Rice Street Mile (PR Mile) then another PR mile today 7/30/12 at CF!

I decided to sign up for this after an upsetting Chisago Half Ironman race (more mentally then physically). I tried to got a friend to sign up but she couldn't make it, so I decided I am going to go for it and see what I've got when it comes to speed. I did the Nicollet Mall road mile last year on a wim in about a 6:03 pace, and this was my first official road race, and first time doing the Rice Street Mile. I didn't have a lot of expectation going into the race coming off the half on Sunday, which was good. I warmed up with the MN red group which was fun since I hadn't run with them in a long time. 3mile warm up was good with some strides. The mile started off fast, and that initial 400 was a shock to the system. I tried to hold back a bit, my first 800 was a 2:48. I finished fairly strong passed a girl or two for a PR of 5:37 per my watch, but 5:40 chip time. 6th overall. The hill at the end up, then down was a really nice way to finish. I was really happy with my time. A huge booster, and I'm so glad I decided to sign up. Sometimes you just have to go for it, even if alone. Then today 7/30/2012, CF WOD PR mile 5:18 but the course was .96, so figure about 5:31, this time around I was coughing for a long time, but wow another PR mile, I will take it! =) Huge improvement from past year.

Chisago Halfiron 7/22/12

I don't even know where to begin...

This was a struggle pretty much from the beginning, but definitely the run challenged me more mentally then I can really remember in a long time. Chisago is a pretty chaotic race, but Kim and I got there early enough and I knew exactly where my bike spot was which made it a lot less stressful.

My legs were feeling a little heavy on the warm up run, but I didn't think too much of it. The swim was wetsuit legal which was a surprise since it has been so hot lately and I was swimming a lot with no wetsuit.

Swim went pretty smoothly I thought, I was getting pretty tired with my arms about 3/4 of the way, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I got my goggles knocked off a bit, but I had them underneath the swim cap which was good.

Bike was when it got rough. Lots of head wind, no speedometer (forgot to put it on the day before), and just plain tired legs. I tried not to exert too much but felt like if I slowed down anymore I'd barely be going over 20mph, so I pushed even with the wind, and maybe payed for it on the run.

The run was brutal, probably started at about mile 7. After seeing that I pretty much had no chance of breaking 5hrs, I sort of gave up. I still kept trying to keep a good mental attitude, but I was tired, hot, and physically drained. I guess I pretty much just gave up mentally and everything went downhill from there. I finished, but had never felt so fatigued (the below picture captures the "pain cave" very well). This almost felt as hard the the IM today. I guess everyone has a bad race, and sometimes there is really no reason or explanation. It is what it is...

Results: 38:07. (1:58) T1 1:45 02:44:15.4 (20.4) T2 1:24.8 Run 01:45:16.6 (8:02) Total 05:10:50.6 10th OA, 1st AG.

Minneman Sprint 6/30/2012 (A WIENER!)

I love, love, love this race. It's short and flat, and there are always so many people I know. This year was no different, accept there was a Oly course also. The Oly was essentially two loops of the Sprint, but since they had to make the Oly official the sprint was a bit longer compared to last year. No major issues before the race, but just a few during the race. Got to warm up with a few friends, and was feeling fairly fresh. The temps have been really high lately (in the 90s), and I wasn't sure if the swim would be wetsuit legal, but it somehow was. The swim went fairly well, except that it was pretty shallow, and I don't know how to dolphin dive so that made it a bit interesting. Also when I came out of the water a ref tapped me and said "do you want this" it was my chip!!! No idea when and how it came off, but thank god he gave it to me, oops! Bike went well, I was using the disc wheels for the third time this year. I decided to go with the disc instead of the 808 because I remember this course being flat and not very windy. Using the disc was a good choice! I came in about 5th out of the water and into T2 in 2nd place after the bole. Both Greta and I went a bit off course, and had to turn around which was yet another thing that hasn't happened to me along with the chip incident. Run also went fairly well. I was sitting in second and could see April in front, I tried to pick up the pace and was able to get ahead a little after the turn around. When we did the turn around I was a little but not too surprised to see Jenny Wilcox very close. I knew Jenny was an amazing runner, and we came out of the water together and I never saw her on the bike. So within about 1 to 2min after that Jenny made her move and went in front of me. I thought to myself, I am going to try to hang with her and if I feel there is no way, then I'll back off. To my total surprise I was ok hanging with Jenny, so I thought I'm going to stay right next to her and try to make my move when we get closer. I was being very conservative because I didn't want to totally blow out, so the race came to the end where me and Jenny were sprinting to the finish and I was able to hold on to first place by ONLY one sec!!! It was the most epic finish I've ever been apart of, and it was awesome! I was hunched over a bit at the finish, Jenny pushed me hard. It was great! Both Jenny and I did go slightly off course until Gabe yelled at me straight, straight! Thank you Gabe =) Lots of little things happening this race, chip, going a bit off course on the bike, then the run just slightly. I was able to come out with a win though and it felt good to pull through. Jenny and everyone else in the sprint and Oly did awesome! It was a hot, hot day too! It was really fun to race with so many people I knew! Cool down was with Kort which was nice because I was trying to do a longer cool down and she had to do a 6mile cool down, perfect! Results: 13:40 (1:34) T1 1:42 34:49 (22.9) t21:08 19:48 (6:23) Total 1:11:04

Rochesterfest Oly 6/17/2012

We drove to the race the morning of, getting up at 430am wasn't bad, but the drive was long (1.5hrs) and I sort of got tired during the drive. We got to the race nice and early (6:40am or so) since I had to pick up my packet the same day. By 7am I was ready to go on my warm up run. The weather was really nice, not hot and sunny. The swim was a two loop swim, where you come out of the water after the first loop and go right back in for the Oly distance.

Right when I started to swim I felt tired, not really tired, but I was feeling off. I was trying to focus more on form and sort of "tuned out". I've never felt so calm in a swim because no one was around me which was really nice. Coming out of the water we had to run on the sand which took a lot of energy out of me as well.

The bike was hilly and windy, but a really nice course with nice roads. I was using the 808 wheels for the back, Damon borrowed me, but because I was so tired it was hard to tell if they were helping or not. I was feeling the burning sensation in my legs almost right away on the bike, almost like the lactate wasn't clearing or something like that. The bike was rough, not sure if it was the course or the way I felt, or maybe combo of both.

Then it was the run, which was a similar story. I was on auto pilot mode pretty much the whole time. I knew I was in forth place with the third place, Katherine, a ways ahead and I had really no energy to try to catch up, so I just tried to stay strong and focus again on my form. The run course was nice, not hilly and some shaded parts. It got pretty hot towards the end of the run. I finished and sort of stood there hunched over for a second. I hadn't felt so drained before doing a shorter race, but today was just that sort of day I guess.

Finished forth overall but a lot slower time compared to last weekend at Liberty. I think the bike course was longer because I remember seeing the 24mile marker and it seemed way longer than another .8 miles making it an even 40K, but then again I heard the Liberty bike course was maybe shorter. All in all it was a good effort for the day for me, and I can at least walk away knowing if I was feeling it I could have done way better. All apart of racing though, you never know how you will feel or what might happen, they key is to walk with something positive.

*First time winning some MULA for forth place, can't complain =)*

Results: 4th overall female 28:55:00 1.5K swim T1 1:39 1:13:04 (20.1 mph) T2 1:03 45:11 Time time 2:29:(7:16 pace).

First Tri of 2012 (Liberty Oly 6/9/2012 (best bike average ever, and 10KPR)

This was a fairly new distance for me. I haven't really raced the Oly distance since 2010, and I have only done two Oly in my entire tri "career". I wanted to do a few Oly's this year and see how I'd like this distance. So I did just that by registering for the Liberty Oly instead of the half like last year. The location was different this year in Rockford and swim in Lake Rebecca. All in all I was excited for the new distance and the first tri of 2012! Swim went fairly well for me, I tried to stay close to the buoys, and also for the first time sort of drafted off a few people on several different occasions (I think). Bike started out a bit tough, I was using the disc wheel on the back and another HED on the front and noticed that if I went at least 22mph it was easy to keep it going, but if I'd drop to below that it was hard to keep the pace. The bike was an out and back in a way with some rolling hills but nothing horrible. And on the way back I was cruising, with some wind at my back. The bike went fairly well, and I forced myself to eat a gel or half a gel, to make sure I had some energy on the run. The bike course was really nice and the roads were really well kept and smooth, which was great. The run was HILLY, a lot of rollers, but shaded. It was a hot day, about 90 degrees and sunny and humid. The run was most likely the toughest part with the heat and hills, but I just tried to keep going even though I was alone for the majority of the run. I liked also that the run was an out and back so you could see the people going out on the run and cheer them on. I felt bad because I was so out of breath and dying I would barely say good job or thank you to people passing by on the other side...

All in all I was happy with how I did, second overall. The girl who beat me is an unbelievable swimmer, I wish I could be like her! Results: 29:35 (1:49) T1 1:12 1:02:26 (23.8) 0:44 T2 42:08 (6:47) Total Time 2:16:03

Apple Du 5/26/2012 (sub 20min 5K PR!)

Highlights of the race: Long drive, race is in Sartell. Really well run with the volunteers. Nice bike route but flat. I took Osc to the race because Gabe couldn't make it, and my friend Kim was going to meet me to come watch. I warmed up with Oscar which was fun for him and he got to say hi to all of his fans =) It was fun starting with the super super fast girl in the Elite Wave, I didn't do too bad coming in 4th after the first run. Then lost my 4th place to Tina a really talented triathlete, held steady for 5th overall. My goal was to break 20min in the 5K this race which I did, the bike I felt alright much better after the first 10miles. The course was super flat with a few rolling hills. It started to pour about half way into the bike, and that wasn't fun because my arms and hands froze completely. Into T2 I couldn't undue my helmet, so the time there wasn't too great, once I got on the second run I was feeling off, cold, numb, uncomfortable. My second run was horrible, almost 2min slower than the first run. Not sure if it was the conditions or I just lost focus, but I wasn't too pleased with my time off the bike. Overall it was a great race and I am looking at the positive of breaking 20min in the 5K and also setting forth some goals to maybe focus more on the bricks.

Next up is Liberty first tri of the season! Results 5th Overall Woman 5K, 19:28 (6:16 pace) 33K bike 58:25 21.1 5K run 21:52 7:03 Total time 1:41.46

Season Opener 2012, Oakdale Duathlon...5/12/2012

The day was beautiful, sunny skies and 60's. Unlike last year for sure. I was really excited to race, but was feeling a little off with my stomach after eating some "abnormal" food the night before. I say abnormal because we've been trying to eat more meat and veggies, more of a Paleo style diet. After eating spaghetti and bread (although some of the spaghetti was gluten free) I was sort of feeling bloated by the end of the night and into the morning. The stomach didn't bother me though much once the race started. Highlights of the race: First time using race wheels, awesome!! First run felt great, 5:48 first mile eeek... Bike didn't feel good at all. Just couldn't get the rhythm down and my legs had that burning sensation the whole time, like I couldn't flush the lactate out... Second run was pretty good. At first I was struggling with my hammys being sore but then a few minutes in it wasn't all that bad. I finished in 4th, 3min PR from last year. 1:14:36 3mile run 19:12 (6:24) 0:40 T1 14mile bike 37:19 (22.5) 0:41 T2 2.8 run 16:47 (6:43) 1:14:37 Total Time Key Takeaways: Pay attention when your wave goes off, I missed the elite wave and had to start in the second wave with the men. Maybe that's why I ran that first mile so fast.