Training For a Hot Race in Winter - Four Months To Go

In (a little less than) Four short months I will be toeing the line at Ironman Los Cabos. It doesn't feel real yet, it's NEXT year, it will be warm, it's a triathlon, and it's clearly not triathlon season in Colorado (hello lowof -8).

But 4 months is not a lot of time and will go by quickly, I need to keep my focus and eyes on the prize. I try to think about warm(isn)aqua ocean water, palm tress and margaritas.

My training plan is very similar to my last two ironmans, I am just hoping that I won't have to spend too much time on the trainer and treadmill (I will run in snow but ice is another thing). The new things I hope to start incorporating some heat training. I have done a little research on how to train for a race in warm conditions over winter. Starting in January I will start:

• Going to hot yoga to get my body used to moving in the heat



• sitting in the sauna after swims for increasing amounts of time.



• No fan or open windows while on the trainer



• Overdressing for runs

Other than that I think I will just have to gut it out. Regardless, I am excited to head to mexico to race towards the end of a long, cold winter.

Have any additional tips? Have you ever races in the heat after training in the cold?

I haven't really but I did train in the heat to race in the ridged cold in Tahoe, I guess that doesn't hep me here.

Ironman Lake Tahoe Race Report - Race Morning and Swim

Because we stayed very close to T1 near Kings Beach I was able to get up a little later at 4am. I had most things ready to go the day before so all I had to do was eat, drink some coffee and get dressed. It was a little crazy to put on a goose down coat, hat, gloves and uggs for a triathlon. The temperatures were in the low 30s. But it was calm and not raining so it looked like the race would go off at the full distance. There were rumors that the race would be softened to 1.2 mile swim, 15 mi bike and 26.2 mile run.

It was pretty crazy in transition and a little difficult to get around for athletes and spectators. I think this small beach area was too small for the number of competitors even with 20% of the field not showing up race morning. I didn't leave any food or liquid on my bike overnight, and I was glad since others had frozen bottles and bars. After loading up my bike I added hand warmers to my bike shoes so they would be nice and warm once I got to transition.

After finishing my prep work it was time to get into my wetsuit, and hand off my stuff to my family. I left my sandals on to walk to the start because the sand was so cold that it hurt my feet. Ironman Lake Tahoe was using the swim Smart Start instead of the mass start. I thought it worked really well. We lined up by predicted finish time and were funneled through the start arch. It went fairly fast but this beach is fairly shallow so it took a little while to wade out deep enough to start swimming.
 
The swim was by far my favorite part of the day, the water was in the low 60s so chilly but not cold. It was so clear and beautiful, I had a little contact from other swimmers but nothing compared to a mass start.

It was a little hard to sight the first lap given all the mist. It was hard to find the buoys but it was incredible to see so much in the water and the snow capped mountains. As usual the turns were a little slow and people decided to walk the turn to the start of the second lap in the water. I wanted to swim so a popped up to clear a little water out of my goggles then started swimming again. On the second lap the sun came out and the water was even more clear, it was surreal. I tried to take it all in and really enjoyed this swim more than any other race I have ever been in. I found some great feet to follow and was pulled in. I was pretty happy with my swim, no cramps and I felt like I kept it nice and easy. I got out of the water and my feet immediately started to hurt from the freezing sand as I headed towards T1.


Up Next: T1 and the Bike

Ironman Lake Tahoe - Check!

Whew, that was a HARD race! We leave Lake Tahoe today and will take two days to drive home so race reports and details will come later.

I survived what mike Riley called "the harvests Ironman ever" and finished Ironman #2

Already dreaming of my next adventure…….

On the Road to Tahoe

It's go time! This last weekend was full of shopping, prepping, making lists, making piles and packing bags.

I found it challenging to pack for this trip because I am not used to the cool weather that we will have in Tahoe. Which jacket will I wear on race day? Who knows, let's just throw in all of them! The picture above is about a third of the clothes I packed. While my body has had some aches and pains normal to taper I have enjoyed it, I feel like I should hate it but my body and mind was ready for a rest. I enjoyed easier rides.

And some time to enjoy fall treats
PSL!

Today I am excited to start our journey by driving from Denver to a state park near Park City, Utah.

We decided instead of staying in a generic hotel that we would camp for the evening. We really love to camp and haven't gone this year so this was a chance to get at least one night in before it gets too cold. It's about an 8.5 hour drive through the mountains and will be BEAUTIFUL. Tomorrow we will drive another 8.5 hours from Utah to Tahoe.

I imagine this part will be less scenic but we have lots of audio books to keep us entertained. Must go pack up the car, catch you guys in Cali!

Trevor Wurtele's Inspirational Words From Ironman Canada

Trevor Wurtele's speech after Ironman Canada was pretty inspirational for anyone not just triathletes check it out:

If you don't have time to watch the video this was my favorite line:

If you can take anything from that, it is quite simply to go after your dreams. It doesn't have to be in sport, it is anything in life. Do everything in your power to make that dream happen, fully commit to it and go get it. The worst thing that can happen is that you go back to your old life knowing that you did everything you could to make your dream a reality.

Found anything inspirational lately? Please share!

Ironman Canada 2014

It's official I am signed up for Ironman Canada 2014!

I was a little surprised and bummed that they moved the race up a month, late August fit my ideal 2014 race schedule better but I wasn't going to let that stop me from signing up.

After seeing all the photos and glowing reviews from this years' race I knew I wanted in for my first international Ironman.

I am excited for July 27th 2014

Happy August!

I can't believe it's August already, just seven week until Ironman Lake Tahoe (EEK!)

Time is flying and I kinda wish I could slow it down. I raced Ironman Boulder 70.3 on Sunday and had a great day overall. I am going to try to carve out time for a full race recap later this week.

I worked hard on the course and was rewarded with an hour and 6 minute PR. I am happy with that progress and ready to put my head down and work through Peak training for the next 5 weeks. Time to put the hay in the barn!

It's Official….Ironman Boulder 2014

WTC announced today that Ironman Boulder is now official and will run on August 3rd 2014 (this means Ironman Boulder 70.3 will now move to June). Announcement found here.  


[Source]
I am very conflicted, I would love to be there with all of my friends. But I really want to race IM Canada and it would be fun to host a pro and volunteer at the race….Registration opens July 17(but you can register for the series starting on the 16th) so I guess I will have to decide by then.

The question is….will you be there?

Ironman Season

I can't believe it's almost been a year since I finished my first Ironman with Cory by my side.

Coeur d'Alene was an amazing race, so beautiful, and the people were so nice and supportive.

The entire town treats the athletes like royalty. There was a little bit of magic in my first ironman. I hope that I haven't been spoiled and Lake Tahoe can live up to my expectations. I am a little sad to be missing the race this year but also excited to be training for another on in a new location. Good luck to all that are racing this Sunday. Have a wonderful time, remember that things will go wrong, it may suck or hurt at times, but it will all pass and be better again soon. There will be ups and downs but ride them out because the finish the the highest high and well worth it.

Ironman Lake Tahoe Count Down

Yesterday marked exactly six months until Ironman Lake Tahoe

Last year I felt relief at having more time not less to prepare for Ironman but this year I am green with envy to anyone who is racing an early season ironman. I blame Los Cabos as well as my high training load. I am itching to do an ironman sooner than later. I am wishing I had a June or May race instead of September. It's making me have an itchy trigger finger to sign up for more races. I have been seriously thinking about my 2014 calendar and what I would like to race. The only thing keeping me from signing up for Ironman Los Cabos 2014 is the reports of heat, I don't do well in heat and Denver doesn't offer great heat training between October and March. Is it crazy to be thinking about 2014 when 2013 is less than a quarter over? Probably but for many IMs you have to sign up a year in advance. So Cory and I have started tentatively planning out what our 2014 race schedule would look like. I am drawn towards Ironman Wales

Source

But that isn't until September and I would love to do two Ironmans in 2014. Any suggestions? Anyone have an Ironman race they think is amazing?

Ironman Wish List - Part 3

This wish list will be dedicated to the biking, as a new cyclist I still have a lot to learn about biking and it's gear but here are some things that I have or wish I had.

A full carbon TT bike.

My choice is the Talon!

ANYTHING from Betty Designs!!!

I love all her stuff, so freakin cute!

Aqualite Drink System

This makes it SO much easier to keep hydrated while keeping your speed up (or not veering into traffic)

Bento Box

You need a place to stash your treats while riding!

Specialized Tri Shoes

I have specialized road shoes now and love them, I would like to upgrade to tri specific shoes eventually.

Snickers Bars

These would be great stocking stuffers! I love snickers and I feel NO guilt eating them while riding my bike.

Full Disclosure, I am not sponsored by any of these companies and have not received anything from them, I genuinely like these products and think you would like them too.

If you like free stuff check out SR giveaway for BIC bands

Iron Distance Triathlon Coming to Colorado in 2012

It was just announced that there will be a Iron distance triathlon in Fort Collins, CO in 2012!

The HITS triathlon series is going to put on a full triathlon series including an open, sprint, olympic, half and the full distance.

I am excited that a full is finally back in Colorado, it is about a month after Coeur d'Alene on July 28th and 29th so I am so tempted to sign up for a second go at an ironman. I am not sure if this is a great idea, I will at least race the half.

Fort Collins is the cutest little college town, we ran our marathon there in May:

Marathon finish coming into old town.

We also ran our first half marathon there the Horsetooth Half Marathon in 2010.

The swim will be in beautiful Horsetooth Reservoir

Fort Collins is such a nice place to race! Who wants to come out and race it with me? Don't live in Colorado? I have a spare room!

Ironman Questions

This week has been free form workouts while recovering from Pacific Crest. Including some strength training and yoga. Winston even got into the action with some Doga, he considers chewing a full body workout. I also had time to map out a training schedule for July that will focus on maintaining triathlon distance and build speed as well as getting in some miles for our ultra marathon in August including a 16 mile trail run tomorrow and a 50 mile bike ride on Monday.

I had my heart set on completing ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2012, and registration is now open. It is SO tempting to just sign up for it and know that my ironman journey is underway. It's just like me to jump the gun on something big like this. While in Sunriver last week Cory and I spent a lot of time talking about doing an ironman and which one we should do. After looking at the new Mont-Tremblant ironman and Ironman Canada I am wavering a bit. Also The unincorporated Vineman iron distance race has been thrown out as an option as well.

Does anyone have an experience with these races or advice?

Both Coeur d'Alene and Mont-Tremblant are open now and I don't want to lose out on registering but Canada seems the most interesting but I think it may be really hard to get into. When faced with a big choice we made a list of pros and cons like a good analytical thinkers.

Ironman Mont-Tremblant
(Quebec)

Pros

• Beautiful course
• Single loop swim
• Mid season (August 19th)
• Inaugural year
• Available to sign up

Cons

• (Possibly) challenging climbs on bike course
• Two loop bike
• Two loop run
• Farthest away
• Inaugural year
  
• Most expensive ($675)

Ironman Canada (BC)

Pros

• Beautiful course
• Close-ish
• All single loops
  
• Mid season August 28th
• $650 ?
  

Cons

• Challenging climbs on bike course
• Hard to get into
  

Vineman (Sonoma)

Pros

• Beautiful course
• Mid season (July 30th)
• Easy course
• Close
• Available to sign up
• Cheap ($325-$425)
• Warm swim
• Small field

Cons

• Two loop swim
• Two loop bike
• Three loop run
• Un-incorporated event (this may be a pro?)

Ironman Couer d'Alene

Pros

• Beautiful course
• Close to Colorado
• Bike not too difficult
• Relatively easy to get into
• $600

Cons

• Early season
• Two loop swim
• Two loop bike
• Two loop run

Any advice, what would you do?

Ironman

I know that I want to do an Ironman sometime in my life. You probably already know that I am signed up to do a half ironman in June and I am really enjoying training for it so far. As I was reaching about mile 12 of my 16.2 mile run on the treadmill last night I really started to think about racing an Ironman this year. I have been thinking about racing Vineman in 2012 but I really feel like I want to push through and complete a full this year.

The race I am considering is the Grand Colombian, it is a unincorporated iron-distance race, meaning it is not owned by ford or braded “Ironman” (but I don’t care I still call it an ironman).

It takes place on September 17th in Washington and should be gorgeous, the website describes it as:

“For 2011, the Grand Columbian Super Triathlon will take place on the 17th of September, and will be bringing back the Ultra Distance (Iron) triathlon as well as adding a Super Triathlon! The course will be both challenging and fantastically rewarding, and will most definitely earn you bragging rights! Additionally, we are really looking forward to utilizing our new race to help the local community for their fundraising project to build a new school for the Grand Coulee Dam School District. You can find out more info on this project at http://gcdnewschool.com/. And we'll be sure to send more information on this project as we move forward.”

Proceeds go to building a school, how could I NOT participate???

So here are some reasons I think I should do it:

• I am on a roll with training
• I feel good so far
• I don’t really want to wait over a year to do an Ironman
  

Reasons to wait:

• This is only my second year doing triathlon and Ihave never ran a marathon or ridden my bike more than 62 miles
• A (very small) part of me wants to make this year about my half ironman and not
  overshadow it with a bigger race
  

So I want your advice should I do a full ironman this year or not?

Either way I do want to complete a 50k this fall, anyone have any they would recommend? I am willing to travel.