I've got a little more now.

Swim1:25 or so, bike 7+\- hours, run 7+ hours as well.  Nutrition was on and she smiled all day.  Sadly the other woman, Sarka, dropped out but I don't know why yet.

I'm working on being more current on updates, might not be til Monday though.

Day 1

Day 1 Complete 16hours or so, says feeling good, went conservative to save for next days.

Off to Italy for the DecaIronman

Hi Ya’ll:

I am off to Italy tomorrow to take another run at the DecaIronman.  My race officially starts on Saturday at 7:30am Italy time (many of my crazy friends are out there warming the course up for me now in a 30 day attempt).

If you are curious, you can find results at:

·         http://andrewholton.blogspot.com/ (look at the twitter feed on the right hand side…  Melinda (my crew) will be posting sometime in the morning and then at the end of each day)

·         Directly on twitter with @leslieholton

·         http://tripledecaironman.myblog.it/ (the race’s blog site)

·         http://usaultratri.com/ (Steve is compiling the race results in a spreadsheet… this may be a day or so behind as it is information he is getting from a variety of facebook sources)

Deep breath!

Leslie

RR: Tampa Double IM

It is about time, and seems way too soon at the same, to get this season rolling!  Last weekend was the Tampa Double Ironman.  Let me first say (Oscar style) a huge thank you to Linae, Joe, Molly, and Drew for crewing for me, to Gu for the cool hats and nutrition, to Sturdy Girl Sports for keeping the girls secure, and to Kirby and all his staff for a terrific event and venue.

That's me in the black swimcap in lane 2...

The race starts with a 4.8 mile, 50m pool swim.  The pool is just fantastic.  There were 5 people in my lane, but it spread out quickly and there were no issues.  Actually, I was the faster person in my lane and I would have preferred a faster lane so I could have drafted off some folks.  Instead, it was just a long slog.  Swimming is interesting as there are limited distractions/things to see/people to talk to so I tried to entertain myself watching the other lanes.  Made a quick stop at 4000m for a slurp of Sprite and a Gu but other than that head in the water for 2:56 and done.  6 minute changeup and off on the bike.

The bike started with a few miles on roads to the park and then we headed out on 7ish mile laps.  This course is terrific.  Great pavement, soft turns.  It was a tad on the windy side (all right, really irritatingly windy) and cold for Florida.  My goal was to stay above a 16mph average, and I managed this for the first 112mi.  Unfortunately, once it got dark I could not see my odometer and my mph definitely slipped (note, bring my cheater light to see next race).  I can tell my long bike mileage isn’t quite there... some girly bit issues, inability to stay in the aerobars, and other tirednesses that say early season were obvious.  My shoulders were also screaming but Joe worked out the kinks maybe 10 hours in and that really helped.  I tried to stay on a good mix of Gu’s, Resse peanut butter eggs, trail mix, and some real food and stay on top of my nutrition.  I also started in of the caffeine and it was awesome!  The caffeine taper did seem to do the trick.  I think it was around 15:XX when I got off the bike, but the race results aren’t up yet.  I know I came off the bike in 3^rd place, and moved to second pretty quickly so while I am not wicked pleased with my speed it was a competitive split and that is good.    More training, my new ride set up for long aero-riding (should be getting this week), and some tricks and hopefully I can get this split down into the 13:XX next race…

Run? Walk? Shuffle!

Finally… to the run.  This was 31 laps on a flat course.  My goal here was sub 16min miles, and I held that only to the marathon.  I just couldn’t figure out how to make this body move any faster.  Around 30miles to go I had complete foot implosion (blisters on the balls of both feet) and from that point on it was a slogfest.  I had to do this odd shuffle not quite run, not quite walk, because anything else would really get the blisters screaming.  I lost my 3^rd place with maybe 10 miles to go and I could only whimper “good job” when she went by.  Coach Debi has some tricks for working on this (something about shoes) and the goal remains next time to get this solidly under a 16min mile pace.  Food wise this was Gu’s, salt tabs, water, blueberries, and this one absolutely godsmacking amazing blueberry doughnut that should not have but totally hit the spot around daybreak.

Awesome crewcheif Linae and RD Kirby!

 Finished at 34:59:51, 4^th place female.  3-4 hours behind schedule… but I see places for improvement and am really excited to see how this season goes.

Recovery!

One cause for concern is my left foot.  Yesterday I could not put any weight on it at all.  Went to the Dr and the x-rays are inconclusive.  Got a script for pain and inflammation, try not to do any weight bearing for the week, follow up with a sports ortho end of the week.  Best case, deep bruising and I’ll be back to walking, buying new running shoes, and jogging about next week.  Worst case, stress fracture and my next race is in jeapordy (Double IM World Championships in Austria May 18^th).  Til then, I am getting more of an arm workout with the crutches, and giving my blisters time to heal.

Thanks for reading!

Go long!

Leslie

Bring on 2013!

Finally recovering from our trip to Kona for Drew's Ironman...  it is quite the race!  It reminded me of the Boston Marathon, but for triathletes.  Lots of fast people, lots of hype.  Sponsor tents everywhere giving out schwag.  Everyone up and excited.

Running down Ali'i drive in the days before the race was awesome, because every half mile or so were sponsor houses, with tents set up (Gu, Powerbar, Cliff, etc.) so every run was supported.  You could pick the racers out by their wristbands, but everyone was out and about.  Strange to see so many people strutting their stuff.

I sucked up the energy, but oddly it didn't make me want to race Ironman again.  I love the energy of a big race, but for me it is still more about pushing myself to new places. Pulling my Ironman time down from 13:45 to 13:00, or accumulating cool finishers medals is just not the right challenge for now.

Next season is that season for me to really push the boundaries.
Starting with the Double Ironman in Tampa in February, a few European Doubles (maybe 1 Double/1 Triple) in the summer, and then the DecaIronman in the fall in Italy.  I want to show continual improvement through the season, do the Deca in under 150 hours, and throw down a challenge for the IUTA World Cup.  It's my 10th year at my job, so I have 25 days of vacation and I am using them all in support of seeing what I can really do in the world of ultradistance triathlon.

Using this season to recover seems to have done the trick.  I'm antsy, I'm ready to go.

Training starts today with my last challenge, a 10 day swim challenge.
 2.4miles each day in the pool.  Not crazy hard physically, but mentally this one will be the toughest (I really find it hard to get myself into the pool).  After this Debi has the plan, and I am ready to execute!

Go long!
Leslie

Puppy play date!

Not a race, but a set of challenges...

As the 2012 season starts to wrap up, and I looked towards my goals for 2013 I decided that rather than finishing 2012 with a race it makes sense to finish it with three challenges.  So, I consulted with Coach Debi, and with Gu and we came up with this… One challenge a month for the next three months.  The first starts on Friday.

The challenges are:

Bike (50 miles a day): Aug 24 to Sept 2

Doesn’t seem too bad, but recall that I will be working full-time… So, next week I will park 25 miles away and ride from Golden to Louisville, work, then ride back…

Run (13.1 miles per day): Sept 14 to Sept 23 including the Buena Vista Autumn Color Half

Marathon and the Denver Half Marathon

            Hmm… the most physically difficult of these challenges…

Swim (2.4 miles a day, in a pool): Oct 19 to Oct 28

            The least time consuming but will require the most willpower…

As you know, I am a Gu girl, but I focus in on the Just Plain and the Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane… They are sending me all of their flavors for this.  I plan to try a different flavor each day (10 per challenge) and see if I can expand my flavor pallet.  I'll let you know how they taste!

These challenges should set me up mentally and physically for next season, which includes a few Double IMs and the Deca IM in Italy.  I’ll be posting as they go along… anyone want to join me?

Go long!

Leslie