Ironman Cozumel 11/27/2011

I had a great Olympic tri at Lake Powell, without really tapering. I was feeling ready for the race at the start of my taper three weeks out. However, the next week my hamstring started bothering me on the bike. Probably just tweaked it. Anyway, I was nervous about it. I had a massage, active release therapy, taped my hamstring, and lowered my seat the week before the race. Besides my hamstring I was also nervous about getting sick. My two roommates were sick and so I took a ton of EmergenC and zicam, to prevent any illness, and stayed at a friends house for a few days. Thankfully I ended up staying healthy.

I arrived to Cozumel on November 24^th with my friends Curry, Moka, and Tori.  The most stressful part of the trip was having to put my bike together, which the mechancics ended up doing for me.  The Cozumel Palace was amazing! An all inclusive hotel meant 24 hr room service and all you can eat food! I was in heaven. There was a hot tub in our room and a hammock on the porch overlooking the beach. We went swimming in the ocean and it was easy to be distracted with all the fish. The hotel was near the finish of the ironman which was convenient also. On race morning they had food set up for the athletes at 3 am. After enjoying pancakes, waffles, and fruit. We headed to the buses and headed to the Chankanaab park.

Before the race, I pumped up my tires, lubricated my chain, used the portapoties, applied lots of body glide, and took some Ibuprofen for my hamstring. I also drank some gatorade, had a honey stinger waffle and gu. I often have GI problems during the races and so immodium seemed to cure those issues for all the half ironmans I did this summer, so I took some immodium too. I was all set and started to the docs to watch the pros start.

The Swim

There were dolphins jumping near the start of the race. The water looked calm. I jumped off the doc and swam to the start, to warm up. The visibility in the water is awesome in Cozumel! The mass start seemed to start before the big horn went off. There was a ton of contact!! The swim felt more like a maze through people rather than a swim. The first turn was a brutal wrestling match. My hips bothered me a little. It is weird that in open water swims my hips ache, but they never do in a swim pool. Near the end of the swim it thinned out a little. The last few hundred feet my foot cramped, which is a first time for me. There were jelly fish that felt like annoying mosquitoes. I kept telling myself to just keep moving...I love swimming without a wetsuit! A PR swim 1:00:40. I was thankful that I had gum in T1 to help get rid of the salt water. I think I am more sensitive to the jellyfish than the other athletes, because when I got back to the USA, I had a huge rash on my feet legs, arms, neck...

The Bike

During training, I biked a bunch of centuries, so I felt I knew I could push the bike. However, the last lap I ended up hitting a small brick wall, and had to dig deep to keep pushing myself.  The lowered bike seat, seemed to put more pressure on my quads, than I was used to. The bike was a three loop course around the island, with no traffic! From the park we had 12 miles of headwind. From that point we had 12 miles of brutal cross wind. This was my favorite part of the ride, along the oceanside, being mesmerized by the waves. Then there was a tail wind for about 10 miles, and a mix down to the park. It was my first time on a flat course. And there was a ton of drafting going on. For the most part I did not draft. However the last loop, I was passed by a huge pack of like 40 cyclists that I got caught up in for a little...(Somebody caught a picture of them). It was really annoying. There were people in my age group. Anyway, I was thinking about it and decided to draft to try to catch up with the group-which I should not have done-...So anyway, I got caught and had a 4 minute penalty, near mile 100. Anyway, I am not proud of my bike, and wish I could do it all over again. Nutrition wise, I had a gu about every 45 minutes, and alternated a honey almond butter bonk buster with a honey stinger waffle about every mile. I also had some endurolytes every hour. I felt dehydrated on the bike, and only urinated near the end of the course. I think part of the dehydration may have been the immodium and ibuprofen, prior to the swim start. It was my first bike under 6 hours- PR bike 5:38:53

The Run

The run was a flat, three time out and back course finishing in the City hall inside the main plaza. I felt great on the first half of the run and ran a 1:45, despite stopping three times. Twice to use the porta potties, and to tear off the wet flapping KT tape. Once to check to see if there were rocks in my shoes-which ended up being blisters.  During the run it poured! It was nice because it cooled down the temps. However it destroyed my feet, with my thin light weight shoes, and uncut toenails. One street turned into a river and waded through water that was half way up to my knee. It was fun like an adventure race. The last out and back, I was in survival mode, and kept trying to calculate each mile to see if I would be under 4 hours. Nutrition for the run included alternating gu and coke, with occasional gatorade. The spectators were rock stars!! Everybody was out cheering, dancing and singing. Love the spectators and volunteers! It was great to see all my friends on the run Barb, Tori, Moka, Curry, Cowboy Ironman, and Ryan. Ended up with a PR run, despite the rain 3:50:51. My Total overall time was 10:37:52. Psyched to be under 10:40. I was seventh in my age group, and 20^th overall (excluding the pros). Overall it was a great event and a very fun trip.

Not sure yet what races I will do next year...Thanks to all my friends and family support training and racing this season! Loved the good luck postcard from my friend Rachel Strate! Thanks Wes Johnson for the great coaching! Thanks Tom Fletcher for the active release therapy!

World Championships 9/11/11

What an amazing race! About 1800 amazing athletes participated from 56 different countries. On Friday morning my friend Tori and I drove to Henderson Nevada to check in for the race. While I went to an athletes meeting my poor friend Tori biked in a 107 degree weather around Lake Mead. We camped out at Lake Mead, and the sleeping bags we brought were not necessary. In the morning we learned that the water that we drank at the campground could be bad for our livers, but hopefully it didn't do to much damage. We woke up to see the beautiful sunrise over Lake Mead, and I went to the practice swim in Lake Las Vegas, while Tori went for a run. I found out the skin suit I bought at Power Tri was not legal, so I ended up getting a funny looking black speed suit, that covered my tri jersey and shorts. The practice swim felt good, except the string that helps pull down the zipper kept hitting my arm, for race day for I tucked the string in. After the swim I went back to the campground, picked up Tori and had an awesome french toast breakfast in a little cafe in Boulder. I love french toast! With a little encouragement Tori convinced me to stay in a hotel with air conditioning, near Lake Las Vegas on Saturday night. We went to a movie, ate dinner at the cheese cake factory.

We woke up early at 4 am, on Sunday. Walking from the parking lot to the race start I began to get nervous. I pumped up my tires, made sure everything in transition was set up, and tried to stay hydrated. We had to exit the transition at 6am, and lined up in age groups. My wave didn't start until 7am. Finally the announcer called for the female 30-34 age group to enter the water. The water temperature was 80 degrees. I loved swimming without a wetsuit! Swimming with a wetsuit, seems to restrict my shoulders. The first half we swam into the sun. The last half, was great except for swimming under a bridge, that I was a little nervous about hitting. My swim time was 33 minutes. After exiting the swim, we ran over blue mats covering the sand to transition. The blue mats made the transition look so official. We had to run our bike uphill about a quarter of a mile on the blue mats, to the start of the bike course.

Thankfully, the temperature was below a hundred and there was not too much wind! The bike course went into Lake Mead National Park and then into the city of Henderson. The bike and run course included a total of 5,200 feet of climbing. I felt fairly strong on the bike, could have made through the aid stations a little more smoothly. Had a honey stinger waffle and 5 gus. The last 15 minutes were the hardest for me. The bike time was 2:49. I transitioned pretty quick but I forgot to take my jersey off and after loosing my jersey in Boulder I ran back to the start and tried to find where my bag was to put my jersey in.

The run was hot with three loops of running-that went something like 1 mile down, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up and a mile down. Alternating between gu and coke helped me stay strong for the run. Reality set in on the last two miles uphill, and I struggled despite the positive mantras. I ended up running an extra 0.7 miles, somehow I missed the turn for the finish.  There crowd offered great support on the run. I would have finished the run at a 1:39, my Boise half run time, but with the extra mileage finished at 1:44. None of my times were a PR, but considering the course, the heat, and a little longer run I was satisfied with a 5:14:14. Also, I think trying to hydrate two days before the race helped me stay out of the medical tent. I am thankful for my friend Tori who came down to support me! It was nice to know somebody was out on the course cheering for me! Also thanks to all the thoughtful texts, face book messages, and phone calls from friends and family members.Also a special coach to my dedicated coach Wes Johnson. Next race is the Cozumel Ironman in November.....

Boulder Half Ironman, August 7, 2011

The great thing about the Boulder half is all the transitions are at the reservoir.  It is very convenient to set up your transitions for the race!  Also there are great bike lanes around Boulder.  The  race turned out better than I thought, considering the anxiety I had about my experience of crashing before the full ironman in St. George, and flatting during the race in St George...My hips were feeling tight and legs a little tired, even though I had been tapering for a few weeks.  My hopes of performing well aslo increased my anxiety.

Race morning I woke up at 4 am to eat my pb, honey and banana sandwich.  Then I was off to find a good place in transition,  to set up my bike.  We were set off in waves, so I started about an hour after the pros.  Trying to remain calm, I watched the beautiful scenery, and  warmed up in the Boulder Reservoir.  The water was the warmest water I have swam in this season.  The gun went off, for my age group, and we were off...Swimming in open water is weird for me, because I have a hard time knowing how far I am into the race.  Near the end of the swim I started to heat up in my full length wet suit.  Also sometimes, my hips hurt in open water.  This open water swim they only ached a few times.  The hip pain was relieved by kicking less.  I think training with paddles helped out my swim.  Turns out I had a PR swim 32:56.

The bike was fast with only a few false flat sections....The first loop, my bike seat was very uncomfortable.  I saw two athletes in my age group pass me on the first loop, which was a little discouraging, but I knew I was biking fast for me.  So I just raced my race.  I realized I had only had one gu and a honey stinger waffle for the first loop, so I started taking in more nutrition.  The second loop, I felt like I was in the zone.  Ended up with a PR bike 2:33.

On the run, I saw another athlete in my age group pass my and I stuck with her until the first hill.  Hills are not my strength.  But my friend Jen always tells me think, "I rock at hills"..The run was on rolling hills on mostly dirt, which was nice for the joints.  Felt pretty solid for most of the run.  The last mile  it was really windy and made a feeble attempt to draft off a male runner.  My Run 1:41, 2 minutes slower than the Boise half..

Went to the med tent again with high respiratory rate.  Ended up getting an IV, the nurse had to poke me four times.  After a few liters I felt renewed.  I knew there were at least three athletes who beat me.  Missed the awards ceremony, but as soon as I was through at the medical tent went over and found I came in 4th in my age group.  Luckily there were four slots for my age group for the World Championships!  I was eighth overall.   World Championships here I come.

I was thrilled to be under 5 hours, for my second time. (My first time under 5 hours was this year in Boise)  My total time 4:52:25....So now I am training for the world championships in Vegas on September 11.  I did the Silverman last year, and know how challenging the course is with wind and hills...I am excited to be racing with so many awesome athletes...Thanks to all my friends, family and the support of my coach Wes Johnson.

Scofield Triathlon, July 16, 2011

Love this race!  Because of all the snow this year, the vegetation around the reservoir was still green.  The swim was point to point, they transported us out 1.75 miles to an island on boats.  Thanks to my friend Rick I made it on the boat.  The swim was nice, because there were not a ton of people.  Sighting was hard because I couldn't see any buoys and the ridge line was hard to pick out anything.  I was zigzagging all over the place.  Final time was 51:56.  My feet are not really tough so I walked up the gravel road, to my bike, one female athlete passed me as I was walking to my bike, so I was hoping to catch her on the bike.

The bike was about 38 miles, and climbs 1500 feet in 4 miles to the highest point 9,415 feet.  Near the end of the bike I finally caught up with the girl that passed me in transition.  We helped push each other to transition.  My bike time was 2:02

In transition I saw the first place girl, and got excited.  Started out the run too fast, trying to stay up with her, but she was cruising on the run and I changed my goal to keep her in sight.  The run was a fairly flat 10 mile run along the reservoir, but it felt harder than the Boise half.  It was windy in a few section, with a few false flats.  My inner quads were sore for the first few miles after the run.  I managed to stay in second.  My run time was 1:19:58, about an 8 min mile pace.  Which at first was a little discouraging, but considering the elevation gain on the bike, I am okay with the time.   

Boise Half Ironman, June 11 2011

After the Saint George Ironman, my motivation went downhill.  I took a few weeks recovery, went on a climbing trip to Moab, and then started training for Boise, determined to have a better race than St George.  I felt like Saint George there was some force out to defeat me, but that couldn't happen for two races in a row.  Went to a great day camp in Boise put on by Wes Johnson and with some of my triathalon friends.   I felt strong on the bike and run.  Race day I was not anxious like at Saint George.  Other than freezing cold water, the swim went smooth.  Oh yeah I also struggled removing my wetsuit.  It was hilarious, my hands were both stuck in the sleeves and I had the cap and goggles in my mouth, the wet suit strippers even had a hard time removing the suit....  I loved the bike, a few hills and some wind.  The wind was nothing like last years wind.  The run was flat and beautiful, running by a creek.  I set a PR in the bike, swim and run. Swim split 34:05, bike split 2:38, run split 1:39.  My overall time was 4:57. (My last years time was 5:09)   Thanks to my Coach Wes Johnson and to all my friends.  After the race I went to the medical tent, again, with high respiratory rate, which resolved fairly quickly.  I was thrilled to be under five hours!  Fourth in my age group, and sixth overall but I didn't qualify for the Half Ironman World Championships, because there were only three slots in my age group.  So I set my eyes on the Boulder Half Ironman.

Saint George Ironman 2011, May 7

Saint George was my fifth ironman.  I raced Saint George Ironman last year, but froze in the water, and had a really slow bike time  I trained hard over the winter and was excited, and hoped I might qualify for Kona.  I went to two excellent triathlon camps in St. George and in Henderson.  I did a half ironman, Showdown at Sunset, a few months prior to the race.  The swim was cancelled and I didn't have the best race, so I was a little discouraged.   However, I had an awesome salt lake half marathon 1:28.  Also, the week before the race I did the spring sprint tri, and came in first which renewed some confidence, for the ironman.  Little did I know that I was headed to one of the most stressful races, I have ever raced in so far. 

Two days prior to the race I was at the expo, I lost my keys.  After about an hour of stressing, I found my keys and needed to relax.  I called my friend Chris to see if he would join me for an easy swim and bike ride.  The swim went well in Sand Hollow Reservoir, even though open water swimming is not my strength.  The water was so much warmer than last year!  Then Chris and I jumped onto our bikes.  Just as I was exiting the park I think I hit a speed bump wrong, and had my first bike crash.  Lying on the ground I was in shock, not sure what happened, and my nose was bleeding.  Chris realized I wasn't behind him and turned back to find me on the ground.  Chris was my good Samaritan that day, making sure I was allright physically and being supportive with all my emotions, and logistics with my bike.  I finally got up onto my bike and realized I had no seat.   I also had road rash on my upper back, left hip and leg.  My first concern was my bike.   So Chris took me to the bike store, and they could not put the seat on my bike.  I didn't know what to do, I loved my ISM seat, and didn't want the seats that they had in the Saint George shop.  So I made some phone calls.  Luckily my dear friend Liz was driving up from Salt Lake City and picked up an ISM seat at Millcreek Cyclery.  Which helped my anxiety.  So Chris and I went to the athletes meeting, and met up with our GT friends.  The road rash was painful.   Thanks to some suggestions, Jen and I went to WallGreens and bought some tegaderm.  Jen, tried scrubbing some of the road rash, but it was pretty painful, so that didn't last long.  Then she helped my apply tegaderm all over my back.  Good thing I brought two helmets, because the helmet I wanted to use was busted...

The next morning, thought I would try swimming, it was painful putting a wetsuit on.  But the tegaderm helped, and made it possible.  Then I went to the bike store and they put on my seat.  It was crooked, and they told me I would need a new stem.  I tried riding my bike around the parking lot and thought it would work, but I didn't get in the aero position.  So I headed to transition to turn in my bike for the race.  During the test ride in aero position I realized it would be extremely painful to ride, with a crooked seat.  What to do?  I made some phone calls, and my  friend Liz knew Suzanne coming up from Salt Lake who was able to retrieve a bike stem from Millcreek Cyclery.  Talking on the phone with the bike store they were telling me that I would need a hacksaw for the bike stem and they would give me directions to install the stem.  My friend Moka's parents found somebody to borrow a hacksaw to fix my bike stem.  That night I was a wreck emotionally, and not able to sleep because of the road rash. 

RACE MORNING
I woke up early 4:15 and Moka's Mom (My GT mom), made me the best french toast ever!  Probably the highlight of my day.  Anyway, made the 5 o'clock bus and headed to the race start with a hacksaw and bike stem in my hand.  I went to the bike technicians with apprehension, and anxiety.  Thankfully they fixed my bike seat, without much trouble.  The preparation felt rushed, between port-o-potties and air pumps, sunscreen, body glide, and painfully pulling on my wetsuit over my road rashed body

THE SWIM
I was kind of far back as we funneled together, and I saw my friend Chris which was very comforting, and I started to get excited, with the music pumping....I was nervous about somebody kicking me, because my ribs were bruised, so I tried swimming on the outskirts.  The swim was pretty miserable with the road rash, I tried to swim steady.  I was excited for the painful swim to be over...1:09:19 (About the same time as last year 1:09:17)

THE BIKE
Happy to be out of the water, I transitioned quickly, maybe a little too quickly.  Forgot to take the Imodium and ibuprofen...I was hoping to take about an hour of my bike time from last year.  Things started out smoothly...Then at mile 15, I realized I had a flat.  No way, the first flat that I have had in a race!  I cried, and wanted to quit, was anything going to go right...I watched all envious of all the bikers zooming past me, and my heart sunk...Unfortunately I had put my cartridge and my pump in the bottom of my organized bento box.  Because I am not skilled at opening gus and biking simultaneously I open all my gus prior to the race.  Therefore, as I was trying to get the cartridges, I got gu all over my hands.  My electrolytes spread everywhere in my bento box.  Good thing I had a spare tire, in case I had another flat...I probably took longer than I should have to change my tire, and prayed that I wouldn't pinch the new tube.  Finally I was ready to rock and roll, I kept reinforcing myself that the race was not over and I could still get a good time.  My bike computer stopped  working, and my garmin was destroyed by the swim, and so I had no idea how fast I was going.  The first loop I was feeling good, the second loop I was tired, but still able to keep a pretty good pace...6:13:47   (Beat my time from last year by about an hour 7:16:40)

THE RUN
My mantra on the run was light on my feet, quick turnover, fast like a cheetah..Not sure that any amount of wisdom and positive mantras can prepared me to deal with the mental and physical difficulty of running out of gas during the run in 90+ degrees...I rushed in the transition and forgot some vital things-sunscreen, my visor, Imodium and ibuprofen.  I think I was rushed because I was excited about my bike and was too anxious to start running a marathon.    I realized I had forgotten all these things at mile one with the sun beating down on my tired body.  My hip was killing me to run.  I had to use the bathroom the first 3 aid stations.  Why had I forgotten the immodium?   Dehydrated at every aide station I quickly scarfed gus, coke, and water trying to regain my energy.  However, I knew I was running slow.  Thankfully in my half way bag, I had some ibuprofen, Imodium and a visor; which helped a ton.  Felt way better on the second loop, I only had to use the bathroom once and my hip was not as painful.  However, I knew I was nowhere near my goal of 4 hours...My run ended up being 4:27 (slower than the previous year 4:11)  I had finally crossed the finish line in 11:56:51 (last years time was 12:46:01)-I was an Ironman for the fifth time, it was no fluke.  I had pushed my mental and physical limits.  I had finished one of the hardest ironman courses in the world on a hot day, under 12 hours. 

Went to the medical tent, I had burns over my road rash and yellow gu, seeping from all the tegaderm, and my respiratory rate was out of control (which happens at most of my longer races).   After recovering grabbed some food, and realized how much pain I was in...It was hardest race mentally, I was discouraged that I hadn't don better, I was hoping to be at 11:30.  I was thankful for all the support from my GT friends, GT mom, and coach Wes Johnson!! Not sure if I would have finished the race without all their support.  I haven't decided whether I'll be going back next year.  After two hard races at Saint George, it makes it hard to be excited to do the race again.   I know they have made the run easier.  I think I learn from every race, especially the hard races.  Sometimes experience is the best teacher.

I like this quote by a 13 year old in in a tri magazine, "They call us triathletes.  But we are more.  It takes far more than just a swim lesson, a bike stroll, and a jog.  To swim, bike and run is an understatement.  As triathletes we must work hard to strengthen our minds and bodies.  So that when race day comes we will be prepared for the journey of growth awaiting us.  To be a triathlete you must be able to focus on the futue.  Not dwelling on the past problems.  But to be able to stand up to our fears and humble ourselves so that we may perform our best."