Wow....I've been neglecting this site!!!

Well since the last post that was well over due I have done quite a few races!!
I am going to highlight all of them in one post...and yes that is almost my entire 2011 race season. Let's see if I can do better in 2012 :)

I was all set to head to Wasa and race the fast girls when 2 days before the event I pulled my hamstring...yes, my hamstring!!! How does a distance runner do that?? Long story short I was able to race Chinook Oly the following weekend. I biked really hard, not knowing if I could run and the result was a slow run with some quad cramping, but the hard work on the bike was enough to hold onto the win!

Next up was the Woody's sprint my athletes Jen and Marnie (and sadly missing Mel who fractured her elbow just a few days before). I have since learned that racing with these girls is good medicine for me as they keep my nerves at bay every time I'm out with them! The bike was a tough,windy, hilly course, but I pushed hard and had a great day and a great run and a huge sprint distance pb and overall win.

In July it was the Edmonton ITU age group olympic race. I was worried about this one being a hilly and technical bike race in the rain. I must admit I didn't push as hard on the bike as I probably should have, but was able to pull off a really fast run for what would be at the time a new OD PR for me. I was 5th overall and 1st in my AG.

In August it was back to Kelowna. Other than really hot temps everything went really well here for me in the swim and start of the bike. Past problems of quad cramping began to creep up at the end of the bike and the beginning of the run but I was able to stave them off with electrolyte pills and pull off another OD PR, a time of 2:17:54. I was really happy with this time given the heat and hilly bike course. I am still chasing that elusive 2:15, but each year I creep a little closer to it so hopefully I can get there one day!!

After the Apple it was a series of runs that kept me busy until the end of the year. Dino Dash in Sept was a good fast 10km, just short of a "30's pb" in a time of 40:53. Next up was a course best at Melissa's (and who are we kidding, I was there for the food and fellowship of great friends, the race was a great excuse!). In October was 15k (or so) at the Gorrilla Run in prep for the Last Chance Half in Nov. This was a personal best day for me in which I happy pulled off a negative split to finish in 1:32:15. But the best part of this day was getting to watch my athlete Lara pull off the same thing, a negative split and a HUGE pb herself. It was a zen run day for both of us!!

So...that catches you up, short and sweet??

Time for an update - Las Vegas and Sylvan Lake - a couple sprints!

It's been awhile, I have been neglecting this. So here you go, 2 for the price of 1.

At the end of April I did the Iron Girl Lake Las Vegas sprint triathlon.

This was a few firsts for me...first time flying with a bike, first girls only trip, first time trial start in a a lake swim. I will keep it short and sweet, this trip/race was so much fun! I had such a good time being with my teammates and getting to know them better and cheering them on in the race. I hope I am able to do it again next year, because it was great!

The race itself went well. Swim was ok, not great. Bike was good, hilly and windy so not terribly fast but I watched my hr to make sure I was putting in a solid effort at all times. The run was so cool! The whole time I was running (well except for the hill at the end) I was thinking "I'm running in the desert!". I wasn't really sure if I could actually do the run as I had a bad ankle sprain 10 days before (yep, only me...stepped on a dog toy while running in my own driveway). There was even some smack talk at the race expo by a certain coach (not naming names) so no pressure....LOL.

End result....

I won a jar of peanut butter...oh yeah!! I was first overall!! I also won some Iron Girl merchandise.

KGH Sprint....

So for this one I was really hoping to duplicate what I can do in the pool for training in a race...but it wasn't to be this day. A good swim, but not as fast I wanted. Out on the bike it was...Windy!! You guessed it!! A good solid bike, not much to comment on except I came into T2 a little hot...and couldn't hold the corner while trying to take my feet out of my shoes (duh!!) and layed the bike down with me on it. Embarassing, but no injury! My run here was smoking! It was a great course, flat and fast! As soon as I crossed the line and looked at my watch I went to RD SCott McDermott to confirm the race course was accurate because I ran the 5km in 20:02!! Woop woop!!! End result....1st place overall and second fastest run out of the men!!

For you people considering this early sprint, I would highly recommend it! Very well organized and supported!!

Stay tuned...2 more olympic and 1 sprint to report on!

Smile!

A couple nights ago I hopped on my bike for an 1:40 ride to be followed up by a 20 min brick run. I had been feeling kind of off all day, sluggish and tired. I thought if I waited for my hubby to get home and I had someone to tackle the ride with it might make it better/easier. Well....by the time he got home and we both climbed onto our bikes it was 8pm! And, to make it worse the main set of the ride was absolutely cruel...in an awesome kick butt kind of a way. It was 3 x 15 minute zone 4 intervals with 8 second bursts at 4, 8, and 12 minutes. Just looking at this workout made me want to groan. Dear Marty had hurt his hammstring the weekend before snowboarding (hammy versus tree...tree won) so he got off after the first 15 minute interval. So, there I was alone, in my basement, 9pm, cranky, tired and unmotivated to work hard. I was in the middle of the 2nd interval feeling very sorry for myself and trying to come up with a good reason to get the heck off my bike. I was hanging my head (not even watching a very hot Brad Pitt in Troy) when I glanced over at the water bottle still on Marty's bike. It was one of those bright orange ones from Tri-It. It had all these great inspirational words on it, like "courage", "determination", "commitment". I seriously scoffed at these words. I wasn't in the mood to be inspired. I WANTED OFF MY BIKE!!!!!!!!!!! And then, out of the corner of my eye I caught this one word, smaller than all the others..."smile". Wow, one word changed the rest of that workout. I put a smile on face and it all went uphill from there (uphill not a good analogy when taking about a bike workout, but for lack of a better word....). I began with a smile and from there, my nasty mood improved. I was thankful that I had the time to spin that night, that I was healthy and not injured, that I have a bike and a trainer! Thankful that I am able to participate in a sport like triathlon, that I have wonderful people around me supporting me! My husband, kids, coach, athletes and teammates! Now don't get me wrong, the rest of the workout still hurt, but my head was in the right place and that made all the difference. So, next time you are having a bad workout, day at work, kids frustrating you....just take a moment...and SMILE!

Gorilla Run, Oct 17th 2010 (15.something k)

I think the thing I loved the very most about the run was seeing so many people I knew at the race!! For years I would go to running races and not know a soul (hazard of small town training). Sunday morning I a saw a couple from Carstairs (that actually I see at a lot of races). I had a short visit with them ( saw their daughter and her friend on the course, 2 "kids" that I used to coach track). Then I ran into some of my Team Tri Life teammates, got to visit with them and hear about their post Ironman fallout. I ran into a group of runners from Carstairs, had a short visit with those lovely ladies (and got to see them on the course and we did the run by high fives!!!). Then I spoke with 2 different random people about Team Tri Life (was wearing the team running shirt...). Well for girl who is usually very antisocial prerace (neurotic and brooding) I was loving seeing so many familar faces!! I think I will say goodbye to prerace neurotic Sharon, and say hello to social, chatty Sharon. It's way more fun and there are no prerace nerves!!

On to the race....I got lucky for most of this race and had someone to run with. The first 12k I can only describe as smooth, effortless, and strong. I felt like one of those people that get described as having great form, or looking strong. It's just how I felt. I was guaging effort by hr, I wasn't really sure about pace as my Suunto was broke, again... and the km markers were not very accurate. I was patient in the first 5km, and that definitely paid off. The last 3km were definitely more challenging, I was really feeling it in my calves. I think I need to spend more time running on pavement and get off the gravel roads. All in all, it was a great race that felt good from start to (almost) finish.

I finished in 1:07:08, and is the same pace I need to run if I want to go sub 1:30 for my half mary next month....that will be tough.... It's a tough goal, one that I might not achieve this fall, but definitely one shooting for!! Bring on the intervals and long runs!!!

P.S. My Quads are Trashed

Oh yes, that downhill did trash my quads. Did you ever see a bootcamp instructor teach class when she can barely walk? Oh I was entertaining for my ladies this morning!!

Melissa's 10km, Sept 25, 10

42:16

....not really what I was expecting in a stand alone 10k after consistently running sub 43 mins in triathlon 10's this sesason. However, considering that giantic, huge hill I think I am supposed to be happy with that time.

Let me back up....I started coming down with a cold on Tuesday, and I knew about the hill, so I knew it wasn't to be a superbly fast day, but still, I was looking for something around the 41:30 mark. Between finding parking, race number line up, and porta potty line ups, I didn't really do the warmup I am used to, but hey, it's just a 10k right?

I found my running buddy from the 10k at Footstock in June. There I ran the last 4km with this nice guy who kept encouraging me and I ran 40:48. He told me he had ran a sub 40 two weeks ago and we talked about running together and not taking the first km out too hard. The start went well despite the huge crowd and the tight turn and we were able to stay together. At the first km marker we were 3:55--a good first km. At the hill we stayed together and pushed through it. There was a short out and back on the down hill and I got to see Marty, we tried for a high five and missed, which is funny, because we tend to do that on purpose. I flew down the long hill thinking about making up time and wondering how much this fast downhill running was trashing my quads. Missed the odd km marker through out the whole race, which was good, because with the hill my splits were not at all where I wanted them to be...better to not know in a race like this. I used hr to guage my effort. ONce we started the down hill my running buddy and I got split up a few times. He walked a bit as well, he was having a rough day. With 2km left to go I saw that I was closing in on 4th place. This was encouraging. I was hurting and really needed something to focus on! With about 700m to go I passed a couple guys on a tight corner and yelled out that I was coming on their left. The girl in front heard me and just took off! On this day, I wasn't going to catch her! I came crusing into the finish line hearing my kids and family cheering me in. 42:16, 5th overall, 3rd in my AG.

Once I finished I headed back out to cheer in my hubby in his first 10km, he had a great finish, 49 mins!!!! But we both agreed this race hurt and maybe was too soon after the Banff tri to bring the pain.

We gave away our free beers to our brother in laws, Marty headed back east to Airdrie for Liam's soccer tryout and the rest of us? We went and hiked Sulpher Mountain...and yes, my legs are very sore today!!!

Subaru Banff Triathlon

Warning: This might be long.

the sun did come out for the finish....

You were warned....

Despite frigid water temp, air temp, and looming rain I was in a really good mood before the race started. They had shortened the swim from 1500m to 750m and although I would prefer the full distance, I was okay with that. Ally and John from Team Tri Life were there as supporters and kept us entertained while we were waiting to hit Two Jack Lake. I slipped into the water found a good spot and somehow got pushed into a not so good spot, race started and I have never been so beat up in a race before like I was in this race. Pulled under by a hand/arm on my back/butt 3 times, legs, feet pulled on multiple times...WOW! Not used to that! I was prepared for cold hands/feet/face, but I wasn't prepared for my body to be so cold. It felt so hard to get my arms out of the water, I couldn't keep my fingers together, and I breathed mostly to just one side. It was so HARD! Got out of the water in 10:41 so actually it turned out to be a very good swim for me, although it didn't feel like it at the time. I was so very happy to get out of the water!!

Ran up the hill to T1 not too bad, struggled to get my cap off a bit, ran to my spot and that's where things started to fall apart. I really struggled with all my gear in T1. My hands didn't want to work, couldn't do up my coat, actually physically couldn't! Couldn't get my gloves on...longest T1 of all time. Saw Ally as I was leaving T1 and begged her to do up my coat for me...should have had her put my gloves on too but obviously my brain was frozen too.

Other than wasting time trying to get my gloves on while riding (dumb) and being pretty darn cold, and the rain...the first 20k went pretty well. Then right at 20k the cable for my front delrailer broke. I didn't know what to do, the thought of doing the rest of the ride in my small ring really upset me. After a minute of thinking I hopped off my bike to see if I could but the chain in the top ring manually and leave it there...well darn, I wish I knew more about bikes because that didn't work. At this point I was cold and frustrated at knowing that I wasn't going to have my best ride and put in my best possible result. I got back on my bike and for about a minute very seriously wanted to quit. I was cold, wet, mad...and then I remembered Shane McKechney at the REgina Beach tri, he crashed early on the bike, broke his front derailer and finished the race bruised and bloody and spinning like crazy on the tailwind portions of the bike. Then I thought of Christine, who crashed in Kelowna and finished, then I thought of John Bosma... John!! Who did Ironman after a crash so bad it could have killed him! This was my mantra for the next 2 minutes while I rediscovered my race mo-jo "John Bosma, John Bosma, seriously? Suck it up!!" From that point on I did the best I could on the bike, it wasn't great, wasn't pretty but I put in a half decent bike time (would have been better if I would have just stayed on my bike and kept working!!). Having John and Ally on the course was extremely uplifting, just knowing they were there and cheering me on kept me pushing. When I was coming into town I had the privilege of calling out a cheater who was very blatantly drafting, that was fun....
T2 was another struggle. My feet were completely numb, my hands were partially numb. Marty was right there (he had already finished, 4th in his AG by the way, and 10th overall in the sprint!!!!) on the side of T2 hollering at me to push through it. I changed my socks and put on my runners, an experience that was both frustrating and painful. Marty's encouragement was vital in my getting out on that run. He was hollering that I had to push through the first 200m and then it would be okay...and here I was actually thinking of Running in Socks Angie, she ran the end of a half iron in socks...man suck it up!! Well I actually didn't feel my feet until around 6km but that's when my legs started cramping up...What??? So I walked a little, did some butt kicks, rubbed my quads a bit and the cramps let up enough for me to run again. At this point, knowing that the bike wasn't good and I likely wasn't going to finish where I wanted to I just wanted to put in my best run possible. During the last 3km I kept checking my "status" and it was good so I tried to pick it up...I think this resulted in actually holding pace and I was able to run 42:21- a 10k tri PR!! With a walk to work out leg cramps!!
So all in all...a very tough mental day! Couldn't have done it without my family there cheering me on in the run and John and Ally supporting me out of the water and during the bike. Awesome swim and run times, terribly slow transitions, and the best bike I could muster despite mechanical difficulties. Celebrated after by having a chocolate chai late and a dip in the hot springs.

I did end up placing 2nd in my AG, got to stand on the podium and get a medal, but the coolest part was my prize, it was a red and black jacket from IMC!! I told Marty it was foreshadowing...and that if it fit it was a sign....he claims it doesn't fit...LOL!!The jacket that fits pretty darn well...it must be a sign!