Its all about performance

attitude adjustment

Okay, so I was a little cranky earlier about my HRM. I feel better after my run. It captured all of the data I needed but not getting use of all the features. and I’m a huge Nike fan so I’m sure as soon as I can get someone to help me all will be great. Regardless, great run today – it was hot! Ran my favorite route from west QA and up Magnolia Blvd.

frustrated with my nike imara hrm

I am trying to incorporate heart rate monitoring into my workouts but can’t figure out how to use the watch. Frustrated that Nike:

- Has a support site but when you enter “bpm” there are no results. I find it hard to believe that I’m the only person who can’t figure this out.

- Has a flashy site that is of no use. They could easily put up a “how to” video.

If these resources are there and someone has a link please send!!

Race Recap – My first half ironman

Victoria 2009 Half Ironman – My race recap

Last year when I crossed the finish line for King’s Trail in Maui, I fell in love with the sport of triathlon. This year when I crossed the finish line in Victoria, BC, I fell in love with the half ironman distance. On the course I learned that it isn’t a distance you can fake. You can’t not train and show up and still do okay. This distance says – I’m committed, and I will do this.

The following is my race recap – a celebration of finishing my first half ironman and all of the people I was racing for and with on this incredible journey.

The Swim – 1.2 miles.

At an early time of 6:45 a.m. under cloudy skies, I lined up with 459 other triathletes on the shore of Elk Lake in Victoria, BC, ready to start the swim, the first 1.2 miles of our 70.3 mile endeavor. This was the biggest and only mass start I’ve ever done, and after struggling with open water for a few weeks my coach advised me to start left. Far left. It would mean that I would swim extra, but I would be away from the “washing machine” of people fighting each other to get going. With some of my wonderful Team in Training teammates with me, we walked almost as far as we could, and anxiously waited for the start. When it finally came, the signal was as loud as a cannon, and after our brains clicked that the sound meant GO, we were off. My coaches’ advice worked and we were far from the tangle. Mentally, the swim is my biggest challenge and sure enough, after a strong start about three minutes in I hit the brakes and stopped swimming. I felt the familiar tug of anxiety that has haunted me in every race. It isn’t panic, it isn’t fatigue, I think it is just fear and a little uncertainty. (But a fear I know I can conquer!) I did what I could to keep moving forward, and made myself put my head under and swim for 50 strokes at a time. When I wasn’t swimming, I was taking in the magnitude of the race. Every event in triathlon has a specific sound, and 459 people swimming is like hundreds of bird wings flapping. It was rhythmical and it sounded fast. But back to reality. Push on, I told myself, don’t watch them go by, go with them. So once again I’d put my head down and count, trying to go as far as my mind would let me. It was a long swim. I was happy when after what felt like an eternity the exit was within sight. I could hear people cheering. I put my head down and swam, swam, swam until my hands were hitting the ground. I pushed up, stood up, and the swim was done.

Transition 1. Swim to bike.

Running down the chute I heard my name and the familiar “Go Team.” I smiled. The hardest part was done. Running into the transition area I could hear my name being announced by Mike Reilly “the voice of triathlon.” I jogged past the racks, counted, one, two, three, four, five, six. This is me. I turned down the lane to my bike. Remarkably, I was able to get out of my wetsuit relatively easily. I quickly transitioned – socks, shoes, helmet, glasses, bike – and I was on my way.

The Bike- 56 miles.

Jumping on the bike after the swim is one of my favorite moments during a race. This race was no different and I felt good as soon as I started. It was a bit chilly and I wished I had tried harder to find arm warmers, but in the end I really didn’t mind. Victoria is stunningly beautiful, and I looked forward to the miles ahead. The first loop went by relatively uneventful. On the second loop, the rain finally caught up with us and I was pretty cold. A police officer at one of the intersections told me to be careful ahead, a few riders had crashed taking a right turn too tightly on the slippery road. I hoped no one was seriously hurt and that it wasn’t anyone from our team. I passed through relatively easily, but was definitely more cautious on the downhills, taking a downhill at 28mph whereas on the first loop I hit 35. In addition to finishing, I had a couple of other goals for this race – to not drop my chain, which I’ve done in every single race, and to manage my nutrition so that I didn’t get hungry or feel fatigued from lack of fuel. So every 15 minutes I would take a swig of my protein sport drink, every 45 minutes or so I’d eat some gel, and in the middle of the race I ate an Odwalla bar. About midway through the second loop and thinking ahead to the 13 mile run, I thought “this is hard but I must keep going.” Keep going would be the words I chanted for the rest of the race. Coming to the end of the bike, my legs were on fire but still felt good. I thanked the volunteers I passed. I swapped encouraging words with a teammate. Push. Pull. Right. Left. Push. Pull. Keep going.

Transition 2. Bike to Run.

While swimming is my hardest mental challenge, running has become my hardest physical challenge. As I made my way through the transition area to rack my bike, I tried not to take note of how many bikes were already back. Just focus on your race, I was telling myself. I racked my bike, changed into my running shoes and hat, stuffed some “food” into my race singlet and off I went.

  The Run – 13.1 miles.

The awesome thing about racing in Canada is that everything is marked in kilometers, and there are more of them than miles, so you see many more markers and feel like you are going further faster. The run for this race is two loops around Elk Lake. As soon as I started running I learned how hydrated was and how desperately I needed to pee. I did not think of this in the transition area where there was a porta potty. I remembered from a previous trip to the park that there was a bathroom not too far ahead and focused on getting there (but I also eyed the bushes around me where I might be able to stop and take a quick break!). Soon enough I saw the bathroom, saw another racer exiting it, and made my way across the parking lot. And not surprisingly, there is Rob with a camera, ready to capture this fine moment of my race. I laughed at him, went in and peed for what felt like an eternity, and then got back on the course, with an encouraging high five from Rob.

Around mile five of the run I realized I was wearing the wrong orthotics in my shoes, I had mistakenly worn my new ones, which hadn’t been fully altered to my feet yet. Pain. I could feel it in my structure – meaning, my bones were angry! Everything in my body was being forced into mechanics that I wasn’t used to working. It hurt. At this point I realized I was in the race to finish. I would not meet my time goal. I am not blaming the orthotics for this – I knew it when I became distracted during the swim, and my training had been limited by back issues that plagued me all season – but when I made the realization and accepted it I felt a calm come over me and started having fun. I kept going. Fast time, slow time, it didn’t matter – I was going to finish this darn race.

Lap two of the run was challenging, to say the least. Keep going. Keep going. There is one of your teammates. Say hi, tell them good job. Keep going. I dug deep. I was thinking of how LUCKY I was to be racing. I was thinking of the people I was racing for – people who are in the hospital and being forced into pain that they didn’t choose. I chose this, I want this. Keep going.

At long last, I was in the home stretch. I could hear cheering, I could see the finish line. I could SEE it but I wanted to be passing through it. I kept going, kept digging, and soon I was there. I was running down the chute. I was looking at coaches and teammates, they were cheering, yelling my name, yes, I thought, this is it! Seven months of training. 70.3 miles traveled, $4700 raised for LLS, and only a few more steps to go. Soon I was through the finish line. Someone was talking to me about my race chip and putting my finisher’s medal on. A gentleman I had spoken with during the bike and the run came up and hugged me, saying congratulations. I grabbed oranges, water. I made my way into the crowd to see Rob and my teammates, to cheer on the rest of the people coming in, to encourage them to keep going.

TriTrek-Your Triathlon Adventure awaits! #triathlon

A couple of months ago I mentioned a group called TriTrek. If you are interested in a triathlon (and live in the Seattle area) I HIGHLY recommend you check this out. I’ve listed the race weekend ”what you gets.” After you add up the cost of hotel, bike transport, meals, etc. this approach definitely makes sense!! So, here it is…

The Big Kahuna Half Ironman Training and Race Weekend Support Package Includes:
Race-specific training schedule, open water swim workouts, track workouts, weekend workouts including long runs, long bike rides and brick workouts, practice triathlon races, and more.

A membership to Captain Jack’s Triathlon Club (through October 2009): http://www.captainjackstriathlonclub.com

Triathlon Clinics: Flat Tire Changing , Bike Cleaning and Maintenance, Bike Handling Skills, Gear Shifting 101, Transitions, Race Nutrition Plan,  Race plan- mental preparation, Running Form, and Open Water Swimming 

Race Weekend:

• 3 nights hotel accommodations and breakfast
• Bike transportation (includes a gear bag, up to 30 lbs.) Bikes will be driven down to Santa Cruz and you will only need to remove the pedals
• Transportation to/from airport [must be on designated team flight]
• Race weekend itinerary, including swim/bike/run sessions over parts of race course
• Pre-race meeting to review race course
• Bike technical support
• A pre-race pasta party!
• A post-race celebratory food fest!
• Daily grocery store runs
• Race day on-course support
• Post-race ’sherpa’ support with bikes & bags as needed
• Race day support for family/friends
• A souvenir CD of training season and race day photos
• A goody bag, which may include:
• 10% discount at Everyday Athlete; 2 special 20% discount days at Everyday Athlete
• Technical running shirt , Swim Cap, Running Hat, Water Bottle, Patch kit (bike)
• Event-inspired jersey, with original artwork by your Coach! (requires 20 people to sign up by July 15th)

Hope to see you at practice soon!  More info here -  http://www.tritrek.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=2 

Mind your own goals!

I used to be sooo competitive that if I didn’t think I’d win I wouldn’t even try. Pretty dumb way to short change myself on a ton of adventures and achievements. Now, I am learning to temper my inner competitor and have learned a lesson that was a long time coming – the race is against myself.

With the euphoria fromVictoria dying down I’m starting to think more about what I want from my next race. I don’t think “just to finish” will do this time around. I want more from myself and for myself.

Locking on a goal that only I am resonsible for achieving is exciting and scary and motivating all at the same time.

I can’t wait.

Crossing the finish line in Victoria

i did it!

I did it! First Half Ironman – check! Fundraising goals met and exceeded for Team in Training – check! A big smile on my face as I write this – check and triple check!! :-)

THANK YOU to everyone for your support. I really couldn’t have done it without you. When you are out there on the course (and trust me, I was out there for a LONG time) your mind wanders and when it gets really hard (and it does) it is incredibly motivating to know there is an army of people cheering for you and thinking of you. So thank you thank you thank you.

Around mile 10 of the run (about mile 67 of the race) I promised myself that for at least a few days I would just enjoy the accomplishment of crossing the finish line. My normal race MO is to go home and start analyzing the results and picking apart everything I should have done better (I’m pretty sure perfectionism is a huge trait in the majority of triathletes). But this time I’m just enjoying it. Next week I’ll dive into the numbers and start to see where I really need to focus (um…probably everywhere!). But for now, it was awesome. I did it. And that’s what I’m celebrating.

I will send a full recap soon! I’m still a bit too overwhelmed right now to remember all of the details that I know will come back over the next few days.

Time for open water…

After months in the pool it is time to hit the open water. I say this with mixed emotions as this is probably the hardest mental test I face with triathlons. I thought it would be the easiest!  I’ve swam in lakes, oceans, ponds (ewww), pools…nothing could have prepared me for my first open water swim. In fact, my first sprint tri I backstroked most of the .25 mile because I was so freaked out. This took 3x as much energy and time but I really didn’t care – there was absolutely no way I was putting my face in the water.

I’ve started mentally preparing myself so hopefully I can pull through tonight. My goal is to get into my wetsuit (which is a feat in itself!), get in the water and swim at least 20 strokes without stopping.

Wish me luck!

what tnt is all about

I’ve been following #teamintraining on Twitter and there’s some good stuff happening out there!  Check out Mark’s story (and donate!) – this is what it is all about!! www.markruns.com

go team!

the BIG kahuna

Hello fellow endurance athletes! After the Victoria Half Ironman in June with Team in Training I’m going to start training with a group called TriTrek for the Big Kahuna Half Ironman in Santa Cruz on Oct. 25. We are looking for a few more athletes to join the group – interested?! I have heard it is a fantastic weekend – the weather is beautiful, the race course is fast, and we’ll be staying at a beautiful hotel on the beach, within walking distance to the start/transition.  Oh, and the finishers medals are really cool!  What more could you ask for? 

Check out www.tritrek.org or drop me an e-mail and I will put you in touch with the coaches.

Hope to see you at practice soon!

Sarah