Nashville Oly

First olympic distance since June of 2008.

I was told in so many words this week that my race reports are too long- I think that meant they are boring.
The quick end of it:
1. If you think triathlons are stupid and could care less what I did this weekend, stop here.
2. For those of you who only care about who placed where- I got 3rd in my AG.
3. Anyone interested in the details of the 3 events can read on and I will try to make it short.

-Swim: awesome in Cumberland River. I now- post race- realize that currents matter and there is some tactical positioning required to swimming rivers (it should not take 5 minutes to go 100 yards). My overall swim time looks stinky, but I had a lot of fun in the water ;)

-Bike: was fine- definitely a strength of mine at this point by default. Slow first loop...picked it up second loop when I had some guys to chase down. This is a fun course...good hills and headwinds made it challenging. I got my first penalty ever- the "overtaken" penalty, because some guy kept passing me and dramatically slowing down over and over again....just killing me. I kept dropping back each time, but I finally just had enough and had to get away from him. So, after about the fifth time he did that crap, I just barely dropped back and passed him immediately to get far away from him. I had a feeling I was getting a penalty when the motorcycle went by me slowly. F-me. Completely my bad...my frustrated self came out.

-Run: The hardest 10k course I have ever run. It was a monster. The temps were in the high 90s (thank goodness for the Splish), and the hills were gigantic. I was happy to run the whole thing, although the run was more like a shuffle up the hills. I went about a block off-course at one point because a volunteer did not direct me the right way- that wasn't cool. I have never done that in my life, and I swear it is because all of these bloggers (ahem...Angela and Kari) keep going off-course and it must just be catching on. Ice + water all over me at every aid station, and I made it to the finish. My time sucked, but I was happy to run my first 10k in well over a year.

And after years and years of my soccer teammates calling me "Bird"- I finally see that I do run with one chicken wing (see picture above). I now have enough running pictures to prove it and can deny it no longer- my awful left arm crossing my body. I am pretty sure it is in the position so I can elbow the crap out of someone on the field to shield the ball- can I erase 25 years of elbowing people? Looks like I will be doing some running form drills in the near future to see if you can retrain your muscles.

I am getting ready to head to Nashville with my friend and teammate Michelle Bingham. Yea racing!!!! Racing = fun!!!! We are going to have a blast!

One thing that is not fun, though, is not owning all of the equipment I want. For the past 4 years, I have borrowed race wheels when I have been able to borrow them. This weekend, I was not able to acquire a set for the weekend, and I realized that it is draining to ask to borrow wheels. It takes phone calls, extra time, and extra worry. I am going to really start hunting for a pair of good, used wheels. I have a 10-year- old Hed Deep back wheel that I bought from a friend, so if I could just get something for the front, it should be sufficient. I would love the new 808s (and who can afford those?), etc...but after scrambling every race to try to get some wheels, I think I will just settle for something useful- affordable- and that can live at my home.

And there are so many reasons why after 4 years I have not been able to save for race wheels.

Exhibit #1: New/used car.
After sinking $1,000 in the Volvo last month and renting a car every time I travel, Dave and I realized we need to go ahead and purchase a reliable car for out of town trips. I could not convince him that a Camaro would be a good family car, so we settled on an Accord Hybrid with low mileage. The hybrid is a little ironic as it is a V6... but still, it is our attempt at going green. And, I have actually always wanted a hybrid- along with my Camaro.

Exhibit #2- The dogs.

I think the butt-heads have cost me another $1000 in the past 4 months. Do you see my finger in the left hand corner- pointing at Cayenne? Yup, she has been the biggest butt-head of them all. Rooney and Shelby are looking at me and following directions. I say sit/stay- and they do it. Cayenne is going through some nasty teenage thing and just ignores me. Well, and then Shelby and Rooney can't stop being butt-heads to each other. Ughhh. Remind me to not have 3 kids when the time comes. 2 should be plenty.

Aunt Bookie bought them all Saints collars...so they are looking cute if nothing else.

Okay- must pack up the car. Off to the races!!!!!

When did triathlons get so expensive? I just dropped $135 on an Oly distance. Really? Now, had I entered 4 months ago, the price would have been $95...but I really don't pay for races that far in advance. A lot can happen in 4 months (injury, work schedule...)! So, Nashville Oly this upcoming weekend. Scratch Sharpshooter for the following weekend because I am now broke.

But, here we go. I am going to enter my first Olympic distance since...um...IMFL2008. I am starting to run more consistently, albeit slowly, but consistently. This will be a good little test to see if I am really ready to take on some longer or faster endeavors, especially in the run department.

This weekend I challenged myself to a new ride. Not only do I get intimidated with big guy group rides, but I also just don't like training that resembles racing, breaking others down, proving yourself, etc... But with some encouragement, I rode out of my comfort zone this weekend with a good group. I had a running thought in my head that kept me going: "this is your day to work. it is going to be hard. you are here to work." And, all of the guys were super great, nice, encouraging riders.

Oh, and my little secret. I played in a soccer game today ;) hee hee! I enjoyed knocking a 200+# guy off of the ball. Now I am totally pooped and off to bed.

We all have the same amount of hours in a day, yet somehow I get to the end of my day with a gazillion things left to do. The blog is getting further down the list every day- not because I want it to, but because it is necessary.

- Dave and I are looking for a good, used car. Any leads?

- Joy and Laura are making me read the "pink" book- Something Borrowed. So far there is a lot of cheating going on. I hope there is a happy ending coming up or I may feel pretty miserable at the end of this thing. I miss my normal romance novels.

-The 5k put a nice little spark in me! Time to buckle down, set some goals, and suffer a little bit. I am getting a little weary from being in the same place for so long.

-Oh yes. So, I didn't post much on the World Cup final. I was too busy watching and discussing, I guess. I was going for Spain- I have had the pleasure of watching them play in the World Cup before. So, I am thrilled that they won. I am not a big Iniesta fan, however- not my favorite Spanish player for technical reasons. So, the ending was just kind of blah for me. Then Torres barely played and got hurt. More blah. Robben played well for Holland, I thought- always liked him at Chelsea. Not that anyone that reads this cares one bit. At least EPL starts again at the end of August. Dave and I are now saving to go to 2012 Euros.

The Last Minute Road Race

Racing smart is a big priority for me post injury/surgery. That means being smart about frequency of racing, the distance I am racing, and the intensity of my training. I have only run 1 open running race in the past 14 months. I tried some track workouts a few months ago to get in shape for triathlon season, but the quick pace brought on a lot of knee swelling so I decided to wait until August to try again. I had initially thought to do our local Road Race Series, but with such slow progress, I decided to just continue to work on running consistently.

When Gina called me on Saturday and said she was going to register for the Road Race Series, I inwardly groaned. How could I turn her down? I met Gina doing the Road Race Series in 2006 and she is now one of my best friends. She convinced me it would be fun to get in shape together again- especially since the Road Race Series has always been special for us.

-Think two girls, best of friends, giggling at everything, loving to run together. It is precious. I think finding a well-matched running partner is a rarity, and Gina is a jewel!

I succumbed to her pressure. The first 5k was less than 24 hours away- and I knew it would would be much tougher than I was ready to tackle as I was so ill-prepared. I love 5ks when I have been working hard on the track- not so much when I no longer own any sort of defense against lactic acid. But still, the lure of seeing my friend was too much to turn down. And I was so excited to see her pull in my driveway this morning to pick me up!

Gina and Damie heading to the race. :)

We set a few goals for ourselves- no time goals, just process goals with the intention of using the series to help our bodies get stronger. Gina is post-baby, so she is re-discovering her running self. I made a goal to show up to the series ready to work hard with no excuses. So regardless of how many miles I ride the day before (the series is on Sunday morning, making it almost impossible to be fresh for the race if you want to train through the weekend), I will do my best at every race and try to help my body get strong. So, no wussing out with the "tempo run" excuse. I just have to come with it and let my time be my time.

Me around mile 1 trying to smile at Justin taking my picture. Yes, the camera hog is back. Hopefully in a few months I will embrace the suffering so much I will not be smiling for the camera.

Gina and I felt like the biggest beginners out there! It was actually a lot of fun. We remember the days where we felt pressured to run certain times and beat certain people. Today, we didn't even know where to line up because we just don't even really know what pace to run, how to hold a pace, who runs the same pace we do, etc... We lined up with my friend Sean who is also trying to get back in shape, and off we went :)

The race was fine- I felt, well, heavy and sluggish. To be expected with no interval work, a little extra weight, and no focus on run racing. I also had a massive amount of heart burn and hiatal hernia irritation thanks to India Palace last night- (shame on me as I know better than to eat spice before races OR drink wine the night before a race which I normally NEVER do. I deserved every little bit of discomfort in my chest!) The group of girls I would like to run with have been putting their time in on the track and on the road, and thus were ahead of me. So, it was really just me, myself, and I out there focusing on keeping up the pace and making my legs move. I ended up with perfect positive splits- :) Ha ha!!!

While the clock time does not reflect a good race, I can still say there was some good stuff out there. I was close to 50 seconds faster than my only other 5k in the past year which was back in March, so that is promising that my legs are starting to get some strength back. I also had my second official road race of the year, helping me remember how to pace and hurt. And mostly I had fun :)

One of the drawbacks about the Road Race Series can be that it is easy to start worrying about the times other runners post. And because you get 2 shots at each distance, you start to believe you can "make up time" and have drastic improvements every 2 weeks. Which you can...kind of...for a while.

My resolve for taking it slowly is still strong, though. I am still not going to track practice yet. I am not going to start chasing 5k times or Road Race Series times. I am going to continue to focus on my goal of getting the the start and finish lines of AG Nats healthy and able to complete the distance feeling strong. (Thank goodness I will have to miss half of the Road Race Series anyways so I won't have to worry about getting caught up in last minute goals and self-created over-racing destruction.)

Sean, Damie, Gina post race. One step closer...

Pet Love This Week

Although I have been told otherwise, I believe that little things count. Here are some fun, easy ways to make a difference this week.

1. Buy a book of Adopt A Shelter Pet stamps. They are the same price as regular stamps- but you will feel a whole lot better after you buy these.

2. Help Shelby Angel get adopted. This beautiful girl is still not adopted, and she needs a family. Can you adopt her? Could you forward her blog or Petfinder link to friends? She really needs your help. There are no organizations in Memphis to help her or take her in.

3. Start saving your aluminum cans!!!! Memphians, every 3 months I will take a truck full of cans to the recycle center and donate all of the money to animal rescue organizations. All you have to do is put your cans in a bag and call me when you have a full bag. You can drop them off at my house or let me know where to pick them up. Send me a message if you have interest in this ongoing project. (last time I was able to collect $84 for donations. It was fun and easy!)

4. Watch this video of a dog and elephant that are BFF. And then cry like I did.

5. Vote for the Tunica Animal Shelter to receive grant money to become a "no-kill" shelter. In the south, we have a very high shelter population and euthanasia rate. Wouldn't it be great to turn it around, one shelter at at time?

6. Want to know what is in your area? Check out this website from greenpeople.

7. Oh yea, and one more. Here is some info on a local Memphis service. A friend of mine that does my hair has a pit that she has not spayed yet...I am definitely forwarding this to her! Share it with anyone you think may need it as well. In July, Mid-South Spay & Neuter Services Memphis is honoring the pit bull & pit bull mixes to spay or neuter at no charge- that is until the funding runs out! Call today 901.324.3202 & make an appointment to have yours fixed or help a friend or neighbor get theirs fixed.

Happy 4th...the dogs say hi and are just sharing the love :) They are excited to have me home for the day.

End of season is planned. Got some fun races coming up and plan to do triathlon through Sept- Oct, and then transition to running if my knee will let me for the winter.

Yesterday I did a 70ish mile group ride at the Hightailers Red, White, and Blue Ride...should have been 67ish miles, but I had the unfortunate mis-pleasure of getting off course by listening to some guy. Luckily I caught the mistake pretty quickly and booked it back to the course on my own. The good news is I didn't have to ride with that group anymore, the bad news is all of the groups with whom I wanted to stay were well ahead of me since it took me a while to get back on the course.

I may be increasing fitness, although it is hard to judge based on a couple of rides. In April, I did a 70ish mile group ride at xx mph while staying with a group and mostly drafting. It was a lot cooler- my nutrition was great- and I finished feeling good. This weekend's ride was a 70ish mile group ride and I averaged 1 mph more than in April- riding about 35+ miles by myself or pulling others. It was unreasonably hot- my nutrition was not good as I felt very sick to my stomach halfway through- and I was mentally grumpy. So, for me- I would like to say my riding has improved based on the fact that I was faster with much less drafting on a very hot day. But again, I think that improvement should show in racing. So, we will see.

I have really learned to embrace riding with a group, but I will say there are some quirks of group riding that annoy me to no end. A familiar example: 50 people start off with the lead group, which plans to cover the distance at xx mph. Only 7 people in the group can hold xx mph for the whole distance. Another 13 can mostly hold it with some help and a draft. The other 30 explode somewhere along the ride, if not before the halfway point. So, do you go with the first group to challenge yourself even though you are never even close to these guys in races? I think the answer depends on the individual and their goals for the day. I am not saying I have the answer, although for some people I could most certainly tell them that they would be better served by not blowing up 10 miles into a 70 mile ride. (I often wage a big battle in my head regarding this issue, especially when I see women with the first group and I want to be there too! I have to make some decisions about my goals for the ride and let my ride be dictated by my goals, not by others. Easier said than done in this sport at times- and I am never quite sure when to take the challenge. So for me- learning when to take on the challenge is a place for me to continue to develop).

Other group ride annoyances- the people that compare their mph after group rides with other individuals. ANNOYING and get over yourself. Seriously. If you are that fast, then post that mph at a race where you aren't drafting. If you are that fast, then pull more and draft less. If you are that fast, you probably don't need to be comparing yourself to others because you are focusing on your own development.

The group dynamic of triathlon is just weird to me at times, and it makes sense to me that many people choose to train solo. However, I do enjoy the big Hightailers group rides and I meet some nice interesting people on many of them. And, if you get in with a good group of hard working cyclists around your skill level, it can make for a great workout.

There is still something to be said for just being a soccer player, though. Enjoy the next week of World Cup awesomeness!!!!!

Happy 4th to everyone...thank you to our friends in the military.