LOU to Kona

How many times have you heard that to succeed in life you need a goal? How many people have you met that set crazy goals for themselves so that they can make their life meaningful? I have been a goal oriented person my whole life, I always have something to strive for, something to better myself and something that makes my life meaningful.

Have you ever worked towards a goal? A goal that you chase for years, a goal that you want so bad that you wont stop until you reach it?. Growing up I couldn’t understand most people… classmates who got up just in time to go to school, friends who after school went home. Friends who knew the trendy TV shows, whose weekends were filled with free time, days at the park and endless visits to the movie theaters.

My childhood was a bit different… by the time I started middle school I was in a school just for swimmers, and spent most of my teenage years chasing that black line, and always, always, always keeping my end goal in mind: making it to the Olympics. It is a very long story and after 22 years I can finally say it has a happy ending, but to make a long story short I quit swimming in 1992, after not making it to the Olympic Games hosted in my hometown Barcelona.

                         Picture of my swim team back on the day

I dealt with disappointment and struggled to live a ‘regular life’ after that. It wasn’t until 1996 when I moved to the States that I found myself again… 4 years, that is a long time to be lost!

Fast forward to 2009 when I did my first triathlon and I found a part of me that had been dormant for a long time. My competitive personality was fulfilled and I was able to have a somehow normal life and still feel accomplished. And then I started chasing a dream... I always looked at Kona as my second chance to compete with the best of the world, my opportunity to proof myself that I could do it, and that I belonged there. I never, in a million years did I think I’d qualify on my second attempt, but I have learned that sometimes in life things go your way and sometimes don’t. I like to say I got lucky, and when I say that I don’t mean my performance came out of nowhere, but I mean that I just had the perfect day, on that day I had the best day and that is what counts.

Needless to say I was emotional probably for the first week after IMLOU. Anytime I spoke to someone about my race I cried, every time I read text, FB post and tweets I cried, I was so over the moon that it took until Tuesday or so for it to really sink in... and when it did, I cried J

The emotional rollercoaster during taper was NOTHING compared to my post IMLOU emotions, for the first 3 weeks or so I was soo happy to have qualified but at the same time I was not so happy to be racing again. The pain was too recent to forget and knowing I was about to do it again was something that it took a bit for me to get excited about. It had been a long 10 months of training, I had accomplished my goal and at that point I wasn’t sure I had anything left in me.

We had seven weeks to get me recovered and ready for Kona. For most this seemed like a crazy turn around, but Matthew had done this multiple times, not only with his own qualification (2012) but a couple of times with other Dynamo athletes, Haley being one of them. I have learned to trust him and at no point did I question that it was doable.

For the next seven weeks I was in an autopilot, I’d wake up without even thinking about the fact that I had a workout to do. I would get it done and wait for the next one. A bit different from the last ten months when each workout meant something, I could not get my focus back but at least I could get my training in.

Anytime I wanted to complain I just remembered myself I was about to compete in Kona… didn’t take much more selftalk to just get it done.

Emotions were all over the place for five of those seven weeks, one day I’d be excited, the next day I struggled to get in the pool.

At some point I started meeting Erin again for weekend workouts and it all changed very quickly, the excitement was there again and I was looking forward to racing Kona.

The original plan was to take the whole family, but after Sami and I started looking into it we quickly realized it was going to be a very expensive vacation, so we decided to leave the kids behind and enjoy the week by ourselves.

The week before heading to Kona my parents flew in town, it is a rare luxury to have my dad here, but I put some guilt into him and he decided to join mom at the last minute. This end up being a blessing, last summer was the first time I didn't make it home to visit the family, that is the first time in the 17 years I've lived in the US. The kids were thrilled to spend so much time with their 3 grandparents, yes Sami's mom was down here as well, and it gave me and Sami a piece of mind knowing they'd be well taken care of. 

Not only the kids were well attended but we came back to a fresh painted house, dad spent a lot of hours painting the kid's rooms, touching up the doors and windows and fixing everything that was on sight. So it was a win win for everybody :).

IM Louisville Race Report

Race week came and I was shocked at how calm I was, this has been a new thing for me this year. I have been very calm before every race, calm and confident that if I follow the plan everything else will follow.
Looking through the race plan I knew I had to make sure to stick to it, but most importantly once things started going wrong, or not as planned I knew my reaction would be what would determine the outcome of the race. If you think about it, how many people do an IM and say everything went according to plan? 

The goal/focus was never to qualify for Kona, I know better than that, and there are a LOT of things that have to go your way in order for one to qualify. You have to put the work (training), you have to have a good race (react well when things dont go as planned) and you have to have GOD on your side (a little bit of luck never hurts); at the end of the day qualifying for Kona has nothing to do on how well your race goes, but how you ranked against your competitors, so who shows up on race day is a big deciding factor.

So the goal here was to manage the manageable and worry about the rest later. This was just my second IM, but even back on my swimming days I was always known for being a fearless competitor, the race is not over until everybody crosses the finish line and I dont get easily intimidated. 

The only one thing I was intimidated by (early on the season) was the heat, I have always had issues racing on the heat. I have a history of ending in the medical tent, not remembering the last miles of a race and not being able to perform well under those conditions, but Matthew, again, prepared me well physically and mentally to overcome the heat to the point that I wasn’t worried, the heat is there and yes, everybody has to go through it. So when people would tell me how hot it was going to be, especially on the last two weeks prior to the race, I just smiled and said 'yes, that is why I signed up for this race.'

Raquel was supposed to come with us but ended up staying behind as she had to work Friday and Monday that weekend, this added some stress to our plans since spectating with a 6 and 8 year old is not the easiest thing. I told Sami to just do his thing, if kids wanted to see me finish the swim to head out there once they woke up, otherwise, I just wanted to see them on the run. I knew by the time I made it to the run, especially on that last lap, I'd have to rely on their strength and let it carry me to the finish. 

I think it was at that point that Sami realized how calmed I was, any other year I would have freaked out. Raquel is the only one sister I have in the US and triathlons have always been a strong bond between the two of us. This year she has been busy with work, her move and life in general and we have not gotten to see her as much. When I found out she was not going to be there, I sent an email to Sami and said 'this is OUR race, for the first time we have made this work on our own, not depending on her, it just feels natural that it will be just us there'. 

                                                                                                                           My Inspiration

Friday morning came and we headed to LOU, looking back that is the one thing I'd change, being so close leaving a day earlier would have probably been better, but we live and learn.

We got there and I went straight to registration, grabbed dinner at the hotel, got my bags ready and called it a night. On Saturday I went for a short brick workout while Sami and the kids had breakfast, visited some of the Dynamo teammates that were racing, dropped off my T1, T2 and bike in transition and pretty much chilled with my legs up for the rest of the day. 

The plan was for us to get to transition early so that we could line up at the swim start, there were 8 of us racing and three cars to take us to the swim start. Linda and Lauren were the first ones out of transition, jumped in Brent's car and held a spot for us on the line, these girls must have had the fastest transition set up time of the 2000 participants, because we were probably within the first 50 athletes to jump in the water (thank you Linda and Lauren!). 
Joe, Michelle, Matt, Greg and Kathryn made their way to the swim start and I was, not surprisingly, the last one to arrive :).

                                                                                Dynamo athletes at swim start


The swim was crazy fast. Being on the front was pretty awesome, I had a clean solo swim all the way to the turn around, at that point I got stuck behind two guys who would not let me pass. I always say that one of the reasons why I am a strong OWS is not only because of my swimming background but I am rarely off course. I pretty much hug all the buoys to make sure I swim the exact distance, no need to add anymore. The two guys were pretty close to the buoy line as well, when I went to pass them they increase the pace and I decided to sit behind them until they blew up, sure enough 200-300m later they couldn't keep up with the pace, I made the move and was pretty much by myself until the end. I could see two swimmers ahead of me but they were pretty far out. By the time I got out of the water I realize one of them was my friend Amy who was getting ready to have a killer pro race and a male amateur, who was way far right and probably end up swimming some extra yards.

As I was walking up the steps they announced I was the first female amateur out of the water, which on a time trial start race doesn't mean much since there are people behind you that might end up being faster. I heard Sami and the kids, waved at them and kept going. 

Coming out of the water

By the end of the day I learned that I was second overall (and AG) woman out of the water by 7 seconds to local triathlete and Multisport Explosion co-coach Rebecca Carpenter. Funny to see how Maria Trash has once again some of the fastest swimmers in a race.

T1 was in and out, I didn't even sit down. The volunteers were awesome, they stuck everything on my back pockets and off I went. We had biked the whole course the weekend we went up for camp and Matthew had given me a specific target (power) to hit in each of the sections. My heart rate took a bit to settle from the swim, but once I took a left in 42 it was where it needed to be. 

The bike course is rolling hills with some grinders, it is not an easy course to manage your power, but the goal was to keep the spikes to the minimum and that I did. As we approached La Grange I saw the whole Dynamo crew, they were awesome! The cheers were so welcome. Right after La Grange superstar Rebecca Carpenter blew by me. It took all I had to stay focused on my own race, I knew it was going to be a HOT run and needed to make sure I could run the whole thing.

So happy to be off the bike!

I made it back to transition in 4:43 and about 10 watts below my target which is not bad for that course. Thank you to my sponsor Roswell Bikes for my super fast Felt DA2, that sometimes I feel I dont make it justice!.  The whole Dynamo crew was there and I was so glad to be out of that bike! I felt fresh coming out of the bike and running into the changing tent my legs felt great, I came to run and was ready to do it!

In T2 the volunteers once again were unbelievable; they filled up my water bottle and pour some water on me. I grabbed all my stuff and headed out for the run.

                                                                              One of my faves of the day coming off T2 & Matthew cheering

By the time I made it out of transition I could feel the heat, it was HOT, HOT, HOT. 

Coming off T2 I saw Sami and the kids, I was SO happy to see them, they put a big smile on my face. Sami told me I was 3:30 behind the lead female in my AG. This didn't change anything, I was there to race my own race. 

Matthew had capped me at 8:40 and I was in a mission to follow the plan. My first mile was too fast, after that I settled into a manageable pace but within the first couple of miles I knew it was going to be a hard day out there. The kick I had coming out of the bike was gone, I felt flat and the heat was bringing me down. I had to work every step of the way, I kept pouring water on me but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. 

I was running consistently but I was stopping (literally) at every aid station to fill up my water bottle, thank GOD Erin gave me some good advice for Kona on this one. I was getting frustrated at the amount of time I was losing at each water station but I knew I needed to stay hydrated if I wanted to finish strong. 

At the first turn around, the run course is a two loop course (two out and backs) I saw Rebecca, I could tell I was closing the gap, around mile 9 I was right behind her and I started rethinking if it was a good time to make the move. Is funny how our mind works... looking at my splits you can see how I slowed down considerably at that point until I decided to pass. We were approaching a water station and as I passed her I heard her screaming. I learned later that they took her to medical. Matthew had warned us that it would be a massacre and that we had to keep going, regardless of the amount of people we saw puking, walking, cramping... From then on it seemed like everybody was miserable. It took everything out of me to focus on me only, to ignore what was going on around me. 

The second lap was even worse, at that point you had pretty much everybody on the course, a lot of people walking, a lot of people getting sick. People being pulled out of the course.  By then I had stopped watching my pace, it was disheartening knowing how slow I was running, but I was running! I was moving forward, one step after the other.

I saw Kathryn at some point and fed of her positive energy, there is something about having people you know out there on the course with you, suffering and sharing the day. During my second loop I saw most of the Dynamo athletes out on the course, but I didn’t have much to say at that point (sorry Joe, Michelle, Matt and Greg!).

Around mile 16 I switched to Coke, I couldn't take one more gel or block anymore.  My stomach was acting up and I skipped one or two water stations and as soon as it settled again I got back on the Coke.
A girl from my AG passed me around mile 17, I contemplated for a second to chase her down, but something kept telling me to be patient.

In the zone

By the time I made the last turn around I was static. I had a 10K left, I took it one mile at the time after that, I saw the girl that had passed me around mile 22 walking. This gave me a boost of confidence and it took me all the way to mile 24. At that point I saw Matthew, 'cadence, get what you need water stations, and cadence. Sami is up the street’ I am not sure where the energy came from but I was able to pick up the pace, as I took the right turn I saw Sami and the kids and the finish chute. 

                                                                                                                      Almost home

Anybody who has done an IM knows that the finish chute is what keeps us alive, is what keeps us coming back, IM after IM. As miserable as we are out there, and yes we are ALL miserable at some point or another, otherwise it wouldn’t be an IM, that last mile when you can hear Mike Riley or Dave Ragsdale you forget about the pain.  You forget about your stomach, you forget about the long days on the bike and you get a sense of accomplishment that is hard to match.

I crossed the finish line in 10:56:48 and my legs gave up as soon as I did. I had no idea how I placed given the time trial start. But I knew I was happy with my execution, I knew I put a hell of a fight and I knew that podium or no podium, Kona or no Kona I had no regrets. 

                                                                                                                  Happy, happy, happy!

The volunteers rolled me into medical and sure enough as soon as they took my BP they hooked me up to an IVs. I wanted to see Sami and the kids SO BAD, but end up staying there for a second IV and what felt forever.
Sami walked in and told me I had won... have you ever cried without tears? Lets just say it was not a pretty picture, but there I was, laying down on a stretcher, every single muscle was screaming at me and all I could think about was 'I am going to KONA'. This lasted for about a second and then I realized that meant I was racing AGAIN in 7 weeks, without even realizing the words just came out of my mouth 'I have to do this in 7 weeks again?????'.

Tri Season 2014

I have been meaning to write this since IMLOU, I actually started it the week after but between getting back to training, kids, school and life in general the three line paragraph has been sitting on my computer to be finished.
I started this blog with the idea of being able to document my journey for my second IM, but I couldn't fathom the idea of updating a blog while I had so many other things to do. So instead I decided to write a brief summary of how my training/year leading up to IMLOU went, a mini-race report for IMLOU and an entry for the 7 weeks between IMLOU. Hopefully I can get all this done before Saturday (I wrote this while in Kona, before the race) so that I can wrap up my 2014 season blog with a RR for Kona.

I started the season with one main goal: IMLOU, I knew that LOU was going to be my A race and I knew I wanted to hire a coach to help me through this journey who had been successful at coaching the distance. I had talked to Matthew Rose in the past and I knew we'd work well together, if he took me.

The Dynamo family has been nothing but welcoming during this year, I know I could have not had the success I've had if it weren't for them.
I started working with Matthew in December while the school swim season was on, our first two months were an 'adaptation' period, but it wasn't until February that training really took off.

Matthew was phenomenal from day one, he always made sure that we prioritized what was important at the time. Always keeping in mind that once we got to June-July my training would pick up and I would have to spend some time away from the family. I had a couple of family trips and vacation scheduled and as much as I kept questioning the bad timing on all of these Matthew assure me that staying on the moment is what would carry me over the heavy training. So when I was on vacation with the family the focus was the family, having a good time and just training 'light' so that I could juggle the demands.

This put Sami in a predicament that he has never been before in, he had to take on the 'mommy' role. For anybody who knows well Sami, you know that this is a stretch for him, but he raised up to the challenge and I would say he even enjoyed it :).

I ran a couple of road races early on (Charles 10K and Atlanta half) and set a new PR on the half by 5 minutes.

Dynamo Crew at Charles Harris 10K

Matthew's support during that time was priceless, I went from 'lets see how I do this season', to 'I am a runner' which has always been my weakest leg on triathlons.  

Knoxville 70.3 is one of my favorite races, it was my first 70.3 back in 2010 and a great season opener in 2014.  Coming off Konxville I had a tough month, two school trips, one of them to Spain for 10 days and a week family vacation.  While in Spain we sold our house and I had three days to find a new house before our family trip. This was probably the toughest time of all, I felt as if we were close enough that I needed more training, but at the same time I couldn't take my bike nor did I have the time to put the volume I thought I needed. Matthew was there to assure me I would be ok, we had known about all this traveling since the beginning and once I got back the focus was on IMLOU until school started back up.

Kathryn, Erin & I during IMLOU camp

At the beginning of July we headed to Louisville for a training camp, it was an awesome experience. We were 6 Dynamo athletes, Brent Pease and Matthew, this was my first full Dynamo experience and it couldn't have gone any better. We worked hard but also had a blast. It is comforting to do a race where you have biked/ran the course and setting landmarks on race is a lot more doable.

Once we got back from training camp I spent the rest of the month of July packing the house and training, a week before school started we moved into the new house. As I write this I am realizing how crazy it sounds, but luckily I have a great support group behind me and somehow it all got done.

Before I knew it I was back in school and the big day was getting closer. Matthew decided to throw a local Olympic race in the mix two weeks before IMLOU, considering I dont have one fast twitch muscle in my entire body and I had been training for an IM, it went very well. The best part was my bike, I had the fastest bike split to date and I felt strong throughout. 

Coming off RBR (Richard B Russell Olympic race) I went straight into taper ... oh lovely taper,  what an emotional roller coaster! The only way to survive taper is by trusting your training and that I did100% but lets just say things were pretty tense :).

Second changes

I was inclined to ‘re-start’ my old blog, but it has been more than a year since I wrote anything on it and things have changed so much since then that I just thought it would be appropriate for me to start a new one.

So, a year a go I had just started working as as a teacher and head swim coach for a small local private school. Also, I had just trained and made my way through the finish line of my first IM and it was time to take a break.

Well, a break I took. I was so busy with swim season and trying to figure out how to juggle everything that time just flew by. I was tired all the time, but of course as everybody told me it was normal. I had just come back to the work force;  kids are getting older, which means more after school activities and the constant pressure of trying to get everything done , and lets not forget… I am no getting any younger. By the time swim season came to an end (beginning of February) I was completely out shape, tired and just not in a happy place.

For most of the season I tried to get my workouts in but couldn’t get motivated, I can talk about how my on and off training went for the whole year, but I am not here to make excuses not to look for pitty. I am here because (like I say on the title of the blog), I believe in second changes.

All that is behind me, I am thankful that after 10 months of not knowing what was going on we ended up figuring it out. Looking back health issues are never good, but this time around I learned that listening to your body is crucial and thankfully it was a relatively ‘easy fix’.

After everything was said and done it left me with a couple of months to train for a marathon, so two weeks I completely my first ‘standalone’ marathon. Talk about learning experiences!! I will post the race report on my second entry to this blog.

I came back from my marathon and it was again time to decompress, think about everything that I went through this past year and make some decisions. I have worked (in my opinion) with one of the best triathlon coaches in the Atlanta area for four years. He has taken me and my husband far in this sport, much farther than I ever thought I would. But I knew I needed a change.

So as I close that chapter I have mixed emotions, I am sad, because although people changes coaches all the time, somehow to me it felt more like a divorce. But I am excited for the change, looking forward to my training, and thrilled to be out there again next year.

I will try to update my blog as much as I can, but like the first time around it wont happen every day, nor every week. For now I will tell you that my whole season is going to be around my A race, IM Louisville, every ride, run and swim (if I ever make my way back to a pool!) is towards IMLOU.  So, come August 24th I am planning on crossing that finish line with a huge smile on my face, no regrets and knowing I have done everything I can to have a great race out there.