See part two here
At this point I'm leaving transition to start the run. I've now taken my bike shorts off and have on my spiffy SkirtSports running skirt so I'm feelin spunky :) For the first maybe 1/2 - 1 mile or so my feet felt numb. I think part of it is being in the bike shoes and I think part of it for this race was that it was cool in the morning so my feet were a little chilled. Before the race my dream goal was to run a 1:45 which is 8 min/mile. I knew that would be tough so I just decided I'd try my best in this first go and see how close I could get. I maintained close to 8:10's for a while
and found a guy who was running my pace so I hung next to him for a while and finally he chatted me up and told me I was pacing him. Whoa buddy you are supposed to be pacing me :) Worked out good except that he was on his second lap and I was just starting my first so I lost him about half way through my run and was on my own. At this point I was also getting a little fatigued so I know I dropped my pace. I was just trying to stay in the 8's and use the downhill's as best I could. The last mile I still felt decent so I was picking it up and ran the last mile sub 8 minute and know I did the last 1/4 mile as fast as I could. The run is still my comfort zone and where I feel strongest. I was passing people on the run almost the whole time which is a huge confidence booster and for sure I was passing people on that last half mile and it felt great. I felt good about my time of 1:49:42 even though it fell short of my goal.
After the race when we were walking through everyone who was post race relaxing a guy said "Hey, I think you were running in front of me for a while; you were pacing me except you totally smoked me at the end". Um, hell yeah I did! I mean; that is great I'm glad I could pace you :)
Overall I loved this race. Part of it is the course and that it is "home turf" for me. I've got the bug now and want to do another half Ironman for sure. I'd love to improve my times; my overall fitness and FOR SURE my comfort
in the water so I don't have as much anxiety going into it. I'm
looking at the calendar to pick out my next race. Dave's been asking if
I'm ready to sign up for a full Ironman and I'm sure I'm "ready" but not
mentally ready just yet. I need to make sure I can mentally get through
a 2.4 mile swim and sit on my bike seat for close to 7 hours. Other than that I'm totally ready :) So we'll see what the rest of this year holds.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
California Ironman 70.3 race recap - part 2
This is part 2 of the recap - see part 1 here
The gun goes off and its time to start swimming. This is my first swim like this. The only other triathlon I've done was a surf entry...meaning you ran in from the beach. This one we're all hanging out in the water and when the gun goes off you swim. So, I know from talking to Dave this is nothing as far as mass starts go but it still takes a little getting used to. Basically as soon as you start you are either being swam over or you are swimming over/into someone else. I had a hard time finding a spot for a little while meaning I was either always hitting someones heels or someone was on me and it was kind of hard to get in a swim groove. That on top of the fact that I really am still not a very comfortable swimmer made for a little bit of a panic situation. I just had a really hard time getting my breath and so I stopped a few times to look around and try to find a spot and to just breathe and try to talk to myself and remind myself I could do this. I did look around and think there is no way I can swim like this for 1.2 miles. Then I'd say "stop it Kandis; you trained; you can do this...keep swimming!" so then I'd put my head back down and swim. I spent probably the first 1/4 of the swim in panic mode. This includes fast breathing, pulling my head out of the water a lot, swallowing water, wanting to quit etc . There was finally a point at which I got in a rhythm and just swam. This felt amazing to me. Like a mini breakthrough. I was finally just swimming and not stopping to freak out. LOVE! I am sure I was not swimming fast but the point is I was consistently swimming. At this point I knew I was good to go and I could make it. I have to mention that at this point I was swum over by at least the wave behind me if not 2 waves behind me but no matter... I was still swimming :) After we rounded the turnaround buoy it got a little choppy but at this point I was settled in so it was ok. I pulled my head fully out a few times to try to get a good sighting on the buoy's but was doing good with breathing. I knew now I only had 1/2 mile to go. I was all good. It wasn't until the last probably 1/4 of the swim that I finally thought.. um HELLO this is a race why don't you start RACING. Which for my swim is kind of a misnomer but I tried to give it all I could for that last bit and it was great. Towards the very end I started to get some calf cramps. Like totally seizing up cramps where it just felt like a weight but I wasn't too worried because I could stretch my foot and I knew I was almost done. I was so excited I had made it! The end got a little congested again as everyone is turning right to exit out of the swim ramp and so I did some attempt at swimming but did a lot of heads up doggy paddling trying to find room. Made it to the ramp and was SO relieved. My legs felt a little tight but I got out and started jogging up the ramp. Swim = 49:02.
Ok; T1 was SLOW. I'm not talking like an extra minute or so slow I'm talking a whole 12 minutes of transitioning. This is ridiculous and I'm not even sure what the hell I could have been doing for 12 minutes in there. <>. I know I took a little time to throw some fresh water on my face and under my arms to get the salt off and so my arms wouldn't chafe with salt later on. I think I could skip this next time. I also put on sleeves for riding because it was cool out and since my arms were wet it was very hard to get them on. I also put some sunscreen on my face but this was after I put my sunglasses on so I smudged them so this meant I had to clean them off with the little lens wipe I had set out in my transition area in case this happened :) You'd think I was just going out for a nice slow Sunday ride or something. I also was a little in a daze still from the swim and I got sort of caught up listening to another girl talk to her friends while she was transitioning and I'm not sure why but I think I might have been staring at her. I am absolutely sure this looked very creepy. I have no idea why I was so involved in her transition. Again...I was in a daze :)
I then finally started to jog out of transition with my bike which was hard with my bike shoes on so I walked. Once I got on the bike and started riding I noticed my butt area where it connected to my leg muscles felt sore/tight in the beginning but it loosened. It felt good to be on the bike at this point. I almost immediately started eating which is noticeable in my race photos as it looks like I'm always cleaning my teeth. Nice! I think I was rewarding myself for surviving the swim and wanting to get some nutrition in early. I am so glad I packed a few Picky Bars cut up in my little bento box because it was great to have something to chew and not just eat gels and gu's for the whole ride. It just gave me something to look forward to. I know a lot of more competitive racers just do blocks or gu or gels mixed in their water bottles but I have to say I loved having a little solid nutrition. I felt good on the bike and was just counting down the miles. Dave had taped a pace chart on my bike so I could see how I was against my loose goal. It really motivated me when I realized I was ahead of pace. So I just kept telling myself to keep pushing. I have to say I really loved the bike on this race. There were some hills but nothing too crazy. Just one "major" hill that definitely looks like a beast when you are approaching but is do-able.
You do see a lot of people walking their bikes up this hill which just looks painful to me because then it takes you soooo long to get up it. The hill looks huge coming up to it and definitely is a challenge but once you are on it you just commit. I was lamenting the pain of the hill with fellow riders as I'd ride past them :) Notice that...when I'd ride PAST them. Yup I passed a few people on this hill. I was dying to use some version of the phrase "Let's make this hill our bitch" or "we totally made that hill our bitch". For some reason that was rolling around in my head and I was seriously looking around for someone to share this gem with but I wasn't sure who any of these people were and I figured I'd just look like a crazy.
This reminds me. I asked Dave if he talks to himself in his head (or out loud) during the bike portion and he said yeah sometimes and I can't remember the example he gave but it was literally like 1 time he'd talk to himself. I am almost constantly thinking of a joke, trying to find someone to say something funny to.. talking out loud to myself.. singing a song in my head (or out loud). It's like this constant show in my head. I'm kind of a dork on the bike. At one point out-loud I said "it smells like horses" but I said it unintentionally with a Temple Grandin accent (if you haven't see that movie on HBO its definitely worth it). I made myself laugh out loud when I heard the way I said it.
At the end of the bike I didn't feel too spent but was definitely ready to be done. My neck still gets really sore so I need to figure out if that is a positioning thing or just me. Finished the bike in 3:30:30.
It was a great feeling to bike back into town and roll into transition with all the spectators and at this point you also rode right next to the run course so I could see other people out there running. In fact on my way in I saw Dave's brother running so I yelled out to him. This transition was still slow but not as bad as my first one! Got all my stuff on and it almost felt too easy. Like I was forgetting something. I didn't really have much to do so I took off for the run on my lead feet.
to be continued.........
The gun goes off and its time to start swimming. This is my first swim like this. The only other triathlon I've done was a surf entry...meaning you ran in from the beach. This one we're all hanging out in the water and when the gun goes off you swim. So, I know from talking to Dave this is nothing as far as mass starts go but it still takes a little getting used to. Basically as soon as you start you are either being swam over or you are swimming over/into someone else. I had a hard time finding a spot for a little while meaning I was either always hitting someones heels or someone was on me and it was kind of hard to get in a swim groove. That on top of the fact that I really am still not a very comfortable swimmer made for a little bit of a panic situation. I just had a really hard time getting my breath and so I stopped a few times to look around and try to find a spot and to just breathe and try to talk to myself and remind myself I could do this. I did look around and think there is no way I can swim like this for 1.2 miles. Then I'd say "stop it Kandis; you trained; you can do this...keep swimming!" so then I'd put my head back down and swim. I spent probably the first 1/4 of the swim in panic mode. This includes fast breathing, pulling my head out of the water a lot, swallowing water, wanting to quit etc . There was finally a point at which I got in a rhythm and just swam. This felt amazing to me. Like a mini breakthrough. I was finally just swimming and not stopping to freak out. LOVE! I am sure I was not swimming fast but the point is I was consistently swimming. At this point I knew I was good to go and I could make it. I have to mention that at this point I was swum over by at least the wave behind me if not 2 waves behind me but no matter... I was still swimming :) After we rounded the turnaround buoy it got a little choppy but at this point I was settled in so it was ok. I pulled my head fully out a few times to try to get a good sighting on the buoy's but was doing good with breathing. I knew now I only had 1/2 mile to go. I was all good. It wasn't until the last probably 1/4 of the swim that I finally thought.. um HELLO this is a race why don't you start RACING. Which for my swim is kind of a misnomer but I tried to give it all I could for that last bit and it was great. Towards the very end I started to get some calf cramps. Like totally seizing up cramps where it just felt like a weight but I wasn't too worried because I could stretch my foot and I knew I was almost done. I was so excited I had made it! The end got a little congested again as everyone is turning right to exit out of the swim ramp and so I did some attempt at swimming but did a lot of heads up doggy paddling trying to find room. Made it to the ramp and was SO relieved. My legs felt a little tight but I got out and started jogging up the ramp. Swim = 49:02.
Ok; T1 was SLOW. I'm not talking like an extra minute or so slow I'm talking a whole 12 minutes of transitioning. This is ridiculous and I'm not even sure what the hell I could have been doing for 12 minutes in there. <
I then finally started to jog out of transition with my bike which was hard with my bike shoes on so I walked. Once I got on the bike and started riding I noticed my butt area where it connected to my leg muscles felt sore/tight in the beginning but it loosened. It felt good to be on the bike at this point. I almost immediately started eating which is noticeable in my race photos as it looks like I'm always cleaning my teeth. Nice! I think I was rewarding myself for surviving the swim and wanting to get some nutrition in early. I am so glad I packed a few Picky Bars cut up in my little bento box because it was great to have something to chew and not just eat gels and gu's for the whole ride. It just gave me something to look forward to. I know a lot of more competitive racers just do blocks or gu or gels mixed in their water bottles but I have to say I loved having a little solid nutrition. I felt good on the bike and was just counting down the miles. Dave had taped a pace chart on my bike so I could see how I was against my loose goal. It really motivated me when I realized I was ahead of pace. So I just kept telling myself to keep pushing. I have to say I really loved the bike on this race. There were some hills but nothing too crazy. Just one "major" hill that definitely looks like a beast when you are approaching but is do-able.
You do see a lot of people walking their bikes up this hill which just looks painful to me because then it takes you soooo long to get up it. The hill looks huge coming up to it and definitely is a challenge but once you are on it you just commit. I was lamenting the pain of the hill with fellow riders as I'd ride past them :) Notice that...when I'd ride PAST them. Yup I passed a few people on this hill. I was dying to use some version of the phrase "Let's make this hill our bitch" or "we totally made that hill our bitch". For some reason that was rolling around in my head and I was seriously looking around for someone to share this gem with but I wasn't sure who any of these people were and I figured I'd just look like a crazy.
This reminds me. I asked Dave if he talks to himself in his head (or out loud) during the bike portion and he said yeah sometimes and I can't remember the example he gave but it was literally like 1 time he'd talk to himself. I am almost constantly thinking of a joke, trying to find someone to say something funny to.. talking out loud to myself.. singing a song in my head (or out loud). It's like this constant show in my head. I'm kind of a dork on the bike. At one point out-loud I said "it smells like horses" but I said it unintentionally with a Temple Grandin accent (if you haven't see that movie on HBO its definitely worth it). I made myself laugh out loud when I heard the way I said it.
At the end of the bike I didn't feel too spent but was definitely ready to be done. My neck still gets really sore so I need to figure out if that is a positioning thing or just me. Finished the bike in 3:30:30.
It was a great feeling to bike back into town and roll into transition with all the spectators and at this point you also rode right next to the run course so I could see other people out there running. In fact on my way in I saw Dave's brother running so I yelled out to him. This transition was still slow but not as bad as my first one! Got all my stuff on and it almost felt too easy. Like I was forgetting something. I didn't really have much to do so I took off for the run on my lead feet.
to be continued.........
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
2012 Oceanside 70.3 - my first half Ironman
-LONG recap from California Ironman 70.3 back in April.-
I did it! I signed up for; trained and successfully completed my first 1/2 iron distance triathlon. It was great! I had so many concerns, nerves and doubts approaching the day of the race but it turned out better than I thought it would. I actually really really enjoyed it. The swim is still my mental nemesis but that is totally on me to fix and within my realm of possibilities to make it more comfortable.
I'll start from the morning. We woke up super early to ensure we got time to get things going and organized and get out the door. We had 3 other triathlon participants staying with us at the house so it was a lot of triathlon 'stuff' around. Once we got our bellies full and made sure our bags were all packed appropriately and our bikes were pumped up we loaded our 2 cars and headed to the start.
This year they changed the race so that your T1 and T2 (transition from swim to bike and then bike to run) were in 2 different places. I liked how it worked actually. It seemed to give you a decent amount of space to have your gear. The only thing that was a little tricky was that T2 was where you were to go first to park and either drop off your run gear or check on it if you dropped off the day before (which we had) .... then you had to ride your bike with your bike gear bag and your wetsuit and swim gear in your morning bag. Me riding in the semi-dark with 2 bags and a ton of other people walking / riding their way to the start area made it a little stressful. I was SURE I was going to crash because I was trying to figure out how to hold these 2 bags while holding my handlebars. Somehow I made it safely with no crashes.
I could totally feel the energy in the air and was starting to get so excited! I've only spectated this event before but always fall in love with the energy in the morning and on race morning for me it felt even more palpable. So once I made it to T2; Dave and I parted ways for a bit so we could each go setup. I found my bike rack and had plenty of space. I chatted a bit with other ladies in my area and was feeling better because there was a mix of people just as nervous (if not more) than I plus another handful of those more experienced trying to tell us it was going to be awesome.
I made sure my bike gear was all laid out the way I wanted and my snack box was loaded and then kinda mulled around a bit because I didn't have much to do. I finally decided to get into the bottom part of my wetsuit and then go check on the boys who happened to all be in the same area. This part was weird for me because I felt like I should be doing something but really I was just in waiting mode. Dave and his brother and friend started about 20 minutes before me so I made sure I had my morning clothes bag to drop off on my way out of transition and we headed down towards the start area. I loved that I had a 20 minute delay behind them because that way I could spend a little time at the port-o-potties ;) After that it was time for me to fully dress and get in line.
This part was a tad confusing for me and probably mostly because I wasn't really looking hard or paying attention to time but the start was in waves and my wave had pink caps but the line to the swim start was just a long line and you kinda had to look ahead and shimmy your way until you seemed to be surrounded by your color caps. Luckily I seemed to do that fairly easy and was just now waiting and we slowly walked like a herd of sheep down towards the water. I was getting anxious and also my feet were starting to hurt because the walkway down to the water was not carpeted and seemed to be kind of rocky. I think it helped to take my mind off the swim though :) We finally made it to the ramp where the guy handling the waves was separating everyone. I think each wave had maybe 3 minutes between them.. So as soon as the wave ahead of you got the gun you were allowed into the water to swim to the start 'line' where the people sitting on surf boards was sort of holding everyone back until the gun goes off. This was my chance to get my arms moving a bit on the way to the start line and try to loosen up. Just enough time but not too much that I started to stress. At this point I knew it was too late to turn back. Then the gun goes off!!!
To be continued.........
I did it! I signed up for; trained and successfully completed my first 1/2 iron distance triathlon. It was great! I had so many concerns, nerves and doubts approaching the day of the race but it turned out better than I thought it would. I actually really really enjoyed it. The swim is still my mental nemesis but that is totally on me to fix and within my realm of possibilities to make it more comfortable.
I'll start from the morning. We woke up super early to ensure we got time to get things going and organized and get out the door. We had 3 other triathlon participants staying with us at the house so it was a lot of triathlon 'stuff' around. Once we got our bellies full and made sure our bags were all packed appropriately and our bikes were pumped up we loaded our 2 cars and headed to the start.
(from day before dropping off run gear)
This year they changed the race so that your T1 and T2 (transition from swim to bike and then bike to run) were in 2 different places. I liked how it worked actually. It seemed to give you a decent amount of space to have your gear. The only thing that was a little tricky was that T2 was where you were to go first to park and either drop off your run gear or check on it if you dropped off the day before (which we had) .... then you had to ride your bike with your bike gear bag and your wetsuit and swim gear in your morning bag. Me riding in the semi-dark with 2 bags and a ton of other people walking / riding their way to the start area made it a little stressful. I was SURE I was going to crash because I was trying to figure out how to hold these 2 bags while holding my handlebars. Somehow I made it safely with no crashes.
I could totally feel the energy in the air and was starting to get so excited! I've only spectated this event before but always fall in love with the energy in the morning and on race morning for me it felt even more palpable. So once I made it to T2; Dave and I parted ways for a bit so we could each go setup. I found my bike rack and had plenty of space. I chatted a bit with other ladies in my area and was feeling better because there was a mix of people just as nervous (if not more) than I plus another handful of those more experienced trying to tell us it was going to be awesome.
I made sure my bike gear was all laid out the way I wanted and my snack box was loaded and then kinda mulled around a bit because I didn't have much to do. I finally decided to get into the bottom part of my wetsuit and then go check on the boys who happened to all be in the same area. This part was weird for me because I felt like I should be doing something but really I was just in waiting mode. Dave and his brother and friend started about 20 minutes before me so I made sure I had my morning clothes bag to drop off on my way out of transition and we headed down towards the start area. I loved that I had a 20 minute delay behind them because that way I could spend a little time at the port-o-potties ;) After that it was time for me to fully dress and get in line.
This part was a tad confusing for me and probably mostly because I wasn't really looking hard or paying attention to time but the start was in waves and my wave had pink caps but the line to the swim start was just a long line and you kinda had to look ahead and shimmy your way until you seemed to be surrounded by your color caps. Luckily I seemed to do that fairly easy and was just now waiting and we slowly walked like a herd of sheep down towards the water. I was getting anxious and also my feet were starting to hurt because the walkway down to the water was not carpeted and seemed to be kind of rocky. I think it helped to take my mind off the swim though :) We finally made it to the ramp where the guy handling the waves was separating everyone. I think each wave had maybe 3 minutes between them.. So as soon as the wave ahead of you got the gun you were allowed into the water to swim to the start 'line' where the people sitting on surf boards was sort of holding everyone back until the gun goes off. This was my chance to get my arms moving a bit on the way to the start line and try to loosen up. Just enough time but not too much that I started to stress. At this point I knew it was too late to turn back. Then the gun goes off!!!
To be continued.........
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