Tri-Oswego Race report

This Tri was an Inaugural Event. My first thought was how smooth was this race going to be run. To my Surprise it was run fairly well.

We got on the road around 6:45am and arrived to the Park at 7:30am. I quickly got my "Lego" Chip timer and Body marked. Tranisition was a mess. There were people with Huge duffel bags full of their gear hogging up valuable transition space. I was kinda in a tiff until a triathlete friend, BL, said we will make room for you! I was blessed and pleased that I had a spot. I quickly laid out my towel with the necessary items, Got by aero drink on the bike, lubed up for the wetsuit attire and out of transition I was.

I got my wetsuit on and took a warm up swim in the Lake, got a feel for the course and was ready to rock. The swim was in Lake Ontario but it was behind a Wall breaker so the chop and cold water wasnt there. It was about 72 degrees!! :) I was in the intermediate wave so we started about 8 min from the first swim wave (3 waves total) We were corralled in a little docking area. I got right up in front as I always think Im going to be in the lead. The gun went off and it was a washing machine with people hitting, crawling all over you, it wasn't enough space to widen out for a few minutes. I got badly tossed around and almost lost it. But, I kept my cool and settled in onto some guys ankles for the rest of the swim. I had some guy tickling my foot the whole time and about 200 meters from the finish I kicked hard to let him know I had had enough!!

Im the pink and black arm mid pic in the water



Swim time- 33:03 , 2:12/100meter pace

out of the swim and we had to run a good distance to transition. I couldn't get my wetsuit over my garmin or my "Lego". I decided because there was a slight incline I would clip in out of transition.

T1- 1:08

Coming into transition

Bike- The course was full of rolling hills and WIND! I love rolling hills. I kept with my nutrition and had a great Bike. I didnt like all the turns we had to make and some of the streets were not well paved but other than that it was a great course. Challenging for sure! 

Bike- 25 miles 1:19:10 19mi/hr ave speed

Leaving Transition

                Coming back (The Face!!)

T2- I took my feet out of my shoes before T2- had a hard time racking my bike due to people not putting their bikes back correctly! I missed my spot because someone had put their stuff on top of mine!

T2- 0:45

Run- The run was tough. at mile 2 there was a incline, then mile 4-5 was just a big incline that never ended. I had to stop to catch my breath and I almost started crying. I feel like my legs want to go but my lunga are saying "oh no you dont!!" I am a chest breather and really need to work on being a more of a belly breather. I rounded the corner at the end in a "pissy" mood because I let 4 girls pass me on the run. Its depressing to me.



Pissy face

Run time- 6.2 mi- 56:15 Ave pace 9:01/mi

Total time: 2:50:24 35th OA, 9th female OA, 3rd in AG 30-34

As we were walking away from the awards, the girl in 2nd for our AG said she was in the 35-39 AG according to USAT. Hey, that 2nd place medal was mine!! Oh well, I didn't complain as I was elated to be a AG winner with how I felt about this race.

Happy Training!

Day before the Race Thoughts

Tomorrow I am Racing in the Tri-Oswego olympic Triathlon. It is an inaugural triathlon in Oswego, NY. I am super excited about getting in a longer distance race before Mussel Man 70.3 in July. I have a race plan and Im going to try and execute it.

I was looking at my first ever Olympic time at Lake Delta Triathlon last year. I did fairly well for my swim, bike and transitions but fell a little on the run. This year I want that run to be a solid run. I know this is a different race and I cannot predict how tomorrow will be but I have some thoughts in my head.

I will be trying to toe that line in every discipline tomorrow. That line between hard and almost vomiting. I think I can play with that line tomorrow. I know my swimming is better so even if I shave a few minutes off each discipline it will be a great day for me.

It looks like the weather is going to hold up tomorrow and I am excited about that. There are about 200 people doing the Sprint Triathlon and 80 people doing the Olympic. That puts me in a happier place right now. All I keep thinking about and visioning is a race that is executed to the "t" and I hope that will be tomorrow.

For more info on this race http://www.tri-oswego.com/

Week in Review- 6/13/11- 6/19/11

I know this is late but hey, I was in Lake Placid all weekend and now Im just trying to get back into the swing of things!!

This week is a Recovery week ending with a Inaugural Olympic Distance race in Oswego, NY this coming Sunday. Im pumped and excited. The weather has been great and I just received a Email that the water is a good 70 degrees.

Last week was great. Monday I got to take my daughter to her Triathlon Training Series which she absolutely loves. Wednesday I got to train with a friend who is doing IM Florida. Thursday I got to swim with a bunch of people on a 1.5 mile swim in the lake. And of course Placid over the weekend. Doesn't get much better than that!!

My picture is now up on the website for my new job I will be starting in July!!! Im so excited to start! I will be working with a great group!

Today was the first day of summer and I got to spend it poolside with my little one! I am going to spend the next 30 days enjoying the time off because then its back to patient care for me!!!

Here are last weeks numbers:
Swim- 3.92 hours ; 12284 yds
Bike- 8.3 hours; 128.05 miles
Run- 3.41 hours;  20.37 miles

Total Time- 15:37:40

Happy Training!!!

Lake Placid Camp Weekend Review

There is some background to Lake Placid that makes it so special to me. Its where I ran my first half marathon and Full Marathon in 2006 and 2007. But most of all it was where my honey and I went on our first big trip together. In 2007 We stayed there a week and we had the best memories and good times in Lake Placid. We stayed at Northwoods Inn Back then right on Main street and woke up and went to the Coffee Bean Coffee shop right across the street every morning and sat on the balcony over looking Mirror Lake with all the Triathletes Swimming in the lake. So beautiful to see that at 7am!

4 Years ago I remember getting into my wetsuit there and freaking out about 100 yrds from shore and swimming back. A swimmer asked if we were doing Lake Placid Ironman- I said yeah 2020 to my honey! Now look, I was there and did a pretty decent job over the weekend! 9 years sooner!!! But Im not doing Lake Placid. Nor will I ever do Lake Placid. Here are the details of the weekend.......

He looks so Enthused!!! Ha ha!

Day 1- We got on the road a little before 9am. We wanted to be up there to Bike with the whole group. Its a 4 hour drive from our house so it would give us some time to eat and get there before the 3:30 bike. The previous day I had to get new tires because the ones I had on my Car were almost bald. As we were pulling out of Breakfast in Pulaski onto 81 to go to Watertown, my car starts rattling BIG time. I was scared thinking the worst. The tire was going to come flying off, the car was going to flip, etc, etc, etc. We pulled into a Midas in Watertown (Think Fort Drum Area) And the guy inspected the car, said I almost needed new brakes and that the Lug nuts on the right front tire had not been properly tightened. GREAT!! So they fixed our car up and we were on our way. Let me tell you from then on the scenery wasn't great. Nothing to look at. We went through 10 different radio stations. Started singing our own tunes,  you name it. Finally We arrive at 2:30pm. We get un packed, say hi to everyone, get dressed and out the door we go for a recovery ride. Although I felt we were flying for a recovery ride, my HR pretty much was ok for the ride. We took the first road out of Placid and onto the last few miles of the Run course, then back up to Main street on a Nice hill and back to the Hotel.

Our Little Room

The Hotel was a little ways from Main street but close enough that you could get there pretty quickly by foot or car. Our next trip would be down to Mirror Lake for a 30 min Swim. I felt pretty good in the water and the best part was I didn't have to sight too much because there were buoys out for a Kayak event every 15-20 yrds! I swam out 15 min and back 12 min. The current just took me back, so I meandered and waited for everyone else to come to shore.

Next was getting washed up and Milanos for dinner. The place was above Starbucks on Main Street. I didn't like that we couldn't all sit together. We are a team and I think It would have been better if we all could have sat together to get to know each other. I had a great Stuffed Chicken and Mashed potatoes while My honey feasted on a Stuffed Trout! They were both pretty good.

We ended up meeting up with Deb who is a fellow Train-this team mate. She is from Ottowa. She told me I had a Accent. Really?! Me?! To funny! Im a New Yorker I guess!! ha ha! We hung out for a bit played with her 2 dogs. They were staying in Wilmington because the Motel we were at wasn't dog friendly.

Onto Ben and Jerrys for some good 'ol Ice cream to end the night!! I had a Caramel fusion which was a waffle cone stuffed with Caramel and Loaded with Caramel Chocolate Ice cream. Hey, I went off the core for the weekend!!! You have to live a little!!! :)

Day 2- Up at the butt crack of dawn because the bed springs in the bed were HORRIBLE! Every time I rolled over I got springs to the ribs!! I was up at 5am, making my bottles, eating my Pre-race shake. Met up with Coach Mary and a few other athletes and talked about the day. This day was pretty much on your own. It was a day to practice fueling, race strategy, whatever you wanted to do. Some were doing the whole race course, others weren't. I was pretty bummed that we all didn't start together, but we all have different goals I guess.

We got onto the Bike Course after a hearty breakfast at a nice cafe right across from High Peaks Cyclery.

The Plan was to do both loops. My honey was going to see how he felt after 1 loop, but the plan was to do 2. Which would be about 100 miles because we were cutting off a climb in the middle as coach said I didn't have to do that part because I wasn't doing this course for my Ironman!! We started off on very rough roads with up hills and decents. The Decent into Keene was sooo scary as there were pot holes along the shoulder and cars doing abot 55-60mph to your left. Everyone said get out to the Yellow line but that was way too scary for me and I hugged the brakes more than once!! On the bumpy roads, my honey lost his water bottle and he was in a bad mood now. Great.

We eventually turned onto a beautiful road heading back to Lake Placid. We could really push the pace on this road a bit. We stopped and helped a fellow biker out that needed a tube, looked at all the beautiful scenery. Sorry no pics as I left the camera at the Motel!! No room!

Then another turn and it was all up hill to Lake Placid with the strong head wind. We stopped at a gas station so we could use the restroom and fuel up. At this point my honey called it quits. I was doing a fantastic job with fueling. I felt great. No muscle soreness yet and he wanted to quit. I made the decision to go back with him as I was terrified of doing the decent again on my own and wiping out, etc, etc, etc. Back to the motel we go and onto my transition run which I have to say felt AMAZING!!! I could've run for a good 26.2 miles!! HA HA! Proper fueling was the key here!

I fell asleep after this and woke up late for the 4 PM Swim. I didn't get down to the lake until about 4:45pm. Oh well, Ill try and see if anyone was down there. Stef (from my team) and April (her sister)  were heading into the water. I felt relief that someone would be out there I knew in the water with me. You never know what could happen!!

Beautiful Mirror Lake!!

The swim was uneventful. We were back at the motel and ready for dinner. I got a message from Coach Mary telling us we were meeting at Dancing Bear on the corner of Main Street when you get into town. I sat with Mary and got to know some of the people she trains with daily. I wish I lived closer to them!! Hearing all of their stories had me cracking up! Dinner was great! Then we ended up all together at Ben and Jerry's yet again! 

After this it was to the Motel for laughter and a few beers. I cant say what beers because someone might find out who drank them!! ;)

Matt, Coach Mary, and a guy with with the best eyes ever! (sorry didn't catch his name!!)

TRAIN-THIS!!!

Day 3- Got up early, talked with the other athletes around coffee. At 7am, Ran 1 loop of the run course with Stef. We had a great time. It was a great scenic course. It was the exact same course I ran for the half and full marathon so it was very familiar to me. Again fueling was great but I could've probably used a little more Heed. I got back to the Motel, Iced my legs up, packed the car and headed for home after a stop at the cafe again for breakfast!! We saw Kim on the way up the hill hooting at us as we drove by!

 4 hours home, unpacked the car and off for a recovery bike on clean roads!!! Its so good to be back home!! I loved Lake Placid yet again but I love home even more!!

ItS Friday, Friday!!

Wow I haven't posted in a few days!! Its been a crazy mad house! Thinking about this weekend. My daughters activities. I think I lost my mind a few times.

I had a great week. I met up with a triathlete friend that I have known for the past 3 years. She has done IM Kentucky, IM Placid, IM Florida just to name a few. We did a ride together and it was nice to know we are about the same bike wise and we hung in together for a 2 hour ride in the sun.

One thing I didn't like was all the dogs chasing us on one of the country roads we went on!!! Isn't there leash laws out in the country too. One guy said "shes ok" to a dog that ran out and started chasing us. yeah buddy, you never know!!! A few German Shepards, Rotweillers, Pit Bulls to name a few were running at us. Good thing I had my sprint legs ready because I sure used them!

I did a tempo run on Wednesday instead of a Endurance run...Whoops! I think when you put on a training series and run with everyone you find yourself going faster. It felt good though so I ran with it. It was hot and muggy!! Phew!

I am off to Lake Placid in 3 hours!!! I am training with my COACH and TEAM!!! How can it get any better?!! Training, beers, laughter, friendships, memories. There all going to be made in Placid this weekend. I cannot wait!!!

Hope you guys have a great weekend and I will have lots to report on Monday!!!

Happy and Safe Training!

Week in Review 6/6/11-6/12/11

This week was not a good week for me in terms of training. I couldn't muster up that mojo I needed. I think I needed a few days for me. And thats exactly what I did!

The week started off great. Got a few open water swims in, a few nice bike rides and some sweaty muggy runs!

I also Raced!! Woot!

I am starting to do much better nutrition wise on my bike and runs. I don't have any cramping like I used to so this is a really good sign for me. I try and measure my sweat loss after every bike and run and I write it in a note pad with date, time, and what the weather was like so that I can gauge when I need more or less on what days. Its very interesting to see how much I sweat on a muggy, hot day!! I sweat 3 pounds on one run and I took in 36 oz in a hour!! Yes, you can say I am a heavy sweater!!

Yesterday while out enjoying my run, I got halfway in and was so focused I didn't see the crack in the pavement and the huge asphalt rock sticking ot of it and twisted my Left ankle. It was so painful that I had to hobble home! I iced it and elevated it back to recovery as quickly as I could and today it doesn't seem as bad.

This week I am looking forward to.......PLACID CAMP!!! yay!!! I am going to Lake Placid to swim, bike and run with my coach and team! We are going to have a blast and I cannot wait! Im a little nervous about the 6 hour bike around Placid but Im not going to sweat the small stuff. Im looking at the overall picture here! Fun, friendship, training, sweating, sharing laughs and best of all...my honey is going with me!!!!!!

Also I need to bring up the diet. I have been doing very well so I took a day off and went to a place called Limp Lizard last night for dinner. It is a BBQ place and let me tell you it was scrumptious! We got a sampler platter of Pulled pork, ribs, corn bread, coleslaw and beef brisket (??). It was delicious!! My honey said that was his new "hot" spot.

But I have lost 3.4 pounds in the last week!! I don't know why this week I had such a huge weight loss, maybe I did need a rest break!

Here are the numbers:
Swim 5259 yds- 1.77 hours
Bike- 50.58 miles- 3.06 hours
run- 15.36 miles- 2.54 hours
Race- 1:19:38
Strength- 1 hour

Total time 9:41:50

Eh, it happens.
This week on tap- 16:35 hours!!! :)

Green Lakes Triathlon Race Report

This was a spur of the moment race on my calendar as I won an Entry through Syracuse Bicycle. For that I was so Grateful! This is a LiveStrong Event beginning a whole racing weekend. Three different events were held. The Triathlon, 7.7 Mile run through the park (Trail run) and a 5K.

The YMCA of Greater Syracuse is one of the 10 YMCAs across America Selected to offer the LIVESTRONG at the YMCA physical activity and well being program that addresses the special wants, needs and interests of cancer survivors. LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is a result of a multi-year partnership between YMCA of the USA and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. All the proceeds of this triathlon went to this program. They had some great sponsors as well which was great to see people coming together for such a great cause.

Back to the Triathlon. I wasn't prepared so I started getting my things in order around 5 or 6pm the night before. Ate a great dinner and settled in bed with Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone to calm me down around 9pm. My daughter was reading it one day and brought it to gymnastics and I got interested in it as she was practicing!!

Woke up around 5:30AM. IT WaS RAINING!! All I kept thinking is I cannot back out now as I won a entry. So I packed my things up, looked at the weather channel which showed just clouds from 8-11am. Great! I ate my usual Race Day breakfast and was on my way to Green Lakes around 6:30am.

Got there and the guy at the booth had told me the course has changed. Now I've ben to 2 races spectating and 2 races racing and its always been the same!! I was thinking great!! Found a parking spot, thanked all the peeps at the Syracuse Bicycle tent for the entry and went to pick my packet up. I was body marked, given my race number and had my chip timer on in no time!

This year they actually put you in transition according to your number. In previous years its been first come first serve. I was right in the middle. I was ok with the spot. I was around some really great people. Some I knew, Some I got to know in that few minutes! It was nice telling our war stories about triathlons!

Got the wesuit on and headed about a tenth of a mile to the beach. I headed to the water and got in. It was about 70 degrees!! I was a little worried with the rainfall overnight that it would be cooler! I met up with my friend L, who was in my age group and won it last year. Said good luck and muttered 1,2 to each other as she entered the water. That meant 1st and 2nd place in AG!



Here we are!!

I was in the 3rd wave. The waves were about 3 min apart so I was about 6 min after the start. I got right in front and to the right as we were going to swim counter  clockwise and I didn't want to get caught up on the turn with everyone else. The gun went off, little did I know this wave was full of first timers and I definately knew it going to the first turn. I got slapped in the head by the same person about 10 times. Ok after about 2 its time to find your own space in the water buddy. Well by the 10th time, I got water in my Left goggle and needed to stop and get it out. I'd say only 10 sec was lost and I was back in the game. I started catching people from the last wave which is always a confidence booster.

Swim- 14:10 (2 years ago, same race this was 25 min!!)

We exited the water and went about a quarter mile or less to transition

T1- 1:08.

Now I kept my shoes on the bike and was going to do a Chrissie Wellington transition. The one foot got in smooth, took off and bam my other shoe got caught and I almost fell. I yelled I GOT THIS to a friend standing at the sideline who saw me do the exact same thing at a race last year!! ha ha! I finally got it and was off!

The bike was great. I knew where I could push the limit, but it usually is the back side of the course and we had a stronger than normal headwind. The last part is a steep hill then a fast descent which I love! Struggle a little then FLY!! I got out of my shoes on the bike a little too soon put kept pushing to that bike end.

Bike- 36:43 - 20K bike, ave pace 20.3 mph.

Again, I wanted a little higher speed, but am ok with this! I got bunched up right before the turn to the hill which I think cost me some time.

Jumped off the bike and into transition

T2- 47 SECONDS!

Now I knew I needed to keep a good pace. I looked down at my watch and it said 54 min. I was right on target with my ideal race time. I felt great so I started to push the pace. I held onto a 7-8 min pace as long as I could. I knew a faster runner friend was going to catch me soon. Sure enough around mile 2 she yells keep that good pace and whizzed by me. I started slowing down and I cold feel it. Not that my legs couldn't take it but I felt like I couldn't get enough air in. I tried to keep a solid pace as long as I could. Only a few girls passed me and I passed about 3 or 4 myself.

I came out of the woods, saw the finish line and booked to the end.

Run- 26:50, 8:38min/mi pace.



Least Im still Smiling!!



I saw my friend L. She came in about 2 min before me. She had a solid race! She managed to squeak 2nd in our AG. Little did I know I would not be counted in AG as I was a corporate entry. oh well, I had a free entry, I am not complaining!!

Overall time 1:19:38

17/158 females

109/383 participants

6th in AG

4th Corporate (only female corporate!!)

I am so pleased! My nutrition was spot on. Looking back, I wish my run was faster and this is something I need to work on. My honey says I don't leave it all on the table in sprint races. I dont toe that red line. And he may be right.....

Happy Training