“The Becker Buzz”
California 70.3 Race Report
March 29, 2008
 

This last weekend I raced the first important race of the 2008 season at the California 70.3 Half Ironman.  I came into the race with 5 days rest as I started my taper for Ironman Arizona on April 13^th.
Training has been going well and I hadn’t been below 20hrs of training per week since the middle of December.  Needless to say I was anxious to see what I could do.
Race morning brought cool temperatures in the low 50’s, but not as cold as they could have been.   The water was also a chilly 60*, which hurt the face a little bit upon getting in.  I had my new Blue Seventy TST Wetsuit which is much improved over last year and I felt ready to go. 
We only had about 5-8min of warm-up before the gun went off, which I don’t think was enough for me.  I moved to the second row of athletes and keyed off of a few others who I thought were slightly faster swimmers.  Today, they were more than that.  The horn sounded and the effort was not hard, but I couldn’t get the arms to turn over like I needed.  Within 300 meters I was off the back and I thought I was in “no-man’s land”……until the turn buoy when I flipped on my back to check out the situation and saw I was pulling a group of over 20 athletes.  As I rounded the second turn buoy, I had NO idea where I was going and proceeded to turn 90* the wrong direction (sorry guys).  This actually ended up benefiting me.  Lewis Elliot took the lead and proceeded to sit in on his feet, as I had no idea where we were going.  We exited in a little bit over 27 minutes.  But about 2:30 back from the first pack.
Out of the water and onto the bike.  My Trek TTX 9.9 SSL and  Wireless Powertap SL was showing me the wattage that I was hoping for.  I rode steady out to hills, passing 10-15 athletes on the way.  Once through the tough climbs, I was greeted with a stiff headwind back to transition.  Normal Power for the ride was 308 watts.  This is 28 watts higher than I have seen in the past and a huge jump for me.
I took off onto the run with a few other athletes and found the first few miles a bit tough, but at mile 3 things got better.  I was still off of my goal pace, but not by much.  I ran the next 5 miles at about 5:55 per mile, but soon I had a few twinges and had to back off a bit.  I managed to pass a few more athletes to finish with a run of 1:20 and a finish time of 4:15.  It was good enough for 17^th place overall.
This was not a bad way to start the season at all and I have been able to gather a lot of confidence from this race in knowing that I can compete with almost any athlete on that start line. 
After the race I attended my Timex Team Camp is Carlsbad, CA and had a great time catching up with old teammates and meeting a few new ones.  We have a great support team this year which includes great managers and new sponsors including Trek, Powerbar, Bontrager, Powertap(Saris), Rudy Project, Timex and TP Massage Rollers.
I also want to thank my homestay in Cali, Sergio Gurrieri.  Your hospitality was much appreciated.  Now I had about 10 days to Ironman Arizona.  Be sure to check out live coverage at www.ironman.com on April 13^th, starting at 6:45am Pacific.

Well, I’ve become a whimp.  When the temp falls below 40 and I put on my amphibs (only Tim, Alex, and the Canadians probably know what these are), double-layer Craft shirt and lobster gloves… friends say, “Didn’t you grow up in Chicago?” 

I’ve tried to acclimate by trying ‘cold water’ swims, racing in the cold… and I just get hypothermia.

Why then on Sunday was I out racing a duathlon in 26-degree weather? 

I can’t say no.  I like a challenge.  I told my friend Michelle that I’d be there.  The prize was a cute mug.  The TREK hadn’t had a ride since Kona.  It was a TRAIL run.  I’ve never raced in a duathlon.  It’s sunny!  Blah Blah Blah

My plan was to change my shirt, gloves, and hat in every transition so I’d be dry and warm.  That went to h$%^ in a handbasket, as the saying goes.  My hands were just too frozen.  I put on an extra vest to get on the bike, and I managed to get my cycling shoes on.  I laughed at myself, which keeps it light and fun.  Thank goodness the bike was only 21 miles, because the cold started getting to me in a ‘delirious’ way around mile 15.  Then again, the TREK section is my favorite– my bike split looked pretty good for the conditions (fastest woman).  

It was a fun day, and I took home a mug!  Wow!  My mom, who was visiting from Chicago, snagged the race sweatshirt.  I was 2nd female overall behind speedy short-distance pro Amy Marsh.

Happy Winter.

November 10^th, 2007
4:48.15– 32:47 Swim, 2:33 Bike, 1:37 Run
4^th 20-24 Age Group

WARNING…All components of this race including the final weeks of preparation leading into it fall under the ‘Big Learning Experience’ category! And boy what a learning experience it was…

As a very new athlete in the sport with only 3 years under my belt, I had not actually completed an uninterrupted season of hard training and consistent racing until this year. My first year was pretty much a joke. I had never swam, bike or ran EVER in my life and pretty much just went with the flow and eventually found my true passion in life. My second year I went out a little too hard without much base and developed a giant stress fracture in my hip forcing me spend almost the entire race season aqua jogging in the pool! This year I had 2 main goals – the most important was to complete a full schedule and have an injury-free season and the second to finish top 3 in my age group at the 70.3 World Champs. Although goal one was a success, placing 4^th at Worlds was where the learning came into play.

What happened on race day? Unfortunately it was a combination of mental and physical burn out a few weeks prior to the big day. I began training quite hard in December and January and raced/trained straight through until October when I began feeling incredibly unmotivated, fatigued and uninterested in going hard. Since I had never gone that long before with consistent training, I hadn’t found my body’s limits and sadly hit the wall about 3 weeks before I was due to depart to Clearwater. Bummer. I knew the instant I was more excited to go skiing then go out for my favorite workouts in beautiful fall weather that something was up. I tried to push through the mental toughness but I kept finding myself breaking down and getting really upset for not knowing why I was feeling this way a few weeks before my biggest race of the season. I had a good chat with the coach and we agreed that beginning my taper a few weeks early would be a good idea and hopefully I would be really rested and pumped up to race. Although it sounded like a great idea, I still had a hard time getting those workouts in too and flew into Worlds very flat and highly unprepared. Lesson learned: NEED MID-SEASON BREAK!!!

When I toed the line the morning of the race, I was more relaxed than I had ever been before which is never a good sign for my super-agro-type A personality. It was a crappy feeling, but I knew right away that my heart just wasn’t into the race and that I was going to be out there just to enjoy the day. As the gun went off, I was so relaxed that I immediately fell into a great rhythm and joined the first swim pack. As we made the turn straight into the sun, I sighted the buoys on the opposite side and ended up swimming into the middle of the ‘rectangle’ and into a kayak who redirected me back on course. Oops. Coming out of the water I was a little irritated that I hadn’t put together one solid swim the entire year but knew I had improved greatly on the bike so it was time to go out and fly. Well, that’s what I thought at first until I realized my legs weren’t quite functioning the way they normally do. I just couldn’t turn over the pedal and was getting passed left and right. It was definitely tough to take, but instead of getting upset, I just kept chugging away knowing that it wasn’t my day. Getting off the bike was a great delight and I was very excited to head out for the run which is always my favorite event. Since I knew there wasn’t much hope to catch that place I was after, I just decided to cruise the half marathon and enjoy every minute of it. I crossed the finish line with emotions of frustration, irritation, disappointment, and joy. The race was finally over and it was the end of the year and I accomplished the number one goal of staying healthy without any injuries. Although I didn’t really ‘race’ what I had picked to be my ‘A’ race at the beginning of the year, it was okay. Nothing disastrous happened and I was able to spend some quality time with the Timex family and enjoy the rest of my trip with my mom who has been a huge supporter throughout my entire triathlon journey.

Thank you to everyone for all the encouragement and support during the 2007 season, I couldn’t have done it without you!

The Day I Gambled and Lost BUT Really WON !!!!

Ironman Florida 2007 on November 3, 2007 marked the 2^nd time I attempted this race and upon completing the event would mark my 10^th Ironman. I was entering the race at the end of probably the most difficult year I have ever had. The year was full of challenges that were not necessarily my choice but were circumstances that I had to make a conscious choice how I would deal with each of them. Be it serious family illness, moving to a new city, change of job, or other personal issues my choice from the beginning was to make lemonade out of what were at the time some very bitter lemons.

Yes, from the beginning my training was not at the same level as previous years however I tried to concentrate more on the quality of each and every workout. I also tried to build on my training day at Ironman Coeur D’Alene in June 2007. Ironman Florida was also a great excuse to get some sun and spend time away from home with my wife which was delightful. (Yes, I can actually say that after 29 years of marriage).

The day was perfect for a race as the sun was rising with no wind and calm seas. The first loop of the swim was as any other a washing machine with everyone trying to find their own piece of water. The first loop was completed in 33 minutes and my final time was 1:08 which for me was GREAT given I had only hit the pool 2 weeks ago and probably only had a total of 5 miles of swimming under my belt prior to the race. I attribute it simply to my Blue Seventy Wetsuit. (I will be opening the new and only pool in my home town when I get home on November 10, 2007 and got in a few laps in as soon as the water was in before I left).

The bike ride on my NEW TREK felt GREAT and effortless and as the ride went on I made a conscious effort to be controlled as the second half of the ride can be extremely tough if you go out too fast. I was happy as to how the ride was going since this had been my focus in the training I had put in prior to the race. About 2 hours into the ride it became evident that the nutrition plan I had laid out for the day was at risk of unraveling. I had been working through some intestinal issues earlier in the week and nothing; I mean nothing on race day was sitting well. It seemed the more I took in the worse I felt and the larger my stomach was getting. Oh well I thought, I will work through the ride and see where it goes (Thus the gamble). Well actually the only thing that seemed for some reason to sit OK with my stomach was the snickers bar at special needs. I mean how can a snickers not be good J. I finished the ride strong in 5:34 which was quicker than last year but I knew things were in a bit of disarray as I got off the bike. I took a little extra time in transition to get things organized and then it was off on the run.

As I left transition I felt what I thought was the normal discomfort associated with the start of the marathon. However, within 2 miles I knew I was in some trouble as my stomach was hard, swollen and quite distended which is where it was when I finished the marathon. Nothing was sitting well and the severe pain was stopping me from running so I fell into the old run 1 minute walk 1 minute until even that was not enough. Ok so after a few porta potty stops and a little hissy fit of kicking gravel I had to ask that question that many Ironman athletes at some time ask themselves. The simple question of “WHY”?

The answer for me after some deep soul searching was wrapped up in a co-workers story this past year. His story was simply that he had a bike accident, had a minor break in his neck and through his determination he can now walk with a cane, and ride a bike albeit very slowly. Oh did I mention that he completed an Olympic distance tri 9 months after the accident where his 10 km time was 3 hours and 14 minutes BUT he finished. Here is a guy that wants so badly to be able to do the sport he loves and here was I with what in the end seemed like minor stomach issues. The answer to the question for me was simple “BECAUSE I CAN! This is what got me through the day and believe me it was the toughest of any of the marathons I have ever done in a Ironman (Oh yea and the slowestJJJ)

Although my race was slower than last year I am more satisfied with this result because it made me DIG VERY DEEP, hurt more than previous and taught me the following:

1)      WHO I really am as a person

2)      WHY I do this sport

3)      What I need to concentrate on for next year

4)      Where I want to be when I race here in 2008

5)      HOW I was able to make lemonade out of some very bitter lemons to be in a better place than I was when I set a PR here in 2006 in a time of 11:45

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends and especially my sponsor TIMEX for all your support this past year. I could not have done it without you.

It is now time to play a little hockey (Off Season Training For Canadians eh!!!) and then focus on next year with my lemonade in hand. See you in 2008. I am excited.

Bruce “The IronCanuck” Bauman

www.ironcanuck.com