Veronica's Race Preview, Coeur d' Alene, Idaho- May 26-29

 Ok- I'm going to try and write every detail . For the sake of anybody ever traveling to CDA on their own and to be specific about nutrition as I try to dial in. Food will be in green, workout details in blue- I tend to feel self conscious about how slow my workouts can be, so including them anyways because they are what they are. 


The night before I took my bike to Get a Grip  http://www.getagripcycles.com/ to get my bike all packed up. One of the perks of being a Chicago Tri Club member is that you get to rent their bike boxes for free. http://www.chicagotriclub.com/ (Thanks Henry for the tip!) The guys are always great there, they did a race check and realized I needed a new chain and cassette. $! That's ok. $50 to pack it up.  (I really need to learn to just do it myself, but I don't trust myself enough)The also realized that the CTC boxes have been used and abused to the limit, broken strap here, faulty wheel there, so they unpacked a brand new box for me :)
SATURDAY- MAY 26
Woke up around 4amish, had about 8oz of cocunt water Zico brand. Around 6amish had a Vegn Whole Food Energy Bar-Berry Flavor with Orange Juice on the first flight.At the Denver airport 9:30am I needed something more- medium (10oz) coffee from Einsteins with honey and one splenda, an egg white and turkey sausage sandwich on a whole wheat thin bagel, and a rice krispie squar (oops), gingerale on the second flight, no snacks
I left Chicago early Saturday morning, flew Southwest airlines. http://www.southwest.com/ They are the cheapest when it comes to carrying on a bike box onto the plane ($50)
I googled and called the first bike shop that came up on google- Bicycle Sales and Service- http://www.bicycleservice.com/. The man I spoke to on the phone was very helpful and suggested a few tri clubs to try to contact while I was out there. I took my bike to them to get assembled $60- (common theme is being giving young mechanics money to do something that I need to learn for myself)
When I arrived in Spokane, got my rental car and headed right for the bike shop. (Yay gps maps on the iphone!- Don't forget your car charger if you're renting a car. For race day, I'm going to take the $50 shuttle instead and use their taxi cab services to go to and from the locations, the hotel is only about 3miles from race start and expo.

I dropped it off and went to packet pick up for my 1/2 marathon stuff - even though I wasn't going to run it- I decided I would run 13 on my own here, but use Sunday as a training day. http://www.cdamarathon.com/ 
The event was small compared to even the smallest Chicago 5K event with about 4 tents in an outdoor mall. While there I discovered a bike shop that also sold triathlon equipment. 
They were more high end then the other shop and cheaper to assemble ($50)- oh well, next time. http://www.verticalearth.com/ I was able to pick up a warm cap for swimming.  Lunch was a large pulled chicken sandwich, with very little bbq sauce- the kind where they give you the chicken (chicken was pulled, so not fried which was good) and you add your own sauce, plus some kettle corn.

I drove down to the lake to check the scene out. I started conversation with the various triathletes who were out and about, one guy told me that he's not swimming in "this shit yet" and another older man was putting on a wetsuit. I'll find out how bad it really is. I grabbed some food and by this time my bike was ready to be picked up. They let me keep my car there so that was good because me rental jetta was way too small for both box and bike.

Ironman CDA swim start

Once I had my bike, I decided  to drive the course. The route in town is a series of turns, so tough to really go super fast but once you stretch out there are places to coast. The course is two loops- and the loops are essentially two out and backs. It's a very scenic course, and I'm glad I got to drive and preview it because come race day, I won't be paying attention to the scenery. There are no hills that are above 6% grade, but there are a few long ones. There's a long 1mile climb or so off of lake coeur d' alene drive and then on the 95S there is about a 2mile climb- which you essentially go over each climb 4times. The decents are fast and if you're not careful you can catch a nasty cross wind. 
I was surprised to see so many cyclists on the course because I was under the impression that it was too dangerous to ride on the highway with the traffic- but by the looks of it, the shoulders were wide enough. I did pull over and help a guy who need a valve extender to blow up his tire. I got the chance to chat a bit and he said the roads were ok to drive on, just stay on shoulder, watch out for idiots, and careful for flats.

Driving south on 95

Once I finished driving. I parked, changed and did a quick up and back by lake coeur d' alene drive- the wind was surprisingly challenging for only a quick spin I put my running shoes on and did an easy hour- also surprisingly slower with the wind and deceiving false flats/ gradual climb.
Must have erased bike on accident- it was about 30min- a little over 8miles, the run was 1:03:29 for 6.01 miles
By this time it was already getting a little late and wanted to make sure I got food and sleep and checked into the hotel.Guesthouse Inn-  http://www.guesthouseintl.com/hotels/coeurdalene
Dinner was Scholtkey's deli and then a stop at the Safeway- Chicken Noodle soup with a large cobb salad (only ate about 1/2 of it, with flatbread- no cheese on the salad) with Carrot Juice (stubborn chest cough won't go away so trying to boost immune system) Coconut water and rice pudding (oops) I took a lactaid with it, couldn't resist, rice pudding is a favorite- and i figured I could use the carbs.
Decent hotel and price, only about 3miles from city park, and it has a fridge and microwave. 


SUNDAY - MAY 27
 I woke up at 5:40, late, took my medicine and started getting ready. About 6:30 I ate- 100 calories of natural applesauce, mixed with 2 scoops of your protein, 1 banana- and starbucks instant vanilla coffee (60 calories)
I had sent a few messages to some different groups- TriSpokane club, a local swimming club, and Lake City Tri. Tawnya was the friendliest and most helpful- she invited me to join her meeting at starbucks at 7:00 so we can see the start of the Marathoners and so that she can give me some helpful tips. I found them on facebook and they were great. http://www.lakecitytri.org/ 
One other rider, Will joined. us We rode the first 1/2, of the first loop, and then on Lake Coeur d'Alene drive, on the way down, we took a right onto Yellow Stone Train where we did part of the olympic course, extra climbing but SUPER pretty and a very fun descent.

After about 22miles I met went back with them to the car, refueled and went back out on my own. Tawnya was nice enough to give me an extra CO2 cartridge, just in case, but luckily I didn't need it. She was beyond helpful, inviting me to a club bbq after (I didn't make it because I spent the day riding) and  pointing out lots of great tips and suggesting where to swim the next day.

On the ride yes, I went through 2, 400 calories gel/water bottles and then 4 just water bottles- I took in about 4 salt stick tablets and 1 PowerBar Performance Vanilla Crisp bar throughout, and 3/4 banana in between (1/4 when I finished) for the total ride- felt hungry and sluggish- not dehydrated 

It was a very comfortable riding day temperature wise. Temperatures were cool- I started with a jacket and gloves, peeled later to just sleeves and the wind vest. I very much underestimated the difficulty of the wind. Totally slowed me down- Out on the 95- going 18miles south it was into the wind- on flat, struggling to go 14mph, on the way back on the same flat- easy 22mph- maybe there were more false flats then I realized. But the course is basically through town, an out and back up to Higgins point up Lake Couer d Alene drive, through town, South on the 95 for about 18 miles, back north on the 95, through town and repeat. The town has no climbing, tiny rollers- Lake CDA drive has one good climb at about 6% for about 1 mile. The 95 has a few longer climbs, one at about 6% for about 2miles- tricky with the wind- and another one at about 5% for about 1mile- so you essentially go up those 4times- nothing higher than that, but they're long and they slow me down :/ The descents were fast, but you need to be careful because the roads aren't that awesome. I think my max speed was about 34.3 because I'm a chicken (My max ever is 41.5 down Mt. Lemmon)

121.33 total miles for 9:02:12 hours, average of 13.4mph average- 5250 calories. Feeling pretty bad about that- I should've been faster at this point in my training. This was including the climbs at the beginning, so tricky to see what I'll do at Ironman- it should be enough for the cutoff times, just need to be careful about getting a flat. 

No run or swim after- shower and on my way to Sandpoint to hang out with Julie.

I had 2 scoops of your protein Melissa's rice pudding for recovery. 

Dinner I went to a friends BBQ and had a burger, no cheese, with sweet potato salad, fruit, 1 beer and a little desert, oh and a small bag of lays potato chips :/

Bike Special Needs Area

MONDAY - MAY 28

This morning I gave myself plenty of time before swimming. I allowed myself to sleep in a bit. I was going to try and swim right at 7am, but slept till about 8am. I took my medicine at about 6:30am, went back to bed for a bit then at about 8:30am I had a hard boiled egg, no yolk, a waffle with light syrup and peanut butter, a banana, 1 50calorie cup with 1 scoop your protein, and starbucks instant vanilla coffee.

Sander's Beach entrance near CDA library

I ventured out to Sander's Beach- where Tawnya suggested, no boats, along the shore so you can stand, and a marker for a half way point- to the doc and back is 1.2- My goal was to try and get an hour + in. Right before the swim I had about 8oz of coconut water. 

54degree-ish water- brr

There were 3 other swimmers there putting on their suits, so that made me feel better, we were chatting it up a bit. The swim was terrible. I made it about 36 min with warm cap like Coach Kris said, but it felt like it was choking me, swim cap and with vaseline on the face like Melissa said. Hands and feet suffered, the booties may be worth trying- I think the temp was about 54? 55? It was also a bit choppy. Tawnya said to expect chop. Chop plus these temps then I'm in big trouble. Silly. I'm hoping it goes up at least 10 degrees in the next 4 weeks. I didn't panic but  it was very difficult to get going and get breathing going. I tried to relax, I turned around right where I thought was the turnaround, but my watch said 0.65miles for 36:58min. yikes- I'm back at square one. Like I had forgotten everything that I learned. I know it will be better on race day, I have no other choice. I'm excited for the 3mile open water swim because I won't have the option to turn around early, or get out because I'm uncomfortable.  

I had to drop off my bike to get packed up (again, something I pay a young bike mechanic to do when I need to learn myself- note to self, learn to use those damn CO2 cartridges, I always mess them up)

After I dropped the bike off, went back to the hotel to get myself together- the swim zapped my energy and left with me a headache. Took in some carrot juice and some apple sauce with a banana Melissa's protein, 

Took a shower and ended up taking a quick nap. Woke, up got myself together, changed to get ready for a run- got the bike and headed for Lake CDA drive to get ready to run. Took in some water and a bite of the Performance Protein Bar Vanilla Crisp (I think I found the source of the rumbly tummy, ast time I get those. I also took a swig of some diet coke for a boost) 

Start of my run- towards HigginS

Started a very slow run. Decided I was going to do 13.1 so that I could wear my 1/2 Marathon shirt- I have a thing about wearing race shirts for races I didn't complete. So, I did the 1/2 Marathon, just a little late :)

lake CDA drive, I will prob be running part of this in the dark

I went up the drive so that I could get that in, (which is part of the course) and then part of the course through town. It was a beautiful 70degrees with a nice wind (tough at some points, this race is just going to be windy, I need to deal with it) but good running weather. After about 9miles, I was only taking in water so stopped at the car- I only had those Vegn gels that Melissa said to ignore, but needed something so took it. and finished up the run. I knew it was going to much slower. When running back towards the car, the sun hit me so that I could see my shadow on the ground. When I noticed it slouching, I would throw my shoulders back and my hips forward and I was able to comfortable get back to an easy 9:40 pace (still slow for a 1/2 marathon, this run was just EXTRA slow) - tried to think of Chrissie when she talked about smashing yourself even on training days when I wanted to stop after an hour. 13.21 miles, 2:19:46, 10:34pace- SLOW!! After the run I intended to find some "clean recover food" but found myself at Jimmy John's instead. I had the roast beef / turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo and avocado spread on their class french roll- no cheese, no chips or cookie I went back to the lake, where the swim start is, and walked into the lake up to my hips to give myself an "ice bath" I watched a little boy play in the water in a full wetsuit. Pretty funny, in a few weeks there will be 2500 adults ready to play in the water in wetsuits. I tried to envision the start of the race, the buoys, running out of the water to loop, taking in a gel, and running back in to do another loops- then envisioned where transition was going to be and tried to get it all in. (I was really trying to take my mind off of the cold water on my now numb feet)

I went back and treated myself to frozen yogurt (oops) I know I need to clean up again so won't be having the dairy again for a while. 

Recovery, travel day tomorrow, back at it on Wednesday. Three weeks. 

Avia Wildflower May 5, 2012

Avia Wildflower May 5, 2012

Swim 54:46,   2:50 pace - better but not where I want it

 T1- 5:01- yikes!

Bike- 4:00:24 L -  13.9 pace- slow!

T2- 3:31

Run- 2:25:18- 11:05 pace- shuffling!

Total: 7:29:01

(I think this course was about 1mile short on the bike and 0.5 short on the run, so not confident It was a full 70.3) Here are the profiles:

http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/WildFlower2012-course_descriptions_long_course.htm

Wins, Lessons Learned, Things to Remember

I write this two weeks later as I haven’t had the chance to sit down and write. Would’ve like to do this as race is still fresh in my mind, but the lack of sleep has caught up to me. Things to remember, I’m not 21 anymore. Can’t run on 4 hours of sleep like I used to, I need to stop pretending like I can. After a terrible day of riding on Saturday (the heat, and wind on the course got to me, and 20mile run from the night before) trying to reflect as I’m in a higher volume push for the next weeks before CdA. Before Wildflower, I was already getting sick of training and just wanted to race, so this was a good chance for me to “reset”

Here goes, I’ll try to incorporate nutrition info into the recap as well. The last two weeks before the race, I had been cramping a ton. Every time I went in the water. Calf, shin, foot, hamstring, Melissa told me my muscles were pissed off at me and it made sense. She started having me take MG/Calcium pills, and I am horrible at taking vitamins. I need to remember to leave them out so I take them at night. She also had me put on MG lotion to help with. Even a week later I need to remember to take zinc so that sniffles turn into full blown colds with lack of sleep and travel.

The week leading up to the race, I basically tried to load up on calories. Probably not the best calories, but for some reason I thought I needed calories- Tried to still stay away from soy, dairy, and gluten, but culprits still snuck themselves in occasionally- I noticed in some post race pictures some pinchable belly fat that never used to be there showing through my tri top, so going back to really cutting back on the sugar for the next 6 weeks. When I was on top of it, energy was much better. Time to cut waaay back.  So really tried to eat more at meals, and suck down 2-3 bottles of coconut water a day. I took the salt in the form of salt stick vs putting it in the coconut water and also tried to add a few bottles of low cal Gatorade.

Friday am (day before race) Tara picked me up and had pizza waiting for me- took a little bit to be polite, I had eaten protein enough in the am to make sure that I wouldn’t be hungry later on. Everything bagel with egg and turkey with a coffee, apple juice banana

I actually felt good vs instantly hungry and didn’t feel the need to eat.

The journey wasn’t bad on the way down there- middle of nowhere California- get there and objective was to get organized before getting a brick in.

Got packet pick up- got my bike, yay tribike transport. Had a pretlze, a low cal large Gatorade and ½ a chicken burrito with rice and beans (no cheese)

Tried  out the blueseventy and hated it, felt heavy- Orca it was going to be- swam about 15 min total- actually felt good to be in the lake. It made me think about how far I had come since my first disaster race open water swim in 2008. I was actually looking forward to getting in the open water.

We took our bikes for a “spin” up Lynch hill and then down- got pretty nervous with turns and conditions and new wheels. I realized that I’m a big wuss and flying down descents still make me nervous.  

Packed up and made our way to Motel 6, King City- WAY further then we thought- if doing a hotel- try Paso Robles, if not CAMP- we should’ve camped- next time, also next time we’ll know what we’re doing and we’ll make a weekend out of it. Several people do the long course on Saturday then the Olympic on Sunday which actually looks pretty fun. (We drove back to San Fran right after the race)

For dinner we had a lovely Denny’s Dinner, I had my traditional spaghetti and meatballs, no cheese, salad, no cheese, and chicken soup- pancake balls for dessert- again, this race was going to see how much my stomach could take without getting sick- Still sucking down the coconut water- 2 large liters and the low calorie Gatorade because I didn’t want to cramp. Felt good

Woke up early took medicine, made coffee- got bottles ready. (One bottle- four scoops carbo pro- 6 capsules salt stick- salty!) packed enough gels for one an hour- plus a Performance brand endurance/vanilla crisp bar. Other bottle was water- forgot to bring a “throw away” for the water,  oh well, I’ll get another get a grip bottle. At 5am I ate- 1.5 cups apple sauce with 2 scoops Melissa protein. Still feeling good. 15 min before race- 2 salt stick- 10 min before- 1 gel- Tara already urging me to get going as I was still fussing.

The waves let out every 5 min, so the only chance to get in the water was right before your wave- Was able to swim about 100 yards, then stand there waiting for the gun to go off- I saw Elisa Litora and said a quick hello, nerves were pretty good.  I was trying to keep in mind- this is a training day. Race hard. Have fun.  I knew I had been working on the swim, and Coach Kris told me to shoot for 45min. I knew that would be hard, but it gave me a boost to know that she thought I could do 45min. I never panicked (win) and even was aggressive when people tried to swim into me, not letting my form get compromised (win). I did realize when I tried to start to “swim hard” , my form would go to mush and I would zig zag all over (lesson). After meeting with Marcia we worked on my head position when breathing to keep myself in balance. As I stretched it out and thought about strong and steady- lots of voices in my head, Fitz, Marcia, Melissa- I knew I just needed to focus on every stroke. When I got out of the water I immediately looked down at my watch and was disappointed with my 54min time- but realized it was 6min faster than my PR (win) and 10 min faster than Racine (win) I shook it off and tried to remember what to do in transition area! First race of the season leaves you a little out of sorts-  Oh and no cramping (win!) I felt twinges in the calves but nothing pulled, very relieved. I wasn’t exhausted coming out of the water, giving me confidence that  I could keep it up for another loop. CDA goal is to come in under 2 hours-no more of this “I just want to make the cut off times” crap- that’s not enough.

Got settled into the bike, trying to remember to stay on the nutrition.  I ended up taking a gel every ½ hour instead of hour, eating the power, and sipping the bottle every 15. It ended up being a good combo and never felt hungry (I notoriously feel hungry on the rides, and once you feel hungry you know you’re in for a long day- cycle of low nutrition, slowing down, etc) I also took in 2 pieces of banana when offered- no nausea, no GI issues (win) The bike took way longer than I wanted, but tried to maintain a decent pace, while catching up to others in my wave that passed me on the swim. (Two bathrooms stops- with the heat of the day- I knew this was good because that meant I wasn’t starting to get dehydrated)

T2 much better-Took in another gel, and got going. I’m glad Kris told me not to walk, there was shuffling for sure, but didn’t walk- MUCH slower run than I wanted- but hell of a course- mile 4 I was on my toes, pulling with my arms, determined to not walk- it was a slow shuffle up, but I also knew that if I started to walk I would cramp, so glad I didn’t- well one bathroom stop-

I took one gel every 4 miles, and ½ Gatorade ½ water when I could, plus electrolytes from a spectator, again tried to take in more than I usually would versus staying conservative.

Overall a good day. BEAUTIFUL course and a part of the country I don’t get to hang out in too often. It was just me and Tara- I knew that Dan Litorwa was racing so in my head pictured him yelling at me to have a higher cadence on the bike, and that helped, but not knowing anybody on the course actually wasn’t terrible- I focused on what I was doing, very different from marathons in the past where you know a ton of people and it’s a fun day- and in Racine where you have a ton of people racing with you. This was a different kind of race, friendly conversations here and there- but stuck to keeping my feet going. I was shuffling up a hill while others were walking, when one guy said “now there’s a hill runner, keep it up girl!” (win) People don’t say things like that about ME J My friends win things while I try to not get DNF next to my name. Every person racing participates for their own reasons. As I start the season, and I get tired of training or just want a weekend, I remember that I love to participate and I love this communityJ I’m ready for CDA. No doubt , no fear, only logistics. You can only hope for a perfect race day, and who knows the bumps that can get thrown at you, but I’ll be happy and grateful to line up at that starting line!  

The Cycling House

April 3-8, 2012
Tuscon, Arizona


www.thecyclinghouse.com




My first ever camp, and first every traveling / cycling experience was a complete success. I've traveled in the US for foot races before, but never for a bike trip. 
By recommendation of a friend, one of the perks of being a Chicago Tri Club member is that you can rent travel bike boxes for free with your membership- you just need to put down a deposit of $25. I was initially going to rent a bike, but am SO glad I decided to bring the bike. Get a Grip was great with the packing and Southwest is even better with carrying it on board- only $50 each way, compared to other airlines who carge $200+ each way for oversized luggage / bikes.


When I arrived I felt a bit odd traveling alone, and joining a camp where I did not know anybody else, but was instantly made to feel comfortable by the crew. The staff has an incredible amount of experience, athletic ability, knowledge, and overall spirit for fun. 


The week I went, the group happened to be particularly small, with only 7 clients so the staff to client ratio was great :) I am a triathlete and the in house pro triathlete and coach with especially great. 


Tuesday Day 1 everybody was settling in- the house was nothing shy of spectacular.
We went for a fun couple of hour spin, then I was able to get a good short hilly brick in. 
     

We get back and dinner was an impressive spread of nutritious, tasty selections. Everybody was extra considerate to help me with my gluten free / soy free/ dairy free requests.

Wednesday  - 45-65 mile ride (option to add or shorten, I did not add or shorten- just rode as is) nice 7 mile climb from San Manuel back to Tucson. Probably one of the best roads I've ever ridden on- I felt like I was in the middle of a magazine shoot. Another great day in the sun (oh yeah, also got incredibly sun burnt on this trip with some crazy tan lines- ouch)

Thursday - Gates Pass. 65 miles, hilly, options to shorten up if needed, Matis's Mexican 

restaurant for Mexican food

 Super fun, tough climb- some good grades in there, felt great to get the blood flowing. One of those rides where on some of the climbs you want to unclip and walk, but know you won't so just push to the top, out of breath and all. Beautiful view. 

Throughout the week we were also able to go to the local beautiful outdoor pool to get drill work and laps in. Made going back to an indoor pool pretty terrible! 

Friday - Mount Lemmon- one of those rides you have to do if out in the Tuscon area. 21 miles of climbing. The grades weren't terrible, but with patches of wind, and steady climbing around 5% or so for 20 miles, you felt it, and then feel great when you're done! The view were spectacular, changing from desert to pine as you increased in elevation and decreased in temperature. Unforgettable.

Saturday - Madera Canyon 50 miles, big climb at the end.

Last big ride of the week- Another epic ride with no easy grades- Super fun- Spencer let me hug his wheel the whole way back and we FLEW. Awesome. Followed by a stubborn brick in the heat after.But then a lovely welcome back to the house. Our swim time ended up being playing in the pool at the house :)

    

Overall walked away from this camp, sore, but a better, stronger, smarter rider. Thanks for a great week TCH!!!