Aflac Iron Girl Boulder Sprint

This is my second Iron Girl race experience and it was as fantastic as my first. They really know how to treat the ladies! And as usual get a drink or something because it's a long one!

I decided to take the afternoon off on Friday so I could head up to packet pick up early and I'm glad I did. I ran in to Kathleen, she is so nice! We had a chance to chat while collecting my goodies and waiting for the pre-race talk.

And goodies there were too, very impressed with the loot! Look at all that stuff! Hair ties, body spray, cute little Aflac ducky (and yes he does scream Aflac!) as well as a huge bag of foot soaking Epsom salts and a cute, cute, cute shirt! It was however crazy windy up there and they were having to hold on to everything including all the tents. Kathleen took this photo of the duck looking like he had a little to much fun.

Race day came early as the alarm went off at 4:20. I had peanut butter and banana on a sandwich thin along of course with a couple of cups of coffee before heading out . I was really excited for this race. I was looking forward to being able to visit with old friends and new, as well as being in Boulder to race. I forgot just how dark it would be out at the reservoir, walking to transition was a bit of a challenge. Got there with plenty of time to get everything set up and visit some more with Kathleen as well as others standing around and watch a beautiful sunrise.

Me and Kathleen

Headed down to the beach at 6:30 when transition closed although my wave would not be starting until 7:05 which was the 2nd wave. Ran into a friend Kelli that I met last year in CWW and chatted with her. Her husband snapped this pic of us. Not one of my most flattering shots for sure!

Me and Kelli

I had debated right up until the last minute if I would wear the wet suit or not and finally decided to and I'm glad I did because the water felt chilly! It really was a perfect morning though. Just a little cloud cover that helped with sighting.

Ok now to get on with the darn race report!
Swim 1/4 mile:
We started on the beach instead of in the water which was new and different for me but worked out fine. My swim however was not really great. It took until just after the first turn to get out from the middle of a bunch of people. I spent more time with my head out of the water then in the water and I didn't even begin to find a grove until the swim was over. Being only a 1/4 mile it went fast...really fast. Swim time included the run up the beach and into transition. On the way up they handed us these great towels, very nice for wiping off your face. And will come in handy in the future.
Total time 9:58 233 out of 619

Thanks a ton to Kelli's husband for snapping this picture of me heading of to T1

T1 2:38 and uneventful thankfully after the last race!

Bike 17 miles:
The bike was good I passed a few people and I was passed by a bunch of those speedy younguns' The first 6 miles are a little tough, it looks to be flat for the most part but is really uphill and along the highway. Then you turn off on to a beautiful country road and fantastic downhill. Love this part of the ride. All in all I felt pretty good. I had a gu at about 50 minutes into the race. It was a little challenging trying to pass some of the people as they tended to ride in the middle of the road and next to other riders without completing their pass. One lady was actually yelling at everyone that didn't yell out "on your left" that passed her. I felt that I was pushing it so was a little disappointed to find that my average speed only ended up at 16.5 Looking back in my log it looks as if I had rides on Sissy that averaged 17.
Overall time 1:02:51 331 out of 619

T2 1:53 also uneventful thankfully. I do need to work on my transition times though.

Run 3.1 miles:
Legs were a little bit dead when I got off the bike but not to bad. As usual I got passed a lot on the run. I felt like I was taking less and shorter walk breaks but I must have been running at a slower pace too. I had another gu at the beginning of the run. The weather was really pretty good I never felt totally overheated as I have at most of the other races. I was a little disappointed in my run time too. At the end of the race they handed out ice cold sponges that felt fantastic!
3.1 miles 37:19 (12:02 pace) 421 out 619

Total time 1:54:37
350 out of 619
32 out of 70 in age group
I found it kind of funny that the average time for all was 1:54:40...guess I'm pretty average this year.

After the race I finally got to meet Aimee and she is just the sweetest thing. And fast very fast!


Aimee Me and Kathleen
Me and Kelli

Kathleen, Aimee (be sure to check out their race reports when they get them up!) and Kelli all had really great races! I hope that maybe just by being with them I will get just a little bit faster! Now as I said Iron Girl really knows how to treat the ladies and the spread of food was absolutely incredible! I mean seriously they had salad, fruit plates, muffins, bagels with all the fixing, pancakes with strawberries, scrambled eggs with stuff for the top, bacon, sausage and biscuits and gravy! I mean seriously have you ever seen that kind of breakfast after a race! It was fabulous! And then there seemed to be plenty of tables for everyone to sit at all with tablecloths and flowers. Wow just wow!

I don't think things get to much better then this race. I would/will absolutely make sure to do this race again and would recommend it to any and everyone! As we were leaving and Kathleen and I were talking about the fact that neither of us was pleased with our races, I said you know what this means right? We're going to have to do Crescent Moon.. :) By the way Kathleen and I are signed up to do a 10 mile point to point race on Labor day Park to Park 10 Miler .

Here's more of the stuff we got including the finishers medal and the shirt..

On the right is the duck sponge and notice the bibs have your name on them!

Tell me that isn't a cute shirt I almost hate to wear it for working out!

Slug like week and Holy COW 10k Trail Run

Why is it whenever I'm in an easy week I just revert to slug?
I really have to work on this. I do much better if I have a plan to follow too. When I just try to wing it nothing gets done. I'm always amazed at how in the morning when my alarm goes off at 4:20 I can convince myself that running after work sounds like a good idea, and then of course after work, well running doesn't sound so good. So then I convince myself that it's ok to skip today I have plenty of time to get my runs for the week in and then if that happens a 2nd day well ok I tell myself 2 rest days is not bad, it's an easy week and before I know it a 3rd day passes with no workout. Slug!

Source

Workouts this week :
Monday 3 mile run
Tuesday 18 mile bike ride
Wednesday nothing
Thursday nothing
Friday nothing
Saturday 10K
Sunday ? Probably a bike ride maybe a swim.

So this morning was the 10k. I can't say I'm thrilled with my finish, I guess after 2 runs that felt just great I was bound to have one that didn't work for me. I was undecided as to if I was going to push it or just use it as a training run. I guess I did a little of both. It was a pretty warm day, the race started at 8 and it was nearing 70 at the start. At the last minute I decided to leave my fuel belt (1 bottle water 1-bottle gatorade and a Gu) in the car thinking I would be fine with whatever was on the course. Well that turned out to be a bit of a mistake I think. I had 2 pieces of lite bread with 1/2 T. of peanut butter and 1/2 a banana before I left the house so I was thinking I would be ok. I grabbed a bottle of water after hitting the bathrooms and decided to run with it and boy am I glad I did. There were 3 water stops which only had water, and that just would not have done it for me. Although I didn't drink a bunch of water I do find I like to be able to drink when I want to drink. So I start out at a pretty good pace and ran for awhile without a walk break my first few miles were pretty fast. The 5k runners started 5 minutes after us and passed us/me pretty quickly. I was feeling pretty good the first 3 miles 11:05 11:29 and 11:47 as you can see though I was slowing down. (I do believe had I done the 5k I would have had a PR.) 4th mile getting slower 12:42 and then the Garmin started to mess up. It was telling me to delete oldest miles or some such thing. I believe I must have run out of memory. Spent much time messing with it trying to delete something or do something to make it stop beeping at me. Finally just turned it off. It was around this point there was this man that I kept getting up to and he would either start to run at that point or run faster as if he didn't want me to pass him. Then I would take a walk break and he would get ahead of me. This went on for quite some time. It seemed obvious he did not want to get "chicked" by me, (as if plenty of women had not already pass him!) Sometimes I could even tell he would see my shadow as I was coming up behind him and he would take off. I found it very amusing. And even though I felt like and truthfully was going a snails pace (take that for being a slug!) I did finally pass him and left him behind. I finally got to the water station that was around mile 5 and added a little water to my bottle and grabbed some ice and dropped it in my sports bra...oh my that was a good idea! (Thanks to all the Boulder tri runners who talked about doing this!) Well except for the noise it made. Some people I passed that were just out on the trail gave me some strange looks. As I was nearing the end I saw an older lady who was getting a ride in a cart and her husband/friend was walking still. It looked a lot like my neighbor and she had a shirt on that said Julia's walking club. Well my neighbor is Julia also and used to do alot of walking before she broke her leg playing ball with her grandsons. Did I mention she was around 70? Any way I asked the guy if it was her and he told me no. He told me her name and said that she was celebrating having lot a bunch of weight at Weight Watchers. I told him that was great and then said I better get moving. He said your almost there, just remember "I think I can, I think I can" I said oh no I Know I can and off I went, it was funny because I stopped a little bit further up and I heard him yell... "You know you can!" It was so sweet of him and of course I waved and started running again. I crossed line around 1:17:?? (around a 12:33 pace) I think it was almost 1:18. Not my best race. But actually considering all the walking in the last 2 miles I'm pretty surprised it was that good. Almost the exact time from the Boulder Boulder 10k and that was a much hillier race and I had a bathroom stop in it. But it was worth it for the lessons learned. Do what you do in training. It was funny too because after I got a drink and some food I sat down in the grass in this lady come over shortly after. She said she kept trying to catch me but just never could. She was saying that we started out at the same pace and then I stopped to walk she passed me and she thought she would stay ahead of me because she ran the whole thing and didn't walk, I however passed her. I was telling her how I had found I go faster when I take walk breaks. Anyway we talked for some time and turns out she did her first tri this year and her husband told me when she got up that she was 55! She looked fantastic I would have put her at right around my age of 46. I was thrilled for her because she got a second place "cow bell" (The Holy COW race which actually stands for City of Westminster) She got 2nd place for her age group! She was so excited. I hope to see her at some other races. Well better end now as it probably took almost as long to read my race report as it did for me to run it.

I :heart: running!

Ok I just had another fantastic run! I am so happy!!!!! I was going to go out for a bike ride but decided the weather was more suited to running then biking, of course 1/2 way through the run the sun came out and it started heating up. I headed out with the dog to just do any easy run, turns out it was pretty easy and for me pretty darn fast! I did 3 miles in 35:29! AWESOME for me!!! Splits 12:01 11:58 and 11:29 Speeded up a little when I realized I could maybe beat 35 minutes. An average pace of 11:48! I'm so happy! Had I not had the dog I might have been able to make it...he was not real happy about the last 1/2 mile.

Now the photo above....if you read Steve in a Speedo then you may recognize this for what it is....swass, aka sweaty ass. Found it funny that mine was so heart shapped this morning....wondering about the dry spots...do I have huge butt dimples?

8.6 miles of running Bliss!

Ok maybe only 6.5 of running bliss and 1.6 of this is not bad at all. It was the most perfect day for running! The temps were just above 60 when I headed out and a nice breeze! Perfect I say! I took a bit of a different route today and did a few trails. Not a lot of elevation change around 400' or so overall but I just enjoyed it. And I was beginning to think that I would never say I enjoyed running again! I feel so happy about the whole thing. Not sure what happened to my garmin though. It seems to have known that I Was only suppose to do 8 miles because for some reason that's all that showed even though I actually did 8.6 (I'm sure that's what it said when I thought I stopped it) and the map shows 8.4. Who knows.

I can't believe it's been a week since my last tri. For some reason it feels like it's been forever. I'm getting really excited for the Iron Girl coming up!

Creek Streak - Race report 1st or Last?

Headed over to packet pick up Friday evening right after work....in the middle of one of our Colorado afternoon torrential downpours. Traffic was crazy but it didn't take me much longer to get there then anticipated. Nothing to packet pick up, show your ID and USAT card and move around the room picking up timing chip, info and numbers, shirt, goody bag and your out of there...I wish you didn't have to do this the night before an event when they are small like this, however it does relieve the stress of the morning, just a drag when your on the other side of town. Then it was a little bit longer drive home...ick traffic...boy I'm glad I only live 15ish minutes from work and don't have to deal with it!

A very nice goody bag! Lots of loot! Shirts a little thin but not bad.

Had a hard time getting to sleep. But finally managed it close to 11, alarm went off at 5. Since I knew it was such a small race I was not really worried about getting there super early. Had a PB n' J sandwich and 1/2 a banana. I felt amazingly calm. Got my water together, load the bike and off I went. (On my own this week so there will be no wonderful photos.) Arrived chatted with a couple of guys that were doing the Du, set up transition, speaking of, the only pics I have since it is such a change from last weekend.

Hard to tell but there were two transition areas one on the swim in/out side and one on the run out side with the bike in/out in the middle. Both were pretty small.

Swim 1500m

Headed on down to the lake for the swim, again still feeling pretty calm, I think it was just the attitude of I'm here to do this, I will do this, I may not be fast but I will get it done! Horn went off and there were not that many of us, Women's Intermediate distance along with the relay teams for the same distance. I started out and my goggles were leaking..grr...tried to adjust swam some more...adjust some more....give up...deal with a little bit of water. I had a really hard time finding open water which seems strange given the fact that there so few people but I finally managed to get out from behind some people and head out at a pretty calm pace. Not really pushing just keeping it steady. It was a triangle course, one lap, I had expected for some reason 2 laps but preferred not having to leave the water to run so it was great. After rounding the last buoy before heading in I did shout out to the girl in front of me that she was heading to the wrong one, she for some reason was headed back across the lake to one of the first buoys. Had a little bit of a cramp in my calf for some reason, I stretched it a little and tried to kick a little more and it soon felt good. Finished the swim and ran back up to the boat dock a hill and stairs! to transition.

Time according to my watch 30.09 (should include run to T1) No official times posted yet.

T1 - Transitions...they were not good on this race, not good at all. I'm not sure what was different but things just didn't go right. I could not get my helmet off my handle bars for some reason, and the part on the back for tightening it was messed up, took way to long to get that all figured out and then on the way out I noticed that my computer wasn't registering anything. As I bent to adjust it I then noticed that a reflector that I didn't even know was there was hanging lose on the spokes. I pulled it off and adjusted the magnet for my computer and finally got out of T1. At this point it finally dawned on me that my bike must have fallen over. More about the bike racks in T2.

T1 time I believe it was around 4 minutes.

Bike around 22 miles

Felt pretty good on the bike but can I just say those roads out at Cherry Creek really kind of suck. They are so so rough! I would not want to ride them on a regular basis. I did have problems with my number which I must not have put on good, it kept hitting my leg and getting in my way. Finally got it adjusted after a couple of miles but all through the race it would fall and I would have to move it back. The course out there has a couple of hills they are not major the first one is longish but not steep. Although you notice the hills, there is not much downhill to notice, I think partly because on the downhills you have turns so you can't (or maybe just I can't!) go as fast as you would if it was a nice straight downhill. Felt good didn't get passed alot, could just be because there weren't many to pass me, passed a couple and did a little leap frog with one girl. Two loops on the bike course, second time around it was not any smoother but went really fast and the hills seemed easier, probably because I was warmed up some.

Time according to my watch. 1:23 (bike computer said 16mph average)

T2- Another disaster! I could not get my bike to stay in the rack. The racks they use I find to be really difficult. They fold and hold 3 bike each. Every time I've had to use them I have issues. I would put my tire in and it would roll back out. I finally pulled the bike out and tried to unfold it some more that seemed to do the trick and my bike finally stayed put. Shoes off and on run out of transition to the bathrooms on the side and head out on my run...only to realize that I forgot my race belt/number....back up to transition through the fence...can't go over the timing mat again...back to my bike...where is my bike...I can't find my bike...oh there it is, grab belt and back through the fence...

Time...not sure if I hit my lap button on time it only said 1.07 most of this occurred on run time

Run 10k

The run what is there to say about the run...I suck....I really need to work on this. Again started out with my 2/1's but they didn't last much past the first 3 miles. The first 1.5 miles was nice because there were quite a few people around me, however they of course were all doing the sprint and soon turned around to head back after that it got pretty lonely. I got passed by a couple of people I think but there were not to many out there. Quite a few heading back at me, not many going my way. :) It was mostly flat and unshaded except this heavenly part around mile 4 I believe. It was cool and shaded and felt fantastic. I did feel a little bit dizzy for some reason around this point too. When I would walk it would hit me. I took off my hat and that seemed to help alot as it seemed cooler. At this point I think there were only 2 people behind me, (although I thought I heard them announcing more finishes after me.) One girl passed me in the fifth mile the other was quite aways back. I also passed a girl that was doing the sprint although she said she was having a really bad day, woke up sick and was feeling bad, she did not have an enjoyable experience..said "I'm never doing this again" The last mile seemed very very long....and as I said the run was mostly flat..yea except the end...you have to run up from the lake and up the darn boat ramp and around and up some more....not fun! :) But I was finally across the finish line and it felt good!

Run splits
14.26 (that includes that bathroom break and running back for my race belt!)
12.24
13.02
14.58
13.58
16.04 1.2 miles

1:24? total -not good at adding times. :)



Total time 3:24:01 according to my watch.

I had hoped a goal of less then 3:30 although I really didn't know if I would be able to do it, so I'm pleased with my time. Not fast but I got it done!

Now although I've not seen any official results I did check the roster and I was still the only one listed for my age group, so that brings me to the question of if I was first or last in my AG? I think I'll go with first. They were still doing some awards so I headed over, I think it may have been for the Du but I told the guy I was the only one in my AG and he gave me a great red performance USAT hat. I thought there were plaques, but really I don't need one...I will get way more use out of the hat!

And that concludes another long race report! :) I'm not really sure how I feel about this race. I feel really good that I've accomplished my goal of doing an Olympic distance this year but I'm not sure that I was trained quite enough. Trained enough to finish but not necessarily finish strong. I'm not sure what my next goal will be, but there is time to think about that later...for now in my immediate future I see some food and some rolling. Feeling pretty good but but the thighs both front and back are a little sore. So bring on that lovely device that is both pleasurable and painful at the same time!

Updated to add official times:

bib number: 170
overall place: 69 out of 71
division place: 1 out of 1
gender place: 30 out of 32
total time: 3:23:55
pace: 0:
swim: 30:06
t1: 3:57
bike: 1:21:34 (16.2 mph)
t2: 3:25
run: 1:24:55 (14:oo pace)

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

As you can tell there have been a few changes around here! This blog will be under construction for awhile as I do a little updating to celebrate my 3 YEAR blogoversary (is that how you spell that?) and my 3rd year anniversary of becoming a triathlete! I'm really excited about the changes. I'm sure they will be ongoing again. Thanks to my son Josh for the time he put in on the new blog header!

Now I guess I better go get ready for that first Oly tri tomorrow! Can you say I'm nervous!!! I did change from Athena to Age group....I don't believe I posted it here, but at the end of online registration there were only 2 people signed up for Athena and none for F45-49!!!!! So I went ahead and changed....who knows maybe my only shot ever of placing in my AG and if no one signed up welll... hey 1st place baby!!! Well assuming that I finish!

Good luck to all my racing friends this weekend!!!

Garmin anyone?

So Ray over at DC Rainmaker is giving away a Garmin Forerunner 310XT, since I can really use an upgrade I'm in for an entry! I suggest if you don't already read Ray's blog that you head over and check him out. Not only does he have fantastic in depth reviews, he is a super fast triathlete and travels all over the world and shares some great experiences with us! His photos are amazing. While I do suggest you check out his blog I would really rather you don't sign up for the contest.....I don't need the competition you know. :)