December 28, 2015

Silence

This little blog has been pretty quite the last few months….

I never meant to let it sit for this long but you know how things can sometime go. After Tahoe I wanted to disconnect a little and just focus on time with loved ones and getting things done at work.

Then the perfect storm of circumstances hit and I found I had nothing to say and no time to say anything in anyway.

Personally I did want a little break from social media, I stopped posting and even stopped checking in on social media.

Professionally my coworker left for another job leaving a lot more on my plate and much less desire to look at a computer after work.

Athletically both Cory and I were heading into our off season so there weren’t any country roads, mountain trails or sweat drenched intervals to post about.

But most of all there was a shift in focus. Cory and I had been planning for a long time to shift our focus from endurance events to starting a family. We were so grateful to get pregnant in late September but soon after I started to feel awful. I had no energy and quickly became ill most days. While I had hoped that I would run through almost all of my pregnancy that quickly became too difficult to do on a consistent basis so I had little to talk about here.

I am not very good with subterfuge so I decided that silence would be golden until we were ready to tell the world.

I do plan to be back to post a bit about what is going on with my life and pregnancy. But also to live vicariously as I coach my mom to her first marathon in many years and hopefully a BQ and Cory who we are trying to get to a sub 3 hour marathon this spring. While I will talk about my pregnancy and baby after s/he is here I promise it won’t become a “mommy blog” and the overall theme will still be endurance sports. The thing I am most excited to talk about will be my return post baby and the big dreams I will be chasing in 2017.

Cory is excited to match our little one for next season #gobroncos

In other big news we did add a family member, Humphry is a sweet little French Bulldog puppy.

He has already stolen our hearts and I can’t imagine life without him.

So here is to the secret being out and being back to blogging. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!

December 25, 2015

Happy Holidays

from our growing family to yours.

September 4, 2015

Fourth Quarter Goals 2015

I really love this time of year….September has always had a special place in my heart. To me it feels like the real start of a new year. I guess this comes from years of loving school and working in education since graduating from college.

The year feels fresh, I love the leaves changing and it feels like you get a new start. To be honest I don’t love the shorter days, but you take the good with the bad.

Dark chilly mornings at the pool means the seasons almost over

Luckily in Colorado it stays pretty warm most of September so we can still enjoy dinners al fresco and runs in the mountains so summer isn’t over just yet!

My goals for the last few months of 2015 are very simple and have shaped some of my recent decisions. I have two main goals:

Find Fun and Seek Peace.

These are simple but difficult tasks but will frame my decisions…if an activity will be fun then great, yes please. If a decision will disrupt the peace in my life than no thanks….I’ll move on.

One of the ways we are look to meet these goals is to book a trip to Disneyland in October just because it will be fun. I grew up going to Disneyland almost every summer but haven’t been back in almost 10 years. Cory and I went back in 2006 and had the best time! I am so looking forward to a trip that is just about having fun!

Also I am looking forward to planning some fall adventures on trails. I love trail running and don’t get to do as much of it as I would like when training for triathlons. So more time and trips will be planned to find more dirt on my shoes while thinking about BIG future dreams.

Super inspiring weekend cheering and volunteering at the Leadville 100 #lt100 #ultramarathon #trailrun

What are you plans for the last quarter?

August 10, 2015

Visiting Whistler

While my race may have ended in disappointment, Whistler did not disappoint. Western Canada is so beautiful, we loved visiting BC! I may be a bit biased since I grew up in Portland, Oregon but I think the rain forest of that area is one of the most beautiful places in the world. BC was especially beautiful because it melded the temperate rain forest with the ocean and the mountains that I have grown to love living in Colorado for the last six years. If you are thinking of racing an Ironman next year I highly suggest IM Canada, especially if you aren’t afraid of a few hills, altitude and unpredictable weather.

Whisper really is stunning! Also looking forward to getting home and plotting new adventures

Whistler really is stunning! Also looking forward to getting home and plotting new adventures

On the way to Whistler we flew into Seattle and drove up to Canada. In Seattle we stopped for lunch, since we live in a landlocked state it had to be Seafood! We headed to the waterfront and enjoyed lunch at The Crab Pot.

It was great, we didn’t have time to hang around long but have been to Seattle many times. If you go make sure you visit Pike Place Fish Market, it’s a must see in Seattle. Also the space needle and a walk along the waterfront aren’t to be missed.

Hello Seattle! #IMCanada

It was great, we didn’t have time to hang around long but have been to Seattle many times. If you go make sure you go to Pikes Place Fish Market, it’s a must go in Seattle. Also the space needle and a walk along the waterfront aren’t to be missed.

Then we were on our way across the boarder to Canada and up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. I wish we had much more time to explore Vancouver, guess it will have to be on another trip.

Whistler Village is really cute and easy to navigate. Lot’s of beautiful views and restaurants everywhere.

Fun times around Whister today. 2 more sleeps before show time #IMCanada

Fun times around Whistler today.

We stayed at the Market Place lodge booked through Airb&b It was a great choice for Ironman since it was right on Olympic Plaza where the Athlete Village was. There was also a grocery store, drug store and coffee shop steps from our condo. It was a bit noisy during the day with all the Ironman events as well as a playground directly below us but it quieted down early each night.

There were many places to eat around town, a couple of my favorites were:

Caramba! – Mediterranean food made with lots of local organic food.

La Cantina – REALLY good street tacos and salads

La Bocca – Yummy simple Italian Food

Crepe Montagne – We didn’t eat here until the last day but it is an amazing little breakfast spot.

Marketplace IGA – Ok this is just a grocery store, but it’s amazing and they have great sandwiches at the deli if you want to grab something to take with you on a hike.

Whistler is full of some amazing sights, and the best way to see them is on foot. We took a short hike to Wedgemount Falls, it’s a little challenging hiking up the side of a mountain but the views were worth it.

Or you can drive to Alexander Falls and see it from the parking lot. It’s worth the drive

Beautiful last day in Whistler but happy to be headed home to my pups #backtoreality

By far my favorite thing that we did was to ride up to Whistler Mountain and ride the Peak 2 Peak Gondola It was amazing to hike around and enjoy the views. Seriously the photos can’t do it justice.

August 5, 2015

Ironman Canada // 2015

I really wish this was a happy race report, but it is not.

Yay athlete check in!! Loving Whistler #IMCanada

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you already know that Ironman Canada ended in a DNF. Honestly I am really disappointed about it, I worked for months to prepare, had been looking forward to it for a LONG time and had planned my year around this race. But it’s also not the worst thing to ever happen to a person, there are so many worse things that could happen in this life. So it’s time to put my big girl pants on, find the lessons that can be learned and move on. Here is the story of my time at Ironman Canada:

The week leading up to the race I watched the weather get worse and worse for race day. At first the forecast was 75 and sunny (perfect!) but the days leading up were chilly and rainy so I worried that the weather would change. That is exactly what happened, race day ended up having the worst weather of the entire week.

We flew into Seattle on Thursday and drove up to Whistler, the drive was stunning and we enjoyed the drive and the sights.

Boarder crossing! Oh Canada #IMCanada

Friday and Saturday were full of the normal pre-race prep. Athlete check in, practice swim in the lake and easy spin on the legs. It rained off and on over the couple of days and was chilly. This caused some pretty high nerves on my part. It really made me realize that I have been a fair weather rider. Sure I can swim and run in the cold/rain but I have never ridden in those conditions. Lesson learned there! I will try harder to get out in non-ideal conditions and figure out what gear I might need. Not surprisingly a waterproof jacket would have gone a long way.

Race morning it was very overcast and lightly sprinkling. I did my normal bike and gear check, it was chilly and dark. I was doing my best to get pumped up but I was a little worried about the day and the deep water mass start. As the race start grew closer I got into my wetsuit and kissed Cory goodbye.

Alta lake is a beautiful place to swim 2.4 miles #IMCanada (not from race morning, it was too rainy for Cory to take photos)

I made my way through the swim arch then into the water, I have never done a deep water start in a race before and this one had thousands of people joining me. Many athletes were hanging out in the shallow water off to the side, I don’t understand this since we were all in wetsuits and treading water doesn’t take much effort. I lined myself up slightly to the outside of the buoys since I have heard that Canada’s swim can be a bit brutal and congested. After bobbing around in the cold water for a few minutes the gun went off and we all started moving. It wasn’t too bad at first, but then all the athletes that were hanging out on shore made their way out with the rest of us. There were people everywhere, no water and nowhere to move. I just tried to (literally) roll with the punches and keep moving forward in the herd. It was definitely slower than I would have liked but it’s a long day so no use worrying about it. After the first turn things opened up and I found some great feet to swim with, he sighted well and was pretty consistent. I followed my feet until halfway through my second lap when I decided that I needed to be going faster so I jumped off to do my own thing. After that I couldn’t find anyone else to follow, looking at my paces I really fell off at that point and I definitely could feel I was working a lot harder. So another lesson learned, don’t leave good feet if you find them!

As I rounded the last turn and made my way towards the swim exit, I was excited to be almost done but nervous about the bike leg. It had started to really pour down rain as we were swimming and I felt really cold in the lake. As I got out of the lake I found some nice wetsuit strippers and headed into the tent.

My T1 time was supper long as my hands were freezing and I had decided to make a full change into warm dry clothes. After the full change and stuffing my gear in the bag I ran out into a full downpour. I grabbed my bike and headed out to the mount line. Almost immediately I was drenched, rivers of water where in the streets and I was freezing.

I am not even sure how far I made it (not far) before pulling off to the side. I was shaking uncontrollably, I couldn’t imagine navigating 10% downhill grades with hairpin turns. This was a pretty low moment for me, I have been looking forward to IM Canada for so long and the conditions were so bad. It was especially hard seeing the courageous athletes blow by me as they continued on in the harsh conditions.

I found Cory, who was also freezing from standing out in the cold and wet all morning and headed back to our condo. A warm shower and crashing on the couch felt pretty dang good but my spirit was a little crushed. After warming up for a bit and grabbing brunch, we decided the best thing to do was to cheer on the other competitors. It was bitter sweet to stand on the course and cheer on the athletes who had endured so much and were headed to their ironman finish in some of the worst conditions I have ever seen. Even though it was a little painful for me it was also inspiring and helped me to refocus on the future, to work harder and keep trying. The worst thing I could let happen is to give up because of one failure.

So now onto the next adventure, I WILL finish an Ironman this year. I have done it before and I can do it again! Up Next Ironman Lake Tahoe.

Fall down seven times, Stand up eight. Here I come Ironman Lake Tahoe #IMLakeTahoe #nevergiveup

July 22, 2015

Ironman Canada Week!

It really hasn’t sunk in yet that it’s ironman week! T-minus 4 days until Ironman Canada. It’s been a long journey to get to the start line but I am ready to see what the day brings and deal with it the best I can. The last miles have been banked in Colorado before heading to Whistler.

One last swim in Boulder Rez before #IMCanada #triathlon

So packing and weather stalking has started and thunder storms are predicted so my plan (similar to Lake Tahoe in 2013) is to bring everything and hope I have everything I need. Baggage fees might be interesting.

It’s my first time flying with my bike, any tips?

Thanks to a professional cyclist friend, these arrived today now to figure out how to pack our bikes. Any tips?? #IMCanada #ironman #triathlon

See you all on the flip side in Canada, wheels up tomorrow morning!

July 14, 2015

TAPER! And the Rocky Road to Ironman Canada

I am grateful that taper is here, the Road to Canada has been a bit of a rocky one.

At the intersection of left hand and old stage. Not a bad place for hill repeats! #IMTraining #IMCanada

It’s not that things have been terrible, I really enjoyed my training when I could get it done. In the past I have had many more external issues with getting training done. My past job had a funky schedule a lot of time requiring that I work early and/or (usually and) late and many weekends. My current job is much more steady and flexible and I am very happy about that.

BUT the last couple of months of training for IM Canada has been marred by injury and setbacks. Most of these were stupid little things, like pulling my glute muscle.

That feeling when your third and last workout of the day is done #bestdayever #lovewins #IMTraining #IMCanada #WinstonThePug

Others were bigger, like crashing on my bike at mile 80 of a 100 mile ride. Bloody with a slightly broken bike I called for a ride home. I am still recovering from the crash two weeks later and just doing what I can.

My favorite “rest stop” so bike friendly! I long summer rides #IMTraining – 20 miles before eating pavement

I feel slightly under cooked for Canada but I also feel determined. I know it will be challenging but so much of an Ironman is being mentally tough and dealing with the pain the day hands you. Surprisingly I feel fairly calm, as they say the hay is in the barn. There is nothing to do now but rest up, eat well and show up ready to do my best.

So I go into this race ready to grit my teeth, especially on that last 20 mile climb. I am excited to get to whistler and happy to get to race another Ironman.

Ever gone into a race slightly under-prepared? What helped you get though?

June 19, 2015

Ironman Boulder 70.3 // 2015 Race Report

First triathlon of the season…..check! This one will be remembered for lessons learned.

Ironman Boulder 70.3 is a great race, I participated in it in 2013 as well back when it was held in August. It was a perfect tune up for Ironman Lake Tahoe. In 2013 it was a huge PR for me, too bad I didn’t write a report!

This year there was no PR for me but I didn’t really expect one. I knew that I had a slightly better build up to Tahoe given that I had all summer and this spring has not been kind to us in Colorado. Also this was my first triathlon in over a year so I went in expecting to shake off some cobwebs and pretty much “train through”. Also I decided to not take any time off for the race since it was local, bad choice! With a Friday mandatory bike drop off and lots of logistics that I am clearly rusty on, prep was a bit stressful.

Taking coach @imbethgerdes advice and doing some race week organization 2 sleeps! #ironmanboulder70point3

Pre Race – I just bought a new Xterra Vector Pro wetsuit I took it for a test spin and realized it was much too big 3 days before the race. Jackie from Xterra was awesome and rushed me a new suit that got to my house Friday afternoon. So much for nothing new on race day!

I was a little worried about the forecast the days leading up to the race, it was stormy and cold. It was supposed to be sunny most of the day race day which was good but I was not at all heat acclimated so I assumed it may be a challenge.

These pics do not do the weather justice. Hoping for a better day on Saturday #ironmanboulder70point3

Even though prep was a little rushed things went pretty well and it was nice to sleep in our own bed the night of a race. We work up at 3:15 am, drank lots of coffee and scarfed down a bagel with peanut butter. After that I stuck to Gatorade until after the swim (full sugar), this was possibly a mistake.

We got to Boulder Reservoir with plenty of time, it is nice not have to wrangle a bike in the morning and just have a transition bag. I was a little nervous setting up transition since it had been so long and I was worried that I had forgotten something important. I met up with Cory and my mom (who was racing the sprint) and headed to warm up. I got into my wetsuit and waded into the swim area. It’s always nice when you can get into the water before the race. The water felt good, not cold at all, a sleeveless wetsuit would have been perfect given that temps. Cory’s wave went off 30 minutes before mine so I wished him good luck then stood around chatting to other ladies as we waited. In 2013 they used the “swim smart” start, this year it was age group waves. I don’t think either was much different than the other. After waiting what felt like forever we waded into the water and waited for the gun.

Hello sunshine!!! #Boulder70point3

Swim – 42:45 // Was really hoping for sub 40, maybe next time. Luckily the swim course was pointing just enough to the north that we weren’t sighting directly into the sun. I have had to do that before at Boulder Reservoir and it’s blinding.

The start was smooth, I took an outside line given the angle and had clean water to swim. I tried to find feet to latch onto but they just seemed to be either too fast or too slow. So I Goldilocks’ed all by myself for most of the swim. Things went well even when I hit traffic at the two turn buoys.

Things took a bad turn when I got half way back on the third leg. Ironman decided to run their sprint race at the same time as the half. Their swim started after all the 70.3 racers had started their swim. This meant that people racing the sprint would run directly into people trying to finish their half swim. It was a giant cluster as swimmers of all different speeds combined for the last stretch. What made me really mad was thinking about how the men racing the 70.3 didn’t have to deal with the jumble, they all started before the women in the 70.3 so were out of the water before the sprint even started. It took me a significant amount to time to wind my way through the mess of people. I also was dunked, kicked and punched a lot. I also felt bad for the people racing the sprint who had to deal with all of us. This was not a great move by WTC, I was slowed a little and annoyed, but people who are nervous swimmers in the sprint were traumatized. I wish they would have waited longer before starting the sprint race, my mom did not have fun on her swim.

T1 – 4:09 // Moving into T1, I felt ok, a little dizzy from swimming so long then moving to running, I also felt really hungry. I saw my dad, and headed to my bike. I put sun block in my transition area knowing this was one of the first days of sun for the season and my skin was still winter white. I did the best job I could (not good enough, ouch!), threw on my helmet, glasses and shoes. On the way out I ran into a wall of sprinters trying to exit transition.

Bike – 56 miles 3:11// One loop course, some climbs, mostly rolling.

Leaving the reservoir was super tricky because there was a ton of us trying to get going at the same time. It was impossible not to draft for at least the first half of the bike there was just too many people getting out on the course at the same time. After getting out of the crush I settled in and started riding as best I could. I struggle to keep my heart rate up on the bike, I guess I am just distracted and lazy. I was near a group of girls and just tried to stay with them, sometimes leading and sometimes falling back and just trying to keep them in my sights. It helps a lot to say something positive to anyone that passes me or that I pass. I had an eating plan and even created bags of nutrition for each hour on the bike, I thought I was doing well, until I got home and pulled a bunch of leftover food out of my bento box, how I missed it, I don’t know. I felt great until the last 10 miles of the bike, I am guess it was because of the heat and the missed food. Note to be more careful about my calories and keeping cool for the future.

T2 4:54// Not sure what all I was doing. T2 was much easier than T1 so I cruised in tried to be quick, put on more sunscreen and cruised out to the run course.

Run 13.1 3:14 // The run was a two “loop” out and back

Oh man, I was pretty disappointed by the run. I felt terrible when I got off the bike! I just told myself to do everything I could to feel better and keep moving forward even if it was walking. And there was a lot of walking. I started by taking a lot of water, coke, and a salt pill. I kept moving forward and keep trying to make myself feel better. It took most of the first lap but eventually the nausea and dizziness left. At I negative split the run. I was so happy that I was able to stick it out and turn things around, that is what you need in a full Ironman! I still wasn’t moving great in the heat but I was moving and the second lap flew by much faster than the first. I shared kind words to all that I could. I tried to finish strong and then find a place to sit as quickly as possible.

Overall I feel okay about this race, it wasn’t my best or my worst….but it was a great way to make some mistakes and learn some lessons before the big show in Whistler! Just over 5 weeks!

Big thanks to Cory and my parents for all their support, Team SOAS for keeping me comfortable on race day and Xterra for rushing me a new wetsuit that was amazing! And of course my AMAZING coach Beth Gerdes who puts up with me.

It’s go time! #teamsoas2015 #weareSOAS #IMBoulder70point3 #triathlon

June 8, 2015

Lately// June 2015

Tapering // for Ironman Boulder 70.3 – This is a mini taper as Ironman Canada is so close so I don’t think this will be an PR race but it will be great prep for my full IM.

Prepping // I raced Ironman Boulder 70.3 in 2013 on my way to Tahoe and had a great race so I am looking forward to toeing the line again. But this will be my first triathlon for a very long time so there’s a lot to try to remember and figure out.

Loving // Swimming! Our neighborhood outdoor pool finally opened and it is so amazing to swim under the sunshine.

Finally got into our outdoor this morning #bliss #IMTraining

Also I finally got an open water swim in at Boulder Reservoir last week and it feels really good. My swimming isn’t drastically faster but I have been much more consistent in my training and that makes me feel much more solid in the water.

Great morning for my first open water swim!!! Yeeee #imtraining

I also got my new wetsuit from Xterra, thanks Team SOAS for the amazing discount!

After a rainy run this was at my door!!! Just in time for my first open water swim of the year ❤️ @xterrawetsuits #imtraining

Reading // Witsup.com I am loving their articles and coverage of triathlon! And the book The Silent Sister so good!

Gearing up// to go back to school, I am planning on perusing my PhD and start taking classes this summer. I have two degrees in biology but have never taken an A&P class, I am excited!

May 28, 2015

Ironman Canada Training – Weeks 12, 11, 10 and a Mini Camp

How did three weeks slip by? Time seems to accelerate the closer I get to an Ironman. Life becomes eat, train, eat, work, eat, train, eat, sleep, repeat. Sometimes I can slip in some laundry (sometimes) housework (rarely) and downtime (what’s that?)

But it’s all fun, it feels so good to see my training peaks calendar fill up with workouts and then tick them off one by one. I was able to take a four day weekend at the end of last week so I asked coach for a training camp like weekend. It was much more fun to think of the weekend as a camp vs. just another weekend training. We made an agenda and planned our routes so we knew what we *planning* on doing. The weather here in Boulder was less than ideal but it could have been much worse!

It will be too boring to go over daily workouts for three weeks so I will just go over some of the highlights:

12 weeks to go was a little light since we traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico to attend my graduation. The plan was to get some good training in over the weekend and we even schlepped our bikes with us but with terrible weather and no trainers we gave up on the idea and just celebrated mother’s day with my mom. Got in 9 hours of training before leaving town.

Beautiful morning for a graduation #hopefullynotthelasttime

Thanks for being so stinkin awesome mom! You have always been an inspiration. Strong, determined, brilliant and fierce. If I can be 50% as awesome as you when I grow up I will be happy. Happy Mothers Day!

11 weeks to go was a little more productive, after driving back from New Mexico I got back into some workouts with good focus and intensity including:

The longest swim of year so far (4,000+ yds)

Second workout of the day was extra awesome because my mom joined us for the swim #IMTraining

All bike rides on the trainer (come on summer)

Love watching @ethannewberry and @kimberleydt on ginger runner live from my trainer. Congrats Ethan on the amazing wife and 100k #inspiration

Long run turned because of flooding
Totaling about 15 hours and a lot of focused work

10 weeks to go was the biggest week so far because of the long weekend. All workouts are getting longer now meaning that the alarm is creeping closer to 4:00am and getting later at night. But it’s not too bad since this week (9 weeks to go) is the last biggish week (17 hours planned) before a little taper and recovery for Boulder 70.3.

67 days until @ironmantri Canada. Good thing I have this little bean to help me with yoga #IMCanada #IMTraining #daisythechihuahua

Views from today’s long run, so green in Boulder #IMTraining #IMCanada

Second workout of the day was extra awesome because my mom joined us for the swim #IMTraining

#keepyourheadup #believeinyoutself #chasedreams

Last workout of the day done! Lots of wildlife out, pelicans, great blue heron, bunnies and one wild pug #IMTraining #IMCanada #WinstonThePug #ironpug

Bluebird skies this morning so at least I got three hours on the bike before thunder chased us inside. Back on the trainer 62 days until Ironman Canada #IMTraining

61 days until #IMCanada so many miles to ride can’t believe it’s so close! #IMTraining #teamsoas @ironmancanada

Mid ride break, thinking today about all who have served especially Grandpa Curtis. I wish I could have met you and heard your stories #grateful

T-run done. Cooked and ready to relax! #IMTraining #teamsoas

Then it will be one last big push for IM Canada – here we go!!!

runwithbeth