Race Report: Boulder Sunrise

After a serious tri nightmare, I awoke this morning surprisingly calm and composed. I drove North to get Jaclyn, waking her up because her alarm didn't go off, and carting us off to Boulder.

We arrived early, though certainly weren't the first there, we got a pretty good parking spot that meant not a lot of trekking to/from the car in preparation (or after the race!).

Jaclyn accompanied me to transition where they didn't seem too concerned about non-athletes being in transition. I set up while we talked and then I headed out for a warm-up. My run warm-up was good, though a weird twinge/tightness between my outer knee into my calf made me a little concerned. I also noticed I'm starting to get little holes on the outside of my Pure Flows. Maybe I need a new pair. I jumped on the bike for maybe 3 miles, which at least allowed me to adjust my brakes, which were rubbing and settle in to get my spinning under me. I left my bike in a solid starting gear, set-up my shoes, rubber-banded on, and left the bike in transition where I took the rest of my junk back to the car.

It never fails that I find myself minutes from the swim start jumping into the water for 3 minutes just to get the feel in my arms. It kind of blows, actually, but once again, got MAYBE a 150 of swimming in before clearing out of the water, finding Jaclyn, grabbing my gatorade, and getting in line. A few minutes thereafter, before I could think about much, they said "10 seconds until you start" counted "5,4,3,2..." and I found myself bounding into the water.

My swim started out alright, but apparently my definition of "straight ahead" is to the left because as people pushed right, I looked up to sight and found that INDEED was the direction of the buoy. Oops. Sighting these buoys going out was really really hard. I rarely saw them until I was about 100 yards away. Thankfully, hanging with the group was a good idea because I guess someone saw the buoys (hint: it wasn't me).

I thought I was going fast on the way out, but I think the two times I had to stop and look up to orient myself at ALL probably did me in. At least once we hit the turn buoy things got a LOT better. It was easy to sight to the next turn buoy and then I was easily able to see all the buoys and just swim my little self in. This I really pushed through. I think what I'm learning is that I sight too often instead of trusting that I'm swimming in a straight line. Not sure. I think I'll have to get some OWS practice in this year.

Once my hand hit sand, I pushed out, only to see about 50 yards of water ahead of me. Knowing I still had enough depth to swim, I flopped right back into the water and swam until I was scooping sand in my hand, which meant still at least 25 yards of water to run through. I wasn't very happy about this. Also it got gross really fast as I sploshed out through soft muddy seaweed yuckiness. I looked down during this run to see 35:18. Not my best. Not my worst. Pretty on par with every other swim I'd been doing. I guess I should be happy, but I really was hoping I could knock this one out just a hair faster. I have work to do. Hopefully Jaclyn's knee recovering, being able to go to Rocky Mountain Tri Club swim practices, and a little time in lakes will get me swimming paces that I actually should be in the water.

We had a moderately long run, up the beach, across the lot into transition for a final swim time of 36:29. I always get a little aggravated over the runs into transition, but hey, what are you going to do?

My T1 was apparently great and my transition practice with Joel paid off - 1:14. BAM! Wetsuit off, helmet on, ready to go. I had a great position down the 5th aisle but very close to the bike out/in. I jumped on my bike to hearing Jaclyn yelling at me to have a strong bike. Nice reminder... I left the swim behind me and told myself it was time to hammer.

I hadn't forgotten the hills per se, but I'd forgotten just how numerous they were. After a few sizable rollers out of the reservoir, Jay Road is enough of an incline to slow you down, only for you to turn on to 36 which slows you down even more. After about 4.5 miles it finally breaks into more rollers with some sweet descents. Then you turn down a big old descent that almost makes all the freaking climbing worth it. Then more rollers.

My goal for this race was 18.5 mph which, in the midwest would've been a laughable goal for me. Apparently, it was perfect, because I found myself pulling through 1 hour at 18.55 miles. WOOOO.

I actually made a friend on the course with this girl who kept passing me on the uphills while I passed her on the descents (tt bike, what can I say?). We went back and forth like this and started acknowledging it because it was getting hilarious. It was nice to always be looking for her and an extra motivating force.

After a powerful first hour, things slowed down. While I wouldn't say they got "more hilly" the downhill recoveries lessened and it was a lot of low grade climbing or flats. My average dropped to a little over 18.3 by the time I made it in. I was still really happy with this. Given that my previous average on this course (when they cut it down last year and it was a normal distance instead of 26.5m...) was 17.5 (which was also what I held for the Boulder 70.3 course last year), I'm glad to see my pace finally coming back to what I'm used to. While it isn't 19.5-20 mph, it is a BIG step in the right direction.

I came up on the right turn into the reservoir really fast. Thinking "crap, I have to get my shoes off" so I reached down and managed to unvelcro both before the turn. Then I wiggled my feet out with perfect timing to make the left turn, and dismount about 2 feet off the dismount line. Sweet. It's funny how fast this snuck up on me. After so much distance training for 70.3 and half marathons, I found myself pleasantly surprised by how short this race was! Getting off the bike I thought, "wow, only an hour left!"

T2 was apparently pretty good too. 1:06. Man. When it comes to transitions, I've got it down.

Running out, my legs were definitely feeling the beating they took on the bike, but the good news was that I didn't feel the tight twinge from earlier during my run warm up. I clipped on my race belt and was out of there, stuffing my gel in my back pocket. I could feel as I got onto the course that lead-weight leg feeling. My knees didn't want to lift - not one bit. I just kept pushing forward knowing that stopping would only make it worse. I thought about what Kristina said in her blog about smiling. I know smiling often makes me feel better when I'm hurting/running. I tried that. No luck.

I saw Jaclyn and Christina this time, around 2 miles. I wouldn't say I felt strong. My stride length was short, my knees weren't driving and now I could feel the shoes start to rip up the insides of my arches. I came through the 5k point at 29:25 thinking that it wasn't too bad and I just had to maintain. Heading back for the only notable hill on the course, I reached back for my gel. Guess what? Not there. Awesome.

Jaclyn and Christina were there again, cheering me on. This time, I expended a little energy to acknowledge them. I'm really bad at acknowledging people cheering for me because I'm always just spending every ounce I have on the activity. Plodding back out onto the dirty path, I could feel my abs really getting tired/cramping. Coming through the next water stop I let myself walk and drink a good bit of it. I then hit the turn around and said to myself "this is it, you're done, just run it in." Easier said than done, apparently. I hit the water station and again walked but mostly just took a mouthful of water and dumped the rest on my head. Brrrrr

I could really feel my feet ripping apart now. I came to a small hill and let myself walk for 30 seconds before I ran it the rest of the way in. It was definitely not my best run, but definitely not my worst either!!

I ended with a 3:06, which had it been a regular distance course, at my given paces, would be a 2:59. This is of course assuming the additional miles in no way affected my ability to be more speedy. It is only an extra 1.5 miles, so I believe that that is probably a safe assumption (unless of course that means 1.5 miles of less climbing, then I probably could've run 7 min/miles - haha jk).

Overall, pretty satisfied with this race as a season opener and it has given me some drive to continue my training. Also, I have to tell you - Your Cause Sports makes some pretty sweet medals.

Elephant Rock 2014 - NOW TIME FOR TAPER WEEK

This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn (just practice for next week? yeah...) to drive down to Castle Rock for Elephant Rock Cycling Festival.

Now I've been calling this the 5-week back-to-back race weekend marathon. In truth, this one wasn't a race, but a big event for me nevertheless. Still have to wake up early, manage nutrition, etc. I'd signed up for the 62 mile ride and going in, I was determined to not overdo it. My focus was to keep a nice easy pace and make sure I took leisurely breaks at rest stops since I really didn't need distance work just yet this season.

I should explain I did this because the company I work for, DaVita, backed Team Transplant and so they requested some riders from DaVita to come represent their team.

I was so incredibly unspeakably tired waking up and despite the fact that I knew I would need food, I could barely eat an entire yogurt. I arrived just after 6, hoping to have some buddies to start with at 6:30, but everyone seemed to just keep rolling out. A few other Team Transplant riders thought it best to just go so I headed out at 6:25.

Starting out, I couldn't find anyone going a good pace. Most people were pretty slow rollers, and while I didn't want to hammer, just sitting around sounded awful. I decided to just push my own pace, high cadence, but not doing a ton of work. Then we came to a hill. Probably one of the biggest, steepest hills on the course (that or I just got used to the climbing after doing it all day). Once I got that one under my belt, most climbing felt pretty good.

I felt a twinging/tightness feeling in my hamstring really gnawing at me. Around mile 10 I thought, "wow, this is going to be a long day with that aggravating me." Pulling into the rest stop at 16, I had somehow managed to average ~14 mph even with all the insane climbing, so I was pretty happy. That and I was so hungry at this point, I could've eaten anything. I stuffed down some fruit and a mini muffin, tried some stretching, then headed out.

The next stop wasn't until 33 miles and man, the hills continued to be unrelenting. Our next stop was at Palmer Lake and by now all the snacks hadn't cut it. Here I had an entire bagel with peanut butter (well, that said, being from New Jersey, it was "small" for my definition of a bagel), a whole banana, more grapes, two little cookies - man I was eating the whole rest stop! After a decently long food break, I headed out up a hill to a finally very forgiving descent that, save a few rollers, gently pushed us into the last rest stop.

On my way there, I met Arturo, from Peru, who was drafting off me and playing the "pass-pass back" game. His friend rolled into the rest stop and we all introduced ourselves. Arturo said I was a "very good" rider. This meant a lot coming from someone from Peru, watching me, a Colorado transplant, suffer through rolling hills. Arturo told me Peru's terrain was much like Colorado's only hotter and more humid (which was my understanding). He said he grew up at 11,000 ft! CRAZY!

My hamstring was really annoying me at this point, but not hurting. I grabbed more water, a mini muffin and an Oreo. Finally I wasn't starving. Arturo, and his friend, whom I now knew to be Dave, headed out with me. We talked for a bit, until coming up to another climb, where I dropped them both. I wanted to be social, but climbing at an easy effort with my twitchy hamstring was getting irritating. In fact, I found it felt better to actually put some effort into climbing that just spin out.

Right before the final rest stop. ~mile 40

But the climb was long this time. Though I'd made it through the steepest grade, there was still more. The sun was coming out and it was getting humid. I was really glad I'd taken the extra precaution to fill my water bottle, even though I had a second totally full and there were only 19-miles to go. Arturo came up to ride with me, but eventually passed me as I began to feel weighed-down by the sweat and heat.

Reaching the top of the hill, I saw two people pulled over changing a flat. One with a severed piece of tubing in his hand. I asked if they were ok and he said he needed an extra tube. With only 12 miles to go, I pulled over and handed him mind. "I hope this gives me good karma to the end and I don't flat!" They thanked me, offering to pay me for the tube, but in the cycling world - tubes are cheap and flats suck.

I then was treated to an amazing huge descent. I looked down at one point when I was brave enough - I was going 45 mph :D Tucked in in my drops, knees to top tube, too scared to try to supertuck my butt under my saddle (slash, idk if my saddle is high enough to fit my big ol' butt under it). Shortly thereafter we fought 6 miles into the wind. Though the terrain was flat, the blowing wind was pushing me to 11 mph. No good :( I tried to jump on a group that rolled by, but my legs were starting to feel it and I couldn't deal with the inconsistent speed (swerving around other riders) and then trying to respond to power jumps from the front when the road was finally clear. I backed off.

We turned again, a full U-turn. Now with the wind at our backs, rolling a steady pace. I was happy to have about 9 miles to go. I ran into another DaVita teammate who said it was only his second ride this year! Couldn't believe it! We came to a hill and I needed to maintain speed (hamstring...annoying). He asked if I was leaving and I said "No, I'll be around" but I zipped up the hill and didn't see him again. I didn't anticipate acceleration but I think it was more consistency trumping exhaustion.

A few minor hills later, and a little suffering - I was very happy the ride was over. I still managed to average a little over 15 mph, which I'm pleased with considering hills and slowing for rest-stops. I definitely felt (and still feel) wiped out. I think overall, it was a strong showing and I'm feeling like a pretty strong cyclist this year!

But guess what...NOW IT IS TIME FOR TAPER WEEK!
And all the food. I don't think I've truly stopped eating since I got home, unless you count my 2-hr nap.

[Race Report] Bolder Boulder

Man. I realized I didn't post anything about my race yet. At least I'm only two days late.

This will be short and sweet because... it was a pretty "smooth" and middle-of-the-road performance.

I headed up to Boulder to start the race with some close family friends/cycling buddies/my aunt & uncle of cycling. They were starting only one qualifier wave ahead of me so I thought it a perfect situation.

We walked/jogged to the start from their house which offered a nice warm up. I had just enough time to get to the bathroom and stand around in my wave for a little bit.

As we approached the start line, the announcer said we were the last "under an hour" 10k qualifier wave. The last of the "real runners." A) I feel bad for those over an hour, because you can do a 10k over an hour and still be under a 10 min/mile (which I generally regard as the jogging/running threshold). B) LAWL.

We started off and because there was open road people gunned it off the start line. I was like "for real people? you qualified in just under and hour and you're doing a 6 min/mile off the start line? stupid." So I settled in to what my watch said was about a 9:05 pace.

My watch has been chronically showing the distance of my races to be over the actual distance (lovely) so my watch splits and race splits were different. Please forgive me if I am off a few seconds in recounting time. While my chip time and watch time were both 59:23 to finish, my watch showed 6.33 miles, so a 9:23 pace, whereas for a 10k - that is 9:33. Important nuance.

Anyway, so my first mile was pretty good. I believe my chip time was 9:15 or something like that. I was happy with this. It wasn't a particularly hard mile and I didn't feel like I blew it up. My second mile included a large hill, so I believe my chip time on that was 9:44 or something like that. 3rd mile was solid middle-of-the-road at around 9:30.

This whole time, my friends had started about 1 min ahead of me so I was looking for them to chase them down. They guessed they would run it pretty slowly so they thought I would pass them sooner than I had. Finally I spotted them at mile 2. It was kind of fun to play the chasing game. Just before the 5k point (I believe) I passed them, swung into a water stop and went up another BIG OL hill. Mile 4, with said "big ol' hill" again was slower, in the 9:40s. Mile 5 was fast and flat again. We hit some sun, but it was the first part of the course where I'd really felt like I was combating anything but perfect weather and some hills. I believe that was my fastest mile, around 9:13 or something like that. Mile 6 was pretty mediocre. A little hilly, until I got to the big hill at the bottom of the stadium and it dropped my pace drastically. Oh well, it happens. Once I was done telling myself to "keep running" up the hill, I bounded into the stadium.

I was pretty happy with my time. It certainly wasn't my best 10k but it sure could've been worse. A solid performance given where I am with running and the course.

Now for Elephant Rock Ride this weekend (only 2300 ft of gain...PHEW) and Boulder Sunrise on June 7! I'm not..ya know, panicking or anything, but I will say I'm practicing transitions tonight and trying to get in open water this weekend.

[Review] Half the Road film

Last night I convinced Joel into a "date night" that really...further encouraged his role as my professional sherpa and made me more excited about my new jump into women's road racing.
Half the Road website

A fellow rider on my company's road cycling club sent out an email about a screening of a new film called "Half the Road" about the world of professional women's bike racing. The event included two elite rider speakers and a viewing of the movie (and a raffle, where I won a cannondale co2 flat kit, woo hoo! but that is beside the point).

Joel, as an outsider, felt the movie was interesting but long, especially with the two speakers, but I had a different perception. As a female cyclist, I don't really have any delusions of pro-cycling. I think I could escalate to cat 2 and play with the big kids, but I don't imagine I'd ever be hanging out with pros. I knew the field of women's cycling was small but I had no idea of the history behind it.

I had no idea of the equality that had existed in the sport. It disappointed me to hear about the issues with the UCI maintaining the inequality. As a woman who dreams of creating a career in the industry, this was a call to arms. I believe fervently in the value of a woman's voice in the industry. I've walked into stores with tons of road bike knowledge and been jokingly offered a job three times. Gosh, one of these times, I've got to take it.

I've been to one store that had two female employees there. One of them was kind of the "uninformed" mechanic that only worked on basic stuff on commuter bikes. The other was more informed, but less of a presence. One thing I truly love about Tribella, my local go-to bike store, is there promotion of women's cycling and being a smart female cyclist. When I was in college, I was one of the best flat tire changers on the team and I was proud of that!! I wish cycling stores in general were more female friendly. We'd all use our barrel adjusters to tweak our shifting with the best.

Anyway, back to the film. My favorite female cyclist is Evelyn Stevens so I kind of wish she got more camera time, but I'm so glad she was included. Emma Pooley was freaking hilarious and awesome. She's like the Jennifer Lawrence of cycling - I think we would be best friends. It was nice to relate to one of the speakers on that level. I thought her comments were both poignant and funny.

On that level, I think the film really succeed. The combination of poignancy and relevant information mixed with comedy kept the audience engaged. I enjoyed hearing the stories of many professional cyclists and how they've done what they've done. Furthermore, the film is about so much more than cycling - it includes triathlon, running, and sports in general. Chrissie Wellington herself plays a major role! It was cool to listen to hear after hearing Mirinda Carfrae speak live just last week.

My only draw back was that the film felt very long. Perhaps this is because I am the worst about sitting through movies as is (the ultimate multitasker) and I probably would've done better if I were also sitting on my trainer and texting during my easy spin out intervals. ;)

One aspect I felt torn about was the depiction of Brian Cookson. I think he meant well, but is stuck in his ways and didn't want to make promises he couldn't make about changes in the UCI. I agree, he has the power to make changes, but in any business, it's not always up to one person. In my own office, I see how if one of our key directors supports something, the VP can be swayed towards or away something. It really isn't about one man. Yes, it is strongly influenced by one person, but the entire UCI isn't Brian Cookson, nor was it Pat McQuaid. Like anything, they are figureheads for an entire organization. Just because they run it, doesn't mean they can be blamed for everything. It's like the president of a democracy - (or, ya know, a democratic republic... or some might call our government an oligarchy) - just because the president's "board" or "party" does something, it doesn't mean it is entirely his downfall. I guess, that is what comes of being the leader though. You always take it on the chin for the whole group you represent.

Other takeaways, fire round:
- So excited about Le Tour Entier, Le Tour de France Feminine, etc.
- Women's Cycling Association. GET IT GIRLS
- This reaffirmed my decision to be supportive of people getting into cycling. I've been doing a lot of "learning" training rides for people on my company's club (a lot of them women). I'm so happy that, even if they'll be recreational riders, I feel like I'm helping.
- I think this is a place I belong. I hope I can find a team I really want to join next year.
- Crashing is so scary. I haven't done it in a number of years now, but as I get more into racing I know it will happen, even if it isn't my fault. I need to brace myself for the blow. :'( Let me call my insurance company real quick like.


Key takeaway for you, the reader: if you are a woman endurance athlete or a woman who believes in girl power (so...everyone, I hope!) go see this film if there is a screening coming up near you (see the link at the start of the entry)! It's worth it to think about the equality of female athletes and women in general. We are strong and we can be powerful. Take a seat at the table! OH, and remember to teach your daughters to ride a bike.

Here's the trailer (hope it works! if not, click on the website link and you'll see it there!!)
"Half The Road" trailer from kevin tokstad on Vimeo.

[Race Report] Colfax Half Marathon - Birthday Race

I knew going into this race I had a lot going against me. I hadn't run distance since April, in spite of all my best efforts to do so. Then I'd gotten sick... it was all just a big mess.

Still, I felt pretty refreshed earlier in the week after a few days of rest while being sick. I noticed over the weekend my legs began to feel tight which was definitely not exciting. I also didn't feel very excited for this race because I hadn't been doing well with distance and half marathons are getting to be kind of unexciting for me. As we got out of the car, I told Joel I wished I was doing the full, or even capable of doing it, because I'd be so much more excited.

At the start line with friends, I didn't feel very nervous. My friend Hannah was anxious with nervous energy. I'm normally like that, but instead I was sort of happy-go-lucky and not very focused. I tried to stretch out my hamstring a few times to no avail.

As we took off, I set out at solid 9:30 pace. My goal was 2:05. 9:30s were actually feeling really good! We ran through a few miles and I could feel my legs tightening up. The tightness started in my hamstrings and calves. I still felt like I had a good stride though. As we approached the uphill into the zoo I felt great! I'd never felt so much adrenaline and comfort surging up a hill. My knee drive was forward and I felt relaxed.

As we turned into the zoo, the tightness grew worse, now in my quads. I kept pushing - watching for animals, I saw an elephant, hippo, ostrich, donkey, camels... and then the zoo was over. As we set out to mile 5, I told myself this was all flat, but it didn't feel flat. Joel was supposed to be between miles 4 &  5, but I didn't see him. That threw me off. The running felt uphill and the ground uneven. I took a gu before mile 6.

6-8 felt ok, but I felt the tightness moving into my quads, hips, and IT bands. I was starting to breakdown.

As I looped around through 9, this was when I finally fell below 10 min pace. I came through 8 miles at 1hr 20 and I never saw it again. The last time I had water was about 7.6 miles, we had gone through 9 and still no water stop in sight. Up a hill, in the sun, I felt defeated. I remembered this was where I felt defeated last year too. Finally, at mile 10, there was water. I walked. I took a minute just past the stop to bend over and stretch my legs, now painfully tight.

I ran until my Garmin said 11 miles, which was 10.8 by the markings on the course. I walked to the mile 11 marker from there. I told myself only 2.1 miles to go and again started to run. It was horrible. It was painful and slow and some of the worst running I've ever done. As I came into the park, with about .1 mile to go (by my watch...it actually was more like .3) I started to walk again. My legs were falling apart.

I pushed into the finish, finally finding Joel near the shoot - I was holding back tears.

I hardly cared about the medal as I stood around to get through the crowd. I barely had the energy to make it through the end. I grabbed a bottle of water and a protein shake, skipping everything else. Finding Joel, and saying goodbye to some friends, I limped out of the crowds. A few feet through the park I started crying in pain. I usually don't cry from pain. I told Joel I had to sit and take a break from walking. We sat in the grass for a few moments while I wiped my face and tried to stretch my legs.

We got up again and made it to the car. Joel drove home and made me a small breakfast once we got there. I drank water and put ice on my legs. It genuinely hurt to move.

In the end, it was just a really rough day. I hit the wall and it was my worst half marathon time to date.

I have a sport massage/torture session this weekend potentially followed by BolderBoulder on Monday. Let's hope  - if I am recovered - that that goes MUCH better :)

[Race Report] Wheels of Thunder Criterium

A quick and dirty race report:

I did my first criterium bike race today. For those of you who don't know, that involves lots of cyclists doing lots of laps around a rather small course (usually between 1-2 miles long, but it varies).

I chose to do this race because it is not too technical - the corners are pretty round and there are only three, and it is a women's mentoring race, which means a group of seasoned riders ran us through the course before the race to give us an overview.

During the mentoring lap, I couldn't hear a whole lot, but at least I got the gist of what lines to follow and where to avoid different bumps/holes on the course. It also gave me the opportunity to remember what it meant to ride nice and tight in a group as well as a try at starting before the actual start.

Through the first lap, I wasn't having a hard time. I managed to stay with the group. I was glad to find the corners and the start were not as bad as I imagined in my head. We weren't taking it too hard and we just sort of coasted through it.

As we came around through the first lap, I was coming towards the back but not too bad. There were still a number of girls behind me. All of a sudden, the two girls in front of me bumped into each other, the one on the right bumped into the one next to her and before I knew it...everyone was crashing. The two in front of me went down and I didn't know whether to stop, but after a moment of hesitation and seeing they were both down, I biked between them and sprinted up to the group.

That sprint took the wind out of me. Coming off a head cold, I could feel burning in my chest and labored breathing. Still, I really wanted to catch these girls before we hit the corner that took us into an uphill, so I did. I was huffing and puffing in the uphill trying to recover. I just sat on the group, telling myself to breathe to recover.

We made it through the second lap and as we were coming through, they slowed us and pushed us to the left into a single file line because they were not yet finished clearing some of the girls who had gone down. I felt really bad still racing knowing that someone had likely broken an ankle. Stringing us out like that really made for an interesting race because it meant we had to...get back together. Again, we were headed to the corner into the uphill, so I put in a little effort to hold on to the pack, and I did. Still, wheezing a little.

As we started into the last straight of the third lap, this was our first prime (pronounced "preem," meaning a lap in which if you finish first you get something) for $20 and a hat. The front group started to sprint up the hill. Some for the prime, some just to not lose the front of the group. As I was still wheezing, I didn't have it in me and the group lost me. Before I knew it, I was dropped.

I tried my hardest to push and catch them through the next lap. I could see the group the whole way, but that uphill was so much harder on my own. As we came down the back stretch, I lost them and I knew there was no hope of catching them, so I did the last two laps on my own.

catching up to some girls after I got dropped to hang out on the last lap

I came off the bike, worried about the girls who crashed, but happy to be done because I'd gone so hard that my chest hurt. I was coughing hard for a while afterwards.

All in all - I'd call it a success. I didn't crash. I know I can hang with these girls. I do blame getting over my cold. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be AND my legs don't hurt so I know I have more strength. It was also really awesome to have a nice group there spectating and cheering for me. I rarely have anyone at my races there just for me, so that was super cool - especially since it was my first (non time trial) bike race.

Until next time...

Challenges, defeat, and rising from the ashes

Today's blog isn't so much about me, as it is some things I'm thinking about.

Over the past few weeks something very interesting happened to me:
While at a corporate function, my co-worker, Jeff, told me about when he volunteered for this running group that worked as guides for blind runners. Here he met a young man who had been kidnapped and blinded by a group of people in Africa when he was young. Now this man lived in Colorado and enjoyed running races.

Last week, in the pool, I saw a woman teaching a man how to swim. The lifeguard explained to me that this man was blind. I was shocked. Swimming blind sounds terrifying! It's hard enough with sight to not get anxiety in the water!

I posted on my friend's Facebook wall about how cool I thought this was and through the small community that is triathlon, the woman coaching this man was quickly identified and everyone was talking about how cool they thought it was that she was helping him learn to swim to do a tri in the fall.

Last night, they were back at the pool (whom I've now learned are Sasha - the coach, and Ethan, the athlete) and I introduced myself as the one who started the Facebook chain.

Today at work I told Jeff about it and he sent me this article: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13613618
As you may have guessed... it's the same guy!

I'm so impressed by what Ethan's doing, but as Sasha said, everyone has their story.

It's easy to look at someone's challenges and weigh them as more or less challenging than our own. I've recently given up on trying to complete Colfax marathon because a short-term injury set back my training and I won't be able to truly reach that distance by 5/18. That said, I think something great came out of the hard training I had been doing - speed and strength! While a marathon might not be on the table for next month, a half certainly is, and I imagine it's going to be a pretty good one!

Ethan's decision to learn how to swim so he can do a triathlon may seem like a huge feat. I mean, it definitely is, but he has been blind for most of his life now and in the water, he doesn't regard it as a reason why he "can't" do something. I've been around him twice now in the water and he is struggling just the same as any newbie in the water. I see him dealing with the same form problems I did when I first started - breathing naturally, not displacing body position, high elbows, even strokes. He's a strong guy - mentally and physically - and I'm sure he'll learn, just through description instead of demonstration.

It has got me thinking that time, effort, and dedication to a goal can bring you to it. If he can do a tri, I can do a marathon, but it will take patience and hard work. All told, I probably could suffer through the race in May, but I don't want to suffer. I want to finish a marathon with a sense that I worked hard and did a good job. I'll be postponing it for now, but that doesn't mean I won't keep working.

Similarly, last night, I looked back on my training from before I did my first Olympic distance triathlon. I couldn't find a single workout over 1800 yards. In fact the one I did find that was 1800 yards, I didn't do, and it was estimated that it would take me about 1:06 to finish the workout. Sheesh! Now I hesitate to even get in the pool unless I'm doing 2000 m (just under 2200 y) and that only takes me between 45-50 minutes. (Last night, 2000 m took me 47:17, to give perspective.)

When I first started swimming it felt like it would never end. I still vividly remember the workout, hanging on the side of the pool, when Coach Brett stopped to ask me if I was "ok" because I'd been hanging there for so long! I told him I was "resting between sets." I mean, I was. I was super tired, but also just REALLY TERRIBLE at swimming. 3 years later (those workouts were from April 2011)....I'm not terribly fast, but I'm pretty good at it!

Your goals may not come immediately, but sometimes if you put in long, hard hours, they will come eventually. It's important not to fixate on your weaknesses, but acknowledge them. Embrace your strength, and the rest will follow.