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.

Last race of the season.....

Tomorrow marks the ending of the 2008 triathlon season. It also marks the beginning of home improvements. Ugh. Triathlon training will be easy in comparison to tiling and painting I am sure.

Very sad that the season is ending. I feel like I am just get started! Okay, that's an overstatement, but I feel like the FUN is just getting started, now that the pesky Ironman monkey is off my back and all.

Emerald Pointe is a fun sprint up in Lake Lanier. Should be chilly. I doubt if I will wear my wetsuit because it's too hard to run up that huge hill in. I did put the "toewarmers" on my shoes. What a pointless purchase that was. Why just the toes and not the whole foot? Whatever. They will work for tomorrow let's hope.

I rarely, if ever, have posted my goals for a race. Generally I will say "get hardware" or "beat my time from last year". Even though this is a sprint, since it's local and the last of the season it draws a lot of talent. So I decided my goals would be based on my time from last year. Basically I would like to improve on everything! Shouldn't be too tough considering the fact that last year I fresh off a broken leg and my running was more like "hobbling". Here's the breakdown:

2007 Emerald Pointe:
Swim: 9:28 (400m)
T1: 3:22 (hill+wetsuit removal)
Bike: 37:10 (21.0 MPH average)
T2: 1:11
Run: 25:32 (8:15/ mile pace)
Total time: 1:16:41
2nd in 25-29 AG, 18th female overall

2008 Emerald Pointe *goal times*:
Swim: 8:50 (let's face it-I can't swim!)
T1: 2:40 (still has the hill but I am not taking off the wetsuit)
Bike: 36:45 (21.4 MPH avg pace)
T2: 1:00
Run: 23:40 (7:37/mile avg pace)
Total time: 1:12:55

I am not exactly in peak sprint shape so this is gonna hurt. Sprint's always hurt the most to me which is why they aren't my speed of choice. I don't know what my speed of choice is to be truthful, but I know that I don't get warmed up quickly enough in races this short. Taking 4 minutes off my time from last year should make for some hard racing, but what better way to end the season?

Tri 2 Remember Triathlon

Is is a good idea to race a sprint triathlon 20 days after an Ironman distance triathlon? YES! It was so much fun and so short compared to what I did a few weeks ago! Here is my recap of the event:

Race morning I was sluggish thanks to some tylenol pm and going to bed at 9:30 p.m. and getting up at 3am. I shouldn't have taken it but I am having some really bad sleep issues lately and it was my only hope.

We arrived at the race when the park was opening and it was COLD! Brrrrr! I wasn't expecting it to be this much colder than it was in Atlanta (the race was in Gainsville, about an hour north) and of course I didn't pack any extra clothing to wear on the bike. I was wearing my Luna jacket but it's like a tent so I didn't want to use it. The race was wetsuit legal but for 400 meters and 72 degrees I didn't feel like going through the trouble.

The Swim: What a total clusterbomb of people this was! They gave us three minutes between waves but it didn't help stop all the major clumping of people. I guess there really is no good way to do a 400 yard swim without people backing up-unless it's time trial start. I tried to push myself as hard as I could but there was no point-I simply don't have any swim speed right now. I have made it into once since my Ironman! I made it out in 6:57 and we had to go up a hill (why are there always hills going into transition?) so that added a little time.

T1: Slow. Need to work on getting my bike shoes attached to the bike ahead of time. I was cold and fumbled around.

The bike: Wow....hilly! Of course, it was so close to the North Georgia Mountains I expected this, but what I didn't expect was for people to be walking their bikes up the hills! I think they caught some people off guard and they were in the wrong gears. There was quite a bit of traffic out there and I was calling "on your left" and one guy ran off the road and into the grass. Oops. There really was room for both of us, but I think I spooked him. I passed several girls and lot's of guys. At mile 10 they announced that I was the 6th female so that made me push a little harder. I saw Henry and his new bike-it was really nice! Other than being really, really cold the bike wasn't too bad. I could use some intervals in the next few weeks! Avg speed was 20.1 MPH.

T2: Gotta learn the running dismount. It looks too cool to not try at least once (maybe more if I don't bust my butt!)

The run: My goal for the run: DO NOT let a woman pass me! I am always out in front on the bike and then some chick in my age group will pass me with .2 miles to go-so frusterating! The run was a tough course-hilly also. My feet were frozen but I knew I was pushing it because I was passing tons of guys. I felt like I was going to throw up after running every hill and when I went through the turnaround I looked at my watch and timed when I saw the next woman (who happened to be Fox 5 anchor and speedster Denise Dillon) it was 1 minute 27 seconds. I pushed harder and crossed the finish line. Average pace: 7:42 per mile. Denise never caught me but because she started after I did her finish time was faster. Oh well-mission accomplished, don't get caught on the run! For the record only two guys passed me! Trail running really has helped!

I was the 9th overall female and finished 2nd in my age group. Can't complain about getting some hardware! Scootsie was 2nd in his age group as well (I tried desperately to catch him but beat me by 2 minutes and 8 seconds!)

Congrats to Anna and Henry for getting out there and racing strong! Thanks to Vanessa for cheering ( I love crowd support!)

Only one race left of the season! (insert sad face here!)

Team Slaughter Scootsie

When Tat said that she wanted to relay a race with me and Olga (I would do the bike portion) I was game. I have NEVER had the chance to just blow it out on the bike! We decided on West Point Lake Olympic distance triathlon.

At some point Keith decided that he was going to sign up too and started talking junk about how he would beat us. Right. Team Slaughter Scootsie was born. The deal? Whoever loses has to buy the winner Bruster's Ice Cream.

Keith had this thing called "work" down in Tampa and thought he was going to miss the race (apparently people do this so-called "work" to pay bills?!?) but he's on his way to ATL now and pumped to try and beat us.

His time from last year: 35:53 swim, 20.96MPH avg on the bike and 46:57 (7:33 pace) on the run.

Looks like somebody's buying me an ice cream cone tomorrow!

Macon Aquabike

With 1/4 mile to go Sue was working hard to catch Keith!!


How smart was I to pick the day that was 93 degrees to do an Aquabike? It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike. This was the first race that I did last year coming off my broken leg so it was sentimental for me. It was also my first repeat race!

The Swim: Am I EVER going to learn how to swim? I mean seriously?!? I have SO much endurance and for that I am thankful, but still have zero speed! When I got into the water I just swam, pretty much the same way that I would swim a warm-up in the pool. Way too aerobic for a race. I got off course a bit, oops, and had my first ever big kick in the face. The kick really made me very unhappy. I made it out of the water and almost croaked when I saw that my time was 3 minutes slower than it was last year! Okay so I didn't taper at all for the "training race". Plus I wasn't wearing a wetsuit(left it at home, 77.5 who knew?). But 3 minutes?!? Obviously 9000 yards a week isn't cutting it! Time to kick it into high gear!


The Bike: No HR monitor, no computer checking, no goals other than to do better than what I did last year. The first 20 miles were totally brutal. There was lots of wind. Way more wind than there should have been in Macon. I felt like I wasn't going anywhere. My legs were moving but the bike seemed to go really slow. I passed Tat and Karen and realized that the duathletes were already on course. This motivated me to ride a little bit harder. My bad attitude continued on the bike too. A guy rode up next to me and started talking. I said bad words because he scared me so badly. Then I felt really bad about it, but he had dropped back. Sorry guy. Around mile 30ish Sue caught me. Right before she caught me a dog started charging after me. It scared the daylights out of me. She told me after the fact that it was one of the closest calls that she had ever seen. I wasn't prepared for it, I actually think that I was sitting up and rubbing my very numb back. Sue scared me too when she caught me and started talking to me. She's like really,really, really strong. I can only imagine the terror that she imposed on all the guys in the race. The bike was hillier than I remembered from last year. Or maybe it was the wind that made it harder than I remembered. Or maybe I was just riding harder? I did get a 4-minute penaltly because I almost ran over a snake and was screaming (again, I was scared and didn't realize it was alive, see a pattern forming?) because it was huge and slithering all over the road.A guy that works with Tat rode up next to me and started talking. I didn't realize that meant I was supposed to drop back. It's called overtaken. He got penalized too for not passing me completely. He ended up dropping back because he said he was pushing too hard and needed to save some for the run.


At mile 48 I was in tears over the numbness and pain in my back. I was so very uncomfortable and unhappy. I told myself not to quit because Tucker Bob was still behind me and we had been in a texting war all week about how he was going to "see me" out there. At mile 50 I told myself that I was doing good because Bob didn't catch me. Not even 5 minutes later he caught me. The next six miles we spent playing cat and mouse and we found Keith along the way in. At one point Bob passed me and noticed that a guy was on my wheel. He started yelling "drafter, Dani you have a drafter!!" Really loud. I dropped it a couple of rings and the guy dissapeared.

After entering T2 I was thankful that my race was over. It was about 90 degrees and scorching out there. I spent a few minutes cheering for peeps and helping random people apply sunscreen to their back, neck, and head area. One chick asked me if I was "just not doing the run" and I said "Nope! I did the Aquabike! You suckers can run!" She was jealous. It was not a pretty day for a 1/2 marathon. My official bike time was 2:48 something but my actual ride time was 2:47 something......basically about 20.2 MPH Avg.

Since I trained straight through this "training race" I am okay with my results. I placed 4th overall behind two superstar triathletes (Deanna Frank and Heidi Phillips) Results list me as 1st, but it's a mistake. I took 20 minutes off my bike split from last year, so I can't complain about that! My swim is another story.....one that I am still a little sore about and don't want to talk about until I can figure out what's gone wrong.

The real props need to go to the peeps who did the half IM (Bob) and long course duathlon: Keith, Sue, Tat, and Karen. Tat had the fastest 1/2 marathon split of all the women and Sue was the bike queen! They all took home hardware. My training partners rock!

Big thanks also needs to go to Hunter, Steven, and Dave for all their hard work out there on the race course! Thanks guys!

The rest of the pics are on my Flickr!

Triathlete!

Stopping to smell the roses....

It feels so good to be home and have Gulf Coast behind me! I feel quite relaxed and calm now that it's all over and done with. My recovery has been totally amazing. I was no where near as sore as I thought I would be. After a mini-bike ride Monday I was totally good to go-no more soreness. My left knee is tender like it always is, and I have been icing it a lot.

I rode yesterday at Stone Mountain for 1:40. Bob and I rode a couple of loops, then Dana joined in for one, then Dave, Tat and Steven came. Tat was sporting her new P2C from All3. It's very nice! Dave was representing Cobb County and it was great to have him in our neck of the woods! Although there were no roses to stop and smell, the ride was still fragrant with the sweet smell of honeysuckles. It was a fantastic ride and my HR avg was so low, 128, I thought that maybe there was a problem with my monitor.

Today I wanted to get a run in but had one problem: blisters on my feet. I had this one blister in particular that was really big and on top of my pinkie toe. It made it look like a little cone-head toe. So I had to take matters into my own hands:


Nothing a little time with a syringe couldn't fix!

My plan was to run the big loop at Stone Mountain, but it started to rain so I bailed and went to the gym instead. I did 7 miles on an incline. Knee was bothering me, but if I raced a half-Ironman 4 days ago, my quads, calves, and hammies have no recollection of it.

This evening it was on to Master's swimming for more amazing workouts. I was very sad to learn that the heat has been turned off. No more steamy morning swims for me! Because of this really weird cool weather we are having, the pool was very cold. When I say very cold, I mean like maybe 74 degrees cold. But it may have been colder. I froze the entire time. Coach "I don't care if you're a triathlete when you're here you're a swimmer" Bill tricked me into swimming 800 yards more than I was supposed to. That is what happens when someone is telling you what to do and you can't do quick math in your head. Whatever because I need all the swimming I can get. I couldn't get over how awesome today's swim felt! I was way faster than I thought I would be and when Coach assigned me some IM's then learned I can't do IM's (yet) he made me do something even harder. He told me that I needed to do it because I seemed like I liked a challenge. Oh really?!? Me?!? When he said I could use the pull buoy I declined telling him "that was for emergencies only"

Hope that everyone else is stopping to smell the roses and having a great training week too!

Are you ready/ How do you feel?

It seems like everyone has asked me if I am ready to race on Saturday and how I am feeling. I figured for those who didn't ask, they might be wondering.

Are you ready? I am SO ready! I wish that the race was tomorrow! At this point, I have put in all the training that I can, so now it's time to race! In a perfect world I would have started master's in January, and done long rides instead of running the ING and doing the Sprint tri. But I can't turn back time and change things, I just have to be confident in knowing that I have done enough training to get me across the finish line.

How do you feel? REALLY excited! I have never looked forward to something that will be this painful in my entire life! The beach, friends, unlimited beer at the after party and a race? Who wouldn't be excited! Actually, I was a bit worried at the beginning of the week. My lower back was still hurting( especially while swimming) and my left hip/buttock areawas very tight. My knee started acting up the way it always does during a taper week. I was also exhausted and my body just wanted to sleep. I told myself that I have trained hard for three weeks, and I am just showing the normal signs. I got a (ouch) sports massage yesterday and my back didn't hurt at Master's last night! This morning I was thinking that maybe the sports massage was a bad idea because I was MORE sore, but after intense icing like she told me to, I feel 100% better. I was on the trainer today thinking- if I feel this good on Saturday it's going to be a great day!

My step-dad asked me what I expected of the race. I told him I am not sure, but I expect that I will 1) finish and 2) it will hurt. Those are about the only things that I am totally certain of at this point. Since this is my first half-ironman I am using it to help me better understand long-distance triathlon, and assess where my body is in terms of my Ironman in August.

Have I told you that I was EXCITED? We leave early tomorrow morning, not a moment too soon! I have packed everything I own related to triathlon, including two wetsuits, the race wheels are on the bike, and my coffee is pre-set for the morning, I am ready!

The same only different....

Since my last race didn't go as planned, I wanted to be better prepared for Gulf Coast. So Sunday I woke up and ate the exact same thing I plan to for race day. I wore the exact same outfit (new Luna tri kit) and headed out to the Silver Comet. Last week after my long ride I ran six miles. My stomach didn't feel too hot, it was a mix of nausea and feeling really heavy. Bob was telling me about his race day nutrition and it sounded like a good idea so I stole his nutrition plan and tried it out for myself.

Things were going great until I realized that my bottle of perpetum was gone. I was not a happy camper because that was 250 calories that I was going to need to make it back in. Thank goodness I found it coming back in, randomly sitting on the side of the trail.

Spotted Reger riding with some people, and almost hit a big turtle coming back in. I thought about going back to get it, but then didn't have a good place to put it so I kept going.

I was really disappointed that it wasn't hotter. It was actually almost chilly. So I hopped off the bike, practiced a quick transition, and decided for some added heat I would put on my compression socks and Luna Jacket. Seriously?!? It was hotter than Haiti and while I was thankful that my stomach felt fine (thanks Bob!) I was pouring sweat and my jacket was soaked through after only 10 minutes. Boo-Yah Joe!

56 miles total ride.....let the magical taper begin!

Horoscope knows a lot!

Oddly, my horoscope is always close to being correct. This is just the one that pops up on MSN's website, but it always seems to know what kind of mood I am in. Today I have started to feel jittery about racing a half-Ironman in one week! I am going over things like nutrition, hydration, pacing strategies, etc,etc, over and over again.

Here's my horoscope: You may sense a nervous restlessness today, dear Cancer, that is egging you on to take action. A journey to one place may have you bouncing off to another place that may lead you on an adventure to someplace completely different. It may seem as if you are on some crazy scavenger hunt towards a pot of gold. The energy of the day may leave you feeling ragged, but don't give up. Persistence will pay off in the long run.

Off to seek my pot of gold!

If you can't take the heat.....

This is what I call working up a sweat!

In an effort to become acclimated to the heat I will be racing/suffering in two weeks from yesterday, I am not using any air conditioning. I consulted with an Environmental Exercise Physiologist who suggested that I just not let my body get accustomed to the cooler air inside my house and car. So far so good because the weather has been pretty mild. Friday the house started to get pretty hot, especially when I had the dryer on because it spews out moist heat. Thermostat read 80 degrees when I got on the trainer for a two-hour ride. In the end I was SOAKING wet, like wringing sweat out of my socks and everything! It was disgusting! Then I went to shower and noticed that I still had sweat all over my shoulders. But it turned out to be little sweat blisters, probably caused by getting too much sun last weekend on my shoulders then the massive build-up of sweat from the trainer. How odd! They went away by Saturday morning.

Wishing you all speedy races.....

There are many comrades that are racing this weekend and I wanted to make sure I told you all good luck!

Bob, Sue, and Nat: May the Country Music Marathon be 26.2 of your fastest miles ever!!!

Pee Wee, and my Team Luna Chix: Bust it out at John Tanner tomorrow!

Kellye, Sophia, andGary: Great races are in store for you guys in St. Anthony's!!

Jack and Tony: First triathlons are awesome and the most incredible feeling ever! Enjoy it!

The perfect fit!

I have been having some issues with my back and shoulders for the last six weeks. Part of the problem was my bed-it was old and soft. I replaced it and found that my shoulders felt great, but my back was still having some issues, particularly when I rode. After about 10 or so miles my back would go totally numb and by the end of the ride I would be in a lot of pain. It was getting to the point where I would have a heating pad on my back the rest of the day and the pain would still be there the following day. I knew that something was wrong with my bike fit because I just didn't feel right on it anymore.

I had a phone consultation with Matt from The Sport Factory and knew that he was the man for the job! I liked him instantly because he didn't just assure me that it was the bike and tell me he would make everything perfect. He told me that it could be something else, leg length discrepancy, muscle imbalance, bulging disc, SI issues, etc. I went in to see him on Friday for a fit. He tested my flexibility (A+) and had me do some single-legged exercises that focused on some muscles that we use in cycling and running but don't engage much while we workout. These muscles tend to stay dormant and get weak, and can cause back problems. Basically I have a pretty bad imbalance of strength from my left to right leg. My gluteus minimus is not is the best of shape, and my core needs tons of work too. Matt showed me six or seven exercises that I can do in a circuit to help.

For my actual fit Matt raised my seat (it had fallen, a problem that is common in Cervelo's) and raised my fork also. I was currently in the most aggressive set-up possible and he made me less aggressive. It is going to relieve some of the pressure off my back and open up my hips. He videotaped me and did an analysis on my pedaling stroke and made some suggestions. Matt and I talked about all things Exercise Science and I found him to be extremely knowledgeable and fun to talk with. Everything on my bike is marked with TAPE and if the tape gets crinkled then I know something has moved!

Friday Keith and I went to the gym and did the exercises. We set them up in a circuit like plyos. They didn't get our HR up, but had us drenched in sweat. I loved it! Afterwards I ran almost 7 miles. Saturday I had a long run (12.5 miles) and my legs were LEAD! My calves felt very heavy, probably had something to do with the 50 single-legged calf raises that I did! But I managed to make it through my run albeit pretty slow.

The true test was my long ride on Sunday. I hit up the Serrano course with Hunter. The first 30 miles were amazing, I was feeling AWESOME despite having done some serious training on my legs the past three days. Then massive winds kicked in and literally took us from 22 mph on the flats to barely 15 mph. The gusts of winds were so bad that we couldn't ride next to each other for fear that we would get blown together! We kept thinking that we would make a turn and get a tailwind, but it never happened! Just cross-winds and head-winds. But I still felt really good and my back felt fine up until 50 miles, when I started to get a little bit sore. After 62 or so miles we were finished and I could dismount my bike without being curled over and hurting! That's a great sign!

I am planning on doing the exercises as often as possible, but maybe not running afterwards! I need to also focus more on my core, and this doesn't mean abs only! If anyone out there is suffering from pain on the bike that seems excessive, I would highly recommend looking at your current bike fit. Things will move and settle with a bike and as your body changes, you may need another fit. Matt at The Sport Factory did an excellent job and I would recommend his services!!

I put in close to 17 hours of training this week, I am very much looking forward to tomorrow's off day.

Reflections from a not so great day....

Don't let the smiles fool ya it was a tough day!

Race day started at 4:15 am like usual. I ate my oatmeal and my dad was rushing me out the door even though we were early. On the way to the race he decided to start arguing politics with me. I was like, um, hello, race morning good energy please?!? WE got there 10 minutes before the race started and there was no one else out there. It was FREEZING cold. Like 40 degrees and I was wearing shorts. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike cold weather? Well, I really do. Here is the breakdown of the race:

Swim: The water was 60 degrees. It was insanely cold and one chick with no wetsuit go in and got back out. My swim was very slow, about 1 minute, 40 seconds slower than I anticipated. I was having a hard time getting a good rhythm going because the cold water on my face was killing me. Transition area was up a big hill and down almost a block. The smart racers had their friends and family carry their shoes which they threw on after the swim so they could run. Peeps like me just crawled up the hill and walked. Swim took 15:40 seconds for 750 meters. SLOW! My goal was 14:10!

Bike: Normally this is my thing but today it was brutal. It was a really hilly course and the wind was harsh. I was regretting riding a disc because I didn't feel like I was in great control of my ride. At mile two I felt like I needed to burp (nasty lake water) and instead I threw up all down my arm. It was a gross acidic throw up that wasn't chunky but left an awful taste in my mouth. I didn't have anything but water to try and rinse the taste out. The course was set-up really weird and I only saw three riders the entire time. I threw up again at mile 8 and was getting very frustrated with the entire race, the hills, the wind, the cold weather, the potholes, and the glass that I ran over. None of the volunteers were shouting anything encouraging and I was just wanting this thing to be over. Finally we came back into NC State's campus! Thank goodness! I ended up averaging 20 mph on the bike, but seriously don't know how. My bike split was the third fastest females which made me feel better.

Run: The run was just as hilly as the bike and I am in serious need of some hill repeats! I passed a girl on Duke's tri team around 1/2 mile into the run and she said "I can't even feel my feet!" I said " I know, mine are numb from the ankle down!" It felt really difficult running like that. MY first mile split came in at 7:18 and I actually felt pretty decent until half a mile later when I burped again and threw up again! Awesome! I slowed my pace down and just tried to finish the race at that point. I got passed by the girl that ended up winning my age group at mile 2. I hate it when that happens! My average pace was 8:41, again SO SLOW!

This is what we call not having fun!!!

I ended up placed 3rd in my age group and 11th overall female. I was very disappointed because I felt like this race was not a reflection of my training or my true fitness level. But I think that dealing with things that we aren't accustomed too (puke, cold weather) are what makes us stronger athletes. Thanks to Hunter for pointing out that if I had the race I wanted to and won my age group then I might have slacked off these last few weeks leading into Gulf Coast. According to him because I am so disappointed in my results I will train even harder so that I can feel better going into that race.

He's totally right. I felt great today (I should have, my HR avg was barely higher than my half-marathon HR avg!) and hit up the gym for a tempo run and leg workout. I have buried this race and am totally fired up about the next four weeks of training

Ready, Steady, Go!

I am totally packed and ready to head up to North Carolina tomorrow after school. My race is on Sunday and it's at NC State's campus which is only five miles from my dad's house. How convenient is that? He's already geeked out for me and printed up the course maps so we can drive it on Saturday and gotten directions to packet pick-up and the race start. Gotta love his enthusiasm! Sadly the bike portion of the race was shortened from 14 miles to 10.5. This is bad for me as biking is my strength. Ugh. Plus the race director just sent out an e-mail telling us that the water temp is only 60 degrees, about 10 degrees less than anticipated, so make sure to bring long-sleeve wetsuits. I am wondering if I will need a neoprene cap? Inside Out sports is where packet pick-up is so I suppose that I can always buy one there if I need to.

Despite having two dreams about the number 37, I am racer number 51. Pretty good number (I may have fudged a swim time, who knows?!?)

Shout outs are in order for my peeps Keith and Tat who are flying to Miami tomorrow to race in Nautica's South Beach Triathlon. It will be Tat's first tri and they're going in style to South Beach! Have fun guys!

Also Bob and Sue have made plans to seek and destroy anyone in their path in the vicinity of Irondale, AL Sunday for Powerman Alabama. Go get 'um guys!

Dana will be making girls whimper in Chinese this weekend in Chattanooga. Have fun and be careful!

For everyone holding down the fort in the ATL....train safely and hard this weekend and my Girl's Gone Wild DVD's came in the mail today in case it's rainy weather!

Pollenated

Keith's helmet pollen marks!

My sinuses are wishing that I lived in the desert right now. Or maybe the beach. Anywhere where there aren't five-million blooming flowers and trees. I have never in my life had allergies as bad as they are right now. My nose is on a constant drip and I don't stop sneezing until I take meds. My eyes get swollen and I have the most horrible headaches and pains behind my left eye. It really sucks. I can't take most allergy meds because they make me really dehydrated. The ones that work best have 325 mg of acetametaphin in each pill. I am currently taking around 1950 mg of acetametaphin a day and wondering how much longer my liver will hold out. At least I gave up booze right?

Training for this week has looked like this:

Monday: 1:20 on indoor bike

Tuesday: Off day! :)

Wednesday: BF had emergency surgery so I was at the hospital for 6-hours with her, no workout!

Thursday: 2500 yard swim, 2-hour trainer ride

Friday: Attempted a run, only got 4 miles before my pounding head forced me to stop, 2500 yard swim

Saturday: Supposed to run for 1:50.....only got seven miles. I thought I stopped the treadmill to tie a shoelace and when I hopped back on I realized it was still going! I caught myself but jammed up my wrist and it hurt pretty badly. I got off the treadmill and got on the bike instead.

Sunday: 2900 yard swim, 60 mile bike ride with Hunter and Keith. Almost had a heart attack on account of a RAT that ran out in front of me. The ride wasn't that great because I don't feel comfortable on my bike. I am pretty convinced my set-up has changed in the last year. My back goes numb and it gets really painful immediately. Normally my back only hurts if I have been aero for a long-time. If anyone knows the PERFECT bike fitter let me know! The last 20 miles I felt like I was going to throw up thanks to Clif Blocks. They blew their second chance, I think their too thick for me. Strong riding by my comrades.

Congrats to Dylan for his awesome Lavaman race! I can't wait to read your race report!

# of days until my first race: 6

# of pounds I am over race-weight: 3.5

J.Lo is a stalker!

First Jennifer Lopez names her daughter after Joe and Heather's new baby, Emme. Then she decides to do a triathlon to get into shape after have twins?!? Sounds like someone has been reading joereger.com!

Weather Challanged....

I have no clue how to dress for running. Biking? That's much easier. Running requires a lot of thinking and checking outside and internet consulting before I leave my house. It makes me crazy. At the Chattahoochee 10k I wore tights. BAD idea! Nat told me I would be burning up and I said I would be fine. She was totally right. I was heated up like an ant under a microscope. Did I learn my lesson? Of course not! I set out yesterday in almost the same outfit for a 12-miler, when it was 45 degrees and getting warmer every second! After seven miles I was hot and on the verge of hitting the wall. That's my second running issue. Fueling: Either too much and my stomach starts cramping or not enough and I bonk. Today I bonked. I ran to Hunter's house in search of some shorts and some food. He wasn't home so I ran to Stone Mountain thinking maybe someone I knew would have a gel pack. Nope not today. So I just slowed down and ran home, thinking to myself how much running has made my cycling suck and how miserable it is to run when you're starving and how not awesome the ING half is going to be.

Lonely, oh so lonely....

Well, I was out of luck getting anyone to ride with me yesterday. Most everyone bailed citing cold weather, injury, or just wouldn't return my phone calls! So I set out to ride 50 miles all by my lonesome self on the Silver Comet. It wasn't where I really wanted to ride, but I was limited to someplace were I felt safe. I checked the weather as I was walking out the door and was surprised to find that it was only 30 degrees with a windchill factor of 23. 30 is my limit and I knew this wasn't going to be fun, but since I was already dressed and ready I didn't want to abandon things just yet.

Let me tell you, my friends that wouldn't ride because it was too cold were way smarter than me! I was battling a head wind for 25 miles going out. I was cold and my heart rate was much higher than it should have been. I was starting to get frustrated and remembered that it was day 10 of training in a row and I should just back off and ride. So I did. It wasn't my best 50-miler and my back was killing me at the end thanks to a smushy bed but I made it back in one piece. The trail was totally empty making this a really boring ride because there was no one to chase down and pass. I found the parking lot full of people who waited for it to heat up before they took off. Smarty pants!

After a stop by the house I went for a swim. I was totally exhausted and didn't expect too much out of myself but it ended up being an awesome swim for me! I finished it feeling better than I did when I started! I made it to 7000 yards this week without crapping out on a swim!! I am the Queen of skipping swims/cutting them short, and you can tell by my results. I am trying really hard to rededicate myself to the pool this season!

Concourse Triathlon Expo

Today was the triathlon expo at the Concourse Athletic Center. I went and checked it out and it was pretty much the same as last year with one exception- All3 Sports was having a "power" contest. Basically you got on a bike that was set-up to a computrainer. They had a course that was set and you rode as hard as you could for two minutes. They weighed you and then gave you a power to weight ratio. They also measured your average watts, speed, and max watts. When I was there earlier in the week picking up my bike they told me about the contest. I think Matt's exact words were "With those legs you are going to do awesome!" In case you haven't met me my legs are gigantic! The exact body type that excels in something like putting out power quickly. When they told me the contest was for $$$ I was in! Bob and Sue were there giving me some pre-race advice. I warmed up for about 8-10 minutes on a stationary bike and then put my shoes on and took off! It started with a gradual uphill and then got really hard at the end. At first the crowd wasn't paying attention to me, but when they noticed my speed they started yelling for me and in the end chanted "go! go! go!" As I got off the bike my legs felt fine, but I was light-headed. I ended up averaging 380 watts, with a max of 608. I forgot what my weight ratio was, but it was really high. Awesome part- I was the overall female winner! Plus I beat about 85% of the guys! I got a really cool trophy, plus a $250 All3 gift certificate!! I got to meet Kellye Mills also, who won second place! Way to go!