I crossed the finish line after Sunday's race, held my hands high, and cried and cried into my parents arms. Not because I was sad, but because I was happy. I didn't win and I didn't have my best performance, but nonetheless, the race was a huge step forward after a tough winter.
THE PRE-RACE:
I drove down to Syracuse on Friday with fellow triathlete, and new Pro, Mikael Staar Nathan. We arrived at our homestay just before noon and were welcomed by our hosts. Lindsay, another competitor in the race, and her lovely family opened their home to us for the weekend. To compete well you need to be comfortable and that we were! We had all the bagels, peanut butter, bananas and coffee we could want!
From our arrival to race morning it was the usual pre-race routine: Eat (lots of Perfect Fuel Chocolate!), easy swim/bike/run, sleep, repeat until race day. Unlike previous races it was really nice to have company! And be the vet Pro to give guidance to rookie Pro, Mikael! He didn't even criticize my driving too much :)
Oh, one thing of note that happened prior to the race start was that I was having trouble with my rear brake. It was rubbing against the wheel. I took it to Jamie, the AWESOME mechanic at Bike Loft North and he fixed the issue so that I could ride the bike as it was on race day, and informed me I would have to get the rear brake cable replaced as soon as possible! So, a HUGE thanks to Jamie for helping me with my last minute mechanical issues. (My QR is currently in the caring hands of The Bike Zone.)
THE SWIM: 27:20
The swim started off with the usual craziness of a swim start. Unfortunately, I was feeling quite sluggish at the start, despite getting in a decent warm-up. There was just no "zip" at the start so I didn't get a good position after the gun. The result was that I found myself blocked in behind two slower swimmers and had to actually stop swimming to let them get ahead of me so I could swim around them. Once I was able to do that, I pushed hard to catch up to fellow Canadian triathlete, Jenny Fletcher. We swam side by side for awhile and I thought, "OK, let's be strategic here." So I thought, I'll sit on her feet for awhile and then I'll surge ahead and go fast and drag her along and we could do this and work together to be faster. It's hard to communicate this plan to someone while swimming though, so it ended up that we just swam side by side to the swim finish. I exited the water tied for 3rd.
THE BIKE: 2:38:13
The bike started out really well. I was out of transition in 3rd place and had a smooth mount onto my bike at the start of the ride. I was feeling strong and my power was high. Unfortunately, this feeling lasted only about 10 minutes. Jenny passed me at around Mile 5 and I tried to stay with her, but just couldn't. I was watching my power meter and it I knew I couldn't push it to keep up. The first 15km of the Syracuse course is a grind as it's almost all uphill. I knew this beforehand though, so I was prepared. It's always good to know a course prior to the race. Perhaps not every detail, but whether the course is hilly or flat, technical or not, etc. And not just in general, but where it is hilly or technical helps too. This just allows you to be a bit more prepared. Anyway, somewhere in the first 30km the super speedy Beth Shutt passed me like I was riding backwards! Quite demoralizing, but I still saw that my power was where it should be, and that kept me optimistic. It wasn't until the last 20km of the bike that my legs really started to hurt and my power numbers took a bit of a nose dive. My nutrition had been right on and I was well rested for the race, but I hadn't biked over 90km in a month due to all the racing I had been doing and I was certainly paying for it! In the last 10km, I was passed by Heather Leiggi and moved into 6th place. I really had nothing in the legs to get me to race her into transition. This was the hardest part of the race for me and I was so happy when I finally dismounted into T2.
THE RUN: 1:31:14
Still feeling the effects of a tough final leg of the bike, I started my run feeling quite tired. It didn't help that the first mile was uphill and mostly on grass! I really did feel like I had bricks for legs. I saw my parents at the end of that first torturous segment of the run and I was not happy...I had a feeling that the run would be a repeat of my run at Eagleman. I did start to settle in and found my legs once I hit the paved roads. I had about 1.5 miles of flat/rolling road before we would hit the infamous hill that is about a mile long with grades of about 8-10% the whole way. The hill was just as painful as it sounds, and I felt like I was running at a snails pace. But what pushed me along was the fact that I could see Jenny just up ahead. Catching her became my motivation to go strong up that hill. Oh, that and the fact that someone had written on the road "BEAST MODE" (I had this image of myself running like a beast up that hill that almost made me laugh out loud!). And I did manage to catch Jenny and move into 5th just after the turnaround at the top of the hill. I also saw how far back my competitors were...400m, 1.2km, etc. etc. I would have to continue to stay strong if I wanted to hold on to a podium spot. And I was hurting. So I started to focus on what I could control: taking in my nutrition, staying cool by pouring water over my head at the aid stations, taking water and coke as I needed, and focusing on my run form and my breathing. I thought of Adam telling me to "take the shortest line" on the turns and heard him saying "use the downhill" as I descended the steep hill and then the grassy part of the run. Once I reached the turnaround at the halfway point I started assessing how far back the rest of the girls were...it looked like I was actually gaining ground on them and not losing it! How this was possible I didn't know...but it gave me just the boost I needed. The next time I saw my parents I was in good spirits and waved and smiled. I knew I could do this. The rest of the run is a blur as I was so focused on maintaining my speed that I didn't notice anything around me. Even fellow competitors who saw me commented on how focused I looked! Before I knew it I was in the last (and longest!) mile of the course. I pushed as hard as I could and crossed that line and waved my hands in the air. I didn't finish first, but it was a huge personal victory for me.
FINISH TIME: 4:40:20
As I always say, I couldn't have achieved this result by myself. This is especially true this time. Last winter, I suffered through the emotional damage caused by November's "cyberbully" attack and a run injury, among other personal matters. And I was easily at my lowest point. Giving up on the sport seemed so much easier than continuing to go on. Racing and training for an event that lasts as long as a half-ironman doesn't just take physical strength, but emotional and mental strength as well. When you go through personal stress, training can become an outlet, an escape. But at the level that I want to compete at, that much stress is detrimental to everything: training, performance and recovery. But with each word of love and support I receive, which continues to sometimes surprise me (do I really deserve it?), that stress is lifted a little bit. And the road I am travelling on as I pursue my triathlon journey becomes smoother and less lonely. So, a very sincere thank you to everyone for lifting that stress enough for me to put together a solid result in Syracuse.
Special thank you to:
1. The family I stayed with in Syracuse. Lindsay and her family were absolutely wonderful and I couldn't have asked for anything more from them.
2. My parents, who were able to make it down for the race, again! And for ringing their cowbells super loud and dealing with my emotional ups and downs during and after the race.
3. My sponsors: Turner-Tomenson Wealth Management and Raymond James Financial continue to make my life as a Pro triathlete possible, Scott Judges at Fitt1st, Bill Wells (Chiro) at Urban Athlete, Brad Wilson (RMT), all my equipment sponsors: Quintana Roo, ISM Saddles, Gray wheels, Rudy Project, Karhu Running Shoes, eLoad sports nutrition, IBB Cyclery in Utah, The Bike Zone in Toronto, Swiftwick socks, Suunto, Perfect Fuel Chocolate, Funkita/Funky Trunks swim wear, SRM for my power, Champion System for the most amazingly comfortable race kit, X-1 Audio for allowing me to train to music (in the rain or pool too) !!!
4. My fellow friends/competitors from Toronto who raced! Mikael - who was 17th male pro in his debut race, Kevin - who had a World Championship qualifying performance, Jessica - who also qualified for Worlds (and cheered me on during the run SUPER loud, no less!), Janet - who PB'd on that crazy tough course! You are all inspiring!
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POST-RACE PHOTOS:
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Ironman 70.3 Eagleman: Learning the hard way
Unfortunately, the past weekend did not go so well for me. I had a strong swim, a strong bike (despite what the results say I biked a 2:27:01 - explained below) and then fell apart on the run. Rather than dissect the race in detail I have listed all the things that I learned below:
1. It is not a wise decision to race an Olympic distance in another time zone, 7 days prior to a key race. I did LOVE the OC triathlon last weekend, but the legs had not fully recovered for Eagleman. However, I'm sure I got a good training stimulus so all was not lost!
2. I should not drive 11 hours straight 2 days before a half-ironman event. It is one thing to be the passenger when you go for a long drive - you can put your feet up, sleep, etc., but quite another to be the driver...During the drive I got calf cramps, hamstring cramps, witnessed a jack knifed car two ahead of me on the highway and then there was the fact that I was afraid to hydrate because I didn't want to pee every 5 minutes!
3. While racing, the next time I catch up to a group of girls on the bike, I have to find the energy to pass all of them to avoid getting a drafting penalty. Yup, the extra 4 minutes tacked onto my bike split was because I was called for drafting. From my point of view: I caught up to a group of girls on the bike, and then went to pass them, but biked too hard to pass the first two and then didn't have the legs to pass the rest. I thought that I was still the legal distance from the girl in front of me so I tucked in. Wrong thing to do. Ref gave me a red card :( At least I've learned!! I did try to make the most of it and stay positive about the situation, but I was deflated. I spent the rest of the race about 30s to a minute back of the pack, keeping them in my sights but not taking any chances.
4. Sleep is important! The week before my race I neglected the most important part of a taper: SLEEP. I took the red eye home from LA on Sunday night, then had long days where I didn't get home till after 8pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then a short sleep on Thursday so I could wake up early on Friday to start my drive. THAT was a recipe for disaster in itself. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!
Now, it wasn't ALL negative and there were definitely some highlights of the race: 1. I nailed my NUTRITION plan for the first time ever! Thanks to eLoad, zone caps and eGels I was well fuelled on race day and well hydrated - no cramping!
2. I posted my highest ever normalized power on the bike! Thanks to a combination of a good position and an awesome ride.
3. I didn't have burning feet and have to heel strike at all on the run. A constant source of frustration in all my long runs prior to this year.
4. I had SUPER FAST transitions!
5. Most importantly, it was another chance to do what I love most! I race because I love it, not because I love to win. If I can win then it's an added bonus.
I would like to again thank all of my supporters. Firstly, the family I stayed with in Cambridge was amazing - I was so comfy and they were so kind! And of course, my parents, who were able to make it down for the race. Especially my sponsors: Turner-Tomenson Wealth Management and Raymond James Financial continue to make my life as a Pro triathlete possible, Scott Judges at Fitt1st, Bill Wells (Chiro) at Urban Athlete, Brad Wilson (RMT), all my equipment sponsors: Quintana Roo, ISM Saddles, Gray wheels, Rudy Project, Karhu Running Shoes, eLoad sports nutrition, IBB Cyclery in Utah, The Bike Zone in Toronto, Swiftwick socks, Suunto (love my multisport GPS watch!), Perfect Fuel Chocolate (best recovery food, ever!), Funkita/Funky Trunks swim wear, SRM for my power, Champion System for the most amazingly comfortable race kit, X-1 Audio for allowing me to train to music!!! Oh, and again, THANK YOU SO MUCH Peter Karmaszin for letting me borrow your front wheel for the race! I do now have my new front GRAY wheel to debut the next time I race :)
1. It is not a wise decision to race an Olympic distance in another time zone, 7 days prior to a key race. I did LOVE the OC triathlon last weekend, but the legs had not fully recovered for Eagleman. However, I'm sure I got a good training stimulus so all was not lost!
2. I should not drive 11 hours straight 2 days before a half-ironman event. It is one thing to be the passenger when you go for a long drive - you can put your feet up, sleep, etc., but quite another to be the driver...During the drive I got calf cramps, hamstring cramps, witnessed a jack knifed car two ahead of me on the highway and then there was the fact that I was afraid to hydrate because I didn't want to pee every 5 minutes!
3. While racing, the next time I catch up to a group of girls on the bike, I have to find the energy to pass all of them to avoid getting a drafting penalty. Yup, the extra 4 minutes tacked onto my bike split was because I was called for drafting. From my point of view: I caught up to a group of girls on the bike, and then went to pass them, but biked too hard to pass the first two and then didn't have the legs to pass the rest. I thought that I was still the legal distance from the girl in front of me so I tucked in. Wrong thing to do. Ref gave me a red card :( At least I've learned!! I did try to make the most of it and stay positive about the situation, but I was deflated. I spent the rest of the race about 30s to a minute back of the pack, keeping them in my sights but not taking any chances.
4. Sleep is important! The week before my race I neglected the most important part of a taper: SLEEP. I took the red eye home from LA on Sunday night, then had long days where I didn't get home till after 8pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then a short sleep on Thursday so I could wake up early on Friday to start my drive. THAT was a recipe for disaster in itself. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!
Now, it wasn't ALL negative and there were definitely some highlights of the race: 1. I nailed my NUTRITION plan for the first time ever! Thanks to eLoad, zone caps and eGels I was well fuelled on race day and well hydrated - no cramping!
2. I posted my highest ever normalized power on the bike! Thanks to a combination of a good position and an awesome ride.
3. I didn't have burning feet and have to heel strike at all on the run. A constant source of frustration in all my long runs prior to this year.
4. I had SUPER FAST transitions!
5. Most importantly, it was another chance to do what I love most! I race because I love it, not because I love to win. If I can win then it's an added bonus.
I would like to again thank all of my supporters. Firstly, the family I stayed with in Cambridge was amazing - I was so comfy and they were so kind! And of course, my parents, who were able to make it down for the race. Especially my sponsors: Turner-Tomenson Wealth Management and Raymond James Financial continue to make my life as a Pro triathlete possible, Scott Judges at Fitt1st, Bill Wells (Chiro) at Urban Athlete, Brad Wilson (RMT), all my equipment sponsors: Quintana Roo, ISM Saddles, Gray wheels, Rudy Project, Karhu Running Shoes, eLoad sports nutrition, IBB Cyclery in Utah, The Bike Zone in Toronto, Swiftwick socks, Suunto (love my multisport GPS watch!), Perfect Fuel Chocolate (best recovery food, ever!), Funkita/Funky Trunks swim wear, SRM for my power, Champion System for the most amazingly comfortable race kit, X-1 Audio for allowing me to train to music!!! Oh, and again, THANK YOU SO MUCH Peter Karmaszin for letting me borrow your front wheel for the race! I do now have my new front GRAY wheel to debut the next time I race :)
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Race Report: Orange County Tri Series Olympic Distance Triathlon
Orange County, California - what a great location for a race! I arrived here on Thursday afternoon and I know that I could live here. The roads are just made for cyclists, the outdoor pools are GORGEOUS and the running is perfect. Rather than go in to too much detail about the pre-race events, I thought I would highlight my top 5 pre-race events:
5. Thai food on Friday night!
4. Seeing the Oakley Headquarters
3. My set of 9x400 in the pool on Friday. Not really a taper swim, huh?
2. The king size bed and fluffy pillows in my hotel room
1. Meeting the awesome owner of One Capital, Don and his wife, Teresa, and their friends Tim and Marty (Thanks for making me feel like family!)
Now...the race report:
WARM-UP: At around 6:30am the entire swim course was in a FOG! You literally couldn't even see the first swim buoy. Of course, I had spent the night before defogging my mirrored swim goggles. Haha - wouldn't even be using them! I did a quick round of swim tubing exercises to warm-up. **special note to the athletes I coach - see, the coach does her swim tubing! why don't you!?! ;)** Then I got in the water for my in-water warmup that included about 20 minutes of easy swimming with a few pickups of about 40 strokes hard. The water was the perfect temperature (around 76F) and I was feeling half decent. I had lots of energy for the event ahead!
SWIM: It was a beach start and I was only one of 2 Elite females starting amongst a HUGE group of men in the first wave. Talk about intimidating!!! However, I put on my *be tough* face and started in the most aggressive position. Closest to the first buoy (we could see it slightly, by now) and closest to the water. The horn went and I ran as fast as I could into the water, determined not to get toppled by the big men (luckily male triathletes are usually not that 'big'). I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get sucked into the washing machine that is typically a swim start. I had my own water and a good view of a pack ahead that I was going to catch. And catch I did. I swam my super hardest for about 200m and caught a very nice pair of feet - which I drafted off of the rest of the way. Not that I was swimming easy! I was still working hard to stay on those feet and even a moment of daydreaming and I would find myself scrambling to catch them again. I was pleasantly surprised to exit the water in 18:40 (a new PB for a 1500m swim).
T1: Uneventful and all uphill...don't need to say much more! :)
BIKE: I started out on the ride (the first 10km are uphill) feeling great. I had brief moments where I thought I might be superwoman. I passed a male athlete within the first few kms, I was holding power in the 250s, I felt like I was just cruising along...Reality struck at the 6th km though and my legs got heavy. I realized, no, I am just Miranda and I can't hold Zone 5 for an entire 40km ride and I should probably not try! I still had a super fun ride. Well, other than the fact that my SRM cadence magnet was barely stuck on the frame (it fell off in the morning and I had to scramble to get it back on). So, every bump I had to look down and make sure it was still there. It stayed on the whole way, thank you sticky tack! I also wanted to note that, even on the hilly course, I found I was rarely ever out of aero position (a combination of being on an awesome Quintana Roo bike, having an awesome Xlab aero drink system filled with my eLoad and Zone caps, my Rotor QXL rings and being perfectly fit by Scott Judges, and the fact that I wanted to look good for the camera which was filming me as I rode - cool!). There was a small section of the course near the turnaround that was super bumpy, with lots of debris on the road, which I don't like as a hesitant cyclist. After that was over it was super fast back into T2. Before I knew it I was at the dismount line. Literally, that line came up way too fast and I nearly went over the handlebars! I'm sorry to the volunteers that I scared. I finished the ride in 1:07:22, which is another PB for this distance.
T2: Smooth (thanks to my Xtenex speed laces) and uneventful. Oh, but my feet were numb (I really need to get men's cycling shoes to fit my SUPER wide feet).
RUN: I started out on the run feeling half decent, but not great. My feet were still numb from the ride and that made it hard to find a rhythm. The first 3.5km were a net downhill though so that was a nice way for the run to start. I was also passing a number of people from the duathlon (who had started before us) so that gave me some momentum. By the end of this section my pace was solid at 3:50/km and my feet had finally started feeling normal. However, the next 3.5km were on hilly trails including wood chips and loose dirt. Most people loved this and said if reminded them of their cross country days, but I never did cross country and I was very bad at running through the stuff! Finally, at the 7km mark we were back on the pavement and I started to feel my best. I finally felt warmed up by this point and ready to go. My last 1km split was a 3'36 for a final 10K time of 39:47! If only the race had kept going :)
All in all I am very pleased with the race. Not just my performance, but the course itself, the race director - Scott Davis of P5 Racing, the lead sponsor - One Capital, the volunteers, the weather, the location, the awards (I got a HUGE bear!), the post-race food (I ate way too many cranberry oatmeal cookies!), the camera crew (look for me on TV in a few weeks!), the spectators and the other racers! What a spectacular event. I hope to be back.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me! Especially my sponsors: One Capital who invited me to this event, Turner-Tomenson Wealth Management and Raymond James Financial continue to make my life as a Pro triathlete possible, Scott Judges at Fitt1st, Bill Wells (Chiro) at Urban Athlete, Brad Wilson (RMT), all my equipment sponsors: Quintana Roo, ISM Saddles, Gray wheels, Rudy Project, Karhu Running Shoes, eLoad sports nutrition, IBB Cyclery in Utah, The Bike Zone in Toronto, Swiftwick socks, Suunto (love my multisport GPS watch!), Perfect Fuel Chocolate (best recovery food, ever!), Funkita/Funky Trunks swim wear, SRM for my power, Champion System for the most amazingly comfortable race kit, X-1 Audio for allowing me to train to music!!! Oh, and THANK YOU SO MUCH Peter Karmaszin for letting me borrow your front wheel last minute for the race!
More pictures:
5. Thai food on Friday night!
4. Seeing the Oakley Headquarters
3. My set of 9x400 in the pool on Friday. Not really a taper swim, huh?
1. Meeting the awesome owner of One Capital, Don and his wife, Teresa, and their friends Tim and Marty (Thanks for making me feel like family!)
Now...the race report:
WARM-UP: At around 6:30am the entire swim course was in a FOG! You literally couldn't even see the first swim buoy. Of course, I had spent the night before defogging my mirrored swim goggles. Haha - wouldn't even be using them! I did a quick round of swim tubing exercises to warm-up. **special note to the athletes I coach - see, the coach does her swim tubing! why don't you!?! ;)** Then I got in the water for my in-water warmup that included about 20 minutes of easy swimming with a few pickups of about 40 strokes hard. The water was the perfect temperature (around 76F) and I was feeling half decent. I had lots of energy for the event ahead!
T1: Uneventful and all uphill...don't need to say much more! :)
BIKE: I started out on the ride (the first 10km are uphill) feeling great. I had brief moments where I thought I might be superwoman. I passed a male athlete within the first few kms, I was holding power in the 250s, I felt like I was just cruising along...Reality struck at the 6th km though and my legs got heavy. I realized, no, I am just Miranda and I can't hold Zone 5 for an entire 40km ride and I should probably not try! I still had a super fun ride. Well, other than the fact that my SRM cadence magnet was barely stuck on the frame (it fell off in the morning and I had to scramble to get it back on). So, every bump I had to look down and make sure it was still there. It stayed on the whole way, thank you sticky tack! I also wanted to note that, even on the hilly course, I found I was rarely ever out of aero position (a combination of being on an awesome Quintana Roo bike, having an awesome Xlab aero drink system filled with my eLoad and Zone caps, my Rotor QXL rings and being perfectly fit by Scott Judges, and the fact that I wanted to look good for the camera which was filming me as I rode - cool!). There was a small section of the course near the turnaround that was super bumpy, with lots of debris on the road, which I don't like as a hesitant cyclist. After that was over it was super fast back into T2. Before I knew it I was at the dismount line. Literally, that line came up way too fast and I nearly went over the handlebars! I'm sorry to the volunteers that I scared. I finished the ride in 1:07:22, which is another PB for this distance.
T2: Smooth (thanks to my Xtenex speed laces) and uneventful. Oh, but my feet were numb (I really need to get men's cycling shoes to fit my SUPER wide feet).
RUN: I started out on the run feeling half decent, but not great. My feet were still numb from the ride and that made it hard to find a rhythm. The first 3.5km were a net downhill though so that was a nice way for the run to start. I was also passing a number of people from the duathlon (who had started before us) so that gave me some momentum. By the end of this section my pace was solid at 3:50/km and my feet had finally started feeling normal. However, the next 3.5km were on hilly trails including wood chips and loose dirt. Most people loved this and said if reminded them of their cross country days, but I never did cross country and I was very bad at running through the stuff! Finally, at the 7km mark we were back on the pavement and I started to feel my best. I finally felt warmed up by this point and ready to go. My last 1km split was a 3'36 for a final 10K time of 39:47! If only the race had kept going :)
All in all I am very pleased with the race. Not just my performance, but the course itself, the race director - Scott Davis of P5 Racing, the lead sponsor - One Capital, the volunteers, the weather, the location, the awards (I got a HUGE bear!), the post-race food (I ate way too many cranberry oatmeal cookies!), the camera crew (look for me on TV in a few weeks!), the spectators and the other racers! What a spectacular event. I hope to be back.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me! Especially my sponsors: One Capital who invited me to this event, Turner-Tomenson Wealth Management and Raymond James Financial continue to make my life as a Pro triathlete possible, Scott Judges at Fitt1st, Bill Wells (Chiro) at Urban Athlete, Brad Wilson (RMT), all my equipment sponsors: Quintana Roo, ISM Saddles, Gray wheels, Rudy Project, Karhu Running Shoes, eLoad sports nutrition, IBB Cyclery in Utah, The Bike Zone in Toronto, Swiftwick socks, Suunto (love my multisport GPS watch!), Perfect Fuel Chocolate (best recovery food, ever!), Funkita/Funky Trunks swim wear, SRM for my power, Champion System for the most amazingly comfortable race kit, X-1 Audio for allowing me to train to music!!! Oh, and THANK YOU SO MUCH Peter Karmaszin for letting me borrow your front wheel last minute for the race!
More pictures:
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