my friends pretty quick, said our 'good lucks', double checked my bike/bags, etc. and got ready to put on my wetsuit.

Pretty nice view to wake up to!

     

Well hello there, you look familiar!

I had been in the water the day before, so I knew it was cold (ish), but I didn't feel that I needed my neoprene cap/booties, etc.  There were a ton of people with this extra gear, so it made me a bit nervous not having mine.  Turns out, I didn't need it.  Yeah, my feet were cold, but not too bad.



What I did need though was a stronger set of balls.  I started near the front like Michelle and I had talked about...about 2-3 'rows' back.  There were a lot of people who were sitting on the wall before the start and wound up swimming over me.  I am getting stronger swimming, but I panic b/c I feel like the wetsuit is strangling me and the stronger swimming knocking me around!  It was chaos!  (after reading several IMAZ race reports, I am not the only one who thought it was a bit rough)  So, needless to say, I lost some time trying to keep on top of the water.  After about 10 minutes, the water seemed to clear out and I had all the space I needed.  All was good, except I couldn't find anyone to draft off of!  At the turn around, I knew I needed to step it up to meet my expected goal time.  So I decided to keep in the thick of it to try to draft off someone.  It just wasn't good enough.  It was still a swim PR, although about 5 min slower than what we expected I could swim.  I'll have all winter to work on it.

Swim Start

1:13:16 - 19th AG



After loosing my timing chip at the wetsuit stripper (read more panic!), I made my way through T1 to my bag.  I read somewhere it's called a 'time warp'.  VERY true!  I have no idea why it took me so long, although I did hit the bathroom. A huge thanks to the volunteers who are so wonderful!  Man those guys are amazing!  Getting a new timing chip before leaving T1 is NBD, so no additional panic was needed.



T1 - 7:38


Oooohhhh, the bike.  I LOVED that bike ride.  What fun!  But what a draft fest!  My first loop I had to reel it in a bit as I was pumped and so excited to get out there.  BUT there were so many groups of bikes that I had to either burn my match to get around them or slow it down a bit.  I opted to settle in, let the masses go around and chill...I wanted to be able to kick it in loop 3 if I had anything left.  I think at each penalty tent I saw at least 1 - 2 people @ each one.  Whatever, I didn't get into it.

The weather was perfect!  I don't remember being that cold after the swim.  No extra clothing needed for me.  Since I had been training in wind advisories the past month or so, so I felt like I was prepared to handle whatever the winds may bring.  We were pretty lucky, we had some headwind on the first loop heading 'up' and out, and it shifted towards the end of the bike (headwind into our way back 'down').  But NOTHING compared to what I was prepared for. :)

Crappy resolution as I am borrowing these photos from Finisher Pix until I purchase them!!

I started to feel a bit fatigued in my legs on the 3rd loop.  My goal was to keep my watts in my range and increase them 10w if I felt great.  It turns out I only felt good enough and just kept my watts = to loop 1 and 2.  It was enough for a 20' bike PR split.  I'll take it!


I had really been working hard on my bike this year so I was stoked for the result.  A couple of things I think helped me this year...

• training/racing with power (Quarq)
• Retul bike fit
• loads of saddle time (i.e. consistent/increase in volume)
• I was able to get a handle on my nutrition EARLY
  

 Nutrition - 6 bottles of Infinite (new this year), 1 PowerBar Perform, 6 Gu's, 2 bottles of water.



5:22:25 - 3rd AG


I knew I had a good split so I was cheesing the grin coming through transition.  Again a huge THANK YOU to the volunteers!  It's amazing what they'll do for you!  I had pockets full of empty sticky gu wrappers and they had no problem grabbing them out of my sticky ass jersey....or helping me change my shorts...or handling my stinky socks...awesome.  Yes, I changed my shorts knowing how chaffed and uncomfortable I can get in tri shorts, I opted for a bit more comfort for the run.  So glad I spent the extra minute doing that. 



T2 - 3:50


The run.  Hmmm, it's sort of a blur!  (maybe b/c I'm writing my race report a week later!)  Seriously though, it really went by pretty fast.  I'm attributing that feeling to way more longer runs this season than previously.  Don't get me wrong, I hurt. A LOT.  But mentally I was more prepared to hurt.

Focus on the smile not the shorty shorts or the belly bloat!

 I did feel pretty good the first hour, I really tried to keep my pacing in check.  I kept remembering what Michelle said to me 'don't try to push the pace early and then blow up towards the end'.  So I did what I could to keep my pace as close to 9'/mi.  It seemed to be working.  I saw Robert at one point towards the end of the 2nd loop (maybe the 1st loop, it's a blur remember?) and he told me I was running in 2nd in my AG!  What?  Really?  No way.  I didn't believe him.  There was no way.  I knew the gal in first place (Mindy) and I knew how far ahead she was.  No way there was no one else in b/t us.  I attributed the glitch on the computer to me having a new timing chip.  THERE WAS NO WAY.  Then I saw a fellow BSC teammate Krista and she told screamed at me the same thing!  What?  Ok so I started to believe...a little anyway.


I was trying hard not to walk too much (or at all) through the aid stations.  I knew that if I slowed my pace, it would be hard for me to keep it up.  I was able to get my rhythm down...sponges, water, ice or it was Gu, sponges, water, coke, ice, water depending on the station.  I didn't have one cup of sports drink.  Not sure why, I just didn't want any.  I think I wound up taking 4 Gu's and 4 e21 tabs (2 every 2 hours).


The 3rd loop I saw Bill, Mary's husband (another BSC teammate)  He told me I was still in 2nd.  I told him I didn't believe ironman live was right.  He told me to keep running.  :)

I was told I looked like a machine a couple of times out there.  That made me smile as that's the name of some of my long run workouts.  LIKE A MACHINE 



End of the 3rd lap I started to cramp up - e21 to the rescue!  Holy cow does this stuff work!  IMMEDIATE relief.  No joke. 


I saw Krista again with about a 1/2 mile to go.  She was screaming "go, go, go!  You're in 2nd and going to Kona!"  Holy shit this was for real?


And like that, I was passed by Meghann a.k.a. fasty Mcfasterson.  (I wound up chatting with her at awards and she's as nice as can be!)  Where the hell did she come from? A FREAKING HALF MILE LEFT OF THE RACE.  I couldn't even keep up.  Oh, deflation!  Oh well, I was still stoked to cross in 3rd.


Run - 4:03:12 3rd AG




A total time of 10:50:20, a 50' PR, 3rd AG.

Only 2 Kona slots were allocated to my AG, but it just so happens our AG was allocated a 3rd slot from an older AG.  whew.  Thank goodness.  I was 3rd by only 45 SECONDS.  What would my mind would be doing now if that 3rd slot didn't come my way.  Pretty painful to think about.  But that's another blog.

Sorry Meghann for covering your face.  :(

I am so thankful for all the love and support I've received this season.  It's been a hell of one.  Words cannot even describe my gratitude...a huge thanks to my biggest cheerleader Robert, I'm really sorry I was such a crab for the past 2 months.  I'll take you to Hawaii to make up for it.  Thanks to Michelle who I am so happy I found earlier this year.  So many milestones have been met/broken thanks to her.  My family is amazing and supportive.  I cannot thank all of them enough for putting up with my crazy training schedule.  They are my biggest cheerleaders.  I've met some of the best friends in this sport.  Literally.  THE BEST.  I thank all of them for believing in me.  Thank you to those who have pushed me both physically and mentally.  Thank you to my BSC teammates who have opened their arms and taken me in as family....one crazy family...and I love it.


Cheers to 2012.  Unbelievably happy and thankful right now.  :)