Rev3 Cedar Point: Nutrition is everything.

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. September is flying by! I have a small excuse for the delay as I was in the middle of nowhere two weeks ago! A separate post to follow on my adventure into the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota.

The Cedar Point Half was a great experience and had so much fun. Leading up life was a little hectic because I was trying to get ahead at work and pack for a week vacation that was starting the day after. Despite packing a little light I had the essentials but I only packed one change of clothes! My head was not necessarily in it.

Roller coasters in the back drop. Woot woot!

Having never been to Cedar Point I was on stimulation overload rolling into town. Meeting all the teammates,  checking inn, and arriving at our pad, aka, Margaritaville, I was ready to go. At least I thought I was. I seem to have most of my failures right after my peaks. I get cocky and lazy and this was exactly the result at Cedar Point. Coming off an overall placing at Dells and some solid training blocks with a combination of that busy last week I didn't take the time to think and focus on this race. I was cruising on a jet ski when I should of been thinking through the race.

Where we stayed,aka Margaritaville.

17/252 Female; 152/715 Overall

Swim (29:51; 3/252 Female; 14/715 Overall)
The swim was a little choppy and kind of hard to sight. I need new tinted goggles because the ones I have are filled with 5 years of gunk. I have used some epic Foggle on all my goggles, and it has worked great, but these are past the point of no return. Control what you can! I wasn't really stoked about the time, but I recently realized I had the 3rd fastest female time and the 15th fastest overall time. Not too shabby.

Hanging with Zach in the car before the start. It was chilly!

T1: 2:29 Need to work on this...bad! What was I doing? I need a system or a mental checklist to speed through because I remember being like okay, what do I still need?

Bike (8/252; 100/715)
The first part of this course is awesome. You ride right along the water with gorgeous houses and epic views. Rev3 also did an awesome job of keeping us spaced out. I felt great heading out and consciously held back a little but it was hard as I had one girl in my age group leech on. I hate cheaters. Miles 10-40 felt great and was chugging along. Getting food in, just not the right stuff. With about 10-15 miles to go I felt like I wasn't moving as fast as I ought to for the effort I was putting out. I was fading to later determine it was mainly caused by my nutrition.

T2: 2:23 Needed to put on socks. Still too slow.

Run (17/252; 152/715)
This may of been the worst I have ever felt on a run. I was up and down with pace and energy. I failed in my nutrition and the result was feeling like I would be going straight to the med tent after finishing. Starting out I felt decent. I again tried to hold back and was aiming to be hydrated enough that I would need to use the bathroom right away. Right on schedule I needed to at mile 1, but there was a line so I made it to mile 2. By mile 2 I was feeling like this was going to be a long walk in. Heading out I took a big cup of coke, a big cup of water, and a cup of ice to-go. The next few miles were coke, water, ice, repeat. Walking the aid stations and surviving to the next. Around mile 4 or 5 I got busted. I had yet to meet Charlie, owner of Rev 3. I was thoroughly convinced that I was one of Charlie's angels. He had caught me on the run walking at an aid station. "No walking allowed in that jersey!"  He was right on and helped light the fire. It hurt to move but was just what I needed to hear. Wearing the Rev3 jersey gives me super powers...I just needed a little reminder. I shook hands with Charlie and shuffled on. To my surprise Charlie was right there at the next mile. Just what I needed though. Thinking back, I realized there is always another level to go to and another push. For the next couple of miles I had Charlie there to push me. Looking at my Garmin data I went from a 9:27 mile at mile 6 down to a 8:18 mile at mile 9. I know at one point I looked at my Garmin and was running 7:30 pace. That is basically my 10K pace. All slow and above the goal pace, but considering how I felt for the brief moment I was cooking! By no surprise, since all I was taking was coke and water, things went spiraling downhill quick.  Mine 9:42 mile for mile 13 felt like 11:00 minute pace. I really thought I was going to black out at one point.

Lesson of the day: nutrition is everything.

Not a happy face.

All in all a great weekend of new friends and fun times. 

Rev3 Wisconsin Dells - Part 2 (Dusting off the cobwebs!)

I am happy, but not satisfied.

Free finisher photo!

The venue and course was amazing. The majority of Wisconsin has gorgeous views and smooth roads mixed with a lot of rolling hills. Both the bike and run course were challenging, but perfect in every possible way. You couldn't of asked for better racing weather either; nice temperatures with overcast skies. My expectations were pretty low going into the race. I hadn't raced a triathlon since September of 2010 and hadn't raced an Olympic distance triathlon since June 2010. I also was going into the race with a big week behind me and a lack of sleep and any relaxation time. It was kind of nice knowing there was no pressure, but I was a little nervous about being quick and/or forgetting something in transition. 

3/64 Overall Female; 22/170 Overall

Photo: Nils Nilsen / N2PHOTO Services

Swim (21:54; 2/64 Female; 6/170 Overall): The swim felt way better than I thought it was going to. It was my first time trial start where they let two people go at a time. Very spectator friendly with huge grand stands to watch everyone go off. I started pretty much last in the wave and of the entire race which was awesome because I love catching people and working my way up. Sighting was pretty easy and I didn't run into anyone super aggressive. My main challenge for the swim is pushing it for the whole way and staying focused. I really need to take advantage of the swim since it is my strength. I was cruising along and passing green caps and even caught some blue collegiate caps from the first wave, but I was still shocked when someone told me I was the first green cap out of the water. I think I actually turned out to be second but still stellar. I was not really impressed with my time though. Always room for improvement!

This was right after I passed my parents and Aunt and Uncle pulled off at an intersection trying to figure out when I would be coming along. I was just too fast for them. :)

T1 (1:24): I was pretty nervous about these and thinking the thickest of the cobwebs would be here. There were. I forgot my nutrition here. Good thing it was short. This was also the first time jumping on my stead with shoes connect to the pedals. It worked for the most part but struggled a little with breaking the rubber band.

Bike (1:14:24; 2/64 Female; 23/170 Overall): The bike was interesting. I am still working on dialing in my fit so I had that nagging pain on the inside of my left shoulder, but also to my surprise my right quad was spazzing. Not really cramping but ceasing up. That lasted for about half the bike, but once that stopped I was cruising along and kept a decent attitude. I passed the girl who came out of the water in front of me, but got passed by speed demon, Maggie. I tried to hang, but couldn't. This was incredibly frustrating. Need more power! I have already put in some epic strength building bike sessions to fix this and will continue until November!

Photo credit to my Mom!

T2 (2:39): I don't understand how this is always slower than T1. I need work on this.

Run (47:08, 3/64 Female; 22/170 Overall): Whoa. I have no idea where my legs came from on this one. I really hadn't put in a solid run of more than 5 miles since my marathon so I wasn't sure what was going to happen here. I came out the gate hot and surprisingly stayed hot with the two large climbs. Slowed down a little in the last mile or so but I am going to blame that on me needing to pee. I was hoping to hold my position and had dreams of moving up. That did not happen. I got passed and couldn't go with the girl, but considering what I expected from my legs I was happy to be moving.

This is my "I have to pee" face. Should of went before the swim. 

Overall the race was great to see what exactly needs work and get a good idea on how I was feeling. A podium doesn't hurt. I was proud to be a part of Rev3 as Maggie and I went 1-3 in the Olympic while Alyssa and Tara went 2-3 in the Half. I have a lot more work to do, but this race made me even more excited for it. Next up is Rev3 Cedar Point and its coming up quick!

Here is a bonus picture of Aaron and John coming up the finishing shoot. Tough day for both of them with a flat and some nagging injuries but finished with a good attitude.

Happy to be done, but still putting on a show.

Huge thank you to the support of my parents and Aunt and Uncle. I was able to see them on the course multiple times because of their extensive knowledge of the area and the course. All of the pictures my Mom took turned out great except the one below. Not sure what she was going for here.

Clearly, I get my humor from her.