Running with the Big Girls...

I first started running in University, after I was finished with the swim team. I used to take the family dog out for trail runs in the fields behind our house. It was slow, it was painful, and it usually ended in me puking! I would run for a few km and the dog would do 4x times that, towards the end of our run was my 'Dooms Day' hill--short but steep. At first I could only manage it once, I'd get to the top, see stars, sometimes puke up whatever I ate for lunch and then walk/jog it back home. A few weeks later, I did it twice, then 3 times...you get the picture. That's how it all started--me lying in the grass next to my vomit at the top of the hill determined to run it again!

Last week, I got an invite to run the Vancouver Sun Run (all expenses paid!!)--it was last minute, someone had cancelled, but I was still flattered that my name was even mentioned. The Sun Run is a big 10K run in Canada, there's prize $, it's a great course and it's fast. I'd heard all about it. After some discussion with Coach Paul and Richard (I'd be ditching him on his b-day...), a purchase of a last minute plane ticket--I was off to Vancouver on Saturday to race on Sunday morning! It would be a great training race and good test before my ITU race in Korea in a couple weeks. It was so nice to get on a plane with only a backpack--no bike, no goggles, no wetsuit!!

Here's my race kit....I wanted to look the part, so I pulled out my Team Timex singlet, my shortest run shorts (runner girls always wear really short-shorts), my orange race flats, my visor and threw in my race belt--just so they knew a Triathlete was running with them!!
Sunday morning, I was nervous, I haven't run a stand-alone 10k in years, triathlons taking up most of my weekends. There were 50,000 people running the race. I was in the first wave, along with 600 other people! Wedged back behind the start line, shoulder to shoulder, all I could think was "don't trip and get trampled!". The gun went off, and I got past the start line without incident. The first few km were fast and furious, it was crazy to be running with so many fast people around, and I kept my eye all the fast runner-girls, we were all together until 5k. I ended up dropping back about 5-10sec on a hill up to a bridge and it turned out to be a gap I couldn't recover.

I fought hard over the next few km's and was out-strategized in the last 600-400m by a couple of the women--including my superstar Lifesport teammate Lucy Smith, my only 'strategy' in a 10k race is to run until I puke, but once I turned the last bend and saw the timing clock at 34 minutes and change...I ran as hard as I could!! I crossed the line in 34.45, a new 10k run PB by 3min and 1 second!! I saw stars in the finish shoot but managed to keep my breakfast down this time!

I finished 8th overall, only 40 seconds separated 1st from 8th. In previous years my time would have been a top 5, so it was a tight group of women this year. I'm just psyched that I managed to run with the 'big girls' while grabbing a new personal best on tired legs!! Coach Paul and I have put a lot of time and effort into my running this winter (finally having the time to do a run focus after the craziness of Beijing the last 2 years!) and it's nice to see it paying off! Next year, I may even rest my legs a little before and see what this swimmer-turned-triathlete-turned-runner can do.

Now, back in Calgary there was no recovery day after this race, in fact, Coach had me run another hour after the race! Then it was a TT bike effort (into a strong head wind!) and hill repeats this morning after my swim! I leave for Korea next Monday, so only a few more hard training days left to go!!

Thanks to Coach Paul & Coach Mike with the University of Calgary Athletics Club for making me run faster than I thought I could this winter!

Cheers,
Lisa

Power, Give em' Power

Well, I've been home for little over a week and it's flown by! It all started off with some visit time with family (mine & Richard's) over the Easter weekend, some visits with friends that I haven't seen in awhile, and after a week of 'recovery' I was back into training. The weather has been nice since I got home, with the exception of one snow day, it's been pleasant--Although I froze on my ride today!! Richard and I had a great spin last weekend, although it involved a 20' search and rescue of my driver's licence that fell out of my pocket--I was about to give up when I looked down and nearly rode over it!

The post training camp explosion....it's been cleaned up but took some time!! This weeks training has involved some higher intensity work in the pool, on the run and on the bike. I leave for Korea on April 27th, so I need to get into the short course racing frame of mind. After some fast 'start-speed' 50's in the pool, some short hill repeats with the UCAC run group, and some power intervals on the bike, I had forgotten why I like the short course races! Now I remember--I'm addicted to the power! I'm excited to race the first ITU race of the season!

I made a few changes to the blog. Since I continuously get questions about my next race, I added a 'Upcoming race' list, click on the race and it will link you to the race site. I'll keep it up to date and add more when I finalize my schedule. If you scroll down a little further I also added 'triathlon terms defined' so everyone will know what I'm talking about when I say my HR was high on my TT during a 70.3! One day I may even have a website....Let me know if there is something else you'd like to see or defined.

That's all for now!
Lisa

She's Going the Distance, She's Going For Speed...

Took me a bit to get the creative juices flowing again and write a post. Here is the summary of the last week. I love San Diego.
So, I left Kona and flew into San Diego last week for the Oceanside 70.3 race and the Team Timex 'Camp'. This was the last week of my month of travelling/training/racing.

My wonderfully fantastic homestay Chris & Cathy Zoc picked me up at the airport and drove me back to their house. I walked into my room and was greeted with a welcome card and goodies....I may never leave here, was my first thought! I was right! The Zoc's took care of me, Cathy drove me everywhere, the pool, the race site, we drove the entire bike course, even took me to a bike shop when all I needed was zip ties! Thanks Cathy & Chris!! They even extended an invite to "come back and stay whenever I wanted"...I warned them about telling a Triathlete that, cause I'm already planning to return!!

My goodies that were waiting for me...I tried not to eat it ALL pre-race.... Me, Cathy and the bronze Donkey. The real one, Miguel, was in the backyard!

Race Day. Now, those who know me well, know that getting up early to exercise is not my favourite activity--I think I used up all my early morning exercise passes swimming at 5am for 10 years! The half Ironman events all start early, so I have to get used to it again! 4am wake up, 5:15am in transition, 6:43am start. FYI, it's cold at 6 in the morning in California, the good thing though, with the air temp being 8-10 degrees, the 15 degree water felt down-right balmy!

The Swim: Pleasant. Compared to the ITU chaos, I had a great time out there. Although, I managed to lose the draft the last 20m before the exit, need to work on that! Oh yeah, if you wear a 2-piece tri suit under your wetsuit, make sure you tie the shorts tight...nearly pants myself in T1!

Seriously, it should be illegal to start anything in the dark!!

The civilized swim start:

The bike: Yeah, this was not my best. Let's just say I had a couple of flats, legs, not tires! I managed to loose a lot of time to the leaders...yikes! My ADD came out in full force and my focus was not great--something that I need to work on! We rode through a military base and I had lots to look at during the 56mile ride...I nearly killed a family of bunnies that ran out in front of me, I saw tanks, some sort of cannon, and a really cool obstacle course that I wanted to try! At one point I may have even stopped in at recruitment to sign up....So anyway, I came off the bike a little farther back then I wanted.

This is me coming into T2....I won't tell you what was going through my head....

Onto the run. Once I finally found my shoes in the cramped transition area, I headed out determined to salvage the day (guess that's the beauty of these long races). I came around the first corner and saw Paul, my coach, standing there yelling out words of encouragement, I knew I was pretty far back, I came off the bike in 10th or 11th, but I was on a mission. I just ran hard and kept going. Unlike on the bike, I found that I had no problems focusing on the run, with the exception of the occasional dog sightings, but I always do that running anyway! At one point I saw some really cute standard poodles on the run course and heard their owner shout "Go Lisa", then I realized it was Carol Montgomery (triathlon legend & friend)! I always notice dogs before people...there could be a model walking shirtless with a golden retriever and I guarantee I wouldn't even notice the guy! Anyway, my pace had slowed a little before I saw Carol and her dogs, so I took the poodle-power and picked it up a bit. I managed to run some sub-6 minute miles in the last 4miles of the run, catching 3 women in front of me in the process. In the end I clawed my way up from a significant time gap and finished 6th with the 2nd fastest run split (1:21.20, the girl who won ran 58 sec faster and got the course run record, next year, it'll be mine! Maybe the bike split too!).

Here I am running the sand section. I was on a mission. Check out the new Team Timex race kit, pretty sweet!

Overall I've got 14.3 miles down pat, just need to work on the 56 on the bike. I had the excellent Team Timex mechanics worked on my setup and I think that will help too. You know what my focus will be on over the next few weeks!!

Me, Coach P, and Chris Thomas (fellow Timex, Lifesport & TrakkersTeam member and superstar athlete!)

After the race, I had to depart the Zoc's house and head to the Timex Camp. Not a training camp but a team get-together camp. It was a fun experience, met the other athletes, chatted with team sponsors, and got a ton of new gear!! Sweet!

Anyone have the time? My new watches, including the new Timex heart rate monitor in the middle--the Race Trainer.

I'm finally back home after a month of travel. After last years travels, I think a month is probably the longest I can be away. Living out of a duffel bag gets old after awhile!

One of my favourite parts of coming home: flying home over the Rocky Mountains! (geologists & dad; notice the anticline/syncline pair?).

Now I have to wash clothes, put my bike together, contact all my training groups, open all my mail (forgot it's tax time...) and get my life organized again--it all gets put on hold when I go away.

Below is someone who got so excited when he saw me he ran in circles and then went to find a present to give me...it happened to be a dirty sock, but I was touched by the effort! We also finally got our new recycling bin. The city of Calgary is finally starting a pick up program...little do they know that we have been stock-piling all our plastics in anticipation!

Up next: Swinging back to the short-course stuff. Speed time baby!! The first of the ITU World Championships Series kicks off May 2 in Tongyeong Korea.

Well, I'm off to ride my bike...

Lisa

*Thanks to all my supporters that make trips and races like this possible for me! You know you're awesome!
**special thanks to Coach Dan Smith for providing all the great race pics!!