The Princess Runner

Two Months Late- Ironman World Championship- Race Day

2011-11-27T19:50:00.000-05:00

Race morning as a spectator began early... very early. As I mentioned in my previous post, our hotel 7 miles south of the pier off of Ali'i Drive. With only two major roads heading into downtown, we knew our opportunities to get into the race area and good parking were limited. And of those two roads, one was the run course (Ali'i Drive) and the other was the bike Course (Queen K).

So we left the hotel at 4:45am. :) Yuck! That time of the morning is no fun if you aren't the one competing! LOL I can't imagine the stress of being an athlete at an Ironman; Let alone the World Championship.

Kenny and I first made our way to the sea wall at the swim start and lord were people already our in droves. We were lucky enough to snag some real estate behind a great group of spectators and eventually managed to cram like 8 of our friends up there with us. It was a bit cozy.

Here I am early in the morning sitting on the race wall

So so Dark. We sat on the wall for a long while.

The Calm in the Early Hours Before the Pro Start

Pros Getting in the Water

Watching the pro start was really cool. It is neat to see them in their practice before the cannon and to just notice that they get jittery too. However the awesome part cam with watching all of the age groupers get into the water. There were hoards and hoards of them. With only one set of stairs to get in the water it took all of 30 minutes to get each of them in the water and up to the start line.

Age Groupers Entering the Water

Because some were in the water upwards of 20 minutes, they found creative ways to hang out so that they weren't treading water forever and wasting energy.

Hanging out before the start

Hanging on to an outrigger

Somehow Joe found us on the sea wall and managed to come and great us all with the Matchette Family Salute. We chatted for a few before he went out to start his race day.

Joe Before the start

And then they were off. This is only a portion of the start area. They spanned the entire bay.

Age Group Start

This picture was taken before the swimmers started getting into the water but you can see just how far the spectators were lining the bay to watch the swim start. We had an awesome view. Once everyone was in the water. swimmers spanned the majority of this entire bay in preparation for the swim.

A Sea of spectators

And yes, much like a 10 year old, I was very amused by the fact that ford put a car on a float in the middle of the swim start. A Real Car! I halfway think that would be an amazing view of the start or a really scary encounter!

Yes, that is a real car!

Gen and I managed to snap a picture together before heading our separate ways to do our respective cheering.

Always the best photos with Gen!

After the swim start Kenny and i I made our way out on to the bike course to get photos. We were able to snap some good ones but had many failed attempts. Here are some that turned out good.

Andy Potts

Marino Vanhoenacker


Henning, Mckenzie and Bell

Chrissie Wellington

Mirinda Carfrae

Crazy Joe!

After Seeing the Athletes off we opted to head for some breakfast at the U-Top-It Restaurant in Downtown. We both has omelets and would highly recommend this place for a meal. They have some really neat and unique menu items.

Next we made our way down to the finish line and hung out with our friends Scott and Tami while watching the race action on the finish line jumbo tron and tracking Marni and Joe on our cell phone.

Once the Pros neared the end of their bike we made our way over to transition to watch them begin their runs!

Chris Lieto

I Love Caroline Steffan and Her Pink!

Chrissie and Her Smile (& Muscles!)

Mirinda Heading Out on the Run

From that point it was getting later in the afternoon and Kenny and I knew that we needed to make our way back to the car in order to collect our volunteer shirts for the 8pm-11pm shift so that we would have time to change. We also wanted to make sure that we gave ourselves time to catch Joe and Marni on the run down Ali'i Drive. However, we made it back from the car in time for the Pro Finish! That was an amazing sight to see and the atmosphere was crazy.

First Came Craig Alexander!

Finishing Strong with a Huge Smile on his Face

Chrissie Grabbing a Flag for the Finish

Just Seconds Behind Chrissie was Mirinda

Then to Ali'i Drive for Marni and Joe. Well unfortunately timing was a bit off and we missed Marni but we did Catch Joe!

Joe, Always Smiling- I love it!

We enjoyed some more time with Scott and Tami as we had a great dinner on the water at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Funny thought, 3 of us had chicken, only one had shrimp!

From there we made our way back out onto Ali'i Drive to try and catch Marni as she was heading into the finish. I am sad that the only pictures I was able to catch of her that day turned out wonky but the four of us had a blast cheering her down Ali'i.

Marni a quarter mile from the finish

Always Smiling and ready to pass a competitor!

From there we had to leave our friends and make a dash to the car to drop the camera and all of our belongings for our volunteer shift. So unfortunately no more photos! We did make a mandatory stop at Starbucks for some much needed caffeine and water. It didn't matter how much water we carried on ourselves all day long, we could not stay hydrated!

We did have the opportunity to stand on the "Hot Corner" after the sun whent down for about 20-30 minutes to cheer on runners as they were coming in and making their way toward Ali'i drive but more importantly to cheer on those who were heading out to the energy lab. I wish I could have caught some photos of the amazing determination on the faces of each athlete as they passed by this area. They could hear the finish line, they had already been on this corner three times before and they knew they still had 16 miles to go on their marathon. It was quiet but you could each each individual voice standing out on the road cheering. Amazing!

As soon as Kenny and I knew were were heading to Kona, we immediately signed up to be a volunteer. Our first choice was to be a finisher at what we predicted would be Joe's finish time but unfortunately we didn't not get that shift. Instead we were assigned to the 8pm-11pm shift. We missed seeing Joe on the hot corner while we were out cheering but as luck would have it, we arrived at our shift about 15 minutes early just in time to get our orientation and hear "Joe Matchette, You Are An IRONMAN!" We shared some hugs back behind the Jumbo tron and then off to volunteer we went.

Kenny and I were finish line catchers. For the un-Ironman-initiated, these are volunteers who greet each finisher at the finish line and escort them through the finish area. Sometimes these means literally catching someone so that they don't fall (140.6 miles is a lot to endure) and sometimes it just means walking with a competitor, chatting with them and showing them where to go. We had our share of competitors who needed medical attention and then we had many others who were just happy to see a smiling volunteer and the finish line.

If you want to relive the finish line, here is a video sponsored by Universal Sports which is coverage of the whole day. All 18 hours and 10 minutes of coverage!
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=035aaa7a-3c4d-49fa-90f2-845ca20de1cf.html#watch

To highlight my friends and my volunteer experience, look at the video at the following times.
(These are video times, not finish line times. Look at the actual video timer in the bottom right hand)

Marni Sumbal- 12:02:00 (She Jumps at the Finish Line! My Coach, so proud of her!)
Joe Matchette- 13:37:40 (Mike Reilly Talks about him for a long time, He Stops to hugs is family. Congrats Joe!)
Tara Costa- 14:56:15 (Biggest Loser Competitor)
Darryl Lem- 17:18:57 (The best competitor we caught all evening! So Happy and Thankful and I swear I know him from somewhere. And you can see us!)
Scott Rigsby- 17:21:35 (Double Amputee from Atlanta!)
Lew Hollander- 17:45:20 (Oldest Male Finisher)
Harriet Anderson- 17:55:20 (Oldest Female Finisher, Greeted by her Husband and you can see Kenny and I catching her!)
The Last Unofficial Finisher- 17:59:25

And that my friends is a wrap. Sorry it took so so long but look at it this way; It is just one more way to relive the world championship until next year's triathlon season!

Until then, thanks for reading!

At the amazing outdoor airport, leaving kona :(

Relaxation, Riding and Retul

2011-11-08T21:26:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was all about the three Rs: Relaxation, Riding and Retul!

Kenny and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel down to Jacksonville to visit both of our coaches this past weekend. Since we just finished our recovery time after our goal race of the season, we really wanted some face time with the coaches to hang out and talk next season. Because they are only a few hours away, the trips are super convenient travel wise but still a great way to get away from home.

Relaxation!

As we head into the off season, Kenny is set to begin his pure cycling training for his first season as a racer, while I am looking to boost the weakest of my three sports, the run. Knowing that the "off" season will bring with it some tough training we wanted to relax one last time and chat goals with the coaches all while enjoying the company of great friends. Thus the idea of a weekend in Jacksonville was born. We had previously done a similar trip about a year ago and found it extremely beneficial and fun.

We arrived on Friday night just in time to have dinner with Marni and Karel (our coaches and friends.) As mentioned before, Marni is my coach and Karel is Kenny's coach. And lucky us they are married and are extremely fun to hang out with. We went to the Red Elephant which apparently is a chain restaurant who on your first visit gives you a free elephant ear. LOL I did have a great salad and yes I even had part of the free elephant ear. I do believe that may have been my first bite of fried food in several months.

Saturday called for a ride (detailed below), my Retul Fit (also detailed below), the Northeast Florida Veg Fest and a fabulous home cooked meal at the Sumbal House. Veg Fest was a fun outing down in the River Park area of Jacksonville. Many vendors came out to set up booths and promote a vegetarian lifestyle. I enjoyed listening to the local music, seeing all of the visiting dogs and sampling some fun products/food. The weather decided to be a bit chilly but it didn't stop people from coming out. I would compare the atmosphere similar to that of a local market. Definitely something to check out and I hope that the event continues to grow in the coming years. Our dinner was a fabulous Marni creation of potato fries (baked), salad with tons of yummies and steak (cooked by Kenny).

We concluded our weekend with sleeping in on Sunday, having a nice breakfast at the hotel and heading home. It was just what we both had in mind.. relaxing... fun ... and away from home.

Riding!

What trip would be complete without a little bike riding. On Saturday morning Karel, Marni, Kenny and I all took off for a nice 1.5 hour ride through the wonderful area of Nocatee. The goal was simple, enjoy the company of friends, while getting in a good solid ride. Oddly enough in this group of cyclists, I was the "slow kid". Guess that is what happens when you cycle with your husband and coaches. :)

First let me say that I LOVE RIDING IN FLORIDA! It was so nice to have a break from the hills of middle Georgia. What we have around us is nothing that I would consider horrible or hard in the way of hills but it definitely isn't flat. Florida on the other hand is flat, flat, "flat"ski. The only hill I saw from our entire 25 mile ride was an overpass. As I learned last year during my visit with Marni, flats really are my forte; this trip proved to me the same fact. Even in the crazy wind we averaged over 18 mph. I got off my bike feeling refreshed and amazing instead of fatigued with burning legs. Another thing I loved about the area we rode in was minimal traffic, large bike lanes and respectful drivers! Cyclist bliss!

I followed up the ride with a simple one mile run just for muscle memory purposes. I don't want the legs to forget that feeling and necessity for quick turnover.

Retul!

Kenny surprised me by scheduling a Retul fit for Princess during our trip to Jacksonville. I was fit on my bike about 1.5 years ago and although it was a good experience at that time, I have learned so much more about myself and cycling that I knew I needed a different experience/fitter. Having heard wonderful things about Retul (and the Jacksonville Trek experience specifically), Kenny jumped on the opportunity to get this done for me while we were in town.

On Saturday after our ride and a wonderful breakfast at the Sumbal House, we headed over the to Jacksonville Trek Beach Store to meet with Jeff Kopp the owner of Jacksonville Trek who would be doing my fit! Jeff is tremendously knowledgeable and extremely personable. He made me feel at ease and explained each step of the process to me in such a way that I felt not only informed but actually in charge of the decisions I was making for my bike.

The Retul process is fairly simple and straight forward. First you do an interview of sorts to give information about your goals, race distances, flexibility and experience. Then of course you jump on the trainer to start the fit process. Retul uses a data collection process by which they hook wires up to you at key pivot points on the body and measure your angles and movement. I called this the shock therapy section because it looked like Jeff hooked me to a machine in order to send me electrical pulses. Jeff and I had quiet a few laughs about it, it was funny to me.

Even though I had a camera on me, I didnt get any pictures of my fit so instead I grabbed this one from the internet of Chris Lieto getting his Retul Fit. You can see the wires that are velcroed to your skin in order to collect data.

They take the data that was collected and compare it against the normative data that is collected from Retul fitters across the world. Ultimately they are trying to find a good fit for you while paying attention to the recent trends in the triathlon fit process. Next adjustments are made followed by another session of data collection to make sure everything looks good and feels right. Your final data is collected electronically and sorted for your future reference and for future fitting purposes.

Overall my fit process took 2 hours and I am extremely happy with the results. We ended up dropping my handlebars (YIPPIE), moving my elbow pads back and moving my seat just a tiny bit down and forward. The new positioning closes me in a bit more rather than leaving me stretched out like my previous fit did. It is a position that feels natural and comfortable while still putting me in a more aerodynamic position.I have only done one trainer ride since the fit but at this point I would give it a complete thumbs up! Once I get a few road rides in, I will give you the final verdict!

If you are looking for a fitting process (and I would definitely recommend getting fit on your bike), I would highly suggest the Retul Process. And if luck has you in the Jacksonville area with your bike, do it at Jacksonville Trek! It was well worth the drive for me!

My trip to the Ironman World Championship- Pre Race

2011-10-30T21:08:00.000-04:00

Go big or go home..

That is the saying right?

Well true to the saying, my first experience with a full ironman event was the biggest you could find, the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For my non triathlon friends, this would be similar to your first football game being the Superbowl. It's a big deal!

Earlier this year, we found out that a friend of ours was selected for a lottery spot for Kona and we all volunteered enthusiastically to go along for the ride as spectators. It sounded like the best excuse for a vacation in Hawaii while supporting a friend in the biggest race ever. Lucky for me, my coach qualified for the World Championship back last September at Ironman Wisconsin, so Kenny and I had two friends to cheer for.

Meet "Crazy" Joe- Just after Registering!

Meet Marni- My Coach and Her Husband Karel- Kenny's Coach!

So consider this my reverse race report of the Ironman World Championship. The "I didn't race but still have plenty of things to say that won't fit into one blog" race report. :)

From the get go, I was super excited about immersing myself in the full Kona experience. I wanted to get as much from this without actually racing. After a week in Hawaii, I can definitely say that not only was it a phenomenal vacation but a rockin time at the most competitive triathlon race in the world. (For me this is way more exciting than the Olympics).

We were lucky to arrive in Kona a week before the race.

Leaving home and the gross Dunkin Donuts- I am forever a Starbucks girl!

In the air on the way to Kona- Kenny hates self portraits!

At one week out the energy in the air was both electrifying and extremely intimidating. Driving out to the hotel from the airport on the first night, there were gobs of people rocking 6 minute miles in the rain up and down the main strip of Ali'i Drive. Holy crap, these were some amazing athletes. While we do have our share of elite/egotistical asses in the sport of triathlon, I would say for the most part triathletes are an extremely amazing, welcoming community, more than any other sport I have seen. Kona was no different.

I mean seriously, what other sport has professional athletes that are so personable and approachable. Some incredibly awesome people!

Rinny After Checking Her Bike

Macca after a casual swim- Not competing this year but hanging out on the big island

Crissie heading to check her Bike

Two great things I "participated" in during Kona week were the coffee boat and running in the Hawaii Natural Energy Lab. Both of these experiences helped me better to appreciate the triathlon community and the difficulty of this particular race.

First, Imagine a sailboat about 400-500 yards offshore in choppy water serving shots of espresso. Add several hundred athletes at any given time and you have the Kona Coffee Boat sponsored by Coffees of Hawaii. I was lucky to make this swim twice during race week any LOVED it. I grew up in Florida and have been in the ocean plenty. However, since my days as a triathlete, I have never done an ocean swim. The waters at the Kona pier are rough and the waves don't mess around. It's nothing horrific but when you are used to a lined pool or lake/river, it takes some getting used to. My swims in Kona to the coffee boost gave me a boost that I can do salt water triathlons and possibly do them well. Oh did I mention the espresso was free. Seriously, the best swim idea ever.

I also took the opportunity to do a short run the Natural Energy Lab with Joe and Randy. Well it was more like Joe went for a visualization run, Randy photographed Joe while he ran and I huffed and puffed it behind them just trying to keep them in my sights and not die. The energy lab is somewhere around miles 17-23 of the marathon which are already horrible miles to begin with any marathon but the energy lab makes to so much worse. Big wide open spaces with no shade and typically no cloud cover surrounded by lava fields. To say it is hot is an extreme understatement. My short 3 miler was no exception. I was drenched by a mile and half before I realized at my turn around point that the return route was all uphill. Even though the run felt horrific, I actually made good time and am so happy I experienced that part of the ironman course.

The ironman village which is set up all down Ali'i Drive by various vendors is amazing. There is tons of "demo"ing of the latest and greatest products for our sport and tons of swag that can be had. The accessibility to each of the companies is incredible and it is really an enjoyable walk up and down the road. Kenny and I must have visited Ali'i Drive 5 of the 6 possible days while in Kona. We talked to Trek, Bontragger, 110% Recovery, Rudy Project, Nuun, Sram/Quarq and many others with questions we had or problems we needed solved. All were resolved or addressed by those we met with. I now have enough visors to fuel my runs for the next 3 years!

Hanging out at the 110% Booth. My Favorite Recovery Gear!

An awesome new paint option for Trek- Safety Green!

Aside from the ironman festivities, we did take some time to enjoy our vacation with friends. Basic observation of Hawaii for those who are thinking of visiting, it is expensive. There is lots of money to be spent. Going out to eat is super spendy, groceries cost a bit more, hotels can cost a fortune, gas is high, etc. There are better ways to stretch your dollar. When we visit the world championship again, I think we are likely to get a condo closer into town so that we can cook our meals instead of having to depend on restaurants. Groceries a expensive but cheaper than eating out all the time.

That is the short and dirty of our visit to Hawaii minus actual race day. Here are the photos from the trip. Actual race day report coming next!

Views from the Hotel

We stayed at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort which was about 7 miles south of the Kona Pier. Overall observation of the hotel is that it is your basic hotel. Nothing fancy but nothing worth complaining about. Basic amenities. We choose it because it had an included morning breakfast buffet which turned out to be amazing. As mentioned above, next time we likely will rent a condo instead of staying here but it was just fine for our first visit!

Bird on our Balcony

Birds staying warm at the Breakfast Area

View from our Balcony- Left Side

View from our Balcony- Right Side

View from the Hotel Lobby

Downtown Kona

We explored downtown Kona just about every day we were in town. It essentially exists of Ali'i Drive and a few side roads. The actual vendors in town for the race made the atmosphere on Ali'i amazing and we enjoyed just hanging out and talking with everyone. Tons of tiny restaurants with excellent food!

I loved this sign at the visitors center

The view from our table at the thai restaurant on Ali'i Drive


Kenny and I waiting for Joe to emerge from Registration.

Group Snorkeling Trip

Our large group of 20 decided to do a group snorkeling trip in addition to a luau while we were in Kona. The snorkeling trip was lead by the Sea Paradise which was awesome. It was a morning 5 hour trip with a small breakfast and full lunch provided. We visited two locations and even got to see a ton of dolphins.

Goofing off in the water! I loved swimming!

Cool view of the coral! (And our camera survived the water)

Hanging out on the boat

Some of the many spinner dolphins that swam next to our boat

Volcanoes National Park

Kenny and I took a side trip to Volcanoes National Park. We figured if we were this close to a volcano, we better go and see one. Total we spent 4 hours in the park and could have spent way more time there. 4 hours was not nearly enough time. The volcano is about 2 hours away from Kona so it was quite the trip. Oh and virtually no radio stations work on the 2 hour trip. LOL

Here are a few high lights of our day trip.

Steam coming from the Caldera

A steam vent

The Sulfur Banks

Heading to the Lava Tube

Lava as far as the eye could see

Where lava flow closed the road

Standing on Lava where it closed the road

The Water Arch

A view from the Water Arch

Amazing View from the Water Arch

Black Sand Beach

On our way back to Kona from the volcano, we stopped at the black sand beach on a recommendation from a friend. It was really neat to see the black sand and I wish we could of had more time to get in the water.

Captivating Black Sand from Lava

My foot on the black sand

An amazing view on the black sand beach

My Food Day Dessert Creation

2011-10-28T13:44:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my Food Day Blog, my mind and fingers were full of ton of creative energy as I was creating my dinner. I was thoroughly impressed with my dinner skills and did not want to waste my motivation; I guess a lazy Sunday of watching Food Network inspired me. Truly this kind of motivation in the kitchen is not something that I am used to so when it came, I went with it.

After having completed a side dish and main course, I decided to try and make a dessert with my leftover quinoa. I wasn't quiet sure where I was going with it other than the fact that I had two overly ripe bananas that needed to be used and a ton of quinoa. A quick google search confirmed that there were many recipes out there for "dessert" type quinoa dishes and so I was set. (I totally had to check just to make sure I wasn't thinking up something ridiculously crazy)

For my creation, I was determined not to use a ready made recipe and instead go with what I was feeling. With my lack of kitchen knowledge this was sure to be a hoot!

Truthfully, it just started with me throwing stuff in a bowl that sounded good together. Banana ... Vanilla... Cocoa... Peanut Butter...Cinnamon... You get the picture! But really, I honestly had no clue where I was going with the dessert idea. I knew that we had a mini muffin pan so I kind of envisioned some sort of semi sweet mini muffin/cookie creation. As I have changed my nutrition, my tolerance for "sweet" has drastically changed. Long gone are the days of super sugary sweet cookies, cakes and candy. I can honestly say that I now prefer a more subtle or natural sweetness. Thus I was determined to make something that did not require actual sugar.

Once I got my mixture together I tasted it and it did lack a certain sweetness that I was looking for. Luckily, Kenny and I just bought some amazing local dark amber colored Wildflower honey at a local craft fair and a tablespoon of that did the trick! (See complete recipe below for my actual ingredients and cooking instructions)

So with the mixture up to my taste standards, I dished half of it into my mini muffin pan, topped each of the muffins with a banana slice, popped it in the oven and then I waited... FOREVER! Every time I took the pan out of the oven and checked my muffins, they would still be squishy. So back in the oven they would go! Finally I realized that in all of my creativity, I really didn't have a binding agent in my mixture. Oops. So I ended up pulling out that batch from the oven and letting them cook on the counter. Luckily with some time, they stuck well enough to carefully pull them out of the silicone pan.

For the next batch, I added in a bit of instant oats with the remaining quinoa dessert mixture and made drop cookies on a cookie sheet. These stuck together much better and were closer to what I was looking for. In my haste I did not measure how much oats I put in and also forgot to take pictures of that part of the process. Oops

I am pleased with my creativity and overall enjoyed my end product. These little suckers turned out to be quiet addicting, especially if you want something sweet without having to eat something that is overly sweetened. Keep in mind that in their current state, the muffins below produce a softer (almost slightly soggy-like) texture instead of your typical flour based muffin. Also I used a silicone pan, which might alter how you would personally handle this recipe if you use a traditional metal pan. My recipe definitely needs some work to fine tune. As I find better alternatives, I will let you know!

By the Way: Kenny's favorite were the banana muffins (without oats) and my favorite was the drop cookies (with oats)! Enjoy and let me know if you have some creative alternatives or solutions to bettering this random creation of a recipe.

Quinoa Cookie Muffins
By Stefanie!

2 over ripe Bananas, 1 for smashing and one for slicing
2 tsp Cocoa
3 tsp Peanut Butter
Generous Dash of Vanilla
2 cups quinoa
Ground Cinnamon
1tbsp Honey

Mix in a bowl 1 banana, cocoa, peanut butter, vanilla and cinnamon until the banana is well smashed and all ingredients are blended.
Add the mixture to the quinoa and mix well.
Use Honey to taste. My mixture was a little on the "lacking sweet" side so I added 1 tbsp and that seemed to do the trick. It will depend on your tastes.

Dish mixture into a mini muffin pan and top your muffins with a slice of banana

Quinoa Mixture Pre-cooking

Pop in the oven at 350 and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (Based on using a silicone pan)

Let cool for 20-30 minutes before removing from pan muffin pan. Carefully pop out the muffins and let sit before eating.

Repeat steps with remaining mixture. Should make approximately 24+ mini muffins.

After coming out of the oven and resting for quiet some time

Food Day 2011

2011-10-24T21:40:00.000-04:00

I was introduced to Food Day about one week ago from a blog posted by Marni Sumbal. I wasn't quite sure what it was all about but knowing Marni, I knew it had to be something promoting good health so I decided to check it out. I wish I would have found out about this sooner because I could have made a fabulous awareness event on our campus to benefit my college students. There is always next year!

From the FoodDay.org Website, here are the 6 pillars of the campaign:

Since I was short on time and there were only 3 community events in my area, I decided to celebrate Food Day at home with the husband. The only catch is... I was going to cook dinner. I think this whole idea really confused Kenny because he could not figure out for the life of him why I was so excited about cooking dinner over one week away. But excited I was and ready to plan.

Yeah... that planning bit... ummmm ... not so much. I knew I had one solid recipe that I was going to make because no matter how many different things I looked at, I kept coming back to this one recipe. Sadly it was only a side dish so I was still left with a main course to figure out. And in me fashion, I waited until Sunday morning to figure it out. (We "celebrated" Food Day on Sunday instead of Monday due to scheduling conflicts)

I started the day off great with an awesome breakfast
Omelet made with local eggs from a friends farm (1 whole egg, 2 egg whites) with onion and red bell pepper
1 piece of Whole Wheat Toast, half a banana and a teaspoon of local honey

(Lunch wasn't as exciting, open face PB&J and some fresh green beans with a tomato sauce)

After breakfast, I scurried around like a mouse trying to figure out my dinner so that I could go grocery shopping. I remembered a cookbook I picked up a while back, so I pulled it out for some inspiration. I am so thankful I picked this one up. (Thanks for the recommendation Runners World)

This is a cookbook of Training and Recovery Recipes from Chefs who also happen to be athletes. I didn't take any pictures of the preparation of the main dish, but if you happen to have this cookbook, I would highly recommend the Orange-Cumin Glazed Pork Tenderloin (Recipe included at the end for reference). It is definitely a keeper in this house! You can see it in a picture at the end! The pork comes out nice and tender and the flavoring is amazing and somewhat spicy but in a good way. I loved the side garnish of orange, onion and cilantro which really balanced out the spice. Kenny decided to skip that part since he does not like cilantro.

However the thing I was most excited about making was Baked Quinoa Patties, a recipe I found on the blog 101cookbooks.com . Like I said earlier, no matter how many things I looked at making, I kept coming back to this one recipe and knew that I was going to have to make it.

Here are the details (slightly altered from the original)

Baked Quinoa Patties

Ingredients (Altered to match what I used)
2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, at room temperature
5 large eggs, lightly beaten (I used 2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites)
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh chives (From my garden)
1/6 cup finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon (toasted) cumin
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs (See our "recipe below")
water or a bit of flour, if needed

Cooking Instructions (from the site)
Preheat oven to 400F / 200C.
Combine the quinoa, eggs, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the chives, dill, onion, garlic, and cumin. Stir well.
Add the baking powder and bread crumbs, stir, and let sit for a few minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture.

The mixture pre-cooking

At this point, you should have a mixture you can easily form into twelve 1-inch / 2.5cm thick patties. I err on the very moist side because it makes for a not-overly-dry patty, but you can add more bread crumbs, a bit at a time, to firm up the mixture, if need be. Conversely, a bit more beaten egg or water can be used to moisten the mixture. If you're still having trouble getting the mixture to hold - mix in flour, a couple tablespoons at a time.
Oil a baking sheet, and arrange the patties with a bit of space between each. Bake for ~20 minutes, or until the bottoms are brown. Flip and bake for another 5 minutes.
Enjoy hot, or allow to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.
Makes about a dozen patties.

The Finished Product

I did end up adding just a tad bit of water to mine in order to have a moist mixture that I felt would form into patties. I ended up with 15 quinoa patties. On the site there is also instruction on how to pan fry them but I wasn't interested. :)

OMG Were these little suckers amazing and delicious. I am so proud of myself for finding this recipe. I seriously might add them as a new household favorite. They have the best flavor and are great both cold and hot. To me it is amazing how good they can taste using such simple ingredients. These will definitely be incorporated to friend and family gatherings.

The Secret Bread Crumb Recipe
We make our own "bread crumbs" by crushing wasa crackers and adding a bit of any spicy pepper cheese. Kenny did this a while back for the top of a casserole and we have used the same idea a couple of times since. The original quinoa patty recipe called for bread crumbs and feta, so we took out the feta and substituted out bread crumb mixture instead.

The uber complicated bread crumb recipe is this:
6-8 wasa crackers (we use the whole wheat ones)
1 small package of shreeded cheese of your choice

Blend in a food processor until you have the consistence of bread crumbs. Viola... this finished product!

And here was our finished product for dinner

Orange-Cumin Glazed Pork Tenderloin (Front and Center)
Baked Quinoa Patties (Top Left)
Grilled Asparagus and Local Baby Eggplant from a friends garden (Top Right)

I am very pleased with the way things turned out. I found two amazing recipes to add to our collection and we had a great night eating in. I am so thankful that I am starting to gain some confidence in the kitchen and that I am venturing out to try new things.

My creativity got the best of me and I used some of our left over ingredients to make a fun little dessert but I will blog about that tomorrow!

Happy Food Day!!!

I hope that you take the opportunity to eat some "real" food!

Orange-Cumin Glazed Pork Tenderloin
From Ivy Stark, Executive Chef of New York's Dos Caminos Restaurant and former State Figure Skating Champion in Colorado
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1-2 canned chilis in adobo
Peel from one orange
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 pork tenderloins (1.5 pounds)
2 oranges, segmented (about 2 cups)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1/2-3/4 cup)
Salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine orange juice, chipotles, orange peel, cumin seeds, and salt in a blender. Puree until smooth.
Place the pork tenderloins in a shallow dish and pour the orange mixture over them. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge at least one hour or up to overnight. Take the tenderloins out of the marinade, and reserve the remaining marinade.
Put the reserved marinade in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced by half, about 10-12 minutes. Keep warm.
Place the meat in a shallow baking dish. Brush with a little of the reserved marinade after 15 minutes. Bake for a total of 20-25 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees in the center of the meat. Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Toss the orange segments, red onion, and cilantro in a small bowl with a little salt.
Slice the pork and drizzle with reduced marinade. Serve with orange-onion mixture.

Did You Celebrate?

2011-10-21T22:38:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 19th was a holiday... did you celebrate?

What you say you didn't know about it?

Sadly, I am not surprised. In a society where we covet holidays which include big meals and indulgent sweets, it is not surprising to find that we don't take the time to recognize those days which celebrate us. They certainly don't get the publicity and fanfare that the more popular days do but by no means are they any less worth celebrating.

If you missed, it is not to late.

What was October 19th?...

Love Your Body Day, a campaign sponsored by the NOW Foundation.

From their website

Every day, in so many ways, the beauty industry (and the media in general) tell women and girls that being admired, envied and desired based on their looks is a primary function of true womanhood. The beauty template women are expected to follow is extremely narrow, unrealistic and frequently hazardous to their health. The Love Your Body campaign challenges the message that a woman's value is best measured through her willingness and ability to embody current beauty standards.

Their website goes on to talk about the various ways in which the media makes it difficult for women, young and old, to truely appreciate their body. This is their 14th year of the campaign... who knew? I love their efforts to reach out to the public and to engage women by holding poster contests, encouraging college campus events and blog carnivals

I love this poster that a contributor created for the awareness campaign.

Poster winner in College Category

So on the theme of this poster, I wanted to personally investigate what makes ME a masterpiece

My Story

I can't say that I have always loved the body I was gifted. As well, I also can't say I have always taken the best care of by body. It has taken many years of internal monologue with myself and tons of self discovery to get to where I am today.

Growing up, I was plagued by being overweight and not really knowing how fix it. Sure there were "diets" but as a teenager, I lacked the dedication to pick anything of that sort and stick with it. All I knew was that there were plenty of young women around me wearing loads of cute clothing in their size and well, I was a peculiar little thing. I hovered somewhere in the land of band nerd and rocker mixed with a small dose of tomboy. I was especially awkward but extremely outgoing so in the end it all worked in my favor. I had plenty of friends and tons to do which afforded me the ability to disregard my concerns about my weight and body. But truthfully as a growing teenager it is hard not to notice all those which seemed more gifted than you in the body image department. Top that off with being labeled obese and you have yourself an automatic acceptance into the land of cruddy self esteem.

Obesity seems so foreign to me. My friends certainly never used the term to describe me and it was not in my vocabulary but medically, that term kept popping up over and over. At age 21, as a 200+ pound woman at 5'3", my BMI ranked in at a whopping 36. Twenty one years old and I finally realize that I am officially termed as obese. It's quiet the shocker. Yes I do realize that there are many things that the BMI does not take into account but for all purposes that information was enough for me to realize there were other ways of living life. Looking back now, I still wouldn't term my body at my largest as "obese". Definitely overweight and in need of some TLC but not obese.

I am still not quiet sure what ever it was that caused my butt to get into gear. There was no one moment in time where I had that "a-ha" moment like some do. All I can say is that it happened. During my senior year of college my close college friend Colin "choose" me as his gym partner and truthfully I am guessing that is what kicked my butt into gear. Maybe he recognized something in me that I didn't. Regardless of the cause, I am thankful that I finally decided to do something with this body I had been gifted.

Skip about 9 years and here we are today. I am a ... 3 time marathoner ... 2 time half Ironman finisher ... confident spandex wearing cyclist ... crazy triathlon girl with a goofy blog ... and 149 pound fit woman. Yes there is no shame in the numbers. I am a much fitter and healthier person than I have ever been but most importantly I am a much more educated individual concerning health, wellness and fitness. This transformation certainly didn't happen overnight and didn't happen easily. It came with a lot of hard work and of course the occasional set back. I am not naive to think that I wont have future troubles and I definitely know that my journey is far from over. In the amazing words of my coach; I am not seeking perfection, I am seeking progress.

But for now, I am my own personal masterpiece because...

I love my wonderful arms which impress me daily with their ability to pull me through the water
I am amazed by my legs and the way that they have developed. I constantly stare at them and just think WOW, these suckers have carried me over countless miles
I love my shoulders, who knew shoulders could be appealing
I love my perseverance that carries my body through various training programs and over multiple finish lines.
I adore that I am well fueled by a diet that consists of natural wholesome ingredients
I am thankful that I have the dedication to make positive choices for my body
I appreciate my mind for allowing me to push farther than what I believe are my abilities

It's been a long journey but I can finally say that I do celebrate my body. Own your body and take charge of your future. Treat your body with care and remember to always appreciate what you have been given. Be proud of who you are.

Yes, This is me and I love my body

Oh and by the way, my current BMI says I am "Overweight". And to that I stick my tongue out and say bite me!

Two Big Milestones in One Weekend

2011-10-18T22:05:00.000-04:00

Things have been slow going here and I do appologize. I will have the most amazing blog about it soon but long story short... I went to Hawaii during the Ironaman World Championship and had a blast. No I didn't compete, I volunteered and cheered my head off. It was great. As soon as I upload my photos, I will post the blog.

But that has nothing to do with the two large milestones I experienced this past weekend.

FIRST MILESTONE
On Saturday I decided to run the Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5k. I haven't run a 5k in quite some time, so I knew this would be an awesome challenge for my otherwise long endurance based mind. I knew that with the progress in my running over the past year, I would have a great opportunity to PR. But at what level, I did not know. My current PR in the 5K is 32:44 from a race in June of 2009. I have run approximately four 5ks since then and none of them have been close to breaking my PR.

On race morning I was calm. 5Ks no longer make me jittery like they used to. The race was slated for a 9am start but with the potential parking bottle neck in the park, we opted to get there at 7:15am. Lots of time for socializing, picking up my bib number (it got left out of my packet some how), potty break, etc. We observed the Celebration Walk of all the cancer survivors and cheered for them and stood by the stage to hear the race announcements and fund raising information. At this point I was a tad bit hungry and had to remind myself that I had plenty of energy in my tank and didn't need to go grab extra fuel. After all, it was a 5K!

With about 15 minutes to go I opted for a nice easy warm up. About 5 steps into my warm up I knew I needed a bathroom break. My bladder would not hold out for 3 miles. Guess that is what happens when you wake up at 3 hours before the race start. Pit stop at the restrooms at the back of the park and I was good to go. Luckily these were the lesser known bathrooms away from the crowd and the line wasn't too terrible. Because of the pit stop, the warm up only ended up being 0.65 miles in length which was basically the distance to and from the restroom by way of the parking lots but I felt pretty decent.

If there is one think I remembered from my previous years at the Komen 5k, it is that there are about 2700 participants, most of which do not have a running background. This means, Suzy Q who is walking at 17 minute pace is likely going to line up right in the front and walk 5 wide with her crew. It is a bit of a nuisance for the runners and I wish the race organizers would do future work to organize the participants but honestly, this is a race that is about fund raising for a cure. You have to zig zag for about 0.25 to 0.50 miles but it eventually clears. I did line up much closer to the front than I normally would and feel bad for those faster runners who might have been behind me. Such is life.

I knew a 5k PR would be tough but completely possible. I knew I needed to push myself hard and to not give up at any point in the race. What I did not know is how fast I could go or what pace I should aim for. So with that in mind I took off fast, disregarded any information my garmin gave me and just pushed! Somehow I missed the 1 mile marker and made it to the first aid station in 13 minutes. My aid station attempts at this race looked more like me dousing myself with water in the face inadvertently while trying to aim for my open mouth. Comical but not enough energy for my to laugh at myself. I did look at the screen on the 2 mile and 3 mile beeps and noticed that both said 9:xx miles.

9:xx miles... WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Ummmm, I have only ever seen that in 1 mile efforts during interval training or during a 1 mile running test. I was stoked!!! I didn't give anything much thought because math at that level of effort would have been too difficult and distracting. All I knew was that it was for certain, I was going to PR.

Middle Georgia Komen made the decision this year not to time the race which for me is super disappointing now that I know my results. I want an official result which shows my fancy new PR. But have no fear, without a photographer at the finish line, I used my trusty garmin to clock my time.

30:14!!!!!!!!!!!

I finished 3.12 miles in 30:14 according to my garmin. That is a 2:30 PR over my previous best and faster that I have run anything recently. Most importantly, this is the first time ever that I have run sub 10 minute miles in a race. I have seen a sub 10 minute mile but only in single 1 mile efforts during speed efforts. Never in 3 consecutive miles.

I was spent at the finish line but felt extremely accomplished. I am sooo close to my goal from 2 years ago of a sub 30 minute 5k. I am ready to accomplish this!

Second Milestone
I have been working with my coach for two years now. Twice she has assisted me in realizing my goal of reaching the finish line of Augusta 70.3. However, I feel some of the most important work that we have done is with my nutrition and weight. My coach, Marni Sumbal, is a Registered Dietitian and is Certified in Sports Nutrition and by far, she is the best investment I have made in myself during this fitness adventure.

This year I gave her the goal that I would really like to drop some weight and work on my overall nutrition in addition to my half ironman goals. Several years ago I lost upwards of 50 pounds using Weight Watchers. However, I have pretty much been at a plateau since and have never paid attention to body composition; instead just focusing on a number on the scale. I haven't been able to clean up my nutrition on my own and I knew I needed some help. If anyone could do it, I knew Marni could.

On a random whim I got on the scale Sunday Morning. Much to my surprise it read...

149.6

I started this season of training with Marni at 163. That is just over 13 pounds. But most importantly this means that ... I an no longer an Athena!!! You might remember my contemplating a while back on the blog about registering at races as an Athena. (A special race category for women over 150 pounds) Well I didn't blog about it but I did eventually sign up for what will be my first and only race as an Athena. I ended up placing in 1st for the division and have a nifty trophy to show for it. I was very proud that day of my accomplishment and knew that I had raced well.

Well however disappointing as it might be for my trophy shelf, I can no longer register as an Athena. I must compete as an age grouper from this point forward. I am so excited for this progress and can't wait to see what else I can accomplish.

My trophy shelf might gain a little dust for a while but at some point I will add to my collection. Maybe I can be like Harriet Anderson who completed in the Ironman World Championship at age 76 in 16:56:01 to win her age group!

Photo Courtesy of FinisherPix

Yep, she is definitely my kind of gal!

Augusta 70.3 Race Day

2011-10-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

The week prior to race day, weather.com was projecting clear moderate weather. Then we wake up on race day to gloomy skies of impending doom. Thanks weather.com!!! :)

3:30 came early in the morning but waking up wasn't a problem. Because of the time difference between my wake up and my start time (3:30 to 8:56), coach and I decided that it would be best for me to consume two smaller meals in the morning in order to time my nutrition right. Breakfast #1 consisted of 1/2 cup oatmeal, a teaspoon of peanut butter and half a banana. Race morning breakfast is always slow for me. By 4:45 we were parked near transition and making our way to body marking. By this point it had started sprinkling on and off. I feared/hoped for Augusta 2010 conditions. It is odd to not want rain but also to request it because you know that you perform well in it.

Transition set up went well. I decided to rack my bike differently this year by the back of my seat which actually allowed my front tire to reach the ground. Score one for the short chick! It also allowed me to place my helmet on my aero bars which was nice for T1. we took the athlete shuttles to the swim start and thus began the long wait. Luckily, with 15 athletes in our group, the Crazy Joes kept occupied.

The Swim- 29:32
15 minutes prior to my start I took a Rocktane and finished the process of putting on my wetsuit. Being about 10ish pounds lighter this year make putting the suit on much easier.

Gen and I have an exact replica of this pic from last year... except in the rain and looking like drowned rats. LOL Pretty but wet rats. Thankgoodness the rain held off of this lovely photo.

Lined up with my wave and off I went.

Airhorn went off and it was almost as if for a split second my wave of women did not want to go. Seriously they didn't move, so I blasted between them and took off. The start of this swim was so much better than the chaos fest that was last years swim. I was calm, collected and just swam in my own little world. The amount of seaweed in the river was incredible. Every time would push my hand forward for a stroke, out would come a handful of seaweed. coach gave me directions to draft and take the swim easy but I just could not find a set of feet that was going my speed.drafting sure would have made the seaweed issue much better but oh well.

Sighting still leaves a bit to be desired. I mentioned to my coach that the faster I get, the worse my sighting is. the current again pulled me out toward the middle of the river but St least I was prepared for that this year. Sighting would be ok until I would start to feel comfortable and would add more time in-between my sights and then I would end up all wonky, grrrrrrrr.

Swim exit was good. I swam past all of the people walking in chest deep water right up to the exit and a spectator even yelled "great job" at me for doing so. Felt kind of nice. The run down a long stretch of road to transition was a bit painful.

T1- 4:32
T1 went well. A better rack position would have been nice as I was all the way in the back and the entrance and exit for the bike were located on the far corner which meant running in and out of transition in my bike cleats. If I ever get adventurous enough for a running mount, I might try clipping the bike shoes on before hand. But running in socks would not have been appealing and I am not quiet ready to go sock less. Getting my bike off the rack was much sooner with the new racking method for me. I might just keep this method.

Bike- 3:14:02
This year I was super excited for the bike portion of this event. My cycling has improved so much this past year and I was anxious to see what I could do. About 5 miles into the bike, my cadence sensor decided to quit working. I made the decision on the fly not to stop and fiddle with it and instead opted for going by feel. I am not sure if this hindered me at all. May never know.

Much like last year, I don't remember intricate details on the bike. 56 miles is too much to commit to memory. I do remember it being a very smooth first 2 hours. I passed those that needed to be passed and was passed by the slower male swimmers who started the race before me. There was a core group of women who I played leapfrog with for most of the ride. We each had our strengths as far as uphills and downhills. One would pass for a few miles until the terrain changed and then the other would pass when it matched their strengths. Kind of like a group ride without the drafting. It made for some good encouragement as we each would pass each other over and over again.

My ride started going south at the 2 hour mark. Not because my riding worsened, not because I was tired or fatigued and not because the course got harder. I lost it mentally when I started calculating my bike split in my head and realized that I was not going to beat last years time like I had wanted to. Yes I realize it is the same course on a different day and that conditions (specifically weather) can greatly affect a ride but none of that makes a difference at the moment these thoughts are going through your head. I spent the last hour of my ride mad and trying to figure out what went wrong/differently. If I had to take a guess at it, I would say that it was a combination of wind and heat/humidity. The wind wasn't anything overly obnoxious like some of the crud I have trained in but I think it was sneaky enough to affect you but not to notice it as a hinderance. The heat and humidity started with the on and off showers of the morning and only worsened as the day went on. neither of these things could I control but again, that didn't matter at that moment on my ride. The only thing that mattered was the fact that after all my training, I wasn't faster.

It ended up that I actually did go faster by 30 seconds. However, overall I can say the ride was much easier than my training. I don't remember hills from last year but I do remember the course from this year and I know that I trained more hills than those found on the course. Great confidence booster!

T2- 2:09
Again, if I would of had a closer rack in transition, I wouldn't of had to run through the muck in my cleats. On the plus side I was close to the run out but those shoes are much easier to run in lol.

I was greeted in transition by Crazy Joe member Lynn, who screamed her head off for me while waiting for her relay team member to return on the bike. Thanks Lynn.

Racked my bike grabbed my fuel belt and off I went. I had my visor threaded through my fuel belt so that I could grab and go which was really convenient and effective. As I ran out, the third member of the relay team, Diana, was screaming for me while waiting to take off on the run. Having friends rocks! (Lynn did the Swim, Gen did the Bike and Diana did the run)

Run- 2:52:43
Coming into Augusta, I had some really awesome run training. I had a series of workouts during the last month that just totally rocked my socks. However, I have never run more than 7 miles without using an interval training method and I honestly had no clue how I would handle Augusta. Coach and I talked it over and agreed that I am capable of something in the 11:30-12:15 range for the run portion of a half iron. Goal was to run 8 minutes and walk 10 seconds with extra walk time in each aid station.

Mother nature had a different plan for me. The only mile I did in that time range was mile 1 which felt like utter crap. Run went something like this;

Miles 1-3: utter crap. Three of the most craptastic miles ever. Heat was ridiculous,I was sweating like a pig and it took all I had to keep my mind focused on running.

Lovely Crazy Joe Randy who just finished IM Louisville, trying to cheer me up on the run.

Miles 4-6: Best miles of the race. I was actually able to hold to 8 minute runs and 15 second walks with sort walks at the aid stations. I finally felt like the run was clicking and that I was going to pull out of this crappy race despite my horrible bike performance.
Mile 7-13.1: Worse than my craptastic first 3 miles. Mother nature decided to bring on a thunder storm and for those of you who don't know me, I am petrified of thunder and lightening. The thunder would come and I would freak out. Mentally I was shot at this point and with my mind racing in a million different directions, I couldn't stay focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I contemplated quitting until I realize that it wouldn't get me to shelter any sooner. So the only way to keep myself on track was to count my steps. 6 miles of counting my steps, hustling when I could and walking when my mind gave up. The second half of this race sucked it up.

I finally reached the finish line in 6:42:58 , just 30 seconds faster than last year. A whole year of training for 30 seconds. I was so relieved to be at the finish line but I was pissed at my result. Not because I wasn't prepared or didn't have the appropriate guidance and coaching, I was pissed because I has failed myself. And thank you mother nature for stopping the thunder right as I crossed the finish line, you and I will have some words later.

This is exactly how I felt after finishing

Finally Smiling in the Finish Chute

A crappy day but overall an amazing race for many of the Crazy Joes.

Overall Results
Swim- 29:32
T1- 4:32
Bike- 3:14:02
T2- 2:09
Run- 2:52:43
Total Time- 6:42:58

Celebrating with some Crazy Joes getting ready to take down my transition

Now that I have had time to process things, I am still mad at the result but motivated to prove to myself that I am capable of a much better performance. Pretty much everyone in our group had a rotten day. The weather was sneaky on race day and affected all of us. I didn't realize it at the time, i just viewed it as hot, normal Georgia weather but clearly there was much more to the specific conditions. I am happy that my body allowed me to compete in another event of this distance and that my recovery was an extremely smooth process. I am still taking this easy just to give myself some down time but I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Anyone want to recommend a colder half ironman? I think I might do better then, lol.

Some Crazy Joes at the Expo on Friday

Fun pic from bike check in on Saturday

We have a similar pic from last year.

Augusta 70.3 Version 2.0

2011-09-27T21:32:00.000-04:00

Yes you read that correctly, I competed in Augusta 70.3 for the second year. I secretly started training for it at the beginning of the summer and finally signed up at the end of August. Lucky me, I signed up for the race just one week before it filled up.

Pre-Race

Similar to last year, Kenny and I decided to head over to check in and the Expo on Friday. I will say it again for the second year in a row, if you can afford to get to check in on the first day of an Ironman branded event, DO IT! The lines on Saturday are INSANE and you do not want to attempt to navigate what is left of the merchandise.

Check in went off without a hitch and before you knew it I was browsing shirts, jerseys and clearance racks. Disappointing this year, no race poster at registration. This year they sold the poster at the expo and it was a neat concept with all of the racers names in the shape of an M-Dot. Neat concept except all of the racers names weren't on it. Despite closing the race a month before race date, most of the Crazy Joe names did not make the poster nor shirt with the same logo. Lost sales for you Ironman because I totally would have been a sucker and bought both. However the race bag rocked and I enjoyed the women cut race shirt instead of a generic cut mens shirt. It was a bit different to have a different colored shirt for men and women. I am still undecided if I like this or not.

This year was no different than last, I left the expo with quiet a bit of schwag.

New Bike Jersey
Maroon Dry Fit Augusta 70.3 shirt
A Clearance top from last year that happened of be in my size (Hello New Running Top)
Black Women's M-Dot shirt that totally rocks!

Awesome this year was various new vendors including 110% Play Harder. I had the opportunity to introduce a few friend to the product and actually even got to speak with the owner of the company. Love Love Love that Company. If you ever need some recovery gear, please check out 110% Play Harder.

Here is a group of us hanging out at the Expo.

We did a big group dinner at Carrabbas for the Crazy Joes on Friday and then off to bed early.

On Saturday, we decided to drive the bike course as a refresher and then went to bike check. Aron grabbed this shot from on top of the hill (or berm as Kenny liked to call it) after we checked our bikes in.

On Saturday night we decided to try something new for dinner and I think this is my new favorite way to have my pre-race meal. We decided to go for Outback as our pre-race meal but we ordered it to go and ate in the lobby of our hotel with friends. Best Decision EVER!!! The food was just as good as at the restaurant. We didn't have the ridiculous wait of eating at a packed restaurant. People could leave when they wanted. No waiting on water glasses to be refilled. Love it. Definitely the way to go!

We headed to bed at 7pm for our 3:30am wake up call. Race morning would come all too soon and even though I had completed this race, I was still nervous.

Why is your Glass-Half-Full?

2011-08-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

I think most of you probably know that I am a glass-half-full kind of girl. I tend to look on the bright side of life, stay positive and am pretty stress free. It doesn't mean that I never have a bad day, it is just my outlook on life. I haven't always been this way but I had a brief time period when I dated a negative drain on life and his outlook pretty much cemented my always positive outlook. Negativity is just no fun to be around and certainly isn't fun to date. Lesson Learned!

But even with my cheery disposition, there are still sometimes when my positivity even surprises me. The past few weeks have just been a whirlwind of all the right things. It's a "wake up on the right side of the bed and realize you still have 20 more minute to sleep" kind of week/s. Kenny blames it on my coach! (It's a good blame) and you know I would have to agree. I am so much more positive in my training when I have something to focus on and work toward. And of course that focus carries into the other areas of my life.

Why is my Glass-Half-Full?

Running Sub 10 miles for the first time (okay, second time)- Well I can't say first time because last year I ran one mile at 9:59 but this morning I ran 2 of them. Sub 10 is a huge deal to me. It is kind of my own mental barrier to being called a runner. 9:41 and 9:32, Success!
My Health- I have been working with my coach on nutrition and could not be happier with my current nutrition intake. I have been a pretty healthy eater in the past several years but the past two weeks have really shown me how to refine my intake and focus on my body as an athlete. I am finally getting to the point where eating when I am hungry comes with a good choice and no guilt. Hopefully I can keep this up once the cafeteria opens.
Athena- This might seem contrary to what I just said in #2 but I finally had the confidence to register as Athena for a race. My goal is that hopefully in the coming weeks/months I won't have that option but as of now I can finally say that I am comfortable in my body to the point that being labeled Athena doesn't bother me. (It came with a ton of encouragement from my friends)
Body Composition- I have long complained that I got the short end of the stick when it comes to body composition. Other women my height and weight can wear cute bathing suits and fabulous clothing while I just look a bit different. My fat landed on different areas of my body! I am not saying at this point that I am ok with my body composition but I have really started to appreciate different aspects of my body and how it can perform for me. I am constantly amazed when I look at the definition in my legs and reflect on all they do for me each workout. I have a new appreciation for my shoulders and upper back and the shape that it is taking. Daily I am finding a new aspect of my body that I have grown to appreciate. I think my stomach will always be my "problem" area but at least now I have hope that it might get better. LOL
Stress Free and Laughter- I have never really appreciated my ability to laugh and be stress-free but I am slowly beginning to realize that is really is a skill/talent of mine. My co-workers have commented a lot recently on my ability to handle job stressors with ease. A few friends have even done the same. I have always said that it was because I am good at crisis situations but in reality I am good in crisis situations because of my stress free nature. Again it is not that things don't bother me, I have just learned how to handle them differently than more people.

So why am I posting this? It is certainly not to boast about how great my life is or how wonderful of a person I am. That is totally not the reason for this post. I am sharing this because I think all too often we get bogged down. We forget about the simple joys. We forget to celebrate our many accomplishments and instead focus on our shortcomings. We forget to stop and appreciate all that life has to offer. I have seen too many friends dealt a bad hand in life yet they remain positive about what tomorrow brings. If they can have a positive outlook on what tomorrow brings, then I certainly can as well.

I urge each of you to celebrate something that is great in your life. Find something wonderful or minor that happened to you today or this week and Share It!

Tell Me, Why is your Glass-Half-Full?

What's that saying.... If it ain't broke...

2011-07-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

....errr.....

I mean, if it ain't broke, it doesn't mean it still can't hurt?

So the results from my Chest x-rays are in. NOTHING IS BROKEN! That is a HUGE YIPPIE in my world. I was seriously concerned that I had fractured something in my chest. The breathing is still getting better day by day. Riding in the trainer is when it is best, Riding on the road isn't bad either, Swimming is next best and running is an adjustment. I think the biggest shock to my system is the amount I have had to slow down in the running to compensate for comfort. But I am totally following coaches orders and making sure to pay attention to my body and not over do it. I am hoping that some quality R&R this weekend after tomorrow's workout will have me feeling tons better. Like I said, I am feeling 1 million times better but I am still not at 100%. It is really damn aggravating!

My knee however is a different story. I thought it was totally healing fine. Still sore if you poke at it but overall doing well and it never really visibly bruised up. Well I have found the one thing that does aggravate it. Road Cycling. Specifically; Hills. Tons of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation in my future this weekend. Oddly enough it really does not hurt for running which is what amazed me. Hopefully I will see some improvements in tomorrow's ride and run.

On a completely different side note:

While working out today, I realized how much I like running in the morning. When we first moved into our neighborhood exactly 4 years ago, I used to run in our neighborhood all of the time. It was a nice little area that I could run about 1.5-2 miles without repeating roads. I know some people would go looney but when running alone in the early mornings it works well. When training for Augusta 70.3 ramped up last year I did a majority of my runs on base because I was running at 5am in the dark and base just felt a bit safer. So, I haven't really run a ton in my neighborhood for the past year.

Well my new training plan calls for a lot of brick workouts which means no running on base unless I plan on taking my bike and trainer and riding in the parking lot (too early to ride on the roads, it is pitch black). So I have arranged my schedule to do most of my workouts at the house which means running in my neighborhood. There are some many mundane things that I love about running in my neighborhood.

-I love seeing the same pair of people running every morning
-I love seeing the same owners walking their dogs
-I love seeing the neighborhood wake up and all of the garage doors opening
-I love seeing the same sprinklers on
-I used to love watching the construction crews arriving in the morning for their work on a new home and seeing their weekly progress.
-Now I love seeing the for sale signs come down and moving trucks arriving
-I am perplexed by the car that sits in its drive way for 20 minutes each morning running and then magically the next time I come around it is off and appears that it hasn't moved.
-Soon I will love the comfort of children at their bus stops with their parents. There is something so soothing about seeing the same families every morning.
-I like waving to the bus driver while she parks and waits for her next route to begin
-I see the same cars driving out of the subdivision
-I smile at the new student drivers heading to high school
-I say hi to the random cats that just hang out and watch me run by
-I love seeing the occasional bunny that I find hiding on someones lawn

I know it would make a lot of people batty but the routine is comforting. Plus I get to notice some pretty awesome stuff while I run. (I stay pretty alert of my surroundings while running regardless of where I am) It is all pretty routine stuff but it is cool to see that everyone has their own little routine each day. And that in a small little way, I am a part of their routine as well.

Cheer and Happy Morning Running!

Survey Says...

2011-07-25T19:57:00.000-04:00

Well last week was quite eventful for me. As you all know I passed out on Monday which was quite eventful in and of itself but at the time of my post I didn't realize just exactly what I had done to my body. But then came the rest of the week... a wake up call.

So after taking Tuesday off as a precaution, I showed up to the group ride on Wednesday; 25 miles is typically no biggie. The wind was horrific but I was a trooper and I stuck out the ride. from about mile 5 onward, I pretty much rode alone in one constant headwind. The fall had taxed me enough that I couldn't keep up with my normal gang but not quite slow enough to ride with those behind me. So I chugged along, alone on the roads. Just be and the pesky headwind that would not go away. About 12 or so miles into the ride I noticed that my breathing on the left side of my chest was fairly labored and felt really restricted. This is the side of the body where I slammed into the door frame. Putting two and two together, I figured I had bruised myself but still carried on my way. I finished the ride but decided to forgo my transition run in order to play it on the safe side. I vividly remember saying to the group "I think I bruise my lung or something".

Thursday Morning I felt well enough to hit the pool, so I jumped in for my morning workout.
Warm up: Fine
First set of workout: Doing Ok
Second set of workout:... Yeah not so much
I finished the second set in my workout and made it to my cool down but really my cool down consisted of about 100-150 yards of backstroke which really wasn't comfortable and about 100-150 yards of balance drills. My breathing was extremely labored and my lung felt beat up like it was run through the meat grinder. Once I left the gym I called Kenny and said "If this thing doesn't get better I am going to see Dr Renner". Kenny and I both decided that it would be best for me to try and get an appointment on Friday.

Fast forward to lunch time at work and I decided that I was going to take the rest of the day off and go see my doctor. Folks this is huge, I never take sick leave. I wasn't dying but I definitely wanted some answers to my questions and my Doctors office was only open a half day on Friday so I made the decision to be a walk in. Love my doctor, they got me right in!

So Survey Says... likely a pulmonary contusion with the possibility of some bruised ribs. I was sent for a chest x-ray that afternoon to make sure nothing was broken. I don't have the results from that yet but we shall remain positive. Who knew that a person could fall that hard when passing out to cause this to themselves. I surely didnt!

Very luckily, cycling on the trainer is not super taxing. I spent Friday and Saturday on the trainer (doc said it was ok) and still felt accomplished enough to not feel horribly sidelined. Sunday was a complete day of rest and today I was back to my normal training routine.

However, Running is still a bit labored. I ran 1.5 miles this morning and if left like I had run 15. I feel like a newbie runner who hasn't figured out how to make their lungs appreciate a run. All in all, I am improving, Not 100% but getting better daily. Thank goodness this happened now and not in Late August or September.

Kenny is still forbidding me from ever stepping foot in a medstop! :)

So instead of focusing on training this weekend I focused on cooking. I made a successful sunday night dinner of salmon, greenbeans, sweet potatoes fries (Baked) and stuffed peppers.

However, Major lesson learned. When your husband, who has a higher spice tolerance than you, runs to the fridge to grab milk after he eats a stuffed pepper, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE! And these are the mild of the four peppers we are growing. YIKES!

Malfunction Junction

2011-07-19T19:06:00.004-04:00

Sometimes the shit just hits the fan! When this happens my best advice is to seek shelter and ride out the storm!

The best way to describe the past 3 days is one HUGE Malfunction. Each part on it's own is nothing huge but collectively it makes for a funny bunch of days. And yes I do mean funny. I am so lucky that Kenny and I have a sense of humor and can laugh about just anything once the situation has past.

I have been really lucky in the past 2.5 years of cycling. Never really a huge malfunction during a ride. (I did have to be picked up from a ride once because my shifters went wacky but that really wasn't a biggie.) Well Saturday the cycling gods thought that they would play a fun prank on our little group ride. Collectively we started 30 minutes late, had 3 flat tires, a tire that needed replacing, a torn glove and a seat that malfunctioned in the middle of an interval. That is a lot of collective snafus in one go round for a small group of 7 people. Never mind the fact that 4 of those people had no incidents. Oops! I guess it was bound to happen at some point.

But really lets get to the bigger Malfunction of the past three days because honestly, it is was funnier!

As I was coming home yesterday after work Kenny informed me that he was at our local Medstop (after hours doc) because he had cut his thumb. He sounded really concerned but told me just to go on home. Now lets be honest people, I can't just leave my husband at the doc in a box with a cut thumb and not attempt to take care of him. So off I drove to the Medstop.

I walked in to find Kenny with his thumb wrapped in gauze. He promptly said to me "You might not want to stick around, even this is making me nauseous." Great, just great. My track record with his injuries is not good but I wanted ot be brave and stick it out for him since he wasn't feeling well.

In walks the doc to look at his thumb and surprisingly is has stopped bleeding. Hooray! Well I still didn't want to look directly at his thumb, so I walked around the room a bit reading the CPR posters while she started to examine his thumb. A little poke here, a prod there and all it took was one look at his thumb once it started bleeding and I was done.

I sat down on the nearest stretcher for a bit because I started feeling woozy. Tunnel vision and all I knew this wouldn't be good. So genius me decides I should walk out of the room to my car so that I can rest while they stitch up his thumb. I announce "I am going out to my car" and well that is all I remember. Apparently, I made it to the door that leads into the waiting room and passed out. Kenny stated that it was the hardest he has ever seen anyone fall.

So here I am sprawled out on the tile floor, in a skirt I might add, and I finally come to and see 8 people staring down at me. I closed my eyes in an effort to make them go away but alas, I opened my eyes again and they were all still there. After some time they got me up off the floor and on to a stretcher to monitor me while they went back to tending to Kenny's gushing thumb.

According to Kenny this is what happened:
I made it to the door and my knees started to wobble. Before he could tell someone what was happening, I collapsed. I fell forward into the door frame and took a nice forehead slam into the wood. I apparently also hit my jawbone and collarbone in that first fall. Then I fell backwards landing straight back hitting the back of my head and shoulder blades on the tile ground coming to a rest laying down on the floor. Some how in the process I knocked both knees and also hit a table.

So yeah... I am a bit sore today and ice packs have been a very close friend of mine. I have a bump on my forehead, a bruised collarbone which goes down into my chest, two bruised knees, 2 very sore shoulder blades and a bump on the left side of my face just above my jawbone. Kenny needed the medstop and I am the one that comes out injured. Kenny has forbade me from entering the medstop with him for fear it will result in another passing out ordeal. As he put it, this was my three-peat and in this case a three-peat is not good.
#1- I just about passed out last time he was in the medstop after taking a chain ring into his leg while mountain biking
#2- I got really woozy when he came home with another mountain biking injury and asked me to examine his lip for debris among the carnage.
#3- The thumb ordeal of yesterday.

Really I am trying to be a supportive wife but I really suck at this medical crap!


Here I am emailing my coach telling her I need the morning off. I am pretty sure I would not have been able to climb out of the pool.

24 hours post passing out: I am definitely sore today. I can feel the soreness creeping down my neck into my chest where I hit hard yesterday. I have no real visible bruising yet but plenty of puffiness. My knees are a bit swollen and my shoulder blades are sore to the touch. The knot on my head it still there and my cheek/jawbone is still sensitive to the touch. I took today completely off from working out and will play tomorrow by ear. However, we are still cackling at the fact that I couldn't let Kenny have all of the attention and when he does his reenactment of my fall we both just about pee our pants! Humor will heal everything!

Yes, I am really that pitiful!

Now if you excuse me I have a date with some very nice ice packs!

If Swimming is so good for your figure...

2011-07-14T20:09:00.000-04:00

then how to you explain whales!!!

This was yet another gem displayed on the sign at the storage facility on our group ride. They are funny ones!

I am certainly not feeling like a whale here recently. This week has been full of great progress, achievements and high points in my training.

To start things off, I am about 85% positive that I will be doing Augusta 70.3 this coming September. I am so much leaning in that direction that I have officially start back training with my fabulous coach this week and she is already whipping me into shape. I truly thrive when given a structured schedule and plan. This training on my own business is no good. Thank goodness for a coach who knows my strengths and knows which areas I need to focus on.

Secondly, I officially hit a new max speed this past weekend. Kenny and I, along with a group of friends set off to do his first long training ride for Augusta; a 50 miler on a course near home that is very similar to the Augusta route.This is a route that we rode many times last year in preparation for the race and felt more than prepared for the actual race day. Lucky me there happens to me an awesome downhill that I can smoke.

For the first time ever, I hit 40+mph on my Bike!

I have never done that ever. I was seriously stoked. It came late in the ride too which made me feel pretty awesome the rest of the way home. BTW that was pretty much just in aero position without peddling. :)

My last excitement for the week came at our group ride yesterday. For the first time ever, I hung with the "big boys" at the front of the group. I totally had no ambition to try and push it last night. Coach sent me out with the goal of working on skills and enjoying the ride. This was supposed to me my intro week back into training before things get involved and I had all intentions to ride the course like normal. Well, once we hit the first hill on Lakeview (a miniature one on an overpass) and I hung on someone's wheel without getting dropped, I knew I might have the ability to hang with the lead pack. So hang I tried with all of my might. It took lots of fighting to stay on someone's wheel and some killer hill climbing on my part but I am so happy that I put forth the effort. I seriously must be watching too much Tour de France because I even selected my own domestiques during the ride who helped me along the way; Thanks Charles (for the first hill), Blake and Jennifer (both of them for the rest of the ride). Collectively, our group averaged 18.5 which is my first 18+ mph ride. I know that the lead group could have gone much faster last night but I am so thankful they let a few of us mid packers hang with them. It was truly a ride to be remembered.

I followed the ride with a solo 15 minute run at an average pace of 11:18. My latest runs have been getting progressively faster and I am seeing steady increases in my efforts. I am extremely pleased with my efforts in running off the bike and seem to be doing better off the bike than with my solo running efforts.

My four most recent runs have been
10:32 (Off the bike, Thanks Aron for pacing me. This is probably my fastest recent effort)
12:07 (Solo run)

10:57 (Off the Bike on my own)
11:18 (Off the bike on my own after a hard cycling effort)

So over all an awesome week and plenty to be grateful for. What are you grateful for this week?

How to Clean Your Water Bottles

2011-07-11T13:51:00.000-04:00

Between Kenny and myself, we probably own 20+ water bottles that get used on a regular basis for our various sporting activities. Yes we are particular and have bottles only for our bike and then running bottles and swim bottles and bottles for pre race drinks and post race drinks, etc. etc. etc. Even with our varied assortment of bottles, it still seems that we get a few every couple of weeks that just reek. It doesn't matter how often you clean then or how well you soak them, some just stink. And if you had a flavored sports drink in the bottle... forget about it.

Well, I hate, hate, hate it when my water bottles get all gunky. After using them day in and day out for all of the sports we do it is bound to happen but it doesn't mean I have to like it. For a while we tried everything to get them clean and nothing really seemed to do the trick. But finally someone clued me into a little known secret. (I only say it is little known because everytime I mention it to someone new they are astounded.)

So I wanted to share it with you!

Meet my Bottle Cleaning Solution!

No need to check your eyes, you are seeing correctly. That is Denture Cleaner!

Let me tell you, if you have never tried using denture cleaner to clean a bottle then you are missing out. Think about it, if the stuff can get the stink out of fake teeth that are used multiple times every day, then it might just work for bottles. In my experience, the brand doesn't matter and it doesn't matter if you get the regular or mint flavored cleaner. Denture cleaner will take the smell out of any bottle and does a great job at cleaning bottle caps as well. It does not leave an after taste or chemical cleaner smell in the bottle

To clean a bottle:
Fill the bottle about 75% full with hot water
Drop in one tablet of Denture Cleaner
Top off with more hot water
Let bottle sit until it is done fizzing.
Dump the water
Rinse with water and Soap
Voila!!

To clean bottle caps:
Take a big container (such as the one above) and fill it with hot water.
Drop in several Denture Cleaner Tablets (I believe we used 4 in the photo above.)
If you can, separate the bottle cap from the bottle stem. (Some polar bottles have removable stems for cleaning...brilliant)

Let caps sit in solution until it is done fizzing.
Dump the water
Rinse with water and Soap
Voila!!

Now you will never have a stinky bottle again. You can thank me later!

To Athena or Not to Athena

2011-07-02T23:15:00.010-04:00

That is my question!

So I have been toying a lot recently on whether I should be registering as Athena at my races. I am very conflicted and figured I would ask for assistance from my followers. So please give your honest feedback. I am really interested to hear what others have to say.

My Story

I am not a girl to hide behind the numbers. I could care less if people know my true age and will tell just about anyone my real weight. Not the generously reduced number that makes me sounds skinner. I actually tell people my true weight. I really have nothing to hide and after all, it is just a number.

I weigh 160lbs.

In the triathlon world that means I technically qualify for the Athena category. For those outside of the triathlon world, let me explain. In a typical race you compete with other athletes of the same gender who are in your age group. For me that is women who fall between the 30-34 age range. When I register for a race, I am automatically ranked against women of my same age group.

However, some races will do additional categories such as: Novice (first time racers), Military (self explanatory), Fat Tire (those using Mountain Bikes) and then Clydesdale/Athena (Men and Women over a certain weight range). Registration in these categories means that you pull yourself out of the age group rankings and instead compete against others who have self identified that they would like to be considered for these categoies.

So specifically in my case, if I registered Athena I would be withdrawing my name from the Women's 30-34 ranking and instead competing with other women who wished to be considered Athena. Typically Athena is classified as women over 150lbs and Clydesdale is men over 200lbs. There is no rule that says a woman over 150lbs must register as an Athena instead of being an Age Grouper but it is an option. (Same for a Novice or any other optional category).

In my adult history and truthfully really in my adolescent history, I have never been under 150. At my lowest weight right before my wedding I was at 153. I have sat comfortably between 155-165 for just about 2-3 years now. I would love to be below 150 but for all purposes, I have never seen that happen. Seeing as in college I was over 200lbs, 160 is a great improvement.

So that brings me here, Should I be registering Athena?

In a typical race, I am no where near the podium for my age group. At 5'4 and 160lbs, the odds are pretty stacked against me when I am competing with 5'9 125lbs speedsters who run 8 minute miles. I have won an age group award once at the Vidalia Onion Tri in 2009 when I placed 2nd out of 4 women in my age group. In three years of racing triathlon, that has been my only age group award.

Looking at the two races this season

Rock n Rollman Sprint- I placed 8th out of 11 women in my age group. Would have placed 1st or 2nd Athena out of 3 women
Indian Springs- I placed 13th out of 15 women in mt age group. Would have placed 1st out of 2 women in Athena.

Looking at Past Races

Vidalia Onion 2009- Placed 2nd in Age group out of 4. Would have placed 1st out of 6 Athena.
Tri PTC 2009- Placed 22nd out of 32 in my Age Group. Would have placed 10th out of 26 Athena.
Tri Cooter 2009- Placed 6th out of 10 in my Age Group. Would have placed 4th out of 10 in Athena.
Chattanooga Water Front Oly Tri 2010- Placed 61st out of 64 in Age Group. Would have placed 15th out of 17th in Athena
Augusta 70.3 2010- Placed 82nd in Age Group out of 97. Would have placed 14th out of 18 Athena
(Irongirl does not do Athena Categories)

Obviously as you can tell not many women register for Athena. Clydesdale is a much more popular category but for obvious reasons I am guessing you can bet why Athena is not popular among the women. Clearly more women do qualify but wish to compete with their respective age group as I have done thus far.

So what haven't I just bitten the bullet and done so already?

First: Truthfully I haven't really given it much thought until this season when it meant that I missed out on two potential awards. It's not all about the hardware but it is nice to get an award every now and then

Second: Typically Athena/Clydesdale racers start in the last possible wave of a swim start. I really like starting with the other women in my age group. I totally get why you would start Athenas together but hate that is has to be the last possible swim wave. I have never been concerned with the shutting down of a course because I am too slow but when you are already the slowest person among your friends, starting even farther back is just that much more daunting.

Third: And yes I will fully admit that while I am not one to hide behind the numbers, secretly I would feel "fat" registering as Athena. Now I will state that I understand that I am not fat, nor does being an Athena/Clydesdale racer make you fat. It has nothing to do with the public label of being an Athena/Clydesdale racer. This for me is more personal in having to do with admitting that I understand that I am not like the other women in my age group. Clearly if I was landing on the podium or ranking higher than I currently do, this would not even be a question, I would pick Age Group every time. However, the reality is that the women out there are hella fast. And while I am progressing, It is no where near comparison to my fellow age group women. I am typically placing in the bottom quarter of women in my age group on every race I compete in.

So triathlete world, please chime in. I am seriously conflicted on what to do and would love to hear some honest feedback.

What are your thoughts about the Athena/Clydesdale Categories?
Should people have the option to register Athena/Clydesdale/Novice/Fat Tire/etc or should we all just be Age Groupers?
What are your personal thoughts on my situation and what things would you consider if placed in a similar situation?
At what point should one not consider Athena and go with Age Group?
Etc? Etc? Etc? :)

Ultimately I know it is personal decision in the end but I am totally interested in what everyone has to say.

Even the Swim was Uphill- Indian Springs Race Report

2011-07-01T14:01:00.000-04:00

HOLY HILLS BATMAN!

Kenny warned me about this course but I thought "Seriously, how bad can it be?" I mean he signed up for it again so therefore it must be ok.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS! LOL

I seriously think that if the race directors could have made the swim uphill, they would have. I think they found some super secret way to do so because everyone said they had a crappy swim. However hilly this course was, I had a good race. All of the Crazy Joes had a really good race in fact.

The Crazy Joes with our New Banner!

The Swim

600 Meters
Time- 16:47

By first observation from years before, the course appeared long and was reversed in direction to account for a new swim exit to transition. I went out for a practice swim to the first buoy and felt pretty good. I also swam a tiny bit near the exit to check the footing at the exit. Overall I felt pretty calm for the race start which was very nice. Lynn and I were lucky enough to be in the same wave so we waded in the water and then joked around pretty much until the countdown for our wave start.

In my particular swim wave there were 40 women (All women ages 39 and under). I am typically a middle pack swimmer; I am not too slow but not to fast. Well apparently all of the fast women do Indian Springs because I hung in for about the first 100 meters and then I was left in the dust. It was seriously disheartening. Nothing felt off for me but I definitely was not going to be able to hang with the pack. As predicted, the course felt very long on the back end and once we made the final buoy turn toward shore you couldn't see a thing because of some horrific glare from the rising sun. Everyone's swim also includes a nice run uphill to transition. It was one of the longer runs to transition over concrete steps, roots and some grass before you finally made it to the parking lot.

Looking at the results, I was one of the slower ladies in the first women's wave. Only 4 of the 40 ladies were slower than I was. I need to get back into the swim groove. LOL Talking to other athletes and it seems that everyone had a crappy swim.

Time- 1:19

I had a rockin T1 time. Part of it had to do with a great rack position but I will take it. T1 went really smoothly. The socks still got a bit caught up on my toes but it was a quick fix. Compared to the rest of my age group (15 women), I came in 3rd on T1 and was only outdone by the women who placed 1st and 2nd in our AG. Nice Work!

Bike

14.3 Miles
Time- 50:27

As if the swim wasn't "hilly" enough, this is where the true hills began. Overall on the bike I felt very confident in my bike handling skills and pretty strong on the course (hills included). I was passed early on by a few guys with full disk or deep dish wheels. The men started the swim before the women so either they were slow swimmers or had a really long T1. :) As far as other triathletes, I was only passed by one or two people that I "felt" I should be faster than. No real basis on why I felt I should be faster but they definitely gave me some good chase material on those horrid hills.

At one point on the course we passed Dauset which is a local mountain bikers dream. Several mountain bikers waited out by the road to cheer on the triathletes and duathletes which was very nice and I even wished them a nice ride!

I placed 7th in my age group for the bike which I am completely pleased with. The bike computer said an average pace of just over 17mph. I would have liked to of seen faster but given the course condition, this was a good ride for me. As I explained it to someone the other day, now that I have seen 17mph as my average for the past several weeks I am getting greedy. It is time to start seeing 18s LOL.

T2
Time- 1:15

So any time that I made in T1 was lost in T2. At one point I even remember saying out loud " COME ON" when my race belt would not buckle which made the racer next to me laugh. Yes I know I should be running with my race belt but remember that whole handle held water bottle issue from the Rock N Roll Man tri that I mentioned. I still haven't found a solution. Any one... I am all ears! I placed 10th in my age group on T2. Oops!

Run

5K
Time- 34:35

If the hills weren't bad enough on the bike course, the ones on the run were worse. I knew this course began and ended with a short trail like running section. Nothing too terrible, just running through the grass and over small ditches until you can get into the roads in the camp ground. I was mentally prepared for the start of this run but my legs were not. Communicating to your legs to cooperate while on grass and over ditches is difficult. A completely different beast than your typical triathlon run start.

Leaving transition I spotted Al, a fellow Crazy Joe who was competing in his first duathlon. He caught me in the first quarter mile of the run and I cheered for him. Shortly after I saw Gen and Lynn on the course after I finished a short out and back. I knew Gen was a much faster runner than I was and was not exactly sure what Lynn was capable of because we have never raced together. Gen caught me just after the first mile marker as we were entering the first of two horrific loops with ridiculous descents which just meant a 1/4 mile later you would be climbing that monstrosity as you were leaving the loop. Shortly after Gen left me I realized that I was able to walk these steep guys faster than I was running them and I was using less energy so I switched to speed walking the crazy steep hills. Overall a good move on my part because anyone who passed me on those hills, I very quickly passed once I started running again. Ultimately I finished ahead of several of those people so I felt confident in my decision. One day, it won't kill me to walk. :)

One more loop and a few hills later I was ready to hit the grass/dirt area toward the finish line. The entire time I was fully expecting Lynn to run past me so I tried my hardest to stay focused and putting one step in front of the other. As soon as I hit the grass area I could hear the Crazy Joes Yelling for me to pick up the pace. I didn't realize that you would see that well through the trees but apparently my turquoise stood out because I could hear them loud and clear cheering for me. In one last jab of hilliness, the run course ends up a hill in the grass. Kill me now! But I put it into overdrive as much as I could and crossed pretty proud of my self. I places 13 out of 15 in my age group on the run. (Yes, my run still needs work)

Overall Time: 1:44:24
Age Group Place: 13 out of 15 women

Lynn crossed just a minute behind me and then we all cheered as the rest of the Crazy Joes made their way to the finish line. Racing with a large group is so much fun. I am so completely proud of our little small town, unofficial triathlon group. We pretty much rock.

Official Review of my First Race in the Trisuit

I liked it. It was super nice not to worry about pulling my top down over and over on the bike and the run. I never had to worry about anything bunching up or twisting and turning. The only issue I had was that my race number belt kept wanting to ride up to my chest on the run. I never realized how much my tri tops were holding it down until there was no extra fabric to hold it down. I quickly fixed it on the run by expanding the belt as far as it would go so that it would ride on my hips.

The only mishap was the fact that my inner sports bra almost came all the way unzipped. I guess I forgot to lock the zipper in place at the start of the race. Oops. Indian Springs almost got an inadvertent peep show. For future purchases if I went with Zoot, I think I would get a small size. This one is an XL but I think the L would be just fine. The top near my neck line kept bouncing and hitting my upper chest instead of staying snug. I think I might try a Pearl Izumi suit next season which has a separate sports bra.

Steak and Singular and Speed... OH MY!

2011-06-27T12:22:00.001-04:00

Life Comes at you quick and before you know it you have a half written blog with great pictures that has been sitting in your drafts for a week. Oops! It's the thought that counts right? Luckily I already have my next two planned so cheers followers.. good blog content is on it's way. Hopefully I can get this one cranked out before something else of urgency comes along. ;-P

First for the Steak

Kenny and I don't have kids, so this year we declared Father's day to be "Husband Day." Conveniently he declared this after mother's day.... hmmmm I wonder if that was on purpose? Regardless, I took it upon myself to make Husband Day special and I actually decided that I would cook. I know seriously... this had to be a big occasion. Really the meal came together because Kenny put in in charge of the tomato vinagarette side dish and I just decided to take it all over.

I made a salt and pepper marinated steak with taboule and fresh tomatoes from our garden. I added rosemary and chives from our garden to the tomato and balsamic mixture and then also added some roasted garlic to the taboule. Yeah I was pretty dang impressed with myself.

I even pulled out one of our "Good" bottles of wine. Meet our favorite wine, the Louie Latour Pinot Nior. We had two bottles sitting on our wine rack and I decided to crack one open. I need to remember to go buy some more. This gem was from 2005.

Then came the Singular

I have been sick for a bit of time. At first I went to the doctor and they put me on a zpack and sent me on my way. Then 2 weeks later I went back to be told that the yuck still had not gone away and was put on doxycycline. Follow up two weeks after that and the infection was gone but not the respiratory problems. As a youngster I was diagnosed with Upper respiratory breathing problems and a cat allergy that I thought I had under control all these years. Apparently living with two cats and coming off of Zyrtec D in January added up to the return of my breathing issues. Some examination from the doc and the verdict is...

EXERCISE INDUCED ASTHMA

Oddly enough, I have suspected a minor case of this for a while. Especially during the season changes so the diaganosis really didn't surprise me. For the moment I am on Singular which seems to be helping. I take it nightly in the hopes that during exercise it will assist me with breathing. It still has not brought me to 100% pre illness status but at least I can tell the labored breathing is slowly going away.

Randomly, I did get the seal of approval on my heart as the doctor told me I have a very "athletic" heart and awesome blood pressure! At first he suspected a minor heart murmur but then did a few quick checks and just realized that it was a low resting heart rate and a heart that was accustomed to functioning at a much higher capacity. Yippie for me. I apparently function like an athlete!

And then the Speed!

Yes, I realize that is hard to see but pay close attention. That bike computer says an average of 17.8mph over 2:07:41 and that Bike Computer is MINE! First official "long"hill training ride of the season and I come out of the gate averaging 17.8mph.

To put things into perspective, the only thing I have previously hit close to this was a sprint tri at which I averaged 18mph on a 14 mile pancake flat course at the end of the season in October. This time last year I was barely pulling 16mph on our rides in prep for Augusta 70.3.

A different view... 37.96 miles with a max speed of 31.4mph. Yeah, I do love me some downhill.

So eat that Exercise Induced Asthma. I might be allergic to cats and have trouble breathing but I am still making progress. If Singular works, I will be forever grateful. I can;'t wait to see what I can do on a full breathing capacity!

RockNRollMan Sprint Triathlon

2011-06-17T22:15:00.001-04:00

For those that don't know, I just recently turned 30. Yep... I am in a new age group. So how did I celebrate my transition into a new age group? By racing on my birthday of course!!!

June 4th- RockNRollMan Sprint and Half Iron Triathlon (I did the sprint of course!)

Kenny and I signed up for this race about 2 weeks before race day. Honestly we have been really wishy-washy about what races we want to do this year, so we didn't sign up for any. It eventually got so close to race day that we just decided to jump in and do it. Because this is a local race we had that option. No real dedicated training for this race but plenty of swim, bike and run athletic activity so we were more than prepared.

Pre Race Setup

The idea of racing on my birthday was both a fun and nervous idea. I both loved and hated the idea of extra attention from a million and one people. However, the hatred of extra attention on my birthday didn't last long once I actually got on the race site. LOL. At the first step of body marking, I was ready to declare it was my special day.
Volunteer: And what is your age on December 31 of this year
Me: I am 30 as of today!
Volunteer: Well HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Hey, did you hear that? This girl just turned 30. It's her birthday!

I left body marking with a smile on my face and was on my way to setting up my transition spot. As luck would have it, Kenny and I got to our rack early and I claimed the end spot. Even luckiler was that out of the 6 bikes assigned to our rack, only 4 showed up. That kind of luck doesn't come often!

The first race of the season seems to put you on your toes. I wasn't really nervous for this race but more so concerned that I would forget to put something in my transition bag or forget part of my transition preparation. As luck would have it, I remembered everything in my transition bag and set up went off without a hitch. Now just because I put everything in my transition bag doesn't mean I got it all done. Somehow I forgot to put my helmet sticket on. Oh well! I figured if a race official found me, I would just say it blew off.

I visited the port o potties for a little prerace business and was finally "prepared" for the race start. For those of you non-triathletes, I am guessing port o potties are a disgusting idea. Well I have said it before and I will say it again, there is no modesty in the sport of triathlon. Port o potties are a welcome sight race morning and they see plenty of action. I hate to be that real with you on this blog but it is the honest truth. Just helping the newbies out there.

I gathered with some of my Fellow Crazy Joes for a morning photo before we headed down to the swim start. Randy and Joe on the Left hand side were doing the Half Iron. Gen, Kenny, Myself and Blake were doing the Sprint!

Gen was also a doll and had a special message on her shoulder for me and her daughter Josie! I should have written something on my shoulder so that people would cheer for me as they passed me!

This was actually the first race where I jumped in the water pre-race for a warmup swim. It felt good and I felt less nervous about this swim start than I have felt about others. As I came out of the water the Crazy Joes sang Happy Birthday to me. I felt special!!!!!

The Swim

Because of the 4 different races going on (Half Iron, Sprint, Long Course Duathlon and 10K) there were a million and one different start times. The Half Iron folks started at 7am with the sprinters starting at 7:30am. We saw Joe and Randy off on their Swim start and then it was waiting time. 30 minutes doesn't sound like a long time but it seriously took forever. There were actually more participants/finishers in the half Iron than in the sprint, hence the long wait in between race starts. I thought that was cool/unique because I would have imagined more sprinters.

We waited and waited and waited and ... I believe we were discussing race strategies with our newest Crazy Joe Chip (In blue) who was a first time Triathlete!

But soon enough the time came for us to race. The men's start was a bit of a cluster because there was supposed to be a pro/elite wave at 7:30 with the Men's wave at 7:34 and the Women at 7:38. Well 7:29:30 came and the announcer said "Get ready men you have 30 seconds". The poor men, none of them were that prepared to go. But off they went admit the confusion.

For those of you wondering what a swim start looks like, here you go. This is the men's wave start once they got a tiny bit away from shore. This picture isnt even that bad but you can definetly see where the swim start gets the nickname the "Washing Machine." The swim was at Lake Tobosofkee (Tobo).

Gen and I were lucky enough to see Randy come out of the water from the half iron course before our wave started. We cheered so hard for him that we got light headed. He was 13th out of the water including the pro/elites which was AWESOME!!!

Then it was 3...2...1... and we were off. My first 200 yards or so actually went well all things considered. I thought I was starting toward the back of the wave but that only lasted for 2 seconds until we were hip deep in water and I wanted to swim while others were still trying to walk. I "politely" fought my way through the waders and was off and swimming. Almost immediately I came in contact with a female in an aqua top that would stick with me for quiet some time. And when I say we came in contact, I mean she beat me over the head, kicked me in the mouth, whacked me in the back, hit my goggles, swam in front of me multiple times and just in general always swam glued to my side. Either she had a personal vendetta against me or I just had some serious bad luck because she stayed with me for more than 3/4s of the 750 meter swim. I finally gave it a really good push to get away from her about 200 or so meters from the swim finish because I was tired of being beat up.

Sighting for me was really on during this race. Every time I would look up the buoy was right were I wanted it to be. This was a major plus for me seeing as I have done no open water swimming since Augusta last September. However, even though my sighting was dead on, it seems that a majority of the women were playing follow the leader with someone who was not good at sighting. The entire group of women minus the few out with me were all wat right on the course into the buoys. After first I thought I was wrong but I later talked to Kenny and he said the men did the same thing. I got to the first buoy and all of those women had to swing wide to get outside of the buoy to make the turn. At least I know to trust my better judgement in a case like this instead of being a follower.

I completed the course in 21:23. This includes a long run up a ginormous hill into T1. I was the 58th of 79 women out of the water Not my best but great for the first of the season seeing as I have done no real swim training at all. (I think I have been in the pool 5 times since Augusta.) I would like to be more middle pack for my swim time. In this case it means I would have needed to be just over 2 minutes faster for this crowd.

Immediately upon entering T1 I saw Gen whose rack was right in front of the swim entrance. She and I are comparable swimmers so I knew this was good. At least all of my failed swim training didn't fail me at this race. Score one for me!

T1 went well except for my socks. For some reason my normal sock roll just didn't want to sit right on my toes. I guess it is time to start practicing the sock speed again. It probably only cost me a total of 5 seconds but was still aggravating none the less.

The transition racks were low enough that I had to tilt my bike to get it out from under the rack but still high enough that my front tire didn't touch by about 4 inches. Just enough to annoying. No real time wasted here but I could get quicker if I tried.

Overall time in T1 1:47. Not bad for running in bike shoes!

The Bike

I had heard horror stories about the bike courses for both the sprint and the half iron races. It is just a tougher hilly course no matter how you cut it (For the Georgia area anyway) I had not ridden the course nor drove the course prior to race do so I had no clue what to expect. Sadly it would have been easy to drive the course seeing as I work only miles from the race location but I never made it a priority.

I took off on the bike trying to be both conservative and aggressive if that is at all possible. I wanted to do the best possible without blowing up for the run. I took the first few miles easy because I know about two larger hills that started the course. I passed a fellow middle Georgia triathlete who told me he blew it up on the swim and was trying to recover. I did not at all expect to pass him but it was really nice to see a friend.

Once over the first two hills, I put it into aggressive mode. I can honestly say that the only people that really passed me were men and women who were doing the half iron. I am not sure that any sprinters passed me and if they did I either caught them and passed them or I just didn't realize it. The one thing that I have learned is that no matter how much I hate hills, I do them well in a race setting. If you remember back to Augusta 70.3, I laughed the entire bike ride and forgot about the hills, they didn't bother me at all. The hills at Tobo didn't bother me either. I actually enjoyed the up and down. I even hit a mean 38mph on one downhill section. I can rock some downhills in the aero position!

The highlight of my ride was a fellow triathlete passing me saying "Hey don't you ride on Tuesdays and Sundays here locally?". I mentioned that I rode locally on Wednesday and Saturdays and we introduced ourselves. It was none other than Karen Sisk a local cyclist who was coming back to the sport of triathlon after an extended absence. She recognized my bike! I passed her a short while after our brief conversation and said hi again and cheered her on. It is amazing to know that my bike makes connections for me! Best investment ever!

I came into transition and completed the 15 mile bike bike course in 54:18. I was 51st out of 79 women on the bike. This was my "quickest" sport of the day compared to the other women racing.

Now here is the bad part. I totally thought I rocked the bike course. I had a really good ride. I will admit that I could have pushed a tiny bit harder but nothing too major. I was really disappointed when I realized that I only averaged 16.2 for the ride. I mean like seriously disappointed. I am not quite sure how the great feeling only equaled 16.2 but I guess it was just what happened. Normally I would be THRILLED with a 16.2 over a hilly course but I just couldn't bring myself to be satisfied with that effort. I have had some breathing issues as of late and on race was taking antibiotics for sinus issues. I can only assume that it played some part in my effort. I won't blame my results on that but am trying to be realistic and realize that I was sick 2 weeks before the race and this was my second round of antibiotics. Live and learn I guess.

In order to be midpack for the bike I would have needed to cut about 3 minutes. Not terrible and completely attainable.

Going into T2 I could not get my bike racked. I am not quite sure what happened but I was just fumbling with my bike. Once I finally got it up on the rack I went to business. Looking back on T2 I really need to start running with my hat and race belt in hand in order to cut the time. I could always try a flying dismount but personally that scares me so until then I will forgo that aspect and try something else. My only problem with running and putting on my hat and race belt is that I also use a hand held water bottle. Makes things kind of difficult to maneuver. Any suggestions? Had it been a cooler race I would have run without a bottle but with a heat index of 100, I wasn't going to take any chances.

T2 overall time was 1:35

The Run

Oh the run. How I have a love-hate relationship with it. I love triathlons, I hate the run LOL. It is actually not that I hate the run, it is just that I hate being slow and I hate being inefficient. This is the one area where I could tell that I had not trained well. I had only done one brick workout prior to race day and really didn't have a lot of quality running in. The first mile and a half were brutal for me. I ran when I could and walked when needed. Walking SUCKED! I hated having to walk and not being able to mentally push past that part. I watched Karen pass me and then I watched another local triathlete Diana pass me (Among others who were flying by me as well). I took water at every aid station and dumped it on my head and drank the heed out of my bottle.

I was truthfully surprised by the turn around point. I did not know it was coming. Once I hit the turn around point I did hit a spot of mental clarity and was able to run the rest of the way in. It also helped that the return run as a net downhill. :) I tried my best to encourage those behind me on the out and back course as I was heading back toward the finish. I know how tough it can be to see people heading to the finish when you are still on your way out. Being in the back of the pack, you get pleanty of practice for that!

I finished the 5K run in 37:03. Clearly not my best effort at all. I was 68th out of 78 women. Seriously 68th!?!?!?!?! In order to be mid pack for the run in this situation, I would of needed to take 10 minutes off of my time. That is a lot of work over a 5k Distance. I have lots of training to do.

The Finish

Coming into the finish I immediately saw fellow Crazy Joes Gen, Chip and Kenny cheering for me. Just prior to this picture I threw my water bottle at Kenny so that I wouldn't have it for my finish line photo. I really want to advocate a table/trash cane just prior to the finish line where athletes can discard items that they don't want in their finish photo. I would gladly set my bottle down on a table and come back and get it once I was done. Makes photos so much more enjoyable. LOL

Then I saw Blake and his family cheering for me as I came into the finishers chute. I gave Blake a High Five I as turned the corner toward the finish.

I heard the race announcer call my name as a finisher and I did something I never thought I would do. I shouted at him "Today it my BIRTHDAY".

Do you know what he said?

He said "Good for you". Not "Hey everyone, she is racing on her birthday", not "Happy Birthday", just "Good For You". Really? Someone says it's their birthday and you say good for you? It is not like I said I am going to Disney World! :) In my selfish glory I was a bit disappointed. LOL

Overall Time 1:56:04. 61st woman out of 78 women finishers.

8th out of 12 women in the 30-34 Age Group!

Post Race

I finally made my way back the Crazy Joes after a stop in the rain tent to snap a few more pictures.

Me and Kenny. Happy 30th birthday to me!

Four AWESOME Crazy Joe Sprinters!

Gen and I stopped at the Awards ceremony on our way to take showers so that we could get out of the tri clothing. Gen was amazing and won 2nd in her age group. Way to go Gen!!!

Some of the sprinter Crazy Joes waited for Randy and Joe to finish their half iron. Both of them did exceptionally awesome, clocking amazing times in the horrible heat. However, competing in such heat (And I do mean competing, both of them fought a hard hard race) can do a number to your body and your hydration. Both received an IV in the med tent after their finish. It made for some great conversation while both cooled down.

We kind of had to talk Randy into his IV. But he was a trooper and listened to caretaker Gen and got an IV.

Both looked much better after their med tent stop.

And Randy won first in his age group and scored the BEST award ever! I seriously need to get faster because this is some hardware I actually want. Totally beats a traditional trophy any day.

And that my friends is how I spent my 30th birthday. Hanging out with my closest friends being the athletic beasts that we are! It beats a party any day!

Either I got much bigger...

2011-06-14T20:33:00.000-04:00

Or my towel shrunk!

This morning I got to the gym and did my usual thing. It came time for the shower and I started to pull everything out.
-Shampoo
-Conditioner
-Body Wash
-Scrubbie
-Face Wash
-Towel...... Mmmmm maybe my arm isn't long enough... dig a bit deeper... where is my towel... Oh crap I forgot to pack a towel!

Now I have made it to the gym without my shower shoes. Ick but do able.
I have managed to forget my brush (Many times). I have one at work and a ponytail will work until I can get to it.
I have forgotten my deodorant on occasion. I have one of those at work too.
Once I even forgot a bra. Yeah that was a bit of a snafu but I made it work.

But how exactly does one survive without a towel when they are at a public facility such as a gym?
IMPROVISE!

I always keep a little Aflac hand towel in my gym bag for anything that might come up. Well I guess this counts as something that might come up.

I couldn't go to work with out showering so my little 12 inch towel would have to do. It did cause me to rearrange my gym routine seeing as I can't exactly coverup with this mini thing while I stand next to my locker!

But crisis averted and I survived. Just so you know, in a pinch, a 12 inch towel will dry a human body just fine! My hair was another story but at least it got it cut recently so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Oh and just so you know, my morning run went great. I went out for an easy 30 minutes. I negative spitted my half mile average pace (12:46, 12:20, 12:20, 11:49, 11:34) and averaged out at a 161 heart rate. Slowly but surely, I will start to increase my speed. This morning felt good to me and I was happy to keep my HR really steady while picking up the pace.

:) Cheers and dont forget to pack and hand towel... just in case!

Such An Awesome Weekend

2011-06-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

Kenny and I had such an awesome weekend. It was all pretty much unplanned but turned out to be a great time. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

On Friday after work I finally went and got my hair cut. I have been talking for a while that I needed to get my hair cut and just gave up on the one day and actually made an appointment earlier this week. My stylist is amazing but I really don't give her much to work with. Every time I go I always end up saying: it needs to be able to be pulled back because I workout a lot, no bangs, I don't spend a lot of time styling it in the mornings, it does nothing but straight and I won't go shorter than my chin. Poor thing always looks at me like I am crazy. And it is not like I am scared of cutting my hair but I don't do it very often. So imagine my nervousness when she looks at me and says "we just got back from a hair show and i learned a new technique that I have done on a few people since we got back". It is a good thing that I trust her and that she is well experienced because otherwise I would be really worried.

Well all worrying aside, I like my new hairdo. Here is the before.

And here is the after. She cut it from underneath using a razor. It is hard to tell from this photo what it looks like exactly but it is super easy to maintain and I can style it if necessary.

On Saturday, Kenny and I made our annual pilgrimage to All3Sports in Atlanta. Since it is 1.5-2 hours away, we typically only make it up there once a year early in the season. We had not really planned a trip this year but I was in need of a few tri top, Kenny needed new tri bottoms and I am still having saddle woes. (I am currently on saddle #8 and it is not looking positive at all.)

So in doing research recently I decided that I really wanted to look into the Selle SMP Pro or Avant. All3 and Reality Bike both have SMP demo saddles that I wanted to try however, after talking to Bill at All3 it was decided that I should try the SMP Glider or Stratos first or even possibly the Koobi Tri. Unfortunately the Stratos demo saddle at All3 had been loaned out but Kenny and I both figured it was worth the trip. So lots of conversation with the staff and it was finally decided which saddles I would try...

Yep I am back on a Cobb. This time I am trying out the Cobb Max which is a lot like the Plus that I tried out before except this one has a wider cut out and it just a tiny bit different. Thus far the Cobb has been the "best" saddle of the 8 I have tried. They have excellent customer service and an awesome 180 day comfort guarantee. I was super sad when the Plus didn't work out for me because I really enjoyed working with them so the opportunity to try out the Max is great for me. Seat #9... hopefully you are the lucky one!

Dear Max, Please be Lucky #9!

In our 3 hours visit to All3, I finally gained the confidence to try on a one piece trisuit. Seriously, I have been scared of them and have always figured that if you weren't pencil thin then they would look horrible on you. Well much to my surprise, I was wrong, like way wrong. I mean if you look lumpy in a tri top and tri bottom then you are still going to look lumpy in a tri suit but at least then you don't have to worry about your shirt rolling up! All3 was having their tent sale with last years clothing at 40% off and I found a trisuit for $60. For $60, you can't beat that. So yes, my next race will be in a trisuit... and it isn't even pink!

I also finally got a TYR Alliance Bag for the gym. I have been in love with Kenny's since the day he got it so he made me get one! Kenny got a tri top, ear plugs and 110% recovery gear. (They ended up not having his tri bottom in the color he wanted.) I am most excited to see how Kenny likes his 110 gear because if he really likes it I might finally invest in the knickers. 110 Recovery gear is clothing that combines compression with ice for maximum recovery. Basically you have a piece of clothing that has pockets built in to hold specific ice packs. Kenny ended up getting the knee sleeve and really likes it. The brand comes highly recommended from my coach and a lot of the staff at All3 so we figured it was worth a shot. The only drawback is the price. One knee sleeve was $55 and the knickers that I want at $150. But if they work then truthfully, I will buy it. I know I could just as easily strap bags of ice to my body for a similar effect but this is about convenience.

Here are some pics of our loot.

Kenny's 110 Recovery Gear Knee Sleeve. They get major props for not wasting a good opportunity and having useless packaging. Their packaging is actually an insulated sleeve that you can put your frozen ice packs into to keep them cold while you are working out on the go.

And My non-pink trisuit!

And a few closeups for the ladies. Zoot has a great idea by placing a separate zipper on their internal sports bra so that getting in and out of the suit is easier. I know most women need a second sports bra for tri tops/suits but some of us don't and this one is actually a really nice fabric instead of just mesh. Honorable mention goes to Pearl Izumi who includes a separate sports bra with their tri suits so that you don't have the annoying mesh half bra thing like most tops.

With the zipper closed

With the Zipper Partly open

Since we spent all day in Atlanta, we moved our "long" ride to Sunday. I say it's a "long" ride because it is longer than our typical 25 miler but not nearly as long as what we are used to.This morning we got on the road at about 8am and for the first time this season, we left from our house to do the Perry ride. I really do love leaving from our house to go for a ride. The roads in our area can be great for cycling and since we haven't ridden them in over 8 months, I miss them. This area played a big part in our Augusta training with friends and we haven't really ridden it since Augusta.

We went out with the plan to ride from 35-40ish depending on how we felt. Even at 8am the temperature was already soaring so I figured I would finally wear my August 70.3 tri top for a ride. I got the top 8 months ago and it is finally too hot to wear a jersey, so on the tri top goes. This was also my first ride with the new saddle so I was really excited to try it out.

So off we went for our ride, just the two of us but that didn't last long. About 5-7ish miles into the ride I spotted a small cycling group of 3 guys ahead of us and I immediately kicked it into overdrive. As soon as they turned a ways in front of us I said to Kenny "We have got to catch them, GO, GO, GO!" Nothing fires me more than trying to catch an unsuspecting cyclist. We almost caught them up the first hill but then they started pulling away. I am not even sure they knew we were behind them. After a few miles I figured they were a lost cause but then as luck may have it they stopped at a stop sign for a drink and Kenny and I ended up passing them. Unfortunately they were 3 cyclist who we did not recognize but being the friendly sport that this is, we exchanged pleasantries. As we pulled away I heard "Whoa dude, look at that." I love when my bike makes people turn their heads! Kenny even commented on their remark later in our ride! Trying to catch that group this morning gave my legs a really good interval type workout. I was pulling in the 19-21 range and even jumped in front of Kenny to pull for a while because he was going too slow. Imagine that, I wanted to go faster than my husband! I think he was equally surprised!

Once we passed the guys we never saw them again. I am not sure where they were going or which route they were doing because the road out there are plentiful but I really wanted them to come back because they gave me some killer motivation. Shortly after passing them Kenny and I stopped to adjust my new seat a bit. After we stopped Kenny's knee locked up a bit and he dropped way back. It is a good thing he bought the 110 recovery because he really needed it once we get home. From that point on we averages in the 16/17 range and finished the ride at 33.5 miles just short of our projected 35 mile goal.

Our overall average for this ride was 17.1 mph! Hold on let me say that again... I averaged 17.1 for 33.5 miles in a hilly area. Need I remind you that this time last year I was averaging in the low 16s when racing. This is incredible progress and I can already tell that I am going to make some killer improvements in the next few months. I am psyched.

So psyched that I would let you see my post workout all hot and sweaty! Aren't you lucky!

Oh and to answer any lingering questions, Yes the Cobb seat it better than the last 8 I have tried. I am still not sure this is the one but at least this one is bearable. I am hoping that I can break it in a bit and see more comfort. I am not going to judge a seat by a 33.5 mile ride but at least I wasn't cussing this one at the end of the ride. That my friends is true progress!

Lobster Part 2

2011-06-12T17:27:00.001-04:00

As promised here is the lobster update!

Kenny and I took the huge container of cooked lobster meat to a birthday BBQ last weekend. As mentioned prior, it was a post race and dual birthday celebration. (Race report to come soon) Princess Josie Pants and I were celebrating our birthday's in style with the Crazy Joe Crew. On the menu were lobster rolls, chili dogs, chips, dip and the most beautiful cake you have ever seen.

Being the great person that I am, I forgot to take pictures of our lobster roll creations. You will just have to use your imagination there. However what I am excited to tell you about is the Roaster Red Pepper Aioli that I made for them. Yes I made it. Hard to believe right? I have included the recipe for anyone who is interested. We not only used it for our lobster rolls but we have also used the aioli this past week for our lunch wraps.

One 12oz jar of roasted red peppers (or you can roast your own)
1/2 cup mayo (regular or lowest, your choice)
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

If you use jarred red peppers, drain them well. Pat them down with paper towels making sure to remove all excess moisture. (it took me several times to get them dry enough) Then corsely chop the red peppers an place into a food processor. Blend them in the processor for several seconds. I used the pulse feature on my processor and ran it only for a couple seconds at a time and it worked great. Next ad in the mayo and garlic and blend for several more seconds. If might be necessary to whip the side of the bowl with a spatula in between to kept mayo in the mix. Once you have blended this into a smooth mixture, add the olive oil one table spoon St s time until you receive s bright orange smooth mixture. I eyed this and probably used a little less than the suggested 3 tablespoons. You can add other spices to taste. Kenny ended up adding cayenne to ours to pep it up a bit but it wasn't spicy. You could easily make this a spicy mixture by adding peppers or red pepper flakes. Enjoy!

You could easily use this for dip, in sandwiches, as a sauce, etc. It is yummy and it doesn't take a lot to add flavor. You know it is good if I am recommending it and it has mayo in it. I never eat mayo!

Oh and about the beautiful birthday cake... Here it is. Thanks Lynn, it was beautiful and tasted great.

Birthday Lobsters Part 1

2011-06-03T15:10:00.001-04:00

So one of the crazy ideas that Kenny had this past weekend was to bring lobsters home from Maine for a weekend BBQ. This weekend we getting together with the Crazy Joes to celebrate 2 birthdays: mine and my birthday twin Josie, who happens to be my Mini Me! She is the soon-to-be 6 year old version of me!

We went to Three Sons Lobster and Fish several times this past weekend to discuss our best options for getting lobsters home to Georgia. Eventually we decided on ten 1 1/4lb Lobsters and one 3lb lobster to be packaged up and taken on a plane ... as our carry on! The idea of bringing lobsters on a plane is just completely foreign to me. I mean isn't that like bring a dog on a plane? Shouldn't you need a special ticket or something? But as they say... when in Rome...

So off Kenny and I went to the airport, leaving Portland behind, with our ginormo box of Lobsters. Surprisingly, getting through security was a breeze! No problems with the lobster box at all. Getting on the plane was another task. The box wouldn't fit under the seat or in an overhead bin but luckily we had an amazing flight crew that stuck the box in their closet for us! Thanks Delta!

We finally made it home 8 hours after purchasing our lobsters and after "google"ing the many online resources on how to care for your fresh lobsters, we determined that they needed to go in the fridge.

So here they are!

It is a good thing we pretty much left an empty fridge when we left for vacation or these suckers would not have fit in!

Come Tuesday afternoon, we decided to cook our little lobster friends before they died. In case you wanted to see what lobsters look like in a big Styrofoam container... here some of them are. Kenny took the picture after he has already placed 3 in the pots!

And in the Pot! :)

Two Friends cooking in a pot

Kenny, being the master chef that he is, was the cook for our lobster festivities. I would have been scared to death that I was going to ruin the lobsters! Google was also his trusty friend to determine cooking time. It took a good bit of time to cook 11 lobsters!

Here are three completed!

And once we were done, Back in the fridge they went. The plan is to deshell them on Thursday in preparation for this weekend (Based on the recommendation from the EXTREMELY helpful employee at Three Sons that worked with us for 3 days straight to make our decision. I am pretty sure she was happy to see us leave the city on Monday! LOL)

Here they are in all their glory in the fridge.

As I mentioned above we did buy one 3lb lobster for our own enjoyment. Our original plan was to have him on Thursday but Kenny surprised me and made him Tuesday night for a fun Surf and Turf Dinner.

Sp what does a 3lb lobster look like you ask?
Like this!

And in relation to me. (Can you tell I am fascinated with this whole thing. Seriously you would think I had never seen or had lobster before!)
This sucker was a strong fellow!

Dinner was great. Fresh lobster is much better than what you can buy here locally. One thing I miss about living near water is fresh seafood. We paired this guy with sirloin steak, a pea/cauliflower mix, a sweet potato for me and regular potatoes for Kenny.

An excellent way to refuel after my run!

And Just for your viewing pleasure, I took a video of the lobster moving in our cooler. These suckers were extremely active when we took them out!

I will post part 2 of the lobster experience after we consume them! Hopefully we can make a good lobster roll!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2011-06-02T14:03:00.001-04:00

This year marked a big milestone for Kenny and I, five years of marriage! It is a time frame that has gone by so fast yet at some points seems so long ago. Is that possible?

Typically, we take a weekend trip to celebrate our anniversary. Atlanta is our usual destination (although we did travel to Alaska for our 3rd anniversary). Back in January as we were planning our trip, we decided to try something new. Because of my schedule we can rarely celebrate our anniversary on the actual date. So for the big 5th, we decided to take a long weekend with memorial day to celebrate. With skymiles that needed to be used before their expiration date and some Hilton points to spare, we needed to figure out a destination.

For two indecisive people this is a tough call.
Vegas... Nope don't like gambling
Alaska... Not enough time to justify the long flight
New York... Possibly too expensive
California... Still too long of a flight

So where to go?

We tossed a lot of ideas around but ultimately decided on Portland...MAINE! Why you ask? Well truthfully, I have no clue. We have both wanted to visit Maine for a while now and with the skymiles and Hilton points it seemed liked good timing.

So I have been researching Portland since late January. Now you might think that I looked up the historical things to do but you would be wrong. I have exclusively looked up the places to eat and the location of the Whole Foods. :) The only real non food places I looked up were the local cycling shop and the location of the flagship LL Bean store. Unfortunately we never ended up renting a car to make it out to LL Bean. It is probably for the best. I would have spent way to much money anyway! Have no fear, this weekend wasn't a bust!

FRIDAY, MAY 27

Our flight arrived on Friday night approximately 30 minutes late and after getting to the hotel our first order of business was to find dinner. On a recommendation from the front desk we decided to try out J's Oyster House. It was described to us as a little dive that you "wouldn't take your first date to". Sounded perfect to Kenny and I so off we went. Well... It was not what we expected but is definitely a local favorite. After a 1.5 hour wait, we were sat at one of their 8 indoor tables and finally ordered. I had the halibut, Kenny had the lobster and we both tried local beers. I was the winner of the night with the Allagash White! Kenny tried another local brew the Shipyard Export and wasn't as thrilled with his choice. Too dark for our tastes. Overall it was a unique place but not worth the time and $65 price tag. I would definitely go back for a beer but would skip dinner and eat elsewhere!

After our disappointing dinner we decided to find some dessert. The hotel informed us that most of their ice cream shops had just closed at 9pm but they sent us off to a part of the city that might offer some sort of options. We did a bit of exploring and we stumbled upon Gorgeous Gelato. LOVE THAT PLACE! I have had a fascination with Gelato since our trip to Italy and this place hit the mark. It is owned by an Italian couple and we met one of the owners on both of our trips. (Yes we went back a second time! I told you I was obsessed!) After our gelato fix, we turned in for the night!

SATURDAY, MAY 28

One of the perks to being a Hilton Honors gold member is that you get free breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn. Breakfast was had, tummies were full and off we went to explore for the day. We didn't really have an agenda for the weekend but one of the things we were certain that we wanted to do was hit up the local bike store, CycleMania. The store was about a 15 minute walk from the hotel so off we went. Every time Kenny and I travel we always try to visit the local bike store in hopes of getting a local jersey. Some people collect shot glasses, others bells or maybe Christmas ornaments: we try to get cycling jerseys. Every vacation thus far has been a bust and we were hoping that Portland would not. Per our observations, Portland is a very cycling friendly town. So, so many bikes out on the road and the vehicles really seem to respect the cyclist. With such a friendly cycling attitude, CycleMania was sure to be a great store.

Much to our surprise, CycleMania Rocked! We hung around the store a bit, shopped the sale rack and then we both got jerseys. Kenny got a store thermal vest and I got a sleeveless Maine Cancer Foundation Jersey. Big time score for us! I even got to see the coloring on the new Shimano WT 52 triathlon Shoes. I currently own the WT51 and they are the only part of my ensemble that is not pink. (They are white and green) When Shimano released the new WT52 I knew that I had to get them but thus far I can not justify the expense when I have perfectly good shoes. So hopefully my current shoes break down before they change their styles. Here they are in all their glory for your viewing pleasure. The technical coloring on them is called purple but the shop employee agreed with me that is it more pink than purple.

We followed up our trip to CycleMania with some more walking and then our eventual lunch. Now I mentioned that I did a bit of research prior to our trip. This lead me to a few "must-dine" places. Kenny and I decided that now as as good of time as any to try one of them since we were in that area so off we went to Silly's. Silly's is a unique place that specializes in vegan, vegetarian, gluten free options and utilizes local ingredients and vendors. They also have options for us meat eating varieties too! We got to Silly's and only had a few people in front of us. The restaurant only has 12 indoor tables but the wait was well worth it. (We only waited like 10 minutes or so). Water comes in an old Wine Bottle with mini cups as soon as you sit down which is perfect for Kenny and I. The menu is extensive but I eventually settled on a wrap with hummus and falafel, Kenny had the Fish and Chips and we shared an order of Rings of Fire (fried jalapeno rings with sour cream). OMG was the food delicious. I definitely should have visited this restaurant again. If I lived in Portland I would visit this place weekly! I highly recommend Silly's for anyone who visits.

Following Silly's Kenny and I decided to kick the Starbucks habit and visit a local coffee shop. We chose Coffee By Design because it is right across the street from Silly's. I love visiting local coffee shops to see their offerings. I ordered a Decaf Latte and Kenny had a regular Latte. Overall, I have to say that unfortunately I did not like CBD. The drink just tasted really off and so did Kenny's We agreed that we would steer clear of CBD for the rest of the trip. I imagine they have plenty of fine offerings but it was just not our cup of tea (or coffee as the matter might be).

Following our coffee experience, Kenny surprised me with a visit to the Shipyard Brewery. He had spotted it on our way in to lunch and remembered the location for an after lunch excursion! We got to Shipyard just in time for their 2pm tour and tasting. They show a cool video that explains a bit about their process and history and then you get to see the bottling line. Unfortunately Saturday is the one day of the week that their bottling line does not run so it was a bit quiet. We both tasted their Export (Again, still not a favorite) and their Summer (Much more to my tastes). We then perused their gift shop and claimed how thankful we were they they didn't have their own jerseys or we would might have to buy them. But wait was spoke too soon, turn the corner and there staring us in the face is 4 different bike jerseys! Two different jerseys in the same trip?!?!?! Say it isn't so. Of course we HAD to buy them and are both now the proud owners of matching Shipyard Brewery jerseys. Don't worry, I promise we wont wear them on the same bike ride!

Kenny accidentally went into the women's fitting room/restroom to try on his jersey. Oops! To his credit the sign was small and you couldn't see it when the door was open. Oh well! :)

While at Shipyard, a bit of research on the smartphone told us that Allagash had a brewery in Portland but that it was too far of a walk. Dang! We would have totally hit up that one if it was for their tour and tasting. No tour and tasting but lucky for us they sell their jerseys online. I smell a christmas gift in the future!

We also followed up Shipyard with a visit to a local bakery, Two Fat Cats Bakery. Truthfully I wanted to go there because they had a cute name. We each got a cookie to enjoy later and continued on our journey to enjoy the city.

I snapped this photo during our Saturday walking expedition, The Portland Fire Boat! This photo was taken from the pier that Three Sons Lobster and Fish is located on. We visited Three Sons on Saturday, Sunday and Monday on multiple occasions to figure out what seafood we wanted to have shipped home. But more on that later!

Although our first recommendation from the hotel staff was a bit of a bust we decided to try another restaurant that they recommended, The Flatbread Company. The concierge swore that he eats there personally several times a week so we figured it was a good bet. Plus it was right across the street from the hotel which was a perk after a long day of walking. Well luckily this restaurant was a hit. Kenny and I shared the Casco Bay flatbread which had caramelized organic onions, organic mushrooms, whole milk mozzarella and we added free range chicken to it. We sat at a table right next to their wood fire ovens and were able to watch the magic. They certainly have the pizza making down to an exact science. It was like poetry in motion. They are one effective machine.

After dinner we did our usual search for dessert. The one thing I enjoy about our vacations is dessert. We rarely do dessert back at home so it is always a treat. We ended up at Beals Ice Cream because they had one of my favorites, Grasshopper! I tried that along with another flavor that is escaping my memory at the moment. Great ice cream! Then it was time to turn in for the night, my feet needed a break!

SUNDAY, MAY 29

After out breakfast we made it over to the Whole Foods in Portland. Kenny had never been to a Whole Foods and thought it was similar to our local Fresh Market. I figured the only way to show him was to experience it so we made the mile walk to WF. As soon as I walked in I saw these beauties. They are vidalia onions from a local farm that I know! All that Georgia hard work in Maine. Congrats Rusty!

The Whole Foods also had these gems. I had never heard of them but my friend Gen always talks about her favorite chips, the Terra Blues. Apparently they don't sell them in Georgia.

At WF, we also dabbled a bit with the make your own trail mix bar. It is a brilliant idea so we bought some as a snack. We mixed a little bit of yogurt covered pretzels, yogurt covered raisins, dried pineapple and dried apricots. This was perfect for the walk around town and for the hotel room.

On our walk back from Whole Foods, Kenny and I found a cool looking fire station. We sat down in front of it for a few moments and had some trail mix while we watched an ambulance leave. Both of our fathers are fire fighters so needless to say, we have an appreciation for the men and women in red.

We were uncertain of where to go for our lunch and dinner so we decided to just walk around town until we found a place that looked good to stop at. For lunch we ate at $3 Deweys and it turned out to be a big let down. Kenny had a Cajun Salmon salad that was the size of a small cereal bowl and I had a Cajun Chicken Sandwich. The food tasted good but the service was the big downfall. The restaurant literally opened right as we were walking up so there was no wait (Big Perk!) but with only 2 other tables occupied, the service left a lot to be desired. Our server had no personality and did not take care of us. Oh well, that is what you chance when you visit a place on a whim. We did both agree however that the place had a great atmosphere and could have great potential with a better service and possible different menu choices on our behalf.

On our walk back from lunch to the hotel we found the Black Dog General Store. A cute little shop that had... you guessed it, bike jerseys. Seriously we have never found so many jerseys in one day ever. And they were all cute. But luckily after buying 4 jerseys in one trip we decided that we did not need these. Thank goodness!

Once we got home to drop our purchase, we did a bit of internet research and realized that we missed an opportunity to visit Eastern Mountain Sports. I had never heard of EMS but by the looks of their website they were exactly like an REI or Dicks so Kenny and I figured it was worth the walk. So back we went one mile out to EMS just blocks from the Whole Foods that he had just been at earlier. The actual store itself was a bit smaller than we expected but we still managed to turn over some of our hard earned cash. I bought my first official pair of rain boots and we finally invested and bought The Stick. EMS was also connected to a Trader Joes so we perused there before heading back into the hotel.

For dinner we ended up at Andy's Old Port Pub based on their menu posted outside of the door. After our lunch experience we were a bit leery of trying something we hadn't researched but decided the menu looked good. We went in and realized that this is the place we had been looking for all trip. A bar with great food and awesome atmosphere that wasn't overly crowded.

Kenny had the lobster roll which he liked but it left him a bit hungry. I had a scallop po'boy with a roasted red pepper aioli and sweet potatoes fries. It was one of the best meals of the trip. Kenny liked mine so much that he went and ordered one for himself after he finished his lobster roll. I remembered to snap a photo before I ate the second half of my sandwich. I am not normally one for fried food but this was a great treat. We also decided to splurge and get a pitcher of the Allagash White as our farewell to Maine. Delicious and a great pair!

We ended the evening with another trip to Gorgeous Gelato. I just can't get enough!

MONDAY, MAY 30

We had nothing on the agenda for Monday other than to go buy our lobsters to take home. So we did what we do best and walked about the city one last time. We ended up walking to the end of a pier and I managed to snap this photo. One thing I noticed about Portland is that the seagulls there are huge. Like Gargantuan. Way bigger than the ones in Florida. You cant really tell in this picture but the sea gull was huge. (He actually looks kinda normal here)

On that same pier I turned to the right and good a photo of DiMillos, the floating restaurant. We passed on visiting DiMillos because of price. We were pretty laid back this vacation and didn't feel the need to get snazzy.

Once it got close to check out time, I went to snap a photo of the pool I never used. I was so excited when I learned that the hotel had a heated indoor lap pool. I even brought a fitness suit and a casual suit for swimming. And what do you know, I never even pulled them out of the suitcase. Here is the short lap pool for your viewing pleasure should you even want to visit Portland.

After checking out of the hotel and having them hold our bags it was time for lunch. Kenny and I had decided that we would save eating at Three Sons Lobster and Fish (TSLF) for our last meal. TSLF is primarily a market to get seafood but they also will steam food and let you eat it at their picnic tables on the pier. (This was my other "must-dine" location for our trip!)

Here is a view of TSLF from the pier next to theirs. You can see one of their four picnic tables in this photo.

I ordered a 1.5 lber and Kenny ordered a 2.5lber along with an ear of corn. I snapped our only self portrait of the trip while we were waiting for the lobsters to be steamed.

Kenny posing with our lunch before we got messy. She how much bigger his is!

Mine was big enough for me but his was ginormous!

From the pier I also managed to capture this photo as an inside joke for our friends Lynn and Al. Look guys, you have your own company!

Sadly after lunch we purchased our take home lobster stash and had to end our trip with a ride to the airport and our flight home. I am going to post more about the lobster experience tomorrow.

And if you made it this far, Congrats to you! You are one dedicated blog reader and I appreciate you!

I have been hit by a bus!

2011-05-22T20:48:00.002-04:00

No not literally, that would be one horrible thing. I mean figuratively!

For those that don't know, I work at a college. That means the end of the spring semester is one of the busiest times of the year for me. Graduation, students moving out, staff leaving for the year... it is a lot for me to do. Pile on 36 hours of work in a 72 hour period with poor nutrition and lack of hydration with little sleep and you have a sick Stefanie.

I attempted to sleep it off. With a grand total of 60 hours of sleep in 5 nights, I wasn't making any progress. I finally gave in and went to the doctor this past Thursday. Verdict... Sinus Infection. Yep, I guess no amount of sleep would send that one away. Oops!

So how does one recover from said illness. With a Zpack and a 45 mile bike ride of course! Kenny and I had signed up for the 2nd annual Tour De Moose which was this past Saturday and I really didn't want to miss the opportunity to do a local organized ride. I will be honest and say that the doc recommended that I not do the 45 mile ride but I hadn't worked out in a week and a half and was finally starting to feel good on Saturday so I had to do something.

I made myself the promise that I would play the entire thing by ear and be honest with myself every step of the way. As soon as I felt bad or "weird" I would step out of the ride. The ride had 15, 30 and 45 mile options so I knew I had plenty of opportunity to drop if needed. Plus I knew the base well and if I had to abandon in the middle of a lap, I knew where to go to rest until someone could come and pick me up.

So the ride came and I geared up. Kenny and I got to the Museum of Aviation way early because we feared the madness of parking that is the Aviation Marathon but to our surprise parking was a breeze. Packet pickup was a cinch and I was even able to use the restrooms before a line formed. (That is a big to-do at any aviation event. That place is severely under-restroomed!)

I headed to the start line with the "experienced riders" for the 8:30am start. (Family and Novice start was at 8:45am). The wait was short and somewhat unorganized but we were off pretty uneventfully. Within minutes the lead back was already pulling out of sight. I later learned that they completed the 45 mile course (which actually ended up being like 48) in 2 hours and 3 minutes. No wonder I lost them pretty quickly! I stuck to the front of a core group of riders for about 8-9 miles before I made the decision to pull back. I realized that which I could hold that pace on a healthy day, I probably shouldn't try it while under the weather. So we approached one of the only hills on the course which was minor at that and they passed me. These were my riding buddies who I ride with at every group ride but today I would have to ride on my own. Goodbye healthy people :)

Even though I was dropped by that group, I never really rode alone for the entire ride. For the remainder of the first loop and the first half of the second loop (Miles 9 - 22ish) I rode with another group rider that I see often. We didn't speak much but the company was nice. I ended up dropping him down a pretty nice downhill where I picked up some mad speed but a few miles down the road I picked up another familiar group rider who rode with me until the end (Miles 24ish - 48) He had stopped at a rest stop to pick up some munchies and recognized me as I passed by so he caught me and we rode together.

We spoke about all sorts of stuff but mainly our upcoming triathlon. It is his first Tri and will be my first triathlon of this season. I am always so happy to speak with new triathletes and to answer questions. I had been following his progress at out group rides and he is a great cyclist who is going to do awesome. Heck for the last 6 to 7 miles of the ride he pulled me which was MUCH appreciated. I enjoyed the draft!

So overall, 48 miles down in the books. Not much of a "recovery" but I did love getting out in the fresh air. As far as the ride goes, would I do it again? Maybe?!?!?! The ride was not very well organized. I love it for the location and for the safety aspect. I also appreciated that it was for charity and that they incorporated kids and safety demos in for the community. It is a great event for our community to be exposed to cycling. I hear the rest stops were good but I didn't stop at one. Also major props to the Air Force for pulling out aircraft onto the runway where we were cycling by so that people could stop and see the planes and chat with the service men and women. That was a really neat aspect.

On the bad side of things: Some of the volunteers were great and others didnt even get out of their cars at the side of the road to help direct traffic. Some sat in chairs to read and never directed cyclist at turns. An entire group of cyclist (think like over 100 cyclist) missed a turn because it wasn't marked and a volunteer wasn't manning his station. There was no one at the finish line when I got there and I averaged over 17.5 mph: I by no means was the slow cyclist. I just think about all of the people who were attempting this distance for their first time and wish at least one race volunteer would have been at the finish line to greet people and direct them to an aid station. Don't get me wrong, I know being stationed at a particular post for 5 hours watching bikes go by might not be the best of times. I think they just needed a bit more direction on what their volunteer duties included so that they would be effective.

But I still had fun and made it all 48 miles at a great pace. I am still having major saddle woes but I won't blame the saddle just yet since I haven't been on the bike in a week and a half and then jumped in for an almost 3 hour ride. Not the smartest move on my part.

Super thanks to Gen, I have this great picture to show for the weekend. This is me passing her after completing the first loop of the course. Sassypants and all, I stuck my tongue out at her as I passed. She and the rest of the Crazy Joes crew took the Crazy Joe Kids on the 7 mile course. They started 15 minutes after us, rode 7 miles with 3 little ones on bikes and 2 in a chariot and still made it back in time to snap some pics as I passed the 15 mile mark. :)

Now for real recovery! I want this cough to go away!

One with Nature

2011-05-09T19:43:00.003-04:00

I do a majority of my running on asphalt.

In case you didn't know, asphalt isn't the most Georgia friendly running surface. It gets real hot, really quick here and asphalt reflects some mad heat. It is only slightly better than running on concrete. With the summer looming, running outside during the day is about to get really unbearable thus enters the nearing 6am runs.

So anytime I can run in the shade during the summer, it is greatly welcomed. And this past weekend, such an opportunity presented itself. Middle Georgia Endurance presented race #2 in their trail race series. I completed race #1 back in April at LH Thompson and finished as the only female without an award which made me giggle.

So this Saturday I was happy to line up at the starting line for a 7.2 mile race at the Pig Trails. I immediately counted the women at the start line and noticed that there were 12 of us at the line: 11 in the open category and 1 masters. Let the giggling commence! A quick mark, set go and we were off. I positioned myself in the back so that I wouldn't get in to anyones way. I have never run at the Pig Trails and am relatively new to trail running so I had no clue what to expect. And after falling at the last trail run, I was cautious about my footing. The trail was a nicely maintained "single"ish track with some nice hills. The Pig is not as technical as Thompson but it made for a really nice adventure.

Starting in the back left me plenty of time to reflect on the experience and really take in all of the scenery. I left my garmin at home on accident, so this run was going to be all about me and nature. Without having a constant reminder of my pace, heart rate and elapsed time, I was truly at the mercy of feel. Running by feel is something I am trying to embrace recently. It is a tough transition because I am constantly wanting to know how far and how fast for every single run but this one would be a forced experience. I am thankful that I forgot my gamin for this race because it also forced me to abandon intervals which I would not have likely done if I had my watch.

As we got started, I kept another female in my sight for about one mile but with all of the twists and turns I quickly realized I would be running alone. The first two miles went by nicely. The mile markers came sooner than I thought and my footing was fairly stable. The mile marker for mile three somehow got lost at the last race and I missed the makeshift marker that was made of rocks for this race. Miles three and four went by slowly and I felt like I would never progress. I could tell that concentration was slipping between these two miles. Finally mile four came and at that same time I noticed several runners who were well ahead of me. By my guesses they were at mile 5.5 or 6ish. Seeing other runners gave me a slight pep in my step but I could definitely tell that my tempo was starting to drag. I took a Gu Rocktane in an attempt to bring a bit of mental alertness back to the game.

So I see the group ahead of me running in a different direction and I keep plodding along moving forward without knowing how far behind I was. The section of trail I was on took me in the opposite direction so much that I really worried that I had missed something along the way. Worrying brings along lost focus and before you know it I am practically diving into the bushes. My face ends up one foot from the ground but magically I managed to stay on my feet by some miracle and I also managed to stay running on the trail. Thankfully the mile five marker came shortly after giving me a bit of a mental break from worrying.

Just when I get back in my grove and start to relax again, I noticed something long black and shiny laying across the trail. It took only a split second to realize that I was already hovering over this object and that this object was some sort of snake. Quick thinking on my part and I jumped over the tail of the snake. I also looked behind me just to make sure that the snake did not follow me. I know it is crazy to think that it might but I was a tad bit spooked. After speaking with other runners, I realize that mr snake made an appearance only for me. Joy!

I finally hit the 6 mile aid station and realized the end was near. To that point I had run the entire race with very few exceptions. I hiked a few short steep hills when I realized that it was quicker to hike for a few short steps than to "run" the hills. I also walked a few steps at mile 4 (literally like 6 steps) when I couldn't get my Gu opened. I passed the aid station and made the determination that for the last mile I would not walk any portion regardless of how steep the hill was. It had been over a year and a half since I had run 7 miles without stopping and at that I have only ever done it once. I was not going to let this opportunity pass me by.

And so it was, I spent a ton of time in nature and loved every minute of it. All during the run, I marveled at the beauty of the trail and thought how much I was really enjoying being out among the trees. The day was beautiful and the opportunity to join 30 friends in celebrating a well maintained trail was amazing. I ended up finishing dead last. This is now race #2 that I have held this "honor". :) I prefer to think that I was the course sweeper! Lol. I finished in 1:38:50 which is an average pace of 13:43. Definitely not a speedy race but certainly not my slowest.

On and yes, I finished 11th in the women's open division. But this time, only the top five women were recognized so I wasn't the only one leaving empty handed. :)

I finally found the love of a lifetime...

2011-05-06T08:45:00.002-04:00

Yes I am referencing the early 90's song by Firehouse. You know this one.

And the love I am referring to was my bike ride. It was AMAZING and yes it deserves all capital letters. (Although I guess I should not call my bike ride a love of a lifetime but lets be honest, it rocked my world. Just don't tell Kenny, he might get jealous lol)

To explain my ride I will say this, I rode by myself for just about the entire ride. I like riding in small groups but I am always a fan of a good chase. I either tend to hang in the back of a group and attempt to chase people down or I end up in the front and attempt to pull people. Early on in my riding, I had a hard time pushing myself out of my comfort level. Kenny would always get so frustrated with me when I told him that I could not push harder. Truth be told I was always concerned about wearing myself out before the ride was over. Twenty five miles used to be really daunting to me and I was always concerned that if I pushed too hard, I wouldn't make it back to the store. Well now I have finally figured out that 25 miles is not too far and that I can push myself far more that I have ever expected.

So on Wednesday, the stars aligned and the sun was shining down on me all at once. We started the ride with approximately 35 people and we always spend about the first five miles breaking into smaller more manageable groups. At first I was riding with two other but once we hit the first hill I looked behind me and realized I was alone. I somehow managed to drop two people without realizing it. The only people in sight were the small group in front of me and so I decided that the chase was on.

I pushed and I pushed and it took me quite a bit of focus. It never failed that I would near the group until we hit a hill and then would slowly watch them pull back away from me. I have got to work on my hill climbing. But the one thing I was so proud of was the fact that no matter how much ground I lost, I never gave up. It was pure determination on my behalf and one hell of a hard effort. Finally about 10-15 miles later, I caught them and have never been prouder of myself. For once, I truly felt on top of the world and one with my bike. This is such a drastic change from last week's group ride.

I am always a fan of a good visual, so let me share a map with you of said awesome ride. Now I will be fair in saying that all of the "crappy" hills that I have pointed out aren't necessarily big hills. There is truly only one hill that I still curse when I hit it. The rest of the hills are just enough incline for me to lose a group on. Like I said, I have got to work on my hill climbing.

(Sorry for the Easter Egg Colors, they were the only ones that would show up good!)

Overall I averaged 16.3 miles by myself, no drafting, in some fierce wind. Not quite the wind of last week thank goodness but enough of one that it put up a mean fight! :) my legs were quite worn out by the end but I definitely felt accomplished. I truthfully can't wait for the day when it isn't a struggle to keep up with the group but then I guess I will have to focus on the group in front of them.

Yes, my love was my newly found confidence and apparently functioning set of legs. My confidence might not last a lifetime but that is ok I will ride cloud nine until it kicks me off.

"Love is like a booger...

2011-05-01T20:12:00.004-04:00

...That you keep picking at and when you get it you don't know what to do with it."

That is what my favorite storage place has to say this week on it's road side sign. We pass by this particular storage facility every week during our weekly group rides at about mile 5. On my first ever group ride this was our turn around point due to the horrific rain, little did I know that this place would bring me so many smiles in my 2 years of riding thus far.

This past Wednesday, I needed to see this sign. I needed to see the messages and experience the smiles. No I do not have a bad case of boogers recently, I had a horrible ride. And by horrible, I mean an absolutely horrible, terrible, no good, ridiculously miserable ride.

And why did I have a miserable ride? We had a bike demo at our local bike store. I great really excited for these events. It is always fun to try out a new bike and dream about the possibilities. I really wanted to try out a carbon road bike since my past year of experience has been exclusively on a tri bike. Felt was nice enough top sponsor a demo day on our group ride night which mean I could try out a road bike for 25 miles. I was able to try out a ZW4 which is kinda similar to the ZW1 that we had on order earlier this year. (We ended up canceling my order on a ZW1 due to timing and other expenses but regardless I was really excited to try out something besides a Trek)

Yeah that is pretty much where the excitement ended. Now I will be fair to Felt and say that my experience really had nothing to do with the particular bike I was on. The weather on Wednesday was horrible with 35+mph gusts of wind. There were times when I felt that I was literally riding my bike at a 45 degree angle with the road in order to stay "upright" and moving forward. This was by far the worst wind I have ever been in. (This was also the night that the horrific tornadoes hit Alabama, Georgia and the rest of the south. Really that should have been a good indicator that the ride was not going to be fun)

On top of the bad weather, the bike was a really bad fit for me. I rode a 47 which is typically my size in Trek. But true to womens fashion, a 47 in one bike is not a 47 in another bike. I would say in this particular situation a Felt 47 felt more like a Trek 50. I am not sure that Felt makes a smaller road bike or that a smaller one would have even been necessary but I definitely couldn't have rode a larger frame. Clearly my experience for the past several years has been Trek so my views are a bit skewed. The seat was set at a bad position and the seat height was not right for me. I also had saddle issues but we all know how much saddle problems I have had recently. Clearly none of this means Felt has a bad bike, it just means that on this particular day, that bike was not going to equal a good ride for this body. I rode the bike for a few laps around the parking lot before the ride began for general feel but I was not thinking clearly or I would have noticed something was off.

So fast forward like 5 miles into the ride and I was already going to give up. I was on the verge of tears/anger and just knew that this ride was going to be horrid. Then we hit the storage facility. The message on that particular side of the sign said "Failure is the first step to success". I didn't appreciate the sign then but now I can totally see that I needed to hear that message. I did learn something for this particular cycling failure once all as said and done. But let me tell you, it was a horrid ride. I couldn't keep up with the group, I was completely saddle sore and had no power in my legs. Luckily at the half way point I was able to adjust my saddle height and position a bit which helped tremendously but it couldn't erase 12 miles of pain. Kenny and Randy were gracious enough to ride with me and didn't once make me feel that I was the slow kid. I know I was a whining mess but they were both supportive for which I am eternally appreciative.

It wasn't until the way back into the store that I saw the other side of the storage facility sign which compared love to boogers. At least at this point I knew I only had 5 more miles in the ride and could laugh. I didn't process the message on the reverse side of the sign until days later but Love and boogers or Success and failure, this little storage facility has the BEST messages. I really look forward to reading them every ride.

So yeah, sometimes we need a really big failure to appreciate our successes. I am extremely happy that I was able to ride 55 miles this weekend in an extremely successful fashion. It gave me a new appreciation for my Trek tri bike "Princess" and let me know that not everything can't be sunshine and roses. I needed a failure on a bike, I am just sorry that the poor Felt representative had to hear about how horrible my ride was. Really Felt, you make a great bike it is just not the right one for me.

I do have a new appreciation for the Trek Madone. I think I might be forever brand loyal.

Until next time, Love your bike and Please, Share the Road!

(I am putting this baby on my car this week! Thanks Lynn for ordering the awesome decals!)

Reflections on a Trail Run

2011-04-18T21:45:00.003-04:00

I raced my first trail race of the season this past Sunday. I say first because I know I have at least two more planned and that excites me. They aren't the ultra running madness that most of my friends have planned but I am ok with that.

And how did said Trail Race go?

Well... I am a bit banged up but that is par for the course. I mean does anyone truly expect to leave a real trail race without something to show for it? This was probably the most technical trail race that I have done to date. (Bartram 2008 was messy due to the weather but not really technical.) There was a ton of up and down, lots of single track, plenty of roots, numerous tree obstacles and even some trench like running. The race was sponsored by Middle Georgia Endurance and was held at LH Thompson. Some of you will know Thompson because they manufacture seat posts and stems. They have a series of Mountain Bike trails on their property which make for some great riding/running.

I wasn't expecting any great results out of the race because lets be honest, my running has sucked lately. And when I say sucked, I mean I haven't done much. Once the race hit single track, I was running with two friends of mine and we were all pretty consistent. Even though I had one ear phone in, it was nice to know that I was running with friends. Truthfully I was pretty gutsy with some of my cornering and root jumping.

And then it happened...

A fall near the 1.5 mile mark banged and bloodied up my knee and gave me a nice goose egg on my elbow. But in true me fashion I duck and rolled and then just laughed it off. No Seriously, I really did roll up like a little armadillo and then flipped on my back and laughed hysterically. I really think I scared Michelle who was running right on my heels. But I promised her I was ok and sent her off in front of me so that I wouldn't hold her up with my now funny limp. I hobbled for just a few feet until I realized that no serious damage was done and then I took off running.

Post fall, I spent the race in last place and tried desperately to catch the "rabbit" in front of me which happened to be fellow runner and friend Donna. The trail twists and turns so much that you can really tell when you are near another runner but I did catch the occasional glimpse of Donna (Or maybe it was someone else on another part of the trail... who knows) I am pretty sure my fall cemented my last place but never one to give up I trucked on. I stumbled a few more times but never quite got my "gutsy"ness back in the remaining 3.5ish miles. I was informed at both aid stations that another female started the race 15 minutes late and was worried that she would catch me but she never did.

Overall I am very pleased with my performance. I promised myself that I would try and run the entire race and I did that with little exception. I walked a few of the extremely steep uphill sections because I realized I was making more progress by hiking then by running. :) With proper running and good training, I could have done much better but I wasn't out to kill myself. Bruised up knees and elbows make for a much more interesting Monday morning office story anyway.

The course was measured at 5.2 miles but I heard quite a few runners say they garmin read a bit short. Truthfully, I think that this might be the one case where the garmin was wrong because of the excessive amount of trees blocking satellites. Even at 5.2 miles, I only finished at 1:10:18 (a whopping 13:31 pace).

However hysterically funny was the awards ceremony. They recognized the top 10 males and females and top 10 masters males and females. Overall 13 women raced; 11 in the open category and 2 in the masters... Do you see where I am going with this yet?

Yes, I was the lone woman who did not podium. LOL ... I am so proud of myself. That personally made me giggle. However, not to discredit the women who did place ahead of me, there were some awesome runners out there on Sunday. The winning time for women was 45:19 and the top 8 finished in under an hour. The men's race was slightly more competitive with 22 men racing in both categories. Kenny placed 16th in the Open division.

I have to say Middle Georgia Endurance ran an extremely well run race. There were two well stocked aid stations with volunteers in the middle of the woods ad both volunteers had many encouraging words. There were even door prizes that all runners were eligible for and I won a pair of Tifosi Sunglasses which I will use for cycling! But most importantly, the race brough attention to an awesome set of trails for riding and running. I know that many mountain bikers are aware of these trails but I believe for some of my running friends, this was a new discovery. I certainly plan to visit Thompson again for some runs in the future if I can figure out a way not to get run over by mountain bikes!

Post race, I am sore but the knee and elbow look fine. The ankles are screaming a bit at me but nothing that a little ice won't help. It has been a while since I have done trail running but truthfully I love it. There is something cool about running in nature as opposed to running on asphalt.

The next race is slightly longer at 7 miles and I hear it is a bit less technical. I guess that means no bumps and bruises which therefore means I need to stop up my running game. Somehow I imagine that many others will hear the word on how well the race was organized and this next one will grow exponentially.

Recovery or rebuild

2011-04-15T22:05:00.002-04:00

This week I stressed my shoulder a bit during a bodyrock workout. Too many push ups and I get a bit weak. I guess I know my personal area for improvement.

I decided to see how my shoulder would feel in the water for a "recovery" swim. I picked a fairly simple 5x200 with a 200 cool down. I am just now starting to get back into the water and haven't done any long swims recently so I thought this would be a good match for recovery and a test of my shoulder.

I jumped in for my first 200 and clocked it at 4:16. The time isn't terrible but a bit off from my typical 200 pace when I am doing consistent workouts. Noticing that my shoulder was feeling fine in the water, I decided to give myself just a small test to see if I could decrease my time each 200 in the series.

Much to my surprise, I was wildly successful.
4:16
4:10
4:05
4:01
3:56!!!!

Although this is not indicative of ultimate success, I am extremely happy with the fact that I have not lost that much progress in the water with my extended absence. My first few swims back in the pool were horribly boring but I am proud to say that my love the the water quickly came back these past two weeks. Last week I swam a continuous 1200 in 27:25 which only works out to be 1:15 per 50 but that was my first swim of any length over 500 yards since Augusta. Heck I was just happy to keep my head in the water that long without needing a break. LOL.

So was it recovery or rebuilding... A little of both. Hopefully bodyrock can give me some of the strength training, sculpting and core work that I need without causing me delay in the future. I am guess shoulder are my official weak point to focus on this coming week!

Back in the Saddle Again!

2011-04-12T19:41:00.002-04:00

No literally... another saddle.

For those not familiar with my bike booty woes let me bring you up to speed. I am currently on bike number two and I just put on my 7th saddle. Yes you read that right, 7 saddles. More specifically, I am on my 5th saddle for Princess (my tri bike).

To date I have tried:
Stock saddle on my road bike (Bontragger)
Bontragger Inform
Stock Saddle on my tri bike
Cobb Plus
Terry Butterfly
Terry Butterfly

And now I am trying the Adamo Road

See every time I try out a new saddle, it just presents a whole new group of issues. I am really hoping that the Adamo does the trick because I am about out of ideas. Anyone else out there with similar issues. I would love to hear your take on finding the perfect saddle. I really wish I could say it was just me being uber picky but it isn't. There is just something about my body that does like some saddles. Saddles shouldn't pinch! :)

Wish me luck folks. So far I have one ride on the adamo and it's working ish but with only 25 miles on a new saddle, who knows!

Defining myself

2011-04-02T21:06:00.002-04:00

This week has been an interesting one for me. Although exhausting, I have learned a lot about myself and my self identity.

I declared earlier that I was a beast. I guess I should explain more than just stating that I am a somewhat hairy, scary sounding non-human. Have no fear, I am still human and in no way have I morphed into a "beastly" object. I am simply starting to feel like my old self again and by oldself I mean the "training for Augusta days" self.

This week I have completed 7 workouts with number 8 planned for tomorrow. It has been a long while since I have accomplished this much athletic activity in one week. My body is doing a bit of screaming for it (particularly my legs) but there is a certain spring in my step that I just can't ignore. I am in no way looking for the kind of commitment that I had for my 70.3 training days but I have come to the conclusion that I feel so much more confident, purposeful, poised and energized when I am physically active. Burnout isn't fun, training 11 to 12 times a week isn't fun either. But for the recent year(s) it has defined who I was. It is what i did. It defined my accomplishments. And it filled my days. I am not saying that I allowed myself only to be defined by the fact that I was trying to accomplish a half ironman but I am saying that it was something I was majorly focused on a damn proud of.

In my "recovery" mode post 70.3, I was missing the active self that I was so proud of. That lifestyle isn't something that you just drop overnight and laziness certainly isn't something you start to feel comfortable with. If you aren't familiar with my history, let me brief you. Growing up I was an overweight, inactive child/teenager/young adult. I was always fairly large for my age but I was a typical youngster and I had fun anyway and made the best of life. In the later years of college and graduate school life, I became fairly concerned with my wellness and made several lifestyle changes. I made a conscious effort to change my lazy lifestyle into one that was active and healthy. It was a big change for me but overall I dropped 50 lbs and haven't looked back. Flash forward to recovery mode and subconsciously I am guessing that my mind was throwing fits that I was slipping back into old non healthy/active me. There was no part of me that was planning on reverting but tell that to the mind. Burnout breeds poor thoughts breeds no motivation.

So finally I get back on the wagon and I feel like a figurative beast. I feel powerful again like I can tackle the world. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from using your own strength to power your body. I typically feel the most powerful on my bike when I can physically see my strength taking me forward and honestly it is the one sport where I can kind of keep up with the faster kids. LOL!!! So that is why I felt like a beast. I am still no where near wanting to commit myself to a long term training regime but at least now I understand why I have needed to find the fun in working out. My body and mind knew I needed the activity without the commitment to a specific goal.

So yes, I am now willing to admit that there is a part of me that needs to be active, regardless of the actual activity. I am defined by my overall wellness and health. It is something that I take great pride in. Define me as an athlete/workout junkie. It's ok, I don't mind. Not one bit!

Now I am beginning to understand why I have a recent need to have fun while exercising.

Yes I am a beast

2011-03-30T19:24:00.003-04:00

That is my declaration.

I am a beast

I completed my fifth workout in three days today. Two bodyrock workouts, one run, one swim and one bike ride. The bike ride was the last of the five and I rocked it. I am typically not so boastful about my talents but I am feeling pretty damn confident at the moment.

Todays ride was a small one likely because of the weather. It looked like it was going to rain but the weather held out. The group was small but I did my hardest to stick with the guys. Not an easy feat but I do love me a good chase. Overall my legs are pretty trashed but I have a big smile on my face.

Tomorrow will be a well earned rest day!

That is all. You my carry on with your regularly scheduled programing! :)

Because I kind of Rock

2011-03-15T22:46:00.002-04:00

I had my first "I feel hardcore" workout of the season. I am just happy Mother Nature broke me in easy this year.

I went to the track tonight and ran in the rain. Just an easy 3.5 miles but I am proud of myself for not giving up when I knew rain was a probability. There is something that makes you feel hardcore and dedicated about running in the rain when others are taking cover. It was a nice refreshing rain that got heavy for a few minutes but no threat of thunder or lightening. Just my style!

I will however, remind all of the runners who have been on hiatus like me that it is not a good idea to eat a largeish dinner at 5:30 and then go run at 6:30. So not a good mixture. I seriously had some pressure building in my upper chest that made running uncomfortable. I just wanted to burp already but alas, no pressure relief. I must stick to smaller meals before an evening workout!

In other news, Kat, a local triathlete and friend, has started a high intensity training/motivation group and I have decided to try out a few of the workouts and the group. I figure trying out something new might just relieve this burnout I have been experiencing and will help me get into shape.

The series began with a fitness test which you re-test approximately every 6 weeks in order to measure your progress. And being the lovely blogger that I am, I am going to share my results with you. (Just try not to laugh!)

Initial Fitness Test
Plank (on elbows)- Held for 1:01
Pushups (As many as you can with proper form) 5
Squats (as many as you can in 60 seconds)- 33
Standing Stork (testing balance on each leg)- Right Leg 3:55, Left Leg 2:46
400 Meter Sprint- 2:13
Burpees (as many as you can in 60 seconds)- 6
Pull Ups (as many as you can in 60 second)- 1/2

So there are the initial results. Some thoughts after completing the test

I really want to work on my "real" push ups. I can do so many more on my knees but these were the real deal. I possibly could have done a few more but didn't want to kill/injure myself
I will be honest, I got really bored with the standing stork. I have decent balance and just ended up stepping down from the stork position before I "fell" out of it. But that still gives me something to work on... focus.
I am sad that my 400 meter spring time equals a pace that some people run casually at.
By the time I got to burpees, I was toast. I can do burpees but they aren't my favorite and I was struggling
Yes that says half a pull up. I can't to pull ups. I do them assisted with weight on the machine but as far as getting myself up on my own muscle power, yeah right. I can kind of hang there if I start in the up position but that is about it! :)

First Wednesday group ride of the season is tomorrow. I am excited!

Some pictures capture more than the memory

2011-03-08T22:16:00.003-05:00

Some pictures are just so amazing they can't be kept to yourself.

Here are two more amazing photos from Kim Mickalonis. I love both of these because the dramatic effects accurately portray what the weather felt like that day and they both just ROCK!!!

All smiles despite the cold and gloomy start!

An awesome pace line photo. This looks like a advertisement!

Thanks for sharing your talents Kim!!!

Racing for a good cause

2011-03-06T21:46:00.005-05:00

Racing is always so much more meaningful when you have a cause. The local time trail series that I have been racing in is raising money for the National Down Syndrome Society. As I mentioned previously, the last race in the series also included a team time trial. The team I was participating on decided to honor our cycling buddy Gen by racing in the color pink under the team name Pink N'Gen. We all felt drawn to support Gen and her journey with breast cancer and what better of a way to do it than to race in a sport she so dearly loves! It was super exciting to have Gen cheering for our team! She is super tough and competed in the individual time trial earlier in the afternoon.

We may have been the only women's team but we had a blast. We finished the course in 25:23 for 8 miles which should be just under 18 miles an hour. With the horrible wind and weather we had today (21mph wind with up to 27mph gusts) that is completely awesome! We were totally pleased with our performance and the opportunity to race in someone else's honor. I am definitely signing up for the next time trail series.

As luck would have it, there were two awesome professional photographers out on the course (and many amateurs!) who snapped some great pictures. I hope that you enjoy! Here are a few Pictures from Kim Mickalonis, Michelle Mayes (My Team Mate) and Gen Matchette. I Love these pics! Kim is a Professional Photographer. You should check her website out.

First Some Individual Pictures

Here I am. These are some of my favorite bike shots. Thanks Kim!

Joe and Gen Warming Up!

A Great Shot of Joe and His Pink Legs!

Now for a Photo Play By Play of the Women's Time Trial!

Meet Team Pink N'Gen. Four Women Racing for a Good Friend and a Good Cause

We wished ourselves luck by holding hands and yelling PINK N GEN

And then we were off!!!

A "different" view of the start! And we were off for our first 4 mile loop.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch... LOL Kenny decided to use my PJs pants as arm warmers while I was out competing

Here we come in for the finishing our first loop

And at the turn around point for the second loop

A Fun shot of me whizzing by Kim as we neared the finish

And Finally coming in for the Finish! The overall time for our team was clocked as the last person crossed the finish line so we crossed in a nice pack!

We won the Women's Team Time Trial Division and the awards were awesome. Handmade clocks crafted from recycled bike parts! Go Team Pink N'Gen. We paved the way, now hopefully other women's teams will come out in the future. ;P

I can't wait to see what photo's Tommy Chambers Got out on the course!

March is National Nutrition Month

2011-03-01T20:05:00.002-05:00

...and I am off to a bad start! LOL

I am trying so hard to be good nutritionally but today wasn't my day. If only I had remembered that March is National Nutrition Month then I could have made a goal for the month earlier but it is never to late to get moving. The National Dietetic Association encourages people to Eat Right with Color which is what I try to consider daily.

So for me, this month, my goal is to steer clear of processed sugars (a la- ice cream, candy, cookies, etc) and try to stick with natural foods when possible (Lean meats, vegetables, grains, fruits, etc). I want to focus back on what I know is good for me and remember all those things that have slowly slipped away from my daily decisions. This goal is not an end all be all but I am going to keep this goal in mind every time I make a nutritional choice. Hopefully I have good to report in the coming weeks. I urge you to come up with your own nutrition goal for the month. It is a great start to a wonderful lifestyle.

In other news...

This week is about prepping for the Final Time Trial this weekend. I want to arrive well conditioned but not fatigued. I know this is not a time to try and "cram" in lots of workouts in an effort to achieve growth. Overall this series is a small local race series and is not one you would consider a training priority but it sure is fun to compare your monthly results with your friends and the rest of the field.

Here are a few pictures from Time Trial #3 courtesy os FM Barron and Sam Martinez.

Kenny and I chatting before the start of the last Time Trial. Even Hammer Nutrition represents at the smallest of races! I love my Hammer Kit!

My first time coming down off of the ramp. I thought it would be scary but it wasn't terrible.

Here are the top three women from Time Trial #3 and ultimately the women I want to beat. I think Time Trial #4 won't be the race to do so but maybe next year!

Tomorrow, I am going to hit the pool again the first time since Augusta and am hoping just to get back into the swimming motion. No real training goals for the morning, just to practice and enjoy. Wish me luck.

How Stefanie got her groove back

2011-02-27T19:21:00.003-05:00

I am not referring to the same groove that "Stella" got in the 1998 movie. That is definitely not the focus of this blog.

No no friends, no need to worry, I am talking about my missing athletic groove. I won't quite say that I have embraced the workout movement again but at least I have seen quite a bit more activity in the past week than I have probably in the last month.

And how exactly did I get my groove back...Compliments!

Yes that is right, from compliments. Thanks to many of my athletically minded friends, I had an awesome weekend. It started with a 5k on Saturday that truthfully, I was just hopeing to survive. The goal was to not die and if I survived that, I really wanted to run without stopping. I accomplished both and ended up running a 33:58 which is not my best but is also not horrible considering my recent efforts.

But what has really made my weekend was time trial training. Next weekend I am competing in a four person cycling time trial with three other lovely ladies. It is on the same course as the individual time trials I have competed in recently but obviously with a team you can use drafting to your advantage. The team race will be eight miles instead of the individual four mile race. Our team practiced twice this weekend and boy are my legs trashed but it is such a refreshing feeling believe it or not. Total mileage for the weekend ended up being 36 miles between two training sessions.

I was extremely nervous going into the practices. I was worried I would be holding the team back or that I would not be able to perform on the same level as then other women. I was also worried about drafting off other cyclist. Drafting isn't exactly something you practice in the triathlon world and I definitely was not a seasoned veteran. Well I had no reason to worry. Aside from feeling like I got in a really good workout, I feel like a millions bucks. I received so many compliments during team practice that I left both practices feeling tired but on Cloud 9. Practicing with a group helped me to best understand my strengths and how I can contribute my strengths to the betterment of a team. Apparently I am a good hill climber and this surprises me tons. I am not quiet sure why it surprises me; In our many training rides for Augusta, Gen has mentioned my hill climbing abilities but I always doubted my talents in this area. I guess it takes three other people telling me I have good abilities in this area for me to believe it. LOL

So while I am still nervous about the team time trial next weekend it is now for completely different reasons. And even though I am nervous, I am extremely excited as well. Thanks to Michelle, Joan and Melanie for a great weekend of practices and thanks to Gen for insisting that I had a talent even when I didn't believe you.

My groove is slowly coming back.

Unmotivation Land just got a bit happier!

2011-02-22T20:27:00.002-05:00

4

That is how many days in a row I have exercised. It is nothing to brag about but for my recent activity level, it is monumental. And to top it all off, none of it was really planned.

Saturday I went on an impromptu 26 mile bike ride
Sunday I went on what was going to be a 10 mile easy ride with the Crazy Joes and Crazy Joe Kids. The adults ended up tacking on some extra "faster" mileage for 22 miles total.
Monday I Ran with the President for a whopping 1.75 miles and thought I was going to die
And tonight in a brilliant move on my part, I skipped weights at the gym and ended up going to the Macon Tracks track workout and ran 3 miles with Amy.

It is amazing what a little bit of movement can do for you. While I am not feeling quite like the athletic goddess I once was, the recent activity certainly helped to lift my spirits. It was great to run tonight with a friend while chatting. It has been a long time since I have done that. No Garmin. No worrying about miles, time or heart rate. No one to chase down. Not feeling terribly winded. Just some nice conversation and an opportunity to really enjoy movement without the worries of training.

I think I discovered something tonight. Sometimes we need not to have a goal and just to do what we enjoy. There is a part of me that needs the structure of a workout schedule to motivate me in the mornings to get me out of the door and on the right track. Thus far I miss the schedule of knowing exactly what workouts I have for the week. However, tonight I discovered that I really need to listen to my body. I need to rediscover my love for the movement of running. I need to remember how fun it can be to run without a purpose in mind and to really chat with a friend. I need to focus on what feels comfortable and ENJOYABLE.

Tonight I had an opportunity to reflect for just 5 minutes on the past couple of years in my "athletic" career with some new athletes. I think it helped me to to gain a wider picture of my overall progress and a much better understanding of myself. I have spent the good part of the past 4 years EXTREMELY motivated to accomplish my goals. I think it is only fair that I have a bit of a relaxation of the expectations that I have placed on myself. I certainly have plans to get back on the training wagon and to create a "goal". I look forward to reaching and surpassing what ever I set as my finish line. But for now, I just need to enjoy what all I have accomplished. I have come a long way since early 2007 when I first started this running gig. Thanks Sam for the opportunity to help me put things into perspective.

Hello from unmotivation land

2011-02-17T20:14:00.003-05:00

Well somehow the motivation train kicked me off the ride and has left me stranded in the middle of lazy land. I am posting to you straight from my living room at which time I am doing absolutely nothing but watching my husband play Epic Mickey while I surf the net on my new ipad. Not quite the wild days of pre Augusta life.

This past year has been nothing short of epic for me. I accomplished a half ironman. Considering that it was only January 2009 that I started my journey into the triathlon world and that I am still slow as molasses on the run, I consider this epic. While I technically only accomplished one of my 2010 goals, I am so thankful and proud of all that I have done.

What I will say is that I completely under estimated the amount of time and dedication it would take to train for half ironman. Seriously underestimated. For a good 6 months my life was nothing but prepping, training and testing my body to race a half ironman. With my husband training as well, it left little time for relaxing (aka NONE) and truly little time for us. I certainly enjoyed the process and seeing what my body could accomplish but definitely craved that downtime that neither of us were getting.

I never imagined that "recovery" would look like this. Who knew that the woman who was longing for 3-4 hour bike rides and who loved long sets in the pool, would be barely able to pull herself off the couch 4 months later. Granted I did run a marathon in January but needless to say that was way short of my epic performance in September. Athletes always speak of the post race letdown once you have no race you are training for. I always though it was just a little sadness or disappointment until now. This is pure unmotivation folks. I haven't been to a pool since 2 weeks post race, my running shoes have been sitting fairly idle by my front door since Disney and my bike has only come out of hibernation for 2 time trial races.

So yes, blogging was slow during training because I had no time and it is slow now because I have nothing to write. LOL oh the irony. There a days when I worry about my lack of motivation and other days when I just smile and say I have earned a break. Ok maybe I am stretching it with a 4 month break... :)

Right now my focus is to exercise for the sake of keeping healthy and to focus on doing things I like. The elliptical has been my friend and I am finally finding time for strength training. I think I am going to head back to my spin class because the trainer just isn't cutting it. I could defiantly use some super peppy music and a gaggle of friends to keep me company.

This years race schedule.... Who knows? I would love to get faster in the run and to focus on improving at the shorter triathlon distances. But as far as a formal plan of races, my non motivation self hasn't quite made it that far yet. For for this year, maybe I will see you at the start line... And if not, then I will be on the side lines cheering for you!

Museum of Aviation Marathon and Half Marathon

2011-01-23T20:22:00.003-05:00

While I did not run the Museum of Aviation races this year, I did go spectate in order to cheer on a bunch of our friends. Kenny and I contemplated running the half marathon but being only 1 week after Disney we decided that everyone needs a good Cheerleader. And Cheer we did.

I didn't have my regular camera with me but I did carry the ipod and gathered some fun videos of our friends finishing.

For those unfamiliar with the race, It is a local Marathon, Half Marathon and 5k sponsored by you guessed it, The Museum of Aviation. The race is run all on the local air force base. 2 loops for the marathon, 1 loop for the half. The run is pretty much around the perimeter of base, around flight line, near the residential area and the golf course, by the lakes and horse pasture and then back the the museum. It is a fun but quiet course with nearly no spectators because you have to have an ID to get on base. I have previously completed the half in 2008 when it was cold and raining. Still one of my most memorable races. This year was cold but alas no rain in sight and turned out to be a rather nice day for running/spectating.

This year 476 people ran the Half, 202 ran the marathon and 420 ran the 5K. Kenny and I were able to cheer on Lynn, Al and Nathan as they finished the 5k but I completely forgot that I had my camera and didn't get any good footage!

(Side Note: I should mention before you watch these videos that apparently my cheering vocabulary is limited to "GOOD JOB ________(Insert Name Here)". Apparently I forgot how to use other words. LOL Additionally I had a sore throat and sound horribly like a man. ENJOY!) :)

First to finish of the Crazy Joes was Joe. He PRer by more than 10 minutes for a rocking time of 1:36:55

Next was Randy. This was only Randy's second half marathon. His first... the half at the end of Augusta 70.3. He finished in 1:44:11

I almost missed Laura running in at 1:52:05. She has been battling some IT issues and still rocked out with an amazing time.

Next was the ever amazing Gen who ran in with her daughter. This was Gen's first distance race running after Chemo. Take That Cancer! She finished in 2:33:59. Rock On!

Christie finished in 2:36:43. Her daughter is in Girl Scouts with Gen's girls and I was happy to cheer her on.

Kathy finished in 2:43:00. She rocked the Half marathon while her Husband and son cheered on! I occasionally ride with Kathy on group rides but her husband and my husband mountain bike together often!

Joe was Lucky enough to place in his age group! Congrats on 2nd place!

A New Kind of Race

2011-01-18T21:03:00.003-05:00

This weekend was filled with a lot of fun and overall relaxation. I was able to cheer on some friends at the Museum of Aviation 5K, Half Marathon and Marathon on Saturday and then on Sunday I participated in a new kind of race (for me!) I will post videos of the Museum race soon!

The new race for me was a Cycling Time Trial. Our local bike store (The Bike Store) is hosting a winter TT series to benefit the National Down Syndrome Society. It is a 4 race series and this was race #2. I did not participate in race #1 primarily because I was scared but also because it was a week before the Disney Marathon.

What is scary about a TT you ask? Well the fact that I had never done one. The fact that I had not raced on my bike in a long time (aka Since Augusta 70.3). Oh and the fact that you mounted a ramp in order to start all while you trust someone to hold you upright while clipped on to your bike. Yeah, that was the kicker for me.

Lucky for me (but not so lucky really) part of the ramp was stolen before the TT so we had a ramp-less start. YUCK and BOOHISS to who ever stole the ramp. Ultimately I decided for a standing start rather than being held. Yeah it might have cost me a few extra seconds in the long run but the peace of mind was well worth it.

My overall experience was really positive. It is a shorter course at only 4 miles but it is super fun. The course is an out and back which is relatively flat (Minor rollers). The sucky part is you get a sweet downhill doing into the turn around which makes for a wicked uphill right after your 180 degree turn. Yeah that makes for some out of the seat climbing from what feels like a dead stop!

I pushed myself as hard as I could and ended up with an 18+mph average. I am pretty happy with that. We also had some awful headwinds in both directions. I felt like my shifting was right on target and that I did my absolute best. Especially since I haven't done much cycling recently and had just completed a marathon the week before.

The results have not been posted but I am pretty sure I came in a solid 4th place among the women. Just barely off the podium but the women ahead of me really rocked it! (Like 20+mph rocked it) I have some work to do if I want to place in the future. Yes I said work to do. I am planning on doing the new two races if time allows. I guess it is not so scary after all. Now once they fix the ramp that might be another story!

Tommy Chambers, a good friend and great photographer, who is owner of Peachsports.com, shot the event with all of his print proceeds going to the National Down Syndrome Society. He took some awesome photos that I am happy to share! Props to you Tommy. Awesome Job!

First a good look at some athletes on the course. I love this shot. This is near the start of the course. Once cyclist heading out and two heading back in nearing the finish line.

I always love racing with friends and this race was no different. The Crazy Joe's were out in full force to cheer. First up was Crazy Joe himself. Got to love the smile and IM Wisconsin Kit!

Next was Randy!

Kenny was our next lucky contestant

And then of course me. I have something with going last. LOL

Of course I had tons of other friends who were out racing. Tom, Sam, Kim, Dave, Ethan, Charles and Melanie. I could post all of their pics but then we would be here forever.

Race Report: Disney Marathon 2011

2011-01-11T19:53:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't post for almost 2 months and then all of a sudden chimes in with a Race Report? Apparently me. That's how I roll!

In a minor lapse in judgment following Augusta 70.3, my husband and I both thought it would be a great idea to use our current state of fitness for good use and we registered for a marathon. My 3rd marathon but Kenny's first.

Yeah I am not quite sure why we thought that was such a hot idea!

We started out training pretty casually but still with goals in mind for our long runs. Throw in a Thanksgiving Cruise, some illnesses, holiday visitors, mountain biking injuries and just overall burnout and you have the worlds worst marathon training program. Yes friends, we were the poster children for "How not to Train for a Marathon!" I didn't want to post anything leading up to the race, You know in case something stupid-tragic happened like getting injured. But now that the race is Complete... I can chat away! :)

If you might remember, I ran the Disney Half in 2008 and then the Disney Full in 2009. I followed my first full marathon up with my second "Accidental Marathon" in November 2009 at the Bartram Forest Marathon.

And Thus that brings us to Disney 2011. After spectating for 2 years at Disney, Kenny always said "if" he ever did a marathon, it would be at Disney. So Augusta 70.3 comes and goes, he gets a crazy idea that this could be the year, the timing is right and BAM $250 later we are registered for a marathon. Maybe some days we need to think out our actions a bit more LOL.

Leading up to the Marathon I believe we got in 3 long runs of good substance with the longest only being 16 miles. We both knew we were capable of the endurance aspect of the marathon and honestly didn't want to get injured in training so we took it pretty laid back. Looking back on the whole situation, if training appropriately, we could have fit in an 18 and 20 miler but just didn't have the heart and mental capacity to do it. Burnout my friends, at it's finest!

Pre-Race: Orlando
We arrived at Disney at 9am on Friday morning just as the Expo was opening. For those that know Disney, you know to get there on Friday early! By 11am the expo was a mad house! Check in went pretty smoothly. We were bibs 13786 (Kenny) and 13787 (Me). Collected our bibs, commemorative pins and shirts and went perusing around the expo. Disney always has great vendors so there is tons to see. I was super happy to get some great arm warmers from Run Girl Run (in Pink and Black of Course) and some awesome arm lights for night/early morning runs from Nite Beams.

However the highlight of the expo for me was hanging out at the Bondi Band Booth. I had heard about bondi bands before but never really done any investigation into them. I honestly stopped by the booth because of all the colorful bands on the table (and I mean there were thousands of them all in a pile). I did one of those random aimless rummaging that you do at expo booths but ended up having a great conversation with the female at the booth (I do believe she was the owner of the company but I don't want to misrepresent info if that isn't true!) I enjoyed learning about her company so much that Kenny and I ended up going back to the expo on Saturday just to pick up a few extra items from her booth. Great customer service and I was super pleased to hear that she donates 10% of her profiles to charity every year. That makes me happy to support a small business. I picked up a ponytail hat and several headbands to try out so I will give you all a review once I get a chance to use them.

Here I am modeling my new hat (which had a ponytail hole) and my new arm warmers

Non expo time was spent resting, eating, hanging out in Downtown Disney and visiting the outlet malls. One thing I do miss about living in Orlando is the immediate access to malls, malls and more malls. We didn't so much shopping overall but we did pick up a christmas ornament to add to the collection and to commemerate our marathon together. Overall I wish we would of had more time in Orlando to hangout with friends and see UCF again (our alma mater where we met). For this trip we decided it was just too much to squeeze all in to one trip.

Race Morning: Pre Race
For the two nights prior to the race we conditioned ourselves to go to bed at 7:30pm and wake up insanely early so that race morning wasn't horrible. Disney has a 4am suggested call time and a 5am "you-must-be-in-your-corrals" time. Yikes that is an awfully early time to be functioning. Kenny and I figured that we would have to be up at 2:30am in order to get ready, eat breakfast, pack the car and get to Epcot on time.

So 2:30am came and surprisingly we were both nicely awake and functioning quiet well. Maybe it was the lack of nerves. Maybe it was the good preparation on the night before. Regardless, we were both quiet surprised at being OK with being up at that hour. Got ready and did all of the necessary stuff. Made the drive to Epcot with my mom who came to spectate and cheer us on and thus the waiting game began. Kenny's aprents also made the drive to Orlando to cheer us on and we met them in the parking lot.

I was super thrilled that Florida wasn't too too cold for race day and that it also wasn't supposed to get too hot either. Perfect racing conditions in my book (Except when you have to stand in your corral for an hour. Thank God for body warmth) I believe the morning temps were around 39 and it warmed up into the low 60s by the afternoon. I opted for a sleeveless shirt, running skirt, compression socks and I used my old compression calf sleeves as arm warmers. It is not that I don't have proper arm warmers but it just seemed like a better idea than using my really good Augusta ones. Especially if I was going to have to take them off during the race. I didn't want to risk losing the good ones. :)

Disney by comparison is a huge race. Over 17,000 runners registered for the marathon. The place is a Zoo in the morning. But lucky me, out of thousands of people in the area, I found one of my old grad school buddies who was running her 3rd or 4th Goofy. It was great to see her and catch up. I had been texting her since two days before but didn't get a response. I guess that's what happens when you text the wrong number. OOPS!

And as luck would have it while Kenny and I were waiting in the Port O Potty line outside of our Corral, we ran into a local area runner Jonathan who was also down for his 3rd Goofy race. Funny enough I saw more of Jonathan at Disney during the race than I have here in the middle Georgia area! Funny how things work out like that!

We waited and waited and waited in the corrals. Around 5:30 the Wheelchair athletes were off and then slowly wave by wave the race was beginning. It was really kind of cool to stand with Kenny while all of the firework festivities happened at the start line. I have experienced it twice before as a runner but this was his first time. I knew what was coming as they did the countdown and once they hit zero and the fireworks start it is always so cool to see First Time Disney racers marvel at the spectacular show they do to kick off the race. Definitely a fun moment.

A funny moment in our corral was watching the race front runners pass by us at mile 4 before we even got started. The lead group passed mile 4 and our corral at 21 minutes while we were still waiting to start. It is amazing to watch them run!

The Race
I mentioned earlier that neither Kenny nor I really had any nerves going into this race. I am not really sure why but we really just didn't get those pre-race jitters that normally happen. We are both likening it to the fact that our previous major race before this was a Half Ironman and that somehow 26.2 just didn't seem "that bad".

Kenny also made the decision that he would run my pace for this race. Now in case you haven't noticed, Kenny is almost a full foot taller than me and kills me in the running department. I knew it would be taxing on him to run my slower pace but he insisted and ultimately I enjoyed/needed the company.

The first few miles came and went. We were honestly running like we had no clue we were running a marathon. The miles were calm. The atmosphere was jovial. It didn't feel like "a marathon". I would have likened it to a training run or a nice easy 10k with a friend. Just some nice, easy relaxing running. I opted for a 1/1 Galloway Interval. I originally wanted to do a 2/1 interval but the training just wasn't there so I kept it safe and did 1/1. For every 1 minute I would run, Kenny would run like 20 or 30 seconds and I would spend the rest of the time playing catch up!

Around mile 2 we came into Epcot to see our little cheering squad. Funny enough, my mom saw Kenny and Kenny's mom saw me but I don't think anyone in the group saw us both at that point in the race. It was nice to see them there as we weren't expecting them to be there. We thought they had already gotten on the monorail to head to the Magic Kingdom.

The morning darkness continued for quiet sometime. We were greeted by DJs and Marching Bands. I think I might have even seen one of my old band directors out there with a high school. (Mr Arnott if you are teaching in Orange County, I saw you!) Disney is full of fun but a majority of running is on back roads.

Kenny took the camera to snap pictures of me on the run. Unfortunately we didn't get any run pictures together. Here I am just shortly before the Magic Kingdom.

Before we hit the Magic Kingdom the sun finally came out and the closer we got the more frantically we were searching for our cheering squad. We had both made the determination that they would not miss seeing us this time.

So we hit main street looking at all the spectators and finally about half way down we spot them. Waving frantically and cheering. I know they only got to see us for like a split second but I hope they enjoyed the experience and the atmosphere. I guess we should have stopped for hugs. LOL As we continued our run around Magic Kingdom, Kenny was a gentleman and waited with me so that we could run through the castle together. I wanted to make sure that the photographers got a good picture of us. I can't wait to see how it turned out.

Kenny caught me running in the Magic Kingdom just after the Castle. The picture is a bit blury but I had to post this one for some friends. Look you can see Liberty Tree Tavern in the Background!

The miles immediately following the Magic Kingdom are quiet dull and smelly. The Disney Waste Facilities are on this section of the course and you spend miles 11-16 running on back roads. This is where Kenny surprisingly stated that he liked the non park parts of the race because they were quieter. Who would have known!

Heading into Animal Kingdom I was still feeling pretty good. Funny comment as we were heading into a back entrance of Animal Kingdom.
Kenny: Is that a Rabbit on a Stump
Stefanie: Uh... Yes that is and it is on a leash!
Ok so we didn't stop to get any pictures with the characters because this year (unlike others) the lines for the character pictures were way way long. But I wish we would have stopped for a picture with a bunny on a leash! It would have been awesome.

Following Animal Kingdom my world started crashing. This is the start of mile 18 where I hit the wall last time and is also the infamous out and back at mile 20. (How ill placed) Kenny knew I was starting to demotivate when my answers to his "How do you feel?" questions went from "fine" or "great" to "Like I have run 18 miles". Poor thing he did his best to keep me motivated and never ever did he say anything bad. I could see how badly he wanted me to cheer up and I was trying but I think my world was just one big wall from miles 18-26.15. It is not to say that I didn't enjoy my race and that I wasn't physically ok. But Mentally I was ready for the race to be over at mile 18.

Luckily somewhere around mile 19 or so I ran into Jonathan on the course and we commiserated together. As he put it "One of these days I am going to run a marathon without running a half the day before". Some how that slightly put things into perspective for me. LOL I ran into him several more times before the finish line and even if you don't talk, it is always nice in a big race to know you are running with someone "familiar".

Favorite part of the back end of the race is the chocolate stop. This year my chocolate was actually a chocolate bar instead of melted chocolate soup like two years ago when it was so dang hot! I definitely enjoyed my walk break to eat some chocolate.

As we closed into the finish line I knew what to expect. I knew where the turn out of Epcot would be and I knew where the Gospel Choir would be. The finish line has never looked so inviting. We crossed and as of the official results Kenny finished 1 second ahead of me and somehow another athlete finished in between us. LOL This race is special to be because in 2005 I volunteered with the UCF President's Leadership Council at the finish line handing out Marathon Medals. I was super excited to see the PLC Advisor at the Finish Line handing out medals. We shared a big hug before receiving my medal.

Post Race, I grabbed my mylar blank and headed over to the med tent area for some bio freeze and ice. I needed to bio freeze my neck because I had carried a ton of tension in my shoulders and upper back and decided to ice my thighs/knees since I knew an ice bath was not in my near future. I kept the Mylar Blanket on for the remainder of the time outdoors in order to avoid getting sunburnt. (Yeah did I mention I was on antibiotics for last weeks sore throat that said to avoid direct prolonged exposure to the sun. OOPS we just wont tell my doctor that!)

Post Race Thoughts
Nutrition Wise: Pre Race I consumed oatmeal with peanut butter, a banana, a mini larabar and my endurance aminos. On the course, I sipped rocktane gel at ever mile or two, took two bottles of heed (24 ounces each), about 1/3 of a banana, 2 pretzels and a mini krackle bar. Post race I grabbed a banana and water. We headed to lunch about 1.5 hours after the finish. Immediately following the race I had my usual stomach rumblings that occur with any long race I do. I am not sure if it is the gels and liquids that I consume during the race, the exertion or the combination of the two but I always know it is coming. If any of you nutrition and sports gurus know how to hold this at bay a bit let me know. I am all ears.

Sunday after the race, we had lunch and then had to head home 6 hours in a car. We stopped a few times to stretch and use the potty. (Thanks goodness) Using one of the rest stops on the Florida Turnpike we immediately spotted other marathoners making there way home by two easy indicators: their shirts and their walk! :)

We even stopped for the worlds most unhealthy dinner of Wendy's Chicken Nuggets and Fries. I would never under any normal circumstances eat that but honestly after a race, you ear whatever sounds good at the moment. Chicken nuggets were the only thing that sounded good to either of our stomachs. Not so sure the grease really helped but at the moment they did the trick.

Monday post race, we were both called off work because of the bad weather and thankful so. I really enjoyed a rest day. Today I didnt have to go in until 11am and the slow start to the morning helped. Overall I am sore in my thighs, ankles and randomly a few arm muscles. Stairs are not my friend at the moment. This is so unlike my previous two marathon experiences which just goes to show that proper training can preempt some of this. Thus extra recovery time is needed and I will enjoy every last bit of it. This burnout body needs a break. After the marathon, Kenny and I both agreed that we would rather do a Half Ironman than do a marathon. This also stopped any ideas of Kenny doing Ironman Louisville this year. I think we will just got and be good spectators for our friends! Everyone needs a good cheerleader!

And that my friends is a Disney Marathon Race Report. Again sorry for my long absence! Hope you enjoyed the experience!

My Recovery in Pictures!

2010-11-14T17:25:00.003-05:00

As I promised, Here is my recovery a la picture style (With some explanations)

Immediately following the race Kenny and I were pooped! We are uber lucky that our family extended their hotel rooms for another evening so that they could sleep before they had to head back to Florida. That meant an extra night for Kenny and I in Augusta instead of making the trip home. We originally planned on traveling home but completely under estimated how tired we would be.

This was Kenny pre Dinner. I did wake him for probably the best post race meal ever- omelets at IHOP. Never tasted so good!

We awoke early the next morning and made the trip home just in time for me to go to work. Got to love Mondays. Our true excitement on that Monday was the fact that our new iPod 4th gens would be coming in. We had ordered them weeks earlier as a pre celebration gift but amazon and their fun shipping actually timed them for the day after the race. Kinda nice anyway!

Happy Half Ironman to me!

One random "injury" from the race was some fun placed chafing I received. During the run I was constantly pouring water on my head to keep my body temp down and cooled off. Little did I realize the excess water was creating a fun little playground for my tri top. Oops.

After a few days of healing... at least I had a sense of humor about it.

And as promised, I did model my new race gear in the days following the race. Here is my new tri top (I bought the men's because it fit me much better. Damn you long torso) and my new visor and fun top.

Working out in the two weeks post race was pretty nonexistent. I believe I did 2 group rides, a trainer ride, 1 run, 2 walks and a float int he pool. One fun this I did do was coordinate our own little Crazy Joe's Ride for Breast Cancer complete with silly bands, glow bracelets, arm sweat bands and candy.

Gen and I celebrating after a fun impromptu but UBER Important Crazy Joes Breast Cancer Awareness Ride. (You can even see my arm warmers and the pink bow in my hair!)

Although I was not working out, Kenny and I were sure enjoying our free time. In addition to the ipods we also invested in a fire pit for the winter season.

Meet the new Fire Pit! Anyone want to come over?

And of course my mandatory self portrait on the first night using our fire pit!

And well seriously, why would you buy a fire pit unless it was truly to make s'mores! This is how we do it!

Even my work tried to get into the recovery mode by sending my office to a motivational seminar in Atlanta. It was "interesting" to say the least but at least the line up of speakers was impressive.

First person I found to be exciting... Colin Powell. Excellent Public Speaker! We were actually really close to the stage but it was much easier to get photos of the projection screens!

We also got to see Zig Ziglar. He is now 83 and not quiet the public speaker he used to be so his daughter interviewed him to keep him on track. Such a cute old man and he reminded me of my grandpa. If you look at the yellow flowers in the middle of the photo that is the stage. We truely were only like 50 yards away on floor level seating and you can get a good idea of how many people were in the Georgia Dome for this event.

But I was really excited to see Goldie Hawn. She reminds me of my mom. Well at the conference she didn't but she is cool. (not such a good speaking day for her!)

First the obligatory projection screen shot. (I might have needed to lend her my hairbrush) :(

And just for my mom who loves Goldie, A close up!

Other than all that, recovery was nice and slow/relaxing/peaceful... that is until we signed up for a marathon! More on marathon training later but for now I am going to rest my poor little legs. I think they are revolting from my "back to endurance running" mode. 16 miles and I am toast!

And then there was recovery

2010-11-09T22:26:00.002-05:00

Well plenty of people have asked me how is my recovery going. I have a post coming with pictures (can't post those now because I am away from the camera) but I wanted to go ahead and say a few things.

I will say recovery has been not nearly long enough but yet somehow way too long. You endurance athletes know exactly what I am talking about. Recovery after a long distance event looks something like this:

Immediately after crossing the finish line- Well damn that was one hell of a ride. Not sure if I ever want to do that again... where is the food?

The day after the race- Well damn, I have sore muscles that I didn't know existed but wow... I did it! I can't believe it!

A week after the race- I sure am enjoying not having a training schedule and just taking things easy. I think I might consider doing another race like that again.... awhile down the road.

Two weeks after the race- I am getting a bit ansty now. Maybe I should look at next year's race schedule to see if anything looks good. :) I think I could train again for a race next year.

Three weeks after the race- OK This Sucks... I need a training schedule. I need something to train for. I need something to focus on. Heading into major race research mode.

1 month after that race- Yup it's offical, I have gone nuts. Sign me up for my next race!

Sound familiar for any of you out there? While I havent committed to my next half ironman, I have committed myself to my next major race.

HOMEY SAY WHAT?

Yes folks, I am truely nuts and have decided "Go Big or Go Home!"
(OK Not that big all you nutso people who think I have signed up for a full Ironman. I am not quite there yet)

ANNOUNCING.....

Surprise! I have registered for the Disney Marathon!

Kenny and I have talked about this race for a while. He said if he was ever going to run a marathon, this would be the one. I guess those years of spectating me at the half marathon in 2008 and then the full in 2009 got him curious about the race. Plus, being from Florida, we both grew up as Disney kids so this race is something special to us.

Originally we knew this race was going to be well off into the future because my work schedule always calls for me to work that weekend in January. (Got to love College semesters) However, just less than a month after Augusta, the opportunity opened up for me to have off that weekend and Kenny and I signed up for Disney. This will be Kenny's first Marathon and my 3rd marathon (2nd time at Disney). Clearly this is not the ideal time lenght for an adequant training plan but there are some hidden motives behind doing this race. Maybe I will tell you all one day LOL.

But seriously, Lucky Me, Kenny has agreed to run my pace (aka slow) so that we can cross the finish line together! I figure at my pace he can run up ahead of me and wait in all the character lines for pictures while I catch up!

So recovery.... yeah. Well mine officially lasted a month long and it was nice but somehow full of ants in my pants. I have not ramped up my workouts to nearly the level I was for Augusta but I am prepping for the marathon. I am mainly just working on getting in my long runs and making sure my shorter runs are quality. Other than that, it has been weights and sitting on my toosh!

18 miles this weekend. Nice and slow. Can't risk any injuries. Disney is all about the FUN!

And Finally... Augusta- THE RUN!

2010-10-14T21:39:00.005-04:00

After my potty break in T2 it was off on the run. I was super nervous about how I would perform but at least I knew my bladder was empty!

The Run

Time- 2:48:01
Age Group Rank- 92/124

As I mentioned in the previous post, I used my time in T2 while waiting in the port o potty line to set my Garmin. Prior to the race I had decided to do the Galloway Intervals at 2/1. Ideally, I would like to get to a point where I can run the entire 13.1 miles but that just was not realistic goal for this race!

So I hit the button and off I went. The first interval is always the hardest for me. Why, you ask? Because when it beeps for my first walking interval only two minutes into my run, I always get a tad bit embarrassed. I know my plan and I know what I need to do but taking a walk break less than a quarter of a mile from the start just tends to mess with your brain a bit. Augusta was no different. First walk interval came, I grumbled a bit, slowed down, smiled and off I went!

First thing once I got out of the long road from transition I saw Joe; the Crazy Joe's Official Race Photographer, Cheerleader, Cow Bell provider, Chauffeur and Overall Sherpa Extraordinaire! He is also the name sake for out unofficial/official local triathlon group! He cheered enthusiastically, let me know that he had not seen Kenny yet and snapped this picture!

Don't you just hate those awkward race photo's where you don't completely smile and end up looking like a beaver! LOL :)

Joe was also right at the spot where the course meets back up with itself. This meant that I could see all of the earlier starters/fast racers who were officially on their second loop of the course and were more than half way through with the Half Marathon! Those suckers ran by me fast.

But head held high, I continued on for my first loop. It didn't take long before I hit mile 1. I celebrated mile one with a random racer who was running near me. I think we were both super happy to see how quickly that mile marker came.

Run Some, Walk Some and then Repeat FOREVER!

What helped to break everything up was the wonderful group of family that came to cheer me on. My Dad, Stepmom, Mom, Father in Law and Mother in Law all made the trip from Florida to cheer on Kenny, myself and the rest of their newly adopted Crazy Joe children who were running the race. Additionally, Randy's family came to the race and Sarah and Hippy's spouses came to the race. They spaced themselves out pretty well and it ended up that not more than 2 or so miles would go by without seeing someone specifically cheering for you. I am not sure if they planned it that way but they were super spectators and cheered their heads off. I do think my Mom, Dad and Stepmom took pictures of me every time I passed by. At one point I remember yelling at them "You are going to have a million pictures of me that all look the same!" :) But they never stopped cheering and that was super!

At mile 1.5 I started my regiment of taking swigs of gel about every mile or so. I had originally intended to do a full gel about every two miles but I could tell from the get go that I needed nutrition and a lot of it. Knowing that I was going to need a constant supply of nutrition, I made the decision to go with smaller doses because they were setting well on my stomach and not causing any problems. Thank goodness for gel flasks so that you can take smaller doses without having to worry about half full gel packets or trash.

The race photographers did catch a few good photos of me. The smiling did not stop at the bike, it continued on the run!

And my goofy poses also continued for the run as well. I figure if I can pose for the pictures or get the photographers attention/make them smile, then they will focus on getting a good picture of me. It worked! Many of them actually thanked me which I thought was kind of funny! I guess taking thousands of photos of racers can get boring and monotonous.

One thing the race organizers do to make the atmosphere festive is to dye the downtown fountains purple. Yes I am easily amused and they kept me smiling as well.

One way I kept track of my run was to count the number of times I passed over a set of railroad tracks. Because of the layout of the course, I knew I would be running over the same set of tracks a total of 7 times so counting them it helped to pass the time.

The run for me was a true test of my fitness. Prior to the race I guesstimated that I would eventually need to abandon my 2/1 intervals and walk a bit more than planned. I will fully admit that there were times when Mentally, walking sounded like a nice alternative. And there was even a time or two right in the beginning of the run where I felt walking would be beneficial (That is when I realized I needed more nutrition!) But I remembered what Coach Marni said in my last set of race weekend instructions; "The most successful Ironman finisher is not the fastest but the one who slows down the least". I also remembered her specific instructions to slow down when I needed to digest nutrition. SO I slowed every so slightly, started taking my swigs of gel and amazingly, I was rip roaring ready to go! Looking back on the data, I really didnt slow much at all. I think I just needed the mental check that said "You can do this."

While a 2:48:01 half marathon is slow to some, I will say that I actually "raced" this distance to the best of my ability. My PR for a HM is 2:39:17. SO to only be 8-9 minutes behind your PR at the tail end of a Half Ironman, Yeah this was a good race for me.

Good Run Memories for me

A random runner came up beside me and said "We look about the same pace, we should run together". We introduced ourselves and chatted for a short moment. Unfortunately my next walk break came and off she went. I ended up chasing her for a few miles before I lost her but the experience totally reminded me why I like endurance races.
At the back side of the course, one particular Police Officer decided to play Drill Sergent and yelled "motivational"ish things to the runners. Some weren't exactly what ya wanted to hear ("No Walking on my box" or You better pick up the pace slow poke")but I could totally appreciate his willingness to cheer and help encourage each runner, rather than just sitting there and directing traffic.
Just as I passed the turn off for the finish line and started my second loop, I met up with two runners and we hung out for 2 or so miles. A male from Mississippi and a female from Ohio. They were a super distraction. Looking back at my run data, this is the part of the run where my heart rate actually went down about an average of 10 beats per minute. Who's HR goes down at mile 7.5? :) It is amazing what can happen once you let your body relax. We ended up splitting ways at an aid station. Mr Mississippi took off in front of us and I attempted to chase him down and Ms Ohio ended up somewhere behind me. I wish I was better with names because I would like to see how they ended up finishing.
One particular Hispanic family must have been cheering for a racer who was just behind me because I saw them almost every leg of the run. Finally I told them I felt like they were personally following me and they said they were glad they could help!
I loved the spectators who lived on the course and played music from their balconies.
I also loved the "Romanian"ish woman who always cheered for me in the oddest of ways.
I appreciated the one spectator who saw me several times on the course, made eye contact, cheered for me by name and clapped like mad crazy. She was there to cheer on someone else but somehow we managed to make a small connection and it always made me smile.
I loved the aid stations that had ice and the one volunteer who knew exactly what I needed when I unscrewed the top of my hand held water bottle. She had my bottle full of water and ice in less than 10 seconds.
But mostly, I appreciated the Crazy Joes!

Being the Last Crazy Joe to finish meant that I had a ton of cheerleaders near the end of my run. The whole group came to the 12ish mile mark which was on the back side of the finish line to cheer me on. It was super motivating to see them. By the time I got to them, there was a ton of people cheering in that particular area and one group of random spectators even made a little tunnel for high fives a la Tour De France. I felt special. I totally appreciated that in that one moment, I didn't feel like the slow kid at the end of the race with no one to cheer for me. They cheered like I was winning the race!

Joe snapped this picture at Mile 12... Still Smiling!

Seeing everyone at mile 12 let me know that I had made it and that I would finish. Not that during the run I ever doubted by ability to finish but I guess mile 12 is were I finally realized that I was there. From Mile 12 to the finish I was just counting the steps. I passed by the super spectator/volunteer ROTC guys who cheered like every racer was family. I passed by the Drill Sergeant. And finally I ran down the finish shoot instead of passing by it for another loop. My family was down by the start of the finish shoot and the Crazy Joes were closer to the finish line.

And I was even aware enough that I heard them say my name as I came to the finish! The only thing I wish this race would of had, was an area to throw your equipment before the finish so that it didn't end up in the picture. You got to love my waterbottle in the finish photo!

Finally Coming into the Finish

If I would of had the energy, I would have jumped and clicked my heels like I did at Chickamauga. But I raced this one and I was exhausted but happy!

Overall Time- 6:43:31

Post race/recovery/updates coming soon!

Augusta T1, Bike & T2

2010-10-07T20:35:00.003-04:00

Coming out of the water I fumbled around a bit looking for my zipper leash and made the long run to my transition spot.

T1- 5:20

My goal for T1 was to be speedy but also not careless and so excited that I couldn't function. When I got to my bike I dropped the wetsuit at the back of my transition mat and began the process of getting ready for the bike. At this point, it was raining and truthfully, It wasn't going to stop. I took an extra bottle of water I had and dumped some water on my feet to rid them of excess grass and grabbed my socks... my wet socks! Luckily I roll my socks down to the toes so that they are easy to pull on and this helped me a lot in the rain. They were soaked but that didn't matter because so were my shoes. Helmet on, Glasses on, Garmin on, race belt on and I was off. I didn't feel like I really wasted any time here but maybe next time I will be a bit speedier. Those racers who made it through transition in like 2-3 minutes must have ran their butts off!

The Bike

Time- 3:14:59
Age Group Rank- 73ish/124

I left transition on my fun 56 mile jaunt through South Carolina. Yes you read that right... South Carolina. Although this is the Augusta 70.3 race, the bike course is about 95% in South Carolina. :)

Well, this is where it gets fun. See I have this thing called a bad memory but apparently I have severe amnesia about the bike course. Only one thing sticks out in my mind about the bike course...

SMILING FROM EAR TO EAR

(Look closely, You will see the rain)

Yeah that is about the extent of my memory!

Apparently it was a hilly course... I don't really remember hills.
Apparently the course was really crowded... I only remember cheering for people.
We had a ton of pelting rain that meant you couldn't see the road... I just remember laughing and yelling Wahoo

The only thing that seriously sticks out in my memory is smiling. And I am dead serious about that. I had a ball out on the bike course. This was by far this most enjoyable ride I have ever had on my bike. EVER!

Here are the details I do remember...

At first the rain made me really nervous and cautious so I took the first hour really easy on my bike. Truthfully, I wanted to be careful in the rain and didn't want to wreck. People were flying by me but I did my best to just smile, cheer and really focus on staying upright. I made it a point to thank each and every volunteer as they stood in the pouring rain and that really helped me to relax.

My nutrition plan was to take my first gel around the 45-50 minute mark. Well, it hit that point and knew I was somewhere near the first hill so I held off. I wanted to wait until after the climb to take in that first gel but my calculations were a bit off and I was about 20 minutes off. Oops!

Around this time two things happened:

Gen passed yelling "GO ZIPPY!!!!" Huge Smiles There!
I passed a guy bent over his bike asking for someone to call for help. I immediately responded that I would get him some help. I continued on my bike until I reached the first aid station and yelled at the penalty tent people that an ambulance was needed 2-3 miles back. They thanked me and got on a phone. I hope that guy is ok!

With my miscalculation on distance to the first climb and then my urgency to assist the fellow racer, I ended up not taking my first gel until about the 70 minute mark. In retrospect I needed to have taken it at 45. It didn't hinder me at all but could have.

As I progressed on my way, my jaw was getting a bit sore. I knew from prior experience that a sore jar is a sign of me not getting enough nutrition/fluids. I then realized in all of my carefulness on my bike, I was hesitating to grab my bottles from my back bottle cages which held my nutrition because I was scared of dropping them. I felt like the rain would make them slippery making me drop them but really they did not. I was so scared of an equipment abandonment call that I was forgetting to drink. Silly Me!

Once I realized this, I loosened up a bit and made a conscious effort to intake some Heed. This is also about the time I decided to pick up the tempo a bit. Past that point, I really only remember smiling. The rain made me smile. Other racers made me smile. Volunteers made me smile. Aid stations made me smile. The goofy things I said to entertain myself just down right cracked me up.

The first photographer on the course caught me with my traditional "Go Bulls" sign!

And then I decided to share a little bit of peace! If you look, you can see the rain in this photo

I hammed it up on the corners

Bottom line, I was having a fun day and I was going to let everyone know! You can still see the rain in this picture

I was one big smiling, laughing, biking machine! And machine I was.

Even in the first hour when I was taking things easy, I was still averaging 16mph. I picked it up a bit and never felt taxed. I ended up averaging 17.23mph. This is huge for me! I have really wanted to improve my cycling and to see that I averaged over 17mph is just amazing to me. I never though I would average 17+mph on a 56 mile hilly course. My super secret goal was to finish in under 3:15 for the bike portion. I didn't think I would actually even get close. I really planned on riding more like 3:30. Needless to say I was very pleased to look at the results and see 3:14:59. It is under 3:15 and I am tickled pink!

If you want some other good laughs, here are the random moments of pleasure from my ride

Crossing the state line into SC, I said out loud to myself "Alright South Carolina, show me what cha got!"
"Ohhhh look at the pretty ferris wheel!" (there is a random ferris wheel in a farm field right as you enter SC. Google earth 628 Old Jackson Highway, Jackson, SC and you will see it)
It starts a torrential downpour while riding, I yell "Yeah Baby" (Think Austin Powers)
While riding through a small city, we hit the downtown area. "HELLOOOO Downtown Jackson". No one was outside.
Passing the Nuclear Fuel Processing place, "Dear big truck, please don't hit me! Please and Thank You"
Passing through a town called New Ellenton I say "OHH New Ellenton, I remember the guy talking about that place in the youtube videos."
I hit a hill that I think was the big one (again I dont really remember but I can only guess it was the big one on the course), so I say "I feel my legs burning a little, this must be the hill Joe was talking about"
Lots of "THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!"
As it starts to rain harder I said to another racer "It sure is a great day for a ride!"
In the last few miles of the ride "I have to potty... Maybe... Nope, can't bring myself to potty on the bike" (Triathletes you know what I am referring to)
Thinking to myself "Dang there are a lot of racers getting flats. Dear flat fairy, please keep my tired safe."
And finally commenting to myself about all of the abandoned equipment on the course "Oh look an expensive polar bottle", "Dang that is a really good camelbak bottle", "Any one need a spare tube because I just passed like 8 of them lying on the ground in the past mile." (There were tons and tons of lose tire tubes that fell out of kits on the course. Someone could have collected them and made a killing!)

Yeah, I was having fun!

So crossing back into Georgia I knew I was getting close to the dismount. Dismount line came and before I knew it, I was standing in MUD! The entrance to T2 was nothing but mud!

T2- 4:01

I carefully tiptoed my way across the timing mats, through the mud and into the grass. I ran past the pro racks and the C-Different Foundation Tandem bikes and off to my rack I went. I did good this race and actually ran right to my rack and didn't mess up. I quickly racked my bike and began the bike to run transition. I was so thankful to be on the final leg of my journey. All weekend, the Crazy Joes were all saying "Just get me to the run without any mechanical issues on the bike and I will be good to go".

Once again, I arrived to wet running shoes and a wet visor. At this point the rain had stopped by the sky was still overcast and looked like it might open up again. As I was grabbing my few things for the run, I knew I needed to use the restroom and was debating if I could make it to the first aid station. Leaving my transition area, I knew the answer was no and made a bee line for the transition port o potties.

Yeah, just my luck, there was a line! The line may have cost me an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute in addition to my quick potty time. Nothing super terrible or long it it did make for what appears to be a super slow transition time. Luckily in a race everyone is super quick about their business because they need to keep moving so the line moved very fast.

Hit my garmin for running while in line, did my business, crossed the timing mats and off on the last leg of my adventure.

Stay tuned for the final leg of my journey along with a post race report and update!

(PS Brightroom Photography totally gets major props for all of the bike pictures featured on my blog. They got some good picks of me and I plan on buying tons. Props to the photographers!)

Augusta Race Morning and Swim

2010-10-04T20:53:00.002-04:00

The alarm went off early on race morning but oddly enough I had been up off and on for the previous hour. There is nothing like waking up at 2:30am only to realize you don't have to get up yet but aren't really that tired.

I can admit that I was one huge ball of nerves race morning. I got up early because I wanted to make sure my breakfast had time to settle on the stomach. My wave wasn't scheduled to go until 8:26am but I wasn't taking any changes. I did my recent pre-long workout breakfast of a serving of quick oatmeal with sliced almonds and a large spoonful of peanut butter. I also ended up having an orange during the morning and sipped on a bottle of heed. The food went down fine first thing in the morning but as I got closer to the race start, not even Heed sounded good.

At 4:30am the Crazy Joe's gathered in the hotel lobby to head over to transition.

Went we went outside to head to our cars it was sprinkling a light rain. Little did we know this was a sign for what was to come. I had been praying, hoping, wishing all week long that the weather would not be crazy hot. Even though I am a Florida girl and have done plenty of training in the heat, the though of running a half marathon at 12:30pm in the Georgia heat was nauseating. I guess when I did all that anti-sun dancing, I should have specified that rain wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

The walk to transition was kind of exciting. Our little group was really chatty and luckily Joe was playing team photographer and got some great pictures of us. However he did have to keep reminding us that not all pictures need to be posed for!

During transition set up the drizzle of rain would go on and off. I then started praying for the rain to hold off until the run. I was one of the first people around my rack to start setting up. Once again, yet another race where my bike does not touch the ground when hanging on my rack.

Once people started to arrive many of them were placing their entire transition area in garbage bags to protect it from the coming rain. At this point I was still optimistic that the rain would hold off and didn't understand why people were so afraid of the rain anyway. HELLO the race starts with a swim! :)

Our group headed to the swim start and my first stop was getting my timing chip and then the pot o potties. One stomach of nerves coming right up! I think all 4 of us opted to saftey pin our chips in an effort not to lose them. Sadly Kenny bought me a nifty neoprene chip anklet at the expo and I forgot to bring it to the swim start and this is the one race that didn't use neoprene bands as a default. Oops!

Then the rain started. Sometimes it was hard and sometimes it was light but once it started, it never really let up for long. At this point I was crazy nervous on how I was going to stay upright on my bike in the rain. Don't get me wrong, I have done some rain rides but not on Princess.

A bright side to the morning was we finally located the other two Crazy Joes who were doing Augusta! Sarah and Hippy weren't able to make it to dinner the night before because of the registration line and mandatory bike check. Another local friend came by and let us know that they had compressed the swim waves from every 4 minutes to every 3 minutes and before you know it, our little group of six was in a frenzy to get ready. Joe managed to snap a quick pic of the group before we all headed our separate ways for the various swim waves.

Note the various stages of wetsuit application!

Kenny was in a wave 30 minutes before me and before I knew it he was walking away. I did manage to call him back for one last calming hug.

Before I knew it, there were just two of us left; Gen and I. With the compressed time between the swim waves, I went from being just nervous about a race to being a tiny bit frantic. Even though it only meant I was going 15 minutes sooner in order to avoid the potential bad weather, I still felt rushed. Joe did a great job at keeping both of us calm while we were waiting for our turn. This picture could fool anyone... we were both nervous

And then the wetsuits came on. Oddly enough, Gen and I look exactly the same when getting into the top half! (Can you see my black nail polish?) Who knew it was so tough getting on a wetsuit on to an already wet body! :)

But thankfully I have friends to zip me up. I swear, I have the right sized wetsuit! LOL

The Swim

Time- 31:10
Age Group Rank- 61/124

Once Gen and I had to part our ways, it was a slow walk to the boat dock and then before I knew it my wave was jumping in the water. During the race breifing on Friday the announcer said to keep the race buoys to your right meaning that we could be swimming in the middle of the river. So knowing this, I tried to get as close to the far buoy in the middle of the river as possible. The current was fairly strong and even just staying put behind the start buoys was a challenge for the 2 minutes we were in the water.

The horn blew and off we went. I have never had such an awful start to a race. My first 1/4 mile was nothing but sheer chaos. I couldn't get my breathing pattern down to breath every 3rd stroke and even breathing every other stroke felt labored. Sure there was a good bit of thrashing at the start when you have a deep water start with every women in the race 29 and under but I didn't even calm down once we got going and spread out.

The plan that I had laid out was all great until I realized that the announcer at the race briefing gave incorrect information and we were to keep the buoys to our left. So not only was my breathing all out of wack, I was way toward the middle of the river. All I kept saying to myself was "You can swim this. Why on earth are you struggling". After about a 1/4 mile things finally started to settle into a rhythm and I calmed.

Even though I calmed, I still had to deal with the fact that I was in the middle of the river and the rest of the wave was to my far right. Because of the current, I constantly felt like I was swimming at an angle in order to keep inside the buoys. I imagine it might have added a tiny bit of distance but the extra current probably helped offset what I was missing by being close to the group. What was calming was the fact that during my swim I was eventually passed by some speedy women from the wave behind me and they were all swimming out in the middle of the river with me. I guess I was on to something.

About 3/4s of the way through the swim, I noticed rain drops on the water as I came up to sight. I was able to register in my mind while I was swimming that harder rain had fallen but didnt't know to what extent. Once out of the water, the rain would fall for 3 more hours!

Joe managed to catch a shot of me coming out of the steep boat ramp heading into the long run to transition. At this point I was fumbling with my zipper leash trying to get it loose so I could unzip. Needless to say, my brain didn't exactly function how I wanted it to for a few moments. But at least I saw some humor in it.

From the ramp it was a long run to the wetsuit strippers and then another long run to the bike. This was my first race with wetsuit strippers and they rock.

Thoughts after the Swim

In an odd way the swim felt like it took forever but was over before I knew it. My sighing skills for this race were decent. Not my best race and certainly not my worse. I definitely could have benefited from a smoother start but when all is said and done, I am ok with my performance. I still have no clue as to why I had the uneasiness at the start of the swim. I can only guess that the last minute change in swim waves sent me into a bit of a tizzy and I never settled back down.

On a sad note: I had my goggles and swim cap in the sleeve of my wetsuit and somehow they came out of the sleeve when the strippers yanked my suit. Sad :( Those were brand new pink goggles that I had bought specifically for this race and only used 2 other times in training. I also have my swim caps from every other race except this one. I realized they were gone shortly before reaching my bike but didn't want to sacrifice the time to go back and locate them. I can replace the goggles but am bummed that I can't replace the cap.

Stay tuned for an entertaining bike review. I don't remember much but what I do is pretty dang funny!

Augusta Pre Race

2010-09-30T18:45:00.003-04:00

From the time we signed up for Augusta 70.3, I knew it was going to be an "event". (AKA a vacation sized outing in the form of a race.) Kenny and I both took off Friday and decided to head over to Augusta early in an effort to avoid registration on Saturday. We had heard about how horrendous registration could get on the day before a race and decided to play it safe. Boy are we happy we did that.

So on Friday Morning we picked up Gen (fellow racer and close friend) and made the drive to Augusta. Gen was the veteran among our little threesome having done the 2010 Racine 70.3 race but we were all pretty nervous and ready to get the show on the road! The drive was surprisingly short and with a little stop at Subway for lunch we arrived in Augusta shortly after registration opened.

Kenny our dedicated driver!

Gen and I in the car! Gen has the best smile ever!

Once we arrived at registration, we were pleased to discover that there were only 2 people in line! SCORE! Being the lovely person I am, I pulled out my camera and snapped a few shots. I had completed planned to photo document my whole journey but some how after Athlete Check In, my camera only made it out like 2 other times. Oops

First up, Kenny! We let him be the guinea pig!

Next up was Me

Followed by Gen!

Somehow checking just made the whole weekend and experience feel real. Not that I have been denying the reality of it all for the past year since signing up but receiving my bib and signing the waivers saying I wouldn't sue them if I died just somehow made it all feel real instead of "pretend". LOL

Once past registration, the real fun began. Shopping at the expo. Seeing that this was my first Half Iron, I wanted EVERYTHING! and I do mean Everything! I was a serious ball of nerves about buying gear for a race I had not yet completed but it was now or never. Even on day one, in the first two hours, official race gear was going fast and some sizes were already gone! I don't have a pic of all my "goods" but promise that I will take pictures once I start wearing it all. In total I bagged:

An Official Race Jersey
An Official Race Tri Top
Official Race arm warmers (SOO Excited about these)
A lovely Hot Pink Shirt with the race logo
Zoot Compression Socks (A must from Coach Marni)
A Visor with the race logo
An M Dot 70.3 sticker (Thanks Gen)
An ESI Augusta 70.3 Race Sticker

Yeah, I went a bit crazy but you only have a first Half Ironman once!

From the expo we headed to hotel in preparation for some rest, prep for dinner and meeting family. Kenny and I were super lucky to have his parents, my mom, dad and stepmom all visiting for the race. Dinner was a fun jaunt to Carrabbas and then home to the hotel for an early nights rest.

Saturday begin with a short workout to loosen the muscles and also to keep my mind focused on the goal but also to keep me from getting antsy. After a quick 45 on the bike and a 15 minute run it was time for a big breakfast and then I was ready to get the day started. Gen, Kenny and myself really wanted to see the bike course so the three of us took off around lunch time with Gen's husband Joe in tow to view the course.

I am not quiet sure what I expected from the course. I had viewed the youtube videos of the bike course and while we were driving the course, I never felt unprepared but every time Joe would say "And this will be a climb", I got nervous. I think it was just the reality of the fact that in less than 24 hours, I would be expected to not only ride this course but then to run 13.1 miles afterwords. Just a tad bit unnerving. I knew I was prepared but reality was sinking in!

After the drive came Bike check time. I was actually really excited to see where I would be racked. Here is a partial group of Crazy Joe's prior to racking our bikes on Saturday. (Missing Sarah and Hippy)

Look at that fine group of athletes!

Much to my surprise, this was waiting for me at my rack! By far the coolest thing to see when you get to your rack!

After racking we posed for one more picture before heading out to rest before dinner. I owe much of my success to these three individuals. They are the best training partners ever. All of the long weekend training rides and crazy bricks were well worth it and the company was great.

After leaving transition, Kenny and I took a few family members to see the expo. They wanted to see what was on sale and of course bought their cowbells for the race! After witnessing first hand the long registration lines that were wrapped around the host hotel on Saturday during my brief visit, I have never been happier about my decision to check in a day early. Well worth it! Most of our gang rested for the remainder of the evening before dinner. We had scheduled for our group of 17 to eat at Outback pre race. Unfortunately due to the long registration lines on Saturday, two Crazy Joes and their families were not able to join us.

So at 4:30pm, 13 of us headed to dinner at outback. Best pre-race dinner ever! I only got one picture during dinner and it of course was my traditional self portrait. What trip would be completed without it.

With nerves in full effect, we all retired after dinner to our rooms for what hopefully would be a restful night of sleep. I can't say that it was my best nights sleep but honestly, I slept better than I thought I would. Special thanks to Gen for not only remembering her camera at all points this weekend but also for using it! I stole her pictures from Facebook!

Stay tuned for more!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

2010-09-27T14:59:00.006-04:00

Augusta 70.3 was a MAJOR Success!!!

6:43:31

I far surpassed my top goal and can knock my #1 goal off of my 2010 To-Do List!

I will have an official race report soon but here are a few things to ponder/giggle at!

I finished my first Half Ironman faster than I finished my first Marathon!!! (6:43:31 vs 6:47:48)
My 70.3 run time is just 8-9 minutes shy of my Half Marathon PR!! (2:48:01 vs 2:39:17)

Now if both of those stats don't show some serious improvement over the last 2 years, I don't know what else would!

Oh NO!!! I have become one of those bloggers!

2010-09-23T10:37:00.004-04:00

LOL!!!

Yes yes I know it has been a whopping 2 months since I have updated this thing. I feel incredibly guilty for it and am oh so sorry. Nothing is worse than a blogger who promises posts and promises to be a better blogger and then leaves you hanging. Not really sure what to say other than, sorry! :)

What I can say is that I have a lovely bunch of loyal followers. You all rock. Not once in my 2 month absence did I lose a follower. You all are the BEST!

My absence is due to my training. I COMPLETELY underestimated the amount of time necessary to train for a Half Ironman. I figured that life would be the same as always with just a "tad" bit more training. YEAH RIGHT! If this is the necessary training for Half Ironman... Then I can definitely say that a full Ironman is many many years down the road! :)

So catching everyone up in a short bullet format on my life for the past two months.

Yes I do actually have photos of those other cities we went too while on vacation in Early June and I will post them. I kind of left everyone hanging after Corfu!

I hired a Coach! I really needed a confidence boost and some much needed guidance so I hired the oh so Fabulous Marni Sumbal. Not only is she an accomplished triathlete and USAT certified coach but she is also in the process of becoming a Registered Dietitian. She has been super in helping me prepare for Augusta 70.3 and I couldn't have done it without her!

While running in the past two months, I have had 1 water bottle stolen and 1 water bottle thrown away. Luckily I was never far from them at the time of their disappearance and was able to recover both. If you want some funny stories, ask me about them later.

My bike average on our Wednesday Night group ride as moved from 15.6 to 17+mph. Now that is what I call some quality training!

During my uber short run yesterday (I love that I can call a 2 miler uber short) I was hit on by an 8 year old on a bmx bike who wanted to be my boyfriend. After informing him I was probably a tad bit too old and telling him he probably shouldn't get too far from his house, I smiled the entire way home. Yeah it is the little things but I have totally decided that when I get down on Sunday, I will just think of my new 8 year old boyfriend and smile the miles away. Hopefully Kenny doesn't mind ;) LOL

While I didn't do much racing at all after Chattanooga, I did manage to squeeze in a PR in the 10K distance at the Labor Day Road race! I can't wait to focus a tad bit more on my running and my weight loss because I know I can smash my PRs out there even more!

So that really has been the past two months. Nothing fabulous. Nothing exciting. Just a lot of nose to the grind training and working my tail off. Which, in the end, left little to no time for socializing, interneting, blogging, foruming, tv watching, hanging out, etc. Just a ton of time in the water, a ton of time with Princess and of course a ton of time in the running shoes. I can only hope that all of the time and dedication will pay off on Sunday because ready or not Augusta 70.3 is coming!

And after 6 triathlons, the tradition still continues. I just finished painting my nails pink and black. It is my official race polish and it is the official signal that I am "ready" for a race. I pick up my race packet tomorrow and officially become one of the 2934 athletes competing in Augusta 70.3. My only goal for this race is to reach the finish line smiling knowing that I have put it all out on the course. Anything more than that and I am golden!

So definitely not the lead up to Augusta that I had planned. I had this great vision of keeping everyone posted along the way of my progress. In the end, it just didn't happen like I wanted. A little thing called life got in the way!

So wish me luck blog world... I shall return a new person!