There may be something to this....

As seen on display at a grocery store in Manson, WA...

"8 Horns A Plenty"

Challenge Penticton 2013

I would first like to thank Challenge for the amazing experience they put on at what is my favorite race destination, and congratulate them on taking a very strong first step to making their first event in North America what I am sure will become a premier event like Roth.

I have never felt more welcome at a race. Period. This sentiment was echoed by all the other guys and girls I talked to. The Challenge staff treated us like rockstars. I mean, it was crazy how nice they were, how genuinely interested and happy everyone was that we were there racing. This became much more evident later in the day.

The days before the race found the majority of Pros scrambling to find swimskins, as there was the very real possibility race day water temperatures were going to make it a non-wetsuit swim for us. I would like to thank Deb from HUUB for her willingness to help me out, and for being so nice. Deb let me borrow a swimskin that would sit in my backpack all day, thankfully. Even though we were allowed to wear wetsuits, it was a very ROUGH swim. I do not ever remember Lake Okanagan being that mad, and it sure made for very slow swim times, and a good amount of lake water ingestion for some of us.

Once done with the swim, my plan was to keep low, constant watts throughout the ride. No matter what. And I stuck to my plan. I will confess my legs were tired, and I wondered how the run was going to go, but I had done what I set out to do: let the race go and give myself a chance to REALLY run. I started the run dead last, and 5th female.

And run I did (at least for a little bit). Once I found my run legs, I started ticking 6:30s per mile, and started picking off people, and was well on my way to getting into the top10 within the first 8miles. Somewhere, somehow, I bruised my right foot, and it became painful enough to stop me dead on my tracks. My run became a walk, and it was only thanks to Elmar Heger that I got shuffling along again. 

So there we were Elmar and I, walking, jogging, talking, 20some kilometers away from the finish... let me tell you- shuffling through a marathon is more painful than actually running a good one, mainly because thoughts of disappointment and negativity abound. I just wanted to be done... When I did cross the finish, something unexpected happened- I was greeted with smiles, and a hug, and was thanked for not quitting by both Kelly, Challenge pro liaison, and Felix, Challenge CEO.  I spent some time in the medical tent, due to nutrition and hydration mishaps. And then I was able to take in the fantastic atmosphere around me.

Thank you Challenge for the absolutely awesome experience. Thank you Robert @ First Endurance for your continued support despite the hard knocks these last seasons. Thank you Mike, Su and Anja for letting me crash at your house again. And of course, thank you Theresa and Donovan, for all your understanding and patience and love and support. We will get it right....

thank you all for reading 

jc

Bike check-in at Challenge Penticton

A few images from the day before race at bike check-in:

Catching up with local rockstar and buddy Olly Piggin.

The Baggs- Chris and Amy.
This particular photo was kinda crazy, as I had the audacity to ask legend Lothar Ledder  to snap the pic. Ha...

We each got our very own spot, on nice carpet. To my left was Jeremy Hopwood, to my right, Scott DeFilippis. I was cool to see Scott was actually SMALLER than me, as I'm usually the smallest guy...

This is going to be good!

The welcome sight of fresh yummy produce and a new shot at my favorite race:

And, are you kidding me? Check out the cool swag we got:

Running crash plan

This was the run plan that would either lead up to solid run at a late-August IM race -OR- would land me injured/broken by the side of the road:

week 6: 12mi
week 5: 14mi
week 4: 17mi
week 3: 20mi
week 2-1: taper


This is very aggressive and I do not recommend anyone try this. There were no easy weeks, simply because I did not have time in the calendar to fit them in. The above long runs were interspersed with 80-110mi long rides, as well as 2-4km OW swims during the weeks, on top of all the other s/b/r sessions. A few easier days here and there, but really it was go-go-go time... I imagine it would be like climbing Mt. Rainier, going up, up, up.... all the way to the top...

the week 3 run was the key marker for me. I got lucky I was able to do it in conditions as close I can get in Seattle to race day: 84F heat, in the middle of a hot/sunny day, with my actual race-day nutrition. It was a very solid run, averaging 6:2X's for the distance, except for a few miles where hills showed up, and I was going a little slower/faster. My body has held together, and I feel like I am ready to race.

It is now week 2, time to decide: Challenge Penticton or Ironman Whistler?