Post Ironman Kona "long" ride

Look...mountains! 

It's crazy to think that it was just a week ago when we were swimming with fishes in the ocean, and sweating in the lava fields.

This past Saturday, we returned back to our mountains (with arm warmers) and explored a new route on two wheels (on road bikes).

I absolutely LOVE cycling this time of the year - the tree leaves are so pretty!

Our route was familiar to me as I had rode it at the Purple Patch Fitness (PPF) Greenville camp but it was new to Karel. It's crazy to think that we have lived here in Greenville for 2.5 years and have never done the  Green River Cove loop together!!

I am absolutely in love with this 20-mile loop! The beauty, the switchbacks, the descends, the climbing, the flat roads, the river views, the nice pavement, the quite roads, the mountains...it has everything a cyclist should love when riding on two wheels!

Seeing that we will ride this loop at the end of the 80-mile Hincapie Gran Fondo next Saturday (following climbing Skyuka mountain and Howard's gap), it was nice to preview it for an "easy" ride. 

3 hours and 15 minutes, 51 miles and around 4000 feet of climbing......so much fun!

Since Karel is always so kind to let me stay (suffer) on his wheel when he is training, I took some of the pulls to help out his tender, post IM Kona legs.

We hardly ever drive our bikes anywhere as we can ride safely from our doorstep to our favorite country roads, but to eliminate an extra 30+ miles of riding, we drove to Hotel Domestique and started our ride around 9:30am from the hotel (it's also a popular place where many cyclists start their group rides - also the home base for the Purple Patch Fitness Greenville camp). 

Here are some of the pictures I took from our ride.

I absolutely love riding here in Greenville - it's hard for me to not take more pictures! 

Karel is slowly recovering from IM Kona. He is slowly getting back to a normal sleep routine, his appetite is in full force and he has some deep fatigue in his quads. His training (exercise routine) is minimal as he is finally able to fully rest (and reset) his body after a long season of training and racing. 

This recovery is a bit different than the last two Ironman's this summer for a few reasons:

It's the off-season.

No more races until next season.

It's a true break from structured training.

Thinking about the recovery post Ironman, there are many factors that contribute to how quickly an athlete can recover from his/her 140.6 mile effort. Factors like racing intensity, nutrition (daily diet), fueling/hydrating (during the race), prior training/fitness, taper, execution, weather and race course terrain can all dictate how well an athlete can recover before he/she can slowly ease back into more structured training. 

But when your Ironman occurs at the end of the season, it can hit you hard - mentally and physically. Karel and I discussed this topic in great detail during our ride (despite 4000 feet of climbing, we kept the ride pretty conversational.....until Karel made me sprint up the last climb up to Hotel D!). There are a obvious and not-so-obvious strategies of how to transition from Ironman in training to Ironman finisher to finally, an athlete in the off-season.....where you instantly don't feel like an athlete anymore!

Don't over analyze your race. Reflect and then move on.

You are not lazy or out of shape. You are an athlete in his/her off-season.

Pick out the highlight moments in your race experience and keep reminding yourself of those successes.

Determine your weaknesses that were evident in your last race and decide your action plan on how you will continually work on them. 

Start planning your next season of racing.

Don't become sedentary - stay active with non-structured exercise that doesn't reflect triathlon "training".

Don't bash your body or diet/restrict calories. Thank your body and establish smart, realistic and sustainable healthy eating patterns that reflect your current exercise regime.

Plan more fun stuff - go for a hike, kayak/ski, travel, vacation, volunteer.

Select fun low stress, minimal impact events (5K, 10K, bike events, swim events, etc.) to keep yourself motivated.

Recruit your favorite (or new) exercise partners (ex. family or friends) to keep you motivated to work out for health benefits and stress relief.

When you recover, don't train for a running race. Start functional strength training.

Keep yourself "in the sport" - follow blogs, read articles, subscribe to magazines. Don't completely "check out" of the sport.

Give yourself a break - you deserve a break from structured training. Create a new normal and enjoy it. Don't wake up and live each day with guilt and a deep feeling that you should be doing more. There will be a time to train hard, set an alarm for an early wake-up, go to bed early and make sacrifices. Your off-season is not that time. 

Be ok with this temporary, but necessary, time to let your body fully recover and rejuvenate.

Ironman Austria - Post Race recap

Karel waited almost an hour for me to cross the Ironman Austria finish line. But not to worry because the Ironman Austria post race buffet was filled with many European eats and treats. 

Karel didn't rush right to the food but when he was ready, he enjoy goulash with bread, meats, beer, croissants, watermelon and pizza. 

He said the goulash was good but the pizza and beer was not. This was Karel's first beer since we arrived to Europe so it was a total disappointment for him. 

I managed to find some strength in my legs to chat with my friend Kelly Fillnow who had a fantastic race in the professional women division. It's always fun to see familiar faces during a race and the chat after the race (when the suffering has stopped).

I was quite surprised that I had absolutely no GI issues post race. Typically, once the heart rate drops and the blood returns to the gut from the muscles, I am typically spending a little time in the restroom letting my system get back to normal (which is not abnormal for many athletes, especially athletes who race at high intensity). 

But this was the first Ironman that I can remember that I had no GI issues and I contribute it to the comfortable temperatures that we experienced on race day, coupled with a flatter run course after a hilly bike. Digestion of sport nutrition went extremely well for me and Karel but like usual, I was in no rush to eat solid food. It typically takes me a good hour to have any type of appetite post race (or for any solid food to digest) but I have to be careful of dropping blood sugar so alongside sipping on Hammer Fizz for electrolytes post race, I typically enjoy fruit, pretzels/crackers and bread (of some sorts) as the first options that enter my digestive system. And lots of water. 

I received my finisher tshirt and found a clean restroom to change clothes. I forgot my Wet Ones singles to clean off after the race, as well as a towel, in my "Street Clothes" bag but I couldn't wait to put on dry, clean clothes so I just wiped myself off with paper towels. 

I was moving extremely slowly and my right foot had a tender area on the bottom of it (which started to pop up around 2 miles to go) so I was not enjoying walking that much in my sandals (that I brought) so thankfully I had a clean pair of Brooks Pure Flow run shoes that I wore pre race (same style of shoes that I race in) so I put those on. I didn't have the strength to put on compression yet so I just put on normal socks. 

Karel and I slowly made our way to the transition area to get our bags and bikes. I'm always so amazed how my body can move so fast for so long until I cross the finish line and then all of a sudden I am moving at snails pace. 

As I walked to the transition area, I could not stop thinking about our day. It was absolutely perfect from start to finish. If my mind was in another place during this race, I do not think I would have been able to execute like I did. I was a bit surprised that I was in better shape than I thought I was in but I the most important thing was making sure my mind was in the best place possible to tolerate the 140.6 mile stress that I needed to survive to finish strong. I could not be more proud of Karel as well and sharing these experiences together is incredibly special for me. Because racing comes with a mix of emotions before a race, my favorite part of racing with Karel is post race when the racing hype is over and we can relax and share stories of how the race went down (hubby and wifey insider details).

We grabbed our bikes from our respective racks and then our T1 and T2 bags. The security was extremely tight in the transition area and after we turned in our chip (which was scanned on a computer to make sure it matched our bike and wrist band) we then went to another line to make sure our bags matched our bikes and our wrist band. 

Karel and I walked our bikes and bags the 1/2 mile or so to the car, unloaded our gear into the gear and then drove home. 

At this point, I was getting super tired and could not wait to get inside our flat to lay down. 

We finally arrived to our flat, shuffled our way up the stairs and I crashed on the bed as I called my mom to give her the run down of the race. 

I was also welcomed home with many emails and facebook messages and I was so excited to see that so many of you tracked us during our day in Austria. Thank you for your support!! We felt it on race day!!

After a well needed shower (which was rather uncomfortable when I discovered a bit of chaffing under my air pit where I forgot to put on body glide where my jersey rubbed my skin) I put together some leftovers as I typically do post race.

Pretzels, pizza, milk (which I always have post race after an IM after my tummy calms down), banana, chocolate, bread. There is absolutely no creativity or balance to this post race meal for it's all about what looks, tastes and feels the best in my body. Sometimes I think something will taste great and then I take a bit and don't want any more. I have learned over the years what sits the best post race but I still have to be careful not to overindulge post race. Typically, I crave more salty/fatty foods in the 24-48 hours after a race vs. sweets or salty carbs which are more cravable in the first 24 hours. 

It was nearing 9pm and Karel and I were getting a little rest in our legs by laying down in bed in our compression gear when we heard a loud thunder outside. Oh no! 

The final hour is what I love the most about Ironman racing and I have only missed one finisher line from 11pm-12am. Sadly, it was pouring rain and thundering on and off in the last few hours before the finish and we decided to stay put in our flat for we knew the finishers needed us to cheer them on but our broken down bodies were in no shape to cheer in the rain and thunder. IMWI - we will be there in the last hour for sure!

Another surprise post race was sleep! I always suffer from post Ironman insomnia, often for 2-3 days which leaves me incredibly run down and exhausted. However, I managed 5 hours of sleep (11-3) which was incredible for my body. Karel woke up around 2 and was super hungry so he was eating sandwiches in the middle of the night. I woke up around 3 and had a bowl of granola with milk and then played around on my iPad and then around 5, I feel asleep again for about 2 hours (on an off). 

By 7am, Karel and I were both up and ready for some real food. Real European food!

We went to the Euro Spar around 7:45am and had fun shopping with our post Ironman, glycogen depleted bodies making the choices. 

Karel had a lot of choices to make.....

Lots and lots of choices. 

Our grocery shopping experience was delicious. We did not eat everything right away but boy oh boy, do eggs and salty potato chips, watermelon and danishes taste great after an Ironman!

A few hours later, Karel and I were ready for some exploring. There were a few things that we wanted to do in Austria before we headed back to Czech and we were told to visit Pyramidenkogel. 

What a sight!! The drive to the top of the mountain was filled with twists and turns and despite two bodies that were extremely tired and sore, we both kept saying how fun it would be to bike up this mountain to the top...that is with a fully recovered body. 

After we bought our tickets to visit the top, Karel came up with the brilliant idea of walking up the 441 flights of stairs (in the middle is a slide you can slide down if you meet the height requirements and for an extra charge). Here I am, hobbling to walk to the top of the hill where the bottom of the tower stands and Karel suggests a walk up flights and flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. 

I didn't want to be left out of all this fun and pain so I joined Karel on our walk to the top. As for walking down, we both agreed our quads would not handle that walk down (unless we walked down backwards to take the pressure off our quads) so we took the easy way out - thank goodness for elevators after an Ironman!

The view from the top was incredible! We were worried about the view because it had been raining all morning but we managed to time it just right. Talk about lucky - the day before our Ironman it was blazing hot and the day after it was pouring rain and cold. 

Panoramic views!

This is part of the lake that we swim in for the Ironman. 

My partner in crime who loves to suffer with me. Although I think he can suffer much more than me.....did I mention that Karel ran a 3:11 marathon after biking sub 5 hours on the IM Austria bike course?? Crazy! 

After our workout (anything after an Ironman feels like a workout) we enjoyed cappuccinos and poppyseed cake. Yum!

We were not alone in our yumming for the restaurant downstairs in the tower was packed with triathletes enjoying fat, sweets and alcohol. Nothing atypical about that post race, even in Austria!

We packed up our flat for we were leaving Austria on Tuesday morning to head back to Czech. 

However, on Monday evening we attended the athlete post race awards party which was followed by an after party, then followed by an after, after party and fireworks (which were supposed to be at the finish line on Sunday but due to rain, it was cancelled). 

Those Europeans known how to throw a post race party!!

Not only did we get to see two incredible professional athletes receive their awards for their record breaking day, but the award ceremony for the top 3 age groupers was incredible. It was the best award ceremony I have attended (next to Kona) and the night got better and better as the awards flowed down to the 65-69 and even the 70+ age group! Talk about inspiration!!

It was so great to meet Lindsey Corbin! She is super sweet and she even asked about how my race went which was so thoughtful. She's a rockstar!

The food was great (Every section of the long table was served large platters of food so no waiting in line). There was lasagna, veggies, rice and of course, lots and lots of drinks (water and beer). 

The buffet of desserts was incredible and Karel and I tried a little of everything (we like to share). 

Thanks for the memories Klagenfurt! You were great to us!

On Tuesday morning we made our 4.5 hour drive to Czech and although we had so much fun in Austria, we could not wait to get back home to Karel's mom's flat. Of course, we had lots and lots of food waiting for us!

Homemade veggie and potato soup with homemade pasta noodles. 

Potato salad and fried zucchini (Karel had Schnitzel).

Although I do not understand anything, it is so special to see Karel and his mom chat. It's so sad that we can not visit more often for Karel has only been back to Czech twice (last May and this year) since he came to America in 2000 to pursue his American Dream. 

And of course, no meal is complete with dessert. Homemade apricot bars with apricots from Karel's mom's garden. 

Karel's mom gave me chocolate covered hazelnuts because she was so proud of me for my Ironman finish. 

Karel's dad traveled by bus, to a small town and walked 1K to get me these well-known Cannolis. What great in-laws I have!! (even though they do not speak English, I can feel the love.)

And to cap off our evening for our first night back in Czech post Ironman....

The long awaited "real" beer for Karel. 

Heaven in a glass for Karel. 

Karel made sure to make up for his 8 days in Czech without a beer at the pub that sits behind Karel's dad's flat (very convenient :) 

Thanks Ironman Austria for helping us make our trip to Europe extra special!! We are now super excited for the next journey....Ironman Wisconsin on September 7th!!

Is it just me or is Karel now picking his Ironman races based on the beer selections? :)  

Ironman Lake Placid RR: 140.6 miles post race

(Photo from Megan Wiseman - 3rd place)

It's been two weeks since Ironman Lake Placid and thankfully, the body remembers nothing of the race. 

                       

But because there has been minimal working out and no structured training for the past 14 days, there hasn't been a chance for the body to notify me of any residual micro tears in my muscles and fibers that would cause me to experience lingering fatigue, soreness, burnout and aches post Ironman. Now I will say, 6th time around, I am very in-tune with my body after racing for 140.6 miles and knowing what to do post race is just as important as considering what not to do post race.
Here is how the exercise routine looked for the past two weeks, with no structure or alarms to tell me that I had to do something. Everything felt good when I did it and I stopped when I wanted to stop.
Mon - Wed post race: nothing
Tues post race: Walking around on Whiteface mountain for an hour
Thurs - 45 min swim
Fri - 45 min Swim
Sat and Sun - 2 hour road bike, EZ spin
Mon - 45 min swim + light core/hip work
Tues - 1:45 road bike, EZ spin
Wed - 45 min swim + hip work

Thurs - 45 min run (5 min walk on incline 5% @3.5mph, 5 min running @ 6.5 mph (ran by feel) w/ no incline. Repeated this 4 times for a total of 20 minutes of running + 5 min walk cool down. 3.5 miles total, no soreness, fatigue or issues before, during or after the run or the next day. 

Fri - 20 min swim
Sat - 2.5 hour social ride w/ my friend Heidi
Sun (today) - plan is 1.5 hour bike + 30 min run (1 mile run + 1-2 min walk). Not a "brick" but just using the bike to warm-up my legs

Mon - back to training, easing in slowly with 9 weeks until the 2013 Ironman World Championship.

After I crossed the finish line and fell into the arms of two amazing volunteers (who were strong enough to catch me and my jello legs), and they asked me if I needed medical.
My reply in a joking manner "No, I'm ok. I'm just tired because I did an Ironman!"

They laughed and asked me what I wanted/needed. 

My reply "I need to find my husband, he just did his first Ironman."

And there he was, right in front of me. With his Mylar blanket keeping his body temperature warm after taking a dip in Mirror Lake to rinse off all the gels, sport drinks and sweat from his first-timer Ironman body, Karel gave me a big hug and said "WOW - you did awesome babe!" 

The first thing I asked him was "How was your race?"
Such a funny question since we were both on the course together and saw each other several times on the bike and the run, but never did I guess, think or wonder what Karel's finishing time would be. 

He replied "10:03"

I couldn't believe it. I kept telling him that was so amazing and he told me he was really happy and proud. The best part of it all was when Karel was running down the finishing chute and heard Mike R. call his name as a first timer from Jacksonville, Florida, Karel said he got emotional as he has been anticipating this day without knowing how the day would ever turn out. I was so happy that he experienced that finishing line to the fullest because that is what the Ironman is all about. 140.6 miles and no matter how the race goes, it is all turned around in those last few tenths of a mile as you approach the finishing line as a member of a special group of individuals who can officially call themselves "Ironman finisher". 

As I hobbled my way with the volunteers to some chairs, I noticed there were a lot of guys around me and many who were making their way to the medical tent. I couldn't take in any solid food as usual, only water. 

After Karel told me about his race, I managed to look at Garmin for the first time in the history file and after switching over from swim, to bike, to run, I told Karel that I ran a 3:48 marathon! I couldn't believe it! Of course, this is after I told him that it was the hardest run of my life, I had to sprint to the finishing line and I am not sure if I am 4th of 5th (if I will get a Kona slot but I may have a chance), my quads were burning the entire race and I really dug deep to finish strong.  I kept looking at my watch as I read 

"10:43, 140.6 miles."

It's funny that in an Ironman, you can go into the race with your current level of fitness and anticipate a finishing time. But the only thing that is certain is how many miles you have to cover until you get your finisher medal, hat and t-shirt. Never can you chase a time for 140.6 miles is a long way to go.

For Karel, his two goals were to qualify for Kona and to break 10 hours. Of course, big goals for your first Ironman. Karel and myself are motivated by our goals and we love to put in the work for them in a balanced way so that are action plan has results. I would never tell Karel or any of my athletes to not dream big, even if the goal is not possible at this point in time. The key is making sure that your goal/dream motivates you but does not distract you from enjoying the journey. Karel never put too much pressure on himself that he would need to compare himself to the crazy fast guys in his 35-39 age group (with only 6 Kona slots) who can swim, bike and run their way to a sub 9:30 Ironman or that he would hate his training because he can't get faster quick enough. What Karel experienced with the Ironman journey is that his body only let him do so much throughout training and he was only allowed to accept his current level of fitness within 24 hours of the race and what he could do to execute a strong, well-paced race. He did just that and without taking too many risks, he is motivated to improve his swim and to learn to be a faster triathlete.
Never would I want anyone to not dream big but at the end of the day, your race day performance is not titled good or bad just because of a finishing time. After sitting around in the finisher area for a good 15 minutes until my body felt semi-OK to take a picture ...

I told Karel, just like I did at IMWI when I crossed the line in 4th place, 90 seconds behind 3rd place and only 3 Kona slots again, that I was so happy with my performance that I wouldn't care about not getting a Kona slot. I did exactly what I trained myself to do and that was to race a strong race. You never know how the cards will be dealt on race day and when things are going well, I recognize them and don't expect things to go even better. Sure, I got ran down by many girls but I was racing a strong race for me and my body and that was worth celebrating.

Toughness comes from overcoming personal limits, obstacles and doubts. You have to argue against the internal voices in your head that scream at you to slow down. Your body gives you feedback that you are not able to maintain this effort to the finish line and that your energy levels are falling. No one but yourself can experience these feelings and no one but you can overcome them.....unless you choose to give in to the pain.

No matter the distance of your upcoming race, how you choose to execute the race or your finishing time, you are a tough, strong athlete because you have prevented barriers which would have stopped you from reaching the finish line and have shut-up the thoughts that tell you it is not possible.

After grabbing our phones from our transition bags and getting our bikes, I checked my phone in my pre race gear bag and was overwhelmed by the messages from our friends and family. Absolutely shocked is a better way to put it as I couldn't believe how many people tracked us throughout the day. Deep inside, I think I heard everyone so we thank you!!

We got on our bikes and painfully (ouch!) rode our bikes 3 miles down the road to our cottage while cheering for the athletes on the course. And this is why I love the Ironman...athletes still with over 13 miles to go on the run and they are congratulating us for our accomplishment. Just amazing!

When we arrived home, we both collapsed on separate beds and chatting with our families. Karel's family in Czech were tracking us all day and you could only believe how excited his parents were since all they knew of Karel was him as a cyclist. 

I took a cold epson salt bath and spent some time dealing with my tummy post race (nothing abnormal) and finally managed to get in some nutrition - pretzels, fruit, glass of milk, leftover small slice of pizza.

I packed some pringles, tums and saltines for later as well as 1 FIZZ in my water to replenish electrolytes. 

Nearing 10:30pm and completely exhausted, sore and aching all over, it was time to head back to the race to cheer on the last hour of finishers. 

It was dark on River Road and on our bikes, pedaling super duper slowly, we cheered for the athletes and told them we expect to see them at the finish line when we get there. Volunteers still on the course, it was all becoming so real that we really just did an Ironman together!

We met Laura and her boyfriend and family at her place and I could finally congratulate her for her amazing first timer 6th place age group finish and we all walked to the finish line for my favorite part of the Ironman..the last hour. 

Thank you again for all your support, cheers and kind words over the past two weeks.

I look forward to sharing my 7th Ironman journey with everyone.....starting tomorrow!