The Beginning of the End

A little over 10 years ago a friend at the gym, John, said "I'll do one if you do one".  Sure, why not? He did...I didn't. John signed up for the Pigman Sprint and I chickened out thinking I wasn't a good enough swimmer yet (I competed from age 7 through my freshman year of college, but hadn't be in the pool in a while).  After the race he told me how great it was, so I searched out a fall race and signed up for Troops and TriHawks (now called Iowa's Best Dam Tri).  While training for that race I discovered the CyMan sprint triathlon, and it became my first on August 14, 2005.

Things have changed so much in the past 10 years.  I upgraded from my mountain bike to a triathlon bike, knobby tires to aero wheels, a conglomeration of swim suit/bike shorts/cotton t-shirt/running shorts to a triathlon 'kit', happy to just complete the run without walking to just complete the race without having a mental breakdown, enjoying the journey to looking forward to the journey being done.

I'm ready for a change.  My body is ready for a change.  My mind is ready for a change.  I wish I loved going out for long bike rides, doing open water swims, race mornings, but I don't and never really have.  I tolerated it because I did well at it...I enjoy standing on a podium, which isn't what I'm used to from growing up.  Yes, I swam for a long time, but wasn't really good at it, just good enough to keep going.  I also love being in shape, healthy, active, whatever you want to call it (I was 40 pounds heavier when I graduated college).  With whatever I do I want to give it 100% and I don't want to give 100% to triathlon any longer.  I'm ready for a new challenge...that doesn't involve long bike rides and open water swim.  So, 2015 is my last year of triathlons.  It would have been 2014, but the World Championships is in Chicago (not sure when the last time it was even in the US) and it seemed like a fitting ending.

Anyway, enough about the end, now back to the beginning of the season...

Pigman Sprint
Sunday, June 7th

This race is typically my first triathlon of the season as it was this year. I've race it every year since 2006, which means I can compare year over year how I've improved...or not improved, which makes it a little scary.  I also want to do well at this race, not just my time, but my overall placement.  The problem with caring about placement is I don't have complete control over it.  Some years are very competitive and some years not-so-much.  This year definitely had a strong showing of women, with two professional triathletes towing the line.  The race gives overall awards for the top-5 and that was my goal.

This winter I've worked on my swim stroke (swim lessons with Megan) and tried to get back my running speed (after 2 months of not being able to run due to my lower left leg rejecting running).  I had hoped to see an improvement in my swim time, but it was right in line with the past five years (times vary from 7:17 to 7:25). Although, I did PR by a full second!  I guess I'll take that as a small win.  I came out of the water in 5th place.

I'm on the far left..not the best placement

On the bike, I just couldn't get my speed up.  I know lack of motivation was part of it.  At the first turnaround I saw Joanna, and my goal was to keep enough distance on her that she couldn't catch me in the run (we're friends and somewhat train and race together so I know her abilties).  And, that became my only goal.  I lost my motivation to even attempt to catch anyone ahead of me, and my time was 25 seconds slower than last year.

The run was more of the same...just don't get caught.  It wasn't until the last half mile that I realized the woman in front of me was quickly slowing down.  I also heard Joanna yell at me to get going, which I did in fear that her voice was coming from right behind me.  I picked up the pace, but it wasn't enough to move into fourth.  Had I given a better effort on the bike and run I think I could have made up the 10 second time difference between 4th and 5th place.  My run time was 20 seconds slower than last year, but much faster than all previous years, so I'll take that as a small win, too.  Maybe the next race would be better...?

Tim Doyle and I taking a Team Zoot pic.
My legs look nicely long from this angle!

Copper Creek
Sunday, June 14th

I've raced in 2012, 2014, and now 2015.  At packet pickup I took a look through the start list and saw the winner of the Pigman Sprint and another pretty speedy woman.  This race places to 3rd overall, and last year I had won it.  I had hoped to win again, but unless something happened to take out the other two women, that wasn't going to happen.

The swim starts with the elite men and women, and the teams, and is an in-water start.  We were treading water for several minutes, and during that time I pretty much stayed still while getting kicked repeatedly by Z3 teams (the average age is probably 14).  My goal of finding someone to draft off of didn't work so well and I pretty much swam the entire distance by myself and came out of the water in 2nd place.

One of the Z3 boys was just a bit ahead of my on the bike, and as soon as I passed him he passed back. We leapfrogged like this for over three-fourths of the 15.5 mile bike ride. It was frustrating. Each time he passed I'd have to drop back before passing him again.  Finally with about a mile to go I passed and dropped him.  Ugh!  I also was passed by the woman behind me.  Double ugh!  Surprisingly, I was over 40 seconds faster than last year, but last year was also a bad bike for me.

The chances of me passing someone on the run is pretty slim, and it was no different here.  I came out of transition with 2nd place a few seconds ahead of me, but she widened the gap VERY quickly.  Again, my goal was to not get caught.  At the turnaround on the run I was fairly confident I could hold on to third place.  Before the last turn to head back to the lake that we run around to the finish line, I looked back one more time to see what my lead was, and I didn't see her, took a few more steps, looked again, saw I had plenty of room...and missed the turn!  According to my Garmin it took me 30 seconds to figure out I was off course, and then 30 seconds to get back on course.  As I turn around, I saw myself drop from 3rd to 4th.  I also saw the huge barriers to direct people back to the lake.  Really?!?! I missed that!?!?!  I tried to catch up, but didn't have the speed needed, and ended in 4th place.

Reenactment of barrier.  I think there may have been cones as well.

Map from my Garmin watch data. Oops!

At least I had a good weekend traveling with Joanna, who came in 3rd.  And, the race has really good swag.

This year's swag.  Finis Torque Backpack.
Retail value of $64.99, and is my new swim bag.

Quad Cities Triathlon
Saturday, June 20th

Third weekend in a row of racing.  All sprints, but all slightly different swim and bike distances.  My last time here was 2012, and before that was 2006.  It's a great race and very close to home, so not sure why I haven't raced it more often.   My main goal was to prove to myself that I can mentally push myself through a race, and to get some momentum going into the rest of the summer.

The swim is a mass start for the elite men and women.  A few fast age group men joined in, too, which I wasn't a fan of.  I think they should time trial start with the rest of the age group men.  Anyway...the swim went well and I caught two of the elite men in the last chunk of the swim and came out with another guy right behind me.  This is a rare experience, so I figured I did well.  I did accidentally kind of ran over one of them (JJ Bailey I think), which didn't make him happy...he yelled at me, which I deserved.

Coming out of the water

Further out of the water

I was the first woman out of the water and made it out of transition without seeing any other women come in.  Good start!  Out on the bike I was pretty alone, which is a good thing.  At the turnaround I was happy with the effort I was putting out on the bike, but I didn't feel I had a large enough gap on the other two women in the elite wave.  I knew Joanna (yes, we raced all three races together) is a better cyclist and runner, and Jen is an AMAZING runner (she can run a 5k two minutes faster than me), and I needed more space.  The second half I slowly caught a guy ahead of me, and had a greater effort overall on that half.  Finally good things!

End of the bike.
About to take my feet out of my shoes to prepare to dismount.

The first 3/4 of a mile is grass and gravel.  Not ideal, but everyone has to deal with it. I'm glad I didn't check my run pace, because it was slow!  The turnaround is less than halfway through the run course. At that point I thought I'd be able to retain the lead, but didn't want to count either of them out yet.  With a little less than a mile to go the motorcycle that lead the winning man to the finish line came back to get me, which was awesome...except when I was close enough to smell his exhaust.  The best part was crossing the finish line with finish line tape being stretched out for me to run through.  Awesome touch!  Shortly after I watched Joanna cross in second place and Jen in third (Jen's run ended up being 1min 59sec faster than mine!).

Yeah for finish line tape!

Quick side note...while putting on my wetsuit my tri shorts rolled up.  I was a bit late getting down to the water, so didn't bother straightening them out.  There were so many photographers on the race course, which is nice, but I think the shorter bike shorts that look like they are eating into my legs add to my standard umpa-lumpa look.  Thankfully, that's really my only regret from this race. Anyway, back to the pictures...

Catching up at the finish line with bike shorts pulled back down.

Love the oversized checks...the real one that I can actually take to the bank is nice, too :)

After looking at my swim, bike, and run data when I got home, it reflected how I felt and how I had hoped I would perform.  I like to think I'm ahead of where I was this time last year...that all the training I put in this winter paid off.  I wish I could go back and change my first two races, but I can't..they are what they are.  Quad Cities gave me the motivation that I need to keep at this, if only for a few more months.

Articles on Quad Cities race:

https://hoatri.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/picture-perfect-2015-quad-cities-triathlon/

http://qctimes.com/sports/williams-goes-out-a-winner-at-q-c-triathlon-long/article_2bd72a20-78fa-50e8-b23e-5655020b45d4.html

http://www.qconline.com/sports/long-and-williams-claim-first-victories-at-q-c-triathlon/article_b52bf8dd-454b-533a-88e5-945db5c14ac2.html

Sponsor Plug:

Extra special thanks to Zoot Sports (love the race kit and shoes!), We Run, Core Fitness, and Geoff's Bike and Ski.  And, Daniel Bretscher Multsport for continuing to push me to be better.

It Is What It Is - Hy-Vee 5150 Championships

Finally to my last triathlon of the year.  While we keep hoping for rain, the Des Moines area was hoping the rain would stop.  Part of the bike course was flooded and the water wasn't to crest until Monday, so the olympic distance course was halved, with the bike course being 2 loops.  In past years I would have fretted over this, but this year I've become much better about accepting the things I cannot change and just going with the flow.  It is what it is.  And, the new course more closely matched my waning motivation level.

The best thing about this race is my family.  My mom and stepdad have watched me race most of them, and my aunt and uncle have been to a few also.  Another uncle randomly shows up to some as well.  This year I spent the night before and my cousin's house, and showered and had lunch there after the race.

My mom and I pre-race

This year was my first year racing in the 5150 Age Group Elite wave.  I traveled to Lawrence, Kansas in July to qualify.  The prizes for this category only go to the top 5, and I knew that was a pretty slim shot, but my coach encouraged me to race it anyway...if you want to be the best, race with the best.  With the change in race course, the 5150 waves didn't start until the professionals were off the bike course.  This meant the only riders I'd have to deal with on the first lap of the bike was the elite men that were in the first wave, the women in my wave, and whoever caught up from the wave behind.  My fear was the second lap was going to be a cluster.  But, if I had raced in my age, the swim and entire bike would have all been a cluster, so this was one good reason to be in the elite wave.  Yes, I was trying to find the positives in racing a wave that I wasn't going to podium in, instead of dropping back down to my age group where I was pretty sure I'd be standing on the blocks at the awards ceremony with some sort of medal around my neck and a hefty gift certificate in my had for Orca/Orbea.

Race morning I was up at 5am, had breakfast, and was out the door at 6am for the race site.  Even though my wave didn't start until 8:20am, transition closed at 6:45am when the pro started.  I arrived with just enough time to set up my transition area.  My parking stop was perfect, right next to transition, so I dropped off my bag of what I didn't need, then wandered over to the swim start to wait for my family to arrive.  Knowing my run shoes would be in transition and I wanted to get in a run near the race start, I brought an extra pair of shoes to warmup in.  Shortly after my mom, aunt, and uncle found me I headed out for about a 10min run.  The men were starting to come back on the bike with the women soon to follow, which meant our start would be soon.  After struggling into my speedsuit (much easier to get on then the wetsuit, though), I left my family for a swim warmup which they took a golf cart back to the transition area.  I doubt I was in the water for more than 10min before they corralled us at the start line.

Then elite men started first with the elite women a minute or two back.  I was kind of in the middle, not sure of anyone's swimming ability.  The first hundred yards or so was a decent fight, but it quickly spread out and I was able to draft off of someone for the entire swim.  It was great!  I have since realized that I tend to draft off people that are about my speed if I was trying hard, so instead of trying hard I get to relax a bit while drafting.  However, I think I should be trying to get on feet of someone faster, which requires me to try hard to stay on their feet.  I'll have to work harder, but it would result in a faster time then me swimming on my own, or swimming on the feet of someone going my 'fast' speed.  I hope that makes sense.

With a couple thousand racers, the transition area is long.  They funnel you through the middle of the bike racks, which isn't really a fair transition area.  The racks are pre-numbered, so you don't have a choice of where you rack.  If you're bike is on either end of the rack, you will have further to run.  With how much extra room there was in the area, they could have easily made the exits on opposite corners to make it fair for everyone.  Thankfully I was pretty close to center, so it didn't really matter for me.

I came into transition with the woman I drafted off of, and another woman appeared as I was leaving.  Swimmer chick and I left at the same time, but I had a better mount and was able to get ahead of her right away.  I haven't even attempted to learn how to put my shoes on while cycling, and I was happy to not to have to worry about struggling with my bike shoes while riding on the narrow road.

T1

After the bike exit we ride for almost a mile in a 'no passing zone'.  This was why I really wanted to be out of transition with no one ahead of me.  As soon as we were on the main road I set my sights on trying to catch as many women as possible, and to not give up.  The race course was broken into four segments of about 2.5 miles each. My watts for each were 200, 205, 198, 202.  Pretty typical for the third one to drop a bit, but was happy to see that I brought it back up at the end. During the bike I was able to pass two women in my wave, but both were near the end of the bike.  I had really hoped for a bigger gap going into the run.

T2 was lack luster.  I had one of the slowest of the elite women.  Maybe next year I'll practice :)

I started off the run fast.  It was only 3.1 miles, so no need to hold back.  The route goes east, then you turnaround and head back to transition, pass it, then continue west, pass the finish line, then turn around to head back to the finish line.  It kind of breaks it up nicely, but the stretch from transition (the second time) to the final turnaround feels like FOREVER!  Unfortunately two women ran very quickly by me in the first half of the run.  At the final turnaround I didn't see anyone behind me.  I considered taking it easy, but still pushed to the finish line.  I thought I was having a good race, and didn't want to back down now.  I needed a good race for my confidence going into off-season training.

Nearing the finish

I crossed the finish line tired.  I gave the run a good effort.  If I needed to I could have pushed the end of the run harder, but it's difficult to get that motivation when there's no one behind you.  My fastest mile ended up being the middle one, with the first and last being almost the same.  I crossed in 8th place for the elite wave (out of 14), and 9th overall women.  My time was 2 minutes faster than the winner in my age group.  Part of my regrets not racing in my age group wave, but it is what it is.

Post-race

For the distance (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) I had a little over a 2 minute PR compared to Copper Creek earlier this year, although Hy-vee is flat and Copper Creek has rolling hills.  At the same time, it sometimes hard not to compare myself to others and just focus on my own results.

Out of the 14 elites, I had the 7th fastest swim, 3rd fasted bike, and 9th fastest run.  My run is still my weakness.  I worked hard on it in the winter and spring, and was doing really well at the beginning of the year, but I just haven't been able to keep the speed up.  So, starting tomorrow (Tuesday), I begin my 2 months of training to be a runner.  No swimming or biking, just running.  I'm excited for it, but a little nervous.  I love running, just don't want to end up injured.  I'm pretty good at listening to my body and knowing when something's not right, but actually doing something about it is where I usually fail.

Let the new journey begin!

The Medium Pig - Pigman Olympic Triathlon

Second to last triathlon of the season.  Yeah!

I hadn't originally planned on doing this race, but the bid I placed at our club's auction for the race entry ended up winning and Wes didn't want it.  So, I signed up.  The race is held at the same time as the Half Ironman distance race, with the Olympic being in it's third year and my second time racing it.  Leading up the I had checked the start list and the really fast racers were signed up for the half, and there was just one other elite signed up for the shorter race.  But, the race doesn't sell out, so that could change right up until the day before the race.  Last year former Olympian Radka Vodickova swung by Iowa on her drive between two other triathlons to easily take the win.  So, you just never know what's going to happen.

Friday night we made record time getting the camper ready and heading up to Pleasant Creek Park, just west of Cedar Rapids.  Settled in quickly and cooked up some dinner, including veggies from the garden.  Yummy!

With Hy-vee coming up in two weeks, the decision was made to train through this race. Saturday was a 40-mile bike ride with some hard intervals in the middle.  It was nice to ride somewhere other than around home, and the bike course for the race is pretty bike-friendly to train on.  After lunch we drove into Cedar Rapids for packet pickup. The wall in the room has the final start list for the race, which includes an additional elite female, Lesley Smith.  Hmmm...the name seems familiar.  From Iowa City.  Huh?  As we're leaving the hotel I find out from one of my Iowa HEAT teammates a little more about mystery girl.  She's a pro originally from Iowa City and is back for the summer.  Fun! :(  After some stalking back at the camper, I find out she's also sponsored by Zoot.  Cool!  I had seen a pro in a Zoot uniform (a much fancier looking one then mine) at Kansas 5150, so looked up the results, and, yup, that was her.  Our swim and bike times were about the same (with her faster), but she can run!  I start to second-guess my hard workout that afternoon, but quickly come back to the reality that no matter how fresh I am, she's still going to destroy me at the race.

This race is known for being hot!  The week leading up to the race had some pleasantly cool temps, and the forecast for race day was no different.  But, as I'm heading to bed Saturday night and watching the news, I find out that there is fog moving in.  A few years ago the race was delayed a half hour because of fog.  Not real safe to swim in open water when you can't see the buoys you're swimming towards, and the safety volunteers can't see you.

Sunday morning I was up at 4:30am for breakfast, then headed to the race site at 5:30am.  The transition area opens at 6am, but the line was already forming as usual.  I really wanted to get in a long warmup, so needed to get through the line quickly.  I was also able to get a good spot on the transition rack for my bike.  After setting up, I biked back over to the camper and rode the trainer for about 15min before heading back.  The roads are a cluster with cars coming in and I didn't want to deal with that.  I then went out for a mile and a half run.  The time was going quickly, so after a final look at my transition area I started the long process of squeezing into my wetsuit.  The water temp was just about 70, which is perfect!

Wes' post-breakfast, pre-race nap.

The elites, teams, clydesdales, and athenas did a mass start followed by a time trial start for the rest of the participants.  This was much better than what they did last year, which was the elites just stood in line like everyone else.

The fog was lifting just enough that we were only delayed for a few minutes.  We all waded into the water for the gun.  I considered lining up behind Lesley, but decided instead for what looked like a team person in a speedsuit.  I had hoped she would be slightly faster than me, and pull me ahead of Lesley.  It did not work out nearly as planned.  Yes, team girl was slightly faster than me and I was able to stay in her draft, but I don't think she has much experience with open-water swimming.  We swam far from a straight line, and at one point had to stop to figure out where we were.

I come out of the water in 3rd place.  Bridget (the elite that had been signed up as elite all along) was 4 minutes ahead and Lesley was 1min ahead of me.  At this point I realize the Kansas 5150 race was wetsuit legal for me, but not Lesley as the professionals have a different limit for wearing wetsuits.  So, although our swim times at Kansas 5150 were similar, I had an advantage with wearing the wetsuit. I should have attempted to draft off her instead of directionally-challenge chick, but I'm not sure if I would have been able to hang on anyway.

On my bike I was carrying new nutrition, Skratch Labs Raspberry.  I had only had it twice before the race, but I really enjoyed it and wanted to try it out in a race prior to Hy-vee and this was my only chance.  My goal for the bike was to try to hold 190 watts.  This is about 10 watts less then what I could hold at the beginning of the summer, but my bike training has gone a bit downhill the past few months. At Age Group Nationals the week before I only managed 188, but with how the rest of the race went, I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated going in.  This time I drank PLENTY of fluids on Saturday.  Also, at Age Group Nationals we're not able to do a bike warmup, but I also didn't do a 40 mile hard bike ride the day before.  I was pleasantly surprised to be able to hold 190 out and 192 back!

At the bike turnaround I saw Lesley heading back, but didn't see Bridget.  Hmmm....I had passed a few people, but assumed they were all teams.  As I entered the transition area the announcer confirmed I was in second place.  He also mentioned Lesley's running background (college runner), which confirmed I wasn't going to catch her :)   About a quarter mile out of transition I see Joanna (she switched to the elite wave at packet pickup) coming in, but at least a few minutes back.  She's a better runner than I am, but I was pretty sure she couldn't close the gap.  Shortly after that I saw Bridget. From my cyber-stalking of her I didn't think she would catch me either.

Side note here...I get my workouts from my coach, Daniel, on Fridays.  Friday night as we're lounging in the camper the email arrives.  I read through it and out load express my confusion of "I'm supposed to do what?!?!?!".

Daniela, Sunday will be your last really challenging day.  Soon as you cross the finish line I want you to turn around and run a second 10k!  It doesn't have to be fast at all, I just want you to log one more long run.  Once you finish, don't take more than 2-3 minutes before you head back out, otherwise you'll defeat the entire purpose which is for one continuous long run, not two broken up runs.  Let me know if you have any questions, see you Sunday.

Daniel

Ummm...again, what?!?!?!  Deep yoga breath.  Ok. 

Back to the race...

So, knowing I'm going to have to go through this run again, and that I have a several minute lead on the next two women, and there is no way in hell I'm catching pro-chick, I settle in and gave a decent, yet held back effort.  At the run turnaround the Joanna and Bridget hadn't gained much on me, so I back down slightly more.  I was feeling pretty good at this point.  I cross the finish line in second, chug down two cups of water, take 2 Gu Chomps that I had stashed in my jersey pocket, swear a little under my breath at my coach, and start the run again 2 minutes and 10 seconds (according to my Garmin data) after crossing the finish line.  I had hoped to grab a water to take with so I wouldn't need anything from the aid stations, but that didn't work out as planned.

The second run was actually fun in a way.  The weather was still pretty cool, and I got to see more teammates from Iowa HEAT out on the course.

Making random friends on the race course.

I did take water from two aid stations, which I felt bad about, but I made sure there wasn't anyone close behind that I would be taking away their chance at water.  I took in a few more chomps along the way and finished the second 6-mile run feeling good!  A quick dip in the lake to loosen up a bit and it was about time for the award ceremony.

Podium Left to Right...Lesley (1st), me (2nd), Joanna (3rd)

Afterwards we watched the half distance finishers before packing up the camper and heading home.

Cheering on Ebe to the half finish line

I'm really glad I did this race.  I've had some issues in the previous few races and really needed a confidence booster going into the Hy-vee 5150 Championships on Labor Day weekend.  I know what I did wrong and how to fix it.  Bring on Hy-vee!

Still Learning From Mistakes - Age Group Nationals Triathlon

For the past year, my main focus has been for this weekend.  My goal was to have a faster overall time then last year and a faster run.  Leading up to the race, my swim was about the same, my bike was a little weaker, but my run was definitely faster.  My main issue has been my mental state while racing.  I was doing well at the start of the season, but as I moved into the longer races, my drive was weakening.  With the atmosphere around Age Group Nationals, I hoped it would encourage me to push the entire race.

Age Group Nationals (AGN) is a qualifier for the wold championships the following year.  The 2014 AGN qualifies for the 2015 World Championship which will be held in Chicago.  With the World Championships being in the US I figured this year would be more competitive than last year. Last year I finished in 5th place for my age group, but with my improvements in my running I had hoped to be in the top 5 again.

I drove to Milwaukee Thursday morning…alone.  Wes had a bachelor party Saturday evening, so he stayed home.  I arrived around 2pm, settled in, then headed off to do a bit of shopping. I found a really cool outdoor mall with an Athelta store.  Sweet!  And, the shopping didn’t stop there.  A few other stops and I left with a few gifts for Wes, and several items for me.  One more stop for the day at Whole Foods to pick up some food to cook up for dinner along with the veggies I brought from the garden.  The rest of the night was spent relaxing.

Shopping fun!

My favorite PB machine.  Hard to find them with Honey Roasted peanuts.
I resisted from buying any as I knew I'd eat the entire container.

Friday morning I was up early (~7am) so I could eat breakfast, let it digest, then get in a 10-mile ride and 2-mile run, stretch, shower, lunch, then be at the finish line area at noon for a Zoot Team picture.  Just enough time!  Unfortunately not all of the team competing was able to make it to the photo shoot, but I was happy to meet some more of my teammates.  My biggest stress was deciding if I should wear my hair up or down.  I choose down. After seeing the pictures, I definitely choose wrong!  Ugh!

The least bad-looking of the pics, with me attempting to be fun.

Packet pickup went smoothly, and a quick trip through the expo to get free compression socks.  I was also getting a little hungry, so was happy to see samples of what reminded me of baby food, but with more ‘adult’ flavors. 

Joanna and Mederic were staying with me, which was nice to have the company. They arrived while I was down at the expo area.  After they got settled in they took off to stretch out there legs, which included a short run to the beer tent at the race site.  :)  

The apartment we shared was just a half mile from the race and a few blocks from a grocery store.  Perfect!  Dinner consisted of chicken from the local market, roasted veggies from our garden, and some amazing bread from a restaurant in Joanna's hometown.  The sauce the bread came with was sooooo good!  Oh, and just a bit of beer from New Glarus.  

Elevator at the apartment we stayed at.
The old-fashioned door and gate is fun until you have to take
your bike upstairs by yourself.  Not enough hands and feet
to keep the door and gate open at the same time!

This year my age group was the second wave of the race, which meant a 7:37am start.  Joanna, on the other hand, was a few hours after me.  But, her and Mederic were still up with me at 4:30 am for breakfast and coffee.  Being so close to the race, I just walked down when the sun started to rise.  There wasn't a huge rush to get there.  I couldn't take the bike out for a warmup and I couldn't get in the water until the race start.  After setting up my transition area, I headed out for a run (just under 2 miles).  The weather was cool enough that I started with my cycling jacket on, but warmed up nicely as I finished my easy jog.  

The race is a mass start for each age group, with 7 minutes between my wave and the wave ahead.  Other than ironman, Age Group Nationals each year is the craziest swim I deal with.  It's a large wave (204 women) and full of top-end swimmers.  It was a fight for about the first quarter of the swim until I was able to settle in behind someone without too many others around me.  One the good side, it's also one of the few races I'm able to draft the entire swim.

I came into T1 with a decent amount of women around me.  Looking at the results, I was 24th in the swim, with 9 of us within 10 seconds of each other.  One of the athletes in that pack was another Iowa triathlete that I've gotten to know well the summer, Aryn.

The bike consists of an out and back section toward the north that turns around on a hill, then you pass transition for another out and back that heads south.  I was in a pack with 3 other women in which we leapfrogged for the first several miles.  After we passed transition I let two of them stay ahead and just planned on keeping them in site.  The other one, Aryn, I just hoped to pull away from as I know our bikes and runs lately have been pretty similar.

At the second bike turnaround it looked like there were several women ahead of me, but sometimes it's hard to tell the women from the men.  I tried not to care too much.  At least I found out I had put a gap in on Aryn.  As I was nearing transition, a cyclist from the wave ahead told me I was currently in 5th.  I ended the bike with the 5th fastest split for our age group and 9th for all the women.

I didn't remember anyone in transition with me, but as I left I was following Cindi Bannink.  Last year I passed her as we were coming over the bridge towards T2.  I knew she was a decent runner and hoped my new run fitness could keep up with her, but nope.  She quickly created a large gap on me.  Oh, well.  

The run also has two out and back sections.  I really like the bike and run courses for this race!  At the first turnaround I could see too many women too close behind, and they looked fast.  I also wasn't feeling all that well.  I took in water at the aid stations in hope it would help, but no luck.  The weather was nice in the 70's so it wasn't the heat.  I tried what I could. The 4th mile lasted FOREVER!  Around the end of mile 4 is the turnaround, then just 2 miles to the finish line.  I was able to pick up the pace a bit as I saw a women a bit behind that I thought I could stay ahead of if I gave a little more effort (I did..by 12 seconds).  Still, only 35th fastest run of my age group.

After the race I got my printout of results, which is when my disappointment was confirmed.  Slight slower overall than last year, and a slower run.  Looking back on Friday and Saturday, I'm pretty sure it was dehydration..again :(  While cheering on Joanna I had about 24oz of water and 20 oz of Gatorade.  But, it was still 2pm before I finally peed (TMI?).  I only took in about 100 calories in 10oz of water on the bike, but my drink didn't appeal to me to drink.  Also, with everything going on Friday, I don't think I took in enough water to prepare me for the race Saturday.  

While running, I again had the thoughts of calling it a season and skipping my next two races.  I also considered quitting triathlon all together.  But, a few hours later I was trying to figure out what I needed to do to not repeat my mistakes of the weekend.  

As I write this, I'm in the camper preparing for the Pigman Olympic Triathlon tomorrow morning.  I've tried new hydration this week in my workouts, and have settled on Skratch Labs Raspberry for tomorrow.  I've also made sure to drink PLENTY of water today!  Tomorrow morning I will be warming up for my second to last race of the season...

Italian Greyhounds at the expo after the race.
This is the breed of dog Wes wants next. 

34-39 podium, with me on the '8' block.

Holiday Lake Triathlon and Iowa City Duathlon...Racing Back to Back

Not the ideal setup, but I raced two events last weekend.

Holiday Lake Triathlon

The past two years I've participated in the Holiday Lake Triathlon.  It's such a great event.  The money raised goes back to the Holiday Lake community, and therefore the community really helps out to put on the race.  They also have a great selection of post-race food, including pizza!  The start time is 9am, which allows for a little sleeping in.  In previous years we've taken the camper up (we can camp there for free), but since we wouldn't be staying Saturday night I just drove over myself.  Thankfully one of the people organizing the event, Ebe, is a friend and has in-laws that live on the lake who are VERY nice and let me crash at their house.  The race site is only an hour from our house, but it's nice to not have to rush in the morning and make the long drive.

The race is pretty small with about 100 total registered with only 25 being women.  With so few women, it wasn't too difficult to figure out the competition.  With Jenny Lorenz only swimming and biking due to a injury, I figured I just needed to stay ahead of her and I was good.

I'm trying to do better at getting in a decent warmup before races.  Today consisted of a half mile run, 15 min bike, and I swam the course.

There are two swim waves for the race.  The first was men with the second being women and teams.  I lined up a away from the rope so I wouldn't get caught up in it.  Next to the rope was a former swim teammate from high school, Eric Greving.  As I'm sprinting the first 100 yards or so I realize I should have started next to him so I could draft.  But, it didn't matter as I passed him before we got to the turnaround.

Jenny heading out on the bike.

Out on the bike I kept an eye on Jenny.  The route heads east out of the lake area, then south for about 5 miles, turns around and leads north past the turn to the lake, then turns around again to head back south towards the lake (kind of like a T with transition being at the bottom of the T).  This gave me two chances to see where the women were.  It looked like Jenny was keeping the same distance, but I was gaining a decent amount of time on the others, so kept my watts in check for pretty much the entire bike...with one exception.  A few miles before the second turnaround I caught and pass one of the men.  Shortly after that he passed me, I passed him, he passed me again, and I made my final pass and push to keep ahead of him.  By the turnaround I had gained almost 30 seconds in those few miles.  I'm guessing he didn't like being passed by a chick on a pink bike.

I saw Jenny's runner (and Ebe's son), Sage, in T2 waiting for her to arrive.  We talked a bit, and I let him know she wasn't far behind me.  He was super excited to be racing, and it was pretty cool to see a kid that young running the 5k.

Sage and Ebe.  Love the mini Gear West uniform!

The run is full of short, steep hills.  I cruised through the first half, and counted back to see where I stood.  I saw Sage before any other women.  With the duathlon being the next day, I took it pretty easy to the finish line.  Ended up in first place by over 4 minutes.  Good stuff!

Final descent to the finish line.

Ebe and I with our awards at his awesome post-race party!

Iowa City Duathlon

I knew the Iowa City Duathlon was going to be a tough race going into it.   It's a series of three races with this one being the second.  For the first one at Macbride I came in second place.  The first (Jen) and third (Joanna) place women were also racing, and didn't have a race the previous day.  The Iowa City race had a longer bike and shorter run, which was an advantage for me as Jen is an amazing runner but I can out-bike her.  Joanna just got a new bike and has increased her speed to the point that she's right with me.

My warmup was about a 20min bike followed by a 5min run with Joanna to check out the north side of the run course.  Not much soreness going on.

The first run was a 2-mile all-out sprint for most people.  I held back a little not knowing how my body was going to handle everything.  As I was heading into T1 Jen was already out on her bike and Joanna was at her bike.  

The bike is 20 miles as two 5-mile out and backs.  With the last run being the same distance as the first run (2 miles), when you get to mile 10 of the bike the race is exactly half way done.  At the first turnaround at mile 5 Jen was still pretty far ahead and it looked like I was catching Joanna, but it was very slow going.  For the next 5 miles I wondered if I even had a shot at passing either of them, but I didn't give up.  Just as I approached the half-way point of the bike, I passed Joanna and just after that passed Jen.  All 3 of us were within seconds of each other and were were exactly at the half-way point of the race.  Things just got interesting.  I hoped my endurance was better than theirs.  I spent the final 10 miles of the bike trying to gain as much time as I could on both of them.  Joanna and I traded places a few times, but I was finally able to pull away, but not by much.

Getting ready to run...fast!

Joanna was heading into T2 as I was changing shoes.  I didn't see Jen until I was out on the run course, but knew she could still catch me.  I spent the final 2 miles running scared.    The run is a big loop around the lake, so no chance to see how things are going behind me.  With about a half mile to go I saw Jen's husband, Jeff, waiting for her.  Just after I went by him I thought I heard him cheering for Jen, so assumed she wasn't far behind.  I picked up the pace to whatever I had left in me....and, it was enough!  I crossed the finish line, looked back, and I had plenty of time to spare (26 seconds to be exact).  I saw Joanna with Jen so close behind her and closing the gap!  I yelled at Joanna to GO!!  She made it across the finish in second place with Jen only 3 seconds back.  

It's rare that I wear my garmin in a race, but had done so for this one.  It was fun to see my exact paces for the two runs.  The average pace for the first run was 6:38.  For the second run, my average pace was 6:32 pace over the 2 miles and 6:07 pace for the last half mile.  On the bike, my watts for each 5 mile segment were were 198 (don't think I have a chance of catching), 211 (I'm actually catching them!), 203 (passing took a bit out of me), and 205 (need a bigger gap!).

Overall I'm extremely happy with this race.  I was able to negative split the two runs, and the negative split the second run.  My watts for the duathlon were the same as the Pigman triathlon, even with a 5 mile longer course and racing the day prior.  In the past I've mentally given up too early, and I didn't do that.  Today hurt, but it was so much fun at the same time.  Can't wait for my next challenge!

Women's Overall Podium

The Little Pig

Every spring since the beginning of my triathlon journey I have raced the Pigman sprint triathlon.  Most years, including this year, it’s my first triathlon of the season.  It’s also my first chance to see the impact of the hard work, or lack of, that I put in over the winter.  In 2011 I was training for the Kansas 70.3, which was the weekend after the Pigman sprint. With the half-ironman at the beginning of the summer, I had a great base going into Pigman.  That was also the year we did Ironman Wisconsin, and then promptly lost motivation for training.  It wasn’t until the middle of last summer when I switched to Daniel Bretscher for training that the interest in training returned. 

The Marion Half Marathon and Macbride duathlon were slight glimpses into the outcome of my training, and it looked good.  But, they weren’t triathlons, and they weren’t races that I could use to really compare my fitness from year to year.

Leading up to the race, I’ve been busy with training and other life things that I didn’t have as much time to stalk the starting list as I have in previous year.  I think this helped keep my nerves down as I didn’t really know who I was competing against…except for one triathlete, Heather Lendway. She not only won her age division at Age Group Nationals last year, she was the fastest overall female.  If she showed up for the race I knew I had no chance of beating her.  The race places to the top-5, so I hoped no more than 3 other fast women would register.   I also didn’t create any expected hopes for my times.  Let the cards fall where they may.

Friday night we hauled the camper to Palo.  My job during camper setup is to keep the water spigot open.  This involves me sitting still for about 10min on the handle of the water pump thing.  Thankfully a few days earlier we had picked up some Bug Soother!  The gnats were horrendous!  Sprayed some on, and I wasn’t touched!  I could see them swarm around me. It was kind of surreal.  

Campe with a loft a the campground...interesting.

Slept in Saturday as long as I could, then relaxed a bit before a quick bike, run, packet pickup, and a stop at Peck's Nursery for a few garden plants.

The line to get into transition always starts early in the morning, and I arrived with at least 25 people ahead of me.  Good enough.  I was racing elite and there is usually plenty of room on our racks.  One of several perks of being in the elite waves.   Typically I spend most of the pre-race time socializing with others, but Daniel gave me a warmup to do which would eat into a lot of that time.  

I knew the traffic coming into the park was not going to be fun to deal with, so I brought my trainer and did my bike warmup at the camper after a short run.  Then, back to transition to start the dance of pulling on the wetsuit.   This was the first race with my new wetsuit, and it's a little snugger than my old one.  Not necessarily a bag thing, just takes more time to get on.  Time was already getting away from me, so my swim warmup was cut a bit short.  I still was able to get in more swimming, biking, and running than I ever have pre-race.

The elite women take off first, followed by the elite men.  The time between the two is meant to equalize the field, and the first person across the finish line gets a bonus cash prize.  Makes things a little more interesting.  So, my wave had 5 of us.  I had hoped that I could keep up and draft off at least one of the women, but no luck.  Our swim finish times were about 40 seconds apart from each other.  When I came out of the water I knew I was in third, and was told the lead woman was a minute and a half ahead (she ended up with the fastest swim of the race..including the men!).   

As I was coming into transition I could see second place leaving.  T1 was a little bit of a struggle with the tighter wetsuit.  I also haven't learned how to mount my bike and then put my shoes on, so I get the pleasure of running through the entire transition area with my bike shoes on.  Never fun.

I could tell I was gaining some time on the second women, and ended up catching in her the first few miles.  Now, I just had to keep up that pace.  At the first turnaround I saw that I was continuing to gain time on her, and fourth place was a decent distance back. At the second turnaround it looked like I was extending my lead over third and fourth, and loosing ground to first.  

Last year the men started catching me as I was riding by the lake in the park.  It was nice to get into transition without being passed yet.

I love my Zoot shoes, but still need to practice putting them on in T2.  Everything else went well.  As I was leaving transition I saw third place come in.  I figured I had a few minutes on her.  Hopefully good enough for a 5k.   At the first turn I spectator let me know that the lead woman was only 3 and a half minutes up.  Only?!?!  Yup, catching her is not gonna happen.

The run is an out and back with a turnaround at halfway.  Usually I feel pretty crappy running the entire time, but this year it didn't take much before I got into a good groove.  I've been working a lot on my form over the winter, and I felt it was helping. But, I didn't wear a watch, so had no clue if I was actually running really slow.  At the turnaround it seemed third was closing the gap, but I didn't think there was enough distance left in the race for her to catch me.  But, you never know, so I kept up my effort.

I looked over my shoulder a the last turn into the final stretch and couldn't see any women behind me.  It's all downhill from there, so no reason to let up then.  I crossed the finish line with Wes Anderson.  If the race truly is gender neutral with the staggered start, then I'm very honored to be the female version of him :)

Photo finish with Wes Anderson

In all, I was very happy with my race.  Comparatively to my previous PR, I'm further ahead than I expected to be.  My swim is a little lacking, but maybe I was able to draft in 2011.  I'll just thinks that why I wasn't much faster this year :)  The bike course was slightly different this year, with a full turnaround instead of four 90-degree turns in Palo.  That probably slowed my down a little in 2011, but not almost a minute.  The run has by far been my greatest improvement.  And, for that, I'm very happy. 

2011: 

Swim 7:18

T1 1:56

Bike 41:33

T2 0:56

Run 21:55

Total 1:13:35

2014: 

Swim 7:19

T1 1:51

Bike 40:46

T2 1:02

Run 20:35

Total 1:11:30

 I'll take a 2 minute PR :)  Looking forward to see how the rest of the season goes!  Event got a little writeup in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. 

Women's Overall Podium

2nd place club - Iowa HEAT