Tiki Swim + 100mi

I survived my first 2.4mi swim! Sunday 9/29, I competed in the Tiki Swim in Oceanside. The goal was to swim "Ironman pace", whatever I thought that would be.

It started off as a chilly day, but the water temp was warmer than the windy air temp so I was anxious to get in!

I avoided a warm-up, which is not usually recommended. However, there were large sets of waves and I didn't really want to have to come back to shore in a panic trying to get out of the waves.

Look at that girl, she's not scared of any waves! Um, just kidding, she's pretty scared. And thankful that the swim ends in the nice calm harbor.

When the race started, the waves were between sets, and it seemed like it would be ok. Until I got in... The waves started getting bigger, but (according to my husband watching from the shore) they weren't too bad. It took me a while to get out past the waves, but once I did it was pretty calm. I swam comfortably the whole time, pushing at times but generally maintaining a steady pace.

Swimming into the harbor, I noticed that I was a bit close to the rocks. When I took my next breath on the side with the rocks, I saw a fisherman, and had a brief moment of panic. Don't catch me!! I moved away from the rocks and no damage was done. Coming in to the finish, I couldn't believe how fast it felt like the swim went. And my time was faster than I thought!

Yes, I said "I beat your time!" to my awesome husband, meaning my time was faster than his IMAZ swim time. (By a mere 3 minutes.) This was more out of shock than bragging - I couldn't believe I just did that!

I ended up with a 1:35! Before the race, I figured I could beat 1:45, based on my Big Kahuna swim time.

On to the bike...
My 43min T1 (transition) was a bit much, but that included getting water, towel drying off, waiting for Greg to get the car, eating a banana, and getting my bike and everything ready (complete with a lot of sunscreen).

It's gonna be a warm day!

I met Greg at mile 21 (Carls Jr.) to get water and make sure I was comfortable with everything I needed. I don't usually train in my tri suit!

No, I did not eat a burger...

We parted ways and I was on my own for the rest of the ride. Well I was never completely on my own - actually, I met a few people on the ride. The first was thru Camp Pendleton, where I got to ride next to a guy who's doing Ironman Arizona as well. We had a lot to talk about!

When I got to Huntington Beach, I met 14 year old boy named Jose, from Santa Ana. He rode next to me for a while, keeping pace, which I complimented him on. (He was riding a single speed bike.) He was so full of joy, and kept saying how much he loved riding: "This is what I do!" I asked him where he was going. "Wherever!" He had "just barely started" his ride, and was 10 miles in. Wow, way to go Jose! He looked at my tri suit and bike, and asked if I was training for something. When I told him Ironman, he lit up and said something to the effect of "you inspire me so much!" I asked if he wanted to do an Ironman some day, and I had barely gotten this sentence out of my mouth when he responded with an enthusiastic "YES!!"

Throughout the rest of my ride, I struggled to stay in the aero position (discomfort in my shoulders etc.) and the heat was getting to me. I wanted to call it quits when I turned around at mile 83 and the head wind hit me straight on and I was uncomfortable and tired from the heat. But I just thought of how it's such a privilege to be able to ride. I thought of the joy that Jose has when he rides, and how I really am thankful to be able to do all the crazy training I do. And I found joy within the struggle.

Up & Running 20mi

If you've been following my Garmin Connect training, you may have noticed that I've been doing my long runs thru Hart Park. This is because the park has a lot of drinking fountains. Every time I run on the path, I see chalk signs that say "Up."

This is cool because I know it's a marking from Up & Running Again's long run the day before. Or in the case of the faded pink chalk, probably 2 weeks ago. So in a way, I'm training "with" them.

Hey, that's the way I'm going too!

Today was my first 20 mile run in training. I wasn't sure how it would go, since my run last week was so terrible. It ended up being a good run! The weather was cool (I was smart this time and ran at 6:30am instead of at 11am), and seeing the chalk was a constant reminder of why I'm doing this Ironman. I thought of all the challenges the Up & Running Again participants have gone through to even get to where they are today, training for a half marathon.

My challenge lately has been dealing with a bit of foot pain, which is in danger of becoming a permanent nerve problem if it gets worse. But don't worry - I just have to be smart about it, make some changes in my shoe choices, and press on in my training.

Today I ran across (pun intended!) what I'm assuming is the start line of a 9mi race that Up & Running Again had yesterday. I've been missing seeing the runners, which is an unfortunate side effect of the intensity of Ironman training and how it takes all of your time. But it was nice to connect with them by running on the same road. After Ironman, I hope to be able to connect more with the runners in person.

Which reminds me: YOU are invited to come meet the runners in person before they run the Long Beach Half Marathon! Stay tuned for details...

Big Kahuna Race Report

Wow. Just wow. This race was AMAZING!!! Definitely redemption from Wildflower...

Usually I post my race reports in terms of challenges and blessings, but in this case there were so many more blessings than challenges that I'll just start from the beginning!

START LINE / SWIM (links to Garmin Connect)

I get really nervous before most races, thinking I'm forgetting something, wondering if I'm fit enough, having to go to the bathroom, etc. (The last one is not a problem in triathlon though - sorry if you didn't know this, but it's very common for triathletes to pee in their wetsuits!)

No worries, Superman-style triathlete is ready!

The only thing that went wrong before the start was that I forgot to bring a gel with me down to the beach. Oh well, my awesome husband ran to the car and got me one! Funny story though: he didn't bring water, so I asked a random woman if I could have a sip of hers. She looked at me funny and started pouring some in the cap of the bottle, looking like she was terrified of whatever germs I might have, so I just held out my hand and asked her to pour some in. She did, and I drank it. No big deal. Haha she probably thought I was crazy.

My fear of waves was instantly soothed when I realized that the waves were pretty much non-existant.

Other than the gel, I'm ready to go!

I think I'll be ok!

Once I warmed up, I headed to the start line, making sure I communicated with other racers: "If you're faster than me, which you probably are, go ahead!"

I think that girl behind me (in the bright blue)
got 2nd in our age group...

The water temp was a cool 62 degrees, which was comfortable enough for me. Perfect actually, and about 2-3 degrees warmer than the online report for the few days before the race. This meant that I had no pins and needles on my feet during the 1/2mi run to transition! I remember that being painful last time I did this race.

During the last swim I did in my wetsuit (the week before the race), I noticed that it was difficult to breathe, and figured it was the wetsuit. But then on my next ride, I felt that the same thing, and figured out a rib in my back was probably out of place. Went to the chiropractor: problem solved! I could breathe fine during the swim.

Swim in Long Beach the week before

So when the race began, I started off at a moderate pace, making a point to keep forward progress even when sighting. It was a little foggy, but I could actually see the buoys just fine. Only a couple people got in my way, but that hardly slowed me down at all. Once I got to the end of the pier, I pushed - more than any other triathlon I've done. And I felt great! Bonus: no chafing from my wetsuit.

...and we're off!

I did not look at my watch once during the swim, and was pleasantly surprised when I came out of the water in 38 minutes - an 8 minute PR from last time!! Grinning from ear to ear! And I guess I surprised my husband, because he missed getting a picture of me...

BIKE

It was still foggy, which meant that I had to use my fingers as windshield wipers for my glasses. However, this also meant that it was nice and cool, a stark contrast to the sunny humid weather we've been having in Southern CA! I missed being able to see the ocean, but this meant that I was able to focus more on the race. (Although I did look over a few times when we were close enough to see the water. It was pretty.)

Driving the course the day before

I went out on the bike at a moderate pace, worried about how the ride would affect my run. I've never had a good run in a Half Ironman distance triathlon. But my legs were strong from the bike, since I've done a 100mi ride in training! I pushed up the hills and relaxed down the hills, and my legs felt great! There were two guys that I kept going back and forth with: they passed me on the downhill; I passed them back on the uphill. Eventually there was more up than down, and I ended up in front of both guys. :-D

My nutrition plan was to get more water at the aid station at mile 27, but this plan was changed slightly by a crash that happened right in front of the aid station. The danger of triathlons is evident, although fortunately I've never been involved in any incidents. In this case, apparently a cyclist got cut off by a motorist. The volunteers were handing out water right in front of a big fire engine right in the middle of the single northbound lane of PCH. Um, not a good idea dude. The rider right in front of me slowed down and grabbed a bottle, and I slowed way down and waited. No need to go off into oncoming traffic!! Once I got around safely, I set my bike down and ran back to the table they had set up, grabbed a bottle, and filled my front bottle with it. When I got back on the bike, I took a sip. Oops, I grabbed Heed (an electrolyte drink), not plain water! This worried me a bit, because I had a pretty concentrated mix of Infinit in my other bottle, and now had no plain water to supplement with. However, I've trained with Heed before and it was mixed weak, so although it caused minimal stomach distress for a few minutes, I felt fine overall and was able to grab some plain water 12 miles from the finish. Luckily my water intake was much less due to the awesomely cool (55 degrees) weather!

Focused...
Maybe I should buy this official race photo...

On the way back, there was a nice tail wind and I rode faster than on the way out. Now, let me tell you that triathletes are not known for their excellent bike handling skills... Luckily I have pretty good balance on the bike and I have yet to crash my tri bike, although it's more difficult to handle than a road bike. (Side note: race day was actually just a few days after the 1-year anniversary of buying my bike!) So when I grabbed a sip from my bottle and held on with one hand, then noticed that there was a bump in the road, I didn't panic. I simply held on but relaxed, and steadied the bike over the bump. The guy behind me said "nice save!"

When I was about 10 miles from the finish, I realized that my shoulders weren't bothering me, and neither were my eyes! Normally on a long ride in the aero position, the strain of looking up while keeping my head down makes me a bit dizzy and I have to sit up for a little while. But this was not a problem today!

Sitting up to stretch before the run

Overall, I couldn't believe how strong I felt on the bike. My legs felt fine pushing up the hills, and I was passing so many people, especially up those hills! That's one benefit of being a slower swimmer lol. Also, it's a huge confidence booster to pass strong-looking guys on nice tri bikes with better wheels than I have!

RUN

I knew that I would be able to tell how strong my run would be from the very beginning. And sure enough, not 200 meters out from the transition, I knew I felt great. Here I am running up a hill straight out of transition, feeling no pain in my legs:

This is gonna be good!

And sure enough, I started off at a 7:50 pace. I looked at my watch and thought, excuse me?? This is only 8 seconds slower than my fastest half marathon pace! No way I can hold this. Mile 2 was 7:44. What?? On and on: 7:47, 7:45, 7:54, 7:54, 7:54, 7:56... Mile 9 was the only one above 8 minutes, and that was only because there was a significant uphill. Part of my motivation to continue pushing was that everyone kept telling me that I was the 9th woman overall. What?? No way. I don't believe you. But once I hit the turnaround, I started counting...and they were right! This whole time I was just thinking "holy crap, how am I doing this?" But then I remembered I knew the answer. Not holy crap, Holy God. He was with me. And I just smiled and kept running: 7:53, 7:54, 7:57, 7:53... Sure, it was painful. No doubt about that. But there was no way I could've prepared for feeling the strength that I had during this run! My knees felt totally fine throughout the whole thing, which is amazing in and of itself as I'm very injury prone in that area, specific to over-use. And boy, did I use those knees today! My quads almost cramped on some uphills, my calves were tight, and I had hot spots on my feet - and while this may sound like a lot of problems, I felt so good that none of them were a big deal at all!

Only with God's help!

Strong but tired...

Last time I did this race, my run average was 9:45 per mile. And I felt terrible. I felt so bad that I don't even remember the scenery. Not even a little bit. This time around, I ran almost 2 MINUTES PER MILE faster - an unbelievable difference! And I enjoyed some scenery, including a guy sitting on a rock in the middle of a high cliff. Umm no thank you, I'd rather be doing what I'm doing right now - running as fast as I can!


FINISH/RESULTS
Finishing in the sand was tough, but I was prepared for that. I would've loved to see people race to the finish in the sand - slow motion!

After the race, I discovered this shower. Best thing ever!

Official results!

Representing Team SLS3!

Much to my surprise, I managed to get 3rd in my age group. That wasn't even one of my goals!

What?? Podium?

Me & Coach Greg

 They had pretty cool Big Kahuna trophies:

Not for worship! lol

Needless to say, my coach was happy with the results! He even started talking about the possibility me placing in my age group at Ironman Arizona. Haha yeah right. Qualify for Kona...hahahaha... Seriously though, this race gave me so much confidence for the Ironman. Until this race, I had NEVER felt good in a Half Ironman run. And I'm supposed to be a runner! Feeling good after pushing a respectable pace on the bike makes me think that maybe I can survive the Ironman marathon without feeling terrible. That's all I can really ask for. Just to enjoy the experience and feel alive.

The first 100mi ride

2,820 calories ready to go!

Ah, the 100mi ride. Probably not on the average person's list of "fun things to do on a Saturday." My first 100mi ride in training was last weekend, and I was a mix of excited and nervous. 100mi is a scary distance! I've done the distance on my road bike before, out from Anaheim Hills to Palm Desert (105mi) on Friday, and back (110mi) on Sunday. That was with a group. This one was all me. My awesome husband rode the first 38mi with me, but I was in front. No drafting in Ironman!

The Challenges
Tuesday before the ride, I did my usual commute to work (23mi)

Yay for missing out on this traffic!

and commute home (37mi) then ran for an hour. My shoulders were hurting, and my run (which was slow on purpose to save energy for a track run the next day) didn't loosen them. Usually when I run, my shoulders relax and feel better. Not this time! I was so worn out afterwards that I showered and lay down, feeling out of it and taking more than 30 minutes to finish my recovery drink. Not normal. Maybe I was getting sick?

The JOURNEY is the reward.

The whole week before the ride, my body had been battling an infected sebaceous cyst. Yeah, it was in my right armpit. Lovely. And painful! It got so bad that I could barely move my arm 2 inches in any direction without the pain receptors saying "Umm EXCUSE me, but just WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING! OUCH!!" Running was out of the question. I could lift my arm above my head very...very...slowly... I was supposed to swim on Thursday and Friday. Thursday didn't happen; I couldn't even go to work that day. I tried swimming on Friday, and did about half of the workout. The pain got better for a while, then it got worse, so I stopped.

50mi: halfway there!

The Blessings
I started antibiotics on Wednesday, and the pain eventually became less (after getting worse first). I guess this was good for my legs, because they felt fine by Saturday! Being in the aero position was great for my arm, because it wasn't too much of a stretch and the open position gave it room to breathe.

So how did the ride go? Pretty well! See the stats on Garmin Connect here. It was nice to have company for the first 38mi, but good mentally to be by myself for the rest of the time.

See those two big hills? 2 loops in South OC: 5400 feet of climbing. =)

I rode a 2-loop course, to practice the mental challenge of being close to the finish line and having to go out again, heading back out for another 50mi when I was less than 4mi away from my house.
Mental toughness practice = check!

Done!

I had some challenges within the ride (shoulder neck pain, discomfort, hot spot on my foot, strain on my eyes from being in the aero position looking up), but overall I felt pretty good the whole time. Going at an easy/moderate pace from the very beginning meant that I felt strong at the end! And as a bonus, I had absolutely no knee pain. Did I mention the 5400 feet of climbing?? Knees don't do well on hills usually!

I have another couple of these long rides to do, and from what I hear, they get easier. This time though, I didn't have a brick run on the schedule this time, and I was grateful. Next week I have a true test of my training - a Half Ironman race! I'm a little apprehensive because of how terrible I felt in the Wildflower Half Ironman, but more confident this time because I've been doing over-distance (100mi bike rides instead of 60mi rides, and a 16mi training run instead of 13.14). I look forward to giving a good report...