Thursday, October 28, 2010

Worst. Blogger. Ever

Sorry I have been MIA! Aren't I just the worst blogger ever? ...Don't answer that. I have to be honest- I haven't been doing much triathlon training since the Richmond Sprint a few weeks ago. I actually haven't been in a pool since the tri. whoops! After vacation I will get back on track. Promise. Even though I do not have much to blog about regarding triathlons I have a ton to tell you about other life aspects! Here is an update:

Work...

...has been kicking my ass. It is quarter end- which to you non-finance or accountant types means nothing. But to us accountants it means getting to work early, working through lunch, staying late, and coming home completely drained only to get up in the morning and do it again. Repeat this for 4-5 weeks. Needless to say, I am so ready for a vacation. Which brings up my next point...

Vacation...

The Boy and myself are leaving for Jamaica on Wednesday morning. I am PUMPED. We are going to an all inclusive resort with Phil's best friend Aaron and Arron's wife Angie. I am excited to spend time with them...and not check work email. So while all of you are at work, Ill be sipping a mojito poolside. Was it mean that I am rubbing it in? So sorry :P My parents were nice enough to watch Brizzy while we are gone.

Brizzy...

...is famous! A few months back I submitted this picture of Briz to http://upsidedowndogs.com/.


Photo by Phil Kealy...he made me give him credit.


She was pictured on the website a few days after I submitted the picture- which was exciting. But this week something even MORE exciting happened! I got an email from the webmaster at Upsidedown Dog telling me that Brizzy is on the COVER of the official 2011 Upsidedown Dog Calendar!!! Brizzy is a cover model!! You can take a look at my beautifully ugly dog on the cover here. I know what I am getting everyone for Christmas :)

Speaking of Christmas, I bought myself a Christmas present. A new bike! ok, 2 new bikes...let me explain.

Bike 1: Whenever I would ride my bike, my shoulders would scream in pain for days after my ride. I thought it was because I was just not used to riding a road bike. Turns out- the bike I was riding was entirely too big for me! Because I was reaching for the handlebars, it was pinching my shoulder blades which means a ton of pain. So I sold my road bike and bought a smaller road bike. Seriously- way smaller. It even has smaller tires! Small bike for a small girl. Selling my old bike gave me the majority of the funds to upgrade to the new one so this doesn't count as my Christmas present to me. It was a necessity! :) This is the new road bike:

I don't know what to name it. It reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Or Loop-de-La- the mint green My Little Pony that did ballet and ice skated. What? You don't remember the names of the My Little Ponies? I loved those things...my dad taught me how to braid hair using the tail of a My Little Pony toy. That's right- my dad knows how to braid. Its a skill you need with two daughters.  

Bike 2: oooh this bike is so sexy. I pre-ordered a 2011 Quintana Roo (QR) Chiquilo from Bonzai Sports. I did alot of searching around for a tri bike that came in my size (and price range!)...and QR is the only brand that makes an XS (and its not breaking the bank)..aka a bike for extremely short ladies like myself. And best of all- its hot pink. Take a look:


This bike is specifically for racing triathlons- the seat is further forward to save some leg muscle for the run- and the handlebars are called aerobars- this puts you in a more aerodynamic position to handle elements such as wind because you are not allowed to draft off anyone else (that means ride really close to someones back tire to that you are not taking the brunt of any headwind).

Hm...I cant think of any other life updates. So in conclusion- I haven't been training, work has been kicking my ass, I need a vacation, my dog is famous, and our living room has entirely too many bikes in it.

I'll post again when I get back from Jamaica! Have a wonderful week!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Richmond Sprint Triathlon- Race Report

Saturday, October 9, 2010:

Phil, Brizzy and myself headed down to Richmond around noon on Saturday after a quick stop for bagels at our favorite place. We had to head to Richmond the day before because there was no race-day packet pickup. Once in Richmond, I picked up my race numbers, t-shirt and other goodies and then we went to check in to the hotel. On our way to the hotel, Phil spotted this gem and of course wanted to go in.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) it was closing as we were pulling in to the parking lot. I really did not do a good job of picking a hotel. It was cheap and dog-friendly and on the same street as the start of the triathlon so I figured it was a sure thing. Well apparently that street is really long and there are some not so great areas, and that is where the Days Inn was. Lets just put it this way- the establishments closest to the hotel were strip clubs, Pay Day Loan store and a Taco Bell. But the room wasn't bad. Brizzy liked it.

After a quick dinner at Olive Garden, it was time for bed. I was nervous and did not manage to sleep very well. Plus, Brizzy kept switching sides of the beds to cuddle with Phil and then myself and she kept waking me up.

Sunday, October 10, 2010- Race Day!

Pre Race:

I woke up at 545am to give me plenty of time to eat, walk the pooch, use the bathroom, and get myself together. My stomach was feeling very nervous and I was not able to eat my cliff bar. Thank goodness I brought my Cytomax Pre-formance drink. It is a pre-workout drink that is especially designed to digest easily. It was the only thing my nervous stomach could handle.

Once we got to the race site, I set up my transition area, picked up my time chip and got body marked. I asked the kid to put a smiley face on my calf where my age is displayed just for fun.




Before I knew it, it was time to head inside to the pool.

Swim:

The swim was a 400 meter pool swim. We were lined up in order from fasted to slowest. We had to provide a swim time when we registered for the race and we were able to change it up until 3 days before the race- so you had plenty of time to go and time yourself to make sure you had the time correct.

As I was watching the first 100 or so people I realized how much of a mess it was. Some people clearly did not take the time to time themselves and seriously misjudged how slow they were. There were people running in to each other, there was one guy doggie paddling, another walking along the bottom of the pool. Which is all fine- but not within the first 100 people! They are supposed to be the fast, strong swimmers. Seeing this made me scared for the swim because I didn't want to get trampled.

All of a sudden, I was a few people away from getting in to the pool. The woman who started in front of me told me that if I caught up to her, tap her on the foot and she would slow down so I could pass. In to the pool I went and had a 5,4,3,2,1 go countdown. It was a 50 meter pool so the laps were super long, but I felt great.



I passed the woman in front of me within the second 100 meters. No one passed me, and there were no issues like the ones I had seen earlier. Total swim time:8:31

Transition 1:

The run from the pool to the transition area was long! And it was concrete so it hurt my little feet! Other than sore toes, the transition went well and was uneventful. T1 time: 2:55



Bike:

Despite the fact that I practiced mounting my bike last weekend during my own transition practice, I fumbled big time during the race. I got on my bike ok but I had a hard time clicking my bike cleat into the pedal! It took me a good ten seconds before I had both of my feet clipped in. I need to practice this more...or get pedals that I can clip in on from either side. Once situated, I kicked it up and got going. The bike course was FAST. The first 2 miles were flat with a slight downhill- I was going between 24-28mph the whole time. Even when the road evened out I was still going pretty fast and holding a steady 22mph. Then came the hill climb. During the race briefing the previous day, the woman said it was a slight "climb" (she even used the air quotes!). Because of her tone of voice and sarcasm, I was expecting something resembling a climb...but a pretty easy one. I was so wrong!!! She should not have used those air quotes. That hill climb was almost 3 miles long and pretty steep. I was able to hold 11mph up the hill. It hurt. After the hill, it was back to cruising between 17-20mph to the finish. I was extremely happy with my bike time. Bike time:43.37 (17.1 mph)




Run:
My goal for the run was to do it quickly. I was not able to hold an 8:30 pace like I would have liked because my legs were sore from the damn hill on the bike! It took me a good mile to find my legs and then I was able to pick up the pace a little bit. I think for longer distance triathlons I will have to take it easier on the bike to save some energy in my legs. It was a flat out and back and before I knew it I was headed to the finish line! It is amazing how short a 5k feels after running and training for a half marathon (soon to be a full marathon!)  :) 5k time: 30:08



Total Time: 1:26:32...7th in my age group! 276th overall out of almost 700 people.

I am so excited to be able to finally call myself a triathlete and I was very happy with how well I did for my first triathlon- I was 14 minutes faster then my goal time! A huge thank you and I love you to my triathlete boyfriend for sitting this one out to be my cheerleader and personal photographer :)


Thursday, October 7, 2010

Goals for this weekend

I have thought a lot about what my goals are for my first triathlon this upcoming weekend. I was told that my only goal should be to have fun and make it to the finish line with a smile on my face. I am way too competitive for that. While I plan to have a blast, and make it to the finish line...I also plan to do it in a certain time that is challenging to me. Here are my goals:

Swim:
1. Do not be afraid to pass someone. Dan (swim coach) told me that he was afraid I would just hang at someones feet during the race and slow myself down.
2. Beat my seed time. This means I have to pass people :)
3. Have fun and feel strong in the water. I have been going to 5am swim practices twice a week for several weeks for this damn race, so I am going to swim my little heart out!

Transitions:
1. Considering I have only done my own transition practice, I have no idea what is is going to be like having hundreds of people around me trying to do the same thing. My goal here is to get in and out as quickly as I safely can.
2. And to not forget anything! This is a short race so I think I will be ok. And I made a packing list!

Bike:
1. Mount and dismount my bike with out falling.
2. I would like to average about 16-17 miles per hour. This is a pace that I can sustain...I will push myself to go faster if I feel I can and still have power in my legs for the run.

Run:
1. Beat my 5k PR. Sounds intense, right? Well the only 5k I have ever ran was this summer for a Crystal City 5k and I was sick. So it shouldn't be too hard ;)
2. Keep good form- high leg turnover, slight forward lean, mid foot strike
3. Push myself. After the Philly half marathon, I switched my running focus to shorter, faster workouts. My "natural" pace is around a 10 minute mile. I can hold that for several miles. But since I only have to run 3.2 miles, I want to push myself to run as fast as I can without burning out. I expect this to be slightly faster than an 8:30 pace.

so in conclusion...have fun, make it to the finish line with a smile on my face, and go as fast as I can :)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Family Fun Weekend!

woo! What a weekend! Here is a recap.

Saturday:

Saturday morning I played triathlon. I set up my transition area in a grassy patch where I walk my dog. I ran barefoot through the grass to get my heart rate up and my feet wet. Then I would run to my make-shift transition area, put on my bike gear as quickly as I could, run with my bike to my man-made bike mount line, mount my bike and ride around the block a few times. Then I would practice dismounting my bike and transitioning to the run. I did this 5 or 6 times. I even taught myself how to do a flying bike mount so that I would not have to stop at the bike mount line. I think I have it all set for my first tri next weekend!

transition practice

After my morning triathlon play session, the real fun started. A few months ago Phil and I decided to have a "meet the parents" weekend, and arranged for both the Riley parents and Kealy parents to come for a visit. The activity we planned for the day was a segway tour. Segway- one of those crazy things you stand and roll around on.

We were both a little nervous that our mothers would have a hard time getting the hang of it and possibly face plant or fall and have our day end in the ER. Luckily for our us mothers were naturals! After a few nervous minutes my mom was zipping around on that thing as if she has been riding one for years. It seriously was a ton of fun and I really suggest that everyone play tourist sometime and take a segway tour.


The Kealy's and Riley's take a segway tour

Saturday night was a wonderful dinner at the Columbia Firehouse in Alexandria.

Sunday:

I slept in today for the first time in several weeks. It felt amazing. Then we had brunch with the Kealy/Riley crew and explored the National Cathedral. If you have never been- go. It is amazing.


It was a fantastic weekend with wonderful people. Our families got along extremely well and had a very fun time together. The segway tour made for many laughs during dinner. Phil and I are extremely lucky to have such wonderful parents. Hope that we can all get together again soon!