Women Rock

Rocked!  

What a great race!!  I really really liked the course.  Let me tell you more.

So signed up week of (story of my life this year) thanks to Powertri, just figured I'd go up there and have fun.  We found a great RV resort to camp in - minus the RV, we have a nice tent though :)   But it was great for the kids, lots of grass in a big tent only area right down by a pretty river, table, modern restrooms/showers, game room, rock wall, nice pool, clean sleeping arrangements, no dingy budget hotel, and $20/night - score!  I got up to Park City that afternoon with the kids to get my packet (the only thing that's hard about that race, no race day check in) then we headed to the campground to play.  A nice afternoon/evening with them since they'd be with me all the next morning, and it was finally bed time.
You were supposed to shuttle in from Park City to Rockport Reservoir, a 20 minute or so drive, but I'm rebellious, more like I have kids and worried about using a shuttle (which was BAD on the way out, like hours, I'm sure they'll improve it next year), so I drove our car as close as I could, parked, and rode my bike in 3 miles.  My husband who joined us later Friday evening after working, wisely drove in in our van with the kids to the marina right by the start.  Now there wouldn't have been room for everyone to park, but there was plenty and I was grateful he didn't have to bike the 3 kids in the trailer in the 3 hilly miles - I never would have heard the end of it!
Ok, blah blah blah, sorry.  Set up quickly, probably faster and more efficient than I ever have, I tend to dink around.  Time to put on the wetsuit and head down.  Got to find and chat with Ammie Black who is always fun, great hanging out with her all day!

Swim - 15:31, 6th woman.  There were 4 waves, 5 minutes apart, I was in the first wave.  Don't like waves.
The water was great here!  Not amazing visibility, but good, tasted clean, wasn't too cold.  Easy sighting except on the way back.  I do appreciate all the buoys they had out there, I think they were really looking out for beginners, lots of kayaks too and even swim buddies if you wanted (someone to swim next to you).  I felt really good on the swim!  No legs squished in the wetsuit, no anaerobic out of control feeling.  Just felt good and steady.  There was a pack of 3 swimmers always a couple body lengths ahead of me, but I never could catch up enough to draft, oh well.

T1 - :53, 1st woman.  With a long dirt trail run up to transition I decided while swimming I would take my wetsuit off just out of the swim in front of my sandals (quick note there, they gave all participants a pair of black or purple flip flops, nice touch, but I still bought my own for identification).  I knew it would dry on the way up and be a pain in the butt, so got it off fine, fumbled with my flip flops, probably puzzled spectators who watched me hang out there for what seemed like forever, and ran up the trail.  Entered T1 in 4th, left quickly in 1st giving a quick smile of acknowledgment to a certain coach there who I'm not a fan of.  Upon meeting me several years ago at a half ironman, told me I'd go no where as a mom with young kids, especially without his help.  I passed 2 of his girls in T1....all while wearing the sportsmanship bracelet my 5 year old boy told me to wear  :)  Hey, I didn't say anything to the ladies.  Ok, vent over, he just really irritates me with extremely rude comments like that, and several other girls have heard crap like that.  Yikes.

Bike - 37:32, 5th woman.  I wasn't expecting to leave transition in 1st, I was expecting to get to kind of hide out of the podium spots since I came out of the water 4th.  My goal that day was just to have fun, not race my guts out.  Well leaving in 1st boosted the ol' confidence and I worried would push me to work too hard, but it didn't.  I just smiled and had fun the whole time!  The first 3 miles are curvy and up and down, and can be steep, but aren't leg burners.  I may have stood up twice but it was short and sweet.  Just a very fun section in my opinion.  I'm sure it could be challenging if you're not experienced with shifting quick and climbing some, so for some beginners I can see how it would be a little hard, but I really thought it was a blast!  Then the next 3 miles after leaving the park and getting on the highway were basically straight and false flat.  No winds I recall, good roads, good police support, just fun!  Turned around curious to see where I was and don't think I saw anyone for a good couple minutes.  Continued back toward the lake and really enjoyed pushing fast on those now false flat downhills.  It was so sweet and uplifting and awesome to see all these women all the way back to the lake just smiling and cheering.  I wish they hadn't cheered for me like I was something cool, because they were out there doing something out of the ordinary for them and they were smiling!  THEY were something cool, I was really touched!

So while I may still be too scared to do a flying mount again since breaking my foot a couple years ago, I do do flying dismounts, and when time counts, I DO think they are faster.  Some will argue with me, but I believe it's faster to run without bike shoes slipping around and having to take them off.  

T2 - :52, 6th woman.  Fun to arrive back in first to lots of cheering, it really was a great crowd.  Surprised just now looking at my being 6th in rankings here, but I bet there were a lot of ladies biking in their running shoes.  Hey props to them, some speedy times ahead of me!

Run - 23:54, 5th woman.  Needed to keep this under control.  I recall how it felt at Daybreak, and I didn't want it to hurt that bad, but I was in the lead and that's fun and motivating.  Just tried to hold back a little and be cautious of effort and have fun.  And have fun I did!  A TRAIL run!!  That is unheard of in road triathlons. I mean there's a few races with even dirt paths, but if it's something I could drive my little Saturn on with no problem it's not real trail in my opinion, at least not the kind I like.  After 1/2 mile on the road this was single track and enclosed with trees!  It had mild ups and downs and curves and was slightly overgrown in some places, I'll take it!  There were signs at the places we'd cross over another trail, but a few flaggings here and there would have been nice since at times I hadn't seen any markings in a while and just hoped I was on the right path  :)  Anyway, figured I'd get to the turnaround and see where the ladies were behind me and that would guide my pace to the finish.  Turned around and had ladies coming again, probably 2 minutes behind me.  Figured I couldn't really go slower, but could hold this pace and be ok since the girls I saw were in my first wave.  Enjoyed the end of the run, cheered on some ladies coming toward me and made my way off the trail to the hard part, the last 1/2 mile on the road.  I didn't have to win this race, that wasn't even on my radar before the start of the race, but I figured if I'm this close I might as well try  :)   Made my way into the finish to cheering and feeling great!  What a great day, I had so much fun!!!  1:18.39


Second place came in a couple minutes after me and immediately came up to me asking my time and wave (which I find annoying, at least say nice race or good job or hello first).  I didn't wear a watch, I had no idea, I was there to have fun.  Turns out she was not the girl I thought was in back of transition as I ran out, she was in the wave after me, so she actually won by 2 minutes.  That's ok, it really is.  Sure it would have been nice to know that, but the way I wanted to race that day, I really don't think I should have pushed for those 2 minutes.  I at least got the thrill of thinking I was winning most the race!  : D
 I'm so satisfied with what my body did, with what fun it let me have despite the fact I haven't trained it this year.  I tell ya, maybe there's something to this taper all the time / hardly train thing ;)   Seriously though, I just loved the day.  Loved having my babies there cheering, love seeing their faces while I'm out there.  Had a great feeling swim, had so much fun on the bike, and just adored the trail run, it was all exhilarating.  Way more fun than pain, way more!  Even if it is just as a swim buddy volunteer sometime, Women Rock is definitely one I will put on my calender in the future.

Daybreak 3

I came into Daybreak casual in that I was 'only' doing the sprint and decided I'd do it only a couple weeks before after coming to the stark realization I was not in shape to race Boise and there really wasn't a point in going up there since I don't really care about qualifying for 70.3 worlds.  I would like to go up and do it because of all the people that go up and do it, but wasn't worth it this year.

Anyway, once I decided to do Daybreak for sure I was excited and looking forward to going for a 3 for 3, 3 wins in 3 years.  2009 I raced it 3 months after breaking my foot.  I'd been running 3 weeks I think when the race came so I was cautious and nervous, but actually had a fantastic race winning by 6 minutes.  2010 was post Ironman so I was in great shape.  Came away with win #2 again several minutes up.  And 2011?  Well let me tell you.

Swim - 13:58 - 1st woman, 6th OV w/men.  LOVED the new swim venue!  Point to point, under bridges big and small, great sandy beach exit with a big dock all around for spectators, and a big finish area to run by.  Water was fine.  Pretty cold upon getting in, but wasn't cold at all while swimming.  I felt ok, never felt like I got into a good groove, kind of felt anaerobic and not smooth most of the time.  My old tattered but full sleeve Xterra practice wetsuit I wore (since I sold my QR last year thinking we would have a baby this year...) was good in the shoulders, but really squeezed my quads and that was uncomfortable.

T1 - 1:01 - 1st woman, 7thOV.  Not much to speak of, in and out.  Somewhat long run to the bikes, but a cool feeling to it.  Was concerned about possibly being cold going into the bike, but so glad I didn't put anything on, warmed up very quickly.  And loved the new sports bra I wore  :)

Bike - 42:09 - 3rd woman, 16thOV.  So I got out on the course once before the race this year because it's always good to ride the road up to the hill because of potholes, and it's good to ride the hill because it's a bit of a challenge.  You can't sit and spin, it's not a canyon climb, but you can't stand and crank the whole thing.  It's a good challenge.  Anyway, it seemed a little harder than I remember in practice, but come race day it felt smooth and fast without too much effort (which was the goal, not spike the HR).  That was nice.  The winds were very calm, I didn't have to deal with a lot of other riders or traffic, really liked riding along the lake new this year.  Don't love my bike split but oh well.

T2 - :46 - 1st woman, 7th OV.  Again, not much to speak of, in and out.  T2 is a funny one to rank because the more beginner athletes who choose to ride with their running shoes on can smoke you :)

Run - 22:52 - 1st woman, 13th OV.  Course must have been long based on others times.  This was the part that felt the hardest though.  My body kind of knows one pace when racing, and it's hard to rein that in.  I probably could have run a little faster, but I could tell my lack of fitness with how hard I was working for this run.  Found a guy to run with the last half of the run and that was nice.  Felt bad I was stalking behind him, but he didn't seem to like me to his side and I really didn't want to spur him on to run a faster pace, I was just content to follow him.  Apologized as I went to the finish and he kept on going for his 2nd Oly lap.  He didn't seem upset, thanks Canyon guy!  My goal was to stay out of that anaerobic area as much as possible, but still win, and besides the run I think I did that.



1:20.43, 1st woman, 10th OV.  3:50 lead on 2nd.  So I did it!  3rd win in 3 years!  And while it was 'just a sprint' (had someone say something to that effect on FB later.  Irritating.  I did the sprint for a reason, and sprints can be really hard if you push them to be, it's all out all the time if you're really racing it.  Ironman racing isn't everything....even to me), I was pretty excited to have done it since I hadn't really been training well or consistently.  At all.  Seriously.  Thank you body!

I think that guy wasn't interested in getting chicked  ;)

Great job USTrisports!  I loved the new finish venue, plenty of grass, much easier for spectators.  Was nice to see my husband and kids there of course, but my mom and brother too.  Thanks to sweet friend Aly Black for a really nice chat and my boys from Powertri for saving me a spot in T1, they're so good to me.
The race directors just did a great job overall on this one, I really think this is a race everyone should try.  Close by, affordable, cool swim, urban and country challenging but doable bike (because what goes up the whole first half screams down the whole second half!), and great almost all flat run.  Good day!

Always nice to have family there!  Wish I'd gotten a pic with my 4 biggest fans, they were probably busy helping Daddy sell shoes  :)

FreeThingsFriday - First Endurance

This has been a long time coming, I'm sorry I've held out on your so long!  But I want to tell you about my favorite nutrition product line, First Endurance.  Here's some background. I was a dedicated Hammer Nutrition user for years and years and introduced many people to it.  It was last year and we had recently started carrying First Endurance at Powertri.  A coworker gave me some comparisons of it to Hammer, and while I didn't think anything would really feel all that different and better that what I was using, about 3 weeks before Ironman last year I decide to try this First Endurance stuff on my last 110 mile long ride just to see if all the hype was for real.  It was.  My energy and mental state stayed SO steady.  It wasn't that I felt hyped up or anything, I just felt so steady and kept going fine and a biggie for me was that I didn't get grumpy and ancy to get home as usually happened at the end of every long workout.  It was also so simple!  First Endurance has A TON more electrolytes in its products than other nutrition products including Hammer, even with Endurolytes, and it's all in the drink or gel.  I can't tell you how many times I got a pill stuck in my throat, fumbled and dropped pills mid ride or run, or found a bunch of pills crushed in my pocket or bento.  I really love the fact that the electrolyte complex of First Endurance allows me to only use the drink or the gel or a combination.

EFS

So let me tell you a little bit about their products, and keep reading, I'll tell you how to enter to win some from me for free!  First Endurance has a powdered drink mix in several flavors (more potent flavor, sweet, but I like them, tropical punch is my favorite for sure).  The grape is good if you like grape, the orange reminds me of the McDonalds old school orange drink, lemon lime is lemon lime, and like I said, tropical punch is my favorite, especially cold on the bike.  I don't do super cold drinks on the run, I end up with side aches.  I personally like to concentrate my bottles, so I can carry less weight, and I think at twice the concentration it tastes better than only 1 scoop per water bottle (bike bottles, not 8-10 oz running bottles).  But don't concentrate it more than 3x the dosage (or 7%), can mess with absorption.

They also have a version of a gel, Liquid Shot, but it's actually not a gel at all as it has no gelling agents in it.  A gel is closer to a solid, and our guts do not like to digest solids when exercising.  So First Endurance 'gel' is like a thick liquid and comes in 4 serving (400 calories) flasks, or big 24 serving jugs.  The Liquid Shot comes in vanilla and a new berry flavor.  Both are strong flavors and I prefer vanilla, but I started mixing the two in a flask and I really like that combination, really mellows out both flavors.  The fact that it's not a gel makes it easier to swallow too.  Liquid shot does not have as high an electrolyte count as the EFS drink mix, but still a lot.

The other thing different about First Endurance is that they don't put protein in their products, kind of.  Yes our bodies need protein, but what they actually need is from the protein, they need the amino acids.  So First Endurance takes the amino acids out of the solid protein and puts it in their drink and gel so you're getting the important part of what you need from protein but without the digestion issues.  "EFS contains 2g Free Form Amino Acids per serving which is the equivalent in BCAA and Glutamine profile to 9g Whey Protein."  I had used Perpetuem for years and never super successfully.  It about killed me at Ogden Marathon 2009 when I just wanted to kill over and vomit the entire last 6 miles because my stomach was so upset.  It didn't happen till I started the Perpetuem, and it hasn't happened since (I haven't used Perpetuem since).  A lot of people refer to Perpetuem as 'rotgut' because it can be so hard to get something so heavy to settle well in your stomach.

So aside from the high levels of electrolytes (highest level of sodium on the market, and did you realize you can't effectively absorb fluids you drink without proper sodium levels?), the clean and effective amino acids, First Endurance also uses a mixture of simple and complex carbs unlike former fav products of mine.  Some simple carbs allow for quicker initial absorption.  EFS and Liquid Shot also includes Malic acid in their products.  From the website " Malic acid stimulates oxygen consumption by increasing mitochondrial uptake, improving mitochondrial respiration and increasing energy production. Malic acid is essential in the formation of ATP, the body's energy source. Malic acid allows the body to make ATP more efficiently, even under low oxygen, or hypoxic conditions. "
I should also mention that First Endurance makes a great product I used last year when I race prepping for Ironman and racing so much that summer, called Optygen HP.  It has some pretty sweet stuff in it and improves oxygen absorption.  I don't think I realized the difference it made until I was off it.  First Endurance also has a great recovery drink called Ultragen.

So how do I use it?  When racing I do my usual 3 hours before race breakfast, then take 100 calories of Liquid shot 15 min before the race.  If the race isn't longer than an hour I may carry a flask of calories with me, but I can usually get away with what my body has stored in that amount of time.  Now in longer races, I use 200-250 calories on the bike, about 150 on the run.  To get those calories for say 3 hours, as I've done in half and full Ironman races, I take a regular sized water bottle (the short ones, not the tall ones) and make 5 tick marks on it with a sharpe, then fill it with water and 3 scoops of EFS.  I'll also carry a flask of Liquid Shot.  I have my Garmin go off every 15 minutes, and on the :00 and the :30 I'll take in 1/6 of my EFS water bottle (here's where the handy markings come in so I make sure I get in enough) and some water.  On the :15 and :45 I'll take almost a serving of Liquid Shot (about two mouthfuls) and some water.  This gives me about 250 calories. During IMSG last year I picked up a pre-frozen EFS water bottle and new flask at bike Special Needs.  If it's just a running race, or just on the run of a tri half ironman or longer, I carry a Liquid Shot flask with me to sip on every 30 or so minutes while alternating with water.  I haven't felt the need for any additional products like salt tabs or anything.
Here is some more good stuff from First Endurance:
"During long races (3 hours+) considerable stress is put on an athlete’s body. 1) Glycogen (energy) stores are depleted 2) cells experience damage from cellular oxidation 3) electrolytes are depleted and 4) amino acids are depleted.

1) EFS replenishes glycogen by using a mix of high glycemic carbohydrates including both simple and complex sugars. This easy to digest mix is rapidly absorbed and delivers fast and long term energy.

2) Formulated with 120mg (200% RDA) of Vitamin C per serving, EFS helps protect cells from oxidation keeping the immune system stronger for better training and faster racing. A depleted immune system can cause upper respiratory distress which generally accompanies long exhaustive exercise.

3) EFS provides the most potent electrolyte profile available. The combination of all five electrolytes deliver a potent 1040mg per serving, helping to prevent cramping. The 300mgs sodium per serving also aids in maximum fluid absorption so you stay hydrated throughout your training and racing. Supplementing with additional salt tabs, electrolyte tabs, or salty snacks is no longer needed when using EFS.

4) 2000mg of Amino Acids offers the same BCAA and Glutamine levels as 9g Whey Protein. These amino acids have clinically shown to improve performance, reduced post-exercise muscle damage, improve muscle glycogen resynthesis, reduced central fatigue and improved rate of perceived exertion." 


Heather Wurtele said it very well detailing her nutrition during Ironman St George this year, winning it for the second time.  Check it out.  I really enjoyed it

There's some really great stuff to read on the website, check out the Q&A of EFS and Liquid Shot at least.  So all that said, there are some nutrition companies I will not use period, thick slug like texture, all simple sugars, syrups, artificial colors/flavors (of which First Endurance has none), and I certainly think Hammer is a great company, I just found something better for me.  I love the convenience of not having to bring any pills or protein source with me, it's all there in the drink and/or 'gel'. I've had people share concerns about it's higher cost, but I don't think it is in the end since you don't have to buy salt/electrolyte additives or a protein source.  If cost is a concern for you, save First Endurance EFS and Liquid Shot for your harder/longer workouts and races.  But I really think it's worth it.  I love the higher level of electrolytes, and respect the research First Endurance puts into their stuff.  Nutrition is a very individual thing that must be practiced and is something everyone has to try for themselves as certain bodies like certain products, but I'm uber impressed with First Endurance.   No cramping, great absorption, great energy levels and mental clarity.  I've raced with only it since April of last year and don't plan to stop any time soon.  So there's my plug (and I'm not sponsored by First Endurance by the way, I buy it at Powertri, and I just love the stuff).  

I think you will too, so how about a giveaway??  I have 4 packets of EFS and 2 flasks of Liquid Shot that were generously donated by Robert at First Endurance (who by the way is a head of the company, and has communicated with me in almost every email I've sent, awesome customer service!).  Here's what you need to do by Monday June 6th at noon:  1) Go on their website, and leave me a comment here telling me one thing that you like or is appealing to you about First Endurance including a small quote from the website telling me you checked it out, and 2) tell me if you'd like to try the EFS or the Liquid Shot in this giveaway.  My followers have been kind of quiet lately, hint hint,  so if you I only get a handful of comments then great, you'll all get something, if I get lots of comments I'll do random drawings for the giveaway.  Good luck!!    ETA:  Winner's announced in the comments, thanks for playing!!  Another good giveaway in a couple weeks

Mud, blood, and beauty! Timp Trail 2011

Timp Trail Half Marathon - FUN!

I'd be on the fence with this race for several months.  Well that's not really true.  I'd been planning on it and looking forward to it for several months, and then it proceeded to just DUMP rain the entire week of the race.  Not usually a problem for a race, but if it's on trail it could be.  I love to trail run, I love dirt, and I'm even halfway fond of mud, but not suck your shoe off-squishy squashy mud, so I kind of talked myself out of doing it.  Then it stopped raining for a whole day on Friday (amazing I know), and some other plans I had to help my husband out with our Altra booth at Ogden fell through, so there I was at 9pm at night texting race director and friend Shaun, asking if I could still get in.  He said yes, so I threw some stuff in a bag, grabbed the kids, and headed to my awesome mother-in-law's to sleep the night with the kids.

Timp Trail Half Marathon started at 8am at a park a mile up Provo canyon.  Race morning was a bit chilly.  I had to use both jackets I had to go get my packet, then hung out in the car for a few more minutes till it was time to get out and race.  Of course upon walking to the start I noticed I wasn't cold at all, should have listened to my instincts and taken layers off, but I didn't, waited till the first mile in.  Not a huge deal and I actually really like my Nathan 4 bottle belt because I can carry 20oz of water and still leave 2 slots open and they are great for holding stuff like a vest or arm warmers.

I just loved running fast through the scenery.  Beats the pants off hot dry highways and neighborhoods  :)

I started in my Intuitions, wool socks, gaiters (shoe and ankle covers to prevent dirt/rocks from getting in the shoes), shorts, a tank, a wind vest and tube sock arm warmers. Like I said, had the arm warmers and vest shed and stuffed in my 2 empty Nathan bottle cages by a mile in.  I was concerned about getting lost since you have to follow flagging and there are other trails you could run and be off course and there aren't herds of people all around you all the time, but it was marked just great!  We followed the pink tape tied onto trees or bushes, then a pink and yellow together signaled a turn.  Was just fine.  Anyway, there was probably about 25 min of walking terrain that I walked up as fast as I could, and the rest was runnable. The last 3-4 miles was all downhill, some gentle where I could really open up and fly, and some steep where I hoped my legs and footing would hold up. I floated between 2nd and almost 4th woman most of the race until I mile 8.5 or so when I spotted the leader ahead of me, talk about excited! I know her and she's an Xterra athlete meaning she races all off road triathlons. I had no intentions of winning the race, or even podiuming for that matter, didn't feel like I was in great shape, just wanted to go out and enjoy the race.  Once I saw her though, I kicked in  :)  I spent the next 1.5 catching up to her and eventually passing her when I gave her one of my water bottles as she had nothing and aid stations were anywhere from 30-60 min apart. From there I took off and tried to build as much lead as I could, fearing her. About mile 10.5 I tripped on something and went down hard scraping up my knee and taking a nice chunk out of my hand. Took no time getting up worrying I'd just blown my lead.  That was seriously the first thing I thought of.  Took me a minute to get past the pain (thank you endorphins, where were you that afternoon when I cleaned the wounds out??), but then really ran hard those last 3 miles and never looked back out of fear she'd be right behind me. I felt so amazing the whole time, it was just the last mile that I felt it get hard because of steep downhill terrain, it can be hard to keep your footing and legs underneath you. I was SO excited to be finishing 1st! The finish line was not as exciting as I'd hoped for, no cheering or announcing, but I guess that's just how trail races are. It's ok.  Everyone was very friendly.  I finished in 2:06, which is a good 37 min off my road PR, but I bet I raced close to as fast. 2nd place was about 2 min back. I haven't been training very well or very consistently, so to feel that good running fast and catch a girl I was sure I wouldn't was so great, a great moral booster for me that I have really needed. I say this humbly and honestly, remember we're all on different levels, but the races I'd win last year became mundane, not that exciting anymore, and I hated that. More than winning or beating anyone, I was just so glad to feel excitement again. It was so amazing racing in such beauty too, man, I could leave road racing behind all together if it came down to it. A great race all around! I highly suggest you all take the opportunity to do a trail race, its an amazing experience. If you're in Utah there's a Cascadia series that has shorter trail races 3-7 miles. 

Did I say how fun and great the race was?  :D

This race was just so much fun.  Thank You body for surprising me with such a great and enjoyable performance when I least expected it.  The longest trail race I've done and I'm absolutely hooked! 

IMSG 2011

No racing IMSG this year, hadn't planned on it at all, planned on having a baby, well that didn't work out, and just not enough time to train like I would want to.  That's ok, it wasn't on the plan.  But we, ok I, wanted to go down and watch for sure, so we made a little trip out of it.

Played at Sand Hollow Friday.  

The water level is so high we were able to venture out on the the big rocks the swim goes around.

The water felt great and the air was HOT!  Friday was the first in a string of painful sunburns.  As much as I would love to have raced Ironman again had I been in shape, it was so nice to relax and play with my kids and not freak out because this or that still had to get done or I was out in the sun.

We rode our bikes towing the trail a bike and Chariot from the far campground into the main one to play on the rocks (I LOVE getting around like that, think it's so fun), and found this handy little spot on the way back to play at, complete with shallow kid friendly water, shade, a hammock and good friend Michelle Anderson!

Friday morning I also got a Facebook wall post from a sweet friend and very talented coach and athlete Lynda, asking if I was busy Saturday from 11:30-4pm, because she needed an extra lead bike escort!!!
Um, yeah, sure am available!  Thank you honey for letting me do that

You can bet I got a hold of here asap an set things up.  Ironically we had the mtn bike down there which is not fancy, even has a kickstand ;) but it tows the trail a bike and we didn't want to fight getting the attachment off.  You have to have a mtn bike to escort as to not lead road biking racers off course, all I had left was to buy a sweet $5 Bell brand bike bell, you know the ones that go "ringgg ringgg".  It was sweet!

So anyway, Friday and Saturday night we camped at an RV Camp there in SG only a mile from the finish.  It was great actually, yeah more $$ than regular campgrounds, but it meant no driving, a clean bed, real restrooms and showers, and a swimming pool!  Score!  Worked great.  Talked with a few athletes while we were there including Bart Preston.  We did the kids race Friday night, but my 3year old was the only one happy to end up doing it, it was really hot out.

So Saturday morning came and I wanted to share outdoor time with my husband, so he went for a run and I got the kids up and fed, threw em in the trailer (yep, all 3) including the still asleep 7 year old, and hauled tail  the 2 miles uphill to mile 22 on the bike course.  Whew!  I was late so riding as hard as I can, and pulling 100+ pounds behind me and on a mountain bike without clipless pedals, that was a workout.

Yep, still warm.  Slurpee time by 10am.

Then it was time to meet up with Jer (my husband, I'm just going to use his name from now on) and hand the kids off so I could get ready for my job.

Finally got everything together and sunscreened up as best I could, found my group after worrying I'd be too late and waited for about 25 minutes before our pro's came in

The sweet set up.  Cool Ironman plate, pink Fuel Box, purple cowbell fastened onto my shifter thanks to my 5 year old little guy.  The bike bell was on, but fell off at mile 13 and spent the rest of the ride in my shorts

This was the lead bike escort team.  Great people!  Lynda two people to my left, and my good friend Jana to my right

Waiting to go while my pro is in T2.  

I won't lie, I was nervous.  Yes I know that course like the back of my hand, but I was still nervous I might somehow lead him off track.  Mostly though I was concerned about knowing who to stay with if a pass happened since I was in charge of leading the 5th place male position, not the 5th place man out of T2 necessarily.  But it actually went fine.  I started with TJ Tollakson, who was then passed by Mike Aigroz, who was passed at one point by Paul Ambrose I believe, and then it kind of went in reverse with TJ moving up again (and he was hauling by that point, I was doing my best to keep my distance up the hills), and then I finished the last 10 or so miles with Mike Aigroz again.

So the rules are you stay about 20 yards in front of them and use your bell to alert media or aid stations or other racers they are coming.  You don't talk to them, don't inform them how close their competition is, and you don't lead them off course  :)

Oh yeah, forgot, so we're headed up Pioneer Park's steep hill for the first time, I shift like an idiot, and the chain locks up!!  AHHHH!!  I can't end now!  Jumped off the path, fiddled with it, watched my pro go by and like an idiot told him to just keep going (what's he going to do, hang out and help me fix it?  No ).  Got it back on, jumped on, it locked again, I freaked out.  Got it on and it held, took 2-3 minutes to race up to my pro and resume my job.  Whew!  Never did shift down to the small chain ring again though  :)

Mike was doing great those last 10, but everyone gets tired and I could see it a little bit, so I'd ring my cowbell and look back at him as we were going up big hills to encourage him.  Our last mile or so were exciting, he started putting his jersey back down and zipped up, visor on, getting ready to finish, and he was smiling -he was never bad to look at though ;)  I parked my bike in the round about before the chute and gave him five on his way in.  The footage I've seen shows him super smiley and excited, it was great!

And then all the fanfare went away, I exited the course, and my great amazing day was done.

I was able to meet up with Mike after the race and tell him good job.  He thanked me for my cheering and cowbell skills for him.  It was neat.

It really was so cool!  I had a ton of people ask me if I was doing IMSG again this year, if I was disappointed not to be, etc, and sure I'd love to do it, but I really did ok.  It was crazy hot out there (no longer really have any idea how to train for the weather on that course, it's nuts), I am in no way trained to do close to what I did and would want to do better next time I hand over $600 to an organization that won't answer my emails anyway (grrrr, hear that Ironman?  A little customer service by the 5th email would be nice!), and I got to watch a ton of friends, and participate in what I think may be one of the coolest ways!  I tell ya, that's how you see the course, forget actually doing it ;)  And I fully intend on doing that any year I can that I'm not racing if I'm asked again.

So that's that.  Witnessed a ton of friends do so well in such adverse conditions whether they hit their goal times or not.  It was really brutal out there.  I'm sure I'll be back at some point, just don't know whether it will be next year, or a year or two down the road.  Jer and the kids and I rode around Diagonal St (the last couple miles for most folks) for a while cheering, then I came back at 11pm to watch what I could.  Man, the feeling down there is electric!  So.  Much.  Energy!!  I wish there was a way I could still race fast and satisfy that part of me, while still getting to finish at night like that, just a whole different pumped up atmosphere.  I definitely shed a few tears.  Congrats all you new Ironman finishers!  What a great trip!

Ironman 1 year later - reflections and advice

It's really hard to believe it's been one year now since I trained for and conqured Ironman.  It was such an incredible journey and race and one I look forward to doing again.  Altough I won't lie, the training scares me.  I didn't know any different the first time around, I figured it'd be hard, but I knew I had to get it done.  Yeah I know those same things now, but for some reason it just seems scarier to me.  Will I really be able to put all that time and those miles in again?  They were hard!

The hundreds of miles indoors on the trainer

With and without children  :)

A TON of swimming.  Was more dedicated to the pool in those 6 months since I have been since high school.  I remember being diligent and committed to the 12x100's on 1:20 set we built up to for 12 weeks.

All the fun that comes along with training for a spring race.  Lots of adverse conditions,

But lots of great friends as support too!

Friends that without I don't know if I would've made it through those 90+ mile rides

The trips to St George (5 of them in total between October and Race day I believe) 

Including the so valuable and now tradition week in SG with Sarah at our great friend Sylvia's house

Being completely wiped out most of the time and enjoying naps with my sweet little one when I could.  I look back at it now and miss doing enough to deserve to be that tired

Peaceful snowy solo training sessions when the sun would grace me with her presence, and sometimes sans sun

And finally conquering those long training weekends with the final one, 110miles on the bike

And then came RACE WEEK!!!
I battled through a run stopping calf injury for the 3 weeks before the race, but finally seemed good to go with days to spare before the race (thank you Muscleworks!).  I was in the best shape of my life.  My sister flew into town and it was time to head south!
That drive was horrible.  Just horrible.  Thank the Lord we made it safe, but it took us almost 7 hours to make a 3.5-4 hour drive.  The kids were great, but it was snowing the entire time between Nephi and Ceder City.  And bad!  Like if we weren't in a city with overhead lights or following closely behind a semi, we couldn't see the lines on the road.  The passenger had to look out their window to guide the driver by the solid white line on the shoulder.  It was scary stuff and hard to believe I was driving down to do and 2.4 mile swim in open water.
But we finally made it down and stayed in such a great house.  Thank you Mom for putting us all up there!!

I enjoyed every second of the atmosphere, the check in, the 5 plastic bags (transitions and SN) they gave me made me giddy!  I studied and studied the athlete guide and course even though I already had for hours and hours before.

Now I'm going to give my advice, I'll bold it.  My big suggestion for all of you getting ready is to have your bags ready to go Thursday night or Friday morning (save perishable stuff).  Even though I knew what was going in the bags, I was up till 11:30pm assembling them, being sure I had every little thing right.  Try to keep your bags simple so you're not digging through a mountain of stuff trying to decide what you need when you're in the middle of the race, but put in what you think you may need.  For the bike SN, it was an extra CO2 and tube, some pringles and a small candy bar in case I felt like I needed a snack, and my new water bottle and flask of First Endurance calories.  For the run SN it was an extra pair of socks (really only necessary if it's going to rain or you pour a TON of water on your legs or you're just prone to blisters), and an additional Liquid Shot flask.  There's plenty of food on course if you want it.

Now come RACE DAY?

I'm going to keep it simple.  Just ENJOY your day!!  That doesn't have to mean loaf it, you can still go hard, but smile.  Smile at other racers, say hi or something when you pass someone, and you'll see their name on their bib, so try to use it sometimes.  Smile at the volunteers and thank them.  Smile at your friends and family when you see them, it's so magical and like a dork I'm starting to choke up just thinking what a great experience this was.  Don't get mad if they aren't at a certain point to cheer you on.  I felt bad that I didn't even acknowledge my sister and husband at the bike into T2 even though I heard them because I was mad they never saw me on the bike.  They got up at 5:30am and got on a shuttle, sat around in a parking lot at a reservoir to see me for 5 minutes maybe, then wait another 2 hours to get out of there and back to their car.  Sure I was sad not to see them on the bike, but they had a busy day too.  Appreciate all your supporters!

Now come the swim, don't be afraid, I was walking into the water, and dear Keena said "don't worry about it!  This is fun!".  Don't worry about the water temp.  There's nothing you can do come race time, just wear that wetsuit and neoprene cap or at least just two laytex caps, let some water in the neck, let it drain back out on land, and start where you're comfortable.  Oh and pre-swim, get there EARLY!  I wanted to take one of the earliest buses but of course it always takes longer to get out the door than you think (and traffic just to get dropped off downtown was bad), so I got there close enough to the race that I was kind of scrambling.  When I do it again, I will be on one of the earliest buses and bring a cheap blanket to huddle down in and just chill out after everything is ready to go.  Another tip - there's a couple volunteer port-o-potties over by the med tent, if it's right before the race and you really have to go, sneak over there  ;)

USE the help in transitions!  I would have never gotten anything on my body after the swim if it wasn't for the help of a wonderful lady in the change tent, they're there, use them!

Bike time - another dear friend and woman I look forward to Debbie Perry emailed me a few days before the race and said "be conservative on the bike, just be conservative".  SO KEY!  Just go out and ride it like a long ride.  Don't push and be huffing and puffing and feeling the burn unless you're going up one of the few big/steep hills.  You don't have to go slow, but there is so much more race left after the bike, that even if you went too slow, I think you'll still have the advantage come run time.    My other key to success was setting an alarm on my Garmin to go off every 15 minutes to tell me to take nutrition.  Now of course this has to be something you've practiced, but hopefully you've practiced taking in calories and/or hydration every 15-20 minutes.  Without the alarm I would have spaced off and not take nearly enough.  And along with taking enough, I put tick marks on my water bottle of EFS calories (only put water in my aero bottle, much easier to refill and sip on) so that I knew I needed to drink x amount of ounces to get x amount of calories every 30 minutes (took Liquid Shot and water on the other 15 min alarms).  Because when I just grab a water bottle I take way less than I should, it usually was 3 swallows for me, 2 more than I'd do if I wasn't thinking about it.
If you screw your nutrition up, it's going to be a hard day, so do something easy and set an alarm or do something like this so you KNOW you get all the calories, hydration, and electrolytes you plan on taking.

That Run, oooh baby, it's a hilly one!  And some people don't like the  double out and back, but I did.  Look at it this way. A) you'll know every inch of where  you're at on that course, you'll know what's coming next, B) you'll see a lot more spectators and racers around you, C) once you're to the first turnaround, you're 1/4 of the way done with the whole run!  That was so helpful to me to know there were really just 4 x 6 mile repeats.  And I knew that in general, once I made it to the turnaround on the bluff, it was mostly downhill.  Then I went up the hills for a second and last time, then it was basically all downhill to the finish!  You may have to really dig in and focus come that last 6-10 miles, don't be afraid to.  All my giddy smiling and thumb uping ended at mile 18.  It was time to focus and that's all I could do.  I just watched the road in front of me and focused on lifting one knee/leg up at a time.  Just get to one aid station at a time, don't think any farther ahead than that if it helps.

And then it comes

The Finish.  Now do me a favor here and listen.  I knew what I was supposed to do for the finish, but it didn't work out great.  Take that last mile at least, at least, and realize you're almost done.  Soak it in, cry if you feel like it, your experience is almost done.  When you get back to main street, look around you and find some open space so you can have you time on that last stretch so Mike Reilly can announce your name and "you're an Ironman!!".  I never got to hear that and it made me a little sad.  Either sprint ahead of someone or slow down and let them go, but get your time in those last 50 yards.  I was and still am SO proud of the accomplishment of finishing that race.  Of course I figured I could finish, but I really did it.  I trained for it, I raced it hard, everything came together, my family was there.
 I did it!

And then, thank your family, get a post race massage, drink water, take in what calories you can, and DON"T go get a concrete from Nelson's and eat the whole thing.  Unless of course you want to spend the rest of your evening in bed feeling worse than during the race  :)  I really look forward to watching the finish line late at night this year, something I wanted to do, but just couldn't physically last year.  I felt bad my night ended an hour or two after I finished.  It was such a magical day, extend it as long as you can!  But like they say, you'll have the glory of Ironman forever, so it all works out.

If something doesn't go right on race day or it was just plain hard, try not to dwell on it.  I dwelt on the fact that I didn't qualify when people who finished behind me did, and you know what, it almost ruined my experience.  But I have nothing but good positive feelings toward Ironman St George 2010 now.  What an amazing day it was, and it will be hard for me to know I can't do it this year.  But I do look forward to watching so many great athletes and so many friends who have put the time and energy into training.
Have a magical day guys!!!