The War

Tomorrow comes and so does the day that myself and 2,800 other athletes have been preparing for physically, mentally, and spiritually for a long time.  2013 Ironman Cozumel.  The day represents what, to many people, appears to be an insurmountable physical challenge.  What will challenge the competitors most is the mental battle.  The war with our personal inner demons.  Yes, we all have them.  That nagging voice inside our head which tells us we are not good enough, that we are weak, and that we will fail.  That part of us which is a coward, weak, wanting to take the easy road, a quitter, and full of doubt will try to win the war during race day tomorrow. 

Due to high winds, the swim portion of the race has been modified at the last minute.  It has also been reduced from 2.4 miles to 1.9 miles.  While this will shorten the swim and allow the swim to be with the current, instead of against, it will also create significant last minute chaos.  The trick to the swim is always to STAY CALM.  There will be 2,600 or so people all starting to swim at the exact same time-7:00am.  All the age group athletes, of which 25% are women and 75% are men, will take off with the gun shot.  We all swim along the same course keeping the buoys in sight as best we can with the waves.  Swimming 2.4 miles is not an easy task but swimming while being kicked in the head and having your feet grabbed makes the experience much more complex and memorable.  For myself, I have not been in the swimming pool for at least six months.  At home in Kotzebue, there is no pool.  I have trained for the past few months on a Vasa Trainer which simulates the conditions needed to work my swimming muscles.  I actually have no idea how I will fare in the swim with the entirely ‘synthetic’ training routine.   This is my fifth Ironman, so I have the benefit of having the confidence in knowing that I will absolutely finish the swim.   The question is in what amount of time and whether my time/technique will have improved or not.  My best IM swim time was about 1:15 (the shortened swim course will reduce this by about 15 minutes).  I would like to finish in 1 hour.   I will be focusing on my technique, on even and steady breathing, and on finding a swimmer just ahead of me to pace off of.   The water is too warm to allow for wetsuits.  For additional excitement there apparently are invisible jellyfish that bite like horseflies.   I don’t think that is a joke.

The bike course consists of three laps around Cozumel.  The course is entirely flat and the pavement is in good condition.  The difficult component of the course will be the strong winds.  The key for me will be to start off easy.  In the excitement, many people hit the bike course hard and then suffer from downgraded power output for the remainder of the day.  I will take the first 10 miles to get my legs warmed up and moving good.  I am aiming for a negative split which will allow me to finish feeling positive and strong.  The course is going to be crowded but this will also keep things interesting with more riders to pace with.  The bike segment is important for getting in key nutrition which will maintain strength not only during the bike but the run as well.  For me, bike nutrition has been tough.  Lately, anything has been hard to get down without GI consequences.  The course nutrition will be untested for me.  Without calories, the body will eventually run out of vital glycogen and the dreaded ‘Bonk’ will occur.  Therefore, getting in gels, electrolytes, and water will be my focus during the bike.  My goal for the bike course will be to average 18 mph-but this is hard to predict as it is so dependent on the wind conditions.  I would like to finish in under 6 hours.   Faster if possible!  I have trained inside on my computrainer all year putting in hours after hours on my bike.  Amelia thankfully kept me company for most of those hours!   I am really looking forward to a fun and gorgeous Oceanside ride on a real course.

It is hilarious to watch racers getting off the bike and onto the run.  I remember one year I was lucky enough to have John with me to cheer me on.  He was waiting for me near the bike dismount and I was so happy to see him I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have.  I had to stop suddenly to dismount but couldn’t get my shoe out of my pedal and promptly fell right over!   I was hoping John didn’t recognize me. 

It typically takes 2-3 miles of running to get your legs back and feeling strong (or numb enough to not be bothered by them).  That moment when you hand your bike over to the volunteers and take off your bike shoes feels that pure heaven.  At least until you throw on your run shoes and realize you have 26 more miles to go.  The run course is also three laps on a single road out and back so it will have many racers and spectators.  It is surprising how often you find yourself completely alone on the usual 1-2 lap courses.  This will be a refreshing change.  The run is a massive mental mountain.  It becomes SO EASY to slow the pace down, to walk through the aid stations, to just stop enough to reduce the pain momentarily.  People on the course want to talk to you for distraction which can be either good or bad depending on how it impact the target pace.  I am not a fast runner.  I also had ankle surgery in May which removed an OCD Lesion (Osteochondrial Defect).  Recovery from that surgery was painstakingly slow.  Working closely with my coach, Rebecca McKee, we decided our first task in racing IM Cozumel was to arrive at the start line uninjured.  Not as easy as it sounds.  We therefore had to be very conservative in our training approach for running.  This meant not putting in as many hours as needed, not being as intense as needed, and taking it easier than in the past.  My longest run, two-three weeks ago, was 15 miles.  Once again, I have to rely on my past completion to know that YES I will complete the 26.4 mile run but it will not be fast.  My training pace was a mere 6 mph.  My goal is to maintain that throughout the course.  This would have me finish the run course in 4:30. 

I like to have a mental plan for the run.  There are many people in my life over the years that have helped me to be the person that I am and have supporting me along the way.  I have a list-actually.  Every mile is dedicated to a different person (a few people have multiple miles!).  In my foggy brain, I reach out and say thank you to those people in my life.  I have actual conversations about common points of interest.  This inspires me when most needed and make me feel tremendously grateful for all things in my life. 

While I may be racing against the other random people on this course the biggest battle is always with myself.  It is what being an IronWOMAN is all about.  When I triumphantly cross the finish line I will have pushed back my inner demons until next time.  I will have shown my self-doubt, fear, and cowardice who is boss.  I will get to honor all the beautiful, precious, and incredible moments in life.   I will then get to watch every other racer out there crossing the finish line do the exact same thing.  Some will be jumping up and down, some will be crying, some will collapse, all will have something in common.  

You can follow the race at www.ironmancozumel.com.  Bib # 1821.  Thanks for your support! 

Dancing with Caribou

During the past few days there have been thousands of Caribou in the hills.  Every corner has another breathtaking view.  The dogs get pretty excited but still manage to stay focused-unlike me.  The Caribou get nervous with the dogs and just start to run in any direction.

Tundra Mushing

While most dog teams use four-wheelers to train in the summer, the dogs at Team Baker Kennel drag their mushers over tundra, through willow patches, in streams going to parts of the countryside not traveled by anything but caribou until snow falls to cushion the otherwise impassable terrain.  This is one minute of a 4 hour run.

Mistaken Identity

Ripple

Ocean

It is the time of year when we start spending hours and hours behind a team of dogs in preparation of races ahead.  With much time to think I start to wander down memory lane recalling past race mistakes that I hope to avoid this year.  I laugh to think about some of the odd things we do after being sleep deprived and past worn out.  On the Kobuk 440 this year I had the pleasure to run two liter mates:  Ocean and Ripple.  Both are this rare blue color with similar builds but that is where the resemblance really stops-one is male the other female.  Once we got to Ambler after a long night on the trail I decided to switch up leaders thinking that Ripple might have some spunk to get us to the next check point.  I was way happy to arrive as the first female into Ambler which came with this phenomenal fur hat as a prize.  Anyway, I start having some really odd issues with Ripple-she is not quite acting herself.  The line is loose and she is messing around with Velvet-the other leader.  As we get into Shungnak I begin to get a little concerned.  There is a photographer kneeling off of the ground about 15 yards away from the trail.  Ripple decides to take off AFTER THE PHOTOGRAPHER.  We are on ice and there was no stopping this team.  I start waving my hands to get the attention of the photographer then thankfully came across some snow  which allowed me to stop the team and refocus Ripple.  As we get on through a couple more checkpoints I am having more trouble with this Ripple who is not listening at all getting through these checkpoints.  But while she isn't listening all that well-she is driving the team at a great pace and I am eager to keep that up.  After chasing down some kids with hot dogs I finally have to get her out of there and put Summit in lead (her father).  It is then that I realize, the SHE is instead a HE, and Ocean has been in lead for basically the first time of his life!

This is story that I will not live down for a while I think...  It goes to show the importance of double and triple checking your actions as well as having great checklists with a really good headlamp!

Fall time training taken 10-25-13 by Katherine Keith

Nutrition

Preparing for endurance races, whether with its a solo Ironman or a long distance dog race, requires more that just the physical training.  It is a fine balance of training, recovery, nutrition, mental preparation, and logistics planning. Nutrition has always been difficult and challenging to master as I am an athlete with Celiac diesease and Colitis.  Both LOVE to wreak havoc on my gastrointestinal track-especially after long stress inducing workouts.  It is not just about calorie counting and tracking the grams of protein every day but being religious about the type of protein and the type of calories. Thankfully, there are wonderful companies, such as Hammer Nutrition, that cater to picky athletes.   Every day I learn more things about how and how not to eat.  For example, certain foods apparently have a high histamine content such wines, soy oranges, chocolate, processed meats, aged cheese, etc...  Basically, all of my favorite foods!  Avoiding these foods has made a huge difference for me (Unfortunately).

Nutrition plays a large role before, during, and after workouts.  When workouts are lasting more than 1.5 hours I will use an energy source such as Hammer Gel every 30 minutes.  I also need to make sure that my electrolytes are being replaced and will use either NUUN  tablets or Endurolyte pills.  Without these it is very easy to cramp up.   The post workout recovery is especially important.  There is a 60 minute window, after long workouts, to efficiently replace used up glycogen, repair muscle tissues, and replace lost electrolytes.  To do all of this I use Recoverite.  There is a huge variety of products on the market to choose based on what your special needs might be. It is also nice to have something that tastes somewhat decent.     I am always looking for suggestions! 

 

Training Stress Score

There is quite an exact science to training for long distance endurance events.  Months and even years of preparation go into the planning, nutrition, and fitness building.  Many athletes work with coaches to help them navigate the complications of our individual physiology.  I have worked with Rebecca McKee owner of Peak Center Alaska (and complete rock star!).   The training schedule she creates is specifically based on testing completed in her lab which, through fitness testing, determines the power and heart rate zones I should be focusing on for biking and running.  This testing is done every three months.  To track gains and losses in fitness I use Training Peaks to log every single workout completed.  In this age of electronics everything can be uploaded:  bike speed, bike cadence, heart rate, power output, etc...    This data spits out graphs like the one below. 

This graphs shows data since July 2013.  The dark blue line, which thankfully rises, indicates my level of fitness.  The yellow is a 'training stress score' which determine the level of fatigue.  The yellow line increases when you are resting and it decreases after long bike rides (for example).  The pink line is a daily total of the workouts each day (it is a product of intensity and time).  Such graphs are useful in understanding where your body is at and can be combined with our own awareness of what the body is feeling.   As we get closer to the race we will want to see the yellow increase so that there is LOTS of energy on race day!  This will be done by tapering (reducing the workload) slightly before the race.

As an engineer-I LOVE geeking out on this data! As an athlete, I LOVE the feedback which pushes me to work harder every training session.    Now if only I could do this for our dogs!

Kona 2013 - October 12th

Wish I was going to be here this year  but I will be working hard to make it happen next year!  In order to race in the Kona Ironman World Championships you have to qualify by being the top 1-2 finishers in your age group of a Ford Ironman race.  Either that or you pay $100 for a lottery ticket...    I'd rather earn my way through hard work but I won't turn away a bit of good luck either!

This race is always epic and has great coverage.  You can follow it at: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/world-championship.aspx#axzz2h47K4uS1

Indoor Cycling

Cervelo with Computrainer

In order to prepare for an Ironman distance triathlon, an athlete must spend hours upon hours biking countless miles.  The restriction of having no roads to ride on causes the need for creativity as I put in 4 plus hour bike rides.  I am thankful for this stellar set up which has taken years to build up to.  The Computrainer allows me to bike based on power.  The flywheel is controlled electronically by a computer.  I have various real course videos which allow me to ride on actual courses such as IM Kona or IM Coeur d'Alene.   I also utilize ERGVideos which allow for very creative intervals and training scenarios to make the long hours not so passive.  I also have a screen to watch movies-so I am very caught up on all the latest flicks.

Arctic Swimming

Training for Ironman races above the Arctic Circle requires a tremendous amount of time inside on a bike trainer, inside on the swim trainer, and inside on the treadmill.  Living in Kotzebue (with no swimming pool and only a few miles of paved roads) makes training a unique logistical challenge.  The most recent addition to our gym is a VASA Trainer which mimics outdoor swimming using a power meter.  Definitely makes my form significantly better!  The real testament will be on December 1st on race day morning.  That will likely be the first time swimming in actual water all year.