Thoughts on this day of Thanksgiving

This time of the year we tend to be reminded of the need to be thankful for what we have in life. Over Thanksgiving dinner, we may have the tradition of discussing what we are thankful for, giving a prayer of thanks for life’s blessings at our turkey feast or holiday dinner, or making a special donation to church or charity as an expression of our thanks for what we have been given. While these are all great things, and God indeed wants us to develop an attitude of thankfulness and a habit of giving, something that I notice much more in people, and that has a much bigger impact on those around us is our attitude toward things we aren’t thankful for.

This past weekend, I served with friends from church by delivering boxes filled with ingredients for a 10-person thanksgiving turkey dinner to low-income families. It was an awesome experience, but we encountered some logistical challenges along the way, including not having a complete list of apartment numbers for the families, language barrier, and having to wait around for two hours from the time we were asked to arrive to the time the boxes were delivered to our meeting spot. As we grabbed a bite to eat afterward we were recapping the day and I found myself and others in the group critiquing the event and what the organizers should have done differently. As I found myself thinking these thoughts and ‘venting’ about spending two hours on a Saturday morning waiting around, I realized that those two hours had not been wasted, as I got to catch up with some dear friends who I had not been able to connect with in too long, as well as meet some new people in my church community. Maybe God planned my day that way so I’d have the chance to connect with these people, and I should be thankful for that time, even though it meant I’d be up late that night finishing up some work I needed to get done that weekend. God had simply rearranged my day so it flowed the way he intended, though not the way I had expected, planned, or envisioned. And despite the challenges, what an awesome honor to have the time and resources to serve God and point others to Him!

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul instructs, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world”… this becomes harder the more stressful and trial-filled our lives are. But at some point it becomes easier. Trials present hidden opportunities for learning and change, and we come to recognize this. James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). Doing everything without complaining or arguing, and having joy when we face a difficult situation, not only makes us more like Christ, but makes a bold statement about the power of Jesus, because we cannot do these things by our own strength alone.

So, in addition to considering what we are thankful for this Thanksgiving… how about considering how we can change our attitude toward what we aren’t thankful for??

Ironman 70.3 World Championships- Henderson, NV- a Recap

This season, one of my goals had been to qualify for and race well at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas, NV, so I was very happy to hear that I had completed the first part of this goal, qualifying, at the end of July. After that, I could focus my training on the WC race and not have to race any more 70.3s in between to accrue more points.

I had high hopes for a good race but also knew the level of competition would be high, with only the top 30 female pros in the world racing the 70.3 distance qualifying. My goal was to have a tactically good swim and stay in contact with a pack to get into good position on the bike, my strength, then finish with a strong run which I knew I was capable of from my training. I also knew the heat and course would be punishing- when we arrived in Vegas it was 101F out and though it was dry, felt blazingly hot! I couldn’t imagine biking, let alone running hard in those temps. Thankfully, the race day forecast was a high of just 90, so it looked like we wouldn’t have to deal with unbearable conditions

THE RACE

Overall, the race did not go well for me. I just didn’t have that extra gear I needed to race fast. On top of this, realizing you’re not feeling strong and falling behind despite your best effort in your A race of the season is extremely disappointing, making for a rather painful race overall.

Things started off as I had hoped with a good swim, for me (32-ish- a non-wetsuit swim PR). I got off to a fast start (again… for me) and was able to latch onto the feet of some other swimmers. I felt like I was working extremely hard to stay with them, and kept telling myself to just stay on it till the turnaround that this could make or break my race, I can do this! At the turn, I had to sprint a bit to stay on their feet, this was becoming tough. About 200m from the finish, I began to fall back a bit, and for the first time realized that several swimmers were in fact drafting off of me- always a surprise! Though I lost my pack at the end, this was the first time I had successfully stayed with a pack in a non-wetsuit swim, a setup for a successful race- or so I thought!

Coming out of the swim, I felt extremely fatigued. Not sure if it was my level of effort, the warm water, or just a sign of how I was feeling that day). I couldn’t run at my usual speed through transition, and as a result was alone coming onto the bike (until Karin Theurig, eventual second place winner, sped past). I was still feeling tired but tried to give it an even effort and let my heart rate settle. This course was no joke! Quite mountainous with 5,000 feet of climbing total. At the turnaround (mile 20-ish) I was excited to have some cometitors in sight to guage how far back I was, but to my dismay I was nearly 6 mins back of the next female pro. I tried to pick it up after the turnaround, but began to feel nausea and ankle/ lower calf cramping that was making it painful to pedal. Packs of riders started passing me, frustrating because I’d have to slow and drop back each time while the entire pack passed, which took awhile, to avoid getting caught up in the pack. As a result I felt like I was losing even more time. On such a hilly course, I would not have thought I’d see that. I was shaking my head and another competitor passing me said, “I know, ridiculous”…

I really started to lose steam toward the end of the bike. I had known the point-to-point course is net uphill, and the last 10 miles or so are a gradual climb, but I hadn’t expected to feel this bad. In the last few miles of the bike Chris passed me- he started 18 minutes behind me and we are usually somewhat similar in terms of our bike times, which showed what a good bike he had but also what an awful bike I had. Still, I tried to talk myself up for the run and decided I was going to give it as good of an effort as I could.

Jumping off the bike, my legs felt like they were filled with cement, NOT how I normally feel at the end of a 70.3 bike. It reminded me of an Ironman bike-run transition. I began running and felt a bit better, trying to maintain a good pace on the hilly-ish run. As motivation, I tried to stick with some of the male pros who were on their second or third laps who were passing me, feeling it from the heat and hills. Eventually some pro women passed me, a lap ahead (ouch!) so I did the same and used them as a pacing tool and motivation. I saw Chris and Morgan several times on the run which made things more motivating, plus saw my parents a bunch of times cheering. I had prayed for strength & managed to talk myself into staying positive all the way to the finish, but I think my true feelings came out as soon as I crossed the finish line- I felt awful, physically and emotionally. I said hi to my parents and then quickly went to just sit down by myself, waiting for Chris to finish. Perspective is a great thing, and I know there is value in having a bad race sometimes if it motivates you to get out there and have a great race next time, address nutritional, recovery, mental, or training deficiencies you might not have otherwise realized you had, and to provide humility and a reminder that we are not ultimately in control of all life’s events- nor can we boast full credit for our successes.

While the race was truly sub-par, the trip itself rocked! We had an awesome homestay in Henderson with local triathlete Pat Peterson, overlooking the mountains and desert. On our last night there, we were treated to some wonderful cedar-plank grilled salmon and grilled corn salad with avacado, with great wine. Really delicious!

Our last 1.5 days in the area were spent exploring. We rode by and swam in Lake Mead, visited Red Rock Canyon twice, which has gorgeous views and great hiking trails. We also ate at a raw café (usually my favorite, but unfortunately this one gave me mild food poisoning so I wouldn’t recommend it!)

Since the 70.3 World Champs, training gradually started to resume again and I’ve been having some great workouts gearing up for IM Cozumel in November- in fact, some of my best so far this season! I ‘m looking forward to giving it all I have at my final race & first IM of the year on November 27^th.

Help Provide Clean Water to Children in Africa!

On Sunday September 18th, I'll be competing with a team of 6 in the Savageman 70.0 (half Iron distance) triathlon to raise funds to provide clean water to children and families in Kenya and Ethiopia through World Vision. While World Vision has been one of my favorite charities for many years, with the drought and tragic hunger crisis currently affecting Kenya, Ethiopia, and other parts of East Africa, this is an especially appropriate time to raise funds for this cause. This region is also meaningful to me after travelling to rural Ethiopia in 2007 with a group from my church, where we set up one-day medical clinics in different villages in the region. During my trip there, it was alarming that nearly all of the patients we saw, mostly for diseases stemming from drinking dirty water, had no idea that it was the dirty water they were drinking that was making themselves and their children so sick. But education can only do so much- without access to cleaner sources of water, these children and parents will continue to get sick.

Our chosen race, the Savageman 70.0 Triathlon, as a relay team with one swimmer, one biker, and one runner on each team (I’ll be biking) with the sole goal of raising as much as we can for this cause! If you’d like to make a donation, you can do so through our team fundraising page, here!

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reaching their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. It was founded in 1953, and focuses on things like bringing healthcare, clean water, education for children (and adults in areas such as better agricultural practices), and child sponsorship to communities in developing parts of the world.

I first learned of World Vision in graduate school when taking a class on International Health Finance Policy. Our professor, who had previously served in the Peace Corps in Africa and more recently had a lot of experience working as a consultant in developing countries, described the situation that happens all to often in Africa: government aid is sent to African countries to help deal with widespread hunger, poverty, and other issues, but due to government corruption, very little if any of these funds actually make it to the people in need. Therefore, non-profit organizations that actually have a presence in these countries and provide aid directly to the communities do far more good than the millions in government aid sent to these nations. World Vision is one of the organizations that does the most work in this area -- tackling lack of education and healthcare infrastructure, clean water, and other causes of poverty, which it does by actually being present in these communities. It is guided by the value that each individual is of immense value and should be given the chance to reach their full potential.

Last summer I decided to get involved with Team World Vision as an ambassador for their child sponsorship program, encouraging people to commit to sponsoring a child for $35 a month. This allows the child to go to school and receive healthcare, but part of the funds also go toward making improvements to that child’s community (such as building a well or health clinic) so all can benefit. I’ve been sponsoring a child for about a year now, and it’s been a great experience!

I’m excited to be involved in Team World Vision again this year, and all funds raised through our team, and the other teams racing for TWV this year, will go towards providing clean water for all communities World Vision is working with in Kenya and Ethiopia. To give you some idea of the amount of impact, raising $2,600 will build a traditional well (suitable for communities where water lies close below the surface) and raising $13,700 will build a deep well (necessary where the water level lies deeper, below a layer of rock- See video here!)

Thanks for considering donating to this cause!

Racine 70.3 Race Report- 2nd Pro

Race morning I awoke with the familiar feeling of pre-race nerves, not knowing what the day would hold for me, with questions in the back of my mind... would I be able to have the swim I wanted? Would my troublesome hamstring hold up for the run? How does my fitness compare with a month ago?

Since I’m about halfway through my first season as a pro, I have learned some lessons and wanted to make some changes to my racing strategy this time around. My biggest issue has been staying with the field during the swim –I’ve usually ended up swimming alone, coming out of the water at the back of the pack, leaving myself with the daunting task of making up the deficit on the bike and run. Thus, my main goal for Racine was to swim strategically (ie, swimming with a pack faster than I, which has more or less been my goal for every race, it just hasn’t happened). I knew I’d need to swim hard, get a fast start and being alert as to where other swimmers are. I was ready to swim as hard as I had to in order to stay with the field and not worry about how tired this would make me feel for the bike and run.

I also decided to change my warmup routine a bit, bringing my trainer with me to the race site and getting in a good 20 min bike warmup before bringing my stuff to transition. Normally I just do a run warmup, but I feel that this doesn’t warm up my legs adequately for the bike and end up feeling pretty lethargic for the first 30 minutes.

Stepping outside on race morning the weather was already hot and humid at 4:30am. After warming up on the trainer for 20 mins at the race site, I was already sweating quite a bit. I was thankful Chris was there to help me with my pre-race prep and provide encouragement!

SWIM (30:37 actual swim time- PR!!)

The swim start was a beach start into shallow water, followed by a point-to-point swim southward along the shore of Lake Michigan. I was excited as this was my first wetsuit-legal race as a pro, and I do love wearing my wetsuit! The cannon went off and went off we all ran into the shallow water and I started dolphin diving to get out faster. This worked pretty and I merged over to where the faster swimmers were and keep looking over to make sure I was in contact. Before too long I found myself swimming with a pack of five. I knew there were 3 women out ahead of our pack but I could see that they weren’t too far ahead. I kept focusing on staying with the pack, staying on feet and not veering off. I was super excited knowing that if I stayed with them, I’d be that much closer to the leaders at the start of the bike.

I exited the water in 30:37 (official time was 31:34 after a 200m run up the beach to the timing mat), a 2 minute swim PR for me for the 70.3 distance, and just 3 minutes back of the leader.

BIKE

I passed 2 pro women pretty soon at the start of the bike. I briefly looked at the other women riding disk wheels, wishing I had one for this race! It would have been perfect on the windy, slightly rolling course. However, During my Bible studies the past months, I’ve been reading through the book if Isaiah and one thing I’ve been reminded of is the importance of relying on God, not on things. As a pro, having good equipment is definitely important, and I am thinking about upgrading some of my equipment soon, but to put to much focus on it, thinking that I have to have this or that in order to perform well, is distracting and can take my focus off of things that are most important. So, after entertaining the thought that different wheels would have enabled me to bike faster, I quickly put aside the thought and told myself it was possible to have the fastest bike split regardless, with the equipment I had on that day, and decided to just focus on that.

About halfway through the bike, I passed the third place woman and could see two more up the road- before long I had moved into 2^nd, and finally into the lead around mile 45! As we approached T2, I started feeling a little nauseous with a bit of headache and my sweet-tasting drink was not appealing at all. I got passed just before T2 and came in about 12 seconds back of the leader, with the fastest split of the day by 2 mins in 2:24.

RUN

After a quick transition, I headed out on the run course and almost tripped over the base of one of the barriers. I could tell I was lacking electrolytes, starting to lack some coordination and feeling a bit nauseous, so decided to take some of my salt tabs and hydrate ASAP, and get lots of ice to cool my body down. I could see the leader about 30 seconds ahead and I knew I theoretically should be gaining on her, but my body would not cooperate. It felt extremely hot and it was very hard for me to pick up the pace. I was praying that my body would hold on and that I could maintain that pace for the rest of the run. Normally I do well in hot races, but looking back I probably did not have optimal hydration in the days leading up to the race- usually I’m drinking a lot of electrolyte drinks like G2 and coconut water, but this time was drinking mostly water since I didn’t stop at a grocery store until the night before the race. This is DEFINITELY a lesson well-learned and I will be paying extra close attention to this in my next races!

I saw Chris quite a few times out on the run course out on his bike yelling encouraging words, which really helped distract me from the discomfort I was in and keep me motivated. At the run turnaround I could see I had a good gap on third of about 6 minutes, but I was also disappointed I wasn’t having the run I knew I could, when first had been so close within reach. Gels and Gatorade were tasting disgusting to me and I decided to throw away my gel flask as I felt like I couldn’t stomach it. I was definitely feeling out of it and at one point, Craig Alexander passed going in the opposite direction and yelled some words of encouragement at me, and my brain was barely coordinated enough to formulate a response.

On loop 2 I was stopping at every aid station to load up on ice, pour ice water on my head, drink coke and water, and take salt pills. With one mile to go, the third place woman passed me, the moment I’d been trying to prevent for the entire run. I picked up the pace a bit and saw that she was not really pulling away. With a quarter mile to go I spotted Chris up ahead on the side of the road and he started yelling excitedly that I needed pass her and go for second place now, that he knew I had more left (see photo below). This gave me the kick I needed to start really picking up the pace and I made my pass on the downhill toward the finish. I started sprinting the last 200m to the finish and crossed the line in second, about 26 seconds ahead of third. The finish line volunteers brought me straight to the med tent for an IV, which was my first time in the med tent post-race! Even though I’d for the first time as a pro been in a position that had the potential to win the race, I was also extremely happy with my second place finish, especially given the way my body was reacting and the close finish.

Best of all, this race earned me enough points, along with my other 70.3 races, to get a slot for the 70.3 World Championships on September 11, 2011, which was one of my goals for the season. Chris will be racing as well as some FFT teammates and other friends- should be exciting!!!

Many thanks to coach Eric for all the great workouts and advice, coach Alex for all the hard work for the FFT team, Chris for supporting me so enthusiastically at and prior to this race, and my FFT teammates for the inspiration and encouragement. I love competing at the level I am, and am extremely blessed each day for the people, opportunities, and experiences God has given me!

Eagleman 70.3 Race Report

I’ve competed in Eagleman for the last 3 years and it’s one of my favorite races, as I have many fond memories competing alongside friends and competing for a Kona slot, as Eagleman is one of the few 70.3s that offers slots to age-group winners. I first attended the race in 2008 to cheer on a friend, and the day was brutally hot such that even spectating was difficult. In my first year competing at Eagleman in 2009, I missed out on qualifying for a Kona slot by 90 seconds (but took a 70.3 WC slot) and last year, qualified for Kona and was 1^st amateur. It’s great scenic course with little traffic, and since it’s fairly close to Washington DC, there are always a lot of friends competing makes for a fun weekend!

I travelled out to the race site on Friday got set up with a fabulous homestay in a beautiful home overlooking the water, with extremely hospitable hosts (with 2 great dogs). Saturday included the usual pre-race activities, plus a great pre-race dinner at another wonderful family’s home with friends!

Swim (35:59)- The Eagleman swim is often pretty slow with odd currents that are diffucult to swim against and make it diffucult to swim straight from buoy to buoy.

The pro women were allowed in the water about 2 minutes before the start, and with the swim out to tbe start buoys, the horn went off sooner than I expected and I wasn’t in quite the position I had wanted. BUT for the first time this year I was able to drafted off 2 other female pros for the first half of the swim, which definitely helped with sighting and swimming in a direct line. After that I veered off on my own and ended up zigzagging much more than I would have liked. The last .2 was tough swimming into a current.

Bike (2:25)- I normally love the Eagleman bike course, but just did not feel great on the bike. However, I enjoyed using a Sub 9 disc, which was the first time I had raced with a tubular, eliminating the possibility of changing a flat, so was praying for no flats during the race! Although I passed 2 pros fairly early on in the bike, most of the bike ride was alone and it seemed like there was always a slight headwind. I kept checking my heart rate to make sure I was going at an appropriate effort level, but had a really hard time keeping the pace I was planning to, and my bike split was much slower than expected.

Run (1:27:30)- As I exited transition in 9^th place, I could see another female pro about a minute up the road, and made it my goal to focus on making up ground. I passed her at about mile 3, and saw a couple more women just up the road. As expected, the run was pretty hot with temps close to 90 and zero shade. I tried to keep myself as cool as possible by drinking Gatorade at every aid station, pouring ice water over my head, and taking one to two cups of ice at each aid station to dump into my race kit and hold an ice cube in each hand and rub on my face when I felt particularly hot (amazingly effective). At the run turnaround, I could see that there were 2 women within close range but also two fairly close behind, one who appeared to be making up ground. I passed the two women ahead of me at mile 7, and tried to keep a good pace, slowing to grab as much Gatorade, ice, and ice water as I could at each aid station to stay cool, as I felt completely energized and felt my pace pick up after dumping ice water on myself. I saw quite a few friends out on the course either cheering or competing! The last two miles of the run course are shaded and I was able to pick up my pace substantially to 6:28 for the last mile, wanting to make sure I had 6^th place secured. I crossed the line in 4:32 which is my fastest time on the course by 3 minutes.

After finishing, I learned that FFT teammates Brian Duffy won the M 18-24 age group and Morgan Anderson had won the F 18-24 age group by 20 minutes and qualified for Kona!!! Chris also grabbed a slot for the 70.3 World Championships in September.

Overall I’m happy with my race, even though I know I need to keep improving my swim technique and fitness, and figure out why my bike split was so much slower than expected. I was very thankful to finish with no injury issues and very excited for friends and teammates who did so well, too!

Columbia Triathlon 2011- Race Report

This was my 4th year in a row racing the Columbia Triathlon, and first as a pro. It’s a local race about 30 minutes from home, and a frequent site of training rides. I really enjoy this race as there are always a lot of friends/training partners and familiar faces racing and the course is very challenging, but beautiful, and the race staff always have a way of making sure every participant has a great experience! The day before the race I did my pre-race workout then headed up to packet pickup with Esther and Chris. On the way we met up with friends Sean and Lindsey (fellow pro) for fajitas and made it to the pro meeting with 3 minutes to spare, followed by packet pickup. Then it was home to get all our gear ready for the race, have some dinner, and time for bed (why does the entire pre-race day always seem to become consumed by pre-race prep?)

More often than not, the week before a race I begin to have random aches, pains, and issues that would otherwise be alarming did this sort of thing not happen before almost every race and then end up being fine on race day. Before a couple races in the past, my back has seized up when I would move a certain way, or I would wake up with shin pain or plantar fascia pain (all of which are issues I’ve never dealt with in the past). Before this race, as usual I developed a lot of soreness in various parts of my right leg. I don’t fully understand why this happens but I’ve come to accept that this is a normal occurrence in my pre-race routine, take care of the affected areas as appropriate, pray for no issues on race day, and trust that I will feel OK for the race!

Race morning came pretty early at 4am. After hitting snooze once I got up, made a cappuccino and orange juice, and gathered my powerbar and Gatorade to eat in the car on the drive up. I’m still experimenting with pre-race nutrition but I think this combination did the trick- ended up having the best energy I’ve had during a race with no stomach issues! When we arrived at transition I set up all of my gear except my bike, said hi to my parents who had decided to come down for the race, then returned to the car to get out my trainer and warm up on the bike. I find that for Olympic distance races, getting in a good warmup on the bike is essential for me, otherwise my legs don’t feel warmed up until about halfway through the bike-- but this is logistically difficult on the roads with darkness and race traffic. So, for the first time I decided to try bringing my trainer to the race site. I got in a good 15 minute warmup before heading down to the swim start. This was a great decision, and my legs felt the best they’ve ever felt in an Olympic distance race and I felt ready to go from the start.

RACE

The water temp was a chilly (but non-wetsuit legal for pros) 71, and male and female pros were to start in the same wave 10 minutes ahead of the elite amateur wave. The swim start was pretty uneventful… I avoided getting kicked and was able to draft off some people for the first 200 meters or so before getting separated (still working on the drafting thing!) Overall this is a great swim—the lake is calm and the buoys are easy to see with only two turns on the whole course. I could see someone close ahead of me for about half the swim but then fell back a bit more. I tried to focus on swimming efficiently and applying the new techniques I had learned in the past few weeks before the race. Given that it was a non-wetsuit swim for pros, my swim time of 25:00 was about what I expected, and given that I’d been working mainly on swim technique with only one fast swim in the past month (and didn’t feel overly tired at the end of the swim) I feel like I have made a bit of progress there (though definitely want / need to make a lot more!)

Coming out of the swim, someone yelled at me that I was in 8th place. I grabbed my bike and ran up the hill out of transition. Immediately after exiting and preparing to mount my bike, I noticed that my chain had dropped during the run through transition…. I stopped to get it back on which cost me a bit of time but I hoped not much. My immediate goal was to start riding at a good pace and track down as many people as possible. I thought I was capable of finishing the bike in 1:06 or a bit less, and my strategy was to keep an appropriately hard effort from the start. About 8 miles in I passed one girl and toward the end of the bike passed one more, putting me in 6th, with a bike split of 1:06-- 2 minutes faster than my bike split on this course last year, and the fastest female bike split of the day.

When I got into T2 I discovered that my fellow rack-mates had completely taken over my space on the bike rack – nice! Instead, I threw my bike at the end of the rack and reached for my running gear which was now underneath one of the bikes. This made of a slower T2 than I would have liked, but I tried to quickly transition and get myself out on the run course. Early on in the run, I passed one female and then at about mile 2.5, passed another putting me in 4th where I remained for the rest of the race. The run course is brutally hilly but if mentally prepared for it, it can actually be pretty fun! I decided not to wear my garmin for this race as it’s pretty big and bulky especially in the water, but tracked my approximate mile splits on my watch and tried to give it a good effort and pace off of any males from the elite amateur wave that passed by. The temps were getting warm throughout the run and I kept pouring cold water on my head which helped a little. At the top of the last big hill, where the run is really starting to hurt a lot, you can hear the finish line (about 3/4 mile away) and hear the announcer, which is great motivation to push to the finish. I crossed the line in 4th, to see Lindsey doing her post-race interview- she had won the race! She put together a very inspiring performance in her very first race back since August 2009!


Overall I was happy with my race-- I finished with the 4th fastest pro run split and 4th place, and my time was about 1 minute faster than last year even with a non-wetsuit swim this time, which is encouraging given that my running (and biking, to some extent) has gotten a much slower start this year compared with last year due to a lingering hamstring injury. I also ended up in the money (top 6 receive cash) and the bike prime. As an added bonus, I had a lot of friends and family there at the race to share it with! After the race and awards, we all went to eat at one of my favorite organic restaurants which happens to be a couple miles from the race course- Great Sage- and had some great food there and a great time!






Up next: FFT Pro Development Team Camp (Memorial Day weekend) and Eagleman 70.3 on June 12th!

St. Croix 70.3- Race Report

There was nothing easy about this race. Ironman St. Croix 70.3 is said to be the most difficult 70.3, and also the most beautiful, and the race did not fail to disappoint in either respect. The challenges began when we booked our flights to the island. Just hours after booking through Expedia we learned that one of airlines we were booked on, Cape Air, does not accept bikes. Shipping rates for bikes through FedEx were rumored to be somewhere around $800, so that was also not an option. After scrambling around trying to come up with some creative ideas, we got ahold of a triall3sports double bike box (which also saved us $300 in airline bike fees- added bonus!) and sent our bikes to St. Croix with awesome friends, Maureen and Sarah, who were traveling on American Airlines. Maureen, Sarah, and Becky also then lugged the bike box from the airport and up the stairs to the 3rd floor condo we rented- not an easy feat!

Due to the terrible weather systems moving through the south, our flight out of DC on Thursday sat on the runway for about 2 hours before taking off, so we missed our connecting flight to St. Croix. We had to wait around the St. Thomas airport for about 4 hours standby for a spot to open up on a Cape Air flight. Food on the flight from DC and in the St. Thomas airport food was scarce, not great quality and EXPEN$$IVE ($12 for a turkey sandwich?) and all food vending shut down at 5pm. By 6, I was STARVING. Usually I am well prepared when it comes to bringing food on trips but that day had really dropped the ball. I found a small bag of Southwest airlines peanuts in my backpack leftover from my flight from NOLA 2 weeks back, and it was as if I’d discovered a gourmet dinner!

When we finally made it onto our flight, which turned out to be a 10-seater Cessna propeller plane that looked like it was built in the 80s, with no co-pilot. Hmm… thankfully we made it is all I can say.

When we finally got to St. Croix, the island was truly beautiful. Maureen kindly picked us up from the airport and had already ordered sushi for us, talk about awesome!! It was as if we’d never eaten before! After the sushi, making an omelet and a smoothie, and eating a bunch of White House m&ms from Maureen, it was time for bed.

View from the condo...

Friday AM we went to do the organized practice swim on the race course. It was the choppiest swim I’ve ever done, with large waves and swimming against the current on the way out. The course also seemed extremely long! I was probably out there for 45 minutes. We then found the most awesome organic food café right in Christiansted, that served a lot of great smoothies and raw/ vegan foods- a little on the pricy side but extremely good and the chef there was so kind and wonderful! Definitely one of the many highlights of the trip!

Organic Smoothies at Lalita's

Later we went on an adventure run through Christiansted and saw an abundance of chickens running around with baby chicks, a mongoose, and some other wildlife, including a bird that had been hit by a car but was still alive that we tried to help!

Saturday we got up, had a great breakfast and drove the course, which was absolutely gorgeous! Along our route, we saw a lookout point, Point Udol, which is the easternmost point in the US. We figured we might as well stop, since we’re here! There were about 5 other cars parked at the lookout point also appearing to be tourists. After parking the car and walking about 50 feet to take photos, one of the tourists came up to Maureen and told her that someone had just gone into our car and taken something, and then driven off in a blue Honda Accord. I saw her sprinting toward the car and knew something was wrong. They had stolen her backpack (with wallet/IDs/Cash and prescription swim goggles in it) but for whatever reason had NOT taken my bag with wallet/cash/ids, goggles, Chris’s running shoes and orthotics, or my phone which was sitting on the back seat. With Chris driving, we attempted to chase down the thieves and he did pretty well along the winding cliff roads, but at a fork in the road, weren’t sure which way to go so headed back toward Christiansted. We called 911 to report the theft and filed a police report once back in town, and it sounded like the police actually caught and stopped the guy who stole our backpack, but later we were told that he didn’t have any cash or anything else of value with him in the car. Whether true or not, Maureen never did get her stuff back.

RACE

Race day came with a 4am wakeup, as the female pro swim wave went off at 6:33am. Since this was such a small race, it was easy to park, set up transition and get ready- nice for a change!

The swim start was choppy as expected. I attempted to stay with the swimmers ahead of me but got separated from the pack. Toward the end of the swim I saw Chris pass by my (his swim wave started 5 mins after mine) and I was able to get on the feet of the guy drafting off him for the last 200m or so of the swim.

In T1, I was trying to move so quickly that I slapped my helmet on my head only to realize it was on backwards- quickly corrected it-- hope no one got photos of that! :-) The bike started off well but I immediately felt like my legs felt fatigued. I hadn't gotten in a bike warmup due to logistics, which would have probably helped. I ignored the feeling and expected them to get warmed up after 30 minutes or so per usual, but they never really felt good and felt like my effort level was high for the pace I was going. I drank all the water in my aero bottle and spent the first 20 miles of the ride just waiting in a state of thirst for the next aid station (which was at the top of the "beast"). The beast came up about 20 miles into the ride, and I was definitely wishing I had even easier gearing than my 11-26- it really felt like a very challenging climb, though probably in part due to my legs not feeling great to begin with. Throughout the ride I saw many packs of age group males pass by and it seemed as if the draft marshalls were constantly circling, but never doing anything. Overall, the course was filled with technical descents, many 10% grade or higher climbs, gusting winds, heat, and bad pavement. Overall, it’s the kind of course that makes you want to quit at times if you’re not prepared for it. I saw one pro female crash and another flatted, and apparently the swim waves behind mine got hit with rain on the bike and people were crashing left and right. The bad pavement took a dime-sized chunk out of Chris’s tubular tire, but thankfully the tire stayed intact otherwise. Especially since I am cautious on technical descents, my bike time showed it! However, I knew this would be a tough course for me and I wanted to be safe and finish the race rather than take risks, and was thankful to get through without anything happening to me on the bike.

After finnnally finishing the ride and starting to run, I could feel that this run would not be fast, but aimed to start out at a moderate pace and pick up the pace in loop 2. The run course was similarly hilly, hot, and humid with a few very steep hills that I could have probably walked faster than I was running (and on one particularly steep hill, reportedly most of the pros did walk up it). I took ice at every aid station and put some in my jersey and held ice cubes in each hand and even rubbed it on my face when I felt overheated, two things that really help keep my body temp down during hot races. I also took a salt tab every now and then as well as my cliff shot espresso gels, and cola. I managed a fairly consistent pace throughout the run, though not fast (although after reviewing the results, due to the conditions my run time was right in the middle of the women’s pro field even though I felt like I was going at a snails pace and my time was not fast at all!) I was happy to finally cross the finish line, finishing 9th female pro. Since the prize money went 10 deep at this race, I went home with cash despite not having the best day out there.

The St. Croix race staff also put on a cool awards dinner BBQ/ kona rolldown at a resort on the ocean the night of the race which was great- more races should do this! At the rolldown, Maureen just barely missed getting a Vegas spot by one place.

The day after the race we thoroughly enjoyed the island by going snorkeling a Cane Bay which was AWESOME, eating lunch outside overlooking the ocean, going hiking to see some tidal pools, and visiting a really interesting sustainable farm (Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute- I could write a whole blog post on the farm, it was really cool!)

Iguana

Cane Bay where we went snorkeling

Tidal pool we hiked to

Sustainable farm

Sustainable farm's community center, with solar panels on top (all the energy used by the farm is renewable)

Despite the challenges, it was a fun trip, great time with friends, and great experience!

New Orleans 70.3- Race Report

New Orleans was my first 70.3 as a pro and was excited to race! I got down to New Orleans on Wednesday the week before the race and it was definitely nice to have some time to find my way around and do some workouts on the course. Since I had brought work with me, I didn’t get to explore New Orleans too much but a friend/ training partner, Sam, showed me (and several other pros who were racing) great places to swim, run, eat, and took us on rides. He even set me up to stay with his Mom which was one of the highlights of my trip! She made an awesome dinner for us all on Friday night before the race and was an incredible hostess! She even prayed with me before the race and during the event, and had a lot of wisdom to share.

The rides we did on the course in the days leading up to the race were a bit scary—between trying to keep my bike upright, in the strong winds, avoid potholes, and cars, the rides were a little stressful. The swim course looked pretty challenging as well with waves at least 3-4 feet high the day before the race. At the pro meeting the day before the race it was suggested that if the water conditions didn’t improve, there was a chance the swim could be cancelled and the race changed to a bike – run. Sure enough, on race morning they announced that there would be no swim, and for pros this meant a time-trial start sending athletes out on the bike 30 seconds apart, in order of bib number. Since I had the second-to-last bib, I knew I’d be starting almost last and therefore have to work at the beginning of the bike to catch up to others to feel like I was really in the race.

In the first mile it became evident that this would be a WINDY ride! The winds were not gusty though, so I was glad I was racing with a disc wheel. In the first few miles of the ride I passed one woman and in the next 10 miles passed several more. I kept focusing on trying to maintain a hard tempo effort. I had decided to try racing with heartrate for the first time but for some reason my new Garmin decided not to record my heartrate today so I couldn’t use that as a guide. Since I’d raced many times without HR or any bike computer for that matter, I didn’t worry too much and decided to to err on the side of going a little too hard vs. not going hard enough, a mistake I’d made in my last race.

The winds made it challenging to hydrate and drink my nutrition, and I discovered later that I probably had about 300 calories left in my bottle that I should have consumed on the bike. My inner thigh muscle started to cramp and tighten from pedaling into a headwind for so long, so I tried to stretch it out and change positions, and after about 20 minutes it felt a bit better. The out and back nature of the course made it easy to gauge where I was relative to others, but the time-trial start made it hard to figure out how close I really was to the other pros in terms of race time. Overall the ride went by relatively quickly and I came into transition in 2:22:59.

The run started out pretty uneventfully- one other female pro started the run right ahead of me so that made it more motivating and made me feel more like I was in the race. Around mile 7 my legs were feeling a lot heavier and though I was sticking to my nutrition for the run, the 300 calories I left in my bike bottle probably cost me a bit. I tried to stay focused on keeping a good cadence and good form, rather than how many miles were left or how I was feeling, and keep racing to the next mile. It took a lot of mental focus to keep from slowing down too much, as my legs felt entirely different at mile 2 compared with mile 7- having not done many runs over 10 miles at this point in the season, this is probably to be expected. The last 3 miles seemed to take forever, but finally I saw the turn to the finish and crossed the line in 1:28 for the run. I knew I would probably be close to top 10, but there was no way of knowing until the results came out. As it turns out, I was about 30 seconds away from 10^th, finishing 11^th out of 21 pros. Even though the second half of the run felt tough, it was actually my fastest-ever run in an accurately-measured 70.3, so that was encouraging. I finished feeling pretty exhausted, as if all I could do was lay down, so thankfully the massage/ART tent was right by the finish and they took me in right away, so I got to relax on the massage table for a bit!

Overall a pretty good race, a fun time with friends and meeting new ones! Being able to race always reminds me what a gift it is to be healthy and injury free, and to enjoy the experience each and every time. Looking forward to the rest of my races this season!

First Pro Race- Miami 5150- Race Report

Miami was my first official race as a pro. While I didn’t necessarily feel ready to race an Olympic distance race at this point in the season, and Olympic distance racing is not my primary distance, I wanted to do this race as an early-season training race to get back into the feel of racing, and also to get used to racing in the pro field, which I expected would have a much different feel and require some different strategies compared with racing as an amateur.

Miami turned out to be as great of a racing venue as I’d imagined it would be- perfect weather (high of 80 and sunny every day), scenic, etc. As an added bonus, Chris was also racing and my friend and former college XC/Track teammate at Dartmouth, Nicole Kelleher, was also racing (and finished 4th pro!) While I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the race, the race itself mostly served the purpose of a valuable learning experience!

Heading down to the race we made the mistake of booking a 6am flight. With work and workouts the prior day, this meant staying up late to pack gear and bike, and left about 2 hours for sleep, something I would NOT want to do again! Friday we found an awesome outdoor pool to swim in, surrounded by palm trees!

Race morning prep went pretty smoothly, and I got in somewhat of a warm-up on the bike, but since it was still dark out and I was warming up on the roads, it was difficult to make it as quality as it should have been for an Olympic distance race. I’m still tweaking my Olympic distance warmup as in my last two oly races, it’s taken me halfway through the bike to feel like my legs are awake. The swim start was fast as expected, and I pretty soon found myself swimming alone! This made it necessary that I sight on my own as I didn’t have feet to follow, and this was CHALLENGING since it was just barely getting light out and the buoys were not very visible. I had to stop several times just to be able to see the turn buoys, which definitely slowed me down.




Out onto the bike course, within the first mile I hit a pothole and my handlebars slipped downward. As a result, I was more cautious on the bike than I would have liked, as I was nervous about the potential of losing balance and crashing if the bars slipped again. I tried to stay aero I could hold the bars in place, which worked for the most part, but this coupled with the spread-out nature of the women’s pro field and few competitors within sight made it challenging to race at an appropriately fast pace. The run felt pretty hard- I’d not done any real speedwork at this point in the season so it was definitely a wakeup call for my body.

Even though it was not my best race ever, I did learn some important lessons on racing in the pro field and racing in general!

1) The importance of having a fast swim start, even if it feels VERY hard- not only will this help by allowing you to draft but it will take the work out of sighting.

2) Staying focused on the bike and maintaining an appropriate effort even when there aren’t any other competitors within sight- this is something that is difficult for me- I love competing!

3) Double-checking equipment prior to race day, even if someone else has supposedly taken care of fixing something, and

4) Warming up thoroughly (especially on bike and swim), especially important for Olympic distance races.

In all, I crossed the line in 12^th for female pros in 2:09 which is actually a PR at the Olympic distance for me (which more indicates my lack of racing experience at the Olympic distance than a stellar performance!) Overall, it felt GREAT to be racing, to be injury-free, and to have the opportunity to test myself!

While in Miami, we stayed in South Beach for the 2 nights after the race which was an awesome location!!

Beach was 1 block from our hotel!

We also found a ton of organic/raw/vegan restaurants and cafes, and even though I myself am not vegan I just love these types of restaurants and meals. We even found an all-raw cafe that we ate at the night before the race (OK, maybe not the BEST timing, but it was good!!) I think I took more pictures of our meals on the trip than the scenery or race!!

Saturday lunch at Juice and Java

Friday Lunch at Green Wave Cafe

USA Triathlon Announces 2010 Age Group Athletes of the Year, Presented by Garmin

Congrats to all the Athletes of the Year! You can check out the article here.