All I can say is- Boise sure knows how to roll out the red carpet and has great hospitality!  And they put on a darn good race!!!

Where to start? The whole weekend was fantastic! We stayed at the Hampton Inn which was right in the middle of everything…literally.  I mean T2 was right next to the building!  On the other side was the finish line…..You can’t get any closer to a race venue than that!

Friday we went to the expo early to attend the Athlete meeting and buy shuttle tickets to the race start followed by some grub.  We then drove the race course with our new found friend Richard (who had a car) and then of course, some more grub.  When we got back it was off to packet pick up and then started the task of waiting for Black Betty to arrive in the back of Keith’s truck. 

Early Morning at the Expo

Betty and Keith rolled into town around 3pm and we went right up to the swim start/T1 to drop off our bikes.  I walked into transition and looked for the row with my number (#183) and low and behold it was right on the end of the LONG rack just yards away from the pros!!!!  Betty was going to be getting some pointers over nite! 

I couldn

We racked our bikes and walked DOWN to the swim start.  Water temps were rumored to be 58-60 degrees….burrrr…we had to put our toes in the water of course!

Swim Start w/Andrea, Steve, and Keith

The water levels in Boise have been really high and they were releasing tons of water from the dam.  We had to stop on our way out and smell, feel and see the majesty of so much water moving!  It was amazing, the raw power of that much water.  You know how fresh the air smells when your standing near a water fall?  Well times that by 1000 and you have what this was like.

Water being released from the dam.

We were done with our chores and it was off to…..more grub! (Imagine that!!!)  And here’s the weird thing.  Boise 70.3 is a 2pm start time.  So that meant we didn’t have to be all anal about getting enough sleep and having everything in order before going to bed.  It was kinda cool, and really strange at the same time.

Race day arrived and we went downstairs for some morning grub (the Hampton has an awesome spread!) Then it was back upstairs to put the run and bike gear bags together and drop them off. Here’s the tough part about a 2pm start…the waiting around. But the time finally arrived to get on the shuttle and we were finally race bound.

T2 in Downtown Boise

That's me!!!

Run Gear is Ready to Go

So what about the race!! You’re probably thinking. Enough with all the pre race stuff!!

Well… I started in the 1st wave after the Pros- 2:05 to be exact! I put myself in the front of the pack as we got into the water. I’ve learned now that my swimming is good enough to be comfortable right in front. We waited, waited, and……the gun went off!!! 50+ women swimming their hearts out!

I had an awesome swim, especially since I’ve barely swum since February due to my shoulder. I had a lot of open water and swam the buoy line. I only had to swim over 1 woman and only got one hand to the head. Not bad really!!!

The swim felt Long, not because I was tired but every time I sighted the bouy line seemed so flippin far to the next turn! I was thinking “Dang! When we turning” and finally we did right back to shore.

I ran up the hill to transition and when I arrived realized only a couple of bikes where gone from my age group. “NICE!” I thought! It was onto Black Betty and on down, down the hill from T1. 

You’re probably imagining me getting all tucked down in my bars and screamin down this really cool hill…and you’re partially right.  The hill was awesome, only problem there was such a head wind that there was no tuckin and goin!  It was tuffjust to keep the bike under you and not get tossed around too much.  And to be perfectly honest….that is pretty much how it went the whole ride!!!!  The winds were FIERCE!  35 mph with bigger gusts. 

The bike course is great and relatively flat for those of us from Colorado…but any time we had a down hill it was in a headwind, so never once did we get the benefit of screamin down!  I cranked on the bike course.   A few times I thought I might puke…but didn’t.  I picked off a bunch of people which was fun!  I PRedon the bike, even with the nasty winds!  (BTW- Crowie’s finish time this year was 13 mins longer than last….the wind folks).

The 11 miles of head wind into town and to T2 was tough.  I just keep my legs going and new I had the juice to keep strong…heck, I’m an Ironman…… Rolling into town and seeing the capital building was a welcome relief from the wind.  I got into transition, made my way to my run gear, a quick change and I was out the other end running.

The run is awesome and takes place on “the Greenbelt”, which is  along the river.  The course was two loops and is shaded the whole way.  I learned a lot on the run.  I came to realize after the run that I am a stronger runner than I think I am.  I began with the pace I have been running for the last two years, thinking that is what I “have” to run. 

Well I discovered around mile 8 that I had a ton more in the tank.  I began running faster than I ever had in a half.  I felt good.  I felt strong.  I felt like I was becoming a “runner” and not just a “trodder” any more!  This was a big breakthrough for me!  Huge! 

I finally passed the 12 mile mark and picked up my pace even more.  I  made it back onto the street with the finish line is sight.  And this is why I know I had way more in the tank…I pretty much sprinted the last 4/10ths of a mile.  I passed so many people and when I made it into the shoot and across the finish line I was not totally spent. 

Crossing the finish!!!!

Good thing/Bad thing.  Good because I finished strong/bad because I didn’t leave it all out there on the course.  But then that’s what racing is about sometimes…learning what you have and seeing what you don’t have.  I learned  I could crank harder on the bike now, and I have more to give on the run.  I was really pleased with my race!  I placed 8th in my Age Group- 6th on the swim, 6th on the bike, and 8th on the run…..Not bad!  I’m ok with that…for now.  I’m looking forward to seeing how I continue to improve and get stronger. Every Time I race, I get the “bug” to workout harder and see how much better I can do in my next race….

So, if anyone is looking for a great 70.3 to do, I really recommend  Boise.  It was a awesome experience and a great venue….plus the crowds rocked!!!

Well.  Here I am, the day before I head to Cozumel, Mx to compete in my first Ironman. 

I have been struggling with self doubt in the last week, mainly due to a slight calf pull that sidelined my last two brick workouts (100 mile bike/15 mile run; 100 mile bike/18 mile run). 

I have been tapering for 4 weeks now, not what was scheduled but how things played out.  the self doubt comes from wondering if I was ready and had done enough training.  I decided to get out my training logs for the past year and look back on what I’ve done to be ready for this DAY. 

To date I have completed 1x Ultra Adventure Race; 2x 30 mile Runs; 3x 25 mile Runs; 2x Marathons; 9x Century Bike rides; and a 5K, 6K, 2x 7K Swims…..Here is a timeline of the main workouts and fun I’ve had since November 2008.

November of 2008 I started with a group run on the Colorado Trail for 16 miles.  Two weeks later I was in Moab at the ULTIMATE XC Adventure Run for my first adventure race (23 miles).

Last mile at Moab

December found me running 26 milesfrom Highlands Ranch to Golden with temps ranging from 19 degress at the start to a balmy 29 degress by the time we arrived in Golden.  The following weekend was a 5K Swim at Denver University at 5:30 am!

Janurary started off the year with a 20 mile run  and two weeks later I was in California for the  REDDING MARATHON (26.2 miles).  I learned a lot from this marathon as I started way too fast and ended up walking more than running the last 5 miles. Pacing is EVERYTHING!

Finish of Redding Marathon with Kelly

The cold month of Feburary brought….More Running!  Two 25 milersover two Sundays in a row!  The HighlineCanal became my friend as I ran these two 25 milers. Luckily for me I have wonderful friends who joined me on parts of my run.  Thanks to Elizabethwho joined me  on my last 5 miles on both runs and kept me entertained! 

The Second 25 Miler Video

March opened with a 6K Swim (video) at Carmody Rec Center.  One thing I discovered on the 5:00 am Sunday Morning Swims was that I loved them!  It was such a wonderful way to start a Sunday. Swimming withgood friends!  Not much more happened this month.  I started computrainer classes at Peak to Peak Performance Center to begin to build my cycling.

Aprilbrought the beggining of the racing season.  First up- Rage Long Course Triathlon.  This is a HARD course!  Pretty much the same course I raced in October at Nationals where I qualified for a spot on the US Team for World Championships.  But I digress…that was 2008.  I had a good race and placed first in my age group.  Not a bad way to start the season  :)  Returned home for a 7K Swimat Carmody again.

Rage Finish- 1st Place Age Group!

May started the big mileage!  May 5th I did my first Ultra Run- Greenland 50K (30 miles).  I ran this with my coach Andrea where she taught me a lot about the finer points of running a race!  The next weekend I was off to Buena Vista Bike Fest  for my first Century ride ever!  I had a blast and HIGHLY reccomend this ride!  They have great support and the BEST food!

Lunch in Leadville at Buena Vista Bike Fest

June started off with a 4K Swim followed by Elephant Rock Century.  The very next weekend I was headed out of state for the Kansas Ironman 70.3 Triathlon!  Kansas IM 70.3 was amazing!  I had a great race and PRed by 20 minutes!!!  I was absolutlely suprised!  Then the very next weekend I competed in Loveland Lake 2 Lake Olympic Triathlon. 

The Girls at Elephant Rock Century

The Gang Kansas Ironman 70.3 Recon

Getting Ready for Loveland Lake 2 Lake

July was the beginning of traveling back and forth to California for 4 months to help care for my father as he went through cancer treatment.  Durning July I did a 20 mile Run and the next weekend rode in the Sunrise Century (7000 ft of climbing) on Saturday followed by a 24 mile Run on Sunday.  I was amazed that the run felt effortless and I was strong! 

Two days later I jumped in my car and drove for 3 days to California.   I arrived on Friday night and Saturday I did my own 70.3.   The next morning (August 1st) I was up at 4:00am to start the Mt. Shasta Summit Century. 11,000 ft of climbing in 100 miles!

August started with the  century ride followed by some bricks- 80 mile  Bike Rides/ 6 mile Run.  I also drove back to Colorado for two weeks to work.  While back home I raced in the Wild On Windsor Triathlon where I place 4th in Age Group.  The next day I was back in the car and headed to California.

September I spent in California where it was HOT.  I started with a 100 mile Bike Ride.  Next week was a 15 Mile Run with a 100 mile Bike the next day.  The following week- 25 mile Run with a 100 mile Bike the next day.  A few days later I did a 7K Open Water Swimin Lake Siskiyous!  It was amazing.  And then….a few days agter that I ran 30 miles!!!

October brought BIG mileage on the bike.  I did 2 more 100 Mile Bike Rides and followed by a brick of 50 Mile Bike with a 12 Mile Run.  Two days after the brick I had run out of Family Leave, my Dad had completed his treatment and I headed back to California on October 20th. 

Shortly after I returned home I went to run an easy 3 mile run and low and behold…I slightly tore my calf!  I immediately thought I was done…no Ironman for me.  Someone mentioned that I should stop catastrophizing  because it would probably be fine…..Well she was right, sort of. 

I ended up backing off my training and as a result missed my 2 big brick workouts.  I missed a 100 mile ride/15 mile run and a 100 mile run/18 mile run.  Plus a few other longer runs.  After talking to my coach she stated….”I am not worried about you.  You’ve been doing extended distance training for a year now!  You are more than ready regardless of missing these workouts!!!”  Sweet music to my ears!

I’ve had a longer taper than we had planned…but again due to all the training I have done up to this point…these last few workouts will not make or break my Ironman.  I’ve put the mileage in- way before most AgeGroupers would have, which leaves me in a good position even without the big bricks.  

I’m rested and after looking back at all I have done over the past year…..I realize  I AM READY!!! 

I’m ready for what ever may happen on November 29th, 2009 in Cozumel, Mx. 

One thing I know is that EACH and EVERY ONE of you who have run/biked/swam with me: who have given me a word of encouragement; who has cooked a meal; helped with a mechanical issue; drivin me to a race, airport, or workout; has called me, Facedbooked me; and supported me in more ways than I can write about—-YOU WILL ALL BE WITH ME AS I RACE ON SUNDAY IN COZUMEL!  

Each one of you will come to my mind as I embrace this opportunity that I am about to embark on!

I thank you all and am truely humbled by your most generous giving of yourselves!

And to my dear Jr High School best friend Janet V- who I did my first triathlon with in May 2008- I thank you for traveling to Cozumel with me and helping to keep me sane in the days before the race.

Love and peace to you all!

Ironman 70.3 Kansas

Woke up Sunday morning at 3:50am while my two roomies slept a bit longer.  I like to take my time, have some tea and get ready.  I looked out the window and thought ”darn!  No thunderstorms.  Looks like I’ll have to race.” 

We headed to the race site at Clinton State Park.  We had dropped off our bikes the day before at T1 (Transition area 1) which was where we would come out of the water.  Once we navigated the line to get into the parking area it was off for a 10 min walk to T2 to drop off our run stuff  then 5 more minutes to T1 and the swim start. 

By the time I got into T1 I had about 20 minutes before my swim start time.  No time to lallygag.  It was straight to the business of setting up my bike w/nutrition and water and laying out my cycling gear.  I slithered and tugged my way into my wetsuit and headed to the launch where we would begin our 1.2 mile swim.  When I stood there looking out at the buoys I thought- “Dang that’s so far! ” But I let that thought go pretty quickly…..

The waves ahead of me started then it was our turn.  Men 50+ & Women 45+.  In all I heard there were about 150 of us.  The gun went off and there we went…sort of.  I was in about the middle of the pack on the outside, but because it was a boat ramp you had to wait until the people ahead of you started swimming. I finally made it into the water and began to swim, only to get hit and my feet slapped a couple of times. But not to worry- that’s to be expected and I just kept swimming.

As I was swimming I had the thought of the swim just being my warm up for the bike.  I had never approached the swim that way and it took some of the pressure off.  I absolutely love the swim.  It’s the only time you are totally alone and in your own world in a race.  I love the sound of my breathing and the feel of the water as it smoothly moves past me.  Not that I move smoothly through it…but the water just always feels smooth to me.

The swim felt great.  As I rounded the last buoy and was headed back to shore I jumped on some guy in a Ironman wetsuit and drafted him for a while.  I had never done that before.  I could tell when I was in his draft as it took less effort to swim….It was kinda cool.  This whole drafting things is new to me, as I’ve learned to use it in the two century bike rides I just did.  

 Anyway- I got out of the water, looked at my watch to see what my time was, and realized I had not pressed the right button so it hadn’t started.  I got out of the water having NO idea how long it had taken me to swim! As far as I knew I might have been in the water 1 hr. I guessed my time to be 40 minutes as that’s a bit longer than my usual time…..So it was into transition and out of my wetsuit and onto the biking.

I got on my bike and took my time warming up.  The weather was overcast and in the 60’s.  One thing I do is begin to eat as soon as possible on the bike.  So I drank some PowerBar Endurance, had a few sips of CarboPro gel and settled into my bike.

The course was beautiful with perfect roads.  The landscape was green and we passed farms and lakes.  I still was of the mindset of  “this is just a training day”.  I felt like I was just out for a cruise. 

I had been worried about the bike course as many people said it was hard due to lots of hills.  Well after riding Elephant Rock the Sunday before, which is brutally hilly, this course seemed pretty easy.  I was very pleased.  No major events happened on the bike.  I just stayed relaxed and my mind was calm.  Many of the women who had hammered by me in the beginning I caught up with and passed in the last 15 miles or so…..I just pedaled along on my old road bike w/aero bars on it and before I new it I was back at T2 getting ready to run!

It’s is always so hard to start the run.  I felt very stiff after coming off the bike and wondered how I could ever run 13.1 miles…..but then I began to warm up.  The course was 4 laps around a campground.  I decided I would go easy on the first half and then begin to pick it up on the second half.  That seemed to serve me well. 

Ironman puts on amazing races!  The aide stations were the bomb!  They even had these wet cold sponges you could shove in your shirt and cool yourself down.  There was all kinds of people handing water, Gatorade, gels, pretzels…it was awesome!  Every time I passed through a station I grabbed 2 sponges, then two waters (one to drink and one to pour over me).  This seemed to keep me nice and cool for it was hot and humid by the time of the run.

Since we were running a loop I was able to see all my fellow PCers out on the course.  Not that we did much to acknowledge each other but just to know we were out there lifted my spirits and my pace. 

The first mile marker I saw was the 5 mile.  I looked at my watch and thought “No way.  They must have the course marked wrong.”  I seriously believed for the whole run that it must be missed marked.  My time was significantly faster than it had ever been in a half marathon!  I felt strong the whole run…and again, women around my age group who blew pass me in the beginning I began to reel in around mile 10…and here I was starting to pick up the pace!!!  It feels so good to be getting stronger on my run, and to not struggle 12 miles into the run.

Speaking of 12 miles.  That’s when I got this woman into my sights a decided I would pass her before the finish.  She was maybe about 3 or so minutes ahead of me.  I started to pick up the pace and my plan was to catch up to her by 12.5 miles or so.  I did catch up to her and hung off her left shoulder for a minute and then decided to make the pass.  As I passed her and settled back in she came up on my left shoulder.  I could hear her breathing kinda hard and noticed that my breath was still calm…so with that I decided to just kick it into gear and ended up dropping her.  I felt effortless as I picked up the speed and motored the last 2/10s of a mile.  It was pure bliss! 

And as I rounded the corner toward the chute and the finish line…there where all my PCers rooting me which gave me an even bigger burst of speed!  I flew down the chute, passing one more woman and crossed the finished line with a big left in the tank….

The best part about crossing the finish, besides being done, was that Chrissie Wellington was there greeting people.  She is an amazing human being first and an amazing athlete second!  I then went back to my gang and we all ate and enjoyed the other racers crossing the finish line. 

Chrissie Wellington and Us

Overall- I had a great race.  I PRed taking 20′ off my previous best time, enjoyed every part of the race, and this is all despite myself and not wanting to race at all due to my previous few days…..

After some food and festivities it was back in Keith’s Dodge Ram Truck for the 9 hour ride back to Denver.  The weather cooperated and we were all texted each other for updates on our progress home. 

The Ironman 70.3 Kansas is a great race that I highly recommend.  The course is fast and fun.  I forgot to mention that out of the 11 of us PCers who raced 5 qualified to go to Ironman 70.3 World Championships.  I feel blessed to be coached by such gifted coaches and to be surrounded by equally gifted athletes! Practical Coaching Rules!

PCers Recon Ride

The big day is here for the Ironman 70.3 (half-Ironman distance). I’m packed and ready to drive to Kansas with Keith and the rest of our PC Team.

This week-leading up to Kansas has been particularly difficult/challenging….On Monday my SI joint started to go “out” and I ignored it because it was hard for me to get my chiropractor. Well did I pay the price Tuesday morning when I woke up and couldn’t even walk! My right hip went one way while the rest of me went another.

Long story short….after two days of a pain level of 10 (no kidding) and three adjustments and bodywork….and some major depression…..I got up this morning, swam for 1/2 hour, and my back feels fantastic!!!!!!!

I am heading to Kansas hoping that the 8 hour drive won’t set me back any….but have decided no matter what…even if I can’t race come Sunday- I’ll be there to support my team and watch the PROS race! Chrissie Wellington will be there and I would love to watch her!

One thing I learned through this is- Trust your instincts! I should have seen the Dr on Monday and could have avoided 3 days of pain…..And ok- two things I learned…..There are going to be down times and times of doubt-but I need to face them and realize that it’s fear that is getting to me. I have 5 more months until Ironman Cozumel. Three days off from training probably did me more good than not….

Ups and downs…that’s life. Thank goodness I have wonderful friends to call who know just what to say at just the right moment…(thanks Janet P!)