Half Ironman

Sunday I participated in the annual Soma half ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. I got up at 4:30am, grabbed my stuff and headed out the door for a chill in the air. My wave started at 6:52am and the swim went fantastic. I stayed nice and relaxed, kicking off other swimmers and trying to stay directly on course. I managed a time of 41.40 for the 2000m swim, which is okay. I always want to be faster on the swim, but it's relatively short compared to the rest of the race. The wave behind me were all men and all caught up to me, which is always scary. Women aren't nearly as aggressive swimmers or bikers.

I quickly headed on to my bike and didn't bike fast at all. I was trying to stay in my low heart rate zones and got passed by almost all the bikers. There was an accident in which a biker was carted off to an ambulance with a broken leg. Fortunately, no accidents or flat tires for me. But just a slow time. I had to change around my nutrition plan at 2:15 into the bike. My stomach started to feel heavy, so switched from electrolyte blocks to just gels and gatorade. I usually eat 100 calories every 20 minutes on the bike, but by the end, I switched to 25-30 minutes just to have a better stomach on the run. I got a very poor time on the bike, but biking just isn't my strength, which is unfortunate because it is the longest portion of the triathlon. I am not a good bike handler and get nervous on turns and tight u-turns, so slow down, which is part of the reason I am slow.

However, the run came and I rocked it. I started my run at just over 4 hours into the race and managed to pull off a 2 hour half marathon. I even ran the same time as some of the faster runners in my group. However, because they are much better bikers than I am, they finished with much faster times. My coach told me I would pass a lot of people on the run and she was right. Guys who I saw on the bike course who were a good 25 minutes ahead of me, I caught up with and passed. I slowed down a bit at mile 8 and 9, but by mile 10.5, I started running 8 minute miles and didn't slow down. I got my second wind and finished very strong.

Just need to work on my bike technique. If I can stay that relaxed in the swim, I think I'll be fine. Just need to work on swim speed now. I think in my wetsuit, my form is actually better than it is without it. The wetsuit forces me to keep my arms apart and not cross them over my body. But biking is my nemesis. I don't know how to get better. I can see how people can become better swimmers and runners. It's mainly about genetics, background and experience, technique and speed work. However, I don't see what you can do to become a faster biker? Is there some magic secret I don't know of? Perhaps my positioning could be better; I could stay in aero longer, work out with leg weights more...not sure.

But overall, it was a nice race and glad I did it. Gave me some confidence going into next month when I will be an even slower biker. I am going to have to really slow down my biking during my next race...frustrating. The weather was a warm 90 degrees by the time I finished the run and luckily, ice was available on the run. Every aid station I ran by, I grabbed cups of ice and threw them down my shirt. Felt soooo good.

My Arm Hurts

I got a flu shot at work yesterday. I get a flu shot every year and got one for free yesterday compliments of my company. However, I also had an aquathon race yesterday evening and well, my arm was quite sore. I did a 1000m swim followed by a quick 4K run on a dark Thursday evening. During the swim the sun was setting and luckily, finished the swim before total darkness. But I did run the dark.

Today my arm is super sore.

Have a big race this weekend I am worried about...we'll see how it goes. Glad it will be wetsuit legal. I have so much more confidence in a wetsuit.

One of God's Own

So I killed a mouse this morning. I set traps last night and sure enough at 5am I heard it click. I killed one of God's creatures. I should feel horribly, but seeing the brown fur and tail made me sick to my stomach. I wrapped it up in a plastic bag and actually drove down the street to a dumpster. I wouldn't throw it away in our garbage can, as I had visions of it eating all the garbage and growing into a big rat and infesting the house.

Tonight I am participating in the Splash and Dash, an aquathon race. They are quick races, but leave you breathless.

Things Happen in Threes

So last night when I got home, my neighbor asked kindly, "Did you get your car broken into last night?" I said yes. She said my car alarm went off at 2:30am for 15 minutes and she turned on all the lights, came out and saw nothing. My guess is the robbers heard the alarm, grabbed the bag and scattered. My other neighbor overhead us talking and said that his garage got broken into and he has seen two teenage boys on bikes with flashlights looking into people's cars and they were just around a couple of nights ago. I am willing to stay up all night to catch them in the act and make a citizen arrest when they break in. I feel violated. But I did get the locks fixed this morning at the dealership and it came to a grand total of $17.10, so don't need to worry about involving the insurance.

So since things happen in threes, I wrote in another post that three hard things happened to me and soon it must be that three wonderful things happen to me...well, three more things happened, but not for the better: 1. My cell phone is broken. I'm not getting coverage and it is always dying. 2. My car got broken into and all my makeup stolen. 3. I have a mouse in my house. I am afraid for my life.

Break In

I walked out to my car this morning to go to work and my passenger door was wide open...that is not a good sign. Turns out my car was broken into and all my makeup stolen. I'm sure the idiot criminals thought they were getting away with credit cards and cash and not used tubes of lipstick and mascara. I called the cops and they dusted for fingerprints. I have never, ever, ever, ever in my entire life ever left my makeup bag in my car. I even looked at it last night and thought...should I just take it in?? And thought, no, I'll leave it in here and do my makeup on the way to work. Big mistake. I wish I could turn back the hands of time and take the small bag into the house. It's not like it weighed a lot or was any amount of work to carry it in, which may have saved me from this.

It doesn't look like anything else was stolen and at least it was just that...$100 worth of Estee Lauder products. I'm sure it was dumped somewhere. It could have been worse, with a car door open my entire car could have been stolen. My radio was left, sports stuff was left, a box of books was left, but now my keyless entry is broken and I have to take it to the dealership tomorrow to have it fixed. More $$$ to spend.

I hope those criminals really needed the used cosmetics. I'd be happy to donate it to them if Estee Lauder's Pink #7 was something they really wanted. Rather than cost me time off of work and the cost of fixing my keyless entry.

It was creepy driving to work knowing strangers had been in my car. I hope I don't find more missing, which is entirely possible.

At least the cop was cute.

Fall...? Where are you??

Autumn is my favorite time of the year--when the weather starts cooling down, Halloween candy is stocked on the shelves in the stores for me to salivate over and the mornings are perfect for running.

But, alas, the weather Gods seem to be punishing Arizona for some reason. It has been 109 on Saturday and 102 on Sunday with record-breaking temperatures...three words that are on the news almost everyday.

This weekend was a big training weekend and unfortunately, was so long I had no choice but to deal with the weather.

My 17 mile run on Saturday ended up with me running to the Circle K to buy Gatorade. I grabbed a bottle and yelled, "Gatorade, where have you been all my life?" And I was only at mile 14. It was a long, long 17 miles with salt forming on my head and face and the salty taste of the fruit punch Gatorade was so delicious down my throat.

I love to run at Kiwanis Park, this lovely park by my house where the kids feed the ducks in the pond and boys go fishing with their dads. Some kids like to count the amount of times I run around the lake because I tend to run it at least 17 or 18 times around. I love this park. Well, I got there on Saturday and the whole thing was torn up with metal fencing around it. Say what? My beautiful run and crowd watching were not going to come to fruition. I also love to run at this park because they have water fountains and bathrooms, which are especially helpful in the heat of the desert. Well, the city turned off all the water fountains and locked all the bathrooms. I ran there anyway and by the end after downing all my Gatorade and 1 gallon of water, I was holding onto the fence just to stay up. My electrolyte level was just too low from the heat and my stomach was cramping and legs felt icky.

Then afterward, I headed to the gym to swim.

On Sunday, I had my longest bike ride in 102 degrees. A group was riding the 87 highway and I had 100 miles to bike. 100! No exaggeration. 100 miles after my really difficult run on Saturday in my fabulously icky park. I started off well, taking in 300 calories per hour and following my nutrition plan. I cruised down the hill at 25 miles per hour and averaged around 20 mph for the first half of the course. Then....the heat came! Salty bikers in colorful shirts headed up the hill cursing the desert Gods for giving us this Indian summer. I had something happen to me that has never happened. Sometimes during biking I wear a headset, which a fellow biker did not appreciate. He biked near me to let me know how he felt about this and to tell me how bad a biker I was...hmm? What did I ever do to you? He then found me again several times along the highway and even came back around biking the opposite direction of traffic to bike next to me to yell very mean words to me. I told him I couldn't hear him because I was wearing my headset..lol! That made him more upset, but I loved it.

I came back to a much needed shower, as I had grease and gel packets stuck to my skin. I am a beautiful biking sight! Ahhh, now to eat all the calories I can.

Track practice

I had a rough track practice last evening. My times are staying put or getting faster, which is great, but everyone else seems to be surpassing me. I was so frustrated that I left early and finished my workout in the parking lot of the high school where we work out. I always compare myself to others and am too competitive to watch people get so much faster than I.

This training has really brought up how I felt in junior high all over again. I just need to keep plugging along.

I read a blog of someone who bikes 100 miles/week and is staying everyday between 850-1100 calories--always under 1200 calories. I think I eat that much by the end of lunch. How can someone work out a lot and stay at such a small caloric intake? I can't seem to cut back no matter how hard I try. I just get so hungry.