18 days, 15 states, 3700 miles

The main reason that 2013 was dubbed "The Year of Stupid" was my decision to sign up for a 70.3 before I'd done a single triathlon. Stupid. Not only did I sign up for this massive race, I did so in a state very far away, requiring a lengthy drive (or plane ticket and the cost to ship my bike). As long as I was driving to NC, why not visit my friends and family up the east coast too? Stupid. So began the road trip to end all road trips.

Here was my route:

Stops included:

1. Champaign, IL
2. Columbus, OH
3. Durham, NC
4. Washington DC
5. Shrewsbury, MA
6. Tenafly & Leonia NJ
7. Toledo, OH

I hardly took any pictures on my trip. I decided I'd rather be in the moment than behind a lens. And it was incredible.

I had a rough year at work, and I needed to "run away" for a while. This trip ended up being exactly what I needed - not so stupid after all.

Hoping the rest of summer can continue to help me recover from the year and get if not excited, at least ready, for next year.

race report: Raleigh 70.3

What an incredible day I had yesterday! Definitely one of my highest moments as an athlete.

I got to NC on Thursday evening, and spent Friday at the expo and swimming in the lake for the race course. The expo was smaller than I expected, but that just meant less for me to spend money on. But don't worry, I still bought more Raleigh Ironman 70.3 gear than I need. The bummer was that there wasn't an athlete briefing that day, so I had to go back on Saturday. So on Saturday I heard all the rules and found out that since the water was 80 degrees, it wasn't going to be wetsuit legal. Which was fine because I only had the one open water swim in a wetsuit from Friday in my training. After the briefing, I went out to T1 to leave my bike.

The course was a point-to-point, which meant there were two transitions. This made an already nerve-wracking experience even more so. We had to check in our bikes the night before and then leave them there. It was good, though, because then I saw the swim course laid out (the lake was really big, and we weren't allowed to swim in the spot where the course was, so I had done my swim on Friday in another area of the lake). The swim seemed tough but do-able. There were a lot of really, really nice bikes out there alongside my 25 year old hand-me-down.

Sunday morning I got up at 3:15 am and got ready to go. I got down to T2 around 4:45, laid out my run gear, and hopped a bus to take me out to T1. I closed my eyes and tried to tune out how long and hilly the ride was, knowing I'd be biking some of that in a few hours. We made it to T1 and I laid out my bike stuff. T1 closed at 6:45 and then the waiting began. My wave didn't hit the water until 8:10, so I had some time to kill. There were not enough portapotties, so waiting in that line ate up about 40 minutes. I sat on the grass for a while, but couldn't bring myself to watch the earlier waves. I was really nervous and kept yawning like crazy and was afraid if I watched how long the swim was, I would psych myself out. Finally it was time to get in line.

The swim start was in the water, so we waited until the wave was off and then took to the water. For most people, they could stand in the starting area but I was too short and had to tread water. Oh, and turned out they decided to make it wetsuit legal, but I had already gotten my head around not using a wetsuit, so I opted to swim without it.
 

The first 500 yards were crowded, but the water was fine and breathing went well. When we turned the corner for the long part of the course, the water was super choppy and I hydrated well swallowing mouthfuls when I meant to take a breath. Near the second turn it got crowded again, as I caught up to some slower swimmers from earlier waves, and I took a kick to the chin that cause me to bite my tongue. I would have benefited from some more open-water training, but I finished in 49:18, which was right about the time I thought it would take me.

I decided to take my time in bike transition to make sure I had everything set before I left. I ate a little, somehow got my calf sleeves on my wet legs, and headed out. Some of my nerves were settled, but I was still pretty nervous for this bike course.

The first 5 miles were tough, a set of uphills with a few flat places. I hit my stride from 6-11, and from 11-12.5 was one, long, steep uphill that was pretty awful.  It was rolling through 40 with some good flat sections, and then the last 15 were grueling - a series of constant rolling hills so you couldn't get settled in a pace.  The bike course was beautiful, though, despite the hills and wind (16 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph) and loneliness - there were not a lot of spectators. My cousins were at mile 39, exactly where I needed a boost. It was great fun to see them out there.

I averaged about 15.5 mph on the bike, which was my fastest long ride to date on the toughest course I've ridden. And I really had to hold back, so I know I had more in me. I wanted to save my legs for the run, especially since it was heating up fast and I knew the run would be tough. Overall, a 3:35:18 ride.

I took my time again in transition, used the bathroom and drank a little extra water. I found out that bodyglide melts into a hot greasy mess in the sun, and it exploded all over me when I opened it up. I'm glad I didn't get burned! So I had to run without any and prayed for no bad chaffing.

The run course started uphill, low and slow, for the first 5 or so miles. But since it was an out-and-back, I knew I'd get to finish on those hills running downhill. The course was through downtown Raleigh and then onto a paved trail through a college campus and by some museums. It was really lovely. The downtown was really hot and I felt like I was baking on the blacktop, but some of the trail section was shaded. It was 85 by this time.

The thing about this run, though, was that I felt really good and passed a couple hundred people. I couldn't believe how many people walked most of the race. I think I was passed twice early on when I walked through an aid station, but I think I ended up passing them both later on. I stopped counting people around mile 5 with 100 passed. I saw my cousins again on a loop section in the middle so I passed them twice. It was great to give the boys high-fives and get a boost heading into the finish.

I felt so good, and was really glad I had been conservative on the bike and in the first half of the run. I walked through the aid stations and part of two of the hills in the middle. But otherwise, I was steady the whole run, keeping around 9:30 pace which averaged out to around 10:20 with the walking through aid stations. At mile 10 with a 5k left, I decided to see what I had left and hit the gas. I was flying down the last few miles, and felt so awesome. My last mile was 7:15 pace! I was fast enough that my cousins missed me at the finish, which they were bummed about, but I was flying so high it didn't make a difference to me.

All in all, I am really proud of my training and feel lucky that I had a good day. My nutrition plan worked flawlessly for me which was one of the things I was most nervous about. Staying fueled and hydrated is essential when active for 6:44:53. I finished in almost the top half (52%) and was thrilled to cross the finish line.

My goal was to finish, but if I was honest, I wanted to finish in under 7 and still be running at the finish. I did it!

hitting the open road

Tomorrow I embark on my summer adventure. 3200 miles in 3 weeks. All in the name of a half ironman I'm attempting next Sunday. I'm super nervous and super excited. Exactly how I should feel before this craziness begins.

I'll update from the road.

one for the books

I had ambitious, anxiety-causing workouts planned this weekend. I'm 5 weeks (to the day) from the HIM, and I made the mistake of trolling forums and blogs about triathlon training last week. See, I got my Athlete Guide and there are so many rules, and I started to flip out once again that I am not ready to be fast enough to make the cut-off times.

Anyway, I had planned a tough set of workouts before the freak-out, so I didn't change course. I just felt that there was more riding on them to go well.

The week was tiring, with work and a couple tough swim and run workouts. So I headed into Saturday a little fatigued. But I rode one of my fastest 20 mile rides followed by my longest brick run of 10 miles to date. And I finished feeling ok. Worried about Sunday, but that was two meals and a sleep away.

Sunday I woke up a little tired, but ready to get the party started. Ran 10.75 miles with a running team buddy, inhaled some eggs and toast at Longfellow, and set off for a 48.5 mile ride. Had company for about 28 of it, which was awesome. Headed out to hillier Wayzata and Hopkins, as I need to get some practice on hills. And when I got home, ran another 1.5 miles to see how my nutrition plan worked. I've had some not-so-good runs post-ride because of nutrition issues, so it was great to have a successful run post-ride. I finished feeling ok. Not even too fatigued. I'll for sure be sore tomorrow, and I'll be ready for bed at 6:45 prolly. But have a post-workout high that only comes from working hard.

After this weekend, I have 2 more tough weeks of workouts before I start my taper. Feeling more and more ready as the date approaches. I'll still be scared out of my mind when I toe up to the starting line. But excited to be scared of this race!

18 weeks

Normally when a woman posts on a blog with a title "XX weeks," she follows that up with a picture of her growing belly. I am hoping that over the next 18 weeks mine shrinks. But that's beside the point. I figured out that as of today, I am officially 18 weeks away from the 70.3 I am planning to attempt. Which also means, then, that I am 16 weeks away from my goal race for the spring, the Green Bay Marathon.

I was flipping out about this earlier this weekend, thinking that there was no way I'd be back to race condition in 16 weeks. I know I can always just run the marathon, but frankly, marathons are brutal, and I don't want to put my body through one if I don't think I can get close to a BQ. But then I realized that my year anniversary with the club is coming up this week. And though I've been set back by injury, I'm about in the same place mileage- and speed-wise as I was last year at this time. I think that I'll be able to get back to where I was in May (well, minus the stress fracture). The marathon is really my main focus, but I should probably do something about that tri also.

So what am I doing to stay on track? I have a spiffy new training plan that includes 2-3 rides (for now on my new trainer - fun fun), 2 swims, and 1 weights workout a week, plus the 4-5 runs. The runs and weights are givens - no compromise on those. I will make sure to get at least 1 long ride and 1 long swim in each week. I will listen to my body on the rest.

2013: the year of stupid. Act #1: New Year's Ice Dive

Sure started 2013 off with a bang with a jump into Lake Minnetonka. Waking up to -5 temps made me really, really, really want to climb back into bed. Actually, I had spent the night on the couch at the house of friends after a crew from the run club celebrated NYE there, knowing that if I drove home at 3 am after the party, I'd never have the nerve to make it out to Lake Minnetonka 4 hours later on my own. So, I stayed and had no excuse not to go. It's pretty hard to believe that it's been less than a year since I met these crazies. We left the house around 8:15 and carpooled out to the Lake.







I was terrified. As the following pics indicate. See me in the pink robe? Yeah, terrified.

The worst part is actually the wait. We spent about an hour waiting for our whole crew to arrive (22 jumpers!) and then another half hour in line to head out. Once we were death marched out to the platform, I was in a real tizzy. I was sure I would be the one person whose heart stops and has to be rescued from the water. Then all of a sudden, it was my turn. My friend Angie and I step up and the announcer says, "Oh, two guppies. Who talked you into this?" We pointed at Coach Ron. I look a little angry at this point. But actually, once we stepped up to the hole, I was calm and ready.

And then he counted down and we were in!

  

You have to jump in and go under the rope (to make sure you get the full experience of going all the way under). The water was take-your-breath-away cold, but it wasn't until I came out of the water and my wet head hit the -5 air that I thought I was going to die. Thank god for the firemen with the poles. When I came up out of the water, my brain was so frozen I could not think of what to do to get out of there. I could not have figured out how to swim at that point to (literally) save my life.

Before the jump, I said this was a one-and-done kind of thing. I'm still pretty sure that'll be the case, but I kinda easily succumb to peer pressure. It might seem like a good idea in another 365 days. But even if I never do it again, I have bragging rights for the rest of my life!