Athens Classic Marathon, Athens Greece - 11/7/04

Overall Time - 4:38
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/AthensMarathon/photo#s5118339197782905666

My mother, father & myself arrived in Greece on Thursday afternoon, picked up packets on Friday morning, toured the Acropolis on Saturday, raced Sunday. The marathon was good & weather was about perfect. Definitely not a race I wanted to DNF, as going back next year isn't quite that feasible.... Got to the start in Marathon and was quite bummed that the little digital camera I'd gotten for a birthday present earlier in the year, specifically to take pics during this race crapped out on me (darn 220 voltage) - oh well. An extra useless 4 oz. to carry w. me.

I was undertrained, but this race was all about the destination and getting the medal - not about my finishing time. Surprisingly, I still ended up w. a 4:38, which although my slowest stand-alone marathon out of three, only 10 minutes off a PR. So, I was really pleased & surprised! My chronic ankle injury flared up, but I knew it would - no big deal. Suck it up & keep moving forward. Thanks to Kathy Matejka, I knew about the hills and had a plan to walk them & I stuck to my plan. Pretty wild to be on the course and recognize many parts from the Olympic TV coverage earlier in the year. The finish in the gorgeous, ancient stadium with the Olympic rings in the background was really thrilling!

Even better, my mom had run the 10K (run in conjunction with the marathon) earlier in the day. First time she'd ever run that far and had a time of 1:21 - significantly ahead of her planned 2:00. She was there to welcome me across the finish line w. her medal on & beaming! I was more excited for her to have raced than for myself. Both really glad to have finished well, gotten the medals and once again, my dad came through as Sherpa-extraordinaire!

Thanks for reading,
Katie - Drowning in Dallas

Stonebridge Ranch Olympic RR - 10/3/04

Executive Summary:
Swim: 33:27.30
T1: 2:08
Bike: 1:10:33.00 (21.14 mph)
T2: 0:56.60
Run: 48:33.25 (7:49 min/mile)
Total: 2:35:39.00 (PR by 1:01)
1st Athena (out of 1 - hehe)
3rd Female Overall
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/Stonebridge04/photo#s5118327605666173682

Long Version:
This was a new race run by Michelle Boyer & three other race directors in McKinney, TX (35 mi. north of Dallas) and a location that I've never raced in before. Loaded up the car about 5:30, arrived, parked, got set up and all were uneventful. It was nice when the sun finally started to come out about 7 and provided a bit of light. My racing/training buddies Todd & Cari were racing the Sprint & I was racing the Olympic (hardware shopping & also needed a longer workout than the Sprint, as have a marathon in a month).

The Sprint went off in three waves first with Todd in the first & Cari in the second. Todd came out of the water not too far behind the leaders and Cari was the second female out (by 2 seconds), right on Todd's tail. It was nice that my wave hadn't headed to the water, so got to cheer them on. Finally, the all female Oly wave gets together & I look around... I state to the rest of the women, if we were all different ages - we would each be guaranteed a medal - there couldn't have been more than 30 females in the entire race! Water temp. was about 74, so I had on my wetsuit. Get in the water (deep-water start) and it wasn't too cold... Swam a couple strokes & off goes the air horn. Had a good feel in the water, but trouble getting my bearings and had to stop quite a few times to verify I was still on-line. The turn buoys were a bit smaller than I'd like, but otherwise, had open water most of the time and the swim was uneventful (although probably a bit long).

Onto the bike & immediately realized I'd forgotten my arm warmers. Oops, but w.in 5 min. I wasn't cold. Also w.in those first 5 minutes, I knew my legs were very tired from the Half IM last weekend and the 5 mile run I'd done the day before... But, by about the 10 mile point I think they'd gone numb or my brain just stopped listening to the constant screaming from my muscles. Bike was rolling, much like KC the week before & I think I had the fastest female bike split :)

On to the run which is two loops of the sprint run course... Since I've been doing triathlons, I've worked hard on my run, although I don't think it shows as much as my improvement on the bike. I decide I'm going to go out fast & hang on as long as I can. I think I was the 3rd place female out of the water and know I passed one female on the bike, so should be 2nd overall going into the run. But, I know my friend Julie is about 3 minutes behind me and Tanisha is about 3 minutes behind her. As I start out on my second loop, Todd & Cari are there to cheer me on & Ahmed (another friend & Race Director) let me know I'm about 30 seconds back from the leader (but I think that was actually the 2nd place female & I was in 3rd). Anyway, Julie catches me at about mile 3.5 and off she goes. Eventually, I catch the female who was 30 seconds in front of me and am able to hold Tanisha off by about 30 seconds. I think the run was short, as my best pace ever was 7:59 at a sprint in August and here I averaged 7:49.

Overall, a great race on a good course and free beer afterwards (although we had to wait until noon - that kinda stunk). I think my overall time was about right as the long swim & short run offset each other. Got a nice beer glass w. the Race Logo on it & a $25 gift certificate to local running store for 1st Athena!

Katie

PS - Todd & Cari both got hardware in the Sprint too! It was a good day all around!

US Half Championship RR - 9/26/04

Executive Summary (PR by ~8 minutes - Big Surprise):
Swim: 37:50.64
T1: 2:10.61
Bike: 2:50:11.42 (19.7 mph)
T2: 1:40.36
Run: 2:08:40.68 (9:49 min/mile)
Total: 5:40:33.71
Athena: 2/6
AG: 9/?
Overall: 167
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/USHalf04/photo#s5118323886224494946

Long Version:
This race was all about hooking up w. my college basketball buddy, Ellen... Ellen lives in Milwaukee and we raced Dairyland/Spirit of Racine in 2003 as her first half IM and she raced it this year (2nd Athena) to qualify for the US Half. I was disappointed that I couldn't go up and race it again this year, but Coach Debi adamantly said NO (party-crasher coach).

Ellen didn't even know she'd qualified for this race until I told her & then she was pretty excited about it. Looking into it a bit more, realized that I'd qualified on time at Buffalo Springs (not that anyone couldn't have gotten in w. a general entry) and that Kansas City was about 550 miles away from Dallas & the same distance from Milwaukee. In addition, since Missouri is a state I've yet to race in (only about 34 states left), it was a go for both of us. Oh yeah, did I mention that I was four weeks into IMC recovery, so wasn't expecting anything fabulous from my body!

Headed out of town on Thursday at lunch for the long drive (not my most favorite way to spend my birthday). After an uneventful drive, w. lots of cell phone calls to catch up w. friends all over the country to keep me occupied, I arrived in KC about 9 pm to Ellen already at the hotel w. birthday cupcakes - yum!

Friday morning we slept in & hit packet pickup about 11. I called CLM and hoped to meet up w. her at packet pick-up, but no luck. Ellen & I met up w. another Dallas friend (Tanisha) and we rode the run course, we thought. Actually, we were lost and didn't even know it. Tanisha & I met Ellen running & she told us the right way to go - which looked MUCH more like the map than where we'd been :) Checked in my bike, went for a quick swim, w.out wetsuits - it was chilly, but not too bad. Knew it'd be wetsuit legal for race day though! We grabbed some lunch w. a couple beers, attended the prerace meeting then drove some of the bike course and realized it was a LOT more rolling than I'd anticipated, but nothing I couldn't handle. Headed back to the hotel, hit the hot tub for a few minutes, ordered pasta delivery, glass of wine w. 3 Tylenol PMs and was drifting off by 8:30.

Woke up about 5 AM, ate two packets of instant oatmeal, grabbed our crap & headed out by 5:45. Hit the race site by 6:15 and got set up. By chance, I saw someone who looked vaguely familiar in a Golden Gate Jersey coming out of the little blue room - took a chance & yelled "Cathy". Yep, it was her! We only chatted for a few minutes - but enough time to say we've met & to wish each other luck! Apparently it worked - CLM had a great race!

I was in the last wave of three (first: full IM, second: under 39 men, third: everybody else - the biggest). The swim was uneventful. Had a good bit of open water and tried to draft of a few different pair of feet, but just couldn't hang out back there in all those bubbles. Out of the water & noticed Ellen's bike was still in the rack - hhmm, that was a nice surprise. I thought Tanisha's was gone, but later learned it wasn't. Based on my 1:17 swim at IMC, 38 minutes here was exactly where I figured I'd be. Swim: 37:50.64

T1: 2:10.61 - not speedy, but not bad.

The bike was fun. Lots of rollers and no time to slack. Ellen passed me just before the half-way turnaround. I knew I should have a better run leg than her, but didn't want to giver her too much on the bike, so I tried to keep her in sight. Had a great time out there and met a guy wearing Richardson Bike Mart gear (RBM is our LBS). We jockeyed & joked a bit, but eventually I was able to drop him about 45 and all the while maintained my distance of about 1/2 mile behind Ellen. Off the bike at 2:50:11.42 (19.7 mph).

T2: 1:40.36 I think Ellen was pretty surprised when I showed up in transition right behind her... I had a pretty quick T2 and was out of there ahead of her.

There was no shade on the run, but it wasn't that hot (hello - I train in Texas). The run consisted of an out & back that you repeated twice. About 1/2 mi. from T2 we had to run on a utility trail that was rip-rock (large gravel). This wasn't good for me, as my feet are VERY tender (it REALLY sucked when I came back across this fourth time at mile 12.5). The rest of the run had a section across a dam and also some rollers and reminded me a bit of the Buffalo Springs run in Lubbock. Just like that race, I walked most of the uphills and ran the rest - walking the water stops. Had to stop at about mile 2 to vaseline my feel and again at mile 4.5 for a potty break. Otherwise, the volunteers were fabulous, the racers were friendly and it was all about continuing forward movement. I'd say the only "bad" thing about the whole race was that at about mile 1.5 (which was also mile 5.5, 7 and 12.5) there was a skunk roadkill - with the heat of the day, skunk smell and rotting flesh - it was nasty! Would have been really nice if someone associated w. the race would have shoveled it off the road.... Other than that - saw Tanisha, Ellen, RBM guy and another Dallas friend (Ahmed) on the run several times & that was pretty cool. I thought Tanisha was going to catch me, but held her off by about 30 seconds. Run: 2:08:40.68 (9:49 min/mile).

Total: 5:40:33.71

This was a good venue w. a smooth swim, challenging bike and run. Volunteers were great and all the aid stations were well stocked. I'd give it a B+ and definitely consider racing it again. We had a great post-race dinner with Tanisha & her guy-friend - what a blast!

Thanks for reading,
Kate

PS - Ellen finished 4th Athena, Tanisha 4th AG, Ahmed 1st Clyde 40+. I hope I didn't sound as if I wanted to trounce Ellen, but we both discussed the fact that coming into this race it was each of our goals to beat each other. It's great to have a healthy competition with friends - I know I would've slacked off on the bike if Ellen had been there to push me!

Ironman Canada RR - 8/29/04

Another Ironman has come and gone. Yes, I've got the post-IM blues, but something odd happened this year - I got the pre-IM blues too. Not really sure why, but likely just sad to see the training year coming to a close and none of my training partners will be going long next year, so kind of the end of an era for me. I guess training for IM Lake Placid '05 will be interesting...
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/IMCanada04/photo#s5118320776668172290

Anyway, on the race report.

A group of six of us out of Dallas had signed up for this race together last year (thanks to Todd & Mary flying up). It was to be Brian's first IM (he's already signed up for IMCDA next year too). Since signing up, Mary & Brian moved to Denver, Kym got a new job, Cari had hip surgery and Todd became gainfully employed (thank God)... But, we all still made it to Canada, ready to race and had rented two houses for our stay. One house for Todd, Brian, Mary, Cari (and her Ironman Sherpa Hubby - JP) & me and the other house for Kym and her family. My parents were also to be there as my Ironman Sherpas, but about a month before the race, my father become ill w. numb feet and loss of balance and what was then diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder (transverse myelitis) and they decided that a four day drive out of the country wasn't the best decision. Needless to say, I was disappointed, but never questioned that they made the right choice.

So, Todd and I head out of Dallas on Wednesday afternoon for our flights to Seattle and then into Kelowna. Since we both flew on miles, we'd upgraded to First Class... By the time we boarded our Kelowna flight - we were both smashed - woo hoo! Way to start out the vacation on the right foot! Got through immigration, picked up the car & arrived at our Kelona hotel around midnight local time. Due to our prior alcohol consumption, we determined that this was the perfect time to order a couple patty-melts w. fries. Finally crawled into bed about 2 AM (that's 4 AM Dallas time)....

Needless to say, we did NOT make the 7AM swim w. the TRI-DRS group on Thursday morning. Outta the hotel, stopped by Wal-mart for road-trip necessities (water, Pringles, Twizzlers, Gatorade) and headed to Penticton to check into the houses. Picked up the house keys, put bikes together, went to packet pick-up and settled in while we waited on the rest of the gang to show up. Todd drove me out to Yellow Lake to get me good and freaked out about the hills, but it wasn't THAT bad. The rest of the gang arrived safely that afternoon, Todd & I went to Earl's for the TRI-DRS dinner and by the time we got home, the rest had all their bikes assembled and ready to roll that night before bed. Hooking up w. all the TRI-DRSers was great - there at least 30 of us? Finally got to meet many of the infamous members (Mike Peerless included) and Mike Plumb and TriChickie and Haim, and David Jones and Sheila and Eric and Lee and Art and a bunch of others that I didn't get to see the rest of the trip, so was REALLY glad we hooked up that night at dinner. Special thanks to Lee for the CD and notes in T1 & T2 bags and also to Tony for the kind words in the card.

Side-note: I have to mention my packet pick-up experience. I love the volunteers, but.... As I get weighed in (all IM participants get weighed, not just the Clydes), my volunteer doesn't have a pen to write my weight on my card and tells me to see Herb, at the table. I tell Herb my weight, he writes it down, looks me dead in the eye and says "You need to lose weight!" I told him that I was well aware of that fact, but there was little I could do about it between now and Sunday. You could have knocked me over w. a feather. Granted, I am an Athena, but that was just plain RUDE! Despite my Herb experience, the rest of the volunteers and spectators for this race were awesome!

Friday, we swim early and then go for a ride on the run course to check the working condition of the bikes - all good. Decide to skip the pasta dinner and have our own little bar-b-cue at the house. Couple glasses of red wine w. my steak, two Tylenol PMs and I got a great night's sleep.

Saturday, another early swim and then ride our bikes to town to check them in w. IronSherpa JP in the van carrying our T1 and T2 bags. Worked out great. IronSherpa JP decided to rent a scooter for the race, so we picked that up after getting our bikes & bags checked in. We also put up signs and chalked the run and bike courses. It was a long day, but a good chance for me to view the courses and also seeing that chalk and those signs during the race really did give me a pick-me-up! (For those of you who were there - the yellow signs were ours). Arrived back at the house just in time for our pasta dinner. Ate, checked the special needs bags for the zillionth time and hit the sack. Woke up during the night to the sound of rain... Beat myself up (mentally) for about an hour when I realized that I'd double bagged my T2 bag, but not my T1 bag, so my bike shoes & helmet would likely be soaked. Eventually, fell back to sleep until about 4 and then got on w. the day...

Sunday - I ate my two packets of pre-race oatmeal (despite Todd's repeated attempts to get me to throw it up all over the family room floor - which was MUCH closer to actually occurring than he ever realized). The five of us racing loaded up into the two mini-vans and JP headed off on the scooter. Key move, when we rented the scooter, we found out we could park there - woohoo - didn't leave the house until 5:15 or so and had a decent parking spot! Body marked, dropped off special needs bags, checked T1 & T2 bags - both were dry - yea, pumped tires, applied sunscreen, drank a bit of Gatorade, into wetsuit, ate PB&J and hit the beach! Bob Mina was SO right, the bagpipes, Oh Canada, the cannon - it was awesome! What a FABULOUS day for a race - exactly the weather I ordered!! Announcer is telling stragglers to get to the water (apparently some were still on Lakeshore Drive) and BOOM - the cannon goes off. Cari, Todd, Kym, Brian, Mary and I start wading into the water and eventually start to swim. I did very little swimming in my training (much to Coach Debi's chagrin), as I am a natural swimmer and figured w.out much practice, would still be out of the water in 1:20 or so. I never found any feet to draft of, but no complaints, since I had open water almost the whole time. Didn't work too hard during the swim and out of the water in 1:17 - right on plan! (Ave. HR 118).

T1 - Mary hit the change tent just after me, so we chatted and therefore my T1 time was just a bit longer (5:41) than my goal of under 5:00 - but worth it to see a friendly face.

Bike - I head out and before McLean Creek both Mike Peerless and Mary pass me. I keep reminding myself to restrain myself until after Richter. Going into Oliver, I see a guy who's crashed (rumor had it he hit a deer, but that was false) and the ambulance is headed towards him. Poor guy... IronSherpa JP (on the scooter) just about got me a penalty here for motor-pacing, but I yelled at him to GO! Thankfully, the officials zipping up behind us heard me yelling at him. I knew that it would be way too easy to push it in this section and then end up regretting it later - so I took it easy, ate my PB&J and waited to reach Richter. Richter was long, but because I'm a wuss on hills and had my 27 cassette on, it was manageable. The post-Richter downhills (Honk-honk Clydesdale coming thru), were well worth the climb up it. Ate my second PB&J, stopped for a porta-potty and hit the out and back for special needs. I had hoped to catch Mary and Cari here, but see them coming out just as I'm heading into the turnaround (probably 1/2 - 1 mile difference). I skip my special needs bag as I don't need anything (but my seat would have liked a break off that saddle). Eventually, I catch Mary (before the bear fruit stand I think) and then get Cari right before going up Yellow Lake. The crowds along Yellow Lake were the huge and loud and the best I've had in a race and I really appreciated it. I maybe could have made it up this with a 25, but sure was glad to have my 27 to bail to! Again, the post-Yellow Lake downhills were fast and although my life flashed before my eyes a few times, I came out of it w.out crashing! Bike: 6:09:33 (18.2 MPH, Ave. HR 133).

T2 - Uneventful. Changed shoes, grabbed hat, gu and salt tabs. 4:52

Run - Felt good for first mile - a little too good as split was 8:25 - WAY too fast for me! Settled in to a more reasonable 10-11 min/mile pace and just kept on moving. Stopped about mile 6, took a volunteer's chair to remove shoes & socks, dusted sand/grass off feet, shook out socks and totally vaselined my feet. BEST move I made on the run. Continued w. my plan of run to each water stop until I hit the hills near the turnaround. Those were bigger hills than I'd trained for - so did quite a bit of walking here. I recall Al calling my name about mile 12, but didn't know who it was at the time - thanks Al!! Just before I got to special needs saw another prior Dallasite, David Crawford - IM Virgin coming at me - he was having a great race - especially for his first IM! Skipped special needs and saw Cari coming about 1/2 mile back after the turnaround and Mary not too far behind her. Yikes - I'd better get moving. I stuck mainly to plan of running from water stop to water stop (except for walking the uphills) and every time I stopped, I'd work out my ankle (sore from about mile 9 on) look back down the road to see if Cari and/or Mary were in sight yet. Really good motivators :) I saw Todd, Brian and Kym out there too - all looking good and happy to be in the last leg of the race. Once I hit Main Street, IronSherpa JP told me I had a decent lead on Cari & Mary. I asked if that meant I could walk in the last three miles - he didn't think so. Finally hit the tease of Lakeshore (w. the finish a block away in the direction I am NOT going)... Crowds were great, weather was great, definitely a personal high for that last mile. Gave a high five both Cari and Mary as we were going in opposite directions & it was only then that I knew I'd be the first one in our group to cross the line. Run: 4:50 (11:04 min/mile, Ave. HR 140).

Total Time: 12:27:23 (PR by 47 minutes over IMCDA last year)

Athena: 2/18 (Cari took third).

AG: 41/134

I met my primary goal of a bettering my time from IMCDA and my secondary goal of under 13 hours and even my tertiary goal of beating Cari (she beat me last year at IMCDA). This was a great race and I will likely do it again someday. The venue is beautiful with the whole town really supportive of the entire event. Thank you to all who have trained with and supported me - I spent a lot of time on a long race day thinking of you. I also spent a lot of time that day appreciating the scenery, the fans and how lucky I am to be able to participate in an event of this magnitude. I am definitely stronger and hopefully a better person because of it.

Katie

PS - You have a lot of endurance potential if you read this whole thing :)

River Cities Sprint RR - 8/1/04

Quick and Dirty Summary:
Overall - 190
Athena - 1/24
Swim - 15:51
T1 - 2:15
Bike - 49:44 (22.4 mph)
T2 - 1:53
Run - 24:45 (7:59 min/mile) - 5K PR, first time ever under 8 min. miles
Total Time - 1:34:27
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/RiverCities04/photo#s5118316516060614370

Longer Version:
Got up about 5:30, drank some coffee & ate my PowerBar. Rolled into to the race site around 6:30 had transition set-up and a quick run in by 7:15 or so. Quick warm-up in the really, icky, nasty, rusty water and then waited around for my wave at 8:24 (third to last wave). Went all out on the swim and was happy with it (haven't swum much lately and not sure it really matters).

Out of the water, through long transition and onto the bike. I saw Cari, (IMC training partner and wanted to regain her Athena title at this race which I'd taken from her last year) in transition, so I knew I had a decent swim. Took me until Mile 9 on the bike to catch her and I was pushing the whole time. I could really feel the 40-mile bike that Todd & I had done the day before (oops). Continued to push the rest of the bike, thinking I'd have a good 1-2 minute lead on Cari, but I never looked back to check. Boy was I WRONG. I hit the dismount line and I'll be darned if she is RIGHT NEXT TO ME!! Crap!

I have a very long transition, literally down and then back the entire length of the transition area w. bike and in bike shoes. By the time I get out on the run, Cari is ahead of me again. I chase her down and passed her about 1/3 mile into the run. My HR is significantly lower than "normal" people's and my goal today was to keep it high - at least in the 150s. Pushed through the run w. my splits about 8:00 or so, stopped for water once (and choked on it) and tried to keep my eye on Cari, but really didn't know where she was... Saw and cheered on a bunch of people I knew on the run - this race is much like old-home week and one of my favorites just for that reason!

At the last mile marker, knew I could keep pushing the pace until the end (played the mental game of "anyone can do almost anything for just 8 minutes"). Crossed the finish & Cari was about 1:30 behind me. Woohoo. We congratulated each other, as we both had great races and really enjoy the healthy competition! 1st Athena for me & 2nd Athena for her. (She wasn't even mad about the so-called sabotage - but Todd will have to fill you in on that in his RR). Average HR on the run was 154 w. a max of 161 - one of my highest ever!

Good food & the many cups of Ultra beer for me afterwards made for a perfect day :)

Thanks for reading,
Katie

PS - The prizes were a set of stainless-steel barbecue tools. Different, but kinda cool...

Metroplex Sprint RR - 6/13/04

Short Version:
Decent Swim - 13:46.2
T1- 1:43
Windy Bike w. Tri Spokes - 44:44.7 (22.4 mph)
T2 - 0:55.6
Decent Run - 25:34.3 (8:12 pace)
Total 1:26:09.0
1st Athena

TRI NIGHTMARE REPORT
The real story of this race is how one of my worst triathlon nightmares
came true today, but it occurred to my training partner (Todd), not me.

The normal protocol for us when going to an in-town race is for a group of
four-five of us to meet up at Todd's house pre-race, pile into his Durango
(Todd's Triathlete Taxi), load the bikes on the roof and head off to the
race. Today, one of our group (Kym) had to leave right after the race, so
she took her own car, w. her bike in it and followed Todd. As the Durango
was going to be quite crowded today, I decided to ride down w. Kym in her
new BMW. We head off to the race site (about 40 min. away) and about 15
minutes into drive, I comment on how I much prefer being in the Durango,
where I can't see my bike riding on top of it.... Not 10 minutes later as
we are headed into the Zang Curve on I-35 at 70 mph a BIKE FLIES OFF THE
ROOF OF THE DURANGO! My heart is immediately racing and in my throat.
This was a sight that I don't think I will forget for as long as I live.
Luckily (?) at 5:30 AM there isn't much traffic, the bike doesn't hit Kym's
car and the few cars in the area swerve and eventually we both get pulled
over. I immediately knew it was Todd's bike, due to the position on the
Durango, which was now vacant, and also due to the flight of the bike.
Which, because it had his disk wheel on did not come crashing down
immediately onto the pavement, but more or less took flight. (If you've
ever thrown a golf club, you know that whoosh, whoosh, sound it makes -
that's exactly what I thought of as his bike was flying). Reportedly, as
soon as it ripped off the roof, Todd told those in the car that he knew it
was his bike.

Todd heads back to get the bike and carries it back to the Durango. It was
worse & better than I anticipated. The disk wheel had apparently been run
over and was dead. The bike itself (Cervelo tri-bike), including the front
fork (carbon) really did not look too bad. I was surprised. Todd throws
the remnants into the back without saying too much, we pile back into our
cars and continue on. How much must this suck for Todd, as he now has a
car full of athletes to take to a race, that he can't race (thankfully it
was a sprint and not anything a lot longer). Not to mention, we're racing
the 1/2 IM in Lubbock next week & he's got no idea what bike he'll be
riding.

I have to give Todd the Kudos here! This was a huge local race and most of
our Fit2Train teammates were there racing. Todd was very gracious about
this experience. I would have been completely freaked out! He cheered the
rest of us on and didn't brood (OK, I spent most of my time on the
race-course, not hanging out with him), but his spirits were better than
I'd expect. He waited for us to collect our hardware and then listened to
us chat about our splits, etc. and he drove us to eat after the race, just
like any other race day. Despite the insults, teasing, physical
challenges and just general crap we give each other and the rest of our
teammates, after his actions today I can once again say that I'm really
lucky to have Todd as a training partner and could only hope that should I
ever experience a triathlon nightmare, that I handle it as well he did.

Thanks for reading & I hope I wasn't too sappy,
Katie

PS - When I left Todd's house after we got back from the race, he already
had the bike up on the work stand and was checking it out.... Here's
hoping for the best!

America's Olympic Tri & Weekend RR - 5/31/04

Short Version:
Swim: 28:31
T1: 3:35
Bike: 1:09:01
T2: 2:18
Run: 53:17
Overall: 2:36:40 (PR by about 1:30)
Athena: 1/13 (would've been 2/67 AG)
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/CapTex04/photo#s5118310468746660850


Really Long Version:
The Weekend.
This race is really all about the weekend for me and not so much about the
race. My parents live in a retirement community in Georgetown, TX, about 45
min. north of the race site and for the past three years have offered up
their house as race central for this weekend.
Friday/Saturday - Myself and five other of my racing friends drove down to
the P's house on Friday night and rode a good 75 mile course I'd laid out on
Saturday morning as part of our IMC training. Then it was back to the house
for a lunch of brisket & beers. After a shower and quick nap, another six
racers showed up and we headed off to hit golf balls - that was sight -
seeing all of us youngsters/"flat-bellies" (my parents' term) headed off to
the driving range - I think we scared off a few of the residents... Dinner
consisted of the 14 of us chowing down on ribs, corn-on-the-cob (don't ask
about how to butter it), adult beverages, etc. Poker until midnight & my
parents headed to the neighbors house to sleep as there weren't enough
beds/aerobeds/couches to go around...
Sunday - 9 AM tee-time for nine of us, the rest hung out at home, or got in
some short bike miles. Golf was great - three threesomes, bloody marys, and
the losers had to cook dinner - which was pasta & lasagna back at the
parents house. Again, the Ps headed off to sleep at the neighbors and by 10
pm lights were out and the sea of airmattresses was quiet.

Race Day - 4:15 AM alarm was darn early! We left my parents' house at 4:45
AM and it was already 80 degrees & 100% humidity... It only got worse. Per
Kurt & Todd, heat index was 116 during the run - Ultra Hot!

I hadn't studied the swim course (rerouted since last year) well enough and
it seemed to go on forever. Had a poor swim (1:30 min. slower than last
year) and never found any feet to draft of. But, I was only passed by maybe
six people and I passed a lot - counted at least three different color caps
I caught up to. I fell climbing the steps into T1, but luckily didn't hurt
myself (just looked stupid). T1 was long - probably 1/4 mile from the time
you left the water to the bike mount.

The bike was four loops in downtown, technical, crowded and had some short
steep hills. I was very surprised that I was not penalized, although I
tried not draft, pass on the right and drop back when overtaken - there was
just no room... I was really pleased w. my bike time (21.5 mph) and could
tell I was having a good bike as I continued to put a bit of time between me
and one of my racing buddies (Cari) each time we passed on the loops. I
think I saw Todd on the bike twice & he looked to be okay (later I learned
he'd dropped a water bottle and was headed towards dehydration by the time
he got off the bike).

Finally, get to the run & while crossing one of the bridges I literally
thought I was going to spontaneously combust!! While starting my second
loop, I see Todd going the other way and know he's having issues. I finally
catch up to him about mile 4.5 (1.5 for him) and he starts picking it up. I
try to stay on him, but let him slip away. I finally catch him again just
before I turn into the finish shoot. Although I wanted to walk throughout
the run, I stuck w. my plan to make it to each aid station & only walk long
enough to drink. My run pace was 8:36/mi which is a huge improvement over
the 9:09/mi. I had here last year.

So needless to say, I was very pleased with the race and the whole weekend!
Special props to Debi, considering the heat, I really think that it was
proper training that led me to be able to perform through the
sufferfest/race yesterday!!

Most of all, my parents ROCK!! They support me, my friends, they cook and
clean and cheer and are just the best! I have no doubt that they enjoyed
every minute of the weekend too, but when me & 12 of my closest friends
finally left yesterday, I bet they weren't too upset to see us go :)

Thanks for reading all my ramblings,
Katie

Easter Hill Country Bike Rally Report - 4/10/04

Short Version:
Friday - 75 hilly miles - fabulous wildflowers
Saturday - 75 hilly miles (of planned 102)
Sunday - Off day due to rain (wuss)
Monday - Off day due to surprise Stars hockey tickets

Long Version:
I had initially planned to ride 71 miles on Friday (+ 30 min. run), 102 miles on Saturday and 41 miles on Sunday (+ 30 min. run). It was not as massive as planned, but good. Most importantly, I think I've got my saddle issues worked out and my legs felt great for the rides that I did do :)

Friday:
We ended up riding 75 (got lost in first mile - oops) & then running for 20 minutes afterwards and could've kept going - HR was good & no side stitches. Friday's ride was hilly and the wildflowers were awesome! Perfect day!

Saturday:
I'd planned on riding the 102 route, but knew bad weather was to roll in later in the day - so had some concerns (I don't ride in the rain, especially on hilly courses I'm not familiar with). My legs were a bit tired to start, but I kept ahead of my riding partner through the first 50 miles. Right about then, she hooked onto a group and they pulled her up to me and then I hooked on to the group too! That was nice and I was having no problems hanging on! The storm started to roll in about mile 65, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, the wind picked way up & I decided I'd sag it in at mile 85 (before it really hit & then I wouldn't be able to get a ride). We hung w. the group until at mile 75 when at a low water crossing I was going up the hill on the other side & dropped my chain. As I'm spinning my cranks madly, going nowhere fast uphill & there's a car behind me, I'm certain I'm going to just fall over in the middle of the road. But, I manage to get unclipped, not topple over & do not get hit by the car. The car goes around me & pulls over, I look up & it is my friend John. To me, this is a SIGN FROM GOD - so I load up my bike & jump in. We catch up to the group, who has now stopped and one of them is coming back to look for me. I let them know I'm sagging & also take their picture & thank them for the 20 mile pull!! Not 10 minutes later it starts to pour! I am SO glad I was in John's car - he's my Saint!! After the ride I hear the three people in that group flatted at mile 85. Then another flatted about a mile later. My riding partner got a sag in about then & upon unloading her bike from the sag vehicle realized she had a flat too - good thing she's sagged because at that point the group was out of tubes, CO2, etc. She'd have been walking her bike....

Sunday:
The storm that moved in on Saturday stuck around through Sunday - 45 degrees, 15 mph winds and rain. Had planned to ride 41 miles, but no riding for me! Instead we headed back to Dallas w. a stop at my parent's house for enchiladas & Easter candy - yum! So, Sunday was an unplanned off-day.

Monday:
Since I'd taken off Sunday, I knew I needed to get in a good run and swim on Monday after work. But, I got a phone call Monday morning with an offer for Suite/Box seats to the Stars/Avalanche game and...... whoops - two off days in a row!! WOOHOO!!

Happy Training,
Kate

Du-2-Du Long Course RR - 4/4/04

Short & Sweet Version:
5K 25:23.1 (8:08/mile)
T1 0:43.1
40K 1:20:56.6 (19.3 mi/hr)
T2 0:53.2
5K 26:01.8 ( 8:20/mile)

Overall 2:13:57.8
2nd Athena (out of two), but no hardware as R.D. didn't order past first place for Athena :(

Long Version (WOW - this is REALLY long for a "D-Race" - sorry):
Saturday (day before Du-2-Du):
Went down to Salado, TX for a rally on Saturday and Coach Debi had told me to go ahead & ride the 102 mile route easy. Well, the rally was very small and from mile 35 on, I was by myself, without another biker in sight between rest stops. When I got to mile 75, where the 86 & 102 mile routes split, I decided that I'd gone a bit harder than I'd anticipated, especially w. no one to draft of, and decided to cut the ride short at 86 miles. Not to mention, I've been having some saddle issues and my pubic bone literally felt bruised at this point. (This is very relevant, 18 hours later). The rally was excellent with some good hilly routes and decent roads, so I plan to head back to this area for some IMC training later this year. Arrive home about 7 pm, stopped by a co-workers birthday party for a margarita (scarfed down lots of tasty food here, as was starving by this time) and then home and in bed by 10 PM (which was really 11 PM due to DST). Rally was 86 miles w. total time of 5:03, ride time 4:53 (17.7 mph).

Sunday - Race Day:

Wake up at 5:15 AM (which FELT like 4:15 due to DST) and get dressed, coffee, powerbar and out the door by 5:45. Arrive at race site about 6:15, pump tires (in the dark), and head off to set up transition. Decide I don't want to walk to transition, so I'll ride my bike the 1/4 mile. Oh My God - Very Bad Move. I had just put my "seat" on notice of what was in store for it for 25 miles - it wasn't pretty.

There was actually two races this day, the Long & Short Courses. Long course went off first in two waves (40 and under, then over 40s). Didn't mention Athenas/Clydesdales, so I assumed you were to go off w. your age and I went w. the first wave.

Run 1: Had a nice 5K and legs weren't really complaining about the previous day's ride. Of course, I got passed by the speedy people in the second wave, but am used to that, so no big deal. 25:33.1 (8:08/mile)

T1: 43 seconds (uneventful)

Bike: This is where it got UGLY. Flat course, with a couple sections over the lake, so the wind can really blow. Somewhere around mile 8, I decide that I have Never, Ever in any race, ride, rally, ironman, etc. suffered as much as I was at that moment! My bruised pubic bone was screaming, my quads, calves, gluteus, shins, feet - everything was rebelling all at once. I almost broke down and cried, but did some serious self-talk (out loud - I think I may have scared some of the people that passed me). I passed about 10 people & about 10 people passed me - but I wasn't paying attention if these were Short or Long course participants - didn't really care. Finally, talked myself into a groove and was convinced it was all about the training, focus on IMC and get through today - it worked, but it sucked. 1:20:57 (19.3 mph) - very happy w. this average speed.

T2: 53 seconds (got sunglasses wrapped up in helmet chin-strap, so a few extra seconds there).

Run 2: By this time, the first place finishers were coming in and I was heading out. Legs felt strong and rest of body was SSOOO happy to be off the bike! The run was really spread out and the last mile is an out and back, so you get to see who is ahead of you. I didn't see many women in front of me that I thought were Athenas, and there were only two people within about 1-2 minutes right in front of me and they were both guys - tried to catch the one in the red shirt, never did, but didn't let him get any farther away either. 26:01 (8:20/mi).

OVERALL: 2:13:58

Thought I might have gotten first in Athena, which would have been pretty exciting for me, considering the hard riding I'd done the day before. But, alas, apparently the one other Athena (who was 33 years old) started in the Over-40 second wave. So while I never saw her (because she started 4 minutes behind me), she beat me by 45 seconds........ Kinda bummed me out, just wondering if I'd known she was in front of me - could I have pushed myself to catch her? Guess I'll never know. Oh yeah, the fact that I didn't get any hardware for my second place finish didn't make me too happy either!

If you read this far, you really should get a life :)

Train happy, be safe,

Katie

Austin Motorola Half Marathon RR - 2/15/04

Quick Recap:
1:52:27.6 - Chip Time (PR by about 7 minutes)
1:52:41.0 - Clock time
8:35/M - Overall pace
4th Athena (~42/293 in Age Group)
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/AustinHalfMarathon04/photo#s5114339144416283538

Longer Version:
Background: As you may recall, after running Marine Corp & White Rock Marathons late last year I had some ankle issues. Despite an MRI & Bone Scan, still have no definitive answer as to what the issues were and whether is was a stress fracture or not. So... in the words of my Coach "if they can't find it - it isn't there" Debi, I decide to get back to running. Since Jan. 1, I've had 5 long runs - 3 x 9.5 miles , 1 x 10.5 miles & 1 x 11.5 miles. Not exactly great preparation for a half marathon.

As you may have read from Todd's RR, we spent the weekend at my parent's house - about 25 miles north of Austin. BEST SHERPAS EVER!!!

RACE DAY: Perfect day, sunny, 40 & no wind. Todd and I usually run/race together, but as of late, he's been in his own little world & when he went to check the timing mats at the start and never returned - that was an indicator that we would NOT be racing together today. As stated above, I hadn't been training nearly as hard for this race as he had - so this was no big surprise....

Gun goes off & I'm across the line about 13 seconds after. First couple miles I keep Todd about 50 yards in front of me & all were a quite a bit faster than I thought he was planning on, but I was just kinda holding on as I didn't have any real race plan - other than to PR. I did have a 1:50 pace bracelet, but did not look at it the entire race. Ended up just racing off of feel the entire way. I saw one other friend (Staci) at about mile 2 and she zipped on past me. Was a little disappointed I didn't see anyone else I knew during the race:( Although I had some technical difficulties w. my MP3 player at mile 1, it was a great racing buddy - B'52s, Dave Mathews, Bare Naked Ladies!

Todd started to pull away about mile 5 or so, when the gap between got wider. Saw my parents on the course about mile 8 & that was a great little boost (they ROCK). The hills at mile 9 & 11 kinda did a number on my ankle and from about 9 on, I had to stop at each water stop for an ankle stretch/rotation - but that worked well, got rid of the pain & allowed me to continue. Thought I saw Todd at mile 11 and thought to myself, Todd - don't fade now - you're almost there & you've worked hard for this PR, but I must've been hallucinating because when we finished he was 5 minutes ahead of me & our splits would not have put me anywhere near him at mile 11.

Felt like I ran out of gas after the hill at 11 and just wanted to get it in. Ankle hurt, but not massively.

Glad it's over, great race & met my goal of getting a PR. Thanks for reading,
Katie

Mile Splits (guess I neglected to hit my lap button for every one - oops):
1-2: 15:57
3: 8:31
4: 8:15
5: 8:36
6: 8:57
7: 8:56
8: 8:49
9-10: 17:51
11-12: 17:22
13: 8:45
13.1 0:43