St.Anthony's Recap

First off.....a BIG congrats to my brother who graduated this weekend from the University of Michigan. I was able to see him graduate on Friday from the Ross Business school at UM before flying home early sat morning. Aaron will be working for PPG in Pitt. this coming June.
I must say that the two days I spent in Michigan (Thurs and Fri) helped me ease my nerves for the race this weekend. After flying home saturday morning, I headed straight to St.pete from the Tampa Int'l airport. After checking myself in and picking up my race band, packet and goody bag, I helped out at the USAT booth for a couple hours. I met a lot of people and saw a lot of familiar faces! Both two good things that come with racing in triathlons. I checked my bike into the transition area before leaving the race venue and I felt ever-so-cool walking over to the "Elite" rack (ok-so I'm really living this opportunity up!). I must say that Seduza fit in well with the other bikes but after looking around at the Pro rack, I could spend a lot more money on her. I'm happy with her and she hasn't let me down :)
The best part of Saturday was meeting my two sponsors. First, I met Eli who I must say, is my exact twin. I don't think two strangers could look more alike! I ended up walking away from the Zoot booth with tons of Schwag, which I planned on wearing (very proudly) on Sunday. I absolutely LOVE the Zoot clothes and the transition bag is just awesome! So many compartments and places for everything! And I walked away with a cute visor as well (I love my visors!). Check out the www.zootsports.com webpage for the clothes and awesome Zenith Wetsuit! I also talked with Samatha M. who is a very nice professional athlete. I headed over to the Hammer booth and met Steve and Bryan. Both two awesome guys who truely LOVE what they do. By good reason, of course, Hammer nutrition does have the best product on the market. Check out the website and order your products ASAP!! www.hammernutrition.com . Especially with Ironman 70.3 Florida coming up, you know you want to have plenty of liquid calories to deal with the hot temperatures.
I headed over to the Hampton Inn where my two best guy friends were staying. Carlos, Mike and I are triathlon buddies, but ever since I graduated grad school and moved from Ft.Lauderdale, we make an effort to spend time with each other during our races. The evening ended with a great group dinner (11 of us) at Outback. I think we set a record of the most bread consumed in one night! I was absolutely part of that record...bring on the bread and sweet potato!!! YUMMM
Finally, around 8 pm I was laying in bed and sitting for what seemed like the first time in 3 days. Of course I didn't sleep a wink that night and just wished that it was 4:20am when my alarm was to go off. Breakfast consisted of 1/2 bagel with PB and jelly, a packet of regular oatmeal, 1/2 banana, coffee and a diluted sport drink. The usually breakfast and it works well with me. My drinks for the bike were HEED (from Hammer). Getting body marked went rather quickly, but I must have walked 2 miles from the car, to transition and then to the pier. What a warm-up!! The wetsuit went on quickly, almost forgot to grab my chip and before I knew it, the Pro women had started and I was walking up to the starting line, getting ready to start at 7:07am. It was a nervous feeling, standing there with all the Elite women and as I looked around, I wasn't sure if I belonged. But everyone was nice, supportive and nervous as well, so I guess I fit in just fine. The gun went off and I was running in the water. The swim was wet-suit legal, but I was regretting the decision within the first 500 yards as my full wetsuit was keeping me awfully warm for the 77 degree water. After 10 minutes, I was feeling more comfortable in the water and wishing that I could swim more. I ended up swimming my goal time of 23 minutes. The wetsuit quickly came off and I was running in transition to greet Seduza. No heart rate monitor, no computer. All I needed to do today was to race my hardest. I didn't want numbers, I just wanted to GO and give it my all. The bike was great and I felt really good. The legs were hurting, but that was expected. I was really pushing. I started to feel better around 25K, but of course, there wasn't much left in the 40K race. I ended up with a sub 1:15 40K time (1:14) so once again I met my goal time. Sadly, however, I was being reminded of my first couple races when I started triathlons, as today I was being passed by all the Elite women during the bike. I guess I'm not an age grouper anymore :( Now it was time for the run. After 1/2 mile, I was in the zone and feeling more comfortable. It wasn't until mile 3 that I really started feeling good and picking up the pace to sub 7:30's. Although I ran a slow 48 minutes, I think I held back too much for the first couple miles. I'm not quite sure how to run fast sometimes and once I'm in the zone, the race is done. I almost beat my goal time of 2:25 and ended up with a finishing time of 2:28. Not too shabby, considering that this was my first race as an Elite and only my 3rd Olympic distance triathlon. Accomplishments today: I was happy with all three disciplines, I had a great time out there, I PR'd by over 20 minutes and I met a lot of nice people. Because I knew SO many people in the race (and met a lot) congrats to EVERYONE!!!!! Also, I BIG congrats to Carlos and Mike!
This weekend Karel raced in Athens and placed 9th at the Twilight crit. Good job Karel! He's off to New Mexico tomorrow for his first 5 day Tour! After a quick 20 minute nap, I was on the computer typing up his nutrition plan for the next week, since I can't be there to cheer him on. I know he will do great! After fixing up his TT bike, we went for a 40 minute spin on our bikes. It was kinda funny seeing him on aerobars...now if I can only get him in the pool! (I know he can run since he completed the st.pete times Turkey Trot 10K in 39 minutes!!!!). After our spin, we watched the Tour de Georgia on versus. Although I'm not sore from the race, my legs started to tighten as I watched the riders on the Brasstown Bald Mtn. Stage which I experienced my uphill fall!! hehe
Today was a big step for me and even though I placed 31st (out of 32), I met my last goal of beating at least one elite and one pro. Starting tomorrow, my training is solely devoted to Ironman 70.3 Florida. Finally, a race that lasts more than 4 hours....now that's my kind of race!!! I better stay focused-Goal: Sub 5 hours.
Congrats again!

St.Anthony's

Could I be more nervous? Yes-as much as I LOVE to race, I still get nervous. I haven't really participated in enough races to look back at previous races and hope to set PR's. I pretty much consider every race a first. Although I have done several sprint triathlons, I can only look back on my two marathons (miami and Boston), one 70.3 race (now called Ironman 70.3 Florida), one half marathon (miami) and one Ironman distance and think to myself....."What am I doing racing Elite in an OLYMPIC DISTANCE!!!!" Although I feel ready to get out there and race, the fast stuff is not fun for me. Ouch!!! I like to test the body and see how strong I can be when I'm out there racing in an endurance race. Anything less than 3 hours is very hard on my body. Ok-enough excuses already. Seduza is race ready and I will be racing with my HED 3 wheels one last time before I put on my new 404 Zipps for Ironman 70.3 Florida. Karel got Seduza looking nice and pretty for me with a new chain. She also told me she wanted to go fast. Let's hope the running legs are ready also. The running hasn't been up to par since I injured myself at the Miami marathon in January :( I hope Karel gave me some of his fast skills since he is my amazing bike tech!!!! Plus, I totally neglected Seduza last week when I was riding Blue in the mountains. Does anyone else talk about their bikes like I do??? Hope you don't think I'm crazy!!!! Maybe just a little? hehe
I am looking forward to the little things for this race. Seeing and racing with some of my best friends in the sport, eating the ritual Outback sweet potato and bread the night before, representing my two major sponsors (Hammer Nutrition and Zoot), cheering on the newbies and most of all...seeing that E on my calf instead of my age. Oh and taking pictures of course!
Good luck to everyone competing this weekend! Regardless of your finish time, enjoy your time out on the course and remember that this is the sport that you LOVE. You didn't train for this race, you trained because triathlons are part of your life!

Georgia Trip- Recap

What a trip! Nothing better than spending time in the mountains and training like a pro. I guess I'm back to reality now :(
The trip started on Wednesday afternoon around 4 pm as Karel and I headed out for our long road trip to Georgia. The first half of the drive was in the light, but unfortunately it was also raining. Bummer for a nice and easy drive. Karel did most of the driving as I tried to sit still for the 8 hours that we were in the car. Leave it to me to entertain Karel with my singing of songs from the radio and making him play the alphabet game with me. Great game by the way. You find things that start with each letter of the alphabet. Of course with Karel and I being so competitive, it was a race to see who could find each letter. After a couple gas/restroom/eating stops we arrived at Cavendar Creek Cabins around 1:30 am. Although I didn’t explore the cabins when we arrived, I couldn’t wait to see the place in the daylight. The night went by fast and as I was making some breakfast, Karel was already at work fixing bikes for the other guys. I guess they were anxious for him to come. After unpacking my stuff, we were heading out the door at 10:30am for our first ride. The whole week was great for sleeping in until 7:00am and taking our time until we trained. The weather was great and I couldn’t have asked for any better company. Thursday’s ride consisted of two climbs and around 50 miles. The only bad part about the awesome mountains of Georgia is that an easy day will always have a climb or two. We had to ascend and descend a couple hills just to leave the area around our cabin. I was a little worried about my first experience of cycling in the mountains and further, my first experience cycling in the mountains on my new road bike. However, this week I was thinking like a cyclist and excited to train like one! Well, I really didn’t have a choice since I was in company with 9 other cycling guys. No slack for me!
The ride was awesome and I completed the two gaps. It wasn’t the climbing that I feared, it was the scary downhill. My skills were ok going up the hills and luckily, my small frame worked for me as I was climbing. I wish I would have had one more cassette on my bike cause the shifting stopped when I needed just one more shift to climb the mountains with a faster cadence. Karel was awesome on the mountains and he was happy that Anthony was there to train with him. As for the rest of us, we had a great ride in the mountains. Only one crash for the day, which was made by Karel as he was flying down the mountain. PoP POP! Two flats as he was going down the switch back and he flipped right over his bike. But of course, he cycled away with a minor scratch on his elbow…and still continued to demoralize my climbing skills on the rest of the ride. I wanted to make the most of my day and finished my 50 mile ride with a 30 minute run on the hills around our cabin. My legs didn’t hurt like I thought they would and it is amazing how the altitude can make a short run feel like a marathon. Thursday evening was a Rib dinner for the guys and a sweet potato and veggie meat for Marni. In addition to the salad, bread and corn, I had a great dinner with the guys. Friday morning was the most looked forward part of the trip as I was about to watch my first Tour! My day started with a 9 mile run in the mountains as Karel, Jim, Ray and Scott went for a 40 mile ride. I was loving my run, as I always do when I run in the country. As far as the tour goes, let me tell ya.. there is nothing like seeing Pro Cyclists climb a mountain after a 100 mile stage! I took some great pics at the top of Brasstown Bald Mountain (elevation 4700) and I also took a pic with the famous Versus commentator Phil Liggett, as well as other pics of Floyd LAndis, George Hincapie, Levi L. and lots of cyclists who Jared knew by name (I think he knew them all!). As Jared would call out cyclists, I was snapping pictures at everyone. I had no idea who he was talking about, but I thought if they were worth cheering for, they were famous enough to have a picture taken. We took buses to the parking lot at the top of the mountain and saved our legs from the 5K walk to the top. However, the last 400 meters were killer! I felt like the pavement was getting closer and closer to my shins as I was walking. And if I thought walking the last 400 meters was tough, I couldn’t even imagine the climb to that point and how the riders were feeling with less than a ¼ mile to the finish! But of course I would be able to test my skills the following day with the same Brasstown Bald 5K climb…oh my! Friday evening was pasta night and it was Chicken Parmesan for the guys and pasta with meatless sauce for Marni. I was thrilled that the guys even thought about me as they were preparing dinner! Once again, I was in great company with the guys. Awesome people!
Saturday was the big day! Karel and Anthony started their day early as Anthony had to head home in the early afternoon. Karel kept him company for the first half of his ride and also met up with me and the rest of the guys for some of our ride. Just to give you a taste of what I did on Saturday, we left around 11:45am and didn’t return to the car until around 5:00pm. Aside from waiting for others at the top of the mountains and a few fuel breaks, we were in the saddle for around 4 ½ hours. Four of the guys and me covered around 60 miles, over 12,000 feet of climbing and 3 BIG gaps. The first gap was the Brasstown Bald Mountain climb, with a 20% grade climb at “the wall”. It took around 40 minutes to cycle to the bottom of brasstown and it was nothing but uphill from there. All I wanted to do was to make it up to the top. Since I knew it was a 5K to get to the top, I also kept my time to see how long it would take. Ray R. kept me going and we stayed bike by bike the entire climb. While climbing is very challenging, it is more mental more than anything. Of course your legs want to give out, you don’t know if you should stand or sit and when your body wants to stop you have to tell it to keep going. Well…..my body stopped and I knew which way by body wanted to go- DOWN! So I tell this story as I laugh at myself but I made it to the wall and with less than 2K to go, I couldn’t pedal anymore. The bike wasn’t moving. I couldn’t clip out fast enough and I looked like the person who tries to ride with clip pedals for the first time. Bike and Marni went down to the ground together. More than anything I was frustrated! As I picked up my bike and pushed it up the wall, I couldn’t help to notice the blood dripping down my right knee. Oh well. I found a semi flat spot on the top of “the wall” and started the last part of the climb. Karel had already climbed the mountain in around 21 minutes and he came and met me to cheer me on behind me as I continued to the top. Minus the walk, I climbed the mountain in around 28 minutes. Let’s put this in perspective now. 5K in 28 minutes. Sounds like a good time for a 5K run. Yep-I was averaging around 8 miles per hour. After several pics as the top and a quick cleaning of the leg, my next task was to get down the mountain. Not sure of your descending skills but I’m still working on mine. With an average speed of around 30 mph (while squeezing my breaks to save my life) I finally made it down. I even stopped once on the descend cause I thought my breaks were going to fail and catch on fire. Had to stop to cool them off. Aside from shaking and feeling completely freaked out from the descend, I overheard the guys talking about there 40+ mph max speeds. Needless to say, I kept up with the guys on the climbing part of the ride but there was plenty of rest for them as they waited for me to descend. Thanks guys for waiting. They were always looking at for me. Some would like to call it a day after that climb, but we hadn’t even covered 30 miles before our next climb. This was going to be a long day. The next gap was Hogpen gap and if I thought Brasstown was challenging, I was wishing for one more cassette on my bike for the next climb. With only one minor switchback (as oppose to Brasstown with several) I was fighting my way up an almost straight 15% grade climb. This was the last that I saw of Karel as he was flying down the mountain at speeds close to 54 mph. I pedaled my way to the stop and once again I was elated to make my 2nd major climb of the day. But of course, after a couple pics, it was down the other side of the mountain. Ray, Scott, Jim, Harry and I continued our ride while others headed back to the cars. One more gap to go. I must admit that the scenery was beautiful and there was nothing else I’d rather be doing than spending all day on my bike. No TV, no cell phones, no computer, just me, my bike and the outdoors. The last climb of the day was Unicoi. I loved the switchbacks to get up the mountain and I had minimized my fear of descending and really took advantage of my last descend of the day. After two more hours of riding and a well needed fuel break (I was on the verge of bonking!) we were back at the car and it was nearly 5pm!!! One last pic and I was off for a snooze in the car on the way home. I had a quick phone call to Karel to let him now that we were on our way back to the cabins and I was thrilled to hear I had pancakes, egg whites and fruit waiting for me back at the cabin. He's so good to me! As I shared some of my riding stories with Karel, I had barely enough strength to eat the yummy food. It was off to the hot tub (which was kinda chilly when we got in it) for a well-needed soak and Karel shared his day, which was a 100 mile ride in the mountains! Woah!!!! He is an animal! This is perfect training for him as he heads to New Mexico next Monday for the Tour de Gila.
Sunday morning wasn’t as bad as I thought (soreness that is) and I was off for an easy 50 minute run. While the run was supposed to be easy, nothing is easy when I have to run uphill in the gravel for over a 1/2 mile just to exit our cabin area. Karel went for one last 3 hour ride in the mountains and it was my turn to cook him breakfast when he returned. With lots of memories and pics, we packed up the car, cleaned out the cabin and headed back to Florida around 12:30 pm. The last stage of the tour was in downtown Atlanta and featured a circuit race around Centennial park. Seeing that I am no good with directions and Karel is my on-call GPS, we decided to eat at the underground to make the most of our last day of our vacation. I figured we wouldn't be able to find the cycling race though. After finishing a late lunch, we were both craving ice cream (as two lovers of yogurt ice cream, the past 4 days were rough!). After getting some yogurt, we walked around ATL to see if we could find the tour. After 10 minutes of walking and seeing a flash of cyclists, we made it to the last stage just in time to see the last loop of the circuit race!! What good timing and a great way to finish the weekend. As if you thought two passionate athletes would miss this opportunity to watch a race! I squeezed my way to the fence and snapped some great pics of the uphill finish. After walking around a bit more, we headed back to the car to start a long 7 hour drive home.
What a great trip! I can’t tell you how awesome it was to train like a pro. I really tested my skills with the mountains and I would absolutely do it all over again. And now with St.Anthony’s in on Sunday, I couldn’t be more ready to start my taper!
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mrakes1/album/576460762399113167

Almost time!

The trip back to Florida was well-welcomed with warm weather and a nice breeze. Although the running was great, anything was better than the conditions up north this past weekend. I can't believe the times at Boston even with the bad conditions! Runners are AMAZING! Watching the broadcast of Boston took me back to my wonderful experience of running the Boston Marathon last year. It is truely an amazing experience that I will never forget! Congrats to my friend Christie who is just awesome at running. She is training for her first Half Ironman in Florida this May...Yippie, another newbie Triathlete!
The past two days were filled with training, coaching and catching up with emails. Most of all, I am finally packed for my trip! I leave tomorrow for Georgia!!! I will be spending the next 4 days in Georgia, staying in beautiful Cabins in the mountains, about an hour north of Atlanta. Although I will have to force myself to sit in the car for over 8 hours (I have plenty of reading, scrapbooking and toys to keep me busy!) I am super excited to get there! There will be 10 of us staying in 2 cabins and we will be watching stage 4 and 5 of the Tour de Georgia. While we aren't riding 50-60 miles in the hills (Jared says that's the plan :0 ,I will be relaxing without my computer and my cell phone without service and truely loving my time, relaxing with the guys. Oh, did I mention I will be spending the next 4 days with 9 Gearlink Cycling guys!! That's a lot of testosterone and I'm sure a lot of making fun of Marni! It's just that easy! hehe. And being the only vegetarian with a bunch of guys...that should make for lots of great stories! Don't worry, I always have my camera!
Congrats to all those who raced this past weekend in good and bad weather conditions. A BIG congrats to the Gearlink guys who tested their skills at the Jacksonville Cycling Classic. Karel, once again, surprised us all and pulled out a 36th place crit finish, out of a starting field of over 150 for Pro 1,2 at 8:30 pm. Then, he turned around on sun afternnoon at 12:30pm and raced 98 miles in the wind for an amazing 11th place finish. Ray, Will, Mirek and the rest of gang also did GREAT!!
Have a wonderful week everyone!

NCAA Men's gymnastics Recap

I think it is very rude and selfish of the Men's Gymnastics team to put US (spectators) through so much stress and nervousness!!! Only kidding...this was an amazing championship to watch!

Thursday we watched the University of Michigan, in addition to several other schools, compete as teams to qualify for the team final meet on Friday evening. The top 3 teams from thursday's two sessions (afternoon and evening) qualify. 3 teams in the afternoon session qualify and 3 teams in the evening qualify. My brother did well on his two events, High Bar and Rings, but individual rankings weren't that important on Thursday because the stress was on the team (as a whole) to do well in order to qualify for Friday evening. Individual finals take place tonight (SAT) and the athletes participating in individuals was determined based on the top 10 athletes from Friday evening. Confused yet?

University of Michigan had a great meet on Thursday but unfortunantly, the chance to qualify for Friday evening was left to Andrew Elkind on Parallel Bars, as the last athlete of the meet to try to score a 9.0. Can you believe it...he had to get a certain score in order for Michigan to beat Ohio State. Could you imagine the silence in the building as Andrew was about to start his routine...and then the excitement as he finished? Check out the write-up for the event (better than my blog!) http://www.mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=24432

Michigan barely squeezed in 3rd place with a team total score of 215.350 and beat Ohio state who had a score of 215.250!!!

Friday evening was very exciting as well because my brother was trying to qualify for individual finals. Unfortunantly, my brother's best event (on which he won Big Ten's) is High Bar and Michigan was up on High Bar as their first event. If you don't know anything about gymnastics, gymnastics judging is very subjective and scores tend to go up as the meet goes on. Therefore, with High Bar as Michigan's first event, my brother earned a 9.050. Athletes who had as much difficulty as my brother (which is very difficult) were earning 9.3 and up, and it took a 9.3 to make it back as top 10. When he got to Rings, which were 3 apparatus's later, all he needed to do to make it back was to stick his landing. My brother has a lot of difficulty in his rings routine so it all came down to the landing. I must admit, being his very last meet, he had a lot of emotions going through his body, but my brother is very well-composed and just enjoyed the moment and loved every minute of representing University of Michigan. He took a step :( No worries though. He still did great (of course in the eye's of his sister, I always think he does great!) and Michigan was still in the running to place in the top 4 for NCAA's and earn themselves a plaque. And once again, it all came down to Parallel Bars. Andrew was up as the last competitor. With a great routine to qualify him into individual finals, Michigan bumped Illionois out of the running and Michigan placed 4th. Although they were really happy with a podium finish, Michigan's team total was 218.400 and Standford squeezed in third place with 218.450! Bummer. Read more at http://www.mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=24447

Tonight is the individual finals which Michigan will have four athletes competing. While I wish that I could watch my brother compete just one more time, I'm looking forward to sitting with Aaron as we watch the meet and checking out some of the gymnasts that my brother has been competiting with since he was 6 yrs old! With a retirement from Gymnastics on April 13th, 2007, my brother has dedicated the last 16 years to gymastics. As a 2003 NCAA All-American on Pommel Horse, a 2007 High Bar Big Ten Champion, a 4-year Academic All-American and much accomplishment in between, I know Aaron is leaving on a high note. As he moves forward in the business world working at PPG in Pitt, I know Aaron will always have a special place in his life for memories of his gymnastics career. Well done Aaron. Well Done!

Check out the latest Article on my brother: http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/03/22/Gymnastics/Rakes.Juggles.Business.And.Gymnastics-2786404.shtml

Altitude Training...sort of!

We will call this week a running week. It is only Friday and I have put in 45 miles of running. After swim practice on Tuesday (4500 yards), my run workout was a 50 min. interval day on the trail (3 x 1 mile repeats at 10K HR pace). Wednesday’s workout was my normal 45 minute spin class that I teach, followed by 5 miles with 6 x 3 min at 5K HR pace. Other than my two interval workouts, Mon, Thurs and Fri have been easy long runs of around 10 miles. No pain in the foot, no sore muscles. However, my bike is being missed right now. Oh well, sometimes you gotta go with the conditions of Mother Nature. With rain on Mon and Tues and a trip to Pennsylvania on Wed, I had no time to get on the bike. No worries cause the past month or so I have put in major miles on my two bikes!
Traveled to Penn State on Wed for Aaron’s NCAA gymnastics meet. His LAST meet ever and I couldn’t be more proud of him. Wed was a crazy day of traveling, with a bumpy direct flight to Pittsburg, apartment looking for my brother, checking out PPG (glass company where he will be working full-time as a business man in June) and then a LONG drive to Penn State. Lots of rain and construction delays to go along with the 3 hour drive that we had. I gladly welcomed the Comfort Inn as my day started at 4:30 a.m. and I was nestled in bed at 11:30 p.m.
Unless I am pressed for time, I usually turn off my cell phone alarm (normally set for a daily wake-up call at 4:40 a.m.) and wait until I am ready to get up. Unfortunately, my body gets me up around 6:40-7 a.m. when I try to sleep-in. As I drank the hotel coffee (not even close to my Starbucks Tall Americano w/ sugar free hazelnut that I love!) I bundled up in gloves, long pants, a windbreaker and a long sleeve shirt, grabbed my Sony Radio (LOVE IT!) and my ear covering. Even though I was running in 37 degree temps, I had a great run and I love running in new places. Aside from country running, college towns are a must for doing long runs. So much to see and because of local shops and restaurants (I love new places to eat!) a 10 mile run goes by really fast. Oh-let me mention the “slight inclines” that use Floridians tend to use when describing hills. I was having lots of fun running up and down the real hills of Pennsylvania and I have a high average heart rate to show for it! This morning was the same mileage but I took my run on a bike path around a golf course (still had the hills of course) which took me around beautiful houses and lots of pretty scenery. To the people here, who don’t know how much I love triathlons and how hard I train, I must look crazy running at 7:30 in morning. Weather this morning was 34 degrees, snow flurries and 10-15 mph winds. Did I complain??? Nope! To me, distance running is like site-seeing. The only difference is that you breathe a little faster than normal, you don’t want to stop and you see a lot in a short amount of time.
Relaxing here in the hotel room before we head to pick up my brother for lunch. The recap from my brothers competition is coming soon.
Although mother nature is trying to mess with all the Type-A athletes out there, I want to wish good luck to all those participating in the following races this weekend:Jacksonville Classic Cycling RaceTri-America Clermont TriathlonEscape from Ft.Desoto Triathlon
Boston Marathon (Mon)Ironman Arizona
*If I forgot anyone....my apologies!

It all went by so fast....

What a BUSY last couple of days. Training is the same...lots of it. Oh, I'm having no pain when running either so that is a great thing. Cycled one of my biggest weeks at 276 miles and ran a pain free 30 miles as well. Swimming was great this week with around 5500 yrds. A bit on the low side for swimming, but I will need to add an extra day of swimming to add on more yards to my two swimming days a week. I know I need to continue with the bike work so really feel strong in Kona.
Friday was supposed to be an easy spin with my friend Christian, but instead it turned out to be a 3 hour ride in the wind averaging around 18-19 mph. So I had to draft on his wheel on the way back but it was still an enjoyable ride. Watched Pursuit of Happyness this weekend (for the second time) and recommed it to anyone who needs a lesson on working hard for something that they believe in...what a great movie!
Saturday was an easy morning for me. I work up at 630 for a planned run and thought to myself..am I really going to get anything out of going for an hour run on cold muscles and a tired body? I decided to take it easy and since I was planning on spending the day at the Webster Race I thought I could go for a run there if I really wanted to. Karel and I headed about an hour and a half to the brooksville area, in the middle on no where, for his Pro 1,2 race. Of course, after seeing the country roads and trails...my legs were begging for me to run. As I cheered for some of the gearlinkers as I ran on the dirty/gravel road course, I had a nice 6 mile run before the start of the pro race. Although saturday may have seemed like a long day, with Karel racing for 180 Kilometers (12 laps, around 112 miles!) I tested my skills for the feed zone and enjoyed my time at the cycling race. PLease don't ever hire me for the feed zone. I was 1 for 3 and I even missed a lap cause I was walking from the lovely port-o-potties and I saw him cycle on by before the feed zone....opps! Luckily, Karel had an AMAZING 5th place finish to celebrate and my poor water-bottle skills were overlooked. 5th place...out of WAY too many Pro 1,2 guys...Karel..keep up the great work, you will dominate at the Tour de Gila in a couple weeks!!!! A bunch of the gearlink guys and I are heading up to the Tour de Georgia in 2 weeks so I decided to test my climbing skills at the hills of San Antonio this morning. Karel and I got together our road bikes (as he was planning on doing an easy 50 mile ride) and we headed to the normal sun meeting point of San Antonio. This was my first time riding in the hills, so I knew it would be fun to do something new on my bike. First time for the road bike and we (me and Blue..who knows where Karel was! :), road 2 loops of the cycling race course in 2 1/2 hours and then I did my first long brick of the season with a 40 minute run. My legs couldn't feel fresher and I can't tell you how much I LOVE training in the country. Because I am a zoning out kind of girl, I love training (especially running) in rural areas. No cars, no rude people (well, there are always jerks out there) and lots of nature to look at. Breakfast was celebrated with my favorite post-training food (pancakes, eggs and coffee) and the rest of the day I have been without a nap by keeping busy with lost of computer stuff.
I'll be heading up to Penn State this week (on wed) for my brothers NCAA gymnastics meet to wrap up his entire college career for gymnastics at the University of Michigan...no pressure Aaron!
Congrats again to ALL the gearlink guys and good luck to all the triathletes either racing at Ft.Desoto or Clermont this weekend..oh, and the cyclists racing in Jacksonville. So much to cheer for!

A whole new rider!

Yes...that was me just 2 years ago at my first triathlon. Oddly enough, I was loving it! I did wonder why my bike didn't look like everyone else's though :( This current post is a MAJOR eye-opener that anyone can make dramatic improvements with their training. Even though I was a college swimmer, I can't tell you all the improvements that I have made with my bike and run training during this past year. I can remember a little under 2 years ago when I was falling over on my bike cause of those stupid clip pedals and silly aerobars. Ok-stop the laughing at the picture already! :)

Last night I had one of my BEST rides to date. It was with the gearlink group in Landsbrook (6:30 pm), which is always a FAST ride. 2 loops warmup (a loop is around 3 miles) and 5 laps FAST! The first fast loop was around 25 mph and then you try to hold on at 28 mph for the rest of the laps. For most of the guys on the team, this ride is only tough if you can win the sprint at the end of the 5th loop. Other than that, the riders rotate so there can always be a bit of high intensity. Believe me..these are strong guys that ride! IT sounds fast and the group is really strong, so even when I ride during the warmup at 20 mph I know I am not going to hang for the rest of the ride. Last year I barely made the warm-up cause I was not strong enough to even draft and stay on someone's wheel. Last year I rode two loops of warm-up and because my cornering was so bad also, I would sometimes get dropped during warm-up on one of the 4 corners. Then once i got dropped I would ride on the other side of the road in the opposite direction just wishing I could have hung on a bit longer. But....this year I saw more butts than I ever have! Because I rode up to Landsbrook around 5:30pm (12 miles) I was thinking I would only do the 2 warm-up laps and then ride home. Well, during warm-up I felt so strong on my road bike that I had to at least try to test my endurance and skills that I have been working on since last summer when I rode with them for the first time on my b-day May 31 Until Sept. I figured I would get dropped during the first 30 seconds of the first lap like last year and then ride my 12 miles home. I was shocked....I made the first lap! I kept trying to stay at the back and hang on to a draft as everyone was rotating. And I couldn't give up. I kept saying "OK, 1/2 more lap and see if you can hang, ok 1/2 more laps, etc." I survived 3 1/2 laps before getting dropped!!!!!!! I was totally amazed. I think some of the guys were a bit shocked too that I was still in the pack when last year I wouldn't even rotate during warm-up. My ride home was tough cause I was DONE after my 5 laps !!! As I was riding home in the dark around 8pm I was thinking to myself how far I have gotten in this short amount of time. Even with teaching my spin class and running 6 miles in the morning, I was still having a blast out there with an average 148 heart rate (high for me on the bike!) and lots of lactate in the legs during the ride. A total of 45 miles last night and a ridiculous 23 mile high intensity workout! Boy was I huffing and puffing. I was even getting pushes on my butt so I wouldn't get dropped. Those gearlink guys sure look after me! But in less than one year I am now able to draft off some of the best cyclists in Florida... and to have only been riding a bike for 2 years??!!! This post would make a lot more sense to those who saw me riding last year. It was pretty pathetic. I'm not trying to boast about myself at all. I want to show people that with enough determination, enjoyment in what you are doing and hard effort during training, you can turn yourself into the best triathlete you want to be. Maybe you want to do your first triathlon but are scared to be out there with the veteran triathletes. DON't BE afraid! Istarted as a newbie with a hybrid bike at my first 3 triathlons before investing in better equipment. Most of all..I didn't give up. I asked questions, I read articles and I submersed myself into this sport! I can't tell you how many swims, runs and bike rides I have done with others and have gotten my butt kicked. I could have gotten myself in a rut and tore myself apart by not being able to keep up with others but I kept hanging in there. I worked on skills, technique, endurance...you name it and I did it! Think about YOUR goals and dreams and when it comes to training and racing, the only person you have to compete with is yourself. I am a tough cookie when it comes to training, so it doesn't take a lot to get my competitive side going....especially if I am training with guys! Well, if I plan to race in Kona and pursue my dream of turning pro, I guess I have to keep stepping up the training. Swimming is going unbelievable with 4 x 400 pace set this morning (holding 1:22 per 100 yr), followed by 3 x 100 on 1:25 (held 1:15) and an easy and enjoyable 47 min run on the trail. 3 days of running this week and no treadmill!!! According to some of the elite triathletes I have spoken with, I know I am doing the right thing by not running on the treadmill. Oh Cybex treadmill..I do miss you!
It's going to be a great weekend of training as I step up the intensity and volume. As I get myself ready for the last couple of weeks of solid training before st.anthony's.... I'm feeling so good...OK one last look at the picture.

Virgina Tech

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, friends and loved ones of the Virgina Tech Students. Please remember to enjoy everyday like it is your last, always treat people with love and kindess and enjoy every moment for what it is worth.

Virgina Tech

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, friends and loved ones of the Virgina Tech Students. Please remember to enjoy everyday like it is your last, always treat people with love and kindess and enjoy every moment for what it is worth.

Shooting

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, friends and loved ones of the Virgina Tech Students. Please remember to enjoy everyday like it is your last, always treat people with love and kindess and enjoy every moment for what it is worth.

Shooting

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, friends and loved ones of the Virgina Tech Students. Please remember to enjoy everyday like it is your last, always treat people with love and kindess and enjoy every moment for what it is worth.

Shooting...

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, friends and loved ones of the Virgina Tech Students. Please remember to enjoy everyday like it is your last, always treat people with love and kindess and enjoy every moment for what it is worth.

This is great!

Everything is going well right now. Training is great and I can tell big improvements in the pool and on my bike. Started running outside now, instead of the treadmill, and I am falling in love with running again. OK-enough of the fast stuff already! I Just want to swim, bike and run for long hours...and no more of this anaerobic stuff!! Errr...oh well, I guess it is necessary to make me faster. I just want to train Ironman specific but of course it is too early to start. Plenty of time!
April is a busy month for me. With "my business" really starting to grow and getting more and more clients for nutrition consultations, I am absolutely loving helping people. Luckily, I have had GREAT success with the people who I have helped and I'm looking forward to helping more people in the triathlon community. Coaching is going well and Sarah did her first long ride today as I pulled her for over 30 miles. GO sarah..I'm really excited to see her at Ironman 70.3 Florida!
This morning's pool workout was ridiculous! Matt was crazy, the pool was packed and everyone was lively and a bit on the edgy side. With the main set being 4 x 300 PULL on 4 min (For me!!!) I just laughed and missed the first cycle and missed the second and finally for the last two I was on a 4:30 interval. Come on now...4 minutes for pulling a 300!!!! CRAZY. I did a little extra after the workout was finished and totalled 2800 yards today. I know I need to do more and I will be swimming with the HS swim team soon.
My run afterwards was great and I ran along my favorite trail-the Pinellas Trail.
As I said, April is crazy! I will be gone EVERY weekend starting next weekend. This weekend I will be spending Sat at Karels Webster Cycling race, helping him at the feed zone as he "Races" 112 miles! Now try running a marathon after that Karel!!! Hehe-I like to give the cyclists a hard time :) I am heading to the Tour de Georgia on April 18-April 23rd with some of the Gearlink guys for some cycling and tour watching. I can't wait for that trip. The week before I will be in Penn. at Penn State cheering on my bro for his LAST gymnastics meet. Hopefully it will be a repeat of Big Ten's and he will have a wonderful NCAA meet. I Head to michigan for the last time to see my brother graduate from Business school on the 27th, with an early flight back on the 28th to work the USAT booth at St.Anthony's. Then...the month ends with my FIRST Elite race (Have I mentioned that I am extremely nervous!!! COuld you tell?????) at St.anthony's.
Anyways...things are great and I just love it! Gotta get myself ready for tomorrow. I love teaching Spin at the Y...I can't believe they put up with me week after week.

Great Genetics!

This post will be short due to a lot of deadlines for the USAT Florida region. I want to give a special thanks to my parents for all their support. All my life, I have had my number one fans at almost all my races and meets. Dividing the time between my brother's gymnastics and my LONG weekend swim meets, was very time consuming for my parents and VERY Costly. From hotels to dinners to equipment, my parents always helped my brother and I out in our sports. Being a swimmer all my life, suits are expensive and you go through them fast! When I graduated college, my parents were a little excited that they didn't have to sit through swim meets anymore and then next couple of years could be a bit more relaxing. Well, that is far from the truth! My brother went to University of Michigan on a full Gymnastics scholarship, while studying Business. As he approaches his last meet of his life, my parents have traveled to every one of his meets this year. Not just the big ones like in the years past. My parents know this year is special for my brother and they want to spend it with him. Due to my busy schedule, I will be watching him at NCAA on April 14th at Penn State and really looking forward to it! My parents had the opportunity to see something that will be a highlight in my brothers gymnastics career. My brother won the high bar last night at the Big Ten championships in Minneapolis!!!!! As a career score and the highest score for UM Gymnastics in 2007, my bro is the 91st BIG TEN champion from Michigan. CONGRATS Aaron. Some stats on my brother and the team can be found on the bottom of this link...

For more details, read http://www.mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=24312

As far as my side of competitive sports, my parents have been totally supportive of my triathlon career. Unfortunantly, my races don't last for 1-2 minutes like in swim meets, but more like 3, 4, or 11 hours! What great parents to keep me going as I train intensly for my endurance sport. This morning I ran the Iron Girl 10K race in beautiful Clearwater. Ok, so it is no fun running over and back on the Memorial Causeway, but I do the race for the medal, the performance shirt, the wonderful people there and the post-race catered buffet. I wouldn't miss this race for the world! I wasn't at my best this morning cause the running isn't there yet. After I hurt my foot I took the required time off to let it heal and since I am running less than 20 miles a week (3 days a week) my running speed and endurance isn't there. Although I consider myself a much stronger cyclist now (due to a tight ITband and lots of active recovery on the bike) I am looking forward to adding more mileage to my running..pain free!

It was great seeing soooo many familiar faces this morning at the race. I saw my best friend Kelly (who seems to race well with little training!!! :) hehe) and my other family, which is the Iron Girl and Ironman team. Judy..once again you put on a GREAT race! Even though the time wasn't good, I was 9th overall and 1st age group 20-24. Thanks everyone for the kind words for my race. Next race..St.Anthony's!