Jul 26 0 comments
Recipes

Making something out of nothing

What’s a hungry girl to do when she leaves her credit card with her brother-in-law, has no groceries in the house, and it’s dinner time?

Improvise, that’s what.

I usually keep my fridge fully stoked; people would think it’s for a whole family… Nope, just me. I had plans most evenings last week and wasn’t home much at all over the weekend. I planned to do a full re-stock tonight (even hit Costco), but when I realized I was money-less those plans were shattered.

Luckily, I bought some fresh yellow tomatoes at the local Farmer’s market on Saturday and they became the basis of my meal. I started there and made stuff up as I went along. Emptying the embarrassingly stark fridge of nearly-past-their-prime ingredients, I discovered half a zucchini, some spinach, mixed greens, blueberries, baby cucumber, and a few pieces of kale. I sorta felt like I was on an episode of “Chopped”– here are some random, don’t belong together ingredients., now concoct an elaborately gourmet meal.. GO!

I sliced the beautiful tomatoes, tossing out the ends and set them aside. I took the zucchini and cut it into slices and placed them into a greased saute pan set on high. I sprinkled with some Italian seasoning and let them handle themselves. Next I sprinkled a tiny bit of Sea Salt and a droplet of Olive Oil on the wimpy amount of kale that I had. I got my hands dirty and massaged the leafy greens until they were wilted. I set them aside and chopped the zucchini, half the plum, and half a yellow onion I found. I placed all the greens (except kale) in a large bowl and tossed in the rest of the veggies. I threw in a handful of blueberries, drizzled a bit of oil, dijon, and red wine vinegar and thoroughly mixed everything together. I poured the salad on the plate, topped it with the kale and garnished with a few flax seeds.

I went into my garden and picked a few leaves of fresh Basil and brought them in for my “Napoleons”. I placed one slice of tomato on the plate, topped it with one basil leaf and one slice of zucchini and a drop of oil. I repeated these steps until I used the whole tomato. I drizzled the tower with some high quality balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of Sea Salt. I added the rest of the zucchini to the plate and Voila! Dinner is served.

Not a fully raw meal, but delicious nonetheless and I enjoyed every bite.

Now tomorrow night might not be as impressive if I can’t get my card back. Something tells me that half a plum, some almond milk, San Pellegrino, baby carrots, and random condiments can be combined by even the most accomplished of chefs to create anything edible.

Tags: , , , , , ,
You can edit this ad by going editing the index.php file or opening /images/exampleAd.gif
Jul 12 0 comments
Race Report

BFAST Triathlon Race Report

Triathlons are not new to me, but sprint tri’s? A whole new beast. I know how to race/pace for an olympic and a half iron distance, but these short distance races are all new. That became wildly apparent three (swim, bike, and run) times during the race…

After doing as much prep work as I could, I actually found myself in bed by 10:30 the night before. I always try for an early bedtime, but rarely does it actually happen. Though I think 4:30 in the a.m. comes far too quickly no matter what time you call “lights out”. I decided to wait til morning to make the last minute judgment call of whether or not to bike myself to the race site or use my car. Pressing snooze 3 times pretty much made my decision for me. Car it was. In fact, I started the day way later than I wanted and ended up cutting it pretty close. i ate my egg whites while i quickly braided my hair, scarfed down my oatmeal while zipping up my tri suit, grabbed my bags and crossed my fingers that I remembered everything. I sorta miss the nerves and anticipation I used to get on race morning– I was so much more prepared…

I arrived at Mickler’s, which i’ve gotten to know quite well. it’s either my turn around point on my weekday rides or a landmark I pass on my longer rides. either way, i see this place pretty much daily. After waiting in line to pick up my chip I found my rack and set up my transition. It was a small race - capped at 500, which was sorta nice. Most everyone there was out there to have a good time and it was clear that the pressure that comes with a lot of races wasn’t present.

Photo Credit: Marni Sumbal

Photo Credit: Marni Sumbal

Swim

The race was a beach start (obviously, i mean i do live in florida!). I was in the 3rd wave (along with all other women), just behind the Age Group Men. The water was pleasantly calm and cooperative– a first on raceday! Unlike bigger races, our coundown was just that. A verbal countdown “10 . 9 . 8 . 7 …. 3 . 2 . 1 .. GO!”. It works, I suppose, but it definitely made me smile :) We were off. After a good run and several dolphin dives we were able to start swimming. I found myself falling back into my old pattern of completely losing all form and swimming like I’m a newbie. What gives? I kept trying to mentally change my patterns and let my form carry me, but for whatever reason I was having a hard time. I was swimming ok, but not great and certainly not fast enough. I was swimming at a pace just a tad faster than I would a warm up and once I turned the 4th and final buoy and realized the swim was pretty much over, I knew I didn’t stand a chance to make up for the lost time. Even a sprint at this point wouldn’t cover the ground I lost. Tooooo slow.

Swim Time: 8:49; AG Place: 4

T1

Holy cow. WORST . TRANSITION . EVER .
So the unfortunate thing about a sprint race is that you really have no time to spare. Losing time during transition is pretty hard to make up. A speedy T1 is crucial. It was a long jaunt from the swim exit (through the sand) back up to transition, which I actually felt like I held a pretty good clip and passed several men along the way. As I entered T1 one of the volunteers called out “8th place in women!” I thanked him and rushed to my bike. I tried to scrape as much sand off my feet as I could but decided time was more important and pulled on my socks on my (pretty filthy) feet. Helmet and sunglasses on and feet in my bikes, I pulled my bike off the rack and ran toward the mount line. Here’s where things went wrong. I regretably found a spot directly behind another guy trying to mount his bike and since he had trouble, I couldn’t start and I had two other people file in on either side of me. i was stuck! As soon as I got the chance, i fumbled a little and clipped my foot in and started to take off.. well, part of me. I can’t remember the last time I had a hard time clipping in… but today I just couldn’t get my left shoe to click. More wasted time…

T1 time: 2:42

Bike

This is the first and only race I’ve ever done with my power tap, so i was really excited knowing when I got home I’d be able to see the data from an actual race! I wish I kept repeating the word “race” in my head over and over again, because somehow in the 16 mile course, I seemed to have forgotten that’s what this actually was. I wasn’t holding back, but I certainly wasn’t treating it like a TT. I felt strong and I was passing men like it was my job, but I hate having the feeling that I could have done better. I want to get to the point where I can just lay it all on the line and feel confident that I gave it my all. I’m not there yet. There was one bridge we did coming and going and I’m not gonna lie, I’ve lot a lot of my hill strength I worked so hard to build last year. I fell behind on both ascends. I was good about sipping my water every couple of minutes, tho it wasn’t hard to remember to hydrate with the incredibly hot florida sun beating down me.

I was keeping a tally of how many women I passed and how many passed me and while I lost a couple spots, I gained more… until I got to about 10 mins out from the finish.. out of nowhere a group of 4 girls caught me and pulled ahead. This was when I realized I wasn’t pushing hard enough. It refueled my and I began working hard. Unfortnately the timing couldn’t have been worse. We were in a close pack at the only point in the course where our course was narrowed by cones and we had a limited amount of space. Naturally we were pushed together and couldn’t avoid riding pretty closely. One of the girls turned around and yelled for me to stop drafting her and I felt terrible, so I let go of the gas and let her pull ahead. It sucks because I did this race party b/c I want to meet people in the area and the last thing I want to do is get on peoples’ bad sides. In retrospect I sorta wish I pushed harder and ignored her comment and prevailed, but oh well. I pulled back into transition feeling like I had a pretty solid ride, albeit not as good as it could have been.

Bike Time: 37:31 ; Pace: 21.7 mph; AG Place: 4
T2

Redeeming leg of the race. In and out.

T2 Time: 0:40; AG Place: 2
Run

We had to do a bit of maneuvering along the parking lot before we got out on the road, which I took easy, trying to judge the condition of my legs (and more accurately, my toe). I hit the road and a volunteer gave me an update “you’re 9, and you’re 10″. There must be another girl right behind me. I started to build up to a steady pace and was feeling fairly strong. First race all season where I felt like I might be getting my running legs back. My stress fracture has taken more time than I ever expected to get back up to speed. Pun intended. One girl passed me (lickety split fast) but I was gaining ground on the girl ahead so I just pressed on and stayed confident in my own race. I hit mile 1 and my watch said 7:57. I tried to pick up the pace a bit and my goal at this point was to get faster each mile and sprint the end. I stayed on target and I passed the girl ahead of me. I was passed by another girl but then I passed another girl. I was staying consistently #9. I hit the turn around and stayed in the tracks of another woman for as long as I could before I felt confident I could make the pass. I did. But then I was passed. I was passed again. There was one girl in eyesight, but a pretty good distance away. I laid my gaze on the back of her head as I crossed mile 2 at 7:51. Keep going. My breathing was heavy but I felt strong. I kept my comfortable pace and tried to quicken my cadence just a bit. I was gaining on her. We rounded the last corner and I knew it was time to sprint. I should have actually started earlier but I couldn’t tell how close I was to the finish and I didn’t want another repeat of last year’s ITU. I kicked it in and closed in the gap between the other girl and me. I didn’t think it was possible, but here I was only a few body lengths behind. The possibility became more realistic so I pushed harder and harder and within the last couple seconds I blew by her and crossed over the timing pad just ahead. A couple deep breaths to regain my composure and I felt fine. I felt fine. I should have felt tired… I should have gone harder.

Run Time: 24:35; Run Pace: 7:54; AG Place: 2
Overall: 1:12:15; AG Place: 3; OA: 92/500

All in all, it was a fun race and a good way to spend a saturday (yes, saturday! i still get a weekend!). This distance is new and I’m not surprised I paced myself too conservatively. Maybe next time i’ll follow my friend Ben’s training motto: “Ride til you Puke”. Simple, yet brilliant. :)

After the race, I waited around for the awards and got a nice lil towel for getting 3rd place in my age group. I used it minutes later to wipe off the caked on grime before zipping back up and heading out for a recovery ride. I was excited to get to ride with my friend Marni and her friend from out of town, Jennifer. We headed back out and revisited the race course at a much more conversational pace. It was super hot, but it felt nice to spin out the legs. They’re both embarking in careers in dietetics so we pretty much talked food the whole way. I’m not complaining. I can talk food any day, any time :) It was really cool getting their take on the whole “raw” revolution and thoughts on training/recovery. I don’t do much training with others, and it was really nice. Marni and Jennifer made their way back to their car and planned to go to the beach but I kept going and wanted to get in as close to 2 hours as I could. It was getting close to noon and the sun was getting hotter and hotter and it was draining me pretty rapidly. I got back to the car after 1:47 and called it a day… well, on the bike. I made my way home, made a delicious, healthy whole wheat wrap with chicken and filled with tons healthy veggies. I ate standing up and (still unshowered) headed out to the garage to gas up the pressure washer and get to work… 4 hours later, my sidewalk, driveway, and the majority of my exterior was cleaner than it’s ever been. Barely being able to move at this point, I did some more work in the backyard before I finally rinsed off in my outdoor shower, slipped on a bikini, poured myself a corona and slid into my hot tub. 14.5 hours after waking up, I finally sat down for the very first time.

Long (but good) day.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
May 07 1 comments
Training

Pre-race Gulf Coast Triathlon 2010

Well, I made the last minute decision yesterday to make the trek to Panama City Beach, FL and race in the Gulf Coast tri, afterall. It was my plan all along– it’s home and tradition. My family has been very involved in this race for many years and it’s just become routine: every mother’s day weekend I find myself here. Things sort of unraveled with my having to take so much time off of running and my dad having tremendous back pain that we decided that maybe this year wouldn’t happen… After my performance at St. Anthony’s I told myself I wasn’t ready for another less-than-ideal race. All my house work is piling up and I haven’t had a weekend at home to do any of it in what seems like weeks. I was super tempted to just stay and have a low-key weekend, but then I remembered how terrible it feels to not be at the starting line on the day of a planned race. The feeling of regret and curiousity engulfs your every thought. I didn’t want to go through it again, so I hopped into the car and here I am.

Things definitely aren’t leading up to an A+ performance, but I’m excited to be out there on a course I know and love. Yesterday I left the pool completely dry and fuming mad. They changed the combination to get in and I wasn’t informed of the new code. I felt like a prisoner on the opposite side of the fence. All i wanted was to get in my scheduled training 2 days out from a race. I stood in the sun for a solid 23 minutes trying to get the swimmers’ attention… to no avail. While I tried countless combinations trying to crack the code I also found out that my goggles had mysteriously vanished from my swim bag. Needless to say, I left the pool convinced I shouldn’t race this weekend.

Flash forward to today (b/c it’s time for bed and forgot the charger for my computer), I found myself at the expo three (3!) separate times. It was a less-than-relaxing pre-race day than I had hoped, but I think I have everything ready to go. I left yesterday in such disarray, I will be surprised if I have everything, but as far as I can tell (fingers crossed), I’m ready for tomorrow. New goggles and all.

I’ve had a slightly off feeling tummy all week long and wouldn’t you know it’s gotten worse. As I sit here watching my stomach make visible grumblings I’m a little worried how things will go tomorrow. I’m trying to will it away and hopefully a good night’s sleep is the ticket to health. The weather seems like it’s gonna be better than last year (never been so dehydrated in my life), though Sunday looks like a PERFECT day. The oil spill is said to not be an issue any longer and we should be good to go.

I’m happy to report I’ve got two good things going for me at this race: 1) I have an early starting wave. I never have an early starting wave. Something must be wrong. 2) I have a great spot in transition. I’m on the very end and right next to a visible landmark. SCORE!!

As I go into tomorrow I’ve got just one goal: enjoy it. My coach is urging me to race without expectation and take some of the pressure off. While I have obviously been training, I’m far from where I hoped to be at this point in the season and I haven’t trained enough to warrant a stellar race. I want to race a fun race. I want to go out there with a smile on my face and enjoy the fact that I’m healthy and I truly enjoy being active. Hopefully I can stick to my plan and survive the dreaded run. I gotta redeem myself from last year.. though there I go again putting pressure on myself… i will have fun. i will have fun.

My mom convinced me to eat a piece of dark chocolate tonight, suggesting that “chocolate cures all”. She knows that’s my biggest weakness and given the discomfort I’m in, I figured it can’t get much worse. What the heck. Can’t say I’ve ever gone off my strict pre-race day diet before. Maybe it’ll be just what I need ;)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Apr 29 3 comments
Race Report

2010 St. Anthony’s Race Report

Race reports. they’re a funny thing. When the race is good I can’t wait to sit down and write them… but when a race less than ideal, I put them off as long as possible. I guess avoiding having to relive the experience seems easier. It’s probably easy to tell how this one went… not so good.

I guess I could say this race went as “expected”. I knew it was not going to be a PR. I knew this very well. I also knew that the run would be tough. I knew this… yet a teeny tiny piece of me thought there was a sliver of a chance that I’d beat those odds and the time off of running/training would somehow spring new life into my rested legs. Silly me.

The morning started out well. Despite my late bedtime, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. I don’t even think i pushed snooze! I guess it’s pretty common though, on race morning any sense of exhaustion is immediately replaced with a rush of adrenaline! Since I left all of my preparation until morning I knew I didn’t have time to waste. I put my numbers on my helmet and my racebelt, reorganized all my bags, and stuffed my transition bag with everything I’d need. I braided my air and heated up a cup of water to mix my starbucks via (this stuff rocks). A few minutes later I had a nice hot cup of coffee with the almond milk i brought. Mmm. Much better. I slept in my compression socks and kept those on while I donned my heartrate monitor, sweet new Saucony racesuit & jacket, and popped in my contacts. I probably should have checked my contacts before leaving my house, but for someone who wears contacts ONLY to race and maybe a couple nights a year, they tend to be the last thing on my mind. This became apparent when I put them in and the right lense was super dry and the left lense made my vision worse than without. Awesome. Can’t wait to bike blind. Maybe I should find a stick to use on the run. This’ll be great.

I loaded up the car and tried to navigate my way back to the racesite. I ate my (religious race morning) breakfast: Opytgen HP supplements, eggwhites (I made the day before) and oatmeal with half a banana as I drove. I was precisely on schedule with my plan to eat 2.5 hours pre-race. Perfect. I showed up to the line of cars searching for parking and passed the 3 designated pay-to-park sites. Since I never have cash on me I decided to take my chances. No one knows how to parallel park outside of the city, so lucky me. I slipped right into a “my car will never fit in this crack” space and I pitied all the people continuing their search. As I walked towards the transition area I took note of all the other nervous athletes around me. I love people watching and this was highly entertaining. It made me realize how calm and relaxed I was (surprisingly).

I casually waited for one of the Body Markers to free up and let two nervous looking athletes go ahead of me as I sipped my coffee and drank out of my gallon jug (new thing i’ve been trying lately. I carry a gallon jug with me all day long and i can see exactly how much i’ve consumed). I got my race numbers plastered onto my skin with the thick permanent marker and made my way to my bike. I set up my area as I always do: bike gear up front, running gear in back, optional gear off to the right side wit necessities grouped on the left. Once I got situated and quickly ran through the motions of my T1 & T2, I grabbed my wetsuit, cap, goggles, and water and began making my way to swim start. It was a bit of a walk and the line for the ladies room was massive so it took quite a while and unfortunately I missed both the pro men and pro women starts. bummer.

I found a nice stretch of pier to stand and watch the next few groups take off and construct my swim start plan. I did a good amount of stretching as I intensively watched the athletes sprint into the water. I haven’t practiced a beach start since I race Rhode Island last year so I was excited. With about an hour until my wave started I decided to get out of the excitement and find a nice patch of grass to stretch, lay down, and relax. My left hip had been really tight for the past couple days so I tried to loosen it up as best as I could. I ended up meeting a really nice woman from Tallahassee and we talked “shop” for quite a while. Turns out she’ll be racing Gulf Coast in two weeks, too. She’s done the FL IM a couple times and we had a lot to talk about. She’d also race St. Anthony’s a few times before so I picked her brain about the bike course since I didnt’t quite know what I was in for. She confirmed what everyone else had told me : technical, lots of turns, lots of people, and windy. Well, at least it won’t come as a shock, i guess. It was fun talking to her and I got so caught up in the conversation I lost track of the time! I quickly (well, that’s up for debate. it’s never quick) shimmied into my wetsuit, realizing i forgot to use any Glide on my ankles I squeezed the rest of my Chamois Butter (I always bring the trial size tubes with me to swim start) and lubed my calves/ankles.

Swim

I made my way to the front of the baby blue swim caps and we waited for the group of men to take off in front of us. I positioned myself exactly where I wanted to be: the very front and furthest to the outside. I stood there and calculated my move. I would run in, high knees, out as far as i could go, then i’d dolphin dive until it was time to swim. I would start outside and line up with the yellow buoy and swim inward. We had 5 minutes before the cannon went off which was plenty of time to check out the competition, the announcer to make corny jokes and me to hold my goggles in ready position. The gun went off and a-splashin we went. The front running girls around me and I were just about on the exact same plan. We all dove into the water and began our tumultuous journey. Now, this being the Bay, one would not expect the conditions to be too bad. Or maybe that’s just my naivety, but the conditions grew worse and worse as the time went on. I tried (yet again) to give drafting a shot. I’ve never succeeded at this yet I try every time. Maybe someday, but clearly not today. I get too antsy when the person in front of me is swimming the same speed as i am and i can’t hold back even though I know i’m supposedly conserving energy. I’ve tried drafting off of someone who was swimming faster than me, too. That doesn’t work either. So, it’s just me and my arms and legs. Good thing we’ve done this a time or two before.

I was really happy with my form, effort level, and my spotting. It’s been a struggle for me to race like I practice. For some reason, as soon as I feel there’s something at stake all form is lost and I feel like a fish with one fin. Don’t ask. But, today, today I felt good. I was finding my rhythm, staying with a strong group of girls, and making a perfect line to the yellow turn buoy. As we made the first turn the waves picked up. I was actually sort of enjoying the challenge. Once we turned, we were battling the undertow and that’s never a good thing. I knew better than to waste my energy trying to push forward while the water pulled me back, so I let nature do its thing and I waited for the eventual push forward. I took each push as much to my advantage as I could. It was getting harder and I was losing interest. It’s 1500 meters, I swim 1500 as a warmup. Why did it feel so far? I kept chugging along, made the next turn and was headed towards the exit. I was mostly around the silver and pink and royal blue caps at this point and trying to plan my route moment-by-moment. It gets to be like a maze when you’re swimming around people and it’s always better to swim near the folks in your color cap. They won’t hold you back.

I remembered my coach saying that the hard part of this swim is figuring out where to sight as the destination. It gets a little jumbled near the end and especially since I hadn’t been out in the water before the race, I kept mindful of the possibility. Luckily, the giant gatorade bottle seemed to mark the spot and I kept my eye on the prize. The waves were coming at us from the left and it was hard to plan the breaths correctly- too soon and you’d gulp water from the left, too late and you’d gulp it from the right. Luckily I only drank the salt water once and because I’ve convinced myself I have gills, it only took a moment to recover. I made it my goal to try and do 7 strokes before breathing like I do in the pool, but I was only able to do this once during the entire swim. I was consistently holding 3-4-5. As I got closer and closer I saw the stairs and realized how crowded they were. Being in a later start wave always gives you disadvantages. Just once I’d like to race at the front. Anyways, I got up to the stairs and jumped the gun on standing up. I should have swum further as I lost a couple seconds here. They had volunteers on the stairs helping us gain our footing and I’m most thankful they were there! I jogged up the stairs and by the time I hit the timing mats my goggles were off and I was fumbled my zipper. I looked down at my time only to see the clock, not my stopwatch. I must not have pressed the button hard enough. I lost my split and had no idea where I stood.

Swim Time: 27:58; Pace 1:43; AG : 17/88

T-1

I crossed into Transition and had cap and goggles in hand and wetsuit around my waist. Good start. I grabbed my sunglasses (decided to stay with the contacts), smushed them onto my fact and picked up my helmet. I somehow got the strap stuck inside and had to take it back off, wherein I proceeded to drop it. Nicely done. Moments lost. While I was down to pick it up, I slipped on my left sock. Finally got the helmet on, put on the right sock and slipped both shoes on. I velcroed up and glanced back down to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. I then grabbed my bike and wrestled with it to get it off the rack. The bikes were fairly close together and mine got caught on the one next to it. More precious moments lost. FINALLY after what felt like 5 minutes, I was running my bike through the mats and preparing to mount.

T1: 1:55; AG: 5/88
Bike

Start watch now. As I got on my bike it became immediately apparent that my aero bottle had somehow (I do not understand) become un-velcroed. ALERT. Something not going as planned. I immediately weight my options– I could just toss the bottle and forget about it and not lose time or I could spend the time and effort on fixing it. I debated the pros and cons (all of this within a couple seconds). I mean, this bottle ain’t cheap and i’d really rather not have to take the time and shop for another one not to mention it’s leading up to being a hot day and if I don’t drink water on this ride there’s no chance of making it on the run. On the other hand, I have a hard time fishing the velcro piece through the microscopic hole when I’m standing on ground let alone WHILE RIDING. With the lingering taste of salt water and my dry throat naggin me, the decision seemed obvious. I would take the time to fix it. A full 8 minutes. that’s right, e-i-g-h-t. I rode with my left hand holding the bottle while my right hand, not on the shifters, not on the breaks, but was trying to direct the velcro into the hole. I went through at least 5 turns this way and was pedaling fast but in an entirely too low a gear. I was going nowhere fast. Finally I got the water bottle secured and at this point I was able to pull my other bottle out of my cage and get in some calories/electrolytes. 3 sips sports drink, few gulps water at 8:00. It hit me, I missed my scheduled 5:00 target and I didn’t care. Am I finally starting to take things more casually and not be so nit-picky precise on my nutrition? Could it be? Halelujah, the girl is growing up.

I shifted a few gears and began gaining my speed. “Just try and not let everyone pass you” I thought. Then something strange happened, I passed a small cluster of people. I was gaining speed on the next group. I passed that group and I wasn’t being passed. Concerned I was going too hard I thought about slowing down, but my heart rate was on target and I felt fine so I kept going. I gave myself one goal– do not drop below 16. If I get close, I have to just push through it. We hit a straight away where we faced oncoming cyclists and you could tell the wind was punishing them. I kept at t and stayed steady and fluid. My hip was a bit tight, but otherwise I wasn’t in any pain and my saddle sores weren’t even an issue! We hit another turn and there was that wind. I refused to go below 16. I went 18. I was feeling strong. Only two girls in my age group had passed me and I was keeping one in sight, her pink jersey was easy to spot.

The course continued to take us on bends and turns and eventually numerous speed bumps. I was really happy with how I handled them all- i only had to break on one turn (and for me, that’s huge! i’m always overcautious and tend to slow down too much. I handled them like a champ and was feeling good about it. I was really trying to make this a PR. i had my eye on the clock and I really tried hard. I thought it was possible, and I think had I not had the water bottle issues at the beginning, it could have happened. Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it, but I’m still happy with this performance. I learned from it and for the very first time i felt like a cyclist.

Nutrition

In total (not exactly on time schedule) I drank 3-4 times (3-4 sips each time) of my sports drink and I had 2 endurolytes. I also had most of my aero bottle of water.

Bike Time: 1:18:47; Pace: 18.9; AG; 28/88
T-2

Run bike to the rack, helmet off, shoes off, shoes on, visor on, run out.

T-2 Time: 1:30; AG: 3/88
Run

Yep. Went just about as well as I thought it would. I felt like I had never run a 10K before. I felt like i was walking. I had no speed and not much drive. I was still on a high from how great I felt on the bike and I tried to use that to push me on the run, but for some reason, I just didn’t have it in me. I told myself to just keep this easy pace and slowly and gradually try and build. I can do this. Why won’t my legs do this?
As I’m jogging a man comes up and starts to pass me on the left and as he does and turns to me and says “I was eating your SMOKE on the bike”. That very moment was the best of the entire race. I felt so good. It put a little pep in my step… but not quite enough to deem this even a “decent” run. It was at about this point when I had the internal debate of whether or not I kick it into high gear and push myself all-out and try and salvage whatever I could for the rest of the race… or I take this run more as a training run and accept that that’s all I could do on this day. I chose the latter approach. With Gulf Coast less than 2 weeks away, it would be a bad idea to destroy my body and put myself in a position to further injure my foot or invite other injuries. Part of me felt like this was a cop-out, but it IS the first race of the season and I want to make sure there IS more of a race season, so I just kept on trucking.
I barely remember the course. There was a little (of course it felt big) bridge into a neighborhood we had to cross and lots of pretty houses. That’s about all i remember. This wasn’t a big spectator race, though I am thankful for the few kids and families who stood in their yards and sprayed us with their sprinklers! It was slightly overcast but blistering hot and incredibly humid. I grabbed water at just about every aid station and tried to drink as much as i could (though let’s be honest, most of it spills). I didn’t take any nutrition on the run and I only had mild stomach distress– mostly near the end and mostly because my body did not want to drink any fluids.
I aimed for a negative split and I definitely kicked it up on the way back. I didn’t have much speed to give, but I gave what I had. I honestly did not feel like I was racing. I felt like I was on a leisurely jog. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening. What a disapointment.

I usually kick my sprint in with 1 mile to go and do the full on sprint once I can see the finish line. Today, I barely increased my speed when I saw the mile 5 marker, but as soon as I got close enough to deem the sprint woulnd’t kill me, I pushed. I gave it my all. I ended up challenging another girl on the mats and we went all out. The two of us were neck in neck and vying for the finish line. I had to run around a man doing the infamous “kiss-the-ground-at-the-finish-line” maneuver and my dodging this guy on all-fours cost me the last split second. Her foot crossed first. But it was close, real close and I was glad I kicked it in. I just about collapsed after that intense sprint and found myself a chair to catch my breath. It was over. Thank God.

I gotta find my runnin legs. This is ridiculous.

Splits

mile 1 - never saw it.
mile 2 - 16:34, 182, 178
mile 3 - 8:58, 179, 175
Turn around - 1:38
mile 4 - 7:14, 179, 176
mile 5 - 9:28, 180, 164 Please tell me you’re kidding.
mile 6 - 8:41, 184, 176
10 K - 3:11

Run Time: 54:15; Pace: 8:45; AG:37/88

Total Time: 2:44:22; OA 8922490/; Gender place 168/746; AG place 16/88
In Review

Maybe I should find a race that’s just transitions. I seem to do pretty well in those, and these were long and drawn out compared to my typical times. Hmm…

Things I did well:

• Spotting in the water
• Form in the water
• turns/handling on the bike
• Overall relaxed mentality
•

Things I should work on:

• Better race prep– KNOW my water bottle is secure.
• Building my legs back up to speed in the run.
• Preparing for the heat/humidity

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 24 1 comments
Training

I Can’t. I’m re-lacing my shoes.

No really.

You know the old adage: “Never do anything new on race day”? Well, I’m pushin the envelope a bit and putting some new ibungee laces on my pretty lil Sauconys. Hopefully no harm done.

It’s been a long day and I’m just about to get some sleep, but a quick recap…


After a very restless night, I woke up and finished packing. I sat down and enjoyed a nice breakfast and cup(s) of coffee before having a call with my coach. “Why are you so worried about this race??” He wanted to know… good question. I think i’m just so petrified to see how far I’ve slipped. Given the circumstances, I’ve lost a lot of speed/fitness/endurance from last year, but just how much? I’m not sure. The not knowing is almost comforting. What we don’t know can’t hurt us, right?

Well, luckily, my coach is awesome and always knows just what to say. He told me over and over this race is nothing but a pre-season race. I should race it hard, but it’s not an A-race and it’s solely to help us gauge where we stand moving forward. Whether it goes well or not, it’s gonna give me my baseline and that’s a good thing. I can only do what I can do and I have to be okay with that.

So, I double checked my gear, made sure i had all the necessities and loaded the car. After a quick stop at my sister’s and a “good luck tattoo” from my niece, Allison, I hit the road. Forget the M-Dot. I got me a fierce face.

Four hours later, I arrived in sunny St. Pete. Maybe it’s just me, but the roads around here are highly confusing. There’s like 12 1s streets and aves and norths and souths. i feel like i’m back in Arlington. Grid-system, people. It works. I digress. I scored a decent parking spot (thanks to my killer DC parallel parking skills) and I hit the expo. It was hot and humid and bright and sunny. It took me no time at all to get my packet and goodies and all the volunteers were super friendly. I walked around a little bit, picked up some laces and met my new friend, Brian, aka “Triboomer”. He’s leading the live tweetcast for the race and is doing some pretty cool things in the triathlon world. We wandered the expo for a bit and we hung out with a few awesome people. (Don’t tell anyone, but i think i was starstruck). I got to meet the soon-to-be professional triathlete, Mandy McLane who was incredibly awesome. Very down-to-earth and friendly. If things go according to plan tomorrow will be her last race as an amateur elite and will mark the beginning of her pro- career. how. freaking. awesome.

She also rocks a pretty sweet Kestrel. Nice choice. She’s gonna be at all the Rev3 events (dduh. anyone who’s anyone will be there). So, I’ll see her at Quassy.

I started to feel a migraine coming on, so I kept my time at the expo pretty minimal. The bright sun wasn’t helping, not to mention I could tell I was getting dehydrated. I still had a short pre-race workout to do, so I slipped into my gorgeous green-ery and unpacked my gorgeous bike. I felt so great in my gear and I got lots of compliments and “oooh trakkers!” comments along the way.

I did a short 20:00 around town, I couldn’t figure out the race course and there were way too many one-ways (of course the wrong ways). So I just rode to pedal, test my setup, and feel the road. The wind was pretty bad and I’m HOPING it’s better tomorrow. I included a couple 30 seconds at race pace, but nothing terribly intense. Just a nice and easy spin. I got back to the car, traded my cycling shoes for my running shoes and rode to transition. I racked my bike– SCORE, i’m on the main row from the swim/bike in, no counting rows for me! I tried to make mental note of how far down my bike was, did some visualization and then headed out for a short (10 minute) run. My head was all but throbbing at this point, so it was a painful jog that felt much much longer. Why are my legs so heavy? It was a recovery-ish week and there’s no excuse. Please, legs, be rested in the morning.



I found the swim exit and really wanted to get in and swim for a bit but I knew I was pushing it with my head as it was. I decided to go back to the expo and try and buy a new sports bra for tomorrow, but I got the entrance and was getting the light-headed nausea that typically accompanies my migraines… SO I headed back to the car and thanks to my iPhone found the nearest starbucks for some caffeine and a much needed water. I can’t believe how dehydrated I already felt. .

I then tried to follow the course map and drive the bike route. I got through part of it (why are we riding on umpteen speed bumps and navigating a bagillion turns??) before I had to find my hotel. Pronto. I probably shouldn’t have been driving at this point. When your head hurts so bad you can’t open your eyes and your thoughts are so disjointed you can’t make sense of anything, you probably shouldnt be operating heavy machinery. Thank God I found my hotel without too much difficulty. Too bad it’s pretty far away from the race and I’m pretty sure a scary movie has taken place at this hotel. I was in too much pain to care or do anything about it. But you better be sure the door is locked, deadbolted, and blocked by a chair.

I immediately drew myself an epsom salt bath, climbed in and tried to relax. Nice hot bath felt ok, but I was still so hot from the sun I decided to take a cold shower afterwards. much better. Dinner (brought from home, of course) consisted of my typical chicken, broccoli, and a salad with some grapes for dessert. I’m still not feeling great, but much better than earlier. Now that it’s MUCH later than I wanted to go to sleep, it’s time to cash out. I dont have the energy to get stuff ready or even map my way back to race start, so I’m saving everything for the morning. Make an early morning even earlier? Yeah, i know. smart move.

Well everybody, think fast thoughts for me tomorrow. I’m trying to listen to my coach on this one.

Don’t forget: LIVE Twitter updates from St. Anthony’s Triathlon tomorrrow 6:30 AM (EST) — follow @Sportsgrants or call in for the LIVE audio at (347) 945-6328.

I’m #2446

Tags: , , , , , ,