New Orleans Race Recap

On Sunday I raced the New Orleans 70.3, my first “real” race of the season. Results: 8^th place in a strong field of 21 pro females, with the 5^th fastest bike split.

New Orleans 70.3 is a great race for several reasons… the incredible southern hospitality, ability to get great seafood, the fact that they give you things like this (photo below) in your goody bag… warm weather and oh yes, the fact that the swim tends to get cancelled due to extreme weather. Not that I don’t love a good swim, but it’s exciting to race and not have to work my way up from the back of the pack once in awhile!

I headed down to New Orleans on Thursday night directly from work to catch the 2-hour flight to New Orleans. Thanks to Tri-Bike Transport’s gracious support of Ironman pros, I was able to fly sans-bike for the first time in awhile, which was SO NICE. Plus, they take amazing care of your bike- I’ve used them for several events now as an amateur and now as a pro- they are awesome. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed, the shuttle and rental car fetching took forever, and so I ended up getting to my homestay at 1 am. The family I stayed with, the Chimentos, were SO gracious and wonderful, I’m so blessed to have gotten to stay with them for the weekend- they truly made me feel at home, and even left me a bowl of snacks in my room!

The days leading up to the race were not too eventful… much of my time was spent doing work (busy time at my full-time job) interspersed with a good amount of sleep, some solid taper workouts, the usual pre-race committments, a great dinner with friends on Friday night where we had some really authentic New Orleans fare, and an awesome sushi dinner (which happens to be my favorite pre-race meal!) with the Chimentos on Saturday night before the race.

The race day forecast was for a storm front to move through with very strong winds, so was talk of cancelling the swim. Sure enough, Saturday around 2pm, we received the official word that the swim would be cancelled, to be replaced with a 2 mile run prior to the bike. This was exciting as I feel like I’ve made some progress with running in the last month and was more than happy to have the 1.2 mile swim replaced with a 2 mile run. At the same time, the super windy conditions (30mph winds) that were in the forecast made me a bit nervous for the bike since I was planning on riding a disc, more nervous after they told us at the pro meeting that they would really not recommend riding a disc for the race (though pretty much every pro showed up on race day with a disc).  Sure enough, the winds really picked up on Saturday evening. By Saturday night, large trees were swaying, I could hear really strong gusts outside all night.

I like picking out a Bible verse before each race and thinking about it prior to the race and during the race when things get tough,  as they do in every race whether it’s a “good” kind of tough or a “bad” kind of tough. This time I picked out a verse from Isaiah 41:

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my righteous right hand.”

On race morning I got up at 4:30am and I was pretty wide awake. Had my usual pre-race coffee, and some liquid calories (I find it extremely hard to eat solid foods before a race… probably one of the only times I find eating difficult!) including half of a Naked tropical protein smoothie and a Boathouse Farms strawberry banana smoothie. I had planned to eat a Powerbar too, but this was just not going to be happening today. Stomach was not feeling like it could stomach any food.

I got to the race site about 5:15 and pulled out the trainer in the parking lot to do my bike warmup (thanks also to my homestay host for lending me his trainer… yet another thing I did not have to travel with this time around!!) Did a good 15-minute warmup with some 30 second pickups, then went to transition to get situated. Setting up trasition for a run-bike-run is different from setting up for a swim-bike-run, and required some thought to make sure key pieces were not missing. I then headed out for a 12-minute warm-up run, spent some time loosening up my legs on the foal roller (buoy),hydrated and took some First Endurance Pre-Race, and before I knew it, they were kicking us out of transition.

It was COLD waiting for the start. I was glad we were the first to start, and did not envy the people who had to wait around for close to an hour without warm clothing as there was seemingly no morning clothes drop at this race. Pretty soon it was time for the national anthem and pre-race prayer, which expressed thankfulness for being healthy and able to compete here today. I truly feel blessed to be healthy, injury-free, and the means and support to race as a pro, but in the hours leading up to a race, it’s sooo easy to take this for granted when all you can focus on is the pain that lies ahead!

RUN 1- 2.2 miles, 12:20

Pretty soon the pro women were lining up… felt like a track race! I chose the inside part of the lane. Then the gun and we were off! The plan was to run at no harder than a 10k effort per coach Eric, which is about a 5:50/mile pace for me. I felt like we were going about this pace or maybe even a bit slower, though I wasn’t looking at my Garmin too much since the group was tightly bunched and I didn’t want to trip over anyone. First mile was a 5:37 (a little fast!) but the second mile settled down to a 5:50 pace. This pace felt fine and not out of control… I came into transition with the first group of about 9 women, and once we got into transition it turned into a sprint for the bikes! I was definitely not the quickest one out- had trouble with my helmet, and lost about 10 seconds there- transitions are definitely something to work on.

BIKE- 52 miles, 2:13:45 (5^th fastest)

I tried to get on the bike quickly and catch up to the group of women who had beat me out of transition. I gradually worked my way up to 4^th place in the first 10 miles of the bike. It was definitely windy, especially with some mean crosswinds when descending off the bridges, but overall not too bad at all in terms of bike handling. My Rudy Project wingspan helmet was awesome in the wind- even though it was so windy, I felt like it was slicing through the air with little disturbance. Things were going pretty well for the first half of the bike and I was able to hold my goal power output, but this started to drop in the latter half especially in sections with a tailwind- I couldn’t find the proper gear to really put out a good wattage – kind of odd, since I felt like my effort was pretty high. After the race, I also realized I only comsumed half my bottle of calories- which would probably play a factor later on during the run. I came into T2 in 4^th place, with the 5^th fastest bike split of the day despite my issues, which I was fairly happy with though I need to work on being able to sustain my power throughout the bike in different conditions.

RUN- 13.1 miles, 1:27:06 (70.3 PR)

Into T2 and a quick change into my shoes, and I was off running… in the wrong direction. Quickly turned around but by this time Mirinda Carfrae and Magali Tissere, who came into T2 right behind me, had caught up passed me as we exited T2. It was clear that I was NOT going to be keeping up with them-  they ended up running a 1:19 and a 1:22- My first mile was a 6:15 and they had already gained over 100 meters on me by that point- so I tried to settle into my goal pace of 6:30, which I was able to hold for the first 7 miles. Around the 5 mile mark, Caitlin Snow came clipping by (she would run a 1:18 half) and I just tried to focus on my form and effort level- and on keeping cool and hydrated- it was starting to feel pretty warm out there! Around mile 9 I was passed again and my pace was slipping to 6:40 or so. The last 4 miles were not so fun… I think my lack of calories on the bike was starting to affect my legs… around mile 10 I started to get foot cramps/ charlie horse in one foot…. I prayed that this would stay at bay for the next few miles since it was really uncomfortable and messing with my form, making it hard to push off and making me feel like I was going to trip. Getting in some sports drink at each aid station definitely helped, but then the foot cramp would slowly resurface during the next mile. Not something I've ever experienced before during a run- only during swims! Finally, I could hear the announcer in transition and there was the finish! Came across in 8^th with a 1:27:06 run (a 6:38 pace, and though I definitely think I’m capable of going quite a bit faster, is actually a 70.3 PR for me). Definitely happy with the way this race went, but also motivated to improve some things with my biking, running, and racing, not to mention swimming.

I didn’t have time to do too much exploring after the race but did make it to a Bikram Yoga class in an incredibly cute part of New Orleans on Sunday evening, which really helped me loosen up and feel better after the race.

Many thanks to Coach Eric for such a solid training plan and great guidance on training and racing, and to all of the fantastic great sponsors that have supported myself and the Fast Forward Triathlon Pro Development Team and helped us achieve our goals: Inside Out Sports, Rudy Project, Cervelo, Computrainer, First Endurance, Skin Sake,CEP Compression, Training Peaks, Prevail Conditioning, SPaRC, and FSSeries.

Thanks also to Will Jones of 4D Fitness for lending me a shallower front race wheel which made my bike handle much better in the wind, TriBike Transport for supporting pros this year with bike transport and doing such a stellar job at it, Lee Ann Leblanc for the great dinner at Mandina’s, and to my incredible homestay hosts, the Chimentos! 

Next race: Columbia Triathlon on May 20^th.

FFT Team Camp and Oceanside 70.3 Recap

I spent the end of March in Southern California at the FFT Pro Development Team training camp and racing the Oceanside Ironman 70.3. It was a challenging week filled with training, learning, getting to know my FFT teammates, racing and some quality time with good friends- all in a very scenic environment.

Chris and I flew into San Diego on Friday night and spent a day and a half with my friend Maureen and her husband Iggy. We were treated to some awesome meals and some great relaxing time in their outdoor hot tub! In addition to great friends, they are amazing hosts. Maureen took us on a great long ride on Saturday with lots of climbing, and a great run on Sunday morning. On Sunday morning we made our way up to Santa Barbara, a 5 hour drive, stopping along the way just outside of LA to see my friend (and college track teammate) and now pro cyclist, Devon Gorry, compete in a bike race with the NOW/Novartis women’s cycling team at the Redlands Cycling Classic (they won the race!) After a quick lunch with Devon, we completed the traffic-y drive up I-5 in the pouring rain and finally made it to the awesome Santa Barbara home that would be our training base for the week (many thanks to the Warrens!)

TEAM CAMP

Monday AM started off bright and early with a blood lactate test on the bike. This test is done on the Computrainer and involves cycling at progressively higher wattage while monitoring both heart rate and blood lactate levels. This helps to determine your lactate threshold, approximately the level of effort you should be able to hold for a 1 hour TT on the bike, which is then used to create training zones (measured by wattage and heart rate) for various types of workouts. The team then headed out for a 4 hour ride with some good sections of climbing at a tempo effort. Unfortunately at the beginning of the ride, Chris crashed and landed on his side and left wrist. He seemed to be OK (though in pain) with likely a sprained wrist. Since the ride took longer than expected, we rode straight to Prevail Conditioning for functional strength assessments, which involved performing various movements while being videotaped. I was feeling pretty beat and hungry at this point, and was forever grateful to Moose for bringing over a whole assortment of lunch ingredients for us! After our functional strength assessments, we then headed straight to the pool for a recovery swim workout at a beautiful long course meter outdoor pool. By the time we got home and had dinner, made by Mrs. Warren, which was excellent! I was so tired I fell asleep at 9pm.

Tuesday we did the always exciting bike-run-bike-run brick workout at a hard tempo pace. The bike loop included some beautiful views of the ocean, which we didn’t get to enjoy much once the workout started but could certainly appreciate on the cooldown. I tested out First Endurance Pre-Race for this workout (along with my usual EFS Drink), which I felt made me more alert and focused, and made my legs and lungs forget about all the hard workouts I had done in the days prior and able to ride and run at a relatively hard effort. The afternoon included a swim workout with some all-out 100s, and a sport psychology talk by Dr. Steve of SPaRC. Among other things, he encouraged us to think beyond simply what time or place we want to achieve in a race, to how we want to be remembered as an athlete and person in our sport, and what values we want to express during our training, racing, and interactions with others. He also talked about overcoming mental and emotional obstacles to training and competing at our best. After that it was dinner time (with another amazing dinner prepared by Mrs. Warren) and then cake time as it was Erika’s birthday!

Wednesday included another long ride (80 miles with a long climb partway up the well-known Gibraltar route) out to Solvang and back with a 20 minute brick run, then to Prevail Conditioning for a great session where they showed us how to do some great preventative strengthening exercises and how to self-treat various issues we’re having (or example, a tight IT band or tight plantar fascia) using a foam roller, tennis ball, lacrosse ball, golf ball, etc (painful but so helpful!) and improve our mobility. Their work with us all week was so helpful and I learned a lot.

Thursday held another LCM swim workout followed by a track workout in the afternoon. The Prevail crew came and showed us many great drills to do to help us both warm up and instill proper run form before our workouts, and videotaped us as well. Most of the group then did 6x1000m intervals at VO2 Max effort, while I did a bit shorter workout since I had Oceanside 70.3 in two days. Then we all headed down to downtown Santa Barbara for dinner. Chris and I went to The Natural Café where we got some really awesome fish tacos and an amazing salad- and got to eat outside!

Friday AM we did a team run photo shoot on the beach (beautiful backdrop for it!) with Chris as the photographer. We then packed up and headed back down to San Diego so I could make the Oceanside 70.3 pro meeting, get my race packet, and get my gear and bike situated for the race. After browsing the expo, getting some free samples, visiting some sponsors, checking in and attending the pro meeting, I took a short icebath in the ocean (which at 55 degrees, was the perfect ice bath-ing temperature, though a bit disconcerting that it was also the temperature we would be swimming in the next day!) We then drove further south to San Diego to Maureen’s house where we’d be staying for the night, where she was preparing an amazing salmon dinner on the grill. After getting the bike and gear all ready for the race, Chris prayed for me and for my race the next day, and it was time to get some sleep.

RACE DAY

Saturday morning we awoke at 3:30am, which is I think the earliest I’ve ever gotten up for a race. I was so glad Maureen was racing too, as that made the early wakeup much more tolerable. I was still feeling really tired by the time we were ready to leave so I skipped the coffee and napped on the 45-minute drive up to Oceanside (thanks to Maureen’s husband Iggy for driving, and to both Chris and Iggy for getting up so early to support us at the race!) I felt better after that and had my coffee and breakfast and some EFS and Pre-Race. It was about 50 degrees out and clear, but when we got to transition, it had started to drizzle. Since the weather forecast had not called for rain, I assumed this was just a momentary patch. As I got my wetsuit on and prepared for the start, it was clear that it was only getting ranier, but I hoped it would let up before we got on the bike. I was definitely a bit nervous for the swim, as in addition to the cold water, they’d told us at the pro meeting that there would be 3-foot swells during the middle section of the course, and sighting is not my best talent as it is. My goal was to swim with a pack to make this easier.

When they let the pro women into the water, it indeed felt like we were jumping into an icebath, as I'd anticipated the day prior- the water was COLD! I had to swim with my head up for a minute or two as the water was so cold I couldn’t breathe with my head submerged. Finally my body semi-adjusted to the temperature, just in time for the starting gun. The start of the swim was pretty violent- I got kicked directly in the face pretty hard twice and my goggles partially filled with water. Good thing I’d had plenty of practice swimming with salty water in my goggles earlier in the week at team camp, when we did 100s off the blocks and my goggles filled with water on every one! I was able to stay with a couple girls which helped immensely as we neared the rough section of the course, but sighting and staying in a straight line was still pretty tough for us. By the end, my head and feet got pretty cold, even with two swim caps on. I came out of the water pretty close behind the little pack I was swimming with at almost 34 minutes and struggled to get my wetsuit off and socks and helmet on with numb fingers- not a quick transition! 

As I began to bike, I thought of the verse Philipians 3:13, as it was how I wanted to approach this race- “but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…” Though I’d put a lot of training in this week, I did not want to use this as an excuse to have a sub-par race or not push myself as much as I was capable of. During the race I tried not to think about the training we’d done that week, but just about pushing myself and moving up throughout the race! I knew the field was pretty large and strong, but I tried to focus on my own race, and moving forward, not on the week behind or what I could have done differently in the swim or earlier in the race.

Out on the bike course I couldn’t get my Garmin to pickup my power meter, odd since I've never had this issue before. I tried to re-set it in order to get it to pick up, but it took several tries. The rain got a little stronger which made corners (which there were many of, and which I’m not that great at anyway!) tricky. About 5 miles in, I dropped a bottle, thankfully not the one with all of my calories for the ride. I also had to make do with the one cassette I’d brought for the week, an 11-23, which made the course’s decent-grade climbs tough standing climbs for me. Despite the rain, the bike course was beautiful! Green mountains and foothills were the only sight for miles. I tried to keep up a good level of effort but in retrospect, my average wattage for the ride was at least 20 watts lower than I wanted it to be, and I would have liked to have ridden more strategically as well. However, I was really loving my new Rudy Project aero helmet- so much more comfortable and lighter than my old one, and I like the fact that I could close up the front air vents to stay a little warmer on a cold, rainy day like this.

On to the run, I was not feeling very energetic. This had the potential to be a really long run… I tried to think of ways to keep pushing myself. First I focused on my run form, then focused on staying with anyone who passed (mainly fast age group males at this point). At the out and backs, I could see the pro women ahead of me so tried to focus on narrowing the gap between us. I began to feel better with each passing mile, and gained about 3 or 4 spots on the run. Amazingly, my pace stayed even throughout the run and my last mile was the fastest one. It was great to have Chris and Iggy cheering out on the course! Overall 14^th place out of 21^st- not my best race, but my second-fastest 70.3 run and I think I more or less accomplished my goals for the day. Still, I’m looking forward to racing again, an opportunity I will have in a couple weeks at New Orleans 70.3.

          Overall a challenging week with some great fitness gained! Thanks to coach Alex for all the work that went into planning and leading the camp, Moose for planning and coordinating our activities and rides for the week, Mr. and Mrs. Warren for the accommodations and wonderful meals, coach Eric for the training and racing guidance, and to the FFT team for pushing me during workouts - congrats on great week of hard work. Thanks also to our great sponsors- Inside Out Sports, Rudy Project, Cervelo, Computrainer, First Endurance, Skin Sake, CEP Compression, Training Peaks, Prevail Conditioning, SPaRC, and FSSeries for helping us to train, race, and recover better this year!

New Years Bike Adventure- Covering All 184.5 Miles of C&O Canal by Mountain Bike

Over the new year's holiday, we embarked on a 184.5 mile bike trip with the goal of completing the entire C&O canal in Maryland. The complete recap (with lots of photos!!) is posted here:

http://fastforwardtriathlon.com/2012/01/16/bucket-list-item-complete-the-entire-184-5-mile-chesapeake-ohio-canal-on-a-mountain-bike-check/

Thoughts on this day of Thanksgiving

This time of the year we tend to be reminded of the need to be thankful for what we have in life. Over Thanksgiving dinner, we may have the tradition of discussing what we are thankful for, giving a prayer of thanks for life’s blessings at our turkey feast or holiday dinner, or making a special donation to church or charity as an expression of our thanks for what we have been given. While these are all great things, and God indeed wants us to develop an attitude of thankfulness and a habit of giving, something that I notice much more in people, and that has a much bigger impact on those around us is our attitude toward things we aren’t thankful for.

This past weekend, I served with friends from church by delivering boxes filled with ingredients for a 10-person thanksgiving turkey dinner to low-income families. It was an awesome experience, but we encountered some logistical challenges along the way, including not having a complete list of apartment numbers for the families, language barrier, and having to wait around for two hours from the time we were asked to arrive to the time the boxes were delivered to our meeting spot. As we grabbed a bite to eat afterward we were recapping the day and I found myself and others in the group critiquing the event and what the organizers should have done differently. As I found myself thinking these thoughts and ‘venting’ about spending two hours on a Saturday morning waiting around, I realized that those two hours had not been wasted, as I got to catch up with some dear friends who I had not been able to connect with in too long, as well as meet some new people in my church community. Maybe God planned my day that way so I’d have the chance to connect with these people, and I should be thankful for that time, even though it meant I’d be up late that night finishing up some work I needed to get done that weekend. God had simply rearranged my day so it flowed the way he intended, though not the way I had expected, planned, or envisioned. And despite the challenges, what an awesome honor to have the time and resources to serve God and point others to Him!

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul instructs, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world”… this becomes harder the more stressful and trial-filled our lives are. But at some point it becomes easier. Trials present hidden opportunities for learning and change, and we come to recognize this. James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). Doing everything without complaining or arguing, and having joy when we face a difficult situation, not only makes us more like Christ, but makes a bold statement about the power of Jesus, because we cannot do these things by our own strength alone.

So, in addition to considering what we are thankful for this Thanksgiving… how about considering how we can change our attitude toward what we aren’t thankful for??

Ironman 70.3 World Championships- Henderson, NV- a Recap

This season, one of my goals had been to qualify for and race well at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas, NV, so I was very happy to hear that I had completed the first part of this goal, qualifying, at the end of July. After that, I could focus my training on the WC race and not have to race any more 70.3s in between to accrue more points.

I had high hopes for a good race but also knew the level of competition would be high, with only the top 30 female pros in the world racing the 70.3 distance qualifying. My goal was to have a tactically good swim and stay in contact with a pack to get into good position on the bike, my strength, then finish with a strong run which I knew I was capable of from my training. I also knew the heat and course would be punishing- when we arrived in Vegas it was 101F out and though it was dry, felt blazingly hot! I couldn’t imagine biking, let alone running hard in those temps. Thankfully, the race day forecast was a high of just 90, so it looked like we wouldn’t have to deal with unbearable conditions

THE RACE

Overall, the race did not go well for me. I just didn’t have that extra gear I needed to race fast. On top of this, realizing you’re not feeling strong and falling behind despite your best effort in your A race of the season is extremely disappointing, making for a rather painful race overall.

Things started off as I had hoped with a good swim, for me (32-ish- a non-wetsuit swim PR). I got off to a fast start (again… for me) and was able to latch onto the feet of some other swimmers. I felt like I was working extremely hard to stay with them, and kept telling myself to just stay on it till the turnaround that this could make or break my race, I can do this! At the turn, I had to sprint a bit to stay on their feet, this was becoming tough. About 200m from the finish, I began to fall back a bit, and for the first time realized that several swimmers were in fact drafting off of me- always a surprise! Though I lost my pack at the end, this was the first time I had successfully stayed with a pack in a non-wetsuit swim, a setup for a successful race- or so I thought!

Coming out of the swim, I felt extremely fatigued. Not sure if it was my level of effort, the warm water, or just a sign of how I was feeling that day). I couldn’t run at my usual speed through transition, and as a result was alone coming onto the bike (until Karin Theurig, eventual second place winner, sped past). I was still feeling tired but tried to give it an even effort and let my heart rate settle. This course was no joke! Quite mountainous with 5,000 feet of climbing total. At the turnaround (mile 20-ish) I was excited to have some cometitors in sight to guage how far back I was, but to my dismay I was nearly 6 mins back of the next female pro. I tried to pick it up after the turnaround, but began to feel nausea and ankle/ lower calf cramping that was making it painful to pedal. Packs of riders started passing me, frustrating because I’d have to slow and drop back each time while the entire pack passed, which took awhile, to avoid getting caught up in the pack. As a result I felt like I was losing even more time. On such a hilly course, I would not have thought I’d see that. I was shaking my head and another competitor passing me said, “I know, ridiculous”…

I really started to lose steam toward the end of the bike. I had known the point-to-point course is net uphill, and the last 10 miles or so are a gradual climb, but I hadn’t expected to feel this bad. In the last few miles of the bike Chris passed me- he started 18 minutes behind me and we are usually somewhat similar in terms of our bike times, which showed what a good bike he had but also what an awful bike I had. Still, I tried to talk myself up for the run and decided I was going to give it as good of an effort as I could.

Jumping off the bike, my legs felt like they were filled with cement, NOT how I normally feel at the end of a 70.3 bike. It reminded me of an Ironman bike-run transition. I began running and felt a bit better, trying to maintain a good pace on the hilly-ish run. As motivation, I tried to stick with some of the male pros who were on their second or third laps who were passing me, feeling it from the heat and hills. Eventually some pro women passed me, a lap ahead (ouch!) so I did the same and used them as a pacing tool and motivation. I saw Chris and Morgan several times on the run which made things more motivating, plus saw my parents a bunch of times cheering. I had prayed for strength & managed to talk myself into staying positive all the way to the finish, but I think my true feelings came out as soon as I crossed the finish line- I felt awful, physically and emotionally. I said hi to my parents and then quickly went to just sit down by myself, waiting for Chris to finish. Perspective is a great thing, and I know there is value in having a bad race sometimes if it motivates you to get out there and have a great race next time, address nutritional, recovery, mental, or training deficiencies you might not have otherwise realized you had, and to provide humility and a reminder that we are not ultimately in control of all life’s events- nor can we boast full credit for our successes.

While the race was truly sub-par, the trip itself rocked! We had an awesome homestay in Henderson with local triathlete Pat Peterson, overlooking the mountains and desert. On our last night there, we were treated to some wonderful cedar-plank grilled salmon and grilled corn salad with avacado, with great wine. Really delicious!

Our last 1.5 days in the area were spent exploring. We rode by and swam in Lake Mead, visited Red Rock Canyon twice, which has gorgeous views and great hiking trails. We also ate at a raw café (usually my favorite, but unfortunately this one gave me mild food poisoning so I wouldn’t recommend it!)

Since the 70.3 World Champs, training gradually started to resume again and I’ve been having some great workouts gearing up for IM Cozumel in November- in fact, some of my best so far this season! I ‘m looking forward to giving it all I have at my final race & first IM of the year on November 27^th.

Help Provide Clean Water to Children in Africa!

On Sunday September 18th, I'll be competing with a team of 6 in the Savageman 70.0 (half Iron distance) triathlon to raise funds to provide clean water to children and families in Kenya and Ethiopia through World Vision. While World Vision has been one of my favorite charities for many years, with the drought and tragic hunger crisis currently affecting Kenya, Ethiopia, and other parts of East Africa, this is an especially appropriate time to raise funds for this cause. This region is also meaningful to me after travelling to rural Ethiopia in 2007 with a group from my church, where we set up one-day medical clinics in different villages in the region. During my trip there, it was alarming that nearly all of the patients we saw, mostly for diseases stemming from drinking dirty water, had no idea that it was the dirty water they were drinking that was making themselves and their children so sick. But education can only do so much- without access to cleaner sources of water, these children and parents will continue to get sick.

Our chosen race, the Savageman 70.0 Triathlon, as a relay team with one swimmer, one biker, and one runner on each team (I’ll be biking) with the sole goal of raising as much as we can for this cause! If you’d like to make a donation, you can do so through our team fundraising page, here!

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reaching their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. It was founded in 1953, and focuses on things like bringing healthcare, clean water, education for children (and adults in areas such as better agricultural practices), and child sponsorship to communities in developing parts of the world.

I first learned of World Vision in graduate school when taking a class on International Health Finance Policy. Our professor, who had previously served in the Peace Corps in Africa and more recently had a lot of experience working as a consultant in developing countries, described the situation that happens all to often in Africa: government aid is sent to African countries to help deal with widespread hunger, poverty, and other issues, but due to government corruption, very little if any of these funds actually make it to the people in need. Therefore, non-profit organizations that actually have a presence in these countries and provide aid directly to the communities do far more good than the millions in government aid sent to these nations. World Vision is one of the organizations that does the most work in this area -- tackling lack of education and healthcare infrastructure, clean water, and other causes of poverty, which it does by actually being present in these communities. It is guided by the value that each individual is of immense value and should be given the chance to reach their full potential.

Last summer I decided to get involved with Team World Vision as an ambassador for their child sponsorship program, encouraging people to commit to sponsoring a child for $35 a month. This allows the child to go to school and receive healthcare, but part of the funds also go toward making improvements to that child’s community (such as building a well or health clinic) so all can benefit. I’ve been sponsoring a child for about a year now, and it’s been a great experience!

I’m excited to be involved in Team World Vision again this year, and all funds raised through our team, and the other teams racing for TWV this year, will go towards providing clean water for all communities World Vision is working with in Kenya and Ethiopia. To give you some idea of the amount of impact, raising $2,600 will build a traditional well (suitable for communities where water lies close below the surface) and raising $13,700 will build a deep well (necessary where the water level lies deeper, below a layer of rock- See video here!)

Thanks for considering donating to this cause!

Racine 70.3 Race Report- 2nd Pro

Race morning I awoke with the familiar feeling of pre-race nerves, not knowing what the day would hold for me, with questions in the back of my mind... would I be able to have the swim I wanted? Would my troublesome hamstring hold up for the run? How does my fitness compare with a month ago?

Since I’m about halfway through my first season as a pro, I have learned some lessons and wanted to make some changes to my racing strategy this time around. My biggest issue has been staying with the field during the swim –I’ve usually ended up swimming alone, coming out of the water at the back of the pack, leaving myself with the daunting task of making up the deficit on the bike and run. Thus, my main goal for Racine was to swim strategically (ie, swimming with a pack faster than I, which has more or less been my goal for every race, it just hasn’t happened). I knew I’d need to swim hard, get a fast start and being alert as to where other swimmers are. I was ready to swim as hard as I had to in order to stay with the field and not worry about how tired this would make me feel for the bike and run.

I also decided to change my warmup routine a bit, bringing my trainer with me to the race site and getting in a good 20 min bike warmup before bringing my stuff to transition. Normally I just do a run warmup, but I feel that this doesn’t warm up my legs adequately for the bike and end up feeling pretty lethargic for the first 30 minutes.

Stepping outside on race morning the weather was already hot and humid at 4:30am. After warming up on the trainer for 20 mins at the race site, I was already sweating quite a bit. I was thankful Chris was there to help me with my pre-race prep and provide encouragement!

SWIM (30:37 actual swim time- PR!!)

The swim start was a beach start into shallow water, followed by a point-to-point swim southward along the shore of Lake Michigan. I was excited as this was my first wetsuit-legal race as a pro, and I do love wearing my wetsuit! The cannon went off and went off we all ran into the shallow water and I started dolphin diving to get out faster. This worked pretty and I merged over to where the faster swimmers were and keep looking over to make sure I was in contact. Before too long I found myself swimming with a pack of five. I knew there were 3 women out ahead of our pack but I could see that they weren’t too far ahead. I kept focusing on staying with the pack, staying on feet and not veering off. I was super excited knowing that if I stayed with them, I’d be that much closer to the leaders at the start of the bike.

I exited the water in 30:37 (official time was 31:34 after a 200m run up the beach to the timing mat), a 2 minute swim PR for me for the 70.3 distance, and just 3 minutes back of the leader.

BIKE

I passed 2 pro women pretty soon at the start of the bike. I briefly looked at the other women riding disk wheels, wishing I had one for this race! It would have been perfect on the windy, slightly rolling course. However, During my Bible studies the past months, I’ve been reading through the book if Isaiah and one thing I’ve been reminded of is the importance of relying on God, not on things. As a pro, having good equipment is definitely important, and I am thinking about upgrading some of my equipment soon, but to put to much focus on it, thinking that I have to have this or that in order to perform well, is distracting and can take my focus off of things that are most important. So, after entertaining the thought that different wheels would have enabled me to bike faster, I quickly put aside the thought and told myself it was possible to have the fastest bike split regardless, with the equipment I had on that day, and decided to just focus on that.

About halfway through the bike, I passed the third place woman and could see two more up the road- before long I had moved into 2^nd, and finally into the lead around mile 45! As we approached T2, I started feeling a little nauseous with a bit of headache and my sweet-tasting drink was not appealing at all. I got passed just before T2 and came in about 12 seconds back of the leader, with the fastest split of the day by 2 mins in 2:24.

RUN

After a quick transition, I headed out on the run course and almost tripped over the base of one of the barriers. I could tell I was lacking electrolytes, starting to lack some coordination and feeling a bit nauseous, so decided to take some of my salt tabs and hydrate ASAP, and get lots of ice to cool my body down. I could see the leader about 30 seconds ahead and I knew I theoretically should be gaining on her, but my body would not cooperate. It felt extremely hot and it was very hard for me to pick up the pace. I was praying that my body would hold on and that I could maintain that pace for the rest of the run. Normally I do well in hot races, but looking back I probably did not have optimal hydration in the days leading up to the race- usually I’m drinking a lot of electrolyte drinks like G2 and coconut water, but this time was drinking mostly water since I didn’t stop at a grocery store until the night before the race. This is DEFINITELY a lesson well-learned and I will be paying extra close attention to this in my next races!

I saw Chris quite a few times out on the run course out on his bike yelling encouraging words, which really helped distract me from the discomfort I was in and keep me motivated. At the run turnaround I could see I had a good gap on third of about 6 minutes, but I was also disappointed I wasn’t having the run I knew I could, when first had been so close within reach. Gels and Gatorade were tasting disgusting to me and I decided to throw away my gel flask as I felt like I couldn’t stomach it. I was definitely feeling out of it and at one point, Craig Alexander passed going in the opposite direction and yelled some words of encouragement at me, and my brain was barely coordinated enough to formulate a response.

On loop 2 I was stopping at every aid station to load up on ice, pour ice water on my head, drink coke and water, and take salt pills. With one mile to go, the third place woman passed me, the moment I’d been trying to prevent for the entire run. I picked up the pace a bit and saw that she was not really pulling away. With a quarter mile to go I spotted Chris up ahead on the side of the road and he started yelling excitedly that I needed pass her and go for second place now, that he knew I had more left (see photo below). This gave me the kick I needed to start really picking up the pace and I made my pass on the downhill toward the finish. I started sprinting the last 200m to the finish and crossed the line in second, about 26 seconds ahead of third. The finish line volunteers brought me straight to the med tent for an IV, which was my first time in the med tent post-race! Even though I’d for the first time as a pro been in a position that had the potential to win the race, I was also extremely happy with my second place finish, especially given the way my body was reacting and the close finish.

Best of all, this race earned me enough points, along with my other 70.3 races, to get a slot for the 70.3 World Championships on September 11, 2011, which was one of my goals for the season. Chris will be racing as well as some FFT teammates and other friends- should be exciting!!!

Many thanks to coach Eric for all the great workouts and advice, coach Alex for all the hard work for the FFT team, Chris for supporting me so enthusiastically at and prior to this race, and my FFT teammates for the inspiration and encouragement. I love competing at the level I am, and am extremely blessed each day for the people, opportunities, and experiences God has given me!