I Lovermont

At the beginning of the summer I blogged about how I had qualified for the triathlon National Championships and my parents were taking me.
They did.
Today I am going to write about the race and then tomorrow the trip itself.

Swim

Here I am enjoying a pre race cocktail.  Really it's just gatorade. 
I think I was in the 87th wave to start.  The waves before me had swum in deceptively straight lines leading me to believe there was little current or pull.  So I jumped in under that false assumption and started about ten minutes of treading water.  While I was treading water the announcer announced, "Susan Williams is in the water."  Susan Williams is THE U.S. women's Olympic medalist from the U.S.   I was swimming with her.  We were neck and neck.....right until the horn sounded.
I quickly realized that I was out of my league as the rest of the field pulled ahead of me.  I dealt with that through the first and second buoy and I was being overcome by the next wave at the third.  Then it all fell apart and I considered quitting as a lifeguard tried to beat me into returning to the course with his oar.  The sun was in my eyes, I was swimming in circles, I had a cramp, and some jerk told me I was swimming sideways.  (Just for the record....I MEANT too!)

I am the one splashing around out there WAAAAAYYYYY of course.

The only thing that kept me from giving up was thinking that my parents had funded the whole trip and my mom had walked all the way to the race start.  If I had quit then it would all be a waste.  I never did see that fourth buoy, but I did spot the fifth and figured I might live, so I continued swimming and finally made it to dry land.  I thought I had been out there forever, but it turns out it was right at 38 minutes.  Not much off my usual pace.
Swim - 00:38:17

 Does this outfit make me look fat?


I managed not to pull a glut getting out of my wetsuit and headed on to the next phase.

The Bike
I had rented a very nice tri bike for the occasion instead of paying for my own bike to me dismantled and rebuilt numerous times.  It was awesome.  Shifting was different as were the aero bars and the handle bars, but all in all it was fine.
The idea of hills had me intimidated ever since I signed up for the race.  The first 2.5 miles were total incline.  And to mock me the people ahead of me were FLYING downhill to finish up their bike.  Usually my heart rate is usually only around 180 when I am going all out.  On the bike my heart rate stayed around 225 the entire time.   It was definitely hard, but not impossibly so.  Vermont was beautiful and I had plenty of time to see it. I figure I was in last place because whenever I rode passed a volunteer or officer they started up their engines as if they were done with their shift.
It was quite exhilarating to look down and see my speed as 37.00 mph after the turnaround.  Since I had never ridden the bike other than on the trainer for the fitting I was really praying the brakes worked.  Whew.
The cramp I developed in the swim was noticeable on the bike, but not traumatic.   (That's foreshadowing by the way.)
Bike - 1:27:30

Hallelujah! I survived the bike.  Oh darn....it's time to run.

Run
The run is never my strong point and the feeling that I was in last didn't help.  Neither did the half mile climb to start us off.  UHG.  I walked it and my side was killing me by the time I got to the top.  I walked/ran as best I can.  Five people from my age group passed me which filled me with hope AND despair.  Each time I thought, "I wasn't last!  But I am now."
At one point I was walking and a nice older (very older) lady competitor ran by me and asked if I was injured.  I told her I had a bad cramp and couldn't breath and she encouraged me to run with her nice and slow.  I did run with her for probably a mile and a half and I am so thankful for her encouragement.  She was a previous world qualifier and very interesting too!  By the time she ran off I only had a mile left.

Run - 1:13:22
Finally I reached the finish line and received my finishers medal.  Both my dad and my mom were there to congratulate me.  (Everyone else had packed up and gone home.  Ok.  Not really.)  I was very glad my mom was able to see me race.  I was even more glad my dad had pre agreed to a big honking LUNCH!!
Total - 3:23:46

Can you see them rolling up the carpet after my finish?  Kidding.

Sometimes it is important to just keep going because it turns out I didn't do as poorly at the race as I thought I was doing. I was over my best olympic distance time by about four minutes.  Really with the hills and the unfamiliar bike and all that wasn't too bad.
I came in 106th out of 107 in my age group.  Of course if I were just basing my performance on that I would be disappointed, so it is a good thing I am not.  It's like I told my dad.  I was still getting passed, but I was getting passed by a much better class of athlete!

I was really looking forward to putting that 1800 calories back in my belly!! 

I was an experience I am lucky to have had.  I hope to get a chance to return next year and do a better job since I have one national championship under my belt!  Can't wait.  (Mom and Dad - I will try to save up some money between now and then!!)

Tomorrow I plan to fill you all in on the vacation part of this trication.
Try to contain your excitement.

It Was Hot

Sorry.  Not describing anything scandalous here.   Just a race recap.

I did the Bridgeland Tri on Sunday.  It was a sprint length tri, 500 m, 13.5, and 3.5.

I haven't raced since June what with the cruise and then signing up for the race in Vermont.  I was really looking forward to this race.  I wanted to knock it out of the park.  I wanted to beat this chick at practice who has been slacking off and telling me how it is hard to workout when she would rather sit on the couch with her new boyfriend.  I wanted to run 3.5 miles at a 9/mile pace.

Instead here is what happened.

We showed up early on Sunday after listening to the fishing report.  My group of loyal supporters was happy to be there.  Don't they look like it?  Body marking and transition were WAY backed up.  There was talk about delaying the start.  I got ticked.  I was already a bit miffed that all of the men's waves started before any of the women's.  Great.  I wanted to run in the searing heat.  My bike rack was the one furthest back.  Uhg.

I had to stop and remind myself I can not change the weather, or my bike placement, or the timing of the waves.  As I read in an Ironman's blog not long ago, "The only thing I have control over is my attitude."  I wish I could say I only had to remind myself of that once, but by the time I stood in an ant pile waiting for my swim wave to start I had already reminded myself multiple times.

I swam well.  My strategy was to start WAY left.  It added a couple of meters to my swim, but it kept me out of the "scrum" of swimmers and that was nice.  It was a straight swim course with no turn around which was also nice.  I was able to swim in the proper position without having to stick my head out of the water to check my position. My time was a whole minute faster than in practice last weekend.  Probably it was the best swim I have had this season.
Time -11:39, 16/54

My attitude was improving as I had one leg under my belt and I felt like if everything went well.  I felt I could make my A Goal time of 1:27:00.  I figured that time would put me in the top ten in my age group and assure that I beat the chick who was hanging out with her boyfriend!!  My bike sounded so much better than it had in the past since I had some minor repairs done.  The bike route was crowded.  There were a few instances of scary passing. At mile 8 I saw the chick pass me.  I wanted to keep her in my sights in case she had a rough run and I could still catch her.  I spent the next few miles really pushing myself to keep her in view.  By the time I finished only two people from my age group had passed me.  My A Goal was still within reach, but it was going to require the best run of my life!
Time - 41:17, 17/54 (19.6 mph)

 All summer I have been working on my running and finally it was beginning to pay off.  Conversely the week before the race I had run for crap.  It is Africa hot here and running in it is hellacious.  It's awful.  I tried to run in the heat about four times the week before the race.  I have to say that none of those times was I completely successful.
I started to run and my legs already hurt.  I figured I had gone out too hard on the bike.  I told myself to ignore it for 30 minutes and move on. I had heard a hard core triathlete from my team talking about how the pain just had to be ignored.  I was ready to try it.   Mile 1 - 9:29.  Mile 2 was through a nature trail.  I started sneezing and snorting and coughing.  Other people were losing time blessing me!!  I told myself to ignore it for 30 minutes and move on.  Mile 2 - 10:20.  I got discouraged.

Did I mention it was hot?  I am not using this as an excuse.  It was hot for everybody and many racers handled it much better than I did.  I am just saying....HOT.  I weight myself before the race.  After the race I drank two cans of Coke, a can of grapefruit juice, and half a bottle of water.  Then I weighed myself again. I was still down three pounds.  That is a lot of sweat!!


By mile 3 I had let the heat, the allergies, and all the people passing me affect me.  I slowed way down.  I walked a few steps.  Walking in a triathlon seems to do something to me mentally.  I felt totally defeated.  I walked a little more.  Mile 3 11:20.  By the time I got to the turn many ladies from my age group had passed me.  It is really hard to finish top ten when eleven people pass you on the run!  I did run the last .65 of a mile at a decent pace to finish that infernal inferno run.

Time: 40.14, 33/54 (10:52 pace)
Total: 1:35:17, 23/54


By the way...I did beat the chick with the new boyfriend.  She had two flats in the bike.   I feel bad for her.  She was having a good race.  I didn't want to beat her like that.  It doesn't exactly count.

You got any regrets lately?

(Side note - Wednesday morning I was scheduled to do a hard bike/run brick.  I ran a 8:35 mile.  That was the first time I had run under a 9 minute mile probably EVER.   Why didn't I do that on Sunday?)

Matter Over Mind

I know.   It's backwards.
Yesterday I competed in the Tejas Triathlon - Sprint distance in Sugarland, Tx.

I posted a goal for this race as 1:18:00  based on my times in my last race.*
After I posted it I laughed.
Then I cried.
Then I was sickly.
Then I couldn't breathe.
It got hot out.
Then as the race got closer I kept thinking of humorous ways to write about my failure.  Thinking up failure recap posts before packet pickup has even occurred is probably a bad thing.
This race kicked my arse last year in a bad way.

The night before the race The Coach found out the next game in his baseball tournament was at 8:00 am.  He wouldn't be able to concierge** the race for me for the first time ever.  I was resigned to having a crappy race.

I trucked myself up to the race and before I had even completed the mile walk to transition I realized I was having some severe digestive problems.  (To put it mildly.)  I made three more porta can stops before I even got in the water.  (At that point I wished I had made another.)  I texted The Coach that I was having problems.  Too bad he wasn't there to take pictures of the porta shitters as he calls them.

I got into the water determined not to swim an extra 100 meters as I had at this race in the past.  I started off on the far right with the plan of staying close to the buoys.  By the time I got to the second buoy I had crossed diagonally through the wave of swimmers and situated myself in the most crowded place possible.  I am sure that was just as enjoyable for the swimmers I ran into as it was for me.  It was crowded and I tried to hang, but many people were doing breast stroke.  Getting kicked by a breast stroke kick is way more painful than a flutter kick.  It is also harder to get around a breast stroker.  I had swallowed duck poop water and had a goggle full of water, but really I should expect that by now.  I finally had to breaststroke too in order to map out a better route.  The rest of the swim went smoother.
Time: 14:40 - This is actually the time for both the swim and T1 as there seemed to be some timing glitch?
Place: ? (Probably 9)

I transitioned to the ride feeling no better about the whole race.  That is the feeling that comes when your bike is the last one on the rack after the swim. I soon started to feel better as my mph seemed pretty solid.  I saw a pack of ladies in front of me and I thought if I could just hang with them I would be doing well.  Honestly I didn't give more than a passing though to saving something for the run.  I was thinking my run would suck no matter what.  I kept the pack in sight for the first loop and then I lost most of them on the second loop.  The bike seemed to be over before I knew it and I felt pretty confident.
Time: 36:36:4
Place: 10
Pace: 21.3

T2 was long.  Probably because I was dreading the run.  This run kills me every year.  In order to make it less painful this year I tried to familiarize myself with the route before race day.  I do better when I can spot something I recognize along the way.  I thought back and remembered that the path along the drainage ditch is always the part that has done me in in the past.  This strategy seemed to help.  At least no one with a walker passed me this year!  I didn't see anyone from my age group pass me, but the head of the 35-39 pack blew by me in the last mile.  I just kept saying to myself,  "run, run, run".  My strategy was to skip water stations until the last one where I poured water over my head and took one sip of Gatorade.  I made the turn into the drainage ditch and tried to keep my pace under 10:00/mile.  Finally I saw the little white bridge that signaled proximity to the finish.  I kicked in it probably too late I could have started running faster sooner.
Time: 28:34:8
Place: 12
Pace: 9:31

Total: 1:21:11.9
Place: 11/20

The reason I call this Matter Over Mind is because my mind had highly underestimated what my body was capable of .  I so badly wanted to do better than last year.  And I did.  I improved on my time by ten minutes.
I didn't think I would though.
I thought I would suck.
There is a difference between psyching yourself UP and psyching yourself OUT.  I did the latter.  My body had to override my mind this time and prove myself wrong.  If those two would ever get together I might be phenomenal.
I don't know that I could have hit my goal time, but I probably could have shaved off another minute in transition and maybe another minute in the run if I had been in a better mental state.

So to recap the recap................

On the pro side
Good bike. (Must have been a fast route all the times were good, but that's cool.  I can live with that.)
Did my first race solo and lived, or more to the point didn't get lost and mugged.
I realize I have got to spend some time working on my swim which used to be my best leg.

Con side
No pictures as I was solo.
Sucky attitude caused me to forget to enjoy the first half of the race.
Drought caused lake to extra duck poopy.
My son called me in the middle of my post race nap.  Grrr.

*Apparently when I originally set my goal I failed to factor in that last year is was an 11 mile ride.  12 miles at 19 mph should have been 40 minutes.  This would have made my goal time 1:24:00.


**Term stolen from Rock Star Tri who is currently on hiatus.

So.  Overall all, not bad at all.   

What experiences have exceeded your expectations lately?

Tri-Girl Super Sprint

Sunday  I ran a super sprint tri.  Basically it is a very short triathlon.  I had posted my goal the other day as 53:00:00.  Did I make it??  Stay tuned.

We got up at the butt crack of dawn as usual.  Saige got to come along as well as The Coach's folks who have been visiting for a couple of weeks.  Mia (The Coach's Mom) took pictures which was nice because when I got the camera back I actually had pictures of the race instead of other women's boobs and port-a-potties.

Here is Saige and I messing around before the race.  Actually I am messing around and she is trying to pretend she doesn't know me.

The water was cold, but at 200 meters the swim was not long enough to mess with a wetsuit.  I am just slightly in second in this picture.  We started from land which I had never done before.  My plan was to start at the outside and then cut over in front of everyone there by missing the "scrum" of swimmers.  Had I executed that plan I would have been good, but instead I swam about 30 meters then made a hard left into that densely packed group of gals.  The getting run over and under definitely slowed me down.
Swim 6:07.5

 I put the swim behind me and headed off on the bike.  I concentrated on focusing and riding faster than 18.0 mph.  Not too many people from my age group passed me.
Bike 25:19 (19mph)

 When I got off the bike I saw The Coach and he hollered, "You better run if you are going to make it!"  I started thinking that maybe my swim was worse than I thought.  My plan was to run fast no matter how much it hurt.  It was only two miles.  I figured I gave birth to five kids I could do this.

When I ran past the coach toward the finished he looked shocked.  Later he told me, "I thought I had two more minutes to wait for you and then my mom said you were coming around the corner".

Run 18:10:04  (Let's take a minute to enjoy that.)

I have never run faster than a ten minute mile in a race.  Actually I haven't even run close to a ten minute mile.

Look how hard core I am.  I was even injured!  (There was a rock in my shoe from transitioning from the swim to the bike.  I didn't want to stop to fix it.)

I enjoyed a water with The Coach while waiting for the results.  He is not drinking coffee out of a pink mug here.  That it my finishers prize!  I am wiping my mouth because there was water on it.  He is wiping his mouth because I kissed him and he claimed I was sweaty and yucky.  Hmph.

Finally the results were up and fought my way in to see them. 
Final time - 52:18!  I beat my goal by 42 seconds.
AG Place - 5/60.  I have never been 5th in ANYTHING.  I spent the rest of the day smiling!!
Total Place - 54/326

I am proud of myself for putting the swim behind me even though I was sure it sucked and I am proud that I focused on running fast (for me) for two miles even though it was uncomfortable.  What I have learned lately is - running fast is uncomfortable, but not deadly.

After the race I came home to this future triathlete and ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and mac and cheese.  And wine. 

I played ladder golf with the family and I am pretty sure my brother, Uncle Bachelor, and I were the Champions of the Entire Civilized World. 

Do you have a competitive hobby?  What is your greatest acheivement at it?  What did you do (and eat) for Mother's Day??

"The Coach" Speaks!

I always try to get The Coach to take pictures while I am racing.  He never does.  This time I told him if he would take some pictures he could guest blog.  We had to hash out the details, like how many pictures he was allowed to post of stranger's boobs, but we finally came to an agreement.  In a move I may live to regret.  Here's The Coach!

So the wife says that I get to be her guest blogger today.  Woo hooo!  If you have been paying attention to her blog lately, you know it's officially triathlon season.  I can hardly contain my excitement.  She wanted me to share the race from my point of view.  I gladly accepted.  So....................here goes.

The alarm went off at 3:25 AM and my dog looked at me and said, *"What the blue hell is that noise?  Is the house on fire?  Please tell me you aren't going to make me get up and go pee right now at this hour.  I promise I won't eat anymore of the cat litter if you just let me go back to sleep!" 
We got up, the dog peed, we loaded the truck and were out of the house by 3:45.  It's amazing when my wife and I go on a date I have to tell her we are leaving 30 minutes before we actually are, so she will be on time, but for a triathlon she's early.  I don't get it.

We stopped by the gas station so I could  mainline of this wonderful creation from God.  It is the only way I could possibly stay awake. 

For those of you who don't see 3:45 AM very often allow me to explain how early it is. 
In a city of 4 million people.  We passed one car on the road.
It's even too early for the fishing show to be on the radio.  It doesn't start until 4AM.  So for about 6 minutes of the drive we got to listen to some idiot talk about ghosts and alien life forms and how he was "butt diddled" by ghosts of alien life forms. 
FINALLY my favorite fishing show came on.  Heather hates it.  She thinks that the fishing guy is an idiot and is hard to understand.  She definitely thinks the people who call in at 4AM are idiots.  She voiced that at about 4:13 AM and I just looked at her and thought, "We are up at this time so you can go torture yourself for 3 hours and you want to complain about some fisherman calling into a radio show."  I didn't say that out loud because she would've either hit me or farted.  I don't know which one is worse at 4:13 AM.  I do enjoy the fishing show, but I really enjoy that she hates it.  It's part of my payback for having to get up at the ass crack of dawn.

Finally we arrived and I got to watch Heather's pre-race routine.  Some people pray, run a half-mile to warm up, stretch.  Not my "Hot Ass Triathlete", she runs to this wonderful contraption at least 23 times before the race.  I've finally just started putting my lawn chair right next to it (up-wind, of course).  I've thought to myself quite often that I'm going to buy a "port-a-shitter" company just for the sake of my wife's usage at triathlons. I bet I would be rich by now.

We finally made it to the start of the race, well, not actually.  Normally the swim starts from land, but this time they get to load this wonderful mode of transportation.  It takes them out into the Gulf of Mexico one mile and they swim straight in.  Well most people swim straight in.  If you tracked my wife's swim path it would looked like a very skilled cross-stitch.  She doesn't understand straight.  She's trying though.

 The funny thing is, we've been on this boat before.  Wanna know when?  Well I'm going to tell you. 
When my wife and I had been dating a while, I don't think we were married yet, she told me she had this wonderfully romantic dinner-date planned for me.  I was excited.  Figured it out yet?  Yep, this boat doubles as a dancing buffet.  She paid MONEY for us to go on this thing at one time and dance to a one-man band and eat school cafeteria food.  It was the worst date I have ever been on in my life.  Y'all may think I'm a jerk right now.  Don't....she will tell you the same thing.  **At one point in the date we both thought about jumping overboard and swimming a couple miles back to shore. 

Let's get back to the race.

While she was sitting on the boat getting ready to go swim her mile, I moseyed into an outdoor bar.  It was closed because the only people up at 5:45AM on a Sunday are God, us, and the most intellectual security guard I've ever had a conversation with.  I sat down at the bar and started watching Sports Center.  This bar is a pathway from the parking lot to the boardwalk.  There were at least 100 people walking through this thing. 
Well, Mr. Rent-a-Cop came in and asked me what I was doing.  I could've been a smartass but I simply said, "catching up on some scores.  How are you doing?"  He proceeded to tell me that I had set off the security system and I needed to leave.  I looked and pointed at all the people walking through the bar and wondered how they didn't set it off.  I guess I could've stood and watched TV but as soon as I say my ass down in the chair it set the alarm off.  That's one high quality security system.  After about a 25 minute conversation with "The Smartest Security Guard Ever", I made my way around the boardwalk to see my wife zig-zag her way into the shore.

I thought to myself,"what am I going to do for 3 hours?"  Most people could watch a full baseball game, or any of the Lord of the Rings movies, drive to San Antonio, or SLEEP.  I decided to wander aimlessly around Kemah and check out the sights.

The first sight I came across was a twenty-something guy sitting in a chair, watching the contestants swim to the shore.  He was on his phone, cussing up a storm and acting like Mr. Pimp Daddy.  In the meantime I was in a conversation with a woman who was about 6 months pregnant and I noticed that she was rubbing her back.  I guarantee she wished she would have stayed in bed for this 3 hours. 
Anyway, I asked Pimp Daddy if he would mind getting up for about 5 minutes so she could rest her back.  I got one of the most prolific responses I've ever heard in my life.  "I'm comfortable."  Wow!  I asked again even more politely and his response was, "Yo dog.  I'm comfortable."  I've never thought about getting into a fight at a triathlon, mainly because I'm checking out all the fake boobs.  It was all I could do to keep from throwing that scrawny kid halfway into the ocean and letting that lady sit down.  I simply walked away.....hoping he choked on his drink.

***I decided to go see Miss Cleo and have my crystal ball read.  Here's what she said to me.  "What's your name sweetie."  She's the psychic, why was she asking me my name?  She did tell me that I was going to have unlimited "kitchen passes" for a year because of my wonderfulness and awesomeness and athletic supportness.  She told me what an amazing and great a husband I was.  I already knew these things.  I was excited about the "kitchen passes".

I thought about going right next door to the "Love Specialist".  I soon realized that I didn't need any help in this department.  I was going to get all the "lovin" I wanted after this little jaunt. 

The race was finally winding down and my "Hot Ass Triathlete" was doing better than the last time she ran this distance.  Overall, I got to see her swim in, get on her bike, come back on her bike, start the run, stop and use the "port-a-shitter" mid-race.  I saw her about 2 miles into the run and she had just barely passed a contestant with a walker.  I was so excited I yelled that she actually passed someone.  The guy was not happy.  I laughed.

In all seriousness.  I am glad to go support my wife at her triathlons..........who are we kidding............I go for the fake boobs.  She knows it, I know it, why lie about it?  This race's "talent" was not very impressive.  There was, however, one lady who finished the race without a spec of makeup out of place.  Funny thing is, she was probably prettier without the makeup.

I'm glad for the experience.  My wife did awesome.  She was proud of herself.  I did learn something at this race.......next time I'm bringing my cooler and my fishing pole.

What does your husband do while you are busy with your hobbies?

So there you have it.  A race recap from The Coach.
*Our dog doesn't actually talk.  She does eat cat litter.
**I didn't consider jumping into the Gulf to escape.  It was February.  I do not like cold.
***These two paragraphs are completely fabricated.

Leave him some comment love if you want, but not too much.  I'll never hear the end of it if he gets more comments than I do.  :)

A Day at the Beach

The Coach and I got up at the butt crack of dawn Sunday so I could participate in the Kemah Triathlon - International Distance.

The race started with a few trips to the port can. 

 Of course the race really started with a swim, but instead of leaving from the shore we were loaded onto this boat.  The boat then drove us a mile out in to the Gulf and we jumped off and swam in. Different. 

Check out this absolutely straight swim course.

 Then tell me how I managed to add probably 200 meters to my swim by swimming in a triangle.  I swam too left until I literally ran into a lifeguard kayak and then I had to course correct and swim back to the right.  I tell you I am going to kick some butt when I learn to swim straighly.  (Yeah.  That's a word.)
*I think I was 9th in the swim for my age group.

Next was the bike and I felt like I was doing fairly well until the wind came in.  So I was headed out at max speeds of 14.5 mph.  My bike sounded horrible.  I felt like it was going to fall apart.  I kept envisioning myself sitting on my bum in the middle of the highway holding on to my areo-bars while the rest of my bike fell down around me.  I finally realized that it has probably sounded like this for a while, but I haven't noticed since I usually listen to my ipod.
I was keeping up a steady stream of mental trash talk when I would pass people.  "Ha ha you 28 year stud.  I just passed you.   I am a 39 year old mom of five.  Take that."  Then I realized the guy was probably recovering from leukemia or something, and I felt terrible.  Conversely if someone obviously faster than me passed by I would think, "You're not so hot!  I beat you in the swim!" Thank God for the turnaround!  After that I was booking it and I passed several people. (Only to see them again on the dreaded run.)
*I have no idea of my rank in the bike.

Running improvement is slow and painful.  At least for me.  I can say during this race I at least didn't feel like I was going to die.  I did cut my time in the run marginally.  I think I would have cut it more had we not had to go up and over the causeway....TWICE.  (My photographer didn't get a picture, I got this one of the internet.)
*Pace - 11:30/mile

All in all it wasn't bad.  I improved on my last time by over ten minutes.  I'll take improvement no matter how minimal over a DNF!!
*Final Time  3:19:??

After that we went home.  My mom and dad were nice enough to watch the kids at their house so we could catch a post-race nap.  After that I experienced the post-race "I can't get out of bed."  Then we enjoyed a nice Italian dinner courtesy of the folks.

What races do you have coming up?

*Official race results were not posted yet when I gave up and went to bed.
Tune in tomorrow for a humorous guest post by The Coach.

Be Better

What's that you say?  You have been losing sleep wondering what my New Years resolutions are?  I am sorry.  I will fill you in immediately.  I am sure you were also curious as to how my Virtual Race - Resolution Run went.

I thought about an actual resolution.   I couldn't think of anything.  It is certainly not because I am perfect.  I guess I am just not very creative and I didn't want to resolve to do anything I knew I just wouldn't do.  So my resolution is simply this, "Be Better."

I already workout, I just need to do it better.

If I lost weight I could maybe run faster, but I already eat decently so I just resolve to do better.  Maybe I can continue in the HBBC spirit of getting seven servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  (Without drinking V8 juice because it turns out it is 22% carrot juice and I am allergic to carrots.  Who knew?)

I am a decent mom.  I cook and cart and so forth, but I could be better by being a tad more focused and taking advantage of some opportunities I let slip by.  Maybe I could even occasionally help with homework instead of just hollering that I have already passed the 9th, 7th, or 4th grade.

I go to church, but I could be better by actually reading and trying to hear God.

I could be a tad more organized at home and at school. (I could start by finding my daily reading Bible so as to accomplish the previous Better.)

I am already a wonderful wife, so it will be a real reach to find an area for improvement.  I am not asking The Coach for any suggestions! 

I am not changing my motto from "Mediocrity is my goal."  I think I will just shoot for the upper limit of mediocrity instead of just barely not sucking!

 And now on to the race report.  No.  I do not comb my hair to run.   You gotta problem with that?  Who am I kidding.   I haven't combed my hair since the 80's.

Saige and I set out on a five miler.  (See I am Being Better already?  What is better than me exercising?  Me exercising and taking Saigie along to get some exercise too!) Saigie's resolution was "Read More."  What an enjoyable resolution for her!

It was sunny outside, but I quickly decided I hadn't worn enough clothes because of the wind.  I just went with it though instead of going in to change and getting Shaye Baby tuned up again.

Saigie and I set off.  We spent the first mile figuring out how to not run over each other.  After that we were like a well oiled machine.  I told Saige to ride and I would follow her.  She decided early on it was no fun to ride against the wind and did as much as she could to avoid it.  I appreciated that too!

I got a Garmin for Christmas so this recap is going to include mile times....because I can!
mile one: 11:05
mile two: 10:13
mile three: 10:00
mile four: 10:08
mile five: 10:17
Total 51:41
I wasn't breaking any land speed records and I am probably not going to any time soon.   Part of being better may be spending more time working on speed.  OR Being better may include accepting my current pace.  I haven't decided yet.

(Sunday I ran ten miles for the first time ever!  Hopefully I am on track to do the half marathon I signed up for Jan. 31.  My goal for my first (and probably last) half marathon is to just run the whole time.)

Happy New Year!  I hope you all have a wonderful 2011!

A Dash of Dash

On Thanksgiving the kids and I participated in the YMCA Turkey Dash.  Remember I vowed to kick my oldest's booty in the race?  I guess I did because he was a DNS.  He woke up claiming stomach problems, blah, blah, blah.  He made a quick recovery about the time the sweet potatoes were ready
.
I broke my own rule of not wearing the race shirt until the race is finished.  Also I am instituting a new rule: No pictures prior to 7 am.

Shaye Baby and Tayte enjoyed some dress up too.

My older brother came to run and my younger brother came to drink cheer us on.

My older brother was less than impressed with his get up.

The Coach doesn't seem to be a fan of the headdresses either. Hmph.  (Is he checking out the "talent" here?  Certainly not.  But if he is I'll forgive.  He does hang out at a lot of races for me.)

Tanner : 9:10

Saigie: 11:07

Here are Tanner and Saige finishing up their races.  (Saige is the one in the cool Christmas socks.)  I thought they both did very well and they seemed to have a good time.  Yay for them!

                                                                Guns: 26:17 

My brother, Guns,  hasn't run in a race since high school - which by the way was a long long time ago.   He was teasing at the start that he should be further to the front with the fast people.  A young guy in front of him told him he needed go further back. 

As I was getting to the turn the same guy ran up to me and said, "Hey is that guy you are running with back there?"  I told him my brother had already made the turn and was way ahead of us.  He poured on the speed trying to catch up to him.  I finally took pity on the kid and said, "He's in the army, you know."  At that point the guy gave up.  It's tough to get beat by an old guy huh?

I should note here, my brother didn't pack heat for the race.  I am shocked this didn't cause him to run lopsided, or throw off his balance in any way.

Guns was nice enough to loop back around and finish with me.  For some reason though he felt I should top my lackluster race off with a full out sprint.  At that point Tanner decided to join in by jumping out in front of me while I was going full speed.  I thought I was going to wreck at full speed.  But with agility and grace I managed to narrowly avoid that.
So I finished with a very disappointing 31:14, proving that one can only consume so much queso and beer before it begins to affect quickness - both physical and mental. (I was hoping to run it in less than 29:00.  Oh well...there is always next year.)

Shaye may run next year too.  She seemed ready!

Overall I had a great time with The Coach, the kids, my brothers and my dad.  After the race we headed over to my mom's where my sister in law made a Norweigian concoction that is both a drink and a snack.  My mom made all of the yummiest Thanksgiving dishes.  She also carried on her strange tradition of using her label maker to label all the desserts.  (Thanks for making it easy to find the Rice Krispy Treats, Mom!)

I was truly grateful for the relaxation and the time we spent with family.

(I am sorry this post was about as long as the race.)

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions??

Katy Triathlon - Race Recap

This is it.  The last triathlon of the season!

This race has changed locations since the last time I did it.  Good thing I have The Coach to look at things like directions and location.

I got up early and my best friend, Preeti, came over at 5:45 am to stay with the kiddos.  We got the race super early since it isn't even ten minutes away.  Who knew?  There was a mile walk from the parking to transition.  It was a nice leisurely walk with The Coach - very quiet with the absence of all the children.  After lining all my stuff up and making two separate visits to the "lavatories" we milled around and said hi to several folks we knew.  The Coach and I had a former student/athlete racing as well as various people I take classes with from time to time and The Coach's buddy Joaquin.

The race got underway and I got to watch several groups of swimmers complete the course since my wave didn't leave off until 8:05. Whew.  I was tired from just standing there.  I did stand with some nice chatty ladies who didn't look all that intimidating, but had done a half iron man this season.  I was super impressed.  The water was a tad chilly.  Many people had wetsuits on, but I did not.  1. I do not own a wetsuit and 2. I am almost certain I would just injure myself trying to get it off.  The gun went off and I swam. The Coach said I was doing well and was in third until I decided to meander all over the course.  It is true.  Every time I took a breath looking forward I had popped up in some different part of "no man's land".  I zig zagged all over the course.  I panicked at one point because I thought I had missed a buoy and after heading back to make it realized is was not the one you had to round.  All in all I did fine on the 500 meter swim.  Time: 11:51.8       Place: 8

I was speedy quick at the first transition because I have noticed I usually lose a lot of time there.  I didn't bother to dry off.  It never seems to help anyway. (Transition - 2:10.7)

Then I was on my way.  Lucky me - the 16 mile bike course is the same route I ride a few times a week training.  Exactly the same.  It was windy, but I felt I was doing all right.  I had to come to a complete stop at one point for an ambulance.  Later I saw the ambulance loading up one of the athletes.   I hope he was not too badly injured.  I have never seen so many people suffering bike malfunctions.  I assume most of them were popped tube problems.  Fortunate that I knew all the potholes, debris, and half decayed roadkill on the route!!  I guess one guy gave up entirely because I saw some poor schmuck's bike just thrown in the ditch????

I did see something very disturbing this race I have not seen in the past.  Three guys wearing speedos.  Not just during the swim but throughout the whole race.  I wouldn't even think that would be comfortable.  It certainly was not comfortable for The Coach.

I felt I did well on the bike.  Time 54:45      Place: 8

I have really been looking forward to the 3 mile run.  I have been doing a lot of bricks and really hammering the run.  I thought maybe I could take a minute or a little more off my time.
I was wrong.  I ran hard for a mile.  By the time I got to the first water I was cramping on both sides.  I walked and drank some water.  Then I kept on plugging along.  I had no idea that running on gravel would be so different from running on pavement.  (Not that I looked at the race route beforehand to know that was what was in store.  Duh.) A couple of times I had to walk to catch my breath.  At one point a younger athlete ran beside me while I was walking and remarked, "You walk faster than I run."   Ha! 

The turn was two miles into the run and I was feeling a little better, not much.  I knew the end was coming though and that The Coach was probably already wondering where I was.  By the time I ran passed him....he had a BEER!  It was not even 10 am!!  His buddy had already finished and they were having a good time!!
So my run was less than I had hoped for, but it's ok.  Time:  32:27.3         Place: 16

We loafed around a little while trying to see race results and waiting for the transition area to open.  When it did I scooped my bike and got going even though I hadn't gotten to see my time yet.  There were still people finishing the run as we were making the mile trek back to the truck.  We took a few seconds to cheer for them.  One of the competitors finishing up couldn't have been more than 8.  Her sister was yelling for her to start her kick. (It turns out they were the youngest competitors at 8 and 10.  They both kicked my bootier in the run.  That's French for booty.)

Finish time: 1:43:04.1  Place 11/22 AG

I asked The Coach if he wanted to write a recap.  He said no.  He pointed out that it was nice that I forgot the camera so I couldn't tell him how much he sucked as a blogger.  He also wanted it to be known that there were too many men at this race and not enough hot women.  Although some of the wives were nice he said.  (Sorry.  Just keeping it real.) He seemed to be enjoying himself and even got to tool around on a volunteer golf cart since he knew the volunteer.  I asked him if he had a better time this race and he said, "No."  Hmm..  Maybe I need to start going to some of the close small races on my own?  Nah.

Next I just have to decide how to approach the off season training.  I have a few running races to do and then I plan to pick up the triathlon schedule again in April.  Any suggestions?

(Sorry this was almost as long as the race itself.  Thanks for your patience.)

Bad Blogger

Ok.  This is the last post I will do on my first Olympic triathlon. 

I didn't have any pictures in my previous post because The Coach is a bad blogger.  He doesn't seem to care either.  Every triathlon I hand him the camera and ask to take pictures of 1. me and 2. anything cool he sees while waiting for me to finish.  Usually I can count on him to take about two pictures.  The last race was no exception. 

So here are the ones the professional race photographers took.  Sadly when I saw the photographers this time I really tried to look better for the pictures.  The pictures from my other races are TERRIBLE.  One day I will have to post them and we can all make fun.

I will also include my times since they are posted now.  Don't laugh.  On second thought....go ahead.

This is me getting out of the water.  Duh.  I only include it because it is the only picture that shows me ahead of people! Plus I am quick trying to get those googles off because I don't like them.  They hurt my nose.

Swim time: 36:22
Place       : 20/40

Transition 1: 7:41  - Holy Crap!  What?  Did I have a cup of coffee?  Read a book?  This did include a 1/4 mile run, but still.

Not a bad picture of the bike.  Can someone PLEASE work on a bike shorts design that would be more flattering to women who weigh over 110 lbs.  PLEASE?!

Bike time: 1:29:06
Place      : 31/40

Transition 2: 2:31 - I have got to work on transitions apparently.

Here are my running pictures.  They reveal a secret I have been keeping from you.  I am severely pigeon toed!  This problem has plagued me since I started walking.  My shoes wear on the opposite side than everyone else's.  I use this as an excuse for my slow running. And for tripping.  And for losing things like keys and phones.

Also I think this is what The Coach is talking about when he says I do not have good running form.  What?  I am not supposed to be facing completely sideways.  That is not efficient?  (Nice skin belt there.  Why does my jersey always ride up?)

Run time: 1:14:01  - I did the first two miles in ten minutes each.  After that I started dragging. I need to cut fourteen minutes off this time for next year.  (Sorry Babe, I have decided I like this race!)
Place: 37/40

Sweet Victory!  Well I came in 34 out of 40 in my age group so maybe a more fitting caption would be, "Sweet Finish!"

I look like I am grabbing my own boob! But other than that this is actually not a bad picture.  I have never purchased a race photo before, but I may get this one.

Finish Time: 3:29:43.5

I still can't get my buttons to work, but I have alerted Tech Guru/Best Friend in the World, Preeti, about the problem.  I am sure she'll be over soon to fix it.  With queso!  (Kidding on that last part.) 

Smart and Trendy Moms

Frugal Novice

Toddler Awesome

Race Recap - Houston Triathon

Race Day.

I woke up and did a systems check.  Still a little soupier than I would like.  My chest was still a little tighter then I would have liked, but nothing ever works out as planned and I roll with it.  So.......I figured I would roll with it again.

Luckily the race was relatively close so we were able to sleep until 5am.  At that time The Coach tried to talk me into wearing the race shirt and going back to bed.  I declined.

My mom watched the kids starting Saturday evening so we didn't have to worry about them.  Thanks, Mom!

The race was very crowded when he got there, but everything seemed to be running smoothly. I got marked and set myself up and waited in line at the restrooms.  Is it frightening that the port-a-johns don't bother me anymore?  (It is either that I have done plenty of triathlons, or my boys' bathroom has upped my disgust threshold.) The other women looked scary, like maybe that had worked out or lifted weights or something.  I didn't think that was fair and pondered going to see if I could get into a different division, like the pizza eating mom division. 

The Coach and I walked to the swim start.  I saw two of my students volunteering. They both acted shocked to see me even though they have been asking me in class when my next race was.  Duh.  Sweet kids though.

The swim course was odd in that it ran 750 meters then the racers had to get out and run about 100 yards then dive back in and do another loop.  I appreciated The Coach teasing with me before the start so I didn't stare out at the swim course and get totally freaked.  Every once in a while he would even remind me to breath.  He had a plan to steal a city canoe and impersonate a lifeguard on the course.  He was less than convinced of their competence!

Finally it was our turn and we got in.  Next thing I know we were off.  I was very pleased with my swim.  I managed to keep calm.  The buoys were on the right and that made it easier to stay on course.  After the first loop we had to get back in.  It was probably poor planning because those who were re-entering had to dodge those who had just started, but I don't plan triathlon routes for a reason.  (The reason is that I would plan them around where a donut shop was.)

I finished the swim and started on the 1/4 run to transition.  Many people ran by me.  I decided at that point there was plenty of running in this race and I would just walk.  My goal was to finish, not to win.  The lady in front of me agreed and we walked to the bikes.

I dried off and had a snack and I was on my way.  I was so stoked to be riding with the wind.  That lasted about five minutes.  The we turned.  Agh. I was srtuggling.  My goal was to ride a consistent 16 mph.  I was doing that when a lady rode by me hollering with a charming accent, "Easier gear, baby! Easier gear!"  I decided that I was not above taking advice from a random triathlete who was blowing by me, so I switched to an easier gear.  I don't know if it helped my ride or not, but I did ok.  Later  guy came up next to me and cracked me up when he told me the people in front of us seemed to be going, "ridiculously fast."  Also I was very concerned about the abandoned motorcycle on our route.  Whoever that guy is I hope he is ok.
The route was good, but I LOVED the with the wind parts.  Woo hoo.  I was fast.  My goal was to finish the bike in 1:30.  I finished in 1:27.  Cool.

I transitioned for running and I TRIED to find a bathroom that was not in the OPPOSITE direction of the run route.  No luck.  The Coach laughed as I ran by shouting that I had to go!  I have never been so glad to see a Porta-a-john as I was at Mile 1!  Whew.  It made me hate those men relieving themselves in the scrub a lot less. Mile 2 was fun.  It ran between a lake and a residential neighborhood where the residents were in their backyards drinking coffee, playing music and cheering people on.  I had done the first two miles in twenty minutes!  Not bad.  In mile three I got a side cramp, but I told myself I was not ready to walk.  At that point though it became hard going through Mile 4.  I was really slowing down, but I was still running.  At the Mile 4 sign I saw a cute couple who had been chatting as they passed me give each other a hug and a kiss.  It was a pretty steamy kiss for kissing while running!  I thought they were so cute and I had an, "Awwww." moment.  I wondered what The Coach was up to.  We had had a fight the day before when he told me he might leave and just come back for the finish.  I ALLEGEDLY gave him the skunk eye.  I probably should have given him a break.  I know he will do ANYTHING I want him to do.  IF he knows what that was.  I guess it shouldn't have been so hard to tell him I needed him there.

Mile 5 was up the stadium ramps. Oi vey.  But then they were down again.  By this time I was really done and my hips and feet were hurting.  But I was so close.  I realized I could come in under my goals time of 3:30. I kept running, and running and running.  And running.  I kept thinking the finish would be right around the corner, but it never was.  A race volunteer yelled encouragingly that there was only a half mile left.  I kind of wanted to hit him.  I thought it was closer.  FINALLY I saw the finish.  I saw The Coach and gave me him a big smile.  I poured it on.  (HA!) And made it to the finish.

At the finish I was given a cold towel, water, and a cool medal.  I also got a kiss from The Coach.  None of the food looked good to me.   I was dying for a Coke though so I sneaked in line and snatched one really quickly.

It turns out The Coach had passed the time by calculating the percentage of female athletes who had breast augmentation.  I mean he is a math teacher after all.  He also judged "the talent" at this race as pretty good.  (It is ok.  He thinks I am totally hot.  His mild appreciation of other women doesn't not bother me.  I am still not eating at Hooters though.)

So....I FINISHED.  I don't know my exact time.  I didn't stick around to see it and it is not up on the website yet. It was under 3:30:00.  I thought I did well.  Especially mentally.  I kept a good attitude and only during the end of the run allowed myself to wonder why I do this.  Other than that I had a good time and just kept reminding myself I had trained for this just as much as anyone else and I had every chance for success.  I also reminded myself that this race was STILL shorter than labor! I like that with the olympic length the focus was less on speed, at least for me.  I think I am better at endurance than speed.

I want to thank The Coach.  Thanks Coach.  Thanks for taking care of the kids every Saturday and Sunday morning.  Thanks for concierging (Yes, It's a word. And that is the proper spelling.) my bike and my bag and all my crap to all my races.  Thanks for always taking care of getting to the race ON TIME, so I don't have to worry about it.  Thanks for reminding me that sometimes I just have to work out and the kids will be fine and they won't need therapy. Thank you for rarely ever saying, "Why do you do this?"  And thank you for always saying, "You can do this."  I love it that you are proud of me and impressed.  I love it even more that you tell me you are proud and impressed. 
And most of all - Thank you for the three hour power nap you allowed me to take with my head on your lap on the coach this afternoon.  I love you.

My next and last triathlon of the season is at the end of October.  I am thinking that a sprint should be much easier for me after this!!  I also hope never to be nervous about a swim again!!