Category Archives: Travel

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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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

2012 Kona Ironman Run

Posted on October 22, 2012 by goSonja| 25 Comments

I really don’t want to write this one. Deep Breaths!

So, I get out running and I’m not feeling too great, but I don’t feel horrible. Kona is a hard race, so part of it is that I’m just feeling the accumulation of the days events. Hailey passes me right away and takes off in front of me. I’m at just under 8 min pace and working pretty hard, so I start sipping my EFS flask with some Prerace in it, and taking water with it as well.

I had this awesome encounter with a chick who was cheering. You know how when you are tired you really don’t want to move over at all when someone is in your way? Yea, I totally nailed her, and the photographer caught it. Oops! Sorry!

At the turn around I am optimistic, I’m in 5th in the AG and while I know I have 21 to go, things are looking good. I saw the time gaps back to the runners…okay…to Jocelyn really… and I thought if I had my best run she would have to have hers too to get me. I was optimistic. A lesson to all of you out there…optimism at mile 5 in an Ironman is pointless! At mile 8 I take a few salt tabs, and shortly after things turn south.

I don’t really want to write about this. I’ve debated whether I even should. The thought of it honestly makes me not want to leave the house, it’s embarrassing. So with that, and for the sake of being a masochist, I’ll do it. But just know, if you are grossed out, don’t read this (just scan through and look at the pictures). I’m just hoping that someday I can figure all this out and have some sort of lesson learned. Okay, here goes.

At mile 8 without any warning, I shit myself.

No upset tummy, nothing. All was well (ish) until I had this weird feeling of what was happening. I pulled into a permanent bathroom on Ali’i, pulled down my shorts, and had no idea what to do with myself. I can’t even explain it, nor do I want to, it was really really bad. The worst I’ve ever experienced. I will tell you that I spent multiple minutes in there and that it took multiple rolls of toilet paper and 12 flushes to leave the bathroom the way I found it (which wasn’t great).

Here she is in all her glory. Thank you to Scott who continuously texted me photos of said bathroom after the race. I’m thinking of having a plaque installed “Historical Landmark: Site where Sonja’s 2012 Kona went down the S#!*er”

Getting out of there I was completely and utterly disgusted and demoralized. I had no fight in me and all I could think about was that I reeked like shit and probably looked just as bad. The next two miles I was embarrassed and disgusted in myself. I couldn’t look anyone in the eye who was cheering for me (thank you Kacie, Eggers, Katie). But I kept running, although slower. (Everyone stayed busy with the chalk!)

I got to the bottom of Palani and I saw my mom, and I walked. It’s the first time I have ever walked in an Ironman. Just doing that felt like a major surrender and total failure. Can you tell??

I told mom what happened, and she said that you couldn’t tell. I was not convinced at all, but photos from dad do not show poo all over me like I thought. Knowing what came out of me and how unequipped I was to clean myself up, I just thought I was covered. At the top of Palani Troy was there. I started crying.

I was barely running, and I was crying and talking to him while he walked next to me. I told him I didn’t have any more fight, and that I wanted to quit. I really wanted to quit, and I had no more fight in me. He told me to get some sponges at the next aid station and while there was no way I was going to stick sponges down my shorts, his words did keep me from quitting and gave me the task of continuing on, even if it was just one more mile.

As I took a left onto the Queen K there was a lot going through my head. I was so disappointed that I lost my fight. I told myself I needed to take a break from the sport, from Ironman, from Kona. If I had no fight, there was no point. I was hard on myself. Towards the bottom of the hill, I remembered something I always tell my athletes…”Everything that goes wrong in Ironman can be solved by slowing down.” And with that I gave up.

Now “give up” is what I called it at the time, but with a little perspective, I can now see that I didn’t give up, I didn’t walk off the course. I hold a deep respect for the island of Hawaii, for the sport, and for this race. I did not give up, but I did consciously slow to the pace of a turtle (albeit a fast turtle).

I slowed down, I watched the heart rate plummet. I saw the pace go to 10+ min miles. I didn’t care. I walked through the aid stations. And like not a fast walk, more of a saunter. I had no goals, nothing driving me to keep a good clip, or any clip at all. I just walked and jogged and that was it. Jocelyn passed me and she was hauling ass, I kept her in my mind the rest of the race, just hoping that she made it to the podium (she did).

On one end my mind was horrible. I was down on myself, and disappointed in myself, and then another part of my brain really just didn’t care, and then another part of me just decided to have fun. The fun was more of a defense mechanism than anything, but I figured…you gave up…why suffer?

That’s when the tables started to turn for me emotionally.

So I made friends with a guy in a HelloKitty kit. We jogged and chatted. I had to go to the bathroom again at 15, this time in the port-a-pottie, not my shorts. I noted that I was still disgusting. I ran into the NEL and Kendra who is coached by Dirk passed me. She really tried to get me to go with her, and I kid you not…I laughed and said “Nah, it’s all good.” I got passed by tons of people in my AG and other AGs. I said good job to everyone, smiled, gave shakas and smiles.

In the NEL I had to go potty again. This one was particularly bad and I lost several liters of liquid out my ass, again, I warned you. That was a bit alarming and when I got out of there I was pretty weak. I kinda reasoned that I had that super F-ed up gut thing where the body starts pulling fluid from places it shouldn’t. I got a little nervous in here and knew that I would need to be smart to actually make it to the finish.

BUT! I was so close to special needs. So I got my bag and got my Pringles and Rice Crispie Treat out of there. I started jogging and the Pringles were falling out of the little container. I said to myself “what are you doing, stop running.” So I walked and ate my snacks. Like walked slowly.

No goals, no fight, nada, just focused on making it to the beautiful Ali’i. I ran up out of the NEL…maybe 13 min mile pace. Walked the aid station at the top, cheered for some people. It just was what it was.

Back on the queen K I kept tabs on my watch, knew I would most likely break 11, didn’t really care, but kinda did a little. When Adrienne passed me I told her good job and I tried to go with her, maybe 8:30 pace or so, but I couldn’t hang and felt pretty week from trying.

Then I saw Troy. He had run out there to check on me, since last time he saw me I was wanting to quit. He said he thought I would quit in the NEL and that every time he saw another split come up he was relieved.

He trotted next to me for a little while, it was like 12 min pace I think. He told me about the race and who won, and he told me about Michelle and that she never made it out of T2. This bummed me out in my heart. Suddenly I was filled with gratitude and I started to smile. I felt lucky that I had the opportunity to not quit. Some people didn’t even get that, their bodies gave out before their minds had the opportunity to say no more. What a privilege, to be able to choose to just jog it in.

Eventually Troy ran on ahead and I trotted my way in. I was perfectly happy and looked forward to the top of Palani. Annie ran with me up the Dave Scott Mark Allen hill and we held hands. My dad was there taking pictures and I was happy to see him. I smiled and did high 5s.

I did a hula dance up that hill and then all the way down Palani. I stopped to hug my inlaws. I smiled and gave thumbs up to everyone. I high 5ed the KE guys. I saw so many people I knew and gave them high 5s. People were passing me left and right. I didn’t care. I saw Terry Nugent, and gave him a hug and told him I loved him. hahhaha!!!

Then PIC was there on Ali’i. I stopped and hugged her and told her it would be oaky and we would get through it. I ran down the chute and saw Uncle Norm cheering and taking pictures.

Yup, dude in an arm sling beat me! Hahaha! Good for him, he looks like he had a rough day out there! Didn’t we all?!

Christine came zooming by me just as fast as she did in Cozumel last year. I gave a leap at the finish, and I smiled and waved to the camera, because I know you all are watching and I take that very seriously. Let this be a lesson….fast race in Kona…bad jump at finish….slow race in Kona…..good jump at finish! Hahah!!

Christine and I hugged and hugged and hugged. That girl will always hold a special place in my heart. Neither of us had the day we hoped for (so cliche) but we were both happy as clams at that finish line. I do love my 30-34 ladies!

I was fine at the finish. That was a first. It was like I had a 16 mile cool down jog, which I guess I did. My muscles have rejoiced in less soreness and my feet have not a single blister or sore toenail. I was sunburned and chaffed, but 48 hours later that resolved itself.

As always, a huge thanks to my family and sponsors. I’m glad I thanked them a few blogs ago because they probably don’t want their names associated with the poo-fest of this blog.

Am I disappointed? Yes and no. I am proud of the way I handled the situation. I’m bummed that I didn’t keep fighting, but on some levels I’m not sure I would have made it out of the NEL if I had. After having some time to process it, I feel really really blessed that I had the opportunity to both start and finish the race. A lot of people don’t ever get the chance to start this race, despite wanting to so badly, and some that start, don’t get to finish. I am thankful, very very thankful.

This race has provided much perspective and was such a reminder of all the wonderful people I have in my life. I live to fight another day, and hopefully live to fight during another Kona.

 

Posted in Race Report, Running, Travel, Triathlon

2012 Kona Ironman Swim Bike

Posted on October 21, 2012 by goSonja| 4 Comments

Race night I slept like the dead. I was tired. Our room didn’t have AC and was rather hot and we were right on the ocean with the waves crashing all night in the windows so I dreamed about swimming in rough waters.

Before the race I was more relaxed than usual. I went through the usual body marking, bike pumping, nutrition downing, portapotty using routine. This year was nice in that Michelle and I were participating in the Korey Stringer Institute study so we got our own loo on race morning. That perk was worth the extra time in data collection.

We found Laura too and she hung with us pre race. I did my typical Kona routine and got a good spot on the wall. We ran into Jen C and that was awesome to have a friendly face there to make eye contact with in those final minutes.

When the guys started drumming, I started dancing. I was definitely more happy than I was nervous, excited to get things started and to get the show on the road.

Into the water we go. I always swim over to the sea wall and wave to my family. It was awesome to see everyone there, especially PICs kids and Annie. I blew some kisses and then swam off to get my spot on the canoe. Check out my awesome TYR goggles that I got to custom design. They are orange, and red, and pink. LOVE!

On the canoe we ran into Grant just like we did last year. I gotta admit, I missed Kendra a bit at that point, but knew I would see her out on the course cheering. Before I knew it we were lining up and the whole “continental drift” was beginning. Every year it’s the same thing. Mike Riley yells at us to stay back, the officials on surfboards yell at us to stay back, and the crowd of 2000 drift forward. Same thing every year.

The cannon didn’t work this year so Mike just yelled GO GO GO GO and off everyone went. Then I felt like the cannon sounded a few seconds later but I could have been imagining things.

Swim swim!!! Here I go. I got out well and actually found clear water in the first 500 Meters or so. Then the bashing began. Next time I am definitely stealing a mens blue cap because I swear the pink cap is a target for bullying.

Let’s just call it like it is, I got brutalized out there. I got booted off the feet I was swimming on, I got run into from both sides, I got decked in the head repeatedly. I just got harassed.

A few times out there I just wanted it to be over, to stop the physical bashing, the stop and go, the speed up and slow down, and the maneuvering that I had to do. But, alas, it’s the way these things go. I’ll keep practicing my swimming so maybe some day I will be amongst less people. I own it completely.

Oh, there was current out there. On the way out it drug us right and the way back it drug us left. In fact when I hit the pier, I actually ran directly into the end of the pier rather than the side of it. Then I had to turn right and swim along the end of the pier before making a left to swim along the pier.

The conditions were no worse than last year, but the water was a bit less clear than last year. I remember trying to relax from a particularly bad bashing and telling myself to look at the fishies and not being able to see them.

I got out and saw the clock and felt fine about it. 1:07, little slower than last year, but not too much worse for wear.

T1 was really quick. The only thing I had in my T1 bag was my sunglasses.

Out onto the bike I felt good. I stuck directly with my nutrition plan and also with my pacing plan from Dirk. I was calculating my time as I went along and felt solid with how I was feeling.

There was a lot of drafting, and a good amount of red cards being given out. This was cool to watch in action. As I have said before I try very very very hard to remain legal at all times. I will share with you something. At a race of this caliber everyone is fit, and everyone wants to have their best day. Most people in Kona have a race plan, and it usually involves some parameters on power or heart rate or effort or whatnot. Riding legal will often cause you to impact your ideal race plan. This is why I think a lot of people don’t think they are drafting and don’t think they deserve their penalty. (PS: I really dig my bike fit, Thank you Scott)

I talked to a woman who was an official and she said that 50% of people who come into the tent with a drafting penalty don’t think they deserved it. So, here’s why. In order to stay legal, you will be forced out of your plan. There will be times that someone passes you and then they slow down. Sometimes they even coast and stretch. To stay legal, you have to drop out of the zone before repassing or you risk a penalty and if the dude is coasting, you may have to break to do so. He will not receive a penalty for coasting, you will get one for drafting. See, it’s a game and sometimes it requires your heart rate or watts or whatever to go WAY below your plan. Just play the game and you won’t get a red slash through your fancy dandy bike number.

The flip side happens too. I had 3 situations, and you can see them on my power file where I passed the person at the back of a group and thus committed to passing the whole group. My heart rate went to 170. My watts were 230, but that was what I had to do to remain legal. It was on me to do so. Was it part of my optimal plan, not at all.

So, these things happened, I watched a lot of drafting, I watched people stay legal, I watched people try, I watched people get penalties, and all along I rode the race I needed to ride. It was a beautiful day out there, although, there were white caps on the water which is really bothersome to see when you are racing, because you know your day will become very hard at some point.

The wind up to Hawi was in your face. But it wasn’t cross like 2 years ago, so I was fine with it. I’ll take the wind in my face any day. Coming down was fun and fast, and then the 2 mile climb from Kawaihae to the turn onto the Queen K gave us a real taste of what we were in for. HEADWIND.

I have riden this section quite a few times and it was the biggest head wind I have experienced. It’s always a head wind, but usually I can cruise in the 19-20mph at race intensity. This year I was at 17mph for 2 hours. Boo. A lot of people just gave up on remaining legal through this section, the drafting advantage on a steep headwind like this is big, and the officials are extinct at this point.

I passed Michelle in here and she looked really good. I mean we were both in the headwind so we were working hard, but all signs looked good to me. There was an official with me at that point and I know he stuck with Michelle for about 5 minutes. Because we were in the same kit I think he thought we might work together, but he had nothing to hand out, because we don’t.

Into T2 I was really excited. I felt quite good coming off the bike and my tummy felt good. I wasn’t tired of my nutrition and all systems felt a go. Into T2 I saw Hailey! It’s not the first time this year we have been in T2 together. That was awesome to see a familiar kit.

On with the Newtons and the hat and I was off to run a marathon. I was pretty jazzed to get into the meat and potatoes of the day. I felt like I was strong and that it was go time.

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

2012 Kona Ironman Prequel

Posted on October 19, 2012 by goSonja| 6 Comments

Gotta admit, it took me some time before I even wanted to write about this years race. I knew how to start it, that’s easy. It’s the ending. It took awhile to really get my head around it. I’m ready now, lets do this. In order to keep you interested, this first post is going to be interspersed with Undie Run photos. Enjoy! Oh and what are Michelle and I this year??? Why…Partners In Crime of Course!!

I looked at the results for the first time yesterday. I finished 19th in my age group, I went 10:51 and on paper, it looks like the wheels fell off. I knew that looking at the numbers I would see the potential and the opportunities that were squandered. Looking at those results were tough, I’m not going to lie there, but before I get too much ahead of myself, let’s get this show on the road.

My post-race thoughts have been more philosophical than anything. And here’s what I have come up with. If someone had a crystal ball, and they were able to tell me how I was going to race at Hawaii and they said to me….

Sonja, you will give up on yourself, you will lose your fight, you will have your slowest time, and when you cross the line you will think you have had your worst race ever.

…then would I still have raced? That’s what I’ve been thinking about for days. And I keep coming back to the same answer…definitely. Yes, even if I had known the outcome before I stepped on the line, I still would have done it. And you wanna know why? Because Ali’i drive is amazing, because the finisher medals are a freaking work of art, because people would gladly donate a limb to race this race, and because failing doesn’t mean I’m a failure, it just means I had the strength to try.

So, there’s that!

Before I get started I want to give thanks. To say this is a selfish sport is totally cliche…but it is. To think that there are people in my life that help me out, that call to check on me, and that are there for me through thick and thin, well, it’s pretty awesome for me.

My family is awesome. Troy and Annie are great at helping me out day in and day out, and both my parents and Troys parents support my racing through and through. My uncle Norm has been to every one of my Konas and perhaps the biggest complement he has given me was to get the triathlon bug himself. He races Honu 70.3 next year!

My sponsors this year have been awesome. The longer I am in the sport the more I realize that some relationships just stick. The guys at QR, the guys at KE, and Ron with Punk rock Racing have been with me through this entire crazy year. Not only do they support me with products, but they really truly believe that I can be successful. The products are awesome, but belief is a priceless gift.

Coach Dirk did his best to get me on the start line in the best shape of my life. My numbers leading up were solid and he gave me a plan the week of the race to go for it. My swimming is getting much better with the help of coach Nick and Karlyn, and I also had lots of diet help from Dina, she’s been awesome to work with.

I also have to give thanks to all the amazing athletes that have been there for me on the pool deck, on my bike, and running with me side by side. These are my people, folks that get it, because we all share triathlon DNA. Michelle, my PIC, she is a sister to me. Not even “like” a sister, but actually blood to me. Beth, Terry, Scott, Wayde, Grant, Kendra, Katy, Jen, Audra, Jocelyn, Jeremy, Laura, Nick, Scotty P, you all have touched me this year.

And lastly, my athletes. They are an extension of my support system and a girl couldn’t ask for better cheerleaders. I hope I continue to set a good example for you (said as she posts photos of her in her underwear).

Thank you for all the support this year. I can’t tell you much about the future, but I can say that a brutal kicking doesn’t take me down. Adversity is only fuel for my belly. There are changes that I need to make and some of them are going to be difficult. Adversity is a given in this sport, and I’ve been lucky to nail many races in past years. In the words of a wise, yet cocky one:

Reassess

Rebuild

Try Again

—Macca

Tomorrow I’ll talk swim and bike.

Posted in Ironman, Race Report, Travel, Triathlon

Kona Fun

Posted on September 21, 2012 by goSonja| 3 Comments

I just got back from a week in Kona training on the Ironman course. It was such a cool experience on so many levels. The best part of the trip was the people. Hands down. A few months ago Michelle and I met and rode with Laura Trimble when she was here training in Boulder. She was awesome sauce, and when I put out on Twitter that I wanted to spend a week in Kona training she invited me to stay with her. We meshed really well. We are in the illustrious…always friendly 30-34 AG together. She’s done the Kona dance a few times, so it was a good match. Oh, and she’s British, which means her accent is “dope-sauce” (something a Brit would never say. She’s extremely easy going and a complete bad ass when it comes to swimbikerun.

Laura knew Nick and Scott who were also already in Kona training and waiting for race day and the 4 of us all just clicked and ended up having a blast together. The boys made us dinner several times and we dragged them out to ice cream every night we could. Nick has a Brittish accent but is from the Seychelles. He won his AG at Vegas and was 2nd in his AG last  year in Kona. He and Laura are the sensible ones of the crew. Scott is Aussie and not racing Kona, so he gets the luxury of riding his bike trailing Nick during long runs, and he’s more of a short course guy. He and I claimed to be the “all over the place” ones of the group. We had a blast laughing all week. In my final hours on the island we all had Island Style Pancakes at Lava Java. It was a sad parting. Apparently they all match and once again I look like a rainbow threw up all over me….just how I like it.

Just in case you needed a close up of the Island Style pancakes. It’s really the coconut syrup that takes them over the top. If they are out of coconut syrup…don’t get them, you just aren’t doing them justice.

Speaking of Lava Java…the food!!! Oh my gosh. We ate A LOT and we ate a lot of REALLY GOOD FOOD. Nick and Scotts homemade meals were excellent. We found a good smoothie place at Menehune that put lots of protein in them for us. The Green Honu was my favorite.

Ice Cream. We had ice cream every day except one…wait…or maybe every day. We even got busted for having ice cream with out the boys. For ice cream you have to go with Kopi Lani. Trish is the owner and she is totally awesome. Also doubles as a fairly awesome matchmaker…in case you need those services. The coffee at Kopi Lani is terrific as well, not to be missed.

And lastly…save the best for last…is Basik the Acai Bowl place. It’s absolutely to die for and it has the best view. We would just sit up there together and eat and be happy. Very happy. It’s really calm, and it smells really good. There is also a breeze that goes through and you always leave there just feeling really good about life.

The Sunsets. Oh my the sunsets. They were jaw dropping every day and we always ended up out and about walking around town, strolling in the evenings, and sitting somewhere watching them. They never got even a little old.

I know what you are thinking…did she actually train? Yes, I did. Every session I was happy about over there. Every session was on the course pretty much other than the Masters swimming sessions and time with Karlyn in the pool. But everything else we stuck to the course, getting up to Hawi and also to Kawaihae. We ran the entire course and I really know it like the back of my hand now. I know all the hills on the run and even jotted down the specifics on the airplane ride home.

The swimming was out of this world as well. I started off the week with a session with Karlyn in her endless pool. Laura had a session with her a few days later as well. Then we swam every day. Sometimes in the ocean, sometimes at Masters, and again at the end of the week with Karlyn to check up on our stroke. She was so giving with her time and knowledge and I can’t thank her enough. Here is Laura in the endless pool with her. If you are coming to Kona for IM, get a session with her, it’s really good stuff.

Ocean swimming with the boys never gets old. I still have yet to see the dolphins in Kona. 3 trips, and tons of open water swims, never seen the dolphins. Maybe next time!

And finally….the fun. We had fun, all of us. Never a dull moment when you are hanging around two young triathlete boys. I can not even explain to you the looks on peoples faces after my superb belly flop. I didn’t stop laughing for at least 20 minutes. We had so much fun almost breaking our necks (it’s really not deep here)!

I got a new ukulele too. It’s a concert ukulele, so bigger than my soprano ukulele that I had at home. I love it a ton. Like really really a ton. I’ve been playing every day since I got it. Annie is taking ukulele classes after school, so now everyone in the family plays ukulele better than me…but none of them have as much fun with it.

All in all this week was just what I needed. It was hard to come back to reality. This trip affirmed that I am on the right track with chasing fun and enjoyment in sport. I trained hard, and I played hard. Laura is a lifelong friend now, and she was so awesome to tag along with for a week. The boys will always have a special place in my heart and being that they are both 22, I hope to watch the both of them have wonderful pro careers.

Until next time Kona… (full of smiles)

Posted in Travel, Triathlon

And it Continues

Posted on September 2, 2012 by goSonja| 5 Comments

AND…..now we rest. Whew. That was a HEALTHY bit of training I just threw down. I’ll admit it, I’ve been having way too much fun as of late. Okay, sometimes the swimming isn’t as much fun as I would like….even with my new green flowery suit, and my special ops goggles. At least I rarely swim alone any more. Between Michelle and Troy, I have a steady set of swim homies and that does make getting in the yards a bit easier. Troy is now better suited to swim with Michelle than he is with me, but on hard days I do fight like hell to keep his bubbles in sight and that is making me stronger.

I do not consider it a good day unless I look like a rainbow threw up all over me!

Troy started a new job which he loves. He took a week off between the two and that was super fun to have him around to train with. BUT, this happened, and it made me feel strange. Here is both PIC and Troy….on bikes….

Slightly awkward when your daytime spouse (PIC) and your nighttime spouse (Troy) are all together? What do you talk about? It’s like the universe shifted that week…I just put in my headphones. Sensory overload!

Troy now works from home. When this went down I was like “sweet” this will be awesome, he’s home and I’m home, we’re all home, one big happy family, at home, all day, together, home. Um, it’s taking some getting used to. ONE…he eats a lot of food, and now he works in the same building as our fridge. He’s always eating. But, TWO, he doesn’t have to dress even casually for work now, so I get treated to half naked hotness daily. However THREE, I can’t rock out loudly at my time of choosing, and FOUR my daytime spouse can’t change from biking clothes to running clothes in the kitchen anymore. It’s only a matter of time before daytime spouse and nighttime spouse see each other nude. This must be avoided at all costs.

Luckily I’m training tons so most of my days are spent outside, lots of it riding my bike with PIC, where apparently (if you believe my pictures)…we spend most our time stopping at convenience stores for food (wearing the same kit every freakin’ time). It’s not enough that we wear the same kit all the time without discussing things before hand, but we even wear the same shorts under our shorts on long days without discussing (long ride day = double shorts day). Friday, I was in the bathroom when PIC made her purchases at the convenience store, then I bought my stuff. We sat down on the curb looked at each other and both realized we bought containers of grapefruit. I’ve never bought grapefruit on a ride, neither has she, but we both did at the same time without discussing. This is officially getting strange.

This week we rode our bikes a very long ways. I haven’t ridden this far since 2009 when I did lots of crazy shit for the sake of doing cray shit. Now, I’m doing crazy shit for the sake of getting faster at Ironman. There is a difference between the two, and it takes a smart coach, and a smart athlete to understand and execute that difference. That being said, doing crazy shit just for the sake of it is a great way to stay healthy and happy….so if that’s you…keep it up, why not!

We had an 8 hour ride on the schedule. This is something I think Dirk will give me maybe 1-2 times a year when I am very very ready for it and it’s a time thing, so if I make it 90 miles, no big deal, but Friday we made it 146. It actually was great and felt fun and about like a 80-90 mile ride, it really clipped along. I didn’t look down 4 hours in and go “Oh no 4 hours to go.” Nah, it was fun.

Whenever we have done this stuff in the past, we always had man-wheel of some sort. This was cool because PIC and I had no man wheel to set tempo, it was us girls. 10 years ago I never thought I would have been the type of woman to ride 146 miles without man support. I don’t even worry about getting into trouble any more. PIC and I are more handy with a bike than most men, we have our phones, we know how to stay out of trouble, and we are fit. Winner winner chicken dinner!

We totally ran out of road on this ride. We literally took a road that most people who live in Colorado think goes FOREVER, and we rode to the end of it. We were shocked when exactly when he had planned to turn around the pavement ran out.

We rode to Agate, CO. Go look it up on a map. BFE! In fact…don’t look it up, it’s a little depressing, I think there are like 11 permanent residents! But we have been there…here’s the post office to prove it, we almost sent a post card to Dirk. Haha!

Well, after this restful weekend life gets 100% crazy fun! Like totally bat shit crazy fun. First I get to go to IM Wisconsin for Troys 1st Ironman. I hear this town is awesome at hosting the IM participants, plus they have a Trader Joes, AND I get to meet Mike, who I have coached for a year, and he lives in Portugal! Troy is going to love it, and he’s going to have a blast. For once I get to be the person to pack all my stuff in a tiny carry-on for the trip.

Then, after WI I’m home for about a day and then I leave for Hawaii to train. I get to go to Kona for a week before the craziness begins and just train, and swim with turtles, and have a refresher with Karlyn, and run to the Energy lab, and eat pineapple, and fish and Acai Bowls. I’m hangin’ with my friend Laura, who is British (cool accent) and we are just going to have fun being girls with bikes. Oh happy day!

Then I’m home for a few weeks and we leave for the BIG DANCE. Back to Hawaii for the business end of the Ironman. And this time I get to hang with friends, sponsors, half naked people at the underwear run, turtles, Macca….you know, all my BFFs. Oh yea, and then I get to race 140.6 through shark infested waters and molten lava. YES PLEASE!

I had the coolest talk with Kendra Lee a few days ago. She created a little stir when she had the fastest time at Ironman Canada last weekend. She’s an amateur. Her time was faster than all the PROs in the race. Can we say “awkward!?” But not with Kendra, she is gracious, awesome, and full of PERSPECTIVE! We had a good chat about her race, and turning PRO, and she said “Every day that we can get out and race we are lucky. All of our parts work, you gotta take the good days and the bad days for what they are, an opportunity to compete and push yourself and have fun.” If the girl who won Canada as an amateur can say that, then we all can afford to adopt that approach.

And, because 2012 is the year of cute little inspirational quotes on Facebook, here’s yet another.

Posted in Travel, Triathlon

Radtasticness on a Bike

Posted on August 1, 2012 by goSonja| 11 Comments

Last week was an adventure. For some reason this year seems to be progressing in much more of a hiccup fashion. Traction, derailed, traction….derailed. Repeat. Hiccup! Luckily last Thursday and Friday were as flawless of a two days as I’ve ever had. My body was strong like bull, the company was some of the best I’ve ever had, and we worked together better than any group I’ve ever been with. Poor Jeremy was our lone dude, but I think even he would admit that it was A-OK.

Okay! So what did we do that was so radtastic? On Thursday we met up with Jocelyn and Jeremy in Vail at the parking garage at 8:30am. The plan was to ride our bikes to Aspen going through Copper, Leadville, Twin Lakes, and up and over Independence Pass (103 miles). Then we had reserved a hotel room in Aspen and we had shipped a box with spare clothes and flip flops so that on Friday we could ride back to Vail via Glenwood Springs and the famous Glenwood Canyon bike path (108 miles). That was the plan, and honestly, I’m delighted with how smoothly the whole trip went.

Here we are looking fresh as daisies. I must admit, when you are heading out for 2 days, and 211 miles with just your bikes and your friends, the start of the trip is the most stressful. It’s easy to think about what might happen, what might go wrong. Once you get knee deep into it all, you realize that you can handle what’s dished out to you, it’s just taking things one pedal stroke at a time.

Riding up Vail pass from Vail never gets old. It’s amazing scenery and I don’t know how many times I thanked whoever built that bike path. It’s such a gem…a classic really. The Pro Cycling Tour did a TT up Vail pass last year so there were all sorts of spray painted names on the path that we yelled out and laughed about. We were positively giddy.

At the top of Vail pass we cajoled some nice girl into taking our photos. She look like 20, it was hilarious. Already, I could tell our little gaggle of girls was going to mesh so well. Jeremy was long gone off the front, which left the three of us to 200 miles of girl talk!

Fremont pass was on a bit of a busier freeway but the shoulder was nice and wide for the most past. The climbing is steady and consistent, one of those climbs that you just have to make your way up in your own time. Luckily all three of us are darn near the same ability so it made for fun times. It was such a treat to be surrounded with supportive women who love what they do on a daily basis. They inspire me, and make me feel stronger just being in their presence.

For some reason, as nick names seem to go, every time I thought about Jocelyn on this trip I would call her “DJ Jazzy Jocelyn.” Who knows why my brain came up with this, but in my mind, she will now be DJ jazzy J for some time. PIC…well, she’s PIC. Man was I happy to have her on this trip. Having PIC with me makes me feel like we can do anything, go anywhere, conquer any problem. Without her, I might just sit down and cry during adversity, but with her, we just laugh, and deal with it. Luckily, this trip didn’t require either.

Leadville is a quirky little town. For some reason I always feel a little uneasy being here, like something just isn’t right. We filled up our bottles, bought candy, and headed out of town.

Downtown Leadville is old-timey, and cute. But in a weird way. Get me outa here…

After Leadville we had this 15 mile section to Twin Lakes that Jen had told me there was often a head wind. I was a little apprehensive about this section because I had never been on the road (there aren’t a lot of roads in Colorado I haven’t driven at one time or another) and we needed to make a turn to Twin Lakes (there is always the chance I will miss something). Despite my slight nerves, we were treated to an extreme tailwind, it literally took us 25 minutes to go 15 miles on that road. AND, the turn was super obvious. Before we knew it we were at Twin Lakes.

We pulled into the Twin Lakes general store and Jeremy was sitting there waiting for us. This was awesome. We got to catch up, hear about the dirt detour he happened to take (oops) and refuel. They had jerkey and PIC and I inhaled some of that. PIC was also about to have a roast beef sandwich before we cautioned her. Independence Pass was next up, we didn’t want her puking roast beef, but clearly the girl needed some salt!

BFF Love this girl.

Well, here it was, the pass we had all been secretly dreading the entire ride. Independence pass. We all knew we would be proud when we got to the top but we were all a little scared of the process. We had about 60 miles in our legs and it was time to CLIMB for 23 straight miles.

None of these pictures even do it justice. It’s one of those climbs that is just awe inspiring. There came a point where our little threesome broke up and we all climbed at our own rates. We each had some alone time, and some peace. I treasure times like this in my life. Where I have a task, but within that task my mind can wander and ponder. This year has been more of a fight than years past, but I have learned more this year about myself too. I thought about why I do this sport, why IMs, why Kona, why not just adopt a shopping habit (the mall is air conditioned). At times like this, I realize this is in my blood, it’s what makes my insides smile. It’s where I loose myself and find myself all in a matter of miles. I feel like I belong when I am riding up these hills. Like I am right where I should be.

Major probs to Jocelyn and Jeremy who are from Pittsburgh and yet they took down Independence Pass like mountain goats. It was 23 miles of pure awesome, I can’t wait to get back to it!

At the top we hung out for a bit, chatted, took pictures, and refueled for the 20+ mile descent down into Aspen. We had a headwind on the descent (fine by me) and we girls all stuck together and took things conservatively. Jeremy did the opposite and passed cars and stuff, but we figured that as the sweep crew we could pick him up off the pavement if needed. Boys will be boys!

We rolled into Aspen and quickly found our hotel. 103 miles for the day, about 6.5 hours of ride time, and lots of vertical. Our box had arrived, and even though we had parted with it a mere 2 days prior, we were so excited to see it!!

We all showered, had a leisurely dinner, and then crawled into bed for a night of chatting. You would think we got it all out on the ride, but no, 4 Kona qualified athletes in a hotel room for the night together equals WICKED FUN CHATTER! I slept blissfully that night, trying not to spoon Michelle…mostly because she complained that I didn’t shave my legs.

The next morning we headed out. The hardest part of the day was getting out of Aspen. Where do we go? We had heard that part of the bike path was gravel so we were trying to skip that part which we did. We stopped at the airport when DJ Jazzy J dropped her vest and then we stood there for awhile with our jaws on the ground as we surveyed all the private jets. HOLY PRIVATE JETS BATMAN!

From Aspen all the way to Glenwood Springs (44 miles) there is a wonderful bike path. We rode about 34 miles of it and it rocked the house. It’s downhill and we averaged a pretty good pace even though there wasn’t a lot of power behind the pedals. Jocelyn lead most of the way and I just sat back and took in everything. It was really peaceful, and I was just really happy.

In Glenwood Springs there was Jeremy waiting for us and we all stopped at the quickie mart together to refuel. The miles were starting to add up at this point, but we were all looking forward to the 16 mile Glenwood Canyon, which has a bike path through it and is probably one of the prettiest stretches of path in Colorado.

Entering the Canyon. I love these two shots. PIC is in the first one, I remember being SO excited!

Again, the pictures don’t do it justice, but sufice it to say that our necks hurt after these 16 miles. We just sat up for most of it and enjoyed the scenery. You couldn’t hammer (Jeremy could), we just had to take it all in. Steep cliff like canyon walls, and the colors were awesome.

The Colorado river runs through this canyon and it’s neat to think that the water you see will eventually go through the Grand Canyon. The water was really brown and I’m not sure why. I’m used to it being clearer.

The bike path in itself is an engineering marvel. It snakes through the canyon with the freeway going overhead repeatedly. It was clearly in the master design of the freeway to have this path included. Just such a special place, as you can tell by Michelle’s smile.

Once we were done with the path we had about 40 miles of frontage road until Vail. We looked behind us and low and behold, the “weather” was a-comin’. Jeremy threw out the “we need to average like 25-30mph to keep from getting dumped on.” CHALLENGE! haha! Just kidding. But, again, we were so lucky and we were blessed with a TAILWIND! The whole way back we flew. We had a nice pace line going with Jeremy at the helm. PIC and I were in heaven since we love to ride “man-wheel” (in training…not racing…that’s a no-no). DJ Jazzy J doesn’t like man-wheel as much, but she was strong like bull and fought the whole way home. Nails!

Finally we let the man-wheel go so that the girly-gaggle could focus (and didn’t have to ride at 200 watts up all the hills). Then the skies opened and rained on us. It wasn’t cold, just wet. We stopped and put on the gear and took care of ourselves, and then put our noses down and RODE.

I led most the way to set tempo, and PIC and DJ Jazzy J ended up with mud and grit ALL OVER their faces. This is Michelle trying to get the mud out of her teeth, and J is cracking up. This photo makes me laugh and smile.

Finally on the Vail bike path. We had parked in East vail which meant the longest miles of the entire trip were the last 5 thought Vail where your brain is on an infinite loop of “Are we there yet?” Finally we were there, back home, safe and sound, unscathed, and happy as Jay Birds!

Day 2 was 108 miles, making for a total two day mileage of 211 miles. I’m just so impressed with how well the 4 of us meshed. This trip was flawless, it was fun, we laughed so much and saw some amazing sights. I did something I haven’t done before and now it has me thinking about all these new “two day” rides I could do.

Thank you PIC, and Jeremy, and Jocelyn for agreeing to go on my crazy adventures. You all are top notch and no matter what happens in October, we will always have this week. You are each winners in my eyes, not as just athletes, but as humans, as people, and as friends.

Happy Riding!

Posted in Cycling, Travel, Triathlon

Rev3 Knoxville

Posted on May 10, 2012 by goSonja| 6 Comments

Whirlwind! Craziness! This weekend was WILD!

On Friday Michelle and I were headed to Knoxville to Work for Rev3, but first we had a little 5 hour training ride with a 90 minute run off the bike. It was a hard training day, but there is no rest for the weary. We can sleep when we die! Fuel of choice after the 2 hour mark into the ride…Rice Krispie Treats…who needs gels, these work just as well!

Since United decided to pop us on a different flight and not tell us, we had an extra hour in the airport…in TERMINAL B…which is the best terminal…with shopping opportunities…which means…welll…I couldn’t resist a new pair of Oakleys. I have a problem…I do realize this. And yes, that’s us on the tarmac at DIA…because we flew in a teeny tiny plane, which makes PIC nervous. I did hold her hand in case you were wondering.

This was Rev3′s American season opener in Knoxville, Tennessee. BIG T! I always think of the movie Blind Side when I am here. I want to say I love Knoxville, and 2 years ago when I came here to race I had a blast. Last year I spent 90% of my time either in Worlds Fair Park at the timing truck, or in a truck delivering aid station supplies, and this year I spent 95% of my time in the bottom floor of a parking garage. But let me say….it’s the BEST parking garage I have ever had the pleasure of spending three days in!

This race Michelle and I were transition coordinators. No big, easy enough, we got this! Oh my LANTA…I am kidding. Ushering you all (yes I mean you all, I’m no longer a triathlete, after seeing how much work you all are, I QUIT) through the beast that is transition is no small feat.

The fact that you all don’t lose half your stuff is beyond me. Michelle and I were given a parking garage, and told where the swim exit was and the run start was…from there on out…we had to make magic!

A Blank Canvas!

We figured out where everything could fit, 1000 bikes! We ran around that garage with the little rolly measure thingee about a zillion times. I made 5 different charts and finally we went with this layout.

At Rev3 you get your name on your bike rack. They are laminated with your name and your number. We really had fun stapling each one on. It’s actually awesome because we get to see all the familiar names and we get giddy that they are arriving soon.

Bike check in! This is where we get to guide people to their racks, make sure they have bar end plugs, and explain the flow of transition about 1000 times. Okay, maybe 980 times…All the bikes are put to bed and we have REALLY REALLY diligent police officers guard the bikes all night. We were still nervous about this, so we were down there until late making sure that none of the WWE traffic was stepping into our transition. The officer put up a bunch of “police line, do not cross” tape and assured us that anyone who crossed the tape would have bigger problems, and then we felt like we could go catch a few hours of sleep.

One little problem. St. George was that day and I had 5 athletes racing. 3 of them made it to the finish line, and I just remember talking to Jen’s husband Mark on the phone that night, and bawling to him because I was so tired, and because I was so proud that Jen had survived the hardest swim EVER and then the hardest bike on the hardest course, in 40mph wind. I cried and people asked if I was okay. Yes, just proud tears. Then I stayed up until my 3 athletes had made it to that finish line and shed a few more tears as I fell asleep.

Race morning. Oy, and I thought our jobs were pretty close to done. I mean, you set it up, and then they just go through it right? Not so much. Race day had me running around with literally not a single moment to spare. It was multitasking at it’s finest from 4am until 1am the following day. Getting the pros through transition without crossing the AGers, making sure the AGers were taken care of all day, and keeping all those bikes safe throughout the day was no small task. Breakfast and lunch never happened and I didn’t even miss the meals. No time to eat, just making sure everything went as well as we could make happen.

At the end of the day, just a few bikes remain and we are busy packing everything up. 12 bags of trash….ewwww. My hands were covered in gel, red bull, gatoraid…and pee. Yup, sugar and urine, that’s what’s left when all the triathletes head home. And yet, I loved every minute of it, because these are my people, and I love them all for their nerves, for their smiles, for their determination, and even for their oodles of leftover gel wrappers.

In the end, PIC1 and PIC2 made it through. It’s great working in a capacity like this with Michelle because we are already so used to communicating with each other. I can just look at her and she knows what I’m thinking. It was a two girl job, and at the end of the day we would look at each other and say “I barely even talked to you, how are you, are you okay?”

What a weekend! The final hours are always the hardest as we pack up everything into the big trucks that will be driven across the county. It’s like a puzzle fitting everything in and we are usually tired, and loopy and living on coke and coffee. But we are also content, because all the athletes made it through the day safely and we allowed people a platform to chase their dreams. We supported them to the best of our abilities and for that we can smile as we dig deep through those last hard hours.

I feel blessed that Rev3 has given me the opportunity to be on the other side of the table. Michelle and I were talking today about the hard work and we were discussing how nothing bad can come from the opportunity to put in hard work. As Ironman triathletes we train for a race that is hard, and any time we spend doing other hard things helps us learn more about ourselves. This weekend required a 3rd..4th…10th wind and so does Ironman oftentimes. Energy ebbs and flows but your attitude is always within your control and to see so many Rev3 staff with a smile on their face when I know they haven’t slept in days, that’s a valuable reminder!

Going up the Sunsphere was on my Bucket list this year. But unfortunately, I can honestly say I did not have a single spare 5 minutes with which to get it done. This was the closest I got to it at 1am on Monday morning, 7 hours before my flight departed back to Denver. Maybe next year…but I doubt it.

I was so proud of my athletes that raced this weekend. Some disapointments were had as StG was about as challenging as it gets. Audra lived to fight another day, you can read about that here. Emily did everything she could, every darn thing and I shed some tears when she didn’t make the mile 65 cutoff like so many others.  Jen had what was really a breakout performance for her. This one will go down in the books as a turning point in her quest to get back to Kona. She was strong like BULL. James, in his madness at chasing the Guiness World Record for 30 Ironman distance races in one year was just about the only person who was glad that the swim didn’t get canceled (because it doesn’t count for him when it does). 7 down for James! And Ron, oh Ron, he had a really great day out there. His determination and attitude can not be beat, he always races with style and this was no different. I’m really proud of his effort.

On the half side Katie learned a valuable lesson about staying positive, and also about putting too much nutrition down the hatch. Emily won her Age Group and was 6th amateur, and Paul finished his first 70.3 distance race. It was a hot day in Knoxville and they really had to be on their game. Also, Mike took 3rd in a 70.3 in Lisbon, and executed a stellar race. Mikki was back home running the Colorado Marathon and I’m proud that she dug deep through the rough patches. One of the coolest things ever…Emily’s finisher medal fit inside her age group winner medal. I thought that was super neat.

I also want to give a huge shout out to Anthony (my big brother Beeson), Tyler, and Katie B. They are great friends from here and they all had stellar races at Knoxville! CDA is looking good for all of them!

After sleeping for 10 hours a night the last two nights I can feel the energy returning and my own drive to put in the long hours of training. I have 16.5 hours just on the bike this week and it will give me some good time to digest all that has happened over the last week. So many lessons to be learned, for me, and for those I guide. If you raced in Knoxville, congratulations, I hope you had a BLAST!

Posted in Rev3, Travel, Triathlon

2012 NOLA 67.3

Posted on April 24, 2012 by goSonja| 20 Comments

DUDE!!!! I don’t even know how I’m going to blog about this weekend. I think it was the most fun I have ever had at a race weekend. NOLA is freaking awesome, so much fun fun fun fun, I can’t even explain it. So many amazing stars aligned this weekend and it was more than just the swimming biking and running.

Mama Willis (my maiden name) came with Michelle and I on this trip, we shall call her mama PIC. We also enveloped M into the fold, she’s officially PIC 3 or Trouble 3 or my favorite…Dr.PIC.

I’ll admit, I got a long pep talk from the Dirkinator before the race and it rocked so hard core. I got off the phone feeling like a beast and I felt so ready to put it all out there. Also, since I chopped off my hair, my alter ego has come out. It’s mostly a Justin Bieber, 16 year old, teenager sort of attitude. I’m not sure Michelle is so fond of it, especially after a tweet from Mac that said “It looks like Michelle is dating a rapper” (best tweet ever).

I was really not taking things very seriously before this race, which is good for me, it’s definitely not my norm. Ususally I am sorta Type A planner, organizer Sonja, but this trip I was 16 year old, hat on backwards, whatevsssss, Sonja. The awesome part was that because my mom was there, there was no fallout from my lack of organization. I feel like I can be a kid when my mom is around, she is seriously the most nurturing woman you will every meet.

Friday morning and we woke up and put our bikes together caught a cab to get beignets. They were everything I always hoped them to be. Sugary, fried, dense, totally wonderful. I think I had 4, maybe 5 of them.

We visited the French Market after that and picked up souvineers for the kiddos. PIC and I also found shirts that we had to buy immediately. This PIC thing has really gotten out of hand. WAY out of hand. But that sort of thing is allowed in NOLA, believe me here! Everything is way out of hand, and I love it!

Packet pick up, race meeting (swim canceled and replaced with a 2 mile run), bikes put together, nap nap nap, eat eat eat, bikes dropped off at transition. It was so windy things were blowing around like crazy. This was one of my favorite transitions due to this awesome and photogenic lighthouse in the middle of it. It was a good marker to run to.

We were settling into bed and getting those last minute things taken care of when PIC realized that her heart rate strap didn’t seem to make it into her bag. Crapitty Crap Crap. I could tell she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone because heading out at 9pm to procure a heart rate strap in one of the most dangerous cities in America was not her idea of a fun time. No worries!! We all hopped in the car and went on a heart rate monitor hunt in our jammies. Luckily we were successful!

Race morning was cold, and windy, and cold, and I had to poo. We got that taken care of and then I was in a great mood. Michelle and I ran the 2 mile run course as our warm up and I think we were the only ones. I’m glad we did recognizance on it, it was good to see it. It was quite windy on one section and I’m glad I wasn’t surprised.

The really cool thing about the DU format was actually seeing all the Pros take off together in one group running. You never see that, and it was really cool. Hard to explain but it got me super hyped up. I got to see the PRO men come in and go out on the bike, and the women as well. I tried to cheer for every one that I knew. I saw Michelle go out on the run and she was right with Dr.PIC. With the AGers they were letting us off two at a time in a time trial format. So you started with a buddy.

When I got in line for my turn I found Hailey. I knew going into this race that Hailey and Libby would be the ladies to watch. Libby is coached by Dirk and is insanely strong. Hailey beat me in Kona by several minutes. See, the 30-34 women have this special bond. Twitter/blogging has really helped it, but we have this really cool thing going on. We are fierce competitors on the race course, but afterwards we follow each others blogs, we train with each other when we are in each others towns, and we have deep respect for each other. That’s why it was extra extra special when Sarah P. won the PRO race at NOLA, because she’s one of us, she raced 30-34 last year and we are really supportive of the ladies that were 30-34 and are now PRO. Might I mention we are so so glad they turned pro…

With the TT start Hailey and I just slipped in the front. We were the first two to go off in the AG, and we went off together. It was a bad idea on our part. We should have gone last, but we ended up racing off the front the whole day and then wondering if anyone snuck in there.

How do you run 2 miles before you know you have to bike 52 (course shortened due to storm debris) and run another 13? I don’t know, you just run your ass off. There’s no great way to put it other than…RUN!!!

Hailey and I came into T1 about :20 seconds apart. I was leaving as she was entering. I got on the bike and took off. Hailey caught me 10-15 minutes in and I just consider her a stronger rider than me. When she went by, a switch flipped in me. Usually I am very into “race your race” “don’t let others dictate your pace” “etc etc etc” but a switch flipped and I thought about the fact that this was a duathalon, and that none of it really mattered and I could take some risks. So I went with Hailey. I sat about 5-10 bike lengths back, and when I say “sat” what I mans is…”I biked so insanely hard I thought I was doing an olympic distance race”. But I figured, why not!? Go for broke. Hailey had me against the ropes for the better part of an hour before I got comfortable in the pain. The good thing was that my legs were 100% ready to go, and while they hurt, they also didn’t want to let up either.

If Hailey lost her focus and I saw my heart rate go down, I would pass her, and try to set a harder tempo until she passed me back with an even harder tempo where I would have to fight to hang on. Also, having never ridden like this I was concerned with the drafting. I wanted to make sure I was riding 100% legal because I usually spend most races continually passing people, not sitting behind. I was actually really stoked to be passed 4 times by course marshals and each time they had nothing to say about my position. I was like “Sweet, you are doing this right”.

Hailey set a hard tempo all the way back to T2, and we came into T2 together. Like literally we ran across the timing mat side by side. I could feel both of our competitive juices flowing. We had the fastest female T1+T2 of the day…pros included. We were racing!

Out on the run, we ran shoulder to shoulder for some time. The course was challenging with some causeway type hills, several on each loop. There were two turn arounds per loop and one roundy-round…you know, like in Europe. The “hot corner” was essentially the “hot circle”. I found a way to somehow slowly drift in front of Hailey, she was fierce, and tough, and it was such a highlight to race her neck and neck.

I made my way through the first lap getting passed by all sorts of PRO women, and age group men. I tried to go with all of them. I heard the announcer saying that Sarah P was winning and then I saw her race by on the other side of the road with the 1st place female lead biker. I was so jazzed and inspired! I saw Beth Shutt out there too, she looked so strong and solid, I was happy to see her in her element. My mom was all over the course and it was so great to have her there cheering, and cowbelling. The second loop I started looking for Michelle at the out and backs. I saw her once and she wasn’t too far ahead, but she wasn’t coming back to me very quickly either. She ended up running 2 minutes slower than her open 1/2 marathon PR that she set 3 weeks ago. PICs running is soooo BACK!

In the final mile I saw her in front of me and I picked it up. I wanted to run in with her. But with every step I realized I wasn’t catching her. I tried harder and harder to pick it up. My legs were beat, I tried to pump my arms faster and faster, and I made a small gain on her. As we were probably 100 feet before the finish shoot, I meekly yelled “Ford” and SHE PICKED IT UP. I was hoping for some mercy! I picked it up as hard as I could and coming into the chute we were side by side. I asked if she wanted to hold hands, and she said yea, and that’s how we crossed. What are the odds??? Time trial start, and yet we found each other in the finish chute. I will add that she was 3rd in her AG by 2 seconds…I’m going to go ahead and take credit for that one (just kidding Ford, that was all you honey).

I was really happy with my race. I didn’t know the result. I didn’t know if someone starting behind me had gone faster, but without knowing any of that I was happy. I RACED in the truest sense of the word. I took chances and I gained confidence and I surprised myself with those risks. I have more work to do, it’s April, but I learned that I can go a harder and still survive. I was really happy. I also had a lot of fun. Sure it hurt super bad, but it was really fun too!

Syd, PIC, Dr.PIC, me, Hailey

Mark, Brandon, PIC1, PIC2 = KE CREW!

My racing yielded an Age Group win and also and overall Amateur win. That was icing on the cake really. Or powdered sugar on the beignet! Mmmmm beignets! Oh, and my Kompetitive Edge teammate Mark Hillers, he won the amateur mens title. KE was in full force!

run: 13:29, bike: 2:18, run: 1:33, overall 4:07

Womens 30-34 podium, and the only girls that posed with their arms around each other. Mad respect for each of these ladies, Jocelyn, Libby, and Hailey.

That night we went out and CELEBRATED! We had a twitter/Womens 30-34 REUNION with lots of friends that involved food, drinks, jazz, Gelato, and awesome conversation with great people. I think there were like 13 of us, and we ate like champions! It was such a treat to celebrate Sarah Ps win that evening, so happy for her! After ice cream it was time for Bourbon street. Oh my lanta. There are no words. What happens in NOLA stays in NOLA, but here are a few photos….a la Hangover style!

Dr.PIC, SarahP, Hailey, Stephanie

gelato!!!

Hand Grenade!!

 

 

First off thank you MOM! Not every mom will hold your drink while you….what happens in NOLA stays in NOLA….

Thank you to my sponsors Kompetitive Edge, Punk Rock Racing, First Endurance, Quintana Roo, who are all probably a bit disappointed with some of those last photos!! Also, thank you Troy and Annie for being you… love you both!

Posted in 1/2 Marathon, Cycling, Duathlon, Family, Quintana Roo, Running, Travel, Triathlon

2012 Galveston 70.3

Posted on April 3, 2012 by goSonja| 11 Comments

I can officially say that the cobwebs have been cleared from the system. Galveston 70.3 was epic indeed. I traveled to this race with my athlete Audra, who is a complete hoot.

I got to meet her hubby Clint, who took the best care of us over the race weekend. His entire family came out to see us race and it was like having my own family on course cheering me on. Thank you to the Adair family for the support and for adopting me for the weekend!

The pre race rituals went very smoothly for the first race of the year. No real hiccups and before I knew it I was standing on the pier with a slew of other light blue capped women of the 30-34 years like myself. As we waited I could feel a little bit of tension and like peoples eyes were on me. It was the Freak. This wetsuit got a lot of exposure. It’s really fast, and it costs a lot of money, and I was wearing it. Suddenly I felt like it caused a bit too much attention, I felt like I was on show. I tried to puff up my chest a little, act like I had big shoulders, do the thing some justice. As you can imagine I was more than ready when they let us in the water. I “warmed up” for the 4 minutes that they gave us, and then got on the front line, ready to find fast feet.

Off went the cannon and a group of 4 of us went off the front. I wasn’t struggling to stay with them as much as usual. I thought to myself, this wetsuit is FAST. I got on the first ladies feet and usually I’m kinda gasping and talking nice to myself to stay on feet. But I wasn’t. I was actually hitting her feet and her calves, and really just generally being a nasty foot tapper, not on purpose. I kept thinking…this wetsuit is FAST. At the first turn buoy I decided the pace was too slow. I figured I would try to pass and if the pace was indeed fast I wouldn’t be able to do so, and would just get back on the feet.

Nope, I went past her and swam away, then I’m thinking…dang this wetsuit is really FAST! I am leading my AG in the swim for the first time in my life. Nobody was on my feet, I was off the front, and feeling fast. I veered right a few times too many. I’m not the best straight swimmer, but I made it to the finish happy, and feeling like I must have swam a 30 or something.

The results were particularly alarming when Troy told me later. I was 1st out of the water, but I swam a 32:10, and would have been 9th in the 35-39AG. I didn’t swim fast, more just an average swim time for me. We just didn’t seem to have any of those studly swimmers in the age group there to pull us (me) all along. Total buzz kill after the race, but during the race, I was like “yea…I led out of the water….boooyaaa…my Freak is so fast”.

Oy…

Onto the bike I saw HR numbers that had me wondering if I would survive 5 miles much less 56. Luckily I have my trusty “Perceived Exertion” scale in my pocket at all times and calmed down and told myself I wold not die. The way out had a headwind, but I wasn’t super sure what to make of it. I tried to ride as steady as I could. A few miles in Brooke passed me. She was 6th at Kona and biked a 5:12 there and she flys on the bike. Away she went. She had an additional 4 minutes on me at the turn around.

Somewhere around 45 minutes into the bike I saw a big slew of cars and cops and whatnot coming the other direction. And then, just like that, this black blur with a Livestrong disc wheel went by on the other side of the road. Lance. I wish I could say that I didn’t get goosebumps, and that I didn’t tell the girl next to me “That was Lance” like I was 11 and seeing New Kids on the Block in concert….but I would be lying. Apparently the Lance effect works on people who are not even super interested in “The Lance”. Then I felt bad for the second place guy because there were like 30 cars following Lance and I wondered what that guy would do if he wanted to try to pass Lance (gasp). Then I actually saw the 2nd place guy and he was riding right behind one of those said cars…and I realized…eh….smart guy. Drafting a car is far superior to drafting off Lance…don’t you think? Less TV coverage though…

When we made the turn, that was cool. Flying at 24 mph, finally I could get that cadence going, and was hoping I could make up some lost time. I rode hard. the heart rate came down like 2 beats…2 beats further away from death was how I was thinking about it. But all in all, my perceived exertion was about like I am used to…maybe a bit harder. The course is a simple out and back, and I honestly really dug it. There was this huge section where we were riding on this bridge sort of thingy, it was at water level almost, but it had water on both sides of it. That was seriously awesome.

Also, another crazy thing I want to note since I talked to a few people about it. I did not see a single marshall, or a single drafting pack. Not one. I’m not sure why because this course is totally flat, but I can’t think of a single incident of drafting that I witnessed (aside from the dude drafting the Lance groupies). Strange…but nice..

Somewhere on the way back Ashley Johnson passed me. She was looking strong and I kept her in sight. Towards the end of the bike I was able to get back up to her and repass her in the final mile of the bike. Turns out…Ashley and I would have a nice long chat after the race, and I would find out that she is also under Dirkinator tutelage. Didn’t know that out there…wish I had…would have tried to team it up (legally)!

T2…uneventful…lickity split.

Off running and I felt okay….well sorta, except my heart was near internal combustion, but hey, I’m a diesel, right?

I thought I had a solid chance at running a considerable amount of sub 7 minute miles. Maybe on a straighter course, or one that lacked evil headwinds. But it wasn’t to be. I got 4 or 5 sub 7s but the rest hovered in that “Not good enough Sonja, pick it up” range. I will admit thought, I was completely lost 95% of the time on this course, and for someone who’s nickname is the Navigatress, that’s a tough feat. They wound us around  and around and around, and they made us run up this random tarmac where Lance’s private jet was sitting there waiting to whisk him away after Jordan Jones pulled out the finishing kick of stardom and nipped him for 6th.

The run was hot, there were 2×180 degree turns on each loop. It took me 2 loops to figure out where the exit to the finish line was, and on loop 2 I was starting to get nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find the magical exit to the labyrinth. In fact, Ashley missed it entirely heading out for loop #4…her final run split is…well….a little long!

As far as how my age group race was going down, Brooke was long gone, never to be seen, schooled all of us like we were wee toddlers. Then Ashley was in front of me until mile 12 when she had a “kaboom” that lead to the aforementioned 4th loop…so I got back in front of her. Then not 5 seconds later, Adrienne Shields zoomed on by and I was back in 3rd for the AG. What a day, what a crazy crazy day.  As Clint’s mom would say “Oh my heart”.

Oh, I didn’t tell you about the heat. Well, I’m sure if you read any other blogs about the race, it will be a prominent fixture. It was hot, real real hot, everything is bigger…and HOTTER in texas. Some sections actually had a breeze (headwind) and other sections were very muggy stale humid evil hot. I noticed on the tarmac that we had evil headwind, and then after the 180…evil hotness. I was expecting happy tailwind…but you never feel those, do you? “The wind at your back” is a silly phrase.

The three loop course made the aid stations crazy town. But I have been yelled at on this blog before for being an elitist when moaning about not being able to get aid because I was running through the stations and lots of people were walking. So I will not moan, and I will just mention that I wasn’t able to (because of my inability to stop at an aid station) grab any aid the last 3 aid stations. So I was a hot mess when I finished and I counted that I drank 8 water bottles of water in a row. I poured another 6 or so over my body. I was actually starting to get quite scared for my predicament, I had trouble walking, talking, or standing up. Again, not moaning, my fault, don’t hate me please.

So that was my day. It was a wonderful day. I loved nearly every part of it, and I just can’t say how much I love this sport. It’s fun, I had fun, it’s an adventure, every race, every course, every time I push my limits. A huge thanks to the women of 30-34 who push me so hard, and send me home wounded, blistered, sunburned, and inspired.

As the years roll by and I meet different people, I have to say that a few stuck out on this trip.

Audra Adair – the woman has her own blog, but if I had to get taken down by 58 seconds by any one of my own athletes, Audra would be the one I would choose, and thank goodness, because she did indeed take me down by 58 seconds. She had a great day, a 15 min PR, a slot to Vegas…but those are her stories to tell. Thanks for kicking your coach’s booty…no more speed work for you!

Mary Eggers - I’ve been wanting to meet the Eggers for so long and I actually got to! First time on race morning and then a pat on the ass as we crossed paths racing. If you haven’t heard, Mary Eggers challenged Lance Armstrong to a 50 kick off to raise $$ for Teens Living with Cancer, and he accepted. You can donate here.

Christine Kenney – Christine ran me down at Ironman Cozumel and I must say, I was waiting for her to run me down again. I saw her out there a few times on some of the out and back sections and we would always make eye contact and wave at each other. This further warmed my already warm heart. We may be racing against each other, but it doesn’t mean we don’t support each other out there. I look forward to being afraid of Christine running me down again in the future!

David Adame and Brandon too – Congratulations to David on his first 70.3!! It was very magical to see Brandon out there with his guide, but for him to know that his dad was racing out there with him too must have been awesome! Relentless Foreword Motion!!!

Ashley Johnson – Such a sweetheart, I can’t wait to race more with her and I’m so stoked she got that Vegas slot. Especially after the 3 IVs it took to bring her back!

The Adair Family – Mr. Clint, you have a wonderful family, and Audra, you are one lucky gal. Thanks for feeding me, housing me, and making me feel at home.

None of these races would be even half as sweet without the Kompetitive Edge boys, my Quintana Roo bike, First Endurance in my belly, and Punk Rock Racing. Thank you for the support.

And, to the love of my life, thank you for letting me live my dreams every darn day.

Oh, and one last thing. My Rev3 family is running across America right now. I thought about them so so much this weekend and I just want to post their fundraising page here. They are amazing, so proud to know them. Please donate if you can.

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