Wednesday, June 20, 2012

106 + 17

Well,

After the Liberty Tri, I am 5 weeks out from IRONMAN LAKE PLACID! Which really means 3 weeks out from tapering down. Not alot of time. The first weekend after Liberty, Dad and I went for a 106 mi bike ride in the hills of western Wisconsin. Total elevation gain 4500. That's right where we need to be for Lake Placid. The ride felt great, we stopped in Maiden Rock, WI for quiche and coffee and saw thier Veterans march down main street in a parade. During the last 5 miles of the ride we got rained on pretty good.
Then on Sunday, I got out for a 17 mi run! I ran Minnehaha creek to Lake Harriet, around Lake Harriet and back home. Felt great. legs were fatigued but overall happy with a successful weekend.

106 miles is the farthest i've ever biked in a day and 17 miles is the furthest i've ever ran in a day...:)

Liberty Half Ironman 70.3

Liberty Half Ironman!!

What a race! I finished in just under 5:20! Which i was very happy with...all things considered. The heat was 92 degrees. The humidity could have been cut through with a butter knife. The swim went mediocre, 39 min. I got very distracted on the swim with getting kicked a lot. I need to learn to ignore that and keep swimming instead of popping my head up. The bike course was great, rolling hills. 2:47 was my time. 20 mph average. I didn't push it too hard on the bike because i wanted to have a good run...The only people passing me had race wheels and aero helmets, so i was happy about that. Then the run came. The first 7 miles i felt great. After that the exercise induced asthma kicked in. The humidity was restricting my breathing quite a bit and reduced me to 3 miles at a 10 min pace. WOW...i went from running 7:30's to 10. I was not getting enough oxygen, and i was too tired/zoned out/full of endorphins/numb to recognize that myself. I still finished strong with a 1:50, but at the finish line i was in rough shape. My lips turned blue! Almost entering the medic tent, i recovered after about 20 min of catching my breath. Once i popped back i felt great. During the recovery time I did not realize i was not getting enough oxygen. LESSON LEARNED!! Take deep breaths even if your lungs are in pain.
It's amazing how each race is different and you are faced with new challenges.

I saw alot of friends on the course. What a great weekend! Thank you to everyone who shared it with me.