Kat's 2008 Pacific Crest HIM Race Report

Summary

Pre Race
- 4:30 am, 20-30 mins of light core Pilates and stretching.
- 8:10 am, 12 min easy warm up run. Few run drills, light stretching.

Swim 38:53 – 243/420, 57%....PR Baby! I wasn’t in the last 25 either!
- Started in the front row, center. Didn’t realize this until a minute before starting. Lol, this was a double-edged sword.
- Got hit in the face, goggles almost knocked off, water leaking in. Some how water drained and goggles resealed within 5 mins and I didn’t even have to stop and fix them. This was cool.
- Feet were pulled down a few times and almost lost timing chip. In return I kicked a few people pretty damn hard…..from then on I didn’t have anyone grabbing my legs.
- Swim line was on point! Sighting was kept at a minimum and I was never taken off course, swimming over a few diagonal swimmers helped with this.
- Enjoyed looking at the view of the mountain as I came up for air. Really took in the last 15 minutes of the swim knowing it would be the last time I would have a cool core temp for the next 5+ hours.

T1 – 2:47
- T1 was quick and successful. Wetsuit came off quickly; aero helmet went on quickly. Fiddled with shoes for a moment.
- Happy to see mentor Carver and Robbie at T1


Bike 3:07:32 – 210/420, dead middle 50%
- I questioned my climbing capabilities at the summit of Bachelor. Climbing 3400 feet in 38 miles in 80-90 degree weather with limited shade and 4000-6400 ft of altitude is challenging and humbling to say the least. Mt. Bachelor checked my tail.
- I did it! I descended eliminating fear! This was huge for me. The course did not appear as curvy as we had driven the day before. There were two points that my bike started to wobble from cross wind and speed, At those times I thought of all the people I had written in clear tape on my aero helmet, all people whom had cancer. I knew having them with me would protect me throughout my ride. I also happened to see a butterfly/Emily on the descent. Thank you Terry/Bob.
- It is really tough to chew food while climbing.
- It is not ok to temp a girl to join you on the snow while she is climbing a steep hill. I really wanted to stop and make a snow angel.
- Loved my new Giro Advantage 2 aero helmet. Not only did I look like a smoking hot alien but it kept my head pretty damn cool considering the elements.
- It’s an amazing feeling to be climbing in 80-90 degree weather and have snow surround you.
- I’m glad I’ve never ridden a bike with a triple gear….I had no idea what I was missing.
- My face felt burned about 2 hours into the ride. I had flashbacks of seeing Carver at T1 reapplying sunscreen, praying my spf 50 waterproof/sweatproof sunscreen lasted through the swim.
- I <3 the sound of disc wheels. Woosh, Woosh, Woosh….maybe one day I will get over my fear of descending and cornering and get some.
- I successfully climbed ALL of Mt. Bachelor in my saddle. I wanted to save my legs for the run, keep my climb as efficient as possible and try to keep my HR down. In fact I rocked it in the saddle position all but the last 15 minutes, where I got out once on a flat to stretch.
- During the last 15 minutes of the ride post descent/starting the last flat portion I grew tired. I was walking a fine line with my nutrition and I could feel it. I did not enjoy the very last little climb into T2.

T2 4:19
- Oh man I took this slow. I was HOT and in no hurry.
- First thing I did was shellac myself with more SPF 50 sunscreen. I then had a WTF moment as I realize I’m still wearing this hot helmet. Immediately took it off.
- Put on socks and shoes, tightened laces and then popped into my cooler for the frozen water bottles I brought. They were no longer frozen but still really cold. Poured them all over my body, this felt like HEAVEN.

Run 2:00:27 – 111/420, 26% - PR Baby!
- Running out of T1 wasn’t bad. First time I think I have ever retained feeling in my feet.
- First 3 miles were slow; as I knew they would be. I was running without a fuel belt and first aid station wasn’t until past mile 2, too damn far IMO.
- Each aid station I stopped, drank 1-2 cups of water, poured ice down my sports bra and in my hat, doused water on myself. This provided cooling for 4-8 minutes at best.
- Kept my HR down between 160-165 during the first 7-8 miles. It felt pretty good. Avg’d 10 min miles with stopping at every aid station for the first ½ of the 13.1 mile run.
- Never experienced leg or tummy cramping, yay!
- I’m passing people, lots.
- LOVED each and ever person spraying me down with the super soakers, garden hoses and spray bottles I don’t think they knew just how much this helped all of us.
- Most people did not want to talk : (
- I came across several teammates of the run. All where suffering through the heat as was I but they were cramping on top of it. I tried to say positive inspiring words of encouragement to help get their spirit back. I think I failed…..
- By mile 6-7 I was feeling pretty good. I had adjusted to the heat and was managing the water and nutrition well. My run was at a comfortable pace, I could have easily finished feeling good….but did I really want to feel good?
- Coach Seth comes up on me around mile 7. It was nice to have someone to run and talk to again. I think the people that were keeping my pace were starting to think I was crazy as I was singing and often talking to myself.
- I’m not sure what mile it was on; I think between 8-10 I saw “Go Kat” written on the sidewalk. The TNT group had our names all over the run path. This simple “Go Kat” did so much for me at this point. I was tired, yet I found a little burst of energy.
- Seth pointed out a butterfly, thanks Emily.
- I experienced the worst/best/longest 3 mile run of my life. By mile 9 I noticed I was growing fatigued. My HR was now around 168 and my 10 min miles seemed to be getting much shorter. Was I imagining things? Anything was possible at this point. Seth then went on to tell me his 4 mile story, which helped distract things a bit.
- Mile 10 is when things started to go to hell. I was HOT, my shoulders and arms were pink. I felt like I was a roasting pig….it was yucky. The water and ice really weren’t working anymore. Seth’s stories started to get annoying. He told me to tell him if I wanted him to leave at any point and he would go. I did, I didn’t only want him to leave I wanted to push him into horse shit we ran by. But somehow I didn’t…I’m can only think that I was too fatigued, or somehow I wanted the pain.
- Mile 11, WTF?! Am I still running? Things started swooshing around in my tummy. I felt liquid in my throat….that’s it, I’m either going to puke all over the course or I’m going to fall over and die. My HR is now 170 and steadily climbing. The days of 10 minute miles were far behind me, I think we were at a sub 9 at this point. It’s really weird because my legs could keep up fine, but my energy was gone…..I was having the life sucked out of me. I felt like my HR monitor was playing tricks on me with time. How am I increasing speed? How am I still standing? I was torn at this point with the overwhelming feeling of crying and puking, neither happened….yet
- Mile 12, I’m still running. How is this possible? I pass a girl in my age division, yet I don’t care. I just want to die at this point. This is masochistic!
- Mile 13, the Red Bull Arches are just around the corner. I hear the TNT group cheer my name. I’m almost done, THANK GOD. I cross under the arches and almost fall over as my timing chip is removed. I then stumble over to the water buckets/bins looking for something to puke in. My HR was now around 185 and the sloshing I experienced for the last few minutes was almost enough to put me over the edge. ALMOST that is, once we found an empty bin the urge to puke went down a bit and instead I was consoled with a cold shower and a hug from my coach.
- So I said that I had yet to puke or cry….well it would have been epic to puke all over Seth as I had envisioned as I was running with him, but instead I cried. I’m not sure why I cried; I was just overwhelmed. It was beautiful to see all my hard training had paid off. I was also a bit melancholy as I had no friends or family come up to see every I had worked so hard for…but I did have TNT. I think was also just overcome with joy.

I did it! I accomplished and exceeded all of my goals. Sub 6 hour ½ ironman, wanted a sub 2 hour run, 2:00:27 comes close enough in my book and I only walked for 30 seconds outside of the aid stations. PR’d my run and swim.


Total time 5:53:58
Placed 133rd out of 420 athletes = Top 31%
4th place women's age divison 25-29
18th women out of 124 = Top 7%

* There was a girl that I conversed with pre swim, she was in my age division and it was her first ½ ironman. I wished her all the luck and told her to keep her thoughts positive and chin up when things got hard. I played cat and mouse with this same girl during the bike ride but did not know it was her. We stayed within 1-2 minutes of each other during the bike. She picked up speed on the descent, go figure and I lost her….thought that would be the last I’d see of her….until I run up on her on Mile 12, in which I passed and conquer by 1 min at the end. Post race we talked. It was funny, we talked pre swim, during the ride and saw one another on the run….yet we had no idea we were the same person each time, you look so different at each leg of the race. I later learned she lived in Bend and although it was her ½ ironman she had good experience at the course/weather and altitude. She was a fierce competitor, great athlete and had a kick ass good attitude. I was happy to have the experience of racing with her.

THANKS
Thanks to Carly and Jane for the swim PR. I kept thinking about Carly telling me to reach long and roll with my hips and Jane reminding my to keep my elbows facing out and to pull my stroke in, grabbing the water. Thanks to all of my friends and family for the courage to conquer the Bachelor descent. Thanks Chris, Crystal, Jane and everyone who soaked me in water during the run. Thanks to Don for the pre race words of wisdom involving the heat and run. Thanks to Darrell for the pre race talk, you were a big part in helping me achieve my goals; I’ll always remember your “excuses” analogy. Thanks to Bob, Terry and Emily for picking me up when I was down. Thanks Joe for the tri/run wisdom. Thanks to my kick ass housemates; you all made the best race weekend. Thanks to Steph for the Pepsi post race, it helped the shaking go away. Thanks to all my friends and family who donated, believed in me and believe that; one day we will find a cure for cancer. And thank you Coach Seth for all the training, support and the worst/best/longest/most painful 3 mile run of my life. Without those miles I would have had a badass ½ ironman, with those 3 miles I had a bad ass unforgettable epic adventure. You can now quote me Seth, You were Right, about almost everything. I can’t thank you enough. I am excited to see what my athletic future holds…..

And of course I couldn’t write a race report without my OCD documentation of fuel….

Nutrition/Supplements
-Breakfast # 1 5:10 am
Home made l/f mocha
Steel cut/5 grain oatmeal
Banana/Brown Sugar (approx 450 kcal)
3 Hammer Endurolyte tabs
1 sodium/potassium/calcium tab
Multi-vitamin w/extra iron

-Breakfast # 2 8:15am
½ PB and Banana sandwich (approx 250kcal)
2 Hammer Endurolyte tabs
1 Immodium (just because I want to go-go-go during the race doesn’t mean I want my bowels to go-go-go)
1 150mg acid reflux
3 advil (stupid monthly women pains)

-Post swim warm up, pre start Power Gel approx 8:45am
1 PowerGel vanilla (110kcal)

T1 approx 9:50ish- 2 Hammer Endurolyte tabs

Bike approx 10:05am – 12:20pm Worked on mound of PowerBar log. 2 vanilla Power Bars mushed into one big log. This eliminated fighting with a wrapper and made it very easy to access and consume. The heat melted the bar a lot which was a double edge sword, it made the bar softer and easier to chew and process, BUT ¼ of my log melted into my bento box so I lost an approx 100 cal. (Approx 320 kcal total)
-Drank 48 oz of water mixed with 2 ½ tabs of NUUN electroytes
-Drank 24 oz pure water, poured 12 oz on myself (approx of course ☺ )
-Took in 1 sodium/potassium/calcium tab
-3 Hammer Endurolytes
-Two tabs of Maloox
-Consumed 1 Tangerine Power Gel within last 20 minutes of bike ride. (110 kcal)
-Total Bike caloric intake = 430…..a little short. I grew mildly fatigued during the last 20 minutes of ride.

T2 – 1:05pm – 3 Hammer Endurolytes

Run
-Mile 2.5 – 1 Tangerine Power Gel (110 Kcal)
-Mile 5.5 - 1 Tangerine Power Gel (110 Kcal)
-Mile 9 - 1 Tangerine Power Gel (110 Kcal)
-Mile 10 – Aid station electrolytes (approx 4-6 oz…no idea of caloric intake)
Every aid station I walked through; drank a cup or two of water.
Run Summary 330 kcal

Caloric summary, 870 kcal during race, approx 700 before race/real food.
100+ oz of water. Tons of sodium and Potassium. Caloric expenditure based off of Vo2/HR monitor – 3549 kcal