San Francisco First Half Marathon - July 31, 2011

21:43 km in 2:26:39

I had only done 2 short runs while recovering from injury in the 3 weeks leading up to the race, so my plan was to go out easy for the first 10km and then possibly walk/run the last half if needed. My goal was the finish in 2:30-2:45 if possible, definitely under the cut off of 3 hours.

Erik and I were up at 4:45, got dressed and walked 6 blocks to the race start. We left our extra clothing at the check point, got to our wave (6), and I got in line for the bathroom. After waiting 15 minutes, it was clear I wasn't going to get in before the race started, so I left the line and headed to the starting line with the hope that I could use the porto-potties at the 4km mark. In retrospect, I should have just waited and started in a later wave since it's a chip timed race, that way the bathroom break time wouldn't be a part of my race time. Ah well - live and learn.

We started out slow for the 1st 4km, at about a 6:45 min km (11 min mile), and then I stopped at the bathrooms and lost 4-5 minutes waiting in line there. Erik and I both shed our extra shirts and I tucked mine into the back pocket of my tank top and we were back on our way, headed for the Holden Gate Bridge.

The sun was up by now and I was warmed up, and although it was cloudy/foggy, we could still see the top of the bridge. We kept a steady pace along the flats, then slowed down a little climbing up to and across the bridge. We took quite a few pictures along the way.

When we got to the other side of the bridge, at about the half way point of the race, I decided I was feeling pretty good so we decided to pick up the pace for the last half. We ran about a 6-7 min km (10-11 min mile), depending on the terrain - there are a number of hills in the second half so that slowed me a little. I was running at LT for most of the second half and it was hard work but I felt good. Erik was happy that we were running faster too, but he was great and stayed with me the whole time regardless of my pace.

The race was over all too quickly it seemed, maybe because it was the first time I wasn't running alone, and we crossed the finish line, hand in hand, in 2:26:39. If I hadn't stopped for the bathroom, I would have beaten my Victoria Half marathon time of 2:23, but I wasn't close to my PR in March of 2:12.

No worries - I beat my goal time and was super happy to be able to run strong for the whole race, with no serious walking required. And we had a negative split - 1:16 for the first half and 1:10 for the second half. Not bad considering the 2nd half is a lot harder terrain.

I was REALLY sore for the two days following because I was so out of shape for a long run but I am hopeful that I will be able to do an easy run tomorrow (Thursday) and get back on track for marathon training ASAP.

You can check out my pics on my facebook page http://facebook.com/kelownagurl

Osoyoos Desert Half Iron Relay - July 9, 2011

Today Erik, my brother-in-law Yogi, and I did the Osoyoos Desert Half Iron as a relay. My brother-in-law is a cyclist only so he got to do the bike, I was the only one who could swim, and that left Erik with the run. Our team name was Sangria Threea and our combined age was 176 years old!

Although I had a tough start for the two lap swim, I was pretty content with my time, since it was faster than my time at the Oliver Half 5 weeks ago. However, this is really just more proof that the Oliver swim course was long, since I know I swam faster there than I did today.
I had a crappy first lap because I forgot to bring my inhaler with me and it turns out that, yes, I do need my puffer before every race, even if I'm only swimming (in fact, especially if I'm swimming). The minor asthma attack was triggered early on when I got a face full of water when I lifted my head to sight, and inhaled some of it. Once I coughed most of it, my chest still felt really tight and I started feeling panicky to the point that I had to flip onto my back and kick for a few minutes to settle my nerves. I managed to talk myself down and flip back over to start swimming and by the time I passed the first yellow buoy I was feeling better and more confident, although I knew I was very very close to the back of the back. At this point, my goggles were so totally fogged up that I could not see where I was going AT ALL, so again I had to stop to pull them off and clear them, losing more precious time and making me feel more anxious about being so slow.

When I passed the 2nd yellow buoy, I decided to start pushing it a little harder but each time I took a breath, I could hear myself wheezing pretty badly. I was nervous to push too hard in case I had a full blown asthma attack in the water so I went back to a slow, steady swim.
I was pretty unsteady when I got out of the water to run around the cone and start the second lap and my team was a little worried but I actually felt quite a bit better by then. I was pleasantly surprised to see my time at that point was about 24:30 (I had told Erik I'd start the second lap at 25 minutes), so I was hopeful that I'd be able to do the second lap a little faster. I tried to focus on swimming straight and steady and not so fast that I had to breathe too hard, and the second lap was fairly uneventful.

I got out of the water and ran down the beach to cross the timing mat at 49:28, thirty seconds faster than my goal, and a minute faster than Oliver. Still, in the strong field of triathletes at the Desert Half, I was much further back in the pack even with a faster swim time, and there were only about 10 swimmers (out of 230) who were slower than me. :D

I bypassed the wetsuit strippers and ran straight to transition where my brother-in-law, Yogi was waiting to start the bike leg. He took off and had a great bike ride and managed to pass 35+ people who had passed me in the swim, but unfortunately he cramped up just as he was climbing the back of Richter and ended up losing a little time near the end. Still, he finished with a respectable time of 3:35, not bad for a guy who's 64.

Kelownaguy T. (Erik) was the star of the team though, when he came in to save the day and finish up our race with a kick ass half marathon time of 1:58:09, more than 14 minutes faster than his best 21km run to date. Way ta go baby!!!!

Our team came in 3rd place in the relay division with an overall time of 6:24:40. Great fun!!!!
Best part of the day was watching all of our friends out there on the race course including Erin L. , Brent P. , James Y. , Tamara, and a few others who are not on Daily Mile. Great day and congrats to all of these amazing athletes!!

Water temp was about 18C, air temp in the morning was about 16C, and it warmed up to about 28C by the end of the afternoon. The day started off sunny but most of the day had light cloud which kept the temps cooler for the bike and run.

Our team race number. Osoyoos Desert Half Iron.

School's (almost) Out!

....and it can't happen a moment too soon.  The last few weeks have been exhausting and it all finally caught up with me Sunday night and Monday - headache and fatigue to the point of nausea.  I actually ended up missing the 2nd to last day of work, and our year end beach party.  I spent most of the day sleeping and then later in the day, I started to feel a little more alive.  With any luck, I'll feel my old self again tomorrow, my last day with kids.

So what's been going on with me?  Well with the usual June school craziness, endless Canucks games ending with a crushing defeat, helping my daughter find an apartment for her move to Vancouver, and Erik's race this past weekend, it's been too hectic to do much training.  I have not been swimming or biking at all this month but I have attempted to get a few runs in.  It's been a long haul since June 6th though, and it's taking awhile for my legs to feel back to normal. For a couple of weeks, I found I needed to take walk breaks during my run and then I did manage a steady 10km run last weekend that felt good.  I only had time to run once during the week though and then I ran 13km this past Sunday.  I knew my legs were still feeling heavy and tire easily so I decided right at the start to run 9/1 so I could be sure to get the entire distance in. The first hour felt good, the last 30 minutes were more difficult but I was happy to have done a decent 13 km. 

I am also finding that my HR is quickly moving into Zone 3 whenever I run right now, despite the fact that all my runs were in low Zone 2 in the last 6 weeks of my half iron training.  I suspect that over the next few weeks, my fitness will increase and I'll be able to stay in Zone 2 again.  Of course, the other problem is that I've been running in warmer weather - that seems to increase my HR as well.  Now that summer holidays are beginning, I'm planning to do most of my runs in the early morning, before it gets hot.

CORE

I started doing Gordon's (from This Running Life) Around the World core workout, which he got from Beginner Triathlete.  I started slow and only did it twice as week as recommended, but my plan is to increase the frequency once school is out. I will also do some of the other core exercises I was doing in the winter to mix it up a bit.

UPPER BODY STRENGTH

This summer, I've also decided to focus on upper body strength, in particular swim-specific dryland exercises to complement my lack of swim training. My thinking is that the main reason I lost a couple of minutes in my swim time was the loss of strength in the pull phase of my swim.  My theory is that if I focus on building upper body strength, I can continue with my minimal swim training and maintain my swim fitness.  I really don't feel it's worth it for me to spend hours and hours in the pool/lake and only gain a minute or two in swim time. That time is much better spent biking, running, and drinking wine.


LOWER BODY STRENGTH

My summer goal for the lower body is to continue to strengthen the gluteus medius to help stabilize my hip.  Overall, so long as I am careful with my movements, my groin/hip has not been bothering me much. The only time it has hurt is when I've spent a lot of time walking (ie 10km round Vancouver a couple week ago).  I am optimistic that strengthening my core and the surrounding muscles will help keep any further damage in check until I can get my MRI.

UPCOMING RACES

July 9 - Desert Half Iron in Osoyoos.  Erik and his brother want me to do join their relay team and do the swim.  I find this amusing since my swim is so sucky but as long as Erik's legs are capable of running a half marathon, I will do the swim for them. Yogi will do the bike. 

July 31 - San Francisco First Half Marathon.  Erik and I are signed up and we plan to do this race for fun, and run together!

August 21 - Apple Triathlon - I'll do either the sprint or the olympic - haven't decided yet.

October 9 - Okanagan Marathon.  Yes, you read that right.  I have 15 weeks to train for my first marathon. I am optimistic that this is the year. I hope. Only time will tell. :)

Oliver Half Iron Race Report 2011

Well it's done - another half iron in the bag. And the best news is - I met my goals!

First the stats, because that's the part you really want to know about.

Swim:      51:07    (Goal: 45-50 min)
T1:            8:34     (Goal: 8:00-9:00 min)
Bike:    3:16:57     (Goal: 3:25-3:30)
T2:           4:47      (Goal: 4:00-5:00 min)
Run:     2:36:31    (Goal: 2:25-2:45)

Total Time:  6:57:53 (6:35-7:00)

Then the Story: An Eventful Weekend

I packed up all my gear Thursday night and Erik picked me up right after school Friday so we could head down to Oliver and get to packet pick up before registration closes at 5:00.  We made it in time and I managed to get my wrist band and swim cap, but unfortunately, my race bag had accidentally been given away to the wrong person.  The RD suggested I come back Saturday afternoon and see if it had been returned, since my name is on the bib and they person will eventually notice.


Afterwards, we went down to the lake to check out the water temperature and I decided to take an impromptu swim.  It was a bit chilly to put my face in, but once I was under a few times, I felt comfortable and I swam about 300 meters along the shoreline. I definitely felt like I was ready to do the swim as it was much warmer than 3 weeks ago at the sprint.

After getting dressed, we drove the 20 minutes to Osoyoos and checked into out hotel. Or rather, we tried to check into the hotel.  After much searching, the clerk was unable to find our reservation. Once again, heart began to beat a little faster - first my race bag, now my hotel reservation. And there are few, if any, rooms available in town with the race on. I had to go back to the car and bring in my computer print out of my reservation to prove I actually had paid for the room (via Hotwire). As it turned out, they had no more junior suites, so we had to be upgraded to a lovely one bedroom (thank goodness they had a few available).

We finally got up to our room, unpacked and relaxed for awhile, before venturing out to have a lovely meal at the Italian restaurant, Campo Marino.  I had gnocchi with meat sauce which was delicious.  Earlier in the afternoon, I had been chatting with Gina (@SheTrisAll3) on Twitter, and it turned out she was at the same restaurant. I walked around until I found her and we had a quick chat.  She and her family seemed very nice, and I ran into her a couple more times during the weekend.

We had a fairly early night of it and then went out for breakfast at the Holiday Inn where we met up with Darryl (@DarrylH from Twitter).  We chatted about the race and our Garmins, then headed back to hotel where I relaxed while Erik went for a run.  It was hot and sunny so when he got back, we went down to the pool and lay in the sun and read for an hour or so.  Eventually, it was time to head back to Oliver.

I was surprised to find out my race bag till hadn't been turned in so the RD gave me 2 choices. Wait until the race meeting, or get a new number. A new number would mean I wouldn't have my name on my bib and I wouldn't be with my age group in the transition zone. I opted to wait, but asked if they'd let me check my bike in without the number for now. We headed back to check out the expo when I got a call that my bag had turned up so we had to make another trip to transition before things were finally put right. We went to the Expo and sat with our friends Rob and Carmelle, and then headed back to our hotel for the night.  Erik watched the hockey game while I packed everything up and got my race gear all ready to go for a quick departure in the morning.  I went to bed around 9:30, took half an ativan, and slept well until the alarm went off at 4:45 am.

Race Day

Although I had most of my stuff ready to go, it still took us almost an hour to get on the road.  I was only able to eat a little yogurt before we left but I wasn't too worried.  We got to the race site about 6:05 and Erik dropped me off to pick up my timing chip and get body marked. I ran into Paul Eby and said a quick hello. Erik passed my gear over the fence and I quickly got transition set up then headed to the long line for the porto-potties. Unfortunately, the ones I chose ended up being a VERY long time and by the time it was my turn, they were already calling us to leave transition.  I hurried to get my wetsuit on, took one last look at my setup, and hurried down to the beach. I wasn't too worried because I was in the 3rd wave, but I wouldn't have minded a couple more minutes to make sure everything was set up right. It all turned out ok though.

The day was already warm and sunny and the highs were expected to be at least 30C (86F). Very few of us had had any training runs in the heat due to a cool spring so we were not looking forward to the run. The upside was that I didn't need to worry about taking in extra clothes for the bike - I'd be plenty warm enough.


The Swim - 51:07
Estimated 2100-2200m 
Pace 2:20-2:25 /100m

26/49 AG
254/327 Women
664/783 overall

My wave left at 7:14am and I got into the middle of the pack and just started swimming. My goal was to try to swim straight, the go steady to the first buoy (900m), pick up my speed a little to the 2nd buoy (1600m) and then swim hard for the last 400m.  My time at the first buoy was about 20 minutes so I felt I was on pace at 2:13/100m.  I felt good and picked up my pace a little but was surprised to be closer to 40 minutes at the 1600m point. (2:30/100m).   The last 400m plus the run through wetsuit strippers to the timing mat, put me at 51 minutes for the swim. It didn't make sense to me because I really felt I was swimming about 2:15 / 100m like I always do.  Later I heard this was a common complaint among the athletes, and many people thought the swim course was long, possibly 100m over.

This year I left my flip flops on the beach and was able to wear them the half km run to transition.


T1 - 8:34

38/49 AG
267/327 women
666/783 overall

I tried to move a little faster this year and managed to cut off over a minute off my time, but judging by my placing, this is clearly an area where I could lose another minute or so.


The Bike - 3:16:57 
91.1 km - avg speed 27.8 kmh  17.3 mph

23/49 AG
194/327 women
594/783 overall

I felt great on the bike and as usual, I was able to pass lots of people.  Keep in mind that I'm in the 3rd wave (women 45+ and men 50+) and all the younger, and faster, people are already gone, ahead of me. :)  My goal was to keep a steady pace and a steady heart rate but I was feeling strong and was able to push the pace a little faster than I had planned. The best news was that there was no wind. What a huge bonus!  I had given Erik last year's splits for certain points, and each time, I came in ahead by 3-5 minutes. In the end, I was done about 7 minutes faster than last year. The course claims to be 93 km, but it's really only 91.1 km.  I drank my aero bottle and emptied two regular bottles into it as well. I was out of fluid for the last 25 minutes but didn't bother to stop and refill at an aid station.

The only down point of the bike was when a truck stopped right in front of me and I actually had to unclip and stop my bike. Argh.  Other than that, the ride was uneventful and my second lap was only slightly slower than my first.  My knee had started to tighten up halfway through the second lap and I began to worry that I'd have the same ITB/knee issue as last year so I was a little more conservative on the hills after that point.



T2 - 4:47

36/49 AG
244/327 women
614/783 overall

As soon as I hit T2, I stopped at the porto-potties at the entrance, then ran my bike to my spot. A quick change of shoes and hat, grabbed my water bottle and left transition. I forgot to hit my Garmin when I crossed the timing mat so my run data was about 200m short.

The Run - 2:36:31
Approximately 22 km
Pace 7:06/km 11:26/mile

27/49 AG
222/317 women
591/783 overall

Right away, I noticed two things: my legs felt great and it was freaking hot. Super duper hot. Unbearably hot.

I was running a good pace right away and my legs felt good. No ITB problems, no sore shins, no sore foot, no sore PTT. My first 4 km were all about 6:15-6:30 / km and that included walking up the small hills.  My goal pace was about 6:30 / km so I was right on track.

The problem was - my heart race was crazy high. In all my training runs, including all my brick runs, my heart rate is usually high zone 1, low zone 2. Today, it was well into Zone 4 and climbing. This would not do. I had to get it down so I stopped and walked for 20-30 seconds. Once it was down to zone 3, I ran again. But it just kept slowly climbing back up again.  As soon as I hit the first aid station, I grabbed some sponges and tucked them under the straps of my tank top. I poured water over my head every chance I got, and I took ran through the sprinklers that were out on the course. Although my heart rate lowered a little for the second half of the run, I was getting really tired and continued to take frequent walk breaks throughout the run.  The last 5-7 km were really hard. I just wanted it to be over at that point but I struggled on. I tried to dig deep and played little games to make myself run to the next spot before I could allow myself to walk for 10 seconds.

Erik kept popping up on the course, cheering me on, and that really really helped. I looked forward to seeing him and it encouraged me to keep on running so I'd see him at the next point. Eventually I was on the last 2-3 km. I had been watching my watch and was trying really hard to come in under 7 hours.At the 1 km mark, I saw Erik walking ahead. He was heading back to the finish line and I was gaining on him. I called out and he was surprised to see me. He had to run some of the last km in order to get there in time to get my picture. :)

I seemed to be on track for a 2:30 half marathon but again, it turned out the course was long (my Garmin said 21.8 km but I had missed about 200m after the timing mat, so it was pretty close to 22 km over all.)  The official results say my pace was 7:24 / km but it was actually 7:09 according to my Garmin. And my Garmin is always right. :)


The End - 6:57:54

22/49 AG
217/327 women
604/783 overall

Overall, I am VERY happy with my race.  My transition times were faster, my bike was surprisingly faster, and my run was faster. I was even impressed with my swim considering I only swam 7-8 times since last August. I believe the extra length in the course accounted in part for the places where my times seemed a bit slow, and given the extreme heat, I am very very happy to have my run within my goal range.

I had very sore quads, lower calf/achilles, and back muscles on Monday and Tuesday, but today (Wednesday) I am feeling much better and I may be able to go for an easy run tomorrow.

Next up - a fun 5k!  The Women's Run on Sunday.  I hope. :)