Author Archives: goSonja

2013 Ironman Brasil – The After

Posted on June 16, 2013 by goSonja| 10 Comments

Ironman #9. Wow. Six months ago I wondered whether I had run my course in this sport. I wondered if I had learned all that I had to learn and if it was time to scale back. But as the year got going I took my hard knocks and changed directions. I wasn’t ready to lay down but I knew I needed some changes in my own head if I was going to keep doing this sport.

So, here are a few of the changes this year that I think helped.

#1 – More Community. I got away from training by myself and just with Michelle and I took on new challenges. Coast Rides, camps, new friends, new training partners. This got me back to my tough girl independent roots, because the truth is, Michelle and I take care of each other. Getting left behind on the Coast Ride by the group of girls I was trying to ride with tested my positive attitude. Getting dropped repeatedly on Hamilton tested my ability to keep pushing on with a smile for my own good. When I found people who I really enjoyed training with, I made the time and spent the money to go train with them. I followed positive energizing people. And it brought out the best in me, it brought out the fighter.

Post drinks bus ride with the Chura, instant friendship! Man were we lightweights!

#2 – Less Expectations. To say that I dropped my expectations completely wouldn’t be entirely true, but I definitely dialed everything down a huge notch. I did not plan anything after Brazil and I did not expect to race for a Hawaii slot. I wanted one, and I wanted to get back to the island, but I am done training day in and day out in hopes that one day of my life will go well. So I focused on making every day a good day, on having as much fun in my everyday training as I would on Ironman day. No more sacrifice, no more expectations that Ironman day will be any different than any other day. And honestly, as awesome as Ironman Brazil was, I can say that I had a few handfuls of training days that were even more fun and fulfilling.

#3 – I said F-U to the scale. I could, and probably should write an entire blog post about the scale, but let’s just say that the “race weight” bullshit that is everywhere is just that. Bullshit. I started EATING like a teenager. I did a good job at camp keeping up with two pro males in the eating department. I ate whatever sounded good and whatever was put in front of me. There was lots of ice cream, and chips and salsa. Also lots of the good stuff, but I did not calorie restrict, or watch what I ate, or weigh myself. When I got home from Brazil after 2 days of dysentery I stepped on the scale and was 141. So I would say I probably raced somewhere around there or higher. This is 15 pounds higher than I have stepped on the line in Kona at. I embraced the bull dog. Couldn’t be happier. It’s a little hard to look in the mirror and see the extra pounds, but I’m more healthy, and my immunity is so much stronger. And bottom line is that I allowed my legs to get stronger by not calorie restricting so they were cuter. That’s the honest truth.

#4 I said F-U to the data. Let’s face it, I sit around and geek out on my athletes data a fair amount. The last thing I want to do is look at mine. I haven’t uploaded any of my personal data to Training Peaks since November. I have trained with my Garmin to know how far I’ve gone, and I wear my HRM about 50% of the time. I race with my HRM and Power on the bike and that helps me pace appropriately, but for a run I ditch it and just go on feel. It’s Ironman #9 and I’ve done it all. No data, race solely on data, mix the two, etc etc, I’ve tried it. So as a way to get back to the fun of the sport, I dropped some of the details. I have no idea what sort of weekly hours I trained on average, or weekly mileage. I just did what was necessary and I had a lot more time for recovery and rest because I wasn’t hindered by data geekyness (not a word) and worry.

So here I am, looking back on my best race to date. I can’t help but attribute it to the change in attitude and outlook over the last few months. I feel like at this point in time I am on solid footing. I finally got to a place where I didn’t need to go under 10, didn’t need to get back to Kona, and not needing it anymore is part of why it happened.

Last year in Hawaii I remember feeling afraid to race well because that would mean that everything that felt wrong was actually right. This race was the opposite. I cared less about the results because I knew the journey was right. I love this sport. I love being out there racing and being a part of other peoples journey whether through coaching, being a friend, wife, or new acquaintance.

My favorite Quote, it’s on my bedroom wall.

“Results happen naturally when motivation is pure”

Motivation was pure, and results just happened naturally.

The day following the race we went to the Kona Roll Down and I paid for my 4th Kona slot (they keep getting more expensive). I get to go back to the big dance, but this time I’m going to enjoy the journey. The WHOLE journey. I’m taking as many of my athletes who want to come. I’m surrounding myself with people who love the sport as much as I do. Whatever happens this year in October will simply be a natural extension of the training I do between now and then. No more, no less. I’m just excited for another day of fun in the sun.

I want to thank Troy and Annie for their patience and understanding through the years. It’s so nice to hear Troy say “You are so happy this year” I’m lucky to have him in my life. Annie is excited to go back to Hawaii, it’s her favorite place on Earth. She’s such a life force in my world and I want to thank her for allowing me to chase my dreams. You wouldn’t think a 7 year old would encourage her mommy as much as my little one does.

I have to thank the boys for getting me strong this season. Mud oh Mud, this was you, you knew what to do all along,. Jim, Stephen, Gui, Chuck, Jeff. You boys pushed me and took me under your wing. I owe so much to you. Dave and Jen, thank you for your love and support as well. Operation Banana!

I also have to thank PIC, she is my sister and always puts up with my shit. Love her to death. Carolyn as well has really helped me with my run and has been my comedic relief the last few months. I love having strong women in my life. I could shout that from a rooftop!

A huge thank you to the companies that have believed in me. Kompetitive Edge always has my back. Amrita has been so generous in making sure I never BONK. I have been using their plant based bars on rides all year long, and I can’t tell you what healthy fuel does for the body. It’s magic! PunkRockRacing and Ron support me tirelessly, and QR! oh dear, another fastest amateur bike split…i think?, Nuun, Osmo, Fuel4mance, Dina and Stacy are helping me daily on my race nutrition. I am so blessed.

After the race we went to the Amazon! I’ll blog about that next!

Posted in Uncategorized

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Run

Posted on June 15, 2013 by goSonja| 9 Comments

Getting off the bike I felt that I was in the lead for the amateur race but I wanted to make sure. The course is 1 long loop of about 13 miles, and then two shorter loops of about 10.5K. When I put together my race plan I really wanted to run the long hilly loop conservative and then throw down the hammer on the short flat loops.

Did it go down like that?

No, of course not. Negative splitting the Ironman marathon always seems like an awesome plan on paper but never really comes together in reality. I’m not sure if everyone feels this way, but I almost always feel great getting off the bike (Kona being the exception). This time I felt better than usual, my nutrition was sitting super well. I felt great getting out running and 7:30 pace felt easy. I ran that pace all the way until we hit the hills.

There was a short out an back around mile 3 and I didn’t see anyone ahead. I checked my watch and started looking for AGers behind me to get a time split. I was almost out of the out and back and saw two of them. I had 7:30 on the second AGer. I felt pretty darn good about that. Knowing I was aiming for a 3:30 marathon, that meant either of those girls had to run 3:23, on a hilly course. Okay Sonja, now, don’t screw this up. You still have like 23 miles to run.

What can I say, I loved the hilly section of the course. I ran the first long one up and down. Then the second steep one, I had to walk that! It was short and walking felt just as hard as running. At the top I got back at it. The third one I ran. On the big descent down to the ocean I saw Haley Chura (you have to read her Brazil blog, it’s hilarious) and had to give her a high 5. She looked really solid!

I hit the ocean road and we ran along that, past our hotel, and out to another out and back. I was feeling good, but was just barely keeping things under 8min miles in this section, maybe 7:45-7:50 range. Those hills really take a bite out of your mojo. I turned at the out and back and was happy to have that part of the course done.

I took another time split and now saw that I had a 12 minute lead over the second AGer. That was when I breathed a big sigh of relief. I just felt confident that I could hold onto that lead until the end. I still had like 18 miles to run, but my nutrition was going so well, and I felt really in control of my tempo and emotional state. My self talk was 100% positive, I was having a great day.

At mile 11 my liquid nutrition had run out. I had decided to run with a waist pack for this race. I have had trouble in past races on the run with nutrition. If you read this blog often, you’ve heard it all from me. After my bonk at Oceanside this year, I am more into being prepared and having what I know works with me, than being light. Duh…that only took 9 Ironmans to figure out. So I had 2×10 ounce bottles in my waist pack with Osmo in them and I had 2 packs of chews in what I call my Kangaroo pouch. At the aid stations I had been taking water at each one and drinking it or pouring it over my head.

Speaking of water. I need to talk about the WATER! North American Ironmans HAVE to adopt the Ironman Brasil water situation. Do you remember the cups of orange juice you used to get in Kindergarten with the foil lids? Well, thats what they handed out on the run but in water form. So it was a cup of water, with a foil lid. This was the most genius thing I’ve ever seen. No more losing half the water during the handoff. You could carry it and use it later, you could poke a little hole in the top and pour it over your head. It WAS GENIUS. Best EVER!

See the water in the cups on the right. This is a different brand, but it’s the same container.

Okay, so after my Osmo ran out, I tried some Pepsi. Boy, immediately it made me feel very up and down emotionally. So I knew I had to get into my special needs and get more Osmo. At mile 14 I finally hit special needs, and grabbed a spare bottle of Osmo and refilled my waist pack bottles.

So one thing that was really different for me during this Ironman was my sense of being alone. I knew there was zero chance of anyone out there knowing me, so I really just focused on taking care of me. It was truly an independent day and in some ways, I think that actually helped. Now I don’t get outside assistance from people, but just running by your family on the course is always such a huge boost. I was without that, and nobody around me spoke English. Even telling volunteers my number at the turn arounds, I quit doing that because I didn’t know how to say my number in Portugese. So it was a quiet day.

Now I’m on the short loops and it’s time to boogy. Crap. Where is my boogy? I’ve got no boogy. 8min miles was where it was at. Not a lot of urgency, just running strong. I passed Claire and we had a little conversation. IN ENGLISH, oh how that felt good! On the first shorty loop when I was going into the out and back I heard this huge booming voice screaming for me on the other side of the road. It was Troy headed out on his long loop. It was so good to hear his voice. And to be honest, I felt this huge sense of relief because I knew he would finish, and that he was safe and alive.

The Brazilians don’t really cheer for people they don’t know, and they don’t own cow bells. So it was oddly quiet out there and I hadn’t actually heard my name all day. But I knew from day 1 that this race was about tucking into my own head and getting it done.

At the end of long lap 1 we got the coolest arm band to mark our completion of the lap. I was so excited about that, and then at the end of shorty lap 1 we got another one. The excitment to get the arm band was unbearable. I looked forward to it for miles and wondered what color it would be. You could use the arm bands to tell what loop other people were on and it helped the course volunteers direct people.

Finishing my second shorty loop I was headed to the finish. I was feeling so great, so happy, and I just kept running. The finish didn’t come…kept running…still not there. I checked my watch and it read 3:31 at 26.2 miles. No finish in sight. It wasn’t until 26.6ish that I hit the chute and in a blink of an eye it was all over. The chute was way too short.

I did a jump at the line. I felt really really good. They didn’t catch my jump, and the race photos are so funny, prejump, and post jump, but no actual jump. First jump I’ve done that didn’t get caught. Oh well, the face on this photo is pretty classic.

I turned around and saw 9:51 on the clock and just started crying. I felt really alone, but really happy, and I felt a little foolish for being so emotional. There were all these people staring at me, and the announcer was talking to me, but I had no idea what he was saying (theme of the trip). There aren’t any finish line catchers in Brazil, you just sort of walk off like after a 70.3. They put a dry towel around my shoulder and I soaked it with tears.

I made my way into the post race food area, grabbed some pizza (they had a pizza oven in the finisher tent and they were hand making pizzas and they were AMAZING) and sat down at a table by myself. I just cried for awhile there, there were happy emotional tears. I felt really dumb, but I couldn’t stop. So many thoughts were swirling through my head. It was mostly a loop of “Did that really just happen?”

I must say, I want to thank Hillary Biscay. She was in the tent and she was the only person that talked to me, not that I expected anyone else to or anything. She asked me how I did and if it was my first time under 10. It was really nice of her. Ken Glah was in the tent too and he looked tired. He won his AG, and was about a minute ahead of me. Amazing.

After a few minutes I got out of there and made my way to the hospitality house that Ken Glah has on the race course for all the athletes and families of the athletes. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom and went out to the course to wait for Troy to come through. Sure enough, he came running through with 1 shorty lap to go. I got to see him twice and he asked me how I did. I told him and he did this big fist pump as he ran away from me. One lap later I got to run through the finish line with Troy (they allow 2 guests down the chute with you) and that was so so so awesome. Except I had to ask him to slow down, that was a little embarrassing. He jumped up and touched the Timex sign, a 1 hour PR for him in his 3rd triathlon ever.

Run Time: 3:34:15

Overall Time: 9:50:49 says the results.

Final Placing: 1st in AG, 1st Amateur, 11th woman, 123th overall in the race.

Tomorrow, some thoughts and reflections….

Posted in Family, Race Report, Running, Travel, Triathlon, Uncategorized

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Bike

Posted on June 13, 2013 by goSonja| 10 Comments

Once on the bike, I started into my fueling right away. My mouth was salty. The first few miles of the course, getting out of town, was so congested. Combine that with some really interesting characters and I found myself constantly fighting to stay legal and to keep the gas on. It was a cluster! So many of the men simply refused to move right after passing. Drafting was happening, but the blocking was the main problem. Even on the narrow sections you could fit three bikes across but these guys would sit left and not let anyone past. Then a drafting pack would form because nobody could pass the douchebag, and that’s when it got psycho.

The draft marshals were there, but I didn’t see any penalties happening. And granted it’s a narrow section, so I don’t know how they would have fairly enforced anything, other than citing the dude for blocking. So I just had to calm down and let it (them) all pass. This one guy in a teal speedo was really bustin’ my chops though. He was so aggressive and rude and blocking. And he was in a speedo, which is all fine and good, but it was teal. Okay, not judging, but it was teal AND he was ignoring the rules. If you are going to block everyone behind you and force us all to stare at your behind, at least wear some tri shorts. Actually his butt was pretty nice, but I digress….sorry, back on task…

30 minutes into my ride I took a peek at the time of day. I don’t wear a watch in the swim and the clock on my Garmin said 8:35am. I was shocked and I got a big smile on my face. That meant that I was on bike bike and riding 1:05 into the day, which meant swim+T1 was 1:05-ish. I didn’t know if they started the race on time, but I was jazzed. Especially after thinking I swam 1:20. Something inside me clicked then and I knew I was going to fight for every bit of time today. All systems were GO!

The hills were no issue, not hard, very basic. I got passed by like 50 people on each one. I was watching my wattage and heart rate and I wasn’t going to ride up those things at 100 watts higher than I was going to average for the day, but apparently everyone else felt okay with that tactic. Literally 50 people passed me in 4 minutes. Got back some of them on the descent though. It was actually good because the pack that had developed behind teal speedo motored up the hill at like 1000 watts and they were now out of my sight. After the hills I just settled in. People thinned out and we were at the tunnels near the turn around before I knew it.

One crazy thing out there that you DO NOT SEE in North American races is that closing the roads for the race brings out all the Brazilian roadies. I saw so many people riding the course who weren’t in the race. They were in full cycling kits, usually groups of two, no packs or anything. You know those little fish that hang onto other fish….parasite fish…yea, we had parasite cyclists out there.

When I started seeing the women coming back the other way I started paying attention to them and all the sudden a drafting marshal was yelling at me. I think I had gotten too close to the guy ahead of me, but he seemed to still be 3+ bike lengths ahead so I was a bit confused. So I just started yelling back. I have no idea why this was my reaction, but it’s just what came out. He was yelling in Portuguese and I was yelling in English. I backed off a bit more and the dude drove away. Who knows?

There was one girl that I was sorta going back and forth with. It was strange. I went by her the first time demandingly. Then like 10 miles later she comes by me and is kinda on a guys wheel. Not right on it, but pretty close. I sit back and watch. She’s riding pretty legal. But going pretty slow. So I repass several minutes later. I look back a few minutes later and she’s way way back there.

I hit town feeling really great and really in control. Then the girl comes by me again. She misses a bottle handoff, screams at the volunteers all angry like, and then this guy brings her his bottle. What? I mean she was Brazilian and pretty hot and all, but where was my personal bottle retriever? I would have thought that perk was reserved for those wearing a teal speedo??!!

I went around the turn around in town at 2:29 and was like “Holy shit, that’s sub 5 hour bike pace.” but that was all the thought I really gave it. I was riding my plan, and sticking to it regardless of what it yielded. After the turn around in town it’s time to ride back into the narrow section and this is when CRAZINESS happens. Like the worst part of my day craziness! The congestion is bad and there are some packs and I just want the heck out of it all. So I start riding harder. I ride my way up to the girl (the one with the bottle hander guy) and she’s sitting in the left of the lane. I yell “Left.” She doesn’t budge. I yell “left” two more times. Now I’m on her ass. There is an official with us. I yell “passing, left”. I yell that five times. She starts yelling at me….in Portuguese. I yell at her to move over (there is space) in English (duh). I’m on her ass, screaming and pointing to the HUGE space on her right that she can move into.

I start screaming at the official “She’s blocking.” She starts screaming at the official. I scream and she screams and the official just looks at us. I back off her ass and get over to the right. Now I have just failed to make a legal pass and that worries me. We are both screaming at the official. I’m screaming “Give her a penalty, she is blocking” She’s screaming at him too, I don’t know what she’s saying. I can’t even imagine what she can say when she is clearly blocking.

I’m yelling at the official and then I look forward (from looking at the official) and right as I look forward I see that I’m headed straight for a traffic cone. Yea, a big one too, just like this:

I have no choice, there are people, officials, everyone around. I hit the cone dead on, and it’s a BIG ASS CONE. The only thought that goes through my head is “There goes your Flipping race” (except I didn’t think “flipping” I thought the other word). I hit the cone, I employ some Herculean efforts to remain on top of my bike and by some stroke of luck I do not crash. Then I look at the official with my best “See what you just did?” look. And his eyes are wide open.

Meanwhile the lady is still in the left lane blocking. I look at the official very calm like and I say “Do you understand?” and he shakes his head “no”. I say Azule (because she is wearing blue) and I point to her. And I say “BLOCKING PENALTY”. Then the dude makes this hand gesture to me……

Click Here to see the hand gesture

And he rides away. I look down and my heart rate is 172. Oh my lanta! I stay right and have a SERIOUS conversation with myself to calm down, and to take deep breaths. In between the breaths I’m saying to myself “Holy crap I hit a cone.” I watch Azule continue to stay as left as she possibly can for the next 20 minutes and then we hit an aid station, she goes for fluid (not sure where her personal bottle retriever has gone), I make the pass and then I ride much harder than my Ironman race pace for 20 minutes so that I never ever ever ever ever EVER have to see this woman again. And I didn’t…until the Kona roll down where I gave her my best “You’re a disgrace” stinkeye as she claimed her slot for winning her AG. She will need to learn what blocking means before Hawaii.

Back through the hills and suddenly there are a lot less heros out there. Through the tunnel and I’m by myself with plenty of space between competitors. I’m in my element now. Head down and just snuggle into the the bean bag chair in my pain cave. I don’t see any AG women left ahead of me. We turn around and I notice that the wind has become a factor. I enjoyed the nice headwind back to town and played the “try to guess my bike split” game. I was thinking 5:10 and that got me pretty excited. The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. The last 10 miles I happened upon a very tired looking man in a teal speedo. That felt good as I passed him with a little eyebrow raise.

Into T2 there were a handful of bags in the hallway. I didn’t count but grabbed a seat and again dealt with my business and got out of there. As I ran out of there I looked at the finish line because I knew the race clock would have the race time. I think it said 6:17. I was jazzed. Mental math said under a 3:43 marathon would get me under 10. Let’s do this.

Bike Split: 5:08:57

Bike Placing: off the bike: 1st in my AG, 14th woman (including PROS), and 175th in the race.

Posted in Cycling, Ironman, Race Report, Travel, Triathlon

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Swim

Posted on June 13, 2013 by goSonja| Leave a comment

I don’t even remember if it was a cannon, or a horn, or just someone yelling to GO in Portugese, but all of a sudden the race was on. I took off wading right right right of the barricades. I kept wading right until I got open water and then I started swimming. I was all by myself. I got a little nervous half way to the buoy thinking “What if the swim current is the other direction, then I’m screwed.” But the kayakers in the morning were dragged left, and if it was, then the mass of people would be running into me as I was right. Then I wondered, what if I am too right. I definitely felt really unsure since I was swimming so differently than the rest of the participants. I hit the turn buoy literally 10 meters to the right of it, swam wide around it to keep my open water and a short while later was at the next turn buoy. I headed into shore.

Now I was with the masses after that second buoy and getting the typical Ironman beating. I found some feet, but then I passed them. Found another set, passed them. I starting passing lots of people. This was really freaking me out. I thought, oh no, I swam slow to the first buoy because I went too wide and I’m around all these people that are slower than me. I tried to get past as many as I could and at one point there was about 15 meters of open water ahead of me, and yet I was swimming shoulder to shoulder with about 10 people. It was strange. We were like a front. But then I pulled ahead and into the open water.

I hit the beach perfect and now it was time for the short run through the deep sand. I grabbed some water and looked at the swimmers on the second half of the course. I really took a good hard honest look at the masses. They were all being dragged left so I went with the same tactic as the first half. Way to the right, clear water, not a soul out there. Got in my groove and was able to actually swim hard. I felt less conflicted with my decision to stay right and just focused on swimming strong. I hit the turn buoy just a tad right of it, made a wide turn and then swam with the group back. Same thing as lap 1, I passed a lot of people in the final 800 meters, but this time I felt like it was just because I was swimming strong.

The masses swam the solid line, and I swam the dashed line…all by myself:

No clock on the exit ramp, but I was guessing 1:20. Seriously, I thought I was out there for an hour and twenty minutes. I thought I was slow, thought the swim was slow. No big, it is what it is, I did the best I could. I used the wetsuit strippers and ran into transition. On the run in I got passed by like 6 people. These Brazilians were literally HAULING ass through transition. 2 of them were women and I was like “WTF, it’s a long day, why are they sprinting like it’s a 200 meter race?”

The women’s change area was a hallway. I kid you not, there are no women in this race (less than 10%) and we had like 20 chairs in a little hallway, if that. I took pictures of the men and women’s areas because it was shocking.

WOMEN

MEN

You have to take care of yourself 100% in this race. No volunteer help. There was one lady in the hallway and she just watched me. I’m not sure if they were told not to help, but we were told not to expect any help, so I was ready for that. I went through the motions, packed up my bag and was out of there. At the bikes I saw that Troys was still there, grabbed my beautiful QR Illicito and ran out.

Swim Time: 1:02:05

Swim Placing: 4th in Age Group (super happy with this), 38th woman, 366th out of the water. Top 18%, this is the best I’ve ever swam I think.

I want to send a huge thank you to my swim coach Nick Levine. He has really had a good plan for getting me faster over the last few months and it’s really cool to see that speed I gained in the pool actually start to cross over into the open water. I still have no idea if I swam the right line, but I’m really happy with the result! Thanks Nick!

Posted in Ironman, Race Report, Swimming, Travel, Triathlon

2013 Ironman Brasil Pre Race

Posted on June 12, 2013 by goSonja| 6 Comments

Man, I have started this post so many times. I really want to blog about Ironman Brazil and I’ve struggled with writing a short blog, or a long blog, or 5 blogs, or what not. After going back and forth a million times, I just decided, heck…I’m verbose. Anyone who knows me, knows I can’t shut up. So, why should this be any different. I blog so that I can read back about my experiences after I forget about them, so I don’t want to leave anything out, because this one was too special.

So, Part 1 of what will be a 4, maybe 5 part series. IRONMAN BRASIL…everything you’ve ever wanted to know…and then some. Let’s get this party started!

Getting to Brazil is no small feat. Just preparing to get to Brazil is crazy. However, if you are going to go for it, I suggest Ken Glah’s Endurance Travel. It’s well worth the money and I will use his company again in the future. In fact, it’s made me more confident to travel internationally to Ironman, because I know Ken Glah will take care of me, and I can focus on the fun.

After leaving Annabelle in the capable hands of my mom, complete with power of attorney and a notarized will, we took a plane from Denver to Dallas and boarded a large half full plane to Sao Paulo. This flight was perfect, it left at 9pm, arrived a 7am and was about 9 hours of flight time. They fed us, turned down the lights and I slept on Troys shoulder for a solid 7+ hours.

Taking my toothbrush, contact case, blanky, and pillow made things easy peasy. Once in Sao Paulo we had to clear customs and recheck our bags to Florianopolis. Our bags were the last ones to show up, and we met Claire (who was american and spoke english) in the customs line. Finding the airline to recheck our bags was our first hurdle. There isn’t a lot of English spoken in the Sao Paulo airport. We would show our itinerary to someone and they would point us down the hall. We kept doing that until they pointed us back the other direction. Then we got in a line, they made us go to another line, then they made us go to a third line. Finally, we got in front of the right person. We literally needed help from 15 people to make that happen. They were good to go with the bike box (no fee) and bags and we were were left to wait out our 8 hour layover that was now down to 5.5 hours (yes, that’s how long it took).

At the advice of Jocelyn Cornman we used a double bike box on this trip, and let me say, it was awesome. My KE teammate Jordan Sher loaned us his and we only paid one $150 fee the whole trip (American leaving Denver). Our box weighed about 65 pounds with both bikes and all 4 wheels and it was SO easy to pull around the airports. Major bike box success.

The fight from Sao Paulo to Florianopolis was probably the most low budget airline I’ve ever been on. There was like 6 inches of leg room. Troy’s legs didn’t even remotely fit so he spent that flight pretty uncomfortable with his knees in his chest…which just happened to make the BEST pillow for me. I slept from take off to landing.

Suddenly here we are in beautiful Florianopolis! We got our bags, again, our bike box (the monster) was last off the plane and we almost missed the Endurance Travel folks because the door out of baggage claim got blocked when three nuns ran their bag cart into the wall and couldn’t get it unstuck. Literally, I couldn’t make this shit up.

Once united with Endurance Travel, just as they were about to leave us behind, and as a result, we got to ride in the front seat of the shuttle. That was a total highlight. We got a great view of the city during the 45 minute drive to the hotel which was mostly along the Ironman course.

Our hotel, Al Mare, was the cheapest that Ken Glah offered, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We like to keep things basic and we both let out a huge sigh when we walked into the room, it was basic, but clean and comfortable. The first night was full of barking dogs and we kept the windows open and the cool breeze flowing.

Our hotel had breakfast and dinner every night and that was a nice perk. To know that you only had to hunt down lunch everyday while getting in all your Ironman preparation was a good thing.

Thursday we loaded up and headed to the Ironman practice swim. They did a mass start which we did not participate in. The beach was amazing, white sand, so beautiful with little islands off in the distance we just had permagrin. We got in to swim and there was a buoy out there we wanted to swim to. I thought the buoy was a normal sized buoy but after 30 minutes of swimming and finally arriving at the thing, it was like 3 stories high! There are no sighting buoys in this IM course, just turn buoys.

The return trip was quicker, and we encountered a lot of small jellyfish along the way. At times it felt like you were swimming in a sea of corks, and you could grab handfuls of them. They didn’t sting, so it was more awkward than anything. Our swim to the FIRST (of 4) turn buoy and back took 50 minutes and hence I started worrying about the Ironman swim. Also there is a current dragging you left, and I was pretty worried about how to handle that.

After seeing the swim Troy and I decided to go on a course tour that Endurance Travel offered on Friday because we heard that Ken Glah leads them and we knew we would get good beta. I got a massage Friday before the bus tour and then we parked ourselves up front on the bus and asked lots of questions. Ken was great, answered every one of my (and others) questions and I totally understood the course after that. The good tips I got, which of course I will share are the following.

#1 – You can get messed up in the swim. You have to determine the current on race morning by watching the boats. It can change from day to day. If it’s right to left (common) you have to aim to the right of the turn buoy (1000M out). Start right, stay right, and aim right.

#2 – Brazilians know how to swim. There are fast swim times because of fast Brazilians, not necessarily because the course is fast. Also, they don’t really believe in the concept of the “Bucket List” so most people in the race are serious about Ironman racing, not a lot of one and done types.

#3 – Special needs is not so good for this race. Nobody hands you your bag, and you have to hunt for it. It’s also like 20+ miles into the loop so you aren’t getting it at 56, but more like 76ish. Ken said he always uses special needs, but not at this race.

#4 – Two of the hills on the run course you need to walk up, and down. There is no point to run up or down them, you are faster walking, and they will hurt bad if you run down them.

#5 – They write a massive amount of penalties at this race. Last year about 150 of them, and there are only 2000 people in the race, so almost 10% get a drafting penalty. Drafting penalty is 10 minutes served in a tent in T2.

So I felt like that race course tour was well worth the money. Later that night we went to the PreRace Pasta party. The food was really good and we did not understand anything that was said over the loudspeaker. They did have a fruit boat though. That was pretty awesome, no dessert, just an awesome fruit boat!

Poor Jody was still hoping that his luggage would arrive, and in the nick of time it did. He had the most crazy adventure getting here, but handled it so well, I’m really proud of him for that. We actually thought he might have to beg/borrow/buy every single thing to race. Whew!

Saturday was GAME ON day. We got up, I got another massage, and we got in our training for the day. A super scary bike ride where we passed not once, but twice, the Passion Motel! It was a pretty scary ride, Brazil is not so safe. We had a run off where Jody was barely breathing and I felt like I was panting and out of shape. I always feel that way during my Ironman taper.

After training we hit up an awesome Brazilian steakhouse and had a little adventure down in the downtown area. By now I was feeling pretty at home and we were excited that race day was soon to be here.

We were required to drop our bikes off between 6-7pm so we loaded the busses and went through that hullabaloo. They had a sweet bag to cover each and every athletes bike. This was an AWESOME perk (note to North American races). Troy and I were racked right smack next to each other and Jody was just a few feet down. They walked us through transition and when we walked in and said “Hi”, they immediately screamed “English” and there appeared a guy who spoke English to explain everything to us. Back home, and it was bed time.

Recently I have been sleeping really well before my races. I was hoping for a great nights sleep, but I found out that when both Troy AND I are racing, and we both have pre Ironman nerves…there is double the tossing and turning. Neither of us slept great, but at 5am we were on that bus with Jody, ready to go!

Transition was awesome. We hung together with Jody, got the bikes ready, visited the portapotty, and headed to the swim start. I ate a white bread sandwich with jam and salt and finished off a bottle of Osmo. I ripped THREE new holes in my Freak because my nails were too long. I smiled because ripping a hole in my wetsuit means I’m going to swim fast, and I just ripped THREE. We got in the corral together, and Troy and I held hands while I peed in my wetsuit. I hugged Jody, he slipped a bit in front of us and Troy and I stood there together totally freaking nervous. We were all the way right and we had NO IDEA what the announcer was saying.

The last memory I have before the gun went off was staring at the beautiful sunrise off to my right, and just soaking in the pure beauty of the situation. I also looked around and could not find a single solitary woman. I was a in sea of men.

Posted in Family, Ironman, Race Report, Travel, Triathlon

2013 Saint George 70.3

Posted on May 7, 2013 by goSonja| 6 Comments

If you watched the triathlon racing last weekend via the blogs, FB or Twitter there were a lot of people talking about this fantastically gorgeous race in Saint George, Utah. I was lucky enough to be on the start line of that race and I can’t say enough positive things about it.

If you want to skip the reading and just get the story of my race, you can listen to Episode #37 of Jim and the other guy where he got me to spill the beans.

Prior to the race I had a really strong training block with the camp I attended in San Jose along with the work I’ve done back in Denver. I was feeling good. Coming off Oceanside the fire in my belly was bright. Racing a 70.3 just 3 weeks prior to Ironman Brazil was something I felt excited about, I tend to recover quickly, especially in those final weeks before Ironman when my fitness is high.

I also had 3 of my athletes racing and I was really excited to see where they were at, and how the work I’ve been giving them is absorbing. I was just ecstatic with how things went. Mikki finished her first triathlon ever, very strong and she had fun! Mo had her first puke free triathlon since I’ve been working with her…and that’s been years. It was such a huge success for the both of us. And Jody had a superb race with no cramping, and is right where he needs to be for Brazil. Add to that, Punk Rock Runners 13 min half marathon PR on Sunday and I would say this was one of the best triathlon weekends of my coaching life.

As I lined up on the start line I had a lot of things in my mind. My athletes races, mainly the swim for Mikki (so much anxiety around that for first timers), but also PICs mom. She was really in my thoughts that morning due to some medical stuff she was dealing with, and I was thinking about PIC too, and hoping she could race for her mom and be strong. Here is our scared faces!

The reservoir is one of the nicest lakes you can find to swim in. The water is clear, you can see bubbles. I met Katie Kyme on the start line and we got into the water together. The start was smooth for me, although it was cold. My face was nice and numb but I felt like my turnover was a little slow as my arms were just cold and slow moving. I found some feet, they were great feet, straight swimming feet. On the final stretch, as the feet got a bit tired I swung around and swam strong to the finish. The swim work I’ve been doing with coach Nick continues to help me feel strong and prepared in the water. He assigns a lot of broken miles and I can refer back to those workouts on race day. It gives me tactics to use!

Out of the water and onto the Quintana Roo I was jazzed to get this show on the road. I love the first miles on the bike, because really, the only thing going through your mind is “How are my legs?” “Are they here today.” All I could come up with is COLD. My legs were cold, they weren’t warmed up and they were slow moving because they felt cold. So I decided to really give them some time. I told myself it’s a long day, let them warm up slowly.

3 miles into the race you go up your first climb. It takes about 5 minutes and I remember thinking “that was harder than when I rode it yesterday.” But you don’t always have to feel good in races. Sometime you just have to race hard, and know that it will all turn out okay in the end. At mile 15 I caught up to Rebecca and there were two other ladies in my age group right with her. I knew that when I went by this group of three I really needed to go and go hard. So I sat back (legal) and sat up and just watched for a little while. I ate a bar, and let my HR drop low and I just watched what was going on.

Then I went. I put in a big effort for about 3-4 minutes and just went as hard as I felt I could reasonably go. After this effort when I pulled off of it, Sarah Jarvis passed me and said “Hi Sonja.” I took a look back and realized that she was the only one that went with my move.

The rest of the race was the Sarah/Sonja back and forth show. Sarah would pass me on every single uphill and then I would bust a move to get back to her on every descent. The course is very hilly. There are so many climbs that I lost count. But there were lots of bomber descents as well and the course evened out pretty well with a mix of the two. I remember going through 25 miles at 1:06 and thinking “this isn’t that slow.”

At about mile 38ish Sarah and I passed another girl in our age group, Christine. She was riding wicked strong and hung tight as well. As we approached Snow Canyon I was trying to decide on my tactic. My athlete Jody passed me and I had given him the go ahead to ride Snow Canyon as hard as he wanted, so he was bustin’ a move. I decided that I would keep my HR “managable” and use the 10 mile descent to bust my final move. So I rode that canyon hard, but not all out. Both Sarah and Christine gapped me pretty big.

Oh, and I ran over a Post-it note half way up the hill and it got stuck in my breaks and was making a HORRIBLE sound. It was a sound like I got a puncture, and I thought it was stuck in the back break but found it in the front and got it out. Scared the crap out of me for a few minutes though.

When the descent came I nailed it home. Hard as I could go, full tuck position on those descents and it paid off. I got back past Christine and Sarah and rode into T1 in the lead in the AG.

After Oceanside and my solid bonk I decided to make a few changes. I had a race belt with hydration to put on so that I was prepared with fuel goodies. I also decided to run without socks. I’ve been running in Sketchers recently and ran a few runs without socks in my goRun2s but didn’t practice with wet feet (bad move Sonja). I got my stuff on and got out of there.

I had advised my athletes to be VERY careful about your effort the first 2 miles. It’s a deceiving course and only gets worse as it goes. I started running and the hill was there but my legs actually felt good. My HR monitor strap was bugging me (I feel like that thing is trying to kill me on the run, hate it hate it hate it), but all in all I was feeling a boat load better than Oceanside.

I passed Mud who’s camp I attended and threw him my HR chest strap and got some encouragement to keep it steady. I also turned around, wondering where Sarah was and SHE WAS RIGHT THERE. This got me really excited. I love a good foot race.

The more the miles racked up the faster and stronger I felt (thank you Jen Schumm for all those single leg squats over the winter). I remember running down the first downhill and just feeling so strong. I had asked Stacey Simms (Osmo nutrition) a few last minute questions about my nutrition plan and I was repeating “I love Stacey Simms” going up one of those hills because my nutrition was working flawlessly. Having the waist belt was great, and I will take it in Brazil for sure.

I slowly got a little more time on Sarah as the miles went by and with each little surge I put in. I kept the pressure on and tried to catch every girl I saw in front of me regardless of age group. I felt better running than I ever had before in my life.

At about mile 6 I realized that my feet were getting harassed with no socks on. It just made me run harder. There was nothing I could do about it. With 2 miles to go, you have been descending for a long time and they send you on this out and back that’s an evil hill. I ran up that thing hard and took a time split back to Sarah of 1:05. Knowing I felt great, it was the first time I really smiled. Don’t get me wrong I was having fun, going fast is fun, but it was the first time I just was overwhelmed with absolute JOY. The last mile and a half I just wanted to feel the experience of the runners high, where you feel like you can run as hard as you want and it doesn’t even hurt. It was one of those days. I could do no wrong.

Coming into the finish I was so happy. It was so emotional to have one of those races where everything came together. Fitness Brains Tactics Emotions. It is so rare that everything falls into place and that was what happened for me out there.

I want to extend a huge congratulations to the ladies I shared the podium with who were not only the top 5 in the AG, but also in the top 6 amateurs. Way to go womens 30-34! Sarah Jarvis, Emily Ure, Christine Avelar, Carly Johann! Solid racing ladies!! Also, a huge shout out to PIC Michelle who opened up a new age group at this race, and took home the win, and did so for her mom.

Thank you to Kompetitive Edge, the new kit is great. Also thanks to Quintana Roo for my awesome bike. I didn’t have the fastest bike split, but it was close Amrita Bars, Punk Rock Racing, Osmo and NUUN have been so supportive. Thank you to them.

And also, a huge thank you to all those that have supported me through the good and the bad. My husband Troy and daughter Annie who continue to just love and accept me for who I am, tired, peppy, grumpy, you name it, they are my ROCKS. Thank you to the friends I have made training this year, especially the San Jose crew. And mostly, for the LOVE that I have received as of late.

Total Time: 4:47:28, swim: 30:57, T1: 1:40, Bike: 2:36:49, T2: 2:08, Run: 1:35:54, 1st Amateur, 1st 30-34

Posted in 1/2 Marathon, Ironman, Quintana Roo, Race Report, Running, Swimming, Travel, Triathlon

Camp-O-Fun

Posted on April 26, 2013 by goSonja| 7 Comments

I spent the last week in San Jose at training “camp.” I’ll go ahead and call it camp because I guess that’s what it was, but really it was “Camp-O-Fun”. Or really, maybe “Man-Camp-O-Fun”. Yes, Michelle and I got to go to man camp. There was a lot of man-wheel (my favorite).

Before I get going into it, I want to highlight two podcasts that I did last week in case you missed my posts on Facebook or Twitter.

One: Michelle and I were on Jim and the Other Guy. We are episode #34 and we just had fun. Jim’s podcast is great because it’s light hearted, people are having fun on there, and it’s not overly serious. PIC and I talked about silly stuff and being moms, and just loving the sport.

Two: I recorded a Podcast with Tawnee Prazak on Endurance Planet as well. This one is a bit more into the nitty gritty of triathlon, my progression in the sport, some of my thoughts about the sport, and some nuggets about motivation. I’ve had a few emails that people are really enjoying this one, so maybe you will too.

So, enjoy those if you have a long ride on the trainer, or a boring commute to work! Onwards!

Camp! I hooked up with a great group in the bay area this week for a multiday block of training and it was a blast. The group was mostly men, although the few of us women really bonded as well. When lots of men are involved, lots of work gets done.

I like training with guys, I’ll tell you why. When you are in the middle of the work, they just work, no tears, no judgement, no falling off the back in shame, they just work. In fact, every one of these boys just about ripped themselves to shreds over that week and they were so happy to do it. They have pride and they don’t let others see them suffer because they don’t suffer, they just keep their head down and work. They were like Labradors….happy go lucky, hard workin’ mo-fos. When the day is done, they have an easy time letting it go. Training with boys is EASY on the psyche. Nobody judges. Nobody complains. Everyone just kicks ass. I don’t think a single person out there had a bad day, not one.

Also, being a girl who trains with the boys, at first they are kinda nice to you. They treat you like a chick, because they don’t know if you are one of “those” kinds of girls. But by 48 hours in, I just blended into the bunch, they forgot I was there, and they had no problem talking about their balls. It was great. I like it best when I lose my girl status, and just become one of the bunch. Once that happens I really feel like I can work my ass off.

If you are familiar with the San Jose area, we climbed Sierra and Hamilton on back to back days. It was awesome, 150 miles with like 15K of gain in two days. Each day was a race to the top of Ham, and I just ditched the power, ditched the HR strap, focused on feeding the machine, and RODE. There was a lot of time spent climbing on my own, but I can’t recall really thinking about anything other than doing work and being happy. I had my phone in my pocket and I would play songs on the climb out the speaker. It was fun passing people and they would laugh because they could hear the music coming.

My favorite was riding with Darren and I’m just gonna say he “might” have known the words to a Brittany Spears song. MIGHT….I can’t say for sure. My favorite photo of the whole camp is this one. SEE, this is what I dealt with folks. Really happy dudes who totally dig training.

When we weren’t swimming biking and running we were laughing and playing around being silly. I went off the high dive at the pool and got lots of water up my nose. Headrush! I have a long way to go before I can do a flying squirrel! Prisoner ESCAPE!

Michelle and I went on a date night. Hahaha! Punk Rock Racing took us to the Sharks game. Actually he took me twice, once with Michelle on date night and another night for fan appreciation night with Jim Lubinski. That was especially awesome because Jim used to play PRO hockey, so I learned a lot that night….like what icing is….

Michelle’s and I’s date night ended a little badly with a 24 hour bug for her. But on the up side she got to recoup with my mom tending to her. Which I must say, my mom is the ultimate nurturer.

Interspersed between Sharks games we did a lot of eating! Whole Foods baby! It was great to get to know Gui more on this trip. He has recently been bestowed the honor of being on Team Timex. So you know he’s a bad ass. I must admit it’s inspiring to be around someone so young with such a zest for progress in the sport. He works so hard and kinda feels like my little brother after this trip. You can follow his blog here. Also, he works for Google, so you can ask him anything and he knows.

Towards the end of camp we did a 3 mile TT on the track. It was really fun because I did one on this same track the Tuesday after the Death ride. The track is long. I keep trying to convince everyone of this! Every time my Garmin beeps at the same spot on the mile and I SWEAR that 12 laps is 3.1 miles. My Garmin agrees, so if you run on this track in San Jose then guess what, you are faster than you think you are. I’m calling it a 5K. I know it is, I feel it in my bones, and my Garmin agrees. After camp I ran 20:28 I think. I could be off by 5 seconds either way but that # sticks in my mind. I was happy with that after the Death Ride and where I was at in my training. This week I ran 19:05. I’m super happy with that. If it’s a 5K…and I’m saying it is, that would be a PR. What was even more amazing was getting lapped on LAP 5 by Jim and Stephen. Yea….LAP 5!!! Again, so awesome!

Of course, after the 5K on the track I ended up like this for awhile. Thank you mom for the sweet set up with the recliner desk and what not. I need to get this for my house. At that moment in time…life did not suck!

I just have to extend a huge thank you to everyone that pushed me this past week. It was one of the best training weeks I’ve ever had, not just because of the work that was done, but because of the attitude of the workers. Everyone was always ready to lend a helping hand, pats on the back were abundant, “good jobs” said often. I also had some great conversations with pro athletes, with elite age groupers who want to be pro, with elite age groupers who don’t wont to be pro and with a coach who’s been in the sport 30 years. I got a lot of different perspectives and it really helped to hone some of my own feelings about the sport and my place within it.

Good stuff people! Train Hard! Have Fun!

As a wise man once said….It’s just EXERCISE!

Posted in Triathlon

Self Acceptance Fairy

Posted on April 14, 2013 by goSonja| 3 Comments

It was several years back, I was out on a run, and it was one of those where the time just flies by because my mind was wandering. These runs are like therapy and you can’t make them happen on demand, you just have to take them when they come. I had one of those and I remember coming home and thinking that if I was a fairy, like a tiny Tinkerbell, with a wand, who can run around and make magical things happen, I would be the fairy of SELF ACCEPTANCE.

Coaching athletes it’s one of my jobs to constantly remind people that they are okay, they are loved, they are right where they need to be, everything will work out, etc. And I find that it’s very easy to be honest with others in this way. It’s easy to support others in their endeavors and to believe in them and accept them for who they are, good, bad, and otherwise. It’s easy to tell them when they need to work harder, or that they are working too hard. And I can do all that without judging them as people. I think a lot of us would say the same.

But then turn the tables. Can you do all of this with yourself? I can’t! I will admit that it is easier for me to support others than support myself. It’s easier to accept others flaws than my own. I seek a level of perfection that I do not require of others (and some would say that I require a high level of perfection of those around me). When it comes to me, I am so much harder on myself than I am on others. What the heck is up with that?

Why do we feel that negativity towards ourselves is productive?

Let’s take the athletes flaw of compulsion as an example. Do you know someone who has to get the workout done at all costs? If it’s on the training plan, they are going to make it happen. If they are coughing, or their calf hurts, it doesn’t matter, it’s on the plan. And when they are in this mode, thinking about whether it’s a good or bad decision for their health is put on hold. This comes from negative thought patterns and avoidance of what they perceive as failure.

“If I don’t check every box I have failed”

“If I take a day off I will lose my fitness”

“I missed yesterday, so I have to make it up today”

Sometimes athletes in this mode are waiting for coaches to pull in the reigns. But coaches are not around 24/7, they expect humans to be smart like humans. I EXPECT my athletes to seek health. They hear me preach it day in and day out. Coaches who don’t expect this essentially are treating you like dogs or horses and those are the coaches you see living with their athletes, controlling their every move. If you see sport as a metaphor for life, a vessel to learn how to live a happier more fulfilled life, then you need to act like a human and keep health in mind.

Compulsion comes from fear of failure. Almost all our our negative behaviors that take us on a detour from the path of health are based on fear of failure.

One of the best things you can do for yourself in this short life you have, is to convince yourself that FAILURE is part of a HEALTHY life.

However….lets explore this a little more…

I once heard that our brains are inherently negative. We spent literally thousands of years trying to stay alive in a world where there were many daily threats. When we heard a stick break in the forrest, we could either think “Oh someone wants to play,” OR “something is going to kill me.” The negative thinkers were most likely the ones having babies down the line. The negative brain remains today as a way to protect us. It uses the experiences of our lives to prevent us from making future mistakes, preventing future pain, hardship, and or death. Thus it develops triggers, on purpose, to steer us away from perceived future pain/death.

In todays world, the negative brain is just not as functional as it once was. Actually, it’s functional in one area, but not in another. Our level of physical safety is at an all time high, sure, we use the negative brain on occasion but honestly, it’s rare. Most of our current triggers are about avoiding future emotional pain. They are keeping us not from death, but from failure. (See above: failure is part of health)

I think an important part of self acceptance is understanding that our negative brain exists to try to keep us safe and that it’s each individuals journey in life to determine whether it does just that. I personally have found that while my negative self keeps me physically safe, it also limits my potential. Have you seen the new kids movie The Croods? The entire movie is about this concept and it’s literally one of my favorite movies of all times. Plus there is a sloth named Belt, so the movie has to be awesome!

Have you ever heard of the concept of hunger and nutrient density? When I was learning to eat healthy, and I forget where it came from, but this concept was presented to me that if you don’t eat a variety of nutrients you will continue to be hungry. The body seeks certain nutrients and until it gets them, it will continue to want to eat to find them, especially if it is deficient.

Well, listening and being compassionate towards your negative self is like that. If you continue to try to shut down your negative brain without hearing it and acknowledging its warnings, then it keeps repeating, it’s not satiated. But when you recognize that these voices are simply trying to protect, then the need within is met and you can take heed and move on. The trigger has served its purpose.

If you can listen to your negative self, if you can understand that it’s merely a warning, and not a roadmap, if you can be aware enough to recognize that it fears failure and that failure is okay, then guess what??

Here comes my fairy moment….

That my friends IS the definition of SELF ACCEPTANCE.

I went ahead and made it bold for you, go ahead and reread it.

And on that note, the path to inner peace and joy is exactly that, it’s a path. It’s not a destination (nor do you want it to be, because I’m pretty sure it’s 6 feet under ground).

Posted in Mental Training

IronFamily Observations

Posted on April 12, 2013 by goSonja| 1 Comment

Ironman training is in FULL EFFECT. This is the 9th time I’ve been through this and each time I learn a little more. This installment has required entirely new levels of efficiency since Troy is training too. I take the days, and he takes the morning and nights. I generally get Saturday, he generally gets Sunday. I train 2.5 hours to his every 1, he eats 2.5 calories, to my every 1.

So, a few observations this go around:

1.) We need huge amounts of training fuel. 18 bars will last about 5 days, and energy drink needs to be purchased in $100-$200 lots. We totally go through it. Chomps, blasts, gummies, etc… we need lots of different kinds so I’m pretty much buying these ANY time I see them. A LOT of them.

2.) Freezer Meal Parties. Thank you Michelle Ford for becoming a Wildtree rep and letting me crash most of her parties. At one point I had 37 frozen meals in the freezer (and I fit it all in the freezer side of our refrigerator). We are down to 8 meals left, and there are 6 weeks to go. I will need to crash more parties STAT. These have been the biggest lifesaver because most of them are done in the crock pot so we just put one in each day and there is food ready when we need it. Hot food. There is something about training that makes you want HOT food that smells good. Between these meals and our weekly door to door organics box we barely have to go to the store (usually only at 9pm for cookies and ice cream).

3.) Leftovers. I will admit that the biggest fight Troy and I have gotten into during this double Ironman situation is over leftovers. I thought it would be about who trains when, OH NO, that’s been fine. But if I come home from training and I’m hoping to eat the leftover fajitas and Troy has eaten them, and I’m starving…huge blowup! So we had to sit down and have a heartfelt conversation about leftovers. He was under the assumption that if it’s in the fridge it needs to all be eaten ASAP. I had to tell him that leaving me lunch is a sign of love. Now we are on the same page. He eats the leftovers, but always saves me some so I don’t lose it.

4.) Uncle! Sometimes we just have to call uncle. Troy and I have both experienced this. When it was just me training my training was priority and now that there are two of us, sometimes we can’t get everything we both need done. Sometimes, we have to bag it. I think this is what keeps triathlon marriages together. Both people need to be priority and sometimes training has to get ditched. In the long run, it all works out. It helps that Troys training schedule is rather loose, so he moves and shakes depending on his mojo. But I have lost my motivator. He used to really shove me out the door when I was stalling, and now he’s like “Maybe you should nap and I’ll go train.”

5.) Feelings! Troy totally knows how I’m feeling. He’s feeling the same way. I thought this would be a problem, but actually, this time around when I talk about being tired or just wanting to go to bed, I don’t feel bad anymore, because he is like “I totally agree.” His empathy for me and my empathy for him have really gone up and that’s been good for our marriage. I have felt less bad this go around than any other. We are both happy to be able to go to Brazil and being in it together just makes me smile.

6.) Sharing successes. This has been another awesome perk. We share our training successes so much more with each other. He had a breakthrough in the pool the other day and called me the minute he got out. I finished a big session and went straight to him for kudos. Also, we have really contributed to each others athletic success so much more than ever. Now we are in the pool with each other pushing one another, and it’s all for the same goal. The other day he wasn’t getting on his bike when he should have been and I told him “I don’t want to come back at midnight to pick you up, you better get on your bike.” We literally sat there and laughed for 5 minutes over that one.

7.) Laundry. Barely happens, and forget folding.

8.) Annie. Her life has really been minimally impacted in a negative way. She’s in swim school two nights a week and has lots of homework, so sometimes she’s busier than we are. This morning, Troy was traveling for business, and I meet with my trainer at the gym (Jen) at 7am. So I got up at 5 and packed everything up and then woke up Annie and she came and lifted with me. Jen gave her all these exercises and she had so much fun. Annie also gets lots of extra time in the swimming pool because most of Troy and I’s workouts are longer than her swim school, so she plays afterwards (just like she’s doing as I write this). So Annie doesn’t really see or notice any changes. I’m really happy with the lack of impact to her.

All in all, things are going really great. I am so darn happy this year. I’m having so so so so so much more fun. I’m enjoying my training to the n-th degree and I feel so much more well adjusted this year. Sure I still have my freak outs, but all in all this year is a 180 from last. I think a big part of that is having Troy in it with me. I’m so glad we are an Ironman family and that we teach our daughter daily to chase her dreams, to work hard, to have fun, and to be healthy.

Posted in Family, Ironman

2013 Oceanside 70.3

Posted on April 1, 2013 by goSonja| 13 Comments

I have had this race on my bucket list since I started triathlon. San Diego is the birth place of tri and I can see why! Also, I went to UCSD for my undergrad, and save for a wedding about a year after I graduated, I haven’t been back since. Well, I have been missing out! This coming week being Annies spring break I decided to bring the munchkin. Mom and Dad flew down from San Jose to make the trip complete. Oh how I wish Troy had more vacation days!

The day before the race went fantastic, I felt good, had fun training with Ron, but I did get a flat on my tubular at the end of our ride. Crap! This is where mom and dad and Nytro Multisport saved me. I called the guys at Nytro, Chris I believe, let them know what happened and they made me feel totally at ease. My parents drove down and dropped off the wheel, and an hour later, they were done and had taped on a new tubular. I’m speechless at the great and quick service. Love this shop (and I haven’t even been there). Thank you big time to ma and pa for doing my dirty work while I was able to sit by the pool with Annie and relax!

Pre-race logistics…Oceanside is a course that is tough to get your head around. Steep learning curve for the first timers!

Race morning I was a little nervous. I was trying to do a new breakfast but just couldn’t get it down. Mix1 kinda went out of business, so I need to find a replacement, and let’s just say I’m not there yet. Also, my daughter was asleep next to me (where she spent most the night elbowing me in the ribs) and she was so peaceful. I just stared at her, and reminded myself that I needed to be not just a good but a great example for her, both on and off the court.

Mom dropped Ron and I off at T2 at 5:10am and it was go time! T2 set up, ride bike to T1, set that up, walk around nervous like, run around nervous like, wait for your wave to go off. I was literally 50 minutes after the PROs, which is fun when you get to see them all come out of the water. But sad too because they have crossed the line before you are even off the bike. I also ripped a big hole in my freak…doh!

After a nice little chat with myself, I started to get excited, to get my game face on. I realized that I wasn’t fearing anything. I was ready. I wanted in that water, I wanted to see where I was at. They let us in, we swam over, I tried to figure out where to line up, and in the process off went the gun. I was in a good spot, got off the line well, got clocked a few times, clocked a few ladies. Relatively damage free.

The first thing I noticed was how awesome the water was. I was prepared for cold temps but I found them to be positively perfect. Refreshing, and cooling. I must say, I hit my groove. I just had a really successful swim. I swam straight, I focused on the form things I needed to focus on, and I was in control. The biggest difference was that I felt STRONG. I have put on 10+ pounds since Kona, and I’m loving every one of them. I’m leaving the lean to the gazelles, embrace the strength!.

At the end of the swim you can see the clock and you get really excited. It was a fast swim for everyone so seeing that I was swimming a 27…..and then 28 made for a sigh of relief.

Out of the water and onto the bike. Transition was long, but I made my way through quickly and got into it. Soon after transition I was told to “GO AFTER IT” and I took that to heart. Today was the day for boldness, after all, I have NOTHING to lose. No ego that hasn’t been crushed in Kona, no expectations to uphold from myself or others. There was only opportunity in my hands. The bike is mostly on Camp Pendleton, so you aren’t allowed to drive the course. It was 100% sight unseen. Once I got going on the bike and I felt my legs under me, I could tell they were there, I just decided that I was going to put to use my new strength, my new muscles. I rode and I rode hard.

I figured Christine was first out of my AG from the swim, so I was looking for her. Plus, she’s one of my FAVORITE new friends (Coast Ride bonds you) and I just wanted to see her familiar face. She’s getting married in two weeks, so everyone wish her a happy wedding. Found Christine, that rocked, also found Rebecca Travis and let me say she kept me HONEST out there. We definitely used each other for motivation and it was all so positive. I like that. Two thumbs up for her. Also I heard her chew out some boys for sitting on my wheel, now there’s a girl after my own heart. Boys on my wheel, totally allowed in training..not allowed in racing!

Huge thanks to Quintana Roo for the new Illicito. It was my first race on the new frame, and it was good for the fastest amateur bike split. Major ups to QR!!

My legs were under me, so I went for it. I wasn’t letting up until I hit the wall. Coming into T2 I felt fantastic. I heard my parents and Annie cheering up a storm and I was on. I decided to put on socks and so Rebecca got out of T2 in front of me.

I took off and I was on. I felt good, I felt solid, and I was holding myself to 7 min pace. I slowly caught Rebecca and I just knew I was in the lead in the AG and the amateur race, mom confirmed this. I just had to hold on. I calculated time gaps. I had this, just had to run a lot of 7s. I run 7s all over this earth. I had this.

And then I looked down and I ran an 8min mile? What’s happening? Oh no. Okay, limit damage. I start running through my calorie count. Then I start cussing. I’m low, I’m bonking, I’m REALLY bonking. I dig out my emergency gel with caffeine. I get that down. I go to coke.

And I only had one choice left. Fight for every inch. The girls were coming, and I was not firing on all cylinders, so I just fought for every inch. It wasn’t pretty but my mind was strong and I was going to limit any and all damage that I could. Rebecca went back by me and gave me tons of love and support to hang tough. With about two miles to go Kendra went by me as well. I fought with all I had at the moment, shoving down the coke, trying my best to limit the carnage.

The finish could not come soon enough. I found that line. Yet another line, another line in my life that I crossed, totally exhausted, exhilarated, and feeling so raw and vulnerable that I can barely look into the eyes of those around me. Putting yourself out like that, fighting for every inch, coming into the finish totally spent and dog tired is HARD. It takes recovery from both emotionally and physically. I went for it, spent all I had, and I came up a tad short. Did I give a shit about that…hells no.

About an hour after the race, after many cups of salty recovery drink (thank you med staff) and a large lemon aid, I’m sitting there cheering for everyone still out there doing battle with the course. I’m looking at the ocean, the blue sky, I’m hugging on my daughter and sitting next to ma and pa, and I was just overcome with JOY. You can take the dog out of the fight, but not the fight out of this dog.

My fitness is where it is, my nutrition needs some tweaking. All of it is very early season (blah blah blah). I have (or can get) help with all that, but the FIGHT, you can’t buy that. You gotta make that, it comes from inside, and you can really only appreciate it after you lose it for awhile. The fight is back in this girl, like a shark, I tasted blood out there, I glimpsed greatness, and although all the accolades belong to others this weekend, I found my fight, and it aint going anywhere.

3rd AG, 3rd Amateur, 4:48:17, swim 28:05, bike: 2:37:40, 1:38:05

Congratulations to everyone who found their own greatness out there. Keep pushing, keep smiling, keep appreciating the fact that you are capable enough to compete. I know I will!

Thank you to: KompetitiveEdge, Quintana Roo, Amrita, Punk Rock Racing, and NUUN. Also a huge thanks to SOAS for their love this weekend, such a great group of women!

Posted in 1/2 Marathon, Race Report, Triathlon

Author Archives: goSonja

2013 Ironman Brasil – The After

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Run

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Bike

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Swim

2013 Ironman Brasil Pre Race

2013 Saint George 70.3

Camp-O-Fun

Self Acceptance Fairy

IronFamily Observations

2013 Oceanside 70.3

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