Ironman 70.3 Syracuse, Part II

Who sleeps the night before a big race? I think I managed an hour here and there. We were told at the athlete's meeting to arrive early, and I set my alarm for 3:45 a.m. My brother lives about 10 minutes away from the Syracuse race venue, but we had been warned about traffic jams and difficulty parking, so we planned to be there by 4:30. We needn't have worried. Light traffic and plenty of parking. I quietly made some coffee and a toasted English muffin with peanut butter at my brother's, and managed to choke it down. My nephews made posters that they left out for me on the kitchen bar. That really started my day out on a nice note. Before my hip flared up, I really thought I could finish this race in about six hours, but I didn't tell anyone that. Officially, I just wanted to finish, since it was my first half-iron distance race. I was hoping to finish the swim in under 50 minutes, thought I could do about 3:10 on the bike and around two hours for the half marathon. If I could cut a few minutes off of a couple of those splits to allow for transitions, I thought it was doable. After the hip issue, even with the injection, I knew the run would take me longer. It's a very hilly course. Of course, I also had to get the nutrition right and not have any mechanicals on the bike.

My posters from Sam and Gabe.

Once we arrived at the race venue and parked, we sat in the car for a bit and I dozed. I headed to transition around 5:45. Getting my transition area set up and talking to people (in the port-a-pot line, usually), helps to settle my nerves and get me focused on the race. I had a gel, got my wetsuit on and headed to the beach. I did a quick warm-up swim, then chatted with a couple of friends from home who were also racing. Interestingly, there were some serious looking suits with earpieces and sunglasses hanging around the swim start. Turns out, the Prince of Bahrain was also racing. The pro men started at 7:00 a.m., followed by the pro women, followed by the 18-25 and over 55 women. I was in the third swim wave. Jamesville Reservoir is somewhat similar to Mirror Lake in size and depth. The water is a little murkier and there are some weeds in the shallow water at the start (which don't bother me). The water was 69 degrees, but felt warmer. I was so nervous at the start, I was almost in tears, but when we got our start, I did a few Tarzan strokes to find some clear water, then started swimming. I was fine for the first few minutes, but had a moment of panic out of nowhere and for no good reason. I rolled over on my back and took a few deep breaths, then started swimming again, and was okay. I love the big, bright, numbered buoys that Ironman uses. My goggles fogged up almost immediately, but I was still able to sight the first few buoys. They were getting worse, and I noticed a kayak to my left, so I stopped to clear my goggles. The girl offered me a drink of water, which was nice. I asked her where the turn buoy was, and she pointed to a spot about 20 feet behind me! Yes! I just made the turn before I was overtaken by women and men from the waves after me. Got kicked once and got my arm tangled up with some guy who dragged me underwater. I managed to disentangle myself and swam off to the left to find clear water. I ticked the return buoys off and picked my head up to sight the swim exit at the last buoy, and both of my calves cramped up. I shouted for help, and a kayaker started to make her way to me. I tread water for a few seconds while I flexed my feet, and the cramps eased before she got to me. I waved her off and swam in. My watch showed exactly 50 minutes. I had said before the race that if I wasn't out of the water in 50 minutes, I was having a bad swim. Not a great swim, but just about what I expected. Wetsuit strippers are awesome, just want to say. I wish every triathlon had them. Two women stripped my suit off and handed it to me, and I made the long run to transition. 

Mother and daughter tri-duo, Sandy and Erin Rasco.

I made a fairly quick transition, just over five minutes. I was close to the bike-out, which was nice, but a long way from the run in from the beach. I had my Garmin 910XT on my wrist for the whole race (which I managed to not screw up, for once), and I also had my Garmin 500 on my bike, so I would be able to watch my power numbers. The bike leg seemed to go quickly. I followed my plan of attacking the early hills. I kept a close eye on my power and tried not to let it go much over 200 watts (my 20 min time trial power was 185). I was passing a lot of people on those hills, and just tried to make those passes quickly. The officials on the motos were active and visible the whole race, and I didn't see any egregious drafting. I had cut up two Bonk Breakers bars into 40-60 calorie chunks, and I made sure to eat a chunk every 20-30 minutes. I also had three bottles of Heed and drained a bottle every hour. Once I was through the first 25 miles, the last 30 did not disappoint. They were fast and fun. I switched to a gel when I hit the 2:30 mark. About mile 54, there is a no-pass zone where the bike and run courses share one lane of the road. Of course, one guy passed me. There's always one. The zone lasted about a mile, and once out of it, I shifted to an easier gear and spun out the last mile to loosen up my legs. I turned towards transition and checked my Garmin, 2:58! I was stunned and thrilled! Under three hours, I executed my plan perfectly, and I felt good. T2 was much quicker, 2+ minutes. I did a quick stop for sunscreen, and headed out.

 Beautiful backdrop. I have no recollection of this body of water.

The run is two loops, the first and last mile on grass within the park. A good climb going out to the road, but the serious climb is about half-way into the loop. It's a very steep and long hill that flattens out at the top, then goes back up again to the turn around. I was feeling good and determined not to walk, so I held back a little on the first loop. I brought my small handheld bottle with me. I walked every aid station and grabbed two cups--one to drink and one to dump. It was starting to get warm. It was a sunny day, but thankfully, most of the run course is in the shade. I also grabbed a gel about every half hour or so. I completed the first loop in 1:07, and now I knew what to expect. I was still feeling good, so I decided to pick up the pace. My hip started to tighten up about mile 8, but it never got any worse. I ran the big hill again, if you could call it running. I passed a lot of walkers, but one of them caught me as soon as the road flattened. He and I played tag like this the rest of the race, and we'd laugh as we'd pass each other. I think he had a better strategy than I did. We got to the last hill before the park and he was now running. He told me to jump on his heels, which I did, but I couldn't hold his pace. It was okay, because I was pushing about as hard as I could, and we still had about a mile to go. I was starting to suffer, but I didn't want to ease off. Now, I wanted it over with. I saw the finish chute, and some guy had his hand out, so I ran over and high-fived him, then crossed the line. Someone handed me my finisher's medal, and I went from ear-to-ear grinning to bent over and crying. The finish line clock said 6:12. When I stopped my watch, I had 6:06 and change. I was ecstatic! Bad hip and all, and I had finished my first 70.3 in just over six hours. I found out later when I saw my splits that I had negatively split the run, clocking 1:03 for the second loop. I grabbed some water (I can never eat right after a race), and found my husband. He had followed me on IronTrac, but wasn't sure what all the numbers meant. I looked at my stats, and that's when I learned that I had finished 4th in my age group. Ironman awards the top five spots in each age group, which meant I was staying for the awards ceremony. Without a doubt, this was one of the best days of my life. The rest of the day consisted of watching friends finish and checking the times of those who finished ahead of me, trading stories and doing the debrief with fellow competitors, collecting my award, buying a couple of cool finishers shirts (bad luck to buy anything before the race), and having pizza and ice cream with my brother and his family before heading home. I couldn't have scripted a better day. I'm now halfway to being able to call myself an Ironman.

 The third place winner and I were the only ones in our age group who stayed for the awards. I hope I'm lucky enough to stand on the stage again.

Ironman 70.3 Syracuse, Part I

Ironman 70.3 Syracuse was my goal race for the 2014 season. Ironman Lake Placid has been a dream goal for a few years, and I really felt it was important to have a successful half-iron distance race before I would commit to a full Ironman. After a good summer of confidence-building racing in 2013, I decided to sign up for Syracuse last fall. Three of my brothers live there, so I knew I could stay with family for the race. It's only a four hour drive, one we do often, and I'm familiar with the area. It's also considered an ideal tune-up race for Lake Placid, and in fact, there would be many friends and acquaintances from the local tri scene doing the race, and it's always nice to suffer and celebrate with friendly faces.

I outlined my training and lead-up to Syracuse in my last post. I chose Joe Friel's half-iron training plan for athletes over 50. I have a couple of his books, so I'm familiar with his training philosophy, and I like the way this plan has two weeks of heavier training and one rest and test week, versus the three weeks heavy/one week light for younger athletes. As I said in the last post, I swam three times a week and tried to follow the plan as best I could. The shorter speed and form workouts weren't a problem. The longer swims were a challenge; a 3400m swim in an hour is not possible for me. I did my best to do the distance whenever possible. I was doing my long rides on Saturday, and my long runs and long swims on Sundays, and sometimes I'd just run out of time. Once spring came and the water was warm enough, I swam in Mirror Lake for my open water swims. I think I swam the cable four times before Syracuse. For the bike, I first used my Kurt Kinetic inRide computer and iPhone app, and then TrainerRoad, so that I could train with power, albeit simulated power. Joe Friel's plan had the option of using heart rate or power targets for most workouts. Even though the power was simulated for both the inRide and TrainerRoad, it was consistent and repeatable, making it a reliable data point to use. And training with power is just more accurate than heart rate. There's no fooling the power meter. I bought a PowerTap and had it installed on my Zipps, so once I was outside and had an FTP for the PowerTap, I was able to adjust my zones and continue using power as the target for my workouts. Keeping my legs healthy continues to be problematic for me. I battled shin splints earlier in the season, and by the Plattsbugh half marathon in April, my right hip was feeling tender and inflamed. I had surgery for a labral tear and impingement in 2011, and I was worried that I maybe had another small tear. An MRI in early June showed no tears, but some fluid in the hip joint. I tried a therapeutic dose of anti-inflammatories for a couple of weeks, then opted for a cortisone injection on the Wednesday before the race. In the two months between the half marathon and the half ironman, I had reduced my run volume considerably. I managed a 6.6 mile run a couple of weeks before the race, my longest since the half marathon, and I knew I was going to have to reassess my race goals. My main goal, always, is to finish and feel good about my performance. I knew if I was healthy and had a good day, I could finish in about six hours. Now, I would like to just be able to run the entire 13.1 miles. The Syracuse run course is no joke; four hills--one of which is very steep--with 1000' of total gain, about the same as the 26.2 mile course in Lake Placid. The bike course has 3000' of gain, about the same as one loop of Lake Placid, but it's a very different profile. The first 12 miles are straight up, followed by another 12 to 13 miles of overall elevation gain, followed by 30 miles of mostly downhill, flat and mild rollers. Not knowing whether I'd be able to run, I secretly considered going out hard for the first 25 miles of the bike and recovering for the last 30, with the goal of going for the fastest bike split possible. Generally speaking, completely against conventional wisdom, but what did I have to lose?

As a backdrop to all of this, I have been training with my friend, Bob Heins, since last fall. Bob and I had done some runs together in the past. He was looking to improve his bike split in order to qualify for Kona, and started riding with me. (I should note that Bob has gone to Kona before.) Bob turned 75 this summer, and signed up for Couer D'Alene, a race with no one else entered in his age group. He just had to finish to qualify, but Couer D'Alene is a tough course (hence, no competition in his age group), and he wanted a decent bike split. We were swimming together in Lake Placid leading up to our races, and for my last swim before Syracuse, Bob invited his nephew to join us. His nephew is an Ironman finisher and a coach, had done and was doing Syracuse this year, as were some of the athletes he was coaching. His advice for Syracuse? Ride the first 25 miles like I'm doing an Olympic, and recover the last 30, since I couldn't push big wattage on the downhills, anyway. Exactly what I wanted to hear! He also warned me to do the first run loop conservatively if I didn't want to be walking the big hill on the second loop. Since I wasn't sure how the hip was going to hold up, I thought this would be a good strategy for me, either way. 

I was able to take a half-day off from work on the Friday afternoon before the race. We got to Syracuse in time for me to do the athlete check-in and the mandatory athlete meeting. On Saturday, I did a quick bike and run--enough to get a feel for the first part of each course, a hill in both cases. I checked my bike in and did a swim. There was a short course set up for the athletes. I debated whether I should do it or not. Some of my friends chose not to for fear of having some funky thing happen that would damage their confidence for the next day. I got in the water with the idea that I'd just go for five minutes or so, but I ended up doing the course that was set up. I was feeling good and the water temperature was perfect. We headed back to my brother's for a graduation barbecue and a long night...

 My nephews are a good distraction from pre-race nerves.

Busy Life=Bad Blogger

Catching up on my blog has been hanging over my head like that summer writing assignment for school. We're having an all-day rain today, so today's the day. We've had a roller-coaster ride of dealings with my father's health and living situation, but long story short, he's settled at a local adult residential center where he's being well-cared for, and his memory still continues to improve. He's generally healthy and happy, so we'll be satisfied with that.

My last blog entry was about the time I began training for Syracuse 70.3. I think I'll write that race up as a separate entry, and make this entry about the lead up to that race. I purchased Joe Friel's 70.3 training plan for athletes over 50 and uploaded it into my Training Peaks account. I had been loosely following Troy Jacobson's Super Six off-season training plan for the bike, while continuing to swim three times a week (like it was my job!), and running three times a week. I did a Resolution 10K Run on New Year's Day, and resolved to do my long run outdoors every weekend throughout the winter. I managed to keep that resolution, but it wasn't easy. We had an ice storm around Christmastime, and my road and the adjoining roads remained ice covered until mid-March. They were hell to drive on, and impossible to run on. I drove to Plattsburgh every weekend and ran with a group of friends on mostly clear and dry city streets. Twice, it was so cold, my water froze in my hand-held bottle. Still, it was way better than running for an hour-plus on the treadmill. I still battle the dreaded shin splints on and off, and see my chiropractor, Jon Mulholland, for Graston scrapings and occasional tune-ups. He also fitted me with orthotics. I confess, the jury is still out on them. My shins have been better, but they still flare up occasionally even with the orthotics, so I just get after them aggressively with a lacrosse ball and massage stick. Also, the orthotics are aggravating an old scar on the bottom of my foot. I'm still using them, but we'll see...

As for the bike, my tri bike was on the trainer all winter. Besides using Spinervals and following Coach Troy's Super Six program, I also discovered TrainerRoad. I had looked at it before, but couldn't see how it was better than what I was doing. I'd been training with the Kurt Kinetic inRide computer on my trainer and using the corresponding app on my iPhone for workout data and simulated power. An OS update by Apple broke the KK inRide app (it's still broken, although Kurt Kinetic is saying they will have a fix ready soon), so I took a closer look at TrainerRoad. I have the Garmin Ant+ speed and cadence sensor on my bike, which I paired with the TrainerRoad app on my desktop. I did a time trial and got an FTP number that was relevant to TrainerRoad, and I was good to go. The great thing about TrainerRoad is the website has an extended library of rides to choose from; many of the Spinervals titles, as well as member-produced workouts, and a "free ride" option to pop in a DVD and ride along, while recording data. I would look at my training plan, then choose from my DVD library or the TrainerRoad library and find a workout that met the goals of my plan. 

I ran the Frostbite 5K in February in order to get a LTHR for running and to set my zones. My time was about 30 seconds slower than last year. I did the race in my new-ish Hokas, and rolled my ankle slightly just a few minutes into the race. I won my age group, though, so I was pleased. By March, the shin splints were back with a vengeance. On the advice of my chiropractor, I ditched the Hokas and got the orthotics. That's when I did the Graston treatments, and started using the lacrosse ball and massage stick regularly on my shins, and as of this writing, have not had any more serious issues with them. I also ran the Plattsburgh Half Marathon in April as part of my training. By then, my hip was starting to aggravate me. I tried not to push too hard and finished with a time about 35 seconds slower than last year. Still, the hip continued to hurt. In the two months between the half marathon and Syracuse, my longest run was 6.6 miles. I saw the doctor who did my hip surgery. He ordered an MRI which showed fluid in the joint, but no new tears. I had a cortisone shot four days before Syracuse (more on that in the next post). Needless to say, I wasn't able to follow the run workouts of the training plan as written. It's becoming obvious that speed work and stand-alone 5Ks are just too hard on my hip. I followed the training plan as best I could, mostly trying to put in the time for the week. I've mentioned before that I live in hill country, and since the run at Syracuse is very hilly, the best plan of attack seemed to be to just get out and run my hills. I only did one other stand-alone running race as a lead up to Syracuse, a trail run 5K fund-raiser for my school, and I'm not sure if I'll do any this fall.

Late in the winter, I put my mountain bike on Craigslist. It was a very nice bike, but I wasn't riding it. My interests are now firmly entrenched in triathlon. And besides, I wanted a power meter. It took a couple of months, but I finally got a buyer, and used the money to buy a PowerTap for my Zipps. I took the tri bike off of the trainer in April, and it hasn't been back on since. Using power has transformed my training. I did the local time trial early in the season to get my FTP and to set my zones, and did my best to follow my plan, hit the power goals, and still ride outdoors. I know there's a ton of literature supporting training indoors on a trainer to control workout goals. For me, riding outdoors--on hills, in wind, on bad pavement, with friends and surging to stay on wheels--prepares me much better for racing. Most of the enjoyment for me on the bike is riding on beautiful days, through gorgeous scenery on quiet back roads, with good friends. If I had to choose between only riding the trainer to train for races, or riding outdoors and not racing, I'd give up triathlon. Thankfully, I don't have to. I did the Placid Planet half century ride in late May as a training ride for Syracuse. (Side note, I've found that my FTP from my PowerTap is much closer to the inRide simulated power numbers, versus TrainerRoad's simulated power numbers. Stay tuned for my next post on how that all worked out for me at Syracuse.) 

As for swimming, it is what it is. The masters swim team at my gym was defunct by late fall. There were promises to start it back up during the winter that weren't kept. I swam three days a week, and tried my best to follow the training plan. The shorter speed and form workouts got done. The longer swims were a little tougher, because there was a time and a distance goal. For the most part, there was no way I'd get the distance done in the time allotted, and indeed, in the time I could reasonably spend in the pool (without packing a lunch and becoming water-logged). I did several 2+ mile swims, but often had to compromise somewhere between the time and distance goal, because, well, I had a life. Lots of room for improvement.

So far, I'm on track for my training goals for the season. Next post, the Syracuse 70.3 debrief. Stay tuned.

 Our weekend run group after the Plattsburgh Half.

 My tri training partner, Bob Heins, and my #1 running partner, Leanne Macey.

 Sprinting to the finish. Why? Because Sandy (in the red cap behind me) told me to.