Sandy and Week 2

This week has been an interesting one so far. Monday/Tuesday was Hurricane Sandy. We had some very unexpected guests. Thankfully, that lasted about 24 hours and things were back to normal.

I made it to TNT both days this week. It's week 1 of 13 again and body fat checks! 142 lbs, 17.7% to start off this session. Gotta bring down both of those numbers, but it'll get there.

Week 2 of the 14 week challenge is to drink "real" drinks only. The only change we made to this is to allow Soda Stream made sodas. We tend to have it 1-2 times a week and 1 glass at a time, instead of 3 or 4 when we go out for dinner. The idea of this challenge is to make it doable and sustainable, so I'm ok with making minor changes to the challenge so that we're both on board. That being said, so far this week, I've had all water and one glass of tea. I've had almond milk in my cereal, but that's also something I won't give up (I can't do regular milk). So far so good!

Week 1 of the 14 week challenge

As a reminder, I've been doing this challenge this week:

Week 1: Two fruits and/or vegetables per meal – Eat a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables (preferably organic) with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal.

It's actually be a super easy change. I will say, I've been less hungry as the week's progressed. Also, the fruits & veggies are helping to regulate certain things. That's been good!

All week, I've also been doing week 2 without really thinking about it. Since Jon's been on travel, I haven't gone out to eat (which is usually when I'd have diet soda). This morning, I had some juice with breakfast. It was awful! It was also a "light" version of a juice.

Week 2: “Real” beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).

I think I'll definitely have some tea next week!


I went for a run today. It was supposed to be a 5 mile run, but it turned into a 3 mile run. It was awful. My left Achilles was bothering me, which it hasn't been lately, so I'm not sure what's going on. I ended up walking a bit more than I would've liked. UGH! So, the run sucked. It is what it is... moving on!

So far this week

I got my insurance this week. Whew! One step completed! I think I'm going to try to write my mom a few week's worth of a plan and see how she does with it now that I'm "official".

I also applied to one of the local clubs. We'll see how that goes. I'm not too worried about it right now. I need to apply to a few other places, potentially in person.

I've also started on a few house projects that I've been putting off for a while. I painted the iron railings on one set of french doors, one more to go. I've completed both photo books for our vacations this year, just need to order them at some point. We decided to have the house painted (finally), so I've been deciding on colors too. I'm also finishing up my card books. It's been a busy week!

In other news, yesterday, I started on this:100 Days of Real Food 14 Week Challenge. I'm on day 2 of week 1, so far, so good. For week 3, I'll likely just limit the number of meat servings for the week. As much as I'd love to do local meats, they're a bit too expensive for our current budget. Also, when I get to week 11, I'm not 100% sure how that'll work. I need to look into the local winter farmer's market. We don't have a huge selection this time of year! There's also a trip to Disney to run a half marathon that'll be happening in this 14 week period (I think...), so I'll just have to make as good of choices as I can.

14 Weeks of “Real Food” Mini-Pledges

• Week 1: Two fruits and/or vegetables per meal – Eat a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables (preferably organic) with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal.
• Week 2: “Real” beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).
• Week 3: Meat – All meat consumed this week will be locally raised (within 100-miles of your hometown). Meat consumption will also be limited to 3 – 4 servings this week, and when it is eaten meat will not be presented as the “focal point” of the meal. Instead meat will be treated as a side item or simply used to help flavor a dish.
• Week 4: No fast food or deep-fried foods – No fast food or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.
• Week 5: Try two new whole foods – Try a minimum of two new whole foods that you’ve never had before.
• Week 6: No low-fat, lite or nonfat food products – Do not eat any food products that are labeled as “low-fat,” “lite,” “light,” “reduced fat,” or “nonfat.”
• Week 7: 100% Whole grain – All grains consumed must be 100% whole-grain.
• Week 8: Stop eating when you feel full – Listen to your internal cues and stop eating when you feel full.
• Week 9: No refined sweeteners – No refined or artificial sweeteners including (but not limited to): white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice. Foods and beverages can only be sweetened with a moderate amount of honey or maple syrup.
• Week 10: No refined oils – No refined or hydrogenated oils including (but not limited to): vegetable oil, organic vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, organic canola oil, margarine, and grape seed oil.
• Week 11: Eat local foods – Eat at least 1 locally grown or raised food at each meal. This includes, but is not limited to: fruits, vegetables, eggs, grains, nuts, meats, and sweeteners like honey.
• Week 12: No sweeteners – Avoid all added sweeteners including, but not limited to: white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, maple syrup, date sugar, maple sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, fruit juice concentrate, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice.
• Week 13: Nothing artificial – Avoid all artificial ingredients including, but not limited to: sweeteners, flavors and colors.
• Week 14: No more than 5-indredients – Avoid any and all packaged food products that contain more than five ingredients no matter what ingredients

Not Tri Related

I PASSED MY PERSONAL TRAINER CERTIFICATION EXAM!!!!!!!

I've been asked a million times since Wednesday what my next steps are.

Step 1: Get insured.
Step 2: Find a job or clients or something. I have no clue really.

For the time being, I'm working on doing some "house projects" that need to get done before I start working again. I've already gone through quite a few things and donated a lot of stuff, but there's a lot more that needs to be gone through. Also, I've been working on doing our Christmas cards, photo presents for our moms, and photo books from our trips this year.

Next week, I'm replacing silicone caulk in our shower and maybe the kitchen sink. I'll also be repainting the iron railing that's on the front of the house as long as the weather cooperates. I think I might also put an end to the snap dragons and get the pots off the back deck so that I can reseal that too (though, it needs to be powerwashed as well).

See... household "stuff" and then I'll worry about getting a job. I'm starting to look for places to work online and kind of look around to see what's out there. Nothing like putting myself back out there after almost 7 years!

Falling off the wagon

So, this past few weeks, my eating has been HORRIBLE. Like, I gained back the 2 lbs I lost horrible. I can officially say, I've fallen off the wagon. Things have been all over the place for pretty much the past two months and along with that, so has my eating.

Today, I start clawing back at the wagon to get back on. The biggest thing is to start measuring food again. The second thing is to stop snacking as much. The third is to track my food. I had been doing really well, but things got in the way and I wasn't being as good.

I'm also slowly starting to get next season's race schedule going. So far here are the possibilities/definites:

Disney Half Marathon (definite) - January 12, 2013
GW Birthday Marathon Relay (possible) - February 2013
St. Charles Running Festival (possible) - April 2013
TriRock Annapolis (possible) - May 2013
Rev3 Half Rev Williamsburg (definite) - June 23, 2013

I'll continue to update the list as it grows :)

I'm Proud of Me

Today, I'm proud of me. I wanted my hubby to help me get my trainer tire onto my tri bike before he left for a business trip for the week, but he ran out of time before he left. So today, I put it on myself. Now, on my road bike, this isn't a huge feat, but on the tri bike it can be! The rear brake was rubbing, so I had to readjust it and I managed to figure it out. Go me!

I did the TrainerRoad 8-minute test today. My FTP is 159 watts, with an average speed of 16.9 mph. Both need to come up a good bit. One of my next season goals it to be able to do a sprint tri keeping at least an 18.x mph pace. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it off!

Monday and a New Week

So, last week was a bust. Life happened and the week got away from us - again. So I start over, again, today.

Here are the workouts I hope to get in this week:

Monday: TNT/30 min run (already did TNT, will be doing the run at 9am with a group)
Tuesday: Spin/swim
Wednesday: TNT/track workout (will likely do on the treadmill)
Thursday: Spin/swim
Friday: REST
Saturday: 4 mi run
Sunday: Spin

The spin workouts are going to be done on my tri bike at home. I may go to a Team Z swim this week, but likely at least one will be done at my gym pool. The runs will be done either on the dreadmill or outside.

This week's focus is literally just to get through the workouts and not to worry about anything else.

Also this week, I am going to finish reading the last chapter of my textbook and start studying the things I don't have down yet. I take my ACE test on Oct 17 at 1pm. So soon!

New week, new goals

Since I did so horribly on my yoga/stretching goals in September, I figure I'll set goals based on the week.

This week is cardio week for TNT. Yay! That being said... I need to REALLY get back into it. This week, I'm planning on doing week 1 of the Trainer Road base builder program. I pay for the program every month, I really need to start using it (even if it is "only" $7/month). I really need to get stronger on my bike - and need to spend the winter doing that.

So, this week - goal is to follow my run training program and to do the 3 bike rides I need to do for week 1 of the base build. Time to get on this!

Another week, another goal

So, I've spent the first half of this week sick. My hubby brought home a cold and shared it. How sweet. I missed pretty much every workout from last Friday up to today.

Today, I got back in the gym and did my TNT class and got on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I was planning on running those 30 minutes as my body could tolerate (given the whole cold thing... which has been in my lungs too, so I know not to push too hard), but a couple of things happened.

1) I ran for about 3 minutes and that was plenty and 2) I was chatting with a fellow TNTer about her experience as a person who has Hashimoto's disease and hypothyroidism.

#2 was more important to me today than running. Given my recent lab results and new found family history, I've been researching like mad. Last week was a horrible week. Now that I have an appointment scheduled with an endocrinologist, I could care less what my primary care says. I'll be searching for a new primary care at some point in the near future, but for now, I just need to get my head straight about the possibility that what's been causing some of these things for YEARS could've been helped if any one of a number of drs had taken me seriously at some point. No matter what the response is, I'll be glad to have things checked out.

This week's goal... kick this cold!

This past weekend...

My hubby shared his cold. How sweet?! This is putting a serious crimp in my workout style!

In other news, we went to the RV show in NJ this weekend. It was a good time. Small show, but nice to walk around for a while. We have definitely ruled out pop-ups and hybrid campers. Now... do we change my car to have the brake control (brand new car, changing the electrical wiring... hmmm) or do we get a dedicated tow vehicle? And if we get a dedicated tow vehicle, what?

Oh and, I should probably start studying again, go pass my test, and get a job to help support this! For now, tent camping it is!

Mid-week

Last night, I went to swim practice for the first time in a while. It was interesting to say the least! Thankfully, pretty much everyone that was there had just finished their big 'A' race, so it was like a chatter session instead of a swim session (though we did get a solid 45-50 minutes of swim in).

This morning, I went to TNT and did a walk/run after class. I ran for 10 minutes and walked 20, but it's all good. It'll all come back :)

We had weigh ins and body fat today. Weight = 141.0, body fat = 18.6%. Not terrible, but it can be better. Working on that.

New Journey

I've talked about it a few times on here, but I'm "over" it. I HAVE to get rid of these 10 lbs I put back on over the past year. Luckily, through my awesome tri team, I've met a few great people. Three of us - Tracy, Jess, and myself - have started an accountability group to work through our workouts and eating. I'm super excited about it. So, starting today, I'm not only tracking my food, but I'm also measuring my food. Something I've had great success with before.

Our "reward" at the end of this is going to be hiking Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. I'm really looking forward to that hike! We didn't set a goal date for that quite yet, but we'll get to that at some point.

Also, I'm going to try to do one meatless day for dinner a week starting this week. Tonight, we're having a veggie pizza. In the next few weeks, it'll be something a bit more interesting than that. Jon's been really craving pizza and it's the one we have in the house. I think I'll make a salad to go along with it.

My dr wants me on a low-fat, high-fiber diet, so I'm going to do some research on that and see what I'd be looking at doing. I know I need to add more protein to my diet as well.

I should be getting my weight/body fat done tomorrow, so I'll update this with that. Going to get moving on all of this!

Camping - Take 1

This past weekend, we decided to skip the Hershey Park RV Show (the biggest in the USA) and we went (tent) camping with our friends instead. We headed to Shenandoah National Park (Matthews Arm Campground) for a weekend trip (Friday night - Sunday morning).

The drive up Skyline Drive is absolutely beautiful. We got to the campground, checked in, and got started setting up. We had a few moments of stress setting up the tent, but they were pretty short lived.

Friday night into Saturday morning, I had a small bear encounter (sighting) on my way to the bathroom. I saw it, but it didn't see me, so all was good!

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we did a hike that started on Traces Trail, then went to Matthews Arm Trail, then Tuscorara - Overall Run Trail and headed back. It was a 6 mile hike with a steady downhill on the way out and almost all uphill on the way back to camp. We got to have lunch on rocks overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. It was beyond beautiful.

Saturday night, we enjoyed dinner with our friends & sat around the campfire just enjoying everyone's company. You really can't ask for more or better. It's really what life's all about.

We got up Sunday morning, cooked breakfast, and started packing up to head out. I was a bit sad that the weekend was coming to an end, but was happy to be getting home to a shower and my bed.

I will say, my legs kind of still hurt from the hike, but it was 100% worth it!

Now... to start looking for a SMALL travel trailer to be able to do this a little easier on trips further from home and without having to take a car full of camping stuff with us (though, we'll still do more tent camping too!).

Rev 3 Maine HalfRev Tri - Race Report

Rev3 Maine Half Rev Race Report - Longest Race Report EVER!  (Will add pictures at some point)

• Race Name: Rev 3 Maine, Half Rev
• Race Date: August 26, 2012
• Race Location: Old Orchard Beach, Maine
• Race Distance: 70.3  (1.2 mile swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mile run)
• Division: Women 30-34
• Total Time: 7:28:56
• Time Breakdown: Swim – 46:09, T1 – 7:17, Bike – 3:29:25, T2 – 1:31, Run – 3:04:33
• Age Group Placing: 33/37
• Gender Placing: 143/159 (women only)
• Overall Placing: 413/444 (overall)

Pre-race – Days before

I registered during early bird registration when the race was first announced. I think I paid about $215 for the race – a steal for a half distance race!

Once we got settled in Old Orchard Beach, ME (OOB from here on out), we headed over to figure out where Rev3 was setting up and where transition was going to be. I have to say, I was immediately impressed that the OOB police department set up shop to guard the transition area as early as Thursday – even when there was nothing in it!

Rev3 knows how to throw a party. There were so many events planned pre-race that we didn’t attend everything. We drove the bike course on Friday morning, which was probably one of the best things we could’ve done – other than ride it. Later that afternoon and picked up my packet, got my swag, and picked up a few (too many) pieces of race memorabilia. Friday night, we headed out to dinner with Jon’s cousins and had a fun, and relaxing, time with them. The headsweats visor is one of my favorite items from the race – hands down!

On Saturday morning, I headed out at 8am for the practice swim. I haven’t been in my wetsuit since TriRock Annapolis, so I figured it’d be a good idea to see if it even fit (um… right…). The first thing I discovered is that the water temp wasn’t horrible. It was about 65 degrees – definitely at the high end of what they told us to expect. The second thing I noticed is that the water was very clear! Much different than the mid-Atlantic region! The only bad part about this is that you noticed where the shelf drop was during the swim. Around 9am, Rev3 did the worst-wetsuit competition, so we hung around for that.

Trying to figure out where we were starting the practice swim from. These guys were awesome and allowed me to tag along in their group.

Swimming, swimming, in a swimming pool... wait... this is the ocean.

Um... where are they moving the buoy to?

Chillin for a mid-swim discussion

Out of the water after a successful practice swim

We headed back to the room, I showered and set out the wetsuit to dry a little bit for the next morning, we ran out for a quick lunch, then back to get my bike. Around 12:45 or so, we headed toward transition, and I racked my bike. It was so cool that Rev3 had volunteers escort us to our space. The volunteer who walked with me told me this is his first triathlon event, and he was super excited to learn all about it. That enthusiasm radiated over the entire weekend.

Around 1:00, we sat down and listened to the pro-athlete chat and then stayed for the 1:30 athlete meeting. I didn’t find it all that helpful, but it was good to be there. I felt a little weird as we walked away, knowing my bike was staying outside overnight. I knew it’d be out with all of the other bikes; it was just a bit unsettling.

We had an early dinner at Olive Garden, I finished putting my transition bag together, and then we headed to bed around 8:30pm, knowing it’d be an early morning.

Pre-race – Day Of

The alarm went off at 4am. We snoozed until about 4:15 and then hopped out of bed and started the morning routine. Jon helped me apply the race number tattoos. He accidently didn’t take off the plastic on the ‘3’ for my age tattoo, so that was a little stress inducing (for him, not me – I packed permanent markers and knew I could just write it on). I ate breakfast, had some water, and we headed out at 5am.

Transition opened at 5am and was fully buzzing when I got there at 5:10! Susie (Jon’s cousin) was already there and found Jon pretty quickly. They went to get coffee and I went into transition.

It was a bit chilly, so I kept my warm-up pants on for a while. I pumped up my tires and loaned my pump to someone near me. A DC Tri team member, Toby, came over and said hello. The one GREAT thing about wearing the Team Z green is that people who are from our area generally chat with us – especially when we’re not close to home! Toby was telling me that this was her second attempt at the 70.3 distance. Her first attempt was Musselman, and it ended when she was found in a ditch at mile 9 of the bike. She said she spent 2 days in the hospital after that race. I wished her better luck for this one and continued to set up. At some point, Brenda (my friend) arrived at the race. It was so great to finally meet her!

A nod to everyone who had encouraged me in their own ways while I was on my journey to this race

I put on my wetsuit (and performed the wetsuit dance, pretty much like everyone else there) and headed out of transition to hang out with my cheer crew. We headed to the beach for swim start. After a few minutes, I sent my cheer crew on their way so that I could have some mental prep time. I opted not to get in to do a swim warm-up, given the amount of time that I had until my wave started. It wasn’t terribly long, but it was long enough that I was a bit worried about getting chilly while standing on the beach. Before too long, Rev3 was making their announcements, played the National Anthem, and the first wave of the HalfRev was off!

Swim

The water was a cool 65 degrees; definitely a wetsuit legal race! The water was so calm, it was awesome. Being my first ocean swim (I guess technically second since I swam the day before), I was super nervous about this swim. I had nightmares about it months before the race – ones involving breaching whales. Turns out, the scariest thing I had to deal with was other swimmers and the shelf drop!

I'm in there somewhere

The swim course was great – straight out to the 2^nd buoy, turn left, go straight, turn left at the 4^th buoy and head back in to shore while sighting on the huge Ferris wheel (thanks for making it simple Rev3!). My goggles fogged up pretty badly and even after fixing them the first time, they fogged up again. I decided just to deal with it as best as I could and swim through it.

I felt a little sea sick when coming in to shore because you could see the bottom of the ocean again and you could tell when the current was pulling the water and sand back out, while you were trying to move forward. At some point, I decided that it was just better to stand up even though I was a bit further out than I’d normally stand up. Wasn’t worth wanting to throw up! Coming out of the water, I was a little disoriented at first, but quickly got my bearings. The funny thing is, I can normally pick Jon out of a crowd so easily. I had a hard time with that coming out of the swim. Not sure why, but it threw me off a little too. I like to make eye contact with him so that he knows I’m OK and good to go. (He probably doesn’t realize that I like to see him for that reason after the swim!)

Gotta love the post-swim face

Now to get to my bike

T1

T1 was so long. It was at least a .35 mile slog back to the transition area from the beach (complete with dumbfounded tourists as to why they couldn’t go where they wanted to). I chose to walk the beach part of it and even some of the road. I knew it was going to be a long transition and had allowed myself 8-10 minutes for it. When it turned out to be 7:17, I was actually really happy with that time.

I put on all of my bike gear, reapplied sunscreen, grabbed my bike, and headed out.

Yes, I could’ve moved faster, but I knew that today was more about just getting it done and not necessarily getting it done quickly. I’ll aim to do it a bit faster next time.

Ready to go

Headed out of T1, thanks hill!

Bike

The bike course definitely had some rolling hills. The city of OOB and the surrounding areas did a great job to make sure we were protected against crazy drivers (though, I didn’t see too many of those in Maine in general!). They had also repaved several sections of the course in the days leading up to the race, which was a great touch!

It took a while for my legs to warm up – especially with the first thing to hit out of transition being a hill. I got settled in and took it easier than I thought I should, knowing it would be a long 56 miles if I didn’t. The first water stop was around mile 15. I managed to get a water bottle, but had to stop to refill. A couple of other people asked if I was ok, which was nice of them. I just am not quite coordinated enough yet to refill on the fly. I’ll be practicing that for next year.

At mile 20, I went over the timing chip pad and noticed that I didn’t beep like I should’ve. I made a mental note to listen at the next one, just in case something was weird with my foot positioning. The first 25 miles of this course trended uphill, so that kind of sucked. On the hills, we’d get all bunched up, and then spread out over the downhills and flats.

Somewhere around mile 30 was the next water stop and I got my water and stopped to refill again. I didn’t beep at the timing chip mat there either. I figured my chip died and that was that. Oh well! Around mile 35, I saw Toby from DC Tri on the side of the road. She had the bike mechanics with her, so I figured I’d be seeing her zoom up past me at some point.

Miles 40-45 were the most challenging of the course, by far. Simpson Road wasn’t repaved and it was just nasty. You could tell the winter heaving is bad in Maine just by this road. I think all of us were throwing nasty words either out or thinking about them. Just after Simpson Road, there was a one lane bridge, where we had traffic control (which was great). I went down just after another woman and going back up, she was having trouble shifting. I had already down-shifted and was in my easier gears. She almost ran into me – thankfully just at the split second they needed to, her gears clunked into the right spots and we were able to avoid being on the ground. WHEW!

This is the only photo I have of me actually riding that's not to/from transition. Thanks Rev3 photographers!

Right around mile 46, I heard a “GO TEAM Z” from the side of the road. I look over and it’s Toby, pulling on another shirt and getting her bike loaded into the back of the truck. I literally yelled out “OH NO!” and kept going. I felt bad that her second attempt was ending early, but was glad that she wasn’t being taken to the hospital!

I took water at the last water station, around mile 48, and stopped to refill once again. I knew it was mostly downhill back into town (with just a couple of uphills) and my mood definitely went from good to better! I was almost done with this thing! I started singing songs to myself and my pace apparently picked up a bit.

I was so proud of myself for sticking to my nutrition. I had my pre-mixed Infinit and water. I just drank and drank and drank. It served me well and I was happy to not be messing around with gels! The only think I’ll do different next time is that I’ll only put one hour’s worth in my aero drink at first, and I’ll keep the super concentrated version down below.

I ended up rolling back in towards transition about 2 minutes earlier than I had thought. Not a HUGE amount, but enough to make me a little worried about the run.

Headed back to transition. Only 13.1 miles to go!

T2

After dismounting and getting back into transition, there was a bit of chaos. Rev3 was allowing people to leave who had already finished, which was a bit of an issue to those of us who were still coming in. Nothing huge, but it was a minor annoyance. I made the mistake of sitting down to put on my socks/shoes (mostly because I was falling over trying to do it standing up). Toby was coming into transition at the same time. She told me her tire was shredded and there was nothing she could do – she had to pull out of the race. I was so bummed for her. I got encouragement from a couple of other racers, grabbed my run stuff, and headed out. (Forgot to reapply sunscreen during this one!)

If I were going to redo this transition, I wouldn’t put my sock on upside down. That cost me a few seconds, but since I wasn’t going for broke, I was ok with that.

Headed out to the run

Run

While I was out running, my bike was having a good time hanging out with the other bikes.

At first, my legs felt GREAT! Coming out of the chute, I felt really good. Good enough to smile and wave to my cheer crew. I ran down the street and this little boy was yelling from the balcony “keep running! We support you! The entire town supports you!” It. Was. Awesome. He couldn’t have been more than 10. It was everything I needed to keep my mood light… and then, my body started to revolt. I knew it’d happen, it was a matter of when. I didn’t expect it so early in the run. At 0.6 miles in, the insides of both knees started to bother me. A volunteer asked if I was ok and I told him what was going on. I said “you know, it’s ok. I’ll run what I can, walk what I have to, but I’ll get this thing done!” His response was “I love your resolve. Do it!” It was just what I needed. I ran/walked as much as I could. I’d run until the pain was too much and then I’d walk until it didn’t hurt any more. At some point, I went to a full walk. I walked at least half of the half marathon. I was ok with it. At the turn around, I caught up with another woman and we walked the rest of it together. We chatted and encouraged each other – we even started to run a little as we got closer in. Her boyfriend caught up with us on one of the streets coming back into town, so I decided to go ahead and run in and left her with him.

Coming into the chute was so amazing. I was thinking about the past year, from the chat I had with last year’s coach about this race, to the bike rides, the swims, the runs (and runs that should’ve been), and Jon and my family & friends putting up with me during this training season. Then, I looked up and saw Jon. He was jumping up and down and took off running for the finish line. I’ve never seen him as excited. I heard Susie and Brenda. I heard the announcer. It was so overwhelming. I crossed the finish line and just let the tears flow. The volunteers immediately asked if I was ok after wrapping a cold, wet towel around my shoulders (man that felt amazing!). I said I was great, just so overwhelmed. Another volunteer put my medal around my neck and hugged me and just let me cry for a second. A third volunteer offered me a medium shirt since they had run out of smalls. I was fine with it. She said that they’d send me a small if I wanted, but I was fine with the medium. I wasn’t leaving without my finisher shirt! (If it had been a large, I would’ve had them send it to me.)

Post-Race

After crossing the finish line and getting my towel, medal, and shirt, one of the volunteers grabbed me by both shoulders and said “I’m Ed’s girlfriend! Way to represent Team Z!” It took me a minute to figure out who “Ed” was – she meant Coach Ed! I forgot to ask for her first name, I definitely wasn’t thinking straight. I was still in tears about the fact that I had actually just completed my first 70.3! The lobster medal was AWESOME. It’s currently hanging on my armor, because I just don’t want to put it away. It was great to get a finisher’s shirt too. It’s a great touch.

Talia, Ed's girlfriend, is in orange.

After chatting with Talia (Ed’s girlfriend) for a minute, I found Jon, Susie, and Brenda. They were so awesome. I fell into Jon’s arms and just cried. Susie and Brenda gave me hugs – which goes WAY above “friend” duties! I was sweaty, salty, and just nasty!

Post race, all I wanted to do was get out of my running shoes. Susie had my flip flops and man did they feel good! I’m glad I left them with the cheer crew. Turns out it was my biggest need of the day!

It hurts really bad right... here... 

By the time I got done, things were winding down a little and there wasn’t much of a party left. I really need to get faster so that I can experience the post race parties a bit more! I knew I had a timing chip problem, so I posted on Rev3’s Facebook wall asking if there had been an issue and they asked me to email them about it. I emailed back and forth with Kati, and she determined that my chip had, in fact, died on the course. She was super apologetic about it. Between the finish time they had for me based on pictures and the GPS data I had, we were able to get my times down and entered into the results. It’s a bummer that they’re not technically “official” times, but I’m glad they were able to work with me on it!

After I packed up transition and changed my shirt (which Jon wasn’t too thrilled with me doing in the middle of transition), we took a few pictures. Then, the cheer crew came back to our hotel room so that I could shower and actually change. Note to self: it helps to bring clothes into the bathroom when you have people in your hotel room.

And done!

Susie, me, & Brenda - thanks ladies for coming out!

The BEST sherpa ever. 

"Like a BOSS"

Jon asked what I wanted for dinner and my response was “chicken”. We had seen a Famous Dave’s about 15 minutes away, so we drove Brenda and Susie to their cars and then all headed to Famous Dave’s for dinner. It is the only one in Maine! So weird given that we have a couple of them around here. It was so great to sit and chat with everyone and to hear about their day. It was Susie and Brenda’s first time spectating a tri, so it was really awesome to hear about what they thought. Jon and I exchanged stories over the next couple of days as well.

Lessons Learned

Looking back on the race, I’m so pleased with so many things:

• I’m glad I didn’t hesitate to call Infinit and change my formula to not contain any protein in my mix. Best decision I’ve ever made with respect to race day nutrition.
• No matter what happened, I was resolved to take it all in stride and roll with the punches.
• Setting my overall goal to finish before cut-off made this be a very low-pressure race.
• Jon being an awesome Sherpa fielded all sorts of phone calls, text messages, and Facebook posts when my timing chip died. Poor guy didn’t know what was going on and had to rely on the fact that he hadn’t gotten a phone call that I was being taken to the hospital, so I was ok.
• Took a chance on a new venue Rev3. They put on an awesome race and I was so happy to be a part of it.
• Earned the awesome lobster claw medal.
• That I was able to stay positive throughout the day.
• Allowed myself to be emotional at the finish line. I’m not an overly emotional person, but some things just bring it out – and accomplishing a major goal is one of them.
• I’m glad I did my “tribute” on my arm and carried around those who have put up with me for the past year as I’ve trained for this event.
• The way Rev3 treats their participants is just awesome. We saw the last place finisher come across the line – it was amazing.

There are also so many things I need to improve upon for next season’s 70.3:

• NEVER run a 13.1 in old shoes. It will not go well.
• Try not to get sick 2 weeks before race day.
• Research a little more about the restaurants in the area before arriving. Usually I’m on top of this, but I’ve learned to look for pictures of the places too – especially in a beach town!
• Figure out why my wetsuit chafed so badly around my neck. I’m tired of the “wetsuit hickey”!
• Do my run training. I really slacked on that this season and it came back to bite me.
• Do more hill and speed work on the bike. I know I can ride the distance, but I want to ride it FASTER. I need to get STRONGER on the bike.
• Find an aero-drink solution that doesn’t splash all over the place. My makeshift solution worked, but it’s annoying.
• Practice drinking more on my tri bike. 

Given that it's Thursday...

I'm so not meeting my mini goals for the week. I was, apparently, a bit aggressive with them.

So far, I've done:

2 TNT sessions
2 foam rolling sessions
1 "run" (0.5 miles)

We're going camping/hiking this weekend, so at least I'll get in some activity this weekend. I want to get to the pool tonight, but we'll see how that goes based on our packing.