Race Report - 3rd 1/2 Marathon of the year - Season Wrap Up

 I want to share this great card my husband and kids gave me after my 1/2 Ironman race in September.  They are pretty amazing and my secret spot is formulating some dreams for next year, but until then here is my last race report for 2016. 

Card my husband and kids gave me
after my 1/2 Ironman in September

Card my husband and kids gave me
after my 1/2 Ironman in September

Well, another season is officially in the books.  I have a couple of fun runs left yet this fall but last weekend was my last A race with the IMT Des Moines half marathon.  This was the third time I have run this race and I had a plan.  In 2011 this was my third race in my first year of doing them.  I finished it with a PR and a serious runners high.  It was amazing.  2012 -13 seasons had me laid up with injury issues and a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.  2014 was a test the waters year with five triathlons racing with the Kyle’s Bike triathlon team.  I did this half last year as a test to see if I could build back up to ½ Ironman distance racing again and was pleased with my results even if I wasn’t back up to the speed I was hoping for.  I did Dam to Dam ½ marathon this June but wan’t happy with how the run felt and was determined to have a good wrap up run.

Since march I have been training with John Mongar getting “strongar with Mongar” he says.  John is an experienced runner and triathlete and I worked with him last year as I built up my racing abilities again.  He helped me have some strong late season finishes at the Hy-Vee and Cyman triathlons and I was determined to dream big for 2015.  I knew I could hit my mark with his help keeping me on track.  John and I managed my workouts with assistance of Google docs to track my monthly workout plan and actual workouts accomplished.  Most weeks I had a strength building session and we would take a minute at the end to see if I hit my primary workouts for the prior week and set some focus areas for the coming week.  John’s positive encouragement kept me going when I felt like I couldn’t train another mile.

At the start of the season these were my goals:

1. Finish another 1/2 Ironman - done
2. Get my run at distance at a 9 minute mile - see my two des 1/2 marathon blog write ups for my two best halves with splits. - average 9.30 for the half but have been doing 8:30 ave for 2-4 mile runs so getting closer
3. Get to a 20-22 mph average on the bike - I've been all over the place on this in past years but a strong ride for me last year was in the 18-19 mph range. I need to do the miles in the saddle and that is where I fell short in 2011 training for my last half.  Still stuck in the 18-19 mph range so lots of room for improvement.
4. Have an age group top 3 in a race or two and not because I am the only one in my age group. - had a second place finish in my ½ ironman
5. Figure out the mental override for my run on hot/humid days so my training overcomes my MS - had a lot more early morning training sessions to avoid the heat … but not the humidity
6. Trim down a bit - guess I like to eat too much.  :)

My A races were the 1/2 Ironman in September where the run got the best of me, and this race.  I’ve been having some really great training runs leading into this race with 2-4 mile runs with 8:30 minute miles so I was optimistic going into this race.  I wasn’t sure I would hit a PR but I thought I could get pretty close.

Yes!

The morning of the race it was around 35 at the start but I love the cooler temps so that works for me.  Joe and I drove down with plenty of time park, use the restroom and find just the right start spot.  I was determined to hit a time somewhere between 2:05 and 2:10 so we lined up about 50 feet in front of the 2:10 pace sign.  We got things started and I knew I needed to hit mile times that were under 10 minutes.  Once we got out of the first mile of traffic our next three miles were under 9:30 (8:52, 8:59, 9:14) and part of me was ecstatic and part of me was worried we went out a little too strong.  Around mile five on the backside of Water Works Park I was trying to mentally pull things back together and had what was supposed to be my first of two honey stinger gels.  This gave me a boost from a 9:46 minute fifth mile to the next three being 9:11, 9:19, 9:20.  The irony here is I was just running but not feeling like I was running fast. These miles also had a bit of a head wind so I am surprised they were faster.  I had been taking on water every other stop the first six or seven miles.  Around mile 8 I decided to take on Gatorade instead of waiting until I got to Grey’s Lake to take another gel.

The run around Grey’s Lake felt a bit slower with miles that ranged from 9:29 to 9:47.  I was definitely slowing down and having to talk to myself a bit to keep the wheels on the bus.  I don’t think I was physically laboring or feeling bad, just in a weird place mentally which was holding me back a bit.  This lack of focus is where I lost my shot as matching my best time although I wasn’t paying close enough attention to get myself back on track.  I started taking on water at most of the stops seems like mostly to have an excuse to walk for a second and took on another Gatorade just out of the park.

Joe and I at the finish line.

We got to the little ½ marathon out and back and I saw the guy with the 2:10 sign coming and picked up the pace a little bit.  I didn’t realize how close we were to the finish once we got into downtown so turned up the pace later than I should have but managed a strong last three block finish anyway.  I am happy with the outcome of this race and have high hopes I can get below my PR next year.

Here is the breakdown between 2011 and 2015:

2011 - 6.5 mile time 1:07:46 / ave 10:26 min mile - final time 2:06:27 / ave 9:40 min mile /  final place 191 in division (this race had me negative splitting as I went)

2015 - 6.5 mile time 1:05:08 / ave 9:41 min mile - final time 2:08:12 /ave 9:48 min mile / final place 113 in division (this race had me maintaining a nearly constant split but slightly slower second half)

Milo and Ash our new kittens

Flowers after my 1/2 Ironman
race in September because
my family is awesome.

I feel good about how the year went and am looking forward to even bigger goals for next year that include another ½ Ironman and maybe even a marathon (testing the waters for doing an Ironman distance in 2017 or 18).  I want to say a huge thanks to my family who supported me in my racing training efforts this year.   Thanks to the people who picked me up when I was harder on myself than I needed to be.  Thanks to my coach and my training buddies who gave me something to look forward to each week, kept me on track and helped me achieve my goals. And now I am going to play with my two new little buddies. Too cute!

Race Report - 2nd 1/2 Ironman Triathlon - Finished but not done

Place - overall place 65/88 overall women 13/26 age group place 2/4 Times - swim 30:48 T1 3:31 bike overall 64 - time 3:16:40 bike ave speed 16.5 T2 1:46 run overall 69 - total time 2:34:57 average speed per mile 11:56 final time 6:27:42

Well, It's done. 1/2 Ironman number two is in the books. To recap a 1/2 Ironman is 70.3 miles - 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking and 13.1 miles running (1/2 marathon). This is my ninth season doing triathlons and I love training for a goal, but race day is even better. I expected the race to take me somewhere between 6 hours and 6 and a half hours depending on how my day went. I worked up my fast (A), average (B) and slow (C) estimated times for Shawn sightings/goals for the day. After a couple months of several days a week with multiple workouts it felt a bit weird to cut down the mileage, frequency and duration of my training the two weeks leading into race day. I wanted to make sure my body had a chance to recover before the stress of race day.

Horsing around the day before... Go State!

With Joe out of state all week we were still formulating travel plans clear up to Friday before the race. We ended up driving up to White Bear Lake, MN Saturday morning after Joshua's soccer game.  Abby and I dropped the guys off at my cousin's house where we were staying and then headed out towards Stillwater to check out Square Lake Park and see the course. First assessment, the lake was probably the clearest lake I have ever raced in and the water was warmer than expected. Second assessment, this was going to be a much hillier course than anticipated since the course is next to the St. Croix river valley. Transition from the swim to the bike was up a very steep slope with wooden stairs so it was good to get a feel for the course area. From there we drove down to Stillwater to meet up with the team. There were to be six of us from the Ames area racing together, four who were new to this distance and myself and my primary biking buddy Galen who have done one or more. The day before race day we were still five strong plus some cheerleaders and we met to watch part of the ISU Iowa football game and talk race day.

Team shot prerace - Galen, Shawn, Lara, Jill Steve

Prerace on the beach

Abby and I headed back to WBL and had pizza with the family for dinner (easy but not the best meal choice before a race). I checked my email and saw an awesome message from my coach loaded with encouragement. Then, I headed to bed early as I was worn out from traveling and nervousness. Unfortunately miss Adney the dog woke me up at 3 am looking for her mom (who was out of town) and I couldn't get back to sleep. We were all up and ready to roll out by 6 am to get to the course by 6:30. They had changed the run and bike out locations from the sprint race the day before so I ended up racking my bike at the run out side of transition but decided to just go with it as transition was pretty small compared to many races I had done. I set up my gear (realized my sunglasses were in the car somewhere and Joe graciously offered to go find them for me) and headed down to the lake for body marking. I never did hear what the water temp was but they recommended a wetsuit so wetsuit it was... it is a pretty long swim after all so a little extra buoyancy never hurts.

My team gathered on the beach and as we were all in the last two waves we had fun listening to the music rocking, chatting with family and watched the first few waves get started. Then we were up. It was a standing water group start, which I prefer over a time trial run in start. I was able to get in and get out ahead of everyone right away and had my own lane for the first leg (rectangular course with .25 miles sides and .05 mile top and bottom with two laps). I caught up with the wave in front of us at the first right turn and was in traffic off and on the rest of the swim. The section going back towards the beach was rough with bodies and sun right in our face making sighting the buoys tough so I lost some of my rhythm the first go around. I had a strong second lap and by the closing leg the sun had shifted enough I could sight a bit better. I swam through two of the waves that left before me (3 minutes between each) and came out of the water and hit the mat at the bottom of the stairs at 30:48 which was an A pace time for me. Off to a good start.  

Towards the end of my first lap - MinneFoto

Heading for T1 - MinneFoto

T1 was around 3:31 for me which is ok. I had to run up the three flights of stairs, shimmy out of my wet suit, dry off enough to get my bandaid to stick to my heal (had a massive blister on my heal from a long walk in my bike shoes) that was partially healed. Then off on the bike and into two miles of up. Once I rolled through the first few miles I got into a good rhythm and was maintaining around 18 mph ave which was right where I wanted to be. The bike course is two laps of the same course. it had rolling hills, beautiful countryside and amazing wide shoulders for safe riding. I had done some long tough rides so I was optimistic it was going to be a good day. The back side of the first lap takes you down into the river valley flats and then up a couple of miles of gear grinding hills back out of the valley and to the start of the second lap. Part way up the second half of hills towards the end of the first lap I blew a chain but was able to get it back on quickly and keep motoring up the hill. The other thing I noticed about the same time is that the wind was starting to pick up. As far as my nutrition plan goes I was eating my peanut butter pretzels, taking on EFS and water (one bottle each by the end of two loops), and towards the end of the second lap some stinger gummies as well. The wind was pretty consistent the second
lap but with all the turns we make to cover the course the direction was constantly shifting with the hardest part down in the river valley towards the end with the big climbs and a headwind.

Coming into T2

Walking out of T2

I finished the bike in 3 hours and 15 minutes which was a B time prerace but I give it an A time considering the wind and hill factors with a final average of 16:40 miles per hour. T2 was a 1:46 for me which was a bit quick as I should have eaten my banana because my tummy was rumbling. At this point I was 3 hours and 50 minutes into the race but I'm afraid the hills took more out of me than I thought and heading into the run the first two miles were mostly uphill and I found it impossible to get into a good comfortable running rhythm. A good run for me would have been around 10 - 10:30 minute miles. I saw three miles of that in the first five but it all pretty much imploded after mile five and my splits kept creeping higher close to 12 minute miles. It was in the mid seventies by mid run, windy and the hills just kept coming. The first, middle and last three miles were all in bike lane on the side the road. The rest of the run was on a short segment of bike trail from 3-5.5 and again in the other direction on this out and back course. It was pretty gruelling and I never felt like I did much more than shuffle along.  

Joshua Photo bombing my finish

Nothing left

I saw all my teammates at one point or another on the run course and we were all feeling the hurt from the course, hills, wind and rising heat. Nutrition on the run for me was water at almost every stop and gatorade which I had not trained with but had used in the past. Turns out the gatorade didn't  

agree with me this time and by halfway through the run I wasn't feeling real great with building GI distress. To finish the race we had to run all the way past the length of the park to get to the road in and I saw my family on the other side cheering and I choked up. I was walking up the last hill (otherwise only walking through aid stations) and they got me going again along with a gentleman from Bloomington who was going the same pace as me most of the run. I was elated to finally finish the race still shuffling but almost immediately got light headed and needed to sit and catch my breath (then race to the facilities.)

Waiting for our last teammate to finish

Galen and I with our age
group Medals

All in all it was mostly the race I hoped for although for the first few days after the race I was pretty disappointed by the run. I had several people tell me about their run implosions in race situations and I realized it happens to everyone. It was a tough course and I did the best I could that day. Will I do another... during the run I was cursing my decision to do a second one but as of today I say absolutely... I have upped my No Limits threshold and am looking towards next season which may hold my first marathon.... maybe some day will find me doing that one Ironman Triathlon I always dreamed about (but not for a few years anyway). 

 A huge thanks go out to my training buddies Galen, Jill, Steve (Lara), my coach John, and as always my amazingly patient husband and enthusiastic children. I couldn't have done it without you all. Next up the Des Moines Half Marathon in October and the Living History Farms cross country run in November.

Almost there - Half Ironman 2015

A training ride on a heavier bike with the tag a long
Yes we had one "training ride" for donuts too.  :)

Those who know me know I need to have a fitness goal in the hopper or I get really lazy which is really bad for my MS maintenance. Well, it is just ten days until race day.  My second half ironman triathlon (that’s 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run).  My first one was in 2011 where I learned a lot and you can read the race report here..  I had hopes for an Ironman the next year but then struggled with health issues for a couple of years. Last year I had a great season with five shorter triathlon races so I decided to give a longer race a go.  I did an indoor sprint triathlon in January but this is my only big triathlon of the season.  I found I have volunteered at more races than I am racing in this year.  It will likely take me just over six hours to finish this one.

My trainer/coach (the "Stronger with Mongar" program) assures me that I am ready.  When he said get in more run miles I did.  When he said add bike miles I did managing all the details in a Google Doc.  We’ve been working on my strength since the beginning of the year.  My distance totals from 2011 at about the same point in my training.. swim miles 20, bike miles 687, and my run miles 322 (I over trained on the run a bit that year.)

A training ride with Joe on the trails

As of today I am at 51 miles in the pool on the year which is what I use to shake things loose when I am having a tough day physically, mentally, etc.  I am at 752 miles on the bike which I was a bit under trained for in 2011.  I am at 252 miles on the year running which feels about right.

I’ve had several conversations about what I might have done to better prepare myself.  Things like more speed work on the run, more high intensity cycling, etc but really I feel like I got done what my body would let me do. I recently red the blog linked below and will note this is generally how I race, in the moment, dealing with what the day delivers.

https://triathlonresearch.org/blog/my-epic-triathlon-race-day-failure/

I have to say since my MS diagnosis, I went into some of my races last year with worry, but I am hoping to go into this race, the biggest physical challenge since my diagnosis, with an open mind and a body that is willing.  I have “practiced” resetting my chain on a hill and changing bike tires as I trained this season.  The weather could be anything in Minnesota in early September but I have trained in the heat and the cold, humidity, rain, and wind to build some mental and physical toughness so I feel like I am ready for anything at this point.

A family 5k training run because you have
 to have a little fun working out

My coach says I have done what I needed to do and has been wonderfully optimistic even when I am hard on myself.  My husband has been great about making my training schedule work for everyone in the household.  My kids are getting excited with me.  
So as I wind down my training intensity and duration the next ten days (with the exception of another really windy bike ride this afternoon) I will continue to check in with my body, try to get restful sleep, have a little labor day fun with family, and finalize my race plan, gear, etc.  I have some goals that range from “happy to finish” all the way to “wow I crushed it” but I will share those in the post race recap.  I am racing with five awesome teammates and that has been a great part of training for this race.  So for now I am grateful to be ready and able to race.  If you are in the upper twin cities and looking for something to do September 13th I’d love a cheering section up at Square Lake north of Stillwater.  Wish me luck!

MS Update - The good and the even better

these are pretty darn nice seats

A couple of great things to share today. The last couple of weeks have delivered some happy surprises.  The first one was winning two great seats at the ICubs game and being able to go with my family and my wonderful Aunt Joyce.  The coolest thing was I got to throw out one of the opening pitches.  As a result I got to play catch with my kids and Joe to make sure I could still throw a ball 66 feet.  Needless to say I got the ball from the mound to the box just right of the plate so not too bad for someone who’s pretty rusty these days.

throwing out the pitch

The other pretty great news came yesterday.  It was my annual meeting with my neurologist.  Despite feeling like my appointment was rushed, along with the “ride in the can” (35 minutes in an MRI machine) the outcome was worth the effort.  My neurologist was beaming when he came in.  It looks like there is no active disease progression showing in my MRI ( had a lot Feb 2014). AND my Doc said I have an almost a 50% reduction in the lesions on my brain too, so something I am doing is healing some of the damage (not that my symptoms are resolving) that was done from my MS and the med (according to the doc) are keeping me from relapses.  Only bad news is he won’t let me go down to the half dosage so I am stuck with yucky injections three times a week at the current dosage which makes me feel crummy for a week usually once a month. Even so my mom, my boss and my hubby all said it was worth celebrating so we got a couple of tasty sandwiches and a refreshing beverages. Yum!

At the MRI appointment the tech asked if I wanted to take the elevator or the stairs and I told her as long as I am able to take the stairs then the stairs it is.  Then, I was at the pool yesterday in between appointments (shocker I know) and a disabled man was struggling across the deck and I am thinking in my head that that could be me some day.  I stopped in my tracks and asked him if I could help as he was trying to get a lifeguards attention.  All he needed was a seat so I brought him one.  Every day am thankful for my mobility and my mental capacity.  All in all I am feeling pretty lucky.  Sending thanks into the universe.

One last cool thing is our butterfly garden has has some activity. We have monarch butterfly caterpillars working on their bush so excited to be doing our part to continue to support their population.

As always thanks for listening.

MS Update - Training, Lemonade, and Volunteering

I started this blog two weeks ago… trying to get caught up with my thoughts.  The summer is blowing by me with hardly any time to catch my breath.  I have been working hard to get ready for my big race, a half Ironman Triathlon, this coming September.  I was supposed to do a prep race last weekend however things didn’t play out quite as I had planned.  In the last couple of weeks my training had pretty much been on track.  3.6 miles of swimming on the month (38.7 miles on the year), 75 miles biking (422 on the year), 12.2 miles running (178 miles on the year) but a couple of Monday’s ago our super busy summer caught up with me and I ended up down for the count for the better part of three days with fatigue and mental muddle.  To add the misery it was a super hot muggy week.  Then I found out I was double booked and the race I thought was Sunday was actually Saturday.  I was also supposed to be coaching a youth triathlon clinic which Abby had planned to attend with me.  

After the week I had it was time to make the best of a challenge (lemonade from lemons) and I opted to not race for fear of another setback.  I got to move my race fees back to next year and Abby and I got to spend a whole morning together.  We volunteered at the triathlon with race set up, water station set up and body marking.  It was fun to chat with my teammates and support a great race which made up for not racing.  Then Abby and I raced down to Ankeny in time to coach the kids I had been working with off and on all summer.  Plus Abby got a chance to do a dry run for the triathlon she would do the following weekend.  I also volunteered at the youth triathlon the next weekend and got to see my baby and all the kids I coached find some success in finishing the triathlon they had trained all summer for, and I have to say I teared up a bit.  They are a pretty amazing group of kids and I really love working with them.  

Hugging my baby girl at the finish of her second triathlon

Since then my training has really ramped up with final miles for July at 8 swim miles, 142 bike miles, 37 run miles for July with a current total milage on the year at 43 miles swimming (it makes me happy) 490 miles biking, 215 miles running (31 in the last ten days).  I’m starting to build my run speed and distance again but still need a lot more seat time on the bike but have added bike to work once or twice a week for extra miles on my heavier bike as well as some shorter family rides.  Starting to get excited and hoping to have some solid training in August.  I also want to give a shout out to my amazing coach who has been helping me build strength and confidence.

Inspirational MS racing story to share (no not me): Runners world MS Survivor racing Endurance Race Badwater http://www.runnersworld.com/ultrarunning/ultrarunner-battling-ms-competes-at-badwater-with-help-from-famous-friends

Bike MS

Just wanted to do a quick recap of my bike MS journey with my dad.  I signed up to ride on the Dream Team lead by Charlie N whose wife has been living with MS for many years.

My dad Joe and I at the start

 The other thing that was neat about fundraising with the Dream Team was Charlie's decision to try and find a person who has MS for every mile we rode.  We were looking for 100 people.  In the end we ended up with 88 (if you know a few more people let us know as our goal is to have 100 by next year.)  He called the effort Mile and Miles 4 MS.

As you may remember I did the MS ride last year with Joe.  We did a quick 25 miles on roads in the Ames area.  This year the ride was out of Ankeny and all on trails.  I fully expected I would be riding alone as most of my team planned to do the 100 mile route.  I mentioned it to my dad, husband and a few of my training buddies.

In the end one of my Marching Band alumni friend's signed up to do 25 miles and we met him at the start.  Even better my dad, who is riding RAGBRAI later this month, decided to keep me company on the ride.  We planned to do the 50 mile ride and just go easy and have a nice time together.

A week or so before the ride one of the MS Society liaisons from the metro reached out to me to introduced herself (Molly) and we had a nice email exchange telling our MS stories.  It was great to finally meet her at the ride start.  As I mentioned last year one of my goals on these rides is to make new MS friends.  I did have the opportunity to meet a lovely couple when we were at Woodward.  As you may notice in my photo some of the riders with MS have a jersey like mine that says so.  I met John from Humbolt as we were getting ready to make our return trip to Ankeny.  He is also new in the journey but was enjoying the day on the trail like we were.

It was perfect weather.  The trail was full of RAGBRAI trainees and MS riders and it was a friendly group of folks we encountered.  When we got to Slater around mile 38 we ran into my MS friend Bob and a couple of other people from my MS support group who have progressive forms of MS.  It was great to see them out on their trikes keeping things moving.

We wrapped up our ride, very hungry, at the Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny.  My band friend pulled me aside when we got there to meet and interesting couple Dave and Koreen (who has MS).  They are doing MS rides in every state and Iowa was their 38th state.  You can check out their FB site here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Koreen-Bike-the-US-4-MS/220645411329692?fref=ts

All in all it was a great day.  There is still a couple of days left for folks to make a donation to my team's fundraising effort.  If you are interested check out this link.  Thank you to all the wonderful friends, family and coworkers who donated this year.  With your help we will find a way to repair, stop and cure MS.

Race Reporst - May races - Market to Market Relay and Dam to Dam

Here are a couple of short race reports so far this year.  My first one is from Market to Market relay May 9th, 2015.  This is a relay “race” that goes on the trail system from Jefferson to downtown Des Moines.  Some colleagues asked me to be on a work team and since I had never done it before so sounded like a great idea.  Each person runs 2-3 legs which have a distance of 2.5 - 6 miles. I wasn’t sure how riding around in a van all day with coworkers I didn’t know well was going to work out for me and my legs but gave myself a pep talk and ended up having a really fun day (yes, day as it took just short of 11 hours).  The total distance for the day plugged in just right for my Dam to Dam half marathon training.  

Race morning it was a whopping 45 degrees when we arrived to Jefferson.  I was actually pretty happy about that as I prefer cooler running weather and had asked for an earlier start in the legs.  Our first runner went out in the 7am wave and we followed the train of vehicles to the first transition point.  I was runner number two with a three mile leg and my goal was to have a strong run at under a nine minute mile pace.  It was a pretty flat stretch along the trail surrounded by farm fields.  I felt really good and ended up going an 8:35 minute mile pace which was quite fast for me.  By the time the third runner was finishing his leg the sun was coming out and it was starting to warm up.

We spend a lot of time traversing back roads with me navigating the route for the team.  I had done a clothing swap at the transition point between the 3rd and 4th legs which made me more comfortable.  I had some food and hydrated.  It was going to be a few hours before my next leg.  I did end up getting a short calf massage from a massage school at around the transition point between the last two runners which helped with some tightness I was having.

My second leg was after noon and it was a five mile stretch.   By then it was in the low 70s and starting to feel a bit warm.  I still pushed myself outside my comfort zone a bit but tried to negative split the last couple of miles.  I ended up having around 9:30 minute miles which was really good for me for the length.  Overall my teammates and all did better than we expected and ended up having a lot of fun.  Unfortunately that was the end of my quality runs for a while as the stresses of my life in the spring (work, kids, travel, conferences, and training) were starting to catch up with me.

Here is a team write-up: http://www.transportationmatters.iowadot.gov/2015/06/this-iowa-dot-team-extend-their-reach-far-beyond-the-workplace.html

On May 30th I did Dam to Dam for the first time since it changed from a 20k (12.4 miles) course to a half marathon course (13.1 miles).  I liked the 20k course better, not just because it is shorter. Here is a quote from one of my teammate's blogs that seemed fitting for this race... Sometimes the day doesn’t go as planned, and you simply need to Take What It Gives and make the most of the situation.

My split times are off by about ⅓ of a mile because I got over excited and started my watch at the gun rather than the start line.  We shuffled to the start from the 10 mile pace sign which is why the first mile is so slow.  I did this run with hubby Joe.  Since he had a bad bike wreck in late April he didn’t have the run distances in he needed and was still having some hip pain so we weren’t sure how long we would run together.  We were both shocked at how fast our first couple of miles went and we were both feeling pretty good (he had a watch that he started at the starting line that worked until around mile four when it malfunctioned).

I didn’t follow my normal race nutrition plan and I payed for that a couple of times during the race.  Generally I take on water at every other water stop and gaterade at every other stop that it is available.  I also carry honey stinger gels to use at the start of the race at around mile 6.  I ate a banana and used a gel and water about ten minutes before the race started but didn’t follow up at mile 6 like I normally would have. Not sure why I did this… maybe to take the pressure off needing to have a fast race as I wasn’t sure how things would go at the onset.

Photo Credit Greg G.

I did have a little surge around miles 8-11 but couldn’t hold it for the last two miles.  I am guessing due to lack of electrolytes/caffeine/mental acuity… all of the above.  Needless to say that was my most lackluster finish of any of my ½ marathons which left me a bit disappointed.  My coach, a few days later, said the expectation would be to have my fast race at the end of the season so I will regroup and reassess leading into my ½ ironman in September and ½ marathon in October.

My Stats - 2015 - overall place 1760 age group place 191, 50:08 5-mile split, 1:14:52 8/9-mile? split   2:19:15 gun time  2:12:42 actual start line time

Splits - 13:31 (gun start not starting line), 9:17, 9:45, 10:12 (stopped for a few to help Joe with a contact malfunction), 9:30, 9:59, 10:02, 10:08, 9:33, 9:37, 9:39, 9:58, 10:08 ave split pace 10:10

Stats from Dam to Dam 2012 -  overall place 1984 age group place 336, 1:00:12 10k split  2:07:03 final, overall 10:13 (pace)

So with that I leave you with someone a bit more inspiring of an athlete that I am.  http://multisportmastery.com/ironman-texas/

Goals for 2015 - Develop the plan, execute the plan, make my goals a reality

The plan:  Finish a Half Ironman Triathlon in 2015

Leading in this blog with a fantastic video I had to share with you. 

Last year I felt like I had a good season.  It was a season of learning new limitations as well as new accomplishments.  I had several years of troubling health issues that kept me from training (2012, 2013) followed by the devastating confirmation of MS, and then trying to find my way back.  

2014 was a year with a new team of support and finding ways to support myself despite my illness. I did five triathlons, 3 - 5k fun runs, and a half marathon. The half marathon was to test my limits and see if I was officially back in the game to see if another 1/2 Ironman Triathlon was in the cards for me. I felt like my performance at the IMT Des Moines half marathon last year went well with my second best time of the five I have run.  

This year I am focusing my energy a bit with a relay run, two half marathons, two 5k fun runs and two triathlons. The big news is I have signed up for my second half Ironman triathlon so I'm focused on September 13th, 2015. 

The last time I did a 1/2 Ironman (my first and only one so far) was in 2011.  I had an amazing season of firsts in the distance race arena and finished the season with a pretty fast Des Moines IMT half marathon.  

Taking a look at where I was at in 2011 versus totals from this year.  In 2011 I ran my first half marathon in April so my run numbers are rather front loaded.  That year I did my first half Ironman triathlon in late July.  2011 (May) swim 12, bike 250, run 230 So far this year 2015 (may) swim 29, bike 200, run 130 miles. My 2015 monthly average distance goals for swim 6 miles, bike 50 miles, run 25 miles. So far for June 2015 I am at 3.4 miles swimming with some long course swims under my belt, 55.5 miles biking and 17.7 miles running and the numbers are climbing since it is only the 15th. So far my recovery has been pretty good. I have been working with a personal trainer since March. We have done baseline testing twice in the three disciplines and I am happy with improvement I am seeing.

I have set some goals: Balance out my sides with strength work (finally there after three months with my trainer), run a 1/2 marathon at close to a nine minute mile pace. I would like to break the two hour mark or at the minimum have a PR as my best time is 2:06 in 2011. Hoping to hit that goal for my last race of the season in October. Finish a second 1/2 Ironman triathlon as close to or faster than my 2011 time of 6:10. There were so many things I learned from my first one (read messed up) so I should be able to pull a faster time. Continue to trim down (not lose weight) after a couple of years of mixed fitness and roll over in the over 40 age bracket. Have fun training with my family (bike rides, pool visits, and short runs) because I want them to live a healthy lifestyle too.

As always thanks for following my adventures in health.

MS Update - Being my own advocate

Quote for the month – “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”

~ Dean Karnazes

This week I had the pleasure of going to an MS talk hosted by a couple of MS drug companies.  I was excited about this one for a few reasons: it was in Ames (most are in Des Moines), it was a presentation by one of the best most respected MS specialists (neurologists) in Iowa, and it covered the use of MRIs with MS treatment.

So here is a little back story about a conversation I had with my neurologist here in Ames in February.  Most of the MS survivors I know get MRIs at least once a year if they are in the first 5 years of diagnosis so I inquired about why my doc didn’t refer me for an MRI as it had been a year since my last one.  My last MRI showed active disease growth which is one indicator of disease progression.  He said as long as I was wasn’t experiencing any severe new symptoms that I was probably responding well enough to the meds I was on but he said if I wanted one the next time I saw him to ask.

The other thing worth noting is the meds I take three times a week often make me feel crummy for a week each month, so so for a couple weeks each month and generally good for a week or so each month.  They give me headaches and make me achy that generally over the counter meds don’t seem to help.    I mentioned in past posts that it is tough to take a med to keep from having a relapse that does permanent damage when the side effects make  me feel kind of crummy.  At the presentation the neurologist mentioned that the drug I take has a lower dosage option.

After the meeting I touched based with my neurologist about doing an MRI before my next in August and it is all set up now.   Hopefully the scans will show no active lesions and we can talk through going to a lower dosage which has the potential to make me feel better more often.

Several of you donated to my ride last year so I wanted to let you know that I am riding again this year.  My goal is to ride 50 miles on June 27^th.  The link below is where a donation to support MS Research can be made on my behalf if you are interested and able to do so.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/MNMBikeEvents?px=13447566&pg=personal&fr_id=25324

This is just a small step to reaching my season goal of racing in my second half ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13 mile run) on September 13^th.