Monique's caught the triathlon bug!

I think, as athletes we all have someone in our lives who inspired us to go for that first run, get in the water for the first time and swim, or whatever sport it may be.  For me, my dear friend Karen Cramer was the one who suggested I try a triathlon.  And after watching her at two races, I was determined to try one myself.  I am still grateful to her to helping me find this sport that I have truly fallen in love with.  She still kicks my butt in the swim too! (Congrats on her first place finish this weekend at the Swim For Your Life race here in Atlanta)!!

The more triathletes I meet, the more incredible the stories I hear about people coming into the sport or continuing on in it after, a horrible car accident (Coach Josh S), a terrible bike crash (Dannie), even cancer (Brittany).  Triathletes are resilient people!  Which is why I wanted to tell you all about my friend Monique.  She's someone I like to think I had a little bit to do with getting started in the sport  ;)  Check out how far she's come.
- Laura 

Monique and her new bike!

From Monique:"In 2002 I was in a car accident that shattered my collar bone and busted my right hip. I was attending Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on St. Kitts Island at the time. I had to take months off school, and it took forever to even be able to get out of bed by myself. If it weren’t for the extensive support of the university and my classmates I may have had to stop attending vet school all together! The doc said I had permanent bursitis and nothing could be done; I wouldn’t be able to run again. My hip hurt intermittently for several years, but in the spring of 2011 the pain lasted for months. I got it checked again, and come to find out, there was no damage to the joint at all! The orthopedist recommended an evaluation by a PT, where I discovered I had scar tissue in my piriformis muscle, and with certain stretches and strengthening exercises I could easily control the pain.

Monique at a 5k with her son, Liam

 Right around then my son told me that he “knew I wasn’t old because I wasn’t fat!” It made me realize that though I loved growing up in New Orleans we’re not exactly known for our healthy lifestyle! Less than a week later I was on a plane to Saranac Lake, and I happened to sit next to a guy reading Born to Run which he highly recommended. I also got my hands on I’m Here to Win by Chris McCormack. While I’m not sold on bare-foot running, what I learned was these people were getting Better as they got older!  Macca even won Kona when he was older than me! I had no idea this was possible. In Saranac Lake we got to watch [Laura] win at Lake Placid, I walked over 40 miles on the Bench Tour, and all this along with Nic becoming such a healthy influence in my life really inspired me to make some life-changing decisions.

After believing that I couldn’t do it for over 7 freaking years, I started running on 14 August 2011. I had a lot to prove; I was 33-years-old and just starting to learn how to be beautiful and strong and independent, about what I could accomplish as a single professional mother working 2 jobs, and how to teach my son to live a healthy lifestyle. I ditched cable and fast food and learned(ish) how to cook. I would lap the 0.45 mile loop around my house to get my running in. The local running store Geaux Run was VITAL in my training, it was so important to get correctly-fitting shoes and the wealth of information and support I got (and still get!) from them was invaluable. A couple of months later, at 7 AM the morning after some extensive birthday partying, I decided that I was going to run my first race. There just so happened to be a 5K that morning at 8:30. I woke up a bewildered friend to meet me at the race and watch my kid, registered 10 minutes before the start, ran it exhausted and dehydrated, then rushed off to work after crossing the finish line. Come to find out, I placed 3^rd in my age group! That was an incredible stroke of luck because it was my slowest race ever and I haven’t reached the podium since then, but also that’s when I got hooked.

Monique at the New Orleans Rock n' Roll Half Marathon 

In March this year, I was training for the Crescent City Classic, and my long run was up to 10 miles when I learned about the New Orleans Rock-n-Roll marathon/half marathon in 10 days. Somehow I got it in my head that this half marathon was Mine, something I wanted all on my own with no help from anyone. So I ran it! I would’ve done better if I had actually trained for it, but it was incredibly fun and I was stoked. [Run time = 2:16:17]

Post race with Nick and Liam

Not 2 weeks later one of my dearest friends from college Jenny underwent multiple heart surgeries for a congenital anomaly. I was scared she was going to die - the last time I had seen her she was on oxygen because the drugs weren’t working anymore - but instead she got better! She improved so much she started spinning classes to keep her heart healthy. Jenny’s crazy amazing and a supermom, and she somehow conned me with her persistence into being interested in biking too. I wanted to go even Faster; and cross training helps my fitness even when I can’t run, so I finally got a bike and I Love it! Then I realized I could swim at the ULL pool for free. Having 
[Laura's] blog and watching several other of my friends find time to progress in triathlons really inspired me to be part of that too. It’s amazing to see how successful you are all the while excelling in school, getting multiple degrees, and teaching! The final straw was finding out about “The Big Cajun,” an Olympic distance triathlon taking place on my 35^th birthday; to me it would be a great symbol of how far I’ve come since my first 5K that would be exactly 1 year prior. I have a lot of work before I’m ready, but I think I can do it! I Could be watching TV, or playing video games, or out partying, or whatever, but that would get me nowhere fast. This is something I can improve on over the next few decades.

I’m in love with racing; it’s my way of dealing with the incredible amount of stress in my life. I’m not as fast as I’d like to be but I improve all the time, and the changes to my lifestyle that I’ve made to become faster have all been positive. My 5-year-old now already makes incredibly healthy decisions about his eating habits and stays very active. The hardest thing, of course, is finding time to balance it all. Maintaining strong relationships with the people important to me is my top priority, especially my son and Nic, so in order not to lose any quality time I start with the time I have with them and work around that. I make sure I don’t sit too much at work, I stand up at my computer, and I do a lot of drills and stretching in my office since I can’t get a lot of practice in some days. Maybe it looks silly to my coworkers but I honestly don’t care; it’s such a small sacrifice to maintain that important healthy balance in my life!"

Since then, Monique has now competed in 3 triathlons! 

Tour de Scott - 300m swim, 13 mile bike, 5k run - 2nd AG!!

300m swim 7:07.1 - started in the Rain, lightning all around but not actually ON us, and it was dark, and my goggles are mirrored so I couldn't see anything I just had to rely on everyone in front of me to go in the right direction. I got so scared I actually stopped a bit. I thought about quitting, but wtf you can't quit in the middle of the damn pond so I had to keep going. I honestly swore that I would never do this again, which my immediate next thought was that just having that "never do this again" thought means that I'd probably become addicted. Ugh. Finally reached the shore - in front of people none the less! I have no idea how that happened. Whew!  Holy Hell how am I going to bike after this???

Ready for her first open water swim!

13M bike 16.1mph 48:30.3 - this started on an overpass, not even a little bit of flat road in front of it. Please remember I'm from Louisiana; there's NO way to train for hills unless you're in a parking garage or something. And it was windy and rainy....AAAAHHHH!!! I've been averaging about 18 mph, I have SO much more training to go on the bike I suck, but I didn't do it this time. I knew I wasn't pushing as hard as I usually do, but I was already crazy tired (maybe I didn't eat enough beforehand?) Anyway, it wasn't a terrible time compared to the other girls, about the middle of the pack.
5K run 9:14/M 28:38.0 - I was tired. It hurt. And it started again immediately on that same overpass and I almost walked but couldn't quite bring myself to do it. That's all I really remember about it, just being freaking tired and remembering that no matter what running off the bike always feels sucky so might as well go fast. My second best 5K race time (next to the Turkey Trot) but I've been doing much better than that training lately.

Games of Acadiana Triathlon - 200y swim, 8 mile bike, 2 mile run - 1st AG!!

CajunMan - 800m swim, 21 mile bike, 5k run - 7th AG!

I was incredibly scared to race open water again and I wasn't looking forward to it; my only goal in the water was to not freak out like last time. However, a little over half way through it I realized I Wasn't freaking out, even though I was still getting pushed down and kicked in the chest etc etc. I have NO idea what changed. But I just decided that I could totally kick ass and passed a lot of people from then on. My time was 20:36.3 (41:12/M.) Even though my total swim time was slow, now I can't wait until the next one because I think it's going to go really well! My bike time was horrible compared to the other women, but I kept a pace of 16.7mph for 21.3 miles. This is Fantastic for me, because not even two months prior my first time trial was only 10 miles and I was at 16mph. And my run rocked too; I beat my 5K PR by almost 2 minutes - 27:18.5 (8:48/M.) I can't wait to run a straight up 5K to see how much better I am - I was really disappointed in them for a while!

Also, this race I finally had my transitions timed: T1 I was 1st AG, 2nd OA by less than a second, and T2 was 2nd AG 5th OA (I struggled with my race belt.) If my transitions weren't so good there's a chance the next girl would have beaten me, so I'm glad I worked on them so hard! And even though I didn't get anywhere near placing, for me this was my biggest personal racing accomplishment to date!

Gold medal winner !

Her next race is "The Big Cajun," an Olympic distance event on October 23rd.  Go get 'em Monique!!

John Tanner Triathlon 2 - A 'Tri the Parks" Series Race

Another solid race in the books!  This race was a lot of fun!  Now that my A-race is beyond me and my season is winding down, I'm trying not to take it so seriously and just have a good time out there.  Coach Dan was off competing in the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas, so I got to drive EC1!  Our team had a fantastic showing at the race with 15 EC and Team Cadence athletes on the course.

On the hood of EC1 - thanks to our sponsor - Subaru of Atlanta

Every race has a story behind it.  This one for me was proof that you really don't need to sleep the night before racing!  Mishap after mishap kept me out of bed til nearly 2:30 in the morning the night before this one.  Rolling out of bed at 4:30am so I could be at the race site with EC1 by 6am wasn't easy.  I drove to John Tanner Park in a daze.  

Exiting the water

This was a 600m swim, 14 mile bike, and 5k run course.  My favorite kind of sprint.  With so many friends around I was able to shrug off the exhaustion and dig deep for a strong race.  I felt so much better on the swim this week than in the past few races I've done.  Two girls took out the swim strong and quickly pulled away, but a pack of  about 6 of us all tackled the course together and came out of the water side by side in about 12 mins.  Two people in that pack w me were Yvonne B, and teammate Amanda P.  Amanda and I were only 1 second apart and went into T1 together.

T1 - 30 seconds - 2nd fastest, with Team EC coach, Martha Hall, nudging me by 1 second.  

My bike split suffered.  I just felt... tired... out there.  Not necessarily because of the lack of sleep, but my body, my muscles, just felt tired and I struggled to push myself like I have earlier in the season.  I was able to hold my position for the most part but did watch Christine Grant, who beat me at nationals by over 2 minutes, fly past me on the course - making up the over a minute advantage I had on her from the swim.

T2 - 28 seconds.  Fastest womens T2.

Finally, the run.  I had a solid run and caught quite a few ladies in front of me from the bike portion.  My run time of 21:11 was the second fastest of the day beaten only by (ARCH RIVAL) Yvonne Bedell (just kidding!!), who I will see at the World Championships in New Zealand next month, you go girl!  I also managed to catch up to Christine and pull away by a few seconds.  We finished 5th and 6th overall, and I took FIRST in my Age group by an almost 4 minute margin, and Christine taking FIRST in the masters division. 

Gold medal AG win

 I have to give props to all the other athletes out there that made this race a success for Tri the Parks, Team Endurance Concepts, Team Cadence, and friends of the teams.

Amanda, Ashley, and Brittany

Amanda finished strong right behind me - in 3rd place in our 30-34 AG, love being on the podium with that girl, with Team EC taking 2 of the top 3 spots.  Ashley B (Team EC) was the overall winner in the aquabike category in the biggest field we have seen at these races yet!   Brittany B. took first place in the 25-29 AG.  

Christine, Yvonne, and Rob

Christine G., who smoked me on the bike, was the masters OA winner, finishing hot on my heels, Yvonne (Team All3Sports), was the 2nd OA finisher, Rob R (Dynamo Masters Swimming) was the 2nd OA male finisher, right behind my Cadence teammate Thomas Pilliod.

Lane, Eddie, and Jason

Lane Nichols captured 2nd in the Clydesdale Category,  Eddie Ferguson was 1st in Male 30-34, and Jason I. was 9th in his AG for Team EC - Jason has lost 30 pounds since I met him last year - amazing work out there!  

Lauren, Mike, and Thomas

Lauren Lacey made her triathlon debut!  Coming out of the water in 2nd place and finishing first in the W20-24 AG, Mike Johnson (Team EC) was first in his AG for the Duathlon, and last but not least, Thomas Pilliod, was overall Male.

I apologize to anyone I have forgotten or couldn't find pics of!  Thanks to all of you for making it such a good time.  Specially Thomas for bringing the keg for after race celebrations, woohoo!!!

Aquathlon World Championships are just over a month away... looking at you October 17th!

USAT National Championships, Burlington VT - I did the double!

Sorry to all that it took so long to get this race report up, my dissertation has been a bit overwhelming lately - but this was the big race of the season for me.  The biggest two races I should say!

August 18th and 19th, I competed in the 2012 USA Triathlon National Championships in Burlington, VT!

Analise and I on the beach at Lake Champlain, the evening before it began

Saturday - the Olympic Distance Race

The reality going into this race was that it would be the second Olympic distance race I have done.  The first one being this same race last year!

A difficult task every race morning when you are nervous, eating,  I was caught
 mid-gu eating face.  I know you wanted to see this, you're welcome.  

It's always humbling to do these races, where at local races I am often one of the better swimmers, at this race I was tossed around in the water like a novice.  I admittedly panicked in the water some, with about 100 people starting my wave, and high winds, the water was a choppy mess that was reminiscent of Alcatraz (but nothing could be that bad!).  I made the mistake of starting in the middle of the pack and dealing with cramped space, and elbows, and feet for most of the swim.  Popping out of the water after my one mile swim in 30 mins was not what I hoped for, 3 mins slower than last year despite many hours in the pool.

Analise helping me into my wetsuit

But out of the water and onto the 40k bike, my day got a little better.  I felt strong and was able to take down my time from last year by over 2 minutes despite strong head winds on large section of the course.  Many people had slower times this year, but mine was faster.  This is certainly the sport I have made the most improvement in, thanks to Spinsanity sessions with my coach, Dan Arnett, and team EC every Tuesday and Thursday mornings all year.

Grueling 6am Spinsanity session,
sweating next to my Endurance Concepts teammate and
USAT National Champion  in 20-24 AG Sprint, Thomas Pilliod.

The Spinsanity Team

 Finally, out for 10k run, I felt strong and picked off 18 people in my AG in front of me.  My time of 42 mins put me as one of the top runners in my AG this year.  Overall my time on the Olympic Distance course was 2:32, about the same as last year, so disappointing to some extent, and most of the time lost was in the swim portion of the race.    I placed 40th, not enough to qualify for London in this distance.

Completing the run course at USAT Nationals - Olympic distance

Thankfully, I had another chance the next day in the Sprint race, which is really my favorite and where I do my best.  I took an ice bath that night, lots of stretching, and geared up for Day 2 of racing!  My first double in the sport.

Sunday - The Sprint Distance Race 

I was so glad to have the opportunity the next day for another chance at qualifying for London.  Despite being a little tired and achy from the day before, I know this distance is my real strength and I had a chance to make it happen.  Somehow my nerves were much calmer this day, maybe because I would be lining up next to my sister, who I haven't competed in a race with in over a year.

This time we lined up to the far right side of the swim pack.  This time, there were not so many people to compete with for space in the water. It didn't take long for Analise to pass me in the water with a great swim split for her (13:50 mins).  Again, I felt flat in the water, and came out in 15 minutes for the half mile swim portion.

The beautiful swim location on Lake Champlain, in VT

But I was ready to rock and roll on the bike!  About the first two miles I was feeling VERY achy from yesterdays race.  But once my legs got fired up, I felt great!  I was able to hold over 20mph for the 20k course, and best of all, see where my sister was.  I caught up to Analise at about mile 4 and we were able to ride together for short time before I pulled away, just slightly, up the road.

Time for the run. Still my favorite.  As  I was leaving the transition area, I looked back to Analise pulling in on her bike, only about a minute behind.  I had a great run, my legs were ready to go for it.  After dogging it up the steep hill right at the start, I took off on the flat course, posting a time of 20:15 on the 5k course, the second fastest run time in my Age group.   I finished 8th and was only 20 seconds out of 5th place.  I waited at the finish line for Analise, who crossed just 2 mins later, with the 3rd fastest run time (20:55), in 13th place.

Analise running into the finish

Analise has been to 3 National Championships with me and this was her first year competing.  Clearly, she should have been competing all along!

Our 8th and 13th place finishes qualify both of us for the ITU World Championship Sprint Triathlon in London in 2013.

This race was made so much better by the great support we had on race day.  My father, Karl Zaunbrecher, out cheering and snapping some pics, and the Garabedian family, always with big cheers!!  Also my mother, and my brothers, my friends, specially Monique Koll, Rachel White, Krissa Stiger, and more that have been so overly supportive this year.  Of course my coach and teammates as well. I couldn't do it without you!

And I can't forget to mention the man who kept my nerves in check before the big race, and qualified to London in both the Olympic and Sprint distances, Charles, with a 4th place finish in the Sprint.  We met at this race 2 years ago, and he's still out there dominating in the sport.

Charles coming in on the run

London Qualifiers, Charles and Laura (someone get that boy a new shirt)   

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