Week 3

I hit all my workouts this week!  Woo-hoo!

This week was a huge test for me physically and mentally.  Here were the workouts:

Monday - 75 minute swim (a bunch of 750s)
     My body was struggling with some lower back pain.  Not sure what was going on, but I couldn't flip turn.

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - 30-minute hard bike followed by a 2-hour run
     I didn't have enough time to do this in the morning, so I had to do it in the evening.  For some reason, I feel much safer out running alone at 4:30/5 in the morning than I do in the evening.  I probably have a false sense of security that no 'bad guys' are out in the early mornings.  Anyway, I asked Travis to accompany me on his bike while I ran.  I loved spending that time with him!  He is such an amazing guy!

Thursday - 90-minute bike
   Again, I had to do it in the evening because there is not enough light to do a full 90 minutes in the morning.  I found some hills and practiced those throughout the bike.

Friday - 30-minute bike followed by a 30-minute swim.
   This felt great!  I love these little ones.  Later that night, Travis and I went on an incredibly steep 5-mile hike up Mt. Olympus.  We really enjoyed ourselves, but man, that elevation climb was heart-pumping!!

Saturday - 3-hour bike followed by a 20-minute run
    This was the workout I'd been dreading.  I asked my friend to accompany me and she jumped at the chance.  Previously, the furthest she's biked is 27 miles.  I was a little worried about her, but she's a trooper and did the entire 3 hours with me.  We ended up in some really strong headwinds for the first half of the bike which slowed us down quite a bit.  However, I had a plan.  I was not going to push my body to the limit like I have been doing and I was instead going to focus on saddle time.  We stopped halfway to eat (I had a peanut-butter and honey sandwich and a green smoothie) and use the restroom.  Coming back, the wind wasn't nearly so bad, although it was still windy.  At the end, I jumped off the bike, changed into my running shoes and felt great on the run.

 After hitting all the workouts, I have finally come to terms with this Half Ironman.  I am going to just take it easy and relax in order to make it through the race.  I know if I push hard, I will not be able to finish.  So that is my game plan.

Now on to tapering!!  Woo-hoo!

Woman of Steel 2013

Hooray for the Woman of Steel!  I was really excited to participate in this race and I was on a mission to do MUCH better than last year.  I'm so glad Camilla came and did it with me!  We left the family for the weekend and stayed in a hotel with Travis, Ryan, and Brendon and had a fun time!

  Look at those ominous clouds!!  We were freezing as we waited at the poolside!  I am in that group of ladies, standing just to the left of the lady with pink calf sock thingies.  Most of the girls ahead of me were 15-yr-old swimmers.  I knew I had to get up front to avoid any problems in the swim.  I tucked in just behind the girls who knew what they were doing and was happy that I seeded myself perfectly!  First time that has happened!  I didn't have to pass anyone and no one passed me in the pool.

   Getting ready for the pool start.  I jumped in and swam my guts out.  This was a 50-meter pool so it felt like I was swimming much further.  I was pleased with my time, though.  I swam a 5:48 which bested last year's time of 6:24 by 36 seconds!  Placed 23rd overall in the swim.

T1:  I was determined to have a blazing fast transition, but I ran down the wrong line of bikes.  So I had to run around again and then I struggled getting my shoes on because my feet were wet.  Oh, well.  I still did fine - 1:39 compared to last year's 3:08.  Difference of 1:21 and placed 16th overall.

Bike:  Headed out on the bike.  I really struggled clipping in, but once I got going, I was fine.  This course is interesting in the fact that there is a really steep climb at the beginning and then a steep decline at the end.  The steep climb, however, really kicked my trash.  I tried to motor up as well as I could and by the time I got to the top, my legs were spent.  Coming down the backside, I cruised as fast as I dared go, getting up to 30mph at one point (that's scary fast!).  You had to do two loops and on the second loop, the weather started getting nasty.  Rain was falling and the wind was blowing.  I didn't dare go very fast on the backside for fear of being blown into traffic.

Camilla coming into transition from the swim.  She put on her running shoes first and then had to change to her bike shoes when she realized what she'd done! Haha!

Getting the bike down.....

   Running out of transition........

And off she goes!!  She did a great job on the bike!

Here I am coming in from the bike to T2.  My left foot always gets stuck in the pedals and I have a hard time getting it out!  That second loop was incredibly cold!  My feet, hands, and shoulders were numb.  Especially my feet, though.  Bike time: 43:51, bested last year's 45:43 by 1:52 placing me 37th overall.

T2:  You know when your feet are numb and they feel twice as big as normal?  Yeah, well, it's pretty difficult putting numb feet into running shoes!  I thought briefly about putting on a shirt and socks due to the cold, but then decided to "Woman Up" and just go for it.  Time of 1:45, besting last year's 2:05 by 20 seconds placing me 70th overall (my worst one!).

Run:  As difficult as it was to put numb feet into my running shoes, it was even harder to run on them!  I felt like I was running on bricks.  Fortunately, my legs were warmed up from the bike so I relied on sheer willpower to keep running.  I motored up those hills, passing a few people on the way.  I even passed a biker!  She saw me pass her as she was struggling to bike up the hill and said, "Way to pass me on my bike!"  After getting past the hills, it was smooth sailing from there.  I picked up the pace and passed a few more ladies and ran hard on the downhill.  I loved it and felt great!  Here I am near the finish sprinting my heart out!  I was NOT going to lose by one second again!  Ran a 22:13 beating last year's 23:21 by 1:08 placing me 15th overall.

Look at that smile!! Coming in off the bike ready for Transition 2.

     Go girl, go!!

And here she comes for the finish!

So proud of her!  She's come a long way since the bike wreck!  Way to go, Camilla!  You rock!!

Overall, I placed 4th in my age group (missing out on a medal by a minute) and 16th in the overall.  WAY better than last year's 63rd finish in age group and 123rd finish overall.  I was happy!


And, yes, we are Women of Steel!

Bountiful Splash-N-Sprint Triathlon

I was soooooo excited for this race!  My first tri of the year and first tri since starting this Half Ironman training program.  I've been hoping all this training would propel me to some awesome times in my sprint triathlons, and I was not disappointed!!

  I was really excited about this race because Travis and Tyla and Brendon were competing with me!  This is Travis's first triathlon since his leg surgeries and it's been fun watching him get ready.  He's amazing!  Tyla has enjoyed running with her dad and doing some swim training with me in preparation for the tri.  She competed in the Novice division (150 swim, 2.5 bike, 1.5 run) while Travis and I did the Sprint (300 swim, 12.5 bike, 3.3 run).  Thanks to Camilla and Ryan and Grandma for coming and helping with our little kids while we ran the race!

   And here's the race report:  I was anxious for the swim and tried to seed myself properly.  I've been swimming much faster than last year (maybe because I've actually been training for it, ha!) and knew I needed to be close to the front.  Alas, I didn't get close enough and caught the girl ahead of me by the first length!  I then proceeded to pass seven or eight more people until mid-way through it opened up and I could just swim.  Near the end, I caught another person who threw me off a bit because he didn't stop at the end and started trying to swim another length.  I got confused and nearly followed him.  But then I saw the race officials trying to get our attention and jumped out of the pool and headed to transition.  I wore my triathlon racing suit this time so had no need to dry off and I chose to not wear socks on the bike and just wore my special triathlon bike shoes.  Because of all that, my transition was blazing fast!

    I headed out on the bike, my Fuji's first race, and was pushing hard.  I found myself panting too much so slowed down a bit and got into a comfortable rhythm.  I felt good, though and was maintaining 18-19 mph!  The bike course was fairly good, heading out on to Legacy and then back.  I am always amazed at the people who blast past me even when I'm going 23 mph!!  And they look like they're not even trying!  I had one hiccup......FrontRunner!  I couldn't believe I had to stop for the train!  One female passed me early on and then another passed me at the end.  Overall, I felt great about my biking and didn't feel like I was going to pass out.

   Transition 2 was a little slower than I expected.  I had to put my socks on, however I had put yank shoelaces in my shoes so I didn't have to tie them.  I also grabbed a gel packet and then headed out on my run.  As I started to run, I thought, "Uh, oh, I'm in trouble."  I wasn't feeling great and my legs were not thrilled to be running.  I was worried I would have to walk, but I didn't give in.  I just worked on that gel packet (funny that I have to work on it because those things are hard to swallow!) and kept going.  I found my stride about a mile in and overtook the girl who passed me on the bike near the end.  The turn going east on that hot asphalt wasn't super, but at the top there was a water station where I stopped briefly for a gulp of water (I still can't drink and run at the same time).  I then felt great for the rest of the race.  Near mile 2.5, I heard, "MOM!!"  Lo and behold, Tyla was right behind me on her bike!  It was fun to see her and cheer her on as she passed me.  It cracked me up because she was trying to ride with one hand and then with no hands.  Don't you know you're racing here?!?  :)  I knew the finish was close and so I kicked it in gear and ran hard the last little bit.  Once I crossed the finish line, I heard Ryan cheering.  I had done a 1:13!!  That is almost eight minutes faster than last time!  What is even better is that I felt great!  I didn't feel dead after this race like I have for so many others.  Maybe this training IS worth something!!

  Final times: Swim - 6:01, T1 - 0:45, Bike - 39:30, T2 - 1:03, Run - 26:22, Final - 1:13:42.  Place - 2nd!!  And I missed 1st place by one second!

    Getting ready for the swim!

One of the most fun things about racing........high-fiving the kids near the finish line!

  My awesome man finishing his race!

Post-race snacks

All the finishers with our medals!  

The awesome Webb family

Travis competed with his friend, Lee, from work.  They both set this goal and trained together.

And the two awesome kiddos!!  Tyla took 1st and Brendon took 2nd!

Training Update

My knee is STILL in pain!  I know exactly what it is, but it has taken longer to get better this time around.  I have what is called Patellofemeral Pain Syndrome.  It's sometimes caused by training on one surface and competing on another type of surface.  My right knee feels like it's going to explode after I have sat in one place for an extended period of time.  Also, going down stairs is next to impossible!  Hmm..  There are four weeks until Boise and I simply can't run right now.  This could make things interesting.  I'll get to the start line for sure.  The question is, will I need to walk the half marathon.  If that happens, I will feel COMPLETELY unfulfilled.  Grrr....I'll continue to resist the urge to try and train (run) through it.  I'm hoping that Monday things will feel better and I'll be able to ease into some mileage.  I just found out today that I made it into LOTOJA this fall!  YES!  I'm very excited about that.  Biking doesn't ever hurt my knees!

We're headed to Camilla and Travis' house this evening.  Tomorrow morning Travis, Camilla, Tyla and Brendon will be competing in the Splash and Sprint Triathlon.  I'm excited to go as a spectator for once.  It'll be fun to watch someone else suffer for once!