70.3 World Championships

Leading up to the race:

As most of you know by now (due to my constant complaining), I went into this race with an injury to my achilles/heel. In the weeks leading up to the race when I would ask myself why this injury had to happen now, I thought about how many people would have the perfect training leading up to the race but unexpectedly wake up sick on race morning and have their race plans screwed up. Little did I know I was foreshadowing my own fate!

The week leading into the race I continued to receive treatments at Altus (http://www.altushealth.com/elite-wellness-programs) and I also had diagnostic imaging done that revealed a bursa sac near my Achilles that was causing a lot of the pain. I had that sucker drained (not a fun thing) and then injected with Traumeel. I wouldn’t be allowed to “test” my foot until the day before the race. In the midst of rushing to doctor appointments and therapy sessions, I was also working a TON. I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep and I was starting to feel run down. I told myself that I wasn’t getting sick and that I would feel better once I was on a plane to Vegas.

Thankfully my mom flew out from Philly for the race and we met at the airport. She hadn’t been to a race in 4 years, since my first 70.3 Worlds, so I was determined to show her a better race! Having a Sherpa with me made all of the pre-race stuff super easy. After we dropped off my run gear in T2 on Saturday we went to lunch and that’s when things started to go bad. I had chills, starting feeling feverish and my throat was on fire. In the next few hours things quickly got worse. My coach called that afternoon and based on my “hello” she said, “holy crap what’s wrong with you?”

By dinner I had my head in my heads at the table and had to cut the meal short in order to get home and get to bed.

I woke up Sunday feeling bad but not horrible, so I thought I would be ok. Within an hour the chills, fever and nausea started and then I saw it was raining. If this were any other day I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. I was having trouble keeping anything down and I just wanted to curl in a ball and pull the covers over my head. Instead, I gathered my stuff and told myself I was going to see what I was made of.

I quickly got set up in T1 and then I got a message from Joanna saying “Be Strong." I am typically not good at having race mantras but these 2 simple words would prove to be invaluable in the course of my day. I also felt bad for my mom who was having to find her way around the race site in the dark and pouring rain. She was doing all of this to support me and I didn’t know if I would even make it to the start line! I tried to not think too far ahead and told myself to just get my warm up done and see how I felt. I had to take everything in increments as I was feeling worse and worse as the minutes clicked by.

Ok enough dramatic build up, onto the actual race:

Swim:

It’s an in- water start and girls were already clobbering each other so I kept moving farther and farther back. I heard a familiar voice next to me, Audra Adair, who I met running side by side in Oceanside this year. She’s a great competitor and someone I knew I had to keep an eye on during the race. The gun went off but I found it hard to get into a groove. The nausea was a lot worse swimming than when I was just standing around and I couldn’t shake it. After the first turn buoy my left foot started cramping just like in Vineman. I had to stop kicking and without a wetsuit that’s bad news. The cramp started moving up my lower leg and I knew if my whole calf cramped I would be done, so I swam slow and didn’t kick at all. I really need to figure this out! I exited the water in a horribly-slow time but I was just happy that I made it through.

T1: The run from the swim exit to T1 took us through muddy grass and sand, which my Achilles did not appreciate. I grabbed my bike and got to see my mom on my way out. She was standing in the rain with a trash bag over her head-there was no way I was quitting this race! (Although if I had known I was in 35^th place coming out of the water I may have debated it).

Bike:

The first few minutes on the bike were brutal for me. I thought for sure I was going to puke and my fever and chills were in full force. By the time we exited the resort I was thinking how I could drop out of the race now and still be close to the hotel. I backed off my power, took some Tums and water and then had a little talk with myself. BE STRONG. If I could just be strong for another 4.5 hours this would all be over. So this became my anthem for the day thanks to Joanna. I was literally saying it over and over and out loud at times. After 10 miles I started feeling a little better. It was raining hard but that was the least of my worries. I tried not to punk out and I took chances figuring if I crashed it wouldn’t matter that much anyway. Soon I started passing girls who have beat me earlier in the season so it gave me the confidence and the kick I needed. Then a new mantra popped into my head  “I’m droppin bitches!” I know it sounds ridiculous but sometimes you can’t help what gets stuck in your head during 56 miles on the bike. Despite the rain, nausea and chills I started having a little fun. I figured if I quit I would still be sick so I might as well see how far I could go feeling this bad.  Joanna told me that around mile 30 nothing should feel good and she was right.  I had to get out of aero more than I would have liked due to my stomach and my legs were starting to feel the pain. The last 5 miles seemed to take forever, but I was afraid to get off the bike! I hadn’t run in 4 weeks and I had no idea how my foot would feel. Also the rain had stopped and the sun was out so the idea of running in the heat with a fever and a bad stomach was not appealing!

T2: My first step off the bike and my Achilles screamed at me. I got into the changing tent and just as I was about to leave Audra sat down right in front of me! I have to admit it gave me a boost and made me think I wasn’t too far behind!

Run:

I had prepared myself to deal with the flu symptoms I was experiencing all day but I really wasn’t prepared for my foot/Achilles pain. I had planned on attacking the downhill out of transition but had to back off a little and let everything settle down.

My training for this run course had been perfect up until my injury. Every other weekend I would do my long runs in Mandeville Canyon (5 miles up/5 miles down hard/3.5 miles up/ 3.5 miles down hard). This proved to be key as my run actually wasn’t too bad. I was slower on the uphills than I would have liked but I think this was due to being so sick. I was able to keep all of my downhill miles between 6:24-6:31, which was right on target. I think I was so focused on how bad I was feeling and trying to keep from puking that I didn’t really pay attention to the miles.  Thanks to Tyler I have proof of what it looks like to run when you really just want to throw up!

As the miles ticked by I just kept telling myself it would all be over soon and I could go to bed! Around mile 10.5 a girl who beat me at Oceanside came up and passed me. We continued to go back and forth until she opened up a gap I couldn’t close during the last uphill. As I made the turn around for the last mile I wanted to cry I was so happy. I spotted a girl ahead of me in my division and figured I had to try to run her down. I passed her and held her off in what turned out to be a 5:46 pace for that last half mile and I came into the finisher chute happy but feeling broken.

I told the volunteers I was ok and didn’t need medical but that was a mistake. I guess when you race for 5 hours with the flu and then suddenly stop your body freaks out. As I walked away from the finish line my body started shaking, then I felt my cheeks and lips start quivering and within a second I was crying. But it was a strange uncontrollable cry. I found a trash can and stood over it just in time for an asthma attack to start. My inhaler was in T2 and I started looking around in a panic. I couldn’t get any words out. I tried to control my breathing and at that moment my mom found me. I made a motion to her that I needed my inhaler. She found a volunteer who told us that the medical tent was on the other side of where we were standing. I didn’t want to walk so I just stood there and hoped I would get a breath soon. Everything calmed down and I was able to hobble to T2 and get my inhaler. It’s weird but I have heard multiple stories of people having the same experience that day at the finish (the asthma attack and the crying fit).  In the end, I feel like I made the best of a really rough day. I finished 16^th (and it looks like 12^th-16^th were all less than a minute apart)! I now know that I can push myself beyond anything I thought I was capable of and I have definitely improved my mental game! As it turns out, my power file on the bike was the best of any race to date so that’s one good take away. Thankfully I made the decision last year not to race Kona in 2013 so my season is done and I couldn’t be happier. I am still not over this flu thing and my Achilles is on the mend so it’s time to just chill for a bit! 

Lastly, it takes a village… this saying doesn’t just apply to raising a child. Any triathlete who tows the line at a major race has not gotten there on his or her own. I owe a huge thank you to my mom who came out to the race, my coach Joanna who prepared me and gave me the mantra that kept me going, the whole team at Altus who worked around my crazy work schedule to get in me for treatment everyday. Also my sponsors: Tribike Transport, Athlete Octane, Cynergy Cycles, Rudy Project and Ero.

Injuries Suck. The end.

I tried to come up with a clever or inspirational quote about overcoming adversity, blah, blah, blah, but the honest truth is that injuries just plain suck!

My training for the 70.3 World Championships had been going perfectly and coming off a win at Vineman, I had high expectations for Worlds. My coach had come up with a great running plan to prepare for the suffer-fest of a run course that is Vegas. We built up slowly, did everything right but after a weekend of what I thought was great training I awoke with pain in both heels. I figured it was inflammation due to all of the downhill running so I didn’t panic. I acted conservatively and took a few days off from running and did lots of icing and stretching. I would soon find out this wasn’t an easy fix and I had done quite a number on myself. It all stems from some biomechanical issues that I have been trying correct (with the help of everyone at Altus Sports Institute). My mindset quickly had to shift from trying to heal fast enough to get some running in before the race, to trying to be healthy and pain-free to even consider racing.

This past Saturday was my first attempt at running. It was supposed to be an easy 30 mins off the bike. Everyone was confident that it would go well (including myself). My run lasted 1:30 (as in 1 minute and 30 secs) before the pain stopped me in my tracks. I was devastated, pissed off, and just plain sad. If I couldn’t run 30 mins today how would I run a really difficult run course in one week? The pity party continued into the long weekend and I stopped stretching, etc. and basically just ignored my lame foot. And then something interesting happened-it started feeling better! After 3 days of just leaving it alone I saw massive improvements. A diagnostic ultrasound on Tuesday showed that nothing was torn and the culprit was a stupid bursa sac sitting in my heel.  This was the best news I had heard in weeks. This meant we could “fix” it and I could run.  

This morning I did an easy 30-minute run and even though it wasn’t totally pain-free it was something. I followed this up with my acupuncture treatment (which has been amazing) and I am feeling good. Tomorrow I will have an injection of Traumeel into the bursa sac and that should knock out the rest of the pain. Fingers crossed. That still means my first potentially pain-free run won't be until Saturday (the day before the race). I am hoping I can make up for my lack of training with heart and determination! I've worked too hard to not fight til the finish!

Quitters Never Win…

Vineman is one of those races that attracts a competitive field of athletes and for good reason. The pro purse is large, the course is beautiful and it’s in wine country! I was excited to be going back to Vineman after 3 years and I was curious to see how I would stack up.

In a last minute change of plans, I ended up staying with friends at their rental house in Windsor (thanks guys)! We had so much fun in the days leading up to the race (i.e. wine tasting) that I was a little worried how I would feel on race day. It definitely wasn’t my normal pre-race routine but we had fun!

Race morning we got to the start early as Tyler, Dusty and Jason went off at 6:38. My wave didn’t go until 7:54 (ugh) so I had plenty of time to warm up, spectate and hang with Erin, Karin and Amy (they took their Sherpa duties very seriously and were awesome. All pics courtesy of them).

As Erin and I were watching the swim start we couldn’t get over how many people (all men, of course) were either late for their wave start or missed it entirely! As if that wasn’t surprising enough we saw a dude with his wetsuit on INSIDE OUT and it was fully zipped! Fail!

SWIM: 32:42, 9^th (holy crap that’s bad)

By the time my wave went off I was anxious to get started. I walked into the water for our little 3 minute warm up and immediately my left foot and calf cramped. Uh oh. I tried to shake it out but nothing was helping. I basically did the entire swim trying not to move my legs because every time I did things started cramping. I’ve also been dealing with a bum left shoulder that decided to flare up before the race so I felt like the only thing working was my right arm! This technique does not make for a fast swim (as noted in my very slow swim split).

T1: 3:19

After seeing my slow swim time I hauled ass up to my bike and attempted to rip my new awesome wetsuit off as quickly a possible (thanks TBT for the new Helix). As soon as I bent over both calves locked up! I have never experienced any type of cramping in a race so I started to panic. I ended up having to sit down in the mud in order to get the suit off and keep my legs from seizing up.  Things were not going as planned!

Bike: 2:39:23, 1^st

After a very rocky start at the mount line (literally I rode with what felt like boulders in my shoes from the gravel in T1) I was off on the bike and hoping to put the swim behind me. I felt like I was moving pretty well in the first few minutes but then the cramping came back. Not only were my legs crampy but my hands and right arm too. WTH?? I started worrying that perhaps too much wine leading up to the race was to blame for how crappy I was feeling. The rest of the ride was just a suffer-fest. My power was about 5 watts lower than my race in Kansas the month prior and I just never got into a groove. Then the negative thoughts started flowing and I found myself hoping to get a flat so that I had a legit reason to quit. I couldn’t remember ever feeling that miserable and desperate on the bike, even during an Ironman.

Coming into T2 I assumed I was probably in 10^th position or somewhere along those lines and I really just wanted to quit. I was afraid that the cramping I was experiencing on the bike would only be worse on the run and I didn’t want to be one of those people hobbling along for 13.1 miles in pure misery.

T2: 3:07 (um, really?)

At the dismount line I saw one woman right in front of me. I didn’t think much about it until we both ran to the same bike rack and I realized we were the only ones there. She was in first and I was in second. Suddenly I had to switch my mentally as I was still in the mix and realized I could actually pull off a win after such a miserable swim and bike. I tried getting my flats on and of course my legs started cramping. I had to sit down again and fumble with my shoes for what seemed like minutes (3 to be exact) as I watched the other woman fly out of transition. It was so frustrating giving away that free time. I finally got my act together and made it out of T2.

Run: 1:31:52, 1st

I felt surprisingly good as I started running until I realized that I left my precious bag of salt pills sitting in T2. I take a ridiculous amount of salt during my run and due to all of the cramping I was experiencing I planned on taking one every mile. This would be my first run without salt pills. Crap. The first 5.5 miles went by pretty quickly and I was keeping my pace between 6:30-6:40. As we turned in La Crema and hit the dirt path I saw the girl who was in first and passed her pretty solidly. I actually loved this part of the course and felt like I was putting a good gap between us. I ran the next 4.5 miles scared as I have lost most of my races this year within the last 2 miles. Every time I looked over my shoulder I didn’t see any women so I thought I was in good shape, until the aid station around mile 10.5. As I went to grab water the volunteer said “looking good ladies.” WHAT?? I turned around to see that she was back and RIGHT ON MY HEELS.  Instead of panicking I got pissed. I wasn’t going to lose again in this fashion. I dug deep and somehow found another gear that I haven’t been able to find in past races.  I told myself to run as hard as I could until I puked or blew up. Thankfully neither of those happened and I managed to cross the line first (by a mere 17 seconds). As much as those last 2 miles hurt I knew it wouldn’t hurt as bad as coming in 2^nd again!! Even though this wasn’t my best race I guess the moral of this story is to never give up. I have never wanted to quit a race so badly in my life…it’s a good thing I didn’t!

Another great thing about Vineman is so many SoCal people do the race. A bunch of friends got together that night for a fabulous home-cooked dinner (thanks Liza and the gang) and we managed to quickly kill the bottle of wine I got for winning and Reilly’s bottle too!

On the flight home the next day a woman from my age group was on my plane and asked if she could take a picture with my “wine box trophy” to send to her coach. It was pretty funny. Then I was approached by a guy on the plane who was the last finisher of the race. He asked if we could take a picture together. I explained that I wasn’t Meredith Kessler and didn’t win the whole race but he didn’t seem to care. It made for a pretty entertaining flight home (and the free wine helped-love Alaska Airlines for that perk).

As always, I want to thank those who help me out so much… My coach JZ, Athlete Octane, Tribike Transport, Cynergy, Ero and the crew from the house that weekend (Go Team Tawney).

Up next 70.3 Worlds in Vegas (there will be no wine until AFTER the race)

YOU CAN’T WIN IF YOU BREASTSTROKE THE SWIM!

Kansas 70.3

I decided to race Kansas simply because I needed a race on my schedule in June and this one was still open. I headed out to the Land of Oz alone and hoped I could handle all of the logistics on my own. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the trip was. I take back all the jokes I made about Kansas. It was much better than I expected. Some of the perks:

-there is NO traffic. Like none at all

-the speed limit is 75

-a gallon of water is $1

-parking downtown is a quarter

-everyone is very friendly

-there are tons of vegan, gluten-free restaurants

-it is really pretty (I forgot the sky can be so blue and clear)

Race Morning:

I arrived at the race at 5am but still found I was too rushed. The parking is a good mile from T2 and from there T1 is about another half mile or more. It just seemed like everything took longer than normal and I found myself with 7 minutes to get my stuff ready in T1 before getting kicked out. Agh! It definitely was not a stress-free morning.

Swim-

The swim course looked like it would be incredibly simple to follow and I was ready to have a great swim. It was an in-water start and I seated myself in the front but as I sat there treading water I realized it was pretty choppy. I kept swallowing water and the race hadn’t even started. Uh oh. The gun went off and I had my cleanest start ever. After a few minutes I realized I was leading. Sweet! I kept thinking I was going to have a great swim until something strange happened. Due to the chop I was taking in a lot of water. Suddenly some water went down the wrong way and I started choking. I pulled my head out of the water and proceeded to tread water as I coughed my head off. Then my throat did that weird spasmy-thing that happens when you are coughing hard. CRAP! I couldn’t breath so I certainly couldn’t swim. As I sat there treading water I watched at least 15-20 girls swim past me. I was trying not to panic but I started to worry that I wouldn’t even finish the swim! I flew all the way to Kansas in hope of winning and I was going to get pulled in the first 5 minutes.

After what seemed like forever I put my head in to swim but could only breaststroke with my head above water as I coughed. I had a flashback to my first triathlon when I had to breaststroke the entire swim. Eventually I stopped coughing and was able to start swimming but I was pissed and also afraid that the cough/spasm thing would return. I decided to swim pretty easy for a few minutes and make sure everything was ok before picking up the pace. The rest of the swim went well although I was fighting hard to put the negative thoughts out of my head about the time I had just wasted. I was 4^th out of the water so at least I was able to make up a lot of time, although I am annoyed that those precious minutes were wasted (it would prove to be really important in the last few miles of the race).

Bike-

Coming into T1 I was nervous that I would see a ton of bikes gone after my rookie swim performance; but from what I could tell, I had to be in the top few so I took a deep breath and told myself to leave the swim behind and focus on the bike.

This bike course is SO MUCH FUN! It’s much hillier than I thought (again another misconception about Kansas, it’s not all flat) and it was really pretty. The course reminded me of Vineman 70.3 with lots of rollers and fun down hills.  After looking at my power file from Wildflower my coach’s plan was for me to ride much more consistently (I tend to have very erratic power files that usually start off too hard and die at the end) and to avoid big surges that zap my legs. I felt great the whole ride and was pretty confident that I was meeting my power goals. Coming back into the race site with about a mile to go a girl came up on my left and passed me. I hadn’t been passed by anyone the whole ride and I wasn’t going to get passed at mile 55! I quickly re-passed her and we both killed ourselves trying to come into T2 first. Luckily I was able squeak out a few seconds on her to be first off the bike (first time in a big race that has happened)! But now I knew I had competition right on my heels.  

Run-

I was first out of transition and since I was feeling good I decided to take the first mile a little harder than planned in order to put some distance between myself and the other girl. Thankfully there was a female pro starting her 2^nd loop at the same time so her and I ran together for the next 6.5 miles. I was feeling better than I have running off the bike in quite awhile. However, once the 2^nd loop started and I lost my running partner things started to slow down and the wind started to pick up. By mile 10 my legs were done and I started grabbing coke in hopes it would help (it did not). For some reason I had completely forgotten about the women that came in right behind me on the bike. Around mile 11 I was reminded of her as she flew by me at a pretty good pace. NOOO!!!! I realized if I didn’t catch her I was going to lose the lead I had been holding for the last 4 hours! These are the moments I think about in training but in my mind I find some super human speed and I am able to surpass my opponent and win. I tried everything I could but my legs just weren’t cooperating. I had nothing left and I watched as she ran away from me. Running those last 2 miles knowing I had just lost yet another race in the final moments was tough. I also couldn’t help but think of the time I gave up in the swim. Thankfully former LA Tri Member and cheerleader extraordinaire, Liz Kollar, was there motivating me and pushing on til the end.

After getting over my initial disappointment, I was pretty happy with my race. It was my 2^nd fastest time (4:46) and I had a blast the entire way (until mile 10 of the run). Since my focus is still on my bike fitness, I was happy to learn that my power was 10 watts higher than at Wildflower and completely consistent (this is the first power file my coach has ever liked)! I am still working on being able to run hard after a harder bike effort. It’s slowly coming along but it’s frustrating to be putting up such slow run splits this year.

I was able to grab my Vegas slot and finishing 2^nd in my division and 5^th OA amateur isn’t the worst thing in the world (although first is still a lot better). I highly recommend this race as it is such a great course, I will definitely be back!