Just a Mom Who TRI's: Guest post

I am an avid blog reader. I enjoy other blogs who allow guest posts on their sites. This year my plan was to incorporate more guest postings on my site. I currently have some folks in mind and well frankly the year just got away from me! If you would like to contribute to my blog please contact me, I always love hearing from you and I hope my readers will enjoy a little variety every now and then.

My first guest poster is from a friend and someone I consider my Coach. I first met Patrick (aka Coach Pain-trick) in Spin class and was terrified of him. You can read about my first few classes with him here. I have learned a lot from him over the years and hope that he will continue to kick my ass several times a week in class because I sure need it!

He raced his first Half Ironman in Flagstaff, Arizona this past weekend and here is his race report:

Mountain Man Race Report

Training Regimen

I have purchased several training regimens but do not follow any. Rather, I work in a balanced mixture of swimming, biking, and running by feel. This included several 12 mile runs 3 weeks before the race, lots of pool time and a couple of Lake Mary open swims, and my regular dose of Spinning 2x per week and plenty of road and some mountain biking, plus Pilates once or twice a week.

Days Leading up to Race

I have been doing a low-carb diet to train my body to be fat-adapted (see this article to learn more), but to top off my carb stores before the race I ate Bill’s pizza on Thursday and Friday nights, albeit high in fat and protein. To stock up on electrolytes, the day before I did 48 oz water with 4 Fizz and 3 Hammer Endurolyte capsules.

Morning Nutrition

I got up at 3:50 am for my 6:08 start and ate two hard-boiled eggs, two mini Muscle Milk Protein Bars (got them in some race swag). 24 oz strong French pressed Starbucks French roast coffee with heavy cream, and 24 oz water with 2 Fizz tablets. It’s worth it to me to haul my electric kettle and French press with me to get real coffee!

Race Nutrition and Hydration

Since I am trying to burn fat over carbs during the race, you’ll see that my carb intake is pretty low compared to most athletes. I’ve been working on this since November and was very pleased with my energy levels during the race. I’ve been training with no nutrition for most efforts under three hours and do fasted workouts when I teach Spinning at 10am on Tuesday and Thursdays or when I swim on other days.

Before swim: 1 17.5oz can of coconut water

On Bike: 3 Scoops Generation uCan Superstarch (about 270 calories) with 2 grapefruit Fizz for flavor, and 48 oz water with 4 Fizz, and 2 cream cheese packets (at miles 14 and 40).

Start of Run: I took off out of T2 with a 17.5 oz can of coconut water and drank about 14 oz of it before putting it down. Running with the can made me run a little slower, but it also eased me into the run.

During Run: ½ a Gu that I took sips of at miles 6-8, 3 cups of Heed from aid stations, small bit of water at every station. Side note: I walk every aid station when I am drinking. I like to say hi to the volunteers and found it a waste of time to try and run and drink.

Post Race: 17.5 oz coconut water, copious amounts of Blue Moon, and Lady is a Scampi pasta from Oregono’s.

Setting Up Transition Area:

I had a small cooler with my coconut waters and ice, a plastic crate to sit on to put on my shoes, my Leadman tri matt, a small towel to wipe of feet, both pair of shoes (I put my bike shoes on sitting down. I’ve put them on the bike with elastic bands, but I hate running in bare feet and then putting on my shoes with bits of gravel on them. To me it’s not worth saving the 15 seconds). Had my race belt and hat on top of my running shoes. My helmet and sunglasses were on my handlebars.

Swim (36:58)

I warmed up my arms a little waving them around like a bad Michael Phelps imitation, and then got in the water right after the 1^st wave went off and pulled on the neck of the suit to fill it with cold water. Then did about 75 yards of swimming to warm up focusing on my form and head position. I positioned myself on the far right side and to the rear of the pack. I purposefully started out slowly and focused on my exhalation and keeping my head down. Lake Mary is very muddy and is like swimming in the dark, which can be very disorienting if you aren’t used to it. I drafted a guy for a couple of hundred yards and then swam the next 1000 or so solo before drafting for another 300 or so and then went hard towards the finish. I was able to keep a steady pace and tempo the whole time and while it wasn’t my fastest swim, it was certainly one of my most relaxed.

T1 (2:29)

I was relaxed in T1 because I wasn’t breathing too hard and took a little extra time to wipe the gravel off my feet, put my shoes down sitting on my crate, and then donned my helmet and sunglasses, ran through transition and did a decent mount

Bike (2:56:55)

Unlike other tris where I have tried to pound the bike,in this race I focused only on my heart rate and its percentage of max (for me 190 BPM). I kept it between 75% and 85%, averaging at 79% and peaking at 86% on a steep climb. This took some discipline as there were some decent climbs at altitude. In fact, I didn’t even look at my overall time or pace until 1.5 miles left to go on the run, which was a first for me. I have decided that is how I will do my races in the future. It is so much

Training Regimen

Days Leading up to Race

Morning Nutrition

Race Nutrition and Hydration

Before swim: 1 17.5oz can of coconut water

On Bike: 3 Scoops Generation uCan Superstarch (about 270 calories) with 2 grapefruit Fizz for flavor, and 48 oz water with 4 Fizz, and 2 cream cheese packets (at miles 14 and 40).

Post Race: 17.5 oz coconut water, copious amounts of Blue Moon, and Lady is a Scampi pasta from Oregono’s.

Setting Up Transition Area:

Swim (36:58)

T1 (2:29)

Bike (2:56:55)

In fact, I didn’t even look at my overall time or pace until 1.5 miles left to go on the run, which was a first for me. I have decided that is how I will do my races in the future. It is so much more relaxing than looking at how you are doing every second! So many races I have punished myself during the event because I focused on my time and not the journey. The only thing that bugged me on the bike was an incredible urge to pee! Hydration is great until you have to go. I held it until T2 though. I got passed by a 50 yr old in the final 5 miles, but let him go confident I’d catch him on the run which I did at mile 5 when he was walking.

T2 (4:44)

I came in to the transition feeling strong having just passed a few riders I was playing back and forth with during the last 5 miles of the bike. I dried my feet off with my towel and then put on my Thorlo run socks (I use socks for runs over 10k). Slipped my shoes on donned my boonie cover and race belt. Took a sip of some iced coffee and then grabbed my can of coconut water from my cooler and took off via the porta potties so I could relieve my bladder.

My legs felt better than usual after the run, which I attribute to taking it easy on the bike. I have my watch set to show my mile times and was surprised that I did a 9:13 on the first mile—I would have guess a 10:30. At 1.5 miles there is a 350’ ascent that levels out at the 3 mile mark and then you turn around and descend i. I had come up a couple of times in the last month to train on this, and was able to keep my heart rate below 85% for the climb. My pace was pretty steady given the slight inclines and descents, with the exception of mile 11 where I stopped a little longer at the aid station and chatted with a quaint volunteer in her 70s. I took off when I saw a group of racers coming up the road.

The rain started to come down at 3 miles to go and it was refreshing! I picked my pace up a bit. A 1.5 to go, I toggled my watch to show the elapsed time, it said 5:34 and I was elated I was going to beat my unspoken goal of beating 6 hours. I kicked it up another notch on the final mile which is a slight ascent and then sprinted in to the finish.

Summary:

This was my one of my strongest events I’ve ever done and I felt better than my previous longest race which was the Leadman 125. In that race I had bad leg cramps and had to walk several times during the run. Today, the morning after, my legs were sore, but I went to Pilates and was able to do the whole set without stopping. I credit my energy to my body’s use of fat as a fuel and in putting in adequate training time. Thanks to all my training partners and members of the Prescott Triathlon Training Group who encouraged me and put in the miles! And a special thanks to my athletic supporter, Shaynee, who took these pictures and was there to keep me going! It was great to get a little hardware for placing 3^rd in my AG.