First off this morning Kyle and I registered for the Firecracker 5000 on July 3rd...
I had to go out to my mom's house so to save time I decided I could do my run out round Ames Lake which is a 2 mile loop around the lake plus a little bit back to my mom's house. Once I got started I very quickly remembered how hilly the road is - there is pretty much no flats - either up or down. Probably not the smartest route to do as my first longer run since my leg issues started but oh well. My plan was to do 2 loops and if I felt good with no pain then I would go ahead and do the 3rd.
Over all the downhills were hard on my shins but I really tried to focus on staying loose and not letting my feet roll out. The uphills were rather steep and hard. I found that by the end of the first loop (2 miles) I felt tired but no pain so I kept going. I focused on my surrounding a lot - there are bunch of new houses, places for sale, the lake looked very inviting, a couple of dogs that came out to say hi and other random things. It certainty helped make time/distance go by faster because I was not running very fast - with all the uphills my pace was all over the place and all the way up to a few 9+ almost 10 min miles.
By the end of the second loop I figured I had gone this far with no pain so I might as well go through with doing the 3rd loop. I ate a second gel and focused on just finishing 6 miles with no pain but I was more tired and my paces was slow up all the hills. I finished the 3rd loop in about 55 min - by far not my fastest run but I'm very happy that I was able to run 6 mile with no pain at any time so my slow time does not really bother me esp considering the amount of hills.
Jun 30, 2007
Jun 28, 2007
swim run fun
This evening I met Col and Bryan at green lake for a swim run brick. We started early enough to get some hassle from the life guards but what ever. It was great rather than swim the normal laps we have been we swam out across the lake(of course still with in the 50 yrd distance to the shore) for about 18 min or so then back. On the way out the water was rather calm and I used Col and Bryan to sight off of. About half way out I got a kink in my neck that sort of pinched every time I breathed so I found myself waiting longer between breathes just to avoid it - luckily it went away after we turned around to head back in... Though when we turned around Col mention the r word and it immediately started to rain and even though Bryan threatened to get out and walk back to our stuff he stayed in the water and swam. I'm not sure if it was because of the rain or what but the water got rather wavy - more than once I got hit in the face with a wave when I breathed and I got a few rain drops in my mouth as well. Even so I enjoyed the swim - I may have been a ways behind them but still it was a good swim.
Once we got back we did a transition to run out of the back of my car - mind you it was still raining and rather warm and humid. We then ran out one mile around the lake and back. I must have drank some of the water or something because my stomach did not feel good - but it was only a 2 mile run so I lived just fine. I am just enjoying that I can run at all with out pain - my legs felt pretty good. My left calf is a bit tight now but during it felt just fine. The hardest part is not falling back into my old habit of running on the outside of my feet - I really have to focus on running over my big toe - hopefully as I start building mileage back up it will become more natural. It took me 17.24 to run the 2 miles which I am happy with.
The best part of all was that I enjoyed the entire work out and afterwards felt like I wanted to keep going but of course did not because then I would get in trouble with Col ;) So instead I'm just looking forward to my long weekend workouts.
Once we got back we did a transition to run out of the back of my car - mind you it was still raining and rather warm and humid. We then ran out one mile around the lake and back. I must have drank some of the water or something because my stomach did not feel good - but it was only a 2 mile run so I lived just fine. I am just enjoying that I can run at all with out pain - my legs felt pretty good. My left calf is a bit tight now but during it felt just fine. The hardest part is not falling back into my old habit of running on the outside of my feet - I really have to focus on running over my big toe - hopefully as I start building mileage back up it will become more natural. It took me 17.24 to run the 2 miles which I am happy with.
The best part of all was that I enjoyed the entire work out and afterwards felt like I wanted to keep going but of course did not because then I would get in trouble with Col ;) So instead I'm just looking forward to my long weekend workouts.
Jun 27, 2007
nice night for a ride
After sitting in baseball game traffic thus extending my commute about 10-15 min I went straight from my car to my bike. I had 24 miles on the schedule so I road the lake samm loop and added 2 steep hill repeats for good measure. It felt great to be out on my bike. I need to find some new routes close to home - I'm getting sort of bored of the lake samm route but it is convenient. My legs felt pretty good especially on the climbs which I was a little surprised by since all day I have felt a bit tired and generally out of it. I guess I justed need some time with/on my bike. In all it took me about 1:26 to ride 25 miles which I am just fine with :)
Lets start with Monday - I did a strength work out - mostly stuff for my shoulder and legs plus a bunch of core things. Nothing to intense since I had to do a ton of stuff around the house on Monday. I was supposed to swim 2800yrds but they day was to full of other things so it just never happened.
Tuesday morning I went and did a 3.25 mile run from my house. It was a really nice morning and it actually felt nice to get out and run. I finished up in just over 23 minutes with no pain in my left leg :)
In the evening I got to green lake about an hour before I was going to meet Col and Bryan to swim so I decided to run around the lake. I had asked Col earlier if this was ok and she said I could run 2 miles but I did not know the mile markers so I just ran the whole lake.. oops. It was nice though I ran the outside loop which is compact gravel/dirt and I actually passed a bunch of slower runners which felt kind of good since it does not happen much. It took me about 25 min to make my way around the lake and back to my car to grab my wetsuit and stuff for swimming.
Of course I realized I forgot both a swim cap and a towel... I got down to the water ate a gel, got my wesuit on and waited for Bryan and Col. Bryan got there first but I did not remember what I the plan was so I waited for Col. I was a little bit subdued - maybe I was just tired from the running but once I got going the water was nice. My shoulder felt tight and got tired with in about 15-20 min of course not enough for me to stop. The only other things is I still can't swim straight and I kept getting water in my nose almost every time I breathed - I have no clue what the deal was but it was a bit annoying. I swam for about 45 min - I have no clue how far though.. It was good I figure I need as much practice swimming in open water as I can get and hopefully I'll get better at it.
Tuesday morning I went and did a 3.25 mile run from my house. It was a really nice morning and it actually felt nice to get out and run. I finished up in just over 23 minutes with no pain in my left leg :)
In the evening I got to green lake about an hour before I was going to meet Col and Bryan to swim so I decided to run around the lake. I had asked Col earlier if this was ok and she said I could run 2 miles but I did not know the mile markers so I just ran the whole lake.. oops. It was nice though I ran the outside loop which is compact gravel/dirt and I actually passed a bunch of slower runners which felt kind of good since it does not happen much. It took me about 25 min to make my way around the lake and back to my car to grab my wetsuit and stuff for swimming.
Of course I realized I forgot both a swim cap and a towel... I got down to the water ate a gel, got my wesuit on and waited for Bryan and Col. Bryan got there first but I did not remember what I the plan was so I waited for Col. I was a little bit subdued - maybe I was just tired from the running but once I got going the water was nice. My shoulder felt tight and got tired with in about 15-20 min of course not enough for me to stop. The only other things is I still can't swim straight and I kept getting water in my nose almost every time I breathed - I have no clue what the deal was but it was a bit annoying. I swam for about 45 min - I have no clue how far though.. It was good I figure I need as much practice swimming in open water as I can get and hopefully I'll get better at it.
Jun 24, 2007
birthday weekend recap
Well my birthday was actually on Friday but what they hey why not stretch it out a bit more and enjoy it. Friday I spent the day on a sail boat with the crew I work with in celebration of a job well done on a huge project... It was great fun except there really was not much food - they had lots of beer and whine but not much else. I ate a nectar bar but it was not enough by the end of the cruise I started to get a headache from not eating enough. By the time I got home from work all I wanted to do was take a nap - I had planned on doing a 45 min easy ride then running 3 miles (the priority of the day). Since I felt so out of it I rested a bit then geared up around 8ish to just do the 3 mile run and then go to chipotle for dinner - yes I know I'm boring but I really did not want to do much else for my birthday. Kyle was very sweet and got me flowers and my favorite fruit torte :) Anyway Kyle and I ran at the downtown Bellevue half mile track - my only goal was to run 3 miles with no pain. The entire run I focused on striking more on the inside of my fore foot rather than the outside - (if that makes any sense). I found that if I did not focus on it the entire time almost I would go back to striking on the outside of my feet which would then make the outside of my legs tighten a bit. I quickly caught myself and successfully ran 3 miles with NO PAIN! no foot pain, no leg pain - it was the best birthday present..
Saturday morning Kyle, Futa, Col and I met up to do a 70-80 mile ride - we decided to do the Flying Wheels 65 mile course and then add another 5 or more depending on how we all felt. It started out a little chilly - well chilly enough to need arm warmers and by the time we reached the 1st hill (about 5miles in) I was plenty warm. I felt fairly good (not great but good) - my climbing legs are not all the back but definitely getting better. Kyle and Col were riding really strong and on average it seemed about 2-4 mph faster than me - which I was just fine with my goal for the ride was to just enjoy it and get the miles done. Futa was nice and road back with me a lot - though he gave me a hard time about hitting pot holes and not swerving to avoid them - he started yelling "swerve" at me the rest of the ride...
It was the first ride with an aero bottle and I LOVED it - I drank way more esp when I was actually down in the aero bars. I put nuun in it so that it was not just plain water but I think next long ride I will be putting Gatorade in it so I can easily get calories in. The aero bottle along with the salt stick made things so simple. I still have a hard time with gels - I was going to do a gel flask but I did not have enough of the same flavor of gels so I just used them as they were. I still managed to eat 5 or so of them - the raspberry creme were disgusting.
My legs did not really start feeling really tired till the final big climb up the stair step hill back on to the plateau which always feels never ending. At the bottom of the climb my legs felt really heavy and slow but as I got going I felt better and just kept climbing till I reached the top. The rest of the ride I focused on just getting back to the car - it did not help that the long way around the lake sucks - the roads are horrible with no shoulder by the last bit my legs felt done. In all I did just under 70 miles (69.8) in 4:15 - which I think is the longest ride I have ever done. The best part was I felt better that I did last week :)
Now on Sunday everyone else went for a nice long 10 mile run while I was stuck doing a swim in the pool and the elliptical. I was extra tired in the morning because Kyle woke me up about 10 time though out the night which just made me more cranky about my non-running workout and of course the pool was crowded even though I was there rather early for a Sunday. Anyway I did 400 warm up, 300 drills, 1000 x 2, 100 cool down for a total time of 55 min. My shoulder was more tired then the rest of my body and kind of hurt which makes me think my bike fit might be off. I mostly just survived the swim, I felt ungraceful and heavy. Once I finished in the pool I went and did 45 min on the elliptical keeping the cadence above 170 the entire time. I only survived by watching what it takes on my ipod. I know I need to do cardio since I can't really run much but it really does not feel comparable - I don't sweet as much or feel like I'm getting much accomplished but coach col told me to do it so I did...
Saturday morning Kyle, Futa, Col and I met up to do a 70-80 mile ride - we decided to do the Flying Wheels 65 mile course and then add another 5 or more depending on how we all felt. It started out a little chilly - well chilly enough to need arm warmers and by the time we reached the 1st hill (about 5miles in) I was plenty warm. I felt fairly good (not great but good) - my climbing legs are not all the back but definitely getting better. Kyle and Col were riding really strong and on average it seemed about 2-4 mph faster than me - which I was just fine with my goal for the ride was to just enjoy it and get the miles done. Futa was nice and road back with me a lot - though he gave me a hard time about hitting pot holes and not swerving to avoid them - he started yelling "swerve" at me the rest of the ride...
It was the first ride with an aero bottle and I LOVED it - I drank way more esp when I was actually down in the aero bars. I put nuun in it so that it was not just plain water but I think next long ride I will be putting Gatorade in it so I can easily get calories in. The aero bottle along with the salt stick made things so simple. I still have a hard time with gels - I was going to do a gel flask but I did not have enough of the same flavor of gels so I just used them as they were. I still managed to eat 5 or so of them - the raspberry creme were disgusting.
My legs did not really start feeling really tired till the final big climb up the stair step hill back on to the plateau which always feels never ending. At the bottom of the climb my legs felt really heavy and slow but as I got going I felt better and just kept climbing till I reached the top. The rest of the ride I focused on just getting back to the car - it did not help that the long way around the lake sucks - the roads are horrible with no shoulder by the last bit my legs felt done. In all I did just under 70 miles (69.8) in 4:15 - which I think is the longest ride I have ever done. The best part was I felt better that I did last week :)
Now on Sunday everyone else went for a nice long 10 mile run while I was stuck doing a swim in the pool and the elliptical. I was extra tired in the morning because Kyle woke me up about 10 time though out the night which just made me more cranky about my non-running workout and of course the pool was crowded even though I was there rather early for a Sunday. Anyway I did 400 warm up, 300 drills, 1000 x 2, 100 cool down for a total time of 55 min. My shoulder was more tired then the rest of my body and kind of hurt which makes me think my bike fit might be off. I mostly just survived the swim, I felt ungraceful and heavy. Once I finished in the pool I went and did 45 min on the elliptical keeping the cadence above 170 the entire time. I only survived by watching what it takes on my ipod. I know I need to do cardio since I can't really run much but it really does not feel comparable - I don't sweet as much or feel like I'm getting much accomplished but coach col told me to do it so I did...
Jun 20, 2007
best way to start a day
First off yesterday (Tuesday) morning I went to a local tracks and ran 2 miles - I was supposed to start with some drills to help with my form but I realized I had no clue how to do them.. so I just ran and focused on not running through my big toe and not on the outside of my feet. In all it was a good run - I finished the 2 miles in about 17 min with no pain in my legs or foot :)
Then in the evening Kyle and I met Bryan and Col for an open water swim at green lake. Traffic was horrible so we were a bit late but nothing to bad - it was just annoying sitting in the car esp for Kyle. Before starting I made sure to puts a ton of body glide on the back of my neck to avoid getting a bad wetsuit hickey like last week. The water was really nice - the temp was perfect actually - not to cold or to warm where you start over heating in the wet suit. The main goals of the swim was to work on sighting and I also wanted to not let my wetsuit distract me from enjoying the time in the water and I didn't. The swim went well - I figured out that I swam a lot more straight when I used Col's pink swim cap to sight on rather than the hard to see logs... So I fallowed Col the entire swim. About half way though my left shoulder started to feel fatigued but I just let it go and kept going. I don't feel like my form is as good in open water with a wetsuit on - I don't feel like I rotate as well or that my hand enters the water as smoothly but I'm sure the more practice I get in open water the better I will get at it just like I did in the pool. On the last "lap" out Col had me draft right behind her - trying to stay right on her toes - I could defiantly feel the difference but I struggled a bit to stay on her toes. I would start swimming off to the side somehow and loose the bubbles from her kicking then I would have to try and catch back up so I had to find some extra pep but it was still fun. We swam for about 40 min total with a few chat breaks but still I felt way better in the water this week vs last week so I was happy and best of all NO wetsuit hickey.
This gorgeous sunny morning I got up at 5a to do a 20ish mile bike ride with 2-3 hill repeats. I had planned one a route but then once I got going I changed my mind - I decided to ride down on to the Lake Samm road then out on to the trail (since it would be empty) and I could practice being down in my aerobars then on my way back home I could do either Bell-Red road climb or the trail climb up next to 520 that goes by Microsoft land depending.. It was great the roads were all empty, the sun was coming up and there was some low lying fog across the trail in places. I just cruised along and enjoyed the view. The longer i stayed down in my aerobars the better I felt in them so it was good to work on it. I road 10 miles out then headed back towards Redmond - I decided to do the 520 climb since it has always been a good challenge for me, it is really long and I have not done it in a while since we have been doing Bell-Red a lot lately... The first climb up was hard - I mostly stayed in the saddle and just made my way up till I reached 150th and then turned around to do it again. This time I stood up a few time to pick up my pace a bit. I felt really good and I was to the top faster than I expected so I decided to do it once more. A couple of teh commuters looked at me strange - esp since I saw a few of the one my way down the time before and then again on my way back up. Oh well. Again I kept my pace up and the climb felt even better - I usually hate this hill but I had a great time climbing it - it kind of rolls with a few false summits - it was fun today. lol Once to the top I proceeded to ride back home - which sort of sucked since I road on 156th and I had to stop at more than half of the million and one stop lights on that street.. Oh well I was already at my planned 20 mile mark so I knew I should not take the longer way home to avoid the dumb street so I just picked the pace up when I could and got home. In all I did 22 miles in 1:22 with 3 almost a mile hill repeats :) It put me in a great mood to start the day off and I get to look forward to massage therapy after work :)
Then in the evening Kyle and I met Bryan and Col for an open water swim at green lake. Traffic was horrible so we were a bit late but nothing to bad - it was just annoying sitting in the car esp for Kyle. Before starting I made sure to puts a ton of body glide on the back of my neck to avoid getting a bad wetsuit hickey like last week. The water was really nice - the temp was perfect actually - not to cold or to warm where you start over heating in the wet suit. The main goals of the swim was to work on sighting and I also wanted to not let my wetsuit distract me from enjoying the time in the water and I didn't. The swim went well - I figured out that I swam a lot more straight when I used Col's pink swim cap to sight on rather than the hard to see logs... So I fallowed Col the entire swim. About half way though my left shoulder started to feel fatigued but I just let it go and kept going. I don't feel like my form is as good in open water with a wetsuit on - I don't feel like I rotate as well or that my hand enters the water as smoothly but I'm sure the more practice I get in open water the better I will get at it just like I did in the pool. On the last "lap" out Col had me draft right behind her - trying to stay right on her toes - I could defiantly feel the difference but I struggled a bit to stay on her toes. I would start swimming off to the side somehow and loose the bubbles from her kicking then I would have to try and catch back up so I had to find some extra pep but it was still fun. We swam for about 40 min total with a few chat breaks but still I felt way better in the water this week vs last week so I was happy and best of all NO wetsuit hickey.
This gorgeous sunny morning I got up at 5a to do a 20ish mile bike ride with 2-3 hill repeats. I had planned one a route but then once I got going I changed my mind - I decided to ride down on to the Lake Samm road then out on to the trail (since it would be empty) and I could practice being down in my aerobars then on my way back home I could do either Bell-Red road climb or the trail climb up next to 520 that goes by Microsoft land depending.. It was great the roads were all empty, the sun was coming up and there was some low lying fog across the trail in places. I just cruised along and enjoyed the view. The longer i stayed down in my aerobars the better I felt in them so it was good to work on it. I road 10 miles out then headed back towards Redmond - I decided to do the 520 climb since it has always been a good challenge for me, it is really long and I have not done it in a while since we have been doing Bell-Red a lot lately... The first climb up was hard - I mostly stayed in the saddle and just made my way up till I reached 150th and then turned around to do it again. This time I stood up a few time to pick up my pace a bit. I felt really good and I was to the top faster than I expected so I decided to do it once more. A couple of teh commuters looked at me strange - esp since I saw a few of the one my way down the time before and then again on my way back up. Oh well. Again I kept my pace up and the climb felt even better - I usually hate this hill but I had a great time climbing it - it kind of rolls with a few false summits - it was fun today. lol Once to the top I proceeded to ride back home - which sort of sucked since I road on 156th and I had to stop at more than half of the million and one stop lights on that street.. Oh well I was already at my planned 20 mile mark so I knew I should not take the longer way home to avoid the dumb street so I just picked the pace up when I could and got home. In all I did 22 miles in 1:22 with 3 almost a mile hill repeats :) It put me in a great mood to start the day off and I get to look forward to massage therapy after work :)
Jun 18, 2007
moving on
I took Sunday off and went to the Edmond's art fair, went to Pike Place Market and had a wonderful dinner - just generally enjoyed the day.
This morning I felt better I got up around 5:15 and went to the gym and did 30 min on the EFX elliptical thing and kept the cadence or whatever it was called above 170 per Col's advise to best mimic running cardio. It was rather boring but it felt good to do it all the same. After warming up I got started on my strength work out - as usual I focused on past pt related exercises ie leg/hip and shoulder stuff. I also added in a ton of calf raises as Col suggested to help with my current leg issues. I won't bore with the details this week since it was almost identical to what I did last week. It felt really good to do strength stuff - I felt strong :)
On another note I have decided to just get over it and move on so no more being down or anything time to be happy and ready for the next stage. I just will keep working to get my leg feeling better when I run and just focus on enjoying each and every chance I get to train because that is really what I like about this whole thing anyway. I am also rereading the "How Lance Does It" book and "Becoming an Ironman: First Encounters With the Ultimate Endurance Event" both of which are very good and positive. So I will be fine and will be just as strong as always. My goal right now with running is to be able to do a strong 5k by July 4th :)
This morning I felt better I got up around 5:15 and went to the gym and did 30 min on the EFX elliptical thing and kept the cadence or whatever it was called above 170 per Col's advise to best mimic running cardio. It was rather boring but it felt good to do it all the same. After warming up I got started on my strength work out - as usual I focused on past pt related exercises ie leg/hip and shoulder stuff. I also added in a ton of calf raises as Col suggested to help with my current leg issues. I won't bore with the details this week since it was almost identical to what I did last week. It felt really good to do strength stuff - I felt strong :)
On another note I have decided to just get over it and move on so no more being down or anything time to be happy and ready for the next stage. I just will keep working to get my leg feeling better when I run and just focus on enjoying each and every chance I get to train because that is really what I like about this whole thing anyway. I am also rereading the "How Lance Does It" book and "Becoming an Ironman: First Encounters With the Ultimate Endurance Event" both of which are very good and positive. So I will be fine and will be just as strong as always. My goal right now with running is to be able to do a strong 5k by July 4th :)
Jun 16, 2007
lost confidence
Friday night I went and ran 3 miles at the Bellevue half mile track with the only goal to be able to say "yeah no pain"... I almost made it but I guess it was just not meant to be because on the last quarter of a mile my left leg started to lock/tighten up. I guess at least I was able to make it about 2.75m miles with no pain yeah. Hmm just does not have the same ring to it.. oh well I guess there will be more elliptical stuff and other cross training. Afterwards I felt VERY disappointed. I don't love running my any means yet but I HATE not being able to run. Kyle was nice enough to help massage and loosen up my leg but over all the experience was kind of a bummer. Kyle also looked at the wear on my shoes and it very obvious that I am not running centered on my feet - I run very much on the outside of my foot which then puts tension on the outside of my leg ect. I'm hoping that with some running drills I can correct this and get on with my running.
Saturday(today) morning the crew (minus Futa) met up north near the Maltby Cafe for a 50ish mile ride. The plan was to connect to the Lake Stevens 70.3 bike course to see what it was like ect. I woke up not really stoked to ride and that feeling never really wore off - I know that I was still thinking about not being able to run which just brings me down right now. Anyway we got going after dinking with bikes and gear - it was surprisingly chilly even though I wore my capris, vest and arm warmers.
My goal/focus for the ride was to work on eating while riding so to start I took a salt tab using the wonderful salt stick which was much easier than the zip lock bag I used before so that was good. Actually in the eating department things were going fine through the first 10-15 miles - ate a gel no problem - drank acceleraide and water... Until we got on some roads with no shoulder and lots or big trucks that seemed to not share the road which made me very reluctant to move my hands away from my handle bars to do anything - so my consumption went down drastically. By the time there was less traffic I just kind of forgot to eat/drink much. Around this same time we became somewhat lost - the map said one thing and the road signs said another - this also caused me to think I should hold off eating to much since I may need it later if we are out riding longer than I expected.. Yes I know this is dumb now looking back but still that is what I thought and did. I actually did not eat another gel the rest of the ride - I did have a snickers bar, half a bottle of gatoriade and a bike of Kyle's hot dog when we stopped at some little store along the centennial trail on our way back. Before the final climb back to our cars (well probably 5 miles) Kyle noticed that my water bottles were almost completely full then proceeded to scold me and then when I did not drink more he even yelled at me to drink - even using that I knew that Col would say the same thing and so on.. He was very persistent so I did drink a bunch of my accelraide bottle. So not the best example of fallowing my nutrition plan..
Now the rest of the ride - I sucked today I could not hold a wheel (with only a few exceptions when I feared for my life if I did not), climb, spin - pretty much I was slow (and useless;).. The crew had to wait for me multiple times when we had to turn off or something so I did not get lost - they were all very nice about it and said it was no big deal and stuff. I felt bad holding them up but I just did not feel any sort of spark to make me pick up the pace - I just did not have it in me today. Which was retarded my legs pretty much felt fine until the very end when they got sort of tight but I'm sure that had way more to do with my lack of nutrition the second half of the ride than anything else. I guess I can't really only explain it and I just did not feel like I could do it - which again is dumb because only a couple of weeks ago I was doing great - I could climb - do what ever - I was not getting dropped all the time..
I know it does not have to do with my body it has to do with my head and how I feel about my abilities right now and to be honest I feel like I suck (which I of course then did). I know that after Vancouver half marathon I lost some confidence and then in Hawaii I was really disappointed (yes I know logically I did just fine even good esp on the swim and the bike and I finished) but ever since that run/walk I have been a mess and I don't really know how to get my head/thoughts back in order. I am a total newbie to a lot of the triathlon stuff but the mental side of things has defiantly become the hardest aspect of the entire process. I am very aware that I need to find my confidence again I just don't know how I will do it... Kyle suggested I just wake up and start being cocky and use it as a jumping place and eventually I will be confident again as I see improvements or something. But that does not really feel right so who know knows I only have so much time before IMC when I need to be at my best in every way to make it through the day...
Saturday(today) morning the crew (minus Futa) met up north near the Maltby Cafe for a 50ish mile ride. The plan was to connect to the Lake Stevens 70.3 bike course to see what it was like ect. I woke up not really stoked to ride and that feeling never really wore off - I know that I was still thinking about not being able to run which just brings me down right now. Anyway we got going after dinking with bikes and gear - it was surprisingly chilly even though I wore my capris, vest and arm warmers.
My goal/focus for the ride was to work on eating while riding so to start I took a salt tab using the wonderful salt stick which was much easier than the zip lock bag I used before so that was good. Actually in the eating department things were going fine through the first 10-15 miles - ate a gel no problem - drank acceleraide and water... Until we got on some roads with no shoulder and lots or big trucks that seemed to not share the road which made me very reluctant to move my hands away from my handle bars to do anything - so my consumption went down drastically. By the time there was less traffic I just kind of forgot to eat/drink much. Around this same time we became somewhat lost - the map said one thing and the road signs said another - this also caused me to think I should hold off eating to much since I may need it later if we are out riding longer than I expected.. Yes I know this is dumb now looking back but still that is what I thought and did. I actually did not eat another gel the rest of the ride - I did have a snickers bar, half a bottle of gatoriade and a bike of Kyle's hot dog when we stopped at some little store along the centennial trail on our way back. Before the final climb back to our cars (well probably 5 miles) Kyle noticed that my water bottles were almost completely full then proceeded to scold me and then when I did not drink more he even yelled at me to drink - even using that I knew that Col would say the same thing and so on.. He was very persistent so I did drink a bunch of my accelraide bottle. So not the best example of fallowing my nutrition plan..
Now the rest of the ride - I sucked today I could not hold a wheel (with only a few exceptions when I feared for my life if I did not), climb, spin - pretty much I was slow (and useless;).. The crew had to wait for me multiple times when we had to turn off or something so I did not get lost - they were all very nice about it and said it was no big deal and stuff. I felt bad holding them up but I just did not feel any sort of spark to make me pick up the pace - I just did not have it in me today. Which was retarded my legs pretty much felt fine until the very end when they got sort of tight but I'm sure that had way more to do with my lack of nutrition the second half of the ride than anything else. I guess I can't really only explain it and I just did not feel like I could do it - which again is dumb because only a couple of weeks ago I was doing great - I could climb - do what ever - I was not getting dropped all the time..
I know it does not have to do with my body it has to do with my head and how I feel about my abilities right now and to be honest I feel like I suck (which I of course then did). I know that after Vancouver half marathon I lost some confidence and then in Hawaii I was really disappointed (yes I know logically I did just fine even good esp on the swim and the bike and I finished) but ever since that run/walk I have been a mess and I don't really know how to get my head/thoughts back in order. I am a total newbie to a lot of the triathlon stuff but the mental side of things has defiantly become the hardest aspect of the entire process. I am very aware that I need to find my confidence again I just don't know how I will do it... Kyle suggested I just wake up and start being cocky and use it as a jumping place and eventually I will be confident again as I see improvements or something. But that does not really feel right so who know knows I only have so much time before IMC when I need to be at my best in every way to make it through the day...
Jun 14, 2007
morning swim
This morning I got to the pool nice and early again to do what I thought was supposed to be 2800yrds (actually only needed 2500 oh well) so I did what seems like my favorite workout in the pool - 300 warm up, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100 cool down. I felt really good, just kind of went what ever pace my body felt like going. I focused on good form and my shoulder felt great the entire time. I finished in 57 min and soaked my legs in the hot tub for 10 min or so afterwards just for good measure.
Jun 13, 2007
swimming straight would be nice
Last night (Tues) I met Col after work to do an open water swim at green lake - to practice sighting, swimming in a wet suit again, and I guess just getting more used to open water stuff. I will start with the good - I loved my new blue seventy vision swim goggles - they were very comfy and have a huge field of vision. I was also surprised and pleased at how clean the water is/was and it was not really that cold either (well I say that but I was safely in a full wetsuit). The rest of it was ok - I could not swim straight to save my life, my wetsuit though warm was trying to strangle me (resulting in a 2" painful wetsuit hickey on the back of my neck) and my left shoulder was fatigued after one-two laps of the pilings so I felt like I had to force it out of the water to keep going. Col gave me some good pointers on the sighting - about how to keep moving forward while seeing where I needed to go and by the end I felt like I was starting to get it better. She also gave me few other pointers which helped and as any good coach (which she is) she got me to keep going even though I was not necessarily loving it (I wanted to just get my wetsuit off or at least away my neck). I swam for about 30 min or so and I have no idea how far but it was more about time and form than distance.
This evening (Wed) I went for a bike ride around Lake Sammamish. I did not push my self to hard since I am a bit tired from not getting very much sleep and I did not get to eat in the morning since I had my yearly physical and blood test but otherwise I felt good. The most challenging part was to avoid getting hit by a car on the Issaquah side of the lake - I don't think people are very awake on their evening drive home because you would think they would notice some one in bright red riding in the bike lane.. Anyway otherwise it was pretty uneventful - 22 miles in 1:13. Now a cup of ice cream is calling my name - I have to make up for my missed breakfast this morning and then off to sleep I will go :)
This evening (Wed) I went for a bike ride around Lake Sammamish. I did not push my self to hard since I am a bit tired from not getting very much sleep and I did not get to eat in the morning since I had my yearly physical and blood test but otherwise I felt good. The most challenging part was to avoid getting hit by a car on the Issaquah side of the lake - I don't think people are very awake on their evening drive home because you would think they would notice some one in bright red riding in the bike lane.. Anyway otherwise it was pretty uneventful - 22 miles in 1:13. Now a cup of ice cream is calling my name - I have to make up for my missed breakfast this morning and then off to sleep I will go :)
Jun 11, 2007
getting back on track
Sunday the sun came out so Kyle and I took our bikes out and road around lake Sammamish for an easy ride together. The winds were rather crazy and sporadic but otherwise it was a good ride. My legs felt lazy and slow - I had a very hard time keeping up with Kyle much but that is not really a new thing. All in all 22 miles in 1:15.
After the bike ride we headed to speedy reedy - of course we got some random thing - including better fitting timing chip straps, bike tubs, Kyle got some supplement stuff to try. I tried on the Blue Seventy Helix wet suit. I really liked it - it fit really well and the shoulder area allowed way more movement, also I liked that the zipper zipped up not down so that the string was way out of the way and yet still easy to unzip. The lower neck line was also nice. I still want to also try on the 2XU Elite suit - it is a much better price so we will see. Kyle said if I find one I like we will try and get it for my birthday :)
Monday I really wanted to just get back into this time zone and feel like my normal routine again. So I got up a bit early (4:45a) and was the first person in the pool for a 30 min swim. Immediately I missed the buoyancy of salt water and the interesting fish and everything - a blue line is really not as interesting as a coral reef. Oh well it still felt nice to swim esp since I had no shoulder pain. Since I also planned to do a strength work out I just did a 30 min "warm up" set of 1400yrds with no rests and no pull buoy.
Then I did a strength work out focusing on exercises from pt for my foot/leg and shoulder then a bunch of core stuff. I have to say I really enjoy doing strength stuff (even though this was not super intense or anything) - it just makes me feel good/strong.
This morning I ran 2 whole miles with NO PAIN! I went to a local track so that I could stop if anything hurt to much and so that I knew the surface was totally flat and cush. It was 1/5 a mile so I did 10 laps - it was a chilly 47 degrees so it took me a couple laps to really warm up and of course I did not grab a pair of gloves which would have been smart. I decided to run in my newtons since when I wear my asics my right foot hurts more. Anyway I took it easy and did not push the pace to crazy or anything and it felt great to run which is saying a lot since I have not really grown to enjoy it to much yet. Every lap that my left leg did not hurt was more and more fun. I only stopped because I had to do 30 min of cardio as well and I am taking recovery slow and don't want to over due it.
After my joyous run I spent the longest 30 min on the elliptical. I forgot my book so I stared off into space and just tried to make time pass. Afterwards I stretched out and did a few crunches before I had to head off to work.
After the bike ride we headed to speedy reedy - of course we got some random thing - including better fitting timing chip straps, bike tubs, Kyle got some supplement stuff to try. I tried on the Blue Seventy Helix wet suit. I really liked it - it fit really well and the shoulder area allowed way more movement, also I liked that the zipper zipped up not down so that the string was way out of the way and yet still easy to unzip. The lower neck line was also nice. I still want to also try on the 2XU Elite suit - it is a much better price so we will see. Kyle said if I find one I like we will try and get it for my birthday :)
Monday I really wanted to just get back into this time zone and feel like my normal routine again. So I got up a bit early (4:45a) and was the first person in the pool for a 30 min swim. Immediately I missed the buoyancy of salt water and the interesting fish and everything - a blue line is really not as interesting as a coral reef. Oh well it still felt nice to swim esp since I had no shoulder pain. Since I also planned to do a strength work out I just did a 30 min "warm up" set of 1400yrds with no rests and no pull buoy.
Then I did a strength work out focusing on exercises from pt for my foot/leg and shoulder then a bunch of core stuff. I have to say I really enjoy doing strength stuff (even though this was not super intense or anything) - it just makes me feel good/strong.
This morning I ran 2 whole miles with NO PAIN! I went to a local track so that I could stop if anything hurt to much and so that I knew the surface was totally flat and cush. It was 1/5 a mile so I did 10 laps - it was a chilly 47 degrees so it took me a couple laps to really warm up and of course I did not grab a pair of gloves which would have been smart. I decided to run in my newtons since when I wear my asics my right foot hurts more. Anyway I took it easy and did not push the pace to crazy or anything and it felt great to run which is saying a lot since I have not really grown to enjoy it to much yet. Every lap that my left leg did not hurt was more and more fun. I only stopped because I had to do 30 min of cardio as well and I am taking recovery slow and don't want to over due it.
After my joyous run I spent the longest 30 min on the elliptical. I forgot my book so I stared off into space and just tried to make time pass. Afterwards I stretched out and did a few crunches before I had to head off to work.
Jun 9, 2007
scared to run
I was supposed to do a 4 mile run today but since my leg does not feel right still I opted in stead to do 45 min on the elliptical - which I hate by the way and then I ran 1 mile in 8:17 on treadmill. By the end of the mile I could feel both my IT band and my calf getting tight and starting to pull on my knee. Afterwards I spent some time using the foam roller to loosen things up again - especially my IT bands. I will also be icing my leg and my right foot since it hurt a little bit as well.. I'm really getting tired of these injuries and running - I have to say I'm completely unmotivated to do any running and am actually rather scared to run and feel that sort of pain again. I know I have to but really I don't want to...
Jun 8, 2007
back to the real world
On Tuesday before we had to come home we did a short bike ride out on 19 - it was once again hot and fairly windy. I was dropped by the group almost the entire ride - I felt horrible - a sore throat, sinus congestion, generally out of it and the heat did not help. I have to saw I was very happy when we turned around to head back. Wednesday I did 15 min of water running in the ocean and then swam around and looked at all the fish. My leg still hurts when I try and run so I will be doing some cross training , massage, and pt to try get it back to healthy.
We actually got back to the Seattle area yesterday/Thursday morning but after a red eye flight with at least a couple screaming babies, Kyle getting sick, and generally no sleep I had very little energy to do any sort of blogging. We got home showered, took a nap and then I headed into work for a short day to catch up on emails and stuff. In the evening we wound up going to urgent care to have the doctor look at Kyle's sun burns - a few spots were very tender and swollen. The doctor gave him some antibiotics and thermagen stuff over the area to help let the skin heal. Today he is doing much better.
This morning I overslept till 8:30a which is unheard of for me - not only did I not do my swim in the am I just barely made it into work before a 10a meeting. The rest of the day I still felt tired even though I ate really well - I'm not sure if it is the time change, travel kind of tired or still recovering from the half. I never got to the pool today but I think I will be able to get a swim in this weekend. Hopefully I will also be able to get some good sleep this weekend and feel better.
We actually got back to the Seattle area yesterday/Thursday morning but after a red eye flight with at least a couple screaming babies, Kyle getting sick, and generally no sleep I had very little energy to do any sort of blogging. We got home showered, took a nap and then I headed into work for a short day to catch up on emails and stuff. In the evening we wound up going to urgent care to have the doctor look at Kyle's sun burns - a few spots were very tender and swollen. The doctor gave him some antibiotics and thermagen stuff over the area to help let the skin heal. Today he is doing much better.
This morning I overslept till 8:30a which is unheard of for me - not only did I not do my swim in the am I just barely made it into work before a 10a meeting. The rest of the day I still felt tired even though I ate really well - I'm not sure if it is the time change, travel kind of tired or still recovering from the half. I never got to the pool today but I think I will be able to get a swim in this weekend. Hopefully I will also be able to get some good sleep this weekend and feel better.
Jun 5, 2007
Back to training
Nice and early this morning most of the crew headed out to the beach for an open water swim. I swam for about 30 min - a total of 3 laps out to a buoy and back. It was so amazing the beach is filled with coral, colorful fish, a young sea turtle, a few puffer fish - It was a wonderful way to start the day. I still feel a little tired, my left knee/leg still hurts and I'm still somewhat sore but nothing to bad.
Afterwards we all got in the mini van and headed north around the island towards Hilo. We stopped a few time to enjoy the views then went and checked out the Volcano. All in all it was a long day in the car but it was cool to see the rest of the island.
Afterwards we all got in the mini van and headed north around the island towards Hilo. We stopped a few time to enjoy the views then went and checked out the Volcano. All in all it was a long day in the car but it was cool to see the rest of the island.
Jun 2, 2007
Hawaii 70.3 Race Report
I guess I will start on Friday - registration and check-in day. We started out the day by putting the rest of the crews bikes back together - then we had to go to a bike store in Kona to get CO2 cartages and a few other things before we registered and checked in our run stuff. I felt good till we were getting in the car to go check-in and then I started getting nervous. I made it through registration and got my bike to run transition stuff checked in. Then we headed back got are numbers on our bikes for check-in and then road our bikes to the mandatory pre-race meeting. Afterwards we road our bikes out on Highway 19 to the bike check-in area at the Hapuna Beach State Park. I put my bike in its slot, cleared my bike computer, made sure my tires were not over filled, found the rest of the crew and headed down to the beach to see the swim course.
Saturday was an early morning (4am wake up call) - I got all dressed in my tri suit, grabbed my swim to bike transition gear and we headed out the door at 5am to catch the shuttle to the start. It was so warm out already that I did not need to wear anything other than my tri top and shorts. We hopped on one shuttle at event parking which took us to the hotel, then caught another one to the beach. The coolest thing was that Chris McCorack (who won the race) was in a the seat behind us.
We got to the start and I set up my bike stuff, checked my tires, and just got myself ready. Once I finished with my bike stuff I went and got body marked - with the longest number (#1088) - it went all the way into my elbow. I found the rest of the crew and headed down to the beach for the swim start, figured out where the actual start line was, tested the water and waited for the start cannon to go off.
I never even heard the cannon go off I just saw everyone else head into the water - so I fallowed Steph into the water. I walked a little way into the water till I was in far enough to swim, then it was about finding some room to actually swim. It felt like it took forever to get to the first buoy but once I made that first right turn things kind of thinned out, I also realized that no one else wanted to get kicked or anything the rest of my swim felt good. The best part was being able to see all the people around so that I could see the feet and hands around me and was able to avoid getting kicked or hit which made the swim much more enjoyable. The rest of the swim went really well I just kept going and tried not to go to far off course. I would say that the last 100-200 yrds was the hardest part of the swim, the waves would pull me back out so I had to swim harder just to stay in place , then try and catch the wave back in to move forward - it seemed to take forever. But finally it got shallow enough and I stood up and ran up the beach to enter T1 and crossed over the timing mat.
They had a shower type system set up so you could rinse off and wash out your mouth - I made sure to also rinse out my hair so that salt water did not drip into my eyes. Then they made us run up a hill (which at least they covered in astroturf) before getting to my bike. I got all my bike stuff on - the only thing was I planned on wearing a pair of arm coolers to help keep me cool and I tore a hole in them as I tied to pull them on so I gave up on them and headed out on to the bike course.
The bike course was hot and there always seemed to be either a head or side wind. It took me about 15-20 miles to figure out how to get my salt tabs out of my ziplock baggy and then how to get water to swallow the pills and stay stable on my bike all at the same time. I also had a hard time with my gel bottle - it did not really fit in my aero pocket so I had to keep closing the lid and keeping it closed. Since it was such a hassle and rather scary at times to take a hand off of my handle bars in the wind to get to it so I tended not to mess with it unless I totally felt like I needed salt or knew I needed to eat some gel. The saving grace was that I had two high concentrated bottles of accelerade that I sipped on through out the entire ride. - well once I finished the first bottle I tossed it and started grabbing the Gatorade they had on course to supplement. To help with the heat at all the aid/water stops I grabbed a water bottle and proceeded to pour it all on my head and back. Ok more about the actual bike course - the elevation profile had the whole group a bit worried but once out on the roads the hills are mostly rollers and long gradual climbs nothing super steep on really great pavement. This in no way means that it was easy. By far the hardest part was the 8 mile climb up to Hawi/turn around - there was ahead wind the entire way up and the climb never seemed to end. Luckily there was an aid station at the top and then it was all downhill - well till I hit the rollers again - which were twice as hard the second time. The last 10 miles I made sure to spin my legs as much as possible to loosen up for the run. The last little bit of road sucked - it was very bumpy and just bad. The best part of the bike had to be seeing everyone else in the crew along the way.
I came into the 2nd transition and changed my shoes, grabbed my visor and got some sun block put on my shoulders. As I headed out of T2 I felt great - my legs felt good, I had energy and I was having fun. I saw Steph (she was having a hard time with the heat) with in the first 100yrs or so and walked a bit with her and took some salt then felt like good so I started to run/jog. My first mile took about 9:30ish - I slowed through the aid station and grabbed some sponges and ice which felt sooo good. I saw Kyle, Bryan (they were at mile 4ish) and then Col who always the coach told me to walk if I needed to. I ran about another half mile then my left lower leg and knee started to hurt - he same sharp pulling pain as the last time I ran... So I started to do a run/walk thing - run two cones then walk two.. At the next aid station I tried to tape my knee how Col had showed me but the tape just would not stick. The pain continued to grow worse the more I ran - at this point I was averaging sub 14 min miles. I was not having fun anymore - it was hot - make that very hot and I could not run/jog more than a minute with out the pain getting really bad. The weirdest part was that it did not hurt to run up the hills so I did - it did however hurt twice as bad to go down hills and it defiantly hurt to run the flats. I wore my newton shoes and they feel great to run in but they actually hurt to walk in - which just made it worse. Around mile 5ish I started to get down on my situation - I was very frustrated and getting more and more disappointed. My stomach was starting to shut down - every time I drank anything I would get a stomach cramp and I had no idea what to eat since I was walking not running. The course went through some very loose sand which got in my shoes and started to rub the skin off the bottoms of my feet and between my toes. I was sooo luckily that Steph caught up with me and we stayed together the rest of the run (walk in our case). We talked and distracted each other from how uncomfortable we were and we both knew we could finish if we just kept going. The hardest part was mile 9-11 which was on this long out an back in the middle of a lava field - it was just soo hot it was hard to think - we just poured ice water on our heads and tried to keep going - mile 10-11 took us over 17 min. But once we made it back we knew we were getting closure to finishing. My leg/knee hurt so much that even though I really wanted to run the last bit to the finish I put it off till we reached the very last little bit. I would love to say I ran it but I think it was more of a hobble while I gritted my teeth in pure pain. The crew was all there cheering us in and we finished together. As soon as I made it past the mats I stopped dead and just grabbed at my knee and the catchers asked if I was ok. I pulled myself together and walked over got my chip taken off and then made it over to get my finisher medal and t-shirt where I took my shoes off. As soon as Kyle made it over to me I started to cry my eyes out.
In the end my total time was 07:35:06, the 843rd finisher and I came in 40th out of 41st in my age group.
Swim age group # 39/41 - overall place 804 - Time 45:45 - 2:18/100m pace
T1 5:30
Bike 35/41 - 778 - Time 3:27:42 - 16.2 mph pace
T2 4:52
Run 39/41 - 871 - Time 3:11:19 - 14:37/mile pace
Race Photos
I not to upset about my times considering that I have never done anything close to this before - it was all new and I finished which was my main goal. I learned a lot and there is still time to incorporate this experience into better preparing for Canada.
Well this has taken forever to write and is plenty long so maybe tomorrow I will recap what I have learned, what I need to work on, ect.
Saturday was an early morning (4am wake up call) - I got all dressed in my tri suit, grabbed my swim to bike transition gear and we headed out the door at 5am to catch the shuttle to the start. It was so warm out already that I did not need to wear anything other than my tri top and shorts. We hopped on one shuttle at event parking which took us to the hotel, then caught another one to the beach. The coolest thing was that Chris McCorack (who won the race) was in a the seat behind us.
We got to the start and I set up my bike stuff, checked my tires, and just got myself ready. Once I finished with my bike stuff I went and got body marked - with the longest number (#1088) - it went all the way into my elbow. I found the rest of the crew and headed down to the beach for the swim start, figured out where the actual start line was, tested the water and waited for the start cannon to go off.
I never even heard the cannon go off I just saw everyone else head into the water - so I fallowed Steph into the water. I walked a little way into the water till I was in far enough to swim, then it was about finding some room to actually swim. It felt like it took forever to get to the first buoy but once I made that first right turn things kind of thinned out, I also realized that no one else wanted to get kicked or anything the rest of my swim felt good. The best part was being able to see all the people around so that I could see the feet and hands around me and was able to avoid getting kicked or hit which made the swim much more enjoyable. The rest of the swim went really well I just kept going and tried not to go to far off course. I would say that the last 100-200 yrds was the hardest part of the swim, the waves would pull me back out so I had to swim harder just to stay in place , then try and catch the wave back in to move forward - it seemed to take forever. But finally it got shallow enough and I stood up and ran up the beach to enter T1 and crossed over the timing mat.
They had a shower type system set up so you could rinse off and wash out your mouth - I made sure to also rinse out my hair so that salt water did not drip into my eyes. Then they made us run up a hill (which at least they covered in astroturf) before getting to my bike. I got all my bike stuff on - the only thing was I planned on wearing a pair of arm coolers to help keep me cool and I tore a hole in them as I tied to pull them on so I gave up on them and headed out on to the bike course.
The bike course was hot and there always seemed to be either a head or side wind. It took me about 15-20 miles to figure out how to get my salt tabs out of my ziplock baggy and then how to get water to swallow the pills and stay stable on my bike all at the same time. I also had a hard time with my gel bottle - it did not really fit in my aero pocket so I had to keep closing the lid and keeping it closed. Since it was such a hassle and rather scary at times to take a hand off of my handle bars in the wind to get to it so I tended not to mess with it unless I totally felt like I needed salt or knew I needed to eat some gel. The saving grace was that I had two high concentrated bottles of accelerade that I sipped on through out the entire ride. - well once I finished the first bottle I tossed it and started grabbing the Gatorade they had on course to supplement. To help with the heat at all the aid/water stops I grabbed a water bottle and proceeded to pour it all on my head and back. Ok more about the actual bike course - the elevation profile had the whole group a bit worried but once out on the roads the hills are mostly rollers and long gradual climbs nothing super steep on really great pavement. This in no way means that it was easy. By far the hardest part was the 8 mile climb up to Hawi/turn around - there was ahead wind the entire way up and the climb never seemed to end. Luckily there was an aid station at the top and then it was all downhill - well till I hit the rollers again - which were twice as hard the second time. The last 10 miles I made sure to spin my legs as much as possible to loosen up for the run. The last little bit of road sucked - it was very bumpy and just bad. The best part of the bike had to be seeing everyone else in the crew along the way.
I came into the 2nd transition and changed my shoes, grabbed my visor and got some sun block put on my shoulders. As I headed out of T2 I felt great - my legs felt good, I had energy and I was having fun. I saw Steph (she was having a hard time with the heat) with in the first 100yrs or so and walked a bit with her and took some salt then felt like good so I started to run/jog. My first mile took about 9:30ish - I slowed through the aid station and grabbed some sponges and ice which felt sooo good. I saw Kyle, Bryan (they were at mile 4ish) and then Col who always the coach told me to walk if I needed to. I ran about another half mile then my left lower leg and knee started to hurt - he same sharp pulling pain as the last time I ran... So I started to do a run/walk thing - run two cones then walk two.. At the next aid station I tried to tape my knee how Col had showed me but the tape just would not stick. The pain continued to grow worse the more I ran - at this point I was averaging sub 14 min miles. I was not having fun anymore - it was hot - make that very hot and I could not run/jog more than a minute with out the pain getting really bad. The weirdest part was that it did not hurt to run up the hills so I did - it did however hurt twice as bad to go down hills and it defiantly hurt to run the flats. I wore my newton shoes and they feel great to run in but they actually hurt to walk in - which just made it worse. Around mile 5ish I started to get down on my situation - I was very frustrated and getting more and more disappointed. My stomach was starting to shut down - every time I drank anything I would get a stomach cramp and I had no idea what to eat since I was walking not running. The course went through some very loose sand which got in my shoes and started to rub the skin off the bottoms of my feet and between my toes. I was sooo luckily that Steph caught up with me and we stayed together the rest of the run (walk in our case). We talked and distracted each other from how uncomfortable we were and we both knew we could finish if we just kept going. The hardest part was mile 9-11 which was on this long out an back in the middle of a lava field - it was just soo hot it was hard to think - we just poured ice water on our heads and tried to keep going - mile 10-11 took us over 17 min. But once we made it back we knew we were getting closure to finishing. My leg/knee hurt so much that even though I really wanted to run the last bit to the finish I put it off till we reached the very last little bit. I would love to say I ran it but I think it was more of a hobble while I gritted my teeth in pure pain. The crew was all there cheering us in and we finished together. As soon as I made it past the mats I stopped dead and just grabbed at my knee and the catchers asked if I was ok. I pulled myself together and walked over got my chip taken off and then made it over to get my finisher medal and t-shirt where I took my shoes off. As soon as Kyle made it over to me I started to cry my eyes out.
In the end my total time was 07:35:06, the 843rd finisher and I came in 40th out of 41st in my age group.
Swim age group # 39/41 - overall place 804 - Time 45:45 - 2:18/100m pace
T1 5:30
Bike 35/41 - 778 - Time 3:27:42 - 16.2 mph pace
T2 4:52
Run 39/41 - 871 - Time 3:11:19 - 14:37/mile pace
Race Photos
I not to upset about my times considering that I have never done anything close to this before - it was all new and I finished which was my main goal. I learned a lot and there is still time to incorporate this experience into better preparing for Canada.
Well this has taken forever to write and is plenty long so maybe tomorrow I will recap what I have learned, what I need to work on, ect.
Hawaii 70.3 2007 - Finished!
Today I finished my first Half Ironman distance event! I'm way to tired to get into full details right now so here are the results - swim - 45:45, bike - 3:27:41, run - 3:11:18, overall - 7:35:06, finish position - 841.
A quick summery is swim felt good, bike felt great, run well I only actually ran about 2 miles of the 13.1 - the pain in my left knee/calf hit around mile 1.5 and just got worse till the finish. I'm happy with my swim, bike and that I finished. I'm disappointed that I was unable to actually run more of the course but I made it through a very hard day so I'm ok with my results.
I'll fill in more info after a good night of sleep and recovery.
A quick summery is swim felt good, bike felt great, run well I only actually ran about 2 miles of the 13.1 - the pain in my left knee/calf hit around mile 1.5 and just got worse till the finish. I'm happy with my swim, bike and that I finished. I'm disappointed that I was unable to actually run more of the course but I made it through a very hard day so I'm ok with my results.
I'll fill in more info after a good night of sleep and recovery.
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