Swim for Life and my first century ride!!

I had been semi-sick with some weird stomach virus all week, but luckily when I woke up Saturday morning, I was feeling OK.  I got dressed, packed up my swim and run gear and set out for the Eastern Shore.  It was raining pretty consistently the whole time I was on 495, but started clearing up as I made the turn onto 50 and crossed the Bay Bridge.

I arrived and hung out at the Team Z tent, ate breakfast and listened to the safety briefing before we all headed down to the beach to get ready for the start.  The water temperature was 81 degrees, making it a non-wetsuit event, and indeed as we waded in to test it out, it felt like bath water. 

There were about 200 swimmers there doing either 1-mile, 2-miles, 3-miles, 4-miles, 5-miles, or the special 2.4-mile triathlete challenge, which is what I was doing.  The started the longest distance first, and soon it was time to line up to begin.

You can pick me out with my bright green Team Z tri top!

There was a strong current going against us on the way out, and with buoys located half mile apart, it took FOREVER to get to that first buoy!  The current got worse the further out in the river we got.  And the water was dirty.  Not dirty the way you usually think about the Potomac, but literally dirt.  I could not see anything underwater except brown.  I put my hand up to my goggles and could not see it!  I was disgusted.  Once I had to readjust my goggles and remembered the announcement that it was very shallow, so I stood up.  The bottom was even more disgusting.  I sank into whatever mush was down there, almost like quick sand.  I did not like swimming in this.  At all.

That's me lingering behind waiting for everyone else to start so I don't get kicked

Finally the second buoy, and after that it seemed that the 2.4-mile turn around came pretty quick.  I checked my watch and it had taken me just over 55 minutes to go halfway.  For the return trip, we'd be swimming with the current.  Or so they claimed.  I did do that second half faster, in 47 minutes, but at some point the currents shifted and was no longer in our favor.  After passing that final buoy, all we had to do was get to the shore, which never seemed to get closer.  I do wish there had been more buoys, just to be able to mark progress. 

Unlike Eagleman where I stood up pretty early, I did not want to touch the bottom of this river anymore than I needed to, so I swam until my hands touched.  I finished in 1:43:17, which is a new personal best for me at this distance!!

I sat on the beach sipping water for a few minutes and then headed up to the Team Z tent.  I had a little of that dizziness that I usually get after swimming for awhile and then standing up, but not the breathing issues that I experienced at Eagleman.  Still, I kind of wished I'd had an inhaler.  I changed into my shorts and put on my running shoes, ready to head out on my brick run. 

Hot run, no shade... I had flashbacks to Eagleman!

The plan was to run 14 miles.  Not so much.  It was getting really hot out and I just wasn't feeling it.  I decided to call it a day just under 3.5 miles and headed back to the swim venue just in time for lunch to be served.  I stuck around for a little while hanging out with my teammates and cheering in the final swimmers before heading home.  It took over 2 hours for me to get home with all the Bay Bridge traffic.. I was not looking forward to doing this same drive on Sunday!  After a much needed shower to wash off the dirt of that river, Jon and I went out for a pasta dinner and then I prepared my nutrition bottles for Sunday and was pretty much in bed around 7pm.

Good morning, sun :-)

I was back in the car again at 5:30 on Sunday morning to head back to the Eastern Shore.  This time skies were clear and I made it to Easton early enough to stop at McDonald's for a bathroom stop and get everything ready.  I got to talking with Kate and we realized we were the same pace, so we agreed to ride together.  Coach Alexis was worried about the heat, so he told some of us that we could go ahead and start ahead of the group.  We were off at 7:45 to start the long day.

Xena loaded up and ready to go!

It was great biking with Kate.  For once "same pace" actually meant "same pace" and not, "well I'm kind of the same pace as you" as they disappear around a bend never to be seen again.  We maintained a good pace for that first 25 mile stretch down to Tilghman's Island where Coach Alexis was set up with the first aid station of the day.  After a couple photos, we were off again... just that stretch 3 more times, easy peasy!

25 miles in, feeling pretty good.

Kate and I had been back and forth, one in front of the other, and I ended up in front at some point.  I felt good in my aero position and was just plugging along thinking she was right behind me, but I looked back and she was nowhere to be seen!  Yikes!  Something must have happened, but I had no idea where (and enough teammates were around and passing me that if something *bad* had happened, someone would have said something).  So I kept on, biking alone now, thinking how happy I was going to be in 50 miles when I was on this stretch for the last time.  That thought was a little daunting.  Baby steps, I just had to get back to Easton and I'd be halfway.

Lots of people were around at the halfway point as I refilled my water bottles, offering food, salt tabs, whatever.  I thought about waiting for Kate, but again, Coach Alexis was concerned about going too late into the day and hurried me along.  So I was off again... just one more loop down to Tilghman's and back, no biggie!  Except.. I was starting to struggle.  My stomach started hurting and I could no longer stand the thought of taking in any nutrition.  I just felt too full.  On the first loop, I'd gone through my entire Infinit bottle (3x concentrated) plus 3.5 bottles of water.  Now, I couldn't do anything. 

My speed throughout this ride... looks about right :)

I passed Jen F at an aid station halfway down that stretch and she had a ton of food and drink also, but I just didn't have the taste for anything, so I kept going.  I needed to get to the end of that road.  Breaking it into smaller goals was the only thing that made this seem doable.  But I was struggling.  When I finally got to the water's edge, Teresa was there with more food and drink.  I got off my bike and feasted on orange Gatorade and grapes.  Don't ask me why, but these items sounded delicious.  I sat there for awhile with her, reminiscing about the days we used to spin in someone's basement during the TriCats days, years ago.  But, I knew I couldn't sit there forever.  I had 25 more miles to go.  Just 25.  I could do this.

The drawbridge, trying to head off of Tilghman's Island.. this bridge was NOT fun to bike over!

I passed Kate a mile or so later and realized she wasn't too far behind me, and we both talked about how we were struggling.  Then I got caught at the draw bridge.  Part of me was happy for the unscheduled stop, but part of me just wanted to get going.  The sooner the better for getting this last part over with.  My stomach just did not feel OK and I didn't take in any additional nutrition.  Just a couple sips of water here and there.  I really slowed down on this last stretch.  Actually, looking at my logs, each 25-mile stretch got slower and slower.  Oh well.  The only other time I stopped was for a restroom break in the woods, hoping I didn't walk through poisonous plants.  I knew once I hit the town of St. Michael's, I only had 10 miles go to.  Then, once I got to the bridge, I only had 5 more miles after that.  I could do this.  5 miles!!  But wow, did those 5 miles seem to take forever!

I was greeted in the parking lot with lots of cowbells and cheers.  My team is pretty awesome for hanging out to cheer on everyone.  My watch read 99.7 miles though, so I literally rode around the parking lot until I saw it switch to 100.  I did it.  100 miles.  My first century!  And Kate was right behind me.  Coach Alexis celebrated by dumping ice water all over both of us... The heat actually had not bothered me too much, but that water sure did feel good.  It was actually much hotter now that we'd stopped and were standing in the parking lot.  Maybe I just had enough other issues going on that I hadn't noticed.

Took the victory picture at mile 75 because the scenery is much better than the Target parking lot!

I capped off the ride with a stop at Rita's for some Italian ice with Euge, Christy and Kate and then tackled that Bay Bridge for the 4th time in one weekend.  Luckily, traffic was decent this time and I got home in an hour and a half.  Straight to the shower and into bed. 

No traffic going westbound on a Sunday afternoon - never have I seen this before!

Jon was awesome for bringing me dinner in bed, so that is where I stayed for the rest of the day (which.. it was already after 5pm when I got home).  What a long weekend!

Tour de Summerlin with a side of Vegas

When Paula sent out an email invitation for a girls weekend in Las Vegas, I thought there was absolutely no way I could make the trip in the middle of Ironman training with so little vacation days in my bank.  There was just no way.  But then things started falling into place.  I looked up bike rentals in Vegas, knowing I needed to get in 60 miles, and I stumbled upon an organized ride that offered exactly that mileage!  I also consulted my calendar and realized the weekend spanned two pay periods, meaning I could make up more of the hours by working a little extra.   Paula found some reasonably priced flights, and her friend Donna, who was out there for a work event, was able to get us a great discount on a hotel room! We were going to Vegas!

The combined weight of our luggage, just 2 pounds under the limit!

My alarm went off at 4:30am, per usual, and I headed to swim practice.  Then, I left work early so that I could get in a spin on my bike trainer before Tommy picked me up at 3:15pm.  After cutting it very close to making our flight, Paula and I arrived in Las Vegas around 9:30pm (after midnight east coast time).  A short cab ride to the Monte Carlos to check in, and a quick change of clothes and we were off to a VIP party at in Caesar's Palace with Donna and her work crew.  We were starving when we got back to our hotel at 2:30am, so we grabbed a couple slices of pizza from the food court and climbed into bed around 3am.  That's 6am east coast time and I'd been awake for over 25 hours!

On Friday, Paula woke me up and asked me what time I thought it was.  Since she was asking the question, I figured it was later than I actually thought, so I guessed noon.  It was 2pm!  Yikes!  We got dressed and headed down to pick up our rental car and go pick up our bikes and packets (and a stop at In-and-Out Burger).  We asked the lady at packet pickup to describe the course to us, and she reported that it was fairly easy, with a slight incline on the last little bit, and that any challenging hills would be on the first loop, but even those aren't so bad.  Awesome!  Once the bikes were safely in the hotel room, it was already time to head to downtown Vegas to the 51's baseball game with Donna and Bob.  Then it was back to bed to rest up for the bike ride!

We arrived at the bike start just as they were starting the 60 mile event (you can see the final rider heading out on the right side of the photo below).  We began our ride behind the SAG vehicle and immediately got lost.  I'm not entirely sure how many miles we added on, but it took us a few stops and checking maps to finally figure out where we were going.  Eventually a group of riders caught up to us and said they were doing the same event, so we had someone to follow.  We were about 5 miles in at this point and I made a comment to Paula that it concerned me how much downhill we were doing.  Sure enough, a couple turns later and we started climbing..... and climbing..... and climbing....

After a loooooong time made it to the first aid station.  I had 2 bottles of double concentrated Infinit on my bike (so basically half bottle per hour to give me the calories and nutrition I needed) plus I was wearing a hydration pack with water (to wash down the concentrated mix).  I noted that I was on track with the Infinit consumption and still had plenty of water, so I just grabbed 2 double stuffed oreos and was ready to hit the road again.  I still had a long day ahead of me.

The route took us on a bike path and I was hopeful this meant the terrain would flatten out.  Nope!  Within a mile we were on one of the most brutal hills of the whole ride!  I stopped about halfway up to wait for Paula and when she arrived she was in the middle of an asthma attack.  We both agreed that it would be best for her to coast back down the hill and back to the aid station for a ride back to the start/finish area.  She isn't training for anything and was a great sport for agreeing to this bike ride in the first place!  I did feel bad about the idea of her waiting around for 3+ hours for me to finish, but as a stay at home mom, she insisted that she was fine with the rare afternoon to herself.  She caught a movie, got some lunch and did a little shopping.

Meanwhile, I continued on... it just didn't get any better.  We kept going up and up.  The route was divided into three loops, which we were told were about 20 miles each.  It was disheartening knowing that I was still on the first loop.  Finally there was a downhill break, though it didn't last very long.    I completed that first loop and turned the corner heading into Red Rocks Canyon.  More climbing.  So much climbing.  The only positive about this loop was that it was an out and back which meant for all of the climbing I was doing on the first half, I'd be going down on the way back.

I will say that this loop was very scenic, though it was hard to enjoy as miserable as I was.  The problem was, I had no idea where the next aid station was!  My garmin was indicating that I was already 10 miles into this loop, so where was the turn around?!  More climbing... we were out of the national park at this point, and still going.  Finally some downhill.  I knew this meant I'd have to bike up that section on the way back, but it was a nice break in that moment.  I arrived at the 2nd aid station and sat down, so tired.  I was confused because my watch said I was at mile 35, but if this was a 20-mile loop, I should have only been at mile 30.  Hmm...  I was just so tired, and I remembered that the lady told us the only real incline was on the last part of that 3rd loop.  I had already been out in the hot sun for so long, and my watch was telling me the 2nd loop was closer to 30 miles.  I didn't have enough Infinit to last me for that third loop and so I decided to just ride back to the start/finish area.  Mind you, that was still about 15 miles away...

This aid station wasn't as fully stocked as the first one, but that was OK because I wasn't hungry anyway.  I grabbed 2 more double stuffed oreos and refilled my hydration pack with more water.  After a stop at the port-o-potty, I reluctantly climbed back on my bike.  I knew I had one or two climbs, and that once I got to the Red Rocks overlook, it would be all downhill.  I stopped to take a few photos on the way back, the final stop being at the overlook (top part of that picture).  Should be smooth sailing from here... I was so happy I'd decided not to do that third loop! 

When I made it back to the end of the 2nd loop, there were two nice men on bikes standing there, and while they weren't doing the same ride I was, they had a map and helped me figure out the best (shortest) way back to the end.  Still mostly downhill, I rolled into the finish area and parked my bike.  Just under 50 miles is good enough for me, especially for such a brutal ride!  I wolfed down the free sandwich I got and met Paula at the car who was just finishing up some shopping.  We had to hurry to return our bikes and get the car rental back so that we weren't charged another day.  We were finally ready to start our real Vegas vacation!

We enjoyed an afternoon at the pool (though a little disappointed in the lazy river) before heading over to the Cosmopolitan for a happy hour in Donna's suite - bottom right picture is the view from her balcony!  Then drinks at the Chandelier bar and dinner at Scarpetto.  The full day of sun and exercise was catching up to us and we headed home after that for a good night sleep.

Sunday started with brunch at the Wicked Spoon and walking around the strip and checking out a few stores.  We spent our last evening with a Mexican food dinner, a trip to the ice bar and some cocktails at one of the bars in the Monte Carlos.  In the end, we did not spend one dime in the casino!  A good trip, but we were exhausted and happy to be heading home on Monday.

We didn't get in any runs, but I'm OK with that.  Getting in a good bike workout during a girls weekend in Vegas is a pretty big feat.  I am also proud of myself for how I handled all the climbing of that route.  It wasn't until I got home and uploaded the data that I saw just how ridiculous that was.  The lady at packet pickup lied!!

speed matters.

Deb and I have been talking about the dream of ironman since as long as I can remember.  Deb has achieved this goal already, and I am hoping 2015 will be my year.  I know that it will take a lot of hard work and dedication to make this happen... starting with nutrition and rounding out with a really good bike base. 

As someone who is always flirting with cutoff times in just about every race I do, it's only natural to be concerned about it now.  To modify a quote from Legally Blonde, "The rules of hair care [Ironman] are simple and finite"...

My best marathon time is 7 hours and 12 minutes.  Seriously.  [In my defense, I ended up with a stress fracture in my knee during that race]  Do I think I can go faster than that?  Sure.. but realistically, I need to allow for a 7 hour marathon during ironman, even with the best of run training.  And everyone knows you plan for the weakest link.  So, I made a chart.. what swim and bike pace combinations need to happen to allow for a 7 hour marathon time?

So there you have it.. 14.8 miles per hour pretty much covers me.
[includes 15 min for each transition].

Then.. on Saturday, I met a new friend, Andrea, for a 40 mile bike ride which ended up being really disheartening for me.  So many hills, breathing issues [asthma?  or is it anxiety from the hills?  It only happens on hills..]. 12 miles per hour.  You may notice that 12 miles per hour didn't even make the chart!

seriously, look at those hills!!  And I thought the Rock Hall course was hard...

Uh oh.

It's really irrelevant to try to compare a race that happened SIX years and 20 pounds ago [seriously.. six years ago?  how'd that happen?], but just for shits and giggles, here are my times from Redman 70.3.

• Swim | 0:51:21 | 2:40/100m
• Bike | 3:47:21 | 14.8mph
• Run | 3:33:19 | 16:17/mi

Do you see that?  I hit my swim and bike numbers.. granted, half the distance, but you see where I'm going with this.  I do have it in me.  Right now I'm looking at Ironman Maryland [the selected team race] for 2015 and that course is flat [hills are my kryptonite!] which makes it more doable.

No, seriously, how has it been 6 years since this race???

The point of the comparison though is that it is possible.  It will take some work.  Scratch that, it will take a lot of work.  But I have well over a year...

50 miles and Rev3 is awesome!

I want to send a huge thank you to Rev3 Triathlon organization.  I originally signed up for the Half Rev triathlon, prior to all the injuries of the past year (sometimes it sucks to have to plan your race calendar so far in advance).  Once I realized the run was not going to happen, I sent am email requesting to switch to the Half AquaBike instead.  Lisa Q emailed me back and worked with me to successfully transfer my registration.  I have not experienced a race organization so willing to work with you on something like this, and it was much appreciated.  Sure, I could have gone ahead with the Half Rev and simply stopped after the bike (circa Rev3 Cedar Point a few years back), but there is something to be said for completing the event that you set out to do.

What's an AquaBike?  It's a triathlon without the run.  In other words, it's perfect (provided you hate running as much as I do and/or are injured, which I am also).  Still, at the half distance we are looking at a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike, which as most will tell you, is not a walk in the park.  As I had only done 3-4 long bike rides this year, maxing out at 35 miles, I was unsure if this was reasonable.  The weekend before the race, on a day when the rest of the team was doing a brick (maxing out on 3 hour rides), I decided to trek up to Frederick to do the 50 mile route the team had done the week before, just to see if the half AquaBike distance is in the cards for me.  It is not.

A big thanks to my mom who drove the course the night before to preview it for me (I'd sent her the route so someone would know where I was given this was a solo ride), and met me that morning with fresh strawberries [and provided my post-ride lunch, pasta salad and strawberry shortcake.. YUM!].  The first 17.5 miles were not terrible, though I was nervous about how tired my legs were after the hills in that first part.  The next 17 miles were a bit tougher - and I was chased down by a huge dog that got as close as my ankles, but luckily ran away when I started yelling "NO!" [worked better on the random dog than my own!], but also got to cross over 3 covered bridges and it was really pretty scenery. 

The cue sheet didn't have a planned rest stop around mile 35, but I sat for awhile and snacked on my starburst, apple pie bites and dried apricots before setting off for the last third of the ride.  Luckily, the hills were minimized on that final section [and I saw the coolest long black snake!], but I had to stop again at mile 45 as my legs were just completely out of energy.  They were even doing this weird concave thing with my muscles... complete exhaustion.

I walked around and tried to stretch.. only 5 more miles, I can do this!  I *have* to do this, cause the bike ain't gonna ride itself back :-)  In what seemed like forever, I made it back to the jeep for my 50 mile selfie!

I am proud of myself for doing this ride, but realized that as exhausted as my body was, it just doesn't seem realistic to attempt 56 next weekend.  I've done this distance before, but I haven't been on my bike for over 2 full years!  It's foolish to think I can pick up with the same mileage I had when I stopped a couple years ago.

I'm realizing I need to spend this summer re-building my bike base, working on conquering those hills [I've heard Luray is hilly!] and gaining some speed.  Not sure how hopeful I was, I sent a note to the race director asking to change my registration yet again.  Once again, Lisa Q from Rev3 pleasantly worked with me and transferred my event to the Olympic AquaBike (1500m swim, 25mi bike).  I am so grateful for this change and now feeling really good about this event!  Rev3 has a reputation of being a fantastic organization that really works *with* their athletes rather than just a huge corporation running a business, but this has been my first personal encounter of such superb customer service.  I will most certainly race Rev3 events in the future!

Eagleman AquaVelo

I did this race completely on my own.  It's a little lonely doing these big races solo, not knowing anyone, not having anyone around to help ease the nerves or hug you when you're finished.  But this was just a warm up for me, a practice doing half iron distances in the swim and bike before the big event in September, so I didn't ask anyone to come.  In fact, I think I turned down offers from Jon and Joann, knowing I'd rather have them there for the big event.  This was just a glorified brick workout... or so I thought.

I made the drive to Cambridge for packet pickup not really knowing what I was getting myself into.  Up until now, all my races, while big to me, were just regular events.  I was not prepared for the hugeness that was this event.  The cumulative value of all the bikes was probably more than my house.  People were carrying their bikes so as not to have to roll them over the grass, protecting the tires.  What?  Definitely in over my head, I made my way to the back corner where all of the aqua velo people were assigned.  I racked my bike, took in the scene, and made my way over to Salisbury where I'd be spending the evening.

The hotel was a dump, but that really didn't matter too much.  I made a stop at the local Target and grabbed some dinner before settling in for the evening.  Morning came and I made the drive back to Cambridge.  It wasn't too hard to find a place to park and so I arrived in transition a little earlier than expected.  I started chatting with one of the girls -- Maria -- who's bike was racked next to mine.  It was her first attempt at these distances also and we shared stories of training (neither of us had done a ride greater than 40 miles).  I hung out with Maria in the hours that led up to our wave start (aqua velo went last) and met her family.  It was nice having someone to talk to since I didn't have any of my own crew around.  It turns out Maria's family lives right on the Eagleman run course about a mile from where we were, and were having a BBQ after the race, which they invited me to.

It was time for our start and Maria and I made our way into the water.  Soon we were off and I just took this swim one stroke at a time.  1.2 miles is not too much further than 1500 meters, the distance of Olympic distance races which I had done plenty of times before, so I figured I'd be OK.  We lucked out with the currents and the lack of choppiness (it's not called the Choptank River for nothing!) and I ran out of the river in 53 minutes to see Maria's family cheering for me.  That was nice. 

I hopped on the bike and I was off.  I passed a couple people and was passed by plenty others within the first few miles, but that was it.  This might have been the loneliest bike course in history as I didn't see another human being practically the entire time.  In fact, for the entire 56 miles, I think I only saw (and passed) 2 other people.  At times, I wondered if I had veered off the course since it was so quiet.  I kept expecting Maria to catch up with me as I had seen her bike still in transition and knew she finished the swim after me.  At about mile 45 I started getting really really tired and wished I could just coast along, except this is the flattest (and windiest) course ever, so anytime I stopped pedaling, I slowed to almost a stop, if not going backwards or to the sides.  My butt hurt and I kept standing up trying to shift my position. 

As I got closer to transition, there were already plenty of runners on the course and I had to scream to announce my bike coming through.  This obsticle course lasted the last few miles until I was finally on the home stretch.  Everyone was cheering me on, telling me that I only had 13.1 miles to go - HA, I'm not doing the run portion!!!  I pulled up to the aqua velo finish, got off my bike and sat down.  There was no way I could walk one step let alone run 13.1 miles.  How the heck am I going to do the full race in Oklahoma?  Well... that's not to think about right now.  Maria came in not too long after me and we were both so happy to be done.  We collected our medals and then Maria, who's car was closer, gave me a ride to my car and then we drove to her mom's house for the BBQ.  Good thing for the ride because I was really hurting.  Turns out I should have applied some more sunblock because I ended up with 2nd degree burns and had slight heat exhaustion.  

I stayed at Maria's for a bit before heading to Annapolis for my cousin's high school graduation party and then finally got home for a shower and a nap.  I did it and was pleased with myself, if not a little unsure how I was going to manage the full 70.3 a few months later.....