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Finding What's Right When it All Goes Wrong

With less than 3 weeks until my A-race, IMMT 140.6 (or 226.3 in Canadian) I am struggling to stay positive. My season thus far has been, well messy. Unforeseen challenges have popped up left and right. My beautifully crafted training plan has been torn up, crumpled, and maybe even set on fire. It is not recognizable as the carefully designed, well thought out, researched Training Peaks calendar I spent all of December designing. I find myself winging it at this point, not my forte. I like a plan and I like sticking to it. I don't have faith in a lot, but I have faith in my body when properly trained, my own ability to develop and follow through on that training, and about now I am questioning that faith.

I like routine, and for several years the routine has been to begin training in January for my A-race marathon, our hometown race, the Bayshore. I usually begin layering my serious Ironman training partway into that plan about March. This year just before spring break (late March) I caught a pretty terrible bug that took me off my training plan for about 2 key weeks of marathon training. While on our spring break trip to DC I was able to clear metro cars with my coughing fits alone. The bonus to that particular challenge was the core strength gained from round the clock coughing.

We (husband-training partner-coach Dan) also run the Riverbank 25k as a dress rehearsal on Mother's Day weekend. About 9 miles into that race the gap in training became apparent when I could no longer hold my pace and fell out of the 2 hour club. I missed it by 3 minutes this year. That near miss will be a motivator this winter as I train for 2020. I was bummed but I was hoping I might fare better in my marathon, and the Triathlon training was just beginning so I was not worried about that.

The Memorial Day holiday weekend arrived as it often does as the opening of the summer season, with the first warm weather of the year, which for those of us that train in northern Michigan, we are not acclimated to. This year for me it was more the humidity that I struggled with. There was so much fog rolling off the bay that at one point I could hear the crowd of spectators up ahead but could only see the 5 runners close to me. I found again that I was able to hold goal pace for about 10-11 miles before I started to struggle. I was finding it hard to breathe with the high humidity. Being not my first marathon I was able to make adjustments and change the focus from PR, to finish. Which I did at a time I am not very proud of, but also one that I am not terribly unhappy with. I had hoped for faster, but I finished strong, and there was no crying. I was able to keep my head in the right place when things were going wrong.

I was super excited for my next few multi-sport races the M22 challenge and the Tri-4-Kristie. The M22 was good, my run up the dune was solid, and my bike was fast, but my paddle boarding was slow and rather tortuous. And because this season had not been humbling enough yet, I missed the podium by one spot.

Two weeks later my first traditional triathlon of the season was impacted by our unpredictable Michigan spring weather and the swim was cancelled because of the threat of hypothermia. Yes only 3 weeks after an unseasonably warm marathon kicked my butt, a swim was cancelled because it was too cold outside. Also, bonus it was raining. So we started with the bike and I was able to ride much faster that I had in the past on the course, I had a solid 10k run and won my age group. However, again just to keep me humble, the results will not show that. The second place woman in my age group and her husband mixed up their bibs and chips so results show me in second place, because her husband beat me.

In late June we raced at Steelhead 70.3. I had done this race 2 years ago, when it was in August and I really enjoyed it. So I convinced my husband it would be fun this year earlier in the season. This one went weird in a very unexpected way. About 100 yards into the swim, in a very calm Lake Michigan with little to no contact with other swimmers, my heart rate spiked and I spiraled into a complete panic attack with full on hyperventilation. Seriously! What in the actual F#$@???? I love swimming, I train in Lake Michigan, in 2017 at Steelhead we had 4ft swells. At Mont Tremblant last year I took an elbow to the jaw that had me seeing stars. I was fine in those situations, what was going on? Why could I not breathe and get my shit together on a calm day? I actually had to cling to a buoy. In the midst of this freak- out I glance over to see my husband (not a great swimmer) backstroke by me. Oh no, this is how our son becomes an orphan. Get it together, here comes a safety kayaker, I suck it up and breathe every stroke until I find my rhythm again. Fortunately, even a half Ironman is a long swim and I was able to regain my composure reason with my monkey brain. When I got out I was not thrilled to see I was about 5 minutes slower on the swim than last time I did this race, but on to the bike. The beautiful thing about the triathlon is the redemption that comes with the multiple disciplines. One leg goes wrong, you have the chance to redeem yourself in the next. The bike leg went well, faster than 2017, nice. However the run was very hot, and I was a little slower than previously. Following the disastrous swim I did make a decision to thoroughly enjoy run and I did. My overall time was slower and I was about 10 places back this time through. I will say that in 2017 Steelhead was my A-race and happened in August rather than June. Now I see that June fitness is not August fitness.

So, now I am just 18 days out from Mont Tremblant. I have seen that my focus on the bike has paid off, and that is one leg I am feeling really good about. My swim should be on point, I spent countless hours over the winter training in our local pool and did a full hour in the bay last night, but I am having a hard time keeping Steelhead out of my head. And the run, my last long run was pretty ugly, I bonked super hard and walked 6 of 18 miles. The 15 miler prior to that was great, so I am cautiously optimistic. But What I have learned from this season is to just let the expectations go. I can and will complete this challenge I have set for myself, and I can and will overcome anything triathlon throws at me, because this season I already have. I will make a conscious effort to be present and appreciate the experience.

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Tri-4-Kristie Bike Start

Photo credit- Emily Defour

 
 
 

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Coach Kat also does design:)

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