Pacific Crest Endurance Tri

I wish I had more pictures to post because this was one of the most absolutely beautiful courses that I have ever raced on! A couple of times during the bike segment, I found myself looking around, taking in the scenery, checking out all the people who were enjoying all the lakes and hiking trails in the area - then I had to remind myself "HEY! We're racing here!"

This was my first time racing the Pacific Crest Endurance Tri and it was a special race for a few different reasons:
1. I DROVE to the race! No flight to catch, no bike box packing and unpacking required!
2. Several "local" friends were there racing as well
3. We CAMPED out, right near the transition area!

I do enjoy camping, but camping before a race is not something I often do... but it turned out to be great! It's hard to go wrong when you get to have pre-race s'mores the night before the race. Thanks, Hunter - you make a mean s'more.

The race itself, went OK. I took some time off earlier in June after Alcatraz, and I had a great time visiting my sister on the East coast. But, once I returned home, I had some trouble getting back into tri mode. So, going into the race I was feeling a bit "blah" and not really feeling race ready.

On race morning, standing in the lake I spotted a couple girls who I had raced with earlier in the year. I thought to myself ... OK, you better get it in gear and race. There's not going to be any coasting today!

I started off with a great swim, 1st woman out of the water... but it didn't take long for Kat to catch me. And then, not too long after that, along came Sunny. I had a decent bike, but, not surprisingly, it wasn't real snappy. The bike ended with a FAST and FUN,14 mile downhill section into Sunriver, but by the end of the 58 miles I was READY to get off and run!

Unfortunately, that wanting to run feeling lasted only about 1/2 mile ... and I still had 13 more to go. It was a HOT HOT day out on the run course, and it took everything I had to just keep moving forward. One mile at a time, one water station at a time. Yes, there was some walking going on.

I did have some great supporters out on the course with squirt guns, which was very welcome and refreshing!

One thing that helped keep me chugging along, was that my Dad and good friend, Leanne, had driven 3+ hours early that morning to come watch me race... I couldn't DNF knowing that they had come all that way! Thank goodness they were there, otherwise there may have been a different ending! It was slow going, but eventually I made it to the finish line for a 3rd place finish. Oh, it was great to be DONE!

Results are posted here

Thank you to all my sponsors and supporters who are always right there, helping me as I pursue this life as a triathlete:Team Sport Beans / NTTC, ALCiS, Fit 2 Race, Brooks, and Melika. A special thanks to the Pacific Crest support crew - it was great to have you all out there! Thanks for braving the heat to cheer - Dad, Leanne, Paul, Erica, Heidi, Neils, Anika, Eric (thanks for the picts!), Liesel, Hunter, Taylor, Ed, and everyone else who cheered for me along the way.

Up next ... back to Bend for some bike racing! Stay tuned for updates from the Cascade Cycling Classic.

8th at Alcatraz!

Last weekend it was back to San Francisco for one of my favorite races. This is an especially fun race that I look forward to each year, for a few different reasons: Dave travels with me, we visit friends in the city, and I love the challenging, beautiful course. The hills just seem to suit me! Being in SF and racing Escape From Alcatraz this past weekend was pretty sweet...from start to finish, it was a fun weekend topped off with a great race.

Usually, I'm too scared to dive off the boat into the bay (it's high off the water, and it's scarry, hanging onto the railing, balancing on about two inches of ledge, trying not to slip off into the 55 degree water before the horn goes off!)... but this year I got brave (with the urging of Dave) and I dove in! And, here's proof - that's me second from the right. I know you can't tell, but that is me, in my new F2R suit. With this picture, I'm glad I didn't do the lifeguard stride jump this year!

I had a great swim and came out of the water right where I wanted to; right with some of the others girls I usually TRY to swim with. It felt good to stay with a pack and not find myself swimming all alone out there in the bay. That has happened before and it's not a good feeling!



The bike course is technical, with some tough climbs and some super screamin' fast downhills. Yup - it was FUN! And, it seemed to go by fast.



Onto the run, my legs felt surprisingly good. I settled into a good clip and did what I could to hold my place. I knew there were fast runners behind me, so I put on my "A-Game" and did all I could to hold them off. One flew past me in the first mile, but I was able to hold off the others. It was good enough to cross the line in 8th place!

Check out the race results here

And, here's an article on the the race

CA 70.3

My first race of the season didn’t go exactly how I would have liked, but it was good chance to see where I am this early in the year, and it turned out to be a good learning lesson. Now, I know what I need to work on and this race experience has built a little fire under me and has helped me refocus my training some.
I had a mediocre swim, and then felt good and strong on the bike, working my way up through the field. The first half of the run went well, and I was right on pace, right where I wanted to be. I felt happy to be there racing and even managed a big smile when I passed my cheering section, and an even bigger smile when I saw “Go Erin Ford!” written in chalk on the roadway. All was going along great until the second loop on the run when my stomach revolted. I tried to hold it off and take my mind elsewhere, but I was forced to slow way down to a shuffle. I couldn’t avoid it … I had to detour into a restroom (at mile 12!). It’s hard to race when you’re sitting in a bathroom!
Anyway, I did finish, but not where I wanted to.
I am now looking forward to racing again in four weeks down in Florida

07 Season Wrap Up

Going into my last race of the season, I had one goal in mind and that was to “tie it all together”. Last month, racing in at the Toyota US Open in Dallas, I started off with a disappointing slow swim, but then went on to have a strong bike and a great run. Prior to that, in Pacific Grove, I started off with a great swim and decent bike, but then finished up with a poor run. With this last race, I was prepared and ready to bring all the pieces together with a great swim, strong bike AND a quick run. I was rested, tapered down, ready to race and ready to tie all three events together.
But, we all know, things don’t always go as planned …
Due to a 58,000-gallon oil spill into the San Francisco Bay, event organizers, the United States Coast Guard, and city officials determined that the water conditions off Treasure Island made it unsafe to proceed with the swim leg of the San Francisco Triathlon.
With the swim portion cancelled, the race was turned into a duathlon (run/bike/run event). I wasn’t really pleased about this change, mainly the distance they chose for the first run (6.5K). No one else was happy with it either, and we were all in the same boat. That was how it was going to be, so I quickly tried to change focus and mentally prepare for a different race. It was not easy; I didn’t feel the same pre-race excitement and jitters leading up to the race. I simply felt “I’ll do what I can”.
The first run was fast and hard; I tried to run strong while still staying within myself and not blowing it all in the first 25+ minutes of the race. I managed to enter into T1 with another girl – which was a good thing, since the bike portion was draft legal. At least I wasn’t going to be riding the bike course all alone!
Despite the (many) rough sections of pavement, the bike course was actually really fun! I loved all the corners, and had fun taking them fast. The 4.1 mile loop had about 20 turns, plus one hairpin turn around, and we did that loop six times around … so that’s a lot of cornering!
On the bike leg, my group (three of us) managed to make up time and bridge up to another group of three others during the final lap. This was good; going into the 10k run, I felt like I was somewhat back in the race… not with the race leaders, but with a handful of others, and not completely off the back.
Starting the run, I told myself it was just another regular triathlon. I tried to push it out of my mind that I had already run 6.5K earlier in the race. My legs didn’t go for that trick though; they were letting me know they had already run this course today. I did my best to ignore them, and just focused on keeping the turnover up, fast-feet going and arms pumping. Andy was there yelling for me, reminding me on each loop that this was my last chance of the season to have a great race. I faded though, and my legs couldn’t quite do what my heart wanted.
I crossed the finish line in 11th place … good enough to finish the TriCal Series in 2nd place. I am very happy with my season as a whole; I stayed healthy, raced consistently and had my most successful season racing pro … so far.
Despite being incredibly eager for the season to be over, I am already finding myself getting excited about training and planning for 2008. In the meantime though, I am taking a step back to let my body recover. Today was grey and rainy – perfect for rest and recovery. I slept in, took a walk, went to yoga, made granola, went out to a movie and just enjoyed a very mellow day. It’s not that I deprive myself of these things throughout the season; it was just a special treat to do all those things in one day!
Thank you for your support and thanks for reading,
Erin

Two Days, Two States, Two Races.

There’s nothing like doing back-to-back events to get things jump-started and back into race mode! After a nice break following the France trip, it’s time to get back into it.
Saturday was the third stop in the TriCal Series for the Pacific Grove Olympic Distance race. Not a super high priority race for me, but still one I wanted to do well in. Going into it, I sat in 3rd place in the series standings.
One of the distinguishing features of the PG race is the swim … or should I say … crawl! I had heard all about the kelp in the water; knew the swim is known as the “kelp crawl”, but until I saw it for myself, it didn’t really sink in. You have to see it (and swim through it) before you truly understand just how THICK this stuff is! When I first walked down to take a look at the race venue, the buoys were placed in the bay. Kelp was so thick, it looked like the boys were sitting (not floating) on solid weeds; it looked like I could WALK out to the buoys.
This was going to be an interesting swim. I just kept reminding myself that everyone would be dealing with the same conditions and if I could just make it through the swim, I would most likely have the toughest part behind me.
PG is an absolutely beautiful area and I was able to enjoy a nice, quiet and relaxing pre-race day – just how I like it! I had a fabulous home stay, just a few blocks from the transition area which made it very easy to take a spin on the bike course, check out the run course, and, yes…plunge into the kelp. It was tricky to maneuver through, but OK, it wasn’t quite as bad as it looked from shore.
Friday night before the race, it felt strange going to bed without setting an alarm for an early wake-up call. Race start time was at noon, so it would be a somewhat leisurely morning. I reminded myself to enjoy it and take advantage of the sleep because the race the following day would come much earlier.
I woke up on race day feeling confident and ready to race. Just get through the swim fast, follow those with experience who have done this race before, then after that, you know what to do on the bike and run. This is how my self talk went in the morning before the race.
The swim was two loops, and I hung on for the first loop, right on the feet where I had hoped to be. Now I just needed to stick there one more time around! In other races in the past I’ve managed to loose it on the second lap. But, coming back to the beach the second time around, I was still right where I wanted to be. And the best part? It didn’t even seem too hard. What a good feeling.
I thought I had a relatively fast transition, but I wasn’t quite fast enough to get out onto the bike course to work with another strong rider. She was just out of reach and I couldn’t quite bridge up to her, so we both ended up riding most of the course solo. Plenty other girls were out there time trialing it alone too; a bit of a bummer on a draft legal course. It was a 4 loop, out and back course, making it easy to keep an eye on the other girls; to see where they were, how far up or back they were. This was good info to know going into the run.
Coming off the bike, I was in 3rd! It was too early to celebrate though; I knew there were fast runners behind me, and they weren’t too far back. This was my first 10K of the year and I knew I needed to find some quick leg turnover in order to have a good split. My mind said “Go!” by my body didn’t respond. I felt pretty sluggish through the run and was passed by two girls (at the same time – ouch!) just before the ½ waypoint.
I managed to hang on for a 5th place finish, but the run wasn’t pretty. I have my work cut out for me over the next couple months as I prepare for XTERRA, Dallas and Treasure Island, which all Olympic distance, ending with a 10K.
Post race festivities were rush, rush, rush. Quick cool down, awards ceremony, pack up my bike (in record time), and speed to the airport for a flight back to Portland so I could race the next day in Escape from the Gorge. Despite all the hurrying, I cut it too close and missed my flight. So, spent a few hours in the San Jose airport, mentally preparing myself for another day of racing the next day, and having a “pre-race” dinner in the airport.
It was a late arrival into Portland, then I drove 45 minutes to Cascade Locks, site for Escape from the Gorge, and of course had to put my bike together once I got there. Great night – who’s idea was this to do back to back races?!
After a solid 4 ½ hours of sleep, I felt surprisingly good the next morning! I biked to the park for my warm-up, spinning my legs out just to test them and make sure they were going to work after racing hard the day before. Once at the transition area and seeing many friends and familiar faces, I quickly remembered why I chose to come back for this race. Going out on the Sternwheeler, jumping off and swimming through the HUGE roller waves in the Columbia River, biking the brutally steep climbs and then FLYING down them, and running through the forest on a beautiful path, made it all worth while. There’s just something extra special about racing near home.
For the next couple weeks, I’m spending time on my mountain bike, hitting the trails and shifting my focus to XTERRA! It’s a fun change of pace, one that I thoroughly enjoyed last year. Although, I must admit, part of the fun with this race last year was that I had NO pressure. But, now that I have done the race once before, I have expectations and a benchmark. I’ll do my best to enjoy my week at Lake Tahoe with Dave and not worry over the race. I just want to come back in one piece, because my season isn’t over - I still have a couple more priority races!
Thanks for reading and thank you for your support!Erin

Racing at the ITU Long Course World Championships in L’Orient France was somewhat of a milestone for me. Back in December I made “France” a goal, and since then, all my training has been built around 1) qualifying for, and 2) peaking for the big race in France. There were certainly other important races along the way this season, but France has been my main driving force.

I have traveled to all corners of the US for races, but France would be my first big International race. Having to cross 9 time zones to get there was a bit of a concern, but my body handled it very well. I adjusted fairly quickly to the time change and within a couple days, felt good and rested. Being so far from home, in a completely new country, did feel a bit strange. I felt like I was in more of a “vacation” mode than “race” mode. I had to keep reminding myself why I was there. First … race well, then … enjoy the trip!

When Race Day came, I felt confident and ready to go. Conditions were nearly perfect. The 2 loop swim course started with a dive off the pontoon. I took off and felt like I was doing great, holding a good position, out with the fast girls! But, that only lasted until the first buoy. At the turn I lost my position in the group and it was all downhill from there. I was passed by what seemed like EVERYONE; I had trouble staying on any feet and just couldn’t seem to find my feel for the water. By the time I finally exited the water I was MAD! I didn’t come all this way (or train all season) to have a pathetic race!

On the bike I was determined to make up ground because I knew I was much further down than I should be coming out of the swim. I rode like crazy, pushing hard, riding like it was a 40K time trial, trying to pass as many girls as I could. My bike was fueled by anger and I knew I was taking a chance pushing this hard … I still had 20K to run after this. It didn’t matter though – I made up my mind to ride my guts out and leave it all out there on the bike course. Half way through the double out and back 80K course, I realized I was having FUN and riding hard and fast!

Off the bike and onto the run. Yup, as expected my legs were quite heavy, but I still had to get after the run. It was a three-loop run course with no mile or kilometer markers, so I just took it one loop at a time. I didn’t take my splits but I felt like I gradually built speed on each lap. A couple girls FLEW past me like I was standing still, but I managed to pass a few myself. Going into the last loop, Dave was yelling at me that there were a couple girls just 45 seconds ahead. My initial thought was, “45 seconds? That’s too far”, then I quickly realized that I just needed to get after it and go for it. On that last loop I worked on having fast feet / quick turnover; I used my arms, driving back with my elbows to get up the hills (who said this was a flat course?! I think the hills grew a little longer and steeper on each loop!).

I worked hard and eventually caught those two girls with just about 2K to go. I knew the finish line was close, but I also knew I didn’t want anyone blazing past me with a finishing kick, so I tried to push through the finish.

8 th place at LC Worlds was a better finish than I expected, but the best part was knowing that I really put my heart into it and raced my absolute best, and was able to work my way back up after a disappointing start.

Following the race, Dave and I enjoyed 10 days in France. We hit the Loire Valley and Paris – it was a wonderful trip highlighted by fantastic French food! Biking through the countryside, enjoying sidewalk cafes and fresh baguettes at the many boulangeries along the way made for a very memorable trip. The time away from the daily grind was a nice chance to reflect on the season and to really appreciate that I am able to dedicate so much time and energy to triathlon, and that I have the good health to do so.

Welcome, Finis and www.swimyourbest.com - thanks for joining my support crew! Continued thanks to Sugoi, Discover Bicycles, GU, and Shortt Supply.

Thanks for reading and for your incredible encouragement and support.

Erin

JUNE- On the Road and Racing

So far, June has been an exciting month. Ten days on the road and two races: Escape from Alcatraz and Clear Lake 101.

More important than racing … my coach and dear friend Andy is recovering from a serious bike accident. Fortunately, he is going to be OK, but it’s going to be a long recovery process. Knowing Andy, he will tackle recovery with the same passion he has for triathlon and coaching and will bounce back more quickly than expected. Please send him some positive, healing thoughts as he works through his rehabilitation and healing.

Alcatraz is an amazing, one of a kind race; one that I’ve been looking forward to since racing there last year. The race was good to me this year - I raced faster and place higher (6 th) than the previous year. To make the day even better, I had several friends there to cheer me on. Hearing friends yell at me along the course, and having friends to celebrate post-race with, makes the whole race experience so much more fun.

Alcatraz used to seem like a big, scary race but after having raced there last year, I was better prepared and knew what to expect. The cold-water swim through the SF bay no longer seemed daunting; the hills on the bike were not as terrifying as I thought they would be; and I’ve come to love the run course, even the dreaded sand ladder isn’t intimidating anymore. I now have a strategy for it … walk it (and try to make it look like a run for all the cameras that are there to catch a glimpse of the suffering)!

After Alcatraz, I had a couple days of fun - shopping around and eating in San Francisco with friends. Come Tuesday morning though, it was time to put Alcatraz behind me and focus on next weekend’s race – Clear Lake. This would be the longest race of my life, so I figured I needed to have the laziest week of my life leading up to it, in order to store up as much energy as possible.

Clear Lake 101 … 1.86m swim, 80.6m bike, 18.6m run = 101 miles! I was confident that I had enough endurance training in for this race, the main challenge would be to stay mentally strong throughout the day and not let my mind get in the way of finishing the race.

The day before the race, I got some good advice that helped settle my nerves – mainly to stay within yourself, and respect the long distance. It’s going to be a long day, so don’t “race” on the bike, save some legs for the run. On the bike, I felt pretty good; stayed relaxed for the most part, and didn’t push too hard. There was an out and back section on the bike course where I could see the other women in the race, and it was hard seeing them creep ahead and put time on me. I wanted to push hard and keep up with their pace, but I knew if I wanted to finish the run, I just couldn’t do that. Throughout the bike, that 18m run was right there in the front of my mind, taunting me.

The run course was the toughest run course that I have EVER done. Not just because it was 18 miles, but also because it was hill after steep hill after hill. At least it wasn’t too hot out – that was one good thing. It took some serious positive self-talk and focus to slog through the run, and somehow I managed to hold it together and made it across the finish line.

I’ll be honest, it was a stinkin’ long race! It was a tough day out there, but I certainly learned a lot and pushed myself in ways that I have not done in a long time. Now, several days after the race, I am able to bring myself to say, “I am glad I did it.” Could I say that at the finish line? Unfortunately, no.

Back at home this week; I have been taking my recovery time very seriously! Enjoying some down time and fewer workouts scheduled, getting caught up on “life” and other non-triathlon related items. Next week starts the big 4-week push for France! I’m feeling recovered and focused, ready to do everything just right (nutrition, training, taking care of my whole self) for 4 weeks. After racing in France on July 15th, it will be time for a mid-season break. I’m looking forward to touring around France, taking in all the sights and enjoying the food and wine there with Dave.