I am not totally sure how or why I agreed to do the cougar mountain time trial yesterday but I did it. Well actually I know - Eric Kutter was trying to get people to join him and Kyle said he would so I signed him up right then and there(no backing out lol). Then when they sent out an email asking for if anyone wanted early start times Kyle replied yes for my wife and I... Needless to say they were confused since I was not signed up but then I figured why not.
It is about a 2 mile hill climb time trial with an average gradient of 7.2% (L’Alpe D’Huez is 7.9%) ans about 1,200 feet of climbing. This chart says it all...
Anyway yesterday morning we headed over grabbed our bibs and went for a good :30 min warm up ride before the 9:00a start of the race. I felt a bit out of place on my TT bike but since I sold my road bike it was my TT or my single speed.. TT it is. Eric and Kyle both went before me though I was the 1st girl to start and the 8th person. I had no expectations since I have never ridden or even seen the hill I just knew that some of the steepest parts were at the end.
I started up the hill and immediately I was in zone 5 (188 bpm for me) . Since it is steep enough to stand up most of the way I just did a funny game of just 5 rotations standing 5 sitting to mix up the muscle groups. Since I had no idea of what the hill did I just watched my heart-rate and milage and tried to keep breathing. I had to take my inhaler about half way which was hard since I was weesing so bad at that part but luckily it helped and I just kept going up.
I was expecting to get passed but I got passed right away by the guy who started :30 seconds behind me.. Then later by a girl who started a minute (who swims at the same masters group though in a different lane). Before the end I got passed by a couple of other guys.. I just focused on my time and my heart rate and just kept going.
In the end I wound up finishing in 17:44 which got be 91st place overall (out of 106) and 5 out of 5 women.. A bit shocked only 5 women started... but hey I was the only crazy person who did it on a tri bike (that I saw) and I still beat about 20 guys. I will defiantly be adding this hill to may training for Ironman CDA 2011 because it felt like a longer version of some of the main climbs on the bike course and I will do the race again next year but on a road bike...
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
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 :)
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
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 ;)
On race morning just like I prefer to do I got up super early so we could be to to T1 with tons of extra time to spare and no need to rush. Kyle pumped my tires, I filled my bike bottles and salt sticks, I made sure my bike shoes had lots of glide in them so no blisters and random other small details. I also realized the best part about getting to T1 early is no lines for the porta potties and they don't stink yet. After getting body marked and another quick review of the bike we headed down to the beach to hang out and get ready for the swim. We got a quick pic of all the people from the team Pauole Sport that did the race. (Eric, Laurie, Aaron, Mike, me) Of course had to get a few more pre swim pics - at least this time I did not cry when my Mom hugged me like in Clearwater. and with that I was off to go get in the water.
I decided to start out in the water rather than on the beach so I swam out into the masses and found a sport in the middle of it all. The current kept pushing everyone past the start line so they moved us back a couple of time till finally the cannon went off to my surprise lol. I remember thinking "oh ok was that the start already".I felt pretty good. There was a little chop on the water but nothing worse then the pool at masters swim. I love how clear the water is - you can see all the people around you and avoid getting kicked most of the time. I do have to say that the people(seemed to be mostly guys) that stop and breast stoke suck. They all of sudden start kicking sideways and I got a few kicks in the ribs and sucks. The only other annoyances/issues was that my swim cap kept sliding back off my forehead so I had to pull it back on a couple times.. Anyways I felt good and just swam my best. I stayed mostly on course and felt like I was more in the middle of things than in previous years. The waves mostly brought me into shore and I still felt happy about my swim overall. Then I focused on trying not to fall on my way up the beach.. Then I ran up the hill to the rest of T1, pulled the speed suit off, shoes on, helmet, glasses, race belt and I was off.. I am so glad no one I knew saw what happened next - after peddling for a minute I thought it felt like my rear tire was flat or low and tried to look at it. Now coming out of the water I don't always have the best balance so I acted like a total clutz and rode my bike off the pavement and into the gravel almost tipped over.. and stopped and checked my tire all the while feeling like a total dork when it was fine.
I started the bike with a little bit of fear that my leg/hip would hurt and have issues so I focused on smooth circles, just getting into a rhythm and start getting in the nutrition. Before checking my bike on Friday Kyle had move my seat back just a little bit and by the turn around at Mauna Lani I could tell my hip was not getting as tight as it had been. so I picked up the effort some but at the same time my legs felt alright but not super perky. I felt good through the rollers and continued to be surprised and happy my leg did not hurt but i did find that I felt the climbs more in the glutes than normal.. and stayed with it. I took a salt every :30, sport legs every :30, a gel every hour and drank frequently.. I had started with 1 bottle of acceleraid and at the second aid station I tossed it and grabbed another bottle of gatorade. I am done with it - it was upsetting my stomach. So the rest of the race I just drank gatorade endurance (I could hear Kyle cheering - he hates the stuff and how it leaves gunk in bottles afterwards). Laurie passed me at some point and we cheered for each other - I think she even said see you on the run.. The climb up Hawi was not to bad till got to the final climb and the headwind that joined in on the fun. The best part is I finally felt warmed up and found my rhythm so I passed a lot of people on the climbs which always feels good :) Thank you hill repeats. I faced one of my biggest fears on the way back down and I continued to stay in my aero bars and no touching the brakes :) (teeth chattering smile). Mostly I was just soooo happy that I made it up to Hawi with no leg pain. I was a bit bummed to see that I was a bit off my desired time but at that point i did not care to much just knowing my leg did not hurt. So I stayed focused and kept up on my nutrition all the way back to T2. On the turn off from the Queen K I found it funny that most people seemed to act like the bike part was over even though there was 3 more miles - so even though I was not supposed to not pass I did.. a bunch. and just like that I was in T2. I came in dropped the bike, grabbed my run bag, switch shoes, switch helmet for hat and grab gel bottle. I looked for volunteers putting sunblock on but did not see any, considered the porta potties but did not want to waist time so off I went on the run.
And it started on the grass of course... (got to love the gel packet hanging out of my shorts) I started off easy just get my leg under me and see how things would play out. I actually felt pretty good, a little bit of a sloshy stomach but nothing the heat would not burn off (or so I hoped). They changed the run course so having done the race the last 2 years did not help out a ton.. I knew the parts of the course that were on the road but the other 6 miles were a mystery on grass. By mile 2 or so my stomach started to settle and I focused on keeping my temp down. I walked the aid stations and made sure to drink gatorade, toss cold water on my head, grab ice, sponges, and if they had them orange slices (mmmm). I kept going back and forth with one gal, we would pass each other then be walking the aid station - so started talking.. We wound up running and chatting and just kept running together. It was great - made the run fly by even though the course was so difficult. I was not even paying attention to time, we just ran between each aid station, got what we needed and kept running. Only once or twice we walked up a hill or something. It was funny it was not till after running together for a couple miles we asked our names. lol And in no time we were heading down into the long out and back into the lava (mile 9ish). As always this sucked and seemed longer than in years past but we ran down and were able to run all the way back out. I passed Laurie from Pauole Sport at some point on the way back up (she seemed to expect it was going to happen) and we cheered each other one. Once at the top we started picking up the pace as much as we could knowing that we would be done sooner that way. It was great to see T2 and the turn to the finish line. I still felt pretty good but mostly was just ready to be done.. As we turned toward the finish Joy (#1242 in the pic) wanted to kick it in strong and in that she out kicked me and beat me by a couple seconds lol.
And just like that it was over - I was done..
Overall finisher 637/1057 Age group finish 24/44 Overall time 06:27:55 Swim 41:10 T1 3:32 Bike 3:24:45 T2 2:39 Run 2:15:50
A few post race photos as well
Love the sponge still in the back of my top.
Yeah I am sooo strong
James and I
Mom and I
Best of all the ice bath (Kyle finally pulled the sponge out of my jersey)
One of my goals for this year is to get back/improve my climbing legs and since I finally feel like myself on Thurdsay I decided I really wanted to do a hilly bike ride for my long ride today so I talked Matthew and Kyle into doing the Flying Wheels 45 mi route (I did have to include a stop at starbucks about half way). I even talked them into starting at 9am (early for Kyle). It was super chilly but clear and sunny when we got started. Sadly within 15 min of starting Matthew had a major mechanical issue with his bike.. It made the most horrible sound. So Kyle road back and grab the truck so he could get back. When he got back matthew took his bike and truck to the shop and Kyle and I continued on our ride. It kind of sucked I was just starting to warm up when we stopped so we climbed the first hill cold. It is a pretty steep climb but I just made my way up - I was surprised Kyle only pulled away a little but not a lot (probably going easy on me). I was defiantly warm by the top. I wished I had worn my capris and not my warm tights. There were a few more rollers and then one of my least favorite downhills - the pavement is not very nice and neither are teh drivers but I survived and kept myself from braking to much.. Right away I was so glad I grabbed my aero bottle this morning because it helped remind me to drink and I was much better about getting in calories and keep my energy up. Next was the climb up Ames lake which is not to bad. About half way I was passed by a guy out of nowhere and then a lady who I tried to stay with a bit more. At the top Kyle and the guy were waiting - it was a Cervelo R3 convention. I pulled off my hat because now I was really way to hot. They waited for a couple of their friends and we wound up riding with them into Carnation. Kyle and I did a quick Starbucks stop and then got back on the bikes for the second half of the ride. I have to say I really enjoy riding the back roads of Carnation - the views are great, few cars, pretty good roads and the sunny weather just added to it. There was a nasty headwind in a few sections but nothing to bad. By this time I had also taken off my gloves and wished I could have taken off my pants and just ride in shorts. I had meant to eat a powerbar or at least half to see if I liked it but I completely forgot and ate a gel instead... We stopped for a second so Kyle cold find some sportlegs in his pockets. Then we were off to the stair step climb and final big climb of the day. I love this climb. I always use it to gauge my climbing legs and it always makes me feel stronger after getting to the top. I never remember how long it is and where I am on the climb. Kyle took off and I paced myself up the first part. i focused on working on my seated climb. I noticed that since I have been riding my single more I can climb standing very well but my seated climb is kind of weak. So I climbed mostly seated only standing every once and a while to keep my pace up. I felt great, my legs were burning. It was awesome. I kept telling myself that this is what it will take to get better at climbing - so I climbed. I guess Kyle turned around when he got to the top and rode back till he got to me which was not very far at all :)! The rest of the ride I just kept my cadence up and cruised back to the park enjoying the sun and loving that I had a great ride with lots of climbing.
