Ironman St George 70.3

Ironman St George 70.3

5:00:23, 33 Female, 8th Amateur, 3rd AG and a PR  :)  

Leading up to my first HIM of 2014 did not go exactly... smooth.  The first few months of the year I was injured, which does not translate to an ideal race build up.  Good thing I have an awesome coach who helped me focus on the things I could do and once healed, we were able to get in some solid training.   

I was able to spend a few weekends doing some course specific training

I ran up and down some hills a time or two

Added in some heat acclimatization

and quickly... MAY 3rd was here!









RACE DAY!


35:02 Swim Sand Hollow was beautiful race morning.  Mother Nature was playing nice and held off on the crazy winds.  

Typical Christie tripped over a rock getting into the lake which added in some 'fun' for the day :) My little trip threw me off a bit at the start, but I was not about to let that ruin my race!

2:43 ROCKY TIME!

As soon as I put on my cycling shoes I felt my foot and negative thoughts filled my head... 'maybe this was not going to be my day.'  I was already bummed about my swim time BUT I had a little MAN the freak UP talk with myself and with that I was back in the zone.

I love this bike course.  Hilly.  Fun Descends. Not many sharp turns. I was able to see my Dad and Janice 6 times!!! Best part = Snow Canyon.... Gorgeous & upupUP'ness!   

Run 1:37 I REALLY wanted to hit this run smart.  Last year after mile 3, the entire run flat out sucked and I did not want that to happen again.  Goal was to take it easy climbing up to the top of mile 3, then progressively pick it up.  Climbing up to the top of mile 3, after hammering it out on the bike just flat out HURTS fyi :)

Once I hit the top of mile three, I let my leg turn over pick up, I started focusing in on individual people to pass and consciously keep the effort 'comfortably hard' until I got back to the top of mile 8.  

I had several out-loud conversations with myself when the heat, or the foot, or fatigue started to get to me.   

The last 3 miles was a super close race with the #2 girl who ended up finishing 15 seconds ahead! Mile 11, a guy named Lech, came up super supportive and we ended up running stride for stride together until the finish line.  Those last two miles hurt, but at the same time I felt good.... I was SO happy to be finishing this race strong and fast!!!

.........



I had a realization after this race.  The past year'ish, I have really found myself disappointed in my racing and pretty frustrated in myself with results.  It is a huge goal of mine to race on the elite level in triathlon.  It is my 'BIG' goal and I have allowed my mindset to be solely focused on achieving it.  Typically, that disappointment would have followed this race.  I wouldn't have let myself enjoy that I PR'd, on a tough course, in hot weather, with a broken toe, by almost 5 minutes!

So the realization - working your ass off, and being dedicated, and driven, and focused is all necessary if you want to achieve big things.  But just because you are a hard worker, just because you are dedicated and driven and focused does not exempt you from being PATIENT TO THE PROCESS.  I think too often we get SO focused in on our big dreams that we forget things happen in stages.  We forget that those stages include both failures AND victories.  I think it is important to stay focused...relentless...have that inner fire burning - BUT take a minute to recognize those small steps. Throw your hands up in the air and appreciate and celebrate the small victories and the fact that you are progressing!  So... all that rambling said, before I get all Gung-ho on my 'BIG' goal again, I am allowing myself to celebrate and be proud of this small victory.



...and that feels good! :)






SO freaking thankful for the supportive people I have in my life!! Especially that Dad of mine... he kind-of rocks!  I couldn't be more grateful to work with the most awesome coach!  And to top it off, I feel so lucky to be on a a team representing ZOOT this year.  Next up.... KANSAS --->>> I am coming for you!  

Snow Canyon Half Marathon Race Report

Snow Canyon Half Marathon 1:26.46

5/176 AG, 14/717 F, 69/1912 OA... PR :D

Spent the weekend in St George for work and raced the Snow Canyon Half.  Rachelle's boyfriend was nice enough to drive us up to the start and it was freezing... perfect race weather! We had just enough time for a quick warm-up with Josse were off.

Miles 1-3: Plan was to take the first 2 miles at a set hr zone then progress from there.  Josse and I didn't make it up to the front in time so we had to do a bit of weaving in and out of people during mile 1.  Noticed a head wind through this section but everything felt comfortable.

Miles 4-8: Beautiful section of the course through Snow Canyon.  There was a younger kid named Spencer who was running the tangents very well so I stuck with him and we ended up running together until the end. Took a gel at mile 7.  After 7 is when the rollers start and I was still feeling very good all the way up to the end of mile 9.  

Miles 9-13.1:  Running through the Entrada neighborhood was harder than I expected it to be.  I would pull us up the inclines and Spencer would pull us fast down the descends.  Working with him helped a lot.  Saw my awesome dad at mile 9 and I remember mile 11 being the toughest for me so when I noticed the pace start to drop here I took gel #2.  

I love that this race finishes on a track.  The track always gets me fired up and I was able to out kick 2 girls in the last 50 meters.  Huge shout out to Rachelle with a 1:17 finish ->she is on fire!!

Big Cottonwood Marathon Race Report

 

Back to Back Race Weekends...

Marathon #4

The day before The Big Cottonwood Canyon Marathon, I decided to run it. I was able to get an entry in, my body was feeling incredibly well from the prior weeks 70.3, and I really wanted to spend some time with friends I rarely get to see - So, the Big 26.2 it was.

 
It was so nice going into a race with absolutely no pressure.  Even at the start line I had no nerves at all!  6 days prior goal race in Vegas was complete, so this was pure, spontaneous fun! At the start line, I chatted with friends, met some new nice people, and enjoyed myself.  I thought it would be fantastic if I could pull out a PR (I am a goal person, ya know?), but honestly, I had no real expectations on the day other than to have fun.  Walter and I decided to run together and our plan was to take it super comfortable (basically walking for his speedy self) until we were out of the canyon then he’d push me.  I also promised myself that if I started to feel ANY sort of 'injury' pain that I would drop out. 








First of all, can I just say how amazing it felt to start a race on fresh, non-biking legs AND in actual cool weather… Yeehaw my legs were so happy! When the miles would click, I kept thinking we were going too quick. I felt good though and my HR was staying in a good range so I just let my legs do their thing through the canyon and stayed relaxed. 


Walter provided the entertainment for this section by teaching me his speedy race secrets.  I think we were at about a 6:40-:45 avg coming out of the canyon. 

6:22, 6:28, 6:30, 6:36, 6:35, 7:05 (GI issue/ bathroom stop!), 6:47, 7:15, 7:03, 7:15, 6:48, 6:38, 6:25, 6:54, 6:30, 6:56

 
I felt really good up until about mile 18ish.  Going from all that pounding to flat killed my hamstrings/feet... Your legs are wondering WTH you just put them through.  I haven’t run over 17 miles at all this year and I think I let that and last weekends race get to me more mentally that it was hurting me physically.  I am a little mad at myself for letting that happen.  I preach 'mind of matter' so much and I didn't follow my own motto.  











Coming out of the canyon, some quick math put a sub 3 in my head so I was trying so hard to keep a pace to earn under the 3 hour mark but today was not the day for that.  That last 5K hurt - a lot.  The back of my legs were cramping so bad but I refused to walk.  

Walter was basically switching from running form tips to screaming profanities at me the last 30 minutes.  I wanted to punch him in the face that  entire time... until we crossed the finish line Haha :D :D Lucky to have had him there with me.

6:57, 7:01, 7:24, 7:44, 8:13, 8:24, 7:57, 9:05>>>whoops, 8:41, 7:56,   

So there it is. An aided 15min. PR… 3:09:41

1st ag, 8th female, 59 overall

----------

I do a really good job of isolating myself and I am the queen of 'Walls Up' to just about everyone - 

SO,  weekends like these are good reminders that it is ok to let people in... 

it actually makes life a whole hell of a lot more meaningful and fun.  

There are good people out there - 

but you never know without letting down those walls to give them a chance. :) 

---------- 


Side note on the race:  ***This is probably one of the best ran races I’ve participated in.  Organization and attention to detail was spot on.  The race directors really went out of their way to make sure us runners were very happy.

St. George 70.3 Race Report

5:05.10

2/48 AG, 41/731 Female, 227/2699 Overall 

Qualified for Worlds 70.3 :D

Absolutely amazing day!  This course was the hardest, hottest, most mentally challenging thing I have ever done, and it hurt… a lot, I’d say about 77.77% of the time; but, I loved every second of it.

------ 

Pre race- 

5 days before I made sure I was getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night, upped my carbs, increased fluids, and practiced visualizing the race. Breakfast day of was oatmeal, coffee, 4oz Powerade Zero.  Walking to the buses I finally felt calm for the first time all week and just really ready to race.  We were bussed up to Sand Hollow.  Hearing others chat about their abilities always messes with my head so as soon as I started to hear this, I put on my earphones and didn’t take them off until it was time to swim.

Swim 35:35 (1:50/100) 11^th out of the water

I was in the 4^th wave.  Right before I got in, I took 1/2 a gel.  They let us jump in 1 wave before we were to start to warm up & swim out to the first buoy.  It was coldddddd.  Dave Cox told me to help adjust my core temperature, bob up and down for about a minute before even trying to start swimming.  I watched everyone rush out to warm up while I bobbed, then I did my short warm up with about 20 fast strokes.  Decided to start on the front line. The start is always a bit of a cluster-mess kicking battle.  Going out we were facing the sun and I couldn’t see the buoys so I just spotted swim caps, then making the left turn everything was clear.  I ended up staying right in line with all the buoys, didn’t stop once, & never really crashed into anyone.  Exiting the water you run up the ramp to the strippers.  So awesome to have them… they get your wetsuit off in about .07 seconds! Woot. Came out in 11^th  place ready to go catch me some girls.

T1 2:01 

The day before, I went out to transition and practiced running up the ramp to my bike.  I counted 20 rows, so come the race, I didn’t have to worry about searching for my bike, I just counted to 20 and ran right to my bike.  They made us put all of our gear in bags instead of getting to lay it all out which I thought would add a bunch of time but it really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Bike 2:41 (20.86mph) 1^st on the bike!!

I was so excited to tackle this bike course.  I feel my strength on the bike is climbing so this course was perfect.  It went by so fast.  The whole bike I swear I had a grin on my face.  It felt 'comfortably hard ’ the whole time.  Gel’s were not agreeing with my stomach today… The first one I took came right back up. So I made sure to get in all of my liquid calories and took just small amounts of gel every 5-10 minutes.  Totals were 64 ounces of Powerade Zero with Powerbar Perform, 1 course bottle Powerbar perform, and 4 gels 

 

T2 1:58

Going into T2 my legs were not wanting to move. Put on my Pure Connects (used ziplocks this time which were so quick) grabbed my stuff and put it on as I ran out of transition.

Run 1:44 (7:58).  2^nd on the run

I had a goal going into this race to hit around a 1:30.  What I ran was one of my slowest half marathon times and one of my hardest earned.  Normal Christie would be so upset with this pace…but I am not at all :) This run course is insanely hilly as it is, add in running it after swim/bike... with 90 degrees heat and you are in for a challenge.  I honestly never felt ‘great’ during the run.  I was never able to get my heart rate under control... something to work on.  I dedicated certain miles to different people and that helped me keep focus.  Keeping mentally focused is what this last portion of the race is all about or you will totally fall apart.   Every mile there was an aid station! So nice… I would take 1 water throw over my head, take a sip of hot coke, then grab 2 sponges and hold them in my hands.  The coke was working perfect – why don’t they have this on marathon courses??

When I crossed the finish line I just hugged the volunteer for a few minutes because I was worried about falling over. Not even knowing my time or place, I was honestly so happy.  I gave this race everything I had and that was what I wanted. I did not want to have anything left in the tank!  Race times were updated about 5 minutes later, found out I qualified for World’s… seriously no words. I still can not believe I really accomplished it. All I can say is it is amazing what you can do when you set your mind to something.    

The funny thing about accomplishing ‘big’ goals you set for yourself, is that once you do, you realize how ‘little’ that original goal was and how much more capable you just might be. 

So incredibly thankful for all the support I have.  I have the best coach, hands down.  My dad, Walter, and my mom were out on the course all day! So freaking awesome of them. My cousin surprised me at the finish line. Rachelle has been the most amazing friend throughout this journey. Volunteers on the course were incredible. And everyone else…  just freaking awesome!

 so excited about what the future holds...
'BIG' goals in the making.

Ice Breaker Triathlon

Ice Breaker Sprint Tri

59:57.5              1/108 Female         8/282overall  

Going into this race I had 3 goals:

1- I have not done a triathlon with my new bike or actual clip-ins so practicing quick transitions
2- Every triathlon in the past I have subconsciously held back on the bike always wanting the run to be priority.  I did not want to do this… really wanted to push it the WHOLE race.
3 – Get in under 1 hour

Drove to American Fork, picked up race-packet… markings… pre race meeting… transition set up etc. etc.  Went for a quick warm-up (2.3 easy with some strides)

15 minutes before the race I still was unsure what I was going to wear.  Everyone was complaining how cold it was, but last minute I decided to take off my tri top and wear a swim top with tri shorts for the whole race.  

Swim (6:19/300 meters)

Indoor pool swim. Cluster mess.  I am not very confident in my swim, so when we were lining up I kept moving backward listening to the others talk about their swimming abilities.  Ended up stuck in the middle of the lanes and at the wall ends several times waiting for people. I need to make sure to start further up next time… especially in a lap pool! The time includes running from inside the pool to the transition area mat.

T1 (0:45)

Smooth and uneventful.

 

Bike (12 miles, 31:56, 22.5/mph)

I felt strong on the bike.  I caught a lot of people which was giving me more and more energy.  Fell short of my 25mph goal… probably should have looked at the course before setting it that high :) Double loop course with uphill going out and downhill coming back.  About 2 miles left on the bike, I took 1/2 a gel and drank poweraid zero with Powerbar Perform mixed in. (This is the first race I opened the gels and taped them to my bike. Worked out perfect)  My dad was at the dismount area and told me only 2 girls in front of me! So encouraging having him there. 

T2 (0:51)

Pretty smooth…Forgot to take my helmet off and had an official ask me if I was taking extra safety precautions running with a helmet on! Duh Christie! Right outside of T2 was Rachelle!!! Best way to start the last leg of this race.  (Note - I need to purchase the no tie laces for my shoes.) 

Run (3.1, 20:08, 6:30/mile)

The first half of the run shares the course with the biker's which is a bit scary.  I ended up running on the sidewalk most of the time to avoid a collision. Most of mile 1 my legs felt good but I felt like I couldn’t breath; very frustrating.  Mile 1 is going up the ‘big hill’ and my shoe lace came untied.  Stopped, fixed it and pushed up the hill.  Mile 2 is flat, and 3 is back downhill to the finish.  During the run I was catching men and on the look out for those two dang ladies.  Finally, I saw some braids ahead, found another gear, and just charged past her and didn’t stop pushing until the end.  I never knew what ‘running scared’ meant until today with that girl chasing me:) I was really hoping for a 19:2X… but happy with the effort I gave.       

Crossing the finish I had no idea my time because my Garmin was messed up and thought I was in 2^nd.  Rachelle and I went for a quick cool down waiting for the results to post.  When we got back my dad told me I did it… sub 1 hour and overall female!     

Cant say enough how much my dad freaking rocks.  I swear, he gets just as much of a workout as I do moving around to the different areas on the course!  So fun to have Rachelle there as well… I don’t think people know how much support really means/helps during a race.  This is the perfect pre season race: well organized & wonderful volunteers, challenging course to test your fitness, and ideal race before St George 70.3 :) 

and my post race FUEL THE MACHINE tradition...

SASHIMI