tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90730529743234242152024-03-06T00:07:58.362-08:00Road to Ironman Lake Placid 2011On July 26, Keith & I took the plunge and signed up for Ironman Lake Placid 2011.
Here's my journey to become an Ironman. Enjoy!Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-35484227940473549302011-07-17T19:55:00.000-07:002011-07-17T19:55:36.720-07:00One Week<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's right...after 9 months of training it's finally almost here. Exactly one week from today the big race will be here. It feels like I've been studying for a big test and now I'm just anxious for it to get here. I've done everything I can for this race and hopefully those freezing cold early morning runs or trips to the pool will pay off.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After attending a wedding this weekend, we realized that training for the Ironman is way too similar to being pregnant. The specific training has lasted 9 months, I eat like I'm eating for 2 (only I'm eating for me and working out me...guess that can count as 2), I can't really drink (at least not super close to race day), and I go to bed super early (9pm = triathlete bed time). Anyways hopefully more posts to come this week and definitely a race report post race. </span>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-86239724694102708332011-07-17T19:48:00.000-07:002011-07-17T19:48:40.850-07:00Swimming Part Deux<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After moving to Arlington, I figured it was time to start swimming with a masters team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Off the recommendation of Ed, Keith and I joined Minuteman which was the best swimming decision of our life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seriously…any in the Boston area should swim with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean where else can you swim long course, listen to nice upbeat music, meet some awesome people AND be coached by some fantastic, enthusiastic coaches?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first Minuteman practice didn’t exactly go as planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got in the ‘triathlete lane’ which quickly became the ‘I’m way slower than you guys so I’m moving to lane 6-lane’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When told to do an IM set, Keith and I kind of looked at each other like ‘what’?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean you tell a triathlete to do IM and they’re going to think you want them to swim 2.4 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After finding out IM actually means to do all four strokes (wait there’s four strokes in swimming?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought there was only 1…well maybe 2…does doggie paddle count?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pretty sure it must’ve been comical to watch us try to figure out three strokes we’d never seen and I’ve almost positive I messed up IM order for the first 2 or 3 weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alas, I’ve finally figured out IM order (least favorite stroke to favorite stroke) but I don’t dread it any less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fly looks like I’m about to drown, my backstroke is slow and sometimes bothers my shoulder, and my breaststroke feels like I’m not moving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best part of IM though is the fact that it’s made me appreciate freestyle so much more!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I’m still no great swimmer, I feel like my stoke has improved a lot and best of all: I feel so much more comfortable in the water and I actually started to not mind going swimming (which is big for me).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before we moved, I’d finally moved up a lane - hooray!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I love living in VT, Minuteman is one of those things (like BTT) which I truly miss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My new masters team swims in a short course pool, people tend to jump out of the pool super early (I’m pretty sure they only swim for like 15 mins), and our ‘coach’ puts a workout on the board and then goes on her laptop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the intervals are ‘chose your own adventure’ with times like, 1min, 1min 10, 1min 20, 1min 30, or 15 sec rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is NOT going to help me get faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Minuteman, I’d actually thank the coaches for kicking my butt since I definitely need it (spacing out and losing focus has been known to happen with me). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They truly are a top notch group that I’m glad to have been a part of and wish would just move to VT…Minuteman North anyone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say my new masters really makes me appreciate Minuteman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks guys and I’ll try to make you proud in the Ironman (or at least not drown). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Some swimming pics from last season:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKryX2PDo_JuxfrD8l1cWphNHE09qfQlFZ-M1z9Hkf2wFf7KAgrhqTMv21ZP9vuknRR4hsRk6ij3k3LVRnqrQjLN8QCKmBmW6lrEznXTS-4fD0I7SXa6tXCLNx_dJgjCDh_X7Tx8pr-E8/s1600/Pic+1+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKryX2PDo_JuxfrD8l1cWphNHE09qfQlFZ-M1z9Hkf2wFf7KAgrhqTMv21ZP9vuknRR4hsRk6ij3k3LVRnqrQjLN8QCKmBmW6lrEznXTS-4fD0I7SXa6tXCLNx_dJgjCDh_X7Tx8pr-E8/s320/Pic+1+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ErP798UPx0c9zdZMH8P3m2LBIGVPGvHwyyVzLCGx6kwLu3DNyeSepNreOEC-hsTqCEjtHOSfWRipqO89XqBP6uhWpEHmKhrHNg1mjuYmTPtAXOgT1fBdVHT8POfpzFV2Z8WdQ70hiQQ/s1600/Pic+2+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ErP798UPx0c9zdZMH8P3m2LBIGVPGvHwyyVzLCGx6kwLu3DNyeSepNreOEC-hsTqCEjtHOSfWRipqO89XqBP6uhWpEHmKhrHNg1mjuYmTPtAXOgT1fBdVHT8POfpzFV2Z8WdQ70hiQQ/s320/Pic+2+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wesVH7KC-XZL0C0g-22LFpehaQhyPZ1mHX2TgnwGme0fV5WVrJ4axwg2xCIUckuDsiVJ7pBXLosgIUB_gSwUklnSeQOzCzgPegM9ihfZwgCJGwkByDJGSClNwZvbVF4ZYFembOWskpo/s1600/Pic+3+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wesVH7KC-XZL0C0g-22LFpehaQhyPZ1mHX2TgnwGme0fV5WVrJ4axwg2xCIUckuDsiVJ7pBXLosgIUB_gSwUklnSeQOzCzgPegM9ihfZwgCJGwkByDJGSClNwZvbVF4ZYFembOWskpo/s320/Pic+3+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></span></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-36024381813716835992011-07-17T19:45:00.000-07:002011-07-17T19:45:43.922-07:00Just Keep Swimming!<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People always ask what’s my favorite/least favorite or best/worst event in triathlon. Without a doubt, the swim always falls under worse and least favorite. My swim experience before triathlon consisted of the week or two I lasted in swim lessons around the age of 4. There’s also the time my mom tried to teach me how to swim freestyle correctly at the gym….and then gave up on me...ouch. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The year before I started doing triathlons I figured it might be a good idea to learn how to swim. I could stay afloat and splash around but there’s no way I was making ¼ mile much less the 2.4 miles I’ll be doing. I enlisted my friend Steph who swam in high school and taught swim lessons at the Y for some help. After some instruction I swam a length of the pool (holding my breath the entire time). At the end I stopped, completely out of breath and ready to pass out. The conversation then went down like this:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: “ok now what?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steph: “um…do that again and don’t stop.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ugh I knew it was going to be a while before I’d turn into Nemo and “just keep swimming”. Swim training didn’t last much longer that year and it wasn’t until the following summer when I started with the B&S training program did I actually start to swim more consistently. My first few swim practices with B&S consisted of learning to blow bubbles or as I liked to refer to it: remedial swim. Over the next few weeks I’d swallowed several gallons of pool water. I mean seriously I have no idea how there was any left in the pool. After a few weeks I took my water guzzling to the ocean (sorry fishies!). Salt water…yuck! Although chlorinated water isn’t any better…especially when you’re allergic to it like me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first open water ocean swim was a train wreck. A combination of swimming in the ocean and wearing the wetsuit for the first time freaked me out and I’m pretty sure I ended up backstroking. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t drown that first year. On top of that, swimming has always been incredibly frustrating for me. Swimming, like hockey is one of those sports I wished I had learned when I was younger but I was too busy playing soccer, softball and basketball.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a few pics from the swim my 1st season:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZ-_qBNhnf23Q7-8b8E5cv2hWHx1dSr1_aFXQJS2tYdHSTC3WM-Ag914s7Gu93Bu6X48bpiyjQPkzltpxvACsGT-vkhe5WNRDT9w5qs_y4Jf3oxa7AuM0pUn7NVZR7cyz8GUXVu26X-E/s1600/Pic+1+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZ-_qBNhnf23Q7-8b8E5cv2hWHx1dSr1_aFXQJS2tYdHSTC3WM-Ag914s7Gu93Bu6X48bpiyjQPkzltpxvACsGT-vkhe5WNRDT9w5qs_y4Jf3oxa7AuM0pUn7NVZR7cyz8GUXVu26X-E/s320/Pic+1+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smiling after my first 1/2 mile swim..progress!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-AGh3ssY19_DB3kfND5nnoIi2TqaZwTmQIqDhI82xLtZsR1ubwWa5-_4JyXtAXDCKgywoCrVTuZGRrERwK5l7h16eYeTCX9sKH8UQAy5TtNDB_bhyLOyjxkG-6awIHqZnpkiiNr-rpo/s1600/Pic+2+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-AGh3ssY19_DB3kfND5nnoIi2TqaZwTmQIqDhI82xLtZsR1ubwWa5-_4JyXtAXDCKgywoCrVTuZGRrERwK5l7h16eYeTCX9sKH8UQAy5TtNDB_bhyLOyjxkG-6awIHqZnpkiiNr-rpo/s320/Pic+2+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nahant</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgniJ9m3klSUjh9qT-_SguvzMkjxhc0dUAo59eOWjVBF0hyphenhyphenvUmxSSC-Crp5QfVpmAmNJeyjkv8HDWL_m36U_qpVOIaJHIF7Qum2bpo6S_MbumGpttkKjcy4VhBRo9GUuIJH1eCLWQ2Qr6A/s1600/Pic+3+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgniJ9m3klSUjh9qT-_SguvzMkjxhc0dUAo59eOWjVBF0hyphenhyphenvUmxSSC-Crp5QfVpmAmNJeyjkv8HDWL_m36U_qpVOIaJHIF7Qum2bpo6S_MbumGpttkKjcy4VhBRo9GUuIJH1eCLWQ2Qr6A/s320/Pic+3+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOCT2tcGVVtIUHJ2g2Kd3v70WMcJoZfg3ZDHue0ZXUZyLw7lTbJCsjwfEERbRfaQKxMBU41nzospomIrac-V8SY6EiYgJoNAy0iqR9letGYRHZiGIY-nfacizGQaw3-bywnIUaUfSU1o/s1600/Pic+4+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOCT2tcGVVtIUHJ2g2Kd3v70WMcJoZfg3ZDHue0ZXUZyLw7lTbJCsjwfEERbRfaQKxMBU41nzospomIrac-V8SY6EiYgJoNAy0iqR9letGYRHZiGIY-nfacizGQaw3-bywnIUaUfSU1o/s320/Pic+4+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swimming post part 2 coming soon....</span></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-84978272266457293052011-06-08T10:08:00.000-07:002011-06-08T10:08:45.658-07:00Rev3 Half Iron Race Report<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday we drove the 4 hours down to Connecticut in time to pick up our packets, get in a quick (30 minute) bike ride and then drop our bikes off. The race transition and packet pickup is in a little amusement park. Later that night, we went out to dinner with a bunch of people on BTT. I finished off the evening with some foam rolling, icing my knees and getting my stuff ready for the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4am came and off goes the alarm. I did some extra foam rolling to make sure my legs were nice and loose (or as much as they’ll ever be). After breakfast, we packed up our stuff and headed over to the amusement park. I was one of the later swim waves so once they kicked everyone out of transition we went down to the beach to watch the pros go off. There were a lot of world-class pros doing this race and it was great to see them swim (wish I could swim that fast).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a quick warm up and a last minute port-a-potty stop it was time to race. Usually the beginning of the swim is basically a frantic mess that I try to survive. This race was weird in that I had some clean water right at the start and the frantic mess came later in the swim. The swim felt surprisingly good and I was hoping to at least PR that part of the race. No luck! It turns out the swim was a little slower than my Timberman one which I definitely didn’t expect since it felt so good. Oh well…need to work on that this winter. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This transition went a lot better than my T1 at Timberman in that I could actually see this time. It’s always sad seeing so many bikes off the rack when I get out of the swim but it just makes me work my butt off on the bike. This race was no different so I went straight to work pushing as hard as I could. I knew coming into the race that the bike course was pretty hilly. I was feeling pretty good about this though considering all of my rides lately (since moving to VT) have been hilly and my last 60 mile ride had over 1,000 feet of more climbing than the Quassy course. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About halfway through the bike course there was a pretty long hill but at least the pitch wasn’t too bad. I actually enjoyed this bike course (I guess Keith is wearing off on me). The one thing I did not like which always seems to happen is the excessive amount of slow people that feel the need to hog the lane. People seriously need to stay to the side of the road and not on the yellow line. Needless to say I was saying, “On your left!” way too much. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T2 was uneventful and off I went for the half marathon. Around mile 2, I stopped to use the port-a-potty since I’d been holding it the last half hour or so on the bike. The guy that was in there took FOREVER! I started banging on the door and was really close to yelling at the guy to get out of there (since there was only one). After about a 3 minute delay, I was ready to tackle the rest of the run. This run course was brutally hilly! There was hardly any flat; just up, up and away or doooown. I was way more worried about the downhill and I was just praying my knees would hold up. My other goal during the run was to try to hold back a bit so I didn’t mess up my knees for Lake Placid. This was really tough as I wanted to push myself on the run and go faster but I knew that would be a mistake in the long run (no pun intended). Maybe one day my knees will cooperate and I’ll actually become a runner! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last couple miles were pretty painful and I was ready to be done.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The add insult to injury, there was another hill close to the last mile.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone else around me started walking up the hill but I refused to start walking (even if my run pace may have been close to a walking pace).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The person who designed this course must have been an amazing runner with about 1/2 dozen screws loose! I'm surprised they didn't just pick one super large hill and make us do repeats up and down it for 1/2 marathon. Aaanyways </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was very happy to see the amusement park again and the finish line!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyFztK2_cCYKWsPei59CTp_2cWn-cGZ4eSd-tJe4SX5QQbrkynjxxpGjEZmx_e-ciYLMqo2SLxV4qtQ6IY7PCCVhSutzjf_vppa7UD-ttMPYr1eXg3vHf0jYA9bHIL_aVJcWpFT4B8Yg/s1600/Me+%2526+Keith+%25231+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyFztK2_cCYKWsPei59CTp_2cWn-cGZ4eSd-tJe4SX5QQbrkynjxxpGjEZmx_e-ciYLMqo2SLxV4qtQ6IY7PCCVhSutzjf_vppa7UD-ttMPYr1eXg3vHf0jYA9bHIL_aVJcWpFT4B8Yg/s320/Me+%2526+Keith+%25231+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaaand done!</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wrap up: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-This course was extremely challenging and I’d definitely like to take another crack at it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Rev3 runs a really good race and I enjoyed the atmosphere more than a WTC race.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-My body has recovered fairly well from the race and I’m surprisingly not very sore (gasp!).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-More sunscreen is needed on the shoulder / forearm area as I definitely got sunburnt.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Quassy is NOT a PR kind of race (although maybe with the help of some VT mountains it could be).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqdn6XoQ1iO13WUqKytQh5sxrZFU42pR5-TnCEqbc58nhk2LgkhT1MimEYuZyCfB_9H3DhetwsrwRVK640XkvCX4Oxz-Y9iY74vptT2YlUF1kTfDOp0rPx2aqITT2b1NjeaNn2WiHdY4/s1600/Me+%2526+Keith+%25232+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqdn6XoQ1iO13WUqKytQh5sxrZFU42pR5-TnCEqbc58nhk2LgkhT1MimEYuZyCfB_9H3DhetwsrwRVK640XkvCX4Oxz-Y9iY74vptT2YlUF1kTfDOp0rPx2aqITT2b1NjeaNn2WiHdY4/s320/Me+%2526+Keith+%25232+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post race</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swim time: 40:47 (17<sup>th</sup> out of 25 in AG)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bike time: 3:05:19 (3<sup>rd</sup> out of 25 in AG)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Run time: 1:59:06 (Tied for 15<sup>th</sup> out of 25 in AG)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Total time: 5:49:04 (7<sup>th</sup> out of 25 in AG)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” ~Kenji Miyazawa</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-10661917257494044162011-06-08T08:22:00.000-07:002011-06-08T08:22:29.405-07:00Season Opener Du Race Report<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This race report is a bit belated but better late than never. This race was on Mother’s Day (nice and early in the season). Last year we did this race but the triathlon version. The water was cold, the air was colder and it was windy (making the water choppy) so we decided to give the Du a go this year. I had no idea how this was going to go since my knee had been bothering me a lot and I hadn’t been getting much running or even biking in. My main goal coming into this race was to try to not aggravate my knee any more than it has been.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhCZwCLSHMbT87z48iGNGddixcCUMci1KJhkSIm2xalJsIyCeEtua3FNbHEs-gL6GqhZ17rVjQeX4hKwP69ASyT2zUBprxZTFawTlYiY0UDlca8OJd-GxHzC3sBpAA2fC1rYT3loovGI/s1600/Transition+bag+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhCZwCLSHMbT87z48iGNGddixcCUMci1KJhkSIm2xalJsIyCeEtua3FNbHEs-gL6GqhZ17rVjQeX4hKwP69ASyT2zUBprxZTFawTlYiY0UDlca8OJd-GxHzC3sBpAA2fC1rYT3loovGI/s320/Transition+bag+resized.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transition bag ready to go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop6RSjnEQmo3ocvOPyMp52JeE48g5N6fRAQYmshbbOA1VeEHjhzTItjqaq6xx_keyz-oheYznYDkp2vSZzJPH0fR6HIMmezfiQvCr_i6OhREavo1SJqPgJcq-mkXg9TmyDUcy5qQp-sg/s1600/Uniform+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop6RSjnEQmo3ocvOPyMp52JeE48g5N6fRAQYmshbbOA1VeEHjhzTItjqaq6xx_keyz-oheYznYDkp2vSZzJPH0fR6HIMmezfiQvCr_i6OhREavo1SJqPgJcq-mkXg9TmyDUcy5qQp-sg/s320/Uniform+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st race on BTT!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friend Laura also decided to do the race. We were transition rack buddies so I chatted with her while getting my transition ready. During this time I realized I had forgotten to put elastic laces in my running shoes. Being unprepared for this race was an understatement! I popped some Ibuprofen to try to prevent any inflammation and pain during the race. It started with a 2 mile run consisting of one mile out and back. I held back a bit on the run to try to save my knee for the rest of the race.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FI_Z3Ar3BtZC_NiXFjU6WjQB8wWSANz33U90O0ijqzMAJHLpHd4Yd97-e6rDZEOk5i3e6fKl8QISllSUU4lTADYiopJWbOm3MbDaPWo2f-fBpPcxs1VFDGZ4gz7RN12lRDhA3VPmhwA/s1600/Me+%2526+Keith+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FI_Z3Ar3BtZC_NiXFjU6WjQB8wWSANz33U90O0ijqzMAJHLpHd4Yd97-e6rDZEOk5i3e6fKl8QISllSUU4lTADYiopJWbOm3MbDaPWo2f-fBpPcxs1VFDGZ4gz7RN12lRDhA3VPmhwA/s320/Me+%2526+Keith+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & Keith pre-race</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeZKqhuKX33ZCabTyCdapCDXBtwSfkYk4dO6OVxc52h4i3LBeIlNeyzaEMYzPr7QLVA5N023WlV2WBORwpIkmDuLR2gt7rH5BZ6ejWKVyPWcgYFjNTecI9iIMycJe9RWDcgFB7oxnrVU/s1600/Me+%2526+Laura+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeZKqhuKX33ZCabTyCdapCDXBtwSfkYk4dO6OVxc52h4i3LBeIlNeyzaEMYzPr7QLVA5N023WlV2WBORwpIkmDuLR2gt7rH5BZ6ejWKVyPWcgYFjNTecI9iIMycJe9RWDcgFB7oxnrVU/s320/Me+%2526+Laura+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & Laura pre-race</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In transition, I untied my shoes (thanks to no elastic laces) and hopped on my bike for the short 10 mile ride. The ride was pretty uneventful with some small hills and some pothole to maneuver. Again I tried to hold back a little so my knee would be ok to run the last 5K.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in transition I had the joy of retying my shoes and then I was off on the 5K (praying my knee held up). Luckily for me the run was mostly on dirt or grass to which I was very thankful. At the beginning of the 5K I heard someone say something about me being the female leader. That was at a turn around so I caught a glimpse of the 2<sup>nd</sup> place female fairly close behind. I really wanted to race it and make sure I beat her but decided that it was in my best interest to keep my current pace (which my knee felt ok with). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent the next 2+ miles repeating ‘Quassy’ or ‘Lake Placid’ in my head to remind myself to hold back so I don’t mess up my knee for my half or full Ironman coming up soon. With about ½ mile to go, one of my shoelaces came untied (too rushed in transition to tie them right). I decided to just keep running and hope I didn’t trip. I spent the next ½ mile looking directly down to make sure I wasn’t going to step on the lace. I thought for sure I’d trip on it right before the finish line. Wouldn’t that make a great finish photo (a nice little face-plant)?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towards the end of the run I was still in the lead but I knew the 2<sup>nd</sup> place female was still pretty close behind. I told myself not to try to keep up with her if she made a push at the end but rather keep my pace. This ended up working out and I held her off to finish 1<sup>st</sup> overall female and 19<sup>th</sup> overall! I was thrilled to win and even more thrilled that my knee didn’t act up too much. A pint glass, gift certificate and elastic laces (ironically) were my prizes for the win.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_S3KQk8_21oz9zmn2aBi4ImByELrKEG8xcgSN5KGKQVjar-GlYE-FG5eIvhCUYvqqU_X6QNvJzTogq9zsc9ERSGI1HcfeHKkmbhjDhkmmUgfzyyV2UM6Z7A_K-7qIe1OARiB07eS_ak/s1600/Finishing+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_S3KQk8_21oz9zmn2aBi4ImByELrKEG8xcgSN5KGKQVjar-GlYE-FG5eIvhCUYvqqU_X6QNvJzTogq9zsc9ERSGI1HcfeHKkmbhjDhkmmUgfzyyV2UM6Z7A_K-7qIe1OARiB07eS_ak/s320/Finishing+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing the race</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTbomfeh2PpGL6u8iNcUstvoy-Fqk8EWA09VlJTlo92cPy4OivkaEr5bXWc0VnvyOBv-PVx2zQvnXNYUTgh1DX3SM2GjNxhl1VZE-G_FqM10UWEu0h0SameZ9VO_ddCz-Ygu0aVmAWTI/s1600/Award+ceremony+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTbomfeh2PpGL6u8iNcUstvoy-Fqk8EWA09VlJTlo92cPy4OivkaEr5bXWc0VnvyOBv-PVx2zQvnXNYUTgh1DX3SM2GjNxhl1VZE-G_FqM10UWEu0h0SameZ9VO_ddCz-Ygu0aVmAWTI/s320/Award+ceremony+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting my 1st place award!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7bfvhW5dsck6I3vXy1t3d2Oo2Ps5OlKCK7a89xy1GpuhxEfdaNSIIYZf422XapqSs6ccrL5dtYwxL9M4-vDWt2Ysro8DW0UU1h3WSJ1-6vIKADucGl_U92Ck6MZTKCGlGu6jLdITyng/s1600/Keith+award+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7bfvhW5dsck6I3vXy1t3d2Oo2Ps5OlKCK7a89xy1GpuhxEfdaNSIIYZf422XapqSs6ccrL5dtYwxL9M4-vDWt2Ysro8DW0UU1h3WSJ1-6vIKADucGl_U92Ck6MZTKCGlGu6jLdITyng/s320/Keith+award+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keith getting his award!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF0WhAupIV3t1A2Xx64ovXIPOgHI_cuvUq4A0xFvuGz7GmyMFy7URNOyYPd82KGnWzCqvK4Hf-JoOl_57W3oUCekcXN1T_nhNtRDukR1kMD47kFyGrQ4LFpXpCSbAx-83QW-OswkmK7c/s1600/Me+award+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF0WhAupIV3t1A2Xx64ovXIPOgHI_cuvUq4A0xFvuGz7GmyMFy7URNOyYPd82KGnWzCqvK4Hf-JoOl_57W3oUCekcXN1T_nhNtRDukR1kMD47kFyGrQ4LFpXpCSbAx-83QW-OswkmK7c/s320/Me+award+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awards ceremony again</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Run part 1 time: 14:09<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bike time: 31:42<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Run part 2 time: 22:08<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Overall time: 1:09:49 (1<sup>st</sup> overall femal<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">e</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: blue;">)</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: blue;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtg-cAOWdphSe5oLo-czNFmlcMALNeVRl6votj2nZ6dFQduzC1UcOwgYt4_yITz2URTpxGf-9lVMSDfe1tchwbsVRQtQJ582izz5Js6-aZQEwWzBTWDNe-4UhszRzJKBTo8RB-oi9gqE/s1600/Awards+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtg-cAOWdphSe5oLo-czNFmlcMALNeVRl6votj2nZ6dFQduzC1UcOwgYt4_yITz2URTpxGf-9lVMSDfe1tchwbsVRQtQJ582izz5Js6-aZQEwWzBTWDNe-4UhszRzJKBTo8RB-oi9gqE/s320/Awards+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hardware!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: blue;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.” ~Vince Lombardi</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-25529598623130143292011-06-01T10:48:00.000-07:002011-06-01T10:48:57.669-07:00M.I.A.<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yup the title says where I’ve been lately. There are a few <s>reasons</s> excuses behind it. I applied and was accepted into a graduate physical therapy program…at the University of Vermont which = moving to VT! We decided that and Ironman training wasn’t enough to keep us busy so we bought our first home (see below). Phew busy spring! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3A8g1iOkt7wvU1iDY7CA0htkb2Mjs1qoGP9OszxCQftj2SOOl92VHJngc2BPa0Qy-xyGfNAlrx-s3WdPgMNSnlwUkVyUsDshJKljvxWBgk0RWW1RSM5dcArzy768uFPcQcZzt5UvHzFc/s1600/020+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3A8g1iOkt7wvU1iDY7CA0htkb2Mjs1qoGP9OszxCQftj2SOOl92VHJngc2BPa0Qy-xyGfNAlrx-s3WdPgMNSnlwUkVyUsDshJKljvxWBgk0RWW1RSM5dcArzy768uFPcQcZzt5UvHzFc/s320/020+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Home!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the real reason I’ve been MIA is the fact that my knee started bothering me over a month ago so my training has been really spotty. After getting up to around 14 miles running and 80 miles biking, the all too familiar knee pain came back. It’s always the same cause: tight muscles and weak hips. I had to severely cut back my running and biking, even leaving me to only swim and water jog for one week. Those of you who know me well know that this was complete torture!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around Easter, it dawned on me that my half ironman (Rev3 Quassy) was right around the corner and Lake Placid wasn't too far behind. I had a <s>minor</s> major freak out that I wouldn’t be ready followed by what I can only assume was an endorphin deficit mini depression. The weather finally turned and I was stuck inside swimming or not doing a workout. Seeing people posting about going on runs and bike rides seemed mean and made me jealous. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well after lots of foam rolling, stretching, taping, clamshells, bandwalks and the like I’m finally back to biking and running (working my way back to the mileage I was at before) and it feels amazing! The knee still isn’t 100% and I am still super careful about not putting too much pressure on it since the half ironman is this weekend followed by LP in a little over a month and a half!!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Needless to say…I’m back (hopefully until the end of the season).</span> <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">"There's bound to be rough waters and I know I'll take some falls." ~The River by Garth Brooks</span></i></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-18351024018317233462011-03-04T12:57:00.000-08:002011-03-04T18:33:31.804-08:00Tests & Time Trials<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of recent workouts included biking ITTs (indoor time trials) and an LT (lactate threshold) test. The biking LT test was estimated (based off of heart rate not a blood test as an actual one would). For this test, I started at 50 watts. This lasted 2 minutes before the wattage was increased to 100 for another 2 minutes. After that, every 2 minutes the wattage increased by 20 watts until I couldn’t sustain it any longer. I was able to reach 240 watts. Once I reached this point for about a minute, I couldn’t go on anymore. My LT heart rate during this test was 188 BPM. My max heart rate was 198 BPM. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few hours following that test, I took part in the Team Psycho ITT. I’m not going to lie, watching the women’s only heat ahead of me was pretty intimidating. My bike computer and trainer have not been working incredibly well lately so I had no idea what I would be able to put out for power and speed. The top female ended up putting out something like 275 watts. I just looked at Keith and said, “What did you get me into?!” (since he signed us up). This was my first ITT and I really didn’t want to be embarrassed. After showing up way too early and peeing too many times (maybe due to nerves?), we weighed ourselves (the TT was not well organized and there was no real check in or weigh in). Since I was the last heat, I saw everyone else’s weight. Turns out I was the smallest competitor. “Well at least I won something today,” I told Keith. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After warming up a bit, it was go time. The course was 9.3 miles with a couple hills. I went as hard as I could and tried to ignore the guy grossly spitting and hacking up phlegm (I’ll admit I had to look up the spelling of that word) next to me as well as the other guy standing up and blocking my view of my stats. I ended up finishing in 26:16 mins which put me in 8<sup>th</sup> place for females (out of 20). I averaged 222 watts and 21.3 mph. I definitely wasn’t expecting to be able to put out that much power. The TT ended up being fun and I was able to see what I could do going all out for slightly over 26 minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The BTT ITT was a whole other story. It was the epitome of crash and burn or having dead legs. I went into this TT coming off a rest week and all I can say is that my legs weren’t there…at all. This one was only 8 miles but the course was definitely tougher than the Team Psycho one. I finished in a painful 20:28 mins with an avg speed of 18.2 mph and power of 181. This put me 14<sup>th</sup> in my division…ouch. I’d prefer to completely forget about this TT which is probably the best thing I can do. It was frustrating on so many levels but there’s nothing you can do when your legs just won’t go. I also really wanted to show my new team what I could do and that really didn’t happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keith on the other hand killed it! He came in 4<sup>th</sup> in his division with a time of 16:15, avg speed 22.9 mph and power of 339. It’s tough when one of us has a good day and the other doesn’t but I was so proud of him for kicking butt! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gKGQ4JSnK98n81laB53AR1MiOZOBB8PnC0ZQiJu_lada_OXyYwc4zUVp_1wN1W7wYWwBFtEhTnI4O2vURbR63f2woNBKAfHEEuTgFwIUs5z16qcRkZ5WfwVXKrEFP3WYN1325dcY98U/s1600/pic+1+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gKGQ4JSnK98n81laB53AR1MiOZOBB8PnC0ZQiJu_lada_OXyYwc4zUVp_1wN1W7wYWwBFtEhTnI4O2vURbR63f2woNBKAfHEEuTgFwIUs5z16qcRkZ5WfwVXKrEFP3WYN1325dcY98U/s320/pic+1+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre- BTT ITT</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxutk52dEyAcvRB-q5Iasko-kX5kPEsbqVMUU7hmuQjxgFNUl-tPGp9nv3Advjz8_d_vWQi-4DJ2VQdullBvKeRrsjYodMg8KRYGRAzwmK91J3KeNUhdUbgfUFyQ_wZCZV7AhotIb0IkQ/s1600/pic+2+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxutk52dEyAcvRB-q5Iasko-kX5kPEsbqVMUU7hmuQjxgFNUl-tPGp9nv3Advjz8_d_vWQi-4DJ2VQdullBvKeRrsjYodMg8KRYGRAzwmK91J3KeNUhdUbgfUFyQ_wZCZV7AhotIb0IkQ/s320/pic+2+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pain & suffering</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiP7xk9xegYJoHJcMFxSdmSfi_6Qpo5pbbNTGRjMMyJNO317Onel2yssauq2Vz9cuSBTXpNNkZ8JA5VLcLCTG1uOMJ4YchLbq-lz6mKc75_YiPbgn7zNCSGjzr-Hk823Wh4nUVq50h1Wo/s1600/pic+3+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiP7xk9xegYJoHJcMFxSdmSfi_6Qpo5pbbNTGRjMMyJNO317Onel2yssauq2Vz9cuSBTXpNNkZ8JA5VLcLCTG1uOMJ4YchLbq-lz6mKc75_YiPbgn7zNCSGjzr-Hk823Wh4nUVq50h1Wo/s320/pic+3+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And....DONE!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzug4d8rrUAAz9YYDqRo67a2BbjpheW5VK1QGcOCrwF65uGsSeeFlvTglnuoOUBuWcN6gVk0liThpb67y7XP6ZCH2aQPtAm74qSUvBi_eW8cjd10HCLsnzE2jP9gvnc3xzvsw6PulSBwc/s1600/pic+4+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzug4d8rrUAAz9YYDqRo67a2BbjpheW5VK1QGcOCrwF65uGsSeeFlvTglnuoOUBuWcN6gVk0liThpb67y7XP6ZCH2aQPtAm74qSUvBi_eW8cjd10HCLsnzE2jP9gvnc3xzvsw6PulSBwc/s320/pic+4+-+Copy.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy to be done with the torture</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2T2Ri3ExCSpaFYPwvE_U3YVe1Nc2vgPEdo9oET-F8tLQZYjXxjksPjUrBwMEd_ZKHPUHvv8nFjUtyoDMOB-cCMN4V291ylwrNdZ_Iva-yC9JMsQVEQF7vGrNOqxTRwwWMzd3OUbN3fIE/s1600/pic+5+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2T2Ri3ExCSpaFYPwvE_U3YVe1Nc2vgPEdo9oET-F8tLQZYjXxjksPjUrBwMEd_ZKHPUHvv8nFjUtyoDMOB-cCMN4V291ylwrNdZ_Iva-yC9JMsQVEQF7vGrNOqxTRwwWMzd3OUbN3fIE/s320/pic+5+-+Copy.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post BTT ITT</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i> “Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.” ~Christopher Morley</i></span></span><o:p></o:p></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-63949311305333725572011-03-04T12:51:00.000-08:002011-03-04T12:54:04.340-08:00Pain in the Neck!<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towards the beginning of December I woke up at my normal time of 5am to get to swim practice. After changing into my bathing suit, I decided to “throw my hair up into a ponytail”. BIG MISTAKE! I felt an extremely sharp pain go down the right side of my neck and for the next day I could not move my neck even slightly without the intense pain. We’re talking neck probably should have been in a collar type of pain. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Needless to say I missed that swim practice (along with a whole week and a half of training unfortunately) as a result. I actually debated going to the ER since I’ve never had this kind of pain ever before and having it in my neck was incredibly scary. I decided to forgo the high cost of an ER visit and wait until my PCP opened. Keith then had the fun task of taking me to the doctor’s. This involved a ½ hour car ride of me holding my head and neck in a certain position and hoping Keith didn’t hit any potholes or make any sudden movements. The Nurse Practitioner determined I had a strained neck and a spasm in my right upper trap. This was definitely not the way I wanted my training to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After some prescription strength pain pills and muscle relaxers, my neck felt a tiny bit better the next day. Finally after about a week or two, I was in less pain but still having some problems rotating my neck. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought my neck problem was a freak / lame incident that would heal itself. NO LUCK! Since then my neck has gotten tight and has several knots. After driving for a while, it gets really sore. To top it off, my right shoulder blade area started to feel “crunchy” when I try to perform my swim stroke and other movements. I even had some trouble sleeping due to the pain / stiffness / overall discomfort.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been having PT on this once a week, performing my I’s, T’s, and Y’s along with other exercises to try to loosen up these knots. After about 2 months of treatment, I’m starting to finally feel like my neck and shoulder is getting better. It’s still not 100% and I still get stiffness in my neck when I’m in the car too long but it’s come a long way since the end of December. This only helps solidify my career goal of being a physical therapist. Physical therapy has helped not only my neck area but also my knee last year! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only plus to this incident is that it’s ironically made my swim stroke better since I’m constantly trying to keep my neck and upper shoulder area more relaxed. My head faces down towards the bottom of the pool now and I definitely feel more streamline. There’s my glass half full!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been trying to come up with a better story than putting my hair up but I’ve decided to stick to the truth so everyone knows about the hidden dangers of ponytails!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” ~Oscar Wilde</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-40731638816459039372011-02-05T18:04:00.000-08:002011-02-05T18:04:50.895-08:006 Months to Go!<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The title says it all…a little less than 6 months and I will be lining up at Mirror Lake for the Ironman. When I think of it as being in July, it seems so far away and yet when I think about 6 months, it seems surprisingly close! </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">My training started in November which puts me at 3 months into my training. The first things my coach had me do were tests. The swim test was a 500 meter time trial, the bike was a 30 minute (indoor) time trial, and the run was a 3 mile run to determine my heart rate and power zones as well as pace for various upcoming workouts.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The past three months have included biking intervals, increasingly longer runs, running hill repeats, masters swim practices, and strength (lifting) workouts. A traditional week has looked like: Monday – Master’s swim practice; Tuesday – Bike and Run (hill repeats); Wednesday – Master’s swim practice and strength workout; Thursday – Bike and Run; Friday – off day; Saturday – Somewhat long run; Sunday – Bike workout. </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Sunday bike workouts have been tough since I usually ski beforehand. Another challenge has become running in this weather. Every week we seem to get another snow storm! I’ve definitely become sick of shoveling and running has become a little more dangerous. My options seem to be running on poorly cleared sidewalks where a path will become a dead end of a snow bank, running in the street where cars like to come dangerously close (not a game of chicken I want to be playing), or running on a treadmill. I hate running on treadmills so I’ve been avoiding that. Running on sidewalks has become annoying at best so I’ve decided to run in the street (usually trying to find a less busy or wider street).</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">My Saturday runs have mostly been up in Vermont before some skiing. There’s a great run along a packed dirt road that barely gets any traffic. It’s so nice not to worry about cars or slippery sidewalks! This has become one of my favorite runs. It gets interesting when a Black Lab or two comes bounding out of a yard and almost tackles us but at least I love dogs!</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">My coach recently sent me my next month’s workouts and they’ve certainly revved up. I’ll try to update this blog a bit more since I’ve been slacking on it being busy with work, training and skiing.</span></b> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: red;">"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: red;">~Harriet Tubman</i> </span></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-58908442990088422632011-01-08T03:51:00.000-08:002011-01-08T03:51:09.513-08:00What I did in my off-season...<div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Back in elementary school, we'd have to write about what we did during our summer vacation once we returned back to school. Well here's my triathlon version of that: What I did during my off season!</span></b></div><ol style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1st ski turns of the season in OCTOBER in VT!</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtE1M5C0xqk5Rh0EwBXv4zy8ncM0HnZF3lijlYfXbUrJtYlkDMZMaEue5GPs2On5XyjCQPXRBBdYYbFF1B4OvG1gcJtmGwHY4ER7CzWXOW_J2kJvOv-fVKHClpin1ovfbhepSBr2gaSU/s1600/mad+river+skiing+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtE1M5C0xqk5Rh0EwBXv4zy8ncM0HnZF3lijlYfXbUrJtYlkDMZMaEue5GPs2On5XyjCQPXRBBdYYbFF1B4OvG1gcJtmGwHY4ER7CzWXOW_J2kJvOv-fVKHClpin1ovfbhepSBr2gaSU/s320/mad+river+skiing+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxwtl67qVnBe8beKobL-mNKsemWXKj4ReEH0YQpLSDrl7rrXOLX25lIoM1m3Etdp3JsRKDfzg97a1IS2JmRhZjmPBaascaGUCJFxToKw39R6-t0C7W6dftTJjaQHRqoA0651kcLEqNLJI/s1600/mad+river+skiing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxwtl67qVnBe8beKobL-mNKsemWXKj4ReEH0YQpLSDrl7rrXOLX25lIoM1m3Etdp3JsRKDfzg97a1IS2JmRhZjmPBaascaGUCJFxToKw39R6-t0C7W6dftTJjaQHRqoA0651kcLEqNLJI/s320/mad+river+skiing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Went apple picking</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa_hzu4GVtkZ5BB3H4RcOu-VxW0WH-WCbXHOQBaHLxVtPZasRX35WB6Kv1Y2NuwGgScZcLMhHWFvOflcB2PTzlHUWIzJEyJ6bn2lfcPc0HJCAW52WROfi-3IDYtXBVGM3UtZfu9YpSyg/s1600/me+%2526+Keith+apple+picking+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa_hzu4GVtkZ5BB3H4RcOu-VxW0WH-WCbXHOQBaHLxVtPZasRX35WB6Kv1Y2NuwGgScZcLMhHWFvOflcB2PTzlHUWIzJEyJ6bn2lfcPc0HJCAW52WROfi-3IDYtXBVGM3UtZfu9YpSyg/s320/me+%2526+Keith+apple+picking+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY-aGXzu0SGH4qsj1bcPQjGx182kuxKq8PPapQJ-tvLalWPkTUxHRdQT3_I9IL0oAkuKN8d9dw3TZslCVgA8ao1dx2q9beIFt_kNBF1qZ_FhMFZPKu-I7kd4ADkFpI4Mn5QLwK0JibwQ/s1600/keith+apple+picking+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY-aGXzu0SGH4qsj1bcPQjGx182kuxKq8PPapQJ-tvLalWPkTUxHRdQT3_I9IL0oAkuKN8d9dw3TZslCVgA8ao1dx2q9beIFt_kNBF1qZ_FhMFZPKu-I7kd4ADkFpI4Mn5QLwK0JibwQ/s320/keith+apple+picking+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXcFfIvrcZpnTFS-dOqEFwmrU6UKCsw3ULqFDnAjUcq9HSjEBt_BGdmKzo9I0ktQea_mK-KhHF4BxYUFFrcBLUfjf4_8xwvdEElgdA_9gJtQPd8EhhijAIegSW-tPC3p3QKCHNifpQkw/s1600/me+apple+picking+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXcFfIvrcZpnTFS-dOqEFwmrU6UKCsw3ULqFDnAjUcq9HSjEBt_BGdmKzo9I0ktQea_mK-KhHF4BxYUFFrcBLUfjf4_8xwvdEElgdA_9gJtQPd8EhhijAIegSW-tPC3p3QKCHNifpQkw/s320/me+apple+picking+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ate pear-walnut-gorgonzola risotto</span></b></div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Celebrated turning 26</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyDbgsAVDBxeLlAPfiRhinq39O6abNbBfsf6CyvDLA4DqF9ToWzatPpayKJ9cMdhka9vB1T6DuQAYrwU0CtHGe-BAxwJuk967EZpSPhXsnmJfuRgOu8GHHTuB12HWiZVHzSCcEEK0U-c/s1600/Bday+dinner+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyDbgsAVDBxeLlAPfiRhinq39O6abNbBfsf6CyvDLA4DqF9ToWzatPpayKJ9cMdhka9vB1T6DuQAYrwU0CtHGe-BAxwJuk967EZpSPhXsnmJfuRgOu8GHHTuB12HWiZVHzSCcEEK0U-c/s320/Bday+dinner+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ate tons of cider donuts...Cold Hollow in Waterbury, VT still has the best</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUoghOXJaV72SfIIhj8VFM8uwP3cG5-ga0EUt085bTCMiPRrC1gsbuk5vo9TNX9NcFfCZd5_bIKnp080OWK51O5iDnvQQugrmXYJBJV1eAwMZF7wvdFxjdEtUpczWsTBwPRG1ZssRpWE/s1600/Me+cider+donut+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUoghOXJaV72SfIIhj8VFM8uwP3cG5-ga0EUt085bTCMiPRrC1gsbuk5vo9TNX9NcFfCZd5_bIKnp080OWK51O5iDnvQQugrmXYJBJV1eAwMZF7wvdFxjdEtUpczWsTBwPRG1ZssRpWE/s320/Me+cider+donut+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2kmQisoKM3KiCu9p0zl10pdP4iOopWGvspwBNx_x03ZZXmCJ1MBrrBddBM2cOeGZF5m-hwbM7V1LD2-V15GzR5N7gtBg7bbupFsOw4Z8tJ_MqVPtxExa165Wv6YGfoiu479dN7DZ4PM/s1600/Cider+donuts+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2kmQisoKM3KiCu9p0zl10pdP4iOopWGvspwBNx_x03ZZXmCJ1MBrrBddBM2cOeGZF5m-hwbM7V1LD2-V15GzR5N7gtBg7bbupFsOw4Z8tJ_MqVPtxExa165Wv6YGfoiu479dN7DZ4PM/s320/Cider+donuts+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Skinned up Mad River Glen</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdIpoiJzRlK6D5-aIV6PhglYkPHhTV8HsE8c2rm819d6S8tHDW_y78EbqtZ3ZOMi581FImCcEHhq68tJfOUJdCuztHFelRiJ8WDgy4HnGs1rPb4dNnxXVIc62Ygj99fAOoipLaPlbSQ0/s1600/mad+river+skiing+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdIpoiJzRlK6D5-aIV6PhglYkPHhTV8HsE8c2rm819d6S8tHDW_y78EbqtZ3ZOMi581FImCcEHhq68tJfOUJdCuztHFelRiJ8WDgy4HnGs1rPb4dNnxXVIc62Ygj99fAOoipLaPlbSQ0/s320/mad+river+skiing+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ate an apple turnover</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCew346VQV8qh1xwuwNh5_mfUq1HSCTfkZlBVr2nYRnGyGeEt5-HT6xAKCSzl1c_L5cn75kgEBIlh0oM0QHijwDOklcINRG_OzDQK-4S91s9fm3gRyN23b9sOediA0h0Hq3d25heiRhI/s1600/apple+turnover+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCew346VQV8qh1xwuwNh5_mfUq1HSCTfkZlBVr2nYRnGyGeEt5-HT6xAKCSzl1c_L5cn75kgEBIlh0oM0QHijwDOklcINRG_OzDQK-4S91s9fm3gRyN23b9sOediA0h0Hq3d25heiRhI/s320/apple+turnover+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Dressed in a snuggie for Halloween</span></b></div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ran the Cider Hill 5K</span></b></div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ate a birthday cannoli</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq907QeXfFc3txWoOYUII_0qy1RqGC1ON35q-iVyoO_o29oaKbkbCktjKu-dkho09ztznfQkEJtliRWAW5de2UfVFBm3OgJV3f_Q9Bao3U8MhLfl5LxeFpwPvjBBhN2tn0IosRzAxFD_g/s1600/canoli+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq907QeXfFc3txWoOYUII_0qy1RqGC1ON35q-iVyoO_o29oaKbkbCktjKu-dkho09ztznfQkEJtliRWAW5de2UfVFBm3OgJV3f_Q9Bao3U8MhLfl5LxeFpwPvjBBhN2tn0IosRzAxFD_g/s320/canoli+resized.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Got my new bike computer...Garmin Edge woohoo</span></b><br />
<br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ate waaay too much Halloween candy</span></b><br />
<br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Walked around the Fenway area trying to find the Beer Mile. We found it...an hour too late.</span></b><br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Ate some BBQ at Blue Ribbon...mmm mmm good</span></b><br />
<br />
</div></li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Actually got to have a life! </span></b><br />
<div style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." ~Ernestine Ulmer</i></span></div></div></li>
</ol><span style="background-color: red;"></span>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-10951375748403154102010-10-29T05:44:00.000-07:002010-10-29T05:47:08.848-07:00Buzzard's Bay Sprint Race Report<div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> A few weeks before this race, Keith & I thought we should probably do an ocean swim to prepare us for Lobsterman and this sprint. We wanted to make it a brick workout so I suggested we come down to this course, do our ocean swim and then bike the course. I figured we'd get our workout in and see the course. This excursion definitely did not go as planned and ended up being pretty comical. First, we got slightly lost while trying to find the park. Note to anyone who writes directions: use directions like left and right not north and south especially if the street just has a name and no route number. Wouldn't it just be easier to say take a left at blank road instead of head north on blank road? </span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> We finally found the park and soon realized why the Max website tells you to swim during high tide. The water was so shallow (knee deep) and the beach was incredibly rocky. I thought there was no way we'd be able to swim in this and I didn't want stepping on the rocks to add to the pain / numbness I usually get in my foot. Keith decided to give it a try. First he tried to swim in the knee deep water...he soon realized this doesn't work when you're 6'2”. Further out, there was a sandbar and then there was more water so he decided to try out there. With Keith walking out so far he looked like a little spec, he finally dove in and started swimming. It was doable but not ideal and he didn't last very long. I was happy he cut it short since the guy hanging out further down the shore from me was creeping me out a bit and I kept looking for ways I could escape the beach area if needed.</span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Our bike ride didn't go much better. We got lost due to the fact that 5 different streets will have 1 name or 1 street will have 5 names down there. This was honestly a mess of a trip but we were able to see that the bike ride was extremely flat and windy.</span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Come race day, we picked Carrie up and headed down to the race. After getting our stuff set up, we did our warm up run & stretching. One of the great things about this race was that we knew a bunch of people doing it or coming to watch us. Keith, Carrie and I decided to do a warm up swim right before the race. The swim was a point to point swim so we headed to the swim start for our warm up. We should have known something was up when no racers were down there and they were all at the finish area of the beach warming up. After way too long of trying to navigate through the rocks, we finally reach water that is deep enough to actually swim in (although this was still probably less than 5 feet deep). Coming out of the water on the rocks was definitely a challenge that garnered some laughs from other racers standing on the shores. </span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Once it was my swim wave's turn to start, I made the horrible trek across the rocks again. To my (and Carrie's) surprise, the other girls walked across the rocks like it was nothing...impressive. The swim was really weird with a buoy to turn at probably 100 yards into the swim. I tried to seat myself towards the front of the swim pack to try to get myself to go a bit faster (using my dislike of being swam over in an effort to push me harder). I never really got in a good rhythm and it definitely felt choppy the whole way. Luckily it was only a 1/3 mile swim.</span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> T1 went well and I was off on my bike. My game plan for the bike was simple – hammer the whole way and try to beat my other paces. I figured since this race was only a 14.7 mile flat ride vs. a 56 mile (Timberman) or 24.7 mile (Lobsterman) hilly ride I should be able to do that. Again it seemed some people like to hog the road but most of them had mountain bikes and were probably new so I won't harp on them. One guy annoyed me pretty bad with this though as he was actually just cruising along right next to the yellow line for a while and there wasn't even anyone to pass (and he had a tri bike so I'm guessing he knew what he was doing)! He probably just didn't want to get passed by a girl. I realized about 2 miles into the bike ride that the route did not look familiar and I came to the conclusion Keith and I did not ride any of the course when we attempted to ride the course a few weeks prior to the race. We laughed about this after the race and how we were way off. My final bike pace according to my computer said I averaged 20.9 mph although my final results have it at 20.5 mph. Keith had the same issue and we're pretty sure the distance was a little off (more like 15 miles) at least according to our computers.</span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> T2 did not go as planned and I lost some time because I couldn't get my bike on the rack. I know Max promotes their racks as being better than other races but I'm really not a fan as it seems my smaller than normal wheels don't fit in the grooves. Finally a race volunteer took pity on me and said to leave it and she'd rack it. A girl had come into the row on the other side right after me and sprinted out of transition before me due to this racking issue and to make matters worse, she was in my age group. The run course was along the bike course and coming into transition, I didn't see any girls ahead of me so I figured I might be able to come in 1<sup>st</sup> in my AG if I could pass this one girl who beat me out of transition. </span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Onto the run, I was making sure to keep this girl in my age group within passing distance. The run was an out and back with a pretty good hill out of the park. About a mile into the run, I passed Keith as he was heading in for his last mile. He yelled, “The 1<sup>st</sup> place girl is right there” and pointed to the girl in my AG that was slightly in front of me. This was when I thought I could maybe actually place in the overall female category and I decided it was time for me to get a move on. I debated waiting another mile or so to pass the girl in 1<sup>st</sup>. I didn't want to run out of steam at the end and have the girl pass me back. She was going a pace I could definitely keep up with and still have something left in the tank to pass her at the end but I wanted to push my run pace to its limit instead. I made my move right after seeing Keith and hoped for the best. At the turn around, I was satisfied to see she hadn't picked up the pace to try to catch me and figured I just needed to hold this pace. Towards the finish, I started getting really excited that I was going to be the 1<sup>st</sup> female to cross the finish line and this might be the only time that happens. </span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> I crossed the line shortly before the other girl en route to yet another PR this year! While I realized I might not have actually been 1<sup>st</sup> (the older female swim wave started after mine), I relished the fact that I had A. been the 1<sup>st</sup> female to finish the race and B. I came in at least 1<sup>st</sup> in my AG! After scanning the results, I realized that my suspicions were correct and I didn't come in 1<sup>st</sup> overall but I did come in 3<sup>rd</sup> overall which felt pretty rewarding! It seemed so weird competing in a race this short (after doing several Olympics and a ½ IM this year) and it felt like I should do a workout after the race.</span></b></div><div align="LEFT" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> It was a great day of racing all around as Keith came in 1<sup>st</sup> in his AG and set a PR and Carrie came in 3<sup>rd</sup> in her AG and also set a PR! We came home with a lot of glassware needless to say (Max gives out pint glasses as the award for placing) and only got slightly lost on the drive home! </span></b></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagNkzjeYbYMv7Tzuteeknzw5LdfJtNWfQYrd0E6dvsqR5ZuYzFdMKj7W2w3pQrA9NHoWWgWci0m5qyr4N6ZAs2xeVtyVaQINgAt7uYw1QQ-6mcmpnKbgZYFP39hUcWeL7WWLGR9lZ9VA/s1600/me+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagNkzjeYbYMv7Tzuteeknzw5LdfJtNWfQYrd0E6dvsqR5ZuYzFdMKj7W2w3pQrA9NHoWWgWci0m5qyr4N6ZAs2xeVtyVaQINgAt7uYw1QQ-6mcmpnKbgZYFP39hUcWeL7WWLGR9lZ9VA/s320/me+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3rd Overall Female - 1st in AG</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjquC1gptArRwme-er7xbxfIdpelVn7LMXoI9cvGr5MUCrQwHi4CQtNwigNYQgIKCi3WzZOd5S1306Zim1d3OdZ6RITci6JsxhYC5iEHPqyRslONY6SjRHRWDImAR3lOxy1Ey1UZivG4/s320/keith+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st in AG</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEjquC1gptArRwme-er7xbxfIdpelVn7LMXoI9cvGr5MUCrQwHi4CQtNwigNYQgIKCi3WzZOd5S1306Zim1d3OdZ6RITci6JsxhYC5iEHPqyRslONY6SjRHRWDImAR3lOxy1Ey1UZivG4/s1600/keith+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNyRPFVSGwmjlL4GOp-1X6QNB6qFRZBHgn4lTsvwrBR5Z60v88pDl0FZ8xqkJenKiy3gKPZhDA7Sm0RNUQH5LJXHl5qZ4Rlw7AmpLsBaYTlLO6zgVnyPeOtiw_LMMyuEHsj5mi9u9CvA/s320/carrie+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3rd in AG</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNyRPFVSGwmjlL4GOp-1X6QNB6qFRZBHgn4lTsvwrBR5Z60v88pDl0FZ8xqkJenKiy3gKPZhDA7Sm0RNUQH5LJXHl5qZ4Rlw7AmpLsBaYTlLO6zgVnyPeOtiw_LMMyuEHsj5mi9u9CvA/s1600/carrie+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TLEiYoVXzlWxVCrCKiZ6YfPLaA1QjVKh0viMKZD1he5k-5jRZAXYHON5Y256oPYMAizMPaRowClw9Io9Jj32dMzU4TKAxwNJSba5dc5fmTyiB0_pgWD2olkjce6ulKuOl4Yh1RlKy3o/s320/awards+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of glassware!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TLEiYoVXzlWxVCrCKiZ6YfPLaA1QjVKh0viMKZD1he5k-5jRZAXYHON5Y256oPYMAizMPaRowClw9Io9Jj32dMzU4TKAxwNJSba5dc5fmTyiB0_pgWD2olkjce6ulKuOl4Yh1RlKy3o/s1600/awards+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Swim: 11:10 (my fastest swim pace of the season)</span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">T1: 1:28</span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bike: 42:53 (20.5 mph)</span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">T2: 0:49</span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Run: 22:05 (7:06 min/mile)</span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Overall time: 1:18:24 (3<sup>rd</sup> overall female and 1<sup>st</sup> in AG)</span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: black;">"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." ~Seneca</span></i></span></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-61200023903229846672010-10-08T09:46:00.000-07:002010-10-29T05:29:37.088-07:00Lobsterman Olympic Race Report<div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;"> <span style="color: black;"> Training-wise the toughest thing following Timberman has been to get myself revved up for Lobsterman. Training this whole season has mostly been geared towards performing well at Timberman. The race season definitely felt like it was getting long having competed in the Season Opener in early May as my first race of 2010. I was starting to look forward to actually have a life outside of triathlon...who'd have thought!!</span> </span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The few weeks following Timberman, calling my bike rides bad would be an understatement. It felt like I had a charlie horse in my left quad every time I went over 10 to 15 miles especially in aero. I was seriously worried about how the Lobsterman bike ride would go. I also found it hard to get the motivation to go swimming (especially open water) with the weather getting cooler and the discovery of little jellyfish in Walden Pond. It turns out that was probably the reason I felt pretty itchy after a swim there shortly before the discovery. While I've been stung by a jellyfish in the ocean in Mexico, I have to admit I never thought I'd have to worry about jellyfish in a pond! </span></div><div align="LEFT" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Keith & I made the trip up the night before the race. The morning of the race, we arrived at the park pretty early (probably a little too early). The sun was rising over the ocean and I understood why this race has been called one of the most scenic...it's gorgeous there! </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rSQPqxbOx-ssr9B-C0DBSDeLLN38tJeMwp1aRtI0_HTyVraDJCRCQleNCgv0OsQP4jTicY6NzhPvVayGjxg5rvPKmzwb0PWt9bS5l_wOxrO9_t481w-W7tjSA2_WgUEcuaGSZ1Zv7r0/s320/race+location+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Freeport, ME locale</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rSQPqxbOx-ssr9B-C0DBSDeLLN38tJeMwp1aRtI0_HTyVraDJCRCQleNCgv0OsQP4jTicY6NzhPvVayGjxg5rvPKmzwb0PWt9bS5l_wOxrO9_t481w-W7tjSA2_WgUEcuaGSZ1Zv7r0/s1600/race+location+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> The week or so leading up to Lobsterman, it felt like I had tweaked my hip a bit. Between this and my quad feeling off, I had no idea how this race was going to go. Just for kicks, let's add some cold water to the mix for the swim. I was definitely worried about the famed freezing cold swim of Lobsterman. In case you're wondering, they actually require you to wear a wetsuit (and for good reason). The water temp was 61 degrees F and this was my first ocean swim of the year. Before the start of the race, Carrie, Keith and I went for a warm up swim although I think this would more accurately be called a chill down swim. My body and feet didn't get too cold thanks to my wetsuit and booties but my hands and face froze the second I put them in the water. I was not looking forward to a freezing cold .93 mile swim. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> I waited for the other swim waves to go with Carrie and Ashley and then hopped in the water when it was our turn to swim. One funny thing about doing a race in Maine - the announcer was actually wearing a lobster costume! Surprisingly when I got back in the water for the swim start, the water did not seem quiet as freezing as before. </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The swim went by slowly and I really just wanted to get to my bike. Luckily this part of the Maine ocean is really sheltered and was as calm as the beaches on the Northshore. Sighting was a bit difficult during the swim with the sun in our eyes for part of it so I just followed everyone else. I remember one of my least favorite thing about ocean swims: getting a mouthful of salt water - yum! Towards the end of the swim, I tried to pick up the pace and kick a lot to get the legs warmed up for the bike. I definitely felt like the cold water was zapping my energy at this point and I started to get pretty tired. Finally the swim ended and I was off to transition and my bike. </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> At the start of the race, I was worried the air temp would be a little too cool and I was remembering Season Opener this year where I was frozen until around mile 2 of the run. The weather ended up being great! I hopped on my bike and off I went for the 24.7 miles. I made good time on the bike and I was pushing to have a faster pace than Timberman. For some reason, this race seemed like there were a lot of people who liked to hog the road on the bike. I definitely got sick of yelling on your left in an attempt for people to get the hint to stay on the right unless they're passing. I ended averaging 20.3 mph (4<sup>th</sup> in my AG) which was faster than Timberman and my quad did not end up acting up.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Next up was the run. I was feeling pretty good at this point and wanted to try to beat the pace I held in my other Olympics. The run was hilly and I was definitely feeling this in both my knees by the end. I just kept concentrating on having the right form the whole run. A guy going a little faster than me passed me around mile 2 or 3. I decided to try to use him as my pacer and this ended up working to my advantage. To unknown pacer – thanks for keeping me at an 8 min mile! </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-120AG34xXYsg0fh4do4PI7nNJKuTOCR-Phs7OXWtHo4ZUDvR8XEK7cDeBic9YBuIRWEF5jNxKPxqZ-Zjl1bmAYOpyyNHZ3rVBUalqYkafwqITPkLfLIpyMz9fduauoxjzzsliHpPmA/s1600/me+run+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-120AG34xXYsg0fh4do4PI7nNJKuTOCR-Phs7OXWtHo4ZUDvR8XEK7cDeBic9YBuIRWEF5jNxKPxqZ-Zjl1bmAYOpyyNHZ3rVBUalqYkafwqITPkLfLIpyMz9fduauoxjzzsliHpPmA/s320/me+run+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> My goal for this race was to beat my other two Olympic tri times of 2 hours and 44 minutes. That's right, in both of the other Olympics I did this year (before Timberman), my times were within seconds of each other. I'm thrilled to say I finished with a PR and while I was a little disappointed I didn't place in my age group (6<sup>th</sup> out of 35), I know I can't control who shows up for the race. Not only did I set a PR, but Keith did as well! Woohoo time to celebrate!</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-x8kEra-iQ7ifkKPNfhvulBxGoUY0iXEzhcz-4YSaMyUcVjm8czc9X5y4mijvNd3ZF-uMMdT3KC_LYuqy2b5dwgkQO3MUMeLhEnl_a4sMN3seLuQVJjEe3f4CXRPsSoKHq7K57HmrvQ/s320/me+finish+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the finish</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-x8kEra-iQ7ifkKPNfhvulBxGoUY0iXEzhcz-4YSaMyUcVjm8czc9X5y4mijvNd3ZF-uMMdT3KC_LYuqy2b5dwgkQO3MUMeLhEnl_a4sMN3seLuQVJjEe3f4CXRPsSoKHq7K57HmrvQ/s1600/me+finish+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBtKLJxs34V3uwwgGDYl_kAkYBJ9Wzd-ECO9V_u4e4CtZdN8Iu8_KGPbh3LzUJYQ9AIo1AauIf_EE-VxmMGsu5jMWGLINAdEXvCLz977OUZ9UQLv5JQQGbmeTZOtGMEonpTcmI81RpQA/s320/me+and+keith+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Race</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBtKLJxs34V3uwwgGDYl_kAkYBJ9Wzd-ECO9V_u4e4CtZdN8Iu8_KGPbh3LzUJYQ9AIo1AauIf_EE-VxmMGsu5jMWGLINAdEXvCLz977OUZ9UQLv5JQQGbmeTZOtGMEonpTcmI81RpQA/s1600/me+and+keith+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"> Keith and I decided to skip out on the Lobsterbake (overpaying for cold hamburgers and hot dogs at the Timberbake was still fresh in our minds), we drove down to Portland to eat some baked haddock. You might wonder what a reward might be like for both of us getting a PR at a Maine race. Lobster!! While in Portland, we realized the lobsters are relatively cheap so we decided to get a couple and have our own Lobsterbake later that night! </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Swim: 31:33 </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">T1: 1:58</span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bike: 1:13:24 (20.3 mph)</span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">T2: 1:00</span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Run: 49:40 </span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Overall time: 2:37:32 (6<sup>th</sup> out of 35 in AG; 26<sup>th</sup> out of 207 females)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly." ~Robert H. Schuller</span></span></i></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tNfXYZ4Ou1f26OaSV26fQ6DqeBP8X1aWY_g0lKMBv7-S4bdZQVWfP3S-jOLHPntuWtt5Y_zD_0teWGisFPdKY_Rt8Ia7f5QcZyZrvobpwNeaS_N7B9sxhicyd3jLDd76rxcBAYuc4hY/s320/lobster+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lobster! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tNfXYZ4Ou1f26OaSV26fQ6DqeBP8X1aWY_g0lKMBv7-S4bdZQVWfP3S-jOLHPntuWtt5Y_zD_0teWGisFPdKY_Rt8Ia7f5QcZyZrvobpwNeaS_N7B9sxhicyd3jLDd76rxcBAYuc4hY/s1600/lobster+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-45597746962216951032010-09-14T19:31:00.000-07:002010-09-14T19:31:52.177-07:00Timberman 70.3 Race Report<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Better late than never...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b> </b></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>Pre-race</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Beep Beep Beep! 4 am and I'm up and getting ready for the race. I change, grab my gear and head out to the race. Keith & I start chowing down on almond butter & jelly on bagels as we drive the 20 mins or so to Gunstock. About 5 minutes into the ride “Hey Keith, you brought my aero bottle down right?” Keith: “Um I brought mine, you were supposed to bring yours.” Oops! Strike 1 and back to the hotel to grab my bottle. Luckily we weren't too far from the hotel and Keith didn't really look too annoyed. Ok back on the road and cue pump up mix on the Ipod!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We arrive at Gunstock to park and take the shuttle to the race start @ Ellacoya. Our bikes were already in transition from having to drop them off the day before. We arrive at the park, get body marked and head to our bikes in transition. I was pretty happy with my assigned location in transition (on a bike rack end = lots of space & next to a tree = easier to find my stuff coming into T1). When I arrive at my bike, the girl next to me is setting her stuff up. I notice she pretty much has a hockey bag for her transition bag. Um wow haven't seen that before. Reminds me of my days before my transition bag when Keith & I looked like a newbie mess toting our stuff to the race in multiple containers and bags. Keith comes over after his area is set up and he pumps up my tires while I get the rest of my area set up. Keith: “Wow that girl next to you has a hockey bag.” Married one year and we're thinking alike! </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Transition area and bikes are set to go so we're off for a quick warm up ride. No more than a few minutes in I start to hear some noise from the front of my bike. Yikes...a flat! Ok now I start to slightly freak out. It's only like 20 minutes before transition closes and I still have to get my swim stuff and apparently change a flat. I might add that I'm really bad at changing flat tires. I bring my bike to the bike mechanics @ Mavic figuring they can fix it faster than me and so I can try to get another tube from the bike store at the race while I wait. Turns out the bike store decided not to show before the start of the race. Seriously that is the worse bike store ever! Why wouldn't you be there before the race?! I check with Mavic on a spare tube and they don't have any since the bike store was supposed to be there. Another problem with my dilemma is that I've got 650 wheels so trying to find a spare 650 tube was impossible. Ok strike 2 – my flat is fixed but now I have no spare for the race. Oh and the bike mechanic tells me that the sag wagons on the course don't have any since they're uncommon and they ran out of them. My first ½ Ironman and I have to ride with no spare...awesome! Ok time to recover from the freak out and just hope I don't get a flat and have to pull out of the race. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVGxktU-EZLYVqVr78-w1cnTOGbwO-IUNTYFbaRXUjsnkhBoSR-Opki_UfAGd7ey5ySrTX1RniwtwpnJ0CxzatP1F2BgcPSjM7iNsjkCt9uA6aGWW-mrsVx_SFYbm8YJCBl8mH-0G2WM/s320/Me+%26+Keith+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & Keith Pre-race</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVGxktU-EZLYVqVr78-w1cnTOGbwO-IUNTYFbaRXUjsnkhBoSR-Opki_UfAGd7ey5ySrTX1RniwtwpnJ0CxzatP1F2BgcPSjM7iNsjkCt9uA6aGWW-mrsVx_SFYbm8YJCBl8mH-0G2WM/s1600/Me+%26+Keith+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>Swim</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">After dropping my bike in transition and grabbing my swim gear, I head to the Port-a-potty then the beach. Since Keith and I have about an hour before our swim waves actually start, we use this time to finish our warm up (stretching and warm up swim). Waiting for the other swim waves to go was probably one of my least favorite parts of the race. I like to warm up and then just go. Around 15 minutes to go and I throw down my Huckelberry gel...mmm mmm good. Keith goes ahead with his swim wave and I hang out with mine while I scope out the beach for my parents (who were coming to take some pictures for us). I wasn't sure they were going to make it up in time but sure enough I see them right before my wave enters the swim start. After a few pictures and them wishing me luck (along with me telling them to pray that I don't get a flat), I'm off to the swim. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRjzT0zhviuzOPuFp6ojdCHblG7p5M5p1i3k-RKkZMFeG_QoI84r9V0SBIzL0dnlFonDgZusMcYes5k-zvgH7k_DRWAe7IWislPq0Qmon2jfUk9qZY8bKAvfYdkLbqgrcR6_C5eKt2n0/s1600/Me+swim+%232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRjzT0zhviuzOPuFp6ojdCHblG7p5M5p1i3k-RKkZMFeG_QoI84r9V0SBIzL0dnlFonDgZusMcYes5k-zvgH7k_DRWAe7IWislPq0Qmon2jfUk9qZY8bKAvfYdkLbqgrcR6_C5eKt2n0/s320/Me+swim+%232.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Mom before my swim</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> I position myself towards the middle of the pack, the horn goes and we're off! The swim (especially the beginning) is my least favorite part since this is only my 3<sup>rd</sup> year swimming. The swim goes as expected except for some choppiness towards the end of the course. I also had the joy of being next to someone who'd switch between freestyle and breaststroke for part of the swim. How do I always manage to be next to someone doing the breaststroke in every race I do? I do not appreciate being kicked in the side...although good Ironman practice. After 1.2 miles, I'm out of the lake and running through transition to my bike. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>Swim time</b></i><i>: 40:35 AG place: 56 out of 106</i>. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioomPz76m4VJGYVBxY0IgS30QcF2u5bzeE4oCGd_BZ7zPa8xXSH9HLmez6ft_34jAI-wNxkQQvixii6-olqS4dF6F47hl_tN-3k_cAcU5KH6qk3hDBKkT4M_kOf9O7g_6WXVHtLuzUrQ/s320/Me+swim+resized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1.2 miles down!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgioomPz76m4VJGYVBxY0IgS30QcF2u5bzeE4oCGd_BZ7zPa8xXSH9HLmez6ft_34jAI-wNxkQQvixii6-olqS4dF6F47hl_tN-3k_cAcU5KH6qk3hDBKkT4M_kOf9O7g_6WXVHtLuzUrQ/s1600/Me+swim+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>T1</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I bypass the wetsuit strippers (I don't feel like flopping down) and head to my bike. When I take my goggles off, my left eye is really foggy and it won't go away no matter how much I rub it. Oh no, I really hope this goes away soon. I drop my wetsuit, throw on my biking gear, grab my bike and I'm off to the bike out area (while my eye is still foggy). Finally as I make it out of transition, “I can see clearly now” (to quote the Johnny Nash song)! Phew, relief! </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>T1 time:</b></i><i> 2:38</i>.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>Bike</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I hop on my bike and try to clip in. I quickly realize my right bike shoe won't clip into my pedal...great! After several unsuccessful tries and some riding without being clipped in, I'm finally able to get it in (after clearing some dirt and rocks out of it) and I'm off for 56 miles. The ride ended up being my favorite part and seemed too short. My goal was to finish it in around 3 hours (averaging around 18.6 mph) considering it had some hills and was on the longer end of most of my rides. My legs ended up feeling great and I noticed part way through the ride that I was holding a mid - 19 mph average. I thought about holding back so my legs wouldn't be dead for the run but decided to go for it and ride as fast as I could and just see what my legs had in them. With around 10 – 15 miles left, it started to rain pretty hard. Luckily it seems I ride faster in the rain. Maybe I just like riding in the rain or maybe I dislike it so much I ride faster to finish sooner...who knows? I'm also not very good at remembering to eat or drink on the bike (esp. if it isn't hot and humid) so Keith set my watch to go off every ½ hour to tell me to eat a gel or take some salt tabs (switching off between the 2 each time). After taking the salt tabs once, my stomach didn't feel so great so I stopped taking those and just kept with the gels every hour (I figured this would be fine since I wasn't sweating much at all).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">One major dislike I have is the drafting some people try to get away with. I saw a girl in my AG drafting another for a good 10 miles. Some guy actually asked Keith about 5 miles in if he wanted to “work together”. Seriously people?! You probably shouldn't do a race if you're going to blatantly cheat. We trained our butts off for this 70.3 and we're going to do it on our own! As I got close to transition, I was pumped that I was able to hold 20.1 mph on the bike and that I didn't get a flat! Crisis averted! All I could think is “Keith is going to be so proud of my bike split”! As a side note, I'm the one trying to keep up with him on our training rides and I don't usually average that high. Wow I'm in a great mood going into the run and am loving the 70.3 distance so far. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>Bike time:</b></i><i> 2:45:50 AG place: 8 out of 106</i>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>T2</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I drop my bike off in transition, grab my running gear, my gels and Shot Bloks and I'm off to my half marathon. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>T2 time:</b> 2:19</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>Run </b></u> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As soon as I start the run, I heard some people from BTT cheering me on then from NSTT then my parents – a major boost. I give my parents a smile & a wave and I'm off on loop #1. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7uvcsdZ3pvILFSEOEVLdrg6JEXsj7U8oApMDSzJgk3lFoaitpourl80DL8ks-kv6-mX3DIxYe1fLDkpztjQ3CEsilQ91FwTvRcqd4F-zl_w00tz7HfiHreYrktL8NyfzCEeAeYOjzdY/s1600/Run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7uvcsdZ3pvILFSEOEVLdrg6JEXsj7U8oApMDSzJgk3lFoaitpourl80DL8ks-kv6-mX3DIxYe1fLDkpztjQ3CEsilQ91FwTvRcqd4F-zl_w00tz7HfiHreYrktL8NyfzCEeAeYOjzdY/s320/Run.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1/2 marathon left to go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> 1<sup>st</sup> stop on the run: Port-a-potty since I don't want to hold it for a ½ marathon. Losing a minute or two will be worth it. Hey there's Keith running by. “Keith! Keith!” Hmm I guess he's in a zone...he doesn't even see me. FINALLY he sees me...but totally missed my high 5 (at least we get it right during loop #2). I start thinking towards the end of the 1<sup>st</sup> loop that I'm genuinely enjoying myself. This might be a sign I should be running faster but I want to have some legs left for the 2<sup>nd</sup> loop. Since the legs are responding well during the 1<sup>st</sup> loop, I'm very glad I didn't hold back on the bike. I start getting close to the finish but quickly remember I'm going out for loop #2 so it's by the finish line and back out again for me (which I thought was a bit mean). Mile 9 of the run and I'm starting to feel it in my legs. Sore upper quads and then sure enough the familiar stiffness and knee pain. Ugh the next 4.1 miles are going to be long! Luckily my foot is still feeling ok (or it hurts but I'm only noticing the knee). These were my two biggest worries coming into the race and I highly doubted I'd get through the whole thing without one of them hurting...although I was planning on the foot hurting more than the knee. Ok time for some mental toughness. This is just a little longer than a 5K then I can rest my knee all I want at the finish...no biggie. I keep my pace and YES I'm at the finish! 1<sup>st</sup> ½ IM complete! </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>Run time:</b></i><i> 1:53:42 AG place: 31 out of 106</i>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>Finish</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As I finish, I see my parents. “Michelle, the female winner's behind you.” What?! Chrissie Wellington?! Um understatement Mom & Dad. She's like the best female triathlete in the world! So like a 10 year old girl, I ask her for a picture which she is more than willing to do. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><b>Final Time:</b></i><i> 5:26:04 AG place: 14 out of 106</i>.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgg9-UwFNJEc3vxJW53mb6O3OQygLVEjCSd1Cg67z-XHPPe0p7bLgTg-FWl4oefXNTv7pZb29v5XxgS6PF7rAnRlkZ9qXwFMmpUBqWXAo5UYP8Cd7zH1cjILMrKw5ApnieQs5PcK7wiE/s1600/Me+%26+Chrissie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgg9-UwFNJEc3vxJW53mb6O3OQygLVEjCSd1Cg67z-XHPPe0p7bLgTg-FWl4oefXNTv7pZb29v5XxgS6PF7rAnRlkZ9qXwFMmpUBqWXAo5UYP8Cd7zH1cjILMrKw5ApnieQs5PcK7wiE/s320/Me+%26+Chrissie.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My photo op with Chrissie Wellington @ the finish</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWWPPnnF_Tqg4xP9pomzYdtIP2Yr9l0XE-BAInQNCe9M4a2UXWiUfE87TXs7YkoQ_YI7gqNl9TIPxdO4ZVWANcuwgqESNbmkyYKwF7Kj1W8730-mCArhveMVbE207rHuSCHHKQeG_3XU/s1600/Me+%26+Dad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWWPPnnF_Tqg4xP9pomzYdtIP2Yr9l0XE-BAInQNCe9M4a2UXWiUfE87TXs7YkoQ_YI7gqNl9TIPxdO4ZVWANcuwgqESNbmkyYKwF7Kj1W8730-mCArhveMVbE207rHuSCHHKQeG_3XU/s320/Me+%26+Dad.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With my dad after the finish...70.3 complete woohoo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><b>Wrap Up</b></u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I loved it! I'm hooked on this distance! The great weather or the fact that I executed this race almost completely as planned might have something to do with it but I don't care...it was amazing! I was really close to placing in the top 10 of my age group. I can't wait for my two ½ IM and my full IM @ Lake Placid next year. It felt so rewarding that all my training and rejecting junk food paid off. I feel like I peaked and tapered well and I owe a lot of it to Keith for acting as our coach for this race. It's definitely nice being married to someone who enjoys triathlons as much as me and pushes me in my workouts. Thanks to everyone there cheering me on...it was a much needed boost. Especially thanks to my parents for leaving at 5am to come up and take pictures and to Keith for dragging my butt through many workouts and the support.</div>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073052974323424215.post-71917248032113158442010-09-05T18:39:00.000-07:002010-10-08T09:47:47.903-07:00Time will tell<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Three years ago, Keith (my husband) and I decided to join the B&S triathlon training group and compete in our first triathlon. We've been hooked ever since! If you were to tell me I'd be signing up for an Ironman in three years, I'd have told you that you're crazy. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run...NO WAY! The more time we've spent in the triathlon world, the less crazy and unattainable this has seemed. <br />
<br />
Well on July 25th Keith and I decided to make the trip to Lake Placid to volunteer at the 2010 Ironman. The next day, we started waiting in line at 5am to solidify a place in the 2011 Ironman (yes we waited in line for 4 hours and yes we are actually paying to do this race...a lot of $). Pretty much everyone I've told that I signed up for IMLP has had a similar reaction, “You're crazy.” or “Did you ever think you'd be this nuts?” I might point out that someone actually going nuts probably wouldn't think they were going nuts at that time, but I digress. <br />
<br />
We even signed up before we attempted our first Half Ironman. Okay this might make us a bit crazy but I have no regrets about signing up (talk to me in March and I might after running in the snow). I decided to start a blog to track my training and show that it does not take an incredible amount of ability but rather dedication, motivation, and heart to train for an Ironman. At the very least I hope to provide a distraction from work or some entertainment. A few disclaimers: I was a Biology not English major in college so bear with my writing; my train of thought can sometimes be scattered but I promise it makes sense in my head; I'm a fan of quotes/song lyrics and will use some throughout my posts; I'm no elite athlete, just a regular age grouper trying to finish my first Ironman. <br />
<br />
Am I excited? Understatement <br />
Am I nervous? Definitely <br />
Am I motivated? You betcha <br />
Am I crazy? Maybe a little <br />
Do I want this? Oh yeah <br />
Will I be an Ironman? Only time will tell </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." </i></b></span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>~T. S. Eliot</i></b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2_Vj9W_ZFZMWQH2pZIN-Cbtn6zTA-6BCVFSGb0uQ8_tRbC-KJzqUoWUoD8F0Me1qgnUFhcEA82B5szy94QxiGehNiKjpd19liLh57cWf7mGPMlnbnvWAxz3xkmZ0bKreRHT_onTvfWY/s1600/LP1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2_Vj9W_ZFZMWQH2pZIN-Cbtn6zTA-6BCVFSGb0uQ8_tRbC-KJzqUoWUoD8F0Me1qgnUFhcEA82B5szy94QxiGehNiKjpd19liLh57cWf7mGPMlnbnvWAxz3xkmZ0bKreRHT_onTvfWY/s320/LP1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After our volunteer shift</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06pY29dcO3r5CWTSvc4mCaabH70DAvnCX28mOSOTuHmsrR2TvAWpRRoigFUzNCwdp_FYFz41NoiZS8xoYcJRW1MfnMIYMBkyodYFuIoq-RCZ9SbI9badTtPeYQ1RMPmefnyOCj37_yKA/s1600/LP2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06pY29dcO3r5CWTSvc4mCaabH70DAvnCX28mOSOTuHmsrR2TvAWpRRoigFUzNCwdp_FYFz41NoiZS8xoYcJRW1MfnMIYMBkyodYFuIoq-RCZ9SbI9badTtPeYQ1RMPmefnyOCj37_yKA/s320/LP2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting in line @ 5am to sign up for IMLP 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12663830373903354259noreply@blogger.com2