Vancouver Half Marathon 2009

I went into this race with no high expectations or goals - mostly I expected it to be like a hard training day vs an all out race day. I have been doing base work ever since I had my VO2 max tested and only got in a few days of any sort of tempo or speed work. Also to be honest I really did not want to dumb to much energy since I'm not really getting a recovery afterwards. Saying that I went in with the goal of something at or around 1:50 - if I was having a good day maybe lower but was not really worried about it. My coach Kainoa specifically told me to "to run hard but not stress about your time." So I had some heart rates to kind of stay near and that sort of thing but overall a rather loose race plan.
We spent Saturday driving up to Vancouver, BC, going to expo, and trying to get hydrated. We brought our single speeds to ride around town - I can officially say I don't like riding my bike with lots of city traffic esp trying to fallow Kyle.. The highlight of the day really was getting a super yummy strawberry crepe after watching the sounders Game on wifi at a Starbucks. It was a huge shock but the Sheraton did not have wifi - what kind of hotels doesn't have wifi these days..

The biggest question was the weather - we went to bed on Saturday to pouring rain and wind but the weather report said no rain on race morning so I decided to wear my tri shorts and tri top with arm warmers incase it was cool.

Luckily when we woke up it was dry and the sun was trying to come out - Kyle and I prepped everything, went to the bathroom a million times, took some salt and sportlegs and then ran down to the start getting in a nice warm up in. I wore my jacket and a pair of capris over and by the time we got to the bag check I was roasting.

I got to quickly meet another blogger Jill Cosantino and her Mom at bag check. Jill was running the full with the goal of qualifying for Boston and her Mom ran the half - how cool is that :)

Kyle and I headed to the start, I ate the first of 4 gels. I realized I had left my ipod shuffle either at the hotel or in my gear bag - after I had spent the night before choosing music :( oh well I have run a lot of races with out no big deal. The race started and Kyle pulled quickly away. I ducked and weaved through the crowed and just went with the flow really. As planned I did not really push it to hard just tried to settle into a good rhythm. It was a lot warmer than I expected so the arm warmers were off with in almost the 1st mile and by the 2nd water station I was dumping water on my head.

The first couple of miles just cruised by although I gave up on keeping my heart rate down - maybe it was that I felt hot but I was averaging 180ish vs the planned 170 bpm range. Oh well I did not stress about it or anything. I kept drinking and ate a gel on schedule at mile 4, 7, and 10. Around mile 6 I realized I probably should have brought some salt caps with me but oh well. I felt a little bit rough around the edges but nothing to bad.

I always forget that the course is not totally flat with just one hill - there are couple of rollers through out. I just kept going. On the big up hill though Stanely park - I let my self relax and recover and just ran it nice and easy so at least my heart rate stayed in the same 180 range vs going to the 190s. Of course my pace slowed but nothing to drastic. I passed a lot of people having to walk or just killing themselves on the hill which is always interesting.

When I race I only look at the distance overall, the last mile time and my hear rate so at the top of the hill I checked my overall time and it was on pace for 1:50ish if I maintained. So I enjoyed the downhill and picked up the pace a bit but not to much and just let my legs loosen up a bit.

The last 3 miles always feel like they take forever and this year there was no steal drums on the last little hill which was a bummer - I always loved that part. At least the last mile or two there are a lot of crowds cheering people on. Kainoa had told me to try and pick up the pace the last couple of miles so I focused on increasing my cadence and that sort of thing. I saw Kyle on the side in the finish shoot cheering me on and just cruised into the finish. I didn't really have a kick even though I felt fine - guess I just didn't feel like I needed to or something.

Overall place 1064
Gun time 1:50:56
Chip time 1:50:45
Data from my garmin

Afterwards Kyle met me in the finish area and we walked through, got my medal, grabbed a space blanket, some gatorade, some oranges, got our picture taken. We saw a couple of people from the team and got updates on the people running the full marathon. As we walked into the expo area we bumped into Deirdre H and heard about the pancakes she had for breakfast - made me crave pancakes the rest of the day.

We made our way back to the hotel with a slight detour at Starbucks for a recovery snack/drink. We had planned on going back out on the course to cheer people on but once we got back to the hotel we both crashed. It was hard enough to find energy to pack up and check out by noon and tackle the drive home.

Overall I'm content with my race - it was right on track and a good training run. Really it was a good kick off to my final build for Hawaii 70.3 in less than a month.

my body is revolting

My training has been going really well lately - really great 4 hour rides, good base runs but for some reason this week - the week before Vancouver half marathon everything hurts.. It really started last week when my left hip started to cramp and grip - it hurt to walk so I got some ART massage and did some foam roller and it was fine in a day or so. In pilates on Thursday my coordination was all off and my muscles were tired.
Then this week my right hip decided to lock up and hurt even more then the left one.. so Some more ART, did the foam roller, focused on hip strength in pilates and I spent the rest of Tuesday not being able to walk.. hmm Now the rest of the week my legs have felt sore and tired, my shoulders is achy, my core is even tight and kind of sore. I'm super low on energy and not very motivated because everything is so tight.
I'm hoping this is mostly just about my body needing some rest and using this mini taper to go overboard. fingers crossed my legs show up on Sunday..

3 nap weekend

I knew this weekend would be tuff when on Thursday and Friday I still felt tired. Saturday started off with an early team run on East Lake Sammamish. The weather was actually a bit cooler than I expected - though with in 2 miles I was down to my shorts and tank top. I ran the 1st hour on my own just staying at the the top of my 3A zones. I felt really good and clipped along but I was bored since I did not bring music so the second hour I ran with Laurie K. who is about the same pace as me in our low zones. The company made the second hour go by in no time and we decided we would ride together on Sunday as well :) It turned out to be a good run but I did not pay a lot of attention to eating - only ate one gel and about 12 oz of gatorade endurance.. Way under what I should have for a 2 hour run.
The best part of team runs is the time afterwards - we had lattes and treats afterwards and hung out and talked triathlon. I tried to eat as much as I could to start recovery but with in an hour or so I was well on my way to bonking. I spent the rest of the day trying to recovery but the worst part of getting to that point is my stomach always feels horrible and makes me not want to eat anything. While Kyle played with bikes I took an hour or two nap with Toko which helped. Then we headed of to a great Sounders FC game where they won 2 to 0 :)

Sunday morning my Mom and I ran the Bellevue 5k - her 1st 5k ever. I ran with her as support/pacer. She did so well and I am so proud of her. Though I think she wanted to punch me a few times. I know she surpassed her expectations of finishing in 30:55 (2nd in her age group) - a whole min per mile faster than she expected/assumed :) Kyle was also riding around on his bike cheering for her which she loved. For once we were cheering her on after all the races she has cheered for us.
After the race I went home and got my bike stuff together, ate a little bit and had a little time before I was meeting Laurie so I took a short nap :)
Once we got riding i quickly found out the hard way that Laurie is a huge sandbagger and/or very humble. We rode from her place on East lake Samm and warmed up by riding up and over the plateau then out to carnation and onto the West Snoqualmie Valley Road and took Union hill back. This route has become one of my favorites lately. Hills in the beginning and end and rollers and wind in the middle, a great view and not a ton of traffic or lights. And lots of barns - only a few super smelly spots.
The day before when Laurie and I were talking she was saying she had not been out on the roads much - spent all winter on the computrainer. I was just happy to keep up with Laurie and stay close to my zone 3A. I ran out of salt around 2 hours and defiantly did not feel as good the last 30 min of the ride. Laurie is faster than me on the down hills so i kept having to try and catch back up on the uphills. I was so ready to be done.We rode for 3 hours and change and had a great time.
We both ran off the bike - I had :30 and she had a full hour to run. At first I was not really looking forward to it - I was tired and my stomach did not feel that great. But of we went and guess what with in a couple minutes I felt great. We clipped right along actually running around 8 min pace and I was only in my zone 3B :) It felt great.
the best part of teh day was by far being able to put my legs in the lake sammamish when I was done running - it is still very cold and really helped my legs feel better. After :20 min in the lake, some recovery snacking, and hanging out Kyle and I headed home. I immediately crashed and took at least a 2 hour nap while Kyle helped his Dad get his bike set up. The only reason I woke up was because my legs ached.

All in all a very good weekend of training and I think I found someone to get some of those long training sessions in with :) I could defiantly tell that my body needs some sort of rest/recovery this week before Vancouver half marathon this coming weekend. ok time to get on the foam roller.

focused

Training has been going really well the last couple of weeks. Still lots and lots of base work so it has been rather uneventful. I am finally getting to do some zone 4A work on the bike - mostly hill repeats to help build up my leg strength which I LOVE. I'm starting to feel stronger and can tell all the base work is helping. My swim is also coming along very nicely - though I can't wait to swim in open water again - I am so sick of the walls.
I would just say I'm mostly just heads down focusing on what I need to get done to feel ready for Hawaii 70.3 at the end of May. I am doing the Vancouver half marathon before then but it is not as big of a focus for me this year. In preparation I have made some small changes for the next 43 days.. I am doing pilates twice a week (instead of the normal once), cut out processed sugar as much as I can manage, and really focus on recovery after every workout including both nutrition and stretching.
I also got my hair cut - I know it seems random but I seem to do this every year in prep for summer racing. I had it cut so that it just barely fits in a ponytail. Already it just feels lighter and is way easier to deal with.

And with that I'm looking forward to another weekend full of long workouts in the SUN. Yes the weather is finally starting to cooperate. Happy Training :)

Bikram yoga

On Wednesday night I once again took on the challenge of surviving Bikram/hot yoga with the main goal to not get to dehydrated. I needed a do over after Sunday (see last post). The major difference is I planned out a hydration plan and stuck to it.

During the day I drank Clif shot electrolyte instead of plain water. An hour before I drank a bottle of gatorade endurance. 30 min before I took 2 Thermolyte Sodium-Electrolyte Caps, 2 SportLegs and drank another 10 oz of gatorade endurance. During class I continually drank gatorade endurance (even though they look down at this) - got though a full 24oz bottle. Afterwards I drank another bottle of watered down gatorade endurance and took a very cold shower. On my way home I drank a recovery drink and had dinner and more fluids when I got home.

Luckily all that planning worked. I felt better during the class and did not get a headache afterwards. Not a huge surprise that if I drink more and get in way more electrolytes my body will be much happier - defiantly something to remember in the rest of my training. After all that I don't think I will be making Bikram yoga a regular thing. It just takes to much planning and I am pretty much at capacity with all the swim, bike, run stuff and not to mention my day job. As for the main reason I went back to Birkam yoga - to stretch out - I have been spending some extra time on the foam roller and some very simple yoga stretches pretty much every other day.