Kona Race Report- Ford Ironman World Championships- October 9, 2010

Race Goal: To finish uninjured (and without walking), to encourage others along the way, and to enjoy the race!

Race Result: Finished uninjured (and without walking), tried to focus on encouraging others along the way, and definitely enjoyed the entire race experience. Finish: 10:21, 3rd Place Female 25-29 Age Group.

I went into Kona not knowing what to expect from my body. In Mid-August, a couple weeks after IM Lake Placid, I developed a hamstring strain that hung around until race week in Kona, despite trying everything to help it heal- PT/ dry needling, hot yoga, icing, massage, heat, anti-inflammatories, etc. I cut out almost all fast running and just did shorter, easy runs as my body would allow. Since Ironman Lake Placid, my longest run prior to Kona was 11 miles. Three weeks before Kona, I stopped running altogether until the race to let things heal as much as possible. My hope was that I could finish the race without injuring myself, without walking and still have a relatively good race! A lot of prayer went into this race from friends and family- thank you all!

RACE WEEK

I had a lot of fun during race week in Kona! I arrived Tues night and on Wednesday morning, had a GREAT swim from the pier with friends. I had heard how beautiful the ocean swims are in Kona, but it was truly a unique experience to see it for myself- like swimming in an aquarium with all the fish right below you and the clear water- most enjoyable swim I’ve ever had! Then we went to Lava Java for a great breakfast, rebuilt my bike and went out for a nice 70 minute out on the Queen K. Got to enjoy the scenery, have fun meeting other athletes, catch up with friends, enjoy some great food and coffee, and just take in all that goes on during race week in Kona.

Thursday night went to the the Iron Prayer service- so good! And inspiring! Great way to get in the right mindset prior to raceday.

Friday AM, my friend Kirsten from Team World Vision was nice enough to take me to a Bikram Yoga (hot yoga) class- she had happened upon a studio nearby—felt so great to stretch out and loosen up before the race! I normally go to Bikram Yoga 2-3 times per week at home, and always try to go to a class the day before a race to loosen up and stretch out, and have had some of my best races when I’ve done this (Longhorn 70.3 last year, Eagleman 70.3 this year). Kirsten got through her first ever class and actually liked it a little bit! ;-)

The rest of Friday was mostly spent getting ready for the race. It always amazes me how much time is needed to pack/get needed items/ prepare items for an ironman, and I am always nervous that I will forget something crucial that will make or break my race. Although I have not yet accomplished this, I have come to know the importance of making sure I have almost everything prepared 2 days before the race, so that the day before the race can be stress-free. Instead, Friday was mostly spent thinking over wheel choice, obtaining needed items for race day, etc. I learned that my wheel choice of 808 front/ rear was not the best idea due to the crosswinds out and back toward Hawi, and that tomorrow was going to be really windy. Thanks to Sam my training buddy from DC who hooked me up with a 303 front wheel, very helpful! I finally got my bike down to the pier for bike-check and was amazed at how helpful the volunteers were- one volunteer per athlete to escort you around and show you where to put everything, and to explain the flow of transition on race day (several times, in my case!) Spotted Chrissie Wellington coming out of transition after racking her bike as I was coming out. Then off to dinner - pizza - Then, to sleep at about 8pm!


PRE-RACE

On race morning I woke up and planned to eat a quick breakfast then roll down to the pier to get bodymarked and transition set up… and then roll back up to the hotel to get ready and relax for a bit before going down to the swim start. This didn’t go as planned… got down to transition to find that I needed to have my chip with me to be allowed in. Went quickly back to the hotel, at which point I realized… I forgot to charge my garmin! Since I don’t use a bike computer, I always rely on my garmin only during racing. I pulled it out and it was at 0% battery, and since it takes about 2+ hrs to fully charge I knew my only hope was to get it about halfway full, which would not last me the entire race. Gahh.... I did plug it in for as long as I could, about an hour, in hopes I would at least have enough charge in it to be able to use it for the marathon.

Got in line to get into the water about 15 mins before the start…. it took a good 10 mins to actually get into the water as the line was so long and slow-moving. Bobbed around treading water for about 5 mins trying to inch forward toward the front but not too far so I wouldn’t get crushed. Then the cannon sounded and we were off!

SWIM- Goal: 1:05- Actual- 1:12

The swim start was chaotic as expected, but after awhile things spaced out and I was able to have some room to swim without too much contact. Then I realized I forgot to start my watch! Guess I would be going by time of day to gauge my time. I was surprised at how fast we reached the turnaround! The way back in was slower, and took a bit longer- total swim time 1:12. Felt like I didn’t expend too much energy on the swim, so that was good, though time was slower than I had hoped.

BIKE- Goal 5:15- Actual 5:27

The Hawaii bike course was not what I had originally imagined. Prior to getting to Kona, I had envisioned a long flat hot ride with scary crosswinds the whole way. Instead, there was more climbing than I expected, I actually felt a little cold at the turnaround at Hawi, and the crosswinds and strong gusts only were an issue for about 30 miles on the turnoff out and back to Hawi (but were definitely a bit scary). I decided to start out a bit more conservatively on the bike than I had originally planned, and compared with my last Ironman, since I didn’t know how my body (hamstring) was going to hold up and I wanted to feel good on the run. I saw a LOT of people take it out really hard at the start of the bike and reminded myself not to get sucked into that. I definitely saw some of those people again later in the ride. Tried to eat/drink as much as I could early in the ride, since I knew once the crosswinds picked up it would be harder or impossible to let go of the handlebars to eat. The first 40 miles were uneventful, but great views riding along the Queen K looking out at the ocean. Due to no Garmin I had no idea what my pace was, but tried to keep a steady effort and keep drinking (and eating). I have found that at least with IM racing, I can take in a good bit more calories than recommended- around 350 per hour on both the bike and run, and I think this helps me out a lot at the IM distance. Got in about 2000 calories total during the bike. Around mile 45 after making the turn off to Hawi, the crosswinds/gusts definitely kicked in at random times and it took constant focus to look ahead and see when the gusts were blowing and which way people were leaning, and to focus on leaning just enough but not too much, and keeping my front wheel straight. At the turnaround, it started to rain a little bit… grabbed my chocolate muscle milk at special needs and drank that on the bike. The descent back to the queen K was equally scary with strong gusts knocking you sideways at random times. The last 30 miles were pretty much a tailwind- tried to put forth a good effort there, and was glad my legs were starting to feel good! Was very happy I wasn’t feeling my hamstring anymore. 6.5 hours into the race, and I think it finally warmed up! Time to run...

RUN- Goal- to finish in one piece- Actual 3:33



The run ended up being my favorite part of the race. I took my time in transition, apparently, and then headed out on the run course. The first 10 miles out & back along Alii drive, next to the ocean, was a nice temperature with ocean breezes, and lots of crowds lining the streets- this part of the run was pretty fun. My hamstring was feeling good, I was passing people, I didn’t feel too hot-- felt pretty encouraged overall!! Then my hamstring started to tighten up around mile 7 and got a little tighter each mile. I had been praying the whole race for it to hold up, and I KNEW it would be OK. I just had a sense of peace, even as it was starting to tighten/hurt a little that everything would be OK and I would run this entire marathon. Around mile 10 up the hill on Palani, I stopped to stretch it out. I found that going uphill was making it tighter, but downhill felt good. Out on the Queen K around mile 12, I started to feel better and my hamstring started to loosen up again- praise God! I knew I would finish this run without walking, and my body was feeling pretty good. I was so ecstatic to be out there and not in pain (well… not in injury pain). At each aid station I alternated taking a gel/water, perform drink, or cola, and a salt pill every 40 mins. It was slightly overcast at this point, so the sun wasn’t beating down as much as I expected and I did not feel hot. Around mile 19, making the turn into the energy lab, I expected the heat to pick up but it didn’t – very happy about that. Drank a little bit of my muscle milk at special needs near the turnaround in the energy lab and this made my legs feel stronger. Up the hill out of the energy lab and back onto the Queen K- I knew I would finish this race!! The last 10k my legs started to feel fatigued but I knew I would finish without walking. Just kept trying to push forward, take in nutrition and count down the miles—at Mile 25 I saw my parents (who thought they were being encouraging (though slightly misinformed) by telling me “only two more miles left!”), and then down to the turn on Alii drive. As I was running, my body was in such physical fatigue, but to not have injury pain and to be able to run free, to feel like I was sprinting toward the finish was such a tremendous feeling (though I was actually only going about 8 min pace, it felt like sprinting).

Crossing the finish line was incredible, something I have always imagined. Although I originally had higher goals for this race including to PR, I had the best race I could have on this day and to finish relatively well despite lack of much run training is more than I could have asked for!

FINISH: 10:21, 3rd place AG 25-29



Thanks to all who supported, encouraged, and prayed for me me leading up to and during this race. I could not have done it without you!

Eagleman Ironman 70.3-- Race Report

Race Goal: 1st amateur and qualify for Kona; 4:20 finish time

Race Result: 1st amateur/ 5th female overall & qualified for Kona-- 4:35 finish time

On Sunday I competed in the Eagleman 70.3, which was one of my A races for this season, mostly because it is a Kona qualifier (and thus always draws a very competetive amateur field). I love this course because it really plays to my strengths- it is flat, windy and many years extremely HOT and completely unshaded. This year did not dissappoint!

Eagleman is also a favorite because it is only a two-hour drive from DC. I drove down to the race Saturday with Maureen (a super supporter- still on crutches from achilles surgery!) and Doria who was also competing. All day Saturday was noticeably HOT and sunny... I drank a ton of electrolyte beverages all day (G2) and took some salt pills as well, and had my usual pre-race sushi for both lunch and dinner :-) We picked up our packets, went for a short 30 min ride, racked our bikes, and met up with mom and dad for dinner for said sushi dinner :-)

Maureen, me, and Doria at our hotel

My faithful support crew- Dad and Mom!

PRE-RACE

I was pretty nervous before the race, as I really wanted to get my Kona slot here so that IM Lake Placid could be as stress-free as possible. Race morning was hot and humid. As we arrived at the race people were saying the swim was now non-wetsuit... kind of a relief since I was not looking forward to putting on my long sleve wetsuit in the heat, but also would mean slower swim times and I particularly do not swim very fast without a wetsuit. Thankfully, I had remembered to bring my speedsuit, even though we had been told the day before that the swim would be wetsuit legal. On my warmup run, I remember thinking about how thankful I was to be here, competing healthy and injury free, after a major setback less than two months prior!

Swim Start

SWIM

Goal: 31:00

Actual: 40:xx

As expected, the swim was long, but was actually shockingly long. Although I think some currents came into play, I later learned that the guide buoys had shifted overnight, though the turn buoys remained intact. Those who followed the guide buoys like I did, rather than swiming straight from turn buoy to turn buoy, ended up swimming about 1/3 mile extra. However, I was in a good state of mind following the swim as I knew the course was going to be long, I just didn't know at the time that it was longer for me than for many of my competitors!



BIKE

Goal: 2:20
Actual: 2:22

Prior to the race, my friend Brian had told me that his goal was to beat me off the bike, and predicted that my bike time would be 2:25. Given that my goal time was 2:20, this gave me some motivation to prove him wrong (and not let him beat me off the bike!) Unfortunately for him, he flatted on a tubular andwas unable to finish the race, so our competition was fairly one-sided. However this was all unknown to me while racing so I gave it all I had on the bike! It did surprise me how long it took to catch the leader in my AG... till the end of the bike portion, in fact. Due to my comparatively looong swim, though I didn't know this at the time. This was a little unsettling given that the run was going to be a wild card- who would best be able to survive the heat? But I had faith that God had a plan for me in this race and that all I could do was hold on, keep as hydrated and cool (via ice and water) as possible, and pray for strength and a good outcome!!

RUN

Goal: 1:25
Actual: 1:30

I later learned that the heat index (heat/humidity "feel" combined) was 104 on the unshaded run course. The heat certainly felt extreme from the start, but I was encouraged by the fact that with each mile I was gaining ground on my competitors, and keeping a somewhat decent pace given the conditions. I only went above 7:00 pace for a few miles, and generally kept it around 6:45, which felt sustainable. I felt hot but not sick or dizzy, which is better than many, many of my competitors experienced. I was praying continually throughout the run, as I knew that sickness/lightheadedness/ heat fatigue could hit at any moment. At halfway, I saw that I was about 4 mins up on the second place girl in my age group. I knew if I held on, I could get my Kona slot. As I neared the finish, I saw my parents cheering for me, as well as my former college teammate and pro triathlete Nicole Kelleher, who was supporting her husband Wes in the race. Was so great to see them both! Then I saw Maureen on her crutches with Brian cheering away toward the finish stretch! What a blessing to have so many friends and family out there. I later learned that in addition to winning my age group/ Kona slot, I had also won the amateur competition and placed 5th female time-wise, which was exciting! Since the first 5 pros were either world champions or runner-up world champions, I was very happy with this result.

POST-RACE

The awards and Kona rolldown were a joyful experience, one that I had hoped for last year but, knowing that God works all things out for our good and His glory, knew that it was better for me to qualify for Kona this year than last year, in many ways.

After the race we enjoyed Sushi and other great foods with my parents back at their hotel room, I took an Icebath, and then we were off in the car back to DC! What an unforgettable weekend, and how great to be able to share it with some of those who are most special to me. Maureen, I hope I can be as good a support crew for you one day!

Post-Race- Maureen, me, and Doria headed home!

Columbia Triathlon 2010-- Race Report

On May 23rd I had the pleasure of competing in my first tri of the season-- the Columbia Triathlon! This race is one of my favorites and was my first triathlon of the season, and I was really excited and thankful to be racing and to finally see where I would surface in a race situation after a long winter/ spring of training.

My goal for this race was 1st Amateur, finish time of 2:15, and to see how fast of a bike split I could get. I nearly met my goals, with finish time of 2:16:01, 1st Amateur, and 4th female overall, and 2nd fastest bike split of the day (to Natascha Badmann).

Race morning I awoke at 3:45am to my alarm clock and the sound of pouring rain- awesome!! I met training buddies Chris and Sam soon after to caravan up to the race (Sam had gotten up to support at the race with 3 hrs sleep and 16hrs driving from the day prior-- impressive!!) Once on the road, at approx 4:10am, my good friend Doria, who was also going to be coming to the race, called to let me know that she had been watching to news and it looked like the weather was terrible out there!! I thanked her for the timely update as I tried to focus on not running off the road amidst the blinding downpour. Good to know I have someone looking out for me! :-)

Friends and training partners: Sam, me, Doria, Chris

PRE-RACE: When we got to the race, stayed in the car for a bit hoping the rain would let up for a bit, and then decided it wasn't going to so got out and navigated the "grass" parking area that had become a mudslide to set up my transition area. I had a lot of time before the start, but this fact made me move rather slowly and sloth-like... mostly spending time in the car waiting for the rain to stop... which it didn't... so I waited till the last minute to head out on my warmup run.... I would be late getting into the water.... then they announced the race would be delayed by 15 mins-- perfect now I would be right on schedule! :-) Warmed up with easy running for about 20 mins around the race site and then headed down to the swim start. Got there just in time for my wave (of elite amateur males/females)- headed into the water and we were off!!

SWIM: I managed to successfully draft off the "pack" for about 100 meters. Then it was just me... and one other guy/girl to my right who was exactly my pace but enjoyed veering to the left, whereas I veer to the right. Not a good situation. Got free and clear of (ie, behind) all swimmers after about 5 mins and swam solo for the rest of the swim... not the fastest way to swim but kind of prefered that to making contact with other swimmers every 2 seconds.... felt like I was able to get into a better rhythm that way and just tried to be efficeint while not going all out. Exited the water in 24:40- a 2.5 min olympic distance swim PR for me, and 2.5 mins faster than my swim here last year, even though the swim times were about :30 to 1:00 slower this year. Had used Suit Juice inside the suit and on my body-- that stuff really works-- wetsuit came off really fast for once!! Now, onto the best parts of the race!

BIKE: My goal was to go fast here, but I was tempted to throw that goal out the window due to the wet road conditions and rain during the bike portion... but instead I decided to stick with my original plan EXCEPT to be more careful on the turns and on the one steep winding descent.... and to pray for no crashes! I know the course really well so there wouldn't be any surprise turns or anything like that, and was definitely an advantage to be in one of the 2nd swim wave and to not have to navigate a crowded bike course on a day like this. Seemed to work well- ALMOST made my goal bike split of 1:07 (1:08:04), even with a short but severe downpour that hit mid-way through the bike and lasted about 5-10 mins. It took about 1/2 the bike for my legs to really feel strong and fast-- I think for oly and shorter races, it's definitely preferable to get a bike warmup in, though logistically difficult at races like this where they won't let you take your bike out of transition.

Finishing the bike

RUN: At this point I had no idea what place I was in, but knew I was almost on track for 2:15 goal time, and when I exited transition Doria yelled at me that I was 7th... at first I thought she meant 7th amateur, but that didn't seem right... finally figured out she meant overall, which made more sense. I passed the girl who was in first just after the 2 mile mark, who had had a smokin fast swim time! and tried to just keep running the pace I had planned (6:25-6:30 avg, extremely hilly run course) even though I didn't have anyone around me after the 2.5 mile mark which meant I had to focus on trying to make it hurt rather than racing other people. I really enjoyed the run, though! The hills didn't seem quite so bad as usual.... I'm not sure if it was because I was excited and knew I was on target for my goal, or just that I was thankful to be racing here after a running injury setback in March/April made me wonder if I'd be ready for this race.... but it was great to cross the finish line! Found out that I placed 1st Amateur/ 4th Female which was definitely exciting since this race always has such a high level of competition!

Finishing the run

Amateur awards - top 5

POST-RACE: Hit up the free post-race massage tent immediately after the race (added bonus: In the CTA's columbia tri "highlights" video, which mostly features the pros racing and finishing, there is a clip of me at the very end, on the massage table with the massage therapist working on my glutes. I was so happy to see that this was a highlight of the race!) I then secured a nice Waterford bowl and really nice watch as prizes at the award ceremony and then went to eat at Chipotle with Doria. Then onto the recovery routine-- hot tub, swam 1500 pull, hot tub again, then ice bath :-) Seemed to work really well- did not have my usual post-race soreness the next day and was able to jump into my short but intense 8-day training block before beginning to taper for Eagleman!

Why I Tri- and Blog

I've been an athlete since childhood, taking on backpacking trips with my parents since the age of 3, gymnastics, basketball, softball, and cross country running in middle school, competetive running in high school and college, and triathlon since 2003. I have always loved being active and healthy but in 2004, soon after getting into serious triathlon training had my first ever athletic injury, and had a string of injuries over the next four years. During this time I was able to compete minimally, but learned what a gift it is to be active and healthy, and that my time spent being active and healthy should not only serve myself, but others. After spending 4 months on crutches for a hip stress fracture in 2007, and in that down time having the awesome experience of travelling to rural Ethiopia with a medical missions team, I got connected with a talented and caring physical therapist who helped me through my hip injuries that prevented me from running and a shoulder injury that prevented me from swimming. In early 2009 I was able to finally start training for triathlon at the level I knew I was capable of. God has brought me through serious injury to compete again in a sport I love, and has given me the passion I have for a reason- still trying to find exactly what my purpose is in the sport and how I can best serve, but I am thankful for every minitue of it, for the great friends I have met through it, and the way I need to rely on God for every single challenging workout and race. This year I am focusing my efforts on Team World Vision, encouraging everyone to consider sponsoring a child through World Vision and the incredible difference this will make in the life of a child in rural Africa! I started blogging this year to be able to share my triathlon & life experiences with all who are interested. Thanks for reading!