Born Again Athlete:

Tentative racing schedule for 2010

Sun April 25                  Lonestar Half-Iron      Galveston

Sat May 8                      Gulf Coast Half-Iron   Panama City Beach

Sat July 31                    Full Vineman            Guerneville, CA

August                          Sweet and Twisted sprint

Mon Sept 6                    Austin Triathlon

Sun Nov 21                    Ironman Arizona       Tempe, AX

More race photos (because I am a ham/vain/narcissistic)

Coming out of the swim - so happy and smiling! Interestingly, there is a Houston Tri-on-the-Run guy behind me (polka dots), which surprises me because those guys are really fast.

wow, I can't believe I was in that mess. 

     Dear bike: have I told you lately how much I love you? I love my Shimano shoes, too.


Although not as much as my Anyi Lu shoes! but I can't race in these  :)

That guy behind me looks like he's suffering, poor thing.

I have to brag and say I think this is best finisher's photo ever! You get a lot of cheering when you run in a boa.

Off season thoughts.

I'm trying to learn from last year after my first Ironman. I didn't have the "post-Ironman blues" but I had something. There were some additional stressors then personally and professionally, which are not occuring now. Some of these are duh, obvious, but I likey lists for myself.

Lesson 1: Don't get fat in the off-season! I gained 20 pounds last winter. I find myself less hungry these days, but also watching what I eat fairly carefully.

Lesson 2: Do some workouts, but not in a pressured way. I had to go quickly into CdA training after IMAZ and really hated it. I'm glad I decided not to do the race. Taking a break was good for me physically and mentally.

Lesson 3: I ain't riding when it is cold. Period. If I have to wear leg warmers, arm warmers, a vest, gloves, neck warmer, ear covers, windbreaker, and a parka - screw you guys, I'm going home. heh

Lesson 4: Focus on other physical hobbies, not triathlon related. More ballet lessons - yay! Maybe I'll learn to juggle.

Lesson 5: Focus on work, exploring Austin, hanging out with T3 friends in a non-training capacity. I didn't do this last year. I was quite depressed I think. I really segregated myself.

Other:

1. Toby is on a diet!

2. I'm going to paint my bike! Pink or T3 blue? My bike is so little, I'm sure if it's pink, it will look like a Barbie bike.

3. I want the weather to get a little colder, so I can make gumbo.

4. I haven't thrown a dinner party in 2 years, since I started doing triathlons, so I probably need to  throw one. I cook with cream, butter, red meat and lots and lots of shallots! (If you are vegan, go away. Sorry Carrie). Two years ago, I made this M-Dot cake for my friends Chau and Kelly who completed Wisconsin. I need to make one for myself!

I am very happy these days.

IMFL 2009

What can I say? It was a good day!

First, I can't thank the T3 crew enough. Lindsey, Lindsey, Phil, Dionn, Matt, Cara, Charles, Vegas, KatyD. I love having cheerleaders on the course! Also, thanks for dinner! They cooked a very nice pasta dinner for Courtney and I 2 days prior.

Pre-race stuff:

1. I loved driving there. Well, not the driving, but loved not having to pay for ticket, tri-bike transport and just generally throwing everything in the car. AND Toby was able to come!

2. Panama City is bit of an armpit.

3. Nothing makes you feel fatter than being at an Ironman expo!

4. Did 2 practice swims - so glad I did, as it was helpful on race day.

5. Free pancake breakfast on Friday morning before. Phil and Charles probably had about 50 pancakes each.

Toby the Ironpug

SWIM

1. Of course, it was choppier than on practice days. Why does that always happen?

2. Even though I put myself in the back 1/4, I still ended up in the "washing machine." Maybe because I'm a little faster, I'm more in the middle. It was rough. I couldn't really get any clear swimming space, not even that much in the 2nd loop.

3. I realized that the swim really isn't about being able to just swim 2.4 miles. It's about NOT PANICKING. I didn't freak out at all, but thought that one easily could. I think a lot of the mess in the water was due to people freaking out and swimming all frantically.

4. Jellyfish - !. I saw one, then just closed my eyes when my face was in the water. I think I got stung on my face , but didn't realized it until the next day when I heard others talking about it. I just thought my goggles were pinching me.

5. Salt water is gross! This is where the 2 practice swims came in handy. Although nowhere was rough as on race day, I learned that I swallowed water mainly when I sighted, so adjusted this according. I only swallowed water once on race day.

6. I really hated "running" in the shallow water/sand to do a second loop.

7. Finished in 1:30. That is 7 minutes faster than Arizona, even with the rougher conditions.

8. Dionn and Lindsey are excellent wetsuit strippers. Although I think they preferred stripping the pro men.

BIKE

1. I realized that doing 1 loop is harder. It's really helpful to have crowd support. Also, you can't see other racers coming back on the loops, and since we were so spaced out, I actually didn't see too many races on the course. It felt like one long boring century training ride. Because of this, I preferred the IMAZ course.

2. I had a flat. I think I actually rode the first 6 miles on a soft back tire and slow leak. I was going 14 mph and everyone was passing me and I just thought "wow, I must be tired from the swim." Then the flat became a real flat, and I stopped to change it, but my timing was perfect because the SAG wagon was right there. I could have changed it myself, but it would have taken me 15 minutes, and he did it lickety-split in 4 minutes. After I was on my way, I was riding faster.

3. It was an interesting bike. I didn't really feel into it until mile 50, then I started feeling good. Everyone's 2nd split was faster because there was a head wind on the first part, but mine was significantly different: 15.47 mph on the first split, then 19.27 mph on the 2nd. After 80 miles, I was feeling even stronger! At that point, everyone else was kinda pooping out, so on this stretch, I actually passed a lot of men! My sister said that some guy commented "that girl passed me at mile 90!" Yes, it was really, really, really flat. and boring. 6:44 total time.

4. I realized - guys don't like being chicked! I was really annoyed by men whom I would pass, then they'd have to pass me, only to slow down and I'd have to pass them again. If you're going to pass me, go faster than me!

5. I heard there was a lot of drafting on this course (heard that there was actually a 20+ peloton and officials weren't giving out penalites). boo

6. Another pet peeve: why have an aerohelmet and disk wheels, if you're not going to be in aero position and go only 14 mph?!?

 Because the course is just one big loop, it's not so great for spectators. I think this is hilarious pic of my family. Check out everyone's faces (including Toby).

 Finishing the bike!

  RUN:

1. I always dread the run, but legs felt surprisingly fresh.

2. I never ran 26.2 in the boa - but I was about to!

3. I decided not to wear socks AT ALL. I generally don't unless I'm running more than 13. Then I realized I think my feet hurt MORE when I wear socks. I got 2 little blisters, but I still get blisters when I wear socks, and I'm glad I didn't wear them.

4. I had a great run - 5:23 which is fastest marathon time I've ever had (including stand alone marathons). Yes, I'm a slow runner, but averaged about 12 minute miles. Such an improvement since I did IMAZ run in 7 hours.

5. I did like 2 loops of 13.1  Course was very flat, but parts in the park were too dark. I don't remember them telling us to bring blinky things. They should have lit the course better.

6. I realized the limiting factor is not cardiovascular - my heart rate was actually quite low - but PAIN. When I stopped to walk it was because things were hurting, not because I could no longer run.

7. Luckily the weather was perfect, otherwise it might have been too hot for the boa, and no, it didn't bug me at all. It made the race more fun!

8. Vegas and Katy joined me for the last mile. Shhh, they gave me a sip was what was in their water bottle (hint: it wasn't water or gatorade).

 
FINISH

1. I have to be most animated, excited finishers out there! The boa helps. Although Mike Reilly wasn't announcing. It was his "assistant" - boo.

2. 13:55 total time! That is 2 hours and 17 minutes faster than Arizona.

3. I felt really good after the race. Didn't hurt too much at all.

4. The medal is kinda ugly.

5. Cool to watch Courtney, my Iron-sistah finish too!

6. Hi Houston folks! Kathleen finished in 12:47! She is taking an hour off her time everytime she does a race! Oh, and hi Cassie! She said hi to me on the bike and says she read my blog. cool.

I can't turn this around. But if you look closely, Vegas is drinking...something.

ADDENDUM

1. I think having one under my belt really helped. It does help relieve race anxiety. I had no moments of freak out at all and was never worried about cutoff times. At mile 13 of the run, was thinking "why the hell did I sign up for this" but that passed.

2. Oh yeah. I weigh 35 lbs less than at IMAZ. I'm sure that helped with my race!

3. I thinking doing a lot more core and getting massages really helped this season too.

4. The race was kinda disorganized and not as nice as IMAZ. I heard that another company managed this and not WTC, so hopefully, they will get their shit together for next year.

5. I will post more photos as I get them.

6. I finished 67 out of 127 in my age group. Last year, I was 95 out of 105.

7. Am I going to do another one? Hell yeah! I love doing this distance race. There is a craziness, obsessiveness about it that I love. Most likely full Vineman in August 2010, but I would like to do Louisville,  Cozumel? Austria? I have a friend living in New Zealand, but that one is early in March. hmmm...

My siblings were all there. That was the best part of the day.

POST-RACE PARTY: what happens in Panama City Beach, stays in Panama City Beach, right ;)

Ironman quickie

Swim

Bike

Run. with a blue feather boa for 26.2 miles

13:55

a PR!

more later...

other stuff

Yeah! I won 2nd place at work's chili cook-off. And wore a cow costume.

 
  Oh yeah, I'm racing an Ironman this weekend! not in the cow costume.  #2438

11 days left!!!

Oh fuck, I am totally freaking out now.

I really do feel undertrained. And fat.

I gained 4 lbs this week b/c of decrease in training and also increased in crap consumption (something I do when I'm stressed).

I feel like this:

aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!
 

You've come a long way baby...

You know what's funny? I was looking back at my blog and here is an old post from May 11, 2007. Wow - how things have changed and how quickly. It's now October 2009 and I'm close to my second Ironman.

A triathlon - I'm crazy, right??

I started triathlon training a few days after the MS150. This idea sparked in my head a few months prior. A nurse at work who is a runner asked if Marcia and I wanted to do it in a relay form. Then while training for the MS, I wanted to take some pain off my joints and went swimming for the first time in years. It was fun.

So I began and what I discovered was: even if you can ride a hundred miles on your bike, you can still suck at swimming and running. My beginnings: I could barely swim 1 length the pool and had to stop at every end, which meant I could only swim 12.5 meters at a time. I could not run a whole mile. Well, we gotta start somewhere. I started riding my bike to work a year ago, and it is 2 miles to work and it was difficult at first. Insert cliche'd aphorism about journey beginning with first step, or you gotta crawl before you walk....

I'm still going to train for one though (a sprint one, i.e small one) - why the hell not?

I started triathlon training a few days after the MS150. This idea sparked in my head a few months prior. A nurse at work who is a runner asked if Marcia and I wanted to do it in a relay form. Then while training for the MS, I wanted to take some pain off my joints and went swimming for the first time in years. It was fun.

So I began and what I discovered was: even if you can ride a hundred miles on your bike, you can still suck at swimming and running. My beginnings: I could barely swim 1 length the pool and had to stop at every end, which meant I could only swim 12.5 meters at a time. I could not run a whole mile. Well, we gotta start somewhere. I started riding my bike to work a year ago, and it is 2 miles to work and it was difficult at first. Insert cliche'd aphorism about journey beginning with first step, or you gotta crawl before you walk....

I'm still going to train for one though (a sprint one, i.e small one) - why the hell not?

All we needed was hail to make it a perfect race.

Dilloman 2009: in summary, a duathlon with a long swim in front of it, lots of cold, rain, wind and mud.

I did this race because a friend was doing his first triathlon. Well, I man-handled, coerced, peer-pressured, uhm encouraged him to sign up for it.

Because the water level was so low, they changed the course. So after the swim there was a "swim to run" Transition where you had to strip off your wetsuit and put on running shoes and race belt, run for 3K, then run into regular transition area, bike, then run 3K after that.

?????  uhm okay. Talk about confusing. Although to be fair, the run before the bike did warm me up.

It started raining (cold rain) during the swim and rained even harder during the bike. I didn't care about going fast, just didn't want to fall. Run was a trail run through lots of mud. Lots of mud.

The most fun part was having to slog back to "Transition 1" to get our very soaked gear. More and more mud.

Sometimes conditions get so bad, that it becomes absurd and you just have to laugh. For such miserable conditions, I laughed a whole lot and actually had fun. Hmmm, looking back on my race reports, I realize I laugh a lot during races. That's a good thing.

Time 1:56. Splits? who knows. Ha- I came in 2nd in my age group ! (out of 2 people hahahaha)

I did put things in perspective because the Couer d'Alene folks had to race in these conditions all day. I was thinking, well at least I don't have 12 more hours of this.

Congrats to S. for doing his first triathlon! I assured him that most races are much better than this.

The drowned rat look.

No feather boa, though.
  
  
  

Update

  
  

Zzzzzzzz.... Me and Toby are tired and lazy. She is so cute, it kills me.
  

I am TIRED. I am chronically tired and hungry. Four and a half weeks to go! As much as I bitch about being tired, I am gearing up for which one I'll do in 2010. Pretty sure it'll be full Vineman. I would like to have a race out of the way by early fall, so I can enjoy the fall. I'm tempted to sign up for IMFL again as well, but I think doing 2 IM in one year, while doable, will probably drive me batty.

But I really like the Ironman distance. I like halfs, and they seem fun now, but there is something about the obsessive craziness of IM training and racing. I don't think I'll do sprints anymore. Maybe just Sweet and Twisted for team's sake, but they (Sprint distances) are just not enough for me to get up and drive an hour for a 90 minute race.

I like donuts.