This Post is Brought to You by the Letter B!

 The Letter B: Balance, Balls, Banana Seats, Baseball, Bronchitis

...guess what, it's already near the end of August. Rev3 Maine is this weekend and I once again have a crew from across the country coming to Maine for the EPIC race. This is truly my favorite race of the year and I am so excited to once again have a blast.

3rd Place overall, 2013 "Team Small"

with Angela, who will be back this year! 

Scott (Train Fat Boy Train) returns to Maine this year! 

This year has been one of transition and struggle for me. Trying to balance all the balls in my life: work, family, clients, nutrition, and training. It has proved difficult, and it has been a bit of a struggle for me to put my own needs aside for time to train and work so many hours. SO much of who I am is tied up into training and racing and triathlon. I'd be lying if I said at times, I feel lost and incomplete without hours of riding, running and swimming. I miss it so...and as Cedar Point rolls around, I am engulfed in plans for one of my athletes racing the full there. I recall last year and remember with fondness the training, the chats with Coach Sharpie and the excitement building to perform. And I simply miss it.

CP 140.6 2013 at the finish with my INSPIRATION, Lola

However, I refuse to let the family ball drop. I am getting to the small amounts of free time I have with my daughter, who is growing up way to fast. I am so lucky to have been able to witness so many firsts with her this year. No more training wheels. Swimming like a fish. Running her first mile. Reconnecting with my childhood best friend, Beth, and watching OUR kids play together.

my little fish

I have always loved biking and my Dad saved my very favorite bike from my younger days in hopes that someday I would have a child and he or she would ride it.

Hello 1978-The Cactus Flower, complete with banana seat.

We had an amazingly relaxing family vacation at a lake house this summer, with lots of swimming, kayaking and canoeing. It was a little slice of heaven!

not a care in the world...laying on the dock

Family time was a big theme this summer and we had a blast at the local baseball games. Lola also won a heated game of "musical chairs".

I also spent a majority of the summer with a bronchial infection that just would not go away! Three rounds of antibiotics, inhalers, allergy meds, chest x-rays...you name it, they were trying it. Finally, I am getting some relief and things seem to be clearing up. I certainly lost a ton of fitness this summer (isn't it usually the other way around?). It is what it is...perhaps this was the Universe's way of shouting "SLOW DOWN JEN"

So with Rev3Maine weekend here, I am racing the oly and I will have fun. I will enjoy the swim in my beautiful Maine ocean, ride the rollers of the country bike course and will smile and cheer others on during the run. I don't care about the clock, PR's, Podiums or anything else. I will stay at the finish line and cheer until the last finisher of the day crosses (because it is my favorite part of the race!!).

Lola and her friend, Bella doing tires flips at one of my bootcamp workouts

I have been able to help so many OTHERS this year and that makes it all worth it. I am able to give back in ways I never imagined. Sharing my own story and journey is inspiring others to change their own lives. Through coaching, personal training and nutrition, I am helping others reach THEIR goals.  I love being able to do that and believe that is my mission in life to help others feel awesome. Just like I do every day.

I know what it feels like to be the before...and I know what it feels like to be the after. Every person deserves to feel amazing in their own body and to have the confidence to chase their dreams! 

Kerrymen Pub 5k

Not Racing.

Yesterday was pretty cool, it was the first time I have ever "raced" with the hubby at the Kerrymen Pub 5k. I have to put "race" in quotes because I chose not to race it yesterday, opting to keep my focus on the big picture (thank you Michelle Ford) which is my training schedule. 

What am I training for? A handful of Rev3 Half's and the big dance, Rev3 Cedar Point Full in Sept.

It was a pretty full week of training with a long bike with some strength work on Saturday and Sunday was a long run after the 5k. Sweet. Never done THAT before...but I do whatever Sharpie tells me to do (I'm submissive like that! ha...probably the only time in my life that I am).

Last year I went into this race to race and seeking a sub-22, which I missed by :25 seconds but walked away from that with a shiny new PR of 22:24. At the time, I was disappointed that I did not meet my goal and I did not appreciate the fact that I ran hard and gave it my all. This year I had initially wanted to chase that 21:xx minute clock again but realistically, this is not what my training is about right now. It really wasn't that important to me and that long run was important to me...so I made the decision to run the race and keep the focus on my training run.  

This is a pretty big event for a local 5k, about 1200 runners and a ton of people participate in the walk, Mary's Walk. The event is a fundraiser for Maine Cancer Fund and the race is in honor of a local woman, Mary Kerry, who died of cancer and this is the route she used to walk daily. This is the 15th year of the race and there were 3,000 people registered for the event!

We parked about a half mile away from the start and got out to warm up. It was rather cold for March (28*)  and there was a bitter cold wind but it was sunny! I really wanted to wear something cute, like a glittery green running skirt and knee socks but I don't have anything like...so I rocked my blue Rev3 gear with a smile (and three layers under it!).

Casey and I warmed up for a bit and then we found Marc, who was also running today. We ran a bit and lined up for the start. Then we found Jon, a friend of Casey's and one of the athletes I have been working with since the fall.

This race shuts down half of Route 1 through town and seeds the start by your run time (I love this!) but with that many people running there is always a delay to get moving.

Ready...set....GO!

 I started with Marc and Casey and the first mile was a very comfortable 7:20 and then you round the corner and head right into a wind and a slight incline for a bit. Round another corner and there is a water stop to the left and where I got jammed up...as I eased out to the right, a group of young runners blocked me. Around another corner and another slight incline...and WIND! My pace dropped to 7:40 for the second mile, around another corner and into the home stretch.

because it would not be a race without at tongue out pic, right??

running happy here, almost done!

I had been running with a local tri friend, Kim for a bit and I was just watching her run-so gazelle like! She's got these long, lean legs and she appeared to be just floating along...run, run, run. I had not seen Casey or Marc in a bit and I was just chugging along when I felt a tap on my shoulder at mile 2.5. It was Casey!! I smiled at him and we ran together for a bit and as we got a tad closer to the finish, with about a .25 mile to go, he took off...and then Marc ran past me, chasing after Casey and he was on a mission! I could tell he was out for blood and did NOT want Casey to finish before him. I just kept running, watch Casey just GO towards the finish with Marc going after him. I think I was smiling and laughing a bit but proud at the same time.

Marc on his way to a +1 min PR

Double PR!! Jon by 4+ mins and Casey by 1:30

Casey finished in 23:16 (smashing his previous 5k time by more than a minute and a half)

Marc finished in 23:24 (another awesome PR!! by over a minute!)

Me? I finished in 23:46 (I was predicting a 23:30 finish) 

Jon finished in 28:52 (the biggest PR of the day by more than 4 minutes!!)

I was so psyched to see the three of them get huge PR's!! One proud Coach for sure!

The wind was blowing and I was cold...it was time to get moving and get my training run done so it was time to say goodbye to everyone and get going.

Later on as I was checking out the official results. I had run today at a comfortably-hard effort that was more in line with how I would pace a 10k, I certainly did not put the pedal to the metal today...and as I checked the results I was a bit bummed. A "comfortably-hard" effort had placed me 8th in my age group! Now if I had pushed it today, could I have snagged an AG award?? Who knows...but would that have brought me any closer to my goals? Probably not...in addition to the 5k today, I got an additional easy 9 miles on the books and THAT is what is going to get me closer to my goals today.

Regardless, it was a super fun day and I am proud of my guys for crushing it out there!!

He Speaks: 5k's and Virrata

Hey Folks,

If you have been following Jen's blog for a while I am sure you have seen her post about Project X.

Let me introduce myself. I am Casey, otherwise known as Jen's husband and the subject in Project X.
For years, I had zero interest in this craziness of running (or any of that other stuff SHE does) but this fall I had a wake up call, an epiphany if you will. Now, I get it. I understand the hours of training, the quest to the finish line, the thrill that comes with challenging yourself and testing your limits. Now I am happily by her side and along for ride. I have my own journey and I am just happy that we can do this together!

Not only is Jen my wife, but she is also my Coach and has helped me shed 50lbs and go from a 40" pant size down to a 30! Jen is teaching me about the right way to train and race (and I think she picks on me the most out of all of her athletes).

When an opportunity came up to review a pair of men's running shoes from Saucony, I happily volunteered to be the guinea pig. I have been running in Saucony shoes since I started running and have been happy with the fit and comfort that the shoe provides. I started running in the Guide and recently tried the Fastwitch, a much lighter shoe. When I read the specs on the Virrata, I was very intrigued.

• very light and weighing in at 6.5 oz
• ZERO drop
• bright colors 

The bit of information that was of most interest to me was this-
Built on a 0mm offset, this shoe lets your feet do the work while providing plenty of protection from the road.

photo from saucony.com

I have been looking to gain more speed with my running and as I learned more about run mechanics and shoes (and still being a fairly new runner), it was important to me to have some cushion and protection yet a shoes that would allow me to run with the most efficient form.

I had a 5k coming up on the schedule and the Virrata arrived just in time, giving me a few days to get out and run before racing in a new shoe. The shoe immediately felt great-very comfortable like it had already been broken in to fit my foot. On my test run (5.6 miles) I could appreciate how light and springy they were! There was a sufficient amount of cushioning and I liked the way my feet just rolled along the road. I did notice a bit a calf tenderness after this first run but I was told by Jen that this was normal since I was moving into a more minimal shoe that I have been running in.

My second run in them was a short, easy run (Coach Jen had me on a mini-taper to get ready to race!) and they felt even better this second run. I had no other discomfort and liked the shoe even more.

Today was race day, it was a cold and windy day for sure. We got in some warm up miles before lining up and it was time to GO!

At the start line, we were all talking about new shoes and there was a guy next to me wearing the same exact Virrata's! We both agreed that we really, really liked this shoe!

At the race start, Im in blue (left, #946) running next to Jen in Rev3 blue (right, #947).
This was our first race running together!

My legs were warmed up and ready to run. Honestly, I could not even feel my shoes during the run they were so light and comfortable. I ran my way to 1 minute and 30 second PR today.

Thank you to Saucony for the chance to participate in this review.
Thank you Coach Jen for guiding me and being my cheerleader.



DISCLOSURE: All opinions expressed in this blog review are those of Casey and not Jen. The Saucony Virrata shoes were provided at no charge in exchange for Casey's honest evaluation of this running shoe.  All opinions expressed here are his own. 

Millionupledly Awesome

Wow, what a weekend.
Some extreme highs and some extreme lows.
The good was really good and the bad was a downright suckfest for sure.
But rest assured that there is plenty to talk about and I cannot wait to share my Rev 3 Maine race experience with all of you.
It was sooo awesome.


Not only did I have some really cool friends come all the way to Maine to visit and race
Jason
Matt
Heather
Scott
Jen
Angela

But I got to spend the weekend with my amazing Rev3 Family! I really loved all things Rev3 before this weekend, but after this race weekend, all of that love just doubled tripled quadrupled millionupled. Yes, that is my new word.

I had a heck of a race (hello awesome bike split!) and while I am cherishing that almost-19 minute PR, I am already nose to the grindstone on my next goal:
sub 5:30
and
a marathon in 8 7 weeks.
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The crew from Media Meld studios was with me all weekend taping my antics, the race and filming my backstory of how I went from Fat to Fit. It was a really cool experience and it's good to revisit those days and see just how far I have come in a relatively short time. I actually felt very comfortable talking in front of the camera and had a lot of fun!

This is where I reach out to YOU! My cyberspace family...

with less than two weeks to go to raise funds on the Kickstarter page, we really need to make this project a reality!

So what is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is an "all or nothing" way to fund creative projects, which means each project must raise the full amount of funding they are seeking for the project to be backed. In the case of FF2FL, the producers of the film are seeking $50,000 in funding to make this project successful.
If you come on as a backer and we do not reach the $50k goal, YOU ARE NOT CHARGED A CENT.
If we are successful at reaching our funding goal, the project will continue and you will recieve your "backer award" depending on the amount you pledged.

For example, $25.00 in Kickstarter support will get you a copy of the DVD plus special features not available on the full length feature film, including training tips!

HELP US REACH OUR GOAL GIVEAWAY!!
Our fundraising efforts will end with Kickstarter on Sept 13th at 9:00pm.
I will be doing my own sweet little giveaway to help us get there.
This will include a bunch of my favorite run things include Powerbar products and much more!!
CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR KICKSTARTER PAGE!
From today until 9/13 at 9:00pm, if you back FF2FL, let me know!!

Message me at jsmalltri(at)gmail.com and let me know you backed From Fat to Finish Line. You do not need to disclose the amount you helped with (unless you want to!) and I will put your name in the hat. If we reach our goal, I will pick THREE winners!!

Also, make sure you check out the FF2FL Facebook page, each Friday they are doing their own spectacular giveaway!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of winners...come back tomorrow to find out who won the Caption Contest!!

Rev3Maine Recon {THE RUN}

THE RUN

I am so happy to see this run course. Check out this thing of beauty:

The course if an out and back course, which I love.

This may not appear terribly flat, but it is a gentle, consistent climb for the first 2 miles or so-and as you can see, it is only a gain of 80 feet or so of elevation. Then you get to cruise down this nice little decline and head out onto the trails.

This is the first road you will travel from T2 (Milliken Street) and as you can see, this is pretty dang flat. A good time to get those legs moving and ready to GO GO GO. The picture shows the view from Walnut Street, where you will turn left.

Lots of big trees line the running route so think "shade". Beautiful huh?

As you can see, this road will start the slow, slight incline on Portland Road.

 More shaded, tree-lined, flattish streets.

This is really the biggest incline you will face on the run!

After you conquer that roller, you will head left again onto Millikin Mills road for a short stretch and then you will hit up the gravel paths of the Eastern Trail.

You will pass this little pond on your way to the trail.

How picturesque!

You many even want to stop for quick swim (or not).

On the start of the Eastern Trail.

The soft surface of the trail will certainly help those tired legs.

It is nice and smooth here too so nothing to slow you down!

The trail does wind through nature and the woods and on this particular day, it was very humid and very hot. This brought out a lot of the deer flies (which is a biting fly). It feels like a mosquito bite (a mosquito on steroids) and they are tenacious little buggers.

My opinion? They just make you run faster

 You will hit the turn-around on the trail and head back the way you came. Those little inclines you went up on the way are now declines to fly down for a super fast finish!!

YES YES YES!!!

And you have made it! BOOM-

Showing off the 12 bug bites of my back, which made me run even faster!

All in all, Rev3 had done an amazing job putting together an excellent course!

It is beautiful, challenging, spectator friendly and the community is so excited to have Rev3 in Old Orchard Beach. I can guarantee TONS of crowd support.

After the race, cool off with a dip in the ocean, ride the roller coaster, enjoy the lobster bake and enjoy that PR!

25 Seconds

22:24

25 seconds from my goal of a sub-22. 

This is a new 5k PR for me by about 20 seconds but it is bittersweet.
While I am happy with how I raced overall today, I did not meet my primary goal of sub-22 so I have a hard time celebrating the PR. It's deflated.

Where could I have improved to be 25 seconds faster?

It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool. I like cool for running. There was some pretty good wind out there today but overall, it was a good day to run.

Mile one was awesome...sub-7 and I was feeling good. Mile 2 was into the wind and a very mile sloping upward jaunt, nothing bad but I knew my pace dropped to 7:07 (I believe that was my mile 2 split...my Garmin is in my friends truck) and mile 3 I landed half-on/half-off the edge of the curb and twisted my ankle a bit (I'm fine, my shoe has more damage than I do) and that slowed me down for a SECOND. I kept running.
Funny thing...the only thing that really bothered me were my forearms! In my note to Coach Awesome, I had to laugh while I told her about it. I must have had my little fists balled up into fists of fury because they were on fire!!

RUN ON....

I know when I rounded the corned and could finally make out the time on the clock I could make out 21:xx...I ran and ran and ran and watched it tick over to 22:00 and I think my heart broke a little.
But I'd be dammed if I was going to let that stop me from from finishing this as strong as I could.

No excuses. 

I did my best. I did PR by 20 seconds. But I did not meet my goal but I will battle on and fight for the sub-22 another day. I just need to run faster. I know that  most of my running has been base building HR training but I am still disappointed that I did not achieve my goal.

The best part of the day? My training partner PR'd by over a minute. My good friends, Dawn and Stephanie came out to cheer me on (and they weren't even running).

I got to hang out with my tri club peeps!!
I got to Rock the Rev 3 R at the first race of the season!!





 I got to see so many friends and got to meet Dailymile buddy, Pauline.


 I got to cheer on my friend's little girl as she raced to the finish!

Then this made me realize that I am one lucky gal to have the friends I have-


Dear bestie,
You rock. You PR and you still want more. Did you give everything? You gave everything you had today. Next race....who knows? Without a whole lot of speed training, you gave everything your legs would allow. This 5k is not your finish line. You have a race with a whole bunch of hills that is calling for your best. Don't lose sight of that. You know coach awesome would say the same.
Proud of you girlfriend.:)