#offseason and 2014 recap

Well, I've been meaning to start a blog of my triathlon journey for quite a while now, and as my official race season is winding down and winter is coming, now seems like a perfect opportunity to take stock of 2014 and look ahead to the new year.

Any story of 2014 would really have to begin in the fall of 2013 when I made a big change. After four years of racing sprint, Olympic, and half-ironman distance races, I decided to take a leap and tackle my first ironman distance race. Which race to target was a complete no-brainer. After racing in Sonoma County's Barb's Race three consecutive years and racing Vineman 70.3 in 2013, there was no way I was going to let my first ironman be any race other than the Full Vineman. The Russian River swim, the rolling SoCo hills through miles of vineyards and the spectator friendly looped run feels like home to me. I was confident in my ability to prepare myself for shorter races, but wanted some expert advice for making the jump to 140.6 miles. Choosing the perfect coach for this race was also a no-brainer: Dave Latourette of Train To Endure coaching. Dave has a wealth of experience as both a competitor and coach of endurance sports, and knows the Vineman course like the back of his hand, living in Santa Rosa itself. Dave also announces all of the Vineman family of races and I was tickled at the idea of having my personal coach shout out encouragement all day long from an announcer booth.

Dave and I began our journey together in December 2013 and the primary focus of the winter months was to establish a solid schedule, get some base miles under my belt, focus on my run mileage, and learn to trust one another. The coach-athlete relationship is a delicate and personal one, and having been self-coached for so long, it was nerve-wracking in the beginning to let go of the reigns and allow someone else to drive. But I could see progress right away. Dave immediately got me running 5 times a week which was completely new for me. But the majority of those runs were short so I never had to worry about the miles building up too quickly and getting injured. I learned that I like running in the snow! (Although below freezing Arctic vortex winds were a bit too much to handle).

I also began training with a power meter and let me tell you, I don't know how I would have made it through the 2013-2014 winter without it. I was riding indoors on my trainer three days a week and if I hadn't had power and cadence numbers of focus on during my workouts, I would have been a wreck. Thankfully, as a scientist, I'm a bit of a numbers junky and loved the constant feedback from my Quarq Riken.

The winter months flew by and before I knew it, my first test of 2014 was upon me: the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. My dear friend Kristin was racing the 13.1 miles with me, and her husband Chris and friend Anthony were gunning for a Boston Marathon qualifying time later that morning. Running 13.1 miles had never felt so light and effortless and I surprised myself with a 1:37.33 mega PR. This was a huge confidence boost as I approached the "meat and potatoes" of my triathlon season.

But as high flying as I felt after the Shamrock race, I was quickly brought back down to Earth by a cluster of inflamed nerves in my right foot - a neuroma. After an initial mis-diagnosis as a stress fracture, I figured out that the way to keeping my pesky foot happy was to wear a purple squishy pad just behind the ball of my foot. With the pad in place, I was able to run pain free for the first time in a month and went to work playing a game of catch up in search of ironman run miles.

As spring started to give way to summer, I raced my first half ironman of the year. Initially my race plan had called for an Olympic distance race or two before Eagleman in early June, but keeping my foot happy was a priority. Luckily for me, on race morning the swim was announced to be wetsuit illegal and I got to test drive my Roka Viper swimskin for the first time. The swim felt a little slow to me but I managed to PR the 56 mile bike. Unfortunately the heat and humidity took a toll on my body during the run course. Cramping in my feet and calves early on forced a lot of walk breaks, but luckily those subsided by about the halfway point and I was able to salvage the race by negative splitting the run in a pretty major way.

Ok - now for the big one. Full Vineman. My first ironman distance race. I spent the rest of June and July logging huge miles on the bike and run. I kept my weekday rides on the trainer for efficiency but had fun exploring western Maryland and Virginia on Ladybug, my trusty steed of four seasons, on Saturdays. We even got to roll up and down the scenic climbs and descents of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, and cross the Potomac River on a ferry boat.

Vineman was soon upon me and I took the Ironman plunge. I crushed the swim, with the fastest female split by 7 minutes. The Vineman bike course is rolling and gorgeous, taking athletes on a tour of the best Sonoma County vineyards. The first loop felt smooth and easy, but on the second loop the heat began to rise. The heat (as in Eagleman) would eventually prove my undoing. Cramps, dizziness, and what I suspect was a mild case of heat stroke led to walking and then eventually sitting. Not wanting to let my parents or Dave think that I had died, I convinced my body to hobble to the far turnaround so that my timing chip would ping. After another round of sitting (with ice, salt pills, coke, and chips all shoved into my stomach), I decided to try walking again. Two miles later, I tried jogging and kept walk/jogging for the rest of the marathon. While my ironman distance debut left me hungry for redemption, I am still so proud that I made it to the finish line.

Feeling somewhat fresh after Vineman (since the marathon wasn't running so much as run/walk/sit/walk/run), I decided to tack on some extra races to the calendar. About three weeks later I jumped into the Luray Sprint triathlon, falling in love with Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding area. A month later, I tested myself at the Giant Acorn Olympic triathlon in Lake Anna State Park. I PR'd the Olympic distance bike and set a new overall Olympic distance PR. In both of those races I also had the fastest female swim splits (5th overall at LS and 3rd overall at GA). Yeehaw!

The final race of 2014 was the Austin 70.3 in ... you guessed it ... Austin, Texas. I love love love this race.

1. It's in my hometown.
2. I get to stay with my sister and brother-in-law.
3. I get to play with their puppies.
4. I get to eat all of my favorite Austin foods.
5. I get to reconnect with old friends.
6. I get to crush the swim. ;)

Ok, the last one is true for most of the races I do anyways, but this year I had the extra bonus of having the overall fastest female swim split, including the professional women. Stoked! The bike was also powerful and strong, and my run ... eh ... stupid heat. I clearly need to work on racing in the heat. But I hung in there and finished strong, and had a wonderful weekend with family and friends (and food).

Now that my 2014 race season has wrapped up, it's time to take stock of what I accomplished and what I want for the future.

First, even though my marathon wasn't what I know I'm capable of, I'm proud to have finished my first ironman.

Second, cutting back a bit on the swim training this year didn't seem to detract much from my race results.

Third, it's crazy hard trying to keep training consistent when switching jobs mid-summer but that's what great coaches are there for!

Fourth, injuries don't have to mean game over. I learned that big time in 2012 with my broken pelvis, but I'd been pretty lucky since then. My neuroma was another set back but careful management let me race all year long and I think the darn thing has finally healed!

Thoughts for next year? A lot of things are up in the air for me right now. As an avid goal setter and planner, this sense of unbalance is irritating but until I can set more concrete goals, here are a few things I want for myself in 2015:

I want to feel alive.
I want to take a risk.
I want to give more of myself than I ever have before.
I want to live each day happy and grateful and with a purpose.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my #offseason with amazing friends and family and think only positive thoughts about what the next year has to offer!

It's always sunny in Philadelphia

The triathlete/graduate student lifestyle doesn't lend itself to copious amounts of free time, and entire weekends are difficult to come by. But when an opportunity arose to visit the lovely and fun Miss Alex Wolfe in Philadelphia in November, I pounced!

I wished a fond farewell to my bunny and my bikes, and boarded a plane for the East Coast. A lay-over in Denver quickly turned into a panicked sprint for my next gate, when my flight from Oakland was delayed in landing, having been forced into the airplane equivalent of a grid-lock for half an hour. Many thanks to the fabulous folks on Southwest for holding up the next leg of the journey to accommodate the delayed passengers!

Once again, we were up up and away and I was back doing what I love best - burying my nose in a good book. An hour later I had completed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and was

occupying my mind with the pleasures and curiosities of Sky Mall magazine, proving for the millionth time that if you conceive it, they will try to sell it. An uneventful flight later, and I was in a taxi cab bound for University City. Who knew there were so many sub-cities in Philadelphia? I met up with Miss Wolfe with hugs and happiness at her friend's apartment near campus, where the two had been busy preparing libations for Sunday's festivities (more to come later).

Alex introduced me to her house one block behind the charming and unique Rittenhouse Square. The house is a 3-story carriage house, with original hardwood floors (over 200 years old!), a terrifyingly narrow and steep stair case, and a classic Philadelphia red brick facade. Luckily, she and her housemate were in between roommates at the time, so I had my own room at the front of the house on the second floor. My windows opened onto Manning St, more of a wide alley than street, which meant little car traffic and allowed nothing but the sweet sounds of music playing in the Square to filter into my bed chamber on Sunday morning.

Rittenhouse Square is more than just a meeting of four streets. It is a park, a sculpture garden, a playground, a meeting place, a lunch spot, and so much more. Homes, hotels, shops, and restaurants with fabulous outdoor seating all flank the Square. Every morning, joggers nimbly pick their path across the cobblestone walkways. Every afternoon the lunch crowd occupies each available bench. Every evening, parents bring their children to climb on the statues. And at all hours of the day, dogs and their owners greet one another with wagging tails and smiles. It is a perfect and charming place, and the arrival of fall decorated the green lawns with blankets of yellow leaves.

On Sunday, we discovered quite possibly my favorite piece of Philadelphia - a fabulous little Jewish delicatessen just off Rittenhouse Square. Upon walking in and seeing the mountainous plates of food, and smelling the pickled cabbage and cucumbers, I knew I'd found home. My omelette with potato pancakes was delicious, as was the rugelach I treated myself to afterwards. Also, who can resist a place that gives homemade chocolate chip cookies with the check? If only I lived in Philadelphia, this little deli would be my home away from home. My matzoh ball soup the net day perfectly complemented the challah stuffing (baked with carrots, onions, celery, and raisins). And the smell of the fried kreplach with onions was intoxicating - I could barely hold off eating my treasure until the plane trip home on Tuesday.

However, the deli had to compete with the beauty of running alongside the Schylkill River in the morning. During my stay, Philadelphia was blessed with uncommonly gorgeous weather - sunny skies and day time temperatures around 60 degrees. This was not the frigid Northeast weather I'd anticipated for November! Other joggers on the trail seemed immune to the warm, sunny mornings, and still proceeded to shuffle along in sweatshirts and gloves, whereas I bounded with unbridled joy in my shorts and t-shirt. I fairly flitted along the path, stopping every 1/4 mile or so to read the inscriptions that flanked the many landmarks and statues along the way.

About two miles north from Rittenhouse, one encounters a row of boat houses and the Waterworks. Rushing water spills over the top of a dam, which is truly better appreciated from a view above the river on Lemon Hill. Paths and overlooks were constructed in the early 1800s to allow citizens to enjoy the fresh air and views. I ran further north, past the boat houses before turning around to explore the primary goal of my run - the Philadelphia Art Museum, and home to the "Rocky Steps". From the top of the steps, the entire Ben Franklin Parkway opened up beneath me. It was like an artery, leading directly from the heart to the core of the city. Cars rushed and swirled around a central statue, depicting George Washington standing among natives and wild animals.

Later that day, I explored the historical sights of Independence Hall, Franklin House, and the Second Bank of the United States. This treasure trove of American history lay only two miles from Rittenhouse Square, and was a delightful walk through shops and restaurants. I made a second trip on my last day to visit the National Museum of Jewish American History, of which the exhibits on immigration and Ellis Island were my favorites. On my way home from Old City, I stopped in at the Terminal Reading Market, a cornucopia of farmer's stalls, food stands, and craftsmen's wares. I grabbed a few jars of fruit butters - pumpkin for myself, and apple and strawberry/rhubarb for Brandt. I also treated myself to an ice cream cone from local Philly company, which had been around since 1861 - celebrating 150 years this year! I was tasting a scoop of history right?

All in all, my visit to Philadelphia was wonderful. What more could I ask for than a weekend of"phood", "phriends", and "phun". Thank you to my dear friend Alex for introducing me to this wonderful place, and sharing a piece of her new life with me! I will treasure these memories always.