March 2013 Lessons Learned before Oceanside 70.3

March is peak training for Oceanside 70.3 and I had to push myself further than ever before to keep on schedule. wk 16 was the peak at 157 total miles which took me 18.5 hours to complete. It was exhausting but wk 17 was 148 total miles and 17 hours but didn't feel nearly as difficult so the conditioning must be working.  My week 17 ended with the San Diego Half Marathon.


Well, I reflected on my one mile splits from Surf City Half last month and decided I really didn't give it my all.  I saw where my time dropped at times for no apparent reason so I wasn't concentrating consistently.  Runners qualify for Boston at this race and I knew I had more to give at the finishline.  So I decided to see really what was left in the tank at my next half race which was the San Diego Half Marathon.  The difference is this race had one difficult long hill.  I knew I could do it though because I had confidence after San Dieguito. Like Jim Vance keeps saying Find YOUR Rhythm.  I also had an Oceanside race clinic the day before so I biked 28 miles and pushed hard the day before the SD half when I always take the day off before a race. I figured it was good Oceanside training though.

cold and windy at Oceanside Training Clinic

I decided to not worry about a negative split this time.  The race is more difficult the 2nd half anyway so I decided to pace with the 2:00 runners for as long as I could hold it so I could find that rhythm.  I hung on for about 3 miles but stay within view for another 3 miles achieving my fastest 10k time.  I knew the extra time would help me as Washington hill was going to be difficult and IT WAS! I shortened my cadence looked down so I didn't freak out over the sight of the elevation.  It hurt like hell  and I screamed in exhileration at the top.  I took another mile to calm my breathing and then I sprinted the final 2 miles.  The race was a bit long at 13.26 so I officially finished at 2:05 but at 13.1 I was at 2:04 and that is the fastest I have ever run in my life.  I am satisfied I emptied my tank this time but it hurt! I guess that's how you know you gave it your all though! But the recovery screwed up my training week leading up to Superseal Olympic! It took a few days to be able to pickup my thighs!

 

So last year I decided to race the Supeseal Olympic because I felt it was a good way to end the training before 2 weeks of taper.  However we had the worst possible weather last March on race day and it was completely cancelled except 2 miles of the run.  This year I stuck with the plan but the SD Half delayed my prep so I ended about 10 total miles short for my training week.  I decided I would not try to PR the Superseal but check my endurance levels and see what I had left at the end of the race.  I learned this race is not USAT certified also.  This means I raced 45-49s instead of 50-54s.  They went by birthdate not birth year.  So I was likely the oldest in my category.  We had to arrive at te parking lot before 6am and out of transition by 7am... my race was 8:45! ugh what a long wait.  I had to spread out my breakfast food over 4 hrs!  My nutrition worked out pretty well but on the run, I wished for an extra GU.  they didn't offer anything on the course. This definitely affected my run.

I knew with all the fog that the air would be colder than the water and it absolutely was!  I ate my preswim GU, drank some water and poured the rest in my suit.  I was completely warm the entire swim.  I was surprised that not many wore booties but it felt awesome especially on the 1/4 mile run back to transition!  I was also shocked in the middle of the swim that I hit a sand barge!  I mean I literally couldn't swim!  I looked up and everyone around me was walking!  I was scared about a penalty and it just didn't feel right which sent my heart racing like crazy!  I ran as fast as I could to get to deeper water which royaly screwed up my breathing! Anyway, I got through it and had a pretty good swim although the current on the last 1/4 mile showed me struggling to swim straight and I actually swam .99 instead of .93 (1500M).  Still, happy with my 33 minute swim.


I felt really good on the bike and between the 3 legs, it is my best leg.  I pushed hard but then let up a few times wondering if it was too much and finished 1:19 which is above average for my age group but I still had more to give.  I haven't focused as much on bike strengthening so I'm not really sure about my level. I knew I had a lot to improve in swim/run this year.  I just want to protect my legs so I have a really good run.  I think races seem to be great or disappointing based on the run outcome.  So, I decided to leave some in the tank....

 









Took off on the run feeling really good.  I seem to have concentration issues with boring straight runs.  The strand is really mentally challenging... I counted miles, I counted water stations, I tried to remember words to songs, I looked for TCSD shirts running the other direction...all this detered me from paying attention to my average.  I had a GU at mile 3 although I wanted it at mile 2!  then by mile 4, I was hungry again!  So I tried to keep encouraging myself to run faster to get the food!  I finally got a boost of energy when I saw my friend Joy.  I know her strength is running and she can make up incredible distance quickly.  I knew I didn't want her to pass me so I finally picked up my pace.  The run route was a little long but still it took 1:05.  I have got to learn to focus on a faster rhythm from the start like I did at the SD Half Marathon.  I finished 3:03 and can definitely see where I lost 3 minutes but I am happy overall with my efforts and knowing I had more to give at the end.  Gotta work on that concentration!

The only thing that could rattle me right now pre-Oceanside is any sudden equipment failures....OMG..what is going on with the elevation on my Garmin 910XT??? It's flatline on hilly rides??  Crap. Called Roadrunner - Please exchange? No it's 2 wks over 6 months old.  WHY isn't it 1 yr exchangable?? Fine....GARMIN says refurb on its way cuz apparently the barometric altimeter is broken...5 days. Wed Mar 27!!!  ok I will try to be calm but if it is not here on Wednesday I will go GARMIN ROAD RAGE on you people! ugh! Can't wait to reset ALL my settings and put those tiny EFFING screws into the quick release backing. yea re-pair everything and test everything too... :(

Final Preparation : the TCSD Sprint tri Mar 23, 7 days before Oceanside.  Club races are about the only place to practice large wave starts.  Today was extra special with schools of jellyfish in the Fiesta Cove. I decided to be more aggressive with my start and work on a fast start to find my pocket and then quickly find my rhythm without hyperventilating.  I heard screaming, I touched about 10 jelly heads, I was bumped, kicked in the stomach, hit on the side of the goggles, but I kept going and just tried to listen to my breathing and tell myself I would be fine once I got out of the pack and IT WORKED. I was really pleased with my swim since it was faster than Superseal, my transition went well, the bike was good although I still can't average 20mph but I am over 19mph so I'm close, but I decided to run only 2 miles because my achilles kept nagging me.  DAMN this meant I could only eat 1/2 a portion of Dawn's bread pudding!  But with Oceanside in 7 days, I knew I needed ice more than dessert!  Here's my GO GET 'EM face for Oceanside below with Marcus, Erika and Sharon!  Next week is super taper so this is the end of my journey until I write my race report. I am excited!  I really feel ready!  I've made a lot of deposits in my training log and I plan to withdraw big time at Ironman Oceanside 70.3!  Thanks to all of you for your continuous support!

GRRRRRRR!!  READY SET GO TRICLUB!