Another summer flying by

Well I am way behind on posting this update, but 12-16 hour training weeks, plus a full-time job, a little bit of traveling, and general life stuff (why is there always so much laundry?!) doesn't leave much time for blogging.  So, for the four or five of you who actually read this, here's what I've been up to for the last few months... 

May
Swim - 17.9 miles
Bike - 361 miles
Run - 76 miles
Total time - 42:37:42
Total distance - 456 miles

June (vs 2015 140.6 training)
Swim - 22 miles (12)
Bike - 593 miles (382)
Run - 70 miles (101)
Total time - 55:29:10
Total distance - 685 miles

July (vs 2016 70.3 training)
Swim - 21.7 miles (8.9)
Bike - 690 miles (293)
Run - 114 miles (117)
Total time - 65:31:20
Total distance - 826 miles

I realized on June 30 that I only needed 8 more miles to get to 600, and actually considered just doing easy loops around the neighborhood, but 592 was a month-PB for me, so I decided I'd just wait to see what happened in July.  With even more miles, including a two weekends with back-to-back metric centuries, I not only broke 600, but came pretty darn close to 700! 

Blowing Rock

Running with the fam

First century of 2017

Jordan Lake
Lil Uno one mile swim

I'm loving these rides in the mountains!

My first bike race!
Asheville Gran Fondo
1st Female

Cup n Cone tour with Lindsey
It's exciting to have another Dark Horse to train with!

Nearing the homestretch of the Chattanooga training cycle

Swim 17.6 miles
Bike 327.6 miles and ~6 hours on the trainer
Run 99.3 miles
Total time 49:50:18
Calories 32,015

Out of curiosity I decided to look back at last year's April totals.  Surprisingly, I swam significantly less (12.1), rode less (18:40 vs 23:04), and ran slightly less (90) as well. Having come off an injury at the beginning of 2016, I knew my totals for last year would be lower, but if I can consider this a proxy for relative fitness, then the hope is that I have made some progress.

All in all it was a solid month.  My race at the Cary Du didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but I finished in the top-10 females at the LC Duathlon National Championship for the second year in a row and am looking at it as a learning experience.  In addition to that race, I ran the Hop Swap Half as a training run and finished second female overall, got out to the mountains for a few rides, and ran a new 4M PR at the Tar Heel 4-Miler.

Hop Swap Half Marathon
They don't call it the foothills region for nothing!

Hanging Rock to Sauratown
Roughly 3,000 feet of elevation gain in 20 miles

Assault on the Carolinas
Pic at the top of Caesars Head after a six mile, 2,000 foot climb

Beautiful run in Pisgah National Forest

4th Female/1st F35-39 at the Tar Heel 4-Miler

Cary Du - Long Course Duathlon National Championship

Not the ride I wanted, but the 6th fastest female on the bike

Post-race hiking at Hanging Rock

Does this really count as recovery?

Marching forward

After February set the bar pretty high, I was aware that March could bring somewhat of a let down.  To my surprise, that didn't happen, and I logged another solid month, including finishing 2nd overall female while doing a scheduled workout of 12x800 at the Crystal Coast Half Marathon, crushing my 10 minute time trial on the bike, swimming my fastest 50 yards in the pool, and setting a new half marathon PR at Tobacco Road.  

Swim 17.1 miles

Bike 86.5 miles and 11+ hours on the trainer

Run 98.6 miles

Total time 39:26:36

Calories 26,046

Average of 250 watts in my 10 minute time trial,
with the last 5 minutes slightly faster than the first 5!

Half Marathon PR at Tobacco Road
Still a long way to go to sub-1:30, but making progress

First time I've ever cracked 40 seconds for 50 yards

Special delivery from Ironman...
Up from silver to gold status!

Tobacco Road Half Marathon

I signed up for the 2016 Tobacco Road half, but a knee injury that kept me from running in January and February that year led to a deferral, so this race has been on the calendar for a long time.  Initially, as it has been for a few years, the stretch goal was to break 1:30.  That still seems a long way off, so the primarily goal was to run a new personal best (under the 1:31:25 I ran in Utah Valley), which meant a goal pace of about 6:58/mile.  I've run this race twice beore (2014 and 2012), so I knew that despite the description, the course isn't actually flat.  I have been training on the course for months, hoping that with greater familiarity the incline section from about mile 8 to mile 10 would be less miserable.  Unfortunately, though it's only a 1-2% grade, it still slowed me down significantly and it still sucked every single time.  I think that got in my head a bit, and I really started to wonder if I even had a shot at ringing the PR bell.

The race is about a mile from my house, so logistically this couldn't be easier.  Rather than having to be in the parking lot by 5:30 and sit around in the cold, I was able to roll out of the house a little after 6:30.  Margaret and Amanda parked at my house and joined me for the jog over, and it was all pretty relaxed and low key.  My brother had left the house a few minutes earlier and I'd hoped I would catch up to him, but unfortunately I didn't see him on the way and couldn't find him before the start. Everything else went smoothly though, and that was really the only glitch of the morning.

I made my way through the corral and said hello to a few people I know, and then realized I had more than enough time to throw in some strides.  I made my way back out, added a few more minutes to my warm up, and then headed back up toward the start line.  I found Allie and Meredith, who are both far faster but were just out for training runs, so once the gun sounded I was off on my own.

The race starts uphill and heads out on pavement for about two and a half miles before turning onto the packed dirt/gravel of the ATT, heading mostly down on the way out, then mostly up on the way back to Morrisville Parkway (the aforementioned dreaded slow miles), then back to Brooks Park for a downhill finish.  My plan was to start out a little below goal pace, speed up just a bit to bank a little time on the downhill section out the way out, try to hold onto low 7s on the way back up, and then push the pace after turning off the trail.  Everything went according to plan, and I hit the turnaround just past 45 minutes (6:53 average for the first half).  

Once I hit the turnaround, I was a little surprised to see Meredith and Allie right behind me, since the rumor at the start was that they'd be running 7:05 and 7:20 pace, respectively.  Emma was also right behind me, and she and Mere caught up with me shortly after making the turn.  I chatted with them briefly but as we hit the incline they seemed to pick it up and I was rapidly slowing down, so  that was the end of that nice distraction.  I could hear them chatting as they pulled away from me on the lamented uphill section from Wimberly back to Morrisville Parkway, and I would have been silently cursing them if they weren't such nice people ;)

I took a sip of Gatorade at one of the aid stations hoping it would magically give me energy to fly through that section without losing too much time, but as expected, my splits moved up into the 7s. I am usually good about cheering on friends and offering encouragement to anyone who looks like they need it in these out and back races, but I guess I was in the zone because I passed a ton of people I know and never even saw them.  I did have my eye out for my brother and gave him a cheer as he passed, and was able to glimpse a few familiar faces, but for the most part I would hear "Go Kara!" and have no idea who it had come from.  I was actually shocked by how many friends and folks I know were listed in the results - I never even saw most of them!  So if you were out there running or spectating: thank you for the support... the cheers and encouragement meant a lot and were very much appreciated, even though it probably did not seem that way at the time!

When I hit the 10 mile split under 70 minutes (69:57), I knew that I had not lost so much time coming back that a PR was off the table, so that was a nice boost as I got back out to the road.  I don't have much of a finishing kick, and a good race for me usually means holding pace rather than speeding up, but with the help of a nice little downhill stretch through Brooks Park I was able to click off a 6:36 final mile.  With the finish line in sight, a woman who I'd passed a little earlier came out of nowhere.  I gave what I could (6:22 pace for the last tenth) and just edged her out at the line. I had 1:31:15 on my garmin, and though it was only 10 seconds better than Utah, a PR is a PR, and I got to ring the bell on the way out of the finish shoot.  Mission accomplished.

I met up with Alan, cheered on some friends, and waited for my brother to finish (he also ran a PR, despite a recent injury, so that was awesome).  While we were waiting, I checked the results to find that the woman I'd edged at the line (by less than 100th of a second) had started a step behind me, so her chip time was about half a second faster and giving her 2nd place in our age group.  Gah!  Granted, finishing 19th vs 20th of women or 2nd vs 3rd in my age group doesn't really have any significance, but I know I could have found one second somewhere, so it really does irk me a little!

3rd/250 Female 35-39

Though I would've liked to stick around the post-race party, it was a little chilly for my liking, so we headed back home to stretch in the warmth, then celebrated our new personal bests with lunch and beers at the Pit before spending the rest of the day in basketball-watching recovery mode. 

All in all, I'm really pleased with the day.  That 1:29:59 is really far away, but I ran a solid race, confirmed that running a sub-7 half marathon in Utah was not a fluke, saw my brother and some other folks I know run PRs, and am excited to shift focus fully to triathlon training.  

Crystal Coast Half Marathon

I had 12x800 on the schedule for Saturday and after last week's 8x800 was a huge suckfest, I wasn't looking forward to it at all.  Then on Wednesday the Crystal Coast half marathon popped up on my Facebook feed, and after realizing that it was only 3 hours away with a 9am start time, I decided that if I had to run a 12 mile workout, there was no harm in running an extra mile for the added benefits of having people around, a nice flat course, a change of scenery, and bathrooms along the way (which I could have used during that aforementioned 8x800 suckfest on the ATT).

I headed out around 5 am on Saturday morning and even with a coffee + bathroom stop and a gas + bathroom stop, I arrived with more than enough time to spare.  Parking was really easy, and I found a spot a block from the start/finish/registration area.  I walked the block to get my bib and shirt and then went back to the car because it was cold (temps in the 30s with 15-20 mph winds) and waited until about 8:45 to make my way back over to the start.  The park has bathrooms, so I made one more stop (3 bathrooms stops on race morning is usually a good sign, so I was optimistic that the workout was going to go well).  

I met a girl who was planning to start out in the mid/high 8s, which was right around my planned warm up pace, so I asked if I could tag along with her for the first 2 miles.  It was weird lining up for a race start having done no warm up at all, but since it was built into the workout, I didn't do anything prior to the gun.  And after what felt like a long wait because of the cold, we were off.

I ended up running my first two miles with Kristin and Kaz (the director of the Tobacco Road marathon, which I've run several times and is my early season A race), and the miles went by pleasantly and quickly, even if they were a little faster than advertised (8:15-8:20).  As we finished the second mile I wished them luck with the rest of the run and took off to complete my workout (2 x building 400s on 400 recoveries + 12x800s on 400 easy).  

Nice conversational warm up miles

Going into the intervals I was a little worried that I would be playing leapfrog with some people and annoying everyone with what would probably be perceived as my inability to maintain a consistent pace, but it wasn't a huge race and it actually worked out that only a couple of the people that I passed on an interval caught back up to me on my recoveries.  The course is all flat, with the exception of one bridge that you cross around mile 4 and then again at mile 11.  My goal was to keep all of the 800s around 3:15 (Yasso-esque since I'm hoping to break 3:15 at CIM in December), and not worry about the pace on the jogs.   A nice strong tailwind helped me keep my pace over the bridge, and the first 10 splits ranged from 3:11 to 3:19, so I stayed pretty consistent.  I felt like I was running easy in between, but my recovery jogs were all in the high 7s/low 8s, which is about a minute per mile faster than I usually do them.  I was really surprised to be feeling so comfortable, and attributed it to race adrenaline, which was unexpected given that at no point did I have any intention of "racing."  

Up the bridge and into a headwind at mile 11
(It looks like I'm walking, but I really wasn't)

The 11th split was back over the bridge, this time into the headwind, and I gave up on trying to maintain pace on that one (the recovery jog down was actually faster than the "fast" run up), then finished my last 800 and tried to just run easy the rest of the way.  It was tempting to try to catch the guy up ahead of me, but I stuck to the plan (more or less) and finished in 1:35:10.  Results were available immediately, and I learned that my time was good enough for 2nd female and 11th overall.  In hindsight I wish I had gone after that guy to nab a top-10 finish, but I'm still happy with the result.

In the finisher area they had the usual bananas, trail mix, and peanut butter sandwiches, but also oreos, fig newtons, twizzlers, sour candies, jelly beans, animal crackers, etc etc etc. Plus two tickets for free beer and food at the post race party, which was thankfully out of the cold at a bar/restaurant about 2 blocks away.  

My prize was 50% off entry for next year, and I have already registered for 2018. The post-race party was well attended, and people who didn't like the free beer (Goose Island IPA) were giving away their tickets, so by the end we had a pile of them on the table.  Unfortunately I had to drive, but next year I will probably stay at the host hotel so that pile of free beer tickets does not go to waste.

I spent the night in Atlantic Beach, and though it was too cold to spend much time outside, I was treated to a beautiful sunset and a nice relaxing evening, so all in all I am really pleased with the last minute decision and may have to work on turning more of my workouts into adventures :)

A fantastic February!

February is usually one month where I think "Gah, is it over yet?!" but despite a few cold, dreary days, February felt more like spring than winter, training went very well, and a few nice surprises made it a really good month!

Swim 17.9 miles

Bike 74.5 miles + about 11 hours on the trainer

Run 111.6 miles

Total time 48:02:43

Calories 29,864

The biggest and best surprise of the month came on February 6, when I opened my inbox to find a message titled "You're invited to the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship!"  Anyone who knows me or has seen any of my posts on social media, knows that my biggest goal for 2016 was to qualify for the IM 70.3 Championship, which will be held in Chattanooga in September.  Unfortunately I fell just short of this goal, finishing 4th at IM 70.3 NC with only 3 slots available in my age group.  Though I was mostly pleased with the season, failing to meet that goal kind of cast a shadow of disappointment over it.  So when I opened the email and read "As one of the top-ranked female Ironman 70.3 athletes in your age group in the word, you are one of 200 women who will race as part of the Women for Tri Initiative" I almost fell off my chair!

With my two 6th place finishes in Raleigh and Augusta and the 4th in Wilmington, I earned enough points to place 37th out of 5,461 in the world in the IM 70.3 female 35-39 standings. Several of the women ahead of me have already qualified (including the 6 who accepted spots in my two fall races), and the cumulative performance garnered me a spot in this new Women for Tri initiative.  It's a new program, so I had no idea it was a possibility, and I was SO EXCITED!  I had decided that even if I qualified at my race in May, I was not going to take the slot because the goal was to qualify in 2016, not 2017, so the feeling of gratification just wouldn't be the same.  But it turns out that my 2016 performances were enough to get me in after all, so I will be making a second trip to Chattanooga this year to race at Ironman 70.3 Worlds!  Did I mention how excited I am?

The rest of the month continued along with consistent training, spring-like weather, and even more good news and happy surprises!

Took over a second off my 100 PR

Made the most of a beautiful 70+ degree day
with a bike ride out to the lake

More outdoor cross training:
Hiking the New Hope Overlook trail

Good News, Part 2:
Moved up to 3rd in my age group in the USAT rankings for NC,
and earned All American status for the second year in a row

Good News, Part 3:
Was selected to continue my ambassadorship with Salming for 2017!

I absolutely LOVE the apparel, and the shoes got me to big PRs in 2016,
so I am thrilled to represent Salming again this year
Pictured above: Salming Race 5, EnRoute, and Speed 5

Good news, part 4:
Selected as a PowerTap Grassroots Athlete

Using a power meter has made a HUGE difference in my cycling,
and PowerTap is the best in the business so I am excited to share
my passion for this with the local cycling community

Good news, part 5:
Selected as an ambassador for the California International Marathon

This will be my first open marathon since Berlin in 2014
and I'm looking forward to sharing this experience with friends!
If you're interested in joining us, leave a note in the comments
and I will share a promo code for $10 off the registration fee

Good news, part 6:
Won this awesome prize pack from Team HotShot and Trisports.com

Hopefully this will set the tone for the rest of the year! 

Back to work

After taking December off from structured training, I was ready to get back to it in the new year!  I started out with a cold, drizzly Commitment Day 5k and then picked back up with my coach on January 2.  I guess my "do whatever I feel like" approach to December was enough to maintain at least some level of fitness, as my return to the track went better than expected (6x400s all under 6:00 pace), I swam new 50 (40.2) and 100 (1:27) PRs, and set a 20 minute max average record on the bike (232W).  I guess there is some value in rest after all ;)

Swim: 17.4 miles
Bike: 13+ hours on the trainer
Run: 121 miles
Total: 53:09:47

My first all-green month in TrainingPeaks!

3rd female/6th overall at the Cary Commitment Day 5K

January 8:
Snow, ice, and a "feels like" temperature of 17 degrees

Perfectly runnable in Yaktrax!

Five days later...
January 13
Sunny with temps in the mid-70s

Sunset on another spring-like January run

My first-ever trail race:
UGTB Grind'n 5 mile run at Harris Lake

Spending a lot of quality time in the pain cave
Thankfully I really enjoy riding on the trainer
(as opposed to running on the treadmill - yuck)

20 minute time trial on the bike to close out the month
225W for the first 10 minutes, building to the 240s
This is the first time I didn't run out of steam and taper off!

Overall I couldn't be happier with the start of my 2017 training cycle.  I think that both my training plan and my approach to each workout (doing "hard" intervals HARD) have been more aggressive and so far it seems to be paying off.  Coach added a 15-20 minute daily functional strength training routine and I had a minimum of one swim, bike, or run workout every day in January, and I am definitely feeling stronger for it.  As a result, I've been putting my Normatec recovery boots to more early-season use than ever before, but overall I am feeling good and growing more excited about the year ahead.