Here We Go

Well, turns out my body is pretty trashed from the training, so despite my secret wish that this would be another BIG week, we are instead pulling the plug and starting recovery/taper. The fatigue is deep and it's time to shake it! The taper this week is nothing too extreme, mostly just trimming the fat so to speak (and no, I am not trying to lose any weight, haha). I'll only do key quality sessions, and otherwise incorporate a lot more rest.

To break it down:
Monday- ~1hr swim, mostly easy but with some hard 50s. I skipped the recovery bike.
Tuesday- Bike- hard 2 hours or so on the trainer + a hard 1-hr tempo t-run.
Wednesday- just an easy swim day, probably open water
Thursday- just swim as well, but harder with a little TT (500 repeats)
Friday- another bigger quality day with s/b/r.
Weekend- not really sure but probably some swim and bike and/or run? I am also going to SD, celebrating a birthday, stopping by a Rouse party, etc... so who knows. I'll have to keep my act together ;)

Next week- obviously a very restful week. We leave Friday morning for Vegas, race Sunday, then.... two weeks to get it right and recover well. Gonna bust out all my tricks for that in order to be at my best.

I have been thinking about these stretch of weeks for more than a year now, and they are finally here. I'm not gonna lie, as of yesterday when I realized taper is slowly starting I was both excited and terrified. I am excited because I am ready to just do this and be done with it (in a positive sense). It's been a long year, and this last build to IM has been awesome, let's just get on with it already, ya know what I mean?

On the other hand, of course my mind starts to think, "Have I done enough?" "Am I ready?" "What the hell am I getting myself into?!" Well, it is what it is. I am actually feeling incredible and am very happy with my fitness. It's crazy how much better I feel mentally and physically than I did in June/July-ish. I also know that hands down I am in such better physical condition than I was going into Ironman Canada in 2011, especially my running. Not to mention, I have my nutrition dialed in to a tee so there should be no issues there like there was in '11. I almost wish I was going back to that course so I could compare me then vs. me now. Oh well.

Despite how fit I feel, these races offer a lot of unknown variables that could destroy me (us) -- the heat in Vegas; the altitude in Tahoe -- so who knows how those things will affect me when it comes down to it. I mean, I've trained in Big Bear (duh, if you read this blog), but I haven't actually raced up there nor run more than 10 miles up there. And I live by the beach where it's rarely ever above 80 degrees in the summer- feels like cheating for Vegas training! But I'm a girl who likes a tough challenge :)

So up that's where I am. Just in taking a few easier days already, I am seeing a drastic improvement in my HRV and my mind. I feel a lot more clarity and ability to focus. When I am really tired from training it is so hard to focus on work and be sharp -- you guys know what I mean!

Ya know another reason why I'm excited for my races to be over with? Because that means KONA time... Yup, I think it's gonna happen again this year thanks to Endurance Planet and our AWESOME fans/listeners. Man, being the host of this podcast is such a blessing and sooo rewarding....

Checking In With Pro Liz Blatchford: IMMT & Vegas Plans

I mentioned on my last post about writing the Ironman 70.3 World Championship preview. (To answer your question, Sunnyrunning), the list of pros we compiled was mostly a co-effort between Brad Culp and I, and the points rankings played a role in helping to choose. Beyond that, I also like to dig around on the pros and see who's worthy and interesting to feature. That's how I chose Tim Reed for the list, who I just had on endurance planet podcast, and other rising stars like Liz Blatchford. Liz is now focusing on long-course racing full time, after coming off an ITU/short-course tri career that ended with not being selected for the London Games last year. Sad ending for a very talented athlete. So you can imagine she's hungry for some championship racing at the 70.3 and full IM distance now! She won her first IM at Cairns recently, among other smashing wins and performances, proving she's the real deal.

She recently indicated an interest in racing IMMT (this weekend) as a last-chance effort to get Kona points for this year. She was one of our Vegas picks, so I contacted her after finding this out, wanting to see what was going on and how an IM just 3 weeks before Vegas may change her plans. Here's a little peek at our interview below. It will be soooo interesting to see how this situation pans out for Liz! Love this stuff....

Q) TP: Are you still doing Vegas this year? I saw that you might do IMMT for Kona points, and wondering if that is still the case.

A) LB: I am racing IMMT to try and qualify for Kona. Given Vegas is 3 weeks after I am undecided at this point if I will do Vegas. I will have to see how I recover from Tremblant and also see whether I have qualified for Kona. 

Q) TP: If you do race IMMT and Vegas, how do you think the IM in late August will factor into your Vegas performance?

LB: I'd say very likely. I have only don the one Ironman earlier this year and didn't feel particularly recovered 3 weeks later. However I am better prepared for this one so will have to wait and see.

Q) TP: How has it been moving from short-course to long-course racing? You seem to be dominating the distance (congrats on Cairns!). 

LB: It's been great. I'd been doing short course and ITU for so long i was probably getting stale and even loosing the love. Long course is so different with so much to learn and new ways to test myself so it's been really refreshing and i've definitely re-found my love of triathlon. Deciding to chase Kona this year is really motivating and an exciting goal and not a bad destination to go an torture ourselves;)

Q) TP: How was it racing Melissa Hauschildt at Koh Samui? You did great against her!

LB: Since I switched to long course racing Mel and I have raced in more races than not. We've had some great battles. She's a fantastic athlete and in brilliant form right now. I think she has won every race she has finished this year? She'll be one to watch in Vegas for sure. Koh Samui was such a fun race and another beautiful destination - i'm all about the destination racing! haha:)

Kona.

Views along Ali'i.

Where do I even begin? By far, the best Kona trip of my career to date. A lot of great things went down. Mostly, I was in awe of all the amazing people I got to hang out with over the week. No one is pissed in Kona (at least, no one I saw), and everyone starts to become family throughout the week, no matter their reason for being out there - participant, media, volunteer, sherpa, spectator, local, randoms, etc. It's truly a remarkable environment.

A glimpse of some of my "family" for the week the night of the race.
Ben Greenfield and Pedro Gomes at Huggos.
Who would have thunk?

Typical post-morning workout brekkie at
condo (Maggs' but you get the point. A lot
of the above staples consumed last week.

I won't lie, I was a little nervous going into the trip - I'd be staying in a condo down Ali'i with people whom I didn't know at all except for Maggs (not that it was sketchy staying with unkonwns, just that it was random), and I was doing work for Endurance Planet all on my own for the first time - a bit intimidating but exciting too. I knew I'd be busier with work than I have in past Kona trips, and I was looking forward to the challenge. I'll attempt to describe the non-stop nature of Kona week below. Knowing it would be crazy, I even said to myself that I would avoid the partying so I'd be fresh every day. The first couple days I was still on California time so I was easily up by 4-5am and right away would get in a solid swim and/or run starting around 6am, then it was pretty much work and network all day, and in bed around 8pm.

Behind the scenes. Chillin in the media room.

That routine lasted until, well, Thursday night? By that time I decided to join Tatiana and Beth for a night out - thus beginning the "burning the candle on both ends" part of the trip. But I held it together like a champ, as did everyone else out there who was operating on virtually no sleep for the week.

Anyways, the more I think about my trip the more I realize that every day something unique happened, often unplanned. For example, Tuesday I got into town in the afternoon and later on for dinner I ended up in a Thai restaurant with my new roomie, pro triathlete Pedro Gomes. I had heard of this Portuguese pro guy but knew nothing about him, and then there we were eating a papaya salad talking about his upcoming Kona debut. Additional randomness: I had no transportation for the week, besides bumming rides. Kind of a problem when you're about 2 miles from town and need to move quickly. But thanks to Pedro I was able to borrow a beater MTB to get around. The catch? NO brakes! Eh, no big deal. It wasn't that hilly where I was riding, and a foot brake worked fine ;) Take what you can get...

Wednesday, after a full morning of swimming, taking video the IM Talk Blue Seventy Aquathon, interviewing an old grad school friend and her team who were conducting a study, etc, I attended a private press conference with Macca and Challenge for some schmoozing and amazing hors devours, followed by my first Slowtwitch party experience - where they gave away some legit prizes, like an SRM!

Macca-Challenge partnership announcement.

Hor deouvers at Macca press conference.
Sweet potato w something amazing on top.

Slowtwitch party.

UPR with Molly from Zoot!

Thursday started with The Underpants Run where I ran into Ben Hoffman and ended up podcasting with him behind a building, haha. Later on Brad Culp and I snuck into an empty restaurant to do a podcast, followed by another podcast with Luke McKenzie in a King Kam hallway, and a father-daughter AG duo. Some of those those weren't really planned, so I considered myself lucky they happened. PS - those links are to the shows. The highlight of Thurs randomness, however, was a late-afternoon text from Kurt Hoy with Triathlete/Competitor asking if I wanted to do an impromptu photo shoot out in the Energy Lab. Um, yes! Thursday night wrapped up a little late as I rode the MTB back down Ali'i in the dark...

Running in the Energy Lab at sunset. ITU star Madi Serpico
was my partner in crime here.

Kurt Hoy in action in the Energy Lab (me running).

In my happy place, dreaming about "one day"....

My bike for the afternoon. Fell. In. Love.

Friday, pre-race day, and I had a swim on the course that had me saying, "I seriously cannot believe I'm here swimming this course." I've swam there a lot by now, but the magic of it never gets old. Then I got a special treat - a test ride on a new Shiv, and I fell in love. Not to mention, they were booked with their demo bikes, so Mark Cote let me use his personal bike. Now that's good customer service! Later on, I had my first experience doing a LIVE video podcast with Ben over a beer and the best poke on the island. Friday night was one heck of a party - the "Thank God I'm Not Racing" Party.

Podcastin and poke with Ben! (Da Poke Shack!)

Me, Tati, Roch, Beth, Rachel. Fun group to party with :)

Epic swag from Thank God I'm Not Racing Party.

Saturday? No surprise: It was nonstop from 4am to midnight. I spent the morning with Beth and Tati, which was really nice because that may not ever happen again (why? they'll be racing!). Then I was working in the media room, sitting next to Normann Stadler, and decided to ask him if he wanted to chat for a podcast. You gotta to take an opportunity when  you see it! The same thing later happened when I ran into Dave Scott in the King Kam; I politely asked for a few minutes of his time, and a great podcast with a legend was the result. That said, the highlight of race day for me was standing in the media bleachers for, oh uh, probably 3 hours to watch the men's and women's pro finish! It wasn't comfortable but there's no where else in the world I wanted to be in those special moments. Saturday night was very cool too. By then I had my "Kona family" pretty well established, and our small group shared some good laughs and pina coladas over at Huggos. Heard about Pedro's first Kona (going 8:56 for 26th), roomie John Post's day of volunteering, stories from Maggs and the rest of us.... good times. Probably the most special night of my trip.

Swim start. Didn't go out of my way to get a front-row spot.
"Slept in" a bit instead. This was nice.

Luke McKenzie leading the bike up Palani.

Working on the go! Makeshift office on Ali'i,
and I got a new, green friend while I was posted up :)

After interviewing Pete Jacobs,
I had a feeling this was going to be a special day for him.

Waiting at the finish line in the media bleachers.

One of my favorite finish line moments. Top two Americans,
Andy Potts 7th, Tim O'Donnell 8th.

You guys see IM online, this is the view from "the other end."
Leanda Cave with Greg Welch and Matt Lieto post-race at Kina Kam.

Tradition: Thai while overlooking the finish at night.

A very special "healthy" pina colada a la
Ben Greenfield. So tasty and amazing.

Sunday was about recovery even for us non-racers! A leisurely swim then a random stop over at the Powerbar Breakfast. A little run & rest, then our annual cliff jumping extravaganza with a solid crew - the GU crew, Rachel Stanley, Ben G, Joe Gambles, Laura O'Meara, etc... kinda a random group but it was even more fun that way! On tap next was an attempt to rest, more pina coladas, then the K-Swiss After Party at Huggo's. The after party is one of those "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" kind of nights, especially the part where everyone then goes to the after after party hosted by Clif. Found out that night that Macca is doing the same two sprint triathlons I'm doing this weekend. Not really sure why he's doing them, but it should be cool to see him out there.

Cliff jumping. The view before you go!

How you have to climb back up! Wear shoes!

And when it was all over, this is what was needed.
Especially in the case of Cait Snow and Pedro Gomes (both pictured).

Monday is always a little sad because you know it's over. I still had good times, though, laughing with Tatiana as we "flopped" in a little bay off Ali'i doing some pseudo snorkeling and talking about the week. Later on I got a visit by Tim and Cait Snow at my condo to do a podcast with Cait.... Then Cait and Pedro slept. And slept some more. Tim and I chatted. Then next thing I know I'm on a red eye to LAX, and Jim Lubinski who I'd been seeing around all week, just happened to be on that flight too.

There are so many more stories from the week, and I hope to share more in future blogs to come. I'll probably do a mostly picture blog next because I have lots more to share! But for now, that is my trip in a nutshell. It was a huge success to say the least - did good business, saw a good race, and was surrounded by good friends, new and old....

Already excited for Kona 2013!

I'll leave you with TYler from GU doing a backflip:

Kona... Wrapping it Up

After the race, it was fun to start experiencing Hawaii without it being "Ironman this, Ironman that." I love the lifestyle out on the islands. Maybe a future residence?

I mean, when I have this at my fingertips, why would I want to ever leave?
So anyways, continuing with the trip... Sunday after the race was basically a lead up to that night, the K-Swiss Party. But before that we had a lot of sober fun! Started with an afternoon party at the TYR house -- lunch, good friends, awesome view...

After that I headed out with the GU crew (Tyler, Eleanor and Caroline) for some cliff jumping. I was a little nervous at first, but after jump #1, it was like, "Let's do it again!"

I swear I didn't jump naked, but it doesn't appear that way! Ha!
Climbing out of the thrashing water onto sharp-ass rocks was more difficult that the jumping itself. We all got cut up and needed some first aid after... along with Caroline's amazing homemade cookies. Mmmm.
Finally, it was time to switch gears into evening party mode. First was the Awards Ceremony, which was perfect for getting warmed up with some beers. The food was blah, but I ate up thinking I'd need it for the cocktails ahead. My plate...Of course, no post-race day is complete without some canckles!!! Can you guess which leg/foot is Maggs' and which is mine?

K-Swiss party... As everyone has said by now: it's epic. Everyone is there having a blast and letting loose. What else can I say? I was having so much fun that I didn't bother with my camera for the most part, except for this (which I apparently very few people remember, hmmm?)...

The only crappy part of the party was when a random broken beer bottle slammed into my ankle and cut me gooood. I swear this wasn't a stupid drunk mistake that I made; just a result of wrong place at the wrong time. Long story short: I was dancing in the sand with my back turned away from the bar. The bottle fell off an arm rail and hit the edge of the flooring, shattering into my ankle. Within seconds, blood everywhere.

We got my gashes cleaned up, and I decided in the moment that I'd be OK (hind-sight, I needed stitches!). Next day, after the advice of a doctor, I went to an urgent care center. It was too late to stitch it because it already looked infected, as did all my other cuts and blisters from the week. The cure: antibiotics and no more going in the ocean... otherwise risk a gnarly staf infection aka MRSA. Oh, and drinking not advised. Crap.
So that sucked, but I was still in Hawaii so whatever! Moving on...

Monday night was a triathlon dinner party at The Mauna Lani. Instead of drinking I had extra big plate of dessert. I also fell in love with the Mauna Lani... best hotel ever!Maggs, me and D!
Part of the dessert buffet...

My concoction...

Tuesday was wedding day! That afternoon, we gathered to watch Luke McKenzie and Amanda Balding get hitched. Then we ate, drank, danced and partied away. Yup, there's nothing like an Aussie- and triathlete-filled wedding at a breathtaking bay-front property in Hawaii. Pretty much perfect. Again, the camera didn't make it out that much cause I was too busy having fun :)

The bride and groom were glowing (and Luke was sweating haha)...

Incredible food...


Wednesday was about D, the birthday girl! It was also my last full day on the island, so I needed the epicness to continue :) It started with brekkie at Lava Java, where I was surprised to see a good amount of triathletes still around, pros and all. LJ is the place! That afternoon we hung out at The Mauna Lani, where we also had dinner plans.

Gathering with the group before D's b-day dinner...D, sunscreen!
Another fabulous meal...

Thursday was a bittersweet day. Still in paradise, but fully aware that the end was nearing. I got in one last run (speaking of running, I'm stoked on all the running I did despite having no run base due to the recent injury) then messed around until I had to leave. Saying goodbye and ending the trip was not easy, to say the least.

And, three blogs/one month later, that's Kona in a nutshell.

Finally, now I can get back to real life! Lots to talk about... stay tuned and thanks for reading :)