tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315526453832501632024-03-13T07:11:06.563-04:00Sweaty Sports BrasTwo dedicated female athletes covering the topics of training, racing, food, products, and a little bit of everyday life. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084665718050525906noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-87039174826621831492017-11-24T09:06:00.000-05:002017-11-24T09:21:16.655-05:002017 Ironman ArizonaT minus 3 days<br />
Arrived in Phoenix around 9:30, didn't have time to eat anything so I just had a Rx Bar before going to bed.<br />
<br />
T minus 2 days<br />
Today is the day that I have to pick up my bike and gear bag from Tri Bike Transport (TBT) and do athlete check in. Daniel and I went to Ncounter for breakfast. I stuffed myself with a pb&j smoothie, breakfast sandwich and half of red velvet waffles. I barely had enough room for my coffee.<br />
<br />
Next stop was athlete check in. This was seamless. On the way over there, you have to walk through the expo where I spotted <a href="https://orangemud.leaddyno.com/" target="_blank">OrangeMud</a>. I finally got to meet Josh Sprague. He's just as nice in person as he is on Facebook and through email. I definitely recommend their hydration packs for long training days. when you want to stop as little as possible, and/or when you are in a new place and don't know all the water stops. I recommend the gear vest or the endurance pack when traveling because they pack down smaller.<br />
<br />
Anyway, back to the race. After athlete check in and the obligatory race memento purchases, I was just in time for the athlete briefing. Nothing really new, but it's always good to listen in just in case the race has some nuance that isn't done at the other races.<br />
<br />
TBT was next. I didn't want to pick up my bike since I didn't plan on riding it until the next day and our hotel was a little over a mile away. Thankfully I was able to just grab my gear back and get my bike the next day.<br />
<br />
After all that, we headed over to The Cabin to meet up with some other Moxies. After grabbing a snack and hanging out for a bit, we headed back to the hotel before meeting up at the Moxie store to meet more teammates. I hadn't really exercised in a couple of days so I went down to the hotel gym and ran 4 miles and did a quick 10 minute strength workout (push ups, squats, sit ups). During the run, my foot started hurting at the balls of my toes. This is from some minor metatarsalgia that started back in August. Whenever my shoes wear down, it hurts more. When I finished my run, I checked the bottom of my shoes and sure enough, they were worn down. I wasn't expecting them to be since I just bought them in September and have no more than 100 miles on them. I knew if I couldn't get through 4 miles on a treadmill that I wouldn't get through 26.2 miles. I had to make sure to get new shoes the next day. There were no running shoes at the Moxie store, but I did get 2 extra Wattie base layer shirts. Those things are awesome. Expensive, but awesome.<br />
<br />
Pizza was for dinner. We went to NYPD on Mill Ave. I wish we would have gone to Mellow Mushroom, but oh well. I can't say it helped or hurt me that I didn't have my normal Mellow Mushroom pizza for T-2 dinner.<br />
<br />
For every big race, I get a cupcake or big sandwich cookie to have half the night before the race and half after the race. There are no nearby cupcake or cookie places in Tempe open. At least nothing close to Mill Ave. We took an Uber to a grocery store near our place and the bakery was closed.<br />
<br />
With the time difference (2 hours from Florida), we were in bed by 10.<br />
<br />
T minus 1 day<br />
Woke up around 6 AM without an alarm. Rolled around until 7:30. We needed to leave to get back to the expo and TBT as early as possible so I could get a new pair of shoes and get my bike before the practice swim at 10. I did get a new pair of shoes, Hokas. I have worn them before, so it's not like they were completely new.<br />
<br />
As an FYI, the other shoes were Brooks Ghost. I really enjoyed them and I do love Brooks. I had the same wearing problem with the Hokas which is why I was in the Brooks. Apparently they have the same wear time. So, I plan on training in Brooks and racing in Hokas.<br />
<br />
I was about to suit up to go in the water when I heard an announcement that you have to have your timing chip on. I did not know this because it was only listed on one place and I didn't read that one line. Thankfully I had my bike, shoes, and helmet so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Test ride my bike and get my chip. I made it to the hotel and back in about 15 minutes and then took another 5 to put on my wetsuit. I bought a Helix Thermal specifically for this race because I had read that the lake can be in the low 60s for this race. I had put it on 3 or 4 times and just jumped in the shower to try and loosen it up and swam in it 3 times at the pool. It felt very comfortable and I didn't have any issues with it during the practice or actual swim. The water for the practice swim was 64* but it felt fine. It was chilly, but I was able to put my head under the water without freaking out. I really, really, really like that they allowed an official practice swim with lifeguards. It was perfect prep for the actual swim.<br />
<br />
With the practice swim done and technically my bike too, I was all set to drop of my bike and run bags then head out for some lunch. I forgot to put socks in my bike bag so I was on a hunt for socks. 2 things: 1) surprisingly there were a lack of sock options at the expo. I was weird and 2) you have access to your bags in the morning, so you don't have to buy last minute things that you left in your hotel room.<br />
<br />
Lunch was ramen at a place called Umami. We also had vegan hot wings. The ramen and wings were great. I probably shouldn't have had the Ramen for lunch though. Too much liquid and not enough carbs and sugar.<br />
<br />
Dinner was of course sushi as a place called RA. Food was good, no complaints. After dinner I was still on a hunt for a cupcake or cookie for my pre and post race dessert. Still nothing. I had to go to Starbucks to get a whoopie pie and a cookie. I asked for pb and he gave me chocolate chip :(.<br />
<br />
Race Day!<br />
I woke up at 4:30 am with an intention on being out the door by 5:00 and at the race site by 5:30. There was a shuttle from the hotel so I had to factor that all in. I had overnight oatmeal with almond milk and nuts to start. Then finished with 3 mini powdered donuts. I took a banana for the road. I made coffee, but forgot it. Thankfully they had some downstairs. Everything worked out timing wise and I was a the race site shortly before 5:30. I went to my bike first and put my bottles on, then set up my Garmin, and put my shoes on my bike. I was all done and looked around and realized no one else had their shoes clipped in. I asked someone and they confirmed that shoes had to be in the bags. OK-then. Shoes came off and I walked over to my bike bag to put them in there. Made a mental note of where my bags were and then stood in line for the bathroom. By this time it was a little after 5:30 so I ate my banana and took an Imodium. After the bathroom and walking around a bit, it was about 6:20 so I figured it was time to put my wetsuit on. Got it on pretty quickly, dropped off my morning clothes bag, left my ear plugs in the bag on accident and headed to the swim start. I figured if forgetting my ear plugs was the worst thing to happen, then it wouldn't be a bad day. After the pros went, I looked around and noticed a lot of wet spots all over the ground. Yup, people were peeing in their suits. No judgement, just an observation. I was going to wait until I got closer to the water or in the water. I should have gone then.<br />
<br />
Swim - 1:10:12 18th a/g<br />
I started in the middle of the 1:00 - 1:10 group. I really, really, really like the rolling start. At least on this course. I don't know how it is on others, but this one is great. The rolling start and the stairs force everyone to take it easy getting into the water which means you start off more relaxed. I got in and didn't freak out at all. It was amazing. I was told the water was 68* - perfect for a full sleeve thermal wetsuit. I didn't overheat at all. I did, however, have to pee about a quarter mile into the swim. I came to a full stop to try and go but couldn't. I tried 3 other times when I was able to get on someone's feet and stop kicking to try and concentrate on peeing. Didn't work. So, the stopping, slowing down, and not being able to really push myself for fear of getting a side stitch made the swim a little slower than I was hoping for. I stayed to the left so I was close to the buoys and didn't have any issues. You can't see in front of you, but unless you're not paying attention, you can generally tell when you're coming up on someone. I didn't get punched or kicked. Most people were actually nice. I actually heard a guy say sorry to someone else.<br />
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<br />
T1 - 7:20<br />
Like I said, I had to pee. I grabbed my bike bag and went straight to the bathroom. I was in there for a good 90 seconds.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned earlier, the Wattie base layers are awesome. I wear my tri shorts and the base layer to swim in. Then I have a bike jersey that I zip up and have all of my extras already in the pockets (pit stop and 3 honey stinger waffles). I like the base layer because it dries quickly. So, when I start the bike, at least I am pretty dry up top, except for my sports bra.<br />
<br />
Bike - 5:37:20 9th a/g<br />
This bike course if pretty flat... there are no rollers. Just a slight incline going out and a slight income coming back. The incline is the easy part, though. It's the wind that gets you. Some years it's really bad. This year, it was not horrific, but it wasn't great either. Winds were supposed to be 3 - 5 mph, but instead turned out to be more like 8 - 10 mph. I just tried to keep a steady pace, a little bit higher wattage on the way out (into the wind) and more coasting with a little bit of pressure on the way back in. I had 2 Honey Stingers, one at mile 30 and another at mile 60. I was supposed to have the 3rd at mile 90, but after the 2nd one, it was almost instant that my stomach said 'no more!'. So, at mile 90, I had a banana instead. Additionally, I had 3 bottles of Infinit and took water at every aid station to drink and pour on myself to get rid of the crustiness. It is so dry out there.<br />
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<br />
Bike hiccups -<br />
1) When I initially tried to clip in, it wasn't working. So, I had to get off my bike and see what was wrong. At first I thought it was a bunch of grass/dirt but there is a piece on the top part of my left bike cleat that at some point broke off. I tried to at least position it in the right place and then got back on my bike. I was able to clip in but was worried that if I unclipped, I wouldn't be able to get back in. So, the u-turns were fun - not.<br />
2) After the first turn around, you get to go down and also have the wind on your back. So, I think I was going around 29 or 30 and was downshifting so I could keep some pressure on the pedals. Well, my chain came off on the back cassette. I had to come to a complete stop, pull over and put the chain on. Trying to get back in the race felt like trying to merge onto a highway. That was also fun - not.<br />
<br />
T2 - 6:16<br />
I admit, this was a little slow. But, I also changed my shorts and used the bathroom again. I made sure to put a bunch of Vaseline between my thighs so they wouldn't chafe - WIN! Here's where the base layer comes in again. I was able to quickly unzip the jersey and then I was left with a nice breezy base layer. With the nice dry shorts, it was marvelous. I took another Imodium and 2 Advil (for my feet, just in case). I did forget to take off my HRM. This isn't a big deal, I just don't like wearing it on the run because of chafing.<br />
<br />
Run - 4:26:59 15th a/g<br />
I started off around 9:15 and knew it was going to be a slow run. I usually bust out of T2 around 8s and have to force myself to slow down a bit. I stopped at every aid station and I only walked outside of the aid stations twice. Once because I needed to go to the bathroom (around mile 21) and wasn't sure if I would make it to the bathroom and the other time was because my quads completely locked up on me (around mile 23). At this point, it hurt just as bad to walk. So, I just kept running. If it was going to hurt either way, I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. I had 6 GUs and coke at every other aid station. The run course is pretty flat. There is a hill that you have to go over twice. It's not steep. Just long. It's easy for spectators to cheer you on as there are a lot of places for them to just kind of camp out and lounge while they wait for you.<br />
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Overall - 11:28:07 11th a/g, 58th female, 313 overall<br />
Not my fastest IM, but it wasn't because of the course. I sprained my ankle 3 weeks before the race so I missed out on a week and a half of race focused running.<br />
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If you can train for a windy bike, then the rest of the course is easy. I would recommend this course for others if you're looking for a fast time and nothing too technical.<br />
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Doing an IM is no joke. You can spend almost half the year barely seeing your non-tri friends and family. Once you actually make it to the race, the whole weekend is dedicated to one day of racing. I want to give a big shout out to my husband, Daniel, and all my friends and family that had to hear me say so many times that I'm sure they've lost count "I can't, I have to get up early tomorrow."<br />
<br />
Obvs thanks to my coach, Aidan, and my Tri support group for keeping me company on so many training sessions - Katie, Bryan, John, Eric, Mike, Chris, and Jamie.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-55493758501623446912015-09-30T22:04:00.000-04:002015-09-30T22:04:37.022-04:00Ironman Chattanooga 2015 Race Report<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Ironman Chattanooga 2015 Race Report</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This was my first Ironman race as a pro and I didn’t suck.
At least, to me I didn’t. Other people
may think otherwise. I didn’t come out
of the water last, I didn’t have the slowest bike, and I finished, beating out
6 or 7 girls who quit. I know for pros
it’s a little different and they sometimes choose to quit because they have another
race coming up that is more important to them to be healthy for. But, I guess I still have an age grouper’s
mindset that if I put in all that time and sacrificed so much sleep, I’m going
to finish the darn thing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Daniel and I met in Chattanooga on Friday. I got there in the AM, went straight to the
hotel, Chattanooga Choo Choo, where I was able to check in early. After dropping off all of my stuff and taking
a little nap (I was up at 3:30 AM) I headed down to the race site to get my
packet, bike, and gear and then attend the pro briefing. After the briefing it started raining a
little bit and there was nowhere for me to go with my bike and bags. So, I had to walk back to the hotel with
everything. This was pretty
miserable. I made it back to the hotel
and the worst part of the weekend was over.
LOL. I waited for Daniel to meet
me at the hotel and we went to the Brewhouse next door to the hotel to get a
late lunch. Afterward we went to Publix
so could get bagels, bananas, peanut butter, Gatorade, water and my yo-yo
cookie (tradition to have half the night before the race and half afterward). We got back to the hotel and hung out for a
bit. Around 7 I went to the gym to get
in one last run session to flush out the legs a bit. For dinner we went to Mellow Mushroom and
split a pizza with jalapenos, spinach, and pineapple. After that, it was off to bed with no alarm! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Saturday we went to Tupelo Honey Café for brunch. Good place.
Make sure to get a biscuit! I got
an omelet and goat cheese grits. Pretty
tasty. Afterward headed to the expo to
drop of my bike and run gear bags. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Bike gear</u>: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuelbelt race belt (specifically to hold the gps tracker
that pros have to wear for Ironman races)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Swiftwick socks<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chamois cream<o:p></o:p></div>
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*Rudy helmet and Giros bike shoes were brought down on race
morning with my bike and allowed to stay on my bike<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Run gear</u>: <o:p></o:p></div>
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K-Swiss Kwicky Blade Light shoes<o:p></o:p></div>
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Quarq race belt (specifically to hold the gps tracker. I switched belts hoping the Quart wouldn’t
bounce around as much, but it still did)<o:p></o:p></div>
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2 EFS Liquid Shot bottles<o:p></o:p></div>
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Orange Mud hat<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We walked through the expo and Daniel bought me an
overpriced sweater that I love. After
this, we went to the movies and saw Black Mass.
It was good timing too because the movie started 15 minutes after we got
there. Nice way to put your feet up (if
not one is in front of you) and really relax and get your mind off of the race
for a few hours). After the movie, we
went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit before going to dinner around
6:30. We got Sushi from Sekisui and it
was also quite delicious. They had a
dessert that looked amazing, but I really wanted my yo-yo cookie <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>. I got to bed around 9. Yes, I was super nervous and barely slept. But, that’s why I don’t set an alarm the
night before!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Race morning<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Alarm goes off at 4:30, I get up and go to the bathroom to
put on my Moxie tri kit, brush my teeth, and take my beet elite. Breakfast was a bagel with pb and a
banana. I mixed a scoop of GQ6 Energy in
my Gatorade and sipped on that until 45 minutes from the swim start time. Around 5:15 I was ready and left. I made it to transition, set everything up,
got my GPS tracker from the Quarq guys, then went over to check my bike and run
bags to make sure I had everything and that everything was still dry (it had
rained a little the night before). I
wasn’t going to calibrate my pedals, but decided I should just do it and save
myself a possible headache later. When I
tried to do it, there were too many other PMs around so I had to walk my bike
over to no-man’s land to calibrate. Glad
I did though. After re-racking my bike
and double checking that I had everything (2 nutrition bottles, from hydration system
full with water, extra gu gels, CO2 cartridge, spare tube, and one Pit Stop) I
got in line to get on the bus to the swim start. Once at the swim start, I stood in line for
the port-a-let. I didn’t have to go all
morning and finally while I was in line it hit me (maybe TMI for some). YAY!
Started walking to the front and I had so much extra time that I didn’t
know what to do with myself. So, I just
walked up and down the line looking for Jessica and Katie. Couldn’t find either. With about 45 minutes left to start, I
decided I should try to go to the bathroom again. I walked back to the bathroom lines. All of them were long now and I was super
nervous I wouldn’t make it back in time.
I was able to make it through the line in time and very thankful I
did. I had to run back to the front
though. I did get to see Katie on my way
back. It was really nice to see a
familiar face. When I got back, they
started the national anthem and then it was time to line up on the dock. Go time!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>The Swim<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Time – 59:15<o:p></o:p></div>
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Place – 36/38<o:p></o:p></div>
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The swim was pretty uneventful for me. I started off strong but started to get a
side stitch and had to slow down.
Slowing down messed up my rhythm and I had to keep reminding myself to
keep good form – keep the hips up, try to be long, high elbow, follow through
on the strong, oh and breathe! I was
happy to see that there were 2 other bikes still racked when I got mine. On the swim, I used my Roka Pro
Swimskin. It’s comfortable and really
easy to get out of. <o:p></o:p></div>
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T1 – 3:53<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>The Bike<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Time – 5:41:59<o:p></o:p></div>
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Place 35/38<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I wasn’t the slowest on the bike. This makes me happy too. There were 2 other girls with slower
times. On the bike, I had 2 nutrition
bottles each filled with 2 scoops of Infinit custom mix, one scoop of Carbo
Pro, one scoop of GQ6 Endurance, and one scoop of GQ6 Energy. I grabbed a bottle of water at every aid
station except for the last one and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade at the half
way point. I was glad I did because I
ran out of nutrition with about 10 miles to go, but still had some Gatorade left. My left quad started to cramp when I stood up
to stretch around mile 80. After that, I
tried to stand up every 10 miles to stretch it out so it wouldn’t be too stiff
for the run. I did not have a special needs bag and did not need to go to the
bathroom at all on the bike. <o:p></o:p></div>
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T2 – 2:37<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>The Run<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Time – 4:22:10<o:p></o:p></div>
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Place – 29/38<o:p></o:p></div>
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This run is hard.
The last half mile of the first mile is a 2.5 ish incline. The rest of the run is all up and down and
false flats. Take a look at the
elevation if you don’t believe me. After
about mile 3 I had to break each mile up to ¼ and ½ mile segments. Like, walk .05, run .2. Or, walk .1, run .4. Every once in a while I was able to go a mile
or a little over a mile. Thank goodness
there was overcast almost the whole time.
For the run, I had 2 EFS Liquid Shots each with 1 scoop each of GQ6
Endurance and Energy. I also took Base
salt prescribed, 2 licks at every aid station along with water and rotated
between oranges, coke, and Gatorade at every aid station. I had a shot of EFS every 2 miles. This is the first time I’ve ever used Base
and it is awesome. I totally recommend
it if you cramp. There were a couple of
times towards the end that I forgot to take it and almost a ¼ mile after each
time I was supposed to I would start to cramp just a little. So, definitely
recommend it. The salt is actually a
nice change from all the sugar of everything else too. There were cold sponges about every 2 aid
stations. I shoved one under each short
leg and at the back of my neck. For me,
this also helps with cramping in my quads.
I did not have to go to the bathroom at all during the run either. I didn’t feel dehydrated, so hopefully this
means I was keeping a perfect balance the whole time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Overall<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Time – 11:09:52<o:p></o:p></div>
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Place 29/38 – I was actually last, but all the other girls
that started quit<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Other minor details about the race, the city, where we stayed…</u></div>
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I did have a good race all things considered. This race has a great swim (point to point
with a slight current) and challenging but doable bike. There are lots of ups and downs with two big
climbs on each loop (2 loops) of the bike course. If you can train with some hills, you’ll be
good on this. For the run, it is all up
and down and false flats. There are no
more than a handful of flat areas that can’t be longer than a ¼ mile. So, do a lot of hill work for the run if you
are planning on doing this race. This
race is at the time of year when it’s usually cool and rainy or overcast. Last year it was rainy. This year it was overcast. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The city is very supportive of this race and the
racers. All of the restaurants, hotels,
and cab, uber and shuttle drivers are fully aware of the race. They have a free shuttle that runs all
through downtown that makes getting around very easy. One of the drivers saw that I was a finisher
and pulled the handicap ramp down for me so I didn’t have to step up to get
into the bus! And, another driver later
that night stopped with a full bus for Daniel and me and then asked everyone to
scoot over and make room so we didn’t have to stand up. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a converted train
station that they sent out soldiers from WWII.
They have some of the old train cars and converted them to rooms. We had a normal room and the hotel overall
was nice. It’s a little far from the
race site for back and forth walking (1.3 miles), but the Shuttle is right next
to the hotel and drops you near the Aquarium (right next to the race site). Not a big deal except when you have your bike
with you. I actually rode my bike down
on race morning (perk of being pro). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I used Tri Bike Transport to ship my bike there and back and
it made my life so much easier, especially after the race. If you ever have to
fly and it’s going to cost you $200 or more to take your bike on the plane,
just pay the extra money and ship through TBT.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One other mentionable, I only ended up with 3 blisters and
minimal chafing. It didn’t even burn
when I got in the shower! I have one blood blister on my left pinky toe, a
regular blister on the right pinky, and a blister on the arch of my right foot. I coated my feet in Aquaphor before the race
and also sprayed them with TriSlide before the swim start. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you to: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Outspokin of Tampa, especially Mike, Andres, and John, for
all your help with my bike - Garmin
vectors, fitting, rusty bike cleats, and a trainer wheel for the lonely indoor sufferfests.<o:p></o:p></div>
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OrangeMud – No way I could have done my long runs as well
without my HydraQuiver pack.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My teams - <o:p></o:p></div>
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Outspokin Multisport team</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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TRIBAL Multisport team and coaches <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Moxie Multisport team, especially Bryan Palas and Katie
Waters. Thank you for the multiple 100+
mile rides and running torture in Clermont and San Antonio. Definitely contributed a lot to my race not
being a suckfest!<o:p></o:p></div>
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And of course, my super supportive husband and awesome sherpa,
Daniel. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-17224036664878776572015-05-22T10:52:00.001-04:002015-05-22T11:05:34.707-04:00Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 Race RecapThis was my first big race of the year and my first race as a pro. It didn't go as well as I had wanted. Main goal was to not finish last. I did accomplish that. But, my time should have been at least 10 minutes faster. I did enjoy this race though. Everyone in the town is very nice and the course is great. The swim is not as fast as it could have been, but it was flat and smooth. The bike had beautiful scenery and fun hills to make things interesting. The run was, well, something to not take lightly. The sites on the run course itself was nice. You run through a pretty park though half of it, part of it circles around near the finish line so you see a lot of spectators. When you don't see spectators, you get the nice quiet calm from the park. The weather was great for racing. Overcast the entire time with some sprinkles of rain. If the sun had been out the entire time, the run would have been a lot worse. I would recommend this race to anyone. I think I might do it again next year :). <br />
Thursday night dinner - Mellow Mushroom custom pizza with pesto base, spinach, jalapenos, avacados and tofu:<br />
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<br />
I stayed at the Days Inn Rivergate on Carter street about .6 miles from the main race site. The hotel was nice enough and there was a 24 hour diner attached so that was a bonus. <br />
<br />
On Friday, a group of us went and did a 20 min swim in the river, then I got on my bike for about 20 minutes and did a 20 minute run. Everything was good to go. Pro briefing was at 12:00 and afterward Kari and I went to see Pitch Perfect 2. Nice way to sit and relax for a bit and let out some stress with laughs. <br />
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Here's a group shot of the awesome friends I was hanging out with all weekend and my yummy breakfast from the diner Saturday morning.<br />
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My standard pre-race cookie sandwich. I got this from the Chattanooga Cupcake store on Broad St. Half before, half later :)</div>
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<br />
I forgot to take pictures of dinner, but I had Trout with kale and cheese grits.<br />
<br />
Onto the details of the race:<br />
For breakfast I had a bagel with pb and Infinit Mud with water about 2 hours before start time. Then ate a banana about an hour before start time. If you have not tried Infinit Mud, you should. It is awesome. Check it out <a href="http://www.infinitnutrition.us/shop-infinit/preset-formulations/mud-formula.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<u>Swim</u> - 32:10<br />
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The water temp was 71.9. 0.4 degrees higher than allowed for pros to wear a wetsuit. I was actually happy about this. I got to use my new Roka Viper Pro Swimskin which is much more comfortable than my wetsuit. <br />
I was last out of the water. By 2 minutes. This isn't as bad as I had originally thought. The swim had little to no current. I was able to keep up with the girls until the first turn around buoy. Then I just settled in and tried to finish before the age groups caught up to me. Which didn't happen either. I got passed by 3 or 4 guys and one girl. I knew my swims weren't going very well. I just couldn't pinpoint what I was doing wrong. So, back to the drawing board on that. I will give a better showing at Williamsburg.<br />
<br />
<u>T1</u> - 3:31<br />
No issues. It was a sad sight to see only my bike on the rack. <br />
<br />
<u>Bike</u> - 2:40:04<br />
As usual it took me a few miles to get settled into the bike. I tried to keep my power around 170. The first half was a little more challenging to keep my speed up because it was slightly uphill. I passed two girls on the bike although I only remember passing one. The back half was a lot of fun since it was going back down. On the bike I had my Infinit customized mix. I had to take my sunglasses off after a while because it was so misty and they were all fogged up. <br />
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<u>T2</u> - 2:04<br />
When I was running with my bike my shoes were still clipped in and they kept catching on the ground and popping my bike up. Not sure how to prevent this in the future. Any ideas?<br />
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<u>Run</u> - 1:52:20<br />
Yup, not a good run. I started off steady around an 8:15 - 8:30 pace. Then the last 4 miles I ran 8:48, 9:29, 9:46, 9:25. There is a lot of climbing. I used my Orange Mud HydraQuiver pack and had a bottle of GQ6 Flooid, Endurance, and Energy. This stuff is great as well. You can get it at GNC. I did not have any stomach issues on the run. In fact, I have not had any stomach issues using GQ6 on any of my training runs either. This is pretty amazing because I have tried just about everything. Given how bad my run was, it probably would have been worse if I didn't have the GQ6 on the run with me. <br />
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Overall I felt pretty good about this race. I think I need to take in more calories though. I had 280 on the bike and 115 on the run (+ some oranges and Gatorade that I took on the course). Williamsburg is in 3 weeks and Atlantic City Full is 2 weeks after that. Again, this race wasn't as good as I was hoping for, but I will use it as a base starting point and go from there.<br />
<br />
Glad to be supported by Moxie Multisport, Outspokin, and TRIBAL Multisport.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-63254738220929949442015-05-22T08:46:00.000-04:002015-05-22T08:46:47.888-04:002014 Recap, Thoughts on 20152014 Training Totals:<br />
Swim<br />
361,218 yards (205.23 miles), 117 hrs 51 min<br />
<br />
Bike<br />
3,597 miles, 212 hrs 47 min<br />
<br />
Run<br />
1,121 miles, 157 hrs 26 min<br />
<br />
Strength<br />
73 hrs 16 min<br />
<br />
<br />
2015 Goals:<br />
Rose on my tri team posted a question to the group asking everyone to list one athletic goal for 2015.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My response: My 2015 goal is to win! EVERYTHING! Meaning, win my training sessions and win MY races (not necessarily the actual race). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll be racing 2015 as an elite and it's kind of scary. The thought of it and getting to talk about it is cool. I blush a little every time I tell someone. But, when I think about actually being on the beach for the swim start in a group of girls that are going to be on their bikes by the time I get out of the water is terrifying. I know I'm going to get out of the water gasping for air, wanting to bend over with my hand in the air, like "give me just a minute". But, I won't be able to do that. Hopefully I won't feel so defeated I'm like this: </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<img src="http://allhumorpic.com/wp-content/uploads/funny-baby-swimming-pool-glasses.jpg" /><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nah!! I'm not that much of a quitter! But, that's ^^ pretty funny, right? </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-52135678639349591972015-04-08T09:56:00.002-04:002015-04-08T09:56:21.994-04:002015 Race Schedule<br />
This is what I have lined up for this year. Think it's enough? I do :)<br />
<br />
<strike>2/7/15 - Best Damn Race Safety Harbor Half Marathon</strike><br />
<strike>3/15/15 - Rock n' Roll DC Full Marathon</strike><br />
4/11/15 - Escape from Ft. Desoto - First tri in the Elite field!<br />
4/20/15 - Boston Marathon (x)- -- I am skipping this to focus on tri training. Looks like I'm skipping it next year too because I didn't requalify and I don't have any other marathons this year to qualify at. 4/25/15 - TPA 5K -- Pretty excited about this race. It's on the Tampa International Airport Runway!<br />
5/17/15 - IMChatt 70.3<br />
6/14/15 - Challenge Williamsburg 70.3<br />
6/28/15 - Challenge Atlantic CIty<br />
8/1/15 - Siesta Key Beach Olympic<br />
8/15/15 - Courage to Tri (sprint)<br />
8/16/15 - Sea Dog Brewery 5k<br />
9/13/15 - Hooters to Hooters 10k<br />
9/27/15 - IM Chattanooga<br />
10/12/15 - Pretty in Pink 15k<br />
10/25 - Miami 70.3 --> still need to register. Waiting on WTC to send the link<br />
11/8/15 - Challenge Venice 70.3 <br />
11/15/15 - Shipyard Brewery half<br />
11/29 - Cozumel full --> still need to register. Waiting on WTC to send the link<br />
1/26/16 - Hot Chocolate Run (Atlanta)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-70623087573784718602015-04-08T09:29:00.002-04:002015-04-08T21:44:21.605-04:00Catching Up - Gasparilla 15k, BDR Half Marathon, RnR DC MarathonMy first tri of this year is coming up this weekend. My first tri as a pro. Scary stuff. Before I get into that race, let me recap what I've been doing. <br />
<br />
Training<br />
Gasparilla 15k - 1:09:04<br />
Training<br />
Best Damn Race Orlando Half Marathon - 1:38:57<br />
Training<br />
Rock n' Roll DC Marathon - 3:36:38<br />
Training<br />
<br />
I guess I have developed allergies because I had serious congestion and sore throat before Gasparilla and wasn't 100% for BDR either. I had the option of not doing Gasparilla but did it anyway because I needed a race. It had been almost 4 months since I did any racing. It felt good even though I felt like I was going to die in the last mile of 15k. <br />
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See the progression yourself:<br />
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Here's some BDR:<br />
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This was a great race! The course has a lot of straight away's, very few turns. This is great for me because I am still working on following the tangents. I didn't feel any hiccups during the race. Donuts, bagels, coffee, and hot chocolate were available in the morning and after the race. I was really appreciative of the hot chocolate at the end. There were great food selections and beer at the end as well. Around mile 8 - 10 I lost the energy to keep running. I wasn't necessarily tired or hurting anywhere. I was just mentally done. Thankfully around mile 10 I was able to get my motivation back and finished strong. This mental fatigue/check out reared its ugly head during the Rock n' Roll DC as well starting at mile 14 and in full effect by mile 16. <br />
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The way the weather is in the photo is how it was all day. From mile 1 until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I was soaked and cold. Thankfully running kept me somewhat warm, but about 2 minutes after I crossed the finish line I was freezing. This course was good, but challenging. The sites were nice. There is a HUGE hill at mile 6 and mile 22. I definitely messed up and spent too much energy trying to make up time lost climbing the hill at mile 6. Lesson learned. Just skip the mile and continue on until I get to the last 5 - 10k and then try to pick up the speed if the energy is there. Instead of losing 11 minutes, I would have only lost 90 seconds. I enjoyed the rest of my time in DC hanging out with friends and seeing the memorials, museums, and a couple of breweries. <br />
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I would recommend any of these races. They are all well organized, great courses. I wouldn't recommend RnR DC for someone trying to BQ unless you can train with hill. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-58782136204084917522014-12-22T21:27:00.001-05:002014-12-22T22:18:11.570-05:00Quintana Roo PRSix ReviewI got a super(bike) Christmas present, and Santa came early! Long story short, I was interested in getting the new QR PRsix and somehow the stars, moon, sun, and planets all aligned so that I could get my butt on one and early to boot as I was originally told that I would have to wait until the end of January 2015. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xLtht52534A/VJG1GS8j6pI/AAAAAAAAAkk/znVzu7P6Q9c/s1600/2014-12-17%2B10.34.54.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xLtht52534A/VJG1GS8j6pI/AAAAAAAAAkk/znVzu7P6Q9c/s1600/2014-12-17%2B10.34.54.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quintana Roo PRsix, Dura-Ace model</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
I picked up my bike and did a fitting on Tuesday and was able to ride the next morning. This post will cover the different rides that I had over the week and how I felt on the bike and how the bike performed. Not a lot of technical specific talk about the bike. Little disclaimer, these are my own opinions and no one asked me to write this. I will not be going over the specs as there are plenty of other blogs and articles already out there for that. If you want, you can start at the QR site -> <a href="http://www.quintanarootri.com/_bike.asp?content=PR6-BLACK-2015" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Getting the bike set up the night before the first ride:<br />
I had to switch my water bottles over. I was able to get the back cages on. I was unable to get the cage on the down tube off of my other bike. I will have to continue working on that.<br />
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Here's the current set up, Profile Design Aero HC will go in the front:<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Notables before I discuss the rides:</span></b><br />
The saddle is an ISM and I decided to give it another shot. I hated it when I had it on my Dulce. I tried about 5 different positions and was never able to get comfortable for more than 20 or 30 minutes on it. But I didn't have any issues during any of the rides this go-round. I'm not sure what is different that is allowing me to enjoy the ISM saddle now, but I'll take it! <br />
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This bike is a size 50. The 48, 50, and 52 come with 165mm cranks. The bigger sizes come with 170mm. Just an FYI since this isn't explicitly mentioned on the specs on the website. I had been doing some research on different crank lengths and really wanted to try 165mm as the Dulce and the CD 0.1 had 170mm. These are the main benefits of a shorter crank (for short people, ie. under 5'5"). A shorter crank is better for faster cadence. So, no more mashing the pedals to keep up with everyone else and being able to save your legs for the run. For those who like to get low, 165mm cranks are great because they allow us to get in a lower position without cutting off the space between the upper thigh and hip. So, less nerve pinching and less getting kneed in the chest! <br />
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More technical reasoning:<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">"<i>Propelling a bike forward involves turning pedals around in a circle. For maximum efficiency, and minimum impact on the body, the diameter of the circle should be in proportion to the length of your legs. The leg is strongest at pushing when it is closest to being straight. If the cranks are too long the circle is too big for your legs, your knee will be bent too much at top part of the stroke, and you won't be able to put as much power into the upper part of the stroke. This will prevent you from spinning the pedals as fast, and will also put more stress on your knees. If you have long legs you can make a bigger circle with your feet and still keep your legs in the high power zone, and you won't have your knees too bent. If your cranks are too short for you, you won't be able to apply as much torque with them as you could with longer cranks</i>." Source</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/cranks.html" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white;">.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ride #1 - Flat, open road, lots of turns:</span></b><br />
15' easy warm up<br />
3' @ 75% FTP, 1' @ 105% FTP X 15<br />
5' easy cool down<br />
<br />
Do I dare say 'easy peasy'? I probably could have done another 15 sets if I didn't think I was going to crash from boredom first. I was out at Davis Island so I did the same loop about 7 times, not including the warm up and cool down. At first I was a little scared and wobbly because I was nervous about falling. It's like when you get in a new car. You know how to drive, but you're still nervous about anything and everything that could happen to hurt your new ride! <br />
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The bike was very smooth and after the warm up I felt settled in and comfortable. Obviously I had to make a lot of turns and they felt easy. Even though the handle bar can only turn so far before it hits the frame, I didn't encounter any issue when I was making u-turns. I actually only noticed when I was off the bike and trying to steer it back into the house.<br />
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I didn't have any issues picking up speed and gears changed smoothly (as they do on the all the QRs). The brakes are not as powerful as I thought they would be. But, I was warned they might feel a little weak until after a few uses. This goes into a territory on brakes that I don't know. So, you will just have to take someone else's word for it! <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ride #2 - Indoor trainer:</b></span><br />
15' easy warm up<br />
(1' @ 130% FTP X 1' @ 60% FTP) X 5<br />
5' RECOVERY @ 50% FTP<br />
(30" @ 150% FTP X 30" @ 50% FTP) X 5<br />
5' RECOVERY @ 50% FTP<br />
(1' @ 135% FTP X 1' @ 50% FTP) X 5<br />
10' easy cool down<br />
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I did this ride on my indoor trainer, the Kinetic Rock n' Roller. I normally hate getting on the trainer because I am uncomfortable almost the entire time, I get distracted very easily, and the pain/burning in my legs would start almost instantly after any warm up. That didn't happen today. It took a little bit to wake my legs up (it was 6 AM after all), but I didn't have any issues hitting the power numbers I was prescribed. It was definitely hard, but it wasn't painful like it was on the other bike. I would get this numbing pain in my thigh and down to my knee when I pushed past anything easy. This isn't to say there is anything wrong with the CD 0.1, but that bike was a little bigger and therefore I don't think I was ever in a good position. <br />
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So, Ride #2 on the trainer was a success.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ride #3 - Long ride, hills:</b></span><br />
I was supposed to do a 3.5 hour steady ride @ 70% FTP with 2 - 20 minutes sets at 80 - 85%, 1 at 90 minutes in and 1 at 3 hours in. Buuuuutttttt, when you ride in San Antonio or anywhere with a lot of up and down hills, trying to go steady is really hard. I don't want to say impossible because I'm sure someone out there could do it. Anyway, I ended up with an average power of 80% FTP and NP at 85% FTP. I blame it on the bike! I got to use every single one of the gears. Up, down, up, down, click, click, click... It was a lot of fun and the gears shifted so smoothly. It took me a few down hills to get comfortable taking them at full speed. I was able to stay in my saddle for most of the uphills. A handful of times I had to stand. No issues with the saddle either. I was able to get off the bike and run 8 miles pretty comfortably. I didn't start breaking down until the last 1.5 miles and it was just from overall fatigue. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Overall verdict:</b></span><br />
I want to ride every day. I may be biased as QR is all I've ever had for a tri specific bike. But, I really do enjoy this ride. It's comfortable, shifts smoothly, feels sturdy under me, and picks up speed quickly. I haven't had a chance to test it in heavy cross-winds. Braking could be a little better. I love that I can take it apart and put it back together by myself with 2 Allen wrenches (4mm and 5mm). I'm actually looking forward to my TT ride on Wednesday! <br />
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Any suggestions on a name? <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-6745800967958142112014-12-04T21:59:00.000-05:002014-12-04T21:59:07.615-05:00Bike 'Til You Barf, Swim Like a Fish...For OnceYesterday I had an hour bike trainer session and a 6 mile run. The bike trainer session had a main set of (1' RPE 9, 1' RPE 5) X 10, then a 2nd main set of (1' RPE 10, 1' RPE 5) X 5. I felt great during my 20 minute warmup - 10' easy, 10' RPE 7. I even felt ok for the first 3 or 4 sets of the 1st main set. But, after the 4th one, this was me:<br />
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<img src="http://www.tshirtvortex.net/wp-content/uploads/Bike-Til-You-Barf.jpg" /><br />
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Every time the one minute hard was done, when I sat up, I really thought I was going to fall over or throw up. Thankfully I held it together. I had to cut the last two sets of the main set a little short - by like 10 seconds. I just couldn't hang on. When I got done, I put on my running shoes and headed out the door with Daniel. It was an easy run and I tried to keep my HR in check, but it was still handing around mid 170's with a 8:30 - 9:00 min/mi pace. Meh... My spirits were boosted with today's TT swim though. MS 1 - 400 all out, MS 2 - 200 all out. <br />
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I did take a 20 minute nap before hand, had 1 non-caffeine gu gel and a scoop of this:<br /><br />
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The flavor is good and I like that there is no crazy tingly feeling. I like the effects that I get from it. I do not like the smell. Straight out of the container, it smells funny. I can't put my finger on what it is. Thankfully it doesn't smell after it's mixed with water. <br />
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So, swim times:<br />
400m - 6:05<br />
200m - 2:54<br />
Boom!<br />
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I'm pretty excited with these times. 1:30 is my current fast pace for 100m. So, I came very close to this on the 400 and beat it on the 200. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-57355299328976906572014-12-04T21:42:00.005-05:002014-12-30T08:36:49.849-05:00Orange Mud's HydraQuiver Pack There's this company called Orange Mud that I discovered last year around this same time from an article on gift ideas for athletes. They have this super functional towel that I requested as a Christmas present. Check it out <a href="http://www.orangemud.com/collections/orange-mud-gear/products/thewrap?variant=267603348" target="_blank">here</a>. So, I was perusing their site about a month ago and discovered that they have this hydration back pack called the HydraQuiver. You can get details <a href="http://www.orangemud.com/collections/running-packs/products/hydraquiver?variant=280096188" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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I have a CamelBack pack and another water holder that is similar but from a different company. Both work fine, but they are more for hiking or long site-seeing days. I know they have ones specifically for running, but they have the bladder that is annoying to refill and clean. The HydraQuiver uses a regular 24oz bottle. I tried it out yesterday on my 6 mile run and it surpassed every expectation. It's supposed to sit up high on your back which eliminated bouncing. The material on the straps is soft and I didn't experience any chafing around my arms or neck. I was wearing a tri tank top. It felt super light and I wouldn't have even noticed I was wearing it if it wasn't for the sloshing of the water. But, after about .5 mile I was able to ignore it. Plus I wasn't listening to any music so the sound was right by my ears. The water bottle is so easy to get in and out of the pack. I was really amazed at this. Especially putting the water bottle back. I thought I would have a really hard time get it in the hole (giggle), but the opening is wide (giggle again), so it just slipped right in. The pocket looks like it's small on the back, like it would just be half of the back. But, you can stick your whole hand in and reach to the other side. So, really the whole thing is a pocket. And, there is a whole to stick your headset cord through. There are also two small pockets on the shoulder straps for easy access nutrition like gels. I have an 11 mile run on Saturday. If my opinion changes or I have something to add I will update this post. Otherwise, I think this has just become my new preferred long run hydration carrying choice. <br />
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Update:<br />
After three weeks and half a dozen long runs ranging from 8 to 13 miles there are still no issues. In fact, I've discovered something else great about it. I used to get a slight pinched nerve on the right side of my neck by my shoulder. Whenever I wear the HydraQuiver I don't have this issue. I know this is a personal issue, but it's been really nice to not have my neck and shoulder hurt after 5 or 6 miles. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-18350269890259016462014-12-03T10:24:00.001-05:002014-12-03T10:24:06.300-05:00I'm Alive!My swim yesterday was tough, but I lived. I took a pre-work that made me feel like I had gone skiing (not literally). I took a half scoop of Dyno. You can get some info from BodyBuilding.com or click <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/rsp-nutrition/dyno.html" target="_blank">here</a>. There is 400mg of caffeine. This is why I only took half a scoop. I got lemonade and it tasted like tart lemonade. I got a slight tingle, but manageable. Definitely don't take more than a quarter or half scoop if you don't take caffeine often. I drink coffee and Monsters 3 or 4 times a week and a half scoop of this was enough. <br />
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Sometimes I feel like taking a pre-workout is like cheating. But, only sometimes. Some days I'm just too tired to get in a good workout without some kind of boost. Anyway, here are my swim splits from yesterday's main set of 100 X 10 - fast on 30'' rest (this was done in a 25m pool):<br />
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<ol>
<li>1:30.63</li>
<li>1:29.19</li>
<li>1:30.69</li>
<li>1:31.75</li>
<li>1:33</li>
<li>1:32.69</li>
<li>1:33.19</li>
<li>1:31.88</li>
<li>1:31.32</li>
<li>1:31</li>
</ol>
<br />
So, my Fast pace is 1:30. I didn't exactly make it, but I'm ok with what I was able to pull off. It could have been way worse if I wasn't swimming for the last 4 weeks. That is my one piece of advice for today - don't quit swimming after your A race. It takes way too long to get used to swimming again. Especially if you weren't a competitive swimmer. <br />
<br />
Then you'll be more like this when you get in the pool:<br />
<img src="http://www.funnyjunksite.com/pictures/funnypics/sport/swimming/funny_swimming_picture_17.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Instead of this:<br />
<img src="http://deepfriedbits.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/funny-cat-mistake-swimming-water-pics.jpg" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-76245073972831434182014-12-02T17:15:00.000-05:002014-12-03T10:24:31.723-05:00#FindyourMoxieI mentioned in an earlier post about applying for the Moxie team. Well, it's official! Yay! I don't have anything extra to report on that at the moment. It's going to be a great year, though. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My training is back in (full) swing this week. My coach thinks he's funny by giving me two TT swims and two FTP bike tests. First TT test is today. MS - 100 X 10 - Fast on 30'' rest. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is going to be me after about 3 of them. If I'm feeling good, I'll get to 5. LOL</div>
<div>
<img src="http://rs1img.memecdn.com/swimmers-know-dat-feeling_o_759291.jpg" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Wish me luck!<br />
<br />
#FindyourMoxie and #RockTheW</div>
<div>
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<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-65683490977198275302014-11-20T18:21:00.003-05:002015-04-08T21:47:26.079-04:00Oh, The Irony!Not sure if any of you remember my post on getting better at swimming. If you don't remember or you don't know what I'm talking about, you can check it out <a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2014/06/getting-better-at-swimming.html" target="_blank">here</a>. There's some good tips in there. It's kind of funny that I put so much time and effort into getting better at swimming, specifically for IMFL. It turns out that 2014 just wasn't my year to swim. I signed up for the Hurricane Man 2.4 mile swim earlier in the year and it got cancelled; I signed up for the Daquiri Tropical Splash 5K in early October and it was almost cancelled but got cut to a 2.5K instead; and IMFL was cancelled. WTH!? <br />
<br />
The good news is, my coach and I have agreed that I will be spending less time on getting better at swimming and more focus will be spent on maintenance. So, now I will have more time and energy to work on biking and running, which I wanted in the first place. But, I'm paying someone else to tell me what I need, not to give in to what I want. We'll see if next year I am able to hold onto my swim and maybe get a little better, but really improve on the bike and run. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://funnystack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Funny-Cycling-39.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet Bike!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o82PWb-hEDo/U0lxIqrLvmI/AAAAAAAAIY4/8JKWthGY8fw/s1600/homerdance.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yay! Running!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-61123006326156843242014-11-19T15:48:00.000-05:002014-11-19T15:48:10.428-05:00Quick Updates In The World Of MariaWhat's up ladies and gentlemen? Anyone thinking about 2015 races? I know quite a few people who are, myself included. I like planning way in advance. It's funny that no one really wants to think about Christmas, but we'll start planning 2015 on January 1st, 2014! LOL. Even Daniel started thinking about my 2015 season by getting me started on some new tri and running gear. Now, just need to work on funding for a bike upgrade :).<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h3NmLKV05p4/VGy6RUR5z8I/AAAAAAAAAjg/Wjvu0lb_ryc/s1600/2014-11-14%2B18.44.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h3NmLKV05p4/VGy6RUR5z8I/AAAAAAAAAjg/Wjvu0lb_ryc/s1600/2014-11-14%2B18.44.58.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<br />
I <3 SOAS! I applied to be a part of the <a href="http://moxiemultisportatx.com/" target="_blank">Moxie Multisport</a> team and if that goes through I will have to wait to show off my new stuff in public. I haven't tried on the Moxie gear, but it looks cool! And, I like what Moxie is about. So, sporting their gear will not be a problem. <br />
<br />
So, which races will I be sporting any new gear I get? As far as tris go, my sights are set on local sprints and olympics and Challenge races - Knoxville, Atlantic City (Full), and Venice. I have not signed up for anything yet as I was waiting on my pro card and now I'm waiting for the appropriate links to register. <br />
<br />
Registered runs:<br />
2/7/15 Best Damn Race Half Marathon in Safety Harbor<br />
3/15/15 Rock N' Roll DC Full Marathon<br />
4/20/15 Boston Marathon<br />
<br />
Other runs past April have not been decided yet. I would like to throw in a few shorter distances, like 5k, 10k, 15k. But, nothing confirmed. Any ideas? <br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-1161340899844116972014-11-07T23:12:00.000-05:002014-11-07T23:18:36.952-05:00Ironman Florida 2014 Recap<br />
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I haven't posted a lot because I've been busy with a new job and training for IMFL. Well, now that I'm done with one of those I will share my recap of the big race and have some more time to post to this here blog.<br />
<br />
This is pretty long. So, you may want to grab some popcorn or coffee.<br />
<br />
Let's start with the training.<br />
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<u>5/8 - 11/1 Totals:</u><br />
<br />
Swim - 206,386 yds, 65 hrs 37 min.<br />
Bike - 2,428 miles, 127 hrs 23 min<br />
Run - 680 miles, 95 hrs 15 min<br />
Strength - 36 hrs 22 min<br />
<br />
I got in 1-100 mile ride in July, 1-100 mile ride in September and 1-112 mile ride in October. My longest brick was a 70/17 three weeks before IMFL. This was also 2nd longest run. I had 1-20 mile run in mid-June. <br />
<br />
Races:<br />
Sprint<br />
<ul>
<li>Clermont Summer Series (June race only)</li>
<li>Scenic 17</li>
<li>Courage to Tri</li>
</ul>
Olympic<br />
<ul>
<li>Siesta Key</li>
</ul>
Half<br />
<ul>
<li>Harvest Moon</li>
<li>Augusta 70.3</li>
</ul>
<div>
Other</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Great Floridian Tri AquaBike Full</li>
<li>Daquiri Splash 5K swim that got turned into a 2.5K swim</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
My training was good for the most part. The trip to Brazil in July is what set me back the most. When I came back, it took me a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things, even though I did a hundred mile ride the weekend that I got back. I only had one meltdown during training that I can recall. It was the weekend of September 13th, 7 weeks out from IMFL. I did not feel ready and I didn't think I had enough time to get to feel ready. So, I had my little meltdown and did my bitching to a few people - Bryan, Eric and Lindsay. Thank you for being my victims. I had one meltdown during a race, the Great Floridian Tri Aquabike. I was in the middle of my second loop and I could not hit my goal power to save my life. It didn't matter if I tried mashing or spinning my legs faster. Nothing worked. This was the first time I almost cried on that bike ride. The second time was when I was a little into my 3rd loop and realized I would not make it under 6 hours. <br />
<br />
Onto the race. Time for the most part are approximate unless otherwise stated :). <br />
<u>10/29</u><br />
6PM - The adventure starts. I left work with my car packed and Daniel next to me. <br />
11:30 PM - We made it to Panama City Beach (PCB) around 11:30 PM (Central Time). Daniel and I stayed up for about another hour and talked with Pete. I didn't set an alarm for Thursday morning and woke up around 7:30 anyway. <br />
<br />
<u>10/30</u><br />
8:30 AM - I headed down to athlete check-in then walked around the expo until about 9:30ish<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UwYSffrTvqQ/VFrv7gPCAtI/AAAAAAAAAfg/Nt2N2E2lWAI/s1600/IMFL2014%2BIronman%2BVillage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UwYSffrTvqQ/VFrv7gPCAtI/AAAAAAAAAfg/Nt2N2E2lWAI/s1600/IMFL2014%2BIronman%2BVillage.jpg" height="260" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Kari and me </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
10:30 - Hugo and David picked Kari, Daniel and me up and we went to First Watch for breakfast and Publix afterward for last minute items that we needed. For breakfast I had an egg white omelette, fruit, and an english muffin. <br />
<br />
2:00 - 30 min (6.5 miles) Sanity check bike ride. Everything ran nice and smooth<br />
3:15 - 30 min (4 mile) shake out run <br />
<br />
7:30 - Head to Mellow Mushroom for some magical pizza (and one magical beer)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aXbdeTBh83U/VFrwMmYq_TI/AAAAAAAAAfo/vqT6D0DNOd4/s1600/2014-10-30%2B18.02.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aXbdeTBh83U/VFrwMmYq_TI/AAAAAAAAAfo/vqT6D0DNOd4/s1600/2014-10-30%2B18.02.48.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iIqzJMWPwr8/VFrwMyCgnkI/AAAAAAAAAfs/pnp9aU4gzQU/s1600/2014-10-30%2B18.37.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iIqzJMWPwr8/VFrwMyCgnkI/AAAAAAAAAfs/pnp9aU4gzQU/s1600/2014-10-30%2B18.37.35.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Magic Mystery Tour Pizza</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
10:30/11:00 ish - went to bed. I set my alarm for 7:00 to meet up with Bryan and Ken to do a pre-race swim<br />
<br />
<u>10/31</u><br />
7:30 - Kari and I got our wetsuits on and headed down to the swim start to meet up with Ken and Bryan to test out the wetsuits and make sure everything with hunky dory. Turns out, it would be the only swim I would get that weekend, a whopping .4 miles back to our condo. Wetsuits were great, water were great, sea creatures were not great. Kari saw jelly fish and hopped out about .15 miles in the swim and I felt one. It scared me and I stood up (the water was very shallow) and ran. Then I looked back, didn't see anything and realized that anything that was there was going to out-swim me running. So, I just finished my swim since I was so close. Once we were back at the condo, I put on my running shoes and did one last shake our run. <br />
<br />
9:30 ish - headed back to the host hotel/expo/transition to check in our bikes and bags, stuff our faces with pancakes, do another round at the expo, and attend the last athlete briefing at 11. All in that order. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EQMT26J0Sas/VF17L8C_KLI/AAAAAAAAAgc/SVEPNr3h7N4/s1600/2014-10-30%2B20.50.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EQMT26J0Sas/VF17L8C_KLI/AAAAAAAAAgc/SVEPNr3h7N4/s1600/2014-10-30%2B20.50.13.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Bike and Run gear</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cQ4bqfYLvG0/VF15qR1HtaI/AAAAAAAAAgA/pkxhi-DIU3Y/s1600/2014-10-31%2B13.03.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cQ4bqfYLvG0/VF15qR1HtaI/AAAAAAAAAgA/pkxhi-DIU3Y/s1600/2014-10-31%2B13.03.05.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Bike Checked In</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aswcatgo4KU/VF15zhryGwI/AAAAAAAAAgI/LaFoPGSyFF8/s1600/pancake%2Bbreakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aswcatgo4KU/VF15zhryGwI/AAAAAAAAAgI/LaFoPGSyFF8/s1600/pancake%2Bbreakfast.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Pancakes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Mm90gdj4U8/VF15ziCAD0I/AAAAAAAAAgM/WWsPbgVy2MI/s1600/new%2BRudy%2Bhelmet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Mm90gdj4U8/VF15ziCAD0I/AAAAAAAAAgM/WWsPbgVy2MI/s1600/new%2BRudy%2Bhelmet.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Sitting at athlete briefing reading the manual for my new Rudy helmet (Thank Daniel!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
1:30 ish - Got picked up by Jamie and Mike GR and headed to Backyard Burgers for lunch. I got a chicken sandwich with french fries -- sorry, no picture<br />
<br />
2:30 ish - Made it back to the condo. Started working on my nails<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8p71bdIpNA/VF17f5ewnxI/AAAAAAAAAgk/1FHuQeIVqe4/s1600/2014-10-31%2B15.32.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8p71bdIpNA/VF17f5ewnxI/AAAAAAAAAgk/1FHuQeIVqe4/s1600/2014-10-31%2B15.32.57.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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5:30 ish - went to dinner at Fin's Sushi<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JOc0yp92dDg/VF17uWsTUWI/AAAAAAAAAgs/P_n-HTO8MRc/s1600/2014-10-31%2B17.47.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JOc0yp92dDg/VF17uWsTUWI/AAAAAAAAAgs/P_n-HTO8MRc/s1600/2014-10-31%2B17.47.38.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gWzS3u9nI2A/VF17u6cOKhI/AAAAAAAAAg0/5xPO9a76Psg/s1600/2014-10-31%2B17.56.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gWzS3u9nI2A/VF17u6cOKhI/AAAAAAAAAg0/5xPO9a76Psg/s1600/2014-10-31%2B17.56.28.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xh9ayp-MxRs/VF17yMg6UzI/AAAAAAAAAg8/T2r37gdEceY/s1600/2014-10-31%2B19.20.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xh9ayp-MxRs/VF17yMg6UzI/AAAAAAAAAg8/T2r37gdEceY/s1600/2014-10-31%2B19.20.45.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
Obviously the cookie at the bottom did not come from the sushi place. It is a yo-yo cookie from Publix. My signature treat (for now). Half now, half after the race.<br />
<br />
9:00 - bedtime! Alarm set for 4:00 AM<br />
<br />
Now for what you've really been waiting for.<br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;">RACE DAY!!!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Gear and nutrition for the race:</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: #fefdfa; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Zoot Ultra trisuit with Tribal logo</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Tyr earplugs</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Tyr Special Ops 2.0 goggles</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Nike dri-fit socks</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Nike sun visor</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Louis Garneau x-tri-lite bike shoes</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Tifosi sunglasses</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Rudy Wingspan aero helmet</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Xentis Mark 1 race wheels</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Profile Design aero bullet bottle holder </li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">2XU X2 Project X full wetsuit </li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Scott T2C running shoes</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Fuel Belt race belt</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Scott T2C running shoes</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">Chapstick for the bike and run</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">SkinSake anti-chafe ointment</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><u>Bike nutrition: 1524 calories</u></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">2 bottles each filled with 2 scoops Infinit mix and 1 scoop Fluid - </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Passion Fruit Tea </span></li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">3 bonk breakers</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">4 SportsLeg pills and 1 electrolyte pill </li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><u>Run nutrition: 600 - 700 calories</u></li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">1 - 10oz bottle with 1 tab of regular Nuun and 1 tab of Nuun Energy</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">1 regular Gu, 2 Gu Roctanes, and 2 2nd Surge gels</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">oranges, water, and gatorade from the course. Also took a couple cups of coke and 2 small sips of chicken broth</li>
<li style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;">2 SportsLeg pills and 1 electrolyte pill</li>
</ul>
<u><br /></u>
<u>11/1</u><br />
4:00 AM - alarm goes off. Get up, get dressed, go out to the kitchen to eat breakfast. I had a Picky Bar to start. Gathered my nutrition bottles and Bike Special Needs bags and headed down to transition with Jamie and Kari to drop everything off. <br />
<br />
5:00 - Back at the condo to relax for a little bit before going back to the start to get a warm up in the water (pre race swim was from 6:15 - 6:45). Pete made breakfast for Kari and me. I had some egg whites, grits, and half a biscuit. <br />
<br />
Other pre-race necessities taken at 6:00 (1 hr before race start):<br />
Immodium, Mucinex, and SportsLegs<br />
<br />
6:15 - I headed back to transition a little earlier than everyone else because I forgot to open the nutrition bars on my bike. I walked down to the beach with Daniel and could feel myself getting excited. I took a my X2 Performance and a GU Chocolate PB gel once we were down there. I was hesitating getting in the water because it was so cold outside and I knew I would be standing out in the cold for 15 minutes before the race started. With about 5 minutes left, I decided to just get in. I had to pee anyway ;). I swam around a little bit, tried to get some water in my suit and warm up a bit. The water was way warmer than the outside air. <br />
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I'm not sure what time it was, but it was probably close to 5 or 10 minutes before the pros were supposed to go and the announcer came on and said that due to safety reasons (said in a lot more words than that) they were cancelling the swim. I just looked at Daniel and was saying "What? No way!". No one really knew what to do, but we were told that we would go off in TT fashion starting with the pros at 8:00. So, we had an hour to do... whatever. Figure out what we were supposed to do and then do it. So, after some confusion, we found out that we were supposed to go get our Bike bags, change and then wait by our bikes until it was time to go. By the time I got changed and went to the bathroom (again) it was around 7:45. I figured, it can't be that long until it's time for the regular people to go, so I headed outside to stand near my bike. Turns out it was a long time. After standing in the cold for about 35 minutes I couldn't take it any more and went back to my Bike bag and grabbed my Gasparilla long sleeve dri-fit shirt. I also grabbed my other gel and took that. I didn't get on my bike until 9:00 AM. <br />
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<br />
<u>Bike</u><br />
Time - 5:50:16<br />
Cat Place - 12<br />
Gender Place - 48<br />
<br />
Course - flat, minimal turns, unusually high winds (20 mph steady with 30 mph gusts). There is one 8 mile stretch starting at mile 50 that is kind of bumpy, but nothing compared to what I had to endure at <a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2014/09/harvest-moon-triathlon-2014-race-recap.html" target="_blank">Harvest Moon</a>. <br />
<br />
My experience - The first 7.5 miles were almost directly in the face with a slight bit of cross wind. Plus, it was mostly in between buildings so the gusts were extra special. I was sitting up holding on to my brakes pretty much the entire time during those first 7.5 miles. It was also unable to feel my legs except for the pins and needles this entire time. I had no idea how hard I was pushing the pedals. I just knew I was going slow. The next 15 miles were more directly into the wind. So, we weren't getting blown around as much, but we were going slower. Mile 22 - 33 was nice. The wind was still coming in a little cross, but at least it was at our backs. 33 - 55 weren't too bad either. Miles 55 to 85 were back into the wind. YAY! Not! I had to pee since mile 20 but was able to hold it until mile 70. Don't ask me how because I have no idea. Mile 85 to the finish were nice. Except that around mile 80 I stood up to stretch out my legs to get ready for the run and my left quad started to seize up. Ouch!. I immediately thought about how this would affect my run. I tried to not worry about it and just stay in the moment. I was on the bike leg and that's all I was going to worry about right then. I made sure to stay within my goal power even though it was easier to go at a decent pace at a lower power. I wanted to try and make up some time even though I knew I wasn't anywhere near my low goal time of 5:30. HAHA!!!<br />
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<br />
<u>T2</u> <br />
Time - 3:03<br />
I got into the changing room, asked the volunteer to dump everything out and sat down to get everything organized. I grabbed everything I needed and asked the volunteer to put all my stuff back in the bag for me. She was very nice. Thank you volunteer girl!<br />
<br />
<u>Run</u><br />
Time - 3:47:12<br />
Cat Place - 10<br />
Gender Place - 38<br />
<br />
Course - flat, still windy.<br />
<br />
My experience - I knew my legs were going to cramp at some point given what happened on the bike. It was just a matter of when. Guess when 'when' was. Come on... .5 miles in! Thoughts to myself: "OK, what do I do now? I don't know, just make it to the next aid station". And, so I did and so became my backup strategy. Just make it to the next aid station. Run as hard as I can without cramping to each aid station and walk, pour water on legs, grab nutrition, continue running. My paces between each aid station were between 7:40 and 8:15. I don't have much else to say about the run. There was still wind the entire time. 6.5 miles out were good, 6.5 miles back were not so good. I mentally took the course 6.5 miles at a time. I had a 10oz water bottle that I ditched (I held on to the holder) around mile 7. The bottles are pretty cheap to replace. For some reason, my runs were going pretty good when I was starting out with some form of liquid nutrition instead of going straight to gels and water. I don't know if it was a slight distraction from running that I got every .5 miles or if it was taking nutrition every 4 to 5 minutes that helped. Maybe a little of both. There were some great moments. Like when I saw Bryan and got some updates from him, when I saw Melissa and Josh at the turn around point and coming in to finish, and best of all, when I saw Daniel in his pink onesie with a pink and white wig with curls. It was crazy and funny. Jamie and Kari's son Mac were also dressed in onesies. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0g3_GNCI_0/VF2P1TeAx2I/AAAAAAAAAiA/KXn9JLcDPfs/s1600/Daniel%2C%2BJamie%2C%2Band%2BMac%2Bin%2Ba%2Bonesie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0g3_GNCI_0/VF2P1TeAx2I/AAAAAAAAAiA/KXn9JLcDPfs/s1600/Daniel%2C%2BJamie%2C%2Band%2BMac%2Bin%2Ba%2Bonesie.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Mike GR, Jamie, Daniel, Mac, and Pete</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TMn1NkYc3wI/VF2QUbZqA_I/AAAAAAAAAiQ/rQisoHq4LcI/s1600/0818_021471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TMn1NkYc3wI/VF2QUbZqA_I/AAAAAAAAAiQ/rQisoHq4LcI/s1600/0818_021471.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Just getting started</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDlaUCzxzIo/VF2QVl7wZVI/AAAAAAAAAiY/bMHVXdf_PE8/s1600/0818_033768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDlaUCzxzIo/VF2QVl7wZVI/AAAAAAAAAiY/bMHVXdf_PE8/s1600/0818_033768.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">6 miles in</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o8Jrx5AsoWk/VF2QV2XrsEI/AAAAAAAAAic/FKcaQX1U-_s/s1600/0818_033769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o8Jrx5AsoWk/VF2QV2XrsEI/AAAAAAAAAic/FKcaQX1U-_s/s1600/0818_033769.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">6 miles in<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BWdVvlm2Ofg/VF2QWZkN64I/AAAAAAAAAig/Y0V7k_h4ikY/s1600/pic%2Bfrom%2BJosh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BWdVvlm2Ofg/VF2QWZkN64I/AAAAAAAAAig/Y0V7k_h4ikY/s1600/pic%2Bfrom%2BJosh.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">12.5 miles in</td></tr>
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</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iM8BmqWpbqM/VF2QURNIalI/AAAAAAAAAiM/wQlfr_siUC8/s1600/0818_029620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iM8BmqWpbqM/VF2QURNIalI/AAAAAAAAAiM/wQlfr_siUC8/s1600/0818_029620.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">About 20 miles in, starting the last 6.5 miles back!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TrMOvfa9SkI/VF2QUfCsq5I/AAAAAAAAAiI/rH0BGQ36HCw/s1600/0818_029621.jpg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="213" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">About 20 miles in, starting the last 6.5 miles back!</td></tr>
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<u>Finish</u><br />
Time - 9:40:31<br />
Cat Place - 10<br />
Gender Place - 38<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fYymY8utPrY/VF2QWXVr2-I/AAAAAAAAAik/F7g4h-ekJR0/s1600/0818_063296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fYymY8utPrY/VF2QWXVr2-I/AAAAAAAAAik/F7g4h-ekJR0/s1600/0818_063296.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">I can finally get out of the wind!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YToMr3BIPPk/VF2QWhZj7xI/AAAAAAAAAis/SQMdvuT6AGw/s1600/pic%2Bfrom%2BJosh_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YToMr3BIPPk/VF2QWhZj7xI/AAAAAAAAAis/SQMdvuT6AGw/s1600/pic%2Bfrom%2BJosh_2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">So happy to see friends at the end. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qkebKmR5XGk/VF2ZQ212NhI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/9NRihIcjJAI/s1600/IMFL%2Bfinishers!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qkebKmR5XGk/VF2ZQ212NhI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/9NRihIcjJAI/s1600/IMFL%2Bfinishers!.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew that didn't quit!</td></tr>
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I saw Jessica at the end and it was such a nice surprise. I really did enjoy seeing all the familiar faces at the end - Josh, Jessica, and Pete were all in the finisher's area. When I was able to get out, Daniel had my chocolate milk ready in hand :)<br />
<br />
After thoughts:<br />
I would recommend this race to others, but not as a first time race. It is a very large race and it can be a little overwhelming. There was actually a person in the athlete briefing that was during this race as their first triathlon! Can you believe it? That should not be allowed. Or, I somehow want that person clearly identified as a first timer so that I can stay far away from them. <br />
<br />
I was upset that the swim was cancelled, but it didn't devastate me. Some people actually pulled out of the entire race because of it. Thinking it's not a true race without the swim. The way the rest of the race panned out was worse than what the race would have been with the swim. Standing around in the freezing cold for over an hour is not any way to start a race. Also, it was TT so you're starting with people racked around you, not people racing at the same pace as you. I was planning on being out of the water around 8:10 and be on my bike by 8:15. Getting that pushed out by 45 minutes just changes the whole dynamic of the race. <br />
<br />
Some people don't think that it's a true Ironman race. But, I still do. The challenge of starting the race the way we did coupled with the cold and wind made it way more challenging of a race than a a full distance race that you plan and train for that goes the way you expected, aside from personal mistakes made during the race.<br />
<br />
I'm also not that upset about how I placed because it made the decision to take my pro card that much easier. So, I am going to race pro for a couple of years. Meaning, I'm going to be hanging my head down in shame for a little while. Hopefully I will make some improvements and by the end of the two years I will at least be able to come in top 10. But, if not, at least I get to race a little more without hurting my wallet so much.<br />
<br />
Bonuses -<br />
1) I think walking through the aid stations helped me recover faster. I was only a little sore for a couple of days. Sunday from the waste down I was sore. Monday it was just my calves.<br />
2) I didn't chafe, didn't get any saddle sores, and no blisters. Amazing, right?! <br />
<br />
Thank you everyone who supported me over the last 6 or 7 months. You know who you are. Main crew in no particular order: My TRIBAL team, my A-Train team, and Daniel. Supporting crew in no particular order: Erica, Chris, Marcus, and the guys at Outspokin.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-82835778807461669842014-10-03T13:53:00.000-04:002014-10-03T13:53:32.126-04:00Arctic Zone Frozen DessertsSarah brought this stuff to my attention about a year ago. They are awesome. The whole pint is only 150 calories. So, when I feel like having something sweet or something to kill time with (I'm a big snacker), this is what I like to grab a lot of times. And, really, all the flavors are great. They have vanilla, chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, and mint chocolate. <br />
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They can be a little hard to come by. Sometimes Wal-Mart will carry. I still haven't found it at Publix. But, it's always available at Whole Foods. I haven't checked out Fresh Market yet. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-48730230282836950292014-10-01T22:16:00.002-04:002014-10-02T09:37:42.565-04:00Ironman Augusta 70.3 2014 Race Recap<div class="MsoNormal">
I <3 Ironman Augusta 70.3. I did this race in 2012 and again this year
and it really is a great course. The
weather has been great both years, mid-70’s with overcast. The swim is always great because it’s so fast
and I love that it’s an in-water start.
It allows you 2 minutes to get in and wade around in the water to warm
up a bit. Plus, I think not having to
run first keeps my heart rate down. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Friday<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I got to Augusta Thursday night and met up with Jamie, Dan,
and his brother, Ed. They already ate
but went with me to Mellow Mushroom so that I could get some pizza. I go the Magic Mystery Tour Bus with curry
tofu. I was so hungry and it was so
delicious. I was disappointed when I was
only able to get down two slices. After
eating, I headed back to the hotel, La Quinta Inn on Washington Rd. I recommend this hotel. It’s right behind a Starbucks and Dunkin
Donuts/Baskin Robbins and there is a Whole Foods and Publix right down the
street. The hotel room was nice and
clean with a refrigerator and microwave.
Can’t ask for much more for $80/night.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I tried to get as much stuff together for Sunday as I could
before going to bed. I went to bed
around 11:30 with no alarm set. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Saturday<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I woke up around 8:30 and checked in with Jamie and what her
plans were. She was heading to the expo
for packet pick-up so I got in the shower and headed that way. I ended up missing her at packet
pick-up. I was starving so met up with
Jamie and co. to get some brunch and decided to hit up the expo after. We ended up going to New Moon Café which is
the same place that I went in 2012 to get the Green Monster smoothie. I knew it was going to be a good weekend from
that moment! I also got a breakfast
quesadilla and grits. It was probably
too much food because I was full until 5:30.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGsMz5xCTO4/VC1Jf8deBvI/AAAAAAAAAeA/oSPvoc_KF_A/s1600/2014-09-27%2B10.17.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGsMz5xCTO4/VC1Jf8deBvI/AAAAAAAAAeA/oSPvoc_KF_A/s1600/2014-09-27%2B10.17.34.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Monster!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Will a full belly I went to the expo, got my packet, and
bought a sweater and new sandals because the ones I had on were starting to dig
into the top of my feet. I also found
single packets of hyper-hydration from Skatch that I wanted to try. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next on my to-do list was to drive around to the swim start,
then over to T1 to drop off my bike. Not
too much to tell with that. Except,
Friday night, I pumped my tires up and Saturday morning my front tire was
flat. I pumped it up again, tightened the
valve, and prayed that it wouldn’t leak.
I must have checked my tires 50 times between Saturday and Sunday
morning. I hopped on my bike and rode down to the finish area and back (one
mile each way) to make sure everything was working A-OK before taking my bike
into transition. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I usually have good intentions of getting in some sort of
pre-race warm up with a swim, bike, and/or run.
I actually got it in this time.
The Y was allowing race participants free entry into the gym. I was able to get in a 10 minute swim, 10 min
ride on the stationary, and then I went outdoors for a 15 minute run. I’m still not totally sold on the pre-race
(day before the race) warm up. I guess
it helps to calm the nerves a little bit.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this time, it was around 3:30 so I headed back to the
hotel. I stopped in at Whole Foods and
Publix on the way back. I wanted to get
my race cookie (*the double doozie / yo-yo) from Publix. They didn’t have it so I went over to Whole
Foods to see what they had. They had way
too many choices and I ended up getting everything I saw…A gingerbread whoopie
pie, vegan vanilla cupcake, and a bag full of assorted (mostly small double
doozies) cookies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*double doozie / yo-yo – Cookie sandwich – 2 cookies with
icing in the middle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I made it back to the hotel around 5:30, dropped everything
off at the hotel and then headed back out again for dinner – sushi from
Miyako. I got shrimp steamed dumplings
and 2 rolls. I ate about ¾ of each
roll. My dessert was one of the small
double doozie cookies <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OgLfB2ntbZg/VC1Jh5kUWWI/AAAAAAAAAeY/TYsmsFQqYYo/s1600/2014-09-27%2B17.58.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OgLfB2ntbZg/VC1Jh5kUWWI/AAAAAAAAAeY/TYsmsFQqYYo/s1600/2014-09-27%2B17.58.37.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-23QmH8g1FXg/VC1Jfv21z3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/YvC584N_FhI/s1600/2014-09-27%2B16.29.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-23QmH8g1FXg/VC1Jfv21z3I/AAAAAAAAAd8/YvC584N_FhI/s1600/2014-09-27%2B16.29.51.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XO4qWUyNLyw/VC1Jh9HcbkI/AAAAAAAAAeU/3iS-r4LTzOg/s1600/2014-09-27%2B16.31.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XO4qWUyNLyw/VC1Jh9HcbkI/AAAAAAAAAeU/3iS-r4LTzOg/s1600/2014-09-27%2B16.31.00.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum! Yum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After dinner I took a shower, got all of my things ready for
the next day, painted my nails, and then called my brother and Daniel before
turning off the lights around 9:00.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkWeqHv_6kE/VC1JfOD8FTI/AAAAAAAAAd4/Lw6emmRXdgc/s1600/2014-09-27%2B16.23.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkWeqHv_6kE/VC1JfOD8FTI/AAAAAAAAAd4/Lw6emmRXdgc/s1600/2014-09-27%2B16.23.13.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drinking the Beet Juice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Sunday – RACE DAY!<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I set my alarm for 4:15 with intentions of being out the
door by 5:45. This did happen. I made it
down to T1 around 6 and was able to get one of the last spots on Broad St. So, I was able to see my car twice on the
run <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Race gear:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Zoot Ultra Tri suit<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Nike Pro Combat sports bra<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Nike padded socks (thanks Lindsay!) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->2XU Project X wetsuit – my hair keeps getting
caught in the velcro and creating a birds nest at the nape of my neck. I need to figure out how to prevent this ASAP. Otherwise, I love this suit. My shoulders don’t feel restricted and it’s
really not that tight around my neck (relatively speaking)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Tyr Special Ops 2.0 goggles<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Louis Garneau X-Tri-Lite bike shoes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Scott T2C run shoes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Lazer Tardiz aero helmet<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Tifosi sunglasses<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Garmin HRM and GPS watch, Garmin Edge 500 on my
bike<o:p></o:p><br />
Tri-Slide spray for the wetsuit<br />
Slik anti-chafe spray by Skin Strong<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nutrition:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in;">
Pre-race – <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->2 hours before – Picky Bar<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->1.5 hours before – half bottle of Monster drink<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->1 hour before – Skratch hyper hydration (this
stuff has 1600 mg of sodium) and 2 SportsLegs pills; 1 banana<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->30 minutes before – 1 bottle of X2 Performance
and 1 Gu Endurance pill<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in;">
Bike - <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Profile Design HC Aero bottle with water<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->1-24 oz bottle with 2 scoops of Infinit and 1
scoop of Fluid Passion Fruit Tea – 373 calories total<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->1 Power Bar Waffle – 170 calories<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->1.5 bottles of Powerade Perform from the course<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.25in;">
Run – <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->2 SportsLegs pills and 1 Gu Endurance pill<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->3 gels – 1 Gu Salted Caramel, 1 Honey Stinger, 1
Clif Double Espresso – 300 calories total<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Oranges, 2 cokes, Powerade Perform from the aid
stations. I also took water from every
aid station<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uDksberESJ0/VC1Jhk6-ulI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/JancdZGBhTA/s1600/2014-09-28%2B06.20.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uDksberESJ0/VC1Jhk6-ulI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/JancdZGBhTA/s1600/2014-09-28%2B06.20.52.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transition setup in the AM - bike shoes clipped in, socks on the ground (pre-stretched), helmet with glasses in them and open, run gear next to run shoes to grab and go after getting shoes on</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Swim:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time – 24:26<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cat Place – 5<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gender Place – 32<sup>nd</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This swim is awesome. Well, it’s scary when you swim in the river
by yourself. But, when there are a bunch of other people around you and people
on kayaks, it’s not scary. Why is it scary, you ask? Well, there are “grass monsters” that come up
very close to your face and if you have long enough arms, I’m pretty sure you’re
arms are swimming through them. Good
thing is you’re go so fast through the river, you’re done before you know
it. And, it’s really mostly just in the
beginning and when you’re closer to the edge instead of more in the
middle. So, stick closer to the center
of the river, the current is faster there anyway. You start in the water for the swim. There are 2 minutes between each wave so you
have about 90 seconds to be in the water and wading before the gun goes off.
Just enough time to do a little swimming around and get out any last minute
nervous race pee. Yup, I said it and yes I did it!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The velcro from my wetsuit got
caught in my hair again. Not as bad as
before, but still enough to pull on my neck when I turned to breathe and give
me a small bird’s nest. I tried to grab
on to some feet, but there wasn’t really anyone for me to grab on to. Everyone was pretty spread out. When I was getting close to the end I started
kicking my legs harder to get some blood flowing to them. I think this helped me. I think.
This race has wetsuit strippers which is really awesome. I<3 wetsuit strippers too. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
T1: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time – 3:32<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The run from the swim exit to T1
is kind of long. Nothing else to really say here. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bike:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time – 2:40:05<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cat Place – 1<sup>st</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gender Place – 17<sup>th</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<sup><br /></sup></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The bike course is kind of hilly. Not super crazy. If you’ve ever ridden San Antonio (Florida)
then Augusta is pretty easy in comparison.
There is nothing that is super steep.
Some of the hills are kind of long, though. The second aid station is right in the middle
of one of the hills. I guess it’s a good
thing since you’re already going at a slower pace. The first half of the course is harder
because it’s more uphill. But, that last
20 miles are almost all downhill. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sipped my juice every 15 – 20 minutes
(Infinit and Fluid mix) and at 1 hour into the ride I ate the Powerbar
Waffle. I was hoping that the hyper
hydration would keep me from needing anything other than additional water. But, I found myself grabbing a Powerade
Perform bottle at the 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> aid station. I downed the entire first bottle and half of
the second one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t go out too crazy on the
bike. In fact, I may have held back a
little too much on the first half. I don’t
have a good reason other than I just wanted to get settled in for about the
first hour. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
T2: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time – 2:33<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I took 2 more SportsLegs pills
and 1 Gu Electrolyte pill at this time.
I dropped the electrolyte pill and had to turn around to pick it
up. I was trying to use the SaltStick mini-dispenser
and I couldn’t figure out which way to turn the darn thing to make the pills
come out. I ended up popping off the top
and just dumping the pills in my mouth. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Run: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time – 1:38:4<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cat Place – 1<sup>st</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gender Place – 11<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<sup><br /></sup></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a great run. It’s flat and the majority of the run is on
Broad St. which is lined with spectators.
The have water, powerade, coke, oranges, and gels at all the aid
stations. They have bananas, cookies,
Bonk Breakers, and ice cold sponges near mile 4.5/9 and 6.5/13. There is some shade, but this year and when I
did the race in 2012 it was overcast the entire time. That is always an added bonus for me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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On the run course, I took the 3
gels (mile 2.3, 6, and 9) plus oranges and coke at mile 4.5 and 9. I took water at every station and powerade at
every 2<sup>nd</sup> or 3<sup>rd</sup> station.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I started off at a conservative
pace and also slowed myself because I was messing with my watch trying to get
it to change from measuring in kilometers to miles. I don’t know why it switches like that. I felt good for the entire run. I didn’t feel hungry or tired. I didn’t feel fatigued until around mile
9. I tried to keep myself calm, but I
knew I was almost done and I really wanted to hold my pace. Mile 9 – 7:28, mile 10 – 7:31, mile 11 – 8:09
(walked through the aid station), mile 12 – 7:33, mile 13 – 7:24. Right around mile 9/10 I could feel my left
quad starting to get really tight. I
knew my legs were going to start cramping soon.
It subsided until mile 12. The
last mile I was begging my legs to not cramp.
I made it to the finish and the only thing that cramped were my
toes! I’m used to that though and
thankful that it was after I crossed the finish line. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Overall: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time – 4:49:10<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cat Place – 1<sup>st</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gender Place – 11<sup>th</sup> (including
the pros, 3<sup>rd</sup> o/a amateur) <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wa-L-BdYOKc/VC1JjRUwdFI/AAAAAAAAAeo/sMRJQOCXszY/s1600/2014-09-28%2B14.06.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wa-L-BdYOKc/VC1JjRUwdFI/AAAAAAAAAeo/sMRJQOCXszY/s1600/2014-09-28%2B14.06.39.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All done. This is before i found out my actual time and place</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Couple of notes to mention that
don’t really fit anywhere. There was a
girl on the ground with a flat tire in T1.
She was asking for someone to help her.
I really wanted to, but I’m just not that non-competitive. I’m not a super competitive person, but I am
enough to not spend 5+ minutes helping a fellow competitor change her
tire. I really felt for her because I’ve
had 2 flats during a race. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other thing is, I saw a lot
of people with flats. It seemed like
more than usual too. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I definitely recommend this race
for a first time race. If you’re looking
for a “big” name race. If you’re looking
for a smaller race, I would recommend Beach 2 Battleship in Wilmington,
NC. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In case you’re wondering, I did
not take the world championship slot to compete in Austria next year. I have a lot of reasons: money, time, and the
possibility to either go to Kona (if I qualify at Florida) or to take my pro
card (if I don’t qualify for Kona). </div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-42326854100878795792014-09-16T14:57:00.001-04:002014-09-17T05:32:39.607-04:00Harvest Moon Triathlon 2014 Race RecapOur friends, Chris and Erica, in Denver, Colorado, are super awesome and kept asking when we were going to visit them again. So, of course I had to plan it around a race. Or at least try. :). I did find one and it was the <a href="http://www.withoutlimits.co/#!harvest-moon-triathlon-duathlon--aqua/c1hxw" target="_blank">Harvest Moon Tri</a> in Aurora, CO. This race is about 30 minutes from where Chris and Erica live (1 point), the race is smaller (1 point), the bike course is hilly (1 point for good training), and there is a slip n' slide at the end just after you cross the finish line (5 points!). Not to give any spoiler alerts, but as cool as the slip n' slide is, I cramped half way through the darn thing. My left inner thigh went totally concave and my right calf completely seized up. A nice gentleman had to come into the slip n' slide and drag me out because I couldn't move. <br />
<br />
Getting there:<br />
Daniel and I flew into Denver on Friday, arriving around 5pm. We flew Southwest, which I have to say is the best airline to take your bike on. They are one of the cheapest ($75 each way and it does not count as one of the 2 free checked bags) and since it's an over-sized baggage they handle it separately from the other baggage. The curb side assistant in Tampa was super nice. He helped pulled the bike up to the side and explained the whole process of how they take care of the baggage. The curb side assistant in Denver was effective, but not quite as helpful/friendly. If you're trying to compare airlines, Frontier also only charges $75 each way and JetBlue charges $50 each way, but it counts as your 1 free checked bag. All the others that I've checked are $150 each way. <br />
<br />
I actually was able to break down my bike and pack it up all by myself. I borrowed a friend's bike box. Thank you Megan! <br />
<br />
Prep Time:<br />
Friday night we visited the Epic Brewery then went down the street to have pizza for dinner. I refrained from drinking any alcohol until Sunday. When we got back to the house, I pretty much just went to bed and didn't set my alarm.<br />
<br />
Saturday I was up around 7am and we, minus Erica, all headed out for a couple mile hike in the Mount Evans area - <a href="http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=bier1&peak=Mt.%20Bierstadt" target="_blank">Mt. Bierstadt</a>. We didn't go too far because I didn't want to wear myself out for Sunday. <br />
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<br />
When we were done, we went home to pick up Erica and then go grab some lunch and beer (for everyone else) to have that night since we weren't planning on going anywhere except for dinner. I had vegetarian biscuits and gravy with fruit and we shared fries for lunch. I wasn't really hungry, but it was delicious and once I started eating I didn't stop until it was all gone. After lunch and going to the beer store, we went to an Organic Grocer's store to pick up some beet juice. Thanks to Erica for helping wrangle the boys and getting me to the store and back to the house in time to set up my bike. <br />
<br />
I started setting up my bike once we made it back home. Daniel and Chris "supervised". It took me about 45 - 60 min. to set up my bike. I was taking my time for sure. Once I was all done, I took my bike around the block for about 10 minutes to make sure that it wouldn't fall apart on me, everything was set properly and my power was working correctly. All was good and I was a happy camper. I took a shower and about 30 minutes later we headed out for some Sushi for dinner. Daniel and I ordered 3 rolls and crab rangoons. We ate almost all of it ourselves. I think we shared a couple of slices with Chris. Nice and full, I headed to bed around 10:30 and realized I hadn't painted my nails yet. So, I got out of bed, did them real quick and hoped I didn't fall asleep and move around too move, messing them up. <br />
<br />
Race Time:<br />
Chris and Daniel got up with me and took me to the race. I had a Smooth Caffeinator Picky Bar for breakfast. 1 hr before the race I took 2 SportsLegs pills, 30 minutes before the race I drank <a href="http://www.x2performance.com/" target="_blank">X2 Performance</a> (I am really liking this stuff) and took an Gu electrolyte pill, and about 15 minutes before the race I ate half a bag of PowerBar strawberry/banana gels. I sprayed on some <a href="http://trislide.com/" target="_blank">TriSlide</a> and used plastic bags to get on my wetsuit and I was able to get it on very quickly. I was kind of in a hurry too because I wanted to warm up in the water before they kicked everyone out. I made it in time for a quick 5 minute warm up that I thought was helpful, but turned out to be almost useless. More on that below. <br />
<br />
Gear and nutrition for the race:<br />
<ul>
<li>Zoot Ultra trisuit with Tribal logo</li>
<li>Tyr earplugs</li>
<li>Tyr Special Ops 2.0 goggles</li>
<li>Wigwam socks</li>
<li>Nike sun visor</li>
<li>Louis Garneau x-tri-lite bike shoes</li>
<li>Tifosi sunglasses</li>
<li>Lazer Tardiz aero helmet</li>
<li>Xentis Mark 1 race wheels</li>
<li>Profile Design aero bullet bottle holder </li>
<li>2XU X2 Project X full wetsuit </li>
<li>Scott T2C running shoes</li>
<li>Fuel Belt race belt</li>
<li><u>Bike nutrition:</u></li>
<li>2 scoops Infinit mix and 1 scoop Fluid - Passion Fruit Tea </li>
<li>Powerbar Waffle</li>
<li>2 SportsLeg pills and 1 electrolyte pill that I lost on the bike course</li>
<li><u>Run nutrition:</u></li>
<li>EFS Liquid Shot - Kona Mocha </li>
<li>oranges, water, and gatorade from the course</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<u>The Swim</u><br />
Time - 33:27<br />
Cat Place - 2<br />
<br />
The swim is an out in back in the Aurora Reservoir. It wasn't as clear as they made it out to be, but at least it didn't taste salty. So, about the warm up. I got in and dunked my head under and immediately was gasping for air because the water was so cold. I dunked my head about 6 or 7 times before I finally started to get used to it. Once I could hold my breath under water, I started swimming around to loosen up my wetsuit a bit. I was in the second wave so I was off quickly. I was only out of the water for about 4 minutes. When my wave went, I got in about 2 strokes before I started gasping for air every time I put my head under the water. I had to swim with my head above water for what felt like the first 400 yards, but was probably more like 200 or 300. Which is still a lot. When I was finally able to swim with my head under the water, I noticed my hair getting caught in the velcro of my wetsuit. It kept pulling my head so I wasn't able to turn my head without extra effort. Very annoying and it started early in the swim. I finally got into a rhythm about half way and of course the water became choppy on the way back. As I came out of the water, I had to yank my hair from the velcro. Ouch! Also, I didn't hit the start button (well, I hit it, twice, but I guess I didn't push hard enough because it didn't start) so I had no idea what my swim time was. <br />
<br />
On a good note, even though my hair got caught in the velcro, my wetsuit felt good. I didn't feel constricted around the neck and shoulders like I usually do. I'm hoping it has a little to do with swimming a few times before the race in my wetsuit to get used to it. <br />
<br />
<u>T1</u><br />
Time - 1:44<br />
Cat Place - 4<br />
<br />
I had to walk for about 20 seconds coming out of the water to catch my breath. I've been trying really hard to just get out and run, regardless of how slow or fast, into T1. But, the initial freak out and having to pull my hair out of the velcro was enough to make me need a quick break. <br />
<br />
The area from the beach to the entrance to T1 is on sand and concrete that is covered with a mat. I really love this. There are some races here at Sand Key in Clearwater and Ft. Desoto in St. Pete that do not cover any part of the concrete and it just kills my feet and slows me down to a walk. <br />
<br />
The Transition area is set up as first come/first serve. So, you can pick where you want to set up at. I chose to set up near the bike exit taking a spot in a four bike stand. They had the standard racks, but I like the stand better. I don't have to worry about bumping bikes with anyone and I can just pull my bike out instead of trying to finagle it out from under the bars. <br />
<br />
<u>The Bike</u><br />
Time - 2:49:58 <br />
Cat Place - 2<br />
<br />
The bike started off good. I already had my shoes clipped in and was able to hop on and ride off quickly. The first 10 miles was 5 miles out and back of rolling hills. The way out was with the wind. The way back was against, but didn't feel too hard I guess because it was still early in the race. The next 25-ish miles were with the wind and slightly downhill. It was great. I was averaging 23 mph + the entire time. Starting around mile 30 was when I started hitting the wind. Some climbing started around 37. Mile 42 is when I really started hitting the big hills. I had one mile at 11.1 mph! Thankfully the elevation never really hit me so at least I wasn't gasping for air for any other reason than just trying to get up the hills. Going down was a lot of fun, but you can never regain the time lost going up the hill. <br />
<br />
The bike course is a 10 mile out and back and then a big square back to the race site. Pretty simple and very few turns. There are 3 aid stations stocked with gels, gatorade and water. I refilled my water bottle once. From the point where you start the big square loop to the first turn of the square loop is about 7 miles. This stretch is my least favorite (even considering the hills at the end). There were these horizontal gashes every 10 feet or so across the whole road. The gashes made the ride very bumpy which was unfortunate because I had the wind on my back and would have loved to just go. But, I kept coming out of my seat because of the bumps and slowing down. I also lost my salt stick dispenser with 2 additional SportsLegs pills and 1 electrolyte pill because of the bumps. Semi trucks were allowed on this road and I almost got blown off the road by one. I was so happy when I finally turned off this road. The rest of the ride was nice. The road was in good condition and the sites were nice and calming.<br />
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<br />
<u>T2</u><br />
Time - :50<br />
Cat Place - 1<br />
<br />
I actually came in 1st overall for women and 9th overall all participants. My T2's are lightning fast. Still working on T1 :).<br />
<br />
<u>The Run</u><br />
Time - 1:51:22<br />
Cat Place - 1<br />
<br />
I always come out of T2 too fast. My first mile was 7:48 and I quickly slowed down as the miles went on. I bounced around a lot from low to mid 8's. My last two miles were 9:06 and 8:52. Starting around mile 5.5 I couldn't feel my legs. I just kept telling myself to keep going, as long as my legs were moving then I was ok. Starting around mile 8.5 my calves started to cramp up. They were more just kind of threatening, like at Beach2Battleship, so I just kept going. Around mile 10 I could feel the stiffness working its way into my quads. At my 11, my calves did cramp, but didn't totally seize up. I had to throw cold water on my legs at the aid stations and stop a couple of times to rub my calves. A couple of times I couldn't really even move my feet, they just felt like wood blocks when I would take step. So, between mile 11 and the end I think I stopped around 4 times to stop and rub out my calves so I could keep running. <br />
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<br />
There is a slip n' slide at the end of the race and I knew I would totally cramp up when I went through it. But, the slip n' slide was one of the reasons I picked this race so I was going to do it anyway, damn it! I made it half way through the slip n' slide and my left quad seized up on me as did my right calf. I couldn't get up or even try to crawl my way out. <br />
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<br />
<br />
I was expecting the run course to be fairly challenging. It is all out in the open with no shade. However, I was not expecting the rollers. The were mild up and downs, but it was constant except for miles 5 - 7. I love that there was an aid station at every mile. Not all small races have that and it was greatly appreciated. All of the stations were stocked and even if the volunteers weren't ready for you, it was easy to grab what you needed because everything was set out. <br />
<br />
<u>Overall</u><br />
Time - 5:17:23<br />
Cat Place - 1/18<br />
Gen Place - 4/145 (3rd excluding elite)<br />
Overall Place - 52/363<br />
<br />
I didn't do as good as I was hoping, but I did do what I was expecting I could do. I don't know if that's necessarily a good or bad thing. I could maybe have pushed a little harder on the bike, but I know that would have meant cramping even earlier on the run. <br />
<br />
I would recommend this race to others. Especially if you live nearby. I would also recommend it for anyone training for a hilly half or full distance race but don't want to pay Ironman price for a 70.3. This race is super cheap if you sign up early enough and cheap (relatively speaking) if you wait and sign up a bit later. You can also get discounts if you can volunteer or get some of your sherpa(s) to volunteer at the race. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-68156589177346087862014-06-27T14:50:00.000-04:002014-07-01T12:10:28.837-04:00Getting Better At SwimmingI dislike swimming the most out of the swim/bike/run trio. I have expressed my dislike to my coach and he nicely said, "...if you don't want to swim, then you should do duathlons". Psh. <br />
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Fiiinnnneee... I'll swim more. So, I was swimming and swimming and swimming and swimming, and... You get the point, right? For almost 2 months I was at the pool/beach 3 - 4 times a week with no improvement. My splits were still the same. This was getting very frustrating because it was taking away precious time that I could be using to get faster/better at biking or running. YouTube to the rescue! Honestly, I think I've watched at least a dozen videos. Maybe even somewhere between 15 and 20. And I took a couple of pointers from the masters swim coach at the new gym I'm going to (Harbour Island Athletic Club). So, for the last 3 months I have been working on my form, making little tweaks here and there, and I have finally started to make some improvements. So much so that some of my training peeps are noticing! Bryan asked me to send some of the YouTube videos that stuck out to me. So, I sent him a whole email and I thought it would be good to post here as well. Hopefully someone who reads this will find something useful out of all the videos. </div>
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Most of my adjustments came from watching how the pros swim. I only posted one video, but there are a bunch online. When they are swimming race pace and in the open water, they all have a high turnover... there is minimal/no gliding. Some of them swing their arms around, almost horizontal to the water, instead of up and over to get the faster turnover. So, one thing I focus on when I'm doing fast and sprint sets is to make sure that I am constantly moving my arms. Gliding can have the potential to create dead spots and slow you down (see the third link below).</div>
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<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND1L8I2ZY5w" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_2816" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Freestyle Stroke Analysis: Pro Triathlete Scott Neyedli</a></div>
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Another adjustment for me was learning that I was an over-glider. This was creating dead spots for me and making me scissor kick when I would take a breath, throwing me off balance and forcing me to work harder on the next stroke to get back up to speed and straighten out. Also, when I would stretch out to try and get more reach, I was lifting my fingertips which was slowing me down. </div>
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Hi there and welcome to Swim Smooth! You know, when I left England in 2001 and became head coach to Australia's largest triathlon club, I encountered a ...</div>
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High stroke rates - How To Develop A Longer Stroke short scrappy stroke technique? lacking stroke length? See related articles: Rhythm, Timing and Strok...</div>
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The 'catch and pull" and "high elbow" phrases/techniques were very confusing to me. I tried bending my elbow to almost 90 degrees because that's what a lot of the videos and articles made it sound like you had to do for high elbow. But, it's not really 90*. When you are doing faster sets, you want closer to a straight arm with a slight bend, like a 150*, and when you are doing steady work you want a "high elbow" which is really like a 120-130* bend in the elbow. </div>
<div class="yiv0736887272" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_6_1403880275864_9" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgPQRrEfUJk" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_4221" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Straight arm vs. High elbow catch freestyle swimming</a></div>
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<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgPQRrEfUJk" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="image" class="yiv0736887272" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/LgPQRrEfUJk/hqdefault.jpg" height="126" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: auto;" width="168" /></a></div>
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</td><td class="yiv0736887272" colspan="2" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_4276" style="border-spacing: 2px; vertical-align: middle; width: 279px;"><div class="yiv0736887272" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_4275" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.5px; min-height: 130px; width: 279px;">
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<span class="yiv0736887272"></span><span class="yiv0736887272"></span><a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgPQRrEfUJk" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_4279" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="yiv0736887272" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_4278" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 4px; max-height: 43px; overflow: hidden;">Straight arm vs. High elbow catch freestyle swimming</span></a></div>
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<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G8keGU_h24" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_4288" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Swimming Technique - Swimming Down A Narrow Corridor</a></div>
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<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G8keGU_h24" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="image" class="yiv0736887272" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/_G8keGU_h24/hqdefault.jpg" height="126" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: auto;" width="168" /></a></div>
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<div class="yiv0736887272" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_6707" style="padding: 7px 20px 0px 14px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="yiv0736887272"></span><span class="yiv0736887272"></span><a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G8keGU_h24" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_6706" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="yiv0736887272" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_6705" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 4px; max-height: 43px; overflow: hidden;">Swimming Technique - Swimming Down A Narrow Corridor</span></a></div>
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2 more videos showing the difference in stroke styles: </div>
<div class="yiv0736887272" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_6_1403880275864_9" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8SEJpvZSOY&feature=channel" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_6649" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part 1</a></div>
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<a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8SEJpvZSOY&feature=channel" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_12017" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="image" class="yiv0736887272" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/L8SEJpvZSOY/hqdefault.jpg" height="126" id="yiv0736887272yui_3_16_0_1_1403880275864_12016" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: auto;" width="168" /></a></div>
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<div class="yiv0736887272" style="padding: 7px 20px 0px 14px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="yiv0736887272"></span><span class="yiv0736887272"></span><a class="yiv0736887272" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8SEJpvZSOY&feature=channel" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="yiv0736887272" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 4px; max-height: 43px; overflow: hidden;">Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part...</span></a></div>
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I don't have a videos for my last 2 adjustments. They are just things that I was told to work on by the masters swim coach at Harbour Island. One is working on finishing the stroke, making sure that my thumb comes close to or even brushes the side of my thigh. This is really important when I start to get tired. I have to remember to relax my shoulders and finish my stroke. This usually helps me keep pace. I don't always worry about this if I'm doing sprint sets, but I try to remember because it does help. The other thing is to rotate more. Well, relax my shoulders and rotate more to get into a better position for a longer reach.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-90176667418066304892014-06-27T14:30:00.001-04:002014-10-03T15:20:03.479-04:00Garmin Vector Pedals - update 1I was supposed to give an update on the pedals a couple of weeks ago. But, they didn't function the way I wanted them to so I made some more adjustments, made some adjustments on my bike seat, made some more adjustments to the pedals, changed my bike seat, changed my bike seat again... yada-yada-yada. Anyway, I didn't want to give an update when I only had faulty data that I didn't know what the cause was. So, as for the pedals, after I have everything pretty much set, or as good as they're going to get for now, they work ok. As far as I can tell, they work exactly like any other power meter. Although, if you don't have the torque right, you're going to get different outputs. Which is annoying because if you take off the pedals, you have to set the torque exactly to how it was before to get the same output. I think this is a user error, but for $1500 and the selling point that they are easy to install and move to different bikes, I think the torque should have some wiggle room and still achieve the same output. I compared the pedals to the CompuTrainer at my LBS and the CompuTrainer was always 10 - 20 watts higher than the Vector. It's not a huge deal because if I'm only using my Vectors then I'm always going to be using the same equipment to measure my output and gauge my effort. It's just a little discouraging to feel like I'm working harder than the power is reading out. Oh well. I'm going to try re-installing the pedals one more time. If it magically starts working how I want it to, then I will post an update. <br />
<br />
<img src="http://hugedork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/crackhead.jpg" height="259" width="320" /><br />
<br />
<br />
10/3/14 Update:<br />
After some trial and errors and taking my time, I have learned how to successfully, install/uninstall/repeat the vector pedals. <br />
<br />
After buying a 15 mm wrench with a long handle, removing the pedals is a lot easier. <br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.1977mopeds.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/9/1977_moped_parts_Park-Tool-15mm-Cone-Wrench-282.jpg" height="166" width="320" /><br />
<br />
If I can't apply enough pressure using my upper body, I steady the bike and use my legs by putting one foot on the wrench and pushing down. But, so far I've only had to do that once. Other times I just need to wrap the handle with a towel so it doesn't dig so much into my hand. <br />
<br />
As far as re-installing them, make sure to add some grease to the threads of the pedals to make it easier to get them off later.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDM1WDY0OA==/$(KGrHqZHJFEE912iNJ,pBPi3nnQy!Q~~60_35.JPG" /><br />
<br />
Hand-tighten the pedals first, then snap in the back piece of the silver/grey pedal pod, then tighten with the regular wrench just enough so that you would need the wrench to unscrew them. Then use the torque wrench with the attached crows foot (the picture below shows 19 mm, but you will need a 15 mm with 3/8'' Drive) to tighten down to the recommended torque: 34 - 40 Nm or 25 lb/ft. I have installed the pedals 3 times successfully. Each time, I set the torque to 40 Nm and my readings have been consistent after each install. So, I recommend just going to the full 40 Nm every time the pedals are installed. <br />
<br />
<img src="http://image.circletrack.com/f/techarticles/ctrp_1111_torque_wrench_myths/33032654/ctrp-1111-04-o%2Btorque-wrench-myths%2Bbeam-type-torque-wrench.jpg" height="320" width="240" /><img src="http://cr4.globalspec.com/PostImages/200906/272912_300_A1F8BC61-EA00-3E5C-7833E1DB20F50064.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Hope this is helpful to someone. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-47317870517639220192014-05-27T15:58:00.002-04:002014-05-27T20:07:20.620-04:00Garmin Vector PedalsSo I took the plunge and invested in a power meter for my bike. And, when I say investment, I really mean it. They are not cheap. I was able to find a decent deal online for the Garmin Vector pedals at $1500. See what I mean? An 'investment'...<br />
<br />
This post is kind of a review, but also a 'lessons learned' about the Garmin Vector. My reasoning for buying the Vector was because it was just as much as the crank set power meters, but I could move them around if I wanted. I had contemplated the Stages power meter (PM), was actually really close to buying them, but then decided that 1) I just bought a new crankset and I didn't want to pay extra to replace one of the cranks and 2) it would be harder to sell if/when I decided to sell them. This is because with the Stages, you have to pick the right crank, or buy the whole crankset which makes it almost as much as the Vectors or any other power meter. So, if I just bought the one crank, in order to sell it I would have to find someone that needed that specific brand crank and size. If this is confusing, you can check out the purchasing options of Stages <a href="http://www.stagescycling.com/stagespower-models" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
On to after the purchase. I got my pedals on Tuesday and was super excited until I spent 2 hours trying to get my old pedals off. They were on so tight neither Daniel nor I could get them off. I was sweaty and aggravated and wanted to throw my bike across the room. <br />
<br />
<img height="288" src="https://theskinnyonmyjeans.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/01-danger.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />
I didn't though. On Wednesday I took my bike to the closest bike shop around me first thing when they opened, smiled big, and asked them to please help me take off my old pedals and put on the new ones. They did. All was good in the world again to me. That is, until I got home and realized that I am an idiot. I put my bike in my car, laying it down on one side Well, it put so much pressure on the pod that it snapped! I didn't notice when I first put my bike in my car, but as soon as I pulled it out, I knew exactly what I did. <br />
<br />
Here's a picture of what the pod is (not broken, not on my bike):<br />
<img src="http://cdn3.coresites.mpora.com/rcuk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/VectorPedalPod1.jpg" height="133" width="200" /><br />
<br />
My next course of action was to super glue it. Which worked, but I had to apply about 5 coats and wait about 4 hours. I put one end of the tape on the back of the pod and the other end on the pedal to hold the pod in place so the glue could dry. It lasted through a 75 min indoor trainer session Wednesday night and about 1.5 hours of a close to 2 hr ride on Saturday. On Wednesday I did two other things. 1) emailed Garmin, told them my story, and asked them if they would send me a free or discounted pod this one time. They emailed me back on Sunday (yeah, 4 days later) and said they would this one time send me a free pod replacement. Minor points deduction for the delayed response (this is only because they do say the will get back to you in about 2 or 3 days) but major points added for sending me a replacement pod. 2) I ordered a pod online that I could get in a few days. I ended up getting the one I ordered online on Saturday.<br />
<br />
After a little lounging around I got to work putting on the new pod. Here is where the 'lessons learned' starts to really kick in. <br />
Lesson 1) You really have to put a lot of elbow grease (weight) into getting the pedals off. I was getting sweaty again and on the verge of tears. I was literally standing on the wrench and pushing down with my foot. <br />
<br />
<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTQ9neCFlDhpZyycdwsk4FnH9iDznWi_03CKcPClXWsOr48UNyX" /><br />
<br />
After about 20 minutes of trying to get the pedal off it finally budged and I was stupid happy. <br />
<img src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSssll4y725uooR5OSZoQ-j30RnD7kYsQtHKc4DuUnZQ3BDG9wr" /><br />
<br />
Lesson 2) When removing or installing pedals, think of removing the pedals as requiring you to loosen the pedals by turning in the same direction as pedaling backward. And, to tighten go the same direction as pedaling forward. All of the videos and tutorials that I watched and read online kept saying that you need to turn the pedals clockwise on the non-drive chain side (side without the chain) and turn it counter-clockwise on the drive chain side. For me, this was kind of confusing. I know what clockwise and counter-clockwise are. For whatever reason, it would just get mixed up in my head. Then I watched one video that mentioned the pedals are self-tightening, so when you pedal they automatically tighten some. Which is why the pedals can get on so tight (Lesson #3 here). And, why for me it seems more logical to think of it as tightening is the same way as pedaling forward and loosening is the same way as pedaling backward.<br />
<br />
Lesson 4) Power meters don't like to talk to your Garmin 910xt or any other wrist GPS device when it's on your wrist, especially when you're outside. When I was riding indoor on Wednesday, I was getting pretty steady data. I didn't really know what to expect, so I thought getting a couple of 2 or 3 second drops a minute was ok. I went for an outdoor ride on Saturday and got hardly any readings at all. I figured it was because the broken pod that was super glued just wasn't working right. But, Saturday I put on the new pod, re-calibrated and rode on Sunday. Sunday I got about 10 minutes worth of power data out of an hour ride. Can you feel my frustration at this point? I went online and scoured the internet forums for something, anything, that would help me. I finally came across a forum where it was an actual Garmin support staff answering the questions. Someone had the same problem as me and it turns out that when you wear the watch on your wrist, the signal can't reach the watch as well as if it were in the middle of the handlebars. It semi-works indoors because the signal can bounce off the walls and then eventually hit the Garmin (hence why I was some worthwhile readings on Wednesday night). <br />
<br />
So, after all of this, I will try one more ride indoor and one outdoor using the power meter tomorrow and Thursday with my watch on the bike in between my bars. Not sure where I'm going to put it, but I'll try to finagle something and will post my outcome. Wish me luck! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-68974491914207382472014-05-06T11:56:00.001-04:002014-05-06T11:56:55.989-04:00On My Mind UpdateI posted a lot in <a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2014/03/on-my-mind.html">'On My Mind'</a>, so thought I should give an update on it all. <br />
<br />
1) Isagenix - I deem the 9 day cleanse successful. It's been over a month and I have been able to keep 5 of the 9 pounds that I lost off. I will take on the 'Race to Maintenance' at the beginning of August to get ready for Augusta and IMFL. My reason for waiting until August is to train heavy and race light. 'Race to Maintenance' is 5 days of Shake Days with 1 to 2 normal meals and snacks throughout the day, then 2 Cleansing Days. Repeat until you reach the desired weight. <br />
<br />
2) Harbour Island Athletic Club - I think I am going to stick with this club. Everyone really is super nice and I haven't missed any of my swims in the last 2 months. This is because I can't use the excuse 'I don't have enough time'. Because really, 99% of my swim workouts are only about an hour. Meaning, I can leave my house and be back in 1.5 hours. It's hard to talk myself out of swimming when I know it will only take me 7 minutes to make it to the pool. <br />
<br />
3) Strength Training - I have been sticking to my strength training regimen of at least 2 days plus the one day of strength training with Jon. Some weeks this makes my legs or arms dead for the tri training stuff, i.e. swim, bike, run, but I just try to push through my workouts and give all that I can. No rest for the weary, or wicked ;). I have also been sticking to my plan of not eating carbs at night unless I have a big training day or race the next day and not eating before a workout if the workout is less than 90 minutes. I think both of these have contributed to me keeping off those extra pounds. <br />
<br />
4) Races -<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>HITS went pretty good. I finished 5th female overall, 1st in my a/g. Definitely glad that I dropped down to the Olympic distance.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Swim - 27:17<br />
Bike - 1:15:26<br />
Run - 44:44<br />
Total time - 2:30:16<br />
My bike could have been better, but there was quite a bit of wind. Everyone was talking about it after the race so I was glad it wasn't just me being a wimp. My run was awesome though. The time off and dropping to the Olympic distance was a good idea. I didn't have any issues with my Achilles. This is the first time I've participated in a HITS race. I enjoyed it. The venue was good; setup and coordination were good also. I would do this race again and recommend it to others. <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>You can check out the recap for Haines City 70.3 <a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2014/05/ironman-703-haines-city-2014-race-recap.html">here</a>.</li>
<li>Hurricane Man was cancelled because of weather. I ended up doing 80 laps in the pool (booooo! Soooo boring!) </li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-20137194034278486522014-05-01T14:42:00.000-04:002014-05-06T17:16:14.511-04:00Ironman 70.3 Haines City 2014 Race RecapThis race turned out good so I feel obligated to write a recap. If for nothing else, to help remember what I did pre- and during- race time. <br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday 04/08/14</b><br />
75' Spin, 45' ROB (run off the bike). I asked the class if they would stay for 75' because that's what I had on my training plan and they agreed. It was nice to have the company AND not have to change my training. For the run, I was supposed to find a hill, but there is no such thing around where I live. I got on the treadmill and tried to mimic the first two of the three loops of the race run course. This was the workout:<br />
.3 mile @ 0 incline, easy pace<br />
1 mile @ 5 incline, 9:27 pace<br />
.25 mile @ 0 incline, 8:00 pace<br />
.25 mile @ 3 incline, 8:00 pace<br />
2.7 mile @ 0 incline, 7:47 pace<br />
1 mile @ 5 incline, 9:27 pace<br />
.25 mile @ 0 incline, 8:00 pace<br />
.25 mile @ 3 incline, 8:00 pace<br />
.55 mile @ 0 incline, 7:30 pace<br />
Run time - 56'<br />
Run distance - 6.55 miles<br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday 04/09/14</b><br />
100's to failure swim, 30' easy run, and 30' strength training. This is the last day that I did any strength training and it was mostly body weight stuff and some abs. On the run, I tried to do 30' of the same workout from the previous day but with a little more warm up and cool down.<br />
Swim distance - 3000m. I did 18 - 100's between 1:34 and 1:37<br />
Run distance 3.2 miles<br />
<br />
<b>Thursday 04/10/14</b><br />
45' Bike, 30' ROB. The run was supposed to be a progressive run, getting faster for mile 3 and 4.<br />
Bike distance - 18.1 miles<br />
Run distance - 4 miles<br />
<br />
<b>Friday 04/11/14</b><br />
I did not workout at all on Friday. I did, however, have 4 glasses of wine, coal fired oven wings, and half a pie of pizza from Cristino's in Ybor for dinner. That place is soooo good!<br />
This is the day that I started drinking 8 oz. of beet juice... 3 days of beet juice, up to and including race day. I drank it before I started drinking. <br />
<br />
<b>Saturday 04/12/14</b><br />
I did a short 10 min. swim to test out a wetsuit I was borrowing since I have a nice hole in the crotch of mine. Suit worked out nicely. When I was done, I put on my running shoes and did a 2 mile test run of the course. Mostly to tackle the awful hill that is at the beginning of every loop to get a feel for it. <br />
I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Ezekiel bread for breakfast. I didn't eat again until 5:00. I grabbed some sushi from Publix and a yo-yo cookie. I've always had some sort of sweet the night before a race or even the morning of. I used to eat mini powdered donuts before races. But, now I just stick to the night before. I ate the sushi around 5:00 and held off eating half the cookie until 6:30. I save the other half for after the race. Throughout the day I was sipping on a 24 oz bottle of Gatorade. 2nd day of beet juice. I was in bed by 8:00<br />
<br />
<b>Race Day! Sunday 04/13/14</b><br />
I set my alarm for 4:10 AM. That gave me 30' to get ready. My plan was to eat at 4:30 (2 hours and 48 minutes before my wave) and be out the door by 4:45. I actually was done by 4:40, but didn't pull out until about 4:50. <br />
Breakfast:<br />
Bagel from Publix with whipped peanut butter and banana slices. Last 8 oz of beet juice. Monster vanilla light coffee drink. I drank half of this and then threw it out. I didn't want it to upset my stomach, but I wanted the calories, nutrients, and of course caffeine!<br />
I got to the race site around 5:10, 5 minutes to park, and was in transition by 5:45. Sarah and Shirah turned out to be racked right next to me. So, I chatted with them for a bit while I was setting up my area. I thought my back tire was a little low, so I borrowed someone's pump and filled it up. The transition isn't the best. It's U shaped and slightly uphill. I was at the bottom of the U. So, it made it easy to find my bike at least. They had water in the transition area for you to fill up your bike and there was also a bike mechanic around to help with pumping up tires or checking out other quirks. After I left transition, I walked to meet the rest of the TRIBAL and Mad Dog groups. Kelly was nice enough to watch my transition bag so I didn't have to take it all the way back to my car. I went to the bathroom shortly after meeting up with them and that was the only time I had to go. I didn't have any stomach issues or have to pee the entire race. I did get a little nervous pee in the beginning but I was able to take care of that in the water (ewww. LOL). 30 minutes before the swim, I took a gel.<br />
My outfit - LG tri top, SOAS tri shorts (LOVE THESE SHORTS!!!), nike pro compression sports bra <br />
<br />
Let's get to the good stuff:<br />
<br />
<b>Swim course:</b><br />
This swim is a little weird. It's in the shape of an M, so there are a lot of turns and you need to do a lot of sighting. I think this was the first year ever that wet suits were allowed because they moved the race up a month and so it was still cool enough for suits. Not freezing though, which was nice. When you get in and out of the water, it's very mushy and grassy. Feels really gross under your feet. There are also patches of deep holes (for me at least) that require you to keep swimming when you think you should be close enough to shore to walk. <br />
<b>Execution:</b><br />
I used a borrowed Xterra sleeveless wetsuit, used my Tyr Special Ops goggles, and remembered to use my Tyr ear plugs. Those things are amazing! <br />
I recently read some article on tips for mastering the swim. I took away a few pointers and tried them out on this race. <br />
1) warm up beforehand. To do this, I ran back and forth in the sand about 5 times to get my legs loose and air and blood pumping through me. Once I was in the water, I dunked under a few times and swam side to side and out and back (wherever I could find room). <br />
2) position yourself on the outside, furthest from the first turn buoy. This is to avoid getting caught in the 'windmill' where arms and legs are just flailing everywhere. I started in the front on the far left.<br />
3) don't stop swimming. Even if you grab someone, just keep swimming. I am really bad about this. As soon as I see bubbles in front of my I think feet around are going to start kicking right in front of me and I will stop. Every time I accidently grab someone's leg or foot, I stop and see what's around me. This time, I just keep swimming. Except for one time when I pulled some guys arm down. I stopped to say I was sorry. <br />
In the end, I was happy with all these points. I will continue to execute them and hopefully it will work in IMFL. <br />
I should mention that the swim coach at Harbour Island Athletic Club also gave me a couple of pointers on my swimming style that I thinking helped me. <br />
1) open up more. Meaning, don't swim sense tense with everything so close together. Reach my arms out as far as I can<br />
2) follow through on the stroke. Instead of cutting the stroke short when pulling it out of the water, follow through. I like this better than short strokes anyway. I am not a sprinter. To me, short strokes are for sprinters. <br />
When I got out of the water, I started unzipping my suit and running up the sand hill. I didn't stop or slow down. <br />
Swim time - 35:11. I wanted to do under 33 minutes. Oh well. <br />
Division rank - 6<br />
<br />
T1 - 3:20<br />
<br />
<b>Bike course:</b><br />
The bike course starts off with a nice little hill right when you get out of transition. If you do this race, REMEMBER to set your gears to easy. After you get pass the first .5 mile, it's relatively flat and fast until mile 27 in which the climbs start. They end around mile 42. The wind wasn't too bad this year. There are 3 stations, one about every 15 miles stocked with water, Perform, bananas, and gels. Probably some other stuff, but that's what I remember. <br />
<b>Execution</b><br />
I put on sunglasses that were driving me bonkers in the beginning because they wouldn't sit right with my helmet. I almost threw them on the ground and said forget it, but I just bought them and didn't want to look for or pay for another pair. I used my Lazer Tardiz aero helmet, a pair of Wigwam socks, and LG Tri-Lite bike shoes. For my nutrition, I had 2 scoops of Infinit and 1 squirt of MiO Energy in a bottle on my back holder and water in my Profile Design bullet water bottle that sits between my handle bars. I also had 2 gels in my bento box. I drank the Infinit mix about every 15 minutes and took the gels at mile 25 and 50.<br />
I didn't even make it a half mile before I saw that I had a flat tire. I used the same wheels that I used at Des Moines and the same thing happened. I pumped my back tire up in the morning, and by the time I got on the bike, it was flat. I was pissed, but glad I brought Pit Stop this time. I was back on the road in less than 2 minutes, but was praying the whole time that my tire would hold up. Thankfully it did. I have to say that tubular tires are kind of a pain and are expensive to replace the tire. But, fixing that flat in 2 minutes was awesome. <br />
Bike time - 2:39:19. My goal was 2:40:00. So, I did pretty good considering I had to give up 2 minutes to fix the flat. <br />
Division rank - 8<br />
<br />
T2 - 1:58<br />
<br />
<b>Run course:</b><br />
The run course is hard. It's 3 loops, with each loop starting off with a .8 mile ascent. There is very little shade. There are aid stations about every mile with ice, water, Perform, gels, pretzels, oranges, bananas, and coke. <br />
<b>Execution</b><br />
I took 3 gels with me on the run. I put them in my shirt pockets at the beginning of the race. So, when I got to T2, I just needed to slide on my run shoes and grab my race belt and visor. Shoes I wore were KSwiss Kwicky QT2 (LOVE THESE SHOES), race belt was Fuel Belt with just the bib holder, and the visor was my usual black Nike visor. My plan was to take a gel at mile 3, 6.5, and 10. It ended up being 3, 6, and 9. I had a couple of oranges on the course, a couple cups of Perform, lots of water, and 1 cup of coke at the very beginning. These were my thoughts:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>"Run Happy... with good form". </li>
<li>"Who am I? I am a Champion!" - I got this from a motivational video I watched on YouTube about a week before the race. It was simple and easy enough to remember but tough enough to keep me pushing myself</li>
</ul>
<br />
I didn't stop running except for through one aid station on the last loop. I tried not to look at my watch and just run. Not worrying about how fast or slow I was going. <br />
Run time - 1:48:15. My goal was 1:45. But, I am not upset with a 3 minute difference. <br />
Division rank - 5<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WpidNhFjTgA/U2WHHICfVUI/AAAAAAAAAcE/TFHBXnKgPfs/s1600/Haines+City+70.3+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WpidNhFjTgA/U2WHHICfVUI/AAAAAAAAAcE/TFHBXnKgPfs/s1600/Haines+City+70.3+2014.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<br />
Overall time - 5:08:03<br />
Division place - 5<br />
<br />
I missed the World Championship slot by 11 seconds. There were two slots available. 1st and 2nd didn't take the slots so it rolled down. 3rd and 4th place took the slots. And, I missed 4th place by 11 seconds. I try to think about all the ways I could have made up 11 seconds. Not having a flat tire is #1. Not stopping at the aid station, paying more attention to my pace on the run, not stopping to fix the timing chip that was digging into my ankle... Woulda, shoulda, coulda. I didn't go into this race trying to qualify for World's. I just wanted to beat my time from last year. Which I did by 14 minutes. I like racing. Not stressing about how I'm going to afford racing. So, it's probably better that I didn't get it. The World Championship for 70.3 this year is in Mont-Tremblanc, Canada. I could probably do 2 or 3 other Half or Full races for the price tag that it would cost me to race in Canada. At least at the Hy-Vee 5150 Championship, if you place high enough you win money. <br />
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-2818667530805548292014-03-28T07:32:00.001-04:002014-03-28T07:32:21.123-04:00Isagenix 9 Day CleanseThe 9 day Isagenix cleanse is over. It's actually 11 days, but either way, it's over. And, I'm going to have pizza tonight for dinner and I'm going to enjoy every last bite. I'm going to give a quick review and then let you know my results.<br />
<br />
I know there are some studies out there that say it takes 7 days or 2 weeks or 30 days to break a habit. Well, if it's 7 days, it's a lie! After 7 days, I miss eating whenever I feel like it. That includes just mindless eating in front of my computer while I work or during a movie or while at a friendly get together with finger foods. Rarely am I ever actually hungry in these instances, but damn it, if I see a Dorito I want it. That being said, there were only a handful of times, maybe 2 or 3 that I felt really and truly hungry. I was also able to get in all of my workouts without passing out. Although, my last 2 swims were challenging and I cut the last swim short by 450m. On Saturday 3/22 I had a Honey Stinger Waffle in the morning before a 3 hour swim-bike-run training day. I had one gel before starting the run and a protein bar that is allowed for my recovery/lunch. On Sunday, I had track and completed 7.5 miles on one shot of the e+ energy that comes with the cleansing pack. After track, I had the morning protein shake, ran some errands and went home. When I got home, I convinced Daniel to go to the gym with me to lift some weights for about 40 minutes and did a 1 mile run with the dogs when we got back. I took a shower, drank my afternoon protein shake and then Daniel and I tackled cleaning for about 2.5 hours. This is one of those days that I felt really and truly hungry, to the point that I was light headed and could barely think straight or talk. It wasn't late enough to eat dinner so I laid down to sleep to ignore the hunger. I don't even have the words to describe how wonderful it felt to eat when Daniel and I finally got to eat dinner.<br />
<br />
Let me back track a little and explain how the plan works (high-level). It's 11 days long. The first 2 days are pre-cleanse days that are just add'l 'Shake Days', followed by 2 Deep Cleanse days, 5 Shake days, and ending with 2 Deep Cleanse days. What are Deep Cleanse and Shake days. See below:<br />
<br />
Deep Cleanse days - these are days where there is no real solid food except for 3 servings of one of the available snack options. Every few hours you are either drinking the cleanser mix or eating a snack. All-in-all on these days, the calorie intake is anywhere between 420 and 500 calories.<br />
<br />
Shake days - on these days, you have an Isagenix protein shake for breakfast. For lunch and dinner you can have either another shake or you can have a 400 - 600 low glycemic healthy meal. You get a snack (options are listed for you but are generally no more than 50 or 60 calories) between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. Depending on your lunch, dinner, and snack options, you're looking at anywhere between 1100 and 1500 calories. <br />
<br />
I don't know if completing this cleanse was easier or harder than racing Beach2Battleship. As I was half way through the 1st of the last 2 days of the Deep Cleanse (last Wednesday), I was struggling to not snack on anything. And, then I thought about the saying that I've seen around "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels". I got angry at this. Instead, I thought "Nothing feels as good as full feels". Not stuffed, but full. That wonderful feeling when you've eaten something so delicious and you're stomach is happy, you're brain is happy, and you're just smiling from ear to ear. Sorry, maybe that's just me, but eating makes me happy. Maybe this is a habit that I need more time to break. But, I'm not sure I want to. <br />
<br />
Anyway, away from the tangent. I hope that I am able to keep the weight off. Hopefully I will if I can contain how many calories I am taking in. I guess one good lesson from this cleanse is now I know that I really don't need as much food to workout as I thought. Before I was taking in calories in some form or other before, during, and after just about every single workout. I didn't notice any significant difference in my training during this cleanse, except the last two swims that were on the deep cleanse days. <br />
<br />
OK. Now onto the results (drum roll please)...<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 316px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 4169; mso-width-source: userset; width: 86pt;" width="114"></col>
<col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2706; mso-width-source: userset; width: 56pt;" width="74"></col>
<col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 86pt;" width="114"></td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64">Weight</td>
<td style="width: 56pt;" width="74">Body Fat %</td>
<td style="width: 48pt;" width="64"> Water%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Friday 3/14/14</td>
<td align="right">123.8</td>
<td align="right">17.9</td>
<td align="right">61.3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Monday 3/17/14</td>
<td align="right">128</td>
<td colspan="2"> * see notes below</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Friday 3/21/14</td>
<td align="right">119.4</td>
<td align="right">16.9</td>
<td align="right">62.7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Thursday 3/27/14</td>
<td class="xl65"> 116.8</td>
<td class="xl65"> 15.8</td>
<td class="xl65"> 63.4</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 380px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 4169; mso-width-source: userset; width: 86pt;" width="114"></col><col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 2706; mso-width-source: userset; width: 56pt;" width="74"></col><col span="2" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col></colgroup><tbody></tbody></table>
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* The weekend before I crashed on my bike during a group training ride in Haines City. I took a pretty nasty fall and had to call the rest of the day quits. My hands hurt so bad that I just laid around Saturday and Sunday, taking anti-inflammatory and pain meds. I don't remember eating 2 bags of Oreos or anything else that would cause me to gain 5 pounds over the weekend, but that's what the scale said and I wanted to mark my weight on the day we started. <br />
<br />
In case you're curious about my workouts:<br />
3/17 Monday - off<br />
3/18 - 1 hr spin class and 40 min strength (legs and abs)<br />
3/19 - :40 bike trainer<br />
3/20 - 1:06 swim (3000m) and :45 min strength (upper and abs)<br />
3/21 - off<br />
3/22 - :30 min o/w swim, 90' tempo ride (30.62 miles), 34 min run (4 miles)<br />
3/23 - 1:17 track (7.69 miles). Went to the gym a few hours later for legs and abs<br />
<br />
3/24 - off. I was scheduled to do a swim, but it was raining outside and I didn't want to take a chance on it lightning. OK, I know. Lame. My rationale at 5:30 in the morning is not always sensical<br />
3/25 - 1 hr spin, 30 min treadmill run (3.25 miles), 30 strength (upper)<br />
3/26 - :41 run (5 miles), 1:08 swim (3000m) - main set of this was 50 X 50 on 60"... yeah, barely made it through this one and the last 10 I had to take an extra 5 - 10" rest<br />
3/27 - :57 swim (completed 2550m of 3000m). The last 450 consisted of 50s X 5 with 20" between each and a 200m cool down. I could do it. My arms were jell-o. <br />
<br />
In conclusion, cleansing is hard. Especially if you enjoy eating. But, I'm glad I did this and got through it. I am at a weight that I am much happier at. My biggest concern is trying to maintain this weight within 2 or 3 pounds. Anyone do other cleanses that they hated or liked? <br />
<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-79386342266853636292014-03-07T15:46:00.001-05:002014-05-06T11:57:45.963-04:00On My MindI haven't written in a while. Sometimes I'm motivated to get something on here and sometimes (most times) I would like work out or sleep than write something on here. I wish I could just think something and have it translated into words and posted on here. I do like having a sort of diary of my activities and thoughts but it's just more work to do to put it to paper (or blog). <br />
<br />
Anywho, quick overview of what's on my mind:<br />
<br />
I'm fat. OK, not obese or anything. But, for being involved in endurance sports and trying to compete, I am fat. This is relative to my current situation, so no one get in a tizzy. I've gained a lot of weight (for me) and have decided to do the Isagenix 9 day cleanse. I hope it works because that -ish is not cheap, or really even reasonable if I'm being honest. But, if it works and kick starts me losing weight then I can at least say it was worth it. <br />
Details of current sitchiation (yes, I misspelled that on purpose): Current weight is 125.6 (that was this morning). I was 127 on Monday afternoon. Even the 125 is 10 pounds heavier than I was during B2B 2.5 years ago and 16 pounds heavier than I was when I was in tip-top shape (108, 14% bf, 2008). I would like to get between 110 and 115. Specifically, around 112 +/- 2 pounds and at 14% bf +/- 1%. I know 108 is almost un-achievable at this point since my bone structure has changed. I know this because when I was 108, I wore a 32A comfortably. Now, a 34B is comfortable when I have it on the loosest latch.<br />
Action plan: <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>No carbs at night unless I have a big training day in the morning. </li>
<li>No breakfast before morning workouts. If the workout is longer than 90 minutes then I will have something or bring a gel, depending on the length, intensity, and type of the training session. I have been doing this for 3 weeks now. I thought that I would be super hungry during my workouts. Especially the mornings that I had spin or swimming. But, so far I have not felt hungry or un-energized during my workouts. </li>
<li>Isagenix 9-day detox. The 9 day detox users have an average of 7 pounds lost. So, if I can lose at least 4 pounds then I will consider that successful and will think about doing the 30 day weight loss plan to lose the remaining 8 - 10 pounds.</li>
<li>Adding 2+ strength training sessions to my weekly workouts. I currently do 1 day with Jon for functional strength training, so this is in addition to that. I have been going to the gym during my lunch breaks on Tuesday and Wednesday or Friday for 30 - 40 minutes of just pure strength training - dead lifts, squats, leg press, pull ups, curls, tri extensions, etc. Nothing fancy, just working on strength. This is because you burn more fat with more muscle. I have been doing this for 3 weeks now too. </li>
</ul>
<div>
I'm trying out a new gym - Harbour Island Athletic Club. They are expensive. But, they have everything I need (classes, weights, and pool) in one place and it's only 2 miles from where I live. Currently I have 2 gym memberships - one at Powerhouse which is 1 mile away and is strictly weights and cardio; the other is at LA Fitness which has everything I need, but the closest one is 5 miles from my house, is usually crowded, and sometimes charges me $5 because it's a Signature Club of which I am not a member. Between Powerhouse and LA Fitness I pay $70/mo. HIAC is $125. Like I said, it's expensive. I've tried it out for a week and so far it's been pretty nice. I don't have to wake up quite as early in the morning to go swimming and it takes me hardly any time to get home (7 min to be exact). Meanwhile, the closest LA Fitness on a good day with the light's being nice and there being little traffic, a one-way trip will take me 20 minutes. That's 40 minutes minimum out of my day just to go swim. I tried out a group class today and it was great. Reminded me of a boot camp class I used to take at Bally's about 6 years ago and I think contributed significantly to being in such great shape at the time. Everyone has been really nice too. The front desk people, the members, and the trainers. So, that's that. Daniel's not into spending $100 to join that gym, but he gets 2 free months with me and then he can move over to Powerhouse or whatever. I was hoping we would get to work out together, but after the 2 month free trial for Daniel I'm not sure that is going to happen.</div>
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Race updates:</div>
<div>
I somehow hurt my Achilles during Charleston Marathon. Running RnR New Orleans 2 weeks later and then Gasparilla Half Marathon 2 weeks after that didn't help. So, I am still trying to take it easy. Easy meaning my longest run since Gasparilla has been 4 miles, one time, last weekend. I have decided not do to the Sarasota Half Marathon even though I really like that race. But, I need more rest on my Achilles/ankle and more time on my bike. Jon is going to get a group together the same weekend to ride the bike course of Haines City 70.3. So, that will be more beneficial to me than running Sarasota. I am also dropping from the Half Distance to the Olympic Distance for HITS Ocala which is 2 weeks before Haines City. And, I signed up for the Hurricane Man 2.4 mile swim on 5/3. I have no goal for the swim. I told Jon that I don't even want to train specifically for it. Meaning I don't want extra training time devoted to swim just for this race. I am doing it so that I can skip a pool session :) and to get a feel for a 2.4 mile open water swim in preparation for IMFL. I would like to try to swim it how I would any long race (at about 80 - 85% of max) and see where I come in at. I never give 100% in the swim of a race because it wears me out too much. I like to build in my races. Meaning, I start out at about 85% of max for the swim, progress to about 95% of max for the bike and then give whatever I have left for the run. This works great for the longer distances, for me. For the sprints and sometimes even the Olympic distance races, it's balls-to-the-wall all out effort until the end. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431552645383250163.post-75970785578075766262014-01-02T16:28:00.001-05:002014-01-02T16:28:35.827-05:002013 Recap, 2014 ThoughtsEveryone else is posting a 'year in review' kind of thing so I figured I would put one out too. Not sure how much I'm actually going to remember about the year, but let's give it a shot.<br />
<br />
I had some good races:<br />
<a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2013/04/spring-is-in-air.html">Sarasota Half Marathon</a><br />
<a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2013/05/2-4-1-part-one-st-anthonys-olympic.html">St. Anthony's Olympic Distance</a><br />
<a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2013/11/2013-rev-3-tri-venice-fl-race-recap.html">Rev3 Half Distance</a><br />
<br />
Some not so good races:<br />
<a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2013/10/long-over-due-race-recaps.html">Hy-Vee Championship</a><br />
<br />
And, a race I will never forget:<br />
<a href="http://sweatysportsbras.blogspot.com/2013/05/boston-marathon-recap-2013.html">Boston Marathon</a><br />
<br />
I made some new friends and had to temporarily say good-bye Sarah.<br />
<br />
Here is the breakdown of my training (from Training Peaks):<br />
<br />
Swim - 244,892 yds (139 miles), 83:56:10<br />
Bike - 2,659.78 miles, 191:36:31<br />
Run - 1,240.48 miles, 187:52:19 (this includes road races)<br />
Strength - 111:12:33<br />
<br />
Yeah, that was a lot more than I would have guessed. Especially for the swim. <br />
<br />
I qualified to race as a pro/elite at Rev3 Sarasota and I am planning on taking the opportunity (for now). I want to see how much better I can get over the next 6 months first. I think how I perform this coming summer will tell me if I really am ready for the challenge. I know I"m going to have to put in even more hours training and at a higher intensity that in 2013. So, if I can make it through the summer and still want more, then I will be more confident taking the pro card. I know I am going to get my ass handed to me and I know it's going to hurt every time even though I know it's going to happen. I think what's going to hurt even more is that I probably will not place in anything. At least for the first year. This is what I'm telling myself now anyway. <br />
<br />
Other thoughts for 2014:<br />
Non-tri Life - Well, I'm getting married in about 6 weeks. So, that's a biggie. Daniel is done with school so we are planning on doing a big trip this year since we didn't get to go anywhere (non-race related) last year. I'm looking forward to spending time with Daniel... when I'm not training of course. My goal for 2014 is to balance work-tri-personal life. I want to focus on my personal life more. This is something that doesn't come very easily for me. I am so much better at spending hours working out than doing anything that involves human interaction for longer than 30 minutes... unless I'm drinking ;)<br />
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Tri-life - I'm working with Jon full time until at least IMFL. I'm sure he's going to kick my butt with training and has already warned me that after my two marathons coming up I was going to have to put in more time at the pool, ugh. I'm dreading it already. So, I still don't really have goals here. A broad streaking one is to be bad ass for IMFL. Is that good enough? LOL. It'll have to do for now. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05666912494447833177noreply@blogger.com0