Well, that's 2/2 with a 23rd placing. This one went a bit better, swim still has a lot to be desired, going back to the drawing board on that one! I was, again, a little farther back than I would have liked out of the water, putting me in a small chase group on the bike. Again, only a few were willing to do any work, we picked up stragglers and then dropped them and some others in our group, it finally shrank to about 6 girls. It was hot, I was hot, I tried to stay hydrated/fuelled but I could sense I was in a bit of trouble...when you start to get dizzy on your bike, it's not a good sign! Onto the run, I was in rough shape, I stuck with Kerry Lang (GBR), well really, I made myself stay with her because I was really woozy--at one point the course went right and my body kept going left! It was not by any means a blistering run (well, maybe just for my poor feet!)!
Unfortunately, I let the heat get the better of me on the day and I finished in 23rd spot. It was a good effort on the bike and a mentally strong run (just not very fast!) considering the state I was in! After the finish it was straight to the ice bath, a quick change, cycle to the hotel, a cold shower, packed the bike and gear, drive to the airport. Land in Calgary at 11:59pm, Richard there to pick me up. Sleep in own bed, wash clothes, repack, have dinner with Richard, head back to the airport, fly to Europe--2 more tries for a better race.
Now, I am sitting in the lounge in London, waiting for my flight to Amsterdam. Races 3a/b are this week. First is the Team relay in Holten on Thursday followed by European Championships on Sunday! Should be fun!!
Lisa
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Hot Hot Heat & Water!
The water and present fairy stopped by my room today!! They Hy-Vee gang does a great job with this race, the athletes are given the royal treatment! The only problem is, Maddy and I will never get through all this water before Saturday!
All the goodies inside the bag...everything from cookies to sunglasses to deodorant....
Race day is getting closer...good thing, cause Maddy has been antsy the last couple days! It's going to be a HOT one, they are calling for 33 degrees + humidity (92F) with the water being a swampy 29 degrees (84F)....maybe I will get through all that water after all!
A swim in the swamp tomorrow and a little spin and then one more sleep till race day!!!!
Till my next update....
Lisa
All the goodies inside the bag...everything from cookies to sunglasses to deodorant....
Race day is getting closer...good thing, cause Maddy has been antsy the last couple days! It's going to be a HOT one, they are calling for 33 degrees + humidity (92F) with the water being a swampy 29 degrees (84F)....maybe I will get through all that water after all!A swim in the swamp tomorrow and a little spin and then one more sleep till race day!!!!
Till my next update....
Lisa
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Lisa & Maddy's Excelllent Adventures: Iowa
So Maddy (my bike) and I made it to Des Moines Iowa yesterday. Man is it HOT here! The last couple days have been scorchers! Here are a few pics of our adventures in Iowa. 
After I landed, and got thoroughly sweaty just pushing my luggage to the rental car, I went in search of a pool for a swim. Here is what I found....hmmm...how was I going to swim through all these people....
Hopefully no one cannonballs me when I do my laps (see kid mid-air)...this pool was almost the same temperature as outside, and a little cloudy after all the kids got out of the pool!
Then today, I scoped out the course and went for a run. They were busy setting up the transition, pontoon and grandstand! It's going to look amazing come race day!
The swim pontoon:
The humidex today was 109 degrees....my sweaty arm post run at 9am...
I finished the day off with a swim with South African athlete Henrik DeVilliers (at the YMCA this time) and then a relaxing massage. Good news, not sure where my swim went on Sunday, but it was back in full force today!!
Maddy was a little lazy today and still hadn't put herself together...well she got part way through and decided to quit....
After I landed, and got thoroughly sweaty just pushing my luggage to the rental car, I went in search of a pool for a swim. Here is what I found....hmmm...how was I going to swim through all these people....
Hopefully no one cannonballs me when I do my laps (see kid mid-air)...this pool was almost the same temperature as outside, and a little cloudy after all the kids got out of the pool!
Then today, I scoped out the course and went for a run. They were busy setting up the transition, pontoon and grandstand! It's going to look amazing come race day!
The swim pontoon:
The humidex today was 109 degrees....my sweaty arm post run at 9am...
I finished the day off with a swim with South African athlete Henrik DeVilliers (at the YMCA this time) and then a relaxing massage. Good news, not sure where my swim went on Sunday, but it was back in full force today!!Fun times in Des Moines, Iowa! Tomorrow Maddy and I are going for a spin & run--hopefully before it gets too hot and then hitting the lake.
Lisa
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Race 1/4 Washington DC
The swim: we must never speak of this swim again. I've moved on.
The bike: because of what happened above, I was a little behind coming onto the bike. There was 8 of us to start, I was optimistic we could catch the chase pack 40sec up and worked hard but everyone kept dropping off, we were down to 5, 4, 3, and finally with 4 laps to go only 2 of us were left to chase. We held the gap to the chase group but lost time to the lead group. It was a lot of work on the bike.
The run: I ran with tired legs from the bike, I just kept chugging along, passed a few girls ahead. Finished 23rd. It was a solid run but by no means near what I am capable of.
The summary: First ITU race (not counting Korea) since Beijing. Not sure what went on in the water-I've had some great swims the last couple weeks. I will be hitting the pool all next week in Des Moines! The bike, solid, felt strong, would be have been great if I swam what I can swim and been in a better position. The run, a good training day, know I can run faster than that when I'm actually in the mix!
Up Next: My team of 1 is heading off to Des Moines tomorrow morning. Refocusing on what I learned today. Get another crack at 'er in 6 days. Check out this link for details: http://www.hy-veetriathlon.com/index.php
That's all for now, thanks for the cheers!
Lisa
The bike: because of what happened above, I was a little behind coming onto the bike. There was 8 of us to start, I was optimistic we could catch the chase pack 40sec up and worked hard but everyone kept dropping off, we were down to 5, 4, 3, and finally with 4 laps to go only 2 of us were left to chase. We held the gap to the chase group but lost time to the lead group. It was a lot of work on the bike.
The run: I ran with tired legs from the bike, I just kept chugging along, passed a few girls ahead. Finished 23rd. It was a solid run but by no means near what I am capable of.The summary: First ITU race (not counting Korea) since Beijing. Not sure what went on in the water-I've had some great swims the last couple weeks. I will be hitting the pool all next week in Des Moines! The bike, solid, felt strong, would be have been great if I swam what I can swim and been in a better position. The run, a good training day, know I can run faster than that when I'm actually in the mix!
Up Next: My team of 1 is heading off to Des Moines tomorrow morning. Refocusing on what I learned today. Get another crack at 'er in 6 days. Check out this link for details: http://www.hy-veetriathlon.com/index.php
That's all for now, thanks for the cheers!
Lisa
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Flagged...
So I finally made it to DC! I was temporarily sidelined by US customs on the way here...for some reason the customs 'lady' was not in a good mood (to put it politely!), she interrogated me (I thought that I may have gotten on the Tel Aviv flight by mistake) and then decided that I needed to go to the 'special' room before they allowed me into the US! I was fingerprinted and my picture taken, then I sat in that room for an hour before being called up, the customs guy then took one look at me and my documents and asked "why'd they send you here?" and sent me on my way.....grrrrr....then I met up with the Canadian team for my next flight where they trapped us on the plane, on the ground, for an hour and 1/2 before we took off! At least I wasn't charged for my bike this trip!! 
Once at the hotel, I changed and went for a run right away--I was excited to do a 'tour'!! I ran down to the 'mall' and straight to the White House then back to the Washington Monument and by the Lincoln Memorial and back by the Smithsonian--doing intervals while sightseeing! It was so cool!! I may have to sneak in a tour of the Smithsonian Natural History Museam...I can't pass up the 'Dynamic Earth' Exhibit...don't worry coach, I'll stay off the legs!
This race will be really fantastic--I'm excited! Although the river looks a little murky....
That's all for now. Live coverage will be on www.triathlon.org race day.
Lisa
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Fast & Furious!
It's been nice being back home for a bit. I had a couple days recovery and then it was back at 'er. I've been working more of the 'speed' these days, so the workouts are tough and action packed but much shorter!
Here are a few things I got done on my short stop home: I made a whole wheat pizza crust, it was yummy...yes, that's a whole lot of spinach on top--it shrinks down to nothing after cooking! I also attempted whole wheat buns too, those turned out to be (in Richard's words) 'dense'...they could be used as a weapon...need to work on that recipe!
It's been really nice in Calgary, so I took my core and strength workout outdoors.
I also had a few spare hours to catch up with family and a few friends (not nearly enough time though!). Noah just woke up, he was too tired to fight me snuggling with him!
Now, the ITU race season is back on for me. Coach and I have made the decision to do 4 races in a row. So, it will be a fast and furious month of travelling and racing for me--Washington DC, Des Moines, European Championships in Holten (Netherlands), and finishing it off with a stop in Kitzbuhel Austria.
Should be fun!! I'll try to keep you up to date on my whereabouts over the next few weeks!
Cheers,
Lisa
Here are a few things I got done on my short stop home: I made a whole wheat pizza crust, it was yummy...yes, that's a whole lot of spinach on top--it shrinks down to nothing after cooking! I also attempted whole wheat buns too, those turned out to be (in Richard's words) 'dense'...they could be used as a weapon...need to work on that recipe!
It's been really nice in Calgary, so I took my core and strength workout outdoors. I also had a few spare hours to catch up with family and a few friends (not nearly enough time though!). Noah just woke up, he was too tired to fight me snuggling with him!Now, the ITU race season is back on for me. Coach and I have made the decision to do 4 races in a row. So, it will be a fast and furious month of travelling and racing for me--Washington DC, Des Moines, European Championships in Holten (Netherlands), and finishing it off with a stop in Kitzbuhel Austria.Should be fun!! I'll try to keep you up to date on my whereabouts over the next few weeks!
Cheers,
Lisa
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Dialin' it in.....almost there...
After a LONG delay in the Hartford airport, I've made it home!! I think that I only beat Bree Wee home (she flew to Hawaii) by 45 minutes!! OUCH! When I think about all the travelling I did last year, I'm not sure how I did it!! The 3 hour flight from Chicago to Calgary nearly drove me mad!!
I arrived in Connecticut last Wednesday and was lucky enough to be staying with a fantastic homestay that was only a short ride to the race start. Thanks to the Mackenzie family of Middlebury for all the great hospitality!!
Now, the race. It went well. It was a strong field of women, multiple Ironman winners, 70.3 World Champions, strong girls!! It was a beautiful venue and a great day for a race. The Rev 3 crew, Charlie and Carol with Trakkers did a great job with the new race!
I had a solid swim, on Leanda Cave's feet the whole way, enjoying the draft, although we swam off course after the first turn buoy--just to get a little extra mileage in! Did I mention that I love the Half Ironman swim starts, so civilized and pleasant...ahhh!
Onto the bike, Coach and I have been working on the cycling for the last few weeks, my power is finally coming back-all part of the plan! It was a tough hilly tree-lined course, the worst hill was 7 miles long and the hills just kept coming, you never really had time to get into a rhythm. It truly was a beautiful ride!! Natasha Badmann rode by me up the hill in her areobars and shouted something nice with a smile on her face...man that girl can ride! I managed to come off the bike in 5th place and only a few minutes down (with a 'pack' of girls behind me...that is all I will say about that...), I was psyched, ready to make my move on the run! A side note; I wasn't able to grab any water at the last aid station on the bike and ran out of fluids on the last 14 miles...I had been a little worried about this starting the run.
Onto the run, I tried to push is hard the first 2 miles. My legs were not liking me but they usually come around. I noticed my HR was lower than I usually race at, so I tried to pick it up. I just couldn't get going, even on the hills, my HR stayed fairly low....I tried everything Coach Paul always tells me to do; I focused on technique, I gave myself lots of love and positive self talk, I knocked back a few Power Gels, I drank at the aid stations, I pushed hard and was aggressive...mentally I was in the right spot but the legs (and my HR) wanted no part of it! I felt like I was stuck in a jog pace and couldn't do anything about it, very frustrating! I finished off in 6th place and still managed to slug out a sub-1:30 half marathon but was pretty disappointed knowing that I can run much better! Just need to tweak the race plan and training a bit before the next half.....but I think it's all coming together! Richard and I are going to have an aid-station-water-bottle-grabbing training session before the next half!!
My race poster below; how cool is that? The Rev 3 crew made them up for us and had them at our transition spot! Since the Timex HQ is only 1 mile from the lake, I did a tour of the building and picked up some more great Team Timex gear! My AquaSphere wetsuit, shiny silver Bontrager cycling shoes (so cool!) and a few Timex hats (including the pink be-dazzled one for Richard)!
Post race Bree, my Timex teammate AC, and I went into the lake to 'ice' our legs (it really wasn't cold enough, especially after being in the ocean around Victoria!). Here were are displaying all the 'treasures' we found in the lake! It really was a nice lake despite having all sorts of beach treasures!
For our 'cooldown' we hit the Quassy amusement park that the race site was on! This is the 'Mad Mouse'...we found it terrifying....old and rickety! Getting soft in my old age!
Now back at home, the focus has switched back to the ITU Olympic distance races (Maddy is excited, it's her turn--Frank needs a rest after the last few weeks!), so I need to recover well from the race. In Victoria after the Shawnigan race we had a great recovery session at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE), where they have 3 baths filled with hot or cold water, showers and stationary bikes which we alternated on to flush our legs after racing. I felt great after I did the hot/cold session there, so I decided to reproduce at home--I found this giant Rubbermaid 110L container at Walmart for $19--I tested it out in the store! Worked like a charm! Below is the Mountain Institute for Sport Excellence (MISE) facility. If you're curious, my protocol for today was 12x90sec alternating between the hot and cold. Unfortunately it's best to end on the cold--brrrr! Does wonders for the legs.
Now what? I'll be dailing-in my race plan for the Calgary 70.3 in August but for now it's time for some speed work! I'm off to Washington DC on the 17th to kick off a month of ITU Olympic distance racing. Pulling Maddy out tomorrow for a spin, putting the cleats onto my shiny new shoes....exciting! Watching hockey, hopefully the Pens can hang on for game 6...I'm actually home to watch now!
I arrived in Connecticut last Wednesday and was lucky enough to be staying with a fantastic homestay that was only a short ride to the race start. Thanks to the Mackenzie family of Middlebury for all the great hospitality!!
Now, the race. It went well. It was a strong field of women, multiple Ironman winners, 70.3 World Champions, strong girls!! It was a beautiful venue and a great day for a race. The Rev 3 crew, Charlie and Carol with Trakkers did a great job with the new race!
I had a solid swim, on Leanda Cave's feet the whole way, enjoying the draft, although we swam off course after the first turn buoy--just to get a little extra mileage in! Did I mention that I love the Half Ironman swim starts, so civilized and pleasant...ahhh!Onto the bike, Coach and I have been working on the cycling for the last few weeks, my power is finally coming back-all part of the plan! It was a tough hilly tree-lined course, the worst hill was 7 miles long and the hills just kept coming, you never really had time to get into a rhythm. It truly was a beautiful ride!! Natasha Badmann rode by me up the hill in her areobars and shouted something nice with a smile on her face...man that girl can ride! I managed to come off the bike in 5th place and only a few minutes down (with a 'pack' of girls behind me...that is all I will say about that...), I was psyched, ready to make my move on the run! A side note; I wasn't able to grab any water at the last aid station on the bike and ran out of fluids on the last 14 miles...I had been a little worried about this starting the run.
Onto the run, I tried to push is hard the first 2 miles. My legs were not liking me but they usually come around. I noticed my HR was lower than I usually race at, so I tried to pick it up. I just couldn't get going, even on the hills, my HR stayed fairly low....I tried everything Coach Paul always tells me to do; I focused on technique, I gave myself lots of love and positive self talk, I knocked back a few Power Gels, I drank at the aid stations, I pushed hard and was aggressive...mentally I was in the right spot but the legs (and my HR) wanted no part of it! I felt like I was stuck in a jog pace and couldn't do anything about it, very frustrating! I finished off in 6th place and still managed to slug out a sub-1:30 half marathon but was pretty disappointed knowing that I can run much better! Just need to tweak the race plan and training a bit before the next half.....but I think it's all coming together! Richard and I are going to have an aid-station-water-bottle-grabbing training session before the next half!!
My race poster below; how cool is that? The Rev 3 crew made them up for us and had them at our transition spot! Since the Timex HQ is only 1 mile from the lake, I did a tour of the building and picked up some more great Team Timex gear! My AquaSphere wetsuit, shiny silver Bontrager cycling shoes (so cool!) and a few Timex hats (including the pink be-dazzled one for Richard)!
Post race Bree, my Timex teammate AC, and I went into the lake to 'ice' our legs (it really wasn't cold enough, especially after being in the ocean around Victoria!). Here were are displaying all the 'treasures' we found in the lake! It really was a nice lake despite having all sorts of beach treasures!
For our 'cooldown' we hit the Quassy amusement park that the race site was on! This is the 'Mad Mouse'...we found it terrifying....old and rickety! Getting soft in my old age!
Now back at home, the focus has switched back to the ITU Olympic distance races (Maddy is excited, it's her turn--Frank needs a rest after the last few weeks!), so I need to recover well from the race. In Victoria after the Shawnigan race we had a great recovery session at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE), where they have 3 baths filled with hot or cold water, showers and stationary bikes which we alternated on to flush our legs after racing. I felt great after I did the hot/cold session there, so I decided to reproduce at home--I found this giant Rubbermaid 110L container at Walmart for $19--I tested it out in the store! Worked like a charm! Below is the Mountain Institute for Sport Excellence (MISE) facility. If you're curious, my protocol for today was 12x90sec alternating between the hot and cold. Unfortunately it's best to end on the cold--brrrr! Does wonders for the legs.
Now what? I'll be dailing-in my race plan for the Calgary 70.3 in August but for now it's time for some speed work! I'm off to Washington DC on the 17th to kick off a month of ITU Olympic distance racing. Pulling Maddy out tomorrow for a spin, putting the cleats onto my shiny new shoes....exciting! Watching hockey, hopefully the Pens can hang on for game 6...I'm actually home to watch now!Thanks for all the pre/post race wishes from everyone! Hope all is well!
Lisa
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Rev 3 Race
Out in Connecticut for the Rev 3 race this weekend. Beautiful place, hilly bike and run courses, should be fun! Swam in the lake today, quite nice, H2O temp probably close to 20.
This weekend is a test event for one of my supporters, Trakkers. I'll be outfitted with a GPS devise, so you can track me in real-time on the course! Try going to www.trakkersgps.com and sign in to watch or go to www.rev3tri.com for race details.
Wish me luck!
Lisa
This weekend is a test event for one of my supporters, Trakkers. I'll be outfitted with a GPS devise, so you can track me in real-time on the course! Try going to www.trakkersgps.com and sign in to watch or go to www.rev3tri.com for race details.
Wish me luck!
Lisa
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