It’s race week!!! Oh my gosh, how did that happen? This year has FLOWN by! What follows is a retrospective of the fun and not-so-fun events that have brought us to the start of my third Ironman Canada on Sunday.
If you care to follow along, splits will be posted at http://live.ironmanlive.com/. The race should be listed there by Saturday and you can search by name or bib #2378. Also, there’s a pretty handy smart phone application called “Iron Trac” that has worked well for me.
Thanks for readying and as always, thanks for your support!!!
Perspective
I feel like I’ve always had a pretty healthy perspective on
the sport. One of my favorite quotes is
“One day you may not be able to do this.
Today is not this day.” It is
after all a huge luxury that I am able to participate at all. I don’t take it for granted. In fairness
however, it has been pretty easy for me.
I have an amazing and supportive husband and family, loyal friends,
great health and a good job. I’m pretty
much left to dream big and go for it!
This year that perspective has been solidified. I’ve watched, helpless, as four souls
literally fought for their lives. It’s a
crappy feeling. In a way, it feels even
worse when you’re frolicking around in a sport many consider the epitome of
health. Of these four, two lost their
battles and two are still fighting strong.
This race is dedicated to them.
Conversely, I’ve been motivated watching three triathletes
fight their way back from significant bike crashes and the accompanying broken
bones, road rash and mental challenges.
Erin E., Josh A. and Steve S.: Your tenacity throughout your respective
recoveries is inspiring! More cowbell, indeed!
*** Nephew Kitties Skinny and Rocket Say "More Cowbell!!!" ***
Persistence
With a healthy dose of perspective in place I’ll acknowledge
that in a number of ways, this year hasn’t been as easy as the first two. Again, I’m thankful I’m not fighting for my
life or back from a crash, but in my little world there were a few speed bumps.
WORKING GIRL First, a little reality check at work. I manage one of two teams. Shortly after IMC 2011 the manager of the
other team took another position. This left me to manage two groups for a full
six months while we looked for a replacement. And through our performance
review period, to boot. I’m glad to
have a good job but at times it was a LOT of work! I guess that’s why they pay us, after
all.
AGING LESS-THAN-GRACEFULLY Throughout the season I
encountered a series of physical maladies.
- Iron(less) Girl: Over the fall and winter I should have been getting faster and more powerful from short intense workouts. Instead I started feeling kind of flat and was making progress at a snail’s pace. I wondered if I’d plateaued, was training wrong, training too hard, not hard enough etc. Then I discovered largely by accident that I am iron deficient. While it was somewhat of a relief that I finally had a “reason” for my struggles, frankly I was irritated that my primary care doctor had missed it for who knows how long. For a moment I mentally eyed piss poor Seattle Marathon performance skeptically wondered “What if?” Grrrrr. Oh well. I’m learning to balance my iron levels through supplementation and frequent testing. So far I’m back on track and feeling relatively “normal” – woot!!!
- Shoulderless Swimming: In the offseason I’d committed to becoming a faster swimmer by joining the wonderful RTB (Raise the Bar) swim training group. Excellent instruction by proprietor Patty S. and a little healthy competition trying to keep up with Kona finisher Kathy M. couldn’t hurt, right? Well, about that time my right shoulder decided it was DONE. In what felt like overnight, suddenly it hurt to swim, hurt to run, hurt to sleep. What the heck? The Olympic distance Lavaman triathlon loomed as I made my way between PT appointments, x-rays and an MRI while being unable to even reach up and grab a glass out of our cupboards. A cortisone shot literally backfired causing a reaction known as “cortisone flare” that left me unable to move my shoulder without excruciating pain AT ALL for a full three days. Ug. The MRI determined that I have a “significant” amount of arthritis and a small cyst in the joint, however it was inconclusive as to if I have a labral tear. All three of these issues could be addressed surgically but that wasn’t an option for me this year if I wanted to make it to the start of Lavaman OR IMC. So, for the rest of the season I was kept in action by physical therapist George A. and I’m toeing the line with less than perfect swim training. After the race I’m scheduled to get a contrast MRI (which will require another needle – ack!) and from there I’ll make some decisions based on the findings.
*** It Hurts Right THERE ***
- Fembot Reboot: Also over the winter I also had some ***ahem*** female troubles that ended up being addressed adequately by a minor surgery. Being put under anesthesia was a little scary but honestly the worst part was taking pain meds and not being able to train for a few days. Actually, I was raring to go after that mandated break!
- Accidentally in Training: And finally, a series of unfortunate events. I don’t consider myself accident prone, though my mom wholeheartedly disagrees. What I know for sure is I spent more time in the Band-Aid aisle this year than I have in the last few years combined. A montage of the high (low?)lights:
*** Toe polished off at a pedicure. Who does that?!? ***
*** Box jumps on a 24-inch box. I made 35 of 36, but that missed one was
costly to my shin bone. It also entitled
me to a gift package from my mom with the motivational and practical advice:
“Jenn: Jump higher!” ***
*** Intersection at the end of one of my long runs. I stopped and waited patiently as the lone pedestrian, the first car approaching the intersection stopped for me but, alas, this convertible did not. ***
*** Pinkie toe sliced and toenail nearly removed by garage
door. To date the nail has actually stayed
on though it was hanging by a tread like a child’s loose tooth for a
while. ***
ON THE ROAD AGAIN (AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN) Right at the crux of the build period
between mid-July and mid-August I found myself really putting on the miles with
six separate trips over a six week period.
- Here and There: The travel frenzy kicked off with a road trip to Spokane for the fabulous Valley Girl sprint. That was followed by dueling business trips as I headed to Chicago while Mark was simultaneously in St. Louis. We were home for a day then off on an epic trip to Winter Harbour, BC for Mark’s fishing trip. Just getting there included two days of travel and a ferry ride! I left the trip early and over the next three days I journeyed solo from Winter Harbour to my hometown of Pullman. I arrived with just a few hours to spare before for my 20th High School reunion and then enjoyed some scenic training in the Palouse. And finally to Penticton for our IMC race rehearsal. I haven’t even tried to count the miles. The silver lining is I’m finding travel much less stressful (that huge sigh/hurray/it's about time was from Mark.) I can pack in a flash and train just about anywhere. Plus I got to have a good visit with childhood bestie Nichole and her family.
*** Nothing will make you nostalgic for your hometown like beautiful
Palouse hills! ***
- Ironman in BFEThe Winter Harbour trip was a highlight in many ways, though it did present some training challenges. Those challenges were fully offset by how pleased Mark was to be taking his dad fishing in such a cool location where we were likely to actually ***gasp*** catch fish! Since the village (population 5) was at the end 45-miles of dirt road that took four hours to traverse, actually riding my bike while there wasn’t an option. There wasn’t a phone, cell phone coverage or internet access which was actually kind of nice! My training was at its peak, so there were a few concessions on his part including bringing my bike and trainer and joining me on my long run.
*** Training in the middle of nowhere can be done with your
Cycle Ops and a good book! I did a four hour session, a three hour session and
two 90-minute sessions looking out this window.
Bald eagles flew back and forth, otters frolicked in the bay and I kept
tabs on Mark via marine radio! ***
-
RCMP – M
for Mark! I enlisted Mark to accompany
me on the 18-mile run scheduled for mid-week.
It was bear country after all and it seemed prudent to have an
escort. This led to what seemed like a
bit of overkill in preparation. First, the purchase of a shotgun that would be
legal to carry into Canada, then a way to mount it to his mountain bike and of
course a tune up on said mountain bike. Ultimately we were into this run
several hundred dollars by the time we got started - hopefully it would be a
good one! I waited for a break in
fishing action (read rainy and too rough to fish) and off we went on muddy
logging roads. About six miles into the
run all the preparation paid off. Yep,
there up ahead was clearly a momma bear and her cub grazing on berries by the side
of the road. They didn’t seem interested
in us so we just observed them for a moment, then slowly went the OTHER way to
avoid a less pleasant encounter. Mark
pointed out that at that moment he could have indeed out run me as he was on a
BIKE. Not funny!
*** We survived! Note
relieved smiles from surviving our bear encounter and Mark’s muddy knee. What a trooper, literally! ***
PRs
Throughout the bumpy season there were a few signs that I
was, indeed improving. I recognize that
life won’t be a constant stream of PRs and that continued training will result
in decreased dividends as time goes. I’m
really making a point to celebrate each one!
LAVAMAN We made it to Lavaman Olympic distance triathlon
with that cranky shoulder and I wasn’t very optimistic about the race
results. As it turns out, I did PR, my
shoulder didn’t bother me much during the race and my result improved from 2:45
in 2010, 2:34 in 2011 and 2:29 in 2012.
Woot - sub 2:30! In reality
though the big victory that my parents, my brother Kyle and his wife Katie
joined us. Kyle and Katie both did the
race and it was AWESOME to have all four of us racing and my parents
cheering! We also enjoyed some
downtime on a chartered fishing boat for a day.
TOTALLY relaxing… ahhhhh.
BIG BOYZ VARSITY RIDE In our area there is a triathlon shop
that hosts a bike ride every Sunday. A
lot of really strong cyclists show up and Josh had encouraged me to join. I knew it was literally every man for himself
kind of ride where they essentially try to rip each others’ legs off. It would be hard NOT to improve as long as I
survived the ride. The first
interaction went something like this:
- Me: “Hi, I’m new.”
- Them (sizing me up skeptically): “Uh, this is a REALLY aggressive ride. There is one on Saturday that is no drop.” (meaning if you fall behind someone will slow down and ride with you)
- Me (garnering all available moxie): “Thanks, I love aggressive rides and I’ll tell my husband about the Saturday ride!”
I was also introduced to “Strava” which enables you to track
your results on various segments of rides and challenge yourself to earn PRs,
QOMs (Queen of Mountains) and the like.
I uploaded my first race rehearsal and found I was Queen of THE
mountain, Mt. Rainier, actually! That’ll
put some fire in your belly!
*** Queen of THE Mountain – Mt. Rainier! ***
FRIDAY NIGHT SWIM RACE After all that shoulder drama and a week in BFE without a
pool I was feeling a little less than ideally prepared for the swim. Mark and I did two 5K swims in Lake Okanagan
over the race rehearsal weekend in what amounted to “cramming” at the last
minute. Luckily, the RTB group hosted
their second swim race of the year just nine days before IMC which served as a
perfect test of my swim fitness.
It was a gorgeous scorching afternoon with temperatures
approaching 100 degrees. Mark marshaled
the course with our boat and our hockey buddy Greg was again chaperoning
swimmers in his kayak. It promised to be
a really smooth swim and I couldn’t have felt more Zen-like heading to the
start.
Once in the water and underway I
knew I was poised to have a good race. I stayed well within myself and ended
the first loop still feeling strong. I
glanced at my watch and saw 31:30 and knew I would be on track for a PR if I
kept the effort up. Starting the second
loop I grabbed another gear in an attempt to negative split the race (meaning
going faster in the second lap) and stayed strong, though I did need to stop
several times to adjust my leaky goggles.
Note to self: TIGHTEN STRAPS! As
I approached the finish I saw that, as is typical for me, my negative split
effort was really an even split effort and I finished in 1:04, a full minute
improvement of my previous PR of 1:05 and a solid seven minutes off my time
from the exact same race two months earlier in June at 1:11. Ahhhhh confidence, sweet confidence!
*** Swimmers on the course and Mark in our boat in the backround standing watch en route to my 1:04 PR! ***
A Paycheck!
Make way
for the Valley Girls! Our favorite race
since 2007 has become quite a tradition with some of our favorite people. We were hosted by the ever-gracious Websters,
well fed by the Sattlers and accompanied by good friends Annette J, Heidi S,
Christine S and Laurie M. Annette’s
husband Steve also served as our personal photographer and, as per usual, he
got some AWESOME shots while doubling as an UGB (Uber Gear Bitch) with Mark.
*** Annual Valley Girl Invasion! ***
I’d qualified to race in the Elite division based on my result
from the previous year. I knew that
didn’t really make me “elite”, but was excited to get to race in the front
rather than in age group waves. I also
knew they paid the first five finishers in that division and was excited to be
racing for an actual paycheck. The
previous year I had come in fifth overall, but because I wasn’t designated as
Elite, they actually paid the gal that finished sixth. So, a little payback (so to speak!) was in
order but all I could really control was my finishing time and hope that
improved my placing.
I knew I had to capitalize on my swimming and biking
strengths so I went hard right off the bat and came out of the water a distant
second to Ms. Speedy Gonzalez. After
struggling in T1 with my wetsuit, I hammered the bike and came into T2 still in
second having held my lead over the third and fourth placed participants. I knew they were both faster than me on the
run so I headed out trying to minimize the damage. About half way through the run I was passed
Abs of Steel Girl. I gave her a high
five as she came by and hoped I could hold third place. Valley Girl has an uphill finish and I was
sure I was doomed by the fast, light runner behind me but much to my surprise I
held the lead all the way up the hill. I
took a quick look behind me as I headed down the finishing chute and she wasn’t
even in sight. I even had a few moments
to high five our cheerleaders as I steamed to the finish line in third overall!
*** Valley Girl Paycheck! ***
