The Gory Details Part II

Big day 4am. Alarm goes off. I'm a little groggy from drugging myself so I could get a little more sleep then the night before. I need coffee pronto. My fabulous husband is in charge of coffee and kids. I just need to get myself ready and out the door. WE don't need anything forgotten because we know that has never happened before (note extreme sarcasm). 

For breakfast I had a pre made smoothie ready to go, coffee, and a banana that I'll eat 30 min before swim. 

Kids were in for a treat today. Because we felt guilty having them sacrifice their entire day to mommy my husband took them to Tim Hortons for breakfast. 

Everyone is ready. Off to the race site.

I arrived at 5:10am. I wanted to ensure I could check my bike, drop off my special needs, use bathroom, get wetsuit on and eat my banana and of course check in with all of my buddies.

I honestly cannot even begin to explain how truly blessed I was feeling. I had so many friends here supporting me. So before I forget a big shout out to all of my support at the race:

Steph, Rikts, Johny, Colleen, Danna, Wendy, Gretchen. My awesome Soas Sistas that reassured me all weekend: Laura, Jackie, Jenna. You 3 kept me so strong when I needed an extra lift. And of course my family- Jordi, Sadie and Lola.

These lovely ladies did many swims and rides with me.

Once things were settled I had a chance to just be with myself. Take it all in. I'm doing a full distance triathlon. I'm really doing it!

So I wandered down to the water start and got in for a bit of a warm up. I chatted a bit with some of the swimmers and got myself ready to go.

To be honest the start was really uneventful. I couldn't really hear what they were saying on shore and next thing you know the cannon went off. So I just swam.

My swim wasn't awesome but it was good. I did 3.8km in 1:12:24 (unfortunately my official time says it was substantially longer but according to my garmin and my husbands iPhone the 1:12:24 was more accurate.

Out of the water and into transition. I've never done a race where I have to grab my bag head into tent and then to find my bike. This was all new to me and I liked it. I didn't have to fight for space by my racked bike.

Unfortunately my T1 transition was not so fast. I definitely took my time and I couldn't get my arm warmers on and I really needed them today. It was cold out.

So 20 min later I resurfaced. My friend Johny thought maybe I took a dip in the hot tub ; )

I was feeling super positive and really enjoying things. Because the halfers started 30 min after us we were all emerging at the same time. The bike course was a little crowded to begin with.

It was really hard having all of the halfers whizzing by me in those first 20 km or so. I wanted to keep up so bad but I could hear my coach Jasper in my head to listen to my heart rate and it will work itself out. So I did, and it sucked. I could not get my heart rate down. I don't know if it was the excitement of being out on the course, trying to keep up with the halfers or battling against the most brutal headwind I've ever encountered. Seriously, this girl is from Pincher Creek, Alberta. Windiest place in the WORLD! When I saw my average pace I started crying.

Basically we had a headwind from Penticton all the way to Osoyoos. I kept peddling and felt like I was going nowhere. Once we turned at Osoyoos and headed west on the number 3 I started feeling a little better. Everyone warned me about Richters Pass, I was a bit worried. So I do what I do best and just road. I actually passed a ton of people over the pass. No one believes me but Richters Pass was the easiest park of my ride. I kid you not. This is how brutal the wind was. Best part about Richters Pass? 

This special lake. At the top and to the left there is this bizarre looking lake. I had never heard about it. I took a mental note of it to ask the husband and kids about it later on. Surely they had seen this place too. It is called Spotted Lake. Apparently there is all sorts of history. This lake has massive healing properties (should made a pit stop there) and people from all over the world come to bath in it. 

Turns out husband and kids did not see it, they were too busy looking for me.

Once I got over Richters Pass I was feeling a bit better about myself. I mean who doesn't love passing people on the so called hardest part of the course? Then we hit the rollers. When I hear "rollers" I think short easy climbs that then turn into downhills and you have enough momentum to ride into the next hill. Nope! These are not your normal rollers. Lets be honest folks, these are just plain old hills. They are not rollers. There I said it. Anyways, it sucked. Shortly after I came to special needs. I needed a fresh application of HooHa Ride Glide. I needed to switch out my fuel and I needed to go to the bathroom. If you are sensitive to lady type discussions I advise you to skip ahead. For those of you that don't care I discovered in the port potty that I got my period. Awesome! I was not supposed to get it for a few more days. Nothing like adding insult to injury. So after dropping a few f-bombs I gathered myself and just continued on. What else is a girl to do.

Once I got through special needs on the bike one of the guys that I saw a lot of out on the bike course got a flat right before special needs. I felt so bad for him we were only 60km left to go. Unfortunately I couldn't wait for him so off I go all by myself. 

Last big climb of the day is Yellow Lake. Honestly it wasn't that bad, I was still feeling the effects of that brutal headwind. These hills had nothing on it.

Jordi and the girls were waiting for me right at the beginning of the climb. My husband could tell I was not happy. 

Yes that is an unhappy person.

Pretty much after Yellow Lake it's all downhill. I clocked speeds over 70km/hour. Unfortunately it still didn't help me with my overall time. What should have taken me 6:30:00 took me 8 hours. I was feeling pretty deflated.

Once I handed my bike off I headed back into the tent for T2. I was a little more speedy this time around but did have a small tea party with fellow competitor in my age group Andrea Oliver. We both got our periods today. How awesome is that? Same name, same age group, same day for menstruation. Awesome!

Off I go on the run. My goal was to run the first 21km without stopping. 

The one thing I have discovered about doing long distance in triathlon is that after a long bike ride I actually look forward to getting out on the run. 

I was looking pretty awesome in all of my Soas gear. Seriously best trisuit ever. I know lots of women change in and out of stuff during long course but with a Soas trisuit it isn't necessary. Absolute comfort the entire time.

Running through town was definitely a highlight. My friends and family were at different spots so every few kilometres I saw a friendly face. 

I was super happy to see the family.

Once I passed through town and out towards OK Falls things started creeping up on me. My quads were starting to seize up a bit. I wanted to walk badly but I am a very stubborn woman and I vowed no walking before 21km. Once I got to special needs I switched out my water bottles (next time I don't think I will use my running belt. It was a lot of extra weight that I was regretting later on). I did have some other goodies in there but I really didn't need anything else. I had my Torq Gels and my bottles with Nuun. That's all I needed... at least that's what I thought.

Once I hit 26km it all started falling apart. I missed my family, I hadn't seen them since the 14km mark, things were hurting and my stomach was starting to get very angry. Next thing I see is my truck drive past honking at me. They didn't stop, I started crying. I slowly slogged away another kilometre and low and behold the family is at the side of the road cheering me on. I burst into tear again. (Pretty sure I got out an entire year of emotions today).

I tried telling my husband I can't do it. I can't carry on. He is my rock, and he assured me that yes I can continue and I will. So I did. The last turnaround was at 29km. As I headed back to town feeling like I was dying my other friends showed up. The trio raced the half as a really and they were patiently waiting for me to get back to town. They were beyond amazing. They supported me, encouraged me, believed in me. They kept me going.

Since I was taking so long during the run, ahem, I mean walk Jordi and the girls ended up offering their volunteering services. Some of the aid stations were thinning out of volunteers. I was so proud that they stepped up to the plate.

Super duper volunteers.

So after about an hour of walking (attempting to run every so often and then realizing I was still walking faster) something snapped deep inside me. I was still in a lot of discomfort, I was still exhausted, I was still emotionally drained but a switch went off and I felt the urge to run. So with about 6km left to go I slowly started running, gaining momentum as I got going. For the last 5km I somehow started running a 6min/km pace. How did I do that? I have no idea. I had tunnel vision and my only focus was that finish line. It's funny, when you get into that zone you really don't see what's going on around you but I could hear people cheering and I could hear people saying "wow look how fast that girl is running". It wasn't until after the race that I realized they were talking about me. Sure it wasn't that fast but in the grand scheme of long distance races at 14 to 15 hours into the race it was a lot faster then the rest of the people out there. When I got to that peach I kicked it up further. A volunteer yelled out that I must not have left it out all on the course looking so good. Ha! If she had only known I just walked for what seemed like forever. I ran hard, I was afraid if I even slowed down a second I would collapse. 

I came in at 15:09:13

2 hours slower then my coach and I anticipated. It was a very tough day. I did it. I finished despite all unforeseen circumstances.

I would have had my family run across then line with me had I known they were right there. Jordi said he was so close he could have touched me, he said I was still in the zone until I was over that line.

The fabulous Laura Siddall promised me she would be waiting for me at the end and she kept that promise even though I was a few hours late.

Despite all of the pain I somehow still managed a smile.

Even Challenge Penticton noticed I kept on smiling... they even tweeted about it.

And of course the bling. That medal is huge!!! 

I can't say I was happy with my time, I'm not going to lie I was disappointed but I was not the only one. Remember my new friend Andrea that I hung out with in T2? Well she came in 3rd in our age group. In fact the top 3 in my age group were all Andrea's. That's right in our age group we were the only 3 that actually finished. All the Andrea's are hardcore!

Now before I sign off there is a lot more to this day then meets the eye. I was dealing with other issues on top of the pre race stress. However the support I had made up for it.

I want to thank everyone who help me achieve my first Iron distance race.

First and foremost my awesome coach Jasper Blake from B78 Coaching. He took me on with only 2 months before the big day. He is AMAZING!!!

Marilyn Arsenault who has been coaching me on my running for the past year. 

Soas! Seriously awesome team and Stephanie makes the best tri suits on the market amongst other fab products. My team mates have been so amazingly supportive. Best group of ladies ever.

Again my family. My husband has been so supportive throughout this entire journey. He has even learned how to do laundry!

My parents who came out to visit and I put them right to work as soon as they got here.

All of my friends that have pushed me to keep going, watched me swim in the pouring rain, listened to me bitch and complain on the days I was just too exhausted to realize my life is actually pretty darn awesome: Sandra, Steph, Rikst, Dale, Colleen, Jake, Valerie,Wade, Margo, Amanda. There are so many more people that have just touched me on my journey. Really every little bit helped.

The gory details part 1

Well I did it, I completed my very first iron distance triathlon. It was quite the journey so I'm going to do my race recap in 2 parts. Brace yourself it's a long one...

I started the week off with my 37th birthday. Not a great time to celebrate since anxiety was high and my diet was consisted of limited sweets and no alcohol. What a party pooper. Not only was I still training but I also had to work. It was one of those weeks that we were beyond busy. To top everything off the Okanagan was super smokey from all of the wild fires. I wasn't even sure I was going to get to race. Needless to say my week leading up to my big race was not relaxing in the least bit.

I managed to get the trailer packed, food prepped, and kids organized. The husband picked me up Thursday right after work and we hit the road to get the ferry.

Once settled for the night my husband shows me a sore on his foot. Let me rephrase that...

my husband showed me a massive infection on his foot. Great! 10pm Thursday night in the middle of nowhere. We are off to an awesome start.

Wake up Friday to hit the road bright and early. Husbands infected foot looks even worse. We made the joint decision to just get to Penticton pronto. He can see a doctor there.

As we drive in to the Okanagan we are seeing and smelling the smoke. This isn't looking good.

We are told it's looking better then it was the previous weekend. That is good news. We pull into the campground and I send husband to the doctor pronto. The girls and I hand at the trailer to regroup. (Yeah I'm freaking out a bit). Luckily my sweet girls recommend a pedi. they are so smart.

This was exactly what I needed. Feet up with some hydration. Life is good. Luckily the husband made out ok too. He got back just in time.

We stayed at the same campsite as my friends one of ladies was racing the half. I am thrilled to know these awesome ladies. They came over to welcome us and give me the low down on all that was happening.

After some visiting and checking out the husbands gross foot it was time to wander over to package pick up. I guess I was so overwhelmed I didn't take a single photo. 

Knowing today was a bit of a stressful day I had to get some extra rest. I went to bed at 8pm so we could be at the kids race for 6:30am.  I COULD NOT SLEEP. I tossed and turned all night. Usually this is the night I sleep like a baby and get plenty of sleep. Not today. My husband ended up drugging me at 2am so I could get some amount of sleep. I got a total of 3 hours... not good.

Off we go to the kids triathlon bright and early. They were so excited. The weather was good and there was such a good atmosphere. Big sis was up first and she did awesome. Big smiles right through to the end. 

Little sis up next, I never know how she will react. She's kind of like a powder keg, you never know when she's going to blow. She surprised us all but going in on her own and she did awesome! 

The kids got a shirt, medal and of course treats and big hugs from the super awesome pro triathlete Laura Siddal

I can not boast enough about this woman. She is so kind, supportive and generous. She volunteered a boat load of her time this weekend at all of the Challenge festivities. Top notch athlete and one of my team mates from Soas 

After the races it was my turn to get a bit of training in. Short swim and short bike ride. I'm feeling a little tired but I'm ready for the big day.

Back at camp I decide I better get things ready. I need to prepare all of my nutrition and my special needs bags.

I had no idea how much stuff I needed to prep until I had it all laid out. For anyone interested here's my gear:

Soas Tri Suit (team 2015 kit)

race swim cap

goggles

timing chip

wetsuit

Garmin 

Mio HR monitor

body glide 

banana

pre race fluid (water with Nuun)

Biker helmet

sunglasses

bike shoes

chamois cream

cycling jacket

gloves

Lululemon socks

2 bottles of Carbo pro mixed with Endura

1 bottle of water + Nuun

Special needs bike (more chamois cream, 2 more bottles of Carbo pro/Endura, 1 bottle water + Nuun, Miss Vicky's chips)

Sun Visor

running shoes NB Zante

Torq Gels 

Race number belt

fluid belt with water + Nuun

Saltstick pills

Arm Coolers

Special needs run ( water + Nuun, extra socks, vaseline, blister bandaid, chips, extra gels, warm shirt)

I believe that is it! Now that I look at the list it really is substantial. No wonder I kept freaking out thinking I was missing something.

After I got all of my gear organized I got to head out for lunch with my bestie. This girl has known me since grade 1. That's right if you do the math I have been best friends with this girl for 31 years. She is one of the most special people in my life. She knows me better then anyone (well she's actually tied with my husband and they have a lot of fun with all that knowledge of me). It was amazing to get to see her and have her support. 

She had a little something for me.

This beautiful wing. It was so touching that I'm pretty sure I had a little something in my eye. I absolutely cherish it.

Our visit was way too short but I had to get back to race headquarters to get my bike into transition as well as my transition bags. 

After I got everything settled I ran into yet another fabulous Soas sista!

This chick is awesome! She gave me support earlier on in my training when I needed some advice. Unfortunately again not enough time to hang out but so glad I got to get one last chat in before the race.

I also got to see the wonderful Jenna from Soas as well but we weren't very smart and forgot to caption the meet up. She too is another amazingly wonderful person. Calmed me down when I needed it, gave me some tips and advice as well. I honestly cannot say enough about the Soas team. All of these woman are absolutely fantastic. All strong, supportive and just great people. <3 all of your lovely ladies!!!

So after racking the bike, getting hugs and well wishes from my Soas Sista's, listening in on pre race meeting I was ready for a nap. Back to the trailer. I did put my feet up for a bit while my children ran rampant around the campground but that's what camping is about right?

Of course I could not snooze so instead more prep for the race. 

Tattoo time!

This was the first race I have done where we get tattoos. So of course the girls had to help me. They are pretty much pro's when it comes to temp tattoos.

Pretty good job I think. So after dinner I drugged myself in hopes of a better sleep. 4:15am is going to come pretty quick I think.

Here's hoping to a very good night sleep!

Gearing up

Well I guess I've procrastinated long enough about discussing my last race. To be honest life really has been busy. When I signed up for Challenge Penticton back in the winter I had all of these grands plans on blogging every week, documenting every training day including pictures and feelings. Gah, who has time for that $#*!

Seriously though, I have been meaning to do a race recap of Chelanman because it was a tough race. First before I even get started my heart goes out to all of those people who have lost their homes. Chelan has been hit hard with wildfires and it is frightening. When we were there it was hot and dry already. Fast forward 4 weeks and I can only imagine how tinder dry it was. I'm very sad for the town because it really is a great community.

So due to my work schedule we didn't have a lot of time to get to Chelan. We left super early on the Friday (race was Saturday).  Got in late and just made it to the race meeting. Barely had a chance to even do my workout. Ugh, this is off to a bad start.

The kids travelled well though. At least they got some rest.

As we were pulling in to Chelan I take in the scenery. I notice the ginormous hill to the left of this upcoming tunnel. Guess what? I get to ride down though this tunnel and then go up that ginormous hill. Double ugh.

We got to our hotel and it was absolutely lovely. Our room walked right out onto the beach to the lake. It was absolutely awesome. The kids were happy. Had a quick dip in the lake before getting my racing gear ready and hit the hay.

The morning started out ok, until the Starbucks line up was so long I couldn't risk waiting to get a coffee. So no coffee for me... triple ugh!

My husband dropped me off so he could go find a parking spot. I never did see him again until I was out on the bike course.

At least I had my own personal cheering squad. 

They had a great view.

So swim course was good, my swim was a little slower then usual (I blame that on my absence of coffee). Bike course was hot, hard, and humbling. I had no idea the course was going to be that tough. The first part was an out and back but it was more like a false flat with rolling hills (both ways). Does that even make sense? Then we turned onto the main highway which sent us screaming down the road in that tunnel I showed earlier. Seriously my speeds were fast and it got a little scary. Then we tuned onto Coulee road. This is where things got ugly. My family was right at the beginning of this climb which was only around 8-10% but it was over 10 miles long. The husband warned me that I was not going to be happy. Funny thing though, this is where I actually passed people. 

Once I did this ridiculous loop I was heading back to town and right into transition for my half marathon run... in 40* heat. Awesome!

They actually had people hosing us off at every aid station because it was so hot. When we went through each aid station we had to take water or gatorade. They weren't letting us through if we didn't. The run was an out and back on the secondary highway. There was no shade. It was so hot. Surprisingly my run faired better then my bike. Not sure how that happened. I'm actually not even sure how I even finished this race. It was ugly.

On the plus side we did get these awesome medals.

So would I recommend Chelanman? Absolutely! I think if I was training for a half distance instead of using this race as just a training day I would have enjoyed it a bit more. Tough course but so worth it. The support was fantastic, the scenery great and just a great family event. They cover everything. Half Iron, Olympic, Sprint, Du, Kids races and they even had 1/2 marathon, 10k, 5km.

The kids partook in the festivities too. They both did the kids race. 

Sadie was second out of the water and her transitions were super fast!!!

She finished strong. This was not a timed event which she was a bit disappointed but I reminded her time shouldn't matter.

Lola did fantastic too. She swam hard and insisted I run while she biked. She blew me away. I couldn't keep up.

She got back into transition well before I did and she just kept on going.

Another strong finish!

I was so proud of these two. They did not stop once. They had so much fun, and now they want to do more. 

So since Chelanman I've been hunching down and training hard. Lots of long bike rides. Tons of open water swims and of course lots of miles run. I am on my taper and feeling pretty good. My awesome coach has been so supportive and getting me to where I need to be. Now I just have to make it to the start line in 6 days. Currently Penticton and the rest of the Okanogan is under a thick blanket of smoke. I'm trying hard to not think too much about it. Really, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Here's hoping I will get to test out all of my hard work.

So you had a bad day

So Ironman Victoria 70.3 happened this weekend. Such a great race and we had absolute awesome weather. This was my first triathlon this year. Because my goal race is Challenge Penticton full distance I'm not doing a lot of races. Vic 70.3 was purely for training purposes. It was all about making sure I was fuelling properly and at the right time. All my gear it fitting properly and nothing is bothering me. Pacing consistent and sustainable. So how did it go?

I started prepping earlier this week. I got a bit of a taper but not a true one. What does that mean? Well since I'm training for a full distance I am covering a lot of miles. So this past week we cut it back a bit but comparing it to a true taper for a 70.3, well lets just say the legs were still a bit loaded going into the race(hill repeats the week of a race!)

I got the wetsuit out and did some patch repairs.

At least I didn't leave that to the night before (which I have been guilty of before).

Not only did I have to prep all my tri gear we decided it was best to take the rv down to Victoria so I didn't have to drive down at 3am. It works great because it's my home away from home. A bed that I'm used to, pillow that I love, all my food that I can prep and cook right there and not have to worry about eating out.

And it's a great way to sit and chill the day before the race.

So I was a little nervous going into this race since it was not only fort race of the season but also my first tri that I was representing Team Soas! 

I couldn't believe that the Vic 70.3 bib, medal, shirt and hat all matched my Team Soas kit to a perfect match!

Anyways, once I got to race site my nerves settled down. The kids did the Iron kids race and had a blast. Little one made me run with her and she ran so fast I could barely keep up in my flip flops. I actually thought I was going to hurt myself, but no that came later.

We were hanging out with the great Jasper Blake who refuelled my kids with liquorice. Little one is a smitten kitten with him now.

And the kids race packages had some great tattoos and other goodies inside. 

Once we got through all of those festivities I racked my bike, took a deep breath and headed back to the trailer for some much needed rest.

So once back at the trailer I was feeling really dry. The weather was so gorgeous and sunny that I was feeling dried out so I figured I better start drinking copious amounts of water to hydrate. The problem with that is it means more trips to the bathroom. So about 1am that is what happened. I crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom (in our trailer). When I went to step out of the bathroom my toe caught the edge of the doorway and crack went my tow. It dropped me like a sack of potatoes. It hurt like you wouldn't believe. So what did I do? I went back to bed and pretended it never happened.

Got up at 4am with my toe still throbbing I got myself and the kids ready to head over to the race. The husband had to drop me off due to crazy lack of parking. So I go drop my bag off by my bike and head for the crazy long port potty line up. While waiting in line I met a super great girl from my age group and had a lovely chat when I suddenly realized I had absolutely no fuel. 0! Natta! Nothing! I forgot all my water bottles, gu's, everything. So I quickly dialled the husband in sheer panic. He had to drive back to the campground and grab all of my supplies. I hadn't even mixed my stuff. Worst part... I only had 20 more min until I had to get out of transition. With 10 min to spare the husband came to my rescue. He brought it all (and I owe him so big for this). I quickly mixed up my concoctions grabbed all of my gu's and headed back into transition with 5min left to get ready. Nothing like a great start to the morning.

The water at Elk lake was lovely. We were borderline wetsuit legal. The water was so warm. Had what I though was a great swim until I got out of the water and my Garmin said 37:00. For 1900m that is slow for me. Don't panic, just keep going. Turns out my Garmin measured 2250m so that explains the time. 

Got out of my wetsuit gingerly trying to not hurt my toe too much. I even had time to smile and wave to the crowd.

Off I go into what seemed like the most tortured bike session I have ever done.

I cannot describe the discomfort I had on the bike. My bike shoes were killing my sore toe, I was trying not to put any pressure on my left foot to help alleviate the discomfort to then get my whole right side seized up from over compensating. Nice! This is when you wanted why the heck you raced when you were pretty sure it was broken to begin with. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Then I reminded myself that I paid a lot of money to do this and those medals were looking nice and shiny. Lets just get it done. 

The girls patiently waiting for me to come in off the bike. I was at least 20 min slower then I expected. I just couldn't crank it up.

Once I finally came in off the bike the husband asked how I was, fighting back tear all I could muster was I was in a lot of pain but I'll be back in 2 hours. That was it I was doing the run.

The first loop was tough. My toe was throbbing. Ever step sent a stabbing pain up through my toe into my foot all the wait up my leg. what was I thinking? Ugh, just keep going. I took in my fuel, made sure to drink my fluids and just kept going. By the time I finished the first loop my toe finally went numb. At around the same time I ran into the family and it put a big smile on my face. 

Less then an hour to go. I can do this.

I decided to just get this over with. I kicked it up and did my second loop faster. I felt strong and able. I went from 44th in my age group to 37. (We had 115 in our group for this race).  Definitely not my strongest race but the fact that I pushed though and finished when I wanted to quit so badly. I did it. I wasn't sore physically or mentally except for my stupid toe. 

It felt so good to be done and I immediately removed my shoe and sock to let my toe have a little room.

So now instead of getting right back to training I have to take a few days off to get the swelling down. 

I'm hoping that by wednesday I'll be able to at least get on the bike for a bit and maybe if I can tape my toe I can do an easy run.

So next race for me will be the Chelanman down in Chelan Washington. This is going to be a great test. It will be hot, the bike course is supposedly a tough one and it is 5 weeks before Penticton. So one last race before the big one. 

Big thanks to all my friends and family for their support. My coaches Marilyn (for run) and Mick (for bike) and of course all of the love Soas ladies who inspire me so much every day!!!