Showing posts with label awesome sauce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awesome sauce. Show all posts

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Rev3Maine Awesomeness (and a winner)

I don't even know where to start on the chonicle that is Rev3Maine Weekend!



Wednesday night I went down to the race site to get in a swim and several of the Rev3 peeps had arrived and I was getting SOO psyched for the weekend. This race has been on my calendar since last fall when they announced it and it was finally HERE!

Thursday morning while out on my ride, I hit up the bike course for a final ride and the big Rev3 trucks had arrived! WOO HOOO More excitement. I got to chat with a couple Rev3 friends and knew I'd have to bring Lola right down to see her favorite Rev3'er, the beautiful and fabulous Laura!

Thursday when I got to finally pick up the friends arriving at the airport--but there was a small twist to the plan. Mama Bear herself needed a ride to the race site from the airport and I was happy to provide transportation!!

Jason and Scott did not get in for quite a bit so Carole made sure to make good use of the time by teaching Lola some karate.

Scott and his family, Kristine and Laila all arrived safely and then it was Jason's turn. One more Rev3'er needing help, Pat (could listen to that brogue all day long!). With the help of my friend/training partner/coaching-guinea-pig, Marc everyone was well taken care of and made it to the  places they needed to be!

Friday was promising to be a full day so it was time to get home and get to bed!

The first order of business was to get out to the Rev3 swim site and introduce Jason to (not-so) cold Atlantic ocean water. While the rest of us marvelled at how nice the water temps were, Jason was a tad cold but manned-up quite well and was swimming just fine.

At the swim I got to meet up with another team mate I have been dying to meet, Joshua. Who, in my opinion is just freaking awesome sauce. Not just as an athlete (congrats on London!!) but just an all around decent human being who has overcome his own obstacles in life and is living healthy now.

This is team mates Kristen and Joshua on race morning,
picture lovingly hijacked from Facebook :)


So Friday brought more fun at the Rev3 site, getting to see my team mates, friends and just enjoying hanging with some really cool people.

And speaking of cool people, two new cool people rolled into my life this weekend too.
Jen and Angela.
Jen is a fellow blogger and we have been in contact via social media for at least a year or a year and a half. Jen is the gal who invited me to be a part of the From Fat to Finish Line film and the Ragnar Relay team in the first place. Jen is also the Executive VP of Program Development at Media Meld Studios and Angela is the President of Media Meld, the company producing the documentary.

They were able to schedule a visit to Maine to get some footage of the Rev3 Maine race and start getting some back story on my journey (more on that later).

The best part of their visit is Jason had NO IDEA that Jen was coming to Maine for the weekend. They have gotten to know one another through this lovely little thing called social media as well.

I also got to experience THIS awesome bomb!!



with Jason (me) Heather and MATTYOOOOOO!
I seriously don't think I could have been more delighted to spend time with such awesome people. My energy was on EXPLODE and I was SOOO ready to race!!

Dinner was a crew of us at Jimmy The Greeks








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Thanks to all who commented on the Caption Contest!


The winning caption is:

"Um, Mommy? I think you need to add shower to that awesome training plan from Coach Sonja!"

Wendy Nitschke please email me at jsmall14(at)maine.rr.com and I will get you hooked up with some Foggle and TriSlide!!


Monday, September 19, 2011

Awesome Sauce-The Mainiac Race Report

Finis~
The final tri of the 2011 season is in the bag and I went out with a bang and some bling!!


Best Buddies! Celebrating our Friendiversary!!
As I mentioned in my last post, I was feeling under the weather with some tummy issues for a couple days before The Mainiac and I my training has not been focused on short, speedy distance of late. I decided to shelve my lofty goals and just have fun.
I mean, really...how can you not have fun at this race??

The swim in in the ocean
The bike is literally through my back yard
The run is along the ocean

The best part? The people who put on this fun race -The Northern York County YMCA (where I work!) and the Kennebunk Beach Triathlon Club-as well as those who participate!!


With Jason pre-race--it was chilly!!

I got to see so many local tri friends and catch up with everyone. I got to meet Jason, a Dailymile friend and podcaster from Up Maine.


The YMCA's Marketing Director & fellow tri Tough Chik, Kris


The Swim-1/4 mile
This year the water was amazing. Calm, comfortable and clear!! (last year it was rough seas and freezing)
I was in wave three of five-my bff Dawn (who is a far stronger swimmer than I) was drafting off the feet of SuperGirl (that's what I'll call her-she is a local rock*star and usually wins overall 99% of the time) and I drafted off Dawn's feet. Once we rounded the last buoy, SuperGirl took off and Dawn started to swim to the left. I yelled for her to come back towards me and we ended up exiting the water together, holding hands and laughing!
I know...we're awesome.
Swim Time-9:56

gotta love running in beach sand up to sandy transition area too!
T1: 1:37

The Bike-14.85 miles
Dawn beat me out of transition by 8 seconds and yelled to me "I'll see ya on the bike!"
Ahhhh, the bike. I love biking-like, really really love biking. I know this course really well and I also knew that there were some really rough sections. One part of the course is all torn up asphalt with pot holes the size of a Volkswagen bug. Then just days prior to the race, a section of pavement along the beach at Goose Rocks was torn up and down to dirt & gravel. They said it was packed but...dang, it was pretty "slick".
I just enjoyed the ride and said hi to friends volunteering along the course. Lola was supposed to be with my husband at his uncles house on the bike course but when I went by their house, they were not there.
WAAAAH! I really wanted to see my girl.
Before I knew it, the bike was done and I had fun!
Bike Time-44:04 (20.2 mph avg)
I had the 4th fastest bike split out of the gals which I am happy about. If only I had actually pushed!!

T2: 0:47

The Run-3.1 miles
As I am finding out, I cannot feel my toes or the front part of my feet for a while off the bike-it's like they are cold. But then about 1/2 mile I get feeling back in 'em and I'm good to go. I am still learning to run at a faster pace without music. Long runs-check. Short, fast runs-eeeehhhh. I miss having that driving music that helps me shut off my brain and run fast.
Regardless, I have not been training to run fast and I just ran to enjoy the day and the scenery. I cheered on other runners, thanked the volunteers and said hi to friends along the course. I'd glace at the Garmin only on occasions and would see 7:40's flashing. It did not feel like a 7:40 effort (more like 8:30) so I just went with it. Up the final hill and zipped around the corner into the shoot.
Run Time- 23:49 (7:41 avg pace)


The Finish-I'm on the right, not the tall dude! lol

Final Results: 1:20:10
29th Overall
7th Female
2nd in Age Group (35-39)


AG Podium-Awesome Melissa (3rd) and me-she is amazing!
Bring on the bling! Allison (1st in AG) and Jason (1st in AG) and me

I had a super fun day and I am pleased to close the 2011 season with this day.
It was smothered in awesome sauce!!
I got to spend the day with friends and my YMCA "family". The weather was amazing and I could not stop smiling all day.


A big bunch of awesome-Me, Angry Bob, Melissa and Dawn!

A "MARC SANDWICH"-Me, Marc & Dawn
Is there really anything better than that on race day?

I have some new goals and I know that 2012 is going to be an amazing year!!