February 2013 Lessons Learned

February brought us football history!  Har-Bowl? Bro-Bowl? Blackout-Bowl? Beyonce-Bowl? Anyway, Ryan, Aliyah and I had a blast running Surf City in our 49er gear to earn our Beach Cities Challenge medals...Yes, Marcus chose the Superbowl over the Half Marathon, but we managed to carry his bib and timing chip along with us so he could be in two places at the same time!  He chose last year's Challenge Medal and I chose this year's Medal.  Afterall, we paid for it all so might as well add it to the 2013 Bling!

I ran this race solo so gave it my all.  It's an easy route but I earned my fastest official race time of 2:10 (training run 13.1 was 2:07).  I am seriously considering returning next year for the full marathon. My only complaint was that I never saw food on the route.  I planned ahead though and had 2 GU with me.  Lesson previously learned: Never run a race without backup food and electroytes!

So back in 2005, I embarked on 2 goals... running and tennis. I gave 110% to both and I almost killed myself at both! My farthest run was 7 miles but I was convinced to run the 37th San Dieguito Half instead of 5k. I had no idea that this is probably the most difficult half in San Diego County! I cried often and it rained the entire race but I finished in 2:35. I had no idea how to prepare for hills or nutrition. Soon afterwards, I injured my achilles and knee and quit running until 2011. After rehab, I stayed with tennis for 4 years...well I almost killed myself at this sport also but that's another story. Lessons learned... set reasonable goals, run your own race, have fun.  After Oceanside 70.3 in March 2012, I learned I needed to significantly raise my run base because if a half is painful by itself, you will want to die during the half run after 1.2mi swim/56mi bike!





Feb 10, 2013 is the 45th San Dieguito Half and I am back for revenge! This is also my 20th half marathon! This is also week 14/20 for Oside training so this is a great test of my ability to run/not walk and endure pain. Well the big day arrived, cold and crisp but thankfully dry!  Marcus and I decided to run our own race so I could see my improvement.  Biking the course twice really helped me mentally.  I knew when to push myself and when to get ready for a little pain. I was shocked halfway through the race when I was holding a 10 minute pace. My goal was 10:40 since there were 5 hills.  Alas hill #4 was a killer as expected but I kept the intensity.  I took hill #5 like a billygoat and super focused on stride all the way to the top.  To my surprise as the pain started to grip my glutes, Ironwoman Tracy decided to pace me at the corner to the finishline at an 8 min pace!  I was in agony chasing her down for .14 mile but she was relentless and it was AWESOME!! It was my strongest finish EVER! 23 minute improvement from 2005 race vs 2013 race! and there was NO CRYING!

I was so happy when I crossed the finishline crushing my fear of running hills!

 

 

 

The rest of February was focused on the peak of Oceanside 70.3 training.  Time to get back in openwater and check my time improvement and revisit any hyperventilation issues while swimming in 58 degree water.  wanted to work on bike/run workouts that were really challenging too.  Additionally this is the last month of the NCC challenge.  My first goal was to stay in the top 10 because I recognized a podium finish was for the full crazies...Full Ironwomen! Besides I was nearly the oldest in my age group so I just gave it my best.  I am very happy with my 8th place of 178 in the AG 45-49!  My stretch goal was to achieve 3000 points but reached 2947 - damn the short month of February ending on a Thursday cuz I have a hellof a weekend planned!

I have tested myself a few times in Bonita Cove between 58 and 60 degree water for 1.2 miles and I have hovered between 40-43 minutes.  this is over a 10 minute improvement in my Oceanside race time! I have been swimming about 4 miles a week and the endurance distance and focus on technique is very apparent.  I have been pushing myself to ride more hills and work on hard short distances as well as long.  I have been persistent in bike/run bricks because I knew this was a weakness last year.  So far my longest brick has been 56/10 and I am happy that the regular brick training has paid off and to-date I have not walked one foot during a run (bathroom breaks don't count!).  On the last day of February I decided to challenge another fear and that is riding up Talbot.  I looked at a map that said it was 14% to 18% grade.  During the first attempt last year, I unclipped half way with fear that I would fall into traffic because I couldn't turn over my legs.   My latter attempts were successful but only with Marcus screaming support the entire route. It has been months since I rode Talbot so I created a route with multiple challenging hills to check improvements.  McClellan was first and felt better than last time. Next was Talbot and I started getting anxious as we approached, just like in Oceanside's hill #1, but I just went with it, never standing, keeping a steady cadence, and to my surprise it was over far quicker than I expected.  I literally could not believe it when we reached the top and I didn't need Marcus screaming at me to keep going!  WOW! what a boost of confidence...I became excited to ride up Cabrillo and then see what I had left for Tidepool hill.  Again, Up we went and yet I stayed seated and felt great all the way up.  I kept thinking about my first Talbot, my first Tidepool hill and had a huge smile at the top because I had just proven to myself that I've worked hard and now it SHOWS!  I'm starting to believe in myself!

My lesson here is that today I proved to myself that my brain can really derail my confidence and when I see a hill, my innervoice tells me I can't do it so therefore I really make it much harder than necessary.  My superstar Ironwoman friend at Moment Cycles - Rachel - told me after the ride that Pacifica is WAY harder than the 1st Oceanside hill.  After today, I think I actually believe her. I've proven to myself that the hills I thought were too hard were actually doable now. No Doubt -  Pacifica is HARD but I can ride up it without stopping although it takes all I have to give.  Now I think I have built up the hill at Oceanside into something it just isn't.  Today, I know I will do my best and I will tackle that Oceanside 1st hill like any other hill and I will not stop because I now believe I have trained well and I know I will be happily surprised at the outcome.  I'm finally looking forward to the backside of Camp P during Oceanside!

10 mile run around Mission Bay/Sail Bay in the winter!

we are BOTH dead tired!

February mileage:
Total Swim Miles 27,637 YDs = 15.7 miles ; AVG Wk 6432 yds = 3.7 miles
Total Bike Miles 352.7 ; AVG wk 91.67 mi
Total Run Miles 114.5 ; AVG wk 25.5 mi

Avg Weekly Hours 14.43 hours
Total Duration 58:29 hours
Total Distance 483 miles