Today's workout comes off the heels of a hard workout yesterday. Monday morning I woke up and ran at 6am and went out for a run. I was able to run 4.2 miles in the heat and humidity. The humidity is insane that early in the morning and I was just hoping to get in at least 4 miles. I decided to run the first two miles non stop and then I would walk a tenth, run a mile, walk another tenth and then finish up the last mile. At the end of the day I did P90x abs and called it a night. My goal this week is to work abs 3 times. One down, two to go.

This morning I woke up at 4:37am, but I stayed in bed until 4:45am and then I was in a rush. I got the dogs out and walked around in a haze. I pumped up my bike tires and was out the door. My legs were shaky as I rode as fast as I could down Charles Blvd. I kept checking for cars behind me as I rode as fast as I could toward Red Banks. That's the nice thing about 5am. . . No traffic! I got to the track and met Tony and Donna. After running a one mile warmup, I ran 5 x 400 with 200 walking recovery. I finished up with a 1400 cool down and then jumped back on the bike and headed home. The weather was so beautiful that when I got home I took Justus and Bud for a mile long walk. I showered, and then headed to school for kindergarten registration. Last workout this afternoon will be a mile long swim. Oh lord, I really hope I can make it through the workout. It's in my workout plan, so I will have to! 

Yesterday I rode 17.25 miles and I wondered how my body would handle a 50 miler today. Turns out it wasn't too bad. . . For the first 35 miles at least. My plan was to ride either 4 hours or 50 miles, whichever came first. In order to not cheat the clock and count breaks in the 4 hours, I said the only thing that counted was forward progress. Although this was not a race I still can't just let the clock tick and not do any work. I am taking my triathlon training very seriously and refuse to do anything less than my best each day. Many times the weather dictates what is my best that day (for example humid days change what the effort feels like) but I feel like I am in control of the rest. I dont like taking long breaks and every time my watch beeps for 5 minutes of inactivity I start to get a little impatient. Typical triathlete, haha. We started the ride at 6am and finished at about 10:20am and with a total of 3:49:14 on the clock. It meant there was almost 30 minutes of breaks. Some of this was for refilling water bottles and dropping people off at various locations since not everyone was doing 50 today. Somehow, next time has to be faster. I am happy with the overall time, just not the 30 minutes of down time. A few times we were pushing the pace which made me feel a little gassed at 35 miles. I had committed to 50 miles and come hell or high water I was determined to get my miles!

I tried out a long distance refueling drink by Hammer Nutrition, called Perpetuem and it was not all that helpful. I would have preferred a gel or something solid around 30 miles, and this drink just wasn't keeping me feeling fueled. The problem with experimenting with different fuels is that you risk wasting a training session. I'm pretty sure I could have done better today with a gel that had caffeine, but you live and learn. Today wasn't wasted, just less successful than I hoped!

The ride concluded at 50.72 miles and I was so happy to be done! In two weeks I will ride a 100k ride in Jacksonville. I feel ready for it and look forward to it being my longest ride in many years. In 2001, I started doing a lot of serious riding and completed a cross-state ride from the mountains to the coast in a week. The most I have ever ridden in a single day is 81 miles. Although 100k is only 62 miles, it will still be a milestone.

The other bit of exciting news today is that my training journal arrived! I love Amazon.com and purchased The Triathlete's Training Diary for $2. It retails for $16 but I refused to pay full price for anything. I headed to Barnes & Nobel with my journal, iPad, and a pen. The first thing I did was head to the sports section to see what I could find in triathlon manuals, in case I needed anything to refer to. I took everything to the cafe and ordered a frozen drink and sat down ready to work. When I left, I had the whole first week completed (minus tomorrow, as it is a Monday-Sunday journal) and look forward to watching my progress with the journal entries and various data graphs. Success is about having a plan. Without a plan you don't know where you have been, where you're going, and how you're going to get there. Seems easy enough! Now it's time to make the master plan!

When running in North Carolina, or any state with high humidity, you have to get used to the fact that some runs will be better than others. I don't want to say that today was a bad run because any day you get out the door is a good run! There are however different degrees of "good" when it comes to runs. Today was on the lower level of good. The temperature was 77* F with nearly 90% humidity. In other words, you feel like you're running through mud. When in this kind of situation, I find myself trying to say positive things in order to distract me from what I am REALLY thinking. I say things like, "I love this! This is making me stronger! I got this! I love this!!!!!" Everyone thinks I am being sarcastic, and to some degree maybe I am, but I cannot emphasis how important positive thinking is. Find your own mantra! I have different things I repeat for each discipline:

1. Running - I love this! I am strong!
2. Swimming - Calm, relax. Calm, relax.
3. Biking - Power!
4. Transitions - Catch your breath (or in T1 - Helmet! Helmet!)

In the end, I ran 4 miles and then went home and rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes. I don't trust mileage on the stationary bike so I won't mention mileage. I then stretched, drank some chocolate milk and made a couple hash browns. Might even do some P90X Ab Ripper if I'm feeling fancy tonight!

I am 310 days out from Ironman Raleigh 70.3 Everything I do now will impact race day. I am starting a 5 month training plan in January 2015 but I know that my choices now will impact how well I do with the training plan. I am trying new things on my plate, focusing on proper hydration, and saying goodbye to unneeded .lbs each day. By the time my training plan kicks in, I should be in pretty good shape, strong, and the good eating and drinking will be second nature and I won't have to think about it so much. It will certainly be something I monitor, but I am hoping that by creating good habits now, I will be able to spend more time focusing on the athletic side of the training. This is getting exciting! The only thing I would change is having someone to share all the training with. For a long time, and even some now, I train alone. Fortunately, there are people who share common interests in each part of the triathlon, it's just that most are not interested in trying to put all three together. Nothing beats being the only crazy person in town!

Today's workout started early. My first workout began at 5:15am. After a night of tossing and turning, my alarm went off precisely at 4:37am. I am always thankful that I set out my running clothes the night before. This dramatically decreases the odds of forgetting something important while walking in a sleepy fog. Oddly enough I felt ready and energized this morning. NOT at all how I expected to feel when getting ready to run hill repeats. I left the apartment at 5am and drove a couple miles to Elm Street where I would be meeting my group. I flipped through radio stations and found some gangster rap song playing and I cranked it up loud! I was REALLY ready to run now! I was the first one to arrive so I took the time to do a short dynamic stretch session before everyone else got there. It's soooo dark at 5am! The sun doesn't rise until 6:10am.

Before long, everyone else showed up and we were on the road. We start with a warmup run that is somewhere around 1.7 miles. After that we took to the hill - College Hill to be exact. The hill is not super steep, but it is "point 2 miles" to the top. It was 72 degrees and 100% humidity (and somehow it wasn't raining) I was drenched before I even started to attack the hill! My plan was to run 5 hills since I am just easing back into hill work. When adding in extra workouts, you have to be careful to not go ALL out and get hurt. It's all about progress! On the fourth hill I started to question running one more. I grabbed some water and chatted for a moment with Sandra and we decided we could handle one more hill. I was proud that we stuck it out for what we originally committed to, but let me just say that it can be so tempting to quit when the humidity is that insane. The brain is constantly in a battle with the body. The brain is in a battle with itself. One side of the brain says "You got this! Stick with it!" The other side says, "This hurts! You should stop!" Typical left vs. right side brain argument. Somehow you just have to stay positive and listen to the side that says you can do it! Once the workout was over, we ran back to the parking lot to cooldown. I got back to the apartment at 6:30am and jumped in the shower, got back in my pajamas, drank some chocolate milk to recover, and went back to bed. I had to prepare for a swim workout at 10:00am.

I dont remember how long I slept, but it was restless sleep for sure. I might have actually been asleep for 30 minutes the whole time I laid there. I got up, packed my gym bag, grabbed a muffin and Powerade and was out the door with Tyler. He was meeting two clients at the gym today so it gave me time to get in a workout and shower #2 of the day. The workout was not anything too crazy. I ended up with 1100-1200 yards and went back and forth between kickboards, pull buoys, fins, and straight up free style. I was feeling the hill workout quickly, but again I told my body to shut up and deal with it! I left the pool feeling powerful but ready for another nap. It's summer vacation after all so I don't need to feel guilty about naps!

My plan was to bike ride in the evening with Stephanie, but weather looked like it was going to be a factor so she went to the gym instead. Would a bike ride be pushing it today? Did I really need to push it? I decided ultimately to walk two dogs a couple miles instead. At this point I was starting to feel last nights P90X Ab Ripper workout. Muscle soreness kicks in about 24 hours after a workout so it was to be expected. Thank goodness I didn't feel it this morning! All in all today was a great workout day. Tomorrow is a well deserved rest day, although I'm sure I will find some kind of workout to do. I love my evening walks with Tyler and the dogs. It is a perfect way to end the day. We walk using an app called "Walk for a Dog" by WoofTrax. It tracks mileage, time, and pace and also raises money for our local animal shelter. It also helps us to track how much the dogs walk in the evening which is nice because they need to keep in shape too! It's now 11:30pm and I am in desperate need of sleep. Until next time . . .

I cant remember the last time I was stung by a bee. I think it may have been when I was a camp when I was about 10. I have a whole new respect for bee sting victims, as I am one of them now. Last night I went for a bike ride with a couple friends and four miles into the ride we were riding in a line when a car was getting ready to pass us. Suddenly I felt a bee (or something) hit my left shoulder and bounce to my right arm. I thought the bee got into my glove or under my watch. Without crashing (someone was riding right behind me) I yelled out that I had been stung and was getting ready to stop. I unclipped my shoes and ripped my glove off. Where the hell was the bee??? I knew I had been hit by SOMETHING! I began scratching and searching for the predator. And OHHHHH did my wrist hurt! A red dot began to appear and my arm was burning. The ice in my water bottle was melted so there was nothing I could really do but deal with it. When asked if I wanted to head back to the house I refused. Yes, I could have gotten some ice for it sooner, but I didnt get my bike ready to go out for a measly 8 miles round trip. I'm not allergic to bee stings, so no need to stop riding. We kept riding and I fould it difficult to get a comfortable position on the handlebars. After a few more miles a yellow ring started to appear at the sting site. A few miles later the swelling was getting worse, but it wasnt able to travel any farther up my arm because of my watch. When the 17 miles was done, I got some ice and drove home with nothing more than cruise control and driving with my knees. The pain was unbearable but I was thankful I am not allergic to bee stings.  When I got home I looked up all sorts of home remedies and tried all of them. It's now been 24+ hours and little has changed. At Tyler's race today I had the chance to talk to an EMT and he told me to just keep doing what I was doing which is ice, ibuprofen, and Benadryl. NOT the answer I was looking for! Looks like a run tomorrow since I cant put any weight on my wrist. . . I feel like such a weakling! To quote Dane Cook, "F*** Bees!"

The day I have been waiting for is finally here! Registration for the 2015 Ironman 70. 3 Raleigh opened today at noon. Last night I couldn't get my mind off of it. My stomach started to hurt in the same way it does when I am nervous about something. I counted down on Facebook, "19 hours before registration!" This morning I woke up feeling a little nauseated but I knew it was a combination of excitement and nervousness. A part of me was fearful that registration would close before I had a chance to sign up. These types of events can fill up quick so you need to have your computer ready and your credit card in hand or you risk losing your spot. At 11:58am I had my iPad and laptop both on the registration page. I hit refresh every 20 seconds or so, wondering if my computer clock was the same as theirs. I wanted to give myself two chances to grab a spot in case a lot of people were online at the same time. Finally 12:00pm hit and I hit refresh. Nothing. Refresh again. The registration page came up. "I'M IN!!!!" I frantically filled out the registration form. I was pretty sure that I must be in since the registration page came up, but you never know and you don't want to chance anything at a time like this. As I filled out the forms, checked all the boxes, and filled in the electronic signature, I kept thinking, "I am really doing this!" After paying the Ironman fee, the processing fee (thanks a lot Active.com) AND buying a one day license for USAT (my current membership ends 12/31/14 and of course I will renew) I thanked Bank of America for making this payment possible. Normal people probably think I am crazy for using a credit card to pay for a race ($277 by the way) but my runner/triathlon friends totally get it. They understand giving up the finer things in life in order to pay for races and new running shoes!

So there it is. It's official. I'm in. Challenge accepted. Now I need to get to the book store and start looking more seriously at half iron plans. The next ten months are dedicated to training and performing well. I am thankful for all of my friends who will support this journey, to my boyfriend for having to put up with the training and living with me, and to my family for their moral support and words of encouragement. I don't know that anything surprises my dad anymore. Months ago when I mentioned doing this, I'm pretty sure my dad said something along the lines of, "You can do it" in his Bela Karolyi voice. And when your dad says you can do something, you go out there and prove him RIGHT!

To celebrate making it to the first step of registering, I tried a new recipe for strawberry scones. I said that if they turned out well I was going to call them "Half Ironman Strawberry Scones." After making a batch, I brewed some coffee, sat on the floor with my Half Ironman Strawberry Scone and watched the rain fall outside my back door with Justus by my side. Today has been a good day. . . Bring on the Half Iron!

Once again, the hard training and sacrifice has paid off. I find myself with a new PR (personal record) that included a bike leg ONE MILE LONGER than my last PR. My last race was 250 yards in the pool, a 9 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run. This race was the same distance in everything except the bike which was 10 miles. My previous PR was 1:06:12. I now have a PR of 1:05:08. Thinking back to when I first raced in October 2008, my time was 1:18:17. It is hard to beleive that in 6 years (of which 5 of them I was doing nothing with triathlon) That I have dropped 13 minutes in competition.

Tyler and I arrived at the race site at about 5:30am. The first thing I always do when I get to a race is check my spot on the bike rack. I always hope that my number is in an outside rack, closest to where everyone is running in and out. Whoever racks first gets prime real estate for setting up. You only have bikes racked on one side of you, so there is no fear of tipping bikes over when you are grabbing everything for your transition to the bike or to the run. A girl got there just before me and had already racked at the end so I just took the spot next to her. Oh well, life goes on. . . Must use plan B.  Setting up transition is quick for me now. This is my 5th triathlon so I pretty much have things figured out in regards to where everything goes. I chatted with a few people around me and helped a couple people set up there transition area and showed them how to place race numbers on their bikes. The thing I love about triathlon is that there is always someone who is a first timer and needs help. I like being able to pay it forward and being part of making someone's first triathlon one that is positive and memorable.

Once everything was set up I went inside the Rex Wellness Center to check out the pool. I used to be a member of this gym years ago so I knew what to expect in the pool. Unlike my last triathlon, this pool did not have an area that was 10 feet deep. This pool is rather shallow, and in my opinion it seemed a little short of 25 yards. I got in for my swim warm up about 6:20am and swam 2x100 to get a feel for the temperature of the water (and the taste; salt/chlorine by the way) and to get my head and muscles all on board for what was about to happen. The water was COLD! I swam the first 100 in 1:58 and the second 100 in 1:59. At this point I thought, "This pool is short. . ." I submitted my swim time as 2:10 for a 100 yard swim and this just felt quick. I went to the front desk and they assured me that it was 25 yards. "Must just be feeling good today!" I said. I dried off and started thinking about my race. So much of triathlon is mental and if your head is a mess, your race will be too.

After triple checking my transition area I was ready to go. General announcements were made and then it was time to head into the pool area. As we got in line I started talking to a couple women to pass the time. One woman had done this race before and the other was a woman who had never done a triathlon before. I love how diverse triathlon is. It is a sport where everyone is included and your competitors cheer you on all the way to the finish line. Very few sports can say the same! We waited a while to start since our start numbers were in the 150s. We watched time after time as people crashed into each other in the pool. Normally when splitting a lane you swim counter clockwise. In this race you swam clockwise in the pool which lead to at least a half dozen head to head collisions. Who knew triathlon could be a contact sport? I made a mental note that when I got in the water I would "spot" every few strokes to make sure I didn't have anyone directly in front of me. Finally it was my turn to begin. I pushed off the wall and it was perfect. "Breathe out of your mouth" I told myself. This breathing method keeps me calm and relaxed; something I have been working hard on for the last couple months! The space between me and the guy in front of me was staying consistent. No need to pass, no need to be passed by the competitor behind me. I had a secret goal of NOT being passed and passing ONE person. I pushed off the second wall and everything was still perfect. No foot cramps, good pacing, and my breathing was under control. In the middle lane I had to tell myself to calm down because I was suddenly feeling a little gassed. I think I got a little excited and needed to dial back. A few strokes passed and I was back on track. In the fourth lane I was gaining on the guy in front of me. At the end of the lane I had to stand up in the water because I was right on his feet. Going into the 5th lane he let me pass him. I didnt push off the wall but rather had to just take off and start kicking. I immediately found my pace and kept going. I had no idea what my overall time was but I was feeling good. Suddenly I was gaining on the girl ahead of me. I looked up to pass but there wasn't enough room and I figured that the two-second gain I would get wasn't worth what it would cost in heartbeats. "Make it up on the run to transition!" I said to myself. I jumped out of the pool, took off my cap and goggles and passed her. I saw Tyler outside and I ran past him and shouted, "I did the swim in 4:58!" I could hardly beleive it myself. I expected to swim in 5:05-5:10 but something must have been just right today!

Once inside transition I got to work quickly to get my bike ready. I hate having bikes on both sides because in moments like this you just want to grab and go. Instead, you must be very careful to not knock down a whole line of bikes. As I went to pull up my shorts over my suit, I saw my dad standing on the other side of the transition fence. "Oh, hi Dad!!!" I shouted. I was so excited to see my Dad come out for this race. He has always been a supporter of my athletics ever since I did gymnastics. His presence here meant the world to me. I quickly turned on my Garmin 220, grabbed my bike and sprinted out of transition. (Every second counts!)

I jumped on the bike and went out on the course. For me, the first mile or so is all about getting back to "calm" and getting refocused. This bike course was going to be a combination of great pavement and rolling hills. This was my first race with my clipless pedals so I knew I would have a slight advantage over my last race time. Up and down the hills I went and I passed several people. What is interesting about racing is that since you get spread out in the pool, you get very spread out on the bike. Everyone's start time is different so you have no idea who is ACTUALLY ahead of who in the bike and run section. You really have to just race yourself and then just see how the chips fall when they run results. On the whole bike course I was passed only twice, but I passed probably a dozen or more people. This is usually the section where I make the most gains on people. At the same time you have to remember that there is still one more section to race and you have to save something for it or else you will be paying for it later. On the second to last hill I was getting ready to make a pass on a girl who I knew was in my age group. Her and I passed back and forth on the previous hills so we were pretty evenly matched. I couldn't help but wonder how fast she could run. Could I make  up time there? We had some friendly conversation and I decided that I wouldn't ask about her expected run time, but would rather just see what would happen. If she was feeling strong I didn't want to give her the mental edge by insinuating that I was feeling tired. Instead of passing her (you have 15 seconds to pass, otherwise you must fall back) I decided that the pass wasn't worth the lactic acid build up in my legs. I let her get to the top of the hill first and then passed her on the downhill with no extra effort. (After all, this isn't the Tour de France where there are extra points for getting to the top of the hill first) We exchanged places again on the last hill and I decided at that point I was going to just race how I practiced so that I could do well on the run. When I hit the top of the last hill I dropped my gear down and began to "spin" at a high rate so that my legs could get ready for the run. There was less than 1 mile to go so I needed to be making mental notes on the transition area. Before making the turn towards transition, I saw Tyler on the sidewalk yelling for me to stay strong and to keep going.

T2 is the easiest and fastest of the two transitions. I racked my bike, took off my helmet, changed my shoes, grabbed my race belt and I was off! On the way out to the run I grabbed what I was told was water, but turned out to be HEED (similar to Gatorade) and it was disgusting. I was disappointed that I couldn't just dump it over my head to cool down. My plan was to get water, drink half, and dump the rest on my head. I didn't want to risk getting HEED in my eyes so I just took a sip and trashed the rest.

I passed a few more people and tried to still stay calm, knowing that the run course was NOT flat and that I would have to stay even and calm if I wanted to finish this. My legs felt okay and I looked down at my watch to see I was running a 9:45 mile. "Perfect"! I thought. "Just like I have been practicing!" I got to the turn around and got water and sipped some and dumped the rest on my head. The water was ridiculously cold and my head felt numb for a moment. Fortunately I found myself on a downhill and I thought, "Just ride the hill!" Soon I saw the girl from the bike and I had made a considerable gain on her. I passed a couple more people and I could hear the announcer on the other side of where I was and he was announcing people who were finishing. The sun was hot, I was a sweaty mess, but I visualized myself running across that finish line and hearing my name being announced. "You got this! 800 meters to go and you're done. Pick it up!" Finally the finish line was in front of me. No one ahead of me and no one soon behind me. I had the finish line all to myself. People were clapping, music was playing, and Tyler was shouting! As I crossed the line and the announcer called my name, he said that I was from Greenville - Home of the ECU Pirates." I put a hooked finger in the air and yelled out "ARGGGGG" If you know ECU, you know that is our shout out!

I had finished in what I would soon find out to be a new PR! I felt proud and accomplished, no matter where I finished in my age group. I went back to the finish line to see "the girl from the bike" cross the line. I clapped for her and gave her a high five as she crossed the finish line. See what I mean? We are all competitive, but we will cheer for you until you finish too! After crossing the finish line and feeling awesome, I cooled off with some snacks and drinks. I saw that my placing in my age group was 7th and I was happy with that. To me, triathlon is about self improvement. It's not about coming in first place. It's not about winning a giftcard or a medal, although I'm sure it's nice! It's about being better than you were the last time. It's about looking at where you made improvements this time, and what you can do better next time. There is always room for improvement.

Naturally I went home and began looking up more races. They say that most people catch the "Tri Bug" upon completing their first race. Some people catch it when crossing the finish line and some people catch it a week later. Oddly, I sometimes find myself thinking of my next race while in the middle of my current race! I have to stop myself and say "FOCUS!!!" This race will be one that I think of often and say, "I found the thing that makes me happy, and that is TRIATHLON!"

Race Data
click here for official results

Swim: 5:36 (includes running from pool to transition)
T1: 1:55
Bike: 36:43
T2: 1:07
Run: 19:45
Total Time: 1:05:08

Age Group Place: 7th (of 21)
Gender Place:  41st (of 123)
Overall Place: 139th (of 264)

What is exciting about my triathlon training, is that every time I race I feel more and more prepared. Gone are the days that I walk into a race and think, "Im not ready. I didnt train for this." I now walk into a race and think, "I got this! Let's go!" Some people say they are nervous before a race. I say that nervous means you're not ready. Instead I say that I am excited! To me, "excited" means "I am ready for this!" That being said, I race in less than 48 hours and I could not be more excited! I am racing in the Rex Wellness Garner Triathlon on Sunday morning. This race is about 15 minutes from my parents house so it will be nice to "sleep in" and arrive at the race around 5:15am. I just got my start time and I will be jumping in the pool at 7:25:10 My race number is 153 which basically means I am seeded smack dab in the middle! That is progress! Swimming is the shortest leg of the triathlon and you don't win it in the swim. My opinion is that you don't lose it in the swim either. Unless you drown I suppose. There is plenty of time to make up on the bike and the run.

My swim time has improved dramatically in the last 8 months. I submitted a 2:10 for a 100 swim time although I feel like I could have made it closer to 2:05. Originally I think I sent in a 2:20, so to be able to drop 10 seconds is a confidence booster. Yesterday at the pool I swam a mock race, practicing turns and swimming right next to lane lines. Lucky me, I even got to practice getting a foot cramp 150 yards into the swim. My foot still cramps in the pool, but nothing like it used to! I expect a cramp in a race so I try to swim through them so that if it happens on race day, I dont panic. When my swim set of 250 yards was done, I was happy to see 5:11 on my watch. Am I a fast swimmer? Not even close! But what I can tell you is that I have dropped almost a minute off my time in 8 months and that is a big deal! Imagine where I will be this time next year!!

Triathlon is about overcoming obstacles. It is about looking at something that seems impossible and saying, "I'm going to do it anyway." It is about personal growth. It is about learning to overcome your fears. Triathlon teaches you that your only limitations are the ones you make up in your head. In 2008, I was terrified of the swim. I took a long break from triathlons and came back in 2013 and was terrified again. At this very moment in time I am feeling ridiculously confident in the swim. Change your mindset, change your life. It's as easy as that!
         Seems simple...

Although I do not expect to win my age group on Sunday, I will be happy to complete this race and then head to the nearest Starbucks to celebrate being awesome. Winning an award is not what is important in triathlon. Improved self confidence, health, happiness, and camaraderie are the best gifts in the world and I EXPECT to get all four on Sunday!