Toughman NM- You better be tough

Toughman NM was one of the most mentally challenging races I have ever done. I felt like quitting so many times and the only reason I didn't was because my Grandma told me "You better win Lauren".  I guess the competitive spirit runs in the family. I suffered a flat tire as well as another more complicated bike mechanical(that was fixed with a pink hair tie) on the bike course.  The run was challenging especially with some cactus stuck in my foot but the feeling of finally making it down that ridiculous boat ramp is so rewarding.  Each race becomes just another training day after it is over with and this was one that was character building as well as physically challenging.  This race will hopefully make my next one seem a little less hilly,windy, and grueling.





My dad is such a good photographer he can make even
Cochiti Lake look serene and lovely.

I had the pleasure of meeting Angie Kandalaft at the beginning of my triathlon training days 4.5 years ago.  For some strange reason she believed in me and continued to encourage and provide me resources to continue training and racing triathlons in New Mexico.  She was also the person who suggested that I begin working with my coach Jaime who has also for some strange reason believed in me this whole time.  So when Angie told me she was producing a long distance race at Cochiti lake I was beyond excited.  I love an opportunity to race in New Mexico especially if it is a Chasing 3 race.  Thank you Angie for believing in me for almost 5 years now. I am so honored to be the champion of the Inaugural Toughman NM and am excited to be traveling to NYC this weekend representing Angie, Jaime, and everyone who raced Toughman NM. It was so truly inspiring to watch every single person cross that finish line.

So cool to break the tape!!!!

Beginning of season racing/training

So the beginning of my season didn't start out too well... I had stress fractures at the end of the season last year followed by a long bout of flu/sinus infection crap and before I knew it Christmas had come and went and it was January and I had done zero tri-specific training.  I had originally planned to go to Oceanside 70.3 in March when I decided I wasn't in very good shape and then suffered a pretty bad fall on the mountain bike that left me unable to train for 4-5 weeks.  I decided to do St. George 70.3 on very little training and just see how it went.  It didn't go very well.  It was the slowest time I have ever had at a 70.3 distance but the good news was I didn't have any pain from running and I was so pumped to start training again!!!

Finally, some motivation to train and race and do what I love to do had returned.  All it took was a proper ass kicking.  I spent so much time dwelling on how scared I was to race in the pro division and questioning my decision to move up and accept my pro card that I had forgotten how much I loved to race.  I had been racing locally and winning for so long that the jump up to a pro status seemed enormous and something I wasn't capable of.  The reality is you will never get faster if you don't race people faster than you.  So now I am a very small fish in a big pond of pros who are all my idols.  I know who they all are and I am so honored to toe the line with them at the start of these races even if they have no idea who I am. 

Off Season Shenanigans and Injury Rehab.

It took me a while after My last race in September to start doing any tri training again. I had to wait 7 weeks to heal the stress fractures in my foot and I had to spend a few weeks longer working on the injury/pain I was getting in my hip while running for the past 6 months.  Although I was not doing anything tri specific I have been having fun on bikes and have spent some time in the weight room at Elevate which was greatly needed. 

Elevate-
After not much running August through November I knew it was time to get the wheels turning again.  My first run back was extremely slow and painful.  I ran 3 miles at an 11 min mile pace and I was DYING!!!!! It made me understand why most people hate running.  If you are out of shape it is miserable.  I have been going to Elevate to see Lawrence twice a week since my race in September.  I had some inconsistencies and weaknesses that I really needed to work on to get my hip feeling better. I have been increasing my running miles since and for the past 3 months I have been running pain free and it is making me feel a million times more confident!

Cyclocross-
Yes, the sport where grown people in lycra jump on and off their bikes in the yucky weather for beer and Little Debbie handups.  I have never fallen down so many times in one day as when I rode a cyclocross bike.  Now, if you knew me a few years ago you would really laugh because yes, I was one of those triathletes that ate shit while running through transition or sees a shiny penny in the road and flips 5 times over the handlebars.  Now, I have come a long ways since but I still unclip during U-turns (yes in every race even on the road).  The New Mexico CX community got to see me perpetuate the stereotype of triathletes being horrible cyclists but I don't care because I had fun.  I also rode up a hill and then rolled all the way down still connected to my bike. Yes, I still have my front teeth.

Mountain Biking-

My sweet loving boyfriend took me mountain biking on our second date... Well lets just say it took another year before I rode a mountain bike again. My goal the last 2 years has been to do an Xterra. I hope this will finally happen.... I am still pretty bad at turning corners and really anything technical but I am having a blast.  I have left a lot of type O and skin in the foothills this winter. 

IM 70.3 World Championship Recap

I know that lots of time has passed but I needed some time to think about the race I had in Mont Tremblant.  This was definitely a world class event and because it was the event's first time outside of the US there was a faster and more competitive field than ever before.  All of these racers were truly world class athletes and I am so honored to have shared this experience with them.  This race was a very humbling experience and because I have only ever raced in the Southwestern US area it turns out I was missing out on A LOT.

Swim-29:29
The water in Lac Tremblant was the cleanest and clearest water I have ever swam in.  It didn't even taste bad and you could see all the way to the bottom of the lake for the entire swim which is not something I am used to for sure!  I came out of the water in 10th place and about 3 minutes back from the leader.  Marcos job is to always tell me what place I am in and how far back I am because I know I will always have to chase. I was probably easy to spot because I was one of the only people there in a sleeveless wetsuit. My Xterra Sleeveless Volt suit is my favorite suit of all time and I have been racing in it for 4 seasons.  The buoys were easy to sight and I had a pretty good swim for me.  In a normal tri I am swimming alone somewhere between the crazy fast swimmers but ahead of the rest of my wave but at this race I was never alone and the swim was no exception.

T1- This was the second leg of the race because this transition was so long! .7 kilometer to the transition tent where we had to grab our bag and run to another place to open it and put on helmet while putting our wetsuit and goggles into the bag and handing it to a volunteer and a run out to our bikes before running out of transition to the mount line.

Bike- 2:36
This is the part of the race that I really keep kicking myself for.  Because I have Marco telling me how many girls I have to pass I usually just pick them off and this is usually done in the first few miles of the bike portion of the race. Well.... I tried to do this but the field was so crowded and there were so many people on the roads it was hard to even make a pass.  In the first mile I hit a cone because some guy wouldn't let me pass!!!!! I was so scared and pissed but I did not fall which was nice. I continued to pass at a steady rate heading out on the climb to the main highway and turned onto the road. Now, what I saw surprised me and really aggravated me: there were drafting pelotons forty to fifty people large on the main highways. There were officials jumping in the street and waving red cards at these large packs but none of them even got penalties.  My wave was one of the last to start and so I was continuously passing people on the bike but there was no way I was going to catch some of the larger/faster pelotons to catch a good ride.   I was trying my best just to ride legally and pass as fast as I could but as you passed people they would hang on to your wheel and use you to sling shot forward just so you could pass them again. I am used to racing in the southwest and the races here are small and hot and hilly and hard.  Usually I am racing alone with nobody in sight so this style of racing just shocked the heck out of me.  Behind me a group of girls in my AG kept hanging onto my wheel and I knew they were working together.  My hope was that on the last out and back in the extreme hills I could get away and that is exactly what happened. It was really frustrating but I just kept sticking to my number because that was my plan in the first place!!!  I had 3 Powergels and 2 bottles with Skratch (matcha tea yum!) and 2 endurolytes broken into each and a bottle of Powerbar Perform. Praise Jesus for sea level my heart rate was it's usual 160 but I was riding 40 watts higher!!!! YIIIIPPPP!!!!

Run- 1:38:06 (7:30 mile)
Transition into run was much faster and smaller than the first thank god!!!  The first loop of the run I felt great and had passed a few girls that were ahead of me.  I had a gel about half way through and sipped on the Perform and Coke at aid stations.  I was making good time for me and knew I would be under 1:40.  It wasn't until mid second-loop that the group of girls working together on the bike passed me one by one.  It was sort of frustrating to see but I know that running is my weakness and also what I need to work on for next year.  I had also taken a 3 week break from running due to a hip and foot injury that was very painful and I was not sure how it was going to hold up.  I was in pain on the downhill and cobble sections but it was as good as I could have hoped for.  My plan was to just tell my self "shut up legs" if they started hurting.  I was going to finish strong no matter what!!!!! 

Altogether I had a successful race for me but yes I am a bit unhappy with how I placed.  I have never placed this low at a race and it is definitely humbling and some fuel for the fire as I go into next year.  My entire race I just kept remembering how grateful I was for the amazing community I have around me in Albuquerque and how I am so thankful for all the supportive people I have had around me throughout  the season.  Cheers.

THANK YOU!!!!

A few weeks ago I was feeling pretty bummed out and unmotivated in my training.  I was qualified and signed up for the World Championship 70.3 in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada but I could no longer afford to go.  This was supposed to be the one year I was going to be able to go but the winds had changed direction and I was no longer going.  Feeling discouraged I was telling a friend about my dilemma when she suggested to set up a Gofundme.com account and raise some money for my trip from friends and family.  Originally I told her it would never work because nobody would donate.  I was getting ready to start washing some cars in my bikini or  to start making cookies and have a bake sale.  I would have to sell a few truck loads full of cookies to make $3000.00 and I have never washed a car so I set up the website.  Man was I wrong!!!  I emailed out the link and the first day it was up on Facebook I had raised $1500.00. 

Words cannot begin to explain how happy and special and wonderful and loved this makes me feel.  People are still writing me the  kindest words of encouragement and are donating far more than I could have ever hoped for.  People I have never met have also donated.  I was losing motivation to train or race again this year and this has given me renewed excitement for my end of the season race.  For those of you who know me, you know that I am the biggest cry-baby and cry during anything happy or sad or during any ASPCA commercial or Disney movie. Heck, I am crying writing this. With each donation I tear up a little bit and I am not ashamed!!!!

  I am so stoked to represent all of you who have donated by racing on a World stage.  Your donation and support means I get to represent all my Burquenas y Burquenos and my home town of Albuquerque NM. Previously I have just gone to races within driving distance that I could hitch a ride to.  Your donation really means the world to me.   Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflections on hard races and lessons learned.

It is a fact that you learn way more from your bad races than your good races. Here are some lessons that I have learned from my last few races.  Some of the mistakes I made seem like common sense but I suppose I had to make the mistake myself in order to learn from it.
Captex Olympic tri-
After St. George 70.3 I was signed up to compete in Captex tri in Austin Texas 2.5 weeks later.  I felt that this would be a fair amount of time to recover and gain a little speed for an olympic distance.  Well, I was wrong. I was completely wrong.  I had been doing my workouts and recovering as best as I could during the 2.5 week span but it was not enough time for me to recover properly. During the race I felt very sluggish and couldn't even get my legs moving, My heart rate was at a resting rate and I couldn't push it up and my power was so low my legs were burning and I was at a resting power number.  I felt like a complete dud that day and like I was letting people down by not performing at my best level.  I still came out as 5th overall female but was 5 minutes slower than last year at this race and was hurting a lot more.  

Lesson learned: You can do a shorter race before a longer race as a tune up but you cannot gain speed and recover at the same time after a long hard effort like a half Ironman.  Also, I have a difficult time racing at sea level. I feel sluggish and feel as if I can barely breathe every time!  I thought being born and raised at 5800ft was supposed to give you an advantage?!  Will probably stick to higher elevation races and avoid the humid/sea level climates. 

Deuces Wild Olympic Triathlon
This was my favorite race last year so I made sure I returned to do this fun race this year.  It was the weekend before an  "A" race so I trained right through it and felt great.  I had done some open water practice and was feeling comfortable in the water and came out of the water in 2nd place! I was able to summon some power from my legs on the hilly bike course and passed the lead girl around mile 10(she had a bad ass swim time).  Coach Jaime and I had agreed it would be best to just chill out and rest my legs on the run if I had a decent lead so I was able to cruise the run comfortably and finish as the 1st female finisher.  The run course on this race was marked really long so everyone ran a little extra which was challenging in the heat but it was fun and challenging.

Lesson learned:  Don't panic and race super hard to catch the girls in front of you!!! Its not worth the effort it will cost your legs.  I maintained composure and made sure my power was smooth and even the entire ride.

Buffalo Springs 70.3

Black beauty and I before the sufferfest at 70.3 Buff Springs.

The only place hotter than Lubbock Texas is probably Hell.  It was hot, humid and very windy all weekend which makes the tough course that much tougher.  I made so many rookie mistakes for this race I pretty much set my self up for failure.  Long gone are the days I can do a race on a package of  Hostess Donuts.  The fitter I get the more I need to eat all the time. I didn't eat enough the day before the race or the morning of the race to even partly cover the calories I was going to burn.  I spent the day before the race on my feet doing hair for a wedding in high heeled sandals.  I skipped lunch because I was busy.  I then did my final workout on an empty tank the night before the race in 100 degree weather.  Then the morning of the race all I ate was a PB&J. Yeah..... I know.... I'm an idiot. I had come off the bike in 3rd place but began getting passed by so many people I had no idea where I stood int he rankings. I get so emotional at these races that even though I felt terrible I felt compelled to finish.  After all, there are people out there with no legs and 100 other problems worse than mine! Who am I to drop out of the race just because I am hungry and tired and way to hot.  I spent the longest 13.1 miles of my life shuffling, walking,and dry heaving but hey I finished!! I ended up winning my age group and coming in 7th overall so not bad but definitely not what I am capable of. 

Lessons Learned: EAT!!! EAT A LOT!!!!! I needed to be filling my tank with better food and a lot more of it.  It just seems hard when you're busy with 2 jobs and trying to train and do 100 other things.  I am trying to make my nutrition a bit more of a priority. It's not OK to spend my day hungry because I am so busy.  It makes me evil and cranky and leads to poor performance.  Also, Drink more water.  Coffee and Diet Coke are not OK substitutes.  Lastly, race nutrition. It was too hot to be only having a few gels and 2 bottles with Osmo.  Osmo is great and I like it for hydration but it does not have enough calories and it was so windy and the roads were too crappy to be letting go of your handle bars to drink and eat enough (aero position was out of the question in the 35 mph winds).  I should have had more calories in my bottles as well as eaten more food at the beginning of the bike.

Hopefully, I can put it all together for the 70.3 World Championships in 5 weeks.  I have not had the most successful past few races but I have learned a ton from them.

St. George 70.3 race report

I want to be corny for a minute and just say that I have been so extremely lucky in my short triathlon career to end up in such good hands.  My coach Jaime Dispenza (swtricoaching) needs to take all of the credit for all of my successes thus far.  Also Angie Kandalaft and her company Centerpoint Events for putting together an amazing team and giving me the opportunity to go to some great events over the years.  Without these two people I don't know where I would be.  Thanks for always believing in me guys.*tear gently rolling down cheek*

Now for the race report:
The 70.3 St. George race is the toughest triathlon course I have ever done.  Period.  The 4000 net ft of elevation on the bike is tough and the additional net of 2200 ft on the run was even tougher. I was hoping for a top 5 overall finish and a qualification to 70.3 worlds in Mont Tremblant in September.  Climbing is one of my strengths and one of the reasons I signed up for this race to begin with but I knew that in order to crush this race I had to climb during my workouts whenever I could.  I did all of my intervals up tramway and la luz and spent long rides in the saddle behind the mountain over the rollers on S-14, up Placitas, and even once in the Gila from outside Hillsboro where I climbed Emery pass twice(this was brutal).  I rode with some great training partners(thank you Mindy!) who helped motivate me and push me and also rode with the High Desert group ride occasionally to partake in the roadie test-fest and get my butt kicked several times. I did lots of base running and some race pace and tempo type stuff but didn't step onto the track or do too much speed work to prepare for this.  I knew that keeping a good solid effort on the bike without overdoing it would be key to having a strong run.

Swim-
The swim is just not my best event.  I have been working on it and have had some great coaching from Coach Tim and put in a few longer workouts over the winter and am definitely stronger than last year but still am not able to compete with top swimmers.  I came out of the water in 31:03 and in 3 place in my age group which is pretty typical for me but I was not fatigued at all from the swim.  I felt like it was a good warm up for the bike and I wasn't even winded.  This may mean that I need to swim harder while racing which is something I am working on but I kept a 1:36/100meter pace which is the same pace I swam in an Olympic distance race a few weeks ago. I felt relaxed and excited to catch the next 2 girls on the bike. Chasing after the swim is not a new thing to me.

Bike-
This course starts off with a little bit of climbing to open up the legs as you climb out of the Sand Hollow reservoir.  I immediately began to pay attention to my heart rate and power number so that I wouldn't over do it on the bike.  It was sort of hard to keep my power low because the wave of men that went after us was beginning to pass me and I hate being passed!!! However I just kept reminding myself of MY power number and passed these big guys at the end of the bike;)  I passed both girls in my age group about 15 miles into the bike and then knew I was in the lead and wanted to stay steady and strong and remember to drink both of my bottles as well as stay fed before the last big climb. I drank both bottles of Osmo hydration with 2 endurolytes broken into each as well as a vanilla crisp Power Bar and 3 Strawberry banana Power gels.    Snow Canyon is a tough climb toward the end of the bike around mile 45 that is about 5-8% grade and about 8 miles long.  On paper it doesn't sound too hard especially with all of the climbing here in New Mexico but it was harder than I expected and  I had to keep reminding myself of all the climbing I did to prepare for this race as I climbed because it was long and hard and extremely hot. I was happy to make it through the bike portion safely and with decent legs for the run. I went 2:40:28 and about 21 mph.  This was not a PR but I didn't expect a PR on this course.

Run-
I ran 13.1 miles on this day with the biggest cheesiest grin on my face ever. I just couldn't stop smiling and not just because I was in first place but I just felt amazing and I knew that I could flatten out those hills because I had trained hard and am in a great place in my life and in my training.  I just felt great!!!! It was blazing hot out there so I just kept dumping water over myself and putting ice in my sports bra trying to cool down. I drank 2 cups of the sports drink they had on course and ate 1 gel.  I sipped a tiny bit of water but most of it just went over my head.  After the turn around I was able to see the lead I had and run safely into the finish with sore cheeks from smiling so big.  Now, I was the first female to cross the finish line and the announcer announced it 3 times!!!! It felt so cool to hear him announce me as the amateur winner. I knew it was unofficial and may be short lived but I had 10 minutes of glory!!!!! I ran a 1:35:15 half marathon which is a PR for me. 2 more women from a later wave (35-39) eventually beat my time but I finished within my goal and qualified for professional status which is cool.

So I was 3rd overall and had won my age group by 9 minutes securing my spot for World Championships in Canada in September!!!! Nothing to complain about here.  I had solid splits throughout the race and felt strong and that is what matters.  I admit I was worried to be running such low power on the bike for this race but it payed off big time(my coach is always right). I know that I still have improvements to make this season but I look forward to my next race! I will be at Lifetime Captex in Austin, TX on Memorial Day and then Deuces Wild on June 21 in Show Low, AZ.