Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Jill Kramer's Chelanman 1/2 Iron EVENT Report....
ChelanMan 2010
Readers of my report must be aware that this is an Event Report, not a Race Report.
My training plan for the Chelan ½ Iron was a little helter skelter. Competing with my husband for training time, being a working mom, etc; these and other responsibilities made it very difficult to work my training plan to the syllable. I did my best however by switching the order of workouts through any given week. So into the race – I mean event, I went, as well prepared as I could be.
When we arrived in Chelan on Thursday it was about 89°, I knew I’d be looking at a hot one come Saturday. We hung out at the Best Western Pool, cooled off a bit and then it was out for a short run. I felt great and was not bothered by the heat however; I did manage to drink a 12 oz bottle of water during the course of a 30 minute jog. I knew I needed to be prepared.
Friday night it was lights out at 10, but guess what, no sleep. I was staring at the clock at 2 AM. Dave and I kept asking each other “you still awake” “yep “. Finally I was able to take some sort of a nap after 2AM. I consider it a nap when the sleep time only amounts to about two and a half hours. So up at 4:45 and onto prerace – no prevent – breakfast of oatmeal and one cup of coffee.
The Best Western is great for ChelanMan because it is located right at the park where the races start and finish. We could look right outside our window and see the transition area. That was awesome. It meant we were able to walk right out our room and set up our transition stuff. No parking stress, no long hikes to and from the car, it’s all right there. I had forgotten my swim cap in the room but was able to walk back to the room to grab it, no big deal! I even made it back in time for the team picture!
Waiting for the gun to go off for the swim start I simply told myself that I was about to begin a 45 minute swim workout. I looked over at Dave and realized he was in his own world so I went and found someone else to talk to. While some around me were concerned about the small waves in the water, I didn’t give it a second thought because I grew up scuba diving and am totally accustomed to harsher water conditions. When the gun went off I jumped into the already choppy water and started going. I love my consistent slow and steady pace. I’m no racer; I have no sense of urgency about these things. I just go and I love it. When I left the water I felt as though I had finished a regular swim workout and it was time to go for a ride. No big deal I said, just a ride. I did notice there were not very many bikes around me, oh well, just going for a ride.
Time to peddle. In truth I was dreading the bike course because when I rode it in June, it gave me a good butt kicking. Tough hills, lots of heat. I rode along eating and drinking and popping S Caps according to the plan that Debbie O’Connell had helped me to put together. I stopped at all the water stops along the bike course, made sure I had plenty of fuel, visited with the nice volunteers, used a toilet (I was informed that I was the first to use it), and had an enjoyable Saturday ride. I kept smiling. I thought of Bill Swedberg and his IronMan smile, what a great role model. I kept on smiling. After some tough hills and a final ride along the lake, I returned to transition ready to go for a little run.
I did manage to run out of T2 with my bike gloves thankfully Erica was standing nearby and I passed them off to her. After a few glances at my Garmin, and thinking “hey I’m doing pretty good” I realized, “oops I hit the stop button”. Well keep on running. I ran from one water stop to the next. I would collect some Heed in my water bottle, pour Ice down the front and back of my shirt, and plug away down to the next station. I was feeling great the whole way, no stomach issues, no leg cramps, no sense of total fatigue. My pace combined with my nutrition plan helped me to achieve my goal, a fun event!
I really enjoyed each of the volunteers at each of the aid stations. They were great; they seemed to have a greater sense of urgency about the event than I did. I love ‘em. So eventually after 7 hours and 18 minutes I crossed the finish line with a big smile. I love this stuff!!
Triathlon is great. You don’t have to race to enjoy yourself. They say it’s about the journey not the destination so, why not enjoy the journey. If you take your time you’ll get to the destination eventually, and you might as well be in good spirits when you do!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Price for the Lake Meridian Triathlon goes up tomorrow!!!
You might want to sign up today if you’ve been procrastinating!! www.lakemeridiantri.com
Greg Kline's Vineman Half Iron Race Report
Dave Kramer's Chelanman Half Ironman Race Report - WAY TO GO DAVE!
Much has been written about goal setting. People like Tony Robbins have made fortunes helping others setting goals. Goals can be corporate and colossal such as getting man to walk on the moon, or they can be individual and small like deciding not to eat any potato chips for one week. So with that being said, I set my goals for the ChelanMan Half Iron Triathlon. The stretch goal was to finish in 5:30. The realistic goal was to finish in 5:45.
Training for me is a period of time in which my confidence grows. I worked my training plan as best I could. There were workouts that were missed because of the myriad responsibilities that are common to any suburban father and husband. If there were mistakes that were made, they were related to training intensity. Nevertheless, I worked my plan and made improvements along the way. I had benchmark moments where I noticed improvements such as at the Friday Night Swim Races and the Lopez Island 10K. When these benchmark goals were achieved, my confidence grew.
In the final week and days leading up to the race I followed my training plan with great care. I was extra cautious about my nutrition the final days leading into the race. I felt properly carbo loaded. I was able to relax, or at least not work real hard, the last couple days before my race as well. By Friday night before race day I was going out of my skull with unbounded energy. Perhaps this is why I could not sleep worth a darn the night before. It was lights off at 10, and then I watched as the clock turned over to 11, 12, 1, 2…sometime after 2 I finally fell asleep. I suppose the thoughts that someone has the night before a race are different for each individual; but for me I kept thinking about how hard should I be going at different points along the course “do I push here or do I wait until there…” Finally I did not roll over and see the clock any more.
4:45 alarm!
Preparing transition was uneventful. Lay everything out, get a team picture for Patty, put on wetsuit, swim 100 yards and call it a warm up then wait….39 year olds and below leave right on time at 7AM .five more minutes…think about intensity on the swim…think about intensity on the bike…four more minutes…think about what to drink and when…think about when to take S Caps…think about when to take a gel…3 more minutes….think about where in this pack I should place myself…think about the tall guy, he looks fast…think about Mel Gibson, he’s crazy….think about Duran Duran, whatever happened to them?...2 minutes….think about peeing in my wetsuit, no bad idea just hold it…1 minute…OK time to push my way to the front….thirty seconds…Mel really is crazy…20 seconds….maybe I should pee…10 seconds…maybe I did…5…maybe a little #2 also…2…don’t matter now….GOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Quite possibly the coolest thing that the organizers of ChelanMan have done is to put a red line about 8 feet below the surface of the water that goes from buoy to buoy. Once you find this if you can keep an eye on it there is no need to look up for sighting. I found it within the first 100 yards. Life was gonna be great! Within the first 200 yards I could not see anyone in within 10 feet of me from side to side or in front of me either. I looked up once at about 300 yards to see there were others in front of me but they were quite wide of the line. What were they doing? Didn’t matter now ‘cause I was (insert Forest Gumps voice) Swimminggg! By about 500 yards I began to pass the slowest of the 39 and unders. Boy does this make a guy feel good. In my very first Triathlon many years ago, I was DFL 100 yards into the swim (that’s Dead Friggin Last for those of you who might be acronym challenged). Now I was passing people Woo Hoo!!! The organizers of ChelanMan also have age groups racked together in the transition area, so when I got out of the water my rack was still quite full…Dude I’m stoked!!!
However the party was about to end…
I began to run out of T1 with my bike when I noticed that my water bottle that I keep on my aero bars was not there, huh oh. I jumped back to grab my running water bottle, which was empty, and put it in the holder instead. At the mile one aid station I came to a complete stop to have volunteers fill my bottle with water. Precious time lost! Oh no! How am I ever going to make the podium (ha!). So with my second bottle filled (I still had a bottle filled with Perpetuem) I was now off to the races. The first 30 miles of the bike course are rolling hills 15 out and 15 back. There were maybe 5 or 6 other guys I was trading places with, each of us passing each other on one occasion or another. There were several more that just flat out flew passed us. Because it was an out and back, I was looking forward to counting how many bikes were in front of me. Could it be just 5? 10? No, try 42, reality check time; you’re not that great Dave. Aw shucks. When I reached the turn, another guy yells “Now we get the wind at our back!” The only problem with this was, when I looked up at the trees, they weren’t moving! You keep telling yourself that buddy. So the second 15 were uneventful, keep peddling, keep drinking, have a little Cliff Bar, the real ride starts after mile thirty. It’s at mile thirty that we begin the first of three significant climbs. Number one 2 miles with 78 degree sun on your back, about the grade of Smith here in Kent. Then, fun downhill back 1.5 miles where I was able to get my speed somewhere near 40-45 mph. Then back up; this time steeper, with 10 miles of false flats. The false flats are in an elevated valley with rolling hills. It is so quite through this section of the ride you can hear shadows fall. I just listen to myself breathe, think about peddling, think about how much it sucks that some 55 year old just passed me, think about how I never even want to consider doing a full IronMan, think about eating, think about drinking, think about Mel Gibson again – he was being manipulated, and think about the last steep hill approaching. Here it comes. OK someone made this steeper since I came out and rode the course back in June. Doesn’t matter now, just get up it. Red line heart rate. Think about pumping, think about the downhill, think about Mel Gi----No screw Mel Gibson! Get over the top! Pump! Go! Drive! Go! You are almost…You can…You are ….THERE!!!! It is now time to coast back down. I ain’t got nothin’ in me for peddling the descent. Just let gravity do its work. Now another 13 or so of flat to moderate rollers back to the transition and I get to run. I love running, I can’t wait to run.
Transition 2. Hey there aren’t that many bikes on my rack, this is good news! Time to run! 100 yards away from T2, boy I’m tired. But I’m also not feeling awful. I think about 250 yards after leaving T2 that it’s time for an SCap. Uh Oh. There back in the Bento Box. This is gonna be a problem. Presently it is somewhere between 85 - 90 degrees. My need for sodium and electrolytes is elevated. I think I can deal with this by sticking to Heed only. So at each aid station (about 1 per mile) I have one Heed for my insides and one water to pour on top of my head. The problem is my stomach began to slosh near mile 4. I have read that if your stomach is sloshing, you don’t have enough sodium. It is hard to turn the pace up a notch when your belly feels like a half filled water balloon. So, I walk through each water station and slowly but surely run to each. Near mile 10 I get excited because I pass my friends that are out to watch so I pick up the pace, gotta look good for the pictures ya know! The problem with this is when I do pick up the pace I begin to get a pain radiating across my chest. It seems to be centered near my heart. This can’t be good. Guess I’ll slow down. So I continue to vigilantly run the last three miles using great care not to pick up the pace too much. I eventually make it across the finish line.
At no point during the race did I ever think I’m not going to finish this. I was miserable at times but I would remind myself that everyone else out here is suffering too. Just keep going with your best effort. I finished in 5:47. This was a realistic time for me. I was 11th in AG and 55th OA. I am satisfied with this achievement. Goals are funny things, you set them, you work towards them and sometimes you reach them. Sometimes you put a contingency goal in place. It appears to me, that I am happy with the contingency goal this time around.
The ChelanMan multisports weekend is a great event. There is also an Olympic distance event, a half marathon, a 10K, a sprint distance tri and a Try-a-Try event. The volunteers are fabulous and all the proceeds of the event go towards arts programs in the Chelan schools. I am looking forward to doing another event there next year.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Team Social in ONE HOUR!! Anyone welcome!
If socializing with endurance junkies is your thing, then pack up your sweetie and get to the Rock in Covington in ONE HOUR!! We’ll be hanging around in the bar until all hours. Which, in the life of a triathlete means about 9:30….
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Deb O'Connell's Iron- Mom Report
IRON-MOM
It takes a village to become an Ironmom. When I think of everyone who put aside their own lives and came for a run, bike or swim with me, I am so thankful. For friends and family who took my boys when I had a workout to get in, running at soccer fields during practice, early morning swims, and last but not least my husband who put up with a tired wife for the past several years, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to race this course.
The road to Ironmom was long, about 7 years. That was when I learned how to swim. It’s hard to believe, yet good to recall, that first triathlon: Escape from the Rock on Mercer Island. I “raced” it as a relay, doing the bike portion on my mountain bike. Standing at the swim start, I said to Cathy Nelson, “I could NEVER swim in open water like that.”
That thought crossed my mind as I stood on the beach in front of Lake Coeur D’Alene on Sunday, June 27, 2010, with 3000 of my new friends. I am about to swim 2.4 miles in open, 61 degree water. I had not a shred of anxiety about the swim. I vowed to keep in mind my three goals I wrote before I started this adventure: have fun, finish the race, no medical interventions.
You couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning: 60 degrees, pure blue skies, and a cheering crowd. The forecast was for 82 degrees, which had the athletes a bit worried, but more on that later. I started my day with a 1000 calorie power breakfast at 4:30 AM, it was a day of “firsts”, who eats that much that early but a potential Ironmom?
At the swim start, I did about 6 yoga “sun salutations”, 10 deep cleansing breaths, and the next thing I knew, there was the gun. I had lined up in front of the buoy line: my reasoning is that I don’t want to have to swim any more distance than I have to by starting off down to the beach to the right. I have been working on my swim all these years, but it still needs work. I had swam the 2.4 miles in 1:27 in the pool, so in my hopes, it would be 1:30 in the lake. I wrote 1:30 on my “wish” time, and 1:45 as my “likely” time. I waited about 15 seconds after the gun, to let all the eager swimmers get going, and then I dived in. There was some crowding, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I discovered that when I felt an arm on my legs or feet, if I gave a few big flutter kicks, the arm would disappear. Likewise, when I felt an arm coming over my arms, a well placed elbow seemed to make them disappear too. So, in that way I made it around the course. By the second loop, the group was pretty spread out, and I enjoyed some relatively open space in the water as I imagined myself as Dorrie in “Finding Nemo” and kept saying to myself “just keep swimming… just keep swimming”. The swells were getting pretty rough for the last 1000 meters, I don’t know if it was boats or what, but it was a challenge. Out of the water, I see the time: 1:46. Okay, right on schedule.
After experiencing my first wetsuit strippers, I’m running off into the change tent as someone hands me my transition bag. In the tent, it appears chaos. I hear Cathy call my name, “Hey Deb O’Connell, over here!” Thank goodness! Cathy and Lindy help me with my big bag of bike clothes, helmet, shoes, sunscreen and such. Plan had :08 for optimal time in the tent, and :15 for likely: results said :08, okay, still on course.
Charge out of the change tent and hop on the bike. The entire course at Ironman Coeur D’Alene (or IMCDA for those in the know) is a double loop course, two loops on the swim, two loops on the bike and two loops on the run: double the fun.
We have camped our RV at the rustic Cedar Motel and RV Park, which is right on the course. I’m looking forward to seeing Don and Adam at the turn, and there they are! That jazzes me up and I’m down Coeur D’Alene Lake Drive in a rush. Not much to say about the first 56 mile loop, except my first loop time was about 3:30, which was my time at Lake Stevens ½ Iron last year, so I was feeling on track at that point. There was one part we didn’t practice when we did our training ride in May due to road construction, and I got to have the surprise of discovering the hills in that area. It is not an easy course out there by Hayden Lake. The volunteers at this race are amazing, and when you pull into a bike aid station, it’s like you are an Indy Car racer. If you want to visit the porta-potty, they hold your bike. They hand you water bottles, and for me, help me pour my Perpetuem from baggies into my empty mixing bottle. They were amazing: they have you in and out in a few minutes. So, it’s starting to get hot, and I’m downing my drinks like it’s 100 degrees out. Before you know it, it’s back thru town. I get to see my fan club at the turn: Cathy, Jill, Tammy and Lindy, yee-haw! I’m jazzed up again; round the bin and out to see Don and Adam; grab my special needs bike bag and fill my pockets with food and powdered drink mix. The fig newtons and cliff “C” bars that I packed the day before don’t seem so yummy in the warm weather. By that time, I’m pretty much living on my Perpetuem + Carb-Pro mix (370 calories per bottle), alternating with NUUN (no calories, but has electrolytes), bananas from the aid stations, plus an occasional gel.
The second loop thru the Hayden Lake hilly portion was pretty brutal. The hills weren’t very fun, and it seemed like it went on forever. It gets lonely on the bike, as you are supposed to stay several bike lengths away from the other cyclists, and not ride side by side. So, there’s not much chatting going on out there. One of the bright points was at the 100 mile mark, where my bike computer always has a little party by flashing the display and beeping. That cheered me up, only 12 miles to go. Round the corner and I see a guy peddling standing up. As I come up behind him, I notice his seat stem is broken, and the seat is hanging to the side. I ask how he is doing, and he says he doesn’t know if he can make it 12 more miles. I feel bad for him, he looks exhausted. I was thankful that there were no mechanical bike difficulties for me. I must have seen 20 flats being changed. There were guys on motorbikes cruising the course, helping people change their tires.
Finally, it is back thru town, yes! Plan had 7:45 for optimal time and 8:15 for likely time: results said 7:36, great! Things are going according to plan. Sanity check: still want to finish, fun factor is decreasing, no medical needs at this point. Bank sign said 83 degrees on the way back into town on the bike, and I feel HOT. Yet, I feel HAPPY! It’s 4:30 PM, and I made the bike cutoff by an hour, yee-haw, this iron-mom adventure is in the bag (or so I deliriously thought at the time).
As you ride back to transition and dismount, volunteers run up to you, and hold your arm while you dismount (and I suppose catch you if you need catching), then they take your bike back to its spot for you, and hand you your transition bag for the run. Next thing I know, I’m running off to the change tent again. I’m thinking a marathon is worthy of dry shorts and clean socks! Volunteer Colleen was so wonderful, sat me down, dumped my bag, took off my bike shoes and socks, and actually put my running socks on my feet, taking extra care to ensure there were no wrinkles, I felt pampered. Plan had :10 for optimal time in the tent, and :15 for likely: results said :05, wow, still on track. As I run out of the tent, I raise my Garmin to the sky so it will connect and wakeup; 3 volunteers come running up to me, “what do you need”? We all had a laugh about Garmin synching. 15 seconds later I was ready to go.
Heading out to the run, I started to get into a bad place with my stomach. I had predicted this could happen, as I know how I feel after 5 bottles of Perpetuem plus various other foods and drinks (see food notes below), and so started a long series of visits to just about every porta-potty in each aid station. The first ½ marathon went fairly well (2:30), it was HOT, but I was able to keep running (mostly). I had my plan in my mind: run the whole way at 10 min/mile pace, with the following alternate plans to be used as needed: run/walk, walk/run, walk, crawl, get it done. In my mind, I’m hoping for a 5 hour marathon. At the beginning, I could see my average pace was around a 10 minute pace, and then it began to creep up. As it approached an 11 minute pace, my mind starts recalculating what time I would finish, okay an 11 minute pace would still give me a sub-5 hour marathon. Next thing I know, the average pace is creeping up to 12 min/mile; how can that be? Garmin must be having problems, because I feel like I’m trying hard, but I’m just not moving. At mile 12 my Heed and NUUN are all gone, have to wait until the special needs run bag at mile 15 to get more… so, I’m drinking some water and wishing I had more NUUN. On the way back from the 14 mile turnaround point, I see that Joe Hafner is behind me, and looking bad. He’s weaving on the course, and doesn’t recognize me, I’m worried about him. Then I see Fred walk/running and he looks strong, go Fred! Along the way I also see Brad, Bill, Kelly and Craig, running and looking good, go Raise the Bar! At mile 15 I see my fan club, and I’m feeling pretty crummy. Stomach is bothering me a lot, my bottle in my hand is full of dry Heed mix, but I don’t have any water at this point. I get a Tums out of my pocket and eat it (thank you yesterday-me for predicting I would need Tums!) I see Tammy and I tell her “the fun ran out of this about an hour ago!” She tells me to keep going. I think about the 11 miles in front of me and it seems like forever. Jill tells me Joe is doing badly and to pray for him. So, that becomes my focus for the next mile, to pray for Joe. Then there is an aid station and wonderful water for my Heed, thank you to the volunteer who opened my bottle and mixed my drink; and offered me some chicken broth. I had heard this would be the way to go, so I said sure and had my first cup. Hmm, tastes salty but not bad. On my way I go, mostly jogging slowly. I met a guy named Jose who was walking, and looking bad, said he just threw up. We had a discussion about chicken broth, and he said he had been drinking water. Oh that’s bad at 83 degrees. Kept on jogging. Saw a guy running barefoot, can you believe it? Ran up behind him and asked how it felt (I meant bare feet); he said his stomach felt terrible. I’m sensing a common theme here; perhaps the heat is affecting our ability to process food and liquid? I come up on Jerry from RTB. I told him I was here to deliver some HOPE (on our shirts, Hope Heart Institute). He told me he had done 20 marathons, and I’m thinking wow. He’s not feeling great either, so we walk and chat for a bit, and then I’m off jogging again.
Then I notice I’m walking. When did that happen? The part of my brain that is still working asks the planning part what happened to the plan (run, run/walk, walk/run…)? The planning part of my brain didn’t respond, so I was on my own. I recall the great card Andriette gave me last week: “be in the moment”. This was at about mile 18. So, I looked over at the lake, noticed the setting sun, and the great sky. Tried to absorb and be in the moment, instead of focusing on the miles to go. 3 more cups of chicken broth later, I’m at mile 21, that’s the turn around point on the marathon. I finally saw a lady in my age group in front of me and set my sights on her. As I got close, we started chatting, and on her second Ironman, she said it’s all worth it when they say your name on the finish line. So, I make the turnaround and who do I see jogging up the hill? JOE! Hey Joe, how are you? He’s looking somewhat better than the last time I saw him. So, we hang together and do some walk/running (okay, let’s run to the sign, to the next aid station, to the spot lights), drinking chicken broth and getting it done.
Joe and I make it back to mile 25, hit one more chicken broth, one last porta-potty, and then discuss our finish line strategy. Of course, it’s a sprint down the final stretch, and hands held high in victory, we cross the finish line together. Running through the bleachers, the crowds yelling, it is amazing. And yes, Debbie O’Connell, you are an Ironman. I’m going to cry.
Run plan had 5:00 for optimal time, and 5:30 for likely; results said 5:44.
Total goals were: 14:30 for optimal, 16:00 for likely; final result: 15:20
All in all, what can I say? What an incredible day. Like all triathlons, the addictive nature has me wondering, what if I could swim faster? What if I didn’t tire out on the second round of the bike? What if I could have run the whole marathon? What if it was 65 degrees instead of 83? Will there be another Ironman in my future? For now, I will try to be content in this first attempt, recalling the goals from the beginning: have fun (well, mostly, except for miles 14 to 17 on the run), finish (check!), no medical (check!).
Total food summary for the day:
Pre-race: 1 bottle ensure (250) + 1 whole wheat English muffin (150) + 2 TB PB (200) + chocolate chips (100) + maple syrup (100) + 1 banana (100) = 900 calories
Pre-swim: 1 bottle NUUN
During bike: 5 bottles Perpetuem (370 * 3=1110 + 270 * 2=540) = 1650 + 2 gels (200) + 1 package fig newtons (180) + 1 cliff C bar (130) + 3 bananas (300) + 4 bottles NUUN= 2460 (/7.5 hours = 325 calories per hour, per plan)
During run: 4 bottles Heed (4*100) = 400 + 1 banana (100) + 2 bottles NUUN + lots of ice + 10 small cups chicken broth (50 calories per cup chicken broth 5*50=250) =750 calories
Post race: 2 pieces cheese pizza (300 *2 = 600) + Sprite (150) + 1 bowl Life cereal + rice dream (150 + 100) = 1000 calories
Total Calorie intake for the day: approx 5200
Estimate of burned = 15 hours * 500/hour = approx 7500
