Yoda Gift for LAHP

With a collective 3 season of elite racing under our race belts, LAHP and I kick start the 2011 season on the first weekend in April. Lauren is racing the California 70.3 at Oceanside, the season opener world championships, and on the East Coast I'll be running the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler.

Yoda footage to brighten Lauren's day:

Sacrificing YODA for the color pink - a horror story

In my spare time I came across this gem of an article on cnn.com, the most trusted news in the universe. I thought I'd share it, because I love Star Wars and repeat Yoda quotes during races. :)

Katie Goldman - way to keep it real. Never fear a group of pre-teen mean girls in Evanston, IL. They are probably just crabby and pent-up because it is so freaking cold there.


Yes, that is a Yoda head on my aerobars.

Lauren's Rev3 Full RACE Report

I am happy to report that my body has survived relatively unscathed from my second long course race of the year. Last weekend I raced the Rev3 Full at Cedar Point and shaved 23 minutes off my previous best time to finish in 9:37, which was clearly a surprise to me (and Matt, who thought something was wrong with the race clock, and his watch, and my brother's watch, and my new sister in law's watch.....).

My training and racing up through Rev3 had been going pretty well...and by "pretty well" I mean that is has been consistent and drama free. I'm learning that to get the work done, I really just need to focus on some key things in life - family, work, and training..while also throwing in some fun time with friends so I don't go completely crazy and get burned out. My friends probably think I'm a bit weird when I show up for dinner after a 7 hr training day and eat half the table, given that I spent the first half of my life only eating protein or only eating non fat foods or only drinking vodka, or some other random diet! :)

Anyway...back to the race report:

I rolled into Cedar Point alone on Friday morning, as Matt was taking the Friday night red eye (yeah he loved that one). After sneaking in a swim with Jacqui, locating food that was not from KFC or McDs, I spent the rest of the day sitting around and probably moved no more than 3 feet from that location the rest of the day/evening. Saturday was more of the same along with a trip to pick up Matt halfway to Cleveland, that included an impromptu visit with LJ and her Dad, who graciously picked Matt up from the airport and delivered him to our meeting point - Aladdin's Fine Dining -home of America's best rice bomber, no joke. The highlight of this trip was Purse's bday gift to me - an underwater pace clock! HOORAY! Granted, I'm doing fine in the pool these days...so perhaps I should return this gift for a GPS-driven Kayak that has the correct coordinates of the turn buoys on the swim and that shouts out to me anytime I start heading the wrong way.

THE RACE:

For once in my life I was able to eat on race morning. Ensure is a fabulous product for nervous stomachs. After my Paulo-approved wake up/warm up routine, I headed to the beach. The water had been crazy rough the previous few days, but looked to be calmer on race morning. However, due to overcast skies,the RD postponed the race by at least 10 minutes as we could not even see the buoys. Finally we were off......and I was swimming decently....decent enough to keep the faster girls in sight at least. I felt strong and was okay with my position. I noticed the fast girls were swimming a bit wide of the first turn buoy so I was happy in the knowledge that I was smarter then that and would not be swimming extra. UNFORTUNATELY, I thought too soon and ended up swimming way off course to the turn buoy for the second loop. Lovely. Thankfully, a nice kayaker paddled over to tell me I was heading towards Cleveland rather than the correct buoy.

After dolphin diving for 200 miles to the beach finish, I finally made my way to T2...angry. I jumped on my bike and Matt told me that I better pick it up and bike down some girls. All I could think about was all the time I have spent in the pool swimming 400s with him and shaving time off each one....all of this for nothing?!

The bike course was great, aside from the first few miles of potholed pavement, and the intense wind. I think I only experienced maybe 3 miles of tailwind throughout the entire bike course. Other than having to ride on the center line of the road due to the evil stagger rule, I really enjoyed this course. The race organizers did an AMAZING job at marking the course, as I am the queen of missing turns and I had no problems with navigation on race day. The rolling hills and the wind kept it legit. Perhaps due to my frustration with the swim, I managed to bike my way into 4th place by around mile 35ish of the course and held that to the end of the bike. Going into this race I knew I was capable of having a good bike split, but was surprised by the number when I looked down at my SRM and saw 4:59 (official time was 5 hrs).

After gaining mobility in my back by doing my T2 stretching routine, I quickly headed out on the run (with an experimental gel flask in hand) and felt pretty good. Matt gave me some splits to 2-4 place and I noticed that I really wasn't hemorrhaging much time to them. I felt strong on the first loop of the course, but coming back over the hot and windy causeway for the second loop I was consumed with thirst. All I could think about was water: water fountains, water bottles, pools, lakes, sprinklers, bird-baths, and even shark-infested oceans. I finally got to an aid station and grabbed every cup of water available and then threw 2 cups of ice into the top my race suit (I highly recommend this). I learned later that this ice would be handy for quenching thirst in between aid stations...just grab an ice cube and instant (yet salty) hydration. For some reason, I couldn't handle the sports drink on course that day.

After my water park fun, I felt better and picked up the pace again, but not to match Jessica Jacobs blasting past me to a 3:03 run split! Around mile 20 Matt told me I was gaining ground on the 4th place girl. Later, he told me that he was just saying this to make me feel better, but apparently he has great foresight as the next time I saw him I was a minute closer to her...and then closer..and closer...Finally, with less than a mile to go I was within 30 seconds of her. Unfortunately she turned around and saw me, despite my best intentions of hiding behind some other racers, so she knew I was there. I tried with every last bit of energy and half-dissolved ice cubes to pick up the pace enough to pass her but ran out of real estate and ended up finishing 5th, 18 seconds behind 4th place.

Despite the first leg of this race, I am happy with the results. It's great to see the consistent training pay off in a PR. While I'd love to be an overnight success, I realize that this is not the way it is for most mere mortal triathletes. Every race is an opportunity to improve in some way. I've had some bad races and good races so far this year, but have noticed that despite the bad races, I really do love this sport and WANT to get faster. This goes back to the conversation I had with myself on the bike before the season even began and is something I have stuck with all year.

I HIGHLY recommend the Rev3 races. This first year race was fantastic and the group did a great job of organizing and thinking about what it is that racers (both pros and amateurs) really want. DO THESE RACES. Thanks to my awesome husbandsherpa Matt who survived a red eye, 5 hour delayed flight from DC, and numerous early morning wake up calls to come and support me last weekend, as well as countless hours in the Los Altos pool swimming 400s with me and not letting me cry like a baby. Someday I SWEAR this swimming will pay off in the open water as well. Also thanks to Scott and Katie, my brother and new sister in law, who drove down from Chicago to spectate. They were excellent motivation and encouragement, and did a great job of keeping Matt calm. Also thanks to smart Coach Paulo who knows what to do with me and never disappointed with his Saturday morning bike workout gifts, and Front of the Pack, for again, dealing with all manner of random bike issues.




Jacqui and I right before the swim start....yes, it was still pitch black outside.



Rev3 Full Age Group Start



Illegal communication


Getting ready to ride..hiding my anger pretty well.







Clearly the camera is distorting my run form. :)



The end...hooray!



I do occasionally smile.

Lauren's Lake Stevens 70.3 Racing in the Pacific Northwest Microwave Oven Report

Given the rather intense past 2 weeks of training I thought I should post a quick Lake Stevens race report before my memory of this race fades into oblivion.

I decided to put Lake Stevens on the schedule because of the nice rolling hills bike course, the cool temps associated with the Seattle area, and the fact that Seattle is a short AIR ALASKA flight away from me. (side note: I love this airline. LOVE IT. Who can argue with $50 bike fees ...when they actually charge them...and cheap upgrades.) While the hills remained intact, temps that weekend skyrocketed into the high 90s...reminiscent of (shudder) WILDFLOWER and the lake of fire.

Pataky had a fishing trip planned for this weekend so I was flying relatively solo. MarkyV was nice enough to drive me around the Pacific Northwest, but not nice enough to build my bike. :) Nevertheless, I had no mechanicals during the race and the bike lived to fight another day.

On race morning, we found out that the pro swim would be non-wetsuit. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I was actually cool with this proclamation, as the day before I had overheated trying to swim for 15 minutes in the lake. After much discussion about whether we would have a dive or water start, the powers that be determined that this would be an "in water" start. I was relieved because I don't really do dive starts. I mean, I was a competitive diver in middle school and could throw down a front 2.5 double twister or reverse one and a half pike like nobody's business, but give me a front dive with goggles and I'm not a fan.

Race morning was different than Calgary. I got up early, took a hot shower, got to the race site early, and did my warm up run. Lesson learned. The swim start was painful as usual. The female pros started separate from the men though (LOVE THIS). I took out the swim as fast as I could for as long as I could and for once I found myself in a pack....hurting in a pack....not just slacking in a pack (key difference). I stayed with most of this pack the entire time. The ebullience I felt about this can be witnessed on my "swim in" race photo. Usually I have a scowl on my face, but if you look closely, and perhaps enlarge the image x 5 million, you might actually see the beginnings of a smile. My swim time was nothing to write home about, but I left the water in a positive mental state.

The first loop of the bike course was great and I felt much stronger than I did 2 weeks prior at Calgary. After the first loop, however, many of us had to weave through the age group race. Most of the age groupers were great about staying to the right, but I did come across a few rogue men.... My bike split for this course was faster than my Calgary split, despite Lake Stevens being more hilly..hooray!

I jumped off my bike and departed T2. Linsey Corbin and her very awesome orange shoes passed me in the first mile and I tried to keep her in sight as long as possible. I felt Haley Cooper-Scott behind me for awhile and was unable to hold her off at the half-way mark. I managed to not lose much time on her, though, and finished the hilly and crazy hot run in 8th...much closer to the overall winning time than my 5th place showing at Calgary.

I would like to send a shout out to the professional runner-looking guy who encouraged me to loosen up while creeping up one of the looped steep hills. I must have looked like the hunch back of Notre Dame wearing black spandex decorated with powergel and salt.




Seeing that Matt was not around to take photos and create documentaries of the race, I will leave you with what awaited me in my fridge when I returned home to California that night.

16.000000000001 seconds - Lauren's Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Report

After Wildflower this year, I was wisely cut off from any other racing this spring in order to focus on ironman training. As I posted previously, this training block was full of..uh....lots of training and little of anything else besides my day job. Thankfully, I arrived at the start line healthy and ready to race, both mentally and physically.

During race week we stayed a bit outside the M-dot mayhem at a condo with the most popular man in Lafayette – John Fell – and his awesome girlfriend and family, along with a guest appearance by Jacqui Gordon. Rather than expose myself to the testosterone nerve fest of the expo, I hibernated in the condo along with Jacqui and endured Pataky and Fell arguing incessantly over whether (insert popular American cyclist) dopes. Fell made a brilliant argument and I think perhaps Pataky (FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE) was persuaded to agree with Fell.

Race morning was typical. I attempted to choke down some food and was quite unsuccessful. Perhaps I’ll try an IV next time. (Note: anyone have any suggestions on how to force down food?) After setting up and applying a gallon of sunscreen, Matt helped me with my wetsuit (by ripping the knee) and I attempted to get in a quick warmup swim.



The swim start was crazy rough, but perhaps this was my fault as I aligned myself with a group of men. I don’t particularly like starting with the pro men for a variety of reasons. Everyone took off…but me…again, although this time I did manage to stay in a small group with Haley Cooper, Jacqui, and a couple male pros. Seeing that my first swim loop was glacially slow, we were joined in the second loop by the fastest age groupers, who I think perhaps thought that they had entered a wrestling match, rather than a triathlon. I mean, is it really necessary to PUNCH me? Repeatedly? REALLY??


Working on not thinking about the swim....

I got out of the water and wisely decided not to look at my swim split. I had hours ahead of me and one goal of mine for this race was to leave the swim at T1.On the bike I tried to keep myself in a specific power range. I knew I’d be alone most of the course and just tried to focus on the watts and eating a gel every 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the first gel I ate ended up all over my shifters, so I spent 111 miles being annoyed at the sticky mess. That aside, I successfully ate and drank my way through 112 miles, but only passed about 2 girls in the process. I knew there were hundreds of girls ahead of me, but once again, I reminded myself that the race was not over.





I jumped off my bike at transition and realized quickly that I could not stand up straight…worst nightmare scenario. After hobbling over to the change tent like a 90 year old with a walker, I managed to stretch it out and jumped onto the run course. (special thanks to my pilates instructor who showed me a move that suspiciously resembles a pelvic thrust to deal with such a back issue).

Now…onto the run… I knew going into this race that I was capable of running faster or more consistently than I’ve ever run before. I was ready to prove this and set out on the run course reminding myself that all I needed to do was keep it together. Pataky was very helpful with his Yoda t-shirt and loud cheering voice. I’d see him every now and then pop up on random parts of the course yelling at me and telling me my pace via ironmanlive stats.

Towards the end of the first loop I started slogging along a bit, but the push through town after the first loop helped to get the momentum going again. I also read a scrolling message somewhere along the first loop that said “perfect run Lauren,” which became my mantra and reminded me that I would feel MUCH better after this race if I did have a relatively good run, then if I faded into oblivion. (thank you anonymous person who posted that message)



I felt stronger on the second loop and just tried to stay in the moment. I wasn’t sure where I was in the standings so I just tried to focus on the fact that I was 1) not crying like a baby and 2) not blowing up. Around mile 25 I rolled past Pataky and he threw down the “you better hurry up” line which I knew meant that I was dangerously close to the 10 hour time…..that, or I was about to get passed with like a mile to go, which conjured up nightmare images of IMC 2009. Rather than telling him to STFU, I tried to channel my energy into moving faster.

My goal was to break 10 hours. Unfortunately, somebody put a slight hill in the course somewhere around miles 24-25 and I had nothing left. I turned onto the main drag…which seemed to stretch forever….and the only thing I really remember was Pataky screaming that I had 90 seconds to break 10 hours. I also remember my friend Christophe telling me that the finish line at this race is all downhill. Lies…I tell you…LIES! I sprinted as fast as my Gatorade and powergel –laden body would let me. Unfortunately, I saw the clock strike ten about 16.0001 seconds before I arrived at the finish line and collapsed onto some poor man.

While I didn’t make my time goal for the day, I was happy with my 7th place performance, new iron distance PR, and the fact that I’d shed close to 25 minutes off my previous irondistance run split. I have much more work to do, but am happy to see progress and excited by the challenge to keep shaving time. Most importantly, I am learning not to quit until the finish line…something that I first experienced in New Orleans. As I’ve mentioned before, the mental game in triathlon is huge. I might as well stay home if I have any doubts about myself or my fitness. I’ve learned this lesson in many painful ways, and am sure I’ll be reminded of it in the future! Thanks to my coach who made me run, Pataky - my better half, and Darrell at Front of the Pack, who endured multiple encounters with me and my powermeter. Now…back to the pool, as I have a new race schedule on the horizon.


Post race dinner at Outback Steakhouse with the Fells and Jacqui....


Late night finish line....