Saturday, June 12, 2010

Deuces Wild Half Ironman

One week ago today I completed my first half Ironman in Show Low, AZ.  Tough course, at 6000 ft elevation.  Record high temps in mid-90s. 

I felt rested and ready heading into the race.  Had a great swim - 37.5 minutes, compared to my goal of 40-45 minutes.  20th out of the water.  Feeling good!  Got onto the bike and had a pretty good ride, although my last 10 miles my HR was down and my legs were burning.  My avg speed was 20.6.  Then coming out of transition, my quads were hurting and I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. I ran 12:12 pace miles, after spending a LOT of time at aid stations and walking.  UGH!

Very frustrating.  My coach believes I dehydrated, so I'm working on improving my hydration and my eating in races.  This is why you do so many races - good training for what you need to work on!

Next time!

In the meantime, Tyson has a knock out race... finished 30 minutes better than he expected and had a great, breakout run.  Very exciting :)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Racing Season...

It's been a while and a lot has been going on since my last post.  I have been training a LOT... specifically running and riding - I rode a couple of 80+ mile rides, six or seven run 5 10-14 mile runs. 

I did my first triathlon of the season - Tempe International - a few weeks ago.  And, I had a poor showing.  I didn't taper at all, and it was hot, and I had a swimming problem.  The swim was SO bad that a kayaker came up to me to ask me if I needed a break.  REALLY??!!  After 34:58 struggling minutes in the water, I finally made it out.  I sped through transition, got on the bike and felt great - did my bike split in 1:10:28 - one of the fastest .  Then, I finished it up with a 48:16 10K, total time 2:36:17.  4th in my age group and 29th female.  UGH!  Very frustrating!

This very poor swimming showing motivated me to sign up for Masters Swimming... two weeks of masters swimming and i was feeling pretty good...

Raced Tribal Sprint Triathlon this last Saturday morning.  This race in 2009 was my first triathlon.  And this particular race is geared towards swimmers - the sprint swim is 1000m, where most sprint races are 400-600m or 750m.  I just went out to give it my best shot and ended up 6th overall female and won my age group!  With a total time of 1:27:56!  I was 24th of 75 out of the water (WOW!  Huge improvement for me!), 4th on the bike and 6th on the run.  FABULOUS!  Very exciting for me, and I beat my 2009 time by... drum roll are you ready for this... 13 minutes!!!!!  (Last year I finished in 1:41:00).  Wow.  What a great feeling!  And, last year I was 73rd of 90 out of the water - wow.

Prepping for this weekend's half Ironman at Deuces Wild in Show Low, AZ.  I'm looking forward to it. I'll report back :)