Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Off Season

It’s a weird transition to off season for me. With my injury sidelining me for the last two months I feel like I am really ready for some “on” time not “off” time. Lucky or unlucky for me there is a lot to work on so I have a lot of off season goals to work on. I need to focus on rebuilding strength and flexibility, improve form, and build speed not just endurance at a snail’s pace. Others goals include getting my sports induced asthma under control and losing a few lbs before starting Ironman training. I am still working on figuring out my weekly plan on how I will meet all these goals. I soon won’t have to write my own training plan because Cory and I hired a coach to help us get through all of this training uninjured and arrive on race day confident that I can go the distance.

We hired Charley Perez as our coach, he is our official club coach (RMTC) so we already, know, like and trust him.
He has a PhD in psychology and is a fantastic athlete, I can’t wait to learn all I can from him. We start officially working with him on November 1st. I can’t wait but I also feel pressure to get in better shape before starting with him. Nothing like putting extra pressure on myself, maybe he can help me with that 😉

The thing I am most excited about in the immediate future is that I am going to my first Physical Therapy Appointment tomorrow morning. Another RMTC sponsor is Rebound Physical Therapy here in Denver.
Last night they hosted a free questions and answer about what they do and how they can help athletes stay injury free. They were very generous with their information and I really liked their philosophy. Their mission statement is:

We strive to create meaningful changes in people’s lives through education, integrity and positive outcomes. We focus on treating the body as a whole, and treating the functional impairment, not just symptoms. We strive to heal the individual, not just the injury.

I was so excited that I signed up for an appointment for tomorrow morning so they can help me get over my current injury and help me prevent future ones. Full report on how everything goes tomorrow. So I am excited to start the off season officially next Monday after Sunday’s last sprint of the year.

Happy training!

Harvest Moon Long Course Race Report

This race was over a week ago but between traveling and just not feeling that inspired to talk about the race I have been putting off writing my race report. When people ask me how the race went my automatic reaction is “good” and when I think about it on the whole it was but when I start breaking down the pieces it actually didn’t go so well. I learned a lot of things that I need to work on before taking on a full ironman early next season.

On race morning Cory and got up early to head out to Aurora reservoir where transition opened at 6am. There was a long line of cars with nice bikes lined up waiting to get in when we arrived at 5:45 am, by the time we got to transition we didn’t get the best rack position but this was not an A race for me so it wasn’t a huge deal. I went into this race not very nervous but also not with high expectations because I had not been training at all. I have been trying to rest and recover from my knee injury so with no running and little swimming and biking I was just looking to finish. After racking our bikes we suited up in our wetsuits, after not putting it on for a month I was happy when it zipped up. We then headed down to the swim start for a quick warm up. We then all gathered for last minute instructions and the national anthem. We also had a moment of silence for the anniversary of 9/11, it was weird and moving to be surrounded by silent athletes, it’s a rare occasion, I was happy that everyone took it seriously.

Swim:
The swim was laid out in a triangular single loop course, at first it looked like a perfect triangle but by the time my wave went off (last) the winds had moved everything around. I had the worst time sighting and swam way off course. At one point a kayaker even had to hunt my down to ask me to get back on course, I was embarrassed and frustrated that I was wasting so much time and effort swimming so erratically. I did a little better after turning around and heading back towards shore since I was not looking into the sun, but still not great. I was so happy to get out of the water and be done with that part. I have a lot of work to do to improve my swim!

Swim Time: 44:53

T1:
When I got out of the water I felt drunk and dizzy, the water was shockingly choppy so it was hard to run up the slope to T1 (this probably added to my crappy swim time) I saw my parents who were cheering for me and said hi to the doodles before heading off into transition. I had a fairly normal transition except for the dizziness slowing me down. I decided to skip putting sun block on since it was over cast and I really wanted to get going, this was a BIG mistake! I burned and am still peeling (gross).

T1 Time: 2:40

Bike: The first few miles of the bike were touchy since I was still dizzy from the swim but after a few minutes my head cleared up and I started taking in fuel and liquids. This was my first time racing with my aero sip and I love it, it really helps me stay hydrated while riding. While heading out there was a little headwind but not too bad and nothing was hurting so I was happy, I saw and cheered for Cory on a little out and back portion and that gave me a lift too. I then turned around and had the wind to my back I was having a great time except the road was really bumpy and my sits were starting to get sore. At about mile 30 we turned into the wind and it really started to pick up. I then started to not have a great time, the winds were strong, I was riding up hill and was working hard to ride with a speed in the single digits. The road on the way back is chip seal and I thought my teeth were going to rattle out of my head and my lady parts were screaming, more reason to buy a carbon frame! I was disappointed that I biked so slow and was so tired, I know this winter I am going to have to put in some real work on getting faster on the bike. I was happy that the never had the sever burning pain in my knee that I had during the bike for Pacific Crest so that was a bright spot.

Bike Time: 3:33:31

I was so so so happy riding into T2 knowing I didn’t have to run a half marathon. I did have to run about 400 yards to the finish and didn’t want to run barefoot so I threw on my shoes and then took off for the finish. After crossing the line there was a blow-up slip and slide that was the highlight of my day. It was really fun way to cool off and celebrate being done.

T2 Time: 1:19

I was happy to be done but was soaked so I met my parents and then grabbed some clothes to change into. I then waited around for Cory to finish his race, he came in under 6 hours, he had a difficult run but I am so proud of him! I was sad that I didn’t finish the full tri but was happy that I sucked it up and at least finished the aqua bike since I had already paid for the race and hate have DNS or DNFs.

Overall it was a well run race with some difficult conditions, I learned I have a lot to work on and hope to heal completely soon so I can get to work.

AZA Atlanta

I will be in Atlanta for the rest of the week at the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference. I love this conference but it is exhausting, we will see how many trading sessions I get in….i am not hopeful.

Bike frame update- I did not buy the frame, there was a crack in the carbon, so I am still in the market.


Prepping for Harvest Moon Half Ironman

Today is full of prepping for the Harvest Moon Half Ironman. Cory is still going to race the full triathlon, I switched to the aqua-bike given my knee injury. I have to admit that I am tempted to try to race the full 70.3 but know that the run would not go well for me.

This race has pretty good swag

I particularly like the tech shirt and pint glass.

Note the sperm helmet….

I then set to laying out my gear, packing for an aqua-bike is almost as bad as a triathlon.

Lastly I wanted to make some Peanut Butter Balls to eat while on the bike. I found this recipe a few months ago on Frayed Laces and have been making them ever since. They are way cheaper than buying pre-made nutrition and I like that I know what is in them.

After melting the peanut butter and honey I added the dry ingredients. I didn’t realize that we were low on oats until I had already started so my peanut butter balls will be oat light this time.

I keep the formed balls in the refrigerator so they don’t dry out. They are so good it’s hard not to just eat them.

I packed up enough balls, honey stinger chews and shot blocks to equal 800 calories.

I think I am ready to go other than eating and heading to bed.

Good luck to all racing the Vegas 70.3 tomorrow!


Carbon Bike Frame

My super awesome husband found a full carbon tt bike frame that would fit me on Craig’s List. It’s still fairly expensive but a good deal. What do you think, is a carbon frame a necessity for a not so stellar biker? I do ride long distances but fairly slowly. Here she is:



Would you go for it?

Bike Commute

I bike commute to work quite often. It doesn’t really count as part of my training as it’s less than two miles from my home to work. Admittedly the proximity makes it pretty easy for me but I have a routine that makes it easier for me so I really wouldn’t mind if I had to ride further.

First I pack my lunch (I almost always bring my lunch) wrap it in a plastic bag and place it in the bottom of my backpack. I put it in the bottom in case it leaks, I don’t want anything to end up on my work clothes.
I then lay out all of the clothes and accessories I want to wear that day to make sure that I don’t forget anything


I pack special jewelry in little bags to make sure it doesn’t get scratched

I pack everything into a canvas bag to keep everything together in my backpack

I then just throw on shorts, a t-shirt, shoes and my helmet to ride in.

Do you ever bike commute? Any more tips to add?


Death of a Fatty

Yesterday morning I grabbed my old trusty “fatty” iPod nano to listen to on my way to work. It worked as normal, I paused it, locked the keys and threw it in my bag. After work I pulled it back out unlocked the keys and…. nothing, no response. I was confused, it worked this morning? Did I leave it on all day and the battery was just dead? I plugged it into my computer when I got home and iTunes didn’t even recognize anything was there. Apparently my five year old iPod died a quiet death while I was working. Honestly I am happy I got five years out of it, I use it all the time, I have dropped it, sweat all over it and abused the poor thing.

Not wanting to go a day without entertainment (sad, I know) I ran to target after getting a quick bike fit, my seat was way too low, and bought a new nano touch screen. I love that it is smaller and has a clip like my shuffle so I won’t have to shove it in my sports bra when I don’t have pockets (gross).

I ordered a silicon case to help protect it, getting that first ding in a new electronic is the worst.

Goodbye fatty, you got me through many long runs, races, road trips, sleepless nights and much more, I will miss you.

In other new gear news I finally got a new helmet to replace the one I was wearing when I crashed, I wore it for a quick 20 miler on Sunday and it seems nice and comfortable.

Hopefully this one will take me through IM CDA!

Do you use an iPod for training, how often do you replace it?


Things I am willing to give up to be an ironman…

Training for an ironman will take somewhere between 8 and 20 hours of week of training, that is not including all of time spent planning, driving, prepping, packing, eating, buying gear, etc to support all of that training. It also takes a lot of money, not just the entry and travel fees but for all the gear, nutrition, and expenses to keep your body healthy (massages, foam rollers, etc). Also it takes a toll on your body, in many different ways. So I had to really think, what am I willing to give up to become an ironman? Here is my list so far:

• Looking good at work. I will have wet hair, and wrinkled clothes everyday (sorry boss)

• Having cute feet. I used to have cute feet now I have funky purple toe nails and perma blisters

• Money and time for vacations

• Most alcohol, not a good idea to drink when you have to get up early to go run/bike/swim

• Sleeping in, 4:20 am wake up calls x(

• Snowshoeing, I love to snowshoe in the winter but with IM training in full swing I don’t think we will have time to fit it in

• Smelling good, I can never get rid of that chlorine smell

• Most tv shows, this is ultimately for my benefit I think

• Facebook, oh wait I gave that up long ago and don’t miss that time suck at all

• Spending time on my yard, that will have to happen after June 24th

Here is the biggest one:

My Car. We have been thinking about going down to one car for some time, mostly to force to be better about alternative commuting for the environment. Cory and I both bike commute a lot so my Saturn Vue often sits in the garage. We decided the extra cash every month the we gain by not making a car payment or insurance would help fund the ironman. I am a bit nervous about going down to one car over the winter when bike commuting is harder but I think I am up for the challenge.

Here are the things I am not willing to give up:

• Spending time with my family, my parents just moved here and I won’t abandon them for IM training. They will make great puppy sitters on long training weekends though 😉

• Spending time with my dogs, they are like my children

• Time with my husband, I won’t have to though he is doing this thing with me!

• Quality of my work, my job is very important to me so I won’t slack on it but I will try to keep my hours closes to 40 a week so can fit everything else in.

• Sleep, I need it, period.

What do/would you give up for your dream?


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