Challenge Roth Training: Week 14

12 weeks to go.

Week 14 totals:
Swim: 3. 4000m, 2hr 3min
Bike: 2. 2hrs 20min, Saturday Ride: 26mi
Run: 3. 11mi, 1hr 58min
Strength: 1. 60min
Total time: 7hr 21min

Challenges:
Drove down to Mexico to do the Rocky Point Tri at the Las Palomas resort in Puerto Peñasco.

The winds and sea were ridiculous on race morning, resulting in huge surf and water conditions so dangerous that they downgraded the planned 1000m swim to a 300m "swim." We basically just thrashed/walked in waist-deep water while getting pummeled every few seconds by giant waves. This is also the only triathlon I've ever done where I've gotten kicked in the face during the swim. (The very next day the ocean was perfectly peaceful, of course. Harumph.)

I was disgruntled after that stupid "swim" and subsequent barefoot trek over tiny, sharp, painful rocks to T1, and so took my sweet-ass time in transition. I applied sunscreen, dutifully missing the same crescent of flesh near my shoulder blades that routinely gets fried during triathlons, and trotted out of transition probably close to last place. I did not care.

The official weather report for race day was wind speeds of 34 mph, gusting to 49 mph. Good God. We rode directly into this wind the entire way out on each of the three loops of the out & back bike course. On the positive side, this meant I spent 95% of my ride in the aero position and I managed to pass many, many people. On the negative side, it was brutal and I absolutely destroyed my hamstrings, which did not bode well for the awaiting run.

I finally made it to T2, and the woman next to me on the bike racks came in just after I did and said something to the effect of "Did you have fun out there?" "Nope." was the only thing I managed to say in reply.

And to complete the trifecta of complaining about this course, the run. was. ridiculous. It was entirely on the Las Palomas golf course. Now, I haven't been on a lot of golf courses in my life, but I never imagined that they would have such steep hills. Like "put your hands on your knees and hike up them" steep. Just continually, one after another. With maybe a minute or two of regular running, maybe a half mile or so on spongy golf turf, but then more steep, steep golf car(t? Which is it, Bea?) path hills. The only upside was that even though my legs were trashed from the bike, when it was possible to run I managed it just fine, usually at a sub-10 pace. Finished the run, collapsed onto the slip-n-slide, and immediately got a free beer.

Final thoughts: Race - awful. After-party - way fun, and obviously the only reason people do this race more than once.

Accomplishments: 
Actually managed to finish that race solidly in the middle of the pack, which means I passed a veritable shit-ton of people on the bike (and a few on the run).

Surprises:
I've made a concerted effort to work on the "catch" phase of my swim stroke this past week, and it seems to be paying off. On Tuesday, I swam 400m in approximately 10:15. On Thursday, with some focused effort on my stroke, I swam 800m in about 19:45. Progress!


Bonus:

The view from the enormous suite that all seven of us shared at the Las Palomas Resort. It was a pretty great place.

Triathletes starting the swim. I mean come on.

Gerry, Al, and Mikey waiting for the awards to start.

Check out those trophies! Al took 2nd overall in the 5K.

The day after the race was gorgeous. No wind. No waves. Sigh.

This guy consistently places 1st overall in the Kristen's Favorite People category.

Challenge Roth Training: Week 13

13 weeks to go. (Halfway there!)

Week 13 totals:
Swim: 2. 3200m, 1hr 33min
Bike: 2. 2hrs 55min, Sunday Ride: 30mi, elev.
Run: 3. 8mi, 1hr 42min
Strength: 0. 0min
Total time: 6hr 10min

Challenges:
Splash & Dash #2 of the season, and my third time swimming in Tempe Town Lake in the last two weeks. The post-swim sneezing stuffy nose is out of control.

Accomplishments: 
Actually had a really great swim! Felt very steady and solid the whole time. Could have gone farther, but was happy to be done. Also, this was a solid 7 minutes faster than any Half IM swim I've ever done (and those are even a little shorter distance). Go me!

Surprises:
Saw Bombay Bicycle Club at Crescent Ballroom on Monday night with Mike, Cassie, and Jason (who was covering the show, of course). Royal Canoe, the opening band, was really awesome, so during the break between sets I headed over to the merch table to see what they had to offer. There were two albums to choose from, so I asked the guy working the table, "Hey, do you know the name of the first song that last band played?" "Yeah." he replied. "I mean...I'm in the band, so..." And then I died of embarrassment while lamely saying, "Oh jeez, I'm sorry! I was sitting in the back, so it was kinda hard to see..." I'm sure his ego took a hit that night. But I did buy the album, so I guess that's something. Cassie suggested later that I should have just leaned into it and replied with a sarcastic "Hookay, buddy. Yeah, me too. I'm totally in the band." And of course BBC kicked a whole lot of ass. It was a really fun night.

Hey, I know that guy.

Bonus:
This week was a glorious, glorious rest week, which you may have guessed from the relatively short total time for the workouts, which I'm sure you always read through carefully. Rest week means I only had to do one workout each day (Splash & Dash notwithstanding). Rest week also means that most of those workouts were short. 3 mile run! 45 minute bike! Friday do whatever you want! Turns out what I wanted to do on Friday was walk by the lake with my man, head down to get some frozen yogurt, and walk back. Now that's some ironman training I can get behind. I also got to introduce JK to Fountain Hills during our 2hr bike ride early Sunday morning. It was lovely.

Challenge Roth Training: Week 12

14 weeks to go.

Week 12 totals:
Swim: 4. 6500m, 3hr 19min
Bike: 3. 3hrs 2min, Sunday Ride: 28mi, 374elev.
Run: 5. 20mi, 3hr 20min
Strength: 1. 10min
Total time: 9hr 51min

Challenges:
Raced my first Splash & Dash of the season on Thursday. This race series (typically a 1500m swim followed by a 5K run) is a good opportunity for multisport athletes to get in some open water swim training as well as work on transitions. Outside temperatures hit 99 this past week, which made the 6pm starting time just a wee bit warm. This was my first real open water swim in a race setting (not coaching) since IMCDA, and it showed. Got a little panicky all the way out to the first buoy, which resulted in a lot of embarrassing doggy paddling. But once I managed to calm down, I actually had a really good swim. My time was exactly where I'm used to it being for 1500m, which means I was moving at least a little faster for the majority of the swim to balance out the crappy first couple hundred meters.

Accomplishments: 
I raced my first Olympic-distance triathlon since Lavaman 2011 - and set a new PR! The Marquee Triathlon was on Sunday, and it obviously went well. PR'd by a few seconds on the swim (I'll take it!), averaged 18.25mph on the bike, on a windy day, on a course with precisely 36 turns (which means a lot of slowing down to corner safely), and actually ran the entire run course without stopping to walk for the first time in any triathlon I've ever done ever. All this resulted in a time of 3hrs 22min, which is one minute longer than my time for Lavaman. Doesn't sound like a PR, does it? Ah, but this bike course was 4-miles longer than the Lavaman course. Bam! 

Surprises:
Rode the new bike for the Marquee Tri, and aside from a few issues, I loved it. Issue #1: every time I hit a bump, my left aerobar would drop down a bit. Every couple miles I'd have to sit up and try to yank it back into place without crashing. Issue #2: dropped my water bottle about 3 miles into the course, so didn't have any hydration for the next 20 minutes (which doesn't seem like a huge problem, but I was an hour into my race by this point and (obviously) you can't drink while you swim (lake water notwithstanding), so I was really getting thirsty by the time I reached the first bike aid station.)

Bonus:
JK and I had plans to see Broken Bells on Thursday. He was covering the show, so he arrived on time (headed over right after cheering me on at the Splash & Dash), but I was ridiculously late because I had to run an additional 5 miles post-S&D, then hurry up and try to eat something and get cleaned up. I managed to catch the last 30 minutes or so of the show (which was GREAT!), but apparently missed a top notch opening act and the first 2/3 of the main set. Oh, Ironman training. Sometimes you're a real bitch.

Challenge Roth Training: Week 11

15 weeks to go.

Week 11 totals:
Swim: 2. 3800m, 2hr 3min
Bike: 3. 5hrs 5min, Saturday Ride: 61mi, 1545elev.
Run: 4. 21mi, 3hr 28min
Strength: 0. 0min
Total time: 10hr 36min

Challenges:
Skipped my first workout of the training season on Wednesday. Coach LO had us scheduled for back-to-back swim days this week, but due to logistics ("Freakin' logistics, man.") I had to do Tuesday's swim/run in the late evening, after my 2.5-hour final bike fit/pedaling techniques session. I got out of the pool after 9pm and just couldn't fathom getting back in at 5:30am, so I slept in and just did the scheduled post-swim bike ride. I'm calling it a mental health day.

Accomplishments: 
Managed to get up and knock out a speedy 9-mile run before work on Thursday. Felt like absolute crap for the first few miles. Felt like I could take on the world for the last two miles. IM training is weird.

Surprises:
On Saturday night JK decided that we should get all dressed up and lightrail it to Central Phx for a fancy celebratory date night. We had amazing drinks at Blue Hound (where we had amazing drinks four months earlier on The Date That Clinched It) and then ate possibly the best dinner of my life at The Arrogant Butcher. Pork Carnitas and Sweet Potato Tortelli and Old Old Fashioneds and Warm Peanut Butter Cup for dessert. Oh, sweet Moses. It was amazing. Other activities this week included Opening Day of the baseball season on Monday, where we ate hot dogs and drank beer and watched the Dbacks lose (and saw several people purchase and eat a $25 D-Bat), Mistaken for Strangers at FilmBar on Tuesday evening, and dinner with two of my favorite ladies on Thursday evening. What a week.

Bonus:

After 5 years of doing triathlons on a road bike (or, for the past two years, a road bike retrofitted with clip-on aerobars), I am finally the proud owner of a badass TT bike! I ordered the thing back in January, and it was finally delivered about a week ago. I did one last bike fit on Tuesday, my bike shop guy got it cabled and ready at the end of the week, and I picked it up on Saturday after my long ride/short run brick. I took it out for the inaugural ride on Sunday's short ride/long run brick and just loved it. He's a sexy beast of a bike, and I'm so excited to get in some training miles on this guy!

Name TBD