Three Things Thursday

Thing One:

Perfect timing for Halloween.
Yesterday I got to welcome the Little Green Monster to my home

Say Hello to my little friend-the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine.

 I know we will be bonding a lot over the long fall, winter and spring days when the Maine weather is not kind enough to let me outside to ride.
I am super excited to welcome the Little Green Monster to the family-this is a nice little upgrade from me (my previous trainer was a magnetic)

The trainer came with a Kendra KK Trainer tire and a Spinervals DVD too so BONUS!!


As much as I am dreading taking my bike inside for the winter, I am actually a little exited to have this new trainer! I am getting the pain cave ready (as mentioned in THIS post) and I know those dreaded hours of intervals will be a lot more "fun" on the Kurt!! I am super excited to try out the Spinervals DVD too. 
Do you Spinerval? Which is your favorite??


I really want to try some from Sufferfest-
you gotta love a tagline like 
I will beat my ass today to kick yours tomorrow


Thing Two:
I finally did my first "official" CrossFit session today. I have had a lot of interest in CF but the closest facility is at least 40 mins away, making it difficult to fit into my day with Lola. Luckily for me, there is now a local option for me.
I have done may WOD's on my own but it was nice to get some specific feedback on form with some of the exercises.
Today's workout was a warm up of basic skill review for today's session 


Curtis P x 5 
clean
left lunge
right lunge
push press

the above complex is performed with out putting the bar down, the lunges are done with the bar in the racked position 

not me source

and then 

air squats x 20

AMRAP for 10 mins

Then we did 75 CrossFit sit ups (a tad different than traditional-feet together and in a "frog" position to keep the hips out of the mix to focus on using core)

I got in 10 full round and had 3 Curtis P's done when time was called. I went light with the weight today (35lbs) to be sure my form was on point. This is a little different than the traditional weight training I do so I really wanted to be sure I was using my hips to clean and keeping the elbows UP while lunging.

I loved it and can't wait for more. I think this is going to be something that is easy to incorporate into my regime.

Thing Three:

I'll leave you with some fun pictures of Lola in action

she's flexing-showing me her muscles

90% of the time this is her expression SMILES

she's a runner!!

the Mommy and her princess

doing Princess Ballet!

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!!

Ready to Race-Timberman 70.3 Part II

Yes, I really am going to break this race report into segments...that being said. If you missed it, here is Part I

I did not have much of an appetite all day due to excitement and pre-race nerves (plus, I had a big breakfast of maple walnut french toast that stuck with me all day it seemed!) We did stop at a little diner on the drive home.


At the Pro Panel that day they talked about their pre-race nutrition-how they chose with simple "white" carbs and small portions since they did not want much food in their system come race day, it was that much less that they needed to eliminate. I kept this is mind and chose a small, simple dinner-BLT on white toast with some fries and tons of water. I normally have a burger, sweet potato fries and a small salad as my pre-race meal and this is what I had during training and race sims as well. At the time I chose the BLT, I had no idea how important this change would be later on-

Finally I was home. I need to get to sleep but first, I needed pack up my transition bag, morning clothes bag, breakfast and be ready to rock-n-roll at 1:00 am.

Lola was up when I get home and she "helped" me pack up everything and I got to talk to her about the race. I got to bed exhausted and ready to face my first long course triathlon in the morning. All I keep reminding myself as I attempt to relax in bed, waiting for sleep to come is-
"this is your race. stay inside your own head. don't worry about what jane doe is doing. this is your race. pace your race. smile."

I actually slept better this night than any other pre-race night in recent memory. I woke up, eyes wide open and glanced at the clock. 1:00 am on the nose. The alarm was set for 1:05 am. I shut off the alarm, jumped in the shower & then called Marc, he was ready to go! I hugged my still sleeping daughter good-bye and gave her a kiss on the forehead.  I said goodbye to my husband and he got up to wait with me. I would be travelling to the race with Marc and my husband, Casey would be coming to the race later in the morning with Lola. My parents were planning on arriving in time for the swim start.

I skipped having coffee since I wanted to sleep on the ride there. No sleep but I did manage to rest and tried to relax. I went over my race day plan over and over.

We had planned to stop at a Dunkin Donuts en route and close the race for coffee and to get hot water for my oatmeal. Not a single Dunkin' Donuts was open on the way there!! It is a race day ritual for me to have a DD coffee before a race-it's a good thing Rasmus said that some days you need to be flexible. I remembered those words and had to laugh.

We finally arrived at Ellacoya State Park at 3:30 am. They only allow a limited amount of athletes to park right there at the race site and the lot fills quickly. All others must drive to Gunstock Mountain and be shuttled into the race venue. At 3:30 am the lot was still closed but would be opened at 4:00 am. We asked the cop where to get coffee and the only option was a 24-hour McDonald's in the next town. Luckily, we had some time to kill so we drove there. I got coffee and Marc got some breakfast. We the drove back to Ellacoya and there were already lines of cars waiting to get in. This is when I perked up and I could just feel the surge of energy fill my body. It was like someone plugged me in-

The line or cars waiting to get into Ellacoya

It was here.

It's finally race day.

My biggest race to date.

I WAS READY TO GO!!!

We got to our parking stop and we were SO CLOSE to transition, the finish line and the bike in/out. Awesome!!

There was NO getting into Transition yet...

I started drinking more water and getting my things ready. Transition did not open until 5:00am so we had some time to walk around. We chatted with other athletes and visited the port-o-potties a couple times.

Now, I will pee anywhere at anytime-but I do not like public restrooms and I have a huge phobia about port-o-potties. They totally gross me out. It's almost like I can feel all kinds of germs crawling all over me once I have been in one. I do not touch the walls or the seat or anything in them. Now take 2,200 endurance athletes pre-race and those port-o-potties are pretty much DESTROYED! I knew that at some point I would need to visit these to eliminate any food in my system before the race. But being up at 1am, not having my usual coffee, race nerves and my PPP (port-o-potty phobia)--it was just NOT happening for me. Marc kept telling me I had to go but no luck. I knew that at some point during the race, I would probably pay for this.

Transition opened up and it was even more packed than the day before. I had a very small space to set up which was just fine with me.

Off to set up transition and check my tires

The Pros were starting at 7:00am and my swim wave was dead last into the water. While this gave me time to see the Pros swim it also gave me lots of time to think. It was a huge bonus to have Marc's truck parked so close to the venue too so I could go back and dress when ready and I had a spot to keep my wetsuit while I waited.
The sun was starting to rise and I walked over to the swim to check it out.
It looked FAR. A long ass swim...
So much further than any 1.2 mile swim I had done...wow. It was beautiful but FAR.
I chatted with a couple other athletes on the shore of the lake and they said the same thing-
That looks like a BIG SWIM!!



At Sunrise-I got to swim in the beautiful lake! Isn't it amazing??

Can't really see the buoy line in this one, but they are there

I just started out at the long line of buoys and repeated what I needed to do today on this swim.
Focus on MY swim. Stay calm. Find clean water. Avoid getting caught up in the "race" and swim just as I had trained. Calm and steady...calm and steady...calm and steady.



Almost ready to go swimming!



I got my race kit on, chomped on a Clif Bar and met up with friends. We chatted, watched the Pros swim, cross the timing mat and then it was time for me to suit up.

Just as I was making my way to the swim start to warm up, my parents made it and I was able to chat with them for a bit and get good luck hugs & kisses.

I got into the water and swam for a bit. The water was sooo nice and I felt good, started to relax a bit. I chatted with a few ladies in my wave and lined up. I saw Marc on the shore with the camera and gave him the thumbs up. I was ready to go!!

Well, here's goes nuthin!

Heading into the water giving a big THUMBS UP



My RED CAP swim wave #17-last to go!



I got to the back of the wave in the middle and we stood there for several minutes waiting for our turn. Then it was GO time. As with any race, there is the usual crush at the beginning but I moved myself to the outside (left) of the group-my feet got grabbed a couple times, I got an arm smack here and there but nothing major. After just a few mins, I was on my own and staying calm. Swim, swim, breath. Swim, swim breath. I used the mountains on my side to sight and started at the black, deep water and little green floaties in it and smiled. It was going smoooooth and easy. Just.Like.I.Trained.



It was a clockwise swim and the further out we got, it got a little choppier and there were waves from the boat but not too bad. Better than the training swim there. Luckily, most of my OWS training is in the ocean. This was cake. Stroke, stroke, breath. Stroke, stroke, breath. Nice...and that is all that really happened until I reached the first turn buoy. I was shocked that it came so quickly.

Then I started seeing yellow caps and blue caps and I was passing them. Hmmmm-no kidding.
I just kept swimming. And I was really enjoying it. I felt good. I was calm. I was happy.
AND I WAS PASSING OTHER SWIMMERS FROM OTHER WAVES>
what the heck??


Next turn buoy...really. I looked up to get my bearings, find a new sighting point and see how far I really had to swim. By this time there was another red cap swimmer on my right side, right on the buoy line and we kept even paced for quite a while. I'd sight off her cap and the other buoys. I was pretty pleased that I was swimming really straight too! Next thing I knew, red cap girl was no longer there and I was passing more and more other colored caps. Then I could see the bottom of the lake. GO GO GO

and then

It was over.
My swim was done. I was ecstatic! I could not believe it was that easy. I even enjoyed it!!


I kept to my race plan and had an awesome swim. I exited the water to hear screams from the spectators and the voice on the loud speaker, though I had NO idea what he was saying.

Run, run, run thru the swim exit. Make my way over to the wetsuit strippers-zip, off in a breeze and run to my bike. Time to go have some fun on those hills...

Projected swim time: 45-50 minutes

Acutal swim time: 41:41

I did it!!

Beach to Beacon 10k~Saturday, August 6th

Plan: Run my first Beach to Beacon 10k and NOT RACE!

Being a Tough Chik inside one of the Ft William's fort windows

Guess what? I did it. I was able to shut off "The Beast" and just run happy. No time goals (except to take it easy), no chasing a PR, nothing except--Run easy, run happy and enjoy the day.
With Timberman 70.3 just two weeks from race day, I needed to treat this run just like a normal training day. Plus, with the hills on this course it was my #1 priority to stay injury free. Fears of hurting my knee like I did this winter (and ending up in PT for 2 months) were not far from my mind.

I went up to the race with Dawn and Stephanie-it was a totally stress free morning! Dawn would be spectating since she has a sprint tri on Sunday and she would also serve as official race day photographer.  Stephanie would be running her second road race ever (her first being many years ago, a small local 5k put on by the YMCA).
Yes, her bib says Andrea but we cannot talk about that. Let's just call her Stephandria kay?

Sadly, there was no normal Dunkin Donuts stop on this morning and I was very sad. I had to suffer with coffee from home.

This is the largest road race in the state with close to 6,000 runners and a HUGE amount of crowd support. This race sells out in record time (I think under 8 minutes this year) and I was able to snag a spot. When I registered for this race this winter, I had no idea that a half Ironman would be on my schedule two weeks later...

We got into the area with no issues since it was still quite early (they close down a ton of the local roads) and we arrived at Portland Head Light at Fort Williams as the sun was rising. It was so pretty. We walked around and checked things out.

Then it was time to make it back to the starting line but come to find out there were only shuttles going from the finish back to the start AFTER the race. If we wanted to catch a shuttle to the start, we needed to leave Ft Williams and head over to the high school. Dawn zipped us there and we boarded a bus and got to the start with lots of time to spare.

Race Dude that helped us figure out the shuttle conundrum

I was so calm. So happy. Relaxed.

This is NOT the norm on race day and I enjoyed feeling so good.
I ran into several friends from Dailymile, my tri club, my YMCA and then it was a short warm up with Stephanie.

I told Stephanie going into this race that she could and SHOULD run her own race and not to worry about me. She wavered back and forth between staying with me, staying with me for a bit and just doing her own thing. We lined up at the back of the 7:00 minute mile corral and socialized with several friends-Yvonne and her hubby, Bob (aka Happy Bob), Misty and Dan.

It was almost GO TIME and I reminded Stephanie that she needed to run HER race today. My plan was to keep the pace around 8:30 to 9:00 minute miles.

After the gun sounded-off she went. I could see her head for a while and then she was gone. I smiled and watched her disappear into the massive crowd of runners. I was so happy that she decided to run for her and not wait for me. I enjoyed listening to the pitter patter of running feet as we moved along the course and people started to scatter out a bit. No ipod on today's run!
Shortly after the start I heard a familiar voice-it was Danielle and a friend. We chatted with her for a bit and I ran with her friend for a while and the she dropped back. Then "Happy Bob" and I met up and ran together for a couple miles. He was engaging the crowd, thanking the volunteers and just being "Happy Bob". Then he wasn't with me anymore (he said I took off on him on a hill).
I then reached the 3.1 mile mark and was feeling good. I cracked some sort of joke about being done and then someone said "no, it's a 10k" and I pretended to be shocked about it. Silly....
It was hot and humid - several spectators along the way set up hoses and sprayed water over the runners. I made sure to run under a couple of these. Before I knew it, we were heading into the final miles-which is several rolling hills. Then you reach the park and this is where my energy exploded. I was feeling fresh so I decided to push a bit harder and finished with a huge smile on my face.
Finish Time: 52:23
I was even happier when I finally got to review my splits.
Each and every single mile was in the 8:20's (well one was 8:19) and I finished the last .2 (well .37 per my Garmin) in 2:44 for a 7:23 pace. I stayed strong on all the hills and kept even paced through out. I call this a huge success for me.
I think the biggest challenge was holding back, staying calm and not blowing up. This was a practice in patience and I think I can hold back on the BIG DAY--being Timberman.
This race was an important training day for me MENTALLY.
Plus, I had so much fun and felt great the entire day!
The post race set up was fantastic and there was tons of stuff to snack on and drink. They were handing out lots of goodies too!
Cliff Bars, TD Banknorth bags, Frisbees, pens, etc.

By the way-
Stephanie killed it with a 47:13 (7:37 avg pace). This is with no run training. She only ran just a couple runs before the race and did a 14 miler with me a couple days before hand. Can you imagine what this chica can do with some real run training. Now, don't get me wrong. She is in fantastic shape already and it a personal trainer but I am anxious to see where she could take this whole running thing with a little bit of effort. So proud of you girl!!!

Stephanie Andrea's stellar finish!

And Dawn did fabulous at her Sprint Tri the following day-The Fisherman Sprint in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Even in the pouring rain and with rough seas she managed a 3rd Place Age Group finish. I am so proud of you too!!

And I got to come home to the Best Cheerleader EVER!! My #1 fan--