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Ironman Louisville Photos

2nd at Ironman Louisville

I’ve just returned home from my second Ironman of the Year, Ironman Louisville.  Last year we were treated with low humidity and a high of only 80 degrees.  This year, no such luck!  The actual high of 97 degrees, combined with very high humidity made the feel like temp well over 105! Last year was one of those days where I felt amazing all day.  I finished 3rd, felt amazing on the run, ran a 3:04 and set a new run course record.  This year, I moved up a notch, but it was a brutal brutal day in every way.

The swim went well (for me!) I was happy to see that all those 30×100 main sets are paying off and I knocked 6 minutes off of my 2009 swim split.  But most importantly, I was only 8 minutes down from the main contenders.  The women’s pro field was small, but stacked with very fast swimmers.  After a few yards, I found myself in a 2.4 mile solo TT.  I felt so much stronger and faster than last year, but about a kilometer or so from the finish, my stomach started to retaliate and up came my breakfast.  This has happened to me before, and I can usually bounce back on the bike, so I wasn’t too worried. 

The first hour of the bike was tough.  My legs felt great, but my stomach was already cramping.  I knew it was going to be a scorcher, so I tried to front load my nutrition a bit while the temps were still in he 80s.  I couldn’t keep my fluid down.  The river temperature was 84 degrees, so I knew I was already at a caloric and hydration deficit.  I did my best to ride it out.  After an hour, my stomach settled down and I was finally able to get back on track with my nutrition plan. I  felt so good on my new Parlee TT and I was moving up through the field.  I really love the bike course at Ironman Louisville. It’s both challenging and beautiful.  It has a little bit of everything, hills, rollers, flats, wind, heat, humidity and beatiful scenery.  At around the  80 mile mark, I heard a split that I was finally in the top 5 and 3 minutes down on top 3 and gaining .   I could feel the heat and humidity even with a road helmet on, so I made a conscious decision at that point to turn it down a notch and try to hydrate and prepare for a strong run.  On the final flat section to T2, I passed another 2 women, and recorded the second fastest bike split of the day. 

I started the run in second place.  My legs felt ok, but I was so depleted from being so sick on the bike.  My run fitness was the best ever going into this race.  I trained so hard and felt prepared to run a 3 hour marathon, but with the high temps, I knew that was physically not possible on this day.  The run was a struggle from start to finish.  I was gaining time on first place, but my stomach was not cooperating.  Everything in came out.  Buy mile 21 even my forearms were cramping.  My charge had stalled and I was now fighting to hold onto second place. In all the Ironmans I have raced, I have never been this sick for so long.  I forced myself to fight, to dig deep.  The last 10k, I repeatedly recited an email my coach sent me after a particular workout where I really struggled.  It said, “Being a Champion is more than crossing the finish line in first.  It’s about working hard on days when you want to quite, never quit, always finish what you start, be tough and tough it out”.  So, that was my mantra-be tough and tough it out. I held onto 2nd place, for the 3rd time and still managed the fastest run split of the day!! 

Of course, it hurts to get second place again, but I honestly feel like this was one of the better races of my career.  I have to thank my new coach Lisa Bentley for this.  She has worked alot with me on my mental preparation going into this race and when my stomach failed so early on, this was all I could rely on.  Finishing second to a phenominal athlete like Bek Keat is not something I am going to hang my head about.   I’ll be back to fight another round- Ironman Florida, 10 weeks and counting!! Thanks again to all my great sponsors, K-Swiss, Zipp, Parlee, Blue Seventy, PowerBar and Fuel Belt.  It was great to catch up with you all!

Kelly Gets 5th at Ironman Lake Placid!

It’s been a crazy busy month!  But all good things; lots of travel, training and a few races.  After RI 70.3, it was Ironman Lake Placid time; not for me but for Kelly this time!  We went out to Lake Placid a week early.  For Kelly it was to relax and for me it was to smash myself!  I got in a great week of training.  I rode the course on Thursday with some good hard efforts thrown in.  I’ve ridden this course sooooo many times and I love it.  To mix things up and challenge myself or shall I say smash myself even more, I rode the second loop backwards. This meant I got to go up the Keane descent at about 4 1/2 hours into my ride, fun stuff!!  Then Saturday, I rode the course again with fellow K-Swiss athletes; Heather Jackson and Hillary Biscay and our friend Allan.  Up until this year, when I suckered Kelly into racing LP , I did  most of my training alone, so I really enjoyed training with friends a having Heather smash me to bits!!  The run off was pathetic, and I am embarrassed that my coach had to witness that!  It was a slow slow run and I wanted to stop, but she told me to finish what I start and never quit.  Jeez, she is tough…no wonder she has 11 Ironman wins! 

Once the ride was done the rest of the night was all about Kelly!  We had the usual boring plain pasta dinner in our room and we were off to bed.  I felt like I was racing the Ironman.  I was so excited and so nervous.  I did not sleep a wink.  I went to Kelly’s room at 3:30am to have breakfast with her.  She told me she slept great!!!!

Kelly had a phenomenal day.  I am so proud of her.  She faced many challenges training for this race, 2 jobs, nutrition classes, a few injuries here and there, but she toughed it out and reached all of her goals.  Without a wetsuit, and with no one to draft off of, she swam 66 minutes, she biked 5:32, and ran a 3:15 and crossed the line under 10 hours in 5th place!!!  

She is recovered and back at it planning for a fall Ironman.  My Ironman build has come to an end and I am  in full on taper mode for Ironman Louisville in 10 days and counting!! I  had a great training cycle going into this race and I am really looking forward to race day!

Below are some photos Kellys training and an amazing week in Lake Placid!

RI 70.3 Race Report

I’ve been back running for 3 weeks now and my foot seems to be 100%.  I was excited to get back out on the race course and decided 2 weeks ago to race the Rhode Island 70.3 .  It is very exciting to see so many high caliber 70.3 races popping up on the east coast.  A 4 hour drive beats a 6 hour flight any day!! Plus, my car doesn’t charge me $300 to travel with my bike. 

I made the trip down to Providence with  my friend Angie, on Friday night.  Saturday morning we drove out to Narraganset to get some training in on the course.  We’ve been having quite a heat wave here in the Northeast and it was a hot humid morning, but i’d take that over cold rain any day!  Race prep workouts felt great and we capped off the morning with some body surfing! 

Sunday morning came way to fast as we had to wake up at 3am, eat breakfast, drive 1 hour to the race start, and start at 6am!  Gotta love Wildflower and the 8am start!!! My number one goal for this race was to have a good swim.  My swim has been soooooo bad, but my pool times have my best ever.  I seem to have fallen into this rut of trying desparately to find feet in the swim.  I just bounce from feet to feet, end up in the back and get dropped. My goal on sunday was to just swim as hard as I could;  look for the buoys and not feet.  I swam hard to the first buoy.  There were girls around me and I got clobbered pretty good.  I could feel my lip throbbing and swelling.  I didn’t care because  knew that I was with a few of the girls who out swam me by over 2 minutes at FL 70.3 .  After the first turn, the pace seemed slow, so I went around and pulled for a while, hoping the other girls would spark up, push the pace and go by me.  No such luck as I pulled the entire way back to shore.  The times today for everyone were a little slow.  I am by no means thrilled with my time, but happy that I swam aggressively and I learned a few things that I think will help me break an hour in my next Ironman. 

I exited the water in a smal little pack,  including Heather Jackson, an INCREDIBLE cyclist.  I made a quick decision to try my best to keep her in sight (as least for the first 20 miles).  After 15 miles the dot up the road got smaller and smaller and eventually she was out of sight.  I felt really good on the bike, but definitely felt like I rode the first hour a little above my fitness level.  I started to pay the price.  Fortunately the bad patch was short, thanks to 2 double latte powergels!  I passed Cait Snow on the bike and new I had to put more time into her on the bike.  She is a phenominal runner and I knew my run fitness wasn’t close o a 1:19 at this point in my training!  So, off I went, smashing myself once again!  I biked hard and  felt really strong.  I absolutely love my Parlee TT.  It is so light and aero and fits me sooo well andwith my 808/sub 9, it was swinging up the hills.  I’m not sure what place I was coming into T2, 5 or 6th??? I just knew there were alot of women around me and I was going to really have to fight hard to get top 3.

My run training has been short and minimal, but my tempo runs off the bike have been pretty good, so I set off trying to hold 6:15 pace.  I was grateful to have my super light K swiss K-ruz flats on, because every ounce counted today!   It’s funny how something that never happens in training, can happen in a race. As a temporary fix to my foot injury, I’ve been running with a heel wedge.   At mile 4 it had worked it way up to my toes.  I was worried about injuring myself, so I had to stop 2 times to put it back in place.  I am definitely getting some rubber cement glue today! I  had no idea I was so close to 3rd until about a half mile to go.  The course had many turns andit was hard to seek out the competition.  With less than a mile to go, I  could see her.  I ran hard, I  was running much faster, I was gaining and then I saw the state capital and the finish line.  I missed the podium again my a few seconds!

I didn’t reach my goal of a podium finish, but there are so many positives that I can derive from the race.  I pulled a pack that has been consistently 2 minutes faster than me in the water.  I had the 2nd fastest bike and run split and the fastest bike/run combo and most importantly I am healthy!  With 7 weeks to go until Ironman time, I feel like things are on track and I  will start that race stronger than ever!

2 more weeks til Ironman LP! Kelly is ready to race and I am ready for a hard week of training and some sherpa duties!!

Bouncing Back

Yes, usually when I stop blogging for a while, it means things are NOT going well! It’s been a rough 6 weeks, but I am finally feeling good and bouncing back!   I struggled with a foot injury leading up to FL70.3 and racing on an injured foot was definitely not a good idea.  The race pushed me over the edge and I was officially on the “injured wagon”for a good 5 weeks .  As a triathlete, not being able to run isn’t the end of the world, because we can usually swim and bike enough to keep from getting too depressed.  Unfortunately for me, it was my foot, and I had to scale back on biking and be very careful with swimming, because even kicking hurt it!  After  a great 10 mile run last weekend, I can confidently say “I am healthy again!”

Last week was a great week of training, not just because I am healthy, but because I am training again with Kelly!  Kelly is training for Ironman Lake Placid. She is on a roll, incredibly strong in all 3!  Our goal has always been to race an Ironman together, but it looks like that goal is going to have to wait….until October, maybe Kel?????   I decided to skip Lake Placid this year. This was a very hard decision for me.  If  I  could only pick one race  in the world to win, it would be LP.  I have raced there for the past 5 years, finished 5th, then 4th then 2nd twice.  After last years struggle on the  course, I decided I needed to take a break from LP.  I’m not saying I’m giving up on my goal, I am just taking a leave of absence from LP!   I know there will be part of me that will be really sad to be on the sidelines, but I also know that it will get the fire brewing more than ever for 2011!  July 25th will be all about Kelly!   She had a solid race at IMCDA last year, but her training was very spotty due to a foot injury which required surgery.   She ran a 3:16 off the bike with 1-2 days of running per week!! Now she is totally healthy and all I can say is WOW!  Kelly has supported me so much over the years and I am so excited to return the favor;  sherpa, training bitch, water girl…. bring it! 

As for my plans, as long as my foot continues to do so well, I am hoping to jump  in 2  70.3’s  over the next couple of weeks and then it’s Ironman time.  I am not 100% sure which one that will be.  I am exploring options now and I am considering IMC, IMLOU or IMWI.  All great races…..exciting stuff!! 

Here are some pictures of our training camp at Lake Placid; Kel and I ready to tackle the LP course, Kel ripping it up on mirror lake (very impressive 17 mile run off!), Angie being a great water girl, and then soothing the soreness (note; the bottles were empty, were not that gross!!) FUN TIMES!

FL 70.3 Race Report

I’m back home and recovering from a so-so day at the Florida 70.3 last weekend.  I decided 2 weeks ago that I would head out to Disney and give the race a go.  I’ve bee battling posterior tibialis tendinitis in my foot since Ironman New Zealand, so training has been a little rocky. I had to sit out on some of my favorite spring races, so I was excited to get out there and race.  

The swim, was not good, but I didn’t let it affect me negatively like I have in my last few races.  I just boarded my Parlee  and hit it hard.  I felt really strong and felt like I was moving pretty well.  I started to get a bit discouraged when I didn’t pass many women on the bike.  Then we hit the first of 3 out and backs and I saw why.  There were many pro women mixed in riding in small packs with the pro men.  It was really frustrating to see that at every out and back.  I just kept my head down and kept pushing.  I entered T2 in around 11th place-not good.  I was worried about how my foot would respond to the grassy uneven terrain of the run course.  I only had a mile to warm it up before we hit the grass.  It was sore, but it actually felt better than I thought it would, so I pushed on.  I ened up passing a few girls and another 2 in the last loop of the run.  I crossed the line in 6th place. 

Not great, poor swim, so so bike and pretty good run considering how much run training I’ve missed.  Overall a good training day.  It was good to get out there and race again and catch up with the guys from Zipp and K-Swiss.  It’s good to have races like this.  It’s a good kick in the butt and motivator to focus and train harder.  I really love racing the half distance.  It’s hard and long, but you still feel fast (hopefully!).  Depending on how my foot feels, I hope to get one more hit out at Mooseman 70.3 before my second Ironman of the year; Ironman France.  I am VERY excited about this race!  The course looks amazing, a great climbers race!

Spring is Here!

I am sooooo excited that the snow is melting and the temps are rising.. finally!!  I had a great weekend of training.  I realized while I was out climbing App Gap that is has been 6 months since I have been able to ride outdoors in Vermont! We”ll that’s a little stretch.  There were a few days back in October when temps were tolerable, but I was nursing an injury and had to pass.  Last Saturday, we had a record breaking day so I suckered Kelly into a nice long ride up App Gap.  It was a beautful ride and it was awesome to be training with Kelly again!

Training is going really well.  It’s amazing how much you loose in a 2 week recovery block!  I’ve been back at it now for 2 weeks and the speed is slowly coming back.  I have 2 more hard weeks to go then a rest week leading up to the TX 70.3 National Championships.  Who know’s maybe I’ll sucker Kel into it!

New Website!

My new website is now up and running! However, I just noticed that my IMNZ race report was not uploaded. So, I am reposting it:

2010 is now underway and I am happy to report a podium finish in my first race of the year. Throughout my training cycle and race week, 2 questions seemed to pop up over and over again. Why Ironman New Zealand and how does a Vermont girl prepare for a winter Ironman? There are many reasons why I chose to go back to Ironman New Zealand. New Zealand is a beautiful country and is one of the most active geothermal and volcanic areas in the world today. The swim is held in Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in Australasia and was created by the world’s largest volcanic eruption of the past 5000 years. The beauty of the island combined with the exceptional race management, made Ironman New Zealand an easy choice.

As to how a Vermont girl prepares for a winter Ironman, well that was easy to answer too – I want to race well, so I simply do the work. I have always refused to let the fact that I live in a cold climate limit myself as a triathlete. I designed my training plan in December and I stuck to it. I am a very motivated person, but I am not a machine. There were definitely days when I looked at my bike on the trainer and said “oh you again!” On more than one occasion, my husband had to remind me that we all have days when we don’t want to go to work, but we get out of bed and get the work done! I stuck to my plan of 2 months of quality work on the trainer and treadmill, followed by 2.5 weeks of high volume training with Cliff English and his pro squad in Tucson.

The plan seemed to work well for me. I started the race healthy and mentally fired up to race. The Professionals started the race 15 minutes ahead of the age groupers. I prefer the company of a mass start and find I can swim about 5-7 minutes faster with a group of feet ahead of me. Being a weak swimmer, the small pro start definitely hurts me, but it makes for a cleaner bike race. I entered T1 with a 14 minute deficit. This is a painful way to race. I don’t have the option of staying calm and cool, biking steady and conserving energy for the run. I have to go for it on the bike and the run. Sometimes I blow, sometimes I hang on and sometimes, I run really well. I have to take chances on the bike and put myself within striking distance on the run. I took the first loop out hard to try to close the gap and managed to put some time into the top girls. My new Parlee TT and Zipp 808/1080 combo felt fast and most of all comfortable on the chip sealed roads. However this is Ironman and halfway through the second loop, I hit a bad patch. My lack of bike volume showed and my charge slowed. I entered T2 in 6th place. I laced up my new K-Ruuz K-Swiss racing flats and focused on the next task at hand; a strong run. It was a very windy day which made the first 10k felt like one giant hill. I didn’t feel great, my pace was slower than what I had trained for, but I knew with the wind, times would be off. Shortly after the 10k mark, I moved into 3rd place. I was chipping away at 2nd, but the amount of time I lost in the water, was just too much to overcome. I crossed the line in 3rd, Congrats to Jo Lawn who went on to win and set a course record in the process and Gina Ferguson on her 2nd pace finish. The Kiwis are tough on their home turf!

I am very pleased with where my training is for this time of the year. To have finished feeling so strong and most importantly uninjured signals that I am on track for a promising year. I am looking forward to a ski vacation this weekend with my family and friends. Then I will sit down and map out the rest of the year. I’d like to thank my homestay hosts; Grahem and June Spence for their hospitality. To all my sponsors – a BIG THANK you for continuing your support in 2010; K-Swiss, Parlee, PowerBar, Zipp, Sram, Blue Seventy, Vasa, Fuel Belt and the Ski Rack. See you at the races!

Back at It!

Yup vacation is over! I had a great little break after Ironman New Zealand. I love training camps, traveling and racing, but I do get a bit homesick! The week after the race included alot and I mean ALOT of sleeping, a great ski day up at Smuggs and even an 80’s flashback Bon Jovi concert with a few highschool friends. Fun stuff, but now it is back to the grind!

It feels great to get back into my training routine. I’m back working with my swim coach, and did my first hard run since IMNZ. It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll come back! I’m now running in the new 2010 K Swiss shoes and they are really reall sweet! The Keahou II has great cushion, but also has a fast and responsive feel to it; a great combo and therefore a great shoe for both long runs and tempos. My plan is to spend the next few weeks working on getting some zip back in my legs and racing a few 70.3’s over the next few weeks.

I get alot of inquiries regarding my training for Ironman New Zealand. How do you train indoors for an Ironman?? So, I thought I would post a typical week for a Vermont girl training for a winter Ironman. This is a typical week in January. Note, my build was 8 weeks long, end of December to mid February, then a 12 day taper.

Mon. recovery day: 5k swim, easy 90 min spin on trainer
Tue. bike 2.5 hours threshold work: 5×1 min power intervals, 5×10 min(5′easy). pm treadmill run: 5×1 min pickups, 6xmile at 5:30(2 min easy)
wed. 5k swim, 3 hour bike w/hill reps, 45 min run of at ironman pace to faster
Th. 90 min progression run. swim 3k, pm easy 90 min spin on trainer
Fri. easy recovery day. 5k swim, 45 min easy run
Sat. bike 4 hours tempo and hills combo: 40 min tempo, (10min easy) 10 min hill climb hard (10 min easy) 30 min tempo(10 min easy) 10 min hill climb (10 min easy) 20 min tempo (10 min easy) 10 min hill climb.
Sun. long run on hilly snow packed trails or 18 miles flat and fast on the tready if it was below 10F!. pm 4k swim

There it is, my quality not quantity plan!

New Bike Sponsor

I am very excited to announce my new partnership with Parlee Cycles! I made the trip down to Peabody, Ma a few weeks ago to visit the Parlee crew and saw firsthand the fine craftsmanship that goes into Parlee bikes. I’ve been training on the TT bike for a week now and have been very impressed. It is incredibly comfortable, which as we all know is essential for not just a strong bike split, but also a strong marathon! I am proud to partner with a company who is just as passionate about cycling and triathlon as I am. Check it out:

I am fortunate to be working with many of the same companies in 2010; K-Swiss, Zipp, Sram, PowerBar, Fuel Belt, Blue Seventy, Vasa and my awesome local bike shop, The Ski Rack in Burlington VT. I am so gratetful to have such an amazing support crew and look forward to a great year!!