Race #14 of 2012

Recap:
1. resolution 15k run
2. Super run 10k
3. Frozen foods 5k
4. San Diego Petco park 1/2 marathon
5. Tinkerbell 1/2 marathon
6. Superseal (cancelled triathlon)
7. Lavaman triathlon
8. Spring sprint triathlon
9. Rock n roll 1/2 marathon
10. SD international triathlon
11. Vineman 1/2 ironman triathlon
12. IB sprint triathlon
13. Trirock international triathlon
14. Desert Edge Olympic triathlon

There was actually a total of 18 races on the schedule this year. I did not do Solana Beach sprint tri which fell one week after vineman. I skipped mission bay triathlon which fell on my bday & I just didn't wanna get up early on my bday. I had a few upcoming races that I also have decided not to do. The "really big free marathon" the travel to Nevada to participate is too costly with soaring gas prices & I'm tired. The silver strand 1/2 marathon I would of had to volunteer for my bib & really don't want to take up my whole weekend for a race I really didn't enjoy last year.
The Desert Edge triathlon was a HUGE undertaking on a few levels, some I wasn't aware of right away. My cousin Patty had asked me to come out to Colorado & participate with her in this race for her 50th birthday. I have done 2 other races with her & enjoyed them so much it was hard to pass up. It would also be an opportunity for me to bring the kids on a road trip to meet family they had never met before! The drive is around 12-13 hours. Originally I was going to try to make a straight through drive both ways with 2-3days in Colorado. Well with the help of my works scheduling dept, a good friend in Las Vegas, & my plotting the schedule went : thurs work AM shift, depart San Diego 4pm (which turned into 5pm after gas, a trip home for forgotten items) & drive to Las Vegas. We got to Vegas around 10pm-ish & stayed with our friends that own a home there. It was literally a quick pit stop as we got there visited only a few moments before getting bed. We left bright & early to finish the drive to Colorado.
The drive from Vegas to Grand Junction went way smoother then I expected! Other then small bladders stopping us more often then I would have liked & me mis calculating gas & BARELY making it to fuel at the last 10 miles! We arrived & spent the evening getting settled in with our family. Sat Patty & I took a easy bike ride in the morning. I quickly learned how hard a change in altitude makes it to breath! I was huffing & puffing the whole time! It made me nervous about the race! After the ride we went out to the race site to get our bibs & drove the race course. I felt a lot better after seeing the course. It was mostly flat with a few small rolling hills & one bigger climb towards the end. Nothing compared to my 1/2 ironman. My confidence was up again!
We spent a relaxing night at home & early to bed. Race morning I got bundled up as best I could (I was NOT prepared for Colorado weather & had loaner clothes from Patty). We headed to the race start I got out of car & started to reconsider this decision to race! IT WAS 31 degrees!!!! Soooo cold I can't even describe. The race director had emailed there was an option to skip the swim because air temp would be down (water temp was 66 degrees) but doing a duathon would disqualify you for awards). I was in a division thy had maybe 6 woman so I still had visions of podium.
We got set up and in wetsuits quickly & actually headed in the water as it was warmer in the lake then out of it. We swam around to get warmed up & then it was GO TIME. I felt very confident going into like the first 20 yards of the swim. The water was not cold like the air. BUT all of the sudden I felt myself gasping for air & unable to breath. I kept trying to breath in but I was struggling. I had to STOP I was feeling lightheaded & dizzy. One of the aid canoes came up & asked if I needed to hang on....my pride screamed inside me NOOOOOOOOO but my brain was like you could die HANG ON! I held on & tried to catch my breath, it was not happening. In triathlon you can legally hold on with no penalty as long as you make no forward motion (FYI). There was NO WAY I was gonna give up but I was quickly aware that all my friends warnings about the altitude were dead on. I continued on the swim slowly having to stop & catch my breath a ton of times. I didn't have to hang on again but I was the last person out of the water for both the Olympic & sprint waves. Then it was on to the bike.....

Race #13 of 2012

TriRock intermediate distance triathlon downtown San Diego 9/9/12
This was a very anticipated race for me. It was my trirock three peat! This whole blog started when I was training for the inaugural trirock in 2010. That was my 2nd tri and my first sprint distance race. I came back in 2011 & did the sprint faster & a lot smaller then the year before. I remember finishing that sprint amazed with the triathletes doing the intermediate course they added that year. The swim seemed SO FAR! The bike & run double what I had done. Shortly after that race I found myself signed up for Lavaman & I was going to be doing that distance!
After finishing Lavaman & getting ready for Vineman I figured why am I doing the sprint? Why not move up this year & go further. WOW seemed like a great idea until race day!
I was so nervous about this one! I had not kept up the level of training after Vineman. I had not done the race distance in any sport (maybe the run) since July! I was sure I would finish I just didn't know how pretty it was gonna be.
It gets weird doing races alone now. I show up with no one there to take pics with or talk to pre-race. This time I ended up talking to the girls right next to me who also said they were nervous BUT had just done ironman in JULY! The one gal was lapping me the whole race saying hi each time.
My wave was the third wave so getting going was quick! Before I knew it I was making my way thru the swim course. It seemed sooooo long! I have seemed to master one key element to triathlon...peeing in my wetsuit ;) definitely warms things up. Although this race the water was kinda warm & I was getting HOT in my full suit.
Turns out my swim time was better then Lavaman by a few minutes! I got out on the bike & on the course which was new this year. It was flat for the most part. We had to do 3 loops (the course was changed a few days before the race-shortened & made 3 loops instead of 2). There was one bridge we had to go up & over 3 times that was the only minor hill. There was a lot of turns to navigate but other then that it was hammer time!!!! I wasn't passing anyone but was happy with my momentum. A new thing on this race was roving race medics. It's actually a new program where instead of aid stations there was medics all over the course with first aid on them. Lucky me some of my friends are race medics! I got a few "go Katie" cheers as I rode the course.
After the bike I got out on the run course. Now indefinitely wasn't passing anyone! I felt painfully slow. I had no power I just chugged along. It was getting HOT. Certain parts were breezy (we were right on the water) but some sections were direct heat no breeze! I was doing a run walk at no particular interval. I did notice that every time I ran I passed this one gal who I exchanged comments about the heat with BUT when I walked she was passing me. I finally decided just run with her at her pace it was obviously more manageable then what I was doing. As soon as I committed to running with my new friend (stranger) she was no where to be found! She had stopped to go to the bathroom! Eventually she did catch up with me & I asked if I could run & pace with her. She said yes :D The run on this course was 2 loops we had hooked up during the second loop. She was running between 10:50-11:50 pace which was perfect for me. We both agreed it was better to have someone to run with. I can say if I was not running with her I definitely would of walked way more. We both had a goal time of sub 3:30 & were on target for that! We were joined in the last few miles by my friend Amanda she was one of the race medics. These medics were running lap after lap, checking on runners. "You ok?" "How's your hydration" "how's your nutrition" etc etc At one point I got salt off one of them. You literally couldn't go 1/4 mile without having a medic pass you. Amanda ran with us & chatted for quite awhile then she pulled off to check on a runner. My friend & I were about to get to the final .2 anyway. This is where I had hoped to see my peeps that were coming to see me finish. I let her get ahead of me as I scanned the crowd lined up & didn't see anyone :(
I got to the finish & beat my previous times by a lot! It ended up not everyone made it but I managed to find my friend that did make it. It was fun for someone new to see my big race.
The 4th event was fun drinks & breakfast with friends & family followed.
I was so nervous about this race & in the end it was one of my best races :) I'm very proud of all my trirock race. I hope I can find a way to do this one every year.

Race #12 of 2012

The IB surf town sprint triathlon 8/26/12 was my very first ocean swim triathlon. (if you don't count practice tri's). I did not get down to imperial beach for a course preview. So I really had no idea what to expect. I opted for the Athena division this time as I knew there was only 3 in the division.
The swim was definitely different & I wish I had spent more time on ocean entry. Luckily it was not high surf. It was hard to stay on course & somehow the girl dog paddling stayed ahead of me the whole time?!
Once out of water I made my way to transition had a smooth switch to the bike & hit the flat bike course with all I had! It was a short trip through residential streets to the helicopter filed that we would loop twice around. I spent a lot of time in my aero position (who knew I would live aero after swearing I'd never get bars). I passed at least one girl in my division so I was trying to get a big lead on her knowing my run is very slow. The bike was only about 9 miles so I was headed back to transition in no time. After I pulled in one of the Clydesdales says "man you did awesome on the bike! I was trying to catch you the whole time!" OK I am not gonna lie that felt awesome!!! I was pushing it hard on the bike! Turns out maybe too hard on my calves as I started on the run I was CRAMPING! I was so lucky my friend Maureen came out to see me race & since I saw she had her running gear on I said "come on run with me!" My calf cramps kept from getting any real momentum in my run. Knowing I had at least one girl in my division behind me kept my pushing with what little oomph I had. Part of the run was on base so Maureen waited while I did that loop since she didn't have a race bib. I made it to the turn around to see the other girl was right behind me & moving fast! With just over a mile left she passed me :( There was no way I was gonna get her so I took a walk break. Then I met back up with Maureen & she ran with me up to the finish. Turns out I took 3rd place (out of 3) but a podium is a podium! Sadly an elderly triathlete in his 80s collapsed as he crossed the finish to this race & died from heart attack. There is 3 older guys I see at all these races one I passed & said you inspire me every race. He said I sure hope so it's getting harder each time. I can't help but hope that I continue to help & inspire people. I want to follow my passions whatever they be, live an active healthy lifestyle & honor the memory of my brother until I meet Jesus face to face

Vineman blog part 4!!!

Well my second transition was interesting! Being one of the last in on the bike meant there was not much room on the rack. I ended up struggling with my bike for a LONG time! It was frustrating! I was exhausted & couldn't lift it up to the rack, it kept getting tangled with the bikes around it! Finally I got it on! I probably wasted 3-5 minutes. I had taken coaches advice & left a cooler of ice at transition area with my shoes. The idea was to dump ice water on myself after the bike to cool core body temp. We got so lucky with awesome weather it really didn't seem necessary to completely dump it. I sat on it to get my shoes on, toweled off my sweat, got my chilled water bottles out of it & stuffed some ice in my hat & clothes. I took off on the run with very little steam. I had hoped to run aid station to aid station (one each mile) but the best I could manage was 5 min run 1 minute walk. Lisa's watch had an interval setting so I was able to follow the beeps! I also did walk/stop at aid stations to get ice, water, snacks. The had tons of fruit! They also had pretzels, cookies, & cola but I avoided those! The run was not as scenic & beautiful as the bike. I was warned it was exposed for the most part & to expect blazing sun. I was surprised there was plenty of shade & a nice breeze at parts. I never felt over heated. I credit running VERY VERY SLOW & the constant ice I had stuffed in all my hat & clothing. Not much to say about the run part...I ran then walked then repeated. I did have a stupid grin on my face the whole time & smiled at everyone passing by.
Some were miserable & couldn't smile back. Others were in go mode & haulin ass...I like to engage everyone I pass. On the bike I waved at every spectator most were sitting staring blankly until I waved then they would wave, cheer, say good morning.
I think it's the fun part for me, making it a smiley happy thing (even when it's not). The same way when people would ask how you feel? I'd reply "I feel good" even if I didn't. It almost worked to convince me I DID feel good. As I came up on the aid station at mile 5 I saw a sign saying GO KATIE . I remember thinking "huh my name is Katie" then I realized it was Jackson & Martin & Lisa!!! I was sooo happy! I think I was close to crying. I hugged & kissed Martin a few times. The boys ran along with me for a while. It was so fun runnin hand in hand with my son.
After this aid station we ran onto La Crema winery it was a 2 mile loop through the vineyard. It was on a dusty hot endless trail. After the winery we went F.O.R.E.V.E.R down this one road until the turn around which was more then 1/2 way but felt like you were waiting for it like a 1/2 way point. Knowing you were headed to the finish was the mission after passing the turn around! I stopped at a wild berry bush where some kids were picking & eating berries. I tried one but it wasn't ripe yet I guess.
I hit the turn around point & I was worried Martin may not be at the aid station still. It had taken me so long to go about 4 miles. I was more anxious to see him again then anything. I was afraid they would think they missed me & take off for the finish line. I wanted to see him again (but also at the finish line). Luckily he was still there when I finally made it! I was able to get more hugs & kisses in. I remember tellin Lisa I have less then 4 miles to go! She said I know you are almost done. It was a good feeling knowing I was so close & the next time I would see Martin would be at the finish! I continued to run walk through the last few miles. Most people were walk only at this point. I was glad I was at least making forward progress albeit slow. I made my way to the last stretch of road until reaching the high school & finish line. There was a lot of people cheering. I saw some of the friends & family of teammates cheering me along. Then I saw jeremy & his sister waited to cheer me on (they had had passed me during the race). The as I rounded the corner that extra adrenaline kicked in I was sprinting to the finish line (as the announcer was yelling it was my birthday-wrong it was Martin's). I was about to cross when I stopped dead in my tracks ran over to my guy & gave him a big kiss before I ran across the finish. What a great memory i will always have of having Martin there with me for my big moment. My official time was 8hrs & 55 minutes. I felt pretty good with my time & race. If I had begun in a later wave I may of got a DNF did not finish. I took my time & got done with something I'm not sure I believed I could do. Lisa treated me to a post race massage (WONDERFUL) & we went back & toasted a glass of wine to celebrate! We attended the victory party where Martin boogied with the hippies for a bit. Then I headed to bed for a great night of sleep!!!

Vineman blog part 3

The bike portion was definitely daunting. Having missed the bike preview I didn't know what was in store for me. I did know there was a flat straight portion for the first couple miles until the first turn which was tight & steep. Then we traveled through a back alley type side street until we got on the rolling hills through vineyard & forest.
Everyone said this course was amazing & it was very pretty. It was comparable to the routes we trained on here in San Diego. I did not pass anyone on the bike portion. I was not hammering as hard as I did on my recent shorter rides but I also wasn't going beach cruiser speed either. I had borrowed my friends Lisa's watch for my race. I set one timer for the bike to go off every 15 minutes. When the timer went off I took a sip of water & every two beeps I took salt or ate a bite of bonk breaker. The first aid station I tossed one bottle & the passed out arrowhead sport top disposable bottles. I didn't get very far before mine was dangling out of my bottle cage. The stupid thing did not fit! Somehow I managed to get it to stay after stopping twice. The next portion of the ride seemed to go so fast. There was an unfortunate mishap at this bottle drop for me-when I attempted to flip my bottle into the netted area it did not go the way I intended. It flew up & over my head behind me nearly hitting one or more cyclists behind me!!! The chick it just missed was pissed & I imagine still telling the story of the idiot girl who flung her water bottle at her.
I stopped at the aide station & and used the bathroom. I saw a gal from San Diego I recognized said hello , she was an official. I asked what the mileage was...when she said 1/2 way I was blown away & HAPPY!
After my potty visit this guy says "you are doing great I saw you a ways back, keep it up". I love triathlons for this reason some people are so nice & encouraging (I do realize he obviously DID NOT see my bottle toss)...
I got back on the bike course & I would say it pretty quickly got tougher. I had the same problem with the water bottle popping out. I started to really feel the mileage tacking on. I knew there would be one more aid station and then the dreaded chalk hill (there was one or two hefty hills before it I found out). At the final aid station I stopped and put some pain rub on my knees that were starting to dislike the rolling hills. Then I grabbed a banana from a volunteer. OOPS! There was pain rub on my hand which then got on the banana which then got all over my mouth! EWWWWW. It didn't even feel like the pain rub worked on my knees! Once I was on that last leg I had 2 things on my mind getting up chalk hill & the fact that I was getting tired with a half marathon ahead of me. Somewhere along that last stretch I was rising through another vineyard & reflecting on how amazing this was. Then I realized my brother had to get sick & lose his life for me to be here. I thought about how he had wanted us to all go wine tasting which we did in his memory. I thought about the 70miles I was racing which happened to be our combined years his life cut short @ 35 & me turning 35 this year. I have so much, I have grown & changed so much. His life was stolen right now when he could of had so many more adventures like me. I lost it tears full blown ugly cry face weeping. I was all pissed I said F*#K CANCER! (a few times-sorry but it's true). I had this grimace of angry through the ugly face & was just hammering through the tears. I'm not sure how many miles that latest but it was a while of my grieving the loss of my brother again & carried me through the finish of the bike leg at a part where I imagine I could of started to get discouraged & tired.
Coming in from the bike was fun! There was a ton of spectators! I walked in the bike transition. I was all about taking my time. It was definitely HOT & I was in no hurry to start my 1/2 marathon...to be continued

Vineman blog part 2

So I got to T1 and set up my transistion. I went down to the beach ready to go since I would be in the 4th wave there was not much time to wander around. We took team photos and got in our wetsuits. I was definitely ready to take on the swim. The water was warm at first but as we waited 4 or so minutes to start our wave I started to get cold. I wore my sleeveless wetsuit and was starting to worry if I had made a bad decision. I wondered if I was gonna warm up? As soon as I started swimming I knew I was going to be fine. I tried to find someone to draft off of and everytime I got behind someone they all seemed to be kicking wildly and not swimming fast enough. The river is very shallow the whole course but at parts its so shallow you touch the bottom when you are swimming. Some people get out and walk but I felt like stopping to walk would take away from the whole accomplishment. I did stop once and stand to adjust my goggles. The river water was pretty gross it was warm & lots of algae. It was like being in non salty bay water. It's definitely motivation to move quickly to get out of it. Along the swim after one red ballon marker after another there was 2 bright neon orange markers I was thinking DANG the turn around came up fast! As I got closer & closer to this turn around I see MORE red markers beyond them WHAT THE HECK they were some sort of warning markers about what I don't know I didn't stop to read them! I had been told there was a current coming back from the actual turn around point. On our swim preview this was true! But as my friend Jeremy pointed out once everyone is swimming like crazy there would be current going both ways with the flow of the swimmers. I got in one little bit that carried me faster for like 10 feet...
I'd have to go back & look up my time but it was about 50 minutes. Once out of the water I walked to transition & took my time there 10 minutes. I figured what is the hurry when I have 8 hours ahead of me. I didn't want to waste energy to save minutes now when I would need the energy later! This race as 2 transitions so before you leave on bike you have to bag up all the gear. Being one of the last out of the water meant the dirt lot transition was in was now mud! I took extra time to wash off & dry my feet trying & failing not to get my socks wet before getting in my bike shoes. I walked out of transition & up the small hill before mounting my bike. Then I was out on the bike course!....to be continued

Race 11 of 2012 Vineman Blog

OK so this blog I am actually trying to write before months pass by and I forget all the details of the race.
So this is not just a race blog but also the trip blog.
Martin was my co-pilot for this trip. I was lucky enough to have a good friend willing to help with him during the race.
Day 1- Wake up 2:30am departure 3:30am. Martin slept the first few hours of the drive. I fought off sleep and had to pull off 3 times until I finally pulled over handed him my phone said wake me up in 10 min. Somehow that little teeny snooze did the trick and I rallied then rest of the drive. We did not head straight to our final destination. We took a detour through the country including Gilroy the garlic capitol to San Jose to pick up Mary. After we got her we took the scenic route through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge. We finally arrived at our home for the weekend our condo in Windsor. A trip to the grocery store where I bought WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! Then Martin and I relaxed at the pool.
Day two- not much going on with the team so we headed to Johnson Beach where the swim start was to check out the wetsuit demo (it was lame). Then we headed to the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour! THAT WAS FUN! I was not eating sugar so I skipped the jelly bellies but it was neat to see the ins and outs of jelly beans. After lunch we headed to Johnson Beach to swim with the team. Lisa watched Martin & Jackson swim in the river while we swam.
This was my first time swimming in fresh water. The river was WARM and GROSS! There was algae floating around and at first it startled me and creeped me out! It not much different then swimming in the bay on the gross scale but the water was nicer and the amazing towering trees and scenery was better. After the swim the team went for pizza & beer...AKA as gluten heaven...I skipped the dinner and went to Armstrong woods with Martin, Lisa & Jackson. It was a small redwood preserve just a mile or so from the swim. We walked around checked out the tall trees and then headed for the condo for dinner & sleep.
Sat morning was full of team activities. We met back at the swim and went over race preview. We then were going to get in the cars and caravan over the 56 mile bike course. I of course realize as it is time to leave 1. I am out of gas & 2. I forgot my wallet which I needed to get gas AND my photo ID. I will need for my bib pick up. My stress/blood pressure went through the roof. Luckily I had some random cash in the car and got gas but was going to have to go back to condo before bib pick up. The course preview started once I got gas. We went only a few miles when I get a "I have to go to the bathroom". About 10 miles in Trent pulled off I took this as an opportunity to take Bugs to a bush to pee. As soon as I got him out of car Trent says this is private property lets go. I tried to rush Martin (you can't rush this you know). He doesn't like peeing in public as it is. This turned into a battle royale. ME-stressed about the race, PMS, having Mary in the car waiting & knowing she can't miss the caravan, me not wanting to miss the caravan that is now taking off, my son needing to pee but refusing knowing he will be complaining in the car the whole time....HIM-stressed out, been in the car for endless hours over 2 days, not caring about bike course preview, needing to pee but not able to be rushed and forced....Julie said take your time. I said I can't Mary is waiting. Luckily she got Mary & they were able to complete the bike course preview. I on the other hand missed the preview, spent the next few hours crying as did my son. We both yelled at each other & were completely frustrated. We got back to the room and both apologized realizing our stress led to a stupid fight. I was even more freaked out now about the race. I had no clue of the course. All I had seen over the last 2 days was serious triathletes biking & running in their ironman finisher swag. I realized I was in no way ready or capable for this event. I never should have signed up. This whole trip was more then I should be doing. I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS RACE AT ALL!!!! I had felt this way for a long time but going through the motions because I made the commitment. I felt so stupid thinking I could do this at any point. I could NOT stop crying! I made a call and was talked off the ledge my a friend. He helped me view the race as not a whole but little bits to tackle one at a time. That did help a little cause I knew I could do the swim. So I just said to myself just swim after that whatever happens happens. It didn't change the fact that I didn't want to be here and doing this. I knew that if I woke up in the morning not wanting to do this I would fail. Most of the getting to the finish is about mental. I went to the EXPO and got my bib and set up my T2. I was still crying and did not want to be around anyone. I didn't even want to be at the expo another minute but I wanted to say hi to my high school friend Jeremy and his sister Sarah who were also racing. As soon as I chatted with them I bailed. We had out inspirational dinner which after getting terrible directions from GPS we made it. It wasn't all that inspirational to be honest. The food was good. Lisa came and got Martin for the night so I could head to race day solo. We had our team meeting after dinner. Trent gave a good talk and I was ready to leave again cause I was so not into this. A teammate stopped me and said she wanted to talk. I am sure she could either tell or was told I was a basket case. She said "you are a strong woman, from what you have said you have been through a lot of tough things in your life. This race tomorrow is nothing compared to that." "we are just gonna swim, and bike, and run, that's all" "we can do that it is nothing like what you have been through ok". THAT WAS IT, THAT WAS THE PERSPECTIVE I NEEDED. Somehow everything changed for me and I realized I could deal with this. It was just one day, and it really is nothing compared to the "stuff" I have been through in my life. Thank God she took the time to talk with me, she is I am sure also worried and stressed about her race. I went to bed feeling so much better about the race and ready to take it on.
Race day- wake up 3:45am meet team at 4:30am and head over to Johnson Beach. All my stress and anxiety was gone. I had taken all the pressure off and found perspective through my two convos. I decided not to rush any of it and just take my time and get it done when I got it done....to be continued