Race Pictures

Karel did a great job capturing many great (and painful) moments during the race. I must say that this race was organized really well and I was so happy that Hammer was on the run course. My nutrition went great and I didn't cramp or get any signs over overheating.

Enjoy the pics. Thanks to Karel for being the best fan/picture taker out there!!!

Rock N Roll Half Ironman Race Report

This picture says it all




What a race! Uggghh. That was another exhale from pushing so hard for every part of the race yesterday.

Pre-race:
To start off my morning I rode my trainer for 30 min. with a few race-type intervals. My friend Libby got hit by a car the day before her first big race about a month ago so I didn't want to take a chance riding outside. After my ride I went for a 1 mile run with Campy.
Not sure where to begin my race report but our trip started by dropping off Campy at Katrine's house. So sad to leave him but he made himself at home as soon as we dropped him off.
Karel and I made our 4 hour trip to Macon Ga and we arrived at our hotel around 3pm. I studied the entire car ride and it was weird to think that we were traveling for one of my races. I guess I wasn't nervous, just excited to put away my books and race.
After resting in the hotel room for an hour, we headed over to the race site about 4 miles away. The race was at a lake beach with beautiful (HUGE) houses in the background. Packet pickup was quick and effortless and after racking my bike we attended the course talks.
It was 5:30 when we left the race site and Karel and I were ready for dinner. OUTBACK!!!!
Not only did we have great food (sweet potato and salad for me) but we had the nicest server. He was awesome! We went through 3 loafs of bread but I think the loafs are smaller than normal. Regardless, the bread was YUMMM!!!
After dinner we went back to the hotel and watched GIRO on the computer. I fell asleep before the end and I had a great night of rest.

Race morning:
I woke up at 5:05am and started the coffee in the hotel room. At 5:30 I had 1 packet oatmeal w/ raisins, a little banana and 1/2 graham cracker sheet w/ PB. All foods I had in my cooler for the trip. We checked out of the hotel at 5:55 and headed to the race. Parking was smooth and the race was already well organized.
As Karel was eating his oatmeal in the car, I got body marked and got my chip. I headed back to the hotel to grab my transition stuff and we made our way to the transition area.
The transition area was huge because there were a million races going on during the morning.
There was an aquabike, sprint tri, half tri, duathlon and relays. Let's just say there were lots of bikes out there!
After setting up my transition area Karel and I headed to the lake. I was really nervous for the swim because I don't have a wetsuit and it was wetsuit legal at 73 degrees. BRRRR. BUT, when I felt the water it was perfect for swimming. I couldn't even imagine wearing a wetsuit. So, my speed suit was just fine for this race. Plus, I don't like wetsuits because they mess with my stroke so I was just fine with my decision to not wear the one I don't have :)

Swim:
I was in wave 5 (all of the women) and we started at 7:43. The first wave went off at 7:30. I had a good start and was able to get to the front of the group but for some reason I just wasn't swimming that fast. I checked my time at the first buoy and was a little disappointed. After the first buoy I caught up with all of the previous heats and it was a battle to swim by people to the second buoy. On the way home I swam pretty hard to try to get to my swim goal of 30 min but I was 2 min short. Bummer.
I figured I needed to bike and run hard if I wanted to have a strong race and make up time. I didn't have any time goals for this race. I just wanted to race strong and compete with any top girls out there.
The run to transition was up a steep hill and a min or so later I was getting on my bike.

Bike:
Karel cheered for me as I headed off on the bike and from the moment I started biking, I was feeling good. I was really excited to see how all of my power training paid off on my new bike (second race on it) and it was paying off very nicely.
The course was rolling with several big climbs. To a floridian, I was feeling the climbs but I guess most people (who were from SC, TN, NC and GA) just called them gentle rollers. Yay right, nothing gentle about these. But, although I train on flat roads with lots of wind, I felt really good on the rollers and I really enjoyed the downhills after a hard climb. I really liked this bike because, compared to disney with 2000 people, there weren't as many people on the bike course so there were very little chances for people to draft. In some races you can't help it when there are packs of 30-40 people and there is no way to pass all those people but rather than me dropping back because I can't pass big groups, I felt like this race was fair and everyone had their own bike race. I had one boring moment around mile 25-30 where I was ready for the ride to end but then when I started passing more people I was excited for the rest of the bike. How many people can I pass? Can I pass any more women? Will I see Karel?
Before I knew it I was at mile 50 and there was Karel (with his bike) taking pics. He cheered, I told him I felt great and after I finished one of my last climbs, I was back in the transition area.

Run:
I started running and felt great! Legs were sore but of course, I knew I had biked 56 miles. Karel was on his bike during my entire run and I loved having him out there. He would bike, stop, take pics, cheer and then bike to the next mile. I only saw him for a few sec. every mile but it was just great to have him out there cheering for me. Karel told me I was 6 or 7th on the run so I was really pleased with my place. However, I wasn't sure if they would rank us overall (like top 5) or just top 3 open (there was an open/elite category which was wave 1) and then give everyone else age group awards. I really wanted to place high overall among the amateurs (or all of the females) so I was on a mission to pass as many girls as I could.
Once again, the course was not flat. Nothing of the run was flat! You either go up or down and in some places (mile 9) you just keep running up. Even the last mile to the finish was up a hill.
I felt strong and steady and I was able to pass a few women around half way on the run. There was one girl who I was on a mission to pass but she was super strong and also steady. I just felt like I would never pass her. However, she had a great downhill stride, whereas I had a strong up hill stride. I was gaining ground on the uphill and then she would run away on the downhill. Finally, at mile 9.5, I passed her on the steady uphill. I was about 15-20 sec. ahead of her (judging by looking behind my shoulder) and I was just pushing and pushing. At one point (mile 12) I just wanted to cry because I was pushing and I didn't want to push any more. It hurt so bad.
But, before I knew it, my one competition was running right next to me at mile 12.5! I have never sprinted to the finish at the end of a half ironman but I guess it was time to show our toughness. Well, I think we were both tough because during the race we both passed several girls and after 13 miles we sprinted to the finish.
I'm sure you can guess the results. Me sprinting??? I tried. She beat me by 5 seconds. It was a pure give it your all to the finish and I tried. I stepped over the finish line, grabbed the gate in the finish line chute and tried to catch my breath. It took me about 30-60 sec. to get in a full breath because I was just choking on my own air. It was only a minute or so that I just stood there and then I was fine. I hobbled my way to Karel and he gave me a huge hug and told me how proud he was of me. He loves seeing me suffer.

Well, the best part of the race, after waiting 2 hours for the results (which they didn't post) was they surprised everyone with the news that the top 5 female and male half ironman athletes would get money. Karel was certain that I was 5th place but I never get excited until the results are final. After the announcer said that 2nd-5th place of the overall females were within 4 min. of each other and 4th place and 5th place were within 5 sec. I knew it was me! I was in the money (and a nice amount of money for not knowing about it) I was 5th place overall!
I also won my age group but I really enjoy racing for overall places.
I can honestly say this was the first time that I didn't want the race to end during the run (aside from wanting the pain to stop) because I was really enjoying competing. I looked forward to each mile to try to get closer to another female.

What a great race. I am so happy with my times and I feel like this was great prep for IMKY.
Here are my splits.
Swim: 33:37 (12th on the swim)
T1: 1:52
Bike: 2:46 (5th on the bike)
T2: 1:14
Run: 1:48.00 (5th on the run)
Total: 5:11:34

Results page: http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=1320

Pics will come in a few hours. I'm off to go for my birthday ride w/ Karel and we will do a nice and easy 90 min. spin to loosen out my legs.

Are you embarrassed for your health?

My busy week is about to end. That means I am heading to Macon GA tomorrow for the Rock n' Roll Half Ironman. Since I have tapered all week (with a complete rest day tues and thurs) I haven't even thought about my race. My work load for school is ridiculous. Every minute of the day I am doing my school work or thinking about doing my school work. Even when I go to bed, I am thinking about how I will plan tomorrow for school work. For 2 weeks straight (one more week to go) I have worked on my first Nutrition Assessment Case. Although some of the info isn't new to me, assessing a person on anthropometric, laboratory, clinical and dietary data is a lot of hard work..for the first time around. I know when I get to my internship and I am in the clinical field of dietetics, I will feel super prepared for assessing a person for any type of disease or condition (well, almost ready).
As for my technical writing course, I just wrote my first mock proposal. I choose the topic of proposing to require corporations to have corporate wellness programs for employees. Without going into detail about my proposal, there is a lot of research out there showing that people who exercise on a daily basis not only decreases health care costs for employers but employees have less sick days, improved productivity, decreased blood pressure levels and decrease stress.

My busy week also included a talk on Wednesday near Jacksonville beach. I spoke to a bunch of mommy's! NEW mommy's and some of them even brought their babies. I was out of the loop with my baby being a dog, but we all shared similar passions for healthy eating and exercise.
I spoke about easy and practical steps for weight loss and most of all, living a balanced and healthy life. I talked a lot about choosing wholesome and natural foods with very few ingredients and I also talked in great detail about consciously making food choices which will impact future health and reducing the risk for chronic diseases. Isn't it amazing that we have control of our own fate when it comes to lifestyle conditions. The top risk factors for the top diseases (heart attack, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, chronic liver disease) are smoking, physical inactivity and poor diet! Can you believe it that at this moment we have a choice if we want to live to 80 and enjoy quality life or live to 50 and die because our arteries are clogged from saturated fat. Harsh to hear, but so true. At the end of the talk we had Q&A as we snacked on veggies, hummus and fresh cherries. There were so many great questions, I think I lectured for 30 min and answered questions for 30 min. IT was great!

Tonight my friend Katrine and I went to Whole Foods for a talk about Health vs. Disease. The talk was very informative and the speaker discussed stress and how we have energy blockages in our bodies. I agreed with a lot of the points in his talk and I enjoyed re-confirming why I choose to live a healthy and active life. I am on a lifelong mission to live as healthy as possible and most of all, to ENJOY my life. My one and only life.
At the end of the talk the speaker asked the audience what is required to live a healthy life. We all started listing things which are necessary to live a life of energy and not illness, disease or dysfunction.
Water
Sleep
Healthy eating
Oxygen/clean air
Exercise
Meditation/stress control

From what I can remember, these were on the top of our list. Then, the speaker asked the audience "who in here thinks they live a healthy life based on the necessary elements to live a healthy life".
Well, I raised my hand...and no one else did!
I was SOOO embarrassed. I felt so silly that I was the only one who raised my hand and everyone was looking at me like I was some superstar or that I think my life is 100% perfect. Well, maybe I thought everyone was thinking that at the time, as my hand was high in the air. Who knows if they were thinking that but you know what..at that moment, I was so proud to raise my hand. I couldn't believe, in that one moment and still an hour later (well, I'm feeling better now that I am writing about it) I was embarrassed that I was the only one who felt like I was doing every right in my healthy life. Katrine is super healthy as well, but she didn't raise her hand cause she was enjoying her MOJO bar :)
I guess it is so silly that I would feel embarrassed for living a healthy life but am I the only one that sometimes feels embarrassed for trying to live a healthy life? You prepare a super healthy salad and sandwich for work and when you eat in your lunch room, you are the odd ball out with with nutrient-packed meal. When you go out to eat, you ask for things on the side and for substitutions and after 5 min. of spelling out your order to your waiter, the rest of your table looks at you with the look of "there she/he goes again with the healthy stuff".
I surround myself with people who either eat similar to me, have similar passions as I do or enjoy a healthy life. I am not against people who eat burgers and fries but when it comes to healthy eating, it is addicting. One person is doing it, well, you can all do it together..and enjoy it!
But when you surround yourself with people who don't support you or who sabotage your healthy life, whether it is making you feel bad that you aren't going out and staying up late on the weekends or are criticizing you for reading food labels and focusing on a more nutritious diet, it is so easy to feel embarrassed that you don't fit in.
Don't EVER feel embarrassed for choosing a healthy life. Even if you know there are parts of your life that you are continuing to improve (ex. more exercise, more sleep, stress control, healthier eating), don't give up. Don't ever feel embarrassed for reading food labels at the grocery store, for bringing your lunch to work, for passing on the donuts and muffins at office meetings or bringing a bag of nuts to an event, party or meeting..remind yourself that you are doing a great thing for your body! You are taking care of yourself. For the first time in a LONG time, I wanted to take back that moment of raising my hand because I was oh-so-proudly living and embracing a healthy life the best that I can. Well, you know what...for everyone out there who embraces a healthy life to the best of his/her ability (remember, you don't have to perfect, just focus on consistency and balance) don't ever be afraid to talk about your decision to live a healthy life!

Off to Macon tomorrow...race report on sun (my birthday!!!!)

Cooking tips

Tofu isn't the most exciting food to eat alone. Even if you put it on a skillet, tofu needs to be spiced up a bit for the taste buds. The best thing about tofu is that it is packed with protein!
A few tips for tofu:
1) Cover tofu with a little corn starch to keep the tofu from being watery when you cook it on a skillet.
2) Drain the water from the box of tofu every time you use it. Fill the carton (or put in a Tupperware container) w/ 3/4ths full water and keep for 3-4 days in fridge.
3) Cook tofu w/ garlic and pepper.
4) Add little olive oil, low sodium soy sauce, salsa, hot sauce, nuts or caraway seeds when cooking the tofu.
5) Crumble tofu and add to sauces, noodles or eggs.
6) Use firm tofu for cooking and soft tofu for smoothies.
7) Add a slice of tofu in sandwiches or top pizza with thin tofu slices.

Here is my FAV meal that I can eat every day of the week! To brighten up the meal, I usually add a bright salad w/ fruit and lots of veggies.

Garlic and mushrooms (cooked in a little olive oil)
Tofu (coated in light soy sauce, cayenne pepper and caraway seeds)
Omelet of skim milk, 3 egg whites and 1/2 yoke (w/ tomato, onion and swiss cheese)






One of our favorite kitchen tools is our panini maker. Well, I should say that this is Karel's favorite appliance (next to the coffee maker). This morning Karel made a Tuna and cheese sandwich on Panera bread and a half tuna, cheese and veggie sandwich.It smelled SO good in our place at 7:30 in the morning. Karel brings his lunch everyday to work and a panini maker is the perfect way to make a restaurant style lunch at home.

Day at the beach!

What a great weekend! I had a race-prep weekend of workouts. 50 mile bike + 30 min run in the rain on sat, w/ 3 x 20 min at race pace w/ 10 min recovery on the bike. On Sun I ran with my friend Katrine and with her garmin we had a steady 11 mile run with miles 7, 8 and 9 at race pace (6 min hard, 1 min easy). After our 1 hour and 20 min run we took Campy for his Campy miles (1.5 miles). This morning was an easy 2100 swim w/ 4 x 200's pace. There was a lot of Giro watching, good food (and ice cream) and a rental movie last night but today was spent at the beach with our friends Libby and Neil.
Enjoy the pics from St. Augustine Beach.