Steelhead 70.3 RR

Where do I even begin with this one? A lot of highs and lows came with this race. The weekend started out well and everything was running smoothly, including some incredibly good weather in Michigan that is apparently rare for this race. Instead of a lake with 4-6ft swells, we had this calm, serene body of water:

Lake Michigan the day before the race. Perfection.

There were even thunderstorms in the forecast for race day but come Sunday it was so nice -- low/mid 70s, some clouds early on then sun and very mild winds (again, sounds like a rarity at Steelhead).

Going into this race I knew I had a couple hurdles. First, racing more fatigued. I didn't really taper for this race compared with every other 70.3 I've done. That was on purpose given the short turnaround post-Vineman, and it left some question marks but it was part of the plan. I was up for it. Secondly, "adapting" to the time change in less than 48hrs. We traveled Friday afternoon so there's no doubt my body still was thinking it was 1am when I woke up Sunday at 4am ET. I tried to ignore all that, though, and trick the body into thinking it was fresh and ready. Race morning I seemed to be ok, but some things were off. **TMI alert!** For example, this was the first time in my history of racing that I was not able to go #2 before a race! I just had to deal with it.

course recon -- I see cones!

Pre-race was fun. I really enjoy traveling to different parts of the country that I probably wouldn't visit otherwise. We flew into Chicago and made the boring drive to Benton Harbor, MI, which is a very small and low-key town. A one-Starbucks-in-town kinda place. Parts of it are cute, parts are run down and ghetto. The nearby towns, like St. Joseph, are cute but quaint. That said, a good venue for racing because lots of open, country roads with little traffic, lots of GREEN everywhere, and big parking lots thanks to it being the mecca of Whirpool--I've never seen so many (or any) of their offices.

Riding the run -- highly recommend.

                                                                          One thing we did Saturday, which I loved, was ride the run course and drive the bike course. I've never done both those in their entirety and it was fun and helpful! As for pre-race eats, we found decent places but that was very tricky in this part of Michigan. Slim pickings. Whole Foods? Yea right. Thus, the food aspect is deserving of a blog in itself, to come :)

Onto the race... I'm going to do this RR differently and start with the finish. I feel the finish is the most important part, and gives the rest of the story more merit. (Plus if you skip the rest, you at least get the happy ending here.)


Finish
Crossed the finish line in 5:14 and change. Every muscle was screaming, and I feared if I stopped I'd be stuck. I kept walking for a good 10 minutes to shake it off. I felt like puking, crying and falling over all at the same time. I hurt pretty bad. "What...just...happened... why did that hurt so bad?!"

I had a while to wait for John because he started 30min after me. I asked a guy to check results on his iPad so I could see where John was and guess how much longer until I saw him. I also had him check my results...

Surprise. Turns out I was 2nd AG. What?! That meant Vegas potential. I went to investigate. Turns out I qualified for Vegas 2013, as there were two slots in my AG! Um, really?!?!?!?!?! I mean, Vegas is what I've had my eye on--it's something I've wanted to EARN, and doing so at this race was a big triumph. It was a testament to not giving up even on a bad day. I'm still a little in shock that my journey at Steelhead 70.3 ended on such a high note because it was a tough, tough day for me.

Vegas baby! Was advised, "cover your code so no one steals it" haha.

From the beginning...
Race Day

I got abnormally nervous beforehand starting Saturday night while trying to sleep. This is very rare for me these days. Maybe it's because I'd dished out so much money to make it to Steelhead and, therefore, felt the pressure to "do well" whatever that means. As a coach and someone who's studied sports psych, I tried to do all the tricks to mellow out. Not until we made the the 1.2 mile trek down the beach to start the point-to-point swim, did I start to feel focused, ready and excited to go. Powered down most of a banana close to go time, and got in the zone.


Swim
I had dreams of a 35 or faster swim in my head. The swim was a run-in start and run-out exit (including run up the beach in deep sand), which certainly slowed up some of our times. But forget that even, I swam like crap and felt like crap. About 1/4 into it I got this intense nauseated feeling like I was going to hurl. I could feel that banana in my throat. I was trying to ignore it and not totally vomit. Meanwhile, I was not able to hold on to any feet for a draft and was basically in no man's land zigzagging around. On the positive side, my kick felt stronger and there were no leg cramping issues yet again. Truthfully, I had no idea if I was going fast, slow or in between. So when I stood up and saw close to 41:xx on my watch I almost burst into tears right there! I was baffled and disappointed. Stupidly, I slowly walked out of the water and up the beach instead of hustling, adding more time to my swim split. I was thinking: "What the #$*& is wrong with me? Sick? Fatigued? Both?"

T1
My swim time had me close to wanting to just check out and go through the motions, but I still had that urge to compete and go for it. I didn't travel all that way to blow a race because I felt sick and tired, and had another bad swim. I wasn't dying, I could continue on. I just had to play my cards right.

Bike
The bike was pretty mellow, uneventful and a rather easy course. Except for maybe 2-3 climbs, the uphills weren't even what I would call hills compared to what we have in Calif. I never even got out of the big ring the whole race. I think there was still close to 1,000ft elevation gain, though. The ride goes through the Fruit Belt area and a couple times the road conditions get a little crappier, but not terrible--Vineman roads are worse I think. The majority of the time the roads are smooth and fast. Winds were mild at best so that helped keep things speedy. Also unlike Vineman, I felt like I had a lot of space to ride my pace vs. getting stuck in traffic. That was nice. Passed a handful of girls in my AG, but didn't see much 25-29 action.

I was trying to shake the terrible feeling I had in me, but it was a battle. For nutrition I relied on Skratch Labs drink mix, which--thank goodness--settled well and didn't exacerbate my unhappy stomach situation. I couldn't handle much else other than some of a bar. Caloric fail. I should have easily ridden 5-8 minutes faster, but given how I felt I made a conscious choice on the bike to save something for the run. That's always a tricky game to play and one of the things that makes triathlon so tough. Looking back, I think I made the right call.

My bike split was a 2:41:xx or something. Better than Vineman, at least. For all the time I lost on the swim, I gained some back on the bike and was heading into T2 in about the same time I had at Vineman. Still feelings of uncertainty crept in. Self-talk: "Yes you feel like sh*t but just control what you can, DNF is not an option even if you puke more. It's just 13 miles. Manage your energy."

T2
Side note: I liked their transition area, it was very fair--one long stretch that we all had to go through the same way, for both T1 and T2. Easy. I'll be honest, in this race I used transitions for some rest/relief rather than to cut time. Just another sign that my A game wasn't quite there.

Run
Like the swim, pre-race I had dreams of fast run times, i.e. for me a 1:40 or faster. Hm. Let's put it this way: When I started running at Vineman I felt strong and ready (it hurt but wasn't death marching). But when I started running at Steelhead, I felt weak and tired (more like shuffle/death march from the get go). But out of the gates I got some motivation when I saw a pro male on his last mile puking and still running fast as hell. "If he can...." I was all over the map with pace in the beginning, and quite frankly the whole race. Mile splits from 7:41-8:31. Part of that was the course: Heck, it was tougher than expected even having biked it! I don't think their 200ft elevation gain is not accurate (my garmin said 550ft, hm?). There were a few mean short, steep hills and lots of slow gradual climbs, and it didn't feel like the downhills matched the climbs. Haha.

I won't lie, there were times when I was holding back tears because I was hitting the wall so badly and sick of feeling so sick. One of the only things I had going for me was that 13 miles doesn't seem so long. "Just take it one at a time." I did some math around the halfway point and realized a 5:15 or faster was still possible so I made that my new goal. So long, sub-5:00. I just put my head down and hurt till I finished. I won't go into all the gory details because that run was not my finest for many reasons, but I finished. Run split 1:46.

~~~

Final Word
So there it is. Highs and lows for sure. Overall, there's so much to be proud of here, and there's also so much work to be done. There's a good chance my "bad" day was a result of fatigue going into the race, pre-race anxiety gone bad, and....? To still finish, podium and qualify for Vegas makes it a lot sweeter, but I still know I have a ton of work to do. I probably won't do any more 70.3s this year, but I will still race some shorter stuff, run races, etc. And I'll continue to build that swim fitness--it's only just beginning.

Next up... dining tips for Steelhead 70.3, post-race day trip in Chicago and more!

Ramblings: Steelhead-Surfing-Vegas

Well, it's been a month since Vineman so that can only mean one thing: time for the next 70.3! On Friday we depart for Chicago then will be driving over to Benton Harbor for Steelhead 70.3 on Sunday. I've never been to this part of the U.S. so I'm excited for another adventure. That said, I'll be honest, there was no part of me yearning for a trip to Michigan (no offense MI); this particular race just had the right timing and is domestic so I'm not totally breaking the bank :) I do keep hearing the general area is great though -- fruit belt or something like that? -- and the course seems fairly mellow as long as crazy weather doesn't screw with the swim (again), so we should be in for fast & fun times. Plus, Monday we'll head over to Chicago to be tourists for a day and enjoy some post-race indulgences before heading back home. (Good pizza place recommendations anyone?)

Training had been going well. I'm more in maintenance mode and volume hasn't been insane. I've had some great days and some "eh" days. At times, I expect more out of my body at times than it's willing to give, so that's been a bit frustrating (everyone is nodding their heads in agreement, right?). When I get frustrated I then have to get real and remember that the past four weeks have included two taxing races, way more travel than I'm used to, work "chaos," etc. I don't feel that I'm wearing my body down too much, just trying to do enough without overdoing it. I have those chill days every now and then too... like this past Sunday I bagged a full bike ride to instead surf with my little family (they begged - how could I say no?). I can't even remember the last time I paddled out with my all three of them, mom, dad and sis! It was a perfect day of catching more waves than I can remember... not to mention those occasional ones where I'd catch the same wave as mom, dad and/or sis? Priceless.

I was actually impressed with my surfing skills after a bit of a hiatus from the board. Maybe it's all the swimming as of late! I'll tell ya, the one area of training where I've been hammering it and with which I'm happier than ever is my swimming. I've been putting in more days in the pool and working on my weaknesses. My biggest weaknesses is my kick. I lost my fins, so that's made a difference on those kick sets (I never used fins a lot before, but I did use them on kick sets). I can already see improvements in just using my own god-given flippers to kick away. Of course, I've been working on technique, speed and other areas and it's safe to say I've dropped a good amount of seconds off my 100 pace... or at least, I don't feel like death when trying to hit certain times.

I hear the swim at Steelhead goes with the current, whichever way that ends up being on race day. Maybe that will help my quest in shaving minutes off my half-iron swim time :)

In other news, I had one of my athletes snag a spot to Vegas at Philippines 70.3. Sounds like that race was brutal, especially on the run with the heat and humidity!

Speaking of Vegas, I just wrote a preview for LAVA Magazine on the top 24 athletes to watch at Vegas this year. I compiled a lot of freakin stats on people. I used quite a bit of that for the article, but I still have this enormous list of info on people... I might turn some of it into some blogs. It's interesting to track the season's of the pros and see what they've been doing. Gotta say journalism + triathlon is fun.

That's all for now... time for a quick taper swim/run. It's overcast for the first time in days here in SoCal, and for once I'm actually welcoming the lack of sun and cool air. It's been h-o-t and I'm sick of all the sun exposure I'm getting. #socalproblems

I Ran.

Whew, what a stretch of days it's been! More fun than I can express, but demanding! It started with my trip to San Diego for a two-day modeling gig with H2O Audio and John Segesta. What a blast. I forgot how much I love modeling.

With Segesta on a perfect SD day.

Day one I was rarin' to go after a roll-outta-bed trainer session. On the road by 7AM. The shoot was in studio, and my first shot was a doozy -- I had to stand there literally getting drenched with cold water straight out of a hose while holding my "Zoolander" face ;) Ha! The day wrapped semi early and I was able to fit in a swim and run in Encintitas, where I stayed the night. The YMCA there is super nice, and since it was my first time it was free. Score! Followed that up with a run along the coast, dinner from Whole Foods, sunset at Moonlight Beach. Perfect evening.


Day two (Friday) was on location and started bright and early with a run shot at Sunset Cliffs. I have a whole new appreciation for magazine cover shots of runners -- there is a lot that goes into getting "the perfect" shot, and I swear I ran 2+ miles in a small little radius before we were totally satisfied. Followed that up with kayaking in Mission Bay and swimming at the Boy & Girls Club Solana Beach. Got my triathlon in ;) Annnnd 8 or 10 hours later on Friday it was a wrap. Can't wait to see the finished shots... it was so fun working with H2O Audio and all the folks involved. Love the products I got to test out in the shoot, too!

~~~

Half-Mary Race Report. Fast forward and the next thing I know I'm on a plane to San Francisco to do a butt-crack-of-dawn half-marathon on Sunday. Why? Who knows. At this point my leg with the sting was getting better, but I was not 100% at all. The trauma of the sting, benadryl illness, etc, had taken a toll, and  I wasn't able to get in adequate rest time to snap back.

But I was NOT going to give up on the run. I knew I wouldn't do further harm, and I'm not one to throw in the towel so easily.



That said, I must have been on a major adrenaline high because as soon as we got to SF I just wanted to play and explore! We had a jam-packed afternoon -- complete with a couple good beers and a delish risotto -- and got to bed wayyy too late considering the 4AM alarm time on our phones.

Dark.

Race morning. Dark. Cold. For once, it was so early that I had no appetite to eat and I also didn't want to over-eat right before a hard run. I got down some GF cereal and almond milk though. OK, so how this race worked: There are two half-marathons and one marathon. The first half starts at 5:30 AM with the full and you do 13.1 together, it's a point-to-point race that is quite hilly and difficult and congested with runners; definitely harder than the second half. The second half runs with, you guessed it, the second half of the full. But our race, the first half is something! Just the fact that you're starting in pitch dark -- and that's how it is for at least 5-6 miles -- makes it tough! But it's worth it. The hills are a great challenge, and you get to do an out-and-back on the Golden Gate Bridge. I mean, who gets to run on the bridge like that?! So cool! Especially considering it was my first time ever seeing the bridge!

Before the race I decided I couldn't get hung up on a PR on this course and with the week I'd had. So I just decided to run hard and see what happened. I enjoyed it more that way, but don't get me wrong, I still made myself suffer -- average HR overall was 167. The first 5 miles were mostly flat, but not easy -- it was hard to find a rhythm with all the people and all the passing that had to be done in a narrow area. I was pleased with my pace though, of 7:18-7:35ish. By mile 6 the real hill climbing began, and that was my only mile that wasn't sub-8. The hill was no joke.

Then onto the Golden Gate Bridge, which was caked in fog, cold and wet. You couldn't even see the most the bridge while approaching it. I was wearing a sleeveless top, shorts, arms warmers, my new PxRx visor and I got super chilly in the wind, heavy mist, etc. Motivation to run faster ;) At the same time, I was saying to myself how lucky I feel thanks to sport and the places it takes me. No complaints.

Take that back... My only complaint of the day: The aid stations were weak and sparse. There were 4 or 5 total, and the water cups had mere drops of water so it's safe to say I probably had less than 3oz to drink during the whole thing -- no bueno. In their defense, I guess when you have over 80k-90k (?) people running you have to manage your resources.

After the bridge there's relief in climbing with a really steep downhill at mile 10 -- my only sub-7 mile! But the downhill is deceivingly hard on the body. That mile is followed up with relentless uphills for the remainder of the race -- finishing uphill for 2+ miles HURTS! I was blowing up to some degree trying to hold onto my sub-8 pace, and I was also probably overly dehydrated AND bonking -- the cereal and one gel weren't enough in retrospect. But I didn't really care. I wasn't totally dying.

I didn't actually look at my watch for time until right before the finish, and it read 1:38. Ha! Definitely no PR (which is 1:36 btw). It was then a race to secure sub-1:40. Crossed in 1:39:01 with a HR of probably 185. The race finish, which is miles away from the start in Golden Gate Park, was quite uneventful. Most the runners who I'd been fighting for sharing space with had apparently been doing the full, and they veered off around mile 12-something, after which I was practically alone. It was also only about 7AM, cold and misty out so only about five spectators. Not even many finishers at that point either. All the smart people in SF were still tucked in bed! I waited for John, and didn't have to wait long! He was right after me... man, he's getting good.

Finish with my man :)

I passed on the complimentary Irish coffee (yuck) and we took the shuttle back to the race start to quickly get back to the room to, ya know....... order breakfast in bed with Olympics on TV, and Compex on legs!!! ;)

I never really care about my placing in run races, but I was curious to see how I fared against other women here given the tough course. I think the steep hills were much worse than a race with the same elevation gain but gradual hills, ya know? So, was it just me who was slow or everyone? Everyone. Turns out the fastest time of the 4,000 females who ran was a 1:31, so that says something. My time of 1:39 got me 9th AG and top 20 overall. My actual run distance on the Garmin was 13.28 miles, so I did nail that sub-7:30 pace. (And oh yea, next time I'll do the second half -- starts later and is easier with less climbing. The top female times in that race were around 1:19-1:21.)

View from our room in downtown SF

After the race we had a couple days to play in SF. I'm trying to branch out and travel a bit more when I can these days, and SF was at the top of the list. I can't even begin to tell you how much stuff we packed in while in town. Not to mention, lots of walking... probably 5-7 miles a day (including the day of the race). That's city livin for ya. Good times for sure! But it does feel soooo good to be back home....

Frustrated, Take Two... Oops!

Haha! Looks like I accidentally published a post that I was just getting started on, titled "Frustrated." Don't know how that happened! Anyways, there's no injury or anything (thanks for the concern, Sean in NY :), technically.

The situation: I got stung by a bee on Monday while riding my bike going 40mph. It got me on my right shin, and literally exploded, only the stinger and bee guts were left when I stopped (I was only 22 miles into what was supposed to be a long one, grrr). The allergic reaction was the worst/scariest I've had to date... like, so bad I called 911 because I was out on a highway alone and was starting to experience anaphylaxis. I've had allergic reactions to stings before, but this was the worst yet and the symptoms came on rapidly. The scariest thing that prompted the 911 call was when I started feeling my esophagus and throat start to swell shut. I hadn't ever felt that before. I had called my parents prior to 911 because they live close to where I was riding and could come pick me up, but after I hung up with my dad, I did some quick thinking and I knew had to take action to get help faster than what my parents could offer, as I had no epi pen or anything to relieve me in the moment and sh*t was getting bad quickly. Anyways, the ambulance came, they gave me a fatty epi shot in the L delt and benadryl, some relief soon followed. I went to hospital so they could monitor me, and was released a few hours later, feeling OK but still really weak. (Yes, I'll now forever carry that epi pen with me!)

Yesterday the lingering effects of the sting didn't seem so bad, but that quickly changed as the day progressed. I trained yesterday morning (swim/run), but it hurt to run with the sting being on my lower leg so I cut it short. Last night the swelling and tenderness got so bad I could barely walk (although, I'm certain it's not infected), so I took a benadryl. Now, they gave me benadryl intravenously in the ambulance and I was ok with that, but last night I took an oral tablet, and it wreaked havoc in my system leaving me super sick (will spare you the details). This morning, still sick and leg still throbbing. I've had some relief with a hot compress, but I still have a fat, swollen leg and am limping.

Here's the thing... Normally, I wouldn't really care and would just throw in the towel and take it easy for a couple days, but I can't do that right now. I leave tomorrow first thing for a multi-day modeling gig in San Diego, followed by a flight to San Fran for a half-mary Sunday. I won't be back home until late Tuesday. And I'm "training" for a half-ironman that's on Aug. 19! Eek! Today is my last day with my bike for a week, and I feel compelled to ride with the looming 70.3. I just want to make it through the next stretch of days because they're going to be demanding, but right now I feel like mush :/

As I keep writing this post, I feel like I'm being a total d-bag. Waa waa, right? The bee issue was obviously out of my control and sucks, but everything else is my doing -- like signing up for another 70.3 so soon -- so I need to deal with it and do what I can. My frustration is silly, really. I'm frustrated because I'm worried that I feel like I'll barely have any quality training going into this next 70.3, but I need to just accept that it is what it is, and I do what I can rather than whine about it. I hate sounding so selfish because obviously things could be worse! I believe everything happens for a reason, and right now I'm just getting "tested." No matter what, I'll still give that half-ironman on Aug. 19 my best effort.

Whew, I feel a bit better now. Time to HTFU and deal.

Vineman Eats & Race Nutrition

Eating well before a big race is important for most us endurance athletes. Although, I know some guys who can get away on alcohol the night before followed by a Denny's pre-race brekkie. Yikes. In the days leading up to Vineman (btw, race report here if you didn't read), I was checking out nearby restaurants on Yelp, but it’s still hard to determine if what you’re looking at on an iPhone is going to be the same in person. My research helped a bit, but it we also just played it by ear a bit. It all worked out, so I must share...

For those unfamiliar with the area, Vineman is in Sonoma County, so you’re dealing with multiple little cities all within reasonable driving distance. The race start is probably the farthest thing away, out in Guernville. A lot of people stay there, and I can see why, it’s a great little foresty town, but there’s not a lot of options for food it seems, nor are there any big grocery stores so your gluten-free products, etc., might be limited. 

The race finish is in Windsor, and close by to the north is Healdsburg and south is Santa Rosa, in that radius you'll find what you want for quality pre-race eating.


Money-Saving Food Tips

We stayed in south Santa Rosa, which has a couple Trader Joe’s and a Whole Foods. Score. I splurge on Whole Paycheck leading up to a race :) Usually when I travel I'll load up on groceries to cover my breakfasts, lunches and snacks, or in this year's case just eat out for lunch at WF. It keeps it simple and I can have stuff I'm used too, and more so, it actually saves money vs dining out somewhere quality.

To the left is my pre-race lunch from WF; chicken breast, quinoa salad and kale/cabbage salad:

Speaking of groceries and having your regular foods, I think one of the smartest decisions we made on this trip was our hotel. Remember how I was afraid of it as mentioned a couple posts ago? Well I was wrong! We stayed in an Extended Stay America and it was awesome. We literally had a kitchen, for less than $100 a night. This meant every morning we had a stove top for scramble eggs and oatmeal (vs. cooking those things in a microwave), lots of room to store food and prepare meals, and we could do dishes in a real sink not the bathroom sink haha. I also had a nice place for my Vitamix to make beet smoothies. Yup, I brought the Vitamix. I’d highly recommend going that route as a triathlete!

Pre-Race Restaurants
Our first night in town, Friday, was close to being a disaster. We went to the welcome reception to hear a chat with Mark Allen, Greg Bennett and Mel Rollison. While that was nice, we didn’t leave until almost 9 p.m. and hadn’t eaten! I had a place in mind up the highway in Healdsburg, a recommendation from Beth and seconded by Ryan. Why not? Well we get there and the damn place is closed indefinitely! Crap. Thankfully Healdsburg has a lot to offer. 


We randomly stumbled upon Mateo’s Cocina Latina. What a find! It was soooo delicious, and all fresh/quality. Many of their veggies are grown in their own garden, there's sustainable sourced seafood, local ingredients, etc. For apps (we were starving), we got a ceviche and guacamole. Came with some corn tostadas, so I was able to keep it gluten free; I skipped the deep fried chips. The apps were rather small and very gourmet-ish. The entrees were more substantial. I got the salmon special with roasted veggies in a pumpkin sauce, with a side of handmade corn tortillas. It was ah-mazing! I can’t remember what John got but it was excellent too. We both felt good about that meal. I’d eat there before a race again for sure.

Unfortunately, we were so hungry that I forgot to take pics of the food at Mateo’s, but I can assure you it was quality.

The night before the race I wanted to be even more anal about what we ate. Nothing too fancy (no exotic spices, etc), hearty and sustaining, and also gluten free/dairy free. I literally found the perfect place… a dream restaurant for anyone with special diets looking for the kind of meal you’d make at home. It was called East West Cafe, in east Santa Rosa, an easy drive. We love love loved it! They had everything I’d want before a race, making it hard to choose. I went with chicken teriyaki, with a hearty portion of brown rice, veggies, and a side salad (that had beets haha). John got pasta with chicken, veggies and salad (and it was the first time I've ever heard a waitress ask if the GF pasta was preferred).

Here are our dishes:

Before bed I had another snack, but I seriously can’t even remember what. It was something light I’m sure. Like an apple or something. So like I said, everything else I ate before the race came from TJ's, WF or was something we brought from home in the cooler.


Race Day Nutrition

Just as important as the restaurants, right? We woke up at 5. Right away got coffee brewing, but I only could muster down half a cup. Breakfast went down fine though… pre-cooked mashed sweet potato mixed with almond milk, ground chia seed, and scrambled egg whites. I had no problem eating, a good sign.

Before the race I didn’t even feel hungry (sometimes I will after that 3-hr gap), so I bagged my banana and just stuck to water.

Once in the race, on the bike I had three 20oz bottles of Skratch Labs drink mix (orange) with 120cal each, and I drank just over a bottle each hour. I didn't completely finish the third bottle. I also had 1 1/2 Corazonas Oatmeal Squares. You’re probably thinking wtf? I like to eat something solid, and the Corazonas are a better version of Clif bars I think (i.e. no soy). We got them at Costco and I just started bringing them on rides and found that they do well in my system on hard rides that include t-runs (I don't eat them on runs, though). Clif bars didn't do so well. Why change on race day? That said, I was done with solids by mile 30-35ish. For the last segment of the bike, I did all liquid calories. I got off the bike feeling nutritionally on track. GI system working fine, not bonking, but not over-full.


Bike, all together I had:
~300 calories of drink mix
~250 cals of solids

For the run I stuck to water, gel, banana. Had 1-2 cups of water at every aid station while on the fly (it was hot by then!), plus a Strawberry Banana PowerBar Gel over the course of the first 5mi. At the halfway I also had banana at an aid station, around the time I was hitting a rough patch. Felt like GI issues might be coming, but I was OK. 


Run, all together:
110 cal of gel  
70-100 cal of a cut up banana 
water ad libitum (1-2 cups per aid station + more for pouring on myself)


Calories on the run may seem low, but I felt fine with that. I’m very used to running hard without a lot of calories. Any more and I was risking GI issues.


Funny enough, I completely forgot about salt tabs! I had them, and forgot them. Didn't even dawn on me until after the race. Truth be told, it was a hot day and I don't think I suffered by not having them. Interesting!

Post-Race Eats
Now the fun part :) We ate a little after the race with what they had, but it wasn't that great. Back at the hotel I made some guacamole and had chips and beer waiting. That was a perfect snack. Then it was on to pizza!!! We hit up Jackson's Bar and Oven in Santa Rosa, and what a find! Just got lucky, as they happened to have GF pizza crust so we went for it and it was totally legit. We ordered two pizzas, and each was amazing; I couldn't even tell the difference of gluten free vs. gluten-filled. now, I'm an easy sell for that, but even John was impressed! They said they use Bob's Red Mill for the GF dough. We also got an order of Parmesan truffle fries and grilled calamari on a bed of greens (one of the most unique calamari presentations I've ever had). Pics below. It wasn't over the top gourmet food, but super quality that hit the spot. Oh, and I had my first glass of Pinot Noir to get in the mood for another couple days in Napa that lay ahead...

That amazing calamari dish

My all-time fav kind of pizza, mixed mushroom with truffle oil and mozarella

We got their "undecided special"... aka leave it to the chefs to conjure up something random, which changes every order. We ended up with prociutto, olives, grilled onion and a special, hearty tomato sauce. Mmm.

Last but not least, knowing that I'd be indulging in Napa for a couple days, my day-after-the-race breakfast was quite healthy as you can see below. Egg whites, avocado and broccoli. Cooked in the comfort of my own hotel room :)

Plus some snacks a la Whole Foods on the way to Napa, like this yummy kale/seaweed salad and an "alcoholic" kombucha, which was a first-time find for me. Had to be 21+ to purchase haha!

But once in Napa, we got to business. I think we came home with 5-6 bottles and a few extra lbs added on our waistlines ;)

Vineman 70.3 Race Report

Well another 70.3 in the books. Super stoked to be back at triathlon and writing a RR!!! And what’s not to like about Vineman? I especially love all the amazing options for great (and healthy) restaurants to eat well beforehand, and then, of course, great (not as healthy) restaurants for indulging afterwards ;) In my next post I’ll go over all that — I definitely think a little “guide to eating out at Vineman” is needed in blog world because I haven’t seen one.

Anyways, onto the race! Woo hoo! I’m very pleased with my performance; yet, I’m hard on myself and am not 100% satisfied. Duh, right? After not doing a 70.3 for over a year, I had some cobwebs to dust off. I think I sort of forgot how hard these things actually are. I set some lofty goals and was ready to achieve them. Easier said than done. But I love the difficulty of triathlon and figuring it out — it’s what keeps me coming back for more. In fact, I signed up for Steelhead 70.3 only hours after Vineman. I had already thought about this race for weeks, but was just waiting to see how I felt after Vman. I felt motivated to work on this 70.3 stuff. I want to get to the point where I’m worthy of World Championship racing at a competitive level.

So my race. Truth be told, my lofty goals included a sub-5 finish. I’ve been close to that on flat courses, and I felt (still feel) that I can break 5 hours. Instead, the reality: I ran a 5:11, putting me at 8th in the 25-29 AG. I like top 10 finishes :) My time wasn't terribly far off my goal, but it was also terribly far off. Haha. During the race I didn’t let my times screw with my head, especially when I saw that sub-5 slipping away. Mentally, I think it’s the strongest triathlon I’ve had because never once did I “give up” and just go through the motions. 

Pre-Race

After a solid ~8hrs sleep (one of my best pre-race sleeps ever), we were up at 5 a.m. and right away had coffee (which I didn’t even finish) and brekkie of sweet potato/almond milk/chia/egg. Vineman is chill because they keep transition open even after the race starts so we rolled in around 6:30. John’s wave was 7:50ish and mine 8:06. I wasn’t even thinking about it then, but my wave time sucked balls. I had some pre-race nerves, but nothing insane. I got everything taken care of with ease, chatted with friends and had a few Endurance Planet listeners say hi, which made me smile. Mellow morning. Felt great.

Swim

I warmed up for about 5 min prior to my start. It was a perfect conditions, water at 71 degrees. My swim is always a question mark. I know I’ve gotten better but I also know I’m not a consistent swimmer at all. The gun went off and my goal, as always, was to not blowing myself up just to save a few minutes. Right away I got a hard blow to the L eye (welcome back to tri!), and after I got over that shock and got my goggles back on, I was able to find feet here and there on the way out. Nothing consistent though. At the turnaround somehow I lost all feet and was on my own. Thankfully you’re with the current on the way back, so that helped. My time coming out on my watch was 37:xx, officially 38:03? Blah, but it didn’t get me down. Truthfully, the best I could have swim was a 35, so, really, what’s 3 min?

T1

Transitions came back to me nicely despite the hiatus from triathlon. I rode up that first hill out of transition, the hill that many people walk up, pros included. Smart or dumb? Hm… at the time, I didn’t realize that my HR was 170+. Yikes.

Bike

It’s a good thing I love the bike course at Vineman because my performance on the bike was forgettable. My goal was a sub 2:40, which is totally realistic for me. (When I nailed that recent training ride of 56 miles in 2:42 on a hiller and windier route than Vineman my confidence was soaring). 

So what happened? At first my HR was way too high and I needed to chill but was having a hard time doing so. Just being in a race had me amped up too much. I had to manage HR otherwise I knew I’d be burning matches that would cause me to really suffer on the run. (“Don’t be totally in the moment.”) 


Meanwhile during the beginning of the ride it’s rolling hills through tree-covered roads and I passed a ton of girls in my AG, probably 10-15 in the first 10 miles. Pretty standard. The shaded roads eventually give way to unshaded highways surrounded by vineyards. The sun was out and you could tell it was going to be a warm day. Thank goodness, as the next day, Monday, it was cold and raining!!! So crazy.

HR settled into an acceptable range after ~30 min. About that time I realized I had a worse problem going on that would ruin my bike mojo. (Sorry if this is a big fat excuse, but whatever, it’s reality)…. Being that I was nearly the last wave, and a slow swimmer, I hit traffic on the bike. Big time. I spent the whole ride getting stuck behind slower riders and then trying to surge past big packs to get ahead. People weren’t really drafting (though it was close at times), but there’d be these huge lines of riders going along at a 17-18mph pace, and I’d get stuck at that then would dig deep and give a max effort to make legal passes so I could ride my pace, which was more 21-22mph. But even after I made the pass, that cycle of having to slow then surge ahead just kept repeating. It was frustrating, and didn’t help HR matters. I’m good when I get in a rhythm, and that was far from the case here.

I finally felt like I got some freedom around mile 35 — it seriously took that long. But then at Chalk Hill (mile 44) it all backed up again and the last portion of the ride, while mostly downhill/flat, was another game of getting stuck then powering past. Oh yea, and Chalk Hill isn’t really that bad. It’s short and sweet. However, before that there were some false flats and even some headwinds that I don’t recall from when I did this in ‘09, which I feel were harder than Chalk Hill. The course was no walk in the park. But that's a good thing! I liked it. A lot. 

I realize my “slow-then-surge” situation was largely out of my control, so just deal with it. The question I’m wondering, though, was that lack of rhythm on the bike responsible for me feeling “off” in general or would I have still been “off” otherwise? I gave it my all for those 56 with how I felt, but I definitely didn’t ride to my ability, and the numbers reflect that to some degree. Power was about 10-20w avg lower than it should have been. Even my mom later questioned, “So what was up with your bike?” Ha.

Got off in 2:46. Just slightly faster than my 2009 ride time. Ha.

My bike performance was “eh” but it didn’t make me give up mentally. Things were still OK overall. I didn’t feel like death getting off the bike. My nutrition was going perfectly (Skratch Labs drink and ~2 bars). And, mostly, I was excited to run, not afraid.

T2

They’ve changed the setup from when I did it in ‘09. There’s a long run off the bike through the high school. I feel like my AG had a good rack position :) I hammered through T2, and even passed a couple girls. In and out baby! Ready to runnnn!!!

Run

I had never been so excited for the run portion of a race. I was ready to lay it down, with a goal of ~7:40 average or faster. Again, totally realistic. I knew the key to doing this would be staying mentally strong, willing to hurt and “recovering” from rough patches. Bring it. 

The legs turned over nicely out of the gates and I had to ease up a bit to not go too fast. We hit a couple hills around mile 3-4, and while they hurt like a bitch, I still was able to efficiently run up, and power down the backside. The hills still slowed my pace, though — I think my mile 4 was an 8:06. 

Then around mile 6 I started feeling worse and the body was begging me to stop. Rough patch. I had been taking in water at aid stations and some gel, and was nutritionally still feeling on target. I wasn’t bonking. I knew I just had to dig deep.

I never eased up on myself, yet, the legs were not responding as well as I wanted as of the halfway point. I had some 7:50-8:00 miles. My average was slowly dropping from 7:40 to 7:50. I was ignoring HR. I saw no one in my AG, and that wasn’t even a care or concern. I knew a sub-5 was not happening, thus I was not in it with the fast girls. No biggie. At this point I just wanted to finish with a run I could be happy with. It was time to live in the moment and not worry about the future — give it everything now and don’t hold back.

It was getting hotter by the minute, but it wasn’t insanely hot. I kept getting water at aid stations for drinking and splashing on myself. But the body was screaming. I felt like I was running with a 100-lb pack. But one big plus was no GI issues, which is something that has plagued me in the past, so yay for that. I just kept saying “keep going… dig deep… keep that sub-8 pace alive!”

We ran through La Crema vineyards this time, which was so nice! But it felt extra hot back in there.

Out of the winery and more rolling hills. Ouch.

No major hills after about mile 10. Whew. Near the end I was able to pick up my pace and finish strong. I held on to a 7:49/mile average overall for the run, with a 1:42:xx split. That’s the same as my current half iron run PR time — I ran 1:42 at Rev3 Portland last year, and that course (in ’11 only) was as flat as a pancake. Vineman is not flat, so I see this run as an improvement :)

Finish

Man, I was hur-ting at the finish!!! But happy :) The biggest takeaway from this race is that I need to race more if I want to achieve the goals I have for myself, like that sub-5 time. Again, I could tell I had some cobwebs to dust off in putting together a solid race. It takes a lot to really nail a race, and experience is a huge factor. So, fine, I’ll race more:) Lesson learned! 

That said, I am totally content with my performance and a 5:11. Yea, the bike could have been better, but that’s life as an age-grouper! It’s on me to handle those situations. Not to mention, my time this year was 9 minutes faster than my time at this race in ’09. 

John and I finished very close to each other, and it was so great sharing war stories at the finish line with him. This is only our second tri together, and it’s our first trip for a race in which we both participated. That made things 10x better than I ever could have imagined, and knowing he was out on the course too was the best feeling. It’s fun to travel and race with a BF :)


Sorry, this is the only pic I have so far... but ya gotta love a post-race beer pic!

Pre-Race Ramblings

Thanks for the insightful comments on your supplements! Loved reading through all that. Some good stuff. Eric pointed out that we seem to take a lot of supplements. True. Do they all really matter? I think so. I notice that my body functions better overall compared with when I didn't really take anything (training and otherwise). Plus, I once heard -- and have since seen evidence -- that if you have a iron deficiency and you eat/drink beets then you'll get that red pee color. I used to get major red coloring in my pee, and now I don't. At all. Hm. Anyways, moving on to my random ramblings as I get ready for Vineman this weekend......

---

*We are driving up to Sonoma first thing Friday.... I mean, John is driving up to Sonoma while I have legs up in compression and mess around on my iPhone, read "Open" by Andre Agassi (I just finished Chrissie's book, I read Macca's book, read Iron War... what's left in new triathlon-ish book world?). Oh yea, and research places to eat and drink (post-race drinking of course). 


*We have a crappy hotel because we booked late. It doesn't seem crappy online, but I read the Yelp reviews and I'm scared. It was either book that place or pretend we have money coming out of our butts. And we don't. I would have maybe splurged, but I'll be in hotels the next three weekends (Sonoma/Napa for 5 nights, then Malibu for a wedding, then SF for a half mary).

*I have no kit to wear so I'll be winging it, and am actually kinds excited haha. I totally dropped the ball on getting something new together and waited till too late. I have last year's cool Ignis outfit, but it's pretty trashed from, well, last year's racing! So if I look like a mismatched freak in the Vineman pics, forgive me... and feel free to point and laugh.

*I'm deciding if I should bring my Vitamix. I'm not that obsessed to the point where I can't live without it, but I am being diligent about my beet juice loading. Started on Monday. I currently am hooked on a combo of raw, organic beets with carrots, orange, apple/or berries, spinach, apple cider vinegar, dash stevia (and sometimes a small scoop of green powder). So should I bring the Vitamix? Or pre-make drinks?

*I'm ahead on work so I can leave in peace. I love that feeling of not only being caught up, but ahead. Well, I don't think I'll ever be caught up, but with my immediate deadlines/duties I am dunzo with it all! That means, after the race, I can go spend a few days in Napa with very little on the to-do list except eat, drink, cruise on the bikes, flop in the water, etc.... I hope.

*I haven't packed. I am envious of efficient packers because I suck balls at packing. Actually, the triathlon part of the trip is by far the easiest. I can easily sit around in comfy clothes and race gear is a no-brainer. It's all the before and after stuff. I'm not that girly, but I do like to at least bring matching outfits appropriate for what we're doing... sigh.

*I'm glad I'm not like the old Tawnee. The old me at this point would be obsessing over who's in my division, and crunching numbers to see what I can pull off time-wise. Not this time. I'll control what I can control, and race my race. I know I'm fit, and I know from training what I'm capable of doing. Wherever that puts me in the rankings is really not my focus. 

*What I am focused on is nailing that run. I was talking with Lucho yesterday about the race, and he said at one point, "Don't be totally in the moment." I thought that was wise. In sports psych we're often told to "live in the moment," and to some degree that's important and true. But in endurance sports you can't blow off what's in your near future. I'll swim/bike like I need in order to run like I want.

*I miss my sweet potatoes. I'm eating fewer carbs this week -- like no sweet potato breakfast, which is otherwise standard -- because I'm training less and don't need all that. But, man, I love those things. I'll be bringing some up with us for Sat/Sun.

*I thought about blogging more about my pre-race diet but I'm kind of over it now. Bottom line is: It's really not that hard to clean up your diet if you have a goal. I'm pretty good with my eating as it is, but there are small tweaks here and there that are needed before a race. Basically cutting the crap. It's not like this is forever ;) Hm, wonder if I'll got for the burger/pizza combo after the race like I did at Rev3 Portland last year.

*Speaking of food, I'll be blogging about places we eat -- the healthy and not so healthy -- so stay tuned.

---

Pictures

I did Vineman in '09... here's a glimpse of me back then... 

Met a very special friend that day. 

Second 70.3 ever and fell in love with the sport even more.

It was a good swim (for me) here. Again, please?

Same bike, different helmet thank God haha

Still will be wearing those shades.

Got the podium and 70.3 Worlds.... :)

Supplements for Endurance Athletes (What I Take)

Ah, taper. Been a while since I've been on one of these! Vineman 70.3 this Sunday woot woot!!! For a brief moment last week I thought I was getting sick, and truthfully I think it was mental, knowing I didn't have to keep it together for tough training. It's amazing to me how we can mentally will ourselves through tough back-to-back days, but when you reach the "finish line" and ease up you become mush, and seemingly vulnerable to aches, pains, colds, etc. 


Of course, physiologically speaking, hard consecutive training days suppress the immune system leaving us susceptible to illness, so it's not completely a mental thing. (Blurb from one of my old blog posts: "Depending on the duration and intensity of a workout, after prolonged exercise (at least 1.5 hours) certain key immune cells dramatically decrease for hours leaving you at higher susceptibility to infection. This is known as "the open window" when infection risk is high..." read the rest here.)


What you put into your body can help you avoid sickness, stay strong in training, etc. First and foremost, quality whole foods and staying hydrated are vital, but supplements can fill in the gaps for us, especially endurance athletes.


While I don't think it's necessary to do a lot of supplements if your diet is well-rounded, there are certain things that endurance athletes, in particular, should consider. In the past couple years I've taken bits and pieces of what I need and what I know of sports nutrition, what I need based on tests (lab, field), and I've put together my own little "cocktail" of supplements. 


Here's what I take: 


Fish Oil/Omega-3: 1280-1920 mg per day (brand: Nordic naturals ultimate omega). Dosage depends on amount of training and amount of omega-3 through food that day. Fish oil and cod liver oil should be in everyone's diet as powerful anti-inflammatories and to balance our omega-3 to omega-6 ratio (omega-6 can promote inflammation).


Extreme Endurance (3-6 a day). We talk about this on our Endurance Planet podcast a lot. I was skeptical at first, but gave it a try and now I don't want to live without it :) I believe XEndurance truly helps me recover faster; it doesn't necessarily make "lactic acid" burn disappear, but I think it helps me to push harder than I would be able to otherwise.

Iron: 65 mg. I get blood tests every year, and a couple years ago I saw that my iron was in the "healthy range" but still low (below the healthy range is anemia). Supplementing has made a huge difference. Iron supplements shouldn't be taken unless there is a sound reason. Note: I do eat red meat too.

Magnesium/Calcium/Zinc: dosages vary (brand: Whole Foods). Magnesium is a mineral that's vital for endurance athletes, especially because we lose it in sweat and our bodies do not produce it on their own. It can help performance/energy levels, overall health, recovery, and much much more. I take mine with calcium and zinc.

Vitamin D: 1000-3000IU (brand: Whole Foods). Vitamin D helps with bone health, immunity, anti-inflammation and more. More people are deficient in this than you'd believe. A couple years ago, my levels were "normal" but low. Again, test your levels before you start supplementing. 

Norwegian Cod Liver Oil: 1,000mg caps (brand: Whole Foods). See notes on fish oil. Allen Lim (of Skratch Labs fame) first got me on this in 2010. I don't take this every day, but often.

CoQ10: 200mg (brand: Whole Foods). There is mixed research on this, but evidence shows it can help with cardiovascular health, which can help exercise performance, and anti-aging. 

Proteolytic Enzymes: 1-2 tbsp per day (brand: Crystal Plex by The Enzyme Company).  These have been a lifesaver for me, and proteolytic enzymes really deserves their own post! When I had my knee issues back in Feb/Mar, a physical therapist/triathlete friend turned me onto these. They are powerful at fighting inflammation and aiding in recovery. I use them religiously now. Be sure to take on empty stomach otherwise they'll be wasted on digestion!

Living Fuel: SuperGreens & SuperBerry Ultimate . I guess this qualifies as a supplement? I just started LF this year because I was sick of not being able to have a full rainbow of fresh food in my fridge, let alone all the greens I wanted. While I still rely on fresh foods first, the products by LF ensure that I'm getting an even wider array vitamins and nutrients found in whole foods. I've tried other green powders and whatnot, and this is by far the tastiest in my opinion! I even will simple mix the powder with almond or coconut milk for a creamy, yogurt-like treat. If you're interested in trying these let me know please!

To come: I'm also going to start adding back in an amino acid supplement, probably Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP). I do a podcast with Dr. David Minkoff who's behind this supplement, and I know a few people who take it. Sounds like it's worth trying!

---

When starting any supplement, be sure you know why you're taking it and if you really need it. Blood tests can help with many of these, or other at-home tests even. You have to be careful with dosages, and be sure to balance supplements with what you're getting in food. More is not always better. As you can see, there is a reason for all these supplements; it's not like I put my hand in a grab bag and blindly chose what to take because all the cool kids were doing it. 

Another key point: Read the ingredient label on a supplement before buying to make sure you avoid "bad" fillers. I once took a CoQ10 supplement from Costco and found out I was taking a lot of filler, such as soybean oil and who knows what else! That is nasty. Same goes for fish oils. Lower-priced fish oil pills are cheaper for a reason, they come from low-quality fish sources. You hear about wild vs. farm-raised in what you eat, well the same goes for the supplements! I am willing to spend a little more to put high-quality ingredients in my body.

Last but not least, don't be "that guy" who eats crappy because you supplement. Real, whole foods are always the priority!

---

I'd like to know... What do you take and why?

Return of the Triathlon Nerd

I'm so geeked out on triathlon right now. I am such a dork, I know! I think everyone around me is probably sick of hearing me blabber about triathlon this and that, so now I turn to blog world! First off, bam: I have another Ironman locked into my future! Ironman Lake Tahoe, set for September 2013. John and I were pretty much committed to signing up for IMC 2013, but when Tahoe came on the radar it was totally appealing, especially because the travel situation would be easier... never mind the altitude and potentially freezing water at Tahoe (crap).


I will be talking about some altitude-related blogs coming up so stay tuned... It's funny because everyone keeps saying to me, "Ya better start breathing through a straw in all your training." Sounds logical, but that's not really the way to adapt to the stresses of altitude. But we'll save that for later....

I also signed up for Oceanside 70.3 for next year too. Thank god blogging is free because those two race entries set me back over a grand. The price we pay to suffer together. Thankfully in both those races I'll have John and several of my athletes and friends out there too.

Brought the bikes on our trip to SLO for some epic riding!

But before I get all wrapped up in 2013, let's focus on the present. I've had the biggest race envy from everyone out there who's been tearing it up, but this year I've had to have patience for many reasons. Thankfully, it's my turn now. I get back to 70.3'ing at Vineman in a just over two weeks. It couldn't come at a better time because I feel like I've finally achieved some balance between work, training and "other" life (social, etc), and the biggest benefit of that has been quality training, lots of smiles, and some good recovery (see compex photo, pizza, etc lol).

In the midst of some crazy/fun training days a la Lucho, this is the last big week before taper starts and it's an important one, so I'll share the deets. I've done a handful of key 70.3 workouts -- pain cave to the max because I'm anything but "fresh" right now haha. (Granted I had a couple ez training days last weekend, but that's mostly because I was in Vegas for a bachelorette party, ouch. Btw, what's with Vegas? Even though I was totally the grandma of the group, Vegas still has a way of sucking out all your energy and leaving you feeling d.e.a.d.)

Compex. Recovery. It works.

Anyways, back to the training. Monday was tempo ocean swim/ez spin. Tuesday was a swim with a race-pace main set, followed by my favorite run workout ever: mile repeats. I haven't done mile repeats in a long time, and to be hitting sub-7 miles on a local trail in the heat of the day felt so good and motivating. It's been tough to make a quick comeback after being off running for most of Feb/Mar, but we've taken a smart approach back to running well.

Then yesterday it got even more gnarly: Long bike with 4x30' TTs on 5' recovery with a hard t-run. I've done this workout before, and wanted to do even better this time and really dial in race pace intensity/watts/speed on the TT and then follow it up with a race-pace run. So, the output I had during the TTs was especially pleasing. Let's just say my watts are way up from where they were last year (thanks MTB'ing!) and I felt efficient. Oddly I rode exactly 56 miles, which I didn't plan, and I did it in 2:43, including the easy WU/CD and recoveries. Onto the t-run. It was hot. Good practice because we all know Vineman can be dang hot! I held a 7:35 average pace for just under 10k through the rolling roads around my house. It was a successful workout, minus hydration/nutrition on the run. I got sloppy and didn't carry a bottle with me on the run, well in that heat that got me depleted quickly. Still a successful day, with a nice reward at the end....

I don't often get cravings for this, but when do and I've earned it, I give in :)

Today (Thurs) was a semi-easy day of swim/run. Tomorrow a hard bike/t-run. Saturday is a long race-pace swim and long tempo run, and Sunday is another day of TTs on the bike with a t-run. Oh joy! Actually, I can't wait because for once we have no other plans this weekend so I can just bury my head in the training and then die on my couch!