Race Report: Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon

I can't think of a creative intro, so let's get straight to the race recap!

The start line for the race was downtown, about a 20 minute walk from my house.  Even though I was so close, didn't have to deal with parking, and the race didn't start until 6:55am, my alarm rang at 4:30.  Yuck.  Luckily waking up was not hard as I slept very well the night before.  I did my best to relax physically and mentally all day Saturday.  I spent some quality time on the couch, watching the Texas-OU game (meh) and the Hawaii Ironman online (awesome!).  I dressed in my race outfit with throw-away cover-ups purchased from Goodwill (warm-up pants, hoodie, and gloves for $8!), grabbed my gear bag, some waffles and peanut butter, and headed out the door.

Gear check opened at 5:30, and I got there at about 5:25.  I was the first one to check my bag when it opened.  I then walked down to the Blue Bear at the Convention Center to meet my running group.   Guess what?  I can stand fully upright underneath the Bear's crotch!  You learn something new every day!

Source

 

 

 

I warmed up, chatted with my coaches and training partners, made multiple bathroom stops, and headed back to the start line.  The best part of having a good night sleep the night before was that I felt very ready and very calm.   When I haven't slept well before a race I have nervous energy to contend with while waiting for the start.

Before the start

I lined up in my corral - (my) lucky number 11!  My goal for this race was 4:45, but I thought I would be happy with anything sub-5.  The official race pace group for a 4:45 finish was in my same corral.  I did not want to run with them because I needed to stick to my 9/1 run/walk strategy.  But I planned to keep them near me throughout the race so I would have a good sense of whether my pace was on track or not.

The race started with a "LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!" and I was off!

I made a conscious effort to go s-l-o-w the first few miles to properly warm up and not get too caught up in the early race frenzy.  I had 26.2 miles to cover, I didn't want to blow it early on.  My Garmin was a little off on mileage (my watch said about two tenths of a mile over each time I passed a mile marker) and I didn't really trust that it was giving me an accurate pace.  I stopped focusing on my actual pace and only paid attention to my average pace, which seemed to be about right, although a probably a hair fast.  I was glad to have the pace group nearby as an extra check that I was on target.

Cruising By Coors Field around the 5K point

I ran slightly ahead of the pace group for about the first half.  I made my way past Coors Field through downtown and up the hill to City Park.  I ran into one of my coaches (wearing a "Coach" bib meaning she could go anywhere on the course) and she ran with me for a couple miles.  I felt pretty good at this point.  My favorite band/song of the day was playing right as I entered the park - "Oh What a Night!"

Next the race worked its way over to Cheesman Park, a regular stomping running ground of mine.  At this point the half-marathoners split off from runners doing the full.  A woman looked at me and said, "I guess there's no turning back now."  Nope.

My experience at my last marathon was, in a nutshell, first 13.1 easy, 14-16 kinda tough, 17-19 second wind, 20-26 OMG get me out of here!  My experience was fairly similar this time, except I thought that the race just got gradually tougher miles 14-19.  Starting at the half-marathon point, the pace group caught up with me.  I passed them, they passed me, rinse repeat. 

The next park was Wash Park, where I have trained at least once a week everyday for the last year (according to Foursquare, I've checked in 27 times in the last 6 months), so it was comforting to arrive there.  I saw a port-a-potty with no lines around Mile 18 and decided to take the opportunity.  I fell behind the pace group at this point, but they were still in my sights.  I decided to take it easy and hold back until Mile 20, then I planned to let go and give it everything I had.

My speed up at Mile 20, pass the pace group, and never look back plan lasted only until about Mile 22.  I caught up with them briefly, but then huge waves of mental fatigue and self-doubt set in.  Why do people voluntarily sign up for this kind of thing?!?  If you look at my splits, I did speed up for a couple miles, but once I got to Mile 23, I needed to slow down back to my normal pace.

I saw another one of my coaches at this point and she ran with me from Mile 23 to 26, which was amazingly helpful.  I told her I felt fine but that I was struggling mentally. I was not in a place where I could smile or talk or express appreciation in any way, but I did really appreciate that she was there.  She re-filled a water bottle from my fuel belt, which were all empty at this point, and she calmly told me periodically how far we had to go.  She asked me if I wanted to catch back up to the pace group and I said no.  As long as I could see them, I knew I was in range of my goal time and that was fine with me.

There was one last uphill on the way back to downtown between 6th and 8th Ave.  I tried to focus on the fact that I only had to get back to 14th, so I couldn't have far to go.  My coach left me and I ran the last 0.2 on my own.  It wasn't long before I saw the finish line and (best of all) my cheering section!

And I beat my goal time!  I crossed the line at 4:43:30 (a PR by 44+ minutes!)

I celebrated afterward with brunch and Bloody Marys.

A week has gone by and I am walking normally again.  I took the entire week off from exercise and focused on getting plenty of sleep and doing plenty of walking.  My legs felt very sore, but as soon as the race was over and in the days after, I felt absolutely great from the waist up.  When I ran the Los Angeles Marathon five years ago, I remember feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. 

Tonight was my first day back at the gym, for a combination weights and cardio class.  I felt pretty tired going in and thought it would be a tough work-out since it's been awhile since I've done that kind of thing.  It was a hard class, but I felt great, especially during the cardio segments.  It's a nice feeling to have the level of fitness I've built up after the months of tri training and running.  It won't last, I don't want it to - I need a break.  But I am glad to know that it's not completely gone yet.

Rock on!

Organizing!

The Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon is a little over a month away!  These next two weeks are the final build phase, culminating with a 21-Mile run.  My coaches noted that this is the time to prioritize running and suggested we do whatever is necessary to make sure we get every training run in.  It was recommended that we do things like write our work-outs down in our calendar and lay out our running clothes...anything that minimizes the amount of effort it takes to get to the work-out.  It reminded me of something Bobby McGee said during his talk last spring: the athletes that have the most success aren't necessarily the most talented, but they are the most well-organized.

So...

I thought laying out my running clothes would be a good idea, too.  Every time I go for a run, I either just woke up, or just got home from work and have 5-10 minutes to change and get out the door to meet my group.  My coach probably meant lay clothes out each day, but I don't trust myself to remember to keep doing that.  Instead, I just gathered together a bunch of complete running outfits and other running gear and tossed them in a laundry basket so I can grab-and-go without having to rifle through drawers or piles of clean laundry.  (I've been averaging about 5 minutes a day just looking for two matching socks!  Ridiculous!)

I also have some Lentil Soup simmering in the Crock-Pot so I'll have some easy healthy meals on hand.  Hopefully it turns out well!

Happy Fall!

Race Report: Lake Stevens 70.3

This is about 3 weeks overdue, but I wanted to give a brief report and post some pictures from the Lake Stevens 70.3.  (I say "brief", but once I get going, this will probably be as long as my race reports usually are.)   I did already post a "Race Review" on the Beyond Transition website. 

Pre-Race Day

My bike left for Lake Stevens on Tuesday via FedEx, and I boarded a plane from Denver on Friday afternoon.  My parents connected through Denver on their way from Austin, so we were on the same flight to Seattle.

We stayed in Lake Stevens Friday and I checked in and picked up my bike Saturday morning.  At noon, my teammates and I went to the course for a pre-race work out.  We did a quick swim, got an overview of the transition area, biked one loop of the run course, and drove the bike course.

Dad checking out the transition area

My teammates and our cheering section (including my parents) went out for a pre-race pasta dinner.  I had seafood cannelloni - yum! 

Carb-loaded and ready for race day!

Race Morning

I had an awful time sleeping the night before due to nerves.  I tried not to let it bother me, and thought back to an article in Runners World that I quote and think about often.  "As long as you're horizontal, you'll be fine."  I had a stress dream about not getting a ride in the morning and missing the race.  When I woke up, I thought, "Yay!  I must have gotten some sleep!"

I drank a cup of coffee and ate half a peanut butter sandwich (couldn't finish a whole one) on the drive to the course.  After setting up my transition area, I headed out to get in line for the port-a-potties.  I found my parents and then stepped into my wetsuit and hopped in the water to warm-up.

Swim

At 69 degrees, the water temp was a little warmer than the air and felt great.  It was a treading water start, so we lined up on the dock and jumped in once the wave in front of us started.   As soon as the canon sounded, it suddenly hit me how little sleep I had gotten.  I felt really tired, but I just kept swimming.  What's neat about this course is that there is a rope submerged beneath the water holding the buoys up.  If you position yourself right, you can focus on the line underwater and don't have to lift your head up to sight.   It was crowded at the start, so I pulled to the side, and just sighted the old-fashion way.  More people passed me than I had hoped, but I decided that was ok.  I finished the swim in 39:19.  While this was three minutes faster than my previous effort at this distance, I still feel that I'm capable of more.  I've always made the executive decision not to focus on my swim since it is already my strength and will not gain me much time overall.  However, that is a decision I may revisit next season.   I'm toying with the idea of packing in lots of 100m intervals this winter before training officially begins.

Bike

Clipping in

Managing a smile

Beautiful and hilly about sums it up.  No one hill was significantly harder than the others, but there were a lot of 'em, one after another, with some false flats in between.  One part was basically like a roller coaster - straight up, straight down, straight up, straight down.  It was a two loop course, but the loop did start right away - it was about six miles in.  Those first miles were fast and partly downhill.  I thought I might be in for a pretty fast (for me) bike split.  I was wrong.  I tried not to get too discouraged by my average mph and just kept pedaling, but I think I focused too much on my Garmin, and not enough on the pretty scenery.  I repeated my mantra over and over again -- "use your granny gear, get over it" -- and tried to keep my legs as spin-y as possible.  I had to stop for a bathroom break around Mile 40.  I spent awhile convincing myself to just wait until transition (I had already stopped once), but I'm soooo glad I decided to stop again.  The volunteers at the aid-station were so nice!  They held my bike and filled up my water bottles while I was taking care of business.  That little breather gave me a much-needed second wind to head into T2.  My bike time was 3:44:55 (14.9 mph) - nearly 20 minutes slower than the 5430 Long Course two years ago.  Boulder was a fast course, this was not. 

Such a pretty course!

Run

This was the highlight of the race for me.  And it was the last time I did this distance, too.  I struggle so much mentally with running, but for some reason biking 56 miles beforehand seems to guarantee that I'll feel strong and happy during a 13.1 mile run.  I guess it just take me a long time to warm up. :P  I set my Garmin so it would give me the 9min/1min intervals and did not let myself check my pace or overall time.  The course was two loops, more like two figure-eights, and the first chunk was uphill.  I forced myself to go slow and let my legs recover.  I didn't know my exact splits, but I could tell I was keeping a consistent sub-11 pace, which I felt really good about.  As in regular half-marathons, it started to feel really hard around Mile 9.  The second part of the figure-eight was an out and back beside the lake, which was mostly up on the way out.  On that last hill, I kept telling myself to shorten my stride, lean forward, and keep my turn-over quick, hearing my coaches' voices in my head.  I saw a few of my teammates while on the course which was a good boost.  It was tough, but I felt really strong the entire run.  And it wasn't just a feeling.  It was a PR!  2:16:25 (10:25/mi) - faster than my stand-alone half-marathon PR in Moab this year!

One day I'll learn how to not look like a complete dork in running pictures.

Finish

My overall time was 6:49:23 - about six minutes faster than the race in Boulder two years ago.  That's pretty good considering my bike split was so much slower.  It was great to have my parents there cheering me in and out of each transition and racing alongside teammates was a blast.

A few relaxing days in Seattle afterward was the perfect way to rest and recover the body and mind.

What's Next?

Tri season is over, but I'm already back in training.  I'll be running the Denver Rock 'n Roll marathon on October 9th!  

Boulder Peak

In case anyone has noticed or cares, I've been slacking on blogging lately.  I failed to recap 3 out of 4 races from my self-imposed "May madness" series.  Now that it's July, I'm going to forgo all that and skip straight to a brief race report of the Boulder Peak, which was this morning.

During the drive from Denver to Boulder, I spent some time thinking about my goals for this race and what I wanted to accomplish.  This isn't my "A race" and I've raced this course twice before.  This was also my first time this year putting all three sports together (the Summer Open Tri I did in May turned into Du because of high E-coli in the water).  I decided that I just wanted to make it up the (crazy hard 15% grade) hill on the bike and see what I could do on the run.

Swim

I made somewhat of a rookie mistake at the swim start (though, ironically, if I were an actual rookie, I probably wouldn't have made it because I would have been paying closer attention to the rules.)  I hopped in the water a few minutes before my wave started to warm up.  When I finished, my fellow W30-34ers were already lined up in the start corral, so I swam under the rope to join them rather than swim back to the beach and walk over.  At one minute before the start, I recalled that I had heard at the pre-race meeting the day before that there was a timing mat you had to cross before entering the swim (for safety reasons, so they know everyone made it out of the water.)  This is a rule change since Ironman took over this race.  At about 30 seconds before the start I looked back and noticed a "Swim Start" banner with a timing mat underneath.  I asked a fellow athlete if I needed to cross the mat before starting.  She was like, uh, yeah.  So, I ran back to the beach, quickly explained to a volunteer what the heck I was doing, and then ran back into the water Baywatch-style, chasing after my competitors who had already started swimming.

approximation of how I looked at the swim start

Needless to say, my swim was only ok.  Though I probably only lost about 30-45 seconds on this endeavor, it threw off my mental game a little.  I thought I did a pretty good job of putting it out of my mind, however.  I was worried that I didn't actually tag the mat in the right place and that I would get a "DNS" (did not start) for the race.  I decided that even if it did go in the books as a DNS, I would know in my heart that I came out and raced, and that helped set my mood for the rest of the day.

Bike

Yes the Boulder Peak has a swim.  Yes there is a run that is usually hot as f*&k.  But really, the Boulder Peak starts and finishes with the bike up Olde Stage Road.  After 6 miles of false flats and steady climbing, the bike leg culminates in a 600 foot vertical climb in just 2/3 of a mile.  The final 20 miles are downhill with a few rollers, easy peasy in comparison.  I usually make a point to practice the hill before race day, but wasn't able to this year due to construction.  I didn't really doubt my ability to make it up, but I was a little nervous.

The main difference in my approach this year was that I gave myself permission to stay in a lower gear and focus on spinning my legs.  I used to stay in my big ring as long as possible, but I've been convinced that it's better to save energy using a lower gear than to muscle through the false flats, especially when such a hard hill is ahead.  In prior years, I put off switching into my granny gear as long as possible...this year I wasn't afraid to granny it up as soon as it felt right.  I made it up the hill and never felt tempted to stop and walk.  It sucked, but at the same time it was great because there is such great crowd support and reaching the top feels like such an accomplishment.  I tried to make up as much speed as I could on the rest of the course and headed back to the Rez for the run.  Even though I didn't have a time goal for the bike (and I kind of worried that I wasn't really pushing myself), I finished almost 3 minutes faster than my previous best effort.

Run

I emailed my coach a few months ago with my goals for the season.  After listing my "real" goals, I said that one day I would like to be able to run a sub-10 minute mile on an Olympic distance tri, but I didn't think it would happen this year.  Well, sports fans, at the 2011 Boulder Peak I managed a pace of 9:44!

At this years' BolderBoulder 10k, my watch was out of batteries, so I couldn't use it to pace myself.  I was pretty freaked out by this because I really wanted to finish in under an hour.  Well, I ended up smashing that goal by a good minute and a half, and finished in 58:29 without the help of my fancy pants Garmin.  I also enjoyed not staring at my watch the entire time.  I felt more engaged and more tuned in to my internal pacing and perceived rate of exertion.  The one thing I missed, however, was not being able to time my 9-minute/1-minute walk/run intervals.  For this race, I thought about ditching my watch completely, but settled on using only its interval feature, and not allowing myself to switch to the other screen and check my pace.

About halfway through mile 1, a guy ran up next to me and we chatted briefly.  When it came time to start my first walk break, I said, "This is part of my strategy, I'm going to walk for a minute" and he ran on ahead.  Once I started running again, I caught up to him and passed him in Mile 2, and at some point later he passed me again.  I made this the game--catching him or passing him after each walk break.  I was able to do it every mile, and I knew I was making good time based on where I was in my 9/1 interval when I hit each mile marker.  I saw him again in Mile 6 and we chatted, then he took off.  Then I passed him again.  This happened a few more times, until I passed him definitively and crossed the finish line first.  You got CHICKED, sucka!  And I accomplished a pie-in-the-sky goal and beat my previous best run time on this race by almost a minute per mile!

Overall Results:  3:18:29 overall time / Swim 31:49 / Bike 1:37:43 (16mph) / Run 1:00:26 (9:44/mi)

Next up, the Courage Classic, then Lake Stevens 70.3!

Race Report: Cherry Creek Sneak

Sneaking in a quick race report before bed (gotta rise early for a 6am swim)!

Picture of the Race T-Shirt (because a bunny chasing after a cherry with legs is never not funny)

The "Sneak" 5-miler was definitely not an "A" race.  I'd never done it before, so I just decided to sign up (a) for fun and (b) to do a self-assessment for the BolderBoulder.  That said, I felt really nervous beforehand.  I'm just not a big fan of running in "Zone 3" (5k/10k pace) and I hate knowing that I'll have to spend almost an hour running at an uncomfortable pace.

My coaches have been talking a lot about goals lately: process goals, performance goals, and outcome goals.  Process goals relate to the process of training (e.g., I'll go for a short jog every time I get off the bike so my legs get used to that transition), performance goals relate to your individual performance (I'll maintain x pace during this run), and outcome goals relate to factors that you usually can't control (I'll win my age group).  A performance goal I've set is to negative-split all my running races.  This worked well for me in Moab and I think it is a good strategy for me given how long it takes me to warm-up.

My goal for the BolderBoulder is to finish under an hour.  (The last time I ran, my time was 1:00:17 - so frustrating!)  I will need to average 9:39/mi for a time of 59:59.  In order to practice for this goal, the strategy I decided on for the Sneak was to hover around 9:45/mi for the first 3 miles, and then punch it up to a 9:25-9:30/mi for the last two. 

The Cherry Creek Sneak was a pretty fun course.  Flat, lots of spectators, people in costumes, and bands playing at every mile.  It is a very crowded start, however, and during the first mile, I understood why it is called the "Sneak."  I did a lot of sneakin' - around other runners, up on to the median, over to the other side of the road.  It was difficult to run fast enough to keep a 9:45 pace in this atmosphere, so I ended up doing a bit of an interval work-out to play catch up every time I had extra space to run. 

My motto for the first half (well, 3/5ths) was "hold back" and for the second part, "let go."  I spent a lot of time checking my Garmin during the first three miles to make sure I was keeping the right pace.  But once I got finished mile 3, I just sped up without caring as much about my precise pace.  I caught my watch in the 8s a lot (always exciting!) and a few times in the 7s.

The finish line is a bit of a tease.  You turn up First Avenue heading towards the mall with the big FINISH LINE sign in plain view, but then they make you turn and run about 0.75 miles more.  Once you do get to the finish for real, you turn a corner, and it's right there.  My coach warned me about this sudden finish and advised me to start my finish line surge when I hit Milwaukee Street.  I didn't realize that I would pass Milwaukee twice in the final zig-zag, so I sped up a little too early.  I'll know better for next year. :)

My final time was 47:35, 9:31/mi pace, which I was pretty pleased with!  The BolderBoulder is a lot hillier, but I think this puts me in good shape to break the hour barrier on Memorial Day.

I'm registered for a lot of races this month - I'm calling it May Madness.  It probably wasn't the best idea since I'm very susceptible to race burn-out, but I'm going to do my best to just think of them as training exercises.

Here is what's in store for this Month:

May 1 - Cherry Creek Sneak
May 7 - Barking Dog Duathlon Walk for MS
May 14 - Sean May Memorial Run (9 mile option)
May 22 - Summer Open Triathlon in Longmont (sprint distance)
May 30 - BolderBoulder 10k

Happy May!

Race Report: Canyonlands Half In Moab

My first race of 2011 is under my belt - I raced the Canyonlands Half last weekend!  It was a BEAUTIFUL course, a significant PR, and a great time.

the View from my Hotel Room

 This is the most consistently and strategically I've ever trained for a half-marathon, so although deep down I really wanted to beat my previous times, my official goal was to "see what I can do out there."  I usually write down my race goals and strategy on a piece of paper and keep it with my gear.  I didn't do that this time, but (since this is 2011) I did Tweet it:

The race didn't start until 10am and I road the shuttle from the hotel at around 8:15.  Since the run literally takes place in a canyon, the start line was pretty chill.  No music, no traffic, no mass chaos, just a bunch of runners hanging out and getting ready.

 


The race start was also chill-y.  I raced in a tank-top and capris and had to give up my warm-ups about an hour before start.  I had intended to buy some cheap cover ups from Goodwill to cast off right before the start of the race, but I didn't get around to it.  I will definitely not forget next year!

In the two halfs (halves?) I've run before, I managed just under an 11 minute mile pace.  I knew I could beat that--knew it!--but I didn't want to get too cocky, too soon.  So I planned to keep an average pace of 10:55/mi for the first seven miles and after that, if I felt good, I would speed up. 

I started off running with a teammate who I ran most of my long runs with.  The first hiccup was that I had to stop for a bathroom break . . . at Mile 0.5.  It wasn't ideal, but it didn't take long for me to realize that I wouldn't be able to make it through the whole race without stopping and I figured it was better to be comfortable sooner rather than later.  I had to run an 8:30/mi pace briefly to catch up with my running mate and stay on track, which again, was not ideal for the "leaving gas in the tank" plan, but it worked out fine.

At mile 1, I realized that my Garmin was slightly off from the course (i.e. it beeped for 1 mile shortly before I reached the mile marker on the course).  Since I was heavily depending on my watch to keep us well-paced, I made a mental note that our actual pace would be about 5 seconds slower per mile than the watch said.  (I had it set to display both the current pace and the average pace in addition to the overall time and distance.) 

 The first few miles were downhill, so it was a challenge to slow down and not take full advantage of the "free speed." And it was an interesting experience figuring out the pacing while taking into account my Garmin's margin of error and the impact of the walk breaks.  I did the 9 and 1 interval - 9 minutes of running, 1 minute of brisk walking.  I've decided I LOVE this strategy!  It helps so much in terms of breaking things up mentally and it actually makes me run faster.  I decided I wanted the 10:55/mi average pace to include the walk breaks, not just the running intervals.   So each 9 minutes I did the math -- if we slow down to/maintain/speed up to a 10:47/mi average, we'll probably finish the walk break with an average pace of 10:50/mi, which taking into account for the Garmin means we're right at 10:55.  I ran with my fuel belt and water bottle.  I didn't want to - I hate that thing - but I'm really glad I did.  I loved just being able to drink when it was convenient and not having to think about when to hit up a water station and whether it coincided with my walk breaks.

We were a little fast for the first three miles, which was ok given the downhill, so we slowed down at miles 4-7.  That was pretty easy around Mile 5, which was mostly uphill.  I stopped at the Team In Training tent at Mile 6 to ask for some anti-chafing lotion (I had put on some Vaseline in the morning but hadn't correctly guessed all the right spots -- another mental note for next time.)  I had to run an 8:30 for a bit to get back on track again, but I was still feeling good for my plan to speed up the second half.

I hadn't really thought too much about what pace I would shoot for, but in the moment I just decided that I would stop holding back.  If I caught my pace at 9:30-9:45, I wouldn't slow down.  If it felt right, I would just go with it.  I also gave myself full permission to keep running the same pace (or slower) if that was what felt right.  Right after completing Mile 7, I said farewell to my running partner, and took off!

I felt good, really good.  And I was passing a lot of people, which felt even better.  My pace was consistently in the 9s . . . hovering around 9:30-9:45 and occasionally dipping into the 8s.  I decided I would aim to keep up this pace for the rest of the race and focused on getting my average pace to go down, down, down. 

In my experience, half marathons are pretty fun until about Miles 8-9.  Then, the novelty wears off and you are ready for it to be over with.  That feeling hit me after finishing Mile 9, which conveniently coincided with a fairly challenging hill.  But, I was determined to keep up the pace and make a negative split, so I kept on.

The first ten miles are in the canyon and the last 5k goes into town.  While it's hard to make Moab ugly,  the "town" portion of the race does not mean a cute little Main Street with coffee shops and boutiques, it means running on a major highway with semi-trucks and RV Parks and cheap motels alongside.  I had mentally prepared myself for this, but I did not want to leave the canyon!  I knew that Tribal Drummers would be at Mile 10, so when I heard the beat I knew the end of the scenic view was coming.

Once I exited the canyon and began running on the coned-off shoulder of a highway, I did what I could to hang on mentally.  I was still passing people, but it was a little harder to maneuver with less space.  I started focusing on landmarks - run to the RV Park sign, run to the Motel 6, run to the Denny's.  When I passed the marker for Mile 11, I told myself to keep pushing.  Eleven is my lucky number so I decided I had to make that mile count.  I figured once I finished Mile 12, things would take care of themselves.

When I hit the Denny's, that was huge.  It meant turning the corner and heading towards the finish.  It was still a ways though - maybe a mile and a half.  There was a second turn after that to get to the actual finish line, but once I turned that corner I was hoping it would be closer than it was!  I could barely make it out in the distance.  I had skipped my last walk break and just did my best to run it in.  I calculated at Mile 10 that I would probably finish at around 2:17 and I crossed the line at 2:17:33 - a PR of 5:30!

I'm definitely smiling . . . but if you look closely it's not a happy-go-lucky kind of smile.  It's an "I've been gritting my teeth for the last four miles" kind of smile.  My biggest struggle with running is playing it too safe.  I don't like running fast so I tend to . . . not, and I worry that I'm not racing up to my physical potential.  But, I think this is pretty good photographic evidence that I left it all on the field.

I haven't analyzed the data (still haven't set up the Garmin software on my new Mac), but in the last 6.1 miles I got my overall average pace of 10:55 down to 10:30.  My non-scientific analysis?  That's pretty freakin' good!  I must have run the last six miles about a minute per mile faster than the first seven. 

I was really excited about my PR on Saturday and 100% proud of myself for making such crazy negative splits, but on Monday I started to doubt myself and feel a little down.  I PR-ed the half, so what?  I could have gone even faster if I hadn't started out so slow.  These were my thoughts.  But, I've done this enough to know that this kind of post-race depression is normal and it passes.  Today I'm back to feeling proud of my accomplishment and excited for tri season. 

It really helped to think back to my goals at the beginning of the season - none of them were speed related.  All I wanted was to learn to like running more and to re-kindle my motivation to keep at it.  And this morning, something amazing happened.  I set my alarm early to catch a yoga class before work (I've been taking hot yoga at Core Power - love it!)  As soon as I woke up I realized my anti-skid yoga towel was still dirty from yesterday, so yoga was out.  So I decided instead, I think I'll go out for a run . . .

Why I Try

Note that this post isn't titled with the play on words "Why I Tri," a staple in the triathlon blogosphere and a feature in the newsletter or website of every triathlon group in the country.  This is less about what motivates me to do triathlons and more wondering how it ever even occurred to me to make this kind of effort.

I started thinking about this earlier this week when I read two articles in as many hours, both about women's self-esteem in the classroom.  One was about how bright fifth grade girls were quicker to give up on a challenge than their less intelligent male counterparts, and the other was about how women were less likely to be vocal and engaged in law school.   Both articles felt like I was reading my horoscope.

"The Trouble With Bright Girls" by Heidi Grant Halvarson on the Huffington Post posed an interesting theory as to why the smartest girls were often the quickest to give up.

Most likely, it has to do with the kinds of feedback we get from parents and teachers as young children. Girls, who develop self-control earlier and are better able to follow instructions, are often praised for their "goodness." When we do well in school, we are told that we are "so smart," "so clever, " or "such a good student." This kind of praise implies that traits like smartness, cleverness and goodness are qualities you either have or you don't.


Boys, on the other hand, are a handful. Just trying to get boys to sit still and pay attention is a real challenge for any parent or teacher. As a result, boys are given a lot more feedback that emphasizes effort (e.g., "If you would just pay attention you could learn this," "If you would just try a little harder you could get it right.") The net result: When learning something new is truly difficult, girls take it as sign that they aren't "good" and "smart," and boys take it as a sign to pay attention and try harder.

The National Jurist reports on a survey demonstrating what happens when these bright girls grow up and go to law school:

“Female students are less likely to place themselves in situations they perceive to be risky,” said Lindsay Watkins, the survey’s project manager at the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University in Bloomington. “Female students were more likely to report working hard in law school to either avoid embarrassment in front of their peers, or out of a fear of failure, than were their male classmates.”

I read the first article from a link on a friend's Facebook page and one woman commented that in her experience as a teacher, it was absolutely true that telling children they are bright and smart is counterproductive.  It was much more important to give positive feedback for their effort and work habits.  Another guy wrote jokingly but thought-provokingly that maybe video games were the secret to self-esteem:  "As a lad, I learned how to fail, restart, power-up, and reach the next level - with new powers! - again, and again, and again."

Later that night I got to thinking (cue the Carrie Bradshaw voiceover) . . . I've always been more brainy than brawny, why wasn't I more risk-averse when it came to trying sports?  Why did I turn bright red and my heart race when trading essays in high school for peer review, but had no problem competing on the gymnastics team?  (I seriously sucked - a perfect score is 10,  I rarely scored above a 6, and often scored in the 3 range.)  I ate lunch in the library every day 1L year re-reading Torts cases out of fear that I would make a fool out of myself when given the Socratic method, yet I trained on my own for my first marathon without a clue what I was doing and am not embarrassed at all about my time -- 5:27:53!!!  The first few months of my first real lawyer job, I walked home every day with my head hung low, convinced that I was the dumbest, least capable person in the entire world, but during my first half-Ironman I held my head up high starting the second loop of the run course when most other racers were finishing.

Why the discontinuity?  Maybe since I was never naturally talented at sports growing up, I was given praise for my effort and that has stayed with me.  Perhaps I owe my crazy triathlon-ing to my kickball coach in third grade.  My Dad often reminds me that before every game she would say, "What do I want you girls to do out there?," and we would recite in unison, "THINK!"  Or, maybe since school and academic endeavors have always been easier for me, I'm more likely to tend towards perfectionism, which can be very paralyzing.  When I enter a half-marathon or triathlon, I know I have no chance at succeeding in the objective sense, so I can just relax and focus on doing my best.

Speaking of half-marathons, I am racing in Moab in two weeks!  This is the most consistently and methodically that I've ever trained for a running event (a subject for another post), so I'm pretty excited to see what I can do out there.  But regardless of what my chip time ends up being, I think it's safe to say that I'll be proud of myself for my effort and hard work.

Adult Kickball FTW!

When I was in third grade, I played in a kickball league.  I don't like to brag, but I was the recipient of the sportsmanship award and the "bunting Belinda" award.  In an effort to revive some of my former glory, I joined up with an adult kickball team called "Orange You Glad Its Wednesday" and have spent the last eight Wednesday evenings at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.  Tonight was our last game of the season.

My main contribution to the team has been my two X chromosomes.  There is a rule that you have to have at least four girls on the field at all times, so I was recruited by a new friend from book club.  For the record, I suck.  I completely suck.  In the whole season, I caught one fly ball and only made it on base a handful of times.  I mostly specialized in kicking short pop-up flies that were easily caught and doing as little damage as possible playing pitcher and catcher.  I usually didn't drink any game beers and I never really felt like I was making friends with my teammates.  Regardless, I LOVED it!  I don't know exactly why, but I always felt sooooo good after a game.  It was really helpful for clearing my head after a long day.  It's a feeling I usually associate with coming in from a run or bike ride, but kickball isn't really exercise (especially the way I play).  I think it goes to show how mood-lifting it can be just spending some time outside after sitting at a desk all day.  The excuse to yell and cheer and the whole team effort thing probably had something to do with it, too.  Anyway, I'm going to miss it.

But . . . next week I'm starting another after-work, outside, fun activity!  I'm joining up with a new team for running and triathlon.  FastForward Sports has a holiday running group that involves low-key work-outs at Wash Park and participation in all the fun (short!) holiday races (Turkey Trot, Jingle Bell 5k, Resolution Run).  The plan is to get running again and in January start training for the Canyonlands Half in Moab!  That will take me right in to tri season and training for my second half-ironman!  (Probably the Boise 70.3.) 

It was pretty chilly and windy at kickball tonight.  Must get some cold weather running gear this weekend!

It's Not You, It's Me . . .

As I wrote in my last post, I am not doing any more triathlons this summer and am taking a break from training.  I thought I would still swim, run, and especially bike just for fun, but I really haven't.  The truth is I haven't touched my road bike since getting back from Austin.  I feel a little guilty because it's such a nice bike and I LOVE it.

Nobody puts Orbea in the corner

At the same time, I want to be honest with myself.  If I'm not feelin' it, I'm not feelin' it.  And, it's not like I'm not getting exercise.  In fact, I go to the YMCA (err...the Y) so often that I'm the Mayor on Foursquare!  And, taking some time away from my Orbea might just lead to us having a stronger relationship in the future.

I actually have been riding, just not on my road bike.  I borrowed my neighbor's hybrid to ride the Moonlight Classic and basically never gave it back.  I started riding it around everywhere.  It was so fun and really nice not to have to deal with parking and traffic -- especially great for trips downtown and to the gym.  I never felt comfortable riding my road bike in street clothes (not to mention street shoes) and I was always so paranoid about it getting stolen that I rarely used it to get from point A to point B.  I know I'm way late to the game, but I finally get why people are so enthusiastic about biking as a mode of transportation!  I'm kinda like people who started watching DVDs of Lost after it had been on for a few years and were like "Whoa... this top-rated, critically acclaimed show that everyone's always talking and blogging about is, like, good!"

I knew I couldn't keep free-loading forever.  I got home from the gym one night (using my neighbor's bicycle, of course) and decided that the next day my mission would be Project GettaBike.  Then a friend called to see if I wanted to join her for a walk to Whole Foods to get a popsicle.  Always!  When we reached the end of my block, I saw a mountain bike chained up to a tree with a flashing neon sign (in the metaphorical sense) that said:  "Bike for Sale."  It was a Giant bike with Shimano gears, so I knew it was a solid bike (not a Wal-Mart POS).  It was in good condition and road nicely when I took it for a spin.  I googled it (thank-you Droid!) and the seller was asking for about 1/5 the retail price of the 2010 model of the same bike.  

This reminded me of how my neighbor (whose bike I had been borrowing) got her new puppy.  An unexpected sequence of events caused her to end up at the Dumb Friends League where she met a woman who was bawling because she had a newborn baby at home and couldn't take care of both the baby and her puppy.  The woman decided she had no choice but to give the puppy up.  My neighbor hadn't planned on getting a second dog, but she immediately thought of the Yiddish word "b'shert" or "meant to be."  She was so convinced that adopting this puppy was meant to be that she named the dog B'shert (BiBi for short).

BiBi the puppy (because popular opinion is that puppies are cute)

I felt the same way about this bike.  Even though it was a somewhat impulsive decision, it just felt like it was meant to be.  I considered naming my new bike BiBi, but I think it's against Jewish tradition to name someone (or something) after a living relative (or neighboring puppy).  Even though I had planned to get a hybrid not a mountain bike, it is pretty easy to turn a mountain bike into a speedier commuter by switching out the tires.  I took it to my LBS and they put on new tires and tuned 'er up (which together ended up costing more than the bike itself).  The new tires work great and I'm loving riding it!

Mountain Bike Tires

Zippy Street Tires (Look, Mom - reflective safety stripe!)

See you out there!

Cap Tex Tri Race Report

I raced my first (and only) tri of the season in my hometown last weekend.  The Cap Tex Tri was a good excuse to visit my family and it was a great race!  Traveling with my bike involved lots of logistics, and I definitely could have planned ahead a lot better.  But, since it all worked out in the end, I'll skip the hiccups and frustrations and get straight to the main event! 


Pre-Race
My Dad dropped me off near the race site around 5:30am.  They had us leave our bikes there overnight, which made packing up the car and walking to the transition area a lot easier.  After I got my body-marked, I made my way into the transition area to find my bike.  The race takes place in and around downtown.  When I walked into the transition area and I was struck by how cool it was to see the Austin skyline emerging from the sea of bikes in the night sky.  I didn't have a camera with me, so I took a mental picture.  *CLICK*

The race started at 7am, but my wave was not until 8:05.  I grabbed my wetsuit, goggles, and some cliff shot blocks, and wandered down to the lake to watch the start of the race.  Since it was Memorial Day, the race honored active military and veterans.  There were a bunch of Texas A&M students at the race.  My first thought was "boo," until I realized that many of them were volunteers assisting athletes in the "wounded warrior" category and decided that the Aggies deserved a free pass for the day.  At around 7:30, I put on my wetsuit (for the first time this year), ate my shot blocks, and drank some water.  Shortly after that, I ran into my family and got to give them all hugs before the race.

Swim
The swim was in Town Lake (which has since been re-named Lady Bird Lake, but I just can't get used to that) and the 1500 meter course was shaped like one of those cork puller wine openers.  It was a treading water start and my wave was wearing blue caps.  I have no idea what the water temperature was, but I was really glad I wore my wetsuit!  The gun fired and I began my first open water swim of the year.

I felt good during the swim.  I didn't want to start too fast, so I settled into a pace that felt sustainable.  I focused on swimming with long, strong strokes.  I didn't feel like I was going very fast, but it wasn't long before I started seeing yellow caps from the wave ahead of me.  The buoys marking the turns were also yellow, which made things a little confusing.  I just thought to myself that it was a good sign every time I saw yellow - I was either passing someone or approaching a milestone in the course.  When I swam under the Congress Avenue bridge, I rolled over briefly to look for the famous Mexican free-tailed bats, but didn't see any.  I saw my Dad cheering as I headed out of the water and into T1.

Bike
The bike course for the Olympic Distance was 4 loops, which went around downtown and the Capitol.  I felt pretty discombobulated during the first loop.  When I grabbed my water bottle for my first drink, the cap fell off.  The rules are that you can't discard anything on the bike course.  Luckily I caught the bottle cap and was able to screw it back on pretty easily.  Next, the auto-multisport function of my Garmin got confused and after about three miles on the bike, it instructed me to start running.  I wanted to see my cadence and average mph so I quickly re-set my watch to the bike function as I pedaled.  Then, the number on my bike came undone, but fortunately it hung on by a thread for the remainder of the course.

The course had rolling hills and lots of sharp turns.  This was my first race with aerobars and I think I used them for most of the course, except during the turns.  I stayed in the big ring for the first two loops, but by the third and fourth loops, I figured out the spots where it made sense to drop into the small ring.  I saw my Dad at the end of the first and second loop and by the time I finished the third loop, my Mom and brother were there, too.  It was hot out and there were no aid-stations, so I knew I had to make a real effort to stay hydrated and electrolyted.  When I finished I had drunk my entire bottle of water and half of my bottle of Gatorade.  I was pleased about this - sometimes I'll come back from a ride with two almost completely full bottles.  I averaged 18.4 mph (total time 1:21), which is really good for me!

Run
When I got into the transition area, racked my bike, and took off my helmet, I realized I was drenched in sweat.  I'm not used to humidity anymore, so I decided to take my time and downed a little bit more Gatorade before heading out onto the run.  The run is usually the most challenging part for me and the challenge is often as mental as it is physical.  I tried to get myself really excited to run while I was still on the bike, but I'm not sure it worked.  I started out easy and told myself not to look at my watch to see my pace until after the first mile.  I cheated twice and caught myself at 9:41 and 10:02.  I was happy about this as I was aiming for a 10:30/mi pace.  I had given myself full permission to walk through each and every water station, but I ended up not really wanting to.  Austin knows how to plan for the heat, so there were water stations about every half mile and one of the stations had a tent with sprinklers to run through.  I ended up only walking through the two stations that had Gatorade so I could fully imbibe those electrolytes and I also walked through a station at Mile 5 so I could recharge and finish strong.    

I had a hard time with the first three miles. It's not that I wanted to stop and walk, but I didn't really want to run either.  For some reason, the image that popped into my head was a scene from one of the worst movies ever made.  (I watched Bride Wars on HBO this winter.)  There is a part where Anne Hathaway (whose character's name happens to be Emma) is running in Central Park.  She is hooked into her blue iPod shuffle and we astute viewers are supposed to remember that she said at the beginning of the movie, "iPods are for people who can't be alone with their thoughts."  Now she is distraught about fighting with her best friend and not getting along with her fiance and she can't hear Kate Hudson calling after her through her headphones.  Something about watching her feet hit the pavement in that scene made me really want to go for a run.  So for the rest of the run, I pretended that I was Anne Hathaway.  I also repeated over and over in my head, "This isn't supposed to be easy, dig deep."  I start to feel a lot better by Mile 4.  Just as I was thinking that I hadn't seen my family on the run yet and that I could really use their support, there they were at the halfway point of the second loop.

I kept an eye on my pace and saw that I was hovering around 10:30/mi, which was my goal.  As I ran across the Congress Bridge for the second time, my Garmin beeped to signify the 6 mile mark.  I was excited for the final 0.2 until I realized that either my watch was off or the course was long, because I was definitely more than 352 yards away from the finish.  (When I crossed the line, my watch read between 6.5 and 6.6.)  I felt good about the run and my overall time when I finished the race, but I confess that I was really disappointed when I got my results and saw that my run pace was actually only a 11:04/mi (a 1:08:44 10k).  The man who won the overall race PR-ed in the 10k, so I concluded that the discrepancy was with my watch, not the course.  It was hard not to think that I could have pushed myself a little more, but in the end I think I just need to trust that I did the best I could on that day, in the heat of the Texas sun. 

Finish
When I picked up my race packet the day before, I noticed that they had be down as being from Cypress, Texas instead of Denver, Colorado.  It wasn't a big deal, but they usually announce your name and town when you cross the finish line and I really wanted everyone to know that I had descended from on (mile-)high for this race.  I heard other people talking at the expo that their cities were wrong, too, so I thought they would correct it for race day.  Well, they must have re-run the excel spreadsheet (or whatever) because when they called my name I was not from Cypress, but I wasn't from Denver either.  Instead they said I was from Crawford!  Ew!  I definitely did not want to be confused with any other residents of Crawford, Texas!

They finally got my city right when they published the results.  The most exciting part of seeing the official results was how I placed in my age group!  When I race in Boulder, I'm lucky if I finish 71st out of 78.  This time, I was 26th out of 83!  That's like top-third!  Woo-hoo!

My overall results were:
Swim - 36:17
T1 - 5:54
Bike - 1:21:00 (18.4 mph)
T2 - 3:39
Run - 1:08:44 (11:04/mi)
Total: 3:15:35

T3

Now my season is over, and I head into what some on the blogosphere refer to as "T3."  I am planning to keep biking on the weekends, do the occasional open water swim for fun, and run at least a little, enough to satisfy my inner-Anne Hathaway.  I am looking forward to enjoying each discipline again without the pressure to put in a certain number of hours or miles.  I am also looking forward to having the freedom and flexibility to spend the weekends doing something else entirely or nothing at all!

Yee-haw!!!

BRICK!

I did my first brick work-out of the season tonight and, man, was it tough!

For the uninitiated, a "brick" is a back-to-back work-out with two disciplines, usually cycling and running.  After wondering about the term's origins in the car ride over and googling to no avail once I got home, I think I've concluded it's because they are both HARD.

Here is the (run-focused) brick work-out I did earlier:

- Warm-up 8 minutes running
- 1 mile time trial  running
- 2 X 2.75mi time trial biking
- 1 mile time trial running
- Cool down

Seeing it in writing makes it looks so easy, but I promise it was a challenge.  Those mile time trial runs are killer on their own!  Usually triathletes talk about how weird your legs feel when you start to run after finishing the bike.  Tonight I got to feel the extreme burn in my quads trying to bike after a pushed-run.  The goal was to have the two 1-mile runs be consistent despite the bike in between them.  I ran the first mile in 8:28 and the second in 8:38!  I was sooooo proud of myself (a) because I didn't think I'd be able to run at all once I finished the bike and (b) because I was pleased with my 1-mile pace, brick or no brick.  I averaged 16.4 mph on the bike leg, which I guess is alright considering the state of my legs.  I didn't time the two laps separately, but I am pretty sure the second loop was much slower. 

Without a doubt this was the hardest work-out I've done this year.  But, I was able to do it, which means I've been consistent in my training up to this point.  As I type, 33 days until my race!  A few more brick work-outs, aerobic runs, and long bike rides and I should be good to go.  I'm not 100% sure if I'll get a chance to practice open water swimming before race day, but I feel comfortable enough in open water that it doesn't worry me. 

I am moving apartments sometime in May, but I haven't picked a weekend yet.  I'm thinking of moving the weekend of  May 22nd since that will be my taper weekend and I won't have to worry about trying to squeeze in much training.  But.... the series finale of LOST is that Sunday and I would hate for my cable not to be hooked-up in time for that.  Decisions, decisions. 

I'm Back, Baby!

Well, I'm working out again anyway!

Now that the bar exam is over, I'm getting more sleep and have more free time.  I think lack of sleep was the main reason I had trouble getting a consistent amount of exercise while I was studying for the bar.  Now that I'm not studying all day and tossing and turning about the Rule Against Perpetuities all night, I can finally start training again.  My sights are set on May 31st - the Capital of Texas Triathlon!  I was a little worried that this wasn't the best year to pick an early season tri, given that I wasn't really able to start training in earnest until March. Then I noticed a book on my shelf called The 12-Week Triathlete.  March 8th - May 31st is twelve weeks exactly!  I can do it!  I actually think this is the perfect amount of time for me to train.  I am beginning to realize that I am a "less is more" kind of athlete.  If I train too much or for too long, I start to get burnt out and lose motivation.  And, I trust that I have enough experience and base-level fitness that I will have no problem building back up to an Olympic distance in the next three months.   

Work-out Summary (Mar. 8 - Mar. 14)

Monday:  PowerPump class (1hr); Learning the choreography to Britney Spears, "Baby One More Time" video (1hr) (Totally not kidding, and it was tough!  That girl can DANCE!)

Tuesday:  Yoga (hard) (1hr)

Wednesday: Swim (continuous swim + a few drills) (1hr)

Thursday:  Bike work-out on the trainer (1hr)

Friday:  Yoga (easy) (1hr)

Saturday:  rest day

Sunday:  7k (4.3mi) run -- Runnin' of the Green

Life Summary (Mar. 8 - Mar. 14)

Job Applications:  4

Networking Events:  3

Trips to Whole Foods:  2 (each time only for a carton of milk - big improvement from eating 3 meals a day there!) 

I felt pretty sore most of the week, but the good kind of sore.  I like being able to physically tell that I've been doing something.  The St. Patty's Day-themed 7k was literally the first time I ran since the ColderBolder in early December.  I viewed it as the official kick-off to my running season.  I didn't wear a watch, and my official time was nothing to write home about, but I was very pleased that I was able to run the whole way and that I actually enjoyed it!  I had to force my way through the Turkey Trot and the ColderBolder, but with this race I was able to just relax, run, enjoy the crowds, and enjoy running with my friend Annie.  I did a track work-out this morning and enjoyed that, too.  I don't want to jinx anything, and maybe it's just that raucous Irish spirit talking, but I feel fairly optimistic that I will be able to maintain a good attitude about running this year!  

One week down, eleven to go!