Santa Cruz 70.3

I was supposed to race two weeks ago at an Olympic distance race in Oakland.  Swim went well, but it was actually raining and if you've kept up with the weather in California, it hasn't rained in oh about 3 years.  So rain resulted in slick roads.  Long story short, I went down hard, cracked my helmet in multiple places and bruised my ankle and hip.  I came away from that, thinking MAN am I lucky- it could have been so much worse.  That made me think twice about racing Santa Cruz, given that it's always foggy there and could also have some slick roads.  I'm sure this would be good for practice, but thanks but no thanks, I don't want to take any chances this close to Kona.  In the end, mark said to just keep the rubber side down, keep it safe and that yes, I had to race. Off to Santa Cruz we went!

Awards from WTC on left and original from previous race years ago...I want my wahine girl please!

I've been trying to get a pulse on why I don't always love to race (outside of Hawaii and qualifying for Hawaii I sometimes am not so pumped to race)...is it that the more you race, the more you know how badly it will have to hurt to yield the desired performance?  When you first start racing, it's so exciting.  Racing is still exciting for me, but I know what it takes and sometimes I think that I get scared. Scared of the effort required, scared that I might not be able to do it and maybe even fearful of success.  While lying in bed trying to get to sleep, I kept reminding myself that I had to "take" my success.  I had to own it and want it.  Success doesn't just happen and as much as I wish there was there is NO "easy button" when it comes to success...in any part of life.  Which is probably why success brings so much joy.  It isn't easy to accomplish.

I've raced this event in the past, when it was known as the Big Kahuna- see my love for all things Hawaiian started long ago! I tried to go back through the results, but I raced it in 2008/2009 and then I think? 2012, but couldn't find the results anywhere.  If you've not visited coastal California, it can be FOGGY and a bit cold, not my typical weather jam. We got lucky for a no fog swim so we could see the buoys, but it was a sunscreen optional kind of day, with the sun barely peeking out for the run.  We opted to sleep at home the night before- it's always SO nice to be at home the day before a race, on your sofa, watching TV, relaxing and then getting to sleep in your own bed.  The 4:00 wake up call was the only downside to this!

Pre-race nutrition- Staple of 2 eggs with rice and aminos, one banana about 30 minutes before the start, cold brew coffee(what no latte?!!), and one bottle of pre-load 

Ready to go!

Kayla and I hopped in the car and got to transition by 5:20 for a 7:00 start.  The water looked like glass, but as soon as we started, we saw that the glass was only a surface appearance...what lie beneath was the Pacific doing it's thing on a Sunday morning.  The current was trying to push us back towards the start, so I shortened my stroke to a short, choppy stroke and tried to time my breathing with the waves so that I continued to move forward without gulping mass amounts of sea water...cause I didn't order a side of sea water with my breakfast and did not need that in my belly. The only reassuring thing about the swim was knowing that after the halfway point, we turned for home and it was literally smooth sailing as the same chop that we had just fought, was now assisting us on a fun and fast ride home.  I always try to stay with buddy Christine as she is a SUPER fish, for as long as possible.  Same as at Vineman this year, I was 30 seconds back of her exiting the water and came out in 3rd place.

Bike nutrition: half a recipe of salty balls and 3 bottles (almost?) of Osmo Active

I managed to come out of T1 just a hair in front of Christine and we quickly set out in pursuit of the gal who was leading out AG on the road.  The roads were wet as we headed out of Santa Cruz and wound our way to Highway 1.  I was cautious as the memory of hitting the deck is still way too fresh and was excited once we hit Highway 1 and it was straight and dry...for a bit.  There was one section that was a course change and it took us off of 1 and onto a small parallel side road that was some of the worst pavement I've ridden and culminated with a 1 mile climb, and subsequent descent.  Somewhere along this climb, Christine came by me and I dropped into 3rd. Man, did I lose some time on that descent.  It was still foggy and I was still nervous, so I rode it like a granny.  I figured nothing was worth a crash, even if it meant that I gave up a position or two.  On the return trip a gal come by me like I was standing still- she ended up going to win our AG and was 2nd overall amateur. Once back onto Highway 1, I told myself I needed to do some serious work to keep myself ahead of 4th place (good friend and faster runner, Sonja) and to be able to start the run in a good position.  I was worried with it being cooler that I had not taken in enough fluid, even though I had pre-load both the night before and the morning of the race.  Nothing was wrong nutritionally, but I am used to hot races and just plowing through hydration!  My bike ended up OK with a time of 2:38:42 and I was in 3rd heading into the run.

Getting ish done! Photo cred: @mariofraioli

Run nutrition: half bottle of pre-load/active combo, coke, water, 1 pack Muscle Milk chews, and 2 gels (sorry Stac!)

Onto the run I went, starting in 3rd, but could hear the announcer just ahead at the first mile mark, calling Christine's name. I knew Christine was in 2nd and I was able to move into 2nd place by the end of mile 2.  Now to run the next 11 miles with Sonja chasing me!  Going back to my thoughts on success, I had to make a decision.  Try to run hard and get the very best of myself, or be scared and let myself get caught.  I chose to work hard and try to maintain my lead.  I have really been working on increasing my cadence and leaning forward, trying to be a more efficient runner, so that in the later stages of Kona, I am able to maintain a good pace.  The good thing is, a quicker cadence doesn't hurt so much.  This method paid off in multiple ways on Sunday.  Most awesomely, I had a half marathon PR, by nearly 90 seconds, so bettering my previous half mary PR (from 2012) by 6 seconds per mile.  I was thrilled to get home and figure that our, especially since I hadn't felt like I was running 7:15's. i also felt like I could have sustained that effort for longer, so hoping the same tactic and techniques pays off a little under 4 weeks from now on an island in the Pacific :)

2 miles to go- RUN! Photo Cred: @jenbaer

The final stretch of the run- is on deep sand along the Santa Cruz boardwalk.  I am sure the families there for a beach day were like, what is happening here, and who are these crazy folk?! I tried to keep myself in the hard pack sand, but ended up getting hit by incoming waves, so not sure that was any better than running in the deep sand. The only thing that I would like to have nailed a bit better is nutrition- I think truly, I didn't drink enough during the bike and on the run, I was desperate for drinks and to keep fueling myself, something that rarely happens to me in races.

35-39 podium and FRIENDS!

I crossed the line still in 2nd place in the AG and as 3rd overall on the day!  Now it's a bit of recovery along with Interbike this week and then it's time to wind it down for Hawaii!

Post race Sunday dinner...the usual!

10 years in a row, VIneman 2015

Wow, hard to think that I've been doing triathlon for more than a decade, and that I've spent a weekend in July every summer for that decade racing in wine country with friends at Vineman.  Vineman was the first half where I qualified to 70.3 Worlds and outside of Kona, is my favorite race. There is something about racing close to home, on a familiar course with tons of friends on course for support.  When I go to visualize race day each year, it gets easier and easier as I know the course so well that it's just fun to go through the day in my head OK maybe not fun to go through the part where I get RUN down but we can talk about that later.  I've been super pooped the past few days, but am excited for the recovery to be over and to start the build to Kona!

It had felt like an odd build for Vineman as I took 3 weeks off after Texas (May 18th), and then did a small 3 week cycle for Vineman.  Last year was different as I raced in early April and not May, so had a much more robust lead into the race.  Needless to day, I wasn't sure what was going to unfold on race day.

best Air B&B house ever

I was excited to race, and just as excited for the post race activities- we were going to stay over and do a wine tasting and have a fancy dinner with friends.  YES, please!  I had made Kayla and I pre-race salty balls but kept them in the freezer and on my mental checklist of "things to grab as we left the house".  Guess what's still in the freezer?  Kayla got the ingredients and I made a new batch Saturday night at our most excellent and retro Air B&B before we went to bed.  A pee strip to check hydration levels (how proud are you Stacy?!!) before bed and we were ready to (try to) snooze.

Breakfast- Rice, 2 eggs, avocado, bottle of active and a vita coco coffee (very tasty!).
On way to race: bottle of pre-load, spoonful of PB
Right before race: half banana

Coeur Teammies and CG!

Total AM kcals:  ~850

Swim:  EXCITEMENT...shiny new BIG 70.3 swim PR of 27:30, 2nd in the AG
I got in the water and knew that the goal was going to be to stay with friend and Stanford Masters lane mate, Christine.  CG is such a fast swimmer that I thought this would be s stretch goal, but it's only a half and I needed to be comfortable being uncomfy.  So I lined up next to her and then after the gun went off, we charged and were quickly in the lead.  We swam side by side until the turn around, where we were running into more and more folks from the previous waves.  After the turn it became harder to stay with her due to congestion...and her speed, but I kept her in sight and knew that I was having a good swim. I didn't look at my watch or the race clock (who can do that math when you start 60+min after the first wave?!) as I knew if we were the first out of the water, the time didn't matter too much.  I hit the line just :24 after her for a PR of almost a minute in a 70.3 swim.  Maybe I should only go to masters 2x a week all the time and have Christine at all of the same races? BIG thanks to the Roka team as the Maverick Pro is obviously a huge advantage in the water!!

T1: Rookie alert...I had run the transition that morning and felt confident of where my bike was, but somehow went down the wrong row and ended up searching around for it for about a minute :(  I left T1 JUST behind Christine and it was time for us to ride!

Bike Nutrition: 3 bottles Osmo Strawberry Active, almost half recipe of salty balls ~301kcals/hour

Bike: 2:35:38

The bike loves its vino too!

Good new for Vineman this year?  The normally really terrible West Side Road had been GLORIOUSLY repaved and we would have smooth tarmac for about the first 40 miles and then a bad few before hitting the last 6 of smooth pavement again. This was amazing as the road surfaces are typically pretty bad and it affects how/when you can pass.  No issues with that this year and I set out of T1 chasing Christine.  Girl was PUSHING the pace which was good as I had wanted to go HARD on the bike this year.  Mission accomplished!  I passed Christine for the lead maybe 10 miles in?  I kept telling myself there were only 56 miles and I needed to be working all of them if I wanted to have any chance of winning this race.  Around mile 40 I made sure to have food as Chalk Hill is at 42 and you need to be topped off to do well on the remaining miles.  I got to the top of the hill and saw Mark in his usual spot waiting to cheer me on.  He encouraged me ok, shouted at me to throw it in the biggest gear I could and hammer home.  By the time I came off the bike, I had about a 3 minute lead on the next gal in the AG. Would it be enough?

Run nutrition: bottle of half scoop pre-load and 1 scoop active on the way out of T2 to top off hydration in order to avoid on course gatorade,  5hr energy on way out ot T2, 1 pack Muscle Milk energy chews, cups of coke at most aid stations, glucose tabs over the last 10k. ~300/kcals/hour

Run: 1:41:10, pace of #notawesome

Photo Cred: @heatherrosescott

Thanks @heatherrosescott

Not much to say other than the run will continue to be a focus of mine as we head into Kona.  I struggle as soon as the earth even points remotely up to keep up a good pace.  On flats, I can run ALL day long STRONG, but this course is far from flat and I will need to improve my run to improve my placing here next year.  I don't know that I've ever come off of the bike in 1st place.  Mark was there but would have to take off at some point to go race his own race (best husband/coach ever award for getting up at o'dark thirty to get me race ready, cheer almost all day long and then go race his own race).  Mark was able to get some splits and Sonja was 2nd off the bike and was going to be hard to keep away.  We have been racing together for years and it is great to finally be on the same team this year. I headed into the just over a mile loop in the La Crema vineyard around mile 7 and then hit the out and back where I would finally see what was coming.   Around mile 8, Sonja was closing in quickly and I knew that the pass was near.  Just behind her was Jen (who had a baby only 18 months ago?!) who was HARD charging.  Sonja ran with me side by side for a while and wanted me to go with her, but I just didn't have it in me (maybe mentally more than physically?) to go with her.  Being in fight mode with friends and people I love is hard for me.  I tend to just back down...can't seem to want to "kill, kill, kill" some of my dear friends!  This is obviously something to work on and thankfully I don't know most of the girls in Kona, so I can mentally do a bit better.

Bad Ass W35-39 Podium

#didntplanitweswear

Shower in a box!

I hit the line in 3rd, about 5 minutes back from Jen and 2 back from Sonja.  It was awesome to hang with them post race and then cheer for Kayla as she crushed it as well with 2nd in the 30-34 AG just two weeks before Lake Placid...watch out ladies of Placid!!  We bought some wipes from the corner store (shower in a bathroom for the win!) got a quick snack before the awards and then it was officially time to celebrate by wine tasting and dinner at a nice restaurant. Mark made it back from his own race with just enough time for a wipe shower of his own before our dinner reservation.  It was an awesome way to celebrate the days accomplishments...good friends, food and vino.

ewww, what was that?!!

His and hers vino awards

Escaping from The Rock

I think this must have been Escape from Alcatraz #5 for me?  I took last year off as I was traumatized from the swim in 2013 when a man died and I thought that my race would be over as I swore I was going to need a rescue kayak...the race had been moved to accommodate America's Cup in 2013 and the San Francisco Bay in March is not nearly as "calm" as it is in early June.  I remember the waves so big I thought I might not make it "chop" and the frigid temperatures after the swim...not exactly my ideal Kona like conditions!

This year Kayla said that she was going to do it and that so should I...mind you this would be 3 weeks post Ironman Texas...who does that?  Think about it...a taper before Texas, race and then three weeks of easy and unstructured workouts.  Perfect race prep!  The goal was to not embarrass myself or have wine leak out of my pores while I was sweating.  We were lucky enough to stay with friends on Saturday night, so enjoyed a walk through Golden Gate park to dinner before hitting the sheets for some pre-race sleep!

Swim: 33:41, two minutes better than my previous best time.

If you've never raced Alcatraz, it's kind of hard to imagine.  They bus everyone from transition to one of the piers.  All 2000+ athletes get on ONE boat and mozy out to the island for the start.  I'll let you use your imagination as to how 2k athletes on one boat is...a bit hot, lots of nerves and a bit of pee in the carpet ;)  Everyone goes off right after the pros...there is an opening on the side of the boat and they just start yelling "GO, GO, GO!!!" and everyone jumps off in a rolling start style.  Your face hits the balmy 58* water and after a quick "holy MOLY it's cold!" internal dialogue, you are off to sight 1.5 miles straight ahead.  You have to sight straight ahead as the current is so strong in the bay, when you sight straight, you will actually end up half of one mile down the road.  Crazy!  And that is exactly what that swim feels like from beneath you...even if the water is "calm" on top and not very choppy, the current stirs it up so much that it feels like you are being thrown around from underneath you.  I know that's a bit dramatic, but your stroke feels like you must look like a 2 year old thrashing about.  The entrance into Aquatic Park is a welcome sight and hearing people yell "WIPE YOUR FACE!!!" as you exit the slimy bay waters is always funny.  After wiping my bay beard off (just scan some of the pics...you will see what I mean), I headed to find some shoes to put on my frozen claws for the half mile run to transition.

Beautiful whip ready to roll!

Bike: 1:00:16...I've been faster, and I've been slower

I had arm warmers and gloves to put on as I ran to transition, but opted for gloves only.  Figured since it was in the high 50's when we started that I could get through ;)  I rode my road bike  with my rad new Enve clip on aero bars as the course is so undulating that a TT bike (for me) just makes no sense.  I was super pumped to have the clip on aero bars though as there are a few section through Golden Gate Park where you can actually get a rhythm and I think the bars truly helped here. Kayla caught up to me right as we went past the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to the Ocean and I knew my job was to just stay close...girl is training for Lake Placid and is on fire right now!  Once we got going towards the Ocean, we got treated to see the front of the men's race coming back on the course and then saw the women as they were flying out of the park and up past the Ocean towards home.  It's always so inspiring to see the pros hammering it out and fighting for the win.  I felt pretty blah on the run and had to keep reminding myself that there were only 18 miles in total, that I needed to PUSH and HURT and not have a low IM heart rate.  I stopped at the top of a climb, positive that I had a flat- checked my tire and NOPE, just some flat legs ;)  Kelly passed me here and was like, "are you OK?"...yes, nothing to see here, nothing to see!  I tried to push as much as possible to get back to T2 and hope that I'd be able to run!

Run: 57:51 for 7.5 miles or a 7:42 pace...

I felt like such a rookie as I headed out of transition.  I didn't eat anything on the bike, knowing that I had had a huge breakfast and I was only 1:30ish into the race, but this meant it was time to eat as I headed onto the run!  I dropped my energy chews as I headed out onto the run and made the decision to go back and get them as I knew there would be no on course nutrition other than drinks and I would need some kcals over the next hour to propel me to the finish.  The run is just like the bike; all over the place terrain wise- but I've done it enough, that in my head, I know that I just have to make the it to the sand ladder and from there, it's downhill/flat the rest of the way home...JUST...one tiny word!  I was so glad to see Kayla on the beach running towards the sand ladder and then to see the finish line!

yes please!

beer garden gals!

35-39 Podium

After the race I was HUNGRY.  Why does post race food always look so yucky?  I made a bee-line for Chestnut street and found a massive salad...to which my hunger said, "YEAH RIGHT lady!", so we had fries while waiting for the awards to begin!  The sun came out just as we were finishing up which meant it was fun to hang around and talk to people after the race.  After the awards, we headed home and I got to spend the rest of the afternoon with my sis and her girls in the pool.  Not a bad Sunday indeed!

Everyone loves pool time

Next up is Vineman!  See you in July!

Awesome Sauce...a recipe

Here's my recipe for awesome sauce.  We throw this on grilled or raw veggies or wrap it up in turkey for a quick, healthy snack.  It's whole30/paleo compliant as well, but don't let that deter you...it's AWESOME!!

Do a "quick" soak of 2c raw cashews.  Put the cashews in a bowl, cover with water and microwave for 3 minutes.  This is quicker than an overnight soak and achieves the same goal.

In your blender put:
2 large cloves garlic
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (don't like spicy? reduce the number of peppers)
2tsp red wine vinegar
juice off one lemon
drained cashews
chicken/veg stock to taste- you will need at least 3/4 of a cup.  After that it's preference for consistency.  I tend to use at least a cup.

Blend!  scoop into an airtight container and use within the week.

The Woodlands Y'all

To say that I am happy about punching my 6th ticket to Kona this past Saturday would be an understatement.  As triathletes trying for Kona, you don't get many opportunities to qualify...if one race goes to poo, you can't (usually) do one next week as a do-over.  So the anxiety leading up to a race is reasonable.  I knew that I had put in the work, had given up more wine than ever before, run faster than before, done more mobility work than before to make sure that my ever so slightly aging body was ready for the day, done more X...but you can only control what you can control, and after Wildflower a few weeks ago, I thought I had "allergies".  An ear ache, chest tightness, etc.  Allergies turned out to be "you may be sick".  Thanks Doc.  I ended up taking vitamin C in massive doses, zinc'ing it up and trying my VERY best the week of the race to get better and get rid of the yuck that had crept into my body before the gun went off on Saturday morning.

Pia and I in our Roka's

I flew into the Woodlands with Pia on Thursday for a Saturday race...maybe not my best laid plan as from the moment we landed, time went into speed mode and just raced by...to the expo to pick up packets and say hi to friends, grocery store so that I could make salty balls for race day, get to the friends house, pack bags, practice swim and before you knew it, it was Friday night and time to go to bed!  If you haven't done a course before and can afford the extra day, I would go in on a Wednesday for a Saturday race just to give yourself that extra bit of wiggle room.

It had been raining in The Woodlands for the past few weeks, but as race day approached, the chances of rain kept going down and I had a feeling that as usual, race day would BRING her glory and the sun would come out and with all of the rain, the humidity would be off the charts.  Maybe I'd make an excellent weather girl?  This is exactly what happened as part way through the swim, the clouds parted and gave way to what was the start of a brutally hot and windy day in Texas.

Pre-swim nutrition: Bottle of Osmo mango, serving of Pre-Load, two eggs scrambled into cold rice (didn't want to raise my core temp on an already hot morning), liquid aminos on top and an iced latte.  One banana right before the start. ~800kcals (should have had some PB in hind sight to get this close to 1k)

Swim: 1:03:38 or 1:38/100m

Coeur Gals at the Practice swim

A Roka Sandwich

This swim is almost exactly what I swam in 2012 here.  A freshwater swim in 81* water means no wet suit and no added buoyancy...good for those of us that grew up as swimmers.  I also think that non wet suit swims are good in hot weather...the last thing you want to do is swim in a wet suit in barely legal water in sunny/80* outside temp and arrive in T1 already dehydrated. This was my first time in a rolling start.  I had a bit of concern that there could be gals that seeded themselves further back (meaning I wouldn't be able to really know where I was at in the race), but then I also thought if anyone thought they were in contention for either the AG win or the amateur title, there would be no way they would put themselves anywhere other than the front.  I put myself in the :55-1:00 category knowing that I might be a bit slower, but it would be nice to draft as much as possible.  All around me there were green caps...not many of us ladies! It was a MOST pleasant start, I wasn't run over much at all and I chose perfectly with a fresh pair of Roka F1's in light amber that I may have had to panic order so that I had the best tint for race day. The Viper Pro swim skin from Roka is also stellar and they have updated it with a break away zipper this year which makes it SO easy to rip off as you are hustling through T1.







Bike: 5:20:56...good enough for fastest in the AG (let's not talk about the fact that it was the 11th best bike split for the AG women)

This bike LOVES to ride

After hustling through what could have been a mud wrestling pit of T1, (don't search for funny videos...) I made it onto my bike and headed out for a fun day in the sun.  Just me, my thoughts and an entire batch of salty balls to get through before it was time to run ;)  The beginning of the bike course in TX typically has a tailwind and we did start off pretty quickly, but also pretty early on, the wind started.  Coupled with the fact that I could feel the heat immediately, I knew it was going to be a pretty spectacular day in terms of blow ups.  I made my way to the front of the AG race and was riding comfortably.  A few gals (and a ton of guys) came by me like I was a toddler riding a bike for the first time.  I told myself "either I am riding like a toddler, or these gals are making some pretty bad decisions".  Let's stick to my race and see how it plays out.  Every 15 minutes I have an alarm that goes off queuing me that it is time for a salty ball (70kcals/ball).  when I didn't' feel like eating, I would tell myself that the food tasted like winning, the food tasted like Kona and that if I wanted to do either of those things, I had better get that ball DOWN the hatch.  I rolled them in a bit more salt than usual and that was a good move! The aid stations were only every 10ISH miles and in weather like that, they should be like they are in Kona, every 7.  I was pouring water over me at every stop, adding cold water to my bottle and was ELATED when I arrived at the special needs stop and found my foil wrapped bottle of Osmo still slushy.  There is NOTHING like an ice cold drink at mile 70 of an Ironman.  When the wind really picked up it got a little frustrating as the drafting would seem to increase as well.  People just seem to gravitate towards others in order to shield themselves from the wind.  I kept telling myself that to focus on others is to waste energy, but that didn't stop me from getting a bit frustrated.  At one point a pro gal I had passed was right behind me so I looked at her and she apologized and then came around me as if to offer me a break...uh, no thanks chick, I don't want no penalty.  It got a bit ugly for me towards the end of the bike and I found myself yelling at the wind that I "LOVED" it and then in turn making loud grunting noises...does anyone else do this?  Good friends know exactly how this sounds. Good thing not many people were around...they might get the incorrect picture that I am a bit strange ;) I got off of the bike in 2nd position and told myself it was time to run!

Run 3:38:15/ 8:18/mile and 6th fastest amateur run

TX budgy smuggler cheer boys!

What do you say about a disappointing run that saw you go from leading the overall amateur race to landing as the 5th best amateur and 2nd in your AG?  I struggle to (audibly) say I'm "disappointed", as I feel like that may come off as ungrateful.  2nd in my AG and 5th overall IS good, and I get that.  But I wanted more from myself and I wanted to win. With the run training I have been doing, I felt like on the right day, this could be a possibility.  So I am a bit disappointed.  Not a go throw a pity party or even really wonder "what" I could have done better, but just a bit like damn...what happened those last 5 miles that I just couldn't hang on?  I try not to make excuses as I simply was not THE best on the day, but I am hoping that I get to blame a small amount of this run on the fact that I had been sick and am still not over it.  I can do that, right?

In the lead...for now

I always throw a bit of a party as you hit the run as you know the only thing that can let you down from here on out, is your body.  No more opportunity for a mechanical, no one to possibly kick your goggles off and drown you...nope, all you have left is 26.2 (don't for get the .2) miles on your feet, and for some reason, that seems like the most controllable portion of the race to me.

 I exited T2 with a half bottle full of a mixture of pre load and osmo active to top off the salts for the rest of the day.  I won't drink the on course nutrition so get all of my salt from pre-load the night before/morning of and then in T2. It all started off OK enough...the first mile is always brutal for me. But I've learned to just take that one easy and build into it as the legs will come around.  The course is not at all hilly, but very quickly I felt myself really feeling the ever so slight nonexistent inclines that are on the course.  I didn't have Mark there with me, so had to be really on myself to take coke, ice, water at each aid station.  I definitely slowed/walked a bit at most of the aid stations so that I ensured I got all of the nutrition I needed.  I didn't want to be in such a hustle that I skipped calories cause who can eat and run at the same time?...ROOKIE.  The run in Texas is just awesome...three laps of crazy spectators cheering for you!  Definitely needed when you are in the hurt locker!  I was focusing so much that I couldn't even high five people :(  It was good to have team mates Heidi and Kelly on the course and to have Jordan helping me out with where I was at in the race.  Thank you ladies!  The wind continued onto the run course from the bike and at one point along the canal it was like you hit a WALL of wind...I would try to find the biggest guy I could to tuck behind for that portion of the run!  I headed into the last lap of the run and with about 6 miles to go was like, uh-oh...my quads have never felt like this...what is this terrible feeling?  Time to start popping my glucose tabs and hope that the finish line magically appears!  Glucose tabs are like pixie sticks in solid form...and so tasty late in the marathon and offer a quick hit of sugar...who knew they weren't only for diabetics?  Thank you Stacy for that tip!  I got passed in the last 4 miles by 3 of the 4 women who would finish in front of me (the 4th started later).  Kudos to those fleet feeted gals...so fast and all cheered me on as they passed- fast AND good sports!  Love this sport for just that reason!

wow...so hawt!

I hit the line in 10:10 and nabbed a spot to Kona.  Quickly hit the massage tent to try to undo some of the damage done by the 26 miles on pavement and then went in search of the biggest milkshake I could find!

Thanks for all of the cheers throughout the day! Thank you to my husband, Mark, for guiding me to my 6th Kona qualification.

Podium girls!

Thanks to all of the people that got me to the start line in such good shape such that all I had to do was go out and execute my plan.  I can't say enough how grateful I am for people in my life that make this sport a possibility for me.  I've built so many friendships through triathlon over the past decade, and I can't imagine where my life would be with out all of these wonderful people!



See you in a few weeks at Escape from Alcatraz!

Wildflower 2015, dusting off the rust

California has my heart

Central California, camping and 2000 of your closest friends...sounds perfect, right?  And somehow I hadn't been to Wildflower since 2011.  Being two weeks out from Ironman Texas, I hadn't wanted to take on the long course race, so opted for the Olympic (can these Ironman legs go fast?) distance race. I'd never done the oly here and was excited to knock out two miles from the swim to T1 and then to only have to run 4 miles after the bike!

The plan was to drive down with Kayla and her hubby, she would race Saturday (crushed it and got 4th in her AG), I would race Sunday while they went wine tasting (insert sad, sad pandas here- they taste and I race?!) and then they would pick me up on the way home from Paso.  There was a clan of Coeur Sports gals racing and as soon as we pulled into the camp area (which is massive) we immediately pulled in right next to their site.  We must all know the best place to camp!

Camping!

We set up shop, got a chicken kebab (one of WAY too many that I would eat over the weekend) and put Kayla to bed for her pre-race beauty rest.  I rode around the course on Saturday, had an awesome time cheering for folks, and watching the pro race unfold over the last mile of the race.  I've never seen the kind of pain on a face that I saw Saturday on a few competitors faces...one guy (Thomas Gerlach I think?) could see 4th ahead and was gritting his teeth like something else...you could just tell he was going to catch 4th or kill himself falling down the steep Lynch Hill on the way to the finish. It was awesome and inspiring.  The women were EQUALLY impressive with Heather Jackson leading the charge and Liz Lyles eating up real estate and eventually taking the W at the line. And they say women's sports aren't as interesting...

I had the bike prepped and stuff laid out, although I think my 9:55AM start was the latest race I've ever started and was excited for my leisurely sleep in time of 6AM on race day....Why up so early? For one, we were camping and once it gets light, you're up and two, the last shuttle to the swim start left at 8:30...leaving me plenty of time to solve the worlds problems before my waive went off.

Pre Race nutrition: not normal but what I had at camp...2 bananas, 2 packets of peanut butter, 1 bite size Bonk Breaker, large coffee on way to swim start and some Osmo to sip on. ~900kcals from about 7-9:30AM

We woke up to thick as pea soup fog, which left me scrambling to dig out a pair of amber Roka F1's from the bottom of my bag (bright as ever the day before for the long course race).  The fog eventually lifted since my wave went off at lunch time and I thankfully also had a pair of the grey mirrored goggles that were PERFECT for the job.  A fresh pair of goggles on race day gets me so excited...no fog! I had talked with Mark the night before and he asked me if I was ready to race...even though this is prep for Texas, I believe that if you go out onto a race course, you RACE...there is no such thing as "training through a race" or "taking it easy" for me on race day.  You pin on a number and you respect the course and do your very best. He told me that if at ANY time I felt comfortable, to push harder.  And that's what I did all day long.  I led out our group on the swim.  One gal tried to come with me, but I felt like I lost her pretty quickly.  I sighted well and exited the water in 22min, which was a 1:29/100m pace...Tim (coach at Stanford Masters), hope I did you proud!   I will attribute the speedy swim to my brand new Maverick Pro which not only made me fast, but also left me with ZERO neck chaffing.  #forthewin

Up a MASSIVE hill and onto the trails for a 2.2 mile run to our bikes.  This was a great way to spike the HR and get yourself ready to climb Lynch Hill- to those I passed while making dying animal noises, my apologies! I kept telling myself to not let anyone pass me (we were the next to last wave) and to keep pushing!  Soon enough we were onto the bikes and out into the hills of Central California!

I had ridden the course on Friday and Saturday and knew we were all in for a, can't find your groove, up and down, chip seal kind of ride with a potential headwind on the way home.  All of that came true, but I thought I would be able to cover the 24 miles in 1:20 or just under.  I've been riding the new Enve 4.5's and LOVE them for hills and windier courses. I hit the turn-around after 41 minutes and knew I would need to do a bit more pressing to make it home quickly.  The racers at Wildflower are amazing, so many of the folks that I passed had words of encouragement and were just so kind.  I know that I am serious on the course as well, but sometimes it's nice to still be friendly and not just so uber competitive that we can't get our heads out of our rears!...Your interactions with others on the course don't have to be matched by your inner dialog mantra of "kill, kill, kill!!".  I managed to keep the goal of not getting passed and had passed a fair amount of women so was hoping as we went into the run that my bike and I had begun to be in contention of the AG win.

Bike Nutrition: 2 bottles of Osmo and 1 bite size Bonk Breaker PB and Choc Chip ~275kcals

Team Coeur!

Only 4 mi to go, it can't be THAT hard, right?!!! Uh, wrong...ever done the long course at Wildflower?  Due to the course modifications that have to be made since the swim to T1 transition removes 2 miles from your end run, the olympic run goes straight up Beach Hill.  A gem of a 1 mile climb that had me taking teeny, tiny, count to 10 walk breaks :(  Olympics are so hard for me to get into that right mindset of "it's over before you know it so you must RUN the uphills HARD".  But before you knew it, I was running at the top of Lynch Hill and ready to give my quads a proper beat down with the steep mile downhill that remained between me and the finish line.

I crossed the line as the 2nd amateur and 1st in my AG.  I hadn't been excited about the race before it started, but once I hit the swim, I was PUMPED to be out there racing...it's been 7 months since Kona, how does that happen?  Now it's less than two week until Ironman Texas and time to put myself into the bubble of hand sanitizer, staying away from all sick people and a final two weeks of wine deprivation.  The last of which is truly sad as a wine club shipment JUST arrived.  Alas, it'll have to wait until post Texas!

Thanks to my training partners and best friends, they make getting the miles in FUN.  Thanks to Mark for coaching me through it all and to my sponsors for making sure all I have to do is show up and race!

100 Things about me...

WOW- I am very late to this party, and not sure how many of you will make it to 100...but this was a fun exercise and if nothing else, that is worth it! Thanks to the ladies before me who got this going!

1. I'm a Leo and couldn't love the summer more...if I could life half the year in the Northern hemisphere and half in the South, always being in summer, I would be over the moon.
2. I smoked for the better part of a decade
3. Smoking is the only thing in my life that I regret
4. I have (only) one sister who I used to cling to so much, she called me a jelly bean, I still love her that much.
5. I met my husband at a bar.  The next day we went to a bike race together and the rest is history.
6. If I could only do one sport for the rest of my life it would be riding my bike.
7. My mom gave me the gift of loving fitness and the woman still swims/bikes and walks every day of the week.
8. My mom and stepdad have been to every Kona...5 in a row, hoping they like the island as much as I do.
9. Honu...for the peace they represent, they are my fave animal
10. Elephants...my other fave animal, again, quiet giants, so lovely and HUGE.
11. My husband is my coach and it works...for the most part
12. I majored in fashion merchandising and somehow ended up working at a bank
13. I hate to be cold, would rather sweat my booty off than be slightly cold
14. Steam rooms/saunas...love them, see again, #13 regarding heat
15. Mark and I rode the entire Tour of Flanders course in 2011 and it was one of the best days on the bike I've had...all 165 miles of it!
16. I grew up in Ohio and knew I would eventually live in New York or San Francisco
17. I moved to SF as soon as I graduated college
18. Before I got serious about triathlon I weighed 20 more lbs and those pictures now make me cringe
19. I love vocal trance/dance/house music
20. Heavy Metal makes me want to hit things and makes me irritable
21. I hate walking as a mode of transport...it is just SO slow
22. When I was younger, I thought I would surely have kids before 30...I met my husband at 29 and fell in love with triathlon...still no babies!
23. My hair was boy short for years...and is not naturally blonde
24. I can't do raw fish...major texture issues
25. I've bonked so hard in a ride that I've picked up food off of the ground
26. If Mark is away and I'm all by myself, I will go through the house before bed and search for "monsters and bad guys".
27. I look forward to Kona every year and dream about going back.
28. I hate being told NO, or you CAN'T...I will move heaven and earth if you say this to me to make sure I CAN and YES
29. I'm stubborn....see above
30. I have a small problem with designer shoes and handbags
31. I love beauty/body products...love to try new stuff and sometimes hoard it
32. I hate piles of paper but don't know what to with stuff so it just ends up in a pile that I then move from room to room looking for a permanent home.
33. I would ride flats and gradual inclines ALL day over climbing hills
34. I live in the Bay Area so the above is not possible...we climb all the time
35. If I swim on my own, I will do the same 3k set that I have done since college. Boring!
36. Whole milk lattes
37. I don't like coffee at all
38. The first time I went to the UK, I told my husband it smelled like "wet dogs"
39. I only like chocolate milkshakes made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup...not chocolate ice cream.
40. I still have the very first "real" road bike my parents got for me in 8th grade...The Blue Schwin of Destiny!
41. My sister and I used to ride a tandem together on really long bike rides, and I may or may not have used her shirt as a tissue.
42. Best book I've read is Atlas Shrugged
43. Best book I've read recently is "Where'd you go Bernadette"...hilarious, thanks Mom!
44. I lived in 4 different apartments within a block radius in San Francisco over 3 years
45. I'll pick salty/fatty over sweet 9 times out of 10
46. Rainy/grey weather depresses me
47. I won't ride my bike in the rain any more
48. I am a rule FOLLOWER and get mad when rules that apply to me aren't consistently applied
49. I'm trying to give less f@#k's
50. I'd rather be with other people than alone
51. But I won't spend time with people I don't like...no one has that much time
52. That being said, I will never be mean to someone
53. Mean people suck
54. Dopers suck
55. I think there are WAY more age groupers doping in sport than anyone wants to believe/acknowledges
56. I like to lead and really don't like to follow (close friends are laughing)
57. Big training makes me feel like I've lost brain power and I feel stupid sometimes in heavy builds
58. I'm not a creative, but I can execute on almost anything I'm given
59. I'm amazed most days by the wonderful people sport has brought into my life
60. Olive oil and salt on ice cream should be illegal it's so good
61. When I get excited (often), I talk even louder than normal...sorry hubby!
62. After being with a Brit for 10 years, I know have a degree in British Speak and can translate for you if you are unclear on certain words.
63. You should never eat an entire bag of fresh cherries for fear of total GI destruction
64. The triathlon seed was planted early; my mom did one and I saw Kona on the TV and told my mom and sister we could do a relay...who want's to be the runner?!!!  NOT it!
65. I love slowcooker meals, something about getting home and dinner is ready feels SO good
66. My nickname is Hailes or Hai
67. I'm left handed but do almost everything right handed, kicking balls, cutting things...
68. I'm obsesses with short nails and a good shelac polish on them
69. Race day nails...always!
70. I like to play the lotto occasionally...the money you spend on the ticket is never going to win you anything, but it lets you daydream for a bit and that's fun
71. When I asked Mark to give me a suggestion for one of these items he said "you're bat shit effing crazy!"
72. He also brags about me to people, but never so I can hear it...God forbid I get over confident!
73. Favorite fruit are strawberries, cherries not so many that #63 occurs and nectarines
74. I work with a ton of incredibly smart women and that inspires me daily
75. Red wine over white and California wine over anything else #homestatepride
76. I got married on a Caribbean island with only 19 other people
77. My ex and still dear friend came to the wedding and the teasing of me by he and my husband was unstoppable
78. Fave long ride snack is coke and a bag of chips
79. Fresh sheets and old tee shirts have the same smell and I love it- smells like home
80. I'm OK to have wrinkles on my body and love a tan, but never let my face see the sun/wear tons of zinc as I don't want a wrinkly face
81. I believe plastic surgery/cosmetic procedures are A-OK...whatever makes you smile
82. My first job was as a lifeguard...full on rule enforcer in effect!
83. I drive an electric Fiat and I call it my golf cart...
84. I would never jump out of a perfectly good plane
85. We drove cross country when I was little and it is still one of my most vivid and wonderful childhood memories
86. I would be comfortable/prefer being in a swimsuit all day every day
87. I hate shopping for bargains and am terrible at sifting through stuff for a "deal"
88. I am incredibly efficient
89. I hate being late and it makes me anxious if I think I'm going to be late
90. If you're consistently late, that tells me you believe your time to be more important than mine
91. Sunday Dinners with our friends are my favorite time of the week
92. I get great joy from others finding fun in fitness
93. I try to be mindful that not everyone wants to talk tri/nutrition/how far I rode this weekend and shift the subject quickly
94. I can't do triathlon/anything well unless I have balance with still having fun in life
95. I don't care about any mainstream sports...thankfully neither does Mark
96. The oppression of women in our own and other countries deeply disturbs me
97. The most important thing to me in my marriage is that we're on the same team #teammanning
98. I want to go to Africa and visit with elephants in their natural habitat
99. I want to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
100. This was easier than I thought it would be!