The Utah Half

The Utah half has become one of the races I look forward to every year. Last year I was in the hospital having a baby during the half and I eagerly anticipated it this year. The course is flat and the spectators and support are always superb!

One of the things I have loved about being on a triathlon team this year is that you have a built in support system, and every racing experience is amplified. The night before my half I had various text messages and phone calls from my teammates wishing me luck and encouraging me. I was not nervous until the night before at packet-pick up. I learned that wetsuits would be allowed which normally makes a racer happy, but because of an incident with my dog, I was going without one. I figured if everyone was without, the playing field was even. No wetsuit, no problem. As I laid out my gear that night the normal thoughts went through my head, had I done enough preparation?  Had my body amply recovered from the previous week's flu? What flavor of GU should I take on the bike? I went through the race in my mind then laid in bed for two hours trying to go to sleep.

Four hours later, it's race day! The only time I ever have to force down breakfast is race morning. I'm too excited to eat. One of my favorite parts of a race is the morning before the gun goes off. I love the energy and excitement as people prepare to race.  I'm always "Chatty Cathy" in transition with my transition neighbors. I met a few stressed out first timers, and enjoyed seeing so many friends and familiar faces. Amongst the friendly faces was coach Keena. She came to cheer everyone on and minutes before the first wave was to start she offered me her wetsuit. The miracle was that it fit, and I now had a wetsuit.

The swim was great! A double loop in the boat harbor. Lake sludge or not, I was happy to be there. I felt a little sorry for the race directors, trying to explain the swim route to a bunch of athletes with earplugs in their ears hopped up on energy drinks and adrenaline, was like giving instructions to toddlers with ADD. I think they had to explain the route about 20 times. The swim felt long, but enjoyable, there were no kicks to the face or leaky goggles, I love my swim mask. (Thank you HEAD)

As I came out of the water, Keena was right there ready to strip her suit off me. (Thank you Keena!) I rushed into transition excited to get on my bike. This is usually the portion of the race that I gain a little ground. I'm never last out of the water, but I can usually pull myself further ahead in a race during the bike. During the first hour on the bike, I kept telling myself to hold back a little so I could save some legs for the run. The bike course was so beautiful out on country roads and the weather was nearly perfect, a slight head wind but otherwise great. At the turnaround I noticed myself getting passed quite a lot and my body very thirsty and running out of steam. I tried to not get discouraged and to focus on racing my own race. I instinctively wanted to speed up but my body knew it's limits. I was thankful to all of the policemen that took the time to provide a safe passage for all the racers through the intersections and streetlights that day, and I thanked every one of them as I passed by.
I would love to say that I didn't care what my bike time was, but truthfully I was disappointed in it. It was almost the exact same time I had two years ago and I know I'm a much stronger cyclist now with a much lighter and faster bike (Thank you Kestrel!).

On to the run... for those of you who are actually still reading this I'll give you the mechanics, and leave the dramatics to the end.

The run was different than it was two years ago when I last did it (I don't know about last year), but I really liked the layout of the course. It's very flat and the majority of it was on the Provo River trail and nicely shaded. The various out-n-backs kept the run very social and allowed you to high-five friends and complete strangers. The aide stations were well placed, amply stocked and included opportunities to be hosed down like a wet t-shirt contest. The volunteers were abundant, supportive, and crucial to the success of this event.   

As for myself, even with a slower bike time, (3 hours) I was still on track to keep my race within 6 hours if I could just keep a slow and steady run. I learned very quickly in mile one I would not meet that goal today. I barely walked, more liked limped/hobbled the entire first mile, even stopping altogether to try to take in even more salt tabs and get my quads to stop seizing. I remember at one point stopping and feeling like I just wanted to quit.  I started trying to think of funny jokes in my head so I could stop the tears from coming out of my eyes, thus dehydrating and embarrassing me further. My throat started to close up and I told myself to just suck it up! No more pity party, I train on these very trails and I've never let them get the best of me and I'm not a quitter. What happened next is why I love this sport. Everyone passing by me on the out-in-back saw me struggling and I was buoyed up by complete strangers saying "hang in there," "you got this," "you can do it" one girl, Ashley, even stopped to see if I was alright and another guy gave me his bag of salt tablets. I'm so accustomed to team sports where the other competitors would love to see you fail. Out on the trail it was like being a part of one big triathlon family. It doesn't matter where you finish on the podium, I know I've been inspired by those who have struggled and finished last because they didn't quit. Of course I thought about my teammates cheering me on and my family and friends who overcome hard things everyday, and if I had to limp or crawl, I was going to finish this race.

My legs started to calm down a bit as long as I didn't run over 10 min. miles. I saw Keena running along the trail (that woman is always training, she's amazing!) and she high-fived me and told me to "tough it out and keep going" I love that. I was happy to reach the aide station with two of my teammates, Mckenzie and Taylor, they dumped ice down my sports bra so I could snack on ice chips for the next mile (worked quite well). Every couple of miles my legs would start to seize and I would have to walk a little which was frustrating because my lungs felt great. I battled through those 13 miles! Seeing the finish line at the end of a race like that was beautiful.

The post race food was perfect! They had plenty of chocolate recovery milk, bagels, fruit, water, etc. I sat down on a chair just as they started to announce the winners of the day. I think the overall winner came in at 4:20! Amazing. I made a comment to the guy sitting in the chair next to me "wow, I'm feeling a bit slow..." he looked at me and said "So what! We just did 70.3 miles on foot, bike and water!" He was right. I am so blessed to have the ability to exercise and move, and participate in these great events with such awesome people. It's amazing what we as people can do when we let go of our fear of failure and just do our best. I have had races where I got stand on the number one block on the podium and yes, it feels great, but ultimately I don't race for medals, I race for the whole journey.

This would not have been possible without the help and support I have received from family, friends, and sponsors. Specifically:
 RaceTri for a track record of amazing races.
TriEdge for taking a woman's triathlon team and giving us wings to fly. 
Our other amazing sponsors: Kestrel, Flexr Sports, Bearpaw, T3, GU, HEAD USA, Contour, Darn Tough, Moving Comfort, Coach Keena Training (thank you for your wetsuit rescue), and Cool Aide towels (I ran with this towel and it helped me stay cool during the run!)
A special thank you to my dear friend Jen Hamilton who has graciously loaned me her Cobb saddle for the past few months, thus literally saving my rear-end. And she's been a great friend!
Thank you to my team: Jen, Amber, Laura, Cherry, Taylor, Mckenzie, Sherry, and Missy. I'm so inspired by you girls, not just your skills, but your character and strength.
Thank you to my family for being my rock
Above all, thank you to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with all of the above!

Age Group Nationals...a success!

I have been waiting for this race all year. It was going to be the race that I pushed myself beyond what I thought I could. My only train of thought leading into it was to race against me.

Leading up to the race I had an awesome week of taper! As I flew into Vermont I had decided I was going to stay away from the craziness and enjoy the trip. We spent time in Montreal and Stowe leading up to the race. I got my bike checked in on Friday afternoon and could not believe how big transition was. There were about 3000 races at this event and it took me a few minutes to even find my bike spot. As I set up my bike, I quickly noted landmarks to make it easy to find the next morning.

I had a traditional, quiet dinner that evening: salmon and vegetables. My goal was to be back to the motel by 8 so that I could get all my things together, put on my markings and be in bed by 9:30. I received a phone call from Coach H that evening, and this phone call actually helped me so much on race day! H walked through each and every step of my race with me...what I needed to do, how my body needed to respond. His words echoed in my mind several times as I was on the bike and run during the race. I am very appreciative to him for making that phone call the night before the race.

I woke up feeling well rested and oddly enough had a great night's sleep. I quickly grabbed my breakfast and gear and headed down to meet Te Koi to head to the race. Since Boise I have decided to not check the weather as it really doesn't matter and most likely wont be what you thought it was supposed to be anyway. And besides that, we end up racing in whatever conditions the day brings. We got into transition and I got my belongings quickly set up. I loved the “clean transition” they had at this race. We took only what we needed in transition and then checked in our transition bag with the items we didn't need. I quickly noticed an open spot where a bike was supposed to be next to me and I thought that was weird as this was a championship race. Shortly after I had that thought a couple men came up and placed a dozen roses on the ground and told me that their friend was to be racked there and she was killed in a bicycle accident three weeks earlier. This made my heart sad as I thought how easily that could be any of us. I later learned she had two children the same ages as mine and was a high school teacher. She was killed by a drunk driver 8 miles from her home on her bike. I spent the next few minutes thinking how lucky I was to be at such a large event among top athletes, how lucky I am to have a body that enables me to do this sport that I love so much.

Around 6:30, an hour prior to race start the wind picked up...lovely. Why did the wind have to follow us all the way from Utah?? We all watched Lake Champlain go from a nice calm lake to one with waves and white caps. My wave wasn't to go until 8:52 and I had hopes that once the sun rose the wind would calm down....but it never did. I thought back to other races that I had wavy swims and knew that I could get through it. My time goal for the swim was out the window...I was going to get in and do what I could. The swim was a little crazy. I felt like I was in the middle of the ocean and wondered if I would feel dizzy when I got out. I couldn't see the buoys due to the waves so I just followed feet hoping they were headed in the right direction. I was able to hang onto the same feet until about 400 yards from the finish and then I have no idea where they went and I was left to spot for a short period on my own. Dang waves! But, I was having a great time out there amidst the craziness and was staying focused on the task at hand. 

Getting ready to go to the water

 Swim time: 31:12, 1:55 pace (No PR here)

Here is a view of the swim...pictures never do it justice!

I quickly ran into transition and was off on my bike. I was looking forward to this bike course. It was rolling hills through the countryside. It was beautiful and parts of it overlooked the lake. I was amazed at how quickly the bike course went by as I was having such a great time and enjoying the ride. I wasn't passed by any women, but quickly picked several off. I took in my nutrition as I had planned, watched my heartrate, and my average speed. I was feeling great!

Bike time: 1:09, 21.5 MPH average

Into transition again and out on the run. Coach H echoed through my head, “fastest transitions ever!” No time to be wasted. My goal was to not go out to fast on the run...I needed to race smart. The first quarter mile of the run is straight up a hill. I really wanted to walk, honestly....but dug in and just ran....there would be no walking today. I absolutely loved this run course...beautiful course. Most of it was along an awesome path with trees alongside. I honestly was having the time of my life. Don't get me wrong, I hurt, I was tired, and I felt like my heart would burst...but I was fully satisfied with my performance and kept my head clear of any negative thoughts. When I heard from the side line I had a half mile to go I knew I was going to blow my run goal out of the water which gave me an extra boost!

Run time: 41 minutes, 6:38 minute/mile

End result: 2:24 time, a PR for me. I placed 20^th in my age group, 20 seconds away from automatically qualifying for Worlds.

Could not be more happy about my race...and does a venue get any prettier then this!

 I would call this the race of my life. I am still waiting for the “perfect” race without any problems as this still brought its' own: not having my bike when I landed at the airport, a windy, wavy swim, bike gears not working right, and the speed on my CatEye not working...but I can honestly say I have no regrets on this race. I laid it all out there and enjoyed every minute raced. I crossed the finish line and literally said, “that was fun” and I meant it! I learned more about myself and what conditions and preparations benefit me on race day then any other race before this. And I came to truly understand, “racing is a journey.” I hope I can take all that I learned from this race and implement it into future races.

A special thanks to my sponsors: TriEdge, Kestrel, HEAD, Flexr Sports, Gu...thanks for helping me have a great race! Also...a special thanks to my awesome coaches...their guidance and recommendations enabled me to have a fantastic race and meet my goals.

Spudman

Spudman has always been one of my favorite races - not only because the swim is downstream (woohoo!) but we've made it into such a fun family weekend, camping by the river, telling stories half the night, then waking up early and cheering each other on. We woke up early since Devan went in the Elite wave and we all wanted to see him start. I was in the second wave so headed over shortly after he started. I got to the start line and looked down and noticed something very important was missing...my race chip! I raced back to our tent and threw it on and barely made it into the water before the gun went off! Whew! The sun was just coming up and the swim was beautiful. I had heard the current was slower than the year before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. A 19:20 wasn't the slowest, but it definitely wasn't the fastest.
Onto the bike! I wanted to beat my bike time from the previous year. Unfortunately there was a pretty good head wind, which made that difficult. In fact, I was way off my time from last year - almost 5 minutes! That also may have to do with the fact that last year I was in the last wave, which meant there were tons of people on the course. This year being in the second wave, the elites were long gone by the time I hit the course. I was glad of that because it's a more pure race when you bike without the help of drafting (not that I meant to the first year, it's just inevitable with that many racers). I ended up having the third fastest bike in my age group (1:13).
The run starts with a short steep hill, but it might as well have been Mt Everest how long and hard it felt right after the bike. My legs felt like concrete and I shuffled up the beast and the course finally flattened out. The residents of Burley are amazing and many of them stand out in their yard and spray you down with their hoses. You run along back country farm roads lined on either side with...that's right...spuds. I took my Vanilla GU at mile 3 and for the first time EVER in a race remember thinking, 'Well shoot - I'm already half way done! This is going pretty fast!' I'm not sure what was wrong with me. Thank you GU for the confidence boost.
I don't wear a watch when I race so I wasn't sure how fast I was going, but I've had this goal for the last couple of years. I've always wanted to run 8-minute miles in an olympic distance race. That is slow for some people, but remember – I am not a runner. When I saw my final time of 49:11, I was just excited that I was under 50 minutes. Then I did the math...7:54 minute miles!! I know that is not impressive for most triathletes, but it’s one of those little achievements I was so excited to get.
I crossed the finish line and headed over to the stand to look up my time. They are pretty tech-savvy at this race and you simply type your race number into a screen and it tells you your overall and division placing. I couldn't believe it...first in the my age group! And my time was way slower than the year before! (I keep telling myself it had to be because of the slower current, headwind...excuses, excuses).
We waited around for awards and chatted with some of our Utah friends. There is a fairly long grass hill you have to walk up to accept your award. Naturally, I started heading up it as soon as they announced the awards for female age group 25-29. I wouldn't want them to have to wait for me! Over the speakers I heard, "And in first place...(remember I'm almost to the stand by now), Cait Morgan!” Ohhhhkayyy. Walk of shame back down the hill. In front of the whole family. And the Utah friends. Then I hear “Second place…Taylor Tandy!” And back up the grass hill! Some say (ah hem, Devan) that second is the first loser, but hey, I'll take it! Cait did in fact beat me…by a long shot…but all that matters is that I have a giant potato head award on my mantle. Special thanks to my amazing sponsors who made this race possible! Flexr Sports, GU Nutrition, Darn Tough Socks, BEARPAW, HEAD Swimming, T3 Triathlon

2nd in division and 5th overall!

I think I'm standing on the wrong side...

Saints to Sinners

I have done 3 running relays and loved them, but never a bike relay.   So, when my mom asked me if I would join a bike relay team I thought it would be something fun and different.  The bike ride went from South Jordan to Las Vegas, hence saints to sinners.  It was a total of 530 miles and all the proceeds went to ALS (Lou Gehrigs).  There is a lady in my neighborhood that is suffering with this terrible disease, so it made the whole race even better to think about her.  Anytime I was in pain I thought about how little my pain was compared to hers. 

We where not a super fast bunch so our start time was 5:45 AM on Friday.  I was second to go, so I didn't start until about 8.  I took over in a little town called Alberta and silly me didn't even look at the map, so I didn't know where I was going.  I started with two other riders, but soon lost then because I had to stop to tighten something on my bike.  I was all by myself riding along, thinking I was going in the right direction.  I kept seeing signs on the road that said SS with arrows, so I thought everything was good.  Then all of a sudden the signs stopped.  That is when I realized I was lost.   I pulled into a little convenience store and asked to use their phone (silly me forgot my phone in our RV).  I called my mom and she sounded very relieved to hear from me.  They had been searching for me for about 30 min, I was about 20 miles off course.   I had to wait for them to pick me up and drive me to the turn that I had missed.  (Who knows what the SS signs were for, but not for the race I was doing)  I missed a crucial turn about 2 miles into my ride, so my ride went from a 30 mile ride to a 53 mile ride.

My second leg was the hardest leg of the whole ride.  It was only 20 miles long but you gained 2000 feet of elevation in 11 miles.  The hardest part was it started about 8500 feet and went to 10500 feet.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  It was actually fun!  The last part of the ride was downhill which is always fun. 

My last leg started just north of mesquite and ended south of mesquite.  It started at about 2:00 AM.  It is fun to ride in the night, until you hear things in the bushes.  It can freak you out just a bit!  I handed the chip off to my dad and I just got to watch for the last part of the ride. 

Overall the ride was fun!!!  I would totally do this race again.  We were one of the few 5 man Coed teams.  I did a total of 104 miles!