InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon

Do you enjoy running a marathon ...

In ideal, cool dry conditions?
On a flat, windless course?
While listening to music?
With other friendly runners?
With frequent cheering spectators?
Where you can see the top runners competing?
Having your favorite drinks/foods served on the course?
Not having to look for or wait long to use a porta-potty?
Even if it may not be a PR?

If you're like me and answered "yes" to all or most of the above, the InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon should be on your To Run list!

I know, I know, running a hundred (really, 95.4) laps around an indoor track sounds so BORING, but I have yet to find anyone who's run an indoor marathon who thinks it is, including me. And it's not because we're crazy! It's totally different than speed work you might do on a track or running laps on your own. The closest thing I can think of to describe my race experience would be to say it was like a Go Cart ride!

Don't believe me?

Well, here I am waiting at the start. Some of the kids have been on this ride before, which is often the case with any good fun-rides, right? Me, I've run 52 marathons, including one merry-go-round (150 laps at the Zoom Yah Yah Indoor Marathon last year). But this ride is bigger, both in number of runners as well as the track size, and the building which houses the track is quite special, as you'll see. Pardon my giddy look!

The gun went off at 8am and about a hundred of us jumped on and spread out along the track (which was a thin sheet of rubber over concrete so not very forgiving but better than nothing). The inside lane was for fasties or those wanting to pass. The outside lane was for those going a slower pace. After that, all similarities with track running as most folks know it ended.


For one thing, this track was inside the Pettit National Ice Center, which is an official U.S. Olympic training site for speed skating. It was actually 442.8767m long, not your traditional running track length because there was a 400m speed skating oval INSIDE of it. And inside of that ice oval, there were two international-sized (100' x 200') ice rinks for hockey, figure skating and short track speed skating. For moi, who had been ice skating maybe only 2 or 3 times as a kid and had only seen ice in the form of ice cubes in her ice baths recently, this was an AMAZING facility!

Right photo from a Journal Sentinel article about the race.

The first lap, I just admired the gigantic uber slick and shiny ice surface. Ooh, near zero coefficient of friction, I bet could slide my butt around even without skates! I looked at the big banners and colorful flags that were hung all throughout the building. With the Winter Olympics coming up, there was also talk that some world-class speed skaters might be on the ice later, which made being there even more exciting.

And the indoor temps? OMG, a blissful 55 degs F, which actually felt closer to 50 because of the dry air, just perfect for running, but I had to be very careful about going too fast early on (first race since my calf injury last month!). Without a Garmin -- we're indoors, remember? -- I figured I'd just capture splits every 4 laps (1.1 miles). Completing them in 10-10:30 minutes would be about a 9-9:30 min/mi pace, which is what I wanted. Simple, no?

Actually, NO, it wasn't, because the laps were going by too fast! I kept getting distracted so that I'd miss looking at my watch when I was supposed to. The best I could do was capture splits every 8 laps instead:

1st 8 in 20:00 - OK, but no faster.
2nd 8 in 19:51 - I said NO faster!!
3rd 8 in 20:34 - Good.

And poof, 24 laps gone in 1:00:25, 6.6 mi @ 9:09 pace.

Here's a YouTube video created by Fit Milwaukee that will give you an idea what was going on. It's really of the marathon relay event held the day before (they had 2 teams in it) but the marathon was similar with the exception that everyone was running at the same time so no runners on the sidelines for the most part (fast forward to 1:05 to see people running):



So while you could be Speedy Gonzales churning out lightening fast laps on the inside lane, you could also be like me who was cruising on the outside lane, occasionally playing bumper runners and switching to the inside lane, chatting with folks, checking out what was written on their shirts, reading banners & signs, high five-ing little kids' hands hanging out from the bleachers, singing/humming along with good songs they were playing (but why did they play Theme from Rocky so early???), thanking wonderful volunteers, the list goes on and on ...

But boredom or dizziness? Nonsense! Unless perhaps you were a SPECTATOR :-)

But let's go back to those wonderful volunteers, shall we? IMO, they had the toughest job. Not only did they have to stay warm in the cool conditions, they had to pay attention to what runners were saying they wanted and then hand them that as they went past. I chose to ask for things I wanted a lap ahead to avoid slowing down:

Me: 1060, orange bottle next lap (translation: please give bib #1060 her sports bottle with the orange drink on the next lap)

Volunteer: Got it!

And next time around, a volunteer would be looking for me and ready to hand me my bottle. Next lap around I gave it back. Awesome service!!


And how did all those bottles, gels and whatever get on the tables, you ask? Well, before the race, we runners marked and staged our stuff on tables with specific bib number ranges. That way, during the race we knew to ask volunteers near our table as we went by. They also had extra sports drink, water and gels on hand to make sure we never ran out fluids or fuel. Thank you!!!!

Now back to the ride.


0.4 laps from where we started was where the finish line was located and also a large projection screen which turned out to be showing everyone's name, number of laps completed and the last lap split. From a photo I saw of last year's race, I thought it was a count-down screen showing how many laps the top runners had left. With all else going on, I didn't bother reading it until about halfway through my race. So after 2 hours, I glanced up to see how the fasties were doing and holy moly! MY name was listed there with 48 laps done. Quick, hit the lap button NOW!

24.4* laps in 1:04:13, 6.7 mi @ 9:35 pace (incl. porta potty stop).
*fractional lap to account for the distance from the start line to where the screen was

So, obviously, I'd failed miserably at keeping track of any more 8-lap splits the last hour. Hey, have you tried tracking laps around a Go Cart course? But now that I knew lap counts and lap splits were on the screen, things should be easy, right?


Well, not always. The names were constantly scrolling downwards as people were crossing a mat behind you so if you happened to be running in front of others nearby, your name would get pushed down from the top and you had to be quick to find it as you ran by. There actually was a guy standing there holding a sign that said "Ask me for your lap count," but I never did. I just found it more fun to keep playing Find Shirley's Line :-)

Photo of the female winner from a Journal Sentinel article about the race.

In the second half, I noticed a few skaters were on the ice and added watching them to my list of many things to do. There was one guy who looked pretty fast but my guess is that he was not headed to Vancouver. No matter, the real excitement was unfolding on the running track. The leader for 21 miles had to drop out due to a previous ankle injury that began bothering him. Julie Spencer, a tiny woman who made me look big, was the leader by more than a lap for a while. Then Matt Sveum, who'd lost the lead pack earlier, closed the gap and ran past her in the final laps to win the race in 2:51:07. Julie finished second in 2:52:38, a new women's course record. Frickin' incredible to see these folks fly by again and again averaging a 6:30-ish pace!!!


Thereafter, other fasties would periodically jump off the track as they finished their race. After 3 1/2 hours, the ride began taking on a different character. The mid-packers became the new "fast" runners and with fewer people on the track, it got easier to pass people and to run on the inside track (which we all know is a little shorter than the outside track) when no one faster was around. By now, folks have also been running together for a while so friends had been made and we were encouraging and helping each other. Announcements of those who had reached 90 laps, were on their last lap, or had just completed 96 (meaning they were done), were becoming more frequent and they pumped you up too, finishing or not. This party was still getting started!

Meanwhile, I was closing in fast on lap number 80, where I'd decided I would pick up my pace to an 8:30 (2:20 lap time) if I'd not heard any complaints from my calfs earlier. Not a peep! For a short while, I enjoyed passing some who had passed me earlier in the race, even though I knew they were going to be done before me. Before long I was at lap 92, where with 4 laps to go I figured it was safe to let go of the brakes. For the first time during the race, I made sure to FOCUS and COUNT my remaining laps:

1 down - WEEEE, I'm flying!
2 down - Look Ma, no hands -- I mean, sweat!!
3 down - WOOHOO, let's floor this motha!!!
4 down - Wha -- it's time to get off the track?

Announcer: Shirley Pratt from Florida, 96 laps completed!

Final race time: 3:58:42 (9:06 pace), 3/8 F40-49, 7/27 Females.
13.3 mi (48.4 laps) @ 9:22 pace.
12.9 mi (47 laps) @ 8:51 pace. Last 1.1 mi (4 laps) @ 8:09 pace.

Token bib and medal photo.

Me and a couple faster friends from the race, Marathon Maniacs #1083 & 1084.

Nice race schwag (socks and pink fluid bottle given as the AG award).

Thanks for coming along with me on my ride!

Hello from Wisconsin!

Ran the InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, today in 3:58:42. I'd hoped for a sub-4 but my top priority was to finish without reinjuring my calfs or anything else. Mission accomplished!


Seeing much snow, however, not so much. It's been rainy here with highs around 40 degs F. Go figure, they're supposed to get more pretty white stuff this week after I leave. You win some, you lose some.

Most Memorable Marathons

Since I "only" ran 4 marathons last year (2 standalone, 2 in iron tris), I've felt the need to get myself back into marathon mood. To jog my memory, here are some of my most memorable ones, many of which were run before I began blogging end of 2006.

Top 5 Most Speedy Marathons
1. B&A Trail Marathon, MD - 3:27:59, 3/2006 (even split)
2. Marine Corps Marathon, VA - 3:29:07, 10/2005 (neg split)
3. Rocket City Marathon, AL - 3:29:41, 3/2003 (neg split)
4. Museum of Aviation Marathon, GA - 3:30:58, 1/2004 (neg split)
5. Camp Lejeune Marathon, NC - 3:33:18, 2/2004 (neg split)

Top 5 Most Scenic Marathons
1. Big Island Intl Marathon, HI - 3:40:24, 3/2004 (rain forests & beaches)
2. Colorado Marathon, CO - 4:32:05, 5/2007 (beautiful canyon & river, but my PW)
3. Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon, AK - 3:38:18, 6/2004 (mtns, forest, wildlife)
4. Marine Corps Marathon, VA - 3:29:07, 10/2005 (natl monuments & famous bldgs)
5. Tri-State Marathon, UT-NV-AZ - 3:58:52, 3/2006 (snow capped mtns, high desert & sand carved canyons)

Top 5 Most Fun Marathons
1. Zoom Yah Yah Indoor Marathon, MN - 4:18:49, 1/2009 (150 laps of smiles!)
2. Marine Corps Marathon, VA - 3:29:07, 10/2005 (awesome camaraderie & spirit!)
3. Disney Goofy Marathon, FL - 3:35:22, 1/2006 (so fun to be goofy!)
4. Bayshore Marathon, MI - 3:45:28, 5/2005 (last of my 21 marathons in 9 months!)
5. Fargo Marathon, ND - 3:38:05, 5/2009 (wonderful spectator support & signs!)

Top 5 Most Surprising Marathons
1. Disney Marathon, FL - 3:33:32, 1/2003 (my first marathon and a BQ?)
2. Boston Marathon, MA - 3:36:34, 4/2003 (I have to run a second marathon?)
3. Rocket City Marathon, AL - 3:29:41, 3/2003 (first sub-3:30 & first neg split -- hmm)
4. Big Island Intl Marathon, HI - 3:40:24, 3/2004 (me first overall female?!)
5. Zoom Yah Yah Indoor Marathon, MN - 4:18:49, 1/2009 (who knew 150 laps could be so fun?)

Top 5 Most Screwed Up Marathons (my fault)
1. Olathe Marathon, KS - 4:27:58, 3/2007 (drank unfamiliar sports drink - poop!)
2. Air Force Marathon, OH - 3:45:55, 9/2003 (started WAY too fast - crash & burn!)
3. Carlsbad Marathon, CA - 3:54:19, 1/2005 (wore new shoes from the expo - owie!)
4. Little Rock Marathon, AR - 4:05:50, 3/2007 (sprained ankle at mi 8 - yikes!)
5. Nike 26.2, CA - 4:04:24, 10/2004 (ran early downhills too hard - oh my!)

Top 5 Most Screwed Up Marathons (NOT my fault)
1. Valley of the Sun Marathon, AZ - 3:59:15, 3/2005 (Not enough buses to the start)
2. aka Valley of the Suck Marathon, AZ - (no driving to and parking at the start)
3. aka Valley of the Yuck Marathon, AZ - (20 min race start delay due to #1)
4. aka Valley of the Outta Luck Marathon, AZ - (no volunteers at some aid stations)
5. aka Valley of the $@?&#!! Marathon, AZ - (not enough fluids or cups & a hot race!)
Luckily for everyone, this marathon is no longer in existence.

With the exception of the last two Screwed Up categories, I'm hoping some of my marathons this year will make one of my Top 5 lists. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ouch, That Hurt

First of all, thank you for the comments on my previous post. For sure, Dave & I are a team and will be working together on his new diet. Right now, I'm getting a kick out of receiving emails from him (he's in DC now) telling me how "good" he's been. Traveling for work so often is where his biggest challenges lie, I think. I'll keep you posted on his progress, if for no other reason than to keep him accountable. I keep telling him he needs to start a blog!

Anyway, now on to my pain ...

Fortunately, it's not my calf again or some other injury, but it hurt nonetheless. What, you say?

A hard 5-miler yesterday.

With a marathon on tap for this weekend, I had to be super duper careful not to overdo things, yet I had to be honest about working hard. Since my calf fiasco last month, I've done mostly long & slow runs. That is, after I could even run again (there was no running to speak of as I hobbled around for 2 weeks). But, of course, I'm working with Coach Bill again and, well, I did not hire him to let me do what I want, did I???

No.

So "5 miles Hard" was what he wrote and that's what had to be done. Wah, I'd rather run 20 miles easy!

I started out with a mile warm-up. Then I stretched my legs. Then I stretched my arms. Then I checked my Garmin to make sure it was going to record what I was going to do (you'd be surprised how many times I've accidently stopped it instead of started it -- doh!). Then I took some deep breathes. Then I checked my Garmin again. Jeez, get on with it already!!

OK, here we go. Beep!

1st mile, 7:31 - Well, I didn't want to start out too fast anyway.

2nd mile, 7:22 - Better, and no word from Mr. or Mrs. Calf. Doubly good.

3rd mile, 7:15 - Ran past a group of Navy guys chatting & stretching. Had to look strong.

4th mile, 7:20 - Darn. Starting to feel the burn.

5th mile, 7:14 - OMG, how much further, how much further, how much further?!?!?!!!

Beep! Thank god!!

5 miles in 36:42, a 7:20 avg pace.

TBH, I was a little disappointed. But not bad for a solo effort and so early in the season and coming off an injury. There's definitely some work to do to meet some TBA goals I also have this year, though.

Mind: HA, you thought we were just going to do 8 marathons, 2 half
         marathons, a 10K, a 5K and a couple half irons and leave it at that?
Body: Gulp, yeah.
Mind: Silly body! Mwhahahahaha.

Anyway, it's all systems go. My first marathon of the year is in Wisconsin on Sunday. It's another crazy indoor one :-)

Clean(er) Eating

Above is one of my favorite pics of Dave taken on our honeymoon in Jamaica back in 1994. He went kneeboarding, swam a mile roundtrip to a nearby island and got resort certified to go diving while I, who could barely swim to save my life, spent most of my time on the beach sunbathing and fighting off babes eyeing him (note the 2 in back -- grrr).

In 2004, he was at his heaviest (270#) and full of self-loathing. He kept this second picture on his iPod to motivate himself to lose weight.

Getting back on his bike and riding with me the last few years has helped him get back down to 220-230#, but he's still NOT where he wants to be weight-wise or fitness-wise. This year he's decided to bite the bullet and tackle the last frontier: his diet. He got a book from a work-sponsored life balance class he attended last year:

Now I'm all for Dave eating better, but this book advocates a RADICAL diet change. No dairy products, no meat (only fish, which he hates and won't eat), no sugar, no added salt. Processed foods are to be avoided and only very limited amounts of whole grains are allowed. So pretty much everything Dave loves and used to eat regularly before is out. His diet will now largely consist of fresh veggies, fruit and legumes (uncanned). Man, it puts my so-called healthy eating habits to shame!

Some positives I see are:

- No food logging or calorie counting (Dave has a really hard time doing them)
- We're going to save a lot some not buying dairy products and meat.
- Our stove & microwave will stay much cleaner.
- There'll be lots of "junk" to donate to the next food drive.
- What we saved can be used to buy fruits and veggies from Costco, which only come in HUGE quantities.
- I'm burning extra calories washing and cutting up lots fruits & veggies.
- Dave was beaming when he told me he'd lost 8# last week.*
*According to the book, not unusual as it's mostly water weight from not eating so much salt.

But, unfortunately, he also felt like crap on the bike last week. Not sure whether it's the new diet, the 95+% humidity we had on Saturday, the 22mph winds (30mph gusts) on Sunday, or possibly all of the above.

Anyone have any advice or experiences with a clean eating diet like this? What do you eat/drink to be able to go long and perform well on your workouts? How does one get away from the notion of rewarding yourself with food? Is it possible to succeed with one spouse on the diet and not the other? Will he become so lean & sexy that I'll have to brush up on my martial arts to fend off ogling women?

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Which in Hawaiian means Happy New Year!

But, unfortunately, as of last night, I am back in Florida freezing my patootie. I know sub-30 deg F temps are no biggie for many of you but for me, who starts shivering when the thermometer drops below 70F, some DRASTIC measures are needed.

Like a new warmer look to my blog :-)

So what's been going on the past couple months???

Not a whole heck of a lot. Which is how it's supposed to be after an iron tri (or two), right?

Well, not quite ...

Without Coach Bill looking, I ran a half marathon early December, pulled a calf muscle midway and hobbled/walked to a near PW (1:48:41). That forced me take a couple weeks off from running so I woman-upped to meet my local Y's 100-mile swim challenge (counting miles I swam in that pool only). Then I was back in Hawaii for the holidays burning up some rubber on the roads riding with Dave (he wanted to bike 7000 miles in 2009). Oh, and I also ran a bit to see if I could still muddle through a marathon end of January.

My 2009 workout totals:

Swimming: 162 mi (116 swims, avg 2458 yd)
Biking: 4628 mi (109 rides, avg 42.5 mi)
Running: 1008 mi (116 runs, avg 8.7 mi)
Other: 35.4 hrs (62 strength/stretching sessions)

It's actually the first time I've ever tracked my workouts for an entire year so I have nothing to compare them to. The last few weeks, however, I felt like I was doing this most of the time:

Compared to what I was doing before when really training.

But it's back to business and blogging. In 2010, I plan to run 8 marathons to wrap up my 50 states marathon quest, two half marathons, my first-ever 10K and my third 5K (eek, short races). I'll also be doing a couple half iron tris to stay in tri shape for who-knows-what in 2011. And, I am back working with Coach Bill as it's obvious that I should NOT be left on my own ;-)

Look forward to catching up with all of you this week!

PS - Does anyone know an easy way to get a list of blogs I follow in Google Reader into a sidebar widget?

Trizophrenia Winner & Random Iron Thoughts

KennY, you are the winner of my Trizophrenia book giveaway! Email me your address so I can ship the book to you. My email address is available on my blog profile. (Please reply by Friday, 11/20, midnight eastern or it will go to someone else!)

___________________________

This past week has been weird. No specified workouts, no race worries, no concerns about weather. I've eaten all sorts of crap (leftover Halloween candy and birthday cake) and don't feel one bit guilty. I passed on doing a couple of bike and run events held last weekend that I could have done just for fun. Instead, I allowed myself to be slothful and just pondered some things:

- Signing up for 2 irons 2 weeks apart was the best thing I could have done. They kept me honest in my training and gave me a chance to do both races that I wanted to do. I know I recover quick from long races and would have gone CRAZY if I only did GFT and was stuck "all dressed up with no place to go" two weeks later.

- Some folks run/walked to get through their iron tri marathons, I run/pooped. I came across Top 8 Race Fueling Mistakes Made By Ironman Triathletes and Mistake #3: Eating too much (too late) on the bike and Mistake #1: Mixing Sugars (between my bike & run nutrition) look to be the most likely causes of my GI distress. The only way to know for sure, though, is to do another iron tri :-)

- The next 3: Ironman Arizona (11/22), Ironman Cozumel (11/29) and Ironman Western Australia (12/5) are all sold out, however :-(

- Though training for and doing an ironman does require much more effort than a running standalone marathon, I find it them much easier to recover from. I'd heard this before from several others too. I think it's because swimming, cycling and running a slower marathon don't beat your body up as much. Aside: The current world record for most number of ironmans completed in a calendar year is 15.

- For me, the hardest part about doing an ironman was training in 80-90+ deg heat all summer long. Coach advised against me going to Kona to train because he thought it'd be too cool. He was right. Nothing but training in FL could have prepared me as well for GFT, plus doing so gave me a chance to find out about the major bike course change before race day. B2B was 30-40 degs colder and my main concern was just staying warm enough on the bike after the swim. GI issues at both races, while annoying, were not show stoppers. Two very different races, one awesome training plan to get me to both finish lines. Thanks, Coach Bill!

- Top 10 list of the toughest things I've done so far:

1. 1992, Watch my dad die of cancer
2. 2004, Earn my 2nd deg black belt in karate (bruised ribs, very painful sparring)
3. 2001, Earn my 1st deg black belt in karate (1st major athletic achievement, age 40)
4. 2006, Learn to swim (truly *hated* swimming back then!)
5. 2006, Ironman Florida (first rough water swim, survived but missed swim cut-off)
6. 2004-5, Raise $21K for 2 charities (first FR effort, very hard for me to ask people for $$)
7. 2009, Train for 2 iron tris, GFT & B2B (embraced the enemy: heat)
8. 2007, Olathe Marathon (first time I had major GI issues in a race, nearly DNFd)
9. 2004-5, Run 21 marathons in 9 months (my 21 Run Salute)
10. 2005, Run a hot August 5K all-out with no speed training (21:56 min of agony!)

You know the saying: What doesn't kill you ...

And a couple announcements:

Firstly, Team Hendryx is accepting athlete applications for next year. If you have a running, triathlon or fitness goal you'd like help with, they can help whether you're based in Orlando or elsewhere. My coach, Coach Bill, is the POC for Team Hendryx and can be reached by email at cwenner @ cfl.rr.com if you're interested.

And secondly, I'm going to take a BIG break from blogging and training between now and probably my next race, the Instep Icebreaker Marathon (WI) in January. 2009 has been a very busy year for me and 2010 looks to be even busier. I need to get a lot of stuff squared away in the meantime and apologize in advance for not commenting as often on your blogs during this time but will try to follow along as much as I can. Best of luck to everyone racing, esp. Molly and Jen who are both doing their first ironman (IMAZ) this weekend!

2009 Beach 2 Battleship Iron Tri

Official Finishing Time: 12:45:52, 3/10 F45-49.

Where to begin???

First, I must thank all of you who have helped me, supported me, cheered for me, listened to me, put up with me and stuck with me all throughout this year. I could not have done it without you. Thank you!!!!!!

As you probably have guessed, B2B went well for me overall. There were a number of bloggers doing either the half or full iron distance so this event, for me, was probably half about racing and half about socializing. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet up with everyone I wanted to and of those I did meet, a few (Linae, Skoshi, Dread Pirate, Kevin, IM Able) did not make it into my camera :-( But my camera did capture a number of folks at B2B, including my support crew (thanks Dave and whoever else took the pictures), so this race report will be heavy on photos and not just of me. YAY!

_____________________________

Pre-race

At the expo (L to R): Vickie, 21st Century Mom, me.

After the pasta dinner (L to R): Me, Vickie, 21st Century Mom, Waddler, SW Trigal, TriSharkie.

After the 12:00 athlete meeting (L to R): Me, Nancy, Calyx, Donna.

Lesson learned: If you want to stand out, wear a high vis jacket. I had people asking me if I was Shirley all weekend it seemed and met the most number of bloggers I've ever met at a race. It was like old friends getting together since we'd been following each other's blogs for so long. Missy and Ryan, I'm sorry we missed meeting up, Ryan for the second time at a race. How is it I can miss seeing a guy who's like 6'5"?

_____________________________

The Race

The B2B swim was a point to point course with an incoming tide that was expected to result in extraordinarily fast swim times, as in 2008. At the athletes meeting, the race director mentioned that you could probably even stop swimming and float along in the current and still make the 2:20 cut-off. Me likey!



But on the bus ride over to T1 (swim to bike transition area) race morning, the woman in back of me said that a couple folks actually missed the swim cut-off last year because they swam on the right side of the channel where the current was supposedly the strongest and went too far past the first turn and were not strong enough swimmers to fight the current to get back. Yikes! So I made a note to keep my eyes peeled for the "wiggly" man (air filled stick figure on a boat) that marked the turn and start swimming towards it early.

Unfortunately, spectators were not allowed at either the swim start or swim exit so I have no photos from either. Nancy's training buddy Dave zipped up my wetsuit at the swim start and I saw Roy, another Orlando athlete I've trained with a bit, and IM Able just before getting into the water. The water temp this year was 67-68 degs and felt nice compared to the air temp which was below 40 when we started 8-O Here's a video from last year's swim that someone took that will give you an idea of what we looked like in the channel. WEEEE!!!



2.4 mi swim time - 1:06:40* (1:34/100 yds), 7/10 F45-49. WOW!!!
*Time includes climbing out of the water on a ladder, getting my wetsuit stripped, going through a fresh water shower and running to a timing mat maybe 100 yards from the water.



So it's a good thing that Dave did not listen to me when I said I thought I'd finish the swim in around 1:20-1:30. He got there early and caught me running to T1 (I am to the right in the above photo wearing a jog bra under my swimsuit). BRRR!!! I was very happy to be wearing swim socks, which were allowed, so my feet could stay warmer before, during and after the swim. They also made running 400 yds from the water to T1 on concrete and asphalt MUCH easier. Thanks Bootchez for recommending those socks!

The women's dressing tent was a lot more crowded than at GFT but I found a chair to sit on in a corner. I took the swimsuit off but kept the jog bra and HRM that was underneath on and dried off as much as possible. Then I proceeded to put on more clothes than I've ever worn on a tri bike segment. Tri Shorts, short sleeved bike top, leg warmers, arm warmers ... I saw Vickie and Dread Pirate come in shortly afterwards. Jacket, bike gloves, ear warmer, socks -- where the heck are my socks???

After searching desperately in my bag and around me for a couple minutes I realized I must have worn them during my test ride the day before and forgotten to put them back in my bag. DOH!! Sockless I go (hopefully the toe warmers on my shoes will keep my feet from freezing). At my bike I pulled on my fully fingered gloves too but wound up taking them off only a few miles into the ride.



T1 was no doubt a new record slow time but due to a timing glitch was not captured. Instead, it would be included in our bike splits. Oh well ...



This race had two separate transition areas. T1, where we started our bike segment, was near Wrightsville Beach and we'd finish at T2, which was by the Battleship North Carolina about 12 miles away. Of course, our ride was wee bit longer than 12 miles and part of it early on was actually on I-140, an INTERSTATE. Ooh, wet cycling dream come true!!!



For the most part, though, the bike course was on rural roads. I thought it was pretty flat as advertised but there were so-called false flats (sneaky inclines that look flat but aren't). The wind was low in the first half and since the pressure of finishing my first iron tri was off, I let my HR hover in the hi Z2 to lo Z3 range early on and passed a lot of folks. A few women asked me if I was Shirley as I went by. Sorry, I'm not sure who you all were but thanks for the words of encouragement!



At mile 30, we passed the first aid station and I was definitely warming up. I had to make a brief full stop to pull off the removable sleeves from my jacket so it could be worn as just a vest. They went into my front pockets along with the gloves I took off earlier giving me a nice tubby tummy look. My arm warmers went up and down depending on whether I was riding in full sun or shade but never came off, nor did my leg warmers or the vest. I don't remember my feet bothering me so they must have been fine without socks.



Around mile 35, a black sedan drove past me with some folks cheering and honking a bike horn out the windows. I didn't know whose car it was but recognized hubby Dave and my step-daughter KT. They'd found me! My son-in-law KV was behind the wheel of a rental car.

Dave's nickname for me is Muffin and it was his idea that they'd all wear orange during the race to make them easy to spot.

They came prepared and cheered for me several times along the bike course, which was great. We also saw a hunter with a bright orange hat and camouflage clothing sitting on a chair by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere watching cyclists go by with either a rifle or shotgun in his lap. Yeah, he motivated me to go a little faster! No, we did not get a picture of him or ask him what he was doing.

Somewhere along the way, Dave got out of the car with his bike to get his workout in during the race. As he hammered along, he encouraged folks and perhaps disheartened a few who thought he was in the race. No race number, not racing! He caught up to me after about 20 miles, said a quick 'hi' and then fell back to be picked up by KV. Must be nice.



The last 38 miles of the bike course were the toughest. Notice on the bike map that nearly straight stretch of road from the topmost part of the course to the bike finish? I'll give you one guess which way the wind was heading. WeatherUnderground said it wasn't more than 6 mph but it felt more like 8-10 mph, especially going up and across this one last bridge that was in the last couple miles. Evil!



T1 + 112 mi bike time - 6:30:47*, 2/10 F45-49.
*My bike Garmin says I averaged 18.0 mph for 107.4 mi (it's missing some miles because it turned itself off a few times and I didn't notice right away) so assuming I rode about the same speed the whole 112 miles, my T1 time was ~15 min, which is about what I expected.

I handed off my bike and helmet to a volunteer and then was totally dependent on other volunteers telling me where to go as I'd never been to T2 (bike to run transition area) before. I found my running gear bag and then almost went into the wrong changing tent. Oops!

T2 time - 9:34, including a porta-potty stop, as usual.



I began the run feeling probably the best I have ever in a tri. Hmm, maybe I should ride 112 miles more often? Looks like KT had taken my suggestion about what could be written on signs literally. (Click for a closer look at the sign).

The run was much hillier than I thought it'd be with 2 bridge crossings and two other short climbs later along the course, all of which had to be done twice since the course was two laps. But at least the temps were really comfy, high 50s to low 60's when I started. In the first few miles, I saw Nancy, Calyx, Donna and SW Trigal, who were finishing up their half iron. They looked strong and gave me a boost. How fun it is to see folks you know during a race!



I got down to the 6.55 mi turnaround in about 1:05 but then got hit with GI issues again, unbelievably, even worse than what I had at GFT two weeks ago. WTF?!?!!! Not sure what was wrong this time (I didn't even take Perpeteum on the bike at this race and there was no Gatorade being offered on the run course) but I took all the meds I had with me (Gas-X, Pepto Bismol and Immodium). Nothing seemed to help. I had to take off my Fuel Belt and carry it over my shoulder again, and make friends with every freaking porta-potty along the course. Thankfully they were at mile apart intervals at this race too.



Every time I got out of one, though, I felt fine and was able to run well again until about a mile later. My gut was like a clock! One guy told me he couldn't help but smile every time I passed him (he passed me when I stopped). I hoped it was because of my shirt and nothing that might have shown the problems I was having (like toilet paper stuck in my shorts or worse ...).

Meanwhile, the Team Muffinator B2B Support Crew waited patiently for me along Water Street (miles 3, 10, 16, 23). KV's sign got some laughs from folks.



The sign on the back, however, probably puzzled some. (KV is a Civil Engineer specializing in water modeling and I think this is his way of saying "imagine you're running downhill")

Starting my second lap, it was getting dark and colder so I grabbed my clip-on headlamp and a long sleeve shirt from my special needs bag. Although the race director had said the run course would be well lit the entire way, I wasn't taking any chances and it turned out to be a good decision as parts of the Greenfield Lake Park area (southernmost part of the run course) were very dark, so dark that I once ran off the path and onto a street. Too busy looking at the ground where I was stepping, I had missed seeing a sign and volunteers directing us to turn right. Oops again!

My need to make stops pretty much every mile continued on the second lap, unfortunately. How in the world can I have anything left in my system? But, I was making good progress regardless so after I saw my support crew at mile 16, they took a water taxi to the finish line to make sure they got there in time to see me finish (the lines for them were long!). I kept busy by looking for folks I knew along the course. I'm not sure when I saw them but I remember seeing Linae, Kevin, Skoshi, TriSharkie, Dread Pirate, Vickie, and Waddler. I cheered for them and hoped everyone would make the cut-off.

As I was making my way back, Dave used the Buddy Pass we were given to grab all my gear so I didn't have to go collect it after I finished the race. Thanks Dave! My crew found ways to entertain themselves.

Unlike other races, B2B had runners from a local college escort you in on your last mile if you wanted. Mine showed up about half a mile from the finish and I'd forgotten about this so I tried to outrun him at first. Where the heck did this young guy come from? I'll show him ... Dude then started talking to me, told me I was really moving well (yeah, like a sub-8 pace!) and asked how far I wanted him to run with me. What? Oh yeah, uh, how about just to that T2 clock up ahead. That way I could slow down some and actually make it to the finish without dying. At the clock, he told me I had 300 yards to go and congratulated me.



26.2 mi run time - 4:58:53 (11:24 pace), 3/10 F45-49.
Total race time - 12:45:52, 3/10 F45-49.

We received a nice race medal and I also got a little piece of the original teak deck of the Battleship North Carolina.

_____________________________

Post-race - Most of these were taken during the awards cruise:

Me and my two favorite post-race treats: hubby Dave and recovery socks.

Vickie and I on the Henrietta III riverboat. B2B was Vickie's first iron tri. Congrats, Vickie!

Poor lil' pancake ain't got a chance against an ironwoman :-)

After breakfast and the awards ceremony, the boat began to finally move.

We got a closer look at the USS Battleship North Carolina. Lots more guns!

Outside in the fresh air, I found Nancy and her training buddy Dave. Nancy completed the B2B half while Dave did the full distance. Well done to both!

Wonderful time with family, gorgeous weather, great race -- what more could I ask for?

Congrats to everyone who raced B2B, Ironman Florida, Silverman or otherwise last weekend. Please forgive me, I am behind on my blog reading but will be catching up soon!

Unofficial B2B Race Time: 12:45

The official results have not yet been posted but that's what the video that Dave took of me finishing said. W00T!!!

Race report to follow in a few days. Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm spending a couple xtra days in Wilmington with my awesome support crew. Photo: (R to L) Hubby Dave, me, step daughter & son-in-law.

Creator of Frazz Giveaway!

My recovery from the Great Floridian Iron Triathlon has been going great! I am raring to go get me a new iron PR at Beach to Battleship. Of course, my body may have totally different plans but I will be there with a big smile no matter how long it takes to cross the finish line. 2 irons in 2 weeks, what the heck is wrong with me???

Well, a new book I've been reading, Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete, seems to explain it all.

Trizophrenia: Symptoms typically include an obsessive-compulsive need for the rituals of the sport: eat, swim, eat, work, eat, ride, eat, work, eat, run, eat, go to bed early. Delusional spending on expensive equipment, indifference to pain, and hallucinations of future grandeur intensify over years spent in the sport.

Sound like anyone you know?

Well, I had the opportunity to do a Q&A with Jef Mallett, the award-winning creator of the syndicated comic strip Frazz, who in his book unravels the sport's mystery and madness while raising it to new heights of hilarity. To get to know him a little better and have a chance to win a FREE copy of Trizophrenia, read on!

1. When is Miss Plainwell going to do her first tri?
I don't have any plans to get Miss Plainwell into a triathlon, but that doesn't mean a thing. My characters are always doing their own thing without my permission. Seriously, characters do that. Ask anyone who tells stories for a living. You create them, you think you control them, but no. Which raises some seriously disturbing theological questions, if you want to go there. I'll say this, though: Miss Plainwell somehow looks a little like my wife, and she just did her first triathlon this year.

2. As a triathlete in the colder climates, how to you stay in shape and motivated in the dark cold months?
Well, I'm a middle-aged triathlete who's constantly behind on his deadlines, so even dark, cold months whip by remarkably fast. So motivation is not the problem. I have plenty of indoor swimming options, and you can run in just about anything. The one change I've made is that I hardly bike at all over the winter. In recent years, I've found that if I concentrate on the other two, do a few masters meets and aim for a spring marathon or something, the bike comes back almost seamlessly. And my gear isn't all covered with salt (from the road or from me on rollers).

3. If Frazz doubled the value of the car when he put his bike on the rack, wasn't the Chevette over-priced or did he just use his old bike that day?
You know, that's a very good point. Maybe he had his gym membership receipt in the glove compartment.

4. How do you train your mind to overcome the pain when you do this silly stuff?
I just watch golf on TV and suddenly everything else seems painless. No, seriously, I would NEVER watch golf on TV. But I have certainly compiled a handy list of bad days for comparison's sake, and that works nicely. Beyond that, it's just habit. Every time you push through pain, the easier it gets. And then there's the real motivator: It probably works the other way. Every time you back off, the easier that gets. And I don't want to experiment with that, so I press on.

5. Frazz seems to have the most problem with the swim. Is that your case too?
It might be. Or it might just be where it's most evident. I can hold my own in a triathlon swim, but I go to a Masters meet and compete against specialists and I'm thoroughly fed my own lunch. There aren't so many casual Masters swimmers, where you go to any given marathon or 5K and you're not likely to come in last, let alone come in last several times in the same meet. Make no mistake, though: I love it.

6. How do you maintain your drive over the years and face the fact that you aren't as young / fast as you used to be?
I'm only not as young as I used to be. I'm still getting faster. That's the beauty of never being particularly elite when you were younger. And it's also the beauty of a sport where there's always somewhere new to improve. I am less fast on the bike. But that's the discipline that had me closest to elite status (which, not close at all) when I was young. And a few years back, I realized I needed to decide if I wanted to be a cyclist with a wetsuit, or if I wanted to back off that and be a triathlete. So I'm not as close to the top of the bike split list anymore, but I'm a little more of a threat by the end of the race.

7. How many bikes are too many?
Well, you can only ride one at a time. But it's nice to have a choice. You know what's the best thing about too many bikes? You can lend them to people to try out. It's the evangelist in me.

8. We have read that Frazz could be cast a grown up Calvin. If that is the case, wouldn't Caulfield be Hobbs?
That gets debated a lot, which, is OK. Like all cartoonists my age, and smart ones of any age, I learned a lot from that strip, and feel no compulsion to hide it -- or copy it. I think Frazz developed Calvin's hair -- messy hair never goes out of style, and it fits his personality -- but I think his personality falls closer to Hobbes's. Hopefully not too close, though. Who could re-paint the Mona Lisa?

9. How do you balance work, family, and training?
With mixed success. I have better days and worse days. But it all ties together. Training makes me better at the other two, and being fit makes me more efficient, so an hour spent training is not necessarily an hour lost in the other areas. And obviously I couldn't race without an income or support from my wife. We don't have children, the cats don't care, and the dog would run with me all the time if she could. Everybody gets 60 minutes an hour, and hardly anybody thinks it's enough, and yet it all gets done. Best I can tell is that when you have time to waste, you learn to waste time. Maybe the inverse follows.

10. What was your parents reaction the first time they saw you in bike shorts?
My parents bought me my first pair of bike shorts when I was a teen-ager. I'm more worried about how they feel when they see me in a tri-suit at 47.

To have a chance to win the book, leave a comment and name your weakest sport if you are a triathlete or were ever to become one (even hypothetically). To get an extra entry, let me know you're linking back to this post (http://humbletriathlete.blogspot.com/2009/11/frazz-giveaway.html). Comments will be accepted until Friday, 11/13, midnight Eastern time. US-based and non-U.S.-based friends are welcome to enter.

Good luck, everyone, and I'll see you on the flip side of B2B!