This blog is coming to a conclusion and the new season will begin with a new blog. which you can visit at
http://ironmancanada2008.blogspot.com/
Thank you again for all of your support!

Blog Conclusion
Well, now that the season is over it's time to decide what is next. I have decided to try to get a little speed back into my legs and train for the California International Marathon in December. I have run this marathon several times and although it is not my favorite course, it is a good one. Getting speed back in my legs is proving difficult. I have not trained with a true marathon schedule in about 1 1/2 years when I trained for Boston 2006. I seem to be stuck in a rut of one speed only on the run so I'm trying to break out of that with some tempo and faster than race pace runs. We will see how it goes.

I have also decided to continue with Ironteam as a mentor and will train to complete Ironman Canada next year. Skip and I travelled to Canada at the end of August to support my teammates that competed there and to sign up for 2008. The only way to get into Ironman Canada is to sign up in person the day after the event. (TNT also gets registration slots but they prefer us to get our own if we can so more people can join the team).

Just before we went to Canada Skip told me that he wanted to join the team too!!! He loves the swimming and biking but is not too fond of the running part so he is planning on a swim/bike/walk Ironman. He has already started doing some short runs however so I'm sure he will do a run/walk combo for the marathon. That is what most of us mortal Ironmen and women do anyway!

So, we will start a new blog for the 2008 season with info on how we are both doing.

Ironman USA Lake Placid 2007 Race Report

Well, I am finally home with the computer to write my race report (at 4am – gotta love the jet lag). We left Lake Placid on Tuesday the 24th to meet our kids in London and travel on to Denmark. While we were in Denmark we visited several friends (20 actually – 4 families) and attended a wedding. It was a great trip and very relaxing so now I feel like the Ironman was a very long time ago. (This picture is before the start – Jen Varela and me!)

So we will go back in time to the beginning of the journey.

The trip to New York was uneventful with a flight to JFK and a rental car to Lake Placid. We stopped over in Lake George and arrived in Lake Placid at about noon on Friday 7/20. Friday was the day the athletes had to check in. That process was a little more involved than a marathon with ID verification, USAT membership purchase (mandatory), individual instructions about the tags, timing chip, and bags (5 of them), not to mention stepping on the scale to be weighed (something I had been trying to avoid since beginning the exercise taper and not being successful with the appetite taper!)

I also had to pick up my bike from Tri Bike Transport and check that everything was working ok. It felt to me like the front derailler was not shifting smoothly and needed an adjustment. We ended up taking it in to the local bike shop at about 10:30pm for a last minute adjustment. They were open all night to accommodate nervous athletes and all their bizarre needs. Even if it was just another “blessing”.

Friday afternoon the team met for a short swim but I opted to stay on shore. Getting into my wetsuit exhausts me (it is very snug, as it should be, and fits fine once it is on but I am not very experienced with a wetsuit so it is a battle to get it on) As we walked back from the lake we got totally drenched. The skies simply opened up and let loose. We were lucky enough to find an EZ up that was set up on the lawn in front of a church with a young family huddled underneath. We ran there to take refuge and were soon joined by others. I think we ended up with about 12 people crowded under there. Of course most of the discussion during that time was what the weather would be like on Sunday. I was quite nervous that we would have rain since I had never really ridden in the rain before. The forecast was for partly sunny on Saturday and Sunday so we were hoping that would hold.

Friday night included a meeting with the team which was a challenge to find and sorting through all the things that needed to go into each bag. 5 bags – it was a bit overwhelming. We had a Morning bag (with the wetsuit, goggles, cap, body glide which becomes your finish bag with the clothes you take off in the morning), Transition 1 bag (swim to bike), Transition 2 bag (bike to run), Special Needs Bike bag (available at mile 56 on the bike) and Special Needs Run bag (available at mile 13 on the run). It is really a good thing that we had a king size bed because laying all this stuff out is a mess. The logistics is quite tricky especially when you don’t know what the weather will be like and I wanted to put in everything I MIGHT want because it is a long day and if you are uncomfortable, it will be a really long day. It is also very likely that you won’t get back the special needs bags so that makes you think a little more about what you want to put in them. All in all, my checklist grew to 71 items. Totally crazy.

Saturday morning we picked up my bike and Skip did the test ride for me. For some reason I did not want to ride it. He said it shifted fine so we took it down to the start to check it into the transition area and get it set up. Shower cap over the seat and plastic bag over the handle bars and it was set for the night. I also had to turn in my transition bags which would normally hang on a rack but mine were in the “overflow” section so they sat on the ground. It might have been a good thing however because they had everything I could possibly imagine needed so they were quite heavy and might not have done well hanging.

The rest of Saturday was for rest and relaxation and trying not to worry about Sunday, which of course was impossible.

Sunday – race day – finally. I think I might have gotten 2 hours sleep but that’s ok. Up at 4am, shower, and prepare the last minute things. Frozen bottles for special needs on the bike so I don’t have to re-fill, re-checking all the food options in the special needs bags, last minute instructions to Skip about what I need at the finish (recovery drinks mostly). And we are off to the start. Now doesn’t that lake look inviting???

There are still lots of things to do… turn in the special needs bags (to 2 different places), get body marked, put drinks and food on bike, stand in the porta potty line for 30 minutes (yikes!), struggle into the wetsuit, and walk to the lake…. All by 6:30. Then it is the time for the final decision about where to start. Most people were hanging out on the shore, some people were in the water. I decided to get in and get used to the water which was actually pretty nice. The course is a double loop of a very long skinny rectangle and my plan was to swim about 10-15 yards off of the buoy line. I positioned myself in the water at about ¼ the distance back from the start based on my predicted speed. Treading water in a wetsuit is easy so I just floated around, tried not to shiver and wished we could just go.

The gun went off and we started. Things were definitely crowded but not too bad for about 15 minutes then I got slammed with a huge crowd that should have started ahead of me but didn’t. It was like swimming in a washing machine and I was thinking that for people who are afraid to swim under normal circumstances it would be a nightmare. Skip said that he could see a big group of guys that started on a flotating pier towards the shore and just mowed people over as they went. For me, I just tried to make sure I did not get kicked in the face and I muddled along with the pack. The first loop was extremely crowded the entire time and the second loop was just very crowded. I rarely had space around me to swim my own way and I even had to use some water polo moves to try to find some space. I had expected to do the swim in 1:20 and finished in 1:17 so I was on track. I do think I could have gone faster with better positioning but it is kind of a crap shoot where you end up.

Out of the water and to the wetsuit strippers. Yes, they have people there to strip your wetsuit off for you…. How would you like to have that job?? Now you know why I wore a one piece suit!
It was a pretty good distance to transition and I decided to walk because I was a little dizzy. I got into the changing tent area and it was very crowded. There are people in there to help but imagine having all your bike stuff (helmet, clothes, shoes, etc) in a plastic bag and your wetsuit, goggles and cap in hand. You have a folding chair to sit on so for a while I kind of sat there trying to figure out where to begin and how to juggle all the stuff. In most triathlons you set up your own transition area with all your gear laid out next to your bike so that you can logically get changed for the next phase. Working out of a plastic bag with no room to set anything down does not make for a fast transition. And unfortunately I needed to use the porta potty before heading out and there were not very many so I had to wait in line…… 18 minutes after leaving the swim I was ready to move on.

On to the bike. They were very good about getting your bike off the rack and ready for you to take out. We mounted outside the Olympic oval next to the giant Gatorade bottle and were off to a downhill start. I let myself settle into biking for a while before trying to drink and eat. I had set my watch timer to beep every 25 minutes to remind me to take an endurolyte tablet (electrolytes) and I quickly got on track with that.

First of all let me say that it is a beautiful course! If you ever have a chance to do some biking in that area, do it. Of course I LOVED the fact that the road was closed to auto traffic so I never had to worry about that. It was not too crowded with cyclists either so I could really just bike at my own (slow) pace and not worry about anyone else….. unlike the swim. Oh, I forgot to mention that the weather definitely cooperated and we had sunny skies all day!

The description of the course says that it is downhill to Keene. Well, that section ends lower than it starts and there is a great long sweeping downhill right before Keene where I managed to get up to 39.4 mph which is a new record for me but it is definitely not all downhill. It was a really nice ride and I was able to use the aero bars much more than I though I would. At about mile 30 I was averaging over 17 mph which was very fast for me. I was wondering if I was just riding faster than normal or if the course was fast to that point. Unfortunately it was the latter and by the end of the first loop my average was exactly 15mph. I hoped to come into the ½ way point at 12:30 and I did, so again, everything was according to schedule. I felt that the course was very do-able and was ready to tackle the second loop.

Of course the second loop was a bit more difficult. It is funny how I did not notice all the long uphills on the first lap, but really noticed them the second time around. The long sweeping downhill was still great except that we slowed down considerably in the middle because someone had crashed and was being attended to by paramedics. I tried not to look or think about what had happened, but sent mental good wishes to the rider as I continued on.

Somewhere between Keene and Upper Jay, about mile 75, I started feeling lonely and slow. I needed all of you then. I started thinking about all the honorees that have struggled with chemotherapy, surgeries, and other treatments that were certainly not easy, as well as all of you that had wished me well and were tracking my progress on the computer. It helped me keep up the pace. Thank you to all of you!

I finished the bike in 8:10 and was very happy to be under the cut off by about 45 minutes. That was my biggest concern on this adventure. I have only been cycling for 1 year and since this course is so hilly (over 8,000 ft of climbing) I was worried that I might not make the bike cutoff. After the first loop when I knew that I had enough time to complete the bike I really started to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful day. I played leap frog with Jenny and Celeste from our team which was also fun because it gave me someone to connect with during the course. It was also great to do everything in double loops because we got to see our friends, family and coaches more often that way.

Back into transition and then out to the run. I started the run exactly 10 hours into the event (5pm). That made it very easy to keep tabs on whether I was going to make my 5 hour marathon goal. I say goal very loosely because I really did not know what to expect on the marathon. I have run 20 marathons in the last 6 years, but none of them were after 10 hours of working out so my 5 hour estimate was really a shot in the dark.

The run went well. I was pretty conservative (surprise surprise) and used my normal routine of walking at each mile while I drank. I also walked the significant uphills to give me a little more recovery along the way and try not to tax my legs too much. The course was 2 different out and backs twice so we came through town a lot. It was good to see the spectators a lot, but bad when you had to leave town again while others were headed to the finish line! I got to see lots of my teammates during the run because of the way the course was designed so that was great. It is also the easiest of the three activities to talk so we visited a lot along the way.

I completed the run in 4:46 so I was under my 5 hour goal by quite a bit. I was pretty happy about that. Overall I wanted to finish under 15 hours and my total time was 14:46 so that was good too. I was very happy to really enjoy the course including beautiful mountains, rivers, and lakes. I saw a gorgeous sunset and enjoyed looking out over mirror lake to the lights in town during the last loop of the run. I think I would do this one again if I have the chance.

I must admit that everything went pretty much according to plan so really I should never do another one because the odds of not having any issues again are pretty slim. No injuries inhibited me, no mechanical issues, no stomach issues (well, just a couple of extra porta potty stops but that is ok), and no weather problems. So as I said before, an Ironman is a 2.4 mile open water swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a marathon – 26.2 mile run. And that is all there is to it!

Thank you again for all your support!!!!! And let me know when you are ready to join the team – IRONTEAM that is!

So what exactly IS an Ironman race?

I have had a couple of people ask me this question so I decided I should address it. My race will be in Lake Placid New York on July 22nd.

We will all begin at 7am - over 2,000 people at once. We will swim 2.4 miles (3.86km) in Mirror Lake (2 loops) and then transition to the bike.

We will then ride 112 miles (180 km) on the bike with over 8,000 ft of elevation climb (Yikes!!). The bike course is also 2 loops.

We will then transition to the run which will be a full marathon - 26.2 miles (42.1 km) on hilly roads.

I expect to take about 15 hours to complete this event. Anyone finishing after midnight (17 hours) does not receive a medal. My biggest concern is making the bike cut-off which is 5:30pm.

That's all there is to it!

June was a tough month!

Well, I apologize for going such a long time without writing a new entry but June was a tough month. I was sick most of it, starting with a stomach thing (during the BIG Lake Berryessa training weekend) and ending with a cough. It was pretty normal stuff except that it is not normal for me to be sick more than a couple of days. I just figure that my resistance was low and the training was not really allowing me to fully recover. Anyway, I'm nearly 100% now, so life is good again.

A couple of weeks ago I completed an 8 1/2 hour workout, another first (longest). It was a triple brick with a 2 hour ride followed by a 50 minute run, three times through. So that 8 1/2 hours does not count any transition or prep time, it is truly workout time. Needless to say I was tired when I finished but felt good about it.

I am now 5 days into my taper phase and the workouts are MUCH shorter. For example, this weekend I have a 2000 yard open water swim followed by a 10 mile run and Sunday I will do a 1 1/2 hour ride followed by a 30 minute run. It is nice to have more time in the weekends with the shorter workouts. Now I should probably pay attention to just how much I am eating too!

Another First!
Skip and I completed our first Century ride on Sunday and managed pretty well. It was not without it's "moments" however.
The morning started out clear and cool in beautiful Watsonville California. First gripe of the day... we got to the school early and they directed us to park in the furthest corner of the lot... now how is THAT fair??? So right off the bat we rode extra to get to the starting point of this 101.5 mile ride. Oh well.
On to the ride. The first 10 miles or so we cruised through town with TNT mentor Joan leading the way, trying to get the body warmed up before we turned onto a Rural road and started into the "rollers". Rollers is one of those terms that varies widely in interpretation. In my book, these were mostly hills, but beautiful ones with redwood trees surrounding us and very little vehicle traffic. The hills were very doable however and we tried to ignore the mountain before us as we rounded each bend to see another uphill. We mostly climbed for the next 20+ miles but the scenery was so pretty that we were not complaining. I did not really expect redwood forest so I was pleasantly surprised.
We pulled into the first "rest stop" at mile 14 and had a couple of snacks and used the facilities. At this stop we discussed the course with a local woman(while in the porta potty line - where all important conversations happen). She informed us that we had a few more miles of "rollers" and then 2 serious climbs (complete with false summits) before the next rest stop at mile 30.
We headed out a little concerned about what was in store for us. The serious hills were enough to get our attention and put the legs into full throttle but we managed them pretty well. At this point I was very glad we have been climbing the road into Lake Del Valle on a regular basis. The only really bad thing about this stretch was the road was more patches than road so it was very rough. Some of the views from the top were spectacular and the next rest stop had an even better selection of snacks, bagels, fruit, etc.
Pulling out of rest stop number 2 we had several miles of what most were calling "sweeping downhills" on Soquel Road with very nice pavement and a decent shoulder. Although it had quite a bit of traffic, people were polite for the most part (excluding the truck driver that did not yield the right of way to Joan - YIKES) This part was pretty nice as you might imagine and I managed to stay a little more relaxed than usual for a downhill (descending is not my forte).
We started heading for the coast with our next rest stop at Calfee bikes (home of the bamboo bike) at La Selva Beach (never heard of the city before). This was mile 54 and at this stop we were served espresso drinks (Skip had a carmel latte - I declined), biscotti, PBJ, olives, nuts, fruit, etc. You can see that the rest stops are getting better and better. It was about this point when I became a little concerned that I had not done too many rides over 50 miles so I was wondering how I was going to handle it. The only option was to just keep peddling so that is what we did.
The next stretch was pretty long. We were pushing to the next stop at mile 78 where we would be served lunch. Are you starting to get the idea that we are riding from feed trough to feed trough - exactly right - food is an excellent motivator.
We had some great stretches in this part of the ride where we could get into the aero bars and cruise along at 20+ mph with clear roads and sea breezes. This all came to a very sad end when we turned off the farm roads and faced the VERTICAL WALL at mile 75. Now, this wall should really have had an escalator, elevator, or at least a rope tow. I have never imagined that I would try to ride a bike up a road like that. Right away I noticed the people walking and thought "I'm not walking this thing" and the next thought was "How am I possibly going to ride this thing?" We put on brave faces and worked the first part of the hill out of the saddle, when we sat down and shifted to the Granny gear we immediately started crawling at about 5 mph. It went on for a LONG time, I changed gears and got out of the saddle again for about 12 cycles and then sat down and changed back to the granny. It was at this point that I realized that if I went any slower I would just fall over. I was about 2/3 of the way up when I bailed out onto a little side road. My legs were shaking so much that standing was even a bit of a challenge. Sad to say, but we both ended up walking the last bit.
Mentally this was really tough. I really did not want to bail out but I still had 25 miles to go and had no idea what was ahead. This lovely ego deflater was followed by another super steep climb but luckily it was not as long and we both managed to make it up. We entered the next rest stop a little less than enthusiastic. Both of us had been thinking that we were doing well and would like to repeat this ride until then. Now we are not so sure. Lunch was good and plentiful however, and I must say that the chocolate chip cookie helped me recuperate.
We only had to go another 12 miles from the lunch stop before being rewarded with strawberry crepes to sustain us to the finish. The last 25 miles was my fastest, and the gentlest terrain so I was able to re-group and find more energy towards the end. Skip kept asking me if I was finally warmed up because I had picked up the pace so much. I think I just wanted to be done.
Rolling into the finish at 105 miles (remember we had to park in the boonies...) and just before 5pm. They were serving a dinner of chicken and fish but we decided to pass on that. I did do a 20 minute run to get the kinks out and that was good. My knees were hurting from all the out of saddle climbing but the seat survived.
All in all it was a morale boost to have gone over 100 miles. I know I can do 112, and I know I can run when I'm done. I just hope I won't need that rope tow in Lake Placid!!!

Vancouver Marathon

While California melted in 95 degree weather, I was getting a little wet, but that is ok, cold is better than hot when running.

Vancouver Marathon
Last weekend I ran the Vancouver marathon along with a bunch of my former TNT marathon buddies. It was great to get out of town, visit friends that I have not seen in a while, and test out this cross training I've been doing.

I'm glad to report that cross training works. While training for a marathon (and I have done quite a bit of marathon training over the last 5 years) I usually average 40 miles of running per week and get up to about 60. I do weekly long runs, medium length tempo runs, and speed work with lots of 3mile runs at 10k pace and 800s at 5k pace. The training I am doing now for Ironman averages about 25-30 miles per week, not very many long runs (although I added a few in preparation for Vancouver) and virtually no speed work. Of course I am doing 6-8 hours of cycling per week and 2-3 hours of swimming, and core work, along with this running so I'm working out nearly twice as many hours per week.

So you are probably wondering where this is leading ....... I ran a conservative race, staying comfortable the entire time and finished in 3:52.41. My splits were 1:58/1:54 so I ran stronger in the second half which is the way I like to run marathons. Now, this is not a PR time for me, but it is a Boston Qualifying time and since it is not my A race I was not pushing for a PR. I'm just happy to discover that I can still maintain a good pace and feel strong the entire time.

So, thumbs up for cross training!