Front Porch Sitting

Everything I need is on my front porch; I mean seriously, that sounds like a country song!  I’m a country girl and I love being outside.  But after several different jobs I’ve settled into an office job.  An INSIDE office job, doesn’t that sound so grown up? 

But at heart I feel like a child and I long to be outdoors more often.  In fact, right now I’m sitting on my front porch in 90 degree heat writing this post.  I went to college, worked hard at my job, got advanced degrees and moved up the ladder to a job I love only to discover my favorite place in the world is my front porch

TriAggieland Race Report

This is one of my favorite races.  I love College Station and the Natatorium is amazing.  I completed this race in 2013 so I was excited to compare results.

Swim (400M):  10:31

The swim is in a 50 meter pool, which is great for pool swims because you never face oncoming traffic.  Although, I put down an ambitious swim time I was still #255.  Because I started so far back I didn’t warm-up.  Then while standing around talking to my husband before I started we decided I should just go ahead and start.  Big Mistake!  I had a horrible swim.  I wasn’t ready mentally and I wasn’t warmed up.  I was just starting to feel good toward the end of the swim.

Bike (12 miles) 35:55

I knew the bike course was flat and I was hoping it wasn’t windy.  There were a lot of turns and it was a little congested at times.  On the back side of the course there was a long straightway where we had a slight tail wind.  I felt like I was flying on my Zipp 404s!  I crushed my bike!  My average was 19.4 mph!

 

Run (5K) 24:07

The run was 2 loops.  I felt good and kept a high cadence.  It was hot but I was able to push though.  There were also kids that had super soakers filled with ice cold water.  I usually hate getting sprayed with water but the ice cold water felt pretty good!

Overall 1:12:30, 4^th/43 in AG

I placed 4^th in my age group.  I was aiming for a podium finish (top 3) but I did great.  It was the swim that killed me.  Oh well, lesson learned, I need to warm up!

I really enjoy this race.  It’s great for beginners and the staff/volunteers are very nice.  I high recommend you add this race to your 2016 calendar.  They also post FREE race pictures! J

 

 

2015 Sunrise #3 Race Report

I love this race series.  They are small, low key, and everyone is really nice.  This was also my first race after IMTX last year so I was excited to compare results. 

 

Pre-Race Week

I started strength training on Monday and I was really sore all week.  I still managed to get most of my workouts completed.  Deep down inside I was nervous about this race.

 

Race Day

I met my friends, Andrea and Christina, at 5:15 a.m. We visited during the 1 hour 15 minute drive and they helped me take my mind off the race.  This race has a pool swim so Suzie, a friend and NET athlete, and I go in a good warm up swim.  I was so tight after the warm up and I felt tired.

 

Swim – 450 yard

Suzie and I started in the perfect place, we didn’t pass anyone and we didn’t get passed.  I had a great swim; I was calm and relaxed the entire time.  My time was about 1 minute faster than last year.  T1 was also very fast and I decided to go sockless.

 

Bike – 15 miles

Last year my cycling improved tremendously and I often over biked during races.  Therefore, my run suffered.  On my last visit to The TriShop in Plano, TX my bike fitter told me, “You know a triathlon is really a runner’s race with a swim and bike before.”  So this year I have decided to hold back on the bike and focus on the run.

 

Last year at this race I averaged 18.0 mph and I pushed hard.  I was thinking, “Man 15 miles is nothing compared to 112 miles!”  This year I had a great bike, I didn’t every feel uncomfortable or like I was pushing too hard.  I averaged 18.3 mph and it felt good! I made sure I took in enough Powerbar Perform.  My T2 time was great and I couldn’t wait to get out on the run course.

 

Run – 5K

OK, this is where my race fell apart last year.  I was reduced to walking and I was miserable.  My average pace was 8:47 min/mile.  Well, that was not the case this year.  I felt great and I didn’t have to stop.  I concentrated on keeping a high cadence and running relaxed.  My average pace was 8:11 min/mile.  I wore new shoes without socks and I didn’t even get a blister.

 

Overall – 1:26:04

I won my age-group but more importantly my time was 4 minutes faster than last year!  I had a great race and I was so happy to get to share the experience with my friends.

 

My determination and hard work paid off and I’m excited to see more improvement!

Be Excellent

Getting over not finishing Ironman Texas has been more of a mental struggle than a physical struggle.  It’s like a mosquito that’s always buzzing in my ear while I’m trying to sit on the porch and read a good book.

Last year after successfully completing IMTX I was blissfully content.  I lazed away my days for about a month.  When I did start to work out again there was no sense of urgency.

This year I’m not sitting around crying about not finishing IMTX, rather it’s created a definite sense of urgency.  An urgency to be excellent.

“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”  -Aristotle.

2015 Ironman Texas Race Report

Ironman was May 16 and today is May 28; I’m just now looking at the results.  There it is in all caps, DNF.  It brings tears to my eyes; I can’t believe that it happened to me.  But let’s take a look back at the race.

Thursday – We drove down to The Woodlands and checked in and dropped my bike off to get race wheels.  The weather leading up to the race was terrible; it had rained every day for several days.  I was just not feeling good about this race.  I was ready to get it over with so that I could get back to racing.  We ate at Grimaldi’s Pizza for lunch, I sipped on Perform and we ate at the Welcome Banquet that night.

Friday – I met up with Julie and Suzie and we went out and did the practice swim.  The water was cold and I had a hard time finding my rhythm so I didn’t swim far.  I went back and picked up my bike and went to check it in.  The Zipp 404s looked good!  The transition area was a stinky mud pit!  I didn’t want to walk or roll my bike through all the mud.  I asked if they were going to put down mats in the muddiest areas and I was rudely told that I was an Ironman that I needed to deal with it.  I can deal with mud but for what I paid to enter the race I was expecting top-notch facilities.  Anyway, Julie and I debated on what we were going to do.   We found out they were putting out kiddy pools for us to rinse our feet off.  So I decided to carry my shoes and bike through the mud, rinse my feet off, and put on my socks and shoes.  John and I ate lunch at Grimaldi’s Pizza again.  We headed back to the hotel where I rested, snacked on Goldfish, and sipped on Perform.  We met with the NET group that evening for diner at Jason’s Deli.

Saturday – I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to take a quick shower and warm up my oatmeal.  I had everything packed up and ready and we left the hotel around 5:00 a.m.  Julie hitched a ride to the race with us!  We had no trouble parking and we planned to meet Suzie in transition because she brought an air pump.  Transition was so nasty!  It was muddy and stinky!  I didn’t spend long getting all my gear situated and we met back up with John outside transition.  We began the mile long walk to the swim start. 

Swim - At the swim start we met our NET group and took a few pictures.  This year the swim was a rolling start not a mass start.  I wasn’t happy about it because there is just something impressive about being in the water with 2800 people, the cannon going off, and everyone taking off.  Based on my 70.3 swim time I estimated I would swim around a 1:50.  My plan was to start with the 1:30-1:40 group and try to draft off faster swimmers without getting kicked in the face.  The swim was brutal, I’ve never been hit that much!  The men had a hard time swimming straight or they would pass me (while hitting me), get in front of me and slow down.  Or maybe I was just doing a good job drafting.  After the first turn buoy the swimmers got more spread out and it wasn’t as crowded.  However, when I made the turn into the canal the swimmers who wore wetsuits started to catch me.  The canal was brutal.  I was tired and it was crowded.  During the whole swim I stayed calm and kept a good rhythm.  I only swam head up three times because my watch strap kept coming loose.  Finally, I made it to the swim exit.  I felt great and when I looked down at my Garmin it said 1:39!  I executed my plan perfectly, I was able to draft and I still had all my teeth! I was stoked, that was 2 minutes faster than last year when I got to wear a wetsuit.  I wasn’t even winded coming out of the water.

T1 – While I was in the changing tent I was calm and felt great.  I decided to put my socks in my bike shoes and stick them in front of my tri shorts so my hands would be free to carry my bike.  Yes, I carried my bike over my shoulder through the mud!  I felt like an Ironman! There was a nice boy who volunteered to hold my bike while I rinsed my feet off in the pool.  When I went to put on my socks and shoes I noticed that I had lost a sock!  It was decision time, do I wear 1 sock?  Or no socks?  I decided to wear the 1 sock just in case I started getting a blister on my other foot and I could just stop and switch the sock over. 

Bike – So off I went with 1 sock!  Haha!  Thankfully I had purchased new tri specific bike shoes and going sockless was no problem.  I put 2 bottles of Perform and 2 bottles of water on my bike.  I started drinking the Perform right off the bat.  I was determined to pee at least twice on the bike (last year I didn’t pee the entire race).  Around mile 8 I passed Kasey who had a flat, I asked if she needed help but she said she was fine.  My plan was to take it easy the first half because we would have a head wind coming back in.  I was going fast but I wasn’t pushing hard and a ton of people were flying by me.  I felt good on the bike, the last 20 miles were hard, but I felt way better than I did last year.  I also used the bathroom 3 times.  Around mile 80 the Gatorade started making me feel yucky; the orange flavor was just too sweet.  I started taking salt tablets instead.  Before I knew it I was at the dismount line. I was so happy because I felt so much better than last year and my time was better.  It was 7:13 compared to 7:54 from last year.

T2 - Then I hit the transition area that stunk badly and I started throwing up uncontrollably.  I was in shock, I’m never sick to my stomach.  I mean, I’ve only had the stomach virus once my entire life!  Another athlete stopped and got me stand back up and start walking.  I made it to the changing tent and I felt fine.  I had a small bottle of Coca-Cola in my run bag and a volunteer got me some ice.  I felt good and my stomach had calmed down.  Thankfully, I had also put another pair of socks in my bag.  I changed tops and applied lots of Body Glide before heading out.  I was concerned about being sick but I decided to try to get through a couple of aid stations, take in some Gatorade and Cola, and see if I could keep it down. 

Run – I saw John, Andrea, and Ginger and when I stopped to talk to them I got sick again.  They gave me some water to rinse my mouth out and I carried on.  I wasn’t sick again and I was able to drink Gatorade and Cola.  I also started taking in salt.  It was getting very hot and I was just plain miserable.  Early into my first loop I found Alan, he’s a local and he was kinda of like a tour guide.  Even though we were on the most miserable tour ever, he kept me entertained! We would walk and run, I felt good.  Andrea also walked about 4-5 miles with me.  She would make sure I took in plenty of fluids/nutrition at the aid stations.  The run was the most miserable I have ever been.  It was so humid, I put ice down my pants, in my bra, and under the towel I had on my neck.  During the run I was focused to beat my time from last year.  I was about an hour ahead.  Then it all fell apart.  I don’t even remember what happened.  I remember walking with a medic and she was talking to me.  I stumbled and fell then a guy starting talking about pulling me off the course.  He sat me down and shined a light in my eyes.  That is the last thing I remember about the race.  I was at mile 18.6 when I was pulled.

Post-race – I was taken to Memorial Hermann hospital and it was determined that my sodium levels were dangerously low (Hyponatremia).  The doctors were concerned that I would start having seizures or my brain would start swelling.  I was also very agitated and confused.  I tried to take off all the monitors and IV, ride my bike and finish the race for hours while I was in the ER.  The doctors would ask me where I was and I would tell them that I was at Ironman.  I was also still very nauseous.  My family and friends were so scared.  Finally, I started to get back to normal and I was moved into ICU around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.  I had to stay in ICU until Tuesday afternoon.  I never knew that I had such a great family and group of friends until this unfortunate event.  Everyone wasn’t just concerned about my physical health but my mental health.  It didn’t bother me (well maybe just a little) that I didn’t finish because I knew that I had given it everything.  Heck, to me I finished that Ironman in the ER! 

Now it’s two weeks later and I’m starting to get emotional.  I know that I’m an Ironman (I finished last year) and I gave it my all.  I didn’t stop because I was tired or miserable.  Before the race I had already made up my mind that I wasn’t doing IMTX next year because I missed racing shorter races.  But it’s still there, DNF.  I’m OK with my performance but I’m not satisfied.  But, it’s something I’m going to have accept and learn from, no matter what I will never get to finish that race.  I think the hardest thing is that it was out of my control.  Through this journey I have learned a lot about myself.  I like to go fast, pass people, and compete for age group awards.  I enjoy working out but this year the training for Ironman was grueling and it wasn’t as magical as last year.  I was no longer an Ironman virgin, but a jaded veteran who knew what was about to transpire on race day.  Ironman is the toughest thing I’ve ever done, physically but especially mentally.  During that 17 hours you are having this one long continuous conversation with yourself.  I said it last year and I will say it again, you find out what you are truly made of.

Just yesterday a fellow athlete posted this quote on Facebook:  “We embrace the hand we’ve been dealt because we know the dealer and he never deals badly.” – John Piper

Now it’s time to put this behind me, move on and use my new found hunger to get fast!

IMTX Packing List

We leave for The Woodlands and Ironman Texas in 1 week!!!! Yikes!  I need to start making my packing list.  Here’s an idea of all the equipment I will need.

Swim

Sports bra

Shorts

Clear goggles (to use if overcast)

Tinted goggles (to use if sunny)

Garmin watch

Timex watch

Swim cap

Hair ties

Wet suit (just in case it’s wetsuit legal)

Speed suit (to use if it’s not wetsuit legal)

Body glide

GU gel (to eat before we start)

Powerbar Perform (to drink before we start)

Blister Bandaids (don’t even ask what these are for! J)

Timing chip

Safety pins

 Bike

Bike

Helmet

Bike shoes

Bike jersey

Socks

Sunglasses

Sun screen

Small bottle of Coca-cola (sometimes I feel nauseous after I swim)

Dramamine

2 bags of GU chomps

2 packs of peanut butter crackers

Peanut M&Ms

GPS tracker

Small towel (in case I need to wipe my face off)

Hair ties (extra in case something happens to mine during the swim)

Aquaphor (you never know if you may need this)

Bento box (will be on bike with Dramamine, bandaids, aquaphor)

Tire repair kit (will be on bike)

2 bottles of water (will be on bike)

2 bottles of Gatorade (will be on bike)

Bike special needs bag (picked up around mile 60-70)

Small bottle of coca-cola

Famous Amos cookies

Peanut M&Ms

Extra tube

Extra CO2 cartridges

Run

Run shoes

Tri top

Socks

Visor

Hair ties

Belt with race number

Small coca-cola

Small towel

Body glide

Aquaphor

 

Run special needs

Light (it gets dark on the back side of the course because there are not any lights)

 

2015 IMTX 70.3 Race Report

Pre-Race

I felt unprepared for the race.  I had only had 1 open water swim and it did not go so well.  I had injured my knee and I hadn’t run for 2 weeks.  I have been working on my dissertation and I’ve just plain been busy. 

 

We decided to drive down to Galveston late Friday afternoon.  We slept late and had a great breakfast at the hotel.  It rained most of the day Saturday, but it finally stopped around 2:00 pm and I went to packet pick-up and bike-check in.  The lines were long and we had to hurry to get ready for our NET dinner.  The NET dinner was the best part of the trip.  We laughed at all the crazy things that had happened to us during training!  It was well worth the trip just to get so see all my NET family!

 

Race Day

I got up at 5:00 a.m. to eat my breakfast, but I was just not feeling it.  I texted Julie to make sure she was awake and she told me that the race was not wetsuit legal but it was wetsuit optional.  I decided not to wear my wetsuit because IMTX will most likely not be wetsuit legal.  Then we got dressed and headed down to the transition area.  It didn’t take me long to get everything set up, it seemed so simple and I was sure I was forgetting something.  The race started at 7:00 am but my wave didn’t swim until 8:08 am.  We hung around the NET tent and watched the Pro’s come in before heading to the swim start.  I found Kelly and we got in line then marched out on the pier.  While we were walking out on the pier the girl behind us was crying.  I don’t know if she was scared or just emotional.  But it kinda unnerved me because I felt so calm.  The swim conditions were horrible last year and there were huge swells.  I still can’t believe that I finished the swim last year, but this year the water was calm. 

 

Swim

We had to jump off a pier and swim out to the start.  The water seemed cold and I immediately put my head in and started blowing bubbles.  I forgot how yucky salt water tasted.  We finally got to start and I immediately got into a good rhythm.  I stayed with the pack for a while and I used them to sight.  Once we got more spread out I starting sighting and I kept a good pace.  I was calm and successfully sighted every buoy.  I only stopped to reorient at the first turn buoy.  The turn is not a 90 degree turn and for some reason it always throws me off so I stopped to make sure I was swimming in the right direction.  I just swam and before I knew it I could see the pyramids at Moody Gardens.  I couldn’t believe that the swim was almost over!  I felt calm and fresh coming out of the water.  My swim time was 49:06 and I was 59^th out of 94 in my age group.  This is a 3 minute PR from last year when the race was wetsuit legal.

 

T1

I was calm and everything just fell into place.  I kept it short and simple.  My T1 time was 3:45.

 

Bike

This year I’ve really improved on the bike and I was ready to see what I could do!  I had a great ride out with little or no wind.  I averaged 19 mph.  My nutrition and hydration was going well.  I had looked at the weather the night before and the forecast gave us a tail wind on the way back in.  On the way out I thought that I was going to have the perfect cycling conditions; a slight head wind on the way out and a tail wind on the way in.  Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.  There was little to no wind on the way out and then a head wind picked up for the ride back.  I was not a happy camper and I tried to stay in aero as much as possible.  I got behind on my hydration.  But I was passing people like crazy which only encouraged me to ride faster!  My new tri bike is small and fast.  My time was 3:08:36 and I averaged 17.82 mph.  I passed 25 people in T1 or on the bike.  I was 34^th in my age group.

 

T2

I was laser focused and everything went smoothly. My time was 2:03.

 

Run

Well, I knew the run would be interesting.  I was hoping that I could run the entire time, I just didn’t know if my heart could take a lot of walking.  For IMTX I have been practicing running at a slower pace.  When I’m running fast and I have to slow down I feel like I might as well just stop (I know it’s just a mental thing).  For me an 8:20 min/mile pace is just not feasible for IMTX, so I’ve slowed my long runs down to a 9:30-10:00 min/mile pace and even this will be ambitious for IMTX.  Now back to the race, my run started off great.  My knee was bothering me but it didn’t really hurt, it just felt tight.  We had been talking about putting ice down our sports bra and pants and I decided to give it a try the first time ice was available and it was a life saver!  My plan was to run to each aid station, walk through the aid station, and then run to the next aid station.  I felt pretty good until mile 8, then my knee started hurting when I had to run up the small hills.  So I decided to walk up the hills.  Around mile 10 my other knee started hurting and I started to catch cramps in my legs and feet.  I was able to fight the cramps off and finish the run in 2:11:14.  Although I didn’t have a good run I passed 8 people in my age group and finished 26^th.  My total time was 6:14:44.

 

Post Race

We met back up at the NET tent, visited, cheered on other athletes, and celebrated.  Later I went back over to the hotel and changed clothes.  Then we headed to my aunt’s house in Crystal Beach.  I was sore, tired, and hungry.  I also found that the salt from the swim chaffed me in unspeakable places, so next year I will use extra Body Glide.  I now remember this happening last year but I forgot.  I hope I read this race report before the race next year!  My aunt laughed at me because it was difficult for me to walk up and down all the stairs at the beach house and restaurant.  Overall, I had a great race and weekend with my family and friends!

 

Monday

OK, I will have to admit that I’m somewhat disappointed in my race because I know that I’m in better shape than I was last year but my time was not better.  However, I feel better today because I have to take into account the race conditions and my recent injury.  For me the race conditions were worse, no tail wind on the bike and a hot, humid run.  Last year I was 43^rd out of 104 in my age group and this year I was 26^th out of 95.  Now, maybe the big dogs (fast athletes) didn’t race because of IMTX, but you can only race who is there.  So I will chalk this up as a great race and big improvement!  Now I just have to concentrate on IMTX!