Ironman Texas DNF

It has been a while since my last post, but after Ironman Texas 2015, I feel I should elaborate on my experience.

After a great 2014 season, I started 2015 with a decent endurance base and I felt even stronger than the previous year.

With only a few races leading up to my most important race this season (Ironman Texas) I was pretty confident I would do well. However, I should have treated IM Texas with a bit more respect and not just take it like another race in my scheduled season.

The following is where I think I went wrong in my preparation leading up to IM Texas:
Two weeks prior to the race after all the training has been done, I perhaps made one of the biggest mistakes you can make before an Ironman, 1) I didn't eat properly, 2) I didn't get the right amount of sleep. Even with a decrease in intensity and volume in my training, I arrived at the start tired, with little to no energy.

The first sign that something went wrong right from the first leg, I was feeling hungry not even half way through the swim. While on the bike it didn't matter how much of my nutrition I took in, my body was not absorbing anything as evidenced by my stomach feeling full, but getting no response nor energy at all from my muscles.

My main goal for this race was an increase in points towards IM World Championships, which meant I had to finish in top six, so by mile 70 I made a hard but practical decision to finish the race early. My watts were low, I wasn't catching anybody and I was barely moving like I usually do on the bike. As I said above, It wasn't easy to stop my race, since this was my first DNF (except Kona, where I raced injured) at an Ironman event. For me just to keep moving and to finish another Ironman with the way I felt that day didn't make any sense. Sorry if I disappointed some of my friends and followers, I will recharge my batteries and you will see me at the start and the finish line of Ironman Coeur D'Alene at the end of June.

MANAGING A NEW SCHEDULE

I am back to blogging about the sport, not race reports yet, but not just another post about my baby. Even though I would love to share the news about my little angel.
The first hard weeks after our boy was born are behind and it's getting much more easier every day to manage my time. As I am not planning to race this year, I decided to take it slow and first of all build up a good base for the 2014 season.
I started to run and do gym workouts just a few weeks after Brandon was born. The very first strength workout I did at home, I was shocked how weak I had become, after a few pushups my arms were trembling and I thought: it's going to be a loooong way :-), but it turns out every next workout I was feeling stronger. I went to the pool for the first time around week 5 and felt great, since I was swimming through the whole pregnancy. Getting back on the bike, is what has taken me some time. I only started to ride the bike on the trainer this week after Brandon had turned 3 months old and I realized how much I miss it. Tomorrow is going to be my first short ride outdoor.
To manage my schedule is a bit challenging right now, it rotates around feeding times and naps, but that is how I would like to see it (doesn't happened exact, because my little "boss" can bring changes into it):
I usually train in the early morning after feeding, it can be 5.30, 6, 6.30, but not later than 7a.m., since I want to have our time together and breakfast with my husband around 8a.m. If that doesn't happened then I am taking Brandon after the next feeding to the gym and he quietly watches me run on the treadmill, sometimes it's only 30 min but sometimes it can be an hour before the cutie pie gets boarded :-). I am fit in another training in the evening when I can leave Brandon with his dad before he closes the shop. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are a bit easier because I can leave the baby with his grandma, as well as Sunday. So here you go:
Monday: swim
Tuesday: short run, gym, spin
Wednesday: swim, run
Thursday: gym, spin
Friday: swim, run
Saturday: bike, swim
Sunday: run
Each workout for now is 40-70 min long which gives me something like 7-12 hours of training per week. I know it's not much, but I am slowly building a base for the next year and I do not want to take too much time away from my baby when he's so little and needs me the most. 

The arrival of our little angel

Our little angel just turned his first "mini Birthday" :-), Brandon is 1 month old today and I know now for sure that it is very much possible to love two man at the same time with all your heart :-). Those two men are my husband and our little son.

I'll go back in time and will tell a little bit about the arrival of my little angel and his first days in this world:

I was almost 39 weeks pregnant and since my midwife was trying to set my mind on the overdue (just to make it easier mentally for me) I was very calm and only on Monday June 10th started to get into the impatient mode, complaining that I can't get any bigger and the baby is running out of room and that last 10 days or so are going to be tough, I even replied to the lady in the supermarket "I feel miserable" to her friendly: "How are you?" :-) But I also felt like that because it was Monday, the hard day. I usually plan way too many things on this day of the week, that it is too much even for a non pregnant woman :-). I also had a few things planned for Tuesday. I had an appointment with my midwife, Terri, then a friend of mine asked me to take care of his pets the same morning. I started to feel some pain the night before, but I didn't want to bother the midwife with the fall calls and just waited for our appointment time. By the time she came I was already having contractions 10 min apart, but I still couldn't believe that it's going to happen today. Terri left and told me to call her back if contractions got closer and they did. They were 7 minutes apart and stronger when I was driving to the friend's house to take care of the pets. An hour later I asked Roman to come home and told him that it might be THE DAY. I don't think he believed me since I had to text him later again: come home NOW!!! I did a home-birth in the water, but I won't go into details describing the labor. I just wanted to say a few things:
1. It was painful and much harder than Ironman, since you don't really know when you going to get to the finish (mine took me 17 hours) and you can't really train and get ready for the labor, but the reward is epic, no Trophies or Prize money can get even close to it.
2. I had the best crew with me: my midwife Terri, doula Alejandra and of course my husband, who really helped me to get to the finish line :-).
3. Brandon was born June 11th, on my mom's Birthday, which is absolutely amazing.
4. Brandon's weight was 6.15 lb. and 20.5 inches in length and he was my love from the first sight.

Today our "Bubochka" (a little seed in Ukrainian) is getting a little more sleep and a little less poop :-). He is giving us more rest at night and less diaper changing. His mom :-) is getting better with her routine, she stopped panicking and thinking that she is doing something wrong. I guess most of first time moms think like that.

I am recovering fast and thinking about training, but only thinking, I am not planning to race this year anyway. For now I am just walking every day for 40-60 min and the little one here is taking care of the rest of my day, making sure I stay entertained and busy :-)

He is giving me some time to finish the post.

Looks like Brandon is not like me and he actually likes water:

THE FINISH (OR I SHOULD SAY THE START) IS AROUND THE CORNER

If I was compering my pregnancy with an Ironman race I would be somewhere close to the finish line now, let say about 4-5 ml away. That would be right because during those last few miles that's when you start counting every minute and start looking at the watch more often than during entire race. Same happens here with a three or so weeks to go I can't wait to get to the finish and to see the best reward :-) ever and more and more often I am looking at the calendar. Now I finally stopped counting time by the weeks and started doing it by each day. A few miles before the Ironman finish adrenalin and excitement are still rushing through and keeping you going but you kind of feel exhausted. And another similarity is that my legs are cramping the same way like they would do in the long race :-)

Since I am coming to the end of my pregnancy I would like to share my experience of a pregnant Pro athlete or just another pregnant woman. 
I am 37 weeks pregnant, it considers a full term and safe for the baby to be born at any time now. So far I am having a perfect pregnancy as my midwife says. I don't think I am doing anything for my pregnancy to be perfect it is like it is :-). 
What I did and what I didn't do:
I didn't:
- I didn't take my vitamins as recommended through the whole pregnancy. I was very strict during the first Trimester and beginning of the second one. But then they were just making me feel sick :-( even though I've tried the different once. Yet, I had a good Iron levels at the beginning and at the end.
- I didn't drink enough milk as everybody recommends 

- I didn't write a journal. I started several times, could never stick to it

- I didn't finish reading any of my many "pregnant" books which I got at the beginning of my pregnancy (sorry, Dina, I am working on it)
- I didn't learn Spanish. I started though. 
- and I didn't train for at least last 7 months
- I didn't stop having a coffee. I've tried, but my blood pressure was always low and I was recommended to have a cup of coffee  

I did and I still do:
- I do eat plenty of fruits vegetables and healthy foods
- I gave up wine completely and surprisingly I never even craved it 
- I exercised and I still do: the first 3-4 weeks I was actually still training hard, getting ready for Ironman Arizona. Once I stopped training I gave up biking almost completely, I was just doing a short rides to the pool once in a while. It wasn't something I enjoyed much while pregnant. I was running, swimming and I started to do yoga 1 or 2 times a week. I stopped running around 30th week and switched to walking 3 times a week, swimming 3 times a week and one class of yoga. All my exercise sessions are 30-60 min long around 6 days per week. I'll try to swim until I feet in my bedding suit, I switched from size 30 to 32, then to 34 and now is 36 and I don't want to invest in a next size, it's scary. 
- I work. I am coaching a few athletes and I am helping out my husband at the bike shop "Epic Cycles" as a bike fitter, as a mechanic (I am still learning) and sometimes as a seller (I am not really good at this one). 

The choices.
- we decided to have a baby natural way. This means that we found a midwife, who is following my pregnancy and all of my appointments with her are taking place at home as well as most of lab tests. I am going to have a baby at home too most likely in the water. It doesn't mean I am brave it means I don't really know what I signed for :-))). But honestly, we just think this is a right way to do it.
- we decided to wait until the birth of the baby to find out if it's a boy or a girl. There are not too many surprises left in life and we want to enjoy this one. Also there are many cute things in yellow, red and green colors

- I am planning to come back to racing, but not this year. I don't want to rush into it and make it my priority in stead of enjoying being a mom and slowly learning how to manage my time after the big changes in my life. I really admire those women who came back to sport after having a baby and hope to be able to do the same. 

There are many Pro triathletes who are becoming new moms this year and I though that it's just because I am pregnant there are so many of us around, but look at the list...
- Nicola Spirig had a baby boy in March
- Laurel Wassner had a baby girl in January 
- Pip Taylor gave birth to a baby girl in April
 Expecting moms:
- Kathy Tremblay, Olimpian from Canada
- Tine Deckers, Pro athlete from Belgium;
- Maki Nishiuchi, Japan;
- Desiree Ficker
- Kate Major
- Kim Loeffler 
- Sarah Haskins
- Amanda Lovata

I want to Congratulate all of them and wish them the best luck. 
I'll try to keep everybody posted......, 20 more days :-)

IN THE MEANTIME

I always thought that once I get pregnant I'll have so much free time, but I guess it wouldn't be me if I didn't know how to fill up my free time and keep myself busy.

Project #1:
I had a chance to join the Retul Classes and to get certified as a Retul bike fitter. I really like the processes and an idea to help riders to get comfortable and sometimes to get rid of joints or muscles pain sounds great. I keep practicing and getting good experiences at Epic Cycles   fitting cyclists and triathletes on their favorite two wheelers.

Project #2:
For three months: December, January and February we organized a running program with a goal for runners to have a good start getting back in shape and for triathletes to start developing a base training for the long season of triathlon ahead of them. We had a few small races planned in our program with the final event, Gasparilla Half marathon. I am very proud of my athletes who finished the marathon on that hot day and had a great experience.

                                                                                                          

Project #3
Personal coaching. This one started last year and I am very happy how the progress going, my athletes are getting more into it and becoming more and more professional with the training, nutrition and recovery. They already started the season 2013:
Maria Lemeseva, PRO athlete from Russia did hew first race Abu-Dhabi International Triathlon, She improved in all three disciplines and got 4th overall female place on a short course.
Alixa Villalobos, first full year triathlete did her first sprint distance triathlon and finished 2d in her age group, we really need to work on her Transitions :-)
Stephen Crowley, my very first athlete keep making me proud with his progress

Project #4
Staying healthy through the pregnancy by getting enough exercising, eating healthy and stay positive and happy

I also picked up a hobby, photo shooting.

And of course plenty of baby books are filling up rest of my free time :-)
I could probably continue the list but something just came up and I have to go :-)))

BIG CHANGES

This is a little strange, that 2 years in the row I am trying to do Ironman
Arizona and something won’t let me do it. Even though this year the
reason to cancel my trip to Arizona was really great compare to the last
year when I got injured. So after the race in Augusta I was well
motivated and ready to go to do my last Ironman in the season 2012
with only few more weeks of hard training ahead of me. I was pushing
hard in the water swimming with coach Alec, riding hard couple long
rides and my running was coming alone. One part of my training was a
bit frustrating, why my recovery is so bad, after each hard workout I
felt like I just finished the race :-( and another thing was: Why I keep
gaining wait? Looked like my hormones were really messed up, but
why? Three pregnancy tests gave me a pretty clear answer: yes, I am
pregnant. To be honest I had mixed feelings, since this pregnancy
wasn’t planned for the next 1 or 2 years, but on the other side the time
was perfect and I always wanted to be a mom :-). I am 6 months
pregnant and we are very excited happy expecting parents :-).

I am having one in about 18 years long break, but I would love to come
back to racing again in 2014, I love the sport and I still have a passion
for the triathlon. For now I am just enjoying easy exercising, like an
easy swim, jog or yoga. So far I am having a smooth pregnancy, after
all I am the Healthy Triathlete :-) 

IRONMAN 70.3 AUGUSTA RACE REPORT

The race in Augusta is one of my favorite 70.3 races, as well as it is for another thirty four hundred people. I like this triathlon because the first year I did it I had a good race, I also like it because it is only driving distance from Clermont, the town where I currently live and train. And of course because the swim in Augusta is in the river with the current. 

Unusually for myself I wasn't very nervous before the start, mostly because the race season is coming to the end and I've gained some confidence through the year. 
Before the start I've had enough time for a good warm up and I even was able to do my regular pre race yoga routine 

Swim: It wasn't the large group of girls at the start, but not too small either, so I hoped I'll be able to find my little pack for the swim.... that didn't happened, and I ended up pulling someone else instead. 
T1: I got through T1 with no mistakes, until the very end. I was already getting close to the "bike mount" line and I heard some clicking noise at the front part of my bike. That was my bib number hanging on the aerobar :-(. I forgot to put it on. I had to stop completely and put the number where it belongs. 
Bike: I started the bike on the 9th position and felt pretty strong during the first part of the ride. Even though the weather wasn't hot, I tried to stay hydrated and stick to my nutrition plan. Second half of the bike segment I still felt strong, but also was able to pick up my cadence. Couple miles before coming into T2 I passed the third girl and was able to gain another 30" on her.
Run: Two girls ahead of me had gained several minutes on me and it was hard to catch them, my goal for the day was to hold my podium position. But seams like  Ann Cleaver, the girl I passed before T2 wanted to get it back. I couldn't get my run together into the first couple miles, and it was 30 sec, then 20 sec between us. Only after around 3 miles Into the run I finally broke the rope and started to gain the gap again, 30 sec, 40 ... And I kept pushing the pace, thanks to my boyfriend. I think he wanted to be sure that I secure my spot and I did. I finished the race 3rd with improving my time in all three disciplines and with 4h20 min 15 sec total time. 
I wouldn't be able to do it without my sponsors: Timex, QR, Shimano, Challenge tires, BlueSeventy; my support crew: Epic Cycles and TriStars and of course my coach: Alec Rukosuev 

Ironman New York US Championship race report

I picked Ironman race in New York for my A race at the beginning of the year for several reasons:
1. Swim with a current, I am not a fastest swimmer :-)
2. High points for Hawaii qualification
3. I've train in the area before and thought it is going to be a fast race....,
But my expectations were destroyed when I saw the run course, even though marathon is a favorite part of Ironman race for me. I was double worried about my run because I wasn't running for 3 weeks before the race. It started with unpleasant pain in my gluteus muscle after one of the best long runs I've had. Why something like that always happened when you feel great? Of course the stubborn me would continue to run, but thanks to my boyfriend ( he proved his point), I decided that it better to take at least one week off of running :-(. During that period of time aqua jogging and elliptical were good substitutes. But one week wasn't enough to recover and I added another couple days with no running to my schedule. I basicly started to run one week before the race, when I was supposed to start tapering. And it felt like the pain wasn't there anymore, but I was still worry, this is a marathon and not just 40 min jogging on the grass.
Race day.
The swim: we had to go on a ferry to get to the "point to point" swim start and it was taking forever to get there, at least that how I felt. But the swim itself was fast and without any problems.

The bike: since I lost "some" time on the swim I started to chase girls on the bike and I did caught a few girls, so I got to the T2 in 10th position.
The run: I felt relatively good at the first half of the run and slowly, but surely continued caughting the girls in front of me. On the last long hill before Washington bridge in the distance I already saw a leading bike of the fifth girl. Running on the bridge was hard yet exciting part of the run: all by yourself on the Washington bridge ....., without water :-(. Somehow the last, flat part of the run was much harder then the hilly one, possibly fatigue accumulation or just the sun or maybe lack of running last few weeks and my goal for the last couple miles was just to stay in my 5th position and cross the fininshline. And I did, absolutely dehydrated yet happy.
I also wanted to say huge thanks for all the support I've had during the race: to my teammates, team managers and friends. Thanks to my sponsors: QuintanaRoo, BlueSeventy, Shimano, Champion System, Xpedo, EpicCycles, Rudy Project for making my race comfortable.

The trip to Europe in pictures

After the welcome atmosphere, beautiful nature, great food in Spain.......,

       

After finishing Ironman France with 4th fastest women's time of the day .......,

After a little brake in Ukraine and Russia with my family.....

It was time to go back to America and start training for Ironman US Championship, which was taking part in New York this year. 

Finishing season 2011 without the final event.... Vacation

I was looking forward so much to do the final event of the season: Ironman Arizona. My mind was set on Ironman race even though it was a last competition of the very long season, started in San Juan with Ironman 70.3 in March. The training was going very well and I had a few more long days ahead of me before I start tapering when my body said: "Sorry, it's a little too much" and it gave up and hit me at my weak spot, the feet, to be more correct: the achilles. So I stopped running just a few weeks before the race, thinking that I can rest my feet for a little bit and still be able to show up at the race in a good shape. But that didn't happened and I had to call it the end of the season 2011. It took me a few days to set my mind to the rest mood. I still went out and did the "Horrible 70m" (the bike ride in Clermont) same weekend as Ironman Arizona. It wasn't easy to start the vacation just like that: after so many days of training without any complete brake and without the proper finish, but the time was right...

It was time to get out of Clermont (a very sport oriented town) and have a great vacation even though I didn't feel like I deserved it. And the best way to have a vacation (that I know now for sure) is to go for the cruise. And that what we did with my boyfriend, who definitely deserved to have some good rest. It was a 7 days cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line to Western Caribbean: Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico. It was the best vacation I've had in many years. So much to tell..., I just add the small photo album with pictures, which I took during the first two days of the cruise before my camera got wet and broke :( https://picasaweb.google.com/Aniluzok/NCLCruiseToWesternCaribbean

And we had much more fun as a volleyball, rock climbing, ping pong, bowling, different entertaining show every night, dancing and a great food.

But all vacations come to the end sooner or later and it time to get back to reality and stop looking through the pictures over and over again :)))

The season 2011 coming to the end.

The last couple months passed very fast. I've managed to complete 4 big races in seven weeks, have been racing almost every second weekend. The first one was Ironman 70.3 Timberman which was a good race for me even with my first ever 4min. penalty :((( and with my "good luck" charm in the front wheel. Finished 4th with a good bike splits and a dissent run.
The REV3 full distance triathlon race was the next one, three weeks later. It wasn't my best long triathlon event, I really broke down after mile 15th- 16th. Still didn't gave up and finished in top 6. Two weeks down the road I was already going to Augusta, to do one of my favorite Ironman 70.3 races (why?... swim with a current, love it :) ) Another 4th place and sprinting at the finish line second year in row. Another two weeks after Augusta we are heading the road almost the same direction again, a little more north-east this time. It was a final race of Revolution3 series in Anderson, SC. I was already pretty tired (no surprise there). But I wanted to do that race and I wanted just to go out there and enjoy the day. The goal for the day was to stay in my comfortable race zone, don't brake down through the whole race and try to progress towards the finish. And I accomplished that. I don't think I was able to do all that travel and racing without my boyfriend, he is my best support. We became so officiant with packing and traveling. I finally stopped to freak out before my trips and actually started to enjoy it. So, the race in Anderson was the final triathlon of the series, as I mentioned before. I qualified for the series points overall and finished in top 3. REV3 team have done a great job through the year and it's very nice to see that they are growing, they are going to add 3 more races to the REV3 Triathlon series next year.

I have one more race before I can enjoy a little vacation. And it's going to be Ironman Arizona, which I've done 2 times in past, but I never did it in November. Looking forward to have 5-6 weeks of just training and staying on one place. And then, Arizona, I coming :)))

The training camp in high altitude. Posture alignment therapy.

Almost every year I have a post with similar name "... high altitude training..." and most of the times I mention the same place, Los Alamos, a small town in high mountains in New Mexico, one of my favorite towns in North America. Beautiful nature, nice friendly people and very sports oriented town. I really enjoy to train here: hundreds of trails, different variety of roads for biking and 50 miters indoor swimming pool, a dream town of a triathlete, who doesn't like crowd and ready for the hard training, because Los Alamos is at an elevation of 7.200 ft and there is no easy course for the bike ride except maybe a spin on a bike trainer. I am training here for the first Ironman this season, Ironman St. George, which is coming up in less then 3 weeks.

My biggest goal this year was to stay injury free. Since the middle of year 2009 I wasn't 100% free of injuries and most of the time there is something's going on in my feet: planter fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, heel bursitis, stress fracture. I do, massage the calf muscles and stretch , I do ice the feet after training, I stay hydrated, but I still have some issues in that area. When I got to Los Alamos my friend told me about a method, called The Egoscue Method and that there is a girl in town who can help, using the same method, to get better with my injuries. At the beginning it sounded like some kind of magic, but listening to my friend it actually was making seance. I wont describe the whole method, there is enough information online, here is what I am doing, Aligned Play, with coach Jessica. I just want to share my experience. First of all we found out that my body is all twisted, one hip is higher and same with shoulders. It's not surprise that right and left sides of the body are not symmetrical. But sometimes when you are training hard through so many years this can cause injury related problems. And when you can find the right exercises to make the body more even it can also help to relies those problems. And that what we were doing. I got the list of 10 drills, which I need to do every morning (takes about 30 min). After a few days I could tell that my body motions have changed: I noticed on the bike ride, that my paddle stroke is more straight; I stay tall through my runs and I can maintain to run long runs without pain in my feet. This is life long commitment to the 30-40 min of exercises every day, but if it helps to stay injury free I'll stick to it :-)

Early season races.

The changes in my schedule didn't happened. And the first race of 2011 season was meant to be Ironman 70.3 San Juan. I was into two weeks of running (jogging) and my goal for that race was to finish the race..... Let just say it was a bad day: I finished the race, but I suffered from the start to the last steps of the race, which leaded me straight to the Medical tent, where I got two IV(s) and an oxygen mask. Not the best race to start a new season.

The second event in my competition plan was Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, California. It's always a very competitive race and this year wasn't an exception. I felt much better this time although I finished out of top 10 (11th place), but I didn't drop to far from the girls in front of me and I mostly lost my time on the swim. "Andy Potts and Mirinda Carfrae each earned their third Rohto Ironman 70.3 California titles, winning tight races over Rasmus Henning and Heather Jackson, respectively."

Originally from: http://ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/california70.3/brad-culp-recaps-todays-exciting-race-in-oceanside#ixzz1KIgyrDis

Ironman 70.3 California race results

2011, winter training.

It's already the end of April and I haven't updated my blog for several months, no excuse here. I'll just try to catch up on news like I usually do :-)

The time off and recovery past very well in my home town, Lvov. Lot's of fun, lot's of Holidays (in Ukraine it's kind of Holidays season from the end of December till the end of January) and a little bit of exercising: I took a few dance and a few fitness classes just to do something different and maintain not to lose my shape :-), which didn't really happened. The off season didn't last forever and at the beginning of January I already left Ukraine for much warmer and outdoor training more welcome place, Clermont, Florida. Trying to get in shape faster and lose those "few" pounds of winter weight I pushed myself very hard, probably too hard, because in 6 weeks into my training I got an injury (a stress fracture in left calcaneus). Here I want to say thank you very much to Meadowlands Hospital in New Jersey, which provide me with MRI for my left foot and doctors, who found a couple injuries there and also thanks for the correct and fast diagnosis. And huge thanks to Ronnie Barnes, Vice President of Medical Services of New York Giants who found a minute in his busy schedule and made a recovery plan for my foot. How I got to meet him??? Timex is one of the biggest sponsors for New York Giants and at the end of February we had Team Timex every year camp at Giants facility:

Great 4 days at the camp, everyone, the new members and the old crew were Happy to meet and Celebrate 10th Anniversary of The Team Timex.

Coming back to Clermont from New Jersey I knew that it was time to slow down a little bit with my training. I still was able to ride the bike and swim and aquajog (thanks Team Timex for the present,

Apple Ipod shuffle. Aquajogging can be fun). It's took 4 weeks of no running till the bone healed. I've tried to run after 3 weeks, it's never happened. Believe me, I am experienced person in this area: 4 broken toys, one broken leg and a few fractures. 4 weeks is minimum. It also meant that I might change my race schedule....

Season 2010 completed.

5 years in row I keep coming to this race, Ironman Florida, the only race I am doing over and over again. And I don't really know what it is: is it the race or the place or the good time I always have in Panama City...., probably all together. This year was a little bit different. First of all I never was there while it's raining and it rained so heavily that we couldn't enjoy the sunsets. Second of all I didn't have my support crew :(, who came with me to Panama City for the last 4 years. After rain stopped showering, the weather temperature dropped to 36-40 degrees, but sun came out and the town started to get it's color back.

The race day weather wasn't very different, maybe a few degrees less and no strong wind like the day before. I thought if I manage to stay warm on the bike I'll do well at this race. Two second places previous years gave me a confidence.

Swim: the water was choppy but nice and warm and I thought during the swim that it probably last time when I feel warm today and it was true. I came out of the water with Erika, which was a good sign for me... I could keep an eye on her on the bike. She is strong cyclist and very strong runner. But I spent so much time it T1 when I absolutely lost her.

Bike: It was cold and windy. The course was different than previous years, more highway rides. I managed to stay more or less warm and finished the bike on 6th position, which is not bad for me as I usually catch girls on the run. Not this time though.

Run: I started to run and I felt like I am running fast. I guess I had a high cadence, but I didn't move very fast. I have a good explanation why my run wasn't strong in november, but who is interested in excuses? I'll just say that there is a lot to work on for the next year.

Another top 5 Ironman finish. And in spite of a fact that it was a long season and I am pretty tired right now I am all fired up and looking forward for the next season. But first of all I have to rest well. Good vacation is a first step for the good season.

Kona 2010

High altitude training, Cochiti Lake Triathlon.

It was a right decision to go train in my favorite place, Los Alamos, NM. Even though I couldn't run for a while, but I was able to ride the bike and swim and just enjoy my time in this beautiful little town with my friends, I've met through past couple years. There are a few places in the world, which make me calm and help me to get rid of any negative emotions and Los Alamos is one of them. Thanks a lot to Kim and Susie for letting me stay in your houses, it helps us, people who travel a lot, to feel home far away from home.

At the beginning of the camp I felt like I kind of lost my shape, going through all those injuries past couple months. But it never feels great coming to 7 and something thousand feat from the sea level. It took about two weeks to start slowly getting used to the elevation. Last couple years I find myself liking to train with people, it was very helpful to swim with the Masters class 3 times a week in the highest 50 miters swimming pool in North America (Aquatic center). I've had a few Epic workouts ( everything feels Epic on this elevation, by the way): 5 hours bike ride, climbing the mountains, going through scenic view mountain nature and some historical places; I've done also 3 hours 45 min hike-run with My friends Kim and Paul (my longest time spending on my feet before was 3h. 30 min at the Ironman race), we started from 8 something thousand feat and finished somewhere around 12.000 feat. But the most painful always was and is the Time Trial bike ride, organized every week in summer time by Clay: it's just 8 km, but it hurts like hell :) (the dry air, the hit, t

he elevation, and a climb about 4 km long).

As I mentioned before I wasn't running for a last couple months, but I started running last week in Los Alamos and I really wanted to do the race at the end of the camp and I was lucky that Sport Systems was setting the race near Santa Fe and Albuquerque at the Cochiti Lake. I've been at this place before, it's a great aria for training, open water swim and especially for the triathlon race. Thanks to organizers they set me for the race and provided with everything I needed. We arrived to the race site the day before the race, the weather was beautiful. It's a great place for a fishing, kayaking, sailing, hiking and for many other activities.

Swim: The bike course was one loop as a triangle swim. The water was pretty warm, but as long as the swim is wetsuit legal I'll am not going to swim without one. I was lucky enough to get out of the water with my friend Clay and the other guy (the guys I was swimming with the entire course).

Bike: Bike course is taking part partly on the dam, which is pretty much flat and with kind of long uphill close to the end of the bike segment plus one km steep downhill to the transition, which you have to climb going out of transition at the beginning. The whole course feels mostly flat, but not the very fast one, as you are riding at 1700m altitude.

Run: The run course is not complicated, but not the easy one as well. Maybe because I wasn't running much passed few months or it's an altitude or a hit or maybe all together. But I felt like I am not moving anywhere. It's out and back run with one km steep uphill going out of T2 and of course on the way back it's a downhill. And rest of the run course is taking part on the dam.

I think it's could be a great place for a half Ironman distance. This course would be a very challenging, spectacular and enjoyable in the same time.

I would like to thank again the race organizers and especially Angy, the race director and Jason, the race volunteer, who made my trip back home much easier.

Listening to the signs.

I would love to write another exciting race report and share with my team mates and friends my success, but last couple months injuries were holding me back from full running and competing. After training in Florida in a winter time and a very good race in Japan I was pretty tired with my body and mind, but I still planned to do a few more Ironman 70.3 triathlons before I take a short brake. Already back then my body started to send me signals, which I didn't want to listen to. After Strongman Japan I got a heel pain and I thought it happened after slightly moving a cleat on the cycling shoe. But such a small change usually doesn't cause any major pain unless your muscles are too tied and tired from over using them. I should've listened to it, but I kept going thinking that it's nothing serious and ache will go away very soon and I still have enough time till my next race. But 4 weeks wasn't enough to get rid of the pain without taking a good care of that injury. I went through the race and quit after 5th km on the run (swimming and biking didn't hurt).

Other than injuries the sign of overtraining is a lost of motivation. I couldn't believe myself, I was like a different person. So inspired and motivated 3-4 months ago, I had a hard time to go through my favorite training routings now. After the race in Florida, which I mentioned before I've decided to take a full 3 days off and put my leg in the orthopedic boot to avoid any movement of the injured heel. It helped and I went back to training ....., of course...., I had another race in a few weeks, Ironman 70.3, Mooseman. I didn't have any high expectations from that one, just wanted to go through run and see if the heel can handle it. And yes, it could, I socked on the bike and finished 6th not very happy with my results, but I could go through half marathon without pain.

By the plan I made before this season I had to have a week of the rest, but because I haven't trained seriously in May I've decided to keep going. And, yes, it was wrong again. Just a few days after Mooseman I slipped on the stairs and heat one of the toes very badly and got a small fracture in one of the 4th toe bones and another couple weeks with no running :(. What the accident? But maybe it's just another sign? It took me a whole week to put myself together and become with a new plan for training and racing. But I finally had that one week of rest. And let hope I'll be fine from now on.

The title has been defended.

Now I can say that the season 2010 had officially started. The first big race took place in Japan passed weekend, it's All Japan Triathlon, Strongman. One of my favorite courses. It is a really huge event for such a small Island like Miyakojima with population just 55.000 people. 26 years old race has it all: the sun, the wind and the sea. Although this year one component was missing, we didn't see much of the sun. It was raining a few days before the race with a strong windy condition of the weather. I was double excited to go to Japan this year: for me and for my new coach, Wolfgang Guembel, who is a professional triathlete as well and who got an invitation to compete in the race too. It always nice to have somebody, meeting you at the finish line and share a good or not so good race day with you, like I usually have a Timex crew or Team mates at the races in North America. After a long trip I had 5 days to adjust to the time difference, which is 12 hours with East time zone. Not everything went smooth before the race: I was getting excited to try my new Orbea Ordu bike on the long course, but I couldn't put it together, something was wrong with a headset. I gave up on trying to fix it and it was time to find a mechanic. I was very lucky that the mechanic, who supports the Japanese Olympic team was there with all his tools. My advice to the athletes who travels with bikes and take them apart by themselves: if you need to replace the handlebar or an aerobar do it from the side of a stem where it connects to the bar, not to the headset tube. I don't remember the mechanic name, but he fixed the problem and really save me. The weather on the race day wasn't different from the previous couple days: 20% of rain and 30-40 km/h wind. Glad I was training in Florida this winter, no kidding the weather in Florida this year was the same. Swim: I got a front spot at the start. It's a mass start (1500 people is a limit for this race). Actually it wasn't too bad until after the last buy, suddenly I was surrounded by big pack of people trying to heat me and crawling on the top of my legs. Actually someone did get to the target and heat me in the head so badly that I heard a bell ring. When I exited the water I was pleased with the time splits on my watch, I swam 30-40 second faster when last year. Bike: I was listening to my coach and I've tried to hold back a little bit during the first our on the bike and control my Power Wats and I thought I did. But the middle part of the bike course didn't feel like I was going with a good afford. Or maybe it just was in my mind after I saw a leading girl drafting behind two guys. It took me a while to catch her, 120 km. At the last part of the bike course I felt better. Run: It's a hard course and the marathon run is not an exception (it's out and back with rowling hills). I didn't want to get excited and get cared away because I was leading the race. I needed a strong, steady run to hold my position and when it comes to the run I usually know what to do and how to control my pace. After turn around I saw Emi, second girl and it looks like she was very close, so I've tried to run a bit faster on the way home. Miyakojima people are very supportive, it looks like at list half of the Island population were out there on the course. 3-4 km to the finish line we ran through downtown and hundreds of people were screaming "Gumbate" , "Vydo". I was talking to myself: "don't get excited, don't get excited, you still have more than 3 km to go".

Finish: It's a great feelings to win the race and to defend your title. But even better feelings are when someone is waiting for you at the finish line. It was my coach and a good friend, Wolfgang Guembel, who also had a great day and won the race.

I think had one of those races when you don't make any mistakes and your plan has completed on 100%. I got two fastest time splits (bike and run) and went faster in all three disciplines compare to the last year. Although I screwed in T1 a bit, went to the men's changing tent. My friend called me back 3 times and I couldn't understand what he wants from me until I looked around :). I wish that was a worst mistake during the race I ever have made.

That was a really great and fun trip. First of all I didn't feel like a stranger any more in Miyakojima, I saw some familiar faces, some people remembered me from the last year and I wasn't alone. Then I've met new people and made the new friends, most of them are Australians (several athletes from this country did the Strongman race too). I think Australians are really cool people and they are a lot of fun ;). Spending last day of the trip in Tokyo, walking with an umbrella during a rainy day was something to remember too. During the race I thought that I don't really want to do the race again (it's a tough course), but now just writing this post and bringing up still fresh memories I am already thinking: I really want to go there again.

Race results

Some missing news.

It's already  a third or fourth time when I am trying to update my blog. I missed a couple last months and now I don't know where I should start or should I skip all my last news and start from the last one. No, I'll just go through it slightly reviewing them without dip details, but with some pictures:

1. I left Ukraine at the end of January after the last Ukrainian winter Holiday. And I went to Canada for a first time in my life to meet my friend, Wolf and drive to Clermont with him for a few months of winter training and to see my best friend, Oksana. It was a nice 4-5 days in Montreal and a fun time at Niagara Falls, in St. Catharines. 

             

2. Then we went to Florida by car, it took us around 19 hours to get to Jacksonville from St. Catharines. It could be a nice big story for one separate post. A road trip, one day long made its own fun story, but I'll cut on this one. 

3. More fun in Jacksonville. One day (that was Wolf's birthday) we had a beautiful day, playing golf (just shooting golf balls actually), trying to take pictures with an alligator in a small lake (first one I've seen so far in Florida) and with a great Birthday Party at the end of the day. 

4. I miss that time now, but a few months back I started to feel like I've had enough of rest and fun time and I started to feel hungry for some serious training. And at the very beginning of February we arrived to Clermont to prepare for a season 2010. And this year is going to be different than my last few years when I was training on my own. Now I have a coach, Wolfgang Guembel, the Canadian Pro triathlete and one of NRG performance training coaches, who agreed to work with me and so far, I think, it's coming out pretty well. I thought I was working hard through all my years in triathlon, but only now I am realizing what does hard work really means (I still love it though  :) ) 

5. I am missin

g something here again: I am a Timex girl for the year 2010 again. And into three weeks of my training I had to leave Clermont for a weekend and join my team maits for the Team Timex camp in New Jersey. Either my English is getting better or in four years we got closer and made a really good friends in the team or maybe it's the cold weather held us indoor and we didn't spread out and we had enough time to get to know each other or maybe it's my room mate, but anyway I really had a great time in New Jersey, during the Team Timex camp at New York Giants facility.

6. After the camp I had a first few short course races back in Florida: one of them was USAT Development race here in Clermont and the other one was MIT race in Miami of course. The Miami race would be another good story to tell in my blog, but, sorry I am skipping this one too. I'll just mention that I travel to south of Florida with Wolf, Max and Viktor and it's always fun to hang out with them. I was very happy about my bike and run splits and a little bit upset to lose 3 seconds to the 6th girl.

USAT Development race results; MIT results.

7. I didn't have much time to rest after those two races. I've been invited to do All Japan Triathlon, Strongman, this year again. I am as excited about it as last year, maybe even more. I really like this race and the atmosphere and just an opportunity to go to Japan again. But I had three hard weeks of training blocks ahead of me. And now I can proudly say, I survived it without too much whining and complaining. Although my coach might think differently :).  

Now I have one more week before I go to Japan and I am looking forward to the long trip itself too. After staying at one place for more than a month it time for me to travel.