The Ugly truth and Silver Linings!!!!

“If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying.”
― Matthew Quick, The Silver Linings Playbook

I happen to watch "Silver Linings Playbook" the night before the race!   I found the messages stuck out loud in my race!

Ironman Brasil was a race that I have wanted to do for such a long time!  I had 10 weeks between Cabo and Brasil to build my fitness into what I thought/hoped would  result in a solid race and a top 5 finish!

I trained hard and felt 100% race day!  Race week had gone perfectly!

I had arrived in Brasil  and was greeted by comfortable breezy autumn days and warm friendly people. Florianopolis is on the beautiful Santa Catarina island and is a charming  vacation hot spot for rich and famous Brazilians. The run course was lined with million dollar homes and perfectly manicured streets.  The touristy Jurere International buzzed with Portuguese athletes sipping on espresso's and eating pastries and training in large groups all day!

Rodrigo and Carla

For anyone thinking of traveling there...Most locals do not speak English! Not even a word so my days were comically spent acting out my requests or thankfully on occasions where I could get internet using google translate! I was staying at a cute little guest house nestled on the hills of the run course about 2 miles from the start. The inn filled up with athletes as the week progressed and everyone was excited to have a pro in the house!  The inn keepers Carla and  Rodrigo were two delightful special  people who made me laugh and catered to my every need! We spent a lot of time trying to learn each others languages and had some fun with that! 

Jurere Guest House

I arrived race morning so calm and ready! The pro field would be alot deeper than anticipated and the talent equally strong! 
I felt positive I could have a great race though! 

The Swim

As I watched the sun rise on the beach that morning I was truly excited to race!

 I looked back at the thousands of age groupers lined up behind us and I prepared myself mentally for the mass start and to get beat up on the swim! The gun went off and I got a great start into the water. But it did not take long to be engulfed by lots of age groupers. I was amazed by how many people passed me. I started to worry that I was swimming so slowly!  The calm water was now a mosh pit of swimmers and I felt like I was trapped! What I found was that  people started out hard but then started slowing down and I found it impossible to pass. Forcing my first 1000 m to be rather slow and way to easy. Once it thinned out I was able to push the pace and enjoyed the swim immensly!  The swim was a M shape with 4 large sighting buoys. On my second out and back because of the current I swam far to the right but it looked like alot of people were getting taken left and cutting the course short and not swimming around the 2 outside buoys. I stopped looking as it would frustrate me and just swam the course. I was pysched to see 56 minutes, a PR swim as I came running out onto the beach! This was a FAST swim with ten pro men swimming under 50 min!!!

Bike

The 112 mile bike course is a 2 loop course with 4 big climbs.Onto the bike and I felt great. I had come out of the water with another girl and we left T1 close to each other. I pushed hard to keep her in sight and found that would mean pushing probably 5-10 watts higher than I should have been. What was apparent though right from the start was the blatant drafting on the bike. At first I thought it was just because the course was tight as there were so many people that exited the water at the same time. But once onto the highway it was still very congested with bikers. I do not like this kind of situation on the bike in an IM, especially so early on and I had been worried about it! A pro came by in a group yelling and screaming about the drafting 15 miles in and I just thought to myself just keep calm and race my own race. The drafting was very distracting though as a group would come by and then a marshall would follow. But it seemed like the marshalls were unsure of how to handle the group drafting problem. 

I got my penalty at mile 27 while trying to pass a single guy! The Brazilian men are tough competitors who don't seem to like women passing. There was no dropping back and no letting pass without a fight! Which led me to ride side by side by him for longer than I should. Hence I was crushed when I was flashed a yellow card. Actually I was amazed that out of all of the drafting  out there I got this penalty. I had to pull over and wait for them to cross my number. A process that took way to long! Once back on my ride I spent a while fuming and crushed! The race was unfolding before me. I tried hard mentally to think that I had just had a ten minute flat and that I could still come back from it. But truth was I could see on all the turns how far the pro girls especially those taking advantage of riding in a pack had.    This was frustrating as I already had I penalty and a second would mean disqualification. I  just had to drop back slow down when a group went by and  wait for them all to pull away! This is an example of what to expect in Brasil! I was not prepared for it!

I really tried to stay positive and keep my head in the race. My goal had been to bike 5 hours even and I was right there at 56 miles and only a minute or 2 off at 84 miles. But the last 28 miles were super windy and I slowed down!

I arrived into transition with a 5.08 bike split. 
Not to bad I thought...just keep positive! Its a long day! FOCUS!

The penalty tent was in transition! The standing around for 10 minutes ticked by so slowly and I left the penalty box deflated for sure. My goal would just be to run the run as fast as I could and try set a PR! Try find the silver lining I said to myself. The 26 mile marathon was a 3 loop course. One long 13 mile loop and 2x6.5 loops. The first miles ticked by fast and I felt fantastic. The hilly section was a series of 3 hills with some 16-20% grades. It was there while I was digging to get up the hills that  I saw just how far I was back to the leaders. 

 




















I was excited for team mate Jessie Donovan who had worked her way to 3rd place despite having GI issues! But I was so discouraged to see that 10 minutes of standing around had taken me out of the race even if I PR"D my run by 10 minutes. I kept pushing ahead but mentally definitely settled for just a finish!!! Sometimes in a race situation like this I can enjoy the crowds and other racers. But the language barrier definitely made me feel a little isolated and I missed the feel of American Ironman races!
This was quite an exciting finish line but with an extra 1km added to the marathon I was ready for it to be over! Instead of running in at 3.26/7 I ended up with a 3.31
The run was all about the getting it done!

I am always grateful to finish an Ironman and am always happy to finish feeling good! 
The result of not pushing was that I felt fine the next day! I almost feel like this was just a long training day and I am ready to race again soon!!!  

I really enjoyed my last day in beautiful Florianapolis. Venturing to a little fishing village Santo Antonio  for an amazing lunch and meeting with a fun group that helped Jessie Donovan and I translate the menu. I too caught the most amazing sunset and ate the most delicious cake. 

I was invited to the post Ironman Party...which only started at 11.30pm. Brazilians party late!I opted for sleep and recovery instead!

One thing I have learned about myself in this Ironman journey is that I am not a quitter!  I may get easily distracted when things happen and in Ironman alot of things can happen! But after 24 Ironman I feel I am still trying to perfect the mental aspects of racing and pushing my body! It's what keeps me coming back!!!

Some awesome sponsors represented here!

Thanks as always to my Coach Jesse and my awesome sponsors at Qt2 Systems!
PowerBar, QR, Blue Seventy, Normatec, Rudy Project, The Zone, Nuun, Fuel Belt!
Also to my family who I love dearly for putting up with all my travels and race schedule!!!

New Orleans 70.3 and post race fun in the "BIg Easy!"

The " Big Easy"...Home to the best music, street performers, food and the New Orleans 70.3 of course! This was a race that I had put on my schedule back in August of last year and I was so excited to be racing there again!

Having done this race twice before I felt confident that there were not going to be too many surprises!

Me race morning...feeling good despite a very restless nights sleep!

The morning started with a powerful prayer and moment of silence for those affected in the Boston attacks. All week I had been glued to the TV, with my emotions running high, and with such a heavy heart. I found the prayer to be much needed and I  I let the tears run freely. I was to dedicate my efforts that day to the victims that I had such great empathy for! 

Moments later we were jumping into into a slightly choppy  and slightly cool (64degrees) Lake Pontchartrain.  I was grateful to be wearing my Blue Seventy wetsuit and was ready to race!!!  The change of the location of the swim course  was an excellent idea as the last previous years the swim was either super choppy or cancelled!  I welcomed the South Shore Harbor swim, even if it meant zigzagging your way through a tight set of buoys.

The swim start went well and I noticed once again that I was keeping up with the front girls… But with UBER swimmers Amy Marsh and Haley Chura that did not last long! The  chop made me feel sloppy and out of rythm and the group quickly broke up. I found myself and Beth Shutt pulling the second group of girls. Despite the close quarters and the constant current pulling us off course, I thought it was well marked and I felt I did quite a good job navigating between the many orange, green and yellow buoys. Well until the last 3/4 mark where I went left to shore and everyone went right and I had to kill myself to catch up to the lead girls. I exited in 30 min a little disappointed but happy to be with a pack!

On exiting the swim I was determined to have a smooth transition and to get on the bike and to stay with the girls no matter what and thats exactly what I did. I quickly settled right into the power/zone that Coach Jesse and I had spoken about and I felt quite comfortable there. This year I signed on with Quintana Roo and my CD0.1 felt so smooth and comfortable! 
I was very impressed with the efforts all the girls and the drafting marshals made to keep this one of the cleanest 70.3's I had raced in a long time. The ride out would head directly into a head wind. The plan would be to push a little harder on the way out keeping this in mind.  At some point 2 of the girls pulled away when the girl in front of me was given a drafting penalty.  I was annoyed as I had to slow down to wait for the motor bike and biker to have a whole conversation and by the time I could get pass the other two girls  were 1 mile down the road. So I pushed the remaining 40 miles solo.

This ride went ALMOST perfectly but I never leave out the annoying details . In Los Cabos my aero bottle straw somehow went MIA on the bike. So I assured Coach Jesse I would tape that sucker on. I trimmed it down to what seemed like a reasonable height. I even rode around the french Quarter dodging horses, trolleys, tourists, cars…to make sure it seemed ok. But never the less 2 minutes into the bike I was painfully aware that I had made it just a hair too long. Enough that for 2hours and 27 minutes I had a straw constantly hitting  my chin which was not pleasant. The funny part was the following day I was wandering what on earth was wrong with my face. I seemed to have broken out all over and under my chin. Only realizing moments later that straw had left a mark!!! 




 If I can critique the 70.3 race directors at all it would just be the lack of aid stations on the bike. I recall there only being four. The first and last were within 10 miles  of home when you did not need them as much. Thus I was once again in a situation where I was completely out of fluids twice. So that is something that I still need to work on...

The beauty of having raced an extremely hard Ironman four weeks before was that the bike went extremely fast! I was very grateful for the tailwind most of the way home despite having to stay 100% focused to keep the power up. I came into transition relieved to have executed the bike perfectly! I was told I was 7 minutes behind the leader and 1.30 behind the girls in front of me.  

I headed out onto the run and was immediately aware that it was pretty hot and humid! My legs too were not feeling too fresh and they felt very heavy running. At times I felt like I was running through quick sand but I just tried to keep some sort of turnover. Team mate Kim Scwabenbauer ran by me looking so strong as she had at our 

QT2 systems training camp 6 weeks before. I cheered her on to go catch the girls ahead not realizing how close we all were. At the 6 mile mark  another team mate Jocelyn Cornmyn passed me looking fresh and speedy. I yelled at my legs to cooperate and I decided not to let her go…enough was enough. I would take my heart beat up a few notches and I decided to stop the abuse I was putting on my self but instead I started thanking my legs for being strong and injury free and allowing me to push as hard as I was pushing. Coming off of an Ironman and only getting in 2 weeks of speed work and in the middle of a build for IM Brazil this was all my body was allowing and I was at peace with it. I directed my run once again to those athletes who would now face the challenges of wearing prosthetics. I prayed for them and that they would find the strength to return to the sports they love. I found all this took away the hurt I was feeling and I noticed that my pace had dropped 5-10 seconds a mile and I was executing my run as well as I could. 

Love my Pearl Izumi N1's

 I ran into the finish 11th place , 20 seconds out of top ten and only less than 3 minutes out of 6th place. I view this race as a step in the right direction. After a few slower 70.3's last year this was the fastest I have raced a 70.3 since my crash almost 2 years ago! This gives me some confidence that I can reach my goals going into IM Brazil. 

Big thanks as always to Coach Jesse Kropelnicki of QT2 Systems, and all my sponsors that keep me going! PowerBar, Quintana Roo, Normatec, Pearl Izumi,Blue Seventy, Fuel Belt, Dr Sears Zone and Clarence from Brielle Cyclery!

After the race I headed back to the French Quarter to really spend the next day soaking in the many charms the French Quarter has to offer. This town is very special! There is no place like it in the world!

A video of some street performers!

Beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde

Oysters and crackers post race!

Ironman Los Cabos Race Report! The luck of the Irish!

One week post IM Cozumel in November I decided I would like to open my race season with IM Los Cabos!  It sounded like a great idea! Besides it was a few days before my birthday so where better to celebrate! All winter while clocking countless hours on the trainer I would dream of racing Ironman in the hot Mexican sun! 

I arrived in charming hot beautiful San Jose Mexico. Ironman Los Cabos stage would be one that I won't easily forget and will put up there as one of the most beautiful courses I have raced for sure! 

THE COURSE

The 2.4 mile swim set in the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean from Palmilla Beach. A place where there are local fishermen,stand up paddle boarders, rich tourists,  pelicans hang and of course the whales impress!

 

The 112 mile bike is set along the tourist corridor between the relaxed San Jose del Cabo and the  vibrant Cabo San Lucas with a grueling section that a friend described as equivalent to the energy lab in Hawaii but on bike!
Lastly the run would weave it's way through downtown San Jose, past a Mexican rodeo and busy tourist shops to the finish line at the city hall!

THE RACE

I was feeling excited to race. It was hot and the course beautiful. The days leading up the race I felt solid. I was relaxed although a little nervous about the distance. Even after 23 IM the distance of the race scares me.  I respect the distance but the goal is not just to finish, but to race as fast as I can given my fitness! I was feeling good for March...but their is always doubt in the back of my mind on how the winter training has gone and if I have done enough... 

Race day was to be on St Paddy's day! I kept saying to myself and others I hope I have the "luck of the Irish!" race day! Hoping for some good luck! Well apparently up until this point

 I have been misinformed about the saying!  Luck of the Irish is actually bad luck! Who knew??? I must have jinxed myself but I will get back to that...

Morning came with my usual not a wink of sleep. I do feel so much better when I sleep before a race but I was ok with it and despite some jelly legs I headed down to the race start. Once I walked down into transition the tossing and the turning of the night was forgotten and I was 100% ready to race!

Not only was I ready but I was loving every minute of the energy of the morning. The sun was rising over stunning Palmilla beach. The ocean calm with a light breeze.

When I lined up there was no fear! 

THE SWIM

At 6.43 I sprinted into the ocean in my suit and swam as fast as I could. The ocean felt great. Even though I was one of the first girls in the water the lead girls pulled away quick. So I settled into what I felt was a good strong swim effort. The current seemed to be at our back and I could feel someone on my feet. At the second turn around buoy I could see that I was pulling a group of 4 or 5 girls. I tried to surge and push to catch the girl infront of me but there was no bridging the gap and noone seemed to want to pass me to help! So I continued to just push as hard as I could all the way to the finish.  I felt like I was going to have a really fast swim split as I felt great the whole way but I have to say I was slightly dissapointed when I saw a 1.03 swim split.   I do think the course might have been a touch long or swimming into the current on the way back a bit slower.

But that thought left me as I sprinted up the beach to get a lead on the girls that were trailing close behind me. 

Running through the T1 tent the girls offered to strip my wetsuit. Here is when the day started to get a little shaky. It seemed that as hard as 2 then 4 girls seemed to yank they could not pull my wetsuit off. It was bizarre but by the time they got it off all the girls were leaving T1 without me. 

THE BIKE

Next crazy thing...riding up the hill out of T1 I hit a bump while trying to put my bike shoe on and the whole shoe came off my pedal forcing me to stop and put it on. Ugh! Ok now the group had pulled away from me and I was a little annoyed but quickly setteled into the ride once on Highway 1 heading towards Cabo San Lucas.  Coach Jesse had given me a power number to hit no matter what!!!! I went out just above that number and felt great. My heart rate was super low and I had a big smile on my face.  I could see all the girls that had passed me and I was feeling great!

I loved this course...despite the endless lights, cracks and bumps in the road.

BUT 22 miles in and my third obstacle hit me.  It seems all my asking for the luck of the Irish was indeed happening but not the way it was meant to! I was about to have the worst string of bad luck I have had in Ironman in a long time. Nothing major but just enough to be distracting!

Not sure what happened first but my gears were not shifting correctly and on a uphill climb I dropped my chain. I tried to pick it up while spinning but it got lodged in the crank. Ok off my bike for the second time...hands all greasy...got it out and back in action. But no sooner had I started to ride when I realized that somehow I lost my aero bottle straw! You got to be kidding me...no straw would leave me with only one water bottle cage which meant no room for error on grabbing a drink at the aid stations. But I reminded myself not to panic as their where plenty of aid stations. 

It also became very apparent that my gears were no longer working correctly. This was first evident on a long descent where I had to spin at cadence 130 and then coast as I had no power. This course is rolling and with no power on the downhills you lose time and your watts drop. I figured I had exactly 4 gears to ride in. We have a saying at QT2...Control what you can control on race day! Well it just seemed like things were coming apart. But I was still keeping my focus. I could just try push harder on the uphills to make up the power and time. Focus Jacqui Focus! Be smart and just do everything else right!

It is so funny while most people were focused on the heat and hills and even the wind that picked up quite heavy on the second loop!

 All I could think about was my hydration so sorry if I spend a little too much time reflecting on it! But the way you hydrate on the bike sets up your whole marathon so it is key!

Without an aero bottle my goal would be at each aid station to grab a sports drink and put it in the only holder I had...then I would grab a water and dump it all over to keep cool.  

But something was going on with the fueling bottles. 1) They were small so they would fall out of the holder without you even noticing! 2) The tops were not allowing the gatorade to flow so all I would get was a trickle of fluid.  3) I could not believe my luck when at various times 3 bottles were handed to me with their seals on! 

 It was HOT and things were not going my way. I could not get enough fluid!!  I would hang tough to the next station which was only 6 miles away. But the same thing would happen at the next station.  At this point my mouth was so dry and the course so hot. I was so thankful and appreciative to my Costa Rican friend Milton who took a minute to try help me by twisting the cap hard with his teeth even though he was racing for his Kona spot.  The second loop was a blur of dehydration as twice I lost my gatorade bottle and rode with no drinks for miles at a time.

The view from the bike course

Despite my legs feeling good I just had one goal and that was to finish the bike without damaging myself too much!  My breaking point was grabbing a bottle near the last aid station after riding for 6 miles without a drink in the hottest part of the course and I am talking upper 80's/ 90 degrees. I went for a big sip of gatorade and the seal was once again was still on!  My chest closed and I started to panic and have an asthma attack. This is when I know I am pushing my body too far. I had to stop and have a little cry and regain my composure. I opened the seal and drank the whole bottle.  

There are many obstacles you can deal with on the bike and you have to learn how to think rationally when they happen. You have to be able to deviate from a plan! This was a first for me in an Ironman!

By the time I pulled into T2 I was very unsure about running. I was in 16th place and so far from where I was hoping to be. My stomach had been cramping on the bike and I knew I would have to jog the early miles and spend some time at the aid stations just hydrating if I was going to get through a marathon.

It crossed my mind to pull out for sure. Save myself for my next Ironman in 9 weeks! But I was all the way in Mexico and I came to race an Ironman. To finish...so that is what I did.

One mile at a time...At one point I thought I might beable to get a PR run as I was holding 7.20's and my legs were feeling good.  But the lack of sufficient hydration early on in the bike caught up to me and I had to jog the last 10 miles. Good enough for a 3.34 marathon! 

So I tried to cheer the other athletes on and appreciate the beautiful mountains and the crowds of spectators.

I crossed the finishline in 10.34 Good enough for 16th PRO. 

I will remember this race for pushing through...keeping the focus when all seemed to be falling apart! When the luck of the Irish was thrown my way but I did not give up. I am thankful for having a strong body that allowed me to finish even though I probably was in no position to run and a strong mind for allowing me to not beat myself up but instead face what I was given like a champ!

So I did not find my pot of gold in Mexcio. But what I did experience was another opportunity to do what I love. To be a part of a new race! To meet so many athletes ..to experience the hard working mexican people with their big smiles and warm hearts..to see whales and listen to music and watch a sunset on a beach and celebrate with friends and family! 

Celebrating my birthday!

I loved my start to the season and am always thankful to beable to do what I do!

So time to get back to training..next up is New Orleans and then Brazil! 

Another adventure awaits!

Big thanks to my sponsors for 2013! 

QT2 Systems/Coach Kropelnicki

Quintana Roo

Powerbar

Blue Seventy

Pearl Izumi

Fuel Belt

Normatec

The Zone

Hanging post race with Hank.team mates Jessie and her husband Peter and daughter and Doug 

The coolest rock face I have seen!

This is definitely a must do early season Ironman! I hope to be back next year for sure!