I've been putting off this recap because I was not happy with this race. This is the old neighborhood 5K, it was my first race ever. It's also one of the hardest courses I've ever done.
I had the Fourth of July off this year and our friend Mike was in town, so the three of us decided to run it. We woke up early, drove to my parents' house, walked down to the park to register, registered and then walked back to the house to eat some breakfast. After some eggs and oj, we jogged down to the park as a warm up and then started stretching ... and took some photos.
Brandon and Mike.
The three of us.
The kids fun run went off and then it was time for us to line up.
Aaaand we're off!
The first mile is all uphill. The trail we start out on is actually behind my brother's house and he must have heard the race hubbub and come out on his back porch, as we saw him running and we waved at each other.
I actually wore calf sleeves for this race as my legs were trashed from riding up Stage as were my lungs (and my lungs still are, if i'm being honest). The lungs hurt badly on that first hill.
Mile one? Felt slow. I know it was over 10 ... Soon after, I also started getting gastro issues. Most of mile two to the finish I really wanted to poop. All runners know that when that happens ... the run typically goes downhill. In this case, it was literal and metaphorical, as the last mile of the race is all downhill.
Not soon enough, I came rolling to the finish:
And moments behind me (you can see him in the white in my photo), Brandon:
Right after the finish, I booked it to a porta-potty. Ugh, misery.
Final Stats:
Time: 30:22
Pace: 9:48/mi
Overall Rank: 134/287
Gender Rank: 42/143
Division Rank: 5/18 (F20-29)
Second fastest time on this stupid course. I've cracked 30 on this course only once ... and will probably never do it again unless the stars align perfectly.
Stupid race.
Normally, this blog doesn't get political. Although you all know my view on politics and government, I try to keep them out of my posts. This one, however, will dig deep. So if you are the easily offended type, click here and you can head on out.
On the majority of issues that face us, I am open minded. I will generally listen to the other side of the viewpoint, and while I usually don't change my stance, it has happened. A couple weeks ago, we went to a same-sex wedding. Up until that point, I was uncomfortable with the idea of gay marriage. Not because of religious reasons; I feared it would be a slippery slope. However, seeing two people who clearly love each other, who are no different then me and T, well let's just say it changed my stance.
However, this issue, the Rolling Stone cover issue, that's one I refuse to bend an inch on.
For those of you who are not sure what I'm talking about, I'll quick fill you in.
Rolling Stone, the music and cultural magazine, is featuring Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on its cover. The picture of him is not one of a troubled man, or a mug shot, or him lying in a boat surrounded by Boston police. No, the picture of him is a cool, hip, young man, looking into the camera with a slightly smug look. A hipster, suave and composed. Looking at it, if you were clueless about this tragedy that struck in April, you'd think he was an up-and-coming lead singer, or maybe a DJ. You wouldn't dare think he was a terrorist who killed 3 people, wounded hundreds of others, caused irreparable damage, and struck fear in the hearts of the athletic community all over America.
The controversy isn't with the article itself. I don't care this this magazine, which has billed itself in recent years as less of a music magazine and more of a political magazine that calls out Republicans and right-wing policies, wrote an article about the Boston bomber. I don't care. What I care about is that they are featuring him on the cover like some sort of rock star. Like some sort of cool kid. I won't link to the picture out of principle, but take a look and judge for yourself if this picture is accurate of what I am saying.
David Draiman, the lead singer of Disturbed, called out the magazine, saying it can "go to hell" after featuring this man on the cover. Other musicians have joined in with him saying similar things. It's pretty clear that featuring this terrorist on their cover has upset the general public, and rightly so. He created terror! He killed people! He wrote in the boat "Fuck America". And yet this magazine featured him on the cover!
Now, here's where we're at this morning. A friend who reads this blog created quite the stir the other night by saying he would have to read the article before he made a judgement on Rolling Stone magazine. I reminded him that I wasn't making a judgement on the article; I was judging the decision to feature him like a rock star on the cover. After bantering back and forth and feeling like an episode of CNN's Crossfire, I asked him bottom line did he feel the cover was wrong. He said no, he did not. He said all he saw was a kid. He didn't see a terrorist.
To me, that says a lot.
You see, on April 15th, those of us in the running community had our lives changed. Altered. The rules changed. Races were no longer safe. A place of escape, a place where athletes gather to achieve great things, suddenly were under attack. The phrase "is nothing sacred?" gets thrown around a lot, but in this case, it's true. Running and races are, to the community, sacred things. Escape. Zen. Use whatever word you want, but it's reality, people. Even non-runners who have a connection to the city of Boston were affected. While not on the same scale as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this was personal. It was deep. Days after the race, Boston Strong entered our lexicon. Much as "we will never forget" became a tagline after 9/11, and "support the troops" came into play in 2003 for the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, Boston Strong was a symbol of our unwavering support for the city of Boston, and the running community. It meant numerous things, and yet, tied it all together into one simple thing: we will not be afraid. We will not stand for terrorism. You cannot scare us. Your bombs hurt, but cannot stop us. You saw the support across the country, with runs for Boston, wristbands, and shirts that said "Colorado Runners for Boston".
I was at the Boston Marathon in 2012 cheering my dear friend Kris on, who was running Boston for the first time. It was hot. It was humid. A horrible day to have a marathon. And yet, it was magical being there. Camped out at mile 25, seeing athletes climb a hill, they were strong. Healthy. Most were in pain, having pushed themselves a ridiculous distance in sweltering conditions. And yet, there was joy. There was pride. There was an amazing sense of accomplishment. I remember distinctly a kid running near us, with a glassy look in his eyes. He was out of it. I gave him very clear instructions to put some ice on his head, drink some water, and keep going. He didn't respond, but he did everything I said to do. That's a connection right there. That's experiencing the race. That's what "Boston Strong" is all about.
And that's where the outrage at this magazine comes from. To showcase this disgusting human being on the cover, to frame him like some sort of star. It's horrid. Inexcusable. And if you are not outraged by this, I honestly have to question where your heart is.
Like I said earlier, I generally listen to both sides. This issue though? There is no other side. Plain and simple, Rolling Stone glorified a terrorist. And my outrage is not fake.
In which we enter official week #1 of Ironman training.
Monday, July 1: Stretching: 10:00
- butt, calves, kinda shoulders
- First official day of training ... and it is a personal choice of a stretch day. Love it. I'll enjoy it for now ...
Tuesday, July 2: Swim: 1400m in 30:18.06 - 2:09/100m
- 4x100m, 16x25m, 200m, 4x100m
- 3 easy, 1 hard in the 16
- 200 hard kicked my ass
- this was different and I liked that
Run: 3.07 mi in 28:43 - 9:19/mi
- Run CO pub run
- with Mike
- almost back to the 2011 pub run route
- This was a hell of a first day of training. The swim workout was a wonderful change ... and will be rough once we do it officially. New pub run route also a nice change.
Wednesday, July 3: Bike: 25.84 mi in 1:32:45; avg cad 78; 16.72 mph
- max 41.7 mph
- Boulder Peak course pre-ride
- fell over on Stage - bicycle cartwheel
- This was horribly, awful rough, legs hurt, yes, but oh dear god my lungs. Peak might be tricky ... maybe this pre-ride wasn't a good idea ...
Thursday, July 4: Run: Lone Tree Liberty Dash: 5K in 30:22 - 9:46/mi
- had to poop for most of this
- shitty
- Kinda hoping to stretch today, too, but didn't happen. Got some decent pre- and post-race walking in, though. As for the race ... 2nd fastest time on the course. Not particularly happy with it, but legs still trashed.
Friday, July 5: Swim: 1500m in 32:17.97 - 2:07/100m
- 30x50m
- BORING
- idea was to keep it steady; first 50 was 1:04 so a 2:08(7?) average is keeping it pretty damn steady
Bike: 14.99 mi in 55:21; avg cad 77; 16.25 mph
- 31.3 mph max
- My Way pre-ride with Mike
- can't climb anymore ...
- First day of training in a long while that I've hated. Swim was monotonous and I struggled mightily on the bike. Stupid crappy birthday workout ...
Saturday, July 6: Run: 4 mi in 41:58.42 - 10:29/mi
- Run CO Saturday run
- this week's training is in my legs
- painful and painfully slow
- Wanted to do six, but needed to go cheer Mike on in his du. This was a painful 4 miles. This has been a hell of a week of training so far ...
Sunday, July 7: Bike: 8.46 mi in 30:04; avg cad 84; 16.88 mph
- 27.2 mph max
- easy spin on the trainer
- I followed the "I'm tired, what should I do?" test ... and managed this. I worked out and I'm calling it good.
Probably should have been closer to 6.5, 6.75 hours this first week, but meh. We're combining two different plans - one from Triathlete magazine and another that we got from a friend. The Triathlete one is manageable, but won't get us ready for our 70.3 in a month. The plan from a friend ... well, let's just say it's for an experienced Ironman athlete, which we are not. However, it should help us prep better for said 70.3, so we're going with chunks of it. The only issue is that it has very few rest days, which we need due to scheduling and, if the way I'm feeling right now is any indication, we'll need for straight recovery.
Week one in the books, and I am tired and I am sore.
Weekly training time: 5:51:49
Weekly training mileage: 61.27 mi
Yearly training time: 113:14:30
Yearly training mileage: 849.25 mi
In which we get back into this crap.
Monday, June 24: Off: true day of rest
- While the stretch days are nice, I think physically and mentally, we need ACTUAL rest days. So like today, when we hung out by the pool for a bit, that was nice. Not officially ever taking a day off is ambitious and probably detrimental in the long run.
Tuesday, June 25: Run: 3.2 mi in 32:17.85 - 10:05/mi
- Lone Tree 5K course pre-run
- forgot how much those hills sucked
Lift: 24:00
- 3/12/70 leg curl; 3/10/12.5 bosu bicep curls; 3/10/6 med ball bosu tosses; 3/10 box jumps; 3/10 push-ups; 2/:60 planks
- quick and dirty
Run: 3.37 mi in 31:50.10 - 9:26/mi
- Run CO pub run
- busted a little ass on this - maybe pushed harder than i should
- hot ...
- This was a hell of a day in training. The two runs went surprisingly well - was it that way just because, or did the lift help as well? In any case, GREAT DAY.
Wednesday, June 26: Bike: 11.94 mi in 44:44; avg cad 76; 16.01 mph
- 33.3 mph max
- CCSP loop
- this hurt. a lot.
- I woke up very sore ... unsurprising, given yesterday's THREE workouts. But I got this in, even though in years (hell, months) past, I probably would have bagged it. Especially after my aero bottle bounced off and broke. Boo.
Thursday, June 27: Swim: 1600m in 36:41.74 - 2:17/100m
- 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m
- never got into a rhythm
- MUCUS! stupid mucus
- Had a treadmill workout scheduled, too, but we both decided that it wasn't necessary ... yet. Listened to our bodies on this one ...
Friday, June 28: Bike: 13.83 mi in 41:11; avg cad 93; 20.15 mph
- 38.0 mph max
- MX12 over-unders
- needed something quick
- This day was a disaster in terms of outside schedule factors - work that morning, wedding in the mountains that evening. But very glad I got this in, even though to me, it wasn't optional.
Saturday, June 29: Run: 6 mi in 1:02:56 - 10:29/mi
- Run CO Saturday run
- little slow ... fairly humid
- So damn exhausted when I woke up - really didn't want to be up that early to run - but I got up and I ran. Not the best or fastest, but I got out there, dangit. Amusing side note - later that afternoon, I was wondering what I did to workout - briefly thought I forgot ... and then I remembered oh yeah, you RAN 6 MILES this morning, idiot.
Sunday, June 30: Bike: 19.83 mi in 1:11:40; avg cad 85; 16.6 mph
- 37.4 mph max
- rollers near Aurora res
- legs never, ever liked me during this ride
- This was a rough ride - forgot how hard those rollers are. Still, glad to have experienced it and need to do it again.
Weekly training time: 5:45:21
Weekly training mileage: 59.16 mi
Yearly training time: 107:22:41
Yearly training mileage: 787.98 mi
Today we decided to go ride the prairie of Colorado, parking our car at the entrance of Aurora Reservoir where we do our open-water swims, and hopping on the bikes. Riding the prairie gives you a lot of different ride conditions. It's hot, there's very little shade, generally breezy, rolling hills, and little traffic. There's also very little bike congestion, allowing you to stay in a groove. It's a great place to train...and also very taxing mentally.
When you're riding away from the Rocky Mountains, Colorado is actually a very bland/blah state. People think of Colorado as all pretty and scenic. Yeah, go 15 miles east of Denver and it's as boring as Nebraska/Iowa/Kansas/most of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Mile after mile, the road just stretches. It's very tough mentally. And solitary.
Let me just say that while I'm progressing nicely as an athlete right now, I still have a loooooooong way to go. The rollers were very difficult today, my climbing was inefficient and my mental capacity broke down. From what I hear, the IMAZ course is pretty boring, so to have to do that 3 times will be an extreme challenge mentally. I know I'm up to the task, but I have to train my mind. It's easy to do the Platte River Trail, where there's a lot of people and things to see. The prairie? Not so much. So I think you know where I need to be. :-)
In which we make mistakes ... but as long as we learn from them, it's all good, right?
Monday, June 17: Stretching: 15:00
- getting out post-tri soreness
- shoulders, hip flexors, butt, calves
- Out of all the stretching I've done, this has felt some of the most rewarding. Still so, so sore, though.
Tuesday, June 18: Run: 3.37 mi in 31:48.81 - 9:26/mi
- Run CO pub run
- WINDY
- Had a recovery trainer session scheduled as well, but was way too exhausted to think about it when I got home from a long day at work. Got the run in and I'm happy. ALSO: new watch, as my Timex died. Again.
Wednesday, June 19: Swim: 400 yds in 7:21:46 - 1:50/100 yds
- two loops at Aurora
- cold made it a bit tricky
- second loop better than the first
- Was going to ride as well, but we decided to hold off with the heat and wind. So we grabbed lunch ... and lunch killed us ... felt nauseous and awful the rest of the day. Lesson ... learned.
Thursday, June 20: Bike: 13.39 mi in 40:13; avg cad 91; 19.98 mph
- 37.4 mph max
- MX12 over-unders set
- handled it this time ...
- Moved around my workouts and decided on this rather than Troy - glad I did. Lasered in my focus and killed the session.
Friday, June 21: Swim: 1600m in 36:10.72 - 2:15/100m
- 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 500m, 100m
- snack of marble loaf beforehand
- paused after 50m in the 500m set due to mucus
Run: 1.69 mi in 20:00 - 11:49/mi
- aborted MX12 roly-polies set
- hills, they kill me
- someday i'll be able to make it through this set ...
- Disappointed I didn't get a full run in, but I'm learning and exposing weaknesses in my failure which is always a good thing. Not a good thing - getting food anxiety again. I think as I'm starting to make gains in my physical appearance, my brain starts going haywire ... which is NOT good.
Saturday, June 22: Bike: 16.28 mi in 1:00:03; avg cad 86; 16.27 mph
- 25.7 mph max
- part of the Spinervals Tempe ride DVD
- hot; struggled
- The stale air and heat factor hurt a lot. This is mentally tough and I realized the only time I've made it through the entire way was when Brandon was around. Can't do this one alone, unfortunately.
Sunday, June 23: Run: 3.95 mi in 38:00.49 - 9:37/mi
- amended out-and-back
- hot; waited too long to run
- bad upper ab cramp made me stop
- Would have liked to do more, but not to be. That run was horribly painful and miserable. Wanted to puke for most of that run.
Oh the learning experiences of this week. What did T learn this week, class? Here's the rundown:
- Golden Corral is ALWAYS a bad idea. NEVER a good one.
- stretching is the most wonderful thing on the planet.
- cold open water swims are best approached with low expectations. What I didn't mention in the workout log is that my lips actually turned slightly blue in the water.
- I need a LOT more hill training in my running. Not necessarily for IMAZ, but because it'll make me a stronger runner.
- While I still get food anxiety, I can at least notice it and recognize it ... combating it is still tricky though, unfortunately.
- I shouldn't do the Tempe ride DVD alone because I'm never going to be alone on that course. I should also probably get a fan/open the patio door for that one ...
- It's summer. I need to hydrate more. DUH. Probably most of my issues ...
Weekly training time: 4:08:39
Weekly training mileage: 39.89 mi
Yearly training time: 101:37:20
Yearly training mileage: 728.82 mi
Formerly known as the 5430 Sprint Triathlon, of course.
I'm not sure even how I want to write this recap; I feel like I've recapped SO. MANY. RACES. by now, that you all essentially already know how this goes for me. Still, there might be new readers (*waves*), so I'll do this.
On Saturday, we headed up to Boulder for the race expo and packet pick-up. We also wanted to hop in the res for our first open water swim of the year and wanted to hear a bit more about the new swim start. The OWS went well and regarding the swim start, we learned that we'd essentially figure it out best the next morning. So be it. However, we unfortunately learned that due to construction on the Diagonal Highway and Jay Road (the usual turn back into the res on the bike course), the bike was being shortened from 17.2 miles to 15 and there was a short section we'd have to ride on carpet/rubber mats. Greeeat.
The course shortening also proved how anal we can sometimes be as triathletes, knowing that we can't quite compare our times to the previous years properly. Stupid shortened bike.
Race Day
Thanks to the BolderBOULDER mishap, we knew we wanted to wake up with plenty of time to get to Boulder and into transition. Trans opened at 5am and if we got into the parking lot by 4:45, all the better. That meant, of course, a 3am wake-up call. Seeing as we packed 95% of our stuff into the car the night before, though, there wasn't much to do - get dressed, eat, prep water bottles. We got on the road and made it in time for both of us to do a Boulder Tri Series first - first on our racks in transition.
Oh it's nice to be early ...
We set everything up, did our pre-race business, Brandon took a short spin on the bike, I ate my sandwich ... and we left a little early to get in some more swimming as a warm-up. I did three loops of the warm-up area, which might be my biggest ever. I felt really comfortable by that third loop, though, so it was well worth it.
The Swim:
As I mentioned earlier, they changed the swim wave start this year. Instead of going by age group, you would self-seed yourself based on your (fastest?) 100 yd time. I went conservative and plopped myself in the 1:50-2:00 group ... which was fairly accurate. I probably could have seeded myself in the 1:40-1:50 group, but meh.
What I didn't like was that instead of an in-water start, your time started as soon as you crossed under the arch so any time you spent acclimating yourself to the water was added to your time. For someone like me ... that sucks. That being said, I know quite a few tris are like that, so I really shouldn't complain. I've been spoiled with my in-water starts ... and quite happy that way.
Anyway, the new swim waves were frustrating in that you could never get open space. I felt I was always within reach of at least one other swimmer and many times, I had to thread my way through groups of three or four other swimmers. I felt like I got slowed down a lot to that as it forced me to constantly sight and re-sight.
Besides, that, though, I felt like I was swimming pretty well. I got as close to the shore as I could before waddling out and up through the arch.
Time: 20:07 (rate: 2:31; rank: 865th overall; 65th division)
T1:
As opposed to years past, I was actually in a better position in terms of the bike out, which I think actually helped this time be speedier as opposed to years past. I still always feel like I'm fumbling around, though ...
Time: 2:39 (rank: 270th; 22nd)
The Bike:
I was really happy we got up here a week or so beforehand to pre-ride the course. It helped me come up with a race strategy which I think really helped.
I pushed it slightly on 51st (leaving the res) until the main ascent started and then shifted into a relatively easy gear and bumped my cadence up into the 90s and stayed there for pretty much the first five miles. This allowed me to keep a steady pace on Jay and the first, crappy part of 36. Then, when the downhill came, I could open it up and kept it pretty much open until the turn on 63rd.
The only problem I ran into was with shifting while making the transition from downhill to uphill. I was not as smooth as I could have/should have been as a few times, I shifted too early which caused my legs to go herky jerky. This stretched out an ... adductor? part of my groin? which hurt a bit after the race, but it was nothing that a night of compression tights couldn't fix. This is something definitely to work on for the future.
63rd is the rollers. They sucked a bit more in the race than they did on our training ride, but not much worse. They definitely felt like they went by quicker. Then on to the Diagonal for barely any time at all (yay) and the turn off to the rubber mats (boo). Speed dropped way down on those and I unfortunately got a bit clumped up with some other riders (the other unintended consequence of the swim start - lots of people out on the bike course at the same time, leading to (illegal) draft packs) and could never regain any speed.
The new rerouted course took us past part of the run course and I could just see Brandon and yelled at him, but he was a bit too far gone to actually see/acknowledge me.
I obviously took it slower as we were riding past the runners, but the people around me acted like they were the only ones there, as a woman in front of me took a wide turn into the dismount area, making me very glad I was aware of her to the point where I DIDN'T crash into her. *sigh* Off the bike and back into trans.
Time: 48:56 (rate: 18.4 mph; rank: 806th; 45th)
T2:
This time, unfortunately, was slower due to being further away from the bike in/run out than in years past. Dangit. Also: may not want to BodyGlide feet for 5Ks and would like to experiment using TriSlide instead for other distances, as I feel it may be quicker.
Time: 2:12 (rank: 831st; 55th)
The Run:
I ran out of transition and a good bit of the run before needing to walk. The whole run was a general run/walk pattern. My legs felt a little leaden for probably about the first mile and my lungs didn't really want to come around. I saw Brandon about 3/4 of the way through the first mile and said hi as he was on his way back.
I stopped at the first water station to walk some and get water. I don't believe I drank any; it pretty much all went over my head.
The second mile went slightly better as I tried to run when as I could. I decided to take in my gel as I entered back through the aid station (better to take it when water is around) which I don't think ended up being a good idea. It helped a bit immediately, but I think it also helped contribute to me wanting to puke near the end.
My legs felt stronger as the run went on - I regret being a moron and stopping my watch after the swim instead of just taking a split so I could have at least guessed my mile splits (not that it mattered; my watch died as it was) - and I'm pretty sure I may have neg-split it, but alas, I know not for sure. There were a few people who I was going back and forth with near the end of the run including some old guy in Hokas - he tried passing me but I surged ahead of him with a vengeance as we reached the turn to the finish, sprinting past him and about four other people in the chute. I crossed the line, about wanting to die.
Time: 30:45 (rate: 9:56/mi; rank: 800th; 55th)
Overall Stats:
Time: 1:44:39
50/87 division (F30-34)
240/416 female
783/1073 overall
This is all confirming me as a bottom quarter racer. Woo. In terms of my rankings last year, I did move up slightly in the overall standings, though, so yay for that.
Rocking our new MX12 kits!
And, since we did it last year, let's play the comparison game!
This year:
Swim: 20:07; 2:31/100m
T1: 2:39
Bike: 48:56; 18.4mph
T2: 2:12
Run: 30:45; 9:56/mi
Overall Time: 1:44:39
2012:
Swim: 21:11; 2:39/100m
T1: 3:09
Bike: 59:22; 17.4mph
T2: 2:03
Run: 31:15; 10:05/mi
Overall Time: 1:57:00
2011:
Swim: 21:32; 2:53/100m
T1: 3:10
Bike: 1:00:42; 17.0mph
T2: 2:01
Run: 31:14; 10:04/mi
Overall Time: 1:58:39
My swim continues to get better which is GOOD because I have put a lot of work into improving the damn thing.
T1 I think we can put on transition location.
The bike is skewed due to the shorter length, but I do believe my average speed wouldn't have dropped a whole mile per hour over the two miles that got chopped off, so we'll just say that's improving too. I mostly thank the new bike for this.
T2: see my note for T1.
What's funny is I keep wanting a faster run ... and I chopped off a whole 30 seconds this year which is actually quite significant if you think about it. Improvement is happening; I just have to put it into perspective.
