Lake Placid 70.3 Race Report

RACE REPORT TIME!

2013 was the last time I did a half ironman race (Vegas, baby).  I had high hopes of "making a comeback" and "this was going to the be the time everything comes together".  Well, long story short, it really didn't go as planned training wise.  I struggled with back issues early in the year, then I finally got a new mattress and it was only a month plus some till the race.  I squeezed in as much running as my body could stand (had some calf issues), but only ran just over 1 hour straight.  I still feel like I am getting used to the new TT bike too.  I was a little nervous going into the race, but knew I would be "fine".

                                                 

Pre-Race
These bigger races I've been used to having a support crew (friends or family).  Unfortunately, multiple plans fell through and I was going to be taking the trip solo.  Oh, and I checked the weather....THIRTIES??  All of the clothes.  The drive was around 5 hours and I headed up to Lake Placid Saturday morning!  Lake Placid is a super cute town.   Lots of restaurants, bars, and cool little shops!  I tried not to get too carried away walking around because, well, I had a race the next day.  I minor-ly began to freak out when the athlete briefing talked about frost warnings, warming tents, and changing areas.  Kyle was busy with a work clinic things, so I waited to talk to him so we could figure out a plan I could be confident in.  Again, minor freak out but I knew I packed enough clothing so it should be ok right?

This was my first COLD triathlon.  How bad could it be?

                                                       

The swim: 29:42 3rd age group, 12th female.
Wow, not bad right?  I only swam twice in August, but just enough over the summer to not feel terrible. The start was interesting...they did rolling starts, which meant you got to choose when you started (according to the time you thought you would go).  I chose 27-30 min, which was the 2nd small group.  In the mean time the smarter athletes stood in the water, which was 70 degrees and warm on the feet, while everyone else stood outside in the 33 degrees. whatever. The swim was a bit chaotic at first and I struggled to find a smaller group till about half way through. Things settled, and well then it was done.  Nothing too crazy.  My cap started to fall off which was annoying.

                                       

T1: 10:28
LONGEST transition ever.  Part of my plan was to take my time.  The freaking run from the lake to my stuff easily was 2-3 minutes in itself.  I grabbed a giant bag of my bike stuff then ran into the warm changing tent.  One good thing about being a swimmer is, well, one girl was in there too.  Lots of space!  I wore just a bathing suit under my wet suit so that all my bike clothing would be dry: tri suit, cycling jersey, arm and leg warmers, gloves, wool socks, vest, and toe warmers.  Yes, all that.  The bike had a long decent early and it was easily still in the 30s.

Bike: 3:00.41 8th age group 39th female
I was comfortable and NOT cold.  The plan had worked!  This was a hilly, but really beautiful bike course.  I could have kept going on and on with the bike.  Or I just think that because I was dreading the run.  There were no long climbs, but just lots of shorter ones.  Triathletes are interesting on the bike: one girl clipped out at a turn around and lots of dudes blowing themselves up in the big ring up climbs. I dropped my vest around 40 miles and really concentrated on fueling because no one wants to have that kind of a day. All things considered, I felt pretty good! I probably could have pushed a little more, but I held back a little because I was worried about the legs with the half marathon.

T2: 2:46
I took off everything but the tri suit, grabbed my hat and headed off to do the longest run since 2013. Sigh.

Run: 1:56.41 20th age group 116th female
The run course is rather deceiving because the first half is more down hill.  I was kind of flying at first (well, for me) and had to tell myself to slow down, settle into a good pace.  Everyone was running so much faster than me I had to remind myself to race my own race .  I settled into a 8:30-8:50 pace which actually felt moderately okay. Around mile 9 there was a big uphill.  My legs stopped working normally after this and it was a lot of up hill to the finish.  The last 2 miles were tough, my legs got really heavy, and it felt more like a shuffle home.  The crowds were awesome and really helped get me through the last few awkward miles.

Total time: 5:40.17  12th in age group (out of 88) 44th female (out of 617)

Not my fastest half Ironman, however the splits (minus transition) were pretty close if not faster than my best!

The race was very tough, no doubt.  Having a plan for the cold was definitely key. However, I would have to say the hardest part of the race was after the race.  Once I stopped moving, my legs just tightened right up.  I think my IT band on my left side was very angry and didn't want to bend correctly.  I had some food, sat for a while, then made my way slowly to get my morning bag.  After I got my morning bag I changed into warmer clothes and just sat on some grass for maybe 45 minutes or so.  I finally got up (sort of) to go get my bike and other transition stuff to make my way back to the hotel, which was .7 miles up hill.  I think that took me a really long time, but I made it! I then, hobbled to get dinner and sat on my hotel bed watching shark tank for a while.

Thank goodness I didn't drive home that same day, but the next morning! I am still incredibly sore, but can walk a lot better!

I am not sure when I'll be doing another half, maybe 5 years from now. Number 4 in the books!

Sharon Triathlon Race Report

Look at me, two blogs within a week! I am on a roll....

So, very last minute I signed up for the Sharon Sprint Triathlon (like 3 days before).  This race was appealing for a few reasons: 1. Max Performance does a great event, check them out if you want to try some races. 2. I ride in Sharon a lot and it's not terribly far away (like 30 min)...this means no 4am wake up! 3.  I really need to get used to my TT bike and transitioning.

I woke up after 5:30am (not bad for a tri right?) and got there pretty quick!  It POURED rain on the way there, but seemed to let up once I arrived to the venue.  Check in, set up was pretty uneventful.  They announced the water temp was 77, so you could still wear a wetsuit and be eligible for awards.  That's warm, FYI. Everyone was asking are you wearing a wet suit.  NO. I don't like wetsuits, but then again I am more comfortable in the water than I am driving in Boston.

Swim: 1/2 mile 12:43 2nd in age group (12th overall men and women!)

The race was separated into different waves (no mass start) and we were in wave 2!  We went into the water and started there (rather than a run into the water start).  Everything went pretty smoothly I think, it was a little foggy so sighting was a little harder than usual.  There was a girl with Swedish goggles (swimmers know this) so i kind of figured she might be  quick.  No newbies wear those goggles.  Turns out we swam next to each other the whole time!  I drafted her coming into the swim finish then got kicked in the face by some guy who I didn't realize had stopped.  That's why she technically was the fastest out of the water. My once a week sometimes...skip a week here and there swimming is working! kinda.

Bike: 12.3 miles 34:53 1st in age group (woohoo!)

I think my transition was a little better, but I still awkwardly put that aero helmet on (it's just weird).  I didn't feel that fast really, but I felt a lot more comfortable since I got a new saddle.  I don't think I get enough time on this bike...so I am still getting used to it.  I had a dude pass me then he stopped pedaling...multiple times.  It was annoying because you get penalized for drafting in triathlon.  I finally just passed him and said seeyah later. The course was pretty flat and other than one of 5000 numbers attached to me/my bike flapping on my leg...it was fine.

Run: 4.4 miles 33:35 3rd in age group (hard to believe)

This went better than expected.  I got off the bike and people were yelling at me first female! I was like oh, really? crap. I felt like I couldn't breath for the first mile (I haven't done many bike-run workouts...) but I got over it. I settled into a faster than I thought pace, but my back felt good so I went with it.  A chick passed me easily during the first mile....I didn't try to pick up the pace because honestly I didn't think I could hold anything much faster.  I could just see her the entire time in front of me.  My number again kept flapping everywhere (seriously why do we have to wear so many numbers?).  It's been hard this year to consistently train for the running stuff....but between the cycling and strength work I have done I was able to pull off 7:30 min/mile without dying!

Finish: 1:23:33 2nd overall female 1st in age group. First to eat all the watermelon...seriously.

Combined with the men, I am still a better swimmer than cyclist. Sigh.  I guess you can't take the swimmer out of me...or whatever.

I am very sore right now, but all in good ways.  Back feels good, which really boosts my confidence leading into the Lake Placid 70.3.  I am doing this half on a bit of behind schedule training, but I think the yoga, strength work, and the fact that I have done a few of these before should carry me through! To be honest, there's never been "scheduled" training...I just kind of do whatever. Listen to your body and it will react appropriately.  I just assumed I would have done more distance by now.

Hopefully this rain stops at some point so Camille and I can do another bike ride! This is really what the #letmebeyourlungs from team phenomenal hope is all about! she's probably not going to need me to race for her soon enough :)

Talk to you soon!

                                                    This is me and Carlos.

#Worsttriathlete

Hello there!

Apparently it's been a year since I have posted in my blog so I guess that also makes me the #worstblogger too.  Anyways, it's a new year and I am continuing to raise funds and awareness for Team Phenomenal Hope.  This year I wanted to do something different, challenging, and not a bike race (that's what Sunapee racing is for!).

Long story short, I started bike racing because I was training for a triathlon.  Yup, I was terrible at the bike part so I bucked up and joined a cycling team.  Through that I realized how awesome bike racing was and that I didn't have to fight as many injuries, so eventually I stopped doing triathlons!  This year, and many seasons of bike racing under my belt, I thought I would try my hand at triathlon again.  I signed up for Lake Placid 70.3 in September.  I can wing sprint triathlons, but this would probably require a bit more than that. Ok, cool....let's do this.

                                                 12 mile ride with Camille post transplant!

Many months later here I am. Let's just say that triathlon is incredibly humbling.  My year so far has basically been triathlon yelling at me like your "hamstrings are tight, your hamstrings are weak, your hips are out of line, your goggles fog up, you aren't running fast enough, your back really hurts doing anything, you really aren't flexible, you should get to the pool, you should get more massages, you should get a new mattress".  Triathlon seems to bring out....the worst in me.  HOWEVER! It's really made me realize how important working on your weaknesses is.  The bad part, I think Kyle had to hear me say I am cancelling the trip, i don't want to run, I don't want to do the half ironman, I can't do this anymore...several times. Sorry Kyle. 

The hashtag #worsttriathlete came about this year because I really am a bad triathlete.  I tend to sleep in instead of a morning workout.  I skip 3 weeks of swimming randomly.  I bought a new TT bike but suffered through the saddle for months before buying a new one (a month before the race).  The list continues...but yeah I am really the #worsttriathlete.

I do applaud triathletes because it's like a juggling act.  Swim, run, yoga, massage, bike, stretch, yoga, fuel, buy a new saddle because oh. my god it hurts.  I struggled all year and it was affecting my bike racing even.

So, I finally bought a new mattress and poof.  A lot of my back issues have improved. A lot! Not to mention I've been doing yoga as well to work on my inflexibility.  Perhaps, I am a little off schedule...but there's still some time to get some quality training in before September 9th.  I am planning on taking these lessons learned into 2019 for whatever the next adventure I go on (perhaps another 5 year retirement from triathlon?).

All through this, I remembered the reason I am training.  This is to raise money and awareness for people with pulmonary hypertension, a disease without a cure.  I certainly can get through this if everyday they struggle to breath.

Please check out my fundraising page and thanks for checking in!!!

https://www.teamphenomenalhope.org/team-ph/julie-tracy/

                                                  After Purgatory Road Race, I was...um tired.

200 miles for a good cause!

Hello!

It's been forever since I've had a blog up and running, but thought it would be fun to give it a go again. No, I am not training for another Ironman, however, I am taking on a different kind of epic event this year! 

Many of you may know I work at Brigham & Women's hospital as an exercise physiologist.  We see lots of different kinds of patients, but I do spend a good part with those who have a rare disease called pulmonary hypertension.  Last year we put together a team to do the first annual Boston O2 Breathe walk to raise money for PH.  The turnout was awesome!! This year, I thought maybe I would step things up and join Team Phenomenal Hope, a charity team with people from around the world racing to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for this disease (currently, there is no cure, but just treatment to slow progression).  The team is very inspirational and a few of them had done RAAM in the past and also a challenge series race.  The challenge series races are a 200 or 400 mile race (400 qualifies you for RAAM) solo or with a team.  There happens to be one in Ohio starting where I grew up!  So in September, I will head to Ohio to take on 200 miles solo for the first time ever.  My longest ride was back in 2012 during my ironman....112 miles.

So far, I've done a few long rides (a 90 and a 105) with a few more planned this weekend and next month.  Along with these, of course, there's been the other bike races with Sunapee racing.  Bike racing and endurance sports in general have given me so much over the years, so to give back and race for people who have trouble breathing seems like a no brainer. 

On another note, 200 miles is a really long ways. Yikes.

So, follow along the craziness that is the jtrain and learn a thing or two about PH, maybe. If you want.

Here's a link to my fundraising page, check it out and any amount is greatly appreciated! 

https://www.crowdrise.com/julie-tracy-for-ph

Here's Kyle and a Donkey