Peak Phase, More Climbing & a Good Run

Peak Phase has officially begun! Less than 9 weeks to go now. 60 days to be exact. Long swims, rides, runs and bricks await before the dreaded taper about 2 weeks out from the race, which is on Sunday, September 28th. 

This past week was a mush mosh of training, a bit off schedule, but mostly complete. My Wednesday morning swim was my longest to date in the pool, 3500 yards which equates to 2 miles less 15 yards or something silly like that. 2 miles, done! 

The heat took over the afternoon and I did not run, deciding to run in the cool of the following morning, instead. Alas, when my alarm went off at 4:dark:30, I rolled over and went back to sleep. Instead, I decided that I would do a long brick in the afternoon, combining my bike/run workouts into an hour each. Done and done well. And home by 7 or so, tired and happy and feeling accomplished. 

Friday dawned and since I was still feeling a bit sluggish and not quite recovered from Thursday night, I decided I'd do my 60 minute interval bike in the afternoon. So, Dad and I took Cooper to swimming (new rules: smile and have fun) and he did great, after getting out of the pool early the week before in tears because he "was cold". Anyway, we ran our birthday party errands after a treat at Tony's Market and by the time we got home it was time for lunch and Tate's nap. 

Swim lessons! 

Refueling at Tony's

It was a Ninja Turtle themed birthday party for Cooper this year!

Tate snoozing peacefully in his new big boy bed. Love the belly button peaking out. He he!

Dad decided to ride with me and since my plan only calls for an hour with intervals built in, we headed out together, starting our ride at the tennis bubble. The sky looked threatening, but it wasn't raining quite yet. We headed to Chatfield and once in the park, the rain started. No biggie. 

Dad was still smiling and we headed home, my intervals done and the rain slowly letting up. As we headed back to the car, I decided the time had come for some new biking shoes. Road biking shoes. So we headed up to Pedal and an hour or so later, I was set. New Gyro shoes and Look pedals, all fit and feeling a bit more legit. Not quite as legit as Chrissie Wellington here, but all the same. :-)  If you haven't read her book yet, "Life Without Limits", I highly recommend it. Very inspiring. And she rides a Cannondale, just like me! 

IM World Champion ('07, '08, '09, '11), Chrissie Wellington (total badass)

Saturday morning rolled around and it was Cooper's birthday! My son, 5 years old! Unbelievable. So, instead of heading off to the res early for a run, I waited for Cooper to wake up so I could wish him a happy birthday and give him his gift. He was so happy and it was hard for me to leave. But I did. Off to the Gravel Pond. Where it was windy and chilly and my Mommy Guilt was getting the best of me. I sat on the shore for a while and stared out at the water. NOT at all interested in swimming. Mind over matter, I decided to put on my wet suit and get in. I swam for about 5 minutes, got out and went home to my birthday boy. Ironman training: 0; Mommy Guilt: 1. 

Cooper was thrilled to see me! I loaded up Tate in the trailer and Cooper, Dad and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood together and I couldn't have been happier. The big birthday party was on tap for the afternoon and despite the weather, a great time was had by all. Especially Cooper. And Mommy. And one missed swim and one missed run in favor of time with my birthday boy isn't going to hurt me on race day. Not one bit. 

Sunday was Bike Day!! Another ride with the hubby. We headed out and up Deer Creek to High Grade. Then Jason showed me the way to "City View" and what a ride it was. I think we climbed about 4k feet over 63 miles. There were some amazing views along the way, too. I think we're ready for The Copper Triangle next week. Ready or not..... 

Jason fueling up before the climb on High Grade

Along the "City View" route

Near Turkey Creek Road

My week of training concluded with my long run on Monday. Another beautiful Colorado morning awaited and I headed North from the bubble this time, determined to try a new route. 

 

The path took me past my CF gym, through quaint Belleview Park with the train tracks, wading river and petting zoo and all the way north to Littleton HS. 

I miss you, CFL!!! See you in October!!

I love this picture. So pretty. 

I have been doing my long runs with a 5 minute run/30 second walk interval and it is working very well for me. My plan called for a 1:45 run and I completed 10 miles in 1:50 for an average pace of 11 minute miles. I was thrilled and feeling great! Another good training week in the books. 

Thank goodness for rest day Tuesdays! And a little time with my boys. Thanks for the great picture, Mom!

Evergreen to Echo Lake Climb, 7/20/14

Jason and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary together this year from our bike saddles, as we participate in our first Colorado Cyclist Copper Triangle cycling event on Saturday, August 2nd. 

In preparation for the climbing and altitude, we decided to bike from Evergreen to the base of Mt. Evans at Echo Lake. The climb took us up 3,871 feet over 18 miles to a max altitude of 11,248 feet above sea level. It took us about 2 hours of climbing with some pretty extraordinary views along the way!

 Jason is having a great time!

This was the halfway point of our climb.

Amazing views at 9,807 feet above sea level. 

I am forced to wear my Cupcake Mountain bike jersey 

any time I climb a big mountain. It's appropriate, I think.

At the top with views of Echo Lake in the distance. 

 At the entrance to North America's Highest Auto Road, which tops out above 14,000 feet. We did not go to the top. Maybe another day.

Breathtaking views from our return ride back to town.

Thanks to Nana and Papa who were at home with the boys, feeding them, entertaining them and setting up Tate's new big boy bed (that Papa built, 

of course)!

It was a great day and boy was Tate excited! (Sorry, Tate not pictured here.)

Boulder Peak Olympic Triathlon Race Report, July 13, 2014

The Boulder Peak Olympic triathlon is the only other race I'm doing this summer en route to 140.6 in Chattanooga in 67 days. It was a beautiful morning for a race; I wish I had more pictures, but alas, I was trying to focus on the day and not on my blog. (What was I thinking?)

I met up with Kelly, Alisa and Erika in transition, set up, went potty and did my ceremonial jog for about a minute and a half, then suited up and headed down to the water for a warm-up swim. I won't lie, I knew that Beth from Shut Up and Run was going to be there so I was scanning the crowd looking for her. I eventually saw her out on the run course, where she passed me. And again after the race, as she walked barefoot with a plate of food to hang out with her peeps at their Fast Foward tent. I did not talk to her because I'm shy, or I used to be. Anyway, I didn't want to bother her. :-)

The wave that Kelly, Alisa and I were in was 3rd, so we had a nice, early swim start at 7:15. As we were in the water waiting for the horn, Dave, the announcer, who emceed at IM Canada last August, was calling out some remarkable things about some people in our wave. Wouldn't you know that I heard Kelly's name and then my name, announcing that we are training for our first Ironman in Chattanooga. That was pretty cool. There were many others, including a cancer survivor as well as a gal who was teaching her friend how to swim so they could tri together. I love that! 

The horn blew and we were off. It took me a few hundred meters to catch my breath and get my rhythm and once I did, I felt great. I counted to 100 from one buoy to the next and they flew by. 

Swim Split, (1.5km or about 1 mile): 28:39 (14th in my age group out of 66 finishers, woot woot!).

T1: 3:24 - You'd think I was enjoying a coffee and scone or something. No, unfortunately I got a cramp in my left hip flexor. I was rolling around on the concrete trying to get my wet suit off, stretch out the cramp and put on my socks. I'm sure I was quite a sight. I ran my bike through transition, hopped on my bike and I was off. 

The bike course in Boulder is beautiful and due to last year's flooding, the iconic climb on Old Stage Road was taken out of the course this year, which was fine with me. The initial 5-10 miles is flat to a slight ascent and I feel like I ride at a snail's pace, as the whole field seems to fly by me. I finally found my groove between 10 and 15 miles and was having a great time. I was aero a lot and was managing some good speed, somewhere around 20 mile per hour or so. I was also practicing my fueling and was eating a bite of Bonk Breaker or taking a gel every 30 minutes and drinking along the way. I was feeling pretty good when I hit the reservoir for T2. 

Bike Split (26.04 miles): 1:27:34  Average speed 17.8 mph

T2: 1:29 - Slower than usual for me. For some strange reason I always feel like I need to "straighten up a bit" before I run, like people will care that my stuff is all over the place. 

By the time I started my run, it was getting a little warm and the sun was baking down. I felt really slow but my splits were encouraging, even though I walked through all the aid stations and took 2 gels along the way (and yes, 10:00-11:00 minute miles are "fast" for me):

Mile 1: 10:12

Mile 2: 10:35

Mile 3: 11:19

Mile 4: 11:04

Mile 5: 11:10

Mile 6: 10:12 - A big thanks to the guy cheering who told me to "turn over my feet faster and keep up with the woman in front of me", 

because I did just that!

Last 0.2: 1:43

Run Split (10k or 6.2 miles): 1:06:16  Average pace 10:41

Total race time: 3:07:24

36/66 in my age group. Right in the middle, where I seem to be very comfortable. At least I'm consistent year to year. :-)

We did it! Alisa, Erika, Kelly and I

 Next up for these two: IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA (my legs went a little numb as I just typed this; I'm not going to lie.)

Suns Out, Guns Out

My Solo Chatfield Olympic Distance Triathlon, June 28, 2014

When your Ironman training schedule says it's time for an Olympic distance triathlon (1 mile swim/25 mile bike/6.2 mile run), you do it. And when you and your hubby decide not to spend money on too many races this summer because it's an Ironman summer and they have all of our money, you do it solo. Self supported. With the transition area neatly set up in the back of the Subaru. 

And with still scabbed over and healing "blood owie" all covered up with fancy "waterproof" bandages. It was still decidedly uncomfortable under my wet suit but I toughed it out.  And it wasn't really waterproof but served it purpose to at least keep the dirt and grime out. 

I staged the event in Chatfield Lake State Park at the gravel pond. I was greeted at the entrance of the park by these beautiful hot air balloons and just happened to get a cyclist riding by in the picture. 

Ahh, the gravel pond. My happy place. It was finally time for my first open water swim of the season. And the water was perfection. I relished the cool water even though I flinched as it trickled into my wet suit. I did a quick warm up out to the sand bar, which is about 300 meters off the shore, then headed south to the far end of the lake. There and back to the start at the north shore is a total of 1500 meters or roughly 1 mile. Time of swim: 33:16. Not too shabby. And it felt short, considering I'm swimming 3000 yards twice a week now, I would hope it would feel short. Yes, the LONG swim to the south shore felt short when last year, it was the longest stretch of water there ever was. Progress. 

After the longest T1 (swim to bike transition) in history (I had to walk to the car, take the bike down off the rack, etc., etc.), I was off on my bike for my 25 mile ride. It was uneventful but had a lot of nice variation to it. I was able to drop down on my aero bars for a good portion of it which helps to continue to build my confidence in this position, and I had some climbing and descending, as well. This ride also felt very short. 26.44 miles in 1:32; I was happy with that. 

Now off for my very slow, and very hot 6.2 mile run. And I chose to hit the concrete path for my first 3 miles so I could refill my water at the halfway point. Slowest 3 miles ever. I was miserable but I plodded on, slowly. At the halfway point back at the car, I slugged some cold water, refilled my bottles, ate half of a Espresso Chip Bonk Breaker bar (SO yummy) and carried on south on the dirt path towards Waterton Canyon. Bingo. Feeling better. Needed some calories. The salted caramel Gu on the first half of my run wasn't enough meaning I didn't take in enough calories on the bike. Noted. 

I was feeling great by mile 5! Yay! (Insert sarcastic face here.) 

This view was prettier in person. I also forgot to restart my Garmin after stopping to take this picture until about half a mile down the trail so I didn't have an accurate time on my run. I think it was about 1:09 or so. I'll take it. My first solo Olympic distance triathlon was in the books and I could check off another successful training session. 

Yay, me! All done! 

And bonus, when I got home, Cooper came running up to the car and asked me if I won my race. I told him yes, but that I was the only one racing. Without another word, he disappears into the house and returns with a medal for me. I was touched beyond words. My sweet and thoughtful boy. 

I really need to work on my selfie expressions but nevertheless, I was thrilled to be presented with this old Denver Marathon Relay medal from 2007 as my award for winning my race. Thank you, Cooper. If you keep doing stuff like this, the girls will be knocking each other over trying to get to you. I love you, buddy. 

Summer Solstice - Bah!

So, I bailed on my run when my alarm went off at 4:30 this morning. I really don't know why. I was well rested and everything was ready to go. I think the fact that it is no longer light outside this early is throwing me for a loop. How and when did that happen already? It's only July 3rd. And we're losing a minute every other morning now. Stupid Summer Solstice. 

And it is perfect outside this morning; cool air with a light scent of summer flowers. Perfect for that ride I was supposed to do this morning before I ended up taking most of yesterday off to be home with Tate, who wasn't even sick (that's a whole other story). 

See Tate? Not sick at all. Maybe a little Hand, Foot, and Mouthy,
but no fever and happy to have the new fire truck all to himself.

Perfect for my run that I planned to do today so I could bike tomorrow. See how I am able to juggle things around when necessary? Although I foiled my own plan by not getting out of bed. And I didn't even fall back to sleep. See, well rested. 

Hopefully I will learn from this experience. And get up the next time my alarm goes off at the butt crack of Ironman Dawn. Because the next 87 days will go by very quickly. 

A few hours later:
And for the record, now that it is 1 p.m., I can happily say my run is in the books. I ran at 11 a.m., in the heat of the day. Luckily there was a slight breeze at times and frequent shade on the Highline Canal trail, which is just a short drive from the office.  I found out today that the distance from the parking lot at Orchard to the Belleview intersection is 5.72 miles round trip. Perfect for the hour I needed to put in. And there were two kiddos offering up beverages (for a price) and ice and water for free, just when I needed it most, with about a mile to go.

This is what I look like after a mid-day run. (I'm still really bad at selfie expressions; obviously a work in progress.) Luckily, I don't share an office with anyone. Back to work now. Happy 4th of July, everyone!!