The Clearwater 70.3 was my last race of the season. Given that I struggled through so many injuries this year I was ready to take some much needed rest. I fully tapered for Clearwater and laid off all long runs as well as speed work on my feet in an effort to save my running legs for the race. Knowing I had one last strong race in me, I was excited to see what I could do with these brittle bones.

 

Thursday and Friday turned out to be extremely windy on Clearwater Beach. Gavin and I strolled along the beach to get in a short practice swim Friday morning. The waves were high but we had a great time swimming in them, looking forward to the advantage strong swimmers would have on race day with such windy conditions. After walking around the expo and going through the athlete check in we heard the news; the race director decided to move the swim to bay side due to the high winds.  Disappointed, yes, but there’s no use dwelling on it.

 

Friday morning after setting up transition we walked over to the bay where the swim was scheduled to start. Due to the small swim entrance they changed the age group swim to a time trial start, another disappointment. A time trial start would disable me from racing the other women in my age group. It was now a race against the clock.

 I lined up and squeezed my way into the 2^nd position in my wave. 25 minutes before my scheduled wave start I was jumping off the portable dock into the water literally over swimmers who were easing their way in from the 40-45 male age groups.

 

The swim out to the bay was directly facing east, therefore right into the rising sun. The first half I could not see a thing, I tried to follow those in front of me hoping they were swimming straight. I found another female in a red cap; we swam together for a few hundred yards. Realizing there were no longer many around us I looked up only to find we were swimming toward the inside of the buoys, if we continued in that direction we would be cutting off the last turn buoy. As I looked around an Australian guy called to me, “This way mate” so I followed him noticing that the other red-capped girl continued swimming the wrong way. As I swam by the last turn buoy I was thrilled to start swimming west and away from the sun. I could finally see, now I could concentrate on swimming and getting a head start on the bike. I sighted off the Pirate Ship at the swim finish and tried to beat those around me to the narrow exit. The narrow ramp out of the water cost me a few seconds while waiting for others to enter. I even gave the girl in front of me having trouble climbing the ramp a little boost.

  

 

Swim Time 26.39

 

The run into transition was slightly longer due to swimming in the bay; it also included no showers to run through. The salt water was staying on us for the duration of the race. I ran by the wetsuit strippers, grabbed by bag, and headed to the changing tent. I was in and out in only seconds heading out on the bike.

Due to the flat fast course in Clearwater the bike tends to form groups of riders “helping each other”. This year because of the quicker time trial start, the packs of riders was even greater. I tried to the best of my ability to avoid the packs but certainly got caught in a few.

Some highlights to note from the bike;

 

* #193 decided to push me by touching my behind while passing him

* Very small guy trying to ride me off the road numerous times while playing cat and mouse

* 2 different guys receiving red cards for drafting off of me

 

Bike Time: 2:14.34

 

My legs were feeling great throughout the bike leg; the wind was working with me. Now I was ready to run. I flew through transition 2 and was out on the run course. The good news was there was no pain in my shins or feet from injuries. Once I felt that I knew it was going to be a good day. I was also prepared this year for the 4 Causeway Bridge climbs.  I sailed through the first loop of the run seeing a few familiar faces on the course. At this point is where I realized that I hadn’t seen a single female from my age group, meaning I had a great chance to place in the top 5. I ran harder on the 2^nd loop of the run and kept pace with a few guys around me.

I was surprised that I didn’t feeling more fatigued so pushed even harder deciding to leave it all out on the course. Coming into the finish was an amazing feeling knowing I improved my time from last year by 20 minutes. Ending the season with a bang.

 

Run Time: 1:33.35

 

Total Time: 4:19.01 PR!

 

 

This was good enough for 2^nd place for 25-29 women and 4^th overall amateur woman.

 

After the race the Timex team celebrated together

(Hodges not sure where you are during this picture)

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I was talked into racing the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 in Austin, TX this fall in preparation for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater 3 weeks afterwards. Going into the race I was less than enthused, my long season was finally coming to a close and I was looking forward to a break. Despite my mindset I left for Austin on Friday night, arriving at the house my local training team rented for the weekend.

Saturday turned out to be a long day. Longhorn 70.3 is a 2 transition race, therefore we had to visit the packet pick up located at the Luedecke Arena, drop off our bikes at T1 Decker Lake and drop off our T2 gear back at the Luedecke Arena. Our group had two cars so it took multiple trips to transport everyone’s bikes. Once we were all settled my friend Thomas found a crack on the top tube of his Trek TTX SSL. After discussing with the bike technicians on site it was decided racing on the cracked frame would be unsafe. We next visited Lance Armstrong’s bike shop, Mellow Johnny’s in downtown Austin to see if there was any help they could provide. The technicians at  Mellow Johnny’s were awesome; they set Thomas up with a slightly used Trek TTX SSL frame and fit him for the race. At this point I had left to meet the remainder of our group for dinner, shortly after I left Lance Armstrong showed up for a public appearance.

Now that all our issues were worked out we were ready to race…

SWIM

I started at the front of the wave, as I took off from the pack 2 girls came with me. I would usually try to drop them, but instead I tried to strategize and draft off the faster of the 2 girls.  This worked out well for the first 400 yards. Once we ran into the previous wave I lost her. I swam the remainder of the swim on my own and actually ended up coming out of the water 1st in my wave.

BIKE

This bike course was amazing, my favorite of the season. There were hills scattered throughout, although no steep climbs. It was a fairly windy day, although somehow the wind was behind us the entire route, making for fast bike splits. I was catching riders throughout the longevity of the ride. At mile 25 2 girls from my age group caught up, 1 of which passed me and took the lead. I stuck with my consistent pace and passed her back at mile 40. I came into the finish of the bike leading my wave and age group.

RUN

The run has been my weakness this season due to injuries. I have now been struggling with shin splints in my left leg since Ironman Wisconsin. I have been running, although haven’t been able to log the miles required to reach my full potential. As expected a runner from my age group caught and passed me during the 1st mile of the run. I tried to stay with her, but just did not have the speed. The course was 3 loops, I held off the remainder of the field for the first loop, although another runner passed me during the 2nd loop.  I was able to remain close behind her for a few miles, half way through the 3rd loop I overtook her and finished the race strong.

My final time was 4:43.1 which was good enough for 2nd place overall amateur.

After the race we went out to celebrate. This was my first time in Austin; I really enjoyed all the live music played on the street, restaurants, bars and even on the run course of the triathlon.  Overall it was a successful trip. I am now re-energized and ready for my race in Clearwater.

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This is my 2nd time racing in the Danskin Triathlon in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. An all women’s race put on to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.  My good friend Jeanie and I decided to race this year together. I’m a huge fan of all women’s races, I love when a woman is the first one to cross the finish line and there are no pushy men dominating the course.

Jeanie and I arrived in Pleasant Prairie in the afternoon on Saturday, towards the end of the expo. For one reason or another they did not have my assigned number, 4, for the elite wave. The race director was able to assign me to a new number, 2242, and I was to still start in the elite wave.

We went out to dinner and stayed the night at a friend’s house. Sunday morning we awoke early and headed to Lake Andrea.

 

 

 

 

Photo taken at 4 am

 

 

 

As we entered transition I noticed the elite wave was set up closest to the swim exit. While my number, 2242, was closest to the bike exit and entrance. I made the decision to rack my bike closest to the bike in and out. Hoping this would allow for quicker transitions.

It was a chilly morning, but the water temperature was warm. After we walked over to the swim start, I hopped into the water for a brief warm up. I was prepared for my legs to be tired on the bike or possibly the run after my Ironman race up in Madison two weeks prior. But in warm up I felt sluggish in the swim.

I lined up for my wave to start, both pros and elite amateurs were lined up together for the first wave. We began and I took off in the lead, two women grabbed my feet and began drafting. Similar to how I felt in warm up I began to feel tired, I slowed down a bit. Lauren Jensen swam around me and the other woman swam up next to me. We continued to swim together for the remainder of the swim. Lauren was about 20 seconds ahead.

We headed into T1 and I was 2nd out of transition. To my surprise I caught Lauren on the bike, she passed me back at mile 8. I stayed a few bike lengths behind her for the end of the course. As we entered into T2 I was only 3 seconds behind her. Here is where my transition set up really paid off. Lauren had to run all the way to the opposite end of transition, while my gear was closer to bike in and run out. I exited T2 20 seconds ahead of her.

My left shin has been bothering me since Ironman. I haven’t been running on it and was pleasantly surprised that I did not feel pain in my shin. Now I just needed to hold onto my lead. I ran chasing the lead motorcycle for the first 2 miles. At the start of mile 3 Lauren caught and passed me. I tried to dig deep and managed to stay with her, but could not overtake her down the finishers shoot. Lauren had a time of 1:03.56 while my time was 1:04.03.  This was good enough for overall elite amateur winner.

Lauren was kind enough to congratulate me and told me that next year this race will be mine as long as I’m not racing IMOO two weeks before again.

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My first Ironman…

My Ironman weekend started by checking in at Monona Terrace on Friday. I went through the ever exciting lines for athlete check in. I walked around the expo and visited the Timex booth. Next I met up with Cindi Bannink’s team of athletes to do a walk through of transition. I picked up some helpful hints from other athletes such as which wet suit strippers to go to, how fast to run up the helix, when to put on my shoes and the entrances and exits to transition. We then went to the pre-race dinner where we listened to some inspiring speeches. I met some new Ironman friends and started asking around about the best location to start in the swim. I was given advice that a swimmer of my speed can start on the inside of the buoys, which is legal. Then once ahead of the majority of swimmers can head to the outside of the buoys before the first turn. After dinner I headed back with Cindi to spend the night at her place.

Saturday morning I woke up, road my bike to Lake Monona going through my gears one last time to ensure my Trek TTX 9.9 SSL was working optimally. I warmed up in the Gatorade practice swim for about 20 minutes. I was feeling rested and fast both in the water and on the bike. After my swim I separated out all my gear to prepare my transition and special needs bags.

I headed over to drop off my bike and transition bags.  Mike and I went to an early dinner and called it a night.

Sunday morning I woke up excited, the day was finally here. It was time to see if all the training would pay off. We dropped off my special needs bags, I pumped up my tires and double checked my brake pads. Now that everything was set and ready I was starting to get nervous. About an hour before start time I asked Mike “What have I gotten myself into?” he laughed and gave me one last good luck kiss before I headed down to the start.

Even though I’m a strong swimmer I was nervous about the start. I had never done a mass start before and I tend to get claustrophobic when swimming too close to other swimmers. So I decided not to take the start position advice received on Friday night, but to start on the far right between the ski jump and the shore, in the front row. I knew this would require me to swim some extra distance, although I was hoping to avoid some of the chaos.

The time was here to funnel 2,500 athletes into the water, since the entrance to the lake is narrow they start this process 30 minutes prior to the start. I decided to hold back since my starting location was closer to the shore. With about 10 minutes to spare I got in the water and lined up in the front row. Before I knew it, the start gun went off and so did we.

I was very happy with my starting position, because I took off with 2 other swimmers leaving the mass group behind us. The distance to the first turn buoy was still far enough away that I had adequate time to head in a slight diagonal direction towards the inside of the course. I imagine I did end up swimming about 100 extra yards by starting on the far outside, but to me it was worth it. I ran into no issues. I swam with a few other swimmers around the first few turns, but then they disappeared. I had complete open water and before I knew it I was turning around my first lap. I remember seeing the huge Ford signs in the water and getting a glimpse of all the spectators on the shore and up the helix. Wow, I was racing in the Ironman, the feeling had finally set in.  I didn’t want to use up too much energy so I moved forward at a relaxing  pace. I tried to find others to swim with in an effort to conserve energy by drafting. I found one guy for about 400 yards, but then lost him as well. I went through the 2nd swim loop on my own. I finally came around to the swim exit. I glimpsed a look at the clock and was happy with a swim time of 57:20 I hopped out and headed to the wet suit strippers. It took a little longer than expected to get my wetsuit off, but in no time I was off and running.  

I ran up the helix trying to stay calm, but the fans were overwhelming and I ran faster than planned. I passed a few people while running up.

The volunteers were amazing; I had 2 women helping me with my T1 bag. Soon I was off, I was handed my bike and then at the end of transition put my shoes on and headed out on the bike course.

Feeling strong I started into my pace. On Saturday Mike Lavery warned me not to go out too fast on the first loop of the bike course. He was right; I felt fantastic and wanted to go faster. Especially with all the men zooming past me going 28 mph. I looked down and saw that I was going 23 mph, still too fast. This was much more difficult than expected.

Right after the rolling hills I felt low on my saddle; I looked down and confirmed that my saddle had completely slipped.  I was 32 miles into the bike course and thought this could be the end of my race. I quickly remembered last minute putting one allen wrench in my saddle bag. I pulled over to the side of the road to see what I could do. Sweet! The only allen wrench I packed was the one I needed. It took me about 3 minutes but I was able to move the seat back to its original position. I jumped back on and tried to catch up. I was very proud of myself for bringing the allen wrench and for fixing it on my own. At this point I had no idea of my position in the race because women may have passed me while fixing my seat. I decided to ride my own race and stick to my pace.

My first time around, I zoomed up the 3 steep hills. I was careful to have patience and not muscle up them, but my taper had definitely worked and I was feeling great. Heading into town towards the end of the first loop there were spectators everywhere. Riding through these crowds was exhilarating. I saw some familiar faces including Trista Francis and Mike Lavery. I then headed back for another loop. I was able to maintain my pace throughout the 2nd loop. The 3 hills were more difficult this time but I was still able to get up them without exerting too much energy.

While on the final stretch of the bike, riding on John Nolan drive I rode by a familiar Mazda,  my friend Gerrard sticks his head out the window and screams “GO CHRISTINE!” I was laughing all the way up the helix. 

My bike time was 5:57.31.

 

I came into T2 feeling a little drained from the bike, but good enough to run the marathon ahead. I handed off my bike and headed into the changing room, I again received great treatment from the volunteers.  This time I had 4 women helping me change, bringing me water and wishing me luck. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was in 2nd place in my age group at T2.   As I headed out on my run I felt surprisingly good, but the day had warmed up, it was now 85 degrees. So I made a mental note to consume extra water while running. I saw many familiar faces while on my run, it was great to be cheered on by so many fans.  As the miles ticked away, I noticed others walking due to the heat, I continued to run.

Soon I was at mile 7 and I remember thinking, wow I am feeling pretty good right now. Then I realized I still had 19 miles to go…

As the run went on I felt stronger and stronger. The first loop was very enjoyable, I had passed the 1st place girl from my age group and was now leading the pack. As I made the turn around to begin my 2nd loop, Mr. Gnoyke, my friend Julie’s dad joined me running for a few minutes. He was volunteering at the turn around and was heading to man his position.

The 2nd loop was much more crowded,  I now had to dodge walkers while running, the race had turn into an obstacle course.  

I managed to keep running, the aid stations were more difficult on this loop. I attempted to reach over walkers heads to grab fluid from aid stations. I was fairly successful at this, but did bump into a few racers.

At mile 20 a girl from my age group passed me by. I assumed she was on her first lap, although later found out she was not.  At mile 23 the pain began to set in. My legs tightened up and those last 3 miles were difficult. I pushed through them and managed to finish my run in 3:41.59.

 

My overall time was 10:45.45 which was good enough for 2nd place in my age group, 5th overall amateur women and 13th overall women. I qualified for Kona 2010. The outcome of this race exceeded my expectations greatly. I was attempting to finish and simply say I had tried the distance.

 

Now I’ll be training for Kona 2010. I’ve learned a lot throughout this season training for the Ironman distance. I look forward to improving for next year.

But for now, rest and massage…

 

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Ah the Chicago Triathlon, one of my favorite races. This was my very first triathlon back when I competed in the Chicago Kids Triathlon when I was 9. I love this race because it’s in my city and I know so many friends racing.

Cindi Bannink competed in the Chicago Triathlon this year with me. I have been staying with Cindi on numerous occasions while training for Ironman Wisconsin. This weekend she finally let me return the favor by staying with me for the race.

We rode our bikes to the start of the race, it was pitch black out and very chilly for a summer August day. The wind was so strong that the waves managed to reach our feet while riding along the lake path. We pushed through, a little cold and wet, but we made it to transition. After setting up our gear, we walked over to the swim start. At this point the sprint distance waves have begun. I cheered on a few friends swimming by as we walked to the start. We had about an hour to wait in the cold until the olympic waves began, luckily the elite wave goes first.

SWIM: For some reason they decided to combine the men and women’s elite waves into one. All 200 of us jumped in the cold water together, BRRRR. Once the gun shot I immediately forgot about the cold water because I was more concerned about getting ahead of everyone in the first few hundred yards. I sprinted with the lead pack in an attempt to attain some open water. I popped out ahead, although for no reason at all I decided at this point to pause and look around. I was then trampled and sucked back into the group, from here until the first buoy I could not find any water to swim in, I was knocked around quite a bit. At the 180 degree turn at the first buoy I moved to the far outside of the course and was finally able to swim again. I swam here through the remainder of the swim. Unfortunately at this point I lost the lead pack, there was such a strong current from the large wave that weaker swimmers were able to keep up with the stronger swimmers. Therefore I lost most of my advantage I usually gain in the swim. Regardless, my swim time was not far off. I hopped out of the water and began my half mile run to transition.

BIKE: I started the bike feeling fresh, trying to forget about the swim.  The course is two laps on Lake Shore Drive. The winds were strong, riding north I was riding directly into head winds. Once I hit the first turn around I was flying from the tail wind, trying to make up the time from riding into the head winds. I was passed by a few women on the first loop of the bike who usually don’t catch me until the second loop. I was reminded again of the advantage lost on that swim.  My entire bike felt sluggish, definitely was not my best. It could have had to do with the high mileage I was training in preparation for my upcoming Ironman.

RUN: I headed onto the run farther behind than I usually am, but decided to see what I could do to try and catch up. I caught a few girls throughout the run and managed to maintain my pace. My legs felt great running. I ran by many friends and family cheering for me. By the last mile there was one more girl in sight that I had a chance to catch. As I ran by some team mates they encouraged me to turn it up during the last stretch and pass her just before the finish line.

Overall it was not my best race, but I still had a great time racing cheered on by so many friends and family. I also loved watching and cheering for so many friends racing in Chicago.

Cindi on the other hand had an amazing race, her best olympic time by over 3 minutes!!!

Cindi placed 2nd overall and I placed 9th.

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