Kat’s Double Header Race Report

Kat’s Double Header Race Report
A tribute to Seth – Whom I want to be like when I grow up : )

Saturday – Pacific Crest HIM
Goals
A. 5:15-5:30 finishing time (this is before I found out the bike course stayed at 58 miles vs the 56 mile change the website had listed) – failure – Finished in 5:44:19
B. Achieve course PR – mission accomplished – sub 9 min+
C. Achieve HIM PR – Failure… although this might have been accomplished if the bike course was the traditional 56 miles.
D. Rank in the top 3 AG – mission accomplished, as I placed 2nd. Rock on to the 26 year old that passed me at mile 3, she ran a wicked sub 8 min pace. Great job Alana for coming in 4 mins behind me in her first HIM – you had a very strong race.

Pre race -
I sat next to Moaner on the ride up to Wikiup – just like good old times. I kept quiet through most of the ride and mentally prepared myself.

Swim – Delayed by 30 minutes as the last bus/transportation got lost.
I thoroughly enjoyed the swim. I started front, dead and center and somehow managed to hold on and draft off the front of the pack until we hit the first buoy, which was a nice little bit since there were only 3 buoys. I got dropped after the first buoy, this was all due to my little detour off course! Not sure how that happened. Out of all the tri’s I’ve done I’ve never swam so far off course….I managed to swim way outside of the yellow sighting buoy, WTF!? Finished the swim in a 36:15 – far too long for a 1.2…stupid sun

T1- Very disoriented, much more then normal. Maybe altitude related? 2:03

Bike – The first 10 miles I took my time to find my comfort zone. I passed a few women who recognized me from one of our local tri store Athlete’s Lounge; we exchanged friendly words of encouragement. Within the first few miles I felt my head start to grow hot and swell. I know it wasn’t my helmet as I had raced in it with heat before. I think I was getting an altitude/heat headache. The hot, pressured pain in my head lasted through the duration of the ride, something I could have easily done without. Mile 15-25 or so were a lot of rollers; these were a ton of fun. Somewhere around 26 or 27 the first of the three climbs started. I took each one easy and just spun them out staying in the saddle. There were a few gentlemen that decided the aggressive attacking approach. I reached the crest of each hill at the same time that they did and was able to sustain that energy. The attackers fell behind on the 1st and 2nd climb; I never saw them again. One of the many wasteful time errors I made was stopping at the 2nd water aid station for water in my aero bottle. I should have just grabbed the water and put it in my water cage, instead I opted to stop my bike and allow the volunteer fill my aero bottle. This resulted in a 2:10 delay, eh, oh well. Upon cresting Bachelor I was a little surprised, that was it? Climbing was over? Hot damn, on to the descent. Hehe, descending is my #1 weakness in triathlon, BUT not on race day….as fear is completely eliminated. I managed to sustain 35mph for a good deal going down, this is REALLY good for me. I finished the bike feeling good about my effort and happy to take my helmet off as I felt the heat was going to make my head combust. Final bike time was 3:03:14 – 4+ minutes off of last year, plus I took an additional aid stop, so riding time was 6+ minutes off of last year. Woot! Woot! Avg watts 145 / normalized watts 155

T2 – 2:27 – Woot! Woot! Cut 2 mins off of last year! I saw April as I entered transition. We exchanged a few %^#%^ $@$# words as we fumbled with our transition gear. She ran off with a quick transition and since our goal was to pace each other (different race AGs) I told her I’d catch up to her soon.

Run – The run started off fantastic. I was happy to be off of the bike and my legs felt really great in stride. What didn’t feel great was breathing. I forgot my inhaler at home and the altitude was kicking my asthmatic tail. I couldn’t get air to save my life, this resulted in sticking with a lower then normal run pace. I ended up catching up with April around mile 3ish…I think. We ran together for a while. I really wanted to talk the whole time, as that is my thing when I run but the asthma and altitude prohibited this. Plus I think April might be going deaf as each time I said something she’d reply with “What” then I’d have to find the air to repeat myself. Haha! Kidding girl, well not really : ) Love ya anyway. I ended up running ahead on mile 5 or 6. Another time wasting error was my naps at each aid station. I probably stopped at each one for a 1:30-1:45. I took my time, filled my sports bra up with ice, doused myself with water….which I think at time threw my body into shock, ate a GU and drank some water. 7-8 aid stations of wasting 1:30 or so adds up, I could have easily taken 10 minutes off my run, oh well. I was dehydrated on the run. I didn’t take any additional electrolytes in besides the GU; this was a racing fatale error. The ice from my sports bra helped cool my core and I was able to store ice and suck on it when my mouth got dry. You can only catch up with so much H2o on the run without getting the sloshing effect, so the ice played a nice illusion of hydration without over bloating. I found Jane around mile 7ish with the super soaker, she got me smack dab in the torso, it felt GREAT! Thank you Jane! Mile 8 some lady was on the course yelling out “Go get em girl! You look strong! You’re running tall, leaning forward, nice strong core.” I yelled out “Wow, were did you come from? Thank you!” I ran in to David from the PDX tri club and Riccardo from TNT around mile 9. David tried to talk a bit but again my breathing was so poor nothing could come out. Off he ran as I decided to take another nap at aid station 9. The funny thing was people would pass me as I’d stop and “mingle” at the aid stations but then I’d catch them a minute or two down the road. My pace was decent, my hydration was lacking. Around mile 10 I felt a lightening bolt shoot up my calf. Immediately I thought ‘WTF was that?!’ Hoping it was just a one-time experience I tuned out the throbbing it left behind. ½ a mile later it happens again. Ouch! WTF? It then dawns on me, electrolyte imbalance calf cramping. This continues on approx every ½ mile on the right calf. Right before mile marker 12 the other calf ignites. Boom, Boom, Boom, electrical currents start shooting up my lower legs. This was a first for me, I’ve never ever experienced calf seizing before let alone muscle cramping via electrolyte depletion. The pain stopped me in my stride, it was debilitating. They cramps would force me to walk at which point I started to swallow my pride. I’d start running again only to have another set of fireworks go off, which provoked me to shriek in pain. April, Riccardo and Sue all ran by me asking if I was ok and giving me words of encouragement. All the positive words were very thoughtful but sadly I was at a point that nothing would be able to help me. The last mile I was passed by an obscene amount of people…I ran with my head low in shame. Fortunately for me my lead was far enough to keep my AG position across the finish line. Run time, a dreadful 2:00:20 – Ha! 7 second PR over last years 97+ degree heat.

Finishing time 5:44:19 – 9 min PR over last year.

I went into this race cool, calm and collected. As I reflect I don’t think this is a good way to feel. I made a lot of errors on this race. All errors made were errors that I knew and could have prevented.

A. Swimming off course to Egypt
B. Electrolytes – I could seriously kick myself in the ass for this. I managed Pac Crest at 97+ last year and this year I fricked it up at 88 – blah. I know my sweat rate and should have taken electrolytes on the run; this major error ruined my run.
C. Taking a nap at each and every aid station. Really, WTF was I thinking? Apparently I wasn’t.



Sunday – Pacific Crest OLYMPIC
Goals
A. Use the event as RECOVERY only. Take each discipline easy and aim for lactic release – mission accomplished
B. Focus on keeping a positive attitude, not allowing fatigue to bring me down – mission accomplished
C. Have fun! – mission accomplished

Now this “race” I went into with great fear. The night prior I did everything I could to maximize recovery
A. Ice bath with 28lbs of ice – at first this felt sooooo good as I was sooooo hot from racing. Then it was painfully cold! Finished off with a hot jacuzzi soak.
B. Massaged or some might say “beat” my body with the foam roller and stick. Ah yes – I had some nice muscle knots.
C. Horded (literally, time was limited) down recovery food/carb loading nutrients.
D. Took additional aminos, calcium and magnesium.
E. Slept in my badass Zoot compression recovery tights – my hero.

Event morning I work up feeling ok, much better then I had anticipated. My body was tight and just a tad bit sore, I was expecting to feel like I had been thrown up against a wall, so this was a pleasant surprise. I rolled, stretched, ate and off I went to meet Moaner for a ride to Wikiup. Thanks buddy, it was nice having a quiet, peaceful ride to start.

Pre start – Forgot my salt tabs for the bike and left them at T2. You must be kidding me! Super Jane came to the rescue with pickled salt packets. Jane, you know you’re an angel right? Muah!

Swim – Was delayed by 30 minutes due to lost buses/transportation again!
Again I started the swim smack, dab, dead center….why not? As the 10 second count down starts I opt for a quick Hail Mary, may God be with me today. The swim was fantastic. The water was chilly and woke up my sore, tired body. I took it uber easy and my body dance throughout the water. I was sad when it ended, I knew my HR would sky rocket as soon as I got out of the water – 27:51

T1 – Was slooooow which didn’t really matter : ) I hobbled out of the water and slowly jogged over to my bike. Woah, breathe Kat breathe…. I almost tripped over myself getting out of my wetsuit, coordination was not happening. But then again look whom we’re talking about here. Coordination is never really there. I put on my denim skirt, “wife beater” Harley Davidson Choppers tank over my black sports bra, rocked the aero helmet and obnoxious massively big white sunglasses and I was on my way onto the next adventure. 4:33

Bike –The start was challenging. I forgot to set my bike up in the easy gear out of T1, OUCH! Quads screamed, I listened and shifted down. Breathing took awhile to get under control. I finally felt comfortable around mile 6-7. I got lots of comments on my denim skirt and Red Bull cans (empty, purely aesthetics) in my bottle cages. I replied with “Yea, I thought the Red Bull would give my bike wings.” In all honesty I kind-of believed that, tells you how delusional I was at this point. Mile 12-15 was pretty much a steady climb. I came across Thunder Cat around mile 12. We exchanged a few words of encouragement and went about our way. Mile 14 or so my quads started yelling at me. I was spinning up in my smallest gear yet still pushing 190-200 watts, this was not ok with the amount of lactic build up I had stored. I decided to focus on the scenery. Alana once told me that when things get tough to appreciate nature and the beautiful animals. I did so and my attention was drawn to all the butterflies. I first found it to be demoralizing as I realized the butterfly I was following were going up hill fast then I was! I then convinced myself that I could “draft” off of the butterfly. Drafting off of butterflies was not against the rules! Score one for me….another part of my delusion. The butterflies also reminded me of Emily. Thank you Terry. Once I hit the crest we had a fun descent. This was good times! The course was 80% chip seal and by mile 20 I found myself between a rock and hard place again. The road vibrations became pretty painful. Pascal and Julie drive by at this point and scream out words of encouragement. Then I see Pascal hanging out the window with his camera. How could I not smile? They totally hit me at the right time and turned my frown upside down. Right after that I hit new pavement and it was smooth sailing from there on out. Who do I see at mile 25? Just my favorite mentor Darrell. He rides by and encourages me to push it at the end. Damn it Darrell, for you any thing : ). I finished the bike feeling good and strong. 1:32:14 – Avg watts 125 (true recovery!)/ normalized watts 134

T2 – Take 2 – nap time. My-oh-my, I FEARED the run. I feared the calf cramps. Again I took my time. I slowly put on my “racing flats” w/ speed laces, kind of ironic isn’t it? I pulled my hair up in a side pony tail/ to accompany the outfit of course! Threw on a visor, my ridiculous sunglasses, grabbed by zebra print clutch and I was off! 3:48

Run – Joie lent me her inhaler, which I had left at T2. This drastically helped my run. The entire run I could breath! This feeling was amazing. Coming out of T1 I grabbed some ice and poured what I thought was water on myself, turned out to be sticky HEED, more awesomeness. I pretty much took the whole run really easy. I ran with my baby strides and kept my turn over quick. I stopped at each aid station for a minute or two, did the normal routine. Ice down the sports bra, water on my head, drink a little, stretch a little and off I went. I did that little routine at every aid station, this was all about comfort. Along the run I was surprised at how many people were out cheering and spraying the athletes down with water. Yesterday’s race was 15+ degrees hotter, there were only a few people on course cheering and only one person along the 13.1 miles with a super soaker. Around mile 4 my HR started to rise, I’m assuming from the heat since I never really changed my pace. As soon as it would hit 165 I’d walk until it reached 155 and then start running again. Luckily my HR stayed at the lower end and I only made myself walk 3 or 4 times. It was really nice to walk out of choice and not discomfort or pain. It was also a proud moment that I was willing to walk to make sure my “race” stayed in recovery mode. The last 800 meters came up fast and I decided to have some fun and sprint through the finish. I flew and it felt AMAZING! 56:31

I finished in 3:04:57 – 15th out of 50 in my AG….amazes me with all things considered.

Post Recovery – Was done drinking and eating the night away with wonderful friends. Somehow I managed to conserve enough energy to bust out a dance to Salt N Pepa’s - Push It…Ha! Maybe I should consider vodka in my race strategies.


Post race thoughts
I am so blessed to have such amazing supportive friends. Thanks MJ, Joie and LeAnn for being my roommates, you girls are the best. MJ you make the BEST Pina Coladas. “If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain”. LeAnn – Sweet Tea Vodka girl! Joie I have seen so much of you this weekend – literally! ☺ Thank you TNT for everything! Scott, you saved me with my visor at T2 on Saturday. Jane, you saved me with the salt packets and super soaker on both days. Moaner – thanks for sharing a wonderful pre race dinner and riding up to the races on both days. Michelle, thanks for your endless support – I <3 you. Mom, thanks for constant msgs, even through you couldn’t make it to the events you were with my in heart and soul.
Seth – thank you for fueling my fire.


I think fear in racing is important. I didn’t have it in the HIM and in the end was humbled. I had great fear going into the OLY and didn’t allow it to get the best of me. I’m not sure how I want to race anymore. I’m not sure if I want to aim for podium finishes. I found much more gratification racing Sunday….I’m not sure why that is.
I’m not sure if I’m going to keep my IM time goals, I think I may change my goals to an emotional level. It’s something that I need ponder over for the next few weeks.

Anywho, I’ll leave you with two photos…
Pre Race – Saturday – rocking the S’10 Louis Garneau 1 pc Elite TriSuit – LOVED it BTW.



Post Race Sunday – rocking the denim skirt, wife beater “HD Choppers” tank, silly sunglasses and zebra clutch….all raced in : )

The calm before the storm.....

Describes me to a tee, this is very un-Kat like.
I'm not nervous, no worries, I have no fear. I know what needs to be done and I plan on execution.

Life is like a ten-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.

Taper - 60 min spin
10 min warm up
10 min Z3 tempo with 5 min Z2 recoveries
Max watts 192/ avg 150

I am feeling REALLY great which can be a good and a bad thing. I've contemplated participating in the Pac Crest Oly triathlon the day after my HIM as a RECOVERY workout. I'm not sure if this is taper talking, a temporary lose of sanity or just my over zealous nature doing what it does best - making me suffer :) Anywho, there is a day before registration if the event doesn't sell out and although AA likes to say it does sell out, it ALMOST never does. So I figure I'll make the decision once I cross that HIM finish line. If it's 95+ on HIM race day I'll probably toss the idea of doing the Oly out the window and rest.

Swim me a song

500 - warm up

1 x 250 - paddles;10
1 x 250 - buoy;10
repeat 1 x

2 x 50 - one arm glides
2 x 50 - a-ok
2 x 50 - fist
2 x 50 - one arm catch up
1 x 100 easy

Main Set
2 x 500s - 8:05; ;55 recovery, 8:13; ;47 recovery

Cool down
200

Total yardage - 3200

A weekend of taper

Saturday -
Portland celebrates cycling for 2 weeks with http://www.shift2bikes.org/cal/viewpp2009
With this weekend being taper for Pac Crest HIM I thought a great way to be active yet not tax myself would be to partake in the Pedalpalooza Scavenger Hunt.
I teamed up with Mark (new PDX tri club member) and his buddy Scott. We were strangers before the ride and Facebook buddies after :) The rules were pretty simple. We were given a 4 page (yea that's right! 4 page!) list of items we needed to either bring back, take pictures of or video record, all within a 5 hour time frame. Quickly we raced off!

*Here we crashed a bike wedding! The bride had killer veil on her helmet, it was serious awesome!
We later saw the bride and groom at another Pedalpalooza bike event - Bike Jousting. Mark took a video of this and if he Youtubes it I'll add the link. The bride and groom went straight at it and the groom knocked her on her ass! It was LMFAO funny!

*Hehe, I think I should mention the diversity of the bikes in our scavenger hunt group. I was riding Carnage. I felt pretty out of place riding a TT on a casual BS type ride but Feltalia is in the shop so I had no other choice. Mark was riding his Kona road bike and Scott, Lol, Scott was riding Wasabi. Lmfao! Wasabi was Mark's scrap put together bike. It was a fixie, with very poor breaks and tires that were shredded - please keep this in mind as I mention later down the line some of the places we road.

*After the bike wedding we headed downtown to Pioneer Square in search of bike cops. We didn't find any down there but we did find a family of 8 that allowed us to use their bikes and helmets for random things to check off our list.

Here I sit balancing 8 or 9 helmets on my head. I only held them up for a few seconds as you can see Scott removing his hand.

*We saw a woman with a pig snout on her nose. Not sure what she was doing, it was rather disturbing.

*We then headed down to the Saturday Market for more craziness. While we were down there we got 2 video's - One of Scott riding Wasabi and playing - well I don't know what instrument it was. It was the thing where you click two sticks together. He was actually pretty good and held a beat to the guy in the background who was playing a song with several instruments. I played a tambourine on Carnage but had no rhythm or song. I was mainly concerned with making noise with the instrument and not falling off my bike :)

*Along the waterfront we got picture of Scott of 10 different bikes in different poses. Seriously badass.


*Finally got a picture with a bike cop!

*For an additional 30 points we rode up to the Zoo and then up to Mt. Tabour. We really should have gotten more points for this as
A. We were the only team to do it!
B. The Zoo and Mt. Tabor are both big on elevation gain
C. Are polar opposites - West Vs East
But alas we did it! And big ups to Scott for doing so on a FIXIE! I felt bad as we're climbing and I'm shifting down taking it easy (Hey now, I am in taper!) and Scott is mashing up the hills with no gear to switch to. I think Scott deserves the Hardcore medal for the ride. I don't have the picture of the Zoo but here's one of us at the summit of Mt. Tabour


Once we descended the Zoo we hit up St. Cupcake to pick up a vegan pastry to bring back to the judges (on the list - what a scam!). We decided to indulge in a little sugary goodness ourselves

Here you have
3 mini toasted coconut cream
3 mini carrot cake (my personal favorite)
2 mini chocolate with butter cream
2 mini vanilla chocolate chip
and one cookies and cream large vegan cupcake

Here I am devouring a coconut cream cupcake

Sooooo DAMN GOOD!


*Here we are with the statute tributing the Zoo Bombers - crazy ass mofo's that bomb down the Zoo hills on kid bikes.
This is one of my favorite pics


*Bike on furniture, random and weird I know - but it was on the list

*Off we went to River City - who totally hooked us up with points. There we were able to get 10 punched tubes, a broken derailer, bike shop receipts, pictures of bike tattoos and murals. Mark even got a woman to let us get a picture of her sunburn (on the list) even though she didn't really have one - she just rocked a blushed face. We got a double score with River City's free espresso. Woot! Woot! The question was did we really need caffeine after all that cup cake sugar? :)

*After River City we headed up to do the Mt. Tabor climb were we rode by the Bicycle Jousting. What a scene! Looks like 250+ bikes all of which might have come from a junk yard. We had to stop to get more picture and laugh our asses off some more.

*Once we submitted we decided to ride out east to try to get the highest address point. We got a picture at Old Chicago at 103rd and decided it was time to head back to the start. Riding around 102nd on the east side is scary - it's a one stop shop - hooker and meth all at once!


*Fun random pic heading back to the start

All in all we ending up riding a little over 30 miles in a 5 hour duration and managed to get 2 significant climbs in. We ended up taking 2nd place with about 200 points separating us from 1st and 3rd. The first place group was a little more bike crazy then I think I ever want to be. At the end they all got naked....it was a tad bit on the disturbing side.

2nd place won us $35 - Money that was well spent with recovery beer, food and a soaking tub session at The Kennedy School.
I couldn't have asked for a better taper day. Met new friends, lmao (seriously my abs hurt today) and got a little bit of fitness and beer in! Booyah!

Big ups to Mark for taking documenting the event via media
***********************
Sunday
Eh - I felt the beer the next morning. Sleep was pretty much none existent. I didn't end up getting to bed until around 2 and then I was up every 90 minutes to 2 hours. Not so good. I met my gf Nicole at Leif Erickson for my last LSD run before the race. She too had been up a little late and had a little too much poison - so we were great running partners!

Easy LSD run - 75 mins/8.75 miles - 8:40 pace
Run felt REALLY, REALLY good!

Post run we decided what better way to recover then with Bloody Mary's! We hit up Kell's for food and drinks. My oh my, Kell's was quite the experience. As soon as we walked in a group of guys invited us to join their table. We politely declined and sat at a small two seater table. Well that didn't stop them, they decided to intrude with their chairs. For the next hour or so Nicole and I downed 2 Bloody Mary's each to drown out Dumb and Dumber. I don't know if Dumb and Dumber fits better or Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. Wow! One of the tools decided he wanted to show us an example of his complete stupidity, he lifts up his shirt and flashed his tattoo. It's an American Flag all up his keg of a stomach. OMG! I asked if he was in the military, hence reasoning for the flag. That was not the case, he was drunk in Thailand and got in a heated argument with a Britain - which resulted in a 15 hour ugly tattoo. Not that I think the American Flag is ugly, his tattoo was done poorly and his *ahem* canvas - pot belly did not do it justice. Nicole and I headed to the bathroom and had the staff sneak us out the back door. Douche bags.

Taper - It begins

70 min AM spin at Z2 entertained by Lost season 3.
Max watts 185/Avg watts 145

I had intended on swimming this evening but come 4ish I felt like taking a face dive into my keyboard at work. My boss was gracious enough to let us all leave a little bit early, I took well advantage of this and headed home for a nap.

So now I sit here, restless unsure of what to do.
My legs are twitching, it's weird. They're not tired, they're not over worked...I'm experiencing the same RLS I get when I sleep but I'm awake. I really have no motivation to swim tonight, which is probably for the best since I've swam the last two days in a row and technically in a taper. But alas, I might end up at the pool out of boredom. Really, I have other things to do. I have neglected cleaning my house for some time, but who wants to do that? I'm about as undomesticated as one gets....well I'm sure there are worse off. I can't stop eating. I'm pretty sure I'll put on 10 lbs by next week. Why won't my stomach STFU? It doesn't need this much food yet it keeps growling at me as it does. I need a drink, a stiff hard drink, make that two of them.

*****************Updated
I gave into temptation and swam

500 warm up

Drills
1 x 200 buoy; 10
1 x 200 paddles; 10
2 x 50 - one arm catch up;10
2 x 50 - finger drags; 10
1 x 200 - 50 aok, 50 fist, 50 karate, 50 free

Main Set
1 x 200 - 100 fast & hard/100 easy; 15 (positive split)
1 x 200 - 50 easy/100 fast and hard/ 50 easy; 15 (even split)
1 x 200 - 100 easy/100 fast and hard; 15 (negative split)
repeat 3 times

200 cool down

Total yardage - 3300 yards

I'm recovering with Patron hoping it will make me sleepy sometime soon.
Note to self - no evening naps in the future.

Swimming past The World

AM
Easy hour long run - 9 min miles


Evening OW swim-
The tri team is now swimming in the Willamette to gear up for the Portland Tri at the end of August. Even though I'm not doing this event I partook in the OW swimming.
.9 mile look from the Waterfron blocks down to the Morrison Bridge and back.

Along the way I passed this massive thing -

644ft long it houses 165 people. Houses I said!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_(cruise_ship)

It took me awhile to swim passed it. I kept thinking if it went down it would suck me under with it, not a good visual to have.

Daily Double

AM Swim

500 warm up

Drills
1 x 250 paddles; 10
1 x 250 buoy; 10
repeat 1 x

1 x 50 - one arm glide- alternate on the 25; 5
2 x 50 - one arm catch up down 25/return with high elbows-finger drag; 5
repeat 1 x
2 x 100 - 25 Aok, 25 fist, 25 karate, 25 free (fast and hard); 10

Main set
6 x 200s on the 3:30 - The first 2 landed on 3:10, following 2 on 3:15, then a 3:10, ended on a 3:20 - fatigue set in

Cool down
300

Total yardage - 3500

Evening Ride

Through some kind of miscommunication I ended up leading our weekly tri club ride. I decided to test out my Tarten skirt with uber short liner by Zoic.....maybe not the best ride to test it on as I
A. happened to be the only girl in the group
B. was leading the ride - ie not taken seriously
5 very fit triathlete men show up to ride, only one of which I've ridden with once before. I get questions, Where's Andy? Who's leading this ride. I respond with "I have no clue" and "I am" and let me just tell you, some of the looks I got were priceless. Lol, I would have not taken myself seriously though either, I was wearing a 5" bicycling skirt! Ha! At least I was rocking Carnage tonight. I quickly run down the route. Hwy 30, ascend up Logie Trail (1050 ft in 2.5 miles) , hit the Skyline roller and descend back down Thompson....along the way we would have several regroups. Well, I think I earned my stars when I reached the top of Logie and half the dudes were ahead of me and the other half were behind me. I think they thought I was kidding on intensity level. I should have offered to buy any of them a beer if they could have done the whole thing in their saddle. I have yet to see someone do this. I think if they did they could get "King of the Mountain" status, or my heart :)
http://legacy.lclark.edu/~kolitch/cycling.html#Logie
I may look like a girl but my workouts are anything but girly fellas. We regrouped, hit Skyline to Thompson back to home plate. Since I'm "officially" in taper I took most of this ride pretty laid back.
Max watts 370/ avg watts 141
Avg HR 156 / Max HR 186 - stupid hill!

Someone has a case of the Monday's

AM Recovery Spin
90 mins in low end Z2 - avg watts 133, avg HR 136

Eh, my body really did not like me this morning. My arms still felt bruised from carrying the table and coffee on Saturday, which was my own fault as my pride clearly got in the way of asking for help. My hamstrings are really tight and sore, this is the result of trying to run fast when you have a short stride and ZERO hamstring flexibility. Today I lack muscular power, which was pretty much to be expected. Spin felt ok. I just started season 3 of Lost and can say that I'm finally getting into it.

I was going to swim tonight BUT my legs are tired and I'm mentally drained (take that as you will). Instead I took care of things around the house that have been neglected.

Blue Lake Oly RR

They say that a flawless race makes for a boring race report. 95% flawless provides a laugh here and there. Read on with the risk of getting bored.

Slept a solid 8 hours - felt really good
A few blocks before I enter the park a black cat ran out in the middle of the road. "F%#% me!" I stop, the cat looks at me. I quickly pray to the rosary that it does not cross. Cat turns back around and runs away. Whew, I'm superstitious and did not want to deal with a black cat crossing.

Transition set up was easy. I arrived early enough to BS with friends and wish all good luck.

I saw my mom 10 minutes before start and decided to chit chat for awhile, maybe a little too long as I almost missed my start and had to jump into the corral last minute. Ha! Luckily I made the start, I've actually missed one before. I get side tracked easily :)

Swim
As always I put myself dead center, front and middle. What's a little open water combat? This was a swim of firsts. First time I have never been swam over. Woot! Woot! I didn't really get passed as the fast girls were in the front and took off so quickly you couldn't call it passing, they were just GONE. So on I went. "Boom, Boom, Pow" ~breath ~ "Boom, Boom, Pow" is what I sang to keep my 3 stroke swim strong. I kept Carly's "bent elbows" and Don's "wide arms" in my head on the pulls. Oh, what's this? A green cap? A blue cap? Hot damn I am passing people! Wait? Has hell frozen over? Unbelievable. I was giving good effort, but really it never felt "hard".

My finishing time was 26:21/ 1:36 average 100 - 3:08 faster than last year! PR baby! 130/450

T2 - I quickly saw Shannon and Kaci and wished them both luck. Shaved off :28 from last year

Bike
I was REALLY looking forward to the bike portion and think overall I did OK, but after reviewing the power data I knew I could have done better. I'm sure a taper would have helped - but then again who tapers for a "fun" race? I felt quad straining during the ride. Not cramping but I could feel I was pushing my muscular limits. Luckily this has never affected my run, but the worry that one day it might taunts me during racing. I could have given more effort as my HR never redlined, but why would I want to do that? I've noticed I've been asking myself that question far too lately. I really like being in my comfort zone. The low HR was obviously due to my IM training efficiency but I also think that the Yoga breathing and core work I did in aero helped with this. It felt so good to get "fetal" and ride it out. At one point I thought a jet plane was flying over as we were riding near an airport. Nope, turned out to be 3 FAST MEN flying (shit you not!) by me with their disc wheels. :drool: Can I just express how hot the sound of discs are? Not to mention the view of fast pumping piston calves. Eh, anywho...back to my RR. I think I was passed by only 2 other girls. One of which I had to tell to pass me because she was riding side by side in my draft zone. Technically she hadn't passed my wheel at that point but I wasn't at the position to fight her for a spot. I allowed her to pass and once my Roctane kicked in handed it back to her before the end. Another reason I <3 this course so much is that I got to see a lot of people I know. Everyone looked so strong and had smiles on their faces. Gooooooo Team! Gooooo PDX tri club. Gooooo random people I don't but were hot!

I finished in a 1:06:47 with a 21.92 mph average - counting the 2 min drafting penalty from LY I PRd my bike by 4:48 and came out 127/450.
Power data
Max Watts 331/ Avg watts 170 ( I should have been able to pull off 190 - oh well)
I was in Z3 for 34% and Z4 43%

T2 - Or what I like to refer to as - Time To Nap :) - 2:28
I shaved :49 seconds off of last year. Ha! I thought I was much slower then that.

Run -
Eh, the run was bittersweet. Some things happened during the run that after the fact I'm not so sure I'm ok with.
I started out strong, maintained strong and ended strong. My legs felt fantastic! The words of encouragement I need are much different then most triathletes, I think that is. I don't want to hear I'm looking good or strong. I want my friends/family to tell me to HTFU, go faster, you're in a race so run like it! Ha, Ha! My mom tries to do this but she forgot what HTFU means and I run by so quickly she stumbles on her words and yells "Run...Run...Run... Like a Girl!" Quickly I think WTF!? I don't want to run like a girl. I want to run like a dude! I laugh out loud a little as I know she was being supportive and well it's my mom :D. I quickly see Carly who gives me the words of encouragement to push my pace. Thanks hun! Within the first 400 meters I pass a girl in a different age division. As I ran by I told her "You look good, keep up the hard work"...because most people like this. She responds "Stay strong" and off I go. She ended up passing me at the 1/2 way turn around and as she did confessed I was her "rabbit" and thanked me. I smiled and replied with "Anytime, now you're my rabbit." Frankly at this point of time I didn't feel like I was in any kind of race. I was running and I was running comfortably. Again, no need for pain here, I was floating along on cloud nine, taking my sweet time and enjoying myself - I keep the girl in my view though. So here's where the conflict comes in. I have about 1.2 miles to go and a 26 yr old passes me, my age division. I pick it up a little and see she's pulling away at a fast clip. Hmmmm, What to do? What to do? With 5 seconds of thought I said F^%$ it. I didn't want to blow up before the end so I continued on my pace. I'm now down to the last 3/4 of the mile and I start catching the girl out of my age division, my rabbit. I really could care less if I passed her our not, I wasn't racing her. I yelled out "Right behind you, you're looking strong, push me to the end." I continued to yell out words of encouragement as our pace was increasing. I wanted the end to hurt. At this point I was yearning for the anaerobic pain so I brought it. I started to fly. She started to lose breath and quickly I had passed and made a nice break away. Shit you not, who do I see seconds ahead of me? 26yr old. My turbo button is activated and I am flying now....but I had hit it too late and I was unable to surpass. She ended up beating me by 11 seconds and took the 3rd place finish. So what does that mean? Did I lose my race drive? Do I just not care about going fast anymore? OR am I more concerned with endurance and efficiency? I feel like a small part of my racing heart has been broken. I'm not sure what to do about that :(

Run stats
Finished 48:19 - a comfortable 7:47 avg with 3 stops for water :) 174/450 - 1:30 faster then LY - PR Baby!

Finished results 2:26:39
4th place AG
Swim 0:26:21
T1 2:44
Bike 1:06:47
T2 2:28
Run 0:48:19

Oddly my sprint tri I had the same swim/and run splits and a close bike. I think I really only have one speed now, or no fast twitch muscles.

Recovered with great friends, food and hard cider!
Oh snap, I need not leave out the best part. Paul saved me a powered sugar-raspberry filled Voodoo doughnut. It was HEAVEN.

If the bull had no horns; everyone would be a matador

It race day baby!

.....

AM run - easy 60 min recovery run 6.8 miles

Self reflection is a beautiful thing

Evening OW swim - 3 easy loops around Klineline

Smooth Sailin'

Easy recovery ride along Marine Drive w/ the PDX Tri club. ...forgot how much fun social easy rides could be, it helps to be surrounded buy cool people.
No winds today - almost unheard of!
Max watts 359/ avg watts - 121 - true recovery folks
Max HR 159 / avg HR 131

Soundtrack

And now for something completely different

Pre Racing Soundtrack

**Black Eyed Peas- Boom Boom Pow
Good song to play in my head during the swim, keeps my 3 stroke rhythm on point and the bass beat reminds me to hit the strokes hard.

Salt N Pepa - Push It
**Really? How could I not include this? Push it real good!

**Brittany Spears - Circus
Because I'm the ringleader baby! J/K kind of sort of...more along the lines of circus freak?

**Eminem - Lose Yourself
Race staple - like Eminem I've vomited upon performing, unlike Eminem mine was PE induced, not nerves.

**Bobby Darin - Don't Rain On My Parade
This is usually a training song and helps me get through my fear of descending on the bike. Oddly enough I don't experience this fear when I'm racing, so I like to sing it while I'm running. No matter how bad I hurt I won't let it get to me :)

**Jay Z - Show Me What Ya Got
Again, I'm an attention whore - at times :D

**AC/DC - Highway To Hell
Racing is done in the depths of a hellish inferno, this song fits the bill

**Mary J Bleige - Work Your Thang Out
Happy run song, turns my frown upside down

**Pulp Fiction Opening Song - Pumpkin & Honey Bunny
Love the intro, Pumpkin's foul language and the fast tempo beat

**Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville
Need something to look forward post race

**Hall & Oates - Maneater
I'm just not going to explain this one

**DMX - Ruff Riders Anthem
Lol, a little glimpse into where my mental toughness comes from. ROAR!

**Timbaland - The Way I Are -
Another good song to play back in my head during swim - beat keeps me on point. I've noticed bass beats for the swim and techno/dance for the bike, the run is all about feeling good when I feel like crap-o-la.

**Hotei Tomoyasu - Battle Without Honor Or Humanity -Kill Bill Theme song - my #1 song
I mostly like this because of the dialogue between Uma and Lucy. Mid song breaks into dialogue, Lucy asks Uma "You didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?" After Uma just destroyed all of the crazy 88s...and Uma's response is "You know for a second there, I kind of did." Reminds me of how hard racing is. The beat is pretty bad ass too.

**Kayne West - Stronger
What does not kill me makes me stronger, OR leaves me crippled/humbled on the side of the road.

**Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
Does this need explanation?

Buttons - stupid buttons

AM - 60min Tempo Run

Mood - unmotivated, I don't know why...ah yes, I'm probably over reaching.

I was planning on doing 3 x 10 mins at 170-180bpm with 5 min floats. I take the first 10 minutes nice and easy and try to wake up. This is the first morning in forever that I skipped my english muffin w pb/honey and just stuck with a GU Roctane. Since I was going to push my pace I didn't want the excess food in my tummy trying to digest mid-run. I'm not sure if this was such a good idea as I felt like my body was consuming its self for the majority of the run. 10 minutes in and hit the TURBO button....if you don't have one of these I highly recommend getting one, not to be confused with the EASY button :D. 8 minutes into my tempo I'm stopped by a damn traffic light. Uh oh, dizzy, very, very dizzy. I almost fell over at the light but thankfully caught my balance on a lamp post. Ugh, I can't breath....now I feel like I'm going to vomit. I don't get it. I used to get out of bed and do tempo or track runs all the time - 4-5 months a go. My body hates 180+ HR, not only my body but my lungs and my brain - it's a complete mindF$#%$! I regain my composure and run the last few minutes of the tempo out. Ah - 5 min easy float. S^%#! time to pick it back up again. 5 minutes into the tempo I hit the ABORT button, these are a nice addition *ahem* "cop out" to the turbo button. My body just wasn't having it, my energy was non-existent. This was all wrong, just wrong I say. I took it easy for another couple minutes and tried it again. Nope, TURBO button is now broken :( I should really go ask for my money back. I continued to try to fix it throughout the remainder of the run. It would work for a few minutes and then go haywire and force me to slow down. S^%$, I'm sure a pair of jumper cables would do the trick. But really, would it be worth it? Proof I have lost my anaerobic drive. It's bittersweet I suppose. I'm also in my recovery/half-a$$ed taper week. I wanted to do a bit of high intensity work to get the "race pace" feel early on in the week but this will not happen. I need to allow more then 1 day of recovery and I'll be too close to race day later in the week. C'est La Vie!

Evening swim

500 warm up

Drills
3 x 100s - 25 A-ok, 25 Fist, 25 Karate, 25 Free;10
2 x 50 one arm glide; 10
2 x 50 one arm catch up

1 x 250 paddles; 15
1 x 250 buoy; 15

Main Set
4 x 100 (75 easy, 25 hard);10
4 x 100 (50 easy, 50 hard); 10
4 x 100 (25 easy, 75 hard); 10
4 x 100 (100 hard!); 10 - this felt much better then this morning, suppose the turbo button is fixed.


Cool down - 200

Total yardage - 3300

The end to a beginning

My friend Nicole and I rocked an easy 11ish mile run 9/min miles- the waterfront loop and then up, down and all around downtown. I was tired pre run, I was tired post run, but felt GREAT running. Avg HR 145

Alas, the end of a 4 week build - last week 21 hours.
The last week few weeks have shown great progression.

Run - I've been able to run 10-15 mile consistently w/out pain! I was even able to get some tempo work in and push the pace on the trails. All that hellish aqua running has paid off. My efficiency has returned, my GI likes me again and speed is slowly coming along.

Bike - Bike has been good. I've gotten in a few more LSD rides 70+ milers and some threshold pushing tempo work.

Swim - Swim showed progression as hit a 7:50 in a 500y sprint and a 1:06 in a 4k open water.

Bricks - This is where my confidence for IM is building
Running off of every bike is pretty much a given. It's a blue moon when I don't.
Swam an open water 4k meter "race" 10 mins quicker then expected, followed up with a strong 53 mile bike ride - did this after a 2.5 hour trail run the day before.
Biked my 2nd century (94 miles , close enough) alone, ended with a 20 min transitional run - avg/8:30 min/miles - EASY.

My efficiency is showing in each training session. My HR is constantly low. This is so abnormal for me. My HR has always ran on the higher side. I'm recovering quicker then in the past. Oscar my evil head has yet to make an appearance. Life is good.

Today is the start to a beautiful recovery week which ends with my first Oly of the season. Race on!

Taken it easy :)

The plan - Century Ride alone with 4800ft of elevation gain

What actually happened - 94 mile ride with 2500 ft of elevation gain followed up with a 20 min/2.5 mil run

*I stayed out a little too late and had a little too much fun at the 80's prom (pics to follow!)
*Woke up this morning with tired legs. My calves ached, I shouldn't have danced/hoped around like the energizer bunny the night before! Oh well, I had so much fun! It was well worth it.
*Coffee, english muffin, Cheerios - check
*Stretched out my body with pilates and then Carnage and I headed out for a very long ride - just the two of us. *music* Just the two of us*
*As I start to ride out of the driveway I realize I left the malto in the house, that would have been VERY bad.
*My first climb starts 2-3 miles in. I'm surrounded my freaking hills! I took it easy and just spun it out. I felt bad when I passed a few out of shape men struggling to get up the hill. My HR never got above 155 of that hill :)
*Reached Skyline, took it to Newberry down to Hwy 30. I freaking hate descending, and Newberry is one scary B%$#$
*Now this is where my "plan" changed. It started to rain along Hwy 30 and I made the amateur move of not dressing adequately. I have all the gear to ride in the rain, there was no excuse but stupidity for this. I decided once I hit the Fred Meyer (self made aid station water fill up ) I would turn around and do loops around Sauvies. If it continued to rain I could cut the ride short, but if it stopped I could just get my mileage in at on Sauvie's Island. I would be better off with that option as I would be closer to town and if the rain started dumping down I would have phone reception to call someone to save me. I turned back around and headed out to Sauvie's Island - thanks Paul for the recommendation.
*4 loops around Sauvies. It wasn't all the bad. If I can handle 4 hours in doors on a bike trainer I can easily handle monotonous loops. I tucked down into aero and got comfortable for the next couple hours.
*The wind was kind today - for the most part. By loop 4 the wind had picked up and was hitting me from the side. It felt as if there was a ghost trying to push me over.
*%#$%^#% Bottle launch!
*Once I got my 4 loops in it was time to make my way back home. Ugh, up and over the west hills.
*Mile 85 and I start to ascent the B^%#% that is called Germantown Rd. I shifted in the small ring and spun up it. Even in my easiest gear I was still pushing 200-240 watts for the 2.3 mile climb. Thankfully I took my GU Roctane 10 minutes before I started climbing, it fueled this little rocket!
*Climbing at 6 mph is depressing
*I swear the same ghost that tried to push me over on Sauvie's Island was trying to push me backwards climbing Germantown - 4 mph 210 watts?! You MUST be kidding me!
*Riiiiiiiiiccccccooooooolllllllaaaaaa! I reached the top! :D Only to hit more rollers on Skyline.
*Descended down Springville home - feeling good.

Power Data
94 miles / 5hrs 38 mins - I have a lot of work to do to try to break 6 hours at IM. Not sure if it is within my realm.
Max watts 382/ Avg watts 136 - the avg is on point for my last century. This is good info to have
Max HR 165 (this was on Germantown, 165 is NOT high for me yet it was such a struggle to climb that damn road!)/ Avg HR 134 - this us uber low. My HR was low for the duration of the ride. I had to check myself a few time to make sure my HR strap was working right.

My legs never really hurt. My nutrition was on point. Energy was a bit lackluster throughout the ride. I think the fact that this was the last day of my 4 week build and I ended on 21 hours had something to do with it. Plus I may have had one too many glasses of red wine last night. Good for the heart is all in moderation I suppose.

Anywho, I got off the bike feeling pretty good, so I threw on my kicks and headed out for an easy transition run. I was surprised at how good it felt to run! I was really happy to be off of Carnage. This run was much more successful then my last attempt at running after a century. Ha! Last year I had a spectacular eruption of vomit 10 minutes in. Ick! This time around energy and tummy was happy. HR was still really low on the run. I ran easy for 20 minutes - 2.4 miles 8:30 pace - Avg HR 154

Now, off to spend time with good friends and good food. Au Revoir!

TGIF yet again!

Beep, Beep, Beep - 4:30am. Am I really getting up? I swear I just went fell asleep. Upon standing, then stumbling around for a light, I found my body to be tired. It wasn't sore, just very, very fatigued. I splashed some water on my face, told myself to "Wake the F^%$ up", got dressed, laced up the running shoes and hit the showery pavement for a 90 min "easy" run. Ha! Easier said then done. Kidding, kind of soft of. Although I was tired the run its self was easy. I took my time and enjoyed the smell of warm rain the light emerging from the sky. I like running while most of the population lay sound asleep.
9.5 mile with many traffic light stops/Avg HR 156

TGIF!

As for tomorrow - I will attempt another century by myself, rain and thunderstorm exempt.

Followed up by another long day

AM Swim
90 min trainer ride Z2 - avg 138 watts
*watched Lost
*swear I got in a power nap. Aero bars come in handy, it's easy to learn over and fall asleep :)
*dropped 4 lbs in the last 24 hours, apparently sodium needs to go up more. I'm already at 430mg an hour!
*changed my bike tire naked, got greasy - don't ask, it wasn't as fun as it sounds.

Evening swim
I'm really crunched for time so I had to skip out on the normal Thursday OW swim - instead I went to the near by 24hr Fitness and swam in saline.

8 x 500s - 8:15s-8:30s
Two 500s in I was joined by the human torpedo Carly. That girl is a missile in the water. I found myself wondering off watching her technique. Watching an amazing swimmer is a beautiful thing. I was lucky enough to leave with a few tips. Thanks hun!
The first 5 500s I hit 8:10-8:15, the last 3 came in 8:20-8:30. My tummy started growling on the last 2, that is never a good sign. Once I got into my car I devoured my turkey sandwich, I think I may have bitten off a finger in the process. Good thing you don't need all fingers to TRI!

Off to bed I go, got to get up at 4:30 for a 90 min run before - tomorrow is going to be a very long day!
Did I mention I'm going to an 80's prom tomorrow night? It's a fundraiser event, nothing illegal going on here :) Anywho, looking forward to it. Never had a prom of my own and who doesn't love the 80s? I'm so rockin the side pony tail.

Good night moon!

A long strong day

AM Swim

500 warm up

Drills
1 x 250 paddles;15
1 x 250 buoy; 15
repeat 1 x

1 x 50 one arm glide - alternate on the 25;10
2 x 50 catch up 25, return with high elbow finger drag; 10
1 x 200 - 50 A-ok, 50 fist, 50 karate, 50 fast free
**Took a break and talked to some Xterra triathlete. Interesting enough the guy knew and trained with the pros that came to our last tri club meeting. Nice guy.
1 x 50 one arm glide - alternate on the 25;10
2 x 50 catch up 25, return with high elbow finger drag; 10

Main Set
5 x 200's - on the 3:30; hit each one on 3:10 except for the second when I swimming neck and neck with Xterra dude trying to keep up, that one I hit a 3:03 :)

Cool down - 500

Total yardage - 3500

Evening Brick - 90 min spin/Big Ring Intervals - 3 mile transition run

THANKS stupid weatherman for falsely forecasting thunder showers. I opted out of the weekly tri club ride. My bike was set up on the trainer and I didn't have the time to change the tire and drive up to the meeting spot. Normally on hill weeks I ride and driving would have ruined said workout. So I tried to find the positive and turned my interval workout into heat training. When I got home it was 85 with 61% humidity, my apartment was a tad bit cooler inside but that lasted all but 10 minutes.

10 min warm up
4 x 15 big ring intervals - 50-60 cadence 180-210 watts; 5 min recovery floats 130-145 watts.

It only took a warm up for the lake around my trainer to start up. Each interval felt harder then the last as the temperature and my HR soared sky high. I popped salt tabs like candy. The last interval took a lot of self motivation "YOU CAN DOOOOOO IT!"
And somehow I did :) although I think I might have blacked out once or twice :)
My stupid powertap CPU kept giving me data memory full errors. Although it had data stored from the ride it will not download. Grrrrr. I read that the error message means I need to clear the CPU, so I did, we'll see if it works on my recovery spin in the morning. Odd thing is that it only had data from that ride, I'm not sure how it could have been "full"

Post trainer ride I transitioned into my Nike racing flats and ran 3 miles around the hood. By now the heat had cooled off out side and the breeze felt nice. I took the run at a moderate exertion level and finished in 24 min/8:00 pace, avg 162 HR - not bad for a brick in the heat :) Watch out Pac Crest, here I come!

Capture the moment

FREAKIN' RUNNERS HIGH!

90 min tempo trail run - 9.75 miles

5 min easy warm up - 140-155 bpm
30 min hard effort - 170-180 bpm - This felt WONDERFUL! First run I've been able to do at this exertion level. I've missed the pain! I get vertigo running on trails at any speed, today felt like a roller coaster - it was BADASS!
10 min easy recovery - 165-175 bpm - I slowed way the hell down and took this uber easy BUT my HR had a hard time dropping. I'm sure the heat and humidity had something to do with it. 75 - 65% humidity.
30 min hard effort - 180-188 bpm - Woah! This was much more difficult then the last 30 minute tempo. I think the heat was starting to get to me. Still I continued to run hard and enjoyed the pain of gasping for air.
15 min easy cool down.

I figured my splits out to be 10:00 - easy and 8:30s hard, which I think is pretty good for a 90 min hilly trail tempo, especially since I do my LSD runs on the same trail and avg 10s

I am a very happy Kat!