Today was a good day

AM Spin - mildly entertained by a couple episodes of Lost.
90 mins - 6 x 10 min big ring intervals
15 min warm up
Tempo 10 mins @ 55-60 rpm 190 watts
Floats 2 mins @ 85-90 rpm 130-145 watts
5 min cool down

Norm avg watts 177/ Max watts 233
Avg HR / Max HR 171

After two alcoholic beverages the night before my watts were 5-10 lower on tempo then normal. If I really wanted to hit 200 on the tempo's I could have. I would have suffered a bit more, with tomorrow being my first track/drill day in ages I decided not to push my luck. Intervals felt challenging but good. I'll need to start doing more of them.

Evening swim - 5 x 500s ladder; ;60
1-8:45
2-8:20
3-7:55
4-8:15
5-8:40

Total yardage - 2500
Another great swim. I unwound with a 15 minute sauna and a 10 minute soak in the hot tub. My muscles feel fab-U-lous.

Today was one of those day. I wish I could capture it and bottle it up in a snow globe. Nothing "special" per say. Went about my daily happenings - spin, eat, bike commute, eat, work, eat, work, pot lock!, work, eat, bike commute, eat, swim, eat. You know, the norm. As I was driving home I felt like melting into my heated seats, I was in bliss. I'm not sure what promoted the rush of emotion but I am overly happy, happy and thankful. I may live my life in solitude but I am never alone. I have some really amazing friendships and I am so grateful for that. I am probably one of the luckiest girls on earth and I owe it all to my friends, boss/co-wrokers and my wonderful mother. You all complete me and I thank you for that.

Enough with all the sap, I'll leave it like my homie Ice Cube would say "Today Was A Good Day"

Rainbows

5:30am run- Brrrrr, it was dark and chilly this morning.
10.6 miles - 1:22 / 7:45 avg - PE easy. My new Timex Ironman Racer HRM battery died within the first few weeks :(. Then the buttons died when I replaced the batter, so alas I'm w/out a HRM until I can suck it up and pay retail for a Polar. I LOVE my new Brooks Adrenaline. The shoes are seriously badass. I can't remember the last time I ran a decent clip, effortlessly for so long. It feels good.

I got home right as the rain started. As I left to bike to work the rain stopped. Luck of the draw! Going home I was not so fortunate as the sky pissed down upon me. I though I was trapped in a monsoon! But of course my sweet lemonade was made when I rode into a beautiful rainbow. Now this is what riding in the rain is all about!

I opted to be a bit of a glutton and sloth for the rest of the evening devouring phenomenal PCG Kung Pao calamari and an oh-so-delicious tiramisu martini, the company wasn't bad either. :)

Swimming Inferno

Warm up
1 x 500

Drills
2 x 25 - kickboard
1 x 200 - 50 A-ok/50 fist/ 50 karate/ 50 hard, fast, sprint
2 x 25 - kickboard
1 x 200 - 50 A-ok/50 fist/ 50 karate/ 50 hard, fast, sprint

4 x 50 - 25 one arm catch up/return 25 with high elbows

Main Set
1 x 200 - first 100 hard & fast/ last 100 easy (positive split); 10
1 x 200 - first 50 easy/ 100 hard & fast/ 50 easy (even split); 10
1 x 200 - first 100 easy/ last 100 hard & fast (negative split); 10
repeat 3 x

Cool down
1 x 500

Total yardage 3500

Swim felt fan-freaking -tastic! I had a lot of energy and took it out on my main set. The negative split going into a positive split with a ;10 rest is always a b&^$#. I never feel fully recovered, but I suppose that is the point. 1800y with only ;90 is a good go. Pull-glide-Pull/breath...over and over and over again. I love going anaerobic in the water. Something about being deprived of oxygen under water is euphoric.

I left my spoon at home. I hate when that happens. I was stuck eating my yogurt concoction cavewoman style with my hands. Apparently this was amusing for the dudes in car next to me, as I looked over they are all starring. Seriously? Take a picture, it will last longer. I only dropped yogurt on myself once :) Go me!

As the day went on my lats started to burn, by 2 they felt like a ragging inferno. Oh how I love swim!

Rain is a commin'. Since I've kind of grown used to bike commuting I figured it was time to pick up fenders. Hopefully they will keep the black strip off my back and my tail dry.

Woot! Woot! My blog has 10,000 hits. Apparently people like to read my crazy antics. Although I think Joe's crash gave me extra publicity.

Riding up Pumpkin Ridge

Oregon graced us with another beautiful day for a ride. Joe and I decided to climb Pumpkin Ridge. He had never gone all the way up and I can't recall the last time I did it as a social climb.

The first half, well 2/3 of the ride was awesome. Moderate climbing went by quickly with great conversation. Here's a pic of Joe and I at the top. Can you tell who is who?

Again we stop to take pics at the Washington Grange where apparently dancing is held. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of dancing goes on there.

Pumpkin Ridge is a steady 5-6 mile climb with a constant grade between 3%-4%. Usually it's a ton of fun to descend upon but today not so much. Joe and I where flying down somewhere around 20-25 mph when this loud, large dog comes running out into the street at us. It all happened so quickly. There was no time to think, only to react. I break hard and steer off to the side. The dog runs up barking at me. All I can think is it's going to bite my leg. Instead it turns and runs back at Joe and I hear him go down. I stop and go back to see what happened. As from what he described (Joe you're welcomed to chime in here since it happened in your eyes) the dog turned back and he endo'd over the dog. OUCH! I was worried is was uber injured. For one he didn't respond right away and two he was covered in blood. Road rash on the legs, hands, shoulder and ouch - cheekbone. There may have been other places that I'm missing. The owner of the dog comes out of his house and call the dog back but never came out to see if we were ok. WTF?!?!?!?!? Seriously! I yell back at the owner they needed to control their dog. I got nothing in response. Joe needed to be cleaned up, he was bleeding a lot. The owner should have came out and helped rectify the situation. We rode down to the bottom and asset the situation. Joe said he felt "ok" - maybe delirious...so we rode a few more hills on the way back. I'm glad we didn't length the ride at all, like he suggested as his injury got worse as time went on.

I held off from posting your bloody pic Joe, not sure how comfortable you were with that.

And here it is

We cleaned up and recovered at McMennamins over tasty sandwiches and a few hard ciders.

Ride Data

33.3 miles

2:00 hrs

Max HR 175/ Avg HR 152

Max Watts 354/ Avg normalized watts 167/ Avg watts 152

Avg 30 min power - 180 - not the best but I wasn't on a "training ride" so to speak.

Now this is my kind of Saturday

After 3 1/2 loooooong days in Vegas I finally got to sleep in. 8 solid hours. Wrapped up in my goose down comforter, lying on top of the clouds of my pillow top mattress, hugging Naomi (stuffed tiger....stop snickering) was just what the doctor ordered. I dilly-dallied the morning away with breakfast, unpacking and Pilates.

Afternoon run -

I met up with Ali for a run up Leif Erickson. The plan was to run 90 minutes or 10 miles, which ever came first. I wore my Brooks Adrenaline's for the first time and figured if I started to experience "new shoe" break in pain I'd turn back 30 minutes in, but luckily I never felt it. I heart these shoes. 10 miles came before 90 minutes so I turned around. Finished on an easy, comfortable 8:40 avg. This run was amazing. The sun was out and the temp was perfect. The shade was cool and breezy while the exposed areas were filled with the suns warmth. Autumn is upon us. The leaves on the trees are dying and gracing us with their spectacular orange and red beauty. It is fair to say I had a phenomenal runners high. Ali and I recovered at Starbucks with coffee and good conversation.

Afternoon swim - Post coffee came a much needed swim.

1 x 500 warm up

Drills

1 x 250 paddles

2 x 25 kickboard

repeat 4 x

Main Set

1 x 1000

I had intended on doing an ascending ladder but found 50y into it my tummy wasn't feeling it. I was caloric deprived and my tummy was twisting and knotting in the pool. I was highly energized and maybe a bit jacked up from the Pikes Place coffee but calories were lacking and this was apparent as my stomach started to consume itself for the next 20 or so minutes. The long distance stretch was a desired one as I allowed my brain to wonder off and day dream. If you haven't tried day dreaming during a swim I highly suggest it. I wish I was able to record all the random, odd things that run through my head. I only remember and post maybe 1/2. My mind can be a very good place :)

Total yardage - 2700

Finished with a detoxifying 15 min sauna, which I almost think I passed out in.

Recovered with a friend and sushi!

Interbike Recap

Somethings can be disclosed, others can not....some things will only remain in Vegas.

With that being said here are a few highlights -

Wednesday
*Running the Vegas strip at 6am. There were a lot of runners out, you could tell there was an athletic convention. I ran past a dude 20 minutes in, he yells out..."Hey now, you're making me look bad." I respond back "I'll slow down for you :)" and got my self a hot little running partner. The air was so dry you could hardly tell that I was a grade-A sweating machine. 48 mins 5.5 miles in the new ST 4s. How many people get to run with their boss?
*Breakfast Buffet at Grand Lux - custom made egg white omelet's with serreno chilies. Fresh, sweet, juicy fruit. Hot oatmeal and yummy granola with almonds - mmmm, recovery bliss!
*Met with many vendors - lots of cool stuff to see. - excited for the Shebeest S'11.
*Luna has some beautiful Merino wool base layers with pretty orient prints. Their Epiphany Knicker is uber sexy, fine lines and faux sheer fabric.

*Took some time to check out the Ordu and the Plasma - drooooool.

*My boss and I got all "dolled up" for dinner and dancing later in the evening. The two of use walking in 3-4 inch heels was quite the sight to see. There were a few close calls but luckily neither of us fell. I HATE high heels! Next time I may just rock my Brooks in my 1940's satin fish tail dress. You think I could pull it off?

*Dinner at Tao with Gore Bikewear. The pecking duck was amazing, as was the Orient Express and Sakatini's. Gore came international with some of their reps from Germany. It was cool to hear about business from their side of the globe.

*Party at Blush at the Wynn with the Rock Racer Boys. Open bar! 3 extra dirty martini's and 2 lemon drops later I was a lit Kat. The DJ was playin jammin music but no one was dancing......so my boss and I got out on the dance floor and got the party started. My hips have a mind of their own, and that was apparent when I broke out the salsa. So much fun!

*Lucky me - I found an Ironman *ahem* to mingle with. What a cutie-pie! Credentials checked out the next morning. What's the chance of meeting another IM at a dance club?
*1:30am, 9 martini's later and it was time to call it a night. I did have to get up and work in 4 hours!

Thursday
*Awoke without a hangover! How was that possible? Although my head didn't hurt and I didn't feel ill. I did suffer from major fatigue. 4 hours is not enough sleep to go off of when I have to "shop" a convention for 9 hours. Oh the humanity!
*A lot of the day was in a blur of fatigue. I'm lucky I have such a funny boss, as she kept my energy up for most of it.
*Hincapie has a very attractive S'10 line up. Love the colors and style lines.

*I heart Gore Bikewear and all of their reps - such great people. Gore is so innovative in their bike apparel, they're a huge asset to the hard weather riders.

*Sidi gave out Champagne and cake for their 50th anniversary, pretty glittery tee's too! How I was able to start drinking again was beyond me.
*Dinner was spent with the good company of our Sidi rep - I'm a lucky girl yet again. Luck be a lady tonight!

Friday
*Once again I joined my boss for another run on the Vegas strip. This time there were not a lot of runners out. Last day of Interbike, I figure most partied it up the night before or went home early. I decided to do a little cross training and would run up the 4 square block stairs. By the 3rd block I started to wonder what I was thinking, running up stairs is hard. On the way back some drunk man stopped and turned in front of me. This resulted in beer spillage, all over me. No apology. He just stood their and stared at his beer. F%^#stick. Onward I ran, into the sunrise, smelling of beer. 55 minutes 6 miles.
*Breakfast with Louis Garneau was fun. I always enjoy talking apparel. It is my personal goal to get a tri apparel company to come up with a one piece technical endurance race suit with a high supportive de-attached bra. It will happen! One day!
*Previewing and offering input Sugoi's spring 2011 line was BADASS. How many people get to do that? Not many! Sugoi has a very attractive product designer. I'm not sure if I was more fixated on him or the clothes.
*BlueSeventy has revised the Helix for 2010. The arm panels are thinner 1mm vs 1.5mm and have a skin like waterproof materiel on the inner forearm.- I'm excited and now want an upgrade :)
*Interbike came to an end.

*My flight was delayed and I was left sitting at the airport for 4 hours :(. Thank goodness for internet and alcohol.

Interbike here I come!...but first

AM Swim

Warm up
1 x 500

Drills
1 x 250 paddles
2 x 25 kickboard (uh, my ankle hurts?)
1 x 250 buoy
2 x 25 kickboard (no more, ankle is killing me..WTF?)
1 x 250 paddles
1 x 250 buoy

Main set
2 x 500 intervals (100 hard/50 easy/100 hard/ 50 easy/ 100 hard/ 50 easy/ 50 hard); 30

Cool down
1 x 100

Total yardage = 3100

WORK!

Off to Vegas for Interbike!

......

I'm fried and can't think of anything witty for the subject header

AM Run - 6.5 miles easy - 8:30s
Ran in my new Brooks Racer ST 4s. I felt like Cinderella rockin the glass slippers, these shoes are that awesome.

Worked my tail off today, heading to Vegas for Interbike tomorrow....too much to do not enough time.

I'm still 100% bike commute for the month of September. :)

Man Cakes - It's what's for dinner

Saturday was another long night after a long training workout

*Lindsay and I caught up over a couple of glasses of red bloody pig's wine. $4 at Trader Joes and I was told to "let it breathe for an hour" Ha!
*Jesse, Mark, Jess and Scott loaded up on home made taco's (once again Mark, you're an amazing cook) and then went on to MASSIVE Tequila shots. Mmmmm, rock salt
*Once our tummy and minds were right we headed down to Aztec Willies for another night of salsa lessons.
*Mr. Sutton - your "arrogance" paid off as you learned salsa quickly and rocked good dance moves.
*Once again I was drawn to the short hispanic man...same dude as two weeks ago, I really need to remember his name. Another night he swept me off my feet, literally dipped and spun me off my feet...I don't know how I didn't end up on my ass. Hehe, he introduced me to some of the club promoters and musicians as the "lioness" as I wore my hair down and it resembled a lions mane. I was not scolded as many times as last, maybe I'm picking this salsa thing up?
*I think my favorite salsa move thus far is when your partner locks your arms around theirs and the two of you are intertwined. It's really cool. The dips and spins come in close behind. I spun so much I could have be an ad for the TOPS toys.

*Mark - you get another badass point for carrying me down the street as your sprinted. Dude you flew, do you have turbo jets on your shoes? And if you do, can I borrow them?
*After a few Margarita's, lots of dancing and sweating it was time for food. Man-Cakes! Here's a link to a recap of what exactly Man-Cakes are - http://krazykitkat.blogspot.com/2008/03/training-and-too-many-damn-pancakes.html
*I advised Scott and Jesse to share a stack with me....but nooooo, everyone wanted 2 for themselves. I fully warned them how big they were before ordering.
*Apparently the Man-Cakes scared Scott as he felt the need to hold me hand as he started eating. Ha! I look over at Mark (the only one who didn't get a man-cake *ahem) and he had almost finished his steak and eggs. I think I may have heard him growling ate his plate as he ate...although I can't be quite sure.
*The Man-Cakes were soooooo large that as we poured syrup it ended everywhere. I often used the table to dip a man-cake. I suppose we could have used Scott's lap as he later discovered a pool of syrup on his pants - the next day. Lmfao!
*No one finished all of their man-cakes (only a short stack, not the grand enchilada). I think I made the biggest dent eating 2/3. I heat man-cakes.
*The night ended off with 8 oz of water and a salt stick.

Sunday
For the life of my fitness I need to stop drinking. I think killed the hangover before it was ever created, thank you salt stick, h2o and vitamin I. But what I couldn't control was my 6 am automatic mental alarm clock. I was able to roll back asleep for another 2 hours to bring me to 6 hours on intermittent crap-tastic sleep.
Later that day........Mark, Scott and I went on an "easy" bike ride around Sauvie's Island. Easy my ass. I was soooo freaking tired. I was then reminded as to why I never ride at Sauvie's past noon - WIND. Wind from every direction. I had Mark in front of me and Scott on the side - as I checked my power tap trying to find out which direction the wind was coming from and how to draft. It was pointless....the wind had a mind of it's own and kept switching positions. Agh! The easy 30ish mile ride handed me my tail, thankfully I was not alone.

Ride Data - 32 miles
Duration - 1:47
Max HR 164/ Avg HR 138
Max watts 291/ Norm avg watts 156/ Avg watts 146

Now it's time to end a fun, eventful, exhausting weekend. I'm tired, but would I do it again? Damn skippy.
Looking forward to Interbike this week. Hot weather in Vegas, Hot guys and even Hotter BIKES!!!!!

Back to a typical Friday/Saturday

Friday AM swim
6 x 500's - easy
These were untimed as I'm still trying to give myself a mental break from racing and goals

Total yardage - 3000

PM Spin - 1 hour...getting lost while watching LOST
This spin felt incredible easy....as it should have since was a recovery spin for my legs. BUT my avg HR was much lower then typical rides/spins at that wattage. My HR avg'd 129 and only maxed at 143 while I held an avg of 146 watts very easily with a max of 177. 177 should have spiked my HR higher, but yet it didn't. I almost question if my HR monitor was working correctly.

Saturday night - in bed by 10pm. This is rather sad and pathetic. Here it is, my off season...maybe I should be out livin' it up? Ah, but I had plans to run with a friend the next morning and when all is said and done I heart running more then drinking and partying.

Saturday LSD Run -
I met my buddy for his last LSD run before the PDX marathon. I mapped out a route that if I "ran" into issues (IE leg/muscular) I could easily shorten the run from 17 to 15, or 10 or 8. We started along the waterfront and did the Sellwood loop - 8 miles, nice easy and flat. My shins started out a little irritable but by the time we finished the loop they felt ok. From there we got a little hill work in as we ran up through downtown Portland and on and up to the Twilliger Curves. Up to this point we had been running in light rain. As soon as we started the ascent up Twilliger it started to down pour. I'd say it rained pretty hard for 30-45 minutes. I found the rain to be annoying but the pleasant company made it tolerable. I think the hills took a toll on my calves because I felt them yelling at me on our descent from downtown to the waterfront. At this point I figured it was probably good to the call the run a day and be happy that I got a good solid 15.5-16 mile run in...pretty much effortlessly. Along the run I tested out a new run top - Skins "compression" long sleeve top. Now I quote compression because that is what the company markets it as, I on the other hand find nothing compressive about this garment or any of their garments for that matter. Skins is just Lycra. It's not circled knit IE compression. For the most part I enjoyed running in it. It was body hugging (lol, compressive..note: sarcasm) but it didn't promote posture benefits as it should have. As I took my top off at the car I realized the whole lower back side on my back (right on my tail bone) was chaffed....REALLY, REALLY bad. It looks like a cat clawed my back. Skins puts a gripper on the bottom of the shirt to keep the top in place. If it was a real compression garment it would not need a gripper. The chaffing is horrible and hurts every time I sit or lay again anything. It doesn't help it's right where my pants hit my backside. I intended on taking an ice bath when I got home BUT I stayed in wet clothing (sports bra & shorts) for way too long. I stopped by the store to pick up a few things, one of said things should have been ice. I was walking around for so long in wet clothing I got really chilled. I actually envisioned tossing the roasted chickens aside and laying down on the heat lamp at Fred Meyer, then I thought security might get involved. Instead I opted for my heated car seats and a 45 minute hot bath. I'm finally defrosted :)...yet still chaffed :( ...but I had a badass run in the rain with another athlete, so life is good.

Autumn is in the air....running season begins.

I started my run out this morning in a fog of darkness. No I'm not talking about my mind, although that could easily be questioned...I'm referring to the weather. The sky was dark, the ground was chilly, covered in fog and dusted with orange and yellow dying tree leaves. I focused on the pleasant weather change for most of the run as my body was not enjoying the motion of running. My upper body was tight and sore from the swim workout the night before. I kept having to check my posture as my heavy shoulders wanted to roll forward. My shins and feet have also been a bit argumentative the last few days. I politely told them to STFU as I continued to run onward. I was happy to be finished. 8.2 miles - 8:20 pace.

The commute into work was brisk. Running in the cold/fog I don't mind so much but I'm not a fan of biking in it. Commuting is starting to wear me down. Although I don't have to ride far to work it takes a lot of extra preparation...and frankly sometimes my quads don't like climbing up that stupid hill after said morning training.

I got my new Brooks running shoes today, yay!
Adrenaline ASR 6 - for trails and road


Racer ST 4 -track/tempo and race shoes - the laces are actually threaded with sparkly gold, they're offically BADASS

Can't wait to test both shoes out!

Finished the night off with happy hour sushi with mom - great way to end the day.

Pull, Pull, Pull

Evening Swim

Warm Up
1 x 500

Drills - pretty much my whole workout, I wanted to work on upper body strength
1 x 250 paddles- hard
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 buoy - hard
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 paddles- hard
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 buoy - hard
2 x 25 kickboard

Intervals
2 x 300 - first 50 easy/100 hard/ 50 easy/ 100 hard

Cool down
200

Total yardage - 2500

I'm lats burn like a mother%^#

A swim, some work and some good lovin on Fatalia

AM Swim

Warm Up
1 x 500

Drills
1 x 200 - 50-A-ok, 50-fist, 50-karate, 50-free fast
1 x 150 buoy
2 x 25 kickboard
4 x 50 - one arm catch up 25 down/return 25 finger drag
1 x 150 buoy
2 x 25 kickboard

Main Set
1 x 200 (hard 100/ easy 100) positive split; 10
1 x 200 (easy 50/hard 100/ easy 50)' even split; 10
1 x 200 (easy 100/hard 100) negative split; 10
repeat 1 x

Cool down
1 x 100

Total yardage = 2600

First swim post IM that I've done speed or interval work and it felt FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC!


The day went by uber fast. Work was busy, busy yet fun as usual :)

Feeling up my Felt - Evening Bike Ride

With autumn kicking at our heels, days like today would soon be long gone. The warm, bright, fiery ball in the sky had been calling out to me all afternoon long. A perk of having a massive window desk. I had to take advantage of it and get a post work ride in. I commuted home on Fatalia, my new....(well back up a bit, not so new. I bought her in Feb but just recently started riding her) road bike, thinking I would swap her out for Carnage when I got home. Let's back up again to bike commuting - I'm 100% for the month, woot, woot! Once I got home I changed my mind and decided to put Fatalia to work and see what kind of guts she had in her.

I quickly dropped of my stuff and I was off...on to ride up Pumpkin Ridge

Well Fatalia earned her stripes as my avg 30 min watts avg/195 - nice work baby girl.

Our reward - a speechless sunset on the crest of Pumpkin Ridge. They say a picture says a thousand words - what does this picture say to you?

The descent was badass as usual. I had to fight fatigue on the way home. I couldn't take it easy, the sun was fading and it was fading fast. My stupid $%# forgot my bike light and all I had for visibility was a Nathan reflective vest. The last 30 minutes were kind of scary as I am afraid of the dark. I had to go on the stupid bike path and again was taunted with those three car poles. I swear they move as I almost always hit one. WTF is wrong with me? Not only was I taunted by "moving" still objects but apparently the suburbs have their very only "Children of the Damned", as a group of young children where sitting under the bike path/HWY bridge smoking, drinking and doing lord knows what else. I could be mistaken but I swore I heard them singing in an eery tone "lalalalalalala" I think the dark and a little bit of caloric deficiency started playing tricks on my mental state. I was really happy to reach home and out of the darkness.

Ride data 32.6 miles

Avg speed 17.6 mph

Max HR 172/ avg HR 151

Max watts 328/ norm avg watts 176/ avg watts 157 (30 min avg 195)

Training Peaks data file

http://tpks.ws/PniP

24hrs dazed and confused

Saturday 6:30ish - It all started with these bad boys [url]www.drinkfour.com[/url]

10:30ish - Downtown we went, onto a mission of drunken foolery. The rest of the night was pretty hazy. I remember some things, others not so much. One too many Four Loko's.

Around 11:45 we took our drunken tails home. I feel asleep on the MAX. Thankfully Jesse and Mark stayed awake and we were able to get off at the right stop.

12:30ish - Mark returns with free Wendy's and leaves a cheeseburger on the bed I was sleeping on.

5:00am - I awake next to a cheeseburger. Mmmmm, cheeseburger. Am I dreaming? I take a bite to find out. Mmmm, a cold fast food cheeseburger. It was the best, I think I devoured it in sub 2 mins. Back to bed.

8:00am - Damn this freaking room is too hot. My tummy doesn't feel right. Was it the Four Loko's? The cheeseburger? The heat? It was all of the above. I got up took a Salt Stick and a glass of water with some vitamin I and laid back down for another hour. Oh yes, I also start my Pepto repeats.

10:30am-ish- Mark made the BEST blueberry pancakes with peach syrup. Absolutely amazing. I get to hear the odd yet funny free Wendy's story.

12:00 - I get home and take an incredible 90 min power nap.

3:30pm - I meet up with Mark for what was supposed to be a 90 min easy trail run. Easy my ass. First off I'm still hungover. All day I took in Salt Stick, water and several douses of Dr. Pepto. The 6 coats of Pepto lining my stomach helped things out as I had no digestive issues, I think this was the one good thing about the run. Sweating out the toxins was good too, I suppose. We ran from The Japanese Rose Gardens up the Zoo and onto Wildwood, up along Pittock Mansion (looong ass uphill!) and then down to Lower McClay Park. Stayed on Wildwood to fire lane 1 which dropped us on to Leif Erickson. I was really dizzy at the beginning of the run. This is normal as I usually experience vertigo [url]www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357[/url] on trails, and the fact I was hung over wasn't helping anything. The climbs up to the ZOO and Pittock Mansion sucked serious ass. My HR peaked at 190, it was hot and humid and I felt like I was going to vomit, ugh. BUT after those climbs I felt much better! I think I had finally sweat all the Four Loko's out. I felt pretty good until 80 minutes in. At this point we should have only had 10 more minutes to go, but apparently Mark has no perception of distance because we were still along ways out...but I didn't know this because he kept feeding me fibs "oh, Fire Lane 1 is just over there", "3/4 of a mile more". Dude you said 3/4 of a mile when we reached 53rd at mile 8 3/4, we didn't hit the Fire Lane until we were passed mile marker 11!!!! I had planned enough nutrition and hydration for a 90 min run, not the 2:15 duration we needed up being out there. I started to get really dizzy and felt pukey 1:45 in, luckily I brought along an extra GU. I ran out of water 2:05 in. At this point we had dropped down on to Leif Erickson, which was supposed to be mile 1 1/2 (yes Mark, you did say 1 1/2 previously) but was really mile marker 3. 3 more miles to go and I have no fuel or water. Agh! The rest of the run was down hill. I kept my head down (mental defeat), lifted up my chest and shoulders, opened up my stride and just ran for the water....at the end of the trail. Every so often a runner would pass by me going up and I would contemplate jumping them for their bottled water. In the end I opted against this, only because I didn't have the energy to take someone down. Lucky for Mark because if I had anything left to spare I so would have kicked his ass. We finished the run at 2:15 - 45 minutes longer then anticipated....not so hot for a 2 week post IM run run, hung over in humidity. Still, I'll think of the positive - what doesn't kill us makes us stronger....or will leave me to kill Mark on another day.
Mark's Garmin data IE his splits/HR but it shows the distance and elevation gain- [url]www.connect.garmin.com/activity/13257564[/url]

6:30ish - 24 hours later.....Ravenously ate recovery food at The Stepping Stone. Dizziness is gone, things are ok again :)

Riding into the falls and back

Today was my first (real) ride on Carnage since IMC. The plan was to do a 50 miler out and back but once Jeremy and I hit Women's Forum we decided to ride on down to Multnomah Falls to add some additional climbing and bring the mileage up to 68.
I was feeling good at mile 25 and enjoying the time on my baby girl I wanted to ride it out. I managed watts well and during the ride my legs never felt "done". I think it helped having someone to talk to during the climbs, they came and went pretty fast and easy. During the last bit along Marine Drive, fatigue set in. I think Marine Drive is an energy sucking vortex, that stupid straightway always tires me out and the *light* headwind wasn't helping anything. Lucky for me I had someone to draft off of :)
Finished feeling pretty good, a bit tired but good. I'm really happy I got and enjoyed such a beautiful day/ride.

Ride data
Riding Time 3:55
68 miles - approx 3000 ft of climbing
Max HR 178 / Avg HR 147 (things are coming back to normal :))
Max Watts 339/ Avg norm watts 153/ Avg watts 139

I came home and seriously passed out for 90 minutes, I awoke zombie like. I think if you asked I wouldn't have been able to tell you my own name. My right quad is throbbing. Why did this not happen during the ride. How was I supposed to know DOMS would come back and bite me in the ass...or say quad. Eh, I'm sure some quality time with the foam roller, rolling pins and the "sick" will work everything out. Got to get my legs happy again so that they can dance the night away!

Blissful.....

is the best word to describe my run this morning. The first run since IM that I had no signs of muscle or energy fatigue. Yay, recovery is working.

8.9 miles 1:15 / 8:30 avg; PE- easy /157 avg HR

I just love waking and running into the sunrise :)

Swim me a song

AM Swim
1 x 500 - easy

Drills
1 x 200 bouy
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 200 paddles
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 200 bouy
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 200 paddles
2 x 25 kickboard

1 x 500 - easy

Total yardage - 2000

Big Ups to Mr. David Livengood who swam the Catalina Channel (21 miles!) sans wetsuit in 11:39- you sir are a true inspiration, thank you for that, great job out there!

Ended the evening with good sushi and even better company. I think I'm starting to like this "off season" thing :)

Take my breath away

^$^%#$$%#^$%#$%#!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$%#$%#$@#!@#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^%##$%@$^#$#$%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STUPID, STUPID west hills!
I partook in the normal PDX Wed night tri club and it handed me my aSS! My energy has returned back to normal and the muscle fatigue has been gone for about a week now. The ride would be short and I figured I could handle approx 800 little measly ft in 2.8 miles....think again Kat, think again. Now that being said I did make it up the climb without stopping but it kicked my ass to the freaking moon. My HR stayed between 175 and maxed out at 190. Perviously I'd never gotten about 176 on that hill. WTF? The F^%# is my HR yelling at me to sit the ^%$@ down and give myself more rest. My Oh My - I was gasping for air. I just need to find a guy who will take my breath away like the hills do....but that's for another day. I was thankful to see the boys had waited at the top of the hill as I might have needed Life Flight to fly me home. Once I was able to breath again we took the Skyline rollers down to Thompson and back. The rest of the ride was easy breezy. I'm glad I got my ass handed to me tonight, better on a short ride then the longer one I'll do on Saturday, which will now be modified with easier intensity IE less climbing :)

A little power data for the Power Freaks
Distance - 15 miles
Max HR 190/ Avg HR 151
Max Watts 432/ Nor avg wats 178!/ avg watts 142 (my 20 min power zone held 209 watts! and 30 mins was 200 watts...I love Training Peaks Software)

BTW - I drove home into the most beautiful sunset.

Darkness brings light

Today I ran into memories that I never wanted to revisit. The sadness that started to over take me was eliminated with strength from my Ironman. The darkness of hell that consumed me before will never over take me again. I realized that I will always have courage, no matter what I fear. I finally got my Ironman high :) and celebrated with silent tears of joy.

I <3 the off season

I was right about Salsa dancing - my legs & feet got worked.

I want to know who created the "high heel"? I swear it was developed in the medieval times as a torture device. I was able to dance for 10-15 minutes at a time, would work up a good sweat and then need to sit back down. The problem with sitting down is that someone would immediately come up and ask for a dance. I felt bad for saying no but I was freaking tired and don't have Salsa dancing endurance. The whole evening was a good time for all. I got to see some of my long lost girlfriends - miss you girls, muah! Eat yummy chiveche, drink a margarita or two...and then make a complete ass of myself on the dance floor. Ha! One of the senior's I was dancing with kept scolding me. He was a really good dancer. He'd spin me, throw me and somehow keep me in complete control. It amazes me that I didn't ever end up spinning into the wall. Anywho, back to scolding. Homboy would raise up his finger and say in a latino soap opera accent "No, that is not right!" Hehe. Then he'd correct me as in "shoulders, back" or "keep eye contact, never look away" (they he'd do this hand eye contact thing!)...."let me lead! I am the man!" LMFAO, every time he'd correct me I'd giggle. Then he'd say - "Salsa is about dancing sexy, and you're beautiful but very silly, work on being sexy." Again, this made me laugh. I couldn't keep it together. Once I turned into the typical Kat-like sweating machine he'd give me a break. I apologized and pulled out the IM card. The dancing was making my calves, quads and hips sore, at least I had valid excuse. Turns out the guy had run a couple marathons in his day so he was understanding....he advised on a fuel up with GU and said he'd be back for more. A few hours in and I called it a night. Must return home before my car turns into a pumpkin.

Sunday -
Slept in again!
Tried to work on my domestication and clean up the house a bit - blah

It was raining for most of the day so I took my bike back to the trainer our love was rekindled.
75 min Z2 spin
Max watts 177/ Avg watts 139
I think I was able to squeeze in a nice power nap on the trainer as well :)

Finished the evening off with a few inspiring "fruitcakes" and one amazing cookie - Thank Sheryl!

Monday -
Oh Holidays!
Another example of how much I love my career- I decided to go into the office and work a few hours. It helped keep my mind off of training, kept my recovery in check and made me feel a little more productive.

65 min LSD run on muddy Wildwood in the rain, LOVE it!

Afternoon Swim

Warm up 1 x 500

Drills

1 x 200 - 50 a-ok/50 fist/ 50 karate/ 50 sprint

2 x 25 - kickboard

4 x 50 - 25 one arm catch up/25 return high elbow finger drag

1 x 150 - paddles

2 x 25 kickboard

1 x 150 paddles

2 x 100 - sprints

Cool down - 1 x 250

Total yardage = 1750

Swim felt really good on my body. My goggles decided they wanted to torture me by slowly leaking water. So fricking annoying. I had intended to swim longer as I felt really good but my eyes on the other hand didn't. I figured this was a sign telling me enough was enough. So I cut it short and sat in the sauna for 15 minutes.

That's all folks!

PS - I think someone is finding away into my head.....not sure what to do about that.

None Training Saturday?

I didn't know these existed!

I slept in until 10am! And I'm not sick! I didn't think this was possible, maybe hell has frozen over. Can someone check for me? I'm sure staying up until 2am drinking mojito's, hot coco and rum and playing.....shall I say it? Super Nintendo! helped a bit. Apparently I have to work on my gaming skills because I suck ass. 10 minutes in and my thumbs hurt from finger mashing, my eyes hurt from watching the damn alien dude run around and my mind is tired from trying to understand all the buttons and actions of the game. This is a whole different kind of endurance, one I was lacking.

After a lazy morning of sleeping in I got up and got my Pilates on. Then I went for a 30 min run in the pouring down rain. It was not a drizzle, it was not a shower, the rain was coming down in buckets and I enjoyed every minute of it. I originally was going to go for an hour but decided to end it after the first loop. 25 minutes in I noticed a few sore joints and a tweak or two of fatigue in my calves. No need to rush recovery. I also wanted to save my legs for tonight - I'm sure after a couple hours of salsa dancing they will feel worked.

Week of recovery

Day 1 -Monday
Up after 4 hours of sleep. My mind was still racing IM, as was my legs. After sharing a bed with my mom for a week I learned that my restless legs do physically twitch and move around in my sleep. Since 99% of the time I sleep alone I never really knew that, I always just thought my muscle spasmed. Who wants to sleep next to a girl that kicks in her sleep? At least I don't snore.
I spent the day eating....ALL day I ate! I stayed hydrated on red wine. Red wine is good for the heart, which should be great for recovery, right?
I went to the awards and banquet dinner with the "fruitcakes" and Scott that evening. How is it we were served better food after the race then the pre race carb load? Michelle and I made it on the IMC 2009 video, woot! woot! I really enjoyed listening to Jordan Rapp and Tereza Macel give their Pro winning speech, inspiring down-to-earth people I must say! A few of us hit up a local Canadian club for the "after party" Ha! What kind of after party do Ironmen have? One that involves limping around and passing out on club furniture one drink in. As I was waiting for my Crown Royal on the rocks I got to talk with the first place AGer for females 18-24, she was one fast, badass chick and so damn humble!

Day 2 -Tuesday
Spent 10 hours in the car driving home. Zoot's recovery compression tights saved my legs on the ride home - the phat a$$ carna asada burrito and massive margarita kept my mind and tummy right. Hung out with friends in the evening and finished the night off with a mind numbing Four Loko and hot wings. Thanks Mark and Jesse.

Day 3 -Wednesday
Hi-Ho- Hi-Ho..It's back to work I go. Got to love going back to work and not having to worry about any stress. I luv my boss, my job and my co-workers. Muah! My body physically felt fine. Energy on the other hand was pretty low. September is bike commute challenge month so of course I'll be riding to and from, lucky for me I'm only 3.5-4 miles away. I was so tired and out of it on the ride home I ended up riding straight into a pole along the bike bike path. WTF? I just laid there for a minute cursing, I cut open my knee and my hip ;le sigh; I was a sloth in bed for the rest of the night.

Day 4 -Thursday Started the morning out with 45 minutes of Pilates. Stabilization and balance is strong, muscle fatigue is gone. I figured I'd be sore for a week, but by day 3 I feel fine?! Another sign I held back too much, oh well....you've got to test the water before you can test your limits, right? I know I'll still have to take it light for the next week or two to allow my energy to rebuild and muscles to fully heal. I'm happy to report I am no longer a glutton and I am in control of my hunger. How am I supposed to try to find a date if I start looking like Miss Piggy?

Day 5 -Friday Hit the pool for an easy 30 min swim - 1500 yards I paid no attention to splits, in fact I left my watch in my bag. Aqua running- Agh! I wanted to run this morning but figured day 5 might be too soon. I think it's a good idea to get my muscles moving but don't want to force impact and extra fatigue at this point, so I aqua ran - easy 15 minutes. Who would have ever thought I would choose to aqua run? Must be smart about recovery.

Now I just need to figure how to stay in "recovery" mode through a 3-day weekend.

The "Off Season".....

leads into "dating season". Eh, I have to figure out how to be a girl again. Who wants to go out? :)

IMC RR

Pre Race – Woke up at 3:45 for pre race chow down. Sourdough English muffin with peanut butter & agave nectar and honey Kix with light soy milk. I savored every bite, as I knew it would be the last solid food I would have for a looooong time. Washed it all down with a little coffee w/milk.
My mom dropped my buddy Scott aka Gumby and I off a block from bag drop off. Perfect location, we walked down the street, dropped off bike and run special needs and moved on to get body marked. From there I pumped up my tires, added race nutrition to Carnage - my baby girl was set to race. I spent the next 20 minutes sitting and stretching on the Paula Newby-Fraser sidewalk plaque, hoping she would give me good racing luck.
The “blue room” lines were starting to get long so I decided to get in for one last visit. Along the wait I conversed with an advanced Ironman who done the course 6 times. She gave me a few tips and then let me borrow her marker so I could write the following on my hand “☺ Smile, it does a body good”. I’ve gone by this saying for a long time; I wanted a consent reminder while I was racing. I was nervous as shit before the start. Nervous about things that were out of my control. Lord knows I put the time and dedication into training, now it was in the hands of the racing Gods. I would perform only as I knew how and the rest would be up to them. I had time goals for my first IM. Silly, this I know…so I decided to have emotional goals as well, this was something I could have control over. My objective in each discipline was to smile and find a bright side of the dark side…… I’ll let you know at the end how that turned out….
I ran into “The Fruitcakes” shortly after the blue room visit. It was these friends whom I signed up with last year, 14 of us – 9 of which were all doing our first IM. Scott aka “Gumby” joined our group with his friend Jill, we suited up and made our way to the water.

Swim – It was a beautiful day for a swim. The sun was shinning and the water temp was a nice and comfortable 71 degrees. I positioned my goggles under my swim cap and went out for a little warm up. No leaking, nice tight fit, wetsuit felt good, body felt good, I was good to go. Seth, Devin, Scott, Jill and I positioned ourselves in the 3rd row back, far right side, closest to the buoys. We were in the direct line of fire. I wished my friends luck, said 2 Hail Mary’s and horn fired off.
Ouch, Ouch, Ouch…..we had to run into the water on a sea of rocks! Should have tested that location out pre swim – oops. I ran as far as I could before I tripped on a rock and fell on my face. What’s a race if I don’t fall? I quickly decided that face in water was the way to go and started swimming. The first 1500 or so meters weren’t too bad. I caught on to some big bodies and just drafted along. Combat didn’t really happen until the first buoy or should I say house boat turn. I was stuck doggie paddling, keeping my head above water as we all bobbed around the corner. It was complete chaos. From there a female swimmer decided it was a good idea to swim by my side and dunk me under every time she took her right armed stroke. I took this for about three strokes before I got mean. Seriously, when I would swim over people it would be one push down and I would move out of their way or they would move. It would not be a repeat offense. WTF? I got in front of her and kicked hard. She didn’t swim over me again. It sounds cruel but out in the OW swim with 2600+ athletes it was survival of the fittest, eat or be eaten.
For the next 500 or so meters it was pretty congested and there was a lot of swimming over and getting swam over. Mostly people just hit you once and moved on. Combat was taxing. 2/3 of the way out I was in a clearing by myself. It was kind of nice, as I didn’t have to worry about combat, yet at the same time I didn’t have the steady drafting. I’m sure I was still being pulled along as we were a mass in the water but I didn’t get the feel of the direct draft effect. I enjoyed the solitude swimming and this is where I looked up at the mountains on my breathing breaks and smiled. This was it, I was racing an Ironman and all the hitting, kicking, and water gulping in the world couldn’t take that from me. I came off my giddy high when a guy in front of me kicked me in the chin. Ouch! Karma’s a b^$#@, Luckily my tongue wasn’t in the way or I could have bitten right through it!
The last 500-1000 meters were hard. I grew tired and felt slow. Throughout the duration I felt I took the swim portion relatively easy. I never really pushed my stroke and just focused on smooth breathing. I think the combat was what took a great deal out of me. I spent the last 5-10 minutes visualizing transition. I ended up walking out of the water a bit disoriented. Looked at my watch and it read 1:23. WTF?! Was this time correct? No, my watch was wrong but I didn’t learn that until after the race.
Swim finish was 1:10:16 / 1:51 avg

T1 - I was a bit disappointed with the start of T1. First off, not one single wetsuit stripper grabbed me. There were a lot of people getting out at the same time but still, I wanted to be stripped. I stood there for a moment and said “hello?” and I got nothing, so I thought to myself “frick it” and disrobed myself. Then I ran over to my bag. Good thing I didn’t count on a volunteer getting my bag because no one offered. I quickly grabbed my things and headed over to the changing tent. From here on out my volunteer experience got better. A kind lady grabbed me and emptied out my bag. She unzipped my glasses case as I put on my alien helmet; she unstrapped my shoes and had them lined up by each side of my feet. A quick 3:19 later and I had mounted Carnage and we were off to our next adventure.

Bike – Oooooeee my HR high when I got out on Carnage, something like 178. I kept talking to my heart, “come on baby, relax, drop down.” I paid close attention as to manage my power and keep it uber low for the start. I didn’t want to blow my wad within the first 50 miles. The first 20 minutes I kept my watts around 125-140, let my legs spin out and focused on Yoga core strength breathing. My HR hit comfort zone 10 minutes in.
The first climb was on McLean Creek; it was short with a moderate grade. Since my legs don’t warm up until an hour into a ride it inflicted a nice burn. The descent was curvy and cautioned with signs. Apparently there were a few racers that were either over confident or just over zealous as one racer took out 2 others. I just happened to see the disaster as I started the descent. I wanted to stop and see if everyone was ok but it was race and it turns out the marshals were on their way. I also figured the more people that stopped in the middle of a curvy descent the high risk for another accident. So forward I went.
The next 25 miles or so were pretty flat with nice tail wind. I was stuck in the middle of masses at this point and the marshals were all around. My only choice was to push it and pass the lines going by, as I was not going to get put in the penalty box for drafting. Apparently two dudes were as they got red carded for drafting off of me. Ha! Drafting off of little ‘ol me, that’s funny. I wouldn’t have even known if a racer behind me didn’t tell me so. Speaking of the racer that told me…I met the dude the previous day during the bike check. Odd he was able to recognize or even remember me. I passed this woman who had a smiley face on each one of her calves, they were awesome and I told her so. We ended up playing cat and mouse for 50-60 miles of the ride before I dropped her. Right before we turned on to climb Richter Pass I had a nice solid avg of 20.9 mph.
The climb up Richter was much more difficult then driving, let me tell you! I shift into my small ring (double compact) and just spin along. I start singing to myself. “I like to climb, climbing is fun. Hills are for me, just not for everyone.” This little ditty made me smile, and made a few of the athlete’s I passed and passed me laugh. The climb up Richter was pretty badass. The streets were lined with people cheering and music playing. I felt like I was in a movie. I looked to my right and there was a guy in a Tigger suit and then 2-3 hot dudes in 70’s short shorts and run apparel….super cute! I thought it was too early to be hallucinating. I saw a purple and green TNT kit next to me, it was Carly. You go girl!
After Richter came the 7 B^&$#s and B%^#’s they were. Up, down, round and round…it all started to nauseate me. I’m not sure if there was head wind or that the “rollers” were really that long I couldn’t ascend up them. Regardless, flying down and powering back up started to take a toll on my legs.
From the rollers we moved on to the out, back and out. I came up on Don somewhere around mile 60. It was bittersweet, good to see a friend yet sad as his fitness and training was such higher then mine, I knew something had to have gone wrong for me to catch him. We exchanged positive words and he continued on past me. The remaining out and back to special needs I enjoyed. I’m good at flats and was uber thankful to be done with those damn rollers. I had mentioned previously that I would only stop and get my special needs if I “really” needed it. I suppose I didn’t but the Pringles Devin gave me where calling my name. I stopped, took in a small handful, along with a few bite sized pieces of a honey and pb sandwich I had cut up. Real food was yummy. Washed it all down with a sip of chicken broth, rinsed out with Scoop and I was on my way again.
The Dark Zone – I only had one “dark” moment and it lasted for what felt like forever. It happened 15-20 minutes after special needs, right before the Yellow Lake climb. I rode through a cloud of smoke, which made breathing difficult. Thankfully I had my inhaler on me, which helped a bit. I’m not sure if I was on false flats or I was hitting headwind but it brought me down to a pathetic 15-16 mph pushing 180 watts. Aid stations were every 10 miles. I was going slowly, on an exposed course with the blazing hot sun, they did not come soon enough. I tucked into my aero’s tight, dropped my head down and allowed the fatigue to inflict pain and suffering. My “dark” zone came with nauseous and the consent need to cry. I came up on Scott H. shortly into my “dark” zone. It was a breath of fresh air to see a familiar face. I confessed I was between a rock and hard place. At the state of mind I was in not much could help me. He offered words of encouragement and I remembered what Sam McGlone had said about the bad places coming and going. I was just hoping it would go sooner than later.
The climb up Yellow Lake was a B$%@. I’ve climbed harder climbs at longer durations on my training rides. I think it was the mental state I was in that made it so damn tough. As I climbed up the hill I had people on the right and on the left in my face, yelling “Go Katie”, “Looking good”, “Strong legs” “You can DO IT!” It reminded me of The Tour. This was uplifting and I think the energy of the crowd carried me up that stupid hill. As I reach the ascent I comment aloud on how happy I am to be done with the hill. Then on the guys near me goes on to explain we were not done. A climb here, a flat, a false flat, a descent, another small climb…..which I head as yadadadadadada. I said “Goodlord, I can’t wrap my head around that.” He told me not to, just tuck down and ride….which I did.
My dark zone diminished shortly after that. Power came back and I took the small hills with new-found energy. I was then rewarded with one BADASS descent. Prior to the race I had feared this descent. I had heard rumors of people hitting 50+mph on a curvy road that at times could have nasty cross wind. Today my fear was diminished. I was tired and enticed by the thought of “free speed”. I descended down maxing 41.5 mph with a 30-35 avg. For a girl who has had a long time fear and weakness of descending this was a major accomplishment.
The last few miles through town felt long. Fairview had a decent amount of headwind. I wanted to get out of the saddle to stretch out my body but wouldn’t as my watts climbed and my speed would suffer, instead I crouched down and spun it out. As I passed by a few guys I said “So rumor has it we have to run a marathon after this, you think there’s any truth to that?” Hehe, it made a few smile.
As I reached T2, the volunteer tried to take Carnage from me. I had to take her back to get my inhaler and give her a sweet kiss on her stem good bye, with a thank you for such a strong ride.

Ride data
112 miles
6:03:53 bike
Max Speed 41.5mph/ avg speed 18.5mph
Max watts 302/ Avg norm watts146/ avg watts 131
Max watts per kg 4.97/ avg watts per kg 2.15
Max Cadence 142/ Avg cadence 71
Caloric expenditure via wattage = 2839
Caloric intake 1280 kcal of malto + 1910 mg of sodium + a handful of Pringles and a few bites of PB and honey sandwich, give or take 100-150 kcal

T2 – I thought T2 would be long but really I didn’t think I would be as slow as I was. Upon getting off the bike I could hardly walk let alone run. My legs felt fine but my feet were royally fricked up. 70 miles into the bike my big toes started to go numb, by mile 90 they were extremely painful. I had cycled without socks before but the furthest had only been 70 miles, plus I had never dumped water on my body during training rides. I grabbed my T2 bag and walked my way up to the changing tent. The volunteer was so kind. She dumped out my bag and organized everything. At this point I took of my cycling shoes and looked at my messed up feet. They looked like prunes and the bottoms had a grey discoloration and what looked like something growing on them? The volunteer grabbed a towel to wipe my feet off. Upon doing so the grayish whatever the frick came off with a whole lot of skin, it hurt. She layered some kind of anti-bacterial ointment on them. I applied mole skin on the new “holes” and possible blister locations and covered with my Zoot compression socks. I changed into my new Oiselle Distance shorts, body glided up, used my inhaler and I was off. Oh wait, I made a quick stop at the blue room, I could pee – this was a good sign!

Run – As soon as I run across the timing mat I realize I forgot to switch out my HR strap. I was still wearing the Power Tap strap which was coded and would not talk to my Suunto HR watch. Agh! I took ½ a second contemplating turning back….eh, I already wasted enough time in T2 and my official run time had started, so forward on I ran. I decided to just run off of feel.
The first mile I clocked in a super easy 8:40. I decided that pace felt overly easy and that I could stick with it and walk through the aid stations to refuel. At mile 3 I had to stop and take off my shoe. The mole skin had slipped out of place and was now rubbing the hell out of one of the holes in my feet. I wish I had the Zoot calf sleeves as the sock was a major b%$@# to remove. I sat on the side walk and conversed with two older woman. They asked how my race was going and then looked at my foot and both in unison said “Oh my!”. Lol, I replied that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. For the most part I was able to tune the pain out. Eventually I got my sock back on, bid farewell and was off again.
The first 90 minutes felt great. It was hot but I was able to manage the heat with ice chips and water at each aid station, it also helped that my electrolytes were on point. I saw the first pro run past me around mile 4, I wanted whatever he was taking!
The run started to get difficult once we started running by the lake. The smoke I crossed on the bike had made its way over the lake and we were running in this hot haze. This provoked my asthma and soon my 8:30 pace was long gone, I couldn’t gasp enough air to keep me moving forward.
The long rolling hills started around mile 9 or 10. I changed my run strategy to walk up the hills and run on the flats and descents (thanks Seth), my lungs wouldn’t allow anything more. Running along the lake was also difficult, as we didn’t have many people to cheer us on. It was just the runners, the open HOT road and the tantalizing lake. I can’t express how badly I wanted to jump in. I came up on some girls from a local tri club. I tried to make some friendly small talk but they weren’t really friendly, or social…it’s an IM, but what ever. I saw Tigger again at around mile 10. At this point I swear I was hallucinating. Who wears a full on Tigger suit in 90 degree heat?
I looked forward to each aid station; ice, water and people. I started the flat Pepsi and chicken broth at aid station 9. I was getting flavor fatigue two gels in and knew I had to stay on top of my electrolyte and caloric intake. At mile 11 I grew excited, I knew I would see my moma at aid station 12. I ran up to her and she didn’t even see me. She was too occupied with handing out Pepsi. I yell out “Mom, hello!? It’s me your daughter.” She gives me a hug…lol, couldn’t bring herself to say the whole HTFU so she spits out “Harden Up” and does a little dance. Hehe, this lifted my spirits and off I ran.
Upon the turn around I got to see Tiff, Robin, Jenny and Ilana…all friends who came out to cheer. It was awesome to have their support. I came up on Don right before the special needs bags, another familiar face. The only thing I took out of special needs was a famous Canadian peach. After sitting in the sun and heat all day that peach melted in my mouth. I think it was the sweetest, juiciest peach I have ever tasted. Sooooooo, good.
The run back was more challenging yet more fun than the run in. My asthma was getting worse and I forced to hit my inhaler every 45 minutes. It was so weird. I’d take a hit, it would take 5 minutes to open up my lungs and then I could run. My legs felt quick and my body was happy to run. 30 minutes or so later my lunges would feel like they were coated in something heavy and I couldn’t get full breaths of air in. I was worried about taking too much of my inhaler so I would walk until it got so bad I needed it again. I have to say the asthma was really the only sucky thing on the way back. The heat was bad but I think by that point I had adapted to it. I got to see almost everyone of the “fruitcakes” as I ran back in. They all had smiles on their face and looked to be in good spirits. I passed Michelle on her way out on mile 20ish and she told me to HTFU – hehe, I <3 you girl! I also ran over a “Gooooo Kat” (and many of the other fruitcakes) on the sidewalk. It was so nice to have our friends come out and chalk words of encouragement.
Scott H. caught me around mile 4 and told me to run with him. It was really good to see him again. Funny, he seamed up pop up at all the times I needed positive reinforcement. I had just taken my inhaler and told him I would catch up once I got my lungs back. I think that was by mile 3 or 2.5 We ran together until the 2nd to last aid station a mile 1.2. I told him I needed to stop for ice and I’d catch up. This was a good strategy as I used him as my rabbit to the finish. The last 1.2 mile out and back felt like it dragged on forever. I had good energy so I ran, and I ran hard….and it hurt my lungs. I couldn’t breath and I wanted to start walking again….but I couldn’t. The streets were lined with people yelling “Go Katie” “You’re almost there !“ “Bring it home!” And I brought it. The last 400 meters I sprinted like a f^&$ing gazelle. I crossed the finish line at 12:01:01.

Run time 4:34:19
Run Nutrition
5 Power Gels, numerous sips of chicken broth and pepsi and one badass peach. Approx 800 kcal and 1500+ mg of sodium.

Finish stats
Swim 1:10:16/ 1:51 – 100 m avg – 26 AG div / 843 OA
T1 3:19
Bike 6:03:53 – 18.5 mph avg – 13 AG div / 977 OA
T2 9:15
Run 4:34:20 – 10:29 avg – 26 AG div/ 741 OA

Total – 12:01:01
21 AG div out of 73 top, 765 out of 2595 top- not bad for first IM.

After thoughts –
I ran a smart race and performed as well as I could have under the conditions I was given. I should feel proud, but in all honesty I just feel like it was another long training day. I never got a finishing high, I never felt “special”. I just felt like I did the same thing everyone else that day, raced 140.6 miles. I’m sure this was because I finished feeling good. I expected and wanted to suffer at the end. I wanted to push my physical limits on the run but my lungs held me back from doing so. I did accomplish most of my time goals and managed the most import one – remembering to smile and stay positive (except for that 20 min bout before Yellow Lake, but 20 minutes out of “darkness” out of 721 minutes is not bad!)
I’m content with my finish but still left with emptiness. I <3 the distance and want more…..who knows what that means : )