More race photos

Kate's raw neck from the swim cap.  I also have a burn on the back of my neck. 

Kate and Leah before the race. 

Kate and Peter waiting for our swim waves

Kate's Race Report

Ford Ironman 70.3 California
2010-03-27
Oceanside, California
United States
Ironman North America
Weather:  Sunny

Triathlon - 1/2 Ironman
Total Time = 8h 27m 10s
Overall Rank = 2127/2152
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 92/97
Pre-race routine
My pre-race started roughly. I had a very long and hard week of work and didn't get to San Diego until 3:00 the day before the race. By the time we got up to Oceanside and checked into the hotel it was 5:30. My bro-in-law Peter took me to the check-in. I got super nervous at check-in b/c everyone looked like tri gods and godesses. He then took me to the swim, my biggest hurdle, to check out the course. It looked rough and choppy b/c the wind was blowing. We looked at it from 4 different views and it freaked me out.

After check-in we went to eat and it was 8:00 when we got back to the hotel. I was freaked out I hadn't had time to properly prepare for everything. I was hoping to meet up with my friend Leah but it was late and I was a mess. I got everything ready the best I could and went to bed.

Suzanne Peter and I met up at 5:05am to ride down to the race start. It was still dark and pretty chilly. We were layered up and had all of our stuff in our back packs. We got to transition and set up our stuff. I racked my bike and found my buddies again to get body marked.

There were a couple nice ladies racked next to me who made small talk as we got ready. By this time my nerves were sky high. One helped me zip my wetsuit and I helped a first time tri person setup transition.

I went to find Peter and we hung out with Theresa until we went to the start. As we watched the pros start, I had a calm feeling come over me. Nothing I could do now except give it a shot. My nerves relaxed, I said goodbye to my family and I headed to my wave. No turning back!
Event warmup:

There was no warm up. I really couldn't eat anything b/c I had a nervous stomach. I had a big dinner the night before so I felt OK about not eating.
Swim Comments:

I entered the shoot and tried to find my wave. Unfortunately, the put the waves too close together so we were all jammed together like sardines trying to get into the right groups. I felt bad for the people trying to wiggle their way through the sardines up to their groups. We were like cattle stuck together. We couldn't do anything but move with the crowd.

I am a bad swimmer and Open Water Swims are my greatest fear. Luckily, I was in a calm zone when I got to the start. I was just moving with the crowd observing and moving. When I got the start I dropped my flipflops and got into the water.

The water was about 58/59 degrees. It wasn't as cold as I thought. I had prepared by wearing a skull cap under my race cap and I pee'd in my wetsuit to keep me warm. (That's what people told me to do!) It was a 75 meter swim to the start. I immediately put my head in the water to get myself use to the cold. Not bad. I could handle it. The water was very salty. Slight shock but I had done a salty swim about a month ago. It was good practice.

As I got the start I went to the far right edge of the group. The bouys were on the left. So far so good. Calm and not freak out panic like usual. My group was ages 40-44 and older men. I felt pretty comfortable.

We got the start and I started! I was calm and cool and kept moving. I knew I was slow but I was pretty steady. The life guards were pretty good at keeping everyone on course. I kept going and moving. I felt decent the first few hundred meters. I'd get off course and then correct again. When we doglegged out of the harbor I knew I was getting mixed up. I'd swim and get out of line. I was trying sight but it was hard to see the bouys. I finally turned the corner but I knew I had messed up my mojo. I was getting passed right and left. I saw pink caps, blue caps, red caps, white caps, yellow caps and I think some purple caps.

As I came approached the last 500 meters they were funneling us all into a narrow alley. There was alot of contact and people were pushing me out of the way right and left. You could tell the good swimmers were totally annoyed that I was blocking their path.

I finally reached the end and was so happy to get a hand from the wet suit strippers. I did it!! I totally did it!! I was slow, I was steady but I did it!!

As I took off my skull cap I could feel that I had been rubbed raw under my neck. Yuck!

What would you do differently?:

I really need to work on the swim. I not only finished the BOP of my age group but I also finished the back of several other age groups! UGH! I think I need total immersion swim training or something similar to help this ugly situation. It was UGLY but I did it . . . and I'm PROUD I did it.

T1Comments:

I ran into the transition with a big old smile on my face. I did it! I did it. After the swim, I knew I could do the rest! Hooray!

I got back to transition proud but a little uncertain of where I was at compared to others in my division. When I got back to the rack I saw the lady who helped me put my wetsuit back on. Whew. At least someone in my division was still around! I had a hard time getting out of my wetsuit. Had a hard time deciding what to wear. The sun was shining but I was cold from the swim. I opted to put a short sleeve shirt over my trisuit. (too chunky to wear the tri suit all by itself) I sat down twice. Once to get the wetsuit off and once to get my shoes on. I was clearly flustered now that I look back. I finally got it together and took off.

What would you do differently?:

I would have a better plan of what I needed to wear. I would also practice my transitions more before the race.

Bike Comments:

I started the race and was sky high the first 20 miles. It was beautiful, I had a decent pace, and I had survived the swim. Awesome! I even got a little emotional at times. I was ready b/c I knew the hills were coming and I had to be on the look out. I had done a practice ride on a computrainer for the hills. Unfortunately, the computer ride didn't do the hills justice. They were rough! I was going 3 to 4 mph up those babies! My proudest accomplishement after the swim was that I didn't have to walk up the hills. I powered through them just as I practiced but they kicked my rear end!

Besides the hills I had to battle the wind. During some spots the wind was so tough I dropped down to my little chain ring so I could keep going. No fun!

The last 15 miles I tried to push it to up my bike time but I couldn't get it over 14 mph. UGH.

I was happy with my nutrition. I took a couple salt sticks, I ate bananas when they were offered. I drank ever 15 minutes. I did a gu every 45 minutes unless I got food on the route.

I was disappointed with my bike time but I was happy I got through it.

What would you do differently?:

I need to work on my biking. I have no technique. I need to find some. I think I might be a decent biker with a little coaching.

T2 Comments:

OK transition. I don't remember much of this one. I was TIRED after the bike. As I ran out of the transition, I immediately stopped and got some water and washed off my face. I was TIRED!

What would you do differently?:

Get faster.

Run Comments:
Wow. I hit the wall on the run. I planned on running the first 6 miles. I couldn't I had to walk at mile 2. I was TIRED! I walked every aid station and took a little bit of water and gatoraid. About mile 4 I had to keep walking. Luckily, I had a woman come up to me named LyLy. She said she had been trying to keep up with me the whole race. I said "you caught me, Good luck! See you at the finish." She was so nice and said, she couldn't do much more than what i was doing so let's do it together. We started walk running together. We then met up with Dave. Dave had hurt his knee and needed some motivation too. The three of us walked and ran the rest of the way together.

On loop two we were all losing steam. Dave's knee was hurting. I was ready to send them on their way but they stuck with me. The three of us knew we were ok b/c we had calculated the cut off times. We had time to finish even if we walked the rest of the way. We powered through together and kept going. When were about making our turn to go back the last 3 miles we met up with another guy named Scott. He like me and Dave was also from Arizona. He like the rest of us needed the extra push to keep going. Dave came up with the idea to walk a light post, walk a light post. It got us to the end.

Around mile 11 we saw the last athlete on the run go by starting their second loop. We knew he was the last athlete b/c he had a motorcyle following behind him. It was a weird feeling knowing I was that close to the end of the cut off. When we finally came to the end, there was a bridge we had to cross. We all decided we would run when we hit the bridge to the finish. That was less then a mile at that point. LyLy took off and I was chasing her, Dave and Scott stopped. As I was turning the corner I heard my friend Leah's name being called at the finish. I soon heard LyLy's name then mine!

I did it!! I finished and within the cut off time! Thank goodness! I owe Dave and LyLy and Scott a big thank you for keeping me moving. I don't know if I could have done it without them. If I could have, it wouldn't have been as enjoyable.

What would you do differently?:

I needed more run training. I knew I was neglecting my run.

Post race

I went through the finish line, got my medal, got my hat and started back to the bikes. I was looking for Leah b/c I knew she had recently finished. I walked through the food tent and to the bike but didn't see her. As I got to my bike I sat down and stretched. I had a woman take a photo of me with my medal and packed it up. My sis came and got me and we walked back to my family waiting in my van. It was a good day.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Weight was a big factor in my performance. I know I could do better if I was about 20 to 30 pounds lighter. I also need to work on my technical skills in all three sports.

Event comments:

This was a good race. Challenging, beautiful, great weather and awesome volunteers. I think I have to sign up again to try to beat my times!

Want to follow us?

If you want to check us out during our race you can watch our progress on-line.  The race director sent us this message the other day. 

TRACK YOUR ATHLETE: If your friends and family cannot make it to Oceanside, they can still cheer you on via www.ironman.com. They can look you up by bib number, age group or name.


I think there is a tracker that pops up on race day. My bib number is 1577, Peter's number is 953, and Suzanne's number is 1893.

Lake Bartlett Olympic Tri

I did the Lake Barlett Olympic distance Tri today. In short, it was tough! Really really tough.

Swim: That water was brrrrr cold! 60 degrees. 1500 meters. Good thing I had on a neoprene skull cap and neoprene booties. Those really helped out. I can't imagine doing that swim without them. Overall the swim turned out ok. Then again I had my own private freak out for the first 500-600 meters. My breathing was out of control and my heart rate was crazy jacked up. After the 3rd buoy I was able to get off my back and get back into the swim. Strokes weren't great, but I was get to get through it. Best part - no ice cream headache.

Bike: Bike was tough. Two out and back loops. The "out" was all up-hill. Most of the grade ranged between 5 and 10%. Started at 1812ft and went up to about 3000ft. Avg about 5-6 mph going up the hill and up to 36 mph going down. Really. It was spooky going that fast for that long. My legs were completely shredded by the end of the ride. Even though it was only 24 miles, it seemed much much longer.

Run: The 10k run was crazy tough too. About 400 feet elevation gain. Lots and lots of hills. Grade between 5-10%. Steepest grade at 14%. In short, it had lots of hills that were long and steep. My time was not good. For a good portion I averaged about a 12 min mile. I ended up with an 11:01 min mile. This is significantly slower than what I planned. Then again, I was able to finish.

I am wiped out. I will be sleeping well tonight. I am glad I got that cold open water swim out of the way!

Only 5 days to Carlsbad!

8 Days

8 Days!

It is officially Freak Out Time!

Freaky! Outy! Freaky! Outy!

Today was a good day!

It was a great day in Kate's Triathlon World. (1) I was able to get up the computrainer hills and they were not as bad as i thought. I was slow and steady but I did it. (2) I had a great chat with a tri coach. He was administering my computrainer ride. He was pleasant, informative, easy to talk to and happy to help me. He had done the CA70.3 before and is doing it this time too. He also raced IMAZ twice! I'm going to see what I can set up with him after this race. (3) He reminded me that I would be racing in the 40 age group this tri season. Guess what?! That gives me like 15 more minutes in the swim!! Hooray!! I feel ike a ton of bricks have been taken off my back.

70 Miles! Wow! I did that?

Today me and my buddies rode 70 mile on our road bikes.  I'm so excited.  I can't believe I did it.  I got my bike in April of last year.  I could not go over 16 miles an hour, I was spent after 13 miles, and I was scared to ride down hills.  Today we averaged 16.5 miles per hour, traveled 70 miles, and my fastest time was 40.5 miles per hour going down hill.

If you really think about it, I shouldn't be able to do this.  I'm an overweight mom of two who is going to turn 40 this year.  I can't swim well and I've had a road bike less then a year.  How did this happen?  Well, anyway, enough about me. 

The ride was great.  Suzanne, Peter, Ron, Denten, and I took the 70 mile challenge.  It was a beautiful day for a ride.  Gary met us in Phoenix and rode the rest of the way with us.  We road to the end of Pecos road on the South Side of South Mountain.  I love being around the mountains.  At mile 56 I was TIRED!  Luckily we stopped and fueled up at a bagel shop.  It was just enough to get me home.  It also helped that  Gary was our pacer the last 10 miles.  He had us going 18-20 miles an hour on my hardest stretch of the ride.  Thanks to him, we kept our average speed up to 16.5 mph. 

I'm proud I did the ride.  It was a great work out.  I hope it helps with the Half Ironman! 

PS - I dedicate this ride to Judi for her 50th birthday! 

Firebird Triathlon Race results

The race results are up for our triathlon.  Suzanne kicked BUTT and finished 1st in her age group and 8th overall for women.  She is a rock star. Peter did well too.  He was not a "Suzanne type" finisher but he did a good job. 

Here are my times for the event. 

Swim = 16.19 for 600m
Transition 1 = 2.50
Bike = 44.18 minute for 12 miles
Transition 2 = 1.56
Run = 37.32 minutes for 3 something run.  (people think it is long)
Total time = 1.42.56

At first I was really bummed with my performance.  The swim was not what I was hoping for.  I thought I had my open water swim panic issues under control so I was truly dissapointed I had to flip to my back to get my heart rate down.  After seeing the final times I am ok with this race.  It is the first race of the season and I'm just working out the kinks for the big race.  I have improved quite a bit from my first races.  I just need to keep moving and remember most people wouldn't even attempt something like this. 

Firebird Lake Triathlon

Here are some photos from today's Sprint Triathlon at Firebird Lake.  The distance of the race was 600m Swim, 12 mile bike, and 5k run.  The photos are of me and Peter and my internet training buddy Lisa.  I'll add more and give an update soon. 

Suzanne was there but got there too late for pictures.  She did awesome.  She finished 8th overall for women and 2nd in her age group.  Oh, to be young again! 

Usery Pass Ride - 40 miles

Today Ron, Jake and I tackled Usery Pass.  Usery Pass is always a hard ride because you have to ride uphill 4 miles straight during one portion.  Tough but awesome.  Jake (aka Kid Rocket) wasn't feeling so great so he only went one loop.  Let me tell you . . . I'd love to be as fast as "sick" Jake.  He is FAST!  Ron and I tackled two loops and felt really good with our times.  I took some photos to show everyone how pretty it was.  The desert was green from all the rain. 

Resting up this evening for a small triathlon tomorrow morning. It is supposed to rain but I'm ok with it. I mainly want to get an open water swim under my belt! Peter, Suzanne, and one of my on-line buddies are doing the race with so it should be funsville. I'll keep you posted.