Thursday, June 23, 2011

Wasa Race Report

I raced the Wasa Olympic triathlon last weekend...my BIG goal was to finally break 50 minutes for a 10km in a tri. And I did!! 49:57 baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!! Hey, every second counts.

My total time was 2:29:08 -- a 10 minute improvement despite the fact that the bike course was totally changed this year from the nice flat and fast route to a hilly one. (Going towards Fort Steele instead of heading towards Invermere. The last time I did this race I did it in 2:24, but that doesn't count as the swim course was short, so I compared the results to the race before that one.) Plus, I ended up 10th female overall. Including the real fast girls. :) :) (They also remove the top 5 women from the AG standings, so I ended up being 2nd in my age group...I'm more pleased with my 10th OA though!)

Swim -- 28:12 (not too bad! Hee-hee!!)
The Wasa swim is the best and kindest swim in triathlon. They sent all the Oly women off together and there was no clawing/grabbing/frustration. It was so nice! This was also the first time in a race I did 2 dolphin dives at the beginning -- Hee-hee!! :) :)

Bike -- 1:11:01 (again, not too bad, the course is hillier, so I'll take it)
Not too much to say here -- a great ride.

Run -- 49:57
Great run for me! The biggest triumphs for me were the following:
Not succumbing to the negative thoughts and fear of seeing faster girls catch up to me. The last time I raced here, there was a woman on an out and back who gave me "the look" and I sort of thought to myself, "Wow, she looks so determined, if she catches me, she deserves it." Well, guess what she did. This year, I was READY.

There was another girl who was chugging along but I said to myself, "Hang on Julie! You deserve this!" I did it. :) I did get passed by some women, but not by that one. I held on until the end. :)

You have got to hand it to the race organizers -- they do the best post race food -- tons of watermelon, oranges, bananas, canteloupe and grapes. I didn't partake of the macaroni salad and I tried the chili but it was gross (sorry, but it was!), but the fruit was a godsend. After that I craved nothing but KETHCUP CHIPS and SNOWPEAS. The craving overtook all my senses. Hahahhaha -- so funny how your body knows EXACTLY what it needs -- LOL. When I finally dug into some ketchup chips, I had major ketchup-chip-quiver-tail going on. ;)

Onto other news...

A few months ago, I began making more changes to my daily nutrition needs. I did a bit of poking around the internet reading other people's blogs, and decided to try some new things...

First I eliminated dairy. This was sort of easy. Although I ate LOTS of cottage cheese and yogourt, I always felt bloated and *not right*. Next was eliminating grains and pasta and bread. This I had to do with an all or nothing approach. It is far too easy to TRY and incorporate more vegetables into my diet and then fill in the gaps with bread or pasta. By eliminating all breads and pasta, I had no choice but to add more vegetables. When the pasta went, the yams, squash, carrots and bananas moved in. You can't fool around with replacing carbs when training for multiple Ironman races.

My body has responded very well to this type of nutrition. I went down 2 swimsuit sizes! That is right...TWO SWIMSUIT SIZES!! I 've always been a 36/10, then I moved down to a 34/8. The day that my suit became baggy before it was worn out, I was shocked....could it be that I needed to go down another size? I was hesitant when I asked to try on a 32/6...the suit looked so tiny. How was my bum going to fit in there?

But it fit! I haven't had to *watch* what I eat or how much to eat. I eat all the veg, fruit, meat, eggs I want. If I am hungry I eat. Basically this means I graze all day long. Plus, I have the energy to get all my sessions in.

For bike nutrition whilst training, I use water, baked yam slices, and bananas. That's what I've used all winter and spring. Now that the temperatures are finally warming up I'll start throwing some Nuun into the mix, but keeping it simple works for me. :)

The local outdoor pool has opened and it is bliss swimming in the fresh air. :)

And one more thing....

I am completely addicted to HBO's new series Game of Thrones. I cannot wait until next season -- it is the best series I have ever seen. The story-telling is totally unconventional -- time and time again my jaw will drop open at the events unfolding. Usually such physical reactions are restricted to really, really good books...I LOVE how the series challenges assumptions I had about story-telling itself. Assumptions I didn't even know I had!

Plus, there is Drogo. Oh. My. God. I have only ever had one other movie-star crush before this and it was Horatio Hornblower from an A&E series years ago. LOL. Poor Mike, has had to deal with me giggling and rewinding scenes to watch Drogo over and over again. Hahahahahahaha!!!
Every time there is a scene with him in it, I could feel Mike's eyes on me...waiting for a reaction. Of course, that just makes me even more self-aware. LMAO.






Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Elkford Sprint Race Report



I was so excited to FINALLY race!!! After last year's DNS in North Carolina, and months of healing my broken foot, I was so ready to let loose! :)

Coach Sara gave me a bit of rest but said she would be training me through the race...I've been logging some pretty crazy hours training, and the week before the race I felt so bagged. SO BAGGED. I was wondering how on earth I would recover and do the race! Hahahaha - and it is only a sprint!

On Wednesday before the race, I had a 5 hour bike ride that I ended up only doing 2:12 of....I got caught out in the middle of the back roads between the Pass and Pincher Creek in the rain storm to end all rain storms. HOLY COW. It was like a monsoon swept through -- all the cars had their lights on and it was effing cold. SO COLD. And windy. By the time I arrived at the Shell gas station in Pincher Creek, I was frozen solid. I had a hard time speaking to the guy behind the counter when I tried to ask to use the phone. He asked, "Are you all right?" And I replied, "N-n-n-n-n-no, can I use your phone? I have money!" and I held up a zip lock bag with assorted dollar bills in it (dripping wet). The guy just waved my baggy away and gave me the phone -- LOL!!

I called my Momma to come rescue me (one of the major perks of living in the same community as your parents!) Then, I stood there, dripping wet and made a big puddle standing in the gas station waiting for my Mom to arrive. A couple of men in work trucks offered to give me a ride home, but they thought I lived in Pincher...They were visibly surprised when I told them I lived in the Pass. HAHAHAHAHAH!! It is so easy to impress people with biking mileage around these parts.

I had big plans to set my bike up on the trainer once I got home to finish off the session....However, after some food, a hot bath, and a thorough bike cleaning, my energy levels fell like a rock and I went to bed instead.

Ok...enough preamble. Here are the race deets!!!

First woman overall and 4th over all. :) :) :) I was tickled to analyze the results and learn that I had the 2nd fastest bike split overall!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

http://elkfordtri.ca/uploads/2011results/2011oa_750.PDF

Here are my splits:
750m swim: 13:36 (YAY!!! I AM getting faster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
20km bike: 36:27 (Windy, hilly course)
5km run: 22:53 (Work in progress!!)
Total: 1:12:57

For the first time, I was in the last heat for the faster swimmers. LMAO!!!! And get this, I was leading my lane!! Hahahahahahahahaha!! I warned everyone in my lane before the race, "I hope my swim time guess-timate matches my ability!" Once we got rolling, or shall I say, swimming, the guy right behind me passed me, but then piddled out, and I re-passed him -- and was first out of our lane. :)

The bike portion was so awesome. I was so present, so fully in the moment, it felt like the ride lasted 2 minutes. Seriously. It was like I was completely immersed in every single moment. Very weird, but very cool. :) :)

The run was good too -- my breathing was hard and loud for the first half, but I chugged, chugged along. Man, there was this one girl who was such a good runner -- she did the 5km in 18 min and change, she looked great!!!

Small race, AMAZING volunteers and a beautiful day all in all. I don't want to slag my competitors BUT...

To the only person in the race that wore his wetsuit: REALLY?

I won a $25 gift card to Canadian Tire and a stainless steel water bottle. :)

Most importantly....I am fit and racing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!