First triathlon podium!

The last triathlon I did was in 2007.  Then I focused purely on cycling, from 07-present.

Until this spring, when a friend nudged me to enter my first ever IRONMAN event.  IM AZ Nov 15, 2015.  It's been on my bucket list for awhile and this year seemed the perfect one to tackle it.

So I've been training swim-bike-run since late April and decided I'd better go and do a few triathlons to get myself back into the mode.

The first was Lake to Lake, an olympic distance tri -a few weeks ago in Loveland.  It did not go well.  Upon entering the lake for the swim, my wetsuit seemed to constrict around me and I hyperventilated.  I struggled to keep myself in the water and not just bail out on a kayak.  I had a panic attack the entire 1500m, mostly doing head-up breaststroke or backstroke.  Not a good way to resume my multisport racing career.  I was nearly last out of the lake.  I took my frustrations out on the 30mile bike, earning the Strava QOM on that portion.  Then I suffered through the 10k run -my longest to that point - and finished a humbling 9th place in my AG.

Last weekend I competed in the Rocky Mountain State Games sprint triathlon.  This one went MUCH better ...

This time I resolved no matter what to actually swim the swim, versus just survive the swim.  My focus paid off, as I actually began catching swimmers from the group that had started before us.  I exited the water with a not-totally-awful time (granted it was only a 750m swim so...) , and then proceeded to crush the 10mile bike, which was fairly technical with lots of turns and consisted of 3 laps of roughly 3.3 miles each.  There was also a nice little punchy climb on each lap that I tackled with vigor, passing many riders each time.

I exited the bike leg into T2 with the woman who would go on to beat me in my age group.  The run has notoriously been my weakest leg, and tho I tried to keep her in sight she ended up putting :30sec into me over the course of the 5k run.  However I was pleased with my time both on the run and overall, and couldn't complain about my performance.  I was the 7th woman overall.

I was pleased to podium in this race- the first triathlon or event that involves running, that I've ever podiumed in.  It changes my mindset, from being a finisher, to being a competitor.  There is a fine line between pushing oneself too hard into injury, and pushing oneself hard enough to leave it all on the race course.  This is a line I'm still learning to navigate back in these "unfamiliar waters" of triathlon.

Sadly, my fellow AG racers didn't stay for awards so I was solo in 2nd place on the podium--

DK100 -my first Kanza in the books

Dirty Kanza Half Pint100 "gravel" race -- check.

What was touted to be the toughest, hottest, dryest gravel race in the all the land... became one giant mud fest after a rainy month of May in Kansas.  Luckily-the temps were cool, which took heat off the "concerns" list, but the mud and other conditions more than made up for it.

I came into this event prepared to just work on finishing.  I wanted to be sure I took care of my equipment and that I got to the finish line.  "racing" was a secondary concern/thought.  At times, I "raced."  and at times, I simply survived.

I started near the front of my group  +

I rode well the first early miles +

I dismounted and shouldered my bike once we hit the thick mud sections +++
Those who tried to ride just gummed up bikes and many rear derailleurs broke as a result.

I continued shouldering and walking with my bike for several miles not really using any excess energy and actually having a bit of fun with it +++

When we finally got to start riding again I was thankful for a clean operational bike. The shoes were coated but they willingly clipped in.  +

I opted to hop off my bike and carry it through the deep water crossings.  Many who didn't were seen on the other side of the water, with sliced sidewalls in their tires and other mechanicals.  I became obsessed with preserving my equipment. +++

Could not really find other riders to work with -

At the quick stop at mile 32, 100 went one way and 200 went the other. At this point, the 100 mile course became very desolate. There were very few riders visible ahead or behind.  It got quite lonely.

I was able to merge into a group of 2 guys and then we picked up 2 more - we were able to ride a pretty solid tempo pace into the CottonWood Falls checkpoint +++

I was in and out of there in under 5 min - had a PBJ, used the portapotty, refilled my bottle and was off.  Many stayed longer, changing clothes, cleaning bikes etc.  I wanted to keep going before I talked myself into stopping !  ++

After Cottonwood Falls I saw no other rider except for One way up in the distance.  I became obsessed with the turn by turn my garmin was giving me and prayed it didn't die or fritz out on me.

About 4 -ish miles later, 2 dogs from a farm chased me in the road for a long ways -around a mile -and didn't let up. They didn't look friendly either but candidly I couldn't assume they were because if they caught me and bit me, I'd be out in the road all by myself with no one else around.  I wasted precious drink mix from my bottle trying to spray the one as it kept drawing even next to me.  Ugh.  _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Settled in for final miles- kept waiting for that point in every century where the miles just really start to click off.  That didn't happen here.  On some of the trickier sections I had to really force myself to slow down and pay attention.  These hills are full of sharp rocks that could easily slice a tire.  I continued to run any of the standing water portions.  And stayed on top of my food.

I quickly realized I had prepared for a normal 5-6 hour century, which it was becoming an 8 hour marathon.

As we neared town I picked up my pace, anxious to be done.  Had a lot of steam to burn off in final miles and was surprised to learn at the finish I was one of the first women to arrive.  Had no idea where I stood in the field or among the ladies. +++

Learned in a bit I'd finished 3rd!  Then it was changed to 4th and now it's back to 3rd- so I'll take it!

And learned the DNF rate in the 100 mile event was 50% so I'm pretty pumped to have finished!

Awesome event photos here: http://adventuremonkey.com/blog/2015-dirty-kanza-200-images-first-look

Fat bike fun!!!!

So... Picked myself up a new Cooker fat bike for Xmas (from treads of course) and perfectly timed too with all the new snow and Cold temps --We've had since!

 Can't describe how fun this is!! 

CX season wrapped

Last weekend concluded my 2nd cyclocross season and I must say, I feel like in the midst of this year's race schedule, I really started to "get it."  I credit this in part, to racing a lot last year and this year, including often doubling up with the singlespeed race and then my category race.

Around the middle of the season, I began to see my results moving me up in the BAR standings ... (Best all round rider competition).  While it wasn't an original goal of mine, as I began to enjoy some success in the women 35+ category, I started to really focus on trying to win the BAR competition.  After several podiums I began to get some pressure from other racers and women in my field to "move up" to the women open category (elite/pro) however I felt that I deserved the chance to go for the BAR win.  So I raced a LOT and raced hard, figured out the hole shot and several other aspects of the racing that really hurt me last year, and low and behold ... I pulled out the BAR win for the season!

I'm also really proud of my teammates Linda, Cris and I - for working really hard to hold off other, bigger teams, for 2nd place in the team competition in the 35+ category.  Linda and Cris both would normally race women cat 4 however I cajoled them into racing 35+ or sometimes both on a single race day (back to back!) and their points combined with mine got us up into 2nd for the season.  I'm thrilled!!!

I pulled it off! 

So proud of us for holding on to 2nd place! 

Next year, I think it looks pretty likely that I will be moving on up into the women open field (back to getting my heart and soul crushed for awhile until I figure more out!) but I think it's a good move for me and hopefully will continue to test and challenge me at each CX race!  There's no other way to keep improving or getting better than to be stretched by competition that is better than you.

For now - the year is a wrap.  35 ish race numbers pinned on in road, mountain and CX events... My first Ride the Rockies and my first Ride on Chicago (combined, around 1000 miles between those 2 events!)...

It's time to find a new goal/conquest to keep me motivated in 2015!

I'm about 125 bike miles short of beating my car miles for the year so I've got some work to do in the next 9 days to bring them up to balanced.

Super Fun CX video from Regional Champs!

MANY thanks to Shawn Curry for this really fun video!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLsvWZJjMS8