RAGE Triathlon Race Report - Olympic Distance tri

The Rage Triathlon is put on by BBSC Multi Sport and takes place at Lake Mead National Park just outside of Las Vegas.  They offer a sprint, Olympic, and Half (70.3) distance.  I have not raced with BBSC before, but had heard good things.  I had a couple of friends doing this one, so we made a mini road trip out of it and it was a blast!

PRE-RACE:
Friday morning, Mike, Melinda, Alicia and I all headed south to Vegas for our race.  Mike and I were doing the Olympic distance, Alicia was doing the sprint, and Melinda was along as race support extraordinaire Seriously, these people are a riot!  I had so much fun and laughed until my sides hurt with these friends!  Once we got to Vegas, we went to packet pick up, and got our cool shirts and swag bags.  I like that it is a shirt I will actually wear!  It was also in a very cool triathlon shop and I spent some time drooling over bikes :)  We then did what probably isn't ideal pre-race, and walked the strip.  Hey, you can't miss that right?  We had fun, ate an amazing burger, and enjoyed people watching.

Gorgeous morning for a race!!

My goal for this race was simply to treat it as dress rehearsal for IM StG 70.3, as I figured the conditions and the courses are pretty similar.  I didn't care about time, I just wanted to practice pacing, nutrition and see if my new tri kit will make the cut for StG :)

I actually slept pretty well, and we got up and left the condo to get to the race site by 6:30.  My swim wave didn't start until 7:50.  I was thrilled to be at a start line again, and really liked how BBSC set up transition.  We had plenty of space and it was one very long transition area, instead of the standard rows.  The only draw back to this is that it was a long run to get in and out, but it was worth it for the extra space.

It was already very hot waiting on my swim wave and I knew I was in for a scorcher.  I was glad that I had thrown salt tabs into my bag for this trip and knew I would use them on the bike.  Before I knew it, it was time to suit up for the swim!

SWIM:
My swim wave wasn't huge and it was a deep water start.  I visited with other people and was shocked at how cold the water was!  It was freezing, even with a full wetsuit!  I really wish I would have worn my skull cap under my swim cap, because as soon as we were off and I put my head under the cold hit and I had a brain-freeze style head ache for the first 5-10 minutes.  The swim started off and went to a buoy that was out a ways and involved sighting into the sun.  I had a hard time seeing where I was going and I had a hard time hitting my groove till we past that, as I was pretty disoriented and frustrated trying to figure out where  the dang buoy was.  Even though this seemed like a long time to get where I felt like I was in a rhythm, it was only till that first buoy and the turn there that I felt that way, only 300 yards max.  Once there I was able to find a good groove and it was a straight shot to another green buoy that I could sight the whole time and felt like I finally was where I wanted to be.  I didn't have much contact with other swimmers, the water and area were really pretty and I was happy to calm down, and enjoy the swim.  The water did get choppy at times, but I actually like this for a challenge.  I did take in more water than I would have wanted, but I was still happy with the majority of the swim.  Once out of the water, my final swim time was 32:50 for one mile swim.  Not great, but it was that crappy start that did me in, and also the fact that the timing mats for the "end" of the swim were quite a ways from where you actually exited the water.

T1:
As I mentioned before, the way this transition was set up, it was a long row of bikes on either side and it took me awhile to get to my bike running down this giant row to get there.  I had a hard time getting out of my wetsuit and switching to the bike gear, then running my bike all the way down to the other end to the bike mount area.  My T1 time was 4:49, which was average for my age group on this transition.

BIKE:

The bike course was on a hill immediately out of transition.  I hate this because you really have a hard time hitting your groove.  This was a difficult course with TONS of hills.  I did over 75% of this 25 mile bike course in the small ring.  It was a never ending onslaught of big climbs, then a down hill, then repeat, repeat, repeat. I could not think of a better training ride for StG!   It was brutal when you add in the heat of over 90 degrees, absolutely no shade, and wind.  I was glad to hit my nutrition for this ride, I stuck with my Perpetuem, shot blocks, and a salt tab every 30 minutes and water in between.  The hills were fun on the down hill, I finally got gutsy enough to do every down hill in aero.  It was a fun reward for the climbing!  I felt that I had to make up time wherever I could and take advantage of the free momentum!  As hard as this bike was, I felt like I handled it well and though I was tired, I didn't feel like it was killing me, but I was glad to get it over with as well.  My only gripe with this out and back course is the bike aide station wasn't until about mile 19-20 of the 25 mile course.  Really?!?  This meant I was with out water for about 25 minutes.  Why not have it at the turn around?  It made no sense and it was pretty irritating, but I got over it.  Final bike time was 1:40:28, an average speed of 15 mph.  Considering how much climbing was in this course, I'll take it!!

T2:
Another slow transition as I had to run forever and get to my spot.  Then, it was a really quick shed the cycling stuff, throw on the running shoes and be on my way.  I did take a pit stop at the porta-potties.  Total T2 time was 3:16.

RUN:
Man, the first part of this run was bad.  Not one thing good about it really.  This was also an out and back run course and to get to the turn around it was one giant gradual up hill to that point.  Then, right off, the run start did the first mile on a very gravelly and rocky path!  It was awful!  It was pretty demoralizing and I knew I was going slower than a herd of turtles through peanut butter, and it was hot, my body was tired, and I just did not love this first part of the run.  BBSC was good about frequent aid stations on this run, and with the heat they were absolutely critical.  I grabbed a Gatorade and a water at every station.  I only walked at the aid stations but my run was pretty much a granny shuffle until the turn around due to the uphill of the course.  I started to question my sanity of doing StG knowing that it is very much like this course, only longer.  I started to think negatively, beat myself for a crappy run, etc.  Thank heaven it was about this time I saw Mike pass me on his way back in.  He yelled, "Looking strong!" and gave me a high five.  It is amazing how just seeing a friend on the course and getting a little support turns things around for you.  It was not far after that at all, maybe a half mile, that I finally hit the turn around.  That was a "Hail Mary!" moment!  It gave me the mental boost to know that this Death March was half way done, and it was literally all down hill from that point out.  I really hit a good groove on the second half of the run and tried to give high fives and shout outs to the people that were around me.  I dare say I actually enjoyed the second half of the run?!?  I was thrilled to be done though and crossed the finish line to my friends cheering me on.  Final run time was 1:14:24 for this 6.2 mile run, an average pace of a 12 minute mile, but this did include a longish bathroom break.  It is what it is.

POST RACE:

The finish line was fun, I got a cool medal (I can now add it to my out of state medal count) and they had the standard water, chocolate milk and bananas.  I grabbed one of each.  Then they had a shaded tent where they did lunch for the athletes of a sub sandwich, chips and cookies.  That was very nice!  Final total time for this Olympic distance was 3:35:45.  All things considered, I am happy with this.  This was the toughest race I have ever done considering the heat, the wind, the constant hills, etc.

RACE ORGANIZATION:

I would give BBSC 3.5 out of 5 stars.  I liked the packet pick up, the shirt, and the location, even given the hills.  I liked the frequent aid stations on the run.  The transition area I have mixed feelings about as they do give you a lot of room, but the nature of it is that is makes for long transitions.  I HATED the rocky start of the run course on the gravel, and the location of the bike course aid station at mile 19ish was pathetic.  They needed it much sooner than that.  Also, the lack of porta potties on the bike and run course was sad too.  However, they did well at many other things and I would race with them again.

WHAT I LEARNED:

As this was a dress rehearsal for StG, I took mental note of things to do differently or AHA! moments through out the day:

-Take a skull cap for the swim.
-Add an extra water bottle for cheap insurance on the bike, even though the aid stations by Ironman will be more frequent
-Salt Tabs are your best friend.  Will continue to do them every 30 minutes as needed
-Carry my hydration pack race belt.  The water will be needed, plus it doesn't ride up as bad as my other one does
-DO NOT USE THE SWIFT WICK SOCKS for races.  Great for a short run or ride, but blisters galore and my feet were so on the run.  Sheer misery.
-The new Betty Designs tri kit rocks.  No chaffing on the top, the bottoms rode up a little on the bike, but otherwise it was awesome.
-I survived this course and actually felt pretty good even at the end.  I now know I am ready for StG, and I am so grateful that I did this race to fine tune and few things, but I know that as long as I have realistic expectations and race smart, I will have a good race come three weeks :)

WHAT'S NEXT?

I have my last solid week of training this week then the Salt Lake City Half Marathon next Saturday to start my two week taper till StG.

Happy Training and Racing!

Melinda and I post race.  She rocks, plain and simple :)

It's Race Week Again!

I have several races close together in the months March, April and May, so this is another race week as this weekend I head south to Las Vegas to do BBSC's Rage Triathlon at Lake Mead.  I haven't raced with BBSC before, but I have heard nothing but good things.  I signed up for Rage as a good dress rehearsal for IM StG 70.3 just three weeks after.  I wanted to be able to get into open water prior to StG, and I also wanted to tri out a new tri kit, and also fine tune some nutrition.  I will be doing the Olympic distance at this race. they also offer a sprint and a 70.3. It really is a B race for me, as it is a prep/training day for StG, as mentioned before.

Things training wise have been good and bad.  Bad, in that I haven't hit all my work outs due to a bit of a stomach bug the past few days.  The bad cramping and GI issues would leave me in some compromising positions to try to bike or run, to say the least, I will leave it at that.  However, I have hit the key work outs, meaning my long runs and rides and those are going well!

My last long ride I headed out to Antelope Island and decided to try every climb out there.  There aren't any that are particularly long, but they are short and steep, one even reaching 24% grade.  Needless to say I didn't get all the way up that, but I was able to get much further up it than I could last year.  The other climbs I was able to do much easier (and faster according to my Strava data) than I could remember doing them last year!  I love seeing progress like that and it is a confidence boost as I head into StG where, from what I hear, it is all about the HILLS!

My last long run was 10 miles.  It seriously was the easiest 10 miles ever!  I finished feeling great, like I could easily continue, and I was hardly sore at all!  It also was a boost to know I am back to where I can knock out 10 miles with no problem!  Yeah for seeing progress!

Rage will be very similar conditions to StG, from the weather, and the course.  I am anxious to see how it goes.  I will be driving down on Friday morning with friends and that is always fun as well.  Race report will follow!

In the mean time, Happy training/racing all!

Icebreaker 2014 - TRI SEASON IS BACK!

How do I start?  I am so excited about my day!  I was so excited just to race and be at a start line again, the rest of the day is just icing on the cake!  This is the third year I have done this race and I think that is has landed on my yearly "must do" list.  It serves as a progress measuring race for me to see how my winter training paid off and to see where I need to build or improve.  

PRE-RACE:

I got down to American Fork early, pathetically so if you ask Ken.  I was there by 7:45 as I wanted a good racking spot, and I wasn't early enough to get where I would have wanted, but still, not a bad spot. I was on the first unreserved rack by the bike/run out part of transition, and I was able to get near the end.  I set up and then talked with Alicia who was on her way down.  This was her first tri ever!  She was nervous, but I was just plain excited for her!  It was chilly out, but not as bad as I remember it being from last year.  Boy how that would change, but more on that later.  Here are some pics I from pre-race, the bike one I took, so excited to have Belle in race mode again.  The one directly below was on from Racetri.  These two guys I met as they were racked right next to me.  Nice guys!

SWIM:

This is a 300 m pool swim.  I was excited for this swim as I feel that I have made progress in the pool this winter.  I got in at the front of my group.  This was a good place to be seeded and I only got passed once and passed two other people.  I never got traffic jammed behind anyone and I felt great the whole time.  I think it was a good comfortably hard pace, but one I was able to maintain.  It was over before I knew it and my final swim time was 6:30, a 10 second improvement from last year!

T1:

Fairly uneventful.  Had a heck of a time getting on my socks.  I stopped and debated whether or not to put on my arm sleeves or not.  I decided it wasn't worth it, a mistake I would regret later because I would freeze my arse off on the bike.  Total T1 time was 1:23, a 3 second improvement from last year.  

BIKE:

I ran out with Belle and had a heck of a time clipping in, so much so I almost fell over.  What the heck?  Anyhow, once I got clipped in, the rest of the ride rocked.  I was able to fly up the first hill of this 2 loop, 12 mile bike ride.  I felt awesome that I was able to pass people on the climbs, thank you Sufferfest!  I swear those videos helped a ton over the winter.  Once to the top I settled into aero and decided to try to ride as aggressively and hard as I could maintain.  I practiced an even pedal stroke and felt strong.  I was pretty cold, but I didn't let it bother me too much.  I loved when we got around to the Alpine Highway, I flew down that!  I only wish we had a little more room, or I would have gone faster had I not had to worry about other cyclists or things parked along the curb.  Oh well, it was a great bike.  The second loop seemed good also, and the climb the second time I was able to pass people as well.  Final bike time was 39:53 (around 19 mph) , a 3 minute improvement from last year!  WOOHOO!

T2:

This was also pretty uneventful.  I was stoked to see that they had bike catchers, so that always helps, but a a sprint?!?  AWESOME!  I simply  handed off my bike and ran over to my spot where I kicked off my bike shoes and helmet, threw on my running stuff and was off.  I did grab a quick GU and was ready to run.  I looked down at my watch and the overall time was at 48 minutes.  I knew I could have a really good PR if I had a good run.  Total T2 time was 1:03, a 5 second improvement from last year! 

RUN:

I took off and immediately grabbed a water from the aide station outside of the transition area.  I felt really good coming off the bike and was surprised that I didn't have that usual lead legged feeling that I usually have.  I have heard that the better bike fitness you have, the less of an issue it will be to run off the bike, so I am hoping that is true!  Anyhow, the run up that dang hill wasn't great, but I was able to keep it up and not walk any part of it.  Honestly, the entire run I felt strong and knew that I really wanted a PR, so I tried to go as hard as I could maintain.  I had some people pass me on the run (surprise, surprise) but was thrilled to see that none of them were in my age group!  What the?!?  I made it up to the Alpine Highway and knew that the rest of the course was literally downhill so I tried to gun it if possible.  I was less than a mile from the finish and some chick comes blowing past me and of course, she was in my age group.  Oh well, the way she was trucking along, she deserved it.  But, I kept thinking that she was the only one I had seen pass me in my AG, so maybe, just maybe I could pull a podium finish!  That thought really kept me going and I went as fast as I could to the finish.  I did my normal finish line sprint and felt awesome!  My final run time was 28:08 (a 9:03 pace).  This was actually 22 seconds slower than last year.  Dang run!  It continues to be my nemesis in racing!

 POST-RACE

I found my family and enjoyed the finish line refreshments.  Chocolate milk and bagels were awesome at that point.  The medal rocked, as usual.  I hung out for a very long while to see the final results and see that my overall time for this race was 1:16:59, a 3 minute and some odd second improvement from last year, and a PR! And it landed me a 3rd place finish in my new age group F35-39!  I finished 19th overall female as well.  I am beyond elated with this!  I have never had a podium moment in a tri, I did take second in my AG up at Big Bear, but there wasn't any hoopla or anything.  Racetri always does a little awards thing so I actually got on the block!

RACE ORGANIZATION:

I got to hand it to Racetri, they keep outdoing themselves.  Awesome event, superbly organized, cool shirt I will actually wear, and great medals.  I love that they do an AG award as well.  In my AG swag bag I got a cool pair of Feetures running socks, a $20 gift card to Utah Run, and some KT tape.  And, I got the cool 3rd place medal seen bottom left next to the cool finisher's medal.  And really, how can you top Aaron Shamy and his crew?  I love racing with Racetri, and will try to squeeze in a few more of their races this season.  

WHAT I LEARNED:

Consistency is key, baby.  I swear, all of the hard work I have been putting in is finally paying off.  I don't have talent, but to my credit, I do work hard.  My training has for the most part, been spot on.  I do need to work on my run, but what else is new?  I am thrilled to see the gains I have made in every other category.  Only 5 weeks left till IM St. George 70.3!  And in reality, that is 3 weeks of solid training, and a two week taper, but also two races in between now and then, the Rage Oly Tri in Vegas and the SLC Half Marathon.  Can't wait!

In the meantime, Happy Training and Racing!

How Things Are...

Nothing monumental here.  Just checking in on what is going on with the training front.  I am doing well for the most part, dang life keeps happening.  I started feel a pain in my ankle in the middle of last week, so I skipped two runs in order to let it heal, and it was exactly what I needed and a good example of listening to our body.  I had a pain right next to my Achille's and it even hurt pushing off the wall in the pool.  That was after my run on Tuesday of last week.  I continued to bike, but skipped my runs for Thursday and Friday, had it taped and it is now fine.  Thank heavens!  I can't afford an injury!  So, the moral of the story is, take care of an issue early on before it gets to be something bigger! 

I am loving the nice weather.  I need to get new tires for Belle before putting her on the road, or else I would have done the last few rides outside.  I don't mind the trainer though. I honestly LOVE Sufferfest videos and know that they push me more than I normally would push myself.  Saturday I my training schedule called for a 2 hour and 45 minute trainer ride, so I did it with back to back Sufferfest videos and it was great!  I was tired, but not completely wasted, so my bike fitness is doing well.

I also have noticed small gains in the pool.  I did a 300 meter time trial last week to get an idea of where I am at as IceBreaker is coming up in just over two weeks, and that is the swim distance for that one.  This time last year I was at 5:15 for that distance.  This year I am at 4:20!  So excited to have shaved almost a minute off that time!  I credit more consistency in the pool for that!

I have been looking over my training plan for IM StG.  I can't believe how soon it will really be here!  Between now and then I have three other races, so the time is going to fly!  I feel very good.  I feel strong, and though my work outs are increasing in intensity and volume, I feel like my body is adapting well and has been solid.  I can't wait to see how all of this plays out in the races to come this season.

What's next?  The IceBreaker tri is just over 2 weeks away!  Then two weeks after that is the Rage Oly tri in Vegas and then the Salt Lake City Half Marathon just a week after that!

Happy Training and racing!

Dreaded Week 9!!

Since I picked out the training plan that I am using to prepare for Ironman St. George 70.3, I have been dreading Week 9.  It is when the main part of the base building phase is over and they really amp up the volume and intensity of the work outs.  I have already been doing 3x3 workouts every week (meaning 3 swims, 3 bikes, and 3 runs), and that is tough, but I had fallen into a routine and was doing it.  I average 1-2 work outs a week, but not the key ones, the long ones.  Anyhow, after last week's "recovery" week, the Dreaded Week 9 started yesterday.  I now have an additional swim and bike each week and instead of adding another run, they have added a long walk to Sundays.  This is perfect timing to add that walk as the weather here has been gorgeous!

So, we will see how all this pans out. It has taken some careful planning and maneuvering to fit all those work outs in, as I normally don't train on Sundays, so I had to finagle it otherwise. It breaks down to two-a-days Monday through Friday with a long ride on Saturdays.

Week 9 also means I am half way through this training plan.  I didn't really follow a plan for my first Half, and it was okay.  But I have seen that following this one, it is much better planned than what I did and I have seen the wisdom behind the workouts and the phases with it.  I love that every 4th week is a recovery week.  I mentally and physically need these recovery weeks.  The weeks slowly build on the weeks prior, and it all makes sense!  I am feeling strong and am loving the training.  I do my best to fit it all in, but life happens.  I feel that the work outs are taxing, but do-able. I feel like even with IM StG 9 weeks away, I could complete it today.  I feel that this plan though will not only prepare me to complete it, but do it WELL.  I love that aspect and thence do my best to stick to the plan because it is a good one and I am excited to see how all of this pans out in the races that I will do before then, and for StG itself!

So, in the meantime, Happy Training all!

Way too Quiet!

I haven't posted yet this year!  I guess in the lazy off season, there isn't a ton to post about!

I have been busy though getting ready for this season. I am on Week 6 of my training plan for IMStG 70.3 that is on May 3.  I am so excited and scared about this race all at the same time.  I feel great about how my training is going.  The volume is starting to pick up, and the work outs are more demanding and more frequent, but I am feeling great.  I am swimming well, running well, and biking better than I have been.

One new thing that I have incorporated into my bike training this season is the Sufferfest cycling videos.  I figure if I have to be on the trainer due to the winter, I might as well try new things.  Holy crap those things give you a kick in the pants!  I am dripping in sweat and begging for mercy when they are done!  I really feel they will make me a stronger cyclist, heaven knows they push me harder than I would normally go on the trainer and it makes the time pass much faster.

As far as races go, there have been some slight changes from the original plans I had for the year.  My Dad and I got into the Triple Bypass for July 12.  I am so excited to do this hard and challenging ride with my Dad of all people!  It's 120 miles and 11000 ft elevation gain!  Bring it on!

I also found out that my running group got accepted into the Hood to Coast Relay.  This is an amazing race that I have wanted to do and even though the timing is pretty bad (it is the weekend BEFORE school starts) I am going to do all I can to make it happen!

So, that is it for now.  I am so excited about how things are going and how this season is shaping up.  it is going to be challenging and so fun at the same time.  Stay tuned!  In the mean time...

Happy training!

Fall Trail Running with my Peeps!

Coming off my stupid injury, and also not doing much of anything active for the past 8 weeks or so, my running/tri group has saved my butt! Meaning, they have given me a reason to get off of it!  This past Saturday was no exception as they posted about going to do a training run up on the Bonneville Shoreline trail, and then possibly up to Adam's Canyon Waterfall.  I was so glad that I joined them, even if it was a tough run!  I had no idea how steep it was, but with these folks, I was laughing the whole way.  Just look at us, wouldn't you be laughing too?

We got off track a few times and had to try to figure out where exactly the trail was.  This lead to us sometimes taking a much more difficult route than was necessary.  We joked about cold (read FROZEN) Clif shots, and where to keep them to avoid the frozen predicament.  After the stressful week I had, this was just what the doctor ordered! It was so worth getting to the top and seeing the waterfall, even if it was much longer than I thought. It was gorgeous getting up there, and I so wish I lived a little closer to these trails to enjoy them more.  Yeah for fall running!

We then went out to breakfast and discussed next season's racing plans, and I think that I now have a pretty good idea of what next season looks like for me.  It will really depend on a few lotteries for some of the events that I want to do.  Really, beyond St. George 70.3, I don't know what the season will hold till I see about a few lotteries, as mentioned before.

These guys are great!  They are so much fun and when I think of my beginning days of running when I always trained and raced by myself, I don't see how I ever did it!  It is so much more fun, easier to stay motivated, and keep going when you have company a long the way.  Thanks again peeps!