I'm not a college swimmer anymore

As usual, I didn't sleep well on sunday night. The body was extremely tired and I just couldn't sleep. Oh well, it happens almost every sunday. I took all of Monday off and spent the day working on nutrition consultations. I was at my parents house for the day and we talked a bit about our kona plans. My parents support me so much (as they always have) and I couldn't ask for more devoted parents. Of course a trip of Kona is hard to turn down (funny-they just mentioned that I should do Ironman France or New Zealand next year????Hummm, can you say VACA for the parents???). My bro and I are very lucky that my parents enjoy sporting events 'cause they have been to so many swim meets, triathlon races and gymnastics meets (Aaron). Monday is always a quick day no matter how much I try to enjoy a full day off from training. This morning I was a little unprepared that our masters/triathlon swim team had to share the pool with the High School swim team. Divided in half, we all shared the pool with the triathletes in lanes 5-8 and the HS swimmers in lanes 1-4. As a chance to push myself and see if I could hang, Matt said I could join the HS swimmers. As I was barely hanging on for the main set of 8 X 250 IM's (25 fly, 50 back, 75 breast, 100 free) I could totally relate to the HS swimmers. I remember the early morning swim practices in high school and college before I went to class (while the rest of the world was fast asleep), playing around on the bottom of the pool while the coach wasn't looking and just sharing time in the locker room chatting about how hard practice was and yet you couldn't wait to go back for more. It must be a swimmer-thing but I don't think I'll ever no enjoy being in the water. So I sadly did not make the set and as I was swimming freestyle and the rest of my lane was still swimming the whole set IM, I couldn't believe that I use to be an All-American breastroker and IMer. Oh well. I like my life now. I swim AND bike and run. I love being a triathlete!!!

If you are in the area, I will be speaking at the PALM HARBOR YMCA at 8pm on wednesday evening (8/29/07). I will be discussing pre, during and post training nutrition for triathletes. All are welcome but the meeting is put-on by the future "no name yet" Palm Harbor triathlon club. Email me at mrakes1@hotmail.com w/ any questions.

The EPIC ride!

I had a lot of time to think about what to name this blog but in the end, the current title sums it up and I have pictures to show for it!

For some reason I wasn't as nervous for the "110 mile" ride today as I was for the 20-mile run yesterday. I guess with the hard century I did last sunday I had much room for improvement. The morning started around 5:10a.m. w/ coffee, water, oatmeal w/ raisins and 1/2 banana and a rice cake w/ a little PB. I pumped up the tires, loaded up my jersey w/ Hammer Gels and other goodies and filled up the water bottles. It was 6:15a.m. and I was out the door listening to my music. I forgot to mention that yesterday's run was a mental booster for me...no music for 2 1/2 hours due to the batteries in my sony radio shack radio dying at the beginning of my run!!! BOO for a 20 mile run w/ no music. But, I survived and I actually enjoyed the peacefulness of my run. But for today, new batteries in the radio! The beginning of the ride was a typical ride, feeling good but the HR and pace is slow. About an hour went by of warming up and I picked it up to a 120-130 HR zone. This is usually where I find myself holding 20+mph so as long as I can keep my HR above 120 I am not too concerned with my speed. The wind was kinda generous today and so was the heat. In all, it wasn't too bad of a ride. I ended up in San Antonio again but w/o Karel there, I had to get home regardless of how many miles I had on my bike. I turned around at 74 miles in San Antonio hoping for a good pace on the way back home to Clearwater. After extending my ride for a couple hills in San Antonio, I had a feeling I might be close to 110 and maybe a couple miles over. But today I was feeling good. Nutrition went well and thanks to the weather gods, I wasn't extremely hot. Of course I refilled the water bottles atleast 2 times and refreshed myself w/ a cold splash of water on the face around mile 90. On the way home from my ride (around 95) I could see the sky beginning to change colors. The color which only looks nice if you are planning on watching a movie and enjoying a nice storm! So for me, it was not the sky you want to see when you are approximately 10 miles away from home. Around mile 110 I was greated by rain and although it felt nice I could see a downpour about 1/2 mile infront of me. I could hear a rumble in the sky so the radio was turned off and I began to concentrate on the road. This wasn't a typical gentle rain, I'd say more like Seduza and I jumping in a pool. I noticed that my feet were getting more and more wet from the water on the ground which was touching my feet as I pedaled to the ground. Although I slowed down for a bit because i could barely see infront of me, I regained my speed and stayed cautious on the road. Not too concerned w/ my speed or HR at that point and I just wanted to get home. I can honestly say that I feel comfortable on my bike and I trust myself on my bike so when it is raining, I don't get to scared. I do get worried about some of the cars out there and if they see me riding but then again they probably think "poor girl riding on her bike in the rain" and then they drive off in a dry car. As I passed the 110 mile mark I couldn't believe what I was doing. I've been on my bike for over 6 hours and I feel great! I couldn't run cause of the storm but I think this was a major confidence booster for my Kona race. Around 1:15 I was home. I dried off Seduza and I checked my cat eye one more time just to make sense of what I just did. 118 miles and I averaged 18.1 miles per hour. Woah baby! Seeing that it is almost 8p.m. and I've done nothing but watch Ironmanlive.com all day (congrats Travis Graves, Bryan M. and Steve Kester at IMKY!!!), eat and drink plenty of fluids, the legs are getting a bit tight and the body is getting tired. What a weekend! I just can't believe what I did but I wouldn't want to spend it any other way. I guess what I do is a bit crazy but to me it is all about proving something to myself that I have the discipline and dedication to reach my goals and I'm willing to do anything and everything to make myself the best athlete possible for Kona.

Thanks for your support everyone! It means a lot to have parents, friends and blog-readers accept my crazy Ironman life.

Wasn't as bad as I thought

Friday was a busy day. Before I knew it 6:15am came and I was out for a morning 40 mile ride with 3 intense interval sets (4 x 2 min. w/ 1:30 recovery) and a 4 mile run. Afterwards, the smoothie was made and I was out the door for a one-on-one session of personal training at 11am. I barely saw Karel in the morning as we quickly crossed paths as I was transitioning for my run. After the personal training session I was back home for a quick lunch and out again for some errands. As usual I made a great dinner for Karel and I (I think I have mentioned that I love friday nights since Karel and I can spend time together). Salad, sweet potatoes and cuscous w/ mushrooms and green peppers. Yumm! I always keep cut-up veggies in the fridge so putting together a meal is usually pretty easy and quick....since Karel and I usually want a quick and easy meal after p.m. training. Oh, Karel prepared chicken for himself. I try making meat-meals for him at times but I get worried before he tastes the foods since I won't taste the meat. I always hope for the best and it is cooked properly :) hehe. After dinner we watched a movie (Babel-great movie and awesome meaning behind the plot) and saturday morning came quickly.
Since Karel has a race tonight he slept in until 6:30am and warmed up with the Panera riders for about an hour. I was out the door at 6:15 a.m. for my last long run before a recovery week. The past two weeks have consisted of mega training volume and I am finishing this 3-week build with a big weekend of training. I was a little worried about the 20-mile run and how my legs would hold up but I ended up having a great run. I practiced my nutrition which went really well and I kept my heart rate in a comfortable zone. Because my body is so broken down I didn't want to push hard. I really want to learn how to run fast and I do that in my tues interval workout. On the weekends, I'm out for endurance and i could tell that my heart was getting stronger. The legs hurt and I will admit that I felt sleepy around miles 13-16 but after a gel and drink I felt a lot better. It isn't easy running 2 hours and 52 minutes but the last couple miles are always the best cause I'm so close to home! Afterwards I said bye to karel and I was on my road bike for a good hour of spinning. Enjoying my day watching tv and doing nothing and tomorrow is a big day with 110 mile ride and a 3 mile run. The last workout and I can't wait til next week. RECOVERY!
Good luck to everyone racing at IMC and especially in Kentucky (my home state!!!) for IMKY!

Thank you Sponsors!

Something I've neglected to do on this blog is talk about my fabulous sponsors! Zoot and Hammer are amazing! The clothing by Zoot is the only clothing that I will wear during training and racing because it is so comfortable. The best part about the cycling/running shorts are the well-thought of pockets on the sides. Makes for quick gel access during a run with the pockets at your hips! As far as Hammer Nutrition, there is no better nutrition company than Hammer. They really understand what athletes need during training/racing conditions. The science and research behind Hammer is top-notch and coming from an Exercise Physiology and sports nutrition background I believe they couldn't do any better in making endurance products!
If anyone is intereseted in purchasing Zoot clothing, enter the promo code august07 when you are finished ordering. Also, if you are purchasing Hammer Nutrition products, mention my name or code 97495 for a 10% discount on any Hammer product. Besides nutrition, Hammer has great clothing for training, racing or everyday wear.
Thanks again Sponsors..without my amazing sponsors I wouldn't be training so fast and looking so good!!! hehe

Getting closer....

As my journey to the Ironman World Championship continues I get more nervous and excited. I've had a lot of great advice from people and the best suggestion is to just take the course for what it is. I've done the work on the bike and I will continue to get stronger and faster in the next couple of weeks before my taper. Hopefully everything will come together and I will peak just in time for race day!
Tonight was pretty excited. After a morning of swimming 3400 (thanks Matt for the 10 x 100 IM pull set!!!), 7.2 miles on the treadmill for my interval workout and a hot 30 mile spin in the afternoon I am spending my evening reading (and re-reading) the Ironman Athlete Guide!!! http://www.ironman.com/assets/files/races/worldchampionship/pdf/2007cig.pdf
Now everything is getting real. The only thing left is to get my aero helmet and get my race number! Karel is really helping me out and getting Seduza race-ready. New tires, new tubes and lots of maintenance needs to keep her in good shape. Especially since I am putting in a good 250-280 weekly miles with my Kona training.
Thanks everyone for your support. Although I am keeping myself busy with lots of non-tri related stuff, my friends and family really make it easy to focus on Kona.

Pancakes never tasted so good!

Saturday night Karel and I joined some of the Gearlinkers for dinner at the Thirsty Marlin in Palm Harbor. Good music, food, drinks (for them, water for me) and company made for a great evening but with all the fun comes a late night. Karel and I had a big day of training planned for Sunday so we were anxious to get to bed and get the day started. My morning started around 5:15am when I prepared the coffee and oatmeal. I got Seduza ready w/ extra CO2's and I got my nutrition ready. As I was getting myself ready, Karel and I went over our plan for the day. He was going to San Antonio for his group ride at 8am which normally ends around 11am. But because he wanted to get in extra miles for the day he drove to San Antonio and he was going to ride home to Clearwater after his ride. As for me, I was going to ride to San Antonio on my bike and finish my workout in San Antonio w/ a run (shoes were in his car). The plan worked out great even though Karel and I never saw each other in San Antonio. My day was tough. For the first hour I was a little faster than the first hour of my century last week but I was still a little slow. Holding a 17.4 average for the first two hours, I was noticing that it wasn't my legs keeping me slow. I was heading in head wind for every turn I made. Because I was heading north and east I was never greated with the west tail wind. After around 3 hours of wind, I was trying to pick up my pace along the suncoast and noticing that the grass was blowing to my right side. HUmmm, this could be interesting. I am about to go east on 52 and as I am going north the grass is blowing to my right. Oh man, this is going to hurt!! I made the right turn onto 52 and the wind was blowing in my face. I knew this was my long stretch to San Antonio and it would be a long time until I got to san antonio. Speeds were between 16 and 17 mph and I had no power to go any faster. I was approaching mile 60 when I saw a sign which made me feel like I had just started my century. "San Antonio 16 miles" My legs just wanted to cry. I tried to keep myself entertained and forget about the wind and hoped that more cars would come along beside me so I could get some kind of draft. Of course this was a quite time to ride on a sunday morning but I was praying for traffic (which I got none of!). Right before I went under the 75-overpass I stopped for a refreshing gatorade which never tasted so good. Once I was in San Antonio I texted Karel that I was there and I started my last 20 miles in THE HILLS!!! What was I thinking on sunday. 80 miles in headwind, 20 miles in the hills and then a run afterwards. I had to tell myself to keep going to get 100 miles around 10 times in those last 20 miles so I don't know how i did it. I tried to make excuses "with all that wind, it seems like a century already" "It's ok to finish with 90 miles...but you are only 10 miles away you have to keep going" I thought of them all and I decided that there was nothing else I would rather be doing than doing 100 miles on my bike. I was rather pleased with my 17.2 average and finished my 100 mile ride in around 5 hours and 50 minutes. After the ride I was so thirsty that I could only get myself to run 15 minutes. AS long as I run off the bike, I'm ok with any type of run. After a nice 6 hour workout I was ready to drive home around 1:30pm. I received a phone call from Karel around 1:45pm on my way home from San Antonio. He had beaten me home!!!! Of course he enjoyed his tailwind all the way home but I could only imagine how his legs felt after his 3 hour ride in the hills. To make things even funnier, Karel finished 104 miles in 4 hours and 50 minutes and I finished my 100 miles an hour slow than him. So Karel, ever think about an Ironman???? I barely had enough strength to drive home but when I walked in my house and saw Karel cooking pancakes I was looking forward to eating my well-deserved pancakes. YUMM!!!!! My parents came over in the evening and we ordered Domino's. YUMMM again!!My two favorite foods after a hard, long workout- PIZZA AND PANCAKES!!! And now as I write this blog, I will enjoy my full day of NO training!!!

My legs are trashed...

Good thing I just got my Starbucks tall carmel frapachino light or else I'd be fast asleep right now. Yesterday I rode with Karel as he was spinning his legs for an easy hour on the bike. I was going to do an hour with him and continue for a 2 hour ride but what a bummer, I got a flat. I'm always thankful when Karel is there cause he is changes flat tires faster than it takes me to pump up my tires! I was totally bummed about my tire because this was the 3rd flat I have gotten in 3 days of riding Seduza. Karel even put new tires and tubes on my bike but with bad luck following me I have had several opportunities to practice changing flats. I was so bothered by the flat tire that I decided to head home with Karel and go for a nice run. A longer run than I had planned but I was listening to my music and the time was passing by. I ended up with 10 miles of running and I was happy with my pace. I got a haircut on Friday and I must feel a lb. lighter and less hot because of my short haircut. I just love it! Last night karel took me out to an Italian restaurant and I had a yummy vegetarian pizza to get me carbo-loaded for a good weekend of training. This morning I was thankful that I had my buddy to join me for coffee at 5:30am as karel and I both got ready for a good morning of training. Karel joined some of the Gearlink guys for bridge repeaters and I was out for a solo 2:50 run. My legs felt tired at the beginning but around 45 minutes I was in my zone just feeling my music. The weather wasn't too bad even though I started my run around 6:45am. At around 2 1/2 hours, my legs were starting to hurt. No signs of bonking and again I kept my fuel belt filled with fluids, but my legs were getting tired. I kept my pace but all my weekly running really catches up to me on the weekends. After 19 miles of running, I jumped on my road bike and went for a nice 20 mile spin. I can run 19 miles and it goes by rather quickly but I'll tell ya..that 20 mile bike seems to take forever!! Maybe it is my 16 mph pace as I nicely spin my legs but when I get home after the ride I'm thankful that I recovered my legs. After my smoothie (thank you Karel!) I made myself a yummy breakfast w/ a slice of leftover pizza and an hour or so later it was time for Starbucks! A quick stop to see Karel at work and give him his mocha Frapachino and now I am home ready to crash.
I want to wish the Iron Girl competitors good luck this weekend in Columbia, MD and a special good luck to Angela (from BT) at the Tiberland 70.3 triathlon who I have been helping with her nutrition.
Have a great weekend everyone!

It's all coming together..

Last week was big and I anticipate that I have bigger weeks to come. With around 8000 meters of swimming, 287 miles of cycling and 46 miles of running I deserved my day off on monday. Tuesday, wed and thursday were normally training days and I have been searching the web for as much information on the Ironman World Championships. Whereas I didn't let myself google competitors, look at course maps (in detail) and check out anything Kona-Ironman related, I am now devouring myself in everything Kona-Ironman related. I can tell I'm getting stronger and everything is coming together nicely. I don't just want to go to Kona and participate, I want to race. I want to give it my all and leave everything out on the big Island. I have the 70.3 clearwater world championships to have fun and participate but there is nothing "fun" about Kona. I am going there and staying focused when I am there. OK-so I am sure I will have a blast talking to people, taking a billion pictures and writing on my blog 10 times a day but come October 13th I am all about racing 140.6 miles as fast and effecient as I can.
I'm looking forward to this weekend 'cause my parents are coming over to Karel and I's place on Sunday. Karel bought a new Plasma 42" Elite TV a couple weeks ago and my dad and him have an overdo "TV date". As for my mom and me, I'm sure we will just laugh at the boys being boys. I'm always excited to see my parents. More so, I will have my weekend training finished and I can enjoy the little bit of normalcy I welcome into my life on sunday afternoon.
This weekend is the Publix Triathlon and I will have to pass on participating. Good luck to everyone racing.

Drive 100 miles or Ride 100 miles????

For me..I'd rather ride 100 miles and that is what I did on sunday.
As part of my Kona training last year, 100 miles was my biggest training ride and I did it 4 times prior to IMFL. Now I am 8 weeks away from the World Championships and I have been feeling a little unprepared for the long workouts. Mostly because my long rides have been around 60 miles with the Gearlink guys. So, although I have been pushing myself for 40 mile workouts and tough interval training sessions I had no idea how I would feel for 100 or more miles at my own pace (whatever that may be). The goal of Sunday's workout was to practice my nutrition (fluids, gels and bars) and to stay within 120-130 HR zone. Last summer I could barely get my HR up to 120 without feeling the burn due to my inexperience on the bike and a tendency to create lactic at a low percentage of my max heart rate. My HR is much lower on the bike than for running but that is expected. When I started my ride I could barely get above 17 mph. What a bummer to start my workout. I must have stopped 3 or 4 times and checked my wheels for flats or my brakes for rubbing. I guess I can't always blame mechanics it was simply me going slow. After around 45 min. I decided to give a little more power to my pedal stroke and my HR was in around 125. For the wed. night rides I am absolutely at my max and my HR is usually around 150 or so. I checked the speed at my 125 HR and I was cruisin at around 20 mph. Nice! I just focused on my HR and ignored my speed but whenever I checked out my odometer.....20mph!!!! After a couple hours, I was still feeling good. I checked my average speed and it went from 17 to 18 to 18.5 in a matter of a couple hours. Woah baby...I averaged 18 at IMFL and I am pushing 20 mph in a training ride! What a confidence booster! After 4 water bottles of fluids, a couple gels, 1/2 power bar and a few sport beans and cliff blocks I noticed that I was approaching my last 20 miles on the bike. The weather was getting warm since I started at 6:30am and I was getting pretty hot out there. I tried pooring water over my head (which helped) but I could tell that my head was playing a few games on me around miles 80-90. I had one little cramp in my right calf (which has never happened) and after I stopped at the 7/11 for a cold gatorade I felt a lot better. It is good to mistakes in training rides to prevent them from happening in a race. I always do the same things in training that I would in a race so I am physically and mentally prepared. After 5 hours and 29 minutes I was home with 101 miles. Because of my sloooooowwww first hour on the bike, I ended up averaging around 18.5 mph for my ride. I felt really good and I never once felt like the ride was taking forever. I was all alone and I was in my zone. As much as I love training with others, I really enjoy my Ironman training because I can do my own thing and be in my own zone. Those sprint distance tri's are just awful...you have to go fast and you have no option but to push at your max. OUCH!!! :)
After the ride the running shoes (new ones which I bought on friday!!! NICE!) were on my feet and I was out the door for a 20 min. run. It is never a thought to skip the run after a bike. It doesn't matter if it is 2 miles or 6 miles off the bike but I am running. After all that work on the bike it only makes me stronger to give my legs a little taste of what's to come in the Ironman when I hope to run 8 min. miles for 26.2 miles after I have biked 112 miles. Gotta toughen up those legs!!! I had a couple stomach pains around my HR monitor chest strap but it was relieved when I drank water as I was running. Again, probably dehydration. In all, what a great day. And to make things better, Karel finished his race in Georgia and he may have enough points to upgrade from Pro 2 to Pro 1. It is now Monday and I am enjoying my day off from training. Legs are a little sore. Not as sore as my first time riding with the Gearlink guys last summer (I couldn't walk for a week and I only made 2 loops of warm-up on a wed. night ride!!!) but I can tell I need this day off to recover and get strong. I'll finish this day off with a good night of rest, going to bed at my normal time of 9:30 waking up at 4:40am. Seduza is resting and I have no intention of riding her or Blue. I will enjoy my time off today, eat some ice cream later tonight (Yumo!) and get myself ready for another great week of training. As I mentioned before, 100 miles was my longest distance on the bike last summer. So, in an effort to step things up this summer I hope to get in many more long bike rides of more than 100 miles. Thanks for the support everyone....Kona will be here before I know it!

Doing it solo ....

After Friday's workout, I was looking forward to a BIG weekend of training. I was a little nervous because my long training sessions are very indicative of how my weekly training is going. Since Karel was off in Georgia, I enjoyed my Friday evening watching TV and catching up on emails. Friday is my favorite night with karel 'cause we don't have to train in the evening and we are getting ourselves ready for lots of weekend training. Saturday morning I woke up early to start my long run by 6:30 am and I wanted to be sure I had enough time to get myself cleaned up with food in my stomach before a YMCA meeting at noon. The run went really well and I didn't have any bad moments. I did get new shoes on Friday so my feet were really happy! I saw a couple of my friends as I was running (jennifer, Gay and Tony) so that really makes a long run more entertaining. I ended up with 2 hours and 30 minutes of running with lots of fluids to help myself stay hydrated. I wear my fuel belt and listen to my sony radioshack radio (I have a nano, but I love my old school radio!) and I was very conscious of refilling my fuel belt flasks. I also enjoy my hammer gels (vanilla is my favorite!) and I am really into sport beans and Clif blocks when the gels start getting boring. After almost 17 miles of running, I was ready to hop on my bike for a nice spin. I always like to bike my run route to see exactly how far I ran. For some reason, the bike afterwards seems to take forever!!! Seriously, I complain about a 17 mile bike ride and I just ran 17 miles!!! Silly me. I was doing well for time but all of a sudden...FLAT!! I stayed calm and told myself that I know how to change flats (thanks to Karel, over and over and over again making me change tires before IMFL). In record time, I changed the flat in 8 minutes. I always struggle with putting the tire on the wheel after I put in the new tube. My 650 wheels don't make it very easy and I always end up with blisters on my small hands. I pedalled home for the last 4 miles after my flat and quickly mixed up a smoothie, jumped in the shower, prepared a piece of toast and headed off for my meeting. I barely made it in time but I guess accidents happen and I couldn't control the flat. Oh well. The meeting was good and I headed home to spend the day with my mom. She loved her presents for her b-day and my mom, dad and I spent some of the afternoon just talking. Of course I miss my brother but I love being around my mom and dad. In the early evening I was back to Dunedin to feed the cat and get myself ready for Sunday....the big day!! A century.....I'll let you know how that went in a bit :)
Congrats to Karel!!! With an ok performance in the TT he did AWESOME in the circuit race. The Georgia Cup race in Dahlonega was ridiculously difficult with mega climbing (7-20% grades) and some of the best riders around the area. Karel really wanted to do well at this National Cycling Calendar race so that he could get enough points to move up to Category 1 (the highest category). He was 10th in the circuit race and I think that is just amazing. Today he was 20th in the 160K Road race where him and Anthony worked together to get themselves over 7 huge gaps and 2 loops of really hard climbs. Congrats karel and anthony!!

Big Things to Come!

First off...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!!!!! What a great mom and if I told you her age you would be in shock!! Looking great mom, stay healthy!
This has been a big week. Lots of training and I'm feeling good. Monday evening I went for an easy spin with karel over the two causeways and around Clearwater beach and Bellair. Tuesday morning was a big day with a 3600 swim practice followed by 8 miles on the treadmill. As boring as 8 miles on the treadmill may seem long (would you be in shock that my longest run was on the treadmill for 3 hours!!!) but with sets of intervals (1:45 x 4 w/ 30 sec. recovery, repeat the set 3 times) the workout goes by really fast. Tuesday evening it didn't rain so I could finally get in an evening bike to get in more bike mileage. I did a quality workout with 3 x 5 minutes w/ 1 mile recovery keeping a half IM heart rate. I was excited to sleep tuesday evening, that's for sure! Wednesday morning I taught spin and I've been incorporating more hills/climbing. I feel so bad for my class because they never knew they were training for an Ironman in Hawaii!
I had a great 4 mile run after spin and callled it a morning before the wed night ride. Suprisingly, I made all 5 loops and I felt like wed night was a big step in my riding. There were no excuses for rain or an unsteady pace. There were around 25 people for the ride and it was great weather. I drafted like normal but the 28 mph pace was constant and tough. I even sprinted at the end but I was at the end and I wasn't passing many people. Oh well, it was a great ride and Karel was proud of me. A nice 44 miles for an evening ride (counting cool-down). Thursday morning I again got in 3500 yards and the run was tough afterwards. 3 x 7 min. keeping my heart rate above 145 (which is kinda high for me. 10K HR is at 170). I ended up with close to 9 miles and thursday evening was a short 40 min. spin for the legs. this morning was tough for a 50 mile bike ride alone and 40 minutes running in the hot Florida weather. I was sweating a lot and thank goodness for the fuel belt.
I am looking forward to this weekend for I have a lot of miles to cover. Sat. and Sun. will both be long and mentally challenging. Karel is off to Dahlonega, GA. for the Georgia cup. He will be my inspiration this weekend since his races cover some extreme climbing and mega altitude. I know he will do great but it will be a challenge for him.
Other than triathlons, everything is going well. I recently sent in my academic resume and transcripts to an accredited Dietetic University in hopes of going back to school in 2008 for a dietetic degree. I would really like to get an Registered Dietician degree so getting a degree in dietetics would be just a start. I've been trying to work hard with nutrition consultations but it seems slow right now and I haven't been as successful this past week. However, I still stay busy answering emails from people with questions and concerns with racing/training nutrition. I don't write many articles in the summer (more of a winter/off-season job) but I have been staying busy on the BT website with articles and online nutrition coaching.
Have a great weekend everyone!!!
Happy birthday MoM!!! Love you!

Top Gun Race report

As I enjoy my sunday after watching an encore airing of the Ironman World Championships I thought I'd recap my race from yesterday. The morning of a race I'm usually a bit nervous but I enjoy the time as I drive to the race, following the many bike racks and USAT stickers. My stomach felt a little heavy from the oatmeal and raisins that I had at 5am, but since I always eat the same thing before a race, I knew it was my nerves. After arriving to the race around 615, I set up my transition area after being bodymarked. Although I don't really think of myself as Elite, I enjoy having the E on my calf and racking my bike in the front. Just a few perks of racing Elite. There weren't a lot of us (just 3) racing elite but there were many age-groupers that definantly deserved the title of racing Elite and I was aware of a couple of them. I warmed up in the water a bit and stood at the starting line in anticipation to start. The 15-29 age group and Elite start was a bit caiotic but I kept myself cool and had a great run in the water start. I started swimming on top of people, all the while I am getting pulled under water and kicked. Oh well...keep swimming. Around 5 minutes passed by and I still had 1/2 the swim to go. Although we all have to swim the same distance, the swim was longer than 1/4th of a mile (which it was suppose to be). Doesn't bother me, I'm all for a longer swim. As I continued to spot as I came closer to the last buoy I could tell I was in the lead for the women and only a handful of people were ahead of me. As I ran towards transition feeling fresh, I could hear from spectators that I was the 2nd women out of the water. The only concern was that the other two elite girls were behind me! An amazing age grouper (which ended up winning the race) absolutely creamed the swim to put her in major lead! My T1 was quick and I had an excellent bike. Finally I am not getting passed by a million girls and I only got passed by one. I averaged around 22mph on the bike and I was 3 minutes faster (28 min. vs. 31) than last year at this race. After the 10 mile bike I was regained by 2nd place position and I was heading out for the run. As I expected, my run is not up to par like I need it to be for a sprint triathlon and I was passed by three girls on the run!!! Ouch. Oh well, I'd rather be a fast marathoner and break 3:30 than break 20 minutes in a 5K. I'll keep my training in perspective, especially since I have to run 26.2 miles after the 112 miles I will be biking in Kona. I was pleased with my run and the low 22 min. I ran was about 30 sec. faster than last year. I ended up placing 3rd in Elite and 7th overall out of the females. 1:03 was my finishing time and I was happy with my sprinting performance.
Just 9 weeks until Kona and I can't believe how real everything is for me right now. I am really focused and I will try to be as consistent as I can with my training. This morning Karel and I headed out to San Antonio for some hill riding and I was looking forward to a nice solo ride. I hoped to do 4 hours alone, but I ended up almost keeping up with the group and finished with 60 miles in around 3 hours and 20 minutes. Averaging around 17 mph in the hills was amazing for me since last year at this time I was averaging that speed for my longer rides. Karel did 80 miles and we both finished at the same time!!! I had a couple short cuts by mistake (since I had absolutely no idea where I was going) and I was lucky to run into Karel on his warm-down since I had a deflating back tire. Luckily I was almost finished with my 4 hour ride and I was close to the car, but Karel used a little CO2 to get me back to the car with enough air in my tire to finish that 3 hour and 20 minute ride. As usual, Karel and his buddies head to the Deli for some yummy food and I ran around 20 minutes to meet him there. I always find a way to squeeze in a run after a bike ride. I was crazy sweaty and hot and I thought the only thing that could be better than water would be ice cream :) Karel and I enjoyed our post-training ice cream and water and we headed home around 1pm. What a great morning to follow a great race. I'm feeling really good and I can tell an improvement in my recovery since I am not hobbling around like I use to last summer when I trained long and hard on the weekends.
The Ironman on NBC was great and I'm getting more and more excited. I probably watch and Ironman DVD at least 3 times a month but I can not believe that I will be in Hawaii racing at the World Championships in October!

I'm Pleased..let the REAL training begin.

What a wet week. So much rain and it really affected my training. Tuesday I had a great swim/run workout and I really busted my butt on the treadmill. No evening bike and I really didn't feel like it either. Sometimes the tuesday am workout really wipes out my legs so I am ok with no evening ride on tuesday. Wednesday morning I had my spin class and because I was predicting rain and no evening ride, I really pushed my class hard for our 45 min. class. We did hills, sprints and lots of fun stuff on our spinning bikes. After the spin class I usually rest my legs and go for a swim after weight training, but I opted for a 5 mile interval run on the treadmill to give my legs a good brick workout. Again, I anticipated no evening ride. Well, weather was ok at 5:30 so i hoped on the road bike and headed out for my 45 min. ride to meet the group in Landsbrook. There was only a handfull of us (around 15) and the rain started to come down around loop 1 of our ride. Oh well..it will rain in a race so I better train in the rain. Those who stayed (around 10 of us) had a really strong ride and I was cautious around the four corners on each loop. I just can't believe how much I am improving on the bike. I amaze myself everytime I'm on the bike. So that may sound arrogant of me to talk about my improvements but from where I was 2 years ago when I started on a trek with aerobars I couldn't even balance myself on those bars and I was always falling when I clipped in. Even last summer, i could barely make warm-up with the Gearlink guys on wed. evening. So, on wed. in the rain not only did I make all 5 loops but I was able to sit on a couple wheels for the final sprint. And, I had a couple guys sitting on my wheel on the last loop. All this training will pay off for Kona, i just know it. My goal after IMFL was to improve on the bike. I feel my skills and confidence on the bike have allowed me to push harder. Now with 9 weeks to go until Kona, I will start adding mega volume to my cycling with centuries and longer brikes off the longer bike rides.
Thursday was just a rainy day and as I usually do, I took off the day because my race was two days away (Sat-Top Gun Tri). Friday I did do a workout since tapering for a sprint triathlon wouldn't do a lot for me. I had a nice 30 mile bike followed by a 30 min. run and I felt really strong on the bike.
Today was the Top Gun Triathlon and I couldn't be more pleased with my 7th place overall finish, 3rd in Elite. I averaged almost 22 mph on the bike and I couldn't be more pleased. My swim was strong and I hung on for the run. I was running about a minute faster last summer but then again I was cycling 2-3 mph slower last year as well. I would rather be a sub 3:30 marathoner than a sub 20 min. 5Ker...so I guess I will keep working on my endurance and speed for the long haul. Karel and I are heading to San Antonio tomorrow where I will cycle in the hills like Karel does every sunday. If I can stay consistent on the Sunday rides in San Antonio I know I will feel more confident for my 112 mile bike ride in Kona.
Great job to everyone at Top Gun Triathlon today. I saw a lot of people out there and I couldn't believe how many newbies have caught the tri bug. A big congrats to Hunter and his sis for an awesome race and to the SwimFit triathlon swimmers who I swim with on tues/thurs. The girls I raced against were tough but I enjoy the competition. Congrats to all!! Time to rest....