Swimming with the World Champion!

I'll tell ya who at the bottom, its not Macca this time :p

Ok sports fans, its time to get serious!

I was told I'm too slow, to join a swim squad I was hoping to join to get faster.  Huh.  I don't like being told I'm not good enough, it wasn't a shock I know my swim is mediocre on a good day but doesn't mean I like hearing it.

So what am I going to do about it?  I'm going to grow gills, start sporting eau de chlorine, do what it takes to get faster in the water.  No more of this flailing up and down the pool lane just to get through the swim workouts so I can get on the bike or run.

Last year when I was doing 6 hour 70.3's I didn't think my swim really mattered much.  I had so much to gain on the bike and run it just seemed better to spend the time and effort taking an hour off the bike/run instead of 10 minutes off my swim.  Now it matters.  If I want to be a top Age Group athlete I can't come out of the water a half hour down on my competition, as much fun as it is endlessly passing people on the bike I need to be in the game a lot earlier.

So game plan.

FOCUS! We've all been guilty of this, you have a workout on the schedule you know you need to get it done but your head isn't really there.  You finish the workout, but just surviving it, not giving it 100%, knowing you could have done more.  That was pretty much every swim for me, I would get in the pool and survive, instead of thrive.  I've been getting better at staying mentally engaged, and really focussing on what I'm doing in the water.  Which lead me to the next step, I didn't know what I was doing wrong so I needed to find out what to focus on.

Swim Analysis.  I should have done this forever ago! I've never had swimming lessons so my teacher was YouTube videos.  When I would have people take a look at my stroke they would say they didn't see anything crazy wrong, even Siri told me the same so I assumed I just needed to get more fit.

Well I finally went to Swim Labs in Denver and got an analysis done.  It was so cool/bizarre.  They have a pretty slick set up with a room full of endless pools.  Then there is a mirror in front of you and one on the bottom of the pool, along with a camera in front of you and another one along side you.  So you get to see every angle.  Then they have you swim and take a short video, review the angles with you and then show you what it is supposed to look like side by side showing your video and olympic swimmers from the same angle.  Then have you do drills or try to imitate the stroke you just saw.  The crazy part is you feel you're doing something drastically different but you see it on the video and your arm has maybe moved an inch from what it was doing before!  I'm not sponsored by them or anything I just thought it was so cool the set up they have.

Which was good because my issue is below the water.  I'm giving up a ton of pulling power half way through my stroke to the end.  So now that I know what to work on, I can focus on it.  I tried swimming in a speed workout (I cringe when I see Speed swim on my schedule) using the recommended form and holy crap are my triceps sore!  It feels totally awkward, but I was able to go faster, although fatigued more quickly because I'm not used to using those muscles.  I'll be going back next week to Swim Labs to see if what I'm doing now more closely resembles swimming than my unique flailing stroke :)

I've been told I should embrace my swimming, see it as my friend, learn to love it.  I'm going a different direction.  I perform best when I'm fuelled by competition or have something to prove, so I'm going to own my swim, attack my weakness.

So who was the World Champion I got to swim with?  Mirinda Carfrae!  I swam with Siri and her crew of unbelievably talented Ironman women.  It was unreal to get to see these women in action in the pool, they are fast, but have a pretty cool team environment.  I would think that would be challenging come race day but Siri knows what she's doing, can't argue the results they get!  It was very cool I chatted afterwards with Mirinda and Amanda Stevens and they were great.  Definitely one of those surreal moments.  I can't believe some of the opportunities triathlon has opened up for me, you never know what is around the corner.

Carpe Diem

Training & Racing with Macca - You can too!

Training for a 70.3 in the midst of a trans-atlantic move while trying to adapt to altitude...

Seem like a great idea eh?  Almost as brilliant as my marathon the week after Ironman, but once again, what the hell it will be an adventure.

First off the Race!  So I'm going to be racing Miami Man Triathlon, after a training camp with Chris "Macca" McCormack.  Always a blast meeting up with Macca at these races and downing a few beers afterwards.  Miami Man looks like a very cool course, with the run going through the Miami Zoo!  Now if only they let a few wild animals loose I would definitely PR.

Its weird being back into intense training again.  The last year has been a very much an aerobic focus with very little work around threshold and above.  Training specifically for a 70.3 means a 180 in training focus.  Hello pain cave!  Instead of the distance being the hard part, its now the intensity.  I forgot what it felt like to get my HR into the 190's and actually have my legs burning and screaming to stop!

You know what though?  It will be worth it...when I win Miami Man ;)  I'm going to race balls to the wall hard.  I haven't raced like that all year, everything has been held back a bit, in the sprints early in the year I didn't know what it meant to suffer on the bike so I didn't push as hard as I could, previous 70.3's I forgot how much I can hurt during a run and still make it to the end.  

I'm running some paces I never thought possible right now, but more important, I'm remember what it really means to suffer with intensity. The training has been even better mentally than physically for building up that strength.  Its the last race of the season, I want to find my limits, flirt with that red line. 

I absolutely cracked mentally on one of those runs yesterday, I used to run every run at that intensity when I was rolling with a group of runners much faster than me in Texas.  So need to keep working on that mental toughness,  remember that I can run like that and not explode, and not be afraid of paces. 

I'll need all the mental strength I can get because the physical stuff is going to be less than ideal.

Heres the breakdown of what makes this tricky: 

I'm moving from Scotland to Denver Colorado, USA.

Scotland is at Sea level, Denver is a mile high (about 5300ft) and goes up from there. High enough that training has to be significantly backed of in intensity and volume for 2-3 weeks to let my body adapt to the elevation or else I risk serious overtraining/adrenal fatigue all that fun stuff.  Which is not an ideal situation a month out from a race.

I have about a week and a half starting this weekend where I have to travel from Scotland, to Vancouver to visit the embassy, then on to Calgary to visit family and then to temporary living (still to be determined where) in Denver.  So I pretty much can't do anything but run during that time because bike will be boxed up for plane travel every 2nd day and pools will be hard to come by with no means of transportation.

Essentially I have the rest of the week to train hard, in the middle of packing and moving, then its a crap shoot up to race day.  I'm curious to see how elevation will affect my body, both going up there and then back down to sea level for the race.  You hear horror stories of coming down from elevation at the wrong time, and being completely powerless when you go up, it will be an experience for sure.  I hear carbs help at elevation...and they have some great IPA's over there...what...beer is carbs ;)

Ah well guess I'll be Embracing the Suck, should be fun ;)  I cant wait.

Another very cool part of this race I get the opportunity to meet a number of members from the MaccaX triathlon team.  Now this is a wild group, from all over the world, and already there is an agreement that what happens in Miami, stays in Miami!  

Read more about the team and how to get involved here if you want to meet up with "The Boss" Chris Macca McCormack - Train with Macca! 

Thats my rambling for now, time to escape the chaos of this house and try to get a swim in.  Wish me luck!

Feeding the ducks that hang out in our front yard for the last time :(

Good-bye house, Good-bye Scotland.

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.

Ironman Kalmar Race Report

This last two weeks has been an adventure that I'm struggling to put into words, from Ironman Kalmar in Sweden to Challenge Penticton in Canada a week later.  I'll break it out into 2 or 3 posts, so stay tuned for stories of a few pints with legends of Triathlon Mark Allen, Chris "Macca" McCormack and Lothar Leder.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.....I Embraced the Suck

Jenna-Caer Seefried You ARE an Ironman 10:56

I craved hearing those words, I imagined them as those long rides and long runs piled up.  At the end of the day it wasn't those words that satisfied me it was a day of overcoming challenges to accomplish what I had worked so hard for that was the most fulfilling.  It was also crazy to be in a country that my mom's side is from, I remember as a girl my Grandma trying to teach me some Swedish...I wish I had paid more attention!

First off, the day didn't quite go to plan, but I've heard that planning Ironman is like trying to land a man on the moon - by remote control - blindfolded.  It took me a little bit to get over not racing to my physical capacity, to know that I should have been able to win my AG fairly comfortably.  But then I looked back on my expectations before the race, when I started this I thought it was crazy to believe I could come in under 13 hours.

2 Days before the race:

Ok I hadn't planned travel too well, getting to Kalmar involved driving 2 hours to Edinburgh, then a 2 hour flight to Copenhagen, followed by a 3.5 hour train ride to Kalmar.  Next time I wont cheap out on the travel.  The train was the stressful part.  Apparently only part of the train was going to Kalmar, trying to figure out if we were on the right train, finding a spot for the bike that didn't piss people off and which carriage we had to be in made it hectic and we arrived at 11:30pm.

Day before the race:

Still no nerves just waiting for race day.

It was 1.5 miles to the expo from the hotel, so kept my legs moving checking out the expo and registering.  Totally off topic...walking is tough!  I walked 3 miles and my feet were aching!  I can do a 22 mile long run and my feet feel fine, no soreness, but walking is a whole other story...speaks to specificity.

Back on track - I had missed the pre race athlete meeting the day before...hopefully I didn't miss anything important figure as long as I don't screw up the order and try to bike run swim I should be ok.  Kalmar was adorable, pastel painted houses, families riding around on bicycles and cobblestone roads, it was just what I pictured.

(There were barely any cars around, everyone cruised around on bicycles! You never see this in North America)

The special pre race dinner at the hotel was some cold pasta and spaghetti sauce.  Luckily I brought along some provisions, some oatmeal with peanut butter cinnamon and maple syrup...yummy my favourite.  I slept like a baby that night, still wasn't feeling nervous, I felt ready and knew the day would come faster if I slept.  So bed at 9pm and out like a light.

Race Day

3:30am Alarm goes off.  Breakfast at 4 am - I cant say I'm too strict on what I eat race morning, I have a general guideline but eat what looks appetising.  Luckily I seem to manage my stomach pretty well during races.  This mornings breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, peanut butter and real Canadian maple syrup (all of which I brought from home), some cherry juice that looked good, pineapple, an egg, and the secret weapon a few cookies!  And coffee, oh the coffee...I didn't have any coffee race week so that I would be more sensitive to the caffeine and that hit of caffeine felt sooo good.  Especially since the Swede's make it high octane!

(I'm tellin ya its all about the cookies)

The Swim

(A bizarre two loops of a triangle like shape, followed by a half circle...I get lost in out and back swims!)

Ah there are those familiar butterflies, just in time the nerves have showed up, but luckily the butterflies waited until after I had digested my breakfast so stomach was feeling solid.

Wedging myself into wetsuit is always nerve wracking, whether in a race or practise I feel claustrophobic and know that an open water swim is to follow.  I struggle a little more than usual to put it on, hands shaking a little bit thinking about the day ahead, but take my time to make sure that I have extra room in the shoulders and everything is where it should be.

Getting into the water was surreal, I had seen so many videos about Ironman starts, trying to imagine what it will be like to have 2000 other athletes in the water with me, what the washing machine will feel like as that cannon goes off and we all start on our individual fight to conquer Ironman.  I warmed up again like I imagine the pro's do, head in the water blowing bubbles, trying not to hyperventilate.  Thats about as far as my swimming lessons went so anything after that is anybodies guess.  I just wanted to get on my bike.  The water was so dark that I had to ask myself if I was closing my eyes when I put my head in the water.

 I don't know that I even heard the cannon, all of the sudden the water was churning around me, so I followed suit.  I started in a moderately aggressive position hoping to catch feet as they went by.  My biggest goal was to get out of the swim without expending too much energy and not getting too off course.  The first I did, the latter I'm not too sure.  The swim course we were advised was 3.96km not that I needed the extra distance, but I'm sure I tacked some onto that.  It was craziness the whole time was just in a crush of people it was hard to move forwards or backwards, and I seemed to keep getting caught behind people doing the breastroke!  My plan to draft didn't go so well but amazingly stayed calm and no panic attack in the water, 2nd time in a race!  The wind had picked up and there was a lot of chop on the water, once again like Barcelona was swimming either up or down, made my limited sighting ability more obvious, as I took on water trying to sight at the bottom of a wave.

1:28:33 - I survived and was so damned happy to be out of the water.

The Bike 5:36:29

I took my time in transition trying to make sure I had everything on the bike.  Once my feet were clipped in and we were on the road I was ecstatic.  My stomach however...not so much.  I had swallowed a fair bit of water and the first hour of the bike couldn't take much in as it was threatening to come back up, stayed calm, sipped when I could and eventually it evened itself out.  I felt phenomenal on the bike, watts were coming easily, and without the brutal scottish roads, and not having to wear a rain jacket my speed was faster than in training and HR was right where it should be, low end of MAF.  I was just cruising, then we hit the Island, and the crosswinds began!  It was tiring fighting to keep the bike going in a straight line, the loop was a rectangle with crosswinds on the long edge, with wide open planes so nothing to shield you from it.  All I could do is continue to battle it and stay within myself, I did get a little boost in this section though!  I had a team mate recognise me and give a little motivation as he went by, that gave a mental boost.

I spent most of the bike ride just spot checking, how's my HR, can I take in more calories, am I pedalling efficiently, where is my power output.  At 110km I got this hit of energy and just felt on top of the world, I smiled at all the crowds on the bike course, gave thumbs up to eveyrone who cheered.  I learned that any energy you gave the the crowd you got back 10 fold.  It was feeling too easy everything was right on target...little did I know what was to come...

At this point I was averaging over 21mph, heart rate was low end of zone 2 so well within where I could sustain all day and run fresh.

Then my seat dropped, I hit a wicked bump and my seat dropped nearly to the bottom.  It wouldn't stay up.  This happened 30 miles from the finish, longest 30 miles of my life.  It went from feeling like a comfortable ride to hips burning when I tried to push the pedals.  I was using completely different muscles to push the pedals, ones I needed to run well, an they burned because they had never been asked to do this before.

It actually hurt riding my bike, I tried to alternate standing and sitting but it just burned, so backed the power and speed way off and just tried to limp into transition hoping to still run well.

The Run - 3:39

Pain.  In training I always feel fantastic off the bike, even on rides where I'm holding higher watts than what I race at, its easier to run than to stop running, I can hold 7:40 pace all day with HR at Zone 2.  So I had some high expectations for this run.

Unfortunately I stressed out some vital muscles in my new bike position specifically the hip flexors, I got off my bike and I was limping they hurt so much.  But pain I can run through.  So I took time in transition tried to stretch so I could run upright and got out there.  I was finishing this no matter what.

I stopped to stretch a few times, walked the aid stations and just tried to keep the pain in check.  It hurt but I could grit my teeth and keep going.  Around mile 13 the pain started to go away and I started to loosen up...little did I know I would wish the pain would come back, at least I could run with it.

On the bright side, energy and stomach were solid the whole race.  I took in more than planned on the bike because stomach felt good, and way more on the run, but both of those could be because of the lower intensity on the bike and run that I do in training.  2000 cal on the bike and about 700 on the run.

Enter the Leaning tower of Kalmar (as it was dubbed by a friend).  My right side seized up, it didn't hurt, the muscles just contracted and it took everything I had to try to stay upright, I was crunching my left abs and obliques trying to straighten up, but they started to fatigue and give in they couldn't fight the opposing muscles.  So I just ran.

(Cant straighten up because it hurts, but still upright)

(About 6 miles from the finish, the leaning has started, I'm fighting to stay upright)

(Abs and obliques on the left side have completely given in I can fight the lean so just trying to run without falling)

That last 7 miles were the longest of my life, I have run that distance so many times.  It was so hard my head was screaming at me to straighten up and run, but my muscles just wouldn't respond.  So frustrated because I still had energy, stomach was strong, head was in the right place but I couldn't fight the lean.  I lost that race in the last 7 miles.  The last mile took me over 11 minutes, I could see the finish line, but I kept falling over into the barriers, I was completely off balance, and could barely stay on my feet.  Apparently it looked like I bonked hard, but I still had plenty of fuel and energy.  I was caught a few times by the crowd and had to fight off assistance.  I could see that finish line.  I watched 1st & 2nd place run by me in those last 7 miles.  I should have been miles ahead.

I stumbled across that finish line and was told to stop and was put on a stretcher.  I couldn't even straighten up for my finish line photo.

Honestly I was upset at the finish line.  I had had harder training days physically and had a lot left in the tank energy wise, I knew what I was capable of and a mechanical made it a tough pill to swallow crossing the finish line much slower than I thought.  However it did feel so good to cross that finish line, and to have the confirmation that mentally I have what it takes for this race.  When my body was failing there wasn't any thought of stopping, just my head screaming at me to push harder.  I did blow away my original expectations of 13 hours, and it was an amazing experience to run with the crowds of Kalmar cheering along, I swear the whole country came out to cheer the crowds were so deep.  

But it was my First Ironman.  I will be back, if I wasn't hooked before this fired me up even more.  

I did get cheered up by the awards ceremony!  I've never won a trophy before, I wasn't into sports as a kid - I was the chubby kid that got picked last and had zero interest in moving unless I had to, and no hand eye coordination to speak of.  So this was a first, the crowd at the ceremony was unbelievable they cranked the music everyone on their feet clapping to the music and chanting it was such a rush to be called up to the stage!

(Rocking my MaccaX Embrace the Suck Shirt)

One hell of a day, and its been a journey I will never forget to reach that finish line.  I had so much support going into this race, I couldn't have done it myself.  

Afraid of my Bicycle

This is inspired by an awesome someone in my online tri club.

Just like riding a bicycle...you hear that a lot.  Supposed to mean its easy, you never forget how to do it.  I disagree.  Riding a bicycle can be terrifying, and getting on one for the first time in over 10 years does not feel familiar and easy!  Especially when you mix an uncoordinated wanna be triathlete with clip in pedals and tri bars.

In triathlon, especially non-drafting the bike is where you are going to be spending most of your time  - well for most people...unless you have an injury or completely blow up on the run.

So you better be pretty comfy on that saddle (which can be a whole other blog post on saddle comfort).  Easier said than done, the last year my bike has become a strength of mine, I posted the fastest female bike split in my last 70.3, but its pretty crazy to think about where I started 15 months ago.

*Queue cheezy back in time music*

Ok I want to be a triathlete, and as much fun as the recumbant bike is at the gym I cant quite race on it.  So time to bike shop, bikes are like 200-300 bucks right?  (Insert incredulous look from husband who used to race mountain bikes) "Umm they are a bit more than that".

Start looking at used ones on ebay YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!?!  These things with no horse power cost nearly as much as the motorcycle I was racing!! For what?  Some metal and cables, little bit of rubber?

Luckily Blair knew a lot more about bikes than I did (paint up rubber down was about the extent of my knowledge).  One thing that worked out well was Blair always wanted a Specialized bike when he was racing, so he started looking at them for triathlon bikes for me, I'm so happy he did because now that I know more about bikes and fit Specialized was the right brand and bike for me.

First question, road bike or tri bike?  There is a lot of debate over this. Go with the road bike you can ride in groups, stability, and if you dont like triathlon you can still use it in social settings, if you do you can add tri bars.  Tri bike - more unstable, better aero dynamics, better hip angle for running off the bike, pretty sport specific and you will rarely find bike groups that will let a tri bike tag along.

At the end of the day, I wanted to race triathlon, not bikes.  In my usual fashion leaped all in and went with a tri bike.

So after an exhaustive ebay search (too cheap to buy new) found a deal on a Specialized Transition Elite, an aluminum job done up in my favorite colour.  Entry level tri bike, that was a bit too big but hell I wont be fast enough for the bike to matter that much I'm just getting started.

A big box shows up on the doorstep, a flury of screws and allan wrenches and a box of bits turns into a sharp looking triathlon bike...without pedals...what do you mean it doesn't come with pedals?!? From my limited bike experience pedals are kind of essential!  Then I learn about clip in pedals (that are called clipless...I swear this is just to mess with newbies).

Ok we have pedals now we are in business, bike is ready to ride.

A week later...yup bike is all ready...just sitting there...its too windy to ride...those clipless pedals are scary...(insert more excuses)...

Another week passes...it sure looks good in the living room...I cant get the hang of unclipping standing still how am I going to do it on the road?  I'm totally going to fall on my ass.

It took just over 2 weeks for me to take my bike outside, I had terrifying images of me trying desperately to get my feet out of those pedals while doing a slow motion fall (which happened eventually anyways), being blown off the road with the wind, and generally looking like an idiot.  Not a great start to my triathlon ambitions I was too much of a scaredy cat to get on the road.

(First ride notice lack of bike shorts...jersey...or bike shoes)

I did get some progress in the triathlon ambitions during that time though, I went to the pool once and felt like I was going to drown doing one length of 25 meters.  I've never had swim lessons and had no idea what I was doing.  I spent 10 minutes getting the nerve to swim the 25 meters back, was nearly hyperventilating and got out of the pool.  Yea this is going well.

Ok, I need to get outside on this damned bike.  First ride was terrifying, I was wobbling all over the parking lot, I don't remember riding a bike being this hard?!  Panicking as I tried to unclip my clipless (WTF) pedals.  Don't even get me started on turning around.  But I was determined.

It took another ride just in the parking lot trying to stay upright before I ventured on the road.  Now if it had been here in Scotland with itty bitty roads it may never have happened, but I was in Texas with huge roads and big shoulders so I finally got out there.

I was wobbly, but starting to get the hang of it after a few rides...then I tried the aero bars...as soon as I dropped down my bike took on a life of its own swerving side to side.  Adrenaline and heart pumping went back up, ok that didn't go well.  Thinking how the hell will I be able to race this thing when I feel like its going to throw me off when I go down into aero position.

I can handle a motorcycle with a 600cc engine on a race track knee dragging on the ground in the corners like its the most natural thing in the world...and a bicycle is getting the better of me.

Well it just took practise.  Lots of time just doing 10-20 minute rides trying to stay calm and in control of the bike, and even more time in parking lots working on bike handling.  I started to get more comfortable, relaxed, started to focus on what my legs were doing instead of a panicked death grip on the handle bars.  Dealing with the insane cross and head winds in Texas forced me to get used to tough conditions and stay relaxed.

Once I felt good on the road, my bike became my favourite toy and a strength.  That fear didn't completely go away, for the first 5 or so months I was in Scotland I didn't get off my trainer because I was scared again of the little roads here with no shoulder.  Once again just had to get out there, now I feel good on them (but still cautious).

I forgot how difficult the bike felt in the beginning, how scared I was, 15 months seems like a lifetime ago.  Now the bike feels like the most natural thing in the world.  I love the way my legs feel applying power to the pedals, slipping through the wind in aero position.

I've been looking back on old workouts and races to motivate me for Ironman, and I looked at the power output on the sprint Duathlons I did earlier in the year.  Well the power I put out in those short races feeling like I was going hard is the same power I plan on putting out for Ironman over 8x further than the sprint.  Its been a year of getting to know my bicycle very intimately, and I cant wait to see what I can do at Ironman - 6 days.

Carpe Diem

Macca in London & Guinness in Ireland

I feel like I've been living the jet set lifestyle lately, getting to know the UK while I am here and touring around.  I didn't take the time to explore the USA when I was living there and didn't want to make that same mistake this time so any chance to travel I'm in!

First stop London

This city just holds a sense of wonder for me.  So much to see and experience, the people, the pubs, the history and excitement! It seems like there is always something to do and so many people everywhere.  Its been almost 5 years since I've lived in a big city and I forget the feel of that energy.

It was a weekend of triathlon, running, exploring and sunburns.  

I got a chance to hook up with some more members of the online triathlon group I'm a part of and catch up with the man himself Chris "Macca" McCormack.  Love how this group brings together people from all over the world with different backgrounds and motivations.  I've been chatting with them online and it was fantastic to put faces to avatars and to meet a group for the first time feeling like long time friends.  A few beers, steaks and yummy desserts topped off the good conversation that was the highlight of the evening.

A late night turned into an early morning with little sleep between, and a long run with some threshold work.  This should be interesting.  I was definitely not feeling the motivation but had to get my ass out of bed to meet up with Macca and Scott (his manager) for coffee in the morning.  Who knows how long I would have procrastinated without that motivation :p  In London my preferred method of travel is running and walking, since I had to run after anyways they had the pleasure of my sweaty self showing up for coffee.

Hit of caffeine and some tri talk and I was ready to head over to Hyde Park for my long run.  It was a scorcher out there, I loved it until about 10 miles in.  Its been so rainy and cool in Scotland I was happy to be out in the sunshine.  The morning heated up quickly and the run pace decreased, I was hitting lactic threshold HR, but my pace wasn't changing much because the heat was getting to me.  I ended up having to cut it a mile short, I hit the wall, I needed water bad and even though I had already downed 3 water bottles the 30 degree heat was getting to me.  I ran past a stand with water…stopped…turned around and downed 2 bottles, that was the end of my run.

Spent the afternoon sun tanning in Hyde park and enjoying some of the concert that was going on.  And by suntanning of course I mean burning with my Red head skin.  

On to Ireland

I haven't had a break in a while outside of a few days after Cotswold and Barcelona, and Ireland was a great excuse for it.  My mother in law is down visiting and both her family and mine are from Ireland so it was a must do trip.  We decided to pack up the car and drive over to the Ferry and take it across.  We stopped on the way and explored Stirling Castle while still in Scotland, hopped on the Ferry, where I enjoyed most of the trip getting a much needed massage…its a hard life.

Now usually during trips, like London, I try to get my training in.  Not this time, it was a total rest.  I ran less than an hour total the whole 4 days I was gone.  I don't think I've done that little since I signed up for Ironman last year!  It was a great mental and physical break so I was ready to make the final push 5 weeks out from Ironman.

Ireland was a whorl wind, I got to meet up with another member of the trip club that I had met in Barcelona and it was a much more reserved meet up than the Beer fuelled post party in Callela, but a great time.  Unfortunately we had to get down to Dublin or else I'm sure it would have been a party :p  Just starting to realise I only really drink while around other triathletes….

(With the Legend)

Next stop was Dublin where my dads family is from, unfortunately it was a quick trip for me but got to hit up St. Patricks Cathedral and the Guinness Factory.  That Guinness factory was something else, I'm officially certified in the art of the perfect pour, and enjoyed the taste testing :p  

 (Certified in the perfect pour)

(Taste test my favorite part)

During this trip I gorged myself on Guinness, Full Irish Breakfasts (yum), Steak and Kidney Pies and Fish and Chips.  It was awesome!  Back to eating healthy again this week and I actually wanted vegetables after the excess of the vacation (I don't think I ate anything green while I was gone).  

(Full Irish)

(My 1 of 2 runs a whole 20 min in Belfast)

Anyways back into training, Ironman is less than a month away.  I thought I would feel great after the break but its taken some time to get back into it.  Just feeling a bit sluggish, and uncoordinated.  I had a lot less energy than usual when I wasn't training.  Its like my body is either 110% on, or off…completely.  So I'll keep cruising along until its time to taper.

Carpe Diem