go lilia!

USAT Age Group Nationals (Olympic Distance) - August 20, 2011 Burlington VT

2011-10-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Competing in the Age Group Nationals was a late decision, mainly motivated by my desire to compete at ITU Worlds 2012 in New Zealand. My VO2 Multisport teammate Charles and I were both thinking about going, but were both put off by the high cost and all the hassle of the trip to Vermont for a race that would last merely a couple hours. A few weeks before the race, the airfare prices came down from incomprehensible $800 to more graspable $500. Coincidentally, USAT added 500 more slots to the previously sold out race around the same time. By traveling together we could save on the hotel costs and bike shipping costs (thanks to Mr. Crampy’s Multisport shop that supplied us with a bike case that fit both of our bikes). We booked our trip and a few weeks later landed in Burlington, VT after a full day of traveling. We arrived at 11pm local time and I was pleasantly surprised that it was warm outside after dark – something I am not used to coming from Seattle.

Friday, the day before the race, was filled with the usual chores. We picked up our registration packets, rode part of the course (hilly but not nearly as bad as the posted profile would lead you to believe), swam in Lake Champlain (perfect temperature and the water much more clear than in murky local lakes!). We enjoyed some crepes for dinner at the Skinny Pancake on the waterfront and were in bed by 10pm.

On Saturday, race day, we woke up at 5:45am and were in the cab to the start by 6:15am. My breakfast was comprised of half a bagel with peanut butter and banana and a small cup of coffee. No need to eat too much before an Olympic tri. It’s refreshing how little you have to worry about for a race of this distance compared to a half ironman or a full ironman. My nutrition for the bike was one 24oz bottle with a couple scoops of GU brew and one vanilla GU gel; no complicated concoctions with multiple different ingredients and no salt to worry about. Fewer items to place in transition: luxuries like socks, hat and flat coke for T2 are not necessary, which minimizes the number of steps in transition.

My wave didn’t start until 8:30 and I was ready to go by 7:30 (when they kicked us out of transition). I had plenty of time to watch the first couple waves go through the swim course. The first guy in M35-39 age group took 20 minutes to swim the course, which struck me as a pretty long time for some of the fastest age groupers in the country. Either the course was a bit long or there was current/chop that made the swim slower. The weather was just about perfect for the race. Water was in the low 70s and the air was in the high 60s at the start. The sun was shining and there was not a hint of potential rain.

Finally, it was time for F25-29 wave to step on the dock by the boat house. Similarly to Lake Stevens start, they have you jump into the water off the dock. You have 4 minutes to warm up on one side of the dock while the previous wave lines up for the start on the other side. As soon as they started we moved over in their place to line up and go in 4 minutes. My plan was to take the swim really easy for the first few buoys so that I could stay relaxed and avoid any chance of a reactive airwaves attack happening again (which cut my race day short at Lake Stevens just six days prior). It’s still a puzzle to me what causes the attacks – not sure if it’s internal factors (stress, fatigue, minor cold) or external (cold water, allergic reaction). I suppose it could be some combination of multiple things. I lined up behind everyone else to avoid the being caught in the swim start chaos. Not sure if that was a wise decision as I had to swim around a bunch of girls despite going at me very easy pace. As I swam past the first three buoys, I realized that the only imminent danger to my finishing the swim course was being run over by the very aggressive swimmers from M25-29 age group that followed us. A couple of them literally swam over me without slowing down their stroke or kick and I got a little bruise on my hip to prove it. Could have been worse – at least I didn’t get kicked in the face, my goggles stayed put and I didn’t swallow a bunch of water. The fact that they caught me about half way through the course despite starting 4 minutes behind helped me realize just how slow I was swimming. I was feeling totally fine – no breathing issues whatsoever, so I picked it up a bit for the second half. One of the turns on the course was sharper than 90 degrees and I got caught with a bunch of people swimming the wrong way for a while before realizing where the next buoy was and correcting. This probably cost me another minute. Arrgh! I didn’t have my watch on in the water so I asked another girl who exited at the same time about our split. She said 28 minutes. Yikes! This was really slow compared to my sub 24 minute swim at Seafair tri. Official results have me at 28:31.

T1 was pretty quick and efficient: took off the top of the wetsuit while running to my bike, slipped off the bottom of the wetsuit at my bike without much effort. Helmet, glasses and bike shoes on, grabbed my bike, out of transition in 1:31. Pretty good given that the run through transition was quite long.

Struggled with clipping in my pedals a bit more than I’d like – the cleats got muddy running through transition. Must learn the art of flying mount and dismount for next year if I want to focus on shorter distances! Once I was clipped in and pedaling, I had no trouble getting up into my target power range – my goal was to ride at around 200 watts. The course had a bunch of rollers, a few steep climbs but nothing prolonged – piece of cake for anyone training in Seattle area. I only had to get out of my saddle once. I passed a bunch of girls in my AG and was overall very pleased with my ride. My time was 1:08, 9^th best in my age group.

I had to be careful racking my bike in T2 because the transition spots were so tight and the 2 bikes next to mine were already racked. Other than that, it was a quick transition – helmet and cycling shoes off, running shoes one, grabbed my Garmin and was out in 1:02.

Felt good at the start of the run, though the first mile started with a very steep quarter mile long hill. I took it steady up the hill and noted a girl in my AG who passed me going up significantly faster. As we went over the top of the hill, I let my legs go and got my pace down to my target pace of sub 6:30s pretty quick. In retrospective, I should have been going faster on that section since it was a slight downhill, but I was running as fast as I could maintain. I kept passing lots of folks including a few women in my age group. I did get passed by a few guys and a very fast 48 year old woman. I tried to hang with her but she must have been holding 6:15s and that was too fast for me. Around mile 2.5 I did pass the girl who passed me on the hill (I’d been steadily gaining on her ever since we reached the top of the hill). The last 3 miles were flat and I slowed down to 6:50s as soon as I hit the flat trail. I didn’t feel like I was running that slow so I thought my Garmin was acting up because we were surrounded by trees. I realized soon enough that my Garmin mile splits were right on with the course markers, so the problem was with my legs and not my Garmin. I tried to push a bit harder and get down to 6:30s again, but it wasn’t happening. I was fine holding 6:50s though and still passing girls in my AG. I got passed by one 25 year old (former collegiate runner who I’d met the day before) – she ended up splitting a 38 minute 10K, so no wonder she passed me as if I were standing still. With half a mile to go I heard that someone was gaining on me and running very closely at almost the same pace. I didn’t look back but I had a feeling it was my hill runner who passed me early on and whom I passed back at mile 2. I sped up for the last 800 and so did she. She passed me just as we entered the long finishing chute, but I put in a solid sprint to the finish line and ended up outsplitting her by 2 seconds and passing a couple more folks in the process. My final run time was 41:30 (6:44 pace) and my total time was 2:21:03. I was a bit slower than my sub 2:20 goal, but I was pretty happy with my overall time given my extremely slow swim and sub-optimal run. I finished 20^th in F25-29 age group (out of 85).

After crossing the finish line I felt a little bit like I was going to collapse and/or puke (that sprint in the end really pushed me). I was fine after sitting down and pouring some cold water on myself though. I was anxious to find out whether I qualified for the ITU Worlds 2012 in New Zealand. As I am turning 30 next year, I had to qualify against the 30-34 age group. Those who finish in top 18 of the age group qualify for the worlds and if any of the top 18 give up their slot, the slots will roll down as far as 25^th place. After careful evaluation of the results list, I realized that I was in 18^th place in the 2012-adjusted 30-34 age group which meant I was the last person to get a legitimate slot in that age group. Success! All the hassle and the expense of the trip were worth it. New Zealand – here I come!

Ironman Coeur D'Alene 2011 Race Report

2011-07-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

I have come a long way as an athlete since my first Ironman (Coeur D’Alene 2009). My 2010 season was focused on the half ironman distance. I completed five races of that distance including Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida. With the help of my friend Mark who acted as my informal coach last year, I significantly improved in all three disciplines, with the most gains made in cycling, which resulted in a 4:42 half ironman personal record.

Going into 2011 season with Ironman Coeur D’Alene as my main race, I knew I had to step up my game if I were to qualify for Kona again. Given how competitive my age group has become, an accidental Kona slot was not about to happen again as it did in 2009. I joined the VO2 Multisport Elite team and started working with Ben Bigglestone as my coach. It was definitely a huge advantage to be part of a team. Even though I had training buddies in the past, being part of a multisport team provided more opportunities for training with faster athletes which made me push harder. Compared to my training in previous years, I put in a lot more of my bike miles on the CompuTrainer at the VO2 Performance Center. I also did a lot more structured speed work in all three disciplines than ever before.

The highlights of my training season leading up to the big race were the Coeur D’Alene training camp with the team (we swam over 7000 yards, biked over 200 miles and ran over 30 miles on race course in 4 days), and the Wild Flower Long Course triathlon (I finished first in my age group and fifth amateur female). Having completed a handful of race rehearsal workouts in the months before the race, I felt in the best shape of my life, both physically and mentally, when the race week came upon us.

June 22 – I arrived in Coeur D’Alene 4 days before the race along with my best Ironman training and traveling buddy, Rebecca. We rented a house about a mile from the start along with another Ironbabe, Carly and her husband Kevin. Unfortunately, Carly got in a bike accident ten days before the race, so she had to settle for being the best spectator in the world for the weekend instead of a speedy competitor.

June 23 – on Thursday morning, I went over my race plan with Ben. We made a couple adjustments to the nutrition plan and finalized the start position for the swim, but otherwise my plan looked good. Later in the afternoon, Rebecca and I picked up our registration packets and did a quick swim in the lake. The water was cold, but totally bearable – comparable to Lake Sammamish where I have been doing all my training swims. That afternoon I got all the race bags ready to go – T1, bike special needs, T2 and run special needs. We finished Thursday off with a delicious pasta dinner at Tony’s with Ben and his wife Cindy.

June 24 – on Friday, a bunch of VO2 folks met up for a swim at 7am and I noticed that the water got noticeably colder compared to Thursday afternoon. It was rather weird given that it had been warm and dry for the 24 hours prior. As we learned later, some melt water had been released into the lake which brought down the temperature a few degrees. I wish they could wait till after the Ironman to release the melt water, but I guess the world does not revolve around Ironman. After our second breakfast, Rebecca and I drove to the north end of the course to spin our bikes. I wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable descending down the big hills with my disc wheel. It was no problem at all, so I confirmed my decision to ride with the disc on Sunday. Friday night was spent in the company of teammates at Joe Silvernale’s house on the lake where he and family treated us to a delicious pasta meal.

June 25 – Saturday morning, I went through one last mini race rehearsal: 15 minute swim, 30 minute ride and 10 minute run, all very easy. The water got a little bit warmer after 24 hours of warm weather, though it was still not at the same level as it was on Thursday. My bike felt fantastic and my legs felt loose on the run – everything was shaping up for a good race the following day. Later Saturday afternoon, I checked in my bike and transition bags, and prepared my race day nutrition bottles. A group of Seattle triathlon girlfriends came over for dinner (we started calling it the “tri sorority”). We ate a boatload of pasta and salad and had some good laughs. It was a perfect way to relieve some of the pressure of the big day ahead. I headed to bed at 9pm.

June 26 – Race Day! I woke up at 3:30 and first things first made some coffee, oatmeal and a toasted bagel with Nutella. It was tough to get the food down so early, plus I still felt so full from the night before. It took me over 30 minutes to finish eating. After that I took a quick hot shower, put a layer of sunscreen and anti-chafe cream on, put my race kit and timing chip on. Per Ben’s advice I wore a bunch of layers over top until it was time to get into my wetsuit, also a beanie and gloves and made myself some hot GU Brew (tastes like cold medicine – yum!) These measures were intended to help me stay warm as long as possible to minimize the impact of swimming in the freezing lake (reports of water temperature on race day ranged between 53 and 56 degrees F).

We were out the door at 5am and in transition by 5:15. I dropped off my special needs bags, got body marked, double checked my transition bags, put my bottles on my bike and pumped up the tires. Time always flies by so fast on race morning. The pros were about to start and it was time for me to warm up. I did a 10 minute jog – just enough to warm up my whole body and got into my wetsuit. I forgot how long it takes to get to the beach because everyone has to funnel through the timing mat. It was 6:35 when I headed to the start, but so did about 2000 other Ironmen-to-be. I ran into Graeme and Rebecca in the crowd, so at least I had company. It took us 10-15 minutes to actually get to the beach. Rebecca and I have a tradition of a scream-off before starting an Ironman. We couldn’t miss out on that, but because of the time constraints we had to do it in the crowd while waiting for our turn to cross the timing mat. I am sure people around us appreciated two women screaming at the top of their lungs for 30 seconds. Finally I got to my intended swim start location – about half-way to the right of the buoy line, at the front. At this point, it was less than 10 minutes till the start, so I could not get into the water to do a quick swim warm-up as I intended. I got my feet in, then sat down in the water, put my face in and blew some bubbles and got a bunch of cold water into my wetsuit so that it wouldn’t be such a shock when I had to jump in.

Boom!

Swim – 1:13:28, 21 in AG, 624 overall

The start was a mess as expected. I was able to put my face in and start swimming free style fairly early, but there were definitely a lot of people that I had to get around as well as those who wanted to pass me so I was swimming in a very “protective” way – arms wide to protect my head and kicking hard to minimize the number of swimmers who would attempt swimming over me. It got a little better 300-400 yards in, but it still stayed very crowded the entire way. My plan was to swim diagonally towards the first turn buoy. I think I ended up swimming a little bit wide because the farther right I was the less people there were, but overall my navigation wasn’t bad.

The temperature of the water was a major concern for me going into the race since I DNF-ed at Oceanside earlier in the season due to a reactive airway attack in the swim caused by cold water. I have since swum thousands of yards in Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington in freezing temps, so I was starting Coeur d’Alene with a bit more tolerance built up. I was also playing mental games with myself to help distract my mind from the cold water and relax: I counted my strokes and pretended that I was in Hawaii and saw a sea turtle every 10^th stroke, a dolphin every 100^th stroke and an espresso boat every 1000^th stroke (those who have been to the Kona during the Ironman know the espresso boat I am referring to :-)). This might sound silly, but it seemed to do the trick. I was swimming relatively well and definitely avoided any complications that cold water could have caused.

As I stepped onto the beach after the first lap I saw 36 minutes and change on the clock. This was slower than I was hoping for, but to be honest, I was just happy to be swimming without issues. The second lap was very similar to the first lap. It never got less crowded and I was never able to catch a good draft. I just swam along trying to protect my space and imagining the swimmers around were dolphins and sea turtles. I got out of the water at 1:13:28, so my splits were pretty even unlike 2 years ago when I slowed down by 3 minutes on the second lap. Slower then I hoped for, but it was still within the acceptable swim goal range.

T1 – 4:54

I felt great coming out of the water – no dizziness, no stomach bloating. Of course, I was cold, but not hypothermic. I started running fast as soon as I stepped onto the sand and was able to take off the top half of my wetsuit before I got to the wetsuit strippers. The bottom part of the wetsuit was off 10 seconds later and I ran to grab my T1 bag and into the tent. This is where things got a little slower. My plan was to wear arm warmers because I knew I’d be freezing coming out of the water and the air would still be pretty cold for the first hour. In retrospective, I would have been ok without the arm warmers, but I didn’t know it at the time. I dried my arms with a towel, but even having done that, it was hard to pull the arm warmers onto my moist skin with my freezing hands. I had a very helpful volunteer who helped me with the task, but it still took over a minute to complete. The rest of the steps went a bit faster: I put my socks and cycling shoes on, a little sunscreen on my face while my terrific volunteer applied some on my shoulders, sunglasses and helmet went on and finally it was just the race belt left. My plan was to put it on while I ran to my bike, but my volunteer beat me to it and she was putting it on for me. Really thankful for her help, but for some reason it seemed like putting that race belt on took her forever. Next time I may have to be a little more assertive and just grab it from them and run to the bike. I found the bike without issues (since it was on the first non-pro rack right at the exit out of the transition), ran out and mounted it smoothly – I did a lot better at getting up to speed than at the Issaquah Sprint when it took me 30 seconds to mount my bike.

Bike – 5:43:30 – 5in AG, 377 overall

Ben calculated that I should target low 160s for my watts for the ride. I had no intention of riding any harder until at least after the turnaround at mile 90 on the second lap if I felt really great. The effort felt pretty easy for the first lap. I made sure I stayed under 190 watts on the hills and kept pedaling strong after getting over the top and onto the descent. There were a lot of people who would get out of their saddle and pass me on the hills, but would stop pedaling as soon as they reached the top and I would pass them going a lot faster on the descents. We kept leapfrogging each other like that throughout the hills on the first lap, but then most of those riders disappeared on the second lap. They must have ridden way too hard and faded. I made that mistake myself in 2009. Thankfully, I learned how to race a little smarter since then.

I stayed on top of my all-liquid nutrition – drank calories every 20 minutes targeting 250 calories an hour and drank water every 10 minutes targeting a bottle an hour. I also had lots of sodium in my calorie bottles and took additional salt stick capsules every hour. I had no stomach issues or cramping throughout the ride. It was all happening according to plan.

I hit the halfway point at 2:51 which was right on track for a 5:40 and change ride split. I had no trouble maintaining my target watts on the second lap. In fact, my legs felt so good that I was really tempted to ride harder, but I remembered my pre-race chat with Ben about how some people feel good and ride 5-10 watts above the target thinking they can do it and end up bonking on the run. Near the bike turn around at mile 90 my teammate Kara passed me. I expected her to be way ahead of me by now, so I asked her if she got a flat. She sure did. Poor Kara had mechanical issues in her last Ironman too which cost her a Kona slot back then. She seemed to be in good spirits though and was riding extremely strong. Shortly after that, I saw a deer cross the road. Thankfully, no cyclist or deer were hurt. Finally, when I was 10-12 miles from the finish and still feeling fantastic, I allowed myself to ride a little bit harder – up to 170 watts. This helped me maintain my average speed the same in the increased winds. I finished the ride in 5:43:30. Just like the swim it was on the higher end of my target time, but I was happy with it and happy to feel so fresh at the start of the run.

T2 – 1:12

I made eye contact with a volunteer and handed my bike to him after I smoothly dismounted. I took off my helmet while running to my bag, grabbed my T2 bag and ran into the change tent. I practiced the motions the day before and everything went smooth just like I planned: swapped the cycling shoes with running shoes, put on my visor, and grabbed my Garmin, a nuun container filled with salt stick and a small bottle of Coke. I dealt with putting my Garmin on and the salt away on the run. Really happy with the transition! I beat Julie Diebens and was almost as fast as Craig Alexander :-)

Run – 3:27:15 – 1 in AG, fastest amateur female

I started drinking my flat Coke as I ran out of transition. My legs were happy to be finally running and refused to go any slower than 7:15-7:20, I had to force myself to slow down. Running through town I heard a lot of people cheering me on. I failed to see who it was specifically, but it was awesome to hear my name. I clocked the first mile at 7:31 – still a bit fast, but pretty close to my goal pace. Running through the VO2 Multisport inspiration station was absolutely epic. Thank you everyone who came out to support us – you can’t even imagine how much it helped! I started experiencing a bit of cramping coming on pretty early on the run – in my calves and my quads. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t expecting for it to happen until the second lap, so I got a bit concerned. I managed to control it by downing a bunch of salt stick capsules. As I turned onto Lake Coeur d’Alene drive, I saw Gerry flying towards me. It was so exciting to see him leading the amateur field and looking strong! I took it easy up the hill, let my legs fly down the hill and to the turnaround. The grade on the back side of the hill wasn’t nearly as bad, so I didn’t think that having to go all the way over the hill made the course significantly slower as many feared. Coming back through the inspiration station Ben confirmed that I was third in my age group which I already knew.

I kept on top of my nutrition plan perfectly and didn’t have any stomach issues. Two years ago I ate way too much at the beginning of the run and had to stop taking in calories which eventually led to bonking. This year I had a more precise plan. I had a PowerBar gel every 30 minutes, lots of water, Coke and bananas. I was also taking about 2-3 salt stick capsules an hour while they lasted.

The second lap was very tough mentally and physically. I wasn’t my normal self – I usually like to cheer everyone on and give high fives to spectators, but on this day I was very focused on putting one leg in front of the other for the last 13 miles. I didn’t even see or hear a lot of my friends and fellow racers who ran by and shouted my name. I felt like my legs were on the verge of cramping badly the entire time. I ran out of salt capsules with 7 or 8 miles to go, so I added an occasional sip of PowerBar Perform into the mix along with Coke and water to help put off the cramping. It seemed to do the trick. Thankfully, my muscles never got to a complete spasm but it was certainly close, especially on the uphill and the downhill. Lesson learned – I should have taken more salt on the bike (I was probably getting about 600-700mg per hour, next time I will aim for 800mg in similar conditions).

I was still in third after making the final turnaround at mile 20ish. I knew that the total number of Kona slots was reduced compared to previous years, so I had a feeling that our age group would only get two slots (compared to three in prior years). I was very motivated to gain one more position. I’d been steadily gaining on Sam (who was in second place and was putting together a very solid Ironman debut race despite having a tough run). Strangely enough, I don’t actually remember the moment when I passed her. At some point I just knew that I was ahead. According to her, it happened when she was in the bathroom, so I guess it makes sense that I don’t remember actually passing her on the course. I must have been pretty out of it myself. One last pass through the inspiration station – everyone cheered so loudly, it made me pick it up a little for the last mile. I made it up the last hill and onto the Sherman Ave. I saw Alicia, Teshia and Sydnie as they were shouting “Go Lilia” on the last corner. The last half a mile was euphoric. The crowd was roaring. I saw 10:30 on the clock as I approached the finish line chute, which was my goal finishing time. I didn’t have any energy left for high fives or a finish line dance or a jump, I was just so happy to finish and not have to run any more. I really feel like I gave it all on that run.

After getting my finisher’s medal and t-shirt, I proceeded into the recovery area where I ran into Cathleen and Graeme who both finished recently. I learned that I was third amateur woman overall which made me really happy. I was still full from all the calories on the course, so pizza didn’t sound appealing. I had a few orange slices and went to get my free massage and followed that by soaking in the lake.

Carly and Kevin helped me bring my bike and gear bags to the car and drove me to the house. I took the much needed long shower and we went to grab some Mexican food. For some reason, I always crave greasy Mexican food with lots of sour cream and cheese after long races. My fish tacos were delicious as was my Margarita. Later we met up with Cathleen, Sydnie, Jenny, Adam and Sam for celebration beers at a local pub. We followed that up with watching the last finishers come through the chute until midnight. It was quite a party – always so much fun to see the huge smiles on the athletes’ faces as they cross the finish line.

I slept like a rock that night until 6am when I woke up, feeling like I fell off a tall mountain, to go to the Ironman store. The finisher’s merchandise becomes available at 7am and there’s usually a quarter-mile line to get into the store well before the doors open. I am normally not that into covering myself with the M-dot logo merchandise, but I figured who knows if I will ever do this race again, so I treated myself to a really cute K-Swiss finisher’s jacket. I claimed my Kona slot at the registration area, picked up my special needs bags (which I didn’t end up using during the race), and had some coffee with Ben and Cindy at the Bakery by the Lake. I finally gorged myself with a gigantic cinnamon bun which I’ve been eyeing since Thursday.

It was a great day for Seattle at the awards banquet. Lots of athletes from Seattle area teams were represented on the podium and were headed to Kona for the World Championship. In our age group alone, we had Cathleen, myself and Sam on the women’s side and Gerry Marvin on the men’s side.

The magic triathlon weekend had come to an end. All that was left was a long drive to Seattle with an obligatory stop for Mexican food. I am really grateful to all the fantastic people in my life that made this race such a great experience. I am very thankful to my brilliant and supportive coach Ben Bigglestone, who made me a stronger athlete both physically and mentally. Huge thanks to all my fellow VO2 athletes. It was incredible to share the day with you whether you were racing or cheering after all the hours of training spent together throughout the cold winter and spring. Special shout outs go to Rebecca Fink, Gerry Marvin, Graeme Roche, Kara Nielsen and Daniel Tomko. Big kudos to my housemates Carly and Kevin Tu, Tri, Daniel and Reid, who made the pre-race craziness manageable. Carly was also the loudest and most inspiring supporter on the course :-) I want thank the extremely talented competitors in my age group who keep me reaching for new heights every year. Cathleen and Sam – if I wasn’t scared to death of racing both of you, I probably wouldn’t be able to stay as focused during the training season and put together such a good day in Coeur D’Alene ;-) Last but not least, I am blessed to have an extremely supportive family and boyfriend. Unfortunately, neither my Mom nor Kevin were able to make it to Coeur D’Alene this year, but both of them were there in spirit. Looking forward to having them both in Kona! Aloha!

My first swim podium :-)

2011-06-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I participated in the Friday Night Swim Race at Lake Meridian in Kent, WA. It's a small local event (about 100 people), but with proper buoys, timing chips and kayak support. They had .5, 1.2 and 2.4 mile distances. I opted for the 2.4 mile swim as a final long swim before Ironman Coeur d'Alene next week. There were about 10 other VO2 multisport athletes there doing 1.2 and 2.4 mile distances.
The race started at 6:15 and it's about an hour drive from my work in good traffic conditions. Even though we left at 4:15 and carpooled, we didn't get to the site until 5:45 and then had trouble finding parking. I registered, got into my wetsuit and swam out to the starting buoy (about 100 yards off shore) and the gun went off. Didn't have time for a warmup and didn't even hear the instructions about which direction to swim. As we started I figured I'd just follow the crowd. Thankfully the water was really warm. Definitely high 60s or maybe even low 70s. It felt really comfortable. No breathing issues or hyperventilating. There were only about 30-40 people doing the 2.4 mile swim so after the initial 100 yards it wasn't that crowded either. The sun was bright so sighting was a challenge in one direction, that was the only hardship really. I tried to keep other swimmers in sight when I couldn't quite see the buoys. I feel like I did a pretty good job navigating this time.
I kept my effort moderate on the first 1.2 mile loop and picked it up a bit after we started the second loop. About half way into the second loop I caught up with a pack of 5-7 swimmers and stayed with them for most of the remaining time. I tried to focus on my form during the second loop trying to keep my stroke as efficient as possible.

When I came out and saw 1:03:57 on the clock, I could not believe it! I thought the course must have been short or maybe the clock was restarted after the 1.2 mile swimmers went in 15 minutes after us. Then I realized that it was true, I did just swim 2.4 miles at 1:36 per 100 meter pace. Wow! I was so carried away with my result, I didn't even hear when they called my name for awards. I came in 3rd in the women's race. Me, getting an award in a swimming race? That's a first!

So glad I did this race. I know the water in Coeur d'Alene will be a lot colder and there will be approximately 2800 people trying to swim the same route as me, so I don't expect to be able to swim as fast there, but this race was definitely a big confidence boost :-)

Issaquah Sprint Triathlon Race Report

2011-06-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

Pre-race

I wasn't sure what to expect at a short distance race with all the Ironman training building up to Coeur d'Alene, but figured it would be good to participate in this fun local race again.

I packed everything the night before, woke up at 5am, had the usual breakfast of english muffin with Nutella and some coffee and headed to the start. Coach Ben said that I belong in the Elite wave, so that's where I set up my transition spot. There were only a handful or other women who self-selected into the elite wave and we had two full bike racks dedicated to us so there was plenty of space and it was right by the bike exit. Score! I got into my wetsuit and went to the beach for a quick warmup swim before the start. Really only had time to get into the water and take a few strokes and then I had to line up.

Swim - 7:10, 5th elite

The water was pretty cold. Don't know the exact temperature, but it must have been 57-58. Since I didn't get a chance to warm up too much before the race, once I started swimming hard, my body reacted with somewhat of a shock. After the initial 100 yards, I felt like I was about to start hyperventilating, so I backed off a bit and swam in at an easier effort.

T1 - 2:44, 5th elite

The run to the transitions was longer than in previous years since they changed the course a little this year. In the morning I noticed that the paved path had too much gravel on it and was worried that it would be an issue in T1, but my feet were so numb, I didn't feel anything - just ran as fast as I could now that I was finally out of the water. Getting out of the wetsuit went ok, was quick at putting my shoes, helmet and glasses on and ran out with my bike. It took me longer than it should have to get into my pedals and start riding, but I was finally on my way.

Bike - 41:06, 5th elite

My power sensor was broken at the time of the race (I was waiting for the new sensor harness to arrive and be installed), so I raced by heart rate, which basically meant I just rode as hard as I could the whole way. Other than a couple duathlon guys who could not believe that a girl was passing them and tried to pedal a lot harder, just to eventually let me pass anyway, it was a rather uneventful ride. Tried to keep my heart rate above 170. At the turnaround, I saw all four elite women that were ahead of me. They were not far, but we were all riding at about the same pace, so I wasn't gaining on them much. I eventually caught one of them in the last 2 miles.

T2 - 1:01, 5th elite

Neither my feet nor my fingers really warmed up during the ride after getting very cold in the water, so putting on my running shoes was a struggle despite the fact that I was racing sans socks on and that I had quick laces. In fact I was so slow that the woman that I passed on the bike passed me back in transition.

Run - 20:55, 1st elite

I was able to get my legs turning fast right away and passed the woman ahead of me again. At about half way I passed another elite woman. I saw the first and second girls at the turn-around and thought I might be able to catch them. I ran as hard as I could and passed a few guys but I never caught up with the next woman, even though I did close the gap a bit.

Overall - 1:12:54 - 3rd female

I am happy with getting 3rd overall in a sprint triathlon 3 weeks before my Ironman, but I do think I could have been faster in all 3 legs. I wish I got there earlier and had time for a longer swim warmup - this way I could potentially have avoided hyperventilating and could swim hard the whole way. Bike was a solid effort, but would have probably done better if I had my power meter working. The run was good, but I could never get my heart rate above 170. Not sure if I was still cold from the swim and ride or if it's just the fatigue that's been built up for weeks and months, but I should be able to race a sprint closer to 180s for my heart rate.

Wild Flower Long Course Race Report

2011-06-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Leading up to the race

I wasn't originally planning to do Wild Flower this season. However, after having to pull out half way through the swim at Oceanside 70.3 due to a "reactive airways" attack, I had to find another half iron to race before Ironman Coeur d'Alene. 5 other VO2 elite teammates were doing Wild Flower so it seemed like a natural choice :) Since I was arranging my travel last minute, airfares were rather expensive that close to the event, so I decided to join my teammate Gerry who was driving down with a fleet of bikes for us and other VO2 elite team racers.

We left rainy Seattle on Wednesday after work and made it to the race site in sunny California Thursday early evening. First things first, I took a picture with the Russian flag :)

After that we picked up our registration packets and it was time for a quick swim. Gerry took about 15 minutes to get into his brand new TYR Hurricane wetsuit.

After the swim I went for a short run and saw Virginia Berasategui (who was 3rd in Kona in 2009) also running on the trails. That was kind of cool.
We then checked into the house we were staying at with the rest of the VO2 crew who were arriving the following morning. The house was about 20 minutes away in a vacation community on Lake Nacimiente. The other 2 times I did Wild Flower I camped (for the "real" Wild Flower experience) and I must say there's something to be said about sleeping in a warm bed and having home cooked dinner and hot breakfast before the race.

On Friday, I went for a short swim again, rode my bike for about 30 minutes and bricked an easy 15 minute run. Despite just coming from a high volume training camp in Coeur d'Alene the previous weekend, legs felt good. I was ready to put together a good race the next day.
Dinner consisted of pasta with sautéed veggies and a salad. Somehow, I convinced everyone else to eat vegetarian :) I packed my gear, pumped my tires, mixed my nutrition bottles and was in bed around 9pm. Got up at 5, took a quick shower, had a bagel with Nutella and banana for breakfast. We were off to the start at 6 and walking to transition by 6:30. That gave us plenty of time to get ready: Graeme and Gerry started at 8:15 and I didn't start till 9:10.
I got the transition set up, visited the porter potty and walked around looking for other friends who were racing. I took pre-race photos with Gerry and Graeme, also ran into my friend Hagen and another VO2 teammate Kara. When it was time to warm up, I jogged for 10 minutes and used the stretch cords to warm up my arms and shoulders. It was time to head to the start line.

The weather was looking quite favorable for a great race: it was sunny, warm but not too hot, the only potentially negative aspect was the wind – it created the chop on the water and would probably become even more of a factor on the bike.

Swim – 34:40, 20th AG

Finally, it was time for our wave to do our 2 minute warm-up swim and to line up at the start. As discussed with coach Ben, I lined up in the second row, towards the buoy line. In retrospective, I should have been more aggressive and lined up in the first row. Everyone started running in slightly before the countdown reached 0, so I ended up behind quite a few people. The first 200 yards were a mess. I was basically locked in the middle of the pack with a lot of slower people ahead of me. I tried to swim around them as politely as I could but I think I ended up almost swimming over some girls, just because there was no other way. If I swam over you – I apologize :(
Finally, after the first buoy I was swimming clear. But now I had another challenge: because of the chop and the fact that buoys were pretty far apart, it was quite hard to sight. Once I passed a buoy, I could not see the next buoy until I was half way to it. I had to look for other swimmers instead, and unfortunately, some of the swimmers I used for sighting were lost themselves. I ended up getting off course 3 times and each time I went in the wrong direction for a minute or more before I realized what was going on. Apart from the sighting incompetence, I felt like I swam pretty strong, although I failed at catching any feet to draft off. Clearly, more open water swimming practice is needed. Despite getting off course, I ended up with a personal second best HIM swim split. All the work on technique and the sheer volume I have been putting in lately must be paying off. Thanks, coach Ben! :)

T1 – 2:32, 8th AG

Felt great coming out of the water and ran fast to my bike. I was lucky to have my bike right on the edge of the bike rack, which gave me a little more room and made it easier to find my spot. Love the TYR Hurricane wetsuit, my only complaint is that it's hard to peel off, especially taking the hands out of the sleeves. To make it a bit smoother, I left my Polar watch in transition to put it on in T2. This meant no HR data for the swim, but at least I got the wetsuit off easily. Once by my bike, I slipped the bottom part of the wetsuit off my feet, put on my bike shoes (no socks), then my sunglasses and helmet and off I went to the transition exit. The race number didn't need to come on until the run. Also, in the interest of time, I didn't apply any additional sunscreen (aside from what I used in the morning under my wetsuit). Seemed to work OK for the half, but I probably won't be able to get away with it for the full Ironman. I felt like I felt like I couldn't have been any faster for this transition, yet my split it rather mediocre compared to the rest of the top 10 in my AG. I guess I just need to practice the transitions more.

Bike – 3:00:48, 4th AG

Coming out of T1, we rode through the finishing chute that had some bumpy mats. Coming over them, I lost my rear-mounted water bottle. Thankfully, it was just water in it and I knew that the first aid station would be just past the top of the first hill, at mile 6, so I didn't bother turning around to pick it up, but I was still annoyed! The Matrix water bottle cages that I use were awesome for the first few months, but I think the carbon just got too flexible after extensive use and the water bottles now frequently fall out when I ride over bumps.

Coach Ben and I came up with a solid plan for my target watts and I did my best to stick to those targets throughout the race. It was good to have a goal number in mind climbing the first hill. Two years ago I climbed that hill way too hard. This year, it felt like it was a piece of cake despite the fact that it was still higher average than at any other point of the ride.
Our wave started behind all men's waves, so on that first hill and throughout the ride I passed a lot of guys; passed a few girls in the first half of the ride and got passed by a couple including my rock star VO2 elite teammate Kara who started behind me and passed me at less than half way through the bike looking very strong. The crosswinds were really strong on the backside. Thankfully, I decided to ride my 404 in the back and not my disk. Still, I got almost blown over once. At least we got spared by the heat: the temps were quite ideal, in the mid to high 70s.
Nutrition-wise, I tried something new at this race which worked really well, so I think I may use it at the IM too. I mixed all my 750 calories into 1 bottle. This way I could mount it on my frame cage and not worry about losing my rear-mounted bottle which only had water. I used blueberry-pomegranate GU brew that has extra sodium, so I didn't even need my salt stick tabs as my mixture was going to provide enough salt. It tasted like salty blueberry pie and was quite consumable along with some water.

T2 – 2:16, 7th AG

Again, it was super-easy to locate my spot at the end of the rack. I mounted my bike, took off my bike shoes and helmet, put on my socks and running shoes, and grabbed my visor and my race belt with the number and my Polar watch attached to it. I put that stuff on as I was running out of the transition. Again, I don't know how I could have possibly been any faster. I guess I could have saved some time if I left my shoes on the bike. Given my clumsiness, this is not an option since I would have undoubtedly, fallen off my bike if I tried to take off my shoes while riding.

Run – 1:35:24, 1st AG, 2nd Female

My legs felt really good from the start. I started passing other racers in T2 and no one passed me the entire run. The steep hill at miles 4 and 5 was no fun, but I got through it fine by running at a consistent cadence even if it was barely faster than a power walk. Once over the hill, I really let it go on the downhill. I was going so fast, I felt I couldn't control my legs. Throughout the run, I caught a handful of girls in my AG, don't remember exactly, but it was between 3 and 6. At the out and back (miles 10 and 11) I saw Kara, at that point running a bit behind the first woman. She looked really strong and I told her to "Go get her" (which Kara did!). I also saw two other women who looked like they could be in my AG. One of them was too far ahead of me and was moving quite fast, but the other one wasn't that far ahead of me, so I decided to try to catch her. After turning around and starting the climb again, I could see her at the top of the hill and it helped me stay motivated through the remaining uphill portion. I was reducing the gap, but of course it didn't feel fast enough. I caught her with about 1.5 miles to go. I had no idea at that point that I was winning my AG (though I knew that I must have been in top 3).

Run nutrition consisted of two gels taken at 30 minutes and 1 hour and a bunch of Gatorade and water as well as Coke that was served on the course. This was the first race since Oliver Half Iron last year when my legs didn't cramp at all. Even at Troika which was my PR, I had pretty bad cramps in my calves in the last two miles. I credit my nutrition on the bike and the run!
AHR 159
Mile splits: 6:38, 7:25, 7:35, 7:34, 9:38, 6:07, 6:38, 7:21, 6:31, 7:58, 7:22, 7:48, 6:45 (last 1.1)

Overall – 5:15:40, 1st AG, 5th Female

While my time was a bit slower than I hoped for, I am very pleased with the race. I am confident that if it wasn't as choppy on the swim and as windy on the bike I would have been able to put together a faster race. I'll take my time given the conditions and, obviously, I am extremely happy with winning my AG!
After the race I hung out at the finish area with a Kara and Gerry and a few other Seattle peeps. Both Kara and I won our age groups and she won overall (what a rock star!!!).

Unfortunately, one of our teammates Graeme had an unlucky bike crash during the race and broke his collarbone :( A convoy of huge trucks was driving in the opposite direction at high speed while he was going downhill at 30mph. The wind gust that the trucks created knocked over multiple people and they didn't even stop. Graeme was a real trooper and had a great attitude about it when we got home and he had just gotten back from the hospital. Just another example of how our team rocks :)
Wild Flower this year was a US qualifier for the ITU Long Distance World Championship which will be held in Las Vegas in November. Top 5 in each age group qualified to represent Team USA at that race. I had never looked into ITU Long Distance Worlds before. Turns the distances are quite unique: swim 4 km, bike 120 km (roughly 75 miles), run 30 km (18.6 miles). This isn't going to play to my strengths since the swim is long compared to the other two legs, but it would still be really cool to participate in the ITU Worlds and wear Team USA uniform. Plus it's handy that it's held in the US this year so the travel won't be as much of an expense as if it were somewhere on a different continent. The only trouble is that it's 4 weeks after Kona. If I qualify for Hawaii, I am not sure I will want to do both. I only had to commit $50 to accept the spot, so I went ahead with that. So did Gerry and Kara. Sounds like VO2 might take Las Vegas by storm in November :)

Ironman 70.3 World Championships (Clearwater ) Race Report

2010-11-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

Pre-race

I flew into Tampa on Wednesday with 2 other friends from Seattle – Carly and Sean who were also racing in the 70.3 World Championships. We rented a three-bedroom condo half a mile away from the start which was very convenient. After a long flight and our commute from the airport, all we had time for Wednesday night was dinner at a local Italian joint, Gondolier's Pizza, and putting our bikes together.

I started Thursday with a short jog along the beach (no more than a mile) – just to see how my right leg felt about running (I had been staying off running for almost 2 weeks due to a hamstring injury). It felt totally fine which made me happy. Sean and Carly met me at the beach and we dipped into the Gulf for a quick 20 minute swim. The water temperature felt perfect for a wetsuit swim.

After a satisfying breakfast at IHOP where we ran into a few other friends who were racing, we picked up our race packets and checked out the expo for our last minute needs (CO2 cartridges and carbon-specific break-pads) I also wanted to have someone give a once-over to my bike to make sure I put it together right. They were charging $35 at the official Ironman Bike Tech tent, so I thought I'd ask the Cervelo guys for help. Sadly, they didn't have any tools with them. Meantime, Carly was getting her Felt serviced in the Felt tent next door. I asked them if they could take a quick look at mine too. The mechanic made a face and mentioned something about his hands burning if he touched a Cervelo, but he did help me nonetheless (thank you, Felt Tech guy!!!) He tightened a couple screws and then said that my rear disk wheel was wobbly, most likely it was because the hub was loose and I'd better have it looked at. Luckily, the Zipp tent was right there and a very helpful Zipp mechanic took a look at it and noticed that there was a small spacer missing inside the hub. He found a replacement spacer and was done with my wheel in like 10 minutes. Whew! Glad I had it looked at! Otherwise, I would have been wasting precious watts on Saturday.

We went for one last hour-long ride in the afternoon to loosen up the legs and make sure the bikes were working well. It was so much fun riding in the warmth and the sunshine. Makes me a little bit jealous of Floridians!

Later that night we went to the Welcome dinner and the pre-race briefing on the beach. There were speeches from the race director, a local pastor and race sponsors. There was the usual business of calling out the oldest and the youngest competitors. It didn't even come close to what Kona pre-race celebration was... The pre-race briefing consisted of a pre-recorded generic video lecture by a dorky dude (not even dorky in a triathlon way, just plain dorky!) about using common sense if the weather gets bad and the cutoff times for an Ironman distance! Really? People flew from all over the world to participate in the 70.3 World Championship and they couldn't even edit the generic full Ironman video? Or better yet have a real person talk about it?

Friday morning we went for an early swim again. This time we saw a dolphin by the pier. :) The rest of the morning was spent preparing our race bags, doing a little bit of work and napping. In the afternoon we checked in our bikes and gear bags. I had an early boring dinner of Walgreens-bought pasta, marinara sauce and canned salmon. We went to bed at about 8pm.

Race morning

The alarm went off at 4am. First things first, I started some coffee and took a quick shower. I had my usual bagel with Nutella, banana, OJ and coffee for breakfast. I got into my race outfit, covered myself with sunscreen, braded my hair and was ready to go. There wasn't much to get ready since our race bags were already in the transition.

As we were walking towards the start, a golf cart shuttle drove by and asked if we needed a ride to the start. How lucky! We didn't even have to walk that half a mile. There was quite a line-up for body marking at 5:30am.

Once body marked and in the transition, I borrowed a pump from someone and filled up my tires. After I got back from the bathroom I realized that my front tire was almost completely empty. That was disconcerting. Sean suggested that most likely the valve extender got loose after using the pump. Thankfully, he had the valve extender wrench with him and after we tightened it up and pumped up the tire again, it was no longer letting out air. Relief!

I visualized my race step by step and realized that my bottles were placed incorrectly on the bike. I have one bottle on the frame and two in behind the seat cages. I am most comfortable reaching my frame bottle cage and a lot more comfortable getting the right behind the seat bottle compared to the left one. I normally place my first nutrition bottle on the frame, my water bottle in the right behind the seat cage and my second nutrition bottle in the left cage. This way, I only have to reach back with my left hand once, to get the second nutrition bottle after I'd gone through my first nutrition bottle and tossed it. For whatever reason, that morning I placed my second nutrition bottle in the right cage and my water bottle in the left cage. I corrected my error. I am glad I do my detailed race walk-through in my head before my races. This would have caused me unneeded stress on the course!

We got kicked out of the transition just as the pros started their swim at 6:45. My wave didn't start till 7:50, so I had some time to kill on the beach. Sean, Carly, Heather and Kevin were also there. We hung out, took some pictures, made a few more bathroom trips. Finally, came our time to line up in the starting corals.

Swim – 34:23

Even though our wave was pretty small (under 100 people), it was really crowded for most of the swim. I think it's because people are much closer in their ability at this race so there's no spreading out like at other races. I tried to line up at the front, but I still had to pass quite a few girls in the first 200 yards, so I guess I need to line up even more aggressive. It was also really choppy, definitely, more so than during our practice swims on Thursday and Friday. After the first couple hundred yards I got on some girl's feet. She was going about the same speed as me (not much faster) but I figured at least I would save some energy in her draft, which I've been spending plenty of fighting the waves and trying to swim around people. This was working out well for me – I stayed right on her feet while she did most of the navigating and picking the lines to swim around people – until the turn around where she started having some issues with her goggles and stopped to adjust them. I kept swimming and was able to get in a pretty good groove on my own. It was really hard to sight on the way back with the sun rising above Clearwater, but I managed to at least locate the next buoy I had to swim to. I even passed a few more red caps (my wave) and a good number of blue caps (the previous wave) which made me wonder if I picked the wrong girl to draft. Despite the crowds and the waves, I thought I was having a really good swim. I was unpleasantly surprised when I saw 34 minutes on my watch as I came out. I later learned that most folks had slower swims than normal (due to the chop), so I don't feel quite as bad about it anymore. Still, I have some work to do! Particularly, I need to get better at finding the right people to draft of and navigating around the slower swimmers in a more efficient way. I will need that at the Ironman where there will be 2,000 people instead of 100. Not sure how to practice this though? I guess I should join some group open water swims.

T1 – 3:17

I stripped the top of my wetsuit on the way out of the water, slowed down for a couple seconds in the showers to get most of the salt water off my body to avoid chafing later. The wetsuit strippers were amazing! They took my wetsuit off in literally half a second. I ran through the transition, picked up my bag, got in the tent and grabbed a volunteer who was stuffing someone else's stuff in their bag at the time. I just said: "I need you to help me, please". She was really accommodating: helped me put some sunscreen on my face, got my shoes and race belt for me, then – my sunglasses and helmet. I was out in no time. Grabbed my bike and ran towards the Bike Out. My T2 certainly wasn't the fastest of the day, but I think it was pretty efficient. I didn't waste any time at any point.

Bike – 2:31:27

I got up to speed quickly and passed a couple folks in the first mile, before we even got to the bridge. I made sure to gear down on the bridge to avoid burning any matches early on the bike. I tried to keep my power in the 180s and watched my HR. It was a little high in the first 30 minutes (high 170s), but that seems to be normal for me (happened at other races this year), so I wasn't concerned. I didn't worry about my speed too much. I'd look down at it occasionally and I always saw a number above 21, and sometimes it was 24-25. Flying :)

The packs started forming right away, but I was determined to race honestly. I got passed by a bunch of draft packs. It was a little bit scary – they'd come 2-3 abreast and some sections of the course were fairly narrow. Plus I was passing a lot of people myself, and the packs would sometimes go into a double pass while I was passing another rider. Yikes! I just made sure to be extra alert when they flew by me and had my hands on my breaks to be ready to react in case they pulled anything stupid. Luckily, I didn't personally witness any wrecks, but I sure saw a lot of people on the side of the road who had crashed. I didn't count but I must have seen at least 8-10 people bloodied up, sometimes 2 or 3 at a time, and one poor guy was being taken away on a stretcher. I don't remember it being quite as bad in 2008 :(
It was a bit windy on the course, mostly side winds. I kept on schedule for my nutrition, hydration and salt intake and stayed strong the whole time. As per plan, I controlled my power for the first hour and allowed myself to go higher for the rest of the ride if I could. Looking at the power trace, it didn't work out quite the way I wanted – my highest average power was in the first hour and it got a bit lower (not dramatically) later in the race. I passed 13 girls in my AG during the ride (though I don't remember seeing that many) and got passed by 1. I did see a couple under 25 girls, who I'd passed early on, fly by me in a pack of guys a few miles down the road, but I didn't let it annoy me too much especially since they weren't even in my AG.
I am a little disappointed that I didn't meet my time goal of sub 2:30. During the ride it felt like I was giving it all I could, but knowing that my power output did drop a bit in the second half I wonder what I could have done differently... Control my power more in the first half? Eat more?

T2 – 2:30

A volunteer took my bike and I ran to grab my run bag unclipping my helmet on the way. I had another great volunteer help me in the tent. I put my socks and shoes on quickly while she opened my bottle of Coke for me. I might have lost a couple seconds putting on my visor. I should have put it on while running out instead of inside, but I don't think I lost that much time. Overall, it was an efficient T2.

Run – 1:35:55

The run course consists of 2 loops including a mile-long steep bridge at mile 2. You cross this bridge 4 times – out and back on each loop. My left quad cramped up in mile 1. It was very weird because I've never had my quads cramp up in a triathlon before. I've had my quads completely shot at the end of marathons that had some significant downhill, like Boston or Yakima River Canyon. But the way they tightened up this time was different. They weren't completely shot, just super tight. I was still able to move at a pretty good pace – I was dropping 7:10s, but running was not as easy as at Oliver or Troika earlier this year. My range of motion was definitely constricted.

After I finished the Coke I picked up in T2 and drank some sports drink, the left quad released at about mile 2 and I was able to put a couple faster miles and catch the folks who passed me in the first mile. Then at about mile 3, my right quad tightened the same way. I dropped down to 7:20s again and lost my faster pace group. More sports drink and a gel – it released in a mile or so and I was able to run faster again. Then both of them tightened up again as I ran up the bridge. A guy with "28" on his calf passed me as we came down the other side of the bridge. My quads loosened up on the downhill and I tried to hang with him. It worked and I stayed with him through the end of the first lap. Then at the start of the second lap (mile 6.5), the cramps came back. I lost my pacer just to catch him again at mile 8 after the cramps released on the downhill side of the bridge. At mile 9, I got caught by a speedy Lithuanian (could tell by the flag on his race bib) who was running low 7s. He said: "Come on, stay with me! Is this your last [lap]?" as he passed me. I decided to give it a shot. My 28 year old pacing buddy couldn't hang with us, but I was able to stay behind my fellow Slavic runner for a good 2 miles. The cramps kept coming on and off in waves, but I kept playing mental games with myself, ordering my legs to stop cramping. As we hit the climb up the bridge, I had to let him go. This last climb was painful, but I at least I was in the home stretch. As I descended down the back side of the bridge I saw one of the sub 25 girls who passed me on the bike in the pack of guys. She was a couple hundred yards up the road. Even though she wasn't in my AG I really wanted to pass her back. That gave me enough motivation to speed up in the last mile and finish strong in 4:47:30.

Post-race

I got my finisher hat and my medal, stood in line for the photo op. My legs were in pain after I crossed, so I went straight to the massage tent. After a 10min massage I went to get some food just to find out that they were out of veggie pizza :( I had to resort to ice cream. It was perfect though :)

I finished 27th in AG. My final time was slower than I hoped for (was shooting for sub 4:40), but given the choppy swim and the cramps on the run, I think I managed it pretty well. I am proud to get such a fast bike split without drafting. I wonder what my place in AG would have been if everyone raced honestly. I guess I'll have a chance to find out in Vegas next year :)

Puget Sound Blood Center Swim for Life

2010-08-19T08:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I participated in the Puget Sound Blood Center Swim for Life. It's a 2.5 mile swim across Lake Washington to benefit their Bone Marrow Registry program. I learned that it's very hard to find a perfect match when one needs a bone marrow transplant. Turns out it costs $100 to register each donor in the national donor registry. The more donors are able to register - the more people in need of a transplant can find their perfect match and more lives can be saved. About 350 people participated in yesterday's event and raised over $42K which will pay for 420 donor matches.

I was invited on a team by my friends Lyset, Stu, Nico and Alan. You had to form a team of up to 4 swimmers plus 1 kayaker who would escort the swimmers across the lake. In the days before the swim, it's been really hot and the lake has been smooth like a mirror. Of course, on the day of our swim it had to be cold and the lake was covered with white caps. The water was warm though, so as soon as I started swimming I warmed up and felt pretty comfortable except for occasional wave hitting me in the face right as I was trying to breathe.

We started at Medina Beach and would finish at Madison Beach. We did pretty good at staying together as a team. Lyset was setting the pace. Stu, Nico and I followed and Alan (our safety officer in a kayak) tried to herd us back together if we ended up too far from each other.

The swim distance is similar to an Ironman swim (a bit longer). It went by way faster than I expected. For some reason we were put in a slower Red wave (second to last). But we quickly caught up with the previous Orange wave and even passed some people in the Green wave, 2 waves ahead of us. We finished in 1h 25m. I am quite happy with this time, given that I wasn't swimming at race pace and also given the stormy water.

We took some finisher pictures and enjoyed some bagels and coffee. Unfortunately, the organization was pretty poor when it came to bringing people back to Medina Beach. There was only one shuttle bus that only fit a handful of people and a couple speed boats. After waiting around for 30 minutes longer than I would have liked, I ended up catching a ride with one of the volunteers in her own car. Other than that, it was a great event. I hope the event keeps growing and they organize the transportation better next year.

Lake Stevens 70.3 Race Report

2010-08-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

Pre-race
On Saturday, I went up to Everett/Lake Stevens to attend the pre-race meeting and drop off my bike. Rode 20 min easy on the course one last time to make sure the bike was good to go. Managed to lose my driver’s license during that short ride :( If anyone found it during the race yesterday – let me know. I guess I should get one of those road IDs.
I enjoyed fresh linguine with smoked salmon as my pre-race meal and spent the rest of the evening packing my gear and going over my race plan. I froze solid my bike nutrition and water bottles overnight given the hot temps that were expected for race day. Went to bed at 9:30pm.

Race morning
Up at 3:30pm. Quick shower, breakfast of champions (bagel with Nutella, coffee and OJ), out the door at 4:15. I arrived in Lake Stevens close to 5am and took the last parking spot at Bike Works 2 blocks away from transition (the owner does bike support for the race and is cool with athletes parking at his lot for free). Arriving early gave me plenty of time to prepare my transition area, stand through the bathroom line twice, get my wetsuit on and still left some time for chatting with a few friends and just relaxing before the start of my wave. I always get a major case of butterflies in my stomach the day before the race, but somehow I manage to be totally calm in the morning before the swim start.

Swim – 35:46
The swim started out very smooth. I found the underwater cable right away, found myself behind a couple ladies who were keeping a consistent pace. I settled in and enjoyed a pretty relaxed swim – didn’t even need to sight – it was like swimming in the pool behind someone who’s slightly faster than you but makes for a perfect person to draft. It was the most enjoyable race swim experience yet. This changed after the turn around as we caught up with some folks from the previous wave. Since everyone else also enjoyed swimming along the cable I kept having to go around people. I still tried to keep the cable in sight but lost the girls I was drafting.
Came out of the water and realized that my stop watch was completely dead, so I had no idea what my split was.
35 min was my goal for this race, so I am satisfied with my swim. Also, this confirms my suspicion that the course at Troika 2 weeks ago was short because I feel like I swam just as well at Lake Stevens as I did at Troika.

T1 – 2:45
I felt great coming out of the water and passed a couple people on the run to the bikes. Found my bike rack fine, but missed my bike on the first try and ran too far and had to track back. As I was taking off my wetsuit I saw my friend Cathleen and asked her what our swim time was, she said around 35 min. Great, right on goal. I sprayed on some sunscreen, put on my shoes, helmet and race number. As I was putting on my sunglasses, a lens popped out :( (This has happened before when I dropped them but not if I put them on carefully). I rushed to put it back in, but as I put the glasses on for the second time, it happened again. Finally, on the third try I had my glasses on, all smeared with sunscreen which, coupled with the sun glare made it hard to see. Sorry if anyone heard me swearing in T1!
I feel like this time is ok given that I missed my bike and had to mess with my glasses. Buying new glasses before my next race!

Bike – 2:49:54
It was really nice to be intimately familiar with the course and know exactly what’s coming after each turn and when the true top of the hill is, etc. I knew the main trick yesterday was to not screw up my nutrition/hydration because of how hot it was. I drank some of my carbo pro mixture every 20 min, took salt capsules regularly and drank A LOT of water. Originally, I planned to drink 2 bottles of water, but I think I ended up drinking 3+.
I watched my watts and made sure I stayed below my cap on the climbs when possible and kept it in my target range on the flats (I think there were about 4-5 flat miles on the whole course). It was pretty crowded the whole way which made me check my speed on the descents a bit more than I do in training. It was nice to get some friendly competition from my rock-star-bike-racer friend, Carly. We kept passing each other back and forth for the majority of the ride. She kicked some major butt yesterday!
At mile 48 I stopped getting the speed reading. It’s not a big deal since I ride by power, not by speed, but turned out that the sensor piece got knocked out of its cage and was just hanging off by the wire that connects it to the computer. It was ok at first but with a few miles to go it got caught between the wheel and the fork and made a terrible noise. I thought for sure it was getting torn off my bike, but it got pushed out the other side of the fork and was just hanging like that the rest of the way.
My bike split was a bit slower than I hoped for (my goal was 2:45), but I don’t think I made any mistakes in my execution, so I’m happy with it.

T2 – 1:31
T2 went a lot smoother than T1. Changed my shoes, took off my helmet, grabbed the small bottle of coke and some gels for my nutrition and I was on my way.

Run – 1:38:52
Felt pretty good at the start, especially after I drank the Coke during the first mile. (This time I de-fizzed it the night before so I didn’t spill quite as much on myself.) Unfortunately, my watch was dead, so I couldn’t take my splits and didn’t know my heart rate. I ran exclusively by effort. I consumed 2 gels over the course of the first hour and made sure to drink extra water or Gatorade at each aid station to stay hydrated and keep up my electrolytes. I think I did a really good job with hydration, nutrition and electrolytes on both the bike and the run because I never felt hungry, thirsty, dehydrated or overheated. I never got cramps either which happened in the last 2 races.
The long hill on the out and back seemed particularly steep yesterday. I usually barely even notice that it’s a hill on training runs, but that was not the case yesterday. Despite the fact that I was managing my temperature ok, it was still a tough run. I felt like my effort and pace stayed consistent the whole run, but I have no way of verifying that since I don’t have my splits. On one hand, I think maybe I could have pushed a bit harder if I had my watch and knew that I was behind on my splits. On the other hand it’s hard to imagine working any harder than I was, so maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t have my splits.
I picked it up a bit when I knew we only had a half a mile to go. It was weird crossing the finish line having no idea what my finish time was. I did know that I left it all out there on the course though. I couldn’t even walk after I crossed the finish line. I just wanted to lay down and not move. The volunteers even made me go into the med tent for the first time ever. I wasn’t feeling sick or dehydrated though, just really spent. So I laid in the tent for a few minutes with some ice bags on my legs and drank some water. It was kind of nice.

Overall – 5:08:46
I did notice that the clock said 5:36 when I crossed and I found out that it was from the pro start which I knew was 28 minutes earlier than our wave, so I figured I was in the 5:08-5:09 range. I was a little disappointed to not break 5 hours, but I kind of knew it wasn’t going to happen after the bike. Given the heat, I think it’s a respectable time for me and honestly, I feel like I executed well. I can’t think of anything I’d do differently... except for maybe run a bit faster, but don’t we all wish that :) It was just a tougher day than I planned for. I am sure happy with getting 3rd in my AG!
It was nice to get a massage after the race and to watch some of my friends finish. I got to watch Sister Madonna go into the finish chute. That lady has some kick! She sprinted in the last 100m, it was awesome to see!
I hung out for the awards and for the Clearwater spots roll-down. Only 2 slots in our AG this year, so I didn’t get one automatically. None of them were claimed though so I knew I’d get one. Really happy that Carly and Daniel got their slots too! Lots of friends to train and go down there with!

Troika Half Ironman - August 1, 2010

2010-08-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

Pre-race

Arrived in Spokane just in time for the packet pickup at 3pm on Saturday. For some reason, they didn’t have a pre-race meeting. I found that to be weird. Even though it always seems annoying to listen to the same thing over and over again at each race, without a pre-race meeting it seemed like a part of the race experience was missing. Maybe I just like to check out the competition :-)
After picking up the race packet I headed to Medical Lake to drive the bike course. I did Troika 2 years ago, but the course was changed due to construction in the park and one of the roads being freshly cheap-sealed, so I wanted to see what to expect. Like the original course, the updated one has lots of rollers in the beginning including a beautiful twisty road around Clear Lake which wasn't part of the course 2 years ago. One of the added hills had a pretty nasty grade, I was glad I got to see it the day before. I rode my bike on the trail part of the course that wasn't accessible by car which gave me a chance to ride my bike one last time before the race, go through all the gears, etc. Overall, the new course doesn't lose quite as much elevation in the middle section, but on the plus side the climb out of the park back into town wasn't as long.
It was dinner time when I finished, so I headed to Olive Garden. Apparently, so did the rest of the 200 racers, because the wait for one was 45 min. Thankfully, there was an Italian-American Grill place around the corner that had no wait and a selection of pastas on their menu. Their grilled veggie pasta turned out to be just perfect for me.
The rest of the evening was spent making sure all the gear is ready to go and going through my race plan and visualizing the race. I was in bed by 9:30 and asleep shortly after.

Race morning

Woke up at 3:45, went through my usual race morning routine. My breakfast consisted of a scone, OJ and coffee. At 4:30, I headed out to the parking lot where the shuttles were supposed to pick us up. There were a bunch of other athletes there, but no buses. At 5am our bus driver walked over from the Red Lion Hotel across the street and said they were told to wait there. Funny thing, some of the people in the parking lot, actually stayed at that hotel, but came to the parking lot where athletes were told to wait at. Once we boarded the bus and headed over to Medical Lake, the bus driver asked us "Does anyone know exactly where that Waterfront Park is?" Of course, most of us knew how to get there, but still hilarious that they told the bus drivers to go to the wrong parking lot and didn't even tell them where they were supposed to take us.
At Troika, it does matter when you get to the transition, because the bike rack space is on the first come first serve basis, so the closest spots to the swim exit and bike exit are gone fast. We arrived to the transition at about 5:30am and I still got a pretty decent spot. With it being a point to point course, they give you a big garbage bag, in which you are to put your wetsuit and all your morning stuff once you are ready to go on the bike. This forces to pack lightly and not bring lots of extra stuff "just in case" (the less stuff you have to put in the bag, the faster the transition). Less stuff to mess with in transition also meant faster prep time. I had everything ready to go, visited the bathroom twice and it was still 30 min till race start. This never happens to me! I sat at a picnic table overlooking the swim and studied the swim course. It was great to have this quiet time.

Swim – 32:04

Unlike the previous 2 HIMs this summer, I started the swim at an easier effort. I focused on reaching as far as I could with each stroke and keeping my motions smooth. Felt great at the turn around, so I picked it up a bit and even a bit more in the last 500 yards. I couldn’t believe my watch when I came out of the water! I've never broken 35 min in an HIM swim before, so cutting 3 min off is HUGE. I don't know if the course was short or my new 2010 Helix is doing its magic – whatever it is, I'll take a 32 min split!

T1 – 1:40

The wetsuit came off quick and easy, dropped it the bag, put the shoes and race number on, sprayed some sunscreen on, put on my glasses and helmet and off I went. Unlike the other two races I did this season, the run from beach was really short which helped with a fast split, but still, happy to finally see a sub 2 min T1 :-)

Bike – 2:36:58

Felt good getting up to speed and into my target watts range. Got passed by a girl (who later won the race) in the first mile. I tried to pass her back, then tried to hang with her, but she was riding stronger, and I wasn’t going to ride harder than my plan, so I watched her slowly ride away. Passed a few women in the first few miles and then it was mostly passing and getting passed by guys. There was about 5-10 miles in the middle when I was mostly riding by myself. I saw a porcupine in the middle of the road that was killed by a car. How sad is that? You never see porcupines, what are the chances of running one over? Also I can't imagine that the little guy sprinted out in the middle of the road out of nowhere like a squirrel, he must have been slowly crossing and the driver wasn’t paying attention :-( Once I got on the descending part, I was surrounded by other racers again. This was also when the official motorcycle decided to start monitoring me. He stayed within sight for a few miles during the decent/faux flat section. I obviously wasn't going to draft, but having the motorcycle right there made me nervous about trying to pass people. I may have soft pedaled or coasted in some cases where I would have otherwise tried to pass the person ahead. Oh well, I don’t think I lost that much time there if any at all. Once we got to the park, the motorcycle reappeared and followed me for a while again. At this point it was a slight uphill and I was actually passing a lot of folks. I got tired of worrying about the official. I was riding clean, so if he wanted to watch me – fine. Overall, I feel like I nailed the ride. I rode consistent and strong the whole way – kept my watts in the target range on the flats, climbed the rollers a bit harder, drank some water or Carbo Pro every 10 min and ate salt caps every 30 minutes. I don’t think I could have ridden any harder.

T2 – 0:57

They make it easy for you to have a fast T2. A volunteer grabs your bike and helmet/shoes, another volunteer has your T2 bag ready. There's a bench right there to sit down and put the shoes on. I think I should have been a bit faster, but I'll take sub 1 minute T2.

Run – 1:31:04

Felt great from the start. I had left a small bottle of coke in the T2 bag. That tasted wonderful in the first mile (after I sprayed half the bottle all over myself trying to open it). Some spectator or volunteer told me that I was the 3rd woman. That was good news. I thought I had a chance of catching one or even both of the women ahead of me even though I had no idea how far ahead they were. I was passing a lot of guys, but didn't see any women until after mile marker 6, when I saw both of them coming in the opposite direction, pretty close to each other. The turn-around is at 6.5, so I must have been less than a mile behind them, so I needed to be running about 0:40-1:00 a mile faster than them. Not entirely unreasonable given that I was dropping sub 7 minute miles. I caught the second girl about a mile or two after the turn around. After I was ahead of her, I heard someone yell "Go Kara!" and I realized that it was a friend and ex-Microsoftie Kara Nielsen. I kept running really hard and passing lots of guys and hoping that I'd see the woman leader's blue jersey as I passed every turn. I only got passed once during the whole run (by a relay guy), but still I never saw my leader girl. At mile 10, my calves started having slight spasms. I basically ordered them to stop it and just kept running through it. My last 3 miles were a little slower because of it (7:08-7:09), but it didn’t get nearly as bad as it did during the Desert Half 3 weeks ago. (Note to self: I probably should have taken more salt caps on the bike.)

Overall – 4:42:43

It was pretty awesome to finish hearing the announcer say "Our second female finisher Lilia…" Turns out that the winner beat me by 3 minutes. She was running pretty strong too! If I didn't have my spasms in the last 3 miles, I could have maybe finished 1 min faster, but no way I could have caught her. Glad she was there to push me to go as fast as I could though! Overall, I feel like it was a very well-executed race for me. Great confidence builder after not having a good race at Desert Half. Of course, it helped having cooler temps yesterday, but I feel that I would have done well even if it was hotter.

Desert Half Ironman - July 11, 2010

2010-08-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

Swim – 36:56
W00t:

Picked a good line at the start and had a very clean first 200m – avoided the washing machine
Stuck with a pack of women in the first lap, my split was just a little over 17min for the first lap

Meh:

For some reason didn’t feel so hot on the second lap and slowed down, ended up with a split over a minute slower than my time at Oliver half iron a few weeks ago.

T1 – 3:11
W00t:

Didn't make any obvious mistakes, like knocking over my behind the seat water bottle

Meh:

Everything was just slow. The wetsuit got stuck on my heals and the wetsuit strippers had to pull pretty hard to get it off. The run between the beach and the transition was slow. Still felt a bit off after the swim.
This time was pretty slow compared to the rest of the top 10 women... Maybe I need to learn how to put my shoes on while riding

Bike – 3:00:43
W00t:

Climbed steady and kept it at my own pace, watts below my climbing cap. Didn't get caught up in a mini king-of-the-hill battle at the beginning of Richter Pass with people getting out of their saddles, etc. And sure enough, I passed most of those folks later in the climb.
Did well on the descents. Somehow, I managed to pass bigger guys on the descents a few times. How did that happen? I guess I have a pretty aero dynamic setup :) Also I must be more comfortable going down at 45mph in my aero now… I used to chicken out and reach for the breaks.

Meh:

While I did well at keeping my watts below the cap, I didn't do so well at keeping them above the lower bound of my target range. A few times I would look down and see 160s or 170s instead of targeted 190. Felt sluggish. I know this is still a good bike split for this course, but I think if I was feeling 100%, I should have been a few minutes faster.
Didn't stick to my nutrition plan. With the 95 degree heat, my Perpetuem bottles got so warm and nasty. I finished the first one, but opted for the cold Gatorade that they handed out on the course instead of my second bottle. Only got through half of the Gatorade bottle, which put me at almost 200 calories less than I planned.

T2 – 1:25
W00t:

Pretty happy with this transition – everything went pretty smooth.

Meh:

Perhaps could shave off 10 sec if I could learn how to take my shoes off while on the bike...

Run – 1:46:05
W00t:

Managed to run the whole way despite my legs cramping up

Meh:

Very slow run for me! The slowest HIM run split in the last 3 years. I felt really sluggish right from the start. Kept waiting for it to go away, but it never happened. Probably had something to do with the fact that I didn’t eat enough on the bike.
My calf muscles starting cramping at mile 9. First, I started getting spasms in my right leg – it happened once, then a second time after about half a mile. Then I got them in both legs and they started happening more frequently. Similar thing happened to me in the last mile of the Yakima Canyon Marathon so I altered my stride in the same way I did at the marathon – basically, didn’t push off with my feet anymore, and ran by just using my quads and my hamstrings. This helped mitigate the spasms, but definitely slowed me down.

Overall – 5:28:18
W00t:

4th in AG, 7th overall – not a bad standing for having a crappy day
A very pretty course and superb race organization. Highly recommend! Don’t go looking for a PR though :)

Meh:

Bummer to miss the podium by about 2 minutes. I keep thinking "if only I could have stuck with the pack at the swim" or "if only I could have had faster transitions" or "if only I didn't get the stupid leg cramps"... But 2 minutes is 2 minutes. I just didn't have it yesterday.
I need to learn how to manage the heat better – not sure how to do it in Seattle though. I guess I'll just keep going to hot places to race (next up – Troika in Spokane!)
Definitely need to work on my climbing strength – I just didn’t have the stamina to keep my watts up for 7 miles up the hill...

Oliver Half Ironman Race Report - June 6, 2010

2010-08-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

Swim
W00t:

35m and change, 1:41 per 100 yards. Fastest half iron swim for me by over 2 minutes.
Perfect water temp – not too cold, not too warm.
Mentally focused on my form the whole swim – it seems to do the trick when I start falling apart by the end of my long workouts, I guess it works in races as well.

Meh:

Pretty violent start. The waves were huge with all women under 45 starting at once. I got whacked with an elbow in my head a couple times and swallowed some water one of those times, but managed to keep it under control, cough it out and keep going.
Didn’t catch any feet to draft off. Still need to work on that.

T1
W00t:

Fast run between the lake exit and the transition (it’s over a 1/4 mile run!) – 2:29. Passed quite a few people there.
Wet suit strippers rock!

Meh:

3:11 for the actual transition – from when I got into the transition area till when I clipped into my bike pedals. Slow
Messed with my helmet too long – probably lost all the advantage that I gained in the quick run between the lake and the transition.
Knocked over my behind the seat water bottle while hopping on my bike – need to practice with that setup some more.

Bike
W00t:

2h40m, 21.3 mph, despite the fact that the course is at least 1 mile long. Fastest bike split ever for me.
Fun course – rolling hills are my favorite terrain, gorgeous views of the lakes, mountains and vineyards. Perfect for spectators with the athletes passing the transition area 6 times.
Lucked out on the weather – nice temps in the 70s, cloud cover kept us sheltered from the sun and the winds were very mild.
I love my SRM power meter! Used it religiously to keep the wattage up in the 170-180 range on the flats and to keep it controlled on the uphills.
It was nice to see Polita out there and pass each other back and forth a few times. Always good to cheer each other on!

Meh:

I need to change my saddle. My inner thighs started cramping in the last 10K. I think the saddle is too wide for me.
I do not like it when people draft. After working hard against the wind all by myself for the whole last stretch of Hwy 97, I got caught and passed by a pack of 3 girls who were clearly working together. On the positive note, it got me kind of angry and gave me an extra boost of energy to crank out those last 10K and not let them get far ahead of me.
Some guys just can’t get over the fact that there are women who are faster than them. If a rider catches you from behind despite the fact that they started the swim 10 min later, and passes you – there is a good chance that they are stronger than you. No need to crank it up and try to get ahead of them repeatedly for the next 5 miles just because it happens to be a girl.

T2
W00t:

Nothing w00t about this transition :-(

Meh:

2:11, slow T2!
I was slow getting off my bike, slow changing and managed to forget my race belt and had to run back to grab it after I was almost out of the transition

Run
W00t:

1:31, 6:57 per mile. Fastest half iron run split and second fastest half marathon time for me. Wow, didn’t know I could go sub 7 in a half iron!
Didn’t get passed once.
It was great to see Rhae finishing her first lap as I was just starting on the run and then again, in the final winning stretch as I was starting on my second lap.

Meh:

Narrow bike path and bridges/sidewalks made for a crowded second lap. A lot of folks were still on their first lap and I had to pass a lot of people.
Gravel which makes up about half the course is not my favorite surface to run on.

Nutrition
W00t:

I planned well and executed well
1 Cliff shot before the swim start (100 Kcal)
2 bottles with 2 scoops of Hammer Perpetuem in each + one package of Cliff blocks (total of 740 Kcal) during the bike
1 Cliff shot (100 Kcal) + a random mix of Gatorade, water and Coke at aid stations during the run
Never felt too hungry, too full, too thirsty or too fatigued, never cramped except for the inner thighs cramping which, I believe, resulted from my less-than-perfect bike saddle fit.

Meh:

No complaints here, I think I did well.

Overall
W00t:

Took off over 16 min from my previous half iron PR of 5:11 at Clearwater 2008. (Full disclosure: I did quite a bit of drafting myself in that race, so breaking that dishonest bike split makes me feel doubly good! Also, after my experience yesterday, I never want to draft in a race again!)
Came in 2nd in my age group and 9th overall. I’ve never made top three my age group or top 10 overall before in a half ironman. It feels really good!
Great race. Fun course, nice town, well organized, good for spectators. I recommend!

Meh:

Both of my transitions were really slow and I made stupid mistakes in both of them. What’s up with that? I guess I just lost my short distance racing edge. In an Ironman, 3 min transitions are normal and you have volunteers that help you make sure you have everything and put your stuff away. I must have gotten lazy. Need to practice more and race more!

Yakima River Canyon Marathon Race Report

2010-03-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

The day before

I don't consider 100 mile drive a destination race (thanks to all the bike races 2 hours away), so I just drove over the morning of the race and worked all day the previous day. Drank lots of Hammer+Noon mixture all day at work to stay well hydrated. Had some veggie pizza and salad as well as one beer as my pre-race meal. Then packed all my stuff for the next morning. I was surprised how easy and fast it was to get things ready compared to preparing for a triathlon - just running shoes and a running outfit - no need to go through a 50 item checklist. Went to bed at 10pm and fell asleep pretty easily.

Morning of the race

Woke up at 4am on race morning, took a quick hot shower, braided my hair, ate breakfast and was out the door at 4:45. Breakfast: toasted frozen waffles with cream cheese and peach jam, banana, OJ and tea. Drank 2 more bottles of my Hammer+Noon mixture on the drive over (about 1.5 hours). Showed up right in time for packet pick up opening and just before the shuttle bus with a bunch of Marathon Maniacs arrived, so managed to go to the bathroom before the lines got crazy. It was still 1.5 hours before the start, so I had plenty of time to pin my number, go to the bathroom a couple more times, and debate what I should wear for the race. It was below freezing at the start, but I knew that as soon as the sun comes up, it would warm up the temps. Ended up going with shorts and a long sleeve T-shirt. It worked out just right, though the start was freezing! I wish I had a hat and gloves to throw away.

The course

Net downhill of 300ft. The course winds along the Yakima river in the canyon. Most of the course is slight downhill slope, but there are some hills at miles 5 and 6, then again 14, 15 and 17, and finally a brutal uphill at miles 21 through 23, then one more slight uphill at mile 25. Gorgeous course, but this kind of profile was absolutely brutal on my body. The quads and hips were not happy during the race and even more so now, the day after.
We were lucky with the weather. Even though the start was freezing, it warmed up to around 50s pretty fast - perfect marathon running temperature. We also didn't get much wind which I hear can be a major factor in this race some years.

The race

My strategy was to start right on pace for my goal of 3:10 finish - around 7:15 and hold myself back from going faster down the hill until the first uphill at mile 5 in order to save my quads from locking up later. I planned to let my legs cruise on the downhills after that point and get some fast miles in. I also knew that due to my recent right calf injury, I had to take the uphills really easy if I wanted to run the whole way since calves are usually stressed on the uphills and if I blew my calf out I would have not been able to finish anywhere near my goal. I was also hoping to find a solid 3:10 looking runner to follow so I didn't have to run on my own the whole way.
I didn't quite follow that plan. In the first mile, I found myself following closely behind the 2nd woman and 2 guys who although did not 'look' like 3:10 runners, were holding a steady pace that I felt comfortable with. (I don't mean to sound condescending when I say they didn't look like fast runners. What I mean is they were not tech'd out and geeked out like your usual marathon runners are at that pace. They were wearing cotton shirts and khaki shorts and did not have a perfect long distance runner stride, they also didn't take any gels and didn't always stop at water stations for a drink even though the water stations were 3 miles apart. But what the heck, they were hauling it pretty consistent at sub 7 so more power to them.)
I knew that starting at sub 7 was risky and that it was against my plan, but it felt doable (thanks to the slight downhill grade) and I liked the idea of sticking with some runners to make the pacing easier so that I wouldn't end up all by myself later on. And no lie, I also started having visions of 3:06 or something like that, so figured I should just give it a go.
One part of my plan that I was going to stick with no matter what was my uphill tactic. I took shorter more frequent steps on the first hill at mile 5, so I had to let my pacers get ahead. I still could see them right ahead and as soon as we reached the top of the hill, I resumed my normal stride so I kept pacing off them even though at a distance.
I crossed half way point at 1:32 and my legs still felt good. I knew that the hills in the second half were harder, so I would run a slower second split, but I still thought that 3:10 was very doable and possibly even a 3:07-3:08.
The second hill came right at miles 14-15 and I did my short step/high turn over steps again. I got passed by a guy who's been running a few meters behind me the whole time near the top of that hill. As we started down the hill, I let my legs go and was able to pace off him for the next few miles. It was at this downhill that I realized that my quads were quite shot by now after all the 'slight downhill' running. I was still able to cruise down the hill at a sub 7 pace, but the legs felt stiff.
Mile 17 hill was gentle, so it didn't slow me down too much. It started to get hard at this point so I had to start employing a lot of mental powers to keep the pace. My hips and quads hurt even on the very slight downhills. And I was just plain getting tired after running at this intensity for so long. I started counting down miles to the big hill. I knew that was going to be a suffer fest so it was important that I stay strong and don't lose any time before it if I wanted to stay on pace for 3:10. So I kept telling myself "mile 17, only 3 miles left till the big hill... mile 18, only 2 miles left till the big hill... " as if the big hill was the finish of the race...
When the big hill came I just squeezed my teeth and went up it keeping my steps short and my leg turnover as fast as I could. The worst part about it was that it had a fake summit. You see what you think is the top of the hill, but in fact after you make the turn at that point, you realize you only ran up half of it and the remaining part is even steeper. Oh well - I kept putting one foot in front of the other one step at a time. I got passed by a couple more guys on that hill, but there was no way I could have gone up it any faster.
As the downhill finally came, the quads and hips were hurting even worse, but I knew I only had 3 miles left at this point, and I had to run them fast if I wanted to finish in 3:10, so I just had to tune out the pain and let the gravity do its job. Slight uphill on mile 25 almost did my calf in. I felt it wanting to cramp up, so I had to take a deep breath, shorten my step and literally tell it to wait 1.5 miles before cramping. I managed to avoid the cramp, but I no longer had the full range of motion even on the downhill after that, I kind of had to 'fixate' my foot at the 90 degrees angle to my leg and not really push off with it any more, just keep placing one stiff leg in front of the other and let the gravity take me down the last hill. That last sub 7 mile on the last downhill took a lot of mental focus, I even managed to pass one of the guys who passed me earlier. I really wanted to cross the line while the clock still said 3:10, but was a few seconds late. Oh well - that will be a task for next time. I'll have to work just a little bit harder for it.

Time: 3:11:22
Pace: 7:18 per mile
Overall place: 3rd female
AG place: 1st in 25-29 age group

Mile Splits

mile # - time - AHR
mile 1 - 6:55 - 172
mile 2 - 6:51 - 182
mile 3 - 6:53 - 183
mile 4 - 6:48 - 184
mile 5 - 7:12 - 185
mile 6 - 7:08 - 184
mile 7 - 7:01 - 182
mile 8 - 6:55 - 182
mile 9 - 6:57 - 182
mile 10 - 7:09 - 182
mile 11 - 6:59 - 179
mile 12 - 6:46 - 180
mile 13 - 7:17 - 179
mile 14 - 7:34 - 179
mile 15 - 7:57 - 180
mile 16 - 6:53 - 175
mile 17 - 7:30 - 178
mile 18 - 7:06 - 177
mile 19 - 7:04 - 178
mile 20 - 7:32 - 177
mile 21 - 7:39 - 173
mile 22 - 8:10 - 172
mile 23 - 9:16 - 174
mile 24 - 7:19 - 170
mile 25 - 7:32 - 174
mile 26 - 6:58 - 172
last .2 - 1:51 - 178

Nutrition

I took one Cliff Shot Gel 15 minutes before the race, and 3 more at 30m, 1h 15m, and 2h into the race. I also carried my own bottle with Hammer+Nuun mix for the first half of the race because I knew that the water stations were sparse and like to be able to drink whenever I want to during the first half of the race. After that point I took a sip of each, PowerAid and Water at each water station (they were about 2.5-3 miles apart).

Post race

After I crossed the line, my legs locked up so bad, I could barely walk around, I couldn't manage to stretch out my quads - they were in so much pain. I made my way to the massage table and the 15 minute massage didn't really make them feel a whole lot better. I chatted with a few runners who I saw on the course including the female winner Annie - she is such a nice lady who runs 10 marathons a year all around 3 hour pace.
On the bus back to the start I chatted with one of the guys who didn't really look like a runner. Turned out it was his first marathon and he ended up with a 3:09 - BQ! He told me when he trains he doesn't even drink water at all on his 20 milers just because he doesn't like the idea of carrying a bottle. Crazy! Sounds like if he joins a runners group and does some proper training and speed work he can probably get really crazy fast... Made me jealous - I have to work so hard to get to this level and do everything "just right" to get even close to his result.. Oh well, we all have different level of abilities and ultimately just race against ourselves. That's why I love running!

Overall

I wonder if I would have been able to run this race faster if I held back a bit at the beginning. To be honest I don't think so. The sub 7s felt good then and if I didn't bank up that time at the beginning, I don't think I could have made it up later in the race. And with that terrain, my quads and hips would have gotten sore at any pace, so the amount of suffering would have been the same. The 2nd woman only came in 2 minutes before me and I could see her the whole time, so she slowed down similarly in the second half, her only advantage over me was that she could run the uphills normally, that's why she was a couple minutes ahead.
I think given the terrain and my injury I executed just about the best I could there yesterday. I think if my calves were healthy I would have hit my goal.
Great local scenic race. But probably wouldn't do it again just because of all the damage to my body is too much.

Ironman World Championships Hawaii 2009

2009-10-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Pre-race

I flew into Kona five days before the race on Monday October 5. I’d never been to Hawaii before and landing in Kona I experienced that sweet feeling of excitement and anticipation. I remember feeling the same way when I landed in the United States (JFK) for the first time as a foreign exchange student more than 9 years ago.

After a short cab ride, I checked into the 2BR condo that I was renting for nearly 2 weeks a couple miles away from downtown. Once settled in, I jogged down to the swim start and did a short 30 minute swim. The bay was pretty choppy on that first evening, but other athletes around me assured me that it is usually much smoother in the morning. I finished the evening with an obligatory visit to Lava Java for a smoothie and an awesome sunset.

On Tue morning I took a longer swim (around 1 hour). When I was just about ready to turn around, I found myself, along with 3 or 4 other swimmers, surrounded by hundreds of dolphins. They were swimming, playing, jumping and doing flips all around us. There were literally on the order of a hundred. They would swim as close as within one meter from me. It was one of the most incredible moments in my life. I swam back to the shore very happy. After the swim, I picked up my race packet and put together my bike.

That night was the Ironman Parade of Nations. I didn’t know what to expect, but I figured I’d come down and check it out. I saw different countries gathering in the parking lot behind the host hotel. I found Slovenia, Ukraine and Poland, but didn’t see Russia anywhere. Turns out, I was the only representative of Russia at the event. When there’re less than three representatives for a country, they don’t even have a flag and a sign prepared for you, so I had to put together a homemade sign. I got a lot of cheers during the Parade as the only Russian :)

Wednesday and Thursday flew by – I kept waking up on Seattle time at 4am local time, working remotely for a few hours, then sneaking out for a short swim, ride or run, eating lunch and working some more in the afternoon. My boyfriend arrived on Wednesday and my Mom and her husband Boris arrived on Thursday. They were all really accommodating of my last minute pre-race needs as well my dietary requests and schedule. My family made T-shirts with “Go Lilia!” and an awesome star logo, but unfortunately their luggage got stuck in London. It didn’t arrive till Monday. So they didn’t get a chance to wear them for the race. Nice work, British Airways! :(

Thursday night we went to the pre-race banquet. It was very inspiring to see Rudy Garcia-Tolson speak. He is the first double amputee to race at the Ironman World Championships pedaling a regular bike with prosthetic legs (as opposed to a handcycle). The story of Kyle Garlett was another amazing story of overcoming a lot of odds to compete in Kona. Kyle has won a battle with cancer more than once, however, all the chemo therapy made his heart really weak and he had to have a heart transplant exactly three years ago on October 10. Finally Matt Hoover, the winner of the Biggest Loser was also to compete on Saturday. The oldest competitors were 80 and 79 years old respectively for Male and Female. The youngest Female and Male competitors were both 20 years old.

On Friday morning, I packed my race bags. This process went much faster this time than in Coeur D’Alene. I had a TYR speed suit for the swim portion, thanks to my friend Rhae (who kicked major butt in Kona and came in as the 3rd overall AG woman). I decided to use my regular road helmet after finding my aero helmet way too hot for the conditions. The T1 bag had my bike shoes, socks, race belt, tri top and sun glasses in it. T2 bag had running shoes, a pair of dry socks (that came in handy), a hat, a running shirt and some awesome pink shades. I put some shot blocks and a spare tube + CO2 in the bike special needs bag, and I didn’t use the run special needs bag. I went for the last 3 short workouts – 20 minute swim, 25 minute ride and a 15 min run, before checking in my bike and gear bags. On the way into the transition there were representatives of all bike, components, seat posts, aero bars and helmet manufacturers. Each was counting their respective bikes and other gear represented at the race as the athletes went by.

My current goggles started leaking in the last few weeks (again!) and I made a stupid decision to try some new goggles on that last swim, AquaSphere Vista – they are top of the line goggles made from silicone unlike the cheaper goggles that I’d been swimming in. They fit very well, so I went ahead and bought them. On Saturday I learned the original Ironman commandment the hard way. Don’t ever try anything new on race day!

I drank lots of Gatorade throughout the day and enjoyed a pre-race meal consisting of pasta with veggies and Yves veggie protein and went to bed around 9pm.

Race morning

I woke up at 3:45am. I had some coffee, mango juice, banana and a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. My pre-race routine consisted of taking a quick shower (kind of silly to take a shower before an Ironman, huh? Well, it helps me wake up), putting on sunscreen (yes, it probably all comes off in the swim, but I still do it before every race), body glide, putting on my race clothes, braiding my hair. After doing the final sanity check to make sure I had everything I needed in my pre-swim and my bike special needs bags, I was ready to head down to the race. Boris drove me down to the start at 4:30.

I got body-marked and dropped off my special needs bags. Then, I headed into transition, where two volunteers helped me pump my tires. It was a father and his young son (probably around 8) who traveled from San Diego to watch the race and volunteer. I thought that was pretty cool. More Gatorade was consumed and more porter-potty line chats were had. I ran into Rhae, we wished each other luck and took a pre-race photo.

My family came down to the race around 6:30. We watched the Navy seals drop from the sky together. Then, I gave my Mom my iPhone so that she could tweet in Russian while I was racing :) Finally, it was time to head towards the beach. I heard the pro gun go off and watched them speed through the water.

The entrance to the beach is pretty narrow, so it took a while for 1,700 age groupers to get into the water. Once in the water, we were supposed to swim out about 20-30 yards towards the official starting line marked by a Gatorade bottle on each end. I realized that my ankle strap with the timing chip was not tight enough and had to come back out of the water to adjust it (this is not usually a problem as all my other races have been in wetsuits). I positioned myself in the back of the pack given that I am not a strong swimmer and this was a World Championship after all. There was a volunteer catamaran nearby, so I followed the example of other back-of-the-pack swimmers around me and hung on to it until the gun instead of wasting precious energy treading water.

Swim – 1h 32m 48s

The gun went off without much warning, I started my watch and off I went. I actually had to swim around a few swimmers, so maybe I started a bit too conservative, but at least I avoided the brutality in the front of the race. It was fun to see the divers underneath. I think there were some in Coeur D’Alene too, but the water here was very clear, so you could see everything unlike CDA. On the way out I actually caught some feet and drafted for a bit which was nice. Despite the fact that my goggles fit nicely when I tried them on I had to stop and adjust them a few times throughout the swim on race day, which made me lose my draft. I didn’t let it get to me and continued on at my own pace. The turning buoy came up before I knew it, we turned right and then turn right again after we cut over about a 100 yards. I checked my watch at that point and was surprised to see that I’d been at it for almost 50 minutes. Wow! I expected to be closer to 40. But again, I just continued at my own pace and kept looking around for any dolphins or sea turtles. I didn’t get to see any – probably way too many people for them. At some point on the way back it became harder to see, particularly out of my right eye. I adjusted the goggles a couple more times and continued on. When I finally came out of the water and took my goggles off, I realized that my right eye was very swollen – that’s why I’ve been having trouble seeing.

T1 – 7m 20s

I was sconcerned about my eye, so after thoroughly rinsing off in the showers and grabbing my bike gear bag, I headed straight to the medical volunteers. They said that both of my eyes were actually swollen, but the right one was in worse shape. It apparently looked like an allergic reaction and it would go down soon. They put a few different eye drops in both of my eyes and said to come by again in T2 to take a quick look. I still don’t know what caused it for sure. I had swum for over an hour in that bay before, so I doubt it was because of the salt water. I don’t remember anyone kicking me in the face during the swim or any jelly fish stinging me. So I am guessing it was a reaction to the new material of the goggles. Dang! I guess no silicone implants in my future :P

Oh well, some temporary swelling of my eyes wasn’t going to stop me from continuing the race. A volunteer helped me put on my bike stuff – socks, shoes, tri top, race belt, sun glasses. Another volunteer spread some sunscreen all over me. I drank some water, ran to my bike, put on my helmet and I was on the bike. I got to see my Mom, Kevin and Boris as I was leaving the transition so I waved at them and they cheered me on.

Bike – 6h 54m 51s

Bike was definitely the most brutal part of the race for me. It turned out to be hillier, windier and hotter than I expected. I followed the advice of Kona veterans Mark and Rhae, and held back on the first half of the bike to make sure I don’t fall apart on the second half. I made sure my heart rate stayed between 150 and 155 (whereas in Coeur D’Alene it was definitely at least 10bpm higher on average).

My right eye was so swollen that for the first few miles I couldn’t actually see out of it. That was interesting. It got better later on though.

My stomach felt fine, so I started sipping my Carbo Pro + Nuun mix right away. I had 2 bottles of that with 400 Cal and 2 tablets of Nuun in each. I finished both of them about a third of the way through the ride. After that I switched to Gatorade. I lost count of how many bottles of Gatorade I consumed. I tried to refresh it at every aid station even if I wasn’t finished with the bottle to get the cold stuff. I also had 2 packages of Clif Shot Blocks (200 Cal each) and I grabbed one of those whenever I felt like it. I went through both packs by the end of the ride. At each aid station I would grab a cold water bottle and pour a bunch of water on my head, legs, arms and body to keep my core temperature down. It felt really nice.

Somewhere between my mile 30 and 40 I saw that first Male pro, Chris Lieto, fly by. I didn’t see much of him, but did notice that it wasn’t Craig Alexander. Then, the rest of the male pros followed along with Chrissie Wellington holding a pretty good overall position. It was awesome to see those guys! I kept looking for Rhae, but I missed her somehow. I also saw Rudy Garcia at some point and cheered “Go Rudy!” as I passed him.

The wind was strong and mostly switched between vicious headwinds and gusty side winds that almost took me out a couple times (ok, not really, but if I was using my own race wheels, 60/90 Heads, I would probably have a harder time than with the 404s that my friend Cathleen kindly landed to me). The last few miles before the turnaround were really hard with the uphill and a headwind – it was heartbreaking to look at the sub 10 numbers on the speedometer.

Instead, I cheered on the other racers that passed me or that I passed. I thanked the volunteers and the policemen whenever I had a chance and waived at the spectators. A few aid stations had some music, so I performed some fine fist pump and raising the roof action.

The turnaround (when it finally came) was very lively with lots of volunteers and spectators. I blew some air kisses at every one and happily made that U-turn. I was looking forward to the tailwind! I did get some nice tailwind for a few miles and even hit some 30+ speeds. It didn’t last too long though. As we turned back onto Queen K, came more uphill, side winds and headwinds.

I definitely consumed more liquid on this ride than I did in CDA so at some point on the way back I really needed to go to the bathroom. However, I really didn’t want to stop. My time was already going to be super slow, so I was hoping to at least keep it in check by not stopping. (Feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you don’t care for the details). I figured it’s time to try the whole pee off the bike thing. If Lance can do it, why can’t I? One thing I learned is that it’s not possible to do that while pedaling, so you have to wait for a nice downhill. Once I hit the downhill, it was easy! I felt like I joined some secret club :)

It was again really tough in the last 30 miles into town. It felt like it was mostly uphill and the headwinds were back. I just kept my positive attitude and kept cheering other people which helped me stay strong. At this point I also started to take a sip of Coke at each aid station. It felt so refreshing in that heat. We did get a break from the wind during the last few miles into town, plus seeing all the marathoners was nice. I did get to see Mirinda Carfrae running to her new Female Kona marathon record.

I feel that I executed well given the conditions. Reducing the Carbo Pro bottles from 600 in CDA to 400 was a good call. I never felt overly full and at the same time never hungry. In CDA, I consumed way too many calories in the first half, then couldn’t eat anything for about an hour which lead to being hungry at the end of the ride. Maybe, I could have pushed a bit harder, but who knows that might have killed my run.

T2 – 7m 44s

A volunteer grabbed my bike and I headed to the changing tent via a porter potty. I was happy that I packed a dry pair of socks. It was nice to put on a dry running t-shirt as well. I changed into my running shoes, put on my hat and my awesome pink shades. I asked the medics how my eyes looked. They said still swollen a bit, but much better than in T1. Off I went on the run.

Run – 3h 49m 15s

Coming out of the transition I saw my family and stopped for a second to give some hugs and kisses. Then I heard a helicopter overhead and Mike Reilly announcing that Chrissie Wellington has just finished. That was good timing! :)

I started running really strong. For the first 10 miles most of my mile splits were sub 8 minutes except for the uphill ones. I got lots of cheers from the spectators, some even yelled “Do it for Mother Russia!” – must have remembered me from the parade. I even had visions of keeping this pace and finishing a sub 3:30 marathon.

I did slow down as I went up Palani and turned onto Queen K to around 8:30 minute miles. At the aid stations, I grabbed some combination of water, Gatorade, Coke, bananas and oranges. No gels or other solids though. I also grabbed some ice and put it in my hat at the first few stations. As the sun lowered, it wasn’t quite as hot anymore and I wasn’t in danger of overheating like I was on the bike.

I watched the most beautiful sunset at the Energy Lab. After the sunset there was a fire show on the course - that was nice of them. I just kept chugging away at the miles in the dark. 20, 21, 22… I did slow down some more in the last few miles. 2 people passed me around 22 or 23. But I feel like I still held it together pretty well.

The last half a mile down Ali’i drive was magic! People are cheering like crazy. The finish line is in sights. There’s something different about the Ironman Finish Line when it’s dark outside. It makes it that much more desirable to cross it – it’s like the light at the end of the tunnel. I saw my Mom, Kevin and Boris near the finish. I stopped briefly for more hugs and kisses before I ran down the finish chute. I sped up as I finished and passed 2 people in the finish chute. I felt sort of bad, but they were moving pretty slow. Looking at the results now, they are both almost 1 minute behind me. I high-fived as many people as I could along the finish chute. I opted against the cartwheel because for some reason they build a ramp up to the finish line in Kona. I still jumped as high as I could as I came up the ramp.

Post-race

I finished in 12:31:56 and felt pretty good after finishing – must have not worked hard enough :) My support crew appeared to be more tired after 12 hours in the sun. I got my finisher t-shirt, hat and medal (sadly, Chrissie Wellington wasn’t there yet giving them out). Then, I dragged my family into Fish Hopper - a restaurant with the view of the finish line. We celebrated with beers, delicious food and watched the other athletes finish.

I learned that Kyle (who had the heart transplant) didn't make the swim cutoff by a few seconds, Rudy Garcia (the double amputee) didn't make the bike cutoff by 8 minutes or so, and Matt Hoover (the Biggest Looser) didn't finish until 12:03 which means he is not an official finisher. That was really sad :( None of the big stories finished the way we were all hoping. I am sure they all will be back again...

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2009 Race Report - Kona, Baby!

2009-06-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

Before the race

My friend Rebecca and I drove to Coeur d'Alene from Seattle on Thursday evening. We rented a 3 bedroom house a few blocks from the finish line, it was really cute. Our support crew of 8 (!) friends were to come up throughout Friday and Saturday. We also had lots of friends racing and volunteering who were staying elsewhere, so it was quite a turnout of fellow racers and supporters for this event.

Friday morning at 7am, we swam one loop of the swim course and rode our bikes for 30 minutes on the course. The water was choppy and the bike course was windy (turns out even more so on race day). The new goggles I just bought were leaking in my right eye :( It was the same kind that I trained with for the last 6 months, but the current pair started to lose their seal. I guess the new ones were defective. I figured I'd give them another shot the next day, but most likely would have to resort to my old pair. The bike felt good though after the $100 pro tune-up that I just got!

After the swim and the ride, we checked in and picked up our race packets with 5 bags (one for dry clothes to drop off on race morning, one for swim to bike transition stuff, one for bike special needs to pick up half way through the bike ride, one for bike to run transition and finally run special needs to pick up half way through the run course).

I also checked in at the Janus Charity Challenge Tent where they gave me a very cute tri top. It felt more comfortable that the one I was planning to race in, so I decided to wear their top on race day. My total funds raised for Doctors Without Borders were $2,503. This was slightly over what I was hoping to raise - my goal was $2,000, so I was happy with it. I found out at their tent that the top 2 fundraisers raised over $1,000,000 for thier causes. What an inspiration!

The rest of the day Friday consisted of lunch, 2 hour nap, separating my race stuff into 5 piles on the floor for 5 different bags and Ironman-sponsored pasta dinner + pre-race meeting.

On Saturday, I swam about 1000m (the new goggles were leaking again, so I decided to go with my old pair) and ran 3 miles including running through the finish chute and practicing my finish-chute dance :D Very dorky I know, but I am tired of my ever-the-same finish photo with both arms up in the air. I wanted to do something different for my first Ironman! Decided to save the cartwheel for Kona, and just settle on a little finish line dance.

In the afternoon, we dropped off our bikes + T1 and T2 bags at the transition area. Feels kind of weird to drop it off the day before. I like to be able to see all my transition stuff laid out on a towel a few minutes before I start the race. I mentally went through my transition steps a few times to make sure I didn't forget anything.

Saturday evening we hosted a pre-Ironman pasta dinner at our house for about 15-18 folks including our support crew and fellow Ironman virgins Daniel and Hagen and their support crews. It was such a great time! Our friends had signs, T-shirts and leis made for us. It was so amazing! I didn't expect anything like that! Sure, racing my first Ironman was a big deal for me, but I didn't realize that my friends were so excited about it too. I felt really lucky that evening!

I went to bed at 8:30pm. I dreamt about my race and in my dream I finished in 11:08 (which turned out to be 1 minute off from my actual finish the next day). I am not making this up - the morning of the race I told my friend Mark about my dream in the transistion area - he can confirm :)

Race morning

The alarm was set for 3:30. I woke up at 3:20. Am I the only person this always happens to? When I am excited about something the next day I always wake up a few minutes before the alarm goes off... How does our body know when to wake up?

I had a bagel with cream cheese, a glass of OJ, black coffee and a banana for breakfast. It was hard to get it all down, as I still felt full from dinner the night before.

It was kind of nice that we didn't have to worry about any transition stuff in the morning since it was all at the race site already. All I had to bring was my wetsuit/goggles/swim cap and my special needs bags. My plan was to not rely on special needs bags for nutrition and only use them for extra clothes if I had to. I put an extra rain jacket (in addition to the one in swim-to-bike bag) in my bike special needs bag in case it started pouring half way through the bike and a long sleeve tech shirt in my run special needs bag.

At 5:30, our friend Tri drove Daniel and me to the start (didn't feel like walking that .5 miles before my 140.6 day). I dropped off my special needs bags, pumped up the tires on my bike, went to the bathroom one last time, put on my wet suit and had a few minutes left for a few pre-race pics, hugs and good luck wishes.

At that point, I started getting a bit nervous. We decided to fix this situation with a scream-off between Rebecca and I. It felt great to just scream as loud as we could on count 3 :)

5 minutes before the start I headed to my strategic swim start position almost all the way to the right. I didn't have much time for a warmup and to be honest I didn't really feel like I needed any, so I just went into the water and did a couple breast strokes back and forth, but not much more. Back to the beach and... the gun went went off in a couple minutes after that.

Swim 01:21:43

The water was choppier than it was on Friday or Saturday, it was rough out there. I am glad I started all the way to the right. Sure, it meant that my swim was a couple hundred yards longer, but it was nice to have enough room to swim without being constantly wacked on the head by someone next to you. It was still crowded, but totally manageable: there was always room to go around that slow swimmer in front of you or swim out of the way of that fast swimmer who insists on swimming over you because it's the straightest shot to the next buoy.

I kept swimming about 30-50 yards to the right off the buoys on the first lap. I hugged the buoys a bit tighter on my second lap and I was surprised to see that the second lap was a couple minutes slower than the first one. Still not sure how that happened, my AVG HR was around 160 for both laps - maybe the chop got even worse on the second lap?

I am pretty happy with 1:21 for the conditions, but I know I can do better at an IM swim. I know starting all the way to the right was the right strategy for avoiding the violence of the washing machine but maybe not the right strategy for a fast time? Will consult the experts before my next IM swim...

T1 04:45

I took off the top of my wet suit on the run from the beach and then 2 wet suit strippers got the rest of my wetsuit off in like 3 seconds. They rock! I had no problem finding my transition bag, ran into the changing tent and found a volunteer to help me fish out the right stuff out of the transition bag. It wasn't raining so I just wore arm warmers and no jacket, put on helmet, sunglasses and shoes and off I went to get my bike with a quick stop for some sunscreen on my shoulders.

Bike 06:05:58

In every triathlon I do, I get really excited during the part when I just leave the T1 and get up to speed on my bike. With all the spectators watching and cheering, it's kind of electric and I feel like that's when my race really begins. As I exited the transition, I saw Kevin, Ashley, Heather and Rob who cheered me on and I got an extra boost of energy from that.

The happy electric feeling lasted for most of the bike course in this race. After the last 6 months of countless miles on the bike, it was a great feeling to be finally out there riding strong. I pushed pretty hard, sipped my carbo pro every few minutes, thanked volunteers as I passed them and kept smiling at everyone around me. I passed lots of folks on the uphills and then they'd catch me on the downhills.

At about mile 30, I heard "Great job, Lilia" I looked up and saw Hagen as he passed me. I thought that guy was supposed to be way ahead of me by now. I guess he had some stomach issues earlier in the race.

It was windy on the way back into town, but I just kept my HR around 155-160 and kept pedaling away. I didn't look at my average speed or time - decided to just go by effort to make sure I don't start pushing too hard to get to my goal average speed. The first lap was over before I knew it and I checked the clock at that point - I rolled in at just under 3 hours, which was a pleasant surprise, I expected to be a bit slower given how windy it was.

It was great to pass by my fans in downtown CDA and hear them cheer me on again. I was just full of excitement - every minute of the ride so far was such a blast. By that time I finished my 2 carbo pro bottles with 500 KCal in each and moved on to Gatorade that they served on the course - right on schedule according to my nutrition plan.

The wind has definitely picked up on the first out and back stretch, but there were no signs of rain so I didn't have to stop at my special needs bag. I was feeling strong and kept going at the same effort. I passed my friend Jonna about 7-8 miles into the second lap. It was fun to exchange "Go go go" with her.

Around mile 75 or so I started feeling too full (perhaps, I shoved all those Carbo Pro calories down my throat a bit too fast). I felt like I couldn't drink anymore Gatorade, so I picked up a water at the next aid station and took a few sips.

I was happy that I felt almost as good on the climbs as I did on my first lap. I rode happily without drinking or eating much till about mile 90 when I all of a sudden started feeling hungry and a little fatigued. I finished the Gatorade in my aero bottle and ate a few cliff shot blocks that I had in my bento box.

I think it was too late, because I started fading a bit. It wasn't a bad bonk, just couldn't output quite the same power. A few racers who I passed earlier on, passed me back on the final stretch into town. At about mile 100, I felt my legs starting to cramp up. I lowered my gear and increased my cadence and rode it out before it got bad.

Once I hit the final short out and back and the finish line was in sight I was back at full speed ready to finish the bike course strong.

I came in a few minutes slower on the second lap partly due to stronger winds and partly due to getting hungry in the last 30 miles, but I was super happy with my final time of 6:05. That was closer to my ambitious target (6 hours) than to my actual target (6:15).

T2 02:53

A volunteer grabbed my bike and another volunteer had my T2 bag ready for me. I ran into the changing tent where I was welcomed by another volunteer who was helping me change. I put on my AdiZero racers, a vizor and a long-sleeve tech shirt and headed to the run start with a quick bathroom stop on the way out.

Run 03:34:18

I was worried that the cramps that started coming on at the end of the bike would screw up my run, but my legs felt really strong in the first couple miles. I clocked 7:23s for both mile 1 and mile 2 and couldn't believe I could be running that fast after the ride I just finished.

I was too warm so I dropped off my long sleeve t-shirt at the special needs bag at mile 1 - it was nice to be able to just toss it to a volunteer and yell out my number, so I didn't actually have to stop.

On the way out of town I saw Kevin, Ahsley and Heather who were going crazy cheering for me and I went crazy cheering right back - I was screaming and jumping. It was so exciting to be on the last leg and feeling strong.

I took some combination of water, gatorade and coke at each aid station and made sure to grab a banana whenever I could to prevent my legs from cramping up.

I just love the run leg of a triathlon! That's when I get to pass so many people :) I think I end up running even stronger than I would on my own because of that. I passed a pro guy about 4 miles into it. He must have been on his 2nd lap, but he was not looking too good. I told him to hang in there and he cheered me back with "Nice pace!".

At mile 5 I caught up to this girl who was going pretty steady, but I was going faster than her. I was hoping I was passing another girl in my AG, when I realized this was a Pro, Haley Cooper who came in 2nd last year and was in 4th position at the time (she was on her 2nd lap, obviously). I decided that going the same speed as her would be good enough and ran behind her for a bit - we were doing about 8 minute miles. She heard me and kept looking back - she must have thought that another pro was catching up to her. After a 1/2 mile I decided to go back to my own pace and passed her. I just said "Hello" as I went by. She must have been happy to see that I was just an age grouper on my first lap of the run. After another mile I realized that her pacing bike was right ahead of me. Either she picked it up to go at my pace or I slowed down. Anyway, I was running right behind the bike that said "4th Place Female" on it and Haley was a few meters back. She is from Spokane, WA which is just 30 minutes away and she had a lot of people support her on the course. A lot of folks knew what she looks like and cheered for her. But there were still plenty that had no idea what she looked like and they thought that I was the fourth female. It was a great little moment of glory for me :D I just totally rolled with it, kept smiling, cheering and hi-fiving everyone around me. I followed that bike for the rest of the first lap until mile 12 or 13, when she had to split off to go to the finish chute and I had to go on the second lap. I cheered "Go Haley!" at that time and she waved and cheered back - that was nice.

I was worried that I may have to pay for my fast 1st lap by walking part of the second lap. I kept waiting until either my legs would cramp up or I would bonk, but neither ever happened. I just ran strong and consumed coke/gatorade/water/bananas at aid stations.

I saw my friends Daniel, Mark, Rebecca, Bryan, Rahim, Hagen, Matt, Jonna and Cari (all of them racing) on the course multiple times - out and back is great for that - you get to high-five and cheer on your friends.

At mile 21 I got to the point where I got really full again. I even felt like I was about to throw up for a minute. That didn't last long and didn't really slow me down. I just couldn't take in any more food for the rest of the race. I only had a sip of water at mile 24 or so from that point on.

Those last 5 miles were pretty tough. I knew I had enough in me to run all the way in, but I had to dig deep to not slow down or at least control my slowing down. At some point during my second lap it started raining, but it wasn't a big deal until mile 24 when it got really cold and the rain got harder. If I had to run more than 2 more miles I would be worried about getting hypothermic and would have probably grabbed one of those blankets that volunteers were giving out, but with only 2 more miles to go, I figured I could tough it out. I saw my friends Shawn and Deb (who were spectating) around mile 24 and it was nice to get a cheer from someone I knew - it helped me go a little faster!

As soon as I turned onto Sherman and saw the finish line I forgot all about how tired and cold I was. I was running fast and strong, passing a few more folks along the way. I was feeling really happy and emotional those last few blocks before the finish line. I heard Kevin, Heather and Ashley scream and cheer when I was within a block or so.

When I entered the finish chute - I high-fived the folks on each side of the chute. As I came closer to the finish line, I did my little dance and jumped as high as I could when I was actually crossing the line at 11h 09m 35s . The finish line photo came out great!

Rob was volunteering as a finish line catcher and he saw me coming in so he caught me at the finish line. It was great to land into the arms of a friend at the finish line. After I got my medal and pictures taken I came out of the finish area and saw Kevin, Ashley, Heather and Brad who watched me finish as well and informed me that I was 4th in my AG. That was great news!

Post race

First things first, I headed to get a free massage. There was no line and it sounded really good. I spent about 10-15 minutes in there - the guy mostly worked on my legs and it fealt great. I grabbed some salty pretzels and water - I didn't really want anything else given that I was still full from my run.

I was really cold - so I bundled up into 2 fleeces and 2 jackets and sat in the car for 15 minutes with the heat at full blast trying to warm up.

Then we walked over to a nearby bar where we met up Hagen and Jamie. I was craving some french fries and a beer sounded good too. I ended up eating 1/2 a veggie burger, french fries and drinking 2 beers.

Then we went back outside to watch Rebecca finish. It was great to be out there cheering for the athletes running through the last few blocks before the finish line. I kind of wish I stayed out there until midnight like last year. Rebecca came through the finish right around her target time. After she got enough pizza and water we had to get her in the car to warm her up as she had the same chill in her bones as I did when I finished.

I had another beer when I got home and went to sleep at about 11pm. I slept well :)

Overall comments

WOW! What an amazing weekend! I was worried about all that post-ironman blues stuff that I heard about, but I am not sure what people are talking about. I was in the state of euphoria starting from the day before the race, throughout the whole race pretty much and for 2 days after the race.

It is such a long and interesting journey - all the training and races that I did in the last 6 months. All the mornings when I had to make myself get out of bed at 6am to come to the swim class or ride my bike to work leading up to this one day have finally paid off!

The course is fantastic! The bike course, while challenging, definitely allows for some fast splits if you pace yourself right. The run, being out and back is great to see other friends racing and cheer them on. Great spectator course given that we go by the transition area 6 times on the bike and 4 times on the run.

The event is tremendously well organized. I guess you couldn't expect less from an Ironman brand race. Volunteers and spectators were simply amazing - they had to work out there in the rain all day too and they weren't moving as fast, so they were colder than us, I am sure. Pasta dinner Friday night and the awards banquet Monday morning were quite a treat as well.

Oh yeah, almost forgot! On Monday, after the race I headed down to the Kona rolldown and it turned out that the 2nd girl in my AG already had a slot from some other race she did. Guess who got a Kona slot? Lilia did! :D

Wow! I still haven't fully digested the fact that I am going to Kona in October! Yes - that means I have to get back into training mode fairly soon given that the race is less than 4 months away. But OMG - I will get to swim in the Pacific Ocean, ride on lava-covered terrain and run in Kailua-Kona along side with Chrissie Wellington and Craig Alexander! Can you believe that???

Could this weekend get any happier?

The answer is Yes, because when I got back home I found out that I became an aunt! Yep, my sister just had a baby boy. Future ironman :D I am a bit in the happiness overload right now!

Thanks Yous

HUGE thanks to all of you who donated to Doctors Without Borders on my behalf: Liana, Tahg, Chad, Amy, Dee, Paolo, Rahul, Gina, Kevin, Russell, Adri, Tim, Brian, Richard, Shawn, Tim, Ali, Anu, Irina, Fred, Emre, Monica, Dan, Michael. Special thanks to Cam who threw a party to help me meet my goal and to all of you who partied with us and supported DWB (there are too many names to list)!

FAT thanks to Rebecca and Daniel for being great training buddies throughout this Ironman adventure and to Mark for giving me lots of very insightful advice and feedback on my training.

MANY thanks to Rob, Ashley, Heather, Tri, Kevin and Sid for coming out to Coeur d'Alene to support us on race day - we had the best fans. MORE thanks to Kevin for putting up with my 15-20 hour training weeks in the last 6 months.

Final Couple Weeks before the Big Day

2009-06-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

12 more days till my big race. Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac. After all the training in the last 5.5 months, I am really looking forward to the Ironman.

On one hand I am a bit worried. Worried about the swim, especially the first 500 meters or so. I've heard enough horror stories about people being kicked, elbowed, swam over, etc. Worried that the water will be too cold. Worried about going out too hard in the first half of the bike ride. Worried about blowing up on the run. Worried about not getting enough calories. Worried about consuming too many calories...

On the other hand, just like before a big test at school, I won't get any more prepared and fit for this event than I am now, so I just want it over with so that I can stop worrying about all that stuff.

Here's what I've invested into this endeavour so far this year:

swam 175,000 yards, which is almost twice the distance I swam in 2008

biked 2,600 miles, which is as much as in 2008

ran a little over 400 miles, which is less than I'd like... lots of injuries this year :(

Most of my training weeks were between 14 and 17 hours of training. My biggest week in the cycle was about 20 hours of swimming/biking/running including a weekend training camp in Coeur D'Alene when I covered the full Ironman distance over the course of 3 days and felt really strong doing it. Feels like that was a long time ago now. I hope I am still as fit as I felt that weekend.

I am now officially "tapering", which means I am only training about 6-8 hours a week during these last couple weeks. I am not doing any long or intense workouts either. I feel a bit like a slacker for not doing my 2 workouts a day and not putting in monstrous workouts on the weekends. The idea is that I let my body completely recover, catch up on sleep, rebuild my muscles and replenish my energy supplies. I want to hit that start line very fit, rested and healthy.

If I manage not to screw anything up in these last few days or get sick, hopefully I'll be able to hit some or all of my goals. I always have multi-level goals so that I can feel accomplished and happy even if I don't meet the most ambitious ones, e.g.:

First and foremost, finish strong and healthy

Finish under 12 hours (1h:20m swim, 6h:30m bike, 4h run)

Finish under 11.5 hours if I feel really speedy (1h:15m swim, 6h:20m bike, 3h:45m run)

Unlike my usual summers (when I have all the races planned out for the season), I am intentionally not signed up for any other events this year after the Ironman. There is a good chance I will be too tired of structured triathlon training after this and ready for some spontaneous hiking/trail running/cycling somewhere far and pretty/rock climbing - you name it :-) The risk is that I may not feel motivated to do anything at all if I am not committed, but I'll worry about that once I am done with the Ironman.

Wish me luck and please help me reach my fundraising goal of $2000 for Doctors Without Borders by donating at http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/cda09/golilia

Thank you so much to those of you who have already donated! Your support makes it possible for people in emergency situations around the world to receive much needed urgent medical care.

Issaquah Sprint Race Report

2009-06-02T00:05:00.001-07:00

Pre-race

I wasn't planning on doing this race, but a lot of my friends were doing it and the weather was promising to be gorgeous on race day, so I decided what the heck and signed up for the race last minute - at 3pm on Friday the day before the race. Unlike before most of my races, I had a pretty normal Friday evening: went out for dinner with some friends and had a couple beers. Not having to worry too much about nutrition and going to bed early prior to a race is a luxury - I love sprints! :-)

I got my stuff packed the night before. In the morning I got up at 5:30, had some oatmeal and headed to Lake Sammamish State Park. It's quite a big event for a local tri - almost 1000 participants in the tri, plus duathlon and 5K/10K folks, so there was some traffic near the park, but I still made it to transition by 6:30 or so, 50 minutes before my start.

I set up the transition area where I ran into my friend Rebecca (who also signed up last minute with me). Then I headed to the beach via the Honey Buckets. They did a good job with the number of bathrooms given the number of people at the event - there was no line. At the beach I ran into a few more friends and wished everyone good luck.

As I was going into the water for my warmup I saw my boss (who also races triathlons and is actually training for the same Ironman as me). As we chatted about the race ahead I mentioned that since he's starting 5 minutes before me I shouldn't see him during the race unless he has a flat or something. Sure enough, turns out he got a flat on his ride. Oops.

I swam about 100-200 yards to warm up. Water was nice and toasty; it felt even warmer than on the day before when I swam in the same lake. Finally, Women 29 and under lined up at the swim start.

Swim - 400 meters - 6:20 (1:35/100m)

The swim course was short for a sprint - only 400 meters, so I knew I could hammer it pretty hard. Even though I am an average swimmer, I lined up right at the front. I feel that it's a good experience for the Ironman to be right up there. Indeed, the first 100m was the most violent triathlon swim experience in my racing history. I got pushed and elbowed, nearly swam over a couple times, but I survived. After the first bouy, I was passing a lot of those girls who were so eager to swim over me in the first 50 meters, but realized that they went out too hard... Oh well, noobes :) The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful - I swam hard and kept a close eye on the buoys on the left. It was over very soon and I ran full speed back to the transition.

T1 - 1:56

Pretty good transition, no issues taking off the wetsuit and getting into my bike shoes. Still, I am certainly on the slower side compared to the other girls in the top of my AG. Need to work on it I guess.

Bike - 15 miles - 39:58 (22.5mph)

I believe the bike was short. I've never hit 22.5 before even on a TT, but I like this number, so I'll leave it up there :)

The bike was an out and back on the E Lake Sammamish Parkway. During the first and last mile both ways were on the same side of the road sharing a shoulder, separated by cones. Naturally, this created some congestion as it was very hard to pass and there were folks of all different abilities out there. I went as hard as I could when I could. I maintained good form and only had to swith to the smaller chain ring once for the last hill at mile 9 or 10. There were a few times when I got stuck behind slower people in the first and last mile, but it wasn't that bad.

T2 - 1:21

Again, I felt that it was pretty fast, but it's one of the slowest in the top 10 women, so I could certainly work on it... If I shaved off 40 seconds combined from my T1 and T2, I would have placed 3rd in my AG instead of 5th... But then again, during an Ironman, transition times are a much smaller portion of your total race time percentage-wise, so I guess, it's not as important.

Run - 3 miles - 19:35 (6:31 min/mile)

It was a cross-country style course with some trails, grass and a little bit of pavement. I love that kind of terrain - reminds me of trail running. Felt awesome and charged the whole way. I just kept passing people and setting my eyes on the next *victim*. Pretty happy with my performance. I had the fastest split amongst women.

Overall - 1:09:11, 5th in AG, 9th in Women, 82nd overall

Great local race to kick off the tri season. It's great to go out there and see so many familiar faces. :)

Wild Flower Half Ironman 2009 Race Report 5:36:30

2009-05-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Pre-race

4 of us (my friends Rebecca, Daniel, Rob and myself) drove down to Lake San Antonio, CA from Seattle, WA. The drive took about 16 hours, we broke it up over 2 days. We got to the camp site Friday around 4pm, set up camp and headed over to the expo where we picked up our race packets and enjoyed some pasta dinner.

It was raining the whole day Friday and we were really worried that it would rain on race day. None of us brought any rain gear. We were convinced it doesn't rain in California, especially on race day :-)

After I packed my race bag, I got out for one final spin on my bike around the camp site to make sure everything felt just right and I saw a little boxer puppy on my way. His name was Kona and he was only 5 months old. He looked just like Ramone (my boxer) did at his age - beautiful fawn with white socks. I had to stop and meet him of course and exchange a few kisses. That meant the race was going to be just fine the next day :-)

Race morning

We all woke up at 6am. I had a bagel with cream cheese, a banana, chilled starbucks coffee and some OJ, then rode my bike to the start with Rebecca. The boys were already there since their race started earlier.

The usual routine to set up transition, then put on sun screen and body glide, go to the bathroom one last time and get suited up. I drank 1.5 x 20 oz bottles of gatorade through the course of the morning and consumed a Gu about 15 minutes before the start. At that point I was pretty full and was worried that I over-ate again like I did at Lake Stevens last summer... But oh well, the wave before us started their swim and we were allowed to do a little warmup in the water.

Swim - 36:59

Best swim ever in a half ironman! All the drills and working on technique paid off :-)

I started out a bit nervous. I haven't done an OWS since January and for some reason I felt a tiny bit of fear that I used to feel on a much larger scale when I first started doing open water swims. I just tried to stay calm and take it easy. Eventually, I got into the groove and found my rythm. For the rest of the swim I tried to focus on my form and keeping consistent pace. My sighting was pretty good for most of the swim. The fact that I am comfortable with bilateral breathing now definitely helped. I only screwed up at the very end when I headed for the starting gate instead of the finishing, which was a bit smaller and less noticeable from the water. I corrected my course after I finally saw the actual swim finish, but I think this mistake cost me at least a minute of my swim time.

Lesson learned: Pay attention to what swim finish looks like before starting the swim.

T1 - 3:05

Bike - 3:12:27

I started out really well and passed a lot of folks on the first big uphill. Then there were some rolling hills, another uphill (where I managed to drop my chain) and a long descent (where I managed to almost loose my saddle bag, so I had to stop to reattache the velcrow). I stayed strong on the uphills and stayed in aero on the rolling hills/pseudo-flats. I wasn't really good at steep descents. I am too much of a chicken - not only were my hands on the breaks but I also used them... A lot people who I passed on the uphill passed me right back on the descent. That's bad news especially given that I am supposed to be a roadie now and posess some bike handling skills.

I hit 28 miles at about 1:33. If I could have hit the same split on the second half I would have broken 5:30 for my total time.

Then came the Nasty Grade hill at mile 42. And it was nasty indeed. The kind of nasty when you want to stand up on your bike periodically. (And it takes a steep grade for me to stand up - normally I prefer to maintain my pedaling rythm by sitting in the saddle the whole way up the hill). Unfortunately, my tri bike is not ideal for standing up. My knees hit the elbow pads if I try to do that, so I just had to mash it all the way up. Then there was another steep downhill and some more smaller hills to the finish. I was happy when this ride was over!

Nutrition: I had 2 x 24oz bottles with about 400 calories of Carbo Pro in each. That was a bit too much. About half way through I couldn't stand Carbo Pro any more and just wanted some regular water, which thankfully they served on the course.

Lessons learned:

Need to work on my descending skills on the tri bike.
Must attach another bottle cage to my bike for regular water.
Should replace my saddle bag with the one that won't fall of during the Ironman.
800 calories is too much for half ironman. Will try 300 calories in each bottle next time.

T2 - 2:05

Run - 1:41:54

I felt very strong off the bike. Perhaps, if I rode any harder than I did, I would not have been able to put in such a run performance... I just ran as fast as I could and passed tons of people thoughout the whole run. I was great on the uphills, but even better on the downhills (my usual strength). I only got passed by one guy. I slowed down just a bit in the last 2 miles (once we hit the pavement again), but I didn't totally fade and was able to finish really strong.

Nutrition: I drank a sip of gatorade and a sip of water at each aid station and consumed 1/2 a Gu at mile 7

Post Race

Daniel was already done (5 hour speed monster) and took a great finishing picture of me (Thanks, Daniel!) I stretched for a long time and asked for some ice from the medical tent for my calfs since the right one was injured last week. I don't think it was necessary but it felt good. I ate a bunch of oranges and bananas and drank lots of water while we waited for the rest of our group to finish.

On our way North the next day we stopped in Napa for a couple hours. It was a great detour! We tasted some delicious wines at Peju Province winery. What a great small winery. Their Syrah was amazing!

Wild Flower is certainly my favorite of all the triathlons I've done so far! It's the one and only - so hard and so much fun! I'll be back here again some other year! :-)

Half way there, 12 more weeks to go!

2009-03-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Wow! Hard to believe that I am half way there. My training plan is 24 weeks total. As of today, I am done with 12 weeks and I have 12 more weeks to go until the Ironman.

2009 totals to date:

Swim: 96,700 Yd
Bike: 1,346 Mi
Run: 203 Mi

Next 12 weeks planned:

Swim: 120,000 Yd
Bike: 1,600 Mi
Run: 350 Mi

Over the last couple weeks, I started doing more triathlon specific training. I used to do a lot of team rides on my road bike through January and February. It was a great motivation to get outside on my bike in the winter and get a solid base in. Riding with stronger riders challenged me and strengthened my legs. However, on June 21 I will not be riding in a pack. It will be 112 miles of me breaking my own wind on my triathlon bike. Guess what - time to start riding my triathlon bike more often in training. Once you get used to riding in aero position it's actually pretty comfortable (if your bike fits properly). But after riding my road bike the whole winter the first couple rides on my TT bike made my back really sore because different muscles are used to support your upper body on a TT bike compared to a road bike. I started with doing 1-2 commutes to work a week on my TT bike and built up to doing a long ride in aero which I did today.

In addition to longer bike rides in aero, I do more bricks (a double workout with a minimal break in between - e.g., a bike ride immediately followed by a run to simulate the race). For example, yesterday instead of just doing a long run, I started with 1 hour ride and then did my long run. Today, I followed my 60 mile ride with a quick 4 mile trail run at the Arboretum.

As I get closer to the event, my workouts will get more and more Ironman specific. On May 2, I am doing Wild Flower Half Ironman in California. This will be a great test of my fitness 7 weeks before the Ironman. The course is hilly, windy and hot, just like Coeur D'Alene. In a couple weeks after that I plan on going out to Coeur D'Alene and doing a training camp on the course - full 112 mile bike ride followed by a short run on Saturday and a long run on the course preceded by a short bike ride on Sunday.

The first half of my Ironman journey has been challenging but fun at the same time. The second half will have more miles and hours to be logged, but I am going into it with a really good base so I think in some ways it will be a bit easier.

I am training for and racing Ironman Coeur D'Alene in support of Doctors Without Borders. Please help me achieve my goal by donating here. Thanks to everyone who has already donated! :-)

Bike racing: Mason Lake #2 and Tour De Dung #2

2009-03-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

Wines of Washington Cat 4 Women are lined before the start of Tour De Dung #2 on March 22, 2009 in Sequim, WA.

Bike racing season is here! I've been in 2 road races this season so far.

Last weekend (March 14 2009) I did Mason Lake Road Race #2 in Mason Lake, WA. Weather was miserable! It was freezing rain the whole time. There were 2 x 12 mile loops around Mason Lake. The roads were wet and slippery and it was hard to see due to rain coming down heavily. Everyone was being cautious and just trying to be safe. No one made any big moves to try to break away. It was my first road race ever, so my goal was just to finish with the pack and not crash.

First lap was mostly just cruising; I stayed in the back of the pack. There were a few attacks on the second lap and I even got out in the front a few times, but none of the attempts succeeded. By the end of the second lap I was so cold that I was worried that my fingers were too numb to slam the breaks if had to.

With about 1 mile to go there was a crash right in front of me. It was too fast to understand what happened. I just saw 1 person go down and 2 more pile up on top. I veered to the right and came to a complete stop at the shoulder to avoid the crash. I realized that 2 of the girls that went down were my teammates and I hesitated for a few seconds before I clipped back in and went on. Since I've never been in this situation before I wasn't sure what was the right thing to do. Turns out, you shouldn't stop even if your teammate goes down - that's what the support car is for. I passed some people after I got back out there and ended up 22nd out of 34 who finished the race. After I finished I just got back in the car and sat there with the heat at full blast for about 20 minutes before I could start doing anything.

Yesterday (March 22 2009), I did Tour De Dung #2 in Sequim, WA. We were lucky enough that it didn't rain, but it was still pretty cold and windy. Our team had a bigger turnout this time - 9 or 10 Wines Cat 4 ladies were there. This time there were 3 x 12 mile loops.

According to Cat 1 women who were watching us from the support car, this was one of the faster and better Cat 4 races they've seen. We were definitely going way faster than at Mason Lake the week before. The field was quite a bit bigger and there were plenty of attacks throughout the race.

I tried to stay in the front of the pack for most of the race. I felt strong and pulled lots. Whenever there was an attack I tried to jump on their wheel so that I could be in the breakaway if it happened. A couple times we had a paceline of 4-5 people going, but the pack always ended up catching us.

At the end of the second lap I watched a very scary crash. We were going downhill pretty really fast and I saw a woman at the other side of the pack totally loose control of her bike. She swirled from one side to the other a few times and then went down, taking down another racer who turned out to be from our team. It was hard to tell what was going on because of how fast we were going, but I am pretty sure I saw a bike flip in the air and then hit the ground a few times and create sparkles as it hit the pavement. It was really scary. I found out later that she ended up getting pretty hurt. My teammate is better of - she is really sore, but didn't break anything and is getting better. The scene of the crash stayed in my mind throughout the race.

I made a mistake in the last couple miles and didn't hold on to my front of the pack position after the last turn. The last mile or so, the road became really narrow with no shoulder and it wasn't possible to move back up to the front. I ended up finishing in the last 3rd of the pack. It was pretty annoying given that I definitely worked harder than the average person in the pack given the percentage of time that I spent in the front.

I am still not 100% down with this whole bike racing thing. Seems like luck is too much of a factor in the end result. You can make all the right decisions throughout the whole race, then make one mistake and you end up at the back of the pack with those who barely hung on to the pack in the first place. Triathlon is more fair this way. You place depending on your ability.

Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun to be going so fast in the pack and be part of attacks and counter attacks in a real race. I think in the future, a key to success for me would be getting into a successful breakaway. I am strong enough to maintain a pace harder than that of the pack, but I am not too strong at sprinting really hard at the end. I am looking forward to next weekend's race. It's supposed to be pretty hilly, which will play to my climbing strength. I will need to try to break away on one of the uphills.

Lessons learned in my first 2 months of Ironman training

2009-03-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

^^ That’s me racing in the Ice Breaker Time Trial on March 1, 2009.

It's been over 2 months since I started my official Ironman training program on January 5th. So far this year:

77,000 yards in the pool
954 miles on the bike
125 miles running

That is more swimming and cycling than I did in the first 6 months of 2008. I was doing better on my running last year, but that's because I was training for a marathon last year and wasn't recovering from a foot surgery like I am now. I have been executing on the plan that I set out for myself back in January very consistently. There's been a few times when I had to modify my workouts for the week due to work load or being sick but I only missed a couple workouts and not any important ones.

I've learned a few tricks that have helped me stay motivated and avoid injury.

Log your training. I've been logging my training for a few years now, but Ironman training has made me appreciate it even more. Nothing motivates me more than comparing my totals for this year with last year or seeing that I am only 10 miles away from meeting my weekly or monthly goal. I use http://beginnertriathlete.com/ to log my training. Here's the link to my personal log: http://tinyurl.com/golilialog

Have a plan but remain flexible. Having a plan is instrumental to training for something as big as the Ironman. Simply doing what you are up to on a given day is Ok when training for sprint and olympic distances, but it does not cut it for the Ironman. Having a plan makes you more disciplined and accountable. There isn’t a one size fits all plan that works for everyone. Some people choose to work with a coach, but it is certainly possible to build your own plan without hiring a coach. I went a bit OC on my plan and planned my workouts on a daily basis all the way through June 21. I uploaded a copy of my plan here: http://tinyurl.com/goliliaplan. However, sometimes life gets in the way, a foot of snow falls on the ground or you simply feel a bit under the weather. It’s important to be able to adjust and cut your workouts short, move them around when possible or even skip them entirely, especially if you feel too tired or on the verge of getting sick. Skipping one workout won’t hurt your training. Getting sick or injured and having to skip an entire week will.

Commit yourself by joining a team or taking a class. When you have to put in 15+ hours of training a week on a regular basis, it can get a bit old if you do most of it on your own. Working out with other people makes it more of a social experience. You get to chat with other folks, you push each other to go harder, the workout goes by faster. This year, I do some form of group training a couple times a week in all three disciplines. I go to a triathlon swimming class twice a week. Coach Eric taught me a lot of really neat drills that improved my balance and efficiency. I also go to a Masters Swim workout twice a week where coach Justin makes us do hard interval workouts. I join a local runners group for a track workout every week. I am also on a Wines of Washington cycling team. I go on team rides on the weekends and race in road races and time trials which makes me a stronger rider.

Lots of folks including some local athletes training for the same Ironman have asked how I manage to train outside through the winter months. I am always surprised to hear this question. It’s Seattle! It’s rarely below freezing around here. This winter has been particularly nice – there haven’t really been any rainy days either. I only had to ride in the rain a couple times through January and February. All you have to do is bundle up and that’s not a problem. REI has plenty of cool winter gear handy :-)

Ironman Coeur D'Alene for Doctors without Borders

2009-02-03T23:18:00.000-08:00

06/21/2009 7:00 AM, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. My first Ironman triathlon. A 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride and finished by a 26.2 mile run. If everything goes well it’s going to take me somewhere between 11 and 12 hours depending on how well I stick to my training plan in the next 5 months. It’s going to be a long day!

Even less comprehensible, between now and June 21, as part of my training I plan to swim about 200,000 yards, bike 2,500 miles and run 600 miles. I recognize that I am very fortunate to be healthy enough and have the opportunity to swim, bike and run every day. There are millions of people in the world who are not so lucky.

This year I resolved to add a new meaning to my passion for the endurance sports and contribute to some positive change not only in my own life. I decided to dedicate my training and my race to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that works hard independently of any political, military, or religious agendas to bring quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. This means that in addition to increased training volume I will also have the challenge of fundraising, but I am looking forward to this interesting and fulfilling experience.