Back At It

January 2, 2012 was the first day back to training. The first couple weeks haven’t been too crazy, just getting back in the swing of training (usually twice) every day. Things are now starting to ramp up to where they were volume wise at the end of last season.

I would be lying if I said it was easy getting back in the training groove. It was actually very hard. I had an incredible off season, I did a lot of skiing and ended the year on a ski vacation out west with some friends. I still worked out, but it was all very lax…definitely not every day and not with much intensity. I didn’t wear my garmin or heart rate monitor at all and never really went more than an hour. When I did it was on the bike ride with my friends which usually included plenty of recovery beer. Due to my injury (ITB again) I hadn’t really run since September…just a 2-3 mile jog maybe once a week if I was lucky. I did go to PT though and am feeling almost 100% again.

I think the hardest adjustment for me was the fact that for the past few months I have been hanging out with my friends every night of the week, staying up until midnight way too often, and drinking as much as the typical 24 year old does. I knew going into this that that lifestyle was not one that was compatible with Ironman training. My coach made sure that I understood that, and I did. But then, when it actually came time to swap the fun late nights laughing with friends for 5am wakeup calls, cold runs, and the black line of the pool, it was hard.

I was pretty depressed the first week back to training. I was so sad that my vacation was over, I was back to work after a 12 day break, and I had a LONG road ahead of me that seemed so overwhelming. I had forgotten why I loved triathlon so much and had little to no motivation. I did my workouts but I felt SO slow and out of shape. I had to stick to the prescribed low HR zones which left me shuffling along like I had never run a mile in my life. 1200 yards in the pool felt like forever, and I finally got to experience the dreaded indoor bike trainer. I just kept thinking “what did I get myself into…”

But I stuck with it and then the endorphins started coming back and it felt good to work up a sweat. By the end of the 2nd week and after watching plenty of motivational youtube videos I started feeling back to normal. And on one of my slow-as-molasses runs I felt reinvigorated and excited.

Ironman is not just about crossing the finish line, it’s about getting to the start line. It’s about the journey. When I cross that finish line it won’t just be the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run on November 18 that I will be proud of, it will be the hundreds and thousands of miles that I have trained to get me to that day. It will be all the sacrifices I made to get there. It will not be an easy road. I’m already realizing that it takes a special person to do an Ironman. And it’s really not just about the day itself, it’s about the whole journey leading up to it. If it were easy anyone would do it.

Registered.

Oh, whoops. It’s been like 3 months? Yikes….

Let’s see, this is what you missed:

-Last tri of the season was Portage Lakes Olympic. I got lost on the bike course and finished 3rd to last. That was great…

-PR’d the Great Race 10k. I don’t even remember my time anymore. Guess that’s why I should’ve kept up with the blog. It was fast though, 57 minutes maybe? Ok, so fast for me.

-Had to DNS the Philly Half because my IT band flared up so bad that I haven’t run in almost a month and basically was in agony. Then I went back to the doctor, got a nice big shot of cortisone and feel like a million bucks. And yes, everyone keeps telling me its just “masking the pain” and not fixing the problem, but I am still loving it. And its back to PT for me.

-I have been taking my ‘off-season’ very seriously. I think I’ve drank more beer in the past few weeks than I have in my life combined. Also for the past 3 years or so I would always complain how no matter what it was impossible for me to sleep past 9am. Well, yesterday I woke up at 11:37. That was pretty cool.

-For some reason I have chosen the most expensive hobbies ever for 2012: triathlon and skiing. I’m going to Breckenridge for New Years to ski and it’s making the $650 Ironman registration fee look like a joke. And let’s ignore the fact that skiing out west is 100% outside my skill level. Apparently I like to do things that I’m not nearly ready for. Which is a nice segue to…..

-I OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR IRONMAN ARIZONA! Yep, on November 18, 2012 I WILL be an Ironman.

I’ve pretty much sat on the couch watching Ironman videos on Youtube and crying all night. Literally I cannot see a finish line and not start to cry. Oh and also I made the terrible mistake of watching a video of the swim start and then I had a panic attack. That was not a wise decision.

Random

This has sure been a random week. Glad it’s over. A small sampling of random events include:

-my car breaking down in the middle of the road. I had no idea what to do and everyone was honking at me and shouting mean things so I just got out of the car and started crying until a nice family came by and said “sweetie its ok, do you need help?” and I sort of whimpered “yes please” and then they literally pushed my car down the street and off to the side. Looking back it was actually pretty cool.

-so then I got my alternator replaced (whatever that is!) and was driving home from work happy as can be. Just singing along to the radio smiling because I was done with work for the day and off for a 10 mile hill repeat workout. Then out of nowhere BOOM someone rear ends me, does one of those “oops!” faces when I made eye contact with him in the rear view mirror and then speeds off! Luckily there wasn’t even a scratch on my car but I sure hope my bike rack left a mark on his!

-speaking of bike racks….yesterday I pull into the garage and there is some guy working on the Batman movie (which has taken over downtown and made the traffic awful and pisses me off, though it is cool to see snow in August!) Anyway, I get out of the car and he goes to me “hey, where’d you get your rack?” To which I did not even know how to respond…my eyes just sort of bugged out and I was like ‘huh? my what?” and he goes “umm, your bike rack…I need to get one.” Oh…Ok, not like that makes the question much better…go to any bike store, it’s not that hard.

And switching gears (ha)to a different topic, let’s talk priorities. Since becoming addicted to triathlon I have noticed that my priorities are totally out of whack sometimes. Here are some examples:

- I have over $4,000 worth of bikes and cycling accessories in my living room right now. The hem also came out of my pants a few weeks ago and I literally stapled it back together because I am too cheap and lazy to go to the tailor to get it fixed.

- I spend hours and hours cleaning and taking care of my bikes yet I literally do not think my car has seen a carwash or a vacuum cleaner in over a year.

- I do 2-3 loads of laundry a week to wash all my workout gear yet I have a HUGE pile of clothes to take to the dry cleaner that will probably sit there for another 2 weeks minimum.

- I will happily run 10 miles or ride for 5 hours yet I take the elevator up 1 story at work.

And there are millions more examples but I gotta go ride my bike so those will have to wait for another day

Fun Post

First and most importantly… LOOK WHAT I GOT!!!!!!

Felt B16. I am in love. This thing is FAST

Don’t worry, I still have this guy:

They are best friends already!

Ok, now moving on to some more fun things!

I talked to Coach Kim the other night about the future. Boy do we have some big things planned! It is not going to be an easy 16 months, that’s for sure, but it is going to be fun! Here’s what we have on tap:

August 27 – Presque Isle Sprint

Sept 18- Portage Lakes Olympic

Then triathlon season is officially over and I get a couple months of running season. Fall racing is my all time favorite so like last year I plan on doing a few 5ks, 10ks, 10 milers, culminating in…

Nov 20- Philadelphia Half Marathon. I had so much fun last year that I want to do it again!

Nov 21- Jan 1 = GLORIOUS BREAK!!!! I plan to do all the things that I miss out on while training…like sleeping until 7 on the weekdays and as late as I want on the weekends going to the bar with my friends, Happy Hour on a Tuesday—why not!, nursing a hangover by laying in bed watching tv, going to yoga, doing so much less laundry!!!, eating spicy food at lunch because I don’t have to worry about it upsetting my stomach on a run after work, getting a pedicure, and other fun stuff like that! Basically living it up because then things get serious.

Jan- Back to triathlon training!

May- Pittsburgh Half Marathon…gotta redeem myself from the bad run this year

June- Olympic Tri, TBD

July- Musselman Half Ironman, *hopefully* Pittsburgh Olympic again because I loved it—we’ll see if I’m recovered enough to do it

Sept- Cedar Point Rev 3 Half Ironman

Nov 18, 2012- IRONMAN ARIZONA

Yep, I’m doing it! For real! Believe me, Kim and I both put a lot of thought into this because it is not a decision to just jump into. Basically, next summer and fall Ironman training will be my life. When I’m not working, I’ll be training. With up to 3 hour sessions during the weekdays, 8 hours on Saturdays, and 4 hours on Sunday. Good thing I love my bikes so much because I will be spending a LOT of time on them!

I know that this is not going to be easy. I will hit highs and lows like I have never seen before in training, and on race day. Ironman is not just a physical test, but a mental one too. I am starting already to try to mentally prepare myself for the road ahead. I know my weaknesses and I am starting to tackle them now. I’ve been really working hard at enjoying running again and it’s working! Instead of worrying about speed I have been just trying to be in the moment, enjoy the scenery, and be thankful that I am able to do these things I love.  The past few weeks have not been my fastest training runs but they have been the most enjoyable ones I’ve had since last fall, that’s for sure.

The mental game might be even harder than the physical at times. I know that I am going to feel on top of the world some days but I also know that I’m going to feel like quitting at times too. There will be days where I am so overwhelmed by it that I question why I ever decided to do it. There will be times when I will want to puke just looking at a packet of Gu. Where I want to throw my precious bike off a cliff, where I never want to see a heart rate monitor, goggles, or running shoes again. Where I will be so hungry but even more exhausted that I can’t even muster up the energy to eat. And the fact that I have a full season of races before the Ironman in November, it is almost inevitable that at least one of those Olympics or HIM will NOT go according to plan. I’m pretty sure Kim will have me “train through” an Olympic at least and I’ll feel tired and crappy and wonder ‘if I can’t do this, how will I ever do something 4 times this long?” But here’s the post for me to come back to when all that happens: I CAN do this. I WILL do this.

For all the times that hurt and aren’t fun…there will be even more that are awesome. Where I have a breakthrough workout, a personal distance record, when I finally break 2:00 in swimming and 8:30 running (hey, a girl can dream, right?) and when I can fly up a hill that I used to mash out in my lowest gear. I will make so many amazing memories in the next 16 months, and so many amazing friends.

I hope you all stick around for the journey…it’s going to be a good one

Pittsburgh Olympic Triathlon 7/31/2011

Wow! What a day!! Perfect races are very rare so you have to cherish them when they come along and that is exactly what today was. I loved every single second of it, pushed harder than ever, and got some amazing results. I have never been so proud of myself.

3:12:00. A 24 minute PR from my Philly race. THAT. IS. HUGE. And I placed 4th in my age group!!! I can’t believe I was so close to the podium

The day started bright and early when I bounded out of bed at 4am feeling great and ready to race! I was so excited to wear my new PTC kit and it was so great having so many Pittsburgh Triathlon Club members racing and spectating…the support was absolutely incredible and I really don’t think I went more than 5 minutes between hearing cheers!

I was calm all morning, just really excited, but then the nerves hit when they called us over for the National Anthem and to walk over to the start. I was really scared. But that’s a good thing!

The swim started great, I was much calmer than last time and didn’t panick at all. No backstroking this race! I even found some feet to draft off of for a little. I felt strong and good in the water the entire time, the only problem was the course was not well explained or well marked at all! I had no idea where the heck I was going on swam way off course quite a few times. I know that my time could have been a whole lot faster.

I got out of the water all smiles There was a long, evil run up a hill to transition which sucked. But look! There are boys in front of me—I caught some of the wave before me!!!!

Swim= 34:10 (including long, evil run up to transition)

T1 = 1:37. Holy cow that was fast!! The best part of my race too…86th out of 306! I was flying!

The bike was 2 loops out and back up the HOV lane. It kind of sucked. It was all uphill the first 6 miles, down 6, and repeat. The road was in bad conditions with lots of rocks, glass, and cracks and lots of people were getting flats and losing bottles.

Bike = 1:30:06. Ave HR 160, Max HR 184, Ave cadence 84. Boom! Nailed the plan!

T2 = 1:40 I need to get lace locks! Also I got really disoriented and couldn’t remember where my bike went! Oh, but look Kim—I’m running with my bike the right way like a pro!

Oh, the run…I was most nervous about this. My runs have pretty much sucked recently due to the awful heat and humidity we’ve been having and I did not have high hopes. I started out slow, trying to get my heart rate down. Then my calves were SO TIGHT and hurt so bad. I stopped to walk early on and some guy came up and said “nope, come on, run with me for a little” and I whined “my calves are about to explode!” and he said “I know. Keep going though, it will get better, I promise” so I kept going and it did! After that my legs really loosened up and I felt good..my HR was in the right range and I felt strong. I didn’t walk anymore except for the aid stations! I was also seeing some numbers under 10 which is huge for me! I had a water and gaterade at every station and poured a water over my head—it was getting hot!

Then I saw the finish line!!

Look at that midfoot striking Yeah, I am a mess! It looks like I got in a fight with my bike chain!

I DID IT! And I seriously had so much fun! I was smiling the entire time!

Run = 1:04:10 Ave HR: 164 Max HR 180. Again, perfectly executed! What I think is the most amazing is that this was pretty much what I was running my open 10ks at last year! I can’t believe the progress I’ve made.

Getting my medal!

And a massage Greg from Lone Serenity did a great job working my painful calves. In black and white? I guess my dad was being artsy.

One of the best parts of the day was seeing Coach Kim after the race and telling her how it went! I would never have been able to accomplish what I did today without her. Thanks for being such a wonderful coach, a huge inspiration, and a great friend over these past few months! I can’t wait to see what else we can accomplish!

And of course, a big thank you to my parents for coming out and supporting me! I love you so much and really appreciate all you do for my crazy hobby!

And that’s that! This is a day I will remember forever. Thanks for everyone who made it so special!

 

Good Things

Hi! Everything is just going wonderfully over here Time sure is flying though–how is it the end of July already!? And my next race is Sunday! I’m doing the Pittsburgh Olympic and am getting really excited! I’m going to know a TON of people on the course and spectating and I just can’t wait for that! I will be wearing my Pittsburgh Triathlon Club race kit and can’t wait for all the cheers I will give and receive for PTC members. What a difference this race will be from Philly where I only had my Dad and Melissa as fans. I was getting a little nervous for this though, feeling unprepared since after Philly I had a recovery week, then only 2 weeks of training (and one of those was just awful due to heat and humidity being killer) and now taper! So I just was feeling like I hadn’t trained at all. I talked to my coach and she was like ‘Welcome to racing season! You trained all spring and now it’s racing time!” And she is right. I worked SO HARD all spring to get to the racing and now it’s here. The hard work has been done and now it’s all about maintaining and racing and having fun. I feel better now that I understand that.

So something potentially life changing happened yesterday. I went on a fun group recovery ride with the PTC. First of all, we went on a flat trail except for a few bridges and it was awesome. My heart rate was like 130-140 and I barely felt like I was working at all. I expected that we were going like 10mph based on perceived exertion but it turned out we averaged 15.5mph! I couldn’t believe it! So fast and easy without all those hills. I definitely want to go back there and really push to see just how fast I can go!

Well after the ride we all went out for some drinks and dinner and I was talking to my friend Tony about his racing schedule. He has some really ambitious goals and has made awesome progress this season already. Well, then he was talking about doing Ironman Arizona in November 2012 and I said “Oh! That’s definitely one of the IMs I would consider for my first—it’s late in the season = some cooler weather training, good course, NON ocean swim, relatively flat, and gorgeous.” And then he said “so do it with me next year!” and I said “OK!” and we shook hands. Of course I was not serious. But then everyone started chiming in how some of them were doing that race and how much fun we would have and how supportive everyone would be and how I totally, totally could do it. And then Chad joined in and said it’s definitely feasible to complete an IM with 1.5 years of training and this and that. And then I started thinking “well….I’ve done a couple half marathons, I’ve done a century, and I LOVE long bike rides, I love a challenge, and I already planned on doing a couple half ironmans next season…. but I’m scared to death of the swim and the marathon…but with training I am sure I could do it.” And then all of a sudden I went from totally not serious about it to 95% really, really wanting to do it. And the more I think about it the more (not less) I want to do it. Yeah, life changing. I obviously need to think long and hard about it because this not a decision to jump into. And I have to talk to my coach but I’m scared of what she will say either way! I’m scared she’ll tell me no but also equally scared she’ll tell me yes and then it is real! Luckily I have until Nov. 20 to register so I can mull it over until then. Any advice would be great

So my mission now is to rediscover my love and enjoyment of running. If I want any chance of long distance racing I need to change my attitude from suffering through runs to enjoying and looking forward to them like I used to. Really, before I got my Garmin running was fun. Now I really stress out about pace and it makes it not so fun. 2 things I’ve done this week have helped a lot. I changed the screen to not display my pace so I just focus on HR and time and just look at pace at the end. Also I’ve been listening to Chris McCormack’s “I’m Here to Win” on audiobook and it has been making the time FLY by!

Ok, so that’s about it!

Before we go though, I just want to give a HUGE congratulations to my coach Kim who rocked an AWESOME race on Sunday at Ironman Lake Placid. First overall amateur with 10:11. What an inspiration!

Cycling Fever

Well, it sure has been a hot minute, huh? Sorry about that! Life has been crazy! And also I’ve been living without internet for the past 2 weeks—the horror!

So what has been going on? Well, I have had some major cycling fever-I am just obsessed! Seriously, I cannot get enough of the Tour de France. Those guys are incredible. It is really unbelievable what they are capable of. It is getting me super motivated to ride…honestly I just can’t get enough of the long rides! Seriously, all I want to do is ride my bike. Last week I did a 60 mile ride (+ open water swim) with the Pittsburgh Tri Club and then later in the week I went out with some other friends (who are amazing cyclists and kicking my butt) for a 50 mile ride. It was awesome, we even found an alpaca farm…how random!

And whenever I am not riding, I am wishing that I was riding! Especially when I am running—but then again when I’m running I’m usually wishing that I was doing ANYTHING besides running. I am making such huge progress in my swimming too. I did an open water swim in the Allegheny River last night where I did 2100 yards…thats even further than the Olympic swim so that gave me some confidence. There were a few times that I started to freak out a little bit but I was able to calm myself down. So lets hope that my next Tri has a better swim experience than my first!

The only exiting news right now is that I moved into a new apartment today and I LOVE IT. It’s amazing. I especially love my room, it’s super cute. Here are the highlights:

Any How I Met Your Mother fans out there? I have Barney’s Awesomeness Poster: “When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.”

Of course I have my race wall up to keep me motivated:

And my newest addition is my medal holder from www.goneforarun.com

I love it!

So that’s that! Gearing up for Pittsburgh Oly on July 31. I can’t wait!

Lessons Learned

I have learned a TON the past few months—both about triathlon and life in general.

1) Trust the plan! I’m sort of OCD and it is pretty hard for me sometimes to put my trust in others but that is what you have to do. Find someone you trust and then go with it. There were definitely times when I just didn’t want to follow my plan (like in the terribly horrible week called taper when I wanted to do more but my coach wouldn’t let me. Or when I had zero clue why I had to do backstroke in some workouts. I literally thought ‘why on earth would I practice backstroke? I will never use that in my entire life.’ Oh, wait. Wrong…once again. When you start panicking during the swim and can’t put your face in the water, backstroke becomes your best friend. And all those early mornings that I did not want to swim or run but I did anyway. And it worked. Consistency is key and when you work hard you get results.

2) It is going to be hard and it will suck sometimes, but it WILL get better. Before the race my coach told me “it’s going to be bad at some point but just keep going because it will get better.” Well, yep, she was right. It definitely was bad at some points but I just kept reminding myself that it will get better, just keep going. On the bike course there were a few big climbs and I literally kept repeating to myself…sometimes outloud ”you’re ok, you’re ok, you’re ok” and then that got too hard even so I shortened it to “ok, ok, ok, ok”. Mantras can really help sometimes.

Here is a video my dad took during mile 3 of the run. I was hurting but talking to him just for a second helped. He kept shouting “you can do it! 3 miles to go! You can do it!” to which I respond “This is really hard!” Haha. At least I’m running!

3) Taper sucks. I was so looking forward to tapering–I thought it would be so nice to have a chance to relax and sleep and live like a normal person. No, not so much. I was irritable all the time, an emotional mess, I felt slow and sluggish, and just hated it.

4) Recovery week sucks too. After my race I felt invincible. I was on the top of the world and felt like I could do anything. It’s a damn good thing someone wasn’t at the finish line asking for signups for an Ironman in a month because I very well might have signed up! I just wanted to get right back into training, putting all my lessons learned into practice and just break a good sweat. Well, guess what, not allowed. Gotta rest and recover.

5) Haters are going to hate. As awesome and supportive as most people are, it’s inevitable that you’re going to run into some haters. There will always be people who just don’t want you to succeed. You just have to remember that they are just jealous and insecure. They know that they can’t or won’t ever work as hard to accomplish something and it makes them resent you. They’re jealous of the attention you get from the people that DO care and that are impressed with you. You just have to deal with it and ignore the haters, they are not worth a single second of your time.

6) Doing things that make you happy, makes you happy.

I had lunch with a friend the other day that I hadn’t talked to in a long time and he commented on how this is the happiest I’ve seemed in a long time. And that’s because it’s true! I’ve finally found a hobby that I love and that makes me happy. And I’ve made some great new friends in the process! And I just LOVE how enthusiastic everyone is about this sport! I really haven’t found any triathletes who are ambivalent about it…everyone is so so so passionate and it is contagious! I just love to soak up the positive energy

And finally a BIG thank you to Chloe who has an awesome blog. I won her giveaway last week and got myself some Hoo Ha Ride Glide. I tried it out this morning on my bike ride and it is fantastic…I highly recommend ordering some for yourself. Not only that but Chloe was sweet enough to send me a cute tshirt and a nice card. Bloggers are the best! Thanks again!

I’m a Triathlete!

I did it!! I can’t believe that after all these months and all the hours and miles of training that I can finally call myself a triathlete!

So how did it feel? HARD!  I mean, I knew that it was going to be hard but I guess I naively thought that since I had trained so hard that it wouldn’t be as hard as it was.  The feeling though as I crossed that finish line was just amazing.

Thanks Dad for being my triathlon paparazzi!

I set out all my stuff last night to make sure I had it before packing it up in my backpack, then we went out to dinner, watched a movie, and I was asleep by 9. Triathlon day started bright and early. I woke up from a nightmare in which I overslept my alarm and it was 7:00 and I missed the start. Luckily it was only 3:30am but I was wide awake.  It wasn’t too far from my 4:00am alarm so I just got up, drank some coffee, ate some breakfast and prepped mentally for the day.

I had been obsessively checking the water temperature all week and it was just hovering around 77*. The sprint race which was the day before was wetsuit legal so I was feeling optimistic. I had not had the chance to do an open water swim practice before the race and I was really nervous about the swim. Everyone kept saying “oh, you’ll be fine in the wetsuit. You’ll just float and feel safe”. I was really depending on that. I got to transition, got body marked, and heard the announcement “The water is 78.5* this morning and this race is NOT wetsuit legal.” My heart sank. I seriously almost cried. I had depended on that. It was allowed to wear the wetsuit but you had to start at 8:00 in the last wave. Mine was supposed to go at 7:20. I was so nervous and anxious as it was, I didn’t want to wait another 40 minutes, be the last wave on the course, and worry my friends and family when I got out of the water 90 minutes after I told them to expect me. I decided to do a warmup swim, felt good in the water, and decided to go without the wetsuit.

My wave went off and I hung by the back to let everyone go ahead. I felt ok at first but then started to panic a little. It was just so dark and I was getting disoriented. The finish line looked SO FAR away and I didn’t know what I got myself into. I was having a really hard time breathing and was not even swimming—sort of flailing in a mix of side stroke, back stroke, doggy paddle…Then the under 29 male wave which started 5 minutes after mine came up on us and they were so aggressive. It was like being in a washing machine—kicking and grabbing and splashing everywhere. I flipped on my back and did backstroke but was still swallowing so much water. I was hyperventilating and just could not breathe. I looked around for a kayak….I really considered quitting for a few minutes. Then when that wave passed, I thought “ok Sarah. You can do this.” Even though it felt right then that I had never swam a stroke in my life I KNEW that I could swim. I took it slow, and started breathing every other stroke. All of a sudden, everything got better. I was calmer, relaxed, and actually enjoying myself. Before I knew it I had caught up with about 5 girls from my wave! Once I got my rhythm I felt like I could have kept going for much longer. I was thankful that I didn’t have to though! Even with my panicking, I finished the swim in 34 minutes.

The calm before the storm

That little dot is most likely me out there all by myself since my wave and the wave after me all swam by

Oh good---more yellow caps!

Never been happier to be on dry land!

I took my time in T1 and when I got on the bike my HR was 174! I was supposed to keep it below 170 on the bike but was having a hard time relaxing and getting it down. After the first climb/downhill it got under control but that’s when the problems started. I had swallowed so much water during the swim that it made me feel SO sick. The water was sloshing, I was so nauseous, and my stomach was clenching like someone was wringing my intestines. I really felt so awful which I was not expecting at all. I usually feel strongest on the bike. I finished the first loop in 45min but right when I started the 2^nd loop I really thought I was going to throw up. I slowed down and started to unclip to get off the bike and do what I had to do, but then the feeling passed. Thank god. Instead of pushing it the 2^nd loop I decided to take it easier and do everything I could possibly do to settle my stomach. I sipped my water and gaterade, ate a gel, and didn’t push too hard. It worked! By the last 20 minutes I felt back to normal. And the best part is that I kept my bike cadence at 87! I have been working really hard to average 90 but it’s so hard for me. Today I came pretty darn close and it definitely helped my run! Total Bike: 1:45.

Finishing Loop 1

Hi Dad!

Hmm, where did my stuff go? Too many bikes!

Transition madness!

Then the run! My legs actually felt pretty fresh! My calves were tight the first mile but loosened up. I walked through every water station and drank water and gaterade and dumped water on myself because it was getting hot! I wasn’t fast and had to walk on and off during the first 3 miles. Then, shockingly, the last 3 miles of the run was where I felt the best I did the entire day! I only had to walk through the water stations, and mile 5 was the only time the whole run I saw numbers under 10 min/mile. My friend Melissa came to cheer me on and was going to wait around mile 5 of the run. I actually saw her when I was finishing up the bike and shouted “I’m coming! It will be a long time but I’ll be there!” Having her there was SO amazing. On the run I kept thinking “just make it to Melissa” and I did! She was so encouraging and it was amazing to see a friendly face. It meant so much to have her there. I finished the run in 1:10 which I am really happy with! I was expecting 1:15!

3 miles to go!

Approaching the finish line! I was so happy!

DONE!

Total time: 3:35

I want to just thank everyone for all their encouragement and support. Especially my family who has been amazing through all of this. Thanks Dad for coming out to Philadelphia with me for the race and being the best cheerleader and photographer ever. Thanks to my Mom and sister for the encouragment and for anxiously waiting by the phone for updates. Thanks to all my readers, friends, and coworkers for putting up with me and my taper blues, for listening to me talk about triathlon all the time, thanks to Melissa and my friend Chris (who was doing the run section of the relay) for cheering me on during the run. And of course, a big, big thank you to my Coach Kim, I could not have done it without you. Thanks for preparing me to finish strong, for reassuring me that all the problems I deal with are normal and I’m not crazy, and thanks for always listening to me and making me feel better. You’ve become not only a coach but a friend and know that you are SUCH an inspiration to me. I listen and take in everything you tell me, and I hope I made you proud

I really am so proud of myself! I had some unanticipated problems (panicking in the water and feeling really bad on the bike) but I think I handled them really well.  I feel good about my future races because those things that slowed me down will get better with experience. My legs felt strong the whole race and I was able to control my heart rate on my bike and run. I could not be happier with my first triathlon experience! Here’s to many, many more!

De-Funkified

Ok, I feel a TON better! Apparently the ‘taper blues’ are a real thing…I’m glad to know that I’m not alone!

Even though I am still really nervous about the race, I am getting really excited now too! I got an email with my bib number— 846. I like it

I talked to my coach last and she reminded me of how far I’ve come. I have put in so much time and effort…so many early mornings, so many long workouts. I ran repeats on the dreaded track, I swam countless laps, I ran a half marathon!, I rode my bike 100 miles in 1 day and then 60 the next! I had a 4 hour swim/bike/run workout. Sure there were a few days where I didn’t give it 100% but there were also plenty of days that I gave it 110%. In the past 3 months of training I logged 100 hours. 100 hours! Ok so maybe I cut a few workouts short or skipped a handful during the 3 months…but no matter how you cut it, 100 hours is no joke.

I’ve put in the time and now the race is when I get to enjoy my hard work. So that’s what I’m going to do! I’m going to go out there and have fun! And I can’t wait