Syracuse 2011

Jen delivers her thoughts on her race in 2011. The course changed dramatically this year with a much tougher run, and she was able to knock off 36 minutes from her previous year's time. Check the previous post here to see last year's race report.

Syracuse Now

What a difference a year makes! I did no running from mid-September through January. I tried a ton of different approaches to fixing my knees, and followed Michael Corona’s amazing plan to get back into running, which is also another topic for another day.

I started master’s swim in November and started spinning regularly in December. We started up with consistent S/B/R in January. The key here was consistency. This was the first year that I actually hit my workouts on a consistent basis, which I think has made all the difference in my having a successful year.

In addition to increased fitness over last year, I actually approached this year’s 70.3 with a plan. After completing the Musselman in July, my coach and I dissected my race file and came up with target HRs for both the bike and the run. We decided that since I felt great during the whole race at Mussel, that I should be able to increase my target HRs for Syracuse.

The swim went great! I started out in the middle, a couple rows back, slightly right. When the gun went off, I dove in between the two girls in front of me and took off. Instead of panicking in the chaos, I tried to relax and let the pack pull me out as I thought about my friend MM telling me to “embrace the sport”. It didn’t take long to warm up and get into a groove. At the second buoy, I got clobbered from the right and my goggles were pulled off a bit as I swallowed a little water. I stopped and drained my goggles, didn’t allow the coughing to get out of control, then hammered until I passed the girl who got me. I continued on buoy by buoy. I almost turned at the second red buoy after the turn, but a life guard yelled at me to keep going straight. Even though it was impossible to see the next buoy in the sun, this was the first race in a while that I actually stayed on course. So I kept on pushing until I got to the third buoy from the end. Then I noticed that I was mixed in with a rainbow of cap colors. I thought, “Sweet! I’m passing people! Shit! I’m getting passed!” Then I noticed blue caps next to me. “That’s MC’s wave, I have to motor!” I thought I could just grab onto the feet of these two guys. As I was swimming to the right trying to catch them, some dude slammed into me. Ouch! Then I saw black goggles and a Blue Seventy wetsuit. The next time this dude turned to breathe, I screamed, “Corona!!” My own husband was beating me up on the swim! Damn! Must. Go. Faster! I sprinted through the last three buoys trying to channel my inner Jonas C., as I worked to spin my arms like a windmill. As soon as I got out, I ripped my sleeves off and looked for the strippers. I lay right on my back and let them do their thing – outa there in about 7 seconds! On the run to T1, I stopped to high-five my boys, then saw the clock and realized I was under 40 minutes. Sweet!

Just like last year, I took the time to put on a long sleeve jersey. This time I added a beanie under the helmet, and topped off the look with blue gardening gloves. Lookin’ good! As I was running out to the bike, I got a “Go Jen!!” from Turbo’s dad. Great burst of energy! Just like I planned, I took it pretty easy out Apulia Rd. I tried to calm my breathing and drank some Gatorade, getting ready to start climbing. Half way up the first climb, I saw a “Team Corona” sign -another energy boost. Thank you, Aunt Linda & Uncle Mark! Now to get to work. During the first 10 miles, I didn’t worry too much about HR, it was pretty close to my target of 150-155 on its own. I ate my first piece of cliff bar at 12min, then wished I’d cut them in 1/8ths instead of 1/4s. I felt good and just pushed along, waiting for the first descent. Finally it came! My friend Paul had passed me just before the top of the last climb, so I decided I couldn’t let that go. At the start of the descent I peddled my ass off to catch him and shouted “Woooo! Hooooooooo!” and flew past! We proceeded to play leap frog all the way down the hill until we hit flat road, then he took off. Fun while it lasted! I came up to the first aid station, and I quickly tried to finish my first bottle so I could ditch it and grab another. I missed the first bottle and it crashed on the ground, but I managed to grab the second one.

From that point on, I tried to push hard and keep my HR at 150, but it seemed to be around 145-148 instead. Though I was working hard, I couldn’t seem to get it up. According to plan, I ate my cliff bar pieces every 20-30 minutes and ate my banana at mile 30. Next time, I’ll definitely cut the banana in half. I saw the mile 35 marker and was ready to hammer, but I waited until after the right turn, and took a swig from my gel flask. Then I ignored HR and just tried to go as fast as possible. It was really fun to be able to pass tons of bikers! I felt a little bad that many were struggling, but was thrilled that I felt great! I saw the yellow Team Corona shirts as I entered the park and that gave me the last burst I needed to finish strong. I even passed a few bikers in the shoot on the way to the dismount line, then slammed on the brakes and almost flipped over the handle bars. Whoa!

I ran into T2, ripped off my helmet, beanie, and shades and sat down to switch shoes. As soon as I sat, I began peeing. Seriously?? Major déjà vu! What is it with me & T2? Maybe I should call it P2??

Anyway, I threw on my visor, jumped up, and grabbed my watch. While trying to fasten the strap, I remembered that I was planning to wear the watch band from the start but forgot. Maybe next time! On the way out to the run I got a “Go Jen!” from Grandma Bea (Turbo’s mom). Just what I needed! Mentally I was ready to rip on the run, but unfortunately my knees had another idea. They ached from the start. I was so annoyed and bummed out since I did Double Mussel in July & had no knee pain on either day, but this was the third race in a row where they hurt. (I have to figure out what I did differently.)

As I ran out Apulia Rd, I wrestled with my cliff blocks for a few minutes and finally ate two of them. Then I settled into my planned 9:30 pace and looked forward to the first aid station. As I came up to the first turn at Coye Rd, I saw MC coming my way from the end of his first loop. We sort of stumbled over each other and I got a “hey!” while he got a pat on the butt. I walked the aid station as planned and grabbed water and a coke. I proceeded to eat a shot block between aid stations and took water and coke at the stations. I ran both hills on the first loop, and continued to walk just the aid stations. It was really nice to see some friends out cheering on the course – Jake & Amy, Kristin & Andy, and Sam shouting at me and taking pics. Thanks guys!! Also, I got to run with a couple of friends for a bit – Tracy, Jamie C. and John T. On the second loop, I found out they had pretzels at the aid station. I was so happy! I took a full cup and dumped them into the back pocket of my jersey, and munched on them for the rest of the run. I actually just found the rest of them as I was doing laundry today! Later on the second loop, I remembered my coach telling me that if my run pace was slower than my walk pace on a hill, I should just walk it. So I pumped my fists hard and dug in, and powered up that hill! I started running again as soon as I hit the top as Sam S. yelled, “That’s more like it, Corona!” At that point, my knees were killing me! A Phase 2 pain as I call it. My right ankle and inner thigh were killing too because I was favoring my knee so bad. There were a couple of descents on Rt 173 where I had to stop running to hobble down. Then I finally turned back onto Apulia Rd. From there on in, I just kept making deals with myself to put one foot in front of the other. Again. And again. And again. My 9:30 goal pace was out the window, and I was working hard to hold an 11:30. My stomach was starting to feel a little queasy so I thought I was done with nutrition. Then as I was passing the last aid station, I remembered my coach saying that no matter how bad you feel, just keep taking in calories. So I grabbed a coke and actually felt a lot better after drinking it. I picked up the pace ever so slightly, and thought (as I always do at the end of a race) this is it. There is no way I can speed up any more. This is my sprint. I got to the out-n-back and was thrilled to see it was not nearly as long as last year. Bonus! I hobbled around the cone bouncing on one foot and almost fell over. By the time I reached the last little incline into the finish shoot, I was full-on limping and a volunteer said, “Oh honey! You’re done. It’s right over there.” I came into the shoot and immediately saw my boys & MC & the fam waiting for me. I stopped to hive-five everyone, then went back to running as a woman was passing me. And I thought, “No Way! She is not passing me as I’m high-fiving my boys!” So I sprinted just enough to beat her to the timing mat. I was pleasantly surprised that my “Sweetie Pie” Sam C, our 72 yr old tri club friend, was at the finish line. I got a big hug and then hobbled into the medical tent to get some ice.

So that was it. Everything went pretty much according to plan. I controlled every part of my day that I could, and I adjusted to (survived) all that I couldn’t. 6:00:47. ~36 minutes faster than last year. Could I have found another 47 seconds? Absolutely! Have you ever tried putting on a long-sleeve cycling jersey when you’re soaking wet? How many seconds does it take to high-five three little boys? 47 seconds for sure! But, I wouldn’t change a thing!