Not a Very Good Training Week

This week is not turning out to be one of my better training weeks. I am having some issues with my left outside ankle (seems like a mild to moderate case of tendonitis). So I am resting it. With races the next two weekends back to back that is not good. Hoping to attempt a test run Saturday or Sunday. If that does not go well I will shut it down until the race May 12 and again maybe until May 20. Hopefully I just get back to it quickly.

In addition, I just feel bloated and crappy this week in general (tired, achy and have headaches). I've been battling this all season so far. It's weird. I felt terrific before my wedding while on the paleo diet but I cannot be on a paleo diet during Ironman training. I need energy to fuel those workouts. Cardio without carbs is like powering a car without gas. It just doesn't happen. After a little research this week my husband and I think I could have a gluten allergy. We are going to experiment with a gluten-free diet for the next 2-4 weeks and see how we feel. I am hoping this does the trick for me. Stay tuned in future weeks for an update on the gluten-free experiment.

New Gear & New Attitude...Keep Moving Forward With Where I Am

So far this has been an interesting season and the journey has really just started. There have been ups (a PR at St Malachi and 3rd place OA at Kirtland Hills 5K) and downs (early season tendonitis in my right foot, which is slightly bothering me again and an unexpectedly hot half marathon that I almost quit). Note "almost". I haven't quit a race yet and don't intend to start now! That being said, I want to take a moment to update everyone on some exciting stuff as the 2012 multi-sport season takes off for me:

The new ride AND wheels! My Kestrel Talon, New ISM Adamo Breakaway seat and new Grey 50mm Carbon Tubular Race Wheels and red Look pedals. Isn't she pretty?! 

The new FULL wetsuit! This is a Blueseventy Reaction. I also picked up some Blueseventy hydra-vision googles and swim cap and love them! (please excuse the bad quality of the photo and my post swim hair!)

Lots of new socks and arm sleeves from Swiftwick to make my feet/arms happy! Their stuff is outstanding!

Lots of new Pearl Izumi bike and run gear, which is super high-quality gear! I tried out my new Pro Aero Softshell jacket on Wednesday night's ride and LOVE it!

Also, I have a new in the box GIRO Aero helmet, which was a X-mas gift from the hubby. I have yet to try. Will break it out in a couple weeks for first multi-sport race this year!

Also, have lots and lots of awesome fuel from PowerBar. Gels, powder, energy bars, protein bars to keep me going on the very long workouts to come this season.

I am VERY much looking forward to starting off the multi-sport season and am just like a kid in a candy store right now with all this new, awesome gear. But while the gear is really great to have I know it will be a lot of hard work this season - especially getting through my first 140.6 at Rev3 Cedar Point! There will be ups and downs, wins and losses and I need to understand and accept that. In other words I will work on having more fun out there this season! At the end of the day I am truly blessed to just be part of an amazing sport (triathlon), a top notch team  (Team Rev3) and have so much support from sponsors, loved ones and friends! So on to the next one I go...with a smile on my face!

Run for Home Half aka Sufferfest Half

What can I say about the Dover Run for Home Half Marathon yesterday? It was a sufferfest. Definitely the most difficult half I've run in a long time due largely to unexpectedly high temperatures. The race start is at 1PM - a late start, which was not an issue when I ran it back in 2010 at a 1:45. This year it was 80 degrees at the start and 82 when we finished. I knew I was in trouble after I was sweating from my 9:00 paced warm up mile.

Although I feel that I did everything right to prepare for this race it just didn't matter. There was too much working against me. Aside from the weather conditions, I had pinned a Powerbar gel onto my shorts. I discovered at mile 2 that the gel had leaked all over my shorts, tank and iPod! I stopped to try to wipe off my hands as they were caked in gel but I had no way to really clean myself up until mile 3's water station. At mile 3 I stopped and threw water down my shirt/shorts, on my hands and moved along. At that point I was doing okay, averaging around 7:30 per mile despite the setbacks.

At mile 5 I felt overheated and whooped. I stopped for a drink and stood for a minute or two debating whether I should just quit the race and wait for my husband to finish. I even threw out my bib. I figured I had no shot at winning and would just do the race as a training run for the Cleveland Half Marathon coming up next month. So that is what I did. The back half of the race is also hilly. There are a few big ones in there for extra fun in the heat. Needless to say I stopped and walked some on some of the hills and water stops as many people were doing. There were never any gels being handed out on the course and the gatorade was watered down so I had no fuel to really help me either.

I wasn't even going to run through the finish since it wouldn't be timed but after working that hard just to finish yesterday I decided I earned my medal with my crappy time of just over 1:58. Or at least I felt it was crappy for me. I wanted to run 1:38. 20 minutes off was a fail for me. My husband was standing there waiting for me. He also did not do as well as he hoped as he was shooting for a 1:30 and did 1:41 - still a good time considering the heat.

I just looked up the results and although I am not listed my time would make me 6th in the 30-34 age group and 16th overall of 200 women. At least that makes me feel a little better today. But yesterday was rough. I felt like a failure and I cried. I called my coach and explained what happened. I went home and cried and ran another few miles fast just to make myself feel better (or to punish myself). And that was it. The end of a very difficult race. That one's in the books and at the end of the day at least I finished. I would have been much more disappointed in myself for quitting. I also feel I learned a few things yesterday about running and myself.

I would like to thank my Rev3 team members for your encouragement and support as well as my other friends and especially my husband who did his best to cheer me up yesterday!

Running & Racing For a Cause - You Can Make a Difference!

There are so many reason to run! It would literally take me hours to list them all! Some of the more obvious reasons are that it's good for your health (physical and mental), helps you look and feel better about yourself, gives your life meaning and direction in being involved in something bigger, etc. But the reason I would like to focus on in today's post is running for charity. Running makes a difference in the lives of so many people - not just the athletes themselves.

A large number of races exist for the sole purpose of raising funds for a worthy cause. For example, a couple weekends back when I raced the Kirtland Strides of March 5K, that race exists to help raise funds for Deepwood, an organization that helps individuals with mental and developmental disabilities. The half marathon that I am running next week in Dover raises funds for Habitat for Humanity.

Some race organizations themselves get involved with charity organizations. For example, Rev3 Triathlon is a supporter of The Ulman Cancer Fund. Last year when I completed the Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 triathlon I signed up to raise fund's for Ulman's Team Fight. It was rewarding to raise funds to help young people affected by cancer. At this very moment, Rev3 is undertaking a huge effort to help Ulman...they are literally running across America! Some of my Team Rev3 teammates are on that journey right now. Others including myself are participating virtually by running as much as we can each day. Rev3 hopes to raise $100K in its 21-day running adventure. We still have a ways to go. Please consider donating. Every dollar helps!

The next time you think about why it's valuable to run local community races, be sure to think about all of the organizations that are supported through your efforts! You can and do make a difference just by participating. If you are unable to participate due to injury or lack of time, just donating helps make a difference too!

Kirtland Strides of March 5K Race Report

Some things just turn out better than you expect they will. The Kirtland Strides of March 5K was one of those things. It's close to home and for a good cause so my husband and I had it on the race calendar as a tentative. After running St. Malachi a couple weeks back and both running PRs, we decided to keep it on the calendar as a good possibility (assuming we both felt good about it closer to race date).

Saturday we discussed and both felt positively that the weather and conditions should be plausible for a decent race. We decided to run it assuming we felt fine that next morning so we went ahead and got our race stuff ready the night before and headed to bed at a reasonable time. We woke up and felt okay. I didn't feel very nervous, which was not the case with St Malachi. We got dressed in our race gear, ate some granola and headed to the Holden Arboretum, where the race was starting to register.

Once registered, we headed back to the car to pin our bibs on, get our stuff ready and did a mile warm-up at a 9-minute pace just to warm up. When we lined up I wasn't feeling a victory but was secretly hoping to place at least in my age group. I lined up in front and tried to fight my desire to take off too fast at the start as I have a tendency to do. My first mile was a wee bit fast at 6:45 but reasonable. For a little bit I thought I was second place female as I had passed one female and only saw one more ahead. Not the case. We hit the turn-around since it was an out and back and I realized I was in third. Still third overall is good I will take it! So the trick was just to hold onto it, which is always easier said than done. I bonked a little around mile 2.5 and stopped for a few seconds. I thought to myself you had better get moving again because if you loose third because you are a sissy and walk that is not cool. So off I went. The course was a little hilly so it wasn't the easiest 5k ever but that just makes placing even sweeter.

I came in third with a time of 22:33 (not a PR but a good time for me now). Second place female was 21:34 - about a minute ahead. Also almost ten years younger ;) First place female was 19:19. Not bad for early season. As you can see from my smile I was happy to place. A special thank you to my my sponsors especially Swiftwick for keeping my feet happy and PowerBar Team Elite for fueling my workouts and of course Rev3 Triathlon and my Team Rev3 teammates for all the support! You guys are awesome!

Steve was 11th overall to my 21 and placed third in his age group with a time of 20:03. All in all we were happy with the result. Especially since we have not been doing speed and have been focusing on longer endurance runs and also lots of biking and swimming.

After the race we ran another eight to make our goal for the week. Next up is a half marathon in a couple weeks. Hoping to have another PR and who knows if I am lucky maybe I will place again. Watch for the race report in a few weeks.

New Sponsors For Team Rev3

It's been a stellar couple of weeks in terms of training and racing. I feel so fortunate to have so much support behind me this year with Team Rev3 and of course my husband, family, friends and coach! Being on a team definitely has its perks too outside of the new friends and guidance received. Rev3 has put together a terrific list of sponsors for us including themselves!

• Powerbar - As part of Powerbar's Team Elite, we have access to a generous amount of Powerbar's products! I just got two big boxes of goodies last week to help fuel all that running, biking and swimming! Everything is delicious. Especially loving the orange recovery drink right now!
• Pearl Izumi - Our Rev3 kits will be provided by PI as well as some other awesome goodies like shoes and more apparel!
• Swiftwick - Our awesome sock sponsor is providing free and discounted compression footwear. I raced in a pair already and love them!
• Blueseventy - Our official swim and wetsuit sponsor has provided a nice discount on their merchandise. I just ordered a new wetsuit and expect it to arrive anytime now!  
• SBR Sports (Foggle, TriSwim, TriSlide) is providing for all of our swimcare products like Foggle, which is a must for keeping goggles clear and the shampoo/soap/lotion are awesome at getting the pool smell off!
• NormaTec MVP will be helping us out with compression boots to help those TIRED legs recover after long workouts. Can't wait to try these out!
• Blue and Argon 18 are offering discounts for the team members who want to purchase a new bike.

The more I engage in this sport, I see how much it takes to be successful. It takes a lot of dedication, planning and focus and it also takes a lot of fuel and gear. Thank you Rev3 and all team sponsors for your generosity this season! It is very much appreciated and needed!

St Malachi Race Report: Luck of the Irish

I'm happy to report that the first race of 2012 is now in the books! And fortunately it went better than I expected! After suffering from tendonitis in my right foot and then facing some  other health issues for a few weeks, my training wasn't exactly ideal for racing. I was only able to get in one interval workout about two weeks before the race so I was nervous about my performance. Okay, that's putting it mildly. I pretty much freaked out Saturday morning before the race.

I talked myself down from the ledge with a little help from Steve and we arrived at the race site around 9:15. Plenty of time to get ready and warm-up for the 9:45 start. We ran a mile slow just to loosen up, hit the very long lines for the porta-pottys, split a bottle of water and lined up close to the front. Although according to Steve not close enough as we spent the first couple minutes passing slower runners.

My first mile felt good as I kept it at a comfortably hard pace but did not go all out as I have the tendency to do. I knew I would need to save a little for the end of this race as it probably one of the most challenging 5-mile courses around Cleveland. Miles 2 and 3 were the same. I saw Steve as I headed for the turn-around. He was about 1/4 mile or 1/3 mile ahead. I skipped the water stand and went full speed ahead. Was a little fatigued around mile 3.8 before the flats under the bridges but held steady. After the brutal uphill climb back onto the bridge I had to collect myself for a few seconds and then I choked it up to finish strong in 35:55. Definitely better than I expected at a 7:11 pace. Although not nearly good enough to rank in my age group. I was 14th out of 260. Not bad I suppose for the season opener. Special thanks to Swiftwick for helping my feet stay happy! Swiftwick is a team sponsor this year of Team Rev3 and provided socks for the race! Love them and will be wearing them at EVERY race this season!

Steve was waiting at the finish and we grabbed some food then headed over to the after-race party at McCarthy's. The bar was packed as you can imagine since 3500 people run the race and most go directly after to the bar.  Here's a pic of me and Steve after the race. Don't worry we freshened up and changed into some dry, clean gear after the race. I always do because otherwise I smell like a big, sweaty 200+ # man.

It was nice running into friends and celebrating with some hard-earned beers. I was happy to have my Bell's Two-Hearted Ale! Jill and Beal were enjoying their Summer Shandies!