Emily Cocks

My First Race of the Year

2012-01-23T10:37:00.000-08:00

After Hillary's wedding we came home and got back into our normal routines. Training ramped up again (lots of biking...) and I turned 35...

Instead of birthday cake we went for Campfire Pie at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena. It is basically a really good S'more with Oreo cookie crust. This would probably be a good treat after Vineman 70.3--just an insider's tip :)

Jaromir and Storm showered me with love.

The following Sunday I got ready for my first race of the season---a 6k XC race in Golden Gate Park. I was excited to dust the cobwebs off, work hard and get an idea of how my fitness was progressing. I knew I was going to be lining up against a lot of real runners which made me nervous but it was a good way to learn how to suffer on the run.Here we are before the race. All the girls were in their early 20s (to be young again!) and coming off the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. As they were announcing the field I heard a lot of "all american at Stanford" and "olympic trials qualifier" in 5k and 10k track events. My goal was to make it hurt the first 2k and then hopefully build a little bit on the last 2 laps of the 3 lap course. I went out and stayed just behind the group of 6 women in front of me. Needless to say, when I realized I had run a 5:35/5:40 in the first mile (w/ a hill) I knew that I might have gone out a bit too fast. I figured I was either going to have a major breakthrough or I was just going to suffer a lot during the last 15 minutes of the race. I looked great coming around the first loop and then after that my cadence and stride seemed to slow ever so slightly. I was hurting a lot the last loop but that was the point! I came into the finish without the kick the young ladies who finished ahead of me had in the last 100 meters. Either way, I felt dizzy and like I was going to vomit so I figured it was a successful outing.

I rewarded myself by hitting Lululemon to spend the gift certificate my parents gave me for Christmas and then we gorged ourselves at The Dipsea Cafe. It was a wonderful Sunday with my husband :)

Wedding of the Year....

2012-01-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday weekend Andy and headed down to the LA area to celebrate the marriage of our friends, Hillary and Maik. We socialized a lot, stayed up later than usual and did some special workouts at the request of the bride and groom.

Here we are before we started our 100x100. Luke is looking quite smiley before we started. I'm standing closest to the pool in our special suits we had made for the swim. Ours said "the bridesmaids" on the back while Hillary's said "soon to be Mrs. Twelsiek" on her bum. The standout of the swim was Tara, she is 7 months pregnant and finished all 100---hard core!

Andy did not swim or run but he earned his keep by playing photo assistant to Eric Wynn while the bride and groom had some pictures taken.

The fog rolled in during the ceremony but it was still beautiful. Maik even made a vow to help Hillary through another Ultraman smashfest. That is love!

The view from our New Year's Day ride. Surfing in January! I like California.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Numbers, Numbers and More Numbers

2011-12-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

"Information is not knowledge." -Einstein

I think it is easy to get caught up on numbers in training. We have all sorts of things telling us watts, elevation, heart rate, pace and the list goes on. All this information is great and helps us become fitter, faster and more efficient but I believe there comes a point when you have to remember how to listen to what your body is telling you. I used to start my watch before races and then I found I kept looking at it for splits. In doing that I also think I was letting those splits influence how I "felt." As in, I anticipated I would be going X speed and should be at Y point by Z time. First, that is a lot to think about during a race and I know my math stinks during physical exertion; I mean, seriously, have you ever trained to add and subtract during a race?!?! It is ridiculous. Second, instead of thinking about those numbers I think it is better to be thinking about the process and putting together a good race. I will get to find out my time at the end.

Some days I find the numbers overwhelming in training. I look down at my Garmin and see my heart rate and watts and if I am not careful I might think "my HR is high and my watts are low, I must be tired." If I had not had looked maybe I would not have thought my legs were tired. Now, all of a sudden, I am focused on my so called fatigued legs. Are they really fatigued? Or, do they just need some time to warm up? My intervals sometimes call for me to hit certain wattages. If I stare at the Garmin it sometimes seems to be more difficult to get the power up than if I just look at the road and pedal hard. I usually glance at the watts a few minutes later and low and behold the watts are where they should be.

My advice---use the numbers but don't let them define how you feel. And, make sure you go out there without any technology a few times a week. I think we all should know what "hard" feels like without having to look at the HR monitor on your wrist every 5 seconds.

I think I am racing without a watch at all this year. A bare wrist is more aerodynamic anyway, right?

Do or Don't

2011-11-13T16:14:00.001-08:00

I am now firmly entrenched in the season of "racing less." I don't like to say "off" season because, let's be honest, I am never really off. I may have taken 2 weeks of basically no activity except for a few easy swims however, after that it was game on as far as getting healthy and starting to build a base for the 2012 season.

I headed out on a run this morning sans Ipod because I used it yesterday and then, instead of turning it off when I was finished, I put it in my pocket still on. So guess what? No battery power this morning leading to a silent trail run. I used to get annoyed by running without music but I have learned to embrace it and to be honest, sometimes the quiet is nice. I did not even have a watch or garmin beeping to keep me on pace. Yep, I was just putting time in on my feet. Paces, heart rates and intervals will come soon enough.

For me, part of the racing less-season includes planning for the RACE season. I just started putting together a race schedule for 2012. I have a few "for sure" races and then I am filling in around those races with others. My plan is to hit up as many TriCalifornia events as I can along with Rev3 and a few independent races of varying distances.

Since I have nailed down a few races my mind was free to wander this morning and I got to thinking about goals. As I looked back on my first 2 years competing as a professional I found that my main goal was just "to improve." As I continued to think about this approach I came to the conclusion that it is a bit limiting. There is no question I am improving. However, how much can I improve? How will my goals help me to push harder in training? I think if my goal is just to improve I run the risk of allowing myself to just do "good enough." I am afraid I won't hold myself to a high standard during the really tough times in training and I will be allowed to let myself off easy. If I have concrete, steadfast goals I won't be able to let down in training, or in racing, for that matter. I will either have to DO it or DON'T.

The concrete goals--say top 5 at Alcatraz--mean that I have to commit, work hard and get it done on race day. It will take tenacity, confidence and trust in myself and the work I have done. It will also take sheer competitive drive. As I was running I pondered this question of competitiveness for awhile. Do I have it? Or do I allow myself to just do good enough? For example, do I think in a race-- "6th place, that's pretty good and I am going faster than I used to. This means I have hit my goal." To be honest, I probably do. Why do I want to endure more pain than I already I am if I am hitting my goal? Since I was calling myself out I decided to remember a time when I was intensely competitive. I worried I was not going to think of anything. Then, something popped into my head....

It was my senior year in high school. We were having our league swimming championship. Preliminary heats were on Friday and then Finals on Saturday. Since I was a pretty strong swimmer I had the luxury of being able to cruise the Friday heats, make the finals and save up some energy for the next day. The only goal of the day was to not get DQ'ed and secure a lane in the finals on Saturday. I was swimming the 200 IM. A girl for the rival school, Lakeview, named Jayna Kurti was a very strong swimmer and was in the heat before me in preliminaries. She swam her race and put up a good time. I was in the final heat as the top seed going into the meet. I swam a solid race that evening but held back in an effort to save up for the next day. I touched the wall and qualified for the final in second position behind Jayna. I looked over at my coach who gave me a thumbs up---in the finals without tiring myself out, perfect! I glanced over at the Lakeview coach, Dave Stubbs, because I heard him yelling. He was high fiving, screaming out "yes!!" In typical teenage fashion I sneered and rolled my eyes. Doesn't he know that I cruised it? Doesn't he know that tomorrow is when it really counts? I went up to my coach and said defiantly, "Coach Stubbs can cheer all he wants right now because he won't be too happy tomorrow. Jayna and I are not going to even be in the same zip code." My friends on the team were asking me about it since everyone on the pool deck saw and heard Coach Stubbs' reaction. My response was unwavering---I would win BIG on Saturday. My mind did not have any doubt that I would win. Of course, there was a chance I would fail but I guess my mindset was "I will win and if not, guess we will deal with it if it happens." I was so unafraid of failing I did not even consider that it could happen. Perhaps being a jerky, defiant teenager served me well in competition. To end the story, I won the league championship the next day. As I had predicted it was not close. Jayna was a great competitor and pushed me from the time I was 10 years old until I graduated from high school.

After I recalled this race in my swimming career I came to the realization that I am extremely competitive and I do have the ability to get the things done that I set out to do. Ultimately, I need to set the bar high (Top 5 at Alcatraz?) and not be afraid to fail. If I say out loud, or on my blog, that it is my goal then I am going to go for it. I am going to find a way to get it done. I am not going to worry about what people will think if I fail, if I don't get 5th. I think being afraid of failing is only holding me back. I will focus on myself and get the work done day in and day out and will execute the best race I can on June 10, 2012. I will dig deep and focus on MY RACE to achieve MY GOAL. I will not settle for less. I will be confident and trust in my ability. Ultimately, I believe I am capable of more than I think I am.

In closing, a couple fun pictures....

This is me swimming for UM in 1998. I loved those winged helmet caps. Notice the head tilted to the left. I always do that when I am working hard...

At Alcatraz this year. I'll be digging deeper next June.

Hmmm, still drop that head to the left!

Is this Fun?

2011-11-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

Last week while I was coaching my swimmers one of them looked up at me and asked, (insert a bit of 15 year old attitude) "After this set can we do something FUN?" Luckily, she pushed off the wall right after she said it so she did not have time to see my blank stare and "huh" face. I thought to myself, isn't this fun? Swimming some different sets with your friends, being outside, challenging yourself? When she got back to the wall I asked for more information. What do you consider fun at swim practice? Do you like challenging sets? The answer was---I don't know what is fun at swim practice but this is not it AND no, I don't like challenging swim sets. Well, that leaves me with 2 ideas 1) sharks and minnows or 2) relays. Since neither of those were feasible at the time I came up with a set involving some underwater flip turns and then some sprints. It was definitely not what she was looking for---I got the 'this is stupid and boring look' from her. Honestly, I felt a bit bad I could not satisfy her need for fun. I want my swimmers to enjoy themselves at practice but let's be honest---no matter how you disguise it you are still swimming back and forth staring at a black line. That by itself is just not fun. I am a swimmer and I can recognize that aspect of swimming. I try to keep it interesting with varying distances, some challenging intervals, kicking, etc. but there is only so much I can do. I think the fun aspect of swimming also needs to come from your motivation to push yourself in a workout.

Since I am a swimmer who thinks swimming is tons of fun I'll list some of the things I like about it:

*trying to make challenging intervals

*the burn I get in my arms during and after a swim

*water that is just the right temperature (probably on the warm side for most but that is how I like it)

*swimming butterfly (only when it looks pretty though, gets ugly after a 50 nowadays)

*band pulling (seriously, love it)

*focusing on my high elbow pulling in freestyle (yes, I am a dork)

*best average sets

*The Fernando Special (an awesome set and it never gets dull)

*sprint 25s

*flip turns

I admit I am dealing with a special population when I coach---teenagers. What they think is fun varies from day to day. Some days I get them and they want to work hard and listen to me; other days, not so much. I just try to roll with it and show them what I think is fun about swimming. They will probably appreciate it---in 10 years or so.

My Apple a Day

2011-10-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

It probably comes as no surprise that I am crazy about physical activity. Doing something active each day has been a part of my life since before I can remember. I grew up in a neighborhood where all the yards and houses were connected so my friend Cary and I used to be busy running around playing in the neighborhood all day long. We played hard climbing trees, jumping in the river and running through the woods. I ended up busting my head open one day and Cary fell and broke her kneecap another time. Neither of those injuries stopped us. I was at it the next day with a bandaged head and stitches above my eye (check out my left eye next time you see me, the scar is still there) and Cary was an extremely fast runner with her cast on. She just changed her gait a bit---imagine someone running with a straight leg and swinging it out to the side. I remember when our parents would call us to come in the evening we would responds by 1-ignoring their calls, 2-asking for "10 more minutes" or 3-yelling back "it's not that dark yet."

Cary and I both swam when we were younger. As we got older I stuck with swimming and she got more serious about running. We both kept at it through and college. Cary now lives in Portland and is a marathoner. She has qualified for the Boston marathon several times and helps out her running club pacing people at local races like the Portland marathon. Physical activity has shaped who we are as people and taught us a lot throughout our lives. I was lucky enough to be able to have dinner with Cary when I was in Portland for my grandmother's 100th birthday. It was awesome to catch up and reminisce about our fun back in Albion, Michigan.

Cary and I. We don't look any older than we used too!

Since sport has shaped my life so much I tend to get frustrated when parents and children push it aside and/or do not see the value of being on a team and staying physically active. I am a swim coach and recently several of my swimmers have not been showing up to practice much (or at all) because of massive amounts of homework. I believe that education is important but I think that people are missing the value of what sports can teach their kids. Plus, it is extremely important in teaching them about maintaining their health as they get older! Have you seen people who have not kept physically fit? They age pretty quickly!

There needs to be balance in everyone's life. School, sport and social time with friends are all keys to having fun and learning as you get older. I don't think teachers should be assigning so much homework that all the kid can do everyday is go to school and then head home for 4-6 hours of homework a night. I remember hearing from some extended family members that their kids had to quit this sport or that sport because they needed more time to study so they could take more AP classes so they got into the "right" college or university. This leads into the whole debate of what is really defined as success? My senior year in high school the teachers were selecting the students who would be a part of the National Honor Society upon graduation. One of the teachers approached me and said that if I wanted to be a part of the NHS I would need to increase the number of "activities" on my resume. I remember telling her (probably with some attitude, I could be that way) that if I thought it was stupid that she wanted me to do several activities half-assed vs. one activity (swimming) at a very high level. I told her I was not adding activities just for the sake of being in the NHS. I did swimming and I did it better than anyone ever had at our school. If that was not enough to be in the NHS then I did not give a sh** or want to be in it (more attitude from me).

To be totally honest, some of my family members probably question what the hell I am doing with triathlon. They might believe I should be working at a more stable "job" and adding a lot more cash to my 401k. I did that for a long time. I worked 60-80 hours some weeks at a law firm as a paralegal. It was challenging and the lessons I learned in college about working with others, balancing tasks and being organized helped me do a good job but ultimately, it was not what made me happy. I was lucky enough to get a chance to coach at UIC and have more time for triathlon training. I also was able to work with swimmers and make an impact on some of their lives like my swim coaches did for me.

As a college coach my swimmers will probably tell you that I challenged them and did not take a lot of crap. However, I respected their lives outside of the pool and placed value on their education and social life. They are in college and they should be having fun with their friends. At the same time, when they walked onto the pool deck for workout I expected them to be "all in." I am no dummy---I know what a Saturday morning training session is like after a raucous Friday night, but if you are in he water you better be ready to go--I don't really care if you need to puke in the gutter. You get the WORK DONE.

I hope my few swimmers with a lot of homework find their way back to the pool and I want their parents see the value in what swimming (or any other sport) can offer their child. Their parents did get an earful, in a politically correct way, and I hope they hear what I am saying. As a former swimmer and triathlete I think I can be a good example of where sport can take you. It can be unexpected and down a road you never thought you would be on but isn't that what makes life exciting?

The Off Season is Now

2011-10-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

The plan for the season was to end with Austin 70.3 on October 23. However, my body had other ideas. After Pacific Grove I was fatigued and sore but not overly so. I had a few days of very easy swimming and biking with no running in hopes that everything would feel better. I ran 3 days after the race. It felt better but not great. However, it seemed "manageable" so I carried on. After 2 weeks I realized that my body was screaming at it me that it needed to be done for a bit. I was fatigued in all 3 disciplines, running was painful on my right leg and I dropped 3 lbs! After one final attempt on the treadmill I decided that training through my pain and fatigue would most likely yield a lackluster result in Austin and the real possibility of a serious injury. Game over. I got off the treadmill and decided to start my off season. It took me a few days to taper off the training. For example, I still did the scheduled swim after I got off the treadmill. I swam the next day and then I shut it down and did NOTHING for the entire weekend.

Ending a season without a final race is definitely disappointing. I like to finish leaving everything out there in a race. It is a bit anti-climatic to step off a treadmill and declare the season over. I was sad and down and felt a bit like a failure for not being able to finish out what I had set out to do. Nevertheless, I have to think about the near term AND months down the road. Lets face it, I am not getting any younger and I want to maximize my years of competing in triathlon. One year builds on the next and I want to have a healthy and productive "off" season that will set me up for more improvements next year.

The plan right now is rest and physical therapy. It seems that my hip and glut are weak so I am working on strengthening and mobility. I have still been in the pool 3-4 times a week because as a former swimmer losing my "feel" for the water drives me crazy. Plus, as my physio said, "you'll go crazy if you don't move a little so swimming is perfect right now." Next week I'll do some easy biking and then start to add in some running the week after that. In the long term the rest will do me well and the strengthening will help immensely. My swimming background serves me very well in some aspects of triathlon but in other ways the lack of leg activity on land for 15 years of my life throws me some challenges every now and again. I do have goals for this lack of activity time---I want to do it REALLY well. So I sit on the couch, use my new Recovery Pump boots and surf the internet watching all the Kona coverage videos I can.

This weekend we are heading up to Lake Oswego for my grandmother's 100th birthday party! A very special weekend. I have scoped out the internet situation due to a big race being held in Kona :) When I can't be watching the video I'll have my phone and will be checking twitter and text updates religiously. Please keep me updated everyone!

Since I had no training planned, Andy and I had a little fun last Sunday. We went shootin' with my training partner John and a few others. We shot at targets and clay pigeons. I had a good time but I was a bit bruised from the recoil of the shotgun into my bony shoulder. We also took some time to take a few fun photos (as seen above).

Good luck to all racing this weekend and later on this fall. I wish I would be joining you. I'll be ready to kick ass in March and April though! Plus, I have to be healthy for a wedding/training weekend over New Years! It is a take no prisoners type of wedding....I must be strong! I'll give you a hint on who it is---a certain GCM will be WAY out in front this weekend on the bike.

Pacific Grove Kelp Report

2011-09-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Last year while swimming through the kelp at PG I swore I would not be swimming through it ever again. However, one year later I found myself standing on the shore waiting to battle the kelp for the second time. I let my affinity for Tri-Cal races override my intense and very negative feelings about the kelp. Plus, I reasoned that since I got practice last year I would be better this year. I knew what to expect and that is half the battle, right? We went off at 12:10pm (after a leisurely morning, LOVE) and just as the men were making the turn for their second loop of the course. This meant that our sedate and friendly start of 9 women turned into a more chaotic atmosphere. About 100 meters out I swam over a huge rock. I just kind of crawled over it and hopped off the other side. Then we hit the kelp. Unlike last year there was no clear path...it was EVERYWHERE. I hit the kelp with a few women around me and then before I knew it they were motoring away from me. I could not understand how they were doing it??!?! My kelp swimming ability absolutely blows. Do you put your head up? Kick more than pull? Apparently when my regular swimming stroke is completely interrupted by kelp I do not handle it well. You can't dig your arms down with a high elbow because then you become completely entangled in it. I fought my way through the kelp and made it to the turnaround to start the second loop. I was in second to LAST place. However, at the time I thought I was in last place. I did not know anyone else was behind me. I reluctantly started my second loop and I will be totally honest here...I wanted it to be over. I HATED it more than anything. The negative thoughts in my head were loud and unrelenting. However, I just kept plugging away trying to limit my losses. I knew that Julia was in front of me and she is a great biker. Maybe I can grab her wheel for the draft legal bike?

Finally, I made it out of the water and ran to my bike. I tried not to show my disgust for my performance on the swim. I just decided to let it go and absolutely throttle myself trying to redeem any sort of semblance of a decent race. Julia had about 5-7 seconds on me out of transition. I could see her up ahead. That was my shot for a good finish. If I did not catch up and work with her I would cycle on my own for the entire bike and then be too far behind to catch anyone on the run. I had a good mount and motored up to Julia before putting my shoes on. After catching up I slipped my shoes on without incident (ie, no swerving, etc) and focused on staying with her. I hoped we could work together but let's be honest...she is a better biker and my attempts at pulling were shorter than the amount of time she stayed on the front. I was pretty sure she was trying to get rid of me any chance she could. There are a couple little inclines and she would stand and hammer up them. I willed my old, less explosive 34 year old legs to stay with her. By the middle of the second loop we caught another girl. She latched onto our wheels. I went to the front to take a pull before the biggest "hill" on the course. When we got to it Julia came around the front in a sprint trying to get a gap. She got one. I could see my race slipping away and I was not going to let it go. I was off the back and absolutely burying myself to fight back to her wheel. I could hear Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen in my head commentating this improbable comeback. I reached deep into my "suitcase of courage" and kept the pushing. I was spitting, snotting and grunting trying to get back up to Julia. I was getting closer. My eyes were crossing with the effort and my legs were burning like crazy. I made it up to her wheel and eased off. It felt so good. I was proud to have survived this attack. However, I knew it would be short lived because she was going to attack again. We made it to the same spot in the middle of the 3rd loop and I made the mistake of going to the front at the same point. Can you say stupid? I could feel the attack coming and I stood up and tried to accelerate with her. She got a gap. I battled but my heroics of the last lap had taken their toll. The only thing to do was to limit my loss and run her down. I kept intensity up the 4th loop. I came into T2 40 seconds down. There was work to do on the run.

I felt relatively good when I started the run. I ran hard and waited for it to feel better. By that I mean that my legs would eventually become numb to the pain. The run was 3 loops so I got word at the end of the first loop that I had made up 15 seconds. I tried to increase my pace a bit. I was catching Julia and another woman right in front of her. Maybe I would salvage this day? I made the pass 3/4 of the way through the 2nd loop and then caught another woman at the beginning of the 3rd loop. I kept running hard. I did not know if someone would catch a second wind and I also wanted to have a good split. I ended up finishing 5th and was over 5 minutes faster than last year. I think the wind on the bike was worse last year and I did have "help" for 2.5 laps. Last year, I rode alone because I did not have the ability to stay with Julia. My run was a teensy bit slower than 2010 but I was happy with it because I went into the red a lot on the bike which was different than my previous race at PG.

Despite the horrendous swim I had a great day. My husband even said "it was like you did a REAL triathlon today." I needed all 3 sports on Saturday for a good race. Sometimes my races are a great start on the swim and then an attempt to limit my losses on the bike and run. It was great to race the bike even though it hurt so bad. I have never pushed into the red that many times on the bike. I felt like I was racing and I was totally engrossed in what I was doing. It was exciting to see my family and friends on each loop during the run and have them screaming at me to keep reeling people in. I'll be back to PG next year in an attempt to swim proficiently in the kelp. Perhaps I should go down and practice a few times?

San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz

2011-08-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

Swim Start.

I decided to race TriCal's San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz on Wednesday night. I was motivated since Steelhead was a bike/run the week before. I wanted to swim! Plus, the race is an hour from my house and is a lot of fun. Well, as much fun as steep hill repeats and trail running with sand ladders can be :)

I headed down to San Francisco on Saturday afternoon for the pre-race meeting and to check into my hotel. The only snag was a car accident at the bottom of the hill I live on that closed the road. Luckily, I was able to turn around, go back up over the hill and take some country roads over to the highway to make my way to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was not the quickest route but I did not hit traffic, made it to the meeting on time and even found a parking spot directly across the street from the Expo at Marina Green. Check in was easy and the meeting offered the requisite information on where to sight for the swim. They did make a comment that the test swim took the fast swimmers 46 minutes and I thought "that can't be right, that is pretty slow." My slowest time across the Bay had been 35 minutes and fast was 26...46 seemed to be a big outlier as far as average times (foreshadowing).

I checked into the hotel, grabbed an early dinner and relaxed. The boat was leaving the Pier the next morning at 6:20 so I had to get down to transition, rack the bike and take the bus over to the Pier VERY early. I set 3 alarms just to make sure I did not oversleep. In the morning (or middle of the night) a car alarm went off at 3:45 so I just got up since it was only 15 minutes before I had planned. I rolled down to transition a little before 5, racked my bike quickly and then headed to the boat. Before I knew it we were on our way out to the swim start. I did what warm up I could on the crowded boat and got ready to go. We made it to the starting point and the pros shimmied onto a narrow ledge for the start. As I went out they told us there would be a horn for the start. We got out there and I think we were all waiting for a countdown and THEN a horn. As we were standing there a horn sounded. We all still stood there. Then someone stuck their head out the door and said "you were supposed to go." When I heard that I just dove in. I was definitely in the water before everyone around me so I had a nice clean start and did not have to fight with anyone for position. I found some feet at the beginning of the swim but because of the waves it was easy to get jostled and lose people. Before I knew it I was swimming all by myself. I could see some people relatively close to me but most of the time when I lifted my head I could not see anyone because of the waves. I just sighted where the race director told us to (Palace of Fine Arts) and hoped I would end up at the small beach that is the swim exit. I have done this swim 6 times. It scares the sh** out of me every time I do it. There are no buoys, you are often alone and since there is a strong current I always have doubts I will end up where I should. I kept swimming and swimming and swimming. The water was rough (maybe rougher than Lake Michigan last week...hint hint) and I could not see anyone. Not one person, not one kayak, not one boat. I started to freak out. I picked my head up and did a few breaststrokes. I saw nothing. I put my head back down and kept swimming. I was thinking about how much the swim freaks me out. I wanted to be out of the water but I was fearful I was going to way left or way right of where I needed. I just kept swimming. I finally picked my head up and caught a glimpse of the beach and the swim finish banner. I was so happy. I swam straight ahead. The current that usually sweeps me to the right as I got closer to the shore was not there. I got of the water ecstatic to be done. I looked at the clock and it was almost 39 minutes! I guess I got my $'s worth since there was no swim the week before at Steelhead. I ran the 1/2+ mile to transition in bare feet. It hurts a lot but is certainly faster than stopping so I just deal. I jumped on my bike in 3rd place. A good start (more foreshadowing)!

The first part of the bike is flat so this helped warmed me up before the climbs started. I felt okay. I was climbing well, but not great. There was not a lot of "oomph." I just kept the pressure on the best I could but at mile 10 I started to get caught by 3 of the women behind me. This made me a little mad. I tried to pick up the pace and go with them and while this lasted for a few minutes my legs were not having the high end effort. I felt like I was fighting myself. I also realized on this out and back that I should have gone with my first instinct and ridden my TT bike. I second guessed myself on Thursday and decided the road bike with clip on aerobars would be the best. I think the road bike a good way to go for the other Alcatraz race since you go up and over a quick 3 miles that is relatively straight and then right back into the hills. However, this course is a bit different and features a 7-9 mile middle section that allows for staying in your aerobars. So, like in tests for school, I should have gone with my first choice and not second guessed myself. Also, since my legs were not feeling awesome any advantage a TT bike could have offered would have been appreciated. As I experienced a quick pity party and got mad at myself I decided to take the initiative and change my mental attitude. The effort was going to be what it was and I just needed to go as hard as I could and enjoy the race. The course is beautiful and any chance to race is always an opportunity to learn something and get better. I gritted my teeth and cycled as well as I could and hoped my legs would be there on the run. I was solidly in 6th place and a good effort on the run would keep me there and get me a nice payday for my efforts. Plus, I got to swim unlike the race the prior Sunday!

I finally made it back to T2, hopped off the bike and started the run. As I was starting the run I heard Andy say one of the worst phrases you can hear during a race...."are you alright?" he yelled as I ran by. Now, I know that he meant well and wanted to make sure I did not crash, have a flat, etc. but at that point if I could have made eye contact with him he would have gotten the evil eye. Luckily for him I had my sunglasses on and I was running so fast (joke) that I did not have time to make eye contact. I did a quick survey of myself since I heard the question and determined that I was in fact alright and surprisingly my running legs found a nice rhythm as I made my way across Crissy Field. I decided to run fast at this point because I had no idea how my legs would react once I hit the stairs and hills in the middle of the run. Like the bike my legs were strong on the hills but lacked a bit of bounce to get me over them as fast as I would have hoped. I did what I could to get up them well and focused on running strong and recovering a bit on what flats and downhills I could find while getting myself to Baker Beach and this....

The Sand Ladder.

It certainly seems daunting but I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other as quickly as possible and before I knew it I had made it to the top. I enjoyed the downhill running back to the finish line and took in the views of the ocean, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. It really is one of my favorite courses and while I was not having the race of my life it was amazing to be out there putting in a good effort for the day. Once I got to Crissy Field I knew that I had my place (6th) nailed down and I could not see 5th place in front of me so I ran strongly to the finish but did not go to the "well" in hopes I would recover more quickly and get in some good training this week.

We ate breakfast, attended the awards ceremony where I collected my check (props to TriCal, amazing staff and great events) and headed home. We were back in Napa by 1:30 and enjoyed a relaxing Sunday afternoon. That is what I call a good day! I am back to work now and continuing my journey...Pacific Grove is up next!

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” ~Proverb

Steelhead 69.1

2011-08-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Steelhead. My first triathlon that was turned into a duathlon. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. My attitude on race morning was positive. There was nothing I could do except bike and run as fast as I could. The only thing I will say...I think swims being cancelled for the professionala should be a rarity. Course modifications may need to happen but I think most of the time a safe course can be provided for the professionals. The age groupers are a different story. I do not envy the RD's position. People are going to be angry no matter what you do. I do believe the race director has to think of the safety of the worst swimmer out there. As events get bigger and less experienced swimmers are participating this type of thing is going to happen. No RD wants to get sued. It is the way it is in our country. Off my soapbox and onto the race...

I prepared the day before with a swim in Lake Michigan. There were some waves but they were not too bad. The water was warm. 75 degrees. I wore a shorty wetsuit but did not need it. When I got out of the water I actually said "I hope they don't cancel the swim tomorrow, I know they have in the past." Andy was incredulous that it was NOT wavy enough for that. I doubted his optimism. I headed up to the professional meeting. The first thing they said was "it is not looking good for a swim tomorrow." Great. We decided on the order if there was to be a time trial start on the bike and then I headed back to the condo we rented with my parents to relax. I was up early to head to transition the next morning. It was not windy when we left our condo. However, when we got to the race site the wind was blowing hard. I should have just left my wetsuit in the car. However, I was hopeful the swim would happen. As I walked to transition I heard conversations from other athletes that indicated the swim was canceled. I got set up quickly and sat around for awhile. My main source of stress was how in the world I was going to warm up for the start. I desperately wanted to take my bike for a ride but we were not allowed to take it out of transition. I opted for a run, dynamic stretching and drills to get my hips warmed up. I usually am a bit tight in the hips when I first get on the bike so I did my best to get the blood flowing. I also just told myself to watch my power output, not overdo it in the beginning and be ready for the first 8-10 miles to feel crappy. I knew once the legs warmed up I would be fine. I just would have to go through a bit of pain to get there.

Waiting for the start---everyone was convinced I was going to freeze to death. I was not cold one bit.

After those painful 20-30 minutes I got into a good rhythm. I passed a few women, got passed by a few others but I felt like I was biking well. The wind that was so strong on the coast did not seem to go that far inland so it was a pretty calm ride which was a bit unexpected. I thought I would get blown all over of the place but the headwinds and crosswinds that I expected on some stretches of road never materialized. That was a nice surprise because I was definitely waiting to turn a corner and get hit in the face with a terrible headwind. When things got tough I visualized some of my training rides and how I rode strongly even when I was tired. This helped a lot. And then, the most amazing thing happened at the aide station at mile 46. I reached out for a bottle of water. I wanted to take a couple of sips just to "cleanse" my pallet as I had only gatorade to drink the whole ride. When I grabbed the bottle I had it but then it shot forward out of my hand. I remained calm and figured I would just grab another one. However, the one that seemed to be a goner teetered for a milli-second between my aerobars and my right knee that just happened to be coming up as I pedaled. All of this seemed to occur in slow motion but I grabbed the water bottle that was teetering between my knee and my bars. The entire aide station erupted and I smiled big and even laughed out loud. I had 10 miles to go and I decided given the water bottle miracle I was "on" today. It was such a random moment of positivity at a point in the race where everything hurts. I rode well the last 10 miles buoyed by the miracle with the water bottle that made me look like a real athlete. The tailwind also helped...

I try to bike quickly so my parents do not have time to nap...I guess I still have work to do.

I rode into transition, hopped off the bike and got ready to run. I threw on my Zoot's (no socks, love it) and ran out of transition. I had a moment of panic when I first started running; I was sure I had forgotten to do something in transition but I had not. Rack bike, helmet off and shoes on. Easy and fast!

T2 (or was it T1?). Either way, time to run.

I felt okay on the first few miles of the run but not great. I don't know if it was the flatter bike course or just the day but I had to work a bit harder to run the way I wanted. The wind that I had expected on the bike did show up on sections of the run. I had a headwind some of the time and it slowed me a bit. Or, maybe I was just telling myself that so I did not feel so bad about some subpar mile splits? Either way, I told myself that no matter what I was going to run a faster 2nd half of the race and salvage a good run. I accomplished this and even began to feel better and find a rhythm. At this point in the race I had no idea where I stood place wise and how far ahead (or behind) I was from the other women in the race. I just tried to keep the pressure on and not give up any time. I ran the last 3 miles very well even though it hurt. I finished in 4:01 which I was happy with. Before we started I thought under 4 hours would be a best case scenario. I was close. They were printing out results at the finish and according to them I was 11th AGAIN! I swear, the double 1 is mine---11th place #5! However, it was without the swim and while speculation is just that, a guess, I am confident that I would have done very well with a swim on the front of the bike and run. Either way, it was another race in the legs and one that made me stronger.

Post race with my parents. Apparently my Dad and I are doing a Dr. Pepper advertisement.

I am back in California and received a great present---shoes from Zoot! I can't wait to go for runs and try them all out. I might even get to race in a pair very soon....Stay tuned!

Vineman

2011-07-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

I have no good reason on why I have not gotten around to writing up this race report. It seems that a lot of times a lackluster race leads to lackluster reporting of the events. However, this is not the case with me. I was happy with my race. There were things that did not go perfectly (hello long distance racing) but I dealt with the challenges calmly and moved on with my race.

The lead up to the race was a bit different than others as my coach and I wanted to try out a few things in hopes of getting me to the start line feeling strong. This involved a 10 day block of lots and lots of training followed by TWO days completely off. These two days off happened on Thursday and Friday the week BEFORE the race. This allowed me to recover from the intense training block and then have Saturday and Sunday to get rid of the cobwebs and do some good work the weekend before the race. We also felt that a 2 day break would allow me to get rid of some residual fatigue that seems to linger in my legs from time to time. In the week leading into the race I kept moving with a good amount of easy volume while keeping the intensity going so I did not feel flat on race day. I also felt this type of approach allowed me to stay in my "training" mindset of getting the work done day in and day out. Ultimately, this is what I want to do on race day. I don't like to ratchet the pressure on race day by making it into something it is not. It is day where I want to use my training and fitness to go fast but, like everyday, I need to focus on the process and getting done with the course as quickly as possible no matter what challenges may arise.

Race day came quickly and I was up early since we had a 6:32am start. I prepared my bike the night before by putting on numbers, all nutrition, etc. so I all had to do in the morning was roll into transition, put my helmet, sunglass and race number belt out and go warm up. I was in and out of transition in less than 3 minutes, got in a short run, hit the port-a-potty and then got in the water. Before I knew it we were off. There was quite a bit of firepower on the start line but the swim start was relatively tame. I have been working on not freaking out when there is contact during the swim and I have gotten better at not shying away if I get jostled around. I lost the feet of the front group early on in the swim. Apparently, I have a tendency to sight a bit too often during the beginning of the swim instead of keeping my head down. My husband (also assistant coach on race day) noticed that I lost quite a bit of ground at the start of the swim because of my oversighting. Lesson learned---keep head down and follow the bubbles. I ended up swimming on my own for the most of the swim in the middle of the river. I noticed a group of other girls swimming outside of me and towards the shore--maybe there was more current there? I have no idea. Anyway, I made it out of the water in 5th place and felt pretty good about the swim.

I had a good transition and was out onto the bike well. Last year I made the mistake of getting on the bike at the bottom of the big hill IMMEDIATELY out of transition. I got flustered because there was another athlete next to me and I ended up riding into a ditch. It was an awesome move :) This year I ran up the hill and then mounted the bike. For me this plan was definitely the way to go. I started fine but as it seems with this race, something was a little off when I started riding. This year my left shoe decided to misbehave and I had to take my foot out of the shoe a couple of times to get it on correctly. The strap was scrunched up and did not allow me to tighten it. I kept rolling, fixed it and got on with the job at hand. I felt better on the bike and good ability to go hard from the start. I have been focusing in on what race pace feels like in training because I don't want to always be starring at my powertap. I also want to race more on feel and not psych myself out if the power goes up for a bit. I have been training to handle some surges in effort during the bike so I can try to keep people in sight because it is much easier to ride hard when you have people in front of you keeping you honest. I did a bit better with this and rode some of the course with people and some of the time on my own. I focused on the keeping the effort up and not zoning out. It was a bit cool and misty from the fog and I fishtailed on one of the turns, almost going down. Around mile 40 Chalk Hill Road begins. I had grabbed a full bottle of gatorade at the aide station around mile 28. I had been drinking a bit out of it, but mostly drinking the gatorade in my water bottle between my aerobars. At the beginning of Chalk Hill there is a slight downhill. The road is also a bit bumpy. I hit a bump and felt something against my right foot. The mostly full gatorade bottle was teetering between my foot and the frame. In slow motion, it fell onto the road and rolled away. There was no way for me to stop and grab it. I was going too fast and it would have been unsafe. I did not freak out---I mean, how would that have helped the situation? I took a look at how much gatorade I had in my other water bottle (about 6 ounces) and figured I would just have to ration it the last 14 miles or so. Luckily, it was not super hot out and I had stayed on top of my hydration leading up to this point so I hoped it was enough to get me through the race. I also figured I would just try to load up the first few aide stations on the run. Other than that, there was not much I could do. I rode strong the remainder of the ride and did my best to suck every last ounce of gatorade out of the water bottle I had left.

I hopped off my bike and got through T2 quickly. Both my transitions at the race were solid. Within :05 of the fastest transitions among the pro women. Anyway, the legs felt tired but I was ready to run. I knew how I wanted to run and even if I did not feel great I was going to run fast. It would just be more painful if I did not feel good! I focused on relaxing and kept a few age group men in front of me as motivation to stay honest with the effort. While the run is a fast course it is relatively hilly the whole way. It reminds me of exactly the type of terrain I train on in Napa so I knew I was strong enough to handle the hills and maintain my speed. I grabbed a bit of extra fluid at the first few aide stations. I was feeling okay. Maybe I would be able to pull this off after losing my extra fluid on the bike?!?! I ran well through the halfway point, got a gel down and focused on running faster on the way back to the finish. This went well until about mile 10.5. Then I started to really slow down. My legs were feeling rather heavy and I could feel the lack of hydration setting in. At least it was only 2.5 miles from the finish. I was right on target up until that point to run about a 1:27 (my pre-race goal) but I lost a bit of time those last few miles. I had to focus on each step at that time. I was thinking "please get me to the finish line." I made it with my best 70.3 time ever, a PR on the run and 10 minutes faster than last year. I just wish I could have finished it off strong those last couple of miles but I got it done. And, I placed 11th AGAIN. I prefer to not be in the top ten so my name does not appear on triathlon websites! I think that is at least four 11th place finishes in the last 2 years. Guess I am just going to have to do better at Steelhead 70.3 on August 14!

The Escape

2011-06-06T08:08:00.001-07:00

2011 was my 5th time competing in this race. A bit of history on my experience in Escape from Alcatraz:

2006 was my first year. The current must have been strong against us that year because it was my slowest swim. 35 minutes. I biked 1:07 and ran 1:07. With transitions my total time was 2:59:47. Becky Lavelle won in 2006 at 2:21.

I think it is pretty awesome that I have the opportunity to line up and compete against Becky Lavelle and other amazing athletes now. I may not be up with the top women but I am getting closer. Becky beat me by less than 10 minutes this year. I stood on the awards stage with some amazing ladies. This keeps me working hard. I may never be a world champion or win a professional race but I am closing the gap. I have people right ahead of me and right behind me in races...this brings out the best in me. Thank you to my competitors---I would not be able to do this without you!

Awards 2011. I am second from the right.

The swim start.

I am the second from the right in the pink cap. I am the one with a knee length capri wetsuit because I cut too much off the bottom. Although, that mistakes it really easy to get off in transition. Standing on the side of the boat hanging on for dear life is quite an experience. The water feels cold even from 7 feet up. Another funny thing is that a majority of us pee in our wetsuits while we are standing there. Everyone has little drips around their feet and down the side of the boat. What a glamorous sport!

As I said in my last blog, I just wanted to soak up the experience and race hard. The only real goal was to make sure I stayed with a group in the swim so I did not over shoot the swim finish like I did last year. I had a great dive off the boat and stayed with a group. Instead of shying away from the contact I just hung in there and dealt. I got whacked in the head a couple times and hit some arms, etc. but it was not too bad. The one thing I forgot---how shockingly cold that water is! I must block it out after it is over each year, but oh my, it is so cold! Luckily, the current was fast and I hit land in just under 27 minutes. I opted to run to transition without stopping to put on shoes. I did this last year as well. I knew it is the painful way to go. However, it is faster for sure. When I did it last year I slowed down because my feet were burning so badly. Numb feet on rough concrete is a bad combination. This year, based on my experience last year, I knew that slowing down would not lessen the pain. I ran as hard as I could and just dealt. I am paying for it now. The bottom of my feet have been on fire since the race.

I was onto the bike quickly and had other racers in sight. Surprisingly, I did not feel as cold as usual on the first flat stretch of the course before the hills start. I went hard and waited for my legs to come around. I hit the first hill and just went for it even though my legs were not happy about it. I figured they would come around. I was racing with the other woman around me so that was fun. Up, down, left, right, back up---you get the picture. I made it back to transition with my best time on the course ever (57 minutes). Of course, given my type A personality I had hoped to be a bit faster but I'll take it. I screwed up in transition, losing about :20 because I went the long way around the bike rack even though we did not have too. Right after I did it I was like "f---!" I could have gone the shorter way. Oh well, lesson learned---if no one is there to direct you like they usually are go the short way!

I threw my shoes on and ran out of transition. I needed a mile or so to get into a good rhythm and knew that I had some woman close behind me. I hit the stairs and my legs were burning. Around mile 3 I was passed by one woman. I tried to stick with her but the legs were not having it at that point. We got down to the beach and this year they had us ran through a TON of deep sand. I felt drunk running on it. I was all over of the place and had no power to get any sort of rhythm. Grrrr...this was a bad time for me. Luckily, I had some women up ahead to keep my eyes on and this kept me going. I made it to the sand ladder and boy did it hurt this year. Each step is one step closer I thought. My HR was sky high and my breathing was heavy. I made it to the top only a few seconds slower than last year so that is fine---it definitely felt a lot harder this year. I don't know how it could---the sand ladder is never a walk in the park! Coming up the last hill I was looking forward to hitting the downhill and trying to run down the woman in front of me. I caught her around mile 5 and put in a surge to go past her quickly. After this I had to keep me head up and wits about me because age groupers were coming up the trail. I ran smack into one of them coming around a corner. Luckily I did not fall down but I know that Charisa ran into someone and fell. I came off the stairs and settled into the last 2 miles across Crissy field and down Marina Blvd. I was in the hurt box. My legs were screaming at me. I wanted to finish strong. I looked up ahead and saw a woman in the distance. I was going to catch her! I kept the pressure on and passed her around mile 7. 1 mile to go! I felt like I was only running with my arms because my legs would not go anymore. I ran down the finish chute very happy to finish in 8th place with a personal best time on the course (2:27). My run was about :10 faster than last year and it felt a whole lot worse than last year. Progress but I am not totally satisfied! Good motivation for the rest of the year.

Next up is a bit of a break (3-5 days) to allow my body to train and race well the remainder of the year. The last few years I have noticed that July and August are tough months for me physically so I want to allow for some good recovery so I have a little more "oomph."

I am going to do a short swim today to loosen up. I always feel like I have done a 1000 squats after the Alcatraz race. It is definitely a strength and power course. A different type of hurt.

Bageled

2011-06-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Today, as I was setting up my computrainer, I had the Sharapova vs. Petkovic tennis match on the television. Petkovic had been "bageled" in the first set, losing 0-6 to Sharapova. It was during the second set and Petkovic found her rhythm and was at deuce with Sharapova and ended up breaking Sharapova on the point. The commentator said something about Petkovic like "well, she played so terrible the first set the pressure is off and now she can just PLAY." Petkovic did not end up winning the match, or even the second set, but she did finish a lot better than she started and made Sharapova work for the win in the second set. The comment about "just playing" really resonated with me. I will tell you why, I just have to back up and fill you in on a couple things....

This morning I gave the swim coach I used to work with a call. One of our former swimmers lost her brother in a tragic accident on Monday (thinking of you AG) and I wanted to make sure Paul knew what happened since he is not on Facebook. We talked about that, how the season ended and a few other things before he asked about my training and racing. I gave him a quick run down of my Puerto Rico and Wildflower races from a general perspective and then, unexpectedly, I launched into a brief psychoanalysis of what I thought was going on and why I had been disappointed with some aspects of my performances. It was probably more than he bargained for when he asked the innocent question of "how is your training going?"

This goes back to the Petkovic bagel because I feel like I have "bageled" in my two races this year. There have been good things and I have seen improvements but because of the pressure I have put on myself it has not all come together yet. So, this weekend, I want to get out there and "just play." No pressure, no expectations. I want to find some fast feet and survive the cold water. I want to bike really hard like I do in workouts and make it hurt. I want to run as fast as I can and get up the sand ladder faster than I did last year. Finally, I want to cross the finish line knowing that I gave everything to get there as quickly as possible. The rest will take care of itself.

A fun Sunday ride with friends. That is WHY I do this.

The Last Few Weeks

2011-05-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

I have been doing quite a bit of training the last couple weeks. After recovering from Wildflower, mentally and physically, I was excited to get back to work. Today is my active recovery day, which is appreciated, before I do a few big training days through the weekend.

I had an easy spin on tap the other day and since there are lots and lots of hills around here I decided to set up the trainer outside to make sure the ride was "flat." I did not mind this at all. Andy thought I was crazy. Don't despair, I had been climbing all those beautiful hills the day before---hence the easy ride. The legs were cashed.

There was a breeze but I enhanced it with the fan.

Not bad. My back got sunburned. And yes, that is a bikini top. Prime tanning time!

Storm (left) and Jaromir (right) like me--and each other.

Only in California.

Wildflower

2011-05-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

Wildflower. A beautiful and challenging course. I, much like Charisa, believed in my heart that this had the potential to be a great race for me. Everything in preparation for the race went well. I was strong in all three disciplines and I knew that if things came together on race day I would reap the benefits of my hard work this winter and spring. However, as can happen in sport, things did not go as I had visualized. Maybe I could have been mentally stronger when I started feeling crappy on the bike. Maybe I should have pushed myself to stay with the girls who went by me instead of being too strict and sticking to my race plan. I need to have a plan and there needs to be some limits but I also need to just freaking RACE! I am a better cyclist and runner now and I need to have the confidence to try and stick with my competitors. I also think I need to have the confidence to put it all out there and take the chance of completely blowing up.

So, instead of making this a report on why I am not happy about my race I am going to tell you the positives.

*I started and finished the race strong. My swim was much better. The last 5 miles of the run I found a bit of energy and finished feeling like a runner instead of just hanging on. This is an improvement from my first race in San Juan--solid.

*The volunteers were awesome. I was in a dark spot at the beginning of the run and just hearing them scream how awesome you were and saying things like "you rock" really did help.

*I made it to the start line and crossed the finish line. Things happened in between but at the end of the day, I finished what I started. This is always a good thing!

*I did not get blown over by the cross winds on the bike.

*My transitions were great. Except for the rock in my sock in T2. I took 5 seconds to dig that sucker out because I not running 13.1 miles with that underneath my foot---I was enough pain.

*Even though I shed a few tears in the middle of the run and yelled at my husband to please "say something positive to me" I really did enjoy myself on race day. Every step forward is a step in the right direction. Therefore, challenges on one day will help me down the road.

*I learned a lot.

Escape from Alcatraz is next on June 5.

Good Enough? Or Great?

2011-04-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

When I first got my pro card about 1.5 years ago I had a conversation with someone. This person told me that to be successful I had to be "hard" and willing to suffer. They also told me that because I had it "easy" I might not make it. This person said this because I was moving with my husband to Napa, California. We bought a house and I had the opportunity to leave my job as a swim coach and train full time. It is probably no secret to anyone who reads this blog that right now I am a losing business proposition. I am making a lot of investments (i.e., training) and I believe these will pay off in a couple of years but without the love and support of my husband I would not be able to train full time. The person I was speaking with was talking about this point. I do not have to fight to win races to put food on my table. What motivation is there to take the suffering up a notch? Will I just settle to be good? During the actual conversation, these things were said with a bluntness that was off putting and slightly insulting.

A couple hours later I received an email from this person admitting they were a bit harsh and did not want the conversation to be taken as if they did not believe in me. I have had the email in my inbox for about 2 years and for some reason this morning I took a look at it. I noticed a phrase that I might of missed when I first read the email but today it stood out to me. It said "sometimes the biggest obstacle to great is good." In training and in my races I need to remember this point. I can say to myself that an interval in training is good enough but can it be better, can it be great? Same with racing; 11th is good, but what would be great? How deep do I need to dig to be great in this race?

The Fab Five

2011-03-30T16:22:00.001-07:00

I love Michigan's Fab Five. I watched as many games as I could and read the book written about them when it came out. I even attended a rally at Crisler Arena with my dad after they returned from one of their Final Fours. I actually knew a little bit about Chris Webber and Jalen Rose before they were at Michigan since I grew up in Michigan. Coincidentally, I was at Chris Webber's final high school basketball game. It was the state finals and my high school, Albion, was playing against Detroit Country Day for the championship. So, before the game we all knew about Chris Webber. He was the top rated high school basketball player in the country. It was going to be a tough game. Unfortunately, our team did not win the game but after watching Webber play I began to pay a bit more attention to his career. I think he announced he was attending Michigan a couple of days after the state championship game and since I had already decided I was going to Michigan to swim (my dream since 6th grade) I was an instant fan.

When all the NCAA investigations started and they eventually forfeited all their records it was really sad. It was hard to believe they were basically erasing them from the Michigan athletic history books. They elevated Michigan basketball and completely changed the college game. You can't just erase something like that. However, after watching the documentary on ESPN (more than once, I have it on my DVR) I realized that while the banners in Crisler Arena are gone the journey those players took could never be erased by wiping their names out of the record books. In the documentary the players reminisced about the games, the travel and the team. All those experiences will never be taken away from them and those are truly the things that matter. They experienced things together, both good and bad, that have bonded them for life. Winning the games was important and that is what they were striving for as a team but ultimately I think the things that matter the most go beyond the court.

When I think about my experiences at Michigan with my teammates the first things that come to mind are tough practices we made it through, bus rides to competitions and having fun outside of the pool. While my goals in college regarding swimming were performance based my memory is not tempered by whether I achieved a time goal or not. The only reason I actually remember my times is because I have a photographic memory for numbers when they mean something to me. I won't expand on this...it's really wacky. Anyway, my experience in college was about the journey I took with the women on my team. The things we experienced were exclusive to our team and we shared something special together. We changed, we matured and throughout it all we had common goals and helped each other to try and achieve them. I don't talk to all my teammates on a regular basis but no matter how much time passes or how things change in our lives the journey that we took together has shaped us into who we are today.

As I coach to my swimmers at UIC this was something I really wanted them to understand. While they had time goals for swims I always wanted them to focus on the now and understand that trying to achieve those specific goals was a major part of the experience. Let's be honest, we all train a lot for our races. Ultimately, we spend a lot more time training than we do racing. You have to really enjoy the training part and let the competitions be the reward. In 2009, I watched my swimmers at their championship meet when the competition came down to the last relay. Win the relay and our men's team was going to be the champion. Simple. As I stood and watched the relay prepare to swim and observed the team I hoped that no matter what, they would all remember the moment. It's great just to be in it. To have the opportunity to do something amazing. Yes, it would have been a bummer if they guys would have lost the relay (they won, that relay was money) but 20 years later I am sure they would have looked back fondly on the experience.

This brings me to now. I am happy to be on this journey. I am happy to throw caution to the wind and see what I can do. I have daydreams of running down the finishing chute in first place and that may happen. It may not. I might get 5th place in a major race and that might be all that I achieve but would that be so bad? 20 years from now I'll remember striving to be the best that I can be and giving 100%. As race season gets underway (here in North America) I hope that everyone remembers what really matters and what you will recall years from now.

The Fab Five may have lost their banners but their journey will never be forgotten. Go Blue!

San Juan 70.3

2011-03-24T07:27:00.001-07:00

San Juan, Puerto Rico. The first race of the season. I had this race on my plan since I froze at Oceanside last year and then, after my friend Blanca's wedding in June, it was no longer tentative. Blanca was my housemate in college and was Puerto Rican. Her family used to come visit us in Ann Arbor and the highlight of the visit was a huge Puerto Rican feast prepared by her father Carlos. I swear everyone on campus knew when Carlos was in town. He used to have to cook for 50-60 hungry college athletes. After dinner on these special Saturday nights we would relax and go to bed early...(okay, not really)

Anyway, at Blanca's wedding her sister Martha and her wife Christine told me of their plan to do their first half ironman in San Juan. After experiencing how warm and welcoming Blanca's family was during their visits to Ann Arbor and then at the wedding I knew I wanted to race in Puerto Rico. Plus, it was a tropical environment. One negative---the long travel day to get there. Living in California and having to fly all the way across the US and then beyond Florida reminds you how large this country is. I arrived wiped out on Tuesday evening but woke up to sunshine and the ocean. I felt better instantly.

The only problem once I arrived was that San Juan is a large city. This means no cycling anywhere close to the hotel. I know that people did it, but I was not comfortable at all with cycling with the traffic. Plus, every local triathlete I talked to said over and over "do not ride around here." On Wednesday I did an easy run, swam in the lagoon where the swim would take place and then tried to figure out how to get a ride done. Ultimately, I knew that if a ride did not happen on Wednesday afternoon I could do one Thursday but I really wanted to get on my bike Wednesday since it was scheduled on my plan. After a slight freak out on how to get this done I sucked it up and came up with a plan. Since there were no rental cars available I paid a cab driver to take me out to the part of the bike course with little traffic and wait for me at a gas station while I rode for 60 minutes. On the drive out of town I got a tour of the entire bike course. It was going to take us on expressways and then out along the coast. Except for a few overpasses the course was flat. The amazing part was that entire expressways were going to be closed for the race. The entire city was extremely welcoming and excited to have the Ironman in town. At the pre-race meeting the race director greeted every single one of us with a handshake and thanked us for coming. It was really the little things that made us all feel welcome and it was exciting to see the entire city come together and be thrilled to have us racing on their island.

A picture of the swim course taken from my balcony at the hotel. We would swim in the lagoon beyond the bridge, swim under the bridge and then exit the water and run 457 yards to transition. They told us the exact yardage for the run to transition at the pre-race meeting. Attention to details, I like that.

Everything went smoothly leading up to the race. I went for short easy ride very early in the morning on Friday (before traffic) and of course got a shard of glass in my new tire. I removed it was tweezers and all was good. Of course, I obsessed about it for a couple hours but then I figured if I got that little nick in my tire on a 30 minute ride before the race I could get the same thing during the race so why worry?

Race morning was easy. Wake up, eat, walk less than 5 minutes over to transition to set up, easy jog, head back to room for last bathroom pit stop and then walk 5 minutes to the swim start. So simple! And, I did not have to use a port-a-potty all day. I love that! I got to the swim start, warmed up and lined up for our 6:55 am start. The water was warm and the day started a bit overcast. I had a good start and was up near the front for the first 400 meters and then I could not hang on the leaders feet anymore. I saw them slip away from me and I was gobbled up by the second group. At this point I was a bit frustrated. The middle part of the swim for me was not good. However, I began to feel better and I noticed the group I was with was beginning to swim way left and not stick to the buoy line. I knew the buoys were going to bend right before heading underneath the bridge so I did not follow the group. This definitely saved me some time and I made up some ground going underneath the bridge. This is when we hit a massive current for the last few hundred meters. I actually felt like I swam better in the chop. I finished the swim well and came out of the water determined to have a good run to transition. I have had trouble in the past getting out of the water and running well but I was determined to do better. Luckily, I had Cait Snow to chase so I tried to stay as close as possible. It definitely hurt but I did it. I got to my bike, threw on sunglasses, helmet and race belt and was off. I actually beat some people out of transition! One reason for this because I swam sans speedsuit. I just wore a swimsuit on the swim. I have no wetsuit sponsor so I decided to go old school and just wear a "speedo." I jumped on my bike and got ready to bike hard and see what kind of improvements I had made after my bike focus over the winter training months. The flat course did not really play to my strengths---I like hills now---but I knew I was stronger than I have been in the past.

(Photo Courtesy of Ramon Serrano)

The bike course consisted of riding out 12 miles, doing two loops and then riding back into town. We enjoyed a slight tailwind on the way out of town and then battled a headwind/crosswind when we turned around. There were definitely times when I had to "lean" into the wind. As I approached the first turnaround at 20 miles I started to see the pro women ahead of me coming back on the other side of the road. I had been passed by a few girls but they had not disappeared into the distance very quickly so I knew I was riding better than in past races. When I saw women who had already made the turnaround I figured I probably had a few more miles to go. Then, less than a 2 minutes later I saw a bunch of cones in the road, etc. I assumed this was for cars or something and the turnaround was still further down the road. However, as I approached there was a big sign that had the u-turn arrow and a timing mat. I actually said out loud "no way, really?!?!" I could not believe I was already turning around. This gave me some confidence. I was riding better. I kept the pressure on the pedals and got ready to battle the wind before starting my second loop. Because this course was so flat you were in aero the entire time. There is no really change in your cadence. I do not find this to be easy at all. When you see a flat course you might think it would be easier but I like the hills and the changes to your position and muscles used during the bike. I actually thought during this race that doing IM Florida would be really tough. You are in aero for 112 miles. No real change at all. Luckily, I have my ISM saddle so I was comfortable throughout but there is definitely a fatigue in the legs that comes from sustained pedaling at the same rate for 56 miles.

Anyway, I continued on during the bike making sure to drink and stay fueled. It was definitely hot and humid out there and I knew I was losing a lot of electrolytes through sweating so I made sure to try and replace what was lost with my nutrition. As I approached the end of the bike the clouds had cleared and the sun had come out. I knew the run was going to be hot and extremely hilly. I had hoped this would play to my strength of running in the heat and on hills since my runs in Napa are hilly unless I run on the treadmill.

Here I am approaching transition. You will notice there are other bikers in the frame. This is a change for me. These people usually would have caught a passed me many miles ago but I am a better biker now! And, I am not done improving...

I had a good transition and started the run with 3 other woman. I tried to keep up but my legs felt flat. We ran up over a pedestrian bridge and I kept up on the climb but I did not feel that strong. I ran hard but also knew that I had to save some energy for the second loop. I hoped I would find a rhythm after the few couple of kilometers but it just continued to be difficult. I was frustrated and there were lots of hills...

(Photo Courtesy of Ramon Serrano)

Views on the run course. Something to focus on other than the pain.

One of the many hills. It was a 2 loop course. Tough!

The run developed into damage control. My mantra became "find something." I kept telling myself that. Find something inside you to get this done. Find any ounce of energy. Find any inspiration to keep going. I kept plugging away. The hills were tough. The good thing about the hills was they broke up the course. Get up this hill, go down the next one, around the corner, along the fortress wall, onto the cobblestones, up another hill, etc. There were little goals along the way. Before I knew it was I was at mile 10. 3 miles to go and I can get this done. Looking at the mile splits I was fastest for the first 3 miles and then settled into a pace that I maintained throughout the remainder of the run. While it was a pace that was slower than I hoped at least I did not keep getting slower. I stayed strong even during the second loop on the hills. I powered up them as much as I could. I felt "stronger" than I used to be. The strength work helped me maintain my pace. I finished the race in 11th. I was depleted. Maybe I needed more salt. Maybe I biked too hard. Maybe it was just the first race of the season after 16 weeks of major bike focus. My swim and run intensity along with volume just started increasing 6-8 weeks ago. I know that I cannot be in my best race fitness 10 months out of the year. Progress is being made and it is nice to know that hard work on the bike is paying dividends. More hard work will keep me improving.

I always have high hopes before the first race of the season. I think part of it is just excitement to race again after a long time off. I find I am somewhat disappointed after the first race of the season most years. However, upon reflection, I can definitely find things I am happy about. Plus, if it all went perfectly on Saturday I would not have clues about what I need to work on for the next race of the season.

I had breakfast with Martha, Christine, Marta (Martha's mother) and her aunt on Sunday morning. La Bombonera has been around for over 100 years.

They serve these---Mallorcas. A pastry with butter and powdered sugar. Yummy!

Martha finished her first half on Saturday. I was so excited for her. Christine was unable to compete due to emergency surgery in January but both Martha and Christine are planning the rest of their seasons and are thinking about doing their first Ironman next year. We discussed possible options for that. It was wonderful to visit with them and they gave me a tour of Old San Juan and filled me in on the history.

I flew out on Monday and was excited to get home to Andy and the kitties. The travel day was long and was made even tougher by the fact that I became ill on the flight from Miami to San Francisco. A 6 hour flight. My worst nightmare. Then I had to drive home from San Francisco airport. I toughed it out and got home. Then I went 48 hours without real food. Maybe a piece of toast and a couple of bites of plain noodles but that was it. Yuck! I am on the mend now and even had breakfast this morning! Easy training and then we will focus on the next race--Wildflower. I hear there are hills there on the bike and run. The terrain will be a lot like what I train on everyday here in Napa. Plus, I definitely got some practice on hilly runs this past weekend. I am excited for what is to come in 2011! See you at the races!

Success

2011-03-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think the fates must grin as we denounce them and insist,

The only reason we can't win is the fates themselves have missed.

Yet, there lives on the ancient claim - we win or lose within ourselves,

The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow's game.

So you and I know deeper down there is a chance to win the crown,

But when we fail to give our best, we simply haven't met the test

Of giving all and saving none until the game is really won.

Of showing what is meant by grit, of fighting on when others quit,

Of playing through not letting up, it's bearing down that wins the cup.

Of taking it and taking more until we gain the winning score,

Of dreaming there's a goal ahead, of hoping when our dreams are dead,

Of praying when our hopes have fled. Yet, losing, not afraid to fail,

If bravely we have given all, for who can ask more of a man

than giving all, it seems to me, is not so far from - Victory.

And so the fates are seldom wrong, no matter how they twist and wind,

It's you and I who make our fates, we open up or close the gates,

On the Road Ahead or the Road Behind.

(George Moriarty)

Reminders

2011-03-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

As I prepare for my first race of the season (10 days, yikes) life has given me little reminders of what is possible, what is important and that inspiration can come from everyday interactions with others. Just do what you love to do and someone will get it.....

Last Friday I went up to St. Helena to meet with Bill. Bill is doing his first triathlon this summer and wanted some help with his swimming. Bill was inspired to do a sprint triathlon after watching his daughter win the Green Lake Triathlon last summer and then complete Ironman Cozumel in November. I love that Bill is taking up the challenge of doing his first triathlon at the age of 75! He bikes 3 times a week and runs just as frequently. Swimming has been a challenge for him but we made some tweaks to his stroke to make him more efficient and come July I am sure he will be ready to go. Meeting with Bill served as a reminder that it is never too late and that inspiration has no age limits. He is 75 and still riding up the same hills that I ride. While I know that I will not always be getting faster I can still be out there. Maybe Bill will inspire my parents to do a triathlon?!?!?!

Last week I also saw several articles online about how awesome indoor bike riding is for developing great cycling fitness. You can zone in on specific intensities and ride uninterrupted without traffic or terrain changes. I agree the trainer can be your friend. However, I am sure those living in cold weather and have been on the trainer for 4 months straight might disagree with me right now and I can totally understand---I have been there. That said, I love riding my bike on the road. I love being outside, climbing the hills and fighting the wind. I would choose the road over the trainer any day. Ultimately, I do this sport because I love where it takes me. I love what I see when I got out for a ride. I love to drag myself up the hills. I can't get that on the trainer. Plus, I have to believe that cycling in the environment where you race---OUTSIDE---is where you should practice. You do not learn to drive a car in a simulator. You have to deal with handling the bike and being aware of your surroundings at all different intensities and speeds. Of course, if I need to do a very specific set of intervals I have places I will choose to ride over others and sometimes I will hit my computrainer. If I do my intervals outside, I will always make sure to watch intersections and driveways for oncoming traffic. If I have to slow down during an interval then so be it.

Reading these articles reminded me of why I do triathlon. I love it. I love the process of training and the challenges. I want to be outside. We moved to Napa to enjoy nature. I run on the trails and I ride up and down the hills. There will come a time when I won't be competing in triathlons quite as often. However, I will still be outside enjoying where we live.

Finally, I have to send my thoughts to the family of Sally Meyerhoff. I never met Sally but from what I read about her today she was following her dream of being an elite marathoner and triathlete. My heart aches for her family and friends.

One big final reminder about what is truly important.

Tulum

2011-03-01T12:53:00.001-08:00

After a couple very heavy training weeks I got a little break and headed to Tulum, Mexico for a little relaxation and to see my good friends, Dave and Andrea, get married on the beach.

Before I left I woke up to this:

It snowed in Napa! We are at 1500ft. so it gets a bit colder up here. No snow on the valley floor. Luckily, it melted by mid-morning.

Since it was cold and rainy in Napa it was the perfect time to head to the beach of Mexico to rejuvenate.

We stayed in a cabana on the beach. No phones. No TV. However, there was a wifi connection which was important because I was on the computer checking the results of my former swimmers who were at their championship meet in Cleveland.

Our cabana. It was a yoga and spa retreat so I did a couple yoga classes. We mountain biked a bit and I did some running in the heat and a few ocean swims. Other than that it was all about relaxation.

We checked out the ruins and saw lots of iguanas. I think the mayans were reincarnated as iguanas.

Amazing beaches. The softest sand I have ever felt. I think the water was more blue than the Cayman islands as well.

The reason we went...Dave and Andrea's wedding celebration on the beach. Shoes optional.

Yes, it is spelled C-O-C-K-S

2011-02-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

I used to be very self conscious about my last name. The kids in middle school and high school were ruthless. I would not get a letter jacket with my last name on it for fear of being ridiculed in the halls at school or while out at a HS football or basketball game. Can you imagine what the kids from the other schools would have said to me?!?!?

In middle school I was on the track team and I did the high jump. My high jump career ended abruptly after my first competition. When you do the high jump, or any other field event, they let you know your turn is coming up by saying " on deck" and then " in the hole." That's right, they had to say "Cocks in the hole!" It was even more humiliating because the high school boys were scoring the high jump competition and they thought it was hilarious. So, one meet=end of high jump career. I approached the coach and requested to be put in the 55 meter hurdles instead. I would do the hurdles and the 2 mile run.

My self consciousness about my last name has tempered quite a bit and I even decided to keep it when I got married. I used to say that I could not wait to get married so I could drop my totally embarrassing last name but when push came to shove I felt weird about it. I went through a lot in my life with my last name and I was just going to throw it away? It seemed wrong.

However, I still get confirmation questions when making a restaurant reservations or appointments. The conversation goes like this:

Reservationist: "Last name?"

Me: "Cocks, C-O-C-K-S"

Reservationist: "C-O-C (pause), really?"

Me: "Yes, this is not a joke."

Recently I was at dinner with our two friends, Kori and Dave. I was telling them about the "cocks in the hole" story and Kori, being quite the spitfire, said "You gotta own that s**t. I would have been like, ya, that's my last name, you got a problem?!?!" It has taken me 30+ years but I have decided to "own it." My kit for this year proudly has COCKS on the behind with grapevines coming off it. I am rocking the last name with pride. I should have done it when I was 12 and told those 2 high school boys laughing at me to f*** off.

Here's the kit. I have tri shorts, a tank and a bikini as well. Oh yeah! Thanks to Kristin at Betty Designs for designing such an awesome race outfit.

Not Too Long Now

2011-02-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

It's February already. Life is moving along quickly per usual. I do wish I could slow it down a bit so I only had to get older every 2 or 3 years but that is not the case. After my Tucson trip I had some solid training here in Napa for 6 days and then packed up an overnight bag and headed back to Chicago to watch my former swimmers in their final dual meet of the year.

Luckily, I missed the blizzard by 2 days but I did get to see some of the aftermath. Cars on the side streets were completely covered by snow; literally, you could not see the car. If you had not dug it out by the time they came through and plowed I don't think those cars are going to be out until spring. I was in town for about 30 hours. I landed, dealt with traffic, quick swim, dinner at Spacca Napoli, bed, treadmill run and swim in the AM, swim meet and airport.

One of the seniors, Evan Dunn. The seniors were freshman the first year I was the assistant coach so we went through a lot together. Next year I'll have to go back for my first recruiting class. I surprised everyone and most were happy to see me. There are a couple who are not big fans for one reason or another. I think when you challenge people some may hate it at the moment but know you are trying to get the best out of them. Others, not so much; they just detest you.

After returning to Napa late on Saturday night I slept in, enjoyed breakfast with Andy at a local cafe and then got in a ride and run in the 80 degree temperatures. It is amazing to me that I flew only 4 hours and ended up a long way from winter.

Our next trip is in a couple weeks. We are heading to Tulum, Mexico for a wedding. The heat and humidity will be quite similar to Puerto Rico so I'll make sure to do some running to remind my body how to deal with the heat. I'll also get in some great open water swimming in the crystal blue waters. I am not taking my bike because I hear the roads are not super safe (fast drivers) but since we are only there for 4 days I can just take a small break off the bike.

After that it is off to San Juan for my first race of the year. I can't believe it is so close. I can tell because my training has started to change. I am still riding quite a bit but the rides are not quite as long and they involve more intervals and the words "race pace." Instead of long hilly rides I am back to doing some hill repeats. While I am much stronger than this time last year it is always a bit of a shock on the first day of hill repeats. The applied stimulus of climbing and then forcing the body to recover in a certain amount of time takes a bit of adaptation. However, while I thought I was having a bad climbing day the repeats indicated otherwise. I usually do my repeats on the same hill and I have it mapped out according to landmarks and time (ie, I should be this far after 4, 8, etc. minutes). According to my time and distance estimates I was doing pretty well. Swimming and running are undergoing the same type of makeovers. The first race of the year is always a bit of a shock to the system but I know that I will have the endurance and for the first time I am not coming off limited riding on a computrainer ONLY. I am so excited about that!

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Neale Walsh

Tucson

2011-01-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

Last week I headed south to Tucson for a visit and some training with Hillary and her fiance, Maik Twelsiek. I was excited to catch up with Hillary, get to know Maik better and see some new scenery while training.

We also did some training sessions with other athletes and I got to meet some new people. Fun stuff and I was happy that I was able to keep up---especially on the bike!

Before our sunrise trail run on Starr Pass.

Running amongst the cacti. And I did not fall :)

Roller coaster roads.

View from Gates Pass. I went up the hard way and the easy way. At first I thought I made a mistake going up the steep part. However, all the hill climbing in Napa has totally helped---I popped right over that sucker.

Gates Pass.

Our Saturday morning adventure up Mt. Lemmon before I flew out. We did not go all the way to the top so I missed the cookies at Summerhaven. It was nice to do part of the climb. I also enjoyed seeing lots and lots of cyclists heading up the mountain for a solid Saturday morning workout. Beats winter in the Midwest for sure!

Time to ride down.

Tucson---from Mt. Lemmon.

Maik's new knife set he got for Christmas. I have 2 slashes on my fingers. Hillary cut her thumb. Stupid German knives. They are too well made.

Monticello Grove 1st Annual Olive Harvest

2011-01-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Our new house in California came with 54 olive trees. On December 31 it was time to pick and press the olives. Since I was busy doing a monster workout day Andy took care of the logistics but I wanted to show you how it was done.

Step 1---make sure the olives are ripe. Ideally you want 25% green, 50% purple/green and 25% black. This year the ripening took longer than usual because of the rain and cooler temps.

Step 2---pick the olives. You do this by setting up tarps and whacking the trees with metal poles.

Step 3---rent a trailer and drive over to Sonoma to the place with the big olive press machines.

Step 4---press the olives.

Step 5---the olives go in a Fusti where the oil settles (also known as racking) so the sediment and vegetable matter goes to the bottom leaving you with clear oil. This can take 30-60 days.

Step 6 (optional)----our 1300 lbs. of olives gave use 18 gallons of oil. The fusti pictured in the truck was about 26 gallons. This means there was a lot of air at the top of the fusti and the oxygen could degrade the oil. So, we purchased 3 smaller fusti's and transferred the oil into those to settle. It should be ready in February. We have tried the oil and it is yummy!

I listened....

2011-01-11T11:18:00.001-08:00

I have had some big weeks of training recently. Surprisingly, I was handling it well and while some workouts were tough my body was rising to the occasion and I was doing some really solid work. I had a day off last Monday followed by some long days on Tuesday through Thursday. On Wednesday, I had some hard efforts on the bike which took a lot of mental toughness to get through. Thursday my bike ride was solid but my motivation was waning. I was tired. I was grumpy. I was hungry ALL the TIME. Friday morning I set out for my 75 min. trail run. I was not super excited about it but figured once I got going I would get into a rhythm and be motivated to get the work done. It did not happen. I started my run, stepped in a huge puddle of mud about 10 minutes in and was so pissed about it. Yes, I had a fit right there on the trail because I could not understand how it could still be muddy when it had not rained in 5 days! I soldiered on but then the tears came. I was DONE. Mentally I just lost it. I was so tired, unmotivated and just wanted to sleep. I don't really cry that much. Since the tears were flowing for absolutely NO REASON I listened to what my body was saying. It had enough and was screaming for a rest. I usually hit this wall when I break physically but I have become stronger and I guess it is good to know that the body could take the pounding. However, I was exhibiting some real fatigue through my mood and emotions.

I emailed my coach to tell him of my episode on the trail and he responded by saying it sounded like I was very tired and then mentioned that he wished he had a video of me stomping around and crying in the mud. I was laughing as I wrote him the email as well. Gosh, I felt like an idiot. At this time of year I am okay with finding my limits. To become better I have to listen to my mind and body. Training is realized through recovery and my hard work would not be beneficial if I did not allow myself to rest and recover. Yes, I missed a run and swim on Friday but, in reality, I would probably have not become better by soldiering through those 2 sessions feeling the way I was. There are days you have to push yourself but also days when you have to know when to back off. This is the hardest part for me. I want to push myself all the time but as I get more experience I am starting to figure out the difference between when I need to just suck it up and when I need to call it a day. Example---when I start crying because of mud on my shoes I need to stop---immediately.

Luckily, we had a weekend planned up near Lake Tahoe to ski so I was able to completely leave triathlon alone for 2.5 days. It took some convincing from Andy (and more tears) to get me in the car but once we made it up to the condo at Kirkwood I had relaxed and was ready to accept my TFW (triathlon free weekend). We downhill skied both days but did not push the envelope. Of course, we got to a run that I thought I would never be able to make it down but once I got going and committed to making my turns (thus allowing my skis to point downhill for .2 seconds) I did fine. Another common occurrence on the mountain. I freak out. Andy tries to talk me down the mountain. I tell him I can do it on my own and eventually go and don't stop until I get to the bottom of the run. He thinks I don't listen to his skiing advice but I do. He is a good skier and while I get snippy I hear what he is saying and listen to his tips on how to ski better.

Here we are on Sunday---it was a beautiful day but no new snow.

A beautiful view and only 3 hours from our house. Love to drive to winter and then drive home.

We came home on Sunday and I swam yesterday and had a massage. I was very scared I would still feel crappy but my swim went well. I ran this morning and had some bounce in my step. Next up is an easy ride and then a birthday dinner at Celadon. A good day for sure!

24/7

2010-12-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

I love watching HBO's 24/7 series. Right now they are following the Penguins and the Capitals as they lead up to the Winter Classic on 1/1/11 (might be rain delayed). I love the sports stuff. The passion and commitment always gets me. I relate to it. I understand it. It motivates me to see other athletes out there doing everything they can to realize their dreams. I still watch some pretty trashy reality shows but if there was a channel of sports reality that would be sweet! I might actually quit watching Bravo....

I watched the Ironman coverage as well. Did anyone else think there was way too much slow motion and an absurd amount of product placement? Was a lottery question whether you drove a Ford Edge? Come on, I don't need to see eight shots in a 4 minute segment of a family getting in and out of a Ford Edge! That said, I am always inspired. I just wish they would do a couple of segments on some awesome age groupers who are working 40+ hours per week and still kicking ass out there on the lava fields.

After a quick trip back to Chicago and Michigan where I whined WAY too much about the weather I have settled back into some serious training here in California. That is my 24/7 reality show. I love it. Christmas Eve was a long ride that ended up being longer than I thought it would be. I have done the loop before but I forget how long it actually takes. Knoxville Road along Lake Berryessa is always a big moment of truth. It is not CLOSE to home. Luckily, the general store was actually open and I went in thanking the woman behind the counter profusely for being open. A Milky Way candy bar was needed to get me home. It seemed like a great idea for about 30 minutes and then I got a stomach ache....Anyway, I got home just before dark, made some chili and fell asleep early. Christmas was casual with a yummy breakfast at home and then dinner with friends and a lot of dessert. I just stood at the table and nibbled on everything. Then I got another tummy ache....

Today is a leg day off before I finish up 2010 with 6 hours of training tomorrow. It is long but not too hard intensity wise. I am excited to actually have the ability to build a big base this year. In previous seasons my ability to do this has been hampered by being in Chicago and my coaching jobs. While I really miss coaching my college swimmers, I am excited to have the chance to see what I can do after a really solid few months of aerobic base work. One of the highlights of my recent visit to Chicago was being able to drop in on practice and see everyone.

Now that I am back in Napa training has resumed full force. Some days I get tired or a bit grumpy but I am always happy to be doing what I am doing. I am so excited about 2010 and can't wait to see what is to come in 2011. Some early plans for the new year include a training trip in Tucson, a trip to Tulum for a wedding and then my first race of the year in Puerto Rico! My former swimmers are actually on their way to PR right now for a training trip so they are scoping it out for me. I am hoping they come back with beach and food recommendations.

"If you focus on results you will never change, if you focus on change, you will get results." ~Jack Dixon

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

The Irony

2010-12-13T09:34:00.001-08:00

On Saturday I was out for a long bike ride and was so happy to be outside enjoying the 60 degree temperatures and feeling the warm sun on my face. I stopped to take a few pictures.

Including a self portrait.....
When I opened my phone I had a cryptic message from my mother reading "trap in SD." I appreciate that my parents are starting to embrace text messaging and adding it to their communication repertoire, however, sometimes they are a bit too succinct. I stood their wondering what in the world the message meant....trap in San Diego? An animal trap? Huh?Luckily my phone rang and it was my mother who was trapped in South Dakota. Yeah, no wonder I did not figure it out. Her flight from Portland (connecting through Minneapolis) had been diverted to Rapid City, SD because of a blizzard. Now, here I was standing on the side of the road on a beautiful day here in Napa and my mom was being diverted due to a blizzard. Ironic, right?

Anyway, Mom and Dad, please keep up the texting but I need a little more information in each text. You can't make up your own lingo. There are certain acronyms we all know (LOL, LMAO, FYI, etc.) but don't be afraid to write a sentence or two, you can do it!

I used to work for an attorney when I was a paralegal and during the first few weeks of working with him I had no idea why he signed his emails TIA. His name was Jim, not TIA. I sheepishly asked another paralegal who TIA was? A nickname? She said no, it means "thanks in advance." Maybe it was a well known acronym to some but I was totally confused. In the few years that I worked with him I found that he made up some obscure acronyms and my time spent reading his emails included deciphering the lingo.

A beautiful sunset to end a beautiful valley day.

Oh yeah, don't worry, I am getting dose of cold weather when I head back to Chicago on Friday. All is fair in love and weather.

Thanksgiving, Furniture and Biking

2010-12-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

The last couple weeks have been fairly uneventful but a few exciting moments have brightened the relatively sunny skies here in California.

First, our furniture from Chicago finally arrived. We had hoped to sell the house and then move it out but with the market the way it is our house has not sold. While Andy and I both think it probably shows better full of furniture we got sick of not having a dining room table, guest room furniture and a couch in the living room. Plus, when I moved out to California in March I packed 2 bags of clothes that I brought on the plane so my wardrobe was becoming somewhat limited---especially with the change of seasons. I am happy to have a few sweaters, etc. out in California now. However, I am very happy that I don’t exactly need super warm clothes for the “winter.” I am not trying to rub it in to those readers who are still enduring winter in the east and midwest, but, I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am about the absence of snow, ice and frigid temperatures. I do have a visit back to Chicago in 10 days and I am glad I dug my winter coat out of the boxes because it seems the bitter cold has descended on Chicago.

Second, we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner at my friend John’s house with his family---32 people! Being an only child with a small family in the midwest (ie, mom and dad) it was definitely the largest Thanksgiving I have ever been to. I cannot be more thankful to have meant such a great training partner. His family is wonderful and have adopted the 2 midwesterners who live at the top of the hill.

Third, Andy’s mom made a trip out to Napa to check out our digs. We took her to some of our favorite restaurants and she was here for the arrival of the furniture. She loves to decorate so she helped organize the furniture for a few days. Also, it was wonderful that once the furniture arrived she was able to sleep on a real bed and not two air mattresses stacked on top of each other. She said the air mattresses were very comfortable but once the bed came she admitted it was much better. We deflated those air mattresses and put them away! Perhaps we will use them if we camp next year at Wildflower.

Last, I am still doing A LOT of biking. Now, let me tell you, every time I get on the bike I am so excited to be on the road. I do a lot of saying (to myself) “I can’t believe it is and I am still riding outside.” Sometimes I have to deal with some rain and wet roads but it is much better than the computrainer EVERY. SINGLE.DAY. Plus, I used to get very nervous at races if it was raining and the roads were wet but this riding has made me tougher and more comfortable in bad conditions. However, hail hitting your face at 20mph does not feel good. So, while a lighter rain is okay, I prefer to stay indoors when it is a big storm. To date---and I am keeping count----I have been on the trainer once since my off season ended. That works for me!

Currently, I am on my way to Victoria for some time with Coach and a couple of bike and run tests to see where we are; and how far we have to go.

No blog would be complete without a couple random pictures so here they are (in no particular order):

Pretty view on a ride that was sunny and hailing within 20 minutes of each other. I got in my 4 hours though. Those dark clouds are foreboding....

The vines are green and ground gold during the summer and then it flip flops. The vines looked amazing against the green grass that came up after just a few rainy days.

Really random...she is a weird cat. She must check everything out.

Looking the Part....

2010-11-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

I found a couple of photos Andy took of me after we got back from our road trip to San Luis Obispo for my last race of the season. Needless to say, I guess I was pretty wiped out after the race and then long drive back home. We decided to take the scenic route from SLO to Big Sur and stop for dinner at Nepenthe. The food was good but Andy hit a wall in Pacific Grove I had to drive the rest of the way home. He kept telling me to pull over and get a hotel but I was on a mission---we were going to make it home.

Here is the aftermath the next day:

What a tri geek...faint outline of a race number and compression socks.

My cute kitty Jaromir keeping me company.

This same day there was an audio recording of me snoring as well. And then my wonderful husband woke me up because he started laughing at me. We do have fun out here in Cali!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Forgiveness

2010-11-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." -Paul Boese

Last night Michael Vick led the Eagles to a big victory over the Redskins. This morning when I checked Facebook many people were sounding off that Michael Vick does not deserve to be playing in the NFL after serving a 21 month prison sentence (plus 2 months of house arrest) for running a dog fighting ring when he was playing for the Falcons.

For some reason, this debate struck a cord with me and I thought about it during my swim this morning. I am an animal lover. Nothing disgusts me more than people mistreating animals. I tend to cry harder watching movies or documentaries when they are about animals. I think it is the fact that animals rely on us and trust us. When they are mistreated and abused they can't defend themselves. The things that Michael Vick did are absolutely heinous. No matter what he does in life everyone will remember the acts that he committed when he was younger. If you do a google search of his name and click on "images" pictures of abused and tortured pitbulls come up. He will never be able to make people forget that he ran a business that tortured and killed animals for money. Based on the things he did this punishment is deserved.

In addition, many people believe that he should not being playing football anymore. They believe he should not make millions of dollars and be glorified by the sports media as a great athlete. I disagree. He should be able to work; the glorification part---that is another issue independent of Vick. He went to prison for 21 months. He lost friends. He lost his contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He lost millions of dollars. He paid for what he did and then some. He deserves the right to work. His job is playing football. You can argue that he does not deserve to make millions but if you make that argument than you need to ask yourself if all football players should make millions of dollars. If he worked at the local grocery store before going to prison and then got out and went back to work at the grocery store would you be upset that he was back working for $10-15 an hour? Or, is it just the fact that he committed a terrible crime, went to prison, got out and went back to work in a job that pays more than most people will ever make in a lifetime?

Michael Vick should be an example. An example of someone who made a series of bad decisions, got caught, paid the price and is now trying to show us that you can change and you can learn from your mistakes. I admit, I could eat my words on this point. He could be arrested in the next few years for a crime and you all could say "I told you so." I want to believe that Michael Vick has matured and learned from his mistakes. He is working with the Humane Society to get the word out on dog fighting and how terrible it is. He needs our forgiveness and compassion. This does not mean that we condone what he did. If he learned something from all of this he probably lives with regret everyday. He was probably begging people to give him a chance, to believe in him and support him while he made changes in his life. He wanted to go back to work to support his family and make things right. The Eagles are giving him that chance. I cannot imagine the number of teams that said no thinking it would be a PR nightmare to offer him a contract. Someone took a chance and I hope he proves them right. I want to believe in the good in people. I want to believe that we can make mistakes (haven't we all?) and learn from them and carry on.

"There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that." (Morgan Freeman as Red in The Shawshank Redemption)

It is easier to let things go and forgive. To move on and not harbor resentment or hate. We will never forget what Michael Vick did to those animals....and neither will he.

“Always be mindful of the kindness and not the faults of others.” -Buddha

Just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling....

2010-11-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Biking. That is my focus right now. I have been building back into some solid training hours and a majority of it is on my bike. The weather has been cooperative so far and I have been able to stay off the trainer. I know that will not last too much longer but since I am not faced with the reality of 4-6 months of 99.5% of the my rides on it I am okay that some rides will be forced indoors due to rain.

The first few days hurt...a lot. The end of a 3 hour ride last week was pretty ugly but this week my 3 hour ride yesterday was solid and I ended it without feeling totally spent. It is amazing how fast the body adapts to training. I have also started a pretty gnarly strength routine that is definitely challenging me and will work on my weaknesses (gluts and hips). After the first workout I was pretty sore but after a couple of weeks I have stopped getting quite as sore.

That is about it from sunny (at least for now) California. Here are some pics. of some recent adventures.

We started to let the cats outside. Storm loves it. She caught 3 lizards in the first 3 days. I am hoping that being outside will help her lose just a little weight. She is a bit round through the midsection right now. She needs to be Cali-fit.

Jaromir is a bit more nervous about being outside. Since his previous owner took out his claws we worry a little more about him being out because he can't defend himself. Luckily, he is also bit worried about being outside too so he sticks close to the house.

Mid ride stop at Pope Valley Market for a soda. It has been really nice to ride a bit more with Andy in this part of the season. He is going to be strong on the bike too!

Ahh....I love the sun!

The view from the top of Mt. Veeder. These climbs are going to make me strong!

Random Bits from the Off Season

2010-10-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

After I recovering from my Kona spectating experience I endured one more week of very light training (ie, no more than 30 minutes a day) and then was allowed to gradually begin building my time and intensity at each discipline. My training is by no means strenuous right now but every added training session is a bonus. The weather in Napa has turned to fall. The grapes have been picked and it smells like grape juice when you ride through the valley. We even had a huge rain this past weekend. I went out for a ride on Saturday because it looked to be relatively dry. Plus, I need to learn to ride in the rain if I am going to live in Northern California, right? So anyway, I don't mind riding in a light drizzle but I ended up riding in a full out downpour. Because it was my first time on the bike in 3 weeks I sucked it up and stayed out but with my lack of proper rain gear (to do list: buy rain gear) I ended up rather cold the last half of the ride. Either way, it was still nice to be out on the bike. Although, I do hate having to completely clean and re-lube the entire bike post ride. I found the hose works well to get all the grit off and then I just use a towel to dry everything really well and re-lube. Any other suggestions from seasoned rain riders?

Another fun off season activity---catching up on my CEUs (continuing education) for my USAT coaching certification. I watched a few video presentations and took some tests. One of the presentations was by Bobby McGee who I know I have mentioned before. He is very good speaker and I always enjoy his presentations. He was giving one on running mechanics and ended up going through challenges a new runner may face based on their athletic backgrounds. Swimmers can definitely have some problems based on the fact that we have spent most of our lives in a non-gravity sport so our bone density may be a little low and our tendons, joints, ligaments are not used to the pounding from running. Also, we have a lot of upper body weight (muscle) that is not really needed to create forward propulsion in running. It can slow us down. We also have great plantar flexion but limited dorsiflexion in our ankles. This can create tight calves and soleus muscles which can lead to lots of lower leg problems. Then came the quote "and if you are a swimmer, PLEASE don't have been a breaststroker." Gulp. That's me! Apparently breaststrokers have knee instability and externally rotated hips. Both are bad for running. Shall I add that I had knee surgery too? Another strike. However, as a breaststroker I do have flexible ankles and good dorsiflexion since the breaststroke kick involves flexing the feet.

As swimmers we do have some positives. What are they? Well, we have a great ability to put up with lots of training since most of our lives were spent starring at a black line. Getting to run and ride outside is akin to seeing an action movie. Trees, sky, flowers, buildings, etc? We are going to be on sensory overload. I starred at a black line 4-5 hours a day, 6 days a week. Talk about boring. My conversations with others were limited to the 5-10 seconds I had on the wall between intervals. That is not including my freshman year where I think I swam straight for the first two months of training. I was in way over my head. I still remember the first practice where I made all the intervals like it was yesterday. Our stories about the night before were told over the course of 2-3 hours and we were extremely adept at continuing fragmented conversations between efforts. For me, training alone is not a problem since swimming is basically all by yourself as well. One more warning about swimmers; you have to be careful with their running volume and intensity in the beginning. While they have the cardiovascular ability to run a long time due to swimming 20-30 hours week their bodies cannot handle it. Case in point---me. I started running, did a marathon 6 months later and then ended up with a stress fracture. Lastly, I want to address the breaststroker thing---not true! Hillary and I are doing just fine and I am sure there are plenty of others out there. We all have backgrounds that may limit us in some way but with patience and attention to your weaknesses (make them strengths) we can all be better runners (or bikers or swimmers). I might never look like a Kenyan but I can certainly improve.

One more funny tidbit from my life this week. I got asked to stop splashing during my swim workout yesterday. I looked at the guy (he was doing a water aerobics class) stunned for a second and then said "no, I won't stop splashing, it's a pool." He then proceeded to demonstrate what I was doing by slamming his hands down on the water and asking what that was for? Uh, sir, that is my kick and now that it irritates you I am probably going to do more of it! The instructor tried to diffuse the situation by telling to move away from the lane line and apologizing profusely to me. I appreciated that, at least someone understood.

That is it from the land of grapes. Happy Training!

IM Spectating in Kona

2010-10-14T07:37:00.001-07:00

I went to the Big Island to watch my first Hawaii Ironman. I was able to get a relatively inexpensive flight and since it is only a 4.5 hr. flight I could not pass up the opportunity to go out, get some sun and watch an amazing race. Plus, I was super excited to experience a race week without having to get ready to race. However, that being said, it was definitely a little odd to be in the middle of a bunch of motivated athletes and not be one of the ones getting ready to go on Saturday. Perhaps a bit of motivation....

Anyway, I finished my season with Tinley's so I had some strict guidelines on what I was allowed to do workout wise. I followed my coach's instructions EXCEPT for the fact that I swam the entire swim course on Friday. I just got out there in the beautiful blue water hoping to run into some dolphins so I kept going. Plus, all the athletes were not swimming that far so I had the ocean all to myself. It was quiet and calm and I spent some time just floating and diving around in the clear water. I got the photo above from the plane. Now you can see why I did not want to get out. Sorry coach!

Hillary's cousin was able to get us passes to be out on the pier for the swim so that was an amazing way to start race day. I woke up super excited on Saturday morning to spectate. When we got on the pier we found out that Chrissie was not starting---the drama was beginning! There was an electricity in the air. You could feel the excitement, the nervousness, the fear of the unknown. The pros went off at 6:30am to allow for a big gap from the age group athletes.

This is a picture of the age group start. The idea of having to start in a mass of people like that is way scarier than having to do an Ironman. I liked the look of the "sedate" pro start 30 minutes before. I heard a rumor that lining up on the left is the way to go for the age group athletes. I have to agree although you do end up swimming a bit further. The athletes in the photo above were right along the pier and some of them definitely got caught against the wall and behind other athletes. Right after the start they do a "sweep." Snorkelers come through making sure nobody is on the bottom. A little eerie but I am glad they check.

After watching the swim and seeing everyone come through transition (amazing to be right there) we headed for breakfast and to relax before watching the end of the bike on the hot corner. Cameron and I had out phones out and were constantly checking the updates while watching the broadcast near the finish line. Maiki was doing awesome on the bike and was crushing it like the GCM (german cycling machine) he is. Actually, there were a lot of Germans in the front group but he was the best of the best---we were proud. I even got a good shot of him coming into the hot corner and down to transition. After this, my phone died so no more pictures. You will just have to trust me on what happened next.

After watching the men come out of transition we walked to Orange Tree (great frozen yogurt), got lunch, cooled off and bit and headed back down to the hot corner to watch the women and see the men return from their 10 mile out and back. The hot corner was awesome for spectating. Athletes were biking in, running out and then heading up the hill on Palani. Chris McCormack looked awesome. Some of the other guys, not so much. Maik was running strong and we yelled instructions at him to keep cool. As for the women, most of the top 10 looked pretty good. Mirinda looked awesome which probably is not a surprise to anyone, she ran a freaking 2:53. Caitlin Snow was also running really well and clocked a 2:56.

Hillary had a tough run but was gutting it out. We waited to cheer for her at mile 10 and then ran down to Alii to see the top men come through. Maik finished in 12th and while he was aiming for top 10 he was really happy with his finish. Cameron and I met up with Hillary's cousin Amy and waited in transition for Hillary. We also were waiting for Maik to get out of the med tent since he was getting his usual post race IV. Apparently, Maik pukes after every IM and then gets an IV. When he returned he looked great. We were waiting right near the path that brings the athletes and their "catchers" through transition and to post race food and/or medical. This was an interesting perspective. People were in all sorts of states of duress. Some could not walk. Some were walking fine but seemed happy to take their running shoes off. Some seemed relatively with it although most had a look of un-focus (is that a word?) in their eyes. I was able to see some friends who did the race so that was nice. Quick hellos and good jobs along with getting them water and/or pretzels. Amy asked me if seeing this was not motivating me to do an Ironman but actually it did not bother me. I figured that most people are not exactly chirper right after a 10 hour day. My time is coming. I have always wanted to be patient in stepping up to the distance. I want to be able to stay injury free for the training, especially the running. Now that I am getting stronger and I have had several years of running on my legs I am definitely getting close to tackling the IM distance. I just have to choose which race will be my first....suggestions?

After Hillary finished we sat on the beach for awhile and listened to war stories and then headed to Hillary's condo to rest and shower and then head down to watch the finishers from 11-12am. I had mentioned the bloomin' onion from Outback (the commerzbank team was heading there for a post race dinner) and Hillary was dead set on getting one. So, off to Outback we went. After a late dinner we hit the finish line to cheer everyone to the finish. In a word---inspiring. Doing an Ironman in 8.5 hours in unfathomable to me but completing one in 16 or 17 hours is equally as amazing. Lew Hollander is 80 years young and finished in under 16 hours. I saw a post on FB that someone heard him say "I could not outrun them so I had to outlive them." One girl finished with a boot on her leg from an apparent injury. Multiple 60-70 year old women finished. A guy with terminal cancer---and the list goes on.

At midnight a long day ended. We picked up Hillary's bike and headed to bed. I slept in the compression socks because my ankles were so swollen. Spectating is hard! I told Andy that if I do an IM he does not have to come watch (but I know he will). I woke up early, packed and hit the airport to head home. It was awesome to watch Hillary and Maik and it was inspiring to see all the athletes reach the finish line.

I took this picture from the plane on the way out. Good-bye Kona! I hope to see you again soon.
And, a big surprise awaited me at the grocery store on Monday morning. GT's Kombucha is back! Smiles all around.

Tinley's

2010-10-04T12:56:00.001-07:00

The past weekend I traveled down to race another Tri-California race at Lake Lopez (near San Luis Obispo). Scott Tinley's Adventures was the last race on the schedule for this year so I was ready to end my first full year as a professional with a good effort. The race length was a little bit shorter than a 1/2 ironman but featured a longer swim (1.5 miles vs 1.2 miles). The 48 mile bike was beautiful ride through the countryside with a few rollers, shorter climbs and several false flat sections. The 2 loop (9 mile) run meandered through the campgrounds at Lake Lopez and featured a very brutal hill at the end of each lap.

On Friday night I went out to dinner with Charisa and her husband Steven. We had received an email from the head referee that night informing us that the water was close to the 68 degree cut-off for making it a non-wetsuit swim. Charisa and I were both without speedsuits so we discussed what we were going to race in if it turned out to be no wetsuits. I will admit, the swimmer part of me hoped for non-wetsuit as swimming is my strength but at the same time, 68 is freaking cold. Luckily, I brought a swimsuit I could race in on the off chance it was no wetsuits. I had a good dinner with great company, got to bed early and woke up ready to race hard in my season finale.

When I arrived in transition around 6:45 (love the 8am race starts) it was rumored to be a wetsuit swim. I was pretty happy because being cold kind of stinks. However, 30 minutes later we heard from the race official that the water was 71 degrees and we would be racing sans wetsuits. My warm up run took me back to the car to change into my alternative race outfit. Most of us did not have speedsuits so I did not feel at a disadvantage without one. The race started on time and we were off in the calm waters. I felt pretty good at the start but picked it up a bit after the first 5 minutes or so and settled into a good pace. My sighting was good and I swam most of the race with Ian. For some reason I felt like I was WAY behind. I don't know why but I envisioned tons of pink caps ahead of me. However, I came out of the water about :55 behind the women's leader. I was happy my swim and was ready to get on my bike and really push myself. My cycling is improving and I wanted to end the year with a good ride. I took off and went hard from the beginning. My legs usually hurt at the beginning of the ride but tend to come around after about 10-15 minutes. My watts were solid from the start I rode hard because I was determined to hold off my competitors for as long as I could. At the first turnaround I was able to get a look at the gap to the leader (about 2 minutes) and see where the other girls were. I had a bit of a gap to Christie and Charisa. Now, let me tell you, I was biking scared. I thought they would catch me. Nevertheless, I put my head down, told my legs to shut up and RACED. I was not going to let them catch me without a fight. This has been one of the many lessons I have learned in my first full year of racing as a professional. You have to RACE. Of course, I am not going to try to stick with Tyler Stewart if she rides by me but I know that I need to pick it up a bit and if someone is close behind or just ahead I need to raise my game. As an age grouper it felt like one big time trial. People were all around and you were not quite sure who was in your age group, etc. It is totally different now. I have to be in the race. If I let the train go by and don't try to stick with it I am out of it. Anyway, back to the race. About 2/3 through the bike I had a bit of a bad patch, my legs were burning and my watts dropped just a bit. I remained focused and slammed down a Powergel with 100mg of caffeine. This brought me back---the watts came up and I finished the last bit of the ride strong. On the last out and back I got another glimpse of my competitors and I had held them off! Lastly, I saw a tarantula ambling across the road. Pretty cool and I was glad I did not run him over.

I came off the bike 90 seconds back from the leader. I knew that Annie was a really solid runner so I settled into a good pace but did not blow myself out trying to catch her the first loop. I knew that I would need energy for that HUGE hill and to not get caught by anyone behind me. It was pretty warm as well so I had to be smart. I saw Annie at the turnaround and she looked to be running very strong. When I made the turn I saw my competition. One girl was right there. I thought to myself "where did she come from?" I was sure that I had not seen her on the final out and back. However, I could have missed her. She looked to be running really well. The race was on. I wanted to hold her off. I made it up the hill---holy crap it was long and steep and started my second loop. I decided to run a bit faster on miles 5 and 6 to try and hold off the fast runner behind me. I made it to the final turnaround and she was right there and running strong. I dug in as much as I could. I tried to save a little energy for the final hill so I could power up it and hold the fast charging girl behind me. Well, she caught me at the base of the big hill. I stuck with her for about 1/2 the hill and then I completely blew. My right calf was on the verge of cramping and I had the chills. She started to run away from me. I was pissed. I hate being passed on the run and especially less than a mile from the finish. I completed the final hill and was happy that I would not have to run it again (until next year). I mean really, that hill was torture! I finished in 3rd and only 1:20 behind Annie. She had a 3:10 lead on my after the first loop of the run but I had slowed down a bit. I had no idea I was that close. Anyway, I met Andy at the finish and while I was happy with my race I was a bit disappointed to give up 2nd place so close to the end of the run. Andy said "good job, you were 2nd." I was confused, 2nd? I had just crossed the line in 3rd. He told me that the girl in front of me had missed the final out and back on the bike and was disqualified. It was a bit anti-climatic but I was happy that I had held on to my 2nd place finish. However, I still had been passed on the run and that never makes me happy. The one thing that did make me extremely happy was the fact that I had not been passed on the bike. What an accomplishment---to get on the bike in 2nd place and come off the bike in 2nd place :)

Now it is time for some intense rest and recovery and little trip out to Kona to watch a race there next weekend. I leave tomorrow. I am taking a few swimsuits, some shorts and a pair of goggles. No bike. Mahalo for reading my final (triathlon) race report of the season! After the trip and the rest there is more to come....

(ps--I'll post some pics from the race when I get them)

Kelp....lots and lots of Kelp

2010-09-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Andy and I headed down the Monterrey Peninsula for a bit of sightseeing and the Pacific Grove Triathlon. I was excited to race a shorter event vs. the 70.3s I usually do and see how this old lady would do against some good short course racers. There were only 2 women on the pro list over 30...me at 33 and the eventual winner, Annie Warner at 31. The rest of the women were mid-20s or so.

After the race we went to grab something to eat in Pacific Grove and found yet ANOTHER car show. 3rd one in the last month. Weird.

We stayed in Carmel. It was a short drive to the race but since I did not start until 12:25 I figured it did not matter. Plus, I wanted to show Andy around Carmel since my father grew up there and I spent a lot of time there when I was younger visiting my grandparents. My grandma and grandpa passed away almost 10 years ago and my dad and his brother sold the house. I went to see what it looked like now. The new owners have changed it around a bit and after almost walking past it I recognized the big tree in the backyard.

After the pre-race briefing in Pacific Grove we paid $9.50 to drive down 17 mile drive and take in the sights. It was beautiful. The golf courses are amazing and the mansions are stunning. We stopped and checked out Bird Rock and the Lone Cypress (picture below). However, after that it was getting late and my blood sugar plummeted and I demanded that we get back to Carmel for dinner quickly. It was a luxury not to have to worry about getting to bed super early since there was no 4am wake up call on Saturday morning.

Now for the race. I can say one thing: KELP!!!! My training partner, John, told me before the race to avoid it all costs even if it meant taking a longer route between the buoys. However, I during the race I could not see a clear path and swam through most, if not all, the kelp that was on the course. At one point I came to a dead stop and was completely tangled in it. I am sure this happened to others but at that point I felt like I had a magnet for the stuff. All I wanted to do was get out of the water. I hated the kelp, hated it! The one bright spot of the swim, besides finishing it, was having a sea lion come and visit before we took off. He cruised around, checked out the lifeguards and swam pretty close to shore. It made me smile right before the start which was nice since I was a little nervous.

All the clear water in the world and I would swim right into a bunch like this.

View of the swim, you can kind of see the kelp I battled.

My transition was pretty good. I fumbled with my wetsuit a bit but executed my flying mount well, got going and then put my shoes on. There was one woman in front of me and another behind me. About halfway through the 1st loop (of 4) we became a group of 3. We were working together a little to catch up to the leaders who were 2 minutes up but my legs were not feeling it at all. The very high effort right at the beginning of the bike was not agreeing with me one bit. I hate to admit it, but I was dropped off the back. I am more of a build into it, steady type racer and that is not what a draft legal race requires. So, there I was, dropped and riding all alone in increasingly windy conditions. Great. Wonderful. To say I was less than thrilled was an understatement. I was pissed. I was pissed at my legs, pissed at myself, pissed at the wind---you get the picture. I could see the 2 who dropped me working together and then I saw one of them get dropped. My legs started to come around. My watts came up and I was catching up. By the middle of the 3rd loop I had caught up to one of the women and I just passed her. I did not want to work together, I could tell she was a kind of done. I worked really hard into the wind on the last loop, cruised with a tailwind on the way back to transition, jumped off my bike sending one shoe flying and headed off onto the run in an effort to catch someone. It was funny because during the entire race when I would come around to start another loop on the bike I could hear the announcer talking about me and how I was an "endurance" athlete---nice way to say old and slow I think. Anyway, I decided to embrace my endurance-ness (not a word) and ride and run the last parts of the race better than the women in front of me.

I got a glimpse of the gaps at the turnaround for the 1st of 3 loops. I was about 2 minutes down to 4th place. Andy gave me the splits at the end of the loop and I was catching up. I kept plugging away and closed the gap even more after loop 2. In fact, the woman in front of me had caught and passed 3rd place so I had two woman in front of me to chase. I went for it the last loop. I knew I would probably run out of real estate but I tried as hard as I could to catch up. I ended about 1:15 out of 3rd and less than a minute out of 4th. I was happy with the result on a "short" race for this endurance athlete and broke 40 minutes on my 10k run.

My cheering crew. John, his wife Julie and daughter Grace, Jason Campbell (John's teammate at PacWest) and of course Andy (the photographer).

The Podium---I am in the red Saucony shirt.

It really was a great weekend. On the way back to Napa we stopped in San Francisco for a party at my friend Jill's place. She and her husband are moving to Sydney for 3 years so they had a going away party. Let me tell you...there is nothing like showing up to a party all salty with race numbers written on you and wearing compression gear. I looked like a really big DORK. Luckily, I was able to go upstairs and take a shower and then rejoin the festivities in normal looking clothes.

I am enjoying a day off today and then will be back to training tomorrow for my last race of the season---Scott Tinley's. I am excited to race another Tri-California event; they do a great job of taking care of the elites and put on great races. I definitely enjoyed Pacific Grove, minus the kelp.

Just rolling along....

2010-09-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I posted. Not much has been going on. Just eating, training, sleeping and repeat. We have thrown in some time out on Lake Berryessa where we saw a bald eagle in flight and several BBQs with friends up at our house. We also played tourist on Labor Day and went for a picnic at V. Sattui Winery. It was crowded but fun to enjoy some good food and people watch.

This weekend is Pacific Grove. I am excited for a short course race and drafting! Should be a good time. I have been working on my flying mounts and dismounts so hopefully I execute well on race day. Cyclocross racing really helped me pick it up fast.

Good luck to everyone racing at IM Wisconsin---I will be cheering for you while virtual spectating on Ironman.com (if it works).

Alcatraz Hike and ANOTHER Car Show....really???

2010-08-24T15:09:00.001-07:00

Last Friday Andy and I headed into San Francisco to hike the Alcatraz course and head over to my friend Jill's apartment for wine and dinner. She is moving to Sydney for 3 years so it was great to see her before she leaves. I am definitely going to have to go visit and do some Southern Hemisphere racing while she is there.

Anyway, I was psyched to take Andy on the Alcatraz course to show him how amazing it was---and how tough. I also really enjoying seeing it at a slower pace where I could really soak up the scenery. After crossing Crissy Field we headed up the first set of stairs and Andy was somewhat surprised...he thought the only stairs were at the sand ladder, not so. I thought the same thing when I did the race for the first time. I promptly got my ass handed to me and vowed to come back stronger.

View of Alcatraz island on the run course. If you are going to do this race keep your head up for the beautiful views. However, this is hard to do since it is single track trail and you have people coming at you. As we walked the course I chattered the whole way about my experiences, what I was thinking, what I saw, etc. I do not think I stopped talking about the race the whole time. It shows how much I love it. I got a little sad I am not racing this coming weekend but I did it in May and I will do it again next year.

The dreaded, but still loved, Sand Ladder. Mile 4 on the course. It burns. Andy did not think it was too bad. I told him to bike 18 hilly miles before it, run 4 miles uphill and then tell me how it feels. I think he caught my drift.

The family on Saturday. After a late night in San Francisco we chilled the entire day. You will notice that all we have is a futon to sit on. All our furniture is at our house in Chicago because we think it shows better with furniture in it. If you know anyone who needs a house in Chicago (Lincoln Park), let me know...I want my couch!

Our one Saturday excursion was for bagels and to hit the farmers market. We will sidetracked and ended up in downtown Napa at another car show. That is two Saturdays in a row. This one was huge! All the streets in downtown Napa were filled with pre-1976 cars. Some beautiful vehicles. People must spend boat loads of money to fix them up. I guess we all have our hobbies (ie, money pits). One car even came with a dog in it (see above).

My favorite car at the show. How cute is that?!?! Happy Training and Racing...the big races are coming upon us quickly. Amazing how fast the year goes.

Lake Stevens 70.3

2010-08-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

I traveled up to Everett, WA for my 4th half ironman of the year last Friday. I had a good weekend planned---after racing on Sunday I was going to drive down to Portland with my mom and visit my 98 year old grandmother---known as "Ama." After some intense recovery following Vineman and a couple weeks of good work I was ready to race. The aches and pains that had nagged me before the July 18 race were gone and I felt like my body was starting to come around. In addition, usual travel and packing stress was non-existent. I got everything together without incident and was ready to go without obligatory running around and last minute errands. We made it up to Seattle on Friday night, checked into the hotel,where they tried to give me a smoking room but I insisted otherwise, and got to bed relatively early. On Saturday morning we slept in, got breakfast at a downtown cafe and checked out a small car show. The 1955 jaguar was the prettiest but I liked the truck pictured below:

It reminds me of something from that movie Cars.

We went out to the race site later on in the morning, attempted to drive the bike course, made a wrong turn, but eventually found our way around the loop. The roads were beautiful. However, they were narrow and since I knew it was a two loop course I wondered how crowded it would be on the 2nd loop for the Pros. I took a quick ride on course and then a swim on course and we headed back to Everett for lunch and the Pro meeting. There was a lot of discussion at the meeting about how crowded it would be on the 2nd loop of the bike course which made me a little concerned. I resigned myself to the fact that I may have to slow down to be safe and figured that we would all be in the same boat. I was not going to make any decisions that would put me in danger (crossing the yellow line, etc.) just to get to T2 faster.

Race morning came quickly and since we had a 6:34am start I was up very early. Everything went smoothly; we got out to the race site easily, parked and I sent up my transition quickly. I was treated to a one transition race which was a luxury. My last 3 races have had separate bike and run transitions so to have access to my run items on race morning was nice. I was also doing the shoes clipped in from the start on the bike and I was happy to see no hills at the very beginning of the bike. It was a perfect start for my first go at the putting the shoes on while riding thing.

We had a non-wetsuit swim and since the water was exactly 72 degrees I opted to not get in before the start because I did not want to stand around and freeze while waiting for our start. I went for a jog, did some arm swings and I was ready to go. We jumped in the water and lined up on the start line which kept creeping forward as we approached the race start. I never understand this---why don't we all just stay lined up behind the line? Needless to say, for whatever reason, we drifted forward until the gun sounded. I lined up on the far right and made a beeline for the inside at the start. Luckily, I had a good start, avoided contact and settled into a good pace swimming behind Sam Warriner and Melanie McQuaid. The swim was relatively uneventful and we hit land in about 29 minutes. I was determined to have a good transition or I would hear it from Andy so I was focused on what I was doing. The skinsuit came off quickly, everything clasped correctly and I was off and ready to mount my bike. I had trouble getting my first foot on the shoe but it was not that bad. I was completely comfortable securing my velcro while rolling and felt good. Of course, the girls that I came out of the swim with were long gone, but eventually I believe they will not disappear so quickly. I settled into my pace and got ready for the beautiful roads and rolling hills. The course was hilly the entire time and I felt stronger riding hilly course than in the past but I was still being passed. At this point, I admit that I do get frustrated and I wonder to myself if I belong, but I refuse to give up. I know that I will become stronger, I just have to be patient. It is hard to come out of the water in the mix and then slide backwards during the bike and come into T2 in 13th place. I am confident that I have improved slightly and the damage done is not as catastrophic as it was in the past.

I was in and out of T2 and hoping that my run legs felt better than they did 4 weeks ago. Luckily, I could tell the difference from the first few steps. The run was hilly the entire time and had virtually no shade. It was definitely warm out and with no wind to speak of, it was a hot one. I do like the heat so I tried to be positive about it. I ran strong, settled into a rhythm and tried to catch a few women in front of me. I started the 2nd loop getting close to another Pro woman and I remained strong and determined to reel her in. I made the pass about mile 8 and when I saw Andy at mile 9 he asked "are you okay?" This made me nervous---at this point I felt pretty good---did I look like death? No matter, less than 4 miles left and nothing left to do but get the finish line as quickly as possible. I passed another woman around mile 10, made one last gradual climb and rounded the corner to the finish line. I finished 11th and happy with how I executed the race. Apparently, Andy asked how I was doing because he thought I looked better the second time he saw me than the first---I guess that is good.

My run out of transition--both feet off the ground and running!!!

There were some things that did not go according to plan. I got caught behind two trailers that were caught behind loads of bikers going 14mph at about mile 50. I had no way to get around as there was oncoming traffic so I just had to sit there. Finally, I got the drivers attention and was able to warn him I was coming up on the right side. That was frustrating. After that I dropped my chain on the very last hill before transition. Ugh! Luckily, I got it back on very quickly and really did not have trouble starting on the hill. It would have been nice to have someone give me a push like in the Tour de France, but there was no one around and that would be considered outside assistance. I will say that while I thought the course was beautiful I was not a fan of the vehicular traffic on the course in addition to the narrow, 2 loop bike course that made for a lot of bikers on the 2nd loop for the Pros. I would probably not choose to do the race again because of the way it is set up. I just don't want to push my luck and with people going 47mph downhill it is just an accident waiting to happen. Plus, I got the feeling some of the drivers out on the course were not very happy with fact we were on their road on a Sunday morning when they were trying to get somewhere. Andy even got yelled at by a guy in Lake Stevens for parking on the street---in a legal space! The guy told him he was going to run over our rental car with his truck if Andy did not move. After that, the guy called the police on himself. Andy asked the cop if he was allowed to park on the street and the cop said "of course" and that he would take care of the homeowner having a fit out in his yard.

After the race we headed back to the hotel to pack and shower in less than 20 minutes and then piled in the car for the drive to Portland. I will say that a 4 hour drive post race makes for a painful few steps out of the car upon arrival at your destination. I was hobbled (and humbled).

I spent the next two days visiting with Ama which was the perfect post race activity. We sat around, caught up and ate well. It was my aunt's birthday so there was a lot of cake consumed. Yummy! I also got a chance to go for a chilly swim in the Willamette river (picture below) and meet one of my former UIC swimmers for lunch and a frozen yogurt treat.

I got home on Tuesday afternoon and have been slowly getting back into some training. The body is feeling pretty good and I am ready for a shorter race at Pacific Grove. There is only 6-8 weeks left in the 2010 season. It is hard to believe. It has certainly flown by. I am excited to tackle a few more races, recover and then start preparing for 2011. Happy Training!

The Willamette River---I am the little speck in the distance.

There were lots of ducks in the river.

The Daily Marley

2010-08-10T10:44:00.001-07:00

Every day a local radio station plays a Bob Marley song. The station is not a reggae station; it is your typical Top 40 station but they sprinkle in a Marley song at least once a day. If I catch the "daily Marley" while driving it always makes for a good day. Love it!

An update is long overdue. Nothing much has been going on, sleep, eat, train, eat and repeat. Race week is upon me again and I am excited to head up to the Seattle area this weekend and race at Lake Stevens. My grandmother grew up in Everett and while she is unable to come up from her home in Portland she will be with me at the race in spirit. After the race, my mom, Andy and I will venture down to Portland to visit my grandma for a couple days. She is 98 and still sharp as a tack.

Thanks to Bont Cycling for the new shoes. They are super stiff, no loss of power with these space age shoes.

We have a wood stove.

This little guy was stuck in it. I rescued him and took him outside. I guess that is why my cat Storm was starring into the stove for hours on end. Good thing I took him outside or he would have ended up like one of his friends---dead on my bedroom floor. I won't post a picture of that.

Out on Lake Berryessa. My training partner has a boat so we took it out last Wednesday afternoon for some fun in the sun and a BBQ. John forgot matches but luckily found a book of matches on a dock. I don't know how that happened but we got very lucky.

That is John. He drags me around on the bike and it will make me better, eventually.

John's daughter Grace and his wife Julie. Haley, his older daughter, missed the fun on the boat because she was at a sleep-over with her friends. They are probably more fun to a 15 year old than 3 adults. Grace had a good time. We dragged her around on the tube and watched her do fun dives off the edge of the boat. She and Julie are also fans of anything on Bravo TV so we gossiped about Bethenny, the housewives and Top Chef. That is it from foggy (only in the AM) Napa. Happy Training everyone!

I Love You Atlas Peak Road

2010-07-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

This week I was able to get back into a little bit of work. After a very easy 5 days last week and a few good workouts over the weekend to get rid of the cobwebs I got to dive into some hill repeats, albeit relatively short, on Tuesday. I headed to one of my favorite places to do hills---Atlas Peak Road. There are some switchbacks and some steep pitches surrounded by not quite as steep sections. It is great climbing and allows one to actually shift instead of just slamming it in the easiest gear and grinding away. Since I have done repeats on this hill before I have a general knowledge of how long it takes me to get to certain landmarks. My last couple workouts on the hill prior to Vineman were a little off. I was a bit behind and my heartrate was refusing to cooperate right away. My body was on defense and not allowing me to do any more damage. However, on Tuesday my heartrate and legs were ready and willing to cooperate. I climbed hard and steady and was getting to certain landmarks more quickly. Progress! It was so nice to see. I did a run yesterday with my training partner, John. I have not given him props yet but he tore up the course at Vineman---4:18. His big goal was to break 4:20 so it was super exciting to see him come across the line sub 4:20. We crossed paths on the run and since we were both in the pain cave there was a slight acknowledgement but we were putting all our efforts into moving forward as quickly as possible. He told me that usually I am a more "jovial" runner and on that day I had no expression; absolute concentration and pain was written on my face. We hit up a great trail run yesterday and worked hard on some hills and it was awesome to feel my legs coming back from the dead. My coach and I are being careful and today is a just a swim, some strength exercises and yoga. I am sure I will be back to work tomorrow and over the weekend.

I am already excited to race on August 15. It will be a shot at redemption in terms of getting started on the bike without hitting the deck and having my legs underneath me for a solid run. After that I have a few things in the works and one race involves a twist in the normal format---draft legal. Gulp! T1 work and flying mounts here I come. I am glad I have done Cyclocross racing, it will put me ahead of the game a bit. Happy and Safe Training everyone!

The Little Things---Vineman 70.3

2010-07-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Vineman. I was excited to race so close to home. Since I was a local (love saying that) a hotel stay was hard to come by since the majority of the hotels had 2-3 night minimum stays. I had never done a homestay before so I decided to give it a try. I stayed with Connie and Troy. Connie was racing as well and Troy is a serious biker. I felt right at home when we got there and they had about 7 bikes in the garage and lots of wheel bags.

The Welcome Chalkboard from Connie and Troy

We had a good dinner the night before the race and got everything sorted out and ready for the next morning. My morning routine was going to have to start early because my wave went off at 6:32am. It is nice to start so early because I was probably going to be done before noon, but it really made the morning go by quickly. We had to get up at 4, eat, load up the car and drive the 30 minutes to the race start. I set up my transition quickly, got in a quick warm up and slipped into my Blue Seventy speedsuit. The water was a brisk 72 degrees which means it was non-wetsuit for the Pros. This is an advantage for me since I am a swimmer but I like warm water. Seriously, I prefer to swim in pools that are around 82 degrees. I know this makes me a bit of a freak but I do not like to freeze when I jump in the pool in the morning.

The Swim Start in the Russian River

From this point forward I am going to give a Hillary-esque race report of the highs and lows for the day. It was not my perfect race. I had some things go wrong. It hurt a bit more than usual. However, I would be crazy to think they would all feel good.

A Beautiful Venue for a triathlon

The Swim:

High: Non-wetsuit which is an advantage for stronger swimmers.

Low: Non-wetsuit swim which a disadvantage for small framed triathletes who get cold easily and like warm water. Solution: suck it up princess.

The Bike:

High: I finished the bike feeling pretty strong and not having a slight drop off in the watts towards the end of the ride.

Low: Where should I start? T1 was a complete disaster. I could not get my skinsuit off, things would not clasp, I dropped things, rocks were everywhere. After standing at my bike for what seemed like forever I finally ran out of transition, jumped on my bike at the bottom of a steep hill and got started. However, instead of paying attention to what I was doing I was focused on the woman in front of me who was having a bit of trouble getting her feet in the bike shoes that were clipped on her pedals. I had a milli-second of thinking that I had made the smart decision of starting out with my shoes on* but my smugness was short-lived. Since I was not paying attention to what I was doing I found myself riding into a ditch. I unclipped and did not completely fall over but since I came to a complete stop on the hill I had a bit of trouble getting started again. I tried in vain. I dropped my bike. I finally had to run up the hill and then re-mounted. The first 3-5 miles of the bike I was so pissed at myself and, not to mention, embarrassed. I forced myself to move on and focus on the task at hand, biking. My bad luck on the little things (purpose of the blog title) seemed to follow me. I dropped a water bottle at an aide station, almost missed riding over the timing pad at the halfway point and dropped part of my Powerbar. None of these things were huge issues that had a big effect on my race, but it was just the way the day was going. The little things were a tad off.

(*disclaimer: I have never started the bike with my shoes clipped in the pedals and this is something I am going to master. I just wanted to make that point clear.)

The Run:

High: I fought the entire way and remained positive. My mind could have been my downfall but I forced myself to find a few mantras to get me through what was one of the toughest runs I ever completed in my triathlon career. While I did not run as fast as I believe I am capable of, I find it encouraging that I ran as fast as I did on such a challenging day.

Low: I would say the way I felt on the run (tight, sore, drained and tired) was the low. However, the low was the same thing that contributed to the high point on the run. Without facing the challenges on the run I could not have found something within myself to do the best I could given the circumstances of the day. This will make me stronger.

While the result was not what I wanted I got a lot more out of the race beyond the actual time it took me to complete the course. I would have liked to feel strong on the run. I wish that I did not ride into a ditch. I wish the little things had gone well. In the end, I persevered I did all that I could with what I was given on race day.

Furthermore, I have been thinking about how I felt leading into the race. While I did get some rest in the days leading up to race day I think my body was starting to exhibit some signs of being a little more fatigued than I originally thought. A couple weeks ago I had the biggest run week of my life. My run was feeling good but perhaps the running combined with lots of biking (hill repeats, TT efforts, etc.) put me in a bit of a deficit. Ultimately, this hard work is what will make me stronger but I might have underestimated the effect it had on my fatigue level in getting my legs "race ready." I like to think of it as growing pains. My race fitness needs to catch up with the fitness I have been gaining in training. Perhaps the tightness in my glut, hamstring and calves, most apparent on the right leg, were all signs that my body was on the ropes. The rest prior to the race helped alleviate most of the aches and pains but it was not quite enough to make me feel fresh on Sunday morning. In an effort to allow my body to recover and soak up the work I have done this week is EASY. Two days off followed by three days of short, easy workouts of my choice. I think my body will appreciate the rest and ultimately, it will allow me to get in more great training and have some good races in the last few months of the season.

Now, if I could just stop re-living the disaster at the bike start. How mortifying!

The race really made the support crew very tired.

Bastille Day!

2010-07-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

It is Bastille Day!

It is also our 5th Anniversary!

Five years ago we gathered with our friends and family to get married on the island of Kauai. It was an amazing time. We rented a house on Tunnels Beach with our friends. Reverend Ho married us in a traditional Hawaiian ceremony on Thursday afternoon.

Things were a bit different 5 years ago:

-we had just purchased our house in Chicago
-we just got Storm (our cat) but did not have Jaromir (he came along in August)
-I had done two triathlons and was preparing for my first 1/2 ironman (Miami Man in November)
-I was working as a paralegal

It has been an amazing 5 years. Many things have changed. We have moved. I am no longer a paralegal. We ride bikes a bit more often.

I was happy the day we were married but I am even happier now to say that I am sharing my life with such a wonderful husband and I look forward to many more years together.

As Andy would say, "the past 5 years have felt like 5 minutes....underwater!"

I love you husband! Happy Anniversary!

It's One of the Three....

2010-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

I was getting ready to head down into town for a swim yesterday (I will repeat, a S.W.I.M) when, in the span of 5 minutes, I mistakenly referred to the swim workout as a bike ride and then a run. Never mind the fact that I had already finished a bike workout 3 hours earlier; I was still confused about what I was getting ready to do. Andy then reminded me about the other day when he asked about my upcoming ride and I replied, in a snippy fashion, "it's not a ride, my upcoming workout is a RUN." I guess it is a hazard of the job, it's usually 1 of the 3 so what is the difference. We resigned to just saying "have a good time doing 1 of the 3."

The last few weeks have been challenging and I have found myself aboard the pain train. This is usually a good thing but after an extremely challenging bike workout including some very long hill climbs my right glut decided to go on strike.

Luckily, I was due for a couple easy days and the glut has started to play nice. I have included several massages among workouts, stretching and icing. It's always refreshing to schedule a massage appointment knowing that you need your a** massaged for 60-90 minutes. This triathlon thing is not so glamourous and requires little modesty at certain moments. Luckily, modest is not something I am so dealing with having my a** massaged has not been a problem. As an aside, I don't think I would be able to pee in a bucket before my wedding a la' Bethenny Frankel so I do have some moesty. However, I have been known to sneak behind trees on rides and runs for a potty break so maybe I don't have the limits I thought I did. Again, a bucket in your wedding dress? A little over the top for me. It was being filmed as well! That is a lot of pressure to perform.

Vineman is in 7 days and I am looking forward to soaking up some rest this week. I am sure my body will thank me. I am excited to race in my home race, just put the bike in the car and drive over. Awesome!

The Daily Grind

2010-06-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

"I see you here all the time, don't you get bored?" asked the older man at the pool this morning.

"No" I replied. "I guess it does not take much to keep me entertained."

"How come you are here so much? Don't you have a job?" he asked.

"Nope, this is it."

Blank stare and then "okay, well have a good swim." He dove in the pool.

I did my workout, staring at the blank line, rinsed off and then headed to the track to run in circles while the local high school football team worked out on the infield. I am pretty sure they were wondering what in the world I was doing. The only person who actually got it and showed a lot of support was a little girl who was there with her dad while he was coaching the football players. She was probably 3 years old. She ran around the track at least twice (no joke) and would look back waiting for me to pass her as I came around again and again. Hopefully I was able to inspire someone today with my hard work, even if she may be only 3 years old.

The thing is...I love this life. I love the training. I love getting up early and going to bed early. I love eating healthy. I love pushing my body and testing my limits. It makes me feel alive. It always has made me feel that way. I got away from it in my early 20s and I was somewhat lost. When swimming was over after college I figured it was time to move on. I thought I had to get a real job and sit at desk all day. I hated it.

I embrace everything about the training and racing---the good, the bad and the ugly. I am so excited to be able to do this for right now. I smile every day that I go out on my bike or get to run on a beautiful trail. I still like the black line at the pool.

I am not bored at all. And, if this guy is able to notice how often I am at the pool, how come he is not bored either? I see him there everyday. Although, my favorite guy at the pool is the one who comes to all the water aerobic classes and does not pay attention to the instructor but instead hits on the women in the class. He even stays for 2 classes in a row! I guess I should take note; when you get older you may not go to the bar as much but you still get hit on at your daily water aerobics class. Nice!

Dream big and do what you love no matter what anyone says.

Coming up for Air

2010-06-24T11:56:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks after Hawaii got a little busy. I recovered well, put in some good training and then headed back to Chicago for a packing party at our house. We also went to a wedding while in town, had a very fancy meal at Moto and hit up Sweet Mandy B's for cupcakes and cookies.

Cuban Cigar Sandwich at Moto. The "ash" is spice. Amazing food.

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the weekend and was looking forward to getting back to Napa to train and rest. Packing all day really took it out of me. I had a planned a 10k road race while in town but when I could not get to sleep and had been standing for 2 days straight I was a no show on race morning. Instead, I slept in and rode my Cross bike on the Lakefront. I even took an Adamo saddle back to Chicago to put on the bike because just looking a regular saddle now makes me cringe...OUCH!

Andy and I are happily back in Napa. I am training hard, recovering and catching up on sleep. We have a wedding tomorrow and my former teammate Shannon is coming in because she is a bridesmaid so we have our first house guest (besides family). Vineman is up next. Excited to compete in my new local race.

So, that's it. Easy day today after hill repeats up Atlas yesterday. My next post will be more thoughtful...I just wanted to update because I know my parents have probably been waiting. One last thing...Wimbledon, go Isner! What an amazing match. Props to Mahut as well, no one should lose a match like that; they are both warriors.

Hawaii

2010-06-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Kua Bay

We had some business to take care of on the Big Island. It was not the race. Andy and I were married almost 5 years ago on Kauai and we spent our honeymoon on the Big Island. This was our first time back to Hawaii since we were married. For 5 years we have had a bag of sand from Kua Bay. We never opened it. It had to be returned to where it belonged. I thought the rule was you could not take black sand or lava rocks. However, you cannot take any sand. We felt bad about it. We were married in a traditional Hawaiian ceremony that talked about giving back to the earth and we owed this to the Big Island. Plus, I believe in Karma. I am not religious, I am spiritual. Hawaii is a very spiritual place. I was not going to return without bringing back what truly belongs to the land. We landed in Hawaii, explained why we had a bag of sand to the Agricultural agents (they said, "karma, right?"), got the rental car and went straight to Kua Bay before we did anything else. We returned the sand, stuck our feet in the water and felt much better after doing the right thing. I think the Hawaiian Gods appreciated our efforts but I still had to endure a very scary ride on the Queen K the next morning. Perhaps it was my punishment for taking what did not belong to me. If the winds were the punishment I got it and I understand, I will not take anything from the Hawaiian islands, EVER! Wow, I thought I was going to get blown over. Semi Trucks on one side, canyons on the other and horrendous crosswinds. It was a white knuckle ride. I was happy to feel it because if it came up in the race I would know (kind of) how to deal with it. It was also amazing because within 1 hour of finishing my ride the wind was gone. The wind was definitely a message from the islands and I heard it.

My preparation for the race went well after the first ride. I ran a bit in the heat, did some swimming and rested. We spent quite a bit of time laying in the shade at Hapuna beach and looking at Honu (turtles). I was totally relaxed and ready for a great day on Saturday. I was not really nervous, just ready to go out there and test myself against the elements. We drove up to Hawi for dinner on Thursday night so I got a chance to see the entire bike course. While the course itself is not super challenging (some rollers, nothing crazy) I knew the elements would make the course tough. The key for me was going to be riding strong, staying hydrated and fueled and coming off the bike ready to run well in the heat. I had confidence with this part. First, I was ready for a warm race since the first 3 races of the season have been chilly. Also, I have run well in the heat before and hoped to employ the same plan on this race. The plan being---build into the run and hold ice cubes in my hands. The ice cubes seem to help. I always cool off when I just stick my feet in a cold pool so I figure the hands are the same way.

Race day came and I slept well, had a relaxing breakfast, put on a ton of sunscreen and headed off to the swim start. I was happy to have done the Auburn Triathlon two weeks ago because it was also a 2 transition race like Hawaii. I was comfortable leaving my run bag at T2 the day before and then setting up T1 the morning of the race. I even had practice of bagging everything up quickly after the swim so it could be returned to the finish. Set up went well and before I knew it I was in the water for the swim start. This was the one thing making me nervous; a mass start of all the racers at 7am. I got in the front with the other Pros, the yelled at us to get back and then BOOM! the cannon fired and we were off. It was a bit hectic but I survived. We rounded the first buoy and it got wavy and hectic again. I, much to my dismay, became timid and backed off hoping for clear water. Wish granted, I lost the front group and ended up in no man's land for the remainder of the swim. I could see the group about 20 meters in front of me but try as I might, I could not close the gap. I told myself "it's a 5 hour race, don't freak out and get negative during the first 30 minutes." I came out of the water about a minute or so down from the leaders and jumped on my bike ready to have a good ride on such an amazing course.

I was really looking forward to the bike unlike other races in the past. I was not numb at the beginning of it and I have been working really hard on my biking so I was excited to see some improvement in this part of my race. I settled into a good cadence and got comfortable in aero. On this course you can be in aero for about 99.9% of the time. It has lots of straight lines. The only thing that made me come out of aero was just to stand up for a bit on the hills to switch it up or because the cross winds were scaring the crap out of me. A couple of age group women passed me at the beginning but after the turnaround at Hawi I caught them again and passed them. That is definitely new. I also noted how far behind I was from the women's leaders at Hawi and it was not that bad---a few minutes! More progress. I was motivated by this. I kept on top of my hydration finishing 3 bottles of Gatorade during the bike and grabbing water at two of the aid stations to gulp and pour over my head to stay cool. I felt good going into T2 and ready for a solid run.

When I hit T2 I grabbed my run stuff, shoes on and I was off very quickly. From the moment I started running I felt pretty light on my feet. I focused on taking quick steps and holding back just a little so I could be really strong the last 6 or so miles. I was confident I was hydrated enough and had consumed enough electrolytes. Andy told me that I was in 7th off the bike and to "run a few of them down." I had my orders! I passed two women before the first mile and came up on the woman in 4th (Sofie Goos) at Mile 2.5. She looked to be in a bad spot. I passed her and at another out and back got a look at the woman in 3rd. I wanted that spot! The course is up, down and around. Asphalt cart paths, road and grass. I have been running hills in California and I felt really strong. I caught the woman in 3rd around Mile 6 and did not look back. I was not going to give up that spot. I was enjoying myself. I was running hard and making it hurt---in a good way. I was also thinking of Andy. We have been living apart since the beginning of March. A big part of the reason for me moving was so I could get out to California and get in some good training for my races. We had made some sacrifices and I wanted to do well for me but more for him and the team that we are. I could not do this without his support.

Ultimately, I do not participate in this sport to finish in 1st place. I do this sport because I love to challenge myself in training and in racing. Some days I do great and some days it's not all there. However, that is part of the game. I accept it. In the end, no one is really going to remember what place I finished or how fast I went at any given time. My memories will be filled with pushing myself, overcoming challenges and getting through them with a smile on my face. A month ago a friend of mine asked me what my proudest moment in triathlon was and the answer was not the race where I had the highest finish or qualifed for my pro card. It was St. Croix 2009. I was sicker than I had been in years leading into that race and all I wanted to do was get out there and complete the race. No expectations beyond staying the moment. I try to find that mindset whenever I race now. That race taught me more about how to race fast than any other race that had come before it.

Honored to stand up with this group (Cocks, Granger, Wee, Deboom, Bell)

On Saturday I had a great race and finished in 3rd place behind two amazing athletes. It was honor to compete WITH them and stand up on the podium to accept my award. I made some progress on the bike and my run was AWESOME! A race is always that much sweeter when you end it well. Andy was surprised to see me come down the finish chute in 3rd place because they never announced that I had moved up during the race. He always thought I was still in 5th place. I was stealth out there.

Hawaiian Sunset at Dinner

Andy and I had a wonderful dinner after the race and then packed up. On Sunday morning we met Hillary, the GCM and Belinda for coffee and breakfast and then headed to the airport. We were home that evening and Andy is getting settled into his routine here in Napa. We are officially here together and I am happy. Recovery and then back to training. Vineman up next and maybe something else between now and then :)

Island Style Racing

2010-06-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

I missed St. Croix this year. I love the laid back island style racing thing. Luckily, Hawaii was in the cards and I am getting my fix of a beautiful spot with a race too. Plus, we celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary in July and since we got married in Hawaii (on Kauai) it is nice to come back. We promised each other we would come back every 5 years but I have a feeling that since we live in California now and Hawaii is just a 4.5 hour plane ride we might be here a bit more. There are already ideas for a winter training trip to Kona. Above is a picture of Hapuna Beach---where the swim takes place. Absolutely beautiful. We have spent a few days here enjoying the water and sitting on the white sand. I swam a bit of the course today because the buoys were out and the water was so clear, it must have been 30-40 feet deep and I could see all the way to the bottom.
The run up from the swim. Nice green carpet for our feet. More importantly, my feet won't be numb and I am not going to be cold when I get on the bike.
Transition---my bike is at the very end, racer No. 4.
Here I am overlooking the swim venue. Andy might watch it from here. Could be a pretty cool view.
Almost 5 years---well, technically, 4 years, 10 months and 20 days.

A little detour before leaving for Hawaii. I cut my pinky finger slicing a bun the night before snapping this picture at the hospital. I needed stitches but delayed closure has a higher risk of infection. So, just neosporin and band-aids. I call the cut the Grand Canyon, it's a pretty big slice and is probably going to take forever to heal.
View from my hospital room. They had me in and out in less than an hour and also told me I was the most pleasant patient they had all day. I felt like an idiot for going in since they could not do anything for me. The doctor asked why I did not come in the night before and I told him that we were having a BBQ and I did not want to leave my guests. I think he understood.
I got strawberries as my mid ride snack on my last long ride before leaving for Hawaii. Gotta love California!

Auburn

2010-05-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I headed up to Auburn for a sprint distance race. Oddly enough, I was excited to race on tired legs to see how I would respond mentally and physically. The Auburn Half (touted the world's toughest half) was also being run on the same day. Since I am preparing for Honu 70.3 on June 5 I figured the sprint distance was the way to go. It allowed me to test myself on the challenging course, but would not render me useless this week for my final build into the Hawaii race before resting next week. However, I will say that after experiencing the sprint course I will make the Auburn Half a must do race either next year or the follwoing year. The scenery is beautiful, the course tough and I love the grass roots feel of the race.

Endurance Capital of the World---my type of place!

Downtown Auburn---it used to be the Capital of California and was the place to be during the Gold Rush.

$79 for a great hotel, love the smaller races!

Rattlesnake Bar---where the swim took place, picture does not do it justice.

American River Canyon, beautiful views during the run. A little known trail race, the Western States 100, finishes here.

The run, that's not me, I took a picture off the website. You get the idea.

I won the race despite losing 3-4 minutes running off course. I checked out the swim and bike course the evening before but apparently I should I have taken a look at the run course as well. No big deal, a little bit of extra credit running. I will tell you that it was absolutely FREEZING! I got in the car to park and then ride to transition and it was 37 degrees. On top of that, it was 7 miles downhill to the swim start. I had gloves but my hands were ice by the time I got to transition. I went for a run to warm up. The water was a balmy 64 degrees and it felt really good since Oceanside and Alcatraz were in the 50s. I wore my arm warmers under my wetsuit hoping it would help me out on the bike. The bike is uphill for the first 13 miles so I was a little warmer than freezing but any downhills were pure agony. I had to sit up and hang on instead of staying in aero because I shaking so much. I am someone who gets cold in 80 degree pools so you can only imagine how I was feeling. I was finding myself praying for big uphills and there were quite a few so that was great I was not going as fast. The last 5 miles into transition were a gradual downhill and I could not wait to get off the bike. I started my 7k (which I made about 8Ks) run and warmed up a bit while enjoying the trails and beautiful scenery. The end of the race culminated with a 1.25 mile climb up to the finish. The race had two separate transitions so I had to wait for my bag with my coat in it to arrive from T1. Luckily a very nice volunteer, Joan, loaned me her fleece because she noticed I was shivering and blue. I was so grateful. I stuck around, collected my award---a bottle of Mandarin orange Olive Oil---and then headed to breakfast.

Yummy, ollaberry french toast with bananas. The ollaberry is a raspberry/blackberry type fruit and tastes slightly tart. I drove the 75 miles back home, rested and then headed out for a 30 mile ride. Yep, race in the morning, another ride in the afternoon. I felt a little yucky at first but ended the ride feeling better than when I started and I feel a ton better today. I am so excited for Andy to arrive on Saturday and then we head to Hawaii on June 1. I would also like to add I am excited for a race that is going to be HOT! If anybody hears me say that it is too hot in Hawaii you can slap me. I am going to embrace the heat and humidity. That being said, I apologize to anybody doing the race in advance because I know that me wishing for heat and humidity will render this year's race the hottest on record---Murphy's Law and all.

See you next year Auburn...the only change I would make is that it be 80 degrees and not 40.

Another Good Day at the Office

2010-05-20T16:51:00.001-07:00

Today was a hard ride. The plan had some steady riding and then in the middle a really long chunk of harder efforts. My coach called these efforts "significant" and suggested that I build the first 2 intervals and then "hang on" for the last 4. Gulp! This was going to be a tough one. However, the day was beautiful and I was looking forward to spending some quality time at the office. I let Andy know that I was leaving because even though he is not here it makes me feel better to have someone know that I have headed out since I do ride by myself from time to time. I always wear my Road ID (it's who I am) but if Andy knows I have headed out and he does not hear from me for 5 hours or so he can panic from 2000 miles away. Now that I write that down, maybe I should not tell him, what can he really do?

(I came across a blue tractor today)

The last two intervals ended up being combined into a climb up Howell Mountain Road. The Tour of California went up the same road on Monday. A couple weeks ago some bikers told me it was a super tough climb and I should avoid it. Little did they know but they said the magic word. Avoid a tough climb? That is not in my vocabulary. One of them actually suggested that I ride up part of the way and if I thought it was too tough I could turn around and come back down. Uhhh...unless something catastrophic happens I am finishing something I start. So, today was the day. It was tough. A relatively steep climb without a break but I made it. I descended down into the tiny town of Angwin and I stopped at the local market. This place was a gold mine! First, I found the bulk candy section. I must have been quite a sight---standing there in my bike get up with my helmet and sunglasses still on contemplating what I was going to treat myself to. And then, I found it...Malted Milk Balls WITH Peanut Butter! I grabbed a small bag (only allowed myself 5, they were big) and then headed to the coolers for a beverage. On my way I glanced down the next aisle and it was another whole aisle of bulk candy! I just kept walking because if I started browsing I was going to be there for awhile and I still had work to do. I did say to myself OUT LOUD "the place freaking rocks." The Angwin Market definitely has a return customer. Plus, they have everything there because it is the only shop in town. It is like a grocery, hardware, pharmacy and bookstore all in one. I finished up the last hour of my ride and then headed to the pool to stretch out. Plus, that forced me to shower because if I went straight home there was a good chance I was just going to flop on the floor and not move for a long time.

(Lake Berryessa on my ride yesterday, I got rained on a bit)

Going back to Monday, I got to watch the Tour of California come through the valley. My friend John and I decided to go up and watch on Oakville Grade. It was raining but sitting out there for an hour was totally worth the 5 minutes of action we got to see. It is a steep climb and the riders were definitely working hard to get up it. I think it made us all feel better about ourselves. Cavendish looked especially gassed going up the hill. Amazing, he can sprint faster than anybody in the world but get him on incline and he goes backwards.

RadioShack leading the peloton up the hill. I think that is Horner in front and then Lance and Levi right behind him.

Here they come!

Tomorrow is a bit lighter and then I head to Auburn (the former capital of CA) for a challenging sprint distance race on Sunday. Should be fun and somewhat painful---in a good way.

5% Rule, 8% Rule...lots of opinions

2010-05-14T11:26:00.001-07:00

Lately, there has been a lot of talk in triathlon about the new WTC rules for qualifying for a the World Championships (5% rule) and receiving prize money (8% rule). I have held off on giving my opinion because I am a new Professional and I am still learning the ropes. However, after seeing this rule play out in several races this spring, I definitely have some thoughts. While I understand the WTC is trying to raise the bar for the professional athletes, I can't help but think they are approaching this in a way that could end up stifling competition instead of promoting it.

First, the 5% rule for qualifying for the World Championships---Kona or Clearwater. I strongly agree with the idea of making it challenging to qualify for those two races. The fields should be elite and smaller to insure fair races. Obviously, the Clearwater race has it's problems but I am not even going to address that here. In Ironman St. George Caitlin Snow finished outside of the 5% time and did not receive a spot to Kona. She has finished 12th and 15th in Kona the last 2 years. She is clearly one of the elite Ironman Professional athletes and deserves to be on the start line at the World Championships. You might say "well then she has to qualify at another race and finish within 5% of the winner." I will counter that argument by saying that competing an Ironman is a bit different than doing an Olympic Distance race. It takes awhile to recover from an Ironman. Most people (Hillary excluded---love you girl!) only compete 2-3 ironmans a year. Now, Caitlin Snow has to decide whether to do another one in an attempt to qualify for Kona or forgo the World Championship this year, thus taking a great competitor off the start line in Kona. Now, she may have already planned to do another Ironman, I do not know Caitlin personally, but for the sake of my argument it makes sense to cite this situation. Maybe it would be better not to allow Kona slots to rolldown past a certain finish place. Top 3 or Top 5? Or, somehow come up with an aggregate time and base the percentage on that somehow? I just feel like the WTC wanted to make these changes and did not really think them through or talk to their professional athletes about how these rules could be implemented. I think most of us would agree that it should not be "easy" to qualify for the World Championships.

Second, the 8% rule. This is the rule that will probably affect me the most as I am a new professional. Triathlon is not a huge money maker unless you are one of the best in the world. Most athletes are scraping by, race to race. If they are not making money they may chose not to race any more. This could cannibalize already small pro fields (especially women) at some races. Plus, it does not really support the up and coming Pro. Maybe in their 1st year they are finishing within 8-10% of the winner and earning money at some races and not others. Everyone has to start somewhere. Not everyone comes out of nowhere (Chrissie Wellington-esque) to win the World Championships. Most professional triathletes started at the bottom and worked their way up. They won some prize money, gained sponsors and gradually began to have better results. If we take away people's ability to do this and earn what little money is available there will probably be less of us out there. I think this rule has affected the women's races (Malaysia and St. Croix) a little bit more than the men's because there are usually fewer professional women than men. Perhaps the WTC could make the rule 8% of the 2nd place finishers time? Other triathlon race series (Challenge comes to mind) implement a rule based off the 2nd place time. Or, maybe just pay out the prize money as advertised? I really don't believe that Professionals will decide not to race because the organizers are going to pay out the prize purse as advertised. I think there is a compromise that will work for both sides. However, to figure this out I think the WTC needs to solicit the opinions of the athletes and take their thoughts seriously.

Lastly, since I am the up and coming professional fighting to be within 8% of the winners I have been working very hard this week. My coach really challenged me Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and I am enjoying an easy day today. The weather has been beautiful and I have been out on my bike a lot. I am getting faster and stronger. The hills seem a bit smaller and I like to think I am "popping" over them more than before. The NCM has been taking me on some great rides and we did a few runs together and I was definitely pushed outside of my comfort zone. I am hopeful these changes will allow me to take my racing to the next level.

The Tour of California comes through town on Monday. I can't wait! I am going to be standing out on Oakville Grade to watch them come up the climb. It is 610 feet in about 1 mile. They will probably make it look easy.

Thanks for reading---Happy and Safe Training to all!

Discoveries in California

2010-05-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

I am still new enough to the Napa area so I have the pleasure of being able to go on rides and runs and discover hidden gems. After a hilly trail run that absolutely kicked my booty and prompted my running buddy John to say "you can kiss those flat Chicago legs good-bye" I went on an afternoon bike ride in Suisun Valley. Suisun Valley is one valley "over" from the Napa Valley and is very quiant. I found a fruit stand, a small coffee shop, a bbq joint that smelled unbelievable and signs for fresh picked fruit and homemade pies! If I had a basket on the front of my TT bike for groceries I would have stopped. However, the 2 mile climb up to my house with a load of groceries would have made for a long, tough climb. I also found a roundabout (see pic below). Ever since visiting New Zealand and Australia I have a soft spot for roundabouts. I really enjoyed my new discoveries and they are very different from the Chicago type of discoveries I would make on my two or three cycling routes. Discoveries in the Chicago area usually consisted of new traffic lights, more construction and bigger potholes. For realz.

Friday was preceded by a Thursday night dinner at my friend John's house with his wife Julie and their two daughters, Haley and Grace. I am used to eating some sort of one pot wonder at home with my kitties while skyping with Andy so it was great to have a little change in the dinner routine. We even helped the girls with their homework and I got the lowdown on the local kids in their carpool to school.

I finished the weekend with a killer swim and ride and run on Saturday, dinner at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen with friends who were visiting from Chicago and then a run and swim today. The best part about Cindy's is the Campfire pie pictured below. Pure Bliss!

Alcatraz

2010-05-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I completed the Escape from Alcatraz for the fourth time. Andy and I were talking about the first time I did the race in 2006. I had no idea what I was in for before the race. I do not think I had ever biked up a large hill. I did not know that you could get cassettes with more teeth for an easier time turning the pedals. Luckily, a biker friend of mine mentioned this to me and I got my 11-23 switched to a 12-27 before the race. Seriously, I would have fallen over going up those hills in 2006 if I had not switched out the gearing. Anyway, back then I thought the swim was the challenging part. It was what everyone talked about. I learned quickly that the entire race is challenging. You have to sight correctly on the swim. You have to run on rough pavement for over 1/2 a mile before reaching T1. You bike up and down and then you run up and down culminating with a final uphill on the sand ladder before reaching the top and having a bit of downhill to the finish (love that part!). Needless to say, I think I have come a long way since 2006. The challenge of this race will never change and that is why I love it so much.

In 2010 the water was felt the coldest I ever experienced at this race. We were treated to a balmy 59 degrees in 2009 so the 55 degree water with lots of patches of 51 degrees because of melting snow in the Sierras was quite a shock. Only one thing to do, swim as fast as I could to get out of the cold water. We left Pier 2 at 7am on a boat full of nervous and excited triathletes. I usually prefer to step away from the crowds before a race and do my warm up, chill and then line up just before the start. There is no way to escape on the boat. It is just a floating barge of nervous energy. I did not really talk to anyone; Ipod on and zoned out. Just before the start they took us Pros out onto the balcony to line up and dive off. My thought as I climbed over the rail was "don't be an idiot and fall off the boat, that would be really embarrassing." I held on tight.

(I am the 2nd Pink Cap from the left)

When I dove off the boat I ended up underneath someone and got kicked in the face on my way to surface. I remained calm and tried to find some feet. No dice. I was swimming with a few people and then I saw some pink caps pull away from me. Nothing to do but keep swimming to shore. Unfortunately I went a little too far right and ended up in a small eddy towards the finish. Luckily, I just picked up the pace a bit and was able to slightly correct but I swear, I looked up and saw people coming out of the water and I had this vision that EVERYONE had passed me on the swim. I thought I saw hoards of people coming out of the water. While I think I probably lost about :30-1:00 on my silly mistake it was not as bad as I had envisioned but I did yell some expletives at myself---not out loud. However, once I hit land I was all about getting to my bike and leaving the swim behind. No use worrying about the swim once it was over. I ran barefoot for the first time from the swim exit to T1. Ouch! Frozen feet on rough asphalt is not comfortable AT ALL. I must have had a nasty look on my face because when I ran by Andy he asked if I was okay. I grunted, "yes." I also heard my friend and former housemate at Michigan, Emily, cheer for me as I was running to T1. It was so nice to have a little cheering section.

For me, the first 2 miles of the bike seem to be a bit of an out of body experience. I am completely numb but biking hard. I can't ever really feel anything at this point in the race. I am breathing hard and I know my legs hurt but I feel like I am just a head with no body attached. I know that sounds really really bizarre and I am probably not explaining it well but it's what is going on for me before we start climbing. This course is the opposite of Oceanside (climbing on the backside of the course) because after the first 2 miles you make a hairpin turn and you are going up. This allows me to warm up quickly. I did not feel great at this point but I just put that out of my mind and put in a really good effort. The long descent after this climb went well and for the first time at this race I did not feel uneasy during the descent, I was confident and focused. I started to really feel strong after about 6 miles or so and I even passed two women. This is new for me so I was excited. I was finding the hills to be "easier" than in years past and was even able to put it in harder gears up the ascents. It was a beautiful day and I was really enjoying the race. We descended back down to Crissy Field and then before I knew I was in T2. I really had no idea where I was in terms of the pro race I just focused on running strong out of transition.

I passed Andy, Emily and our two other friends Matt, Angie and their dog Ozzie as I started the run. I gave them big smiles and was so happy to have them there to watch me race. The first 2 miles were flat as we made our way along Crissy Field and I was trying to be relaxed and strong. I was also exhaling very hard to get rid of a slight cramp I had in my side because I knew that could be a big liability if it was still there when I got to the climbing. I was able to clear the cramp relatively quickly and started to focus in on my effort and hit the hills ready to climb hard. Last year I remember looking up and seeing what I thought were mountains on the run. This year I rolled along and while there were some challenging uphills I never found the "mountain" I had seen last year. We continued our trek up and then descended onto Baker Beach for some sand running followed by the infamous climb up the sand ladder. I really wanted to be faster up the sand ladder so I began to prep myself for the climb. Once I hit it I focused on moving my legs as quickly as possible and pulling myself up hard on the cables that line the staircase. I kept saying "it's less than 3 minutes of your life...GO!!!" I got to the top, ran uphill on a trail for another 600 yards or so and then enjoyed the fast descent to Crissy Field and then the last 2 miles to the finish line. Two more friends, Jill and Jon, had arrived to watch the finish and when I crossed the line breaking 2:30 and in 7th place I was really excited. Despite my miscalculation on the swim I had finished the race very well. My bike and run were both faster this year, I was :20 faster up the sand ladder and the hills were not as arduous.

I am enjoying a bit of recovery the first few days of this week and then it is back to work. I have a tough sprint race up in Auburn, CA on May 23 and then Honu 70.3 on June 5. Andy and I also enjoyed a couple days together at home in Napa. We are getting his office set up so he can work remotely and while it is taking some time things are coming together and we will be living together again very soon and ending our "skype" marriage.

A Little Wild

2010-04-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have a race this weekend. No, it's not Wildflower---tricked you with the blog title and picture. It is one of my favorites---Escape from Alcatraz. I had an easy trail run today and while jogging around I thought about what being wild means to me. Today "wild" meant taking calculated risks, following my heart and embracing the challenges that lie ahead. Since I was on a trail run I had to focus on the ground just ahead of me so I did not fall or twist an ankle. There were big hills, little hills and one gnarly descent. I did not let it fly on that descent, I wanted to be careful, not worth the risk of falling flat on my face 6 days before a race. However, it did get me thinking about what I will risk. To be honest, it makes sense to me to take on this challenge of racing Pro because what am I really risking? I am going after something that I don't have so seems like a good do to me. A couple of songs from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack came on by Ipod Shuffle and it just emphasized the point even more to me. In the movie Jamal just keeps playing the game. He is fairly certain he will not know the answers to the questions but what does he have to lose? Nothing that he does not already have. If he gets the answer wrong he ends up in the exact place with the same possessions he had when he started the game. If he takes the risk he could end up with a lot more than he started with and in the end, he ends up with L.O.V.E. I think that meant much more to him than the millions of dollars.

This brings me back to my wild risk. What do I have to lose? I like training, I like racing and I like challenging myself to get better. I am excited to be a little wild on Sunday. The race itself is wild. A swim in the bay where you never know what the current will do. I have been as fast as 29 minutes on the swim and as slow as 35 minutes on the swim. I know that my fitness in swimming has not varied 6 minutes from year to year. It was the course on that day. The bike is up, down, around and up and down some more. I have gotten more comfortable descending. I may be more confident but I am going to remain focused and not take crazy chances. I am not fearless on a bike. It is not the time to get over-confident but being more comfortable is a good thing. The run is wild too. Flat trails, stairs, steep hills, a low tunnel (duck!), the sand ladder and running downhill with other people coming towards you on the way to the finish line. It's wild and it's fun. I am excited. I am going to go out there with a focused intensity and the goal to be just a bit wild and give whatever I have on the day. I have nothing to lose. 100% effort and a positive attitude through the good and bad. It is just me vs. the course, where I end up is where I end up. I am not in control of what anybody else does out there.

Last thought...does the Alejandro song by Lady Gaga remind anybody else of La Isla Bonita by Madonna? Just curious. And, yes, I listen to bad music when I run, please don't judge me.

We Made It (barely)

2010-04-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe "barely" is being a bit dramatic, but it was definitely a long and stressful day getting Storm and Jaromir out to California. We made it and they are settling in nicely. They love the indoor/outdoor room pictured above and they gave outside watching all sorts of little animals running around. I am sure they will be begging us to go outside very soon but I am going to keep them inside for awhile so they know their "home."

Getting them both out here was not without incident but Andy and I dealt with it the best we could. Storm (grey kitty on the left) has a definite aversion to being in her carrier ever since she had knee surgery when she was 1 1/2 years old. She deals with this by crying and sometimes getting so scared she pees in her carrier. We got her sedatives for the travel and while I think they helped she went to the bathroom in the carrier on the way to the airport. Luckily, southwest sells pet carriers at their ticket counters so after paying $75 for each cat to fly I purchased a new carrier for $45. It was totally worth it. Andy helped me clean her up and then we got her into the new carrier. Jaromir (on the right) gets so scared that he just cowers and does not move so dealing with him was a bit easier. Once on the flight Storm had 3 temper tantrums (biting and clawing the case, crying) but other than that, managed to stay relatively quiet for the flight. She really disliked any turbulence. Landing was a whole other issue. I think at that point both cats were scared and had been in their carriers long enough (about 7 hours) so we had a few more accidents. We got them to the car quickly, cleaned out the cases (thank god we had pee pads in them) and then headed up to Napa. The drive took about 1 hr, 20 mins. with traffic so it was not that bad. Now we are here and the cats are settling in. I am so happy the travel day for them is over. I had been worrying about it for weeks. I am NOT moving them again.

Training is going well and I am getting excited for Escape from Alcatraz next Sunday. I can't believe it is coming up so quickly. Of course, it is about 5 weeks earlier than usual. And, since it is almost May that means June is coming and I will be heading to Hawaii! I can't wait. The Tour of California comes through town on May 16 as well. I am excited to stand on the side of the road at Oakville Grade (killer climb outside of Oakville) and cheer.

That's it from here. I am enjoying my time with my cats and having the husband in town for a week.

You Gotta Have Faith

2010-04-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

"On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey; and it is the greatest property."

-Buddha

Faith. Belief. You have to believe in something. Through this training journey that started back in 2004 with my first triathlon I have found that believing in myself and having faith in what I was doing is paramount in becoming the best athlete I can be. Of course, this also played a role in my journey as a competitive swimmer so it probably started a lot earlier than 2004. However, 2004 was the rebirth of me as an athlete so I will use that as the starting point in terms of this discussion.

It is easy to get sidetracked by what other people are doing, what you read about in a magazine, what someone "tweets" they did that day for training but ultimately, you have to believe what you are doing is right for you and will make you better. I have been out in California for about 6 weeks now and I can feel myself becoming stronger but I am also finding that I need to go slow and hold myself back a bit because of the new terrain I am encountering on a daily basis. The hills make steady bike ride just a little bit harder and more intense. It is the same with running; I do not do a run now where I don't come across some sort of incline or long hill. I am excited about this and I welcome the challenge but I also have to be aware of how this changes my training on a daily basis. The only thing that has remained the same is swimming since 25 yard pools do not vary too much from the midwest to the west coast.

Yesterday I had a hilly base ride where I was supposed to work the climbs---and there were quite a few long, hard climbs. I went out with my new training partner John who is a solid biker (and swimmer and runner). Hillary has her GCM (german cycling machine) so I will call John my NCM (napa cycling machine). I always let him know what my day entails before we go out because I do not want to be holding him back. However, most of the times he is happy to join me for a ride. Truth be told, he is a bit quick for me right now. I have faith that I will close the gap. It might not happen next week or next month but everytime I cycle with the NCM I know that I am getting stronger. We remained relaxed on the flatter parts of the ride and then he really challenged me going up the inclines. It hurt but it was a great ride.

Today was a solid run on tired legs along with a swim and then a "flatter" long ride tomorrow. I am going to keep that one on the valley floor and ride up to Calistoga and back. There are a few rollers but nothing major so it should be perfect. I can feel my midwest definition of hilly morphing into the west coast definition of hilly. I love it!

At the end of the day, I have faith this hard work will make me better. It might not happen overnight but I will become better (especially on the bike). One of my favorite races--Escape from Alcatraz--is just over 2 weeks away and I am ready to tackle the challenging course and see what I can do on that day. It should be great fun to jump off the boat, swim in the chilly water, ride up and down the hills and run up the stairs, onto the beach and up the sand ladder.

Blown to Bits (in a good way)

2010-04-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

In the month or so that I have been living out in Napa Wednesdays have become "hill repeat" Wednesdays. What fun! I headed out this past Wednesday ready to play on some big hills. I chose Atlas Peak Road as my hill for the day. I had to do 6 repeats of 8 minute climbs with each one better than the previous. So, number 1 set the mark and on each of the following climbs I had to get further up the road. Now, I could not totally bag the first one to set an easy target but I had to be somewhat conservative so there was room for improvement. It was great fun. I was strategizing while going up the hill each time on where to attack, what gearing to use, whether to sit or stand, etc. It was like reconnaisance for the my own little tour de napa. I got better on each one and I even became less of a brake monger on the descent. After the repeats I had some more riding and then a run off the bike. The legs were sufficiently heavy and slightly empty but I still had a great run and ended the workout feeling like I made some progress.

Thursday was a "lighter" day with a steady run and an easy long swim. Today I got to do some more riding. The weather was beautiful and I headed out for a hilly ride---not hard to find around here. It would be hard to find a flat ride. Silverado Trail is about as flat as I can find here and it still has hills when you come from the midwest. I headed out into the Pope Valley and went by my favorite little market. Pope Valley has the market pictured here, an auto store and a fire station. So quiet and quiant. I went up Ink Grade and over Howell Mountain and then stopped for a root beer. It just looked so tasty. I actually refilled my water bottle with it. Terrible I know but it was awesome to have all the sugar and taste in my water bottle for the remainder of the ride. And, I think it was a slightly old root beer because it was relatively flat so that was good for my tummy. I descended off Howell Mountain (the Tour de California will actually come up and over Howell Mountain as well) and then headed back towards the house ending with my 3.1 mile climb up to our place. Nice way to end a ride. I circled our driveway for a few minutes to cool down and then ATE! Tomorrow is a hard run and an easy bike and Sunday is just a swim. I am knackered but in a good way.

I am heading to Chicago next weekend to hit up my favorite restaurants (Spacca, Urban Belly, Sweet Mandy B's), attend our end of year banquet for the UIC swimmers and then to bring my cats out to Napa. I am getting a little worried about having to take them on a plane. It is not going to be an enjoyable day for Storm and Jaromir. However, other people do it and they will survive and forget all about it when I get them out here. They are going to love basking in the warm sun!

A Beautiful Valley Day!

Dreaming in California

2010-04-04T11:55:00.006-07:00

My Sunday morning started with a trail run along the shores of Lake Hennessey. It was a bit cloudy and cool but still absolutely breathtaking. It reminded me of a lake that we drove past in New Zealand a few years ago. It was totally untouched---no motor boats and no houses. Lake Hennessey is very similar; there are people kayaking (2 people today) but motor boats and swimming are not allowed because the lake is the water supply for the valley. Andy just bought a used kayak from our friends and I am so excited to get it out here so he can kayak while I run along the shores of the lake. On my run this morning I kept an eye out for mountain lions (I was all ALONE), saw blue herron, SMART Canadian Geese and a golden eagle. I say SMART Canadian Geese because I will never understand the ones that fly south for winter and stop in Chicago---keep going birds, it's not warm in Chicago in the winter!

The run started here:

I brought flip flops to get across the creek and then changed into my running shoes.

I was also completely outfitted in Saucony gear because I had two boxes of running clothes waiting for me when I returned from Oceanside. Thanks Saucony!

Needless to say, I am starting to get my bearings here in Napa and I am finding some great places to run and bike. I met a fellow triathlete who has been nice enough to show me around and since he is a super fast biker he is going to have me sucking his wheel so I can become a better biker. We are great swimming partners as well and he really pushes me in the pool. I think that to get better on the bike I need hills (check) and a training partner who can really challenge me (check). Of course, I can't ride with him everyday or I will grind myself into the ground but having someone to train with 2-3 times a week will really help me. I am usually someone who trains solo 99% of the time and I think to improve I have to change that some of the time. I still enjoy my solo runs, swims and bikes but occassionally I need to get out there with other people and step outside my comfort zone.

The only thing missing here in Napa is my husband but he will be out here within a month. I will also be heading back to Chicago April 17 for the UIC swim banquet and to pick up my cats and fly them out here.

I have a swim later today and then yoga only tomorrow. I love recovery Mondays!

From Here to There

2010-03-31T12:14:00.002-07:00

A little about each place I have lived:

Albion, Michigan: January 11, 1977 at 11:59am it all began. Montessori, The McCarleys, sledding hill, Mrs. Frick, Toto, the woods, Cary, water fights, splitting my head open on a car bumper and walking home with blood pooling in my shoes, Toto, Aquacats, my first 50 breast under a minute, deciding I wanted to swim for Michigan in college, my first boyfriend, Junior High Track, Elizabeth St., Locust Lane, the Miata, Godzilla, Fiona, the bomb shelter, backing the car into a tree, Hell Week, the Gator, the Place, the Circle, the Spot, cruising in Marshall, getting pulled over, Pepe getting pulled over in my car and then my parents picking me up at a party because the police called them, State Championships, Club Swimming in Kalamazoo with Karen, Linda, Suzanne and our coach Vince, Frosty Dans, skipping school, driving too fast, my recruiting trip to Michigan, the ACT, Panama City Beach with Big Quig, the Honda Accord, the Geo Prizm

Ann Arbor, Michigan: West Quad, Phil and Luiey, Canham, a lot of training, Tae Bo, Sybil St., the Naked Mile, Hash Bash, Mitch's, Rick's, Scorekeepers, the Big House, running the Stadium Steps, Crisler, December 9, Grumpy Bunny, Urban Outfitters, the Food Co-op, the Grey Ghost, Hawaii, Shania, Kip, From Here to Eternity Beach, Football National Championship, two Hockey championships, Arch St., State Street, Espresso Royale, Blue Front, Sour Watermelon Slices, Red Hawk, Grizzly Peak, Angelos, Pizza House, Chipatis, Fiesta Soup, Jill, Hill and Division, Sprinkle Cookies, Bikini Contest, Knee Surgery, Comeback, waking up with charley horses in the middle of the night, NCAAs, Indianapolis, Le Peep, BeBe, retiring from swimming

Chicago, Illinois: Fremont st., CroBar, Quads Gym, the Dragon Room, Rob Base, Alive One, Apartment Fire, Glow, Rednofive, Andy, Orchard and Willow, 1952, Chicago Bagel Authority, Hammacher Schlemmer, Summerfest, The Farm Party, Paralegal school, Latham & Watkins, Louisville, Grippo & Elden, Shamrock Shuffle, Lakefront Half Marathon, Marathon, Triathlon, Stress Fracture, Fish Creek Falls, Skiing with Andy, Southport and Fullerton, UIC, Visionquest, Crash on the Lakefront, Biking with real biking shoes and cleats and falling over, Spacca, Sweet Mandy B's, Urban Belly, Ray Meyer Center, Jose, Kauai 2005, Going Pro, Storm, Jaromir, my first group ride, new bikes, Cyclocross, believing in myself

Napa, California: To be Determined. It all starts on Monticello Road.

A True TRIathlon: One part Good, one part Bad, one part Average

2010-03-29T13:39:00.005-07:00

(Photo courtesy of Timothy Carlson)

I raced on Saturday. It was my first triathlon since September 5. I felt a bit rusty, a tad nervous but excited to get out there and see where I am starting this year. As it usually happens in the first hit out, some things were good (swim) and some were bad (bike). Either way, it was a good effort and a chance to see what I need to improve. As it usually is, my post race analysis showed me I need to improve the bike. Maybe I need to learn to make myself hurt a bit more while cycling. I also just need more time on the bike. The three weeks in Napa were great and probably helped, but it is hard to see major fitness gains in 3 weeks. Plus, my time on the computrainer is somewhat limited during the swim season in Chicago because of work so to bike fast I also just needed more hours per week on the bike. My one other limiter on the bike---I was FREEZING!!! I am not talking about a little bit chilly, I was full on shivering and shaking. I loathed going downhill because I got even colder. This lasted for the first 25-30 miles of the bike. I am not going to use this as an excuse but it was reality. I cycled as hard as I could given the energy my body had but I have to think that some of my energy was going towards trying to warm me up. I have never had this problem in Oceanside before but I was in the water about 45 minutes earlier than I am used to starting (pro vs. age group start time) so maybe this was the difference. The sun was just not quite as high in the sky. I'll have to come up with a plan to remedy this---it will probably include throwing on arm warmers and a vest or just racing in a warmer location. Luckily, since Ironman is taking over the world (or so it seems, I will refrain from an editorial on the subject) they just announced a new race in Puerto Rico next March; that might work for me! Anyway, back to my race. After I warmed up and got passed by just about every pro I had to stay in a positive way mentally. There were points I was frustrated but I told myself that emotion was not going to be helpful in getting me through this bike as quickly as possible. So, I focused on cycling as well as I could, hydrating, eating and generally enjoying the opportunity I had to race on this beautiful sunny day. Ultimately, the worst race day pales in comparison to other things that could go wrong. I was still out there with the ability to race, to push myself and to have fun. What could be better than that...I am mean really?!!!?! After what seemed like a long time I dismounted the bike ready to push myself on the run. After about 2-3 miles I found a pretty good rhythm and focused on getting in some hydration and keeping my energy level up. After the turnaround for the second loop I began to push a bit harder and actually had a pretty spell for 3-4 miles where I felt strong (must have been the gel). I started to feel a bit tired and not quite as peppy the last 2.5 miles or so but I willed myself to stay as strong as I could and get to the finish as quickly as possible. My mile times were not horrible at this point and they were not going way up but I was definitely getting fatigued. I embraced this feeling. I enjoyed being able to push myself to that point. Being able to do that showed me that I am fit and I finished the race with a positive feeling. Overall the run was pretty good, not great, but a solid starting point for the season. My calves were killing me from the stupid concrete. I got my things together and had a wonderful breakfast/lunch at the Longboarder Cafe with Andy after the race. We relaxed and then went to La Jolla for dinner and some strolling around. It was a great evening followed my a relaxing morning of breakfast, watching a surf competition on the beach and then packing the bike. I love post race mornings---while I totally enjoy racing the full body *exhale* on the morning after the race is something I really look forward to.

Lastly, I forgot to talk about what I termed the good part of the race---the swim. The water was chilly but warmer than the air so it was not too shocking when I got in for a short 2-3' warm up before the start. We were not allowed in the water prior to that because of the sun not being up. I had done a warm up jog and lots of stretching so I felt pretty loose. I lined up on the outside and had a good start and avoided a lot of contact with people. I was swimming along in a group and I felt strong and pushed myself. My swimming has been going well lately so I was hoping that I could have a good swim. I did, my best time on this course by about :55 seconds. Needless to say, I have a bike and run focus coming up in my training :)

My next race is one of my favorites, Escape from Alcatraz. And, it is close to home. I love being able to say that now since I am living out in Napa full time. Here's to a solid beginning to the 2010 season. Many challenges are ahead in both training and racing.

Ready? Excited?

2010-03-23T19:09:00.003-07:00

The other day on Facebook one of the swimmers I used to coach (breaks my heart a bit to use the past tense) asked me if I was ready and excited to race. Of course the answer is yes, but there is always a bit of trepidation during race week. I get a little nervous about packing, getting everything together, traveling, etc. However, when I started gathering some of my things today I felt some of those feelings start to fall away and it was replaced with a real feeling of excitement for what lays in store for me this weekend. I approach my training much the same as I approach a race day so there is a certain comfort level in getting ready for a race. I believe that the key to racing professionally is to approach training in a professional manner as well. I like to prepare for training the night before by making sure that everything is ready to go so that I can focus on the task at hand the next day. Therefore, when I get to a race day I am pretty used to getting everything together and ready to go. Of course, this is my first race since September 5 so I am a bit rusty and will probably overpack just a smidge. Also, I know that San Diego has stores so if I forget anything I can always pick it up once I get there.

As far as the race goes, I am totally ready for the challenge. I have been out in Napa training for the past few weeks and it has helped immensely. After several days of fatigue and soreness about a week ago my body is starting to come around and I can see that I have some solid fitness for this time of year. I have done this race two times and I have learned, at least for me, that placing expectations on myself for this first race after a long winter does not work. This does not mean I don't have goals, but my goals are to be in the moment, execute my race plan and have fun. I had a couple of workouts last week that reminded me what the pain will be like and also reminded me that when it gets tough, I can keep going. This is a racing mindset that I am working on developing every year. Mentally, I have to be ready to embrace the pain and keep going. I know that I am strong and fit and my body can handle the stress of a long race.

Nothing is guaranteed in this racing game. I have learned to be at peace with that and roll with the punches. No matter what happens on Saturday the sun will rise and the sun will set. "Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." (Thomas Edison)

See ya on the flip side!

Butterflies

2010-03-15T17:38:00.007-07:00

I was driving to the pool the other morning for a swim and run workout with lots of butterflies in my stomach. I felt restless, unfocused, scared and nervous. Why????? I got into the pool and began my warm up before having to do a 400 TT. Maybe seeing "time trial" in my training plan sparked these feelings. However, I needed to focus, have a good warm up and get ready for the effort. Plus, it was just a 400 yard hard swim in the pool---it was really no big deal. I kept warming up and figured this was a good time to practice focusing through these feelings because they were a lot like the anxiousness I get before a race.

Speaking of which, in less than two weeks (probably contributing to a bit of nervousness) I will be lining up to jump into Oceanside Harbor at 6:43am for a race. The first of the year. Always a bit daunting. I have been training hard but the first race of the year is always a bit of a crap shoot. Usually, by the end of the season I am in a good rhythm of training, racing and being able to get into the racing mindset. I am a little rusty now. However, I am excited and ready to see what I am starting with this year. It is a stacked field but honestly, I don't really care who is there. I just want to focus on executing my best race on March 27, 2010.

So, back to my workout the other day. I did a solid 400 free, nothing super, but definitely not horrible. I know I am in good condition but coming out of a cold climate with lots of indoor training is challenging. Luckily, I am out in Napa, CA until the race. My first ride on the road was a bit unsettling. The trainer is great and all but nothing can mimic the road. Cycling into the wind, balancing the bike, feeling the resistance on the road; these conditions can not be recreated inside. I am so happy to get some in some outdoor training in before jumping on my bike for a 56 mile ride during a race. I have been running in the sun, getting a teeny bit burned and focusing on good recovery between workouts. It has been wonderful. Yesterday I did a 7 mile climb that was beautiful. I went up Atlas Peak Road. I got to a sign that said "Narrow winding road for the next 5 miles" and I thought "I have ONLY gone 2 miles---yikes." However, I just kept turning the pedals and I made it to the end. Here is what I found at the end:

I stood there, took a picture and turned around. I don't know what I expected but it seemed a bit anti-climatic. The last couple miles of the climb were on a very narrow, windy road. And, I swear I saw a very large animal walking up on a hillside that was brown with a long narrow tail (can you say mountain lion???). I admit, it could have been a cow or dog but at that point my mind starting wondering what would happen if I got attacked, would anyone hear me scream or would I just get mauled and being laying there in the middle of the road with no cell phone service??? Luckily, I noticed a cluster of houses and some of them even had cows and dogs outside so I reasoned that if there were lots of mountain attacks going on there would not be animals outside unattended. Plus, on my descent, there were lots of bikers coming up so I figured if I did get attacked someone would have found me eventually. I finished the ride, did a short transition run and then got myself fed and met my former college roommate and her husband in downtown Napa for the Mustard Festival. It was just a bunch of food, wine, some beer, and mustard and pretzels. There was some pretty tasty stuff. I grazed on lots of yummy samples, enjoyed catching up with Jill and Jon and ended the day with my feet up and a full belly. Today was yoga and lots of rest. I am sure the remainder of the week will be challenging but the weather looks great and I am prepared to focus and get ready to race in 12 days. Here we go!!!

Live From Chicago

2010-03-09T19:46:00.007-08:00

Success doesn't come to you, you go to it."

(Marva Collins)

The Horizon League Championship were almost two weeks ago for the UIC team. It has taken me that long to finally put my thoughts down about the meet.

Our men's team came into the meet as defending champions. As it is with every year you never get to the championship meet exactly the same team as the year before or even a few months prior to the meet. People get injured, sick, quit, etc. We had all of that leading into the meet. However, all you can do is stay positive, execute your personal race plan and see where the chips fall. As a coach, I am constantly emphasizing those key points. I believe that worrying about the things you can't control takes your mind off what you can control and can affect your performance negatively. Therefore, my goal was to keep everyone as calm and as happy as possible so they would be relaxed and ready to race fast. All and all, the men did very well. We finished in 3rd, 3.5 points out of second place. However, I don't think the finish tells the whole story. We had 9 NCAA "B" cuts, school records and multiple event champions. And, just like last year, we took 1-2-3 in the 200 fly. It is the last individual event of the meet and it is always super excited to watch Steve, Schmitty and Evan take it to the field. I hope the team was not too disappointed with not repeating as champions, because they really had an outstanding meet. Especially given the fact that the "fast" suits were outlawed this year. We had best times all over the place---it was truly inspiring.

The women's team had a great meet as well. They were in the mix in every relay, we had multiple events where we had more than 1 person in the top 8 (100 back-4 people!), and several event champions. We even went 1-2 in the 200 fly. I was so proud of all the women, they really raced well.

The team is now enjoying a break from training while I am focusing on the Oceanside in less than 3 weeks. Yikes, it certainly sneaks up on you. The first race of the season always makes me a little more nervous. The last triathlon I did was at the beginning of September. I know that I have not forgotten how to race since then but I always feel out of practice with the whole preparation thing. By the end of a season getting ready for a race is simple. I know exactly what to grab, how to arrange everything, etc. Plus, you need less stuff when the weather is warmer. I always seem to overpack for this one--I don't want to make the mistake of being too cold. I did that the first time I raced in Oceanside and it was miserable. Now I know to take a super warm coat, gloves and hat.

'Tis the season for racing and I am getting ready. Here's to new beginnings!

Training IngredientsChicago Style

2010-02-14T11:41:00.014-08:00

My Sunday morning training and all that is required:

First, you need a computrainer and a bike with a super comfortable ISM Adamo Racing Saddle (and today, matching bike shorts courtesy of ISM).

It is also nice to have good music and the ability to check emails while riding---future sponsors I am waiting to hear from you :)

Next, I got all dressed in my warm clothes and ready to go out for a run off the bike.

After concluding your transition run grab two buckets of snow from the backyard. I knew all this snow was good for something. Plus, it is more convenient than going to 7-Eleven for bags of ice.

Fill tub with cold water and add two buckets of snow.

After preparing your ice bath with free snow from the backyard add tired legs for 10-15 minutes. Drinking a hot drink while soaking is not required but highly encouraged.

(All Photos Courtesy of Andrew Skolnick)

As always, I try to include Focus, Passion, Smiles and, especially today, a bit of L.O.V.E. to my training. Happy Valentines Day everybody!

(Post dedicated to all those who pursue their dreams and with special thoughts to the Georgian Olympic team for their loss on Friday)

Sir, That is Too Much Cologne!

2010-02-12T17:01:00.005-08:00

Training has been going well. We got a good amount of snow (not quite as much as the East Coast) so a lot of my quality training has been done inside. I don't mind running outside in the cold but when I have to run "fast" and there is ice I just don't want to take the risk of falling and hurting myself. I am a little clumsy so the chance is always there :)

However, today I got outside for a transition run after my bike ride. I ran by a guy getting into his car and he had so much cologne on I started coughing. Now, may I remind you, I was OUTSIDE. I can not even imagine what being in an enclosed space with this guy would have been like.

As far as the UIC team goes we are getting ready for our conference meet that begins in less than two weeks. I can't believe how fast it is approaching. The swimmers are in the midst of taper and getting more energetic and nervous. I am excited to watch them swim at the end of the year. Of course, as it is with most years, I am sure there will be ups and downs. As a coach I will have to be there in the good (always easier) and ready to help and be supportive in the challenging times. Here is my inspirational video of the day, hopefully it will help me be a better coach too!

ISM Saddles and Saucony

2010-02-07T11:13:00.003-08:00

I got a special present in the mail on Friday from ISM! The box of goodies contained a couple saddles and a bicycling kit. Thanks so much to Dave at ISM. I have been using the Adamo since the fall and I am beyond happy with how comfortable I am on my bike(s). Now I have to get Andy hooked on the Adamo. I got him a blue one to match his bike.

Next up...a delivery from Saucony; my sponsor this year for shoes and apparel.

It may still be cold but spring is on it's way and my first race is in 6.5 weeks in Oceanside. After that is it one of my favorites---Escape from Alcatraz on May 2.

Happy Training!

I Am All About FUN

2010-01-20T09:45:00.003-08:00

This might be a rambling post about a bunch of seemingly different topics due to the fact that a big portion of my training has been done indoors. I have had a lot of time to think and daydream while "hurting" myself on the trainer, in the pool or running on the treadmill. In fact, I really look forward to my training sessions because I get to have some good daydreams---it is amazing the things I have accomplished inside my head this week. However, I actually think dreams can help shape reality so I am all about "over-achieving" while rocking an interval workout on the treadmill.

First topic---FUN. We all have different definitions of fun. When I first moved to Chicago my fun (or what I perceived as fun) involved late nights, club-hopping and wearing very high heels even during the winter months. Now, not so much. I actually put on a pair of my old "going out" shoes before my husband's work Christmas party and wondered how in the world I used to wear them out dancing?!?! I am surprised I did not break my ankle. Needless to say, I was really tempted to wear a pair of birkenstocks to the party but I found a pair of boots with very low heels that were semi-approriate (barely). My definition of fun has certainly taken a drastic turn from my early Chicago days. I go to bed now when I used to get ready to go out and wake up before I would come home. I am the complete opposite of what I used to be! I enjoy starting the day with a tough workout, relaxing afterwards and following it up with another one or two workouts later on in the day. The feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming when I log my workouts for the day. We recently had one of the swimmers come into the office and say that training was not "fun" for her right now. However, her definition of fun seems to be a little different than mine. She thinks the social aspect of swimming is fun. Laughing with her teammates, cracking jokes, acting silly. I agree, that is fun. That type of fun needs to be balanced with my type of fun. So, as a coach, I am trying to make it fun for her by cracking jokes and giving her tips about swimming in a not so serious way to disguise my real motive---to make working hard fun for her. I hope it is working.

Second topic---Coachability. I have found that it is hard to coach an athlete that does not allow themselves to be coached. I think that in order to improve you have to believe in what you are doing and be willing to give up control. Now, that does not mean that you should not ask questions about the training or what the purpose of certain things are in your daily workouts but once the reasons are explained you should just DO IT as asked by your coach. I have athletes with the "grass is always greener" type attitudes. It is becoming paralysis by analysis. I think that having a coach can be liberating because you do not have to think as much about the who/what/why questions. To do that you must BELIEVE in the program that has been developed for you. Every year I sit down with my coach to go over the previous year and talk about training and racing for the upcoming year. After that, he comes up with a plan. Of course, we talk via skype or email a lot but once he knows my goals I let him do the work in planning a course of action. I trust him and then I get to just do the work. I give him input on a daily basis about how the training is going and he tailors the plan for what he thinks I need.

Third Topic---Jersey Shore. When we were at the Fort Lauderdale Airport on January 9 to fly home from our training trip a few people on the team ran into Snooki. Apparently, she is a very small person. I bring up the Jersey Shore because I was watching it while riding the bike the other day and I got a bit disgusted with what was going on. I acknowledge this is about the trashiest show on TV right now, but I felt like it hit a new low last week. One of the cast members, Ronnie, sucker punched a guy knocking him out cold. Awful. What really irritates me is that the cast are the hottest thing right now. They are getting paid boatloads of money for appearances and I feel like they are getting rewarded for terrible behavior. I am not afraid to say it--"the situation" is not a good guy. I would not want to hang out with him. I do not find him to have any redeeming qualities what so ever. He might grow up and change but his bad behavior is opening a lot of doors for him presently so there is probably no incentive to become more mature. He is always on the hunt for women and I think his job just got a lot easier since being on the show. I do enjoy trashy TV while riding the trainer but I think Jersey Shore is off the list now---I do not want to feel like I am condoning that type of behavior.

Last thing: My horoscope said that Pluto is reminding me that I will never achieve what I want if I do not focus on my goals so I am going to make sure to focus and find a purpose in each training session. Sounds like fun to me. I am probably a couple standard deviations away from normal as far as fun is concerned but what is normal anyway? My hunch is the Jersey Shore is not normal.

Here's to good daydreams in the training sessions to come :)

Freezing in Florida and the Swimming Celebration Set

2010-01-12T08:18:00.007-08:00

Okay, I know it was really really cold in the midwest while I was down in Florida last week. I am not saying it was not nice to be in temps that were 30-40 degrees warmer than Chicago, but it was Florida and I was really looking forward to being warm for a week. However, I spent the week shivering on the deck while our team trained. I brought down some warm clothes because I checked the extended forecast before leaving, but everyday the weather people would say "it's going to stick around another few days." So, I ended up wearing the same three outfits for a week. Also, I had some warm clothes for the bike but not quite enough so I just had to suffer. If the sun was out if was warm but the wind was pretty cold and unpleasant. Again, any riding outside this time of year is not unpleasant so I was happy to endure some cold wind to have the luxury of riding on the roads instead of the computrainer.

Enjoying myself in the sun!

The last day of training camp in Fort Lauderdale was by far the worst as far as standing outside. It was 40 degrees and pouring rain. I was jealous of the team getting in the pool, I would have preferred to get in and swim the lactate set with them. I got a hot cup of coffee and just thought warm thoughts and the practice went by quickly. I made sure to stand right under that platform during the practice but I still got soaked by the end of the training session. A scalding hot shower back at the hotel made me feel like a million bucks. All and all it was a great trip and the team trained very well. I came up with what I thought was a very challenging and fun workout for the distance and 400IM swimmers and they claimed to"enjoy" it. If anybody wants to know what it is let me know...it was a 5600 meter main set of swimming fun.

And, speaking of swimming fun I just polished off my first 100x100m swim this morning. Yesterday was my birthday and Hillary calls this the birthday set so it worked out perfectly. Noelle, our volunteer assistant, asked me in Florida to do this set with her this week because she is having shoulder surgery on Friday and wanted to do something to celebrate the sport. What better way than a 10k swimming extravaganza?!?!? We broke it up by doing IMs, some stroke, fins and paddles, pull, varied intervals, etc. It went by really fast and by the end I was not ready for it to be over. We had a great time, it hurt and was a superb way to start off the day. I have not swam that far since December 30, 1999. You may wonder how I remember that but it is because it was the last day of training camp my 5th year at Michigan and we did a 12k training session before getting on the plane to head home. Jim was worried about Y2K that year and wanted to have us back in Ann Arbor before January 1.

Two very happy swimmers post set---we are already planning when to do it again

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T14:02:00.002-08:00

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
(Hindu philosophy)

Pulling my Hair out in Frustration....followed by some Tears

2009-12-30T11:07:00.001-08:00

I am usually pretty stoic, relatively calm and not prone to tears. My husband thinks I am like a guy in that way. He has not seen me cry that often or become overly emotional in the 9 years (wow!) we have been together. The lack of crying and emotional outbursts does not mean I lack passion; I just channel my frustrations by remedying an upsetting situation, etc. Plus, I work out a lot and that helps me relieve stress. However, yesterday I got so upset and frustrated I cried after coaching a swim practice with my team. Why? I felt like the entire workout was a waste of time (for me and them). They were cheating on the set, skipping things when I went to the bathroom and otherwise displaying a lack of respect for me and their teammates. First of all, I did not know we were at a point where skipping 50s in a warm up set was even a consideration, they are not 12 years old. Second, why show up for a workout if you are going to dog it? Be true to yourself and find something you enjoy doing. Now, I understand that athletic scholarships help pay the bills but if that is the ONLY reason you are doing an activity I think that attitude needs to be reevaluated. There has to be some passion, some sort of commitment to the activity. If not, you are just taking an opportunity away from someone who really wants to be there. I don't want to treat my athletes like children. I don't want to have to stand over their lane and count every single 50 they do to make sure they are doing the correct amount. That's a waste of time. I want them to WANT to work hard. I want to see commitment to achieving the goals they told me about at the beginning of the year because right now, I am not seeing it. I don't know if they have found this blog on the internet but if they are reading it I hope they understand that to me it is not about winning or losing or even going a certain time that will make me proud of them---it is about the effort to go for it every single day the RIGHT way. The results, those take care of themselves if you just put yourself out there and commit to the effort. It's only a failure if you fail to go for it. It's cliche but true.

The day was not totally lost after the morning workout that made me cry. I had a great run on the treadmill because I was upset so I decided to channel that energy into good. I also received an extremely thoughtful gift from Sara, one of my triathletes. It made my day. It was a gift certificate to one of my favorite restaurants in the city--Urban Belly. Sara is expecting another little one very soon but we have already talked about post baby #2 goals and she is even signed up for a few races, I love it!

So yesterday started out bad and ended pretty well. Here's to hoping that some people on the team start 2010 off right and make a change in their attitude, it will make all the difference in their training and racing.

Goals, Expectations and the Holidays

2009-12-27T08:59:00.007-08:00

I have not had much to write about lately. It has been coach, train, eat, sleep and repeat. Routine is fine with me so it has not been an unhappy time, just busy. I have had week break from coaching which has been nice. While I love coaching, I definitely needed a break to re-energize for the last 8 weeks of the season. It is amazing to think we only have 2 months to go before our championship meet. Time is certainly flying. We all leave on Friday for our training trip in Ft. Lauderdale and I am looking forward to some outdoor riding while down there. Of course, it will be flat and along A1A (I'll be singing Ice Ice Baby--"A1A, beachfront avenue") but it's outside and not the rollers and computrainer in my living room.

Speaking of the trainer, I have been spending quite a bit of time on it lately. The last few weeks have been a "bike focus" time which is always a bit challenging when there is no hope of going outside. However, I have remained focused and endured all the training. My legs are coming around and I am starting to feel more fit. It certainly can be tedious but I find that if I keep my goals in the forefront of my thoughts while cycling indoors I can find the motivation to keep myself working hard. I have also just switched to the ISM Adamo saddle and it has helped tremendously as well. I am able to stay in aero for longer than 2 minutes while riding on the CT which is great. It took a bit for my sit bones to get used to the increased pressure but I can't imagine it any other way now.

As far as the 2010 season goes I think I have finally nailed down the first few races I am going to do. I was quite indecisive for about a month but after I buckled down in training I started focus in on things and the races I wanted to do became more clear. As of right now I am going to start with Oceanside March 27 and then Wildflower on May 2. Oceanside will be cold but I have done the race twice so I think I will know what to expect. I had considered doing an Olympic distance race to get rid of the cobwebs but after thinking about it a shorter race might be more painful after a long winter training indoors and doing a lot of longer type miles. I think I will probably be a little rusty and not quite as sharp and if I am not on top of my game I will get left behind in an Olympic distance race. So, I'll go to Oceanside with the goal of having the best race I can after training indoors for four months. I might be a little underdone or I might be firing on all cylinders, the first race of the season is always a hard one to figure out. I just want to go, race hard and see where I am on March 27. Then I can re-evaluate and focus in on the rest of the spring.

Last year at Oceanside I expected I would do better because of the great winter of training I had done. It was definitely more than I had ever done and I thought I would be way ahead of what I had done in 2007 at the same race. How much better was I in 2009? 20 seconds. Of course, things are different year to year---wind, temperature, etc. but I was somewhat disappointed. At the same time, my race in 2009 hurt a lot more than my race in 2007 so I knew that I just had one of the good days in 2007. As I continued to think about it I realized that "expecting" to do well because you had put in the work was the wrong mindset too. When I go to yoga I never expect anything when I go into the poses; I am just in present and working with what is there in the moment. I forgot to do that in Oceanside last year. I needed to work with what I had that day and not worry about where I thought should be. It was a good lesson to start of the 2009 season. I needed that because one of my goals was to work on the mental game of racing. I knew that I had done some great training and while I did not see it in the Oceanside result I was confident that it would show itself later on during the 2009 season.

In fact, my next race in St. Croix was an exercise in the mental side of racing more than any other race I had ever done. I had to go into that race with absolutely no expectations and the goal to just be present. I spent the ten days before the St. Croix race sicker than I had been in years with a fever and upper respiratory infection. Once we got to St. Croix I started to feel better but I had not been on my bike in a week and had only managed to splash around in the pool a few times. All I wanted to do was race. I did not care if it took my 7 hours to finish the race, I just wanted to experience it. I loved everything about that race and I did not want to miss it. As the week went on the congestion in my chest started to ease and I began to feel better. I managed to swim the course a few times and do a couple easy rides and runs. I reasoned that I was going to be very rested. Andy asked me the day before the race as I was hacking while lounging by the pool in our rented house (named the Blue Iguana--loved it) if it was a good idea that I raced the following day. I looked at him like he was crazy and said "I am starting the race, no matter what I can make it through the swim and will evaluate from there." I told him I would stop if I was sick but I was not going to stop if I was going slow due to being sick the week before, no matter how long it took, if I was healthy I would finish. He looked at me, smiled and said "I don't think it will take you 7 hours." The next day I raced, enjoyed the experience, stayed in the present with absolutely no expectations and took 25 minutes off my time from the year before. The remainder of the year I worked on recreating the mindset from that race.

I was smiling like that in every picture.

So, as I get ready for the 2010 season I am getting ready for the entire experience and approaching it with passion, commitment and a SMILE. There will be challenges, setbacks and goals achieved this year and I can't wait. Now I have to go ride on the trainer (AGAIN!). Happy New Year!

White Chicago

2009-12-08T09:32:00.004-08:00

Winter has finally arrived. It's been getting colder for several weeks but I have been bundling up and heading outside to ride when I can. I think that has come to an end. The snow has fallen, ice is forming and I am not going to go out and fall off my bike. Computrainer here I come! And, I will also bust out the YakTrax, those things are awesome. Gets me off the treadmill and there is something about the lakefront this time of year, so quiet and serene.

One last thing---why is the guy in the picture wearing shorts? Come on guy, at least cover your knees!

Earning my Pie

2009-11-29T14:33:00.002-08:00

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend was a blast. I am sad that it is over. So, in an effort to make it last I am going to recount right now. Wednesday involved a morning workout with the UIC team, a bike ride and then a trip to Whole Foods for groceries (along with everyone else in Chicago). Luckily I did not have that much to get because we ordered a lot of side dishes from Charlie Trotters To Go since it is about 10 steps from our house. Definitely makes things easier. All I have to do is make a salad, stick the turkey in the oven and boil potatoes. We got a pie from Sweet Mandy B's---turtle pecan.

On Thursday morning I was able to do my first running race of the fall! I was excited. I jogged down to the start line which was about 1.7 miles from my house, lined up during the National Anthem and then we were off. I don't think my heartrate even had time to come down. The only problem with arriving late to a race with 5000 people...a bad starting position. I spent the first mile or so dodging in and out of people, jumping over puddles and trying not to get taken down by others doing the same thing. I finally found some running room and let myself run hard. Since I have not done a ton of hard running due to my injured heel I was definitely hurting at the end. However, it felt great. I ran through the finish line, stopped for a second because I felt like I was going to puke and then jogged home. Once I got home I bundled up and jumped on the cross bike for an easy ride down on the Lakefront to spin out the legs. While this hurt (a lot) at first, I knew I would feel better post ride. Plus, I was fully aware I was going to have a slice of pie (or two) later on and I wanted to make sure I earned by pie. I think I did.

Friday was a swim, breakfast with my parents, a bit of shopping and then another ride. It was a beautiful sunny and cold day but I found that if I bundle up I can stand it. Plus, I feel super tough going outside to ride when it's cold. I also have the lakefront path to myself which is great. Now, I have my limits but I will go out if it is 35 degrees or warmer. Saturday was a run, weights and then a swim. I also made an awesome Turkey soup with the leftovers that even Andy enjoyed. He always complains that soup is not a meal but I think he was happy with this one.

Then came this morning. I had a 3 hour ride scheduled. It was cold and cloudy but the radar looked relatively clear and I figured that I could deal with a few sprinkles. However, one hour into my ride there was a huge flash of lightening, a very loud crack of thunder followed by a downpour. Luckily, I was near a tunnel so I quickly found cover, along with some other runners, and called Andy to pick me up so I could finish my ride on the Computrainer. I was a little pissed riding home in the car with my dirty bike and facing a 2 hour ride on the CT. However, I made the best of it and had a good ride in spite of being indoors. I think the indoor riding season has officially begun. I am just going to have to suck it up and remember the positives...and they are???? Oh yes, uninterrupted intervals and the ability to catch up on music and bad TV.

Tomorrow is Yoga. And, back to work.

Training, Work and Hockey

2009-11-19T10:51:00.003-08:00

On Sunday night I went to the Blackhawks/Sharks hockey game. Of course, I am a dedicated Red Wings fan but when you have good seats you might as well go, right? The Hawks are a good team of youngsters and exciting to watch. They ended up winning in overtime, too. I have included a couple of pictures to prove that our seats were really good.

Other than that I have been working hard at the UIC coaching gig and increasing the training. My foot/heel is doing tons better. I have been able to run and do some hard efforts so I can feel my stride coming back. I have gotten the okay to do an 8k turkey trot on Thanksgiving and I am hoping that my coach ok's a XC run on Dec. 6. Apparently you have to duct tape your shoes on---sounds like fun to me and I have an old pair of Sauconys that I don't mind ruining in the mud. I figure if I ruin them that way they will go down in a blaze of glory---one last great use.

So, that's it. I have a three day invitational this weekend with the team so that will mean lots of time together, I am sure the team is stoked about that :)

Then it is Thanksgiving week with a cycling block thrown in training wise. Michigan football is playing this weekend but I don't know if I want to watch the game. It will either be a good one for us as we salvage a little dignity with a win over Ohio State (unlikely) or another loss capping off another poor season for the Big Blue.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Update

2009-11-08T04:47:00.009-08:00

It has been pretty routine for me lately. Swim practice, training, swim practice, dinner. That is my day in a nutshell. Meets have started so my weekends are busy as well. I have been ramping up the training just a bit, doing a few random cyclocross races and I have started running more! Very happy about that development. The heel is feeling much better. I have gotten my right calf all stretched out and that has helped a ton. Plus I have been sleeping with the Strassburg Sock and it has worked very well.

I went for a ride the other morning and ended up in a cab with something sitting next to me on the seat that I don't think should have been there :)

Another shot of my broken bike. Luckily I did not fall off when the pedal flew off behind me.

I sent Andy a picture and he said "glad you are all right, but that sucks, it ruined your workout." For sure, that was my concern too. Luckily I did a "do over" ride the next morning on the road bike while the crank got fixed. No biggie, luckily I have a lot of bikes.

The weather has been beautiful this weekend and I am heading to a cyclocross race and then a trail run after the race. Fun stuff, can't wait to be outside for the day. Fall has been pretty, however. We have a Japanese maple in the backyard that turned a gorgeous bright red. I like fall, hate winter. I think I would enjoy fall more if winter did not follow it. Oh well, I'll make it through the cold. Just more riding on the computrainer catching up on trashy TV. Maybe I will organize a trip down to Tucson to train with Hillary.