Trifecta

In 2010 I was the Boulder Irongirl winner and was comped an entry into the 2011 race. Since Irongirl was one of my strongest performances in 2010 I decided I would definitely be back to defend my title.

Two months before Irongirl 2011 I found out about a GOTRIbal contest to have dinner with Chrissie Wellington on August 26th, the night before Irongirl. I was one of 10 winners chosen. Two weeks before Irongirl I found out I could stay at my friend’s house in Steamboat so I registered for the Steamboat Triathlon. The race was August 28th, the day after Irongirl.

The Trifecta weekend. Friday night dinner with Chrissie, Irongirl Sprint Saturday followed by Steamboat Olympic Distance Triathlon Sunday.

I drove to Boulder Friday afternoon, enjoying a long chat with Dave Ward, Diamond BeachBody coach, then stopping to pick up Dura Race Wheels in Berthoud from my Timex Teammate Kim Hager. Thanks Kim! I picked up my race packet at the Boulder Reservoir before heading to Bacco for girls night out with Chrissie. There, 10 wonderful GOTRIbal women shared stories, laugher and friendship (refer to blog post Dinner with Chrissie).




Saturday morning I headed to Boulder Rez to race the Irongirl Sprint Triathlon (400 swim, 17 mile bike, 5k run). Coming off Ironman Lake Placid on July 25th and the Horsetooth
10k Swim the previous weekends, I did not know what to expect when it came to racing a sprint, since I have not been doing traditional speed workouts***.

The Irongirl course is the same at the Boulder Sprint Triathlon course expect only a ¼ mile vs ½ mile swim. I was in the 4th wave and seemed to have passed most women in the first 3 waves. It felt good to run to t1, no nagging ankle or calf pain. The bike course was fast, I averaged 23.5 mph. Quick t2. Again if felt so good to run without any injuries holding me back, quick leg speed and calm breathing. I knew I was gonna have strong finish and was blown away by my 19:29 5k time. I was pleasantly surprised with the results of my race on Saturday. I beat my time from 2010 by 2 minutes.

After awards I quickly transitioned to my car. Drove 75 minutes to Fort Collins, lots of traffic, to let the dogs out. Then picked up my husband Don on my way up Poudre Canyon, 3 hours to Steamboat. After arriving in Steamboat, packet pickup, dinner with friends, the leg fatigue was setting in. I spent $6 for 20 lb bag of ice followed by a 20 minute ice bath, the ultimate recovery before bed. http://running.competitor.com/2011/08/videos/recovery-the-ice-bath_15966

My legs felt great Sunday morning. I had no expectations for my race performance other then to do what I could on that day. I was having a great weekend already.

Racing Steamboat on Sunday was my first time doing the entire triathlon. I had been there the first year and swam as a team which made me aware of the weeds in Catamount Lake. The bike and run course is rolling, a fair course for those that are strong climbers and those that prefer flat lands. The rollers were not that steep, short enough to sit or stand and power over. I had some moments on the bike that I was not pushing myself, the thought that someone might pass me on the bike kept me focused to push harder when I caught myself slacking. I was surprised to average 23.2mph even more surprised how good my legs felt on the run. The most difficult part of the run was the steep hill at the turnaround. In the end, I raced my fastest finish time for an Olympic distance triathlon and was the overall winner of the Steamboat Triathlon.

The weekend ended with a drive back to Fort Collins from Steamboat Springs. Two days, two distances, two wins, plus an amazing dinner with a world-class leader and triathlete and a great group of peers.

Here are pictures and a video from the race. The weather was perfect Sunday.
http://www.steamboattoday.com/photos/galleries/2011/aug/29/2011-steamboat-springs-triathlon/

*** My “untraditional” approach to speed work consisted of Insanity the Asylum, a 30-day BeachBody program I started on August 1st. I had completed Insanity and P90X in the winter 2010 and spring 2011 as an injury resistance program then stopped in May to focus on Ironman training. After completing Insanity, the next step in the progression is Insanity the Asylum. Having some left leg pain from from Ironman Lake Placid, I was able to minimize the pain in August spending some time with adjusting my bike fit and strengthening my glutes/core with Insanity the Asylum.
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Horsetooth 10k Swim

The Horsetooth 10k swim started in 1999 as a fundraising for Partners, and is now a Team Fort Collins event. The course covers the length of Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, Colorado. Swimmers (and paddlers) start at the north end and swim to South Bay swim beach. Water temperatures over the years have ranged from 55-70 degrees. NO WETSUITS are allowed. The cutoff time is five hours. Read more about the previous swims here http://www.horsetoothswim.com/Race-Details/10K-details.html

I have watched a few swims over the years while running in the foothills. I never thought I would participate due to lack of swim training because I’ve always prioritized Ironman training and I hate cold water more then anything – although I do like swims with no wetsuits.


The idea of participating this year popped into my mind three weeks before Ironman Lake Placid. On a Sunday evening I felt like swimming. With no plan or intentions of swimming anything but easy, I swam 40x100s on the 1:30, easily holding 1:25 pace. After taking November through March off of swimming and then maintaining about one swim per week leading up to Ironman, I felt pretty strong.

The day after IM Lake Placid was the deadline to sign up, and I had a strong non-wetsuit 2.4-mile swim during my Ironman (56:40). I decided, since swimming is my sport, I need to do more swimming events – so I signed up. Given our recent hot summer weather and a full reservoir, we were sure to have warm water temperatures.
On race morning, the water was 72 degrees – the warmest water they’ve ever had for the event. Along with no wind and clear blue skies, conditions were perfect. Normally, 72 degrees is freezing for me, and I would never swim in water that temperature without a wetsuit. Upon first plunge, the water felt great, and I was never cold.

The group – 90 swimmers in all – started out faster then I wanted to start. My competitive instincts kicked in, and I stayed within the group – I did not want to get too far behind. Never having done a 10k swim, I didn’t want to start too fast, either. We had to swim about a half a mile to find our kayakers, which was more difficult than I thought.

My kayak was the only one with balloons attached. Unfortunately, the balloons were low I still had trouble locating them. That slowed me down some. It was strange treading water trying to find my kayak, surrounding by other kayaks weaving in and out trying not to hit you with their paddles. Thoughts of the movie Titanic flashed in my head – the scene when they go overboard and are in the water dodging icebergs.

Once we met up, it was weird not being able to chat, like you do when you run or bike with someone. After about 1.5 miles into the swim, I was off my three-hour pace. I was anxious to pick it up, but decided to be patient and wait till the three-mile marker. Once we were halfway done, I wanted to see how many people I would pass in the second half. I know for sure I passed five other swimmers, and since we were so spread out along the length of the reservoir, it was hard to tell how many others I may have passed. At the five-mile marker, I knew I was going to finish in under three hours – now it was a matter of just how far under three hours I could be.
I finished in 2:50.44, 10th out of 36 female swimmers. I feel pretty good about my accomplishment, and I’m excited to train for my next open-water, non-triathlon competition.