Bring on 2010

2009 was a good year filled with a few races and a lot of great training but I feel ready to start focusing on 2010 and the training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June. Sure I have been training but it is a bit more relaxed and nothing to long yet. Kainoa has been sure to let me know that starting in Jan I don't get to be as relaxed about my training... Not totally sure what that means but to be honest I can't wait. I am looking forward to double training days, long rides, runs, lots of Gu and recovery drinks and even the swims. I feel happy with where my fitness is right now and feel like after the last couple of years I will be able to not just get through the training but be able to push myself a bit more. Not to mention after a year of not having any major focus I am looking forward to having a challenge/Ironman to work towards again.

Since I'm a planner type of person I have been thinking a lot about what else I want to do this coming year both in preparation for IM CDA and after. But to be honest I have not really decided on any races. I do know that I will do two training camps in Coeur d'Alene, the 1st with a friend Michael at the end of April and then a 2nd camp with Pauole Sport team at the end of May. I really like the idea of spending plenty of time getting to know the course and taking advantage of being only about a 4 hour drive away.

As far as races I want to find a relatively flat half marathon between Feb and April.. I would prefer local but Kainoa doesn't want me to run the Mercer Island half because the road is so canted and I got hurt running the course this summer. Sam is trying to talk me into the Country Music Half Marathon but it is just a week before one of the training camps I am doing and not sure I want to travel that far. I also just looked at the Wenatchee Half Marathon which is a week earlier in April so that might be a good option. But I am still looking and open to any suggestions.

I also want to run a couple small 5k, 10k, or maybe even a sprint tri just for fun and for mental training more than anything to get used to race nerves ect. But that will probably be it before CDA - no official half ironman distance race but I talked to Kainoa and she is not worried.. I will just do one in training (maybe I can talk Kyle into pushing/pacing me).

After IM CDA I plan on pretty much taking July off - maybe do Seafair Sprint again since it is a team race but not much more than that. I would like to do a half Ironman in August or even better in September and then a marathon in the fall/winter. Though I have also been toying around with the idea of some long trail running but it all depends on how my legs hold up with the running - lately I keep having issues so we will just see.

Now I just have to figure out what we are doing for New Years Eve tomorrow night...

12K's of Christmas Holiday Run

I had decided to do 12K's of Christmas Holiday Run a couple of months ago when my Mom started asking what runs she could do to stay motivated.. I knew it was hilly but that was about all I knew. So my Mom & I signed up for the 12k and Kyle and Sam signed up for the 5k to race against each other for bragging rights...

The race did not start till 9:30a so I got to sleep in till 7a and we met up at my Mom's office around 8:30a so that there was plenty of time to warm up and use the restroom ect.

Kyle, Sam and I headed out on a warm up run along the water front. I could tell my legs did not feel fast and even more annoying my shoes felt slippery on the wet pavement (worst thing ever on a hilly course). I immediately got to hot with my gloves on and then realized I was wearing way to much - I did not need a vest and wished I had wore shorts instead of capris. Of course as soon as we finished the warm up run it started raining and got a bit colder so I decided to put my vest back on... It was pleasantly surprised I saw a bunch of people from the team and other friends all of which I did not know would be there.

I lined up and Col & Bman found me then Cathleen. Almost as soon as the race started I could tell my legs were not interested in racing and they all ran away from me up the hill. Within the first 5 min or so I was over heating and could not take a deep breath at all. Sooo I slowed down and tried to take a deep breath but I really struggled. Saying that I looked at my garmin and I had run a 7:59 mile - just a little faster than I had wanted esp with a hill.

Needless to say I was SO happy when I saw Jerry around the 2nd mile so I tossed my vest and wished I could have tossed my capris as well.
The rest of the 12k's I mainly focused on just getting done. My legs and lungs did not feel right. I struggled even on the downhills to pick up my leg speed - which was not helped by the slippery shoes. My pace slowed on the long uphill climb and I just tried to manage it. I started pouring water on my head to help with over heating and at the one water station I grabbed 2 cups of water and dumped them on my head. I think the volunteers were a bit shocked but I was so hot.

I remember looking at my garmin again at the 6k mark and it said :31 and realized that Kyle & Sam were long done and I was so jealous. I tried my best to push the pace a bit on the last 3k back to the finish but it was just not happening. As i came into the finish I heard Kyle and Sam cheering and gave them the disappointed face... but I was so happy to just be done so I could try and breath.

The final stats
gun time: 1:03:39
chip time: 1:03:28
pace: 8:31
overall place: 324 out of 1180
division place: 21 out of 146
gender place: 127 out of 744

splits per mile
1 07:59
2 7:49
3 9:15
4 9:08
5 8:09
6 8:37
7 8:34
last .47 3:55

Avg Heart Rate 181 bpm
Max Heart Rate 189 bpm (mile 3 & finish)

Elevation profile



After I finished I found out that Sam beat Kyle in the 5k by about :40 seconds. Saying that they were both crazy fast. Sam came in 7th overall and Kyle was 10th overall. My guess is that this will not be the last time they race each other... lol

A little while later we watched my Mom finish the 12k's - she finished in 1:20:11 - faster than she expected :) I am so proud of her for sticking with the running thing. I know she is more excited about Belly Dancing but I love that she runs.

Overall I am fine with my time but very disappointed with how my body felt on the run - yes I understand it is a race and a hilly one at that but still my legs should not have felt heavy and so slow. I am hoping that I get some answers about the breathing issues on Wed when I go see a doctor (made the appointment last month). I will also be looking at what I am eating and when ect.

It still was a great way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family :)

A month of active recovery

I can't believe that it has been well over a month since the Nike Marathon and I know I still have not finished writing the race report - just have had a hard time focusing on it long enough to finish the thing. The time has flewn by with the help of lots of craziness at work and the days being so short already.

After finishing the marathon I have mostly just focused on getting back into a training routine. I talked to Kainoa about the rest of the winter month and what I should focus on ect. My biggest thing was I did not want to just do a race to finish (I just did that) if I race I want to be able to push myself and race. I considered signing up for another marathon but she and Jake (my PT) pretty much pulled a veto on me. Ok so no marathon and there was not really time to recover and train up for a even a fast seattle half marathon. so no major races.Saying that but I did sign up for the 12ks of Christmas just for fun. It is a hilly course and not till mid december so I have some more time. Kyle is going to run the 5k and race Sam and my Mom is going to do the 12ks as well (I love that she is hooked on running now "evil laugh"). So it should be a fun.

I am mostly back to normal-ish training levels of 2-3 days swim, 2 -3 days of strength , 2 bikes, and finally I get to go back to running 3 days a week. I was only running twice a week just to make sure my shin would not have any more issues and it has not :) so 3 days a week hear I come.

It has been good to have a bunch of team events to get out in the rainy/cold weather and get in the longer weekend workouts.

Team Trail Run a couple weeks ago.


Group ride in the rain _ kyle was leading and was almost completely clean while the rest of us were covered in dirt lol


Less hard-core but still fun - Group spin while watching Ironman videos. Some how I managed to make it the full 1:30 though I got really unfocused an hour in...


I have also been thinking a lot about what other races I want to do in 2010... Right now it sounds like some run races to start, Wildflower half ironman, IM CDA of course, maybe Ironman Boulder, or something else in August and some local sprints. Mostly my focus is what it will take for me to be prepared for IM CDA. I feel good and ready to start the training but Kainoa does not want me to burn out sooo the rest of Nov and Dec will be mellow and relaxed and in Jan will start to get a bit more focused but nothing to long or intense yet ;)

If you went to starbucks.com a couple of weeks ago you would have a seen a video about how much Kyle and I like Starbucks Via. The funny part was that Kyle talked way more then I did but they would up using more of me - guess it helps to work with them. Anyway I guess it is my 5 seconds of fame.

Pre Nike Women's Marathon 2009

I have started this post a couple times but never got very far.. 1st it was to wait to get some pictures to post, then I was tired or just not motivated which usually means I'm not really sure how I feel about my "race" so have not had much to say. I went in with my plan of not really racing it after taking almost a full month off, having a cold and upset stomach the week before that mostly just focused on finishing and enjoying the weekend. Not really what I envisioned the event when I signed up. Anyway the fun stuff...

We flew in to San Francisco early Saturday morning. Kyle and my Mom are both are not morning people so it was a bit of a stretch for them but we got through it and they got lots of coffee and Kyle took a nap on the plane. We took the BART into downtown and after dropping our bags at the hotel we headed straight to the registration to grab our bibs ect.
Then we were off to the nike store to get a sweatshirt of something before they sold out. The place was a total zoo but i was happy that they still had small sizes left.
We also did the custom shirts made that said "run like a girl! Linda & MacBeth" on the back. They are very cute and the shirts they put it on are very soft. We also found our names on the list of participants they put on the windows of the nike store.. good thing they were alphabetical.

Since I would not be "racing" the marathon I wanted a running skirt to wear so I would feel less like I was supposed to be racing. I knew Lululemon had one I wanted but the lame store near me at home had no sizes so I wanted to go to the store in SF in hope they would have one. Of course they did :) and in the process introduced my Mom to lulu hehe. Jerry was a sweetheart and got her a pair of running tights and a pair of gloves for her birthday.

At this point we completely burned both Kyle and Jerry out on all things Nike Women's marathon lol. So we decided to go in search of lunch. The guys both wanted fish and chips so we headed on foot to teh waterfront only to figure out that we needed to walk 2 miles to get to fishermans warf... But it was sunny and warm out, I had my running shoes on so my feet were good, we got to see Alcatraz Island along the way and best of all found a place for Kyle to rent a bike so he could get around the course better. Honestly by the time we got there I was getting a bit cranky from hunger and being on my feet so long... so we quickly picked a place and since I really wanted to sit down for a bit we sat inside vs buying fish and chips on the street.

After lunch Kyle headed off to rent the bike and my Mom, Jerry and I walked a much shorter route back towards the hotel. Only isn San Fran would you see such a nerdy tour as a segway tour - seriously cracked me up..

Once we made it back to the hotel I put my feet up and slowly started gathering together what I needed for the marathon. I decided not to wear my team kit at all and just went with the lulu run skirt, sugoi fizz tank so that everything felt like training and not racing for me.
I was not very hungry the rest of the night so I wound up having frozen yogurt for dinner which was perfectly yummy. I had one last talk with my coach over my plan and how I was feeling ect and then I think I fell asleep around 8:30 or 9pm which is even early for me but after the early morning flight and walking around I was tired.

the plan

A couple days ago I started packing for this weekends Nike Womens Marathon and I almost felt lost. It was so weird I am out of the habit of planning or prepping for long runs since my right leg started having issues. So after pretty much talking my coach Kainoa, my PT Jake and my Orthopedic Dr Marla Kaufman that I could be trusted to be smart and not push myself to much and just take it easy but still run/finish the marathon. I will enjoy the course, the scenic views, all the stuff nike has put on the course to entertain. I'm especially looking forward to the Ghiradelli chocolate station at mile 21. Mostly I will just plain play it by ear. If after running easy the first 13 miles I feel good then I can pick up the effort a bit. The main goal is to keep my shin from hurting by walking but if it starts and it hurts enough I will stop. I will not continue to run and risk hurting myself more. I would really like to beat my time from the last time I did this marathon in 2007 in 4:45 but if not no big deal there are many many more marathons in my future.

With that understanding I have been working on my plan for the race. After talking to everyone I had to get used to the idea that to do this it would be a run/walk kind of thing. Ok no big deal I did that in Ironman Canada. Though I know from experience that the Newtons actually hurt my feet to walk more than a couple minutes. So my solution was to order a pair of the Lady Isaac Guidance Trainers which still have the raised lugs but not as much and also has a built up heel so it is less weird to walk.. They are heavier but oh well I think they will be a good compromise.

Next I started making a pile on the dinning table of anything I could think of. Garmin + heart rate strap, lots of Gu 1 or every 4 miles, body glide, visor, gatorade for morning of, race belt. I considered a hand bottle but in the end decided against it to force myself to walk the water stations and thus making everyone happy with walk breaks. Next up arm warmers for the morning. After talking to Jake I decided to run in my compression socks- figure why not I am a dorky tri nerd anyway might as well look the part. A few other snacks for pre race and some salt & sport legs.

I updated my iPod playlist for base runs to be a tad more peppy but not as intense as my race playlist. I did put both playlists on my iPod shuffle but will start with the base list and only switch to race for the last 10k if I feel good and want some motivation to pick up the pace :)

I decided to travel light and leave my laptop at home but I always have my iPhone so I will still be be on twitter and facebook... even considering carrying my phone with me just in case but at the same time I'm not really interested in dealing with how to carry it.

Next up I get to just enjoy the weekend in SF with my Mom who is running her 1st half marathon on her 60th birthday, her sherpa Jerry and my very own personal super sherpa Kyle :)

I think I am as ready as I'm going to be... 26.2 miles here I come :)

revising goals

The past couple weeks have been a challenge for me both physically and probably more mentally. It all started with a twinge in my right shin after a recovery week run that never went away or got better the last couple of weeks. First I got some xrays that showed no problems but after still feeling pain on a test run last week my coach was able to get me a appointment with a great ortho - Dr Marla Kaufman at the UW on Friday. She set me up to get an MRI on Saturday morning - which I have to say was one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I am not good at being still - all I wanted to do was wiggle my toes. I had to wait till Monday for the fallow up and find out the results. So I spent the rest of teh weekend trying not to think about it.

I spent the rest of the day Saturday on my bike and had so much fun I just kept ridding until I got hungry and had Kyle meet me at the dairy freeze in North Bend so that my scheduled 3 hour ride did not turn in to 6 hours...

Mid ride I decided to fallow some route markings just to see where they went.

Happened to find some members of "The Herd" and rode with them for :30 or so


View from the bridge on Tolt Hill Road


The old trains in Snoqualmie WA


In North Bend, WA


Sunday we went up to Widbey and while the guys went fishing I rode support for my Mom during her long run (13.5 miles) and she did so great. Made me so proud she is my Mom and how healthy she is at 59 years young :)


The guys caught 2 Coho Salmon - Jerry showing them off.


Kyle & I enjoying the sun


The weekend was so much fun it was not till Monday morning when I talked to Kainoa before the start of masters swim that it kind of hit me. She mentioned that Nike might just not happen... My heart seriously dropped to my feet. I knew that was an option just had not really heard it or said it out loud. The rest of the swim workout and the morning till my appointment at 11:20a I was completely distracted and so nervous for the results.

I was beyond relived when I finally got to find out that the MRI showed no signs of a stress fracture or any tearing in the tissue. Dr Kaufman walked me through all the images from the MRI and what she would be looking for and did not see. Then we talked about next steps. I got a prescription for Physical therapy and massage. I would need to do ice massage twice a day, deep water running, the exercises from PT, keep my fitness up with cross training and at the same time rest my shin. She told me the Nike marathon was still a big maybe and all depended on how things improve or not in the next couple of weeks... Afterwards I talked with Kainoa and she agreed still not sure if a marathon was really an option at this point but agreed to see what Jake (my PT) said about it.

So yesterday I had PT - Jake thinks that as I thought probably running with bad form on my last long run took my shin over the edge in combination with my right hip could still be stronger and lack of flexibility in my feet (especially my right). He also said that if I threw out all my time goals and wanted to still finish the marathon I could probably do that... But that it would probably require a walk/run plan to prevent any pain... hmmm

It was really hard I already gave up on a Boston qualifying time last week after I had to take 2 full weeks off running.. But a walk/run marathon with no time goal at all will be a HUGE mental challenge for me. I am MUCH better at pushing myself and going hard then at going easy and being smart.

If it were any other race I would probably say screw it and not do it but this race means a lot to me. I talked my Mom into doing it as her first half marathon on her 60th birthday. Yeah I know it is more about her doing it but it was meant to be something we both did together. Not to mention I really don't like the idea of not doing a race I signed up and spent money on - I also want the Tiffany necklace and always need another finishers shirt.

So goodbye Boston (for now) and lets just hope I can start running soon so I don't have to do to much walk/run stuff on race day. I'll do it if I have to but would much rather just run even if it is slower than I had been training for before this whole thing started. The new goal is just to be able to run...

the sweet smell of chlorine before dawn

This morning like most Wednesday mornings I headed to masters swim - it is never easy getting up at 5am but I am so glad I did. Since my shin issue is still on the mend I have missed my hard runs of late and in general getting my heart rate up and work hard. So when I saw the workout this morning I was so happy. There was some steady stuff but there was also 8 x 50 kick hard - oh how I LOVE kicking. It felt soooo good to use my legs and really helped loosen them up after not doing much the last week.
Then after some easy stuff the main set was 16 x 100 with odds hard/fast and evens easy and even better fallowed by 8 x 50 with odds hard/fast and evens easy. I could not wait to push myself, go all out and breath hard.
Ok so the only weird thing about masters for the last month is there is a guy in my lane that seems to have the hardest time not being the fastest. He makes these comments about oh "I don't want to hold you up" but then always wants to lead even when he says he is slow. Drives me crazy. I have worked really hard the past year and have finally gotten stronger and faster to be able to on most occasions to be able to lead (as long as Cathleen is in the next lane faster lol). It just seems to really bother him when I lead or probably more accurately when he is not leading. Sorry dude but leave your ego on the deck this is masters there is always some one faster then you. Seriously cracks me up every time.
So back to the swimming I start the first set of 4 (broke the 16 down by 4 sets of 4 to keep track easier). The first hard 100 was wonderfully hard I could feel my heart rate go through the roof, I had to focus, and it just felt challenging. I managed a 1:30 100 yrds :) which is really good for me.. next up easy recovery.. then another hard effort just as much fun as the 1st and again I hit 1:30 wooo hoo..
Then this guy offered to lead.. fine what ever I will give him a couple extra second head start. So it was not as hard an effort for me especially since in no time I was right on his feet drafting. Once he starts leading it is hard to get him to let anyone else lead so I had to give him more and more space to start so that I could still have a hard effort. Pour Laurie was great at staying on my feet through the entire set. But all in all it was so much fun to swim hard.
The final set was 8 x 50 odds hard and even easy and I took back the lead (Laurie was done for the day). So the last couple short hard efforts were wonderfully challenging especially at the end of about 3000 yrds.
I finished up the morning with a couple minutes in the hot tub stretching while eating a pumpkin muffin Laurie brought and talking with Loree, Laurie and Kainoa. So glad I got up before dawn to swim :)

it is all about the legs

*Waring this blog post is the result of not having 2 workouts everyday which results in my ADD side coming out and spending to much time with my iPhone camera

It feels like this week I have spent more time focusing on recovery then actually working out or running. My legs and body were a bit achy after the run on Sunday so on Monday I even broke out the compression socks at work even though I wore a skirt to work. I swear it is the hottest fall fashion trend for 2009.

My only run so far this week was Monday night. I did hill repeat run - 3 x 1 mile - hard effort on the down and steady on the way up. Luckily I live on the top of a mile long hill and even more lucky Kyle agreed to ride with me in the dark. I did a :20 warm up and my right calf had a small tinge and my right hamstring was sore. I moved past it and it really forced me to focus on good form on the down hills so I did not make it hurt more.

Check out the elevation profile.


The funny thing that happened was that as my down hills got slower my uphills got faster and my heart rate never really got as high as I thought it would be. I was pretty tired to start but I was so happy I did it. I felt strong and was really happy with my effort. Afterwards I stretched out and had a small dinner before passing out and going to bed early.

I was not surprised at all that I was very sore on Tuesday morning. I mean I ran hard 2 days in a row. But I was annoyed that tinge in my right calf was still there. I managed to get through my strength workout but went very very easy on my legs. Actually I mostly stretched and did not of the exercises from when I was getting PT.

So on Wednesday morning when I saw Kainoa at Masters swim we chatted about the runs and she pulled my track workout from my training. I was actually pretty bummed. I was like wait wait it is not that bad no I can do it. lol Yeah this is exactly why I have a coach to tell me to stop and not over do it. She told me making sure I am ready for my 20 miler on Saturday is way more important then the track workout. Especially since the last 5 miles I need to run some negatives down all the way to 7:45 m/mi. So I got over it and let go of the idea of running a hard/fun track workout.

This is where it hurt.. (this is what happens when I loose focus in a 5 hour meeting)

Since I had no track workout to do in the evening I came home, had dinner and spent some quality time with trigger point to try and help loosen my legs up. (I fallowed this by falling asleep on the floor at 8:30p because I swear it felt like midnight)

Luckily this morning I had my weekly pilates session with Iron Monique and she said she would also do some ART massage to help me get past this tight calf/shin thing. As expected the ART hurt but she defiantly got a few ropes in my calf loosened up :) I have spent the rest of the day in my compression socks (I wore pants to work at least so I did not look to dorky).
Fingers crossed. I'm actually not that worried it does feel better but I am still wearing compression socks.

Tomorrow morning I have an open water swim and then it is all about getting ready for the 20 miler on Saturday morning (well I have to go to work to). Just have to decide on a good route with an easy last 5 miles so I can push I pace... ????

recovery week

I was soo glad to have a recovery week. My legs have felt tight and kind of achy all week. I have spent more time with my foam roller & Trigger point this week than in a long time. My legs are slowly excepting their fate of many many miles of running. Since it was a recovery week I had a recovery run on Monday & I only had to do 3 miles of tempo on Wednesday instead of 6 like last week. On Friday my legs did not feel great and I felt tired so Kainoa even let me cancel my "recovery" run. So I got lots and lots of rest and recovery which was wonderful.

Even my weekend long run was "only" 13 miles at steady aerobic pace in zones 3A-3B. Haha yeah I am not so good at just steady aerobic pace. I lost track of the day on Saturday so after a 1:40 team bike ride & Starbucks of course. I decided rather then run a mostly flat course from Leshi I wanted to run the Mercer Island half marathon course in the middle of the day. Note that our fall cool weather is gone and it was over 80 °F the last couple of days. Though Kyle did agree to ride sherpa for me so I had 2 full bottle of liquid (1 plain water, 1 gatorade) and he carried my gels so how bad could it be right.. When I started getting ready i could not find my iPod for the life of me so i told Kyle he had to talk more (I know as if that is really a problem for Sir Talk's a lot).

When I started I was mostly annoyed with a little tinge in my right calf/shin. Overall I felt pretty good and as usual I went out a bit fast. Partly because I only seem to have 2 gears - hard or easy. so i went hard and mile 1 was 7:32, 2 was 7:55, 3 was 7:43, 4 was 7:52 and at this point Kyle was like um slow down you are running way harder then you need to.. So 5 was 7:57. He was great, handed me the water bottle every half mile and my gels at mile 3, 6 & 10 all the while reminding me to breath and relax ect. He even managed to take some video of me running. I know exciting stuff lol.

The hills really got started around mile 6 so it became easier to slow my pace though not my effort (ran a 8:23).
My pace slowed but still kept my average pace well with in my goal of 8:20 m/mi. I was getting really hot and took a salt cap with my gel at mile 6 mark. I really wanted to pour my bottle of water on my head but I knew I would want to drink it more. I dug deep and got mile 7 down to 8:16. But then my stomach started to feel kind of sloshy and I was getting really really hot. There was no wind to help cool me off and less trees for shade :( Mile 8 was 8:31, 9 was 8:57.

Kyle tried to distract me by taking another video of me.

Mile 10 it really got hard. I ate a gel even though my stomach was not happy, my legs felt like cement and my time showed it - 9:23 ouch there goes 8:20 over all pace. I tried my best to get back after it and use some of the downhills but I had a hard time staying on my toes and was slapping my feet to much. I just wanted to be done and started thinking about a lovely ice bath and a slurpee of all things. Well really anything cold sounded good. Mile 11 was back to 8:15 but then 12 was 9:50 because I actually walked a few steps up a hill... At least mile 13 I stayed after it and did my best to just get it done so 9:15 was an improvement. I managed to run up the final hill to the finish line and wound up running 13.18 miles in 1:51:34 that is 8:27 m/mi average pace.

I was just glad to be DONE with it. Well actually I was pretty bummed that I fell apart the last 3 miles especially. Usually I'm pretty good at finishing strong but I just did not have it. It is weird to think that it felt like my 20 miler was easier than "just" 13 mile run this week.

After a :20 min ice bath and coke slurpee I feel better about the run. I was pretty bummed right after but oh well it is just a training run and it will just make me stronger in the end. I'm spending the rest of the night up with my compression socks on, feet up and focusing on recovery so that I can be ready for this coming week. Lets just say it is the opposite of a recovery week... I love a good challenge ;)



One last thing after completely emptying my tri bag and making a huge mess.
I found my iPod and what a shock I had it the whole time. It was in the phone pocket on the strap.. doh

20 mile run

To be completely honest I was a bit nervous about this long run all week. I was not really sure where to run and how it would go since it was so long after a full week with lots of running already. Last night I prepped and planned. Kyle had offered to ride support for me but he had to work ski bonkers around 10 am and to be honest I wanted to sleep in so I decide I would do 2 loops of a 10 mile route. I needed/wanted hills so I figured out how to make my 7 mile hill loop into 10 miles and then I would be able to refill my hand bottle and grab more Gu.

Elevation of the full 20 mile route


Now compare to the Nike Marathon Elevation (see why I wanted to make sure I ran some hills)



In the morning I kind of stalled even more, took my time getting everything ready and waited for my breakfast to digest a bit. Really I was just nervous and unsure if I could really run as fast as I wanted to.

First I had to put enough music on my iPod Shuffle to get me through the run. I wore my favorite Sugoi tri shorts (shorty short 4") that I have worn so much they so broken in/comfortable but still stay in place and a Sugoi fizz tank. I also decide to run no socks because the last time I wore socks I got more blisters than when I went without (I know seems weird to me to). I made sure to use TONS of bodyGlide on my feet and where the Fizz tank always seems to chaff under the arm (sorry but stupid place for a seem). I thought it was cold so I grabbed arm warmers but with in a mile I was burning up and they went in the pocket. I even remembered to weigh myself - 133lbs pre run. As far as nutrition went for the first loop I had a plain Gu at mile 2, 5, 7, 10. I would have liked to have gatorade but my hand bottle does not seem to seal anymore and it makes my hand sticky so I went with plain water. I also took 3 sportlegs and 1 salt cap.

Finally around noon I got my butt out the door and started running.

The first couple of miles I realized it was not that cold and it actually was warm and rather muggy. My legs felt pretty good but i had a hard time finding the right rhythm. To be honest my head was not in the best place today. I had a very hard time trusting myself and just running. I kept over thinking everything and almost running scared that I would not run fast enough. So the entire run I was fighting myself and my legs. I knew I wanted to run the 10 mile loop in about 1:25ish. As always I went out very strong running sub 8 min mile pace and slowed to about 8:30 pace on the hills. I was very happy when I finished 10 miles at 1:22:11 ahead of my goal time :)

My personal aid station.


I emptied my pocket of wrappers and grabbed the rest of the Gu's I needed for miles 12, 15, 17. Drank some Gatorade Endurance, refilled my hand bottle with water. Took 2 salts because I was sweating so much - I felt like I had gone for a swim I was so sweaty. I also decided to put on a very thin pair of socks because a spot on my left heal felt like it might have been forming a blister.. Of course I also had to txt Kyle and let him know I was half way and post it on twitter/Facebook (yes I am a super dork). I joked with Kyle if it was ok if I could take a nap before doing the 2nd loop... It really was very tempting.

Once I was refilled I was back running in a couple minutes (yes I stopped the watch/garmin since it is just a training run). The first couple of miles my legs did not want to run as fast as before but at least they stayed under my goal pace. As expected the 2nd loop was harder. I started to feel more tired though my legs actually still felt pretty good and continued to the rest of the run which was wonderful. At this point my entire take was sweated through and I'm sure all the people staring at me were wondering how I could sweat so much when it was not that hot.
Since my legs actually felt pretty good I managed to keep pace with the first loop and actually ran the hills a couple of seconds faster. Though I to do that I had to yell at myself a bit more. I was glad I wore a bracelet from the IMC crew that said "Toughen the Fuck up" and I repeated that to myself a lot, that and "pick up your feet", and generally tried to think of what Kyle would tell me if he was there. I would have also expected my heart rate to go up because I felt like I was having to work harder but actually it stated about the same..

The last mile is flat and I pushed myself to make sure I made my goal time. Now saying that I am horrible at math so I finished the 20 miles at 02:44:07 (4 whole minutes ahead of my goal time). The last mile I ran in 7:41 lol. No surprise as soon as I got to my drive way I just laid down and stayed there for about 10 minutes (or so it felt). I only got up because Toko (my cat) was meowing so much from the window. So i moved inside to the living room floor, laid down a towel and proceeded to fall asleep for an hour or so. I blame Toko because he curled up next to me and just purred.

Eventually i woke and txt Kyle - he had already txted me asking if I was done yet. oops Eventually I got up and weighed myself - 131 lbs post run (lost only 2 lbs). Then I had my favorite recovery drink of strawberry Recoverite and chocolate milk and Kyle brought home 2 bags of ice for me to take an ice bath :)

So some overall lessons.. Trust my legs and relax about times/pace I can do it - no need to run scared. It is not arm warmer time yet. BodyGlide is a good thing because I got no chaffing or blisters :) My nutrition went really well plain Gu and 1 Roctain Gu half way for some extra caffeine. I need to continue to work on my pacing I seem to go out pretty harder then I need to. It is defiantly time to wash my Newton shoes they smell HORRIBLE and even made the socks I put on dirty. At this point I need to just keep after it - I am getting stronger and within my goal pace for the race in October.
Finally my reward a yummy Trophy cupcake called snowball (Toko thought he should get some to).

running running running

It really started a couple weeks ago. As all my training partners/friends started tapering for Ironman Canada I started ramping up up my running. I no longer had excuse to go for 100 mile rides and started running 35 miles a week...
Every week my long runs have increased by 2 miles - 14 miles, 16, miles, 18 miles and this week I have 20 (ouch).
The 16 miler actually went REALLY well. I ran on Friday night so I could ride a little bit on the weekend since I kind of miss my bike. Anyway I ran an 8 mile route with lots of hills twice with the goal of running the second loop at the same time as the first.
Check out those hills lol
The only thing was that my legs felt so good that I went out a bit faster than I had expected so the second loop I had to did pretty deep but I love that i was able to run 16 miles in 02:10:12 which is a shocking Avg Pace of :08:08 min/mi. I had just hoped for a 8:30 pace.


For my 18 mile run we were in Penticton for Kyle to do Ironman Canada so on Saturday morning I got up before sunrise and ran from Skaha lake to te turn around in Okangan Falls. I was lucky because Kyle's Dad (Tom) offered to ride support for me so I only carried a small hand bottle to keep my mouth wet or eventually pour on my head.
It is not the easiest run but I have become a fan of hills ;) I remember it being a pretty course. My legs felt a bit stiff/heavy after the long drive, my run earlier in the week and just being on my feet a lot so I decided I would just run my zones 3A-3B heart rate and see what happened.
As I expected I was not as peppy and averaged 08:58 min/m pace but I felt good and I was able to bring my speed up the last mile or so even though my right hamstring started to clench up a bit. I have found that when it hurts I actually can dig pretty deep and actually run faster. I guess I'm just more motivated to be done sooner.
The official turn around :)
I also added a little bit extra milage because I NEEDED a restroom at the turn around and the one's in the park were still closed. Some nice guys let me use the one in their office.
It was also funny we did not see anyone out until I was a couple miles on the way back into Penticton. Then it was tons of athletes riding the run course in the aero helmets and few other crazy people running.
Once Kyle woke up he rode out with some more cold water and gatorade which was so wonderful since some cloud cover was holding in the heat from teh day before and I was getting toasty and low on fluids. So he also helped keep me going strong the last couple miles. Also took a couple pics the last mile :)
In all I kept my average heart rate around 170 bpm (zone 3a) and ran 18 miles in 02:41:25 (I did shuffle another half mile or so but turned off my garmin).


So that has been the long runs but this week Kainoa added in a tempo run of 6 miles at 7:30-7:35 min/mile plus a warm up and warm down.. My legs hurt after driving for 2 days so I took a long nap, got a massage and made the call (with permission of course) to postponed it till today. So I started with a fairly flat 2 mile warm up at an 8 mile pace then headed onto my favorite hilly 6 mile loop. yeah i know I could have chosen an easier rout but i keep telling myself I like hills. I worried all day that I would not be able to run the goal pace but low and behold I kept after it and hit the 6 mile mark at 43:58.. woo hoo that is 7:20 pace!!! for 6 miles. So much for 7:30 pace ;)
Of course a couple minutes into my warm down my garmin died (I forgot to charge it) but I just rand the same 2 miles I did to warm up and maintained a 8:00 pace :)


And with that my legs get tomorrow to rest up for guess what another run on Friday and Saturday lol. Bring it on I'm loving it - esp the hills ;)

Beaver Lake Sprint Triathlon 2009

This is the 3rd time I have done the Beaver Lake sprint tri. Mostly it is the bike course that keeps me coming back. It is is essentially downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back with my favorite 2-mile staircase like hill the meat of the course. Other than that I just like the small local atmosphere, the community really seems to come out in support of the race.
Anyway on Friday I was bit worried because my legs still felt tired esp when I walked up stairs. So i did not really know what to expect. I talked with Kainoa and she told me just to go all out and not hold anything back since it is a short race. The main goal was to just go faster than last years 1:30:39.
As usual I like to get to races early just in case and so I have plenty of time for a warm up and to use the porta potties before a huge line forms. So we left the house around 5:30a with a cup of Via + chocolate milk in hand (Kyle had a double).
We got to the park and I got my packet and since we were so early I got my choice of spots on the rock - of course I went on the end. It did not take long to set up my transition since really don't need very much for a sprint.. I was a little worried because it was kind of cold and considered having a vest ready but in the end decided it was just a sprint it would not be long enough to really matter if I was cold or not.. and to be honest if I was going all out I would not be cold even going downhill.

When I got back from my :20 min warm up run my Mom and Jerry has arrived with the HUGE sign and the camera.

I was the 7th wave to start and even though it was 29 and under I think there was only about 25-30 girls. Since it was so small I went ahead and started front and center. As we started I tried my best to stay with the few obvious swimmers but wound up in open water between the swimmers and the rest of the wave. So no draft for me but at least I did not have to fight my way or anything. Just as planned I went full out the entire swim which felt great.
As I came out of the water Kyle yelled at me that I was 5th out of the water - which must be why I'm smiling. I think it is the first time I don't look horrible coming out of the swim :)

I got in and out of T1 as quickly as I could and got on to the bike :) I was kind of shocked to see that my heart rate was well up at 181 bpm already but then remembered that is usually where it is when I race. Anyway I quickly got into drops and was off. Honestly i just focused and stayed after it. When I headed down Duthie Hill Road I was shocked I actually passe a bunch of people. I don't think I have EVER passed anyone on a downhill but I knew there was a flat runout and eveb a sligt uphill before the sharp right turn. It was really nice to know the course so well.
I looked for girls in my age group but never really saw any - it did not help they used skinny sharpies to do the body marking so it was not very easy to see.
I kept after it on the flats on 202 and after the right turn started the climb. I did exactly what I planned. I road strong up the 1st two climbs, kept after it on the flat sections and waited to really go for it till the last climb. I passed a ton of people and had so much fun. As always I LOVE this climb.
There is a couple of miles to get back to T2 after the top of the climb and I felt great and just focused on keeping the cadence and intensity high. I ate one plain gu on the way back and dark a bit more of my gatorade.


I rode hard all the way into T2 and had a good transition though I did take an extra second of two taking my glasses out of my back pocket... Oh well.

As soon as I started the run I was a bit worried my legs felt very heavy but i dug deep especially when Kyle said there were not any girls in front of me. I ran as fast as I could and even though my legs hurt I pushed it as much as I could.
It was kind of funny around mile 1.5 or so a friend of ours passed me for the second time and asked out I gained so much time in transition lol. I tried my best to stay with him but he ran a bit away from me - I did keep him in sight most of the run. I always forget how many hills are on the run. They are all pretty short but they hurt. I managed to keep my pace well under an 8 m/mi pace and as I got closure to half way i started to ratchet it down even more. At this point all I was looking at was my overall time and knew I really wanted to go sub 1:30:00.The last mile I ran fast as I could and totally ignored my screaming legs. I managed to get my heart rate up to 193 bpm lol and even better my pace under a 7 m/mi.

I had so much fun pushing myself so hard but I was so glad to be done.

Kyle my super sherpa and I


Kyle, my Mom and I

Final Results
1/4 mi Swim 0:07:32
T1 1:34
13.8 mi Bike 0:44:37
T2 0:54
4.3 mi Run 0:33:01
Overall 1:27:38


We hung out and chatted with everyone, grabbed some water, food and once they had results up I went and looked at the results. I was so excited because I thought I had finished 3rd in my age group. So we decided to hang out for the awards. My Mom used the time to take more pictures.

It took a while but eventually they did awards. They did the overall awards first - the overall female was in my age group so when they got to my age group I was shocked that they called my name for 1st pace. I could not believe it I have never really won anything so I was so excited for 3rd but 1st.. Really!!!!


To say the least I am very happy with my race. I executed my race plan, pulled off a 3 min PR and they gave me 1st in my Age group as well. I would defiantly say it was a good day. Not to mention a perfect confidence builder going into the next couple of months of marathon training. I will defiantly be pulling on this memory in training to get me out the door and make teh most of my training and listen to Kainoa. The rest of the day I could not stop smiling and even had a hard time taking my post race nap because I was just so excited lol

I have to say thank you to Kyle for waking up so early to support me and cheer me on through out the race. It was very motivating here him cheering and telling me where I was in my age group and having him there made it even better to do so well.

Also Thank you to my Mom and Jerry for being at the race cheering and taking so many photos. It really means so much know you were there supporting me.
I feel very lucky :D