iron eyes for the normal guy

da 411 from pam

On Sunday July 2nd, I completed my first iron distance race. Thinking about it, 10 years ago, this is the LAST thing I thought I would be doing with my life.

Anyways, this is my fourth season training for and racing triathlons. It all started when my brother suckered me into doing the Wildflower Olympic since I had recently discovered exercising/going to the gym. I raced, finished, loved it, and stuck with the sport. The first year I raced was great because I took that summer off from work, so I had all the time in the world to train - I primarily did olympics and sprints - I loved the "speed" and "all-out-effort" aspects of the races, but being a novice, I still wanted to try the other distances to see what I would like best.

The next two years were a bit more challenging. I got into racing longer races, including a marathon and a few half-irons. Endurance was very challenging for me - as was balancing longer hours of training since I had since started working. I felt that my race results were mediocre - stress from work would sap my energy on a regular basis, I couldn't quite nail some the workouts prescribed in my training plan, and I struggled with anxiety and having problems eating before races, which did not help my performance. When I would do olympic distance events, I would do well, but I still didn't feel I had the control I wanted over the longer events.

Well, 2006 it seems like things have taken a turn for the better. Last fall, I committed to an iron-distance race: the Quelle Challenge in Roth (Bavaria), Germany. I vowed to "not let 2005 happen to me again" and to do everything in my power to be as prepared as I could for racing. Sure, there are some factors in a race that I would not have control over (weather, flat tires etc etc) but as far as the factors I had control over, such as training properly and assigning priorities to things in my life to make that happen, I committed to make the best of them. I was also looking forward to Jorge and Daniel racing alongside me in all of our first iron-distance event.

I changed some things in my life, like setting up a work schedule that was more conducive to training, starting practicing bikram yoga to help me with focus and relaxation. I signed up for two races before the big event - hyannis half marathon and mooseman half iron. I pr'ed on the first by 8 minutes and on the 2nd I finished 26 minutes faster than 2005. Things were looking good. I was able to follow the training schedule that my coach (Patrick McCrann of PTS) set up for me. I had done the work and I felt prepared. I enjoyed a week and a half of vacation time in Germany before the race. I was relaxed and in a great mood. No anxiety, 'cause I felt I had prepared well - so as long as I focused on what I knew/had control over as well as on smiling and having fun, the rest would fall into place.

The days leading up to the race, it was very hot. I remembered the marathon I did in the hot weather and how things went quite smoothly due do following nutrition closely...and I also remembered the races where I didn't do well due to poor nutrition. So, I knew nutrition would be important - I increased my salt intake the days before the race. We ate dinner with Daniel's coach Olaf, who said there was a lot of climbing on the bike course and that it was by no means fast - you were either going up or down and there were two "big" hills. I guess the 2800 we had estimated was meters and not feet, so it would be closer to 8000+ feet of climbing. I rode the challenging hill on the course. For some reason before going there, I didn't think it would be so hilly so it was good I did. I swam in the canal and checked out the transition areas.

I reviewed my race plan over and over so on race day, when I would potentially feel delirious at mile 18 of the marathon, I would have no questions as to what my plan/task at hand was. I had to "close the deal" after all this preparation.

The day before, I checked in/ covered my bike and handed my run bag to the appropriate peeps to be taken to T2. There were 2 different transition areas in the race and the finish was in a third location. But, this being the best-run and organized race I have ever seen and/or been to, everything went smoothly and seamlessly.

Race Morning, I was to relax and eat. That went smoothly - downed a cup of coffee and a bowl of muesli with Jorge and Daniel at 3:30am. I headed to the race start - we had to be there by 4:50 AM. I was going to be in the first wave at 6:20. In European long distance triathlons, I had been told that a - the ratio of men to women was much higher and b - the competition was tougher (and tough-looking) - probably due to the status of the race (oldest iron-distance event in Europe) and the 15 hour cutoff time. All the women, since there were 230 of us out of a field of almost 3500 athletes, got to start with the Pros and Senior men. I handed my remaining bags to the appropriate people, did some light stretching with J and D, listened to some tunes, laughed (we were betting they would play "The FInal Countown" and they did) and checked out Faris as he did some funky stretching routine.

My plan on the swim was to take it easy and do as little work as possible, I had really worked on my swimming for the past year, so I felt good about it. I wasn't going to go fast - this was just to get the blood flowing for the rest of the hours to come. I was able to execute it pretty well. I warmed up for a few minutes swimming to the swim start. When we were off, I seeded myself in the middle of the pack and found some feet to draft off of - the person might have gone a bit slower than I would have liked, but better safe than sorry - I'd take the "a bit slower" over the "pushing too hard". Time was 1:21

T1 - Got my bag, went to the changing tent, the volunteers were awesome and extremely efficient, sat down in the middle of a sea of nekkid men (yes, the euro tents are co-ed and yes, nudity is allowed) changed into my bike clothes, got my bike, and jogged out of T2 singing along to what they were playing (Crazy by Gnarls Barkley)

On the bike, I was to really stay focused. I was using my friend Mo's power-tap device and Patrick had loaned me his power-tap-equipped bling bling race wheels. In addition, he had crunched some numbers and come up with wattage for my race. This was schweeeeet. The first hour and a half, I was to take it very easy. Patrick, Ironman-guru-extraordinaire, had also advised me to NOT lose my patience as people zoomed past me during this time - and instead to trust him that I would see many of those people at the end of the bike and on the run. As I started the ride, I was very impressed with the fan support. I later read in the newspaper that 130,000 fans had watched the race!!!! I seriously felt like I was a Tour de France racer instead of an age-grouper. Every town along the course had come out to watch and cheer. Anyways, lo and behold, a bunch of people - lots of guys with scary-looking legs with names like Thor and Wolfgang - zoomed past me autobahn-style. Patience, patience, I thought. After an hour and a half, I went up to speed. There was some wind, but it seemed bearable. I finished the first loop in around 3:05. On one of the climbs, it was like the tour - fans were on either side of you about a foot away cheering - it seriously didn't feel like a hard climb this way! There were also 4 hairpin turns down hill - so I did as daniel taught me to work the brakes and apex the corners, so I got some good speed and didn't fly off the mountain. Anyways, the second loop was much slower since it seemed like there was very strong headwind the whole time - but I stuck to my wattage and did not force the issue to try to hold the same speed. Patrick was right - I ended up passing several of those people who had zoomed past me at the beginning. I was also meticulous about my nutrition - including taking extra salt tabs - in order to minimize the House of Pain I would potentially experience on the deathmarch...I mean, marathon. Bike Time was 6:26 - figured that was decent for 8000 feet of climbing and I didn't want to go too hard because I knew the fun would begin running the marathon in 90 degree heat.

T2 - Again, very efficiently run by the volunteers. I sat down for a few minutes to massage my feet since they swelled up on the bike and were hurting a bit. Pain subsided, and I was off once again.

On the run, I wanted to keep my cadence high and my vertical movement to a minimum. Baby steps. My goal was to try to hold around 9-10 minute miles. I really concentrated on my form and on my nutrition. I noticed a lot of people hurting bad and walking (including some of the ones who had zoomed past me on the bike) The first 28 kilometers were ok - i had reached the half marathon point at 2:05. After mile 10, coke tasted very good. I noticed that relay teams here were serious business - yup, saw a few Kenyan relay runners zoom past to finish under 2:20. Anyways, saw Jorge and Daniel twice along the run course which helped me get some energy. As is usually the case, the last 8 miles were very tough - even though I was jogging most of the time, I did stop to walk all the aid stations. My heartrate was very low b/c I was hurting so bad that my legs wouldn't go any faster. Finished in 4:26 - only 11 mins slower than my only stand-alone marathon.

Finished in 12:27 - I was pretty happy since it was my first iron-distance race and my goal was primarily to finish. I did have a thought in the back of my head that if I finished between 12 and 13 hours I would be even more psyched, which I did, so I was :) I think I was able to have a good race because I stayed focused on the factors I could control - preparation, nutrition, being mentally relaxed, focusing on the task at hand during every moment of the race, and having a good time.

After the race, I hit the massage tent for a nice 30 minute massage, found my family, and headed home. Called Patrick and Maura to report the good news back to Boston - and eventually, when I came off my sugar high, I went to sleep. (yes, even though I had been awake since 3:30am and it was 11pm, since I had been eating primarily sugar the whole day, I was more wired than tired!)

The following morning, I was a bit sore, but that all got taken care of when I went to Baden Baden where I met with friend and fellow-Iron-woman Heather Shand who had raced the same day in Ironman Switzerland and PR'ed (yay!!!)

I highly recommend Quelle Challenge Roth if you are thinking of an Iron-distance race. Unless you are trying to qualify for Hawaii (it isn't Ironman Corporation, so it does not offer Hawaii spots), this is a great race to do. It is the best-run and organized race I've been to and seen, the course is beautiful, the roads are smooth, the volunteers are great. The fan support is absolutely amazing. I also recommend recovering in the Baden Baden spas the following day - I swear the water there has some magical powers. I was able to do a lot of walking when I went to see the Tour de France the following day relatively pain-free. I also recommend working with Patrick McCrann or the other coaches at PTS if you're thinking of working with a coach. They're experts at racing smart. Not only did Patrick set up a great training plan for me that worked with my schedule, he also advised me on nutrition, race strategy and execution - all of which helped immensely.

Finally, I'm so proud of Daniel and Jorge who did an awesome job in Roth in their first iron-distance race - and helped inspire and motivate me to do the same :) (Y gracias a Yolanda y Bea por apoyarnos durante la carrera y haber tomado fotos!)

posted by supersonique @ 5:15 PM