Take Away from AT&T Race

I think it's important to reflect upon training & races and ask yourself, okay, what did I learn here? Actually you should do this is in all areas of life - but for now, we're going to focus on AT&T Giant Race.

1. Heat & Sun are killer for me. If I'm running in them, I need to bring my own water supply. Not having water immediately after Fort Mason killed me. This is not rocket science and I know better. And heat stroke for the rest of the day sucked.

2. Time to invest in new gear. I have plenty of winter gear (this is SF after all), but I'm screwed for Double Dipsea in two weeks if I go out there again in heavy clothing.

3. I need to get my ass back on the track. No way should that hill put me out like that. Yes, conditions were also a factor, but this was a result of me being a total slacker on any kind of high intensity cardio work out.

4. For once, I didn't hate myself for not improving time & let myself just enjoy the sport. Back in January I swore there would be no crying in Ironman training, and I'm holding myself to it. After doing CIM in 4:06, I cried that I didn't break 4 hours. But I'm not doing this to myself for 14 months.

THANK YOU volunteers, supporters, the guys at Maggie McGarry's, PacWest, AT&T, my room mate Kate for taking my pic towards the finish, and the World Cup for inadvertently supplying us with a huge crowd in North Beach :)

AT&T Giant Race Half Marathon

So I'm not a huge Giants fan. Yes, they're the SF home team, have a great ball park (okay it is super nice), and are relaxing to watch - but I'm from the Boston area and a Red Sox fan for life. But when I saw that there was a race that ended on home plate at AT&T AND had pace groups, I was in. I left my house at 6:30AM to walk to South Beach to get to the gear check 30 min before the race started. I made it 4 blocks before I had to strip off my jacket and long sleeves, wow is it this hot already? I'm not even running yet, oh Christ.
I arrive, find my pace leaders, and we're off! The course took us down Embarcadero, through the wharf, and to Fort Mason. Oh Fort Mason - your killer hill is in about 90% of the races I have done in our little 7x7 city. At this point, we're at mile 6. I'm in the 1:50 pace group and I'm the last woman in the group too. And I'm doing okay. Then we charged up that hill... I never recovered. Once we went up that hill, I felt like I was going to die in the heat & sun. By the way I was in Under Armour Capri running pants. At mile 7's water stop, I realized I had a decision to make. I could fight the next series of hills with these guys (which I wanted to so bad, since I was the last female standing and wanted to hold my own) or I could enjoy the race I had been looking forward to for weeks and accept there would be no PR today. Because I've never run through North Beach, and I wanted to enjoy the course through Grant, Columbus, and Broadway streets, so that's what I did. I came in at 1:55:03. That placed me at 15/141 for women 25-29, 70/639 for women overall, and 257/1274 total overall.

Starting Out

Small right? It's tiny & not everything works. One stationary bike, two treadmills, some free weights, a StairMaster & elliptical machine that don't work, and a Captain's Chair. And a bosu ball. For two months I trained in here. Why? Well, remember items 1 -8? The cost? The need to supplement income? Yup, it happened. For two months my life consisted of the following schedule: M-Th: 6:30AM-3:30PM Work Job #1, 3:30-4:30PM Train in little gym, 5- 9PM Work Job #2, Home at 9:45 and blissfully fell asleep only to wake up and repeat again. On Saturdays I trained in Aquatic Park, so still getting up early and instead of working, I was jumping into the freezing SF bay (no complaints, I loved it). The plan was to do this for 3 - 4 months, but I put in notice to Job #2 after 6 weeks.

Two Lessons Learned Here:

1. Everyone has a limit and you need to recognize it before hurting yourself or getting sick.

2. No excuses to not stay active. Even if you don't have a gym membership, you can find a way to stay fit & be active to keep healthy. All about putting in the effort. Some where out there, there is someone busier than you who did the work out.

Ironwoman

The purpose of this blog is to record the journey I'm about to make in my training to complete the Ford Lake Placid 2011 Ironman. Yea, I know, it's more than an year away. But you have no idea the amount of preparation that's already gone into this thing. First of all, you can't just decide, I'm fit enough to do an Ironman in 6 months, and register. The events in the US sell out fast (matter of hours), and you're lucky to get a spot if you're registering online. I decided to take on the big event this past December, and shared the news with my pace leader at the CA International Marathon. She told me I'd have better luck getting a spot for 2011 if I physically GO to Lake Placid and register in person. Really? Yes, really, or else you're not getting in. Oh. Fast forward a few weeks later to masters swim at GGTSC, my fellow swimmers inform me, No, You really need to be a volunteer, that way you are guaranteed a spot for 2011. Really? Yes, really, or else you might not get a spot. Oh.

So - January 25th, 2010, I literally waited by my computer to register online at midnight, like I was buying tickets to a concert. Done! I'm a registered volunteer. Alright! I will be doing this thing. What's next?

1. Shit, I need to buy an expensive road bike. 112 miles isn't just the typical stroll through Golden Gate Park.

2. Shit, I need a place to sleep in Lake Placid while I'm volunteering. Oh great, all the athletes have booked up the nearby hotels.

3. Shit, I need plane tickets to the east coast.

4. Shit, I need to take vacation days to do this.... errr how many have I already used??

5. Shit, I need to have a base in open water swimming, cycling, and running.

6. OMG it's $550 to register?!

7. Shit, I'll need to book way in advance for a cabin for 2011.

8. OMG, I need a second job to pay for some of this.

And so started the many sacrifices (happily made) to get this into production. So if you think I'm jumping the gun with starting this blog 14 months before the actual event, the reality is, it's been in the works for six months already. I have 47 days until I register. And #1 on the to do list still hasn't been checked off (eek!).