October 29, 2010

In the past few years I have been doing more Ironman Triathlons.

This year leading up to the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in October, I did Ironman St. George in May; Ironman Coeur d’Alene in June; Half Ironman in Lake Stevens Washington in August; and Ironman Canada in August.

The nice thing about the Lake Stevens 70.3 half Ironman is that it is half! You swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles.

In order to qualify for the World Championship, you must get 1st or 2nd in your age group. The swim went well. I swam a 37 minute and was out of the water in pretty good shape compared to the other women. Then, I put on my race belt, biking shoes and helmet and was off.

I did really well on the bike, I passed a lot of people. I only passed a couple of women in my age, so I was worried that there were more ahead. I got on the run and felt pretty good. I think it was around 90 degrees when I started to run. At mile 4 or so, a women in my age went by me and I thought, oh no now I am probably in 5th or something. All I could do is keep going and do the best I could. I finished the race in 5:20 or so and I was happy with that. Then I found out I was 2nd in my age, so I did qualify!

Two weeks later we headed for Ironman Canada. I felt pretty good. The gun went off at 7am. I am always nervous about the swim. In an Ironman, they put about 2800 people in the water at once. I usually stay way to one side. For some reason, I was in the middle of everyone this time. I told myself to relax and I kept swimming. I never look at the clock or my watch.

I got onto my bike and I felt really strong for the first 40 miles or so. We were also climbing and getting higher in elevation. I just tried to concentrate and not to get too cold. Then it was raining. We had a big downhill coming back into town, so I got really cold.

Coming off of the bike, I decided to put new socks on and some different shorts. Off I went into the run. It is a marathon run - that is a long way after riding 112 miles! At about mile 10, a women passed me and she was in my age group. Then I passed her back. At around my 14, I passed another women in my age group. I thought I was in 2nd or 3rd. Then with 3 miles to go, another women in my age passed me and I thought, come on Pam you’re a runner! I picked it up and passed her back and passed a lot of people. With one mile to go, I passed another women in my age group. I crossed the finish line with a time of 11:23 which is really good for me.

I had no idea what place I was in until later that night. I got 5th in my age group. I had qualified for Kona! I want to thank PowerSox again for helping me achieve my goals. I love the socks.

Pam Reed

August 9, 2010
Badwater Ultra Marathon
Death Valley, California

This year, I entered Badwater feeling pretty good. My hamstring and butt felt really pretty good. However, the week before the race I had a throat thing going on. I went to the doctor and he said it might be allergies. So off I went to meet the crew in Las Vegas.

All my training went really well this year. I went to Tucson from my summer home in Jackson Hole for heat training and spent five days of running five times per day. I may have done it a little too soon. I went there maybe one month before the start. Then I returned to Jackson Hole and did a lot of running up hills and sitting in my sauna.

The key to training for Badwater is training where it is hot and sunny. I really think the sun is what gets you there. Two weeks before the race, I did Ironman Coeur d’Alene. I went there and just tried not to work too hard. That is as difficult as an Ironman. I did a 12:23 and felt fine afterwards. I rested for a couple of days and got back into training and again felt good.

This year Badwater was a little more stressful. We had to get smaller vans because of a new rule. We used cargo vans before but they don’t have enough seatbelts in them, so we had to go to mini vans. Also, we could only have one van crew at a time, so we had to make adjustments there.

My crew was so great. I just had problems. I felt really hot at about mile 35 and stayed that way until about mile 60. The temperature was about 124 or so, and for some reason, I felt hot this year. Once getting hot there, everything kind of goes downhill from there. Then my stomach got sick and I threw up. After that I felt a bit better, but I got tired, which hasn't happened to me in a long time. The outcome was I was much slower.

By the time I got to the climb up Whitney, I was moving very slowly. I felt bad for my crew, but they were still amazing and supportive. I ended up 32:25 and I was third out of the women. I guess that isn't so bad considering I had such a hard race.

I learned many lessons out there. The biggest one is to always be grateful. I am so grateful for my crew who all came out and helped me and also for my body that can still do this. I will come back next year and have a better race!

By the way, the new PowerSox styles are so great. I love them.

Pam Reed

July 9, 2009
Las Vegas, NV

I've arrived in Las Vegas where I'll be prepping for the July 12 Badwater race in Death Valley.  These are some of my tricks for running in the desert heat, which can get as high as 130 degrees:

• I use a Gold Toe nylon men's over the calf sock with filled with ice, open end tied in a knot and worn around my  neck with each end tucked into my sports bra.
• I always wear a hat, and before I put it on my head, I fill it with ice.
• Nothing beats high tech, performance footwear – I wear PowerSox with Coolmax.  
• A low tech, cotton shirt holds water against the body rather than wicking it away.
• My team will be spraying me down using large hardware store weed spray bottles filled with ice water.
• Drinking cold club soda and pure coconut water keeps me hydrated.

Check back for here for my next journal entry all about Badwater!

Pam Reed

December 25, 2009
Ironman Florida
Panama City Beach, Florida

Hi Everyone,

Last year was a very full year for me.  I ran a handful of marathons in January and February and then my season started.  

I ran the Old Pueblo 50 Miler in March, which I did ok in.  It is a really hard 50 and I got 3rd overall.  I then went on to run the Self Transcendence Six-Day race in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, New York.  It was on a one-mile loop around the park.  It was a really great experience.  I went there trying to break a world record, but I fell a bit short.  I needed to run 512 miles, and I ran 490 miles and broke the American Record.  It was a lot of fun.  There was a women there who had held the world record of 512, which she broke and ran 513 miles.  We both pushed each other which was so great.  While running for six days I didn't get one blister.  The PowerSox are just amazing.  I think I may have gone through four or five pairs.  I slept for about a total of seven hours for the entire race.  

Then I went on to do Ironman Coeur d’Alene in Idaho.  That was fun. I really tried not to work too hard because I had Badwater coming up three weeks later.  I ran Badwater and ended up 2nd women and 7th overall.  It was a good year.  My crew was amazing and we all had a lot of fun.

August consisted of a half Ironman in Canada, and then I did a full Ironman in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of August.  All of which were fun.  During these races, my butt and hamstring were hurting and I was getting massage and acupuncture.   I didn't listen to my body very well, and I ended up tearing my hamstring in September.   That meant I had to withdraw from running the Wasatch 100, which bummed me out.  I did an Ironman in the beginning of November in Florida, and then at the end of November in Arizona, and I did really well.  My leg continued to get better, and I was able to go and run some training runs on the Tucson Marathon course, which was December 11, 2009.  The Tucson Marathon went really well this year with about 4000 runners total.

Already, 2010 has been a good year.  I have run two marathons in the Phoenix area -  Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona in 3:33; and the Lost Dutchman Marathon in 3:36.  I was very happy with those times and they were both fun events, especially the Lost Dutchman.  I got 2nd in my age group at Lost Dutchman and I got 4th in my age group at Rock ‘n’ Roll.  The age group is 45-49 and I’m 49!   Can’t wait until I’m 50!

In February, I did a fun ski run race in Wisconsin called the Birkebeiner.  I worked really hard and did a 3:29 for a 50k.  Coming up, I once again will doing the Old Pueblo 50-mile run, which will be my 13th time doing it.  I am looking forward to that.  Late March, I ran a 50k race in Ohio.  

That is it for now.
Thanks, Pam