Kathy's Troika 1/2 Ironman Race Report - August 6, 2006

I first want to provide a bit of history...

This has been such an interesting race season for me.   Last December, I thought it would be a good idea to join the Pro Sports Club Triathlon club, because prior to this year, I had done 5 sprint triathlons, but I have never improved my time in any of them.   I didn’t really know anyone, except a couple people here and there, who did triathlons, so I had no one to really learn from, and I really didn't know what I was doing in the first 5 sprints I did.  I just did the races, and had fun.   But, I thought by joining PSCT, this would help me learn more about doing a triathlon, and possibly help me improve my time.   My goal in January was to do an Olympic race by September of this year.    That was my plan for my "A" race... until I met Su Chang!   Su was incredibly inspiring to me.   Before I met her, I had figured out through the forums that she just started running last year, and she literally went from barely able to run 2 miles to running a half marathon in 6 or so months.   So, I took the initiative to meet Su.  I got her email address and emailed her and asked her if we could meet over coffee.  I wanted to hear how she got to where she is now.   She told me her story, and I was incredibly inspired.  Then, she told me about Troika, and she said I should do it.   I thought she was nuts!   Well, I went home, and presented this idea of a 1/2 IM to my husband.  The first words out of his mouth were, "You could totally do that... you just have to believe you can do it."  Wow!!!  So, I had his support from the beginning.   I thought about it seriously for 3 weeks.   And, 3 weeks after I met Su, I committed to doing this 1/2 Ironman.   So, I'm very thankful to have met Su.  I KNOW I would not have done Troika if I had never met Su.   

The reason I had planned for an Olympic to be my "A" race is because of the running.   Up until this year, I was only able to run 3 miles, and that was very very very difficult for me.  I felt like 6 miles was something that would literally take me 9 months to work up to.  I would definitely not classify myself as a runner.   I have realized over these training months that most of the reasons why I have not been able to improve my running over the years was all mental blocks that I had to overcome, and thanks to my personal trainer, Dirk Huebner who really helped me get past my mental blocks about my running, and Su Chang who encouraged me in my running, Jill Fry who helped me learn about HR's when you run, and many other people who encouraged me (especially my husband!!), I was able to overcome many mental blocks, and really believe in myself and have confidence about my running.   I still remember the first time ever in my life this year I ran 10 miles, which was on June 30... I was on top of the world.   That could have been my "A" race right there!  So, to me, one of the best things that came out of Troika is I was able to get past the belief I had in my head that I was a bad runner and I could never run more than 3 miles.   I did not have time to work on speed much, my cadence, my form, etc. etc.  I just wanted to know I could run the 13.1 miles in the race... that was my goal for my training for Troika!   I only was able to get 3 LONG runs in for my training, only because it took me until the end of June to get up to 10 miles, and I wanted to start tapering by about the 3rd week of July, and I did not want to do more than 1 long run a week, so that is why I was only able to get in 3 LONG runs total in my training.   I was cutting it close, and I might have been a bit under trained in my running for the race, but I did not care... I just was excited about the distances I was running.    I plan to continue my long running, and my goal over the winter is to run 2 half marathons and really start to work on everything else about my running, now that I know I can do the distance.

As of last year, I did start to get a small desire to do a 1/2 Ironman, but it was the running that kept me from believing I could do a 1/2 Ironman.   But, another person I have to give credit to for helping me even believe I COULD do a 1/2 Ironman one day in my life is my friend, Ellie Petri.  Ellie did Kona last year.   She asked me to be her swim partner for the summer while she was training for Kona.   Prior to last summer, the most I had really swam (long distance) was maybe 3/4 mile.   I LOVE to swim, and it is a strength, but I didn't know if I could swim 2.4 miles!  Well, Ellie and I swam together last summer twice a week, and I was swimming the Ironman distance with her twice a week pretty much most of August and September.  It was this experience that made me believe I could possibly do a 1/2 Ironman, because I knew I could bike 56 miles, and now I knew I could swim 1.2 miles for sure... it was just the running that kept me from really believing I could do it.  

So, I've had many people in my life over this past year who have helped me get to where I am now.

So, this is where I have come from, and now I'm just smiling from ear to ear that I officially completed my first 1/2 Ironman!!  Wow!!

My goals for Troika:

1) To enjoy the race and have fun

2) To pace myself correctly and not get burned out or bonk anytime in the race

3) to finish in 7 hours

4) to get my nutrition right

Well, I achieved all 4 goals!   I had a GREAT GREAT time.   I smiled through the entire race.   My husband, Eric, and my friend, Ellie, told me whenever they saw me, I had a huge smile on my face.  I just couldn't stop smiling!!  I was SO happy and having a great time.    I must have paced myself correctly, because I felt really good on the run, with the exception of my legs just feeling kind of stiff by about mile 8.  But, I am attributing that to not getting a lot of long runs in.   But, never once did I feel like I was burning out, or bonking.    I finished the race in 7:03:01... pretty much right on my goal time.   And, I must have gotten my nutrition right because I felt great throughout the entire race in terms of energy, etc.   

And, this was a race of firsts! 

1) This was the first time EVER I had run 13.1 miles!! 

2) This was the first time EVER I had exercised straight for more than 4 hours

3) This was the first time EVER I had exercised for more than 4 hours straight on just 1 hour and 15 minutes of sleep!!

4) This was the first time ever I had ridden my bike 56 miles WITHOUT stopping. (In training, I did long rides like this, but I'd have to stop at stop lights, or take a break to fill up water, etc.)

Overall times:

swim:  42:21

T1:  4:41

bike:  3:27:08 (this included 1 potty stop... according to my bike computer, my actual biking time was 3:26)

T2:  2:46

Run:  2:46:05

Finish:  7:03:01

Day before race: 

Su and I drove out to the lake, and we went for a swim.   I was very excited about this lake... it's a GREAT lake to swim in, and the exit and entrance into the water is soft sand!    After our swim, we drove the entire bike course.  We discovered from this that this course is not "gentle rolling hills", but this is more of a hilly course, with false flats!!  Up until I saw the bike course, I was predicting my bike time would be between 3:15 and 3:30.  After seeing the bike course, I changed my prediction to 3:30 or longer!  

We then went back to the hotel and decided to ride our bikes on the run course.   This was good to check out where we'll run.   But, we lost track of time, and realized the pre-race meeting was starting in 10 minutes, but we were about 6 miles away from the hotel.   We had planned for this ride to be a really easy and slow ride, but we BOOKED back.   I was maintaining 23 MPH on my bike back, and I kept on thinking how dumb this is right now for me to be using my legs so much, and it was almost 3 PM on Saturday.  But, I didn't want to miss the pre-race meeting.   So, we made it back to the hotel, and we were just a couple minutes late, so we didn't miss much. 

After the meeting, we went to dinner and I stuffed myself with spaghetti!  Then, we came back to the hotel, and I had to start to get my gear together and organized, but I also had to go to the airport to pick up my family and my friend Ellie.  They flew in from Seattle, and we all drove back home together the day after the race.    So, I picked everyone up, and got back to the hotel at 8:30 PM.   Eric took the kids out to the pool so I could have some peace and quiet to focus on getting my gear set up.   We all went to bed finally about 11 PM (much later than I had planned).   I tossed and turned and tossed and turned... I just kept thinking about every detail of the race.   The last time I remember looking at my clock, it was 3:00 AM!  I did not fall asleep until 3 AM!!!   I had a wake up call for 4:15.   I was worried about doing this race on hardly any sleep...

Pre-race:

I woke up at 4:15 AM (after 1 hour 15 minutes of sleep!).  My husband, 2 children (ages 4 and almost 6) were sleeping, and it was a small hotel room.  So, I tried to be as quiet as possible... I knew they would have a long day, too!!   I ate 4 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I decided to eat this last minute.   After the 4 eggs, I still felt a little hungry, believe it or not!!), some Gatorade, and also water.   I then started to get all my gear down to the lobby and got everything loaded onto the bus that was going to transport us to the lake.   While I was on the bus, I ate a donut and drank a cup of drip coffee.   I took 3 Endurolytes, too.  

I got my T1 spot set up, and Su was next to me.  That was neat.  Then, a friend of mine came and put his bike right next to mine.  So, that was fun to see my friend, Evan.   My family and my friend, Ellie, arrived.   So, we chatted for a bit, and got some pictures.   I put on my wet suit, and swam a bit in the lake for a warm up.   This lake was really nice... it probably was my favorite lake ever to swim in!! It was clean, and the start and the finish was sandy, and not rocky.  And, there were no gross plants... it was awesome.

Swim:

The women lined up and the women started at 7:05.  It was a beach start, which was a new thing for me.   I normally start in the front of a swim, but today, I decided to just let the faster, more aggressive women run into the water, and I waited a few seconds before I actually got into the water.  I decided I did not want to get swam over, kicked, etc. etc., like I normally experience.     It was a VERY nice swim.  I had space the entire time, I never got kicked, etc.   I did start out pretty slow.   Since I had never done a 1/2 Ironman, I just really wanted to make sure I didn't go too fast in the swim and use up too much energy.   In my training, I have swam the 1.2 miles as fast as 36:30, and as slow as 43 minutes, so I knew I'd be somewhere in that range.    But, I chose to go slow for the first little bit.   Then, I sped up a little, and got into my normal speed/pace.   But, after I hit the first turn around, I noticed that the Velcro on the top of my wet suit was rubbing against my neck.  ugh!!  This has happened before, and when I ignore this, I get major chaffing on my neck, and it hurts.    I looked and saw I was only half-way through the course.  I kept on swimming to see if I could tolerate it.  But, even though I COULD tolerate it, I also didn't want to have a chaffed neck for the rest of the 6+ hours of this race.  So, I stopped, and treaded water, and reached up and re-fastened the Velcro tab on my suit... this made me lose time for sure.  But, I was willing to lose time, in order to keep from having a chaffed neck for my race.   Then, on the last part of the course when I was heading back to the beach, I didn't realize it until half-way back, but the buoys were not exactly in a straight line. They kind of every so slightly veered in at an angle.   I was swimming straight!   I looked over, and realized the buoys were getting farther from me... so that was another time loss....  so even though my swim time was 42:21, I think if I hadn't had the wet suit issue, and I had swam at the angle along with the buoys, my time would have been closer to 40.  But, I don't care.. I had a great swim.... I felt awesome.  I was relaxed, my HR was low, and I was just having a great time.

T1:

My T1 was slow, but I knew I'd be slow.   I knew I was going to be on my bike for close to 3:30, and I wanted to make sure I was comfortable!   As I was leaving the T1 area, I REALLY had to pee!!   If I were at a level were I could place, I would consider the peeing on the bike thing... but I'm obviously no where near that level of racing, so I decided to park my bike at the exit of the T1 area, and visit the porta potties!    My friend, Ellie, has a great picture of my bike sitting next to the porta-potty... I just thought that was funny.    I was glad I made that stop, because I was fine for the rest of the bike ride.

Bike:

I was happy to be on my bike. I love cycling.  The weather was perfect!!   It wasn't too hot at all.  Su and I had driven the course the day before.  I would like to borrow one of Jessica Zahn's quotes.... this course was a flat course... if you take out all of the HILLS!!!!!!!!!!!   Seriously... I had heard from many people this was an easy course... flat to small rollers.   This is NOT true!!!  For the first 30 - 35 miles, it was pretty much all up hill (either false flat up hills, or small rollers, or bigger hills), and on top of that, there was pretty much a solid head wind for the first 30 or so miles.   I remember thinking by about mile 20 that this might take me 4 hours to do!!  So, I started to change my mind set, and my goal by about mile 20 of the bike course was just to come in before 8 hours!!   One thing I was happy about on the bike is I was able to keep my HR where I wanted it.  So, I did a great job pacing myself.   Also, I had attached a little note to my bento box with my nutrition plan for my bike, so that really helped me get my nutrition right.   (Thanks to Su Chang for helping me the night before the race break down my nutrition plan into 15 minute increments!!  She was a HUGE help... and Su was also able to program my watch to beep every 15 minutes.  This helped tons... I didn't have to think about when I had to eat... I just ate when my watch beeped.  Also, thanks to Jill Fry to helping me out, too, figure out my nutrition for the race... I would not have gotten this right without Su and Jill's help... in fact, if it weren't for their help, I probably would have taken a little nap somewhere on the run course!! haha.)

At about mile 25-30 (somewhere in there), I passed a girl who had a bike accident.  I didn't need to stop to help, because the paramedics were already there.  It shook me up a bit.   I don't know if she crashed on her own, or was hit by a car.  But, there was a car pulled off to the side of the road with people standing around her (she was moving, so she wasn't unconscious).  So, I don't know if that car hit her, or if she crashed and the car saw it, and they pulled over to help.   But there was NO shoulder at all on this section of road, so you literally had to share the lane with cars.... that is why I thought maybe the car hit her.   But, it shook me up a bit, I said a prayer for this girl who crashed, and I prayed for my safety as well.   I continued on.   I came to the first water stop.   This is the first time ever I have grabbed a water bottle out of someone's hand while I was riding.  I did it perfectly!!   I grabbed the bottle and filled up my aero bottle, then squirted the rest of it over my head and threw the bottle on the ground.   It couldn't have gone any smoother! 

FINALLY around mile 38ish, I came to a real down hill!!!   Oh, what a relief!!  I have never been so thankful to see a down hill in my life!   I just put it in my highest gear and flew down it.  I really wanted to make up time.   It was awesome.   From here for the next several miles, it was either down hill, flat, or a very very slight down hill grade.  So, it was this section of the course where I made up for the time I spent on all those hills the first part of the course.  

Then, I came to the state park.  The roads here were nice to ride on.    But, I came to this nail biting type hill!!   For those of you who have done 7-hills of Kirkland, I'd equate this hill to the winery hill, close to Columbia Winery.  When I approached this hill, I saw there was a woman about 1/4 way up the hill who was REALLY REALLY struggling to get up.   In this race, there is a no-drafting rule.   So, you have to stay 3 bike lengths behind the person in front of you, or pass them within 15 seconds and get 3 bike lengths in front of them within that 15 seconds.   I had to make a quick decision.... do I just stay behind this woman who is probably only going like 4 MPH, and just go SLOW up the hill and keep my HR down, or do I try to pass her within 15 seconds, which would DEFINITELY mean I'd have to go Anaerobic.   I decided to pass her in the 15 second time slot.   I knew if I stayed behind her, she was going WAY too slow for me, and I probably would have fallen over or something.    So, I just hammered it up that hill, and my HR got to 195.  I had NOT planned on getting my HR that high at ANY time on this course.... but I felt like I had no choice.   If that girl hadn't been there, I would have gone up the hill slower than I did, but in order to stay out of the draft zone, I had to go up fast.    After I got to the top of the hill, I just kind of coasted and pedaled in a low gear to get my HR to come down...

The second water station was after this, and this is where you throw out one of your bottles, and take a new one.  I did exactly that, and I got my Troika bottle!!!       It all went very smooth.

The rest of the ride was good.   There was a hill the very last part of the race, just before you enter T2.  I didn't like that this was here, because it slowed me down a bit.... but it wasn't a bad hill... it just felt like a real hill since I had just biked almost 56 miles! 

T2:

Again, I took my time in T2.   I liked how they had it set up... I came in on my bike.  Someone grabbed my bike, I jumped off, I took off all my cycling gear and threw it in a red bag and then ran over the time pad in just my socks.  Then, I sat on a bench, and got my running gear on.  I remember thinking when I saw the bench, "oh, I get to sit down."  But, then I thought, "wait a minute... I've been sitting for 3 1/2 hours!!!"  haha.  But, I still sat down on the bench and put on my gear there.   I also had put my fuel belt bottles inside a little cooler with ice packs, so that way when I put on my fuel belt, I was able to have nice cold water! 

Run:

I was off on my run.  I noticed my IT bands we were hurting pretty much from the moment I started to run.  This really worried me.  I have never had discomfort with my IT bands.   I remember thinking if this does not stop, this is going to be a LOOOONG run!   I did stop to walk for about 30 seconds and I massaged my IT bands on both sides of my legs, but then I decided to just run again, and work through it.    By about 3/4 mile into the run, my IT bands felt fine. So, that must have been something having to do with just going from a long bike ride to a run... I don't know... I hadn't experienced that before.    

My friend, Ellie, who did Kona last year, gave me the advice to walk through every water station.  Knowing this was my first big race, she advised me to do this.   So, I did, even though my goal was to RUN the entire run.   But, I'm glad I followed her advice.  I stopped at every aid station, and either walked through it as I was putting ice on my head, cold sponges in my hat, and in my racing suit, grabbing water and bananas, or I'd just literally stop at the table and just grab stuff I needed.   So, I made 10 stops on the run... actually, I made 11 stops.  I had to visit the porta-potty around mile 4!!   So, my overall time was 2:46, but my running pace was faster than that... I just don't know exactly how fast I was running... I'd say anywhere between 10:45 - 11:00 pace, because I did take my time at all of the water stops.   But, regardless of my pace, I'm just so happy I finished this run feeling GOOD!!!   That was the most important part for me.... I didn't care about my time, I just wanted to feel good.  

Around mile 7 or so, I saw Su.   She was obviously in pain.   I was really worried about her.  But, I also knew she'd make it to the finish... she's TOUGH!   If it hadn't been for Su's neck injury, she would have been showered and well fed by the time I came into the finish line!!     But, the really neat thing about this race to me is that Su and I came in within 1 1/2 minutes of each other, and I thought that was really special.   We trained together for the whole season, she is the one who convinced me to do this race (which I'm happy about), and I just thought it was a great way to end the race to finish together!!    We did the same thing at Valley of the Sun... we pretty much finished together.    She has been a great training partner, and friend.   

The last mile of the run, I saw a girl in front of me whose age was 31.  That was my age group.   I decided to speed it up as best I could to pass her and stay in front of her, so that way I could guarantee I was not last in my age group!!!     But, I can't quite figure it out because when I look at the results, I am last in my age group... but I KNOW this girl was behind me.  So, I do not know what happened to her...  oh well.

The finish of my run was very special, too, because as I approached the finish line, my 4 year old son, Ryan, came up and grabbed my hand because he wanted to run through the finish line with me.    That was awesome!!  I'll never forget finishing the race with Ryan.  My other son, Tyler, was following right behind, me, too.   The boys were very excited to be at the race.  

I was so happy to finish this race.  This is an experience I'll never forget.   And, I've met so many wonderful people through this journey.  To me, the part I enjoy the most about triathlons is the people I meet.  A race will come and go, but it's the friends you make along the way that continue on.   So, this has been an awesome race season. 

Thanks to everyone who helped make whole experience possible!!