WHY!?

Since I posted my blog about the box jump along w/ many posts and photos on Facebook I've been getting some interesting.. and kind of surprising (to me) responses.

People are wondering / asking me why I am "doing this" to myself. In addition to the photos of the leg I posted one of the workouts I was walking into this a.m. I also posted a photo of the callouses that are forming on my hands. After just a week. I posted the callouses not because I was bummed about them or in pain. I was just surprised at how quickly they were forming. I'm actually kind of proud of them.

proof of the hard work I've been doing.

I had an unfortunate mishap. I wish I hadn't clobbered my leg on a box, but I did. Does that mean I quit? HELL NO! Does it mean Crossfit isn't for me!? NO!! It means I need to listen a bit more and think about my own personal abilities. I knew I was getting tired. I should have stopped trying to bounce right back up on that box. I should have rested at the bottom... tried again on the next round. Like today's workout where we did multiple sets of 20 push ups. (side note: pre-crossfit I have been doing push ups and usually maxed out at 12 'standard' push ups, but was asked to do 20 in this set... I did 20. Wouldn't have - HAVEN'T - pushed myself that hard on my own. THIS is one reason I do Crossfit!) I did 20 standard push ups on the first round. The second round I physically COULD NOT do 20 so I did as many as I could standard then dropped to my knees. Not until my arms would NOT lift my body. I knew my legs were tired and getting to the point where they couldn't rebound that fast and lift me to the top of that box... I should have "dropped to my knees" by stopping at the bottom to rest before jumping again. Now I know. You have to push beyond your limits, but KNOW when you have hit your max! Only YOU know!

I am doing Crossfit to push myself. To have break throughs. To share in the struggle and accomplishment with like minded individuals. To inspire others to push themselves beyond what they think they can do. To show that it CAN be done! To get stronger. To mix things up. To connect with people. To connect with myself. To fix problems I have created by doing the EXACT SAME movements over and over and over again thus creating imbalances and leading myself straight to multiple injuries. To mix things up. To be a BAD ASS!

Will I jump on a box again!? Hell YES! Maybe not today.. or tomorrow ... or the next week, but yes I will. Next time I'll be smarter and more cautious, but I'll get there. I got back on my bike after my wreck.

I'm really surprised that people are acting like they doubt my decision or dedication to seeing this through. 1. these people know me, 2. many of them are athletes as well.. that do extreme things themselves, 3. are we not to encourage each other to move through adversity?

Anyway. It matters not. I will continue. I will push. I will learn. I will get stronger. I will have fun. I will reach my goals. And it will be hard sometimes, fun others, but in the end it will all be worth it... except that there really is no end. It just evolves.

I hope to share this feeling with many others... particularly women who think "I could never do that" ... I'm here to tell you that that is 100% bullshit! You might not be able to do 'that' RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, but if you dedicate yourself to it... open the door and focus... you can break through those barriers.

This type of work is largely physical, but there is a huge HUGE mental aspect. You walk up to that pull up bar thinking... "I can't... there is no way I can do THAT many pull ups even WITH that band thingy!"... then you climb up on that box.. you put your foot in that band... you grab that bar... and with a little help from your friends you dig deep.. you might grunt... you might scream... you WILL hurt, but YOU WILL get it done! And afterward.... afterward you will feel AMAZING!

What are your mental barriers!? What are you telling yourself you CAN NOT do!? Step up to that 'bar' grab hold of it... and push through! I BET YOU CAN!

Today's workout:
FIVE rounds for time
200 meter run
20 pullups
200 meter run
20 push ups
200 meter run
20 sit ups
200 meter run
20 air squats....

I'm not gonna lie. I thought I can't before this workout, but you better be damn sure I DID! And I'm proud!

Box Jump FAIL!

I got in a fight w/ a 20" wood box yesterday. I lost. Apparently it did not appreciate me jumping on it.  So it bit me!

See that dark red part on the right.. there is a hole and bone right under that blood. NICE!

Seriously. I was doing box jumps in a new way. Normally I would rest on the ground then jump up and spring back down. This time I was attempting to rest at the top jump down and spring back up. Yes, I was at Crossfit.... I knew I was getting tired. I was at about Rep 23 of 30 when I stumbled a bit. That was my tell. My body saying... "hey, Wanna be badass... you aren't there yet. You did your 22 reps the cool way now it's time to take it down a notch and be human." Did I listen, Um, no. You know that is not my way. I was told THIS was the way to do it. Damn it .... we are doing this. Well my legs did not agree. They got their way!

I hit that edge of the box with my full weight and split it right open. It was one of those things where you just know. I instinctively reached down and put pressure on it. I saw a bit of blood when I did this, but didn't take too much time to inspect the wound. I stood there a minute all bent over and thinking I was going to be okay and get back at it. You know how it goes though. When it's bad you stop a minute... the nausea sets in and the brain just KNOWS it ain't right chica. Have a seat ... you are done for the day.

I felt really bad for Lou and Austin... I could tell they were bummed for me... and concerned. As I hobbled over to a chair a woman named, Carole, came in and I said, "don't look at my leg... it's nasty." She said, "oh I used to be an EMT don't worry about it!" Oh really Carole.. in that case. PLEASE look at my leg and tell me what to do. I hadn't seen it yet. She looked at it and said I needed to have it looked at then graciously offered to drive my sorry butt to the ER. Thank you a million times over Carole! I truly appreciate your kindness for a complete stranger. She drove me over and Austin followed w/ my car. He went above and beyond and I appreciate it. Was a true lifesaver. If he hadn't done that I would have been stranded and would never have made it to Lily's field trip!

I got right into the ER .... sat for a bit, but got stitched up and out of there just in time to make it to Lily's field trip only a few minutes late!

7 stitches later

looks like a compression sleeve right? :D

Every time I think about the 'incident' I about want to hurl. Bone on wood is no bueno! I am actually pretty lucky... despite the bone exposing hole. I didn't damage any muscle. My leg is fully functional really w/ only a tiny bit of 'bruise' like pain. I finished the workout at the gym.... minus the box jumps and then taught spin. Everyone thought I was crazy, but really it was fine. I sat on the couch and iced for a bit... when I got up to go to bed... NOT fine. OMG that hurt. I took some advil and went to bed thinking it was going to be a long night. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be... and I might just have trained myself to sleep on my back again. Silver lining? When I got up this a.m... virtually no pain... did a modified workout this a.m. and taught spin again and it was fine. I'm shocked. Of course standing and moving around is better than sitting.

I'll be back at Crossfit tomorrow... but I probably won't be jumping on boxes again for a bit.... and when I do (bc I WILL) I will take my time and remind myself that I am just getting started w/ this and it's okay to NOT be able to do it EXACTLY right the first couple of times!

In comparison to the bike crash... in the moment and first couple of hours this was scarier and a bit more painful, but so far long term it seems a bit easier.

What's your worst injury... did you bounce right back or take some time off?

THIS GUY knocks my socks off! 30 x 140.6 in ONE year = WOW, REALLY?

James Lawrence (aka the ironcowboy at Tri And Give A Dam... aka the guy who set the world record in 70.3s in a year by completing 22 this year and is now looking to do 30 full (140.6) tris in 2012.) doesn't seem to believe in the word 'off season'... not this year anyway. Hmm.. maybe he'll take a bit of time off!

He is raising funds for Quiet Way (Ensuring sustainable access to clean water for children and families in Kenya.) while he trains his butt off ... I mean seriously... who does 30 triathlons in a year, period. Let alone 30 at 140.6 miles a pop! Did I mention dude has 5 kids. YEP! FIVE! I think I need to get Mr. Man on the horn for an interview as to how in the world you get all that done. Oh... he's got a day job too. Really? Raise your hand if you feel like a slacker! :)

Jenn Small of Miles Muscles and Mommyhood did a great interview with James already. And while you are over there you should check out HER story because she's pretty damn awesome too! :) All these awesome people in the world. Aren't we so lucky to have the internet and blogs so we can 'meet' all these cool interesting motivating people we might not otherwise have been able to 'know'.

Go LIKE him on Facebook!!! He's aiming for 15,000 likes and is just shy of 1,500 right now! Help a brotha out!

Here are the many ways you can track down Mr. Ironcowboy. Follow his progress, make a donation, give him some encouragement and SERIOUS props. I mean REALLY!? :D

http://www.facebook.com/#!/Ironcowboy
http://www.triandgiveadam.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/TriAndGiveADam

the OFF Season - Crossfit Danbury !

The off season is in FULL effect and I'm really enjoying it! Been hitting the weights, doing spin and running just whenever I feel like it. I found Crossfit Danbury back in the spring, but didn't want to start something new when I was entering into a big tri season so I waited .... and now tri season is OVER!

I went back to Crossfit Danbury today and signed my name on the dotted line. I'll now be going HERE

 three days a week!!! To basically get my ass handed to me! All in the pursuit of being able to call myself a certifiable bad ass! :) Okay.. it's fun in a masochistic kinda way. I really want to do this because I think it will round me out as an athlete (and I like to be a badass... but you knew that). I suffered a couple of lingering injuries this season and it seems to all stem from weak hips and glutes. Well you just can't have weak hips and glutes in crossfit! Ya just can't!

When I walked in the door one of the first things I saw was this sign and I love it! I want to make one for my house! :)

 Today's workout was humbling. I know this stuff is hard, but I consider myself to be in decent shape. Well I'm in a different kind of shape... and it's decent, but that's about it! :) Okay I'm not trying to down play myself or my abilities or the amount of work I have put in over the course of the tri season. I worked hard... it's just a different kind of work and a different kind of fit.

We started out warming up on the erg/run 400/erg/run 400. Have you ever used an erg (rowing machine)? If you haven't I dare you to hop on one at the gym and try to last 10 minutes! Seriously!

 Next we worked on the Clean. About half the class was working on getting the proper form and technique down while the other half was working toward their 1 Rep Max by slowing adding weight.. doing one, adding more weight, doing another. Two women topped out at 110 lbs. Two very tiny women... tiny, but mighty! It was so cool to watch them go through it and we all cheered for them when they reached their goal. AWESOMESAUCE!! Love the camaraderie and encouragement of the group!

I did not reach a max, but think my form was improving.

Here is what it's supposed to look like:


Looks simple, but it's tricky to get the technique.. Key: ENERGY TRANSFERRED TO BAR. You aren't to necessarily use your arms... you power through hips and glutes then get under it.

So we worked on this for about half the class then it was time for the actual workout:
AMRAP (As many reps as possible) in 10 mins:
200m run
15 wall balls
15 burpees w/ a target to jump to

Burpees w/ the goal to touch the bar.

Man my run form sucks!

Seems easy enough right. DAMN! It was hard. I used a 10lb ball (most others used 14). I got through 3 rounds plus an extra run before it was over. I wasn't sure I could keep going and was glad the timer finished as I came in!

It was hard, but it was great and I loved that everyone there knew each other, were fun and encouraging and are friends! It's going to be a wild ride. 110lb clean I'm coming after you... you and a few others that I won't mention right now... let's just get this party started first!

Revolution3 South Carolina - Working report!

First off.. I must learn to stop and take more photos!! This weekend was - once again - Epic! I can't even begin to describe to you how proud I am to be associated with Rev3. Not just because they put on a good race, but because they are just so damn AWESOME! I really mean that! I'm not just saying it. We show up and work our BUTTS off and manage to have a good time in the process. How is work fun? This is an entirely new concept to me!

Ashley - aka Rev3 EVERYTHING Girl

Chris and Ashley - separated at Birth. I mean ... who couldn't have fun with this group!?

Chris, Charles and Nick - some of the boys/muscle

I rolled into Anderson around 11:30am and jumped right into helping wherever I could with set up until after lunch when my volunteer partner in crime, Jefferson, and I went back to the hotel to 'dial for dollars'... um, basically calling people I don't know to ask them to come out and support us.. when they really weren't 100% sure what I was talking about. 1. I don't like the phone, 2. I particularly don't like to talk to people I don't know on the phone, 3. conquered a huge fear/hurdle and talked to A LOT of people I do not know. And GUESS WHAT! I am alive to tell the tale. It actually was kind of fun after I got rolling and people were fairly nice so that helped!

We rocked that Volunteer thing then returned to the expo for some more set up then off to Applebee's (everyone's favorite place) for dinner! :) I was so excited to catch up with the people I hadn't been able to talk to earlier in the day. After dinner we rolled to DOWNTOWN Anderson to check out the town and unwind...

Kat having a little fun!

The rest of set up is a blur between dialing for volunteers and helping with set up.. laughing uncontrollably and having a flat out BLAST!!! I can't even begin to describe how I feel working with Rev3. They are AMAZING!

Set up seemed to go smoothly and without incident.. well, there are always incidents, but it went really really well!

Race day was much the same! From my perspective it all went really well. I so enjoyed working with the team, the volunteers and the athletes.

One of the most touching moments of the weekend was when the final finisher came across the line. All of the spectators were gone - aside from his Team Z folks and the Multisport Ministry (they always provide a 'last place' finisher to take that 'last' spot) team.

When we all got word of the final finisher getting close we all congregated at the finish line that was STILL standing aside from the snow fencing. Team Z, the Rev3 staff, the 4 remaining Volunteers (that mind you were told they could go, but wanted to stay. I had a great video of them, but lost it.), Multisport Ministries, All3Sports and Recovery Pump all lined the finishers shoot and made a tunnel for him to come through. (I wish I could remember his name.) It was very touching and emotional. I congratulated him after the race and he was so thankful that we stuck around, shared his moment and captured his final words! He had tears in his eyes... as did the rest of us. He will remember that moment for the rest of his life and I'm so honored that I got to be there as part of the Rev3 crew to bring him home!

Getting our line ready waiting for the final finisher.

Getting the interview

My main girl LJ and I at the finish. We wore our pink compression socks for Breast Cancer Awareness month!

Rev3... Thank you! Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the AMAZING Trakkers team and THANK YOU for allowing me to be a part of the staff at TWO events. My life - SERIOUSLY - has been changed forever because of you. And I know I'm not the only one. Keep doing what you are doing and I'll see you in 2012. Wild horses couldn't keep me away!

And I can't close without a big HUGE thank you to Anderson, SC and Kathy Benson for welcoming us into there town and giving us a chance. I hope you were not disappointed... I know we were thrilled to be there. As I knew they would the southerns showed us their hospitality and we are forever thankful!

If you have not come out to a Rev3 race yet... you truly are missing out. I mean that from the bottom of my heard. Check them out. You WILL not be disappointed!

Super exciting Changes at Rev3 Cedar Point

This blog is like the REv3 show lately huh? Sorry. Life has been super busy lately... to include prepping to go and work at the Rev3 South Carolina race! Yes, I drink the Kool Aid!

Rev3 has made some really exciting changes at the Cedar Point race (that I know ALL of you will hope come to the other Rev3 races!!)

They are adding both a sprint and a kids tri!! How exciting is that!? Taking the 'family friendly' aspect to a whole new level! The Sprint Rev will be for athletes 14 and up. It will be a half mile swim, 14 mile bike, and a 3 mile run. The kids triathlon will be for kids 7-10 who will be doing a quarter of a mile swim, two mile bike, and a quarter of a mile run. Kids 11-14 will do a one hundred and fifty swim, four mile bike, and a mile and a half run

AND with that big announcement!!! REGISTRATION IS OPEN!! And they are offering EARLY BIRD PRICING!

Early Bird Prices for Cedar Point:

Full: $425 until November 1st
Full Aquabike: $410 until November 1st
Full Relay: $474 until November 1st

Half (prices will go up by $50 on October 8th):

Half: $210 until October 8th
Half Aquabike: $250 until October 8th
Half Relay: $260 until October 8th

Click right ====> HERE to register!

So GET ON IT! 2012 is going to be ROCKIN' at Cedar Point in September!!

Rev3 Tri Team is Accepting Applications

Trakkers will be no longer next year. Next year we will be THE REV3 Team. And if you want in.... now's the time. You can follow THIS LINK to get to the application!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I have thoroughly loved being part of this team. Even in the last couple of months I have felt tremendous amounts of love from the Rev3 team. Going to the races and being part of something bigger than myself is amazing! The love and support (along w/ the ribbing, fun poking and laughs) has been truly amazing! See if you can see it in the following photos!

Rev3 Cedar Point - HALF

What an amazing weekend! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Rev3 and this was my first time being out on the course instead of working/volunteering and let me tell you it did not disappoint.

Tom and I headed out for our 10 hour drive right after putting the kids on the bus and rolled into registration right as they were closing. No worries I got all checked in and got my race packet w/ my visor, tshirt, goodies, number, cap, timing chip etc etc.

Things were winding down and my team members had a long day of coastering so we decided to take advantage of a kid free night and go have a nice dinner just the two of us.

As an aside Tom said his burger in SANDUSKY, OH was better than any burger he has had in Connecticut. (I can confirm this... I had the same burger Sunday post race.)

The next morning I was all set to go to the practice swim and help the team do a trislide pit. Basically we accosted people with cans of trislide and sprayed them down. (we were nice about it) And I think it worked. From what I heard All3Sports (hook yourself up: for 15% off go to www.all3sports.com and use GOTRAKKERS at checkout)sold out of trislide by the following morning! YEAH!

Mark needed to stay off his feet so Kelly graciously offered to carry him around!

Upon arriving at the beach we saw that there was a good 2 feet worth of sludgy sediment leading into the water. Apparently the huge storms they were having while trying to set up the expo area had stirred the water up pretty good and when the ocean calmed it deposited this loveliness for us to walk through. Along with making the water BLACK as NIGHT. I kid you not it was like someone turned the lights out when you put your face in the water. Weirdest swimming experience to date. I wish I had gotten a photo of us coming out of the water with the brown gunk up to our knees.

The good news is that later that day they were out there with a bull dozer cleaning as much of it out as they could so it was much better (you could actually run into the water) in the morning for the race.

My swim was short, but it confirmed that I can indeed swim. Okay I knew that, but it's always a nice little reminder the day before the race.

Bike wracked and ready!

Then we met up with some team mates and bloggers at the expo.

And we got to chat with Kacie and her hubs George (who WON his AG at his first 70.3). They stayed at our house for Quassy, but I was so busy I didn't get to hang too much. Below you will see why I just LOVE them! These might be my favorite photos from the weekend. Seriously!

Turned out that we were able to score some park tickets for the afternoon (yes, the DAY BEFORE the race) so Tom and I hit the coasters for about 4 hours. All the while I'm looking around wondering why I see no other Rev3 racers. Thinking, "Am I preparing for a 'what not to do' blog post?"

If you ever find yourself at Cedar Point you MUST hit the Millennium Force and the Top Thrill Dragster. The Millennium Force is super fast with many HUGE ups and downs. The Top Thrill Dragster sits you on a straight away like a drag race. Thrusts you forward at about 120 miles per hour shoots you straight up into the sky and then straight back down. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

Time to get off my feet and get some GRUB! Might not be your 'typical' prerace grub, but it works for me! Dark beer is LOADED with carbs. I love this beer and couldn't resist! I normally would not have a beer... also wondering if I was setting myself up for the 'what not to do' post.

On race morning I was a bit nervous, but surprisingly calm. I really didn't know what to expect from this race. It's been two years since I road my bike anywhere remotely flat, my running has sucked hugely with battling injuries all season and I have never completed this distance before. I suspected that I could complete the distance (even if I had to walk a lot on the run), but was unsure of my performance. As I've stated before one of the differences between racing with kids vs without is that I don't have weeks and weeks to think and ponder my race day. I save all of that for right before the race. I do my work and I'm set up fairly well mentally, but the details of how I'm going to attack the race. They wait. It's less stressful for me this way. Coach had sent me an email saying and I quote:

"Here is my thoughts: 1) swim hard. Start near the front too the side
and swim hard the first 300m and see if you can find fast feet. Your a
tuff chick so don't get pushed around. You push people around in the
water. And your a strong enough swimmer to race the swim. Be tactical.
If you find some good feet save your energy and draft.

Bike: controlled rage. Go hard but one step below drilling it. Fuel
according to your death brix. Last mile on the causeway spin a higher
rpm and do a few standing intervals to get the run legs warmed up.

Take the first half of the run chill. All-day pace. Don't despair if a
person or two passes you. Run hard the second half."

I almost laughed out loud at the swim advice. Maybe he sent that to the wrong athlete? No, he clarified for me saying, "I didn't say you were a GOOD swimmer. I said you were a tough chick." Okay then. Thanks.. I think?

Anyway. I thought a lot about what he said. I'm kind of internal about this part of my racing. I don't talk to a lot of people about my 'race plan'. I'm not sure if it's my fear of failing in others eyes... that if I put it out there that I'm going to try to 'kill it' and then can't. Okay, let's face reality. When I race I'm always trying to kill it. Anyway. I don't talk a lot pre race... I'm all in my head. I like to be there.

I told Tom that I thought the swim would take me 45 mins, not sure about the bike maybe 3.5 to 4 hours, and the run - IF the leg held up - I suspected maybe 2 hours.

Swim: 43:39 (2:16min/hm) AG: 21/34 OA: 110/220

I decided that coach was right about the swim in that I would start toward the front but on the outside to try to avoid contact. It worked pretty well. I was able to avoid the thrashing around that occurs at the beginning of every race. SCORE! I went hard to the first buoy then tried to find my pace. Worked to the first turn then I went in and out of 'got my groove' and 'what the fuck' through the back side. Hit the turn and was doing okay, but kept finding myself further out on the left than I wanted to be... thus not taking advantage of whatever current might be created by all the swimmers so I fought to get back in there, but never got as close as I wanted to be. The last two buoys were just okay. Lot's of siting to make sure I was on track and that slows me down and frustrates me. I'm happy with my swim in that I swam the whole thing. I swam fairly straight and didn't get involved in any skirmishes. I know I pushed as hard as I could and came out at 43:39

T1: 2:56
Everything was all good. I was all set to run out with my bike when a lady crashed and burned. I stopped to see if she needed some help then stood there like a dolt waiting for her to get up to make sure she was okay. She was... we were off.

Bike: 2:48:26 (19.95mph) AG: 9/34 OA: 45/220

As I'm heading out on the bike I see Bill from CREW! He says, "Hey maybe we can hang out!" I looked over my shoulder as I got in the saddle and said, "Only if you can keep up!" Guess I was feeling good about the bike now! (I did see Bill a number of times out on the course!)

I stuck with this plan, but I gotta say the first 20 miles my belly was NOT loving it. I'm not sure if it was the half a banana I stuffed in my banana hole IMMEDIATELY on the bike or what, but I was worried. Thank God it subsided after mile 20.

I had decided that I was going to race the bike since I wasn't sure how my run would turn out. Who cares if my legs are cooked if they weren't going to work anyway right? Prior to this race I wasn't sure I had what it takes to RACE that long. It's one thing to go out and complete the race (and that is an awesome accomplishment in and of itself. I am NOT downplaying that approach at all!!! I have done it many times myself.) and going out to RACE it. Meaning try to damn near red line it the whole time. I've always said that the thing I like about endurance stuff is that you don't have to red line it. I've only done it one other time and it didn't work out as I had hoped! I chose this route and I stuck to it through the entire ride. I'm not going to lie. It hurt!

I had chosen to bring my road bike instead of my tri bike and I did second guess it once or twice when I wracked my bike and when I was in transition the morning of the race, but that thing was AWESOME. I couldn't get aero, but would just ride the drops when I was going down hill or in a nice open space. It was fine. That bike fits me like a glove and it's what I've been riding. I passed PLENTY of people on their tricked out tri bikes. I would say that the one and only bummer was that I only had two water bottle cages. I had double strength First Endurance EFS in one cage and water in the other. I was planning to stop 1 hour in (planning to get an entire bottle of water down by then) at a water stop to get a new bottle. I wasn't sure how this was going to go down because I've never done a race with a bike water stop. SERIOUSLY! Do I grab a bottle while in motion and risk taking out one of the lovely volunteers? Do I stop and throw my bottle away and take another? I didn't want to put my feet on the ground, but I opted to take a few minutes to refill my water bottle (didn't want a disposable bottle rattling around in my cage). This is when Bill caught me and we leap frog much of the rest of the course. I also saw my team mate Jeff go by at this point. I tried with all my might to catch him, but couldn't. I kept him in my sites, but couldn't quite get to him. Another woman came up beside Bill and I and said, "hey, think we can catch those men up there?" HELL YES we can and off we went! :)

I continued to switch between the EFS and the LS (Liquid Shot) I also snagged a GU Roctane that had 2x the caffeine on the course. Did I mention that I had somehow managed to give up caffeine over the weekend ('what not to do' post still creating itself). I never did touch the rest of that banana... or any other solid food for a solid 5.5 hours!

I surprised myself with that ride. I knew I could hold a decent pace (aka 20ish miles per hour) for an Olympic, but wasn't sure I could maintain it for a half. I got to the Olympic distance and thought... "Here goes nothin!"

T2: 1:41
In and out!

Run: 2:02:00 (9:19 min/mi) AG: 6/34 OA: 39/220

The run started... my plan was to follow coaches advice to basically negative split the thing. In the first mile every time I looked at my watch the pace was between 8:05 and 8:30. Come on Laura.. this is NOT your I could do this all day pace. Why is it so easy to run fast right off the bike? Guess it was that quick turnover spin out I did at the end of the bike (per coaches direction). Side note: My heart rate monitor must need a new battery because my heart rate never got over about 85. Pretty sure that's not accurate. So I hadn't been using heart rate at all.

I kept trying to get myself to slow to more like a 9 to 9:30 min/mile. Though my ego really wanted to see a nice solid 8:45 min/mile. At about 1 mile my stomach started to act up again. I had to pee at the start, but didn't get it done in my wetsuit for whatever reason. I HAD TO GO NOW! And I had to do other things? WHAT? I NEVER have this problem ... not ever. So as I'm heading to the second water stop I see that there is ONE port-a-potty. I'm HOPING against hope that it is empty. I wouldn't have stood there waiting.. I would have tried to get to the next one and that might have gotten ugly! I see someone come running out so I look to my left and right and see some people there. I picked up the pace as much as I could just in case they had the same idea. I was going to BEAT them there. OMG that was the best port-a-potty stop I have EVER made! MUCH better. Back to focusing on running instead of clenching my butt cheeks... while running.

I had chosen not to carry anything with me. I knew there would be GU out on the course so I relied on that. I stopped at ALL but one of them. I ran through the first 4 or so and walked through the rest. Drinking and throwing water on myself.

I saw Carole (aka Mama Bear to us Trakkers) at around mile 6 or 7 and when I saw her I know I gave her the look of 'please have mercy on me and make this end'.. she asked if I was okay and told me to get some coke. I never drink the stuff, but between the chance meeting with Mama Bear and the next water stop I remembered others telling me that that stuff was like crack and really gave a nice kick. I sure could have used a nice kick. So at the next two water stops I had some coke. I'm sad to report that while the change in flavor was welcome it did not give me any more kick.

This run HURT! HARDEST run ever.. okay maybe outside of the Miami Marathon. That was pretty hard too! (only other long race I've actually RACED!)

It took everything in me to keep going. The good thing about that is that when I'm hurting I want to push as hard as I can because the faster I go the faster I get to stop! I struggled and pushed this entire run. I KNOW I could not have gone any faster. Yep, makes me feel pretty good. Bad news is that 1 mile AWAY from the finish I HAD TO poop again. SERIOUSLY!? Fine! FINE! FINE! So I hit the port-a-potty AGAIN. Again, much better. And on to the finish I went as hard as I could!

At the finish line we were given the opportunity to run down the shoot with an American flag in HONOR of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. I thought we were going to get little dinky "4th of July" style flags that little kids play with. No way man. I should have known better. That's not the way Rev3 Rolls! I got a big huge flag to run down the shoot with! It was GREAT!

Overall: 5:38:43 AG:6/34 OA: 39/220 (not too shabby for starting out AG: 21/34 OA: 110/220 out of the water. Hmm where do we think I need to put most of my effort?)

Tom had just missed my big finish and he was disappointed that he wasn't there to get my photo, but he made his way back very quickly and I was so glad to have him there to be my support, my bike mechanic, sherpa, masseuse and bestest buddy in the world! Thanks honey! I truly appreciate your support!

We went and grabbed A Delicious burger and beer right on the course then came back to cheer on the Trakkers!

I got to see Kacie and Kristin finish their 140.6 almost together. It was Kristin's VERY FIRST and it was very emotional. They ran a lot of the run together and were able to push each other to THIRD in their Age Groups! So proud of my teammies!

And a quick PSA: Don't forget your sunscreen... even if it's supposed to be overcast. I'm not sunburned.. it's red because I SCRAPED the numbers off to see if they were going to be staying for a while. My arms look pretty much the same. NICE!

I'm so honored to be a part of the Trakkers team and to be affiliated with Revolution3 Triathlon. They put on a stellar event and as I've said one million times before they are all just great people!

Congrats to all my team mates and all the other athletes out there!!!

Prepping for the week. Food time savers.

Yes Rev3 Cedar Point is around the corner, yes it is taking up a lot of my brain power, but - as you mom's know - life still goes on regardless of mommy's race. The family still needs to eat!

School is under way and I find that I'm going to need to prepare a bit more than I did when we were free forming it over the summer. LUNCH and SNACK need to be ready and out the door by 8:10am. EEK! I had a panic attack last night after we got home from Boston, but I pulled it together and was able to come up with something for their lunch without having to venture out into the world again. I had already poured my wine and hated to leave it sitting there waiting for me to come home!

Anyway.. for each week I'm now going to spend some time prepping food. Things I've done today:

1. Made home made granola bars! Had to make them NUT FREE for their classroom snack. (we eat a lot of nuts in this house so I feel pretty challenged in this department.. a nut free snack that won't get squashed and is easy to eat.. nuts and raisins are our go to grab it quick snack.) I digress. The bars are cooked and cooling so I can't give you the low down on how they taste or what the texture is like. Okay, I tasted the pre-baked "batter" and it was pretty good. I did cut the honey in almost half and used a little coconut oil. I do like the fact that there is NO FLOUR in this recipe.

2. I froze banana chunks for our smoothies (okay.. mostly MY smoothies).

3. Froze grapes. Sounds weird, but both my grandma's did this and they are pretty tasty. Figure they might defrost a bit before the kids eat lunch. We'll find out.

4. I'm making a double batch of rice to eat with dinner tonight and freeze for the rest of the week. I bake it per Cook's Illustrated and it comes out perfect EVERY TIME! No burnt rice on the bottom of the pan w/ raw rice on the top! I then spread what we aren't going to eat on a pan and freeze it for a bit then transfer the semi-frozen rice to a zip lock bag. Works like a charm. Then I just heat it up for the next meal! Here's the details on how to bake your own rice! I like to use home made chicken stock in place of the water, salt and oil when I've got it laying around.

1 1/2 cups Long, Medium or Short grain brown rice
2 1/3 cups water
2 tsp unsalted butter or olive oil
1/2 tsp table salt

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread rice in 8in square glass baking dish.
2. bring water, butter or oil to a boil, covered, immediately stir in salt and pour water over rice. Cover baking dish tightly with a double layer of foil. Bake rice 1 hour, until tender.
3. Remove baking dish from the oven and uncover. Fluff rice with a dinner fork, then cover dish w/ kitchen towel. (I just replace the foil loosely.); let rice stand 5 mins. Uncover rice and stand 5 mins longer, serve immediately.

5. I'm also roasting a chicken in my Crock Pot.. makes for quick easy lunches/dinners throughout the week.

What do you do in prep for the week?

If you haven't checked out Cook's Illustrated I highly recommend it. My Brother and Sister in Law got a subscription for us MANY MANY years ago and I maintain it still. Great tips and recipes. (particularly if you are carnivore/omnivore!)

Top 17 things you need to prepare for a Hurricane!

1. Tub full of water (if you are on a well)
See w/ a tub full of water you can still flush your toilet. This is quite the luxury... in case those of you that are still flushing are not aware of how nice it is to be able to flush the waste of six people in any given day. We did not 'get around to' filling our tub before the power went out because we thought we had another couple of hours in the morning. Tom was able to drain the furnace after the power was out and fill the tub about half way. A day and a half later we bailed water from the creek across the street. (Some people are calling me Laura Ingals Wilder Mount now) That was, um, a pain in the ass. And I'm guessing I'll be doing it again tomorrow because Tom is conveniently in Europe WHERE THEY HAVE ELECTRICITY AND RUNNING WATER! You could also boil this water and cook and/or bathe with it.

2. 1 gallon container of some sort
This would be necessary to flush aforementioned toilet w/ all the water you filled your tub with.

3. POTABLE water.
Yes you can get some at the grocery store or local coffee shop... so long as they have power and aren't sold out of water.

4. ICE! A second freezer doesn't hurt, but I wouldn't go out and buy one.
We were able to fill our garage freezer (That was thankfully empty because Tom usually uses it as a beer cooler. He uses some contraption to turn the freezer into a fridge.) with ice to turn it into a damn good refrigerator for our perishables.

5. Flash lights/candles
You will likely want to see after the sun goes down. I used a head lamp to cook dinner and clean up after. It was super helpful. It was also helpful when I broke a 5 gallon glass carboy full of water in my mom's VERY DARK kitchen at around 8am one morning. Wow, that was super fun!

6. Batteries
Ya know.. for the flashlights and your kids toys (if you have them.. both kids and toys) that will invariably run out of juice 5 minutes after the power goes out.

7. Grill
You might want to cook some of that food that is getting ready to rot in your fridge.

8. Propane
The grill won't work real well without it!

9. RUN the dishwasher!!
We failed to run our fully loaded dishwasher the night before the hurricane because we were dumb enough to think that the weather people knew EXACTLY when the shit would hit the fan. Um, they can't know exactly. Power went out over night... and our gross dishes sat there for two days before I filled the sink w/ our saved potable water to wash all of them by hand. More good times!

10. Coffee - GROUND
This might not be a must for you, but it is a must in this house. We did not have this either. So far we are not excelling at Hurricane Prep! We had beans, but the grinder needs electricity to run. Funny how that works. We considered smashing them w/ a mallet, but we were lucky in that the grocery store was open.

11. French Press
Your coffee maker won't work... but you can boil water on your grill w/ that propane you got. Did I mention that while we have two propane tanks only one was partially full. Another fail... at least we had some... and again stores were open so we were able to fill the second.

12. Wine/Beer/Spirit of choice
I DID manage to buy beer and wine! YEAH ME! You will want this to calm your nerves... particularly if you have small children that might be so spoiled as to be accustomed to having the bathroom light left on when they go to bed and are therefore terrified of the dark... it could be a late night. Wine helps.

13. Gym Membership
This is a multifunctional item. Not only does it provide a hot shower... again if you have well... but you know you'll need to get your sweat on to relieve any stress you MAY have accumulated through this process. Or you could just haul some more water... that's a pretty ass kicking workout!

14. Money in savings
First and foremost in case of damage to your house. Some things will be covered by your home owners insurance. Some things won't. Some things will need to be fixed NOW! And it wouldn't hurt to do a once over prior to the storm and fix things ahead of time. Also you'll likely find yourself needing to eat out should your power be out for more than a few days and you lose both your will to prepare food and the food in your fridge.

15. Patience
You will certainly need some of this! If you don't have it... well, good luck.

16. Sense of humor
This makes all things better! You will need to laugh at yourself while you are hauling 10 gallon barrels of water up hills through mud and depositing them in your tub to then dump water in a toilet full of urine and feces that may or may not belong to you! Good times! You will need to laugh when you are so happy that your basement didn't flood that you go ahead and flood a portion of it w/ a 5-10 gallon jug. And keep laughing when your kids are up all hours of the night because.. well who knows why really.

17. Able Body
You may have to haul lots of stuff. You may be up later than usual and you will likely find yourself doing stuff the old fashioned way. Note: It was way harder to get normal daily tasks done back in the day.

And a bonus... wouldn't hurt to have ME there to prepare your kick ass 'roughin' it meals!!

We are fairing well and maintaining our sense of humor. I'd rather have no power and now water than have power and water and extra water filling my basement or a gaping whole in my roof from an old huge tree smashing into it or a tree smashed on top of my car. We're safe and we're toughening up... but just a bit. I am in a coffee shop right now using their electricity and wifi after all so it really can't be all that bad!

For those that were hit w/ the storm and hit harder than us I hope you have good support around you, an able body, tons of patience and a rockin' sense of humor. I'm thinking about you!

What did you do to prepare? What did you forget? What will you do next time... cause we all know more storms will come in our life!!!

The Power of the TEAM!

T-12 days until Cedar Point Half!! GULP!

It’s been a bumpy road to get here! Injuries, stress, changes of course (full to half), but FINALLY I feel at peace and ready. I’ve had a couple of big weeks of training where I’ve – hold onto your seats – been able to hit every workout!!! Only one of which totally sucked. My hamstring is still an issue, but I’m thinking (hoping) that it won’t be too BIG of an issue because the Cedar Point course is flat!! (Let’s just go with that.)

I’m not sure if it’s the big training blocks that have given me some confidence or the Rev3 love I’ve gotten over the last couple of weeks. DAMN it feels good to feel you are part of something bigger than yourself! I was reminded of that fact this week. The fact that I represent the Trakkers/Rev3 team makes me so proud! I have a group of athletes that work their butts off behind me. I have a team of people that put on KICK ASS races behind me. I have an obligation to get my sorry butt out there and give it my best!!! Not an obligation to win the thing or live up to anyone else’s standards, but an obligation to the Rev3 spirit to just GET OUT THERE AND DO MY THING!

And despite Irene preparations and dealings I managed to get it done... even my INSIDE deathbrick!! 4.5 hours on on the spin bike then 3.1 miles on the treadmill!!

We all have our own reasons for doing this crazy mixed up endurance bit… you’ve got to have some driving forces behind you to get you going for some of those harder workouts. What’s your INNER FIRE that gets you out the door on those hard days?

I gotta say I got into this stuff for the fun of it and the friends I met along the way. That’s still my NUMERO UNO! I’m so happy to have had the reminder that while my friends on my Trakkers/Rev3 team might not be here training with me day in and day out there are MOST CERTAINLY there with me!!!

So EVERYONE racing Rev3 let’s DO THIS THING!!! I’ll meet you at the coasters on Saturday!

Roll Call Who’s in!?

And don’t forget that Registration opens on Sept 1st (that would be THIS THURSDAY) for Rev3 Wisconsin and Maine!! Click HERE to register!

DEATH BRICK!

That's (DEATH BRICK) all I had to see on my schedule to know that it is CRUNCH time!!! Rev3 Cedar Point is only ONE month away... That's only THREE more weekends of SERIOUS work left! And it all started today. Last week was 'thankfully' a rest week as my schedule (and maybe my mind/body) needed it to be, but as we all know that rest week makes me feel... well, out of shape! I know it's silly, but it is. Along with that my mind kind of goes on vacation as well. Know scheduling, scheming and planning to get all my work outs in... now here I am HARD AT IT! No skipping or skimping now. We are all out GAME ON my friends!

Today started day 1 of the next three weeks of my triathlon life! :) 2000 meters in the pool! HARD meters... not the stuff I've been doing. Not just nice sustained get the yards done swimming... in the ocean. Nope.. eyes down, mind focused, body working HARD swimming. After a nice warm up it was time to get to BUSINESS! 10x100 HARD on 20seconds rest, then 10X50 HARD on 10s rest. I tried to ignore what was to come as I headed into it. Just pretend it's not there! Well, it was there! I'm not so great at pushing myself in the pool.

I DID IT! When I was on 100 number 3 I was skeptical that I would get through it, but I kept putting my face back in the water and pushing off the wall... when I was ALMOST done w/ my set of 100s some dude jumped in the lane next to me. (He was a nice enough guy ... I chatted with him when were were all done... but I'm till referring to him as "some dude".) So I'm all cruising along and not beating myself up for taking 2:00 minutes to complete a hundred when I'm swimming HARD. (okay maybe I was thinking about that a bit.. like EVERY time I looked at the clock.)

"Some dude" was using a pull buoy and still beating me to the end of the pool. No big surprise. It happens to me a lot. Then I happened to catch a glimpse of his form... well, it wasn't great. That shit just pisses me off. His form is off and HE'S STILL beating me. GRR. I was getting tired at this point, but plugged along. During ONE set it really got to me for a second, but I got my head straight. It matters not what 'some dude' in the next lane is doing. He is not a measure of MY abilities as a triathlete. I have come a LOONNNGGG way in the water since I started swimming. So I pushed the negative thought away and kept trucking. Happy with my effort and DAMN proud of myself for setting the negativity aside. THAT IS NEW for me. Particularly in the water.

SOLID WIN on my part! In the past I would have let this pretty much ruin my workout.

More on the DEATH BRICK this weekend!

Do you let this kind of thing kill your spirit and ruin your workout/day?

Niantic Bay Sprint Triathlon

Better late than never. I finally raced! I completed The Niantic Bay Sprint Tri on Sunday August 7th!

I woke up in the morning after barely sleeping the night before. I don't think I was nervous, but who knows what was up. It was POURING rain. Ugh! This was the first race that Tom was coming just to spectate and support me. He's brought the kids to a couple of races, but I usually just go by myself. After a 'discussion' a bit ago we both decided that it would be 'nice' if he was more involved in my racing.... so he decided to come with. Bet he was especially happy that it rained the ENTIRE time! Way to jump in sweety!

We rolled hoping that the rain would subside. It was absolutely pouring the entire drive there... I was going through my mental check list as to whether or not it was worth it to race in this awesome weather. You know I was nervous about riding my bike in the rain after my awesome crash last summer. (okay.. so I only had some road rash.. no breaks or anything, but it was still traumatic to me.)

By the time we got there it was just misting and I felt like I would be a total P.... ansy if I didn't race. I started sipping my First Endurance EFS Grape mixed with PreRace. I only did a little bit of pre-race because it was my first time using it and it was 'just a sprint'.. gave me a bit of an edge and helped with my lack of sleep for sure!

The chop in the water was pretty bad and we would be swimming out against the current then across it then with it (for what seemed like 5 feet) and we were warned it was going to be rough. Ultimately they shortened the swim. (you know I'm ALWAYS down with that.) Strangely I wasn't worried about the swim at all. Perhaps because all of my attention was on how I was going to get through the bike without crashing. :)

As we lined up for the swim I must have been in a daze because as the announcer said "10 seconds" I "woke up" and realized I was standing right in the front.. uh, what am I doing up here? I backed up a few rows (in hind site I should have stayed right where I was). We were off. The chop was BAD. We couldn't see a thing, but I just kept swimming. My VERY FIRST triathlon was Super choppy - even choppier than this one - and I wasn't able to freestyle the whole way. Sunday I just put my head down, stayed calm and swam the whole way. I felt really bad for people who were doing their first triathlon ... but they got through it just as I did. By the time we got to the middle of the swim I would site and not see very many women in front of me. At first I thought 'wow I am way behind.' then I realized that maybe I wasn't. I'm not sure what the reality was, but I was proud of myself for not indulging my negative thoughts. I'm proud of my swim for not going to the dark (negative) side and for swimming (freestyle)the entire race in the choppy choppy water.

T1 was uneventful. The transition area was like a huge puddle in a parking lot so at least the sand got washed off my feet. I opted to not wear socks on the bike because it was recommended that we take our bike shoes off to run our bikes in because it was a steep downhill into transition and is very slippery on cleats... so my socks would just get soaked.

The ride starts uphill so I was in a nice easy gear to start... surprisingly most others were not. Weird. So I cruised right out of there. The ride was rolling for the most part ... bc NO part of CT is FLAT. I felt I put in a solid effort... though my hill climbing still needs a bit of work. I went back and forth with a woman (not in my age group) for most of the ride. I usually try to run down women in my age group, but didn't see too many of them out there. There was one I was almost certain was in my age group, but I couldn't catch her.

Coming up on T2 I decided that since I was to take my bike shoes off I would try the whole take your shoes off before dismounting thing. Why the hell not? Well it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. My shoes did bang on the ground as I ran my bike in.... it was a long run. Seemed to be much more efficient though. I think I will continue to do this. Nothing like particular race circumstances taking you out of your comfort zone.

T2: I rolled in and the girl in the spot next to me was still there getting her stuff on. She had wracked her bike in my spot. I'm too damn nice. I should have said something to her, but I waited until she was done and moved her bike into her spot (after moving what I assume was her wetsuit hanging on the wrack where HER bike went). And off I went.

As always the run felt HARD. The whole can't breathe thing. I could feel my left hamstring on every single foot strike. I just tried to keep my steps light and the cadence up. I felt like I was probably right about my normal pace... which was slower than I had wanted to run, but it was all I could push for. Triathlon is so funny that way. According to the run split (if the course was actually 3.5 miles as it was advertised) I ran sub 7 minute miles... um almost a full 2 minutes FASTER than my 'normal pace' that I thought I was running. I suppose I'll never really know if the course was legit unless I drive an hour and 40 mins to drive it! I didn't wear my Garmin. Oh.. maybe I'll ask my buddy if he wore his. I have a hard time believing I ran that fast off the bike having not been working on my running. Maybe I'll lift more and run less if it makes me that much faster. ha (kidding)

All in all it was a good race. I came in 7/21 in my age group and 134/474 overall.
1:18:26 14:02 swim, 1:57 T1, 37:20 Bike, 1:09 T2, 24:01 run... I'll take it.