Already half way through 2012... I'm back!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged, but with this being an Ironman year... (YES! Another Ironman!!) I wanted to start up again. It's a lot of fun to look back through all the training, racing, thoughts, pictures, etc. that leads up to an Ironman. Soooo... where to begin after a 1/2 year hiatus from the blog... so many topics, yet I don't want to make this 8 pages long... How about my 'A' race?!

This year's A race:
I'm signed up for Ironman Florida which will take place on November 3rd, 2012 in Panama City Beach, FL. Me and about 22 of my closest friends. We will have a huge MN contingent at this Ironman and I couldn't be more excited for it! 146 days until the BIG SHOW!

Training/coaching:
I'm training with a new coach this season. I'm very lucky that Scott Penticoff has taken me on as one of his athletes and I couldn't be more excited and honored to be training with such an amazing athlete and group of athletes! I have never used an online type of training log, so that is a great new piece of the puzzle for me. When I have to log every mile and pace, and know it's being read... I make SURE and work my hardest!

Besides the new coach, I've actually been dabbling in a couple of different types of training this year and I think it's really helping. Last fall I started going to Discover Strength. I have never taken strength training seriously and last year I realized, that attitude was just plain silly. I feel it's already helped me make strides in all three disciplines and the staff there is awesome. I plan to go to Discover year round, for the rest of my life. :)

Another piece of my training, that I've been doing consistently for over a year now, are cycling classes at The Fix Studio. It's CompuTrainer/power based training and it's helped my biking immensely! I love these classes as you always get a quality workout in not a lot of time. There is no doubt in my mind that training by wattage will improve your cycling. I can't wait to keep this up and see how far it can take my bike legs!

2012 races:
I've raced 3 (outdoor) triathlons so far this season and I'll just say this... 2 out of 3 ain't bad! I also raced my first indoor triathlon this season, which I'll mention last.

New Bri Tri, June 2nd
Starting backwards with race #3... last Saturday was New Bri Tri, my neighborhood race. I was pumped as I get to race with a lot of my friends at this one, and I was SO ready to kill this course and go for a New Bri PR. I didn't get a swim warm up in, so within the first minute of the swim I felt my wetsuit scraping my neck, so I was rolling onto my back to try and adjust the closure. I lost some time there and wasn't happy with that, but overall, the swim was OK. I know I had been beaten out of the water by a younger girl, so my next mission was to catch her on the bike. I caught her about 5 miles into the bike, and at a pretty good clip, which made me pick it up even more. I was going along good, passing quite a few men, then took a right to head towards Lake Johanna, as I was starting on a downhill at about 26 MPH I suddenly hear a "POP!" I nearly lost control of my bike as I was barreling down the hill on just the rim, but gradually regained control and pulled off the road. My front tire was totally flat, I had hit "something", but no idea what it was... it sounded metal-y as it bounced off the road. I had a spare tube, luckily, so I went about changing it. I finally got the spare tube in and as I started blowing it up, using a CO2 cartridge, I heard the tube blow up! I checked and sure enough it has a huge hole in it... my day was done. :(

On happy notes, I met a lot of nice people on my venture back to the park. Some police men who were directing traffic for Bethel's graduation, a really kind biker who tried to help get me going again, a first time triathlete who had a flat tire who I was able to show how to change it so she was able to continue on and eventually finish. Thankfully, a New Brighton fireman gave me a ride back to the park entrance, and then I met a group of people who showed me a neat trick for when your tube springs a leak. You just find the leak/hole, tie a knot in the whole tube around the hole, blow it up, then that should hold at least to get you back to where you started. I also met a new Team Aquaphor teammate, Jordan, and saw an old friend/teammate Lynne Nelson at the race! Here's a shot of all of us pre-race, thanks to Lynne:

I did decide to do the run when I finally made it back to transition. I asked if I had time and they said there were still people out there so I thought I'd go for it. I finished about 303 out of 307 athletes. :) As I was crossing the finish line, all of my friends were receiving their medals for placing in their age groups, so that was fun to see. It was a great day overall now that I look back on it. I was due for a tire malfunction I suppose, hopefully it never happens again! Here is what it looks like to finish *almost* last in a race (you SMILE, yes, you better smile!!):

Blaine Triathlon, May 19th
A brand new race up at "the Lakes". It was a beautiful day for a race, besides how hot and HUMID it got! Nonetheless, the swim was great, the bike was pretty good too, and the run... not so great. It was 3.5 miles through neighborhoods and it was so still and HOT. I felt like I was barely moving. Nonetheless, I knew Jessica Deegan and Greta Simpson were right on my heels, so I kept "running" (if you could call it that) even though I felt like walking. When all was said and done, I was 3rd female overall. A master's woman who started in the last heat ended up 2nd, Greta was 1st, and Jessica was 4th. My friend's Jeff Grebner and Tom Morgan both were on the overall men's podium too, and Jeff Pearson was 2nd in his age group! Thanks to so many of us racing... Oscar, April, and Lisa were there to represent and cheer. These are a couple of pictures that April took that day:

I had a blast at this race and hope to do it again next year! They did a fantastic job for a first annual event; excellent course markings, volunteers, food and awards. Great, great, GREAT all around! Here is the race coverage by Minnesota Tri News.

Chain of Lakes Triathlon, May 5th
This was my 3rd year making the trek up to Alexandria, MN to race this very early season Tri. It's so early season, the swim is in a pool! One reason I enjoy this one so much. :) It was nice to have a pre-race mention, as that gave me even more determination to try and get a PR here. The race went well overall. I was happy with the swim and bike. The run was "meh". Good for me I suppose, just not very good when I compare to everyone else. :) Regardless, with a finish time of 1:07:16, it turned out to be a 5:10 PR for me on this course so I can't complain! Overall I was 2nd female, and Angie Hop took first. She wrote an awesome race report that was shared on MN Tri News that gave a good description of the day. We started in the same lane together even so I just hung on her heels through the swim and bike, until she took off on the run and I just couldn't keep up. Felt great as my first race of the season!

Lifetime Fitness (Fridley) Indoor Triathlon, April 15th
I'd never done an indoor triathlon, but since my very own club has one and my friend Scott was signed up for it, I thought I might as well try too. As it turns out a couple more friends, Lisa Brown and Chad also signed up for this race. That brought out Lisa Wacek to cheer for all of us, which was AWESOME!

How the indoor tri works is it's a 10 minute swim in the pool, 30 minutes on the spin bikes, then 20 minutes on the treadmill. They had about 12 different waves so people are going at all different times. The swim was good, I swam in the same lane as Scott and tried to keep up the best I could. The bike was ok, just that it felt really hard. They set the tension for you, and you can't change it because they duct tape the spinny/gear thing down so you just have to deal. They have odometers on the bike to get your total distance at the end. The run was good. I liked using the treadmill some this winter to try and get a faster pace going and get familiar with how (hard) it feels. Overall, I ended up 1st female overall, and Scott won the whole thing! He had a killer race. I ran next to him on the treadmill and I had no idea he could run as fast as he did (10+ MPH!). He had tough competition right next to him so that really pushed him.

It was super fun to do an indoor and even more fun with both Lisa's and Chad there too. Lisa wrote an article for MN Tri News about this race, and it's a great read. I may just do one of these again!

New bike!!
Last, for now, but certainly not least... I've got a new ride for this season! Isn't she a beaut!???

Up next...

This Sunday I'll be racing Trinona. My first Olympic of the season, and it's forecasted to be about 90 degrees. Whew! Should be a fun/HOT one!

Inspirational Friday...

Most people never get there. They're afraid or unwilling to demand enough of themselves and take the easy road, the path of least resistance. But struggling and suffering, as I now saw it, were the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not constantly demanding more from yourself—expanding and learning as you go—you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.

~Dean Karnazes

I dropped off the face of the blogging world the last few months... but I'll be back and posting soon! I have a BIG year coming up next year to look forward to and share! :)

It's 'A' race week!

Holy #%*! My ‘A’ race is here in a few days! Where did that summer/year go? This thing we call “life” has taken priority over 20 hour training weeks this year, but I’m totally OK with that. I’ve still trained, just not as many hours as last year and not as many looooong weekend days. My running is on the back burner this season which is a bummer, but I am enjoying the fitness I do have to have fun at races and give it my all.

My last few races were REALLY fantastic days. The courses were challenging, and I had a BLAST racing them. Each of them were great experiences and I had a couple of “ah ha moments”, solidifying for me why I do this. I LOVE it. I LOVE to keep fit, I LOVE to race, I LOVE to challenge my mind and body even when they’re not sure they’re up to the challenge. I LOVE being surrounded by the great people that also love this incredibly amazing, challenging, unpredictable, and always fulfilling sport of triathlon.

My last three races were; 1. Minneman (2nd in age group):

2. Twin Cities Triathlon (2nd in age group. Well... 4th, but the first 2 were overall winners):

One photo I was in that was taken at the Twin Cities Triathlon by professional photographer Paul Phillips of Competitive Image ended up being included in the TC Tri photo gallery on Triathlete.com! Here's the picture as it appears on the site. :)

3. 25th Anniversary Brewhouse Triathlon (6th place in age group, yet probably my best race to date of this season. Those Duluth girls are FAST!) Racing at Brewhouse was amazing... Back on home soil! It was a fantastic day surrounded by high school friends and parents and the best part of all, it was in Duluth! It doesn't any better than that!

I won’t bore with full race recaps of the last three races I skipped reporting on, but rather look forward to my one and only Half Ironman of this season which is a mere 3 days away. I may not come home with a new PR, but I’m looking forward to the trip and experience that I will get to enjoy with a dear friend.

Bring on Steelhead!!

Race reports gallore!

Man, you get behind on blogging for a couple of weeks and four races have passed! I am slacking in the blog department this year. I guess getting race packets and being at the right place at the right time has been all I can think about. It's certainly race season with FOUR races in three weekends.

What better way to 'report' on a race then by pictures/videos?? So here goes...

Race 1 - New Bri Tri, June 4th in New Brighton (my backyard tri!) and with all my Lifetime buddies! I had an absolute blast at this race. Mainly due to the fact of having so many of my friends and teammates there racing and cheering, and that it was a beautiful day. My swim was ok, bike was ok, and run was horrible. I felt like I couldn't remember how to 'push it' once I got to the run. No big deal, it was the first outdoor race of the season. One of my friends did this as his very first tri ever and totally ROCKED it! Here he is post-race taking a breather (he's in the middle). I think this is a face of "I'm hooked", don't you??

Race 2 - Liberty Half Ironman Relay (swimmer), June 11th. Lots of P2ers raced this one so I was mainly a cheerleader this day since all I "raced" was the first leg. Our team came in 2nd. The 1st place team was all male and had an insanely fast swimmer and biker. Not like we couldn't have beat them, but none of us are on steroids. :) Here's video of our team that day:

Here's our team post race:

Race 3 - Manitou Triathlon, June 12th. Loved this race! It was really well run thanks to Optum Health Performance. It makes me extra happy that they are running Minneman this year and I am planning to sign up for the 'new' Twin Cities Triathlon, also put on by Optum.

There were lots of P2ers racing and cheering again so that was fun. The course is also super flat and fast. It's rare when this happens, but the worst leg of the day for me at this one was the swim. I swam to the wrong buoy! I went to the first one just fine, but when I looked up to head to the second one I veered off to the right and reached the second buoy, on the other side of the course. I am blaming my goggles as they were fogged up beyond belief. Once I ran into a kayaker who was yelling at me to go the other way, I took my goggles off to re-establish where exactly I was, then when I realized, I was just plain emabrassed. Oops! There were others with me though so it wasn't just me. Not sure if I lead that effort or not, but we eventually made our way through the swim. :)

The bike was a little slow going, the legs took about 10 miles to want to work, but the run was actually MUCH better than the week before. I felt like I pushed it much harder and just felt better all around with it. Overall, the results turned out good, even with my much less than stellar swim and bike this day, I was 1st in my age group! The rest of our team dominated this race too. EVERY P2er made the podium! Noelle was there to cheer as well and got some good pictures, here are some of that day:

Race 4 - Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, June 18th, in my hometown!! I really wanted to be a part of Grandma's Marathon weekend again this year as I missed last year due to having a long training weekend. After missing it last year I decided I would never miss it again. A 32 year streak is nothing to break! It was POURING rain and cold once we got up to the start. It was tough to take off my pants and jacket to get lined up at the starting line in only shorts and a thin shirt. At about mile 4 the rain had stopped, there was a tailwind, and it turned out to be an ideal day for a marathon (or a half marathon as it were). My only goal was to hold a steady pace and to beat the time I ran at Fargo Half. I was beating it by a long shot until I needed to take a bathroom break. There were long lines at every bathroom, but I couldn't hold it anymore so I had to wait in line and got a bit behind my time. I didn't mind though, I was SO happy to be back and running in Grandma's Half! Here's a photo that actually looks like I'm haulin'... It must have been at the end. :)

Next up is Minneman over July 4th weekend. Taking a little break until then to have a party and cheer for my teammates who are racing Ironman Couer D'Alene THIS weekend!! 

Fargo Half Marathon Race Report!

Better late than never I suppose! :)

I wasn't planning to "race" this half as I haven't been running super great leading up to this race AND I was sick the week(s) prior. I mainly signed up so I could be a part of this weekend while cheering for my friends who were running the full marathon. The unfortunate part, which I didn't realize when signing up, was that I started 1 hour 15 minutes AFTER the marathoners. (I thought they would do like Grandma's Marathon does, where the half starts an hour before the full.) Due to my marathoner friends being so speedy, it meant I wouldn't be able to go out on the course and cheer for them as they'd be done soon after I was, or before I was even!

My race plan was to just keep it consistent and not breathe hard. It all went according to plan with a short blip where I decided to pick it up for awhile from about mile 8-9. It felt good to get a faster stride going, but I only did that for about a mile then slowed back down to get my breathing under control. I had a blast running the half without any pressure, and my marathoner friends kicked BUTT! It was fairly humid this morning, so not ideal marathon weather, but they all had great races.

Overall, I LOVED the course (fast and flat!), I LOVED the entertainment (there were bands and/or DJ's at every mile!), and I LOVED the crowd support. Fargo put on a great event, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to get back up there to be a part of this. I went to college in Fargo/Moorhead, so every minute of this weekend brought back memories. It was a fantastic time! We even had a fun night out on the town that Saturday evening. It brought me back to my college days, except I felt much more mature this time around and didn't feel a need to hunt down the bars with $1 beers. :)

Next stop... New Bri Tri this Saturday!

Chain of Lakes Race Report!

Last Saturday was my first triathlon of the season. First triathlon since Ironman in fact! The timing of this race couldn't have been worse for me and all I had going on last week, but as much as I wanted to skip it, I made the drive to Alexandria, MN and gave it a go.

It was a perfect morning for a race. A bit damp out, but no rain during the race, just some sprinkles before to get the streets wet. The swim is in the Discovery Middle School pool which is nice since good weather is never a guarantee in central MN in early May for an open water swim. In order to get your lane assignment you give them your predicted swim time for 600 yards. I have been swimming semi-decent lately, so I thought an 8:10-8:20 sounded good. Once we took off, half way down the pool I knew I was in trouble. My arms were SO sore!

The days prior to this race I had to MOVE all of my furniture out of the downstairs of my house as I was getting new carpet installed. This included some of the heaviest pieces I've ever owned, like my dining room table, and entertainment center. I had asked a friend to come and help, but I just hate bothering people so I managed to get everything moved one way or another (and was pretty proud of myself after the fact!)

Friday was all around busy with the carpet installers, a handyman that was replacing the wood trim on the garage and the soffits on my house, then making an IKEA trip to buy some new (also super heavy!!) furniture. Once the installers were done I had to move everything back. I didn't get in a pre-race workout on Friday (which would have warned me about the arm soreness) because I had too much going on with the workers being here and the moving that I ran out of time.

Nonetheless, I was disheartened from the get go, once I realized how sore my arms were. I had done really well at this race last year, so was pretty upset I wasn't going to improve on last year's time. I ended up doing the swim in 9:16. Whoops and UGH. Once I got on the bike I just felt drained, but I still tried to push it. The bike went decent, it was similar to last year's time. Then came the run. I felt fine on the run, but I was moving in slow motion. I tried to speed up, but just couldn't. It felt like one of those dreams where you are running but not getting anywhere. Or maybe I'm the only one to ever have that dream?? :)

Overall, I came in 7th in the 30-39 age group and was 13th female. My time was over a minute slower than last year's time. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, but it was just a bummer of a day. I am happy I showed up and did the race though! There are lots of other races to look ahead to.

In other race news, the TC 1 Mile was a race FAIL this week. I had signed up, but after Saturday's race I got sick. It came on full force Sunday; with horrible congestion, sinus and ear issues, and has hung on all week. That race always makes me cough for days after so I didn't think it'd be worth it in my current condition.

I did start my new job this week! With bad always comes good, so regardless of my sniffles and feeling icky this week, I really enjoyed my first week at General Mills! :)

BIG NEWS!!!

Wow, what a year it's been already. I remember posting a comment a couple of months ago that said something like "The year of no Ironman, now what?" NEW JOB is what!! I have accepted an offer with General Mills and will be starting on May 9th as a Unified Communications Technical Specialist.
 
I'm so excited that I am going to be working at such an amazing company. Looking for a job is stressful, even if your field is booming (which mine apparently is as I had more than one job offer to choose from)! I spent a ton of time updating my resume, on the phone with HR departments, working with recruiters, and going to interviews. After weighing all my options, I couldn't be happier with my decision!

Regardless of what the Star Tribune said I said, I am not "fed up" with my current job, the fact of the matter is LarsonAllen is an Accounting firm and they cater to the careers of Accountants, not Infrastructure Engineers. Since I am not an Accountant, I felt that the opportunities had run out for me there. It was time to move onto a company that gives all fields opportunity to move onward and upward in their careers. I can't wait to start on this new journey!

In other exciting news, I received my Team Aquaphor kit today and I LOVE our new uniforms! It's all super comfortable, and I love the darker colors. The white tops we had last year could be a bit see through once they got wet. :)

I feel so lucky to be part of such a great team! I'm making sure to be much more involved with the Team Aquaphor online community this season and look forward to meeting other teammates throughout the year at races. My friend, blogger, fellow P2er, and Ironman extraordinaire Noelle, is also sponsored by Team Aquaphor this season. Come find us at races and let us share the anti-chafing goodness with you!!

In final news, I did run a race two weekends ago. The Trail Mix 50k relay. We had a team of four and each had a 7.75 mile run on the Hyland trails. It had snowed overnight, but by the time the relay started it wasn't snowy on the trails, just muddy. It was actually pretty fun to get dirty. I started out the race with good intentions, but ended up fairly stressed and with a pretty bad time. I was on call, had my phone with me, kept getting texts and phone calls, which I stopped to listen to, and then responded that I'd be back to my car/laptop as soon as I could. As much as I tried to speed up after that, I think I actually slowed down! My fellow teammates rocked it though!

Next up is my first Tri of the season, the Chain of Lakes Triathlon in Alexandria on May 7th. Wow, already!?? I don't feel ready for racing season yet. I've only biked outside ONCE so far this year! The plan is to ride the MN Ironman bike ride this Sunday so that'll be my 2nd outdoor ride of the year.

It's crunch time.