Boulder Peak Triathlon/ "Fun in the Sun"

I am glad I didn't get into the NYC Triathlon when I tried to sign up last year. That race produced its fair amount of casualties today, with pros doing the IM crawl across the finish, several people taken to hospitals for heat exhaustion,jellyfish stings, and even one unfortunate death. Temps supposedly topped out in the 90s there with a high amount of humidity, which I know can make things feel like 100+ degrees, especially in the city.

Today in Boulder, we did reach the 100 degree mark, but not till after the race, at least for most of us. I must say that my only goal going into Boulder Peak was to lower my time from last year, because I knew I could, and had to! I diligently rode Old Stage at least once a week all spring, usually straight from my house, with about 4 minutes to warm up before the climbing started. It seemed to pay off, as I was passing people going uphill today.

My AG was last to go off before the pros, with an additional delay of 20 minutes, making our official starting time 7:50a.m. At that point, I had gone pee in my wetsuit at least a dozen times and my skin had started pruning. At last we were off and my only goal for the swim was to not get pummeled. I almost lost sight of that about 10m in when once again, I wasn't being aggressive enough and started getting beat up by other swimmers. I managed to find my groove and stayed out of everyone's way by swimming on the side (which I realized half-way through the swim may not be such a good idea if you are trying to race and go the shortest route possible) and had a pretty smooth ride the rest of the way. Exited water with a new Swim PR.(some say the course was short, I like to believe it was accurate! :-))

After the usual debacle with the wetsuit, and it eating my left foot, I did get free and managed to get my bike going. I felt pretty good, thirsty, but able to push it. "Wait, this course went up Old Stage, maybe I should slow down. Screw it, just go with it" And so I did. I felt pretty strong riding up the monster hill and had a brief scare on the downhill when I swore I saw the radar gun pointed at me. Luckily I was never pulled off course and was put into the results. Whew. My ride was pretty fun, as Jax and I would trade off leading. I will miss that in the next race as Jax will be racing in Europe, this made time go by much quicker! We end back up in transition together and since we parked our bikes right next to one another, now also exit transition together again. At this point, it felt more like a training day, not a race. (which is awesome, since it took pressure off, which always seems to help me perform better)


Jax yells to me to "run my ass off" and we stay together for about a minute before I take off. "6 miles, OK, I can do this." I actually feel pretty good in the lower region, and as I start my game of "pick-up" (as in picking up people on the course) I need to remind myself that I will feel shitty in time, and that I need not push it just yet. I am getting cheered left and right and it feels great. I can't see anyone, I am just focusing on aid stations as my need for cold water is increasing with every heartbeat. The sun is in full force and I can definitely tell. I arrive at the turn-around and start to feel it. There it is, that reliable feeling that wants you to quit- I can always rely on it. Thanks to some more positive vibes from fellow runners I am able to think positively, and maybe even secure myself an AG win, all the while singing along to some song that is stuck in my head. Before I know it I am left with a mile to go, and although I can barely see out of my sweat encrusted glasses and have all kinds of messes hanging from my face, I try to give it a push to look "strong", coming down the home stretch. It works, people are yelling at me that I am fast, I am so fast! lol. Finally, relief. I reach the finish and collapse. It's very hot. I have just PR'd in all three disciplines over last year's performance. I also got the AG win and later even discovered to have placed 2nd amateur female overall to Superstar Brooke, as well as 8th female including the pros. Not a bad day. And best of all, I tolerated the heat OK, which makes me happy, because I have been torturing myself training in it the past few weeks, and it seems to be working. I am thoroughly hydrated as well- go me! Just the eating part needs some help... no food at all during race. However, I never felt a need and I was fine. Will def. need to work on that, 4th discipline!


After a warm dip in the rez post race I headed over to watch the very impressive men's and women's pro races, and felt their pain every step of that horrid hot 10k run. This course is hard, and even harder in the heat. Nice job to everyone I know that raced, you are warriors!



Now the real fun starts- Kona training!

Cabbage Head Duathlon

This past saturday marked the last race in the Mile High Duathlon Series, put on by Racing Underground, and lets just say it went out with a bang! I definitely worked harder than before for my 2nd place finish there. All the girls must have done a good amount of studying pre-race to know how fast they needed to go to beat out others, in order to get a piece of the series prize money.

After an early start and several trips to the porta potties/bathrooms, I got a brief warmup in on the course and then it was go-time. (but only after another brief sitting, this time in back of a barn.. I hope no one saw me, they probably would fine me in Wiggins) This race was like the first in the series: 5k/30k/5k. It was bound to hurt. Jocelyn was also there to keep the pace honest, should any of us find the men's pace too slow.

I went through the first mile in roughly 5:43 and knew right then and there that this race would hurt. Jocelyn led the way for the women with a frightening fast first 5k(well, actually 3-mile) split, followed by me about 20 secs later. After what always seems like years of getting situated on my bike, I was off and out on the roads for a flat 18mi ride. I thought I was a rocket, because every time I looked at my computer it was never below 23mph. However, my bike split equaled that of Barkin Dog.(kinda slow) Weird. Second run and I was still in second and about 35 secs back from the leader. The men were already finishing up at this point but I still had a painful 3 miles to go. Trying to move my body forward, I managed to close the gap, but not enough as Jocelyn ended up crossing the line 14 seconds ahead of me. It always amazes me that I can still manage a respectable second run clip, even though I feel as though I am crawling. And perhaps if I actually did some speedwork, I'd have a final kick.

Our efforts paid off as I ended up winning the series and some much-needed cash. Second place went to Jax, well deserved, considering she did the race on empty, not feeling well. This coming weekend is Boulder's most famous triathlon, the Peak, and you can expect all of us there, ready to show the devil on Old Stage who's faster! (probably the devil, ha)

Thanks to Jax and bf for taking and sending race pics! :-) And thank you to my chauffeur as well for getting up with me before the crack of dawn!


Time to start thinking about Kona, less than 13 weeks and I have yet to increase my mileage on run and bike...

Oh, and I had a brownie the night before the race, along with a brownie after the race, and it was delicious! :-)

Water wars and pros and cons of brownie bites

I did Stroke and Stride tonight. It was war. I managed my slowest ever open water swim, minus the time I didn't have a wetsuit yet. I am estimating there were about 350 people out there. I lined myself up near the middle of the front, hoping not to get squished once the gun went off. The gun went off and things stayed relatively calm around me. Well, until we got about 100m into the swim and people who had lined up towards the front but weren't fast swimmers, started to drop, creating a sweet obstacle course for those that were behind. That was the first time I got frustrated.

I keep swimming and think to myself that this is freakin' Stroke and Stride, not a triathlon where I need to be in top form. Wham, I get hit in the head... I am swimming between two people now and I can't get out of the sandwich. There are caps and bodies everywhere! I started to feel a little uncomfortable. This is before we reach the first buoy. I make it to the buoy and come to a complete stop, trying to avoid the breast strokers from jamming into me. Wham, I get kicked in the stomach from the right and hit over the head from the left. Flashbacks from the video two posts back rush to my head and it feels as though 20 paddles are whacking me from all different directions. God, why are people so aggressive on these swims? I mean, I felt like I was in a washing machine.

Things never let up and I swam the entire second lap behind some girl in a yellow cap who would just not let me by her, and every time I got close to her feet, would kick as hard as she could and then slow down again. I start flinging all kinds of curse words at her and others (in my head only ofcourse, as it seems every time I open my mouth I breathe in water) We spent a good amount wasting time by zizagging across the water. To top it off, tsunami-like waves appeared on the second lap, making it almost impossible to move forward. Ugh, I try to laugh about this, but it's kinda depressing, because I seem to spend so much time in the pool trying to swim faster (it may not appear that way, but I do try!), but when I get out to these events, it comes down to who can smack the hardest, and be the biggest bully. Unfortunately, that's not me. Even in running races in college, I would get elbowed at the start of the 1500 because I didn't dare to throw my elbow. I guess I just need to grow some b___s and start up front next time and hang on for dear life on someone's feet. Hopefully I can find a good pair for next weekend!

Also, I am kind of bothered by the way some athletes think about food. Lets get one thing straight here: We triathletes NEED to eat to perform. Food is our fuel and we deserve to eat it! I mean some days I probably don't even break even with calorie deficits. And yes, most of that food should be healthy fuel, but I think it's OK to have the occasional slip-up and have that ice cream and chocolate (as I do most every night-ha) because, when the heck else would we be allowed to eat it if not for being the machines that we are? I can understand that sedentary people should probably stay away from the empty calories, but for us athletes it really only counts as more fuel for the furnace to burn! So to hear some people say that sweets are bad and that we should stay away from them, just kind of rubs me the wrong way. There is a very fine line between eating healthy and balanced and overdoing it. I for one NEVER count calories, NEVER weigh myself and pretty much eat what I like. Yes, maybe my "muffin top" wouldn't be there if I cut off my calories at 8 p.m. every night. Unfortunately that's not possible because most nights I don't even get home till then. However, I do see the connection between being SUPER lean and improved performance, especially for ITU atheletes, such as the ones I ran behind this morning. (yes they looked like gazelles)

So it's that fine line, some may call it total and utter commitment to the sport, but I prefer to train hard and have my fun too! And I do believe that in the long run, such as my first IM later this year, it will help me to have those extra stored calories around to rely on when mile 20 comes around. This turned into a whole stream of consciousness, wow.

Now on a lighter note- check out this site for a few good laughs: www.failblog.org