Dreaming Big

2011 in review!

2011-12-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season for year-in-review posts and training numbers for the year. I am not sure how to tally up training mileage/time for the year on Training Peaks, so I decided to do a hodge-podge summary of the year, with random facts, opinions and reflections.

Overall take on 2011: 2011 was better to me than I could've anticipated. I think I said last year that 2010 was a break-through year for me, with finishing my first Ironman and qualifying for Age Group Nationals. I think a little tiny part of me was afraid that 2010 was the big year for me to improve, and I wouldn't be able to top or duplicate it in 2011. Even without doing an Ironman-distance race in 2011, I am beyond thrilled with my season and went above and beyond what I could have hoped to accomplish. I PR'd for Olympic and 70.3 triathlon distances, and 10k, 10 mile, and half marathon runs. The only distance I didn't PR in was the 5k, which I can't complain about because I never did any 5k-specific training (though, I secretly wanted to break 20:00 this year).

Number of races: 24 ...race-a-holic, perhaps?
*6 Triathlons
*13 Bike races
*5 Running races

Number of states raced in: 7 (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, DC

Farthest distance traveled to race: Pittsburgh, PA to Geneva, NY (320 miles)

Most Effective Training Tool: Power meter. They aren't cheap, but if anyone is considering buying one, I can't say enough how much stronger I've gotten on the bike from training with power. It's also a great way to make sure you don't "burn through the book of matches" too quickly in races.

$$ spent on entry fees and gear: Not even going there...

Most memorable moment: While waiting with my wave to enter the water at Rev3, someone near me said something to someone else along the lines of, "I just want this to be over, I just want it to be the end of the day." I think that the worst part of a race for me is dealing with post-race nerves in the few minutes before a race start, but, at that point I wouldn't have traded standing on that beach for anything. I didn't want it to be hours later so I could just say I finished the race, I wanted to race and enjoy every (pain-filled) minute of it. That realization meant that all of my training time, all of the money I've put into racing, and all of the sacrifices I've made, had been worthwhile, because they were for something I really love doing.

Biggest surprise: Upgrading to road cycling Category 3. A road upgrade hadn't been in my plans/goals for 2011, and I hadn't even planned on doing much, if any, road racing this year. It just took one race and I was hooked. I never got around to writing a race report or blog entry for getting my upgrade, but I won a local road race on my 30th birthday in July that gave me enough season points to upgrade to Cat 3... possibly the best birthday present to myself, ever.

I may have gone a little overboard with the champagne spraying.

High Points: I was fortunate to have many high points over the 2011 season, but these are the ones that stand out as most euphoria-inducing: Winning the Cat. 3-4 road race at Tour of the Valley; Setting a bigger-than-I-could've-hoped-for PR at Rev3 Cedar point and later finding out I won my age group; winning the Dirty Dozen (the sprint up Rialto Street was a high point within the high point).

Low points: The swim at Rumpus in Bumpass (freezing and super choppy and slooooooow); the swim at Musselman (I thought I was going to be sea sick from the chop); the run at the Philly Triathlon (screwed up nutrition and/or just a bad, sluggish day); an attempted century (I bailed after 83 miles) in mid-December that included an emotional meltdown on the side of the road in rural West Virginia when I got dropped on a big climb. Yes, I know we all have these days, but, I really would've liked to have finished 2011 without a meltdown. I think the lows are a necessary evil -- but the high points more than make up for the low ones!

Favorite distance to race: The 70.3 distance has replaced the Olympic distance as my favorite. I wonder if 140.6 will ever hold that spot???

Vineyard overlooking Seneca Lake

Best overall race experience: Musselman half iron. (Not only the best for 2011, but for every race I've ever done.) Their swag, organization, and finish-line celebration/food topped every other race I've done. The area is gorgeous, and there's tons of vineyards for wine tasting after the race. Despite having a miserable swimming experience at Musselman, I am registered for next year -- that has to say something about how much I liked this race!

Lessons learned: There are a ton of little lessons I've learned (or re-learned), such as, "It's better to have extra nutrition during a race than not enough", and "I am much less stressed when I have time to kill before a race than w hen I'm cutting it close on time, so I need to make it a priority to arrive early". Instead of listing those out, here are some of the bigger / more philosophical things I've learned.

*The most significant lesson I've learned is how important it is to deal with a bad race or training session. Instead of focusing on the race/workout being bad, I need to focus on why it was bad and what I can do differently next time to avoid a repeat. After a disappointing Philly Tri, my dad told me, "You learn more from your failures than you do from your successes." The Philly Tri wasn't really a failure since I did PR, but I didn't reach the high expectations I'd set for myself in that race, and I was upset, especially over a sluggish run. But, I learned a LOT from that race that I was able to incorporate in subsequent races. Sometimes when I have a really good race, I am too caught up in the end result instead of what I learned along the way.

*Comparing different races is like comparing apples to oranges. I've tried, without much success, to create extensive algorithms for predicting, for example, what my Olympic triathlon run split will be based on the average pace of the second half of my most recent half marathon. There's so much room for course/condition variability in triathlon without factoring in nutrition, rest level, sleep quality, etc, that I need to leave the formulas alone.

*I need to be more quantitative in setting my goals. I had better results when I had defined goals (1:40 goal for the National Half Marathon) than when I had vague goals ("Race faster / finish higher in the standings than I did last time").

Favorite gear purchase: Black Beauty, of course ♥

She is all bling'd out with the Zipps at the Tour of the Valley crit...
Which would be the runner-up for favorite gear purchase in 2011.

Firsts: Mountain biking and cyclocross race. I've said a million times that I'm too wimpy for either of these, partially because of how messy they are. Not only did I love doing these, but I actually liked getting muddy. One of my favorite things about mountain biking is riding my bike through streams. I am so easily amused :)

Battle scars: If I'd written this post a week earlier, this paragraph wouldn't exist and there would be no 2011 battle scars. But... on the Friday before Christmas, I crashed going down a rocky descent on a mountain bike ride and gashed my elbow on a rock. I was oddly excited about getting stitches near my elbow to close up the wound (probably because it is proof that I was non-wimpy enough to mountain bike and attempt a technical descent). While waiting on an an x-ray to rule out fractures or breaks, it occurred to me how lousy it would be if something was broken and a cast was required... which was a good reminder that I do need to be more careful about stuff like this.

New friends: It's been an amazing year for forming new friendships. It's amazing what a cool network I've developed through my cycling team, triathlon club, and blog! Thank you to everyone who's been a part of the 2011 journey.

Here's to being thankful for an awesome 2011 season, and preparing for an even better 2012...

Happy New Year!

Holiday Beatings: A Cyclocross Race Story

2011-12-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

I got my first glimpse of cyclocross in fall of 2009, when I went to watch my then-boyfriend compete in a race. It was muddy, it was messy, and everyone looked like they were suffering immensely. And, they weren't even going that fast (relative to what road racing). I decided it probably wasn't for me and relied heavily on the line "I'm too wimpy for cyclocross" when the topic came up.

After hearing practically all of my cycling friends telling me how much fun cyclocross is and how much they love it, I started getting more and more curious about it. When one of my teammates offered to let me borrow his sweet, high-end Blue 'cross bike, I knew I had to give the last local race of the season a try. And besides, how could I pass on a race called Holiday Beatings?! (That one is right up there with the Rumpus in Bumpass triathlon!)

For those who aren't familiar with it, wikipedia says that a cyclocross race "consists of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5 km or 1.5–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount." (I hate being a wikipedia nerd, but, this is much better and more concise than what I could've written.)

Cyclocross bikes look very similar to road bikes, but the tires are thicker and treaded, and the cantilever brakes are higher than on road bikes to prevent them from getting clogged with mud. I picked up my teammate's bike a week before the race so I could practice a bit. A cycling friend and 'cross expert, Chris, volunteered to meet up with me one evening and help me with some of the technical skills like starts, mounts, and dismounts, which was a huge help. Over the next few days, I took the bike to a park over my [extended] lunch breaks to get a feel for the bike, to practice riding in grass and mud, and to work on technical things like starts, mounts, and dismounts. It is here that I learned first-hand what happens if you try to dismount a bike that is moving faster than you can run:

Oops. Luckily, grass/mud are pretty soft to land on.

When I arrived on race day, I was nervous. After doing one loop of the course, "nervous" was upgraded to "beyond terrified". The course included hairpin turns, off-camber turns, two sandpits, two logs, one set of barriers, a dirt trail section through the woods, and a few short but relatively steep descents and climbs. I didn't make it halfway through my first warm-up lap before I took a spill on on off-camber hairpin turn. Eek.

Since most of the fields were relatively small, they were condensed so that the women's category 4 race was combined with several others, for a total of maybe 40 cyclists. The start was basically like an open water swim start in a tri, except with bicycles. Everyone was trying to sprint and get out in front to get away from the chaos. This race started with a short straight section, a 180-degree turn, and a few more turns followed by a steep downhill-steep uphill section. I hung towards the back and promptly got caught up in what can only be described as a clusterf**k of cyclists and bikes on the uphill section. One or more people didn't make it up the hill and stopped, which caused everyone behind them to stop too.

Can you see the fear on my face?

Once that cleared out, the field started to thin a bit which was a relief. I was still feeling nervous and hung back a bit. I rode near my teammate Kate for the first two laps, and she was able to give me some pointers along the way.

Some people rode over the logs, but I opted to carry the bike over.

After two laps, I started feeling a bit more confident. The turns became less scary and I was able to go through them more efficiently. I fell a few times, but just hopped back on the bike and kept going. There were some long, straight stretches that I was able to use to make up some ground. I think some people used these sections to recover from the hills and obstacles; I used them to attack.

Some of the straight sections I liked (with a hairpin turn thrown in).
I' in the center, above the guy in red.

As my confidence grew, I started catching and passing some of the other cat. 4 women. In a way, it reminded me of time trialing in a triathlon, because there isn't much team or drafting strategy like road cycling; you just push yourself as hard as you can for the entire race.

I managed to clear the barriers every time without doing any face-plants (or near-face plants, for that matter), but I'm sure it wasn't pretty.

I'm glad there weren't any pics of me doing the barriers.
This is from wikipedia, because I couldn't find any barrier pics from my race.

One of the sandpits had a nice line you could follow through, the other, not so much. I opted to dismount and run through it about half of the time.

My teammate Stacie in the sandpit.

The 40 minutes went by very quickly, and before I knew it, the race was over. I wish the race had been longer, because I felt like I was just getting into my groove and starting to feel strong when it ended. When the results were posted, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I'd finished in 2nd place out of 8 category 4 women. Not bad for my first race!

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the race. It was a really, really good (tough!) workout. To put things in perspective, my average heart rate was 177 bpm (that's ~90% of max!) for ~40 minutes... and my average speed was 8.3mph with only ~300 feet of elevation gain. Holiday (cross) beatings, indeed.

This was the last 'cross race of the season, so I have to wait until next year to give it a try again. I've added a 'cross bike to my wish list, and am thinking that my coach and I are going to have to come up with some creative ways to work some 'cross races into my fall training for Ironman Arizona...

I survived! Check out how much mud is on the bike!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

2011 Dirty Dozen Race Report (11/26/11)

2011-12-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, there's a unique bike race in Pittsburgh called the Dirty Dozen. The route is about 50 miles and includes the steepest hills in the city. For those not familiar with Pittsburgh, there are some steep residential streets here, including what may be the steepest known street in the world. The hills vary in length - from about 100 yards to close to a mile. Lots of them are actually comprised of two or three different streets strung together to make a longer continuous uphill. Cyclists ride from hill to hill at a neutral pace, and then race up each hill to a chalk-drawn finish line at the top. This year, points were given to the first 10 males and first 5 females to reach the top of each hill. Whoever has the most points after all 13 hills wins.

Last year I did this race for the first time, with the sole goal of finishing all 13 hills, which I did. This year, my goal was to not only improve on last year's finish, but also to make it onto the podium (top3) -- an aggressive goal.

Race day was unseasonably warm for November (high temps in the upper 50's!), and the warm weather drew a bigger crowd than usual for the Dirty Dozen. Around 300 cyclists showed up to participate, including 16 women, both participation records. Shortly before starting, I found out that the woman who had won the last two years wouldn't be participating this year -- an interesting twist that would play in my favor.

Last year, one of the things I struggled with was being comfortable riding in such a huge group of cyclists. Because of that, I found myself constantly hanging onto the back of the pack. Since I wanted to score points this year, I knew I had to be more vigilant about staying near the front. I was amazed at how my comfort level improved over the last year - due to both lots of road racing and my lovely new road bike who fits much better than the one I rode last year.

Hill #1 - Center Ave-Guyasuta Rd.

I surveyed the field starting the hill and saw that I was the lead female. Heading up the hill, some of the residents were standing along the streets cheering, and one woman said something like, 'Oh, girls do this race too?' to another spectator, and then called out, "you go girl!" to me which made me smile. When I reached the top, I spun easily along the flat stretch and surveyed the other finishers - all guys. First hill, first win. In a cheesy sentimental way, winning this hill had a unique meaning to me because it was the first Dirty Dozen hill I ever attempted - several years ago on a winter ride with some friends. Even though I was riding a bike with very easy gearing (triple chainring... 'nuff said), I resorted to walking my bike up the hill. A win here was sort of an "I get the last laugh, Center Ave!"

Hill #2 - Ravine St-Sharps Hill Rd

Heading into this hill, I saw one woman ahead of me. I kept her in my sights on the steepest part, and then started moving in on the last section, which is less steep. Her boyfriend saw me coming and told her to hurry up, so she went into an all-out sprint towards the finish. I sat back and let her go -- the difference between a first and second place finish on the second hill wasn't worth the possibility of burning through the matches too fast.

In transit - between hills #2 and #3. I think this
demonstrates why it's key to stay near the front if
you want to try to score points.

Hill #3 - Berry Hill Rd

A short, windy, steep power climb. This hill comes right after a long, relatively descent, so it's easy to work up get some momentum going into this climb. The tricky part is the gearing -- a lot of people drop chains trying to frantically switch from hard downhill gears to easier climbing gears. I stayed near the front and was able to bomb down the hill, hitting 42.7mph along the way, my fastest recorded speed of the day. As I hit the first bend of the climb, I saw the girl who'd beaten me on the last hill standing on the side. Not sure what had stopped her, but I sprinted up the hill for my second hill win of the day.

Hill #4 - High St-Seavey Rd

This is probably the "easiest" of the hills. After winning this hill, I realized there was a real possibility of not only finishing on the podium, but winning the race.

Hill #5 - Logan St

I would put this hill in my 'top 3 toughest' list. It's long and only gets steeper as you get near the top. It's deceiving because it winds around a bend, so from the bottom, you can only see the lower half. I heading for a second place finish, when about 100 yards or so from the top, someone in front of me went down. I had no where to go. Maneuverability is next to nothing at that incline, so I was forced to put my foot down. Panic shot through me -- there is a rule that you must ride all the hills in order to be an "official" finisher, and therefore eligible for overall prizes. Walking doesn't count. I turned around and started walking my bike down to the bottom, going against the flow of traffic. I started the hill again, taking it as easy as possible since I was out of the running for points on that hill. I made it up to the hill with the last few riders and had to sprint over to the next one.

Hill #6 - Rialto St

This is the only hill that uses a true race-start with everyone lined up, rather than starting as the group is approaching the hill. It's a relatively shorter hill, and one of the few where you can see the entire hill from the same place. I knew this would be a strong hill for me and it was. As soon as I heard "Go!", I sprinted off and didn't look back. This hill had more spectators than most, and people were lined up along the sides of the top cheering and ringing cowbells. My friend Josh told me after I'd finished, "You had the biggest sh*t-eating grin on your face coming up that hill...". It was totally awesome to ride through so many cheering spectators to the finish line! Last year, I had problems clipping one of my feet into the pedal, and I lost ground while trying to get it clipped in, so it was great to nail the uphill start without clip-in issues and get the win this time around.

Possibly the best moment of my day-
on Rialto Street.

Hill #7 - Suffolk St-Hazelton St-Burgess St

I would also put this hill in the 'top 3 toughest' with Logan. It's very long and has 3 sections: steep, steeper, and relatively less steep but cobblestones. I didn't get a great starting position relative to the field for this hill, and didn't push beyond what it needed to get to the top. I didn't crack the top 5, so no points.

Cutting across downtown
Pittsburgh between hills #7 and #8.

Hill #8 - Sycamore St

I like Sycamore St. because after the grueling climb, you're rewarded with a great view of the city. Unlike previous years, we did not try to cram the entire group onto one of the scenic overlooks for a group picture. If 200 cyclists was pushing capacity, 300+ was out of the question. I made up for the lack of points on Hill #7 with a win on Sycamore. Sweet.

View of downtown Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington

Hill #9 - Canton Ave.

Canton Ave is the shortest (~100 yards), steepest (37% grade), and most technical (cobblestones) of the hills. One of the biggest problems with Canton is not getting stuck behind riders who fall or stop mid-hill (aka "carnage"). I knew that I needed to be right behind the pack of lead guys, probably in the top 30-40 to hit Canton Ave. to have a decent chance of making it up on my first try and not getting caught up in the carnage. Luck was on my side -- I stayed towards the front and hit the bottom of the hill as hard as I could. Guys went down on either side of me, but miraculously - I had a clear line the whole way up. I was aware of people cheering and ringing cowbells on the steps (yes, steps, not sidewalk!) to my right, and the hill seemed to be over before I knew it. Another win.

Carnage on Canton Ave. It ain't pretty.

Hill #10 - Boustead St.

Last year, this hill gave me a lot of issues. (Translation: this is the only Dirty Dozen hill that has made me cry in frustration.) This year, it was still a painful experience, but it wasn't quite as formidable as it used to be. I had good placement in the field leaving Canton Ave, so I was fortunate enough to win this one as well.

Hill #11 - Welsh Way

This hill is a similar profile to #6 - Rialto. It is short, steep, and straight. Unlike Rialto, this one had cars parked along it, so it was even more narrow. I knew positioning would be key on this hill, since there isn't a lot of time or physical space to make up ground. I caught and passed the girl who'd won #2 and #5 about halfway up for my 4th consecutive hill win.

Approaching this hill was one of the few low points of my day: I started feeling a bit nauseated. When I got to the top, I no longer felt nauseated, but instead felt sort of shaky. Despite bringing along over 2,000 calories in energy gels, chews, bars, and electrolyte drinks, AND eating a banana, oatmeal creme pie and coke at one of the sanctioned rest stops, I was afraid I was short on calories. I asked if anyone had any Gu's they weren't going to use, and a generous rider handed me one of his.

Hill #12 - Barry St.-Holt St.-Eleanor St

This hill rounds out my 'top 3 toughest' list. Barry is steep, then you reach Holt St which seems like a false flat in comparision to Barry. Just as you're admiring the view of the city and the river, you look the opposite direction and see the wall that is Eleanor St. It appears to go straight up for 4-5 blocks and you think to yourself, "Oh sh*t... I'm going to die here."

At this point in the race, my strategy shifted. I didn't push to win this hill because I knew it wouldn't be a strong hill for me. The girl who was in second place had beaten me on the longest hills with steepest sections (#2, #5, #7). I didn't want to risk blowing up early on in attempt to win the hill, and then not be able to finish- a high possibility since Eleanor St. sadistically gets steeper towards the top. The result: a third place finish, which I was happy with. While waiting around for all 300ish riders to make it to the top, the scorekeeper let me know that I had a 4 point lead going into the last hill. That meant that I had to finish within 3 points of the current second place girl to keep my #1 position. The pressure was on!

Hill #13 - Flowers Ave-Tesla St

This is different from the other hills, because the race for points actually starts several miles out from where the hill starts. It's a long section of flat, mostly straight road, so groups break off and paceline/sprint to get to the last hill first. When one of my teammates heard that I was in the lead by 4 points, and since he wasn't in the running for the men's awards, he offered to let me sit on his wheel to the final hill which was perfect. When we got to the hill, which goes up in 3 phases (false flat/barely steep, steep, really steep), he turned around and reported there were no girls in sight. My main concern here was simply getting to the top. If I had another misfortune like on Logan and had to go back and start the hill again, it could be all over- especially since this was one of the longest hills. Thankfully, no problems on the way up. I was all smiles as I rolled across the 13th finish line of the day as the 2011 Dirty Dozen women's winner.

The perfect ending to an awesome season.

The Elevation Profile... The Dirty Dozen is actually more than 13 hills, since there are "transit" hills along the route.

The Aftermath.

This was an amazing day for me -- the story of the little girl who referred to herself as the "worst climber ever" and grew up to win a hill climbing race. It's an affirmation of how far hard work and believing in myself can pay off. This was a bit of a difficult post to write -- I was afraid of it as coming across as too braggy and high on myself, but I think some exceptions need to be made for personal accomplishments, and I do want to remember the details and thoughts/feelings going through my head.

It's weird how last year this race seemed like more of a project: it felt like a lot more planning went into it, and the day itself seemed like a big to-do list consisting of crossing off hills. This year, the day flew by - there was no 'how many more hills until I'm done with this?'; instead, it was all about strategy and enjoying the competition. The whole day was a blast - really! I caught up with old cycling friends and made new ones. There was some suffering thrown in, but hey, that goes with the territory.

Top 3 women with
Dirty Dozen founder Danny Chew.

The challenge on the table: Next year's Dirty dozen race falls 6 days after Ironman Arizona. Will I be there to attempt to defend my title on a totally trashed body?

You betcha.

mtb

2011-12-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

This Sunday was my first mountain bike ride. A lot of my road cycling friends are into mountain biking and have said how fun it is, so I decided it was time to finally stop using my signature line "I'm too wimpy to mountain bike" as an excuse and give it a try.

My friends Daryl and Sharon, who both have quite a bit of mountain biking experience, took me to North Park for my first ride. Daryl is letting me borrow his old bike, which is great because it will give me some time to ride and see if I like it enough to buy a bike of my own. They were able to give me a lot of great advice and pointers on my first ride, which was really helpful!

After the ride. I thought the bike was pretty muddy,
but was told this is nothing...

One challenge for me was adapting to the mindset of not having to avoid obstacles like you do on on a road bike. Rocks? Tree roots? Muddy patches? No problem for fat tires and front-end suspension! I wasn't brave enough to try going over logs this time around, so I opted to walk my bike over those, but I did ride right through a stream. Am I out of control or what? :)

The scariest part for me was going down the steep descents. There was one section of trail that had a steep downhill that was covered in medium-sized rocks. The first time we went over it, I came to a halt as soon as I saw the rocks, squealed, and gingerly walked/rode my bike over the rocks. Sharon gave me the advice to shift my weight back on descents, and to stand up with my feet in the 3- and 9- o'clock positions for extra suspension. The second time around on that trail, I followed that advice and it was much easier (though still scary). I was also told that momentum is your friend when mountain biking, and even though it's counter-intuitive, it's better to go fast over obstacles. This will take some time.

The other somewhat scary part was how narrow some of the single-track trails were. There were a few parts of narrow, windy trail through trees, which was also a bit intimidating, especially when heading downhill with some speed. I'm guessing these are things that I'll become more accustomed to over time.

I'm getting the hang of this... I think.

Another huge change from road cycling is the distance covered per time. We rode 12.4 miles that included 1,000+ feet of climbing in 1 hour, 40 minutes. I'd been doing a lot of 60+ mile road rides in Oct-Nov, so I didn't think I'd be that tired afterwards, but I was exhausted when I got home!

The verdict: mountain biking is awesome, and I am not as wimpy as I thought I was. I loved the adrenaline rush, and it was one heck of a workout! I will be spending some time on the trails this winter for sure - I think it will be great for developing strength on the bike and improving my bike handling skills.

Officially in: Ironman Arizona in 2012!

2011-11-21T19:07:00.000-08:00

Most of my race registrations - that is, the time actually spent registering for a race - blend together or are otherwise immemorable. There are certain race registrations I'll always remember though. A few of these include...

2003 Pittsburgh Marathon registration: My friend Apryle and I decided to run this together. It was the first marathon for both of us. We met in the computer lab in the engineering building, filled out the registration online together, and hit submit at the same time. I guess she hit submit a millisecond faster than me, since she got bib 1066 and I got bib 1067. As for having a mind for weird details, I could probably walk into the computer lab (assuming the layout is still the same) and point to the exact two computers we sat at, in addition to recalling our bib numbers.

2010 Ironman Louisville registration: I sat alone on my green couch in my living room in November and took my time completing the registration and answering all those little questions for marketing/survey purposes. It seemed surreal; I don't think the realization of what I'd committed to had hit me. I think it was basically like, "Oh my goodness, I just signed up for an Ironman in nine months. Did I really do that? Yes, I did. Ok, now what? Who do I tell first who won't completely think I'm nuts?"

Another memorable registration happened today. I can say that my journey to Ironman Arizona started here... at a McDonald's in Ohio. Seriously.

Dear McDonald's: Thank you for your free, easy to access WiFi!!!

I knew I wanted to do another Ironman race in 2012. After flip-flopping between Louisville and CdA, Louisville and Mont Tremblant, and finally Louisville and Arizona (about a dozen times), I finally settled on Arizona. Louisville really holds a special place in my heart, but doing a November Ironman would allow me to spend the whole summer building fitness, getting racing experience, and -- a big part of the decision -- racing my road bike. I wholeheartedly believe that a big part of my success on the bike leg of triathlon this year is due to my road bike racing/training this year. (And also, I had too much fun racing road this year to give it up!).

Obstacle: a work trip requiring a co-worker and I to drive from Pittsburgh to Bloomington, IN the day of race registration. Since this race was expected to sell out quickly (minutes), I asked my co-worker if we could stop somewhere that had WiFi so I could register. Another co-worker told me that all McDonald's have WiFi now, so the plan was to find a McDonald's to stop at. Plan B (no McD's nearby) was to stop at any hotels we passed and try to use their WiFi. Ultimate back-up plan: A friend waiting on stand-by at home to register me if needed. If it's any sign of how neurotic I was over getting into IM AZ, I had two different dreams last night in which I got closed out of registration. I woke with a start after both dreams. Therapy, anyone?

Luckily, we found a McDonald's in Etna Twp, Ohio, outside of Columbus, around 1:40pm, 20 minutes before registration opened. It was just enough time to go in, get situated with the laptops and connect to WiFi. I then had to wait the longest 10 minutes of my life, during which I repeatedly refreshed the registration page just in case it would open a few minutes early, and also during which I likely recorded a personal best (worst?) for high blood pressure.

Once I was able to get into the registration, I flew threw it as quickly as possible and answered only the required questions marked with asterisks. By the time I got to the credit card payment page, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely key in the numbers. When I hit "pay now" and the confirmation appeared, I yelled out, "I'm in!!!" and a few McD's patrons turned to look at me. Whatever, I had my spot for IM AZ 2012 :) I read online just now that it sold out in 10 minutes- unbelievable!

With that - the journey to Arizona begins... 362 days! (I'm stealing the IM count-down from Mandy!) So excited for what is to come.

Anybody else in for IM AZ 2012?!

2012, Part 1!

2011-11-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

Gotta love the triathlon life -- there's still a month and a half left in 2011, yet the race registration madness/early season planning for 2012 has already started. As of right now, it looks like 2012 will be a lot of races I've previously done, which is nice because I'll know what to expect and have a good benchmark for setting goals.

So far, the registrations include...

May 6: Pittsburgh Half Marathon -- hooray for home-town races! A few of my college friends who've moved away are coming back to the 'burgh for the weekend to run either the full or half marathon, so it will be a fun reunion weekend.

May 20: Columbia Olympic Triathlon -- I did this race last year and loved it... I registered for the Elite Amateur field for 2012, so the competition will be a lot tougher.

July 15: Musselman Half Iron Triathlon -- I loved this race, the Finger Lakes and Geneva, NY when I did it last year. 2012 will be even better, since a few of my favorite tri ladies are also racing (it will be the first 70.3 race for two of them) and we're renting a lakeside cottage together. FUN!

Rounding out registrations in 2011 (and what's left of the race budget) will be Tour of the Battenkill, a 64 mile road race in upstate NY dubbed "America's toughest one day race" in mid-April (I think they need to change that to 'one day bike race', since I doubt it's more difficult than Ironman!), and a little 140.6 mile race that happens in Tempe, AZ in November (assuming I can get in -- I am already stressing about not being able to register before it sells out). The rest of the races I've tentatively picked out won't sell out before next summer, if at all, so my race fund will have some time to replenish itself... But those races are contingent on whether IM AZ or IM Louisville (back-up) is on the schedule.

In non-racing (but still very exciting) news, starting in January, I'll be starting a part-time position as a group fitness instructor at the YMCA! What kind of fitness class is it? Why, a TRIATHLON class, of course!! The class will meet three mornings each week for one hour, with one day dedicated to swimming, one day dedicated to spinning, and one day dedicated to running. I am SO excited about this opportunity! The class is geared towards beginners, and I am really looking forward to being able to help others get started in this sport that I've fallen in love with. I think it will be a really great learning experience for me, because I've found that teaching others usually ends up teaching me something as well.

One of the challenges on my mind right now is how to handle the running days. The class will start at 6:15am, and in January in Pittsburgh, it is both cold and dark then. And of course, there's a good possibility of snow/ice. I'm pretty immune to running in the cold and dark (and snow and ice, to some degree), but I'm not sure how many people in the class would be into that. There's a cardio room with treadmills, elipticals, and stair climbers, so my tentative plan is to divide up the running hour into running drills in the gym, some cardio on the machines, and then finish with some core strengthening exercises and stretching. When the weather starts to warm up, hopefully we can move to the park across the street!

Has anyone ever taken, or heard of, a swim-bike-run fitness class? If so, I'd love to hear about your experience with it, how the class worked, or anything you'd like to see if you were taking a S-B-R class. I have a bunch of ideas but it would be great to get some extra feedback!

fall fun

2011-10-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love the crispness of the air and the colors of fall leaves. With triathlon season over, I've enjoyed taking a break from intense, structured training and mixing it up a bit. Instead of my normal text-heavy posts, here's some pictures of what I've been up to...

Trail running in the local parks - my favorite way to admire the leaves.

Frick Park! A tunnel of yellow.

Something completely new for me: planting bulbs. My hopes of having a green thumb were dashed a long time ago when I couldn't keep a cactus alive, but these bulbs were favors from my friend Ellen's wedding, so I'm giving it another shot! We'll see if any tulips and crocuses show up in the spring. (To be continued....)

My friend Colleen recently had a pumpkin carving party at her house earlier in the month which was a blast. Pumpkins, hot apple cider, and making smores around a firepit in the backyard on a warm fall night -- doesn't get much better than that! Oh, and there were some zombie movies too -- we watched the 1990's remake of Night of the Living Dead and the original Dawn of the Dead while we were working on the pumpkins. I jumped out of my seat and screamed no less than 20 times -- pretty much whenever a zombie popped up out of nowhere and took someone by surprise -- because I am a total wuss :)

Sad but true fact: This was the first time I've ever completely gutted and carved my own pumpkin. I always made my dad to the gutting when I was growing up. (If it sheds some light on what type of little kid I was, my grandmother gave me the nickname "Miss Prissy"...)

I really thought I was making a scared face like my pumpkin when this picture was being taken..

Last weekend, I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I skipped cycling or running. I wanted to get some fresh air though, so I decided to check out Fall Run Park which is only a few miles from my house.

It was really a cool little place, though not really ideal for running. There's one out-and-back trail that's about a mile long, and very narrow in places. It follows a stream through a ravine, with steep hills going up on either side.

My favorite part was the waterfall. Clearly it's far from Angel Falls, but it is pretty cool to have a setting like this less than 10 miles outside of downtown Pittsburgh and only a few miles from my house. I chatted with a girl walking her dogs, and she told me that in the winter the waterfall freezes and people come out to ice-climb. Might have to go back in the winter to check that out...

After I'd walked out to the end of the trail and back, I sat on the rock at the top of the waterfall for awhile. It was amazingly relaxing and soothing to listen to the rushing water. When I started heading back to my car, I couldn't believe how much more relaxed and happy I felt. I think I've found a new relaxation/meditation spot!

View looking down from the top of the waterfall.

Another view from the top.

And last but not least... fall is Dirty Dozen season!! I'm looking forward to improving on last year's performance of this 55-ish mile ride around Pittsburgh that involves racing up the 13 steepest hills in the city. I've done a few hill rides, including one full course ride back in late August, and Black Beauty is LOVING the hills. Fatty (bike pictured below) has been relegated to the role of commuter bike and will not get to see any steep hill action this year.

Practicing Canton Ave. last year.

So that's about it. October is flying by. As much as I love structured tri training, I really do enjoy these little breaks! Next week is back to structured training though, and I'm starting to look forward to it.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Ironman Pocono Mountains 70.3 Race Report - 10/02/11

2011-10-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

The theme of my pre-race post was "firsts". On race day, I added two more firsts to the list: first (and second) time dropping my chain while racing, and first time getting a flat during a race. Argh and double argh!

The swim was cancelled due to fast-moving water. Since the weather forecast for the day was something like low 41F, high 53F, I wasn't too upset. And, since the cancellation was announced on Saturday, it gave me plenty of time to alter my gear packing list/clothes/plans for Sunday. (Side note: I slept better going into this race than I have before any triathlon, which leads me to think that the swim is the leading cause of my pre-race jitters...hmmm...)

The race logistics were a bit stressful. Athlete check-in/pre-race meeting, bike check/T1 and T2 were miles apart. The area seemed to be rather trafficky, so getting around between all three seemed to take the better part of Saturday afternoon.

On race morning, I woke up at 4am to rain and temperatures in the mid-40's. Luckily, by the time I'd eaten and gotten dressed, the rain was tapering off. By the time I got to the race parking area, the rain had stopped. Another logistics thing with this race was that you parked at the local high school, then boarded school buses and drove ~20ish (or longer?) to the race start. I checked and rechecked my bags a gazillion times to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything in my car.

I met up with a friend from Pittsburgh before getting on the bus, and it was great to have someone to hang out with and talk to on the bus ride and waiting around in transition. I know a lot of athletes like to have their pre-race time alone to focus on their race, but I've found that it's better for me to have something to distract myself with so I don't over-stress about racing.

Instead of replacing the swim with a run, the race had a time-trial bike start. Athletes started 3 seconds apart, which made for a very crowded first few miles. The bike course was closed to traffic, which was a really good thing, because the roads were narrow with hardly any shoulder.

The bike course was tough. Not in a lots-of-big-steep-scary-hills kind of way, because it actually had less climbing/big hills than I'd anticipated (~3400 feet according to my Garmin) for a race with "Mountains" in the name. I think the best way to describe the course is relentless. I don't think a single part of this course was flat or boring: you were either going up or down, there were lots of curvy parts and technical turns, some short but steep "power climbs" and sweeping descents, and, one stretch of road that, thanks to several days of rain, had a good 3-4 inches of water lying in it that you had to ride through. In other words, you were always doing something. The course played to my strengths and one of my biggest frustrations was the crowded factor- on some of the descents and turns, it was impossible to safely pass people so I had no choice but to sit up.

I was having a great ride, until I shifted too quickly, or maybe shifted while in the wrong cadence, and dropped my chain on a climb. I hopped off, fixed the chain, and kept going. About 10 miles later, the same thing happened. I began to wonder if I was having mechanical issues with my shifters or if it was technique, since I've never had issues with my chain like this before.

I never thought I'd wear toe-covers for a triathlon.

Then, around mile 50, I noticed something weird going on with my front wheel. There was a vibration or rubbing noise occurring at regular intervals. When the course started going downhill and I picked up speed, I experienced a feeling I can only describe as the way you feel when you drive a car on an icy road and kind of, sort of, have control, but not really. When I pulled off on the side of the road, I saw that my front tire was completely flat. I was pretty shaken as I went to grab my container of Vittoria Pit Stop (like fix-a-flat for car tires) that was taped to my frame. Once I got the tire re-inflated, I spun the wheel a few times to allow the silicone to spread out and plug the leak, and hopped back on the bike wishing for the best. I think you're supposed to wait 10 minutes after using this stuff, but being that I only had a few miles left I decided to chance it. I rode the last few miles in aero while trying to keep as much of my weight as far back as possible, and luckily, it held up. Whew.

My hero.

I was surprised to see how many people had come out to spectate and cheer as we approached the transition area. There were a ton of people lining the streets and cheering and ringing cowbells. After a quick transition, I headed out for the run. The course was much hillier than the elevation profile online looked. Despite the hills, I was averaging sub-8:30 miles on the first half and felt like the miles went by pretty quickly. Shortly after the turn-around, I started feeling fatigued. This is where the mental battle began and was lost. I convinced myself that the time I'd lost on the bike had likely pushed me pretty far down in the rankings and that any chance I had for a Vegas slot was gone, so I didn't push myself to maintain the pace I'd been keeping in the first half. (If anyone looked at the run splits online, they've reversed. I'm still waiting for the day I negative-split a HIM run!)

After finishing, I grabbed a mylar blanket and some food and sat down to stretch and get off my legs. I had randomly wandered into the Nathan Sports tent and asked the girls working there if they knew where the results were posted. One of the girls volunteered to look up my results on her phone, and when I saw the results I was surprised. I was thinking I'd be lucky at this point to make the 20 in my age group. Despite my mechanical issues on the bike, I'd been 6th AG on the bike, and had finished in 10th AG. And, my run time turned out to be 1:54:04 - less than 3 minutes slower than my run time on the nearly-flat Rev3 Cedar Point run course, so I felt a little better about that.

Lots of learning came out of this race. One of the things I am most proud of is that I didn't have a complete meltdown on the side of the road over the flat tire. I am not the best with mechanical things and I get rattled fairly easily under pressure, but I handled this situation better than I thought I would've. I did, however, learn that I don't need to use quite as much tape to secure the Pit Stop to my bike frame, since I'm pretty sure it took longer to detach it from the frame than to actually inflate the tire. My least proud moment is backing off the last few miles of the run because I figured I couldn't undo the lost time from the bike issues - this is a reminder that I shouldn't ever consider the race to be over until I cross the finish line. When I compared data from my Garmin Edge (which utilizes the auto-pause feature when standing still) to my official bike split, I was able to see that I'd lost ~5 minutes dealing with the chain drops and the flat, though it felt like a LOT more time was passing when I was frantically trying to yank the Pit Stop off the bike frame and inflate my tire.

I debated hanging around around after the race to see if I might be able to get a roll-down slot for Vegas. There were only 3 slots allocated for my age group, and to be honest, I didn't know if a 10th place finish was deserving of a roll-down, especially since I didn't feel like I'd pushed myself hard enough on the second half of the run. Via text messaging, my coach encouraged me to go to slot roll-down anyway, because "a slot is a slot", and because something else good might come out of it.

I found a pizza shop to hang out in while waiting for awards/roll-down to start, and ended up talking to some other people who'd done the race. One woman turned out to be a former pro, and I got to talk with her awhile, which was pretty cool. I'd told her about my bad luck with the bike, and she told me that whenever she lost time on the bike due to mechanical problems, she used it as motivation and told herself that she had to make up that time on the run. Could I have made up 5 minutes on the run? Maybe yes, maybe no, but I think it's the perspective and attitude that matter more than anything else.

Vegas spots only rolled down to 4th place in my age group, but I was glad I'd still hung around. I wasn't terribly disappointed I didn't get a roll-down slot, since this makes my planning for next year considerably easier AND leaves more $$ in my pocket for other races. And you all know how much I like to race :)

Generally speaking, the race ran smoothly (from my perspective, at least!). All of the aid stations seemed to have ample supplies and volunteers. I would recommend this race to others, though I wouldn't suggest it for a first-time 70.3 race because the logistics are a bit overwhelming and the course is challenging. I think it's important to be comfortable with technical bike courses and have decent bike handling skills for this race.

I've already put this race on the tentative 2012 schedule... because I feel like I have some unfinished business to take care of with the bike course :)

firsts

2011-09-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

Ironman Pocono Mountains 70.3: my first M-dot 70.3 series race, and my first "cold weather" triathlon. I've done a few races where it was chilly in the morning, but it always warmed up as the day progressed. I've been watching the forecast for Sunday slowly decline to this:

Low 40? eek.

I've become very conscious of time spent in transition this year, but I think Sunday is going to warrant a full outfit change after the swim if I don't want to turn into a popsicle on the bike. Luckily, there will be changing tents, so the plan is to wear a swim suit under my wetsuit, and then change into full-leg tights, socks, a short-sleeved base-layer, short-sleeved cycling jersey, full-finger gloves, and arm warmers for the bike. If I can find a wind-vest to borrow, I might wear that instead of the base layer. Any comments/suggestions on what to wear/what not to wear would be much appreciated!

Another first: my first two-transition areas race. T1 and T2 are about 9 miles apart, so I will be extra careful about what I pack in which bag. Logistics, logistics, logistics...

Goals. I'm not sure how to set a time goal for this race. This is the inaugural race, so there are no previous results to look at. My results at Rev3 Cedar Point gave the confidence that if I have a solid race this Sunday, I might be a contender to snag a Vegas spot for 2012. My age group field is more than twice as big as it was at Rev3, and I'm sure there will some tough competition looking for Vegas spots.

But in some way, I feel like this is the race for me to take a risk; to give it everything I have along the way and not worry about blowing up. I certainly put a lot into Rev3 , but could I have pushed harder on the swim? Yes... I know I am capable of swimming 1.2 miles faster than 37-38 minutes. On the second half of the bike? Probably. I'm thrilled with my accomplishments this year and have learned SO much, yet I think I'm just starting to realize how much of racing really is mental.

Last race of the season -- go hard or go home, right? :)

Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 Race Report - 09/11/11

2011-09-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? To say I had a good race at Rev3 Cedar Point is an understatement. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the above-and-beyond-expectations racing experience I did.

The Rev3 experience began on Saturday at the bike rack/expo/pre-race meeting. I was eager to scope out the lake and see if it had calmed down at all. Luckily, it was considerably calmer than the pictures that had been posted on facebook the day before. Whew.

Pink compression socks complement ANY outfit :)

At the expo/meeting, I met up with two Pittsburgh Tri Club friends. We got dinner at Olive Garden (which was swarmed with triathletes... I'm pretty sure the regular patrons were wondering what was up with all the people wearing "knee socks" and running shoes!). After dinner, we drove the bike course, which looked like it would be a nice ride: mostly flat and false flat stretches with a few technical turns and a few small hills.

In my pre-race post, I'd stated that I had a goal of 5:20-5:25 for my finish time. This was my semi-challenging-yet-realistic goal. I'd also had a secret "A" goal of finishing in 5:15, which I thought might be possible if I had a really good, everything-goes-in-my-favor-kind of day. On Saturday night - the night before the race, I had a dream that I finished the race in 5:15 but was ashamed to tell my coach my time because I thought she would be disappointed in me. (Which is completely absurd, because Suzanne is amazingly supportive and always helps me to look for the good in a race or training session when I'm not happy with myself.) I laughed the dream off in the morning and sent Suzanne a facebook message about it before heading to the race site.

I really liked the set-up for this race. Transition was in the parking lot at Cedar Point, so there was ample parking that was only a 2-minute walk to transition. I had time to get in a quick practice swim and was happy that the water was no where near as choppy as it was at Musselman. I'm pretty sure most people would have classified it as "not choppy at all" - but since I'm pretty sensitive to this I would say there was a teeny bit of chop heading away from shore. (As a precaution, I'd put the Sea-Bands around my wrist and chewed on some ginger root before the start.)

We are all BFF's before the swim, right?

There was a full iron-distance race that started pretty early with a mass start, but the half-iron athletes were divided into waves. The 1.2 mile swim started on the beach and the other hundred or so women in my wave and I ran into the water. A few people started dolphin-diving and got a nice jump on those who were water-running or swimming. I hadn't realized how effective dolphin-diving could be and put this on my list of things to learn. One I got to waist-deep water, I started swimming. The first part of the swim was the usual "washing-machine" experience: a flurry of feet and arms and brightly colored swim caps and splashes and the occasional collision. The swim was a clock-wise rectangle which was good for me since I breathe on my right side. Overall, I felt like I was having a good swim. I periodically did checks on my form and felt like I was doing a decent job sighting and staying on course. I was a little disappointed when I staggered onto the beach and saw 37:xx on my watch. My official swim time ended up being 38:xx after the run up the beach into transition was tacked on. I brushed it off and told myself I'd make up for it on the bike.

In transition, I noted that the majority of bikes were still in the racks, which was a relief. As always, I was happy to get on the bike since it is my favorite part of triathlon. I was relieved that I didn't have any of the post-swim nauseated feeling I'd had at Musselman. Either the Sea-Bands and ginger worked, or the water wasn't choppy enough to make me feel sick.

The miles went by quickly on the bike. Aside from a little bit of wind, it was a beautiful day to be on the bike: blue skies, sunny, high 60's/low 70's. I stuck with my target power outputs and was ecstatic when my average speed at 10 miles in was 21.6mph. (I know it's pretty obvious, but I soon came to the realization that in order to keep that average up, I had to be going at least 21.6mph, which meant I had to work!) I concentrated on finding someone up ahead, catching, and passing that person. If I have to have a weak sport in triathlon, I'm glad it's my swimming, because I like having the goal of hunting people down on the bike and then passing them.

Around halfway in, I was still averaging over 21mph and realized that if I could maintain my pace, I would finish the bike in under 2:40. I was a little worried that I might overcook my legs on the bike and have a miserable run, but I reminded myself to keep pushing, because this race was technically a practice race for my "A" half iron race, ~~HypothermiaMan~~ Ironman Pocono Mountains 70.3, in October. In the last 10 miles, I noticed that my mental focus was fading more than my legs. I didn't feel fatigued physically, but I had to keep reminding myself to push hard. My splits show that I did slow down a little on the second half - but barely. My official bike split was 2:40:10, 21mph average. (My Garmin Edge says I biked 56.6 miles at 21.2mph though... hmmm...?) All I could think was, Legs, I hope you can hang on for a little while longer because we are going to RUN!

I'm pretty sure I was trying to see my
Garmin to find out if I'd actually
gone sub-2:40.

When I got into transition, there was only one other bike in my row. Blame it on lack of confidence or lack of brain power while racing, but it didn't register with me that this meant I was at the top of my age group. As I was putting on my running shoes, a transition volunteer came over and told me I was one of the first 20 women in. I think my reply was something like, "Are you serious?!" as I headed toward the exit. As I was running through the spectator-lined chute out of transition, a little boy said loudly, "These fast women are awesome!" which cracked me up and made me smile.

As I started the run, I realized two things. One, I was leaving transition a solid 15 minutes earlier than I'd been planning in my pre-race calculations and the seemingly elusive 5:15 was well within my grasp. Two, was that there were only two waves of women. I was in the second female wave, which started 10 minutes after the first female wave. Which meant that some of the women who were ahead of me were only ahead of me because they'd started 10 minutes sooner, and if I had a good run, I might be able to finish in the top 10 overall.

No matter what my running pace is, I always feel sooooo slow at the beginning of the run. I am not sure if this is because my legs aren't adjusted to running yet after the bike leg, or if it's because no matter how fast you're running, you're going slow relative to the speed you were just doing on the bike. I'm not sure how accurate the mile markers were, but I clocked my first mile in around 8:30 and my second in 8:06, which is exactly where I wanted to be - an average pace of 8:15. Shortly into the run, I caught up with a girl in my age group who had passed me towards the end of the bike. She was running with an American flag - a big one. As I pulled up next to her, I said something like, "You are amazing!" We introduced ourselves and ran together and chatted a little bit before I pulled ahead to try to catch a group of guys.

The run course was interesting - a series of loops and out-and-backs. The out-and-backs were a bit monotonous, but I liked that it gave you the opportunity to see where you were relative to others. You know who is trying to catch you, and who you might be able to catch if you push yourself. I saw Brittany carrying the flag at several points, which inspired me to run my hardest -- to celebrate doing what I love to do most, on the anniversary of a day that reminds us not to take any of our time here on Earth for granted.

Miles 10 and 11 were my slowest - either that or the mile markers were just really off. When the route took us back onto the causeway to Cedar Point and I could see the roller coasters [that I am much too wimpy to ride] in the distance, I told myself I had to dig deep and finish strong, because the 5:15 was still a possibility. I picked up the pace after mile 12. When the finishline structure came into view, I looked at my watch and saw 5:12. It was at that point that I really picked up the pace, and yelled at myself, "You're doing this in under 5:15!" (Yes, I yell at myself in races if there is no one else around to yell what I need to hear; yes, I think it helps; and yes, people around me probably think I'm crazy.) As I approached the final stretch to the finish line, some guys from Team RWB were holding out flags that runners could grab to carry across the finish line. I reached for a big one as I was approaching it and charged through the finish with a huge smile on my face. I'd done it: sub-5:15 with a 1:51 half marathon!

After finishing, I chugged a Muscle Milk and then went in search of post-race massages. They didn't have massages, but instead had ART (Active Release Therapy), which I'd never experienced before. It didn't feel quite as good as a massage, but my soreness was minimal that day and the next, so I guess it worked!

I was still on Cloud 9 about my big PR and the possibility that I'd finished near the top of my age group, when I found a booth with computers that you could use to look up your official times and placing. I entered my bib number, hit enter, and a list of names popped up. Mine was at the top; under "Division Place" it said 1/38 and under "Gender Place" it said 6/220, with an official time of 5:14:28. I stared at the screen for a long time to make sure I was interpreting it correctly. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would win my age group at Cedar Point, so I think my reaction was something like this: "Oh my God, oh my God..." *burst into tears, then big smile, then check screen again, several times, to make sure I hadn't misinterpreted anything*.

More than anything else, this race taught me that I need to have more confidence in myself. I think that we are capable of more than we realize, but I'll never live up to my full potential if I go into a race thinking a top X finish or a certain time is out of my reach. I don't think this confidence grows overnight, but race by race, I think I'm getting there.

Thanks to everyone for the supportive messages going into the race!

And one last comment: I will just say that Rev3 put on an awesome race at Cedar Point. Great volunteers, great organization, great courses. I'd highly recommend this race to others!

W30-34 "Podium"!

Rev3 Cedar Point Bound!

2011-09-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning it's off to Sandusky, OH for the Rev3 Cedar Point Triathlon... the 70.3 mile "half rev", that is. The TT bike is rocking the Zipp wheels and is packed in my car along with all of my other gear. My snacks are ready to go. My bag is (mostly) packed. The race manual... will be tonight's bedtime reading material.

I've had more of a taper for this race than planned, thanks to a cold that showed up last week. It's oddly reminiscent of getting sick with stomach flu a week and a half out from the National Half Marathon. The extra rest going into that race seemed to serve me well, so I'm hoping the same thing will happen again. I did a short brick workout on Thursday night and felt great, so I'm hoping that will carry into Sunday!

My goal for this race is to finish in the 5:20-5:25 range: 34-35 minute swim; 2:50ish bike, 1:50ish run, <5 minutes total in transitions. It's a big chunk to take off Musselman (5:38), but the temperature won't be in the mid-90s and there won't be any gigantic long gravel hills in the run course that drag me down to an 11:00 mile. Or, at least none that I've heard about. The course is flat, but flat can translate to windy. And, from other flat rides I've done in Ohio, I've learned that "flat" means you're pushing yourself the entire bike ride. There's no hills to climb, but there's no downhills to coast and recover.

At this point, my biggest worry is the choppiness of Lake Erie. I had problems with the choppy swim at Musselman in July, so I'm a bit apprehensive of motion-sickness-related nausea. This is the picture Rev3 posted on Facebook earlier today:

To the left: All of the amusement park rides I am too wimpy to ride.

I'm hoping the water will calm down by Sunday, but if not, I bought some ginger root to eat before the race, and I also bought some Sea-Bands that supposedly help with nausea/motion sickness a lot. They look like sweatbands you wear around your wrist and have these little buttons on that press into the Nei Kuan accupressure point. I will report back if these seem to be an effective combination.

The weather looks like it will be iffy, with a forecasted high of 71F, scattered thunderstorms, and 60% chance of rain. (On the plus side, the forecasted wind is only 8mph - though I have no idea how windspeed can be predicted....?)

There really isn't much else worth rambling at this point, so... here's to half iron #3! Good luck to everyone else racing this weekend - there's a lot going on with IM Wisconsin, Rev3, Nation's Tri, Vegas 70.3 and lots of other stuff, I'm sure!

my one year iron-versary

2011-08-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Facebook has some features that I find to be rather irksome at times, but today, I thought it was pretty cool that in the side bar, it had "On This Day in 2010" along with the two status messages I'd posted one year ago today.

The first status message, posted in the wee hours of the morning, read: It's a great day for 140.6 miles in Louisville!

The second status message, posted at the very end of the day, read: Anne-Marie is an IRONMAN! :) 13:23:20! 38th/120 age group starters, 942th overall. I got clocked in the head on the swim, I am sunburned, chafed & blistered, and I probably won't be able to walk normally for a week, but this was such an incredible experience for me! I loved every minute of it (ok, *almost* every minute)! Thanks so much for the support, well-wishes & congrats. It means more to me than you probably think :)

(Side note: apparently completing an iron distance race leads to lapse in basic brain function and/or such euphoric conditions that one writes "942th" instead of "942nd"!)

It's crazy to think that it's been exactly one year since I did this. A few friends of mine did Ironman Louisville yesterday, and it was fun to ~~stalk them online~~ check in on their times throughout the day and reminisce and try to remember what I was thinking and how I was feeling at particular parts of the course.

But what I think is more important is to look at how finishing Ironman Louisville changed me. I think we've all heard the adage, "You can do anything you put your mind to." While finishing IM Louisville is an example of this in itself, I think having reached that goal has given me the confidence boost I needed to actually believe it. I also think it gave me the confidence I needed to take my training and racing to the next level.

I don't think I would have even attempted the Dirty Dozen bike ride last fall if I hadn't done Louisville. (In a way, the Dirty Dozen training filled the training void in my life after Ironman training ended.) It also gave me the confidence to get back into road racing this summer and pursue the category 3 upgrade after thinking I'd never be able to move beyond category 4, and to believe I had a shot at qualifying for the elite amateur wave at the Philly Tri this summer.

Ironman really is a life-changing experience, and I think it essentially comes down to this mentality: "If I can finish an Ironman triathlon, I can (fill in the blank here with seemingly difficult or impossible task)."

I've had a blast doing a lot of relatively shorter races this summer, and over the course of the summer I had wondered if I'd want to do another Ironman in 2012 as I'd planned, or if I'd rather continue with the shorter races for another season. Tracking the race yesterday, and re-reading my post from last year today, has reignited the spark to go back to Louisville next year. Guess it's time to start saving up and allocating funds for the entry fee!

Tour de Millersburg - Aug 12-13, 2011

2011-08-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

After having a blast racing the Tour of the Valley (ToTV) stage race, I decided to sign up for Tour de Millersburg (TdM) in central PA since I’d heard it was a fun, well-organized stage race that drew a large and competitive field. There were 21 participants in the Cat. 4 women’s field, the biggest field I’ve raced in.

The residents and businesses of Millersburg were welcoming to the racers!

The first event on Saturday morning was the time trial. The Cat. 4 women were the first to start, and since the starting order was alphabetical, I was first, and found myself “chasing a ghost” like I did at ToTV. I’m used to time-trialing from my triathlon experience, but even though drafting isn’t allowed, you can still focus on catching and passing those ahead of you. With no one to chase, I relied on perceived effort and my power meter to let me know how hard I was riding. The course was a 9.5 mile out-and-back, comprised mostly of false flats and shallow rollers. Since I felt like I had a little too much left at the end of the time trial at ToTV , I focused on pushing harder early on. I was a little disheartened when, at the turn-around, I realized that the girl who’d left 30 seconds behind me had caught up to me. She passed me soon after the turn, but I kept her in my sights for the remainder of the race. This left me unsure of how I would fare in the time trial, but when the results were posted, I was excited to see that I’d snagged a 5th place podium spot – and $50!

After a quick lunch and a brief nap, it was time for the criterium race, an 0.8 mile rectangle through the narrow residential streets of Millersburg. I had a chance to ride the course a few times as a warm-up and realized that the turns would be very, very tight. The crit was a little frustrating because no one seemed to want to sit on the front and pull. A racer I’d met earlier in the season who is from Erie, PA, and I sat on the front for most of the race and talked about trying to work together to get a break. We made several attempted attacks, but never got away from the field. We did 19 laps for a total of 15 miles, and with about 5 laps to go, I could feel my energy fading. I dropped back in the field a little to try to conserve energy. With about a lap and a half to go, I got behind a bad wheel going into an uphill turn. The girl braked a lot going into the turn, and was not a strong climber, so we fell even further back behind the field. At that point, I had nothing left to chase down the leaders and finished in 12th place.

The compression sleeves are the best
way to pick me out of a crowd :)

The course was really technical. I’m not the most experienced crit racer, but this course had the narrowest roads and tightest turns I've seen. For the first time, I caught an inside pedal on the ground going into one of the turns and it was the scariest. thing. ever. The metal grinding on cement made this awful noise, my bike did a little skip forward, but, miraculously I stayed up, held my line, and didn't cause any crashes. I watched the men's 1/2/3 race, and they were pretty much riding single file the whole time! They looked ridiculously fast and everytime they passed a big gust of wind followed them.

Sunday afternoon was the 36-mile road race. Of all 3 races at TdM, I was looking forward to the road race the most. The course was very different from the courses I’ve raced in Western PA, lacking significantly long climbs to break up the field. Millersburg is pretty rural, and the majority of the course was cornfields, farms, and farm animals. One part of the road went through a big Amish farm and we even passed an Amish man driving a horse and buggy. The majority of the course wasn’t technical, although there was one section of the 18-mile loop that had a sharp turn going downhill and then a short power-climb uphill. This would’ve been the ideal place to break up the field, but being that everyone had the same idea, no breaks were successful. More people took initiative to sit on the front than at the crit, and I once again tried to work with the Erie cyclist and an unattached cyclist from DC to get a break, but we were unsuccessful… this was a really strong field! With the exception of 2 or 3 riders who got dropped, the field stayed together for the entire race. The last mile or so is on a gradual downhill, and I knew I needed to move up early on to be in good position for the final sprint, but I waited too long. I crossed the finish line in 7th place.

One of the men's fields on the power climb. Couldn't find
one from the ladies' race, and I thought this was a really cool shot.

I ended up in 8th place GC (General Classification, or the overall position from all of the races), which did not meet my goal of finishing on the GC podium (top 5). I can’t be upset over this though, because this race was a completely new experience for me and was a great learning experience. I learned I need to be better about double-checking my gear- I forgot to take my sunglasses to the time trial start with me, but luckily, one of the officials let me borrow his for my race. (Hooray for nice people!) I learned that I need to limit my time sitting on the front in a crit, even when I’m frustrated with the slow pace. I learned about positioning in road racing and how important it is to get into a good position early. I learned what it is like to sit in a dense pack for 36 miles, constantly watching wheels and trying to anticipate a break. And most importantly... I had fun!

One of the unique aspects of this race worth mentioning was that they offered an “Adopt-a-Racer” homestay program, where residents of Millersburg opened up their homes to cyclists to stay with them during the race. The family I stayed with had 5 children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years, and were just awesome! They really made me feel at home while I stayed there and came to cheer me on at the crit race and the road race finish. Going into a race where I knew absolutely no one, it was so cool to have some familiar faces and voices in the crowds.

All around, TdM was a first-class event, and I am looking forward to racing it again in the future!

a good deal

2011-08-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

I am backlogged on both writing and reading blogs, but wanted to share this deal through Active.com/Schwaggle:

50% off (either buy $40 and get $80 or buy $60 and get $120) at all 3 sports:

http://schwaggle.active.com/deal/2403/half-off-gear-at-all3sportscom

Hooray - it's like Christmas in August for me :)

Musselman Half Iron Tri Race Report - finally! (July 17, 2011)

2011-08-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is by far my longest lag between a race and writing a race report... three full weeks, ack! No reason for the delay in blogging about it other than shortage of free time. I almost decided to skip writing a race report for this, but I want to be able to record some of the details before they totally fade from my memory AND I know a few people were looking forward to reading it, so here goes...

So, as you may have picked up from my post about the Musselman Triathlon experience, I had a great long weekend in the Finger Lakes region of New York. This was not planned as an "A" race for me. I had laid out my race schedule so that I had three consecutive Oly tri's, ending with the Philly Tri which was an "A" race. Since Musselman fell exactly 3 weeks after Philly, my coach suggested we use this race as a benchmark to see where I'm at for this distance, since I hadn't raced a 70.3 in two seasons, and also because it would be difficult to target my training for the Oly and 70.3 distances at the same time. Surprisingly - I was alright with this. I had some big expectations/goals going into the 3 Olympic tri's I'd done so far this season, and it was a nice break to go into a race with very lenient expectations. I can't say there were no expectations, because I was thinking that something around a 5:30 finish should be do-able for me.

I don't think there is one word to describe how I felt during the race. I can honestly say that I ran the gamut of emotions from frustration to elation over 5 hours and 38 minutes of racing.

I woke up on race day morning, ate my standard bagel with almond butter, banana, and coconut water. I had taken my bike to transition the night before, so I just had to grab my gear and I was out the door with plenty of time to spare. Less than 10 minutes after leaving my dorm room, I was parking my car and walking towards transition. Hooray for easy race logistics!

I had my things set up in transition with nearly an hour to go before my wave, and I came to the conclusion that I always need to plan on getting to transition as early as possible. I was so much more relaxed knowing that my things were ready and I had plenty of time to get ready for the swim start.

The swim start for this race was a first for me, because you had to walk out into knee/thigh-deep water for the start, and the water remained that depth for quite awhile. I was in the sixth wave, so I noticed from the waves before me that some people were running/walking through the water, while others started swimming right away. When it was my wave's turn to start, I walked/ran a little bit, keeping note of where I was relative to others who were swimming. I tried to swim, but it was shallow enough that my hands were brushing the bottom in some places, so I went back to the walk/run thing. I finally got into waist-deep water and started swimming.

With that, I began the worst tri swim experience of my life. Maybe not the worst from a time-perspective, but it was not in any way the swim I had envisioned (which involved swimming in calm, crystal clear waters that easily allowed for swimming in a straight line, while admiring the zebra mussels and aquatic plants on the bottom of the lake). Because Seneca Lake is pretty big, there were waves. Not huge breaking ocean waves, but waves and chop nonetheless. The first ~2/3 of the swim is in the lake, but the last ~1/3 is in a canal that everyone said would be very calm. I am extremely prone to motion sickness (as in, I have gotten sea-sick while kayaking on a lake - yes, I am that pathetic!) and I realized after a little bit that swimming in waves had the motion-sickness-inducing feeling. As soon as I started feeling nauseated, I backed off the pace and focused solely on getting to the channel. All I could think was how humiliating it would be to DNF because I got sea-sick during the swim, and wondered if doing so could lead to an embarrassment-induced withdrawal from the sport. I wanted out of the water more than I have ever wanted out of the water during any swim - period. I think I may have cried a little bit at some point, and I know that at more than one point I swore off triathlon for good in favor of road racing.

Thankfully, I made it to the channel and it's calm waters without getting sick. I still didn't want to push myself on the swim too much and fully expected to see a 50:00+ time on my watch when I finally reached the dock since it felt like I was in the water forever. When I saw 37:xx on my watch I felt immensely relieved - it wasn't the 33-34 time I had been anticipating ahead of time given my recent Oly times, but it was faster than I expected during the swim.

**Side note - anyone ever had this problem with the swim-induced sea-sickness? anyone know any solutions? I haven't done a google search or researched it much myself, but figured I'd put it out there. My next tri is Rev3 Cedar Point, where the swim is in Lake Erie which has been known to get choppy at times, so I'm a bit worried... Friends I've talked to have suggested eating ginger root before the start, taking dramamine (not liking this idea though - dramamine makes me super tired), getting those stick-on things you put behind your ears, and the accupuncture-like wristbands (I'm afraid these may not stay tightly in place during the swim though). Any and all input is much appreciated!

I ran into transition, grabbed my bike and helmet and headed out. There was a nice flat area for mounting/dismounting, so it was good for my semi-running mount. The bike course was really nice and offered some scenic views of Cayuga Lake. My stomach seemed to settle a bit after the first few miles. I knew which power zones I should try to stay in, so I rode by power instead of speed. Which was probably a good thing, because the first long straight part of the course was into the wind, and, I later found out, on a false-flat uphill. I kept looking at my speed and thinking, "shouldn't I be able to ride faster than 17mph on this?" After the course made a turn or two and switched directions, the wind was no longer an issue, and we were on a false-flat downhill that made averaging 25-26mph easy. There was only one hill on the course and a 2 mile section of gravel that were a bit challenging. Otherwise, it was lots of flat/false flat, straight sections. I felt good until about mile 50. I think the heat started getting to me at that time, and for some reason, my stomach started feeling a bit queasy. I knew from my Garmin that my bike split would be slower than what I'd thought I was capable of doing, and I started dreading the run. Bike time = 2:58:03, 18.9mph average.

In transition 2, I realized how hot it had gotten - the temperature was in the low 90's at this point. I think I said something to the girl a few bikes down from me along the lines of, 'ugh, I really don't feel like running a half marathon right now', but shoved my bare feet into my Newtons and headed out, anticipating a hot and slow run. I was definitely not in my best mindset at that point.

This is where the surprise of the day came in. My legs felt great on the run! The rest of me didn't feel so bad either. I didn't have a Garmin so I didn't know what pace I was doing until I saw the first mile marker and saw an 8:15ish split on my watch. My second mile was around 8:24. I started talking to a guy near me who wanted to average 8:30 splits, so we ran together and chatted a bit until we came to the big, evil, gravel hill around mile 7. I think having someone to run with had a huge positive impact on my race. I don't know how else to explain the shift from negative to positive outlook that occurred over the first few miles.

Then there was the big hill. This was undeniably my least favorite part of the course - the only part, in fact, that made me think, "really? they couldn't have found an alternative to this?" My running buddy opted to walk this hill, but I continued running (what ended up being close to an 11:00 mile). After that, I had a hard time getting my pace back down to where it had been pre-hill. I'm not sure if I tired from the hill, or if I lost the motivation of having someone to keep up with.

At some point shortly after, I lost track of the mile markers and thought I had one more mile to run than what I actually did, and started getting discouraged about my potential finish time. When mile marker 10 appeared and I realized I had only a 5k left (instead of 4.1 as I thought), my mood did a complete 180-turn and I realized I wouldn't be too far from the 5:30 ballpark I'd hoped for. I tried to pick up the pace for the last 5k, but the same thing happened towards the end of the bike - my stomach started getting that queasy feeling. It was weird to be at that point in a race and know that it was my stomach and not my legs or cardiovascular fitness that were seemingly holding me back. I ran side-by-side with a girl from my age group for the last 2 miles, and we passed another girl from our age group with about a mile to go. When the finish line came into view, I kicked the pace up a notch and she fell behind. I smiled across the finish line, suddenly very happy with my race and the fact that I hadn't fallen apart on the run. Run time = 1:59:06, 8:57/mile average.

Best part about crossing the finish line: kiddie pools filled with ice water for post-race ice baths! So, so sooooooo amazing. More races really need to do this!

Official finish time = 5:38:25. I've learned that no matter my time is, I am always going to want to be faster. I'd hoped for a 5:30, but if I would've finished in 5:30, I would've wanted to have finished in 5:25, etc. Given my loser stomach issues, the heat, and my focus being on Olympic distance rather than half-iron going into this race, I have no complaints. I executed a smart race, learned a few things, and didn't let the negative thoughts get to me too much. Now, I have a starting place for formulating goals and what I can realistically hope to accomplish at my upcoming 70.3 races in Sept and Oct.

At this point, I need to give major props to the residents of Geneva, NY and the race organizers and volunteers. On practically every residential street we ran through, there were multiple residents out with sprinklers and hoses to cool the runners off. Really, this was an amazing and much-needed treat. It was great to have so much encouragement and support from the locals. The race organizers did an amazing job with having fully-stocked aid stations (water, Heed electrolyte drink, salt tablets, coke, snacks) at every mile and ample volunteers.

Despite the choppy swim experience and the gravel hill on the run, I LOVED this race. There are good races, and then there are first-class races, and Musselman was a first-class event in every way. I highly, highly recommend it. My parents came along to spectate, and they noted that it was the most spectator-friendly race they've been to. The race offered lots of the usual post-race snacks like bagels, cookies, and bananas to athletes, but they also offered a choice of hot meals from Wegman's.

I think I've said the same thing after every race I've done this year - "I want to do it again next year." With an Ironman in the forecast for 2012, I know I am going to have to trim my race calendar down quite a bit. This race will definitely make the cut though - and actually, I think I want to do the Double Mussel next year, which combines the sprint race on Saturday and the half iron race on Sunday. Doesn't that have Ironman training written all over it? :)

The Musselman Experience (OR: Why you should do this race)

2011-07-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Musselman Triathlon is exactly that -- an experience. Since a lot happened over race weekend, I decided to divide it into two posts: a race report (coming soon) and everything else about the weekend (below).

Musselman takes place in the Finger Lakes region of New York, starting and ending at Seneca Lake in Geneva. It is named for the zebra mussels that live in the lake. Unfortunately, I never got to see any of them, but I got a lot of cool swag with cute zebra mussels.

Zebra Mussels!

The real life ones are not as cute as
their cartoon counterparts.

I couldn't tell you when I first became aware of Musselman, or who I heard about it from, but it's been on my list of races to do for at least the year or so. I was very excited to particpiate this year, and it lived up to it's expectations!

I arrived in Geneva, NY on Friday evening after a longer than expected drive thanks to construction on the interstate. As soon as I entered the downtown area, this came into view and brought a huge smile to my face, so I had to pull over to get a picture:

I couldn't wait to race in BLUE water!

The next step was to pick up the keys to my dorm room in the Athlete Village. This is one of the really cool things about Musselman - it is located very close to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and you can book a dorm room for $35/night. No frills here, but it had air conditioning and was only 5 minutes from the race site. More races really need to have lodging options like this.

After unloading all of my stuff, I made my first trip to Wegmans. We don't have Wegmans grocery stores in Pittsburgh, and friends from eastern PA and NY rave about them, so I was really excited about this trip. I picked up a giant bottle of spring water, some milk, yogurt (one of my co-workers lent me his portable microwave-sized refrigerator which was awesome!), some snacky things, and one of their $6 dinners. Wegmans, please come to Pittsburgh!!

Almost too cute to eat. Note that I said almost.

I went back to my dorm and found a picnic table outside to eat and watched the sunset. Then it was time to get my stuff organized for the next day.

Saturday wasn't race day for me, but there was a race going on. This was the sprint triathlon called the Mini-Mussel. Some of my fellow Pittsburgh Triathlon Club members were racing it, so I headed over to the race site to do a warm-up running workout and spectate.

View from the lakeshore trail... the view alone made me soooo happy :)

Not only did I get to cheer on my PTC teammates, but I got to meet and cheer on my blog friend Alexa who was competing in the sprint race - and took 2nd AG - just a few weeks after doing Ironman Coeur d'Alene!

After the race, I opted to go for a practice swim in Seneca Lake since one of my PTC teammates had extra goggles and a cap, and since I was wearing my tri-suit (since the only thing I forgot to pack was a set of workout clothes to wear the day before). My teammate Jim and I had to sneak out past the lifeguard, who told us we were only allowed to swim in a 50-yard line in shin-to-waist deep water. This was lame, and it seemed that everyone else thought so too, because there were a bunch of triathletes who had proceeded in further as well. I am really glad I had the opportunity to get this warm-up swim in because I realized soon after starting that there were waves to navigate, and this gave me a heads-up for what to expect on Sunday.

WoolSports became the title sponsor of Musselman this year, and so they had a booth at the finish line with some of their products and... sheep!!! I am easily amused by things like cute animals :)

After my swim, I said good-bye to everyone and went back to campus to go to the expo and get my race packet. Musselman's sponsors, especially WoolSports, did a great job taking care of us! I think this was the best swag bag I've gotten at a race to date. Instead of a plastic shopping bag, we got a canvas tote bag with the race logo on it. WoolSports gave everyone a pair of moisture-wicking wool socks (that have the zebra mussel logo!) and wool skull caps. The bags also had shampoo and conditioner from a local upscale bath/beauty store (random, but awesome - at least for the ladies!), a Musselman race belt, and samples of Hammer and Clif nutrition products. Noticeably absent from the swag bag? That stack of advertisements that inevitably ends up in the trash/recycling bin. Way to be green, Musselman!

It makes me so happy that the zebra mussel is on the toe of the sock!

Possibly one of my top 3 favorite race shirts!
Cuddly sheep + mussel wearing
wool cap and booties! Yes, I am 5.

On Saturday evening, I met up with my parents, who had just arrived in town, to get dinner. After that, I went back to the race site to rack my bike. Until I started looking at the bike rack numbers for my spot, I completely forgot that when we registered, one of the mandatory fields was something motivational/inspirational etc. to put on your bike rack sticker. I couldn't even remember what I'd put...

How could I forget? :)

Then, it was back to the dorm to lay out all my race gear for the next morning... zzzzzz....

Sunday was race day, but that will get it's own race report post!

After leaving the race site on Sunday, I went back to my dorm to shower, pack up all of my stuff, and relocate to the B&B my parents were staying in nearby Phelps, NY. We had a low-key evening of eating leftovers from the night before while chatting with our hosts and another guest who also raced Musselman. And, I made a new BFF who I sadly forgot to take a picture of before leaving - Pippy, their golden retriever/black lab/Australian shepherd mix.

The Finger Lakes has a ton of vineyards and wineries in the area, so on Monday we hit the wine trail! Red wine has antioxidants, and antioxidants are good for recovery, so therefore, wine is good for recovery. That's my logic, anyway :)

We visited three wineries over the course of the day, and it was interesting how each one had its own character. I bought some super yummy locally-produced double-cream white cheddar cheese at the first place, and carried it around with me into the other wineries to have with my wine tastes. Yes, the cheese was that good. Or I was just that hungry the day after the race. I bought a few (or perhaps more than a few?) bottles of wine including a white ice wine, a wine made from apples and cherries, and a pinot noir with cherry and toffee undertones that was just delicious.

I was sad to leave on Tuesday morning. This is a really pretty area and there is so much to see and do. I started joking about starting a B&B of my own in that area, both because I liked it up there so much and out of my disinterest in going back to work the next day at my sit-at-a-computer-all-day job. It seemed like it would be easy and low-stress to check people in, make them breakfast, clean up after them, and then go ride my bike all day. (Realistically, I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that...) Then the plan got more detailed, like catering to triathletes and offering a setting for training camps with suggested bike/run routes and/or guided rides/runs. I don't know if it will ever happen, but it's something to think about... :)

Stay tuned for the Musselman race report!

Tour of the Valley Stage Race (or... Stage Races are AWESOME!) - July 8-10, 2011

2011-07-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

I can't begin to describe what a fun and amazing experience the Tour of the Valley was for me - it was just incredible. I got a ton of pictures, so this post is going to be very photo-heavy. And since I can't write a short blog entry for the life of me, it will be word-heavy too :)

I'm not sure what possessed me to sign up for the 3-day omnium in and around Youngstown, OH, other than the recent addiction to racing I've had. Originally, I planned to do the road race only. But then I thought I should sign up for the time trial, because I thought I could do really well given my triathlon time trialing experience. Then I figured that if I was in for 2 of the 3 events, I might as well do 'em all!

Friday Night: The 8.5 Mile Time Trial

I expected the time trial to be my strongest event. Ironically, it was my weakest. I thought I was going to roll in and look all pro with my time trial bike, Zipp wheels, and aero helmet. What I learned is that there is a big difference between time trial cyclists and triathletes. Not only did they have all the same gear, they also had aero shoe covers and one-piece long sleeve skinsuits.

The time trial started from a winery in the country. It was really hot outside, and I was thankful I pulled into the parking spot I did, because right next to me were some other Pittsburghers who brought a tent and didn't mind sharing it for a shaded warmup!

When I got to the time trial start, I was nervous to find out that you don't just clip in and go. There was this little starting hut thing, that was raised about 2-3 steps up from the ground with a ramp that you rolled down to start... sort of like the little huts with a ramp the speed skiers use to start. Since the start list was alphabetical, I went first. I was surprised to find out that you were expected to clip into your pedals with both feet while someone held the back of the seat. Eek. No one had told me about this.

Not from this weekend, but the closest thing I could find.

I considered asking the seat-holder guy if there was any chance there was a nearby pond I take a quick swim in, then run barefoot to the bike, and do a running mount to start my time trial (ok, I didn't seriously want to ask that, though it did cross my mind). Instead, I sucked it up and clipped in with both feet while the seat-holder guy steadied the bike. I was really nervous, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I didn't fall over, I didn't fall off the ramp. Though next time, I will definitely start in a smaller gear!

After the race, I heard a few other people say they were "chasing a ghost" and later realized that this was what I was doing. They left a few minutes between categories, but only 30 seconds between riders within categories. When I started, I couldn't see anyone in front of me. It really was a true time trial. I finished in 24:00 flat, which is right about where I expected to finish time-wise. I ended up finishing 6th in the combined category 3-4. I was a little bummed because I thought I'd finish higher, but since it was my first time ever doing a race like this, I accepted it as a learning experience.

After cooling down and putting the bike away, I hung out with some teammates and friends until the results were posted. The winery also had a restaurant, so we were able to eat dinner there as well. It was a really pretty night to be outside - I wish I'd gotten a few pictures of the vineyards and scenery!

After the awards were given out, four cycling friends and I headed to our hotel where we managed to fit 5 people, 9 bikes, and a whole lot of cycling gear into a room with 2 double beds and a pull-out couch. The biggest accomplishment of the weekend? Quite possibly the fact that no one tripped or injured themselves trying to get to the bathroom in the dark during the night.

You wouldn't check into a hotel and leave your kids in the car for the night, now, would you???

Saturday: The 26 Mile Road Race

We were up bright and early the next morning to head to Columbiana, Ohio for the road race. The 19 cat. 3-4 women were combined with about 6-7 junior (high school age) boys, and we were off. I knew to stay near the front, but not on the front. A few of the junior boys near the front were riding pretty aggressively, and liked to hammer the rolling hills and accelerate coming out of the turns. By the time we'd finished our first 13-mile loop of the course, I found myself off the front with about 6 other cyclists, including my teammate Patty. We were on a break! Yeehaw! I didn't know how far back the rest of the field was, but later someone watching the race told me that we were about about a minute up on them when we came through the halfway point. I think the entire second lap, I was terrified that the pack was going to come zooming by us -- after all, there were more of them. A few times I looked back to see if I could see anyone chasing, but found that this only caused me to lose the wheel in front of me so I forced myself to only look ahead.

The break at the halfway point... a little touch of Paris-Roubaix thrown in.

The second lap was tougher than the first lap. It was two junior boys, myself, and 4 other women in the break. For several miles, I was the last wheel on the line and struggled to stay on a few times. With about 5-6 miles to go, we hit a series of rollers and the two women in front of me dropped off. I sprinted to catch the wheel ahead of me, and our group of 5 continued. (I must say here that being in a break was so, so, so cool. It brought on such a rush of adrenaline knowing that while we were off the front, the chase group could catch us at any time.)

My only mental struggle in the race was shortly after dropping those two women; I was out of breath and struggling to stay on my teammate's wheel. Briefly, the thought of, "well, I could drop back, maybe work with those other two ladies to catch back up to the leaders after I catch my breath..." passed through my mind but I shoved it aside. I had a chance to win this thing, so I needed to hang on for a few more miles.

I recognized an underpass that signaled the finishline was less than a mile away. At this point, everyone sort of backed off the pace because no one wanted to start the sprint too early and accidentally give someone else a lead-out. There was a long straight-away going into the finish line, so once I saw the line, I decided to give it a-go and see if I could hold everyone else off. I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline, or if, despite my claims of being an endurance athlete, I actually have a sprinter's engine hidden in me, but I held my sprint and crossed the finish line first for my first win in a cycling road race. I know this was only a regional road race - not nationals or the Olympic trials or anything close to that, but coming across the line first was simply amazing. Not only because I'd won, but because as a cat. 4 rider, I'd won in mixed a field of cat. 3's and 4's. Adding to the awesome factor was my teammate coming in second behind me. My other teammate Rachel won the field sprint to finish 6th - putting all the SCE ladies in the top third of the field!

Seriously cool - a moment I want to relive over and over.
I have absolutely no recollection of the moto-official being right in front of us.

Cokes = nectar of life after the race! Can we get Coca-Cola to sponsor us? :)

After the race, we hung around and watched some of the other races going on. There was an awesome little coffee shop called the Lazy Bean that had some great treats and the best sign ever:

Sunday: The 45 Minute Criterium

I was nervous about the crit, not only because it was one of the larger crit fields I've raced in, but also because it included 6 90-degree turns, a "sweeping descent" going into a turn, and a short (50 yards?) but steep (~18% grade) climb up to the finish area. For anyone who is not familiar with how a crit works, you ride around the same circuit (usually a mile or shorter) for the given amount of time. When you're closing in on the set time, they calculate how many laps you can finish and yell that out, then ring a bell to signify the last lap. There is a lot of strategy as to where to be and when, drafting, etc. You have to anticipate a break happening, and be ready to jump in a second. You don't want to be on the front too much because you'll burn too much energy, but you need to be near the front so you can jump if someone attacks. Once the break happens, it's (usually) too late to do anything.

Steel City Endurance had a nice showing with 4 ladies in this field. We lined up at the front of the field. "Have fun!" Patty said. "Ride safe!" was my reply. The official told us we would start on the whistle, and then it felt like we waited an eternity to hear it. I'm surprised there wasn't a false start.

Black Beauty was all blinged-out for the occasion. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this bike?! :)

The course actually played to my strengths - I found that after the climb, I was able to recover on the straight and flat section better than most. I was able to ride the entire course in the big ring, so I didn't have to worry about shifting or dropping my chain. And, it served as a ~~crash~~ course in cornering. Thankfully, Black Beauty handles like a dream... she had so much fun out there! :)

There were a few attacks during the race, but it wasn't until the official yelled out that there were 5 laps to go that a 2 person break, including one of my teammates, successfully got away from the field. This is one of the counter-intuitive parts of bike racing for me. You don't chase your teammate down if they're in a break. Doing so will either wear you out before you catch them so you won't have much left to finish with, or the rest of the field will jump on your wheel and then the whole field catches the break, jeopardizing the chance of a team win. I sat on the front of the paceline for the a good part of the last few laps, but kept a controlled pace - enough that we were still moving and no one was going to get impatient and try to attack, but slow enough that I wasn't burning up too much energy and that the field wouldn't catch my teammate in the break. At this point, the best I could hope for was a team win and third place individually.

Coming up the hill

Someone attacked about half way through the last lap, so we flew through the curves that lead to the climb up to the finish. I think I was about the seventh or eighth wheel going into the hill, but I managed to find a clear path off to the far left, so I took it, hit the climb as hard as I could and won the field sprint for a third place finish. Not bad for a triathlete, eh? :)

GC: General Classification

Points are awarded for each of the three races, and then the points are added up to determine GC placing. My teammate Patty took 1st place GC, and I took 3rd. Annnndddd my team took first place in the category 3-4 women's team competition! Hooray Steel City Endurance! The weekend's successes bring me a LOT closer to my goal of upgrading to cat. 3 before the end of the season... I earned 9 upgrade points this weekend, which puts me over the halfway mark!

GC Podium... Yellow jersey for Patty!

The whole weekend of racing was such a great experience - hanging out with cycling friends, watching races, learning... I felt really sad when I got home on Sunday evening and realized that it was over, and there would not be another race the next day. I didn't feel like I was mentally tough at the Philly Tri, but I felt like I was mentally tough at this race and am really proud of myself - and my team! I always thought triathlon would be my first love, but the team and strategical aspects of bike racing are so much fun and so unique that cycling is quickly catching up. Bike racing (especially crits) may seem scary, but they are excellent for developing good bike handling skills and they are one hell of a tough workout!

My teammates Rachel, Patty, Kate, and SCE founder/coach Suzanne (left)

One of the first things I did when I got home? Start looking online for another stage race. Looks like it will be Tour de Millersburg in August! :)

And finally - the compression sleeves I am wearing in every. single. picture. They are SLS3 compression sleeves and they are great. Not only do they match my team kit, but my legs felt fresh at the start of each day's race and I felt strong during the races... Plus, they make me really easy to pick myself out of the hundreds of pictures of the race online!

Philadelphia Olympic Tri - 06/26/11

2011-07-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Continuing the trend of being behind on blogging... this entry has undergone a few revisions since I started drafting it. It was crazy long... I deleted some of the non-race-specific content that could easily get a post of its own and will (hopefully) get around to writing those at some point.

My fourth Philly Tri has come and gone.

It was another early day that started with my dad knocking on the door yelling, "Runners.... take your mark!" It was 3:18am. Seriously, why do I love this sport so much??? :)

My dad and Godfather accompanied me to the race. In the parking area, I got my bike assembled, put the aero bottle on and filled it with my electrolyte drink, and double-checked that I had all my gear. It's a bit of a walk to the transition area, and about halfway there, I decided to make a quick porta-potty stop. I leaned my bike up against a fence, but when I came out, my godfather was holding the bike and informed me that another racer had leaned her bike behind mind, and when going to remove it, knocked my bike over. All but a few drops of my electrolyte drink had spilled out of the aero bottle. I'm not sure if it was the shock or if it was just that early in the morning that my brain wasn't turned on yet, but it took me a good minute or two to process this bit of information. I kept looking at the liquid running away down the street and the empty aero bottle. I had brought extra wheels and extra goggles, but no extra electrolyte drink. Crap crap crap!

When I got to transition, I checked around for sports drinks, but all I could find was water. I refilled my aero bottle and tried not to think about the 210+ calories I would not be able to take in on the bike. I tried to convince myself that the missing calories would probably have a bigger mental effect than physical.

Since my bike had fallen component-side down, I waited in line for the mechanic to take a look at it to make sure everything was ok. I had tried shifting it a few times, and it seemed alright to me, but since my bike maintenance/fixing skills are essentially non-existent, I figured it would be best to have an expert check it out.

Luckily, my bike was fine. While I was waiting around, I heard multiple announcements that the swim would NOT be wetsuit legal: the water temperature was 78.3F... a mere 0.3 degrees too warm. Another frustration - while I have no idea how much time/energy the wetsuit really saves, in my mind, it shaves minutes off my swim :)

I hurried up to set up my transition area and hopped on the bus to the start line. The swim is all downstream, so there are school buses that transport athletes to the starting area. I was cutting it a little close on time due to my search for electrolyte drinks and then waiting for the mechanic, so when I got to the starting area, I didn't have any time for a swim warm-up.

After the pros started, we had 10 minutes until our wave went off, so I had some time to warm up then which was a relief. I positioned myself at the back of the field. The swim start was not chaotic for me, but I still bumped into a few more people early on than I expected to. This was a good thing though, because it meant I wasn't instantly left in the dust :) The swim was generally uneventful. I managed to swim in a relatively straight line, I had a few people near me the whole time, and I think I did pretty well negotiating the one right-hand turn into shore. Swim time = 24:22, a nice PR.

Looking at my watch, as always!

I felt the fatigue from a hard swim as I ran into transition and grabbed my bike and helmet. I had been expecting to see a mostly empty bike rack, and I was relieved to see there were still at least 5 bikes left after I took mine. I was the only one running out of the transition chute at that time, so I was able to actually do my "running" mount though I will say it was a very slow run!

The bike course is 2 loops. On the first lap, it was only the pros and elite amateurs, so it was very open and there were times when I couldn't see anyone else ahead of me. It was nice for a change to just focus on cycling, and not on watching out for/passing other riders. Also, I knew that any girl I saw in that first lap was competition - there was no guess work or trying to see the age on her calf. There's a hairpin turn about 2 miles into the course, and I saw that there were 2 girls not that far ahead of me. I set my sights on catching them, but it wasn't until the second lap that I finally did. When I was starting my second lap, the first waves of age groupers were starting their first lap of the bike course, so the course became more crowded. I was starting to get discouraged I hadn't caught any other girls from my division on the bike, but in the last 2-3 miles I passed 3 or 4 more elite girls which was a nice little boost of confidence going into the run. Bike time = 1:12:36, avg 20.4 mph - my strongest discipline of the day.

Any confidence I picked up on the bike was quickly lost on the run. The thing that stands out in my mind about the Columbia run is how great my legs felt off the bike. That was definitely not the case here - my legs felt heavy. I didn't have the energy I remembered having at Columbia, either. Within a minute or two out of transition, two girls had already passed me. I tried to keep up, but I couldn't hold their pace, so I hoped I could find my stride and my running legs would show up soon. The running legs I was hoping for did not show up, and I watched my mile splits get slower on my Garmin despite the flat course. More elite amateurs passed me - I would try to keep up, but would immediately realize I couldn't keep their pace. Somewhere around mile 3, I saw a Pro who was doing a cool-down walk/jog and she saw me and yelled something like, "you can do it, lady!" which was pretty cool to hear.

Note to Self...
Running form improvements to be made: Tuck elbows in and pick feet UP!

My pace continued to drop off in the second half. I felt like I should have more motivation to push myself harder, but I just couldn't dig it up. Coming up on the 6 mile marker, I realized that a girl who had been gaining on me throughout the run was right behind me. I refused to get passed at this point in the race, so I put my head down and gave it everything I had to beat her to the finish line by 3 seconds. Run time = 47:27, 7:39/mile - my worst discipline of the day.

My overall time was 2:28:28, a ~3.5 min Oly PR and ~13.5 min faster than what I did on this course last year (though it was actually a run-bike-run event last year)... Annnnnnd I was 17/21 female elite amateurs, so while I certainly wasn't taking any awards home, I met my goal of not finishing last. I know I should have been ecstatic with a PR, but I will admit, there was a bit of sulking immediately after the race (this disappeared after a massage and some food). I had been hoping for a 2:25 or faster and had thought a 1:10-or-better bike split and a 45-or-better run split were both in my reach. Maybe the reason I felt a little down at the finish was because it ended with the run - getting passed by 1/3 of the field is rather demoralizing. Setting realistic expectations for myself is something I need to work on.

All in all, I am able to say now that I'm happy with this race. If I had raced in my age group instead of the elite amateur division, I would've podiumed - but I would not trade this experience for an age group medal or trophy. My goal in triathlon is to see how far I can go, and the only way I'm going to get there is to challenge myself by racing against the best.

Racing in the Elite Amateur division was a really good opportunity for me, and I'm grateful for it. It was definitely an experience in mental toughness. It was also a learning experience: I have now devised several contingency plans for avoiding a repeat of the spilled gatorade debacle. It has taught me that I need to think of some other "what if" race day scenarios and how to mitigate them. It was also a learning experience in that it showed me how easily I let myself get rattled by the spilled drink and being rushed through transition set-up. I learned how I need to work on being tougher mentally, and not getting down on myself when a part of the race (the run, in this case) doesn't go as anticipated. I like to believe that these little pieces of things I'm learning will fit together to one day make me stronger, both on and off the triathlon courses.

almost PHILLY TRI time!

2011-06-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

My motto might as well become "I don't know where the time goes!" because I feel like that's all I'm ever saying these days. I can't believe the Philadelphia Triathlon is this Sunday, but I am SUPER PSYCHED.

The Philly Tri was my first tri ever, so there is some sentimental attachment there. (My history of the Philly Tri is detailed here in one of my favorite blog posts.) The course is all in Fairmount Park and I love it. I think the race will pick up more sentimental value this year, because this will be my first race in the Elite Amateur division. The pros start at 6:30 and the elite amateurs start at 6:33 which means yet another earlier-than-4am wake-up call this season, which I think is a new record (currently at 3 of these).

I'm most nervous about the swim. The swim has been my weak link in my other two races this season. In the elite division, the men and women start together... eek! This will still be a lot smaller than the age group waves (last year there were about 55 elites), and I'm sure I'll fall behind in the water pretty quickly so it shouldn't be too bad. Also in my favor is that the swim is all downstream - no turns to negotiate, one less thing to worry about.

I'm most confident about the bike. I love the Philly bike course because there are long, flattish, straight stretches that are great for hammering in aero position, it's all through the park so it's very green, and the hills are short and non-steep enough that you can power up them instead of sitting back and spinning. And there are a few nice little descents to give the legs a break.

I'm relieved that I'm not as nervous going into this race as I was going into Columbia. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get a certain finish time at Columbia so I could race in the elite amateur division at Philly. I am not feeling that pressure with Philly. I'm excited just to be racing in a new division and seeing what I can do when racing against some really fast women. I think this will give me the motivational push I need to see how far I can really go in this sport.

In the meantime, my pre-race routine has been comprised of the following:

*obsessively checking the Philly Rivercast website for the water temperature and current/ As of right now, the outlook for a wetsuit-legal swim is not so good... but I will have to wait and see. Anything can happen in a few days' time!

*semi-obsessively checking the expo/packet pickup hours, athlete guide, pre-race instructions, etc. online. Ya know, just to make sure they haven't changed anything a few days before the race :)

*calculating the break-downs for various goal times and splits for each discipline. It's funny how on paper, a 15 minute Oly PR seems totally do-able :)

*drinking insane quantities of my pre-race cocktail of coconut water and tart cherry juice. Coconut water is supposed to be awesome for hydrating, and tart cherry juice supposedly has anti-inflammatory/recovery benefits. Does it work? I don't know - at least in my head it does!

*rocking the compression socks/sleeves non-stop. Today I wore a jean skirt, light pink polo shirt, and neon pink compression socks to work. It's things like this that make me appreciate my company's casual culture, and I think most of my co-workers have learned to take my weirdness in stride.

*painting my nails and toenails the color I have dubbed "Louisville Red" - it's the same polish I wore during IM Louisville last year, so it has become my superstitious "good luck" color to wear.

What my pre-race routine has not been comprised of:

*packing :( I don't know why I dread packing so much. Unpacking should be worse, because with it comes washing dirty clothes, cleaning the bike, and putting all my miscellaneous race gear in the respective places.

Maybe I should do something about that - or at least start a list of what I need to pack.

Philly Tri, here I come!! Good luck to everyone else racing this weekend! :)

Black Beauty ♥

2011-06-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've made a few references to the new road bike, but here is her official debut...

After making the impulsive decision that I needed a new road bike, I went to my local bike shop to check out the CAAD 10's they had in stock. I'd heard a lot of good things about the CAAD 10, and LBS was able to get me a sweet deal with my team sponsorship.

Most notable changes from the old Trek road bike:

*Frame Size! With a 54cm frame, the old Trek 1500 road bike was too large for me. The bike store I bought it from only fit me from the legs down, and I was too much of a bike newbie to know any better. Apparently I have disproportionately long legs, because I was crazy stretched out to reach the bars, even with the teeniest stem available. Black Beauty has a 50cm frame... no more stretching to reach the bars!

*Weight! Black Beauty weighs in at just over 16 lbs. The Trek weighed around 21 lbs. 'Nuff said.

I have never named my bikes aside from referring to them as "Little Trek" and "Little Giant" with the same affection that I use in referring to my car as "Little Mazda" and "Little Zoom". (Though, I should mention here that after Black Beauty came home, the nickname 'Fatty' was immediately bestowed upon the Trek. I know, I am the worst bike mommy ever.)

I'm not exactly sure why I immediately decided the new bike needed a name, but Black Beauty got her name for several reasons. On the more obvious level, she is black and she is gorgeous. Anyone can see that :) When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, and Black Beauty was all black with a white star on his forehead and a white foot. My bike has a white "C" on the front and white "feet". Also, I picked her out on Derby Day. Not that Sewell's Black Beauty ever ran the Kentucky Derby, but, whatever, it fits with the horse theme.

Isn't the resemblance obvious???

I brought Black Beauty home the day before I left for the Columbia tri and couldn't resist taking her out for a 20 minute spin around my neighborhood. My initial reaction was that I felt really scrunched up and that she handled funny. However, I was amazed at how incredibly smooth the Dura Ace shifting was... I can totally see why people make such a big deal about it now!

The week after Columbia, I took her out for a second ride one evening. I don't know what happened in the few days between rides - maybe this is how muscle memory works? - but I felt like Black Beauty and I were made for each other. Climbing was easier and faster (duh - she weighs almost 5 pounds less than the Trek). The shifting was ridiculously smooth. It handled like a dream: Descending and fast cornering were sooooooo much more comfortable and it seemed like the bike knew exactly where I wanted to go and how to react. I am pretty sure I had a goofy grin plastered across my face for the entire 2.5 hour ride.

Black Beauty has displaced the TT bike's spot as my favorite bike, and the Trek has been relegated to commuter bike/nasty weather bike complete with SPD pedals. I don't think I can express in words the affection I have for this bike... it is just freaking awesome!

The technical info, for anyone who's really interested..

FRAME CAAD10, Smartformed 6069 Alloy, SAVE, BB30

FRAME SIZES48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 63

FORKCAAD10, full carbon, 1-1/8"-1-1/4" steerer

CRANKFSA SL-K Light Carbon BB30, 50/34

CHAINShimano Ultegra 6700 Shimano Ultegra

RIMSShimano RS80

SPOKESShimano RS80

TIRESSchwalbe Durango S, 700x23c, folding

PEDALSn/a

BOTTOM BRACKETFSA BB30

FRONT DERAILLEURShimano Ultegra 6700 braze-on

REAR DERAILLEURShimano Dura-Ace 7900

SHIFTERSShimano Dura-Ace

HANDLEBARSCannondale C2 Compact

STEMCannondale C2, 31.8

HEADSETCAAD10, 1/25" lower bearing, 25mm Carbon top cap

BRAKESShimano Ultegra 6700

BRAKELEVERSShimano Dura-Ace 7900

SEAT POSTCannondale C2, UD Carbon, 27.2mm, 300mm

WHEEL SIZE700c

WHEEL RIMSShimano RS80

REAR SHOCKn/a

SADDLEFi'zi:k Arione Mg rails

a very tri weekend

2011-06-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Even though I didn't race any triathlons this weekend, it had a very triathlon-y feel to it.

Friday evening was the first Pittsburgh Tri Club open water swim practice of the season and we had a whopping 15 people turn out! Last year, there were only 3 of us for the first practice. I am so excited at how the club and the sport of triathon are growing in Pittsburgh!!

It takes 13 triathletes to sink a floating dock.

We swim in a small channel between an island in the Allegheny River and the "mainland" and the channel narrows as you head north, so the current is the strongest there. The channel opens up into the main part of the river, but the current was pretty strong (29,000 cubic feet/second) and after about 22 minutes of fighting the current, I had progressed about 400 yards and was swimming in what felt like an endless pool so I never made it to the end of the channel. Unable to progress any further, I turned around and was back at the starting point in about 5 minutes (seriously).

On Saturday morning, I took the TT bike out for a 3-ish hour ride with my friend Sharon. It was a really pleasant day to be outside, though I was secretly wishing I was on the new road bike instead of the TT bike. It was noticeably heavier to drag up the hills, but I guess riding a heavier bike will make me stronger in the long run.

We stopped at an organic foods wholesaler out in the country to get drinks and were pleasantly surprised when we were told that cold drinks were free to anyone coming in on a bicycle - sweet! I love bike-friendly places like this and will definitely be stopping here regularly now on my rides!

After a quick lunch at home, I practiced transitions and mounts/dismounts. One of the perks of living on a dead-end street is the lack of traffic. I'm sure that between XC skiing on my street, doing trainer workouts on my deck, and now running barefoot in the street while pushing a bicycle has all of my neighbors thinking I'm a complete weird-o, but whatever... You gotta do what you gotta do! :)

On Sunday I did my first criterium race since 2009. (Instead of explaining what a crit is, check it out here if you aren't sure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium). Maybe doing a crit itself does not fit in with the 'very tri weekend' theme, since I think a lot of triathletes shy away from bike races like this, but if you put on your running shoes immediately afterwards and run for 45 minutes to make it into a brick, then it is a different story :) I wore my Kona socks my coach brought back for me as a reminder of the 'big picture' - that no matter how I fared in this race, it was just training for my triathlon priorities. (Though, a few minutes into the race and a few inches off someone's backwheel, I wondered if maybe not doing races with higher likelihoods of crashing might ultimately be better for the 'big picture'...)

The 45-minute crit itself was really fun. The course was a 1.6 mile loop with four 90° right hand turns and was pretty much all flat except for a few very small rises. I was a little freaked out for the first few minutes because of the close proximity to the other riders and the tight turns, but I got over it pretty quickly. My new bike handles and corners like a dream - I loved riding it! I was frustrated at a few points because someone would try to get a break, but after the initiator pulled off the front, no one else would pick up the lead and the pack would slow down and regroup... there really didn't seem to be any strategy here. It was still fun though!

I was hoping to score some upgrade points, but I made a fatal estimation in the distance to the finish line and launched an all-out sprint attack coming out of the final turn. I faded to fifth by the time I crossed the finish line, which was about three times further than I'd estimated it to be. (My line of thought was something like: attack, attack, attack... sprint, sprint, sprint... where the heck is the !@#$%&* finish line?!?!? seriously, where is it?!... owwwwww....) Must pay more attention to details next time. The upside was that my early attack caught everyone offguard, broke up the field, and put one of my teammates in a position to win, so it was a good day for the team. 5 ladies from my team raced, so it was really fun to race with everyone as well.

Far left, about to make a reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaally dumb decision to attack.

My legs felt surprisingly good after, when I put on the Newtons and started my run (much to the consternation of the cyclists - more than one person asked me where my bike was and/or told me jokingly it was a bike race, not a running race). The heat and total lack of shade (the race was in an industrial park - probably one of the most unscenic venues I've ever raced at) made for a good heat acclimatization day.

Countdown to PHILLY TRI: 20 days!!!

Tour of Tucker County - 05/28/11

2011-06-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, I crossed the finish line at Tour of Tucker County (West Virginia) and swore up and down that I would never, ever do that race again. Yet last Saturday, I did it again. It's funny how sometimes life brings you back to places you don't anticipate.

Like the last time I did this race, there were 9 women in the category 4 field. Unlike the last time, I did not come in last in the cat 4 field. Also unlike the last time, I knew what I was in for, being that this course is supposedly rated one of the top 10 hardest road races in the US (at least, that's what VeloNews says).

According to my Garmin: 4390 feet of climbing & 2838 feet of descending in 33 miles.

I was Nervous with a capital N going into this race. Really need to work on controlling those pre-race jitters. I set the following goals:
"A" goal: win cat. 4
"B" goal: earn upgrade points
"C" goal: don't come in last again (this is a pretty weak "C" goal, considering that if I hadn't improved after all the training I've put in over the last two years, I would quit racing and take up something non-competitive. Like scrap-booking.)

The field stayed together at the start for all of a minute or two until the girl who'd beaten me at Tour of Greene County sprinted off the front. Someone behind me in the pack said something like, "Let her go, she's crazy fast." I knew this girl was strong, but I wasn't going to sit back and let her get away, so I chased her down and two other girls followed.

We pacelined until we started the 7 mile climb and then the field really started breaking up. I tried to stay with the lead girl, but after a mile or so my heart rate was in the mid to upper 180's which I knew was neither smart nor sustainable. I resigned myself to letting her go and finishing the race sans heart attack. I rode by myself for awhile and after a few miles, another girl caught me. We rode together and eventually I couldn't keep up with her, so I had to let her go too.

Sneak preview of the new bike!

I kept expecting the climb to end, because I knew that after the 7 mile climb came a nice loooooong descent. The road would dip down and I would think the climb was ending, but, the road always seemed to go back up after that.

The womens' cat 4 field was the last to start, and I was gradually passing a few riders' from earlier fields. Every time I saw a new rider ahead, I would think it was the girl who'd passed me on the climb, but it never was. I resigned myself to hanging onto third place.

When the epic climb finally ended, the descent was pretty sweet. Especially on my new bike (which will get a post of its own soon; for now I will just say it is A-W-E-S-O-M-E) because I am so much more comfortable cornering and descending. Which was a big plus, because there were a lot of twists and turns on the descent. Shortly into the descent, and shortly after I'd given up hope of catching the 2nd place girl, I caught and passed her. I resolved to hold onto second place this time. I flew down the descents, realizing that this girl wasn't very comfortable with the long, curvy descents, and that this was my chance to put some distance between us. I think I too a few turns too fast and I scared myself a bit, but this bike handles like a dream and I avoided any catastrophic happenings.

On the long net-flat portion to the final climb up to the finish line, she caught up with me again. We rode together to the start of the climb and chatted a little about how we were both triathletes and had done one Ironman race each. (Yeah, I know, isn't it ironic how I vow to beat her, but then I'm all about chatting Ironman?)

We started the final climb side-by-side. The first mile is the steepest, with grades up to 20% according to my Garmin Edge. I was determined to grab 2nd place and was prepared to give it everything I had left. That first mile was the longest mile in recent memory; I kept looking at the Garmin Edge to see that the distance (measured to tenths) was barely moving. I gradually put some distance between me and the other girl.

The last few miles were focused on picking out guys ahead of me and concentrating on passing them. Finally, a mark appeared on the road that said "1 km to go". Soon after that, a "200m to go" appeared, and almost immediately the finish area was visible. I hung on to second place, crossing the line ~40 seconds before the other girl and more importantly, 40 minutes faster than what I'd done 2 years ago. And, I achieved my "B" goal and snagged 2 points towards the cat. 3 upgrade.

I'm super happy with this race. It was quite the sufferfest of climbing, but it was a beautiful day to be riding and it was such a great confidence boost to realize how far I've come in two years. I will no longer refer to myself as "the worst climber ever"; I AM a climber now, and I'd even venture to say an above average climber for that matter! :)

The podium experience in pictures:

First place girl has trouble opening the celebratory bottle of champagne.

I am enlisted to help and manage to get the bottle open.

First place girl sprays what's left of the champagne.

Straight to the face. Champagne actually tasted good after the race!

Yay, no more Tour of Tucker until next year!

...of course I'm coming back for more! Duh. :)

Columbia Triathlon - 05/22/11

2011-05-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

I was going to be late for my race. We were supposed to leave my friend Steph's apartment over an hour ago, and I still had to fill my drink bottles, get my gear together, eat something. Why wasn't this stuff done? Why was it taking sooooo long? I knew it would take 40 minutes to drive there, and my wave started in... 45 minutes?! This was going to be impossible.

***Beep Beepity Beep!***

The alarm jolted me awake. WHEW! I've had all kinds of weird races before dreams, but never one like this. It was 3:40am and it was GO! time for the Columbia Triathlon.

I was really nervous going into this race. My less-than-stellar swim at the Rumpus in Bumpass had shaken my confidence a bit. I was still chasing that elusive sub-2:30, though the skeptical part of me knew it would be difficult to get on a hilly course like Columbia. A bike leg of 41k instead of the typical 40k added to my doubts. When my coach posted a Facebook status message a few days before wishing me luck as I "tried to make the Columbia Triathlon my best Olympic distance tri yet", I cringed. Nothing puts the pressure on like advertising it on Facebook, eh?

Beautiful day, beautiful venue!

Steph was volunteering at the race, so we arrived at the transition area shortly after 5am. I had plenty of time to check my bike and get my transition area set up before heading to the swim start. The only downside of this race is that my age group was the ninth wave out of 13, so I had to wait around for almost an hour before my wave started.

When it was finally time to get in the water, about 150ish girls from the 25-29 and 30-34 age groups headed into the lake. I was relieved to see the water was very calm and the complete opposite of the choppy mess at Bumpass. I found a spot close to the front, but when the gun went off, I felt like the field condensed and I was boxed in and struggling to get around people. Once I found some space, I concentrated extra hard on my position and sighting the buoys. If I wanted to go sub-2:30, I had to finish the swim without navigational errors; I couldn't afford a jaunt off-course. I think my whole thought process went like this, "Ok, you're about x% finished with the swim, and you're still on course! keep swimming straight!" I staggered out of the water at the exit, looked at my watch, and saw 26:3x. A PR in the swim and it kept me on track for my overall goal!

In transition, I grabbed my bike and noticed that quite a few bikes were still on the rack around me. I headed out, ready to utilize my much practiced running mount. This didn't really materialize since my wave was one of the later ones. There were a quite a few people heading out on the bike and there was some congestion at the transition exit/mount area. So, it was more of a walking mount.but I was able to get on and get my feet into my shoes comfortably.

At my coach's suggestion, I set my Garmin Edge bike computer to show current power and 30 second average power. My coach gave me some suggestions for where to cap my power output on hills to avoid "burning through the book of matches" too quickly. The 30s average was a really good way of doing that. I am going to stick with this strategy because it's very easy for me to get caught up in the moment and want to hammer.

I was excited to be on the bike. I had driven the bike course the day before and while it was hilly for an Oly triathlon course (~1600 feet of climbing), none of the hills were that steep by Pittsburgh standards, and most of the terrain was rolling so that the descent from one hill helped you up the next. I rode like I was on a mission: at one point, I passed a group of guys and one of them called out, "You go girl! You're flying!" which made me laugh. I had been hoping to average between 20 and 21mph on the bike, and I finished with a bike split of 1:14:23 - right in the middle with 20.5.

T2 was my blunder of the day, when I ran down the wrong isle with my bike. I've never made that mistake before, and will be paying extra extra extra attention to signs and markings next time.

Once I found my correct rack, I slipped on my bright pink Newton racing flats and headed out to the run. I saw 1:44:xx on my watch. Which meant... my 2:30 goal was still alive! (Realistically alive - not alive in the sense of, 'my goal is alive if I decide to run a 10 minute 10k PR right now'.) I was excited just to still have that goal in sight and know that I *might* be able to muster the sub-45 needed.

The first mile or so of the run felt amazing. My legs felt light and I kept looking at the Garmin watch and seeing paces well under 7:00 minutes. As excited as I was and as good as I felt, I knew I had to hold back because I didn't want to blow up later on. Even with a small (compared to what was yet to come) hill in the first mile, I hit it in 7:06. Then the bigger hills started showing up. They were worse than I expected. As fatigue began to set in, I watched my pace slow down. Miles 2 and 3 were 7:24 and 7:57. Somewhere around mile 3 we left the park and went into a neighborhood that seemed to be ALL hills. Mile 4 was the hardest and my slowest at 8:08.

(Side note: Despite the toughness of the fourth mile, this is where my favorite event occurred. At the top of one of the hills, two elementary school aged boys were waiting with Super Soakers to cool off anyone who wanted it. There was a guy next to me wearing a tri top with a skull and cross bones across the chest. Here is what I witnessed:
Running Guy in Skull Jersey: hit the skull, hit the skull! (points to logo on chest)
Little Kid with Super Soaker: *blasts Running Guy in the face with water*
Running Guy in Skull Jersey: I said the skull, not the face! the skull, not the face!)

I was trying to give 2 thumbs up, but
instead it looks like I'm doing chicken wings.

I tried to pick up the pace on the last two miles and did so with 7:35 and 7:40 splits, but not enough to make up for the lost time on the hills. I think the hardest part of the race was the last half mile, because the path followed the lake shoreline to the finish line and you could see the finish line across the lake, and it just seemed soooooo far. I realized my finish time was going to be just over my 2:30 goal, but I was still going to put down a nice PR on a long, tough course. I heard Steph cheering for me as I ran through the finish chute. I think I practically danced across the finish line, hamming it up and flashing the camera two thumbs-ups. I forgot to stop my watch until after my chip was removed and I'd grabbed some Gatorade, so I didn't know what my official time was other than it was in the 2:32 ballpark.

It was slightly cruel that after finishing a tough race like this, you had to go UP a hill to get to the post-race refreshments (though once you got up there, the refreshments were great... they really had a nice spread for this race.) I grabbed some chocolate milk and saw new results were being posted. Over the shoulders of others, I could discern only 2 names in the 30-34F age group that had finished when the results were printed. I wiggled a little closer. I saw my name was second with a finish time of 2:32:05 - a PR of over 3 minutes. I yelled "Yes!!!!!" and went to get more food with a big grin plastered across my face.

There were some other Pittsburghers who raced, so we hung out in the Pittsburgh Tri Club tent for awhile and ate and talked before heading back up the hill for the awards. Pittsburgh had some nice representation for awards: My friend Jen and I were 4th and 2nd 30-34AG and my friend Beth was 2nd Elite Open.

Jen, Beth and I

Next year, Steph should do this race with me :)

After analyzing the results later in the day, I saw that I was 16th/88 AG in the swim. My bike split was ranked 2nd AG and moved me from 16th position to 4th position going into the run. I passed two girls in my age group on the run and finished ~40s behind the girl who took 1st AG. Ya know that saying "you can never win a tri on the swim, you can only lose it?" This girl beat me on the swim with a 21:xx and I made up all but 40 seconds.

Overall, this tri was an amazing experience for me. It reminded me to believe in myself. It's funny because going in, I think others had more confidence in me than I did in myself. The course was beautiful and the race was very well organized -- really, a first-class race -- and I already am planning to do it again next year.

The icing on an already very sweet cake: I emailed my results to the Philly Tri and asked for admission to the Elite Amateur division annnnnnnd... my wish was granted! Time to train my butt off for the next 4 weeks!

two and a half things tuesday

2011-05-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm blaming lack of free time for the lack of creativity in recent blog posts ;)

1. Volunteering at the Pittsburgh Marathon this weekend was an awesome experience! Between setting up the fluid station and pouring ??? cups of water, passing out said cups of water, and then picking up all the used cups, the 6 hours flew by. It was super cool to see the elite runners go through. You could see how intensely focused they were. And, it was really fun to see a bunch of my friends running, too. Part of me was sad that I wasn't running. But... since I was at mile 19, a lot of people were starting to look miserable which made me less sad that I wasn't running.

A summary of what I learned: holding cups of water out for 2+ hours non-stop is tiring on your arms, and I am not above picking up unopened Gu's that had been dropped on the course.

2. There is a Groupon-like discount deal thing for athletes now! It's called Schwaggle. So far it's only in LA, Chicago, NYC, and the Bay Area, but they're supposed to be adding more locations soon. I've been keeping an eye on it and most of the deals are for local things like discounts on race entries, training/testing services, gear stores, or healthy restaurants that appeal to athletes. Some things aren't location specific though... A friend sent me the link a few weeks ago because there was an offer that was $45 for $80 at trisports.com. Just wanted to share!

2.5. New bike hasn't come home yet because I needed a shorter stem that had to be ordered, but I am supposed to bring her home tomorrow. Hooray! I will definitely post pics soon... JohnP :)

three things thursday

2011-05-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by soooooo quickly! Between training and other random things that seem to keep coming up, free time has been a scarcity. Since I don't have time for a long entry (though I have a few in mind when/if I ever find the time) I figured I'd steal the "three things thursday" idea that I've seen several others do.

1. My two-wheeled family is about to get bigger! I had so much fun at my team's training camp and my recent road race that I decided that I'd like to pursue an upgrade to category 3 this year. ~~Kind of~~ very impulsive, but my coach said we can make it work with my tri schedule. Equally impulsive was my decision to buy a new road bike - but I got a great deal on it and it will be a HUGE upgrade from my entry-level, triple-chainringed Trek that is too big for me. The new bike is 2 frame sizes smaller so I should be much more comfortable on it. I should have it in the next few days and am soooooo excited!

2. I've been spending some more time working on smooth transitions, particularly mounting and dismounting. I got some help from a friend on Tues night and it is amazing how much smoother things feel now! (Thanks Chris!!!) I guess the mount/dismount technique I ~~used~~ made up for the Rumpus in Bumpass wasn't the most optimal (though it still got the job done for getting faster transition times than previous seasons). The running mount isn't as scary as I thought it would be now that I understand the technique behind it. I still haven't tried it with the shoes on the bike, but when I practiced last night in running shoes, it felt noticeably more comfortable than on Tuesday night. The weekend will be the real test when I try it with the shoes on the bike!

3. The Pittsburgh Marathon and Half-Marathons are this weekend. Since I'm racing at the Columbia triathlon is next weekend, I decided to volunteer instead of race. I've done so many local races over the last 9-ish years that I decided it was time to give back a little bit! I'm going to help out with packet pickup at the expo (since I'd want to hit up the expo for deals and freebies anyway, haha) and volunteer at a water station during the race. I've never volunteered at a (relatively) big race like this before, so I'm excited to see it from the other side. Not that the Pittsburgh Marathon attracts big name runners like Meb or Paula, but there are several runners trying to qualify for Olympic trials, so there will be some fast running nonetheless.

Good luck to everyone racing! Have a great weekend y'all :)

Almost Heaven... West Virginia

2011-05-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

I think I now have an idea of what John Denver was singing about after spending a 4-day weekend cycling in the hills of rural West Virginia with the ladies of my cycling team, Steel City Endurance. (Yes, I am on a cycling team. I joined a few years ago when there weren't any area tri teams. I got away from road racing the last 2 years because I wanted to focus on tri's and specifically Ironman training. My tri coach is the founder/coach of SCE so I've stayed on the roster.)

Our "training camp" was held at the Lost River Barn in Mathias, WV. I LOVED the barn!!! You can check out the history and see some pictures of the inside of the barn here. It was super cute, very comfortably furnished and I think could sleep close to 20 people. There were only 9 of us, so we had plenty of room to spread out. I would highly, highly recommend this place if anyone is looking for a place for a team camp. (Warning: be prepared to do some serious climbing; see below.)

It sits atop a ridge with spectacular views of the Appalachian Mountains all around. I don't think my pictures do the views justice though.

When we arrived at the Barn, we joked that it was sort of like the first episode of MTV's Real World. We were all exploring and saying things like, 'cool, there's a bowl full of candy in the living room!' or 'look at the back porch!' and figuring out who was going to sleep where. Some of the girls headed out for an easy bike ride, but my friend Rachel (the only other triathlete there) and I headed out for an easy run.

A freshly baked batch of some of the best cookies I've ever tasted were waiting for us when we arrived. I think it was some sort of chocolate chip/almond/oatmeal combination, and the little bit of salt on top was perfect.

Friday: ~63 miles, ~7300 feet of climbing. Our day started with a descent down the 'back side climb', a 6ish mile, ~2200 foot descent down the ridge, with switchbacks my person has not seen the likes of since I climbed Tunitas Creek and Old LaHonda Road in the San Francisco Bay area in 2009. In theory, it may sound fun to descend for 6 miles straight, but it was a bit scary with the sharp turns. AND it's hard on those braking-muscles in your arms! This gave me a good excuse to stop and take pictures - so I could rest my arms!

Believe it or not, this highway is a designated bike route. The 'bike lane' was a larger-than-normal shoulder. Luckily, there was hardly any traffic. Even though the grade wasn't bad, this thing was like a wind tunnel. It seemed to go on and on forever with a gradual incline, but the wind made it feel much steeper than it was.

One of the defining climbs of the route, through some kind of mining operation (?)

Some of the more scenic shots from the ride:

How many storms does this barn have left?

We saw tons of farm animals: goats, sheep, cows, horses, chickens. Most of the cows and horses ran from us as we approached so we couldn't get too many good pictures.

Team photo!

At the end of the ride, it was time to climb UP the backside climb. It took me around 53 minutes to complete the climb, with grades ranging from 4% - 22% (I know this thanks to my new Garmin Edge 500 - it is awesome!)

This was taken on the descent. I am proud to report I made it the whole way up without having to stop :)

Saturday: ~60 miles and ~5000 feet of climbing. After the day before, this ride practically seemed flat. The weather was warmer and sunnier and it was a gorgeous day to be on the bike. About halfway through we stopped at a gas station/general store type of place where they sold coke in glass bottles - for only 88 cents! I don't drink a lot of soda, but that coke totally hit the spot.

Instead of taking the back side climb again, we took the front side climb through Lost River State Park which was really scenic, but I didn't get any good pictures.

This is taken somewhere close to the top of the ridge.

Country Roads...

On Sunday morning, there was time for a quick ride before heading home. Because I apparently have some masochistic tendencies, I headed out to do the back side climb one more time. I think everyone else thought I was nuts for choosing to do this :) Despite some crazy steep streets in Pittsburgh, we don't have climbs nearly that long, and it was good practice for an upcoming road race.

All in all, an awesome weekend. When we weren't riding bikes, we just lounged around the barn, watched coverage of the Royal wedding, and ate. We cooked a feast for ourselves each night and ate and relaxed. I was really sad when it was time to leave. I guess that means it was a really good time. I'm already pumped for next year!

Tour of Greene County Road Race (<-- yes, as in road bikes!) 04/23/11

2011-04-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

I am not quite sure what possessed me to sign up for the 32.5 mile Tour of Greene County Road Race. Especially considering that last year I shied away from bike racing. But, I think it was a combination of location (not too far from my parents' house where I'd be spending Easter) and wanting to see how far my road cycling has come in the 2 years since I've done a road race. Regardless of my motives, I had a BLAST at this race and am so glad I did it! Since triathlon is my primary focus, sometimes I wonder how much time I should spend on my road bike and how much riding, or racing, my road bike can benefit me.

Since the turnout for the race was on the small side, starting fields were condensed. The 11 women (4 from Category 1/2/3; 7 from Category 4, including me) were combined with the masters men and juniors to comprise a starting group of close to 50 cyclists. While this isn't huge as far as fields for road races are concerned, it was the biggest field I've ever started in so I was pretty nervous. (Actually, that's a bit of an understatement; I was really, really, really nervous... my hands were actually shaking.) Since it was my first road race in almost 2 years, I didn't have any goals other than to push myself to see what I was capable of doing. And, hopefully not finish last in the process :)

The first 5 miles were relatively flat, and most people stayed together in a tight peleton, though a few did drop off the back. Since I'm not used to drafting because it's a huge no-no in triathlon and risks a time penalty if caught, riding in a dense peleton of this size was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. I couldn't help but wonder how long the group would stay tightly packed, but I imagined it would start to break up at the first climb.

Before the race began, I'd run into a teammate, who had driven the course beforehand. He warned me that the first climb was at mile 5, and was deceptively long - close to a mile, though it appeared to be much shorter because the road curved out of view several times. I kept this in mind as my bike computer closed in on the 5 mile mark. Sure enough, when the hill appeared, it didn't look too bad at first. Many people started powering up it, but I settled into a comfortable climbing pace and hoped that everyone else would slow down. I remembered one of the things my old coach had told me about why you shouldn't attack a long hill- if your heart rate gets too high, you won't be able to get it back in check until you crest the hill. People did start slowing once they realized the climb was longer than they'd thought. I was able to pass a few women early on in the climb, and I caught and passed two more at the top. The course dipped down, and then went up another hill, where I caught up with a woman from the Cat 1/2/3 field. She and I worked together and took turns pulling for the remainder of the race with the goal of holding off the women behind us.

Despite a forecast of thunderstorms and rain, it turned out to be a gorgeous, sunny (albeit windy) day. (Side note: guess who didn't think of sunscreen and looked like a lobster after the race?) I am really lucky that I found someone to work with, because the wind was fierce in some places and I relied on the drafting breaks to recover for my next pull. The middle chunk of the course contained gently rolling hills and flat/false flat sections, and took us on (mostly) well-paved roads through green pastures dotted with sheep, goats, cows, and horses. At one point, I saw two people walking on the road ahead with what I thought were two dogs. When I got closer, I realized they were two large goats! This is an unfamiliar sight to a city girl :)

There was one last significant climb towards the end of the course. This hill was shorter than the climb at mile 5, but steeper, and given the placement towards the end, it felt considerably tougher. After the descent, it was a net downhill to the finish line. A sign reading "1 mile to go" appeared on the side of the road, and I started wondering how to strategize my finish and when I should start my sprint. My drafting buddy and I were side by side when I could see the green finishline tent in the distance. I geared up, put my head down, and gave it everything I had left to beat her to the line.

After I put my bike away, I put on my running shoes - this was a brick workout day! I got about 30 minutes of running in and a few odd looks from the cyclists. One person asked me, "Are you going to swim next?" and my favorite comment from a friend was something like, "so you do triathlons... that's biking, swimming, and... shooting?" (me: no, shooting is in biathlon. swimming is in triathlon.)

I ended up finishing 4th out of the women, and 2nd out of the Category 4 women, which meant my first trip to the podium! You can tell by my outfit that I have had no previous podium experience. I did not think to put my team jersey back on. I am wearing blue, red, and bright pink socks - am I color blind? (I actually had a white shirt laid out to bring for after the race, but given the forecast for rain, I didn't want to look like I was participating in a wet T-shirt contest at the race if it rained, so I grabbed something dark.) The announcer actually made a joke about my socks and I yelled back something like, "I'm a trend-setter, what can I say?" Next time - I will be better dressed for the podium but I think I will have to stick with the pink socks.

Overall, I surprised myself not only by my performance, but also by how much fun I had doing this race. I mean, I really had a lot of fun out there, trying to chase down people and then trying to hold off the other women behind me. Do triathlon training and road racing mix? I'm sure there's a variety of opinions out there. The Tour of Greene County has reignited an interest in road racing for me, and I'm excited to do more road races this season in addition to triathlons.

Rumpus in Bumpass Olympic Tri Race Report - 04/16/11

2011-04-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

In a nutshell: that sub-2:30 Oly tri has eluded me again. I didn't get the time I wanted, but this early season race served other purposes: to get me reacquainted with racing, to see what I need to fine tune (or tune a lot - in the case of open water swimming) and to get any silly mistakes out of the way.

The forecast going into race day wasn't looking good, but I held out hope that the weatherman would prove to be wrong. By the time we got to the race start, the rain had started. I set up my transition area and realized I should've brought some rain gear or a garbage bag to stay dry while going between the car and transition, because I was soaked. Oops. Next time.

For the first time in possibly forever, I couldn't wait to put my wetsuit on to warm up. I got in the water about 15 minutes before my wave was scheduled to start. The water temp was reported to be 68F, which was a good 10 degrees warmer than the air, but it still felt icy to my exposed arms, feet, and face. I'm glad I got to warm up, but I can't help wonder if being in the cool water utilized more energy than necessary.

The swim was rough, to say the least. I think I forgot how messy the beginning of the open water swim is - either that or I need to work on getting out faster and trying to get ahead of more people. The swim was a square, and once I found a little bit of space for myself I felt like I handled the first stretch pretty well. As soon as we went around the first buoy, the choppiness of the water seemed to increase about ten times. I struggled to stay on course and kept finding myself drifting from the main stream of swimmers. No matter how many times I picked my head up to sight, I couldn't orient myself to the correct direction. It was what I would imagine vertigo to be like, except that I couldn't tell which way was the correct "forward" instead of which way is up. Every time I tried to breath, I'd suck in a mouthful of water. I had some worst-case scenarios in mind for the swim, but when I got out of the water and saw 32:xx on my watch, I'd surpassed all of my worst expectations. I knew right then I could kiss my sub-2:30 good-bye; it was contingent upon a sub-27 swim.

I staggered into transition. I couldn't believe how exhausted I felt - not good! I took off my wetsuit, put on my helmet and grabbed my bike, ready to attempt my first shoes-on-the-bike mount attempt. The path out of transition was a gradual uphill and I had a little trouble with a running mount. Part of this was also my fault since I'd put the bike in a bigger gear than I should have. I did manage to get my feet into my shoes and get going, though I don't think it was the most fluid motion.

That nice lil' mud put right there is
why my wheels looked like I'd done
an Xterra race.

It was still raining at this point so I didn't even bother to put my sunglasses on, since I knew they would only fog up. Prior to the swim start, I had debated over whether or not to put on arm-warmers for the bike. I completely forgot about this in transition, but I'm glad I left them behind because I warmed up pretty quickly. I hammered the bike to try to make up for lost time. I was frustrated from my swim and kept replaying the swim over and over in my mind. I knew I shouldn't dwell on a bad swim - I still had the majority of my race to focus on. I realized in those first few miles of the bike how easy it is for me to remind a friend that you can't PR every time - you win some and you lose some. Why is it so much harder to accept this advice myself?

I think my biggest mistake was that I'd never tried putting the aero bottle on my bike with my new Garmin Edge bike computer. The stem of my bike is too short for the Garmin, so the bike shop put it on my aero bars. I managed to squeeze the water bottle in next to the Garmin, but it was pretty much impossible to read it while riding. As a result, I did the bike ride completely by feel and will definitely experiment with Garmin placement/readability prior to my next race!

It's really a shame that it was rainy and windy, because the bike course was beautiful and would've been super fast in good conditions. I was able to pass quite a few people on the bike despite some crazy headwinds and cross-winds. The course was 2 12-mile loops and there was one stretch towards the end of the loop that had an open field on either side and the crosswind was strong enough there that I almost lost control of my bike the first time through which was really scary. My leave-the-shoes-on-the-bike dismount was much better than my mount and I put in a 1:11 bike split, which turned out to be my strongest of the three disciplines for the day.

The face of a serious triathlete.

My feet were numb from the swim and still hadn't thawed out by the time I got off the bike, and it wasn't easy to put my running shoes onto numb feet. I finally got them on and grabbed my visor and headed out. At least my attitude had improved by this point, and I managed to wave and stick my tongue out at a friend who was taking pictures. I pushed myself on the run, but I think I could've pushed harder if I knew my sub-2:30 goal was still a reality. The other problem was that I had no idea how fast I was actually running. I think I might need to borrow a Garmin for my next race so I can have a better idea of my pacing.

The run was also two loops, and the last part of the loop was a short trail section. Unfortunately, all the rain had transformed the trail into a mud pit with some tree roots sticking out. It wasn't easy to get footing, I slipped a little bit, and all I could think of was that my beautiful almost-new pink Newtons were going to be all muddy. (Really, I'm not nearly as prissy as this makes me sound.) I think the highlight of the run was passing my friend Allie going into the last turn-around and she yelled, "you go girl - this is your thing!" I tried to pick it up on the last mile or so to the finish line but I don't know if I actually did or not. My 10k split ended up being 48:14. Slower than what I'd hoped for, but still my fastest Oly-10k run to date so I can't complain.

Really fun shirts
(women's specific fit, too!)

I finished in 2:35:14, a 35s PR, which put me at 19/185 women and 4/36 in my age group. The biggest shock out of my results was that my swim-bike transition was 1:42 and was 7th fastest out of the entire female field. What?!? Me, a fast transition?! This is unheard of, but is a testament to why transition practice should not be overlooked - and why I will now religiously be practicing those transitions.

I didn't get the time I wanted, but with a PR, decent results, and a lot of random knowledge to incorporate for my next race, I am happy with this and am really glad I did this race. Maybe next year I'll give it another go, and hope for more cooperative weather :)

countdown to TRI season!

2011-04-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

Where do I start? There's barely been enough time to blog or do much of anything else recently... it seems things just keep coming up! I guess I can never complain about being bored, right?

First off, I completely forgot in my last post - the National Half Marathon race report - to thank everyone for the good luck wishes and encouragement! I realized this after I posted it and wanted to go back and write an addendum, but never got around to it. But everyone's comments here, on FB, and via email/text really meant a lot to me and I definitely was thinking about all of the support on race morning!

In more exciting news -- TRI SEASON STARTS ON SATURDAY!!! Yippee!!! I am super excited, despite an ugly weather forecast (high 65, 70% chance of rain/t-storms and windy). But, as my friend Jen said, it's too early to worry about the weather. The weather-people often do a complete 180 with their forecasts so I'm hoping that's the case.

This is a new race for me - the Rumpus in Bumpass in Bumpass, VA and it's Olympic distance. I think the name is the best part - I can't wait to get a race shirt that says Rumpus in Bumpass! The course is supposed to be relatively flat and fast which is good, because I'm chasing that sub-2:30 finish that eluded me last season.

Now, I have a confession to make. This past Sunday, for the first time ever, I practiced transitions. I have never, ever practiced transitions before then. (Which probably does a lot to explain why my transition times had been oh-so-awful!) I don't know why it's never really occurred to me to practice being fast in transition. Maybe it's my new tri-specific cycling shoes and my newfound desire to do the leave-the-shoes-on-the-bike thing that gave me the motivation to practice transitions. Until now, I've been using road cycling shoes which pretty much made the shoes-on-the-bike thing a non-option.

My first attempt at the shoes-on-the-bike thing was on my trainer. It wasn't as difficult as I thought, but I realized pretty quickly why the shoes have that big loop above the heel: you need to grab it and hold on to it while putting your feet in/out of the shoes, or the shoes will spin around on the pedal. My second attempt was at the Oval, the half-mile bike track (that could probably technically be called a velodrome?). It was a little scary the first time I tried it, and I felt myself wobble a little bit. I think the hours logged on the rollers were good for helping me to develop better balance and bike handling skills for something like this! I rode around the track and every half-lap I'd either put my feet in the shoes or take them out. It got easier each time... and I didn't find pedaling with my feet on top of the shoes to be so difficult, either.

My friends Rachel and Josh gave me some great pointers over burgers and alcoholic milkshakes last weekend for faster transitions. (Side note: is this trend popping up anywhere else? There are now two upscale gourmet burger/alcoholic milkshake places in Pittsburgh. I'm sure the alcoholic milkshakes are my ideal racing weight's worst nightmare, but they're sooooooooooo tasty!)

One suggestion I got was to use a milk crate in transition to hold my gear. This will keep everything condensed and will prevent the possibility of someone kicking a shoe, visor, etc. out of my transition area. I've heard stories about people's stuff vanishing from their transition area only to be found several bikes down/across from them/behind them, or covered up by someone else's towel or discarded gear.

Another suggestion was that anything that can be done while moving, should be done while moving. Looking back, I realize that I am guilty of standing in my transition area while I put my race bib on, put my visor and sunglasses on, etc. I wouldn't head out until I was sure I had everything on. New plan: grab the visor and race bib and put them on while running out of transition. Ahhh, it seems so obvious now - where was my common sense? ;)

Another tip along the lines of 'doing things while moving' was to use a rubber band to secure my sunglasses to the top tube of my bike. Once I get settled riding, I just have to grab the sunglasses and pull to break the rubber band.

Lots of information to digest...

Then it was time to put these tips into practice. I went back to the Oval and set up a mock transition area by leaning my bike up against a tree and setting my gear in the milk crate next to it. One of the pointers I'd picked up was to only take the bare minimum into transition with me. With that in mind, my milk crate looked like this:

Items are stacked in the order I'll need them:
Bike helmet first; running shoes next;
visor and race bib on the very bottom.

There were a lot of people there riding and I felt a little self-conscious, but whatever. There's a paved area inside the track that was perfect so I didn't have to be in the main traffic of people doing speed workouts.

I did this sequence over and over for about 40 minutes: run barefoot to bike... put helmet on... grab bike and start running out of transition... mount bike and start pedaling with feet on top of shoes... put each foot into shoe... grab sunglasses and put them on... turn around and head back to transition... take feet out of shoes... swing right leg over and go into a run from the dismount - no dead stopping... take off helmet... put on running shoes (much faster now thanks to some Yankz!)... grab visor and bib and put on as I'm running out of transition.

The scariest part was trying the bike dismount, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. The bike mount still probably needs some work, but that will be for another day. I was able to get onto the bike without too much time lost or too much difficulty.

We'll see how everything goes down on Saturday. Overall, I feel confident that my transitions should be considerably better relative to the field than they have in the past... and my fingers are crossed that I don't embarrass myself by doing a face-plant in transition.

Good luck to everyone else racing this weekend! Hooray TRI season!!!

National Half Marathon -- 03/26/11

2011-03-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

My race on Saturday can be summed up in one sentence: I ran the race I have been waiting years to run.

But since there's no fun in a one-line blog entry, let's start from the beginning... :)

Yay cherry blossoms!

The National Half Marathon race weekend fun started when Steph and I hit up the expo to pick up our packets. I was antsy to find the Newton Running booth, and was getting dismayed when I realized it wasn't there. Luckily, Steph noticed Potomac River Running Company had a big clearance rack that included Newtons for $60 a pair!! I almost had a heart attack. They didn't have any regular mesh stability trainers left in my size, but they did have all-weather stability trainers and racing flats. I think this is the Newtons deal of the century -- 2 pair for less than what one pair normally costs! I think I smiled non-stop for the rest of the night (ok, weekend) thinking about my new shoes.

Not sparkly like my stability trainers, but... aren't they cute? :)

Race morning included a 4:15 wake-up call, whole wheat toast with almond butter, and a banana. I broke the cardinal rule of not trying something new on race day and wore my new Sugoi compression tights (probably not a huge deal) and my Newton racing flats. I just couldn't help it - they were noticeable lighter than my trainers and just so cute and eager to pound the pavement.

Best. Shoes. Ever.
Seriously, I should become a spokesperson for Newton Running :)

Steph and I arrived at RFK Stadium around 6:00, which gave us just the right amount of time before the race. It was chilly - only in the low 30's, but luckily it was dry and there wasn't much wind. My warm-up probably could have been a little better than it was. I think I jogged around for about 10 minutes and did a few drills and pick-ups.

The goals on the table: "A" goal: 1:40. "B" goal: 1:45. "C" goal: < 1:51:11 (old PR to beat). I was nervous about shooting for a 1:40. I was a little worried that I might go out too fast and blow up halfway through.

I had a little trouble finding my pace group in my start corral. The 1:40 pacers were behind the 1:45 pacers for some reason, so I sort of had to jog in place in the corral/avoid being stampeded to let them catch up to me. We settled into a pace that felt comfortable... Almost too comfortable. If this was 1:40 half marathon pace, maybe I should've tried to go with the 1:35 pace group? Mile markers were hard to find on the course (this is pretty much my only complaint with the race) so when I heard a flurry of Garmin chimes, I knew we'd hit mile 1. I looked at my watch and saw 8:11... which explained why the pace felt too comfortable. One of the pacers commented to the others, "too slow", and they immediately cranked the pace up a notch. I didn't see mile markers for mile 2 or 3 to get my splits, but the pace was challenging- bordering on uncomfortable. If that was 1:40 pace, I didn't think I could hang much longer.

Soon after, someone in the pace group asked the pacers if the last 2 miles had been fast. They said they'd sped up miles 2-3 to make up for the extra time we picked up in the first mile but from here on out it would be even splits. The pace became more manageable and I felt relieved.

The first few miles were more tightly packed than most races I've done. Going around a tight bend, people bumped into me on both sides and all I could think was, "sheesh - this feels like a mass swim start!" The pacers darted through other runners, and those of us in the pace group darted along behind them. Things finally started to thin out a little about halfway through.

Coincidences: Another Pittsburgher and Pittsburgh marathon finisher ran in the same pace group with me, and also wore the same shirt as me... We got quite a few "Go Pittsburgh!" cheers from the crowd.

I really can't say I remember much of the course, which is ironic because one of the reasons I wanted to do this race was because the course sounded really scenic. My focus was on one thing: the 1:40 pacers. I knew that if I got distracted and dropped behind at all, it would be difficult to catch them. I remember seeing the Capitol building in the distance at the beginning and end of the race (I think?) as well as the Washington Monument. We apparently ran right by the White House, which I was completely oblivious to.

We hit some rolling hills in the middle of the course around the Adams Morgan neighborhood that were more challenging than I expected. The pacers would pull away a little bit, and I'd have to pick up the pace at the top of the hill to catch back up. Luckily, the course is laid out such that the first half is a net uphill and the second half is a net downhill.

The last 5k were some of the toughest miles mentally. Shortly before hitting the 10 mile mark (one of the few miles that actually had a noticeable marker), I began to have my first flicker of doubt for staying with the 1:40 group to the end. I began to fight off the urge to begin marginalizing my goals. This is something I habitually do: I go into a race with a goal and when I start to feel fatigued, I lose motivation to keep pushing myself and convince myself to settle for something less, even when there really isn't anything physically wrong with me. At mile 10, I started having thoughts along the lines of, "I wanted to run a 1:40, but if I slowed down to a mile per minute slower pace, I'd finish in 1:43 which would still be a nice PR and I could live with that." I did a quick inventory of my condition: I wasn't physically in pain; I wasn't gasping for breath, I wasn't dizzy or nauseated... just overall tired and starting to feel some heaviness in my quads and calves, which meant... suck it up for the last 3 miles and RUN. Pain is temporary, glory is forever. Or something like that :)

Around 1:25 is when I had to really fight the urge to not slow down. The 1:40 pace group was gradually pulling away from me. I think at this point my logic changed to, "as long as they're in sight, I'm ok with it." When my watch read 1:35, I felt like I was really struggling to maintain pace, though I was pretty sure I had slowed substantially from what I had been running earlier. When RFK Stadium came into view and I saw the finish line, I felt a new wave of energy. I looked at my watch and realized I would finish in 1:40 without a problem. Maybe, if I sprinted the last few hundred yards, I could even break 1:40. I did the best sprint I could but it was too late for sub-1:40 at that point. (The pace group was ahead of schedule and finished a minute or so ahead of goal pace.)

my very best pain face

I crossed the finish line and looked at my watch. I think I simultaneously broke out in tears and a huge smile. A lot of things really came together for me in this race: ideal weather, smart strategy, a realistic yet challenging goal, the right amount of training/fitness, and, possibly the most important thing- a tough mental attitude. I chased my goal time (literally, in the form of pacers with yellow 1:40 bibs pinned to their back) and didn't lose sight of it with fatigue. (Despite feeling like I was struggling for the last few miles, I later found out that I negative split the second half of the course. which was surprising.)

chip time = 1:40:12

After some snacks and a massage, I embarked on an unplanned 20-30 minute walking tour of the RFK Stadium parking lots. The lesson of the day: when parking in a giant venue (especially an unfamiliar one), it's a great idea to take note of the lot and section you're in and not just that you parked "by an underpass that leads to a grassy hill up to the stadium" (as I described it to a parking attendant). Hey, at least I wasn't the only one who made this mistake -- I bumped into two others who had also misplaced their cars.

off to the races!

2011-03-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Almost.

Technically, it's not off to the races 'til Saturday morning, but I doubt I'll have time to blog again before then! And, I'd rather blog than pack right now... because packing isn't fun.

I'm not really sure how to feel going into the National Half Marathon. Having a stomach virus last week really wiped me out more than I expected. Recovering is taking longer than expected. I texted my coach in a panic on Sunday, worrying about why I wasn't feeling "good" again yet, and wondering how much fitness I'd lose in the near 2-week period of either no training or very light training. She assured me I was in good shape and would be fine.

One thing I've noticed is that when I go into pre-race panic mode, I only seem to focus on the work-outs I've missed, or the workouts I've bailed early on, which are actually quite few and far between. But yet, I seem to get hung up on those one or two bad workouts per month instead of the majority that I do exactly as prescribed.

Did I even want to race this thing? Or maybe just go and do a social run and take in the sights of DC? Things changed on Monday when my friend Steph forwarded me the last-minute email instructions, since I hadn't received them. (Overactive spam filter perhaps?) Maybe I'm too much of a race dork, but there's something borderline magical about reading the Expo/packet pick-up instructions, race morning logistics, and finding your bib number/start corral that gets me excited to race! My expected finish time (ie, goal time) of 1:40 put me in the second corral out of ten which for some reason gives me a new sense of motivation - to prove I am worthy of being seeded in that corral, I guess.

Is 1:40 realistic? Pulling it off would be a sizable PR. I don't even remember what made me pick that as my expected finish time when I registered last November, but I'm sure I had some complex algorithm to figure it out. Or not. According to the McMillan Pace Calculator, 1:40 is within my abilities... though I don't know how much stock to put in that estimate. There is a 1:40 pace team, so my plan is to start with them and see what happens.

I debated my race outfit. Actually, I'm still debating my race outfit. Does anyone else do this, or is it just me? As of right now, the forecast is partly cloudy, high 41, low 35. I'll take that over rainy any day, though I had hoped for something a tad warmer so I could run in shorts. I'll end up taking several different outfit options so I can make it a race-time decision based on weather, though I am hoping to be able to wear my 2010 Pittsburgh Half Marathon long-sleeve shirt for several reasons: I love the women's cut and how it fits; it's bright blue and makes me easy to spot; and it shows my Pittsburgh pride :)

The timing of this race worked out pretty well, because Sunday is the Multisport World Expo in DC! Admission to the expo and certain seminars are free, plus there's a swag bag for pre-registered attendees. There are some other clinics and seminars that you pay for a la carte -- and let me just reiterate that nothing in this sport is cheap! $45 for a 90 minute seminar? I think I'll be sticking to the free stuff, and hopefully this thing will be worth checking out.

In other exciting news, the cherry blossoms are expected to be in peak bloom on 3/29, so hopefully there will be some early buds out along the race course!

I think the procrastinating has gone on long enough - back to packing!

March Mad Dash 10 Mile Race Report

2011-03-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Exactly one month since the Cupid's Chase 5k, I was back at North Park for another race. Same weather, same racing clothes, same goofy warm-up outfit (I refuse to post a picture of myself in this), same course as the 5k (and then some...). Luckily, there wasn't any snow on the course like last time, and the route for this bypassed the "slippy" bridge. My goal for this race was to use it as long training run and pacing experiment for my upcoming half marathon - run relatively hard and see if my half marathon goal pace would be realistic, but not obliterate my legs in the process.

After arriving at the starting area, I picked up my race packet and did a 20 minute warm-up consisting of easy jogging ramping up to a faster pace, followed by some pick-ups and agility drills (these really take me back to the gold old high school track days!). There were 5k, 5 mile, and 10 mile races starting from the same place. Since I never replaced my Garmin Forerunner 305 that broke last year, I don't have a good way to gauge my pace. I ran by feel and hit the first mile at around 7:50, which is exactly where I was hoping to be.

And we're off...

The course was two 5-mile loops around a lake, with flat to gently rolling terrain. Shortly after hitting mile 2, I started looking for someone to pace myself with, and started following a man I'd seen earlier in the race. When he realized I was following him, we started chatting and talking about running. He told me he was 62, and he and his wife had been running races and marathons together for over 30 years. (The wife was also running this race but was further back.) He told me they decided to start running marathons in the 70's when they set the goal of qualifying for Boston together. I love doing races and meeting people like this during races! (Side note: I really hope that when I am that age, I will still be active, have intact knees, and enjoying running as much as I do now.)

A few miles later, he asked if he could give me a few tips on my form. I said yes - I'm happy to get any advice I can. He told me I was clenching my fists too tightly, and holding my arms up too high. He suggested I try concentrating on just letting my thumbs touch my finger tips, and swinging my arms so that my fingers grazed just below the waistline of my shorts.

We ran together until around mile 6, when, for some reason, I got a shot of adrenaline and started pulling ahead. My running buddy told me not to let him hold me back, so I went ahead and pushed the pace a little bit. This was possibly my only mistake of my 'training race' - because around mile 8.5ish, he caught and passed me. I was tempted to push myself to catch him, but I kept telling myself, "training race... training race..." so I let him go since my pace was already where I wanted it to be.

He crossed the finish line about 30s ahead of me and waited for me to cross behind him. I thanked him for pacing me and for the running tips -- hopefully I can remember to integrate those into my running!

That blatant heel-strike is killing me! Arghhhh! I thought the heel-striking days were gone.

I think I successfully executed a training race - go me! :) I pushed myself just the right amount- I was tired at the end, but my legs hadn't reached that lactic-acid-build-up-soreness point that I've experienced before at the end of relatively shorter races, so I think that's a good sign. I was happy to see I negative-split the race as well. My average pace worked out to be 7:52/mile, which was good enough for second place age group!

And, the BEST part of the whole race...

Look how big those paws are!!

PUPPIES AT THE FINISH AREA!!!

It should be mandatory that every race have puppies at the finish area. I was so excited that the race photographer snapped a shot of this little guy, Finnigan, an 8-week old yellow lab pup. (What a great name for a puppy around St. Patrick's Day!) There was also an 8-week old Newfoundland pup who was an energetic little ball of fluff (soon to be a very big ball of fluff...). It was CUTE OVERLOAD. I think I could've run my race worse ever, or even DNF'd, and I wouldn't have cared once I saw the puppies. So, if any race directors or future race directors are reading this and want to minimize post-race disappointments, here's a tip: Recruit new puppy owners to come and spectate and hang out at the finish area with their pups! :)

slowing down to explore

2011-03-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Some things can really hinder triathlon training... like coming down with the stomach flu. This was the case for me on Monday night. Obviously... stomach flu is never a good thing to get, but if I had to catch this bug that seems to be going around, it's better I get it now than later... As in, better a week and a half out from my upcoming half marathon than a few days before... better early on in the season than mid-season or right before one of my "A" races.

I spent 95% of Tuesday in bed and took Wednesday off work too, as an additional rest day. All workouts were scratched. Today I went back to work and knew that it would not be in my best interest to attempt Tuesday's missed track interval workout, or Wednesday's bike power interval workout. The scheduled workout, a 90 minute run, didn't seem like a great idea either. But, it was simply GORGEOUS today (blue sky, mid-60's, sun!) so I had to get outside after work... especially after spending the last 2 days cooped up at home, I was starting to go a little stir-crazy!

I decided to check out the trails at Hartwood Acres, the county park closest to my house. I figured I could walk, try running and see how it felt, and not worry about time or pace or distance covered. I just moved to this part of Pittsburgh last Spring, and until now, I've never seen any parts of Hartwood except the amphitheater and the surrounding area. So, it's a good time to explore!

A really fun place for outdoor concerts!

I headed for the trails, but soon realized that they were all muddy and mucky from all of melted snow and recent rain we've had.

So... I headed back to the paved road that goes through the park just in time to catch some deer crossing the road. I am always easily amused by animals for some reason. My phone camera doesn't zoom too well, but you can see a deer if you look for it. I think this road is actually closed to traffic most of the time, except for special events like the holiday lights festival... which are those white wiry things on the trees and above the road.

I had seen signs before for the Hartwood Mansion, but never knew what it was until I stumbled upon it today. There's a plaque by the door with the year built, architect's name and historical landmark designation though I am not sure what significance, if any, the place has. I am going to look around online and see if they offer tours of this place, because I think it would be pretty cool to check out.

As a kid/pre-teen, I would've dreamed about living in a house like this and made up elaborate stories that took place there.
As an (adult?) homeowner, all I can think is... who could afford to pay the heating bills and property taxes for that place?!

A little further down the main road, I saw another large house through the trees. When I got closer, I realized there were signs that said "private residence - no trespassing". People live here, in the middle of the park? How cool.

My favorite part of the house was the horse weather vane.

I love when the sky is this blue.

In the end, I ran ~45 minutes, ran ~15, at a verrrrrrry easy pace, and loved every minute of being outside in the fresh air.

The moral of the blog post? Being sick and missing workouts is no fun. But rest and recovery are important, and, in this case, a missed workout opportunity (or 3...) led to some fun exploring I might not have gotten around to otherwise. (Other moral: it's always a good idea to carry a camera phone with you because you never know what picture-worthy sites you may come across.)

bike upgrades, more racing, and foot update!

2011-03-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

Lists are always fun... especially when my brain is too tired to come up with semi-coherent transitions between unrelated topics :)

1. I recently got my TT bike back from a lil' makeover at the local bike shop. It wasn't in my budget to buy a whole new bike that would be a significant upgrade over what I had been riding, so I decided to do things in stages and upgrade components and race wheels this year, and next year buy a new frame- assuming it's in my budget.

The new look: SRAM Force components and Zipp 606 tubular wheel set!

Isn't she lovely? :)

LBS really hooked me up with a nice deal, but even so, I was a little hesitant about spending that much money on bike parts when I still have car payments and student loan payments. But, I love racing more than pretty much anything else right now, so I decided it was worth it. The bike sat in my living room for the first week after I brought it home from LBS, and every time I walked by it, I'd smile and then have to go over and pet it and say something like, "You look SO FAST!" or "look at those sexy wheels!" So, I think that means that there is no buyer's remorse here. And, I think it also means that I am probably a little bit crazy :)

2. Race #2 tomorrow! Which is why I'm chilling at home, feet up, living in the blogosphere on a Friday night... and loving every second of it. It's a 10 mile race, serving primarily as a training run/reality check for pacing for my upcoming half marathon in 2 weeks... And, I don't think I had realized that my half marathon is 2 weeks away until I typed it now... Racing season is starting SOON, folks!

One problem I have is distinguishing 'training races' from 'A' races. Maybe 'distinguishing' is the wrong word, since on paper it's crystal clear which races are 'A' and which are not. Maybe it's more that I have trouble executing a training race as what it is supposed to be -- training. It's hard for me to go into a race and not try to PR or give it everything I have. What I need to keep in mind tomorrow is that there are much bigger goals at stake for the next few months. I can't obliterate my legs in what is supposed to be a long training run so that recovery takes so long that upcoming key workouts suffer.

3. Finally... I wanted to say thanks to everyone who offered advice and encouragement with the foot issues I'd reported having a few weeks ago. I took a few days away from running, iced it, elevated it, did alternating cold/warm foot baths, and lived in my compression socks... and after a few days it felt like new! Hooray. I went for a test run on the Thursday of that week, and when I went to put my running shoes on, the first thing I noticed was that the left shoe was laced noticeably tighter than the right one... which has lead me to the highly scientific diagnosis that I did indeed lace my shoe too tightly and compressed some tendons/nerves etc.

Also, I realized that doing a google image search for 'foot' and picking one of the first ones that came up was probably not the best way to go about demonstrating where my foot pain was. I loved the comments and got a good laugh out of a few of them - thanks ;)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

all the cool kids are doing it

2011-03-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Age: 29... unless you ask USAT, who says I'm 30 :'(

Bed size: Queen

Chore you hate: dusting

Dogs: I'd love to have a dog, but the busy single girl/triathlete lifestyle just isn't conducive to it. So, I settle for dog-sitting my parents' golden retriever Jake whenever they take a trip!

Who doesn't like vanilla ice cream?!

Essential start you day item: Isotonix OPC-3 antioxidant supplement

Favorite color: Blue

Gold or silver: Silver

Height: 5'6"

Instruments: Piano, French horn, trumpet, steel pans (my high school had a steel band), guitar. Yes, I was a band geek in high school. Guitar is the only instrument I still play regularly.

Steel pans, in case anyone was wondering.

Job title: Quality Engineering Manager

Kids: Giant and Trek... 2-wheeled kids count, right? I spend enough time/money on them! :)

Live: Pittsburgh, PA

Mom's name:

Nicknames: Anne, Annie, AM, AMA

Overnight hospital stay: none (knock on wood!)

Pet peeve: Texting while driving. So not safe, people!

Quote from a movie: my brain is too tired right now to dig up something of interest...

Right or left handed: Right

Siblings: younger brother

Time you wake up: 5am on masters swim days, anywhere from 6-8am on non-swim days

Underwear: Yes, unless swimming/biking/running!

Vegetable you dislike: beets

What makes you late: underestimating how long it will take me to get somewhere and find parking

X-rays you've had done: dental, shins, chest

Yummy food you make: veggie/quinoa stuffed peppers. Check out the recipe, they're yummy AND healthy!

Zoo animal favorite: polar bears... the Pittsburgh Zoo put in a really great polar bear exhibit a few years ago and there's a glass tunnel that runs through the polar bear pool so you can see them swimming above you. Pretty cool stuff. (There's a video on the main page that shows the polar bears!)

As cool as it would be to say I was nose-to-nose with a polar bear,
there is a nice layer of glass that is separating us.

training ups and downs

2011-03-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

I had some awesome training this past weekend: I did a 55 mile ride outside with a friend on Saturday, and ran 11-12ish miles with a different friend on Sunday. In both cases, I pushed myself a little harder than I would have if I had been by myself. I was psyched about my average pace of Saturday's ride, and even more psyched about the pace of Sunday's run. I had been debating how aggressively to set my goals for the upcoming National Half Marathon, and Sunday's run gave me the confidence to be more aggressive than I had originally planned. That is the ups part of this post.

Now for the downs...

After the run, I stretched, ate, took an ice bath, and ate some more. Several hours after all of that, the top of my left foot started hurting when I walked on it. It started off with a small twitch, but it got worse over the next few hours. But, since it went away by the time I went to bed, I chalked it up to my foot just acting weird. When I woke up on Monday, the pain was back and worse. It doesn't hurt to stand on or step down on; it only hurts on the pushing off part of walking (or when pushing off the wall when doing a flipturn in the pool as I also found out). The pain wasn't as bad today, but it's still there and walking is still a bit uncomfortable. I iced and elevated it yesterday and today and kept it wrapped in an ace-bandage, but at lunchtime today, I realized I was not going to be fit to run tonight as planned.

I consulted with my coach who told me to take a few days away from running and rest, ice, and elevate it. I was pretty bummed with the timing of this, because this evening was supposed to be my first track interval workout of the year. Since I am weird and have an inexplicable penchant for track interval workouts that very few people can understand, I was really disappointed to have to take the night off.

I think it's more likely that I'm not so much bothered by taking one night off as it is the uncertainty of what caused the pain and how long it will last. (I will be honest: Part of me wanted to not tell my coach, slather some Tiger Balm on my foot, wrap it up in an ace bandage, down some Advil, and do the workout anyway... hopefully this is indicative of some sort of progress as an athlete- acknowledging when I need to rest.)

The pain runs along the line from the "knuckle" of my big toe straight back... sort of where the red line is below. If anyone has had any similar experiences or knows what might've caused something like this... I'd love to hear it!

Not my foot. I don't have hairy legs.

Neither up nor down: why is it that after a weekend of good riding and running that my arms are tired when I get into the pool on Monday? I typically swim Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings, so in theory, I would think I'd have fresh arms on Monday and tired arms on Thursday. In actuality, it's usually the other way around. I felt like I was floundering around pretty badly (and slowly) yesterday and called it quits after 40 minutes instead of my usual hour.

Boo to weird, random injuries! My next post will be less whiny, I promise!

winter love

2011-02-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

There's probably not many people out there who agree with what I'm about to say. In fact, I'm sure some people would like to kick my butt for saying this, but I'm saying it anyway: I'm not ready for winter to be over yet. Honest.... I'm not!

The reason for for not wanting to part with winter is simple: my newfound love of cross-country (XC) skiing!

BLISS :)

I was a downhill skiing purist for the longest time. I doubted I could ever enjoy XC as much as downhill. A good friend of mine, who is an avid XC skier, invited me to ski with her several times over the last few winters, but I always had to decline because I either had mountains to ski or mountains of school work to attend to. I was so hooked on downhill skiing that I didn't want to give up a day of doing something I knew I liked to try something I might like. I could say I wish I would've given XC a fair shot sooner, but instead, I'll just say I'm glad I gave it a shot when I did and didn't put it off any longer.

Volkl Attivas meet
Salomon Snowscapes

I will say that XC skis are verrrrrrrrrrrrry different from downhill skis. They're about a million times lighter, and the boots are about a million times more comfortable than downhill boots. My XC skis don't have metal edges like my downhill skis, so turning and stopping is difficult.

There's something about XC skiing that is good for the soul: the rhythm, the stillness of the woods, the snow glistening in the trees. There's also the feeling that's reminiscent of a scavenger hunt, where you have to keep an eye out for trail markings and signs to make sure you're going where you want to, and there's some sense of accomplishment when you've found the right trail (or, found your way back to the right trail after getting lost!).

Laurel Mountain with fresh snow!

Yes, I do miss the adrenaline rush of downhill skiing sometimes, but XC provides some peaceful changes from the downhill ski scene, where there's crowds of people waiting to get onto ski lifts, music playing, and teenage snowboarders making out on the ski lift chair they're sharing with me (yes, I've really had that privilege before, haha). In a way, XC skiing reminds me of trail running, but it's less taxing on your body. There's some really nice areas to XC ski in in the Laurel Highlands, which is about an hour and a half drive each way from Pittsburgh.

XC skiing is supposed to be great cross training. After my first "long" day of XC skiing (5 hours), I woke up the next morning and was painfully aware of about 30 muscle groups I previously hadn't known to exist. My coach said I can substitute XC for my normal workouts when I want to, though sometimes I question the specificity of the training.

Today's evening workout was supposed to be a track interval workout, but since Mother Nature dumped about 8" of fresh snow on us last night, I ditched the track workout in favor of taking my skis to a county park. I don't feel like the workout was the best, but it was wonderful to be outside on a sunny, blue-sky afternoon.

Heading back to the car after skiing...
Somebody already put tracks down
so I didn't have to do quite as much work!

There's rain in the forecast for later this week, so I don't know if I'll be able to get any skiing in this weekend or not... but Mother Nature, if you happen to be reading this, could you please, please, pretty please, send some more snow? :)

Cupid's Chase 5k - 02/12/11

2011-02-15T17:35:00.000-08:00

First race of the year! To be honest, the night before the race, I wasn't sure if I was ready for race season to be starting or not. I was sad to see race season end in the fall, but really, am I ready to jump back into it already? After this race, it's at least one race a month for the next 8 months, most of which require travel... do I really want to start all that again, already?

Race morning: Yes, I know I'm not supposed to experiment with new breakfasts on race day, but I tried something new: whole wheat toast with peanut butter, banana, and honey. Technically, this is really not all that new because I always eat toast or a bagel with peanut or almond butter and have a banana on the side, but this was a pretty yummy breakfast.

I got to North Park with almost an hour to spare before the race started and picked up my race packet. It had snowed the night before, and the lady giving out packets, in true Pittsburghese, warned me to "watch out on the footbridge because it's slippy." I dropped my packet off at my car, attached my bib to my shirt and started running the course to warm up. I realized that the footbridge was not the only "slippy" part of the course; the stretch leading to the start/finish area was covered with packed snow, and the trail around the footbridge hadn't even been plowed. Eek, should I have bought some yaktrax for this race???

I didn't have the greatest warm-up. I know it takes me a few miles to get warmed up and actually feel good, but it took me just under 29 minutes to complete the 5k course as my warm-up, including some agility drills and pick-ups, and it felt like everyone else was running circles around me. I hate that I still do this, but I started making a mental list of excuses why I wouldn't have a good race: it was too cold, there was too much snow on the course, I haven't done any running speedwork in months, my legs were tired from skiing, I didn't get enough sleep, etc. That is something I really need to work on this season -- not psyching myself out before the race starts.

My warm-up attire didn't help to boost my confidence, either. Since I didn't know how close I'd be able to park to the race start and if I'd have time to drop my warm-up clothes off in my car, I brought my oldest "I don't really care if I lose these" warm-up clothes: a pair of baggy, swishy Adidas warm-up pants that I've had since my freshman year of high school, and a hideously unattractive, too-big-for-me Nike windbreaker that I picked up on the ultra-ultra-ultra clearance rack years ago at TJ Maxx for $4 to have on hand precisely for occasions like this. It was really windy, and the warm-up clothes certainly weren't aerodynamic. It's amazing that clothes can have this much of an effect on how I was feeling, but, as soon as I shed the bulky, mismatched warm-up clothes, I felt like a runner again and started thinking that maybe I could have a good race after all.

Me: third from left, wearing bib# 3!
(Yes, the guy in the front row is shirtless.)

At the starting line, I found a spot in the second row. When the starter yelled "on your marks, get set... GO!" I think the whole starting line of people jolted when they tried to dig in on the snowy pavement. I found my footing and took off. There were 186 runners, and I wanted to try to get to the footbridge as early as possible since it was narrower than the road and I didn't want to get bottlenecked there. I had devised a simple, if slightly risky, strategy for this race: chase the lead girl and stay with her for as long as possible. This strategy worked well for about the first half mile or so, until after crossing the slippy footbridge, I found myself in the lead position. The course wasn't marked for distance, and I don't have a Garmin, so I really had no idea of what pace I was doing. I was going at a comfortably challenging, but not all-out pace, so I tried to push myself to either catch, or stay with, certain guys around me.

I know the cardinal rule of racing is that you never look behind you. The course was an out-and-back, so I knew I'd be able to gauge where the other women were once I got to the turn-around. I hit the turn-around right around 11:00. I passed the 2nd and 3rd place women, who were pretty close together, heading into the turn-around, and estimated they were about 20 seconds back. In chatting with the one girl before the race, she said her goal was to negative split, and I started wondering how big of a negative split she was shooting for.

I will admit, I broke the cardinal rule several times on the back half and looked behind me to see where the other women were. The hardest part of the race for me was around 15:00 in, when my throat was starting to get scratchy from sucking in the cold air, and I felt like I needed to cough to clear my throat but couldn't. My focus started to waver and I was thinking, "really? I have to keep this pace up for at least another 5-6 minutes?" This is usually the place in a race where I start mentally dropping my standards, thinking... I could settle for x time or y place, that's good enough for today... but I knew I'd be mad at myself if I blew the lead I had, so, in an effort to generate some positive energy, I started making a mental list of things I was grateful for at that particular moment: my health, my athletic ability, my dedication to training, my awesome supportive friends, family, and coach, the fact that it wasn't any colder or snowier than it was. It might sound cheesy, but IT WORKED! I felt my pace picking up and my focus came back. Really, this is proof at how mental running can be.

I don't have a finish line photo, but I know I came across the finish line in 21:37 with a huge smile on my face. I took an easy lap around the parking lot and headed back to congratulate the 2nd and 3rd place women. Then we headed inside where the post-race food and awards would be. This wasn't a huge or prestigious race by any means, but it was so, so, so cool to have my name called as the winner and go up to get my prize (a medal AND a $100 gift certificate to a local running store) and have people clap for me. I think I could get used to this :)

Remember my opening statement about not being sure whether or not I'm ready to jump back into racing season? One little 5k is all it took to remind me that I thrive on competition. BRING IT ON! :)

first month of 2011 training. and yes, I'm still alive :)

2011-02-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? I know everyone says this, but really -- where does it go? I had been planning to write weekly updates about my 2011 training and now it's already the second week of February, eek. Between jumping back into training, being more social than usual, random odds and ends that seem to keep coming up, and my new "love" (that's in quotes for a reason as it's not a "love" in the romantic sense, and will get a post of its own!), blogging time has been pretty sparse.

I think the best thing about this year so far has been my swimming. I've been consistently swimming 3-4 days per week with a minimum of ~2200 yards/swim, and it's been paying off. I wrote back in December about going to Sheila Taormina's Call the Suit clinic and buying her book. This has by far been the best investment in my swimming since I started triathlon. Hands down.

After ~6 weeks away from swimming, I was a little nervous to get back in the pool, because swimming is usually the hardest thing to get back into (for me, at least). My plan was to spend January strictly working on form and trying to implement the high elbow technique learned at Sheila's clinic. See the swimmer's left arm on the book cover? How it's pointing down? That's what it's supposed to look like. It helps you get a better "hold" on the water to propel yourself forward. I had a habit of dropping my elbow so that my wrist and hand would be underneath me - about where "the suit" is in the title here - which resulted in minimal "hold" on the water.

As far as taking it easy and working on form only? Ha. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm too competitive for my own good, so I did sneak a few all-out 100's in just to see where I was. Sheila says in her book that after you start working on the high elbow technique by swimming at least 3 times/week and using cables to practice the form out of water, you may start to see improvements within 3-6 weeks. Improvements indeed - I've taken 9 seconds off my 100 in the last month, wahoo for me!

For anyone who is interested, I would highly recommend the book. It explains things really well, is written in a style that keeps your attention, and has a ton of great pictures. But, I would recommend attending Sheila's clinic even more if given the opportunity. The book is awesome, but I really gained a lot from the stroke/form critiques and demonstrations.

Cycling and running haven't gotten quite as much dedication as swimming. January had some COLD and snowy/icy days, so I opted to do some extra swims in lieu of base runs a few times. I did one outdoor bike ride in January and one in February, and even though it was cold out, it was blissful to be out on the bike instead of sitting in my basement on the trainer/rollers. But mostly, it's been trainer and roller interval workouts. I'm comfortable with the rollers now and actually prefer them to the trainer. I am still not brave enough to try reaching for a water bottle and drinking while pedaling though. But, on the other hand, I am able to reach into my back jersey pocket to skip songs on my iPod! :)

I've been running at least 2x/week, but running will get a jump start this weekend. I signed up to do a local 5k as a threshold test so I know what pace I should be aiming for with my speedwork. I'm nervous and excited. I haven't done anything that would count as running speedwork since my last 5k race on Oct 2, with the exception of an all-out sprint from gate-to-gate to make a connecting flight at BWI in December. Considering I was carrying a 20-ish pound messenger bag with all my stuff in it, this might actually count as a speed workout.

Hope everyone else's 2011 season is off to a great start!

what I did during my off-season...

2011-01-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

Remember those essays we all had to write in elementary/middle/high school when going back to school in the fall? The infamous "What I did during summer vacation" essay? Here are some of the fun things I did during my month away from unstructured training. In other words, my "look! I swear, I do have a life outside of swim/bike/run!" list! :)

1. DC/MD/VA weekend trip area visiting college friends. There was a baby shower for my friend Jess, who was back in the states with her 8-month old after living in Panama. My friend Steph introduced me to Scythian, whose music could be described as Celtic/World fusion, and they were awesome! I am hooked. You should check them out :)

After the show, we discovered the late-night pizza truck! The pizza was really tasty. A truck that drives around and sells pizza? Come on now, that is a great idea :)

The guy at the window is thinking, "who is this crazy girl who is posing for a picture with the pizza truck?"

2. New England trip. I flew to Connecticut to visit another college friend, Marina, and we took a day trip to Boston. (Side note: Thank you to Southwest for having transferrable fares, and making this trip possible for me at a handsome $34 difference-between-ticket prices charge. Southwest ROCKS!)

A few Boston highlights:

A huge Christmas tree near Quincy Market:

Red delicious apple ravioli with gorgonzola cream sauce and figs at Rabia's Ristorante in the north end. So so sooooo yummy. I want to go back to Boston just so I can eat this again!

Quote of the trip, at the Sam Adams Boston Brewery, showcasing my stunning lack of pop culture knowledge:

Me: Look, they have a picture of Paul Revere, drinking a beer...

Marina: Um, Anne... that's Sam Adams.

Me: Oh. Right. (Please note: this was before the complimentary beer tasting, so I cannot blame this on intoxication. Maybe I had all the Boston history/Freedom Trail stuff on the brain?)

Both of us: laugh non-stop for the next 5 minutes

Boston at night. I'm not sure what this is, but it was pretty at night.

3. Indoor rock climbing. My friend Kristin got me into this a few years ago. I really like bouldering, where you can climb up to ~14" without a harness, and because there are more lateral movements than top-roping (climbing much higher, but with a harness), I feel like it's a better core/strength workout (there are springboard floors like they use in gymnastics, and lots of mats, so it isn't as dangerous as it sounds).

The holds are organized into routes by the color of tape below them. You're only supposed to use the designated color to complete a certain route. They're also labeled with difficulty levels.

4. I got reacquainted with my good old friend Mr. Netflix after several months of my membership being on hold and several months of record-low DVD turnover. Several friends have been talking up Glee, so that was first on my queue and I have to admit I am ADDICTED! It is the most awesome show and I wish my high school had a Glee club.

5. My token annual yoga class. I like the idea of yoga, and I want to like yoga itself. But I just don't think it's for me. I average one class a year, then decide I don't like yoga and shelve it. Somehow, I always come back the following year, thinking maybe something has changed. I've tried power yoga, yoga for beginners, relaxation yoga, and hot yoga (I lasted less than 20 minutes in the hot yoga class). My analysis of this is that I don't stick with it long enough to become somewhat decent at it, so I get frustrated when I can't hold the poses or stretch a certain way.

6. Family fun time. I spent the weekend before Christmas baking cookies with my mom, and I spent 4 days with my family over Christmas. Lots of time visiting with extended relatives and just relaxing at home with my parents and brother and dog. It was really nice just to chill.

7. Casino time. I am not a casino fan, but the casino in my hometown sent me a voucher for $20 in free slot play if I signed up for a free player card. Since I was going to be home at Christmas anyway, and since it was $20 of gambling with someone else's money, I figured, why not? I found a slot machine game called Fish Food that had cute fishies and turtles and starfish and mermaids. And fish food, obviously - you won the most for lines involving fish food. I won just over $80 by the time my $20 credit had ran out, so I cashed out and watched as my dad played (and won some money at) Blackjack. It was tempting to sit down and play beside him, but I didn't want to risk losing any of my Fish Food winnings. Take that casino, your marketing ploy to lure me in with free slot play and then spend my own money to gamble more backfired :)

I think that pretty much sums it up. The off-season was fun, but I feel like I'm back where I belong now :)

in with the new

2011-01-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great New Years weekend! Mine was pretty fun. My friend Colleen hosted a small party at her house on New Years Eve. Since the weather was unseasonably warm (it reached 58F during the day!) we were able to light a fire in the firepit in her backyard and sit outside.  She bought silly string for midnight, but the 9-year old in all of us couldn't resist starting the silly string party a few minutes before midnight when we moved the party back inside to watch the ball drop. Actually, I don't think any of us actually saw the ball dropping, because we were too busy trying to either get a good shot at someone else, or stay out of the path of flying silly string. I forgot to take my camera, so I'm waiting on others to post pictures, but it was quite a sight :)

I started off my New Years day with a roller ride in the morning.  It was my second roller ride on the TT bike and I finally worked up the nerve to try aero position. It was a little scary and wobbly at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly and am happy to report that I am still in one piece :) This was only the second time I've been on my TT bike since AG Nats in late Sept, and I can tell how different the positioning is on my TT bike vs. my road bike, because my hams and gluts were feeling tired towards the end of the ride. Oh TT bike, I've missed you... it is time for us to become BFF's again... the fling with the road bike is (mostly) over now, I promise :)

Now, on to the 'in with the new' theme of this post. There are several new things going on with me...

1. New blog name/header! When I signed up for an account with blogger, I didn't have a blog name in mind, so I just put in "Anne-Marie's Blog" as a placeholder, figuring I'd come up with something catchier or more meaningful shortly. My creativity is apparently underwhelming, because that didn't happen, until over a year later when my bloggy friend Anne Marie at Goals for the Week wrote a post about Kona and asked if any of her readers had their sights set on an IM or Kona in the future. My immediate response was yes -- I want to qualify for Kona one day. I want to experience the blue ocean swim, feel the crosswinds at Hawi, and run through the lava fields and finish on Alii Drive. I know that day will not be next year, or the year after that, but it is something that I want to be able to do at least once in my life. I subscribed to receive follow-up comments after mine, and someone else wrote back something that stuck with me - something along the lines of wanting to go Kona also, and that you "have to dream big." That was sort of like a lightbulb for me -- I realize that I am definitely dreaming big but I guess if you aren't going to dream big, why bother? :) So, I thought that would be a good name for my blog.

2. New training season! My new season officially starts at 5:45am on Monday with masters swim!  I've relished sleeping in and not having any 5am wake-ups for masters, but I really have missed it. I'm especially eager to get back into swimming so I can work on incorporating some of the things I learned at Sheila Taormina's Call the Suit clinic into my stroke. I've been doing the tension cable exercises in my basement and am hoping there is something sinking into my muscle memory from that.

3a. New mentalities - work/academics!  I was organizing/cleaning my office the day before Christmas, because no one feels like working the day before the Christmas holiday starts, do they? I found my MBA diploma, which had been mailed to my office since I didn't go to the ceremony in May, leaning up against the back of my desk in its display case. I do a bit of complaining about how much this degree set me back financially and how I'll probably never pay off the loans. I looked at the diploma, and then set it up on the top of my bookcase. I graduated from a prestigious MBA program; I need to be proud of that accomplishment and view it as a career asset instead of a financial hindrance. Hopefully seeing the diploma on a daily basis will help me to keep that in mind.

3b. New mentalities - athletics! The first part of this is that the official results from the Dirty Dozen were finally posted online, and I finished 6th out of 15 women! Only 9 women were able to make it up all 13 hills. Hooray for cracking the top half - what a huge confidence booster for me. I went on my first outdoor bike ride today since late November, and felt REALLY good. I don't know if it was the time away from hard training for my body to rest/recover, or improvements from the rollers, or just the excitement of being able to ride outside on a sunny (though cold) day. I still had the pink ribbon tied around my handle bars from the Dirty Dozen (the girls were given pink ribbons to help the scorekeepers pick them out) and I know it sounds corny, but seeing the ribbon there reminded me that I am capable of accomplishing big things. I rode with two friends who usually drop me on the climbs, but the opposite happened today: I dropped them on the climbs.  Really, I feel like I've had a huge paradigm shift since the Dirty Dozen: I used to see climbing as a personal weakness and a place for other riders to drop me, and, while I won't be winning any King of the Mountain awards soon, I'm starting to think that climbing might become a strength for me if I see it that way.

Well, this has turned out to be quite the lengthy post. I know I said I don't like New Years resolutions, but now I'm wondering if I should make a resolution to learn to write a concise blog entry? :)