Katie's Ironman Arizona Race Report

So it's taken me a while but it's time I finally put my thoughts about my first Ironman down on paper, or on keyboard I guess. The overall word that I can use to describe the weekend was calm. For some reason, I wasn't anxious about what I was about to do. I just went through the motions of everything I had to get done prior to the race. Even during the race itself I felt pretty calm. We had check in on Friday, a practice swim on Saturday along with a short bike/run, packing our transition and special needs bags (ok I might have been a bit stressed about this because there's really no second chance with packing the bags), dropping the bikes and bags off, and figuring out the logistics of race day. I guess since we were so busy doing all of that, I didn't have time to freak out about what the day was going to bring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-Race Pic! Ready to Rock!

Race morning came and went quick. It was busy with trying to get calories in, get to the race site, get the bikes loaded with food and drinks, get bodymarked, hit the bathrooms (holy heck they should have had more of these!), get wetsuited up, and get ready to jump in. My dad and I were both stressing big time at this point. It just felt like there wasn't enough time to get it all done. But we did and soon enough we were being corralled over to jump in and get in position to start. Luckily we found my sister, Anna, and she got a pre-race pic of us. Apparently we both looked scared! A quick hug and good luck and it was time to split up and hopefully catch up to each other later in the race.

The Swim:
Goal: 1:15 Race Time: 1:12:37
 I walked down the stairs and wasted no time jumping in. I knew there were 2000 people behind me waiting to do the same thing. The water wasn't too cold. I had definitely swam in much colder water many times at Lake Natoma. I knew I wanted a position towards the front of the pack. I figured it was better to be swam over than to have to swim over too many people since the visibility was pretty poor in the water. On my way there, a guy kicked me in the leg. He turned and said sorry. I told him I was sure it was going to happen a few more times that morning! I got myself up to the front in time to hear the National Anthem sung. I can't even describe the way I felt floating there among over 2500 people knowing we we had all been in this journey together over the past year and that we were going to all experience the same day. I was surprised at how emotional I felt thinking about how the entire past year had come down to this. Mike Reilly got everyone pumped up and all of a sudden I heard the cannon go off. Off we went!

The swim was nothing short of madness. It didn't take long to realize that this was going to be much rougher than I anticipated. It was a fight the whole way through. I was very quickly grateful for the close contact swim practice that Coach Jen had done with me a few months prior. If I didn't have experience with someone basically swimming on top of me, I would have had a panic attack. For most of the swim, I had people getting tangled in my arms, trying to push me out of my position, and ending up right in front of me. It took a lot of maneuvering and a lot of mental work to keep myself calm. For a long stretch, I had a girl swimming on my right side. She kept trying to get right on top of me and was getting too close for comfort. I finally got so fed up that I forced her to swim right up on someone's feet. She was gone after that.

My biggest problem was that it was so choppy because of all the people in the water. I kept taking in tons of water. If I wasn't swallowing it when I tried to get a breathe, it was going down my nose. I had to stop a couple of times just to catch my breathe. Then all I could think about was how the race official was telling us on Friday night about how your lungs can fill with water causing you to have seizures and all sorts of other problems. Great. I'm a good swimmer but I'm about to drown because I'm swallowing so much water. Seriously, these are the thoughts going through my head. How do I know if I swallowed too much water? How do I know if I need to stop? I started to burp a lot after the turnaround and figured that must be a good sign. Or my lungs were just making room for more water. Either way I'm going to keep swimming.

The only time I actually got some swimming space was just before the turnaround and just before the end of the swim. Otherwise it was bunched up the entire time. Once I got close to the bridges and I could see the stairs to get out, I got excited. I didn't know how long I had been swimming, but I knew it was 2.4 miles and it was almost over. I put my head down and got in to the stairs. I could see there was a volunteer at the bottom waiting to pull people up. But I pulled myself up on the stairs and stood up. I was not prepared for how uneasy I would be standing up! I had to grab the railing to steady myself. Luckily there was another volunteer right there who helped me get to the top and unzipped my wetsuit for me. I caught a glimpe of the race clock and saw my time was 1:12! I was stoked! I was hoping for 1:15 or better and I nailed it! I immediately started to work on pulling off my caps and pull the top half of my wetsuit off. Then I ran down the line of wetsuit strippers to get to one farther down. In hindsight, I probably should have picked a bigger guy instead of a small girl but she was the one I picked. Lucky her. I threw myself on the ground and she yanked the wetsuit off pretty quick. I grabbed it and got to running. I was only wearing a swimsuit so I was feeling a bit exposed but didn't feel any cold. I ran down the chute with tons of people cheering us on. I tried to pay attention to them and smile. It was pretty exciting. I ran down the line where my transition bag was, grabbed it, and ran off to the tents. A volunteer was right there when I came in to help me. I grabbed a seat and literally had no idea what to do. The volunteer started to empty my bag and asked me what I needed. I told her I had to change. That was kinda obvious but I was clearly not thinking straight. She started pulling my clothes out and helped me get my bra and tri top on. I kinda glanced around the room and saw that every girl in there was literally being dressed by these amazing volunteers. My voly (this is what I'm going to call them) handed me a pb&j sandwich from my bag and I tried to get a few bites down. I got the rest of my clothes and gear on. She packed my wetsuit back in the bag and I was on my way. From there, I ran out into the bike area. The volys directed me to keep running down to my section. I was towards the end so I ran down, found my bike, and headed out. I had to walk because my cleats didn't have any grip and I did not need to be falling down. It was a short walk to where we mounted our bikes then started pedalling down a chute of cheering people. I can't explain how awesome you feel when people are cheering for you and they don't even know you. I know from experience how much energy it takes to be a spectator but it truly does mean the world to the athletes. I caught a glimpse of my family on my way out and that got me excited. I was hoping they were excited after watching the swim start. I knew it would be a long day for them.

The Bike:
Goal: 7:00 Race Time: 7:00:03
The bike was 3 loops. It started in town at the Ironman village area, headed out with a few turns, then took a good stretch out on the Beeline highway. I really didn't know what to expect from the bike. My goals were to not get a flat tire and to keep my fueling on track. I immediately started to get some water in me since I hadn't had any in almost 2 hours (if you don't count what lakewater I drank). The course was marked well with cones all over the place and volys at every turn warning us to slow down before the turns. I tried to make sure I thanked them as I passed. Once I got on the Beeline, I was happy that I was keeping a really good pace. The race marshals were making their presence known and at one point they pulled up right next to me so I had to make a pass I had started to doubt I should make. But if you start a pass and back down, you can get a penalty so I had to go for it. Not long after that, another motorcycle pulled up and it was a guy with a camera. He said he was going to ask me some questions. He asked some stuff about what made me want to do the race and how I was feeling. I'm not sure if I really said anything worthwhile, but they did take that video and put me in the IMAZ race day video talking about how it will be cool to be able to always say that I'm an Ironman! Pretty cool! And it was a nice distraction. It made me think about the big picture and not focus so much on how long I was about to spend on my bike.

Then I got to the little incline I knew was coming. My speed slowed quick a bit more than I had hoped but I kept plugging away. I hit the turnaround and was happy to speed up to 20+mph and notice we had a tailwind on the way back to town. I tried to take full advantage of it. But on that stretch back to town, I also started to have some pain on my right side. I had already been feeling like I wanted to throw up but now this was actual pain. I couldn't take a deep breathe and kinda started to freak out. I was trying to figure out what side my appendix was on because I thought that maybe it had burst. Or maybe the water from the lake really had filled up my lungs. I had no idea. Your mind goes to crazy places out there. I even debated whether I should stop at an aid station to talk to a medic. But after I hit the turnaround back in town to start my second lap, it subsided and I forgot about it. I think seeing my family helped with that. I was about 10 minutes ahead of schedule so they weren't ready for me yet!

The next 2 laps were fairly uneventful. I was drinking frequently, taking salt tablets, and felt pretty good the whole time. I stopped at special needs and took a little break to eat my pb&j sandwich and get off the saddle. I also had to stop a few times at the aid stations to refill my bottles. The volunteers at the aid stations were amazing. Tons of energy and there to do anything you needed. I was never dying on the bike. I got a little uncomfortable a few times but never in any pain and never felt like I couldn't keep going. I attribute that to staying on top of my nutrition for once. The wind did pick up a bit and the last lap got a bit lonelier as less athletes were on the course. I kept tabs on where my dad was during the bike. Our expectation was that he would catch me by the third loop and finish ahead of me. But he was about a half hour behind me the whole time and wasn't making up time. By the third loop, I knew that he wasn't going to catch me and that I now had to make the decision that I had gladly hoped to leave up to him. I was going to have to decide whether to do the run on my own or wait for him so we could run together.

The last stretch into town was just a fun time. I enjoyed it and paid attention to all the spectators who were still out there cheering us on. I came into the home stretch, handed my bike off to a volunteer. Another volunteer was ready with my transition bag and I headed into the tent to get changed once again. I took my time in transition, as did a few other women in there. I think we were thankful for a short break. I ate my pb&j sandwich (I swear these were key to having a good day), got changed, hit the bathrooms, and tried to do the math on how much time was between my dad and I and how we could catch up to each other. I definitely could not do any math so I just headed out to start my run.

The Run:

Goal: As long as it takes to finish under 17 hours; Race Time: 6:31:53


How far back do you think he is? Should I run? Should I walk?

I started out running and felt pretty great. The crowds lining the lake were amazing. I was quickly mixed in with lots of people who were already on their second and possibly even third laps. I ran a while and then started to walk. I knew that if I ran now I wouldn't be able to run with my dad. I knew he didn't have the bike he wanted and I knew that we always run much better when we're together. So I walked and waited for him to find me. Around mile 5 I talked to my family. Then I was walking with a guy (maybe Jared?) for a few miles. He was having quad issues. It was nice to chat with someone for a while. It was his first IM as well. Then around mile 8, right when I was approaching my family again, someone grabbed me from behind. It was my dad! He was doing great! I was immediately worried that I was going to hold him back. We started running and I know we were running fast. I had to let him know to slow down a little bit. Since I hadn't been running, I didn't really know how I was going to do. But we got to running and felt pretty good. I got us on a 5/1 run/walk interval which helped to get us into a rhythm for a while. It was great to hear how his day had been going. We jammed through the second loop pretty well. Had to stop every so often so he could stretch his hamstring that was seizing up on downhills. I had a bug fly straight into my throat and literally thought I was going to puke. I know I looked like I was going to. That took a good minute to clear up! We chatted with people as we went by, especially this one husband/wife team that we kept leapfrogging with. They were pretty cool. A lot of people were walking by this time. The sun was down and it was starting to cool off. We kept running and passing people. I did have to stop at special needs to restock on my nutrition which was good because it meant I was actually eating! When we started the third loop, it really started to hit us that we were going to finish this thing and in pretty good time! We said goodbye to each landmark that we passed and just appreciated where we were. Around mile 19, while we were on this bridge, I noticed a definite change in how my right foot felt. I knew a blister on my toe had popped. Crap. It was causing me to change my run stride which I knew would lead to problems. Luckily we were coming up on an aid station. I found the medics who let me sit down and throw a band aid on my toe. I was glad that was all I needed from them! With my shoes back on we were ready to go.

We were just running as much as we could and walking whenever we had a hill, an aid station, or a cramp. That worked out pretty well. I was glad we had both made it this far with no stomach issues since that's a problem I tend to have on my long runs. But I was feeling good! It was so great to go through each of those aid stations for the last time. To cross the “poopy bridge” for the last time. To cross the Mills Bridge with the people cheering for the last time. It was a little discouraging to see people with medals on driving home, but they cheered us on too and I knew I was going to have one of those medals soon enough! Once we crosed the last bridge, we were on the home stretch. It was dark, there weren't a lot of people around, and it was so peaceful. We stopped to make sure we were both presentable before getting to the finish line (priorities, right?). Then we finally got to make that turn towards the finish line. We tried to space ourselves so we would finish without anyone too close to us. It was an indescribable feeling at that point. I was getting a little choked up but the excitement took over. We ran down the chute, high-fiving people as we went. I know I had the biggest smile on my face. I couldn't help but feel like a rock star. Just before the finish, we raised our hands in the air together and crossed that finish line. I heard Mike Reilly call my name and tell me what I trained all year to hear...“You are an Ironman!” I felt amazing. I felt like the day went by so quick. I felt like the year went by so quick. But it was all over. I was proud of how I did that day. And most important, I had been able to finish with my dad which was the icing on the cake. I can't tell you what a great experience the whole year was to push my limits, do what I never thought I was capable of doing, have people say that I inspired them, and to have done it all with my dad. It's something pretty amazing. I think now I can finally consider myself to be an athlete. Afterall, I am an Ironman!

 

Ed's Ironman Arizona Race Recap

I knew that Ironman Arizona was going to be the biggest physical challenge in my my life and as race weekend approached I also knew that it was going to be a very emotional event as well. The week leading up the race included the most enjoyable workouts of the season. I knew I had put in the work and I was just really enjoying every workout. My body felt good, strong and ready to take on the race. I often found myself smiling as I ran, just because.

Race weekend was so exciting. I thought that I would get stressed out the closer I got to Sunday, but found that my excitement level was climbing. Friday I met Katie at the Phoenix airport and we headed to the event location in Tempe. At check-in, as Katie was checking in, I gave my name to another volunteer and his response was, "Oh, you're doing this too?" Twice this happened to me. Did I not look like an Ironman competitor or what?! Seeing all the really fit people around there still made me feel like a wanna be, but I was there to join this club on Sunday.

One of the logistical concerns that Katie and I had been discussing was how to meet up on the run. In theory, I would pass her on the bike course and we would have a time differential on the run to deal with. How much time gap could we realistically deal with to end up together or just run our own race. At the athlete dinner Friday we saw a video from previous races and saw husbands and wives coming in together and it was inspirational. Afterwards Katie asked me a simple question, what was more important to me? Simple answer, to finish with my daughter. The plan was set.

 

Saturday we went down for a practice swim in the lake. Talk about no visibility! You could not hardly see your hand in front of you. We then went for a short bike ride and run and we felt ready. Back at the condo we had to prep our various gear bags for drop off later and that is confusing. You don't want to make a mistake and forget something important. That evening we talked to Coach Jen, who wanted to know if we had questions and how we were feeling. Amazingly, I was feeling pretty calm and ready to go. Not anxious at all. It speaks volumes to how Coach Jen had prepared me.

Race morning I was awake at 2:45! I could not go back to sleep. We headed to the race location and got there a little later then planned. This is when the stress level was set at nuclear! We both felt like there was not enough time to get everything done. It was nice to talk to a lady in the port-o-potty line who assured us we that we had time. She had done 8 Ironman races previously. I asked her if she ever got emotional and she said yes. She would cry in her goggles, on the bike and run! The people that you meet are so great at helping calm you. We suited up and were headed to the water when we saw Anna, who took our photo. Trust me, this was the first smile of the day. Katie gave me a hug and said she would see me out on the course and it was time to get to work.

 

Swim - Goal Time 1:30. Race time 1:31:51

The swim is a deep water start. They have to get 2500 athletes in the water and into place in about 15 minutes. You jump in and start swimming to the start line because there are people jumping in right behind you. I swam up just past the second bridge. My intent was not to be too near the front, but in looking at the video, I was up in the front third. Bobbing there in the water I took the time to spin around an really take it all in. Being in the water at my first Ironman race with all of these people! I promised myself that I would be present and in the moment to really enjoy the full experience of the day. When the cannon went off I didn't even think, I just swam. I tried to draft when I could, but it was difficult because of the lack of visibility. For the next hour and a half, I ran over people, kicked and hit people, while they were doing the same to me!.I spent very little time in clear water where I could just settle in and do my thing. At times I came to a complete stop because I ran into someone and then had to fight to get going again because people were coming over me. Surprisingly, this was not frustrating. The turn-around came quicker than I expected and it was time to head back. I missed one marker buoy on the way back and got a bit off course, but did a good job over all. Getting out, I experienced my first cramps of the day, but a volunteer helped up the steps and was on my way to get my wetsuit stripped off and then on to transition. Transition was slow because there were just so many guys packed into the tent that it was real inefficient to change. Looking back, I am very happy with my swim.

Bike - Goal Time 6:30 Race Time 7:14:58 (ouch!)

Well, it is said that a race of this distance will not always go according to plan and my bike certainly did not. I was only a few miles into my bike when I realized that my right upper hamstring was real tight. I hoped that it would loosen up but it never did. This altered my riding in two ways. First, I was not real comfortable in the saddle all day. Second, being down on my aerobars only made the muscle tighter, so I only spent about half of the race in the aero position and only in short intervals. The aero position is a more efficient and powerful position to ride in. For me, the difference is good for over a mile an hour of speed that I gain when I am on my aerobars. So, I just had to work through this. Coach Jen had told me I needed to learn how to handle adversity so now was the time! And a friend had told me to remember three words, "your very best". This became my mantra for the ride. Loop one brought headwinds outbound and a nice tailwind coming in. Loops two and three brought a change in wind direction that was more like a strong crosswind, so no help at all. My first two loops were about the same time but I slowed on loop three. I saw Katie multiple times and could see that she was riding well and kicking my butt, as the gap was growing, not shrinking as planned. Because of the cramps out of the water I was eating bananas at every aid station to help. I became quite adept at grabbing one, peeling it with my teeth and eating on the fly! At mile 100 I started to get a quad cramp but was able change my position a little and work it out. About this time I passed a young lady riding with a prosthetic leg. That's right, I did pass a one legged woman. I shouted out to her how awesome I thought she was and her reply was that we were all awesome because we were doing Ironman! It hit me that yes, I was doing it! And then I cried a bit just thinking about the journey all year that had brought me to this point. And then I really enjoyed the final miles and took it all in.

Run- Goal Time 6:00 Race Time 5:50:41

Transition to run was a bit slow. I was cramping just putting my shoes on but finally got on the course. I knew I was way behind Katie and this was my first disappointment of the day because I felt like I had let us down and we would not finish together. I have done six other marathons but my approach to this one was so different. In my mind it was just three loops of just under nine miles, no big deal. I was calm and just went to work on clicking off the miles. My plan was to walk the first minute and then settle into a five minute run / one minute walk routine. Since I was cramping I decided to walk the first 5-6 minutes and see if my muscles would settle in. As I was walking, a lady came up and put her arm around me and gave me a pep talk until we had passed the aid station. I thought, how bad do I look? I'm just getting started! Once I started running I realized I was actually feeling pretty good and was running at about a 10 minute pace during my run intervals. I saw Anna at around mile 3 and she told me Katie was 20 minutes ahead. I knew I had my work cut out for me. Turns out, Anna lied and Katie was much further ahead but they didn't want to discourage me! I dealt with hamstring cramps on the downhills so I did my best.

As I mentioned before, you meet some really neat people in this sport. During one of my walk intervals I walked with a 21 year old young man who had done the swim in under an hour but was struggling on the run. He tried to keep up with me but couldn't after a while. I ran with a 34 year old lady who was doing her second Ironman. Her father at age 63 was doing his first. She was trying to catch him the same as I was trying to catch Katie.

Finally, at mile 8, I caught up to Katie. She had been walking the first loop so that I could catch up, what a great kid! I was so happy. So off we went into the night to finish together what we had started together. We ran well, usually keeping around a 10 minute pace during our running. We would modify when I had to stop to work out a cramp or to patch up her blister. Or when she suddenly stopped and I thought she was barfing but she had actually taken a bug down her throat! My nutrition was good except at mile 19 when I felt my energy level drop but I was able to fuel and was ok in short order. My hydration was dead on as well all day.

The last loop was so exciting, realizing that I had this in the bag. We were running well and passed a lot of people. I am sure that Katie was ready to smack me. I had a huge smile the last 2 miles. A half mile out we stopped so I could fix my hair. Katie didn't want to go through the finish line with my hair a mess! That last half mile was so incredible. People are congratulating you and cheering for what you had accomplished. The energy coming up the street and then making the corner to the finish is like nothing I have ever experienced in my life. The finish chute is fairly narrow. With the two of us side by side we could high five people. Then I raised my arms with Katie as we crossed the finish line and heard the words that I had worked so hard to earn. "Ed Cortopassi, You Are An Ironman!"

 

Goal Time - 15:00 Race Time 15:11:37 (close enough!)

 

I am 52 years old. I am an Ironman. And I can't wait to do this again!

Where does the time go?????

Well, we are right at the end of our season. The race is around the corner. When I think back on the year, I can't help but wonder where the time has gone. When my dad and I had a chance to train together, it went by so fast and always seemed to take up the whole day! Hmmm...I wonder why our workouts always took us way longer than they should have......

I wish I knew what took so long! At least we enjoyed the ride!



We Are Centurians!

Well, I'm not quite sure what you call it when you complete a century ride (maybe just crazy?) but whatever it's called, we're it! This past Saturday we did the Foxy's Fall Century ride which starts and ends in Davis. It goes out past Fairfield and up into Napa county by Lake Berryessa and wraps back around to Davis. It was going to be over 20 miles farther than either of us had ever ridden before and we were definitely feeling a bit anxious over it. I think part of the anxiety was because there was a stretch of about 20 miles where we would hit some pretty big hills. Since Ironman Arizona is a mainly flat course, we have avoided hills as much as possible. Why inflict any more pain than is necessary, right? So we knew this ride would be a challenge. It didn't help that the hills didn't come until after mile 50.
So we started our day with those hills looming in our minds. It was the normal early start to the day. We got to Davis and parked in a friend's driveway. It was definitely cold. We were both wearing our One10 tri tops which are sleeveless. Luckily we opted to bring arm warmers which was crucial to not dying of frostbite. We got our stuff together, griped a little (ok maybe a lot), I punched myself in the mouth getting my arm warmers on....it was a pretty normal training morning for us! We checked in, got a map, met up with the rest of our buds for the pre-ride pics, and were on our way just before 8am.

It was pretty cold. We were stopping at a lot of stoplights. Once we got just out of town, we noticed this thick layer of fog and mist and headed straight for it. It definitely made it tough to warm up. Luckily that broke up after a short distance. We were cruising along, trying to figure out how we were feeling, when we spotted a friend of ours on the side messing with his bike. When I glanced back at him, my wheel turned slightly and I could feel immediately that it was flat. No wonder I felt like a snail! So we popped the wheel off, started changing the tire, then the awesome bike support guys showed up. I figured they'd change it faster and I might as well get my entry fee's worth and let them change the tire. I was back in action in no time.


I opted to take a snack and photo break while they changed it :)

At our first rest stop, we met back up with some of the group and grabbed some grub. We didn't stay too long before heading out again. Rest stop 2 was just a short stop since our lunch stop wasn't too far ahead. We started to encounter a few little hills which put us in check for sure. But we were still passing some people so I didn't feel too bad about going a bit slow. At mile 42 I looked down and noticed my tire was definitely going flat again. ugh pull over and get to changing. No bike support this time so it was all me. Pulled out a nice thorn, some rocks, and made sure there was nothing else hiding in the tire. Had a pretty successful experience with my CO2 and we were on our way to the lunch stop. But those last few miles were a chore!

Lunch was a nice regroup again. We stretched, ate, and just enjoyed some time out of the saddle. Once we got going, it didn't take long for the hills to show up. They were tough. The first was a longer grind. I think it went on for a couple miles or so. It was just a short break before Cardiac Hill. It lived up to it's name. There were some people walking and I was determined for that to not be me. We just kept on pedalling and eventually made it up to the top. There were some pretty nice downhills. I tend to take it a little easier on those than my dad does. 30mph is plenty fast for me. We happily pulled into our final rest stop for some fruit and sodas. It was great to know we had less than 30 miles left. The rest of the ride was just trying to get it done. We were tired, grumpy, sore, and hungry. We stopped at the graffiti bridge in Davis for some pics before fighting the wind back into town.

We realized that the route was short by a couple miles so we had to loop the neighborhood (and do some donuts in front of the driveway) to make it an even 100 miles.
We quickly locked the bikes up and transitioned to our run gear and took off for a 30 min run. We were not looking forward to it since we were feeling so rough on the bike. But it was a surprisingly good run. After a few minutes, the kinks all shook out and we were able to keep a pretty good pace.
All in all, the ride taught us a lot. We need to focus more on our nutrition on the bike. We need to spend a lot more time stretching in the next few weeks. We finished the ride in less than 7 hours. Since Arizona is flat, the 112 mile bike should be pretty manageable. The run didn't feel as bad as we thought it would. I think this gave us a lot of confidence (in the end, not in the beginning of the ride) for how Arizona can go. It was also a fun day. As long as we can keep a good attitude and have a good time like we did at Foxy's, we should be in for a great race.


The gang post ride!

How Lucky Am I !

I have come to understand just how lucky and blessed I am for doing Triathlon and being as active as I am. It has allowed me to experience things and places that I would not otherwise have seen or done.. I first came to this realization a couple of weeks ago. I had a 3 1/2 hour workout after work on a Saturday. That meant I would finish in the dark. I was not dreading the workout but was looking forward to being done.

Because of this workout I was fortunate enough to watch the Thunderbirds performing as Mather Field as I drove down Sunrise. Trust me, this put me in a good mood, it was amazing to see them coming across the road in front of me! At Lake Natoma, my swim went better than I had been swimming all year. I slowed down and focused on only 4 of the 8 things that Coach Jen has me trying to fix in my swim stroke. If I tried to focus on all 8 I would forget to breath! My ride was decent, considering I had a long run the day before. After sundown I headed out on my run. Downriver I went, figuring it would be the safest part of the trail after dark. When I turned around it was about 30 minutes after sundown. I stopped on a bluff overlooking the river and had such an amazing sight with the trees silhouetted against the sky and geese honking and landing for the night. I realized just how lucky I was to be there, at that time, enjoying that particular sight!

Last weekend I was in the Santa Rosa / Napa area supporting Barb and Katie during their RAGNAR Relay that went from San Francisco to Calistoga. I was able to run with Barb through Santa Rosa late at night, like midnight and later! When else would you get to run past bars or having bar patrons run along side of you wondering what on earth your are doing at that time of night! Pretty entertaining at one in the morning! Then I drove over near Sonoma and ran part of a leg with Katie starting around 5 am, out in the middle of nowhere. I then pinch ran a four mile leg through Sonoma and just had a blast. I did learn though, that after a night like that, spending $1 dollar for a hot shower in a high school gym is money well spent. Followed by $1 for Cup O Noodles for breakfast, can't beat it! I realized how lucky I am to be healthy enough to do this. You have very different conversations with your spouse and daughter when they are tired and sleep deprived! But also, how many dads get to do something like that with a grown child? Not many. RAGNAR was fun to experience, from the outside looking in.

Overall, training is going well. My body is holding up and getting stronger as the training builds up. Coach Jen's training seems to be working, I am less tired now than I was early in the season when the training volume was lower.  The end is in sight. I am now trying to pay attention and smell the roses along the way.

Ed

Santa Cruz Smackdown

In late July my family was heading to Santa Cruz to go camping for the week. Of course, that doesn't mean that training gets put on hold. It only means our scenery is changed (and in this case, a whole lot harder). My dad and I figured we'd do what we know to do in Santa Cruz and that's to go ride Highway 1. Our coach gave us a workout of a 3:30 ride and a 20 minute run. So Monday morning we got up, scrounged up some food and got ready to ride. This was where our problems started. Being away from home, we didn't have the normal food we have before a big ride. In hindsight, we likely had less than 500 calories prior to starting our ride which was way too little. Our second problem was that we were just plain unmotivated to get out there and do this ride. But we knew we had to get out there and get it done so we could meet up with the fam at the beach afterwards. So we got out there, parked, geared up, and got to riding.
Getting going it was a little cool. It was completely overcast and there was no indication that things would be clearing up anytime soon. The hills were the only time we actually worked up a sweat on the ride. The weather was a nice break from the 100+ degree temps we had been having in Sacramento. We hammered down the descent before making the climb up to Davenport. There, we made a pit stop to hit the bathrooms and eat something. We didn't stop for long and got back on our way.

Besides getting passed by some super cyclist guy and seeing some roadkill, the ride out was fairly uneventful. We did catch a glimpse of a flag that seemed to indicate we had a tailwind with us which can only mean one thing....headwind on the way back. O no. Flashbacks to Big Kahuna last year start playing in my mind. The ride back into town killed me then and I seriously wanted to get off my bike and quit the race. It was so mentally challenging to continue in that race. We kinda chatted it over and decided to turn around at 1:40 which would give us an extra 10 minutes to get back into town. The ride out was going pretty well. We both felt like we were handling the hills and even the flats much better than we had in previous years. It was clear we had made some improvements in our riding. We stopped and rested a minute before turning around. We instantly knew that we messed up on those calculations. The wind was blowing so hard straight into our faces. It was going to be a rough ride back into town.


Smiling because he hasn't started riding back yet!

We decided we might as well make a pit stop at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse since it was right there. We took some pics, laughed about a kid taking a pic in the phone booth since he had never seen one before, and commiserated about what we were facing on the way back. Complaints out of the way, we got back on the bikes.






  
 It was a much slower ride but we just soldiered on mile by mile. Coming up one long grind of a hill, I was seriously feeling the effects of not eating enough that day. I was feeling very weak and slightly light headed as we made our way up the hill. So we stopped at the top and ate. Dad realized that his saddle padding was shot and clearly needed to be replaced. That's something you want to find out before a long ride, not during! We wondered if we should call and get a ride back since we weren't feeling too awesome but we knew the rest of the fam was getting ready to head to the beach. I didn't think they would pick us up anyways. I also didn't want to quit. So we stretched a bit and once again, got back on the bikes and kept on going.


Had to sit down anywhere I could!



After a while of riding, we got to the best part of the day (aside from being done with the ride).....we made it to the strawberry stand! There was really no question that we might as well stop and get a snack. It was already taking us a super long time for this ride once you factored in all the breaks so a few more minutes wouldn't matter. We got the best 2 chocolate covered strawberries and strawberry lemonade I've ever had. And with a 10% bike-in discount, who could pass that up!?



YUM!


We had a nice break and got the mental boost we needed to finish up the ride. It seemed to go on forever but we finally made it back.....after 3:55 minutes! Yea, it was only supposed to be a 3:30 ride but it took way longer to get back than it did to go out. Since the ride took so long and it was already so late, we cut our run in half and just did 10 minutes instead of 20. The run was ok. Took us a few minutes to loosen up but we got it done. We packed up and went on a mission in search of food! Everything tastes so much better after a hard workout!

So I'm not sure if you'd say that Santa Cruz won or if we did. The wind definitely held us back but I think we won the mental game. And from what I'm learning, the mental aspect is a huge factor in Ironman training and an Ironman event. Overall, it was a fun day and as long as we are still having fun even under less than ideal circumstances, we are coming out on top!

Mid-Summer Musings

I was out on the "optional" workout on my schedule today and had a bunch of random thoughts kicking around that I thought I would share.

      Optional? If your coach puts that on your schedule is it just a tease to see if you are a wimp and will skip it or is it to see if you are dumb enough to take the bait and do the workout? I am not a wimp, just dumb. However, an hour ride was just what I needed after being in the car for 2 1/2 hours.

     How are we feeling? Katie and I have been discussing how we are holding up to the level of workouts that we have been doing. We are both feeling more fit. We both realize that our bodies are adapting to the stress and handling it better. Early in the season we would hang on for dear life hoping to make it to our rest day. We were very tired. Now, we still have fatigue but not nearly as bad, this is good! We laugh that our "rest" week hours would have scared us to death several months ago. Funny how "only" ten hours makes you feel rested.

    Bodies of Ironmen? Haha! Not in the Cortopassi genes! We will never have the chiseled bodies of a lot of athletes, but our bodies are changing. A couple of weeks ago we approached, with dread, a recheck of our body fat. We had previously tested six months previous so we were hoping for some improvement. When I got there the lady wanted to know how my day was going. I told her it depended on my results! She was surprised the test held that much sway, if she only knew! I lost 4.5 pounds of fat and added about a pound of muscle, so that was good. The bad news. Still have 9+ pounds of fat to lose. We decided that Katie's test must have been wrong. It did not have the results she had hoped for but did show improvement.

     How do we get all the workouts in? By developing the ability to maximize every moment of the day. I often am up before the sun to get one workout in and then do another after work. For me travel time takes up precious time so I try to minimize it as much as possible. Today I came back to Katie's house from Santa Cruz and jumped on my bike for a ride so that I would not lose time by coming home and then heading out again. Fortunately, our spouses are used to this now and just ask what we have today and when we will be home.

     Unexpected expenses. My bike, my trusty steed, is showing the wear and tear of five seasons. Replace tires, $50 each. Replace chain, $50. It needs new bearings in the rear wheel. I have been uncomfortable in the saddle. Yesterday I found out that the padding is shot. Great! Now a new seat is in order. This if killing me.

     The totals are climbing. Our yearly training totals are going up steadily and quickly. I think we have ridden half way across the country already and have run almost to Los Angeles!

     Well, this has gone longer than I expected so I will wrap it up on a serious topic. One evening recently, Katie sent me a text that said "Jen is really trying to kill me with this workout". I have had those on my schedule as well. I told Anna about this and she wondered that maybe, with all the athletes that Coach Jen trains, maybe she is a SERIAL KILLER!!!!!!! Hmmm, makes one wonder.....................................

Ed

5 Months to Go!

Ironman Arizona is 5 months away. Somehow that seems like a short amount of time and a lifetime away all at once. We've been training for about 6 months now and I'm still learning and adjusting to the process. Last week was a great week for me. It was my biggest week of training to date (13 hours of training) and I got every single one of my workouts in. It was a big accomplishment for me and I'm hoping I can continue that trend.

We've had a couple races now. In March we did the Shamrock'n Half Marathon. Dad did great considering he was just a few weeks after his accident. I had a PR for myself but not by as much as I had hoped for.

A couple weeks ago we did the Tri 4 Real (Olympic distance) race out at Rancho Seco. I think the swim course was a little too long so my swim time wasn't what I wanted, but I had a great bike portion. I made it a lot farther than I usually do before my dad caught me. The run started ok but by the last couple of miles, I slowed way down. My dad beat me by just a few minutes! If I had known I was that close to beating him I bet I could have picked up the pace somewhere! Neither of us had a PR, but still a decent race.

Anna did the Tri 4 Fun (sprint distance) the day before our race. Fot not training very much, she did pretty good. She now wants to train for the August Tri 4 Real. So if she ends up doing it, all 3 of us will be racing that day which should be fun.

That's just a quick update of what's going on. I'm sure we'll have lots to add in the coming months as races come up and training ramps up!

Face, meet Ground.....Ground, meet Face!

My Dad and I are about 2 months into our training and besides a few swims, we haven't done any training together. So we finally coordinated to do our 2.5 hour ride together on Saturday, February 25^th. We both did our own swim workouts that morning, then met for our ride. Of course it had to be windier than all heck, which would normally mean riding the second half of our ride straight into the wind. That makes for an unhappy Katie. So we found a new route that would take us out to the River Rd to Meadowview then we'd come back down Franklin Blvd with the wind at our backs for the last stretch....something to look forward to!

(Remember this face!)

The ride started out great until we turned West. The next hour and a half were pretty much fighting the wind and trying to not get blown off our bikes! But we were still having a pretty good time and keeping an eye out for the town of Clarksburg where we hoped to make a pit stop for ice cream (which we never found).

From there, we go on Meadowview which turned onto Mack. Got a little sketchy in that area...not great shoulders and not the best roads. I think we were anxious to get to Franklin Blvd.....maybe too anxious. We were starting to feel the tailwind and we knew we had less than 10 miles to go til we were home. I was out in front heading over this little mini-overpass type of hill. I was cruising until I heard the sound no one wants to hear....something sliding across asphalt aka bike down. I glance back to see my dad now on the ground instead of on his bike. I slowed down as quick as I could, got off, and ran back up the hill. 

His face was gushing blood and he was holding his arms funny so I instantly thought he broke something. He was sitting up so I took off his helmet and glasses to find out where he was bleeding from. Luckily, just the nose. And luckily I brought kleenex! A motorcylclist stopped and help him get up. Might have been better to leave him on the ground because after that I couldn't get him to sit still! His nose stopped bleeding and he quickly assessed that he was pretty much ok! Hardly any scrapes on his legs and arms. His fingers and his face got the worst of it. I got on the phone with Dan and told him where to come pick us up and then we waited.

Apparently he ended up crashing when he went over a bump and only had one hand on his handlebars because he was eating a shotblock (gummy type of food to eat during training). See, the timing of your nutrition is so important! He must have been in moderate shock because he was happy to smile for the camera and he still wanted to finish riding home.....uhhhhh not happening. A few people stopped to see if we needed anything. One woman gave us some antiseptic wipes and a box of kleenex to clean him up. We were surprised that so many people stopped for us. We must have been a sight to see with his jacket covered in blood. All in all, he was pretty lucky that he crashed where he did and that he crashed right before a rest week so no major workouts were missed while he was healing.

Unfortunately, crashes are something we know can happen everytime we go out for a ride. We just hope that when it does happen it isn't that bad and that we can still smile!

I signed up for What????

I'm Katie.....I graduated from UC Davis, currently working in Human Resources, been married going on 3 years, and am currently an Ironman in training!

I've never considered myself an athlete but did swim through childhood and high school. I was about as inactive as you can get through college and put on a lot more than just the freshman fifteen. When graduation was nearing, I decided to join my parents doing triathlons with Team in Training to try and get active again and lose some weight. That was back in 2003. Since then I've done numerous sprint and Olympic distance triathlons, one true Half Ironman and one Half Ironman without the swim because it was cancelled on race day. I've also gone from not being able to run a full minute to now being able to run half marathons and actually enjoy running rather than just getting through it.

This year I'm taking the mother of all triathlon challenges and have signed up to participate (I call it participating, not racing) in Ironman Arizona on November 18, 2012. It's a crazy goal but I'm up for the challenge and hoping I'll finally consider myself a true athlete!

Me? An Endurance Athlete!?

I am Ed Cortopassi, an endurance athlete! I am 51 years old, married 29 years, a father of five great children and a grand-father of two. In my first 40+ years of life the last thing I could be called was athletic. Being overweight most of my life, sports was not something that I even gave a passing notion to. That all changed in 2001 when my wife, Barbara, and I decided to join Team in Training to train for the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon.

            A co-worker of Barb’s had trained with the team while raising money for Leukemia research. She said anybody could to it, so why not?! Well, training for something as difficult as a marathon can teach you a lot about yourself and your capacities for digging deep. That year, 2001, Barb completed two marathons to my zero. That’s right, zero. In early training the coaches talked about dealing with injuries. Injuries? I thought this was just fun! Well, I learned that my bones were not happy with my running. I suffered three stress fractures that year. With one being so severe and inflamed that an MRI showed it as a cancerous mass. A cancer scare was NOT what I had signed up for!

            I could have quit right there but, due to my stubbornness, (got that from my Mom!), I became a race-walker and went on to complete five marathons. It was in 2003 that a friend suggested trying to do a Triathlon, that they were “fun” so, what the heck, give it a go! He failed to tell us about the long training hours and the addictive nature of the sport. Since that time I have completed four Half-Ironman races, seven Olympic distance races and too many Sprint distance races to count. I am addicted to the finish line!

            I am now signed up and training this year for Ironman Arizona. A race of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run. I have a coach. I am just now coming to grips with calling myself an Endurance Athlete……………………………….