Work Hard, Race Hard, Play Hard

Work Hard, Race Hard, Play Hard

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tardy Texas Race Report



Well I guess better late than never, right? Since I have a terrible memory and can barely remember what I did yesterday, this will be a very brief race report.


I raced my first triathlon of the season, IM Texas 70.3 on 4/1. I ended up signing up for Texas because I somehow forgot to signup for Oceanside 70.3 in time (no surprise). Although I love to race with Sissy (she was signed up for Oceanside), I was secretly happy to be in Texas and not Oceanside that weekend as Oceanside was unseasonably cold, and Texas was HOT..and I Love Heat! Sorry Sis!!


I arrived in Texas very late Friday night with my mom and my Pups (Peanut & Riley). I love having my Mom and pups at races with me!!  As I mentioned in a previous post, I am lucky enough to be on the Tribike Transport team this year. I can't say enough how great the TBT guys are, and how much less stressful it makes travelling to races, not having to pack/unpack the bike and lug that bike box around! Thanks TBT!

I woke on race morning excited to race, though always a little more nervous for the first Tri of the season! I wasn't sure what to expect of myself on race day. Since IMCOZ, I have to admit, I hadn't spent much time in the pool or on the bike, just enough to maintain some fitness. But, I was confident in my run, I have been running stronger and faster than ever. I figured this would be a good test to see where my fitness was and how much work I have ahead of me for the remainder of the season (I have a lot of work to do!). A few weeks before the race, I started having some hip pain. I went to the doc and was resting and had cut down on my mileage leading into the race. I don't typically talk about my injuries because I don't like to make excuses or use it as a crutch in case I have a bad race. Since I don't believe my hip injury had an impact on my race results, it seems ok to bring it up! Im fact, my hip felt fine going into the race, a little sore to the touch, but nothing that bothered me when running. With my eye on Kona, I was really trying to listen to my body and had I felt racing Texas would have in any way further injured the hip, I wouldn't have raced. But it felt fine and the doc gave me the ok to race with the agreement to back off the running in between TX and the Boston marathon and after Boston. Sooo bring on a race! I finished in 4:56 and 7th in my AG. In my opinion, my results were OK, not bad, not great, JUST OK. But if I'm honest with myself, they are reflective of my training leading up to this race. I was quite disappointed in my run. I ran a 1:29 and I know I am capable of a much faster run at this point. I felt flat pretty much the whole race, my legs felt flat on the bike and I just couldn't really get going, I attributed this to my lack of bike training, but I thought once I got onto the run my legs would finally decide to join me for the rest of the race. Unfortunately, that didn't happen - again the legs just felt flat. For some reason on this day I had no "pep in my step". I knew I wasn't having my best day out there, but I kept on fighting and didn't give up. I did the best I could on the day. No excuses, just one of those days!  I love to race and I'm always thankful to have the opportunity to be out there doing what I love to do!
After the race I was pretty upset with my race, thankfully my mom was there to remind me that everyone has off days. And that I am not Superwoman - she reminded me that I had barely slept in weeks and that I just need to recognize that the other stresses in my life will have an impact sometimes.
Thank goodness for Moms!!
But I would like to be Superwoman ;-)

Some pics of the weekend:
                                      My adorable pups P&R!!                                              
                                                Lance's Ride
                    Me, Mom & Pups Pre Race



Had to stop at the POOP Deck for a pic. My maturity level is clearly low, but REALLY...Poop Deck??




                                                         Thank goodness for my Chia bars! yummy!!


As you all know, I had to drop out of Boston because of the hip injury mentioned above. After Texas, the hip didn't seem to be any worse and I still wasn't experiencing much pain. With Boston coming up shortly after Texas, we were extremely cautious and I only ran twice in between races. Going into the marathon, I really wasn't concerned, it never even entered my mind that it would be an issue. So it completely took me by surprise that at mile 3 something just snapped and was causing me pain. The pain was much more severe than the pain I had felt in my hip before Texas. Since this pain happened so early in the race, I really thought it was best not to fight through the pain to finish. The decision to drop out was extremely difficult and involved many many tears. Given the amount of pain I was in after the "8.5 mile race" I did on the day of the Boston marathon I know I did the right thing.
I finally have a doctor appointment today and hopefully will have some answers soon so I can get back out there running as soon as possible. I suppose the bright side is that I will now be forced to focus on my weaknesses...the Swim & Bike...time to get in the pool A LOT!!
Thanks to everyone for their support, especially my Sponsors, TriBike Transport for their amazing bike service,and Health Warrior for fueling me with their delicious Chia products, my Coach for believing in my potential and giving me a schedule that is manageable with my crazy work schedule that doesn't overwhelm me! And most importantly, to my family for taking this journey with me - it wouldn't be possible without your support and encouragement!
xoxox
 CK










Monday, April 16, 2012

Quicky update...

Just checking in with a quick update since once again I'm behind in my blogging (surprise surprise!!) I know I know...this is an obvious trend...I swear I have good intentions:)

I raced my first triathlon of the season - IM Texas 70.3 on 4/1 and will post a race report and pictures soon. Since I returned from Texas, work took on a whole new level of crazy and Sissy arrived from San Diego (yay!!)
Therefore, no free time for blogging :)

As for the Boston marathon, unfortunately the day didn't go as planned. I had been dealing with a hip injury for the past few weeks but I had been managing it, lots of rest and cutting back on my running mileage. I honestly thought it was ok and I wouldn't be further injuring myself by running the 26.2 miles. However, about 3 miles into the race, I felt something "snap" in my hip area and after that I was in pain and it was progressively getting worse with each mile. I made it to mile 8 and the pain was not subsiding so I finally decided to call it a day. This was a difficult and emotional decision but my ultimate goal and focus for this season is Kona and I didnt want to risk further injury that would affect my training and goals for this race. After racing Kona in 2010 just 10 weeks post shoulder surgery, I have dreamed about getting back to Kona healthy and I am going to do all I can to make this happen!

Thanks for checking in - I will post more details and hopefully have some good news soon!!

Have a great week!!
CK