Training and Lead-up
Overall I felt like my training was pretty good. I got a lot of good bike rides in and my running was consistent. I did not have a ton of super long runs but not sure how much that would have helped.
My left calf was sort of cranky on and off the last couple months which was not fun. Thinking it might be shoe related or just need to work on my foot placement…
My lead up triathlon race at Victoria, and CDA were good, and feel like they were good training races for me to get used to the mindset of racing and for both I was able to maintain solid half marathon times despite fatigue especially at CDA
Race Week
I kept things loose and kept my workouts short with just a little intensity. I was loose and got a massage to keep my calf loose which worked great.. I focused on getting extra sleep that week so that I was rested. The weather forecast was great.On Wednesday I started to get a sore throat. Not sure why but started on the vitamin c, tea and all that sort of stuff. Thursday and Friday I also had sinus congestion and took some Tylenol sinus which helped. By Saturday I felt ok, enough not to take any Tylenol, felt a bit tired, but kind of ok-ish.
Race Morning
I never sleep much the night before a race, but I slept wellI set my alarm for 3:15a and had a cliff oatmeal thing next to my bed so I could just eat and go back to sleep for a bit longer. At 3:45a I got up and got dressed, sipped on some fluids.
Headed down to the shuttle with all my stuff. Dropped a small hand bottle of coke in my run bag and got on the shuttle.
At t1 I got my bike set up with fluids ect. Used the porta poty before the lines got long. I went for a short run to just shake thing out a bit and warm up.
Got in my wetsuit, used some foggle on my goggles and ate a gu before heading to the water.
Swim (1:14:27; 143/100yd)
My estimate for the swim was something just under 1:20 based on what I swam in training and not expecting to much since I have felt kind of slow lately...
Lined up at the front of the 80 min group. Noticed there were not very many pink caps…Got kicked in the chin really hard at the start, my teeth hurt for the rest of the swim, and could taste blood but not sure where it was coming from, maybe my cheek or something got bit..The cold water felt so good on my sinuses, and my nose drained lol.Completely blinded by the sun at the far turn buoys, but followed the large crowd in front of me.Checked time at end of 1 st lap and was at :35 so just focused on maintaining on the 2nd Lap. Got kicked a few times on the 2nd lap , but stayed close in and swam fairly straight for me.Tried to pick it up the last couple buoys and after the turn. Was super excited that cabo was not a fluke and I felt good.
Transition 1 (3:03)
Out of the water ran to an open wet suit striper. Went smoothly. Grabbed my bag and ran into the tent which was crazy full. Always nice to have the volunteer help put things back in the bag ect. Everything else went as normal. Shoes, stuff in my pockets, then helmet and glasses.
Ran out to my bike, grabbed it and went.
Bike was in a low gear and had no issues.
Bike (6:16:59; 17.5 mi/h)
T1 to Whistler Hwy –So happy the weather was so nice this year. It was weird I actually don’t even remember this section from last year I was so stressed out about the rain. I quickly settled in, at a gu and headed out to the highway.
Whistler Hwy to Callahan –
Felt pretty good, just focused on eating and drinking. Saw a couple other women but not a lot. Focused on avoiding the silly center bumps in the road and was passing people. Went by quickly. Took first salt pill.
Callahan out and back –
As was planned I worked to maintain a moderate / hard effort up the climb. I went back and forth with a few people which is always entertaining. One women would work really hard to make sure she stayed in front of me. It mostly made me laugh. (but she finished 3rd in AG so guess it was a compliment)The decent was so much more fun this year! I only wish I had trained it a bit more and new the corners more so I could have gone faster. I sat up a couple times but mostly stayed aero.I also took the advise and took advantage of the down to get some more calories in.
Whistler Hwy to Whistler Village –
I felt pretty good. I started to see the 70.3 athletes coming the other direction. The climbs back felt pretty easy. I just focused on eating and drinking, took another salt pill.
Saw Rosanne and got some extra energy from cheering for her and vise versaSaw Kyle and Allen on the way back though Whistler. Before I knew it was heading out of town.Ate some m ore gu, grabbed some more water at aid stations to dilute my scratch as I had planned. Was drinking well so going though the bottles as planned. Also started pouring some water on my back at times to cool off.
Whistler Village to Pemberton –
The descents went well, was surprised how rough some of the new pavement was. Kind of seemed like a rush job.. But everyone spread out and was able to cruise though it.Similar to Callahan I wish I knew the corners a bit better but people were even more spread out so it was fine.At the special needs grabbed a bottle of scratch, a kind bar and a flask of blueberry redbul. Wish I had more redbull it was delicious. Ate half the kind bar and it was nice to have “real” food fill my stomach a bit and break up the gu taste.Noticed I was under 3 hours at the half way mark which made me happy.
Pemberton Meadows (out and back) –
On the way out I noticed there was a little headwind on the way out. Seemed to be between 18/19mp on the way outPeople had thinned out a bit, I went back and forth with a number of people which was entertaining/annoying sometimes but I used it to stay after it a bit more than I did last year.. I ate some more salt before the turn around.Was able to pick up the pace a bit on the way back which was nice, between 20/21 mph.My low back got a bit tight from time to time so I just stood up a bit and shook thing out and kept after it..
Grabbed another bottle of cold water before leaving the aid station.
Pemberton to T2 –
Started heading up the climbs. Ate some more gu and took another salt. Kept drinking water, and dumping it on my back when I got warm.I just road how I felt and went with it. I started passing people. And it seemed way more crowded again.. I felt pretty strong on all the climbs up.Noticed at 100 miles I was at 5:30 which made me super happy. My stomach still felt good and so did my legs..Then of course the wind kicked up and the last 12 miles or so where all headwind up the final climb and into town which sucked and slowed me down more that I liked.
Ate one last gu on the highway before heading into T2.
Transition 2 (2:12)
I dropped my bike off, grabbed my bag and jogged into the tent.. Went though the motions.. Bike shoes off, socks on, run shoes on, helmet, glasses, arm warmers off, random stuff in pockets out. Hat on, race belt on. Gu in sports bra. Hand off bag off. Run-ish out
Run (5:10:50; 11:21min/mi)
T2 to Lost Lake –
I headed out of T2 to run though the crowed, I felt ok, no stomach bloat, legs seemed ok.. I was able to run out of T2. I had to walk part of that first hill where it kicks up kind of steep. I noticed right away if I ran to fast it was hard to breath, like my chest was tight and I would cough. But I was running.
Lost Lake Loop #1 –I just tried to find a comfortable pace and just run. At the first aid station I dumped water on my head, grabbed a banana and some cola and a cup of ice on my way out.. I also stopped to pee.I kept pretty good to the plan of only walking the aid stations and then would start running again. But when it kicked up at all I felt this overwhelming tiredness and was hard to breath, and would walk but they were short still. Was dumping a lot of water on myself to stay cooler…My legs felt fine…
Lost Lake to Green Lake Turnaround –
Tried to find a run rhythm but already was walking more than I should have. The heat plus feeling so tired and not feeling like I could breath very well just slowed me down. I just focused on getting some calories at every aid station, ice and kept moving forward.
Green Lake Turnaround to hot corner –
I walked a bit more on the way back but kept it pretty controlled As I came back into the hot corned I just did not feel strong but I ran what I could.
Hot Corner to Hot Corner –
Walked up the hills and ran the flats… Ate a gu, took a salt, drank cola, grabbed a cup of ice to run with.Saw Kyle, Rosanne and Allen when was almost done with Lost lake loop. I was frustrated but was walking and running when I could, especially the down hills. Kyle gave me a pep talk for a bit. And just started focusing on at least it was last loop and counting down the miles. So I tried to run more but just never really had it in me.
Hot Corner to Green Lake Turnaround –
The rest of the run pretty much went run where I could, eat at the aid stations and walk quickly.. keep moving forward.. I was aware of goal slipping away but when I tried running more I just didn’t have it.. and would have to recover.
Green Lake Turnaround to Finish –
Walked with a guy for awile and kept the pace up and then I was able to keep running more than him.. so I kept going. I focused on trying to smile and be ok with it all and just get done.. Keep moving so you can be done…
Was so happy to be turning right… That silly loop lop thing they did was just mean though, half uphill which hurt but I ran/jogged as best I could. My breathing was ridiculous, these short and fast little breaths and I would start coughing.. I ran past a few people but it was not very crowded. I just wanted to be done. And lay down.I ran in the finished and forced the jump I had wanted to do because the day was so great even though I was seriously annoyed with my lack of run… but I smiled and jumped lol
Post-Race (12:47:31, 15th ag)
I have gone over the day so many times in my head.. I don’t know what I could have done differently to have changed my disappointing run/walk. .
I am super happy with my swim, and the bike was ok, nutrition went great which was huge. And start the run was ok .Then the rest of the run just felt so out of my control. It was not that I felt horrible or cramping or anything I just had nothing, no energy to do anything with. Looking at the data it kind fo looks like my heart rate was suppressed, lower than normal would be. Even on the bike. The sinus cold is the only thing I can think of that explains it..
Now I mostly just feel like I have unfinished business with this race. I so wanted to be able to run this race. And I felt ready to do that.
I still feel tired both from the sinus cold and the race. So far I don’t feel the need to do another full this year.. maybe because I have raced so much already but we will see. I am thinking I will probably do whistler again next year. I know I can run that stupid run faster…. I mean I did last year..
Overall I felt like my training was pretty good. I got a lot of good bike rides in and my running was consistent. I did not have a ton of super long runs but not sure how much that would have helped.
My left calf was sort of cranky on and off the last couple months which was not fun. Thinking it might be shoe related or just need to work on my foot placement…
My lead up triathlon race at Victoria, and CDA were good, and feel like they were good training races for me to get used to the mindset of racing and for both I was able to maintain solid half marathon times despite fatigue especially at CDA
Race Week
I kept things loose and kept my workouts short with just a little intensity. I was loose and got a massage to keep my calf loose which worked great.. I focused on getting extra sleep that week so that I was rested. The weather forecast was great.On Wednesday I started to get a sore throat. Not sure why but started on the vitamin c, tea and all that sort of stuff. Thursday and Friday I also had sinus congestion and took some Tylenol sinus which helped. By Saturday I felt ok, enough not to take any Tylenol, felt a bit tired, but kind of ok-ish.
Race Morning
I never sleep much the night before a race, but I slept wellI set my alarm for 3:15a and had a cliff oatmeal thing next to my bed so I could just eat and go back to sleep for a bit longer. At 3:45a I got up and got dressed, sipped on some fluids.
Headed down to the shuttle with all my stuff. Dropped a small hand bottle of coke in my run bag and got on the shuttle.
At t1 I got my bike set up with fluids ect. Used the porta poty before the lines got long. I went for a short run to just shake thing out a bit and warm up.
Got in my wetsuit, used some foggle on my goggles and ate a gu before heading to the water.
Swim (1:14:27; 143/100yd)
My estimate for the swim was something just under 1:20 based on what I swam in training and not expecting to much since I have felt kind of slow lately...
Lined up at the front of the 80 min group. Noticed there were not very many pink caps…Got kicked in the chin really hard at the start, my teeth hurt for the rest of the swim, and could taste blood but not sure where it was coming from, maybe my cheek or something got bit..The cold water felt so good on my sinuses, and my nose drained lol.Completely blinded by the sun at the far turn buoys, but followed the large crowd in front of me.Checked time at end of 1 st lap and was at :35 so just focused on maintaining on the 2nd Lap. Got kicked a few times on the 2nd lap , but stayed close in and swam fairly straight for me.Tried to pick it up the last couple buoys and after the turn. Was super excited that cabo was not a fluke and I felt good.
Transition 1 (3:03)
Out of the water ran to an open wet suit striper. Went smoothly. Grabbed my bag and ran into the tent which was crazy full. Always nice to have the volunteer help put things back in the bag ect. Everything else went as normal. Shoes, stuff in my pockets, then helmet and glasses.
Ran out to my bike, grabbed it and went.
Bike was in a low gear and had no issues.
Bike (6:16:59; 17.5 mi/h)
T1 to Whistler Hwy –So happy the weather was so nice this year. It was weird I actually don’t even remember this section from last year I was so stressed out about the rain. I quickly settled in, at a gu and headed out to the highway.
Whistler Hwy to Callahan –
Felt pretty good, just focused on eating and drinking. Saw a couple other women but not a lot. Focused on avoiding the silly center bumps in the road and was passing people. Went by quickly. Took first salt pill.
Callahan out and back –
As was planned I worked to maintain a moderate / hard effort up the climb. I went back and forth with a few people which is always entertaining. One women would work really hard to make sure she stayed in front of me. It mostly made me laugh. (but she finished 3rd in AG so guess it was a compliment)The decent was so much more fun this year! I only wish I had trained it a bit more and new the corners more so I could have gone faster. I sat up a couple times but mostly stayed aero.I also took the advise and took advantage of the down to get some more calories in.
Whistler Hwy to Whistler Village –
I felt pretty good. I started to see the 70.3 athletes coming the other direction. The climbs back felt pretty easy. I just focused on eating and drinking, took another salt pill.
Saw Rosanne and got some extra energy from cheering for her and vise versaSaw Kyle and Allen on the way back though Whistler. Before I knew it was heading out of town.Ate some m ore gu, grabbed some more water at aid stations to dilute my scratch as I had planned. Was drinking well so going though the bottles as planned. Also started pouring some water on my back at times to cool off.
Whistler Village to Pemberton –
The descents went well, was surprised how rough some of the new pavement was. Kind of seemed like a rush job.. But everyone spread out and was able to cruise though it.Similar to Callahan I wish I knew the corners a bit better but people were even more spread out so it was fine.At the special needs grabbed a bottle of scratch, a kind bar and a flask of blueberry redbul. Wish I had more redbull it was delicious. Ate half the kind bar and it was nice to have “real” food fill my stomach a bit and break up the gu taste.Noticed I was under 3 hours at the half way mark which made me happy.
Pemberton Meadows (out and back) –
On the way out I noticed there was a little headwind on the way out. Seemed to be between 18/19mp on the way outPeople had thinned out a bit, I went back and forth with a number of people which was entertaining/annoying sometimes but I used it to stay after it a bit more than I did last year.. I ate some more salt before the turn around.Was able to pick up the pace a bit on the way back which was nice, between 20/21 mph.My low back got a bit tight from time to time so I just stood up a bit and shook thing out and kept after it..
Grabbed another bottle of cold water before leaving the aid station.
Pemberton to T2 –
Started heading up the climbs. Ate some more gu and took another salt. Kept drinking water, and dumping it on my back when I got warm.I just road how I felt and went with it. I started passing people. And it seemed way more crowded again.. I felt pretty strong on all the climbs up.Noticed at 100 miles I was at 5:30 which made me super happy. My stomach still felt good and so did my legs..Then of course the wind kicked up and the last 12 miles or so where all headwind up the final climb and into town which sucked and slowed me down more that I liked.
Ate one last gu on the highway before heading into T2.
Transition 2 (2:12)
I dropped my bike off, grabbed my bag and jogged into the tent.. Went though the motions.. Bike shoes off, socks on, run shoes on, helmet, glasses, arm warmers off, random stuff in pockets out. Hat on, race belt on. Gu in sports bra. Hand off bag off. Run-ish out
Run (5:10:50; 11:21min/mi)
T2 to Lost Lake –
I headed out of T2 to run though the crowed, I felt ok, no stomach bloat, legs seemed ok.. I was able to run out of T2. I had to walk part of that first hill where it kicks up kind of steep. I noticed right away if I ran to fast it was hard to breath, like my chest was tight and I would cough. But I was running.
Lost Lake Loop #1 –I just tried to find a comfortable pace and just run. At the first aid station I dumped water on my head, grabbed a banana and some cola and a cup of ice on my way out.. I also stopped to pee.I kept pretty good to the plan of only walking the aid stations and then would start running again. But when it kicked up at all I felt this overwhelming tiredness and was hard to breath, and would walk but they were short still. Was dumping a lot of water on myself to stay cooler…My legs felt fine…
Lost Lake to Green Lake Turnaround –
Tried to find a run rhythm but already was walking more than I should have. The heat plus feeling so tired and not feeling like I could breath very well just slowed me down. I just focused on getting some calories at every aid station, ice and kept moving forward.
Green Lake Turnaround to hot corner –
I walked a bit more on the way back but kept it pretty controlled As I came back into the hot corned I just did not feel strong but I ran what I could.
Hot Corner to Hot Corner –
Walked up the hills and ran the flats… Ate a gu, took a salt, drank cola, grabbed a cup of ice to run with.Saw Kyle, Rosanne and Allen when was almost done with Lost lake loop. I was frustrated but was walking and running when I could, especially the down hills. Kyle gave me a pep talk for a bit. And just started focusing on at least it was last loop and counting down the miles. So I tried to run more but just never really had it in me.
Hot Corner to Green Lake Turnaround –
The rest of the run pretty much went run where I could, eat at the aid stations and walk quickly.. keep moving forward.. I was aware of goal slipping away but when I tried running more I just didn’t have it.. and would have to recover.
Green Lake Turnaround to Finish –
Walked with a guy for awile and kept the pace up and then I was able to keep running more than him.. so I kept going. I focused on trying to smile and be ok with it all and just get done.. Keep moving so you can be done…
Was so happy to be turning right… That silly loop lop thing they did was just mean though, half uphill which hurt but I ran/jogged as best I could. My breathing was ridiculous, these short and fast little breaths and I would start coughing.. I ran past a few people but it was not very crowded. I just wanted to be done. And lay down.I ran in the finished and forced the jump I had wanted to do because the day was so great even though I was seriously annoyed with my lack of run… but I smiled and jumped lol
Post-Race (12:47:31, 15th ag)
I have gone over the day so many times in my head.. I don’t know what I could have done differently to have changed my disappointing run/walk. .
I am super happy with my swim, and the bike was ok, nutrition went great which was huge. And start the run was ok .Then the rest of the run just felt so out of my control. It was not that I felt horrible or cramping or anything I just had nothing, no energy to do anything with. Looking at the data it kind fo looks like my heart rate was suppressed, lower than normal would be. Even on the bike. The sinus cold is the only thing I can think of that explains it..
Now I mostly just feel like I have unfinished business with this race. I so wanted to be able to run this race. And I felt ready to do that.
I still feel tired both from the sinus cold and the race. So far I don’t feel the need to do another full this year.. maybe because I have raced so much already but we will see. I am thinking I will probably do whistler again next year. I know I can run that stupid run faster…. I mean I did last year..
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