Let's Do This!

Dane and I check out the swim course at Lucky Peak reservoir

"More than 1,450 triathletes -- professionals and age group athletes -- are registered for the fourth annual race that starts at noon in the cold waters of Lucky Peak Reservoir," reads the front page of the Idaho Statesman.

The noon start is a strange twist for this event. Typically I'd be at the starting area getting ready to swim at this time of morning. Instead I'm sitting in the Metro Cafe at Hotel 43 enjoying a latte and bowl of oatmeal. Doesn't seem like race day, but it won't be long before we head out to catch the shuttle to Lucky Peak Reservoir.

The water temperature, reportedly 53F, remains my biggest concern. Leslie, Dane and I drove up yesterday to drop of our bikes and stick our feet in the water. Sure enough, it's cold. Dane doesn't seem too worried. But then again he plans to spend about 28 minutes in the water (my goal is 45). I was encouraged, though, by the clear water. This will be the first triathlon I've done in water with visibility greater than 1-2 feet!

While we were at the reservoir we ran into Pam Reed, who back in 2000 became the first woman to win the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon outright (which climbs from the lowest point in the country in Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48!).  She repeated that feat in 2003.


Pam Reed (center) tells Dane and me how much she loves BEEF!



When Pam saw my Team BEEF shirt she immediately said, "I eat a steak the night before every race." She also shared the story of her 490-mile run in the Self Transcendence Six-Day Race (she is the American record holder in this event). What she told us is that she craved steak throughout the race. As she wrote in her book, "The Extra Mile, One Woman's Personal Journey to Ultrarunning Greatness," "We all went back to the hotel, where I had a bath -- I couldn't even stand up to take a shower. Then I put on some clean clothes and went to dinner." Her friend Craig Bellman explained, "Pam wanted, I don't know -- a hamburger or steak. Some large slab of beef."


At 5'3" and 100 lbs, Pam told me she used to eat pizza and pasta before a race but she couldn't ever eat enough to really fuel her body. Beef, she said, fills her up; and gives her body the nutrients she needs. I think I love this woman!



Traci O'Donnell (left) and Idaho Beef Council staff took Dane (right) and I to dinner at Fork in Boise

Of course we took her advice and fuled up on beef last night at Fork in Boise with the staff of the Idaho Beef Council. Beef is the official protein of Ironman 70.3 Boise and beef council staff and volunteers will be handing out beef sliders at the finish line in the BEEF Recovery Zone. I can't wait to see them there and celebrate with other members of Idaho Team BEEF! 

Well, it's time to pack up my run gear bag to take to the bike-to-run transition (T2), then catch the shuttle to the start. Let's do this.

Ride on...

Daren

Facing Fears and Overcoming Anxiety

I woke this morning a strange bed at Hotel 43 in Boise with my heart and mind racing. I was thinking about tomorrow's swim in Lucky Peak Reservoir, the first leg of Ironman 70.3 Boise. The swim leg of every triathlon causes me the most anxiety. I suppose its the fear of drowning that brings on the waves of trepidation.

Makes sense, I suppose. After all, I nearly drowned in my first triathlon back in 2003. My first open water swim event, I was not prepared for the frenzy of arms and legs that looks like a school of piranhas attacking their prey. One hundred yards into a 550 yard swim I was in trouble. Panicking and gasping for air I couldn't put my face in the water so resorted to breast stroke, back stroke, side stroke and dog paddling my way through the rest of the swim.

I could have quit. Triathlon organizers take swim safety very seriously. Spotters in kayaks and boats in the water keep an eye out for swimmers in trouble (and they were watching me!). All I had to do was raise my hand and they would have plucked me from the goose-poop infested pond they call a lake at Heritage Park in Olathe, Kansas. But I knew if I gave up my first triathlon would be my last. And here I am in Boise preparing to compete in my 10th tri.

Tomorrow's swim is just a little longer than that first one...1.2 miles to be exact. I've done three swims at this distance but this will be my first one in cold water. The water temp in Lucky Peak Reservoir is a frigid 53F. Doesn't sound that bad until you consider I'll be bathing in the cold water for approximately 45 minutes (I am not a fast swimmer!).

Of course I will be wearing my wetsuit. But for the first time I will also don a neoprene swim hood in spite of the advice at yesterday's athlete briefing from an experienced Escape from Alcatraz triathlete. He said doubling up the latex swim cap is sufficient and that a hood covering your ears can mess with your sense of balance (I always swim with earplugs anyway). I'm wearing the hood, thank you.

Crossing the finish line in Boulder this past August.

There's always plenty of people offering advice at these events but I find that the more I listen the higher my anxiety level rises. The best advice I've ever received came last year before Ironman 70.3 Boulder when USA Triathlon Coach Nancy Strickland told me to visualize the swim, coming out of the water, getting on the bike, running, breathing hard and crossing the finish line.

It works. That's what I did lying in bed this morning to bring my racing heart back to normal. And that's what I will do today when I am driving the course with Dane Rauschenberg, my Team BEEF friend who will be competing in his first Ironman event. Dane is an amazing athlete and spokesperson for Team BEEF who always has an encouraging word. As he told me once, "You can't cross the finish line if you don't show up at the starting line."

Dane appeared on KTVB's News at Ten last night in Boise talking about beef's role in a healthy diet. Check out the great BEEF ad in the background!

I will face my fears, overcome the anxiety and show up at the starting line tomorrow for my heat at 12:39 p.m. My goal is to cross the finish line at 6:38 p.m. completing the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1 mile run course in under six hours and setting a new personal record at this distance (6:06:20 set this past August in Boulder).

Regardless of whether I break my record my ultimate goal is to cross the finish line and head straight to the BEEF Recovery Zone sponsored by the Idaho Beef Council. I'm visualing it now...and my mouth is watering.

Ride on!

Daren

Tapered, Rested and Ready (or not)...Here I Come Boise!



The usually deep blue Colorado sky is hazy steel blue thanks to smoke from the Arizona wildfires. From left: E Rock 2011 crew: me, Troy Lewis, Craig Yenni and Dan Hettinger

 I have never been very good at tapering. The idea that you should reduce your workouts in the final 1-3 weeks prior to your big event of the season just seems fundamentally wrong to me. I always feel like I should keep swimming, biking and running up until the last day. But this week I was forced to taper by a confluence of events called weather and work.

I scheduled the Elephant Rock 62-mile ride as my last long workout one week before the Ironman Boise 70.3 triathlon, my big event for this summer. Is one week a long enough taper? I don't know. I've run my two fastest half marathon times last year after doing my last long run one week out. It seems to work for me. But some schools of thought say longer endurance events should be preceded by longer tapering periods.

Regardless, I rode in my third straight Elephant Rock with a group of strong riders and had a great time. The bigger question in mind is whether it was smart to ride 62 miles in a haze of smoke blowing up the Front Range of the Rockies from the Wallow wildfire in Arizona! I woke up Monday morning completely congested and have been sidelined all week from either the lingering effects of the smoke, allergies or a summer cold. Whichever, it was tough to skip the Dip and Dash (open water swim and run) I had planned to do Tuesday evening.

So here I sit at the airport in Denver waiting for my flight to Boise. I haven't run or swam in over a week or elevated my heart rate since Sunday. Guess we'll see how this whole tapering thing works when you take it to the extreme! Stay tuned for updates from Idaho.

Ride on!

Daren