Challenge Penticton Part 2 - Race & Party with Legends!

Part 2!  Check out the past 2 weeks with Ironman Kalmar, and Challenge Penticton Part 1

On to Race Day

So goal for this marathon was to cruise through it, without destroying myself.  My last race of the season will be a marathon in about 6 weeks (if I happen to be in the right country at the time).  So I can’t annihilate myself here and have to take a ton of recovery time after this one. 

So up at 4:30am just like a typical race day…unlike a typical race day I have no idea when I will be starting!  So head down to Penticton, meet up with my team, and we watch the pro race start then its 2 hours until the relay team start.   My mom and grandma drove me down so I relaxed over coffee with them for a few hours, its very cool having family at a race, I’ve never raced in Canada before.

The day consisted of watching the pro’s come in and out of transition, Macca up front out of the water onto the bike, sun tanning and cheering.  It was fantastic to see the local guy Jeff Symonds come across the line to take the win covered in blood after crashing on his bike!  An inspirational performance.

(This racing stuff is hard :p Suntanning in the middle of a race)

Felt like a super star, walking into transition with Graeme I hear over the loud speaker “There goes team “Embrace the Suck” racing for Macca, their runner Jenna-Caer is here all the way from Scotland“ 

Then was the wait

Sitting in the relay hand off zone waiting for our biker to come in (who crushed it!).  All of the sudden he’s running into transition and my heart rate jumps, time to find out what these legs have left.

Now I ran for 15 minutes total the last week, I have zero idea what my legs will do, just have to stay steady.  My HR monitor wouldn’t connect so had to run it off feel, I’ve spent so much time running at MAF that was no problem, I knew it wouldn’t be MAF pace though because of the damage from Ironman.

I get out there and my legs feel ok…for about a mile.  I knew it couldn’t be that easy, so dialed it into low end of MAF effort and cruised.   I have never had so much fun at a race!  I must have high five’d hundreds of people, danced when they had music pumping, gave a couple bangs of the drums when they had drummers set up.  I cheered for people running around me, and yelled out thanks to aid stations and supporters on course, and gave about a million thumbs up.  I had it easy I was just doing the marathon, I remember that feeling during the marathon in Ironman and tried to pump up some people doing the full, at least make them smile.    

It was by no means easy its still 42.2 km my feet hurt, legs felt like I was running through mud at times, I could feel how Ironman broke me down.  The course was WAY hillier than I thought, you were rarely going flat it was up or down.  My Garmin said 2500ft of climbing, weather was just under 30 degrees & 1^st half was straight out into a draining headwind. When I was training in Texas that would be no issue, but I don’t think its gotten over 18 here in Scotland! So my body doesn't love the heat like it used to.  However none of that mattered, I had a blast, took in the energy of the crowd and gave back everything I could.

(I don't think I've ever smiled so much at a race)

The Finish Line:

This was by far the coolest part, and I would definitely recommend Challenge Races for this aspect alone.  It felt fantastic to finish a race not feeling completely broken and could run strong across the finish line.  Challenge lets people cross the line with you so I met my teammates in the finishing shoot and we head across together.  Now Challenge makes you feel like a pro, for every finisher they draw the tape across the finishing arch so you get to break through it like the winners! 

One of these days I will break that tape because I won the race, but that wasn’t today so it was a cool feeling.

Felix was right in the finishing shoot and congratulates you as you cross the line, then they have volunteers guide you through to get finishing pic/medals/shirts/food.  Full service finish line!

(So happy to still be standing & smiling at the finish line!)

Team Embrace the Suck Results:

Overall – 10:46:12

Graeme – 1:27:02 – on a day most pro’s were over an hour!!

Kevin – 5:40:55 – crushed the heat and hills

Me – 3:35:35

Transition – 1:35, 1:06 - I need to get my transition times to these!

(Team Embrace the Suck)

I was happy with that time my marathon PR is 3:34 and I destroyed myself to hit that time 10 months ago, 8^th fastest run not too shabby.

The After Party!

Have to prioritise recovery!  Met up with Macca, Scott (his awesome manager) and another legend Lothar Leder (first ever triathlete to go sub 8 hours!) and text the team to come down to the Casino bar.  It was great hearing about more of the European side of racing and early days when they did some crazy things. Couch surfing and living out of cars, travelling to countries they didn’t speak the language in just to hit another string of back to back races.  Its inspirational to see that attitude of either they will be the best and succeed or crash and burn, putting everything on the line to reach their dream.  Thats how greatness is achieved, that unwavering belief in yourself and willingness to fail completely for the chance of success.

(From Left to right Scott, Macca, Kevin, Graeme, Lothar, Me)

We then hit up the finish chute for a while so they could hand out medals and cheered on people coming across around 16 hours.  The mental strength to be out there that long is astonishing, and still there was a crowd cheering the finishers, the support from the town of Penticton was fantastic.  Another shot of recovery fluids, and an unforgettable day came to a close.

I couldn't eat much after the race, so ended up waking up at 5am starving!  Luckily I had inadvertently prepared for this....my hotel was attached to a Denny's!! 24 hour diner with the best breakfast food, so enjoyed a Grand Slam with everything drowned in maple syrup (noticing a trend here?).

The next week was a blast of spending time with my family, and heading down to my hometown of Calgary to see some friends.  Zero working out, a few drinks and eating whatever I wanted, for a mental and physical break.  Starting to run again this week, things are feeling a little stiff and tight but I’m sure they will smooth out after a few runs.  Luckily I recover quickly and should be feeling good soon, I’m just happy to be running again.  I’ve been craving some solid workouts ;)

(Getting to spend some time with my sisters)

(Sometimes its fun to go fast with the help of an engine - Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder)

Until next time…Carpe Diem.

Challenge Penticton Part 1 - coffee with Mark Allen & Macca

Then adventure continues…read the first part of my week racing Ironman Kalmar here

Onto the next week which involved 24 hours at home, 50 hours of travel, 1 tattoo, 26.2 miles, 1 awesome relay team, meeting 3 legends - Chris “Macca” McCormack, Mark Allen & Lothar Leder. 

So I finish Ironman and straight into recovery mode because what sounds like a better idea than resting? A marathon at Challenge Penticton the weekend after!  First up recovery protocol, pay close attention because this is very scientific. 

Step 1: Chocolate…that’s all I wanted in the food tent, everything else the thought of made my stomach turn.  Luckily they had stocked it with a variety of quality chocolate for me to gorge myself on.  Mmm especially the hazelnut cream truffles.

Step 2: Beer.  A conveniently placed pub right by the finish line provided the recovery fluids I required, if I’ve learned anything from Macca its that plenty of post race hydration is important and beer is a great delivery system.

Step 3: Big juicy hamburger with fries.  I just crave this after races, and again one of the few things that don’t turn my stomach after a day of sports drink.

(Hydration)

Recovery – Check.

As for the next 7 days before the Challenge Penticton Marathon, recovery and preparation involved one 15 minute run, 8 hours of travel back to Scotland, 1 tattoo, 23 hours of flights and lay overs to Canada, compression up to my eye balls, and wine.  I was taking this very seriously :p

So the question I get most often - why the hell would you do a marathon the week after your first Ironman?

Well Macca had set up a relay team for the first Challenge Penticton race to represent MaccaX.  Originally Macca was going to do the swim leg, until Ironman took over Copenhagen causing him to drop out and decide to do the full race at Penticton.  Things got shuffled around and then unfortunately their runner had to drop out which left them a leg short a couple weeks out from the race.  Knowing that my family is around there he asked if I would be able to jump in last minute to take over the run leg, how could I say no?  I was wondering how that conversation would go with my husband and my coach, so I know I’m doing my first Ironman in a few days…what do you think about a marathon the week after?  A few incredulous conversations and I had buy in from both...well maybe not buy in…more like a “You’re insane, but have fun” kind of response.

So I was in.  At the very least it will be a fun time, a great story, and this time I was determined to cross the finish line standing up.

Unpack, repack, and hit the airport. 

 (Given up packing nicely at this point)

The best part of this race was that there was zero stress, zero expectations so I could enjoy the pre race atmosphere.  Such a stark difference from the week before.

First up on Thursday hit the expo and get to meet my relay team!  It has been so cool going to races around the world and already knowing people at these races, but great to meet them in person.  So we head to the registration tent and….the team doesn’t exist.  What?  We are definitely not signed up for the race, ok send off a message to Macca hopefully they can get us signed up before race day!  After that we cruise around looking at all the goodies, barely containing whipping out the credit card at every tent.  Ohh and they had my Shiv there…by my Shiv I mean the one I’ve been drooling over and dreaming about replacing my entry level bike with, a bike that wont break on me!

(Kick ass team!)

(*drool*)

Gotta love small towns, end up running into Macca at the end of his bike ride checking out the run course (which he neglected to tell me how hilly it was!) so let him know about the team and he said he would get it sorted out.  Next day we met him at registration and team “Embrace the Suck” was born.

(Macca & Team Embrace the Suck)

Then I got to meet one of the biggest legends of triathlon, Mark Allen.  He was around promoting Mark Allen online, and I was invited along when him and Macca went for coffee. I’m fascinated with this sport and want to learn as much as possible so this was entertaining just to hear about the old days and the politics of triathlon.

(Coffee with legend Mark Allen)

On to Race Day

…Tomorrow.  This has become so long I will have to break it up, so stay tuned tomorrow for part 2!  The race, and after party with Macca and Lothar Leder.

Long Run Magic

18 miles.  I've run this distance only a handful of times in the build up for the marathon.  Usually feeling broken down and exhausted by the end, starting to hunch over as my form gave in, and watching the watch closely waiting for it to hit the mark so I could stop.  Thinking about the fact there would be another 8.2 miles to make it to the marathon finish line.

That is worlds away from how I felt today.

I didn't know how I would feel after Fridays weight lifting and monster bike ride, I actually woke up this morning feeling some heaviness in my legs that has been lacking for a while.

Last week was an eye opener; I wasn't allowed to wear my heart rate monitor, and even though I was running through a hail/rain/snow storm, It was so freeing just to run, with no pace, HR or distance in mind.  This week I had a HR monitor and a ceiling, so I just set my watch to Alert me if I hit 175 bpm set it on a screen that told me nothing of importance and just ran.

The sun was out (a rarity in Scotland), I had zero expectations on pace or distance and took it nice and easy to start.  I felt so relaxed, just smiling to myself that it was a beautiful day and everything felt smooth and efficient in my body.  Its so easy to get tied up in numbers and expectations, putting more stress and pressure on yourself to perform.  While structure is needed, and you cant always run nice and easy if you want to race fast, its nice just to have that run where its all about how you feel and enjoying just being out there.

I let my body dictate this run completely.  I started out easy, in zone 1 for the first bit, built up to zone 2.  I let my effort ebb and flow, pushing a bit when it felt right and backing it off when I felt like it.  Smiling to myself as everything was feeling good, no tightness, no soreness,  I've never run this distance without feeling like something was breaking down before today.

Even better, once I got home and uploaded the data, I ran the same course I did last week, with an extra 2 miles and more hills at 7:46/mile pace, compared to 7:53 last week.  I cant believe some of the numbers I'm seeing, my Half Marathon PR was at 8:00 min pace!

I love seeing the improvements each week, but even better how good I've felt doing it.  Between training at MAF, and incorporating strength training I have a foundation that can now be built off of.  I don't remember the last time I've had an ache or pain, that I just assumed was part of running before.

Off to visit my friend the foam roller, and focus on recovery so I'm ready for some intensity next week. One thing I'm looking forward to is a Retul Bike Fit on Monday.  Time to get some free speed by fine tuning my bike fit.

Run with a smile!

Carpe Diem

Welcome to my blog!  I'm new to blogging, new to triathlon, just bubbling over with inexperience and enthusiasm.

A bit about me: I'm a former seriously unathletic, overweight and uncoordinated person, turned running obsessed wanna be triathlete. This first one is a bit of my life story, triathlon training, thoughts and many many questions will be in posts to follow.

I was overweight working an office job, when I finally saw some unsightly strech marks and decided something had to change!  I had always been competitive in nature...I just wasnt very good at competing... I tried sports in school, badminton, wrestling, but never won.  I had drive and determination, just no skill or coordination.  So I joined the marching band... Anyways, my clothing size was increasing, but it was the dreaded stretch marks where I had enough.  I went to the gym near my office that day, and guess what, they had a competition to get into shape!  1st prize was a trip to Vegas, so my competitive nature took over.  2 months I lost 30lbs through cleaning up my diet and weight training with a personal trainer (no starvation diets here, I like food too much).  This put me in a healthy weight range, unfortunately I got second overall in the province...(oh yea I'm Canadian, Alberta grown, eh!).  My weight was up and down for a few years, periods of lots of beer and pool, and then back to the gym. 

Things changed from being in ok shape to great shape when I moved to Texas (work in oilfield services...suprise).  Alberta is the Texas of Canada so it wasn't a huge culture shock, with the benefit of the weather!  I had some time before my work authorization came through, so I got started with P90X, followed by Insanity.  I found if I kept myself interested I would stay in shape instead of the yo-yo working out and weight I had before.  So I was hungry for a new challenge.  Now for the record, I HATED running, I avoided it at all costs, my husband used to run in the mornings and I thought he was insane.  However I was looking for a new challenge, and I must have seen an ad for a marathon or something, but I decided I was going to do a half marathon. 

Seems like a great idea right?  I tend to be a little all over the place, and need to be kept entertained.  Sitting quietly is a nightmare for me.  I will read a book, while listening to music, while cooking dinner and stretching.  So the idea of running around in circles for hours had zero appeal for me, not to mention I could not run a mile without stopping to save my life!

Well I figured I better work on that and joined a running club.  I have to say its doubtful I would be here if it werent for that amazing group of people.  The first time I ran 3 miles (or 1 mile) without stopping was chatting with people on the club run.  Their enthusiasm got me excited, well that and the fact that it turns out there are RACES!  Queue competitive juices.  I ran my first 5k a few weeks later, ended up winning 1st female overall and I was hooked.  I ended up running a half marathon 2.5 months later and got 3rd female overall and decided marathon here I come!

(First 5K right before finish..I must have had more to give I'm still smiling)

So last year I went from not able to run a mile, to training 65 miles a week for a marathon...in 3 months...which resulted in a pelvic stress fracture. 5 months later I was able to start doing low impact work biking (on a stationary) and swimming-ish (never had swim lessons so I'm going to call it swimming but experts may disagree)...well that got me thinking triathlon. Now I'm able to run again, finally got a bicycle, and can make it across the pool without drowning. Triathlon is my new obsession, and I've got an Ironman 70.3 in my sights. Should be interesting!

Before and Afters...before kept me motivated!