Austin Marathon 2016

Since I have a decent race schedule this year I figured it was time to start blogging again. First big race of the year was yesterday at the Austin Marathon. It was my eighth stand alone marathon, and 13th overall marathon if I count my Ironman races.

My second Chicago Marathon.

Chicago 2005 - 4:27:10
Vermont City 2006 - 4:19:08
Chicago 2006 - 4:08:08
Austin 2007 - 4:18:22
Austin 2008 - 4:13:51
(IM) Lake Placid 2009 - 4:05:58
(IM) World Champs 2009 - 4:11:11
(IM) World Champs 2010 - 4:02:42
CIM 2011 - 3:51:46
(IM) Louisville 2012 - 3:59:56
Austin 2013 - 3:47:15
(IM) Texas 2014 - 3:58:16
Austin 2016 - 3:28:43
 
Overall it was a pretty good race. Austin is one of my favorite courses. The temperature was a bit warmer than I was expecting - mid-50s at the start - and slightly humid, but at least it meant I wasn't freezing. And it stayed cloudy for the entire race as well.

My goal was 3:30, and I have been training fairly consistently since September aside from a couple weeks around the holidays when I went to Hong Kong and then got sick. I knew that if I stayed within myself and didn't overpace at the beginning then my goal was achievable. I was averaging around an 8 minute mile for the first 20 or so miles, and then decided to pick it up the last 10km (my motto: the faster I run the sooner I am done!). Annoyingly, the course was slightly long (~0.2miles) so I didn't hit my secret goal of 3:27:xx, but I was close!

However, I did win the Full Track Distance Challenge (a super-secret stretch goal), which consisted of six races starting in late September through February and their cumulative total race times.

Distance Challenge magnets

Run Free Back to the 80s 8km - 33:56 - 5th female, 2nd age group
Run for the Water 10 miler - 1:13:07 - 23rd female, 10th age group
Decker Challenge Half Marathon - 1:37:37 - 5th female, 1st age group
Rogue Distance Festival 30k(+some) - 2:28:25 - 3rd female
3M Half Marathon - 1:34:46 - 22nd age group
Austin Marathon - see above - 24th female, 5th age group

This gives me confidence for my two Ironmans this year, but I will definitely need to be better about pacing and fueling during the IM marathons. Next steps are to start training for IMTX with Team Marsh and plan my 30th birthday!

2016 Goals:

1. Get my PMP certification - Complete, January 2016.
2. Run a sub-3:30 marathon - Complete, February 2016.
3. Turn 30 - In progress.
4. Learn SQL - Not yet started.
5. Complete a sub-11 hour Ironman - Not yet started.

Chicken v. Egg

The classic question.

The two questions I have been asking myself recently: Does depression cause peanut butter cravings or am I craving peanut butter because I am depressed? I don't have a good answer yet, but I have been eating a damn lot of peanut butter this year.

The Austin Distance Challenge starts tomorrow. Total mileage for all 6 races = 5 + 10 + 13.1 + 18.6 + 13.1 + 26.2 = 86 miles. At this point I am just going to cross my fingers that I remain in one piece for the whole thing.

Finding Balance

Jocelyn's blog reminded me guilted me that I have been lagging in my blog posts. I didn't even recap the Austin half marathon! Which, coincidentally, was the last time I felt above water in trying to do everything and doing everything well.

Let's summarize the mileage first.
WW07: 30.5 miles (included the Austin half)
WW08: 19 miles
WW09: 27.7 miles
WW10: 5.6 miles (got a stress cold, only ran 1x)
WW11: 32.1 miles
WW12: 42.4 miles

Trying to run high mileage during quarter end was probably not the greatest idea, but lesson learned for next quarter!

Next, summary of life events.

Austin half marathon ended up being a PR of nearly 20 seconds, which was really surprising. Jocelyn and I had been waiting for the porta potty at the start, so didn't cross the start line until about 3 or 4 minutes after the gun had gone off. Which means you have to wade through a lot lot of people before you can get your free running space. We ran (well zigzagged) together for the first few miles, before I left her on 1st Street heading north. Managed some 7 minute miles in the middle of the race and overall, a negative split. Aside from the late start, I was pretty happy with this. Definitely went a lot better than 3M - not sure if it was the added run fitness, the hilliness (flat does not make me faster),  my negative split "strategy," or a combination of everything. And then we went to brunch at Jack Allen's and got to hang out with Jocelyn's awesome friends Bliss & Minsok and drink lots of red wine. It was a good race Sunday.

Then work took over. And I got even more stressed. And decided that I no longer wanted to do long course triathlon this year. And that to prevent a meltdown, formal coaching was not in the plan for this year. I never thought I'd be the person giving up triathlon stuff because of work, but sometimes you just have cut your losses and figure out what will keep you sane. My old method of brute force, just try harder and you'll survive it, doesn't go as well when you're working 60+ hrs a week and in a relationship.

So then I signed up for the Rogue Trail Series 30k distance. Because just running (with a few swims and 1 bike workout per week) and Atomic is "way easier" than trying to train for 3 sports and be decent at all 3 sports at the same time. And then in talking to Coach Tod at Atomic, the plan became to ramp my mileage to ~50 mpw by the first trail series race.

So here I am, 2 weeks in. Somehow I managed to get in 40+ miles last week. I haven't done that since Jocelyn and I did the Graveyard 100k in 2013. I spent half the miles this week wanting to die, probably from both not sleeping enough (meetings that start at 7a and do not end until 10-11p cuts into good sleep and recovery) and the increased mileage.

Next week is the first race. I'm going to use it as a practice run since I haven't run real trails in awhile. Clearly I did not think this through when I signed up for the series, but there are 3 races to do and the first one just sort of crept up so I'll just train through this one and see how the rest go.

WW06: Feb 2-8

Another week with lots of work... and 15.5 hrs of training! I definitely feel like I am reaping the effects of 6 weeks of consistent training, running especially. However, I think staying around 13-14 hrs of training per week is a better balance with all things considered.

32.5 miles run for the week. Definitely on track.

Next weekend is the Austin Half Marathon with Jocelyn herself! Between running, (swimming), and wedding planning, we will be eating ALL the food. Because that's what we do best.

WW05: 01/26-02/01

14 hrs and 14 min of training for the week on top of 60+ hrs of work. On my 15th straight day of working; what are these things called weekends anyways? I think if my job was satisfying and I was passionate about what I do, it would be a different story, but right now I just feel like a firefighting punching bag.

20.2 miles of running in 3 runs. Tried Hoka's for the first time, all of 3.9 miles, but so far I'm liking them!

WW04: Jan 19-25 + a race report

Only 10hrs and 12min of training this week due to a rest day and easing up for the 3M Half Marathon this morning.

Overachieved this week and got 26.3 miles total, so still on track with a little buffer now.

Work has been getting more and more stressful and it's a good day when I can get out to do my training sessions when I planned them. Overall, life is pretty exhausting - physically from training and mentally from work - with not much time to recover. I'm either sleeping, working, or training.

I dislike not being able to give my all in races; I pay money and get up early to do them so I want to be able to give my best effort. However, even I have a mental limit, and I hit mine this past Friday at work. Then, all the Saturday errands, plus needing to do some work and knowing I'd be working Sunday afternoon after the race definitely did not help with the mental exhaustion or getting me in the right mindset for the race. Originally my goal had been 1:30-1:35, so with the recent events, I went in hoping for a sub-1:35 but not really knowing what was going to happen.

The start was cold; I had on a long-sleeved Atomic shirt, long capris, and compression socks plus a throwaway hoodie on top. I started with the 1:35 pace group but going strong at the start has never been a strength, and my feet were frozen. So I let them go and ran with a friend for about the first 5-6 miles. Overall, ended up slightly under pacing the first half.

Around mile 6 the legs decided they were ready to start moving, so I picked it up. And in typical Amy fashion, I ran out of miles to quite make it in the 1:35 target. But back to the mental fatigue - it was definitely a challenge the whole way through to keep my mind keep going. My legs have run 13.1 miles many times over, at slower paces for sure, but I was confident they would survive the distance. It was one of those "meh" races. I know in other scenarios my brain would have locked on the sub-1:35 goal and I'd have executed better, but this time my all  to give was a lot less all.

Part of my disappointment lies in that 3M is known as a PR course - it's net downhill with no steep uphills. I've been running more this year, yet it's less than 3 minutes faster than the Austin half last year. And, so far, not even sore. I'm exhausted from getting up early and all the work, but not the satisfying leg soreness that comes from a great workout.

WW03: Jan 12-18

Both work and training load increased this week. Something like 60 hrs of work, mostly front loaded, and 14.25 hrs of training. With that amount of work there's pretty much no time to recover - basically if I'm not training or sleeping I am working. Hence, I am tired.

Hit the running quota at 20.3 miles over 3 runs. Jocelyn and I are still on track!
Other accomplishment: Swam 15000 yards for the first in a week in quite awhile as well.

WW02: Jan 5-11

11 hrs and 48 min for the week.

24.4 miles over 4 runs.

Biggest challenge - fitting everything in. When the first meeting of the day sometimes starts at 7a and the last meeting ends around 8:30-9pm, it means I'm thinking about work for ~14 hours each day. Trying to fit workouts around all the meetings and daily deliverables gets interesting at times. Sometimes I wish I had a computer program for my life that could give me the optimal way to schedule everything.

Jan 1-4

Jocelyn and I are trying to run 2015 miles this year. So that means 1008 miles each, approximately 20 miles per week.

Jan 1-4: 18.75 miles (abbreviated since 2015 started on a Thursday)

Total training load for the entire week (Dec 29 - Jan 4) : 11hrs 24min (a 50%+ increase over any week in December)

2015 Forecast

My last post was a summary of 2014. Basically, 2014 was the year of trying to do everything but not doing anything well. I had 3 different job functions throughout the year (usually overlapping); started living with my boyfriend and his cat; continued faithful attendance at Atomic (3x a week most weeks); and raced a full ironman, 2 halfs, and a bunch of shorter races.

So therein lies my 2015 goal - FOCUS. 2015 also happens to be my tenth year in triathlon and my last year in the 25-29 age group. It is also the first year in a 6-year goal to make it back to Kona by 2020. I could probably write my life story and how I grew as a person in those 10 years, but that's for another post.

To commemorate 2015, I bought a new Cervelo P3 in November and hired a new coach, Scott DeFilippis. My old tri bike was from 2009 and there have been numerous aero improvements in the years since. I also haven't been coached 1:1 since 2012 when I was training for IMLou. Thus, I figured a good way to get myself back on track was to go back to 1:1 coaching to get me a bit more focused (pot committed and personal responsibility motivations).

I'm also planning to cut back to 2, maybe 3 once in awhile, sessions at Atomic. Their 16-week strength cycle based on Juggernaut just ended, and think I made some structural gains that will help prevent injury this coming season. Also, my shoulder hates bench press.

The races I have lined up for 2015 so far are:

• 3M Half Marathon (Jan 25)
• Austin Half Marathon (Feb 15)
• Burnet Tri Olympic (Apr 12)
• Challenge Knoxville Half (May 17)

The second half of the season is still up in the air. Probably Redman Half in OKC in September since it is USAT Long Course Nationals and a qualifer for Worlds 2016... also in OKC. 

There is also Jocelyn's wedding in September to be planned and attended. That's my biggest non-triathlon event so far. 

My other 2015 goal to work on is to eat more carbs. In non-sugar form. This will always be a work in progress; I've been a disordered eater since I was 16 and old habits die hard. Pump and Shred in 2013 taught me the importance of protein and this past year I've been reading a lot more on carbs and trying to get it through my brain that carbs will enhance my performance and not just make me fat. So as in 2014 where I structured my meals around a protein source, I will go into 2015 still making sure to get adequate protein while also putting an emphasis on eating carbs around workouts and during workouts - anything to help optimize performance on the road, in the water, and at the gym.

2014 Report Card

Jocelyn told me to write an end of the year recap so I'm trying to dig back in my memories for what happened in 2014. Off-season for me started September 8th this year - which means lots of Atomic, a couple running races, some running to train for those races, and swimming when my shoulder can handle it. It also, coincidentally, means work ramps up. I changed job roles 3 times this year. I almost think that's more notable than my triathlon season, really. My current role is the busiest I've been my entire career, where work took over life and that balance thing kind of went out the window. Going into 2015 I am trying to re-find the life part even though for the first time in my entire tech career I can say I actually enjoy the work.Which means I don't mind (as much) being a workaholic.

2014 sort of feels like the season where I tried really hard (too hard at times) and didn't really go anywhere. Like spinning my wheels for the most part.

My report card:

It started out with training for the GCI Relay in early April. On the way to that I did the RAAM Cycling Challenge in Marble Falls in March. 130 miles of chilly, drizzly weather from Marble Falls to Fredericksburg, TX, and back, in loop form. I managed to finish about 15 minutes before the rain rolled in. And that was just a prelude to what the weather would be at GCI though.
Grade: A-, I completed the entire distance with no major issues, but nothing to write home about.

The GCI Relay was supposed to be 263 miles from New Orleans, LA, to Pensacola Beach, FL, with Jocelyn, Ricky, and myself riding together all 263 miles and Mike and Kevin sherpa-ing. However, our ride got cut short somewhere outside of Mobile, AL, giving us only 181 miles, as it started to thunderstorm and pour just as we got lost. We were behind schedule as well - another woman and I both got flats within the first couple hours of riding, we battled crazy winds along the Mississippi Gulf coast, and our rest stops took forever. I've ridden a few double centuries in California and those were all really enjoyable. This was far from it.
Grade: C+, Criteria of not finishing certainly did not pass, but I got to spend time with friends I don't see that often.

Moving onto the Marble Falls HITS half aquabike in late April. Nothing remarkable here. I was 1st in the aquabike due to about 3 women participating total. The course was pretty non-interesting, although I do enjoy swimming in Lake Marble Falls.
Grade: A-, Went hard on the swim and tried to go hard on the bike. Course was very chipsealed so hard to ride fast on consistently.

Then we get to Ironman Texas in mid-May. I was using a hybrid programming of Team Marsh's generic IMTX plan and Coach Tod at Atomic's plan. I set a new PR of 11:12 and change, 23 minutes faster than IMLou in 2012. I was happy with the bike - stayed on power, no major issues, but unsatisfied with the run. Thanks to Atomic I've gotten really good at going out hard on runs and then it catches back up to me in the marathons. I had also neglected the necessary run training I think, or at least I didn't have my old huge running base to pull me through.
Grade: B, Got a new PR but not impressed with my run. Also was wasting time at the start and was only knee-deep into the water when the cannon went which definitely cost me time in the swim.

Pretty original finisher's medal. 

Mid-June was the Lake Pflugerville sprint tri. This is always a favorite of mine - go hard from start to finish. This was also the first place I'd ever spotted Mike (race in 2013) after recognizing him from OKCupid.
Grade: A, Went hard despite a knee injury. Top 10 women and Austin has some tough competition.

Then we get to Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 in Lubbock, TX, the very last weekend in June. I was still having some knee issues going into the race and had barely run since IMTX. So of course, it was going to not be great, but I didn't know how bad it actually would be. This was my first "real" tri (ie WTC branded race) back in 2008. That year it rained for most of the bike, but was also unseasonably cool. I did it again in 2010 (flying down from California) and won my age group to get a Kona slot. I always had a soft spot for this race until it ate me up and spit me out this year. I was actually 4 minutes slower than my time in 2008 and wound up with an IV afterwards. Swim was fine, winds were horrible on the bike, and the run was hot and miserable and some mish-mosh of run/walk/cry. We had signed up originally for this race because Mike wanted to do a big half, unfortunately he hurt his back when were unloading the car in Lubbock, so that did not even pan out.
Grade: B, Toughest race I've done so far, did not meet expectations. Upside was that by I managed to get myself a Worlds 70.3 slot. So much irony there.

Marble Falls Triathlon was in mid-July. By now I was pretty tired of racing. I think it was my slowest time so far, however the race director always puts on a great race so I like to support him. Also the first race both Mike and I did last year together.
Grade: B, Pretty much as expected.

Then we finally get to Worlds 70.3 in Mont-Tremblant in early September. Clearly this was not on my race calendar in the beginning of the year, but the more I began to read about the race and location the more I wanted to do it. And especially since it's the only year the WCs would be there, I figured it would be maybe a goal to see how close I could get to a slot at BSLT. And luck be in my favor, I got to go. I really enjoyed this race. Since I really only had about 5 weeks to train for it (late July to race week) and it was known to be a hilly course, I set pretty low expectations. With that, I really got to enjoy the village and the race course. Mont Tremblant went all out for the race; it was very close to how Kona feels during the WCs there. As for the course - the water was cool and very clear, bike was hilly but pretty, and same for the run. I definitely would like to do the full ironman there, one day. The downside and blocker to that is that Canada is expensive.
Grade: A, Hit my loose time goals, enjoyed the race and race site.

Clearly when you look at how I graded myself, you can see why I thought this year was a meh. Not enough As for this Asian. I think I average out to a B+ or so.

I think the biggest takeaway I can get from this year is that I have done at least 1 triathlon per year for 9 years running. I'm pretty sure I never thought I would stick around this long as most of my other hobbies have fallen by the way side in past years. So, that's an accomplishment. I also joined a local triathlon team which expanded nationwide, which gave me the opportunity to meet many triathletes both locally in Austin and at the various races around the country. Thanks Moxie!

A Learning Process

Life is definitely a learning process. Each workout, each race, each workday, you learn something about yourself. And I love learning. So I don't know why this lesson took so long to learn, or at least make sense in my head. I am not a moderation person. I am an all in person. That means I am all in at work - I will work myself sick (did that this week again) to get the job done. That also means I am all in when it comes to whatever hobby I happen to be pursuing - greeting card making when I was a kid, or painting walls and corkboards and random stuff, or watching Food Network and bread baking and cooking and candy making. Triathlon happens to be a hobby that has stuck and sustained a large part in my life since 2006. Which evolved from distance running which started in dryland work for the high school crew team. (And I was all in for crew, starting in 2000.)

The Gazette Stockade-athon, my first 15k in 2003. 

And even though I keep trying to get out of tris, I have never been successful. Even after I mentally quit numerous times during Wildflower in 2011, I still went on to do two more half irons that summer for fun. It's somewhat ironic I am learning this lesson this morning, as yesterday at Atomic as we were carrying a heavy kettlebell (20kg for female, 24kg+ for male) on the 1200m loop, I was chatting with a fairly new guy at the gym. He was telling me how in the three plus months he's been at Atomic, he's changed his perspective of how he looks at things. And that I think is the most important takeaway of my triathlon journey and why I continue to train and race. Tough training sessions are just like hard problems at work or life. I'll get through them. They'll suck, for sure, but in the end I come out stronger or wiser.

But getting back to Atomic - I think that has been my struggle the past year or so. It's hard to be all in to two very different sport modalities. I am not a genetic freak of nature like Brian Mackenzie or Alex Viada. And as much as I want to back squat really heavy, I also want to win my age group. And I think... winning my age group or podium-ing at a big race would be more satisfying that a new lifting max.

Alex Viada, who can deadlift 700lbs and run a 4:xx mile.

So I think that gives me my answer. After 4 years of waffling around, it's time to commit again. And be all in to triathlon. I will of course continue to strength train, but no longer as a focus and trying to hit big numbers and beating myself up when I don't PR.

So here's to planning the next 5-6 years, in hopes of getting myself back to the big dance!

70.3 World Championship, Mont-Tremblant, Canada

I raced in my third WC race this past weekend - this time for the 70.3 distance. And similar to the other WC races, I went into the race burnt out, overworked, overstressed, and recently injured. However, that may have worked in my favor since it meant I actually had a realistic race plan with no ridiculous time goals and overall put much less pressure on myself.

Mike and I flew from Austin to Montreal on Thursday and my parents picked us up from the airport. We drove the 80ish miles up to Mont-Tremblant on very green, tree-lined highways. I was initially inspired to do this race by Jesse Thomas's race report of the non-WC race back in June. He described it as Canadian Disneyland, and upon arrival, I could see where he got that from. The village itself quite resembles the Magic Kingdom; there were even cartoon characters walking around. I did not think I would get a slot to the race back at BSLT but once I did, I figured the WC was the best reason to travel the distance to race here. And it would be more fun than doing a full ironman, and maybe I needed some redemption for DNF-ing at IM Canada back in 2010.

Clock tower that was part of our hotel.

The two days before the race were spent checking out the village, eating, doing some prerace workouts, eating, and standing in line. This race definitely had the most, and slowest, lines of any of the WTC races I've done. It's my only negative comment about the race and locale, but unfortunately the theme prevailed throughout most of the weekend. Athlete check-in had a line, bike check-in had a line, transition would have had a line if I hadn't gotten there when it opened, getting race results after the race had a line, and then bike check-out even had a line (thank you to the nice French gentleman from Singapore who let me cut in line).

Friday morning I went for a swim at the lake. The water was the clearest I've been in in awhile and also the coolest. But, in my new full-sleeved Roka wetsuit it was pretty much perfect. It's my first suit that I don't feel a huge air gap around my stomach. Coming out of the lake I ran into some of the Moxie Multisport crew who were getting ready for a swim.

Due to the forecasted rain for Saturday morning, I moved my usual prerace ride to Friday afternoon. This turned out to be a smart move because as soon as my Garmin turned on and sync-ed to my Powertap, it flashed a low battery sign. We couldn't find any conclusive information on how long that meant the device would keep working, but luckily Mike was able to find the specific battery at one of the local grocery stores and fixed the power meter.

My powermeter fixing boy.

Saturday morning I went for a short run and then checked my bike and gear bags in. I was a bit confused because it's usually Ironmans that are only that formal, so part of my brain was wondering if I was doing a full the following day instead of just a half.

Race morning was chilly, but sunny. A cold front had blown in with the rain so it was somewhere in the 40s in the morning. I had bought a beanie the previous night to keep myself warm, which I think was a smart idea. Mike walked with me out to transition and I found someone to pump up my tires and then put my nutrition and Garmin on my bike. First time I remembered everything at one go, usually I'm so scatterbrained I have to go back multiple times. We then headed back to the hotel to sit inside for about 45 minutes before heading to the beach.

Great seeing Brad at the race - note the beanie. 

The pros went off at 8am. There was a fighter jet and fireworks. No floating car, but still impressive. My wave went at 8:44. I lined up in the back of my wave (F18-29) per usual on the beach. The swim was mostly uneventful except for some girl who kept swimming into me. At one point I thought I had a strained pec muscle from one time she swam into me, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Swim time was 31:47 in my awesome Roka wetsuit, 4 seconds shy of my best half-IM swim ever at Marble Falls earlier this year. My goal had been under 33 so I was definitely happy here. Especially since at no point did I ever feel I was swimming hard (note: I think this was the theme of the day).

T1 was 7:10. It involved running quite a ways in bare feet on carpeted asphalt. It also involved putting on full fingered gloves, wool socks, and a long-sleeved jersey. Did I really need everything? I'm not entirely sure but I really don't like feeling cold.

Bike was 3:02:28, almost 5 minutes faster than Best Bike Split had predicted. I had simulated a power plan based on 80% of my FTP and rode as close to it as I think I possibly could. It definitely helped that we had downloaded the power file and loaded it into PeriPedal so I could simulate it on the Kickr. I realized after I probably could have ridden harder since I didn't feel anywhere near tired when I finished the bike. But, what with my lopsided training and the back half of the course being the hilliest, I had decided to plan conservatively and since I was actually executing a plan, that's how I ended up riding. I also managed to stick to my nutrition plan with regular sips of First Endurance Liquid Shot and EFS. I clearly drank enough as I peed midway through on a downhill.

The course itself was really nice - hilly, road conditions much better than anything here in Austin, and not terribly windy. There were tons of draft packs but I rode my own race and did my best to ignore them.

T2 was 2:50. Nothing too exciting.

Run was 1:42:07. Had to pee coming out of transition so I stopped at the beginning. The run was two laps with lots of hills. Each lap finished with an extremely steep portion up through the pedestrian village. The day before the race I had been strategizing with Mike and decided the best plan was to power walk the hill. The second time up, within half a mile to the finish, I thought my butt was going to cramp.

Similar to Kona, you know you're slow when the first lap was extremely packed with people and then the second lap was pretty sparse. It's like when you're running out to the Energy Lab and tons of people are coming back towards you (heading back to the finish line in town) so that by the time you're coming out of the Energy Lab you are pretty much on your own. My target pace for this was 8 min/miles so again, beat that. But also again, pretty sure I could have run harder.

Finish time was 5:26:22 which was got 63rd in my age group. It's a freaking fast age group. A girl pipped me at the very downhill into the finish line but that's okay. I was just glad to be finishing after all the ups and downs of the past few months. My stretch goal had been 5:30 so I was happy enough with it. I think I need to believe in myself more - I know I could have gone harder but I didn't have faith in my abilities and was scared to push more.

Caramel apple crepe after the race. The beginning of off-season!

Overall I was impressed with the race Mont-Tremblant put on. It's a gorgeous location and all the locals seemed supportive of the race. I am very grateful that Mike came along and my parents sponsored our trip. Also thanks to Roka for their great stuff (wetsuits and swimskins), MRI for the Beta Charge I've been using this year, Swiftwick socks for the best training socks, all the other great sponsors of Moxie Multisport, and of course Atomic Athlete.

My parents who have so far come to all full ironmans and all world championship races.

Time for off-season! I will try to blog regularly - I have a bunch of different analogies I've been thinking about recently comparing triathlon to other things that I will attempt to put into posts along with 2015 goals.

A race, a trip, and trying to find my stride again.

I think I wrote the last post right before Marble Falls Tri. This was my third year in a row to do the race, which is located in Marble Falls, TX, about a 45-60 minute drive from Austin. The race is an odd distance, they call it intermediate, with a 1000 m swim in Lake Marble Falls, a 23 mile hilly bike, and a 4.4 mile run. It's a pretty low key event, less than 200 racers in the intermediate distance and maybe the same or something in the sprint. It's always well run though, so that's why I like to go back.

Fun fact: this was the first race Mike and I both did last year. It was the day after our second date, not sure if it counts as our actual third date, but it was the third time we saw each other. 

There had definitely been improvement in my race results from 2012 to 2013, and then there was this year. 

Swim was definitely faster. I somehow actually led my wave, and it was the first women's wave, so I was first woman out of the water. Kind of cool. I remember getting out to the first buoy (maybe 250m in) and realizing there was no one in my color swim cap around me or in front of me. 

Bike was meh. More than half a mph slower than last year. I definitely had not tapered for the race and done pause squats at Atomic two days prior, so I suspect that was part of the reason I had no zip. My overall wattage was down so no surprise I was slower. I had not expected pause squats to take that much out of me, but it's hard to quantify that sort of effect. 

Run was also meh. This being since I hadn't been running much in the 2 months prior. So, I did what I could.

Field was decidedly not stacked this year. First in my age group and third female overall.

The medal was backwards because I'm a tool like that...

The following weekend I visited Jocelyn in DC. See her blog for a recap. We did my first big training weekend since maybe IMTX, as terrible as that sounds. A one hour trail run and one hour swim on Saturday and 10x800 on the track, which gave me my biggest running/training weekend (and week) in a long time. We also ate a lot of cupcakes.

So now it's August and the WC 70.3 are literally a month away. Work is kicking my ass (and my brain) so just trying to do the training I can fit in consistently, keep my knee healthy, and try not to have a complete meltdown in the next 30 days. There may be a lot of ice cream and m&m's involved. It's definitely not going to be a PR course, but I'd like to go have a good time. 

Couples Tri

The last time I'd done this was race was in 2008. And for comparison's sake, back then I had also done it 2 weeks after BSLT 70.3. The day after I did this race I fell on the way to a sculling lesson with Karla and (I think) started the chain reaction of left knee injuries that pop up every now and then.

Time comparisons, then and now:
Overall: 1:23:53 / 1:13:15
Swim: 20:11 (2:31/100m avg) / 12:15 (1:32/100m avg)
T1: 2:53 / 2:37
Bike: 35:27 / 34:11 (19.7mph)
T2: 1:17 / 1:34
Run: 24:05 (7:46/mile) / 22:35 (7:17/mile)

I think some of the times reflect how meh this race was this year. The 10 minute time difference can be mainly attributed to my swim (and sweet Roka swim skin), but other than that the bike was nothing great and the run was definitely not my best effort. Having barely run in the past 8 weeks since IMTX definitely took a toll on my running fitness. Hoping to remedy that starting next week when I go to visit Jocelyn and she has a few good workouts planned for us!

But I finished and got to celebrate one year with my other half. We went on our first date the evening after he had done the race as an individual last year. When we first started dating we had talked about doing it this year, and here we are. If you followed my blog back in my California days, you'll know I was a whiny mess who never succeeded at a long-term relationship (or any relationship, period). So, very happy with where we** are right now.

#love

**Also, I can still prove my theory correct such that women engineers will end up partnering with some science-y/logical - whether that be engineering, computer science, architecture, etc.

Third time...not the charm

Along with my 5 and 2/3 full ironman races, I've now finished 13 half ironmans over 8 years as well. This past weekend was the toughest so far (coincidence #13?), despite the fact that I've done the race twice before and the first time I did it it started pouring around mile 10 of the bike. Harder than my first half where it was 43 degrees at the start with blustery cold wind on the bike. And worse than when I had a meltdown during my 2nd go at Wildflower Long Course and mentally quit the race multiple times during the swim and bike.

Leading up to the race I'd been babying a knee injury that's been around since IMTX. Exact cause not diagnosed but a combination of lack of heavy squat/strength work at Atomic recently and slacking on my PT exercises that led to weak glutes causing my knee to cave in during the run and also trying to switch bike shoes and later realizing the cleats were in the wrong position. So in the 6 weeks between IMTX and BSLT I'd run a grand total of 4 hours. I thought I could pull off the run at BSLT but with the other factors I'll mention later, that was not enough. I'd been suffering from some adrenal fatigue and exhaustion since IMTX as well, plus work was stressful. So definitely not a great month leading into the race. I was also apprehensive since I was #44 in the race, which is unlucky in Chinese culture. Apparently I should have been more worried about #13 though.

Mike and I drove to Lubbock on Friday. After packet pickup, while unloading the bikes, Mike threw out his back. Not the first time it had happened to him, but the first time before a race. So suddenly BSLT went from being about him and his conquering the half distance to him being injured and me also being slightly injured and still dumb enough to want to race.

The weather report was predicting 15-20mph winds from the S/SW and a high of 100+ degrees on race day. Which basically means winds over 20mph (weather.com usually underestimated by ~5mph) and really freaking hot.

Race morning it was breezy on the top of the hill when we parked. Down by the lake it was less so, but later I'd wish there was some breeze.

Had a slight goof up earlier in the week realizing I'd somehow lost my sleeveless wetsuit between IMTX and now. Guessing I somehow left it at the hotel in the Woodlands without realizing. Luckily, I still have a sleeved wetsuit I got for IMLP way back when. So, used that for the swim. Mike had told me how to pull up the excess material from the middle part of the suit on Friday so I actually had shoulder mobility in the suit. For the first time the swim actually seemed long. Normally, BSLT is notorious for having a short swim but this time, not so lucky. Managed to avoid the masses though and didn't get kicked or beat up too much. There was a girl in my wave that at some point kept trying to swim into me, but I picked it up briefly to get past her. In hindsight I probably should have been swimming that pace the whole way, but I felt pretty sluggish race day. Total time: 32:25, fastest time yet despite the course being long.

There were wetsuit strippers on the way to T1. It was exciting.

Onto the bike and the wind. I was running my new Hed Jet 50 from Mike and a Catalyst Cycling disc cover over my Boyd Cycling Altamont Powertap wheel in the back.  I think my quads aren't functioning correctly because of my knee so there was a definite lack of power or zip for the entire ride. The uphills were the best part and I am back to being petrified on downhills especially since some of the roads were pretty narrow and there was bike traffic both ways. I pretty much spent the entire east-west sections sitting up because the wind gusts were so strong. Even practicing the Rob Kopitzke technique of leaning bike into wind and keeping my body perpendicular to the ground was not enough to keep me stable. My normalized power was about at my full-IM IF and my average power was even less. 2nd longest bike time at BSLT coming in at 3:11:30.

The back of my bad knee had cramped going up the last hill of the race so I took extra time to put compression socks on in T2.

Usually I look forward to the run. Not on this Sunday. Despite not having pushed big watts, I still felt toasted from all the energy required to stay upright and go forward in the wind on the bike. The lack of bike and run fitness didn't really help either. And, I could tell it was getting warm. There were absolutely no clouds in the blue sky, and very little shade on the run course. The first 2.5 miles or so went okay, and then it all went to shit. My heart rate was in the 170s so I decided to walk the big uphills to not go into cardiac drift early on. To summarize the run: I walked, I tried to run and realized I was running 9:40 pace so went back to walking, I dumped a lot of ice on me and my shoes squished, leg muscles cramped that never bothered me before. Slowest half marathon I've ever done and it was very demoralizing. Cried the last mile and collapsed at the finish line. But at least that got me an IV. Total run time was 2:08:27 for an overall time of 5:59:24. 4 minutes slower than the first time I did it and 36 minutes slower than the 2nd time.

I think the lack of running this year overall came back to bite me. I had a similar knee injury in 2010, worse actually, and was able to get through the marathon at Kona just fine. But I had been building a huge running base since 2005 for that, so a month or so off there did not affect me as much. I have definitely run a lot less in the past few years, the only "big" running block was the 2-3 months leading into the Graveyard 100k in early 2013. Granted, I'm sure the heat played some part in my meltdown (literally) but in past races I've been fairly immune to the conditions so I think the heat was lesser of the issues.

Buffalo on the left from 2010 is interestingly much lighter in weight than buffalo on the right from 2014 despite looking the same 

But to tell you how rough this race was on everyone, I managed to eke out 3rd place in my age group with a barely sub-6 hour finish. And neither 1st or 2nd place showed up to awards so I even got a Worlds 70.3 slot. I think I owe myself a good half-ironman this year. I know I'm capable of putting together a good race (2010 BSLT 70.3 and 2013 Austin 70.3), I just need to get my mind and body working together.

Next post I will outline my plan for the next 2 months or so leading up to Mont-Tremblant. I've heard it's a great race and a great location so I'm excited to see the area. And I've never raced a Worlds 70.3 so I think it's time to see how it compares to Kona. Additionally, I think the next few years will take it to Eurasia in which I have no interest in travelling specifically for a triathlon race.

Summary of lessons learned:
1. PT exercises to keep leg muscles balanced and functioning properly are NOT optional.
2. I have lost most of my run base. I need to run more.
3. Full-sleeve wetsuits are not actually horrible when I know how to put them on properly.
4. My fall-back, base race power is approximately 130W NP.

For reference: 
2007 Great Illini Half 
2008 BSLT 70.3 
2009 Auburn Half (formerly World's Toughest Half) 
2010 Wildflower Long Course, BSLT 70.3, Vineman 70.3 
2011 Wildflower Long Course, Boise 70.3, Rev3 Portland 
2012 Austin 70.3 
2013 Wildflower Long Course, Austin 70.3 
2014 BSLT 70.3

Show-off at Pflugerville

A quick recap of the Lake Pflugerville sprint tri a couple weekends ago. Swam faster, biked faster, and ran faster for an improvement of 30 seconds over last year despite feeling worse in the water leading up to the race and race day being much windier than last year. Oh and also the rookie mistake of trying to rack my bike on the wrong rack in T2. Started in the last wave which is always fun. Was 2nd out of the water in the under 29 female wave, after some 19 year old. Spent the entire time on the bike passing people. Texas cyclists are eerily similar to Texas drivers in terms of abiding by the rules. Had 1 woman dart out into the left portion of the lane right in front of me when I was trying to pass and then refused to move over (3-abreast) when I called "on your left." Had another woman yell "Show off" as I passed. Okay? This is a race? Am I not supposed to go that fast? That was probably my favorite. The run course always feels like the longest 3 miles of my life. Just like last year I got passed by some girl at the start and then passed her back and forth along the course. She was in the 20-24 age group. My running form is rather off right now due to an inflamed knee and awkward gimpy-ness left over from IMTX. It's pretty horrific to watch and probably slows me down and makes running a lot harder than it should be. The girl flew by me in the finish chute, so probably ruined any finish line photos (not that I care), but it was kind of humorous. It's a local sprint after all. Huge Moxie presence out at the race, pretty well run, overall a good time. Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 this coming weekend. I'm starting to realize I've painted a much nicer picture of the course in my head than in actuality, but I'm just going to approach it like Wildflower 2013. Do as best as I can but try not to set any time goals. We'll see. Lots of Austin and Moxie people will be out. Weather and my knee could make for an interesting race.

A Semi-Recap of IMTX

It's more than 2 weeks past IMTX so I don't see the point in writing an entire race report here. Coach Tod (who put together my training plan based on Atomic sessions) asked me to answer some questions regarding my training for the race and posted it on their Facebook page. I'm copying it here for future reference.

I truly cannot say enough good things about the gym. The coaches are absolutely fantastic and my fellow athletes are pretty badass as well.

Amy Chow is an endurance athlete that has been training with Atomic Athlete for almost a year now. Always wanting to test her fitness she expressed interest in combining her Atomic Athlete training with endurance training to compete in a Half Ironman distance race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). We sat down and wrote her a training schedule that cut down her time on the bike and the run to two days a week, kept her at Atomic for 3x a week and had her swim 2x a week. This was considerable less volume than any of her previous training cycles and the final result was an almost 20 minute 1/2 Ironman PR and a new desire to compete.

Shortly after she decided to compete at the Ironman distance race (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run). She completed the race two weeks ago and after letting her rest for a bit we sat down and did a little After Action review.

1) What was your average weekly training volume by time and distance?

Run- 3 hours/22 miles
Bike- 7.5 hours/125 miles but a lot of this was on the trainer so mileage is sort of weird there
Swim- 3 hours/10k yards
Atomic Athlete- 3x a week

2) How much more volume was this than your 1/2 Ironman Training?

Same amount of swimming and Atomic, almost double amount cycling, and about 50% more running.

3) Did you feel mentally and physically prepared going into this race?

I felt pretty good mentally and physically. I had approached this race differently than the past 5 full ironmans I've trained for in the past - instead of the traditional, pure cardio swim/bike/run I put a much larger emphasis on strength training/hybrid athlete training. The basis for the training plan this time was the bike and 3 sessions of Atomic. I also trained with a powermeter consistently for the first time and actually tracked my numbers. This gave me a quantitative pacing strategy on the bike that I was confident about as opposed to going by feel like I had in the past.

4) How did the race go? Overall and by each leg.

I think I did the best I could on the day for what the conditions were and my training load/execution.

Swim - Goofed up right at the start because the cannon went off as I was still getting into the water and the in-water start line was still a good 100yds away from the swim entrance. Had to swim through the masses to find some clear open water and probably lost a couple minutes here. I pretty much ended up in no-man's land in the water and swam mostly by myself.

Bike - Best I've ever executed an ironman bike leg. Usually I go out to hard and blow up around mile 80 or 90. This time I stuck to my power number and rode easy. The bike was generally flat with a lot of turns in some sections and I'm not great at cornering so definitely lost time there decelerating/accelerating. My legs started feeling a bit fatigued around mile 100 or so but that is expected I think.

Run - Earliest I can remember dying in an ironman run. Usually I'm good for at least the first 13-14 miles but the wheels started falling off after the first loop, so about mile 8-9. The entire run course was concrete which was tougher on my legs than expected. My brain wanted to go faster but my legs felt like they were only a few hard run steps away from breaking down and I didn't want to test them in the middle of the run. I started walking the aid stations earlier as well in order to make sure I got fluid and calories in me. Upside that I was still able to pick up the last 2 miles and run them about 30 sec faster than the previous miles.

5) What went wrong, what went right?

Bike definitely went right, both training and racing wise.
Run went wrong during the race. I had been hitting appropriate paces in my training for a faster IM marathon, but I think a combination of low run volume and the concrete surface when I had been training on half trail and then a combination of asphalt and concrete. I think that if I didn't have the run experience that I have (first marathon in 2005 and about a dozen total since then plus a couple ultras) then the run could have been a disaster.

6) In hind sight did you feel adequately prepared?

Yes and no. If I look at this as purely an experiment in can I be successful with incorporating strength/hybrid athlete training into an ironman training plan with a lot of previous long-course experience then yes, I was prepared to complete an ironman. However if I look at it if I was prepared to do a fast ironman and actually race it, then the answer is probably no. That would have required more running I think. Quantitatively put, on what is a faster (flatter) run course, I improved less than 8 minutes since my first IM marathon (hilly course) in 2009 (granted it was about 20 degrees cooler at that location). Back then I was doing similar swimming and cycling volume (though much less intense), 1x a week of strength training (triathlon focused), and 40-50 miles of running weekly.

7) Would you have shaped your training any differently going into this race?

Run more, except I don't know where I would have fit that in. I probably would have had to decrease my sessions at Atomic (2 instead of 3) and put an extra run day in. I wanted the best of both worlds - train for an ironman and get faster AND still keep going to Atomic and make gains - and that's a lot to ask a human body to do!

Sitting down and examining the race and learning what went right and what went wrong will give us the tools we need to tweak her race prep for the future.

Amy Chow is truly a bad ass and she earns her respect by training her ass off in the gym and continually testing her fitness outside of it. We are all very proud of you Amy keep kicking ass.

-Coach

Planning It Out

Since I resurrected this blog in order to record my journey towards a sub 5-hr half and 10:45 full ironman, I figured the best way to start is to outline my current plan. At the highest level I want my goal full IM race to be either in 2016 or 2017. And then my half IM would be fall 2015 or early 2016. This is somewhat contingent on the schedule at work though; I stepped into a different role at work which is and will be higher profile, more stressful, and more time-consuming than my previous role. This will definitely hamper my ability to train and recover at the level I want/need to, but I'll adjust as needed.

In terms of planning the next year or so in terms of training blocks, my current plan is to ramp up the next month and race Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 at the end of June. This is not a fast course so I'm just looking to enjoy it and support my boyfriend as he races his first half-ironman in quite awhile. After recovering from BSLT 70.3 I will start a big bike block. Jocelyn has sent me some ideas and I have been searching the Internet for different articles and workouts to do to raise my FTP. I will need to take a good 20 minutes off my current bike time to realistically be able to hit 10:45. 

Austin is a pretty awesome place to live. In the fall/winter they have the Austin Distance Challenge which is a series of local road races starting in October and then averaging about 1 race per month until culminating in the Austin Marathon in late February. I am going to use this to rebuild a big run base (and actually put in decent mileage for once). I think not having a lot of run volume for IMTX hurt my running durability, but more on this later. 

Once the Distance Challenge is over I will get back to the bike and spring triathlon training. Depending on work schedule, it would be good to target 3 half-ironmans in 2015. Preferably ones within driving distance. 

And for now my plan ends at the end of 2015. Somewhere around here I will need to find a coach, probably. 

I also have some questions I've been tossing around in my head. Mainly, where does Atomic play into all of this? I got into Crossfit and serious strength training in 2010 when I was getting burned out from all the long, slow distance (LSD) training. Granted, I had always gone to the gym and used the machines and what not since college, but it was always as a supplement to my marathon or triathlon training. I took the summer of 2012 off when I trained for IM Louisville but then for IM Texas I was doing an experiment to see how Atomic would play with ironman. Could I survive and how well would I do? 

And was I successful in my experiment? I say yes. I was able to go to Atomic 3x a week for almost the entire 4 months I was training for IMTX (minus a couple weeks when I was out of town or doing GCI or tapering) and I still PRed  at Texas. But, I only think this worked because I rode my bike a lot and have a huge aerobic base and years of experience starting with marathon training back in 2005. So in 2006-2007 I was regularly running 50-60 miles/week and sometimes up to 70 miles on those odd weeks. 2007 was also when I started my crazy weekend rides where I would go out and ride 70-90 miles on Saturdays at like 12mph with a couple Clif bars and 3 bottles of water (boy how far we have come now!). 

Looking back at my training log for 2009 when I did my first ironman (IM Lake Placid) I was running 40-50 miles during the big builds and then biking something like 150 miles. This year I was running maybe 20-25 miles except for a few weeks in April when I got to 30-40 miles, and then biking a shit ton. The biking was what kept me from completely falling apart during the run I think. And to put it in perspective, my IMTX run was only 8 minutes faster than my first ironman marathon at IMLP (3:58 vs 4:06, and the 4:06 involved about 5 minutes in the bathroom). So to say, did I succeed in racing to my actual potential in ironman? The answer to that is probably no. I am pretty sure my run leg breakdown that started around mile 5 and became a real problem about halfway through was due to just not having a lot of run volume in my legs. Having the entire course on concrete certainly did not help either. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the squats quite prepare my legs to what a marathon will do. It was an odd feeling during the run; my brain wanted to run faster but my legs were like, if we go any faster we are going to break. 

The logical part of my brain says I will need to cut back on Atomic, at the very least. Which leads to my next question of, how seriously am I trying to take this? I know back in 2010 or 2011 I was so focused on triathlon and trying to be elite that it just was not fun anymore. Which of course led to my meltdown and retirement from being serious about tri on the Wildflower course in 2011. This question basically comes down to what are my priorities. Do I want to keep trying to not be so serious or do I want to go fast? As a non-natural athlete I don't think those are synonymous. If I want to go fast, I need to prioritize. I think I know the answer to this, but I'm not quite sure I'm willing to go there yet.  

Bringing it back

Over 2 years since my last blog post here! It's amazing how different life is now. Older, wiser, and happier I like to think.

Summary recap:

• Moved to Austin in April 2012 to go back to work at the tech company I co-oped at during college.
• Joined the Rollingwood master's swim group. 
• Rode across the country with Team Will. 800+ miles in 10 days. 
• Trained under Coach Brandon Marsh for IM Louisville and Austin 70.3 in 2012.
• Ran a 100km (ended up being 60 miles due to last minute course changes) in March 2013 with my best friend Jocelyn.
• Redeemed myself on the Wildflower long course course in May 2013. 
• Started training at Atomic Athlete in June 2013. 
• Met my boyfriend Mike in July 2013. He's also a triathlete, short course being his speciality.
• Trained under Coach Tod Moore at Atomic for Austin 70.3 in fall 2013. PR for the half-ironman distance. 
• Joined the Moxie Multisport team based here in North Austin with Mike. 
• Attempted the Gulf Coast Interstate Relay in April 2014 with Jocelyn and Ricky. DNFed at mile 181 when we were lost in a thunderstorm. 
• Raced IM Texas using a Coach Tod Moore plan with a Team Marsh plan for general structure and swim workouts. PR for the full ironman distance. 

The new goal for the next 2-3 years is to go sub-5 in a half-ironman (I realize I attempted this back in 2011 but clearly that was a fail) and then 10:45 (or less) in a full. I am using this blog to hold myself accountable and also outline and analyze my training plans and workouts in order to hit both goals.

#family

Reading back through my old posts I kind of want to delete them. But, that was who I was at a younger age, and I don't necessarily want to forget where I came from.