Calgary 70.3 race report

I need to stew over this race a little longer but figured I could write a technical report.
Race was good in general!
Time 5:04
Swim- In this crazy, man made community lake. I had to be careful not to run into people's docks. It was fine. Lined up on the far edge of people, and started out slow until I was used to the water. Swam on Friday evening so knew what to expect.
Ride- an adventure
Caveats- the ride was 2 km short
               - my bike decided to stop shifting on the second half of the course. I am incredibly lucky and maybe my parents were praying for me because the gear it was stuck in worked very well, the course was a fast downhill, and I could still shift up I'm down in the front. So other than the distraction of my bike making noise before it broke and the stress of getting up a steep hill if there was one I was okay and probably didn't lose time.

Run -felt good most of the way. You are not supposed to feel good near the end, correct? Pushed hard to get 5:04.

Had a great time at the finish chatting with Canadians. I love Canadians. They recommended the Great White North. Something about trains.

A good week

This week seems like it has been very good for training. Lots of good key sessions that were done with motivation and purpose. Until the weekend got here. Was tired going into Saturday and Sunday. Rallied though and now that it is over feel very good about it. Had some great company on Sunday which helped.

Calgary- We are going to leave Friday morning. Hopefully get there early enough to check in and get our packets and swim? My idea is that we get our bikes ready to go on Friday and then bring them to the T1, likely do a ride on Saturday, and then drop them off. All in one fallow swoop!! We will drive home Monday morning.

Schedule- Am starting a big experiment that I will take down the Tuesday we get back from Calgary. I shouldn't plan on doing anything during the workday.

PT- Didn't get to see regular PT last week. He was out of town. The other one just did the dry needling. Was doing the prescribed stretching one day last week and really felt my hamstring release!!! Woohoo!!! Anyway, the run after the ride on Sunday felt really good. No left leg pain.  I am going back to the PT today to get another run evaluation and more dry needling today, so I can ask him more.

Tuesday- am ride was great. I got up made some coffee and headed out the door. The day was blustery and only got worse as it went by, so the am ride was perfect. Had a a good set of 3 minute intervals. I kept running out of road though. Two minutes recovery didn't give me enough time to get back very far. Oh well, it was fine.
Masters swim- Also great! I was motivated to get in some good yardage. One of my favorite things is how I feel post a good hard swim. It seems nicer to make a delicious dinner. My lane at Masters is driving me crazy though. For one, the fast lane now has very fast 19 year olds in it. So, the old lane 5 fast people are moving down to lane four. That makes the lane faster than I can handle. Also, they talk a lot, and all finish after 3000. See Thursday for more....  Anyway, got in good yardage.

Wednesday- At 3pm saw a warning for severe thunderstorms in the area until 10pm. The sky looked mildly cloudy, but not bad, so I hightailed it home and got on the bike. Good thing I did. The last 20 minutes of the ride or so were pretty spooky. Lightning in my path and a good old soaking in the rain. Had a good hard, pretty hilly ride too. Funny how in Bozeman it can go from 90 and you think you are going to melt, to getting caught in a thunderstorm. I have to confess, I didn't do the post ride run. I felt like I had enough adventure for the day. By the time I was making dinner it was sunny again.

Thursday- One hour run at lunch. It was hot out, and I wasn't feeling super snappy. Started thinking about Calgary. I am really excited to go up there and race. That got my legs turning over a little better. I don't think that there is a huge # of people doing the race. On the swim start heats it said 250 AG women. I am excited to race those women.
Swim- Demoted myself to lane 3. We really need 6 lanes at this point. One super fast lane, one fast lane, one medium fast lane etc. Anyway, I was totally fine with it. I wanted to get in a good workout that was at my pace. The workout was really good too. Some longer swimming to get a good rhythm, some IM but not an overwhelming amount, builds, fast, etc. There was only one other guy in the lane and I actually had a good time with him. It is amazing how fast the yards go by when you don't stop and listen to everybody talk for minutes on end. Actually finished the workout. 3000-3500 or so.

Friday- I think you could call that run more of a waddle. I stretched my piriformis yesterday and maybe held it a little too long. Those muscles on both sides were sore. I also wanted to take it easy to rest up for the weekend. Did the PT afterwards. Felt my hamstring release!! Woohoo!! Rode to and from work and to and from downtown for some dinner. John and Lisa showed up really late for dinner, so we sat around waiting for them for a couple of hours. It made for getting home a bit later than I wanted and also for being tired on Saturday. I need to be more careful about socializing to much on Friday nights.

Saturday- Swim in pond. It took a little over 3 minutes to get to the other side, so I added two extra intervals. I was tired this morning and was really having to rally to get motivated.

Ride- Rode with Lawrence. We rode up Hyalite, to the nudey bar, out to the mouth of Gallatin Canyon and home. It was about 65 miles and more like 4.5 hours. A little longer than prescribed. I was super tired after this. Hangry.

Sunday- Lawrence, Art and I did the Castle Mountain Tour. It starts in Ringling, then Martinsdale, Checkerboard, White Sulpher, and back to Ringling. It is also a bit longer than prescribed 88 miles and about 5:15 of ride time. It is a great look to settle in and those 25 minute intervals were perfect for it. Really liked the 25 minute intervals. Was really tired going into this morning. Started intervals out a bit slower, but comfortable. Really focused on IM pace. It was great though, because as the day went on, I felt better and better. The last 25 minutes was climbing this little pass out of Checkerboard and I felt amazing!!!

And the joy wears off

One thing I have noticed with this Ironman racing is a much more awareness of my body. Specifically how I feel because of hormones. I usually have 5 days or so right before my period where I can't sleep. I also seem to have a few days of being down and sometimes kind of pissy. I really started to feel the down on Thursday which is definitely exasperated with my little mt bike accident. Hopefully this is part of a monthly thing not and not a new general low setting in. Did I ever tell you I got my period the day before Canada last year. Do you think it could have had an effect on my race?

PT- did prescribed exercises after the run on Thursday. After the needles in my butt I sat in pigeon for a good long while and it really released that knot in my ass. I think a couple more sessions will be good. Maybe not as hopeful about my hamstring.

Canada 70.3 - I'm ready to really just go for it! PR my 70.3 distance!?

Tuesday- Booze cruise. It was fun, lots and lots of fun, but fine to do only once a summer. I would rather be riding my bike than drinking in the middle of the day.

Wednesday- Nice little 30 minute run at lunch. Met up with Lisa for a ride after work. She was ambitious. I followed her for most of her ride bit turned around early. Ended  riding for a little over 2 hours. Went really easy and it was downhill for the second hour.

Thursday- Running partner is in Russia. Lucky her. Anyway, ran at 11. Nice run. Did I tell you about the dive bombing bird? Or the kid who squirted me with a super soaker. Makes me smile every time I go by there.
Swimming - was super motivated before getting to the pool to get in a great, long swim. The lane had seven people and we did a 1500. Everybody else was using paddles and fins. They kept lapping me. Demoralizing. Moved down to a slower less crowded lane. Ended up not getting in that awesome swim.

Friday- nice bike ride up Moody Gulch that turned into a bloody mess and a nice walk down.

Saturday- Urgent care visit left me to rest for the day. Get ants in my pants. Feeling anxious to be out. Did get my blood work done at Urgent Care. Was curious about my iron levels. They are normal. Everything was normal. Woohoo. Feeling healthy

Sunday - Nice long ride with Lawrence. Found some rollers for hills, not any big long mountain climbs. Went at a pretty relaxing pace. Feel really good post ride. Feeling good about the distance.

The Bangtails didn't eat me

The week was pretty uneventful. I tried hard to get in power resting. On Thursday I was still feeling tired. I am assuming it was from Rapelje. It was also really hot this week. My run on Tuesday was hard, and I think a lot of it was the heat. 

Schedule - Not much going on. Nothing that I know of for work next week.  Looking forward to not having a race to prepare for this next weekend.
In general - my sister is living near Jackson Hole. She has some rides and runs mapped out for me and a lake to swim in. She wants me to come down. She is a firefighter so may not be around but I could stay at her place. Anyway, it might make a good long focused weekend on new roads and trails. I would like to go down sometime between now and the end of August.

Saturday- Up the earliest I have been for a race in a long time and got to see the sunrise for the second time in one week. I really enjoyed this day as a finale to my four weeks of racing. The past few weeks have been really fun, memorable, taught me a lot, and has hopefully although not seeming direct contributed to my race at Ironman Wisconsin.
Started the race out slow. Walked the steeper parts of the climb for the first 2:00 and then pushed the pace. At 2:30 I had just left the 2nd aid station. I think it was at mile 11.5 or so. Figured I would be happy to finish by 4:30. Rolled across 24.4 miles at 4:36.  I was in the back and didn't have an overall great "race" time but considering my longest run recently has been about 14 miles I was pretty happy with holding it together. It was hard to hold back on the early hills while lots of girls ran by. My legs are tired now though. Had to stop at work and shuffled in the door.

Wow, I could go on about the race. The Lupine were so abundant that the smell was almost nauseating. I have ridden that trail numerous times but it was great to be on foot and see some of the views a little more. The Bridgers, the Absarokas the Crazies, so beautiful. The trail was a little muddy from our recent rain and the puddles got annoying also the trail wasn't always smooth and was washed out making it super hard to get a good flat footing. I had to walk a few steps now and then and tell myself to stop being crabby.  My ankles and feet will be hurting. I have done the Ridge Run a couple of times and really thought this was harder. A lot more rolling, not the bombing as ascents and descents of the ridge.

Who knew i could race a mt bike?

It is Sunday night and I am very sleep deprived. This isn't going to be super long. The Rut and the Bobcat stuff I wrote earlier.

Good week. Felt nice and strong all week. Wednesday ride and post ride run were solid, but failed on the mission. I think I bonked a little during the run. Had a very good couple of swims with Masters, workouts on the 3500 range. Took the win at Rapelje. More posted below.

I would like some advice on racing/running next weekend. Start out easy, walk parts of the beginning to keep it easy, if I have the energy try and push the last 1/4 or so? I think I will bring a pro bar and I have a bottle I run with. Think it should be enough(as far as water). I will bring gels and/or chews too.

The Rut- Couple of days post IM Wisconsin return. Will I be able to hobble 7 miles. What is it about you Missoula folk. Even John and Lisa are talking about it.

Been thinking a lot about The Bobcat. Have a bunch of ideas. Apparently this year at MSU is the "year of engagement" Right now my plan is to write up a proposal and send it out to various offices and departments that look like they have potential to provide support in students, money, and power to help us get the facilities, etc.

Rapelje- took home the big W for the women's solo category. Had some competition too. Ingrid made me work for it. Rode from 11am on Saturday until about 7, when a big storm came in. Rallied for a final lap before the storm. Then tried to sleep, waiting out the course closure, muddy laps and just plain getting sleep. Got up at 4am and did a sunrise loop. Kept riding until 11am. Got in 11 laps in an 11. 6 or so mile course. Felt good, did a good job of pacing myself, did a good job of eating and drinking. Just a plain overall very good experience. Ironman training sure pays off. Beat up though. Back, forearms, and ass hurt. I was really wanting a full suspension on lap 11. Lots of up and down.

Love triathlon

Okay coach, I need a little convincing that running 23 miles on trails is not going to kill me. Running just 10 has been hard enough. Also,what do you think about nutrition. I do not have this dialed for running. I was thinking gel. I don't want to run without a lot of stuff. I have a pair of comfortable shorts with pockets on the sides. Big enough for inhaler and gels. Maybe 2-3 an hour? Should I put the eating on a timer or go by feel? I have a tendency to not eat as much running as biking. Get a couple of caffeine gels for the end of the race? 

Sunday racing- There is a little more on it below. Basically that I panicked or something in the cold water. Had a hard time. But, one thing I did notice is that after the race I am not completely fried. The winter triathlon, I was ready for bed. So, I think that thinks my fitness is getting better. Good sign, you think? 

Ironman Boulder. Did you see that? Sounds great. Race entry opens July 17th. How long do you think that will take to sell out. I wish these races weren't all so fast to close. I can't decide now what my next year is going to be like. 

I think we will go to Rapelje on Saturday morning. The race starts at 11. I still need to talk to Erik about this though. Erik says Friday night. I think I am still going to try for Saturday morning. Hitch a ride with someone. Also, going to try and make it as easy as possible. In the past we have brought food, stoves, dishes etc. I think I will just eat at the restaurant and bring some snacks and food to eat while riding. This will save time. 

Woohoo- congrats Ben H won CDA.

Tuesday- Ran at lunch. Pickups felt good. Good to get some turnover before the race on Sunday. Bought some new shoes. My old ones were more shot than I thought. 

Masters swim- not a lot of people, not super motivated. Got in ~2600. 

Wednesday- The ride a little bit of a bust. There were tornado warnings. Got in an hour warm up, the short intervals, and started the time trial. After about 6 minutes, I was being blown off the road and there was a big wall of clouds coming my direction. Got spooked and turned around. Started to rain when I got to the car. It seemed like the clouds were everywhere, so I drove to the gym and ran on the treadmill. Kind of wish I hadn't. It didn't even keep raining. 

Thursday- Ran up south Cottonwood. Run ended up being a little longer. Got so close to the 4th bridge. Couldn't turn around early. Didn't get home until late. Was so hungry and so tired. I was too tired to cook. I think that took more motivation than to get out on the run. The outside of my right knee is sore on Friday.
 morning though.

Friday- Did the swim workout. Felt a little off, but okay. Rode the bike. Legs feeling a little tired. Rested on Friday night.

Saturday- Rode, rwn, and rested. I wasnt resting so much for the race as for just having an easy weekend. Get the legs and body rested when i can.

Sunday- Didnt give myself enough time to get ready for the race. Forgot about a bunch of little things that take time. Anyway, didnt get in a swim warmup. Did jump in to get wet though. I dont know if it was not warming up, the water being cold, asthma or all of the above, but I spent a lot of time with my head out of the water just trying to breath. I even walked in one part where it is really shallow. I never got used to the water. At one point really thought I was going to have to just quit.  Ugghh. So I worked hard on the bike and made up a lot of places, and kept the places on the run. Ended up 3rd female overall. Sort of disappointing to have such a crappy swim. I really had an image of at least seeing Holly Walker, that got shattered. I don't do well in cold water. Find it kind of worrisome. Hopefully with more open water practice I will get better. Funny though, comparing results to a couple of years ago. I was only 1 minute slower.

 Bike works, car doesn't

View from last weekends run. That's Baldy. Beautiful wildflowers.