Timaru Triathlon - Olympic Distance
January 19, 2003 – Timaru, New Zealand
Swim 1.5K / Bike 40K / Run 10K
My first race in New Zealand was a little difficult on the mind. Gordo and I drove down to Timaru, which is about two hours south of Christchurch. Gordo had told me previously that the standard at NZ races is a little higher than what I’m used to in California, and that the fields were much smaller. I was about to find out just how high the standard here is. Just for reference, in Cali I was a back of the pack racer slowly moving closer to the back of the middle.
When we arrived and got all set up, I marveled at the small number of bike racks — and small number of bikes on those racks. There were maybe 50 people in all racing today. A big field, according to the locals. There were only two divisions — open and veteran. The cut-off age for open/veteran varies with races, and at this race 35+ was veteran. There were only 10 women overall at this race, six of which were in my division.
Races here are extremely low key as well — entry was only NZ$25 (less than US$15). Of course, you get nothing with that except course support and prizes for the top three finishers. You even have to bring your own swim cap.
So, onto the race. It was an open water swim in the turquoise ocean. We had a long walk from the transition area out to the beach, and the tide was out so we had an even longer walk. The race director stopped us at the beach and said, “this is the start line” as she waved her arm up and down along an imaginary line. She then did a quick count-down and yelled, “GO!”
I ran out into the water… and ran… and ran… It was so shallow that it seemed like forever until I could start swimming. It was a two-loop swim where we had to swim out, across and back to the beach. Around a pylon, then back in for lap two.
I must have gone harder than I thought because I stood up 12 minutes later... staggered and fell over a couple times before I was able to run the 50 miles to the turn marker. The second loop was much slower and when I came out of the water noticed I wasn’t the last one out of the water, however, I was moving so slowly to the transition area (and in it) that I was the last person out of transition. That was a first and I didn’t particularly care too well for it, but decided this was just a training (race) day and I would enjoy it as such.
The bike course was beautiful and rolled gently through New Zealand countryside. I think I counted maybe three cars on the bike course. One little hill got my HR up and got me toasty, but it was all good. I was moving at a casual pace and just enjoying the sightseeing.
By the time I got out on the run, I was pretty much the only one left out there on the course. I wasn’t much looking forward to the run, but lucky for me, on of the race marshals on a mountain bike decided to pace me. That was the only thing that kept me moving and we chatted the whole run.
Finally on the turn to the finish line I saw that everyone had finished and gone home and the transition area was all cleaned up. All that was left was the finish line tape, the race organizers and Gordo. Was okay though, it was just an easy training day and more of New Zealand for me to sightsee.
The downside of this race is that I was dead last! I’ve been at the back a lot, but never dead last. That was a new experience. The good thing, however, is that I can say I finished in the women’s top 10 overall. ;-)
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Queenstown 1/2 Ironman
January 25, 2003 – Queenstown, New Zealand
Swim 1.2 Miles / Bike 56 Miles / Run 13.1 Miles
This race would prove to be interesting — it falls one week after the Oly race last weekend and smack in the middle of Epic Camp. It also marks the end of an 18-hour training week. This would also be my first cold weather race — cold for me anyway. ;-)
Again, the field was small — less than 50 people. The morning was a tad chilly, about 10C, and by the time I entered the water, my toes were already numb. The water was warmer than the air, but that didn’t help my toes. It was a strange swim for me. For the first time, I couldn’t seem to settle. Usually the swim is my place to settle and get into my race groove. Just wasn’t happening here. I think I had a bit of an anxiety attack too. It seemed like all of a sudden I was out there all alone in the water and that started to trip me out a little. Not sure why, but it did. Finally, I reached the end of the swim and with a peak at my watch was a little disappointed to see I’d swam almost as slow as I did at a training 1/2IM without a wetsuit a couple years ago.
Into the transition area not last, but again, the last out of transition. I took a little extra time to dry off well and put on a long-sleeved jersey, however, could really have used my booties. My toes were numb through to the third lap of the bike course.
That last out of transition again thing really played on my mind. Out on the bike I had lost my drive, lost my motivation and just didn’t care. I didn’t put the effort in on the bike like I could have and rode to my worst-ever 1/2IM bike split. I was feeling pretty defeated.
When I finally got to transition, I again took my time. The race director came over and asked me how I was doing, chatted for a bit. Then Scott Molina came over and chatted with me for a minute.
I headed out on the run feeling like I would just cruise along at an easy pace and just get it done. The run course was four loops around a golf course, so I broke it down into four 3-and-a-bit-mile mini-races. The first loop was a little slow with my watch reading 38 minutes. I felt a little better on the second loop, so I picked it up a bit. Second loop saw me at 1:17:xx on the clock. I suddenly realized that if I just kept this pace I would have a good run, and if I picked it up a little, I’d PR the distance. That changed it for me. A PR on the run would salvage my day.
I was set on running myself to a PR and nothing was going to stop. With each lap I felt better and ran faster. With each check of my watch I smiled a little bigger and refused to walk any part of the course. Did I mention that by the time I got to the fourth lap I was the only competitor on the course? ;-)
Gordo, Chris, Clas and John came back to pick me up and arrived as I was coming around the last bend to the finish line. They stood at the line, along with the race director, assistant race director and a few volunteers, and clapped and cheered me over the line. I hit my watch and saw a six-minute negative split on the course, and a four-minute PR on the half marathon distance. It was a good day!
So, my day was salvaged, I had an excellent run on a hard course (Scott compared it to the Wildflower course), and Gordo pointed out that I ran a faster pace today than I did last weekend at the Oly race. All good.
Later at the awards dinner, I noticed on the official results page that I was dead last again — by an hour! I was also in the women’s top 10 again — there were only eight. ;-) The Epic boys cleaned up at the awards. Clas, Gordo and Chris went 1-2-3 overall, Scott went second in his division and 5th overall, and I won a bottle of champagne. The RD singled me out for the bottle because I toughed out a long day with a smile on my face. The fields might be tough here, but the people, atmosphere and attitude sure make up for it.
All in all, it was a mighty fine day. :-)
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Rattlesnake Triathlon
June 14, 2003 - Aurora, Colorado
Swim 700m / Bike 15 miles / Run 4 miles
This was my first face since Ironman New Zealand back in March. It was a sprint distance race and up until the night of the race, I wasn’t really feeling all that excited. It wasn’t until I started packing up my race gear that I started looking forward to racing.
I woke up well before my 4:30am alarm and was all fired up ready to rock. Race days are just so much fun. I arrived at the race site close to two hours before the start and after getting checked-in, numbered and racked up, that there really wasn’t a lot to do for a sprint – not like for an Ironman race day. Basically just show up, go hard and go home.
The field was pretty large – there were close to 200 women overall and double that for the men then add a few relay teams in. The race director did an interesting start – an individual time trial start three minutes apart. First women then men. My first thought was, 'man, how am I going to catch a draft like that?' As it turned out, it wasn’t an issue.
The swim course was set up a little tight in the reservoir with an out and back section following the same couple of buoys. I thought for sure there would be a head-on collision or two, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was suffered one head-on collision and one near miss. The near miss was so very cool. I looked up to sight just in time to see a guy coming straight for me. I rolled onto my left side and he rolled onto his left side at the same time as I. We passed just brushing our backs together, kind of like synchronized swimmers. Did I mention how cool that was?
That was about eventful as the swim got. However, they had wetsuit strippers... at a sprint! Only in the States. ;-)
The bike was a nice course, but it wasn’t easy – there wasn’t a single stretch of flat. It was all short and somewhat steep rollers. Some might even call them hills. I just buckled down and maintained a solid pace (for me), averaging AeT +15.
They told us the run was pancake flat across the reservoir dam, but they didn’t mention the little saddle roller at the start. I just took off running – my only goal was to run hard and hold it. I passed the first mile marker under nine minutes and thought, 'oops, I can’t hold that.' So, I decided not to look at my watch and just run. I was working hard but not killing myself and my run pace felt pretty decent to me.
On the return I ran down two women that were 11 years younger than I! I was diggin’ that movie, alright. The last ¼ mile was starting to get harder, but I was almost there so I could deal with it – and I did.
I crossed the finish line with a new run PR – sub 9-minute miles! I was mighty stoked about that. Then I checked the results... I was 10/29 in my age group! Top 10 and there was more than 10 women! I was so happy to see that. Nice change from those couple races in New Zealand where I was sweeping the course dead last.
It all comes down to the heart training Gordo has had me doing and my focus on nutrition – I’m down 10 pounds since IMNZ. :-)
As I was driving home I thought to myself, 'you know, even if it hurts like hell, race day is so much fun.' Yeppers, it’s all good!
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Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon
June 28, 2003 - Loveland, CO
Swim 1.5K / Bike 29.5 miles / Run 10K
This race I was looking forward to. I also had only one goal for the day… run sub-60.
The swim started off nicely. I was in the fifth wave and by the time I reached the third buoy I was already passing women one and two waves ahead of me. It was all good until we turned directly into the sun. Fortunately my wave wore orange caps – same colour as the buoys. Made it easier to find my way. Even still, I found it hard to keep a line and did a little zig-zagging. Finally made it out of the water, through T1 and out onto the bike.
I was diggin’ the bike course for the first five miles. It was flat to slightly downhill and I was cruising along nicely at 20+ mph. Then we turned onto a road that started to climb easy. I hadn’t checked the course beforehand and had no idea what I was in for. It just kept on climbing and climbing and seemed like it would never end. My quads were definitely feeling it, but I couldn’t get my HR up much more than AeT +5.
About 10 miles or so into the climb I started thinking a flat would be a good idea – that would mean I could stop and take a little break while I changed my tire. Of course, because I wanted a flat I knew I wouldn’t get one. Then I came across a lady that was walking up the hill – she flatted and I didn’t offer to help. That’s bad karma, but I knowingly put it out there hoping for that flat. Didn’t happen, and not 10 minutes later we hit the crest of the climb and it was time for payback – a 42mph descent. WoooHoooo!!!! That’s what I’m talking about.
Heading back into town I was able to maintain a 20+ mph pace again and felt ready to run.
I hit the first mile of the run in 8:31 and feeling good. I was certainly working it and a look at my HRM showed that I was running at AeT +25 to 30. Hit the second mile in 8:34. Hit the third mile in 8:32. Yikes, I was running hard and holding it. I slowed down a touch on the fourth mile and then when I hit 4.5 miles really had to focus to keep it up. I had two mantras going through my head: “Cadence, cadence, cadence.” and “JFR, JFR, JFR.” In the last mile a lady in my age group passed me so I hopped on her heels hoping to run with her to the finish. I hung with her for a few minutes but she started pulling away and I just couldn’t hang on. She ended up crossing the finish line a mere 10 seconds ahead of me.
It was another great race for me. I finished 22/52 and hit my goal of a sub-60 run. I ran it in 54 minutes. Not only that, I ran six miles harder (HR avg AeT +20) than the four miles I’d run two weeks ago. A solid day for sure. Man, I love this stuff! :-)
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5430 Half Ironman
July 20, 2003 - Boulder, CO
Swim 1.2 miles / Bike 56 miles / Run 13.1 miles
I was really looking to test myself at this race. I had gone into it with a goal to take a good chunk of time off my 1/2IM run PR - by about 18 minutes. I had discussed it with Gordo and he felt that my goal was within reason. Not at all easy, but certainly attainable.
I woke up race morning feeling nervous. I'm not sure why I was so nervous. I'm usually fairly mellow, but not this morning. I couldn't put my finger on it and I couldn't get any food to stay in my system either. Gordo suggested a "secret" mix and said to drink half then and the rest as close to race start as I could. That seemed to do the trick and I was off to the races.
I rode my bike down to the reservoir with a gorgeous sun rising over the plains to the east. What a beautiful morning - and day - for a race. I saw Strawman in transition and went over to wish him a good race. This was his third major event in less than a month and he was feeling a touch under the weather.
There were only about 400 or so people in today's race and it was a mass start. I was glad for that as I caught a major pull with everyone in front of me. It didn't take long for the field to start spreading out and I seemed to be having issues staying on feet. I really don't know where my swim has gone, but it seems much more difficult to find a groove these days. It wasn't a bad swim - I only got kicked in the chest once and had my goggles pulled off. Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful and most ordinary. No PRs in the water on this day.
Coming out of the water someone yelled my name - it was Boop! She had just arrived that morning from LA. Every time I saw her the rest of the race she was snapping pictures. I don't think I was looking at the camera for any of them. ;-)
The bike turned out to be pretty awesome. The course starts out on a slight grade for about five miles-ish, then rolls along Hwy 36 for about 10 miles. Turning off onto Hwy 66 it levels off a touch, but still rolls a little. Solid course. The goal for me was to do the whole thing at steady pace, and I did just that. I was having a great time and was playing cat and mouse with this one guy on the rollers. He'd drop me on the ups and I'd drop him on the downs. Back and forth we went until hitting 66, then he was gone. Makes it fun though. :-)
The only hard part about the bike course was the little Rabbit Mountain out and back. I hadn't ridden that part of the course prior and didn't realize it climbed ever-so-slightly out. For the first five minutes of that section, I thought that was it, my wheels had fallen off. Of course, once I made the turnaround I cut the out time in less than half and was all jazzed up for the rollers back to transition.
Okay, the first mile of the run was tough. It was hot, but it was hot for everyone. I had no legs but figured it would be cool. I'd just take the first mile easy and then start picking it up as I came to. Well, by mile three I still hadn't come to and my goal for a 2:10 was slowly slipping away. Probably didn't help that I was stopping at every single aid station for ice in my cap.
It took five miles until I found my legs and then I was cruising along at a great pace - although not as fast as I wanted. My HR was definitely up in goal zone, however. On the second loop of the run I passed a lot of people that were overheating and walking it in. I was feeling like I had just started and had a big ole grin on my face as I cruised along.
Coming into the final leg to the finish I found myself closing the gap on a woman ahead at a fairly rapid pace. She was about seven years younger than I and looked super fit. I passed her like she was standing still. Oh yes, its the simple little joys that make this girl a happy one.
I crossed the line without hitting my run goal mark, and without even setting a new PR on the run. However, I did manage to negative split the run and score a distance PR by a few minutes. What's more important than that is I did the entire race at a solid steady paced effort averaging AeT +5 - proving that I can push. My coach was impressed with my bike split as well. A solid ride, he said. So, its all good.
Got me thinking how far I've come in the last few years. The summer of 2000 was my frist 1/2IM race. I took me just over eight hours to finish that puppy and I was so totally wiped out after that I nearly passed out on my dinner plate and couldn't walk normal for a few days. I did this race more than an hour and half faster at a much higher intensity and still had energy to burn. To top it off, in the week following I did three rides of 4-5 hours each with 5,000 or so feet of climbing. Not too shabby this heart rate training and nutrition focus.
Next! :-)
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Christmas Cracker
December 21, 2003 - Sumner, New Zealand
Swim 500 meters / Bike 21 KM / Run 4.5 KM
I did a little sprint down the road from home this morning called the "Christmas Cracker". It was an ocean swim - only my second ocean swim and it wasn't in a protected harbour. We chased the surfers out of the water. There was a pretty big turnout for this race and nearly half the people I did the Five Passes Tour with were racing, too.
Surf was up! It was my first surf swim and I was a
little nervous about it. I remembered getting
hammered by waves in Malibu and vowed never to do the
tri there because of it. It was actually pretty cool
on the way out once I settled a bit. I was having a
blast riding the rollercoaster effect swimming across
the breakers. When I got to the buoy I got caught on
it! The surf knocked me into it and then another girl
got knocked into me. We were suspended there for a
few seconds. Got a good laugh out of it.
It was pretty tough on the way in though - getting
hammered by waves coming up from behind. Tried to
body surf a few and managed a couple times. Mostly I
just drank a lot of sea water. When I was almost to
shore, the buoy came cruising along beside me. Came
loose I guess. Too bad it wasn't closer so I could
have grabbed on for a tow in. Myself and a whole
bunch of people exited the water way down the beach -
a good quarter mile or so from where we were supposed to.
The bike was good, but I was surprised to see three
people down with flats in the first mile. Race day
phenom. Had a tailwind on the out so I was flying. Even coming back into the headwind I was holding a solid pace. Almost got hit by a car! This lady was turning into a shopping drive right in front of me, not even looking my direction. Slammed on the brakes veering into the driveway and came within 4" of slamming into another car waiting to go. Phew, talk about a heartrate spike. ;-)
Played tag with two ladies on the bike. Dropped one
for good and the other caught me back just before the
bike dismount line. Turns out she was one of the ladies from the Five Passes. She got out of T2 before me, then I caught and passed her early in the run.
The other girl that I had dropped on the bike wasn't
too far behind me, so I made it a goal to not let her
catch me. The run was out and back two times on the
promenade. Halfway along the last stretch she caught
me. "Oh no you don't!" I said to myself and stuck to her. Another girl came up beside her and I guess she
thought the same thing as the pace picked up a notch
more. The three of us ran neck-n-neck towards the
finish line - none wanting to be the first to fall
off. Final sprint to the finish and we splintered. We finished 1-2-3 within five seconds of each other -I
was 3. ;-)
The whole thing was a lot of fun - and eventfull. :-)
My swim/surf/run/T1 time was 15 mins. My bike was 39 mins - just under 20mph avg. My run was 22 mins. I RAN 8:05 PACE!!! That's the fastest I've ever run!!! :-D And an even cooler thing about that is, I felt like I was running slow! My total time was 1:18:xx - good enough for 15/25 in my division and 22/40 women overall. They only have three divisions here because the races are generally so small. Junior is 14-19 yrs / Open is 20-39 yrs / Vet is 40+.
A couple of my training buddies placed. Tanya was 2nd
in our division for the triathlon and Lisa was 2nd for
the duathlon.
But I almost forgot the best part! The goal I set
back on January 25th after the Queenstown half... NOT
TO BE DEAD LAST! I'm most happy to report, MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED! :-D So, I'm an extra happy girl. :-) Racing is just so much fun, isn't it. :-)
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Tauranga 1/2 Ironman
January 11, 2004 — Tauranga, New Zealand
Swim 2 KM / Bike 90 KM / Run 22 KM
It turned out to be a mighty fine day at the races today! The race was on New Zealand’s north island on the skirts of a small town named Tauranga. The actual race site is across the bridge at the foot of "The Mount". The Mount is what the locals call Mount Manganui. It’s this little bump of a hill at the end of a harbour peninsula that looks a little out of place. The area is flat with the exception of this little cone-shaped hill — a mini-volcano, if you will (The Mount).
The sun was just rising when we left for the race and the moon was still high in the sky. It was one of those mornings that just make me smile simply because I’m alive and fortunate enough to do the things I enjoy. When I signed up for this race, I wasn’t really all that excited about it. However, after I signed up for it, things seemed to fall into place. I would return from a training week in Nelson two days prior, my Mom was arriving from Canada the day after, a fellow racer on Gordo’s Forum offered me a place to stay... Can’t ask for much more than that.
This was another one of those training races and I only took a couple easy days training into it. I was feeling good though and looking forward to it. I had a few goals – bike sub-3, run sub-2 and finish sub-6. A side goal was to be running before the overall race winner finished. ;-)
The swim took place in the protected harbour and the water was not only warm, but clear and clean. Right off I got onto some fast(er) feet and hung in. I was digging the new experience of passing people and seeing the pack around me. I swam into a couple of jellyfish that freaked me out a little. My first thought of course, was about what happened to Gordo in Hawaii when he swam into a box jellyfish. Don’t have those kinds of jellys here, thank goodness.
I have no idea what my swim split was as the one of the button covers on my watch is gone, but I felt good out there. I had drafts for about half the swim, was near tons of swimmers and when I came to T1 there were still lots of bikes on the racks. :-) Looking at my splits later, I managed a seven-minute personal best on the swim and T1 combined. I will get a new watch for Ironman New Zealand. ;-)
So now we're off on the fun stuff. The bike course was a flat out-n-back four times. Kind of boring course, but it was cool in that there were cyclists coming and going the whole time. There was a bit of a headwind on the return part, but it wasn't too much of an issue and seemed to settle down towards the end. The first lap of the course I had a new pain in my leg – I think it was my hip flexor. After standing and stretching a few times it settled down. Even with that, I was moving at a good pace. Through the middle laps I couldn't seem to keep my HR up over 130 bpm and then I slipped off my pace a little. Looking at my watch and doing a little time calculation I knew I had to pick it up quick or I’d miss my goal split. I came pretty close to sub-3 – I rode three hours even. I’ll take it, that’s a new PR on the distance. :-)
I also managed my side goal. I was on the run BEFORE the race winner (Cameron Brown) crossed the line! :-D That's been a goal for a long time and I did it with probably five minutes to spare.
The run was a two-time out-n-back with two loops around The
Mount. It was so cool running around there - an undulating trail run with a lot of shade. The first loop through there was a little tough though. I was thinking to myself that this wasn't going to be an easy run at all and my sub-2 goal was going out the window in a hurry. The views running around there were awesome, but I could only catch glimpses – you really had to watch your footing.
The rest of the run was on the road beside the ocean. Not as much shade and it was getting quite hot. Fortunately, it was humid heat so it was easy to keep your body temperature cool. I walked through all the aid stations and took three cups of water at each – one for the throat, one for the head and one for the hat. That stretch, after The Mount to the first turnaround, was hard for me. I started thinking that I didn't want to do this today. I didn't want to run. My HR was way high and I was running way slow. I thought for sure I was stumbling along at a 12-minute per mile pace and resolved to finishing under the cutoff.
I kept going though. That’s the way it is, you just keep moving forward, and when I got to the mid-way turnaround I was surprised to see 1:05 on my watch! I was running 10-minute miles with stopping at aid stations! I was stoked then and a new run began. I headed off on the second loop feeling great. I tackled the second tour of The Mount with more gumption and really strode out the down hills -- my free-speed specialty. However, by the time I came off The Mount I had a nice screaming pain in my quad running along the top of my thigh. Trashed muscles! I kept the pace going, ignored the pain and ignored my HRM. I knew if I acknowledged it or changed my stride any that it would take over and that would be that. So I kept on running.
Coming around the last corner toward the finish line I picked up my pace and felt I was running at Oly race pace. I crossed the finish line just with the clock reading 5:56:00!!! I did it! My first sub-6 half ironman! My run time was 2:11 – just 11 minutes off my sub-2 goal and a minute off my goal from the 5430 half ironman last summer, but, that was a 17-minute PR on the distance. Not only that, it was a 31-minute PR on the half ironman distance overall.
As soon as I crossed the finish line I walked straight into the ocean and stood there until I got goosebumps. My trashed quads needed that.
It was a gooder of a day out there. :-)
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Ironman Canada 2004