Ironman is hard

Every Ironman athlete should watch the entire run of an Ironman. Why? To see watch what unfolds in the race.   I spectated at IMSR this past weekend and with a 3 loop run course, you can park yourself and see everyone 2-3 times as they come in.    We could see people come into T2 and then out on the run course and it was clear the bike was longer and harder than many anticipated.  The rough roads and wind added to the already challenge of 112 miles.  People were moving slower rolling into T2. Some came out of T2 a new person, game face on, ready to take on the run.  Others have that look, walk, stumble of how the F am I going to do this.    Ironman is hard! 

With each loop of the run, the smiles fade, the gate slows and the look of determination settles in.  Those having the race of their lives are in the hurt locker big time by loop 3, you can see the pain and suffering.  Watching the ones who just keep moving, focused and steady, knowing how much it hurts, is what I just love about Ironman.  Some are responsive to cheers and shout outs and others are one foot in front of the other.   

Spectators need fuel too 

Nytro Women Tearing it up

Why should everyone see this? Because as your race unravels, or you think it does, when you are hurting so badly you want to walk, when you are sure you are dying more than EVERYONE else, trust me, you are not.   The people at the front of the race are dying too.  No one feels like they did those first 6 miles, so when that piano drops on your back, everything hurts, you want to die- have a PLAN for how to get through it.  

But Ironman spectating is quite fun!!   Throughout the day I checked in with myself to see if I had any FOMO?  Nope, I did not!   

Mothers Day fun! 

Post IM was even better as Riley came up and we had a lovely Mothers Day nearly dying in Bikram Yoga, wine tasting, napping and enjoying and amazing dinner in Sonoma.  So blessed to have spent a few days with her!  

Think less and just go all out

 Today was the kick off of the Triathlon Season in San Diego with the Spring Sprint!    I am finishing 2 big weeks of training and yesterday was a sh&t show,   My HRV this AM was 7.7 " within your normal values and your subjective scores are trending positively. Proceed as planned"  

My Training Peaks looks like this-  and I was feeling tired.  But my plan was warm up, go hard and see what happens.  With very little on the line at the local race, let's just see.  My warm-up run was painful.      Ok, its go time, well not really, see I was wave #15 of 15, they put the 50 + women DFL, keep the slow ass people in the back, I suppose.  The 50+ men were in front of us.                                                                                                                                               Short swim- 500 yards, I had 100 yards of open swimming before catching the wave ahead and slamming into a guys head who was doing elementary backstroke going the wrong way, going to be a long day for that dude.

Out fast and up the ramp.  Quick transition. The bike was 10 miles and had 12 turns with  4 of them 180-degree turns.  This course has been dangerous but the widened the lanes and the marking of the crater-like potholes it was not too bad.  And with 90% of the people actually riding on the right side, it was easy to maneuver as needed.   My legs hurt, no question, but the power was there so I kept the pressure on. Whenever it started to feel better I kicked it up a bit.  Rode at 98% for 28 minutes, AV HR 160, so I was working.   So much that I was only able to take 4 sips of Gatorade Endurance and no more. Something about redlining feeling that does not allow for caloric consumption. 

                                                                                                                             Onto the run and I went out hard without looking at my pace and had the same approach as the bike, keep the throttle down and suffer.  I was running well, but fck it hurt.    Hard to the finish line, which was 3.23 miles- really people, how hard is it to make it 3.1 miles NOT 3.23.  But I digress- sub 7:00 pace and I am super happy!    

If I had let my head dictate the day, who knows how the race would have come around- instead I just went for it, did not look at number or paces- just hurt as much as possible, which is 100% doable for 59 minutes!  

The effort was enough for the OA Win, which I am humbled, to accept!  

The day was fun with my athletes Kasey, Alexis, Alexis, Gail and Stacy on the course getting it done!  Add my teammate Liz and a bunch of local friends and it's what I just love about this sports....friends, suffering, sunshine and so many medals! 

I encourage everyone to do a few Sprints- don't think, just get out there an go hard!  It's hard to screw up pacing on a Sprint.   

Racing for an hour on 4 sips of Gatorade is 100% doable!   Breakfast of Kona Red , 2 cups white rice with coconut oil + salt and a GoGo Applesauce pre-swim!                       

Eating clean and then eating post race

Oceanside 70.3 #10...sticky wheel and wonky GI

This was my 10th Oceanside 70.3!  Oceanside was my first 70.3 and remains my all-time favorite.  This year was the added bonus a beach start,  real ocean swim and I loved it!   

I was fired up and excited to race-  with 6 of my athletes on the course, my coach and 30+ other D3 racers, 4 of my Nytro Women's Team and so many local friends, it was going to be such fun!    I was mentally in a good space, my confidence was about 90%, a bit lacking due to a sub-par Desert Tri, a not  so successful 1/2 Marathon and a botched TT.  But the rest of my training was good, the race sim was where I wanted it to be, so the day was about execution, positive mental space and being able to gut it out, suffer and get it done!                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The swim start was simply fun, surrounded by my Swim Masters lane mates, friends from years of racing, it was relaxing and social.   Off we went into some legit waves but managed to get out past the break without an issue. Ii felt strong swimming and did not look at my time- 29:39, slowest swim ever at this race, But with the new start it is hard to compare and I never look at my split mid-race, so I did not see this until the end.

pretty clear how I was feeling 

Onto the bike, which is really my jam.  Early on the watts were not coming easy,  but I have been there before and I have to trust my legs and hit the watts.  By mile 10 I was thinking my brake was rubbing so I opened up the front brake and still it was like I was riding through sand.  I kept it up and by mile 25 I was in a full-blown fucking panic attack, worried I was 8 min slower at this point than the last 8 years. WTF? I was wondering if my PM was off but my effort felt right, so I just went with it, knowing my bike split was likely 10 min slow. Or let's call it 12 min- The last 8 miles where I usually am aero and jamming home I was struggling to hit the watts.  My brain is all over the place wondering if I am now just over the hill and old and slowed down? But more the mantra was WTF is going on.  I did my best to stay calm, which was mildly successful,  and lots of self-taking that there was nothing I could do now but focus on the run.  The run is not always my best part of racing. My head was spinning and I was working hard on the mental gam I hit the end button and see 2:58.  Times are all relative  -other than my first year at Oceanside I have clocked 2:42-2:48 EVERY year and now I see 2:58.   I am not going to lie, full panic was setting in, but I crushed T2.

I reeled it back in and had to get out on the run.  I got my first run split about my competition and the delta was not what I was hoping for, so clearly, my bike split was very very slow for me.  I had work to do if I wanted to hold onto the lead.  The women behind me were too close for comfort.  So I got to work and was feeling pretty good, holding back and running steadily through mile 6.  I was able to leave the bike split in T2 and get 100% focused on the run.  Mile 7 it got hard, as in okay we go to counting to 20, finger tapping and staying in the moment. Run to see my coach, then up the ramps, down the ramps where Hillary and crew were,  more support at next mile, then the turnaround.... Mike sees me again and says I have to pick it up if I want the Win.  Meanwhile, I am negotiating that I will be slowing down 20sec per mile but ok, I pick up it to a 7:50 and well let's just say that did not last.  I am now at mile 10.5 and worried, everything hurts and the aid station gets stingy 1 oz of coke, I wanted to pull a Patrick Lange and grab the whole fcking bottle and chug it.  I took 10 cups and am guzzling it all.   And then it gets better, my gut flips, as in need a porta potty now.  Now I am trying to pick up the pace, clench my cheeks to prevent a literal sh#tshow.  I see another friend who says 2nd place is 20 sec back - Fck me.   So the idea of a quick porta potty stop means I lose the race. Do I want to win enough to poop my pants.... well yes.   Let's just say I don't feel any better and am losing it.  So it was get to the finish line - count to 10, repeat, what's that smell? oh it's me, OMG will I have diaper rash, stay focused and get to the GD finish line, did they move the finish? , where is Mike Reilly?, why is this mile never-ending, OMG is it running down my leg, ok no, thank goodness... cross the line and wait. With the rolling start, you don't really know your placement until the others behind you finish and well let's just say I won by 5 seconds. Holy Shit- literally! 

literally

It was not pretty, it was not fast - 1:49 but it got the job done on that day.  

And FWIW I had a full tune up on my bike UGH  pre-race but I did not spin the wheels.  My front wheel was gummed up with Gatorade and who knows what else but when I went to spin it I got 3 slow revolutions and then it stopped vs a whizzing of a clean wheel.    Took the wheel in yesterday and Nytro took it apart, cleaned it, more oil and now it spins freely.  Mechanic says "good thing you brought this in as you would not want to race on it, would cost you time for sure"  So there you have it...   

I did a practice ride pre-raceCoulda, shoulda, woulda and I did not.  So lessons learned!!!!   I should be happy with the W but I set really high standards for myself and to be 100% honest with that time I did not deserve the W, that is how my head works.   I am trying to be arrogant just being real.
but was with other people not focused!  that is on me...

Who knows how much time I lost on the bike, but it was a lot, 14 min slower than last year with the same Power is A LOT.  2017 my max speed 45.2, 2018 max speed 44.5,  2019 max speed 38.5.   I don't passed descending except by  BIG guys and I was getting passed left and right.  Ok Dunkle, LET IT GO! 

Wheel is fixed!   and onward to Honu we go.

I still love this race and was actually thinking I would sit out in 2020 but Fck I have redemption now!

Triathlon Camp In Solvang

stunning Solvang Riding

the flowers

 What does a week at camp look like?   23 Hours and 33 minutes of training, fun, suffering, new friends,  sweating, a lot of Gatorade Endurance, many shot blocks, lots of water, not much wine, laughs, fun and memories!    Why go to camp?  You are pushed beyond regular boundaries, you get to train without the usual distractions.  All you need to worry about is swimbikerun vs walking the dogs, cleaning the house , your kids, parents, school, work, life etc... you get it.  Being self-employed I had a few hours of work a day but the remainder of distractions were gone.   camp is easy, but that 4th swim at 5:40 am when it is 36 degrees outside is tough.  The recovery ride a that is not so recovery when you are smashed.  A race sim on day 5 of camp, when you normally do the sim rested.  But at camp you just do it!   And that race sim, went pretty damn well after 15 hours of training, so that is a confidence builder for Oceanside.

Meeting new friends, seeing friends from last year, sharing stories about triathon, life, travels and more.  Having prepared high-quality food every night when you are simply bone tired.  It's what camp is all about. There was a campfire and a movie but I was in bed before the movie started. 

Top of the FIG!! 

Painful run down from the Fig

My coach was at camp which is a bonus!  6 days with coach on deck, riding, running, heck staying next door- win: win!  And I had 4 of my athletes at camp, which was great for me.  Training alongside athletes is so beneficial, I get to see them swim/bike/run, handle stress, adversity, and a surprise swim/run in 37 degrees.  Furthering relationships with 6 days of fun! 

The few souls running on day 6

That day I had the polka dot jersey

I can break down the days but you get - big biking is the key to Solvang and it was stunningly beautiful!!!  The rest of this blog will be in pictures.  

Rae Sim Crew #d3powered 

D3 Race Sim crew

Even a cooking demo by @foodsensenow

First race of the season was.....

N
Not ideal.

Dusting off the triathlon gear, shaking out the cobwebs and toeing the line for the first race of the year is generally one of my favorite days.   This year it was for the Desert Tri- Olympic race,  I raced here 2 years ago and had an amazing race.  I loved the entire race and was so pumped to race, Oceanside 70.3, which was up next.  Feeling fit and knowing I still had a solid block to gain a bit more fitness is the ideal place to be in.

Well, let's just say Sunday was the opposite.  I was excited to get out there, had a ton of fun with teammate Polly on our road trip and swanky Travelodge Accommodations.  But race morning, I did not have the usual fire in my belly.  There was a lot of waiting around, and I was thinking that when the gun goes off I will be all in!  The gun went off and I took off but was not all in.  I swam hard and had a good swim but was not loving it.  Onto the bike, my jam, but the watts were low and the mojo was still in San Diego.  Lap 1 I worked hard to keep a few guys in sight and lap 2 I was dying as if I had ridden at 125% and was blowing up.  Calories were good but I was not.  I seriously thought about stopping, but who DNF's an Olympic.  I began dreading the run,  working on my attitude for the run. All the good mental talks about stay in the moment,  get after this,  why the F do I do this,  the run will be awesome, I may die on the run,    My transition was humorous, why we race a B race before an A race.  My socks were in a ball, my race number was already clipped,  my shoes were reversed, I forgot to take my feet out of my shoes so I was running in my bike shoes and my bike was the furthest away because I forgot to register for the race so I was literally the highest number and the furthest away spot to rack my bike.  I take off running and am feeling okay, I purposely did not look at my pace but accidentally did at .75 mile and it was not pretty.   I knew then it was not going to be a repeat of 2017 where I crushed the run.  Today I wanted to finish.  I took 1 mile at a time and just felt terrible, turned my watch around and just ran.  But honestly at mile 4, I was done, I did not quit, did not walk but my mojo was now in another country.   I jogged it in.

I was not happy at the finish line, but pretended to be for a hot minute and was gracious to the volunteers and then had a bit of a private tantrum.  And then it was time to get out of there.  I should be happy with my placement and I realize it may seem a bit arrogant, but I am hard on myself when I don't hit the goals  I struggle to find the silver lining.  I am working on this, promise. 

Mom, Sis and my nieces 

Why? What happened?  Who the F knows....had a long chat with the coach, lots of speculation but best to put it behind me and look forward!   After all, needed to jam home to get ready for an 85th Birthday party for my mom, that night at my house and unpack and repack to catch at 6:25 plane to Denver on Monday AM.

Mom and her friends 

The birthday party was great and a solid reminder of what really counts in life!  Family and health! I can only hope to be living large like my mom and her friends at 85. 

Denver was 1 degree, yes 1 degree when I arrived.  Let's be clear I ran on the TM and swam at an indoor pool.  I walked across the street and to and from the Uber. But I did get to have dinner with JD.

the yikes zone...

Before I discovered triathlon, when I was a youngin in my 30's,  yes I am old.  I was an avid downhill skier.  Instead of triathlon camps I went to ski camps, yes I am a camper at heart.   My last camp was the Steep and Deep Camp in Jackson Hole, WY.  I was nervous as get out for the camp as I was likely, and as it turned out, the least accomplished skier.  Our Coach was simply bad ass and her goal was for us daily, yes daily, to get into the "yikes" zone. That was out of our comfort zone.  For me, that meant a narrow chute, Corbets Coulier, that was a drop of 10 feet, followed by a quick right turn to avoid

smashing into one of the rock walls and another big jump on the mountain.  The camp was 5 days.  Day 1 we laid out our "yikes goals"  Each day I attempted my goals.  I was in the yikes zone but chickened out for 2 days at Corbets and on day 3 I woke up and just f'ing did it!  I was scared out of my mind and did it, no crashing.  But the jump was scarier and each day I tried and skied off and did not do it.  Day 5 I was on the hook for it, I tried and bailed 4 times and then waived the white flag. But at 3:45pm last run, I went for it and I crashed hard... but I tried.  Nothing broke but my ego. But I at least was all in 

Shortly after that I started in triathlon and on one of our annual ski vacations I was bombing the moguls and clipped and edge and bit it hard, yard sale kind of wipe out and my knee tweaked and everything hurt, I was 30 days out from Oceanside 70.3.  My passion for skiing was morphing to triathlon.  I was no longer willing to risk the injury, I was working so hard at my triathlon goals, I did not want to get sidelined due to a skiing injury.  I tried skiing blue runs, dialing it back, but shocking that is not me.  I am all in, in line when the lift open, ski until my quads are burning, taking risks, skiing the moguls, small jumps and going fast!  So I hardly ski anymore. 

But I do love triathlon!  And while I am not a fan of taking risks I descend fast!  But that is about fun.

Last week I felt like I was in the yikes zone, not in the same way as dropping into a chute but in an out of my comfort zone kind of way.  Coach is challenging me in new ways in the swim, bike and run.  It's about power and top end work, a place I don't go to very often.  A workout that looks easy in TP but man can 15 seconds in the pool cause a burn, 30 seconds on a hill or 20 seconds standing all out on the bike cause a lot of pain.  Max  HR's and burning that makes you want to curl up for a few minutes.   The volume of training is not high and the workouts while burn and cause 180bpm did not seem to take a toll.  But they did, I found myself Sunday with a high resting HR, as in 10 bpm high, feeling sluggish, hungry and grumpy.   

Dare I say, we are onto something?  The jury is out, but come March 3, 1st race of the season we will see!  April 6- the season opener Oceanside 70.3 is the real tell!   This is my 5th season with my coach and well he's definitely got my attention.  People often switch coaches for a change, we ge tired of the same workouts, the same progressing.  A  good coach will keep your workouts and program-changing so the athlete continues to grow and stay interested.  

And as I am always learning as a coach, my athletes are seeing some different training as well!  Change is good.  Some feel, hey this is working let's not change it up, but how do get better without change?   And well with goals of getting better at 52, it's lofty I know.  Maybe I will not beat my best Oceanside 70.3 time, but I have goals about where I want to place and how I will execute the race.

Speaking of skiing.... if you did not see Lindsay Vonn's last run, I encourage you to watch it. And to read this  - what a legend!!   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/sports/skiing/lindsey-vonn-retired.html