Monthly Archives: March 2012

Oceanside 70.3 Race Strategy

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I must say that time is just flying! When I signed up for Oceanside Half Ironman and Coeur D’Alene Ironman back in July, the races seemed SO far away. Now here I am, just days away from my first 70.3 and less than three months from my first 140.6. It’s scary to think that there are less days til Ironman than days that have passed since last Christmas.

What I Hope to Achieve From This “Warm-Up” Race

That being said, I am looking at this Saturday’s race as a practice run for the big day on June 24. Although I definitely will be “racing” and not just using it as a training session, I’m hoping that I will come out of this race with a few things:

  1. Confirmation that my self-created training plan is working – or confirmation that it needs to be tweaked
  2. An idea as to whether or not my current race nutrition plan will work for the full Ironman
  3. An assessment of how my open water swimming is and how I deal with swimming in very cold water
  4. Knowledge of any areas of weakness that need to be improved upon
  5. A better idea of how well I run long distances off the bike

I learned a lot just on the practice triathlon that we did earlier this month and I’m sure a real race of this distance will come with even more valuable lessons. Since this will really only be my third real triathlon (I’ve done three practice triathlons), I know I have a lot of learning to do!

Pacing and Fueling Strategy

Fortunately, this race is a race that a large number of fellow San Diegans participate in, and I have been lucky to be included in a Oceanside  70.3 Facebook group full of SD Tri Club members who will also be racing. This Facebook group has provided me with valuable resources and advice on how to prepare for race day, what to expect along the course, and how to properly pace yourself on a course such as this. Here are links to three articles that I found particularly helpful:

Tri Force Team: http://www.triforceteam.com/2012/03/oceanside-70-3-race-tips/

Jim Vance: http://www.coachvance.com/2012/03/2012-oceanside-703-race-preview.html

Heather Jackson: http://www.xtri.com/features/detail/284-itemId.511713763.html#.T3JFzf-o5SQ.facebook

Most of the strategy/advice in these articles is similar. I actually read Jim Vance’s 2010 strategy back before the practice triathlon and started practicing his recommended fueling strategy then.

That being said, here is my personal strategy for the big race tomorrow:

Swim: 

The swim is in the Oceanside harbor and NO pre-swimming is allowed. I plan to do an on land warm-up by first running for a bit to work up a light sweat, then I will do some dynamic stretches as I wait for my wave start. T1 closes at 6:30 and my wave start is at 7:27 so I have plenty of time to warm-up and wait! I plan to take a Gu about 15 minutes before my wave start.

As soon as I get in the water for my wave, I plan to immediately dunk my head and blow  bubbles out and get water into my wet suit to avoid the shocking cold once I get started. Currently the water temp in Oceanside is 55-58 degrees.

My first instinct on the swim was to go pretty hard for most of it since it’s pretty short. However, Mike pointed out something to me that made a lot of sense – the difference between my base (1:40ish) and -5 base in terms of effort is pretty big. However, those 5 seconds that I’d lose by cruising at base or just above are pretty negligible in terms of overall time. If I slow it down and just take it easy, let’s say worst case scenario I lose 10 seconds/100 which is only 200 seconds or 3 minutes 20 seconds. I’m sure if I get out of the water feeling fresh and my heart rate is not through the roof, I’ll make up that time on the bike. And if I don’t, I honestly don’t really care that my total time is 3 minutes slower. The TriForce blog above actually also mentioned this strategy. Believe me, I don’t plan to completely lay off – I’ll cruise at about 70-80% effort.

So my swim strategy is to swim as straight as possible with medium effort. Unfortunately the buoys are all on the left and the swim course is not straight, so I’ll have to do some alternate breathing at times. The majority of the race I will breath on my right, every other stroke, as this is what I am used to. In an ideal world, I”ll find someone who is at a similar pace as me and try to draft off of them. However, since this is a wave start, it may be difficult to do.

As for time, based on my Olympic (1500 meter) swim time of 27:02, I should be able to complete 1.2 miles in about 35 minutes. To be safe I’ll say 35-40 minutes. Hopefully I’ve gotten a bit faster since September as well!

Bike: 

The Oceanside bike course is kind of tricky. The beginning of the course is deceptively fast and easy and people have a tendency to really push hard with all the adrenaline and excitement from the race. The main piece of advice I receive from veteran Oceanside participants is to TAKE IT EASY on the first half of the bike course. Miles 1-24 are flat and usually have a tailwind. I am hoping to average about 19-20 mph in this section but I’m going to not pay attention to pace at all – just effort. I plan to stay as aero as possible and to focus on taking in my nutrition and getting my heart rate in zone 2. My zone 2 is 150-170 and I hope to keep it at 160 max during this portion of the race.

Miles 24-42 are the rough ones – lots of climbing! I plan to just focus on spinning as much as possible up the hills and NEVER let my  heart rate get over 170 and leave Zone 2. Based on prior experience, my heart rate will probably be in the high 160s during these miles but I need to really hold back and not let it get too high.

After the hills end (including a super steep descent that has a speed limit of 25 mph because a participant died one year taking it too quickly), it’s time for 14 miles of relatively flat riding. However, there is typically a VERY strong headwind during these miles which makes them pretty difficult after all the climbing. My main focus at this point will be of course to keep my heart rate down  but also to stay aero as much as possible.

As for bike nutrition, I plan to consume about 200 calories/hour. I will have a water bottle with plain water in my aero bars and a second water bottle in my cage full of  highly concentrated CarboPro and Nuun. I will have 6 scoops of CarboPro and 1.5 Nuun tablets, for a total of 600 calories and 540 mg of sodium. I plan to put the highly concentrated mix in a water bottle that is clear so that I can gauge my progress on fueling as I go. At the halfway point, half the water bottle should be gone.

Originally I was thinking I might just go for straight liquid calories but I get really hungry on the bike during my long rides, so I decided to also add in my favorite long ride snack, Stinger Waffles, into the mix. I have these on every long ride so I know my stomach can tolerate them. I plan to break up two waffles into a plastic baggy and have it in my bento box (unzipped as I learned at my practice tri). This will add 320 calories for a total of 920 calories on board. I also will have 2 spare Gus in my bento box in case something happens to my fuel (ie I drop it).

I am a little nervous about the bike aid stations on the course. The first two aid stations are on a hill meaning that everyone will be riding at a pretty low speed so that should be fine. I think I will only need to refill my front water bottle one time during the race, most likely at the 2nd aid station. I’ve gotten pretty good at drinking and eating on the bike but I’ve never been handed a water bottle and attempted to refill my own while riding! If I feel like it’s a little sketchy, I won’t hesitate to get off my  bike and refill.

I’m guessing at some point on the bike I will have to stop and use the restroom, as I have the bladder of an infant. I don’t plan to pee myself on the bike – all I can think of is the pee running into my shoe and making my socks wet! Gross.

As for time, I am going to try not to focus on my time or pace at all on this ride, just my heart rate and how I feel. However, I really would like to finish the bike under 3:30. 3:15 would be even better but I really have no idea what to expect since I’ve never raced this distance before. Based on prior rides, I think somewhere in this range is realistic.

Run:  

In T2 I plan to have a frozen water bottle with 1 tablet of Nuun in it. Ideally by the time I get to it, the water bottle will be unfrozen and nice and cold. I’ll run with the water bottle as long as I feel like it and then throw it away. I don’t plan to drink the sports drive provided on the course since I haven’t practiced with it. I plan to take 1 Gu ever 40 minutes, which is the same strategy I use during marathons and half marathons. Depending on how I feel coming out of T2, I may take a Gu right away.

I plan to start the run nice and easy and catch my  breath. I really want to enjoy this race! I will concentrate on having a high cadence and keeping good form to conserve as much energy as possible. At the halfway mark, the race will really get started, given that I have saved enough energy. If I’m feeling good, I’ll pick it up a bit, or if I’m just feeling ok it’ll probably be a struggle to keep my current pace but I will try to do that.

If I paced myself correctly on the bike, according to my sources, I should be able to run this half marathon at my open marathon pace. My open marathon pace is about 8:45, so that would put me at about a 1:54-55 half marathon. Ideally, I’ll run the half marathon under 2 hours but honestly I will just be happy to finish! This course is relatively flat, although we do have to run up and down a very steep ramp from the pier down to the  boardwalk two times. Also, the course itself has some rollers.

Overall 

As of now, race weather for tomorrow is “race perfect.”

I am a bit nervous about the temperature being too cold, but I’m sure once I’m out there I’ll warm up.  One big change in the course from last year is that this year there are two transition areas. This means that while I”m in T1 I have to stuff all of my belonging into a bag before I leave so that they can transport my bag to T2 for me at the end of the race. This will add a little bit of time to my transition as I’ll have to take the time to do that. Also, the run course is more hilly this year due to the addition of the ramp from the pier to the boardwalk.

So, based on all this info, I predict that I’ll be finishing this race between 6 hours and 6 hours 30 minutes as long as there is no major catastrophe!

If you are interested in tracking me, my bib # is 1903.

HERE WE GO!!!!

Dreaming Swim Bike Run

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Whenever something is consuming my life, I tend to dream about it. When I was an auditor for a big public accounting firm, working 70+ hours a week, I used to dream about Excel spreadsheets. Usually I’d be trapped in a spreadsheet and I couldn’t figure out how to make the schedule make it tie out (auditor lingo). Terrible.

The good news is that since I now have a much more flexible and less demanding job, I rarely dream about pivot tables and paste special. Instead, my nightmares involve …. you guessed it, triathlon.

Two out of the three most recent nights I’ve had triathlon nightmares. The first one started pretty fun. I was at a big race (I think it was supposed to be Oceanside) and everything was going well. However, at some point we had to get in the water for the swim start and I soon realized that the waves were huge – we’re talking 10-20 feet. As soon as I got in, I was getting tossed around (I dream about swimming in big waves pretty frequently actually now that I think about it) and realized there was no way I was going to make it past the swell to start swimming. One of the first things that crossed my mind was my concern for Asia who hates big waves and has just recently overcome her fear of the ocean.

The second dream involved waking up on race day in a panic because I realized I hadn’t packed anything and we had only 10 minutes to get to transition before it closed.  I was frantically searching the house for everything and kept realizing that I was missing something. I was full of panic as I searched and soon realized I would miss the start.

So what does it all mean? I’m not a dream expert but it probably means that I’m apprehensive about the upcoming race this Saturday. However, I have actually been quite calm all week and besides obsessively checking the weather (65 and partially cloudy is the current forecast in case you are wondering), I am not all that nervous. I guess since it’s my first time at this distance, I have lower expectations for myself. I’m pretty confident that I can go the distance so I’m not worried about whether or not I’ll finish. And since, it’s my first race at this distance, I can’t compare my time to my previous time so there’s not pressure there. Ideally I have a finish time in mind, but I honestly won’t even be upset if I don’t come close.

But, apparently my subconscious has more going on than I realize!

Do you ever have crazy pre-race dreams? In general, do you dream about what is going on in your life or about completely random things? 

Ironman Training Week 16 – Less than 3 Months til IM CdA!

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Wow 16 weeks! This week we officially crossed into the Sub-3 Month window for the Ironman. What does this mean? After my nice easy week following the Half Ironman, I will be entering beast mode. I am scared of my training schedule. I have been trying to focus on the present and not the future and have been avoiding looking at the training weeks in April and May but I did take a look this week and it wasn’t pretty people!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I got a bit stressed out this week. Thank you to everyone who reassured me that I am not alone and that it is definitely a part of Ironman training that everyone goes through and it will pass. I’m happy to report that it did pass (for now that is) and I’m pretty excited to be so close to toeing the start line of my first Half Ironman in 6 short days.

All right, on to the week. The goal of this week was to maintain my week day volume/frequency but decrease weekend volume in preparation for the race next Saturday. Here’s how it went down:

Monday: Usually Mondays are a bit of a drag due to the high volume weekend. However, since we got a lot of rest the prior week, we got up for Masters Swim in the morning. The workout was a really good one and definitely pushed me to work hard. In the end, we completed 3,500 yards of swimming. After work we got on the trainers for  60 minutes of spinning . This was definitely a recovery workout – my watts were super low and I lacked motivation to get them up. I was sore from yoga on Sunday but I really think the culprit was our killer 3.5 hour indoor cycling session on Saturday. Mike only made it halfway through the workout and hopped off. Oof. I made sure to foam roll and stretch well after this workout.

Tuesday: Started the morning with another 60 minutes of spinning on the trainer. My watts were slightly higher than the night before but definitely not record-setting. Energy wasn’t at its highest. After work, I felt much better and went out for a run. I had to go to LA on Sunday so I knew I would have to try to squeeze in my long run at some point that day. I figured that if I was feeling good I’d turn my 6 mile run into a longer one. I was feeling good so I kept running and ended up running 8.3 miles , 6 of which were at tempo pace (8:15-8:30). The other 2.3 miles were an easy warm-up and cool down at about 9:15 min/miles. After I got back, did Ab Ripper X and more foam rolling and stretching.

Wednesday: I’m on a roll with my Masters Swims! I was in bed early the night before so the 5:30 wake-up call didn’t seem so bad. Mike decided to sleep in so I headed out alone. I got there a few minutes early so I got in a good warm-up before the swim started and I was able to stay for the full swim set. We did 10 x 100s, half at base + 5, half at base and then the main set was a “simulated mile race” which started with 2 x 100 at base -5 , then 3 x 100 at base, followed by 2 x 300 at base + 5 and then concluded with 3 x 100 at base and 2 x 100 at base -5. By the end I was definitely tired! We finished the whole thing with a 4 x 150 easy effort pull set for a total of 3,800 yards. I really focused on my bi-lateral breathing during this workout, especially on the base + 5 sets, since Oceanside 70.3 buoys are all on the left. After this workout, I was feeling more reassured that come June 24 I will be able to swim the 4,000 meters required.

That night Mike and I had our weekly date night on the trainers while we watched the Biggest Loser.  After 90 minutes of spinning, I was disappointed to see a pretty mediocre average watts yet again. Again, watts were not high. Mike was also still feeling a bit weak so we both decided in advance to definitely skip our Sufferfest workout for Thursday and we’d decide in the morning if we wanted to sleep in or do an easy spin instead. This was also the night of the aforementioned “breakdown” so it’s not hard to predict what happened the next morning.

Thursday: 

After sleeping in and skipping the morning workout, I already felt better. And 75 minutes of yoga at lunch also helped! Then, after work I headed out for a 5 mile run which I kept at an easy pace. I was happy to see that my easy pace still turned out to be in the high 8 minute mile range.

Friday: 

Rest day

Saturday: 

We got back on the road for some hills on Saturday, completing 50 miles. We rode our normal 44 mile route and added on a flat 6 mile out and back in the middle. I have to say this was the easiest 50 miles I’ve ever ridden! I kept my effort low and just took it easy. Asia and I chatted for much of the ride and it was really enjoyable! After we got off the bikes we did a 3 mile run. 

Sunday: 

I had to go up to LA early this morning so I wasn’t able to get in my workout until the evening. Since I already got in my long run on Tuesday, I was relieved to only have a 6 mile run ahead of me on the treadmill. I also got in 15 minutes of ab/core work. 

Weekly Totals

  • Yards Swam: 7,300
  • Hours Biked door-to-door): 7.5
  • Miles Run: 22.3
  • Minutes of Strength/Core: 105
  • Total Hours: 15
Comments on the Week

Despite some lower watts on the bike on the weekdays, my weekend ride went well and all my runs were fantastic. All four of my runs this week had average mph that started with an 8. I also had two really good swims this week. Although I had planned for an open water swim on Sunday morning but a change of plans made that impossible, I was still glad to get in some solid yardage this week.

Nutrition was also much better this week. I kept it really healthy most of the time and felt good overall about what I put in my body. On Sunday night I made a big pot of this yummy brown rice, quinoa, bean and veggie dish and we ate plenty of salads and brussels sprouts this week!

I’m looking forward to our taper week this week. All workouts will be under an hour and a couple of days I will only have 1 session/day.

How was your week? Any big milestones for your races coming up like my sub-3 month to IM milestone?

Stressed.

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I had a mini-freak out last night. Mike made some comment that was totally not hurtful and it sent me to tears. Emotional basketcase anyone?

I have a lot going on in my life right now – Ironman training being the biggest of course but also some changes/new responsibilities/extra work at work, being a bridesmaid in 3 weddings, and more. I struggle/stress about the amount of money I’ve spent on Ironman and triathlon in general and I constantly stress about whether or not my training plan is enough. All age groupers struggle with similar situations while training for this event, but it kind of all came piling down on me last night.

One of my favorite bloggers, Page, recently posted her Ironman Arizona weekly workouts and someone commented about how could she possibly have time to fit in a life and the demands of everyday living (ie running errands, grocery shopping, cooking) on top of her 10  hours of training. It definitely struck a chord with me! Lately I’ve been struggling to fit all of that in with 15-18 hour training weeks and I know that coming up are the peak weeks of Ironman which will mean I’ll be eating,  breathing and living triathlon training for over 20 hours a week at times. On top of this fearful anticipation of some significant training ahead of me, I also have the doubts/fears about my own self-training.

I chose to self-train mostly for monetary reasons, but also because I like to control my schedule. I also like group workouts, and I knew that I could arrange some group workouts which would give me a good workout without having to plan and execute it all myself. So what started as a Ironman training plan that was mostly modeled off of an online plan I found on TriFuel.com turned into a beast of it’s own that now barely resembles any particular training plan. Obviously there are the basics – three weeks of increasing weekend mileage, one week of recovery. Three swims a week, four-five bikes a week (trying to emphasize the bike since it’s my weakness), and three-four runs a week. One yoga a week. At least one separate core and upper body session a week, ideally two. Fundamentally I have everything down. Where I start to question myself is when I read/hear things that differ from my current approach. Do I incorporate speedwork? Some say yes, some say no. Do I add in strength training? Some say yes, some adamantly say no.  Are my workouts in the right order? Should I have more specific goals for each workout? Should I be eating more clean and cut out sugar and alcohol?

I read a lot of blogs and I read a lot of articles about training, a lot of which contradict each other and my training in some way (quite naturally - there is no “one way” to train!).  So, basically on about a weekly basis I come to Mike with some revelation about how and why we should change our training plan. Luckily, he’s quite calm and rational about this whole process, and even better, he self-coached himself for his first Ironman so he knows that if you put in the hours, you’ll get to the finish line. Am I going to reach my maximum potential for this race? Probably not, but since it’s my first race, I don’t think that’s really possible anyway.

What Mike constantly reminds me is, we’re here to have fun. We’re not here to win. I wouldn’t be training for an Ironman if I didn’t think it was fun. And for me, doing yoga once a week instead of another workout is fun. Knowing that I can eat a big greasy slice of pizza and the cupcakes that someone brought into work is fun for me. Going to Masters Swim is fun. Doing the Sufferfest bike workouts are fun. Would I benefit from doing a more specific swim, bike or run workout set out for me by a coach and by eating super clean? Possibly. But at the end of the day, I’m getting in my mileage and I’m doing the work. I will cross the finish line and I will have a big smile on my face knowing that I did it my way.

How do you stay sane during high volume training? Is is also hard for you to know that you’ve done enough to get to the finish line? 

Masters Swim – My Swimming Savior

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As I’ve announced several times on this blog, I used to hate swimming. It was dreadful to go swim on my own in the pool. I equated it to being on the treadmill facing a wall. However, since I started going to my local YMCA’s 6 a.m. Masters Swim workouts, I’ve changed my mind about swimming! I wouldn’t say that Swimming and I are ready to make it Facebook official yet, but I’m definitely warming up to it.

The Encinitas YMCA Masters Swim is the place to be at 6 a.m. on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning (although there are workouts each week these are apparently the most popular days) if you are a triathlete in the North County Coastal area. There are 8 lanes and despite being a self-proclaimed “strong swimmer” I end up in the 6th fastest lane (or 3rd to slowest depending on how you want to look at it). Our lane’s base 100 yard pace is 1:45, the next slowest lane’s pace is 1:55/2 and the fastest lane is apparently a 1:10 base.

The first time I came to this workout I was surprised/intimidated by all very fit looking people there – turns out several pro triathletes frequent the YMCA Masters Swim, including local Encinitas pro-triathlete Beth Walsh (she has no idea who I am so I am kind of a creeper). Compared to the TriClub Masters Swim that I used to go to (where I was in the 3rd-4th fastest lane out of 7), these people look SERIOUS. I thought they might beat me up in the parking lot afterward….not really, but they definitely could!  Luckily, the coach was super nice and explained everything to us, and even better, two twin girls that Mike knows also attend Master’s Swim and gave me us the insider’s info.

Swimming Intervals the Right Way

The best part about Masters Swim is that it is a coached workout so I can guarantee that I’ll be getting in a fabulous workout each and every time I attend. We always start with some easy swimming on our own, then we start on the warm-up set, which sometimes involves a kick set. Then we get into the main set which is usually the longest (1,000-2,000 yards) and we finish up with a shorter set, usually at lower intensity (but sometimes not!).  The workout is designed for the fastest lanes and is supposed to go for an hour and fifteen minutes, so unfortunately oftentimes I don’t finish the whole workout due to time constraints. However, I always finish the main set and then try to get in at least 100 cool-down.

Another thing I really like about this particular Masters Swim is that we actually do the sets the correct way. One of the twins always leads the lane and she is really good at getting us to hit our intervals. Sometimes we go a little too slow and end up foregoing some of the rest between sets, but overall we hit them on the head (i.e. when the coach says to do 5 x 100 at base, we always come in right around 1:40-143 and then leave at the 1:45). This is a big change from when I swim on my own and kind of decide how long I want to take a break and really don’t pay attention to the time.

Another bonus to Masters Swim is that since I have someone leading my lane, it’s ok to zone out a bit. I don’t have to worry about counting laps or anything, I just need to make sure I’m not falling behind. The majority of the time, I do make an effort to watch the clock and make sure I”m hitting my intervals and to make sure I know where we are in a set, but sometimes I just zone out and let my thoughts wander. It keeps me sane!

Do I Love Swimming? 

I wouldn’t go as far as to say I LOVE swimming now, but I definitely think that my attitude about it has changed. Not only do I enjoy getting it out of the way first thing in the morning, I’m usually very energized at the end of the workout and ready to take on my day. I enjoy the social aspect of master’s swim as well – Mike and I drive to/from the workout together and once I’m in my lane, I enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow swimmers.

This morning I had a particular breakthrough. I swam the entire 1 hour 15 minute workout and was able to complete 3,800 yards! I am SO close to the 4,375 yards that I will be racing on June 24 at Ironman Coeur D’Alene! I know that consistently attending Masters Swim is going to dramatically improve my swim endurance and hopefully increase my speed as well!

Do you swim alone or with a masters program? When you swim alone are you good at making your intervals? 

Ironman Training Week 15 – Rainy Days and Change of Plans

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This week was quite successful for me in terms of balancing life, training and recovery. Although it was a lower volume week in terms of total hours, I felt that my workouts were all very high in quality. Since we knew it would rain over the weekend, we moved out workouts around and had to move the bike ride indoors. I think that this ultimately ended up being beneficial since we got to experience 3.5 hours of uninterrupted riding (which is probably around the amount of time I’ll be on the bike at Oceanside) and we also go the bonus of being able to sleep in.

Ironman Training for the Week of  March 12 – 18

Monday - Daylight Savings time was killer this morning. Although I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and headed to the gym to swim on my own, all I could think the entire drive over was how much I was dreading it. As I entered the 24 Hour Fitness parking lot I seriously considered going straight to the shower and just getting ready for work and not working out at all. But I didn’t. I begrudgingly got into the pool and swam 2,100 meters, hating pretty much every moment. I thought with the extra sleep (normally I’d get up at 6 to swim on my own) would help,  but it didn’t. I’ve heard there will be times during Ironman training that you hate it, and this was one of them.

That night I didn’t workout, as planned, due mostly to having to work late but also because I knew I should rest my legs from the big workouts I did over the weekend.

Tuesday - Luckily, my I-Hate-Ironman Funk lasted only one day. I woke up Tuesday ready to get on the trainer. After 60 minutes of spinning, I did about 10 minutes of core work.  That evening I left work just in time to squeeze in a 5 mile tempo run before the sun went down. This was one of those runs that remind you why you love this sport. I went from cursing Day Light Savings time to embracing it. After a easy 1 mile warm-up at about 9:10 pace, I went into 4 miles at 8:15-8:25 pace, finishing the full 5 miles at 8:32 average. The tempo pace felt surprisingly easy and my breathing wasn’t labored and mylegs felt fresh. I felt amazing! After I got back I did 10 minutes of upper body strength.

Wednesday -  For the fourth week in a row, Mike and I headed the YMCA for our Master’s Swim. In total, we swam about 3,200 yards. Asia and Jeremy also joined us for the first time. As usual, I got in the 1:45 base lane, but today the pace felt VERY slow. After a warm-up with did 10 x 200 with the first 5 being base + 5 and the second set of 5 being base. I accidentally touched the feet of the girl ahead of me several times and Jeremy was right on my tail doing the same the whole time. I waited at the wall for a bit longer than usual each time but I always caught up. I asked the coach after the workout if I should move up lanes and he suggested that I lead the lane. However, I’m pretty nervous about leading a lane, especially since I tend to lose count when I swim on my own and we have one girl who always leads the lane and it’d be weird if I took over for her. I think next Wednesday I may try to move up to the 1:35 lane and if I get too tired, I’ll move down.

After work Mike and I got on the trainers for 90 minutes of spinning. I felt really good during this session and my watts showed it. I’m really starting to notice an improvement in my cycling endurance and power.

Thursday - Since the forecast was calling for rain all weekend, Asia and I decided to get our scheduled long run in this morning instead. Although we had planned to do 12 miles, we brought it down to 10 so that we didn’t have to wake up in the 4 o’clock hour. At 5:15 we set off, headlamps and all and ran 10 miles . Gu for breakfast!

After work I got on the trainer for an hour of intervals with The Sufferfest – A Very Dark Place. After the warm-up, the workout starts with a couple of quick sprints then gets into 5 x 4 minute intervals, each with it’s own “personality.” There is a 3 minute rest period between sets. I was very happy when I got off my bike and checked my average watts for this workout and it was 15 watts higher than the first time I did it and about 10 higher than the last time! I love seeing improvements! After the Sufferfest I did P90X Ab Ripper. 

Friday - Since we knew we wouldn’t be making it to the open water swim on Sunday due to the weather, we got up early for another Master’s Swim. I was pretty tired when I woke up so I stuck with the 1:45 lane. Although the first half of the workout felt a bit slow, I was glad I stayed in that lane because about halfway through we started a set of 15 x 75 at descending intervals, with the last being all out. Then we started the set over but this time did less slow intervals and more fast ones. However, I only got in 7 of the second set of 75s since we had to get out to get to work. I was also pretty exhausted by the end of the sets! I was thankful that I didn’t go up a lane because I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep up. In total, I swam 3,000 yards. 

Saturday - As predicted, the weather was terrible on Saturday. It was stormy all day, with the worst of it being the extremely intense wind. We knew this was coming so we scheduled our workout indoors (we had a 70 mile ride planned). We’ve never ridden more than 90 minutes on the trainer so this was definitely going to be a challenge. We completed 3.5 hours of spinning, which included 125 minutes of easy/medium effort spinning followed by a 85 minute Sufferfest – Local Hero. I consumed about 620 calories during the workout and felt strong throughout. My average watts was higher than my  normal trainer sessions, including the Sufferfest workouts that I do. My average HR was right at the bottom of Zone 2.

Our Sufferfest Bike Torture Chamber

After the spinning, we changed into running gear and went out for a 4.3 mile run. Despite the torrential rain at times and the extremely strong winds, we finished the run at a 8:30 average pace. Mike and I ran together and he was impressed with the pace I was pushing despite the conditions.

Saturday night we celebrated Mike’s birthday (which is on St. Patrick’s Day). It was a great night and we were glad that we got our long run out of the way earlier in the week so that we could sleep in.

St. Patty's Day Shoes!

Sunday - After 10.5 hours of sleep, we got up and spent the day relaxing and shopping. In the afternoon we took a nearly 2 hour nap and then did one hour of P90X yoga.

 We finished the weekend feeling relaxed, rejuvinated and energized for another great week. This is how we should have felt last Sunday after “recovery” week and I’m glad that we caught up on rest and enjoyed our free day on Sunday. It was a mental  break as well as physical.

Weekly Totals: 

  • Yards Swam: ~8,500
  • Hours Biked : 7
  • Miles Run: 19.3
  • Minutes of Core/Strength: 95
  • Total Hours: 14.5

Nutrition

Nutrition was certainly a fail this week as not only did I indulge in a lot of dessert and yummy food to celebrate Mike’s birthday, but it was also a co-worker and good friend of mine’s birthday which was celebrated with brugers, fries and more baked goods! Although I always say that one thing that keeps me going through Ironman training is the fact that I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight, this week we went a little overboard and I’m glad to be getting back on the health train in the upcoming week.

Home Stretch?

With that being said, I can’t believe that my first  Half Ironman is only 12 days away!!! Also, we are officially in the double digit countdown for Ironman CdA with 97 days to go. We really just have two more big build blocks after the Half IM before we start our final taper. I can’t believe it! Considering I’ve been training for this race since last July, 97 days really does seem like the home stretch! However, these next couple of months will be the most intense and the most time consuming months of training so I know it won’t be easy. Regardless, I look forward to the challenge!

How was your week of training? How do you change your training schedule for the weather, if you do at all? 

Practice Makes Perfect

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Our Amazing Tri Club Team!

Last Saturday I had the privilege of joining several other members of the San Diego Tri Club for a course overview and practice triathlon for the upcoming Oceanside 70.3. The event was put on by Karen at First Step Athletics, a local personal trainer and triathlon/running coach and was very impressive! When we arrived at the parking lot near the Oceanside Pier at 6:30 AM we were greeted by Karen and her volunteers with bagels, coffee, printed out color copies of the Athlete Guide, as well as a special guest – Gina Davis, the Oceanside 70.3 Race Director.

Our parking spots served as T2 and we all set out our running gear. Karen had volunteers there to watch our stuff during the event. After set-up and a quick overview of the practice triathlon’s events from Karen we got our things together and got on our bikes and road to T1, which is about 1/2 mile away at the Oceanside Harbor. On the way, we stopped so Gina could explain T2 and the run course to us, providing some great insight on what we could expect on race day.

Learning About the Run Course

Once we arrived at T1, we set our things out and got into our wet suits (which we were thankful for since it was very cold during the T2/run talk). Then we headed over to the harbor where Gina explained the swim and T1. T1 will be special for us on race day because there is a special transition area set up for members of the San Diego Tri Club. So Team WODS (Mike, Asia, Jeremy and I) will rack our bikes together! However, it doesn’t matter where you bike is racked on race day because when you come out of the swim you have to run all the way to the other end of the transition area and make your way back in and head out near the swim exit. This way, everyone will run an equal distance. I’ve heard that T1 at Oceanside is pretty slow due to the amount of running you have to do.

The Practice “Race” 

Sexy Beasts

At 8:30 a.m., about 2 hours after we arrived, we finally got in the water. Since the swim course is in the protected harbor, we swam in the ocean instead. We walked down the beach about a 1/4 mile and then got in the water (no announcement of when to start or blow horn – totally informal) and started swimming. I would guess we only swam about 400 meters total before getting out of the water and running up the beach. Luckily the waves were very small. Surprisingly, the water didn’t seem as cold as it has in prior weeks during our Del Mar open water swims. When I exited the water, I wasn’t shivering like I expected – despite the short swim, my body was warm and ready to go!

Since I wore booties, I didn’t need Karen and the other volunteers to hose off my feet. I made my way to my transition area and stripped off my wet suit and then practiced my transition. Since I knew that I would be cold during the race, I only wore my Zoot sports bra and my Zoot tri shorts. I decided I would put on my tri top in transition. However, with the salt water, it was quite difficult to get my tight top on! I’m thinking that it might not be a good idea to do this in the race since I will be even more flustered and my hands will likely be cold and shaking. I put on my socks, cycling shoes, jacket, heart rate strap, garmin, and sunglasses, and gloves. I also learned that I will NOT want to wear gloves on race day – they were very hard to get on and I later learned that it’s also impossible to open plastic baggies with one gloved hand.

Cycling Buddies!

Once I was on the course, I felt good. I was surprised that I wasn’t freezing despite my wet tri shorts. Luckily, we just rode this portion of the course last week, otherwise I’d be completely lost! We didn’t get much instruction on where to go once we left T1 but I felt comfortable on my own since I was familiar with the course. As soon as I got out of most of the traffic, through the gates of Camp Pendleton and on to the open road, I felt great. Apparently there was a strong tailwind. I was seeing numbers over 20 mph on my bike computer. Although the first half of the race is described as “flat” there are about three fairly significant hills that require the small ring and quite a bit of huffing if you aren’t careful. I found that my heart rate was elevated from the swim and I had a hard time keeping it in Zone 2 for these small climbs. Another lesson learned – let my heart rate settle at the beginning of the bike because the swim will definitely elevate it.

Before I knew it, I was at the 14 mile turn around. The way back was harder due to a headwind, but I kept in aero for most of it and still felt pretty good coming back. Unfortunately, at about mile 18 I tried to open my plastic baggie with a crunched up Stinger Waffle and there was no way that was going to happen with my full fingered gloves on. I struggled with it a few times before giving up, thinking I’d open it at a stop light. However, I never hit a stop light until near the end of the course and then I just gave up on it completely, thinking I’d have a Gu in transition.

After I left Camp Pendelton, I approached a stop light that had 2 right hand turn lanes. Apparently I didn’t realize this and/or the car that was on my left (I was between the two right hand turn lanes) didn’t have their blinker on, because as soon as I started to take off from the stop light, the car on my left starting turning right and came within literally 2 inches of hitting me. I screamed and unclipped my right foot and luckily the drive saw me in time. I’ve never had such a close call and it was definitely a wake-up call. I need to do a better job of reading the signs at stop lights and never assume that there is only one right hand turn lane!!! Even if the driver’s blinker wasn’t on, I still shouldn’t have assume they were going straight.

After my shake-up due to the near collision, I slowly made my way back to T2. I quickly changed into my running shoes and grabbed the water bottle that I had mixed with 1 Nuun tablet and frozen overnight. Luckily it was nearly defrosted and icy cold! I stuffed two Gus in my pockets as well. We never really went over the run course for the day (we went over the run course for the race in detail however) so I kind of just started running.  I forgot to head North on the boardwalk and instead went south, so I knew I had to make up some time. I ended up adding on at the end of the first loop and then heading back. Just as I was at about 6 miles or so, I saw Asia and we ran together for the rest. I ended up adding on about a mile extra, finishing about 7.5 miles in total. I had one Gu when I first started to run but never had another one. I finished the practice tri – 400 yards of swimming, 28.5 miles of biking and 7.5 miles of running with only 500 calories in total (including the Gu I had before the swim)! Definitely under-caloried on this one.

Despite a fueling fail, a sunburn, and a near death experience, I had a good practice “race.” My average MPH on the bike was 17.5 (which includes slowing for stop lights, stop signs and border crossings) and my average pace on the run was 8:50 min/mile.

Lessons Learned

I learned some valuable lessons at this practice triathlon, specific both to this course and to triathlon racing in general:

  1. Taking a Gu 15 minutes before the swim start does not upset my stomach – definitely will be doing this at the race!
  2. Do not try to put on a very tight tri-top over a wet sports bra with shaky, wet hands in T1.
  3. Don’t wear a jacket on the bike if it’s over 60 degrees. I plan to use arm-warmers (if I can get them on with shaky hands!)
  4. Putting on my heart rate monitor and watch in T1 takes a few extra seconds but it’s worth it
  5. Taking time to put on sunscreen in both transition areas would have been useful. I wore a jacket on the bike but wore a tank top on the run and ended up with a very pretty sunburn.
  6. If you do wear a watch, don’t wear it over your jacket so that in T2 you have to remove your watch to take off your jacket.
  7. Don’t wear gloves on race day. They are too hard to get on and if they are full-fingered, impossible to open fuel with them.
  8. Open plastic baggies with your fuel before the race starts so you don’t have to while racing.
  9. It’s definitely a good idea NOT to put anything but water in your aero-bar water bottle (this was my first time using one and I LOVED it) since it splashed on you when you go over bumps. Luckily I heard this in advance and only put water in it, but it was a good first hand lesson.
  10. If you can’t open your fuel, stop on the side of the road and open it. The couple of second of lost time on the side of the road are worth avoiding bonking later (luckily I didn’t bonk on this race but it was half the distance of the 70.3).
  11. Using a bottle of concentrated Nuun/Carbopro doesn’t upset my stomach. I will be using a full water bottle of Carbopro with 700 calories and 2 Nuun tablets during the race. For the practice race I used a half bottle concentrated with 300 calories of Carbopro and one Nuun to see how my stomach liked this mix. Every time I took a sip of the super concentrated bottle, I took a big swig of water from my aero water bottle.
  12. DON’T EVER assume that a car is going straight if they are in a lane that allows them to turn OR go straight, no matter what their blinker is doing.

I am so thankful to have participated in this practice race! Not only did I learn a lot about the course and transition areas from Gina and Karen, I also learned valuable race lessons. My triathlon experience is limited to one sprint distance, one Olympic distance and two practice sprint triathlons, so I can use any experience racing that I can get, practice or not!

Thanks again to Karen, Gina, and all the amazing volunteers that watched our things during the practice race!

Have you ever simulated a race? What did you learn? 

Meeting an Ironman Champ

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 source

Too bad you can’t get fast by osmosis. On Sunday I met 4 time Ironman Kona world champion Chrissie Wellington and when I got in the pool on Monday morning surprisingly my 100s didn’t shrink to 1:05. However, it was quite inspiring to meet someone who has gained so much success so quickly in a sport that was so new to her when she began. Even if just a little bit of her determination rubbed off on me, I’d be happy.

Chrissie Wellington’s Amazing Career

Chrissie has a pretty incredible story. Her first triathlon was in May of 2004 and she finished third. Soon after, she took a hiatus from triathlon to go to Nepal as part of her work. While in Nepal, she mountain biked and ran daily. Her coach later commented that her training at altitude (4430 feet) has probably aided in her success in the sport. In 2006 she began racing in triathlon again and won her first Olympic Triathlon back which then qualified her to enter the ITU (Amateur) World Championships. She won this race (of course) which encouraged her to turn pro. In January of 2007 she hired a coach, quit her job and focused on her professional triathlete career.

Despite beginning her career in triathlon racing shorter distances, she entered Ironman Korea that year and was the first place female finisher, beating the second place contender by 50 minutes and placing 7th overall. With this win, she qualified herself for her first Ironman World Championship in Kona. And we know the end of this story – Chrissie won at Kona by five minutes and set a 2:59:58 marathon, which is the 2nd fastest that any woman has ever run it. Her victory was described as the “biggest upset in Ironman Hawaii history”, ”a remarkable feat, deemed to be a near impossible task for any athlete racing as a rookie at their first Ironman World Championships” and “one of the biggest shocks in the sport’s history” (source).

Since entering the world of triathlon in 2007, she has taken it by storm. She remains undefeated at the Ironman distance and has won four Kona World Championships (she did not race in 2010 due to an injury). Basically, Chrissie Wellington is one of the most incredible female athletes that has ever lived.

Meeting the Champ!

Nytro, our local bike shop, and also the bike shop where I purchased by lovely P2, held an event on Sunday from 4-5 pm where you could come and wine and dine and schmooze with a pro triathlete. Basically, there was a table with wine and cheese and crackers near a very long line to meet Chrissie, who was not wining and dining herself, but rather standing behind a table loaded with ready-to-be-signed pictures while she shook hand after hand and signed autograph after autograph.

Battling Crowds for Chrissie

On our walk to the bike shop (we live only 1/2 a mile away!), we were joking about all the things we would ask her. I didn’t know what to expect and was almost imagining it being more of a mingling situation where we’d have to awkwardly approach this Ironman Great and ask her questions. Some ridiculous questions we came up with to ask Chrissie were:

  • What is your V02 Max?
  • Do you run in Newtons?
  • Do you actually like your Cannondale Slice (since she is paid to ride it now by Cannondale) or do you prefer your old P2?
  • What’s your swim base?

Instead, after 20 minutes of waiting, we shook her hand, told her our names, told her we were training for CdA, waited while she autographed her photograph, and took a picture with her. She was really warm, friendly and nice and although she didn’t know how to spell Coeur D’Alene (really who does know how?), overall we had a very positive impression of her.

Worth the Wait!

For now, Chrissie has no upcoming races as she announced in February that she is taking a break from Ironman. I hope that she returns, but if not, she went out with a bang. You might as well have your last race as a pro triathlete be your 4th World Championship. Either way, Chrissie will always be an inspiration to me.

Do you have a pro athlete that you look up to? If you follow triathlon – who do you think will win Kona this year since Chrissie won’t be racing!?

Ironman Training Week 14 – A Not So Recovery Week

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Highlight of the Week - Meeting Chrissie Wellington!

Well, this week was supposed to be all about recovery and I hate to say I dropped the ball on it a bit, but I really did. In some ways, my intensity and volume was down, but in others I ignored it (ie did a track workout) and my rear end definitely didn’t see enough of the couch.

Week of March 5-11

Monday: I started the week with a 3,000 meter swim. I wanted to do a bit of a  time trial so I timed myself doing 2000 meters in the form of 5 x 400 (with probably about 20-30 sec rest between) and came out at just about 40 minutes. I would say my intensity for these laps was about 70%. This gave me the encouragement that a 35 minute-ish Half IM swim time will be possible.

After work I did a 60 minute spin on the trainer followed by P90X Ab Ripper.

Tuesday: Back on the trainer for a 60 minute spin.  My legs felt better and my watts were higher on this session than the previous night’s. It’s really interesting to see how my watts change depending on the day. I’m guessing Monday’s watts were a little lower due to the big weekend. After the spin I did about 10 minutes of upper body strength including push-ups, plank punches and pike push-ups.

That evening I headed back to the track  to do a group workout. However, the high school we run at was having a regional championship soccer game on the field and we weren’t allowed to use the track. Instead, we did 1 mile repeats around the school. We started with a 1 mile warm-up then did 3 x 1 mile repeats and then a 1 mile cool-down, for a total of 5 miles of running. I did the warm-up/cool-down at about a 9 min/mile pace and the three one mile intervals between 7:35-7:40, with the middle one being the slowest and the last being the fastest.

Wednesday: I had to be up in LA all day so I got both of my workouts done in the morning. I started with 3,400 yards of swimming at Master’s Swim and then came home and had a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana and jumped on the trainer for a 60 minute spin. My watts were low on the spin and I wasn’t really feeling it. I started blaming it on the swim prior and then realized that on race day I’m going to be swimming about 1,000 meters farther AND riding my bike for 5-6 hours LONGER. Yikes! After my workout it was go go go all day and I didn’t return from LA til 10 p.m.

Thursday: My friend is an instructor for a barre type strength and stretching class called The Dailey Method. I caught her 6 a.m. class and got in 60 minutes strength training. Since this would be a busy day at work, I decided to get my run in at lunch during the daylight hours so I didn’t have to get on a the dreadmill at 7 p.m. I ran on the streets around my office, which happen to be very hilly and not at all shady, so it’s not really possible for a lunchtime run to be easy. I tried to keep my heart rate down and keep the pace as easy as possible and got in 6 miles of running.

Friday: Ah, sleep. I love you. After waking up at 5:30 a.m. for the past four mornings and not getting to bed til 10 p.m. each night, my body was very happy for 8+ hours of sleep.

Saturday: An awesome volunteer through the Tri Club put together an Oceanside 70.3 Practice Triathlon on Saturday morning. It was pretty incredible! We arrived to coffee and bagels and were able to walk through the course, T1 and T2 with the race director herself. After the talks, we swam 500 meters (approximately), biked 28 miles through the first half of the bike course and then ran on the run course. I ended up running 7.5 miles or so since I met up with Asia at about 6 miles and figured I’d just chat with her for the rest of the run. Overall this practice triathlon went well – I even averaged over 17.5 mph on the bike (this is Garmin time, however it wasn’t a closed course so that includes slowing for stop lights and stop signs) and sub 9 min/miles on the run. Later this week, I’ll post a blog about this practice tri and all the lessons I learned during it.

Asia and Me at the Practice Triathlon

Sunday: Since we were out later than usual for Mike’s mom’s birthday party on Saturday night and we also had to set our clocks forward an hour and lose an hour of sleep, we decided to not set an alarm Saturday night. We woke up naturally at 8:30 (ie 7:30!) feeling pretty good. We got coffee and relaxed for a big before Mike and I headed out on a 40 mile bike ride through the hills of Rancho Santa Fe. The typically easy coastal portion of this ride at the start of the route was pretty difficult for me and from the get go I knew it wouldn’t be a good ride. I focused on keeping my effort as easy as possible. We ended up modifying our route a little bit (we were going to do our normal Pizza Port ride which is about 44 miles) to take off a few miles and make the last few miles easier, since we both weren’t feeling spectacular. In retrospect, we should have probably made this a shorter ride considering it was recovery week, but our desire to spend as much time in the saddle as possible mixed with a “short” 28 mile ride on Saturday inspired us to schedule this ride in.

Weekly Volume:

  • Meters Swam: ~6,600
  • Hours Biked: 8
  • Miles Ran: 18.5
  • Hours of Core/Strength: ~1.5
  • Total Hours: 15
Lesson Learned: I Suck at Recovery

In addition to some valuable racing lessons I learned on Saturday during the practice triathlon, I also learned that during recovery weeks I need to take it easier. The point of a recovery week is to come out refreshed and ready for a new big block of training. Since coming out of this recovery week there are only 3 weeks until the Half Ironman, one of which will be a taper week, I think that I tried to pile more hard work into the week,assuming it would make me stronger for the race. I also justified it since the week before and after the race would be “easy” weeks, that it was ok to push it a bit more during this recovery week. I think I didn’t want to waste a week of valuable training since Ironman CdA is only 4 months away.
But I probably cheated myself because recovery is just as important as volume and intensity when it comes to a long-term training plan like this. I need to take a step back on recovery week and let my body rest. No high intensity (I justified a track workout since I hadn’t done any high intensity running since January), no extra hilly rides thrown on the end of the week and LOTS of sleep! Instead of taking time off to relax on the couch and have downtime, I was booked solid all weekend with social commitments (dinner with a friend Friday, cooking appetizers Saturday afternoon for the birthday party Saturday night), 2.5 solid hours of errands on Sunday before rushing off to meet Chrissie Wellington (a blog post on this later this week as well) and then coming home to make cookies for the girls dinner party. Besides a 1 hour nap on Saturday, I was on the go for 3 solid days.

This week was also a fail on the nutrition front. Although in general I stuck to my healthy breakfasts lunches and ate fruit, almonds, greek yogurt, etc for snacks, I went out to eat a few times and made poor choices and also ate way too much at both parties this weekend. I have been justifying unhealthy food and overeating since we are training for an Ironman, but that’s not really an excuse!  On top of that, during the practice triathlon I couldn’t open my plastic baggy with my Stinger Waffle and ended up way under-caloring for the practice triathlon (total of 500 calories for about 3 hours of work). I need to eat more during workouts and less the rest of the time!

Do you have a hard time relaxing during recovery week? How much do you decrease your volume and/or intensity during these weeks? 

Swimming in Cold Water

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The last 3 Sundays at 8 a.m. we have braved the cold Pacific Ocean for an open water swim. We swim about 2,000 meters in total but spend a lot of time in the water since we first make our way out past the waves, wait for everyone to group up, then swim half the distance, wait for everyone to group up again, and head back. In total, we are in the water anywhere from 35-60 minutes, depending the size of the surf. I always come out of the water with numb feet and a numb face. I literally am slurring my words because I can’t move my mouth correctly! Sometimes it takes up to 30 minutes for my feet to stop being numb after I get out of the water. To say the least, I need all the help I can get to keep warm on race day!

My Swim Socks!

If you are also going to be swimming in arctic waters this year (i.e. CdA lake with a temperature of 56 degrees last year), here are some tips for keeping warm (thanks to Triathlete Magazine and Active.com):

  1. Use two swim caps (one latex if possible) or a neoprene swim cap
  2. Use swim booties. Personally, I purchased Blue Seventy’s Swim Socks: http://blueseventy.com/products/detail/swim_socks/
  3. Put Vaseline on your face to insulate it
  4. Wear ear plugs. When the temperature is below 60 it is a good idea to avoid getting water in your ear where it can cool your core body temperature down.
  5. Do a 10-15 minute warm-up on land to warm your body. This way you won’t waste energy on chattering teeth as you wait for your wave to start.
  6. Once you get in the water on race day, immediately put your face in the water and blow bubbles out of your mouth. Put some water down the front of your suit to get your body acclimated to the cold. You don’t want your face to hit the water for the first time after the gun goes off because the water temperature may shock you and also cause your lungs to contract, causing breathing problems.

Each week I’ve added a layer to my swim attire. The first week I wore just a swim suit with a wet suit and one latex swim cap. The 2nd week I added swim booties that I  purchased. The next week I added a second latex swim cap. I was warmer with each week yet at the end of each swim my face and feet were still numb, no matter what I tried. After researching it a bit, I think I may try the ear plugs and possibly purchase a neoprene cap. I am most likely not going to try the Vaseline since I don’t really want it to sticking around on my face for several hours into the race.

I actually read in a race report from 2009 CdA that there was hot tubs in T1 for people to warm-up in. I seriously think I will be hitting those up if they are there again in 2012!!! I don’t care about 1-2 minutes off my total time if it means I am not spending the first 30 miles of the bike with my teeth chattering and shivering.

Have you ever competed in a race with very cold water? What did you do to keep warm?