March Madness - pre Oceanside 70.3

March Madness was a rollercoaster ride!  I had to intertwine my final training days for my 4th Oceanside 70.3 race and try to PR my 3rd 5k in 2015 and a half marathon, and be strong for my daughter's "wedding of the century" filling my house with lots of parties and people for two weeks.

March always starts off with open water swimming which I found surprisingly uncomfortable.  I just kept hanging in there until the wetsuit feeling was ok and I could swim without stopping.  I guess I just got really used to the pool since I swam more than in the past so it just felt really different. I just kept going back to bonita cove and the water was warmer than I expected which was comforting.  I wondered if it would be this warm at the end of the month for Oceanside 70.3






My first race was San Diego Half Marathon. Last year, I was fresh off of foot surgery with about 4 months of gradual increased training and virtually no hill training but I managed to barely PR by seconds of the previous year's time of 2:05.  I trained well for this half and tried to execute a plan so that I would have more in the tank for Washington hill. I held 9 min pace first 3 miles, next 5 included the little overpass bridge in Liberty station and Noel (5% 1/4mi) which hurt my overall pace by not reaching my planned 8:45 avg. then as I ran down hill, my pace was perfectly in sync to run into a passing trolley, so I had to stop  but not for too long, however, it was a momentum stopper.  Overall I compared my year over year results:  2014 vs 2015 :  Washington Hill .75 mi:  12:18 pace vs 11:22 pace and my last 2 downhill miles: 8:56 vs 8:41 both with calf cramps.  For some reason, running down hill will cause a leg cramp but I just have to run through it until it releases.  My finish times were 2:05 vs 2:01 so maybe next year I will be even stronger running up hill and break the 2 hour mark.

SD Half Finishers downtown

I had to take an extra day off work on Friday to squeeze in my last big training day for Oceanside 70.3 and it was one of the hottest day's of the year!  Jim, Marcus and I ran 5 miles, biked 40 miles, ran 5 miles to top off our Oceanside training.  I chose a new route but unfortunately it didn't push me too hard because there were too many stop lights.  My runs felt too easy.  Marcus and I drank every bottle we had that day!

Saturday was the bridal shower and family started to arrive.  Everything worked out well for the party and Brianna got her fairytale bridal shower with lots of games and food and alcohol.  It was a beautiful day!

Bridal Shower

Monday, I had a 12 hour day helping my sister rescue a basset hound on my day off which was a heart warming experience.  Finally my sister picked Norman as her Nelson's new friend and the day was a success.

Stormin' Norman going to his forever home

Then it was back to work trying to squeeze 5 days into 2 days and I broke my back tooth which seems to be an annual event.  Now I had to  squeeze in a 3 hour dentist appointment and then pray the temporary crown would hold for 2 weeks and not become so painful that it would require a root canal like last year before race day.

rehearsal dinner family photo

Then we had a wedding rehearsal party and more family arriving.  I was working out at 5am to squeeze in my taper workouts and had a 2 hour EZ flat ride which totally threw my neck and shoulder into a cramp.  I always have shoulder and neck issues when riding in aero but this was more severe as I felt pulling contractions on my right side.  I saw my chiropractor and my sports med doctor for relief.  Sometimes my trapezius muscle contracts and won't let go so I get lidocaine injections for release.  This time it helped but I felt bruised and still tight but I was better and didn't think  I would have an issue by race day.  We cancelled aero rides and OWS so I could continue to heal.

a fairytale wedding

The wedding plans continued and it really was a perfect event.  I even wrote a speech and spoke in front of a crowd which is something I don't usually do but I felt I needed to express myself this day.  I never want to have regrets in my life.  Just Do It takes courage and I've learned that from my Ironman journey. My speech was well received and the day was full of tears and emotional release with wonderful memories and pictures for a lifetime.   However it was emotionally draining for sure.  I was excited to work on my running speed.


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wedding cake of the century

Two days after the wedding, I had the Hot Chocolate 5k run where I challenged Jim Murff to pace me to "my potential".  I am a conservative athlete, always holding back and I didn't realize that your 5k pace should not be close to your half marathon pace.  I thought I was giving my best but my coach was not convinced.  The only way I could think of changing my average 5k pace from 8:56 to 8:26 was to chase someone and not think about it.  HOLY MOLY I was shocked when I got my bib/confirmation corral info for Hot Choc5k! I've NEVER been placed in Corral A before!! This goal is too big for me.  My friend, Jim Murff is raising funds for his IMAZ charity Smile Train so I promised to donate $5 for every second he could pace me to improve my average pace. This 5k was also my hilliest to date which made it even more difficult for me.  Jim paced me perfectly and I did meet my goal!  Not only did I donate $145, but my coach matched the donation!  It was a great accomplishment and I am so grateful for Jim's support in achieving this goal. It was also during this race that I felt a twinge on my right side ribs during my run.  I thought for sure this was due to hill running and crossing my arms in a swinging motion.  This would pass, right?

Hot Chocolate 5k and 15k finishers

that's my shoe and elbow, not a spider monkey!

I went to the chiro on Monday and Dr. immediately noticed I was not holding my head straight. He aligned me but my body was resistant.  The next day I got lidocaine shots in my trapezius which cancelled out my aero bike ride and OWS swim.  It was an unexpected day off but this last week was about recovery so less was more at this point. I really took it easy to be as relaxed as possible for Ironman Oceanside.  It was my 4th effort to try to break 6:30.  Each time something would happen and my run would suffer.  My running was at a great peak and I felt great too.  I really wanted to meet my potential this time.  I had a plan very different than the past and it would require patience and trust and execution.  I would give it my best and stayed positive all the way to race day.  I was prepared to have the best race of my life if I could execute the plan.....Next up... the Race Day Blog.