My Race for Sue

On October 11th, 2008 I will be competing in the Ironman Hawaii World Championship on the big island of Hawaii. I am racing with a special purpose this year, in memory of my friend Sue Robinson, a fellow Ironman athlete and age-group competitor who died from ovarian cancer almost exactly 2 years ago at the young age of 39. While she was still alive, along with my good friend Lydia Schlosser, we raced at Ironman Hawaii in her honor, raising $10,000 for the Nat'l Ovarian Cancer Coalition. Now I will be racing in memory of the amazing woman she was. Donations raised will be supporting the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, will all funds directed toward ovarian cancer research and education. I wanted to choose an institution that is active and successful with clinical cancer research and education and I found that in the MSKCC. The picture to the right is one of Sue who is running next to her daughter, Katie, who on a whim, decided to run a marathon to raise funds for ovarian cancer when she discovered her mom was sick. Her longest run prior to that marathon was 6 miles.
I would love for everyone to view a short video of part of a talk given by Sue at a local triathlon in September '05 that I think everyone should hear, along with the message she would like to share..."live every day as if your life is a gift." There is also an interview of Lydia Schlosser that gives you some further insight into the kind of woman Sue was. Please watch it...it's about 4 minutes long and worth the time. Go to YouTube.com and type in my name in the search box (Diana Hassel) and it will come up. I have yet to begin my fundraising efforts, as it's been a crazy last few months at work, but I'll be hitting it hard in the next few weeks to hopefully far exceed my fundraising goal of $5000. If you would like to support a great cause, and have another nice tax deduction when you file next April, please consider visiting my Janus Charity Challenge donation page:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorreg/donorpledge.asp?ievent=263050&supID=87443991
Thanks for reading!!

Buffalo Springs 70.3 Race Report

It finally arrived...my last chance race for a Kona slot, and I felt race ready and very fit with my MAO training. There's something about the aura of the Lubbock race that really appeals to me...I think it's the great, down to earth race directors and the field of master's and grand master's Hawaii AG world champion athletes that always seem to make this a must do race each year. I think the young crowd doesn't view Lubbock as a "destination" race, so we see many fewer youngsters...but the one's there this year were top notch! This year was a particularly competitive one, with large numbers of former Hawaii AG world champs and ex-professional women competing for the coveted Kona slots. I didn't really know who my main AG competition was until Jerry (race announcer extraordinaire) spelled it out for me the night before the race...so much for avoiding pre-race nerves!

Race morning I was in great spirits. I said my little pre-race prayer asking God for the safety of all the racers, with of course the underlying main self-serving purpose of my need prayer...no mechanical breakdowns on the bike! Truthfully, I made the mistake of thinking...well, one flat might be okay...but no broken chains, frames, derailleurs, etc!

On to the race...
Swim: Now this was an interesting one! Watching the 1st wave go off (the pros), I laughed as they all ran to the edge of the water and just kept running in calf-deep water...for a long way...we're talking several hundred meters! I noticed that the runners definitely had an edge over the swimmers, so I figured I would be following suit, along with the vast majority of my AG competitors, and that's exactly what happened...in every wave. Apparently there was a cinder block buried somewhere along the way that sent several people into a water faceplant along the shore, so I was pretty cautious trekking along the shore behind the gals in my wave. After getting totally winded from running in knee-deep water, I was finally able to take the dive and begin the swim leg. I felt really good and felt like I was keeping a good pace, but found it very hard to find a good pair of feet. Fortunately, I finally found some in the last 6-700 meters and stayed with them the rest of the way...only later to discover they were the feet of my 40-44 AG competitor who would dominate later on the run. I felt fantastic getting out of the water. With all of the extra swim training I've done this year with MAO, the swim leg doesn't seem to deplete me at all.

Bike: I jumped onto my bike in a hurry and headed up the first 2 steep hills of the bike found within the first mile of the race. On that 2nd hill I was passed by that same gal who I would become familiar with later when she would fly by me on the run : (. I decided to just hang back a bit and see what kind of pace she was going to ride and also it helped keep me from going ballistic too early on. After about 5 miles (the perfect warm-up for me), I put the hammer down and dropped her and another gal that managed to pass me early on. I felt absolutely fantastic and was flying down the road and up the hills effortlessly and making up tons of time. I had a very healthy lead on all of my AG competitors by mile 40 of the bike when it happened...that strange feeling in your bars like there is no padding between you and the road. I looked down to discover my front tire was pancake flat as I crested the hill of the canyon. I couldn't believe it...but got to work right away to change the flat. I had a cheap spare tubular that had been folded up for about 4 years (i.e. the whole prestretch thing was history) with no glue on it either and I was a little worried that it would fail me. I whipped out my trusty #10 scalpel blade, chopped the $120 tire in half and ripped it off the rim of my nice new Zipp 404. Then I went to take off the valve extender, as it would be impossible to fill my spare without it. It was applied with a bit of lock-tight solution and boy did that stuff live up to it's name! I was cussing a bit as I kept trying to use my teeth to unscrew the darn thing from the valve...with mud flying everywhere as I was spinning this torn tire all over the place (did I mention it was raining and wet the whole time with no grip available?). After about 4 attempts, it finally looked like it was coming loose!...I was ecstatic. I kept prying it off with my teeth only to discover the entire inner part of the valve stem had come with it! Now I was a little annoyed : ). I tried the teeth thing again with the little valve thing to no avail. At that point, some other guy flatted about 50 feet behind me and said he was out of the race with his second flat (what's with all of the flats anyway!!). He offered me one of his valve extenders and I left him with mine (nothing that 2 pairs of pliers wouldn't fix!). He was my tri guardian angel for the day, as I was out of the race without that black chunk of metal. Then came stretching the cheap, ancient, glueless tire onto the rim...but I think I had superhuman strength at that time so it didn't take as long as usual. My CO2 cartridge actually worked, and I was off seconds later. I kept in mind that I probably shouldn't go too crazy on the last 16 miles, as I still had a 13 mile run to do, but I do think I took it a notch higher than I would have without the flat. So how long did I spend on the side of the road?? Well, I didn't know myself until I got home and downloaded my HR monitor data an hour ago. Looks like I wasted a minimum of 7 minutes with the tubular fiasco...but fortunately it wasn't 9 minutes (stay tuned for why...). AHR on the bike: 149 (incl. 7 min tire fight rest)

Run: I came into transition and noticed there still weren't many bikes around...a good sign, but figured there had to be some gals in my AG ahead of me with the long delay I had. I started my run with the best run legs I can remember in years. My first mile was a 7:30 and I was feeling comfortable at that pace, but then again, that mile didn't include any monster hills. I suffered some on the bigger hills, allowing myself to do my little hill running technique of 10 counts walking, 20 counts running up the steeper parts, while trying to take maximum advantage of the downhills. It was really hard to tell who was who on the run and where I was sitting in my age group, but one thing I knew for sure was that Peggy Yetman (the winner of our AG) definitely passed me between miles 4 and 5...and it was one of those where you ask yourself...am I running, or am I walking backwards? types of passes. She was flying...like Miranda Carfrae pace...really! I cruised along with some high points and low points, but the best part was miles 9-12. Now usually those are some of the hardest miles for me when I really slow down, but not this time. I actually managed to negative split this race (thanks Luis & Mark!), getting me to the line with a 1:42 half split (stellar for me in recent years). Now if only I could get back down to those 1:38's of my early triathlon days...maybe next year! I do seem to be getting faster with age. I finished the race in 5 hours flat and in 2nd place in the W40-44 division. I've done this race 3 times and every single time I've finished in 5 hours flat...but this time, I had an extra 7 minutes lost on the side of the road. To me, that means I'm still getting faster with age : ). I love that! AHR on the run (first half 154; last half 157)

Overall it was a fantastic day for me and with the exception of the flat, I had a perfect race and really had a blast! I thanked every volunteer and every policeman at every intersection, and they were all so great. I also really enjoyed racing with so many friends that I only get to see once in a blue moon when we happen to do the same races.

Oh...and that coveted Kona slot went to Peggy Yetman. However, there were a few slots unaccounted for in other female divisions, making me first in line to get the first rolled down Ironman slot!! Whew!!! A happy ending to a fantastic day. As far as the 7+ minute time loss...Peggy Yetman beat me by NINE minutes (she ran a 1:27 half marathon!), so the flat didn't alter the outcome of the day...a thought that really made me happy, as losing a race from a mechanical is not the best feeling!

Until next time!

World's Toughest Half RR

Well...another year has come and gone and my 4th World's Toughest Half is under my belt. This may well have been the toughest of the four because of the scorching hot temps on Sunday, but I also came into this one with a bit more preparation than usual, so I really enjoyed the day!

Here's a picture of our swim start and Brad interviewing me post-race (stolen from Brad's web site) since I'm devoid of race photos for the moment. I need to get better about bringing my camera with me!

So I headed to California for a whirlwind 48-hr trip to visit old friends from Davis, some family from Rocklin, and oh yeah...do a little event called the World's Toughest Half. As you may have already guessed, this race has become a tradition for me. I love the hard courses, and this one takes the cake! Plus, it's a great excuse to visit my old tri buds from California.

I wasn't quite sure how the day would go, as I just came off of St. Croix 70.3 two weeks prior and since then I had basically taken a rest week and then another taper week before race day. As I've always been a volume junkie, I wasn't sure if the whole rest thing was going to hurt me or help me. At check in the day before race day, I was greeted with a very cool number for the race...numero uno (since I was the top female finisher last year...no pro women to pummel me last year!). That is one race number I'm actually not going to toss in the trash : ). It was great to catch up with the awesome race director, Brad Kearns and his wife Tracy. They are really fantastic people!

So...on to the race (since this is supposed to be a race report!). I got some assistance from a guy I was standing next to before the start to zip up my wetsuit before getting in the water. I have a BlueSeventy and it zips from the top down. Apparently, this is a technically difficult suit to zip because this guy seemed to be having problems. When he finally hooked it together, I thought he broke it because of the force involved when the zipper finally zipped...but apparently it was just fine I didn't think more about it (till later, that is...). The swim came and went and I felt okay...definitely not awesome like I did 2 weeks earlier in St. Croix, but pretty good overall. The best part was, I found a pair of feet to draft off of for the 2nd half of the swim. That almost never happens to me, so I was pretty psyched. I popped out of the swim, excited to get onto my favorite leg (the bike)...grabbed the strap for my wetsuit...unzipped the back and then my zipper wouldn't unclasp at my neckline! I was freaked out for a good 45 seconds as I was desperate to get going on the bike, but as the minutes ticked by and it was looking like there was no hope to get the darn thing undone, I just stood there (while some guy kept trying to unclasp it for me) and contemplated whether I was going to be able to complete the race. I was trying to make a decision on whether I should just break the whole zipper by pulling on it really hard and then send it in for a zipper replacement as what seemed like over a hundred people ran by me, and then it magically released! Apparently, when the zipper was applied, the guy hooked it with the little plastic teeth misaligned by 1 tooth. I'm not sure how it finally came undone...but I'm just glad it did and I could get on with my race. No clue how many minutes passed as I patiently stood there watching people run by. It felt like 5 minutes, but you know how times like that feel like an eternity, so I'm guessing it was more like 3 or 4 minutes. I glanced at my watch as I approached my bike and it said some ridiculous time like 39 minutes and change. I think I swam 30 minutes last year, so it was a combo of an extra long course, and my zipper debacle that put me 9 minutes behind.

On to the bike leg...my favorite! Dang, this is a brutal course! It was a seemingly endless 7 mile climb into Auburn, followed by another 20+ miles of climbing to the half way point. I felt pretty good though and was reeling in a lot of the gals who passed me in transition. At mile 20ish, some girl rode by me rather quickly (that never happens to me, unless Karin Thurig is racing!), and it happened to be Anissa Seguin (the only pro woman who was competing). I passed her back a few minutes later, but then she passed me for good after that and ended up putting a good 4 or 5 minute lead into me by the end of the bike leg. She's quite an awesome cyclist...oh, and a pretty darn good runner to boot! The bike went well for me overall with the exception of this one brutal out and back section that occurs toward the end of the bike ride. It was quite hot and the uphill road combined with the headwind made for a miserable stretch of road for me. Once I turned around, I felt great though and the "LeMonde Walked Hill" felt like a cakewalk this year (unlike past years). The bike leg finally ended and the real challenge was ahead...the World's Toughest run course.

Getting started on the run, I actually felt fantastic (a new feeling for me on this course). The legs were great, so I was psyched! I pretty much cruised along focusing on hydrating well and staying as cool as possible and it payed off for me. I enjoyed the new run course...still brutally hard, but scenic and fun. After a long 5hr 45 minutes (my longest time ever on this course), I crossed the line, still feeling like I could have run a few more miles! Must be a result of my MarkAllenOnline training program. Much to my surprise, that put me in 2nd place overall for the women, and 1st amateur. Not sure why the finish time was so slow this year, but I have to attribute it to the long swim, my extra special time in transition with my wetsuit, and the brutally high temps that day. Average HR for the race was 151 (5 beats lower than my "A" race 2 weeks ago). It's funny because training at a HR of 151 is pretty much impossible for me, and I can race above 150 for nearly 6 hours!

Well...that's it for a while. I have a few bike races and a sprint tri (5430 Sprint) before my next big race, Buffalo Springs 70.3 on June 29th (my last chance for a Kona slot!). I'm feeling pretty motivated right now to do some damage in Lubbock and snag my slot to Kona!

St. Croix Race Report

My trip to St. Croix started out a little rough with a red-eye flight out of Denver to Philadelphia on Frontier airlines. Turns out I had a paper ticket (purchased 5 months ago from Expedia) that I forgot existed, so of course I failed to bring it to the airport with me. So I arrived at check-in...they requested the required paper ticket, and my jaw dropped. No chance of running back home to grab it, as it's a 3-4 hr trip (since I parked in a remote lot), and zero chance of getting on the plane without it. So...I was a little stressed! I spent the next hour on the phone trying to find a way to get to St. Croix without my paper ticket and the short story is, I bought 2 different tickets ($700) to get there (i.e. $1400 flight)...ugh!

So I finally arrived in St. Croix after an 18 hour travel period and my bike and luggage somehow managed to arrive within an hour of my arrival! (a rare thing for many travelers). I put the travel fiasco out of my head and got into St. Croix vacation and race prep mode and it was all good after that. After arrival, I had the chance to meet some of my teammates on the MAO team and they were really great.

Race day arrived 4 days into my trip and I was feeling really ready to race and in good form. I wasn't sure how I would do as the whole MarkAllenOnline training program is brand new to me this year and this would be my first test, but I also knew I had put in some solid training.

Race day morning started out with a moderate breeze and mixed cloud cover and the swim was nice and choppy, making for some slow swim times. The small group starts made the likelihood of getting a good pair of feet to draft off of not too good...and I had a draft for a grand total of maybe 15-30 seconds of the entire swim. Despite that, I had what I thought was a fantastic swim...swimming solo and hard through the ocean chop with a good turnover, but was greeted with a 35 minute swim time at the exit. Since I could tell I swam well, I didn't worry about it and figured everyone's swim time was extra long (and I was right...3-4 minutes long for most).

On to my favorite leg...the bike! The rain started falling just as I got on the bike and it was a welcome relief from the heat of the morning. I'm convinced that this course was designed to be just perfect for me! It was brutally hard with continuous climbs and technical descents and long sections into a steady headwind. I loved every minute of it and the legs felt really good. As always, I pushed hard on the bike, as it's my main weapon in triathlon, but still left just enough to have a respectable run.

The run was my true test of my MAO training plan, as it's always been my weakness, particularly in recent years. The St. Croix run is a particularly challenging one because of the oppressive heat and continual hills...remember those rain clouds I mentioned at the start of the bike? Well, those were long gone and I had scorching hot sunshine for the last 20 miles of the bike and just about all of the run. My saving grace was the aid stations with ice every 0.6 miles. If they were every mile, I don't think I would have survived! My main competition for the race was my own teammate, Cassie, who has won the world championships at this distance 2 years in a row. She is a phenomenal runner, and a pretty spectacular swimmer and good cyclist...a tough combination! I was really pleased to see I still had a 9-10 minute lead on her at mile 7 of the run due to my solid bike split! Of course I was doing the math in my head and thought I had this one in the bag, even if I slowed to 8:30 miles in the latter part of the race (which is what happened). Well...turns out Cassie was on fire clicking off one 7:00 mile after another over the hills in the high heat and humidity. As I entered the last little out and back before the finish line, with less than a half mile to go...I asked a lady on the sidelines if she saw any women behind me. At first she shook her head no and then corrected herself and said "yes!" I turned around and looked and there was Cassie hammering up the hill about 250 m behind me. At that point, I jumped into an all out sprint effort...rounded the corner toward the finish in a state of massive lactic acidosis with no more than 2/10's of a mile to go, and watched Cassie fly by me at a 5:30/mi pace like I was literally standing still. As I was in a near collapsing state, I walked the next 100m to get the function of my legs back and hobbled in at a slow jog across the line to finish a minute behind Cassie at 5:13. Cassie ended up running faster than all but the top 3 pro women, who were world class athletes!

I got to know Cassie more after the race and learn about her running past. She has quite an impressive running background. We decided that if we were to train together (although she lives in NY and I'm in CO), we could really help eachother...me for my running and her for her biking. I had this distant hope that there would be 2 Kona slots for my AG, as we were the 2nd largest AG for the women, but unfortunately, the only spare slot went to the 30-34 year-olds. I was really kicking myself that night after the race for not pushing harder through the last 4 miles, as I know I could have skipped walking those latter aid stations and slowing down on some of the hills, but I had no idea of the rapidly closing talent behind me. Guess I need to find me a good spotter to inform me of the dangers behind me to help dictate my level of suffering in the closing miles! I already got one lined up for Buffalo Springs : ).

Next up...World's Toughest Half (2 weeks away!).

But first...a little fun time in the Carribean : ).

One week to go!

Well, I can't express how excited I am to go to St. Croix. C'mon Wednesday!! This weekend was a fantastic training weekend. I did the Deer Trail RR on Saturday, a 54-mile flat, then hilly course east of Denver. I had a blast. It was really fun to race again with the cat 1/2 women that I hadn't seen since last season. Plus, we had some big gun cat 1 NRC-type gals show up to keep it challenging. The race really didn't begin until mile 40, but then it was a sufferfest. America's Dairyland (a US pro team) has set up shop in Boulder, so they are becoming regulars at the local races on weekends when the bigger NRC races aren't happening. Vitamin Cottage was there in force as well. I enjoy the added challenge, but that means I place even lower in the cat 1/2 field : (. My legs were great though, so I did manage 10th, putting me in the top 50% of the field. Not bad for an old lady ; ). The good news is I had put off my 1 hr tempo run and 2 hr tempo ride until today because those road races make me too tired to strap on the 'ol running shoes after the long car ride home. Despite racing yesterday, I had my best run of the year (7:15min/mi for 8 miles at 144 average HR) and also had a fantastic bike ride afterwards on the TT bike. Guess I'm ready to roll in St. Croix! Yeah!!

Taper Time!!

Well, it's finally arrived...taper time. It's a bit strange for me to be tapering so early on for a 1/2 Ironman race. I don't think I've ever tapered more than a week for that distance. Truthfully, I don't feel like I'm tapering yet, as I already put in a 3+ hour training day of good quality aerobic training today. I felt amazing on the bike today. It's funny how sometimes you really can't predict how you are going to feel from one day to the next. I've been exhausted and bailing on my swim workouts the last 2 days, yet today I had a great swim and then went out and had a great 2.5 hr ride in the hills. It was just last night that I had to quit early due to being too tired to train! No complaints here! Dang...I'm getting excited for St. Croix! I've posted the bike course profile, courtesy of Rick Campins, a MAO athlete I met on the forum who took a trip out to St. Croix to survey the course and then shared it with the rest of us (awesome guy!). Notice all of the bumps symbolizing lots and lots of up and down. That's my favorite! I love constant hills (not the long grinders...I suck at those...but the over and over short up and down hills are awesome!).

This time next week I'll be on the beach basking in the Caribbean sun : ))))))))))))))).

Time for an update!

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged, so thought I would post an update on what I've been up to. Life has been busy between work and my training program, but the racing is starting to pick up! So far all of my races have been training opportunities for my key 1st tri of the season, St. Croix 70.3. I just got through my first "bad" week of training, where I blew off a bunch of workouts just because I wasn't in the mood to train. Fortunately, that doesn't happen to me too often! At least I was able to finish off the light training week with a weekend of racing. Saturday was the Haystack Time Trial, a 16 mile ITT in north Boulder. I raced 35+ instead of 1/2 as I had work commitments later that morning and had to head back early. I was riding my relatively new aero position on the bike...much more aggressive aero setup than the past. I realized on my way to the race that somehow I managed to not get on my bike for the past 6 days! Those of you who ride a lot realize that this is not the best way to approach a time trial. Lucky for me, the new aero position served me well, despite a rather mediocre power output. I pulled off a win in the W35+/cat 3 category and apparently won myself a $30 gift certificate to Niwot Cycles (had to leave well before results were posted, so found that out later). I definitely don't prefer to do races with my cheapo non-aero Mavic powertap wheel, but was very interested in the data, so I went for it (good choice). Now if only I can get that power up within the next 3 weeks!

Day 2 this weekend was the Horsetooth Half Marathon, right in my own backyard (pic courtesy of Eddie Metro). I convinced my coaches that this was a good thing to do, despite my A race being 3 weeks away, but had to "not race" the first 5 miles (which are by far the hardest...steep hills). Boy...that was a challenge keeping my HR below 147 those first 5 miles! I had to walk at least a half a dozen times! The good news was, the legs felt amazing and I couldn't wait to put the hammer down at mile 5. I finally reached mile 5 and then picked up the pace (maybe a bit too much!), as my legs didn't feel quite as good at mile 7 ; ). My average pace was 9min miles in the hills over those first 5 miles, and I ended up finishing at an avg pace of about 8min/mile, so I had a nice solid effort those last 8 miles. I'm happy with the effort...wishing I was a bit faster overall, but I did manage a 3rd place in my age group...good for a nice pair of socks : ). Comparing the race to last year, my finish time was quite a bit slower (3+min), but I was definitely running a faster pace in the closing miles this time around, so I'm happy : ). Then again, I'm always happy ; ).