St George 70.3

WOW!! What a race!! I could not believe how perfect the weather was! I've done St George 140.6 the last 3 years and  oh my gosh...the weather was never right. First year..Hypothermia from freezing water. Second year: too hot! Crazy heat exhaustion. Third year: WIND! Like MAD wind!! Titans were released in Sand Hollow reservoir to swallow all the poor athletes. So this year had NO choice but to treat us well, right?

 Pre-race snack :)

Evey one knows swimming is NOT my strong point.. but I really thought I could get around 35 minutes on the swim. Well, One week before I took a spill on my bike which caused "reach" issues. My shoulder was screaming the whole time.  So the swim wasn't great but oh well.

My bike, Oh my NEW beautiful bike, Rockit was GREAT!!  I felt like my Nutrition was right on. As hard as it was, I followed my coaches (James Lawrence) instructions to hold back on the bike so I could KILL the run. Oh man, its hard to hold back!! I was chatting with everyone who passed or I passed. I think I drive other athletes crazy with my chattiness.. :) My bike ended up being 2:50 . Perfect! Just what James had told me to do !!

















YES!!! Time to RUN!!! St George run course is one hilly playground! WOW!! Mattie was out cheering me on in several different areas of the run course. I always looked forward to seeing him and ran just a little faster. He was so great and supportive ALL DAY!! The goal was to keep my miles sub 7 on that beast. Well, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! Finished at 1:31! Love it when my nutrition is on!! My hip was buggin a bit from my crash the week before but still got my goal. I ended up having the fastest amateur run split for women. I was SHOCKED!!

My total time was 5:09. Unfortunately not quite fast enough to go to Worlds. Had I been in any other age group I my time would have gotten me there. Bummer!! But all in all .. I was very happy with my race!

WOW! Last year was crazy! After hard work in NOT training. (yes, its hard NOT to go train!)  Actually letting my body recover and then training RIGHT... I finally got my goals! I wanted a sub 11 Ironman. I wanted to be able to to an Ironman and actually RUN (not walk AT ALL) the marathon portion. I wanted to do a half Ironman and hit the run at 1:30. Its amazing what training right can do.

 



Lake Havasu Half Ironman was in the middle of Nov. What a crew we had! My bestie, Kristi was competing in her 1st tri EVER! yes, right into a half ironman :) LOVE IT!! James (my coach) was competing in his 27th full Ironman for the year and pulling a 16 year old boy named Dayton with cerebral palsy.
With not much time, James had put me on a great schedule to crush this race! His words "the course is super flat" hence the reason he was pulling Dayton ..
 The swim went nicely and then off to the bike. So, wait, I MUST be on the WRONG course cause all i see are HILLS!! No worries, what goes up must come down right?? Well, yes  BUT every down was with a sharp turn to the next hill so you never really could just fly down I LOVE hills! Just wasn't expecting them is all :)

 The run I felt AMAZING in my Altra shoes!! We ran up the actual LONDON BRIDGE!  Yes, it was moved to Arizona for some strange reason :/ So running UP the 50 stairs then back DOWN, under the overpass to get to the other side of the bridge, then back UP! FUUUN!! I LOVE variety! fairly flat run. Repeated the London bridge part at the end to get to the finish. running a 1:30 half  Marathon! and gosh felt GREAT! My nutrition was perfect... hanks to my coach!  1st place baby!!
Kristi was not far behind. Coming in 2nd place ! So fun to "podium" with my bestie!

 The half is over and all the full racers are out. the bike was HARD pulling a cart for James with all those hills. We are all there for transition to support. He looks TIRED.  Knowing the stairs he'd have to go up and down I decided to go out with him for a little while and help. Well, 16 miles later... I decide 30 of  miles running was probably good :) James finished in time for the cut off and man oh man, it was an amazing day!
   

Palm Springs FULL Ironman!

Its here, the full ironman I needed for redemption of my mind for that horrifying performance in St George :)

Once again with the IRON COWBOYS crazy crew! The day started great! I had Matt at my side helping me get set up and ready to go. The swim was 4 loops!! What the?? right?! So everytime you had to get out of the water and cross the line and then go right back in. Different. but different is fun too :)

Onto the bike I go (which is 3 loops). I like that cause then I get to see the crowd more. Bike was going great! Flat flat flat road baby!! then at mile 45 (so on my second loop) a car decides to back up into me and take me out ..uuum ouch! Stuff scattered everywhere, heart bounding cause im scared out of my mind! Pull it together and jump back on and GOOOO!!  After going for about 5 miles I feel SO tired from pushing so hard and not going fast I realize my brake was jammed into my wheel. LOL . erg... no such thing as "perfect" race day i guess.. 

I get to the 3rd loop and grab some Ibuprofen to ease the pain of the wreck.  That never settles good on my tummy. Bike was 5 hours and 25 min (ish) now off to the RUN!!!!

I'm not happy with my hip right from the beginning but I determined to RUN that marathon! It was about 85 degrees out. Matt came out when he could to be my number one cheer leader! there was only to porta-potties on the course but 2 loops so we had them at mile 1,6,13, 18 hmmm.. not enough.. maybe too much info but I didn't get any of those spots and had 4 potty stops (so sorry for the citizens on Palm springs )

I finished the run strong in my Altra shoes and my only stops were for the potty so i was SUPER happy with that!  Finishing with a time of 10:38!   YAY!! I got my goal!! Finally!! and 2nd place female :)

 Utah Half Iron

Over a summer of confusion of what was going on with my body I came to find out I had "adrenal fatigue" adrenal WHAT? yeah my thoughts exactly. I was tired.. I was weak.. everything made my body sore... this is NOT me!! My coach, James Lawrence put me on a 2 week break. ummm... yeah, I dont do good with "breaks" . But my body feeling SO off I was willing to do anything to get it back. I listened! I even surprised myself with how well I listened..

The 2 weeks passed... slowly but they passed... Utah half was now 2 weeks away..
So, Utah half iron was not in my plans. Now James works in mysterious ways. He tells me 1 week before.. "oh your using that as a TRAINING day. Keeping your heart rate low. Finish the race and continue to run 7 more miles" Now you see why I love the guy! Give me MORE running!
Training day it is! The swim went well, slow but that was the plan. instead of 1.2 miles it was about 1.4. Felt great!

       Off to my cute pink bike! Needed to keep my heart rate below 140 BPM. So I feel sorry for this poor girl next to me. This was me first time meeting her. I chatted her ears off!! Thats what happens when my heart rate is low.. lol! she seemed to enjoy the company but she might have just been being nice :)
  WOW!!! My legs feel so fresh getting off and starting my 13.1 ..oh wait, 20 mile run!! My nutrition was right on! finished my 2 loops and went to grab my girls who were helping at aid station #1, to cross the finish line with me. 5:24 was my time 2nd in my age and 7th overall and holy crap... still felt GREAT!!!  My last 7 miles weren't as solid as they should have been, do to me talking and cheering for the athlete out on the course. but I got them done! Theat was the furthest I had ran in my new Altra shoes. This is not a "like" relationship I have with my Atras...its a "LOVE!!" :)
GREAT day! James really really dialed in my nutrition! Ive never felt that good after a long training day! IM BACK TO FEELING MYSELF!! YAY!!
Fueling up at the finish for my addition 7 miles..

St George Ironman

Well, yes, It’s been a few months! But still need to report on that ummm.. Awesome day...? Jk. It actually was quite a crazy but good experience.
The morning of the race, I felt AMAZING! I had trained hard and actually tapered (Im typically not good at tapering) I felt very really to reach my goal of a sup11 hour race.  The weather was perfect, lake was calm, Lake temp. was quite comfortable and I was ready to go!

Entering the water  and treading water for about 15 minute before the gun fired with thousands of athletes, I felt surprisingly very calm. BOOM! We are off... about 15-20 minutes into I feel, what felt like rain. weird. the sky was clear. Finally I pop my head up to look around. I see faces of panic and hear screams. The titans of sand hollow had been released. 5 foot swells coming down on us. Swimmers, paddle boarder, kayaks and boats were losing control. Im pretty comfortable in waves. what got my heart racing we other swimmer grabbing me and seeing their panic.
 
Continuing on my very long long swim, I feel a little brushing over me. Ignoring it thinking its a swimmer a little too close. umm..not going away. stop once again, turn around and WHACK!! A kayak with no control trying to get a swimmer out of the water hits me goes right over me. Coughing like a chain smoker! could not stop. coughed so hard I threw up. ugg.. threw up 2 more times after that in the water. Weak and tired. I see a buoy way past the Island but also see the athletes going right to the finish. What? What about the other buoy people? as much as I wanted to cut, I went out to that last buoy. then slowly made it to the swim finish..
Out of the water AT LAST!! I ask " does that really say 2 hours? " the reply "yup!" you made the cut off! I started to laugh out loud! I’ve made fun of the allotted swim time for an Ironman so many times and here, I barely made it!! Yeah, that’s what I get, right?

Biking at last! So My tummy is still hurting from coughing and throwing up. Wind still going about 30-35 mph. Oh well, get over it and keep peddling. Nutrition is what I need! Grab my drink LOADED with calories. Big swig! Yucky, but I need it. Oh, 1 minute later that come up. 20 minutes later.. waffle … up it came. Try try again. Same result. Needless to say, over the 112 miles. I was able to keep my 3 licorice down and some water the last 30 miles.

Now for the MARATHON with only 3 licorice and 10 hours of exercise already. My hubby said “ go get that 3 hour marathon babe!” He was serious.... But I just laughed at him!

 Yes this is him pointing at me saying "go get that sub 3!"


The course contains 3 loops. Loop one, great! Faster then I thought id be with my fuel level. Lap 2. Tried to drink and well, yeah, do I even need to say what happened? Lap 3. getting DARK! Trying to sip something at every aid station. So many family members and friends out there just trying to see me cross that finish line. CANT… STOP!! But I also can’t stop throwing up. One of the times Im over the curb just dry heaving and surrounded by medics. A boy around 9 or 10 was staring at me. I looked at him and said with enthusiasm “ this is SO much fun!! Are you going to do an Ironman when you grow up?” He got a weird, disgusted look on his face and nodded his head side to side. Made me chuckle J
There is is.. the FINISH LINE!! I crossed with my hands in the air. So excited to finally be done. I did get one P.R. that day…. LONGEST WORK OUT I HAVE EVER DONE!!!! 14:58
But I finished. I didn’t cut any buoys. I laughed. I cried. I remembered why I do what I do. Because I CAN!

Training BLOWS!

13 weeks til the BIG DAY! ITS COLD OUT!!! Good thing I have some crazy friends!  Now one things to watch out for when riding in a group in the cold weather.... FARMER BLOWS!! Yes! I've been hit! GROSSNESS!! but its all part of the fun of training   :)
Sickness has struck my house. Coughing Sneezing, Fevers...you name it. The last 2 weeks my nose is running faster then my legs ever will! REST! REST! REST! Is all i hear but its SOOOO hard!  Panic mode kicks in when I think about resting. I cant help looking at my training plan and NOT doing what is on there. I did cut my hours last week. Only did 14 hours. ahhh!! and they weren't very intense. This week calls for 19 hours. How can I rest when its only 13 weeks away?
The cold weather is bearable. I think my ride around Utah lake is what did my lungs in. We started at 9 AM and its was 22 degrees out. Not the best on the lungs... but a fun ride!
My lungs will heel! training will get better! Lets get out there and keep kick'n.....ASH!!!

St George Marathon Oct.1 2011

My Favorite Marathon!! St George marathon holds a special place in my heart. I will always try to race this one! This was at least number 9 for St George so I thought it is about time i shoot for a sub 3! That is holding a 6:52 minute mile to achieve that goal.
With alot of speed work training and getting all my miles in i feel ready to rock this race. injury free before a marathon race for the first time! wow! I made it!! almost... 2 weeks before I dropped a drawer on my foot! a freakin DRAWER! No worries just swollen and sore...
RACE DAY...  woke up to my phone ringing with my ride out side. AHH!! Had my alarm set for PM not AM. AHH!! bad start.
Arrive at the start line at 615 am. 30 minutes til the gun shot. Perfect weather as we waited for the start. didn't need to be by the fires which was good cuz i had to be in the line for the port-a-potty.  Due to the late wake up I hadnt even peeped at this point (T.M.I. I know..) and if your a running, You know how important that morning bathroom time is.... enough said :)
got outta the potty 6:43 run to the elite starting corral... gunshot! It's on!!
Felt amazing. My friend kept telling me to slow down. "no need for a 6:20-30 mile right now" he kept saying. but i felt SO good!! but he knows more about this stuff so i listened... 
mile 13. time 1:29.. Potty- shoot. got out at 1:31 still right on my time cuz in St George you should always negative split or you did something wrong! so I've got this right? hmm...
Crushed the next 7 miles averaged 6:33. Mile 20- potty yup agian.... 23 potty...seriously? seriously!  I knew i couldnt hit my goal...Crossed the finish line at 3:04 . Although it wasnt my goal. I still P.R.'d! i flet so good after the race!

Couldnt believe I the way my body recovered. typically the day after walking fast HURTS but I do it just to losen up. i started my walk and felt amazing..so I broke the rules and jogged  at a easy 10 minute mile for 5 miles. I've never been able to do that the day after. I didnt get my sub 3.. but my bady is so ready for it ! Cant wait for my next chance!

Utah half Ironman August 2011

Flat, fast and LOCAL race! Perfect to shoot for my sub 5 half ironman. had been doing crossfit for about 7 weeks prior to this race. I've Heard reat things about how it can really cut training time down so didn't do near as much "training" that I would typically do for a Half Iron... Had to see how it would work for race day...
the swim i felt AMAZING!! and i'm not much of a swimmer! got outta the water at 33 minutes. (for me, is GOOD!!)

Slapped on my gear in T1.   ready for a ride full of sunshine! Laughing and getting to know those racers around me. i had a Blast! Not pushing speed too much holding about 21 miles per hour. Finished the bike at exactly 2:30! Stocked! . Time to RUN!!!!

My goal was a 1:45 half marathon.. Had a bunch of my friends out cheering my on. Thats always motivating to tr to look like your not struggling :)
kept my slow steady pace pretty good. I finished at 4 hours and 57 minutes. I got it! my sub 5!!

1st in my age and 9th overall. Super happy with that!!