New Orleans 70.3 and post race fun in the "BIg Easy!"

The " Big Easy"...Home to the best music, street performers, food and the New Orleans 70.3 of course! This was a race that I had put on my schedule back in August of last year and I was so excited to be racing there again!

Having done this race twice before I felt confident that there were not going to be too many surprises!

Me race morning...feeling good despite a very restless nights sleep!

The morning started with a powerful prayer and moment of silence for those affected in the Boston attacks. All week I had been glued to the TV, with my emotions running high, and with such a heavy heart. I found the prayer to be much needed and I  I let the tears run freely. I was to dedicate my efforts that day to the victims that I had such great empathy for! 

Moments later we were jumping into into a slightly choppy  and slightly cool (64degrees) Lake Pontchartrain.  I was grateful to be wearing my Blue Seventy wetsuit and was ready to race!!!  The change of the location of the swim course  was an excellent idea as the last previous years the swim was either super choppy or cancelled!  I welcomed the South Shore Harbor swim, even if it meant zigzagging your way through a tight set of buoys.

The swim start went well and I noticed once again that I was keeping up with the front girls… But with UBER swimmers Amy Marsh and Haley Chura that did not last long! The  chop made me feel sloppy and out of rythm and the group quickly broke up. I found myself and Beth Shutt pulling the second group of girls. Despite the close quarters and the constant current pulling us off course, I thought it was well marked and I felt I did quite a good job navigating between the many orange, green and yellow buoys. Well until the last 3/4 mark where I went left to shore and everyone went right and I had to kill myself to catch up to the lead girls. I exited in 30 min a little disappointed but happy to be with a pack!

On exiting the swim I was determined to have a smooth transition and to get on the bike and to stay with the girls no matter what and thats exactly what I did. I quickly settled right into the power/zone that Coach Jesse and I had spoken about and I felt quite comfortable there. This year I signed on with Quintana Roo and my CD0.1 felt so smooth and comfortable! 
I was very impressed with the efforts all the girls and the drafting marshals made to keep this one of the cleanest 70.3's I had raced in a long time. The ride out would head directly into a head wind. The plan would be to push a little harder on the way out keeping this in mind.  At some point 2 of the girls pulled away when the girl in front of me was given a drafting penalty.  I was annoyed as I had to slow down to wait for the motor bike and biker to have a whole conversation and by the time I could get pass the other two girls  were 1 mile down the road. So I pushed the remaining 40 miles solo.

This ride went ALMOST perfectly but I never leave out the annoying details . In Los Cabos my aero bottle straw somehow went MIA on the bike. So I assured Coach Jesse I would tape that sucker on. I trimmed it down to what seemed like a reasonable height. I even rode around the french Quarter dodging horses, trolleys, tourists, cars…to make sure it seemed ok. But never the less 2 minutes into the bike I was painfully aware that I had made it just a hair too long. Enough that for 2hours and 27 minutes I had a straw constantly hitting  my chin which was not pleasant. The funny part was the following day I was wandering what on earth was wrong with my face. I seemed to have broken out all over and under my chin. Only realizing moments later that straw had left a mark!!! 




 If I can critique the 70.3 race directors at all it would just be the lack of aid stations on the bike. I recall there only being four. The first and last were within 10 miles  of home when you did not need them as much. Thus I was once again in a situation where I was completely out of fluids twice. So that is something that I still need to work on...

The beauty of having raced an extremely hard Ironman four weeks before was that the bike went extremely fast! I was very grateful for the tailwind most of the way home despite having to stay 100% focused to keep the power up. I came into transition relieved to have executed the bike perfectly! I was told I was 7 minutes behind the leader and 1.30 behind the girls in front of me.  

I headed out onto the run and was immediately aware that it was pretty hot and humid! My legs too were not feeling too fresh and they felt very heavy running. At times I felt like I was running through quick sand but I just tried to keep some sort of turnover. Team mate Kim Scwabenbauer ran by me looking so strong as she had at our 

QT2 systems training camp 6 weeks before. I cheered her on to go catch the girls ahead not realizing how close we all were. At the 6 mile mark  another team mate Jocelyn Cornmyn passed me looking fresh and speedy. I yelled at my legs to cooperate and I decided not to let her go…enough was enough. I would take my heart beat up a few notches and I decided to stop the abuse I was putting on my self but instead I started thanking my legs for being strong and injury free and allowing me to push as hard as I was pushing. Coming off of an Ironman and only getting in 2 weeks of speed work and in the middle of a build for IM Brazil this was all my body was allowing and I was at peace with it. I directed my run once again to those athletes who would now face the challenges of wearing prosthetics. I prayed for them and that they would find the strength to return to the sports they love. I found all this took away the hurt I was feeling and I noticed that my pace had dropped 5-10 seconds a mile and I was executing my run as well as I could. 

Love my Pearl Izumi N1's

 I ran into the finish 11th place , 20 seconds out of top ten and only less than 3 minutes out of 6th place. I view this race as a step in the right direction. After a few slower 70.3's last year this was the fastest I have raced a 70.3 since my crash almost 2 years ago! This gives me some confidence that I can reach my goals going into IM Brazil. 

Big thanks as always to Coach Jesse Kropelnicki of QT2 Systems, and all my sponsors that keep me going! PowerBar, Quintana Roo, Normatec, Pearl Izumi,Blue Seventy, Fuel Belt, Dr Sears Zone and Clarence from Brielle Cyclery!

After the race I headed back to the French Quarter to really spend the next day soaking in the many charms the French Quarter has to offer. This town is very special! There is no place like it in the world!

A video of some street performers!

Beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde

Oysters and crackers post race!

Ironman Los Cabos Race Report! The luck of the Irish!

One week post IM Cozumel in November I decided I would like to open my race season with IM Los Cabos!  It sounded like a great idea! Besides it was a few days before my birthday so where better to celebrate! All winter while clocking countless hours on the trainer I would dream of racing Ironman in the hot Mexican sun! 

I arrived in charming hot beautiful San Jose Mexico. Ironman Los Cabos stage would be one that I won't easily forget and will put up there as one of the most beautiful courses I have raced for sure! 

THE COURSE

The 2.4 mile swim set in the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean from Palmilla Beach. A place where there are local fishermen,stand up paddle boarders, rich tourists,  pelicans hang and of course the whales impress!

 

The 112 mile bike is set along the tourist corridor between the relaxed San Jose del Cabo and the  vibrant Cabo San Lucas with a grueling section that a friend described as equivalent to the energy lab in Hawaii but on bike!
Lastly the run would weave it's way through downtown San Jose, past a Mexican rodeo and busy tourist shops to the finish line at the city hall!

THE RACE

I was feeling excited to race. It was hot and the course beautiful. The days leading up the race I felt solid. I was relaxed although a little nervous about the distance. Even after 23 IM the distance of the race scares me.  I respect the distance but the goal is not just to finish, but to race as fast as I can given my fitness! I was feeling good for March...but their is always doubt in the back of my mind on how the winter training has gone and if I have done enough... 

Race day was to be on St Paddy's day! I kept saying to myself and others I hope I have the "luck of the Irish!" race day! Hoping for some good luck! Well apparently up until this point

 I have been misinformed about the saying!  Luck of the Irish is actually bad luck! Who knew??? I must have jinxed myself but I will get back to that...

Morning came with my usual not a wink of sleep. I do feel so much better when I sleep before a race but I was ok with it and despite some jelly legs I headed down to the race start. Once I walked down into transition the tossing and the turning of the night was forgotten and I was 100% ready to race!

Not only was I ready but I was loving every minute of the energy of the morning. The sun was rising over stunning Palmilla beach. The ocean calm with a light breeze.

When I lined up there was no fear! 

THE SWIM

At 6.43 I sprinted into the ocean in my suit and swam as fast as I could. The ocean felt great. Even though I was one of the first girls in the water the lead girls pulled away quick. So I settled into what I felt was a good strong swim effort. The current seemed to be at our back and I could feel someone on my feet. At the second turn around buoy I could see that I was pulling a group of 4 or 5 girls. I tried to surge and push to catch the girl infront of me but there was no bridging the gap and noone seemed to want to pass me to help! So I continued to just push as hard as I could all the way to the finish.  I felt like I was going to have a really fast swim split as I felt great the whole way but I have to say I was slightly dissapointed when I saw a 1.03 swim split.   I do think the course might have been a touch long or swimming into the current on the way back a bit slower.

But that thought left me as I sprinted up the beach to get a lead on the girls that were trailing close behind me. 

Running through the T1 tent the girls offered to strip my wetsuit. Here is when the day started to get a little shaky. It seemed that as hard as 2 then 4 girls seemed to yank they could not pull my wetsuit off. It was bizarre but by the time they got it off all the girls were leaving T1 without me. 

THE BIKE

Next crazy thing...riding up the hill out of T1 I hit a bump while trying to put my bike shoe on and the whole shoe came off my pedal forcing me to stop and put it on. Ugh! Ok now the group had pulled away from me and I was a little annoyed but quickly setteled into the ride once on Highway 1 heading towards Cabo San Lucas.  Coach Jesse had given me a power number to hit no matter what!!!! I went out just above that number and felt great. My heart rate was super low and I had a big smile on my face.  I could see all the girls that had passed me and I was feeling great!

I loved this course...despite the endless lights, cracks and bumps in the road.

BUT 22 miles in and my third obstacle hit me.  It seems all my asking for the luck of the Irish was indeed happening but not the way it was meant to! I was about to have the worst string of bad luck I have had in Ironman in a long time. Nothing major but just enough to be distracting!

Not sure what happened first but my gears were not shifting correctly and on a uphill climb I dropped my chain. I tried to pick it up while spinning but it got lodged in the crank. Ok off my bike for the second time...hands all greasy...got it out and back in action. But no sooner had I started to ride when I realized that somehow I lost my aero bottle straw! You got to be kidding me...no straw would leave me with only one water bottle cage which meant no room for error on grabbing a drink at the aid stations. But I reminded myself not to panic as their where plenty of aid stations. 

It also became very apparent that my gears were no longer working correctly. This was first evident on a long descent where I had to spin at cadence 130 and then coast as I had no power. This course is rolling and with no power on the downhills you lose time and your watts drop. I figured I had exactly 4 gears to ride in. We have a saying at QT2...Control what you can control on race day! Well it just seemed like things were coming apart. But I was still keeping my focus. I could just try push harder on the uphills to make up the power and time. Focus Jacqui Focus! Be smart and just do everything else right!

It is so funny while most people were focused on the heat and hills and even the wind that picked up quite heavy on the second loop!

 All I could think about was my hydration so sorry if I spend a little too much time reflecting on it! But the way you hydrate on the bike sets up your whole marathon so it is key!

Without an aero bottle my goal would be at each aid station to grab a sports drink and put it in the only holder I had...then I would grab a water and dump it all over to keep cool.  

But something was going on with the fueling bottles. 1) They were small so they would fall out of the holder without you even noticing! 2) The tops were not allowing the gatorade to flow so all I would get was a trickle of fluid.  3) I could not believe my luck when at various times 3 bottles were handed to me with their seals on! 

 It was HOT and things were not going my way. I could not get enough fluid!!  I would hang tough to the next station which was only 6 miles away. But the same thing would happen at the next station.  At this point my mouth was so dry and the course so hot. I was so thankful and appreciative to my Costa Rican friend Milton who took a minute to try help me by twisting the cap hard with his teeth even though he was racing for his Kona spot.  The second loop was a blur of dehydration as twice I lost my gatorade bottle and rode with no drinks for miles at a time.

The view from the bike course

Despite my legs feeling good I just had one goal and that was to finish the bike without damaging myself too much!  My breaking point was grabbing a bottle near the last aid station after riding for 6 miles without a drink in the hottest part of the course and I am talking upper 80's/ 90 degrees. I went for a big sip of gatorade and the seal was once again was still on!  My chest closed and I started to panic and have an asthma attack. This is when I know I am pushing my body too far. I had to stop and have a little cry and regain my composure. I opened the seal and drank the whole bottle.  

There are many obstacles you can deal with on the bike and you have to learn how to think rationally when they happen. You have to be able to deviate from a plan! This was a first for me in an Ironman!

By the time I pulled into T2 I was very unsure about running. I was in 16th place and so far from where I was hoping to be. My stomach had been cramping on the bike and I knew I would have to jog the early miles and spend some time at the aid stations just hydrating if I was going to get through a marathon.

It crossed my mind to pull out for sure. Save myself for my next Ironman in 9 weeks! But I was all the way in Mexico and I came to race an Ironman. To finish...so that is what I did.

One mile at a time...At one point I thought I might beable to get a PR run as I was holding 7.20's and my legs were feeling good.  But the lack of sufficient hydration early on in the bike caught up to me and I had to jog the last 10 miles. Good enough for a 3.34 marathon! 

So I tried to cheer the other athletes on and appreciate the beautiful mountains and the crowds of spectators.

I crossed the finishline in 10.34 Good enough for 16th PRO. 

I will remember this race for pushing through...keeping the focus when all seemed to be falling apart! When the luck of the Irish was thrown my way but I did not give up. I am thankful for having a strong body that allowed me to finish even though I probably was in no position to run and a strong mind for allowing me to not beat myself up but instead face what I was given like a champ!

So I did not find my pot of gold in Mexcio. But what I did experience was another opportunity to do what I love. To be a part of a new race! To meet so many athletes ..to experience the hard working mexican people with their big smiles and warm hearts..to see whales and listen to music and watch a sunset on a beach and celebrate with friends and family! 

Celebrating my birthday!

I loved my start to the season and am always thankful to beable to do what I do!

So time to get back to training..next up is New Orleans and then Brazil! 

Another adventure awaits!

Big thanks to my sponsors for 2013! 

QT2 Systems/Coach Kropelnicki

Quintana Roo

Powerbar

Blue Seventy

Pearl Izumi

Fuel Belt

Normatec

The Zone

Hanging post race with Hank.team mates Jessie and her husband Peter and daughter and Doug 

The coolest rock face I have seen!

This is definitely a must do early season Ironman! I hope to be back next year for sure!

QT2 Pro camp

Before I post a race report for 2013 I find it shocking that I am yet to post much from my offseason. The last 6 weeks have been nothing but PANIC in preparation for this early season Ironman.

 The realization of an impending Ironman was enough to create a bit of fear so I would get down to business and focus on every single workout and my nutrition.

With winter weight lingering and motivation low due to crappy weather I had to step things up a notch!

First I had to go back to the Core Diet. The goal to lose 6 pounds in 6 weeks. 

I do not diet but the core diet is just going back to basics by eating lots of fruits and veggies and lean protein.

I find it awfully hard in the winter to resist the snack cupboard. It seems to be the first and last thing I open and close every time I enter and exit the kitchen. I don't believe in denying my kids of sugary nummy snacks but it makes me have to be super disciplined!

With weeks going by in the 20's I settled for the warmth and convenience of my bike on the trainer. Never a flat tire to worry about and a constant stream of tv or music.I did get a few cold snowy run days!

Long run , many layers , lots of cold wind!

Just another day on the trainer!

 Before I knew it a month had gone by and it was time for our first ever QT2 pro camp in Claremont Florida. I was a little nervous as I had not done any speed work of any kind and my training had been a bit slow in Dec/ Jan.


Camp started Feb 15th and it was just what I needed. A blur of insanely hard but fun challenging sessions. Coach Jesse made sure to touch on every aspect of what goes into being and racing on a professional level.

Track day at the end of a long day! Mile repeats!

My awesome room mates  Kim and Stephanie 

Loved this sandy loop across from our Vacation Village accomodations. Miles and miles of dirt! 

With days such as grit, endurance, chaos over confusion and intensity days! We were tested both physically and mentally!

One of my favorite pools at the NTC 

Thankfully we got some good recovery in there to absorb the huge workload.

I survived a 40 hour training week filled with intensity and daily long swims. I biked a ridiculous 350 miles in 4 days including finishing with a 6.30 hour hard bike in the rain. Following this was an epic night run where coach Jesse sent us a text preparing us to bring fuel for a 4.5 hour run. Only to learn in a quick minute that we would be running 20x1 mile descending repeats with a partner. If you failed to descend you would have a 15 minute penalty.  My run due to my partner being injured would end up be 8x1mile repeats and then 8 descending miles. Doesn't sound too bad...try doing it an 10.30 at night after 10 brutal days at camp!

I survived camp and was equally impressed by my team mates who got the work done day after day with both enthusiasm and a sense of humor all the while keeping up the intensity.

When a perfectly executed camp was over, I was sufficiently tired and ready for a taper into IM Cabos.
Big thanks goes to Coach Jesse who ran the camp with such organization and such passion for his athletes. I am always impressed by his ability to connect to each and everyone of his athletes and his attention to detail in training and racing!

Well sadly I returned from camp with the intentions of riding outdoors but a snow/rain/snow/cold weather once again got in the way of that.
So with great anticipation of some beautiful weather I head out to Mexico in a few days!

I got to spend a few days in Disney with the fam before camp!

So until my post race report I wish you all an amazing 2013 season filled with health, friendships, good races and balance!!!

Here is a cool video that team mate Pedro Gomes (http://www.pedro-gomes.com/wp/) made from camp!  Enjoy!

Ragnar Relay 12 people 196 miles Miami to Key West

DONT BE AFRAID TO LIVE ON THE EDGE!
One thing about me is, I LOVE adventure. I love to be around other athletes, racing, adrenaline, fun, sports of any kind. Well let's just say..I love life!!

I am often my worst enemy as I stay up way too late as I am always trying to pack as much into the day as I can. This is obviously not the best thing for a pro triathlete as we all know recovery is key!!!

It takes a lot for me to get into bed at 9.30 and actually turn the lights off. Well the last 2 days that is exactly what I have done!

I have run myself into a huge sleep deficit and I am trying frankly to catch up so I can feel good.
A last minute decision had me in a whim flying down with "culprit number one" to meet "culprit number two" in Miami!!!

Culprit number one...my cousin Tracy from South Africa

Culprit number 2 The Navy Team "Warchops"

You see Tracy was in town from South Africa...
 I had picked HER up on Wednesday, bounced around NYC all day where she had mentioned her friend was looking for a runner for the Ragnar Relays down in Miami. I was not to familiar with this race series but it did sound intriguing. A run from Miami to Key West 196 miles. A relay team of 12 traveling in 2 vans each taking their turn to get the distance done!   So without too much knowledge on what we were getting ourselves into...In 2 hours flat I packed up my bags and we drove the hour too AC hoping we could get on a flight down to Fort Lauderdale.

The deciding factor was that I would bring my bike down and get some short rides in between runs. I also came up with the idea that on Sunday after the race I would ride my bike the route from Key West back to Key Largo (around 100 miles.) A ride was secured for us from Key Largo to the airport so that was all I needed to commit to this adventure!

Saturday 5am was our wake up call! After a few hours sleep due to ...ahhheemm some significant snoring in my room (no names mentioned) we rolled down to the lobby to meet the team! The standard joke around the 2 buses was that I was their Olympian ready to save the day!!! Seems like some of the team were a little anxious about the distances they had to run and having me there would mean that they would not have to pick up the slack by adding any extra miles.

We arrived at the race venue with the race in full swing.With 500 plus teams of 12 people this event is HUGE and so smoothly run. A group of 30 or so people seemed to be starting every 10 minutes.  The vans were all decorated and excitement was definitely in the air. What caught my attention was the wide arrangement of themes each group had from Hawaiin outfits to cocktail dresses, clown costumes to jail clothes. This was such a breath of fresh air to the serious focused faces of Ironman athletes I am used to seeing. This event was all about fun and camaraderie!  No pressure other than to stay awake and complete your distance in your allocated time you had put down.
With an 8am start time I was going to start the race off in Miami. How exciting!  The first run was 6 miles and it was a blast. I immediately went out at race pace and before I knew it was in the top 3 in the group. Now I know this was not a race but I took all my segments as a chance to push the pace as much as I could given my current state of not being fit!!! ( Besides I was the only pro athlete in the group and I had to live up to my status!!!)

The Navy team was so awesome and I loved getting to know them a bit and really appreciated their efforts and commitment to getting the job done with no complaints EVER!!!! Even though I know they were hurting at times!

Each van had six people and here we slept, changed, cheered, and rallied from one stage to the next.

My awesome Navy Team mates on Van1" Mike, Carl. Al , Michelle and Kyra

Finally Friday afternoon when we had finished our segment and Van 2 took over I finally got to a spot where I could get some riding in. This would work out as a perfect transition bike/run. I rode for an hour 30 minutes loosening up my legs and then went straight onto a 9 mile run. I loved this run. A big part of the Ragnar runs is how many kills, aka people you pass. On this run I recorded passing 81 people.   Part of the run included a section through a 2 mile sugarcane field on gravel ending up at dusk. I really got the lucky leg as I never had to run at night. I ran both early morning shifts and one late afternoon to dusk. This was great for me as I was worried about the possibility of twisting an ankle. I was very impressed by all the runners who did their legs at night with little sleep.

Run, drive, sleep? repeat!

We did not get much sleep as our went from around 5-1am and I was up at 5.30am to take the next run.
The time passed quick and before we knew it we were all running down the finish shoot completing the mission of 196 miles!

Thank you team Warchops for making me feel so welcome. I had such a blast!!!
Everyone needs to experience a Ragnar event as it really is so much fun! For me it was probably the first thing I have done in so long that was not intense competition.

After a much needed nights sleep in Key West the following morning I headed out on my bike to do the 100 mile ride back to Key Largo.  This was such a pretty ride. The first 20 miles were on a wide bike lane, then it alternated between riding the road shoulder and bike lanes. Riding through the Keys there are endless bridges. Seven mile bridge being the most exciting and beautiful.


Even though I was pretty close to busy traffic I was always quite at ease with the amount of shoulder space I had.

I also also got to ride on the Greenway Trail where I happen to get my first flat around mile 52. A few riders stopped to see if I needed help which was very comforting.
I later got another flat around mile 70 after hitting something sharp. That slowed things up a bit but thankfully I had packed two extra tubes and Co2's as some friends had warned me they had got a couple flats earlier in the week on the same loop. For anyone thinking of doing the ride,  the town of Marathon, after the 7 mile bridge was a bit hectic as they had no shoulder and it was a built up busy town. After an incident of someone turning in front of me I decided to ride on the twisty bike lane path for a few miles. I definitely see why most people ride this ride the opposite way. There is more of a consistent bike lane and the wind will be at your back most of the time. I had a constant head or crosswind.

After 6 hours Mike and Tracy were there waiting for me on the side of the road and boy was I happy to see them. I quickly packed up my bike, stopped at a rest room to clean up the best I could and change and then we headed to the airport!!!! Thank you SO much Mike and Tracy for your patience!

I am so glad Tracy and I headed down to be part of this event and I am so thankful to the lovely new friends I made. A big thanks goes to Kyra, Alex, Michelle, Carl and Mike on Van 1 and Paige ( who organized this event and got it to run so smoothly) and all the team I met on Van 2!!!






As for Tracy I am so glad we headed out on this adventure together because as I always tell my kids..."Nothing happens when you sitting on your couch at home!"

 Get out there and and have fun!!!

Good times!!