My naked race report

So I did it.  I raced naked.  It was joyous and liberating and I'll probably do it again.  I loved every one's comments about it and have a lot to say about it if you are interested.  More than anything, I loved not knowing how fast I was going.  I wore my watch (cause it's a habit), but didn't start it and didn't know what time we started (the waves were all late anyway).  My bike computer (which I thought I would still use) read "0" all day - something wasn't working.  And it was awesome!  I went by feel alone.  I pushed harder than I think I usually do.   And you know what???

I freaking PRed by a lot!

Here's the race report... I'll try to keep it short, but I do have pictures so YAY!

Overall Stats:
Swim (.5 miles) - 14:24
T1 - 1:21
Bike (17 miles) - 48:08 (21.2mph)
T2 - 1:04
Run (3.1 miles) - 24:07 (7:47's)
Overall time - 1:29:01
2nd out of 31 in Age Group
68 out of 500 Overall


So Saturday, I totally just chilled. Tom signed up for his first ever bike race so I was his cheering squad.  It was a 9 mile, 3 loop course and he was entered as a Cat 5.  Poor guy was so nervous.  He did great, until he got a flat with 3 miles to the finish.  Dang it.  But he's addicted so he'll be out there again.  I counted a lot of bikes, and 3 horse and buggy's.  We weren't in Delaware, anymore. :) See the buggy in the back???

This morning I woke up ready to race.  I love that feeling.  Stomach was a little sloshy, but nothing unusual.  The race site is only 15 minutes from our house, at most, so we didn't have to leave super early.  I love local races.  Got to the race site, got everything checked in, and met my parents who were unbelievable in coming out to see us race at an ungodly time on a Sunday morning.  I'm so blessed to have them both.  Plus, my mom played photographer for the day so we were able to get pictures!  Always a plus! (Thanks mom...)

Around 7, we started to put on our wetsuits.  Does this ever get easier?  Seriously, this is not an easy feet.  Thankfully the TRISLIDE works wonders and the baby, for the most part, slide right up.  I love my Hurricane 5 from TYR.  I feel like a poser in it since I'm so stinking slow, but looking good is half the battle, right?

The swim was fine.  I positioned myself waaaaaay outside because the water is deeper and because there was no one there.  I swam with all of the 30-34 year olds (guys and girls) and only groped one girl's butt so all in all, a successful swim.  14:24, I'll take that - I haven't been working on the swim too much so I can't expect anything amazing here.

T1 was nice and zippy, but the run to the mount line was loooooong.

The bike was awesome.  Without a computer, I just went by feel and I felt great.  I was passing a crapton of people and only counted three people who passed me - they were from the wave after me and were smoking.  Tom was one of them, but I was proud that it took probably 16.25 miles for him to catch me... it's usually way faster than that.  I did find myself looking at my computer a lot.  Like I said, it always read "0" so I didn't get any data from it.  Bad habits are hard to break I guess!  But I just felt like my Kestrel was floating... the fit is so perfect and it's a fast bike! Tom and I made it into transition together which was fun.  I ended up averaging 21.2mph which was awesome.  Tom thought that the course was a little long so it might have been faster.  Who knows, who cares!  I was the 5th fastest woman on the bike out of 172.  And I was the 47th fastest overall out of 500.  That's pretty cool!

T2 I just did my thing and ran out with Tom.  He said "let's run this together". Ha... well, it was good to start together.

The run was a familiar course, and although it's a simple 3.1 miles, the course is kind of wacky as it's part on a gravel path (which happened to be super muddy and filled with puddles) and then part on a grass trail over a dam.  It's really hard to pass people up there though so I honestly had no clue what I was running.  Tom had taken off about .5 mile into the run and that was fine.  I needed to go by feel.  I passed a few people and found a groove.  It was great not constantly looking to see my pace.  I thought I was sluggish, but looking at the results, I finally put a run together, averaging 7:47's for the 5k!

I got to the finish line, super happy with things.  My dad had started his watch when my wave went off and told me he thought that I was somewhere around 1:29.  I had two goals for this race which I hadn't told anyone.  For one, I wanted to run sub-8's.  And the other... to finish under 1:30.  Last year on this course, I did a 1:33:59!

I checked the standings after everyone was finish.  I finished in 1:29:01 and came in 2nd out of 31 girls.  That amazed me.  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face!

It was fantastic seeing so many of our friends there.  Jim, Tracy and Zach Aust were there and kicked major butt (as always) coming in 1st, 1st and 2nd in their age groups (Oh... and Jim was 5th overall, Zach in 9th and Tracy in 19th and the 2nd female!!!)  They are my adopted family and we love them so much!  Tom had an amazing race, especially after hearing him tell me that he had nothing in his legs from the bike race the day before.  He finished in 1:23, 7th out of 50 in his AG, and 27th overall.  Oh... and he had the 9th fastest bike of the day out of 500!  Scary to think what he could have done without racing the day before.  We also got to see Dave and Meredith too which was fun.  Dave raced and although I know he said he didn't hit his goals, he looked strong on the course!  It's so fun seeing friends out there! Here's a picture with us and team Austome! :)

ULTRAFIT-USA did a great job with the race.  We love the Wendy's International Tri.  Great competition, surrounded by a bunch of people we know, on our home turf.  Doesn't get better than that!

So the question is this - I have an Olympic in two weeks.  Virtually the same course.  Should I run naked again??? :)

It's Wednesday already?

I swear I keep thinking it's Tuesday. I haven't blogged in over a week.  Definitely not for lack of things to write about - more like work is kicking my butt (yay!) and by the time my day is done, I don't have the energy to put a sentence or ten together for a blog.  So here I am, squeaking in a little time before my day gets away from me.  Probably best to update in randoms (but I have pictures so that makes up for it, right?)...

• Didn't do the 15 miler this past weekend.  I had all intentions of it, but my Achilles/ankle/foot has been bothering me and I was worried what kind of damage pounding on it for 15 miles would do.  I woke up Sunday morning, ran about 2 houses down from ours to "test" it, burst into tears and came home.  I really wanted to run with Tom.  I ended up hopping on the bike for 1:45 and then heading to the race to sherpa for him.  He ran 5 before the race and then rocked the 15 hilly windy miles by himself.  I couldn't have kept up anyway!

• I always have a hard time recovering and with another 140.6 on the schedule, I know how hard the long training days become.  You never quite feel recovered.  Team Trakkers recently found out we are sponsored by Recovery Pump.  When we received this news, I was super excited.  I had no clue what it was going to be like, but I received mine in the mail yesterday.  AWESOME!  I sat with these bad boys on for just a few minutes to see what they are all about and I can honestly say there might not be anything that I'm more excited about this year.  They may look silly, but my legs are sooooo happy.  And yes, I have freakishly long legs.  This picture exaggerated them a lot though. :)  Thanks Recovery Pump!!! 

• I'm over hearing my hubby say "you smell like the pool.  Did you shower?".  Um.. yes I showered, but our pool dumps gallons upon gallons of chlorine in it to ward off the nasty from it being a community pool and no matter how much I scrub, inevitably I smell like the pool.  I received this little gem of a package in the mail the other day from our sponsor SBR Sports, Inc.  My teammates swear by this stuff and I kept thinking "how good can it really be?".  I used it after my last swim and I'll just leave it with, I'm a fan.  If you swim in a pool, get some of this stuff.  For real.  I'm anxious to try the Foggle and the TriSlide too.

• My new favorite meal is a spinach salad with cottage cheese as the dressing.  If you know me, you know I love me some cheese.  This is a great way to top my salad... no guilt of dressing and some added protein!  YUMMO! (and yes, those are crouton... you take some and you leave some.  I know they are little squares of fat.  Baby steps people... baby steps)

• I'm hoping to get out on the bike tomorrow.  It's supposed to be near 60 here in Columbus.  The Kestrel comes any day and unfortunately it won't be ready for tomorrow, but I'm fine with riding Flica a time or two more in February... outside!  I'm so stinking excited.  With the Kestrel being shipped, that means I should have some bike porn in the next few days... I know you can't wait! :)
• My Buddy Boy is too sweet.  He's starting to get older and I think as he gets older, he gets cuter and cuter.  This is his place each and every night before dinner (right under foot at the counter by the stove).  Just waiting, hoping that mommy drops something.  Usually I accidently on purpose make sure he knows he's loved... that's why he's about 20 pounds overweight.  But he's happy.

• We're heading off to see my grandparents this weekend in North Carolina.  They are the ones with Alzheimer's.  God love them.  I know it's going to be a hard trip since I know they don't remember Tom and I'm not sure they know who I am, but I'm glad that I'm getting out there.  I'm bringing my chocoholic grandma some homemade chocolate dipped pretzels.  I'm bound to win her over with those if she doesn't recognize me, right? :)

Sorry for being MIA lately and I'm trying my best to get caught up with all of your lives. I'm working on it... I really am! Happy Wednesday everyone! 

You are great

I just have to say, you are all great. I loved the comments about my need for a vacation, as well as the good thoughts during our ski/casino trip. Here's an update for you - the vacation idea kind of came and went. We booked a cruise and then proceeded to cancel it less than 24 hours later when my voice of reason kicked in. Damn it sucks being responsible! Honestly, it would have been heaven to sit in the sun with an umbrella drink and read trashy educational magazines, but the cruise lines get ya, hook line and sinker. I booked this great 3 day cruise for an unbelievably low price (like too good to be true low price). Then it happens - you find out that it's going to cost $170 to get from the airport to the boat, $200 to get my passport renewed and to me in less than 4 weeks, $60+ dollars in tips, who knows how much $ for beer and soda, $ for a dog sitter, $ to park out car at the airport while we are gone, etc. I guess I was having an airhead moment when I booked and thought that I was actually getting off that easy. So being a grown up, I realized that wasn't a smart choice and canceled. We're traveling to some great locations for races this year - Knoxville, Portland, Chicago and Sandusky (what, you mean the beach and water at Lake Erie aren't like that of the Bahamas?) so I need to just suck it up buttercup and realize that if I want to spoil myself in the sun, I can move out of Ohio. :)

As for the casino and ski trip - great time! BUT... we didn't ski (which was good because that means I didn't have a chance to break my face, and yes, you can totally break your face). My poor momma has been in PT for some hamstring problems for quite a while now and she was really scared to risk hurting herself some more (not to mention she has a bum back). It would have been hard for all of us to enjoy the day, knowing that she was trying to be a tough girl for us, or worse, sitting in the "lodge" while we were having fun. We opted to stay in the casino and blow through some more money. Honestly, I didn't lose much (although I didn't win much either... penny slots are not big payers). There was a lady at a machine down from us that was all nonchalant when the bells started ringing above her machine. She won $82000 on a quarter machine. $82000! She just sat there and smiled. Hello - Tom and I said that we would have been doing carpet angels and running around like we just struck gold. Hell, I almost did that when I won $50 on the Zeus penny slot game. I was big time people...

Okay, so that's that. I have other exciting news and needed to wait to tell you because I needed to break it to my mom first (no, I'm not pregnant).

I've decided to do another 140.6. I know. I know. What happened to the "I'll never do that again" statement? If you know me, you know that it's total BS and to never listen to me. I said that after my first marathon (and I've since done another 6) and my first three Ironman races. I'm super excited though. I've decided to race the full at Cedar Point for a couple of reasons:

• It's a REV3 race and we know that it'll be top notch (and they won't run out of water on a 96 degree day)
• My teammates will be there and many of them will be racing - and I'm sure the smart others who raced the half will make it a party, cheering all of the long distance course people.
• Three words - BLOGGER MEET UP (I mean, hello so many of us will be there - Sunday night could get crazy!)
• It's in Ohio. A 140.6 in Ohio!
• I totally feel like I got robbed at IMLOU. That's all I need to say about it.
• I honestly enjoy training for an Ironman in the summer. Yes, I bitch about it. I'm not going to lie because there are days when it sucks. But in general, I love knowing that my body can do what it does and training for an Ironman distance race tests your body to the fullest.
• I have some goals. Some time goals. I want to see some results of my hard work!

And speaking of Team Trakkers, they introduced the pro team the other day.

Team Trakkers/REV3 2011 from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! The full professional team includes:
Hillary Biscay: 2008 Ironman Wisconsin Champion; 15-time top-three Ironman finisher
Courtenay Brown: Danskin Tri & Silverman Half winner; Inside Tri columnist
Kathleen Calkins: 2010 REV3 Cedar Point 3rd place; Top Amateur Kona 2009
Richie Cunningham: 2x 70.3 Champion; 4x Top-Five 70.3 World Championships
Brian Fleischmann: 1st World Team Champs; 2x 2nd place USAT National Champs
Jacqui Gordon: Multiple Ironman and 70.3 Top-Ten finisher
Amanda Lovato: 2010 Pucón 70.3 Champion; Multiple Half Ironman Champion; Multiple Top-Five Ironman finisher
Michael Lovato: 2x Ironman Champion; 3x Top-Ten Kona; 3x National Champion
Chris McDonald: 3x Ironman Champion
Jessica Meyers: 2010 Augusta 70.3 Champ; US National Team; Armed Services Champion
Matt Sheeks: 2010 Duathlon Pro National Champion; 2009 Duathlon AG World Champion

I know that I've said it already and I'll say it again and again - it's still kind of unreal that I'm racing for a team like Trakkers. Our sponsors are amazing (REV3, Kestrel Bikes, Avia, Canari, TYR, All3Sports, First Endurance, SBRSports).

It's going to be a good year... a very good year!