Race Recap ~ Run

5-P system (prior planning prevents poor performance) is something my Dad always would tell me growing up. Thanks Dad, because I used the 5-P system when packing my T2 bag. I threw in a dry pair of socks and a light running shirt. I knew the weather was going to be cooler, what I didn't know is that I was going to need a full body condom.


As I transitioned from the bike to run, so did the rain. It was a just a light drizzle, which was tolerable. So I headed out of T2 to a crowd that was even more amazing than the crowd at the swim transition. I saw a few friends, family, and of course my hubby. They all were chanting my name. I am not that narcissitic, but it was really very cool and energizing.



Okay Heikkila 13.1 miles left...lets get moving. I started out slow, but I am not a fast runner anyway. I average 10 to 11 minute miles. The problem was despite the clean socks and the extra energy from the crowd, my feet were very numb and cold. I think it took about 5 miles and some warm chicken broth for them to warm up. I jogged the first 6 miles and felt good, but tired. There were a few rays from the sun that my body enjoyed.


The Run was a two loop course. I felt comfortable with the run, because it was on my training ground. The course is on the Greenbelt in downtown Boise, which I have run hundreds of times. I finised the first loop and headed out for my last 6+ miles. I looked at my watch and started to calculate in my head when I wanted to finish and how much time I had till they closed the course. Fatigue had also totally set in. I was tired and I think the bike portion really stressed me out. I was never really in a groove on the bike. No excuses, but I re-evaluated what my goals were for that day. My goals were to finish a Half Iron Man. I knew that I could walk the rest of the run course and still finish. So I did a walk run. It was not my best performance, but I finished!

Race Recap ~ Bike

This picture was me within the first mile going over the Lucky Peak Reservoir where the swim portion was held.

The first part of the bike was all downhill and I was flying. It was a little chilly post swim, but the adrenaline kept me warm. The hill on Highway 21 is one that I have been on a few times. I wouldn't typically go too fast because there are cars on this hill and there is not a ton of room for bicyclists, so it was fun to fly because the road was closed.


As I approached Mile 7, the clouds grew much darker and there was a pretty good head wind. There was a chance of showers in the weather forecast, which was okay. I would rather it be a little cooler in June than a scorching 90 degree day. Keeping the core temperature within normal range or a little bit warmer would be ideal.


Then around Mile 9 there was some booming thunder and bolts of lightening...Holy crap! I am on a bike in the middle of no where and it is going to rain on me. I mean really, I knew I was going to be wet for the swim, but not the bike portion as well. As one can imagine there were several other choice words that came out of my mouth. Then I finally just smiled and told myself that this was the hand that I was dealt and I was going to have to play it if I wanted to cross the finish line. So I just put my mental game face on and literally rolled on...



...the rain started as just a few drops and then progressed into a violent downpour. I was drenched from helmet to pedal, but I just kept pedaling and smiling. People were stopping along the road for either problems with their bike or just frustration from the rain. I just kept on going. The next picture gives you a pretty good idea of what the weather was like.




It rained on and off again till I hit the bike/run transition. If you are not familiar with the Boise 70.3 Bike Course, there are several hills both up and down. The up part was really no problem, I trained on this course and felt comfortable with the gear transition. The part that I was not comfortable with was going downhill in the rain and having the potential of losing control and crashing. I had my mental game face on, but I was still a little fearful of eating wet gravel. Right before I would go downhill I would double check my brakes to see if they were still intact. The bottom line is that I went down the hills with some hesitation probably from the combination of slick roads and tiny bike tires.


Along the way I saw my 3 little angels. They were out in the rain and cheering on their Mommy. Of course it was just a brief glimpse that I saw of them, but it was like a shot of adrenaline. They made me smile that much bigger and I loved hearing their little voices saying "Go Mommy Go".

As I turned off of Highway 21 onto Federal Way, I knew I only had about 6 miles left and it would be downhill. The clouds drew much darker and the water fell on me like I was under a waterfall in Yosemite during the early Spring. I was worried about my core temperature being a little bit too high, in fact just the opposite was true. I was frozen! Despite it being dark, I could see the road ahead of me and a ton of headlights from cars that were coming in my direction. I just kept on going despite the elements. Okay last little hill till I hit T2....where are my feet? They were totally numb.


The last quarter mile was incredible. I could see the crowd and I could hear the cow bells ringing. I thought to myself...."I need more cowbell!" Huge smile and goose bumps which we can thank from the weather and the pure excitement! I got off my bike and headed to my transition spot.



To be continued....

Race Recap ~ Swim

Well swimming is not my area of expertise. Last December when I got in the pool for the first time, I could barely make it the length of the pool. I thought to myself, "This is hard...I ran my first marathon and I can't make it the length of the pool." What did I get myself into? At least I knew where my largest deficit was....swimming and that I had 6 months to improve.


Flashback to Saturday, June 13th. I actually slept in Saturday morning and had a good night sleep. I ate my usual breakfast of a Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal and a Grande Americano. Left the house early to drop off my bike/run transition bag and then to head upto the swim start. It was very exciting to get to the start and get your number written on you. Of course I had pre-race jitters, which is totally normal. I think it being my first triathlon ever my pre-race jitters were much higher. The swim was my biggest fear and the pre-race jitters reflected that. I had to go to the bathroom several times before getting into my wetsuit. Note: I started hydrating at least a week before the event. My kidneys were working overtime!



So transition areas were all set for the "clean transition", my wetsuit was on, and my heart was racing. Thankfully I didn't have my heart rate monitor on for the swim because it would be off the charts! In fact, I think my heart was doing all kinds of funny things. At that moment in time, I would have been a cardiologist nightmare. I got into my wave of women 40+ and waited for the elite division to start. Eminems song Lose Yourself was playing on the loud speakers which was making me want to move (good beat), but I needed to find my inner zen and calm my heart rate down. Finally, U2s song....Beautiful Day....one of my workout songs that I know by heart. I closed my eyes and did some deep breathing exercises. My heart started to slow....finally. The elite division were given the cannon. My wave of a 40+ women were called to head for the water, there was about 150 of us. It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away, It's a beautiful day. ~ Touch me, Take me to that other place, Teach me, I know I'm not a hopeless case.



I walked out towards the water, put a little bit on my face and then put my goggles on. I guess you can say I put my game face on, which usually is a smile from ear to ear. I believe in having fun. I like professional tiathlete and Mom, Bree Wee's attitude of smiling, it is contagious! http://breeweehawaii.blogspot.com/


U2's lyrics ringing in my head. I get to a point where I couldn't touch so I did a few breast strokes and find a good location in the school of women. I allow some space between those around me knowing that once we go from treading water to swimming we will be fighting for water to swim in. The cannon goes off and here we go.....


It took me a little bit to get into a rhythm. No one or book can prepare you to swim with a group of people. Sometimes you get run into or you are the one that hits someones feet. Thankfully I wore my goggles under my swim cap and they never got knocked off. Okay so yellow buoys out to first red and turn...good I am so totally doing this. As I was heading to my second red buoy the wind came up and I was surrounded by whitecaps. I didn't prepare myself for this one. Yikes! Breathing was a bit of a challenge. If I did a 3 to 1 bilateral breathing then I got splashed and swallowed a ton of water when I tried to take a breath from the left. Okay adapt....2 to 1 or 4 to 1 and breathe on the right until I can. There was one point that I would put my chin to my chest and swim away, sight for my buoy and feel like I was not making any forward progress. Wow this is really hard. Come on Heikkila you can do this....Failure is not an Option!

So here is my husband waiting patiently. He later told me that he kept on watching the women that had their bikes next to mine come and go. He secretly was worried because he knows that swimming is a weak point of mine. He also knew if I didn't finish the swim then my race day was over. What he didn't know is that wasn't going to be me today. I was motiviated to finish the swim!


While he was waiting I was using that Mental Mantra that I had been practicing over the past couple of months. You can be physically strong, but if you didn't bring your mental game, you might as well go home. The bottom line is the mental game is a huge part of triathlon! So my Mantra was Dory from the Disney Movie Nemo...."just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." I was thinking that to myself. Finally the second Red Buoy and the orange ones that bring us to the end of the swim. From the 2nd Red Buoy to the 3rd Red Buoy it was awesome. Totally in my groove, back to swimming a 3 to 1 and bilateral breathing. Of course I noted more colorful swim caps around me. The other waves of age groupers passing me. I am okay with this....I get around the red buoy and can see the swim finish. A huge smile appears on my face and I know I am totally there. I look at my watch, yeah I'm slow, but I am almost there. I figured an hour for my swim. It took me a little longer. Doesn't matter....just keep swimming, just keep swimming....


I get upto where I can touch on the boat ramp and try to walk. Wow I am a little wobbly. The crowd is roaring...oh what a feeling! I spot my brother and sister in-law in the crowd and they are yelling my name. I felt like a rockstar. Run up the hill a bit to the wetsuit strippers....which by the way is totally cool.....run to my bike. Start my transition. I didn't have the under 2 minute transition like the elites, but it didn't take me forever either. Something I can work on in the future.


"Clean transition" doesn't allow you to lay everything out. You have a bag and you pull from the bag what you are going to need. In addition, you need to put everything from the swim into the bag and leave it on the ground next to where your bike was. Since this was my first triathlon and first real transition, I had nothing to compare it to. It seemed pretty easy.

Helmet...check, bike shoes...check, Garmin watch with heart rate monitor...check, everything back in the bag...check. Hustle out with bike to the bike mount area and start my bike portion. I passed my husband and shared a few quick words with him. It was something along the lines of...."I didn't drown!" of course with a smile.

To be continued.....

My New Bling.....

....my finishers medal for the Boise 70.3. Wow what an afternoon! The Boise 70.3 started at 2pm in the afternoon. The planners did this with hopes to have an exciting finish around the dinner hour. I did not see it in person, cuz I was still on the course, but is was an exciting finish between Craig Alexander and Chris Lieto. I saw the very close finish the next morning on the news and it was amazing.

The temperature was perfect for any race, however there was a 70% chance of rain. A 2pm start in Boise could mean that it would be a very hot day, however it was an unusual day in June and the heat did not provide an obstable for athletes.

So I ask myself am I a Triathlete or Endurance athlete? Perhaps both?

I starting training for this journey last Fall, but really started training hard in January of 2009. As I reflect back to my training....what was I thinking that I would do a Half IronMan? I really should have had at least 12 months of training before I tried to conquer the distance of 70.3. In addition, I should have done at least a sprint or olympic distance before moving to the 70.3. The problem is that I set goals for myself and I usually achieve my goals. Not only am I motivated, but also very stubborn. No one was going to tell me that I was not going to do this race. I was doing it!! Heck I registered for the race last December and told myself then that I was finishing!!! FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!

I accomplished my goal of finishing. Having no other triathlon to compare to, that was the most obvious goal. I had an idea about where I should finish, but still had never participated in a triathlon and did not know how the afternoon would play out. In TRI-HIVE, a paper for some of the western states there is an excellent section called Couch to Triathlon and there is a paragraph that states the following: Remember: DFL>DNF>DNS. This means that finishing "dead-freaking last" (DFL) is better than " did not finish" (DNF) is better than "did not start" (DNS). I was pretty close to "dead-freaking last" but I finished!

I have really enjoyed the journey to completing my first triathlon and plan to continue my training. I am currently planning on doing an olympic distance on August 1st in McCall, Idaho. I will push myself a little harder and improve my times. I know my slow twitch fibers are working. I was out on the course for the same amount of time that an elite athlete is out for a full length IronMan. I am slow and steady. My new goal is to see if I can work on recruiting those fast twitch fibers.

So the answer to my question is both....I am not only an endurance athlete, but also now a TRIATHLETE!

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!!!!