I just received a small shipment of Brooks apparel and have fallen in LOVE with the Utopia Thermal Hoodie!

This is my favorite piece of running gear yet!

Not only does it look great, but it is extremely functional.  On the way to the REZ for a speed workout this week, Michael and I watched the temperature drop and drop and drop…all the way down to 23 degrees.  It was a bit windy, It was 6:30 in the morning, and we were convinced that we (I) was underdressed.

With only a light undershirt, this Thermal Utopia Hoodie kept me quite comfy during my run session. This hoodie is awesome! This piece is absolutely perfect for speed workouts, casual running, and even hanging out at the coffee shop afterwards! It feels great, looks great, and fits perfectly! In fact I am ordering another one!

You can check it out here:

http://www.brooksrunning.com/Utopia-Thermal-Hoodie/220304617%2e030,default,pd.html

Thanks Brooks for helping stay warm during this Boulder winter!

ML and I scampered down to transition, which was only 2 minutes away. I met up with my Perro. It was good to see my fuzzy black friend. The lines into transition were long. Officials were checking bracelets and helmets. No big deal though…

Check out my hot new Betty designed Splish Suit! Thanks Kristin and Ira for putting all of my ideas into place. I love it! xx

Michael’s sweet ride and his Brooks Pure Connect shoes!

More body Marking. And yes, ML is taking the pictures. He loves this sort of stuff… :)

Here is my sweet ride. I love my Kestrel 4000!!!

ML and I went our separate ways. As I left Transition, a security guard stopped me and said something in Spanish. My response: No Hablo Español. Instead of trying to communicate in English or find someone who could communicate, she spoke louder and louder. Ok, I’m not a deaf, I just don’t speak Spanish. Lucky for me, someone who was watching this whole thing go down, translated for us both. Basically the security guard was trying to tell me that once I left, I could not come back in. Ok…fine. As long as I’m not getting arrested. After I finally left, I did my pre race jog, went back to the hotel room, put on my new TYR Freak wetsuit, and ML and I made our way to the swim start. Still a bit worried about not eating, I asks ML if he had some Liquid Shot. He had forgotten it.

Because there were only 5 women racing, we started with the men. Ugh, I hate this. I am a bit timid in the water and my biggest fear is getting pummeled or getting my teeth knocked out. Yes, I imagine this. As the year goes on and as races go by, I become more and more aggressive. But I really do dislike starting with the boys. I feel like the women’s race should be given more respect. We should be given our own race start. Starting with them men gives a different dynamic to the women’s race tactics. For example, fast women swimmers can sit on a fast man’s feet and get a nice advantage. Plus they can hang on for a limited amount of time in the men’s pack. It is a bit frustrating. But the bottom line is that triathlon is racing and I need to learn how to deal with it and become more aggressive.

Despite being faster and more fit in the pool, my swim on race day was average. Because I wasn’t aggressive, I completely missed my group and swam with a dude, who ended up blowing up which meant that I pulled him around the race course…Awesome…

As I ran into transition, I was struggling to pull my zipper down. I was frantic. I kept thinking…Oh god, what if I have to pull a “DEDE” (from REV3 Knoxville) and rip this $1200 f&*%ki&% thing off. Ryan from TYR would not be impressed and I would feel horrible. I was screaming, please help me in T1…and of course no one understood me. Finally, I figured it out, pulled the zipper down, and peeled out as fast as I could on my Kestrel.

Right away, I felt amazing. I was trying to drink and eat as much as possible as I knew that my dinner and breakfast were not substantial. Riding felt easy. I passed one of the pro women who was 2′ ahead of me out of the swim seemingly right away. She tried to stay with me. However, once we hit the slight uphills, she dissapeared…

I noticed Valentina and Carla just ahead. They were probably 1-2′ ahead. They looked strong and I loved that they were riding fair. I kept on thinking of how strong I felt and of how the Cycle Ops trainer rides had really helped. I wasn’t worried and I kept doing my thing. I was getting stronger and stronger…until about mile 38. I was getting light headed and dizzy; I contemplated stopping. I felt weird. I went down my mental checklist of issues that I have had in previous races along with my lists of how to fix issues. Finally, I figured out that it was a food thing. At that point, I ate the rest of my 800 calories of food, which included EFS liquid shot, one on course gel, and 400 calories of EFS. After about 10-15′, I felt amazing again. The same woman that I had dropped on the hills reappeared. She tried to pass, but she wasn’t strong enough. I ended up pulling her back to T2.

As I entered T2, I knew that I may get into food/hydration trouble. I grabbed my liquid shot, but it was too little too late. I had ridden the last 18 miles without any food, only water. I was in damage control mode. I did run really well for about 4 miles. However, at this point, I had a complete and total glycogen bonk. I started running backwards; I was in survival mode. CRAP.

Running: I must be on the first loop (of 3). I look pretty strong. I’ve already deleted the bad pics. :)

To be honest, I’ve had a lot worse shit happen to me in races. I decided to suck it up, try to eat as much as possible, and salvage what I could of the final 9 miles. Every time I ate, I would run great for a few minutes, then die again. My run split was 1:43, which was about 14/15 minutes slower than what I had run in 2010. Yes, I was a little bummed, but triathlon is racing and I needed to be a lot more prepared than what I was.

I have never eaten more than 800 calories on the bike…ever. However, I have never been unable to eat a good dinner or breakfast before my race. This is something that I need to be prepared for the next time.

Here I am finishing:

I threw my Team Lovato visor out to the fans in the bleachers. And man, was I ever happy to be finished!

I think this pic says it all: I was happy to be finished as I was SORE, SORE, SORE from lack of food/liquid. But I was really pissed at myself for being unprepared and having a crap run.

I was greeted at the finish by my absolutely adoring, but PISSED off  husband. He was extremely angry at the lack of integrity by one of my peers. I guess he watched her blatant drafting during the race and even signaled her to stop. I shook it off and told him to do the same. I can not control what others do. Some people are just desperate and at the end of the day, her terrible morals didn’t matter to me. My crap run is what mattered. And more than anything, this is why I was disappointed.

Even though I have been racing as a pro since 2003, I never cease to learn more about myself. Especially since starting to coach myself, I have become smarter. I am constantly learning more and more by not putting my career in someones else’s hands. However, because I have gone through some terrible times in races, I find that I have become a bit more apprehensive. I need to get over that. I am healthier, happier, and fitter than ever and I am really excited to put this race behind me, get into another block of training, and rip some tail!

After the race, I waited for ML and the awards. I was so extremely pleased for my honey ML who was 3rd and for my new friend, Valentina, who was 2nd. Michael and I had the opportunity to get know her race week. And she is a delightful, young talent. I am excited to see how fast she goes in the future!

One of the aspects that is pretty cool at Pucón is that there are two awards ceremonies. One ceremony at the race sight for the top 3 and one at 5pm for the top 5 pros and age group awards.

Men’s top 5

Women’s top 5

And look who came to the awards to cheer me on!

It’s my new friend, Priscilla: the same young girl from the grocery store.

After the awards, ML and I invited Priscilla and her family to our room to give them some Team Lovato Schwag. I told Priscilla that if I gave her a kit, that she could never forget me when she is a famous professional triathlete. She mad me a promise!

Check out her cute cousin, Maximo! Adorable!

After all was said and done, and after my  nausea subsided, I was ready to eat. (BTW: I’m NOT pregnant!) Funny enough, the soreness went away after some big eating.

Here is a picture of Valentina, me, and Marie Jose (Valentina’s sister) at the post race party for the pros. I fell in love with these girls.

Here is ML, Guillermo (our pro liaison), and Valentina’s husband…arg. I can’t remember his name…)

Ben Hoffman was hanging around too, but I can’t seem to find any pictures of him. (Love that guy…He’s good peeps!)

We stayed up late, drinking, eating, having fun. It was a great night with new and old friends!

The next morning, at 6am, ML and I decided to climb the Volcano (at 9,000ft). This was something that we missed in 2010, and I was NOT going to miss it again! The 5:30 wake up call was ok for me, but ML struggled a bit…hehe.

We joined Ken Glah’s group with about 15 others for the Trek.

Here I am getting fitted for our expedition.

It took us 4hours to climb 2 miles. And I think that we were a “fast” group. Here is a picture of ML and me. I’m not sure if you can see the massive amounts of Zinc on my face, but it was much needed! The sun was intense!

Here is a picture of the volcano. The weather conditions were perfect!

Dork 1 and Dork 2.

Here is a picture of the entire group. Thanks Ken!

I’m not sure if you notice the “go-Pro” that ML is wearing on his helmet. He wore this thing the entire day. Of course he never read any of the instructions. I would like to point out that none of the very cool video of us sliding down the volcano was ever captured…I hope that ML decides to read directions in the future… :)

Here is a picture of me and one of our guides. The guides were great! Total professionals!!!

Here is a classic view from the top!

See that big orange thing tied around my front side?? It’s “Plastico”. Here I am getting ready to slide down the mountain on…plastico.

I think it only took us about an hour to slide down the volcano. What an amazing experience.

After the day was finished, Michael and I found a really nice Peruvian restaurant in town. What a day…what a race, what a vacation….I love Pucón!

One of the things that I love about Pucón is that all of the homeless dogs are well cared for by the locals. From what I saw, there were not any starving dogs hanging around. I really liked that.

Friday brought a little more swimming and biking. ML and I could tell that we were feeling better and better with each passing day from the jet lag.

We did some press/media stuff which was pretty cool. ML spoke Spanish. I spoke English.

I met a young, Argentinian fan in the grocery Store, named Priscilla. Isn’t she gorgeous?

Priscilla was getting ready for the kids race on Saturday. She is 11 years old. We became great friends by Sunday evening. :)

On Friday, ML and I had the PRO press conference and the Pasta Party which was loads of fun. It was really awesome to meet some of the other athletes that I would otherwise never know because we don’t race in the same region. I found myself extremely nervous, however, during the press conference. I was more nervous than usual, and I am unsure why. I thought that it may be because  the primary language was spanish and I did not know what was being said around me, and I could not play off of what was being said. Again, ML was translating everything for me…my hero!

The food was absolutely fabulous. So fresh!

ML and I look like giants amongst the other pros.

I saw Chrissie hanging out, so I decided to giver her a kiss:

Michael and I finished out workouts early so that we could support the kids race on Saturday. The enthusiasm was awesome. Michael and I LOVED being a part of it.

The kids were awesome!

ML and I with the HOT Sponsor girls. :)

Stay tuned for Part 3: Race day!

Our travel started early  Tuesday morning at 4am, January 10th. Our first stop was Miami. Since it was early in our adventure, our excitement was high, and we had a 6-hour layover, we decided to find some good Cuban food in South Beach. ML and I love Latin foods. I especially love green plantains.

It felt great to eat a healthy meal before our flight to Santiago.

Our flight to Santiago was uneventful. We tried to sleep as much as possible, but it really didn’t happen. One of the lessons that I learned is always try to sleep on a flight/trip lasting this long. I really wish I had brought some ear plugs and a Tylenol PM…or 2! Waking up and trying to function as a normal human being was absolutely BRUTAL.

We arrived in Santiago 9 hours later and 1hr 30 before our flight departed for Temuco. It wasn’t enough time…With customs and immigration, we narrowly missed our flight which resulted in us standing in line for another hour to switch flights. One thing that I am extremely grateful for is that ML speaks Spanish beautifully. He always manages to get out of a pickle. Some day I will learn Spanish! ARGH!

We managed to get on the next flight to Temuco, which was uneventful…except for again narrowly missing this flight because security found a CO2 in my bike box…whoops! In Temuco, we were greeted by a driver/van. While ML was reporting a missing bike box to the airline, I allowed a man to help me put our bags in the van. I was so tired, I didn’t even think of a tip, however, he didn’t let me forget. :) And because I only know a few words in Spanish, I asked him to wait for Michael. Again, ML to the rescue!

We arrived to beautiful (and warm) Pucón in one piece. We were a bit tired, but we were so happy to finally be at our destination, 30 hours later. It is one heck of a trip!

This is our view from our bedroom

Totally exhausted…

After a nice 2hour nap, ML and I had a wonderful dinner at the Hotel and settled right into Chilean life. The last time hat we were in Pucón, we missed a lot of what the town had to offer. We didn’t want to miss out this year. We took advantage of the late sunlight and checked out the town.

On Thursday ML and I did a short bike ride…

…with Ben Hoffman! Not the best picture of Ben, but it will have to do…

One of the coolest things that I didn’t know about Ben is that not only is he a bad ass athlete, but he is fluent in Spanish. He lived in Argentina for 7 months. I was so impressed!

ML and I had a great time hanging with him and his Padre!

They look alike, huh!

Swimming in Pucón’s crystal clear water was an absolute treat!

We got our freak on!

Muchas Smoochas!

I told you that the water was crystal clear. :)

Finished with the swim!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Check out Mr. Frisk:

Michael shoveled a little tunnel for him and the dogs…They love looking over our deck.

16 inches of snow and it’s still coming down!!!

What does that mean for Team Lovato?

It means that today is an indoor training day.

Here is a picture of our Kestrels powered by CycleOps Power. I love having this little set up in our garage.

Check out my cute husband actually enjoying himself on a treadmill…who would have ever thought??

Five years ago, you would have not caught me (or ML) dead running on a treadmill. I was such a running purist. However, my opinion changed after being coached by Cliff English for two years who prescribed a bit of treadmill running. While I resisted at first, I realized a few benefits pretty quickly! And I have to say, the Woodway treadmill is the absolute BEST treadmill that I have ever run on. It has the most natural running surface and is extremely smooth! I would also like to add that I am NOT sponsored by Woodway. ML and I purchased this treadmill through e-bay, refurbished.

We are so happy with our little home gym in our garage. It should keep us from getting too antsy through the winter months, especially since we plan on staying in Boulder this year!

After our two weeks in Kona, and after ML asked for a bit of advice from PNF, I put in a solid ten day block or training. I needed to see  if I was even fit enough to do this race.  And so I decided that this would be my final race for 2011.

Three weeks ago I made a plan. I made the plan to execute this race like I would an Ironman. In the past, I have had enough bad experiences at the long course races to make me really respect them. I knew that I was strong enough and fast enough to get through a half, but was still unsure about getting through 3/4 of an Ironman, especially on such a hard course. I decided three weeks ago that I would NOT go for it, and that I would not get out of my comfort zone.

In the past I have made the gamble to race longer distances at 90-95%, and it hasn’t always ended in my favor. My main goal for LC Worlds was to get through this race at 80-85% effort, and hopefully, I would avoid any terrible issues. This decision was hard to make because ML was really encouraging me to go for it. LOL! He trains with me and sees me everyday. He knows my ability and he gets really excited seeing me train well. But I knew in my heart what I needed to do in order to have what I considered a successful race.

Typically the distance is 3 x an Olympic Distance race: 4k swim, 75 mile bike, and 18.6 mile run. Yesterday, however, our swim portion was cancelled due to cold air temperatures (39 degrees) and cold water temperatures (55 degrees). Frankly, I was happy that the ITU officials made this call, as I could not imagine getting out of that frigid water and riding (while still wet) in 39 degree air temperatures.

Athletes started on the bike at the mount line with 5 second intervals between each person. At first I thought this tight interval might cause a bit of drafting.  However, because the bike course is hilly with quite a bit of wind, I think the race was very fair. At times, I would have the occasional age group man slot in between me and the next person ahead. However, I tried to not let it bother me. I stayed focused on my goal, and stopped pedaling in order to not get into his draft zone. At times, I had to really get in tune with my inner chi, because I found it annoying…LOL.

On the bike, I felt like my nutrition was spot-on. I was taking in about 100 calories of liquid shot every 30 minutes. I had about 100-plus oz of Fluid Replacement Drink (FDR), broken down as 70 oz of EFS (for 500 calories) and 30 oz of water. At 2.5 hours, I noticed a bit of discomfort caused by some acid reflux and heart burn. I have had this in the past, and I know that it comes from my hiatal hernia. Two things cause it to react: eating too much and consuming caffeine.

While I followed the same race fueling plan that has worked for me in all of my successful  races this year, I made a few (unnecessary) changes to my routine.  First, I ate almost twice as much as I usually do the day before the race. I also doubled my breakfast on race morning.  (Naturally, my breakfast was planned out and eaten before I realized the swim was cancelled.)  Next, I made the decision to take a caffeinated gel at 2.5hours. This was a bad decision as caffeine tends to dilate the hernia, allowing food to regurgitate. Gross, I know, but it’s life and it happens. Lucky for me, I anticipated anything and everything on race day, including reflux. I took prilosec the morning of the race in order to make sure that if I had symptoms that they would be  a lot less severe. There have been races where my reflux has been debilitating causing me to not be able to eat for hours, resulting in either a DNF or 5-plus hour marathon…neither of which is appealing.

This time, I was able to have about 1000 calories on the bike in 3hrs 50′. Normally this is the right amount to consume – when I eat my normal amounts of food the day before a race. However, when I factor in how much I had eaten on Friday and on race morning, these calories were too hard for my body to process.  Next time, I won’t stuff myself the day before a race, and I won’t ingest any caffeine during the race. Lesson learned.

I knew that I was riding well within myself. I didn’t pay attention to watts (except in the beginning of the ride as I typically like to start out too hard). I paid attention to my breathing and to how my legs felt. I loved that I made the decision to ride my 650c Kestrel 4000. It was the right bike choice for this course. That little bike is like a whip! The course is really challenging.  As soon as I got off of the bike path (mile 68 or so), I started to see some of the girls who passed me in the initial stages of the bike. At 70 miles, I was actually enjoying myself and didn’t feel the urge to get off the bike, which I sometimes feel at the end of the bike leg.

I entered T2 feeling fresh and ready. I changed out of my winter gear in the changing tent which included long socks, a long sleeve jersey and wooly gloves. I said it was cold! ;)

I started the run and I knew that I was going to be ok. My reflux and heartburn were  bad, but they were not  debilitating. I was happy that I was able to manage it. The best way that I can describe what it feels like is to say I have a large lump in my throat – the sort of lump that you have when you are holding back tears. But I cannot swallow it down; it is very painful. This is combined with the heartburn, which is a deep burning in the pit of my stomach.  Yuck. I tried to stay relaxed, and I even pushed downward on the hernia, to try to relieve the pressure and pain. At mile 5 , I felt ready to try taking in a gel. I got it down. Success! I knew that after that initial gel, I would be ok and that I would be able to eat more during the run portion. (3 gels and 2 bananas, with lots of water.) In past races, I was never able to consume anything once the hernia and reflux had begun acting up.

The run has four loops. I loved all of the energy  that the crowds gave! It was awesome to have all of that support! ML kept on giving me splits to girls just ahead, which was nice, but I had to tell him to stop. I wanted him cheer for me and encourage me, rather than give me time splits. I needed to just focus on myself and my personal goals, which were purely to finish a successful long course race.

In the end, I finished in 12th place. I executed the race that I said I would, and along the way I stuck to my plan. In fact, I was very close to my time goals: I told ML before the race that I would ride between 3:45 and 3:55 (I rode 3:52). I told him that I would run about 2:15 (I ran 2:15). Before I saw my splits, and before I looked at anyone else’s results, I was proud of myself. After a few hours, however, my competitive side came out and I told ML that I wished I had trained a bit more, that I had focused a bit more.  I started wishing that I  gone a little harder, a little faster in the race.  But he reminded me that even though I was 12th place, it didn’t matter. He reminded me what I had been telling myself for the past 3 weeks: “Having a successful long-distance race after so many years of struggling even to finish one is #winning!”

I have had a great season this year and I am excited to build on this success for next year. Will I do an Ironman anytime soon? While I do want to race an Ironman again, someday, it will not be anytime soon. Right now I am training really well, I am happy, I am healthy, and I am consistent.  I really want to focus on getting my bike back up to speed and on getting stronger at the 70.3 distance. While I am fast in open running races, I want to run fast off the bike. In short, I have a lot of goals that I want to achieve before I think about racing an Ironman again.

I would like to thank all of my sponsors for helping me have a successful 2011. First I would like to thank Splish and Boulder Running Company. These two have been with me since my humble pro beginnings back in 2003. Thank You Charlie from Trakkers/REV3 for believing in me as far back as 2008! Thank you Steven from Kestrel. My 4000 is the best bike on the planet. LOVE IT! Thank you Robert at First Endurance. Your knowledge is incredible and there is no comparison in the nutrition market, as FE is the BEST! Thank You Shawn from Avia. I love my Stoltz & Bolts! Thanks to Dave B. from ISM for keeping my lady bits healthy. Thank you Louis Garneau for my comfy triathlon shoes and making me look amazing in my gorgeous Vorttice helmet! Thank you Ryan at TYR for making the fastest wetsuit on the planet! I need all the water speed I can get… :)  Thank You Katie from CycleOps for helping me stay honest with my bike training. Thanks to the guys at ZIPP. Is there any other wheel out there?? Thanks to Doug at recovery pump for helping my legs stay healthy and happy. And a big thank you to our friend Jack at Jack and Adam’s bike shop in Austin for keeping Team Lovato stocked up and race ready!

Two days after arriving home from Georgia, Michael and I were off to KONA for the World Championships. I hated missing last  year and I wanted to make sure that I was there to help ML with everything and anything that he needed. Plus I love the vibe that KONA offers. There is nothing like getting off of the plane, smelling the flowers and feeling the good energy the island offers. Not only is the vibe good, but I get to see my triathlon friends and sponsors all in the span of a week (which really isn’t enough time!)

During our two weeks in Kona, I did what I could to keep my fitness, but I made sure that Michael’s needs were my number one priority before race day. Anything and everything that I did or wanted to do came second. I still managed 14-16 hrs of training per week. In the span of two weeks, I was able to get in a 5hr ride, a 4hr ride, and a few 90′-2hr rides. I swam a handful of times and even got a couple of mild workouts in with my friend Kerrie’s 14 year old daughter, Rain. :) Running isn’t as fun for me on the Big Island. I don’t really like the way the pavement slants and the sun just seems to wear on me. I did manage one long run of 15 miles, two speed sessions on the treadmill and a few shorter runs.

Here is a picture of me and Tatiana Vertiz pre swim at the pier in KONA

Below is Kelly Liljeblad and me in the middle of a 5hr ride in Kona.

With ITU words just around the corner, I had been feeling a bit weary of racing. I was not confident in the training I had done in Kona and I did not like the feeling of being out of my routine. Like I said above, I like to have  nice, uninterrupted  blocks of training prior to races. However, after resuming my normal routine after arriving home, I soon realized the bits of training that I did do was just enough to keep my fitness. The hardest part for me so far has been trying to stay clear of my friend who are in their off season…you know who you are…:)

I don’t think I need to explain what this is guy is doing on his birthday...

The last week of training has been exceptional and I am feeling really good…only ten days to go before ITU Worlds…

This time ML will be supporting me! :)

Race morning started for Team Lovato at 5:30AM for Michael and 6:00AM for me. Side note: Since being in Canada and not having computers or cell phones, I have been extremely relaxed, more so than at most other races. In fact, one of the perks that go with racing in Canada or any other foreign country is that I do not have constant access to internet. This becomes a forced (and necessary) detox form the web. For some reason when I detox from the web, I sleep better than I normally do. My mind is at ease and my body is at rest.  Saturday night was no exception. I had a solid 10 hours of sleep and could have slept even more! Side note: it is extremely rare for ML to be up before me, and for him to be the one dragging my butt from the sheets.

Michael and I did our normal pre-race routine. We racked our bikes outside the Deerhurst Resort, which also entailed strapping on our First Endurance nutrition and placing helmet and shoes so that everything is ready for action. We did our pre-race jog and talked about our race plans. I love this time together as it is the “calm before the storm”. As we talked about our races, Michael gave me some things to think about during the race. He has been with me, training and encouraging me for about 90% of my sessions for the past 5 weeks. I knew that I was fitter and faster than I was when I raced Boulder 70.3. I never thought that  him helping advise me and giving me feedback would go as well as it has, but the reality is that there is no one that I trust as much as Michael. My training and preparation were very good. I had a nice training block with solid workouts that gave me a lot of confidence. There were no holes in the training and I never got sick…Yes! Today was the day to see what I had gotten out of all of that hard work!

The race for the pro men (and 18-24 year old men) started at 8:00AM. 30 seconds before the horn blew, I yelled “GO MICHAEL!!!” I wanted him to take that last sound of my voice with him during the race! Whenever we compete in the same races, our thoughts are on each other most of the time. Because of this fact, we usually do not race the same races. It becomes difficult to focus on the task at hand when we constantly think of one another’s well being.  Yes, we are hokey like that.

Six minutes later the pro women started, also with the 18-24 year-olds. I liked the fact that we started a full six minutes behind the pro men. In previous races, I have caught some of the slower swimming men who later had the audacity to fight me for position and/ or feet. Then, once on the bike, they end up meddling in the pro women’s race.  We had none of that in Muskoka!  I did, however, end up catching some of the 18-24 year old boys, but none of them interfered with my swim or my bike ride. Thank you.

The start was one of the less intense swims that I have encountered. And once the dust settled, I realized I was in no man’s land. I felt ok with this as my swimming has been pretty good this year. In fact, my swimming is better than it has ever been! I swam alone, pushing myself, trying to stay motivated and focused. The swim was gorgeous, but it felt long and hard. I came out in 3rd position, three minutes behind race leader, Missy Kuck and ninety seconds behind Suzanne Zelazo. I felt good about this and was ready to get my tiny 650c Kestrel 4000 going. These hills had me very fired up to get busy with my 58 chainring (BIG MEAT)!

One of my main goals was to stay in control during the first 5 miles of the bike (stick portion of the lollipop course). In previous races, I have gone crazy on my initial assault of the bike, in an effort to make up precious time. Sometimes this technique works for me, however, the final 15 miles doesn’t always feel too good.  Since this race had an extra 4k added, and since the bike course was extremely difficult, I knew that I had to listen to my inner Michael, so I stuck with my race plan. Once on the lollipop part, I wanted start assassinating the hills and going nuts on my speed demon of a bike. Soon thereafter, I lost my pesky sponge to the bottom of my TorHans aero bottle, which resulted in EFS pouring all over me and my rig.  Once I finally retrieved it, I had lost most of the EFS, and I had become quite sticky (but sweet).  I was then able to start pushing it!

As I worked my monster-sized chainring across the course, I became increasingly pleased with how I was riding. Side note: despite my oversized big ring, I still averaged 88RPMs for the whole ride. I felt the results of the last 5 weeks of solid training, and, best of all, I felt the rest that I had given myself leading into this race. The uphills felt easy. The downhills were fast. The flats were steady. I love the feedback that my Powertap gives me. Sometimes my legs lie to me and tell me how great they feel, but my Powertap never lies.  And today it as giving me great feedback: my legs felt good!

At about an hour twenty into my ride, Jennifer Tetrick passed me. After dropping back 10 meters, the pace seemed too easy, so I passed her back, after which she responded by immediately passing me back. Fun. I soon realized that I would burn my legs out if I kept playing this game, so I sat 10 meters back until about 10k to go. Nature called, and I had to sit up, relax, and let loose the juice. I didn’t see Jennifer again until we were on the run.

I came into transition to a roar of applause! The volunteers and crowds that came out to cheer were amazing! As I racked my bike, Jennifer’s bike fell to the ground. As I picked her bike up, my bike smashed to the ground. Fun. Shoes and helmets were flying. Lucky for me, a kind volunteer came over to help me with this fiasco and  told me that she would take care of this and to go. I hesitated for a moment and continued to try to help, but she gently nudged me to keep racing. I thought to myself that she was probably right, and that I need to get out of there!  Shortly after that, I heard a split from a volunteer that I was 2:30 down, then I heard 3 minutes down. I thought, well, which is it, darn it?

As I started the run, I remembered some of the workouts that I had conquered physically and mentally a few weeks prior. I knew what I needed to do in order to make up that 2.5-3 minute deficit. Lucky for me, my legs felt ready to cooperate. Running felt effortless. I saw Michael at 5k into my race. He shouted some encouraging words, which helped. About a kilometer later, I caught Jennifer. Even with the lead, I continued to race, looking for new goals along the way to stay focused and motivated. The K’s seemed to fly by, and I have since come to love kilometer markers vs. mile markers.  I did have a low patch between 18k and 19k. On that particularly steep and twisty section, I felt some serious suffer-o-rama. I slowed quite a bit during that part and somehow, I managed to pull myself together. As soon as I crested that 19k point, I felt good again.

During the final section of the course, I was stoked to see my University of Tennessee college friend, Nancy Gribben (GO VOLS!).  At the 20k mark, I stopped to give her a huge hug since it had been five years since I last saw her.  It was so worth it: her good energy put some extra springs in my step and helped me finish strong!  Immediately after crossing the finish line, I found Michael waiting for me. The announcers made quite a big deal about the husband and wife team taking first place, and I must admit, this was a pretty special bonus for me.  A few minutes later, Jennifer Tetrick crossed the line. I was pleased to see that her strong efforts on the bike paid dividends and she snagged second place.  Next to cross the line was the early race leader, Missy Kuck, who rounded out the women’s podium in third.

As Michael had already partaken of the men’s champagne celebration – with fellow podium finishers, Sean Betchel (2nd) and Justin Park (3rd) – he took the time to show us ladies how to uncork our bottles.  We later doused one another, and as many specters as we could, with some tasty bubbly.  Side note: I did, in fact, enjoy a few hits on the bottle.

The last 70.3 win that I had was in Pucon, Chile last year. There were quite a few similarities that I think contributed to #winning each race. Some of those similarities include being in a foreign country where ML and I chose to disconnect from the internet and cell phones, thus enabling us to rest a lot more.  #Winning!  Also, on both occasions, we stayed in gorgeous hotels with transition right out our doorstep. #Winning! We bellied up to the buffet table every morning before race day (and most nights). #Winning! Both races were characterized by crystal clear lake swims, as well as hilly and challenging run courses.  #Winning! Both communities absolutely embraced and loved these events. The locals made each and every athlete feel like they were #winning!

The 2011 Subaru Ironman 70.3 Muskoka  was a wonderful experience, from getting to visit a new part of the world, to sharing a victory with my husband (who I met at triathlon age group worlds September 11th back in 1999) , to continuing the upward trend of a successful season! I would encourage anyone looking for a challenging fall event to consider adding this race to their calendar.

Here is our workout from today:

29.5k run along Rez with Jaz and GG by aglovato at Garmin Connect – Details.

The Dirty was pushing the pace today. He has been killing the bike sessions…and the run sessions! He is becoming a bit too strong for me to train with now. This usually happens this time of the year…Being a a full time working guy, husband, and dad, Dirty only has so many hours during the day to train. The summer brings good weather and added sun light…which helps his Ironman training! It’s about that time for Dirty to start training with ML…:(

(These pics were actually taken at Magnolia last week. We were running late today…)

The above picture is from the Rez. This is my other training partner, Jazmine Oeinck (AKA Jazilla). Jazzy is a native of Colorado and the part owner of Bulumu Granola. If you have not tried her granola, you better get some. It is sold in a lot of the Natural food stores in Colorado (especially the Boulder area, including Whole Foods!). Not only is Jaz a granola cooking enthusiast, she is savage on the bike and she can make ML work during swim workouts! Jaz will be making her half distance debut this fall!

A lot of people ask me where Dirty G$’s nickname came from….My answer: I honestly do not know. Dirty’s real name is “Glenn”. I love nicknames. All of my favorite people have one. Example: Michael: ML (or Mr. Shorts…again I’m not sure where the nickname comes from…maybe its come from him wearing the pants in the family…not sure…). I nicknamed Jasmine, Jaz, Jazzy, Jazilla….

Back to Glenn…Last  year, I gave Glenn the nickname: Super G. I think I nicknamed him this because he flies on the bike…This year, I came up with Super Dirty…Not sure where the dirty came from. Glenn is not Stinky or Dirty…but he does have lots of tattoos…then I added the $ sign…Again…I’m not sure why….I’m sure Glenn will have a few other nicknames next year…:)

Training with these two athletes brings the best out of me. I always leave workouts with a smile on my face. We have lots of laughs and good stories all the while, bringing out the best efforts in each other.