DaisyDuc

2012 Winter Run for Regis 50K

2012-01-16T14:18:00.003-05:00

Winter Run for Regis 50K was my first 50K ever in 2008. That year I ran it with ESpeed and Solar Squirrel and we hung together for the majority of it and I was hooked on trails! Year one gave me a time of 5:37 with some pretty nice trail conditions on the old course.

In 2009, I returned to do the 50k again and was feeling pretty darn good. Young R gave me a run for my money that year and we went back and forth before I threw the hammer down after 28.5 miles to start to try to drop her and she answered back and gapped me the last half mile of the race to take first woman finisher. Oh did I hurt after that race! That year the trails had deep snow to work with, I had some bad blood blisters from all the sliding and who starts to race at that point in the race....OUCH! Yet, I was walked away from the race content with the performance and glad young R was there to push me harder. Huge props to her on her performance that day. That year Garmin showed 29.79 miles, 6:01 total time and boy did I work harder for that time vs the 5:37 from the previous year. Had the race conditions been like the previous year I am certain my time would have likely been sub 5:30 given the effort but race conditions have an incredible time impact sometimes!

In 2010, I was signed up for Run for Regis only to get a tibia stress fracture and sat that year out. I signed up for the 50K in 2011, but I still felt residual tenderness in the tibia area and decided to play it safe and run the half marathon option. 2011 was another deep snow year and my first time on the new course which started in 2010. This course is clearly longer and has more elevation than the old course. It was another slow day on the trails with the snow and I ran hard finishing 12th person in the half and first female in for the half. Total time 2:24.

Now there are a lot of reasons that I sign up for this race every year including-
1. The race organizers are the best! Tanya, the RD pours her heart into this race and has good supporters like Nick, Roy and Vince who really lend a helping hand. There are a million volunteers every year that help setup and tear down and stand out in the freezing cold for hours to provide runners high quality aid stations.
2. The course is always well marked and offers runners some of the most scenic sites of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Each trail had tons of streamers, flags, plates and even home signs which were such a welcome site!
3. Each year with every entry runners always get something awesome like a jacket, running shirt and this year I got the ladies fit Brooks neon yellow vest which I love!
4. The finish is always enjoyable with warm chili and fireplaces to warm up!
5. IMO this race has a very laid back hometown feel with lots of local runners that are always fun to see throughout the day on this loop course.
6. BUT, my main reason I sign up is to give myself motivation to get out there on Ohio's cold snowy days, build a solid training base and really get in some good trail miles.

So as we rolled into November I started getting out on Sunday trail runs. Mainly I ran each week with Ashley and Guy. Ashley grew up in my hometown and it was obvious that while she had not yet run a 50k, she was a naturally strong trail runner who attacked the uphills as if they were not even there. I think ESpeed said it best when she said Guy was a monster on the trails. Guy just flew down the hills and would effortlessly run those trail miles chatting away clearly in his element. It seemed each week, I would run on Sunday after logging a pretty huge week and keeping up with the two of them was often more than I could muster and I got my butt handed to me!

I ended up taking Friday and Saturday completely off from training which I think had me feeling a bit fresher on Sunday. My plan was to hang with Ashley as long as I could and hopefully just make it though the race (I am forever careful to make sure I never push that tibia/tibial nerve too much as it would not be worth the setback so I was prepared to call it a day early if it started to trouble me).

I was trying to channel my inner Emily (as I was running waaay later than I wanted to that morning and was trying to not freak out about it!) but I made it there in plenty of time to get my stuff hit the bathroom twice and listen to Tanya's spunky pre-race message. I lined up with Ashley and away we went. We just chatted like a normal Sunday run and the miles just clicked on by. As usual Ashley crushed the uphills and slowed up as I tried to reel her back in after I caught my breath.

We both stooped at different times to hit the RR. I hit it the RR after 13 and told her to feel free to head on but she seemed resolved to stick together. I would say overall, while we were working, it was a pretty laid back run as we indulged in Oreos. I did take in some water, heed and First Endurance Liquid Shots over the course of the morning. I enjoyed seeing the many trail running friends and CTC peeps out running on that crisp morning. (Way to go Jen, Sara, Brandy, Eric and everyone else on those awesome half performances!!!)

We did 3 loops of Happy Days /Boston (~5 miles) and 2 loops of Salt Run (~8mi). Let me say I was happy when I was done with that second Salt Run loop as those last 2 climbs past the lake are just mean when you are getting tired! On the final 5 mi loop, we were both ready to be done and I was so excited to finish the last stupid climb before the Happy days Parking lot (which Ashley still effortlessly ascended).

As we rolled into the finish we just finished together as we ran as the first females in for the 50K. Clearly I feel like if it would have been a race between us, Ashley would have easily taken me. However running the race alongside a friend and training partner makes for easily one of the most enjoyable races I have ever done. And while I was tired, nothing specific was really hurting me and I could remember many of the training runs which had me hurting waaaaay worse!

It seems hard to believe that 31.55 miles with a whole lot of climbing in 5 hours, 21 minutes seemed to just click by so easily. It gives me more hope that maybe my leg is stronger than I have given it credit for and that this solid base of running miles will pay dividends as I build towards triathlon season.

So in summary just want to express my gratitude to my gal, Ashley for the super fun run yesterday, Guy for all the training runs and all the people like Tanya and the volunteers for making this an awesome experience which I will always treasure!

Garmin data-
+ 2819 ft of climbing
Total Miles: 31.55
Avg HR: 160 - seems a little high for such a long event!
Avg pace: 9:59
Untitled by beelz2009 at Garmin Connect - Splits

Step back and smell the flowers

2012-01-10T10:29:00.002-05:00

Hello January I guess??? It just has not really seemed like winter this year.

Life remains the constant juggling act where I feel like I never have enough time to do all the things I want to do and never have quite enough time to do all I know I should be doing....but every now and then I enjoy being able to step back and smell the flowers and reflect where I am at and what makes me happy.

1. My health-It is so nice to finally feel pretty healthy. We have been eating pretty healthy over the past 6 weeks or so and while like most girls, I don't like to publicly announce my weight much, I was happy to step on the scale and see that I was 0.6 lbs from hitting the teens. My goal is to generally stay under 120 which always has required a fair amount of discipline for me and has not happened much. I was down there back in 2009 and before that it was back in 2001. Needless to say, it feels good to see the work pay off with regards to watching my intake. Not only that, it really does make running feel SO MUCH easier with a few less pounds. This weight drop can be attributed to no dramatic diet changes, just eating more healthy and cutting out the garbage and probably also some extra training sessions. I owe much of this to my husband committing to be healthy. So on to the next point...

2. My Donald Duck-aka as Mr. Edwards as I don't think he would like me calling in Donald or a duck! Watching him come into his own with his training regimen has been super fun to watch. Plus I am picking up all kinds of bonus workouts with him or while he is at the gym. He is really enjoying trail running and is logging more and more miles every week. He is also a regular now at the indoor cycling workouts and I guess today he is working with our friend to learn to swim (like a real swimmer). Look out world!

3. My training buddies-I think what I enjoy the most about training is the camraderie of it all. I love running on the treadmill next to CV even if we barely talk between speed intervals. I love sneaking in some early trail miles with LP and seeing that she is on the mend. I love when AM kicks my butt effortlessly ascending the uphills on a 20+ miles trail run. I love looking around the room at the Bicycle Hub seeing everyone enjoying the tunes and sweating away on their trainers on a cold dark night (or simply ESpeed smiling as she catches up with ET!). I love getting covered in mud on a group trail run with many other training friends as we slip and slide through the most scenic trails that NE Ohioans call home. I love plunging into the lake with a million of my CTC friends! This is how I get through the winters!

In general I feel like I am in a good place right now. I was really excited last Thursday as I ran with AM and watched the sun coming up earlier. The two of us will be out running this Sunday as the sun comes up as we embark on the Run for Regis 50k. I am sure it will be muddy. I have been feeling pretty good lately but I am never 100% sure about my leg. If all goes well, hopefully I will have a solid 50k performance. But if for some reason, I am not feeling it, I am fine with cutting it short or easing off the pace. Goal was always just the motivation to get out this winter and put in some solid trails miles and I can say without a doubt that I consider it mission accomplished!

And now, every runners favorite subject...Let's Talk Shoes!!!

2012-01-05T11:39:00.008-05:00

So the last two years, the Trakkers / Rev3 team had hooked me up with shoes. OMG, did this girl feel so lucky about that!

2010 was the year of Saucony and 2011 was the year of Avia! I tried several models of both brands that worked fine for me and to my liking.

My shoe history is as such. I used to buy the over-priced stability shoes when I first got into running more competitively about 8 years ago or so. Over the years, I have learned I never needed all that stability and have went more minimal over the years. I pronate to a degree and always wear out the outsides of my shoes. My feet are on the wide side and over the years I have developed a running style that always strikes with my forefoot. Prior to Trakkers, I was only an Asics girl. I ran in the 2100 series for awhile and then fell in love with the Asics DS Trainers. As the team aligned with Saucony, I looked for what shoe might be the best for me. I finally landed on the Saucony Tangents and liked those pretty well and completed my first 140.6 in them. Then I was introduced to the Fasttwitch 4's and the Kinvara's and liked them both....well I think it might have been a love affair with the Kinvara's. First all, they were super light and felt fast, but I loved the bold hot pink color and have subsequently got 2 pairs in that color and one with the white/hot pink look.

As the team aligned I went to the Avia Bolt II's and III's. Another shoe I liked for the color and many of the features that made it a nice tri shoe with the speed laces and heel tab and these shoes got me through my second 140.6.

But now that I am a free agent so to speak as far as I am not getting free shoe hookups, (but open to offers!! ;-0 ) (Sidenote: This is a subject for a long overdue post to come. Cliff notes version was that I did not re-apply for Trakkers / REV3 this year and I also resigned from my local Bike Authority Fleet Feet team. So much to say on this subject which will again be discussed later, but I think the world of both of them and am incredibly thankful for all the opportunities they gave me. Both teams and teammates will forever hold a special place for me! But for 2012, I am focusing on the local scene, continuing efforts of the CTC front as well as working with my good friends, Rob and Emily on building their new shop team, Team Bicycle Hub!) ...back to the free agent, anyways now I am trying to decide what I might want to run in because if you have not noticed by now, this girl loves to run!

In several magazines and articles I had read, the Brooks Pure Connects seemed to be garnering a lot of attention and seemed to be the new it shoe to try in my mind. I tried a few different pairs of shoes on at the store (Fleet Feet of course) but I think before I had went in, my mind was made up that I wanted to try to the Brooks Pure Connects.

I thought the Pure Connects had a fun fresh light look. The shoes feel much narrower on the balls of my wide feet (vs the Kinvara) but they are not too snug. I am not sure if it is just that they were new, but the cushioned feel was noticeable and I liked it. One thing I was a bit concerned with that I had heard from others was that the arch was a bit much for some of my friends, but I like the way the arch feels. Before I even started running I definitely noticed how the heel cup and strap behind seemed to push on my heel. And once I started running, I have come to find it something that I am having a hard time with. For me, these shoes seem to dig into my heels a lot. I was hoping it would be just a matter of breaking them in so I have been mixing them in with others shoes. I have even changed shoes mid-run on the treadmill as they bother me so. Everything besides the heel feels good, but even after probably 8 runs or so in them which have been probably 60+ miles, they still seem to really tear up my heels. I always wonder when I have something like this happen if I just got a bad shoe or what. Maybe it will get better or maybe these shoes are just not for me.

So, fortunately for me, I had scored some Dicks gift cards for Christmas so I headed back to the store to pick up old reliable, the Saucony Kinvara's because I was still in need of some shoes that I could put some miles on as there was a reason I had bought the Connects. The store had my beloved hot pink Kinvara I's and I was just going to go for a 3-peat as they were on a killer sale, but they did not have any in my size. So I bought the Kinvara II's. I threw them on this Tuesday for the inaugural run on the treadmill which was 10 miles with 6x1mile repeats at just under 7 min mile pace. This could be where the "Reunited and it feels so good" song would be playing in the background. No issues at all, just happy light feet!!!

To compare I would say that the shoes feel similar in weight. My strike does not change between the two shoes. With my slightly wider feet, I do like the feel of the Kinvara's better. As a note the Kinvara II's are definitely narrower than the I's but still fine for me. The Kinvara feels slightly more cushioned than the Pure Connect. The only drawback to my new Kinvara II's, was the only color that they had in stock was the one pictured above which is a little vanilla for my tastes. Yet, I could not be happier to be running in a shoe that makes my feet feel light and pain-free! Time to log some more miles!

And you thought I was done talking about shoes! The husband picked up a pair of the Salomon Crossmax shoes as he has taken a liking to trail running. These came highly recommended from Jody at Fleet Feet. So of course I was jealous of his shiny new shoes and decided I wanted new trail shoes. After all, I do have a 50K trail run this month on the calendar. So back to Fleet Feet I went as my old trail shoes did bother my feet a bit (seemed to often have discomfort on the top of my foot where a seem was). Again, I tried on several pairs, but like before, my mind was already made up and I got myself a pair of the Salomon Crossmax shoes too!

Now these shoes, I have loved from the start. Comfortable, lightweight, good tread and laces I won't have to re-tie a thousand times (like my current ones despite all my double knotting). I have wore these on two shorter trails runs and so far, I am impressed! Now I am just hoping for some nice trail race conditions so all that tread will not be so necessary but lately we are just getting LOTS of mud!!!

I HEART NEW SHOES!

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-03T15:47:00.000-05:00

As I plunge into the NEW YEAR (note me in black 2 piece CTC suit front and center sprinting in at the front), I am excited about all the 2012 may offer!

I must say 2012 is starting out awesome! I spent New Years Eve with the husband and 2 wonderful friends over some muy delicioso Mexican Guac, food, Dos Equis and Margaritas of course!!! I managed to wake with no hangover and then got to go on my 3rd run ever with the husband (who I suspect will become quite the runner in 2012!) and MV. After a nice rather warm Jan 1st run, we headed up to the Polar Plunge.

Did I mention that while I have been there helping with the organization for several years now, I have never went in??? Well after years of ribbing and a super cute tshirt design that I had to have, I decided I would PLUNGE in 2012 as long as I was not sick!! And after my long fall/winter sickness, I arrived feeling good and was treated to some balmy weather! Official sign stated 48 degree outside temperature...36 degree water temperature!

Always pimping Cleveland gangs!!!

Turns out 36 degree water is quite cold!!!

Now I must say, that was waaaaay less painful than I thought it would be! After sprinting in, diving under, I ran out and donned my cute fur coat...rather pink fuzzy warm robe!

So the new year is upon us, which is always a good reason to re-evaluate goals.

The one thing I plan to change for 2012 is to log all of my miles! I have actually been diligent for December. NOW, to keep it up for the entire year!!!

221.8 Miles Ran
9.75 Miles Swam
135 Miles Biked (This will ramp back up here in January!)

Generally I think I am pretty good as far as getting in workouts. I think I could clean up my diet a fair amount so I am placing a priority there. This has actually become easier with my husband making a solid effort with his intake as well. So I am focused on maintaining this focus for 2012.

Other random thoughts for new year!
1. As I hit my health insurance deductibles in 2010 (insert broken elbow and tibia stress fracture) and 2011 (crash with broken scapula), let's have a nice cheap year there PLEASE!!!! a) this is expensive b) being hurt STINKS!

2. Come on TRI BIKE! I have been doing tris since 2006...chances are looking good 2012 will be the first time you will see me on my very first tri-bike!! As much as I love my road bike with my clip on bars, I will be soooo excited for this!

3. So this girl has been regular at Masters Swims every Tuesday and Thursday and I am seeing my 100's dropping a bit. There is still tons of room for improvement so here's to working towards continued improvement!

4. CRAP, I effectively age up now. Seriously I think I still belong in the 25-29 age group! How can it be I am going to be 35 in March. Is this a joke?

4. And above all, my goal is to make every moment count this year!!! This means in everything! Appreciate all my time with family and friends. Dig in at my professional life to make progress. Do my best to support those who support me. Train hard and race hard! And so on....!!!

BRING ON 2012!

Didn't make this year's merry mailing list? No worries, as you can read it here!!!

2011-12-27T12:01:00.002-05:00

Hi-dee-ho dear little elfs,

We have been busy still picking meat from the bones of the Thanksgiving turkey and nursing the wounds we received while shopping on Black Friday, but apparently everyone wants to know what exciting things the Edwards’ have been up to this year. After turning down repeated pleas from E! Online and People Magazine, we are going to give you dear friends, family and any nosy onlookers…wait for it…wait for it….. the EXCLUSIVE!!!

Being the holiday season, it seems fitting to mention that we have not yet been invited to a single New Year’s Eve Party this year. We only mention this to make you feel guilty in case you have some awesome plans that you forgot to tell us about. Don’t worry though; we will just entertain ourselves by hopping into a frozen lake on New Year’s Day to make the pain worse!

Many of you might have heard that this summer, I (yes, first female ever) was in the lead of the Tour de France and I climbed like an angel up the Alpe d’Huez. I crested the mountain and quickly looked back to see all the goldfish behind (just sucking air just trying to catch me) and made for the wicked descent. All of the sudden, this pothole jumped out in front of me and reality hit. Crap, I guess that I was not in the Tour and I must have been dreaming or perhaps that was the good drugs they dosed me with as I laid in the ambulances and hospital bed. In 2011, I learned that when I get in a fight with Gravity and Asphalt, I lose! They left me with a fractured scapula (shoulder blade), some bruised ribs and a whole lotta road rash. But I hear scars are cool! Right? But sigh, I had to take 9 entire days off from working out. And oh yeah, I learned I could run with just one arm! As they say, no rest for the wicked!! And by wicked, this now includes Joey, who seems to have the workout bug too these days!

Ahhh, but the ‘Year De Clutz’ continued in the Edwards household. About the time, the better half (aka: the name for all female counterparts in case you were unaware), the other half (the super talented landscaper...well don’t look at our yard 75% of the time) experimented with cutting some limbs down with his extension chainsaw above our garage. (I swear he has done this before at least once successfully!) Yet, on this day he managed to trim all the limbs but one and when it went to let loose, the big old thick limb landed right on top of his thumb on the saw crushing his thumb joint. (Insert one of Joey’s choice $!%@ words!) The treatment, immobilize and rest. It has healed fast because he is really good at that! (Insert sarcasm!) Suffice it to say, we have had quite the busy year with a whole lot of tiger blood!

In other breaking news, our little (rather quite chubby cat generally) Zippo gave us quite a scare this year. Zippo got so sick, quit eating and got so scrawny that he could only muster a very sickly meow! Did not mention I really only do triathlons to meet vet triathletes who perform house calls? Anyway, my super-friend came out and saved our lil guy! This was likely due in part to the joy Joey got from getting to stick the cat with needles for a while!

I thought hell might have frozen over this year (not because Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to the love child with family maid but) because I randomly got a call from Joey one day at work that we were getting a new puppy! (Cue to me jumping up and down and doing cartwheels) Apparently Joey’s Mom Edwards was hooking us up with a cute little girl to keep our 7 year old Matches golden retriever company. Of course, we had to think of another name with a fire theme, so we named her Ember! She is the most adorable puppy ever even when chewing my socks while I clean up her messes!

And that folks is just the cliff notes version…! Other than that, life in our world remains pretty much the same and we still both ‘Occupy’ Jobs (no not that Jobs (RIP and thank you for my new IPhone). No wonder the world is coming to an end in 2012—how could it ever live up to 2011, a year which gave us a royal wedding, Sheen declaring himself to be a Martian rock star made of tiger blood who no longer does drugs (glad rehab helped), a second ex-Mr. Kim Kardashian and a political penis scandal (what a Weiner!)? "I'm not bi-polar I'm bi-winning" (LOL)

So wishing all of you and all of the best! Keep your friends and family close and your enemies closer! Time to get shuf-f-f-ling! HUGS AND KISSES to all of you! XOXOXO! Janet, Joey, Matches, Ember and Zippo!!!

Trails, Leg and Hubby-Yes I think my brain is fried!

2011-12-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note before I embark on a nice long 4 day weekend. I have been so darn busy, blogging has been a struggle and just keeping up with all the little things I want to do has been rough (including sleep).

So here is the cliffnotes version-

1. I have getting in lots of good training- This includes being consistent with hitting masters swims (thank you coach amanda for all the tips), returning to indoor cycling class (which are always good for a nasty sweat pool on the floor) and lots of running and trails!!! :-)

My trail slave-drivers!

2. My troublesome left leg has been feeling so-so. I never know if I am just paranoid or that tibia stress fracture from 2 years ago has never healed but it always makes me nervous so I am monitoring it closely! I did manage to have a pretty clutz week the sunday before last on the trails which resulted in two falls, 4 ankle rolls and some good bruises. That said, luckily while the knee looked impressively colored, nothing hurt me!!!

3. A huge factor lately in my workout ramp up has been my husband! Now this guy never gets enough mention here. Yet, anyone in this tri-area knows him well as he comes to everything to sherpa, cheer and every other thing you can think of. Now my husband has never been one to workout seriously. Sure he would ride mtn bikes or road bikes here and there and we might go to Rays Indoor Mtn Bike Park the last few years which was still A HUGE STEP for someone who never worked out or really played competitive sports ever. BUT, all of the sudden a month ago, for some reason (still not sure exactly what but likely a variety of things) but my husband has come to the dark side!!!! He is now watching his intake and exercising a lot intensely about 6 days a week. He has been coming to indoor training rides, running including treadmill workouts with stud tri guy, DM and lifting. He even just picked up some trail shoes and has filled me in on some pretty big ambitions for 2012. I AM SOOOOO EXCITED FOR HIM and he is doing AMAZING to the tune of a fast dramatic change already.

Regardless this has been super fun to watch and he is just soooo motivated! So now I have been doing more evening sessions while he gets in his workout and not feeling guilty about spending my evenings away at some indoor cycling session because now he is there with me. Did I mention how excited this makes me? I am also super excited about not setting an alarm tomorrow morning for the first time since 10/30. And when I get up, the husband and I will hit the gym together!!! This all seems like a big Christmas present to me!!!

4. I think after maybe 7 weeks of being sick, I FINALLY FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK! It's a christmas miracle!

Decisions, decisions!!! 2012 Potential Schedule!

2011-12-15T14:50:00.011-05:00

I have been giving a lot of thought to 2012 and there are lots more posts to come on this subject. I don't want to short change a few of the topics, so for now, here are some thoughts on my 2012 schedule.

First off, every year I like to try to keep it fresh and do something new every year. I love to race the local venues, but I feel the need to always try something new.

2006 - First year of tris- Completed sprints and olys

2007- Focused on Duathlons and First Half Iron

2008- More tris, a half, more marathons and even a couple 50K trail runs

2009- Focused on Xterra Tris, Mtn Biking and of course some tris and runs!

2010- First 140.6 (REV3 Cedar Point)

2011- Second 140.6 (REV3 Cedar Point) and Triple T Tri (4 races, 3 days, 140.6 hilly miles)

So I scratch my head now trying to figure out what I would like to do for 2012. For a number of reasons, I have decided to try to limit the race travel. My thought for the year is to continue to challenge myself and hopefully put down some stronger times at my key races (TTT, REV3CP) but also to sprinkle in something new and fresh to mix it up and this year I am thinking some more bike races.

So here is what I am currently debating between. And of course I already see some races I like that are not on there (Maumee Bay, Hinkley Du, ??). So stay tuned to see what I end up deciding.....

Green events are ones that I am pretty much 100% on.

1/15/2012 – Run for Regis 50K Run, http://winterrunforregis.blogspot.com/

1/22/11- CTC Indoor Tri at University of Akron, http://www.clevetriclub.com/events-menu/indoor-tri-menu.html (MAYBE, ONLY QUESTION IS RACE OR VOLUNTEER)

1/29/11- CTC Swim Challenge -100x100’s! http://clevetriclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=news&action=display&thread=6779

2/26/11 – CTC Indoor Tri at Twinsburg Rec (MAYBE, ONLY QUESTION IS RACE OR VOLUNTEER)

3/4/2012- Millcreek Distance Classic (Youngstown Half Marathon)- http://ytownrunners.org/Assets/2012%20Classic%20app.pdf

3/10/2012 – St Malachi Run – 5 Miler http://hermescleveland.com/roadracing/

3/18 – CTC Indoor Tri at CSU, (MAYBE, ONLY QUESTION IS RACE OR VOLUNTEER)

April 21 Races at the Lake, Munroe Falls, OH, Summit Freewheelers (CRIT ROAD BIKE RACE) OR TOLEDO MARY OR KENT ½ MARY (STILL DECIDING)

April 28 Races at the Lake, Munroe Falls, OH, Summit Freewheelers (CRIT ROAD BIKE RACE)

May 4-6 – CTC Training Camp at Mohican

May 12 Races at the Lake, Munroe Falls, OH, Summit Freewheelers (CRIT ROAD BIKE RACE)

May 20-22 – American Triple T Tri!!! Full irondistance over weekend, http://www.americantriple-t.com/

June 2- Mohican 100K Mtn Bike Race!! http://www.mohican100.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemid=65

June 10- Sunday in June, 100 M Bike Ride, http://www.clevelandtouringclub.org/ridesandevents/sundayinjune

June 24^th –Monroe Falls Sprint Tri, http://www.champracing.org/schedule.html

July 13-15 – Tour of the Valley – 3 Day Bike Stage Race, http://tourofthevalley.com/

July 29, 2012 - Giant Eagle Triathlon presented by HFP Racing, Oly tri, http://www.hfpracing.com/events/2012/giant-eagle-triathlon (MAYBE)

August 5, 2012 - Greater Cleveland Tri presented by North Coast Multisports, Olympic Tri

Some HALF TBD within reasonable driving distance (Thinking Steelhead (8/19) or Morgantown (6/24) or Musselman (7/15)

September 9, 2012, REV3 Cedar Point presented by REV3 Tri, Full 140.6, Cedar Point; Sandusky, OH, http://rev3tri.com/

Sept 29, 2012 – Akron Mary Relay, http://www.akronmarathon.org/

October 21, 2012 – Columbus Marathon, http://www.columbusmarathon.com/

Turkey trot and reindeer run too of course!!!

So any thoughts on something awesome I just need to do that I am leaving out???

Welcome to December!!!

2011-12-08T10:17:00.005-05:00

So after a relatively nice warm November, December has arrived and the temps are dipping a bit. The last few years, December has always meant a few things-

1. A ramp up in miles for the USAT National Club Challenge
2. The Reindeer Run 5K
3. The return to trail running to prepare for the Winter Run for Regis
4. The kick-off of indoor trainer classes

All of which, make me excited!!!!

USAT National Club Challenge
So as a board member for the Cleveland Triathlon Club, one responsibility that has typically fell in my hands was coordinating the club's USAT challenge. I like it a lot for a few reasons. Mainly it is 3 months of the year where I am the most responsible with tracking my mileage. You would think that I would be better about it after all these years, but despite my decent (can't say best) efforts, I always fall off tracking and forget things when I go to log it. That and I have never stayed consistent with logging it into one database. Perhaps a goal to strive for in 2012???

Anyways, another reason that I like the USAT NCC is that I find that I get more motivated to put up some big numbers. That and I always seem to have a rivalry with my good friend CK to see who puts up the bigger numbers. I got him last year, but he has a very tiny lead on me as of today...but not for long ;-)

In my defense, I have skipped a few workouts in lieu of sleep or just relaxing as I still have not shaken this dang funk of a cough I have had for over a month now. It is now better than Thanksgiving week and I had went to the Dr. last week finally to get on some antibiotics, but the coughing fits have still not subsided! GRRRR, I hate hate hate being sick and have such a hard time laying low which probably only delays me getting healthy.

So far in the challenge since it started on 12/1, as of 12/8 at 9:45 am, I have logged-
Swim: 1.55 M
Bike: 28 M
Run: 49.5M
Total: 79.05 miles giving me a weighted points total of 192.

Seems pretty obvious I need to pick up the biking and swimming AND that I just love running!

Reindeer Run 5 K
Saturday morning the plan was to run the Reindeer Run 5K. Despite me being sick, I figured since I was signed up already, I might as well go see what I could do. It is always a flat fast course and I was hopeful that maybe, maybe I could break 19. But, I should have known from the warm-up, that it was not to be my day. I got in a nice 3.5 mile warm-up prior to the race as it was pretty cool out (around 30 with a wind out of the south) and stripped down to my shorts, tank and arm warmers. Yes, I had several comments about the fact that I must be freezing but I was actually pretty comfortable with my race temperature in those clothes.

I lined up next to my good friend and training partner, CV and hoped to keep up with her. However not even a half mile into the race, I let her pull away feeling my effort getting too high. I hit the first mile marker at 6:06, exactly the pace I needed. However, I knew then, there was no way to get that 19 as my effort already felt maxed out and I still had 2/3 the race to go. I slowed down and suffered through the miles. Blah, I felt like crap and kept coughing along the way. To make matters worse, a chick passed me with about 50 yards to the finish and I pretty much gave up and jogged the last 50 yards in. I was definitely frustrated with myself by slacking off that last quarter mile and not holding my position. That resulted in me dropping to second in my age group as that lady who passed me there, ended up with first in our age group. Total time was 19:51, 6:21 pace.

Not what I hoped, but I quickly shook it off and started cooling down with CV to wrap up 10 miles on the day. She had taken 2nd overall and now it was time to celebrate her birthday!!! The best part of the race was all my other good friends that had came down. I can honestly say that over the years, my running and triathlon friends have just become such a huge part of my life and I just LOVE hanging out with them. Several friends got PRS on this day like Bridget being paced by fast Salty. And (ole college roomie, trisaratops PR'd, being paced in by silly fast NC. Jen C prd too! Espeed was out there cheering all of us on as she is on the recovery train post her 2:51 Philly Mary. Espeed's hubby PRd running with the super cute GP. Bottom line it was a super morning. And then to top it off, a huge group of us went to the "Original" Pancake House and indulged in gourmet pancake deliciousness!!!

The return to trail runs!
Oh, how I love these...well sort of!!! I had organized a group to hit the trails Sunday. After all, I need to start to prepare for the 1/15 50K trail run I signed up for...again! Only my legs felt tired from Saturday and oh yeah...still sick! It was great company, great scenery and lots of hills! GG and AM were pushing the pace a fair amount and of course, I did my best to keep up. The last 5 miles, I was pretty much in a daze because I felt so fatigued, but still I managed to get in those 18.5. OMG, only like another 13 to do on race day (HOLY CRAP, I got some work to do!!!) Time to rally for 21ish this Sunday!!

Indoor trainer ride commencement!
These are always good fun and I work so hard for these 1.5 -2 hour sessions. New this year, I am heading up the bi-weekly rides at the bicycle hub. Last night was our first session and with a 90's theme, how could it not be fun???!!! Great turnout, good workout and kick arse tunes brought to you by your truly!! This Saturday, I will be back to my normal Saturday's at Twinsburg! LT test week! Bring it on!

Let's talk turkey

2011-11-28T12:27:00.001-05:00

So apparently working hard at the Fall Classic was enough to make my sickness worse.

My cold / crap in my throat decided to really take hold on Tuesday. I had taken Monday off from working out as I felt generally tired. Tuesday, I awoke early and just ran a nice moderate pace on the track with AM, while CV clicked off her repeats. My calves felt a bit sore from Sunday's race and I just felt sick. Mid-way through the afternoon I was just feeling crappy. However, the husband was heading to jujutsu so I decided I would force myself to go to Masters Swim, but I did not feel like going at all. Thankfully, even though I worked my tail off, I felt better after I was done than before I started. Wednesday was another easy swim day and I felt worse than ever. My throat now had a tight vice and I was coughing terribly without much of a voice.

The timing totally stunk, being the holidays and I had so many fun things on the calendar!!! I passed on heading over to the social gathering at my sister's Wednesday evening and hit the hay early. Thursday was the turkey trot in Aurora and I made my way over to my sister's place to meet up with them.

Despite feeling quite awful, I decided I would just run as hard as I could on this given day, knowing it would not be an ideal performance. It was however a very nice day outside so I warmed up, barely made it through the bathroom line (dejavue!) and stripped down to my shorts, ctc tank and arm warmers at the start.

I again opted for no headphones and with the start, I was off. I went out behind FD and felt pretty good that first downhill mile. 5:52. I told myself that while it was fast, it was downhill so don't read into it! I tried to find an effort to run steadily but not blow up. I knew I was sitting in 3rd position for females. The fun thing about to course is there are two out and back sections where you can see the runners in front and behind you and I cheered for my sister, a bit shocked with how well she was running!

Around 2.5, 2 females passed me and I decided to keep my effort steady instead of upping my effort to go with them, knowing that the hill was approaching. Last year I remembered pretty much blowing myself up there, so I ran conservatively up the hill. I was feeling ok around the last one mile stretch and passed a couple guys but I pretty much just cruised into the finish.

Total time: 25:23, 6:21 pace
Last year my time was 26:21, 6:35 pace

So overall I was pleased that I managed to run nearly a minute faster, especially given how sick I felt. Of course, I don't think that little trot made me feel any better but probably quite the opposite. The BEST part of the day was that I was super proud of sis who ran a sub 28 and just under 7 min miles! I had told her she should try to run sub 30 and boy did she show me!! WOOOT!!

Sadly since I was not faster and did not place in the top 3 overall, I knocked her out of an AG placing as I took first in our AG and she had 4th. I did score a $20 gift card to the Nike store (which I already spent!!). Turkey day was then filled with eating and two family gatherings and me just feeling generally crappy. Again I hit the hay early to wake up at 4AM for our traditional black friday shopping.

Poor me was just miserable but I did get lots of good deals. Talking hurt my throat terribly, but I did my best to rally through the day. I got home from everything just before 4PM and now my husband was sick too. We scratched our evening plans (that I had been really looking forward to) and made some turkey noodle soup and curled up on the couches to watch some movies.

I had planned to wake up Saturday feeling good, but no such luck. I figured I could feel sick at home or maybe a little better if I got out and did something. So off to run some trails with SERC I went. It was a gorgeous day with a good group. I did not talk much as every word hurt my throat but I was happy to be out running trails with a bunch of fun people. I would definitely say the uphills felt like much more of a struggle on this day with my funk. We ended up with 11 muddy hilly miles.

I drove home and changed into some other clothes and was picked up to head out to West Branch to mountain bike. Despite feeling generally crappy, I was enjoying the gorgeous November weather tremendously. Our mountain bike ride was cut a little short for a few reasons but I could have rode all day. We had another Thanksgiving feast Saturday night at my husband's family and I finally laid down in bed, so ready to get some rest.

However I tossed and turned and coughed most of the night. I woke up to a rainy gray day but decided I should do something so I headed off to Solon to run. I had no plan other than to roll with it and get some miles in. I ended up running towards the front of the group and was happy to chat with NC and we ended up sticking together. I was a little surprised that I was chatting away and clipping off miles at a decent pace. My throat did not hurt sooo bad but I still was trying to breathe shallow as deep breaths brought on coughing fits. All in all, I managed 12.75 miles at 7:12 pace and the run did not feel too hard.

Sunday was also a pretty lazy day and I crashed out early that night hoping to feel better today. No such luck. Despite plans to hit LFT early this morning, I opted to get some extra rest...maybe I will feel better tomorrow!!!

Fall Classic Half Race Report

2011-11-22T12:25:00.004-05:00

Official Time: 1:32:47
Official Pace: 7:05
Official Place: 3rd Overall Female behind 1&2 by about 1.5 minute

So again I missed that sub-1:30 goal. I was not feeling very optimistic the week of the race. I am still sick and I feel like I have struggled on workouts more.

Race day I woke up feeling generally crappy and after much debate popped a Mucinex D. I was a bit worried it would affect my heart rate but I knew it would make me feel a bit better.

The husband came with me on this day so it was nice to have some company. I arrived early but had nearly a mile walk to the race start. I found a picnic table to wait for things to get started. It was surprisingly warm (mid 50s) and slightly windy. About 8:30 I started on my warm-up on the race course. Just over half a mile in, I decide to double back as I really have to pee and knew there would be a line for the POP. I got in line by 8:40 but by 8:55 I was not even close and finally got out of line to shed my pants, shirt and get to the starting line. This was terrible planning on my part. Had I realized on my warmup that I only needed to go a bit further out and I could have hit the bathroom at the Challet I would have done that...but I did not know! Lesson noted for next time!!! Guess if I was going to use one of the POP at this race, I needed a lot more time!!!

So now I am sort of freaked out knowing I was going to have to hold it for at least another hour and a half. Even worse, I had forgot my inhaler in the car and could not hit that pre-race. I hate not parking close!!! Not quite feeling like an ideal start AT ALL as I lined up! Guess my warm up should have been back to the car to grab it...oh well!

But as the race started, I settled down and tried to focus on the task at hand. This week I went with no headphones knowing CV would run part of second half with me and there would be a lot of racers and I wanted to be cognizant of those around me.

I was trying to watch the garmin closely those first few miles to pace properly. I was actually feeling pretty relaxed. I was really glad I had opted for no headphones as I was just trying to stay focused. The miles were clicking by and I was doing my best to run tangents on the winding road which was pretty easy on the way out. On the return trip I was counting down the minutes until I would see CV but with every passing minute, my bladder was getting more uncomfy!!!

I had passed one female and was closing on the lead female right ahead of me and her young friends let her know I was coming. I had almost caught her but the day was catching up to me!!! As soon as saw CV about mile 6, I said I was not feeling it. I think I pretty much gave up on the pace at this point and started trying to go about mission-no-meltdown. As I ran onto the path from the road I got caught up in a lot of traffic or walkers and slower runners from the 5K heading into the finish. I wasted some energy here and by the time I hit the road, the extra exertion made me have to pee waaaay worse.

I told CV I was going to have to stop at the POP at mile 8ish. I knew my pace was fading but I was just moving forward...MISERABLE! As we hit the Challet I changed my mind and passed that bathroom. I had a feeling if I stopped, I would say screw my time and jog the rest of the way in slowly knowing I was not going to make my goal with a stop. Not sure if that was the case or maybe I would have felt better but I continued on.

I was now not looking at my garmin and I saw a female close in on me pretty fast. She went on to take the lead and win it by a 10 second margin over the young female. I plodded along and was having a hard time running tangents now with all the racers on both sides of the roads and it was obvious as my garmin was now beeping way before the mile markers.

I was soooo happy to make my way onto the path towards the finish and picked it up a bit at the end. Then I was again side-stepping runners who must have been on lap one running three wide on the tight path. As I hit the finish line they announced third overall female and they handed me my finishers medal. I was struggling to catch my breath as now my asthma was flaring. I am thinking maybe I walked out too fast, as afterwards it seemed a little strange I did not get some kind of award.

So now I am walking and circling the POP because I am dying to go but I know if I stop walking and hit the POP, that my asthma will get worse. Ahhhh, I was so torn and DYING! Finally I was able to settle my breathing down enough to hit the POP. SWEET SWEET RELIEF. Picture Adam Sandler and longest pee. I know TMI but OMG I needed that!

Coach said I should have just relieved myself when I was running. Ha!!!!! Well maybe someday but to this day I have still not ventured into that territory while I was racing...!

I walked my sweaty body over to see my husband and grab some water. Then my coughing fit began with all the funk in the back of my throat. Technically the 1:32:47 is a PR so I should be happy. It was not what I was going for but given the circumstances, I will take it. I am really glad I toughed it out and did not throw in the towel there at mile 8. Overall, I did feel much better this race than last and know I am gaining running fitness!

The thing that jumped off the page at me was just how high my heart rate got. Looks like the Mucinex infused run recorded my highest heart rate data ever!

The other major whiff on my part was some body glide! I was SOOO chaffed between my legs, under my arms and even on my wrist from my garmin! This led to a painful shower at CV's post race but I was still thankful to just get that shower....as was my husband!!!! :-)

Garmin said 13.24 miles, 7:01 average pace

Split	Avg Pace	Avg HR	Max HR
1	6:41	173	179
2	6:49	179	180
3	6:47	179	180
4	6:55	180	181
5	6:50	180	181
6	6:53	180	181
7	7:01	179	180
8	7:04	179	180
9	7:16	179	180
10	7:16	179	180
11	7:20	181	183
12	7:21	184	185
13	7:23	186	196

Win Some, Lose Some

2011-11-09T13:58:00.002-05:00

Sunday was the first of the two half marathons I had planned to run.

The long story short is I fell waaaaaaay short of my goal for the race. There are several reasons which could have contributed which I hope to fix in 2 weeks.

So the morning started out pretty early even with the time change. I was up early on dog detail and my lil cutie pie, Ember, decided that on that day she only wanted to play outside instead of taking care of business. This led to me wasting a bunch of time outside and then she created a big mess for me inside to take care of before heading out the door! Good thing I love that furball of a puppy!

Finally made it on to the road but was just feeling generally kind of crappy. I could not swallow completely as the thick funk in my throat seemed even worse than it had the past week or two that I have had been sick. Super fun trying to clear my throat the entire way out there! It definitely gave me pause with my goal but I have been putting in some decent workouts I thought over the past couple sick weeks so I was hopefully I could muster up a decent run despite it all.

Upon arrival to the race, I was able to easily get my stuff and was ready to board the bus as the half marathon was point to point.

Race temperature was 38 at the start and the weather report looked like it would warm up to 42. The wind was pretty strong mainly coming out of the south but slightly also out of the east which was not ideal seeings that we were running east the majority of the race and then south. Thankfully the route was lined with trees most the way and it was not bad until heading south.

I dressed a little warmer than I normally would because I was not aware that we could drop clothes on a bus to return and I did not want to be super cold. Upon getting off the bus I had about 15 minutes so I hit the portopotty (and all 4 of them were out of tp-not cool!) By the time I was running, I managed to get in one mile before I headed over to the start line. However apparently we were not starting on time and it took some time before I even seen a race organizer. Then a bus rolled in full of more racers. Hope they did not need tp or a warm-up but they did get a couple minutes to hit the POP. By the time we got going it was 8:17 and now I was cold.

I took off trying to settle into 6:52 pace. We headed west for the first half mile which was nice with the wind at our backs before making 2 sharp left turns putting us onto the bike and hike path heading east. Three guys went out fast in front of me.

Mile 1- 6:47, Not feeling too bad but this was not feeling very good either!
Mile 2-6:41- a little fast but managing fine. I think I am passed by another guy.
Mile 3-6:51- crap, I already know this is not going to be my day.
Mile 4- 6:53- I am thinking seriously I cannot imagine running 9 more at this pace!
Mile 5-7:06-What if we just try to keep to ease up a little bit and see if I start to feel better?
Mile 6-7:14- Got passed by a couple more guys. I am suffering!

Almost half way and all I can think is I am not even halfway and I am soooo miserable. I am now frustrated that my pace is slipping into slower than some of my long runs' paces but it is taking most everything I had to keep running. The main thing driving me is that I know I am winning the women's race. I decide to run hard and quit looking at the paces.

Mile 7-7:17 - "Why do I do this for fun?"
Mile 8-7:06- Counting down the minutes
Mile 9-7:19 - Had to slow down and fix my Ipod as one podcast ended and I at least needed something better to listen to!
Mile 10-7:09- ??? Why am I am mile 10? For some reason I thought I only had two left. NOOOOO! I can't bear the idea of needing to run one more mile than I thought I was at!
Mile 11-7:22- I got nothing left
Mle 12-7:24- Finally just one more mile of torture. Older guy passes me.
Mile 13-7:27- Into the wind and uphill grade. THIS IS JUST MEAN! Where is the finish line?
Total Time: 1:34:07, 7:11 pace, 1st overall female and 8th overall.

I got done and could not catch my breath...AT ALL. I felt crappy and just kept coughing and coughing! I was hugely disappointed that I did not run as well as I know I can but the sting was dampened that it was nice to get the Overall Female Win.

Average HR 175, MAX 183- It was not that I was not working! Part of me wondered if it was just that I was not pushing as it was a little lonely on the course. But judging from my HR, clearly I was pushing, it was just not meant to be this day.

I am hopeful that if I can get myself healthy and warm up properly, that I can do this next time. Nice to know that I was getting a redo in two weeks and hoping I can do it.

PS- I have always thought I would be able to run NY marathon if I wanted as the half qualifying time was 1:33. Now it has been dropped to 1:27. Running a 1:27 half sounds awful difficult for me!

The Halloween Fun!

2011-11-03T15:19:00.000-04:00

Oh last week was tons of fun as expected! I love this time of year in that I feel more relaxed with my training and take the time to cut loose with friends and get a little silly from time to time!

I have been totally slacking swimming and biking!!! Coach just sent out our first set of off-season bike workouts so I am starting those this week! Also as of 11/1, you could purchase your USMS 2012 membership so I did that this week too. So time to get back into the swing of things after a pretty lax September and October for two reasons.

1. I need to get myself back in biking shape as I help lead indoor trainer sessions starting in December and ideally I like to make sure I am well-prepared.

2. Improving my swimming is my numero uno winter goal!

So on the training front, I continue to just run, run, run lately!

Tuesday was the normal 10 mile day which included a track workout of 6x800's, some drills and then 4x100's. Felt strong!

Wednesday was a 2.5 mi super easy fun run for CTC's Halloween Costume Fun Run! Always a good time!

I went as JEM! Jem was my favorite cartoon on in the mid-80s when I was a little girl!

Thankfully as the designated driver Wednesday night, I was able to make it up for my Thursday morning tempo run which was 8 miles and 3mi@6:46.

Friday-? Not sure what I got in that day. Maybe it was an off day or maybe I ran easy??

Saturday was our girls Halloween / Pancake Run!!! I had conned CV into meeting me out early for some miles before the group run. We managed 7 mi at 7:03 before running 6 more easy on the trails for a total of 13. I earned my breakfast that morning while having a super fab time with some of my favorite ladies!

Saturday evening was our Halloween Party. Of course I had to go with my LMFAO themed outfit and showed my guests the "I'm Sexy and I know it!" ridiculous video a time or 6! Heehee! Another fun evening and late night which led to a very lazy Sunday!

So a super fun week in the books! This week's workouts are a bit lighter as I taper for Sunday's half marathon race, the Inland Trail half! Overall aerobically I feel pretty good and pretty confident. My leg (tibial nerve area) habitually gives me pause so erroring on the easier side this week. Bring on the gorgeous looking weekend forecast!

This is how I roll, animal print, pants out control

2011-10-25T15:49:00.004-04:00

Yes, just rolling along running in stride with whatever hand I am dealt AND rocking out to some fab tunes like LMFAO and of course my favorite, DJ Scene podcasts!

Last week it was the case of an extremely upset stomach which lasted for 4 entire days and resulted in me being quite dehydrated. This led to taking off Monday and Wednesday, a horrible track workout Tuesday (and even worse run back to the gym) and a blown tempo run Thursday which thankfully I at least had the sense to do on the treadmill near a bathroom.

The husband has been bow hunting some mornings which means I am left to stay home and on dog detail instead of going to the gym, so swimming is just not getting done. That said I am just rolling with the flow and just trying to at least get in my 3 key runs a week and not worry much about anything else. Besides the 3 key runs, it remains mission do as I please!

On the running front which I am LOVING, all seems to be going along well. I was super excited to run both days this weekend with my favorite running club evahh, SERC! Saturday morning was trails. SG had picked out some of the less muddy trails for us to run which ended up being a good portion of the Run for Regis Course (score for me since I am doing it in Jan!). I was feeling pretty good running throughout the morning, but I did manage to roll each ankle once and planted my hands in the mud to save my face as I slipped going up a muddy hill. It always amazes me how bad it hurts to roll an ankle and then I run some more and 1 minute later, it is like it never happened. THANK GOODNESS!

The weather was just gorgeous Saturday morning and running trails with the bright fall leaves is sooo hard to beat and makes it hard not to have a good run! What a great way to start my day! I arrived back to Lock 29 12 miles later and FD hooked us up with some banana bread compliments of his fab wife. Can it get any better? :-)

Yes....

Sunday I showed up to Solon to again run with the SERC gang. FD asked me what my plan was and I said I was hoping to run the 12 mile loop at a 7:15 or better pace. I was definitely nervous about stating this out loud with this group (as u better be ready for trash talk in this crowd) as I figured this might be tough to hit when I got to the hills and everyone might catch me and know I failed. Fortunately for me, FD said he would roll with me. :-)

And after 100 meters with the group we buckled down and got with the plan. I really struggle to pace properly at this pace. One minute I see 6:50 and then 7:20 and I was trying to find somewhere close to my target. Thank goodness for my gps!

Mile 1: 7:17
Mile 2: 6:56
Mile 3: 7:02
Mile 4: 7:10
Mile 5: 7:02
Mile 6: 7:01
stopped for water
Mile 7: 7:07
Mile 8: 7:35 (up the Solon Rd hill from Liberty which continues Cannon) Picture me breathing heavy!
Mile 9: 7:20 (calm before the storm as I try to recover)
Mile 10: 7:24 -OUCH (up Bedford Chagrin Pkwy to SOM)
stopped at top for water but there wasn't any...like I cared I just wanted a second to catch my breath! FD pulled away from me a bit on this hill and made it look easier than it was!
Mile 11: 6:41 - Some downhill but as we hit the flat I was thinking this feels hard and I must be out of gas.
Mile 12: 6:51 - Stick a fork in me

Average pace 7:07. Not too shabby for a hilly course, albeit we did stop twice. Overall I think this run was a good confidence builder for my half marathon goals especially after a hilly 12 mile run Saturday. I owe FD huge for pushing me and keeping me accountable to my goal for the day. I am guessing if I was running it solo, I would have slacked off. I feel like I need to learn to dig deeper when the going gets rough on my own.

I was a slacker yday morning and slept in but managed a solid track workout this morning. Tomorrow I am super excited about CTC's Halloween Costume Run and after-party! Stay tuned for some fun pics!!

Tums and Pepto to the Rescue...I WISH!

2011-10-18T10:59:00.002-04:00

Rough, rough morning here in Daisyland.

I am not sure what the deal is but my gut is SUPER PO'd. It started yesterday and morning. Waves of cramping pain and trips to the RR. It seemed to get a little better after I left work but my stomach hurt so bad in the middle of the night, it woke me up twice (stupid homemade taco salad for dinner probably a bad idea with a sour stomach). It does not seem like I am sick as I feel fine besides these overwhelming waves that come over me and I can't decide if my stomach and back is cramping or if I might have to peuk or something else that girls don't do ;-)

Regardless, clearly I had reason to be concerned about this morning's track workout. Popped some TUMS around 2AM and then at 5AM popped some pepto and was hoping for the best.

I opted to just run CV's workout. I probably do better workouts when I am running with someone. We were doing 800's. I think CV said all of them were between 2:55-3:05 so I will take that. I can't remember if I did 4 or 5. Yet, I really struggled because my gut hurt so bad. When I got done, started jogging easy and the waves of pain that doubled me over immediately started coming on every 5 minutes or so. It was SUCH a rough run back to the gym. Running just is so hard on your insides. I am thinking if I was biking or swimming, I might have fared much better. Oh well at least I was super happy to see CV getting strong again after her injury!

I have been having more GI issues lately running lately it seems.

On the running front, I am managing to get in pretty solid workouts.

Last week totals went as such-

M-OFF

T-7 miles (included 2x2000 repeats with 400 recoveries, bailed on third bc stomach hurt)

- 28 miles biked evening with touring club. Nice night to ride although lights are now reqd.

W-9 miles with lunch gang (8:01 pace)

R-10 miles ran with AM (8:17 pace)

F-OFF

S- Key Run- ran 8.5 miles at 7:16 pace until I met sis and AP. Ran 2 easy miles with them and then decided to pick up the pace so I could run ahead to POP (that hurt). Then circled back to finish up last 3 miles with sis. Total 15.5 miles. Plan was 12 at 7:20 but ended with 15.5 and some slower and faster miles so I think it should be close enough to the intent.

S-OFF

Miles Ran: 41.5

Can't believe I took 3 days off! Really really need to get in the pool! I want to spend the next two weeks on operation flip turn mastering before starting Orange Masters in November.

Wedding Fun!

2011-10-17T12:55:00.000-04:00

A very busy Monday so here is the cliff notes version!

Had a crazy fun weekend hitting Rob & Emily's wedding. Gorgeous church and reception lodge, great band, fantastic food and drink selection and a whole lotta fun! Fist pumps, flexing muscles and silliness was on the agenda for the night!

Thank goodness I had gotten in my key hard workout first thing Saturday morning! Sunday was just chilling on the couch while the puppy napped on me! Ember=Spoiled!

Mixing it up!

2011-10-13T10:09:00.001-04:00

Mission do-what-I-feel-like is continuing. Some days I like having the flexibility of doing what I want to and other days I miss the structure of a plan.

I continue to struggle with morning motivation lately. I have resumed running with friend(s) on Tuesdays and Thursdays downtown. The accountability factor here can not be underrated as these are the only two mornings lately that I always force myself up.

For now, the only real plan I am trying to follow is Furman's First to the Finish half marathon plan. I like the idea of 3 key runs and doing whatever I feel like the rest of the week. I am planning to run Inland Half on 11/6 and then Fall Classic on 11/20. Would love to get a half marathon PR this fall! (Must beat 1:33:18 but targetting sub 1:30). So I got two shots on two flat courses.

The thing I feel I really need to focus on would be dropping a few pounds as that always makes running easier. My intake has plenty of room for improvement and I have been really slacking here. I must say although I love my husband's mom, she is killing me with the Peanut Butter cupcakes and then the whoopies she has given us this week. Then there was my mom's birthday which we celebrated Saturday at my house and there was waaay too much left over ice cream which we made sure did not go to waste. Oh I have not behaved. Not only that, even the food has been a little bad and I have paid dearly during my runs this week as I wince trying to make it to the bathroom. Must find a way to focus here...somehow!

In other news, I really enjoyed this past weekend. I got to see several of the ladies Saturday morning for Jen's Birthday / Pancake Run and we hit the the trails of North Chagrin. Saturday afternoon I headed to the Cleveland Triathlon Club picnic and took my pumpkin, Ember with me. She was SOOOO cute playing with the other doggies and got so wore out she needed a nap in the middle of all the action!

Sunday we got out for the first time in awhile and hit the mountain bike trails at West Branch. This was an awesome time riding and despite not riding a lot this year, I felt very comfortable navigating the rock gardens and just really enjoyed myself!

Just wishing the nice weather would never come to an end! Also, there are just not enough hours in the day to spend with my lil cutie pie!

On the Horizon

2011-10-05T13:24:00.004-04:00

Fall is clearly here and the leaves are coming down! That always means more running in my world!

Last week, I was a giant slacker and slept in several mornings (post IM rule is I do what I feel like), but fortunately 3 days I was able to get out a lunchtime for a workout. My pool is not downtown where I work and my bike is not typically either, so of course I ran!

Monday - off
Tuesday -6.75 Miles at lunch around 8 min miles
Wednesday-6.75 Miles at lunch around 8 min miles
Thursday- 7 Miles ran (5@7), 20 min core workout
Friday - off
Saturday- 11 mile trail run with SERC
Sunday- 7 mi ran (5x1@7), 20 mi bike, 1000 m swam

Totals
Run 38.5 Mi
Bike 20 Mi
Swim 1000 yd
Core 20 min

Saturday's 11 miles was the first time I had been on the trails since last January (GASP!). It was high 40's and raining. Following our fearless leader onto trails less traveled, we probably crossed 12 rather deep slippery water crossings and saw sights in the CVNP that few have got to see. Easily one of the funnest runs I have done in awhile! I could have kept going all day! I came home and signed myself right up for the Winter Run for Regis 50K. I am just sooo stoked to spend some time on the trails and stay warm from the wind, nestled in all the trees!

I have decided there will definitely not be a fall marathon in my future. I am going to focus on some speed and staying uninjured! I am planning to do some races up to 13.1 and hopefully get a few PRs along the way. I am really hoping to break that 1:30 mark for the half and I am planning to race the Fall Classic (already registered) and Inland Trail half. Beyond that I will do a Turkey Trot and the Reindeer Run of course!

October and November will mainly be operation do-as-I please and do what I love the most (running) and then east side indoor cycling will start back up in December. I really need to figure out how I am going to tackle my BIG goal for the winter which is to improve my swimming. More on that once I figure it out!

I AM IN LOVE!

2011-10-04T11:53:00.008-04:00

Yesterday's post got tabled and then never got done. It was discussing difficulty waking up mornings and all the stupid rain.

I went to finish it but my tone feels so different today. I see something giant and yellow in the sky! Rumor has it we are in for perhaps 8 nice days of dry and sunshine! SO EXCITED!

AND DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

We got a new puppy AND I am SOOOO in LOVE with her!

Now I never thought the husband would let us have another animal at our place. We have our 7 year old golden retriever, Matches! When we got him my husband thought it would be cute to say, "We were playing with Matches!" So goes the story of his name!

My husband's mom breeds and shows the golden retrievers. I love going to her house and seeing all the dogs and usually puppies! Matches also really likes going to her house to play with all the girl doggies! Matches might have become a show dog but he ended up a little short so he has just always been our cutie pie!

And then we have my lil 5 old year kitten, Zippo. Zippo is a great cat. Thank goodness because the husband would settle for no less.

Yet, between these two guys, we are constantly sweeping and cleaning up animal hair! The husband has always said no more!

About 8 weeks ago, there were 2 litters born at Joey's mom which totaled 17 puppies. We were there that day and my heart was melting!

As usual, my husband's mom always says we are welcome to take one home and raise her and that she would breed and show the dog. Instead of taking up room in the kennel, the doggie could have a happy home life with us! Of course, the husband was not buying it as we had enough hair to keep up with!

But for whatever reason, 5 weeks ago, his mom must have asked my husband on a good day or perhaps the husband knew how excited I would be, because he finally said ok!

I have been counting the days just waiting for my little cutie pie to come home! Oh and of course I visited my puppies often!

Yesterday was the day we finally brought our little girl home! We decided to name her Ember in keeping with our fire theme!

I can't wait to get home from work tonight to take her and Matches to play! I am actually quite excited for Matches too as I think having a companion will be nice for him! For now he needs to settle a bit as he starts jumping around like crazy and lil Ember has been scared and hiding under our feet. I am certain they will become the best of friends as Matches is really good with other dogs! As a side note, I really wish I had a nanny cam to see what is going on at home! Ember is in a decent sized Xpen and there is no doubt Matches is nearby....and hopefully has not jumped in!

While I hate doing it, we are crate training her. I really wanted to just hold her in my arms while I slept but we put her in the crate last night. She howled and barked and cried quite a bit before finally falling asleep. Then she started again at 4:50 when I leaped out of bed to get her. My alarm was set for 5:10 so actually it made getting up easier than normal. Maybe my new little alarm clock will be a good thing as I managed a great workout this morning since I was up and going! The hardest part was easily having to quit petting the cutie!

A Lunchtime Run across a piece of Cleveland's History

2011-09-28T14:18:00.001-04:00

Many days when I can sneak out at lunch, I take the opportunity to run with a group of guys and ESpeed (when she can get out). Now these runs are always interesting. There are few boundaries for where the conversation may go, lots of trash talk and most often the runs have some sort of theme. There also seems to be a flare for runs surrounding Cleveland history and running in the most ghetto of neighborhoods. It seems the more uneasy it would make the common person, the more these guys seem to like the route. They are rather tough looking with their long lean bodies! ;-) Also, I always try to make sure when I go on these runs that I will be able to keep up with the average pace which will generally range from 7:30-8:10 over the duration of 7-9 miles because I never like the idea of running by myself through most the neighborhoods!

Today's run was a new one for me which I found rather interesting. We ran out Payne to E70th along some random side streets and made our way to run across the historical League Park. This was new to me! The only thing that really remained was the ticket booth. We stopped for a minute to check out the historical marker.

League Park, located at E66th and Lexington, opened in 1891 and was once home to the Cleveland Spiders which sat 9000 on wooden seats at that time. The stadium was rebuilt in 1910 and the Cleveland Indians played there until 1947 when they moved to the Cleveland Stadium full-time. Also of note, Babe Ruth hit his final home run there in 1929! I learn something new about my city all the time and who knew this would be thanks to one of my lunch runs. Very cool to run across a piece of history, yet strange to see how it sits vacant in a run-down part of the city.

Who knows what I will discover on my next lunch run... :-)

The numbers

2011-09-27T10:12:00.001-04:00

So after enjoying one solid week post 140.6 of eating and being lazy, last week I started to ease back into some sort of training. However last week the plan was to still go light on the running and still only do what I felt like.

Monday-60 min performance cycle, 2000 m swam
Tuesday- ?? can't recall so I am guessing I took it off
Wednesday-60 min spin, 2000 m swim, 9 mi run at lunch (8:10 pace)
Thursday- 45 min interval ride, 1 mile run
Friday-2100 m swim
Saturday- 7.5 miles ran (6.3@6:38)
Sunday- 75 miles road with CV & MV

Run-17.5 mi
Biked-127 mi
Swam 6100 meters

This morning I was looking at my garmin data from my relay leg at Akron.
Distance: 6.3 mi
Total Time: 41:48
Avg Pace: 6:38
Average HR 179
Max HR 186
Elevation Gain 112
Elevation Loss 348
Miles: 6:31, 6:10 (big downhill), 6:20, 6:43, 6:57, 7:04 pace for 0.3 - Those last couple miles felt way slower than that.

The plan-I don't really have a set plan for the next couple months which I am excited about!!! I think I would like to try to work on my running speed a bit and just do some halfs and shorter races. Then I plan to transition to trail running when temps cool as trails just keep me warmer and will likely plan on Run for Regis 50k as having that on the calendar seems to keep me motivated. I plan to do more weight training and core work as I always have enjoyed that. Hopefully I can still ride my mtn bike some but all this stupid rain just has a lot of the trails quite wet at this point. I also plan to continue to get in a fair amount of riding but there will not be too much structure there until starting in December. Starting soon I plan to really focus on my swimming this winter which is my big goal to work on this winter.

Running the Bird update!

2011-09-26T10:57:00.002-04:00

:-( Monday already! Fun weekends always go by WAAAY 2 fast and this one was quite fun!

Friday, hit the Akron Marathon expo and the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner with some family and friends. We hit the hay and woke up BEFORE the crack of dawn to make our way down to Akron Marathon. I live nearly an hour away so we left home at 4:50 because I wanted to be parked no later than 6 and road closures and one way streets always make parking where I want interesting!

Before we knew it,we were all meeting up and I was super stoked about the day. My best friend from high school was running on my sister's relay team so the two of us walked over to the third relay exchange point together. Good thing I found someone with a map as of course I thought I knew where I was going and realized I was wrong. It is amazing just how quickly time flew by that morning because by the time I got to the place I needed to be, I was rushing to get in my warm-up as I wanted to be sure I was ready when super star ESpeed came through as she was running our team's First and Second legs.

She came through mile 9.3 around 1:01 even after a stop at a POP! Super awesome effort given a sour stomach and coming back from injury! I grabbed our snap bracelet and took off. I could see one local running star ahead of me and a pink relay team. I was not really closing the gap much but not losing any ground either.

It has been a long time since I asked my legs to go fast for 6+ miles and was not sure how they would respond after all this long course training. Yet, as our team tried to figure out best and worst case times, I figured a pretty realistic guess was I would run 6:40's.

My leg had a fair amount of downhill to get going and I was feeling pretty good. I had opted for headphones and was just zoned into the music and totally zoned out to everything around me. I would say that within 2 miles I was just hoping I could maintain without blow up.

There was one lady that had passed me within the first half mile. I kept within a couple steps of her throughout the downhill grade sections. She was also on a relay team and I was hoping I would not lose us another spot. As we transitioned onto the towpath which we would run for about 4 miles, I stayed right in behind her. However, it was not long before I decided I wanted to run my own race and surged ahead of her pretty hard, wondering if I would pay for that later and if she would pass me later. There were not really many spectators in the towpath area and I was in the abyss of mission keep-it-together. I was half way done and hurting. I refused to look at my garmin pretty much the entire race. I knew with the downhill start, I was likely to go out fast and did not want that pace to scare me and also I did not want to see the slow down once I got on level ground.

Akron really does a nice job with even the little things. As I ran along the towpath, there were lots of official motivational signs along the way. I read them all and looked forward to seeing what the next one would say. I kept looking around the corners still keeping pink relay girl and local fast chick in sight. Dang, here I am hurting and local fast chick is running the whole thing at this pace...OUCH! Finally I saw mile 15 and knew that meant a half a mile left.

At this point, the chick I had passed at the beginning of the towpath surged. I was sucking air in a major way (and really should have hit my inhaler before the race) and had nothing left to answer back with. We made a left onto the road and started into an uphill grade. I was DYING and HURTING very bad and my pace now felt soooo slow! And out of the abyss, I saw the only spectator of the day in my fog. I see my friend Amie with her shirt up over her pregnant belly jumping up and down and screaming. I found a smile and the energy to wave and dragged my weary butt up where I finally saw the relay exchange zone and BH ready to put an end to my misery. I passed off my bracelet and walked trying to catch my breath!

Ouch, that hurt but tried to push for my teammates. I ended up running 41:52 for the 6.3 miles which worked out to a 6:38 average. BH took off for her 2.8 mile leg which is the most uphill leg of the relay. I lucked out that BH's mom was there and I took her up on a ride back in lieu of running the ~5 miles back. My toes hurt pretty bad. It was no surprise to take my left sock off and see that it was all red. The downhill grade likely contributed to that.

As I got back, I grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the stadium to watch the finishers and grab my food and free beer! SCORE! Then I headed down to my normal spectating spot to where all the finishers had to walk by. It was not long before I saw my teammate Salty, fresh in from her butt kicking relay leg.

Team Four Freaky Fast Females came in 3rd overall women's team (behind 1st 2:51:35 and second 2:53:34) with a time of 2:53:27 averaging 6:38 min miles! It is super fabulous when 4 of us can all work together to contribute to a very respectable finish! We even came in ahead of where I thought we would!!!

Then it was time for some fun! We sat down at the stadium for awhile congratulating friends as we watched them come in before heading over to continue having more fun at a local establishment for some real food.

I was also super excited for my sister and her team. She shaved 5 minutes off her 7.9 mile relay leg time from last year and their team with my cousin, high school friends, sis and her husband came in with a 3:51:25! HUGE!

So it was another super fun day hanging with some of my favorite people!

Random Wednesday Thoughts

2011-09-21T10:21:00.003-04:00

1. I am super doooper excited for the weekend. Team Four Freaky Fast Females will be out partying it up after the Akron Marathon race. Hard to tell how fast we will go this year. Needless to say I am assuming we will make up for any speed shortcomings with the fun factor! This year the line up is ESpeed running legs 1&2, yous truly on leg 3, Perservance tackling Sand Run on leg 4 and then Salty bringing us home! I am not sure where we will come in at but I am guessing somewhere between 2:55 and 3:10 so say hi if ya see us!

For fun comparisons, here are our past year's results!
2010, 2nd place women's team - 2:52:03
2009, 3rd place women's team -3:06:38
2008, 2nd place women's team - 3:05:30
2007, 2nd place women's team - 3:02:47

Every year, it seems things we girls get switched around a bit based on availability, injury, schedules, etc but it has been an AWESOME TIME every year!

2. Another reason I am excited for the weekend is my sister is running on a relay team with good friends, Nathan & Lindsay. Also my sister's husband will also do his first running event with a leg of their relay (I think as poor guy has been sick for a month!). Rounding it out will be my cousin, ST, doing her first running event! Oh and I should mention there will be a fun Friday dinner and Saturday party surrounding the fun run with all of us!!!!

3. Feeling really torn on my racing plan for next year at the moment. Still scratching my head on it. I always feel like I need to set my plan early. I also like to keep it fresh. I don't want to get bored doing all the same things. Also, likely I will need to keep my travel schedule something reasonable. Anyone doing anything fun? I thought about some halfs or maybe some xterra tris? I am still leaning towards TTT and REV3 CP again pretty strongly. Not signing up for any full official full IMs this year so those are out too for 2012.

4. A friend just dropped off my winnings from REV3 Cedar Point. I must say I was pretty excited about it! It included an Avia watebottle, a FuelBelt, TYR goggles and a very nice REV3 award! Love it!

Recovery Week!

2011-09-19T13:51:00.041-04:00

The only caveats to the week post 140.6.

Do only what I want. No running.

And it was an awesome week!

Monday, I took the day completely off and ate a lot!

Tuesday, 20 min ez spin on stationary bike at gym

Wednesday, off

Thursday, 1000 M Swim

Friday, P90x Chest and Back

Saturday- Rode 14 miles on MTB at West Branch mountain bike trails with ET!

Sunday- P90x, shoulders, bis. tris. Rode 14 miles very easy with family on Portage Hike and Bike from Ravenna to Kent and back on park bike.

Some notes-
I had met with my coach Wednesday and talked through some stuff. A lot of emphasis was placed on waiting to run much. So despite wanting to run over the weekend and not feeling too bad, I decided I would wait to run until something short and easy late this week before I run my lil Akron Mary Relay leg on Saturday.

All and all, I feel pretty good. Main soreness left Thursday. My toes on the outsides of my feet seem like they lost a little feeling for now. My tibial nerve feels a little tingly at times so I have a proactive ART appt set up for Thursday.

I really enjoyed the weekend. Weather was gorgeous. I had really missed mtn biking and ET and I had a blast out riding the trails at West Branch. She was doing a practice ride for the West Branch MTB enduro which was Sunday. I SOOO wanted to do it too bc WB is my home turf, yet a 4+ hour mtn bike race seemed like it would be a giant middle finger to my legs after last weekend so I behaved :-( All good, at least ET was female winner!

Sunday, was sooo nice. My aunt and uncle have really gotten into biking and my mom has been wanting to get riding. We had got mom's bike all set up last year but she really had not rode much ever. So we had set Sunday up as the day to show my mom the ropes awhile back. As luck would have it, Sunday was a gorgeous day to ride. The 3 of them and my husband and I met up in Ravenna for a roll out to Kent on the Portage Hike and Bike path. We did a lunch stop at Rays Place in Kent in the middle and I likely consumed more calories than I burned on the ride, but it was a really nice change of pace! Mom did very well and managed just over 14 miles while the husband and I played hooligans on our park bikes throughout the day. Super fun!

You may note the P90x sessions above. I have decided to start to re-integrate some weight training back in the program. I used to do this a lot but haven't lifted AT ALL since my crash. Probably one of my longest hiatuses in years. After Friday's session, I did not think I did a very good job as I was not sore....but that all changed Saturday and especially Sunday! OUCH! Time to strengthen that core!

Today, I decided to start my return to normalcy with workouts (albeit that they may be a little different) while still taking some caution to allow for recovery. Can't just keep eating like IM training and not workout!!! Hit 6AM performance cycle this morning with KM at LFT. Good stuff and felt great to finally work up my first solid sweat in a week! Then it was back to 2000 m in the pool. Actually feeling ready to go today!

Plan for immediate future is Akron Marathon relay (6.3 mi leg) Saturday. Debating the Border War Sprint Tri for Sunday but not sure I want to do two back to back hard efforts this weekend. TBD. Other than that, I had toyed with idea of Towpath Mary if I felt good but it just seems too close and after talking with Coach MG, I have decided to take a pass on that. I am thinking perhaps some shorter fall running races for fun!

REV3 Cedar Point Race Report

2011-09-13T11:19:00.003-04:00

Where to start? We will skip right to the race and circle back later with everything else.

Race morning- Woke up at 5AM and started the process. Make coffee, eat banana, bagel, hard boiled eggs. Race mornings go by so quickly. By the time I dropped my bags off, there was not much down time to relax before I made my way down to the swim.

Swim: Upon getting to the beach around 6:45, I had the opportunity to get into the water which was nice and made me feel more relaxed than last year. I was also probably feeling more relaxed as I did not the race chip ordeal from the prior year. The race had a slight delay (about 12 minutes on my watch) as the pro men and pro women got going. I was thankful for that as my goggles were a bit dark and I had been nervous that it would be too dark to sight well. (Mental note: next time bring clear and darker goggles.)

Lake Erie had had pretty rough waters a lot of the week with a lot of storms blowing in which led to a very thick deep sludge which had developed as you entered the water. It was sticky, slimy and muddy but who cared because race day, that lake was calm!!! I lined up probably 2/3 of the field back and far left. I kept saying,"I hate the swim and couldn't wait for it to be over with" to TR between saying sarcastically that "I love the swim".

As the siren went off, I took my time getting going. No panic attack. It still feels very chaotic to start with so many people. I got clobbered pretty good at one point as we made our way out to the far red turn buoy. He knew he got me good because he apologized as I regrouped. Then after the first red buoy turn, another guy was swimming alongside me. He scratched me twice with his finger nails. (Definitely was not surprised to see my hand bleeding when I got out of the water.) As we came around for the first loop, I took advantage of the time to walk a bit and conserve my energy before heading back out for loop two. I would say my swim was so-so. It was steady, but not a great rhythm and there is always plenty of room for improvement. I focused only on staying relaxed. It seemed like I was swimming for an eternity. Finally, I made my way to the beach!

Goal time 1:20. Actual time 1:22:15. Not bad and I was happy with that. (Beat last year's time by 5 minutes) Take that scapula with my subpar swimming efforts this summer.

Transitions: Both were pretty uneventful. No clothing changes. I think I really tried rushing through transitions but did not do that great of a job. I probably should have taken a little more care to wipe the sand from my feet.

T1: 3:27

T2: 3:36

Bike: As I went out on the bike course I thought something was making a strange noise and it had me concerned. With no clue what it was, I tried to push it out of my head. It took me a little while to get my heart rate down those first 5 miles or so. Last year on the bike my HR averaged 150 and when I hit 160 you could tell I backed off the effort. This year I focused on letting my HR drift up to 163 but always taking care to try to keep in mid 150's. I watched my HR and speed (trying to stay over 20) like a hawk for pretty much the entire bike. Every 10 minutes I tried to make sure I was getting in nutrition. I would say on the bike I was very focused on the task at hand.

The bike course has a last minute change so I just rolled with it and took comfort that I knew the bulk of the course quite well. As I was totally focused on the task at hand, the miles clicked by on the bike and I felt very good. I really just looked forward to the time when I knew I would see the ironfan crew which would be mile 26, 60 and 90ish. Truly, I looked forward to this more than people may realize. They were so loud and it just gave me extra strength!

The wind was not much of a factor on this day although on the bike you do always notice it as some points. My seat area seemed to fare better than some days and the main issue I was dealing with was that my right ball of my foot felt like there was a hot spot but more than anything my feet were just feeling bruised from pushing down the pedals. I was really thinking that bruised foot feeling was going to make the run hurt!!!

The other point to note was special needs was at approximately mile 50 and then 80 something. At mile 50 I swapped out my two bottles but one FE EFS bottle was almost entirely full so clearly I was not drinking enough. I also had a fair amount left on my bike at the end of the day in one of my bottles too. This would be probably my biggest mistake of the day. I was taking in a lot of water and finished both liquid shot flasks but apparently I was not drinking enough from my bottles. (Perhaps next time, clear bottles that are marked with lines??)

So finally, I made my way back into the park. I was super pleased that I was still on pace to get the sub-11 I was targetting.

And I got off the bike feeling even better than last year! I was sore with some tight hammies but moving better through transition than last year!

The volunteer at the changing tent was great. She put my garmin and race belt on for me and got me moving.

Automatically my little sore legs were turning over sub 8 minute miles and I kept slowing myself down. I knew if I could just hold under 9 minute mile pace, I would get my goal.

First 4.4 miles, 8:38 pace.

I passed another lady who let me know I was in second or third place. I really did not know how that was possible. I said there must be more up ahead. It was good to see to SSSMT out on the bike and run course who also encouraged me as I was mentally trying to prepare myself for all the miles ahead.

I was carrying my handheld and a FE Liquid Shot flask. My handheld somehow had a broken lid which led to me losing a lot of water at some points. It did not take long, I would say just over 4 miles and I could feel twinges in my legs as if they could cramp at any point. My left quad felt particularly on edge, but so did my hanstrings and calves. SOOO NOT GOOD!

I stopped once to take off my shoe and readjust my sock just after 4 miles or so. I figured it was worth a little time now to avoid horrible pain later. It still felt like blisters were coming on my poor little feet which hurt pretty good already. I was just over 4 miles in and already thinking this was going to be a long marathon! Crap!

But, the fan crew was out there cheering me on so I tried to suck it up for them. It felt soooo hot and there was very little shade. I must have repeated, "you are tougher than you think you are and can do more than you think you can" 100 times sandwiched between "one foot in front of the other".

The day before the race I wrote, "Don't drown, don't crash and don't walk" on my twitter page. As I slowly jogged along I would not allow myself to walk and just knew it would hurt regardless and might as well get done faster! There were a couple points when I thought, "oh no the quad is about to seize" but my slow shuffle gate seemed to keep the cramps at bay.

I was totally kicking myself for not taking in more electrolytes on the bike. Yet, I have had more issues with tight cramping legs a lot lately. So maybe it is something more. Oh and in case anyone wondered, I did pee in my wetsuit right at the start but never went again the entire race until well after at the hotel so apparently, I was quite dehydrated.

The one lady who went on to take first place amateur flew by me on the run. I had seen her coming for awhile with all the out and backs and u-turns. She had a good stride and one I could not match on this day. I just tried to find something steady. As we came within a little over 2 miles from the finish I saw another lady walk by me at the aid station. I jogged along ahead of her and then she would run at a good clip and start walking. We leap frogged a couple times. Then I hit the little incline on the bridge with 1.5 miles to go and I kept a running gate moving ever sooo slowly. The quad seized and then the right calf seized. My leap frog lady rushed over to help me as I almost fell down as I let out a little yelp. I have never had this happen so badly ever. I stood up and encouraged her to go on. I turned around and tried to walk backwards. I was also trying to focus on my breathing as I got upset when this happened which triggered my asthma. Thank goodness I was so close to the finish as I just kept telling myself it was only a little bit further. I turned around and started walking forward as things loosened up a bit. Then I started jogging again. Espeed came on me and encouraged me to catch my friend ahead and said I had another female closing in.

I dug deep to keep moving hoping I would not have another terrible cramp. I passed the lady in front of me who was surprised to see me but seemed set to walk it in. Then with 0.5 miles to go, another lady passed me. On this day, I knew I could not ask more of my legs without risking total shutdown so I let her go. I closed in on one other female to see she was a pro. There was no sense having to sprint ahead of her at the finish line since she had started way ahead of me so I just made my way into the finish line.

Run time: 4:16:16 (slower than my 2010- 4:15:03).

Total time: 11:17:27 (clock reflects pro start time)

Overall, I ended up 10th overall female and 3rd overall amateur female. I did not hit the goal of sub 11 due to my run which I know I should be capable of (which I think was due to my poor nutrition intake). Next time! For now, I am very proud to have come back from my bicycle crash 13 weeks ago and to do it with a 140.6 PR of nearly 21 minutes.

This was only my second 140.6 and the training was FAR from perfect. As much as I wonder why I do this for fun (as I dig deep on the race course), I just can't help but finish and think what I can do better for next time.

Two for Thursday?---

2011-09-08T14:04:00.003-04:00

As made popular by the Leadville 100,

"You are tougher than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can."

When I am tired on Sunday, I will say this to myself and hopefully find a way to dig deep to achieve my goals.

In less than 3 whole days I will be toeing the start line of my second 140.6 race. Yes, the first one was very special. I followed coach's plan and I had every confidence in my training that I could do it. I was incredibly nervous about what if I could feel my tibia stress fracture return on the run. Yet, everything fell into place and I was stoked to not only finish my first full feeling relatively good, but to break my goal of 12 hours with a 11:38.

This year the ride has been more bumpy. On 6/14, I had suffered a bad bicycle crash where I fractured my shoulder blade, bruised my ribs badly and had a lot of road rash. After spending a long night at the hospital, I walked out the door and the tears started falling down my face.

I was heartbroken. Not only did I physically hurt badly, I was truly upset that I was not sure if there would be any more triathlons for me in 2012. I love working out. I did not know when I would be able to resume that which was now such a big part of my life. I left the hospital to listen to a voicemail that had already come through from coach early that morning who had heard what happened, saying to stay strong and we could work through it.

Those first few days, I avoided some phone calls and was just rather down about it all. I was dying to get back to it but simple clothing changes and showers were hard enough that first week. The road rash was painful and required lots of dressing changes. However, after 9 days I could take no more and I started running slowly on the treadmill, taking great caution not to move my left wing (as that brought on lots of pain.). I also started riding indoors.

My friend, DM, brought over his computrainer for me to borrow as riding outside would be difficult for awhile. I started working into some hard efforts on the bike over time with some very uncomfy ribs as I breathed in hard.

Slowly strength started to return to my shoulder and I noticed it start to move freely on its own while I ran. Then I started back out onto the roads on the bike. Many of those rides back felt rough, like I had just fell behind while I was down. It was frustrating to feel like I could not keep up with folks that I was accustomed to riding with. Yet, what could I do but be thankful I was back riding outside! :-)

Swimming was the last thing that I was able to do again. As swimming was never my strong suit, I am not sure I lost too much here despite my VERY limited swim training this summer.

My shoulder still is not right. I was shocked when I saw my 6 week xray with such a visible separation. I had been very nervous about it holding up to a 2.4 mi swim but the 1.8 mi open water swim gave me the much needed confidence boost I needed. It may not be healed and still be sticking out a bit, but I am certain it will be fine for this swim....perhaps not great but like my swim ever is! (this year...next?...it will be a goal to make this a different story!)

It has been 12 weeks since I crashed and this week I will be lining up to race a 140.6. The progress has been all that I could hope for. Frankly, I am just happy to have reached the starting line in this form. There have been plenty of rough days during this round of IM training. And just no matter what happens Sunday, I am just thankful to get the opportunity to do REV3 Cedar Point!

A Special Thanks to-
-Coach MG for all the workouts and guidance
-DM for letting me borrow his CT
-My training partners which make all the long days better (Espeed, ET, CV BH and the rest of the BAFF team and sis who was there when I was just finding my run again and LOTS of others!)
-Trakkers/REV3 team for all the connections and wonderful sponsor products
-And especially my husband for all of his support!

Thinking through my nutrition plan out loud!

2011-09-08T13:22:00.002-04:00

So tonight I am packing. I always like to pack an entire night before I am set to leave so I can spend the next entire day trying to figure out if I am missing anything.

As most who are probably doing the race, I continue to keep an eye on the weather. Today it says a low of 64 and a high of 74, with a 8mph south wind, and 40% chance of scattered t-storms. Temps and wind look favorable so let's hope those two factors hold true and I would prefer to eliminate any chance of storms please!

Regardless, it looks like temps will be favorable to again (like last year) just stay in my Trakkers / REV3 kit for the entire race. I find it much easier to not have to bother changing! I had been a bit concerned when the lows looked a little lower but I should be good. Of course I will pack some warmer clothes for special needs, just in case!

As usual, I am also making my grocery list in addition to my packing list. Our room at breakers has a coffee maker but I am guessing it is one of those single serving types so I am bringing my coffee maker and my toaster! I really liked knowing last year that my breakfast would be what I wanted.

Every race I sit down and make sure I am clear on the plan so I figured it would be good to jot it down for quick reference for myself and in case anyone was interested.

So the plan is-

Breakfast (as early as I can wake up, ideally 4 am but likely 5) (500 calories): 1 bagel with PB (250 cal), 2 hard boiled egg (150 cal), 1 banana (100 cal), water and coffee.

Between breakfast and race: Sip on bottle of First Endurance EFS mixed with FE PreRace (200 cal)

Swim: Nothing

Transitions-Nothing

Bike: Will have water up front in aerobottle and start with two bottle of FE EFS bottles in cages with 2 scoops product in each bottle in cages and one liquid shot flask. At bike special needs, 2 more efs bottles, 1 liquid shot flask and one snickers bar!!!

Goal on bike is ~300 calories per hour. Planning on under 6 hours so planning on 1800 calories.
-4 bottles of FE EFS (@200 cal each), 800 cal total
-2 FE liquid shot flasks (@400 cal each). 800 cal total
-1 snickers at half way, 200 cal total

Plan is to settle on bike for first 10 minutes. Starting at 10 minutes, every 10 minutes alternate 1 sip (2-3 oz) of EFS Drink / 2oz liquid shot followed by water.

Run: Will run with handheld (I think as it worked great last year to drink when I wanted). Goal is 150-200 cal per hour. Goal is under 4 hours so I total need of 800 calories. So plan is easy. Water and 2-400 calories liquid shot flasks. Carry one and then pickup one at half way. Take in coke on course if desired.

This is pretty much to a tee what I did that last year and it worked well then so I would assume it should work again this year!

Race Week!

2011-09-07T13:26:00.000-04:00

And it is ~~Tuesday~~ Wednesday already! Apparently the day got away from me yesterday!

Back to the grind and I have started thinking about all the little things regarding the big race this weekend.

I am back to work after 3 days off work and 3 great workouts. It seems weird to be in taper and still be working out so much but this week will be very easy. Planning to swim most days some and I just have one more short brick (20/2) which I will probably do Wednesday.

Saturday was a 36 mile ride with 3x15 min hard intervals. Luckily, I had BH along for the ride and those miles clicked right by. Then it was on to 6x1 mile repeats running. Last week, I fell apart on my repeats as it was soo hot at the track. This week it was even hotter so I opted to go inside and run them on the treadmill. I was stoked to run them all at or below desired pace relatively easily.

Sunday, I rode with my coach which was so awesome. It gives me the chance to pick his brain and he gave me several tips. Riding with Coach also provides extra motivation to work hard throughout the workout as I want him to see that I have strong work ethic and take his direction seriously. Coach sent me some data after the ride-

"We went just under 45, erred on the side of caution and called it a day a little bit early. We rode the warm-up and main set as follows

37.75 miles

1:53:00 20.0 avg

avg power: 200

NP-236 watts

cool down was almost 7 easy miles so overall our ride avg was just over 19

Power data

We did one out and back interval of ~18 miles. We each took a 1.5 mile pull section up front and switched back and forth.

Time : 48:30

Distance: just under 18 miles

Avg Speed: 22.0

Avg Power: 236 watts

Max Power: 748 watts

NP: 249 watts

After a brief 4ish mile break we did a ~6 mile out and back with each of us taking a ~3 mile pull. Data

Coach pull

Dist- 2.9

time- 7:50

avg- 22.7

avg power - 246

max power - 378

np- 252

Janets pull

Dist- 2.8

time- 7:35

avg- 22.5

avg power - 216 watts

max power - 634 watts

np- 225 watts"

So last week wrapped up being pretty solid. On tap for race week is just a bunch of swimming, one brick and one bike. I decided since I had some time Monday morning with being off that I would knock out the 30 mile bike. Day 3 of riding also went pretty well, despite the cool, rain-threatening weather.

One more workout besides swimming! :-) I should do it tonight but perhaps it can wait until Thursday morning. I am getting soooo excited!

Race week is a funny thing. You start over-analyzing everything.

What will the weather be?
Do I have exactly everything planning nutrition wise?
What was my avg speed, avg HR, max HR last year. What should I target this year on both bike/run?
What will I order for dinner?
Should I pack my own toaster and coffee maker again?
Oh please let the weather be decent!
What will I want in my cooler post race...besides the obvious ;-)

Ok, only a few more days of this! Almost time to get packing, but I think first some laundry is in order tonight!

REV3 - Guess your finishing time and win a bike rack!

2011-09-01T10:41:00.004-04:00

If you are signed up for REV3 Cedar Point you likely got an email along these lines this week.

"REV3 Athletes, Yakima is proud and excited to be the official bike rack of the 2011 Revolution3 Triathlon Series. To show our love for you folks racing in Cedar Point we propose a little "name your time" competition. The 3 winners will receive a free bike rack."

Now, part of me really hates the idea of holding my goal out there for all to see. Yet, for some reason I just can't pass up the idea of winning something. So of course I went over to the Yakima page, liked it and had to put down a time.

The time was sort of hard for me to come up with as of course I want something realistic, something attainable but yet I want to challenge myself to do what I am capable of.

While I like the idea of giving myself some cushion so I can say I met my goal. Who does that really? Do I say my goal is 11:15 when in fact it is to break 11 hours. That seems like I am just setting myself up for not achieving what I really want. Then there is also the fact that I don't like the idea of holding it out there if it is not realistic because saying you are capable of X doesn't mean much unless you actually do it. I wanted to be honest as to what my goal actually was. So my Yakima time is listed as 10:59:00 as breaking 11 hours is what I am going for.

So here is how I am laying it out in my head.

2010 REV3 Total Time: 11:38:16 - Last year was my first 140.6. My goal obviously was to finish and my A goal was to break 12 hours and I was happy to do so with a nice cushion! Yet, topping this goal for 2011 is no easy task because 2010 was a pretty solid performance for me in my opinion. This year is so much harder because now I feel like I have the benchmark to beat!

2010 Swim: 1:27:13 - Had major panic attack. Went from one side of field to other where there was a kayaker to tread water and convince myself to keep going. Started breast stroking and finally got going. Not a strong swim. Although my swim is still weak and my shoulder, I think if I put together a relaxed swim based on my 1.8 mile swim, I should be able to swim a 1:20. I think my secret weapon, the new TYR Hurricane wetsuit will seal the deal...seriously, I just feel like this wetsuit makes me faster! LOVE IT!

2011 Swim Goal: 1:20

2010 T1: 3:14. Not too shabby. If I could do that again, I would take it. But this year we will even have wetsuit strippers!!! For planning I will say 2011 T1: 5:00 (hopefully a little cushion)

2010 Bike: 5:47:02 (112miles, 19.36 mph)

Last year I think I did a nice job pacing on the bike. Splits were 20.5mi at 19.5, 37.3mi at 19.78, 54.2mi at 19.03. Last year I tried to ride a relatively conservative pace. I had heard of too many people who blow their run on the bike so I tried to think about that as I watched my HR on the bike. I am hoping to ride a little more aggressively, but pay attention to HR and RPE and hopefully I can stay closer to 20.0 mph/

2011 Bike Goal: 5:35:00 (20.0 avg mph)

2010 T2: 5:42- I got off the bike and my hamstrings were soo tight. I was hobbling badly and not sure how I was going to run. I had had to pee for a long time on the bike and hit the POP in transition before heading out to run. Hopefully T2 can be around 5:00 this year and my legs don't feel so wonky when I get off the bike!

2010 Run: 4:15:03 (26.2 mi at 9:44 pace)

In 2010, it took a bit to get going and then I had a pretty steady pace. I stopped at mile 2.5 to take care of business. Then I had some issues in the middle of it with my asthma, but I hit my inhaler, took pain reliever and just focused on the task at hand. I think I was running at a pace that I knew I would have no trouble continuing running. I wanted to make sure I would not blow up and have to walk. I was tired but not really pushing by any means. I think there is a lot of room for improvement here. My running has been going well and my running legs feel stronger this year.

2011 Goal: 3:50:00 at 8:46 pace

So the goals are-

Swim: 1:20

T1: :05

Bike: 5:35

T2: :05

Run: 3:50

That adds up to 10:55, giving me 5 minutes to play with and still get me in under that 11 hr A Goal.

So there it is. That is what my goal is. Now I just need to hope I can put it together. Last year we were treated to pretty favorable weather conditions, which can be such a factor, so hopefully we luck out again!

Overall, I just want to finish with a smile and not hurt myself. Beating last years 11:38 time would be great, beating 11 hours would be totally sweet and a 10:59:00 would get me that bike rack! :-)

Random Taper Time Updates-Black Cloud Day

2011-08-31T16:34:00.007-04:00

The weekend-

Came up a little short. I think I went into the weekend with tired legs. Pushed a good pace on the bike Saturday with a fun group for a 55 mile ride on Saturday morning and then it was over to the track. However by now it was warm. I should have peed first and I did not take my inhaler to the track. I started into my mile repeats. 6:50, 6:53, 7:00. By the 4th one I was breathing heavy, struggling to get in the air with my asthma squeezing my lungs. Thanks to having BH running along with me, I forced myself through 3 more which were (on or right around pace) to stop after 6. After some water and putting on my headphones, I started #7 (of the 9 I was supposed to do). Headphones quit on me and then I quit on the workout. I kept thinking I should be able to run a half mary at around 7 min miles, why can I not do these repeats? I think it was in part due to my asthma, part just being tired and knowing that I had another toughie Sunday but I should have sucked it up and finished.

Sunday morning, ST and I hit the road early. I just felt flat all day. I was tired. My legs were tired. We pushed on for a little over 4 hours and 76 miles and when he pulled back into the park and I was to go on another 24 miles, again I hit the eject button.

I guess at the end of the day, I really wanted to nail the workouts. Yet, I am now at the 2 week time where I just decided it was better to err on the side of caution if I was not feeling it.

Black cloud day-
Gave myself a nice easy day swimming Monday. Then yesterday, I had planned to head out for the Tuesday night Tavern Ride. Temps were nice and I hit the door at work right at 5PM. Got stuck in traffic. Then as I chatted on the phone, traffic came to a screeching halt and the mustang one car in front of me, slammed an SUV. Airbag deployed, horn on. Guy in front of me slams breaks as do I, hoping the guy behind me stops. Thankfully he did and then I felt the adrenaline dump in my leg muscles! Tick tock, tick tock...I am getting more frazzled by the minute. As I near the parking lot finally, I am forced to come to a stop so I did not run over the black cat that crossed the road in front of me. How appropriate!!! 6PM sharp I park. At 6:03, I was ready to go. Thankfully they waited! :-) Again, I HATE HATE HATE not being timely!

The kiss of death- Monday I called Sherman at Bike Authority to check about getting a once over on my bike. I said, "Nothing is wrong with my bike....I just wanted a quick check before big race." I scheduled myself in for bike service on Wednesday. Little did I know, I actually would have an issue with the bike!

Back to black cloud day- So the group takes off at a pretty healthy pace up the hill. As we hit the uphill grade on Hemlock we are clipping along at a solid pace. As we near the stop sign I go to shift and as I do, I feel the snap in my lever. Cable broke. Of course this was the time when I was rotated to the front so I quickly rotate through mentioning I broke a cable. And of course, I am in my biggest gear on the rear. The route was a hilly one and I was not about to go ride the entire thing in my biggest gear so as we hit 306, I let the group know I was out and turned around to ride the ~4 mi back. I was FRUSTRATED! Yet, I was thankful that this happened now instead of on 9/11. I tried calling my husband on the side of the road (I think he now cringes when he gets a call from my number when I am supposed to be riding). I manage to get out my cable broke before my phone just resets!!! Grrrr....! Poor hubby now slightly concerned as it took until I got back to my car to reset. Toss the bike in the car and head to grocery store. For some reason, my luck continues and I have now became totally electrified and every shelf or can I touch delivers a jolting shock which results in one dropped can, some swearing and a beer in my hand as quick as I could get home!!!

Thankfully today is a new day!

Final Big Weekend!!!

2011-08-26T15:17:00.002-04:00

So yesterday I was driving the long commute home and was stuck in traffic (as usual). I let some car in that was merging on to the highway. First thing I notice is that is has a "save the ta-tas" sticker. Second thing I notice is that it seems ironic to me that they have a Breast Cancer awareness sticker and the driver is smoking...also known to cause cancer. Hmmmm....make sense?

Today I rolled my motorcycle to work. It was the first time since I crashed my bicycle. It had been waaay too long. Made my long morning commute much more enjoyable even though it is all freeway.

Managed to sneak out at lunch for a run with the boys. As we were running one of our normal total ghetto routes (no clue why these are the routes we run) we came upon a road which was pretty well blocked up with about 6 or 7 cop cars. Wonder if we will hear about another big crime along our running route. Seems we are on record-setting pace this year so far! I SOOO would not run these roads alone!

Tonight I am hitting a talk with ESpeed and NC about running up in Mentor! Should be a fun time with plenty of socializing.

Tomorrow am, I got a 55 mile bike with 9x1 mile intervals with 1 minute recoveries. Guessing that will be a real butt kicker but I am stoked as it looks like I will have good company for the ride. I know many get overwhelmed with the daunting training that is ironman. I feel like I have really enjoyed the training due in no small part to having so many wonderful training partners locally.

Then Sunday, will be a final 100 mile bike with the boys!

As I sit here and tap on my wooden desk, I am quite excited that it looks like I will actually get to enjoy an entire weekend of riding in some sunshine :-) I heart Fridays!

Wednesday Random Bullets

2011-08-24T11:34:00.004-04:00

Never enough time so here is the cliff-notes version of the random things going on in the world of Daisy-

Since I left ya last Wednesday-

* Managed a solid weekend of training. 96.3 miles biked at the CTC-REV3 Training Day. It was a gorgeous day and managed a pretty solid pace so I was pleased. I needed 3.7 more miles per the plan but I wanted to get a shower and be ready to listen to the RD speak, so I called it close enough :-) Also, I got in a nice long brick on Sunday on some wet roads with ET. Despite our very chatty ride, we managed a respectable pace and those 55 miles on the bike just clicked off silly fast...then it was time for one soggy run!

* Why does it seem so often I get stuck doing my training in the rain and crappy weather this year??? This is resulting in waaaay more bike washings than should be normal!

* Speaking of rain, I spent the first 8 miles of today's 18 mile run in some very wet, windy conditions. Surprisingly, I think I felt the best I had for one of my long weekday runs. I also used my new Avia Bolt IIIs' on today's run and am very happy to report, that the shoes worked well for me so I will be sporting those at REV3 Cedar Point. They are a half size smaller than all my other running shoes but that seemed to be the right fit for me! Now I will need to rotate in some of my other older shoes to save those back a bit.

* Last night Tuesday, I embarked on my longest open water swim year to date for the season. CTC had our official BIG SWIM which is 1.8 mi from Columbia Beach to Bradstreet Pier. I felt it was really important to see how this would go as my shoulder blade has seemed weak with longer / harder swims. I was definitely a little nervous! I sprayed myself down with TriSlide and then slid on my sweet TYR Hurricane wetsuit. Maybe it was the wetsuit, maybe I was just relaxed with my 19 other CTC friends on the calm Lake Erie water, but it might have been my best open water swim ever! I can still hardly believe it! It was exactly the confidence builder I needed :-)

* And then there was that earthquake yesterday. At first I thought something was wrong with me and I was terrible dizzy before realizing the entire office was shaking. As I sat on the 24th floor of One Cleveland Center, I watched as our window shades banged between the cases. Strange! My husband thought he was sooo funny when he said to watch out for piranhas (because in Piranha 3D, the tremor set free the pre-historic man-eating fish!) I survived the swim just fine thank you!

* I wrap up this training block this weekend and am thankful that it appears I should have some good company for most of it. Then it is taper time!!!!

* I am sad that it continues to get dark earlier and light out later and temps already seem cooler.

* I am stoked for the upcoming REV3. I am interested to see how I will stack up versus last year...fingers crossed I can improve my time! After that I will run Akron Marathon relay 2 weeks later (9/24) with my fast SERC girlies relay team. Then perhaps think about doing the Border War sprint tri (9/25)..maybe! Then if all is well, I will run Towpath Marathon on 10/9. Despite my burning desire to just hit the fall road running circuit races, I am going to TRY TRY TRY to give my legs a break instead of using the fall to beat them up like usual. The upcoming fall has me excited for the return of some trail running and hopefully I can spend sometime mountain biking before the snow falls!

Toes & Props

2011-08-17T10:27:00.005-04:00

Randomly for awhile now, I have getting toe cramps after some of my runs and bikes. Often I take off my bike shoes to slide my feet into my some flip flops and I move my toes and I get hit with toe cramps! OUCHIES! So I did a little googling. Toe cramps may be caused by low calcium, potassium, sodium or even dehydration. I suppose it is not uncommon for me to not drink very much as I am out training and I have been slacking on taking my vitamins. Really, why is this tiny task so difficult for me to follow through with on a regular basis? So after the worst big toe cramp yesterday, which I even noticed in my sleep last night and still hurts today, I RESOLVE TO take my vitamins more regularly and drink more (water that is...not beer silly)! I guess I will also work on massaging my toes and stretching them for a little while now.

So last year and this year, I have worked with local triathlete and "coach", MG. MG helps several of us out with our training plans and provides so much insight, motivation and a wealth of knowledge. I have the utmost respect for him as a person, as an athlete and as a coach. I was just reading his race report from Steelhead in which he put together an incredibly well executed race with a most impressive time and earned himself an outright spot to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I am sooo thrilled for him! It means a lot to me that I know he walks the walk. He puts in the work and is one of the most disciplined athletes I know and it shows! I was reading his race report which ended with his favorite quote from the endurance sporting world, which I love too and just wanted to share (especially because this morning felt like one of those "don't" days)-

"Good athletes train when they want to, the great ones train when they don’t."

Random Observations

2011-08-16T15:24:00.001-04:00

-This morning as I drove down E13th Street in downtown Cleveland chatting on my phone, my conversation was stopped dead in its tracks as I noticed an incredibly large woman sitting in one of those gigantic (must've-been about 3-4 ft around) concrete flower planters. I was in disbelief. The poor smashed flowers were coming out the rear of her and she LITERALLY took up the entire thing. "She is not really sitting on there on the flowers and dirt in her moo moo, is she?" The only question is, why did I not end my call immediately and get a picture? WOW, unbelieveable! I thought it was supposed to be a fat lady bent over in the garden, not one sitting on the flowers.

-I headed out for a lunch run with the boys today. As I walked by the office and waited for my garmin to load, a slightly chubby chick looked at me and then I overheard her comment to her friend, "I wish I worked out." I don't get it. She looked plenty capable and all I could think is, "what is stopping you?" It strikes me that some people think that those of us who make time for workouts have more time and flexibility when most often we do not. We make time. We make sacrifices. It is not easy for us but we find a way to make it work. Trust me, I love to sleep in but rarely afford myself that luxury.

- For those of you not in Cleveland, the Avengers movie is being filmed here. It made the lunch time jaunt a little more interesting as tons of people crowded east 9th street as we ran by trying to get a look at the action. My boss did mention that as he dropped off one of our out of town guests at a hotel downtown last week that the Director, Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson were all standing around real chill out front the hotel entrance signing autographs. Pretty cool of them. But I cannot wait for the filming to end as it just makes my commute longer trying to get in and out of the city!!!

- I took yesterday as a rest day but my legs still feel tired today. No rest for the weary. Riding later and long run in the morning!

- I have been forever hungry lately!

The last hard block...

2011-08-15T10:13:00.004-04:00

So I am in the middle of my last hard training block for REV3 Cedar Point less than 4 weeks away now.

Ended the week with -
39.3 miles ran
160 miles biked (although I missed tues night 31M ride)
3700 meters swam

Coach's plan has me going strong another 2 weeks here and then it will be 2 weeks of tapering which should work well for me.

Saturday, a few of us met up to ride 90 miles out of Lifetime Fitness. I had planned a rolling course with some decent climbs which would total just shy of 5000 ft of climbing. The morning temps were in the mid-60's and it was a gorgeous sunny morning ride. Despite starting out on some less-than-fresh legs due to all the running throughout the week, I felt pretty good the whole way. We did have a couple detours and near the end, I spun up the hills pretty easy as I was already thinking that I better save something as Sunday's effort would again require some leg strength.

The route took us out country roads and into my neck of the woods, out past Hiram College, up Durthicks Hill in Mantua and then up north into N Chagrin area before heading back. There had only been 3 of us that stuck together for the most part. I thought it was a pretty solid ride in terms of workload upfront and all the climbing. I figure my 100 miler next week will be easier than that as it is a flatter course and likely the workload will be shared more.

Sunday the plan was a 49 mile bike/ 8 mile run and the forecast was rain / thunderstorms. I had pretty much accepted the fact that I was doing the workout regardless of the weather. If it got too bad, I would stop for it to pass but this was the only day I had to get it in for the week. I was happy that I had spoke with JC and he was down with that plan too. One thing is for sure...this year I sure seem to have gotten in my share of rainy rides!!! While obviously that is not my preference, I must say I feel pretty comfortable with riding in wet conditions!

I woke up early Sunday and slowly walked my sore legs down the stairs. This day was going to be rough I figured and I was hoping I did not slow people down too much as my legs were tired!

I drove through some spotty rain systems to get to the start and as we grabbed our bikes out of the vehicles, the rain subsided and somehow I ended up getting in pretty much the entire workout with no rain :-) ! That is not to say the roads were dry but rooster tails were out a lot of the ride and the bike is definitely in need of a bath tonight!

For the ride, 4 of us rode through Cuyahoga Valley National Park, through the high water on Sand Run and up some good climbs like Boston Mills Road westbound from Riverview to 21. My legs were DYING and as I climbed up Boston Mills, the boys all pulled ahead and I just settled into a pace I thought I could handle. A few times I caught myself with my tongue out just gasping for air doing my best Thomas Voeckler impression. All I could think was that my run was going to be ROUGH!

I had gotten a rear flat early in the ride which I managed to get fixed without too much issue and other than that, the ride was fine. I definitely felt like the weakest link on Sunday with the 3 strong guys but at the end of the day, I was soooo thankful I was riding with them as I know I would not have pushed so hard alone. I really enjoyed the route and the company a lot! We finished with 49 miles and 3000 ft of climbing as we coasted into the downhill finish.

As we pulled back into the parking lot, I was happy to hear BH was going to run with me. My plan was 8 miles at 7:32. Only, my legs were tapped out and it was starting to feel rather humid. So instead I decided to just go with what I could and was pleading with myself to just get 8 miles in. BH and I fell into a decent pace on the towpath. We kept leap-frogging with some kids on bicycles, who I think were trying to annoy us and almost tripped up BH. As we ran past Red-Lock continuing south and I started to die a little inside as I had to go to the bathroom, pretty bad! So as we passed the 4 miles where I would have turned around, we kept on as I needed to make it to Boston Store to hit the bathroom. After some relief, we started back up on the return trip north, chatting away or rather BH doing most of the chatting as I think the humidity was flaring my asthma and my breathing had became a bit labored and my HR was high. As my garmin beeped 8 miles, we took a little walk break. We had managed a 7:43 avg which was not the 7:32 but given how tired I felt, I was just happy to be that close and even happier that I got in the 8 miles. TG for BH or I am not sure I could have pushed myself! Then we jogged in the last mile easy to finish with 9 miles just as it started to sprinkle.

About the time I got to my car, the rain started to come down and all I could think was, boy did we time that right! I was a dirty tired mess! I cruised over to Bike Authority afterwards to pick up a couple things and I really just had no energy to even deal with standing. I am sure I looked pathetic. Sometimes after hard efforts I just feel like I need an hour and some food before I am fully functioning and yesterday was one of those days! Oh and it was just POURING and I was getting soaked as I kept having to get in a out of my car for a few errands....picture tired pathetic wet Daisy!

I was pretty much EXHAUSTED the rest of Sunday. I ate a bunch and we went to watch The Rise of the Planet of the Apes which I highly recommend! Overall, I was pretty pleased that I hit the weekend workouts and know that I put a solid effort in. It was a pretty hard weekend for me but "hard" weekends make me feel much better prepared for what lies ahead. Two more hard weekends left!

I heart running!

2011-08-12T14:25:00.002-04:00

This week has been a particularly good week for me in that I have been able to get in 3 lunch runs which is very abnormal. Usually I am chained to the desk but this week afforded me some opportunities to get out and take in some sunshine with some running buds.

Tuesday, I did my short speedwork session on the treadmill at the gym. For some reason, I never seem to mind speedwork on the treadmill. I just plug in the dictated pace and I go, as I rock out to my a very loud DJ Scene podcast on my headphones.

The last several weeks, I have been doing my long runs on Wednesday mornings, but this was a step back long run week, so I only had to do 10 miles so I figured I would take a long lunch and swim in the morning. I ran with the downtown boys and E for a nice round 10. Pace was a little fast but that is the one drawback to group runs...I run whatever everyone else does.

Thursday, I got out again for a short run. My girl, ET, is coming back from injury and has only ran 3 mi a couple times. She said she would be up for running 5 miles. I was flexible, although I was thinking something nice, easy and short because my computrainer workout that morning pretty much killed me. The next thing I know, ET is running along, chatting away and I am trying to slow her down a bit because I just did not feel like running the 7:30 pace we started into. We slowed to an 8:05 avg. Hopefully her comeback goes well as I will be pretty happy to have her back to run with.

Now Friday, I probably should not have ran. But I had just got new AVIA Bolt III's that I wanted to break in!

And the window opened in my workday, so out I went again to meet the boys for a nice 9.3 mile ghetto jog. Yes, ghetto for reelz. I think the one guy was getting more and more nervous about the surroundings and the talk of the group as he seemed to pick up the pace more and more. I returned to the office a nice salty damp mess, but very thankful have had the opportunity to go sweat out some stress and take in some more sunshine!!!

TGIF....this weekend looks like a very quiet one social schedule-wise which is good because I got a lot of miles to get in. This week and the next two really have some butt kicking workouts!

Cleveland Triathlon Race Report

2011-08-10T10:53:00.004-04:00

So this is take II of my Cleveland Tri Report. You ever write a blog and you go to post it and you realize you just sort of sound like you are just complaining, making excuses and overall it is just whine, whine, whine?

Well it seemed a lot like that...so here is the long and the short of it trying to focusing on the positives. Disclaimer: There is still a lot of whining and excuses and if you think this is bad, you should have read the other report!

I felt almost as awful as the pic looks!!!

- Arrived to find out the water was 79 degrees and would not be wetsuit legal for USAT rankings and awards. (So not what Daisy was hoping for!!!) So I did not wear a wetsuit. Considering how little I have been swimming post crash, my swim was not too bad, considering the chop in the water (due to the strong wind out of the west). My main issue once I got past the yellow buoys was I could not see the last red buoy as my blue tinted goggles seemed to shade the red buoy to a navy shade which was totally not visible against the water. So major sighting issues and I got quite a bit off course. Oh well! In the end, I swam fine but I exited the water with a major headache likely due to missing many breaths when I got smacked in the face with a wave.

- My transitions both seemed slow but no major issues.

I am sooo much happier on the bike than the swim!

- The bike was fine, although my head was throbbing. 6 hairpin turns. I passed lots of people. I had decided to put First Endurance EFS in my aerobottle (even though I usually just use water in it) because I wanted to make sure I took in some calories and electrolytes during the bike. That worked well. The bonus of the bike was knowing where you were at related to everyone else. I knew going in that KS, defending champ and also a training partner would likely be the leader and that she was. She had gained about 7 minutes on me in the swim and her lead appeared to stay pretty consistent throughout the bike.

- As I headed out on the run, it was very warm and humid. I had tucked my inhaler for my asthma in my sports bra before the swim and I took a couple puffs on that...perfect location for that thing. I might have to tuck it in there for some long runs and see if it bugs me as perhaps for REV3 CP, I will put it there as I feel safer having it with me and that is a convenient spot to have it.

- I had decided that I was not going to bother wasting time with my garmin and for some reason the only split times on the results page are for my swim and finishing time so I have no idea how my pacing was. This was also due to the fact that there were not clearly marked mile markers at every mile. I thought I saw a knocked over 2 and maybe a 3 but it was nothing that I could clearly track on my watch. As I neared the first turnaround I passed S (who finished third female and I got to talk to her after as I did not know her going in) and then it was just KS waaaay out in front of me. I think I just fell into I nice steady pace. I guess I figured this would be my finishing position and instead of racing hard for myself, I just ran an easy tempo.

- I was very happy to finish 2nd overall female about the 7 minutes behind KS that I had lost on the swim. All good, I was happy for her and knew that would be the outcome as she is a solid well-rounded triathlete who works hard. While everyone wants to win, I had no illusion that given my current swimming that it would be quite a stretch in an oly. It was a good training day. More than that, it was sort of a triumph to come back to a race after a bad crash and come in with a podium finish.

- I suppose afterwards, I have been a little hard on myself as I just don't feel like I pushed as hard as I could have on the bike and run. While it would not have mattered in my place, I should have raced against the clock for myself.

- I will say this again as I say every year it seems, I really really need to focus more on the swim. I am not concerned so much now as I know the shoulder is not fully healed and it is sort of a little too late for this season but in the off-season, I will make some big changes to my swim training...FOR SURE.

The start of the weekend....

2011-08-10T09:51:00.001-04:00

It has been another whirlwind few days!

Friday evening I headed over to my sister's for a pool party and fortunately, I left to head home at a very reasonable hour.

Saturday morning came early and I hopped in my car and headed over to Edgewater to start my bike at 6:30 AM. The plan was to ride over to Sweetwater Marina in Rocky Rocky River and do an out and back with the Vanuccis & Trisaratops and return to my car by 8:40. I cruised back in 38 miles later which included a bathroom stop and some chatting at the turnaround. It was a perfect morning for riding and was even better because of such fabulous company!

Then I packed up my biking stuff and changed into my running clothes to lend a hand with some friends (Espeed and GP's man) who were short a female runner for their 10K Corporate Challenge Relay team. Always nice to help out a friend but with the oly tri on Sunday, I decided I was going to run a pretty conservative 1 mile leg. So without much time to spare we all got lined up and I was going to be the second person on the relay leg. I thought going in, the team was just picking up participation points. Yet, as our first relay runner came into sight, he had opened up a big lead on the field and I was going to be heading out in first place.

I had my garmin on and I was thinking I would run something like a 7 min mile which would not feel too hard but was not super slow. Yet, with the hand smack I was off and decided to just cruise and ease off if the effort started to feel too hard. I did not want to overload my legs with running too fast and risk making them tired for Sunday. Thankfully, my legs were nice and loose after my bike and before I knew it, I was cruising back into the relay exchange area, still in first. I smacked hands, hit my garmin stop and walked off the course feeling pretty fresh. I was shocked to see the average pace at 5:44....ooops! Oh well, I was not overly concerned as I did not feel labored and my legs felt fresh. So then it was off to rush to the Cleveland Triathlon expo.

I knew getting a shower before it was going to be tight time-wise and there ended up being no time for that as I needed to be set up by 10 am. I did manage to do my third outfit change for the day so at least I was not in sweaty clothes! Then I sat at the expo pitching the Cleveland Triathlon Club. CTC has not had a presence there at the downtown race for awhile now, but it actually seemed to be a really good idea as we signed up several new people and I answered a lot of questions. Always fun to talk the sport! The expo was pretty small but I must say they had a really nice free pasta lunch setup. This was not the normal, toss some already cooked noodles in the water with some generic marina sauce but a really good spread...nice bc this girl was hungry!

I headed out just after 2pm to head home. I had quite a few things to take care of, ate again and then spent the evening chilling on the course watching movies with my Recovery Pump pants on.

Commence Operation Wing It

2011-08-04T16:44:00.000-04:00

So post crash on 6/14 just over 7 weeks ago, the state of the state is as such.

Running and road biking causes me zero issues. I did feel a bit of discomfort back in the shoulder while mtn biking over the weekend. When I say discomfort, it usually means a dull ache that feels like a pinch back there in the meat of my shoulder muscles right on the shoulder blade toward the bottom where it was clearly separated in my xray.

I have still not done pushups or any weight training since and have tried to not overdue the swimming (which has not been hard bc I tend to like to neglect swimming anyways!).

Yet, being I am doing an oly race Sunday, swimming gets a bit more important if you want to be competitive. So I decided this latter part of the week, I would focus a bit more on my swimming to make sure I was comfortable.

So this morning I arrived to Lifetime to hit the pool for a good swim and was feeling highly motivated to really focus on what I was doing (as often my form just goes down the toilet easy!)

WU: 200 Swim, 2x200 (50SW,100Kick, 50SW)
300,200,100 Moderate with 20 RI
200,100,50 Easy with 25 RI
200, 100 Fast (or as fast as Daisy can swim which is not fast!) with 30 RI
then I did 50 easy out of plan bc I like round numbers
6x100 pull with 25 sec RI
100 swim, 100 kick, 100 swim, 100 kick
c/d: 100 easy pull
Total 3000 Meters

All in all, I would have to say it went pretty well. It was my longest swim post crash as usually I put in exactly 2000 and call it a day (or rather have to rush to work).

I felt really good and thought I was doing a nice job with trying to glide a bit more and rotate. When I did the 6x100 pulls, I was definitely working hard...maybe too hard. I started to feel that familiar pinch back in my shoulder on the 3rd and 4th repeat and did the rest of the workout pretty easy.

It still feels a bit pinched albeit not too bad. Hard to know if I am just thinking more about it now than usual or if it is actually bothering me more! I don't know. Yet now I am rethinking swimming any more until Sunday. It is not that swimming a lot the week before a race makes me any faster, I just often find that it gives me confidence and makes me a bit more comfy.

So not sure what to think! I guess I will just wing it Sunday.

As luck would have it, 4 or 5 weeks ago when I was at the Dr. last, I had set up a follow-up appointment with ortho doc for Monday. It will be interesting to actually see what the scapula looks like then!

Cross your fingers for me please!!!!!

Tuesday Bullets

2011-08-02T12:02:00.003-04:00

* Super busy in Daisyland and just hoping everything falls into place. Fingers crossed!

* So the intent was to blog about getting to spectate at Fairport tri. It was lots of fun and it seems so rare that I get to spectate! I snapped lots of fun pics of my friends and had a great time. Then I still had to do my own workout and things were heating up. I was super thankful for my friends that morning as I had conned ET into riding the bike portion of the workout with me and then ESpeed ran with me in the hot humid sunny weather. The run was rough as I had a pace goal and had it not been for E, I am certain I would not have been close or would have bailed early!

Swim and kayak start!

CTC peeps, Roger and Mike out representing!

ESpeed and I out watching!

* The thing about IM training is it seems so hard to ever feel fresh. Tuesday morning I had did a speed workout and then in the evening I pretty much turned myself inside out trying to keep up with the fastest guys out at the Tuesday night 32 mile hilly ride. Then Wednesday I was up at the crack of dawn to put in a 15 mile run before work. This sort of thing seems par for the course! So far that is the plan this week again...no slacking allowed ;-)

*As most my weekends seem centered around whatever I like to do, this past weekend the husband and I decided to take a break from it all and head out to go camping with some friends down at Lake Hope State Park down near Hocking Hills, OH. It was a super fabulous weekend-good food, good friends, swimming, kayaking, hiking, mtn biking and more!

First mtn biking since fractured scap!

At the campsite next door were these two...I wanted to pet them!

Fun times crawling around on the rocks!

We were a little nervous about bats, but anything for a fun photo!

* It was a really nice change of pace but the problem was I was struggling with how I was going to fit in my workouts without a big chunk of weekend to do it in. So I took off Friday to get in a long bike and then just had to run after mtn biking on Saturday. Not perfect to the plan but sometimes you need to give and take!

* This week will be a return to racing season. Yes of course I am excited and NERVOUS! My swimming is subpar and racing an oly will not suit my strengths as proportionately the swim is long relative the other legs but no matter as I am just going to go out and put my best foot forward! I fully support the GCT race out in Mentor this weekend and especially MR and feel bad I am missing that (good luck to all friends racing there) but I'm heading up CTC efforts at the downtown Cleveland race this weekend and will be racing that...so stop by and say hi if you are at expo, race or finishline!!

Cheers!

CTC - REV3 Cedar Point Training Day Recap!

2011-07-27T11:09:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday was the first of two CTC-REV3 Cedar Point Preview Days for 2011.

Strong storms had rolled in late Friday and just before I got home from work, the storm had taken down a tree and all the power lines up the road so we had no power from 5pm until about 4:50am Saturday morning. It had been boiling hot and my house was so hot, I don't think I slept at all Friday night. I just tossed and turned sweating and then went downstairs to try to sleep on the uncomfy couch. No luck. All the windows were open and storms just kept coming through banging loudly and shaking the place. I had planned to get up at 4:40am so I could leave at 5AM to make the 1.5 hr drive out to Sandusky and I went about that getting ready by candlelight until 10 minutes later when the power finally came on! At least that meant I could have some much needed coffee for the drive!

The drive out there had me a bit concerned as it was quite an impressive lightning show and I wondered how many folks would stay away. However upon arrival, I was happy to see it looked as though we were getting a break and got everything set up without any rain. We had a nice little setup of a little bit of everything out there that morning including stuff from Fleet Feet, Muscle Milk, Bike Authority and IDUTRI.

After check in, I went down to the gorgeous beach at Sawmill Creek to get ready for the swim. Today I was lube queen and started getting folks all lubed up with some TRISLIDE!

Then of course, I lubed myself up, tossed on my super awesome TYR Hurricane wetsuit and headed down to the swim clinic put on by Leah Nyikes of Liquid Lifestyles. We went over sighting, the course, entering and exiting the water and of course got in some swimming.

We were fortunate enough to get in the whole clinic except for maybe 5 minutes when the storms again rolled back in and we saw a crack of lightning and it was time to get out of the water.STAT!

I was ferried via golf cart thanks to the awesome staff of Sawmill Creek to my car and headed inside their gorgeous facilities to change. If you are looking for a place to stay for the race, I cannot recommend it highly enough as the place is gorgeous with restaurants on site and the staff really has embraced trying to help us (triathletes) out in any way they could with setting up tables, coolers, opening up the restaurants early, giving us lodging discounts and more.

We had a rain delay which pushed back the bike start by 45 minutes while it dumped some major water and lightning was everywhere! Thankfully that gave my boy, MV, from Bike Authority time to tweak my ride (which was SOOO needed!). Thank you Mike and Bike Authority for coming out!

I had plenty of time to make sure I had my nutrition ready. Of course I was stocked with a couple bottles of First Endurance EFS fruit punch, an aerobottle with water and some First Endurance Liquid Shot!

Finally it was time to ride as it appeared storms were moving out. Everyone grouped up in A, B and C levels based on the speed they wanted to ride and we were off!

We started on wet roads and down an alternate route which was fine and the weather just continued to improve. The dampness kept things cool and the sun finally came out and warmed things up. At least I think it was the sun but part of it could have been the fact that our group all tucked in behind AJ (our new Cleveland Pro who came out to ride and speak for us) when we hit 113 as he took a monster pull and we hung on for dear life. YES, that was SUPER FUN!

I think the group was happy when around mile 42 we stopped in Berlin for the rest stop being staffed by SSSMT-members, Andy and Leah! Huge thanks to you both! Cold water, fig newtons, cookies, sports drink and more!!!

And then again, it was TIME TO RIDE! Most of us headed back to Sawmill Creek to wrap up 60 miles. I had planned to ride 80 miles but the time was going to be too tight (due to rain delay) as I wanted to grab a quick shower before the speakers which started at 2PM.

As a note for those who were interested, I would say the roads are in much better shape than last year. The roads that had fresh chip and seal have all settled and smoothed out quite a bit. Roads were in very good shape. If you are not familiar with the course, it is pretty flat with some small rollers and the only thing that should be noted is you may be dealing with some nice headwind out there!

Post ride, I grabbed some post-workout nutrition and headed into Sawmill to grab a quick shower and most of us ladies were using...you guessed it....TRISWIM samples!!!

The group met up inside the nice air conditioned Big Bear Saloon and listened to the speakers.

Coach Angela Forester offered up a lot of tips and things to think about!

Fleet Feet Cleveland owner, Jody Herzog, explained all about compression and answered a lot of questions about it.

Cleveland's newest pro triathlete, AJ Baucco spoke about his training and things he has learned training on his own and as a part of The Triathlon Squad. Also entertaining was the shared memorable quotes from his Coach, the infamous Paulo Sousa.

It was truly valuable to hear what they all had to say! It was another super awesome training day and I got the opportunity to meet many new people who I will again see on race day, several of them from out of state who had made the journey out! Now I will be looking forward to the next CTC-REV3 Training Day which will be Saturday, August 20!

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!

2011-07-22T15:42:00.004-04:00

So I sit here today having a hard time focusing on work, because I am really looking forward to the weekend!!

My husband is going to be pretty occupied with his own stuff as he is attending a class on one of his hobbies (which he is super excited about) so that leaves me to focus on my own things (not that hanging with him is not fun ;-) . Two other guys also attending the class are staying with us so this required a fair amount of house cleaning this week. Yuck! But it is always nice to have a clean house!

So tonight will be dinner out with the hubby and our company. Then of course I will be packing up my First Endurance, TYR wetsuit, Avia shoes, samples from SBR SPORTS (guess who will be lubing up swimmers with TRISLIDE???) and the rest of my never ending tri-stuff, shower stuff and ctc stuff, etc!! Then tomorrow will be a bright and early wake up call to head up to Sandusky for the CTC - REV 3 Cedar Point Training Day. Last year these easily ranked as some of my favorite training days of the year for so many reasons-

1. Preparation on the course: I felt so prepared on race day knowing where false flats were, where I was, what the roads were like and it was just a great confidence boost. It is so nice to do a key race and you have an opportunity to get out on the course ahead of time.

2. The people: Lots and lots of friends, other REV3 CP racers and other triathletes that just want to get in a quality training day. It made race day even better to see so many familiar faces. Each of the training days last year were easily in excess of 100 people so everyone had people to ride with at a variety of levels.

3. Lessons learned: It was great to share stories from others that had went the 140.6 distance. Angela Forester, an esteemed area coach and triathlete spoke last year and is returning this year who offered phenomenal tips. I am also very excited that Pro Triathlete, AJ Baucco will be speaking about how his training has changed over the years and training with power. Another huge powerhouse to the lineup is Leah Nyikes with Liquid Lifestyles who will be putting on an open water swim clinic for anyone who is interested. Hands down I can say, when you get the chance to learn from Leah, you should definitely take advantage of it as she is awesome!

There are a million other reasons why I love these days. As Cleveland Triathlon Club is such a big part in my world, these training days do a nice job of showcasing what the club prides itself on, which is offering area triathletes training opportunities, promoting local races, getting triathletes out there doing what they enjoy and having a sense of community. AND also near and dear to my heart is REV3 through my relationship with the REV3 / Trakkers team. I totally love the idea of getting people excited about REV3 and hope that the Cedar Point Race Venue will be around for a long time!

Recap on Saturday will be forthcoming....

Then I will rush home for a cookout at my place Saturday evening.

Sunday's training plan calls for a 35/40 mile bike and then 6 m run at medium pace. As I might have mentioned, I am a people person so I was scratching my head trying to figure out who I could do this workout with and after lunch with my friend, ET, I found a taker. So the plan is we are going to hang out at the Fairport Harbor Tri which is a sprint that starts at 8. I will cheer and hang out (which it seems I so rarely get the chance to do) and then commence workout. I will at least have company for the bike! I had thought about racing Fairport, but for now I just want to focus on high quality workouts and the sprint is not exactly what I need. I am guessing I will have time to kill when I am done before the husband gets home so I might just bring my bikini and hit the beach!

GONNA BE AN AWESOME WEEKEND!

I hate being "that guy"

2011-07-20T10:14:00.007-04:00

I hate being rushed. I hate being the one that shows up to a group training session at the last minute or being unprepared.

Last night it was me.

I had got off work with plenty of time to spare and I was excited to head out to Chagrin Falls to do the normal Tuesday night ride. I left downtown Cleveland at 5 and had made it out to Chagrin Falls at 5:45, with plenty of advance to the 6:30 start time. So I hit the grocery store to buy a pack of buns, something cold to drink and change my clothes and then headed over to the parking lot at about 6. I cleaned the trash out of my car and walked over to Starbucks to hit the restroom and braid my pigtails.

About 6:15 or so I started pulling out my helmet and shoes and the bike, which should've been all set to go. But of course that would be too easy!

Flat rear tire. CRAP! So I go into rush mode. I am doing my very utmost to change this stupid tire which I HATE doing and really probably have rarely did it by myself.

BUT, everyone should be proud, I got it all changed ALL BY MYSELF pretty quickly but now I am just dripping sweat everywhere, covered with grease and already stressed out.

I did not have time to fill my bottles properly as I had planned (and it was crazy hot) but it was time to go.

Just as the large group was ready to roll, I went to pedal only to realize my chain was not put on the front ring. so I had to stop and fix that. Holy crap I was crazy covered in grease. Ughhh!

The group went out and caught the light right away and several of us missed it. You know those stupid lights take 4EVER when you are in a hurry and by the time we finally got the green, the group was long gone.

I led out straight up the hill for a ways. Near the top another rider took over the front but now I was tired after the ascent at the start and those 3 were on a mission to catch up and I needed a minute to recover. I felt like the air was thick and my asthma was right on the edge. Yet, I did not have a minute to catch my breath and got dropped.

Discouraged, I sulked and pedaled up the road. I was trying to figure out what my problem was. Have I just lost it with the injury setback? Clearly circumstances to start this ride were just not ideal.

I knew my husband was pedaling from home out to Chagrin Falls so I just called him and diverted course to meet him. Upon seeing him, I settled down and started to again enjoy the ride which was when I realized my front brake was rubbing. So I stopped to fix it. As I got going again I still heard rubbing so I stopped again and realized my rear brakes were really rubbing and waaay out of alignment. Perhaps this had something to do with the rough start to the night and not being able to keep up.

Anyways, I guess it worked out ok in the end (although I was still mad at myself) as I got home earlier than usual and had an easier night, which probably made this morning's early 12 mile run a little bit better.

So on the plus side-
+ Good tiring changing practice and pretty successfully fast for this girl
+ Good 12 mile run this morning

Let's just forget those negatives and perhaps keep in mind in the future to-
* air down tires when the bike is going to bake in a hot car forever
* take the time to check the brake positioning (and give it a good once over) before riding
* always nice to save a few minutes to cruise around parking lot before getting going on a group ride to make sure everything is working as it should.

Hopefully I will not be "that guy" again for awhile!

Getting the job done

2011-07-18T16:28:00.001-04:00

Sitting here in a pretty good mood for a Monday.

Coming off another fun sunny warm weekend in Cleveland which is what I live for!

The weekend was a nice mix of family and friends, sister's pool, rolling around on the scooter and of course squeezing in some workouts.

Since last post, I got in the 10 miles at lunch Friday (as planned) which was supposed to be done at an easy pace of 8:45-8:50 (ended up 8:34 avg). I had went out by myself which is not my preference and I knew I could have joined my lunch time group but I knew I would likely end up running way too fast so I opted for the solo run with my DJScene podcast! I actually enjoyed having a nice easy run along Lake Erie.

Saturday I planned to get in a 30/4 brick. I knew sis and her friend were meeting out by Hiram to run on the Headwater's trail at 8:30 so I planned a route to end there, so I could wrap up with them. I left out by myself at 7AM and rode 700N to Gville, 88 to lover's lane to 14 to 44 in ravenna, then up 44 to mantua, then 82e to Hiram and back down 700 to the start to finish just over 30 miles by myself. I kept a steady pace and while I never prefer to do my workouts solo, it was nice to just feel very focused on doing what I needed. Then I changed into my shoes and pulled on my headphones and started running along. Wrapped up my 4 miles with a 7:13 avg pace which was a little fast (target was 7:32). Then I backtracked a bit to finish up the last mile ez with sis and AP.

Sunday I headed out with the Cleveland Touring Club for their 77 mile Ravenna Arsenal ride. My schedule had an 80 miler on tap so I figured this would work well. The ride started in Burton and I left from my house to ride the 8.5 miles to the start. I hate when I don't give myself plenty of time and then feel like I have to hammer to get to the start on time which of course included the steep climb up Huff. I did make it in time and there was a decent turnout including 7 others that maintained a decent clip for the most part. So it made the ride very enjoyable as it circled through all my old stomping grounds that I know very well. I am beginning to feel my biking legs coming back. Too bad my seat area still seemed a bit aggravated which was likely due to not lubing up on Saturday and then adding insult to injury on Sunday. Oh well, if that is the least of my issues, I am not complaining!

I already nailed the key run for this week's training schedule this morning which was 3x1.5 mi at tempo. So check that one off the list and onto the next one! Looks like a warm week on tap but thankfully at least I do most of my workouts in the morning!

Super excited for the REV3 Cedar Point Preview Day coming up this Saturday!!!!

Back to the regularly schedule program

2011-07-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

This week I have jumped back into the training program at week 9. Back to figuring out how I will fit it all in and having to make sacrifices to make it all happen.

Monday was a nice easy day after all the biking over the weekend. I slept in and worked through the day before heading out for some hiking with the husband in the evening. We went over to Nelson Ledges which is only 3 miles or so from my house. I have wanted to go there forever now but just never had made it there. It was gorgeous and a lot of fun to check out. Nelson Ledges is known for its spectacular rock formations and sandstone cliff formations and the scenery did not disappoint!

Tuesday was back to the grind and my 4 week mark post crash. I did my interval run speed workout for a total of 6 miles and then I did my first swim since I crashed. I just swam a nice easy 1000 m outside in the gorgeous lifetime pool. It was nice to not have any pressure to go fast and just to be thankful I was swimming. It seemed to go fine and was not aggravating my shoulder. That evening I went out to ride the with Cleveland Touring Club Tavern Ride.

It was quite enjoyable to be back and many were surprised to see me back so soon. I did feel rather flat on that ride as though I was working harder than I wanted to stay with the folks I usually rode with. I am not sure if it was the 149 miles over the weekend, the tough interval run in the morning, that I am not back or if it has to do with my intake (more on that later). Regardless, I pushed through the 30 miles and was glad when I was done as I was tired.

Wednesday, got up to run my 10-12 mile run and after 7 miles, I decided I was done. Thursday, I hopped in to pool for a nice swim. It felt awesome. I just swam a nice easy 2200 meters, feeling rather refreshed when I was done. Friday am, I did my focus bike on the computrainer which had me sweating bullets and I am beginning to think the computrainer is a torture tool but they say it makes you stronger. Planning to get in those 10 miles from the other day at lunch today.

All I know is that I am guessing that this weekend might seem tough as I got two pretty hard days on tap but the plan is to get them done. No one said coming back was easy. I am trying to take it in stride and put in the work now and know it will come. I would be lying to say I did not feel a bit behind where I was before I crashed. I really had wanted to race Milton Man tri next weekend but I think the smart thing would be to focus on my training for now and hold off racing a little longer until I feel more confident that I can race to my ability better.

The other thing is the husband has become very focused this week on nutrition and we have been eating much healthier. He has been pretty closely following the Paleo/Primal 'diet' and has been much more active and already results are a bit amazing but I suppose when you get active and clean up your diet, it is bound to have a noticeable effect. I have been sort of loose with it but have really enjoyed getting in more fruits and vegetables and have not had much in the way of bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc which is different. Thankfully, the many Amish produce stands out by us are really coming into all of the produce so it is really easy to get lots of fresh stuff easy right now. My husband's mom also is letting us use her Vitamix blender so we have been making up some really good stuff in that like our Peaches and Ice dessert thing last night-YUM! I have already dropped off weight this week which is likely due in part to this and in part to the increased exercise volume. Now to make sure the intake is sufficient to keep me fueled on workouts and not leading to me feeling flat during them. To be continued...

Game on!

2011-07-11T14:15:00.010-04:00

Tomorrow will mark the 4 week anniversary to my crash.

Today I returned to the doctor. It was kinda of comical in my opinion. The radiologist remembered me and asked if I was the one that had the bike crash, right? She said they had not really seen the broken scapula from a bike crash before and went on to ask about if I had seen my Xray. Guess I made an impression with that last one!

Then I went upstairs to see my ortho doc, Mr. Susan Joy with the Cleveland Clinic who I had picked when I broke my radius last year (mtb crash at Ray's MTB). She has been great if anyone ever is looking for someone to go to as she specializes in women's sports injuries.

She had a couple other people shadowing her and pulled up my Xrays and asked what I had been doing activity wise. I mentioned I was biking indoors, running and I could not take it anymore and rode my bike outside this weekend (I left out the fact that it was 149 miles of riding...more on that later).

I was shocked that my xray really did not look that different than before. It was still very visibly apart on today's Xray but you could see some light shadowing where it must be healing. They felt my shoulder blades and clearly you can still feel that the left had a bone still sticking out a bit. Then she put me through some tests: both arms out, push my hands up as she held them down and similar other ones to see where I was at. Those got a few comments like, "Wow, amazing", "Unbelievable," and "You're tough!".

She said obviously I was healing fast and that I could resume activities but of course told to listen to my body and probably would want to hold off weights and be careful with yoga type stuff like planks as that would load the area too much.

She also said I could start swimming again and in fact it would probably be good for it. They also gave me exercises to use with a band to build those muscles around the scapula area. Follow-up in 4-6 weeks to make sure healed properly.

So pretty good news there! I was already thinking swimming was in the near future after playing around at my friend's place (pictured) below where I had taken some strokes without difficulty on Saturday.

So back to the biking...I RODE MY BIKE OUTSIDE THIS WEEKEND!!! (Picture me doing cartwheels about that). I had planned to wait until after today's Dr. visit but I could not wait any longer.

The plan was to do a test ride by myself to make sure I could ride with a group over the weekend. It was not much of one as the storm decided to blow in right as I was clipping in but I decided I figured that I was ready!

Some local Bike Authority Fleet Feet teammates were all riding early Saturday and I really wanted to ride with my ole riding buddies so that was the plan. Yes, this ride would be one of those "straight into the frying pan" days, being it was my first ride back and most of these people were in peak cycle but I did not care. I just wanted to go!

I met ST out in Mantua just before 5AM. I hooked up my lights but it was a bit darker (or shall I say, pretty much pitch black) when we started. To be honest, it was slightly nerve-wracking not being able to clearly see the road, hoping to avoid any issues. In the end it was fine, fresh pavement on 82 led to a nice smooth ride out to meet the rest of the gang. Then the 5 of us made our way out towards Brunswick where ST and ES really started their hammerfest. I hung on with some effort, so I was pleased that perhaps I did not lose too much over my little hiatus. Over the course of the day, I mainly hung back trying to make sure I did not overdue it and was just content to get the miles in. ST and I peeled off so we could make the way back to Mantua and before 9:30 am, we had rode 78 miles! It was GOOD TO BE BACK!

My legs definitely felt a bit tired and heck I was tired from waking up at 4AM in the morning to ride that day but after a rather late Saturday, I was determined to ride again on Sunday with the Cleveland Touring Club. The plan was 75 miles of hills but at a relatively conservative pace. I really thought my alarm clock was playing a mean joke on me when I awoke, but I wearily got up and dragged my heavy sore legs down the stairs to head out for more biking fun!

A few definitely seemed shocked to see me there so soon. We rode out of Mentor Memorial Middle School and I think we rode every single nasty hill around the greater Kirtland area. It was a great morning to ride and I got to ride a lot of hills I have never rode, along with quite a few other hills I remembered altogether too well as they had left an impression on me before! I really had no zip but I pushed through the miles, taking care not to overdue it and just trying to get in the miles. As we made a stop at N Chagrin nature center where I was gulping down my favorite, First Endurance Fruit Punch EFS, I learned the route was 86 miles, not the 75 miles I thought. So in the interest if time, GG and I split from the group and made our way back. I wrapped up with 71 miles Sunday for my grand weekend total of 149 miles. Not too shabby for my first outdoor biking weekend back!

I really need to get my garmin plugged in to see Sunday's elevation profile! The biking did not bother my scapula to speak of, so that is good! Now I just need to get back to full strength as I do feel a bit behind with the intensity of the workouts, but I'm trying to get my base back safely first and most importantly not overdue it. Super stoked about all the progress! I think to mark my official 4 week anniversary, I will have to head out with the Tuesday night group tomorrow night!

Last but not least, congratulations to all my Trakkers teammates on REV3 Portland finishes! Sounded like an awesome race!

TGIF!!!

2011-07-08T10:34:00.001-04:00

A short week still goes by to slow!

I am so excited for the weekend! I am totally going to have to ride the bicycle outdoors this weekend. I cannot take it any longer! I went for a short test ride and I think things should be ok. I am planning to ride with some BAFF friends tomorrow so that should give me a good gauge as to where I am. Time to again break out the First Endurance and get in some good seat time!!!

My running form seems back. I was short on time this morning but decided to do my tempo run with a very short warmup and cooldown and put in the 3mi at 6:58 pace without much difficulty. I have been running completely normal this week and my arm swings just as it always had :-) I have also been ramping up easy base running miles a lot. Happy to say with the easy miles and quite a few of them on soft surfaces, the build has also went well.

This weekend looks to be a quiet one which is fine by me after the whirlwind last weekend.

My garmin 305 arrived yesterday which brought on the happy dance! How do people live without these things?!

In other news, the Cleveland Triathlon Club in conjunction with REV3 Tri rolled out the REV3 Cedar Point Preview Dates in case anyone is interested. These were a HUGE hit last year bringing out over 100 people at each and were a fabulous way to familiarize yourself with the course and also fun in that you meet many others that you will see again on race day. I am also pretty excited about the speakers which include a very popular local coach and accomplished athlete, Angela Forester and local triathlete, AJ Baucco who recently went pro and got picked up my a new team! So mark your calendars for Saturday 7/23 and Saturday 8/20 and check out all the latest information here!

2 Tired Today to Think of anything clever

2011-07-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

This morning I slept in instead of waking up early to workout. I was SLEEPY and decided I deserved to stay in bed longer and so I did and it was nice!

As I noted last week, my consistency in workouts has been pretty good.

M: 18 mile bike, 5 mile run
T: 3 mile run
W: 20 mile bike, 4 mile run
R: 6.5 mile Run
F: 30 mile bike
S: 13.3 mile run
S: 6.2 mile run, 28 mile bike
Week Totals: 96 miles biked, 38 miles ran
Notes: Pretty significant bounce back to training after not doing much the first 9 days after I crashed. No swimming which means my legs are getting some serious mileage. All runs were easy except Thursday.

This week has started off a little slow on the biking front, but I will work on that the latter part of this week.
M: 8.3 mile run
T: 8.1 mile run
W: 8.5 mile run

My legs were feeling quite tired today and I almost gave myself an easy day, but when I got a window to get out at lunch time to get in some miles, I seized the opportunity to get it in with the downtown boys. I paid for that a bit as I just felt hot, tired, borderline asthma and just was not really feeling the pace even though I doubt it was all that aggressive. Perhaps tomorrow will need to be an easier day!

Oh I cannot wait for my new Garmin 305 to arrive this week. I hate training without it and have missed it so!!!

The one good thing about being able to swim is getting in exercise without giving your legs a beating...that is lacking at the moment!

It was amazing over the course of the past week how much strength has returned to my left arm. Last weekend, sitting on the computrainer and moving around was awkward but felt good to go this past weekend. DYING to get back outside on the bike with all this gorgeous weather!!! I have a follow-up appointment Monday 7/11 with more Xrays. Question is can I wait until after that to ride outside? I was thinking about an easy test ride tonight with the husband to see how it felt. Hard not to be outside riding as I am oh-so-inspired with watching the tour!!!

Way to go Cadel yesterday....! Love watching the American teams do well (even if Cadel is Australian, he is totally kewl by me and even shares my maiden last name!!!)

Oh and I rode my motorcycle for the first time post crash on Monday. It felt ok but turns and stops could have felt better. Thinking I will give it a little more time before riding motorcycle far or much.

Ok, back to work for me!

Fast Friday Thoughts

2011-07-01T10:34:00.001-04:00

* Why do pre-holiday weeks seem to to drag on even more slowly than normal? I am literally the only person in the office today!

* My garmin 305 was also a casualty of my bike crash. How do people live without them? I ordered a new one today! THANK GOODNESS!

* The garmin ordering was compliments of the insurance check I got from Aflac. That accident policy paid off. Funny, I never had given it much thought but I am actually really thankful that my boss had got it set up for us. There was a waiting period on the policy and mine went into effect 6/1/11. I crashed 6/14. I guess the timing could've been worse!

* Arm movement is returning more everyday and the shoulder hurts less and less. Ribs still ache. Running motion is becoming more and more natural which leads me to...

* Yesterday I went out at lunch to run with the Cleveland lunch run guys. They were doing tempo. I did not run with the fastest ones but ran with another guy at I'm guessing was a respectable pace (SO WISHED I HAD MY BELOVED GARMIN). It was probably the first time I ran sub 8:30 since I got hurt. Actually it felt very good, albeit a harder effort. Sort of felt like a breakthrough confidence run and I was incredibly pleased with it...actually it made my day! (Yesterday also seemed like a good day as I have a few other irons in the fire that I am crossing my fingers on and feeling slightly optimistic about...more on that if one of them actually pan out!)

* My training efforts and consistency this week have been pretty good and I have been actually doing well dragging my butt out of bed early.
M: 50 min bike, 5 mile run
T: 3 mile run followed by some squats and lunges (easy day)
W: 60 min bike, 4 mile run
R: 6.5 mile run
F: 90 min bike

* I got the worst blisters on my feet from my shoes yesterday. :-( SO NOT COOL. I know they say not to pop them but I just cannot walk on those water bubbles so I did it anyways!

* Super stoked for the long weekend. Yeah I might be more excited if I could ride bicycles outside but I will get in a couple longer runs and a solid computrainer workout or 2! Tonight will rock with dinner at our favorite Mexican joint with ESpeed and SSquirrel and the men before we go see Transformers! Oh and I will be hitting sisters pool and lots of parties..of course!!! BRING IT ON!

Things are looking up!

2011-06-27T11:28:00.000-04:00

Monday, Day 13, post bike crash.

I am excited to report, I am doing more by the day.

The plan had been to ride the computrainer Friday but apparently I needed an adapter to plug it into my HP laptop so that went on hold temporarily.

I decided I would try a very easy treadmill run Friday. Hopped on with my left arm tucked into my chest, elbow tight to the side and cranked out 5 miles at 6.5 on the treadmill. It was a bit awkward without moving the left arm but not bad and did not feel as though it was causing any extra discomfort to the shoulder. Just no moving arm!

So, with the confidence run Friday, I met some of my old school friends to run Saturday morning on the Headwaters Trail out in Garrettsville. It was a perfect morning for running and a nice very relaxed pace. I felt fabulous and was sooo happy to be back outside running easy with friends. 8.5 miles clicked by very effortlessly, even without moving the arm.

Sunday, I had got the Computrainer set up on my work, Dell notebook as it can use the chord I had. I hopped on for a 15 min w/u and calibarated and proceeded to do Coach's sweet spot workout. Wow, training with power requires focus and a lot of effort! With sweat burning my eyes, I successfully completed the workout! I cannot imagine how tough this workout is supposed to build to, but thankfully Coach G took pity on me and did not start me out with the full thing!

This morning, Monday, I decided I was ready to go back to the gym. I hit the 6AM performance cycling. This proved to be a very good workout, although I took a pass whenever they said to get out of the saddle for now. Then I hopped on the treadmill for another one arm easy 5 miles.

I now have my right arm unbandaged and just two extra large wound coverings on my left hand and elbow where the deepest of road rash is. Soon it should be pretty good to go. I seem to be progressing quicker than I expected and get more range of motion by the day.

I get happy about the little things, like now I can open doors with my left hand. Today I could hold the blow dryer in my left hand. Soon maybe I will be able to get my left arm high enough to actually pool up my ponytail like a normal person!

Things that hurt the most include: sneezing, coughing, laughing hard and reaching up to hit my car horn with my left arm without thinking about it which I have done twice now (stupid bad rush hour drivers!).

Looking forward to seeing what else this week brings.

PS, I think my husband is excited about my progress too because towards then end of last week I started doing dishes again and even managed some laundry yesterday! I can't say I even minded that as I just am happy to be getting back to normal!

The return to normalcy...sort of!

2011-06-23T14:44:00.004-04:00

So Monday, Day 6 post accident, I returned to work.

Arm in a sling, bandages on my chin and elbow and arms wrapped from my hands to my elbows seems to garner a lot of attention walking around Cleveland. Never am sure what they are thinking besides probably, "What the heck happened to her?". Many have asked and made comments, all very curious by nature. Seems there are no shortage of people with bicycle crash stories! :-) Other sketchier people have left me a little uneasy and wondering if they want to rob a hurt girl of some painkillers.

All in all I am getting along so much better already.

The plan was to go hiking on Monday, Day 6, but that got delayed due to storms in the area so we went Tuesday, Day 7, instead. Hiking and walking was not an issue but the lack of bug spray sure was! I had quarter size welts all over my body from them evil bloodsucking flies! Worst thing was if they got me on the right side, I could not really move my left arm to smack them. Ouchies! While I wanted to go longer, between time constraints and the bites we called it a night after 2 miles. Bug spray for now on!

Me in the cave at West Woods!

The awesome thing was it was the first time I had visited West Woods out in Newbury. It has really gorgeous scenic trails and I am looking forward to going back and seeing the rest of them. Might get some new ideas for training events for the tri club as I check out some of these new trails while I heal.

Oh and the bonus is I have been trying to get the husband to do some hiking/walks with me forever now and I think we may actually start to do this on a regular basis!

Today, Day 9- My road rash has healed considerably. I have been keeping the wounds covered with gauze and with bacetracin or neosporin to keep them moist. They are filling in fast and not scabbing really at all to speak of. Definitely going through a lot of products but truly believe in the value of treating the wounds in this fashion. I think over the weekend my right arm will really not need much at all but the left will continue to need a little TLC because the wounds were deeper, but they can't be too far behind. Progress.

I had been hesitant to get super sweaty with the wounds but showers have become less painful and today I decided it was time! :-)

The bike had not got picked up yet so I hopped onto the treadmill at home. Figured I would start with 30 minutes. I was gonna jog but wanted to play it safe Day 1 so I commenced to crank my incline as high as it would go and walk at 4.0. I would walk until my calves were on fire and then either ease the pace or lower the incline for a minute. Did 2 miles in the 30 minutes. I was shocked with just how sweaty I was and how hard I felt like I was working. Either this is a great alternate training method or I got out of shape fast! Felt good and more like me covered in sweat! I plan to continue upping the effort and time on the treadmill taking caution to listen to my body.

While I would really prefer to hit the gym, I figure home is best as their are less germs for my wounds and then hubby can wrap me back up.

The highlight at the moment is that super awesome guy, DM, brought over his computrainer for me to borrow while I heal and am not able to hit the road. AND today at lunch I picked up my bike which is now all good to go thanks to MV and Bike Authority with a new fork, headset and wheel!

The Dr. called after speaking with shoulder specialist to confirm the prognosis of no surgery, light range of motion activities and STATIONARY CYCLING IS GOOD TO GO! I cannot wait to get home and get my bike setup. So thankful to be able to ease back into things!

The skinny from the MD's

2011-06-20T15:55:00.002-04:00

Had plenty of xrays at at Geauga and Metro.

FINDINGS:
The left humerus is intact, and the left humeral head is situated within the glenoid fossa.

There is a displaced fracture in the lower scapular body, adjacent to the inferior angle of the scapula. The upper scapula is normal in appearance, including the acromion , glenoid and coracoid process.
The distal clavicle is intact, as are the visualized left upper ribs.

Follow-up visit included you guessed it...more xrays! Everything looks about the same. issue is at the bottom of left shoulder blade. said i could bike on stationary bike and trainer now. advised waiting to run. hmmm... we will see how long i can wait! perhaps late next week we can do a test and be careful to not move left arm and see if it bothers me. no need to tisk, tisk as i will be careful not to push it and delay the healing process.

followup visit in 3 weeks. apparently my shoulder muscles and other stuff back there should push it all back together and it will heal on its own. use arm sling to mobilize.

so guess we will start biking soon. trying to let some of my open wounds heal before getting them super sweaty plus re-bandaging them myself is hard. hike night with hubby later!

on the mend

2011-06-20T10:42:00.009-04:00

we will go with lowercase letters today as i still dont feel like bothering with punctuation with my one hand typing.

yesterday was day 5 of no workouts. picture me stomping feet starting to go stir-crazy. but there are little victories everyday. this morning with the string trick from my facebook friends' suggestion i finally got my wedding ring off. so thankful for that as my hands have been so swollen and it concerned me a lot. the ring also has some road rash.

today i also made the drive into work all by myself which was no small feat with one sorta ok arm, a 40 mile one way commute, a gas tank filling and a long walk to the office carrying a heavy back pack over one shoulder with my laptop. bumps suck and have i mentioned how much i despise potholes.

potholes are my nemesis. they ruined st patty's day with my car breakdown in the ghetto and now this!

other random thoughts-

my watch broke so i am gonna treat myself to a new one. i was due anyways.

my garmin 305 which was on the bike is mia :-( so guess it went sailing into somewhere unknown. we went back last night to the sight to check, but no dice. guess i will be shopping amazon.

mv from bike authority and my good friend cv made the long drive across town to visit yday. of course i was happy to see them and they even brought me some kick arse beer (an ipa of couse) but even better, mike looked over my bike and it appears damage is somehow limited to only the front wheel....oh and now the front fork....so thankful for that! so hopefully i will have that bike set up on a stationary trainer before weeks end.

tonight i think i got the husband conned into walking / hiking with me. must do something!

so i know everyone wants to see pics so here goes.....

The pothole

Poor bike

The wheel that has seen better days!

"Anyone got some painkillers?"

Someone spilled some jello on their chin!

the security guard brought me a friend named gingerbear :-)

gingerbear got to ride in second ambulance ride with me!

one sore hand with wedding ring that wont budge

the "good" hand

boo boo bear!

IF YOU'RE GONNA BE DUMB YOU BETTER BE TOUGH...

2011-06-17T16:19:00.003-04:00

PECKING HERE WITH MY ONE SORT OF GOOD ARM....

FORGIVE CAPS. PUNCTUATION WITH ONE ARM PECKING IS A PIA.

SO AFTER MY LOVELY 12 MILE RUN TUESDAY MORNING AND A LONG DAY OF WORK, IT WAS TIME TO GO RIDE BICYCLES WITH MY NORMAL TUESDAY NIGHT TOURING CLUB FRIENDS.

PLAN WAS AN EASIER PACED RIDE AFTER MANY OF US DID 100M ON SUNDAY. YET WE GOT GOING WITH A PRETTY QUICK PACE. BEFORE LONG, MAYBE 7 MILES OR SO INTO THE RIDE, 3 OF US WERE OFF IN THE FRONT GROUP BY A BIT AND WERE FLYING DOWN A HILL ON A ROAD WE RIDE ALMOST EVERY WEEK DOING ABOUT 40MPH.

THE ROAD WAS SHADED AND AS SOON AS WE SAW THE POTHOLE MYSELF AND THE GUY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME NAILED IT. THIS NEW GIANT CRATER HAD TO BE A NEW ONE. POTHOLE 1, JANET 0. TIME NOW AROUND 7PM.

WHEEL DISINTEGRATED INTO PIECES.

I THINK UPON IMPACT I WENT DIRECTLY OVER BARS WHILE HOLDING ONTO THEM, AEROBARS DUG INTO ROAD AND I PROCEEDED TO SMACK HELMET, CHIN, HANDS, ARMS INCL ELBOWS AND SHOULDER. OUCHIES IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. EMS WAS CALLED. BOTH MYSELF AND OTHER RIDER HAD PLENTY OF VISIBLE TRAUMA. I WAS DIZZY, ASTHMA KICKING IN A COULDNT MOVE LEFT ARM AT ALL.

2 SQUADS ARRIVED AND WAS TRANSPORTED TO GEAUGA W FULL BOARD, C COLLAR AND STARTED ON IV AND MORPHINE. ARRIVED TO HOSPITAL AND STARTED ON DILAUDID. SO MUCH PAIN. REALLY DID NOT NOTICE PAIN MEDS MAKING ME FEEL BETTER OR FUNNY EXCEPT FOR THE SWEAT I COULD FEEL ON MY LEGS WHEN THEY PUSHED IT IN.

XRAYS, CAT SCAN, WOUND CLEANING = TORTURE, TORTURE AND MORE TORTURE DESPITE THEIR BEST EFFORTS.

ALL STAFF WAS GREAT ESP JOEY'S UNCLE WHO WORKS SECURITY WHO ARRANGED FOR VIP TREATMENT FOR MYSELF AND MY SISTERS TWINS WHO CAME IN W MY FOLKS AS SIS IS ON VK. THEY DREW AUNT JANET PICTURES, ATE POPSCICLES TALKING ABOUT THE JELLO ON CRAZY AUNT JANETS CHIN.

INITIAL FINDING OF CONCERN, FRACTURED SCAPULA. NOT SOMETHING NORMALLY BROKE WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT FORCE AND TRAUMA. DR WAS CONCERNED AS THEY COULDNT GET A GOOD LOOK AND WANTED TO ENSURE THERE WAS NOT FURTHER DAMAGE OR INTERNAL BLEEDING, SO THEY HAD ME TRANSPORTED VIA EMS TO LEVEL 1 TRAUMA HOSPITAL, METRO JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. PRIOR TO SENDING, HAD ALL MY ROAD RASH CLEANED WHICH EQUALED NO FUN.

LONG AMBULANCE RIDE THERE WAS NICE, MORE PAINKILLERS AND JUST CHATTED WITH EMS GUY. I WAS HAPPY NO ONE WAS MOVING ME AROUND.

UPON ARRIVAL TO METRO, IT WAS MORE XRAYS, CAT SCAN, MOVING AND OUCHIES. AFTER A BUNCH OF THAT, I HAD A LITTLE DOWNTIME WHILE RESULTS CAME IN WHICH LIKELY TOOK SOME TIME WITH ALL THE OTHER ACTION GOING ON THERE LIKE GUN SHOT WOUNDS ETC.

FINALLY BANDAGED UP AND RELEASED ABOUT 6AM WED. NO INTERNAL BLEEDING OR OTHER FINDINGS. FRACTURED SCAPULA, BRUISED RIBS AND LOTS OF ROAD RASH.

LOTS MORE IM THINKING BUT GETTING TIRED OF PECKING BUT IN SUM-

-THINGS HAPPEN, SO GOES LIFE! U CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST TO SCAN AHEAD WHEN RIDING.
-PEOPLE ARE THE BEST AND THE SUPPORT THESE FIRST FEW DAYS HAS MEANT A LOT
-I'D BE LYING TO SAY I'M NOT INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTED BUT...
-I CANT WAIT TO GET BACK TO IT AND IM SURE I WILL BE IN NO TIME
-WATER BOTTLES ARE A PIA TO OPEN W ONE ARM

Tuesday Tidbits-SIJ

2011-06-14T15:14:00.006-04:00

What a super awesome weekend! Why must they go by so fast?

Friday, hit a Cleveland Tri Club social. I always really enjoy getting out and meeting new members and those just getting started in the sport and even better when that is done over a good beer! Great night!

Saturday morning, I woke up early to head out to Edgewater beach for the tri club's Cleveland Triathlon Clinic. It was a practice tri where everyone would walk through everything which was perfect for newbies and ran by our Club's Newbies Coordinator and USAT Coach, Tim Edwards. I was able to get in a nice open water swim and to my surprise, Lake Erie water temp felt pretty comfortable in my sweet TYR wetsuit and the water was clean and calm! Then I headed out to get some running miles before the picnic. Grubbed and gabbed at picnic before heading out to a friends' place for the afternoon for more grubbing and gabbing. Returned home soaking wet after getting caught in a heavy downpour and storm on our motorcycles en route home. We hit the hay early after a busy day!

Sunday, I awoke and made the short drive to Burton to start the Cleveland Touring Club's Sunday in June Ride! When my alarm went off bright and early Sunday morning. I rolled over and smiled at my husband and said, "It's gonna be a good day!" I knew he was excited to go motorcycle riding and I was excited to ride my bicycle. I was even more excited because it was a tour and not a race which meant no pressure.

I had pretty much everything packed up and was off to meet friends just up the road in Burton for the Sunday in June Ride. Several years ago I helped Co-Direct this event and it was a daunting undertaking. Huge props to the Co-Directors the last couple years who have done a terrific job! I ride a fair amount with this group and they have all levels of abilities and offer a lot of group riding opportunities out in the eastside Cleveland area. Just the past Tuesday, on the Tavern Ride there must've been nearly 35 people and 12 that started with the A group that maintained an average pace over 20 on a very hilly 31 mile route...so some decent riders for sure and some really nice people!

A group of friends met up who were planning to ride the 100 mile century and around 7:45 AM we pushed off. It was straight downhill into a cloudy mist, almost like riding into an air conditioner. Yikes I was cold but hoped it would warm up and the sun would come out. Turns out, I wished for that all 103 miles and was cold for almost all of it! I even had arm warmers in my car that I had left there! Figures!

As we made the initial descent, somehow we managed to lose most the tri club group which stuck together. I rode with my friends, GG, JC and ET. JC has made tremendous gains on the bike and it was nice to see how much stronger he looked this year. Myself and ET, my spunky female sidekick oftentimes these days, took turns "busting balls" and having a lot of laughs as the norm. Miles clicked effortlessly by and 25 short miles later we pulled into Century Village after the STEEP HILL into Burton. I sipped on my First Endurance EFS, grabbed a cookie, hit the ladies room and we were back off for another 38 mile loop up to Burton. We fell into a group of many of my Touring Club Tuesday night riding buds and we kept a good pace without too much effort. We did witness one crash which serves always to be cognizant on the roads of your actions. One brain fart can cost ya...lord knows I have had my share!

We rolled into the next aid station up at Big Creek Park in Chardon and cookie monster (that would be daisy) grabbed another cookie. Fueled with cookies and EFS, I was ready to roll!

The course is pretty much very quiet rolling roads through the Amish countryside. In sum for the 103 miles I rode, it was ~4500 ft of climbing, so nothing too crazy but certainly not flat. These are all the roads I have rode a million times out in my neck of the woods and the route passed almost by my house twice.

On the return trip to Burton from Chardon we picked up the Maple Highlands Trail for awhile which was very scenic! As we pulled back into Century Village again for another stop, lunch had started to be served. I almost died laughing when sidekick ET seriously thought we were going to eat the pasta lunch then. She was not thrilled when she realized I was gonna make her ride 1 more 39 mile loop before lunch!

One final loop was left which included some hills in Hiram. We were joined with another rider, MK, who pulled us along for a bit after the last Overlook Park stop and we teased we were glad he came along to do all the work. Needless to say, I was really enjoying the ride, despite the fact I was often chilled and kept waiting for my sunshine to come out and play! As I made my way to the end, I continued to feel pretty chipper and was actually surprised with how good I felt and how sore I wasn't! YEAH!

When I got done, I quickly tossed my bike in my car, changed clothes and commenced eating a whole lotta good food! YUM YUM! We sat around for awhile shooting the breeze before I finally made my way home to chillax with the husband. It was a really good day just like I knew it would be!

I do love the opportunity to get out and ride these tours with friends!

Friday...woot!

2011-06-10T11:06:00.016-04:00

So I have been typing this long write up entailing my Mohican Mtn Bike100K experience that wasn't. It was getting so long, I got tired of typing it and figured no one would want to read that much so there it sits in my drafts folder.

Long story, short. I rode well and was very happy with how I rode. Ran into some rear derailleur issues (as in it locked into my rear chain ring) which cost me some time and now I know how best fix that. Managed to get past those issues after losing a lot of time and a good position in the single track only to get lost late in the day on the 100 miler course instead of the 100 K course (never hit the split or aid station 3 as myself and at least a couple others somehow got totally diverted). DNF and totally bummed.

Mohican Totals according to GPS:
Distance 50.1
Average Speed: 9.4
Avg HR: 161
Max HR: 186
Total Ascent: 5308 ft
Total Descent: 5116 ft

If you rode the course tho, you would know the climbing and hills are no joke. To me, it makes TTT hills seem tame. I will get my redemption on the course next year!!!! Just stinks as conditions with the dry week leading up to the race this year were soooo good!

This year seems to have so far, been the year that wasn't. Yet, while the races haven't garnered the results I so know that I am capable of, I feel like all of these long hard "training" races have positioned me to start this summer very strong and ahead of where I have been other years. So onward! No sense dwelling on the disappointments.

In general, I feel like these disappointments only feed my fire to work harder. This week starts my official 14 week training plan to REV3 Cedar Point.

Week has went as such-

Monday-off, due to me being a slacker and oversleeping my Monday workout

Tuesday-totally overslept am planned run as I set alarm clock wrong. Rode 31 mile very hilly route with Cleveland Touring Club's Chagrin Falls Ride (Russell-Caves-Sherman E- Bass Lake-Pekin/Dines back.
Total Distance: 31.00M
Total Time: 1:32:33
Avg Speed: 20.1
Avg HR: 163
Max Heart Rate: 185
Total Ascent: 2529
Total Descent: 2496
Comments: Enjoy riding with this group. Sherman road eastbound really threw some good hills at ya one after another without much reprieve. Ouch...this split the A group. I hung on for dear life to the lead pack and overall felt pretty good.

Wednesday - Swam 2200
Comments: Had not swam at all prior week. Took a bit to find my rhythm. Love outdoor pool!

Thursday- Run with Girls ~ 9 mi
2 mi w/u, 2 mi @6:30pace, ~.75 Mi EZ, 1.5 Mi at 6:30pace, cooldown
Other girls did 6 mi tempo, but I took a break in the middle and cut last 2 mi interval short on acct of needing to hit RR. Overall, felt good but got my work cut out for me to even try to get closer to them on these workouts. Plan to focus on consistency here going forward and forcing myself to try to keep up longer. Dang fast chicks (cough like Espeed)!
Lifted post run for ~40 min.

Friday- Swam 2200 M (pouted that they would not open outdoor pool), hoping to run at lunch

Saturday-Plan to hit cleveland tri training day at edgewater

Sunday - 100 mile SIJ bike maybe brick after

What's harder-Full IM or TTT?

2011-06-02T10:49:00.003-04:00

A few people like TriEric and BDD had wondered what I thought so here is my 2 cents!

I think it depends on a couple things-

a) What 140.6 course am I comparing it to. My only experience at a full was REV3 CP which is a pretty flat course, not like Placid, IMSG or any of the hilly fulls. Triple T was HILLY for reelz!

b) How hard did you race the TTT races? Did you lay it all on the line? Personally, I did not, so it was more like a long training weekend for me. So it is kind of hard to compare apples to apples.

TTT swim breakdown:
F: 250M Swim
S1: 1500 M Swim
S2: 1500 M Swim
S: 1.2 Mile (1931 M)
Total 3.21 Mi
SIGNIFICANTLY MORE SWIMMING THAN THE 2.4 MI FULL SWIM! This is not helpful for subpar swimmer like me. But definitely easier mentally to swim these shorter swims than 2.4 miles at once!

TTT Bike breakdown

F: 5 Mi

S1: 24.8 Mi

S2: 24.8 Mi

S: 55.5 M

Total: 110.1

A little less bike mileage at TTT, but I think the hills definitely make up for it!

TTT Run Breakdown

F: 1 Mi

S1: 6.55 Mi

S2: 6.55 Mi

S: 13.1 Mi

Total: 27.2 Mi

A little more running with some hills for sure at TTT but the run was almost all on a soft surface which was very nice for me with the tendency of pavement beating me up!

So my take is that mentally it is a lot easier to break it down into the shorter races with rest in between than pacing myself through a full all at once. There is the hill factor at TTT. If you don't like hills, perhaps a flat full might be easier. I don't mind hills and ride them a lot so it was not as much of an issue in my book. Also I think with TTT, sometimes the fatigue starts setting in and you might actually feel sore starting races more so than if you had just done it all at once. So perhaps some people may think TTT harder for that reason, but in my mind, the full still seems harder. I think both are challenging but it seems harder to me to tackle the distance all at once! That said, I like a challenge and look forward to tackling both TTT and another full 140.6 again!

Memorial Day Weekend Tidbits

2011-06-01T11:12:00.001-04:00

Where does the time go??

Friday, rocked the scooter with husband over to the sister's for a cookout. That would have been a fun ride except we went under the only rain cloud in the area which rain for 5 minutes and soaked us to the bone. Super cute tho watching my sister's 4 yr old get to go for a ride with the husband on it.

Our cheesy lil 128 mpg toy!

Made it an early night before all the others tied a good one on as we had stuff to do Saturday!

I rolled out to meet another local Cleveland area team, Snakebite Racing for their team ride. My local team was riding Sunday so in the interest of getting my ride done on Saturday, I was happy that they welcomed this girl to their "Death Ride". The CVNP "Death Ride" is about 80 miles and ~14 hill climbs around the Cuyahoga Valley which was set to shove off around 8:30! Sounds fun! It was a fun group to ride with and a very challenging course. They regrouped at the top and bottom of the hills so that was nice in that they stayed together. Northeast Ohio people truly are so fortunate to have such wonderful riding roads around. CVNP (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) offers long climbs through the scenic park. Great views and plenty of opportunity to make that heart pump up those climbs! It was quite enjoyable and I just was pacing myself throughout the day maintaining a pretty consistent effort. I had planned to try to wrap it up by about 12:30 but by the time my two friends and I turned off, we did not make it back until a little later but still ended up with 66 miles on the day so not too bad. Super fun morning and I could have just rode all day! LOVE that area!

Then the husband and I cruised around on our motorcycles for a bit before heading over to a cookout with his family. Sunday was a no funday as every blue moon, I guess you have to take care of business. Yard work, deck work, house work, you name it! No fun! Oh well, it feels so nice to have everything back in order and we chilled out that night by a bonfire. I did manage to squeeze in a solid run in the peak heat of the day which went surprisingly well!

Monday was motorcycle riding day. Met up with some friends and we rolled Rt 9 down to Cadiz. Twisty fun riding all day, albeit at a mindful pace with all the cops out writing speeding tickets over Memorial Day. Can't believe I am back to work for another week so fast...boo!

Daisy's Duc!

But, it's a short week. Was off Monday and taking half day Friday to head down to Mohican for the 100K MTB race....SOOOOOO EXCITED!

Race 4, the Half Iron or for some Little Smokies!

2011-05-27T14:39:00.002-04:00

Again I probably stayed up later than I should've on Saturday night enjoying the bonfire and IPA thanks to CK!

Race 3 had pretty much taken us out of the running for any sort of competitive placing so the pressure was off and I felt pretty relaxed. I really had no illusions that there would be any sort of hammer left on Sunday after my partner had the terrible leg cramps race 3. I was just hoping the residual effects would not be too bad and we could finish!

RACE 4, the HALF IRON 1.2 mi Swim, 55.6 mi bike and a 13.1 M Run and again TEAMS MUST START AND FINISH TOGETHER!

Sunday's race was supposed to start at 7AM. Now normally I would want to get to the race by 6AM but our group pretty much opted for some extra sleep and we set the alarm for 5:30AM. I was sooo sleepy when I woke up but got up to start trying to get ready as quickly as I could.

First thought was, "NEED COFFEE STAT"! Thank goodness I brought the husband along for that. By the time we left camp it was already 6:20, so I was starting to get a bit antsy about the time but when all was said and done I did not feel rushed. There was just less time to wait around and I was pretty much feeling like a pro setting up after so much practice in one weekend.

I knew it was going to be a warm day but I pretty much had the nutrition part down. Full First Endurance liquid shot flask for bike, another one for run which I would likely not use all of and water for the aerobottles and 2 bottles of EFS Fruit Punch (my fav) with some prerace in my bike cages. GOOD-TO-GO!

TYR wetsuit, check. TriSlide, check. Goggles, check. Neoprene Swim cap, check. Again I opted to go splash around in the water to make sure it would not shock the system too bad. It was amazing. The water had warmed from 56 to 61 by Sunday morning and the water was noticeably warmer and almost felt comfortable.

As we got lined up, I just kept thinking the 1.2 mile swim buoys looked so far away and I had to swim that loop twice! But there was not much time to think about that, it was go time. 4 races over a weekend tend to help you feel pretty comfortable by the 4th one. I was swimming pretty relaxed and again, I think I might have actually enjoyed the swim.

T1 was definitely on the leisurely side and then we were off onto the bike course! After a few miles of nice easy riding, we turned onto FR 1 and then long climb started. I just switched into an easy gear and up Team Edwards when, switchback after switchback after switchback. The grade did not seem too steep but holy crap did it seem like the the never ending climb up. And as we crested the top the downhill switchbacks started. There were a couple big corners with some holes where it was good to control your speed a bit but I was just feeling like a little kid screaming, "Weeeee!: all the way down.

I was taking out butterflies left and right (they were everywhere and it seemed anytime I was speeding along...WHAM, bye bye butterfly!!) and just truly enjoying the beauty of the course. Forest Road 1 and 3 were cutting through the forest on what looking like a one lane park path. It should not only be emphasized that these roads are hilly but perhaps more so, these roads are truly some of the most scenic beautiful roads to ride. Great course! As we turned onto FR 3 the decent sized rollers continued and then there was another steeper climb. Lots of people were digging deep here after feeling the effects of the third day of racing. I was actually feeling pretty comfy and taking it all in. Then I was super excited to see my husband who had run into the woods as I came up the one roller. He was cheering and snapping pictures! Love that guy!

Seriously, check out that pic which shows the beauty of where we were riding! AMAZING!

Finally we made the final turn back onto the fresh pavement of 125 which meant, one more good climb....on this loop!

Then it was another nice long descent back to transition. My partner was refilling bottles so I had some time and made a quick stop to the POP.

Then we were back out to repeat the fun again! Slow and steady was the set course for the day. That long long climb up just before mile 4 on the first lap was even more fun the second time around. Ha!

I was just plugging along. I had two complaints as I was riding along. My bike shoes kept rubbing away at the arch of my swollen foot from stupid bee sting. Not only was it irritating, but it also was beginning to itch. My lower back was a little sore too so I was definitely taking the opportunity to adjust my position periodically and it always felt good to get out of the saddle on the climbs and stretch out some.

As were back on the second loop, all of a sudden, intense pain strikes my belly which surely felt like another STINKING BEE STING! This leads to me yanking my shirt up and freaking out a bit thinking the evildoer was still in my jersey but I never did see the a-hole! Thankfully not sure what it was, but it did not seem to bring on the same level of swelling as my foot or issues that my foot had, and I just had a good old nickel sized welt on my belly. (Still do...HAWT!)

Anyways after that little debacle, it was back to the regularly scheduled program. My partner was suffering some from the leg cramping residual effects on some of the steep climbs so we were just working to get through it. Alas we made our way back to transition. Only a half marathon left.

Now it is boiling hot. I have on 50 SPF suncreen on now but the fire red shoulders from Saturday evening's race was making those rays really hurt on my shoulders. Thank goodness for the shade the course offered.

Time for that same run course again. Yes, that fun one! One goal, keep it together and finish!

Best part as usual was seeing all our friends along the way. As we were headed out, Christian and Ed were already coming back in from the 6.55 mile first lap and they went on to really finish well. Lots and lots of people fighting there way through it! Got to see fellow Trakkers Teammates Laura W. and MJ throughout the weekend too! The first loop was long. And I was happy to come back around to see the other halves of Team Edwards!

The second loop was even longer. My feet hurt. I was wearing my small shoes that I wore the first three races but on this day I wore socks and it made my toes feel to crunched up in the toe box on the down hills. I was hot and really starting to look forward to getting done. The other half of Team Edwards was being a trooper and was taking caution to get in plenty of fluids. Thankfully when supplies looked to be getting low, a golf cart came and saved the day and dropped more drinks and ice at the aid stations! Thank goodness!

Team Edwards just kept plugging along. It was definitely cool to see all the teams together out on the course pushing each other along! I was really routing for a few friends that were going to have a hard time making it in from their first lap to make the run loop 1 cutoff time of 1:30. Apparently HFP let people continue anyway, which I am sure meant a lot to those folks! Very nice!

Finally after a lot of hills and a lot of sweat, we headed out of the woods to finally make our way to the finish line!

We did it! Team Edwards TTT finishers! It was my partner's first half IM distance tri. It was his first time with 140 + miles of fun in a multisport race over the weekend! This will be a medal and finishers shirt which will always have special meaning to everyone who got them! We had lucked out with a great weather and in the end, we were able to finish together !!! :-)

I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!

TTT Randommess

2011-05-26T12:41:00.005-04:00

So before we get into the last race, I wanted to share some of the other tidbits from the weekend.....

First off, have I mentioned how hilly it was? The Shawnee State Park and Forest was the host for American Triple T Ohio and is located in the Appalachian foothills near the banks of the Ohio River!

The literature stated that American Triple T Ohio "will provide you one of the most challenging weekends of your life-count on it." YEAH, BRING IT!

One interesting thing about this race was that we camped out for the weekend. Even better we got to camp next door to our Cleveland area peeps all weekend! Super fun!

There is also an amazing sense of camaraderie over the course of the weekend among participants as we all donned the same shirt. The same shirt we would wear in all four races (Ewww, and I showered with that shirt on too!)

Recovering in the icy cold water was key, as well as keeping up on your fueling!
It is really hard to walk on little rocks when your legs are tired!

Always remember, this is what we do fun fun!

Always run with a smile!

Always look for me to try to sprint you to the finish!

Hallelujah, the finish line!

"All this racing stuff is tiring!"

TTT- Race Three

2011-05-25T10:13:00.005-04:00

Race #3 is an Olympic Tri which starts at 3PM and starts with a 24.8 mi bike, followed by a 1500 m swim followed by a 6.55 mi run.

That order should make things interesting. On top of that we would be starting in the heat of the day at 3PM. AND this would be the first of the TEAM races in which all teams must start and finish together.

Now this was the part I was looking forward to. It would be a chance that my teammate and I could work together on the bike. My partner comes from a strong cycling background so I thought this could work out well for both of us!

Setting up transition was a bit interesting this time around. I was not used to thinking through things in this direction. I had brought thin grocery type bags for my feet so that I could easily slip my super awesome TYR wetsuit on. And now it is time to give props to another of my other FAVORITE Trakkers / REV3 sponsors, TRISWIM! I wiped my goggles down with FOGGLE in transition to make sure fogging would not be an issue. Then I thoroughly sprayed myself and my wetsuit down with TRISLIDE. I have learned that not only does TRISLIDE really make getting the wetsuit off fast helpful but it really helps minimize the effort of getting it on. I thank TRISLIDE for significantly aiding me in quick transitions!

So now it was time to race! My partner and I lined up with my number of 194 and they let 2 bicyclists off every 10 seconds of so. So it took a bit to get going! The plan was to take ~1 min pulls on the flats to maximize our efforts. And we were off! We started right in with the plan. The race course was an out and back with ~1900 ft of climbing. We started out climbing from miles 1-4 then another climb at mile 5-7 or so before a nice long descent. We hit the turnaround at mile 12.4 or so and my partner mentioned his legs felt tight and I could tell the pace started to back down in hopes that his legs might not shut down. Mile 15 was a brutal climb and I just geared down and tried to spin up it easy while conserving the legs. Then there was another nice downhill section. The thing about and out and back though is you know what is coming...one more big hill. A top this hill were 3 guys donning some little shorts or perhaps speedos. They gave me a good laugh cheering on my way out and I was looking forward to cresting that last hill and seeing them again! They did not disappoint! During the climbs on the way back, my partner got hit with major cramping in his legs to the point that he had to pull off alongside the road to try to massage them out. It was a hot hilly course and to have leg cramping on top of that, had to be incredibly grueling and as he pulled into transition, the pain was very evident. Yikes, what a trooper!

Not that leg cramping was going to stop my partner from heading into some 60 degree water for our two loop swim. Surely this was a good idea...right? I swam a nice comfortable swim. The water felt considerably warmer than it felt the prior evening. The really nice thing about the bike-swim-run format is how nice and spread out the swimmers were in the lake. I felt very relaxed and I think I was actually enjoying swimming this weekend. Now much of this was due to my sweet TYR wetsuit, but props are also owed to TriEric who let me borrow his neoprene swim cap. As a side note, these elevation profiles and pics are all ones that I lifted from Eric's notes on TTT. I cannot tell ya how thankful I felt that Eric had taken the time to share detailed course notes with several of us and also went over a lot of tips at one of CTC's gatherings. It was very valuable and prior to every race, I reviewed the notes so I knew what was ahead. THANK YOU ERIC!

Huge props to my partner for making it through the swim. The cold water brought on more cramping and he was not alone. I saw the medics helping another guy out who obviously was having severe cramping. There were a lot of people fighting hard to get through this race!

With the swim behind us, there was just one more leg to fight through.. the run! It felt boiling hot. I knew at this point my skin was getting burned. With my sweat providing an extra draw for the rays, I tried to stay in the shady spots as much as I could along the way. The nice thing about doing this with a partner, is you are out there together. We told stories and just enjoyed the course. The other thing that I really liked about the run course was being an out and back course, you were able to see the front runners heading into the finish. I was getting excited for several of my friends like CK and ES out there just tearing up the course!

As we hit the finish line, I was super proud of my partner. He had cramped terribly on every leg of that race but still continued going which had to be an incredibly hard feat! Team Edwards had just one race left to finish TTT. Only problem, the last race would be the longest and included, (you guessed it) more hills!!!

Post race I grabbed myself a Muscle Milk as I came through the finish and headed back down to my lil watering hole to give myself another ice bath. Not sure if these were really helping to keep my legs good, but why mess with what seemed to be working?

After a quick shower, 7 of us went to the Mexitali restaurant there in town and I gobbled down a bunch of food. I was sooo hungry! Then we headed back to the campsite for another bonfire while I again kicked my feet up in my recovery pants. All in all, I was feeling very relaxed and finally I hit the sack. Thankfully no bee stings this night and I slept like a rock!

Bee sting update: Wednesday now, arch is still swollen and red. It is becoming increasingly itchy. Have I mentioned how much I hate bees? Ironic as my partner is sponsored by Honey Stinger.

TTT - Race Two

2011-05-23T16:06:00.007-04:00

Morning came early Saturday as the 5:30 alarms started going off. I dragged my weary butt up and sort of limped around on my bee stung foot. Thank goodness I run on my toes I thought!

I got ready, had some french press coffee (mmmm), a bagel with PBJ and 2 egg whites as I sipped on my First Endurance EFS mixed with some FE pre-race. On the subject of nutrition, everything worked out very well for me with my nutrition all weekend. For both olys, I had half a flask of liquid shot on the bike and drank water from my aerobottle. I also had one bottle of EFS fruit punch sports drink mixed with PreRace in my cage which I drank from each race. For Sunday's half, I consumed just under 2 bottles of EFS with pre-race and an entire Berry FE Liquid Shot along with a fair amount of water. I also had some coke on the course. Energy levels and stomach were solid the entire weekend of all races. No cramps, no issues whatsoever! I am so thankful that I have discovered the First Endurance products and always use my own fuel now which I have found works for me. I think this was lacking for many participants and when it was as hot as it was, this can make a HUGE difference.

So back to the morning. I quickly setup my transition again and pulled on my damp wetsuit and hopped back down to the beach to take a quick dip. The air temp was much cooler and the water felt cold! I was actually feeling very relaxed after getting my feet wet last night. Yet the difference between a 250 m swim and a 1500 meter swim seemed so far! I thought I might freeze to death. We got lined up and soon I hit the water with one plan. STAY RELAXED! As I started swimming I was surprisingly comfortable. Friday night I felt like my sighting was poor and I was all over the place but things seemed to click on Saturday. I was clearly not setting any speed records but I hit the mat in 26 something and felt pleased with that. Post race I noted CK gained 9 minutes on me in the swim alone. DANG!

Yet, no asthma issues and now it was on to the FUN part! We headed out for a 25 mile loop bike course. We were warned to bring our climbing gears and to take caution on the descents. The first mile or two I spent trying to get my heart rate down and several people caught me. Once I settled in I passed most of them back and in many cases we played a lot of cat and mouse out on the course which became a joke between white sleeves and I. I truly was enjoying the bike tremendously. At mile ~18ish an ambulance passed us right when an oncoming car was coming. It this led to a hard break by the female ahead of me, who apologized quickly which led to us starting to chit chat for a lil bit. Although I was enjoying the conversation, soon I realized that I was supposed to be racing so I went on to try to change my position.

AM OLY BIKE ELEVATION PROFILE

Truly this race offers some of the most gorgeous roads and some good climbs. I felt great the entire way. I would say I pushed a conservatively solid effort on the bike and rolled in ready to run! With my shoes lubed up with TriSlide, I slid them on sans socks and was off to run!

The run started and ended like Fridays race, but after the first half mile the terrain was a double track fire road which was packed dirt, rocky, and rutted. Yet this girl likes soft surfaces so I was just making my way on the run picking off people in my lightweight regular shoes while many opted for trail shoes. Thankfully it was a dry weekend so I think conditions were pretty ideal!

Run course, out and then turn around to do backwards for 6.55 Miles

The second half was faster than the first half and as I counted females, I was right around top 10 (but again hard to tell with TT start) so I was pleased with that. I am not sure what my run split was. I got done, got my chip off, grabbed a drink and walked over to the water when I realized my garmin was still going. I give that Race 1 & 2 about a 'B' effort. Solid but saving myself for what was still ahead and feeling pretty good!

Race Results for AM Oly:

Swim: 25:35 Rank 230
T1: 1:04
Bike: 1:21:28 Rank 140
T2: :42
Run: 50:39 Rank 124
Total Time: 2:39:54 Rank 140

Again I headed down to the water to soak my legs in the freezing cold water before grabbing a plate of food to refuel. I felt this horrible pain on the inside of my right foot extending up my leg and I started wondering what I had done as I limped around the finish area. I was considerably worried wondering what I had done until I realized I had forgotten about stupid bee sting. On top of that, I was FREEZING from the water so when I got back to camp I changed into my bikini to lay out on my giant beach towel in the beautiful warm sunshine! Happy me! I was feeling great after two races! Once I warmed up I sat in the shade with my legs up in my recovery pants as I rocked out to some tunes. We had several good laughs around camp that afternoon like CK stating, "What is it about Journey that makes me sing like a 13 yr old girl at a slumber party?" and many other memorable laughs!

My husband spent a good portion of Saturday riding his motorcycle around the scenic Shawnee State forest roads. He was also a bit bored and picked up my Born to Run book that I had brought for a friend to read. He sat next to us reading and turns to us to remark "I'm reading this running book to remind me that running is stupid." Ha....whatever! He read the entire book during the course of the weekend and even as a nonrunner he actually enjoyed the book, albeit he said he could have done without the barefoot running tangent that he skimmed through! Anyways we were enjoying the time and before I knew it, I was getting ready for RACE 3!

TTT- Day 1

2011-05-23T14:43:00.002-04:00

Back home after a whirlwind weekend. 4 races in 3 days sure seems to make a weekend fly by fast! The short of it is, TEAM EDWARDS FINISHED! The rest, you will have to read.....

So rewind back to the beginning. After a week of packing up a ton of crap to take, we left out at 8 AM Friday morning to make the 4.5 hour drive down to Portsmouth, OH. We picked up my teammate along the way and I honestly had no idea if we were going to get everything into the truck. Holy lots of stuff between camping, racing, bikes and my husband motorcycle!

We arrived down to Portsmouth about 1:30 and started setting up camp. That is when the clock went into warp speed. By the time we were setup it was time to get our packet, then back to camp to get ready, then back to transition to get started to get ready for race one at 5PM.

Race 1:
Race one was a super sprint. It started with 250 yard swim which would go off as a time trial start with 2 people every 3 seconds based on a time we had put in when we registered. I have no idea what I put in now but I was number 194 out of about 400 for the weekend. Now it was such a short swim but the kicker was that the water was coming in at 56 degrees. Between that and being a slightly weaker swimmer, I opted for the wetsuit and the neoprene cap.

Christian, the dolpin who zooms through the water and Team Edwards donning wetsuits!

It was quite warm Friday evening in the mid 80s and I was super toasty from the heat and getting on the wetsuit so I hopped in the water for a bit right before the race so I was prepared for what I was going to be dealing with. The water was very cold on my face but I took some strokes to get comfortable and I thought with as short as the swim looked, that I would be fine!

The time trial start was sort of a new one and it was crazy to see many people done with the swim before I even started. It was hard to tell where you were all weekend due to these TT starts, but I was thankful to have less congestion at the starts.

As I ran into the water, I tried to get moving quickly as this was going to be a fast race. I think between my nerves, trying to go fast and the cold water, my breathing became very labored. I tried to relax in the water but pretty much was wheezing the entire race..stupid asthma!

Side note: This was the first time I had had the opportunity to use my new TYR Hurricane Cat 5 Wetsuit which I got hooked up with through Team Trakkers/REV3. I had never even put it on as I was nervous about tearing it. Yet when I put it on Friday night and first swam in it, I was immediately impressed. The wetsuit felt very soft and had areas designed to catch water. I was not sure if it was my recent swimming or this wetsuit, but I felt very good in the water and had a pretty comfortable swim. All I know is that I am very thankful for this wetsuit as it ROCKED!

The swim was over pretty quickly and I made my way to transition. As quickly as I could, I slid the wetsuit off and exited to mount my bicycle. Going into the race, my plan was to have a solid effort Friday but I did not want to go gangbusters and pay all weekend. The course included one big climb followed by one big decent with 2 hairpin turns. Overall it was a decent effort although I know I could have passed a few others on the descent but it seemed a lot of riders were all over the road so I figured I would just be a little more conservative. I forget my exact splits but I think it is safe to say the bike course was short. Official times have not yet been posted. The whole bike I continued to breathe hard and then it was out onto the run course. The first half had a slight uphill grade and I was breathing hard. At the turnaround I upped the effort and tried to pick some people off but passing with that many people going in both directions on a tight course was a bit challenging at times.

Just getting a look now at official results.

Swim: 5:37 Rank 187
T1: 1:01
Bike: 12:48 Rank 208
T2: 0:42
Run: 6:41 Rank 128
Total Time: 26:51 Rank 155

I was breathing hard and made my way down to see some friends sitting in the cold water and I plopped my heavy breathing butt down in the water and attempted to catch my breathe. The nice thing about the weekend's races, was that they provided a good bit of food after every race so I helped myself to some pasta and a salad before heading back to camp. Friday night was fun and we had a big bonfire at our campsite and the Cleveland gang gathered round for many stories and post race laughs as myself and a few others kicked our legs up in my Recovery Pump pants which were a hot commodity for the weekend!

Just when I thought the night was over and I pulled the covers up over my head, there was one last surprise waiting for me. I started screaming and jumped out of bed after being stung by a bee right in the meat of the arch of my right foot. Now anyone who knows me knows when I get stung this leaves some pretty good reactions. My husband hopped up and grabbed some benadryl and sting ease ointment and I tried to take care of it right away. My foot had started to swell pretty good and I limped when I put weight on my heels. Seriously??? WTF? Why me? How does this happen on big race weekend to me right in such a critical spot? I had trouble sleeping that night as my foot was aching but I was sooo not planning on letting this impact the weekend....to be continued.....

GO TEAM EDWARDS...TTT Bound!

2011-05-19T10:22:00.002-04:00

Ready or not, here I come! TTT weekend is here!

So I am not feeling as ready as I want to be, but I am going to go put my best foot forward regardless, if not for me, for my partner, Tim Edwards! And yes, we have the same last name and even both with blond hair and blue eyes, but we are not related! I am just fortunate enough to have him as a friend, who I have met through the wonderful Cleveland Triathlon Club network!

So TEAM EDWARDS will be in the house! The fun thing about having a partner is that we can draft off each other on the bike the 3rd and 4th races and we are supposed to start and finish together!

Hopefully he does not give up on me waiting in T1 as I have no illusions that I can swim as fast as him! Other than that I am thinking we should be pretty good partners on the bike and run...hopefully!

I am really excited about the weekend and there is a great group heading down from the Cleveland area and we will be sure to have some fun! Even better, it looks like we are at last going to have a nice weather weekend, albeit perhaps on the warm side for racing! I can hardly believe Sunshine is going to even make a guest appearance for the weekend (picture Daisy doing cartwheels)!

My main concern besides all the hills and pain that await, is mainly that freezing cold water to swim I know I am going to be swim in! Janet=giant freeze baby! Thank goodness I got a new fancy TYR Hurricane wetsuit to sport! Whooot!

As Santa would do I have been making a list an checking it twice to make sure I don't forget anything this weekend! First Endurance, check. TriSlide, check. Plenty of can-do attitude, check ( haha...ok but active always has that on the checklist and for some reason, it still make me smirk!)

Happy Thursday or Friday for me!!!!!

Super dooper busy!!!

2011-05-13T15:32:00.000-04:00

So catching up in my very limited time!

Yes, it is the normal whirlwind of life in the world of Daisy. All things work related are incredibly time consuming, had the CTC super fun training camp last weekend, put some time into the latest CTC newsletter, also worked on an article for OSF, tried to get some training in and yada yada yada...means no recent blog update.

Where to start?

Well wishing all my TrakkersREV3 teammates the very best of luck at REV3 Knoxville! I did it last year and it was such a fabulous race venue and vibe!

Also the big Cleveland Marathon is this weekend and I got a whole lot of people I am routing for including training partner, CV and of course Salty and then there is Nicole and soooo many others! I am really hoping I am able to swing getting down there to cheer everyone on!

On the subject of last weekends CTC training camp down at Mohican Adventures, we will just say it was awesome. Our 2nd year was bigger and better than last year. More people and expanded opportunities for newbies and vets alike! I think one of my favorite parts about camp is getting to know many of the CTC members better. I give huge props to my TTT teammate, USAT Coach Tim Edwards, huge props for really offering tons of advice and perspective for the newbies.

Here are a few pics from the last couple weekends of fun!

Swim clinic at Mohican Adventures!

Transition Clinic

CTC VP preparing for nutrition clinic!

My bug KL and I WINNING pre-Nashville!

G-tucly peeps in Nashville! Daisy-Sis-KL

Post race party like Rockstars Fun!