Update & Sneakin Away

Finishing the semester was a big relief (so were the straight A's). I'm still busy, but I have been able to relax a little more and training hours added up quickly this week; it's nice to work out and not feel rushed or on a strict time schedule.

There's only one problem: No running. Nope, not once since the OC Duathlon. Yup, I definitely have an issue... that dang IT Band! Long story short, it comes down to mechanics. I know the ins & outs of correct form and can pick apart someone's run/bike mechanics pretty well, but I'm missing that third-party feedback letting me know if I personally am doing it all correctly even if I think I am.

Finishing the Du; you can see the look of "uh-oh" on my face (courtesy of opix)...

So, plan is to stay off running for a bit. It's been a week today. Sucks, because this was the last "big week" before Boise 70.3, but it is what it is. I'm not stressing. The good news is: where I lacked in running I made up in swimming, which is definitely something I need... I logged 16k in a five-day period--new record for me! Thankfully it's mostly LCM so less pushing off the wall, which hurts. Plenty of cycling, gym time, rowing and PT too.

Saturday morning I rode 65 miles. It was a very enjoyable, sunny and hot 3.5 hours out in OC. Crazy winds, interesting people and lots of thinking time. I couldn't help but laugh at one point because I think GU saves me from becoming a thief... I often get very tempted to steal strawberries from the fields because they smell sooo good, but instead I'll suck down one of these:

I've also included a little low-intensity hiking. Like I say about surfing, hiking is therapeutic for me. It's nice to get out in nature, away from technology and not feel like you have to hold a certain HR, yet you're still being active. It's just enjoyable and a good way to spend an afternoon with someone special.

Benoit & I, almost at the top of Saddleback Mountain (uh, jk, not quite haha)... Stopping to smell the flowers...

A little serenity (sorry, just a pose, I wasn't actually meditating)...I wore my new Zoot Active compression pants during the hike. In fact, I've been wearing them during a lot of workouts lately, and these things rock...

Anyways, speaking of "someone special," Benoit gave me flowers the other night. I accepted them graciously, but later told him I'm not much of a "flower girl." I'd personally rather have a bouquet of spare tubes, CO2 cartridges and body glide or something. Seriously. So, these were a first and a last:
Don't get me wrong... I like flowers. Just not when they're all cut up out of their natural element. Seeing them on during hike is good enough for me.

Next up: A little getaway to SLO to visit the sis. Just trying to make every moment count.

OC Duathlon RR: Do the Du? Done.

So my legs decided to show up and play Saturday morning for a race that I officially signed up for Friday evening. I know I know... why race so soon after clearly needing R&R after Bonelli? Well, the OC Duathlon was tentative until Fri because of all that's going on, but given it takes place 3.5 miles from my house, I couldn't pass up a race on my home course. Plus, I finished my first year of grad school on Wed, good "life" things were happening & I felt that fire to compete. So I just lived in my Zoot compression tights all week in anticipation of the pending race and then wore Zoot active compression socks for the first time racing... good calls.

Note compression socks (and the cool award: sunglsses! That helps justify a race entry fee.)

The short version of the race is this: I felt great nearly the whole time, i.e. I was hurting but able to go at the paces I wanted to go (a big change from the recent Bonelli triathlon). There was a lot of drafting on the bike, and that pissed me off. Then I passed Olympian Julie Ertel on the bike (triathlete in the '08 Beijing Games), and that motivated me a lot. I held my lead on Julie until the final few seconds of 5k #2... if I had to get passed at the end, at least it was by an Olympian. Also during 5k #2, I think I hurt my right knee. Ugh. But overall, I hung with the top women coming in 5th; only ~1 minute behind 1st place at 1:46 and change. A close race.

I later found out that in addition to Julie, the other top ladies were pro and/or elite (see USAT quote at the end of my blog). Good to know. I also PR'd on this race by 10 minutes from last year. I was faster on the bike course in particular.

The long version of my race report....

My mom and I rode to the race start from our house just before 6 a.m. I love close-by races with no driving required! We dilly dallied with warmups, the bathroom, chatting with friends until 7 a.m. Having no swim meant no major stress for me! Let's do this!

Chillin with Ironman mama Carol...

5k #1: My goal was to not get caught up in the mix and go out too hard. I wasn't wearing the Garmin, so I went by feel and a regular ol' watch. It's an out-and-back course that's slightly downhill out, so slightly uphill coming back. I hit each mile just about how I wanted, between 6:15s and 6:40s, and I finished feeling strong at 20:30.

40k bike: This course is my course, so I was ready to hammer. The bike is where I particularly wanted to redeem myself from my crappy race/bike at Bonelli. Unfortunately my iBike was dead, so, again, no mph or data; I just rode by feeling. Not such a bad thing. The "out" on the bike includes the 20k TT route I did in early April, and my RPE was about that same as when I rode it then. It hurt good. (Also, fyi, the course is pretty much the same route as the OC Tri for those who've done that race.)

But then I got pissed. After the initial hills, the route gets flat for several miles and some big draft packs formed. Sketchy because the highway was still open to traffic and just ridiculous watching people willingly get free rides! As one lone girl, it's be hard and probably impossible to pass and leave behind a big pack, but I tried. Talk about a rush. Figures, they caught me so I had to back off enough in order to not get sucked into the draft. I was frustrated because I probably went a couple mphs slower in order to keep a safe/legal non-draft distance behind them. Lame-o, I wanted to go faster! Thankfully, at the turnaround, there's a random road we go on that's off the main highway, and the draft pack broke up there.

Right away I started hammering at my speed of choice, which led me to pass one special lady wearing her Beijing Olympic Triathlon racesuit. As I passed Julie, I said what an honor it was to race with her. She was super nice and encouraging. It's fun (at least to me) to race against good athletes and compare times. my bike split was 2 min. faster than Julie's :)

Overall, I did the bike in 1:04 and change, a 23 mph average. My best bike performance to date; 7 min faster than last year and 12 minutes faster than the recent Bonelli 40k (similar bike course profiles, too)! Redemption served!

T2: Gotta mention it because it's important to the story. First off, my hands & feet were freezing and I couldn't use them well at all. Then in a rushed state, I put my L shoe on my R foot! What the heck dummy?! I quickly switched, got my wits about me and was off.... only to almost start crying and cussing. My R knee was in excruciating pain. A pain I had never felt. Literally, I should have stopped but decided to see if it would subside. It was only a 5k, right?

5k #2: So I'm running along and my R knee is on fire in pain. I started to cuss out loud saying (close your eyes kids) "What the f*** is going on in my knee?! sh*****t." The guys around me probably thought I was crazy, then this PT guy who's running tried to diagnose me, ha! Too bad he diagnosed the wrong knee/leg (but he did have good advice nevertheless).

A mile into the run I decided, "What's 2.1 more miles? I'm doing alright in this race, so I can't stop." (meanwhile, I'm sure my running stride looked pitiful and I was probably making the worst face of pain ever.) At the turnaround I noticed Olympic Julie was gaining on me. I never looked back to check on her, but I knew she was coming. I tried to push on. Then with literally seconds left, she passed me. I said to her, "I'm at least glad it's you passing me." She chuckled and went on to finish only 5 seconds in front of me. Dang, I almost beat an Olympian :( My second 5k was a bit slower, 21:20.

Finish: I love being done with races. It's the best ever! As an added bonus, I got to celebrate with my dad and the new boy, Benoit, who both ran in the open 5k. It was my dad's first-ever race that I convinced him to do with a work buddy and Benoit, go me... hollaaaaa! All the boys podiumed too, despite--get this--missing the start of the race! They were late because my dad had made a Starbucks detour before the stop. Oh my... that would never happen if I was in charge :)

Benoit and I post-race. Did I mention I looooove Zoot?!

My mom also did the Du despite some little injuries on the table. We agreed she had to race with a different mentality and not go out trying to "kill it"but rather just have fun. She stuck to the plan, staying way mellow on the runs... but she hammered the bike (pain-free she said)!

After learning a little more about the women I was in the race with, I couldn't help but smile. Here's what's posted on the USAT website (the OC Du was a qualifier for nationals): "The women's race was very exciting featuring some well known names. [Bill] Leach says there was 'hot competition amongst the overall leaders and age group winners.' Sue Davis, the former Masters duathlon world champion, duked it out with 2008 Olympian Julie Ertel, former elite triathlete Dolly Ginter and up-and-comer Samo Michel. Only 25 seconds separated Davis, Ginter and Michel who placed first, second and third respectively. Ertel wrapped up the top four finishing 1:12 back of first."

....and then there was little ol' me in 5th (2nd AG to Sam Michel).

Good times.

The only bummer of the race was leaving with a new bum R knee. I could barely walk for the rest of Sat/Sun, and I canceled my long Sunday ride which literally made me depressed (be glad you weren't with me on Sunday). I swam Monday, but couldn't push off the wall. So it's a waiting game right now... I did get expert medical advice already, and I have some ideas of what it could be. But I'm waiting a little longer and resting before taking further action. Hoping for the best.

My "Twin" Is Coming

I don't think I've ever really mentioned her (shame on me) but I have an 19-year-old sister, Karlee, who I absolutely adore. I probably haven't spoken about her much because she's busy up at Cal Poly SLO. But she's about to finish her freshman year and is coming home this week for the summer. Can't wait to have her back.

Here's us on my b-day last year (I still had my long hair)! We look a lot alike. Sometimes it's freaky--I'll look at a picture and be like "hi me."

Karlee is a riot. She is the funniest, most outgoing person I know and she radiates energy wherever she is. She's the type of girl who is friends with everyone and has no enemies. Not to mention, she's a stellar athlete. To this day, she smokes me in the pool--so jealous! She was a killer volleyball player all through high school and almost played in college but decided to take time off from organized sports and "have fun." And, oh is she having fun. Her life at SLO reminds me of how I was when I was unleashed into SDSU. We know how to have a good time :)

.

Speaking of good times, Karlee and I really bonded in Mexico last summer, where she could legally drink. By bond, I mean we partied like rockstars todos los noches. (Glad we didn't give my poor parents heart attacks.) That trip was right before I started getting serious about triathlon, kind of like my last hurrah! Ha ha. Here's my mom, me and Kar:

Karlee loves surfing, so I know we'll do a ton of that this summer. But my real goal while she's home is to get her on a training plan and encourage her to do a triathlon by the end of the year, hopefully! So far she's down for me to be her coach, but she hasn't agreed to entering a triathlon yet. It's going to be tough work on my part to convince her how amazing racing is! But like I said, she's very athletic, so I know she can pull it off.... if she can balance workouts with her busy party life... uh geez.

ONE MORE THING...

On an unrelated topic, I have to mention what Michellie Jones said in her blog about the recent OC Duathlon. It made me smile.

"...This would have to be one of the hardest 40km's I have ridden or maybe it was the 5km run before hand. The first 6 miles were uphill not a lot of fun after running hard. At least that meant on this out and back course you could fly back home to the transition..." ~MJ

Props to my regular training route... Even my idol sees it as challenging :)

OC Duathlon Race Report

Warning: My parents actually came to this race so there's lots of pics and even some video in this blog. All tech'd out!

So June gloom came a little early and in the form of what I consider rain (those who have "real" weather would probably disagree). Into Friday night that was the name of the game, so I couldn't wait to see what Saturday morning would be like for the OC Duathlon. I was ready to race in any conditions, but to my surprise Saturday morning was fairly dry and not even that cold.

Now this was cool: How often do I ever get to ride over to a race from my front door step? Hm, like never. The du was 3 miles from my house, so I took off at 5:45 for a nice little warm-up ride. Here's Sydney seeing me off... you can see it looks kinda damp/crappy out.

Got to the race earlier than most (as usual), racked up and hung out with some familiar faces. Here I am with Pete and Corrine, they both do ultra-marathons and are just really good, nice people. Glad to know them.

Another plus to having the race close to home: Before my parents I came I made a special request: Bring deodorant! I forgot to apply before I left, so thank God they grabbed some for me. Would hate to offend anyone.

Wasting time b4 the race, overlooking transition and trying to scope out Michellie Jones' rack spot. Her Felt puts mine to shame, ha ha.

And here we are right before the race start.

Now, I didn't taper at all this week and it's been another hard training week, so I didn't have big expectations for this race. Plus it was my first du ever, so who knew how it'd go. My goal was to do the 5k's in 23 minutes or less, which I know I did on the first one--wore my Garmin and avg'd about 7 minute miles. I didn't try to kill myself and go all out. Good advice I got: leave some gas in the tank for the 2nd 5k!

A video of me finishing the first 5k:

Going into T1 was crazy. Since it was a mass start, there was lots of traffic in transition heading into the bike, as you can see below. I politely told the dude in front of me to "pick it up!" He was moving like molasses.

Onto the bike. Within 2-3 miles (heading into the canyon/mountainy zone), it was WET! Super heavy drizzle/light rain. Before I knew it, I was covered in specks of muddiness as was my bike. Visibility was sketchy, but I was glad to have my Rudy's blocking raindrops from stabbing my eyeballs.

It was crazy to race on my regular weekly training route... I liked knowing what to expect at every moment. The guy who normally sells beef jerky on the roadside wasn't there. Too bad. And too bad we didn't do Modjeska Grade Road! ha. It was also crazy how alone I was for most of the bike. It was pretty spread out and not a lot of passing went on my "time zone." It was even crazier to see Luke Bell, Michellie and all the other pros/elites fly by! I wonder what they thought of the course.

Overall, I was happy with my bike. I wanted to average 20 mph, ended up averaging 19 mph. I attribute that -1mph to the conditions ha ha; although, I did get up to roughly 35 mph several times. Adrenaline rush on slippery roads!

Here's me about to dismount with some beautiful blue scenery in the background. (That's not a lot of Port-o-potties for a race, huh!?)

The second 5k was of course more difficult, but I just went through the motions knowing it'd be over soon. I looked at it as if it were a regular T-run after a Saturday ride--with a little more oomph. I was not a fan of the surprise hill at the very end of the run. That sucked.

Here's Michellie Jones crossing the finish at 1:40:47... first-place female (of course). She's so amazing, love her! Luke Bell won with a time of 1:30:47.

Then here's me... 16 minutes after MJ came in. Official finish time: 1:56:48... That put me at 1st place in my AG and 15th female overall. Not too shabby for racing on tired legs I guess.

I caught up with my dad and Syd in the "dog zone" post-race. Saddleback Church (where the finish/post-race events were) would not let doggies close to the action so they had to hang out in the distance. I'm sorry, but I find that to be lame.

Then time for awards. Now here's something that makes the statement "it's a small world" so true. The OC Tri Series race director, Bill Leach, was my mom's teacher at Corona Del Mar High School back in the '70s. He and a student fell in love back then and together they went to the Olympics for kayaking. Then, she, Julie Leach (Bill's wife, who my mom had many classes with growing up) went on to win the Ironman World Championships in 1982! Gnar. And today, they are clearly both active in the tri world.

Here's what Bill had to say about my mom and her dad (my grandpa) when I got my award...

Then I had to leave cause I was freakin freezing. When I got home I realized how DIRTY my bike got. This picture doesn't even do it justice, but I assure you I cleaned it right away. Well, that is, after I ate a nice big meal first.
After eating, cleaning and looking at Honu 70.3 updates, I took my mom out for a 30+ mile ride (for Mother's Day I promised I'd "kill her" on a grueling swim, bike and run). We've done the run, so today was the bike. But unfortunately my legs were toast. I was pissed about how crappy I felt, but I'm still glad I got in some solid riding after the race... My mom kicked ass, so I'll have to really push her limits on the bike another time.