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May 29, 2008
Race #3!
First of all, I'm happy to report that the Penguins did indeed win last night and there was no incidence of octopus-throwing onto the ice by pesky Red Wings fans. Word on the street is, down in the Strip District (area in Pittsburgh where, among other strange things, they sell lots of seafood and octopus!), there was a strict clamp down on those who could buy octopus. The octopus sellers were requring people to show ID (and I'm guessing not making any sells to those from Michigan!). Take that Detroit! :)
Anyway, I have another race coming up on Sunday!!!! It's the Black Bear Triathlon near Wilkes Barre/Allentown/Hazelton, PA. Actually, I don't really know where this race is. I'm just glad O is coming along to make sure we get there! :)
I have to admit that this one kind of snuck up on me. After Columbia I had 2 easy recovery training days and then went into a nice, tough 8-9 day block of some great workouts. When I get in that hard training mode I tend to take one day and one workout at a time. And then when I was nearing the end of that block I looked up and saw RACE on Sunday! YIPPEEEE!
And I couldn't be more excited. The race on Sunday is the PA qualifier for the Best of the US race and I am SUPER excited to go after that PA slot! Making it to the Best of the US championship race has been a big goal of mine. Last year I did the PA qualifier but got crushed by Heather Leiggi, the great athlete that has represented PA the past few years at BOUS. It wasn't even close! But after that race last year I vowed to keep working hard and go after the slot again this year. Of course I was thrilled to hear that Heather is turning pro and won't be trying to qualifiy for BOUS again!! ;) But I'm certainly not resting easy because I know there are tons of other great PA gals that I will have to battle it out with!
And battle I will. The Black Bear race is actually a sprint, 750 meter swim, 18 mile bike and 3.5 mile run. I hear the course is TOUGH and hilly, much to my liking! :)
Today was three short workouts with some hard efforts thrown in and so as soon as I got off my bike this evening I effectively went into recovery mode! Lots of rest and stretching and massage and ice and sleep now! We are leaving tomorrow which of course means I should be packing...ah...the packing...
Have a great night everyone and best of luck to all those racing. As my PowerBar visor says - BE GREAT!
Posted by beth at May 29, 2008 8:11 PM
Comments
good luck Beth. I know you'll do great, and I'll be thinking of you this weekend. There's no one better than you to represent our state!!! You've put in the hard work and I know it'll pay off. Chad
Posted by: Chad at May 29, 2008 9:24 PM
ALL your hard work will pay off this weekend...I know it, Beth!! I raced Heather at BOUS last year and it came down to 30" or so!!!! Heather is super...and you have gotten MUCH stronger so HIT A HOMERUN this weekend!!!!!! Jen H.
Posted by: Jennifer Harrison at May 29, 2008 9:39 PM
HIiiiiiiiiiii!!!
Kick some PA BUTT BETH!!!!
Posted by: Audrey at May 29, 2008 10:44 PM
YOU CAN DO IT~~~Psyched for you! GEt packing...Have fun,race hard, kick some tail.
Posted by: at May 30, 2008 6:20 AM
Hi Beth! We'll see you guys up there. The doggies will be rooting for you!
I raced Black Bear last year and it is a nice course. To compare with Columbia--much much hillier on the bike, but only one real hill of note (that I can remember) on the run. Make sure to scout out the swim course carefully--I got a bit confused with the half and sprint bouys looking the same in the sun and several people from the sprint were swimming in 2 different directions. I went the right way, but I had to slow down to almost a stop to figure out what to do. The bike course is almost constant hills, which should help you alot. You will be able to kill this bike course. The run is almost all on trails/grass through the woods. Make sure to pay attention to signs on the run so you stay on the Sprint course. I didn't think it was confusing, but I guess some people did.
You'll do great! Besides Heather, I can't think of anyone who you would have to worry about for BOUS since she is not racing for that and you were so close to her at Columbia anyway. If I don't see you before the race--Good luck!
Posted by: maija at May 30, 2008 6:53 AM
Beth:
Happy belated birthday! (My wireless router is broken so I am a bit behind on blog commenting. Now reverting to the old fashioned method of sitting in front of a desktop plugged into the wall.)
I hope that you have a really great race this weekend. Seems like you training is going well. I am glad that you are going to those open water swims. I wanted to do it this year, b/c they are US Masters Nationals--but they are the same weekend as a big swimmeet and a race up here. Anyway, if you swim without a wetsuit, you would have a great chance of placing. Really! (I know you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking "Oh my, that crazy swimming lady wants me to go to a race with a bunch of swimmers and leave my wetsuit at home....")
Looking forward to reading your race report from the weekend.
-Danielle (aka crazy swimming lady!)
Posted by: Danielle at May 30, 2008 8:24 AM
Beth:
Oooops I was thinking of different open water races than you are doing. Okay, then wear a wetsuit. :)
-Crazy Swimming Lady
Posted by: Danielle at May 30, 2008 8:30 AM
As Bree likes to say: VVVRRRRROOOOOOOOM! Go get'em kidd! This race is PERFECT for a stud like you. AND a long bike AND long run for a sprint - with your new found swim speed it will not be fair to the competition... :) I know that you'll do GREAT and I'll be sending you good vibes ALL DAY. All of that hard work is really really paying off - kudos and congrats! You are awesome!
Belated happy birthday - I've been out of the loop for a bit being at home. The big 2-9. LOVE the idea of swimming to celebrate! Okay - enjoy the taper and the relaxing time before your race. Have a BLAST! Good vibes from Florida up your way!
Posted by: marit c-l at May 30, 2008 12:25 PM
Oh Beth, another race again! So quickly they arrive, I guess.
I hope you have a great race this weekend, and I hope you qualify for Best of the US. Good luck and go fast!
Meghan
Posted by: Meghan at May 30, 2008 8:51 PM