Harriet Anderson

I only realized today that I had ran next to the great Harriet Anderson in Vineman Ironman 70.3. I passed her around mile 2 and I remember all these people running back from the out and course, were "Hi Harriet" and gave her lots of encouragement. I just thought wow this lady has lots of tri friends. By the way, Harriet is 74 years old and has completed in 17 Ironman World Championships. She'll be back in Kona again this year. Oh and this 74 year old beat me in total time by 20 minutes. She's a better cyclist than me.

Harriet Anderson: Hawaii Bound This October

Good 'ol Lake

Back at the Lake tonight. Seems like forever. The new path is not completely done yet, but it's changed a lot since I was last there. I went way too fast in the beginning and I paid for it. I must have stopped at least 3 or 4 times to walk for a few seconds. I finished the 3 miles or so in 0:27:24 (9:07/mile).

15 Miles Check

Felt good.

Day Later

While I was happy to finish (and that's really all I wanted to do)...I just can't help to look back and see what I could have done to do better. While I was at a disadvantage of not using a wetsuit, I still should have swam better. Looking at the below Getty image. I only know realized the river was snake like. I should have stayed next to the buoys. Instead I probably ended up swimming more than I should have. I've drawn an example of where I think I swam.

The boiling hot river

I really thought I could improve on the bike this time around, but this ride course was not as kind as Big K. Lots of inclines. I guess the only positive is that the professional fit did work because I didn't have lower back problems. However, from here on out, I need to step it up and get aerobars or maybe a TT bike. Plus I think it's about time I start taking spinning classes if I want to get serious and go sub 7 hrs.

the annoyingly rolling hill run course
(w/hardly any shade)

I don't think I could have done anything else differently with the run. It was just too damn hot. At least I know the thermolytes work because I didn't cramp much, but I was just exhausted from the heat. I guess my lesson learned here is pick a race where it's nice and cool.

Vineman Ironman 70.3 Race Report

So I don't know if I want to highlight stuff or just babble on like a typically do. I'm pretty tired...so I think i'll give you the bullet points. Perhaps when I get my photos, i'll do a better recap.

Saturday:

- Picked up my bid number and dropped off stuff in T2. It's a pain that T1 and T2 were at different locations. I just new all my fuel belt fluids would be boiling hot by race time. During the race I think I wasted some time putting stuff in my T1 bag during the T1 time so it could be transported to the finish line.

- Slept at 8:00 pm when there was still sunlight outside.

Sunday:

- Woke up at 4:15 am. Left the hotel at 5:00 am and arrived at T1 by 5:40-ish.

- Unloaded gear and debated back and forth whether to use a wetsuit or not. Water temp was 74 degrees, which was much warmer than the outside temp. You could see the steam come out of the river. Finally decided not to use the wetsuit.

- Biggest mistake of my life. My legs ultimately sank and I had the worse swim time ever finishing in 50 minutes. I had a red cap and was pissed to see the light blue cap and yellow cap swimmers pass me. What made it worse is that I swam off course running into kelp.

- Finally got out the water and fiddled around with the stupid T1 bag. Then took my bike out.

- Ride was going well until all the riders were backed up around mile 6. Apparently a tree had fallen down a struck a racer. All I could see was an ambulance and fire truck. As I road on by, the only thing left on the ground was the racer's race belt with bib number.

- The ride went well for the first 18 miles. I actually through the first half. However, the rollings had gotten to me and I was slowing down. Then there was the big climb at mile 45-ish. I felt better than I did at Big K. One was because of the bike fit and second was I took it easy because I did not want to quad cramp. Well the slowness showed, I ended up finishing 5 minutes worse than Big K: 3:50 bike time.

- Finally got off the bike and walked forever to enter T2. At this point it was HOT. I smartly remembered to reapply sunscreen.

- The quads were beginning to act up. I took two thermolytes. It later did the trick; however, my stomach had to battle it off first.

- It was so freakin hot, I couldn't run the thing. I ended up doing a run/walk right at the first mile. I ran whenever I could and walked when I didn't want to.

- The temp just kept rising. There was hardly any shade during the course. Of course the run was mostly rolling hills, so it was a no brainer I was walking the hills.

- Fortunately most of the water stops were prepared and had ice. Occcassionally I found residents hosing people off. I just drank crap loads of water and dumped it on my head. Unfortunately the water dried up within minutes. I later heard the temps were around mid-90s.

- I just tried to keep my sanity and talked with people who would wanna listen. I bumped into a TNT alumni and chatted with her for a bit. The last 5 miles was mostly walk, but I finished with an okay 2:44 run time. All I wanted to do was finish.

- My overall assessment is that I will probably never do this race again. It's too damn hot. However, the race well organized and the volunteers, and other racers were awesome. I can't count how many times the other racers were so encouraging on the bike and during the run. It was a great experience, except for the heat.

Just My Luck

There's definitely been too much "just my luck" this past week. Tonight was another one. I was all ready to get in one long swim before 70.3; however, when I got near the swim center, I couldn't believe it was packed with cars and not a parking space in sight. I eventually found a spot and when I approached the door, I could hear air horns and lots of cheering. Great...it was a swim meet. I had already stuff a cliff bar in my belly and really needed to burn it off.

I quickly got home, switched to my cycling gear and headed out towards Danville. I got a total of 12 miles in, but I definitely pushed myself to go faster. Strangest thing is I rode past a school's swim center and they were also having a swim meet. I must have missed the memo that today was swim meet. I'm a little bit bummed I won't be able to get a long swim in before 70.3. Reason is i'm going Road Trippin' starting this Friday and am not sure if I can get a swim in. I might bring the swim gear along and see if I can swim at the hotel. I'm definitely packing the run gear.

Speaking of run, I ran 4 miles yesterday in Alameda. It went well. I'm pretty much in taper mode now and saving all I got before the triathlon in 11 days. My only goal is to be able to finish the thing.

Now I Know Why It's Not Run, Bike, Swim.

Before I jump into this weekend's training, I must update that I ran on Wednesday. Did a nice 30 minute run in San Ramon.

My intention was to not do a run, bike, swim, but it was the only way I could do all 3. Sometimes you just gotta make with what you got.

On Saturday, the plan was to do a 12 mile run. Actually, the original plan was to go swimming, either at the pool or at Shadow Cliffs. The pool was not an option because it was closed on July 4th. I knew Shadow Cliffs was going to be packed and I did not want to mess with that. So instead I decided to do my longest training run prior to Vineman 70.3. I planned out a 12 mile run on the Lafayette/Moraga trail. As I approached the Reliz staging area, it was packed full of vehicles. Just my luck TTES (Training to End Stroke) started their run right there and I could not find a spot. I really wanted to run Lafayette/Moraga. Quick thinking, I decided to head out to Moraga Commons to start my run from there. As I approached the park, I noticed a bunch of hoopla. Just my luck (again), it was a big 4th of July party that included a 5k race. Fortunately, nothing had really started and I was able to find a space. Finally, the run...

The run went really well. I found a great groove and was able to chug along. I must admit that by mile 10, I was ready to stop. I pushed on and finished the 12 miler with a time of 1:58:46 (9:53/mile).

12 mile run route

On Sunday, the plan was to swim and bike. Lucky me, the pool wasn't going to open until 11:00 am and I had plans in the afternoon. So I decided to bike first. I headed out the door at 8:30 and proceeded towards Crow Canyon Road, Camino Tassajara, and ultimately the Highlands. It was a very windy ride. I finished just shy of 30 miles in under 2 hours. I then thought it would be a good opportunity to do a bike/run transition. I quickly changed into my run gear and ran a short 1.5 miles or so in 15 minutes.

I rested for about 30 minutes before I headed to the pool. Stupid me forgot to eat a little something and my stomach was growling on the drive over. The workout was to do 4 x 500 yards. The first 2 sets went well. Then the 3rd set was kind of a disaster. About 150 yards into the set, I evidently kicked off the wall too hard and the hamstrings behind my quads cramped up. I've never felt a cramp that far up my legs ever. It was so painful. Fortunately I was swimming shallow and was able to semi-stand. I'm guessing the biking just hours earlier caused it. Now I get why swimming is first in a triathlon. You definitely don't want people drowning going to the finish line.

I spent a few minutes re-grouping and used mostly upper body to finish that set. I really wanted to cry for mommy and go home. But I talked myself out of it. As long as I was still able to swim, I was good. There wasn't a good enough excuse to go home. So I finished the last set, completing a total of 2000 yards (1.13 miles) in about 43 minutes. But this weekend's workout did make me realize the sense in the swim, bike, run order. Although I really think a run, bike, swim is more hardcore.