keep moving

Last night Marissa and I went down to green lake for a swim. For the first time in a long time I was actually glad to get in my wetsuit because I was cold just getting ready. The water was calm and there were bits of blue sky but the temperature is getting cooler everyday. I was a bit jealous of Marissa's full sleeve wetsuit. I stuck my toe in the water and it was cool to the touch - which made it a mental challenge to get in the water but of course I did.
Once I got swimming I had to keep moving or I would get cold. It was really pretty on the way out - or maybe it was my blue tinted googles or the evening lighting - either way I wished I had a camera. As we turned to go back the clouds came in with some wind to rough up the water a little bit. It was not to bad but I got a lot more water up my nose on the way back. The coldest part was taking the wetsuit off on the dock - I was standing there shivering till I got a jacket on at the car.

Needless to say I miss the summer weather... but it is time to get over it. I figure I have 2 more weeks till Black Diamond Olympic then I can at least move my swims indoor.

were not in summer anymore

We slept in on Sunday since both Kyle and I were tired from racing on Saturday but Kyle checked the weather and saw that it was supposed to start raining (I never check teh weather I just go and do what I can). So anyway eventually we got up and got on our bikes for a ride. I had to do 2 hours with 2 x 30 min at Olympic Distance race pace with 15 min recovery in between. We both wanted to stay away from to many hills and just focus on spinning in the aero position.
The warm up went well - it is mostly down hill so it is easy to keep your heart rate down. We headed east on hwy 202 from Redmond and rode out for about an hour to Fall City. Kyle lead the entire way - he said he felt tired but was still averaging 20 mph so it was still a challenge for me to stay on his wheel.
Kyle declared he needed something to eat so we stopped at Small Fried to share a burger, fries, a thing of mac & cheese and a coke. Since we felt a few little rain drops so we ate quickly and got back on teh road. Check out my new baby blue tires.. I'm very coordinated now, baby blue, red & white :)
After our snack in Fall City we headed back the same way be came out. Kyle seemed to pick up the pace or it just felt like it went by faster. There were a few section of light rain but nothing to bad. We made it home just before the rain really started to come down.
We both got ready to head out on a run but as we started to head out the sky seemed to just open up and down pour with some lightening and thunder for good measure so we decided not to run. I know I should have sucked it up and ran but it was raining soo hard and I was tired so I just could not myself to go out to get completely soaked. I am not ready for this fall weather - it seems to be in full swing already and it is Still August. Time to pull out all the rain gear, lights, and reflective stuff.
Luckily Monday was the start of my recovery week so I get 2 days off this week instead of just one.

Lake Sammamish Triathlon 2008

Yesterday (8.23.2008) Kyle and I did the Lake Sammamish Triathlon - 300-400 meter swim, 14 mile out and back bike, and 5 k run mostly on grass. The morning started out strange for me - I never heard my alarm but still woke up at 5 am - i guess I set the time but never turned it on. We got to the race on time and got set up. I got to the restroom before to long of a line formed but only half of the toilets were not flushing - super yuck. I started to put my aero bottle on my bike and for some reason though I had forgot my bottle of acceleraide - to the point I went and found a bottle of water to put some nuun to get by for the race. Luckily I finally looked in at my bike bottle cage and saw my bottle of acceleraid...

After all that I went for a 10 min run to warm up and let it go and just get my mind cleared to get ready for the race. Kyle & I met back up before heading down to the beach. The swim seemed super short, way shorter than in 2006 (the last time we did this race). Kyle was in wave 2 so I watched him start and finish the swim - he came out of the water about 10th or so. I had to wait almost 30 min before starting. They had said they were doing 3 min intervals but instead were doing 5+ so it took forever. I seeded myself in the front middle - straight on to the 1st buoy. For some reason the swim was very rough - probably because I was right in the middle of the main pack. I saw the lead pack and was gaining on them but the course was soo short I never did.

T1 was fast I got out of my wetsuit and was off on the bike. They make you run through the grass then over a little hill. The start of the course sucks - they make you ride off road on some trail. The first half mile is very narrow so it hard to really pass people but I did.
I saw Kyle coming in to finish his bike when I was at about 4 mile - there were only a few guys in front of him and a big group behind him. So he seemed to be having a good race - I was just happy to see he had not had a flat or anything. I cranked it up and the bike course went by quickly. I really focused and tried to keep my rpms up in the high 80s to 90s and thus keep my speed up. I drank my acceleraide through out which kept my energy up. I was really proud of myself for staying in my aero bars on all the down hills (not a big deal for most people but huge for me). I passed a ton of people the entire bike - which was good because I was wearing my aero helmet - so it would look dumb to be ridding slow.. I kept the intestacy up all the way to T2.

T2 Kyle was long done and as I was trying to get my shoes changed told me he thought he had come in first for his age group. I mostly just ignore him and got my butt on the run course. The run went really well. My first mile was 7 min even though the course is mostly n grass which happened to be wet and very slippery but I figured the faster I ran the less likely I would really twist my ankle. I kept my cadence kind of short but picked up the pace. I played a lot of mental games to stay focused and keep pushing myself as much as I could. I was soo happy every time I got onto real pavement and off the grass - it was just so much easier to run fast. I passed a lot of people but saw very few from my age group. The last quarter mile or so is on pavement and I picked up the pace all the way to the finish. I was chasing down one girl but ran out of space (she beat me by 8 seconds).

I was super happy I finished 3 minutes ahead of my goal time of 1:20:00 and really pushed myself the entire race. In teh end I wound up 6th in my age group - I was a little bummed because I had hopped to place higher but oh well it was a great race and some really fast/good compitition. Not to mention I PRed from 2006 by almost 12 min...

Final times :
swim 6:16.6 | T1 1:34.5 | bike 44:19.7 | T2 57.3 | run 24:01.0 | overall 1:17:09.1

Kyle did wind up placing 1st in his age group and 11th over all so he was very happy.

masters swim

Today was the second time this week I got up super early and dragged myself to masters. Monday was my first experience with this group and luckily it was not very crowded so I got my own lane for most of the work out. It was a great way to ease into the group and was the perfect 1st day. It took me teh full 600 yrd warm up to wake up Kainoa- the coach gave me some pointers and had me work on afew things but nothing huge. She even said it looked like I had improved quite a bit since teh last time I took a lesson with her :)
Today I joined the group again but this time Kainoa put me in a different lane with 2 guys that were just a bit faster than me. It was perfect I fallowed their feet the entire time and it forced me to push myself a little harder to keep up especially when I got tired. It is exactly what I need to help me speed up my swim.
Now the only question is if it ok or would anyone notice if I took a nap under my desk to recover.... hmm

Beaver Lake Sprint Triathlon 2008

Last Saturday (Aug 16, 2008) Kyle and I did the Beaver lake Sprint Triathlon. It is a good local race with a short .25 mi warm swim, hilly 138 mi bike course (perfect for me), and a rolling 4.3 mi run. Last time I did it in 2006 - as my 2nd triathlon ever.

We got there faster than we expected - probably because there is not much traffic at 6:30 am. It is a small event so no lines to get body marker or anything. The racks were organized by bib # which seemed to be based on when you registered because Kyle and I were 181 and 182. After getting body marked and all that we set up our stuff, went to the bathroom, went for a 10 min warm up run, talked to a few people we knew, did final prep and got into our wetsuits.
I found my Mom & Jerry as we wondered out to the lake. Kyle got in for a warm up swim but since my wave started almost 20 min after his I decided not to. Kyle was the 2nd wave and he was in and out pretty quick - I think he came out of the water 6th in his wave which is great.
I had to wait a little longer before I finally got in the water. As usual my wave was women 29 and under. I seeded myself as usual somewhat up front but off to the right side. Once we started my usual pace and gradually speed up so that the last half I was going pretty hard. It seemed like I was some where in the middle of the pack.
Once out of the water I ran and managed to get through transition pretty quickly even with the wetsuit - good to see it is getting easier/faster as I do it more often. Then I was off on the bike.
My goal for the bike was to get after it right from the beginning and push myself the entire way no matter what. The first half was relatively flat and easy so I just tried to push it and keep the cadence up. I did not brake going down the big hill - which is huge for me. A the course turned on to the flat highway for a mile or two I increased my cadence and got ready to climb. Once I turned right on to the first part of the climb I ate a gel to make sure I did not waste everything on the first baby climb. Then I started picking up the pace so by the end I was completely in zone 4 -5. It was hard but in a very good way. I was able to continue to push it over the crest of the final climb. I felt good and let me self go back to a good strong zone 3 intensity level. After the climb there is really only about 4-5 miles with a few little rollers but all super easy to the transition area - I kept my focus and just spun the rest of the way back. It was somewhere with in the last mile of the bike that I saw a girl is my age group pass me but I assumed there were a lot more girls in front of me so I did not really pick it up or anything.
T2 was good - mid change I decided to run no socks mostly because I did not want to waste time putting them on for a 4 mile run. The first little bit my legs felt a little tight - esp my left calf - no idea where that came from usually it is my right that gets tight. I caught my mom and Jerry off guard they were surprised to see me running already.
It took at least a mile for me to really feel warmed up. Since the goal for the whole race was to go hard and see what happens I started finding people in front on me to chaise and then pass - I think only 1 was in my age group. I was averaging around an 8 m/mi pace. I started feeling pretty good and even though my garmin says mile 3-4 was the most hilly part it turned out to be my fastest mile. It had gotten a little warmer out but I never felt the need for any water from the aid stations. With in the last quarter mile I was passed by another girl in my age group. I started to pick up the pace some more but I did not really start to kick till the last block or two. I surprised both Kyle and my mom at how soon I came in to the finish. It felt weird crossing the finish line - just felt like wow that is it.. Guess that is what happens when all you do is long course for a year or two.

Final times :
Overall 1:30:39 | Swim 0:09:10 | T1 1:50 | Bike 0:44:15 | T2 1:06 | Run 0:34:17
5th in my Age Group!!

4th beat me by 23 seconds - ouch.


In the end some of the lessons learned is I can go fast when I want to and I can go even faster if I push the intensity a little more. Sprints are very short there is nothing to save energy for. Don't assume I'm not at the front of my age group - keep chasing.

Afterwards Kyle and I milled around a bit and caught up with a bunch of people we have not seen in a while - even a family from our ski racing days was there.

And last but not least Thanks to the best cheering squad out there - who got up early and came armed with signs and everything.