Yo, what up?

Okay so my blogging has been non-existent as of lately. I have been so busy/tired/overwhelmed lately that blogging hasn't had much appeal.

But now that I am unable to run or bike I have plenty of time on my hands!

My meniscus is torn is my left knee. It's going to require a scope to sew it back together. If there is enough cartilidge left in the knee they are going to shave it down so that more will regrow. I am hoping that the surgery will leave me in better shape than I am in now. I am broke down. My hamstring is so tight that my hip flexor is hypermobile and hurts all the time. Because of the meniscus tear all my weight bearing has shifted to the outside of my leg causing me to develop IT band syndrome. Like I said, pretty broke down. But my spirits are still high, I have overcome far worse injuries than this. I am able to ride indoors with light resistance, do weights with my lower body, and of course, swim. Oh how much I am going to swim! :)I am doing a month of pre-hab exercises to help strengthen my stabilizing muscles before the surgery. So much fun!

In the meantime I have taken up endurance baking. I am seriously loving baking right now! I have made homemade peanut butter cookies, a homemade carrot cake, and currently in the oven are fruit and nut bars. Other things on my to-do list are a scrapbook and possibly some cross stiching. Life's about to get exciting folks!

I am alive and well!!

I am here! Been so super busy that blogging has taken a back seat. Lot's of things been going on though....I raced at Irongirl Triathlon. It was fun, it was a "C" race for me so my goal time was 1:33:30 (yes I even had the seconds!) My actual time was 1:33:23 so I was happy with that! Sprints hurt! It was fun to race at an event where so many ladies were doing their first triathlon, they were so excited that it made it really special for me! Plus I was coaching a couple of ladies who were racing, and supporting them was fun!

Last weekend I went up to the Gaps for some good ole' fashioned arse kicking. For some reason I was convinced to go up Brasstown Bald (3 mile climb, highest elevation point in GA) Made it about 2 miles when a truck started honking at me. I was weaving all over the place because it was the only way that I could ride. I was going 2 mph, the power meter said it was 16.5 % incline and my power wattage was over 300. I had to stop. I literally felt like I was going to fall over! There was this amazing 16 y/o rider from Columbia with us, he kept trying to get me to start again by clipping in and holding on to his dad's car ( he was our sag wagon) I was like "you obviously do not know my bike handeling skills!! I ended up turning around only to find that the hill was too steep for me to get back on my bike. I walked it to a safe place and mounted the bike, squeezing my brakes as tight as possible, still going really fast. The rest of the ride was much easier, we did Hogpen last and it seemed much more managable than last time. 50 miles total. Good times!

So I am slowly reintroducing myself to the long stuff. Took too long of a break after Gulf Coast because I wasn't training for anything that required too much work. Rode 56 miles yesterday with Big Brown. He liked to kill me when he rode off and I was trying to catch him going 27 mph (it was FLAT) He likes to see me suffer!

Hope that everyone else is having an awesome summer and training hard! Congrats to everyone that raced today at Chattanooga! Heard that you guys were killing it out there!!

West Point Lake Triathlon

West Point Lake Tri is going down in history as the very first time in my triathlon life that I have ever not wanted to race. I ALWAYS want to race. I would race every weekend if I could afford it. That is how much I love to race. This time? Not so much. It turns out that racing is only fun when you train correctly. My training? All over the place. Seriously. 10,000 meters in the pool on week.....then 10 days off from swimming. Climb Hogpen.....take a five day break from the bike. Me without a plan or a purpose is obviously pretty ugly. But....like my dad says excuses are like buttholes, everyone's got one. And for me? No excuse other than just being a bit lazy coming off Gulf Coast. So here is the skinny:

Swim: Yikes. Windy. Lake was choppy and I still can't sight worth a flip. Went off course. Matt caught me, tried to draft off him for the last 400 yards or so but he is fast little bugger. Couldn't find a good rhythm, stopped and took off my goggles to look for the buoys once and realized I was WAY off course. Gotta work on those siting skills! Swim time: 30:12 a perfect 2 min/100 meter pace....WAY too slow!

Bike: Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Usually love the bike. Not today. More negative thoughts went through my head than ever before. Thought about DNF'ing because my back, hamstrings and feet were numb. Thought about quitting triathlon. Dropped my chain and was pissed but able to get it on without stopping. Mad at myself for not changing the 11-21 cassette. Just in a BAD mood on the bike. I hate being negative! Couldn't come up with anything positive....then I started thinking about how lucky I was to be able to race in the first place! I am alive! I am healthy! Quit being a whinner! Bike time: 1:13:52 (20.2 MPH)

Run: Actually didn't feel that bad on the run. Only took one gel in on the bike so I bonked around mile 3 but other than that it wasn't that awful. Wanted to it a minute faster than I acutally did. but considering the amount of speed training I have done, I am happy with the results. Didn't get passed too much. Saw my Luna Chix Leslie and Sharon on the course which pepped me up! The Atlanta Triathlon Club volunteers were all out in full force which was fun too! Run time: 51:47 (8:22 pace)

Total Time: 2:37:44 5th place AG, 16th female OA, 118th overall male and female
Goal Time: 2:36:29

Why 2:36:29 as a goal? That was Keith's time from last year and some ice cream was riding on it! Missed it by 1 minute 15 seconds! But we had the EXACT same bike split! How odd is that?

The quest for Brusters continues......

Free Beginners Triathlon Clinic!!!

Team Luna Chix is hosting a FREE beginners triathlon clinic this Sunday, June 14th from 2-3 p.m. at the Concourse Athletic Club (8 Concourse Parkway Atlanta 30328) we will be covering basic topics including transitions, what to expect, what to bring, bike safety, tips on what to wear, nutrition, USAT rules and regulations, and much more! We will have Luna product to share and will be accepting donations for the Breast Cancer Fund.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Augusta 70.3

It appears that EVERYONE is doing this race! Like honestly, almost every triathlete that I know is going to either be racing Augusta, or there volunteering. You know how much I hate being left out of the action, so I took the plunge and signed up for the race! Yay! I am MORE than excited! I have been pretty lazy since Gulf Coast, not really following any particular training plan with no "A" race scheduled for myself. It's good to have something that I actually HAVE to train for. (Technically I don't really follow any type of plan for sprints of Oly distance races!)

In other news I am going to attempt to race this weekend at West Point Lake. Yikes. So little race specific training usually equals lots of misery. The heat will be brutal I am sure. Olympic distance racing seems to be the hardest for me! No real goals for me, just trying to qualify for some Bruster's from Scootsie if I can make a certain time goal (a very ambitious one I might add!)

Come holla at me if you see me! Some of the Luna Chix will be there too! I will be at the Atlanta Tri Club tent after the race!

The Hogpen Hillclimb

I am so excited that I FINALLY got to ride up Hogpen! I have wanted to do this forever-but getting up to the Gaps is always such a hassle and never seems to fit in with the rest of my training. So when Scoots invited me along for a Gaps trip last weekend, I knew that I couldn't resist!

I have heard SO much about Hogpen, I was a little apprehensive about a climb that has left many of my friends off their bikes and walking their first time up. But it wasn't really half as bad as it's made out to be. It would have been a lot easier had I not accidently took a tramadol (pain killer) after Unicoi Gap. Oops. That was totally supposed to be for the leg pain after the ride! I got super-dizzy and sick to my stomach. But somehow I managed to make it up Hogpen and back down! My goal was not to let the mountain goat Scoots get out of sight. I can't wait to climb like that one day!

We rode a total of about 48-50 miles. It was blazing hot because we didn't start until 11am! The best part was that I didn't freak out at all on the descents, because honestly they were nothing compared to what I dealt with in Cali! After the ride was over I was even more dizzy and nauseated (pain killers on an empty stomach aren't a good idea!) We made an emergency stop at Zaxby's so I could hug the porecelin for a few minutes and then I felt better!

Congrats to Aaron for riding up Hogpen his FIRST trip to the Gaps! That's awesome!

Happy Training!

Team Luna Chix Swim Clinic!!!

Swim Clinic for Women

Where: Marist High School Pool - 3790 Ashford Dunwoody Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319 When: 05-31-2009 Session One: 12pm-3pm Session Two: 3:30pm-6:30pm
Whether you are a beginner swimmer or advanced, join the women of Team LUNA Chix Atlanta Tri Team for a fun and highly educational swim clinic to benefit the Breast Cancer Fund.Each swimmer will experience extensive pool time and the clinic includes the following:
• Videotaping of each swimmer
• Analysis of each swimmer’s stroke and “limiters”
• Specific drills to improve stroke
• Proper stroke technique and drills will be demonstrated and practiced
• Suggestions for further swim training to achieve individual goals
• Free samples of LUNA sports nutrition products

Clinic Instructor: Coach Tim Storsteen
• Former All American and scholarship swimmer at Clemson University
• Ten years of coaching experience for U.S. Swimming, U.S. Masters Swimming, YMCA, and Triathlon Swim Coaching and certified with American Swim Coaches Assn.
• Masters Coach for Westminster Killer Whales

Registration
*ONLY 10 SPOTS AVAILABLE IN EACH SESSION*
Please register by May 24th. Send an email to teamlunachixatl@gmail.com and additional details will be provided. Pre-payment is required to reserve your spot otherwise the clinic is first come first serve! Note: must be able to swim 100 yards to participate. Cost is $100 per swimmer and 50% will be donated to Breast Cancer Fund! Cash is preferred. We will also accept checks, but no credit or debit cards.

I went to Panama City Beach and came back with a hickey!

Okay so the title of this post may be slightly misleading....it really should say Gulf Coast Race Report 2009. But I really did go to PCB and come back with a hickey so I guess it's not totally false! Here is the low-down of the race!

I felt good going into Gulf Coast. I knew that pending nothing horrible happening I would have a good race, and I would PR. This was my second time racing the half-Ironman distance. So far it's my favorite distance to race. Friday the swim wasn't as bad as everyone else seemed to think. Master's swimming all year has paid off and I felt good. I swam without a wetsuit because the water was really warm and I was pretty confident that it would be not be wetsuit legal.

So here is how my race went!

The Swim: This was the part of the race that had me the most excited. I had an AWFUL swim last year and was sure that this year I would be in the 36-37 minute range. Right away my goggles filled up with water. I tried to adjust them but it wasn't really working. Out of no where, my goggles came off and floated away into the ocean!! What the heck? I looked for them but they were obviously gone forever. Suck. Suck. Suck. At that exact moment I saw Tat and yelled for her. I don't know what I was going to say, but she was stopped and so was I, so it seemed resonable to call her name. She didn't hear me and swam off. I figured that I would swim with my eyes closed. Unfortunately my eyes were burning from the several brief
seconds when my goggles came off and my eyes were under water. I was totally unprepared for this and had no idea what to do. I swam with my eyes closed and got totally off course several times. I swam breast stroke and hardly got anywhere. So I decided to swim tarzan style! I made it out of the water with a nice hickey on my neck from my wetsuit, and eyes that were more red and puffy than Cheech and Chong! Despite my goggle malfunction I still swam faster than last year! My goal time was 37minutes, and I was 4 minutes and some change off that! Oh well! Next year!

The Bike: I had a game plan for the bike this year: HOLD BACK! Ride it at Ironman heartrate zone. Feel awesome the whole time. Do not push it. Repeat: DO NOT push it! I am SO happy that everything went according to plan! I was using a disc race wheel which was my only regret on the bike. It was windy and I felt uncomfortable, like I was being blown all over the place. There was no way to know that it was going to be that windy, because the Friday before the race it was not really windy at all. That is just a risk that you take when you use a disc! The bike course seemed a lot more deserted than it did last year. I remember huge packs of guys coming whizzing by me. This year I only got passed by about 5 or 6 guys. Only one chick passed me, Shelley Ruiz, and we played the ultimate game of cat and mouse passing each other almost 20 times! She is a bike coach with the Atlanta Tri Club (so am I) so that was fun! I was trying really hard to stick to my game plan and not push myself when she would pass me. I ended up with a 2:37 bike split, 21.4 avg mph, faster than last year!

The Run: Remember my awesome game plan of not pushing it on the bike? Well apparently I didn't push it enough because my legs felt really good when I got off. Too good because my first mile came in at a 7:20 something pace. Ouch. I tried hard to real myself in but it took another mile at a ridiculously fast pace before my body adjusted to what my mind was thinking. I slowed down. Then I slowed down some more. I honestly felt great until the most God-awful blisters I have ever had in my entire life started cropping up around mile 7-8. I am a total weirdo about not having my feet wet. I cannot stand it. So I wore a glove and filled it with ice instead of dumping water on my head. It worked really well. I peed in the port-o-potty in transition so that wasn't an issue. I guess that at some point you just start sweating a lot when it's hot as a motha! The best part about the run was that nothing really hurt that much. My hips felt great, my knees didn't hurt, no back issues, not one single cramp (although I thought I felt a calf cramp coming on). The only thing that was not good was my nutrition. My plan was to eat two gels on the run. Maybe three. I usually only take 2 gels for a 10-13 mile run with just water. Well this year there were no gels on the course, only Clif Bloks. Those things TEAR me up! I ate three and was like NO WAY! So I went without, I felt a little bonky around mile 10 so I stopped and had two orange slices and some flat cola. This was my first attempt at a long run with no gels and I didn't like it. Lesson learned: don't trust the pre-race booklet about nutrition. ALWAYS pack your own! My run time was 2:06:55 an 11-minute improvement over last year!

My overall finishing time was 5:33:24 which was much better (14 minutes!) than last years 5:47. I placed sixth in my age group and got an award! I was the 32nd overall female out of 296 finishers and I was the 209th overall finisher out of 999 finishers. I am happy with my results for the first time in a long time! It felt great to have a good race, podium, have the amazing support of my friends and family, and be able to race with such an awesome group of local tri geeks! I was off my goal time, but considering what I was dealing with, I was totally whole with my race and my results. I didn't let the swim mess me up, and I stuck to my race strategy. I learned a lot during this race and I am looking for another half distance race to do because this was so much fun!

Congrats to EVERYONE who showed up, completed, placed, and supported down in Florida. You guys are awesome and it was really appreciated. Pics are up on Facebook!

Big Pimpin'......

Tomorrow I am leaving for Panama City Beach for my first race of the season! Woot! So very excited to get this done and over with. I had some pretty high expectations of myself but after my little stomach virus episode last week, I am not sure if I will be able to have the race I dreamed of having a few weeks ago. One thing is for sure: I MUST PR! That is my only real goal. Of course, I have goal splits that are written down, and a super-secret goal time, but I want to keep that super-secret for now.

In the meantime my bike is pimped out and ready to rock and roll! It looks like it will be hot, which is why the race is called "Gulf Roast" I have my Michael Jackson white glove that I will be wearing and filling with ice. Don't hate. It works. It also looks like the water is warm this year, and most likely won't be wetsuit legal. Of course I will bring mine because I know that these things can change pretty quickly. Chance of showers....I don't care if it rains as long as I am OFF the bike.

Good luck to all my fellow racers that will be out there representing their hard work this weekend! Can't wait to see everyone (too many people to even start to mention!) Look for me out on the course in my bright blue Luna kit!

Sunday Funday!

Today has been quite the day already!

I did a reverse triathlon: 6.35 mile run, 1.5 hr ride, 1.2 mile swim. Felt good, the best that I have felt all week. I may actually be returning to normal here shortly! Yay! My confidence to no longer slacking for Gulf Coast. I went through some old Garmin files and realized that I have put in the training, I just need to relax and let whatever happens happen this week!

After my triathlon I ran errands, gave both the dogs a bath and an extra long run, did laundry and now I am TIRED. Going to pick up some yummy Mai Tai takeout and do some stretching then call it a day!

Hope your Sunday was a funday too!

Party like a rockstar!

Things were moving along quite nicely in triathlon training land for me until last week. I have been partying like a rockstar, drinking too much beer, staying up WAY too late and still getting my training in! Oddly my times are improving despite doing all the things that are supposed to be horrible for tri training. I ran the fastest 12 miles ever, on 4.5 hours of sleep, and 6 beers (and maybe a half bottle of wine too!). That was a huge confidence booster! My biking and swimming were getting much stronger too.....until the friggin' swine flu hit me and I have been down ever since!

Last Sunday was to be the last big hoorah before my half taper and full taper weeks. The plan was to do a little Reger-like triathlon. I woke up Sunday feeling a little quesy. I ate a light breakfast because my tummy didn't seem to want to eat a lot. I headed out to the SC and decided to ride 56 miles in the following segments: 20 miles easy, next 20 moderate: last 16 hard. I ended up with an avg speed of 19.3 after the first 20, 19.8 after mile 40 and finished up at 20.1. I was pleased with that but noticed that my tummy was still hurting and I didn't take in enough calories. I figured that I was dehydrated from previous nights beer drinking and the fact that I didn't get much sleep. I started off on my hour run and ran into Matt (Kelly's husband) I saw Kelly out riding, she took an unfortunate spill on the bike but still managed to get her 70 miles in. Go Kelly! When Matt saw me running he decided to turn around and run back in with me. Oh. My. God. Seriously? Matt is way too fast to even think about running with me. He was jogging and I was running. Acutally it was really good for me because he was pushing me to run faster than I felt like running. At that point my stomach was not happy and I was pretty sure I was just hungry. I finished up my run and was pleased with my time and distance.

Sunday night all hell broke loose. I started puking and didn't stop until 5am Monday morning. My back was hurting so badly that I was crying. I was in more pain then when I broke my leg! I called my mom that morning because I honestly thought that I had spinal meningitus, the swine flu, or some type of parasite that was going to kill me. I was throwing up water, had taken three scalding hot baths, and was using every form of heat that I could find and was still miserable. Mom came over and took me to the doctor a couple hours later and they sent me to the hospital. Suckity suck. I hate hospitals. A CT scan, ultrasound, bloodwork, and several bags of IV fluids later, they told me that I wasn't going to die. That would come next week at mile 9 or so of the run at Gulf Coast.

So today is Friday and I have only done one swim so far. I attempted a run and got two miles before I almost puked on Wednesday. Today I went to the hooch for a 10-miler. I made it 3.5 miles before I got dizzy and threw up. I think my body is trying to tell me something! I know in my head that I am still not 100% but my body wants to train so desperately! I have not gotten caught up on my sleep either this week, and I feel fat and lazy.

Thanks to everyone who checked in with me in my ill state! I appreciate it! I am going to attempt some training this weekend, more for confidence than any actual gains in my fitness. I REALLY hope that I can kick this before next weekend!

Yes, I am alive!!!!

I have been having fun, working training really hard half the time and not at all the rest of the time, went to California for Team Luna Chix Summit and had the most amazing time! The pic above shows me riding in Saulsalito which was SO beautiful. My blogger is acting somewhat weird, so I cannot edit the pics, but hopefully there is another pic on here that shows Sarah and I riding our bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was scary looking out over the water but at the same time totally amazing and incredible! Training in California was for sure WAY different than being in Georgia! I was afraid that once I got back I would not want to do anything here, but it turns out that I was able to suck it up and did 70 on the Silver Comet all by my lonesome self!

Questions for those of you still reading: What is the most awesome running sock ever created? Preferrably with arch support? I am in need of some new socks. I have tried most brands already. I like thin socks but they seem to make my feet really hot when I run. Running right now has been tough for me because of a nasty fall I took last weekend at Stone Mountain on the covered bridge portion of the trail. Ugh. I attempted to run this week but this was all I was able to do: 10 min warm-up at 6.5 mph, 16 min at 8.0, then I had to stop...knee was just acting too crazy and I was over compensating for the bad knee with my hip and didn't want to jack that up too! I have been doing some meridian stretching which has been interesting and helpful. It's a workout too though and leaves me pretty sore.

I am having to hold myself back from going into a training frenzy right now! Gulf Coast is going to be here so soon (May 9th!) and I am sort of freaked out about my knee and the fact that I took 10 days off from swimming due to an ear infection. Ugh. So far this week I have already trained almost 5.5 hours and it's only Thursday, AND I still have to do a 90 min bike and 30 min run. The good news in all of this is that I have finally figured out my nutrition and cleaned up my eating habits once and for all! I have been getting my body fat testing and work and went from 20% to 19% to 16.8%!! So excited about that! The 16.8% in 8 weeks is awesome, but the best part is that I have only lost 1 pound! This means that I have turned fat into muscle, which is okay because more muscle equals higher VO2 Max, metabolism, and hopefully more strength on the bike and run!

Getting 2 Tri/ Raisin Hope

Saturday I was very fortunate enough to be able to volunteer with Mike Lenhart's organization, Getting 2 Tri. If you have never heard of Mike or his group, I suggest that you check out his website. They are incredible people! I was paired up with another guy named Mike to be his "handler". We met up at Ga Tech and the first thing he said was "wow....I really like your legs." Mike was hilarious! I accidentally bumped into his leg and apologized without really thinking about it. Mike's response was "Don't worry, I didn't feel it!" I wanted to know his story but was apprehensive about whether or not it was okay to ask. Mike was a totally open book and happy to share!He is 31 years old and was in the Army stationed in Iraq when his convoy drove over a roadside bomb. He lost both legs below the knee. It happened on August 17, 2007. August 19, 2007 was when I made my comeback race from breaking my leg. Thinking about this caused me to be so grateful and realize how blessed that I am that I was able to make such a good recovery and that my long-term, permanent damage was nothing compared to these athletes. We spent the majority of our ride deep in conversation about our situations, what he felt after his accident, what life is like now, etc. It is amazing to think about what he has been through in such a short period of time!

Mike is training for the 2012 London Paraolympics. He is a hand cyclist and does the marathon event. We went out to the Silver Comet to ride for an hour before lunch. During our ride Mike was really the handler because he has a mirror on his bike. He warned me of cyclist coming, etc, etc. The people on the trail that day kept looking and looking at us and one lady wanted to take photos! Most of the athletes were hand cyclist that were missing limbs or paralyzed, so I guess it was unusual to see so many at the same time!

After our ride we headed to the depot for lunch. That is where I met Saul Raisin. For those of you who don't know, Saul was a professional cyclist who was involved in a horrible accident. He was in a coma and recovered, but had to learn to do everything again. He still has some lasting brain injury and started an organization, Raisin Hope, that raises awareness and gives support to people with traumatic brain injury. Saul is still able to ride now, but cannot compete professionally due to liability reasons. He has switched over to the triathlon world and is competing in Ironman Hawaii! After chatting for a few minutes we decided to head out and ride more. I was REALLY looking forward to him laying it on me and making me hurt, but he went easy on me! He blew through all the intersections (don't worry, I told him that he had to stop!) and I enjoyed listening to him talk about training in Europe, his lactate threshold testing numbers, the book he wrote, and what his life is like after his accident. He lives in Dalton and in September there is going to be a century to benefit his charity. It would be awesome to go out there and support everyone!

On the way back in from our ride we passed by Mike who was testing out someone else's bike that was a "kneeler". As we rode past him he yelled "Danielle, don't leave with my legs in your car!!!!" His legs WERE in my car and I probably wouldn't have driven off with them in the front seat (they weighed a thousand pounds!) The look on the faces of the ladies jogging was too funny for words.

I got my 3.5 hours of training in although it was broken up and took almost 7 hours, but I didn't care. I left the Silver Comet with a renewed sense of appreciation for things in life and a better attitude. Complain about training? Not me!

Guys say the darndest things....

So I am at work (Concourse Athletic Club) and I am watching some guys play Squash (my new fav sport...SO hard!) There is a guy sitting by the wall and I look at him and notice that he looks really familiar. Here is our exact conversation:

Me: "I know you from somewhere"
Him: "Is it because I look like Ashton Kutcher?"
Me: "Actually no....you just look familiar...like one of my brothers friends"
Him: "All the ladies say that"
Me: "Right. Do you know Scott Grabol?"
Him: "OMG!!! Are you Danielle Grabol? I used to be your neighboor! You drove me to school for like two years! You totally corrupted me! You gave me my first alcohol! Are you REALLY Danielle Grabol?"
Me: "SHHHH! Be quiet, I WORK here! Yes, I am Danielle!"
Him: (Standing up and staring at me kind of funny) "I just can't believe it's you....I remember you being a lot bigger and uglier."
Me: "Excuse me?!?"
Him: " I mean I just don't remember you being so pretty in high school."
Then I SWEAR I am not making this next part up. He took my water bottle, opened it and drank out of it! When I looked at him like I was going to smack him clear across the room he said "What? I am thirsty!" SERIOUSLY??

In other, better news, I PR'd last Saturday at Silver Comet 10k. 48:33, 7:49 avg pace. Didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. 9/89 in my age group and 39th female overall out of 400 something. I was surprised, I usually place much lower in running races. Guess the speedsters all ran the CRR 10k the week before.

Water logged.....

Now that I am a seasoned masters swimmer (I have been swimming it for a month!) I will admit that I absolutly cannot swim on my own. It's like the worse feeling in the world to go into a pool and have no peer pressure.

This week was SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. Week #12 out of 20 in my half-Ironman training plan. What's that mean? 8 weeks left until Gulf Coast! Coach Pete doesn't believe in "recovery" when it comes to swimming. So that means that my swimming yardage for the week is currently 7500 yards with one more swim left! Yesterday's main set was 15x100 at hard effort. I didn't swim that hard though because after that we still had to do 4x300's at our best pace. I was so afraid of burning my arms out that I took it relatively easy. The wonderful (and surprising) thing was that my "easier" pace now is what I would have considered my all-out pace last season! Can I just tell you how much I heart master's? Even the times where we have to swim backstroke and breaststroke? Anyways......

Tomorrow I am PR hunting at the Silver Comet 10k. This will be the 4th 10k that I have ever run outside of triathlon. It's probably my favorite distance in running. A little bit easier than a 5k but no where near as time consuming as a half-marathon. It's right in the middle, you know you worked really hard, but not too hard to need to climb down that stairs backwards. Since it's flat I am thinking my odds of setting a personal record should be pretty good. I got a massage this week and my quads are WAY more tender than I would like them to be the day before a race. Hope to see you guys out there!

Funny (and random) story. I am at the Concourse getting ready to swim and a woman asks me "Excuse me, but what type of cellulite creme do you use on your legs? They look great!" Me: "Oh this isn't from a creme. It's from working hard." Ha...ha...some people want the easy way out of everything!

Amazing, incredible baby Ashley....

I have to admit that it's a funny feeling seeing Ashley. From the moment Karen knew she was pregnant Ashley is ALL that we have talked about. 9 months of baby talk makes you very anxious to meet the little bugger! Friday night Karen checked into the hosptial and I watched a movie with her and her husband. Saturday she was being induced and we weren't really sure what was going to happen, but she made me PROMISE that I would be there with her....so I was there! Like really there, as in there for 19 hours. Holy moly. That was a long night. Karen had some excellent pain control by the wonderful labor and delivery nurses at Northside hospital so she slept through a lot of her labor. The rest of us? We sat up watching to size of her contractions and placing bets on how much the baby was going to weigh.

The action finally got going around 1:30 a.m. Honestly, it was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Karen kicked everyone out of the room except me, her husband, and our other BFF Christy. I should have read a book or taken a class or something, because I didn't know the breathing patterns, or how fast to count, or anything other than the nurse handing me a leg. I realize this may sound weird to some of you, why would you want your two best friends watching something like this? You have to understand Karen. She doesn't do pain alone. Ever. When we were in high school I would go to the dentist with her because she couldn't stand the thought of having her cavities filled. So we are friends like that!

Overall the experience was pretty amazing. Karen's husband was a rock. Totally incredible. They are so much closer after the experience. I am still in a bit of shock and awe and have to say that being a woman is really awesome. No offense to men, but y'all just couldn't hang with the whole birthing of a baby.

The baby? Ashley Madeline, 7 lb 14 oz (Karen's sister in law won the pot of $60 for guessing the weight) she is angelic. Red hair, blue eyes, rosey cheeks and a little red nose, it really makes her look perfect. I have been to see her everyday and it's hard to not take her home. Even her cries are perfect~ sounds like a little bird chirp. I am sure that all this will change in time, but I am enjoying my new goddaughter in all her perfection right now!

To run or not to run??

Saturday is the Thrills in the Hills half marathon. It's a trail run, and I have never had the pleasure of racing a trail run before. I am trained for it, well, as trained as I can get, and I have run 11 miles on the trails, so I am pretty sure that I can manage 13.1 miles on Saturday. The problem? It's gonna rain. Plus my best friend in the whole world is going into the hospital Friday night and will be induced on Saturday. What to do???

I really don't want to run in the rain. I am a wussy enough about trails without the added danger of running when it's wet. I have never run on these trails before, which already makes them kind of scary.

Karen seems to think this labor thing might take a minute or two. I am pretty sure that I won't miss anything by running the race. But if I do miss it? That would really suck. Karen would be REALLY unhappy as I have committed myself to being there (as in there in the room, yeah I know!)

Does it sound like I am talking myself out of the race? I just might be. Can't figure it out right now! Too much going on!

Tundra Time Trial

Suckitysucksucksucksucksuckkk!

That just about sums up my first time trial experience. It just wasn't a great day for me. First, I underestimated how much time it would take to get there, then I got lost. I arrived and there was no parking. I rushed to get my number only to be told I needed to fill out some more paperwork. Bob told me to warm up for 40 minutes, but at this point I only had 20 minutes until I started! I rushed back to my car. Everyone else was on there trainers with their skinsuits on. I was wearing all black, including my fleece-lined pants. I couldn't figure out how peeps were riding with shorts on!

I only had 15 minutes to spare, so no trainer for me. I rode around on the trail, which actually cooled me off rather than warming me up because it was starting to drizzle. I lined up and prepared to start. Marc was there (in PLENTY of time I might add!) and he got to see what must have been the worst start of the day: I begged them to not drop me (you clip in and they "hold" you up) when the guy let go of me and they told me to start, I unclipped instead and said "I'm sorry!" I just totally thought that I was going to fall over! So it took me a few seconds to clip back in and get going.

About a mile into the race my left leg flew off the side of the bike. Guess I wasn't as clipped in as I thought I was! My bike started swerving and they guy behind me started screaming and freaking out a little. Totally unnerving! I regained control, clipped in, and continued. I got passed by a guy around mile 3 and tried to keep up but I just didn't feel like I was able to push like I normally can.

When the turnaround came up I was such a wussy. I unclipped and walked it. It was wet and I was already freaked from almost crashing, so I said "screw it!" and got off the bike. I quickly got back on my bike and took off again. I got passed by the guy behind me, but I repassed him about 30 seconds later. I tried to push and push, but I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I passed three other riders, two males, one female and finally made it to the finish line.

25:11. Suckitysucksucksucksuck. Bike computer shows 24:45, so that may have been my actual riding time. Either way I was expecting to average a lot faster than 22.62 mph.

My mistakes were costly as I was 5th female overall with less than 33 seconds separating 2nd and 5th place. But each race is an opportunity to learn, and I learned a lot!

The winners got the most incredible hand blown glass awards. So beautiful. Next year the top three females will also get the same awards. So next year? I'm gonna practice more!

Congrats to Amy for her 3rd place finish, she's super strong! Marc and his Aaron's teammates did great too!

FINALLY made it to Master's!

After working at the Concourse for almost a month, I finally made it to Master's swim practice. My main excuse has been that it's been too cold to swim in the outdoor pool and when it hasn't been cold, I have had clients and can't swim. But today everything lined up perfectly and my work day was over in time for me to make the 11 a.m. swim practice. Lord have mercy. Those people tried to KILL me! Here's what we did:

500 WU
4x150 as 50 kick, 100 swim
3x300 at 90% Max
7x100 at 100+% max on 4 minutes. After you did your 100 you had to warm-down with back, breast, or free until the next 100.
2x25 underwater

My first 100 came in at 1:24. This was the slowest out of everyone (my lane was in the 1:08-1:15 range). Coach reassured me that there ARE slower swimmers, but today he had warned everyone about the workout, so I guess they stayed home. By the 5th 100 I was hating life and swimming and contemplating duathlons. By the 6th 100 I was literally seeing stars and color flashes and thought I was drowning. By the 7th 100 I realized that I had swum 3000 yards WAY faster than I would on my own and maybe Master's wasn't that bad after all. My slowest 100 was 1:33 and it was because I hit the guy coming back and had to stop and stand up.

Swimming underwater while holding my breath was the only thing I excelled at (and of course the kickboard!) I made it from wall to wall both times. It was really, really hard.

Positive about Master's? It's quick and dirty. No breaks, one hour of intense swimming. Plus the pool is saline which my skin loves.

Negative about Master's? I did my Dara Tores weight workout yesterday and went into the swim already feeling like my arms were noodles. But that was totally my fault and I learned my lesson.

Afterwards my fellow master's attendees told me I did good and promised that next week the Tuesday and Thursday midday practice wouldn't be this tough. I think I decided that I like it tough!

2009 race calendar is complete!!

Well, I have finally figured out what my race calendar will look like for 2009! It's all about quality and not quantity for me this season!

2009 races:

2.14.09: Tundra Time Trial 9.5 miles of pure hell on wheels, all out puke or go home bike race. Sounds like fun huh?

2.28.09: Xterra Thrills in the Hills 1/2 marathon: 13.1 miles of running on trails. I LOVE trail running (minus downhills and rocky sections which I am a wussy about)

5.9.09: Gulf Coast Triathlon 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run: Gotta go back because last year's race was UGLY. Hoping for a PR.

6.28.09: Irongirl Triathlon 1/3 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 3 mile run: I want to race with my Luna Chix, plus the 18 mile bike course is one of my favorites!!

7.12.09: Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon: 1500 meter swim, 26 mile bike, 6.2 mile run: I have a love/hate relationship with this race. Loved it the first time I did it, hated it last year (rain and my saddle fell) Gonna race it again so I can leave with happy memories!

10.3.09: Atlantic Coast Triathlon 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run: Haven't done this race yet but heard it's beautiful in Amelia Island. Plus it's pancake flat which I LOVE!

**11.7.09: Ironman Florida 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run: The Ironman monkey isn't quite off my back just yet. I need to do another one but I wish that I didn't want to so badly. I said that I wouldn't do one this year but it's addictive!

**I am not actually signed up for IM Florida yet! I will be going to Orlando for the 70.3 race to try and secure a spot! So I might just be a spectator again this year! If I can't get into Florida there is a slight chance I might consider doing Arizona instead.

Smartwater Fitness Challenge

On Monday I had the opportunity to personal train some contestants that were competing in a weight loss challenge sponsored by Smartwater. It was for the radio station, 790 The Zone and they showed up with a big entourage! There was the GM of the radio station, the cameraman, the woman asking questions while we trained, David Pollack (the host of the radio show and super cutie!), 3 representatives from Smartwater and the contestants. Talk about being under pressure!! The contestants were very overweight, over 400+ pounds, one was close to 450. I was SO nervous that they were going to pass out. I did make sure that I spent a good 45 minutes with them going over their past medical information and I took their blood pressure. Once the training got started they were wonderful, great attitudes and very serious about losing the weight! During their warm-up the host asked one contestant what his biggest obstacle was going to be to losing weight. He replied: "Ruffles Potato Chips. I just love 'em man!" It was quite funny!!


I scored some cases of Smartwater and a very comfy jacket, like REALLY comfortable (I slept in it Monday night that is how fuzzy and warm it is!)They filmed us for what felt like FOREVER because we had to repeat everything we said twice!

More info to come on when/where it will air. Or if it will air. It might be just a web video. I didn't ask questions just did my whole trainer thing!

Sad family news....

Early Saturday morning there was an explosion in the garage of my Aunt Linda and Uncle Jimmy's house in Kentucky. Very sadly the dog that I am pictured with above, Sparky, died in the explosion. Their house caught on fire and they lost everything.

It's such a horrible thing to lose everything you own, but I am thankful that they were uninjured. I am very sad about the loss of their dog, because I know how much she meant to my Aunt Linda. They have been married for 49 years and lived in this house for 40+ years, and it's sad to see so many memories gone with the house. My Aunt had my grandfather's purple heart and bronze star from WWII and I am pretty sure that the fire destroyed those along with other family mementos.

The strange thing about this is that this past summer my Uncle Johnny and Aunt Karen who live just minutes away had a fire that started in their attic and they lost everything as well. My mother is obviously upset and concerned about the fact that two of her siblings have had serious house fires. She wanted to know what my plans were in case my house caught on fire. Honestly, I have never even thought about it, so I called my friend Steve who is a firefighter and he gave me the following tips:

-Do not store things that are flammable close to things like your furnace or hot water heater (if you have gas) most fires/explosions start with something that has a fuse like your hot water heater. A lot of people will store things in their garage (gas cans, paint, etc, etc) that will cause a fire to spread quickly and become very dangerous.

- Make sure that your fire detectors are working and that you have a CO2 detector if you have gas.

- Openly discuss a fire plan with your family. It's important to talk about what you would do if a fire broke out upstairs or downstairs.

-Buy a fire escape rope ladder if you live in a multi-story home. Store it under your bed or close to the window you would use to escape if you couldn't make it downstairs.

-Unplug/ power off electrical devices when not using them.

- Don't leave your dryer running when you aren't home. Clean the lint filter and the hose regularly. Don't use fabric softner as it will cause the filter to be covered with a residue. If you use softner, regularly remove the lint filter and clean with soapy water.

You don't think much about things like this unless it affects someone in your life!

I'm BAAACCCKKKKK!!!!!

Apparently typing about how much technology sucks only makes technology mad at you and then it will retaliate. At least that is what happened to me because my computer broke. I never realized how awesome my computer was until I was no longer able to use it. I still had access to the essentials, e-mail and facebook on my Ipod but it wasn't the same. I love you computer. So sorry for the misunderstanding!

It's hard to believe that January is almost over! Where has the month gone? I am not complaining because the faster it goes, the closer that we get to warm weather. I heart warm weather. I ran on Saturday at the trails at Stone Mountain. It was 18 degrees. The first mile was miserable but after that I warmed up. I saw two huge deer being chased by a massive St. Bernard. I had to stop and walk a lot because I had enough sense to know NOT to try and run over the rocky parts that were iced over. Eventually the trail dumped me out to SNOW MOUNTAIN. So friggin' cool! It looked like a ski resort (but just with sledding!) I wanted so badly to sneak in there and play, three football fields of snow in Atlanta! Tickets are pricey, $20, but it may be worth it to wear your kids out for a day.

My 2009 race schedule is evolving daily and almost completed. I really want to do the Tundra Time Trial and trail half the following week, but I also want to be realistic about the fact that I am in horrible shape. Horrible. Or at least it feels that way. We'll see!!

Technology stinks!

Saturday I had a very specific workout on the trainer. It involved 5-minute intervals at 2-4 BPM below my lactate threshold. In order to do the intervals I needed one thing. My heartrate! The problem: NONE of my HR monitors would work! MY Garmin 305 and 201 weren't picking anything up. My Polar 625 was apparently dead as well. Keith said "maybe your hearts messed up". Um, probably not. But with four monitors at least one should work right? I decided to dig up my original Polar monitor, that was really cheap but didn't give me any problems. Old Polar watch with one button that only tell my heartrate and has a stop watch? That one works. I only wasted 20 minutes figuring everything out! Grrrr!

Technology failed me again on Sunday. I had the first brick of the season planned at Stone Mountain. It was miserably cold and I was under dressed for the occasion. I bought some hand warmers but they didn't get warm enough so my hands and feet were frozen solid. It's a weird feeling to get off the bike and start running and not be able to feel your feet at all. But it wasn't really awful, and at least I am able to look forward to warmer weather and blistering heat and humidity.

Next up on my list of things to conquer in 2009? Master's swimming. I am such a cold-weather pansy (they are swimming outside!) but I am considering starting tomorrow at 11 am. Or maybe I will just copy their workout and swim on the inside. We'll see!

Being lazy at work?

Are you tired of sitting at your office all day with no breaks, gaining weight by the nanosecond? Well then I have the solution for you! PINGFIT!!! Sign up and this super-hot chick (and a cute guy~!) will appear on your screen every few minutes prompting you to workout. It's simple and right now it's free! So take advantage!

Here's the link!