Crow Lake Sprint Triathlon - 2nd overall

Sunday July 17th I competed in the Tri to Remember Crow Lake Sprint Triathlon in Jefferson, GA.    This was a short sprint:   400m swim, 15mile bike, 5k trail run.   This one was a lot of fun.  For the swim, we crossed a small lake to the transition area where I was 3rd out of the water.

Exiting the water. 

From there the bike course was a rolling hills out-and-back, where I clocked in my fastest bike split of the season.  Maybe I'm finally beginning to make some progress there!  I was able to catch the two women in front of me from the swim fairly easily but was passed by two women on the course and came into transition in third place, feeling good.

Hurt face on the bike, mile 14.

The trail run reminded me of running cross country in high school.  The trail was a mess with sections of tall grass, mud, wooden planks, and many dips and holes in the ground along the way.  I almost fell on my face a few times!  My run time wasn't anything special considering the terrain, but I turned in the fastest run time for all women competitors, something like 21 mins.  (Finally starting to feel better in the run after my calf injury in May).  My run was enough to catch one of the women who passed me on the bike and capture second overall, first place age group.

Running into the finish - the one part of the trail that was decently kept.

The woman who beat me is a seasoned triathlete who won her age group at Nationals last year, as well as First Place in her age group at the Kona Ironman World Championships - Laura Sophiea.  However, she is in the 55-59 age group, so I really need to close that gap!!!  

Awards:  with overall winner, Laura Sopheia (Ironman AG World Champion 55-59)

One year of triathlon training

A year ago this month I started working with my coach, Steve Pyle, of Boulder, Colorado.  Since then I have completely changed as an athlete, both mentally and physically, to how I approach my training and racing.

My body transformation:
This time last year I weighed 122 lbs and had 20% body fat.  Today, I weigh 113 lbs and have 13% body fat.  That's the same body composition I had when I was an 18 year old running Division I Cross Country and Track for the University of Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns.

This year, last year (sorry I don't have an action shot from last year!)

In the course of the past year, Steve has built me up from 7 hours of training a week to 12-14.  Before starting with Steve, I had never clipped into the pedals on a bike before, or ridden more than 20 miles.  I had never done a sprint workout in the pool or had any kind of coaching in swimming at all.   Now a 50+ mile bike ride is an every weekend activity, and it's rare to swim less than 3000yds every time I'm in the water.  My run workouts are mostly tempo builds, since my run is already very strong.  But these workouts are more than enough to have dropped my 5k back to my peak performance times in college.

With respect to the weight loss - I have met with nutritionist, Dr. Dan Benardot, from Georgia State University, but have made very little changes to my diet.  I've always eaten fairly healthy.  The biggest changes I've made are drinking sports drinks instead of water in workouts, and eating more often, and in smaller portions during the day.  But in general, the weight and fat came off slowly and naturally as my body adjusted to the training schedule.  Not to say I was in bad shape last year, but being lean makes running fast, and riding a bike uphill, a lot easier.

Indian Springs Park Aquabike and Lake Placid Sprint Triathlon

Sorry to everyone for not posting in so long!!  I know I owe you!!  So let's get you all caught up!   My race season hasn't been exactly what I was hoping because of pulling my calf back in May.  But I have gotten in two more races to tell you about, with another coming up this weekend.

Indian Springs Park Aquabike:
This was my first time competing in an Aquabike event, where all you do is the swim and bike, as the name suggests.  It was a short 600m swim and 15 mile bike.  I was the overall female finisher, but there was no competition.  I felt like I was cheating after getting off the bike and crossing the finish line without doing the run.  It was my first time experiencing the sun rise glare on the water.  I turned the last buoy and realized, I couldn't see anything, not the next buoy, not even the shore, so siting was out of the question.  I had to follow the swimmers in front of me and we all went about 50 yards off course!    Sorry, no pictures from this race either.

Lake Placid Sprint:
So beautiful to swim in Mirror Lake, same location as the Lake Placid Ironman, just two weeks away!  This race had an exceptionally short swim, 400m swim, 20k bike, 5k run.

Lining up for the start

Dad watching the swim

Best part was it was the first time several of my family members got to see me race and were there cheering for me.  Thanks Mom, Dad, Nick, Monique, and Liam!!  

Exiting the water after the Lake Placid Sprint Swim

This was a great race, I took first in my age group and 2nd overall, and had my fastest bike split yet.  My run is still suffering a little from the injury and time off, but coming back quickly.  I was only a minute behind the 1st place overall finisher, but my run was a slow 20:50, nothing like my 18:48 at the Irongirl.  I'm being patient but ready to be running fast off the bike again. 

Coming into the finish in 2nd overall, passing the women on relay teams, and one close overall contender

Teva Mountain Games Mud Run

June 4th I headed up to Vail, Colorado for the Teva Mountain Games!  Perfect place for anyone who loves competing in or watching outdoor sports:  kayaking, mountain bike racing, rock climbing, running (half marathon went up Vail pass), even fishing, and events for your dog!  It's also at an elevation of 8150 ft!

So doing a race there was an experience!  Because of the strain in my calf all I signed up for was the 2 mile Mud Run, short and sweet, you made three loops along an course with a decent hill and ~10 yard mud pit to run through.  The majority of the people doing the mud run do it to get dirty!! - so only a few women were actually competing in it.  The announcer was kind enough to point out who the defending champ was before the race so I decided to just let her (Jax Swartz) pace the race and not run harder than I had to - in case my calf started to hurt.
 

Completing the first loop stride for stride with defending "Mud Queen" , Jax Swartz.

Racing at 8150 feet was nothing like sea level, though it was a comfortable 6:15 pace, my lungs were burning from the thin air.  But it was really fun!  The mud didn't slow either of us down and I managed to pull away on the last hill.  

Some pics following the race, To clean off we were sprayed with a fire hose, brrr!

 I went on the complete the course in about 12:30.  Edging out Jax and capturing the 2011 Teva Games "Mud Queen" title.  Check out her website as she is using running to raise money for cancer research and awareness. 

Disappointing Bolder Boulder Scratch

Sadly, the reality of training as hard and often as I do now, is that injuries happen.  Thursday May 26, I was in Boulder, CO out on a run gearing up for the 33rd annual Memorial Day Bolder Boulder 10k when I got a sharp and sudden pain in my calf. 

On Friday - I tried Acupuncture for the first time with Eric Meleney at Jade Mountain Health, what an experience!  I don't like needles, so that it didn't hurt and actually helped relieve some of the tightness and pain was a pleasant surprise.  Next, I saw Physical Therapist, Bob Cranny (Altitude Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine), who works with triathlons' top athletes, including Chrissie Wellington, 3 time Ironman World Champion. What felt like a bad cramp turned out to be a small strain to the muscle and aggravation of an existing injury that never healed.  His diagnosis requires about 10 days off from running and I had to drop out of the Bolder Boulder.  Oh well, I'll get it next year!  For now, I'll focus on my weaknesses - the swim and the bike.

PT Bob Cranny working on my strained calf - ouch!

But I did go walk the Bolder Boulder Course - and got to see the race in a way I never do when I'm up front racing it.  Walking the course I got to see the bands, the festivities, the kegs, the slip-n-slides, Popsicles, Doritos, marshmellows all over the road (it was sticky for nearly a half mile), the costumes, all the characters, and the cups!  SO many water cups!

Stopping to hula-hoop along the Bolder Boulder course with some costumed runners

Just a few water cups

Athleta IronGirl Atlanta - Age Group Win!

Sunday May 15th was my first triathlon of the season!  The Athleta IronGirl in Atlanta.   This was a 600m swim, followed by 19 mile bike, and 5k run.  It was a cool and cloudy morning but I felt great.  This was a big women-only race (1005 finishers) with 9 start waves, I was in the 8th wave to start - 35 minutes after the first group. 

At the starting line - Wave 8, 25-29 AG

Entering the water, only about a third of the women were in wetsuits, water temp was about 68 degrees.

There were 111 women in my wave and I lined up right in the front.  It was a great swim for me - fourth out of the water with a time of 10:10.  This was my first time racing in a wetsuit and I worried I would have trouble transitioning quickly, but right out of the water I was unzipped and peeling it off my arms as I ran up the hill.  In transition, I passed the three girls in front of me and took off on the bike in first place.  


There was a strong cross wind for most of the ride on a rolling hills course.  I held my lead on the bike for the first 10 miles until I was overtaken by Rebecca Rush, we passed each other back and forth a few times til she eventually pulled away with about 4 miles to go - I remember thinking "COME ON LEGS!!" and "we'll see what she's got in the run."  My time for the 19 miles was 1:00:36, slower than I wanted but an improvement on last year.  My quads were on fire when I rolled into transition and I hoped I had something left for the run.

Navigating through the crowd into transition

Rack bike.  Helmet off.  Shoes on.  Race number. GO.

 Run:  My favorite part of a triathlon, trying to run with legs that feel like jello after an hour on the bike.  I couldn't really feel my legs for the first mile and didn't bother to check my split.  This course was an out-and-back:  The first mile was a gradual uphill, then a flat second mile, and cruise it in downhill the last mile.  After just passing the mile mark I saw Rebecca ahead of me and knew I would catch her.  By the turn around I had already pulled away by a good 45 seconds - she was a great sport saying "nice pace" as I passed her going the opposite direction.  (Rebecca finished 3rd, right behind me, at last years Acworth Womens triathlon.  She beat me by 5 minutes at last years IronGirl event).

My run time was 18:48, which earned me the fastest run split in the entire field of 1005, and made up enough time to capture first place in my age group.  Overall my time was 1:33:20, good enough for a top 10 finish overall, in 7th place.   You can see the official results here.

Awards 25-29 AG, 1st - 3rd  (Laura, Rebecca, Katie)

 

 

The best part of this race was doing it with my dear friend and swimming partner Karen, who became a mom last year and is still out there competing.  She had a great race!  Karen - You are an inspiration to me!

Laura and Karen (one tough Iron Mommy!!)

Link to Adirondack Daily Enterprise writeup.

My next race is the Bolder Boulder in Boulder, CO on Memorial Day.  We'll see how these legs and lungs work at the high altitude and uphill course!

My Season Opener and First Multisport Win!

This past weekend I competed in the 15th semi-annual Emory Aquathlon!  This event consisted of a 550yd pool swim and 5k trail run through Lullwater Park in Atlanta, GA.  
The swim was a time trial start, with a competitor beginning every 15 seconds.   I started about mid-pack - you then snake through the lanes, up one lane, back the next for the entire length of the pool.   It was interesting to say the least, as a lot of slower swimmers started ahead of me, and several faster swimmers starting behind me.

Competitors lining up around the pool for the Aquathlon Start.

By midway through the swim it was a bunched up mess with many of us reaching the wall at the same time and struggling to pass one another.  I was out of the water in about 8 minutes with a quick and solid transition.   It was a wet and cold day and had rained the night before so the trail was a muddy and fun mess!  Reminded me of how much I miss running cross country!  Even in the mud I managed to run down the women in front of me for a first place finish, and was the only woman to complete the course in under 30 minutes.

Aquathlon finish.

Awards

The best part of this race was doing it with some of my good friends here in Atlanta who were competing in their first multisport event ever!!   Congratulations to Ivana and Adrianne!  and much thanks to Konrad for being our cheering crew and snapping some pics!

Ivana, me, Adrianne

So, the question is... Do I go to Colorado in three weeks to compete in the Aquathlon National Championships and try to qualify for another event in Beijing??