Austin (the land of hills) 70.3

When I decided earlier this summer to do this race, I had a fair amount of anxiety.  I knew I could do the swim, bike, and run independently, but I had no way of knowing what my body would want to do when I lumped them all together.  So, for 16 weeks, I got on the training wagon and was pretty dang diligent about sticking to my workouts.  I worked on things like speed, endurance, and my hardest one - my mental game.  It was hard for me to really say and believe that I could do this (and not fall apart).  I worked on the removing the thoughts of self-doubt, but to be honest, they still lingered a bit.

So - about two weeks before the Austin I started looking at the weather and it was SO dang hot!  I was starting to panic (and pray - for real - for a cold front to move in.  About a week out, the weather forecase shifted (hallelujia!).  The forecast was for colder weather, which my body much prefers to race in.

On Thursday Amber and I flew down to Texas, and were amazed at how green and pretty it was!  Friday we registered and I was starting to get pumped!  Saturday at bike check in I was feeling the nerves - along with the periodic lingering pit in my stomach - to get out there and race.  After we got our bikes situated we drove the bike course.  And, the roads were pretty terrible.  I'd say that about 90% of the roads were cracked and filled, and tilting, and potholed, etc.  Oh, and the hills... well they're everywhere.  Granted, I ride hills out where I live, but I had no idea that the race was going to be SO hilly!  After getting a mental snapshot of the bike course, we headed to a local bike shop to get some cold weather gear (since it really was going to be in the low 40s the next morning).  I picked up arm warmers, gloves, and a vest, figuring that could help me not freeze on the bike.  We had a nice early dinner Saturday night, and got the rest of our bags ready and tried to get to sleep early.

Sunday morning when my alarm went off I was so excited and nervous to get racing!  We headed over to the arena where we'd get bused, but there were long lines.  We knew transition closing was getting close, but didn't realize how close until we finally got into transition and they announced it would close in less than 15 minutes.   Ack!  So, after making sure my transition bags had everything I needed, we headed out to watch the pros begin.  It was COLD!  Good thing we'd bundled up in our Bearpaw boots, Head hoodies, and the like!  We were the 12th wave to start, so we had a bunch of time to kill.... however, when we got our wetsuits on, and dropped off our morning bags we walked back down near the water and I realized I'd left my earplugs in my bag - crap!  So we ran back up, and fortunately my bag was still on the top of the pile - whew!

So, getting to the good stuff - our wave began!  Getting in the water felt SO good since it was so cold outside.  I couldn't wait to take off.  I found a nice place at the front of the pack off to the inside, and at the horn, I took off.  I love the swim, but hate swim starts, so I just wanted to get out ahead of as many people as possible and avoid the washing machine!  Pretty quickly I got into my rythym and was swimming right next to another purple cap.  We were keeping in exact stroke with one another, so I knew I wanted to stay by this girl.  After the first couple buoys, I ran into some white caps from the wave ahead of us and lost my site off this girl.  So, I peeked up, and saw her right ahead of me.  I caught up to her feet and drafted on her toes for about a 1000 or so.  It was sweet, she cut the movement of the water perfectly for me!  First time I have been able to get such a good draft off anyone, usually I just do my own thing.  Anyway, I ended up getting out of the water feeling great, and ran up to T1.

T1 was SO slow, dumping out my bag of stuff, and trying to get clothes on a wet body, ugh!   But I  picked up my bike and ran it out of the transition area (hoping to avoid any goat heads in my tires), and threw a bonk breaker in my mouth.  I hopped on the bike and was anxious to get going.  I knew there were a couple big hills in the first 10 miles, so I just wanted to knock those out of the way.  Amber passed me somewhere between mile 10 and 15, and within minutes she was out of site  - so fast!  I tried to keep a strong pace, but it was windy!  I ended up holding around 17.6 mph on the bike, which was slower than I hoped, but I was content knowing that I gave a good push.  My other goals on the bike were to hydrate well and get in my calories.  When I made it to T2, I was glad to be off the bike.  But when I stepped off to dismount, I lost my legs and almost fell over.  Thanks to the guy volunteering who caught my waist and gave me a little push upright :).  T2 was slow, I wanted to run through it, but ended up walking.... pretty slowly at that.  I threw on my shoes and visor and headed out. 

My legs felt pretty good by about a half mile in on the run, and then I got to the first big up hill, which sucked.  My muscles were feeling tight, but I kept forging on..   The 3 loops were interesting for me.  Loop one I tried not to even think about those miles - I had to stay out of my head, otherwise I would have visited things like "I'm only at mile 1, 2, 3, etc".  So instead I sang a line of a song over and over and over in my head.  When I began the second loop I was feeling just plain tired.  I wasn't cramping (thanks to my salt intake, and earlier hydration), but I just wanted to sit down.  I did my fair share of walking on this loop, but ran most of the 2 miles back.  When I set out on my third loop, I really let it hit me - I WAS GOING TO FINISH THIS RACE!  I honestly hadn't let myself really take hold onto that, because it scared me a little.  I typically in tris like to find a running buddy - it distracts me from my own thoughts, and from physical pain.  But, up to mile 9 I had run alone.  I found someone at about mile 11 who was holding my running cadence and was right behind me.  I turned around and chatted and ran with some guy from NY for about a mile and a half, at which point he bolted, and I kept on moving toward the finish.  In all honesty, I felt like the last quarter of a mile was taking FOREVER, but I gave my last big push into the finish line. 

I was so happy, and overwhelmed at the finish line.  4 months ago I set a goal, I had a plan, and I stuck with it to accomplish something I had never done, and wasn't quite sure I would be able to do.  I wanted to finish in under 6 hours, and came in at 5:54.  I will take it!  The next months I can pick apart my race to decide where I can drop time next year, but I am really happy most of all that I stuck with it and that I didn't fall apart mentally.  It was wonderful to race with Amber, who is so encouraging, and believed I could do it  all along.  I really felt like this race was a big milestone for me, the title of which is - I can do hard things :)

Thanks to my friends and family who beleived in me, watched kids so I could get training done, my husband who let me neglect things in order to stay with the program, to my teammates who are amazing, and inspire me all the time.  A big special thanks to my sponsors who never cease to dish out the love in big doses - BEARPAW (seriously, my toes would have fallen off prerace had I not been covered), HEAD for my goggles which continue to be my favorite ever, and for my cozy sweatshirt to stay warm, Kestrel for a killer fast bike that moves like the wind (despite the head wind), Flexr for keeping my hydration needs covered, Darn Tough - love those socks, they were perfect for keeping my toes from freezing on the bike course, Switch - wicked good sunglasses which were great out there on the run.  Additional love to Gu for having such a good variety of gels to keep me pumping in the calories, and to K-swiss for the awesome running shoes - I LOVE, LOVE them.

Tough Mudder!!!

Hello dear readers. Many have requested the details of my wonderfully agonizing day of mud, pain, and fun. I apologize for not being pithy in my review but I wanted to journal the details for my own memory bank and allow you to experience it with me.

For those who are unfamiliar with the "Tough Mudder" it is a 12 mile mud run filled with 20 or so military obstacles. It is meant to push your limits physically and mentally. "Why?" might you ask "would you pay to get your ass kicked in mud?" It's a valid question. The proceeds benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, an incredibly deserving cause. I didn't realize this until recently, but I'm attracted to events that cause a healthy dose of adrenaline and fear. I love challenging myself and pushing limits. I'm also conscientious of every dollar I spend on a race and this particular one does not allow a refund, or transfer, so even though I was scared, backing out was not an option.

I was originally signed up as an individual, but I realized I needed a team of some sort to even make it through some of the obstacles. I joined up with a large group of coworkers from BlendTec.  The race was held out in Tooele at the Millers Motorcross arena (acres and acres of mud, cow poo, and obstacles). Waves began at 8:00 and sent groups out every 20 min. until 11:40. Our group started at 10:20. I was hoping the later start would bring warmer weather, but no, there would be no warmth today. When we arrived, the moment I stepped out the door I was cold. The wind was blowing rather hard but there was so much excitement in the air! This was a different crowd from the Dirty Dash. Instead of cute costumes and matching socks, there was Braveheart war paint, military camo, and mohawks.  After signing my death waver, I shed my sweatshirt and climbed over a wall to get to the starting line with my group. One of my favorite parts of the day was the pep rally they did before unleashing us to the course. They had loud music playing and a man who looked like Mekhi Phifer leading the group with a "hands up in the air" jiggedy jig. There were a lot of BOOYAH's and fist pumps and a "repeat after me" Mudder pledge: (It's written on the back of my shirt)

"I UNDERSTAND THAT TOUGH MUDDER IS NOT A RACE BUT A CHALLENGE"
"I PUT TEAMWORK AND CAMARADERIE BEFORE MY COURSE TIME"
"I DO NOT WHINE, KIDS WHINE"
"I HELP MY FELLOW MUDDERS COMPLETE THE COURSE"
"I OVERCOME ALL FEARS"

Then they played the national anthem, and everyone took a knee. We were reminded of why we were there, to support and give respect to the men and women who fight for our country at often a great price to them and their families. The servicemen and veterans who were present were honored, there were many of them racing the course, even a few wounded vets. I am incredibly patriotic and appreciated the respect shown to our military.

On to the race. They refer to the start of the race as the "Braveheart Charge." I call it the last time you are dry. Before you hit mile one, you go through two obstacles. The first is the "kiss of mud," meaning: crawling under barbed wire in mud as they nail you with a fire hose. The next obstacle was the one I most feared, jumping in a dumpster full of ice water and swimming under water to get out on the other side. You couldn't think about it, you had to do it and get out fast or you'll freeze and go to crazyland. It literally knocked the wind out of me. After I got out, the air actually felt warmer, and adrenaline got my legs moving. Great! I just got through the worst obstacle... again, I was wrong.

I don't recall the order of the obstacles, but I'll just highlight a few. There was a nice rotation between military crawling through or under something unpleasant, going up and down mud hills, climbing over huge walls, most of which have no rope, grip or ladder and require the assistance of a team, and always some water pit waiting for you to fall into. I was feeling pretty good until I reached the worst obstacle: "shocks on the rocks." I was wondering as I approached it why there was such a large gathering of spectators laughing and gawking. Well, it's because electrocution is apparently very entertaining. You could hear the popping and zapping of the electric wires sending a nice shock of 10,000 volts into people as they yell out in pain. To ensure optimal pain levels, you were required to military crawl (p.s. that means arms only, no knees) through thick mud, under barbed wire (so you couldn't escape the torture) with hundreds, (it had to be hundreds, it was relentless) of electric wires hanging down and shocking the hell out of you the entire time. You can't just lay there in pain or you keep getting shocked, you have to keep crawling out of it. I later met a girl that was actually knocked out and had to get pulled out. CRAZY RIGHT?! Note to self, I don't rather enjoy being electrocuted.

My favorite obstacle was fun. It was like Dirty Dash on steroids. They called it the  "mud mile" basically rolling hills of pudding like mud with pools of muddy water in between and bodies slipping and sliding everywhere. There was a lot of camaraderie on the course with complete strangers working together to complete these obstacles (remember, Mekhi Phifer made us pledge to do that). At one point I remember helping a guy I didn't know and was pushing his butt over a hill. I apologized for the temporary violation and he just said "hey don't worry about it, I kind of like it." Hey random dude, thanks for making it creepy.

The amusing part of the race was the long muddy lines for the Port O Potty's along the course. Amusing because you are so covered in mud that the only thing that's white are your eyeballs. There was so much mud in the stall it looked like crime scene. The girls on my team know my policy for bathroom breaks on mudder courses...we'll leave it there.

A few other obstacles; carrying a huge log with your team, carrying a huge person on your back,  attempting to cross monkey bars and falling in the frigid waters below, running up a quarter pipe, and climbing a 15 or 20 ft. platform and jumping off at the top into again, muddy water. I had so much mud on my body I dropped like a tank into that water and it took a second or two to even surface. I managed to jog between the obstacles to stay warm, but when we passed the 10 mile sign twice (they put two of them out there to mess with your head) it started to get tough. As I approached the finish I was shaking with cold (we just did the platform jump), and I knew what awaited me, more electrocution. This time you could run through it while jumping over some hay bales. I hesitated with fear, but I remembered my pre-game chant to "overcome my fears" plus I could see food and warmth on the other side. Some girl wanted to link up arms and run through and I politely declined, the last thing I needed was someone connected to me in case things went bad. I took off and halfway through I got lit up like a Christmas tree and dropped to the ground. At least the wires couldn't touch me on the ground. I just laid there for a second and a spectator asked if I was okay, all I could say was "that freakin' hurt." I crawled my way out to the glorious finish where they crowned me with my orange mudder headband. VICTORIOUS!

I'm not sure how long we took, 4+ hours, it didn't matter. I couldn't wait to put dry clothes on and sit in a warm van. I had some pains here and there but didn't know the extent of my war wounds til I got home. I looked like someone hung me upside down like a pinata and beat the crap out of me. I've never been so black and blue and purple all over. My forearms from all of the crawling are amazingly bruised and I pulled a muscle in my abs. My husband was concerned people at church would think he was a wife beater...I got a few stares.

Overall, I'm so glad I did it, I really enjoyed most of it, and I think I would do it again...maybe I hit my head a little too hard. Now, I just need to motivate my team to do it with me! Thank you to my sponsors, especially Bearpaw for the much needed warmth and comfort my feet needed after this race, and to GU for creating the amazing vanilla GU that made me smile somewhere around mile 8.
Thank you to my team for their friendship and encouragement and thank you to my family, particularly my mother whom constantly keeps me on the prayer roll. She's the true warrior.

Pink Half Marathon

Finishing up the last bit of the Pink Half...realizing I have solidified first place!

This picture says it all...tired, relieved, processing...

First place!!  Wahoo!!

I think we need to have a party with some BlendTec smoothies!

I have always loved the Pink Half Marathon and have ran it 3 years in a row. Last year my legs didn't show up and it was a pretty miserable experience...to the point that if a truck had been at mile 7 I would have gladly hopped in to be taken to the finish. This year I was using this race as a training day for Austin that is in 2 weeks ,and was going back for some redemption. I love this course because it is tough! It has some really good uphill sections, is partly on some trail, and is absolutely beautiful...not to add that you are racing close to 7000 feet elevation. And...it is for such a great cause!

I had originally thought I was going to do this as a nice tempo run, but Coach M informed me earlier this week that it needed to be hard and I was racing it. So, it was back to mentally preparing to have a tough race and most likely spend some time in the pain cave. The weather looked like it was going to be questionable and most likely cold. So, I packed my bags with one of everything and prayed for no rain or snow!

I woke up to find no rain but lots of clouds. I grabbed my breakfast: banana with peanut butter and a NOW bar and headed to the race with my awesome mom and friend. We spent some time in a cozy building before loading buses and heading up. I am all about staying as warm as possible before a race. I will gladly load the last bus that is leaving.

Unfortunately they kicked us off the buses 15 minutes before the start and it was pretty cold, but passed the time quickly visiting with those around. As I started running a girl asked me what my goal was. I told her 1:35ish...she said she was doing a 1:30 and the girl in front of us was doing 1:25. I thought those were fast times on this course, but whatever...I was sticking to my original race plan! I turned on my ipod and just ran my race. I have been working really hard at staying out of my head, sticking with a race plan, and not worrying about what everyone else is doing. I stuck by the 1:35 pacer as planned through the first 5 miles which is uphill. I knew staying with him would ensure a good pace through those first uphill miles. At mile 3 I was in 2nd place. At mile 5 I had planned to hit it hard for the next few miles of downhill. I kept 1st place in sight and stayed within the heartrate I wanted so I wouldn't blow up. As I hit mile 7 I started finding landmarks and counting seconds between me and first. There is a mile uphill at mile 10 and I have always walked on this section...not this year! It didn't matter how tired I was...I was not walking one step of this race. I was staying out of my head and just pushing forward. At about 10.5 I knew I was catching the lead girl but just kept my pace. Patience...patience...patience. (Sometimes patience can be hard!) At about 11 I realized she was only 5 seconds in front of me and I knew at this point I was running faster then her and feeling pretty good. I passed her shortly after 11 and decided it was time to take off! Those last couple miles hurt! I wanted to walk! But...this was a training day, I was now in the lead, and this is how I was going to feel in two weeks at the end of the half ironman, this was a race to help me learn to run uncomfortably. And...I stuck with it! I won! I beat my goal by 5 minutes and beat my last year's time by 9 minutes!!! I felt pretty accomplished and was so excited!

I learned a lot today! I learned a lot of patience, perseverence, and staying out of my head!! I am so excited for Austin in 2 weeks and hope to have just as great of a race.

I am so grateful for being able to participate in such a fun sport, for being able to have a body that allows me to experience such beautiful places and being able to do hard things, and more importantly my awesome husband and family that always support me and are my best cheerleaders. Also a big thanks to GU, TriEdge, Flexr, Switch, and Bearpaw...your products always rock and I love using them! And....HT Training....what can I say...LOVE you guys!