Race Report CyMan Triathlon - Sept 21, 2014

After the Hy-Vee triathlon I was pretty pumped to go out and give CyMan all I had and try for a new PR.  My body conspired against me in the week leading up to the race and on the Saturday before the race I was not sure I be up to racing.  

I managed a strong training run on the Tuesday morning leading up to the race, but things quickly went downhill from there.  One of the more common symptoms for people with Multiple Sclerosis is fatigue.  I had not had a significant fatigue problem since June and all in all have been feeling pretty good.  However reality hit and I found that the end of August and beginning of September my stress level started to creep up on me with my two kids starting school, soccer, band, as well as other things going on in my life.  All that stress wore on me until Sunday the 14th I started having hints of a problem.  By Wednesday night “Lead Arms” were in full effect.  Fatigue manifests itself such that it feels like both arms and legs are weighted and all I can do is sit very still while my mind runs great and my body is on pause.  Thursday I spent the day on the couch waiting for my body to lighten and tried to go to work Friday morning but found myself back home on the couch by noon.  I was finally feeling better by Friday around dinner time and manage to participate in family activities Friday night and Saturday but still was not sure I would feel up to racing on Sunday.

The Kyle's Bike 2014 Triathlon Team
(Robert, Scott, Christian, Laura, Me and Andy)

Saturday afternoon I prepped my bike, loaded my gear (I actually remembered everything this time) and operated under the assumption that I would feel good to go Sunday morning.  The great thing about CyMan is that is starts an hour later than most races so I rolled out of Ames Sunday morning to head down to Bondurant around 7am feeling rested.  I got myself set up in transition and spent some time chatting with the Kyle’s Bike team as this was the first race all six of us were doing together.  It was a beautiful, albeit very windy, morning and while my hopes for a chance at a PR were dashed I was certain my race would be solid.

In the wetsuit waiting for the start (photo Katherine R)

I was not sure about wearing my wetsuit but after a stern talking to from “coach” I wrestled into it for the first time in three years.  I was the last wave to go in after the Olympic racers and all the sprint racers so struggled to stay warm in the cool breeze even with the wetsuit.  The swim start is a standing water start so I was able to get a good spot and pulled out front with another woman to lead our pack.  We were heading into the sun to the first buoy so I had found some landmarks above the buoy on shore before the start to keep my line.  After coming around the first buoy around 300 yards out we went left into the wind and the water was very choppy and stayed that way around the next buoy until about 100 yards from shore.  The 750 yard swim went well enough and I came out of the water second in my group in 13:43 with the best swim time out of the Kyle’s team for the first time all year (Andy you are tough!) and my fastest time of the season.

Coming out of the lake (Photo Katherine R)

After tugging myself out of my wetsuit (T1 2:02) I was off on the bike for 14 plus miles.  Wind was going to be a factor or maybe it was my legs as my bike miles have been low this year.  I did not feel strong the first couple of miles up the road with the cross wind.  I was trying to remember what the course looked like and how much of it would be into a headwind.  As it turns out not much but most was with a stiff crosswind and rolling hills. I was on my way back before I got into a good grove, it was my worst ride of the season at 50:17 (ave speed around 15 mph).

Starting the Run (Photo Katherine R)

I redeemed myself a little with my second fastest transition of the year (T2 @ 47 seconds) and was off on the run.  FINALLY I had perfect run weather with a little sun in the 60s and a nice cooling wind.  Once I made the turn onto the trail beyond the lake I was starting to get into the grove.  I was afraid to look at my watch but snuck a peek going into the second mile and was stunned by a pace under 9 minutes.  The run felt great and was a bit of redemption for all focused training runs the last month and I ended the 5k with a time of 27:51 which was my fastest 5k time of the year and left me with an overall time of 1:34.42 which was almost my slowest sprint time of the year but I felt great about things as a whole.

Showing off my hardware (Photo Christian B.)

The final outcome got me a second place age-group finisher spot (out of 3). This was the first time I did CyMan (sponsored by the ISU triathlon club) at this venue and it was a well run race with a fun course.  Definitely on my list for future years.  My next race of the 2014 season will be the Des Moines Half Marathon October 19th. This is my first half marathon in three years so trying to get focused to get the job done.

2014 Triathlon Summary below with fastest times in bold.

Copper Creek swim (750 m), Bike 12 miles (hills/rain), run 3.1 miles(hills/humid)

Swim: 15:54 T1 2:08 Bike 46:59 T2 1:22 Run 32:25 Final time 1:38:48

Iowa Games swim (500 yds), bike 15 miles (hilly), run 3.1 miles (flat/hot)

swim 6:37 T1 1:35 bike 53:12, T2 0:36, run 29.10 ave 9.51 - 1:31

Bluff Creek swim (1500 yards), bike 25 miles (twister hill), run 3.1 miles (hills/humid)

swim 30 min, T1 1:22, Bike 1:29.51, T2 1:15, Run 1:09.54 Overall  03:12:28.7

Hy-Vee swim (750 m), Ts (huge), Bike 12 miles (flat/fast), run 3.1 miles (flat/hot)

swim 15:40, T1 2:36, bike 38:23 T2 2:12 run 29:41 overall 1:28.30

CyMan swim (750 m), Bike 14 miles (hills), run 3.1 miles(flat/fast)

swim 13:43, T1 2:02, bike 50:17, T2 0:47, run 27:51 overall 1:34.42

As always thank you to my race sponsor Kyle’s Bikes and Discounttrisupply.com as well as my Kyle’s Bike and Triracers teammates.  It has been an honor to race with you all this season.  It means a lot to me to know you are out there on the course keeping me going. Also, a big thanks to my Facebook Family and all the encouraging words. You have lifted me back up when I felt like I had a huge hurdle to overcome. Thanks most of all to my family who put up with me through another season of training and chaos. Even if you don't come to the races its good to know I have you to come home to.

Race Report - Hy-Vee Triathlon - August 31st Des Moines

My ID for Transition

Race Tat the night before

I was apprehensive all week about doing another Olympic race after I imploded on the run at Bluff Creek.  I came up with a nutrition plan, I worked with my trainer to improve my strength, and had a few solid workouts in the last three weeks.  I also contacted the race officials to see if it was possible to move me from heat 22 (second to last) to something earlier as I was worried the heat and humidity on the run like it has in my other races.  I am still getting a handle on doing triathlons with MS since heat causes a flare up of symptoms.  The last couple of weeks with the stressors of all things related to my kids starting back to school I have struggled with nearly constant flare-ups in my hands and feet.  The race director decided to move me to heat 12 which is a para-athlete heat so they could keep an eye on me.  

We had a crazy amount of rain last week (5” in two days up in Ames) causing flooding to the race bike course, so the officials changed the distance from an Olympic to a sprint (750m swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run) which is half the distance.  I was disappointed and considered bailing out of the race because of some family issues that came up on Friday.  Ultimately, I decided I need to do this for me because of all the hard work I have put in the last couple of months.   I went through the athletes briefing Saturday and then dropped my bike off.  I had to ask for help finding my spot because they have the para athletes located at a different spot which had me set up along the blue fence that separated the 5150 racers from the age groupers (like me).

My spot in the middle of transition
Note there are just as many bikes behind me

Due to the sheer size of transition (over 2000 athletes) and my location within it was a bit of a solo endeavor for me.  I got to transition around 5:15 am to set up my gear and realized I had forgotten my hat and sunscreen.  Once set up I went to see if I could hunt down any of my Kyle’s bikes or Triracer teammates in the dark of transition.  I bumped into Triracers president Jim and chatted with him while he set up his space.  He had an extra visor and sunscreen and was willing to share, and I was extra grateful for that out on the run course.  I saw a couple other folks but once they closed transition everyone dispersed and made it hard to find people.

I headed around the lake to the swim start while listening to updates for the pro athletes on the course.  Their course is an Olympic distance and the rest of the athletes were not allowed to start until all of pros were off the bike course.  All the 5150 championship folks (qualified for a slot at other races) went off in wave starts around 8:20 with 10 heats.  The age group folks started around 8:50 with the elite athletes (super fast) and then it was my heat.  I was the only one racing para in age group so I rolled off the beach solo with my Kyle’s Bike teammates in the heats right behind me.  The great thing about the swim was no traffic until I got to about the third buoy and that was very lite.  The bad thing was I had very little splashing ahead of me to site off of and my goggles fogged a bit making it hard to see the red/orange buoys in the water.  I had a comfortable swim and am good with the time at 15:40.

Taking on nutrition coming into T2

I took my time in transition (2:36 minutes) and got going on the bike. I realized in transition that I forgot to turn on my watch which also has GPS and was in triathlon mode.  I attempted to advance it to the bike setting but ended up in T2 so didn’t have any speed readings for my bike.  I also started to have blurred vision in my left eye during the ride and into the run which due to a combination of sweat and an allergy flare up so I just had to hunker down and grind through it all.  The bike course was really flat and fast and ultimately it didn’t matter as I gave as much as I had and ended up with an average speed of 19 mph with a time of 38:23 which is a solid ride for me.

Katherine grabbed a shot of me at mile 2

Next up was the run.  It was creeping into the high 70s with some humidity by the time I hit T2 (2:12 minutes) so I opted to race with my cooling sleeves again.  I love these because they bring my arm skin temp down and keep the sun off of me when I run.  The first two miles we had water stops every half mile or so and a lot of course encouragement from Kyle’s Bikes teammates racing and spectating.  The last mile really started wearing on me with no water to pour on myself and a fair bit of sun beating down.  I had no idea what my pace was and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I ended up with a solid time with an average speed of 9:34 a mile and run time of 29:41 which still leaves me with room for improvement but was a solid time for me.  My final time was 1:28.30 which to my surprise is my second fastest sprint time only to my last Hy-Vee sprint race which had a significantly shorter swim distance.

Bringing it home

If I had been racing with my age group (assuming no heat issues) I would have placed 15th out of 36. They said I can race in the 5150 championship next year.  So for my age group this puts me top four on the swim, 17 on the bike, 23rd on the run.  I am still working through the mental issues associated with racing with MS but feel like I had a good showing at Hy-Vee and am pumped for my last triathlon, CyMan on September 21st in Bondurant.  Hoping to get closer to my last sprint PR which was a 1:24.50 in 2010.

As always thank you to my race sponsor Kyle’s Bikes and Discounttrisupply.com as well as my Kyle’s Bike and Triracers teammates.  It means a lot to me to know you are out there on the course keeping me going.

Race Report Shawn - Bluff Creek Olympic Triathlon - August 10th

Teammate Christian and I prerace

Bluff Creek Triathlon at Don Williams Park north of Ogden has been one of my favorite races for a while now.  I have done the course twice as a sprint and once as a almost Olympic.  The swim was cut short in 2011 due to water temps being very cold as the race used to be in May.  This is also a very similar course to the one Iowa Games Triathlon used to run in the same park which I did several times before they moved it to Easter Lake.

Out of the water

This was the first Olympic distance race (1500yd swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run) that I have done in a couple of years for a variety of reasons, so I have to say I was more nervous than usual going into this one.  My prerace prep could have been a little better starting with learning the swim course.  I didn’t realize that there was one buoy we could not see from the beach so when some folks started cutting away from the buoy line to take a more direct route I did not and it probably cost me, according to my GPS almost 200 yards of swimming.  I felt like I had a strong swim but course disorientation had me all muddled.  I also forgot to spray my goggles with anti-fog yet again.  I considered taking on nutrition before the swim but opted not to and that was a series of nutrition based errors that cost me some functionality throughout the race.

The Olympic bike course is a bit notorious.  You can Google Twister Hill (first down and first up) and get a feel for what I mean.  There is a 3.5 mile N/S straightaway to start the ride with some gentle rolling hills and then the course turns right into Pilot Mound.  It continues for another two miles and then the "Hill" sign comes into view and seems like a giant understatement.  The downhill going out felt steep and is shorter than the uphill across from it.  I didn’t brake going down and at the bottom the road curves to the right before you cross a bridge and climb up the other side which bends to the right.  The Specialized Alias I am riding from Kyle’s Bikes didn’t quite have enough gears to keep me spinning comfortably up this hill and I had a couple of guys go by me as I was working the hill including teammate Christian.  

Once I got to the top the course levels out a little bit and then curves to the right some more and throws a few more smaller rollers at you.  It also threw some headwind at us for a couple of miles which we encountered again for the last three miles of the ride.  Then we turn around and repeat the bike course in reverse.  Taking on Twister hill from the other direction is a bit more exciting because you are coming down it and around a curve at the same time so you can’t see the bottom right away.  I looked at my watch this time and nearly broke 45 mph and that was after I tapped the brake so I could check my speed.  I had to give a little whoot before we bounced across the bridge at the bottom and the nutrition I had planned for the other side of the valley flew out of my top tube bag.  I was bummed and opted against foraging in the bag for something else as things had been there a while.  So I tried pushing the EFS I had in my one water bottle hoping it would be enough to get me going on the run.  All and all my bike time was faster than when I raced the course in 2011 by three minutes.

Smiling at the start of the run while wrangling my sleeves

Joshua and I with an icy cool down

Going into the run I felt like I had prepared for the muggy warm weather by bringing my Pearl Izumi cooling shrug.  It was prewet in a little cooler in transition and was an adventure to get on but seemed to help  It is supposed to be able to drop skin temperature by up to 5 degrees so long as you keep it wet.  My husband also offered to come hang out on the course with ice water and ice for me at the run turnaround as the run is a loop you run twice.  I walked through the water stops which totaled four and drank a cup and poured a cup.  They only offered Heed for electrolytes which is nasty stuff so I didn’t take anything except water and didn’t grab a gel in T2 since I was distracted by the shrug.  The heat and humidity had me stymied despite Joe bringing me ice and my wearing my cooling sleeves, which I was able to keep wet.  I actually got dizzy and had chills going up the hill into mile 4 so I walked as well as around 5.5 miles.  I am sure it is combination of needing more longer runs under my belt, only having one run last week while on vacation, and not getting enough nutrition on the course.  

Pays to show up and do the race.
My teammates all age group winners.

In the end my run time was 14 minutes slower than my run time in 2011.  I try not to think of myself as limited by my MS so I am going to chalk this race up to a larger nutrition and training malfunction.  My favorite part about this weekend’s race was finishing and having a group of people cheering me across the line.  I was the only lady in my division at the Olympic length so despite having a time that was 11 minutes slower than my previous slowest Olympic race time I still got first place in my age group and a nifty pint glass with the race logo on it.  I guess sometimes it pays to show up and get things done no matter how much they challenge you

.

What my watch told me after my training run on Wed.  I believe!

My stats: Swim time: 30 minutes, T1 1:22, Bike 1:29.51 (three minutes faster than the last time I rode this course), T2 1:15, Run 1:09.54 (14 minutes slower than the last time I ran this course) Overall Time 03:12:28.7 (Previous slowest Olympic time was 3:01 so I have a lot of room to improve).

I big shout out to my sponsor Kyle’s Bikes and discounttrisupply.com as well as the Kyle’s Bike team and my Triathlon Racers of Iowa teammates.  My next race is The Hy-Vee Olympic Triathlon August 31st so come cheer me on in Des Moines.  

I worked with my personal trainer on Wednesday and lamented my story to him. First thing he told me is it is just one race and that I should let go the of the disappointing run.

After he got down making me work for my time he gave me two run workouts. One to help me build my distance (a slow easy 7 miler for this weekend) and a step tempo workout which I did Thursday morning.

It was a glorous "fall" morning with the sun not yet over the horizon and a lovely 58 degrees when I left the house. The plan, a warm up mile easy and then two sets of hard two milers with a 4 minute walk in the middle the goal holding a 10 minute mile tempo.

I did the first mile in 11:50 (good for me as I usually go out too hard) first two miler hard at a 9:11 pace mile 4 minute walk and then second two miler hard at a 9:30 minute pace, so not only did I get to my real goal pace I managed to talk my body into going fast for four miles. With a little conservative focused over the next two weeks I might just be able to get a decent run in when I do the Hy-Vee triathlon on the 31st. Feeling better about things now.

MS Update - Feeling happy and excited (not about MS)

Well, I started this blog before we went on vacation to Colorado last week but forgot to post it so here is an edited version … hopefully it makes some sort of sense…

Ride with Joe the week after RAGBRAI

I rode RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike/Buffet Ride Across Iowa) a couple of days last full week of July.  Abby and I rode my folks tandem on Wednesday from the south shore of Clear Lake around to Ventura to meet my dad and then rode into Clear Lake for the party.  It was an easy 16 mile day and Abby and I had a lot of fun with my folks and a mellow afternoon of hanging out.  Thursday Joe, my dad (also Joe) and I rode from Mason City to Waverly.  The weather was gorgeous, I had corn on the cob, chocolate covered bacon and blueberry pie for perfect RAGBRAI lunch.  It was a 66 mile ride that day and I smiled all day long.  I wore my “I Ride with MS” jersey and got a lot of positive shoutouts and had a couple nice conversations.  

Joe and I chillin' at 9000+

The last week of July Joe and I started working through the Dave Ramsey financial peace university.  This is going to be a hairy 9 weeks navigating the minefield to take us to fiscal responsibility.  I gathered spending and income data all week in an attempt to pull together an actual budget.  Now that the kids are both in school and the cars are paid off it is time to get serious because I want to travel and do some house updates without taking on debt.

Family selfie YMCA Rockies with RMNP behind

The kids earning their junior ranger badges

This past week we busted into our vacation fund and headed off to Colorado to spend some time in the mountains.  After my idea of staying in a cabin got shot down we landed on staying in a bunkhouse at the YMCA of the Rockies.  The camp is pretty neat and had just enough space for the four of us and all our gear in our little room.  

Abby and I with my wonderful friend Lisa

We didn’t spend much time there with Rocky Mountain National Park just outside the door.  We enjoyed Estes Park in the evenings and even had a visit from an old friend who lives in Fort Collins. After a couple of days hiking and visiting interpretive centers and sites we said goodbye to the park and all the wonderful creatures.    We spent a day driving through scenic byways, enjoying Beau Jos pizza (YUM!) and driving up to Mt Evens which is over 14000 feet high.  

Abby and Joshua with Lisa's horse Dusty

2100 miles... 1/2 tank left... tired

We managed to take in a Rockies vs. Cubs game and even though the good guys lost we had a great evening catching up with my friend and Abby’s Godmother Lisa.  The next day Lisa and Abby did a trail ride through Garden of the Gods (they both love horses) and then the kids, Lisa and I went hiking in the red rocks and visited the Colorado Springs zoo. The last day was the 13 hour drive home through Kansas and Missouri back to home, the kids did great but I think Joe and I are still recovering.

Physically I feel decent despite another three weeks of headaches and migraines.  Likely a combination of many things but triggered from my MS meds and struggling to stay hydrated.  Still having some nagging low back pain and I have to really stay out of the heat and sun to keep my energy up.  I started working with a personal trainer a couple of weeks ago so hopefully that will help balance out my body.  I am also hoping it will help with my speed/strength in my next two races on the 10th and 31st which are longer tougher courses.  

Part of the team that keeps me going and our AG place mugs

I am going to ask for help now so listen up.   I am looking for a couple of volunteers to be out on the course (especially for the run) to cheer me and give me bags of ice and water.  I raced on Sunday my first Olympic distance race in a couple of years (1500yd swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run).  The swim and the bike went well but I imploded on the run and had my worst time in my 10k history.  The heat and humidity just have me stymied.  Despite Joe bringing me ice for the run course and my wearing my cooling sleeves I still struggled.  I am sure it is combination of needing more run miles, only having one run last week while on vacation, and being a head case about all this but I am struggling to work through this road block.  So if you are interested and available the Sunday of Labor Day and in the metro please come cheer me on.  my favorite part about this weekend’s race was finishing and having a group of people cheering me across the line.  I was the only one racing that length in my division so despite having a time that was 11 minutes slower than my slowest Olympic race time I still got first place in my age group.  Guess sometimes it pays to show up and get things done no matter how much they challenge you.

Still smiling while I wrestle into my cooling sleeves.

I met with my neurologist for a check up the Monday before I left on vacation.  I had read several articles in the last week about how many autoimmune disease therapies aren't targeted enough and can do harm as a result.  

This is a long article but gets into some of that as well as diet changes: http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2011/09/14/ron-rosedale-neurodegenerative-disease-hormones-and-diet/

Still looking for my fire so won't stop going
 through the motions until I find it.

Despite that my Dr said this is the best time to have MS due to those therapies and was pleased that my side-effects are limited to mild headaches, bruising and low white blood count (I would add muddled brain and sporadic bladder control issues but is that MS, medication or adrenals?)  Needless to say he was pleased I didn't have any new symptoms and proclaimed me to be moving into remission.  He said 95% percent of his patients are doing well with these treatments and he thinks along with a healthy diet and exercise we can stay there.  No brainer right.  So I am in an internal struggle with all this but trying to be patient with myself.

The big excitement this week is playing catch up… oh that and my baby boy starting kindergarten.  Where has the time gone.  Have a great week and as always thanks for reading.  

RIP RW

Photos provided by Lisa C. Katherine R, and Angie T plus those taken by JJ junior photographer.  :)  Thanks everyone.

MS Update - Sometimes its ok to not be ok

Well, it has been a little over a month since I posted my last update that isn’t a race report.  Sorry about that as time has been whizzing by and I guess I didn’t have much to say or maybe mental space to formulate my thoughts.  There are a lot of links in this post which mostly go to race report blog posts over the last month and interesting MS related posts by others.

What I’ve been up to since Mid-June.  I again helped out with the kids triclinic series with my triclub and will do it one more time this weekend.  My second time working with the kids I was able to bring Abigail along and she had a blast so we have signed her up for her first kids triathlon on the same course the training sessions have been on for July 26th.  She is pretty excited.

We’ve been doing T-ball with Joshua who has his final “game” on tonight.  I had a great five days with my family over the fourth of July with two good runs, a great bike ride, boating and swimming, great

Joshua at T-Ball Practice

food. family book reading adventures, games, fireworks, and of course the parade “of politicians” in Clear Lake, Iowa.

We did two family fun runs, the Hope Run which raises money for Hospice House.  The second one was the Iowa Games Midnight Madness run this past weekend and both are in Ames.  As a family we dropped our time three minutes between the two and had a lot of fun together.

Abby at Girl Scout Camp

Joe and I rode the MS Bike Ride in Ames.  I received a awesome group of donations for the MS Bike Ride.  The grand total was $851 and exceeded all expectations!  Thank you to everyone who supported me through donations to the MS Society and continue to support me on this journey!

The pole that got me last year

People who donated:

Colleagues: Bob Y, Lance W, Joe D, Craig B, Mitch C., Sharon H., Sarah K

Teammates: Christian B, Sarah C., Jesse F, Laurie S

Others affected by MS: Charlie N, Aaron R

Friends and Neighbors: Barb M, Henrietta H. Amy D, Siggi

Last but not least my Family: Gloria M., Mom and Dad, Nancy W

I also did two triathlons Copper Creek triathlon which was a day full of firsts.  This past weekend I did the Iowa Games Triathlon which was a better experience for me.  It feels great to be racing again however leading up to Copper Creek and the week or two after that race I was really struggling.  I felt like I am dragging a weight along behind me and all my workouts with runs especially, as well as trying to manage my thoughts.  It feels like my body and my mind are going at a half clip, bogged down and slow motion.  I really noticed my scattered mind in the pool which is a place I can normally count laps without thinking and work through other stuff at the same time.  I am not reacting physically as quickly as I normally do, I am not able to think as quickly and anticipate things out into the future in my thought process.  Part of it has been the heat that smoldered through the month of June and I have always been sensitive to the heat.  I suspect part of it is related to the disease of MS and part of it is related to the meds I am taking to combat MS.

Despite having better workouts the last couple of weeks I still got hung up with some sort of sinus crud that had drainage running down my throat off and on for couple of weeks.  Around the 4th of July it all landed in my chest like a cold but stopped bothering me after that.  I also got my allergy meds filled so I have on hand if things stir up again.  Once things hit my chest a migraine moved into my head for three days thanks to a series of weather fronts, ongoing dehydration on my part and who knows what else.  I didn’t have a chance to slow down as I was to lead three days of meetings over four days in Des Moines for the Iowa Geographic Information Council and then for the GIS-T Planning Committee two organizations with which I am active.  The only saving grace in this scenario was Abigail was at Girl Scout horse camp all week and Joshua was at my folks place in Clear Lake so the house was quieter.

I may have mentioned we have a new kitten who has been with us since memorial day.  Lilah is a busy, curious, and super cute.  Her boundless energy is constantly annoying our older cat Aslan (14) so now whenever she comes near him he wails even if it is 2 or 5am which has really put a dent in my ability to get a decent night of sleep lately.  Plus we had a slew of thunderstorms through at night which gets the dogs all stirred up and a night on the couch with a dog panting anxiously in my face is really not all it is cracked up to be.  After nearly a week of sleep interruptus I am running on fumes physically and mentally.  I love the furballs but I could do with some storm free weather and a little more tolerance from the lot of them.

I mentioned in my June post that the meds have been dragging my blood count down.    My white blood counts had both my doctors in a bit of a fit.  I may have mentioned they were half the count they were before I started taking the meds.  I was retested two weeks ago and they have come about halfway back up but are still well below normal.  I see my neurologist in a couple of weeks to talk through things.  I am struggling with meds that do potentially do as much harm as good.  I am tired of being tired and tired of being mentally muddled all the time.  I am tired of bickering kids and howling furballs.  Wednesday I woke up with an achy body and a headache and yet I keep marching.  

So while this post talks about things that lift me or drag me down… my husband said I don’t have anything to prove to anyone.  I don’t have to be happy and strong all the time because I am human after all.  I have to keep proving to myself I can do this, I have to keep collecting data about how my diet affects my energy and the exercise that keeps me going.  I have to keep getting out of bed each day because I would miss out on all the good things I have going on even if I grumble sometimes.  I have to be proactive so today I started working with a personal trainer to help me continue to get stronger and rebuild my confidence. I will keep remembering to breath and hopefully get back to my meditation and tai chi.  I am working to better communicate when I need help and when I am good. Looks like I got this for now... as always thanks for listening.

Here are some great blogs and other information by/about folks with MS.

http://www.milesandtrials.com/ironman-boulder-70-3-race-recap/

http://www.healedthefilm.com/

http://mattcavallo.com/blog/

Race Report - Iowa Games Triathlon July 13th

Iowa Games Triathlon was a late addition to my race list for 2014 and I knew I was doing Midnight Madness the night before but decided to go for it.  I generally don’t prefer to do sprint triathlons because I like the training challenges related to doing Olympic distance races.  The difference between the two look something like this with a little variation depending on races (Sprint/Olympic): Swim (500 yds/1580 yds), Bike (15 miles/25 miles), Run (3.1 miles/6.2 miles)

Pre-race fog taken by teammate Christian at chip pickup

This year my perspective has been a little different since I was not able to race much the last two seasons due to injury.  After racing Copper Creek, even though I did not have a goal and had all my “firsts” noted in my last blog, I was not feeling very good about where things were at for me this season.  In the midst of some emotions last week my husband reminded me that I do not have to prove anything to anyone but I felt like I needed to prove something to myself.  Copper Creek was my “yeah I remember how to do this” but I still needed to find my way to stronger workouts and a better head space.

Shooting the breeze with Christian before the race

Fortunately the weather had been a little cooler leading up to the race and I had some quality rides and runs which helped with the head space issue.  It was super foggy when I got up on race day which gave me some flashbacks to racing the Chisago Lakes half ironman in 2011.  I hoped to myself things would clear up so we could see the buoys.  I needed not worry as the sun was shining by the time I made the 40 minute drive south to Easter Lake.

My first indicator this was going to be a great day, my race number is my birthday 525. After picking up my swag, cap and number I stopped down for my race chip and said hello to teammate Christian who was volunteering at the race.  I got my gear and set up my space next to my other teammate Laura and then the Kyle’s Bike crew who was racing, Laura, Andy, Scott and myself had a quick photo shoot thanks to Laura’s husband Devin.

Coming out of the lake to T1

The swim

I was feeling excited while we waited on the beach for the start and chatted some more with my teammates and other racers.  I was picked earlier in the week to be a beta tester for the Bia women’s GPS triathlon watch and was glad not to have to fiddle with buttons like I did at Copper Creek.  I was again in the 5th swim wave and had decided to not hold back.  I was second out of the water in my heat with a time of 6:38.

The Bike

Moving through transition

My transition was much better this time with my shoes open and ready so I was in and out in just over a minute.  Then off to the bike course on the Specialized Alias that Kyle’s Bikes provided for me to race on.  This bike is set up very similar to the one I normally ride but is most comfortable in aero position.  It does a good job of absorbing the bumps in the road which came in handy leaving the park.  Similar to Copper Creek my quads were barking at me the first couple of miles but the course is a pretty technical so I had to focus.  It is a twisty hilly three loop ride with the first couple of miles winding to a big downhill near the Primate Sanctuary, a short curving flat leading to a significant long uphill before winding back around to the beginning.  Teammate Christian parked himself near the top of the long uphill and was giving encouragement to everyone as they rolled up.  I found myself pushing harder to get to the top and didn't have any mechanicals this time.  I got off the bike at 53 minutes which leaves a lot of room for improvement and was in and out of transition in under a minute as I did put my speed laces on my sneakers after Copper Creek.

Climbing the big hill with a smile

The Run

First loop of run course

Coming out of T2 this time I felt strangely free of my normal spaghetti leg feeling and was moving at a good clip for me.  The run course is not one of my favorites as it is a two lap loop that has two offshoots through uneven grass on the way out and a long sunny flat on the way back.  By the time I was on my second loop the temperatures were pushing 80 and I was wishing I had asked one of my teammates to hand me the baggy of ice I had brought with me at the turn around.  Needless to say I felt like I was suffering by the end of the second mile.  At the turn around to head back to the finish I checked my watch for my pace and time and realized I was going to be close to my goal for the day but that I would need to finish strong so I did the best I could to pick up the pace rather than continuing to wilt in the heat.  My final run time was 29.10 with a total time of 1:31 which was just over my goal for the day.

At the finish I took one icy water bottle and poured it all over myself to cool down and then drank a second one and was good to go.  I was surprised to have no notable MS flare up aside from the heat slowing me down on the run but will need some crew support to get through my next two Olympic Triathlon races in August.

My Bia buddy... as you can see she is faster.  :)

In wrap up, I felt this was a solid race for me but still leaves me with room to improve.  I will be working with a personal trainer over the next six weeks to continue to strengthen my bike and run.  The triathlon mode on the Bia is awesome and I will be doing a blog post it soon talking about the benefits. I even made a bia buddy at the race.  I feel more prepared and found that I enjoyed my day so was glad I added this race to my list.  

A huge shout out of thanks to teammates Laura, Andy, Scott who all had great a great race.  Also to Laura’s husband Devin who took most of the race photos, teammate Christian who seemed to be everywhere cheering us on also taking photos, and the great crew of Triracers volunteering and on the course.  Also a huge thank you goes out to Kyle's Bikes and the discount tri supply team for sponsoring me this year. It was an awesome day!

Most of the Kyle's Bikes team: Scott, Andy, Christian, Shawn and Laura