2017 Season Goals

I'm not sure why sharing goals is so hard for me to do. I remember back in high school, I'd write my goals for just me to see on a note card and keep it on my bedside table. In college, I wrote them down and posted them on my bulletin board behind my computer, so that every time I sat down to do homework or use my computer, I'd see them staring at me. What I've come to realize is that if I don't share them, they could always change and I could settle for a time that's not quite what I wanted to go, but it would do. By sharing my goals, I am keeping all of you accountable for me; I can't change them once I publicize them, I can only train hard (the right way!), stay focused on my goals and if they're meant to be, they'll be achieved. So, this year, I have some big goals I'm going after, and I hope that each and everyone of you will continue to support and challenge me, the way that I do for most of you. Let's begin.

1) Stay Healthy
     This was my first goal that I set for myself last year and I think it's really important, especially for an accident and injury prone athlete, like myself. This goal is broad, so I'll break it down.
       A) Knee: Sometimes I think that because my knee doesn't hurt when I run, I don't have to do physical therapy, then weeks later, I get pain and realize, oops, should've done PT, then have to play the catch up game. I want to make the time to do PT AT LEAST 3 times a week. I can't use the 'I'm too tired' or 'I have to do homework excuse.' I can easily do my PT while I listen to a lecture or electronic reading. I can't sacrifice my hard work for something I could've prevented.
       B) Nutrition: Dan tells me I can't go as far as I want if I continue to eat the amount of sugar and sweets that I do. So, I have worked out a great plan that I've done well with over the past few months. I don't eat sweets during my block, but after each and every test/race, I get to reward myself, the Monday after, with a Pearls cupcake. One cupcake every month, I can handle that.

2) Be the motivation and inspiration that my friends need me to be
My athletic career isn't dependent on my success; a lot of it is driven by being there and being an inspiration and help to my friends who are in it with me. They have supported me when I have needed it most, so I wish to do the same thing to them. :)

3) Ride Sub 2:38 in 56 miles
This goal is back in action. The closest I got in the 2016 season was 2:46, so I have my work set out for me, but I'm up for the challenge. With my power based strength workouts, as well as steady Z1 rides, I am excited to see what this season brings in bike improvements. I've felt that I've only made small drops and improvements the past few years and am ready for a solid performance on the bike.

4) Run Sub 1:40 in Half Marathon
Without believing I could, I ran a 1:44 at the Richmond Half Marathon. With the same training and the confidence and belief that I can, I'm excited to see this goal come to life.

5) Qualify for 70.3 Worlds
It's a lofty goal, but I believe if I get my training right and my head in the game I can get close enough to one of those spots. First chance will be in April, not a lot of time, but just have to trust the process, trust the coach and put in the work. Dream big, right?

6) Compete an Ironman 
Clearly it's a big season, but I'm prepared for everything that it has to offer. I want to continue to build on the awesome season that 2016 provided and not only try and qualify for worlds, but also compete in my first ever Ironman...nothing says dedication like a late season Ironman of Florida!

7) Be the best Student Athlete I can be
Not only do I work full time and train 18-20 hours a week, I am a full time student. I'm crazy busy but if I wasn't, I wouldn't have the grades that I do. Whether this means I make

time limits on when workouts must be done with before starting homework, or giving up an outdoor ride so that I can camp out on my trainer while I listen to hours of lectures, I will do it. I don't just want to be the best athlete that I can be, I also want to be the best student that I can be. The two marry very well, if you have the patience and time management for them, and that will be a challenge, but I'm up for it!

Conclusion
I have a long season ahead, but I'm going at it as smart and as hard hitting as I can. I mean business with my athletic, student, and friend goals. I want to be the best version of me and even if I don't accomplish the goals listed here, I will know that I tried my hardest and I gave it all I had. But for now, we have four months until Ironman Florida 70.3. Giddy up!

End of the Season Reflection of Goals

It's taken me a long time to get to the point of being able to write down my thoughts of this past season. It's been a long one, a challenging one, an emotional one, an amazing and successful one, so I find it's hard to write everything into one, so I decided the best thing to do was to review the goals that I had set for myself this time last year. I think that this season broke down my fear of sharing goals to the public because I don't think I ever let my friends or my coach down, and that's my biggest fear when I publicize my goals.

1) Get Healthy
        1a) Knee: I would say that this was a raging success. This time last year, I was running stairs in place of road running because my knee was not in a place to be running. However, with the help of Lori Strobl, and Dan, I was able to get to a place where the stairs simply became a distance between up and down, and I was full on running long workouts on the road. Although I faltered sometimes I knew if I went back to basics, my knee would strengthen on up.
        1b) Nutrition: For those of you who keep up with my blog, you know that this is a struggle for me, both in self control and my body rejecting nearly every kind of processed food. The list, of my allergies, grows all the time so I have to always be on top of what I consume and what happens when I consume it. Nutrition will always continue to be a struggle with my allergies but as long as I stay diligent about checking the labels, and properly fueling, I should be okay.

2) Run a 10k without stopping
Prior to this season, I had never run anything over 5 miles, without stopping, in my life. Typically swimmers aren't great runners, and I never had a desire to go out and try to run more because I was slow and I hated it. With the "get healthy, knee" goal, I was able to not only run a 10k, but run several training runs that were more than this, and ran two half ironman races and a stand alone half marathon. I would say that's pretty well accomplished!

3) Run faster than a 1:50 half marathon
Attempt 1: 2:34:32. My first ever half marathon was that awful race called Eagleman. I knew when I saw my sister, walking, on the course, I was in for a rough go and that it was; I cried, several times during it. 
Attempt 2: 1:59:32. Rev3 Cedar Point. The goal for this race was to run sub 2:20, and I ran sub 2:00, it was amazing! 
Attempt 3: The Richmond Half Marathon. It was a rough few weeks leading up to this. My friends and teammates were all in overload as they were tapering for this, and I wasn't. I was just resting, and not to mention, my final exams were the week before. I was stressed and I thought I wasn't going to do well because I wasn't tapered. My goal was to go 1:52 because that's the best I thought I could do with everything and my doubts. I took it out more conservatively than I usually do in running tests, but saw that my first mile was a 7:40. I panicked, that was a little quick for my preference, however, kept going. I held that pace for the next 8 miles and just held on tight for those last 5 miles. Attempt 3, when I thought I couldn't break a 1:50, I went 1:44:49. Not only did I blow my goal for that race out of the water, I also did my goal for this season. I was so happy, and it just makes me think with this training, what can I do next year?

4. Sub 2:38 Bike Split for 56 Miles
Attempt 1: 2:48:52 Eagleman 
Attempt 2: 2:46:09
Despite not achieving this goal, I still count is as a win. I was able to shed two minutes off a characteristically fast course at Eagleman for a hillier version up in Sandusky, Ohio. I believe that through hard work, I can get this goal in the 2017 season. 

5. Work on My Stubbornness and Trust the Process
I'm a stubborn person, I always have been, but this year I tried really hard to work on it as I know it hurt, offended and annoyed a lot of people. Stubbornness will always be with me, however, for someone who once doubted the process, I can say that I now fully trust the process. Dan's coaching philosophy works...and works very well. This time last year, I was running stairs, and now, I'm running long distances and faster. For the Richmond Half Marathon, I was training in HR zone around a 10:30/pace but was able to hold my max, or near max, HR for 7:59/pace. The process works and I will trust it no matter where or what I am racing. 

Summary
It's been a great season and I have come so far, both mentally and physically. I, of course, couldn't have done any of it without GrnMchn Coaching, and Dan Szajta, my awesome friends and teammates and those who support me in all I do. I think for having this be my first year ever to complete an olympic and a half ironman triathlon was just the beginning of something awesome and I look forward to continuing my journey in the sport that I have come to grow and love. I look forward to setting new goals, being a source of motivation for my friends and continue to make them and coach proud.  

Taper Blues, Rollercoasters and Records: Rev3 Cedar Point

The block leading up to this race was not all bubblegum and rainbows; it was actually really challenging. School started back up leaving me with four classes I needed to do homework and study for, changes in my personal life caused some stress and hurt in which was shown in my workouts, and taper began.

Taper was a three week long process in which the weeks were divided into light, heavy and ultra light. It was in those three weeks that the above challenges happened, but I was able to put those emotions and stress aside to lay down some of the best workouts of the season. My running was doing great, my power was the highest it had ever been and I was actually doing some open water work to prepare me for the race that was approaching.

The one light week leading up to my race, I felt like a pile of poo. However, having 8 years (with tapers) of competitive swimming under my belt, I had enough knowledge to know that if I felt like poo, I was doing great. If I was ever feeling great, than something was wrong.

Sunset driving to Ohio

After weeks of recruitment to find someone to make the journey to Ohio with me, Julie and Soller (the dog) finally agreed to join me. So, we began our journey Thursday night after work. It was then when I realized that my front race wheel was dead flat. I panicked. This was the first flat of the season and it happened before a race. I didn't have the safety blanket of EF or Dan around to fix it, so my I was putting my fate in the hands of a tiny bike shop in Columbus, the next day. We got home around noon on Friday and had the day to do workouts, study, go to the mechanic and get my hair cut!! Meghan's Ironman phrase of "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you race good," led me to get 3 inches of my hair cut off. I was certainly "race pretty."

Saturday
My dad and I got up to Cedar Point around 2pm. Because we got up so late, I was unable to get a practice swim in, however, they had to shut the swim down because of the storm that was rolling in. I was also bummed that I couldn't ride any of the roller coasters, as we were in the roller coaster capital of the world, because I was resting my legs. The weather was horrendous; it was windy, storming and pouring down rain. Due to this, they removed the "mandatory" from the bike check in and said it was optional, thus why I didn't take my warm up ride, I thought I could do that in the morning. I got all checked in, heard the athlete meeting and got to talk to all three of my POW people who wished me luck and provided last minute info, such as arriving early for the swim start and being careful on the first and last stretch of the bike.

Cute little KOA Kabin

Dad and I got back to our KOA Kabin (3 miles from transition) around 5:30 p.m. where he provided very helpful Sherpa skills of helping me get ready by packing and filling nutrition bottles. It was so relieving having him there. My dad has always been our #1 Sherpa (although he has taught Rachel, for me, and Tim, for Julie, his ways). It was just so much fun having him there in our tiny little cabin, helping me get ready, watching the Ohio State game and doing (or trying to do) yoga with me, and complaining about the tiny little cabin. He even asked me what my pace plan was so I went over it with him. Power on the bike, HR on the run. He asked me what my goals were. Dan doesn't like us putting times/paces on our races, so I just don't make them known, but I'm a swammer, I still make goals.

My secret goals:
1) Sub 5:45
2) Run goal: Sub 2:20
3) Bike goal: Sub 2:48 (Eagleman time)

Before going to sleep I had one last phone call with Dan about my race and then went to sleep.

Race Morning
For breakfast I had several pieces of gluten free bread, a hard boiled egg, two bananas and a bottle of Infinit.

It was so cold race morning and the wind was whipping making it that much colder. Not thinking, I took my bike into transition to get air in my wheels then turned around to take it out for a ride...I was denied. They were refusing people to leave transition with their bikes because of the "darkness" and the unsafe nature that the dark created. I called crap on the situation because it was bright out, but apparently a pro, the previous day, wrecked his bike in the dark and couldn't race. However, they did, after I seemed too distraught, let me ride my bike around transition to set my gears.

I went for a jog around the parking lot to warm up both my legs and literally, because I was shivering. I was hoping that because I didn't have a bike warm up, I would make up for it with a long swim warm up--ugh not happening. Due to the wind, the swim course had to be changed from the lake to the sheltered marina, a very small area. Since there were full athletes in the water already swimming, there was no area to warm up in without getting in their way.

So, not bike warm up and no swim warm up. I didn't try to be a bitch about this, but I think I put that vibe off. Going into every race, I have a plan on how I do things and when those plans change, I don't adapt well.

Swim: 30:55
Because of the marina swim, swim waves were out the window, so we were doing time trial starts. Every two seconds, two swimmers entered into the water. Via text, Dan and I were trying to figure out where I should go in that line-up. I opted for near the front. I was about 12th in the water.

The first ten minutes, or so, felt good. I was on some one's feet and with some long catch up strokes, I sort of treated that as a warm up. I made my first turn and I started feeling it. My back cramped, my legs cramped, my arms felt like they were being suffocated by my wetsuit...everything hurt. About halfway I thought I was not going to be able to finish. I seriously thought about DNFing. I was searching for a kayak to swim to but kept telling myself to keep pushing. It was the worst I had ever felt on a swim and I hate that my mind was so weak during it. Finally, I got out and I heard Jay say 'nice job'. I ran to the wetsuit strippers and I was off.

Transition 1: 6:05
I made a game time decision to not have shoes at the swim exit to make my 800m run to transition. Bad decision. The 800m was across a parking lot...in bare feet. It did, however, make me very aware of my run form and my right heel sticking on the pavement...I'll need to work on that!


Made it to transition, first woman in and thought slow, acted fast. Shoes, helmet, glasses, salt, gone.

Bike: 2:46:09
With having started so early in the swim, I knew that I was going to get passed quite a bit, but I didn't let that affect me. The first 5 miles were just a goal of survival. The road leading out of cedar point contained so many pot holes and bumps; it was hard to stay in aero while maneuvering around them all. I saw that one woman passed me, but didn't let it bother me, as I was going to stick to my plan. The plan being to follow power, however, that's very hard to do when your power meter isn't registering. I was in for 56 miles of blind riding.

The ride was lot more rolling than anticipated; I had thought that it was pancake with one big hill, but that was not the case. It was a lonely ride, I didn't see too many people, but I saw the greatest Sherpa on his bike three times! I put my head down and rode, can't speak too much about it.

However, about 8 miles out from transition, a young girl passed me, at which was the time I was beginning to hurt, so I was motivated to keep this girl in my sight. The 5 mile stretch back to roller coaster land hurt my butt real bad...the amount of pot holes just about killed me. In the last 500m, I passed the girl in front of me, did my second ever flying dismount and ran to transition.

Transition 2: 1:06
Another game time decision: socks! I've never put them on during a race before but usually blister so threw on a pair before passing Jay and darting out of transition.

Run: 1:59:32
Now this is what I'm talking about. The goal was sub 2:20...how about sub 2:00?

Mile 1: 8:18
I took this mile out just finding a comfortable speed that I determined that I could run for the whole 13 miles. The plan for this run was to stay in Zone 1 and working my way up to Zone 3, however just as I found myself blind on the bike, I found that I was going to be running blind on the run without a heart rate monitor. I freaked out a little and constantly tried to adjust my heart rate strap, and remember thinking how could I know when I had to push and when I had to reign myself in if I needed, but decided it was going to be all by feel. Aid station 1 got me in a better place, they were a church group and they were jamming to Jesus jams, my kind of music. Dan had mandated walks through the aid stations, so I walked, shot my Infinit nutrition and drank water then found myself on my way again.

I can't accurately tell splits for my run, unfortunately, as my Garmin only picked up 12 miles...darn you garmin. I was running really well. I felt great and just kept asking if I could hold this pace, and I thought that I could. At least I know myself.

On my second loop of the run, the big mass of people were on their first lap, allowing me to finally be around people. As people would come up and pass me, they would say "Giddy up!" which would always put a pep in my step. Downtown Sandusky provided one slight hill and by my second loop of it, I knew I was getting tired because I tripped over my own feet and nearly landed on the ground, and that mile split was my slowest of the whole, at a time of 10:01.

I saw my dad at least 5 times on the run, every time I shouted at him that this was going to be a big PR, and his response was that I just needed to keep pushing and go hard.

Overall the run felt great and nutrition was solid and there was never a time I didn't think I could handle the pace. A huge accomplishment for me was that I never stopped to walk (other than aid stations), which was indeed an accomplishment seeing that at Eagleman, in June, I walked about half of the half marathon. When I hit the 13 mile marker, I saw 1:59 hit my watch, so I put everything I had left into my run and crossed that finish line with sheer shock of my final time.

Overall Time: 5:23:48

I was elated, I couldn't believe what I had done and my first thought was that I had to call Dan and tell him, after receiving my hug from Tremper and my Dad. My legs hurt so bad, but I knew I had to walk them out, so I did, while I called Dan. His reaction was priceless and it made me so happy that he was so proud.

I was 2nd in my age group and the 5th woman overall, something that still seems so unreal. If this was what I could do after a whole year off of running, what does next year for me look like? This race shows what happens when you stick with it after wanting to DNF early on. This race also shows what hard work does...that was a 34 minute PR and only the start.

Thank You

Tiny bunk bed that Dad slept in

I want to say thank you to my awesome Sherpa Dad who planned his cheering route, slept in a tiny bunk bed, attempted triathlete yoga and supported me throughout the whole weekend. Thank you so much, and I love you!

Thank you to Julie and Soller (the dog) for driving up to Ohio with me and providing great care entertainment and encouragement. Thank you to my momma for providing support and delicious food when home to help me fuel up for the big event!

I certainly couldn't have done any of this without my friends and training partners. Rides and runs wouldn't be as fun without you all. Thank you for your full support form the day that I met you, to the time I struggled in any of the disciplines, was frustrated with Z1 runs, to being there for me to bounce ideas off of, to vent, to help me when lacking in motivation and providing not just a training partner, but a friend. All of you make my triathlon experience so much more fun and make me want to be that much better.

A special thanks goes to Dan Szajta. I think this race was close to the one year anniversary of me taking him on as my coach. When I started, I was skeptical and stubborn and I voiced that after almost every workout. His response: touch love and just kept repeating "trust the process." This year has been emotional with my knee, school beginning and relationships, but Dan was open to talk about everything. He understood that sometimes things take precedent over training, but others don't, so he'd let me know of that. He pushed me enough and supported me more than I could ever ask for. A year with Dan as my coach and this race was the direct result of it. He's not only a great coach, he's also a great friend and co-worker. Thank you, Dan, for all you do, for pushing and believing in me, I look forward to continuing to work with you!

What's Next? 
The week after my race was miserable--exam week, but I turned my focus back to training the best I could after my exams, all leading up to my power test on the bike, my 8k TT a few weeks later and the Richmond half marathon in November.

Final Rest & Test Week: Rev3 Poconos Mountains Olympic

This Block
Dan knew my goal for this block: Do better than last block in terms of getting my workouts done and getting them done right. Well, I did somewhat better, but there were times were there was frustration relayed in the still lacking efforts in this block. It wasn't for lack of trying, it was more because it was also the block leading into my final exams in school. If you've known me for awhile, you'll know that I am a horrendous test taker, so exams are not a great time for me. I'm not awful at all tests, I am great at essay and short answer exams, but when you give me a multiple choice exam, I feel very anxious.

Along with the exams, also came witnessing my first ever in person Ironman. I got up to Lake Placid, NY on Friday, July 22, just in time to plunge into the crystal clear mirror lake with the soon to be Ironman herself, Meghan Wright, along with Dana, Dan and some of Dan's friends also running the race. The lake was gorgeous and the sighting line under the water provided a great alternative to picking your head out of the water in order to see the bouys. I could have swam in that lake forever. The rest of the weekend was comprised of being the support that Meghan needed, as well as riding the course for myself...including the horrendous climb that White Face Mountain provided. If riding one loop of the Lake Placid course wasn't enough, Dan and I headed to White Face Mountain to ride...straight up a freaking mountain. 10% grade the whole way up...I was in the smallest gear I have
and I was going 3mph, thinking that I would tip over at any moment. I made it half way up before I tapped out and got in the car with Meghan, Dana and Meghan's mom, leaving the rest for Dan to tackle by himself. Once at the top though, the view was worth the pain that endured and then the fastest descent, according to Dan, came after that...I was scared. I was scared during this descent but not the Keene descent on the IMLP course, I think because this was straight down, my brakes weren't great and there was some wicked wind.

The next morning we were up middle of the night to walk Meghan over to transition and wait for the swim start. Dana and I ran around together, cheering for Meghan and cheering for everyone, ensuring that we didn't have voices that night. People were definetely hurting on the course, so our goal was to try and bring smiles and joy back to those people, and I think we achieved that!

Overall that weekend was amazing and it fueled me for wanting to do IMLP!

Rev3 Poconos 
After passing all of my exams, I headed up to New Jersey to stay at my Godparents house for the Friday before the race. It was a great time to get things done and enjoy not working, and not being in school...it was very much a lounge day for me.

Ashley's GREAT note to me! 

Saturday morning I left New Jersey and drove the one hour to Shawnee on the River, PA and got a solid practice swim in before heading to the expo and back to the hotel for Olympics watching and final race prep. We went to dinner at the Shawnee Inn with the whole Endorphin Fitness crew, as it was a team race, before heading back to the hotel for more Olympics and an early bed time.

Morning of the race was very strange for me. Both of my hotel mates were racing the half so when I had gotten up, they were already gone. This was my first race of the season where I didn't have a support system there with me. The night before I had planned out when I would leave the hotel to get to Transition 2 before getting on the shuttle...but because I was alone, I panicked and left early. I got to Transition 2 right as it opened for Olympic athletes, put all my run gear at my area and got on the bus to Transition 1 down the road.

Due to the fog, there was a delay in start time by 11 minutes, pushing back all of the start times including the olympics, so I had a LONG time to wait. I set up my area, took my bike for a quick spin, went for a quick jog and spent a pretty decent amount of time in the water warming up and talking. I wandered back over to the start and hung out with Eric, Ed and Elizabeth.

Swim 20:00 (ish)
*Now I say "ish" because there was a timing discrepancy, so all the swim times were combined with T1 time, so I know what my Garmin says, and 20:00 is about accurate.
The swim, like Williamsburg, was an in the water start, with a bit of a current. The start was brutal for me. I got elbowed in the goggle so one of my eyes was leaking river water the whole time, granting a pretty uncomfortable swim. However, we had a few different options of how we could swim this: 1) Close to the shore and have less against the current but more river weed gross stuff or 2) Swim close to the middle of the river and have more against the current, not river weed and less people. For me, and my freaked out nature of anything touching me in open water, I chose option 2. Far less people chose this option, as well, granting me an easier time passing people. I remained in option two ever after we made our turn and headed down the river with the current but found myself being encompassed by so much river weed. I could see it, I could feel it all over me and I was not pleased. I swam even harder. Per usual, I was passing all the colors of the rainbows in front of me, and swam as far as the boat dock would let me before I stood up and had a volunteer help me out of the water. I saw Jay there and he said something like "Great swim, go get 'em" which motivated me even more to go kill my long transition run.

Transition 1: 4:15 (ish)
This was a pretty long run from the water to transition and it involved running in my wetsuit and on grass. I tried to take it at a good speed while lowering my heart rate but that didn't go over well. I passed Ed who told me to "go get 'em" and I continued on to transition. I had a GREAT bike location! Because it was an EF team race for the half, I was placed in the EF rack, so by the time I got in, I was the only bike left which made finding it super easy. The one thing I didn't like was the lack thereof wetsuit strippers. I spent probably 45 seconds trying to get out of my wetsuit...TRISLIDE was my next purchase after this.

Bike: 1:22.16
When I told this time to Dan, he asked what went wrong. I told him it was horrendous. The day before we had driven the course and yes, there were hills, but hills in a car are so much different that hills on a bike. It is for this leg of my race that made this blog so hard to write. In the athlete guide for this race, it states that it is a "rolling hills" course. Understatement of the year. Around mile five, there is a mountain that you just keep on climbing. I was in my smallest gear, alternating between standing and sitting and going 3mph. Very reminiscent of White Face Mountain if you ask me. People were cursing, people were dismounting and walking up and no one was happy. After this mountain, we got a tiny downhill before plenty more climbing. I spent the whole ride playing cat and mouse with a guy on a road bike (he clearly got the memo about the climbing). I was actually really thankful I had him because it gave me something to look forward to every time I went up a hill, someone to pass me on the way down. My thought process is that what goes up, most come down, but I swear, there was so much more up than actual down. However, for the parts of the course that were down, there were not the easy Keene descent that I had experienced earlier. They were fast, pot-hole filled, technical turn filled hills going down...not ideal conditions, especially with squealing rear breaks. Let's just say I was more then happy to be off my bike and on to the run.

Transition 2: 0:43
That's a damn good transition if you ask me! Once again, there weren't many bikes back in transition for the half athletes, so I had plenty of space. Bike racked, helmet and shoes off, shoes on and ran out while putting on my race number, visor and nutrition in the back pocket.

Run: 53:28
Can we first just admire the massive PR that is the time I put in! Regardless of my legs feeling awful from the ride, and the hard course that was coming up, I threw down and put a great run in...now if only everything else on that run felt great. After transition, I ran out and took in the cheers from the crowd as I began my run. I knew after Williamsburg last month that I wanted to make some changes and not flop like that month.

Mile 1: 8:39
Really? Was that a mistake, Garmin, are you sure? I must be going too fast, I won't be able to hold this pace. Were all thoughts in my head. I hadn't had a first mile run this fast in a long time, and I didn't want to blow up, but I felt so good.

Mile 2: 8:36
I was using a new flask, one with a twist top and after using it at the aid station at mile 1, I must not have closed it all the way because at mile 2 aid stop, I had nothing left in it. Oh shit. So I was just going to run the next 4 miles with no nutrition, I mean, I do that for training runs, right?

Mile 3: 8:58
It was during this mile that I started approaching signs that warned me of caution, slow down, loose gravel (because we were running on a gravel path), to only see a STRAIGHT DOWN the mountain hill on all gravel. Well, this was going to be fun to run up. I couldn't even go hard down it as I would slip on the gravel and trip and fall (If you know me, you know this is entirely too accurate).

Mile 4: 9:06
I can't remember if this is the mile that I went up the hill. I am assuming it was. I started strong on trying to tackle the hill, but just like the people in front of me, I succumbed to walking up it. I was HURTING really bad during this mile. All I could think was to watch the people going the other direction and keep my eyes focusing on something, as I began to start seeing stars and began getting very disoriented. With no nutrition and only water, I was starting to feel like I would pass out at any moment. Not to mention my knee. The knee pain came strong during this mile, but I knew I was doing really well and I wanted to finish just like the way that I started, so I kept pushing.

Mile 5: 9:29 
Margaret, literally all you need to do is finish. I know everything hurts, but you are so close. This was a dark dark place for me.

Mile 6: 8:35
I started to see people on the road beginning to cheer me on and I think I could hear the announcer during this stage. So many stars, feeling so light headed and a throbbing knee on me lead for one motivated girl coming into that finish.

Finish Shoot:
I learned from Williamsburg and my stone cold face that I need to have more fun when I cross the finish line, so, knowing that Ashley was going to be waiting for me with a cold towel and a hug, I put on the biggest grin I could do with the given state I was in, and ran through the finish line...to a cold towel and a hug.

Aftermath: 2:40:43

So I went the same time that I did in Williamsburg...I had a solid run, a painful ride and a painful but super quick run! Despite the hard course, I was able to bang out the same time from that of a flat course; I think that says something! After crossing the finish line and talking to a few people, I found myself sitting on a cot in the medical tent, due to my severe light headedness. Nurses, EMT's and doctors were swarming all around me asking if I was okay, running tests for my blood glucose level and blood pressure to ensure I wasn't bottoming out. They forced me to keep drinking water, and before I knew it, I was so cold despite the near 90 degree temperatures outside. I was shaking and loaded with goosebumps, their solution: foil space blanket. I remained in medical for about an hour or, more before I was released and able to walk about with Rachel and Charlene. So thankful I had them because despite being released, wasn't feeling good. I wore the blanket until the award ceremony....where I was at the top of the podium, something I was surprised but so happy about. I beat the second place girl by 4 minutes!
Immediately upon getting back at home, I sent Lori Strobl, my PT and e-mail about my knee. I'm so grateful for her. This e-mail hasn't been the first in my paranoia and terror that I have about my knee. I asked Dan what I should do instead of running and he told me aqua jog but my fear of ever having that pain that I had last year again shut me down for wanting to do anything running, so I loaded up on PT during that time.

I'm now in overload phase and it's been going a lot better than I had thought it would! The workouts are hard but the time off of school has helped! School starts tomorrow, and I'm back at the hard work: all in workouts, work and school!

Rev3 Cedar Point coming up on September 11!

Rest & Test Week #2: Rev3 Williamsburg Olympic

This Block

Triathlon is a big part of who I am and historically the sport which I do carries a lot of value in my life. I'm dedicated, I'm determined and I'm driven. I compete and train hard because I love it, but also because it fuelsmy life outside of that, as well. It's a stress relief, its a time management placer and it's a way for me to stay motivated in my academic life, as well. It's statistically proven that in season athletes perform better in season than athletes out of season. This remains to be true about my life even after college. This block was a big struggle for me. I chose to do things for me and not triathlon. I chose to work on relationships over doing PPTs on Sundays and even my long rides. I chose to sleep the week after Eagleman, which my body clearly needed, instead of doing recovery workouts. I chose to travel and do things that made me happy but it ultimately made me unhappy. Because I was slacking in workouts, my grades dropped a little, and because I wasn't working out too much, I wasn't sleeping great, which obviously you can see made a viscous cycle. I love the relationships, and want to continue to build them, but I need to do better this block in finding that balance of relationships and fun to training and fun to homework and good scores. (If anyone wants to learn about time management and how a full time student has time to work full time with two part time jobs and train for triathlons, while still having a social life, let me know! I'm free to teach you all about my color coding schedule ways!)

Rest & Test Week
Once again, the week leading up to my race was both rest and test week. Although this is great for the academic tests, I had so much stress surrounding the week. I was off work on Monday, July 4, which left me 3 days to work 30 hours. So, I worked 10 hour shifts everyday with an exam after work. My body and my mind were exhausted and then there was the thought of my boyfriend meeting my parents that weekend, as well. No pressure, right? With all of that being said, I finished my exams on Friday before my race and had a great ten hour sleep. Having my parents in town was so great-we stayed a condo type resort where my best friend, Rachel, and I got out own bedroom and bathroom then had a large living room and kitchen...20 minutes from race site.

Saturday
Julie and I got the the race site at 10:30a.m. to get our swim and bike rides in before checking in at the expo. In waiting for her to be done with pro things, I hopped in a pair of Normatec boots and recovered the right way. It was a HOT day, so I tried my best to stay out of the sun and in the shade. When completed at the expo, we headed back to our condo and slept, played games and had all gluten free chicken parmesan for dinner.

Race Morning
I strayed from my usual banana bites and banana for breakfast just because I didn't have any. Instead had three scrambled eggs and one piece  of cinnamon raisin bread. Got to transition to pump air into my tires, went for a quick ride and run and a long swim in the overly warm, fast current water.

Swim:16:37
The water was hot but the current was crazy fast, allowing me to have the 6th overall woman swim time, and got to be the second woman out of the water in my division. Despite the hot water, the swim went pretty well for me. I found some feet (!!!) to hang on to for the first five minutes, then fell off (she beat me out of the water by 1:04). Due to the current, the buoys were moving all over the place, so when I came to one of the turn buoys, I was very confused to why all the volunteers were telling me to go around them and not the turn buoy. I then spent the rest of the swim thinking I was going to get DQed for not going around the bouy...in the end it all worked out.

T1: 1:18
Dan's mantra about transitions "Think slow, act fast" worked very well in this transition. I got out of the water, heard my friends cheering for me and put my head down and kept going to transition. I realized that one thing I forgot to do in transition before the race was un-velcro my bike shoes. Forgetting this meant I had to spend that time to do it in transition before putting them on my feet. Other than that, it was a good, quick transition.

Bike: 1:19:32

Look at those leg muscles! 

The first several miles of the bike were me weaving in and out of people in front of me, which I have grown accustomed to over the past few months. After the large amounts of people came the one middle aged man who hated me passing him. I think a lot of women have had this problem in races. You start approaching a slower cyclist in front of you, so you go around them and settle in after passing. He then, immediately goes around you and slams on his brakes, so you go around him again, faster this time trying to shed him off of your trail, but he immediately goes around you again and slams on the brakes. Dude, I'm clearly faster than you, please just let me ride in peace...and after two miles of this nonsense, he finally lets me. Just as Dan promised, I was alone after that. I didn't see people at all, I was just in my tucked aero position going at it. I felt good, my legs felt fresh and like they could go on for another 40K.

T2: 0:43
Quick transition! I attempted and successfully completed a flying dismount for the first time ever. I don't think I thought about it, but as that line approached closer and closer to dismount, I just went for it. Glad I did, because it sped things up for me! Shoes were off, shoes were on and I put my visor and number belt on while running out of transition.

Run: 1:01:02

Hauling out of transition

I flew out of transition and up that hill get go, which may have contributed to my fail at the end of the run. It was hot but not as hot as Eagleman so I knew I could do better. Having this be my first ever 10k outside of training, I was a little nervous for it, but I knew I wanted that podium spot. I know where I am during race, I was second out of the water, second back from bike, so all I had to do was hang on enough to get that spot. In the past, my races have always been swim and bike and lose it on the run. That's what happened a bit at this race, unfortunately. After mile 3, I got a cramp in my left side, so I held on to that while still running. At mile 4.5, I had double cramps in both of my sides and I was hurting. I knew my pace had slowed down a lot and around then, another girl passed me in my age group. It was great having all the Endorphin people around, as it was a team race, so I got good lucks and keep moving, words of encouragement. I could hear my friends when I came around the corner after the hill (I think), but at that point I was trying not to cry because everything inside of me hurt. 500meters left until the finish and one more girl passed me, but I had nothing left. My heart rate was through the roof and I couldn't get my body to move any quicker.

Overall: 2:39:12 (4th/5th?? in AG)
I crossed the finish line emotionless but welcomed the hug from Ashley once I made it! It wasn't the pain of Eagleman but it was the pain o of disappointment. Despite the disappointment, I was surrounded by my friends and family who had come and cheered for me, which always makes the day better. Looking forward, I know that I have more work to do and I get another shot at it next month at Rev3 Poconos.

Next Block:
The next block after this is going to be me recommitting myself to the equal balance of all the things I love in my life, even if that means pulling off the freeway on a roadtrip and doing a trainer workout because you need to get one in, or waking up form a night out and going for a 7 mile training run where you PR your 10k. Life and training is all about balance, passion and time management. Once you figure out those three, you're looking pretty good. Oh! And I'm in the home stretch of school! Of course my final exams are the week of Rev3 Poconos, but then I get a 3 week break!

I also get the chance to cheer on Meghan at Ironman Lake Placid, which will be an amazing experience! I am so proud of all of her hard work over the past several months and can't wait to see her put it all together for an Ironman!

Rest & Test Week: Eagleman 70.3

The block leading up to Eagleman, my debut 70.3 race, was intense! I started school, I started heat acclimation training in Florida and I started my summer work schedule...and I felt like I was training the most I had ever trained.

Vacation to Florida

The great tan lines provided by training
in the sun in Florida!

Heat acclimation training began the day after Kinetic Sprint last month, when I headed down to Florida for a week's vacation. I was told I had to train in the heat of the day to get used to the heat and humidity that Eagleman would bring. So, I did, and it was brutal. On top of the brutal heat came the start of school. Let me tell you, taking two years off of school and going back is very challenging, especially when you're on vacation and don't want to think about anything other than relaxing. My vacation was packed full of good meals, laying out by the pool, studying and training and experiencing how brutal the sun can be if not properly hydrated...there was one run that I ended up cutting short because I face planted into my pool because I couldn't go on. I think it was for this early heat acclimation training that made me keep going at Eagleman. 

Veterinary Technology School

So I'm back in school and sometimes I feel like I'm drowning because I forgot what it's like to be a student after taking two years off. I'm taking a full load of four classes this semester, on top of working full time and training loads. But if you know me well, you know that me without a full plate, is just not me. Keeping a sport and going to school keeps my time management superb and really focuses me on what I need to get done. However, with the start of school came more skipped workouts then I have ever had in the past. Dan understands it though, he understands school and being super busy and he tells me to do the best that I can, so I make my cutoff 8pm. If my workouts aren't completed by then, I scrap it or end the workout then because I have to get in at least two hours of homework every night to stay on top of things. Time management is the key to my life.

So the week of Eagleman was also test week in school. Thus, rest & test week. I panicked when I first thought of this because races come with a lot of stress with me and being not great at tests also comes with a lot of stress, so I didn't know how well that week would go. However, it worked perfectly and I can't wait for next month when it happens again for Williamsburg. With the rest of the race came the necessary time to study and take my tests 

Eagleman 70.3 

This is the real reason you are reading my blog, isn't it? You want to read all about the epic heat we all had to endure and how that translated into our races on Sunday. Well, I'll gladly tell you about my debut to the 70.3 world.

Pre-Race

Dan, Meghan and I drove down to Cambridge on Friday night after work and had a great (but terribly serviced) dinner before heading to bed. Saturday morning we got an early start to the day and headed to the race site for check in and a swim. It hadn't been declared yet whether the race would be wetsuit legal or not, but seeing how Dan's and my shake-out swim went, we were crossing our fingers for wetsuit illegal, while Meghan and Brian were hoping were wetsuit legal. For the non swimmers out there, a wetsuit provides a HUGE advantage as it helps floating and body positioning in the water, two things that swimmers already possess.

Surprised Coach!

After our swim, we went and checked in, and got a quick shake-out ride in. That ride was the best I felt in a long time and it made me really look forward to the bike portion of the race. I'm glad that I went on that ride because I always forget how it feels to have race wheels on, and with the wind, I could certainly feel myself being pushed...

Back to the hotel for packing and race prep. We did yoga, physical therapy and played cards for about 4 hours while salt loading which would help us retain water as it got hotter and hotter outside on race morning.

GRN MCHN Eagleman athletes reppin' the new kit

Oh, and almost forgot the best part: surprising our amazing coach with the GRN MCHN kits! Meghan and I began working on them in October of 2015 and after a long process were finally got them and surprised Dan with them! It was a pretty awesome reveal and he had no idea that it was happening. We want to represent him and his coaching and all the awesome things he does for us.





Swim (29:03)
Sometimes I think that I'll be fine before a swim race, but always, without fail, I get nervous. It's my strongest leg, but I still got nervous before because thoughts of letting myself down and not being happy with my times came through my mind. We entered the water for our in water start and all the girls lines up between the buoys. I stood in front with one of the relay men who explained the course to me and a few other girls. I really love the comradery of the sport because all the girls in my wave were wishing each other luck and apologies for the possibility of kicking each other in the face when we went off.

The gun went off and we were off. I thought that the guy I was talking to would be a good one to hang onto, but within the first 15 seconds I knew I was out of my league. I looked right and left and saw no one around so I knew I was alone in this battle. Within minutes I hit the men's wave in front of us and began weaving my way in and out around them trying my best not to kick them, but took a few kicks to the stomach, as well. Sighting was so much easier for me than kinetic last month. The buoys were bigger and brighter and I knew exactly where I was going. 

Soon there were four different color caps around me and it was a battle to get where I wanted to go, so that meant swimming over some people. Sorry! I did get cursed at twice. One section of the rectangle was choppy but after turning the corner, it was smooth sailing from there. My shoulder started to cramp up and I saw another green cap swimming past me, so I stayed on her feet for the remainder of the swim...she beat me out of the water by 4 seconds. I was second AG out of the water.

Overall I'm happy with the swim, but it's not my best work. Wetsuits freak me out and I think that was a big constricting matter on my big swimmer shoulders, but I've got time to improve!

Transition 1 (2:34)
Wetsuit strippers are my heroes! They made that transition so much easier than my previous races. I did my best to run in to my bike, but the swim took a lot more out of me than I thought, so I did a powerwalk over to my bike and got my things out. Meghan and I were in bad places in transition because we had a far way to go with our bike before we got out, but I think I did the "think slow, act fast" thing pretty well.

Bike (2:48:54) 
Having completed only one half distance aquabike, I knew that this bike wasn't going to be a problem. I'd trained hard and for many hours on the bike and I was prepared for the heat I would face while on the bike. My goal for the bike was to go sub 2:45, and granted the conditions of the race with the wind and the heat, 2:48 is not bad.

Everyone said that the course was windy, but I didn't feel the wind until the last 8 miles. From get go I put my head down and I just rode it on out. My heart rate coming off the swim was 175 and it remained that high (minus 6 bpm) the whole ride. I tried to lower it by breathing, but slowing my legs down, but nothing helped, I decided it was a lost caused due to the heat.

I was passing people like crazy and they were cheering me on as I went, sometimes I looked down and saw my speed at 25mph...sooo fast!

My nutrition in the early stages of the bike was a bust. Within the first 40 minutes I had already consumed 1.5 of my 3 bottles of Infinit. Typically I don't like to grab from aid stations but I did the first two just to get water in me because clearly I needed it after that swim. The next two aid stations I flew by without even lifting my head.

At one point in the race I was about to make a turn and a policeman was standing there screaming at me to stop. I stopped and clipped out because an ambulance was speeding down the road and was going to hit me if I hadn't of stopped. I was pissed and was very blunt about that, but after the ambulance passed I pushed out a mega wattage of 628 to get back going...I regretted that wattage about 2 minutes later.

Those last 8 miles though....sufferfest on the bike started. I was going 25 mph when I turned the corner and hit that wind and then I noticed my wattage spike and my speed immediately drop to 12 mph. A man passed me and said "Mother nature is finally making us work. We've gotta work hard these last 8," and he was certainly right about that. I'm a lightweight person, and when you have headwind and crosswinds coming at you at 25mph, I was swaying all over the place. For the first time the whole race, I got out of aero just so I wouldn't blow into the next lane of traffic. I pushed and pulled my feet and waiting for the wind to change and finally it did with 3 miles left.

It was really challenging seeing all the runners who were already out on the course. I knew that I was going to spend a long time out there and was scared that I would be left out there due to the amount of people that were on the course when I passed them on my bike. I saw my sister and cheered her on and she gave me a thumbs up as we went our different directions.

Overall, I'm happy. For the wind and the heat, I pulled off a great ride. Although not as quick as I wanted, it was 3 minutes faster than Timberman last year!

Transition 2 (1:43) 
I came in fast to transition and did what I needed to do. Re-racked bike, helmet, threw my shoes on and grabbed the things I could put on on my way out. I stopped for about 20 seconds at a volunteer so she could spray my back with sunscreen (I didn't get burned), and then I was off.

Run (2:34:32)
Crap it was hot! I started out just going what my legs could ta
ke me and at mile three I saw my sister, Julie Patterson, who was at mile 10...she was walking. I cheered for her to keep going and she looked at me and said "You'll have a better run split that me this race." Well, that's what I wanted to hear from my pro sister. If she was having a hard time, what was this going to be like for me?

Dan had told me to stop and walk through all the aid stations and I wasn't entirely happy about that. My thought was that if I stopped and walked, I wouldn't be able to start running again. I was wrong. My body was happy to have that time to stop and walk and gather what I needed before going again. I was fueling on Base Salt and Infinit in a flask. When I could get to an aid station, I would take a shot of the Infinit and wash it down with water before grabbing water to dump on my head and ice to dump down my sports bra. The aid stations are what I began to live for on that run.

After a few more miles I crossed paths with Dan and Joe Rosati and I gave them a thumbs down to vocalize how I was feeling at that moment...like s**t. Dan said something like "this heat sucks" and I nodded and kept going. Between miles 4-7 my knee hurt real bad and I had a lot of walking. In that moment of walking I began crying thinking that I was letting myself and Dan down and I would be the last person out on the course because I was walking so slowly, but with the encouragement of the others running past me, I started my "Ironman shuffle" again.

At mile 9 I ran into this gentleman who was packing his shirt with bags of ice and he offered me a plastic bag which I gladly accepted and filled with ice to keep down my shirt. That bag alone lowered my HR by 11bpm. At mile 10 I realized I had run 2 miles more than I ever had and my legs were still moving beneath me. I found a 16 year old on the course and found out that he was a high school swimmer who drew the short straw (the run) for his family relay. We ran the rest of the race together.

So many people were stopping around us and I was giving what I could to them in terms of inspiration and motivation to keep them going because in that moment, I needed someone to do the same for me. I told Sterling (16 year old) that I was fading and that he should go in front of me as I didn't want to hold him back. He looked at me and told me that we were going to finish thing together and he would slow down for me. Sterling was my saving grace on the last 5k of that run and I couldn't have made it without it.

Pain, exhaustion and heat were fighting my body but when we saw that finish line we looked at each other and said, "Let's go" and we both exerted what we had left to the finish line. I gave him a big hug before the waterworks began.

Team GRN MCHN (missing Josh)

I started hysterically crying when I got to the water dump station, where volunteers were dumping water on athletes to cool them down. I think my body was in shock by the cold and realizing how hot I was. I bent over and medical ran right up to me asking if I was okay. I cried and said that I was hot and the next thing I know I had a volunteer with a hose just spraying my back off. Medical wouldn't let me go until I had someone to take me, but Dan was right there for me. He gave me a big hug and told me great job and he was proud of me....I was still crying. I remember him asking if I needed food or water and I said I needed to cool off so I did...in the river.

Looking back, that run pushed me in ways that I didn't think were possible. I hurt in ways that I'd never felt and I experienced a heat that I'd never experienced, despite the hours of sauna and Florida training time. All of that being said, I made it. Having never run a half marathon, and having been injured for such a long time last year and being able to complete that after being out in the sun for more than 3 hours is pretty amazing and I am blessed to have been able to do it. With the help of my friends, family and coach, I not only completed my first ever half ironman, I did it in sub 6 hours and got 7th in my age group!

Final Time: 5:56:46

So much exhaustion...I couldn't stay awake even if I was trying

Aftermath
I honestly don't think I have ever experienced such awful pain in my life before....and that pain continued for days after. The race also came with extreme dehydration and exhaustion, things that prevented me from doing my workouts this week after. I couldn't go into work on Monday, the day after the race, because my urine showed that something was clearly wrong and I should've gotten an IV drip to rehydrate myself; instead I just drank gallons of water. I felt like a slacker for skipping so many workouts but Dan agreed that it would be better for me to get rest then burn up the small amounts of energy that I have.

Although hot and miserable, I can't wait for my next 70.3. Between now and then I have to get things right with my knee again, and run two Olympic distances, have another three sets of exams and then have a great 70.3 amongst the tallest rollercoasters in the world at Rev3 Cedar Point. Thank you for all the support and best wishes, I certainly couldn't do what I do without all of you! 

#nomoreaquabike : Kinetic Sprint Triathlon

Heading into my first triathlon (fully including the running) in about 4 years was a little nerve racking, but I knew from the block before leading up to it, I was well underway of being great out there. My block contained the start of hill bounders, a strength workout that involves bounding up a very large hill over and over again, longer runs and longer rides, and the start of open water swimming.

Lake Anna Field Trip

Swim: I remember there was a point not too long about where I doubted whether I would ever be "fast" again but I am happy to say that those doubts are gone. Granted I will never be swimmer "fast" again, but I am pulling some good solid steady and resistance workouts throughout the week. This block came with the start of open water swimming, something that I am not the biggest fan of. When I can see the bottom of the body of water I panic and when I can't see the bottom of the body of water, I panic, so it's really just a lose lose. Meghan and I told a tri field trip out to Lake Anna one Monday after work and it was our chance to acclimate to the water in which we would be swimming in and get comfortable. I for sure got more comfortable and successfully made it through the whole workout without any panic attacks!

Photo Credit: Coach

Bike: This block came with a lot of bonks and nutrition fails while determining what I could possibly eat that is safe and will fuel me well. Long rides got dangerously close to bonks until I stopped to get snickers bars and the revelation that I was out of neutral position. My long rides have been going okay. I say just okay because my biggest area for work-on is my cadence. Dan tells us that we have to keep a cadence of 90+rpms on the bike and my long rides have been averaging somewhere in the high 70rpms. Not great...and I have really been pushing and trying to fix that but Dan says it takes 1-2 weeks to become a thing. On the trainer I am able to hit that high cadence but when I hit the road I find that I simply cannot. It feels like, although my fit are clipped into the pedals, that if I spin my legs to that kind of cadence, they will slip off and I'll go flying. However, I will continue to work on it because I understand the importance of keeping a high cadence especially before a run and trying to get those run legs ready to rock. I've been doing my PPT hill sprints by myself the past few weeks, so having Meghan and Dan be there with me the last time before my race was great. I always love have company in workouts as they make them go by faster or create them to be more tolerable. Dan is teaching me a lot about my power wattage and what I need to try and hold. While focusing on power has allowed me to get more consistent and has stopped the crazy wattage of burning myself out. I feel that to be successful on the bike I have to focus on the triangle of factors: HR, cadence and power. It'll come along,

Run: I have to say how absolutely blown away I am of my progress made here during this block! In the early stages of training, I was high in doubts that I could ever really understand this whole zone thing and how going slow would actually turn into fast, but I'm a believer. I had a big breakthrough this block with all my runs, especially my long runs! I was finally able to take it out slow and descend my pace throughout and get progressively faster to the point of negative splitting my runs. I had one Sunday where I had long run, PPTs, long run. I was thinking that was pure madness and I was not looking forward to it, but I actually ended up loving it and had run a total of 11 miles that day: more than I had ever run prior which gave me a new sense of accomplishment. My run is coming along more and more everyday and I had a big revelation during this block: I actually enjoy and look forward to running, something I never thought I would say. When I thought triathlon, I always thought swim and bike (AWESOME) and run (torture), but now I can see all three sports together and as something I love doing. 

Knee: I would love to say that my knee has been great and hasn't been giving me problems, but everything cannot be great all the time. During my last long ride I developed this debilitating pain in my bad knee and after e-mailing Lori Strobl (my PT) about it, we determined I was out of neutral position which was in turn hurting my bike fit position, therefore the knee pain. I panicked, this was one week before my race, however, she let me know of things I had to do to get back into neutral and I was extra diligent about getting the work done to get my knee under control, and I think I did! 

Kinetic Sprint Triathlon: 1:30.31 

Pre-Race: Despite Coach's wishes, I was a sherpa cheerleader for Meghan and Dan's kinetic half race the day before my race. It was hot, it was long and it was not the great resting day before the race as he wanted me to have, however, I did everything in my power to make it restful. Instead of biking in between cheering locations, we drove. Instead of standing and cheering, we had lawn chairs, and when I got tired and hot, I hung up a hammock in the shade and took a nap. It was great and I felt that watching the race is what I needed to pump myself up before my race. 

Morning of, I got up, packed up the little I still had left, did some physical therapy and made breakfast. Food before my races are always a battle; I was able to get down three pancakes and 2 scrambled eggs while sipping Infinit. I packed up the car and off I went to the race site! 

Swim: 12:12 

Honestly, there was nothing about this swim that was good. The wind created for a very choppy water swim, which made it very hard to breathe and sight. I ended up going off course a  little as I just couldn't see anything over the waves from the wind and the safety boats taking people out of the water. Dan tells me to shut my legs down and have long catch-up strokes, but I felt like I needed a bit more kick to power over the waves. I was also supposed to find someone to swim with and draft off of. I clearly need to work on this more, because I let two white caps pass me and I ended up swimming solo overtop of people and getting kick every which way. 

I was so glad to get out of the water and make it to transition. 

T1: 2:26 

"Think slow, act fast" is Dan's mantra when it comes to transition. I tried this, but without the use of wetsuit strippers, the removal of my wetsuit was very challenging and I found myself falling to the group when I tried. After the lengthy process, I was able to quickly get what I needed and bolt out of there. 

Bike: 49:06

A sprint course bike is fast and short...two things I didn't really feel prepared for, but I tried to race it as close to Dan's race strategy as I could. In the past I have hammered up hills and taken the down hills as easy, but he wanted me to really watch my power and make sure that there were no massive spikes, which meant I would ride up hills going slow while getting passed by loads of people. It was definitely a course that I was not prepared for. I've been training flat courses, so my legs were in shock from the hills, but I did the best I could. About halfway through I did throw up. I wasn't sure whether it was from nutrition or the quantity of water that I had taken in from the swim.  Looking at the stats now, though, I see that I raced I pretty solid race despite the hills and how I felt. Cadence can for sure be higher, but at least I got it out of the 70s! Power was higher than my training rides and I didn't have any absurd spikes for the hills...

T2: 1:02 

Helmet and shoes off. Shoes and visor and race belt on and off I went. 

Run: 25:44

Mile 1: 8:43 

I got out of transition and up a giant hill I went. Since the bike was so cold and windy, I had no sensation of my feet or really my legs for that matter. I was vaguely aware that I was moving and I honestly thought I was going 10:00/mile pace up the hill. The top of the hill marked one mile and I was pleasantly surprised with how quick I ran. It didn't feel bad. I tried to zone out all of the junior and HPT Endorphin girls passing me. My old triathlon self would've wanted to catch up with them, but I wanted to stick with Dan's plan as much as I could, so I focused simply on me and what I had to accomplish on that run. 

Mile 2: 8:22 

This was the most flat the run course got and I finally regained some feeling in my legs. Dan said that he wanted me to take the water stops slower, but I didn't. I felt that if I were to take them slower or stop and get what I needed, I wouldn't start moving again. I made sure I shouted what I needed before I got there and the volunteers always got the water into my hand. I sipped a bit but it was more to flush my mouth out of the throw up taste. 

Mile 3: 7:45

I love me some down hills and this whole mile was downhill. I still took it in control not letting my legs get ahead of me but a nice and solid run. Before entering the woods to the finish line, I saw these two greyhound dogs that I had my eye on all day before and I shouted to the owners, "I love your dogs, they kept me company yesterday." The owners laughed and told me I had 800meters to the finish. I kicked it into turbo drive and passed 3 people in the woods before the finish line. Michael and Parker of Endorphin were running up along the path to cheer and they cheered for me and told me I looked great, so I pushed as much as I could with the finish line in sight. 

Overall: 2nd in 25-29

I'm not wildly happy with my swim and bike performance, but I am very pleased with my run. Dan says that if my run was that good, I raced well, but maybe I'm just too hard on myself having a great aquabike season last season. I got second in my age group, and was 36 seconds away from getting first. I was the 18th woman overall and 103 overall. I saw things that I can improve on and had some surprises along the way (such as my run). Regardless of how I thought I did, it was a great first race and put that competitiveness back in me for the rest of the season. I look forward to Eagleman and my first ever half in 4 weeks! I, of course, couldn't do any of this without my support of my training partners, family, and coach! More to learn, more to grow! Giddy up!