White Mountains Triathlon

Chris and I had signed up to do the White Mountains Triathlon two weeks after Rev 3 Quassy.  I was really psyched about having the opportunity to redeem myself after my Quassy debacle.

The day before the race we drove up to packet pick up and decided it would be a good idea to drive the bike course.  So off we went through Franconia Notch.  If you haven't been to NH, and more specifically to Franconia, you are missing out!  It is one of the most beautiful areas in the state!

The race venue is located at Cannon Mountain Ski Resort, located in a NH State Park.  We left the park and started driving the course.  We were warned of some rough pavement, so I was concerned that there would be classic NH pot holes that would swallow me and my bike completely.  That wasn't the case.  There were a few rough areas, but nothing out of the NH ordinary! When we got out on to Route 3 (I think that was the road), the State had decided it was time to grind the road and get ready to repave.  Out there was our good friend Kim Cole (AG Queen- on taper week for IM Tremblant 70.3 sweeping the breakdown lane which hadn't been ground)  We stopped to chat, then headed out to check out more of the course.  It is a beautiful tour of classic NH small towns and back roads.  It was visually stunning! After leaving Kim, we found the King of the Mountain Hill (more on that later), and then promptly managed to lose the course.  We figured we had seen most of it, so we headed back.

Next morning we got up early and headed to the course.  The swim was in one of the prettiest lakes around - Echo Lake.  It was a two loop swim, with a brief run across the sand to re-enter. As we were waiting for the swim start, a large black bear crossed over one of the ski slopes above us!  It was a very cool start to the day!  The swim went really well in my Blueseventy Helix.  After the swim, we ran about 1/4 of a mile up a hill to T1.  There was a small transition coming out of the swim where you could leave shoes for running up to T1.  I slipped those on and started the jog up to my bike.  I left transition and headed out on my bike.  I was going down the first "bumpy" hill, taking it easy - worried about the pavement (unnecessarily I might add) when I heard a loud "YEEHAW ROCK THE W"- as my hubby went screaming by me on the downhill!  All I could do was laugh!

The bike ride was remarkably challenging.  For those who've done it, I think this one was tougher than Quassy.  I  was moving pretty well, no pavement challenges, and doing quite well on the hills.  I was pretty happy how things were going.  One of the unique challenges of this race is the King of the Mountain challenge!  Mt. Eustis hill is steep and short.  They had timing mats at the bottom and top...the fastest under 40 male and female, and over 40 male and female racers won a KOM jersey!!!

Congrats to our friend Lisa for winning one of the jerseys!  After that section we entered the part of the course that we had not previewed.  Oops, big mistake!  On second thought, maybe it was a good thing I hadn't seen that next section!  It was hill after hill after hill!  And one of them, although not steep, was about 5 million miles long!  I did enjoy riding through one of the smaller towns where a large number of patrons were having their Father's Day Brunch out on a patio, and cheering wildly for all the racers!

I finally made it back to T2 and got ready for the run.  The run is totally off road, so no traffic to worry about.  There is a paved bike/walking path in Franconia Notch, which was closed to tourists for race day.  It was 3 miles down to Lafayette Campground, and then back up- a two loop course.  The 3 miles down to the campground loses elevation all the way down, but as you drop you have to go up and down over hills on the bike path.  Paving up and over the granite must have been easier than moving the rocks!  The painful part was getting back up to the top as you ran up and down over those same hills as you gained elevation!  It started raining while I was out there- but it wasn't uncomfortable.

I finished.  That was key after Quassy.  I placed second in my age group.  Now let me qualify that- there were only two of us in that age group....so as long as I finished, I was second!  : )   My time was nothing to write home about, but my goal was just to finish, and that I did.

Swim Start

I would highly recommend this race, especially if you're planning on doing IMLP!  It's a perfect lead up race!  It was highly organized, well run, and very, very challenging!  Congrats to Race Director Jeff Cole for a well orchestrated event!  It will be on our race calendar for next year!

Thanks to everyone who helped to get me here- Wattie Ink, Scott Bikes, Powerbar, Fuelbelt, KSwiss, Reynolds Wheels, Blue Seventy, ISM saddles and Speedfil!!!  It's amazing to work with all these great products and companies!  Huge thanks to all!

Anatomy of a DNF

It's been about a week and a half since I had my first self inflicted DNF.  I say that because I believe that sole responsibility for this embarrassment is my own.  (My only other DNF in a race was when the 84 year old women ran me over with her car....not self inflicted!)

We (Chi Chi and I)  arrived on Friday after some rather nasty traffic on the highways.  But the excitement of arriving at the Rev3 Quassy venue, quickly washed away my frustration at sitting in the highway parking lot!  I was very excited about this race!  We've been training hard and I was all set to ride my new Scott Bike!!!  To make it even sweeter- Wattie had put his Reynolds race wheels on my bike!  I've not ridden on race wheels, so I was really pumped to see how this was going to play out!

If you haven't done Quassy, you're missing out!  It is one of the most difficult, challenging, cool race venues out there!  And yes, we will be returning again next year!

This was also designated as the East Coast Race for the Wattie Ink Team!  I was ecstatic to finally meet in person many of the people that I've been playing with since January on Social Media!  This part of our stellar weekend did NOT disappoint!

We arrived at the hotel, and managed to get booked next door to HJ and Wattie.  That was cool.  We don't get to see as much of them as we would like, living on opposite shores and all.  (hmmm, 4 kids-3 on the West Coast, was this a result of parenting????  LOL)

Saturday morning we biked down to cheer on the Watties doing the Olympic distance!  It was awesome to see such great performances that day!  We also got to meet up again with good friend Sean English- dj/announcer extraordinaire!  He keeps the day hopping!

Sunday was the half race.  Bikes were racked, had dinner at the 121 Restaurant (amazing food), and headed to bed.

Anatomy of my DNF:  After the fact, as I whined to my Coach (Lesley Paterson-Braveheart Coaching), she said to me, please write down everything you consumed prior to and during the race.  Let's start there.  Hmmmm.  Didn't take long to figure out that I really screwed this one up.  So here it is.

Night before:
Usual:  chicken and vegetables
Rev 3:  chicken and vegetables     .... so far so good

Breakfast:
Usual:  steel cut oats with skim milk, raisins and brown sugar
Rev 3:  no microwave, so no way to heat my oats.  Instead had Cinnamon Chex with skim milk.  oops.

Before the race:
Usual:  chocolate milk.  Yes, before.  I know, most people moan.  I have had some serious GI issues in races before, and one of the things I discovered was that chocolate milk works for me.  So yes, I use it!
Rev 3:  walked to swim start, forgot chocolate milk in transition, oops, no calories there either.

T1:
Usual:  more chocolate milk
Rev 3:  chocolate milk

Bike:
Usual:  3 to 4 rice bars from the Feedzone Cookbook.  I really like the rice/eggs/bacon/soy sauce ones.  I have had great success using them.  2 to 3 bottles of Perform plus water.  Bananas from the aid stations.
Rev 3:   I made them in advance and had them refrigerated.  I had not planned on using a bento for this race because the one I had was disgusting- landed in the trash.  But I bought a new one (thank you Fuel belt!- love the new one!), and opted to put 2 of the larger rice cakes in the bento.  Unfortunately, having planned to eat them from my pockets, I did not remove the tin foil. I thought I had eaten all of them, but when unloading my bento back home, discovered that most of it was still in the box all messed up with the annoying tin foil!  I suspect that I was already becoming a bit unfocused on the bike, as I usually am a mad eater (whether during racing or just living!)  I had a couple of Powerbar Gel Blasts...those being one of the few "sweet" type things that I can actually use when racing!  When I hit the aid stations I refilled my Speedfil with water.  So I started with 2 bottles of Perform in my Speedfil and then refilled 3 times with just water.  Probably should have opted for sports drink.  There were no bananas on course- so missed out on a key number of calories.  (next time read the fine print on what's at the aid stations!)

T2:
Usual:  chocolate milk
Rev 3:  chocolate milk

Run:
Usual:  water only as my innards won't take in anything else.  Orange slices that I squeeze in to my mouth for the fast sugar.  Coke near the end of the race.  This is dictated by how I am feeling.
Rev 3:  water went down.  There weren't any oranges (just gels, which I can't stomach), and I never got to a station that had coke.  According to Chris, there were some out there, but I just never saw it.


I will say, had I stuck with my plan, it would have been a decent finish for me.
My transition times were the same or faster than the previous year.
I took almost 3 minutes off my swim time and 3 minutes off my bike time!  The really exciting part on the run for me was that I ran the first 8 miles.  I was bound and determined that this year I would run the entire course....last year there was a lot of hill walking involved!  I was actually chugging (ever so slowly, but still chugging) up the big hill when I passed three men who were walking.  As I started to go by they all shifted a bit to the right towards where I was passing.  ( I really don't think it was intentionally to prevent me going by, but at that point I was tired, so I said in a regular voice- passing please)  The guy in the middle said quite loudly, (his words not mine) "God damn it" and threw his water cup in my direction.  I just kept running!  Ha!

The problems started hitting me when I hit the straight long stretch before heading in to town where there was no shade.  There was a water stop, then the stomach cramping started.  Every foot fall created havoc with the stomach.  I kept going though, determined not to stop.  As I came back down towards transition and mile nine, things went south fast.  I stopped and leaned over to try and get things back on track.  Went another 30 yards or so, and realized that I was about to drop.  A very kind Rev 3 Volunteer came running over to assist me.  I decided to sit before I fell and hit my face on the pavement.  Roger Thrall arrived next- THANK YOU!  Then the rest of the Wattie's, Eurostar and Heather arrived.  At that point the shakes started.  Oops.  No so good.  I sooo wanted to finish- not happening on that day.  Off to the med tent for some IV bags.

Clearly race day nutrition is extremely important, and overlooking the small things can be very damaging.  I learned a lot from this race!  We're heading up to the White Mountains Half this weekend!  I can guarantee, a lot of things will be different in the nutrition department!  : )

Yes, the race was disappointing for me, I obsessed over it all week.  But can I say that the entire weekend itself was a blast!  Wattie's know how to play hard!  It was great.  With that I will leave you all with some of the photos from the weekend!

One of my favorite shots of the weekend!

Words from Cliff before the start!

The Pro Panel with a box!

Wattie's having some fun!

Watties rocking the Powerbar Booth!

Smokin'!

Bill showing us how it's done!

Eurostar!!!

Thank you to all the Wattie Ink Elite Team Sponsors!  #KSwiss, #Scottbikes, #Powerbar, #Kask Helmets, #Speedfil, #Fuelbelt, #Reynolds, #blueseventy, #454Tattoo, #ISM   We're proud to Rock the W!!!

Oceanside 70.3 Race Report

After an entire winter of trainer rides only, and a precious few non-treadmill runs, it was finally time to head outside in sunny SoCal for Oceanside 70.3!!!  Chris picked me up at the end of my school day and we headed straight to the airport!  This trip to Cali, unlike my last, was uneventful....no delays, no airport shut downs, and not a snow flake in sight!  Oh yeah!

We arrived quite late and immediately called it a day.  Unfortunately for us, 3AM Cali time is our east coast wake up time.  So we were asleep by 1:30 but awake by 3!  This worked really well for us on race morning, but not so much that first day!

Chris assembled our bikes and off we went on our very first outdoor ride of 2013!  We rode down the coast.  It was a great ride!  We stopped to admire the view and were greeted by a pod of dolphins playing just off shore!

Next stop....expo and registration!  It was great to run in to lots of friends!  One of the highlights of the expo, was having my new Speedfil system installed on Baby Bike!

I can't say enough about this hydration system!  Two things immediately stood out for me - the front end of my small bike was wide open, I could see the front of my bike and not once did I hit my mouth or teeth on a solid plastic straw!  It seemed like every time I tried to take a drink I would hit a bump and drive the straw in to my teeth and lips!  This system completely removed the hydration hazards!  Thanks to our great sponsors at Speedfil for such a great product and for such amazing service!  You guys rock!!!

Swim Course:
This is the third year that Chris and I have raced at Oside.  This year I was prepared for standing around waiting for my wave....I brought some sox to wear while waiting!  This kept my feet quite happy.  I was in Wave 14, so I had the opportunity to watch most of the pros come out of the water, including my favorite Pro- HJ!  I also was able to watch her as she left T1 on her bike.  It's always interesting to listen to the chatter going on around you while waiting.  It was easy to pick out the locals, they were the ones with neoprene hoods, and booties, and worried about how incredibly cold the water is, this time of year!  I had to chuckle, as our little piece of the ocean doesn't get much warmer than that in mid-August!  I found the water conditions to be quite tolerable!  I had a really solid swim!  I was pleased!  I found myself wandering a bit as I focused on my new swim technique, forgetting to sight on a couple of buoys, but I recovered pretty nicely.  In 2012 I swam 51:35, this past weekend I swam 43:14!!!

Bike Course:
I meandered through T1- yes, meandered.  I felt like I was moving right along, but apparently it was a slow mo moment!  Need to work on that!  I left T1 and tried to focus on not pushing for the first few miles.  Several times I amazed myself to look down and see that I was moving right along in the mid 20's (yes there was most likely some downhill help there, but it was fun to be going fast again)  I enjoyed the ride, and worked hard at keeping my cadence up and making use of the downhills to make up time.  There were some great downhills out there!  Tuck and Roll!  It's my favorite part of my rides! I am pretty slow on the way up, but love those downhills!  Last year's ride:  4:02, this year's ride 3:41!!!  I'll take it!  Thanks to "W" sponsor ISM saddles!  Love my ISM Century!  Happy parts make for a happy ride!

Run Course:
I really found the run more difficult this year.  I was never able to find my groove.  In hind sight, I think because I was pushing the bike, I couldn't get my counting cadence thing going!  I powered up the hills, and cut the course in to segments and just put my head down and kept going.  I struggle with nutrition on the run, so I used water on the first loop, with ice; then switched over to coke and ice for the second loop.  I'm not a soda person, but I'm finding the coke effect to be helpful when I'm racing!
Last year's run: 2:39 - this year's run 2:30.  So, not quite what I expected but still an improvement.

Overall stats:
2012- 7:45  AG 20 out of 29
2013- 7:04  AG 9 out of 27

Thank you to my Coach Lesley Paterson (Braveheart Coaching).  Without her support, this wouldn't have happened!

Highlights of the day:
My big Mom highlight was Heather winning Oceanside!

Thank you to Kevin of Tri Lounge for letting me use this photo!  The smile is priceless!

This was a big win for HJ- and well deserved after all of her hard work during the off season!

All the Wattie Ink Support!!  We were stylin' out there, and it didn't go unnoticed!  Huge props to Euro star for his support of all the Wattie Ink athletes!

EURO STAR!!!

Great grab Massi!

Truly an awesome weekend!  Can't wait for our next event- the East Coast Wattie Event: Quassy!

Homemade Kale Chips!

At school on Friday, a colleague of mine asked me if I'd like to try the Kale Chips he had made!  Always game for things that might be healthy, I took him up on his offer!  I really, really liked them!  He told me how easy they were to make, so I put on my best Chef face and gave it a try today!  For those of you who have never had the pleasure of eating at our house...I send Chris out to the grill with something to cook and I make a salad or steam veggies!  Cooking is not a strong point for me!  I will say, however, that these came out great!  And for someone like me who would be most happy diving in to a very salty bag of potato chips on a daily basis (which by the way, I don't do), these were a really tasty, crispy, salty replacement!

So here's the recipe according to Jason.

One head of Kale.  Washed and chopped.  I used my handy dandy salad spinner!

Next, mix the kale with ONE TABLESPOON of Olive Oil.  I placed the kale in the bag and added the tablespoon of oil and then shook it a lot!  (I did this in two batches- 1/2 a tablespoon of oil for each half of the kale!)

Spread the kale out on two cookie sheets.  (I pre-treated the pans with spray on cooking oil).  Once spread out, sprinkle with about a teaspoon of salt.  I didn't measure this, I just did a lot of shaking with this:

...because I had it in the house, and I really like it.  You could use any type of seasoning that you like!  My next adventure with these may be with garlic salt!

Next you put them in the oven for approximately 45 - 50 minutes at 225 degrees.  Check them at 30 minutes to see how it's going.  Also, swap the two pans from top to bottom at this time.

When they are done, they are light and airy, and very crispy!  The salt is a bonus!  : )

Thanks to my friend Jason for sharing this recipe with me!  I would never have made them without a little prodding!!!!  Enjoy!

Escape from Alcatraz: A Mom's Eye View

February vacation arrived, and there wasn't a ski trip in sight!  So on Sunday, I started looking for flights somewhere!  Normally, Chris and I head to Bobby's for a ski vacation - but this year it was put on hold so that Chris could maintain his accumulated vacation time for his pending retirement...March 21 is the "it's really happening" date!  In my search I found a decent price to San Jose....quick phone call, "Hey Becca- here I come!" and off I went!  Turns out Heather and Wattie were heading to Becca and John's to chill until the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on Sunday.  

Becca and I conspired to not let Heather and Wattie know that I was arriving.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate...the usual 8 to 9 hour travel turned in to a 15 hour ordeal!  2 mechanical problems, plus a 2 hour airport shut down due to weather turned the day in to some serious stress 

levels!!!!  I was thrilled to finally be in sunny, warm weather!

We had a great visit, and left very early Sunday morning to travel up to watch Heather compete at the Escape from Alcatraz.  It was gray and overcast when we arrived, and not terribly warm.  The boat was already headed out to Alcatraz.  The water temperature was 51 degrees, almost the same temp. as the air!  There were swells, and it looked, really, really far!  

The boat is on the right!

As we watched the boat, it actually appeared to tip towards us as the athletes prepared to jump in the water.  We were unable to see the athletes actually jumping in to the water.  I paced, Becca paced....I even bothered some poor guy who was using binoculars - to the point that he finally very nicely offered to let me use them for a minute!  

Pre-race anticipation/stress!!!

We finally spotted the swimmers, who seemed to bob up and down in the swells.  After watching for a few minutes, we headed down to the swim exit, which was down to our left about half a mile.  The Pro men started coming through the arch and heading down the exit for the half mile run to T1.  Then the Pro women began to appear!  Many of the ITU racers came out first, and then a few long course racers that I recognized.  Out came Leanda Cave, and shortly after that came Heather! She was in 11th or 12th place- at that point I had lost count due to serious mom-type stress levels!  For the first time since arriving I was able to actually breathe!!!   I was so relieved that she was safe!  Yes, that's what Mothers do!

Becca and I moved over to the transition and watched the athletes start to come in on their bikes.  It was really fun to see the pro's come flying in on their bikes and then taking off out of transition!  First woman in was Sarah Groff!  Yay, NH athletes!  Shortly after came Heather!  She was easy to pick out in her really sharp new kit!  The green looks awesome, and the matching Kask helmet is very cool!  I tried to take some photos, but have to say, did a terrible job.  Sorry no pics of the Green Machine!

Next we moved over to the grandstand.  John, Becca, Scout and I went up on to the metal bleachers.  Oops, Scout is not a fan of metal footing!  I stayed on the stands while the others went around the side. (poor Scout)

There were updates as the race progressed...someone was sending in splits at the Sand Ladder.  The athletes have to run along the beach and then up 400 steps to exit the beach.  As the splits came in, there was some ambiguity as to who was in front in the women's race.  When they reached the end of the finish chute, Heather was in front!  The green was easy to pick out!

The finish chute from the grand stand before the finishers arrived!

As she approached the finish line, she took a quick check back with a great smile on her face.  

It was so exciting to be able to watch her race!  I was definitely the proud momma!  

Post race interviews!

Shortly after the end of the race, I had to run back to the host hotel to grab the Super Shuttle to get back to San Jose Airport...I made it with some time to spare, and then was back on the eastbound flight headed home!  

To sum it up, it was an amazing day of highs and lows- the excitement of the race, the stress of a very difficult swim, the high of seeing her ecstatic face when she crossed the line!

Thanks to John, Becca and Scout for your wonderful hospitality!  Good times running in Nisene Marks State Park, the hills along the beach, the dolphins, great food, marvelous day sailing in Monterey Bay, and coffee on the deck in the early morning!

 

The Occasionally UnGlamorous Life Of a Triathlete

I really enjoy reading blogs....blogs of all kinds!  I have found a number of bloggers that have totally caught my interest now that I've met all of my new Wattie Ink Elite team mates!  It's fun to read what everyone else is up to around the country!  My last blog was at the beginning of January.  I'd like to tell you that I've been soooo busy that I just didn't have time, but that couldn't be any more inaccurate- I was the unlucky owner of a whopping case of Influenza....ah, the benefits of working with 450+ elementary kids a week!  (and Yes, Peter Leavitt- I did have my flu shot!)  I frequently razz on Heather Jackson Racing about not updating her blog frequently enough for my liking by simply texting:  BOYCOTT.  I'm surprised she hasn't taken this opportunity to return the favor!

Up until the bug attacked, I had been doing very well with my training...long trainer rides, outside runs, it was all going well.  Then I spent 9 days wishing I could have a body transplant.  As I slowly returned to the world of the living, I laid there bemoaning the fact that ALL of my fitness was oozing away.  It was just so depressing!  I even attempted to get upstairs on my bike for an easy spin!  Ha!  That didn't go well at all.  Back to the couch.

I did have some company during all of this.  Mr. Black, who is on winter schedule, spent a lot of time curled up next to me.  My husband wisely kept his distance!  (But I would like to throw a loving thank you in his direction for bringing in fluids and applesauce!)

I finally got back on my feet, went back to work, and am happy to now say, that things finally seem to be back to normal!  We were lucky, in that this past week was a recovery week, so it made it a bit more comfortable being able to ease back in to life and training.  And, if there is a positive, I made it to race weight a whole lot faster than I thought possible!  (gotta look for the bright side, right!)

Our workouts this weekend went on as scheduled...the drive is back, the chronic fatigue seems to be rapidly fading, and now on to a solid week of training!  Eye on the prize:  come on Oceanside!  Sub zero wind chills are leaving us this week...we may actually hit 50 by Wednesday!  So it's all good up here in NH!

d

Welcome to 2013!

Happy 2013 to Everyone!

It's been a great start to the New Year!  Chris and I have been working hard on the latest training challenges!  It can be extremely challenging training in the Northeast in the middle of winter!  It was a scorching 3 degrees this morning when we awoke!  Thankfully, we are not early morning exercisers, (sorry Dave D'Abrosca, those early morning swims will never happen for the Jacksons!)   It finally snowed, covering up the dropped trees in our back yard!  It makes things a bit challenging however for outdoor training....the roads have been messy, and hard to navigate.

 

I am very excited to be racing for the Wattie Ink Elite Racing Team for the 2013 season!  It's been fun getting to know people via social media over the past few weeks!  The banter and chatter has been most entertaining!  It will be fun to meet in person at the races this season!

As training continues in this early part of the season, I am looking forward to our first race of the season:  Oceanside 70.3 at the end of March.  Other races on this years schedule include:

Rev 3 Quassy
King Pine Tri Sprint
IM Lake Placid
White Mountain Half
Rev 3 Maine Olympic
Vegas 70.3
Pitch Pine Sprint Tri

We will also be participating in a few local road races and half marathons.  

I'd like to send a shout out to our Coach, Lesley Paterson of Braveheart Coaching!  Her continued support and awesome training plans make this journey quite the adventure!  Thanks, Les!

LET THE 2013 SEASON BEGIN!

ROCK THE W!