Worry, worry, worry

That's me right now. Worried. Worried about pretty much everything that has to do with this race. The dreams have started.

There is so much to think about:

• What to pack for the weekend?
• What will the weather be like on race day?
• How will I keep my gatorade cold?
• Where do I have to be? and at what time?
• Where am I going to eat my pre-race dinner? **That's a BIG question!**
• Am going to be able to sleep the night before the race?
• How long is it going to take me to finish?
• Am I going to be able to walk when I'm done?
• Am I going to be able to walk the next day?

One question was answered today. When will I start? 8:40 am!!!

I like my start time and the way the waves were set up for the half iron.
8:30 - the 30 - 39 yr old men start
8:35 - the young guys and older guys start
8:40 - 18 to 44 yr old women start **That's me!**
8:45 - the oldest men and Clydesdale men
8:50 - 45 and up women, Athena women, and all relays (men and women)

I'm so happy that none of the men start with us. :) At the GCT I was so worried about the guys, that I swam out of my way to avoid everyone.

I can now plan my finish time. I'd like to be done by 3:39 pm. :-)

So, two weeks to race day.

Last Weeks Workouts Aug 21 - 27
Sat - Bike 60.3 miles in 3:26:30
Sun - off (I was too tired to run!)
Mon - Run 4 miles
Tue - Swim 11 min. (I was alone at Headlands and it was wavy, so I cut it short!)
Wed - Run 4 miles
Thur - off (missed my brick because Dylan's bus was over an hour late!) Although I did walk at the ZOO with Tyler for a few hours!
Fri - Swim 2000 yds at the pool and Bike 16.35 miles while BOTH boys were at school

Oh, I bought some new running shoes this week. Walked in them at the zoo on Thurs and did my first run in them today. They are the SAME ones I already had, just the lastest model. They should be just right for race day after a few more runs. :)

Three Weeks until the BIG DAY!!!

I can't believe there's really only three more weeks until my half ironman! WOW! I signed up for this race about 11 months ago, and feel like I've been training for it ever since. My real training started in April, but every workout I did this past winter was with my half iron in mind.

Yesterday I got up at 5 am and drove to Sandusky for another day of on-course training. My goal was to ride harder / faster now that I know I can complete 56 miles at a comfortable pace. I'm happy to say, I met my goal!

I rode 60.3 miles in 3 hours and 26 minutes, which is an average of 17.5 mph. (The last two times I rode this course I only averaged 16.1 and 16.0 mph.) My times and averages do not include a few short stops where we re-grouped a bit and re-filled our water bottles. I actually tried to stop as little as possible this time, so it would be as much like race day as it could be.

I have all of my workouts planned and written down for the next 3 weeks:

SWIM - 3 more open water swims, and 3 more pool swims

BIKE - My longest ride left is about 35 miles. Six more rides total (two of which will be bricks.)

RUN - I have one more long run planned - a half marathon next Sunday, and then just some 5 and 4 milers. (plus the short runs after the two bike rides = bricks)

Weekly Workouts - Aug 14 - 20
Sat - Bike 45 miles
Sun - Run 11.7 miles
Mon - Swim 1600 yds
Tue - Bike 13.27 miles
Wed - Run 3.09 miles
Thur - off (fast trail hike for 1.5 miles)
Fri - Swim 750 yds

2 week training update

July 31 - Aug 6
Sat - off
Sun - Run 11 miles
Mon - off
Tue - Bike on trainer 60 min
Wed - Run 4.01 miles
Thur - Swim 1200 yds and Bike 24 miles
Fri - Run 2 miles and bike 20 minutes

Aug 7 - 13
Sat - off
Sun - GCT Swim .75 miles, Bike 23 miles, Run 10K
Mon - off
Tue - Run 3.21 miles and Swim 32 minutes
Wed - Run 4.2 miles
Thur - Bike 24 miles
Fri - (need to swim later today)

Today is that last day I can swim at my gym until the pool is done being cleaned and it reopens on August 23.
On August 23 the lake where I do most of my open water swimming will close for the season.
Swim training is probably my least favorite of the three events. Not having somewhere close to home to swim will only make it worse.
I've been driving up to Lake Erie once every other week to swim at Mentor Headlands. That has helped some.

Tomorrow I'm excited to be able to go on another group ride with the ladies from HCC. Hopefully it will be at least a 30 mile day.

Sunday, I'm running the Perfect 10 Miler in Lyndhurst. It's a 12 mile day for me, so I think I'll just do a slow 2 mile warm up and then run the race. :-)

Greater Cleveland Triathlon - Aug 8, 2010

Yesterday I completed my third Olympic distance triathlon of the year, the Greater Cleveland Triathlon at Mentor Headlands. The weather was almost perfect - mid 70s and sunny, but there was some wind (which = waves in Lake Erie!)

I woke up at 5 am, arrived at the race site at 6 am, and was in my wetsuit ready to start around 7:15 am.

All 131 of us doing the Olympic distance triathlon walked 3/4 of a mile down the beach to the swim start. First off were the 20 to 29 year olds, and then my group, the 30 - 39 year olds. I was worried about it being all the women AND all the men, so I tried to stay far out to the side of everyone. I'm sure this caused me to swim farther than most people, but it saved me from being kicked, hit, and so on... There were also waves to slow me down, and they did! I arrived at the beach in 31:58 and then walked to transition.

Total swim time - 33:20

T1 - 2:48

Leaving T1:

One of my sons told me I look like a boy in this pic. Great. :(

Out on the bike course my computer stopped working at mile 1.78. I know this, because for all the rest of the 23 miles, all it said was: 1.78. UGH! Sometime later in the day it occurred to me that I must have bumped the on / off button on accident. At least the current MPH were still showing, and I had my time working on my watch. So, I was able to know when to take my GUs and about how long / far I had to go. I felt good on the bike, but I really wished I could have gone faster. Little did I know, something WAS slowing me down. I'll come back to that.

Bike time - 1:26:31 (Avg 16 mph)

T2 - 1:53

While leaving transition to start the run, I saw that I had already been on the course for 2 hrs and 5 minutes. That meant my chances of finishing in under 3 hours were slim to none. (unless I was going to run a 10K PR - uh, no.) So, I figured I would just try to enjoy myself. On the bike I did a good job of staying hydrated (which was my BIG mistake in my last Oly tri.) So, I felt pretty good. A few miles in, I decided to pick up the pace, and I still felt good. It's nice to have a good run to finish the day.

My run times based on the mile markers and my watch:
1- 10:16
2- 10:09
3- 10:37
4- 9:31
5- 9:45
6- 9:18
.2- 1:59

Run time - 61:38 (9:57 pace)

TOTAL RACE TIME - 3:06:09

About to finish:


After the race I returned to transition to claim my bike and other belongings. BUT, the bike didn't want to "roll" along side me. Actually, it barely wanted to MOVE. Hmm, turns out part of the back brake was rubbing against the wheel!!! I have no idea when that happened. ?? Pre race? During the race? Guess my bike needs to visit the bike shop!

Post race photo with Grunt Girls:

Race Day Stats:
Females 30 - 39: #6 out of 10
Overall: #94 out of 131

Kathleen Nietert Run for Hope, 7 1/2 miler Race Report

On Sunday I ran in a 7 1/2 mile hilly race in Aurora. I signed up for this race as a way to help me get in one of my long runs. Sunday was set to be an 11 mile running day. So, my plan was to arrive early, run 3 miles, do the race and then cool down with another 1/2 mile. I'm quite happy to say I almost stuck to my plan perfectly!

I arrived at the race site, Sunny Lake Park, around 7 am, got checked-in for the race and took off on my warm-up run. The lake has a 1.7 mile path around it, which was perfect for the first part of my run. It was also a beautiful day for running - partly sunny and mid 70s. After circling the lake one time, I realized I didn't have enough time to do the full 3 miles I had planned (or I'd be late for the race.) So, I stopped at 2.7 miles, pinned on my race #, made a stop at the "Aris" port-o-pot (my friend's brother's company :-) ), and then got to the starting line with about 5 minutes to spare.

It's not a "huge" race; there were maybe 50 to 75 people lined up for the 7 1/2 miler. (There was also a 5k that started a few minutes earlier.) The official results have not been posted, so I don't know the exact numbers.

The started said, "Go!" and we were off. The run was a rectangle, clockwise on the roads around the park / lake, and then we re-entered the park to run the last mile and half around the lake. I knew it was going to be hilly, but wasn't familiar with the course at all. We started on an uphill, but it wasn't too bad. Most of the race was either up or down; not much flat at all, but I think I did pretty well. I let myself run hard on the downhills, and I passed several people that way. I tried to stay strong on the uphills (short fast strides with my arms pumping) and that seemed to work.

On my long runs for the past few weeks I've been keeping about a 10:45 to 11 min per mile pace. I thought I'd be around a 10 min pace today, but surprised myself with a little better than that. Here were my splits on my garmin:

Mile
1 - 9:22
2 - 9:26
3 - 9:43
4 - 9:46
5 - 9:15
6 - 9:20
7 - 9:20
.5 - 3:38

The last half mile was fun. Back in the park, was the only close to flat part of the race. I like to finish a race as hard as I can, and I really did that at this race! When I saw the 7 mile sign, I took off. I tried to get the two men around me to join in, but they just said, "Go!" to me. :-)

Final time: 1:09:53
Pace: 9:19

Awards were given out to the top two runners in each 10 year age group. I didn't get one, so I know I wasn't in the top two for 30 - 39 yr old females, but that's okay, I'm quite happy with how I did.

After the awards I did my last .8 miles so I could get all 11 miles in for the day. That was a VERY slow .8 miles.

The day's totals:
2.7 miles - 28:46
7.5miles - 1:09
.8 miles - 10:36
Equals 11 miles in 1 hour and 49 minutes


This coming Sunday is the Greater Cleveland Triathlon at Mentor Headlands and I'll be doing the Olympic Triathlon. So far, the weather looks like it will be great - 80 degrees and mostly sunny.