An AG Championship Series with Rev3!!

Where is time going the last couple weeks!!
Craziness I tell ya...one of the crazy-awesome things that got released this week--

So did you hear about the Rev 3 Age Group Championship Series that is being launched for the 2013 season? I am SO flippin' excited for this!!

New for our 2013 race season will be Rev3′s Age Group Race Series. This series will provide our Rev3 athletes an opportunity to race against the best age groupers in the country in a season finale, championship Rev3 race. The series will also include Clydesdale and Athena divisions. Our inaugural Rev3 Championship Race will be Rev3 Knoxville Half in 2014. Rev3 races of the Olympic, Half and Full distances will serve as qualification races for the championship race.

In addition, Rev3 will have an age group leader board on our website. We will do weekly stories on age groupers competing in the series and we will provide links to these athletes social media pages and blogs. Lastly, we will highlight the age group championship race with a video, the same way we do the pro races! Not only will age group winners be able to compete in the super-competitive series championship race, first, second, and third place winners will be awarded cash prizes. Prizes from our Rev3 sponsors will also be awarded to our fourth and fifth place winners in each age group, to include Clydesdale and Athena athletes.

Beginning this race season, Knoxville 2013, Rev3 age group athletes will start accumulating points. Take a look at some of the series specifics below:

1. Races of Olympic, Half and Full distances for 2013 will serve as a qualifying opportunity for the 2014 championship race.
2. The distance for the championship race, will be the Half at Knoxville and it is mandatory to compete in if you want to win your age group in our series.
3. You will have to compete at a minimum of 2 Rev3 races (Olympic, Half or Full distance events). You can race multiple events, but we will only count your best 2 races.
4. A cross country scoring format will be used. 1st place is 1 point, 2nd place is 2 points and on down the line. So the lower point total you have at the end of the 2013 race year, the better.
5. We will have a limited number of slots per age group, based off the % of athletes that raced with us in 2012 (TBD still). So, the Male 30-34 will probably have more spots then the male 60-64, as more athletes race in the 30-34 category.
6. Tie breakers for the series will be determined by the lowest overall percentage to the winning time of your age group in the 2 races that were used to qualify for the championship event.

We will be offering the following slots for our age group championship race:

Age	Male	Female
- 19  20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39  40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60 +  Clydesdale/Athena	6 12 25 39 37 35 23 14 8 6 10	6 13 15 21 20 19 13 9 6 6 8

As the nitty gritty details become known, we will be posting them to the Age Group Series link on our website. In addition to the new series, we will be offering the ALL ACCESS PASS once again. The pass will be available through the month of November, at which time we will discontinue sales for the remainder of 2013.

It should also be noted that Rev3 will be working closely with USAT to determine the best course of action in regards to age group drug testing at our races.  As more information becomes available, we will share it on our website, but please know that we WILL be testing age group athletes.

Age group athletes your opportunity is here. We are excited to serve YOU.

Revol-U-tion3 Triathlon. The revolution begins with U!

I know I have TONS of super-fast-friends who will absolutely have a blast with this series!!

As a member of the Rev 3 Team, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the series!!
Tell me what you think!

ABtastic!

This getting up at 2am business is starting to get old...and least I can embrace the quiet time and get stuff done. RIGHT??

I think I have had an epiphany about it though. Not only is it the time change having an impact in my internal clock but I am not training the amount of hours and putting the miles on my body like I was just a few weeks ago so my body does not require that much sleep. Maybe?
Seems like a good theory to me!

I am really happy to be back in the weight room (yes,  I am saying it again!) and cleaning  up the diet is having quick effects! My hands are starting to get calloused again (no gloves for me!) and "The Vein" is making an appearance again! 

While most of October was focused on running and planning for the marathon, I was easing into some circuit training and doing my own classes again (something I avoided during tri season). There is also this little Rev3 Abtastic Challenge I am doing with some of my Rev3 team mates and I have to be rocking a killer 6-pack for Knoxville (in May 2013) but I also have this little 200 mile run to complete in January.

So here is a peek of how things are progressing:

SEPTEMBER: my starting point. I was not happy with how "soft" I had become without weight training.

OCTOBER: dropped a bit of belly fat and starting to get back to a learner mid-section. Obliques and that lower V are starting to come around again...

NOVEMBER: (this week, so mid-November) two solid weeks of clean eating and lifting heavier than I have been. Throw in some high intensity circuit training and running/biking and we are finally seeing progress!

Seeing how my body has responded with and without weight training over for the last two seasons was an eye opener and I will work to KEEP it part of my regime next season. 

I have been asked many times about my tummy (considering what it used to look like). 

Yes, being fat heavy and carrying Lola to an astounding 42 weeks of pregnancy took it toll on my body, but luckily genetics are on my side with this one. I don't have any stretch marks on my belly from either life event...but neither did my Mother.

I also contribute it to my weight loss being slow and healthy. I was losing the weight slowly, I was eating nutritious foods and I drank a TON of water. I think this certainly played a role. 

I am also asked often HOW to get a lean belly.

You can crunch away until the cows come home but that is not going to do a thing for you if there is a soft layer of fat covering up those abs! So how do you get a lean midsection?

EAT CLEAN!

There is a little saying "Abs are made in the kitchen" 

What you eat and how you eat plays a huge role in this. Eating clean simply means eating REAL food. Ditch the processed stuff, get rid of the sugar- and sodium- filled foods. Alcohol needs to go too...look to eat lean proteins, lots of veggies (green ones!), fiber rich complex carbs and water, water, water! 

CARDIO!

and while nutrition is 80% of the battle, you need to add in cardio (I love HIIT drills in conjunction with steady state cardio). Cardio is going to help rid the body of some of that fat and water covering up those abs! Core stabilizing cardio activities like kickboxing are a great way to have fun AND work your body!

CORE!

you need the above two along with CORE specific training. You need to target the upper, lower and sides of your core. Twisting crunches, bicycle crunches, hanging leg raises, planks...

I also like to incorporate compound exercises that force the core to work-a favorite being walking lunges holding a weight overhead and my all time favorite body-blasting exercise-

BURPEES!! (cardio blast-core engaging, upper body!)

So with less than two months until the Ragar Relay in Florida with my FFtFL crew and Knoxville a good 6 months from now, I've got a lot of work to do to get HERE...

So with that, I am off to work my abs at AnneMarie's Core Class and then I'll do some running and lifting. Getting up at 2am has it's benefits...I'll be ready to rock and roll at 5am.

What is your favorite CORE exercise?

Adventures!

A tree recently downed by Sandy

I am thoroughly enjoying my little off-season break from any scheduled training. I have a general idea of WHAT I am doing on a certain day but there are no scheduled workouts, no yardage to hit in the pool, no HR intervals on the bike and no track-tasticness to tackle. That will be here soon enough!

I've been hitting up the weight and I am pleased with how quickly my body is responding to getting back into the gym. I really did miss weight training this past season and definitely feel that this needs to stay in my training regime this season.

I'm now teaching another group exercise class and the Y on Thursdays (awesome!) so I had a killer set planned for Thursday and then I have my normal bootcamp class on Friday morning. I have been actually DOING my classes (wow! work!!) so between Thursday, Friday, running and some additional workouts I was doing, my lower body was WORKED. My shoulders and core were that sublime sore that is a gentle reminder of how hard you worked.

I have been loving running and have been getting in at least 3 miles every day for the last week or so...Saturday morning, I hit up the TM at the house early for a quick run. It was one of those runs where the first 10 mins was a little rough and sore but then my body responded and I felt fantastic. Happy. I could feel every muscle in my body and I was just enjoying the feeling of the run.

Then I got for out a "naked" bike ride for a couple hours. It was a bit chilly but it was so nice to out and just riding with no plan, no agenda, no destination and no Garmin. JUST GO and enjoy the day.

Sunday I hit up some trails and just ran, had fun and was my dorky self--Enjoying every minute of it. I don't know why I don't do this more!!

I was seriously contemplating taking a swim...there was this little waterfall then lead into a somewhat shallow pool at the bottom. Maybe in warmer temps...

There were all kinds of trails all color coded so it made it pretty easy to follow. I never once thought about getting lost-except the HOPE of getting lost! I could have stayed out there all day, running around and playing.

This was the "pink trail" and we had a lively conversation about what the colors stood for. Was the "black trail" black like a black diamond trail skiing? My running buddy has his own idea of what the pink trail was for...PANSIES! (not his exact words for the pink trail...lol)

Showing that tree some of my sweet moves!

It has been my intention all along heading into the off season to get onto the trails running and to get some mountain biking in. I tend to avoid these kinds of activities during big training cycles and near races since I fear injury (my middle name is NOT Grace).

Rev 3 has an adventure race series and this year they are doing this pretty epic race in Wyoming. The Cowboy Tough Expedition Race in July. It is a four day race covering 320 to 485 miles.
*drool*
So.Want.To.Do.THIS.

So maybe I have a tiny bit of motivation to get out there and get a little more adventure into my life. Now to learn orienteering...

Five Things Friday

Five Things Friday...total and absolute random things I am thinking about today.

1-Lola was watching a cartoon the other day when this commercial came on. My first thought is this a joke. My internal conversation was interrupted by Lola's squeals of delight Mommy can you get me that? Of course Lola, of course...I mean look how happy THIS little gal is to play with some fake dog doo.

source

2-It's been about two weeks into the triathlon "off season" for me and it's been nice to just do what I want with no schedule to follow. I've changed up my diet and been hitting the weights. Lots of running, short runs though. My body is responding quickly and I am happy to be putting some muscle back on even if I did lose a lot of strength over the last season.

It's my goal to be rockin' a killer 6 (or 4) pack for Ragnar in January and of course, there is the little Abtastic Rev3 challenge I've got to be ready for in time for Knoxville in Spring.

3-Speaking of Ragnar...this whole adventure is less than 2 months away and it blows my mind that it is almost here already. I cannot wait to finally meet everyone face to face. This is going to be such an amazing experience.
As for costumes, I have a vision of what I want to wear...it'll all come together soon! Now to find the perfect ammo belt!


4-Speaking of bullets...I'd like to lay a few into this sleep schedule of mine. Now, I am up early early as it is--3am--since I need to ready to rock n roll to teach boot camp at 5am, but with this time change I've been getting up every day at 2:00 am. I mean, really...COME ON! I think I am going to stay up really late one night this weekend just to try to reset my body clock. Ever the optimist though, I have been using that quiet time alone to get work done and be productive.
HAS THE TIME CHANGE EFFECTED YOU?

5-Sunday is Veteran's Day. Make sure you take the time to thank a veteran for their service to our country. You were able to vote on Tuesday because of them. You are able to complain/celebrate the results because of them.



I am planning my own little long run on Sunday and will be honoring those who are no longer with us. Running and triathlon has brought so many amazing people into my life, people like Bob and Nancy Kelly. So on Sunday, I will especially be thinking of Nancy & Bob Kelly, and Captain Christopher Cash, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2004.

 

Running Through History

I was a very good student in school and while I did the work required for each class through my years of schooling, history was never one of those classes I got excited about. But now that I am older and so much wiser (ha ha), I have a much deeper appreciation for history. It could be that a certain teacher in high school scarred me for life with an essay project on the subjects listed in the song We Didn't Start the Fire, but I digress...

My new-found interest in history all started many years ago with a simple television show called Band of Brothers, the story of Easy Company and their battles in World War II Europe. I was just fascinated with the stories and started reading about WWII and found myself watching old WWII movies like Patton, Bridge on the River Kwai along with modern day tales like Inglorious Basterds.

Then I moved into a Civil War phase and it only deepened my interest in my own personal family history with the Civil War. My great x howmany grandfather and his brother were prisoners of war at Andersonville Prison (Camp Sumter) in Georgia. Both are buried in the Andersonville Prison Cemetery. What makes this story even more interesting is that of all of the graves in Andersonville Prison, there is one grave that differs from the rest-nearly 13,00 graves-and that would be the head stone of my ancestor, Corporal Lewis S. Tuttle, who died as a POW on November 30, 1864 . There is a white marble dove atop his marker and no one has ever solved the mystery as to WHY there is a dove. 

This is a picture of the dove and head stone, photo from NPS.gov

A couple years ago my parents made the trip down South and to visit Andersonville along with other historic Civil War sites through out the South.

This summer the mini-series Hatfields & McCoys came out on History Channel. I don't watch much television but being the geek I am, I watch several shows from THC and Discovery. When I saw the previews for this, I knew it was going to be DVR'd! I was familiar with the basic story about the decades long battle between the two families-the Hatfield and McCoy clans- that almost sparked a civil war between Kentucky and West Virginia. 

The movie was excellent and the story did not disappoint. I've actually watched this series two or three times. These people were flippin' crazy with hate for one another and I found myself reading about these batshitcrazy folks when I discovered there was an actual

HATFIELD & MCCOY MARATHON

...are you kidding me? I had to take out the list immediately and add this race to the "The List". This year it was run on June 9th and there is no date listed yet for 2013. If the 2012 date is any indication to when it is run, it will most likely be around the same time which is just after Quassy. How much punishment am I willing to put myself through? Quassy and then a marathon. In Kentucky and West Virginia?

A SHOTGUN start in the middle of the Food Mart parking lot? yes, please!

(here's a little video of Jeremy doing his first half marathon at the H&MM, pretty funny)

oh, wait. You mean, it gets even better than that?

Yes, it does. My friend Connolly sent me this link the the World's 15 Toughest Marathons. 

Well that pretty much sealed the deal and you can bet that THIS Yankee will be bringin' her butt down south to run this in the near future!

Another gem on there is the Blue Ridge Marathon (also on said list). Check it out.

Is there a Marathon there that you want to do someday?

Have you done any of the Marathons listed?
Is there an interesting race on your "list" of must do's?

Let's hear it!

Happy Halloween!

I wanted to get this post up on Monday but with the whole hurricane Sandy thing, it just did not happen. We had a lot to do to prep our house for the storm and we figured my husband would be dispatched out since he works in the tree industry. 

We live on the coast and lucky for us, this storm hit a more southern route than they first predicted and it saved us from a huge impact. We lost power for quite a while but nothing major. I am just in awe to see the devastation to New York and Jersey. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who have been impacted by this horrific storm. 

I want to just hop in my car and drive to NYC to run the marathon now!! New Yorker's and strong and resilient  I know that the damage will not hold them down!!

Happy Halloween!

I had to share some of my favorite costume's I have come across with friends. 

This is my friend Keith. Keith is dressed up as....
Lance Armstrong.
I actually don't hate Lance even with all the hype lately but I found this quite hilarious. You have to see his sponsors to appreciate it...



His bottle of HGH is little candies!

Moving right along to another favorite of mine:



This is the lovely Oberg Family. Eric (right) is an avid Rev 3 racer and his family did the Rev3 adventure race in Maine this summer. The entire family is rocking some Rev 3 love dressed up as a Rev 3 race.

I stumbled across this article at BikeRadar.com from several years ago. It's 8 costume suggestions for cyclists. I found it quite funny...

As a cyclist, you are much, much better equipped for Halloween than the average person. Why? Because youalready wear outrageous costumes on a daily basis.

Think about it. Even though you are a (presumably) sane adult, you wear a shirt that would look much more at home on a superhero. You wear shorts that are much, much too tight, as if you were on your way to lead a jazzercize class. You wear a hat that belongs on an alien.

And, to top the whole look off, you wear what sound and look like tap-dancing shoes.

It's no wonder, then, that cyclists tend to be pretty lazy about dressing up for Halloween parties. Instead of putting time and money into it, you just show up in the outfit you rode to the party in. Hey, why not? A little sweat completes the effect, right?

What you don't realize, though, is that all your friends, family and co-workers are rolling their eyes at your lack of imagination. "There goes Tim," they say, "pretending again that his cycling outfit is a Halloween costume."

It doesn't have to be that way, my friend.

By spending just a few extra minutes, you can alter your cycling outfit for the evening, making it so you're not just "a cyclist" at the party, but a very particular sort of cyclist. Simply follow these easy instructions.

Doping Cyclist: Dress up in full pro kit. Use a marker to draw needle tracks up and down one arm. Tie a length of surgical tubing above one elbow and leave a syringe sticking out of your vein. Wheel around an IV tower for the duration of the party. Stuff your jersey pockets with bottles of drugs. When anyone asks what / who you are, respond that you are a professional cyclist. When they ask what all the needles and drugs are for, say you have no idea what they're talking about. No matter what, do not admit you have any drug-related items on hand.

Mountain Biker (If You're normally a Roadie): Prepare for the party by gaining 10Kg and getting 20-30 tattoos. Wear baggy pants -- baggy enough that they keep falling down. Arrive drunk at the party and continue to drink once you get there. Insist you have mad skillz.

Roadie (If You're normally a Mountain Biker): Prepare for the party by putting a stick in your butt. Wear uncomfortably tight cycling clothes for the party, drink nothing put thrice-filtered water and tell everyone exactly how many calories and fat everything they're eating contains.

Triathlete: Don't come to the party, because you've only done four workouts today and still need to get in one more and you don't want to break training, no matter what.

Project X

I have been working on a project for a little while now I finally feel that I am able to discuss this openly on the blog--Now, in order for you to understand the absolute impact of this major life change, I must back up many years for you to fully appreciate the scope of change that has occurred. 

As you know (or you may not know...) I used to be FAT. While I was walking around all "large", it was my husband who was the athlete. He was always an athlete, from his youth well into adulthood. He excelled at sports, especially football and hockey, and continued to play hockey in college. As an adult, he kept his passion for hockey alive by working as a referee for all kinds of levels of hockey-from high school up to collegiate levels. His job also kept him physically active and fit. He would also workout daily. 
Me...not so much. (ok, let's be honest...I did NOTHING)

Fast forward a few years and due to a change with his job, he was not able to travel for hockey like he could in his other position so he gave up reffing. 
When I discovered my love for fitness and it seemed that the roles were reversed.

I was now the athlete and the pounds were starting to creep onto him. 

Now, when you have any kind of drastic change in your life (ie wife loses a ton of weight) it is also going to change the dynamic of the relationship. Of course there was new stress and strain put into our relationship with the "new Jen". 
I train a lot of hours and that can mean a lot of hours away from home and family. 
Resentment towards my training schedule and "my new life" was starting to build and it was certainly creating a wedge in our marriage. For years I held out hope that Hubby would join me for a run or a bike ride but there was not a shred of interest there...again, only resentment for the sport I had grown to love. I know first hand you cannot force anyone to change, it has to come from within. 

Sometimes life gives you lemons and sometimes life just throws 'em right at you sooo hard it leaves a bruise. So after a series of events it seemed that life was about to take a dramatic turn of events and I feared that we had reached a boiling point. But that is when life--the same life that is chucking lemons at your head-- spins you around and hands you the unexpected.

While Hubby was schlepping around our daughter at the Rev 3 Maine race-and getting to meet some of my wonderful triathlon friends-something sparked a fire in him that weekend and he was ready to make some changes in his own life. 

A couple of days after the race, he told me that he has been INSPIRED by what he witnessed at the race and wanted my help. He was ready to seek out a healthy life.

*picking jaw up off of floor*

I was a little apprehensive at first and to be completely honest, I doubted that he would even stick with a program longer than a few weeks. I mean, football season was rolling around and it would be back to the weekend beerfest-TVwatching-junkfood-eating-crap I had been dealing with for the last several years. 

But here we are now, at the end of October and he is still going strong. I know he is serious because I can count on one hand how many beers he has consumed since late August. THAT right there is an epic change. I believe that he is committed to making long lasting changes and I love that he is making both short-term and long-term goals that are not scale focused.

He has lost 20 pounds.
He is running or biking almost every day (of course, a good coach monitors their athletes and Rx's rest days even when said athlete protests!)
He is running up to 4 miles now and ran a 5k (not race, just distance) in a tad over 30 mins last week. 

We have run together a few times-something I dreamed of for a long time.
I was coming in from a bike ride the other day and saw a familiar figure up ahead of me, running towards me.  To my surprise, it was him. He has decided to get out for a quick run after work (Lola was with my parents while I was out riding). 

So now that I see that he is serious about making a change and he has given me some specific goals for the future, I have agreed to take him on as an athlete. He is doing fantastically well and I will be chronicling his own journey here as PROJECT X. 

Box Checked: 26.2 Miles-The BayState Marathon

wow, what a great day. 
I actually did not expect running a marathon to be so "nice"
...if that word is even the word I am looking for. It's hard to describe in words how I feel about yesterday's marathon but let's just say there was not a single negative thought in my head the entire run. It really was a great day and I had plenty of happy in me the entire time.

My focus this season was the half-distance triathlon and when some late season plans changed, I decided to run a marathon since I am doing my first full next season so, why not, right? I was initially concerned that I would not have a lot of training time for this but I figured I had a pretty strong endurance base with triathlon training and I just needed to get some miles on my legs to get the distance. Coach was pretty reassuring that I could do this no problem. So she put together a run plan for me and things went pretty smooth. It was all easy (low heart rate) running and my body handled the miles quite well. I knew I would not be fast for this marathon but I was confident that I would have a good day.

Saturday we made the drive to Mass for packet pick up and Lola and I played parking garage ninjas.

Be Afraid 

The first few days before the race things were not going my way; Lola got sick with a head cold (que the Zicam, Emergen-C, and ChuckieTea) and I did not sleep much. I did get a chance to nap on Saturday and I assumed that Saturday night, my sleep would be restless. 
au contraire
I slept like the dead. 
I am always a restless sleeper before a race but I think because I felt so prepared to run and I did not have any big goals for this race other than to run 26.2 miles, I was so CALM.
I am NEVER calm...especially before a race! 

I ate my usual chicken, rice & veggie dinner that I have been eating before every long run and then laid my stuff out for the morning. 
I have been training in my :gosonja: kit (aka Coach) from Kompetitive Edge and it's been so comfy! I wanted to show my Rev3 love so the obvious choice was my Cedar Point visor-CP will be my full race next year! Pockets full of Powebar gels and a funky dubstep playlist to rock out too on the course.


It was also time to get tat'ed with some Punk Rock Racing love.

Lola loves Punk Rock Racing! She's giving me the "give it some Grrrr" peptalk!

Let's do this!
I was so chill race morning, calm, happy, smiling...and just ready to run. 
I was going down to the race with my athlete/training partner, Marc who was running the half. We got there with plenty of time to spare. Got dressed and went to warm up. 

pumped and ready to go!

I warmed up for some easy miles with a few surges thrown in, peed a couple times and lined up to run between the 9 and 10 minute mile corrals. All of my long runs were around the 10 min mile pace and this is pretty much what I expected to average for the race. A couple days prior, I had a conversation with Coach about pacing, MAF, etc. that crept into my head and stayed there for several days before the race....

My plan for the race was all easy the first half, pick up the pace after the first loop and then GO time the last 6 miles. All my training for this race has been easy and I did not want to take any gambles on race day by pushing too hard and blowing up. I wanted to have a GOOD day...and as I stated, there were no goals of BQ'ing today!

Nice and easy out of the gate and I was just trotting along, heart race nice and low, settled. No spazzing out, I did not let people passing me get into my head...it was just me, the road and the sunshine above (and a ton of other people running). I ran for quite a while without music, just taking the environment in and enjoying running and then it was a nice little mix of some dubstep and dance-a new music choice for me! It was nice to just kind of zone out and run. Before I knew it, I had reached the halfway point (2:04) and I was feeling good. This is also when I stopped to pee...ahhh, good stuff. I lost about a minute and a half at the squat stop but it was sooo worth it. 

Run, run, run...things were just smooth. I was happy, I was feeling good and it was turning out to be a good day. Around mile 18, I started to see the start of the marathon carnage...walkers, lots of stopping, people on the side of the road stretching their calves/hamstrings/quads/etc, one gal was in a medic van, one guy was done for the day with his shoes off and sitting on the side of the road. People who passed me earlier in the day were now coming back to me as I passed them. My paced had slowed a tad but I was going strong and there was not an ounce of quit or negativity in me. 

This is a two loop run course and there is one section that the road is sooo slanted, it was actually very uncomfortable to run like that. I got as far into the road and off the shoulder as safely as I could, but it was still very slanted. I noticed it way more the second loop when my right side was starting to "talk" to me.  

Mile 20 came and I was still feeling good and it was time to pick up the pace. My legs were really feeling it now but it was OK. I was ok, I was not in distress and I was still happy. I just could not hit the pace I wanted but I was able to let my HR get a little higher now. No more watching the Garmin, no more watching stats...JUST RUN. 
And run I did. 

Next thing I knew, I was rounding the corner to the final stretch. I passed about 5 people in the last half mile or so and saw 8's flashing on the Garmin. 

Based on my training, I figured I would finish around 4:15:00...and when I rounded the corner to the finishers chute, I saw 4:15 on the clock! Go Jen!! Then just before I crossed, it ticked over to 4:16. 
Oh well! 

I had a fantastic day, I did not walk one step of that marathon and I had positive, happy thoughts and energy all day. I am calling it a success!!

My right quad/hip was pretty tight those last 6 miles and I did not realize just how tight till I stopped. Oooooops. DON'T STOP! Stopping hurt more than running...

Once I recovered a bit and was moving again, I checked my official results and to my surprise-

Oh yeah...GUN time versus CHIP time...looks like it took me only about 30 seconds to cross the starting timing mat!

What did I learn?
I liked running 26.2 miles and I can't wait to do it after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112.
I definitely want to do some run focused training and chase that BQ time, I KNOW I can do it!

Big props to Marc too! He PR'd by over 3 minutes and had a fantastic race. I am so proud of how far you have come in the last year and you make me one proud Coach!! Congrats Marc and thanks for always being my cheerleader!

Photo Friday: Ode to Charlie

As you know, I am a die hard Rev 3 girl and just love all that they stand for. I have had an absolute blast this season with the Rev 3 Team and all that are part of this amazing race series.

Today I would like to take a moment to honor "the Man behind Rev 3"...the one and only Charlie Patten.

Charlie at Cedar Point. The man has heart!

Charlie puts so much of himself into each race-here he is "racing" Pro triathlete Viktor Zyemtsev at the Cedar Point race in Ohio. As you can clearly see, Charlie is doing just fine while Viktor seems to be struggling to keep pace. 

"Vvhaaat are you doooing?" Viktor

Again, in Anderson South Caroline, Charlie made sure to keep Andrew Starykowicz on his toes...

...and as you can clearly see by Andrew's expression, he is concerned about being maintain such a blistering pace. 

This has got to be one of my favorites though. This picture is from the HalfFull race in Maryland earlier this month. 

Yes, that is Charlie passing Lance Armstrong on the run. GO CHARLIE GO! Even Lance knew he got spanked.

Thank you Charlie for all you do.

We love you, man!

PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Wynn
all images hijacked with love from CP'sFB  page

OFF

After this marathon I am taking some time OFF from scheduled training.
Not a break from training-- just having a schedule. I need and want some downtime to do whatever I want to do when I want to do it before things go crazy with training loads for next season.



I want to try mountain biking.
and cyclocross (probably not the right time to try it! lol)
and I want to hike
I want to run on trails
I want to hit the weights again-6
just do different stuff

With an aggressive race plan for next year, it will be a lot of time in the Pain Cave over the winter months and lots of time in the pool so I am really looking forward to the break for a while. Come December 1st though...we are back at it!

Meanwhile...

I started a little challenge with one of my buddies, Scott, to eat clean for 30 days straight. My eating has been pretty good these days--more so since OperationX started--but I am ready to really stick to it for a bit and see what happens to my body. All the endurance training (and lack of weight training) took a lot of muscle off my body and left me a little softer than I am used to being. I'd like to take some fat off, put back on a bit of muscle and see how I respond.

Honestly, I was not all the strict with my eating this season and pretty much has what I wanted. I know that there is plenty of room for discipline there...plus, there is this little Rev3 ab challenge I am doing with some of the team members and staff. It'll be interesting to see if I can sprout a 4 pack for spring!

Are you taking a break from training this year?
What are your "off season" plans? 

How far is that marathon?

don't you just love that question?

anway

so

wow, in just a couple days I'll do this

yup, miles
not yards
not inches
not feet
and
not meters.

I was ready to tackle this distance in 2010 and then triathlon took over my life and it became something that I would do later on. I was completely content with waiting until I tackled 140.6 miles of triathlon awesomeness but since the opportunity seemed to present itself...why not.

Plus, I get to add another sticker to the car!

Happy Wednesday

Scandalous!

Ahh, I love my little small town Maine life but if you watch the news lately, you have probably heard of a little Zumba scandal that is the talk of the town...the State of Maine...and now it seems all over the country. I has to start laughing when I saw this featured on the Today Show on NBC this morning.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Needless to say, these days ZUMBA is taking on a whole new meaning in my neck of the woods since Alexis Wright was working as a prostitute out of her studio right here in the quite little sea side town of Kennebunk, Maine.

"The prostitution charges and ensuing publicity, which reached across the country and beyond, came as a shock in the small town of about 10,000 residents, which is well-known for its ocean beaches, old sea captains’ mansions and the neighboring town of Kennebunkport, home to the Bush family’s Walker’s Point summer compound.

The list of names was delayed Friday by legal action by an attorney representing two of the people accused of being johns. The lawyer, Stephen Schwartz, said releasing the names will ruin people’s lives, even if they’re acquitted of the misdemeanor charges against them." ~Boston.com

What has blown this story out of the water is the court battle that has taken place over the last week to keep "the client list" hush-hush and out of the papers and news. Apparently, there are several "big names" on this list and they are fighting to keep their name out of the news. Last night, 21 of the 150 or so names of the "John's" were released to the public.

Bottom line, if these "John's" were so worried about it being known to the public, they should have thought about that before going to "Zumba".

Monday Motivation: The Morning Blend

My Fat to Finish Line team mate and Team Captain, Rik was on the Wisconsin show, The Morning Blend today.
Check it out!


From Fat To Finish Line 

Monday, Oct 15, 2012

http://www.themorningblend.com/videos/173511951.html

click the link to view Rik's interview with The Morning Blend-I am not able to upload it here. 

      Many people who are overweight do not think it is possible to get in shape. Formerly overweight, guest Rik Akey joins us to encourage folks struggling to lose weight not to give up - and he says running is key to making the change possible and even fun.

     Rik is part of a team of 12 who were all obese and who have gotten into shape and lost a significant amount of weight. In January 2013, the group will run a 200 mile relay race in the Florida Keys as a camera crew follows their journey to make a documentary about it.

     For more information on the team and the film, visitwww.fattofinish.com. Join their Facebook community of inspiration and fitness tips at www.facebook.com/FatToFinish.

     Rik and his team are in the midst of raising funds for the film. Until October 23rd, if you pledge anywhere from $5 to $5000 dollars, you can obtain great rewards such as the movie on DVD, signed posters, unique fitness experiences, and more! Visit www.indiegogo.com/fattofinish.