Mid March always brings a shortened simulation for the IM Oceanside 70.3 race. In my previous years, the workouts have focused on big bricks. This year, not so much. It's been about efficiency which is a difficult way to tell your brain to get out of the way to attain your best result. Endurance over an extended period of time requires patience and practice as well as the BELIEF that if you save some at the beginning, it will be there for you at the end. Sounds easy enough. IT. IS. NOT. We are born with a natural fight or flight trigger in all of us so when you hear GOOO...all hell breaks loose. Not a good plan for long courses. Endurance athletes like to get their money's worth...we spread the love/pain over hours and hours! Our coach had 14 of us practice in the Oceanside waves for 35 minutes, cycle 50 miles, and run 6 miles in the SD winter climate. The waves were fairly big and a bit of struggle to pass through on my first ocean swim of the year but I just kept dolphin swimming until I was in calm waters. The water temperature was probably a perfect 65 and so much warmer than usual. The wind was light and sun was on medium high. What a gorgeous winter day in SD!
I decided to stay aero for the next 3 hours on my bike even if I couldn't stand up straight for the run. I focused hard on my power meter working on a steady 150 watts and 80 RPM cadence. Headwinds made the ride out more difficult so I had to work harder. On the return, the tail wind helped me achieve nearly the same results with less effort. I was pleased to avg 18.4mph because I know I will lose 2mph on the 3 hills for the race and won't make it all up on the downhills. My goal is 17.2 mph finishing at 3:15 for 56 miles. I will need to spread my energy so I don't over push on the first 25 minutes of aero riding and trust and believe I will use it later for the run. This is so difficult. At the end of the ride, I realized I hadn't finished my 2nd bottle of calories/electrolytes which is unusual for me. (note to self: put all the calories in one bottle for race day) But I only rode 2:45 so not a problem... I thought. I had my 1 GU per hour. Ate a banana in T2 before the run and took off. wow I felt great, breathing hard, but still loving my cadence. Mile 1 9:30 alert. Crap. I'm supposed to hold 10min pace. What happened to my focus? Save for the end...next mile 10 min pace. ok hold hold hold...mile 2.5 MAJOR THIGH CRAMPING, CALVES TWITCHING!! WTH.. so sad. My tank emptied too fast. Oh and NEVER again will I take Mucinex D before a long day...I literally turned into a raisin in the sun.. all dried up and done for the day.
I hobbled along the next 3.5 miles grabbing my thighs and jog/walking very pissed off... frustrated and sad...dragged my sagging tail over to my coach. We discussed nutrition and my calorie deficit through the week since I'm trying to drop weight, except on weekends. It all caught up to me today and the Mucinex was the cherry on top. I ate a PBJ and Recoverite and almost puked. I hate running...I hate my body... Why can't we ALL just get along and hit the goal?? I then went to Road Runner Sports and bought OSMO preload drink for Women. Drink 12 ounces at night and 12 ounces in the morning before intense workouts. I needed a miracle to resurrect my thighs for a 2 hour run on Sunday. So at dinner, I gorged on salad, chicken noodle soup, and some pasta for dinner with my OSMO drink.
Sunday started slow. I let my body wakeup when it was ready so didn't get out to run until 10:30 on a projected 80-90 degree day. Ate a banana and set my plan into play. Hold a 10min pace for 10 mins and then speed walk 1 minute. Changed my Garmin to add a Lap Time field to monitor my run speed closer. LEARN to hold back and stay steady. Guess what?. No cramps and hit my targets. I practiced eating Margarhita blocks with extra salt too. Ate 6 and all was good. Solid 10:15 average for 2 hrs total time. This is doable. I will improve my run at Oceanside or die trying. Great finish to the weekend... now the joy of TAPER which totally just SUCKS!!!! TWO weeks of short teasers for exercise while your appetite is raging. It's living hell for sure.
All of a sudden, it's March 29 at 4:30am. I forgot to drink my 12 oz of OSMO the night before. Damn. New trick in my schedule. Next time set my phone alarm as a reminder. This is supposed to help with muscle cramps. I decided to drink both 12oz bottles during my waiting period with my breakfast while I'm waiting for wave 15 starting at 7:24am. Grab all the bottles and breakfast of champions (oatmeal, banana, mini bagel=360 cals) and off we went. My Sherpa drove me right up to the T2 entrance. OMG, I am only wearing my tri kit and windbreaker and it's 50 degrees. DUH why are your "dry clothes" at home and not on your body?? Because I wasn't cold! and now my teeth are chattering! Guess I will jump into the wetsuit early with a swim cap too! 
T2 gear was dropped off yesterday. I had a great spot right by the big light post. Can't miss it..(yes you can! more later) I earned a perfect end spot in my AG rack. TCSD rack was in the back and I just didn't want to be running all of T1 in my bike shoes and bike through the crowds. I went to the bathroom again (2x is required before the wetsuit gets on!). This year I had a 2-piece De Soto which I really like when the water is chilly because the legs are 5mm. Add the arm coolers/calf compressions and booties, and I can't get cold! I didn't want my watch buttons to get bumped so I took it off and got into my top. I got all comfortable, although my tri top is too long and bunches up on me. I put on my triple cap and ear plugs. Lastly I put the watch back ON my WETSUIT! yes I strapped it on tightly over my wetsuit arm. I have never done this and didn't noticed it for the next 2 hours either! I even checked that the auto multisport was all set up and ready..ALL IS GOOD!! got my GU and Water bottle and ran off to the pier to check out EXACTLY HOW MANY RED BUOYS ARE THERE THIS YEAR??? ahhhh. 4 again..2 are really close together.. odd..6 yellows then another Red and THEN you turn the corner..Got it - yellow out, orange home - like my tri kit..I can do this. It will be a great swim! Dramk 8oz water with a GU Roctane and poured the remaining water inside my suit to reduce cold water shock = 100 cals.
The horn blows, I belly flop for the 200 y warmup and get socked in the goggles by a crazy person.. REALLY?? already ??? we haven't started yet!!! My ZOGGS photochromatic goggles stuck like glue! I am near the buoy and a couple rows back and it seems crowded. Off we go and I think our green headed bee hive of women all swam the same speed. I was hit from all sides. One more to the face, the arms, the back of the legs, one girl grab my leg and I had to kick her off! It was awful. I tried to reach and someone was always there. My technique went to shit as I kept jockeying for free space. Finally at the 2nd RED buoy, I turned but it wasn't straight across and it disoriented me to find the other red buoy. I turned again straight into the sun and I was blinded. I chased a sea of piranha kickers until I could see the orange buoy and apparently we all went wide so I swam long AGAIN. I passed a variety of colored caps so that was encouraging, but I ran into many that stopped swimming completely, I was kicked by a frog breast stroker and swam past another doing the back stroke. It was crazy and THEN CAME THE WHITE CAPS! OMG I was hit twice by super aggressive fast males - but I just kept going and then my 4th alarm went off.. which meant the 1.2 miles were over and the rest was extra which is not a good thing. I counted the passing buoys until I ran up the ramp. I was so sad to see 43 minutes. I started to run through T1, taking off my caps, unzipping, stripping out the right arm, then the left arm. UMMM OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG my arm is stuck with my watch band strangling my wrist! I'm shaking it but it won't let go so I'm flapping it behind me in a sprint to my station. I throw all the crap in my bag and have to search for my arm to reverse out, unbuckle the watch, pull out arm, reattach watch.! My transition time was CRAP!!! ANDDDD WHERE IS MARCUS??? I was so late past my expected finish time of sub 40 that he lost me in a sea of caps! 
I decide to wear bike shorts over the tri shorts for comfort. Stupid as I was uncomfortable anyway. I decided to wear a bike jersey in case I got cold which has never happened and the day was predicted to be warm anyway. I really have no idea why I did this but it won't happen on the 4TH Revenge!! I stuffed my cheeks with a Kidz cliff bar = 120 cals and Tylenol and took off disappointed but ready for the ride. I managed my power closely, but it took maybe 15 miles to get down to 150 watts. then I held on for the next 10 miles and felt good. I took a deep breath for hill #1 and suddenly I was breathing harder than I ever have and fatiguing quickly. I had to beg my legs to keep turning over. It was obvious I had not trained on the hills like last year. I had to give myself a mental break that the foot surgery was priority and I would get stronger every day in the future with more daylight and more time before Lake Stevens and IMAZ. It took 7 minutes at a grueling 5mph pace to reach the top. I couldn't get in enough air and at the top I felt like I was choking. I started coughing hard and felt so light headed that I was concerned. I drank (GU Roctane at hour 2 = 100 cals) but couldn't take in deep breaths without continuous coughing and burning down my trachea and lungs. I stayed aero as much as possible and watched normalized power stay at 148. I took short shallow breaths and kept pedaling. I grabbed plain water and half a banana at an aid station. I've decided I only need one bottle for 56 miles when I can grab extra along the way. I don't need to carry the extra weight up those hills next time. Putting all my calories in the front bottle worked well for me. (3 IM Perform scoops, 2 Carbo Pro scoops = 410 cals) I survived the next 2 hills with burning lungs and then hit the final 10 miles in the wind tunnel. That was just painful but I stayed aero and watched cadence to spin more. I was so happy to hit the strand knowing Surfrider was the last hill. I passed a guy on the hill when I stood up and saw my power jump over 500 watts. I was on track to beat my time and a little hill was not going to prevent it. I finished at 3:15, 2 minutes faster than last year. Based on my poor hill climbing, I really think it was the aero position on the tri bike that helped my time the most- and perseverance. 
At T2, I was choking back tears as I burned down my throat so badly and I felt light headed again as I dismounted. A volunteer called out my bib # and a guy sent me down the wrong isle and I got lost with a perfect bike spot! I circled the rack and finally found it on the opposite side! I took more drugs, got my shorts off, grabbed my banana/water (100 cals) and took off running, with a cycling shirt on! I was burning up within 5 minutes! I was so grateful to finally see Marcus and Ryan and I was able to strip off the jersey before running the ramps. It was a priceless moment of support!
I ate my banana over the next 2 miles with water. It was supposed to control my speed because I had been running off the bike too fast in practice. I could barely hold an 11 min pace though. I kept thinking with a slow pace, I would get my breath back. Mile 3 was no better. Every time I reached a hill, I coughed uncontrollably because my HR would spike and expect more oxygen. I had 12 clif blocs (180 cals) to eat over 13 miles but I kept forgetting to take 1 per mile and would take them in groups. Once I passed mile 9, without a bathroom break and no cramping, I felt happy I had solved something. Mile 10, GI cramps started. However. with a 5k left, surely I could hold it. Apparently 6 blocs are ok but not 12! As I saw the mile markers, I tried to pickup my pace but it just slowed. I faked a smile whenever I saw someone because I kept thinking about Chrissie's smile while she was in agony. When I saw mile 12 and a porta-potty, I just gave in, exhausted and disappointed. I just wanted something to be comfortable for the end of the race so I took the potty relief. I trotted in the last mile the best I could and broke down after the finish line when I saw my husband. My throat was still burning and I just felt beaten. My run was just horrible. I couldn't even take deep breaths to cry. I was so much slower than I had ever been in training. 2 minutes off my planned average pace, it took me 2:42 to finish the run. I was 11 minutes slower overall than last year finishing at 6:53, which is 23 minutes off race plan. It just wasn't my day to improve. 
So I just had to eat a few cookies with my TruMoo chocolate milk to remember my training plan was radically different than last year. I worked full time now and had 4 months to recover from foot surgery. Both feet felt great so I was grateful for that this year for sure. My Hoka Stinson Tarmacs were perfect. I didn't have much daylight to ride the hills and I didn't have foot flexibility to run up hills until March. So my coach hugged me and I just had to let go of my disappointment. I struggled, I persevered, and I finished. After all, this is always the ultimate goal. I am looking forward to IM Lake Stevens in August which is a little harder than Oceanside. I will reset my 6:30 goal, cycle more hills with the additional daylight, run more hills as my foot improves, and try to drop some weight. 
Post race, I did a little research. I have had a burning throat all 3 races at Oceanside but not at SOMA, Arizona. Exercise induced asthma can flair with cool air and intense exercise. I certainly surpassed my fitness threshold on hill #1 this time so my attack came much earlier than other years. SOMA did not have hills so my intensity didn't have long spikes and it was hot and dry. I need to look into medication or an inhaler for my long course events so I can try to control this bronchial spasm that restricts my breathing and causes immediate fatigue and light headedness. I really tried to Embrace The Suck but I didn't expect near suffocation! It takes a few days for my throat to recover as well so I'm taking it easy for now but looking forward to my many events in the future. Every race provides many lessons learned and even when we don't improve, we have more experience to help us for the next time. See you next year Oceanside, and better than ever.
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