The Race That Didn't Happen For Me

There comes a first time for everything I suppose. Not finishing a race has never happened to me and I hoped it never would. Certainly I have considered not finishing a race at times but I've always fought through those thoughts and been able to will myself to stay in it. That was not the case at Rev3 Knoxville last weekend. I do not regret my decision to race or to quit the race. It was a decision that I made based on circumstances at the time. I also think it was a valuable learning experience for me.

The weekend itself was awesome! It was wonderful to see my Rev3 family - staff and teammates! As always the Rev3 crew took good care of us as athletes and of course as team members. My teammates were as fun as ever as well as understanding and supportive. I really don't think I would have gotten  through the situation as well without them and of course my biggest cheerleader and husband Steve. I'd like to say thank you to all of them for the support.

Happy to see Carole Sharpless aka Mama Bear

The rain was falling Saturday afternoon as we arrived at the expo and it never stopped through the weekend. Steve and I headed into the Rev3 expo to pick up our race packets, my new team kit and my new team kit, which is sweet! We bumped into a number of the Rev3 staff including race director Eric, team manager extraordinnaire Carole aka mama bear, The man Charlie himself, Laura, Ashley, etc. In timing we were greeted by Tim, Jordan and we bumped into Holly and Lauren all from Team Rev3. It was great to see so many friendly faces! After attending the athlete meeting we headed to the transition area to check in our bikes and check out the swim start.

The 2013 Team Rev3 Kit

Following that we were starved and headed to get a bite to eat at Calhoun's on the River for some tasty barbecue and a pint of beer. After this late lunch Steve and I checked in at the Holiday Inn, which was the host hotel. We got our transition bags packed up and ready and drove the bike course. I tried on my new team kit and it fit great. We ordered a pizza, had a beer and snuggled up to watch a movie and turned in early for some quality prerace zzz's.

Race Morning:

Prerace:

Some of the Rev3 Girls prerace

We woke up to rainy, cold conditions. The temperature of the river was somewhere between 58-59 degrees and the air 52 degrees (brrr) were not ideal conditions to race in. Steve and I got up around 6am and started getting ready, ate breakfast and headed out for the walk in the rain to transition at 7:15. We cut it a little bit close as we had to be out of transition by 7:45 for the oly but we wanted to stay warm as long as possible. In transition we setup and my rack was shared by teammates Chloe and Heather. A number of other teammates including Kristin and Jill were around too.

Walking over to the swim start was a little bit of a stroll. I had decided to wear my never used new Full wetsuit since it was so cold along with some ear warmers. My feet were freezing as we walked on the paved trail toward the start in front of Calhoun's. Once we got down there time seemed to fly by. Before I knew it I was kissing Steve and telling him goodluck and his wave was off. We were next!

Swim Start:

When I jumped in I really didn't have time to warm up and acclimate to the cold water. I just cannon balled in and we were off as it was a deep water start. Those deep water starts are not my favorite to begin with. I positioned myself in the middle, which I don't normally do. I usually head to one side. We started and after maybe 100 or 200 m I gulped in some water and pulled my head up to see what was going on. I lost my noseplugs!  I am a terrible swimmer sans noseplugs. Shit I thought to myself this is not good! I tried to freestyle a little longer but panicked a little and came up only to be hit in the shoulder pretty hard. This stunned me a little so I backtracked a little to one of the kayaks to hang on for a minute. I tried to swim a little but without the plugs it was not going to happen. The nice lady kayaker tracked down some noseplugs for me and I was off or so I thought. I swam another few hundred meters only to find out I went around the wrong buoy. It just wasn't my day. When I learned I would have to swim back up against the current in that freezing water I just didn't have it in me to do it. I pulled out. It was a tough decision to make. I felt like I just had too much working against me that day. I was pretty upset getting out of the water and was very thankful to see my sweet teammate Holly there. She gave me the biggest hug and I knew it would be alright.

Post Swim:

I walked back to transition and ran into some others who had quit the race including one of my teammates. I was glad to have her company for a while as we both tried to warm up from the cold sitting in her car with the seat warmers on. Once we got out I saw another teammate who had done part of the bike course but did not finish due to the cold. I waited in transition until Steve came in. It took him far longer than usual and I was worried so I was relieved to see he was okay. He looked rough though. His teeth were chattering and he was disoriented. I think he had mild hypothermia. I had him put on a jacket to warm up his body and he asked me to run with him. I ran the 10K with him until just before the finish. It was a soggy, wet run but was nice to be there for him.

Post Race Festivities:

Post race food & beverages with Team Rev3

After showering and getting warmed up we headed out later to meet some teammates at Soccer Taco in Downtown Knoxville for Mexican food and drinks to celebrate Cinco de Maya. It was a blast. I have the best teammates ever. Leaving the restaurant we actually had a short window with no rain so we decided to walk. We found a cute little Craft beer market and stopped in for a few minutes.

Heading back to the hotel we ran into Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae - one of my favorite female triathletes. She was super nice to talk to and she really lifted my spirits. Later that night we headed out again for a little while to enjoy another beverage with the team. It was really hard to leave because I knew I wouldn't see them again until Williamsburg in late June. Despite the day's challenges and disappointments it was still a good day. I learned that it's okay to fail as long as you try but to never try is not an option. I may have failed the race but there are many more opportunities to race this year and after all I am not getting paid to be an athlete. This is a hobby that I love. I need to keep it in perspective. 

I had to get a picture with Rinny!

Have you ever not finished a race? If so, why and how did it make you feel?

Cautiously Ramping up the Training - So Far So Good!

For those of you you who know me or have followed my blog for a year or two it will come as no surprise to you that the spring season worries me. I have had serious injuries the last two spring seasons that caused me to cut back on my training (especially the run). I am doing my best to avoid that this season!

I have made a number of changes over the last year to help keep me healthy and able to ramp up nicely into racing season. For starters, I changed my running shoes. While I still tend to run in a lighter, neutral style I do not run in the minimal shoes anymore. I think they work great for some runners but not for me. I need a little something more for training...especially for my longer runs. The second big change I have made is in my strength training and core work. I spent a good deal of the off season working on my strength and core - generally at least two to three workouts weekly. Now that triathlon season is approaching I cannot dedicate as many workouts to core but do plan to maintain one or two workouts weekly (most likely yoga and a short strength session focused on sport-specific fitness). Another thing I have improved upon this year is recovery. After a hard session I am doing my best to replenish with ample carbs and some protein within 10-15 minutes of activity. This really seems to help. Finally I am just listening to my body more and staying flexible. If I have a couple days of calf pain I back off the run.

So far my training is going well. This week I was able to swim a good amount at CSU, ran some solid mileage including just under 16 yesterday and got a few bike rides in - including a hilly ride Saturday. I am ramping up nicely and pain free for Rev3 Knoxville and the Cleveland full marathon next month and Rev3 Williamsburg 70.3 half in June. Depending on how that goes I will make some decisions about fall.

I am looking forward to the weather warming up again for the weekend so I can get in some solid mileage and my old coach and bike mechanic Sean will be heading out Saturday to get the bikes tuned up and ready for racing action! Exciting stuff!

2013 Race Schedule...Finally

It's the beginning of March and I think I've finally nailed down my race schedule for the 2013 season. It was difficult this year for a few reasons. First, starting a new job limits the amount of travel I can do. Not that I'm complaining because I love my new job! Second, I signed up for the Cleveland Full marathon again and this kindof makes triathlon training extra hard since I need to log more run miles than anything else.

Why did I sign up to run a full marathon at the beginning of tri season you ask? I really want to do the full in support of my dear friend Jill who will be making her second attempt as a first time marathoner. Last year she was sidelined with a stress fracture and I was injured too with the whole stress reaction thing (not fun).

Second I am also very excited to be running the marathon as part of Girls With Soles' Team Lula. I am a fundraiser for Girls With Sole because I believe what Liz and the team do is amazing! Please be sure to check them out. And if you can spare a buck or two please help by clicking on the link below: http://www.imathlete.com/donate/PamelaMcGowan?z=1360700962967

Finally it's always difficult creating a race schedule until I see how my spring is shaping up. I have a tendency to be injured at this time of the year. I have taken a lot of steps to ensure that does not happen this season so I am cautiously optimistic that things will turn out as I am planning.

What's different about the schedule this year is that I am throwing some trail running into the mix. I really enjoy it - in fact I started the season off with a trail race, which was a blast! So as of now here is the schedule I hope to follow should the running and triathlon gods bestow their grace on me this season:

• February 10 - Dirty Love 10K - Willoughby Hills, OH 
• March 16 - St Malachi 5 miler - Cleveland, OH 
• April 20 - On My Own Two Feet 1/2 Marathon - Kent, OH
• May 5 - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Tri - Knoxville, TN
• May 19 - Cleveland Marathon - Cleveland, OH
• June 23 - Rev3 Williamsburg Oly Tri - Willamsburg, VA
• July 7 - Milton Man Olympic Tri - Lake Milton, OH
• July 20 - Dog Days Century Ride -
• July 28 - Fairport Harbor Lighthouse Sprint Tri - Fairport Harbor, OH
• August 11 - The Perfect 10 Miler - Lyndhurt, OH
• September 8 - Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 Tri - Sandusky, OH
• September 28 - Akron Marathon Relay - Akron, OH
• September 29 - Girls With Sole Believe & Achieve Trail 5 or 10K - Kirtland, OH
• October 13 -  Lake Health Full Marathon - Fairport Harbor, OH
• November 2 - For the Shirt Ultra (6 or 12 hr run TBD) - Warren, OH
• November 24 - Fall Classic Half Marathon - Strongsville, OH - maybe
• November 28 - Painesville Turkey Trot 5K, Painesville, OH
• December 15 - Santa Shuffle Half Marathon - Sandusky, OH - maybe

So there it is folks. As you can see I will be a busy girl this year! No 140.6 planned at the moment but a good amount of triathlons in there and some trail running too! Of course I am most excited about my Team Rev3 races! I'm hoping my legs hold up well in the fall and if they do I will run a fall marathon with the intent to run my first ultra marathon in December. No 100 miler or anything crazy like that but at least a 50K. Sounds like fun doesn't it?! Here we go 2013!!