Blog
Viva La France
After racing in Portland, I headed directly to the east coast to spend a few days with family before heading to Lorient France for a world cup race. I have never been to France and was excited for the trip and ready to have a good race after the frustrating mechanical issues in Portland.
The town of Lorient was a very friendly seaside town in south Brittany. The people were very nice and welcoming. The race course pleasantly surprised me again as both the bike and run were quite hilly. I stayed the first night at a hostel and moved into a hotel downtown as the hostel wasn’t quite the ideal place to stay. The karaoke the night I arrived along with constant opening and closing of the doors kept me up most of the night not to mention being on a top bunk. Luckily, Katie one of the USAT coaches let me stay with her a few nights in a normal hotel. The team and coaches for the race had a few dinners together, and I was impressed with the food though I am sure the waiters were annoyed with our antics and string of questions about the menu. It is always nice to spend some time bonding with the other team USA athletes at the world cup races.
Race morning came quickly; the day was gorgeous sunny but not hot and windy but not too bad. I had breakfast at the hotel, opting not to have the football size croissant race morning. The race went well. In the swim, I found myself at the front of the main pack behind a small breakaway group. I was fourth out of the water and happy that I was able to stay out of the mayhem that seems to be worse when there are wetsuit swims. On the bike, I worked with my pack to bring in the riders ahead Sarah Groff came back to us first then the small breakaway came back. When they were reeled in, I knew everyone would sit back so I threw in a surge and managed to get a gap on the group. It was early for a breakaway, and I knew I would only stay away if the pack let me go. Unfortunately, they chased a bit and reeled me in about three quarters of a lap later. I then sat back and worked through on the bike but didn’t try to take on too much of the work at the front. Unfortunately like every world cup, so many of the girls just sit back for the whole ride it is a frustrating experience. Once off the bike, I tried to focus on having a steady run. It wasn’t great but I was happy to run a 37 and finish 16th overall. While I was happy with the race overall, I definitely want to keep improving and move up to finish in the top ten consistently next year.
Ups and Downs at Pro Nationals
I was a bit unenthusiastic about pro nationals mostly because it has been a long season already and I had a string of three races planned that started with the nationals in Portland. And I was sad that Jeff wasn’t able to make the trip, but the race wasn’t in Portland as we thought rather about 45 minutes out of the city at Hagg Lake so he opted out as logistics for getting out there turned into a nightmare. But my attitude completely changed once I got to Hagg Lake and saw the course. It was beautiful and perfect for me: incredibly hilly for both the bike and run exactly what I like and works to my strengths.
When I arrived at the race site on Friday, I was pleasantly surprised and started to get a very excited for the race, my first ITU style, drafting race, since June. Race day was beautiful for us; we started late in the morning so it had time t warm up and the sun was trying to breakthrough the cloud cover. It was the perfect temperature where I was never cold but never hot either. The swim wasn’t my best; I picked the wrong feet to follow and was SOL when the feet I chose were dropped off the back of the front pack. Definitely a lesson to not be happy at the back on the front pack but rather try to get closer to the front so that I at least have a shot at staying with the small pack around the buoys. I came out of the swim in the second pack and felt good the second I got on my bike. I rode with our group for about 2 laps and then made my move and rode very aggressively over the next two laps to close the minute gap up to the lead pack. Entering my 4th lap through transition, I was only 8 seconds off the leaders and was definitely going to bridge. Then disaster….I hit the corner at the top of the hill going down into transition and my tubular tire came off the rim. At the time, I wasn’t sure why I hit the deck. I got up quickly fixed my chain tried to ride and the wheels wouldn’t move. I checked the brakes tried to go again and the bike still wouldn’t go. Hmmm what is wrong. .. Needless to say, after about a minute and a half of chaos, a spectator volunteered that my tire was off the rim. I checked and indeed they were correct a six inch section of the tire had come unglued and was off the side of the rim. I popped the tire back on adjusted the font brake as it was rubbing again and was off…a minute and 45 seconds later with a few bruises and scraps and a much more timid riding style. While I was off the side of the road, the girls in the second group both went by me and I busted my ass to try to make up all the ground I lost. By the 5th lap, I caught one of the riders and she sat on my ass for the rest of the ride. I made up some time on the other rider and the lead pack but definitely wasn’t as aggressive through the technical sections and keep worrying that my tire would pop off the rim again. Starting the run, I felt a bit tired and frustrated that all my hard cycling effort really netted me no gains with the time loss as a result of the crash. I tried to focus but ended up just running smoothly and simply holding my position of 7th. Overall the race was frustrating but I wouldn’t change the way that I rode or anything I did except to maybe have a better swim. On a side note, the tire was a USAT wheel that was glued by the trade team mechanic, the husband of a competitor I might note. In retrospect, I need to do a better job of checking the equipment that I receive since in the end it’s my job to be safe and stay upright out there.
Me, Myself, and Coach Amos
It has been lonely in Colorado this week. No training mates, no head coach, no assistant coach, and no Jeff as he flew home for a long weekend with his family…so it was just me and my volunteer assistant coach Amos.
Looking at my schedule, Thursday to Sunday were jam-packed with some workouts that weren’t going to be fun. Luckily, I had Amos to motivate me each day. Friday was going to be a tough day; the weather was bad: cold and rainy, and the schedule called for a track workout and hard swim in the outdoor pool. So Amos gave me long look in the morning and said he would disrupt his busy day to accompany me on my workouts to make sure I gave it 100%. At the track, Amos watched from the dry warmth of the car and kept me on task for the entire session. Later at the pool, Amos came on the deck and bravely fought off his drowsiness to keep me motivated. It was a good day, and I have to thank coach Amos for all his inspiration and for working hard to stay awake on the job.
There may be coaching regime changes in the future as Amos is now eyeing the absentee assistant coach’s job. He is thinking of all the treats he can buy with the extra income.
Back in LA
It was weird to be back in LA again. The last few months have been a blur, and it seems like just yesterday that I left my LA family to come back to Colorado. While I was out there for the race, it was great to catch up with my home-stay family. Sam and the kids had a very busy summer too; it was great to catch up and hear their news from the last few months. Their son, Wing, has grown, acquired some new teeth, and learned so many new words. I also got to see the dogs, and we all had a moment of silence for Fudge up in heaven. Good old Flicka was as needy as ever, and Babes still has some junk in the trunk. The family even headed out to Venice to cheer me on as I biked past during the race which was so nice.
The race in LA went as well as I could have hoped. I really enjoy the ocean swim and had a good start and decent swim. Once on the bike, my legs felt good and I enjoyed working the hills. I biked most of the way with Becky in sight; she would drop me on the flats and I would crawl back to her during the hilly sections. I took the lead for about 2 seconds on the fast downhill into T2, and Becky quickly took it back. On the run, I did my best to be steady and smooth thinking about my form. Becky took off and had a great run to finish strong another win. I was happy to finish second and enjoyed the second lap of the run. Overall, I was happy with the race but definitely think there is room to improve for next year.
My Love Hate Relationship with Chicago
I love going to Chicago (so many memories there and so many good times) and really enjoy racing there…but for the last two years this race has been tough for me. This year, nothing really went wrong I just struggled on the day. When I needed it, I didn’t have any pop and being flat on race day against a strong field of great women athletes isn’t going to bring home any podium places.
The trip to Chicago was easy; any race that is only a few hours away by plane is a treat. Our race started at 11am and race morning was a bit hot and humid. In hindsight, I really should have been more vigiliant about my hydration on Saturday and Sunday morning that is a rookie mistake I need to prevent in the future. According to the race officals, the water temp dropped magically from 76 to 71 in the 12 hours before the race so it was a wetsuit swim. Judging by the overheating going on in my wetsuit, I would say the water was probably closer to 76 than 71 but all the other women had to deal with the same issue. On the bike, the windy city delivered its wind and we had a headwind going north and a tailwind coming back south along lake shore drive. The bike was not my best; I told my legs to go and they just weren’t having a great day out there. I watched Becky take off on the bike, and she had a great ride and made me feel like I was just spinning out there. Getting off the bike, I was with two other athletes in 3/4/5 positions. On the run, I melted; it wasn’t quite a death-march maybe a very sick march. I did my best to hang on to my position and finished in 6th. All things considered the race was okay; it was a tough day out there but at least I finished better than last year and didn’t give up when things weren’t going my way.
Other than the race, Chicago was very nice. I was able to catch up with my parents as well as Uncle Hugh and Aunt Karen and their wonderful daughters. It was nice to have a small cheering section during the race and spend some time relaxing with everyone after the race. Uncle Hugh was great to carry my race bag around for a few hours after the race…..only to find out it was an imposter. Overall, it was a fun weekend with great weather in one of my favorites cities; next year maybe I’ll pull through with a good race too.
Triple the Fun in July
July was a big month of racing for me….I started off with my first 70.3 race in Lake Stevens over the 4th of July weekend then headed to Minneapolis for the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon on my birthday, the 12th, and finished off the series with the New York City Triathlon the next weekend. Doing three races in a row is physically challenging, but I think the hardest part is getting mentally keyed up to race three weekends in a row. I find that the first and second races are much easier than the third unless something happens to botch one of the first two.
The series started with a bang when I won my first 70.3 race. I led from the start of the swim through the bike and run, finishing with a five minute lead over the 2nd place athlete. It was tough in a different way than my usual olympic distance races; the bike and swim were a bit lonely at times. I am so used to racing world cups where you are surrounded by other athletes for most of the swim and bike. In addition, the bike was a challenge because I wasn’t quite sure how to pace myself and didn’t want to destroy myself for the run. The run went well except for some cuts on my feet that really started hurting the last 8 miles. Jeff told me not to run in my trainers without socks, but I didn’t listen. As I ran those last 8 miles, I couldn’t help but smile thinking that he was so right…running in trainers without socks is not a good idea at all. I am glad that I decided to do the Lake Steven half; Jeff and I had a great weekend and were able to catch up with our friends Dan and Kim living in the Seattle area. Dan did the race too; both he and Jeff did a great job and it was fun to see them finish.
The next race in the series was the Lifetime race; it was my first trip to this race and I was very excited especially since the race fell on my birthday. I was a bit trashed from the 70.3 and only had 6 days to recover. By Friday before the race, my body seemed to be doing better, but the cuts on my feet were still hurting badly. To run with them, I had to do apply layers of Vaseline and bag them up all week long…but this wasn’t an option for the race. I decided to tape over the cuts and hope for the best. On Saturday morning, I felt good and started off with a good swim exiting the water with the leaders minus Sara McLarty who was somewhere ahead of everyone. On the bike, I managed to stay with the group and had a great ride. It was a non-drafting race, but it felt almost like a drafting race with all of us bunched together. No one was trying to draft but there was definitely an advantage to riding with a strong group of other women. I exited the bike with the leaders and felt a bit tired on the run. I managed to hold on for 6th place but was never able to hit 5th gear. It felt as if I was doing the whole run in 2nd gear running steady but not fast. Despite the disappointing run, I was happy with the race especially since I had done my first 70.3 less than a week earlier.
The final race in the series was the New York City triathlon. I must admit that by the time the third race rolled around I was not very enthused to race. I tried to keep a positive attitude but felt pretty poor during my training all week. On the positive side, I spent the week at my parents home visiting family and meeting my adorable little niece, Lexie or Alex (her official nickname is still tbd). It was great to catch up with all the family in town, but it made fitting in all my training a bit hectic as it was squeezed around lunch and dinner plans. Sadly, I didn’t event get to spend much time on the beach. I did get in one open water swim and felt very wimpy as I only lasted 30 minutes since it was so cold @68 degrees F. On Friday, my parents and I went on a 6+ hour journey up the city; normally it takes about 3.5 hours but with the traffic we spent quite a few extra hours in the car. We stayed at an amazing hotel, the Loews Hotel downtown, and many thanks to Jeff’s brother’s brother -in law, Jon, who set us up with the suite. Saturday flew by with me trying to fit in all the requisite workouts, and my parents spending some time shopping and meeting with friends around town. Race day started off badly and went downhill from there….I wasn’t mentally on my game and it showed. Despite all the challenges, I am glad that I managed to finish in 5th and didn’t give up on the run even though I really wanted to stop. The humidity on the run combined with the hills in central park made it a tough end and definitely the hardest run of the series of races. I was glad to finish and see my parents, cousin Bridget, and mom’s friends waiting for me. Many thanks to everyone for their support and a special thanks to mom and dad for their support in the ensuing days. It was hard to leave on Monday; it always seems like my visits go by too fast.
After the third race, I was mentally fried and really needed a break from triathlon. I did have a special treat planned first a visit with friends and then a weekend away with Jeff. First, I visited with some friends in Bethesda before flying back to Colorado. It was great treat to catch up with Ashley, Antonio, and of course little Lorenzo Cole. Last time I met the little guy he was in the NICU, and it was great to see him thriving at home. It was great to spend some time talking about all sorts of things non-triathlon and hear how things were going in their life. When I arrived back in Colorado, it was great to see Jeff. And I had a much needed mini-break from training to rest up before getting back into serious training for the second half of the season. The weekend with Jeff in the mountains was perfect. We had a great ride on Saturday, the Copper Triangle, 80 miles and 8000 feet of climbing; then we followed it up with a long run at altitude on Sunday. By the time we got back to regular life on Monday, I felt refreshed and ready to start training again.
New Favorite Things
I wanted to take the opportunity to share a few of my new favorite things. I couldn’t make it through the day without these items; well, I guess I could probably make it through the day but it would definitely be less enjoyable.
- Podcasts! I was first introduced to the magic of the podcast by my homestay in LA. Jay told me about these crazy Kiwi triathletes with some show and that they were talking about doing this things called epic camp, which involved a crazy amount of ironman training over a week. I listened to Jay and then started downloading the podcast, Ironmantalk. It was very interesting and I had almost 100 episodes to listen to since I missed their first two years of shows. Here are a few of my other favorites: This American Life (an NPR podcast that is excellent – there are a a variety of great NPR podcasts but this one is my favorite), The Final Sprint (running podcast with all sorts of interesting interviews), The Competitors (interviews with a wide variety of athletes), TrainingBible Coaching Podcast (interesting training tips for endurance athletes). I definitely recommend these podcasts, but there are so many great ones out there I am sure that you can find some favorites that fit your interests.
- Probars! I have tried a wide variety of nutrition bars from powerbars back in the early days when they were only in chocolate and came covered in that strange white powder to all the newfangled uber-protein bars. I tried probars about a year ago when Jeff was using them for his Ironman since they are calorie dense without being hard to digest. I liked them but wasn’t in love until last month when I tried some of the new sweet & savory flavors. The new flavors are amazing; I have tried the Cherry Pretzel, Maple Pecan, Kettle Corn, and Cocoa Pistachio….all great. Jeff is partial to the more understated flavors (aka he’s not as adventurous as me); his favorites are Whole Berry Blast, Nutty Banana Boom, Apple Cinnamon Crunch, and Original Blend. My other favorite thing during workouts now is the Cliff Shot Bloks or the Powerbar version; both are easy to digest and are definitely on the menu for my 70.3 debut. (I think the bento box will be stuffed with the bloks and probars…we’ll see what is appetizing when I am out there.)
- InSport! I love their running apparel. I have a several pairs of shorts, shirts, sport bras, a jacket, and running tights. The shorts and tops have become my lucky hard running workout outfits. I know it sounds strange but for those hard workouts it definitely helps to at least start them feeling comfortable and looking good. Then, when things start to go down the tubes and you’re falling off the back of the treadmill or collapsing onto the infield of the track, at least you look like a professional or a jackass….one of the two.
- Calamari Steaks….okay totally random, but Jeff and I have been making a Calamari steak salad about once a month. It is delicious definitely my favorite; it must be on my mind since we just had it again tonight. We get the steaks at whole foods, and they are remarkably affordable.
Hyvee: Final US Olympic Selection Race
The trip to Des Moines couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Monday before the race, I just completed a huge week of training and was exhausted. For once, I didn’t want to fight Siri when the schedule had an easier week of pre-race tune-ups and recovery. But the race came at a bad time for Des Moines. There was flooding downtown at the race site and in various areas around the city. Many residents across Iowa and the Midwest were all dealing with flooding and much bigger issues than a triathlon. The race organizers deserve a tremendous kudos for working around the clock to find a new race venue and working hard to ensure that the race was a triathlon not a duathlon. I wasn’t too keen on doing a duathlon after my experience last year so was considering skipping the event until mid-week when the triathlon option was 50-50 and am so happy that I decided to race. And having the race be a triathlon made it easier for USAT since this race would be determining the final member of the Olympic team. I was out of the running for the team but was just excited to be there and see it all unfold for the women and men still in contention.
On Thursday, I flew into Kansas City and drove up to Des Moines not only was the price right, but it also gave me a chance for a quick visit with my Kansas cousins and aunt after the race. The only downside was the 3 hour drive through some areas; it reminded me of my Alabama drive earlier this year. I was very fortunate to get a home stay in Des Moines. My host family was amazing, and I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them and appreciate their kind hospitality. The new race site in West Des Moines was great especially considering the organizers found and designed it in less than 2 weeks. All the athletes that I talked to were so impressed with the new course and event set-up; the volunteers and race crew deserve a huge round of applause.
Friday and Saturday were uneventful just some training on the course, the race meeting, and lots of down time for stretching and relaxing. The night before the race I had a completely outrageous dream where I was in 2nd place in the swim way ahead of the front pack; this is not a likely scenario in real life. But I took it as a positive sign better than the dream where I miss the race start or forget my goggles. The race morning was beautiful not a cloud in the sky warm but not hot and a decent breeze to keep things interesting on the bike. The late start, 1:30pm for us, is tough as there are too many hours in the morning that need to be filled up before heading down to the start. Finally, race time came.
The swim was rough considering there were only 31 women in the field; I had a very aggressive person hitting me each stroke and sending me off to the left for the entire first leg. Luckily, I was able to escape her around the first buoy. The rest of the swim went okay but I finished the swim at the back of the front pack making it hard for myself to catch the front group of swimmers on the bike. In the transition, things were going great until a girl mounted right in front of me and about 20 meters before the mount line. In her defense the mount line was not clearly marked and none of the race officials were showing us where to mount. In my shock, I almost ran right into her but managed to veer off my course and came to a dead stop waiting for her to stop wobbling. I cried out but none of the officials even seemed concerned that she mounted in transition but that is racing for you. Once on the bike, I missed the girls that exited the water with me and was dismayed to see that a front pack coalesced very fast maybe a half mile into the bike; once a big group forms it isn’t as easy to catch them. I paid for my poor transition and rode the first 6 laps of the bike course solo trying desperately to catch the front pack. I was 30 seconds down the first lap and narrowed the gap on the 2nd , 3rd laps only to see it grow larger again on the 4th and 5th . Then during the 6th lap, I made up a ton of time and caught the girls at the end of the lap. It was such a huge relief to finally be with the front pack, but the damage was done . I could tell that my legs were fried from the 34K time trial. I tried to recover a bit during the last two laps on the bike and surged to the front on the last lap to be ready for any breakaways knowing that my fried legs wouldn’t respond as well as fresh ones. When I started the run, I felt exhausted immediately. I tried to focus on my cadence and do my best. I managed to hold on and felt stronger during the second half of the run. Unfortunately, I was passed just before the finish by two surging athletes and didn’t have a response; I was 12th but was only 8 seconds out of 9th as we all crossed the line within seconds of one another. Overall I was very pleased as 12th is my best world cup finish ever but definitely know that I can improve my run especially if I don’t have to time trial almost all the bike.
And it was very exciting to see Sarah Haskins and Hunter Kemper win the last two spots on the US Olympic team. They are both such talented athletes and will do an amazing job representing the US. I can’t wait to watch the games this summer and cheer on all the athletes that I know and have raced against.
No Escaping Alcatraz for Me
Another year of disappointment at Alcatraz….last year I had a hematoma in my piriformis(aka butt) four days before the race that made it impossible for me to run…..this year I managed to cross-thread one of my bike pedals. It was just plain bad luck as I have put my pedals on my bike at least 100+ times, yet the one and only time I ever cross thread the pedal was for this race. I even biked on the pedals the day before the race for about 40 minutes and didn’t notice a thing.
Sadly, the race was going great up until the pedal left my bike! I had a good swim and was the second woman out of the water only a few seconds behind Linda Gallo. Once on the bike, I charged to the lead and was winning until about 7 miles in when climbing out of the saddle my entire pedal still clipped into the shoe came out of the crank. After laying on the ground in shock for a few moments, I quickly got up and wanted to continue. The first problem was the pedal still stuck on my shoe. Some race officials helped me to take off my shoe and after a few minutes of tugging we finally got the pedal off the cleat. Then, I tried to screw the pedal into my crank, as I wanted to get back on the bike ASAP thinking I might still have a shot at the top ten. The pedal would not go back into the crank…I tried for ten minutes, a race official tried for ten minutes, another official tried, a volunteer tried, a random guy on 
the side of the race course tried, another random dude tried, I tried again….eventually we realized the the crank was stripped. But on the positive side, at first it appeared that I had trashed another front wheel but after fixing the skewer the wheel was fine. On the side of the road, I watched all the elite women pass me heading out on the bike course. Then about 20 minutes later watched them all pass me heading back on the bike course. After waiting on the side of the road for about an hour, I decided to one leg pedal back the start after pedaling and walking my bike up the hill back towards transition for a mile. I ran into the bike mechanic (funny how the race officials 
never mentioned that there was a mechanic up the road). The mechanic was able to use a tool to force the pedal back into the crank; he warned me that this would really ruin my crank but at that point I didn’t care. After a brief debate in my head, I turned around and started back out on the bike course to complete the race. After losing an hour standing on the bike course, I knew my chances of placing were nil. But I love the Alcatraz course, wasn’t hurt from my fall, and most of the field had already gone by me so the course wasn’t too packed. I tried to use the race as a workout, enjoy every moment, and have fun racing when nothing is on the line. The run was a bit of challenge as the course is mainly single 
track so would sprint past slower runners then I would have to tuck in to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming runner to wait for another gap in oncoming traffic to pass the next group of runners. It was frustrating but as I was no longer running for any place or prize money I wanted to be considerate of all the other athletes. So, I cooled my heels many times waiting for a gap and was forced to walk or jog very slowly before I could run again. The one highpoint is that I did log the fastest women’s time up the sand ladder. When I finished the race, I saw Siri at the finish line and just burst into tears. 
All my emotions from the day just spilled out at the moment…all my disappointment and frustration at being in the lead and having it taken from me by a pointless bike mechanical error. But I am very glad that I was able to finish the race and was proud that I didn’t quit. It was nice to at least finish the race this year….and it made me hungry to come back next year and go for it again. And next year I can guarantee that my pedals won’t be cross-threaded.
And a special thanks to Jeff for flying out to cheer me on in the race. Sadly, he ended up having to cheer me up after the race instead. But Jeff and I did assuage my sorrows with some retail therapy at the sports basement and a delicious lunch before he headed home.
