I'm In New Hampshire!!!

What a fun 2 days. They have been an early 2 days - which really isn't fair when you are on vacation, but whatever.

Karen picked me up at 6 on Friday to start our adventure north. We packed up the car and were on the road by 6:15. I had my coffee and did my best to be a good shot gun rider. Karen is an awesome road trip partner as she had a bag of snacks ready to go. AND some of the little baggies (she knows my portion control issues) had my name on them. Woot!

We flew through Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey (and flew without speeding!!). Made it in and out of New York. And stopped to Connecticut by 10:45. Why? EZ Pass. It's the best and every time we went through the EZ Pass lane Karen yelled "APPROVED!" Also, we realized that we totally lucked out with traffic and had some extra time. Neither one of us had been to Rhode Island, so we went to Providence for lunch!! Who does that? WE DO!!

After walking around Federal Hill, we headed to Toby's parents house for dinner and to spend the night. Oh, that was in Massachusetts. That's 6 states and a district for me, 7 states and a district for Karen (she lives in Virginia, but I don't hold it against her).

This morning we got up early so Karen, Toby and Casey could do a little ride. Because Blain is at home, I didn't ride and learned from Hans how to properly clean my bike. Blain will be happy. We packed up the cars with more food from Costco and headed into New Hampshire.

I have to say, this going to a race and not racing - VERY FUN!! We got to the check in and everyone was running around getting numbers, finding safety pins, going to pre race meetings, and I just sat back, healed people's stuff, and looked at all the pretty scenery. Plus, Sandy and Lindsey got me a sweet sherpa present AND I bought my self one too.
But now I have to go bed because we are getting up at 3 to be on the road by 3:30 so we can get a good parking spot. I plan on taking a nap while everyone is riding.

Ride Fail

I tried. It is not often that I regret getting up to do a workout. Today, it was one of those days. And one of the first workouts I cut short.

I am not sure what was going on, but I just didn't wake up. After my first loop at Hains Point, my legs were hurting, my back didn't feel right, even my left arm was hurting. I couldn't get comfortable on the bike and decided to cut the ride short. I didn't want to risk injury or do something stupid, like fall over, so I stopped.

I am pretty sure I made the right decision. But I do wish I could go back to bed instead of going to work...

To Bike or Not To Bike

Tonight was a planning meeting for Timberman with Karen. We are heading up to Boston on Friday to stay with Toby, then head up to New Hampshire on Saturday. I haven't been north of New York, so I am really excited.

Still debating the bike. Yesterday was towards yes, today towards no. Tomorrow??? I think it would be nice to not feel the need to bike, obligation to work out. I'm not training for anything - other than a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike.

My life is full of hard decisions.

Like how many alarms to set to get up at 5:45 to go ride tomorrow morning.

Another date with Yoga

Yoga Steve + only 4 people in the class = lots of attention and tweaking of poses = PAIN!

But in the good way. It was a small Tuesday yoga class, but another good one. I just really like the 45 minutes to an hour of relaxation during the day. It's a nice break from the swim/bike/run. And I think the 3 long weekends have taken a toll on my body, especially the legs.

I am pretty excited to take the weekend off and cheer everyone on Sunday. I am debating on whether or not to bring my bike and ride up there in New Hampshire. I should. I think Karen and I will have the room in her car. And I heard there is ice cream... but I am pretty lazy and could use a relaxing weekend.

It was a swim

I think my body is telling me something. It's tired.

I knew I would be late due to a late meeting, and the need to pick up my dry cleaning, but traffic was also bad. It was very tempting to just go home. But, my suit was on and I figured Toby would be mad if I didn't show up.

Once I got there, I couldn't keep up with Toby, so I swam with Dena. I am not sure how much I swam, but it was a nice stretch swim. Not fast (which I couldn't when I tried) but I am glad I went. Even though my swims have been disappointing, I still do love swimming.


And on a personal note (not like this entire blog isn't personal...) take a moment to let those around you how much you care about them. If you are reading this, please know I do care about you. Thanks

AWESOME!!!

That is how I feel about today's race. Let me explain.

After a traffic filled uneventful drive up to Delaware on Saturday, Mary Elizabeth and I meet up with Brooke and Diane at the hotel. We promptly drove the bike course and made fun of Mary Elizabeth for saying it was flat when there was 1 bridge overpass and a few tiny bumps (I can't even call them rollers). Our first choice for dinner wasn't an option, so we went for the second best choice - Matildas. Nothing says pre race dinner like an Australian pub!

After a lovely dinner with the most friendly waiter I have ever had, we were back at the hotel from some rest and relaxation - aka black jack and poker, played with Peanut M&M's and Skittles. This was a bit complicated because I ate all the red, orange and purple Skittles, while others were after the M&M's. After Brooke won the hand she said to Diane "What does that tell you"
Diane - "It tells me I should have eaten them when I had the chance." And that is how our pre-race day went.

Race Day!
Another 4:30 am wake up call. 'Nuf said.
We got there nice and early to do packet pick up and set up our transition areas. All pretty low key.

Swim.
I gave my watch to Mary Elizabeth for her Du, so I went into the swim not knowing how I would do when I was done. Turns out, ignorance is bliss.
I felt really good in the water. Nice strong swim strokes, good sighting, was towards the front of my wave, passed people from the 2 waves in front of me. I hopped on my bike feeling really good.
My time - AGAIN, not good for me. This was my slowest 100M split yet! I really can't keep blaming long courses, but my times are ALL OVER THE PLACE between the swims, tri's and AV's. But, I was still in the top 4th, which is where I normally am, so I guess it's okay.

Bike.
F.L.A.T!! That means fast. My goal was to spend as much time in aero as possible and push it. It was about 19.5 miles of FLAT. I also wanted to have better nutrition so I ate a bit more and drank more than last week.

I pushed it and I stayed in aero. Overall, I think it all worked pretty well for me as I finished in 1:04 and averaged around 18 mph! Woot!!

Run.
I wanted to push the run a bit more than I normally do, but also knew I just pushed the bike. My legs can only handle so much... I started with my run 1 minute, walk 1 minute. I felt good so I started running 5-10 seconds earlier and go 5-10 seconds longer. It may not seem like much, but I think it was. And I tried to concentrate on my form, use the proper muscles efficiently.
But here's the deal; I don't believe the time. Well, the distance really. And my GPS data backs me up. I think the course was at least 0.2 miles short.
BUT, if I just look at my GPS data or knock down the 3 miles a bit, I either have my second or third fastest minute/mile split EVER for a triathlon (and that's out of 16).

This means that for me this was my:
Fastest bike split.
Top 2nd or 3rd run split.
Slowest swim split (but second in my division out of 15).

Even though the course was FLAT with perfect weather conditions (low 80's, cloudy, no humidity, no wind, a few drops of rain on the bike and run to cool off) and I feel my swim is right where it should be, this was a great race.

Thanks to Mary Elizabeth (who placed 3rd in her division in the Du!), Brooke (who started 5 minutes after me and my goal was to not have her catch me - it was close!!) and Diane (who is now officially a triathlete) for making the race even better.

Off To Bear, Delaware

I am off to 3rd weekend away. This time to Bear, Delaware with Brooke, Diane, and Mary Elizabeth. It should be a perfect weekend for a 0.5 mile swim (or 2 mile run for Mary Elizabeth), 19.5 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I haven't biked since last week, but I am hoping Blain will be okay. And I am hoping to 'push' my run a bit more, see what happens.

But overall, I am just looking forward to having a good time with Brooke, Diane, and Mary Elizabeth.

So You Think You Want To Be An Ironman?

Last night was one of the staple DC Tri Club events. The So You Think You Want To Be An Ironman seminar. It's a panel of 6-7 Ironmen with lots of different backgrounds and perspectives. I was lucky enough to be on the panel in 2008 after my Ironman to represent the back of the pack participant. It was one of my favorite events I have ever done with the club.

This year I helped facilitate the questions and my goal was to let each panelist talk and share their unique experiences. We had a newly turned pro, a Kona qualifier, a 57 year old top 3 in her age group finisher (and Kona qualifier), a coach, a few others, and my pick for the panel - a 14 hour and 59 minute first time finisher. There was a lot of great information shared, and I was happy to be part of that side of the event.

To close the evening, I asked everyone to share one of their 'moments'. So much of an Ironman story can sound so daunting, scary, hard, painful - lots of negatives. I wanted people to leave on a high note, something that makes the Ironman, all its training and ups and downs worthwhile. There were a lot of great answers, but I am going to try and type out the story from one person, told from her perspective. Hopefully I don't screw it up too badly.

"I was on the beach at Kona before the race and next to me was this man who had this look of terror on his face. We started talking and I learned his name was Roy, he was a white man from Nigeria who now lived in Dubai, and this was his first Ironman - he was a lottery spot winner. We were chatting and started talking about how you say 'good luck'. Not in other languages, but other forms; like 'break a leg'. He was saying in Africa, there are the "chased" and the "predators". The chased run as fast as they can, but at some point they have to decide to stop, turn around to face the predator, and get their horns into it to fight. So go and get your horns into it."

She wasn't sure what happened to Roy, if he finished or not, but that wasn't the point of the story.
At some moment, you have to stop, turn around, get your horns into the Ironman, and fight.

Being Lazy Paid Off!

I don't know what is going around this town, but someone 'higher up' is not happy with us. As DCist put it
"Phew: so it looks like D.C. might have missed the brunt of the second wave, though Northern Virginia is getting pounded as we type. But has it been an insane day, or what? Massive rain. Flooding and damage. Power outages and Metro closures. Flames shooting out of the ground in Dupont Circle. Tornado watches to the south of us. A suspicious package (of course). Demon teddy bears, even! We at DCist would like to take this opportunity to apologize to whatever forces-that-be that are behind all of this for whatever it is we did to piss you off. Please don't cancel Fort Reno on us, 'kay?"

The storms and metro closures greatly affected me this morning (the above pic is of Rock Creek Park). As I mentioned yesterday, I have been really tired. So instead of emailing around about the typical Thursday morning ride, I decided to stay silent. If I don't say I am going, I am not bailing (even if it's expected I am there...). I was woken up by claps of thunder and flickering blots of lightening. Thank goodness I was not on my bike!! (and from what I hear, everyone who was biking was okay.) Once I got out of bed, I heard my metro was closed due to a power outage and flooding. Let's just say it took quite awhile to get to work...

Because I missed my run yesterday, and skipped my bike (thankfully) this morning, it was off to the treadmill today. No excuses.

I hopped on and was feeling pretty good when I hit 4 minutes - my normal walk break time. I was not tired or fatigued as I normally would be. So I kept going. And a bit faster. I kept working on my form and cadence and was feeling really good. Don't get me wrong, I was forming a puddle of sweat around me, but I felt really good. I made it 20 minutes without a walk break! And my goal quickly became a 5K. And guess what, I made it!! A 5K in 38 minutes with 1 one minute walk break!! To put it in perspective, I did my 5K in Richmond in 44:36.

I know today's run was not after a swim and a bike, and was on a treadmill (controlled speed) but I would to call this run "PROGRESS".

So, thanks to my laziness yesterday and this morning, I had a great run. WOOT!

So Tired!

Man, I don't know what my deal was today but I don't think I ever woke up. I am just exhausted. I couldn't get my self down to the treadmill. And, I am still sore from yoga. My core, and right hamstring. Sore in the good way, but sore.

I'm off to bed.