The Aftermath

Well, here I am--a week out from Timberman and I am ready (itching!!) to tackle another one. I had so much fun and recovered so well, I could certainly be race ready again very soon.
Plus-I really, really want a redemption run!!
At no point during the race did I feel like I wanted it to end. The distance was fun challenge but now I gotta see how much faster I can go.
 
Forget taper madness, I am going bonkers with the short workouts. And I took TWO FULL DAYS off in the last week (Monday-the day after Tman and yesterday). I need to shift my focus and goals to something new to avoid this post-race let down! Plus with the decreased training volume, I have put on a couple of pounds!!  Well--my nutrition has not been all that great this week either...
 

I am already planning next years race schedule and have 2 half's on the books for sure.
If you have not already read about it, Revolution 3 is bringing a half-iron and Olympic distance triathlon to my back yard!! (well, not my backyard but it might as well be-it's just a few miles down the road)
This is FOR SURE my late season A race!!

REV3 Maine

I also want to squeeze in a trip to Lake Placid (hmmm-could this be a hint of things to come?) next summer and of course, there will be those fun sprint distance races I love to do.

I spent yesterday spectating at The Fireman Triatlon which got changed to an AquaRun due to Hurricane Irene. Yes, there was an open ocean swim but it was in a protected cove and the water was quite calm.
The rain stopped long enough for the race and it was perfect racing conditions as far as I am concerned.
I was a little antsy not racing but I was happy to cheer on my Kennebunk Triathlon Club friends!!

Getting ready to swim

The ladies Sprint wave getting ready to go-see calm water



The Club cleaned up at the awards ceremony with tons of AG medals



I only have one triathlon left for this season-The Mainiac Sprint-and I hope to beat the pants off last years time.



So for the time being I am working on getting my speed back on my run. I have a trail 1/2 marathon I'll be running in October and I am getting my butt back into the weight room. Depending on how the next couple weeks of running go I might attempt to pull off a marathon...who knows.

Some other new things on my horizon-now that Timberman is done, I am finally buckling down and studying to complete my ACE PT Certification and this fall I will be teaching a couple early morning boot camp classes at the YMCA. I am excited to begin this new chapter of my life! I am so passionate about health and fitness and I hope to help others discover how much fun being active and healthy can be! Plus if I can start making a little money doing something I love so much--a huge bonus!

What's next on your training agenda??

What goals are you setting for yourself?

What is your next big race?

Run for Cash 5k RR

This weekend was the 7th annual Captain Christopher Cash Memorial 5k race.

If you have been reading my blog since the beginning, you know that this race is close to my heart.

Last year I got to know Capt. Cash's mother, Nancy after running this race; then I did The Run for the Fallen in Capt. Cash's honor.

This was such a fun race last year! It was Lola's first race, I snagged a 3rd place AG finish and had an amazing day all around. The Run for Cash 5k is one race I will each and every year until I cannot run anymore.

This year clouds and rain did not damper the spirits of the race or it's participants. I was happy to see such a big turnout despite roar of thunder and lots of rain.

Lola participated in the Kid's Fun Run. Last year it was a 50 yard dash for the kids. This year?? It was an entire lap around the track--A quarter mile!! And Lola did it with a smile in the pouring rain.

Ready to run! (the tee was too big for Lola!!)

She's ready to SPRINT!

Yeah-she totally chicked those boys by A LOT!!

I ran with her and as she started to slow down towards the finish, I pointed out the finish line and reminded her that she would get her medal once she finished.
That was all my little girl needed to hear MEDAL
She SPRINTED the rest of the way and was SO PROUD of her medal!!

Gotta show off the bling to Marc!

Showing Jim her medal

Soaked and cold but she has her medal!

Lola was soaked to the bone and freezing cold so Lola and her Daddy packed things up, headed home to warmth and dry clothes. Luckily, I had several friends there with me and could catch a ride home later if need be...or I could just run home.

It was time for me to warm up and get ready to run. I had some reasonable time expectations for myself on this race-modest expectations since I have not really done much speed work since a majority of my training has been volume focused around the Timberman 70.3!

I met up with my Dailymile friends, triathlon friends and ran around the venue a bit to warm up then it was show time!

BANG! and they are off!

The Leaders heading up the first climb of the course

The first mile of this race is a slight downhill to the ocean and then a sharp left. Felt great
Mile One split: 6:36

Then the course takes another sharp left and up you go through the main strip, a gradual climb. Things level out for a bit and then you hit the turn-around. This is when you start seeing the leaders heading back to the finish line! I love that!! Still feeling strong!
Mile Two Split: 7:37

After the turn you take a different way back though town, essentially all up hill climbs. Short climbs but continual. Hill, level out for a bit. Another hill, level, another hill. Then it is one final climb and take a right onto the finish. Felt good on all the climbs and glad to see my pace held.
Mile Three Split: 7:37 (hmmm-consistence!)

and then the final 1/10th split: 0:51 for a 6:41 pace

Post race with Jim

Happy Jen after snagging 2nd in AG

Official Race Time: 22:42

2nd place in Age Group

15th Overall Female

60th Overall

This is a new 5k PR for me and I beat my expected race finish time by over a minute!! So I am very pleased with how well this race went and I am hoping to bust this PR at next months Ocean Park 5k which is flat and fast!! I do have a specific number in mind but keeping that to myself for now!

Funny story-there is a local elite runner, Christine Snow-Reaser, who seems to be my good luck charm. Last year at the Kennebunk Beach 5k I attempted to keep pace with her the first mile in the pouring rain. This year, I was with her for a bit again in the pouring rain.
Each time I run with her in the rain, I set a new PR.
Of course, I had to tell her this after the race!!

Christine Snow-Reaser and me

I also want to congratulate my friends Marc, Jen R. and Kate who all set new 5k PR's themselves on that day!!

Jen R is all smiles! She later ran the Warrior Dash-so badass!!

Marc's PR Finish! I even got his official race time on "film"! wooohooo

Kate's AWESOME FINISH!!

The Dailymile Crew! Me, Kate and Jim

Now for all the guesses as to my final time!

The winner? Karien with a guess of 22:40-You were only 2 seconds off! Great guess!

Y.eMz.C.A.

Y-
YOU FREAKING ROCK!!
I am now giving out the very first YOU FREAKING ROCK AWARD.

What is the YFRA you ask?
Well, the YOU FREAKING ROCK AWARD is for the blogging athlete that I think just plain old rocked it for one reason or another.

So, who gets the very first YFRA??



eMz-

well of course-- EMZ. If you do not know who or what I am referring to, this would be the incredible EMZ-she runs 50 miles with horses, she is an accomplished marathon runner, she spends days running hundreds of miles on her treadmill, she has abs of steel. If you do not read her blog-well, you are just missing out on priceless literary genius.


Yes, I totally HIJACKED this pic!!

Anyway, EMZ ran a 3:26:14 marathon this weekend. I think that is just awesome. That is why she got the very first (and soon to be very coveted) YOU FREAKING ROCK AWARD. She will also BQ like man. Of this, I have NO doubt!

She is SO awesome, in fact...I ran 2.62 miles on the treadmill in her honor. I was going to ride 26.2 miles on the bike but it would be embarrassing if she ran it faster than I could bike it.

RUN EMZ>

yes, shorts in Dec in Maine. It's 50 degrees out! (but pouring rain)

C-
Chuckball.
I hope you are not sick of hearing about Chuckball yet. This is one of my favorite shirts and I wore it to hang out with Joe Friel on Sunday.
Yes, Joe and I are now friends. Buddies actually.
But this is a WHOLE notha post all together.
This post is about the shirt.
I got so many questions and comments about the shirt, it was quite the ice breaker in a room of amazing athletes. I now you are all dying to get your very own Chuckball so go to PunkRockRacing and you can be as cool as I am.
...and maybe, just maybe Joe will be YOUR buddy too. (probably not though)

Me and my new BFF-Joe Friel

A-
Age Group Awesomeness
I found out this weekend that I have qualified for the USAT Age Group National Championships.

The 2011 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship will take place on August 20, 2011 in Burlington, Vt.



I would NEVER had known this if it was not for my tri-BFF, Dawn. Now being the ultra competitive gal that she is, she could have kept this quiet. But, being a true friend - not only did she verify this to be true, she even told me! (just kidding D, you know I love ya!!)
NOW.
Time to get a new bike (is that Cervelo P3 winking at me???), put the pedal to the medal and try to convince hubby that this is something that needs to be done.
This might not seem like a big deal to some of you but considering that just about 2 years ago my idea of a triathlon was eating 2.4lbs of Chinese food, drinking 112 beers and smoking 26.2 packs of cigarettes--this is a big deal to me.
Even bigger of a deal, I qualified my first season.

Please don't forget to enter my Birthday Giveaway. It is for a great cause and I have some really awesome stuff I'm giving out!! GO HERE!!

Go for it!

Competition.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about being competitive and racing. We shared our different views on the subject-She is ultra competitive, on top of all her race stats and those in her direct (and indirect) "line of fire". The goals of winning and/or beating certain individuals is what gives my friend one big dose of motivation.

My perspective on competition thus far really has more to do with beating myself. Setting goals, meeting them and then raising the bar a bit higher is what has been my motivating factor. Getting faster, going longer and seeing consistent improvement with my performance has been my reward.

Winning.

My friend wants to win. It is not the end all be all of her existence but it is something she strives for~her goals are set on AG wins and overall wins. She knows what she wants and has a plan to do just that!

I don't go into a race with thoughts of winning. The one time I went into a race with thoughts of an age group placement did not come to fruition. Lesson learned. I have been lucky enough to have some good races this season and won or placed in my age group several times. Getting second in my age group at my first triathlon was amazing and a totally unexpected treat.

Don't get me wrong-placing in my AG at any race is great/fun/exciting and now that I have had a small taste of it, I want to continue to improve as an athlete. It is tangible proof to me that I have come SO far.

Two years ago I could not even fathom doing a triathlon. Two years ago I could only dream about running a 1/2 marathon-never mind setting my sights on Boston "someday". Two years ago my goal was to lose fat, get my body healthy and fit enough to run a mile or two without stopping. Mission accomplished.

To me, racing is issuing a challenge to myself. Complete this race in XX:XX amount of time. Improve on this or don't do that. It is a learning experience and a way for me to measure my own success. I try not to get all caught up in the winning.

In the last few days, the conversation with my friend has been replayed and thought of several times. I am afraid that she may have awoken a sleeping tiger. A bit of drive hidden deep within. The desire to pursue bigger goals.

Being so new to running (and even newer to triathlon) I still have so much to learn, so much training, smaller goals to accomplish and so much more room to grow as an athlete.

I mean really--I finally got off the treadmill in Jan 2010 and started running outside. I have only just begun dipping my toes in the waters of swimming in July. I started cranking out some cycling miles this summer~on a beast of a bike to boot!

But why can't I dream big? Why can't I have expectations of winning?

I can and I will. I truly believe you can do anything you set your mind to do. If you have the passion and the drive, you can make those dreams a reality. I am living proof of that. I have achieved each goal I have set for myself and then some.

I just think right now is the time to continue learning, striving to better myself and making new goals. The time will come soon enough when I will allow my focus to shift into a more competitive mode. Then I will change my focus and put my eyes on the prize-the medal, the golden cup, the win.

So watch out Ms.MastersWinner, I am behind you now and getting closer and closer each race. One of these days I am going to catch you. And maybe, just maybe one day I am going to beat YOU and win.

She's a Mainiac!!

The Mainiac Sprint Triathlon: The long winded race report about my first triathlon!

First and foremost I need to say that this was an amazing experience and I cannot recall the last time I had SO MUCH FUN!





I spent most of Friday evening obsessing about transition and packing. I made lists, I put everything out and ran through what I would need to do at transition in my head. I checked the Triathlon Mom's posts in Running Moms for tips and ideas. I tried on several pairs of tri-shorts and tops looking for the best combo comfort wise- I also wanted my family to be able to find me in a sea of people.


Sleep did not come easy that night for me, I could not shut my brain off. When I woke in the morning I had a bit of a headache and puffy eyes from the lack of sleep. I had a cup of coffee, jumped in the shower and attempted to choke down my favorite breakfast of oatmeal & raisins but I did not have much of an appetite. I drank water and just tried to remain calm.


I had read a tip about tying a balloon to your transition spot so you can find your stuff easily~the previous nights birthday celebration for Emma provided me with two balloons-one pink and one white. Lola decided that I needed to have the white one so I gave her a big green Sharpie and let her color away on my balloon. I would have a little reminder of my girl with me and that made me happy.

My mother eased my nerves with some words of wisdom from her days showing horses and reminded me to just enjoy the experience. Dad arrived (on time!) and we loaded my bike and gear~We were off!


I arrived to the race venue and people were starting to stream in. My first stop on my way in was to get marked. Funny as it seems this was something that I was looking forward to! I have always thought it was pretty cool looking. Some young guy marked my arms and legs with my race number (183) and my USAT age (37). With a big ole silly grin I was off to rack my bike.


I found my way to my rack and looked around me, I was feeling a bit intimidated. I wasn't sure of "rack etiquette" etc. As Im looking around at all these bikes-really really nice triathlon bikes-I just started to laugh a bit. I'm just taking in the scene before me~ I see these amazing athletes with the coolest triathlon gear, expensive bikes and dressed to the nines (as far as tri clothing goes!). It was at this point I just kind of relaxed and laughed at myself. I let go of any expectations I had and remembered that today was all about having fun and just doing the very best that I could.

Behind me, a couple ladies were setting up their transition areas (remember those really really nice bikes I mentioned-yeah, the whole rack behind me was loaded with uberchic bikes! Specialized, a couple Cervelo's) and since I was somewhat unsure of things, I just asked. This one gal (we will call her DP for now-more on her later) was really nice and gave me several tips and hints. I noticed that she was wearing a Tri for a Cure jacket so we chatted about that for a bit.

Just then I noticed that the chain on my bike came off- oh snap!! I know NOTHING about maintaining or repairing bikes-I knew that there would be bike support there but I did not see anyone yet. With a bold stroke of luck I was able to fix it and check it to be sure it was working just fine. whew! crisis averted. I thanked God that I noticed this NOW and not as I was heading out later! I think this is where I should mention that the bike I have been using all summer is my Dad's hand-me-down road bike-a red Le Tour! A tune up, new tires, seat and handlebar wraps and she is good as new to me!!

More and more people were starting to arrive and I met up with my friend, Michelle. Then Christina, whom I met on the Run for the Fallen. Then my cousin, Krissy and her entourage. I was starting to relax and enjoy the day! I was surrounded by some really cool people and I could feel the stress of the last several days starting to melt away.

I gobbled up some GU and drank some water, I took pics of the scene. It was about 1/2 hour before the swim waves were starting up so Christina and I went for a quick jog to burn off a little energy, hit the Porta-Johns and then we started to suit up for the swim.


The ocean was churning and the waves were rockin'~we hit the beach, I jumped into the water to get wet and then headed up towards the crowds. The Race Director and USAT Official talked to the crowd about the events we were ready to go! I saw my family and had to run over to get my good luck high five from Lola (or high pie as she calls it!). I was in the third wave and ready to SWIM!!




I started at the back of the pack for the swim and once we hit the first buoy, I was passing alot of people. I got kicked a couple times but nothing major. I just tried to stay calm and breath and not push too hard. Before I knew it I was at the last buoy and swimming back towards the beach. I know I was smiling big! I was having fun and I felt like I did pretty well for the swim (considering this is what I had the most anxiety about). I finally could feel the bottom and ran out of the water, pulling off my wetsuit while heading into Transition One. As I ran by my family, my Mom was giving me a big thumbs up and telling me Five Five. (I would later learn from her that I was the fifth woman out of the water!!)

I got to transition and my wetsuit slid right off thanks to a liberal application of BodyGlide on my calves! I rinsed my feet with water, dried them a bit and got into my running sneakers (this gal isn't in bike shoes yet!) tossed on a bright green UnderArmour tee and I was off. I decided I did not need to waste time with my Garmin today. Besides, I was doing this for fun-not to track pace. I was letting go of my obession with numbers today!

The bike ride was just awesome! I think that this was my strongest leg of the race ~it was certainly the most fun. During the ride, I tried to keep in mind the rules about passing and keeping 3 bike lengths behind etc. Last thing I wanted was to rack up drafting penalties on my first tri! I had been riding this route over the summer so it was familiar ground for me and I was passing more and more cyclists. There was road construction at about the midway point of the ride and one lane of the road was all dirt. Thanks to Mr. EL Camino who would not give enough road to let us pass and his car was kicking up dirt into my face (the roads were not completely closed for the race). This slowed me down (as well as those behind me) considerably for about a min or so. Another race participant and I comisserated on what a jerk Mr. EL Camino was...

As I rode into the final turn to the last 3 mile stretch I felt the cool air coming off the ocean and it was at this time I realized that this tri was almost done! It was going by SO fast and I was having so much fun! It was also at this time that I knew I was in love with triatlon!! I thought about how far I had come.

Coming into Transition 2 I was able to see my family again and that just re-energized me! I dropped of my helmet and headed right out for the run!


My husband managed to get around to the side of the OUT path for the run and snapped a couple pics~giving me more well wishes! I recall yelling "I love you babe!" and that my face hurt from smiling so much!






I felt like I was slow slow slow running. This is quite a hilly route and I had done several bricks on these routes this summer but today was different. I just felt so slow. Plus iPods are not allowed so I had to listen to my own breathing, uuugggghhh. But I started passing people even though I was holding back a bit (I knew some bigger hills were ahead of me!). I had to stop to tie my shoes (yup! lesson learned here!!) and ran on. As I approached mile 2 my OTHER shoe came untied and I had to stop yet again to tie it. I thought that the run would be my strongest leg but it just seemed like I was not doing as well as I had on training runs. I started to pick up the pace a bit and I ran past the nice gal I met from earlier this morning, DP. Up hills and then the final hill to the home stretch! I was feeling great! As I approached the finish line I saw my family cheering and got another thumbs up from my Mom.



I felt amazing! I was not tired at all- I think I was high on adenaline!! I cheered on friends that crossed the line and hung out with the family. I got to meet Alex~a local running mom I had "met" on Dailymile.com.

I met up with DP again and we chatted. She congratulated me on a great performance-especially for my first tri. DP informed me that she thought I probably placed! After a good 45 mins of socializing, the results were posted. My Mom was reading the results and DP helped to translate for her. My Mom and DP gave me a big and were saying I placed third in my age group-edging out DP by 20-something seconds! When I got up to the board to look for myself, I saw a familiar name: Dawn P. a slot under mine. I said aloud, "I need to meet this Dawn P" (my father had been telling about this teacher he subbed for that was a great triathlete and that I needed to meet her!) so when I saw her name I just kind of said it aloud. That is when my new friend DP turned around and said "IM DAWN P!!" I then told her the story of how I had heard of her and how highly my Dad spoke of her. We had a good laugh about this!



Then the awards started and when they got to my age group and announced that Dawn P was THIRD she jumped up and down and I gave her a big hug! Then they announced the I had placed SECOND> I was in SHOCK!! Dawn gave me a big hug and we laughed some more!! I was just a fun day and actually getting placed at my first tri was just the icing on the cake!






On Sunday afternoon I was finally able to access the results of the tri and see how I did:

• Swim: 8:51
• T1: 2:42
• Bike: 40:17
• T2: 0:50
• Run: 24:54

Overall I was 55th and the 14th female. While I have lots of room to improve I am very pleased with my performance.

I don't think I could have picked a better event for my first tri. It took place on my favorite "stomping grounds" to swim, bike and run. The people were just amazing and I can't wait to meet up with several of them again!!

I now know what to expect. I now know what I need to work on. I now know that I am in love with multisport and I cannot wait until next season. Here's to the start of a beautiful relationship!!