Ups and Downs Archives - Can an Average Runner Become an IRONMAN?

I have many people to thank

September 5, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

As I round out a year of Ironman training, I have many people to thank for their support.

Impressing me today are…

Betsy Sobiech, Harris Elias, Amy Butts have shared their bike expertise with me, have come to Madison to do a triathlon, were with me for my first loop on the IW course, have not laughed at me when I’ve not unclipped and have fallen over, have taught me to change my bike tires, etc, etc, and now…Are volunteering on the Ironman course and will support me (& others!) throughout the day. I’m tearing up as I type this.

It’s one thing to have a personal dream, it’s quite another thing to go all out for another person’s dream!!

#impressed #inspired #amazingfriends #amazingsupport

Chicago Triathlon!

August 31, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

I wasn’t all that excited about doing this event. I had just wanted to be done with all events a week ago and be solidly on the taper, worrying about far fewer logistical details.

Day dawned and I wasn’t that jazzed. I was feeling “eh.”

I was also feeling like I was cheating. I got up at 7 am for a race. When can you get up that late for a race??! Left the house by 7:30am on my bike and headed down the lakefront path. Would I find transition easily??

YES! So simple! You bike right on down the path and smack into transition. Got set up, chatted with others, then I went to the other side of transition and watched the Olympic distance athletes coming on and off the bike course. I called and chatted with my husband telling him I was now getting pretty excited about doing this event.

I hung up, hung out a little longer and then started heading back toward my bike setup.

A volunteer hurried up. “Miss, transition is closed! You need to hustle.” Well shoot. I thought we had to get in between 6:30 and 8:30, not that we had to get out! Yowzers. Grabbed my goggles, swim cap and wet suit and hustled out. (Well, not exactly, I couldn’t get out one end, “you better exit the other end”.) Walked over, couldn’t get out the other end and volunteer walked me back again and busted me out!

Then start the 20ish minute walk to the swim start. Shoot I was going to eat something else – oh well. Now the sun is coming out dang it, I don’t have sunscreen on and now I’ll burn in the next hour. I started looking for solutions. Saw a Dad putting sunscreen on his kids. “Can I use a few sprays?” Sure! “Is Mom racing?” Good for her! Thanks so much! People are great. Ah, now, now longer worried about being scorched before the race even starts.

Then I saw the “clubs” area. I walked past. Oh, Chicago Tri Club is in there! I headed on in, introduced myself, talked some AND helped myself to one of the Kind bars they had on hand! Nice! Being part of the CTC is great!

But no water. Where could I find water? Another CTC person saw a tent awhile back. He’d walk me there. He wanted water too. It’s all working out!

Got back in plenty of time to get in line and start putting on that HOT wet suit. Good gravy it was warm waiting for the start.

Glad to get in the COLD water! I set myself up smack dab in the middle of my wave.

When we took off, there was some frey. I dealt with it fine. Breathed to one side for awhile, as I jockeyed for position. There were actually a couple times when I got a little aggressive to move between the 2 ladies in front of me. At one point a gal kept swiping me down my right thigh – just petting me.

Once there was a ka-boom (kick) right in front of my face. That jarred me a little. And, I kept going. Pushed myself to start bilateral breathing pretty early on. Couldn’t settle into it as soon as I wanted. Yet did eventually.

I also just had to accept that it continually felt a bit chaotic, it’s hard to get into a flow or rhythm as you’re sighting from time to time or getting bumped! We could also hear the spectators lined up lakefront just a few feet away. As we approached the end it got busier again. I needed to find my way through and found it helpful and calming to switch back to breathing on one side again.

There were steps out of the water and folks there to help us. I felt wobbly on my feet – even after only that short time in the water! Took just about a dozen steps to get my feet under me – then started jogging with my wet suit pulled own to my waist.

Jogging lake side on the red carpet with spectators lined upon my side = feeling badass! I’m a triathlete now!

Felt good running to transition. Flowed through transition as planned: took wetsuit off outside of transition, put on helmet, then did feet (shoes and socks), then gloves and glasses. Another spritz of sunscreen and out.

Run to mount like, clipped in and headed up the ramp to Lake Shore Drive! Ride was fun. Kept a decent clip. Ended up only averaging 16.8 mph. Thought it would’ve been more than that. Oh well. Felt strong. Passed a good number of people. Not that many passed me – yet the few females that did all seemed to be 46! Darn, why are the fast ones probably in ‘my age group’?! Laughing at myself.

Easy bike course, mild hills. Into transition. (I’m not good at running off the bike – so I didn’t much.) Change head gear. (To visor) Change shoes. Another spritz of sunscreen. Start watch. I’m off.

Wow. It’s a lot hotter not on top of that bike! We started off on a stretch on the grass and it felt kind of sauna-ish. Whew. Just ran what felt like a comfortable 3 mile pace! Passed quite a few people here as well. Ran around the Shedd and up the hill. I liked this route. Turn around was more than ½ way through – I love that mentally. Pretty quickly I was to 2.5 miles. Okay, finish strong! Gasp, another hill, OK, pace well. Then finished around corner. I went as fast as I could. Fun!

This went well!

Long walk back to transition. Okay, that’s a good cool down.

Packed up. Biked home. This race exceeded my expectations!

And, even though it was not the swim challenge I will be presented with, I feel ready for the swim.

Mission Accomplished!

“Never say never” and all that, but seriously Never. Again.

August 4, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

I’m a believer in “never say never,” you never know. I once said I was never interested in doing a triathlon. Who wanted to take on that swim? Ha! Well, evidently me.

So, never say never, but…

Never again! I’m one and done folks. This is ridiculous. The logistics alone.

I’ve got heat rash popping out on my thighs, back and butt whenever I go on a long bike ride.

I was told by my son “Mom! You came home for 1 night – no not even – 2 hours and then you leave again.”

During long rides, I get texts from home, “When are you coming back mom?”

I get up early to workout, to find the fitness center isn’t open yet (at 7:40am? Couldn’t imagine it’d be closed) or that they don’t have a stationary bike.

When traveling, I research all the details at a pool near my hotel only to find out they were closed to the public after 2pm (after telling my new co-facilitator that I couldn’t go for a drink with them, which I didn’t feel great about) Why not tell that to someone from out of town who calls ahead?

I forgot to pack my running shoes for vacation. Researched, found and bought new ones.

After my 5 hour bike ride in the South Carolina heat and humidity (heat index over 100), I went into a grocery store and couldn’t find a thing. I was totally out of it.

I’m mentally tired of figuring it out day after day.

I never need to do this again.

I believe that “one and done” can work mentally to my advantage on race day.

I’ll tackle each part of the race – each obstacle – because “today is the day.” I’m pushing through right here, right now. Not another chance around the corner. Time to be tough, be strong, keep going.

Now what I’m not likely prepared for is the chance that it can’t happen on September 11^th due to weather shortening the race or a big bike malfunction or injury that keeps me from moving forward. I’m not sure I’d be ready to handle that disappointment.

I want the chance to do this on September 11^th.

I’m ready to be one and done

I’m ready to be an Ironman Finisher!

Racine Half Ironman … Almost

July 17, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

Another Incomplete Triathlon

I felt so ready to tackle the Half Ironman. My game plan was to be conservative and have a confidence-boosting day. I was ready to take my time – spend up to 7.5 hours – and finish with something in the tank.

Not able to do the full event due to weather. I was okay with being rained on, with wind even with rough waters. I just wanted to do it. When they announced that the swim was cancelled my eyes teared up. I worked to keep it in perspective, but I really just wanted to do the Half Ironman. Okay, more delays. They’d let us know at 9:30am what biking and running we’d be able to do at 10:30am.

Finally we know: 31 miles on bike, half marathon run. Ok. Not what I wanted, but I’m here and I’ll do it.

Then as I sat with the new news, I got nervous about the bike. We’d have a mass start out of transition and then immediately go up a hill. I’d need to clip in quickly and power uphill, then unclip and dismount at the bottom of this same hill at the end. The turnaround would now be a U turn, I was hoping it wasn’t too sharp and that I could handle it well. We’d also be more packed together, not spread out after a swim like usual.

So, the bike start was certainly hectic, and I went to the side and clipped in quickly and was ready to go and had to manage myself behind others that were more wobbly than me at the start. I got up the hill and we were off at a fast clip. I continued to pass people (and of course be passed!) and knew I was going fast, probably too fast. I tried to slow down and settle in a bit. Did maybe a little bit, yet still knew I was pushing pace.

It was windy, quite windy. The wind was moving our bikes on the road. We often were riding into a head wind. It felt busy to me out there. I tried to relax my neck and focus on my form. I tried different bike positions and felt comfortable with the variety. I drank and ate pretty steadily.

Going through an aid station, I was riding just right of center because I wasn’t stopping/interacting with volunteers and I wasn’t passing. I was moving through steadily. All of a sudden, I heard right behind me, “Oh shit!” I gripped my handle bars and felt the rider behind me side swipe my back tire. I wobbled and held on. The rider behind me crashed. It felt like an asshole move, but I kept going. If I were to slow down, look around, try to talk to others, I might cause another crash. I hadn’t done wrong, so I kept moving and reminding myself to breath. Whew! I was doing well with my bike handling skills!

My butt on the left side was hurting by the end. I tried to stand and reposition a few times – helped some. Validates my need/desire to get a 2-hour bike fit and ensure I’ve got the best change of long-term comfort.

Got off the bike, moved pretty quickly through transition (for me!) and took off on the run feeling like a triathlete.

Tried to settle in to a slow pace, which is harder than you think it is. Took me the first mile to settle down and go slower. The hills in the first mile helped. We were out in the 90 degree heat and by mile 3, I felt pretty bad. I’d overdone it on the bike so it was time to get mentally tough and keep moving. The first loop on the 2 loop course didn’t look too impressive. Yet I was consoled by the look of the people around me, they didn’t look too good either. It was looking like a hot mess out there.

Okay don’t worry about others. How can I keep moving? I had orange slices, I took ice whenever it was available and put ice in my visor, down the front of my shirt, held it in my hands. Then I figured I might need salt. Got pretzels at the next couple of aid stations with ice water. All this seemed to help.

I did the 2^nd half faster than the first (Although not very fast at all!)

Bike 1:46 = 17.5 mph, faster than I’ve ever biked, a fast clip for me is usually 15 mph. And this was in windy conditions. Wow! Fast. (too fast).

Transition 2:49 – cut this in about half from my first tri.

Run 2:36 – 11:53 avg, nearly 12 minute miles. Yikes! A lot of walking.

Take Aways:

I can give myself more credit for my bike handling skills.
I have more cycling power in me than I think.
I need to and I can, hold back from full capability, and still be at a decent pace.
I biked faster than I thought I could in windy conditions.
If I was going to have a “bad” sport, its better that it’s the run.
I could keep taking in fuel, cooling down and improving conditions while on the run.
I felt bloated and terrible after finishing, yet I recovered on ride home.
I was tired that evening and next day. I will be good for nothing the day after the full ironman!

And of course I learned and grew as a triathlete.

Since I weather kept me from completing the full Olympic distance triathlon and the full Half Ironman distance… Guess I’m going from a Sprint to an Ironman!