The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials

Annnnnnd...Here. We. Go!

2012-03-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Time to pack my bags again!

This time, the task is to pack for 12 days in Denver including an 8 day training camp, followed by 6 days in San Diego including a 70.3 race (the first of my pro career). All in one bike box and one suitcase that weighs less than 50 pounds. You can imagine the weeping and gnashing of teeth that is about to occur when said packing commences. I have NEVER been a light packer but if there is one thing I'm going to learn this year...light packing is it! (wish me luck now please... :)

Packing aside, I'm pretty pumped. Of course, excited to RACE! For the past several weeks I've definitely been noticing that "itch" to get racing. Physically I feel like my fitness is coming around (at least for early season racing) but moreso mentally, my brain is getting ready to go. Classic sign for me is when I start to "see" my races unfold in all my workouts. So instead of thinking what I'm going to be having for lunch during my track session, I'm envisioning holding someone off on the run, or racing side by side with someone in the middle miles. And instead of pondering what I did with my favorite tshirt on my rides, I'm visualizing trying to catch the car up ahead of me just as I would be trying to catch another rider... You know, it's just gettin' to be racing season! OH YES! I know we all feel differently about racing but make no mistake about me - I'm the type that LOVES it and would not in a million years consider doing all this training were it not for the promise of a race as the reward! Of course this being my first "pro" race, I'm also a *teeny* bit nervous, but I'd be nervous no matter who I was racing so need to add extra stress right?! (right?? :)

(by the way, the race in San Diego that I speak of is one of my favorites - Oceanside 70.3!)

But before all that race business, there is some training camp business to attend to! And that is what Denver is for. I am lucky to be attending a camp for new(ish) pros that is put on by Melissa Mantak. I'm pretty excited by it because (1) we are going to train ourselves silly (I got the training schedule for camp and it even makes a Dirk schedule look not too bad!) and (2) I'm really excited to meet some other new(ish) pros and learn as much as I possibly can about how to be a pro. I know this is a great opportunity for me because, living in Pittsburgh, I'm not constantly surrounded by other professionals in our sport (of course we have lots of awesome athletes, just none that have been racing pro for years) and I know I will benefit from having some mentorship.

Now, this camp is a bit of a risk in that training really hard for 8 days at altitude 1 week before my first race might end in complete disaster at said race. Or could end in a great race. Who knows. Dirk and I determined that I really don't have much to lose (I'm...you know...not defending a title or anything at Oceanside... :), so why not? After this, I'll certainly know a lot more about how I handle altitude and how I handle a big week followed by a little taper before I race. I'm sure I'll say this many times throughout the year...but this season is ALL about the learning... :)

Of course I'm already torn up about having to leave O and Roxy again for close to 3 weeks again. That is no fun! In the ideal world, O and Roxy would join me on all training/racing trips! But I know that is not reality and if there is one downside to all of this, this would be it. Still, I have SO much to look forward to and SO many great people taking care of me including Sonja, Michelle, and Marit, that I know that I have nothing to worry about. And if anything, leaving my two loves (that would be O and Roxy of course... :), definitely motivates me to make the very most of all the opportunities I've been blessed with and to train and race with all my heart!

So...here we go! I leave on Friday and return in April. Time to get this season rolling!!! :)

The Ebb And The Flow

2012-03-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

Doesn't the "flow" look so happy? :)

This morning while I was swimming I was thinking about the ebb and flow of training. I was actually feeling quite good during my workout which is quite the opposite of how I've been feeling the past couple weeks in the pool. And I was happy to finally be "coming around" a little. Flow makes me happy, ebb not so much.

Of course this is how it is with all training and racing and...well...life in general. I think I see it most often in the pool. I can almost always make my intervals or goal splits but sometimes I feel just awesome doing it, like it's a walk in the park, and sometimes...well, sometimes I feel like I'm drowning and killing myself to make the same interval that felt so easy just a week before. The great thing about triathlon (in my opinion) is that when one sport is ebbing, another is flowing quite nicely. So while the past couple weeks haven't been grand on the swimming end, my running has felt SUPERB! (pretty soon it will ebb too I'm sure... :) The tricky part is to get all three flowing on race day!

Anyway, despite the fact that I've been doing triathlon for 6-7 years now and am about to start my first season as a pro, I still don't feel like I have a lot of experience or that I have a lot to "teach" others. But I will say one lesson sport has taught me is this: there WILL be ebb and flow and when the ebb comes, just wait it out, be patient and don't fret. Don't let either the ebb get you too down or the flow get you too high. I think it takes a lot of maturity as an athlete to really embrace this concept. Something I'm still working on!

Kind of the same idea as the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan. Which, in case you are wondering where that came from, check this out:

Happy weekend everyone! :)

A Good Week

2012-03-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

This past week was a good week. I got back in my Pittsburgh groove. Since I'm a lover of all things routine, this was nice! Of course it meant going back to work but earning a little money every now and again isn't a bad thing. :)

On Monday I dropped Petey (the bike) off at the bike shop and when I picked him back up on Tuesday he had some new cranks. And now, my friends, we have POWER!

Oh little Quarq, how I love you!

Although I'm not a live or die by the numbers type of person, I have to admit that the Quarq coupled with the Garmin 910 has me totally captivated on all my rides now. SO MUCH DATA! Yesterday I was able to ride outside (best winter EVER!) and I couldn't take my eyes off (1) my watts and (2) the % grade function on the Garmin. In case you are wondering, the steepest hill I rode up was 21.5%. :) I'm sure the fun will eventually wear off but I'm definitely excited for this new training tool!

I also got some deliveries in the mail. One from PowerBar which means we are now well stocked and fueled for the next few months of training and racing! Kona punch gels? YES PLEASE! And apparently I'm not the only one that likes me a PowerBar or two...

She's so bad...but CUTE! It's a no win situation for us. :)

Also, a whole box of LOVE arrived on Thursday.

Seriously best kits ever. Sorry guys, for us women only! :)

Training wise I've also had a good one - pending completion of tomorrow's brick, I will have finished off a nice 25 hour week feeling pretty good! I even got to (sort of) do a workout with Oscar on Thursday. Okay, I did 4x1 mile, 4x200 and he did 2x3 mi (oh, and he ran a lot faster than me too) but at least we warmed up and cooled down together! FUN! :)

And that pretty much sums things up! Hope everyone has also had a great week, with even greater things to come! :)

Since I've Been Home...

2012-02-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

...life has been busy! O picked me up at the airport Thursday evening and by the time I went to bed that night I felt organized and ready to get back in my Pittsburgh groove.

Good thing because I had two big (HARD) workouts on Friday, one on the bike and one on the run. I knew on the first interval of the bike workout it was going to be one of those days where you grit your teeth and just get through it. Not all workouts (or races for that matter!) feel good. The run intervals were just as evil later in the day, especially because Pittsburgh welcomed me back with 25 mph winds and sideways rain. I knew I should have kept driving south with Kim instead of heading back home to the north! :)

Saturday morning I did an early swim and felt like a truck ran over me. I knew this did not bode well for my swim race today (Sunday) but what can you do? I tried not to think of it and spent the rest of the day having fun. I went to watch O run a 20 mile race (he treated it more like a marathon simulation and nailed it!) and also saw a lot of our other triathlon/running friends. If the windchill wasn't 15, it would have been even more fun! HA! :)

When we got home from the race, there was a package waiting from SOAS, a company that I'm REALLY thrilled about being a part of this year. They are a great group that make GREAT product! Oh and not only did they send me some goodies, but one of the SOAS creator's husbands works for Petco, so Roxy got a few goodies too! She squeaked that stuffed bird for about 15 hours straight yesterday. ;)

That looks says "don't you dare even THINK of trying to steal my squeaky bird!"

On Saturday night we had a Ballou Skies photo shoot which was such a fun time. I was honored to race for Ballou Skies last year and again will be raising money in support of this great cause. Please visit their website and check out what Ballou Skies is all about!

We were making letters to spell out a word. I can't wait to see how this turns out! (will be in Triathlete and Lava)

Ryan Ballou and the ladies of Ballou Skies (minus Kim who is in FL right now)

We found a buffalo head in the photography studio and it went downhill from there... ;)

Then this morning it was time to race again! This time it was the CMU 1650 swim meet where they have about 10-13 heats of the 1650. I LOVE this race and have done it for the past couple years. I think the first time I did it, my time was over 23 minutes. I've improved a little each year to a 20:41 PR last year. This year my aim was to PR again but it was not to be! When I was already feeling HEAVY fatigue about 200 yds in, I knew I was in trouble! Ouch. I could kind of see this coming, seeing as how I felt pretty awful swimming on Saturday and am coming off 3 weeks of the hardest training in my life. It was certainly enough to make me question on Saturday if I should even race! But I think there is something to be said for not backing down from a challenge or something that feels out of my element (like swim meets).

Overall the race really wasn't that bad! I swam very consistent - it was just too slow to be a PR. I went 20:56 which isn't that far off. I do feel like I'm a better swimmer now than last year at this time but sometimes the timing just doesn't work for you to feel great at the right time. I was disappointed for a little bit and then by the time we left the pool I was over it. :) The only time I get frustrated with the sport of triathlon is when I do these single sport races (like running races or swim races, etc...) where I KNOW I could be faster if I just wasn't so darn tired from the other sports (ahem...BIKING!). :) I told Oscar that after I retire from triathlon I'm going to treat the CMU 1650 swim meet like the World Championships and swim under 20 minutes. :)

Both Oscar and I in action - him as lap counter, me as drowning swimmer. :)

And now...now I must ride my bike! Yes, I'm sure that came as a surprise to many of you. :) Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL weekend and has a great start to the week! Here we come March! :)

And That's A Wrap!

2012-02-22T20:33:00.003-08:00

Wow - HHI Training Camp 2012 is already over! Three weeks went by in a flash. It was truly an awesome experience and I'm so, so, so thankful that I was afforded the chance to do such a thing. I owe a lot of people a lot of gratitude - most notably my parents and Oscar who took care of the homefront while I was off running around in 60 degree weather. Not fair. Not fair at all!

I think I accomplished what I came here to do. I rode close to 1000 miles in 3 weeks time which nearly killed me but will hopefully in the end make me stronger. I had some great runs (most especially once Kim came) and got a nice little win in my half marathon the first week I was here. And I kept up the swim yardage with some great masters workouts (boy do they like fins around here... ;). Besides training, I got very caught up on sleep and got a break from the stress of normal life, which in and of itself was a reason to come!

And beyond that, I got to spend some great time with my mom which may be the best part of the whole deal. We went to the movies and a cooking class (HA!), played tons of Scrabble and just talked a lot - definitely a great time to cherish that most adult children don't get with parents that live 700 miles away. My mom, admist her busy life (she is the busiest retired person I know with all her volunteering duties!), did what she does so well, which is take care of her family (and adopted family once Kim came). She fed me better than I've ever been fed before, kept me in clean clothes and kicked me out the door when I didn't want to go do my run. You can't ask for more than that! Oh, and she was a lifesaver (literally) not once but TWICE when Kim and I had to call her for rescue from our flat-fest (4 flats in 2 days). If it weren't for mom, Kim and I would still be walking back to the island from Pritchardville, SC! :)

About those flats...

Our last 2 days of training (Tue and Wed) of course became epic. Every time Kim and I train together - epicness ensues! 9 hours in the saddle (which turned into 8:10 due to those aforementioned flats), 17 miles of running and a 4000+ swim between the two days involved 4 flats, lots of bonks, wind, fatigue and perhaps some weeping and gnashing of teeth (oh and a Snickers bar or two). I wouldn't want it any other way with any other training partner! Ironically we rarely train together at home but rather save up our miles together for training trips where we ride/run/swim longer than we ever have before. We mesh well together because Kim's strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. Oh and she's flexible and willing to deal with my pouting when I couldn't finish my ride (out of tubes = no more pedaling). :) And when we train together, I'm always reminded why Kim is such a great athlete - she deals with adversity well and she never gives up hope. She pushes on and remains positive. It was fun to watch.

And so yes, camp was a huge success. I got a little glimpse of what it's like to train as a professional triathlete and what I learned is - it's a heck of a lot of work!! I fly home tomorrow to FINALLY see my sorely missed husband and puppy dog! I have some more big miles to get done to fill out this week and next and then...then it will be March and time to race! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh, and I do actually have some pictures... :)

Out of 3 weeks here, I only had to ride inside once because of the weather (big thunderstorms). Pretty good stuff!

The flats started on Tuesday with me. I didn't find the staple in my tire until AFTER the 2nd flat.

And today it was Kim's turn. Needless to say, we got our flat-changing practice in for the year!

This Snickers might be the ONLY thing that got us home today. That and the promise of Mexican food for dinner. (thanks mom! :)

We made it!!

Those who ride together, ice together? :)

Cricket the wonder-dog. 90 lbs of fur and love!

Bike Extravaganza Update

2012-02-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

So far so good on bike extravaganza! I just finished up a long trainer session (yes, I brought my trainer because that's just how I do interval workouts best) and bike day #4 is in the books! I will say bike extravaganza is quite nice when you know you can ride outside for most of it. Bike extravaganza is REALLY nice when you know you will soon have a buddy to ride with! Yes, as I type, Kim is driving southward. Come Kim, come! We have many miles left to ride!! :)

Lest you wonder what becomes of running and swimming during bike extravaganza, I thought I'd give an update on those two sports too. They are humming along and are going quite well. My run workouts have either been fast interval type training (ouch, ouch, ouch) which I've done on the high school track here (aptly named "The Nest" since they are the Seahawks...hehehe :) or running long(ish) off the bike. The exception is today's tempo run that looks scary to me. Not sure if I prefer the shorter, faster stuff or the more moderate but longer stuff...hmmm.... Mostly I can say I've been feeling strong and just really healthy which is still some what of an oddity to me. Running and I have always been at odds in that sense - I was always worried about some niggle. But Dirk has kept me running along smoothly!

Swimming - what can I say? I always love me a good swim session. Since in HHI I've kept to about 20K a week - not really a focus when bike extravaganza is going on but still a decent amount of swimming for me! Even last year I can remember 20K feeling like A LOT of swimming. So in that sense I've made some progress. I've mostly been swimming with masters but I've also had a few solo swims which are always good too. Yesterday was one such day - I did a 5K swim with most of the main set done at 1650 pace. This is never easy for me. In fact doing these sets often leaves me wondering "how in the world do I expect to swim an entire 1650 at this pace exactly?!?!" Yet yesterday felt good. I liked that. Part of the main set was 5x(6x50 on :50 as 1 DPS/2 @1650 pace/1 DPS/2 @1650 pace and then 1x300 @1650 pace). I averaged 3:41 for the 300s which is laughable to some of you but pretty darn good for me! The nice part was, it felt okay - not total anaerobic torture - and it left me feeling like I just might be able to maintain that for a 1650 (which would yield about a 20:20 which would be a 20 second PR). Of course I'm sure none of you really care but the point is, it's a set I know I couldn't have done last year at this time, especially by myself in the midst of some big training. So if/when I get upset with my slow swim times this year, you all can remind me that I am making some forward movement...and that patience is key. :)

So now that I've all bored you to tears (and don't even have any pictures - BAD blogger!), I'll end my training update! Hope you all have wonderful weekends! Happy training!

Okay, the least I can do it dredge up one picture. In honor of Kim coming I found this one - from 2004! This would be pre-triathlon days of course. In order Kyle (Kim's husband), Kim, myself and Oscar (look at all that hair! :).

Bike Extravaganza

2012-02-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

Recovery from the half marathon Saturday has progressed as such:

I finished racing at ~9:30 am on Saturday. By 9:35 am I was getting sore. :) I jogged easy for a cooldown and ran about 15 minute/mi pace. Okay, maybe 14 minute/mi pace. Later that day I rode my bike for 2 hours. Although I didn't want to and thought mean things about Dirk for making me, it was certainly the right thing to do. I'm sure it went a long way in helping my legs feel better (and indeed after the ride I felt better than before it). Of course I also took an ice bath Saturday and stretched and did all that other recovery stuff.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling like a truck hit me. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad. But still, I was definitely sore - my back, my core, my quads, my hamstrings. OH MY HAMSTRINGS! I declared on twitter that "I am too old for this stuff." ;) Nevertheless I did my 4 hour brick and 4000 yd swim. It was cold here on Sunday and riding in 30 degrees w/windchills in the 20s made me want to cry a couple of times. Yet you notice I STILL choose that over the trainer. Yes, the trainer is STRICTLY for interval workouts when in the south. ;)

Monday I woke up sore again but much less so. And with just a swim and lift on the schedule, I had much of the day to feel better.

And so today - today begins BIKE EXTRAVAGANZA! And this is (part of the reason) why I came to South Carolina. To ride my bike a lot. Giddy up Petey! :)

I will ride my bike every day for the next 9 days. On day #10 I fly home to Pittsburgh (at which point I will pick up with the riding again on day #11 :). Over the next 9 days, if the ride is under 3 hours, it's only because there are intervals involved. There will be many miles and lots of sports drink. As Michelle (who is also now doing a big bike week) would say, "pass the chamois cream please!"

Wish me luck! :)

And Happy Valentines Day to all!!

HHI Half Marathon Race Report

2012-02-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

Today I ran a half marathon. First race of the year done and dusted!

I often forget how hard it is to race over the off season. Like it really hurts. Like ouch. Like to the guy that made me sprint at the end - I don't like you. But I did beat you. Because you WERE NOT passing me in the final 25 yards. But seriously, that hurt. ;)

I really had no idea what to expect today. Somewhere between 1:25 and 1:30? When I was a runner I could pretty much predict down to the minute what my race times were going to be. Running workouts gave good indications. But now my running workouts don't tell me much. Mostly because I always seem to do them when I'm really tired and often they have very specific paces/HR goals and aren't "all out". Anyway, my half marathon PR is 1:23:35 which I consider to be one of my strongest stand alone running PRs. Oh, did I mention that PR was set on a "downhill" course? Yeah, so it's kind of like saying your half IM PR is how fast you went in Clearwater (ie: not really a "true" PR). Also, it was set in October (2 years ago?) when I was pretty much in tip top shape. So I knew I likely wouldn't run that fast - but I was hoping to be within 2-3 minutes.

Why does 6:15 pace feel so easy at the start of a race but not at the end? This is the question I asked myself a couple times around mile 10. :) I started comfortably and went through the first several miles in the 6:15-6:20 range. Mile 5 somehow ended up being just a hair over 6 minutes but I think that was because I was chasing a women in front of me. From there, we climbed a relatively large hill and my pace settled down some into the 6:30-6:35 range. The course is a big lollipop (after an out and back at the start) so when I started heading back towards home I was in a happy place. Then we climbed back up over that big hill and the wind (OH THE WIND) was just crushing me and then I went to a very NON-happy place. Not going to lie, the last 2-3 miles were rough business! But I suspect that's how races should feel. :)

Doing the math I realized I could break 1:26 which I very much desired. So I tried desperately the last mile to MOVE MOVE MOVE! It wasn't until a guy came up behind me and tried to pass me with about 1/4 mile left that I was finally able to GOOOOOOOOOOO. But I couldn't drop him. With about 25 yards to go he tried to pass me again. OH NO YOU DON'T! I think we pretty much finished in a dead sprint. Not sure who won but I'm calling it. :)

I know it looks like I'm trying to elbow him out of the way but honestly, that's just the way I run. ;)

In the end I did break 1:26 - maybe 1:25:50? I was pretty pleased with it given the time of year/my training leading up to it/etc. And technically if I didn't have my downhill PR from a few years ago, this would be my new PR. :) Oh and I won, which is a very nice way to start the racing season!!! Now here's the trick - can I run that OFF THE BIKE in a half IM? Perhaps a good future goal... ;)

It was a fun morning because my parents came. Dad was picture taker and mom did the 5K Walk! And then we went to the HHI Diner for breakfast. YUM!

The two racers. My mom and I! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Spoiled Rotten

2012-02-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me while riding this morning that a teeny tiny problem might be developing here in South Carolina. What is this problem you ask? Well...I might be getting a little..."spoiled" shall we say.

Reasons Beth is becoming spoiled:

1) My mom's cooking. Holy. Cats. This might be numero uno in terms of major spoilment. (I think I just made that word up). Of course I know how good my mom cooks - I did live with her for approximately 18 years of my life. But I think I might have forgotten. Until now. YUM! And I think I picked up my early nutrition savvy from my mom also - she clearly has the good tasting NUTRITIOUS and HEALTHY cooking piece down. I may eat more vegetables in these next couple weeks than I do for 2 months at home. And I might even like it! SHAZAM!

2) The weather. (duh) I mean really. I rode today at 10 am in 60 degrees with the sun beating down on my back and I smiled and I was happy and there was no snow and it's early February. FEBRUARY! I can definitely see why people who live in warm weather places actually like riding their bikes. And it's nice to remember that I like riding mine too (when the conditions are nice :).

3) The roads. And the speeds on which you can ride on the roads. HHI is as flat as a pancake - only getting up over bridges offer any upgrade whatsoever and you STILL don't need your small chain ring for those. Let's contrast this to Pittsburgh where I spend at least 50% of my time in my small chain ring. Ever do Eagleman? Well HHI is like riding the Eagleman course - windy yes but FLAT as FLAT can be. And the surfaces of the roads are so nice (I've yet to see a pothole). Which means I can average 20 mph over a very long distance with my HR in the low 130s. It shall be a rude awakening when I arrive home and start averaging a much slower pace at a higher HR. (dang do you feel FAST around here!)

4) Time. Although I'm doing some (dietitian) work while down here, I'd say it's about 50% of my normal load. Plus, I don't have normal life duties like paying bills, cleaning the house, going for groceries, etc... that I would have at home. Even though I have big training hours, I find that I still have ample time in my day to not feel rushed, stressed or have to cut back on sleep. You can't possibly know how nice this is (well, wait...you probably can imagine). It truly is heaven and I'm SUPER thankful for this opportunity. It has made me realize just how important it will be to try and mimic this once I do get home to Pittsburgh. It makes a big difference when you really can focus on training.

5) The people. I think it might be true - people in the south are just...nice. They are nice and friendly and don't seem as stressed. This could all be my imagination but here's what I know - I've swam at masters twice now here on the island and I feel like I've been swimming with my lanemates for years! This morning we were joking around like old college pals. And this really shy, quiet girl (hard to believe but very true - "outgoing" is never how I'm described) has been made to feel so at home by so many in the endurance athlete community here.

I'm sure I'm missing a few other items but these are the big ones. Definitely spoiled rotten. Which is why I promised myself I would make the very most of these few weeks and keep that momentum rolling once home!! Happy training to all!

PS In case you are keeping score, I did manage to have a day of swimming, riding AND weight lifting/gym time without injury today. No run-ins with weight bars or trees or other such hazards. And my forehead is healing up quite nicely (although my swim cap was not feeling very good on there this morning...)!

It's Like Riding A Bike

2012-02-06T10:57:00.000-08:00

So far so good in warm and sunny South Carolina!

On Saturday I woke up early and rode my bike about 11 miles to the Piggly Wiggly in Bluffton, start of the area Saturday morning group ride. I got there a bit early and discovered that at 7:40 am, the Piggly Wiggly gets the BBQ going!

Ribs for breakfast anyone?

Now I haven't been on a group ride for about...oh...5 years. As most know, unless the group is made entirely of triathletes, group rides tend not to be the type of steady riding that I'm supposed to be doing for long(ish) rides. But I went because (1) I wanted to meet some other cyclists/athletes in the area and (2) I really needed to know where people ride in this place.

4.5 hours later both issues had been taken care of! I showed up back on the my parents' doorstep to begin my T-run, sweaty, happy, hot, happy, and HAPPY! We rode close to 90 miles (um yeah...it's REALLY flat and fast here) and I definitely feel much better now about where to ride. Plus it was a great group of people with very little hammering. GOOD DEAL. Oh, and I DO remember how to ride my bike. Always a concern when you've been on the trainer for a couple months. Just like they say though, it's just like riding a bike... ;)

Sunday I rode by myself for another 60+ miles to a little town called Hardeeville. Yes, that's right, Hardeeville. I definitely found rural South Carolina! No traffic and flat, straight roads for as long as the eye can see. The only riding hazard out that way is the farm/junkyard dog! Beware, those buggers run fast!

This morning I hit up masters here on the island. Great group of people and so friendly and welcoming. They swam a nice long main set which made me happy and then they have the pool for another few hours (there are 2 different morning sessions) so if you want to stay on and swim more you can. LOVE! This is going to be good, very good.

And so we start. I got my schedule for the 3 weeks that I am here and indeed, it's a massive amount of work. I'm ready and willing for the challenge though! Time to get to work! (only bad part is, Oscar left to go back to Pittsburgh yesterday - miss him so much already!)

Oh and just a PSA, when you are clumsy like me, you should not get in fights with the bars in the weight room. I bonked my head off one and then walked around in the gym looking like a major misfit/weirdo. Needless to say, I didn't make too many friends this morning. :)

I predict a rather large goose egg on my head tomorrow!

South Carolina - Ready Or Not!

2012-02-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm leaving for a 3 week training stint in South Carolina. Holy cats! Before we even get to the issue of packing for such an adeventure, let's look at the reasons why I'm going.

1) to consistently be able to ride my bike outside (I decided to race in March this year - I must remember how to steer beforehand!)

and

2) to put in a nice hard training block free from pretty much all of life's distractions

As you can imagine, this is a very exciting prospect! Although I'll admit, I have mixed feelings about going.

For one, I haven't even left yet and I already miss Roxy and Oscar terribly! I have never been away from either for that long and just thinking about it makes me a bit sad. The good thing is, I will be staying with my parents and so will obviously still be surrounded by people I know and love. I just really wish Oscar and Roxy could fit in my suitcase and come with.

Besides that, I will also admit to being a huge fan of routine. Here at home I ride and run on the same routes over and over and over and over again. I swim at the same pool, in the same lane, with the same people over and over and over again. I know which bars in the weight room are the ones I like and I use them over and over and over again, etc... Going to train in a new place is a scary prospect! Although I'm not worried about swimming or running, riding is definitely a concern. Because one thing is for sure, I will be doing A LOT of riding! And although Hilton Head isn't an entirely new environment, I've not done any serious cycling there in the past. I guess now is as good a time as ever!

Despite my concerns, I know this is something I need to do. And because of the benefits I know I'll see, it's something I definitely WANT to do. I'm truly looking forward to what I know is going to be the challenge of a lifetime in terms of training (I don't have my schedule yet but Dirk has warned me...it will be significant) and I'm looking forward to tackling this challenge with little to no other responsibilities standing in the way. So it's South Carolina Training Adventure or bust! Here. We. GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh, and the packing? Well let's just consider the fact that I must fit ALL my s/b/r gear, nutrition and clothes in 1 suitcase and 1 bike box. Seeing as how I can barely accomplish this for 3 days away for a race, I'm relatively certain there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth tonight. Perhaps THIS will be the year I learn to pack light? Nah... ;)

Sunday Randomness

2012-01-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

Today I gave a little nutrition lecture at the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club clinic. It was fun. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are interested in our sport in little Pittsburgh and how we are growing! When I first started into triathlon, I only knew 2 or 3 other triathletes. Now this place is crawling with tri geeks! Watch out Boulder! :)

Look how they are all pretending to be interested! (Oscar took the picture through a class window, hence the glare)

Also, I got a new pair of goggles. THE best goggles ever (and no, I'm not sponsored by them and yes, I bought these with cold, hard cash) - the TYR nest pro nano, goggles that actually fit my face. By the way, every time I go to type goggles, I type google. Am I the only one?

Also, I got an email from The Dirk today. He says this upcoming week is a "transition week" - not as easy as a recovery week, but not very hard either. And that I should take a "good deep breathe this week before we go HARD". Totally thrilled and scared all at once! (there might be weeping) Here's to no mental meltdowns and many miles of fun! Yahooooooooo!

Have a great week everyone!

What Meltdown #1 Of 2012 Taught Me

2012-01-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

Ah the highs and lows of training. :)

After the high of Saturday's solid training (finishing with the Postal Swim) and of being SOOOO close to finishing off one of my biggest weeks yet (actually, it was more than a week, so let's just call it a "block"), the low of Sunday came.

Yes, my first meltdown of 2012. :)

Before I started working with Dirk, I never had any training meltdowns. This was likely a result of not really being pushed to discover new limits. Last year I had about 3 or 4 meltdowns. A meltdown for me ALWAYS involves the bike. Yes, that innocuous piece of carbon fiber knows my number at times! :)

Sunday training started off awesome. I had a long run on my schedule and did almost all of it with Oscar feeling strong the entire run. I ran over 19 miles, which I haven't done since Kona (and it could be debated that what I was doing for the last 10 miles of Kona wasn't really running per se...). I was excited about Sunday's run because, after struggled with running long the past couple years, it is VERY nice to really start to notice a difference in my strength over the past couple weeks/months. I certainly have a long way to go but any progress forward is progress worth celebrating.

After the run we ate, showered, stretched and napped. This is the perfect scenario.

Yet looming over me was my last workout of the week, a 4 hour trainer ride.

OUCH!

Four hours on the trainer in and of itself is not a big deal. I've done it many, many times before. But it was the 19+ miles of running in my legs earlier in the day that was going to make it tough. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty but after learning my lesson the day before about setting myself up for failure before I even started, I tried to go into it with a positive outlook. And also with the understanding that even if it didn't feel great, the objective was to get 'er done.

That worked for about 2 hours. My legs felt pretty rough but hour #1 went okay and I hung in there for hour #2. At which point I started to notice a rather distinct drop in both power and HR. As in I couldn't quite get that HR up over 120. Ohhhh baby.

This is when it would have been REALLY good to be outside and 2 hours from home so the only solution was to keep pedaling until you got home. But unfortunately I was on my trainer, already in the comfort of my home and it was toooooo easy to quit.

At 2:20 I got off my bike. Calories. I NEED CALORIES! (even though I had been taking in calories and didn't need any, I was grabbing at straws). I laid on the floor and ate a PayDay bar (yes, it's true they still make those and yes, its true we actually had one in our house). I laid there for a while thinking through my options but unfortunately, mostly thinking up reasons why I shouldn't continue (ie: What the point if I can't get my HR up above 120? My legs are so toast at this point, it couldn't possibly be of benefit. I don't want to dig a big hole for myself. Blah, blah, blah...)

I texted my coach but he was out riding himself.

And then I came up with a plan - just ride for 30 more minutes.

So I got back on my bike but OH MY did my legs protest. Like they were REALLY unhappy. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

And so after another 10 minutes of riding with my HR near 110, I got off for good.

Meltdown #1 in the books.

Let me just say, I HATE not finishing workouts. I know, I know...you have to listen to your body, blah, blah, blah. I totally understand and get that. If I am hurt or sick or about to harm myself, I understand that I must be smart. But I was none of those and I don't have any races coming up to be concerned about. No, this was more of a mental failure - a "I'm really tired and sick of this and I hate everything and I'm just DONE" kind of situation. Not physically done, but mentally done. And the same can be said for my meltdowns last year. While I do a reasonably good job of working through most low spots in training and racing, I clearly still need some work in this area.

I knew I should have continued but I didn't. After discussing with Dirk it was confirmed - that workout at that time, was very important to finish. Major fail. Not how I like to operate!!!

Yet it probably taught me more than any other workout this week or this month. My inner voice of "never, ever give up!!" still needs to be developed. It's easy to look back on it now and think through it when my body is recovered and feeling better and I'm not hungry, sore and tired. But I need to be have that Never Give Up Voice in the heat of the moment as well. Like at mile 20 of an IM marathon.

I'm thankful for Dirk because he didn't give me an easy out. He never has given me one. I suspect that's why he's a good coach and is a great athlete himself. He was positive in the fact that he encouraged me not to be too hard on myself - it was a week/block that I probably couldn't have even attempted last year - but he was also resolute in that I MUST continue to develop a certain mental resistance to fatigue that will allow success in a race as tough as Ironman. His quote: "you hired me to make you fast at Ironman" to which I wanted to scream "WHY, WHY, WHY DID I DO SUCH A THING?????!!!" :)

And so now I'm chomping at the bit to get another shot at polishing off a big block from start to finish. But unfortunately I have to rest, recover and let my body soak in the hard work first. I'm inpatient! But luckily I won't have to wait too long - soon I leave for SC where I'll be devoting the majority of 3 weeks to training and training alone. Here's to no meltdowns (and outdoor riding where I don't have the option of quitting... :). GIDDY UP!

What The 2012 One Hour Postal Swim Taught Me

2012-01-23T17:35:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I did the USMS One Hour Postal Swim. You can click on the link to read more about it but the basic concept is, you swim as far as you can for one hour, someone counts your laps and writes down all your 50 splits, and then you send your results in to see where you stack up. Yeah, pretty cool.

I love stuff like this, mostly because I like to try to beat myself every year. In the grand scheme of things, I'm usually in the 15-20 range place wise in my age group once all the results are tabulated. Last year my age group was won by Kelly Williamson (yep, that Kelly) and she swam something crazy like 5200 yds.

Anyway, I've done this swim 2 times before, once in 2009 where I swam 4250 yds and then again last year where I swam 4460. In 2010 I was hurt (intercostal strain and I didn't swim almost all of Jan/Feb) and was majorly bummed not to be able to do it.

So that brings us to this year. When I got my January training schedule I excitedly scoured the weekends for potential Postal Swim days. I need to do it on a weekend because my lap counter (aka Oscar the Great) has a job and can't come swim with me in the middle of the day (lame). :)

I ended up picking this past Saturday because I had a 6000 yd swim on the schedule and because Oscar didn't have a track meet and could count for me. But it was far from an ideal weekend since I was in the midst of one of my biggest weeks of training...um...ever. I realize this is no world championship, but I do aim to be a little fresh for it (you swim hard). Instead, the day before (Friday) I swam a double (total 7500 yds) and biked for 2 hours. On Saturday, I had planned to do the swim first thing so I could at least be fresh on the day, but we had a big snow storm and the roads weren't touched. That meant I had to do my 3 hour ride before the roads were clear enough to drive to the pool.

You can see where this is going.

THEN, instead of having about 5 hours between the ride and the swim, I only had about 2 hours because we realized the pool we wanted to go to was closed and instead we had to hurry to another pool to get there during lap swim hours. This, of course, was after I stuffed my face with lunch following my ride. So now I had tired legs, tired arms, a full belly and it was time to swim for an hour as hard as I could.

YEAH!

Now I'm sure you can REALLY see where this is going.

My goal had been to break 4500 yds. That doesn't seem like much of an improvement over last year but it really is if you think about it. That would require swimming about 40 seconds faster which, over an hour doesn't seem like much, but darn it if swimming improvement isn't measured in 0.5 seconds! Right?!

Anyway, driving to the pool, I started making excuses in my head (and aloud to my trusty lap counter) about how this wasn't going to go well. I EVEN considered bagging it and just doing a normal swim workout.

And then, then I caught myself.

UGH! How could I be so lame? I know that's wrong - to set yourself up for failure before you even start. To start giving yourself an out before you even get wet! I got a little ashamed of myself. That is not how to go about things. So I told my trust lap counter, "it is what it is, I'll do my best."

And so I jumped in, warmed up for about 500 and then Oscar yelled go. I swam as hard as I could (well it's not all out of course...you ARE swimming for an hour!) and you know what? I swam 4565 (1:18.9/100 yd pace), about 100 yds farther than last year, and surprised the heck out of myself.

What did I learn? I learned that you just CANNOT give yourself an out. You cannot let yourself fail before you even start. You need to go into every workout and every race with confidence that you will succeed. Lesson learned. No excuses.

Anyway, the actual swim itself went relatively well. Oscar stuck a kickboard in the water every 500 to alert me as to how far I was. Yellow kickboard meant I was on pace to break 4500 (6:40/500; 1:20/100 pace) and a blue kickboard meant I was behind pace. When I saw the yellow kickboard after the first 500 I was thrilled! (even though it wasn't true - my trusty lap counter lied!!!) And with each yellow kickboard I got more confident that I could do it. My 500 splits: 6:44, 6:37, 6:30, 6:31, 6:26, 6:31, 6:35, 6:38, 6:40. I went through an IM swim (4224 yds) in roughly 55:30. Now let's see some of THAT action this year in the races! :)

If I was a triathlon coach, I think I would make all my athletes do this swim. It is a TRUE exercise in surviving mental tedium and remaining focused for a long time. You get to 1500 and you are so totally bored and over it you just want to cry. Kind of like mile 80 on the bike in Ironman right? :) But you still have so long to go. From 1500-3500 the mental fatigue is overwhelming. Then from 3500-4500 the physical fatigue takes over. My arms were definitely numb afterwards. :)

So that's my story of the 2012 Postal Swim. Don't let yourself off the hook like I almost did my friends! You never know what the day/workout/race holds... :)

Huge thanks to my trusty lap counter. Watching someone swim for an hour has got to be the most boring thing ever. But he agrees to do it every year! :) And I'm glad he lied to me about that first split. He knew I needed to see a yellow kickboard. :)

Oscar's view for 60 minutes...coming...and going...

And finally, I must mention JoePa. I know if you didn't go to Penn State, it's hard to understand the love that the students, community and alumni have for him. All I can say is, he deserves all the adoration and more. Today Oscar honored him at school:

And my FB post from yesterday: "What I will personally remember about JoePa: seeing him walking on the trail near his home during our morning runs and he would say "it's a beautiful morning for a run girls!" and we would squeal with excitement like we had met the president. He was an amazing coach and an even greater man. RIP JoePa."

Play Harder

2012-01-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

Occasionally I get asked to try out a product and review it on my blog. I usually decline because I don't want my blog to be one big advertisement. But sometimes when I'm genuinely interested in trying the product offered, I agree.

110% was one such product.

If you hop onto the website, you'll see that 110% is a company that makes compression gear with the added twist of being able to combine either ice or heat while you compress for that extra bit of help in recovering faster. Because we all know, if you recover faster you can train harder. And we all know what happens when you train harder.

I first learned of the 110% concept in Kona this past October. I was intrigued by it but, I'm not going to lie, a little scared off by the price. At the time all extra funds were going towards the "buy a power meter for Beth" fund and I didn't want to get enticed by anything that would take away from contributing to that fund. I convinced myself I didn't need a pair of $250 compression tights because how special could they really be?

Well lucky for me, I got to try them anyway! Not the tights, but the shin/calf sleeves. And I pretty easily answered the question of "how special could they really be?" Umm...REALLY special.

Okay, so it all started when this arrived via FedEx earlier in the week.

It couldn't have come at a better time because as I've not mentioned a gazillion times, I'm in the midst of a big training week and I could definitely use ice, heat, compression and any other recovery trick in the book!

Inside this shiny little package were compression sleeves, much like any other compression sleeves you've seen...

...EXCEPT, the shiny little package also came with these, ice/heat sheets!

All you have to do is get these wet, let the little fluid cells "fill up", and then place them either in the freezer or the microwave depending if you are looking to ice or heat up your legs. The sheets are reusable and last ~6 months per the 110% website. If/when they "wear out" you can buy inexpensive replacement sheets. The finished product looks like this:

You then can cut the sheets to size so you can place them IN your compression gear for added recovery affect. The ice isn't going up against your skin, it's going inside a pocket within the calf sleeve. This pocket goes all the way around so you can ice your shin or your calf (or both).

And ta-da - you have compression AND ice/heat at the same time! Pretty much THE ideal situation!

I first tried the compression sleeves after a double run day that included intervals/hills in the 2nd run. My legs were pretty cooked and my shins/feet sore. There are varying opinions in research as to how effective compression works but anecdotally, I can honestly say my legs felt better for wearing the compression/ice combo for ~30 minutes and then wearing just the compression for the rest of the evening. I really haven't been this jazzed about a product for a while!

And just as a side note, I've worn my new 110% compression sleeves every day this week! Definitely a product worth it's weight in gold!

Of course now what I REALLY want are the full compression tights. My hamstrings got so jealous when they saw the possibility of being compressed and iced all at once (my hammies have always been trouble children...). There are also shorts, knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, full length arm sleeves and knickers. The possibilities are endless!

Oh, and you that shiny little package that arrived in the mail? It also serves as an ice box to keep your ice sheets (and perhaps a recovery sandwich?) cold for up to 6 hours! (the ice sheets will stay cold up to an hour in normal temperatures).

Definitely worth a look-see if you are seeking out top-notch recovery methods!

This Week

2012-01-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

This week is a big training week. One of those weeks where you don't look too far ahead on the training schedule because you should really only focus on one day at a time. I like. I like a lot. It's not quite as fun when you know most of your bike miles will be on the trainer (vs out in the warm summer sun) but I'm not complaining. 13+ hours on the bike this week will leave me lots of time to catch up on LOTS of TV! (or stare at the wall like I usually do when I'm riding hard :) AND there is a chance (yes, it's true!) that Sunday might be DRY and in the 40s and I can ride outside! If you have fingers, now would be the time to cross them for me. ;)

Speaking of weather, our winter has been extremely strange. A normal Pittsburgh winter consists of the following: some snow and cold that starts in December and then just gets colder and snowier until about March at which point it's cold and rains and then some time in late May the sun comes out and it's a bit warm. This winter? Not so much. We've had close to no snow and although we've had some frigid days, we've had many, many days of high 30s and 40s. Weird. Very weird. Of course every time it's 40, it rains all day. Today would be a good example. I did run #1 of the day in rain and as based on this hour by hour account of our weather, it appears that there is a likely chance that run #2 of the day will also be in...rain.

But look at those temps! 50s in January in Pittsburgh? At least I won't be too cold. :)

In other news, the FedEx man brought me a fun package today.

I can't wait to try it out! I got the shin sleeves. Full review to follow.

Also arriving in the "mail" today (that would be my email inbox), a few long swim set ideas from Katie. Woo-hoo! I love me a good swim workout and she had some great ones! (thanks again Katie!) But let it be known, Katie is a heck of a swimmer and I *may* need to do some adjustments on the send off times. HA! Example: one of the sets included 3x1400 on 17:00. Crap. That's...um...FAST! :)

Okay, time to get back to work. Hope everyone has a great day!

Race Schedule

2012-01-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

First, thanks so much for all your kind comments on my last blog entry! I was expecting the worst but got the best. Now I know I'm not done talking about my faith, but for now, we'll move to another topic...

RACING!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

I *think* I finally have a race schedule put together. Well, more like 1/3rd of a race schedule. I've divided the racing season into 3rds this year and I've only gotten as far as to figure out the first 1/3. But boy was it harder than I thought! One great thing about racing as a pro is that you don't have to sign up for races year(s) in advance, but one down side is, you don't have to sign up for races year(s) in advance! So because you CAN hem and haw about it, you do. Well at least I did.

Anyway, the races (up until the end of June):

February 11 - Hilton Head half marathon (yeah!)
February 26 - CMU swim mile (double yeah!)
March 31 - Oceanside 70.3
April 22 - New Orleans 70.3
May 20 - Columbia Olympic
June 24 - IMCdA

Woop woop!

I'm bummed I couldn't make Eagleman work this year. I was going to do it and then I wasn't and then I was and then I wasn't... Dirk finally said no to that one which is fine. It's only 2 weeks before IMCdA so it would have been tight anyway. I'm really excited to do IMCdA because I haven't done a non Kona (non 10,000 degrees) IM before! And I hear it's beautiful in Coeur d'Alene! And I don't mind cold water (that much). I of course had to do Columbia because I've done it the past 5 years and now it's a tradition. And a whole bunch of fun friends are doing New Orleans! And Oceanside? Well, I did that race in 2009 and LOVED it. Like really, really loved it. I signed up for it the next year but was hurt and couldn't go and then last year I WANTED to sign up for it but it closed before I got my butt in gear. So this is my year to return. And I like Oceanside for the reason that it's early and I always get REALLY anxious to race come March. (I'm actually anxious to race now but beyond going to Pucon, I didn't think there was a race I could do... :)

Now the only down side to this schedule is that I will not have my sherpa extraordinaire with me for my first two races! SAD CLOWN! But my sherpa seems to have a job and no more vacation days (dang Kona) and so I must go it alone. Luckily I have some really good people taking care of me in both Oceanside and NOLA so hopefully I'll survive! :)

So there you have it! Beyond June I'm not sure what is going to happen but I am hoping at least one other IM is involved (Arizona?) and also some Rev3 races. There are so many good choices, it's really hard to decide!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and stays warm! :)

My Faith

2012-01-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

My faith is not something I've ever wanted to write about on my blog. Well, actually it is, but it's not something I've perhaps had enough courage to write about. Talking about religion or Christianity sometimes doesn't go over so well (just ask Tim Tebow), and in general I try to keep my blog about light topics - training, racing, Roxy (the dog) and other such things. In a way, I'm a deeply private person. I know it doesn't seem like it when I've been blabbing about all my comings and goings for the last 8-9 years on my blog. But 99% of my blogs are superficial. Which is the way I like it. Again, I'm a private person.

Still, recently I can't get the idea of writing about my faith out of my head.

Humpf.

I don't really even know what to write! (how's that for a good blog post?) I guess mostly I just want to write about the importance of God in my life and how my faith and belief in God is what drives me, motivates me, directs all my decisions and makes me get out of bed each morning. Yes I know, you thought TRIATHLON did all that. Not quite. :)

I'm a relatively new Christian. I didn't understand God or who Jesus really was until I was college-aged. I had a roommate my freshman year in college who was a very faithful Christian and I would go to church with her all the time, not really understanding ANYTHING that was going on. I remember one time taking a bus trip to the Raleigh Relays in college (which were held at NC State) and it was around Easter. I wanted to read about what happened at Easter in the Bible but I didn't even know where to look so I asked a teammate. The thought of that just makes me laugh! I've now read through the Gospels and the details of Jesus' death and resurrection hundreds of times. I guess we all start somewhere.

I kept going to church with my teammate and somewhere along the way met Oscar and he would go with us too. Oscar was already a strong Christian and would really help me understand what this stuff was all about! At which time I would finally come to the point of understanding that being a Christian meant that I believed Jesus died on the cross for MY sins and that he arose from the grave on that 3rd day. It wasn't a hard decision to come to. Once I understood, I knew in my heart it was true.

Since college I've certainly done a lot of growing and learning and maturing and I will continue to do so for the rest of my days here on this earth. I still shake my head at some of the stupid things I do or say. Hurtful things or prideful things or selfish things. I am far from perfect and never will be but with God's strength, will improve a little each day.

I know Christian athletes take a lot of heat. Ryan Hall does. Tim Tebow does. People say that God doesn't really care if Denver wins or not. Or if Ryan makes it to the Olympics. But He does! That's the funny thing about all the criticism. God cares deeply about every single detail of all of our lives. Ryan and Tim and many other athletes have been given great gifts and they glorify God by using those gifts. You don't think God cares about that?

I also know God cares about me, about my racing, about my marriage, about the relationships I have with others, how I treat people and how I react to life's situations. He cares about all my prayers, about the decisions I make and about the path I take in life. And THAT is what drives me. I want to glorify Him when I race. I want to work hard in training and in my job to be the best version of myself. I pray each morning for the strength to be the triathlete, the daughter, the wife, the dietitian that He wants me to be.

I'm certain I'm not making much sense. I'm also certain I've probably lost a lot of readers by now. :) It's a hard topic for me to broach even though it's THE most important topic I could ever write about. It's just seems very difficult for me to adequately describe something as big and amazing as our God.

I guess that's why I like Hillsong. They do a very good job of singing it. :) One of my all time favorite songs (that I sometimes listen to on repeat for HOURS on my trainer) is Forever Reign. Here's a YouTube video of them and below that, the lyrics of the song with my editorial notes. :)

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me (definitely nothing good in me)

You are love, You are love
On display for all to see

You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in

You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling (I don't understand how one lives without God's comforting care?)

You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering (and I've had a lot of wandering)

You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing (you won't catch me singing any other time, thankfully :)

You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting (no reason to fear death)

Oh, I’m running to Your arms,
I’m running to Your arms

The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace (nothing ever, ever will)
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim

You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole (no win, no PR, no accolade, no relationship with others, no materal thing... makes us whole)

You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go (true bliss when you can just let go...)

Oh, I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms

The riches of Your love
Will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing
no other Name
Jesus, Jesus

So, that's my weak attempt at writing about my faith and about our awesome God. I'm sure many people don't agree. This is the stuff wars are fought over. But it is what I know to be true. And it is what I know to be right. And it is what I know to be my purpose in this world. And now you know a little bit more about me. :)

Training!

2012-01-05T06:54:00.000-08:00

Ahhh...training...my favorite topic! It occurred to me that I haven't written about training for some time. Not sure why other than sometimes I worry people don't want to read about the boring details of swimbikerun. But who am I kidding, even when I don't write about swimbikerun, my blogs are boring! HA!

So, what have I been up to? Well, training is getting serious over here in Pittsburgh, PA. Last weekend Dirk sent my new schedule that covers most of January. Let me first just say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting new schedules. I pour over all the details, re-write all the workouts, put them into my planner and figure out when I can go to masters, when will I do this workout or that workout, run first or bike first this day?, etc... It's awesome. Like Christmas morning! And then with each day, I cross the workouts off. But I keep all the sheets to look back through weeks, months (and soon...years) of work. It makes me giddy with excitement just thinking about it!

Anyway, let's start with swimming. I mostly find myself wishing I could do more. I'm also pretty convinced that when I'm done with triathlon (if that ever happens) I'm just going to swim. Like 5000 yds every day for years on end. I've always enjoyed swimming but the more I do it and the better I get, I like it even more. I found this program on the US Masters Swimming website called Go The Distance. The basic premise is that you set a certain goal for the number of miles you want to swim in a year, you log your workouts, and the program keeps track of if you are on pace or not. If you reach certain milestones you get prizes! The first milestone is 50 miles (no problem), 250 miles, 500 miles, and so on. Well the top prize is for those that swim 1500 miles in one year. Of course I immediately thought "I WANT TO DO THAT!" But then I calculated how many yards/week that would be. 50,769. Umm...WHAT???!!!???!!! I settled for a goal of 400 miles. :) If only I didn't have that pesky biking and running to do... Anyway, swimming is going well to say the least and I've really been challenging myself with some tough intervals that I normally wouldn't attempt. I'd say I've NOT made the interval on more swims these past couple weeks than all of last year. Which is actually a good thing. Stepping out of my comfort zone. I've been putting in a lot of weeks either at 20,000 yds or just a bit over but then Dirk pulls me back and I swim a 10,000 yd week. I hate those weeks. But I don't question Dirk. I know he knows what he's doing. Next up? Learn how to swim butterfly. :)

Biking up next. What I have to say about biking is this - I'm starting in a much better place this year than I did last year, both physically and mentally. My power numbers now are roughly the same that they were in May/June of last year. My newest schedule is starting to look a lot more like what I'm used to seeing - lots of hours on the bike. I'm not nearly as intimidated by it as I was last year at this time (I almost cried a few times last year) but I'm not stupid either - I know big bike miles are a challenge for me so I know it will be tough again as the hours start to add up. Time to giddy up on that front! :) (that giddy up was for you Kiet!) Next up? Getting a power meter. I can ride with power on my trainer (I have a Tacx trainer) but not when I'm out on the roads. I'm narrowing in on what I want to buy. Cycling technology is not my forte so I still have some research to do. Fun fun!

And finally running. Ahh running. I do love to run! Especially this time of year because it's one of the few activities I still do outside in the fresh (cold) air. :) This is probably the biggest difference in my training thus far this year vs last year - lots more running. Dirk truly is a mastermind though because despite an increase in run volume (which is usually the death of me), I have remained healthy and happy! Although I often say I can never find a rhyme or rhythm to Dirk's training plans, there truly is a master plan and when I really look, I can see the ever so slight builds he puts me through - not just week to week and month to month, but now also year to year. I'm lucky to have Dirk, that is for sure! Running is the sport that I see the most ups and downs in (always have) in that some days I feel AWESOME and some days, not so much. But I know feeling "good" is all relative and really doesn't have much to do with progress. Consistency and hard work does. Next up? Well, I don't really have a "next up" for running. But I do get to do a running race in one month - a half marathon! :)

I feel like I could go on and on and on and on... about training but I think I'll stop here. :) Although winter isn't my favorite, I do love this time of year because it's a time to really put your head down and WORK without being interrupted with racing too much. I love the routine of working hard and love the excitement I feel for each session. Yet I also know that *consistency* is key and in fact is the motto I've adopted for this season - consistency in training and making every session count, consistency in recovery, consistency in eating well and sleeping well. Consistently going about your work every single day.

Finally, I'll leave you with these two items that speak volumes for consistency...YEARS of consistency. :)

(1) An article about Desi Davila and her rise to become a favorite for the Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston this month.

(2) Yet another awesome video of Jan Frodeno and the meaning of hard work.

Happy training!

2011 Highs And Lows

2012-01-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

As in years past, I shall present my highs and lows of 2011! Actually, looking back in past blogs, I don't think I've listed out my highs and lows for a few years now. Oh well, time to RE-start the tradition I guess!

Highs:

This is the easy part. 2011 was a great year for Oscar and I and there were many highs! The only hard part is deciding which highs to choose. Nevertheless, here are my picks (after quite some thought).

1) Our trip to Northern California in July for Vineman 70.3. Oscar and I both really enjoyed this trip. It was obviously mostly for the race but we also got to see San Francisco for the first time, went to a Giants game, saw wine country, visited Stanford, etc... It was such a blast! And because Oscar was off school, we got to travel together (usually I fly first for races and he comes later, etc...) and weren't rushed to get back home. FUN! Of course there was also the race itself which was awesome - I got to meet and re-meet lots of awesome people and triathlon friends and the course was BEAUTIFUL! Plus I had a great race which in a way was a turning point for me mentally this year. It was after Vineman that I really started to believe I could race at a higher level and possibly race elite in 2012.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge is awesome!

View from Giant's Stadium isn't too bad either! :)

2) Kona. It's hard not to choose a 10 day vacation to Hawaii with your family with an awesome race in the middle as a highlight for the year! :) PLUS many awesome friends happen to be on the vacation too! :) I had so much fun in Kona this year - seeing old friends, meeting new ones, spending time with my family, getting to swim in that awesome blue ocean and of course, PRing by 30+ minutes in the Ironman!

Best finish line on earth!

Fun friends to swim with!! :)

Other high point contenders: Christmas in Hilton Head, being a part of Ballou Skies, and so many others to mention (I do have to go to bed sometime tonight... :) Like I said, 2011 was an awesome year and we were blessed in many ways!

Lows:

This is a tough one for me. I have been hugely blessed this year in that I've had no major life lows (ie: loss of family or friend, financial instability like loss of job, etc...). In fact I was actually going to write this blog last night after work but instead spent the evening at the funeral home unexpectedly with my dear friend Lori. Her mother passed away over the weekend after a lengthy battle with leukemia. My heart broke for Lori and her family as Lori is my age, with 2 young children and her mom was only 61. That seems far too young. Being with Lori only solidified in my head how blessed I have been to have all my friends and family happy and healthy. Life really is good!

And while I would categorize myself as a mostly positive, happy person, that's not to say I don't have low points or didn't have any tough times throughout the year. Most of my lows come from feeling overwhelmed with life (ie: too much to do, how to fit it all in?) or worried over the decisions I have made in regards to how I want to live. But really those times are few and far between and they are what I make of them. To me, happiness is a choice.

So here's to another great year in 2012! Can't wait to see what's in store. Giddy up! :)

Christmas

2011-12-30T16:32:00.000-08:00

Admission: I didn't take any pictures. What the heck? I must have been too busy having fun...

What I did do:

1) Have an AWESOME time with my family. It's rare that we are all together in one place at one time but when it does happen it's really fun. Many laughs.

2) Lose at mini-golf. I bodly predicted World Dominance on twitter. And then I lost my ball in the water like 20 times. All I can say is, those little fishing nets that they had by each hole came in handy...

3) Lose at Scrabble. I might have won once but I mostly got dominated by my mom, Oscar, my dad... I've become dumber in 2011.

4) Lose at Settlers of Catan. Starting to notice a trend here?

5) Swim at the bubble. The rec center on Hilton Head has an awesome outdoor pool. In the winter they put a big bubble over it. It's a strange little place with the bubble but it's still a great place to swim with cool water and a digital pace clock (love).

6) Run. Lots of it. A good deal of it in the rain but also some of it in beautiful, warm, sunny weather. Oh yes! And I had a running partner for 100% of my runs in Oscar. :)

7) Eat lots of good food. YUM. I had some GREAT workouts when I was down in SC which I can only attribute to being fueled by my mom's excellent cooking. :)

In short, it was a great time. We got home early evening on Thursday and now it's back to work! Well, not really. It's back to work on Monday. First we must celebrate the New Year! Like last year, O and I will be ringing in the New Year with many of our triathlon friends. This time though, I'm going to try to get home before 4 am. That is one PR I don't want to be breaking... :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful start to 2012! Happy New Year!

HHI OR BUST!

2011-12-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

In just 1.5 days time, Oscar and I will be boarding a plane straight for South Carolina! (actually, that's a lie...first we will be headed for Charlotte, NC and then we land in Savannah, GA...but whatever).

I am beyond EXCITED for a gazillion reasons but here are just a few:

1) We will be flying sans bike. I haven't flown without my bike for...well...so long I can't remember the last time. Perhaps I was in college flying to a cross country or track race? Not that I won't miss Petey (okay, I admit, I really won't miss him that much), but it will be really nice to bound easily through the airport without lugging that huge box that weighs SO MUCH! Truth be told, I am NOT a light packer and my suitcase will probably be just as heavy as my bike box...but whatever... :)

2) Without a bike I get to do lots of running and swimming in a very, very beautiful place. HHI has a great masters program and lots of nice running paths. I will also get to scope out some good training grounds for when I spend most of February in South Carolina swimming/biking/running!

3) I GET TO SEE MY PARENTS AND SISTER AND BROTHER-IN-LAW, NOT AT A RACE! :) I only seem to see my family at races when I am, well, focused on racing. I am really, really looking forward to seeing my family (with Oscar too of course!) to have fun and enjoy each other. Not to get up at 4 am and race for 5-10 hours. :)

4) We already have like 15 movies planned. (okay, maybe only 3...but whatever... :)

5) I'm looking forward to kicking some serious butt in Scrabble. I hope you know, family, I've been reading the dictionary.

6) Bowling. My goal is to break 50. :)

7) Eating all my mom's good food! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because I worked on Thanksgiving I missed turkey dinner which is my favorite meal and so my mom agreed to make it for Christmas Eve. I've been thinking about it ever since she told me that.

8) Naps. Sleeping in. Not working.

9) And most of all, I'm looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior. Although it's very easy to lose sight of the meaning of Christmas I've been trying very hard to focus on the miracle that is Jesus's birth and the life He lived. And of course, the death He died for us.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a great start to 2012! Ready or not, here we come!

Best. Day. Ever.

2011-12-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe not EVER. I have had some pretty good days in life (like my wedding day probably trumps today... :) But still, today was a pretty darn good day!

First, I woke up BEFORE my alarm! This almost never happens because, well, I really like to sleep and could probably sleep all day long if given the opportunity. Nonetheless, this morning I woke up at 5:30 am and stared at the clock until it rung at 6 am. Not only does this mean I was well rested but I was also VERY excited for...

The Pittsburgh Triathlon Club's 100x100 workout!

Kind of hard to see us all but we had an awesome group! :)

I had been looking forward to this workout ever since it was announced that it was happening. I was really curious as to what 10,000 yards would feel like and VERY glad that I would get to find out with a great group of friends vs by myself in my own little hot YMCA pool.

We did the workout in a pool that I've been to a handful of times (like when my YMCA closes for weeks on end for no apparent reason) and it is a strange little place. Some people call it The Cocoon. Oddly enough, there are about 5 or 6 (or 12?) cats running around on the pool deck and 1 that lives in the women's locker room. I kid you not. Exhibit A:

Very cocoon like.

Anyway, strange environment aside, I really LOVED the challenge of the 100x100. We didn't get fancy at all. We were going to do all of them on 1:40 but we threw 2x(10x100) sets on 1:30 in there from #40-50 and #90-100 and I also threw some pulling in there too. We took ~4-5 minute break after #50 to eat (and I REALLY wanted to take my goggles off for a bit).

Here are some things I learned:

1) Fatigue started to show a bit around 7000 in but fatigue REALLY showed up big time from about 8500 on. I swam pretty much every single repeat in the 1:18-1:22 range but at the end I felt like I was putting in a 1:10 effort and only getting a 1:21 out of it!

2) Chad will almost always think we are on #X when really we are on #X-2. :)

3) I cannot (I repeat CANNOT) chew gummies and swim at the same time. That almost ended very ugly.

4) The workout went much quicker than I imagined it would. Although it was a bit monotonous when we were in the 50s and 60s, when we finished I couldn't believe that we had been swimming for over 2.5 hours!

5) There wasn't much time for talking and joking around but after #1 I did manage to say "only 99 to go!" (*groan*)

6) Swimming with friends was so awesome and most certainly the main reason why I was so excited for this. Special thanks to Matt, Josh, Chad and Chris for putting up with me. I feel very lucky to be a part of this club!

Chad (center) doesn't look happy in this picture but he secretly loved it and can't wait until the next 100x100! I can't wait either!

After we were all finished we grabbed some lunch and then I went home and rode my bike like a good little triathlete. :)

THEN, it was NOODLES time! If you've read this blog long enough, you know that I LOVE Noodles and Company. I never thought the day would come when there was one in Pittsburgh but indeed, crazy things do happen. There will soon be THREE franchises in Pittsburgh, one of which is a cool 5 minute walk from the hospital I work at (trouble). Oscar and I headed there for dinner tonight, my first Noodles meal in ages.

Happy Day!

And then we went to church. And that always finishes off every Saturday very well.

Whew. Wonder how awesome tomorrow will be now? :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

I've Been Retul-ed

2011-12-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

Pittsburgh has Retul! Yes, yes, even little Pittsburgh. Those of us in the triathlon community here like to joke that Pittsburgh is the new Boulder (a city that probably invented Retul) but in reality we are not. We do not have what Boulder or San Diego has in terms of triathlon numbers or opportunity. HOWEVER, we do now at least have Retul and let me say, it's pretty awesome!

When I first heard of Retul (which is a computerized system for bike fitting in case you don't want to click on the link), I really wanted to have a Retul fit done. I knew I would have to travel for it (likely Philly was my closest option) but knowing how important bike fit is, I figured it would be worth it.

But...that never happened. Instead I kept riding in my old position which probably wasn't that bad but did have SOME issues (most notably I ride off centered which makes my right knee wonky and causes a lot of saddle sores on my left side).

Lucky for me (and all Pittsburgh area cyclists), Jake (Retul guru) came to town and set up shop at Top Gear, a bike store only 40 minutes from my house. SIGN ME UP!

Jake probably didn't want me to take a picture of him but he had no choice. Nobody likes a picture-less blog.

So today I was Retul-ed. I was a little nervous about it because (1) I was afraid that Jake would tell me my bike is too big for me (which it kind of is but he worked around it) and (2) change scares me. I mean I rode pretty well this past year so maybe my fit was okay and this new fit would not be okay?

Early on though, I knew this was good stuff. It was a process of 2.5 hours of checking flexibility and Jake assessing my current issues and figuring out how we might fix them and of course the space robot part where they put the sensors on you and you pedal and the computer figures out all your angles, etc... I'm no expert (um...I really don't know anything about bike fit at all) but I do know this - I already feel better on my bike (I'm even now and my right knee is much less wonky!) and, given that I'm lower in front with a flatter back, will also be more aerodynamic. Free speed? Yes please!

(plus, I also have yet ANOTHER new stem to add to my collection...does anyone need a stem?...perhaps my sister would like one for Christmas... ;)

Overall, it's a great process and I highly recommend you give it a shot if you have someone close by that does it. If you are in the Pittsburgh area (or anywhere remotely close), I certainly recommend Jake at Top Gear. As we all know, bike fit is one of the most important components of cycling so getting it right is paramount!

Anyway, Jake and I still have some work today. We've made some intermediate changes with tweaking (and yet another new stem) to come in the future. I'm feeling pretty excited about this. And also about the possibility of saying goodbye to some of my saddle sores. That in and of itself would be the best Christmas gift ever!

Dang, That Was A Long Time Ago...

2011-12-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

I've been such a deliquent blogger again! I have no excuse other than it's a busy time of year (duh) and I'm trying to get lots of sleep. Unfortunately when push comes to shove, blogging goes by the wayside (I wish I could make work go by the wayside instead - HA!).

Training is humming along well. The double runs and double swims of November were replaced with big(ger) bike miles in December (I just knew that would happen). I still have a double run or two but the double swims have disappeared. Not to fear - I did manage to get a 100x100 swim set on my schedule for next Saturday. Which makes me soooooo excited! This will be my first attempt at such a set, something I've wanted to do FOREVER but never found a group to do it with (yes, I know I could do it by myself but...ouch). ANYWAY, the Pittsburgh Triathlon Club is sponsoring the swim and so not only do I get to do 100x100 but I get to do it with a lot of great friends! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've also managed to find a new masters team that I'm pretty excited about. Not to replace my own masters team at Pitt (which is so awesome I seriously wish I could swim there EVERY SINGLE DAY), but rather to ADD to the rotation. This new team has a practice on Saturday, which Pitt does not. And word on the street is, this Saturday practice is usually 5.5-6K in length. Um...YES PLEASE! (I think I really am a swimmer at heart...love, love, love it!)

In other news, the Occupy Pittsburgh people have been making news here in Western PA because they are getting kicked out of their spot and they are not going easy. This is very similiar to Roxy when she does her rendition of Occupy Couch and Occupy Sunny Spot:

"Can I help you human?"

She lets you know if your bag is in the way of the sunny spot...

The good news is, in less than 2 weeks I'll be doing my own version of Occupy Hammock. We are going to South Carolina for Christmas! (which is where my parents live, in case you were wondering) I simply CANNOT wait!

This was from several Christmases ago. Let it be known, family, I call the hammock FIRST!

And finally, I leave you with a conversation that O and I had on our run this morning... We were discussed that while we both aren't *that* much older than 30, our 20s seriously seem like ages ago.

Me: Yeah, I'm only 32 but 29 seemed like light years ago.
Oscar (who is 34): Seriously, it's not like I'm 39!
Me: Right?
Oscar (after thinking a bit): I guess I am 5 years removed from my 20s. (QOTD) Dang, that was a long time ago...

You might have had to be there but it was really funny - I swear!

Have a great weekend everyone!

PS I bought whole wheat orzo at the grocery store, now I must figure what to do with it!
PPS We finally saw the Muppet movie today. Spectacular! Animal is the bomb! :)

Photo Dump

2011-12-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

Time for a photo dump from the phone!

New suits in the mail today! Makes for nice swim motivation. I even got a new pair of googles. I finally figured out that if I buy the kids size goggles they fit my face right. :)

Also, new shoes! I swear I only go shopping but once a year. This just happens to be that one time. :) My mom will be happy to know that I came home from the shoe store with something other than running shoes. :)

This past Tuesday I had a work dinner at the Marriot which was beautifully decorated for Christmas including many big nutcrackers! Also pictured is my BFF from work Kristen (who is a kick-butt dietitian)!

Here we were clearly going to give Mr. Smiley Nutcracker a kiss but really all we did was laugh and make a scene.

Nope, not Pittsburgh. But I do leave this picture of a Kona sunset on my phone for those times when I'm feeling a little blue. Instant pick-me-up! :)

Happy weekend everyone! :)

I've Got Nothin'

2011-11-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Why is it that at times I can think of a million different blog topics and then at other times I got nothin'?! As in the past, when I can't think of something good to write about, I just write a bunch of slop. Yeah fun slop! :)

1) Swimming a lot makes me tired. I think I sometimes underestimate how tired swimming can make me. I mean it's not like running where you are taking lots of pounding right? All I know is, when my alarm went off yesterday morning it felt like I was GLUED to my bed. So tired. And sore. I like! Getting in shape! :)

2) Oscar and I want to see the Muppet movie. We planned on seeing it yesterday but that didn't happen because we slept in and then I didn't get my training done until too late. (totally worth it for the extra sleep). We'll eventually get there but in the mean time we had some very important discussions about who the best muppet of all time is. (if you want to talk politics or world finances, our dinner table is not the place to be) CLEARLY, the best muppet of all time is this guy:

I mean seriously. How could you NOT vote for Animal??!!??!! Oscar claims Rolf is the best. Lame.

3) Yesterday on the trainer I watched (among other things) the movie Bridesmaids (very funny and really good for trainer rides) and an episode of Law and Order UK. Yep, that's right, Law and Order with the Brits! It's kind of funny because they wear wigs in the courtroom and call the judge "My Lord". Pretty cool if you ask me.

4) Also cool is this video. I like this song (Manifesto) by the City Harmonic but what I think is especially awesome is that the singer (Elias Dummer) sings through about 75% of the Lord's Prayer without taking a breath! Now that is some serious lung capacity! If you don't want to watch the whole video advance to about 3:08 in and he goes until about 3:33 without breathing. I bet he can swim a whole 50 under water without coming up for air. :)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Double Days

2011-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

Recently I've be doing several days a week of either double swims or double runs. I like! Although prior to about 2 weeks ago I had never done a double swim, I have done double run days in my life but not since this...

Bonus points for anyone that can identify me! ;)

In high school we did double runs for just 2-3 weeks before the cross country season started in the fall. And in college I did double run days 4-5 days a week pretty much year round. But then I didn't do another double run for...oh...10 years. :)

My observations on double days thus far:

*Although I don't always feel better on the 2nd run/swim of the day, I almost always perform better (ie: swim/run faster with less effort).

*You get funny looks from the lifeguards at the pool when you show up for the 2nd time in a day. You...again? :)

*Double days seem to generate a large volume of laundry...even larger than normal.

*I CANNOT put on an already wet bathing suit. I just can't do it.

*I can re-wear running shorts no problem. :)

*Double days are an easy way to really rack up the mileage/yardage!

I have yet to see a double bike day. I have to say, I won't be too sad if I never do. :)

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. So, soo, sooo very much to be thankful for! :)

One Of Those Weeks

2011-11-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those weeks? You know, when nothing seems to go right?

My week started out like that. Woke up on Monday morning feeling blah. Not awful but not right. Marathon hangover? (actually, that would be marathon spectator hangover) I made it through the day okay with lots of extra rest and thought "perhaps I dodged a bullet!" Except when I woke up on Tuesday, I felt much worse. BLAH. Definitely coming down with the plague.

Tuesday I did even less than on Monday including skipping all my training. Trust me when I say, that pretty much NEVER happens. But I wanted to try to nip this bug in the bud. Other than going to teach my class and doing a little computer work, I laid in bed ALL DAY LONG.

That is until around 9:00 pm at night I got a call from O. He was driving home from a late night at school (varsity letter ceremony) and this happened:

GULP! He is NOT HURT. Nor was the other driver. So that is all that matters. I thanked God over and over for that! But our car? Totalled. And so Wednesday was a mess of insurance (State Farm has been awesome) and getting a rental car and because they determined the car was totalled, buying a new car. As luck would have it, we JUST paid off this car (literally...like the last payment was this month) and were looking forward to a few years of no car payments. But that was not meant to be. I'm not complaining though - my husband is in one piece and that's all I care about!

Luckily today things started looking up! :) I woke up feeling much better and got back to training and a day of work at the hospital. O too got back to work and after work, bought us a new car! He doesn't mess around! :) Although neither of us are picky with cars. We don't care about color or special features of if the seats heat or not - we care only about durability/reliability and price. And the new VW dealership in town was looking for some business! Our very first car was a VW (first thing we bought together as a married couple) and that car lasted us for 7+ years (of LOTS of driving) so we are going back! And we are totally living the high life because for the FIRST TIME EVER (out of 4 cars we've had) we got a car with power windows!!!! (I think this is only because they simply don't make VW Jettas without power windows anymore :).

And so goes life. All is well and God is good! And tomorrow is Friday! :) Have a great weekend everyone!!!! :)

Harrisburg Marathon

2011-11-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

Today Oscar ran the Harrisburg Marathon while I cheered. I think we both had a lot of fun, but maybe me more so than him after roughly mile 23. :) He didn't quite hit his goal time of 3:10. No cramping this time (as in the last 2 marathons he's run) but this time nausea and throwing up for the last couple miles! Hey, it must run in the family! Good news is, he is making progress. I'm sure much slower progress than he'd like but isn't that true for all of us? Either way, I was so, so proud of him. One thing is for sure, he finished what he started as he always does. And I think that says a lot.

The race starts and finishes on a little island in the middle of the Susquehanna River.

Ready to go the day before the race!

My favorite spectator. :)

18 miles into the race the runners go through a little park, around a little lake.

Race day was beautiful and perfect for running!

It's still fall in Harrisburg.

Clearly I cannot take pictures and cheer at the same time. :)

I spent the day cheering with my friend (and former MAO teammate) Lindsay and her pup Lilly. Lilly was highly entertaining all morning long. :)

Huge congrats to all the racers and especially to Oscar. Persistance and hard work go a long way. I know you'll conquer your marathon dreams babe!

A Marathoning We Go

2011-11-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

Time to marathon! No, not me (although I really wish it was me...I want to run a marathon soooooo bad!), but instead, Oscar! It's time for him to put all the training miles to good use this weekend at the Harrisburg Marathon. His goal is to break 3:10. My goal is to cheer like crazy! I can't wait!

Oscar is the one on the right. My teammate Jason is on the left.

My first week back to training went well! Of course it's not over yet but because I knew we'd be going away this weekend, I front loaded the week and all the big workouts have already been completed. We had some great weather earlier in the week and I was able to get outside for my long ride and a few longer runs. Last night the weather turned a bit and I finished up my hill repeats in the cold and windy/rainy darkness. Yep, winter is upon us. This morning it snowed but I was warm and cozy on my trainer sweating away. IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK!

Happy 11-11-11 everyone and HUGE THANKS to all the veterans out there! And happy weekend too! Marathon reports to follow!

Let's Get This Party Started!

2011-11-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Finally! No more boring posts about the off season. Now I can write boring posts about training again! Because in my inbox yesterday...training plan #1 of the 2012 season arrived! YAHOOOOOOOOO!

As per the usual, Dirk surprised me. That man always has something up his sleeve! Missing was the HUGE bike volume that I'm used to and in replacement, huge running and swimming volume! (can Dirk hear my prayers to God somehow??...kidding!)

Now don't misunderstand, the word "huge" is all relative, not only to each individual but also to each individual at any given time of the year. But that aside, I was pretty darn pumped to see not just double runs (ie: 2 runs on 1 day) but also double swims! I might not be so excited about this when I actually have to do it, but the thought of it right now is pretty jazzy in my mind! I haven't done a double run day since college (um...like 10 years ago) and I have NEVER done a double swim day. FUN FUN challenges and most certainly something to look forward to!

HERE. WE. GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And in other exciting news, the state cross country meet was a huge success yesterday for O's teams. The girls finished 8th and the boys a very close 4th place (only 20 points from winning). It was a fun day of running around (or shall I say sprinting like mad, trying to follow O around the course to cheer - I think I might actually be sore today from it!) and watching some great racing. Pennsylvania has some serious running talent and it was fun to watch some future super stars in action!

One of the rare moments Oscar stood still long enough to catch a photo. Congrats Coach Shutt!

Mt. Lebanon girls getting ready to roll.

The state course is TOUGH. This is a bugger of a hill 1.5 miles in that starts to separate the field out.

One of my very best friends, roommates and teammates from college is a high school coach in Western PA also. Great to see her again!

Hope everyone has a great week. I know I sure will with plenty of training to keep me busy and happy! :)

More Off Season

2011-11-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

Off season continues to roll along. I can't say that I'm super antsy to get rolling with "real" training yet but I can feel it coming on. I'm starting to run out of things to keep myself busy. I mean seriously - I cleaned BEHIND THE FRIDGE (as in move the entire refrigerator and clean underneath) the other day. Who does that? (okay, don't answer that...you all probably clean behind the fridge every week... :)

I've also got all the "appointments" done - you know, the ones that you put off all season because there is no possible way to have enough time to do them when training hard - car appointment, eye appointment, vet appointment, dentist appointment (yuck).

And I've turned into super spectator as of recent as well. During my last blog I was at the district high school cross country championships to root on Oscar's teams as they ran for a chance to qualify for the state meet. Both his boys and girls teams made it which was exciting (but also expected as they've been running well all year). I really enjoyed watching the races. Three sisters from North Hills went 1-2-4 in the girls race to help their team to victory (O's team was 2nd place). I positioned myself on the homestretch to see if the sisters would race each other all the way to the line or they would finish "together." Can you guess? They definitely fought tooth and nail for the victory. I have to say, I probably would have duked it out with my own sister too. :)

They aren't triplets (they are each a year apart) but they certainly do look like it!

In the boys race I was truly inspired by a kid from North Allegheny (a cross country powerhouse in both the district and state). I remembered from last year that he took the race out hard and built up a nice lead at 1.5 miles. He eventually got passed and finished in the 5-10 place range. This year he is a senior and he went with the same strategy - take it out hard and keep pushing! At one mile he had a relatively sizeable lead. When I saw them again at 2 miles he was in 3rd place. Oh no - not again! He was not to be denied though. He clawed his way back up to the lead pack of 3 and with 200 to go he gave it everything. I watched his face and could tell he was in a place he probably hasn't gone to before (ie: he was in a world of hurt) but he did it! Even though I've never met the kid in my life, I felt immense pride in him for not giving up when he got caught and dropped. One tough bugger.

The conditions were horrendous - this photo doesn't do justice to the amount of mud on the course!

Anyway, I suppose since I can't be racing myself right now, watching others take it to themselves is the next best thing! So this upcoming weekend I'll be driving out to Hershey, PA (yes, where the chocolate is made - the whole town smells like chocolate bars!) to watch O's team at the state championships. And then the weekend after that, it's back to Harrisburg to watch O run his marathon! YAHOOOOO!

And because of all this talk of high school cross country, I dug up a picture of my freshman year in high school when my team won the state championship. I'll let you guess which one I am... :)

I can't believe this was in 1993! :)

Fall Cross Country

2011-10-27T10:16:00.001-07:00

Growing up, fall was always my favorite season of the year because it meant CROSS COUNTRY SEASON!! And cross country season is the best season of them all. Some of my best high school and college memories are of running and racing with my best friends over hill and dale all over the country.

My season might now be the summer triathlon circuit but fall cross country will always hold a special place in my heart. Today I am at the high school district cross country championships (and blogging from my phone!) to watch Oscar's team try to qualify for the state meet. It is pouring down rain, about 38 degrees and the course is sloppier than sloppy can be. Sounds like a perfect day for a cross country race to me!

Happy fall! :-)

Thankful

2011-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Do you remember writing those little essays when you were in elementary school, always around Thanksgiving, where you detailed what you were thankful for?

Well here is my (pre-Thanksgiving) version!

1) I'm so thankful for all the encouragement and support that I received in regards to my decision to turn pro. You guys know how to make a girl feel good! HA! Seriously though, I do really appreciate every little note, text, FB comment, email, blog comment, etc... It will be a fun journey! I'm glad you all are along for the ride!

2) On that same note, I'm SOOO thankful for the current pros that I asked advice from. GEEZ! Such a great group of women that gave such great advice and some very good things to keep in mind as I go through my first year. If condensed into a single sentence, their thoughts can be summarized with something like this: There will be growing pains but with perspective and a positive attitude, it will be a great experience! YEEEHAW - can't wait! (and I'm really just excited about something I already knew - there are so many wonderful people in our sport that genuinely want to see everyone do well :)

3) Completely unrelated - I'm thankful that it's Taco-tastic Tuesday at Qdoba! Seriously - $1 tacos?!

4) I'm also really thankful for off-season training! YAHOO! I'm feeling great but definitely still limiting myself so as not to go overboard before the "real" training starts. Mostly what I like about this whole scenario is that I do what I want to do when I want to do it. This means MASTERS! And running with Oscar! (did someone mention a bike?) I love masters swimming so much. On Monday it was long course and that just made me even more happy. And on Sunday I got to run with Oscar (okay, only 8 of his 20 miles were with me :) and tomorrow morning I get to run AGAIN with him! YEAH!

5) Believe it or not, I'm also really thankful for my job! Ha! I really like the people I work with and although a hospital can be a depressing place (like when families have to make the decision to withdrawal support or just cancer in general), mostly I think it can be very uplifting to see people fight like hell for their lives...and WIN! And I know I say this all the time but I'm thankful for the perspective my job gives me. It's hard to feel sorry for yourself when you are surrounded by people who would be thrilled by the thought of getting out of bed, or breathing on their own, or eating solid food. :)

Of course I'm thankful for 10 gazillion other things (gazillion is a real number you know!) but I won't bore you any longer. Have a great night everyone!

No Regrets

2011-10-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

I think one of the best gifts you can give yourself is to try and live your life with "no regrets". To live life in such a way that you treat people as they should be treated, you love others as they should be loved, and you follow your passions without apology. People who successfully accomplish this and keep their heads about them, are usually people that I greatly admire.

Of course I haven't made it through 32 years of life without some regrets! I've definitely made mistakes, and I'm sure I will make more. But with the concept of "no regrets" in mind, I've decided to race professionally next triathlon season.

FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been looking forward to this for a very long time. Although when I first started into triathlon I had no concept of what "going pro" meant, it didn't take long for me to start to wonder if perhaps I'd ever be able to do such a thing! The idea fascinated me and as I got a little faster each year it was easier and easier to envision myself making the leap. But then at the end of the season each year, it just didn't feel quite right. I would finish a season and start to dream of goals the next year and those goals would almost always center around staying amateur. In 2009 the goal was to finish on the podium at 70.3 Worlds. In 2010 the goal was Kona. In 2011 the goal was to do well at Kona. I kept coming up with excuses to remain an age grouper!

Without a doubt 2011 was a breakthrough year for me. It may not have looked like it from the outside but in my own mind, I made a lot of gains. I set PRs for sure. I was able to compete with people I've never even been close to before. I was able to win a few races. But probably my biggest breakthrough came in training - in being able to handle a much larger work load both physically and mentally and ENJOY it (um...most of the time... :). I got a little peek into what it would take on a day to day basis to compete at a higher level and I realized that I enjoyed that challenge just as much if not more so than the actual racing itself. And that's when racing pro really started to feel right for 2012. I was not just in love with the idea of racing pro like in years past, I was also starting to really love the idea of putting in all that work to see how good I could really be. (and lets make no bones about it, it truly is A LOT of work)

When I started to think of goals for 2012, what REALLY excited me most was the challenge of racing against some of the best women triathletes in the world. How would I measure up? I may not like the answer to that question!!! :) But it's exciting to have the opportunity to at least find that answer and live with no regrets or no "what ifs". I can't tell you how big my smile gets when I think of this! Like I said in this article, we all need something that gets us out of bed each morning to train and this new challenge will undoubtedly serve as excellent motivation for me! Nothing like knowing you will be starting races with Julie Dibens to get thy butt to thy pool to learn how to swim STAT! :)

I reached out to several other pro women who have taken similiar paths and they all provided extremely candid and helpful advice in making the transition, of which I am so thankful for. So after a lot of thought and discussion with Oscar and a (very) long chat with Dirk, who really emphasized some key ideas (like PATIENCE), I've decided to do this thing! I have no idea where this next part of my journey is going to take me but I'm very excited to find out! Here we go!!!!!!!!!!

Puffins And Such

2011-10-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a list for a while! :)

1) Today I took Roxy to the vet for her annual checkup and some shots (she was due for a rabies vaccine). Clean bill of health!

Cute. Also, you may notice the pink "bandaid" on her front paw that she immediately tried to eat on the ride home.

2) This past Saturday I got to be cheerleader while Oscar raced! Because he was just getting back into his routine and recovering from Kona (the support crew has more recovering to do than the athlete I think!), he used the race as more of a "tempo" than all out racing. He still ran a 1:18:59 half marathon. He ran with one of my Ballou Skies teammates who was also using the race as a harder tempo in preparation for ITU Long Course Worlds. Being the awesome spectathlete that I am, I cheered hard and took this awesome picture! (seriously, I wasn't trying to be artistic, I really just suck that much at taking pictures :)

3) The Kona sun did something crazy to my back and now I look spotted. I think if you lived in Kona you'd have to take a bath in sun block daily!

4) I GOT TO SWIM TODAY! I've been hankering to do a little light training but the big bad blister on my foot needed some time to heal. Today I finally felt that it was healed enough to push off the pool wall so to the chlorine I went. :) Happy day! I will bike a bit tomorrow and go to masters on Thursday. Dirk has given me a total of 4 weeks to do as I please before we get back to a structured plan so I plan on taking advantage of it and go as I feel. I do feel pretty darn good though. Compare this to last year when at this point in the game I wanted NOTHING to do with my bike for a good 2 months. :) I guess I really learned to like my bike after all this year! What I'm really excited for though is running. Fall in Pittsburgh is THE best time to run. Awesome temps and beautiful fall leaves. Can. Not. Wait. :)

5) I bought my first box of Puffins at the grocery store on Sunday. There are so many people that praise the Puffin! And indeed, I now understand why. Too bad they are $5+ per (small) box!

Hope everyone has been having a great week thus far! Happy fall!

More Kona

2011-10-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

FISH!

Ballou Skies at the Underpants Run! :)

The flowers in Kona are more beautiful than anywhere else I've ever been!

You also see stuff like this at the UP Run - two older gentleman in "adult diapers"!

The beautiful church on Ali'i.

The Mdot poster with everyone's name on it! :)

My grandfather. :) You could find him most days lounging by the pool in his jeans. :)

My mom and I at the pier. My mom is one of my biggest supporters and has been to all 6 World Championship races I've done including Clearwater x 2, Vegas x 1, Kona x 2 and even Short Course ITU AG Worlds in Hamburg, Germany!

My mom found this guy outside of the house we were staying in. He agreed to a picture. :)

My dad helping me put my bike together. This involved a hand drill and plyers. Serious stuff!

My race wrist band and my hospital wrist band! I took a visit to the Kona Community Hospital on Monday before we left to get my foot patched up and make sure it wasn't going to rot with infection. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

2011 Ironman World Championships

2011-10-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

The short story:

I finished my second Ironman! I think the look on my face in this picture tells it all. Pure joy. In my experience there is no greater feeling in sport than running down Ali'i Drive, running up that carpeted chute and hearing Mike Reily say that "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN"! I was 11th in my AG, 20th amateur, 40th female overall and my time was 10:11:16.

The nitty gritty:

Race morning I was surprisingly calm. The hardest part of any race day is leaving Oscar (and in this case my mom) to get in the water. I almost get teary eyed! Especially for Ironman, I know I have a long, hard day ahead of me and although I get to see my family out on the course, much of that day would be spent alone, inside my own head. (scary!)

Still though, I was glad to get in the water with Chad and several other triathlon friends and then spend the next 20-25 minutes trying not to drown before the race even started.  This is definitely my least favorite part of the race - everyone jockeying for position, the paddleboarders pushing you BACK behind the start line, trying desperately to find some space and meanwhile the time is ticking by SOOOOO slowly. ARGH - can't we go already?!?! :)

And then finally BOOM! The cannon goes off and the REAL melee begins!

Last year I think I totally lucked out and stayed out of major traffic and got hit maybe once during the swim. I knew that wasn't likely going to happen again and sure enough, this year I got totally pummelled.  I started in roughly the same place as last year (far left) although this year I think I (unknowingly) cut over to the right WAY sooner and got in the mass of swimmers much earlier.  Before I knew it, I looked up and I was pretty much right on the buoy line which was just chaos. AHHHHH!

All I have to say is, I hate age group men.

HA! Just kidding. :) But seriously, as aggressive as I tried to be, I just really struggled to out muscle and win water space when I was up against men twice my size. And I swear there were NO women around me! It was just a sea of blue caps (AG men) with a pink cap (AG women) every once in a blue moon.

At the turn around I started to fear I was going to have a swim time of 1:20. Although I felt great swimming truth was, most of the time I felt stuck in a big mass of people swimming too slow.  Occasionally I'd get some open water and go for it but then I'd catch the back of another group and be in the same situation all over again.  And it was like that the entire way. Not even on my last swim stroke did I feel like I had some space. Welcome to the Ironman swim right?! :)

Getting out of the water, I was so relieved, mostly to be out alive! But also because I saw the clock just turning to 1:02 which calmed my fears of having swam a 1:20. :)  My final swim time was 1:02:07 a HUGE 13 second PR! HA! :)  Certainly not the type of improvement I'd hope to see with how much more swimming I put in this year, but still, 5th in my AG and somewhat respectable. I know I have a sub hour IM swim in me. As always, the work continues...

Onto my bike I was loving life. I had to keep reminding myself that this is 112 miles! EASY does it. I'm used to getting on my bike and GOING for it. I reminded myself over and over again, keep the HR in the 150s on the way out to Hawi. Let's not get crazy here.

As I remembered from last year, on the way out to Hawi, it was crowded. I focused on my HR and nutrition. And overall, I just felt good. I felt comfortable. I felt happy that all was going well. I was also keeping an eye on who was around me. I had been passed by two women, one in my AG and one not, neither of whom I felt comfortable going with at that point. The effort would have been too high and I was determined to stick to the "conservative to Hawi" plan that Dirk gave me.

Before I knew it, we were climbing to Hawi. This was going by fast!  We had a pretty persistent head/crosswind up to Hawi but I still felt strong and was still getting the nutrition in. We made the turnaround and then finally I was able to up the effort a little. I pedaled hard down the other side to stay upright in the crosswind and then again, before I knew it, we were back on the Queen K! Yes, this was going by REALLY fast!

Turning onto the Queen K towards home was my crumbling point last year. From that point on (which is about 30 miles!) I struggled. Many people passed me. I cursed my bike. I felt hot. I wanted to get to T2 NOW! THIS year though, whole different story. Holy cow. The headwind was definitely present but I just felt sooooo much stronger. Instead of getting passed by everyone, I was actually doing some passing! The heat was there but I felt like I was managing it well. And time was moving so quickly. Before I knew it, I was at 85 miles and then 90 and then 95...

I did have one low point on the bike where my stomach was incredibly unhappy. It had sort of been building throughout the bike but I kept eating because I knew I had to to be able to finish the bike and run. Finally it all came to a head and I had an episode of retching/throwing up. That's a new one - I usually wait until the run to do that! :) I felt SOOO much better though after it was done and instantly my stomach was happy again and much more accepting of my gels. The unfortunate part about it though was that this was right when Sarah passed me. Had I been feeling a bit better it would have been the perfect opportunity to chase hard but at that point I was feeling rotten. Bad timing on my part but what can you do?

After I got through that little low though (mile 90ish), I started to fly. I FELT SO GOOD. The field gets very strung out during that last 30 miles but I just kept on focusing on the person in front of me and pulling them in. My stomach was happy, my legs were happy and I was picking up some serious speed.

If Dirk were standing on the side of the road, I think I would have gotten off my bike and hugged him. THANK YOU DIRK! Thank you for making me ride all those miles all year. For those 5 hour rides on Saturday followed by a 6:30 ride on Sunday. I wasn't loving you at the time but I was truly thankful at mile 100 on Saturday! And when I really started to calculate just what my bike time might be, I got REALLY excited! At first it was..."I just might break 5:30!" and then "wait, maybe I can break 5:25!" and then "holy cats, I think I might break 5:20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Happy day!

I got off my bike in 5:19:10 - over 20 minutes faster than last year and in a much better place mentally and physically. Yes indeed, thank you Dirk. :)

I got through T2 well and started the marathon feeling good. I was just so excited to see Oscar and my mom and my friends after not seeing them for the last 5 hours while I was on the bike. When I passed Oscar around 2 miles in he told me he thought I was in 4th or 5th place in my AG. HOLY CATS!

Starting the run, still with a smile! :)

Keep it together Shutt! I wanted to try to run 8 minute pace throughout the marathon because I believe I have a 3:30 marathon off the bike in me. And for the first 10 miles I was doing pretty good! Too bad there are still 16 miles to go... HA! :) While my legs were cooperating pretty well I was having two issues: (1) sour stomach/throwing up and (2) painful feet that felt like they were melting with each step of the Queen K. I was doing my best to manage both issues but as the miles wore on, the lack of nutrition (due to throwing up and switching to coke only) started to slow my pace quite a bit. I was still in good spirits and got through the Energy Lab much better than last year (no walking this year!) but coming back out onto the Queen K when you still have 7+ miles to go...ouch.

One foot in front of the other.

I finally made my way up closer to town and was SO happy to see Oscar. At that point I had been passed by 5-6 others in my AG putting me in 11th place. I was sad to have fallen out of the top 10 which was one of my big goals but I knew I was still going to have a big PR and that kept me pushing, pushing. Oscar knows how my brain works so when I saw him before making the turn onto Palani he told me "HUGE PR - you are having a GREAT race!" No mention of my place. He knew that I knew. But I was still having a big day and darn it, let's finish this thing! Oscar told me with less than 2 miles left that we were 9:55 into the race. COME ON SHUTT, let's break 10:10!

I was on such a mission then. I was seriously moving soooo slow but I was trying to will my legs to move as fast as possible. And then I made the turn back into town and the fans were cheering so loud. I was in such a world of hurt but so determined to see 10:0x on that clock!

Coming down Palani for the last time. Thanks to the Cathy and Kerry for the awesome photos out on the course and at the finish!

What can I say about coming down Ali'i? It's just magical. And when I did finally see the clock and that I wasn't going to quite break 10:10, I didn't even care. I was so overcome with happiness and joy and thankfulness. It was an amazing day and although I wanted it to end, I also wanted to savor the feeling forever.

In the end I had a 33:14 PR and a PR in all three sports. Never did I imagine that my day would have a 10:11 in store! And furthermore, never did I imagine that if I did go 10:11, I'd finish 11th in my AG! HA! (my competitors are awesome and the 30-34 AG is the bomb! :)

Am I disappointed that I didn't run faster? Well of course. It was hard to taste the podium ever so slightly and then get passed by 5-6 people! My final marathon time was 3:44:33, a 10 minute improvement over last year but still not what I think I'm capable of. I believed I was ready to run 3:30 off the bike and to truly be competitive I know I need to run more in the range of 3:20. But it's all about the baby steps. It took me a long time to learn to run well off the bike at the half distance so I know running a great marathon isn't going to come overnight either. The fact is, I'm just not strong enough yet to put it all together. But I'm really, really excited to keep working to get strong enough. I finished so, so happy to have gone 10:11. But even more so, happy in knowing that there is much room for improvement and some of the times that I dare not even dream about, may be a reality for me after all.

Kona was a dream come true yet again. It was such a hard day. But the reward was more than adequate! And I'm already thinking about the next one. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :)

HUGE thanks for all your cheers, encouragement and prayers. I again get teary eyed thinking of all the support I've received for this race and all season long. I'm truly thankful and humbled. This year and this race were great journeys with even finer destinations.

Now for some more photos with more to come in the next few days!

It was so great to have Ty and Ryan Ballou out on the course - true inspiration! And of course to see so many of my teammates out there crushing it. I'm one lucky gal.

Getting free stuff and swimming with some AWESOME ladies is one of my favorite parts of Kona!

Underpants run with the Pittsburgh Crew. AWESOMENESS!

Going back to the finish line for the final 2 hours of the race with my friends is one of my favorite parts. So inspirational. So amazing what the human spirit is capable of.

See! I told you my feet hurt on the run! The aftermath of Ironman isn't pretty!

Getting to swim out here the day after the race made everything better though! LOVE!

Mahalo

2011-10-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

I think anyone who has ever done a long distance triathlon knows that it takes a village to raise an Ironman. Although I will be the only one on my "team" who gets to cross the finish line Saturday, I certainly owe many thanks to many people for getting me to this point! I always feel so blessed to be able to do this sport!

So HUGE thanks to...

My competitors - I've been so lucky to be a part of a fantastic group of women, both in my age group and younger/older, who have really helped me raise my game. We are friends and that makes the sport so much more fun. But on race day, you have pushed me to greater things than I thought possible. I think of you when I train. Thanks for getting me out of bed on many mornings!

BallouSkies - For a greater purpose and for the inspiration.

Dr. Brad - For keeping me healthy week in and week out. Those magic hands kept all the little niggles at bay all year!

Dirk - This year you gave me a tiny glimpse of what it takes to compete on a higher level. I'm not so certain I liked what I saw!! :-) I came to you to be challenged and that is exactly what you did. There were days I thought you were crazy. But you've delivered me to the start line of the biggest race of the year healthy and happy and fitter than I've ever been. Thanks for putting up with me!

My training partners - To my lane mates at Masters - thanks for making me hurt and laugh all at the same time! And to Ben - thanks for dragging me all around Pittsburgh on your wheel. Your enthusiasm for the sport is contagious and your strength on the bike is inspiring!

The Pittsburgh crew - Your hunger for the sport drives me. I am so honored to share the race course with so many of you on Saturday.

My blogger/FB/twitter/real friends - What amazing support you've given! Your encouragement puts the winds in my sails more than you probably can imagine.

My family - Holy cow - you put up with so much!! :-) I am so blessed to have your support on this crazy journey. Thanks for coming to so many races and always encouraging me to pursue my dreams.

Oscar - What can I say? I would never be where I am today without you. You have been with me every step of the way, through all the good but also through all the very bad. I think of you so much when I am out on the race course. The sacrifices you have made for me to chase these dreams motivates me in ways that nothing else could. You are everywhere on race day but it's the 4 am wakeup calls on those cold winter months that mean even more. What a ride it's been! Very much looking forward to seeing where our journey takes us next.

Race day is almost here! I am fit and healthy and ready to go. And no matter what race day brings, I am so thankful for the opportunity I've been given. Here we go!!!!!!

More Kona

2011-10-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

I feel so spoiled and blessed to be here! LOVE!

Yesterday Libby was so kind to ride/run with me on the Queen K! She had just gotten off a plane very late the night before so I definitely appreciated her willingness to train together early the next morning. And it only took us about 10 tries before we got BOTH our heads in the picture (ahh...the self portrait... :)

My family and I went out to dinner last night. After dinner we found a banana tree and a beautiful sunset. Kona really is paradise.

And then this morning I swam the swim course with a MOST AWESOME group of women! One of my favorite parts of Kona is seeing all the triathlon friends I've made through the years. I was in swimming heaven! I am so lucky to get to compete with some amazing women. Wish I could train with them every day!

Then Katie and Libby and I found our names on the M-dot poster. And then of course we ate at Lava Java. Mmmm...pancakes... :)

I never want to leave! :)

Aloha!

2011-10-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Kona is just as awesome as I remember it!

We arrived yesterday afternoon (Kona time) after a long day of travel. First a 4 hour flight to Phoenix and then a 6 hour flight to Kona. Needless to say, I was tired of sitting on a plane!

Of course the first thing we did when we got here was...go to Lava Java! :)

Then (after my food digested that is) I went swimming. I needed to MOVE! It was already dark so I went to the Kona Aquatics Center (vs the ocean) which is AWESOME and free. I can't believe it's free. It was such a beautiful night and I already felt like I was in heaven!

This morning I woke up excited to swim in the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific with Sarah. We met bright and early and again, it was AWESOME. (warning - very likely overuse of the word awesome until I'm back home in Pittsburgh :) I just love, love, LOVE swimming in the ocean here. I could literally do it all day long.

I also had a little double brick on the schedule which I did on the hot and windy Queen K. Yep, it's still hot and windy out there in lava-land! I felt good though and it was just great to be out on the course. Race day is almost here! YESSSSSSSS!! My excitement is most definitely building!

The view from our VERY awesome house. My parents can just watch the swim from our lanai! :)

Now all we need is Oscar! Unfortunately he is still stuck at home in the 45 degree and raining weather. This morning he sent me a picture from the cross country meet he was coaching at. Soaking wet and muddy as can be. Pittsburgh weather isn't quite like Kona's... ;)

Brrrrrrr!

Here We Go!

2011-09-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

AHHHHHHHHHH!

Tomorrow I leave for Kona! Holy cats! Can't believe it is finally here!

As you can imagine, getting ready for a big trip (with a race involved) has left me busy! I keep thinking of last minute items to buy or pack. I have lists of lists everywhere! (and I can't even begin to think of packing...if only I was as motivated to pack as I am to train! :)

Monday night the 6 members of our Ballou Skies team headed to Kona were treated to a send off party at the Sharp Edge downtown!

It was great to see my teammates and friends and to hear the inspiring words of Ryan and Ty Ballou. I have truly been honored to be a part of this team and cause this year. It has given me a greater purpose for sport! So excited that Ryan and Ty will be in Kona this year to watch. If you happen to also be in Kona and see the Ballou Skies uniform out on the course, please give us a cheer! :)

Oh, and Kristen (aka: Teacher of the Year at Penn Hills) and Matty Mauclair gave us little mini pineapples. Cutest thing ever and so thoughtful! :)

On Tuesday I got a chance to have a (long) chat with my coach Dirk about Kona. Whew! I feel much better now having a game plan. This will only be my second Ironman and although I feel confident in racing at the shorter distances, I feel inexperienced when it comes to going the full distance. Last year my goal was simply to cross the finish line in Kona. This year, my goals have evolved so I definitely needed some guidance as to how to achieve such goals! Which is exactly what Dirk provided. I think we went through every scenario possible (hence the length of the phone call... :) and I'm now feeling prepared to problem solve come race day. I've done all the training, now it's a matter of execution!

Speaking of training, I took some time to go through my training log on Tuesday. There is a reason I keep such meticulous detail of each and every workout! It's like a journal of the journey and it's fun for me to look back through and see all the highs and lows, the progress and really just the hard work that has gone into this season. Since starting with Dirk on December 1, 2010, I've missed 2 workouts and cut 2 workouts short. Every other workout was completed as scheduled. Consistency is confidence for me and looking through my training log reminded me of that fact! (Also, I noticed I rode 2500+ miles more from Jan through Sept of 2011 vs 2010. Dirk is a fan of the bike! :)

And finally yesterday when I got home from work and my training for the day, I got the mail. And the mail had such wonderful things! A package and some cards from very awesome friends who have always encouraged me to chase my dreams. I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude to be surrounded by wonderful people in my life who always support me. And to be healthy. And to be happy. And to GET to do this.

Now if only I could be as thankful about packing? :)

Speaking of which - I best get a move on! I must ride, run, pack and complete a long list of errands before I get on a jet plane headed for the Pacific tomorrow! YEEE-HAW!! :)

Hay's In The Barn

2011-09-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend I did my final big training for Kona.

YAY - I survived!

On Saturday I had a 4 hour ride with some intervals and then an hour run off the bike, again with some harder running. I felt great. I rode with Ben. I was done by 12:30 pm!

Today I had a 6 hour ride with a 1:20 run off the bike. On my ride I saw many awesome things!

1) A beautiful bluebird. He was so blue!

2) A flock (herd?) of wild turkeys. Made me hungry for Thanksgiving. :)

3) Oscar run a rocking 10K at the Great Race. He ran 35:30 in the midst of marathon training. Speedy!

4) A deserted Fifth Avenue. They close Fifth for the race. Imagine 10,000 cars on this road and that's what Fifth usually looks like. The hospital that I work at is about a block from where I took this picture. I've never seen Ffith so empty! :)

6) 112.16 miles on my bike computer. Just a tick too many. :)

7) A massive bonk just 15 minutes from home. Okay, I guess you don't "see" a bonk...you just feel it! I was so close... I blame it on the headwind for the last hour! Luckily slamming ~450 calories before my T-run did the trick and I felt fine running. :)

And that is that! Now it's time to rest up and pack! Uh-oh...packing...

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

2011-09-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Martin posted this video on my FB page (and then asked if I had started packing yet...HA...he obviously doesn't know my dislike of packing... :)

I love this song and like this video because it reminds me that I'm so blessed to soon be racing in one of most beautiful places on Earth. I learned last year that Kona can be an overwhelming place. It's a grand race on the grandest stage of all. And just the thought of Ironman in general overwhelms me! But if I think rather of the beauty and mystique of the island, somehow my fears fall away. Last year during the race when I reached a very low point (which happened...um...quite a few times... :), I would look to the ocean and smile. And remember - we get to do this!

15 more days! (and just one BIG weekend of training to go!!)

My First Love

2011-09-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

I think running will always be my first love. While I REALLY like to swim and I (kind of) like to ride my bike, running is that one activity that brings me the most peace and seems most natural.

I've been running for about 20 years now. There is not much in this world that I enjoy more than an early morning run where the world hasn't woken up yet and it's just the sound of my feet hitting the pavement on a cool, dark morning.

This morning I got to do a long run before work. I started at 4:30 and felt like the only soul awake and alive! Slowly but surely I started to see a few more cars, a few more people and then finally when I was running down by the factory in our town, shift changed and people spilled out of the huge facility to the parking lot.

Best of all? I was treated to an absolutely fantastic sunrise - my favorite part of being a runner!

Okay, this isn't actually a picture from this morning - it's not so cold in Pittsburgh yet that we don't have leaves on the trees! :) But the sky looked very similar here this morning!

19 miles later, it was time to go to work. I couldn't help but be so thankful that I'm healthy enough to do this!

18 more days!

Vegas Pictures

2011-09-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

Bird's eye view of Lake Mead. Beautiful!

Lugging my bike box and huge suitcase through the airport has to be my least favorite part of racing.

The bags! As you can see, I'm deep in thought. Very complicated. ;)

You can't go to Vegas and not cruise The Strip at least once! Although my mom and I had been to Vegas before, Ben had not so off to see the fountains at the Bellagio we went!

It rained a bit at the awards dinner (yes, it DOES rain in the desert!) so clearly the solution is to use your napkin as an umbrella. Ben suggested we take cover under the table!

The 30-34 AG podium. I like when they make you hold up your award. :)

At the practice swim in my new blueseventy speedskin. Let's just say I had to do a fair amount of squeezing to get into that thing!

And in other news, it's back to work! I got my final schedule of the year. I just can't believe it. It truly feels like just yesterday that I was staring at my first Dirk schedule wide-eyed and very, very afraid. :) Of course I still stare at my schedules wide-eyed and very, very afraid, so not much has changed! But now it's down to just 2 more weeks of BIG work and then, the grandest race of them all! So excited. And feeling so blessed! Here we go! We can do this! :)

70.3 World Championships Race Report

2011-09-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well, my "to-do" list is totally overwhelming me right now so why not procrastinate some and write a blog entry! :) (my mind works in mysterious ways...)

VEGAS!

It was awesome.

Not without its ups and downs but overall, a wonderful experience and methinks the WTC has found itself a perfect venue for their 70.3 World Championships! Hills, heat, wind. Reminds me of a little island in the Pacific...

Ben, my mom and I arrived in Las Vegas on Friday. It was a whirlwind day of registration, expo, building bikes, doing odds and ends, seeing wonderful friends, the welcome dinner/race meeting and then finally falling into our beds in exhaustion at the end of the night. And our beds, by the way, were in a beautiful home that was right on the run course. Turns out Ben has family that lives in Vegas. It was such a treat to get to stay in the comfort of someone's home instead of a hotel room! Thank you to the Norantes! :)

At the expo there was a poster with everyone's name on it. See, I'm in the race too! :)

Saturday was a little more relaxed. We ventured out to T1 for the first time for the practice swim and found this beauty.

The desert is pretty!

The swim venue is awesome for this race. I thought it was really pretty and although I'm sure wetsuits make me faster, I like swimming better without them. The 80 degree water was perfect! :)

After a nice swim and a little bike ride (gotta make sure I put the darn thing together properly!), we all headed back to Henderson for BAG PACKING! I had forgotten that they treat the 70.3 World Championships like Ironmans so there were changing tents, no loose items by your bike and all your gear had to go into the many, many colorful bags. I must say, those bags overwhelm me. In the end I love them and it makes transition easier but it takes much thought for me to figure out what to put in ALL those bags!

Once we were done with bag packing and lunch, we headed BACK to T1 (it wasn't bad driving back and forth as we were only about 15-20 minutes away) for bike check in, gear drop off and finally to drive the bike course.

Seems to me, they had to do some digging to make T1.

Ben and I dropping off our gear.

In case you are wondering what the bike course looks like, this is pretty much it for 56 miles!

And finally, after a great dinner on Saturday night with Cary, we headed to bed early in preparation for our 3:15 am wake-up call! (not bad though when you are coming from the East Coast - it was almost like we got to sleep in for this race! :)

Onto RACE DAY!

I was pretty nervous for this one. While I still feel like a rookie and with few expectations at the Ironman distance (I have, after all, only done one), I feel like I've gotten to the point where I can really RACE a 70.3. My goal was to get on the podium (top 5) and so when my expectations are higher, the nerves come out to play! It was great being with Ben and my mom beforehand to help keep relaxed and when I finally had to go line up for my wave start, I was so relieved to see a familiar, friendly face in Suzy Serpico, who I've raced many, many times through the years. We chatted and laughed and before I knew it, it was time to get in the water!

The horn went off and AWAY WE WENT! I almost immediately found myself in the same exact situation as at Vineman, where I could see, but just couldn't quite get to the lead pack to latch myself on. ARGH!!! I kept telling myself "10 hard strokes" but then I would look up and be about the same distance behind them. DOUBLE ARGH!!! This kept up until the turn around (the course was a long, skinny rectangle) when we started really catching people from the waves in front of us. At that point that little group ahead of me got dispersed and then it was just a matter of swimming hard into the finish. I exited the water in 11th in just under 30 minutes. I'm not entirely unpleased with that because it was the first time I've broken 30 minutes without a wetsuit but my never-ending quest to improve my swim will certainly continue! Progress yes but I still need much work!

Luckily I do think my swim put me in a good enough position to do some serious work on the bike. Just a word about the bike course - when we drove the course on Saturday I very much likened it to Kona. Rolling hills, nothing too brutal, some wind and nice roads. But it didn't take long for me to realize that in fact, these hills were much tougher than Kona. Not necessarily bigger but just relentless. Up and down and up and down and even when you thought it was flat, it really wasn't. There was 5200 feet of climbing and a net elevation gain. I have no idea how that compares to Kona (maybe same amount of climbing but over 112 miles?) but regardless, this was no Clearwater! I definitely enjoyed the course to the max!

I passed a few gals in my AG within the first few miles of the bike but I was really on the prowl for Jess Smith and Suzy, who I knew both swam a good 1-2 minutes faster than me. I came across Jess first but not before another woman in our AG (Stephanie) caught me first. And then it was GAME ON! Jess, Stephanie and I jockeyed back and forth for the next 90-100 minutes, eventually picking up Suzy somewhere after the turnaround in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I loved it! I was definitely riding harder than I normally would to stay in the mix but I knew the race was right here in front of me and to let them go would be stupid! (by the way, I don't mean to suggest that there was any drafting involved; we all just continued to make good passes and give legal distance once a pass was made!) The ride honestly went by in a flash. I was so focused on keeping the girls in site that I wasn't really paying attention to distance, time, other people, etc... As we exited the Lake Mead area and made our way back to Henderson, I did notice that Jess and I seemed to be the only two left. And then about 10 minutes later, I made my fatal error. I was having a low moment and let Jess get just a bit farther ahead than usual. Then it was a little bit farther. And farther. And then I couldn't see her. See what a little lapse in focus can do?

Coming into T2 I knew I had a good ride (letting Jess go aside) and it pumped me up for the run. Since I had ridden harder than usual I was concerned my legs were going to revolt big time but of bigger concern was the storm that was brewing in my stomach.

Not THAT again!

Oh yes, acid reflux is not my friend.

After doing really well all season with my nausea/reflux issue, here it was again, raising it's ugly head at a VERY inopportune moment! TRIPLE ARGH!

Getting off the bike my legs did not feel sparky. I briefly panicked that this was going to be a very, very, very bad run. But I just got myself moving and told myself over and over that it would be okay.

Luckily after about 1/2 mile, my legs felt great. Now I just had one issue to manage, that being my unhappy stomach. But unfortunately, this left me more concerned with nutrition/stomach/not throwing up and less concerned with keeping Jess in sight. Which as you can imagine, quickly resulted in her being OUT of site after one or two of the turnarounds. I knew at that point that we were in first and second place, so it hurt a bit to not be able to give Jess a good chase but it was what it was. Sometimes you have to go into damage control.

I really liked the run course in that it was 3 loops of down/up/up/down. Kind of like hill repeats! Mostly though I liked the fact that it was so broken up in pieces and mentally easier to manage. I was definitely not in a great place during the run but was SO incredibly encouraged by seeing so many familiar faces on the course and hearing so many awesome cheers! And of course seeing my mom over and over while she updated me on my place/time (with Oscar's help over the phone - what a team!! :)

I found myself in that familiar place of having a dropping heart rate (not enough calories) but unable to really do much about it because any calories in would have instantly = calories right back out. I do have some theories on why this happened again so as usual, it will be more trial and error. I will keep trying until I get it fixed! :)

And then, on that final loop, it started to sink it, I was really going to hold onto 2nd place in my AG in the World Championships. That makes every single early morning worth it.

I crossed the finish line with one of my biggest smiles ever. Not without problems no, but it was one of my best races to date. I really RACED that bike. I met my goal of finishing on the podium. And I think more than anything I saw what "could be" if/when I really put together a solid race from start to finish. Although my biggest flaw as an athlete has always been my lack of confidence, this race went a long way in helping me to feel as if I can perform at the level I have so desired for so long.

And then I was really tired. :)

I found Ben who had a great race in his first World Championships (with many great ones to come) and then we found my mom. I got to congratulate Jess on an awesome race and got to hear about the awesome races of many of my friends who competed! A very, very amazing day! The only thing missing was Oscar. But it will be worth it to have him in Hawaii. That finish line is pretty special too. :)

We collected our gear and walked back to the house. My stomach was REALLY unhappy at that point but by the time the awards dinner rolled around I was definitely read to EAT! (Mmm...French fries... :)

All in all a wonderful experience. A great course. Great traveling with Ben and my mom. Many fun times and we didn't even get lost once! My navigation skills have improved dramatically! :) I got to see old friends, meet some new ones, compete with amazing women in my AG and be a part of an awesome event. Yep, I'd say God blessed me good. ;)

Many, many, MANY thanks for all the good luck wishes and encouragement along the way. I read every FB comment, email, text and tweet with so much appreciation!

And now I'm back home, with a big long "to-do" list. I'd best get things crossed off quickly because I've got a little trip for another little race in just a few short weeks!

PS More pictures of race day/awards to come!

Vegas Baby!

2011-09-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

Holy cats - only 4 more days until VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is quite exciting. And if I wasn't already amped up enough to race - today, on Twitter, smack talk.

Yes, that's right, SMACK TALK! All started by one Sarah Piampiano and further propagated by Beth, Hailey, Tatiana and myself. Except not really me because I'm not good at smack talking. I need a class or something. Or perhaps some smack talk pointers from Ben (who came from a sport where smack talk is much more prevalent and who once asked me why everyone in triathlon was so "nice").

LOVE IT!

All in good fun of course. And indeed, it just made me THAT much more hungry to get out west and dual with a bunch of awesome women once again. Also, it further cemented in my mind the race plan of swimming 23 minutes in order to get FAR FAR away from all the super biker/super runners. Now if only I really could swim a 23... ;)

Racing aside, I'm also really excited for this trip because my mom is coming! Oscar can't make this one because he is using all his vacation days for Kona so my mom gracefully agreed to come with. Which means we WILL be hopelessly lost somewhere in Henderson, NV at some point this weekend. If you see us driving around aimlessly, guaranteed we are driving in the wrong direction. So please flag us down and show us where to go! (I'm already having flashbacks to the time I raced in Dallas a few years back and mom and I somehow ended up in the ghetto WAYYYY lost and very, very far from where we wanted to be. YIPES!)

Also, Ben is racing! So we will be flying together and actually, he, my mom and I will be staying together too! Say a small prayer for him now please - how he agreed to travel with my mom and I, I will never know! :)

And so the countdown begins. I TRULY live for racing - for being able to put to test all the hard work and see what I'm physically and mentally made of - and I'm so excited to get to go at it again! Very best of luck to all those racing this weekend in Wisconsin, at Rev3 Cedar Point and elsewhere. Remember, we GET to do this. And boy are we lucky. ;)

Phone Download

2011-08-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

I remember having an idea a while back to write a blog entry based on random pictures that I had taken with my phone. I thought I'd do it every once in a while. So I wrote that first entry and then I didn't remember to do it again until...NOW! (9.5 months later... :)

I did some nutrition lectures for the sports teams at the high school where Oscar teaches about 2 weeks ago. I found this relic when I was checking out his classroom. Haven't seen one of these for a while!

About the same time, Oscar and I went out to get some ice cream and I caught this guy snooting around in the flowers!

Hard to believe our trip to Northern California was over a month ago! I guess time really does fly when you are having fun! (or training for Ironman)

I can't quite recall WHAT she had done, but I do remember it was something bad and I caught this picture of Roxy looking quite guilty. :)

Cookie baking extravaganza for a church project! We only had to make one extra dozen of cookies to cover all the "broken" ones Oscar and I ate while baking... :)

This is an awful picture and in no way does the beauty of the morning justice! But I snapped this one on my walk down to work from the parking garage one morning last week. The sunrise was stunning. Beautiful world we live in.

And in other news, I found out my pool is going to be closed ANOTHER 2 weeks longer than they had anticipated because they ran into some issues. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Sadness. But no matter what, I'll get it all done. And in the mean time, I just keep reminding myself that in a month's time I will be swimming in the beautiful, amazing Pacific! Not a bad deal indeed!

Have a great night everyone! :)

I Survived August!

2011-08-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

Going into this month, I knew it was going to be a doosey. Big miles on the training front - Ironman style. Extra days working at the hospital. And a quirky, rather sudden influx of personal clients. Staying married. Remembering to feed Roxy. Keeping our house somewhat clean. (I'd say keeping the fridge full but Oscar takes care of that :). I know it's a lot less than many people have on their plates but it was enough for me!

But I'm happy to say, I survived! I survived!

Now I know August isn't over yet. But I think I'll make it 3 more days. Especially considering tomorrow is an off day of training! What?! I know, I don't see those come around very often (at all) so I'm going to cherish this one and celebrate by sleeping in until...5:30 am! :)

Of course there is a lot more work to be done in September - I haven't forgotten! BUT, September brings with it less days at the hospital and BIG fun in that I get to race! I GET TO RACE! And racing is awesome for several reasons, including but not limited to, the fact that it breaks up the monotony of all the BIG training weekends! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I GET TO RACE SOON! :)

We are getting there. One day at a time.

In the mean time, I'm also happy to announce that I survived week #1 of having no home pool (my YMCA shuts down for 2 weeks for routine maintenance this time of year, as is the case for most pools I think). Of course week #1 of closure just so happened to fall on a week when I had 6 swims. :) But I got a little creative and begged my way into a few different pools. Here is how the week played out:

Sun Aug 21st: 5000 yard swim at the JCC (Jewish Community Center) in Squirrel Hill with Oscar. You have to pay the big dough for them to let you in but the pool is nice and coooooool. :)

Monday Aug 22nd: 3500 yard swim at Pitt Masters. Plan got a little screwed up when morning practice was canceled due to pool issues but we got the schedule rearranged to make it to evening practice instead.

Tuesday Aug 23rd: 4000 yard solo swim at Butler YMCA. It's a 40 minute drive one way but they let me in for free. And I got to see my friend Wendy!

Wednesday Aug 24th: NO SWIM! Chlorine free for the day!

Thursday Aug 25th: 4000 yard swim at Pitt Masters where we swam really hard 75s and Meg made me laugh just as hard. I'm pretty sure I snorted once or twice. :)

Friday Aug 26th: 5000 yard solo swim at Butler YMCA. Don't like the drive but I do like the cooooool pool!

Saturday Aug 27th: 4000 yard solo swim (once again) at Butler. The drive is much quicker very early on a Saturday morning.

Sunday Aug 28th: 5000 yard swim back at the JCC with Oscar. Never a fan of the Sunday afternoon swim but it was nice to have company in my lane!

This week the Butler YMCA is closed so I'll be heading back to the YMCA in the town where I grew up! It's even further than Butler but it will all be worth it when I swim a 50 minute IM swim right? ;) HAHAHA!! (joking in case you didn't notice...)

Hope everyone has an awesome start to their week! And HUGE congrats to all those racing in Louisville and Canada today. Inspiration galore. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it! :)

Yikes

2011-08-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

My German teacher in high school, Frau Grasso (now Frau Meyer), actually now teaches at the same high school where Oscar teaches. This morning, Oscar found a picture in his mailbox - an oldie that Frau Grasso dug up from good old Greensburg Salem High School!

Of course Oscar immediately scanned the picture and emailed it to me, all the while laughing hysterically I'm sure. It should be noted however, that I appear to be the only one properly hydrating in class! I was destined to be a dietitian! (it's also possible that I still have that long sleeve shirt... :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and best of luck to all of those racing! IM Sunday is upon us with Louisville and Canada! I know what I'll be doing Sunday! :)

Ballou Skies Time!

2011-08-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well, to save you trouble of reading about my woeful ride today (let's just say, I strongly considered laying down on the side of the road for a nap while out riding and the only reason I didn't was because it was pouring down rain...), let's take a break from training talk and instead talk Ballou Skies!

As many of you know, I am racing for this awesome charity this year. It's been a truly inspiring experience. I have been amazed by Ryan Ballou and how he keeps smiling no matter the challenges he faces, by Ty Ballou (Ryan's father) and his passion and dedication for raising awareness for DMD and by my very own teammates who contintually give of their time and talents to do the same. Plus, everyone is really fast. :) In fact, Ballou Skies (all Pittsburgh athletes) alone is sending 6 people to Kona this year!

Take a quick second to click on this link and watch the short video to see how Ballou Skies monies are playing a major role in funding some ground breaking DMD research at Ohio State Univeristy. GOOD stuff to say the least!

How can you help? Well I'm glad you asked! :)

Let me first say, when I started to consider racing for a charity this year, I had reservations ONLY because...well...I hate asking for money. Of course that is a totally silly reason to not do it, and I knew that. But I was seriously concerned about keeping up my end of the deal in terms of fund raising. What I've learned though is this - people are amazingly generous and supportive and very willing to help if they are able. And so all you have to do is ask. Which is what I'm doing right now (in case you didn't notice :).

IF you are able and feel in your heart that it's something you'd like to do, please donate to our cause! There are several ways you can do so - if you go to this page, you can donate online via PayPal, on Facebook (with credit card) or via check (and the address is on the linked page). If you'd rather send a check to me (made out to Ballou Skies), leave me a comment and I'll get you my address!

Many thanks for the bottom of my heart! And if you are able to be in Kona this year and see my teammates or I in our Ballou Skies uniforms, please give us a cheer. Three cheers actually - for a cure for DMD!

Have a great week everyone!

Take Heart

2011-08-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

I've been a slacking blogger! Not for lack of topics. I think of great blog entries in my head but the transfer of entries from head to computer doesn't seem to happen very often. Blame Ironman training. :)

So to sum things up:

*This past weekend's training camp with Ben was a big success. He rides his bike really fast and I try to keep up. That just about says it all! I spent much of the weekend looking at Ben's back wheel...or at times...looking at him get farther and farther away from me. :) I really enjoyed riding the bulk of my miles with someone though since I usually do most of my riding by myself.

*NOTHING you get to eat at a gas station stop mid-ride would impress Ben. I think he was ready to go through the Wendy's drive thru (bike thru?) if I would have suggested it!

*When Ben puts his head down and you can hear him shifting into a bigger gear - GIDDY UP!

*I rode a total of 210 miles between Saturday and Sunday. That breaks so many personal records I can't even begin to detail them all.

*I also ate so much sugar (gels, gummies, sports drink, bars, oh...and perhaps a bit of coke and a snickers too) on Sunday that I was concerned my teeth were going to rot. But STILL, on my run off the bike I had to take my emergency gel because I could feel a serious bonk coming on. What we do to our bodies is just crazy.

*And the beat goes on. Back to more work this week. I'm in the throes of Ironman training now and it's all become a big blur of swim, bike, run, sleep, eat, work, pack bags for next day. But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way and am feeling so blessed for this opportunity.

But what I REALLY want to write about is the Hillsong concert from Friday night. Oscar and I LOVED it. Needless to say, best performance either of us had ever been to, hands down. It was an awesome night of worship.

They sang some of their old songs but a lot of their new ones from the Aftermath album, none of which O or I were too familiar with. YET. (now that I've downloaded the album and listented to it 10,000 times, I'm quite familiar with all the songs :)

My absolute favorite song of the night was one of their new ones - a song called Take Heart. It's based on one of my all-time favorite Bible verses, John 16:33 (a verse that might look familiar to you if I've ever emailed you from my gmail account :).

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I can't tell you how often I've drawn strength from that verse. It has quelled my fears countless times and calmed my very anxious heart.

I'll tell you what I fear. I fear not living to my potential. Not using the gifts that I've been blessed with and not honoring God how He wants me to. I fear pride and I fear my own selfishness. I fear hurting people that I love and that love me. I fear cancer. I fear my training schedule. :) I fear failure and I fear that my past failures won't be forgiven, even when I know they are. I fear losing someone close to me.

But you see, we serve an awesome God who has overcome it all. So what really do we have to fear?

Take Heart can definitely be a theme song for life.

A video of Hillsong performing the song in Seattle earlier this year.

Joel Houston (lead singer of Hillsong) talking about the song (and then he sings it).

Weekend Fun!

2011-08-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

I've had another good week of training and am looking forward to this weekend where I will again attempt to ride my bike for many hours without combusting (or throwing poor Petey into oncoming traffic). I have a little more confidence going into this weekend that I will be able to survive because I did 2 weekends ago, but only time will tell! One day at a time. Miles make champions. :)

I'm really looking forward to the next three days though for a few reasons:

1) Massage on Friday! Yahooo!

2) Photo shoot (oh boy, here we go again) with my awesome BallouSkies teammates. It's not the pictures I'm so much looking forward to, but rather just seeing my cleaned up teammates all at once. :)

Result of last photo shoot.

3) HILLSONG! I've been wanting to see a Hillsong concert since, well since I knew about Hillsong. They are from Australia though and don't tour in the US often. And when they do, they go to places like NYC, Chicago, Philly, LA and NOT Pittsburgh. Well this year they are coming to Pittsburgh and it's tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait! Oscar and I bought our tickets the day they became available. Can't believe it's almost here!

4) Riding with Ben. I recruited Ben to do a bunch of my riding with me (he is always a willing participant!) which I'm sure will make the hours pass quite a bit quicker than had I ridden by myself. Ben, is training for Vegas. Ben rides his bike very fast. Ben will probably kill me this weekend. Let's just say, I shouldn't have any trouble getting my HR up for the 2x20 minute intervals I have tomorrow mid ride. :) Mostly though, I like riding with Ben because his attitude is always good and positive.

Ben and I before Eagleman 2010. He is a former football player who provides a very nice draft. :)

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend filled with many fun things! And best of luck to all those racing!

A Race Report Of OUCH!

2011-08-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

Things I was reminded of this morning about sprint triathlons:

1) A very long warmup is required because when the gun goes BOOM, there isn't any time to mess around! (luckily I remembered this before the race also and warmed up for almost as long as the race itself :)

2) They are very, very painful. Like OUCH! I think my heart was pumping out lactic acid instead of blood from the gun! (and it took me a good 5 minutes to stop breathing hard after I finished :)

3) Young kids can swim very fast and also run fast too. The swim today was in a LCM pool and there were 4 people/lane with two starting on each side. One of the people starting opposite of me looked to be about 15 years old but also looked to be QUITE a swimmer. Indeed, he lapped me! (keeping in mind, he lapped me after about 500 meters!) Also, on the run, I got passed like I was STANDING STILL by one of Oscar's high school runners (who is also a very good triathlete). And the kid is 14, just about to be a freshman. :)

4) Despite being painful, sprints are also over very quickly! I JUST started to feel pretty good when we had about 1 mile left to go on the run. :) Also, they are FUN! Especially today, when I knew so many other racers. I had a ball! (plus the bike course has an ITU feel with 5 laps so I got to see Oscar a gazillion times!)

Did I get my goal of beating my time from 2006? Yes! In fact I even set a course record today, the previous mark held by another Penn State runner (who was a freshman the year I had graduated so we were not teammates). Also, I won some MONEY! Woo-hoo! Straight to the "power meter for Beth" fund! :)

North Park Triathlon: 700 meter swim/12.5 mile bike/5K run
*It should be noted that T1 is included in your swim time and T2 is included in your bike time. Unfortunately no extra time is included in your run time (it's just that slow)! The run is just gnarly as all get out - all on trails (except for the last 400 meters) and rocky, rooty, HILLY and brutal!

2006: 12:52/33:47/22:22 = 1:09:01
2011: 12:23/31:57/21:38 = 1:06:01 (split times are off my watch so they might not be exact but final time is correct)

Yeah fun!

On the "podium" with 2 great friends, Mimi and Jen! :)

Such a fun morning and great to see lots of awesome performances including many first timers, many up and comers and many seasoned veterans! And I'm already home, unpacked and finished with my race report! :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and congrats to all who raced!

Pittsburgh Showdown!

2011-08-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend I GET TO RACE AGAIN!

This makes me happy.

Very, very happy.

What race you ask? Where? Well right here in Pittsburgh. At the North Park Triathlon - a race so small that I don't even think it has a website. GASP!

Guess how much it cost to enter? $37! You read that right - $37! Not $370. Not $3700 (the approximate cost to race an Ironman in NYC in 2012). But just $37. I almost fell off my chair when I read that!

I've done this race before. In 2006, the very first year I did triathlons! North Park was actually the 5th triathlon I had ever done. You can read all about that experience here. And here is a picture from that race (had to dig way deep in the archives for this one)!

Yes, that's a road bike (that wasn't mine). Oh, and I wore my wetsuit also. FOR A POOL SWIM. I kid you not. I am embarrassed to even mention it!

But despite my lack of experience and relative triathlon fitness, I was still kind of fast. Because back in 2006, I still had some speed left in the old legs! So my goal for Sunday is to beat my time from 2006. And that's not a weak goal either. I knew how to go really, really, really hard back then. Let's see if I remember how 5 years later!

Also, it should be noted that just because it's a smaller, local race does not mean it's not competitive! The race director added a little prize money this year so many of Pittsburgh's finest will be there to fight for it.

So I'm definitely looking forward to having a great time on Sunday with lots of great friends, racing hard, gutting it out to go under 1:09:01 and then driving back home in under 45 minutes. :)

Happy weekend to all!