Pre-race: XTerra Worlds

We have been having a wonderful relaxing week here in Maui -- at least once we got our luggage and we got my bike repaired.  We have done some sight-seeing -- but nothing too strenuous.  Since this is our first time to Maui we hit the main tourist things:  Iao State Park and the Road to Hana--including O'heo Gultch.  To keep our time in a car down I think we will skip the drive to the top of the volcano this time.
Registration for the race opened Wednesday -- there was quite a big line as everyone wanted to get registered early -- you need your race number to get out on the bike course since it is all on private property.  We wanted to pre-ride as early as possible so that our legs were not tired for race day and also give us plenty of time if we wanted to go back out and practice any technical sections.
After we got registered we got ready to ride.
I doubt that any words I will use will do this course justice -- it is definitely not that technical -- I did not have to get off once for a technical bit.  Hills, on the other hand, reduced me to walking quite a few times.  From a physical perspective this course is brutal.  They fit 3000 ft of climbing into 18 miles.  I figured out how that compares:  Ride up and down Rocky point 3 times and you have your 3000ft in 18 miles -- only thing is we are also doing it in the dirt on mountain bikes and the hills are much steeper.  Right from the second you leave T1 you are heading up and it doesn't change much--except for how steep it is for the first 5 miles.  There are several longer steep sections that I just plain ran out of strength to turn the cranks in my tiniest gear.  Once you get to the top you are rewarded with some beautiful views of the ocean and neighboring islands.  You get a short reprieve of downhill for about a mile, just to turn around and climb back up a really steep jeep road that sucks all the energy out of your legs.  When you hit mile 8 you are at the top and finally get the reward of a super fun swoopy 5 miles of descending most of the way back down to the ocean.  Then you get the cruel joke -- on the course map it looks like you have a little climb and then a relatively flat 5 miles back to T2 -- well they lied--what actually happens over the last 5 miles is that you climb a couple hundred feet, head back down -- repeat way to many times until you legs feel like jello.  For fun they add a cyclocross like section where you do a really steep ride up onto the top of a dam, across the top, super steep descent, a couple hundred yards of single track through the trees to this loose rocky run up--kind of like Barton park only steeper, minus the rain.  It would have been nice if they gave us a nice long gentle downhill at the end so that our legs could recover for the run -- but of course they didn't.

Thursday we did a practice swim.  I love swimming in the ocean - and the beach we swim from is beautiful.  It is a beach start so we practiced running into and out of the surf (we get out and do a short beach run halfway through the swim - so we have to go in and out of the surf twice).  When we swam it was pretty calm - -and hopefully will stay so for race day.  Rumors are that sometimes there are some pretty strong currents - but I didn't notice anything particularly strong when we were out there.
Today I took off for my pre-run of the course -- it was actually more of a jog/hike--just to see what they had in store for us.  I think after the ride I was ready for anything--and came back thinking that is wasn't too bad.  The run course is of course also hilly -- the first 2.5 miles are straight up.  I know that I will end up doing a bunch of walking - particularly at the top where it gets really steep.

This is the view from almost the top of the run--we probably go up another 150-200 ft from here but there were no good views.  2.5-3 is rolling and somewhere in here you hit the highest elevation.  Mile 3-4 is a wonderful swooping downhill with pretty good footing and not to many obstacles to maneuver.  After that you drop into a ravine that is really pretty but a lot more technical -- and definitely has a climb to get back out of it.  After that is is downhill all the way to the beach - some good views a few technical spots - but a fun section.  At the very end you pop out on the north end of the beach.  Problem is the finish line is out past the south end of the beach - -they dont have it marked yet but we all know what is coming -- the course will be through the deep loose sand of the beach - -not down at the water or up on firmer ground--so about 300 calf screaming yards later we come off the beach and then only have another 200-300 yds UPHILL to the finish line.
And of course all of this is being executed in sauna like conditions.   We do this for fun right???
It is definitely going to be a challenging course and I hope my body is ready to hurt on Sunday because the only way to go easy on this course is to stop.

XTerra Las Vegas Race Report

Sorry I haven't written anything in a while--life continues to be jam packed and some things have to give.

Well--for me, race season has officially started.  First race for the year:  XTerra West Championships in Las Vegas.  I really could have picked something a little easier to start with--but its definitely high on the fun factor.
We are using this as a little 4 day mini vacation--it seemed like it would be nice to get a few days of sun and warmth--sometimes those plans don't work out--its actually been colder here so far than it is in Portland--though its supposed to get better for Sun and Monday.
I flew down Thursday night, Don drove to save the money on the bike transport, and picked me up at the airport.  Our hotel was right at the race site---remind me that its worth it to stay right at the race--makes race morning so much easier.  Friday we checked in and pre-rode the bike course.  It's changed a bit from when we did this race 2 years ago--they took out a couple of dangerous hills--but don't worry--they did not make the course any easier.
Race morning we get up to temperatures in the upper 40's--with the high for the day forecast at 55.  It was also raining-in the desert!.  I  open the sliding glass doors of out room to look out at transition to hear the cheerful announcer telling us that the water temperature is 57.  At this point I decided that I hadn't quite packed all the right clothing.  I figured out how to deal with it.
At about 7:30 we headed down to set up our transition area and pick up our timing chips and get body marked.  This is the one area of the race that they could improve on a bit--they didn't have enough body markers so you had to stand in line for longer than was desirable given the weather.  Once we were body marked we decided that being warm before jumping into the frigid water was more important than doing a huge warm-up so we grabbed all out swim stuff and headed back up to our room until it was time for the start.  We stayed in the warmth for as long as possible and then headed down to the start--we only had to be outside for about 5 minutes before the first wave went off.  We were in the 3rd wave--so we only had 6 minutes to convince ourselves to get into the water.  Jumping off the dock into the lake was quite a shock!  Given that we did not do a swim warm-up I knew that I needed to start slowly and use the first 400m as my warm-up--so when the cannon went off, I just started slowly so that my breathing did not seize (which is what it does if I go fast without a good warm-up in the water).  Once I got going the water actually wasn't too bad (of course I couldn't feel my feet).  I gradually increased my effort over the course of the swim--but not up to what I would consider a true Oly-distance pace.  Came out of the water in 26:25--fine considering how conservative I was swimming.
T1 took longer than I normally like to take--but then I wanted to be warm enough and took the time to put on a long sleeved jersey, socks, gloves etc.  XTerra T1 definitely has a bit more to take care of so should probably do a little practicing for the next race.
I headed out on the bike--the first part is a long easy climb up a paved road to the entrance of the off-road sections (which is 2 loops) and was good for getting the blood flowing to the legs before the relentless climbing started.  The beginning of the off-road loop is really hard--all you do is climb--and its pretty steep.  Once you feel like your legs are going to fall off you get a really short break that takes you into a climb that is even steeper--I didn't make it up this one (neither did most of the normal humans) and had to walk part of it.  I could write a whole bunch about steep climbs followed by loose sketch descents--but it will just all blurr--you get the idea--climb until you think your legs are going to fall off, try to get your breath back, roll down the other side and make sure you feel comfortable with you rear wheel sliding all over the place--that pretty much sums up the bike course except for one stretch of flat twisty single track around the lake near the end of the lap--it was a welcome break.  I was happy with my bike--though didn't quite break the 2hr mark as I had hoped (2:02)  Don passed me somewhere about halfway around the first lap and I didn't expect to see him again until the finish line--but unfortunately I did--about 3/4 way he had a flat tire and I passed him back.
I had a good T2--being pretty efficient and not taking too much time.
Time for the run--or whatever it was going to turn out to be.  I have been nursing a foot injury for the last couple of months--stress fracture--and haven't returned to running yet.  This race is actually before I am supposed to run again--I did not want to do a dnf so my strategy was to jog easily and if it started to hurt to walk the rest.  So--this was very different than what racing an XTerra is supposed to feel like.  I set an easy pace (more like IM marathon pace) and just hoped that the foot would feel good through the whole run.  Of course, since this is XTerra, the run course is anything but flat--we took off back out into the desert--and ran up some of those same hills we biked (or tried) up.  I knew the downhills would put the most stress on the foot so I took those really easy--I kept my competitive nature in check when women in my AG started passing me (I had gotten off the bike in 3rd place).  I think that I did pretty well on keeping the foot happy--I only started to feel anything on it about 1/2 mile from the end of the run--which is about when Don passed me--so he was having a good run.
I crossed the finish line in 3:36:46 - good for 6th place--again happy with that considering the foot (I I had run the same time I did when we did it 2 years ago I would have maintained the 3rd place).
This race was really about learning about XTerra since this is what we are going to focus on this year.  So what did I learn?
1.  I am not a mountain biker yet.  On the road I am typically one of the faster women cyclists--this is not true at all for mountain biking.  We have only gotten outside on our mtn bikes 3 or 4 times this year so I think there is a lot of room for improvement as we get more riding in.
2.  Mtn biking uses your energy very different than road tri's---there is no trying to keep your power constant--when you need to push, you need to push and it is likely a max effort.  Need to get more of this type of training included in the plan--the ability to recover quickly after a max effort is key.
3.  Because of the high efforts you probably need to take in a few more calories than you do on an Oly tri--I think I did pretty good on this - 3 gels on the bike, packet of Chomps on the run
4.  My body is currently used to IM level of intensity--I need to get it used to the high efforts of shorter distance racing--especially after a max effort--you don't get to recover if you want to go fast
5.  Once the foot is better I need to spend a lot of quality time running big steep hills
I can definitely recommend XTerra racing to anyone who wants to have a really fun race--it may hurt, but getting out in the dirt is worth it.

Life Exploded

So its been quite a while since I have been able to write.  Things seem to have exploded since I had that great weekend down in Huntington Beach.  What exactly exploded?  Well, work for one.  Things were getting pretty busy and then they sprang a major audit on us.  I can't wait until they leave at the end of this week.  Gabby also unexpectedly has come home from school for a while--she is doing some research and working through some issues and then is planning on returning to school in the fall - this has been taking up a fair amount of my non-working time.  I am also working very hard at getting back to being an athlete and a regular routine.  I'm going it without a coach this year--so there is also that time spent planning your workout program that I haven't had to deal with for several years.  Let's see--I am also coaching a friend who is just starting to bike--she has signed up for Cycle Oregon later this year  (and talked Don and I into doing it too!).   I think that maybe somewhere I might have a spare 5 minutes--anybody have a great idea what I should fill it with?

My diet has leveled out--my body seems to be adapted to being vegan as I am not noticing changes like I did the first few weeks.  My weight has stabilized at about 145 (which for me is 16-17% bodyfat)--so I guess if I want to get any lighter I will have to do it the hard way--I was hoping that the few pounds that I lost easily at the beginning would continue for a bit more.  I am finding that I feel satisfied now on less food.  I have found some great recipes and lots of good restaurants and am really not missing the meat or dairy at all.

So I think I am having a bonus, completely unexpected side effect of going vegan.  This is going to sound weird--but my hair is growing.  Now for most people having your hair grow is quite normal--but for me it isn't.  I went through several years of my hair actually getting shorter--and then we discovered that I was hypothyroid.  Getting some hormone into me seemed to stop the shrinking hair, but it hasn't really grown  (for the record I have not had my hair cut since we moved to Portland in 1999).  The last several weeks, it seems like its getting just a bit longer.  I will be tickled if it really is going to start growing like normal--somebody will have to recommend me a hairdresser!

Surf City Here I come

So this race isnt going to turn out as I originally intended.  What did I originally intend?  Well, I took a good break after Ironman Canada and then started marathon training around mid October.  I got in lots of great running up until about the week before Christmas.  Did a couple of things I have never done before like running more than 40 miles in a week.  Then my left foot started to hurt--at first I attributed it to getting a bruise on the top of my foot from tying my shoes to tight---but it didnt go away.  I suffered through a few runs over the holiday break and then when we got home from Toronto, fully admitted that I was injured.  I got myself off the the chiropractor to see what was going on.  Well it seems like I jammed up almost every joint attached to my metatarsals.  It took several treatments to get it all worked out over the course of 3 weeks.  During this time I quit running and did all my training on the bike, elliptical or water running.  About a week ago I had my first pain free run back on the foot.  Well then a week ago Friday my back started to tighten up and by Sunday my back was in a full blown spasm--I was mostly flat on my back.  Well 3 trips to the chiropractor later, the back is much improved but it is certainly not completely better.   So what am I going to do tomorrow?  Well, I am not going to run my first sub-4 hr marathon as was the original plan.  We will be doing a short test run this am and I will be switching my entry to the half -marathon--which will likely be done at a pace that allows me to really take in the scenery down here along the ocean.  I will be able to be waiting at the finish line to congratulate Don when he sets his HUGE PR in the marathon and hopefully runs a BQ time.  I will enjoy the warm weather and sun and my friends that are down here.   It will still be a great weekend!

Getting old sucks

So what I figured out this week is that when I have bad stuff to say, I avoid writing a blog.  Its not that I don't want to share.  I think that somehow my mind thinks that if I don's write it down it will go away and not have happened.
So there has been good and bad this week.  On the good side--2 more visits to the chiropractor, lots of ice and a golf ball have gotten my foot to almost 100%.  I am glad that is now behind me.  On the bad side, just as the foot has healed, I screwed up my back.  It started to tighten up on Thursday--nothing out of the ordinary--just figured I needed to do some stretching etc like usual.  Friday it was a bit tighter--though I still was not concerned.  Saturday I got up and went to the club swim--swimming usually really helps me when my back gets tight.   Well, it didn't.  Now it just hurts.  It's better when I am standing or walking, best when I am flat on my back on the floor, not good for sitting.  When I took the dogs out for a walk this morning, Don had to help me put my shoes on because I can't bend in that direction.
What does this mean for running a marathon next weekend?  Well--I guess my modified goal is to just get to the start line at this point--I think that any sort of performance type of goal is completely gone and I hope the weather is nice because if I get to the start line, there could be lots of walking for this one.

Pizza???

So tonight I experimented with a new recipe--it was for "pizza" --the recipe was specifically for Curry Lentil Pizza.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out--or if anybody else would eat it.  Luckily Don and Paul were open minded.
So the crust of this "pizza"  was made from brown rice, gound lentils, oil, curry.  I made the "dough" and was pretty skeptical that it would actually hold together and act much like a crust.  On top of the crust went some tomato sauce--this is sounding more like pizza--and then a ton of veggies.  But wait--where is the cheese?   Well--grated carrots instead.
Before I served it, I apologized to everyone if it really sucked.  What did we discover---it tastes awesome.  We think that maybe it should be renamed so that you don't get the vision of traditional pizza in your head.  And my doubts about the structure integrity of the crust were indeed correct--you could just barely get it from the pan to the plate intact.  Definitely needed to be eaten with a fork.  My two meat eaters are both happy and satisfied after their vegan mean.   I will be definitely making this recipe again.

Just What am I eating anyway?

So I am sort of settling into an eating routine--though still doing lots of experimenting and trying new recipies.  I am finding that I am eating 4-6 meals/day.  Four would be on a rest day or day with very light workout and it increases from there depending on the workout schedule. 
Breakfast:  some sort of hot cereal--oatmeal, quiona or mixed with lots of fruit and a little soy milk
Morning Snack--so far I'm finding I only need this on the weekends when I am doing a longer morning workout.  I guess that may change as the season progresses and I have longer workouts during the week as well.   This varies from fruit to nuts and seeds or sometimes a piece of toast.
Lunch - I've pretty much settled on a large green salad with a mix of veggies and usually some nuts/seeds/dried fruit.  I finish this off with 2 pieces of fruit--often apple and banana because they are easy to eat at work.
Afternoon Snack - I always need this.  I guess partly because I have a workout after work almost every day--but even if I don't I still need something.  This varies quite a bit.  Sometimes I do a smoothie or a peice of bread with peanut butter.  Other times its a handful of nuts and seeds.
Dinner - This varies completely depending on what we feel like having.  I'm usually including some sort of rice/legume/beans as part of it and then a variety of other veggies.  Still experimenting with lots of different recipies.
Evening Snack.  this is the one the gets omitted the most depending on the workouts and what time we ate dinner.  It will be small--a piece of fruit, a few carrots with hummus or something like that.

What I have noticed is that it does not take as much to make me feel full anymore.  Eating more frequently does work better and I never get ravenous.  What I haven't been eating is sugar--aside from a piece of cake that 3 of us split at a restaurant a week or so ago, I haven't had anything with added sugar and I haven't even missed it.